Romans - Introduction (2)

Additional Background Information

(Most of the following is summarised from Keener).

Romans is the longest letter in the New Testament and we need to remember that they didn’t have word processors in those days! It was produced by Paul dictating it to a scribe, Tertius, who wrote it down on papyrus. It has been estimated that the cost in today’s terms would have been about £1500 (Keener). The average length of a letter in those days was about 87 words. The average length of Paul’s letters is about 2500 words, Romans is over 7000 words. So Romans was a significant entity. Romans is sometimes thought to be a difficult book, and does indeed deal with deep matters and is one of the most profound items of literature in existence. However, it was also written to normal people and is designed to be understood by normal people.

There were two key types of education in the Greco-Roman world: philosophy and rhetoric. Rhetoric was concerned with communication and persuasion and was the dominant form and the rhetorical form of argument was common in society. We see this in Romans where Paul addresses rhetorical questions (“someone will say ....”), and it is possible that Paul may have had some training in rhetoric. However, his main cultural background was Judaism and the Law.

A key theme of Romans, and indeed of the whole of the New Testament, is that Jesus is the fulfilment of the Old Testament. He is the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament, and Christianity, therefore, is the natural continuation of Judaism. Judaism itself was very diverse. In the New Testament we see the distinction between the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The Pharisees believed in a resurrection, and expected a messiah. So at one level Paul could be seen as a Pharisee who realised that the Messiah had now come, whereas most Pharisees failed to see this at all.

The common Christian view of the Pharisees is that they believed in a works righteousness. While there is some truth in this, it is far from being a complete picture. They believed that they were saved by grace, and works confirmed their place in the covenant. The “new perspective” has emphasised this aspect. While the new perspective may over emphasise somethings, the “everything is works” view of Judaism is too simplistic. The truth is probably that Judaism involved both grace and works righteousness.

The fundamental point of difference between Paul (and the gospel) and Judaism was the centrality of the grace that God has shown, and exercised, in Christ, and the all encompassing effect of that grace.

At the time that Romans was written, the city of Rome had a population of between a quarter of a million and one million, and somewhere between 20 and 50 thousand Jews. Roman culture was reasonably accepting of diversity, though Jews did face some prejudice. This was partly as a result of their success in winning converts. Particular aspects which brought resentment were circumcision, the Sabbath and food customs. The Jews themselves were open to the dominant culture, this together with their Jewish roots made them a ripe target for evangelisation. The Jews had been expelled from Rome in AD 49 (Acts 18:2), this expulsion order was repealed in AD 54. One outcome of this was that Gentiles probably comprised the majority of Christians. Anyway, the church probably consisted mostly of Gentiles, but with a significant number of Jewish believers, and certainly a significant Jewish influences. So Paul could assume a reasonable knowledge of the Old Testament and its background. Paul’s letter deals with the relationship between Jewish and Gentile believers, and with how the gospel fits in with the Old Testament.

Romans and Galatians are the two letters where Paul addresses the relationship of the gospel and the Old Testament in most depth. However, the tenor of the two letters is quite different. Galatians is much more personal and polemical, whereas Romans is more “academic”.

Romans - Introduction (1)

Introduction

Well this should keep us going for a while! Romans is the most systematically theological of all of Paul’s letters, with the most complete and in-depth presentation of the gospel. These notes aren’t a commentary as such so I don’t, for the most part, give references and footnotes. However, I do want to make clear that anything useful I say either comes directly from the work, or is built upon, the work of others. So here are the main sources that I have learnt from:

The commentary that I have made most use of is Epistle to the Romans - Leon Morris. At the moment I am reading Craig Keener’s commentary on Romans. Another commentary I have is Romans - FF Bruce

Other books that have influenced me are:  

Paul, Apostle of the Free Spirit - FF Bruce

Justification: God’s Plan and Paul’s Vision - NT Wright

Paul: Fresh Perspectives - NT Wright

More general sources include my NIV study Bible, my Bible Dictionary, and Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology.

There is virtually no one who doubts that Romans was written by Paul the Apostle. The most likely date for its writing is 57 AD, and was written during Paul’s third missionary journey. He was on his way back to Jerusalem, taking with him a gift from the various Gentile churches to help the church in Jerusalem, which was undergoing hard times. Paul knew that things would be difficult in Jerusalem, and many warned him against going there. After that he wanted to visit Rome, a place he had not been to at that point, and after that to go to Spain. As we know from Acts, things were indeed difficult in Jerusalem, with attempts on his life. However, through all this he did end up going to Rome, though he never made it to Spain. Paul was probably in Corinth, or nearby in Cenchreae, when he wrote the letter.

Unlike letters like Galatians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Philippians etc, Romans is not really dealing with a specific church situation. Rather it is a systematic presentation and explanation of the gospel. It covers:

• the universality of the gospel, ie the need of all people to be saved by Christ;
• the effect of the gospel on our lives;
• the place of Israel in the gospel;
• addressing some practical issues.

In order to understand Romans it can be useful to have the following always in mind:

• Sin is our biggest problem, indeed is the root of all our problems
• We need to be forgiven for our sins (justification)
• We need to be transformed (sanctification, renewal)

Justification and sanctification go together, the Bible knows nothing of one without the other. The notion of someone believing the gospel but not been changed is utterly alien to the Bible.

Philippians 4:18-23 - Greetings

4:18

We are taking all this a verse at a time, but we need to remember that we should really look at the whole section at once. Paul makes it clear that he now has everything he needs and is no longer in need. Moreover, the gifts were a fragrant offering, ie they were acceptable to the Lord. Paul is using language from the Law on offerings and sacrifices here. So he is mixing accounting language with religious language. We should also note that their gifts were “pleasing to God”. We rightly remember that we are sinners and are saved purely by the grace and mercy of God through Jesus Christ. However, we can do things that do actually please God. They do not earn salvation in any way, but we are in a relationship with God, and in a relationship one party can do things that please the other. We need to appreciate this, not so that we become proud, but so that our relationship with the Lord deepens.

4:19

Giving to Paul may well have been very costly for the Philippians, but after all the spiritual blessings of sharing in the work of the gospel Paul assures them that God will also meet all their needs. Note the personal “my God”. God is not an abstract concept, He is the living God who made us, who knows us, and who makes Himself known to us. The needs that God will supply will be both spiritual and material. We always want to separate the two, but in reality they go together. And God supplies these according to the “riches of His glory in Christ Jesus”. In Christ we have everything, all of God’s plans are fulfilled in and through Christ.

4:20

All this culminates in an outburst of praise, all this being everything that has gone before in the letter. God’s plans are perfect and wonderful beyond our comprehension. Men hate God, but we should love Him, for His plans are always for the best. When we put our trust in Him we find this to be true.

4:21-23

We now come to the close of the letter. “Greet all God’s people in Christ Jesus” (NIV) is actually “Greet every saint in Christ Jesus” (ESV). In the Bible “saint” does not refer to a “special” Christian, but to anyone who belongs to Christ. “those of Caesar's household” probably refers to anyone who worked in the emperor’s service, rather than implying that someone in the emperor’s family had been converted.

The letter started with grace and it finishes with grace.

Philippians 4:14-17 - Sharing troubles

4:14

In this whole section Paul seems to be walking a fine line between making sure the Philippians know that he valued and appreciated their gifts and support, and at the same time making sure they know he is confident in the Lord’s support, and is not trying to get money out of them. Here Paul expresses his appreciation of their sharing in his troubles. In giving to him they were demonstrating their support for him.

4:15,16

After reaching Philippi (Acts 16:12-40) Paul had then gone on to Corinth, which is in Macedonia (Acts 17:14-16; 18:1-4). At this point, very soon after having come to faith, the Philippians gave to Paul, and indeed were the only church to do so. In this whole section Paul uses a fair amount of commercial language. Here the “giving and receiving” is actually better translated “crediting and debiting”.

4:17

Paul continues with the financial language. He stresses that he is not after their money, but rather he seeks the fruit that comes from it, ie the spread of the gospel, and this adds to their credit. Now there are some interesting things to learn here. There is the so-called prosperity gospel, and there are those who are essentially using the gospel to make money, often taking money from the poor. This can include things like offering to pray in return for a gift. Such things are repugnant, and indeed similar stuff was around in Paul’s day and he speaks about it in other letters, especially 1 and 2 Corinthians. However, in reacting against these sort of abuses we need to be careful that we do not go to the other extreme, and do not condemn people or actions that do not merit condemnation. The church should speak about money, for the Bible certainly does. We should seek to see gifts yield a harvest, a harvest of expansion of the kingdom. And I am actually blessed if I give, the more I give the better my life is. Now this might sometimes show itself in material terms, sometimes it won’t. But our God is a giving God, so we should be a giving people.Just because a preacher speaks in financial terms does not mean they are a charlatan, for Paul spoke using financial terms.

Philippians 4:12,13 - The secret of contentment

4:12

Paul had times when he had plenty and times when he had little. We know from Acts that there were times when he was shipwrecked, beaten, imprisoned, left for dead. Paul was not speaking from a position of ease and comfort, but from a lifetime of experience of all sorts of situations. In all of them he could find peace through Christ. Note that this verse is also yet another counter to some prosperity teaching. Paul, the greatest apostle there was, had times of plenty and had times of little. Some prosperity teaching is utterly superficial and wrong. At the same time, note that he also had times of plenty.

4:13

NIV says “I can do all this ...”, ESV has the more familiar version “I can do all things ...” Now we need to note the context of this, so that we understand this properly. Paul’s focus in life was to make known the gospel of Christ (Acts 20:24). This is not a verse saying Christ gives us the strength to do anything we want, it is a verse saying that He gives us the ability to do whatever He commands us to do. When we have a God given task or mission there will be times when we feel everything is against us and we cannot go on. In such circumstances we should take heart and learn to receive more of the power of God. The “all this” in the NIV is Paul’s ability to be content in all circumstances, and his ability and motivation to preach the gospel, even when in captivity with a possible death sentence hanging over him, and to be full of joy in the midst of it!

Philippians 4:10,11 - To be content

4:10

“At last you renewed your concern for me” seems to have a note of “about time too” about it, but the second half of the verse would seem to indicate that this is not the case. It should be noted that while there are various warnings and corrections in Philippians Paul is not dealing with a deep-rooted problem, rather he is warding off potential dangers and dealing with things before they become a serious issue. He generally had a very good relationship with the Philippians.

4:11

Apparently they had sent a gift of some money. Paul appreciated the gift, but did not want them to think he was in desperate straits. In himself he was at peace because he had learnt to be content whatever the circumstances. The normal state of man is that our peace and well being is governed by our circumstances, this is the result of the fall, of rebelling against God and seeking to live independently of Him. In Christ our peace is not governed by the circumstances, but by our relationship with Him. This is a complete change in approach to life and this is why we need to learn this. We need to unlearn our old way of life and learn the new way of life. This is what Paul had done.

Philippians 4:8,9 - Noble thoughts

4:8

We now get one of the best known verses in Philippians, “Whatever is noble ...” This follows on from the previous words about anxiety and is part of the antidote for worry. If we spend our time focusing on unworthy things, on hateful or sordid things then it will have all sorts of detrimental effects on our lives. One of these will be that it provides a fertile soil for fear and anxiety to breed in. Instead we should focus on good and noble things. “Think about such things” is stronger than merely pondering them, it means taking into account, ie making them part of the basis for our world view and approach to life. Think about the good and the positive. Now this does not mean we live in some sort of pollyannaish world, totally blind to the realities of life, but if we delight in the negative, delight in gossip, delight in intrigue and conspiracies it will most definitely have a negative effect on us and will not produce the fruit of the gospel.

4:9

An important part of this focusing on whatever is noble is focusing on people of good character. We must not make idols out of people, for any person you choose will have their own collection of faults and at some point those will come to the fore and you will be disappointed if you have made an idol out of them (and that includes making idols out of husbands or wives). However, we should all seek to be examples, there should be some aspects of our lives that others can learn from positively. We should be moving in the right direction. This was true of Paul, so he urges the Philippians to imitate him, to learn from him. If we seek to live lives of integrity then peace will be part of the fruit. If we focus on the negative things then peace will not be ours, but as we walk in step with the Spirit we will find that the God of peace will be with us. Now remember that the chapter and verse numbers are a very late addition to the Bible. This is all part of Paul’s teaching on dealing with anxiety. See the emphasis on what God does. He guards our hearts and minds, and He is with us. What do we do? We do not seek to directly control our thoughts, rather we focus on doing good, focusing on the good. These are the things that will bring true peace.