Romans 1:1–32: The Gospel of God and the Wrath of God (two sessions)
The gospel of God concerning his Son
See how Paul introduces himself, his gospel, and his readers: the gospel God promised in the Scriptures concerns his Son, the heir of David installed in power by the resurrection, and it is God's power for salvation to everyone who believes, because in it the righteousness of God is revealed by faith (1:16–17, the theme of the whole letter).
Outline
- Paul, the gospel of God, and the Son: the greetingRom 1:1–7
- Thanksgiving, prayer, and Paul's obligation to preach in RomeRom 1:8–15
- The theme: the gospel, God's power for salvation; the righteousness of God revealed by faithRom 1:16–17
observation · 5
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).
interpretation · 7
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.
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.”
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.
application · 3
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?
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