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

Says Paul calls himself δοῦλος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ (doulos Christou Iēsou, “a servant of Christ Jesus”), κλητὸς ἀπόστολος (klētos apostolos, “called to be an apostle”), and ἀφωρισμένος εἰς εὐαγγέλιον θεοῦ (aphōrismenos eis euangelion theou, “set apart for the gospel of God”).

Implies The word δοῦλος (doulos) has two sides. In Paul's world it meant ownership and total obligation, so he belongs wholly to Christ. In the Greek Old Testament “servant of the Lord” is also a title of honor for Moses, David, and the prophets, and Paul puts Christ Jesus where the Old Testament has the Lord. Implies The two passives, “called” and “set apart,” make God the one who commissions. Paul's office is not self-appointed (compare Gal 1:1, 15).

Uncertain Whether to render δοῦλος (doulos) “slave” or “servant” in English. A suggested pun on “Pharisee” in ἀφωρισμένος (aphōrismenos) cannot be shown from the text; do not build on it.

Says God “promised beforehand” this gospel “through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures” (1:2). It is the gospel “of God” (1:1) and “regarding His Son” (1:3). Two clauses describe the Son, each with a phrase built on κατά (kata, “according to”): he came “from the seed of David” κατὰ σάρκα (kata sarka, “according to the flesh,” 1:3), and he was “appointed Son of God in power” κατὰ πνεῦμα ἁγιωσύνης (kata pneuma hagiōsynēs, “according to the Spirit of holiness”) “by the resurrection of the dead” (1:4). The BSB renders the second clause “declared with power to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead.”

Implies “Of God” names the gospel's source, and its content is the Son. The prophets' “good news” of God's reign (Isa 40:9; 52:7) is the primary background of εὐαγγέλιον (euangelion, “gospel, good news”).

Says Paul is a “called” apostle (1:1). The readers are “called to belong to Jesus Christ” (1:6) and “called to be saints” (κλητοῖς ἁγίοις, klētois hagiois, 1:7). The greeting is “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (1:7).

Implies The same word, κλητός (klētos, “called”), describes Paul and the Romans. In both cases calling is God's act, and the readers' holiness is a status given by that call, not their own achievement.

Says Paul thanks God “through Jesus Christ” because the Romans' faith “is being proclaimed all over the world” (1:8). He prays constantly that he may at last come to them (1:9–10). He wants to share “some spiritual gift” to strengthen them, and then at once adds, “that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith” (1:11–12). He has often planned to come but has been “prevented” (1:13); in 15:19–23 he explains that his unfinished work in the east held him back. He is ὀφειλέτης (opheiletēs, “a debtor, obligated”) “both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish” (1:14), so he is eager to preach the gospel “also to you who are in Rome” (1:15).

Implies The correction in 1:12 is tactful: Paul did not found this church, and he presents his visit as mutual blessing, not inspection (compare 15:20). “Greeks and non-Greeks” (literally “barbarians,” βάρβαροι, barbaroi) divides humanity by language and culture, and “wise and foolish” by education. Together they mean everyone.

Says Romans 1:16 begins with γάρ (gar, “for”), which the BSB leaves untranslated. Paul is eager to preach in Rome because he is not ashamed of the gospel. He is not ashamed of it because it is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Greek” (1:16). It is that power because in it “the righteousness of God” is revealed by faith (1:17), “just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith’” (1:17, citing Hab 2:4).

Implies Each clause gives the reason for the one before it. This chain makes 1:16–17 the theme of the letter, and the argument of chapters 1–11 unfolds its terms. Encourage the group to keep this list; they will meet these words again throughout Romans.

Implies The Son exists as Son before both clauses. Paul names him “His Son” first, and only then says he “came from” David's line. Romans 1:4 therefore does not teach that Jesus became God's Son at the resurrection. It describes his installation, as the Son already, in messianic power and rule (compare 8:3, 32; Gal 4:4).

Says God promised David, “I will raise up your descendant after you,” promised to establish the throne of his kingdom forever, and said, “I will be his Father, and he will be My son” (2 Sam 7:12–14). Ps 2:7 applies the father–son language to the Davidic king on the day of his enthronement: “You are My Son; today I have become Your Father.” Implies “From the seed of David” presents Jesus as the promised heir of 2 Sam 7, and the resurrection as his enthronement in the sense of Ps 2 (compare Acts 13:33, where Paul applies Ps 2:7 to the resurrection).

Says ὁρισθέντος (horisthentos) comes from ὁρίζω (horizō), which in its other New Testament uses means “determine, appoint” (Acts 10:42; 17:31). Uncertain Whether to render it “appointed” or “declared” (BSB). Usage favors “appointed, installed”; “declared” is a defensible rendering of the same idea, since the Son was installed in a position, not made Son. Uncertain Whether ἐν δυνάμει (en dynamei, “in power”) goes with “Son of God” (“Son-of-God-in-power,” the team's preference) or with the verb (“powerfully declared”).

Uncertain The sense of κατὰ σάρκα (kata sarka) / κατὰ πνεῦμα ἁγιωσύνης (kata pneuma hagiōsynēs). There are three main construals: 1. Two natures, human and divine. This is the patristic and Reformation reading. It is true theology, but “flesh and spirit” is not Paul's usual way of speaking of Christ's deity. 2. Two eras or orders. The Son lived in the order of the flesh before the resurrection and is exalted in the order of the Spirit after it (compare 8:4–9; Gal 4:29). 3. The Holy Spirit as agent. πνεῦμα ἁγιωσύνης (pneuma hagiōsynēs) would then be a Semitic-style way of saying “Holy Spirit.”

The team holds (2) and (3) together: the Spirit who raised Jesus (8:11) installs him in power. This does not deny (1), and all three affirm the Son's deity. The Hebrew background supports (3): Isa 63:10–11 speaks of רוּחַ קָדְשׁוֹ (ruakh qodsho, “his Holy Spirit,” literally “the spirit of his holiness”), and Ps 51:11 (MT 51:13; LXX 50:13) uses the same construct idiom. Paul's ἁγιωσύνης (hagiōsynēs, “of holiness”) stands closer to that Hebrew wording than the Greek Old Testament's adjective does.

Let the group weigh the options; the passage does not require the group to settle this question.

Says The greeting is “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (1:7). Implies One preposition, ἀπό (apo, “from”), governs both persons, so Jesus is named with the Father as the source of divine grace and peace. Paul also gives the Lord's name to Jesus as κύριος (kyrios, “Lord”) in 10:9–13, citing Joel 2:32 (MT 3:5). Together these imply his deity. No mere creature is named in a greeting as a source of grace.

Uncertain The phrase εἰς ὑπακοὴν πίστεως (eis hypakoēn pisteōs, “for the obedience of faith”) can be read three ways: 1. Source: obedience that springs from faith (the BSB's rendering). 2. Apposition: obedience that consists in faith, so that believing the gospel is itself obeying God. Compare 10:16, where “not all obeyed the gospel” (literal) is paired with Isaiah's “who has believed our message?” 3. Objective: obedience to “the faith” as a body of teaching. This is unlikely, because πίστεως (pisteōs, “of faith”) has no article.

The team prefers the source reading, with apposition close behind. The two overlap: faith submits to God's word, and obedience flows from faith. Present the options; do not press the group to choose.

Implies On any reading, the phrase does not make obedience a ground of justification. A person is justified by faith apart from works of the law (3:28), and faith is credited as righteousness to “the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly” (4:5). Faith and obedience are distinct but never separated (6:16–17; 15:18).

Says The same phrase recurs at Rom 16:26, in the closing doxology (Rom 16:25–27). Its place differs by edition (RP prints the doxology after 14:23; SBLGNT gives it only in its apparatus). Implies The repetition frames the whole letter.

Implies “Not ashamed” is litotes, an understatement that means “I boldly confess.” It also faces a real social pressure: a crucified Messiah was “foolishness” to Greeks (1 Cor 1:18–25), and Jesus warned of being ashamed of him (Mark 8:38).

Says The gospel is δύναμις θεοῦ (dynamis theou, “God's power,” 1:16). Implies The gospel does not merely describe salvation; through it God acts to save (compare 1 Cor 1:18; 1 Thess 1:5).

Implies “First,” πρῶτον (prōton), is a historical and covenant priority, and it does not make Jews more or less saved. The promises came first to Israel (3:1–2; 9:4–5). The same condition, faith, applies to all with “no distinction” (3:22; 10:12). Text note: the team prints πρῶτον (prōton) with high confidence. The Byzantine text and the TR read “the gospel of Christ” in 1:16, but the gospel in view is the same.

The phrase δικαιοσύνη θεοῦ (dikaiosynē theou, “righteousness of God”) is the most debated phrase in the letter. The approved commentary takes it in three steps, and its labels follow how certain each step is.

Says God's righteousness “is revealed” in the gospel (1:17), by faith, and is linked to the righteous person living “by faith” (Hab 2:4). It belongs to a gospel that is “the power of God for salvation” (1:16).

Implies At 1:17 the phrase names God's saving righteousness, which reaches people through faith. It does not name his punitive justice, which is the subject of 1:18. The Old Testament prepares for this: “The Lord has proclaimed His salvation and revealed His righteousness to the nations” (Ps 98:2; compare Isa 46:13; 51:5–8).

Implies Read with 3:21–26, 10:3, and Phil 3:9, the phrase includes both God's saving action and the righteous status he gives to believers. Phil 3:9 sets “my own righteousness from the law” against “the righteousness from God on the basis of faith.” The team therefore holds “a righteousness from God” that includes the saving act by which God gives it. Uncertain Whether the genitive is formally “from God” (source) or “God's own” (subjective); the team's reading does not depend on the label (note.language.Rom.1.17.dikaiosyne-theou).

Major views, by name (reported, not the team's own claims): God's own justice or covenant faithfulness (clearly in view at 3:5 and 3:25–26); a status given by God and received by faith (the Reformation reading of Luther and Calvin, defended today by Westerholm and Moo); God's saving power that lays claim to creation (Käsemann); and God's faithfulness to his covenant with Israel (Wright, Dunn), which Seifrid questions from the Hebrew Scriptures' use of “righteousness.”

Uncertain How far “covenant faithfulness” is part of the meaning at 1:17 itself. The team holds that the gift sense is primary at 1:17, with God's faithfulness as the ground behind the gift.

Implies The righteousness God gives is credited (imputed) to believers, not produced in them as the ground of their acceptance. The approved doctrinal note grounds this in Rom 4:3–8; 5:18–19; Phil 3:9, not in 1:17. Uncertain Whether these passages require the imputation of Christ's own active obedience is debated among Protestants; the team holds that they support it (WCF 11.1). Keep the doctrine for the Romans 4–5 study.

Says God's righteousness is revealed ἐκ πίστεως εἰς πίστιν (ek pisteōs eis pistin, “from faith to faith”; BSB “by faith from start to finish”). Uncertain The sense of the phrase. The main options are: (1) intensive, “by faith from start to finish” (compare 2 Cor 2:16, “from death to death”); (2) from God's faithfulness to human faith; (3) from the faith of preachers to the faith of hearers (compare 10:14–17); (4) growth in faith. The team prefers (1): it is the simplest reading of the idiom and suits “everyone who believes” (1:16).

Uncertain Whose faith is meant: the believer's, God's faithfulness, or Christ's faithfulness. The team reads it as the believer's faith, because 1:16 has just named “everyone who believes” and Paul uses ἐκ πίστεως (ek pisteōs) of human faith elsewhere (Gal 3:11–12; Rom 3:30; 5:1).

Says Paul cites Hab 2:4 as “The righteous will live by faith,” with no pronoun. The Hebrew reads בֶּאֱמוּנָתוֹ (be'emunato, “by his faithfulness”), built on emunah, “steadiness, faithfulness, reliance.” The Greek Old Testament reads “by my faithfulness.” Implies Omitting the pronoun lets the citation focus on faith as the way the righteous person lives. Faithfulness in the Hebrew is the steady trust that holds to God's word, as the vision of Hab 2:2–3 required (“though it lingers, wait for it”). The righteous person depends on God, and that dependence is what Paul calls faith.

Uncertain Whether “by faith” goes with “the righteous” (“the one who is righteous by faith will live”) or with “will live.” The meanings converge, and the team keeps the BSB rendering.

Implies Paul uses the same verse in Gal 3:11, and Abraham's faith “credited as righteousness” (Gen 15:6; Rom 4:3) is the pattern behind both passages.

Grounding: Says Paul is a servant of Christ Jesus, a called apostle, set apart for the gospel of God (1:1); the readers are called to belong to Jesus Christ and called to be saints (1:6–7). Implies Calling is God's act, and the readers' holiness is a status given by that call, not their own achievement. Keep the discussion on these points; do not build on the debated rendering “slave” or “servant.”

Grounding: Says The gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Greek (1:16). Implies “Not ashamed” means bold confession in the face of real social pressure, and the gospel is the means by which God saves, not only a report of salvation. Faith is the one condition for all. Keep application on these points, not on the open questions of 1:17.

Grounding: Says Paul wants to share some spiritual gift and then corrects himself: “that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith” (1:11–12). Implies Preaching the gospel to believers (1:15) shows that for Paul the gospel is not only the entry message but the whole message the church goes on to learn. Paul presents his visit as mutual blessing, not inspection.