“THE BOOK OF ROMANS” Part 2 of 8

 

WHY DID PAUL WRITE HIS LETTER TO THE ROMANS?

Paul wanted to let the Christians at Rome know that he was on his way there. He writes Romans around 57 AD and this is before God told Paul around 61AD, (Acts 23:11) that he would send him to Rome. At the time of writing the Book of Romans Paul did not feel sure that he would get away from Jerusalem alive (Rom 15:31). As a result it seemed a very good idea to get down on paper a written explanation of the true nature of the gospel of Christ according to God’s doctrine through Paul. After all, as the apostle to the Gentiles, it was only fitting that he leave a written copy in the world’s capital on the nature and gospel of Christ. Of course, as we have seen, Rome and the Roman Catholic ‘church’ has been the most violent and deadly to Christians for two thousand years and therefore Paul sends God’s sword direct into the eye of Satan who sits and has his own ‘church’ in Rome.

THE BACKGROUND TO THE ROMAN EPISTLE

It was the common Jewish belief of the finality of Moses and his laws as the final expression of the will of God. There was Jewish insistence that Gentiles who would become Christians must be circumcised and keep the Laws of Moses. Indeed, Christianity had its foundation taken from the Jewish religion and powerful Jewish leaders were determined to keep it so. Circumcision was the physical rite which stood as the initial ceremony in the Jewish naturalisation of Gentiles.

 

PAUL’S MAIN THEME AND INSISTENCE  - THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD

All men are sinful and the law is the cause. Man’s acceptance with God does not depend on man trying to keep God’s laws – he can’t. Why? They are pure and holy and man is not. God’s laws bring out the sin in man.

So God solved the problem by becoming a man, Jesus Christ, to fulfil the law on man’s behalf. Entry into heaven can only be by perfect obedience to God’s laws. Man can’t do it, so Christ did it on behalf of all men. We get into heaven by the obedience of Christ. Man’s acceptance with God does not depend on what man has done, but on what Christ has done for him.

 

IMPORTANCE OF ROMANS

The eternal question that man has always had, is best summed up by Job in the Old Testament, when he says How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman? Job 25:4 . Paul’s epistle to the Romans leaves us in no doubt.

Romans is a reasoned argument that outlines salvation on how to get the right-eousness of God.

Romans tells us how to get right with God, that is, how to have right standing with God.

 

God gives Paul the most skilful and surgical of words that leaves no-one in doubt on how to get to heaven. Like the rest of the King James Bible, the book of Romans, as written in the English (that means no Greek of Hebrew needed), is a legal document that can stand the scrutiny of any courtroom in the land.

 

TERMS OF ROMANS

These are salvation words, strong words and Bible words. No wonder the world hates them. No wonder the New King James Version wants to water them down:

Justified, righteousness, redemption, propitiation, the law, sin, grace, faith, imputed righteousness, flesh, spirit, justification, redemption, propitiation, remission, imputation, impartation, regeneration, reconciliation, spiritual circumcision, adoption, sanctification, resurrection, glorification, temptation, reformation, restitution, visitation, salvation, predestination.

 

CHAPTER SUMMARIES

“Jesus Christ – The Righteousness of God”

 

C1-C3 All are sinners

C1 = The obvious ‘bad’ sinners

         Man’s blatant and sinful mockery of

         God. The universal and open 

         ungodliness & unrighteousness of all    

C2  = The hidden ‘good’sinners

         Hypocrisy & self-righteousness 

         All have judged - especially the Jew

C3  = All have sinned

         Jews & Gentiles are all sinners

         The law exposes sin

         The law of faith is the answer

         Justification

 

C4-C5 Justification

C4 = Abraham’s faith  

     Justified without works

     Imputed righteousness

C5 = Adam vs Christ

        Christ died for the ungodly

        We are justified by his blood.

 

C6-C8 Subduing the flesh

C6 = Daily struggle with sin

        We are to be servants of righteousness

C7 = Dead to the law

        The law is holy

        Our natures of flesh are evil

C8 = No condemnation

        Comfort if walking after the Spirit

 

C9-C11 Israel

C9   = Israel

          Paul’s heaviness & sorrow for them

C10 = Israel

          Paul’s desire they be saved

C11 = Israel

          Not been cast away

 

C12-C15 Service

C12 = Living sacrifices

          Christian behaviour

C13 = Higher powers

          Our duty towards government

C14 = Weak in faith.

          Our duty towards weaker brethren

C15 = Christian love

          We are not to please ourselves

 

C16 Salutations & warning

C16 = Salutations

          Rome’s idol is their belly

 

**** ****

Harley Hitchcock

www.
AustralianBibleMinistries
.com

THE BOOK OFPart 3 of 8

 

 

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