Setting
Scholars are unanimous that Paul wrote Romans from Corinth or nearby Cenchreae (Ro 16:1) somewhere between AD 55 and 58, but they hold a variety of views concerning the circumstances that form the letter’s background. Pious Jews or Gentile converts to Judaism had believed the gospel and then introduced it to Rome (Ac 2:10–11), laying the theological foundations for the churches there. This may explain the heavy consideration of Scripture and traditional Jewish themes in Paul’s letter to the Romans.
A key issue faced by the Roman church shortly before Paul wrote was the expulsion of Jewish Christians, or at least their most prominent leaders, from Rome probably in AD 49 (Ac 18:1–2). Five years later, in AD 54, the edict was repealed and those who wished to return did so. Many scholars believe that this new influx of Jewish believers in Jesus led to some debates with Gentile Christians who may have composed the church’s majority in the preceding half decade. Certainly the need for Jewish and Gentile believers to welcome one another figures strategically in Romans (15:7–12). Although most of the believers there now appear to be Gentiles (1:6, 13; 11:13), some of the leaders of house (or apartment) churches in ch. 16 are Jewish.
Rome had an estimated population of one million residents; of these, many were slaves and many others were noncitizen immigrants from the provinces, including an estimated 40,000 to 50,000 Jewish residents. Most people lived in multistory apartment buildings. Wealthier residents and businesses occupied the ground floor, which often had access to running water, but most tenants lived in the flimsier and tinier higher stories. Most of the earliest members of the Roman church, both Jewish and Gentile, were predominantly Greek-speaking; many had immigrated from further east. When examining background, readers of Romans and Paul’s other letters should keep in mind that Jews in many parts of the empire had absorbed Greek language and elements of Greek culture for centuries. Many Greek ideas and expressions were by this period also found in Judaism. The traditional dichotomy between Jewish and Gentile, then, does not always apply with respect to culture, except for distinctively Jewish practices. Moreover, not all Jews held identical views or practices.
Themes
A primary emphasis in Romans is that both Jew and Gentile are put right with God the same way, through Jesus Christ (1:16–17; 3:22, 29–30; 15:8–9). Most Jewish people believed that God had chosen and saved his people Israel because of his love; grace was not, therefore, a foreign concept to them. Nevertheless, in various Jewish movements some views and practices probably mitigated this dependence on grace, as also happens among Christians today. Moreover, to fully convert to Judaism, Gentiles had to be circumcised (if male) and agree to observe the Law of Moses: significant hurdles to those not circumcised as infants or raised with the law as part of their culture. Yet Paul proclaims that God’s covenant faithfulness and love declared in the Scriptures has climaxed in Jesus’ death and resurrection, and truly embracing God’s covenant now must include acknowledging Jesus as the rightful Lord. Reception of the promised, transforming Spirit (Eze 36:26–27; Joel 2:28–29) takes priority over physical circumcision and laws that merely prepared for this transformation. Gentile followers of Jesus are thus now welcomed into God’s covenant on the same terms as Jewish people.
Thus, Paul argues, Jews and Gentiles are equally lost (1:18–3:20) but can both be made right with God through Christ and relying on him (1:16–17; 3:21–30). God values spiritual more than ethnic descent from Abraham (4:1–5:11), for all are sinful descendants of Adam (5:12–21). The law can teach about righteousness but does not impart it (ch. 7) unless written on the heart by the Spirit (8:2). God is not obligated to choose for salvation based on ethnic descent from Abraham (ch. 9). Gentile Christians, however, should respect Jewish believers and honor their shared heritage (ch. 11). The heart of God’s law is loving one another (13:8–10). Believers should not look down on one another’s food practices or holy days (14:1–15:2). Jews and Gentiles should welcome one another in Christ (15:6–12), as Jesus came for both (vv. 7–9). Paul, a Jewish minister to the Gentiles, was bringing an offering for needy Jewish believers from the Gentile churches, who recognized their shared heritage with the Jewish people (15:25–27). Beware, Paul warns, of divisions (16:17), which in Rome probably included divisions over the role of law practice in salvation and in membership among God’s people. ◆
Quick Glance
Author:
The apostle Paul
Audience:
The church in Rome, predominantly Gentile but including a minority of Jews
Date:
About AD 57
Theme:
Paul writes to the church in Rome to present his basic statement of the gospel: God’s plan of salvation for all peoples, Jew and Gentile alike.