Reference: Romans, Epistle to The
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(3.) This epistle was probably written at Corinth. Phoebe (Ro 16:1) of Cenchrea conveyed it to Rome, and Gaius of Corinth entertained the apostle at the time of his writing it (Ro 16:23; 1Co 1:14), and Erastus was chamberlain of the city, i.e., of Corinth (2Ti 4:20).
(4.) The precise time at which it was written is not mentioned in the epistle, but it was obviously written when the apostle was about to "go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints", i.e., at the close of his second visit to Greece, during the winter preceding his last visit to that city (Ro 15:25; comp. Ac 19:21; 20:2-3,16; 1Co 16:1-4), early in A.D. 58.
(5.) It is highly probable that Christianity was planted in Rome by some of those who had been at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost (Ac 2:10). At this time the Jews were very numerous in Rome, and their synagogues were probably resorted to by Romans also, who in this way became acquainted with the great facts regarding Jesus as these were reported among the Jews. Thus a church composed of both Jews and Gentiles was formed at Rome. Many of the brethren went out to meet Paul on his approach to Rome. There are evidences that Christians were then in Rome in considerable numbers, and had probably more than one place of meeting (Ro 16:14-15).
(6.) The object of the apostle in writing to this church was to explain to them the great doctrines of the gospel. His epistle was a "word in season." Himself deeply impressed with a sense of the value of the doctrines of salvation, he opens up in a clear and connected form the whole system of the gospel in its relation both to Jew and Gentile. This epistle is peculiar in this, that it is a systematic exposition of the gospel of universal application. The subject is here treated argumentatively, and is a plea for Gentiles addressed to Jews. In the Epistle to the Galatians, the same subject is discussed, but there the apostle pleads his own authority, because the church in Galatia had been founded by him.
(7.) After the introduction (1:1-15), the apostle presents in it divers aspects and relations the doctrine of justification by faith (1:16-11:36) on the ground of the imputed righteousness of Christ. He shows that salvation is all of grace, and only of grace. This main section of his letter is followed by various practical exhortations (12:1-15:13), which are followed by a conclusion containing personal explanations and salutations, which contain the names of twenty-four Christians at Rome, a benediction, and a doxology (RO 15:14-ch. 16).
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Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,
Now after these things were finished, Paul purposed in the spirit to go to Jerusalem after he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, saying, "After I have been there, I must also see Rome."
When he had gone through those parts and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece. There he spent three months, and when a plot was made against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia.
For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he would not have to spend time in Asia; for he was hurrying to be in Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost.
Now, however, I am going to Jerusalem with aid for the saints.
I commend to you Phoebe our sister, who is a servant of the church in Cenchrea,
Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes, and the brethren who are with them. Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them.
Gaius, who is my host and the host of the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the treasurer of the city, greets you, and Quartus, our brother.
in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Erastus remained at Corinth, but Trophimus I left sick at Miletus.
Hastings
ROMANS, EPISTLE TO THE
1. Time, occasion, and character.
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"Judge not, that you be not judged.
And as they were gazing intently into the sky while he was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched him go into heaven."
Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren,
So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch; and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter.
She followed Paul and the rest of us, crying, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way of salvation." She continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!" And it came out at that very moment. read more. But when her owners saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities, and when they had brought them to the magistrates they said, "These men are Jews and they are throwing our city into an uproar.
And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, charging the jailer to guard them securely.
And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, having recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. He went to see them,
After spending some time there, he departed and went from place to place through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples. Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, well versed in the scriptures. read more. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. And he began to speak out boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. And when he wanted to go across to Achaia, the brethren encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he had arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, proving by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.
Now after these things were finished, Paul purposed in the spirit to go to Jerusalem after he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, saying, "After I have been there, I must also see Rome."
Now after these things were finished, Paul purposed in the spirit to go to Jerusalem after he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, saying, "After I have been there, I must also see Rome."
Now after these things were finished, Paul purposed in the spirit to go to Jerusalem after he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, saying, "After I have been there, I must also see Rome."
Now after these things were finished, Paul purposed in the spirit to go to Jerusalem after he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, saying, "After I have been there, I must also see Rome." And having sent into Macedonia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.
And having sent into Macedonia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.
And having sent into Macedonia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while. About that time there arose no small disturbance concerning the Way. read more. For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen. These he gathered together, with the workmen of similar trades, and said, "Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable number of people, saying that gods made with hands are no gods at all. Not only is there danger that this trade of ours fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis be regarded as worthless and that she whom all of Asia and the world worship will even be dethroned from her magnificence." When they heard this, they were enraged and began crying out, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" The city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed with one accord into the theater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul's traveling companions from Macedonia. Paul wanted to go in among the crowd, but the disciples would not let him. Some of the Asiarchs also, who were friends of his, sent to him and begged him not to venture into the theater. Now some were shouting one thing, some another; for the assembly was in confusion, and most of the people did not know why they had come together. Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, since the Jews had put him forward. And Alexander motioned with his hand, wishing to make a defense to the people. But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all with one voice shouted, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, "Men of Ephesus, what man is there after all who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of the image which fell down from heaven? Therefore, since these facts are undeniable, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. For you have brought these men here who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of our goddess. If then Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls; let them bring charges against one another. But if you want anything further, it shall be settled in the lawful assembly. As it is, we are in danger of being charged with rioting because of today's events. In that case we would not be able to account for this commotion, since there is no reason for it."
There he spent three months, and when a plot was made against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia.
There he spent three months, and when a plot was made against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia.
There he spent three months, and when a plot was made against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. He was accompanied by Sopater of Berea, the son of Pyrrhus, and by Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians, and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia.
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures, read more. concerning his Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. Through him we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, among whom you also are called to belong to Jesus Christ; To all in Rome who are beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
To all in Rome who are beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. read more. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God's will I may now at last find the way to come to you. For I long to see you, so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith. I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have some harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles. I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish: so I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
so I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. read more. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith." For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of men who by their wickedness suppress the truth, for what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world his invisible nature, even his eternal power and deity, has been clearly seen, being understood by the things that have been made. So they are without excuse; for although they knew God they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural. And the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in their own persons the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to retain the knowledge of God, God gave them over to a base mind, to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of wickedness, evil, covetousness, depravity. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
Therefore you have no excuse, O man, whoever you are who judge another; for in whatever point you pass judgment on him you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things. We know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who do such things. read more. Do you think, O man, that when you judge those who do such things and yet do the same yourself, you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume upon the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not know that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But by your hardness and your impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. For he "will render to each one according to his works": to those who by patience in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey wickedness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality. All who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous in the sight of God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. When Gentiles, who have not the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts accusing or else excusing them on that day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. But if you call yourself a Jew, and rely on the law and boast of your relation to God and know his will and approve of what is excellent, because you are instructed in the law, and if you are sure that you are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?
Then what advantage has the Jew, or what is the value of circumcision? Much in every way! To begin with, they are entrusted with the oracles of God. read more. What if some did not have faith? Will their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? Certainly not! Let God be true, though every man a liar. As it is written: "That you may be justified in your words and prevail when you are judged." But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unjust to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) Certainly not! For then how could God judge the world? But if through my falsehood God's truthfulness abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? Why not say as we are being slanderously reported as saying and as some claim that we say "Let us do evil that good may come"? Their condemnation is just. What then? Are we Jews any better off? Certainly not; for we have already charged that all men, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin. As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks for God. All have turned aside, together they have become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one." "Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to practice deceit." "The poison of asps is under their lips." "Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness." "Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their ways are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they do not know." "There is no fear of God before their eyes." Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world may be held accountable to God. Therefore no flesh will be justified in his sight by works of the law, for through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been revealed apart from law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. For there is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as an atoning sacrifice by his blood, to be received through faith. This was to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over sins committed beforehand; and it was to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Where then is our boasting? It is excluded. On what law? On the law of works? No, but on the law of faith. For we hold that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since there is one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through their faith. Do we then nullify the law by this faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we uphold the law.
who was delivered to death for our sins and was raised for our justification.
Do you not know, brethrenfor I am speaking to those who know the lawthat the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives? For a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of her husband. read more. So then, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and though she marries another man, she is not an adulteress. Likewise, my brethren, you have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit to God. While we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. But now, by dying to what once held us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed, I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "You shall not covet." But sin, finding opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetous desire. For apart from the law sin lies dead. I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. The very commandment which was to bring life I found to be death to me. For sin, finding opportunity in the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good. Did that which is good, then, become death to me? Certainly not! But it was sin, working death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, so that through the commandment sin might become sinful beyond measure. We know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin. I do not understand what I do. For I do not do what I want to do, but I do what I hate. Now if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. So then, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will to do what is good, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want to do; but the evil I do not want to do is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law, at war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin which dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to Godthrough Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I of myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death. read more. For what the law could not do, in that it was weakened through the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin: he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ he does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although your body is dead because of sin, your spirit is alive because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit who dwells in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtorsnot to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.
Therefore, brethren, we are debtorsnot to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. read more. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirsheirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him, in order that we may also be glorified with him. I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed in us. For the creation waits with eager expectation for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but by the will of him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in birth pangs together until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches the hearts of men knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. And those whom he predestined, he also called; those whom he called, he also justified; and those whom he justified, he also glorified. What then shall we say to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?
What then shall we say to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also give us all things with him? read more. Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
I am speaking the truth in Christ, I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. read more. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. Of them are the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, forever blessed. Amen. But it is not as though the word of God had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel, nor are they all children of Abraham because they are his descendants; but, "Through Isaac shall your descendants be named." In other words, it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are reckoned as descendants. For this is what the promise said: "About this time I will return and Sarah shall have a son." And not only so, but also when Rebecca had conceived children by one man, our father Isaac, though the twins were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad, in order that God's purpose of election might stand, not because of works but because of his call, she was told, "The older will serve the younger." As it is written, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated." What shall we say then? Is there injustice with God? Certainly not! For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." So it depends not upon man's will or exertion, but upon God's mercy. For the scripture says to Pharaoh, "I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I may show my power in you, and that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth." Therefore he has mercy on whom he wills, and he hardens the heart of whom he wills. You will say to me then, "Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?" But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is formed say to him who formed it, "Why have you made me like this?" Does not the potter have right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?
What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, righteousness through faith;
But of Israel he says, "All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people."
And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the rest to share the root of the olive tree, do not boast over the branches. If you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. read more. You will say then, "Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in." That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast only by faith. So do not be proud, but stand in awe. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either. Therefore consider the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who fell, but kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off. And they also, if they do not persist in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and were grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree! I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: "The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins." As regards the gospel they are enemies of God, for your sake; but as regards election they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. Just as you were once disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may receive mercy. For God has bound all men over to disobedience, that he may have mercy upon all. Oh, the depth of the riches and of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out! "For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?" "Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?" For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
As for the man who is weak in faith, accept him, but not for disputes over opinions.
But he who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not act from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.
And again, Isaiah says: "There shall be a root of Jesse; and he who shall rise to rule over the Gentiles, in him the Gentiles shall hope." May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. read more. I myself am satisfied about you, my brethren, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another. But I have written very boldly to you on some points, so as to remind you again, because of the grace that was given me from God, to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Therefore I have reason to glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to win obedience from the Gentiles, by word and deed by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit, so that from Jerusalem and as far round as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. And so I have made it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on another man's foundation, but as it is written: "They shall see who have not been told of him, and those who have not heard shall understand." This is the reason why I have often been hindered from coming to you.
This is the reason why I have often been hindered from coming to you. But now, since I no longer have any place for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, read more. I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to see you while passing through, and to be helped by you on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while. Now, however, I am going to Jerusalem with aid for the saints. For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. They were pleased to do it, and indeed they are in debt to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings. When therefore I have completed this, and have delivered to them this fruit, I shall go on by way of you to Spain. And I know that when I come to you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ. Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me,
Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me, that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints,
that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, so that by God's will I may come to you with joy, and together with you be refreshed. read more. The God of peace be with you all. Amen.
greet also the church that meets in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert of Asia for Christ.
Now to him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which was kept secret for long ages but is now revealed and made known to all nations through the prophetic writings, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith read more. to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.
I am thankful that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius,
I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand.
Morish
This may justly be called the fundamental epistle of Christian doctrine. Its value and importance are seen in that its doctrine lays in the soul a moral foundation by the presentation of God in qualities or attributes which the state of things existing in the world appears to call in question. Thus God is justified in the eyes of the believer, and this being the case, the purposes of His love are made known to him.
In looking at all that is around us in the world, everything appears to be out of order: the presence and domination of sin, a broken law, and the corrupt and violent will in man, all call in question the righteousness of God; while the scattering of God's people Israel raises the question of His faithfulness to His promises.
Now in Christ all this finds its full and complete answer. The Son of God, by whom all were created, has Himself come in the likeness of sinful flesh, and, by offering Himself a sacrifice for sin, has completely vindicated God's righteousness, while revealing His love. At the same time the man, or order of man, that has sinned against God has been judicially removed by His death from before the eye of God, so that God can present Himself to man in grace.
The moral perfection of the offerer of necessity brought in resurrection, in which all the pleasure of God's grace in regard to man is set forth in righteousness; and Christ risen is the deliverer who is to come forth from Zion to turn away ungodliness from Jacob. Thus God's faithfulness to His covenant is established in Zion. God is proved to be faithful and righteous: we have here the first elements of the knowledge of God.
But it way be desirable to open up the epistle a little in detail. After the introduction, in which the fact may be noticed that the glad tidings are said to be concerning God's Son, a picture is given us of the moral condition of man in the world, whether heathen, philosopher, or Jew. In the heathen we see the unchecked development of sin (Rom. 1). In the philosopher the fact that light in itself does not control evil (Rom. 2); and in the Jew that law is proved to be powerless to bring about subjection to God, or to secure righteousness for man. The conclusion is that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God
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After the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and when he had exhorted them and taken his leave of them, he set out for Macedonia. When he had gone through those parts and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece. read more. There he spent three months, and when a plot was made against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia.
Smith
Romans, Epistle to the.
1. The date of this epistle is fixed at the time of the visit recorded in Acts 20:3 during the winter and spring following the apostle's long residence at Ephesus A.D. 58. On this visit he remained in Greece three months.
2. The place of writing was Corinth.
3. The occasion which prompted it,,and the circumstances attending its writing, were as follows:--St. Paul had long purposed visiting Rome, and still retained this purpose, wishing also to extend his journey to Spain. Etom. 1:9-13; 15:22-29. For the time, however, he was prevented from carrying out his design, as he was bound for Jerusalem with the alms of the Gentile Christians, and meanwhile he addressed this letter to the Romans, to supply the lack of his personal teaching. Phoebe, a deaconess of the neighboring church of Cenchreae, was on the point of starting for Rome, ch.
and probably conveyed the letter. The body of the epistle was written at the apostle's dictation by Tertius, ch.
but perhaps we may infer, from the abruptness of the final doxology, that it was added by the apostle himself.
4. The origin of the Roman church is involved in obscurity. If it had been founded by St. Peter according to a later tradition, the absence of any allusion to him both in this epistle and in the letters written by St. Paul from Rome would admit of no explanation. It is equally clear that no other apostle was like founder. The statement in the Clementines --that the first tidings of the gospel reached Rome during the lifetime of our Lord is evidently a fiction for the purposes of the romance. On the other hand, it is clear that the foundation of this church dates very far back. It may be that some of these Romans, "both Jews and proselytes," present. On the day of Pentecost
carried back the earliest tidings of the new doctrine; or the gospel may have first reached the imperial city through those who were scattered abroad to escape the persecution which followed on the death of Stephen.
At first we may suppose that the gospel had preached there in a confused and imperfect form, scarcely more than a phase of Judaism, as in the case of Apollos at Corinth,
or the disciples at Ephesus.
As time advanced and better-instructed teachers arrived the clouds would gradually clear away, fill at length the presence of the great apostle himself at Rome dispersed the mists of Judaism which still hung about the Roman church.
5. A question next arises as to the composition of the Roman church at the time when St. Paul wrote. It is more probable that St. Paul addressed a mixed church of Jews and Gentiles, the latter perhaps being the more numerous. These Gentile converts, however, were not for the most part native Romans. Strange as the: paradox appears, nothing is more certain than that the church of Rome was at this time a Greek and not a Latin church. All the literature of the early Roman church was written in the Greek tongue.
6. The heterogeneous composition of this church explains the general character of the Epistle to the Romans. In an assemblage so various we should expect to find, not the exclusive predominance of a single form of error, but the coincidence of different and opposing forms. It was: therefore the business of the Christian teacher to reconcile the opposing difficulties and to hold out a meeting-point in the gospel. This is exactly what St. Paul does in the Epistle to the Romans.
7. In describing the purport of this epistle we may start from St. Paul's own words, which, standing at the beginning of the doctrinal portion, may be taken as giving a summary of the contents. ch.
Accordingly the epistle has been described as comprising "the religious philosophy of the world's history "The atonement of Christ is the centre of religious history. The epistle, from its general character, lends itself more readily to an analysis than is often the case with St. Paul's epistles. While this epistle contains the fullest and most systematic exposition of the apostle's teaching, it is at the same time a very striking expression of his character. Nowhere do his earnest and affectionate nature and his tact and delicacy in handling unwelcome topics appear more strongly than when he is dealing with the rejection of his fellow country men the Jews. Internal evidence is so strongly in favor of the genuineness of the Epistle to the Romans that it has never been seriously questioned.
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Now those who had been scattered went about preaching the word.
This happened three times, and all was drawn up again into heaven.
He had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John.
While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. And he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." read more. And he said, "Into what then were you baptized?" They said, "Into John's baptism."
For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."
I commend to you Phoebe our sister, who is a servant of the church in Cenchrea, that you may receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she has need from you, for she has been a helper of many and of myself also.
I, Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord.