04.02. LESSON 2

LESSON 2

Paul’s salutation to the church in Rome, one long sentence of seven verses, is his longest and richest salutation. It sweeps a vast horizon and contains much fundamental Christian truth. First, Paul himself is Christ’s love-slave and apostle, "Separated unto the gospel of God," which fulfills all scriptural Messianic prophecy. Christ’s created human life is of David’s lineage; of his uncreated divine life it is witnessed: "In the beginning was the Word... and the Word was God" (John 1:1). Some think that "the spirit of holiness" refers to the Holy Spirit, but it seems that Paul is thinking of Christ’s dual nature—his humanity and his deity. Christ is neither Deity diluted to humanity, nor humanity exalted to Deity. His superhuman power over death, particularly his own unique resurrection declares him "to be the Son of God with power." The salutatory sentence closes with Paul’s usual, "Grace to you and peace from our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." Grace the root and peace the fruit of Christianity. This is Paul’s salutation in eleven of his epistles. His two letters to Timothy add "mercy" to make the triad, "grace, mercy, peace." Hebrews has no salutation, but it closes with Paul’s uniform, "Grace be with you," an ending only by Paul and John in Revelation. In this earnest, purposeful manner, as befits a servant of Christ, Paul addresses the church in imperial Rome.

Personal Matters (Romans 1:8-16) As these verses are largely personal, to begin with, Paul fittingly, in the words, "First, I thank my God," shows that God is very individual and personal to him. Every Christian should meaningfully say, "My God." As a Roman citizen, Paul knew that the life of the Roman Empire, comparable in area to our United States, was but the pulse beat of its capital city, Rome, "The mistress of the world." After planning for years to see Rome, his plans, even as the plans of other men, so far had gone awry; still, he hoped "by the will of God" to visit them. He was too good a general and statesman not to consolidate, by building a strong, Christian citadel in Pagan Rome, what had been captured from "The prince of this world." He was pining to impart "some spiritual gift" to them, and to edify and establish them. In transparent sincerity, and with consummate tact, relative to his visit, he writes: "That I with you may be comforted in you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine." Thus, we see that a gifted, spiritual man, realizing that he owes everything to God’s grace, can be gracious with his brethren. Is it not good that diversities among members of the church are such that no member is either so strong or so weak that he may not both edify and be edified?

Paul felt that since he was born in debt to God (Galatians 1:15), and that since he had been entrusted with the universal gospel, he was debtor to God and to all men no matter what their race, language, mental ability, culture or religion. He knew that humanity was one, and had one corrupt heart, which only the gospel could purify. Judging from what he writes, we wonder if godless pride, the rudimentary sin of angels and men, which later grew to such huge proportions in Rome, was not already so working that they felt peeved at his prolonged absence. Were they saying that he was ashamed to come to Rome with the cross, "the emblem of suffering and shame" and weakness? In any event, in harmony with the universality of the gospel, Paul, a Jew, writes in Greek to Romans: "As much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you also in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel."

Instead of being ashamed of the gospel, Paul "despising shame" as had done his Master, gloried in it. He had seen and felt its power; it could snatch others, as it had snatched him, from eternal night. It was nothing to be ashamed of, or distrusted, anywhere; it could do something for Rome which her wealth, culture, and world-wide law and power had not done, and could never do. Paul always lived as he later wrote: "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord" (2 Timothy 1:7-8). No. Christians are neither ashamed of, nor a shame to, the gospel. In this manner, Paul portrays himself to be a thankful, prayerful, purposeful, honorable (feels his debt), energetic, humble, brave man.

"A Righteousness of God"

Romans is an exposition of, "It (the gospel) is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth... For therein is revealed a righteousness of God from faith unto faith." A study of only three key terms is now possible.

First, the gospel salvation is good news from abroad. That is, it is not founded on man’s doing; it is God’s achievement and revelation, not man’s invention and attainment. It is not primarily good advice, of which the world is full; or lessons to be learned from Christ’s life; far more and far deeper than these, it is life through his death. It is certainly not bad news to be feared and spurned, but unspeakably good news that just anybody, even "a nobody," can hear.

Second, righteousness. The Greek word translated "righteousness" may mean either righteousness or justification. The several times the phrase, "Righteousness of God," appears in Romans, the context plainly requires the meaning: God’s way of making sinners righteousness— that is, God’s justifying righteousness, or practical justification. "God’s righteousness," meaning an attribute of God’s personal character, is found twice in Romans 3:1-31. The correct interpretation of "A righteousness of God," as found in this verse, is, I think, God’s personal righteousness in action, resulting in the justification of sinners.

Third, believeth. God, who "abideth faithful" (2 Timothy 2:13), provides righteousness and promises to make it over to men on condition, not of law and self-righteousness as they expect, but on the condition of faith. "Righteousness which is of the law" and "Righteousness which is from God by faith" are thrown into sharpest contrast in Php 3:9. It must never be forgot, however, that "faith apart from works (of obedience) is dead" (James 2:26), as the phrase "obedience of faith," found twice in Romans makes plain. The expression, "from faith unto faith," a moot Scripture, means, I think, that the faithful God so designed and created the gospel that on the human side, it must begin in the principle of self-emptying faith rather than in human wisdom and worth; so made it that it can be revealed only "unto faith"—that is, only to men who have faith; or only "to every one that believeth." Instead of the Old Testament opposing this, it supports the doctrine it is evident from, "The righteous shall live (be made to live) by faith," not works (Habakkuk 2:4).

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