The Book Of Romans

By Jon Vandermark

This is an in depth look at the book of Romans. So much is contained into this portion of scripture. Why not unlock these truths into your life today? From the verse verse until the last, we will study the meaning behind them. We will see the many truths that so many Christians do not even know are available for us today!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jon Vandermark
• Release date: Jan 1, 2016
• ISBN: 9781311903433

Jon Vandermark

I attend Two Rivers Church in Binghamton, NY and am very proud to be part of an amazing, spirit filled church! I am donating a lot of the proceeds from these books to our ONE campaign, in which we are trying to raise money for a new building!

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The Book of Romans

Introduction & Chapters 1-2

The book of Romans has often been referred to as God’s Gospel of Grace. Indeed, it is the one book of the Bible that has turned the history of Christianity upside-down. It was Martin Luther, when studying the merits of grace outlined in this book, who took his stand against the Roman Catholic hierarchy, and the Protestant Reformation was born. Throughout the ages, many great people of the church have had radical transformations in their lives through study of the book of Romans.

In this letter, we have Paul writing to the church at Rome. This letter is distinctly different than all the others Paul has written for two reasons: (1) In the letters to the other churches, Paul was dealing with some pressing problem: a danger, an error in doctrine, or some immediate trouble was facing the church. In Romans, Paul is writing to a church he has yet to visit. (2) In the other letters, Paul had some personal involvement in the founding of that church.. .or, he had personal contacts there. This is not the case in the book of Romans.

Because of these reasons, we are able to view the letter as more of a doctrine of Paul’s Christian beliefs. It is, without a doubt, the greatest work of Systematic Theology we have in Christianity. The letter is carefully constructed in terms of outlining Paul’s position on biblical matters. This fact makes it an excellent resource guide for us to learn of Christian doctrine and beliefs.

At the time of the writing of this book, Rome was one of the greatest cities in the world. Therefore, Paul, writing to such a city, sets forth the core issues of Christian faith and belief. As additional background, it is important for us to look at the reasons why Paul had such a strong desire to write to the church at Rome. We are given Scriptural references to this:

Acts 19:21 - Paul is in Ephesus and is planning to visit Macedonia when he writes: "...After I have been there, I must also see Rome. "

Acts 23:11 - Following a very threatening time in his life, we are told the Lord stood by Paul and said: Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome. It is obvious from these two Scriptures that Rome was written on Paul’s heart:

Romans 1:11 - "7 long to see you that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you. "

Romans 1:15 - So, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

Paul wrote the letter to the Romans somewhere around the year 58 a.d. while he was in Corinth.

Being s systematic book, the importance of the early chapters is essential to our learning. When Paul speaks of righteousness, he means a right relationship with God.

Paul was frustrated with the Gentile world and all their pagan worship and sin.. .they certainly had not found righteousness. Then, when he looked at the Hebrews, he saw God’s chosen people who tried to find righteousness by obedience to the Mosaic law, and all the minute laws they added to it. Of course, we know this did not produce righteousness either. Paul, therefore, sets out to show that the only way to righteousness is utter trust and yielding to the Lord. The only way to a right and proper relationship with God is to take Him at His Word and submit ourselves to His mercy and love. This is the way of faith. Paul found that the center of Christian faith was that we can never earn or deserve God’s favor.. .and we do not have to! The whole matter is one of God’s grace given freely to us!

Chapter 1

Verses 1-7:

Since Paul had not been to Rome, he begins his letter with his credentials. He calls himself a servant of Jesus Christ. In the original Greek text this word is doulos which means a bondservant or slave - someone with no personal rights. Interestingly, in the Greek, Paul’s title for the Lord is Kurios which describes someone as having total undisputed power of possession over a person or thing. It is the opposite of doulos or slave. Paul, in the most severe sense, thought of himself as the slave of Jesus Christ, his Master and Lord. Since Jesus had loved Paul — enough to die for him, Paul was confident that he no longer belonged to himself, but to Christ!

The word doulos was also used to describe the. great men of God in the Old Testament. Moses referred to himself as a doulos - or slave - of God. It was the proudest title given to the prophets because it set them apart from other men. Therefore, being a slave or bondservant of Jesus Christ describes both the obligation of a great love and the honor of a great office.

Next, Paul describes himself as an apostle, called to a specific task. In John 15:16, Jesus said: Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain.

Paul did not think of his life in terms of what he wanted to do - but rather, what God meant for him to do. In Galatians 1:15, he identifies with the fact that God separated him for the task of apostleship even before he was born. Knowing this about Paul we can understand his awareness (verse 5) of having received two things: (1) Grace - as described in the introduction, Paul had tried to maintain the law through the Mosaic doctrine but found that this did not bring righteousness. He realized that the only way we could achieve righteousness was through God’s grace - a gift that we could not earn nor buy. (2) His Task - Paul was set apart to be an apostle unto the Gentiles. He knew he was not chosen for a special honor but a special responsibility. We are all set apart unto a task. Christianity separates us from the world, not for self-glory or pride, but in service and humility and love for all, proclaiming the gospel.

Verses 8-15:

As we said earlier, Paul had a great love for this church that he had never seen. Since he had nothing to do with their founding, he had to win them over to take away any suspicions of interference or intervening where he did not belong.'* So, Paul prays for the Christians on the firing line at Rome. These people, who would later become human