Chapters
Introduction
Some have called the book of Romans the greatest theological document ever written. In this letter, the apostle Paul explains the good news: God has made himself known to the world through his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul writes about the human condition, why our lives on earth matter, and the hope God gives for the future. He constantly emphasizes the basics of God’s truth revealed in Christ. He also teaches believers how to face the problems, failures, and disagreements that are part of life in this world.
Setting
We do not know who first brought the gospel to Rome. Some Jews from Rome may have believed in Jesus when God first gave his Spirit on the day of Pentecost (see Acts 2:10). Then they may have taken the message back to Rome. Soon, several house churches began to grow. Most of the believers in these churches had converted from Judaism.
In AD 49, Emperor Claudius forced all Jews to leave Rome. This included Jewish Christians (see Acts 18:2). Paul had never visited Rome (Romans 1:13). But during his travels, he met some Christians from Rome, including Priscilla (also called Prisca) and Aquil (Romans 16:3–4; compare Acts 18:2).
Claudius’s order later ended. So by the time Paul wrote Romans, many Jewish Christians had returned to Rome. But while they were away, the Gentile Christians had become the leaders of the Christian community there.
Paul probably wrote Romans around AD 57. At that time, the Christian community in Rome was divided into two main groups. The Gentile Christians were now the larger group. They were less focused on the Old Testament and the law of Moses than the Jewish Christians were. Some of them may even have looked down on the Jewish Christians (see Romans 11:25). The Jewish Christians were now the smaller group. In response, some of them insisted that believers should follow certain parts of the law of Moses.
Paul wrote Romans to address this divide. The problem was both theological and social. At its center was this question: How is Christian faith connected to Jewish faith, and how is it different?
Summary
In the opening part of the letter, Paul introduces himself and the Roman Christians (1:1–17. He thanks God for them (1:1–7). He also introduces the main theme of the letter: the good news about Jesus ("the gospel,” 1:16–17).
Before Paul explains this good news, he shows why all people need it. All people have sinned against God. Gentiles have turned away from what God showed them about himself (1:18–32). Jews have also turned away from what God showed them (2:1–3:8). All are "under sin," that is, under sin’s power (3:9–20). No one can be made right with God by what they do.
Into this hopeless situation comes the good news. It shows a new way to be made right with God. God provided this way by sending Jesus as a sacrifice for sin. All people can receive the benefits of this sacrifice by faith (3:21–26).
In 3:27–4:25, Paul explains why faith is so important. Faith leaves no room for boasting. It also gives both Jews and Gentiles the same access to God’s grace in Christ (3:27–31). develops these same points through reference to Abraham (chapter 4).
In chapters 5–8, Paul discusses the assurance or security of salvation. Believers can be sure that they will share in God’s glory (5:1–11). This hope is based on what Jesus Christ has done. Jesus more than reversed the terrible effects of Adam’s sin (5:12–21).
Sin cannot stop God from completing his purposes for believers (chapter 6). The law also cannot stop him (chapter 7) can stop God from fulfilling his plans for Christians. The Holy Spirit frees believers from death (8:1–17). He also assures them that present suffering will not keep them from the glory God has planned for them (8:18–39).
The good news (“the gospel”) is truly good news only if the message about Christ continues God’s promises in the Old Testament. But many Jews did not believe in Christ. This might seem to mean that God’s promises to Israel were not being fulfilled (9:1–5).
So in chapters 9–11, Paul shows that God is faithful to his promises. God had never promised salvation to all Jews, but only to a remnant, a smaller group he preserved (9:6–29). The Jews were responsible for their situation because they refused to recognize that God’s promises were fulfilled in Christ (9:30–10:21). Even so, God was still preserving a remnant of Jewish believers (11:1–10). God also still had more to do for his people Israel (11:11–36).
Trusting in the good news about Jesus rescues people from the punishment of sin. It also changes a person’s life. In 12:1–15:13, Paul explains the transforming power of the good news. This change calls for a new way of thinking and living (12:1–2). A changed life shows itself in:
This changed life gets its power from what God has already done. It also becomes urgent because of what God still plans to do (13:11–14).
In 14:1–15:13, Paul addresses a specific problem in the church at Rome. Christians were criticizing one another over different practices related to the Old Testament law. Paul urges them to accept one another. He also tells them to follow Christ’s example of self-giving love.
At the end of Romans, Paul returns to the form of a letter. He writes about his ministry and travel plans (15:14–33). He greets and praises fellow workers and other Christians (16:1–16). He ends with:
more comments about fellow workers,
a final warning, and
a doxology, a short statement of praise to God (16:17–27).
Date, Place, and Occasion for Writing
Paul probably wrote Romans during a three-month stay in Corinth, near the end of his third missionary journey (Acts 20:2–3). This was around AD 57. Romans 16:1 mentions Cenchrea, a port city near Corinth. This helps identify the location more clearly. By this time, Paul had finished his missionary work in the eastern Mediterranean region. His visit to Jerusalem was also near.
We can understand why Paul wrote Romans by looking at what he says about his past work and future travel plans (15:14–33). Four places are important:
Paul looks back on his past ministry. He says that he had "all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ" (15:19). Illyricum was a Roman province in the same general area as modern Serbia and Croatia. Paul had planted churches in major cities from Jerusalem through Asia Minor and into Macedonia and Greece. Acts describes this work in Paul’s three missionary journeys.
Paul planned to go to Jerusalem. He wanted to deliver a gift to the believers there (15:25). This gift was money collected from the Gentile churches Paul had started. It was meant to help the church in Jerusalem (15:26; see also 1 Corinthians 16:1–4; 2 Corinthians 8:1–9:15).
After visiting Jerusalem to deliver the gift, Paul planned to go to Rome (Romans 15:24).
Rome was not Paul’s final goal. Romans 15:24 shows that he planned to stop there on his way to Spain. Spain was his main goal because he wanted to plant churches in places "where Christ was not known" (15:20, 24).
These details suggest that Paul wrote Romans near the end of his third missionary journey.
Paul’s Purpose in Writing
Romans has three main purposes:
to explain Paul’s teaching,
to ask for support for a future mission to Spain, and
to help unite the church in Rome.
Paul's Teaching
Paul was at an important point in his ministry (15:20). He had fully shared the gospel in the eastern Mediterranean region (15:19). Now he was ready to preach the good news in new places. So Paul used his letter to the Romans to explain his teaching. This teaching had developed during 25 years of challenges and debates.
Even so, Paul did not write Romans only to summarize his teaching. He says little about some important topics, such as Christ’s person, the church, and the last days. This purpose also does not explain why Paul sent this summary to the church in Rome.
Support for Future Mission to Spain
Another purpose then becomes clear: Paul wanted support from the Roman Christians for his new mission to Spain. Paul’s sending church, Antioch, was far from Spain. So Paul looked for a new church to partner with him. The church in Rome was a natural choice (15:24).
This is likely why Paul sent such a detailed letter about Christian teaching to Rome. He wanted to explain who he was and what he believed. Many people had misunderstood Paul’s message. Because of this, he became a controversial person in the early church.
Paul probably knew that some Christians in Rome did not trust him. So he needed to give a careful and clear defense of his views on some of the most debated matters of the faith.
Unite the Church in Rome
Paul also wrote for a third reason: to help heal a division in the Christian community in Rome. The believers disagreed about how much the Old Testament law should continue to guide them (see 14:1–15:13).
Meaning and Message
In the letter to the Romans, Paul explained the gospel as he had come to understand it. At the center of this good news is God’s offer of salvation in Christ for all who believe. Paul discusses the problem of human sin. He explains God’s answer through Christ’s death on the cross. He also describes the sure hope of glory that believers have through a living relationship with Christ.
The message of Christ’s cross continues the promises of the Old Testament because those promises are fulfilled in Christ. It is also different from the Old Testament law because God begins a new covenant in Christ. This new covenant goes beyond the Old Testament law.
Interpretation
Since the Reformation, many Christians have read Romans as a letter about personal salvation. Martin Luther’s own spiritual journey was closely connected to Romans. Following his lead, Reformers such as John Calvin and Ulrich Zwingli saw Romans as a key biblical teaching about justification. They taught that people are made right with God by faith in Christ, not by their own effort.
The Reformers understood Paul to be arguing against a legalistic form of Judaism. This means a way of thinking that says people must obey the law in order to be saved. Many Jews were deeply concerned with the law. This led some of them to think that faithfulness to the law was enough for salvation (for example, 10:1–4).
Many interpreters today say this Reformation view left out important parts of Romans and first-century Judaism. They argue that Jews in Paul’s day did not believe they had to obey the law to be saved. Instead, they believed they were already saved because God had chosen them as his people. Obeying the law was how they kept their status as God’s people.
These interpreters say Paul was not arguing against legalism, the idea that people can earn salvation by obeying the law. Instead, he was arguing against exclusivism, the idea that salvation belonged only to Israel and should not be shared with Gentiles. According to this view, Paul shows how the gospel connects salvation by faith with two things:
God’s ongoing people from the Old Testament to the New Testament, and
the relationship between Jews and Gentiles in Paul’s own day.
This newer way of understanding Romans has much to offer. Christian interpreters have sometimes failed to see the grace and faith that are present in Jewish teaching. Romans also says a great deal about including Gentiles among God’s people. It also addresses the relationship between Jews and Gentiles in the church.
In the end, neither the Reformation view nor the contemporary view explains all of Romans by itself. We need both views to understand the whole letter. At its deepest level, Romans is about the gospel. And the gospel is first a message about how everyone can have a right relationship with God.