Overview: Romans 1-4

Paul's letter to the Romans. It is one of the longest and most important letters ever written by a man named Saul of Tarsus. He was a Jewish rabbi, belonging to a group known as the Pharisees. He was passionate and devoted to the Torah of Moses and the traditions of Israel. And he saw Jesus and his followers as a threat. But then he had a radical encounter with the resurrected Jesus, who named him an apostle, the official representative to the world of the peoples who are not Jewish, called Gentiles in the Bible. So we started calling him by his Roman name, Paul.

And he traveled throughout the ancient Roman Empire, telling people about the resurrected King Jesus and then forming followers of him in these communities called churches. And Paul, from time to time wrote letters to these new Jesus communities to help them grow in faith, or to answer questions; and the book of Romans is one of them. It was actually written quite late in his career. From the book of Acts we know that the church in Rome existed for some time, which was made up of Jewish and Gentile followers of Jesus. But once, the Roman emperor Claudius had all the Jews expelled from Rome.

And then, about five years later, all of those Jews, including the Jewish followers of Jesus, were allowed to return. And when they returned, they found a church that had become very Gentile in customs and practices. And this created so much tension that in Paul's day the Roman church was divided. People disagreed about how to follow Jesus, arguing over whether Gentile Christians should keep the Sabbath, eat kosher, or be circumcised. So Paul wrote this letter to accomplish several things. He wanted this divided church to unite. And for practical purposes he hoped that the Roman church could become the initiator, that its mission could reach even further west, even to Spain.

These circumstances motivated Paul to write his full explanation of the gospel, the good news, that he was proclaiming about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The letter is designed in four main movements, but united, like a long summary of the gospel. "The gospel" - says Paul - "first reveals the righteousness of God." And then he also creates a new humanity that fulfills God's promises to Israel. It is precisely this gospel that will unite the church. In this video we will simply explore the ideas from chapters 1 to 4. So, Paul begins by introducing himself as an apostle appointed by God to spread the gospel about Jesus, that He is the Messiah of Israel, that He had risen from the dead. , as Son of God, King of nations.

And Jesus now calls all humanity to submit to his loving rule. And Paul says that this good news about King Jesus is first of all, the power of God to save people who believe in Him and second, that it reveals the righteousness of God. The word 'Justice' for Paul is a rich word from the Old Testament; It describes the character of God, that He always does justice, what is right and good, but also that He is faithful and just to fulfill His promises. And Paul says that the story of Jesus shows how God has done both.

As? First, he gives a long and creative retelling of Genesis chapters 3 through 11. He shows how the entire Gentile world, all nations, are caught in a spiral trap of sin and selfishness. "The heart and mind of man are corrupt," says Paul. We have turned away from God to embrace idolatry, which means finding the ultimate meaning of life in created things and committing the utmost loyalty to these things, which are not God. This leads to a distortion of our human nature and destructive behavior. So what remains is a humanity that pleads guilty before a just God, of whom the people of Israel can say: "It is good, then, that God chose our people from among the nations.

He saved us." slavery in Egypt, He gave us the laws of the Torah, such as the Sabbath, kosher food, and circumcision." And these together show us how to live as God's holy people. But Paul says, "Do not be hasty." Remember the story of the Torah and the rest of the Old Testament, which shows that Israel was as sinful, idolatrous and morally corrupt as all of humanity. Israel is actually more guilty than the Gentiles - says Paul, because they have the Torah and. They should understand it better than others. Thus, Paul concludes: all humanity, the Gentiles, the Israelites, are trapped and guilty before God.

But... this is not the last word. God. Instead of leaving humanity guilty, Jesus came as the Messiah of Israel, to die for all people as a sacrifice for sins, Jesus took upon himself all the just consequences of pain, sin and destruction. death that we have caused in the world. And he conquered it by his resurrection from the dead; it is his new resurrection life that prepares him for others. Jesus became what we are, so that we could become what He is. And all this, Paul says, is how God justifies those who believe in Jesus. 'Justification' is for Paul another rich Old Testament word and is associated with the justice of God.

It literally means "to declare someone righteous." Because of what Jesus did for us, we have been given a new status before God: instead of declaring us guilty, God declares that a person who is in a right relationship with Him is forgiven. Justification results in a new family: the person who believes in Jesus is given a place among God's covenant people. Justification also results in a new future that begins a life-transforming journey through God's grace. Therefore, all these things of justification are the gift of God to those who by faith are in Christ. So this leads Paul in chapter 4 to explore the larger implications of all this for who can be in God's covenant family.

It goes back to the story of Abraham, in Genesis, chapter 15: before any of the laws of the Torah were given to Israel, Abraham was justified, or declared righteous before God. As? God promised Abraham that he would become the father of a large multinational family that would receive God's blessings. But he and his wife, Sarah, were very old and had never been able to have children. But still, Abraham had radical faith in God's promises. Then God declared him righteous. And Paul now says that Abraham has become the father of God's new covenant family and it is spreading throughout the world.

It is made up of Jews and Gentiles who have the same type of faith in the One who fulfilled God's promises to Abraham, Jesus the Messiah. Let's stop and summarize Paul's main ideas in chapters 1 through 4, because they are the basis for understanding the rest of the letter. All humanity is hopelessly trapped in sin and needs to be saved. However, salvation will not come from people who try to obey the laws of the Torah. However, God's righteous character has led him to save the world through the death and resurrection of Jesus. So that He would create Abraham's multinational faith-based family as his new covenant people.

So Paul will continue to show how this new family is part of something much, much bigger, leading them into a whole new way of life together. But it will all be rooted in these basic ideas, explored in chapters 1 through 4 of Paul's letter to the Romans.