Romans

Commentary below. Attached at the bottom is the original, which has a diagram.

Literary Style and Beauty:  Macrostructure

            Though I mostly follow traditional divisions of this book into parts, I offer new ideas for what to call many of the parts.  On the fundamental matter of justification and sanctification I follow Augustine, Calvin, and the Westminster Standards.  One of my basic new ideas is to see chapters 12 and following as expounding corporate sanctification, building on the trans-historical, corporate emphasis of chapters 9-11, and as distinct from the individual sanctification in chapters 6-8 (see Outline and Commentary, below).  You may notice other new ideas in the Outline.

            I see the basic movement in this book as need/provision/response, or, to be more detailed, man’s need/God’s provision/the believer’s response.  So you can see more clearly the beauty of the structure of the whole book, I give you the following “skeleton” outline, which is filled in with many details in the large outline following it.

            Before the “body” of the letter (#3-7, below) come the Prologue (#1) and the Theme (#2) (this theme “stands alone” because it is so important), and after the body comes the Conclusion (#8).  The subsections of those do not affect the style of the body of the letter (except note the inclusio, which relates the beginning and the end in important ways).  The body has this beautiful structure, I think:

(The 5 points of #3 & #4 are correlated in various ways)

            3.  Need

                  5 points

            4.  Provision

 

The set of 5-3/3-5 points are correlated, but not a true chiasm.  The midpoint of #4-#7 is the end of Rom. 8, “nothing can separate us,” really the climax of chs. 1-8.

Individual

                  5 points

            5.  Response

                  3 points

            6.  Provision

 

Corporate

                  3 points

            7.  Response

                  5 points

Notice correlations in the following detailed Outline (that is an INQUIRE item, too!).

            Another proper way to see the whole structure of the letter is in relation to the concept of the indicative, then the imperative.  Section 4 (God’s provision for the individual) is the indicative (what God/Christ have done) and then comes the imperative (section 5, what He wants for our response, based on what He has done).  Also, we may regard the whole first 11 chapters as the indicative part, with the great “therefore” of 12:1 beginning the imperative part (chapters 12-16) and showing that those later chapters are based on all the doctrine of the earlier chapters.

Large Outline

1. Prologue (1:1-15)

            A.  Paul’s greeting (1:1-7) (rich theology, too; see inclusio, below)

            B.  Paul’s interest in the believers in Rome (1:8-15; cf. 16:1-6)

 

2. Theme:  The Gospel reveals the righteousness of God (1:16-17)

• This connects with my “title” for Romans:  What is the Gospel?  See Commentary.
• Note the theme of God-centered salvation!  This is important to confirm; see 3:4!  3:26!  10:3-4! et. al.!

 

Body of the Letter

3.  Man’s Need of Righteousness:  Sin and Condemnation (1:18-3:20)

            A.  God’s wrath on mankind (1:18-32)

• 1:18 leads into the whole subject:  unrighteousness of men contrasted with the righteousness of God.
• Paul’s intent is to prove that all are without excuse for sin, and why; he also discusses degrees of sin and condemnation.

B.  No partiality with God (2:1-16; 2:11 says this explicitly)

• Condemnation of the inconsistent, the Jews first and also everyone else.

C.  God’s condemnation of the Jews (2:17-29)

• Notice the endnote here, about who is a true Jew.

D.  Question #1:  is God unfaithful to the Jews?  (3:1-8)

• Answer:  NO, and why; important emphasis on “justification of God” (= He is right!), v.4)

E.  God’s condemnation of all people (3:9-20)

• Paul gives long OT proofs here, with an endnote on one purpose (or use) of the Law.

 

4.  God’s Provision of Righteousness:  Jesus Christ’s death and all believers’ justification (3:21-

      5:21, “imputed righteousness”)

1.  God demonstrates His righteousness in the death (propitiation![1]) of Jesus Christ (3:21-26)

• 3:23 offers a summary of point 3 (above).

2. Question #2:  in light of point A, what is the “instrument of justification (i.e., being declared righteous in God’s sight)?  (3:27-31)

• Answer:  faith alone!

3. Abraham as example of justification by faith alone (4:1-25)

• Paul gives several OT proofs; David is another example.

4. Blessings which accompany justification by faith alone (5:1-11)

• Such as:  peace and joy, linking to 15:13; INQUIRE:  what other blessings, and how are they connected?
• Also, note the reprise of point A, demonstrating God’s love, too, v.8, and the added emphasis on Christ’s resurrection, v.10, by His continuing life, cf. 4:25.

5. Conclusion:  New Perspective on God’s righteous purpose (trans-historical):  Adam-Christ typology (5:12-21)

• Foreshadows the “corporate” emphasis; see #6-7 below.

 

5.  Believer’s Response (as individual) (6:1-8:39) (sanctification = imparted righteousness)

            A.  Question #3:  in light of point 4, are believers to continue to sin?  (6:1-23)

• Answer:  NO, because, in Christ, the believer has died to sin, vv.1-11, and so should live to God, or to righteousness/sanctification, vv.12-23, with endnote on God’s “free gift” and another “summary” verse of the Gospel according to Romans.

B.  Perplexity:  the believer continues to struggle against sin (7:1-25)

C.  Hope:  the believer can live in the power of the Holy Spirit (8:1-39)

• Now no condemnation, but not yet redemption of the body.
• Helps from the Spirit; emphasis on Christ’s resurrection; security of all believers, even unto glorification; “nothing can separate us”; foreshadows “corporate emphasis in #6-7 below.

 

6.  God’s Provision of Righteousness (as trans-historical, “corporate” purpose) (9:1-11:36)

            A.  Paul’s sorrow and longing for the salvation of the Jews (9:1-5; cf. 10:1)

• Note his self-curse; mysterious “foil” for end of ch. 8.
• Because of Paul’s heart here, God reveals to him the mysteries of chs. 9-11; examples of the highest kind of spirituality.

B.  God’s sovereignty/election regarding Jews and Gentiles (9:6-10:21)

• Including Question #4, a continuing dialog in chs. 9-11, with various Scripture answers.
• Note the misunderstanding of righteousness, 9:30-10:3, 21, and the true understanding of it, 10:4-20.

C.  Conclusion:  New Perspective on God’s righteous purpose (trans-historical and corporate):  Jews and Gentiles in relation to the “olive tree” of all the elect (11:1-36)

• Notice the endnote of doxology, vv.33-36.
• This also ends the “indicative” part of the letter.

 

7.  Believer’s Response (in “corporate” context, individual as part of the Body of Christ; 12:1-15:13)

            A.  Practice of righteousness in relation to the body of Christ (12:1-8, which leads the

      section)

• Note the individual response in vv.1-2, which leads into corporate response in v.3.  The Body is the context in vv.4-5, which leads into the whole section.

B.  Practice of righteousness in relation to society (12:9-21; true “holy war”!)

C.  Practice of righteousness in relation to government (13:1-7)

D.  Love to neighbors and personal holiness as key to practice of righteousness (13:8-14)

• Note the fulfillment of the Law, vv.8, 10; note the “put on” warrior image, vv.12, 14.
• This section is a “midpoint” of point #7, because E is as long as A-C.

6.  Practice of righteousness in relation to the Body of Christ (14:1-15:13)

• Emphasis on accepting the weaker believers and not stumbling them, and on unity of the Body through imitating Christ and learning from the OT, with a final admonition about Jews and Gentiles together in the Body, in the context of praise.
• The endnote (15:13) is the first benediction of the letter, linked to many themes (and note 4:17).

End of body of Letter

 

8.  Conclusion (15:14-16:27

            A.  Paul’s mission and travel plans (15:14-33)

• Another benediction, v.33.

B.  Paul’s personal greetings (16:1-16)

C.  Paul’s concluding admonition (16:17-20)

• Another benediction, v.20.

D.  Greetings from those who are with Paul (16:21-24)

• Another benediction, v.24, but disputed whether this is in original text.

E.  Paul’s concluding doxology (16:25-27)

Important inclusio in Romans:  “the obedience of faith” in 1:5 and 16:26, as key to Paul’s ministry and to Romans, accompanied by other phrases and concepts in the opening and closing verses which support it, such as the Scriptures, the prophets, God’s promise and revelation, all centered in Jesus Christ.  Other passages to confirm the importance of this concept:  6:17, 5:18.  INQUIRE:  find the interconnections of Gospel truths/principles in Romans.

 

Author

            The human author of Romans was the apostle Paul (1:1, the “I” throughout the letter, though he used a secretary to actually write it, 16:22.  Always remember that the Holy Spirit is the divine Author).  I will introduce him now as we begin his Letters and will not repeat this every time.[2]

            One vital thing to emphasize about Paul is that his most glorious accomplishments for Christ were not his planting churches on his missionary journeys (great though those are!) but were his intellectual/spiritual works in his Letters, giving the doctrinal foundation of the Christian religion (he “interprets” the “facts” of the Gospels).

            Some other important points about Paul (INQUIRE:  you search out these further, with texts to support you):

1. his sense of divine vocation (i.e., Rom. 1:1-6, Gal. 1:12; link to Acts 9, 1 Cor. 11:23, 2

Cor. 11-12, et. al.);

2. his authority as an apostle (see start of all Letters, 2 Cor. 12:11-12[3]); see Acts, alongside Peter;
3. his love for his converts/churches (2 Cor. 7:7, 11:28-29, & note context; Phil. 4:1); much in his letters about his pastoral concern;
4. his doctrinal convictions (zeal for the truth; you prove this: shouldn’t be hard!);
5. his versatility (1 Cor. 9:19ff., Rom. 14; different styles of preaching for different audiences);
6. his language and style (Paul obviously knew Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and maybe other languages, and could vary his style as much as someone like Shakespeare – though he may not have had quite the literary genius of the apostle John; see also 2 Peter 3:16!);
7. his physical powers of endurance (2 Cor. 11:23-27, etc.); and
8. his high spiritual experiences (2 Cor. 12).

If we only had the account of Paul in Acts, we would not have such parts of the portrait as:  all his sufferings in 2 Cor. 11, his revelation in the third heaven and his thorn in the flesh in 2 Cor. 12, his exchange with Peter in Galatians, and many others.

Paul is an example of a true intellectual for Christ.  Praise the Lord!

 

Purpose

            Paul had not yet visited the church in Rome and was writing to give them the content of the Gospel in a rather full form (the most detail we have from Paul).  Hence my lesson title for this letter:  What is the Gospel?  I think Paul’s purpose is primarily doctrinal, but he also shows personal concern for them (he knows many by name, though he hasn’t been there yet!).  He also has an interest in having them help him on his next missionary objective:  to go to Spain (15:24)!  (There is no record that he ever made it there.)

            We learn from this letter than salvation and the Christian life is a much larger thing than some initial experience of “being saved.”  It is God-centered and so goes back into His eternal plans and goes forward into His eternal plans (Rom. 8:28-30!)!  In this life it includes justification and sanctification, understood in profound ways.  (In fact, it may be questioned whether any theologians, even the Reformed, have done justice to the depth of Paul’s thought on these matters.)  I see the inclusio as very important and revelatory of Paul’s purpose:  to bring about the obedience of faith!  No doubt other perspectives could be added in understanding Paul’s purpose, since his theology is so rich and even Romans is only a “summary” of it!  SOLI DEO GLORIA!

 

Commentary:  What is the Gospel?

1. See Outline, above, for many ideas and their interrelationships on the content of the Gospels.

 

2. The Trinity

Teaching concerning the Trinity is prominent throughout this letter:

 On God the Father:  notice that “God” is the Father in most passages in Romans 5, 8, and 11 (with the Son and the Spirit being named separately);

3. The God-Centered Gospel

Romans shows us that the Gospel is God-centered.  This has many implications.  It is more crucial that God be just (3:23) than that people be saved!  In His love and consistent with His holiness/righteousness/justice, He planned a way to justify sinners (3:26):  that is the glory of the Gospel.  Note that it is not that God answers to any standard of what is right or fair – He is the standard in His own character, yet a key text says that God is “justified” when He judges (3:4, very strong) – this proves that to “justify” means to “declare righteous” and not to “make righteous” (a key disagreement the Reformers had with the Roman Catholic Church).

God is justly angry with sin and with sinners and before they can be forgiven the sin must be removed and His anger appeased (“propitiation” means “to appease wrath”: 3:25).  The Son of God (as the Son He is of infinite value and has infinite power), Jesus Christ, takes away the sin (John 1:29; Matt. 1:21) by His death on the cross (the Atonement), which completely pays the penalty of all the sins of all the elect (Matt. 20:28; John 10:11; Eph. 5:25).[4]

So, God does not reckon the repentant believer’s sins to him (Rom. 4:5-8, citing Psalm 32), but instead credits him with the perfect righteousness of Christ.[5]  This reckoning is justification (being declared righteous in God’s sight, just-as-if you had never sinned), which happens when a person truly believes in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior (which believing is accompanied by repentance and is preceded by regeneration). 

So, justification is by faith alone in Christ alone.  It is followed by “good works” (because faith works!) and by sanctification (more on that in other letters by Paul).  It is part of an unbreakable “chain” which begins with God’s own predestination and ends with glorification (Rom. 8:29-30: exactly the same people in the whole sequence).  The Gospel includes sanctification, of course, but it is crucial that justification and sanctification be properly distinguished.[6]  Justification is God’s answer to the believer’s “bad record” and is possible because His regeneration makes the person able to repent and to believe (Rom. 8:5-8; see next point, below).

 

4.  Man’s Sin-Problem

The problem with man’s sin-problem is that the unbeliever cannot of himself see/realize he is a sinner (as God sees and defines sin).  He cannot see his need properly and also cannot appreciate God’s provision.  Yet he “knows God” and is guilty for “suppressing” the truth (Rom. 1:18-21).  He cannot escape being made in the image of God or escape his need for God.  But God begins to work mysteriously in His chosen ones, loving them before they love Him; and this “drawing” and “teaching” is taught by our Lord Himself (John 6:44-45!).  No one sees his sin rightly except by the conviction of the Spirit (John 16:9:  note the essence of sin!). 

A person sins, but also has a sin-nature (Rom. 7:17 & context; Eph. 2:3) and further is guilty of Adam’s sin being imputed to him.[7]Actual sins are transgressions of God’s Law (the Ten Commandments is the eternal moral law) or any lack of conformity to the perfect righteousness of God’s character represented by the Law.[8]  There are sins of omission as well as commission (ponder Matt. 25:31-46) and sins of ignorance are still sins (Luke 12:47-48; note God’s compassion). 

Once there is “conviction of sin” the person is on the way to salvation (not all experiences of this are the same, by any means).  Yet even the most advanced believers will still be learning about being sinners (1 Tim. 1:15; below on Rom. 7; Job 42:5-6; and one that St. Augustine liked:  in Psalm 71, the prayer of an old man:  “I will make mention of Thy righteousness, Thine alone,” v.16).

 

5.  Inclusio: The Obedience of Faith

A good way to “crystallize” the teaching of Romans is with the inclusio mentioned above.  Paul’s aim in this letter and in his whole ministry (note 6:17 and 15:18) is to bring about “the obedience of faith.”  Here a detail is important:  this means, from the kind of Greek genitive used, “the obedience produced by faith,” not “the obedience which consists of faith, or is faith” (faith itself is not the obedience).[9]

By making this phrase an inclusio, Paul shows us how important it is.  It is really connected to the resurrection and Lordship of Jesus Christ.  By raising Him from the dead, the Father demonstrated Who He is and that the Father accepted the Atonement as Christ’s finished, perfected work (Rom. 1:4, right next to v.5; also 4:25, 5:21, et. al.).  Because He is alive He is the Lord whom we must obey (and can obey, because of His Spirit in us).  Because He is alive, we can receive Him (John 1:12; Rev. 3:20) and have Him living in us (Gal. 2:20).  We are a “new creation” in Him (2 Cor. 5:17 and context:  same theology as Romans).  This is not the realm of the power of sin, but the realm of sanctification (Rom. 6) and so of “the obedience of faith”!  INQUIRE:  ponder all this and “run with it” in your life!  Psalm 110:3, 119:32!

6. Main Theme:  God’s Righteousness

Another way to see the “whole” teaching of this letter is to note the theme (1:16-17).  The book is about God’s righteousness (as in points above about God-centered salvation/Gospel), which certainly can be contrasted with what people think of as their own righteousness (as with the Jews, 10:3 & context!).  Paul’s whole Gospel is about believers in Christ having a righteousness “not their own,” that comes from keeping the Law (confirm this with Phil.3:9).  NT believers must not fall into legalism or self-righteousness as the OT Jews did (but it is a human failing!).  We must keep justification and sanctification separate!  All these truths are revealed “from faith to faith” (1:17). 

           I think the NIV is not precise or helpful in rendering this “of faith from first to last”; I think it means that all these truths about the righteousness of God are revealed from the faith of the biblical writers (prophets first, then apostle Paul, writing this letter) to the faith of the readers or hearers (including believers today).  Faith is key to justification and to sanctification, but in the former faith is entirely in the finished Atonement work of Christ and in the latter faith is in the Risen Christ to enable the process[10] of growing more and more into what God wants us to be.  All our obedience can only come from faith in Him (confirm this with Phil. 2:12-13).  Others can see us as new creatures only from faith to faith.

7.  Romans 7 and the Struggle of Sanctification

Nothing so clearly shows the continuing struggle which sanctification is than the fact that Romans 7 follows Romans 6.  Some have said that chapter 7 is about Paul’s experience before his conversion, but that will not do justice to his language in chapter 7 at all.  Rather, chapter 7 is Paul’s own continuing struggle with sin – very profound.  In fact, I say, some people’s experience of Romans 7 is higher than other people’s experience of Romans 8!  Both are true.  A truly growing believer goes from chapter 7 to chapter 8 and back to chapter 7 again on a deeper level.  But the great lesson is the preciousness of justification while pursuing sanctification!  This is another “big picture” lesson from Romans.

           INQUIRE: do you see or experience this?  You are a new creature in Christ, but you still have your old creature.  The point is how you “reckon” yourself (Rom. 6) and that you starve the old creature and nourish the new creature.  The Scriptures themselves are the transforming power (cf. 15:4)!

8.  The Corporate and Trans-Historical Dimension

Romans 1-8 by itself would be a great book, but when Paul adds chapters 9-16, I think he gives a corporate, trans-historical dimension to what is mostly an individual emphasis in chapters 1-8 (although there are hints of corporate aspects, especially the end of Romans 5).  Chapters 9-11 are the great section on the sovereignty of God, and part of the Gospel, according to the theme of the whole book!  They are revealed from Paul’s faith to yours and mine (if we can rise to that level). 

The profound key is Paul’s longing and prayer at the beginning of ch. 9.[11] Because he is willing to be accursed, he can truly see God’s election.  Some will never have their objections and questions answered because they are nowhere near Paul’s level.  We are better off if we can take what he says “on faith” even if we are not where Paul was.  Paul gives us a “dialog” and many questions, with “strange” answers.

INQUIRE:  you search out that dialog and ponder the depth of his answers, especially as from Scripture.  Note such key answers as 9:20.  If you can follow all of it, especially about the “olive tree,” you will feel like 11:33-36, as Paul did!

9.  The Body of Christ

Now try to see chapters 12 and following in a “corporate” way.  The image of the “Body of Christ” is key.  Look again at the commands in 12:9-21 and consider how the individual can obey so many of them only in relation to the Body and in relating to society on a level as high as that of the Sermon on the Mount.  The Body’s “holy war” is especially obvious in 12:17-21:  a very high teaching.[12]

10.  Beautiful Details

So, to conclude:  a point #10 which gathers a number of beautiful “details” in contrast to broad themes (and this could be greatly expanded as you INQUIRE further).

Rom. 1:21:  they knew God, but they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks:  those

are two key aspects of the lives of those who do truly know God, and Paul exemplifies them in this letter, even in little ways, such as the “doxology” at the end of 1:25; he does bless the Creator, so beautifully done in passing.

            Rom. 1:24, 26-27:  so clear that the practice of homosexuality is sinful (even worse than some other sins, too):  a needed truth for our time and place.  But they can still be saved (1 Cor. 6:9, 11).[13]

 

 

            Rom. 2:4:  note the kindness of God leading people to repentance (yet see also 11:22: dual truths).

            Rom. 4:13:  who is “heir of the world”?  (What a phrase!)

            Rom. 6:23:  truly the whole of Romans in a single verse.

            Rom. 7:1-4: in the spiritual symbolism, who is married to whom?  Who dies?  Who is

remarried to whom?  What does all this mean?

            Rom. 8:4:  add this to the “obedience of faith” theme.

     Rom. 8:34:  is the resurrection of Christ more important than His death?

     Rom. 9:8: another verse to show Paul’s deep spiritual understanding of reality and history.

            Rom. 10:4: what does it mean that Christ is the “end” of the law for righteousness? 

What a strong expression!

            Rom. 11:23 & context:  will there be a great multitude of Jews saved before Christ’s

return?  Do you join Paul in 10:1?

            Rom. 12:1-2:  what are the key things about the body and the mind in these important

verses?

            Rom. 14:17:  don’t forget how we saw the significance of this in our study of the

“kingdom” in the Gospels.[14]

            Rom. 15:3:  do you live so that those who reproach Christ also reproach you?!  Yet this

must be, as in John 15:25!

            Rom. 15:4:  such a great verse on the application of the Old Testament to us today.

            Rom. 15:13:  first benediction:  another great verse to know by heart.

            Rom. 15:20: do you have something of this aspiration, too?

            Rom. 15:30:  the Trinity beautifully revealed “in passing”!

            Rom. 16:  why all these names?  What do we learn from Paul here?

            Rom. 16:25-27: the profound conclusion to a profound letter:  see Inclusio in notes

above!

INQUIRE:  some more mysteries for you:

            The son of God became human…did He become mortal?

            Once He obeyed where Adam had disobeyed, did He merit eternal life?

            When did He get what He deserved?

            Will He get still more?  What?  How is this related to what is already fulfilled?

To inquire in His temple (Ps. 27:4) is the finest possible expansion of the human mind.

SOLI DEO GLORIA