Romans 1:1–32: The Gospel of God and the Wrath of God (two sessions)

Read Rom 1:1. Paul describes himself in three ways before he even names his readers. List them. In “called” and “set apart,” who is doing the calling and the setting apart?

According to 1:2–4, where did the gospel come from, and whom is it about? Write down the two things 1:3–4 says about God's Son, and notice the matching phrases “according to the flesh” and “through the Spirit of holiness.”

In 1:1–7, find each time someone is “called.” Who is called, and to what? Then look at the greeting in 1:7: from whom do grace and peace come?

Read 1:8–15. What does Paul thank God for, what does he pray for, and why does he want to come to Rome? How does he correct himself in 1:12? To whom does he say he is “obligated” (1:14)?

Rom 1:16–17 is built as a chain of “because” and “for” clauses. Trace the chain: Paul is eager to preach, because … because … because … just as it is written. Then list the key words of these two verses (for example power, salvation, everyone who believes, Jew and Greek, righteousness, faith, live).

Some readers take 1:4 to mean that Jesus became God's Son at his resurrection. What in 1:3 rules that out? Read 2 Sam 7:12–14 and Ps 2:7. What is the resurrection, according to Paul, if not the start of Jesus' sonship?

What might Paul mean by the contrast “according to the flesh” (1:3) and “according to the Spirit of holiness” (1:4)? Look at Isa 63:10–11 and Ps 51:11, where the Old Testament speaks of God's “Holy Spirit.” How does that background help?

In 1:7 grace and peace come “from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” What does it say about Jesus that Paul names him alongside the Father as the source of grace and peace? Compare Rom 10:9–13.

Paul's apostleship aims at “the obedience that comes from faith” (1:5, BSB), literally “the obedience of faith.” How are faith and obedience related in this phrase? Compare 10:16, and keep 3:28 and 4:5 in view.

Why might Paul need to say “I am not ashamed of the gospel” (1:16)? What does it mean that the gospel is “the power of God,” and not only news about salvation? What does “first to the Jew, then to the Greek” mean, given that salvation is “to everyone who believes”?

What is “the righteousness of God” that the gospel reveals (1:17)? Is it God's own justice, a righteousness God gives, or something else? Read Rom 3:21–26, Rom 10:3, and Phil 3:9, and ask what kind of righteousness fits a gospel that is “the power of God for salvation.”

Read Hab 2:1–4 and compare it with the quotation in Rom 1:17. What was Habakkuk told to do while the vision lingered? How does that help you understand what Paul means by living “by faith”? What might “from faith to faith” (literal) mean?

Paul's identity begins with whom he belongs to and who called him (1:1), and the Roman believers are likewise “called to belong to Jesus Christ” and “called to be saints” (1:6–7). Where do you look for your identity? How would receiving it as God's call and gift change the way you serve and the way you see yourself?

Where are you tempted to be ashamed of the gospel, or to speak of it as merely good advice? If the gospel is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes,” how should that shape your confidence in sharing it, and with whom?

Paul was eager to preach the gospel to people who already believed (1:15), and he hoped that he and they would be “mutually encouraged by each other's faith” (1:12). How can your group keep returning to the gospel, and how can you strengthen one another's faith this week?