Paul’s life did not always go according to plan. He intended to take the message of Christ to Rome and onward to Spain (Rom. 15:28). But this visionary was willing to scrap his own plans if God opened other doors. For example, Paul made a complete reversal at Troas, obeying God’s command to take the gospel west rather than east (Acts 16:6–10). This doesn’t mean that planning is pointless or that we shouldn’t act without specific instructions from God. It means that plans should always be made with the understanding that God is ultimately in control, and we should be flexible to His will. His guiding may not always follow our own, but He will always guide us in the right direction.
More: For more on biblical principles of planning see “Spirit-Filled Planning” at 1 Chr. 28:11–19 and “The Art of Planning” at Ps. 33:10, 11. Paul did eventually visit Rome, but no one knows for certain whether he made it to Spain. See “Roads to Rome—and Beyond” at Acts 28:28–31.
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It’s almost impossible to discuss the gospel—or understand the Book of Romans—without grappling with the word righteousness (Greek: dikaiosunē). The New Testament uses some form of the word no fewer than 228 times, including about forty times in Romans.
The English word righteous is formed from the base reg, “to move in a straight line.” To be righteous is to be “in the straight [or right] way.” In the context of morality, the word righteous means living or acting correctly.
In an age when people assume that they have the ability and the right to determine right and wrong for themselves, Scripture presents God as the final measure of morality. His character reveals absolute goodness. He is the ultimate standard of rightness, or righteousness.
We all fall short of God’s flawless standard. Only Jesus attained that perfection (Rom. 3:23; 5:18–21). The rest of us stand guilty before God. We are all “unrighteous” because we all have sinned (literally “missed the mark”).
But God is restoring things to the right way. He dealt with sin through Jesus’ death on the cross (5:6–11). He credits Christ’s righteousness to all who trust in Him, and leads us into a restored relationship with Himself (5:1, 2). And He empowers us to please Him and fulfill His purposes (8:1–17). Rather than requiring us to live up to impossible standards, He sets us free to make our own choices, counting on Him for help along the way.
The gospel reveals God’s right way. It informs us that God is full of love and mercy. He has done everything He can to bring us back from the wrong way that we have taken. It is now up to us to respond.
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Just as the Bible clearly presents God as the source and measure of everything right, it also reveals human beings as the cause of suffering and evil. We were created pure and noble but became wicked and hurtful. Our sinful condition separates us from God. It makes our thoughts futile and our hearts foolish (Rom. 1:21). Our rebellion is thorough, producing …
• Sexual immorality. We dishonor the bodies that God gave us.
• Idolatry. We turn from our Creator and exalt our own works.
• Vile passions. We cease being thoughtful servants and responsible stewards and become pleasure-seekers dominated by lust.
• Debased minds. We suppress truth, enslaving ourselves to sin and becoming incapable of doing good (1:18, 28).
Our rebellion leads to painful consequences. We readily endorse each other’s wrongdoing though our sin deserves death. Our rebellion is inexcusable (2:1), and every human being earns wrath and judgment (2:5; 3:10–12; Ps. 51:4). We have thrown off all restraint, and God has let us have our way (Rom. 1:26).
The Book of Romans warns us that sin is real. It alienates us from a righteous and holy God, incurring the penalty of eternal death, everlasting separation from Him. But that is not the end of the story. Jesus Christ brings the opportunity for peace with God, access by faith to His grace, and the joyful hope of His glory and the glory that perseverance produces (5:1–5). To demonstrate His love, Jesus paid the penalty for our sins on the cross even while we were rebelling against Him (5:8). With Paul we can say, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Cor. 9:15).
More: For more on Christ’s work of rescuing us from sin see “Salvation: Past, Present, and Future” at Rom. 5:6–11 and “A Month-Long Journey with Jesus” at Matt. 1:18—2:23. Augustine was a man plagued by his own sin until he read Rom. 13:13–15. He later became one of Christianity’s foremost thinkers. See here for an article on his life.
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Paul’s reference to “law” does not refer to rules and regulations in general but to the Law given by the Lord to Moses as part of the covenant that set Israel apart as God’s people. It governed their worship, their relationship to God, and their social interactions. The Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:1–17) sum up the Law.
Israel was not the only ancient nation that possessed an extensive legal code. Such collections were in fact common. Most began with an explanation that the gods had given the king power to reign. This declaration of divine authority was often accompanied by pronouncements about how good and capable the ruler was. Then the king’s laws were listed, arranged by subject. Most codes of law concluded with a series of blessings and curses (see “Deuteronomy as a Treaty” at Deut. 1:1).
What set Mosaic law apart from these other codes was, above all, its genuine divine origin. God Himself was the source of the Law. It issued from His very nature, and like Him it was holy, righteous, and good. This meant that all crimes in Israel were crimes against God (1 Sam. 12:9, 10). The Lord expected all people to love and serve Him (Amos 5:21–24). He disciplined violators as supreme judge (Ex. 22:21–24; Deut. 10:18; 19:17), but He also trusted the nation to carry out justice (13:6–10; 17:7; Num. 15:32–36).
God ruled as the nation’s King. Ancient kings often enacted laws to fill their pockets, enhance their image, or surpass their predecessors in economic power and political influence. God instead promulgated laws to express His love for His people and to advance their best interests (Ex. 19:5, 6).
The Law can be split into three rough categories—moral, ceremonial, and civil. Civil laws regulated political leaders, the army, criminal cases, personal and family rights, property rights, and other social issues. Ceremonial laws specified rules for public worship and ritual, giving high priority to holiness. Because God is holy (Lev. 21:8), Israel was be holy in all religious practices.
Finally, although God gave the Law to Israel, it rests on eternal moral principles consistent with His character. His moral laws summarize fundamental, universal standards of right and wrong, expressing the essence of what God requires of all people. Because the Law was not given to Gentiles, they will not be judged by the Law (Rom. 2:12), but they will be judged by the righteous standard that underlies the Law.
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As the father of Israel, Abraham (see his profile at Gen. 12:1) appears prominently in the New Testament. Romans 4 focuses on him as an individual. Elsewhere he represents the entire people of God, and especially those who have placed their trust in the Lord (for example, Rom. 9:7; 11:1; Gal. 3:6–9).
Abraham’s faith is what makes him so essential to New Testament writers. God made significant promises to him and his descendants, Isaac, Jacob, and Jacob’s twelve sons—vows He repeated throughout Israel’s history. Abraham is remembered as the man who believed that God would do what He said He would do (Rom. 4:3)—a remarkable fact when we consider that Abraham had almost no evidence that God would follow through, and certainly far less reason to believe than the New Testament writers or anyone who lives today.
Paul reveals some of the difficulties Abraham faced while choosing to rely on God. The apostle picks one of many episodes in Abraham’s life that required enormous faith, pointing to his anticipation of the birth of an heir, which would fulfill God’s promise that Abraham would become “a father of many nations” (Gen. 17:4; Rom. 4:18). Because Abraham and his wife Sarah were far past their childbearing years, Abraham had to see past the physical state of his own body in order to believe God (4:19). Abraham counted on “things which do not exist” and lived “as though they did” (4:17). He lived in hope when he had no reason to hope (4:18).
Abraham refused to waver in trust for one reason: he was “fully convinced that what [God] had promised He was also able to perform” (4:21). When the Lord challenges us to believe seemingly impossible things, we have Abraham’s example to follow. One of the Bible’s most important promises is God’s pledge to send a Messiah, an “Anointed One.” Jesus claimed to be that Messiah. The central question of the New Testament is whether we believe that: Do we take Jesus at His word, accepting His claims and all they imply? We can “waver at the promise of God through unbelief,” or, like Abraham, we can be “strengthened in faith, giving glory to God” (4:20), knowing that He who made the promise is faithful to us.
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David was not Israel’s first king, but He was God’s choice for king (1 Sam. 16:1–13). If anyone could claim to be right with God and in His favor, it was David, even despite his flaws. He was a man after God’s own heart (13:14; Acts 13:22). God had promised that his heirs would sit on the throne of Israel forever (2 Sam. 7:12; 22:51). David was a direct ancestor of Jesus Christ (Matt. 1:6; Luke 3:31).
But David counted on none of these advantages to qualify him to come before God. Instead, he threw himself on God’s mercy, trusting in His gracious character for forgiveness and “righteousness,” or right standing in relation to God. Romans 4:7, 8 quotes Psalm 32, which celebrates the divine delivery from sin experienced by a follower of God.
None of us can rely on our own good works to secure good standing with God. None of us will ever be good enough. That is why God offers an alternative—trusting in Jesus’ righteousness to cover our sin and make it possible for us to know God.
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Salvation: Past, Present, and Future
Salvation is a central theme of the Bible, and an apt description of the process God undertakes to fully rescue us from sin (Luke 19:10; Rom. 5:8; 1 Tim. 2:4). The Book of Romans outlines the extent of God’s work, showing salvation in three parts.
• Salvation is a past accomplishment. If you have put your faith in Christ’s finished work on the cross for the forgiveness of your sins, then you have been saved (past tense). Christ’s atonement has made you righteous, free to stand before God without guilt or penalty for your sins. To use Paul’s word, you have been “justified” (Rom. 5:1, 8, 9). Being saved from sin’s penalty is a complete, one-time event. God’s grace transformed you from a condemned sinner to a righteous child of God. As Paul told the Philippian jailer, if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you will be saved (Acts 16:31).
• Salvation is a present process. Being saved does not prevent present or future sins. The Christians in Rome recognized this reality (Rom. 6:1, 2), as did Paul (7:15–20), who cried out to be set free from ongoing sin (7:24). Christ’s atonement again is the answer (8:1–3). The Holy Spirit can give you power to overcome temptation and deal with whatever comes your way (5:3–5; 6:12–14; 8:2, 9–17). As you trust Christ on a daily basis, you are being saved (present tense). This process of being “sanctified” rescues you from sin’s power, making you more and more like Christ. It is a lifelong journey in holiness (Titus 2:11–14).
• Salvation is a future hope. Christians look ahead to salvation’s ultimate outcome, when you will be “glorified” with Christ (Rom. 8:17). That is, you will be saved (future tense). When you finally stand before God, you will be completely perfected—fully delivered from judgment, removed from sin’s presence, restored to God’s image and likeness in which you were created, and welcomed into eternal life with God. This is the eternal dimension of salvation, called the believer’s hope of glory (5:2; 8:18; Eph. 1:18; Col. 1:27).
Following Christ involves all three dimensions of salvation. By faith you can celebrate having been saved from God’s wrath, being now set free from sin, and later being made complete in heaven.
More: To understand why we need to be saved, see “The Truth About Sin” at Rom. 1:24–32 and “Understanding Sin” at Rom. 6:6.
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Life in Christ
Ni To-sheng (1903–1972), who was better known as Watchman Nee, evangelized and established churches in China during the chaotic first half of the twentieth century, then spent his last twenty years in a jail cell, persecuted by his government for his Christian faith. He took the name Watchman because he considered himself a spiritual watchman who must remain alert through the dark night to sound a warning call. For a short time he also called himself Bruised Reed, indicating his unbreakable spirit in the face of suffering (compare Matt. 12:20).
Nee was born to Christian parents in southern coastal China. His parents dedicated him to God before his birth, and when Nee was seventeen, he experienced his own spiritual awakening. From elementary school through college he had ranked first in his class, but from the time he trusted in Christ, he abandoned his expectations of a grand life. A British missionary introduced to him to many important works on church history, spiritual growth, and Bible commentary. Nee gained further insight by carefully studying the Scriptures.
Over the course of his life, Nee contributed many of his own thoughts to practical Christian theology, often drawing upon his personal experiences as a minister of the gospel. Nee’s best-known work is The Normal Christian Life, based on the first chapters of Paul’s letter to the Romans. In it Nee outlines the life that all Christians are invited to enjoy. He explains that when Christ died on the cross, we died with Him. Our sinful nature was therefore crucified, making our new life in the Spirit and in Christian community an attainable reality. This “normal Christian life” comes about only as we understand and live out what Jesus accomplished on our behalf.
Nee fervently believed that there should be only one church in any geographic location, teaching that Scripture completely forbids any division of Christ’s body based on doctrine, race, social status, or any other factor. To Nee this “one church in one city” philosophy was an essential tenet of the Christian faith. Many other believers severely criticized this “local church” theology, but from 1923 to the Chinese Revolution in 1949, more than seven hundred churches gathered around these principles, with more than seventy thousand in attendance. Many of these gatherings continued as house churches after the rise of the Communist regime.
Nee was successful in his mission to forge an indigenous Chinese Christian movement partly because of his use of vocational migration evangelism, in which every believer is viewed as a worker for God’s kingdom, and every home of every person moving to a new city becomes a place of prayer and a fresh center of witness. Nee held that a person’s initial steps toward faith required first and foremost a “living touch” with God, whose Son is “the Friend of sinners” (What Shall This Man Do?). This emphasis on personal relationships—between fellow believers, between ministering believers and unbelievers, between the honest heart and God—is rooted in a deep regard for community, not unlike the regard we see in Paul’s letters and travels to Christian communities throughout the Roman world.
In 1952 Watchman Nee was arrested by the Chinese government on trumped-up charges, and in 1956 he was condemned to fifteen years in prison but never released. Only his wife was allowed to visit him during these long years, and Nee died in his cell on May 30, 1972. A scrap of paper found by his bed proclaims, “Christ is the Son of God who died for the redemption of sinners and was resurrected after three days. This is the greatest truth in the universe. I die because of my belief in Christ.”
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In the Garden of Eden, the serpent convinced Eve that God was holding back things that she would truly enjoy (Gen. 3:4, 5). But sin is anything but beneficial. Several New Testament passages help define sin and alert us to the devastating consequences of wrongdoing:
• Sin is falling short of God’s glory (Rom. 3:23). Sinful people miss out on the life that God designed for their good and His glory.
• Sin is a lawlessness that involves living selfishly rather than conforming to God’s commands (1 John 3:4).
• Sin includes anything unrighteous, meaning it leads us down the wrong paths (5:17).
• Sin puts us on the wrong side of God, who loves justice and righteousness (Rom. 1:18).
• Sin includes knowing the right thing to do and not doing it (James 4:17).
• Sin is consciously disdaining what is right and seeking what is wrong, which includes approving of the sins of others (Rom. 1:32).
• Sin is a bondage that demands obedience to its cravings (6:6, 12, 20).
Every human suffers the harm that sin brings, because “there is none righteous, no, not one” (3:10; 2 Chr. 6:36; Rom. 5:12); “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (3:23).
More: To gain perspective on what God has done to save us from sin, see “Salvation: Past, Present, and Future” at Rom. 5:6–11. John Milton and Daniel Defoe both explored the concepts of sin, repentance, and redemption in their writings. See here for an article on the life of John Milton and here for an article on the life of Daniel Defoe.
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People will quit jobs, emigrate to new lands, and overthrow governments to gain freedom and the right to determine their own destiny. But Scripture says that no one is really free. Every human being serves either God or sin. We are either slaves of righteousness or slaves of evil. And while self-rule, autonomy, and self-determination matter, true freedom comes with a simple change of masters: being set free from slavery to sin in order to become slaves to God.
Christ is our only hope because He alone emancipates us from sin (Rom. 7:24, 25). His Spirit enables us to do what we cannot do on our own—to live in obedience to God’s law (8:3, 4). That is true freedom.
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Paul employs potent imagery when he pictures our relationship either to sin or to obedience as slavery. The Roman empire depended heavily on slaves to perform hard labor and menial tasks. Many of Paul’s Roman readers may have been slaves; one historian estimates that up to half the population in parts of the Roman empire lived in servitude.
Slaves were seized whenever Rome conquered and subjugated other nations. Captives assigned to the empire’s extensive construction projects or to its mines faced a hard lot. Fed a meager diet and worked to exhaustion, injuries and disease were common, and slaves too sick or too old to work were abandoned with little hope of surviving on their own.
Some slaves faced better conditions. Nearly every Roman home included at least two or three slaves as servants, and some had hundreds. They assisted in maintaining households and raising children. Slaves with occupational expertise were valued in the workplace, and some businesses depended entirely on slaves as a cheap source of labor.
Slavery existed long before the Romans, however. The Bible records several forms of slavery in ancient times: domestic slavery (for example, Hagar; see her profile at Gen. 16:1), state slavery (for example, the Israelites under Egypt; Ex. 5:6–19; 13:3), and temple slavery (for example, the slaves of the Levites used in the temple; Num. 31:25–47; Josh. 9:21–27).
The Bible does not directly condemn slavery as an institution, although it does contain warnings regarding its practice (Amos 1:6–9; Rev. 18:13). The Old Testament regulated Israel’s treatment of slaves (Ex. 21; Deut. 15), repeatedly warning the people not to rule a fellow Israelite harshly (Lev. 25:39; Deut. 15:14). If a master injured a slave, the law set the slave free (Ex. 21:26, 27), and killing a slave was punishable by law (21:20).
The New Testament advised slaves to obey their masters (Eph. 6:5; Col. 3:22; Titus 2:9). Paul appealed to Philemon to receive back Onesimus, a runaway slave who became a Christian and therefore a brother (see the introduction to Philemon), illustrating that in Christ, social distinctions such as slave and master no longer apply (Gal. 3:28; Col. 3:11). Paul elsewhere advised Christian slaves to seek freedom if they could (1 Cor. 7:21).
Among the Romans, an owner could free a slave outright, or a slave could purchase his freedom by paying his owner. If ownership was transferred to a god, a slave could receive his freedom in return for contracting his services. He continued with his master, but now as a free man.
Paul may have had this arrangement in mind when he described the choice of which master to obey—sin or righteousness. Christians have been freed from sin but must choose to serve God. The difference is that if we don’t choose to serve God, there is no other option but to return to serving sin, which had so cruelly enslaved us before.
More: History offers countless examples of slaves whose spiritual freedom in Christ inspired them to seek civil freedom. To learn about a few examples, see articles on the lives of Harriet Tubman (here), Josephine Bakhita (here), Frederick Douglass (here), Sojourner Truth (here), and Olaudah Equiano (here).
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Every Christian encounters two perils—legalism and lawlessness. Paul addresses both in Romans 6–7.
The “Law” (see “The Law” at Rom. 2:12), as used in the Book of Romans, refers specifically to the Old Testament rules and regulations given by God to Israel. It also refers more broadly to God’s moral expectations for all mankind. These standards can be perilous for believers because no human being can keep them perfectly.
Paul illustrated this fact by citing the Tenth Commandment: “You shall not covet” (7:7; Ex. 20:17). Although Paul completely agreed with this basic moral principle, when he examined his own life, he found “all manner of evil desire” (Rom. 7:8). The more Paul understood the Law, the more he became aware of his sin, and merely knowing God’s expectations did not make him capable of meeting them. He found himself powerless to obey (7:19), leaving him feeling grieved and worthless (7:24).
Like Paul, Christians today may be acutely aware of God’s expectations and their inability to fulfill them. Their feelings of guilt and condemnation often push them toward legalism—being concerned more with following rules than living in a relationship with Christ.
Yet if this overemphasis on the Law is hazardous, its opposite does just as much harm. Any violation of God’s law and moral expectations is lawlessness (6:19; 1 John 3:4). And as one sin leads to another, a person who does wrong becomes trapped in an endless pattern of lawlessness. In fact, Christians caught up in legalism may give up their attempts to be perfect and end up engaging in lawlessness.
Legalism and lawlessness are real dangers we face every day. There is only one way to avoid either peril: Jesus must produce in us the good that we cannot manufacture through our own abilities (Rom. 8:1–4). If we want to fulfill God’s expectations, we must rely on His power.
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The apostle Paul looked hard at his deepest, darkest inner life. What he saw was troubling: he was a slave to sin (Rom. 7:15). Nothing good lived in his flesh (7:18). All he could do is cry out in wretchedness (7:24).
It is a comfort to anyone who experiences feelings of inadequacy and low self-esteem to know that Paul, one of the most important figures of the early church, a man whose writings have had an eternal impact on countless lives over thousands of years, also experienced feelings of failure and self-loathing. Paul’s dismal appraisal of his spiritual condition and low sense of self-worth was a result of measuring himself against God’s holy expectations, expressed in the Law (7:7). The more Paul understood what God wanted, the more he knew that he was utterly unable to live up to God’s perfect standard.
The only answer to Paul’s miserable condition—and to our own—is Jesus Christ (7:25). He makes it possible to fulfill the righteous requirements of a holy God (8:3, 4). Paul’s honesty about his true state led to hope, and the same is true for us. In confession we find God’s forgiveness. In admitting our weakness we find His strength. If we deny our true condition, we deceive ourselves and doom ourselves to remain enslaved to sin (1 John 1:8–10). But if we turn our bad feelings and weaknesses over to God, He will heal our hearts.
More: The poets William Cowper and John Donne both experienced deep depression and looked to Christ for hope and comfort. See here for an article on the life of William Cowper and here for an article on the life of John Donne.
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Many people like to believe human beings are basically good. However, while Scripture affirms the inherent dignity and worth of every individual (Ps. 139:13, 14; see also “People at Work” at Ps. 8:6), it nevertheless asserts that every individual is born “in sin” (51:5; Rom. 6:1), distant from God, naturally tending toward wrong rather than right.
Our pride would like to do away with the concept of original sin, an understandable urge given that pride is the root of sin. And the first step in confronting sin requires us to swallow our pride and humbly admit our true condition. Then we confess our sin to God and trust solely in His grace for forgiveness and acceptance (Luke 18:13).
If we want to continue building a relationship with our Savior, a humble honesty about our sin must become our way of life. Sin is so entrenched within us that we can never claim to have conquered it (1 Cor. 4:4; 10:12). We instead live with limitation, admitting that we do not have all the answers to our own problems, let alone those of the world.
More: True humility comes from seeing yourself in relation to God. See “Humility: The Scandalous Virtue” at Phil. 2:3.
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Paul’s words about the Law being unable to produce righteousness because of the weakness of the flesh (Rom. 8:3) do not mean he had little regard for the Law. On the contrary, he eagerly sought to meet the high expectations that God revealed through Moses. Because of Christ’s work on the cross, we who live and walk “according to the Spirit” (8:4) can find “the righteous requirement” of the Law fulfilled in us. That is why Paul urged believers to …
• Turn away from evil and cling to good (12:2, 9).
• Seek love (1 Cor. 13).
• Make the most of their liberty (Gal. 5:13–16).
• Do good toward all people (6:10).
• Live a godly lifestyle (Eph. 2:1–3; 4:1–3).
• Serve others with love and humility (Phil. 2:1–7).
• Undo sinful patterns in ourselves (Col. 3:5–11).
• Grow in contentment with what we have (1 Tim. 6:6–11).
This is life in the Spirit. It is a lifelong adventure of reclaiming what God intended for us from the beginning (Eph. 5:8–10).
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As God’s adopted children, we are promised an inheritance. For more on what that means, see “What’s In It for Us” at Ephesians 1:11.
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Romans 8 stretches out like a cosmic canvas of the world from its pristine beginnings to the ruinous impact of sin to its ultimate restoration at the close of history. This passage is crucial for anyone who worries about environmental disaster, wishes for the end of evil, or wonders what will ultimately happen to our world.
Paul recognized that the world is both enchanting and disastrous, orderly and chaotic. The bad news is that sin is not just personal; it is global. Sin has corrupted all of creation, not only individual human beings but also our social and physical environments. Sin is infused throughout the world because sinful people create systems and cultures that protect and promote evil. Sin is so rampant and destructive that we need more than a better planet. We need an entirely new earth.
The good news is that God’s salvation is universally available. His saving grace first works inside individuals, then finds its way out into every part of their lives. God’s power and purposes penetrate His followers’ values, worldviews, relationships, career choices, and community involvements. As God’s appointed managers of the earth, His followers gain ground against evil by redirecting social systems and cultures to benefit people rather than exploit them. What begins as personal conversion results in widespread societal change as God’s people impact their families, coworkers, churches, friends, neighbors, cities, nations, and natural environments.
Liberation will be partial and imperfect until Christ returns to personally redeem the world. In the meantime, all creation groans like a woman in labor as it awaits its delivery from sin. Christ calls us to participate in the events of our world and to promote His values and love at every opportunity. In doing so, we affirm both the salvation of people and the transformation of places. We participate with Him in the first skirmishes of liberation.
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Romans 8:28 is often quoted to offer comfort and encouragement during hard times. Whether we find ourselves at the giving or the receiving end of Paul’s words, here are two important things to keep in mind:
• All things work together for good, but not all things are good. The loss of a job, a broken relationship, physical illness, and family troubles are not good in and of themselves. Often they are the direct result of the evil in the world. That distinction is important as we struggle to understand God’s character and the nature of good and evil. In practical terms, we are never promised immunity from the world’s pains. Every day we must put up with much that is not good (John 16:33).
• Nevertheless, good can come out of bad. Romans 8:28 promises that God uses all the circumstances of our lives—both good and bad—to shape outcomes that accomplish His plans for us. And His plans can only be good, because He is wholly good (James 1:17).
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God’s Heart for the Whole World
Romans 9–11 reminds us that God’s love extends to the entire human race. He does not play favorites with any one type of person. As Paul put it, God loves both Jews and Gentiles alike.
Passage | Teaching |
God calls both Jews and Gentiles to experience His mercy. | |
Gentiles, who were not God’s people, have become children of the living God. | |
Gentiles have received righteousness through their faith just as Jews have by believing in Jesus. | |
Jews who seek God through the Law’s requirements will never find righteousness because they do not seek it through faith. They seek to prove their own righteousness rather than God’s. | |
Jesus is God’s righteousness to everyone who believes. | |
Faith in Jesus is the key to salvation. | |
God makes no distinction between Jews and Gentiles when it comes to who can be saved. | |
The Gentiles, who were not looking for God, found Him. But the Jews, whom God continually reached out to, did not want Him. | |
God has not given up on the Jews. Many have turned to God. Paul was one of them. | |
The Gentiles found Christ through the witness of Jews. Paul’s great desire was for all Jews to come to Christ through the witness of the Gentiles. | |
Gentiles were grafted onto God’s tree of life while Jews rejected God and were broken off. This does not call for pride or arrogance from the Gentiles, however, but for humility. | |
Jews were cut off from God’s tree because they refused to believe. If they repent, God is able to graft them in again. | |
God wants to have mercy on all. |
More: By the time Paul wrote Romans, Gentiles were probably a majority in the church. Paul foresaw the tragic possibility of a church divided into Jewish and Gentile factions. See “One People” at Rom. 11:13–24.
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The major shift of focus between the Old Testament and the New Testament—from the spiritual journey of Israel to the global Good News of Jesus—leaves many people wondering what became of the special relationship between God and His covenant nation. Are the Jews still God’s chosen people? Are the promises God made to Abraham, Moses, David, and other Old Testament Hebrews still in effect? Or did God reject Israel when the Israelites rejected Jesus? Paul addresses these questions in Romans 9–11. The issue remains critically important because it demonstrates the trustworthiness of God’s promises.
Israel’s Origins
God’s relationship with Israel reaches back thousands of years to the ancient Middle East, to the days when Abraham (see his profile at Gen. 12:1) became the father of the nation. Abraham had roots in Ur, an ancient Sumerian city in Mesopotamia (see its profile at Gen. 11:28), where he prospered before moving to the land of Canaan (12:5). There God entered into a sacred covenant with Abraham, promising to bless his descendants and make them His special people (12:1–3). Abraham was expected to remain faithful to God, and he became the channel of God’s blessings to the rest of the world.
Abraham’s son Isaac had two sons, Esau and Jacob. God chose Jacob for the renewal of His promise to Abraham (28:13–15). Jacob’s name was changed to Israel after a dramatic struggle with God (32:24–30; 35:9–15). The meaning of the name Israel has been interpreted as “Prince with God,” “He Strives with God,” “Let God Rule,” or “God Strives.” The name was later applied to the descendants of Jacob through his twelve sons. Down through history these twelve tribes were called “Israelites,” “children of Israel,” and “house of Israel,” identifying them as Israel’s descendants.
God’s Chosen People
God’s covenant with Abraham was far more than a casual agreement. It had no end date and no limits to its reach. Another striking feature is that God is holy, all-knowing, and all-powerful, yet He consented to enter into a covenant with Abraham and his descendants—weak, sinful, and imperfect as they were.
Through this Abrahamic covenant, Israel became God’s chosen people, His “special treasure” out of all the peoples of the earth (Deut. 7:6). The special relationship between Israel and God was confirmed at Mount Sinai when the nation promised to perform “all the words which the Lord has said” (Ex. 24:3). When the people later broke their side of the agreement, their leaders called them to renew the covenant (2 Kin. 23:3).
God never breaks His promises. Throughout Israel’s history, He has always lived up to His side of the covenant, giving Paul reason to affirm that God has not cast His people aside (Rom. 11:1). God’s vow to bless the world through Abraham’s descendants (Gen. 22:16, 17) remains an everlasting covenant (17:7).
This is welcome news for both Jew and Gentile. For Jews it means that God has not abandoned His people. They remain prominent in His plans and purposes. For Gentiles it means that God is totally trustworthy. His word can be taken at face value, and we can base our lives on God’s unbreakable promises.
More: Because Israel failed to honor their covenant with God, He promised a new covenant that would accomplish what the old covenant had failed to do. See “Written on Their Hearts” at Jer. 31:31–34 and “The New Covenant” at 1 Cor. 11:25.
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By the time Paul wrote his letter to the Christians in Rome, Gentiles were likely becoming the majority population throughout the church. Jews had less and less influence theologically, culturally, and politically. The pride and prejudice that had caused Jews to look down on Gentiles were coming back to haunt them as Gentile Christians turned away from their Jewish brothers.
Paul pleaded in Romans 9–11 for his Gentile readers to remember that God had not forgotten Israel. The Lord made promises to the nation that are “irrevocable” (Rom. 11:29). And as Paul pointed out, there is no room for Gentile arrogance: Gentiles were not included among God’s original people. They were added later, like branches grafted onto a tree (11:17, 18). If the Jews, the “natural branches” had been able to be cut off, then the same outcome certainly remained possible for the Gentiles (11:20, 21).
Paul dreaded the possibility of the church rupturing into separate Jewish and Gentile communities. Gentiles might ignore the Jewish community altogether rather than compassionately communicating the gospel so that Jews could be saved. Here and elsewhere Paul challenged all of Jesus’ followers to pursue unity with each other and charity toward all people.
Had the church wholeheartedly embraced Paul’s teaching, it would not have tragically kept silent or participated in some of the great evils of the past two thousand years. We must ask, what ethnic, racial, and cultural attitudes now challenge us? God’s desire is clear—to have mercy on all (11:32).
More: Paul testified that God’s love and mercy extended to the whole world. See “God’s Heart for the Whole World” at Rom. 9:1.
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Page after page of the Bible proclaims the amazing things that God has done for us. So how should we respond to these blessings—or “mercies,” as Paul calls them? The only appropriate response is to give ourselves to God as living sacrifices, ready to be offered up for His purposes however He sees fit. While Scripture outlines multiple ways we can serve God, three stand out as major mandates:
• The Great Creation Mandate concerns the universe and its intricate richness. God made the world and appointed human beings as its managers (Gen. 1:26–31; 2:15). The creation mandate calls us to join Him in developing the natural order of the earth for the benefit of all people (see “People at Work” at Ps. 8:6). Creation now suffers under a curse (Gen. 3:17–19), but God will eventually deliver it from corruption (Rom. 8:18–22). In the meantime, we are to use it responsibly for His glory.
• The Great Commandment Mandate sums up all of our relationships. We are commanded to love God with every part of our being (Deut. 6:5; Matt. 22:37, 38). Christians have even more reason to love and serve the Lord because of our exalted position as His adopted children (Rom. 8:12–17). But our love for God is empty if we neglect to love others (Matt. 22:39, 40; Rom. 13:8–10; 1 John 4:7–11).
• The Great Commission Mandate is an extension of the truth that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son” (John 3:16). Those who believe in Christ have been charged with spreading this truth to all human beings, so that all people can recognize their sin and respond to God’s gracious offer of forgiveness and new life (Matt. 28:18–20; Rom. 10:14, 15).
These three mandates recur as dominant themes throughout the Bible. They tell us that God cherishes His creation and intends it to be managed well. He wants people to love Him and love each other. And He longs for everyone to know of Christ’s work of salvation. Each of these mandates is an invitation to faith and service. We have been invited to be good stewards of the earth and its resources, good neighbors toward all peoples, and good communicators of the gospel.
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Seeing Ourselves Through God’s Eyes
Human beings never run out of ways to compare themselves to others. Either we look down on others and applaud our greater abilities, attractiveness, status, intelligence, or wealth—or we look down on ourselves and envy others for being more capable, more attractive, more powerful, smarter, or richer.
Paul recognized that such comparisons are emotionally and spiritually deadly. He even offered an antidote—seeing ourselves not as we stack up against others and not as others evaluate us but as God sees us. The Lord’s estimation of our worth is the only one that means anything. And to Him we matter more than we could ever imagine.
God never judges us according to worldly criteria. Our gender, appearance, social status, wealth, and even our level of intelligence and natural abilities are not of first importance to Him. He examines us according to entirely different criteria, as several individuals in Scripture discovered:
• Paul realized that God’s grace made him who he was (1 Cor. 15:10). Despite his past, God had transformed him into a new person (2 Cor. 5:17).
• Peter learned that God’s power gave him everything he needed to pursue godliness (2 Pet. 1:3).
• Job discovered that everything he had—family, friends, possessions, health—was ultimately from God (Job 1:21).
• A psalmist perceived that God had made him “fearfully and wonderfully” (Ps. 139:14).
God does not place value on the same things that the world does. He looks at the heart. And He wants us to bring our self-assessments in line with how He sees us, because what He sees counts more than anything.
More: Jesus told a parable that illustrates the deadly nature of comparing ourselves against others. See “Quit Comparing” at Luke 18:9–14.
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When Paul wrote to the church in Rome about “governing authorities,” no one had to wonder what he had in mind. He was referring to the imperial government of Rome, at that time likely led by Nero. Paul argued that even Rome’s harsh and corrupt system of government was established by God and therefore deserved respect and obedience from Christians.
But Rome’s authority—like all human authority—was delegated authority. As Paul pointed out, God alone possesses ultimate authority. And His limits on earthly authorities raise tough questions: If governments are subordinate to God and accountable to Him for their actions, to what extent must Christians submit to them? Are there circumstances in which followers of Jesus should obey God rather than human rulers? Should the church object when a government usurps God’s power and undermines His purposes?
The early church wrestled with these issues just as we wrestle with them today. Rome’s government was far more tolerant of Christians around the time Paul wrote Romans 13 than it was when John penned Revelation a few decades later. Within a span of some thirty years, Christians would no longer see Rome as God’s “minister … for good.” Rome would come to be viewed as a usurper that deserved to fall. On one level the Book of Revelation is the story of Rome’s collapse.
Christians throughout history have struggled to know when to obey and when to resist evil governments. There are no easy answers to guide us. But Scripture clearly affirms that …
• Government is a venue through which God accomplishes His purposes.
• Obedience is more than mere external compliance. Our motivation to obey must arise from an inner conviction and go beyond a fear of punishment.
• Both leaders and followers are accountable to God. Submission to human authorities reflects our submission to the Lord’s authority.
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Paul’s admonition to owe nothing but love informs us of God’s distaste for all forms of unpaid debt. We usually think of debt in terms of monetary loans, but Paul had a broader definition. In addition to financial debts, Paul refers to …
• Taxes—levies placed on us by governing authorities, such as income and social security taxes.
• Customs—tolls and tariffs arising from trade and business, such as highway tolls, airport landing fees, and importation fees.
• Fear—the respect we owe to those who enforce the law, such as police officers and military personnel.
• Honor—the praise we owe to those in high authority, such as judges and elected officials.
All of us are debtors to God’s grace. And as God has shown us love, we owe love to those with whom we live and work—even those who tax and govern us.
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One noticeable difference between Christianity and many other religions is that Christians are meant to be free of ritualistic rules. In Romans 14, Paul discusses two specific examples—special days of religious observance (Rom. 14:5–13) and regulations regarding food (14:2–4, 14–23). He offers principles that apply to all matters of conscience, those gray areas of life where Scripture leaves us without specific directions.
Issues surrounding food and religious days created problems for Christians in Rome. Those from Jewish backgrounds appreciated their heritage of strict Sabbath-keeping and were shocked when Gentile believers regarded Sabbath days as inconsequential. Those from pagan backgrounds may have encouraged the church to create counterparts to festival days they had observed in their former religions. Both kinds of holy days created tension in the church.
Religious dietary habits added to the conflict. Pagan religions sacrificed meat to idols that was subsequently sold in public markets. These tended to be choice cuts that made for good eating. But many Christians objected to consuming such meat—and sometimes meat of any kind—lest they appear to approve idolatry. Others saw no problem (14:2). People lined up on both sides of the issue, questioning each other’s spirituality and arguing over which position was right (14:1).
Meat sacrificed to idols isn’t a major issue for modern Christians, but disputes over other gray areas still divide us today. Paul offers several pointers for settling our disputes:
• No Christian should judge another over disputable practices (14:3, 4, 13). We may have opinions about right and wrong, but only Christ has the right to judge others and us.
• People need to form their own convictions in matters of conscience (14:5, 22, 23). God has given us the intellectual ability to evaluate the gray areas of life and make our own choices when Scripture is not clear. Unexamined morality is as irresponsible as no morality.
• We are not totally free to do as we please. We must answer to the Lord for everything we do (14:7, 8, 12).
• We should avoid offending others by flaunting our liberty (14:13). By deliberately engaging in behaviors that others may find offensive, we run the risk of becoming a stumbling block to believers whose consciences are immature—who lack knowledge and confidence of their liberty in Christ (14:2; 1 Cor. 8:9–12). We might even tempt them to engage in behaviors they regard as sinful. Actions that are not inherently sinful can nevertheless produce sin if they cause others to stumble.
• We should act in love, pursuing peace between our fellow Christians and helping others to grow in faith (Rom. 14:15, 19). Even when we disagree with another believer, we should do everything we can to extend grace to that person, for whom Christ died.
Christianity is just as concerned with community and healthy relationships as it is with morality. There are indeed matters worth fighting for. But where God is either silent or has left room for personal choice, we must practice tolerance and consider what is best for others above what is best for ourselves.
More: In a related text, Paul appeals to the believer’s conscience for settling controversial issues. See “Gray Areas” at 1 Cor. 8:1–13. For more on sorting through complex issues of faith, see “Discovering God’s Purpose for You” at Gen. 45:5–8.
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In the Old Testament, God commanded His people to set aside one day each week as a “Sabbath,” a holy day of rest (Ex. 20:8–11; Is. 58:13, 14; Jer. 17:19–27). Here in Romans, Paul takes a less directive position on the Sabbath. This doesn’t mean that there is no such thing as a “Lord’s Day,” however. In fact, Paul reasons that because we are the Lord’s possession, we should live every day for the Lord. If we act like Sunday belongs to Him but the other six days belong to us, we have suffered a grave misunderstanding. Every day belongs to the Lord.
Yet the question remains as to whether God’s original instructions regarding a Sabbath mean that we should still observe one day of the week in a special way. According to Paul, neither tradition nor pressure from others should determine our decision. Instead, we should seek the Spirit’s guidance. As we study God’s inspired Word, He will help us decide what we should do.
More: For more on God’s intentions regarding the Sabbath, see “A Day of Rest” at Gen. 2:1–3; “Keeping the Sabbath” at Ex. 20:8–11; and “The Sabbath” at Heb. 4:1–13.
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Social systems often push people to divide themselves along racial, ethnic, or cultural lines—or to abandon their distinctions, often by assimilating into a dominant societal group. Paul called for a new approach. He never asked Jews to give up their Jewish heritage and become Gentiles. Nor did he ask Gentiles to become Jews. He instead affirmed the rich backgrounds of both groups while challenging them to live together in unity.
God calls us to be Paul’s type of church—a diverse body unified around Christ. Our backgrounds are God’s gift to each of us and to the church. He has placed us in families according to His plan. We can rejoice in the heritage He has given us and be enriched by the heritage He has given others.
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Paul called Phoebe a diakonos (translated here as “servant,” elsewhere as “deacon” or “minister”) of the church at Cenchrea, the eastern port of Corinth. The term may imply that Phoebe held a formal position of responsibility. Paul frequently referred to himself as a diakonos and used the same term to describe other coworkers such as Apollos, Tychicus, Epaphras, and Timothy (1 Cor. 3:5; Eph. 6:21; Col. 1:7; 4:7; 1 Thess. 3:2).
What it meant to be a diakonos in the early church is not completely clear. When the word appears in first-century secular literature, it refers to a helper of any sort who was not a slave. Whatever the role entailed, Paul applauded Phoebe as a valued sister to be esteemed by Christians as his coworker.
Phoebe may have assisted Paul by taking his letter to Rome. The other terms used to describe her suggest that she was a wealthy and influential businesswoman. She may have agreed to carry the document with her on a business trip to the capital. Couriers in the ancient world served as representatives of those who sent them, so it is possible that Phoebe not only delivered the letter but also read it at gatherings of Christians and discussed its contents with them.
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Names mean: “Eagle” (Aquila); “Ancient” (Priscilla, who was also called Prisca; 2 Tim. 4:19).
Background: Aquila was originally from Pontus in Asia Minor, bordering the Black Sea. The couple resided in Rome before Claudius forced all Jews to leave the city. They relocated to Corinth and later to Ephesus. Eventually they returned to Rome.
Family: Priscilla might have grown up in a wealthy Roman family; Aquila may have been a Jewish freedman. Marrying across ethnic and socioeconomic lines was unusual in their day.
Occupation: Tentmaking—manufacturing affordable mobile dwellings for living, working, and traveling.
Best known for: Taking Apollos aside and explaining to him the way of God more accurately (Acts 18:26); helping to start at least three churches—in Rome, Corinth, and Ephesus.
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Paul sends greetings to two fellow countrymen and fellow prisoners, Andronicus and Junia. It is impossible to tell from the Greek text whether Junia was a man or a woman; the name could also be translated Junias. But in Romans 16:3 Paul greets a couple, Priscilla and Aquila, then a man, Epaenetus (Rom. 16:4) and a woman, Mary (16:5). Then he comes to Andronicus and Junia, whom he names together. Though we cannot be certain, they may have been a couple, like Priscilla and Aquila.
Paul writes that Adronicus and Junia are “of note among the apostles” (16:7), meaning either that they were apostles themselves or that the apostles esteemed them. If the former—and if Junia was a woman—this means that the early church had female apostles as well as male and that the movement was not led exclusively by men. We do know that, right from the start, the apostles were joined by women who followed Christ. See “Welcoming All to Pray” at Acts 1:14.
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As Paul traveled throughout the Mediterranean, many other Christians worked with him to spread the message of Christ. Many of these valuable associates were women, and several are listed here in Romans 16. Paul literally owed his life to some of these coworkers. In several of his letters he lists their names and expresses his gratitude to them. Here are some of the women he mentions:
• Apphia (Philem. 2)
• Junia (possibly a woman; Rom. 16:7)
• Lydia (Acts 16:13–40)
• Mary of Rome (Rom. 16:6)
• Nympha (possibly a woman; see footnote at Col. 4:15)
• Persis (Rom. 16:12)
• Priscilla (Acts 18:1–28; Rom. 16:3; 1 Cor. 16:19; 2 Tim. 4:19)
• Tryphena (Rom. 16:12)
• Tryphosa (16:12)
Women also played major roles in Jesus’ life and work, and they helped spread the Good News to the far reaches of the Roman world. See “The Women Around Jesus” at John 19:25 and “Women and the Growth of Christianity” at Philippians 4:3.
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In greeting Rufus and “his mother and mine,” Paul was probably not indicating his own biological mother but rather a woman who played an important role in his life.
The apostle often used the image of a father or mother to describe his own unique relationship with certain Christians (1 Cor. 4:15; 1 Thess. 2:7), and he called some believers his children (1 Cor. 4:14; 1 Tim. 1:2; 2 Tim. 1:2; 2:1). He never explained exactly what he meant by those terms, but we can assume that those who received his letters understood. Apparently Paul was instrumental in bringing them to spiritual rebirth or ensuring their growth.
The woman Paul greets in Romans 16:13 may have nurtured his faith, as Priscilla and Aquila had mentored Apollos (see his profile at Acts 18:24–28). Or she may have supported Paul financially or in prayer. Whatever the case, he felt deeply enough toward her to refer to her as his mother.
Almost nothing is known about Paul’s biological mother. We can deduce that she must have been Jewish, because Paul was a Jew, and a Jewish heritage was passed down through the mother. Paul wrote that he had been born a Roman citizen (Acts 22:28), which means that his father must have been a Roman citizen before him. Paul apparently was not an only child, because Luke mentions a sister (23:16).
We do have one clue regarding the identity of the woman mentioned in Romans 16:13, however. The context implies that Rufus was her biological son. Rufus is probably the same man noted as a son of Simon, the bystander who helped carry Jesus’ cross (Mark 15:21). If this is the case, Rufus and his family were from Cyrene on the northern coast of Africa and were well-known to the early church.
More: For more on Paul’s background, see his profile and “Saul Becomes Paul” at Acts 13:9.
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