Reference: Romans, Epistle to The
Easton
(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, Pamphylia, Egypt, the district of Libya near Cyrene, Jewish and proselyte visitors from Rome,
After these things had happened, Paul decided to go through Macedonia and Achaia and then to go on to Jerusalem. "After I have gone there," he told them, "I must also see Rome."
He went through those regions and encouraged the people with everything he had to say. Then he went to Greece and stayed there for three months. When he was about to sail for Syria, a plot was initiated against him by the Jews, so he decided to go back through Macedonia.
Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in Asia, as he was in a hurry to get to Jerusalem for the day of Pentecost, if that was possible.
Right now, however, I'm going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints,
Now I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deaconess in the church at Cenchrea.
Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers 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 host to me and the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus greet you.
through whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Erastus stayed in Corinth, and I left Trophimus in Miletus because he was sick.
Hastings
ROMANS, EPISTLE TO THE
1. Time, occasion, and character.
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"Stop judging, so that you won't be judged,
While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, two men in white robes stood right beside them. They asked, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This same Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you saw him go up into heaven."
Then the apostles, the elders, and the whole church decided to choose some of their men to send with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch. These were Judas, who was called Barsabbas, and Silas, who were leaders among the brothers.
So the men were sent on their way and arrived in Antioch. They gathered the congregation together and delivered the letter.
She would follow Paul and us and shout, "These men are servants of the Most High God and are proclaiming to you a way of salvation!" She kept doing this for many days until Paul became annoyed, turned to her and told the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus the Messiah to come out of her!" And it came out that very moment. read more. When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities who met together in the public square. They brought them before the magistrates and said, "These men are stirring up a lot of trouble in our city. They are Jews
After giving them a severe beating, they threw them in jail and ordered the jailer to keep them under tight security.
There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to visit 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. Meanwhile, a Jew named Apollos arrived in Ephesus. He was a native of Alexandria, an eloquent man, and well versed in the Scriptures. read more. He had been instructed in the Lord's way, and with spiritual fervor he kept speaking and teaching accurately about Jesus, although he knew only about John's baptism. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him home and explained God's way to him more accurately. When Apollos wanted to cross over to Achaia, the brothers wrote to the disciples there, urging them to welcome him. On his arrival he greatly helped those who, through God's grace, had believed. He successfully refuted the Jews in public and proved by the Scriptures that Jesus is the Messiah.
After these things had happened, Paul decided to go through Macedonia and Achaia and then to go on to Jerusalem. "After I have gone there," he told them, "I must also see Rome."
After these things had happened, Paul decided to go through Macedonia and Achaia and then to go on to Jerusalem. "After I have gone there," he told them, "I must also see Rome."
After these things had happened, Paul decided to go through Macedonia and Achaia and then to go on to Jerusalem. "After I have gone there," he told them, "I must also see Rome."
After these things had happened, Paul decided to go through Macedonia and Achaia and then to go on to Jerusalem. "After I have gone there," he told them, "I must also see Rome." Then he sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he himself stayed in Asia a while longer.
Then he sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he himself stayed in Asia a while longer.
Then he sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he himself stayed in Asia a while longer. Now about that time a great commotion broke out concerning the Way. read more. By making silver shrines of Artemis, a silversmith named Demetrius provided a large income for skilled workers. He called a meeting of these men and others who were engaged in similar trades and said, "Men, you well know that we get a good income from this business. You also see and hear that, not only in Ephesus, but almost all over Asia, this man Paul has won over and taken away a large crowd by telling them that gods made by human hands are not gods at all. There is a danger not only that our business will lose its reputation but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be brought into disrepute and that she will be robbed of her majesty that brought all Asia and the world to worship her." When they heard this, they became furious and began to shout, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" The city was filled with confusion, and the people rushed into the theater together, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul's fellow travelers from Macedonia. Paul wanted to go into the crowd, but the disciples wouldn't let him. Even some officials of the province of Asia who were his friends sent him a message urging him not to risk his life in the theater. Meanwhile, some were shouting one thing and some another, since the crowd was confused, and most of them didn't know why they were meeting. Some of the crowd concluded it was because of Alexander, since the Jews had pushed him to the front. So Alexander motioned for silence and tried to make a defense before the people. But when they found out that he was a Jew, they all started to shout in unison for about two hours, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" When the city recorder had quieted the crowd, he said, "Men of Ephesus, who in the world doesn't know that this city of Ephesus is the keeper of the temple of the great Artemis and of the statue that fell down from heaven? Since these things cannot be denied, you must be quiet and not do anything reckless. For you have brought these men here, although they neither rob temples nor blaspheme our goddess. So if Demetrius and his workers have a charge against anyone, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. They should accuse one another there. But if you want anything else, it must be settled in the regular assembly, because we are in danger of being charged with rioting today, and there is no good reason we can give to justify this commotion."
and stayed there for three months. When he was about to sail for Syria, a plot was initiated against him by the Jews, so he decided to go back through Macedonia.
and stayed there for three months. When he was about to sail for Syria, a plot was initiated against him by the Jews, so he decided to go back through Macedonia.
and stayed there for three months. When he was about to sail for Syria, a plot was initiated against him by the Jews, so he decided to go back through Macedonia. He was accompanied by Sopater (the son of Pyrrhus) from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus from Asia.
From: Paul, a servant of Jesus the Messiah, called to be an apostle and set apart for God's gospel, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures read more. regarding his Son. He was a descendant of David with respect to his humanity and was declared by the resurrection from the dead to be the powerful Son of God according to the spirit of holiness Jesus the Messiah, our Lord. Through him we received grace and a commission as an apostle to bring about faithful obedience among all the gentiles for the sake of his name. You, too, are among those who have been called to belong to Jesus the Messiah. To: Everyone in Rome, loved by God and called to be holy. May grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, be yours!
To: Everyone in Rome, loved by God and called to be holy. May grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, be yours! First of all, I thank my God through Jesus the Messiah for all of you, because the news about your faith is being reported throughout the world. read more. For God, whom I serve with my spirit by preaching the gospel about his Son, is my witness how constantly I mention you in my prayers at all times, asking that somehow by God's will I may at last succeed in coming to you. For I am longing to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong, that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine. I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I often planned to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now), so that I might reap a harvest among you, just as I have among the rest of the gentiles. Both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to foolish people, I am a debtor. That is why I am so eager to proclaim the gospel to you who live in Rome, too.
That is why I am so eager to proclaim the gospel to you who live in Rome, too. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is God's power for the salvation of everyone who believes, of the Jew first and of the Greek as well. read more. For in the gospel God's righteousness is being revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, "The righteous will live by faith." For God's wrath is being revealed from heaven against all the ungodliness and wickedness of those who in their wickedness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God himself has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible attributes his eternal power and divine nature have been understood and observed by what he made, so that people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him. Instead, their thoughts turned to worthless things, and their senseless hearts were darkened. Though claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images that looked like mortal human beings, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles. For this reason, God delivered them to sexual impurity as they followed the lusts of their hearts and dishonored their bodies with one another. They exchanged God's truth for a lie and worshipped and served the creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason, God delivered them to degrading passions as their females exchanged their natural sexual function for one that is unnatural. In the same way, their males also abandoned their natural sexual function toward females and burned with lust toward one another. Males committed indecent acts with males, and received within themselves the appropriate penalty for their perversion. Furthermore, because they did not think it worthwhile to keep knowing God fully, God delivered them to degraded minds to perform acts that should not be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, quarreling, deceit, and viciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, haughty, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to their parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, and ruthless. Although they know God's just requirement that those who practice such things deserve to die they not only do these things but even applaud others who practice them.
Therefore, you have no excuse every one of you who judges. For when you pass judgment on another person, you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, practice the very same things. Now we know that God's judgment against those who act like this is based on truth. read more. So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on those who practice these things and then do them yourself, do you think you will escape God's judgment? Or are you unaware of his rich kindness, forbearance, and patience, that it is God's kindness that is leading you to repent? But because of your stubborn and unrepentant heart you are reserving wrath for yourself on the day of wrath, when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. For he will repay everyone according to what that person has done: eternal life to those who strive for glory, honor, and immortality by patiently doing good; but wrath and fury for those who in their selfish pride refuse to believe the truth and practice wickedness instead. There will be suffering and anguish for every human being who practices doing evil, for Jews first and for Greeks as well. But there will be glory, honor, and peace for everyone who practices doing good, initially for Jews but also for Greeks as well, because God does not show partiality. For all who have sinned apart from the Law will also perish apart from the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law. For it is not merely those who hear the Law who are righteous in God's sight. No, it is those who follow the Law, who will be justified. For whenever gentiles, who do not possess the Law, do instinctively what the Law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the Law. They show that what the Law requires is written in their hearts, a fact to which their own consciences testify, and their thoughts will either accuse or excuse them on that day when God, through Jesus the Messiah, will judge people's secrets according to my gospel. Now if you call yourself a Jew, and rely on the Law, and boast about God, and know his will, and approve of what is best because you have been instructed in the Law; and if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light to those in darkness, an instructor of ignorant people, and a teacher of infants because you have the full content of knowledge and truth in the Law as you teach others, do you fail to teach yourself? As you preach against stealing, do you steal? As you forbid adultery, do you commit adultery? As you abhor idols, do you rob temples? As you boast about the Law, do you dishonor God by breaking the Law?
What advantage, then, does the Jew have, or what value is there in circumcision? There are all kinds of advantages! First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the utterances of God. read more. What if some of the Jews were unfaithful? Their unfaithfulness cannot cancel God's faithfulness, can it? Of course not! God is true, even if everyone else is a liar. As it is written, "You are right when you speak, and win your case when you go into court." But if our unrighteousness serves to confirm God's righteousness, what can we say? God is not unrighteous when he vents his wrath on us, is he? (I am talking in human terms.) Of course not! Otherwise, how could God judge the world? For if through my falsehood God's truthfulness glorifies him even more, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? Or can we say as some people slander us by claiming that we say "Let's do evil that good may result"? They deserve to be condemned! What, then, does this mean? Are we Jews any better off? Not at all! For we have already accused everyone, both Jews and Greeks, of being under the power of sin. As it is written, "Not even one person is righteous. No one understands. No one searches for God. All have turned away. They have become completely worthless. No one shows kindness, not even one person! Their throats are open graves. With their tongues they deceive. The venom of poisonous snakes is under their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. They run swiftly to shed blood. Ruin and misery characterize their lives. They have not learned the path to peace. They don't fear God. Now we know that whatever the Law says applies to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore, God will not justify any human being by means of the actions prescribed by the Law, for through the Law comes the full knowledge of sin. But now, apart from the Law, God's righteousness is revealed and is attested by the Law and the Prophets God's righteousness through the faithfulness of Jesus the Messiah for all who believe. For there is no distinction among people, since all have sinned and continue to fall short of God's glory. By his grace they are justified freely through the redemption that is in the Messiah Jesus, whom God offered as a place where atonement by the Messiah's blood would occur through faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because he had waited patiently to deal with sins committed in the past. He wanted to demonstrate at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies anyone who has the faithfulness of Jesus. What, then, is there to boast about? That has been eliminated. On what principle? On that of actions? No, but on the principle of faith. For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the actions prescribed by the Law. Is God the God of the Jews only? Is he not the God of the gentiles, too? Yes, of the gentiles, too, since there is only one God who will justify the circumcised on the basis of faith and the uncircumcised by that same faith. Do we, then, abolish the Law by this faith? Of course not! Instead, we uphold the Law.
He was sentenced to death because of our sins and raised to life to justify us.
Don't you realize, brothers for I am speaking to people who know the Law that the Law can press its claims over a person only as long as he is alive? For a married woman is bound by the Law to her husband while he is living, but if her husband dies, she is released from the Law concerning her husband. read more. So while her husband is living, she will be called an adulterer if she lives with another man. But if her husband dies, she is free from this Law, so that she is not an adulterer if she marries another man. In the same way, my brothers, through the Messiah's body you also died as far as the Law is concerned, so that you may belong to another person, the one who was raised from the dead, and may bear fruit for God. For while we were living according to our human nature, sinful passions were at work in our bodies by means of the Law, to bear fruit resulting in death. But now we have been released from the Law by dying to what enslaved us, so that we may serve in the new life of the Spirit, not under the old writings. What should we say, then? Is the Law sinful? Of course not! In fact, I wouldn't have become aware of sin if it had not been for the Law. I wouldn't have known what it means to covet if the Law had not said, "You must not covet." But sin seized the opportunity provided by this commandment and produced in me all kinds of sinful desires, since apart from the Law, sin is dead. At one time I was alive without any connection to the Law. But when the rule was revealed, sin sprang to life, and I died. I found that the very rule that was intended to bring life actually brought death. For sin, seizing the opportunity provided by the rule, deceived me and used it to kill me. So then, the Law itself is holy, and the rule is holy, just, and good. Now, did something good bring me death? Of course not! But in order that sin might be recognized as being sin, it used something good to cause my death, so that through the rule, sin might become more exposed as being sinful than ever before. For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am merely human, sold as a slave to sin. I don't understand what I am doing. For I don't practice what I want to do, but instead do what I hate. Now if I practice what I don't want to do, I am admitting that the Law is good. As it is, I am no longer the one who is doing it, but it is the sin that is living in me. For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but I cannot carry it out. For I don't do the good I want to do, but instead do the evil that I don't want to do. But if I do what I don't want to do, I am no longer the one who is doing it, but it is the sin that is living in me. So I find this to be a principle: when I want to do what is good, evil is right there with me. For I delight in the Law of God in my inner being, but I see in my body a different principle waging war with the Law in my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin that exists in my body. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is infected by death? Thank God through Jesus the Messiah, our Lord, because with my mind I myself can serve the Law of God, even while with my human nature I serve the law of sin.
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in union with the Messiah Jesus. For the Spirit's law of life in the Messiah Jesus has set me free from the Law of sin and death. read more. For what the Law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did. By sending his own Son in the form of humanity, he condemned sin by being incarnate, so that the righteous requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not live according to human nature 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 focus our minds on the human nature leads to death, but to focus our minds on the Spirit leads to life and peace. That is why the mind that focuses on human nature is hostile toward God. It refuses to submit to the authority of God's Law because it is powerless to do so. Indeed, those who are under the control of human nature cannot please God. You, however, are not under the control of the human nature but under the control of the Spirit, since God's Spirit lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of the Messiah, he does not belong to him. But if the Messiah is in you, your bodies are dead due to sin, but the spirit is alive due to righteousness. And if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, then the one who raised the Messiah from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive by his Spirit who lives in you. Consequently, brothers, we are not with respect to human nature, that is under an obligation to live according to human nature.
Consequently, brothers, we are not with respect to human nature, that is under an obligation to live according to human nature. For if you live according to human nature, you are going to die, but if by the Spirit you continuously put to death the activities of the body, you will live. read more. For all who are led by God's Spirit are God's children. For you have not received a spirit of slavery that leads you into fear again. Instead, you have received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba! Father!" The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, we are heirs heirs of God and co-heirs with the Messiah if, in fact, we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed to us. For the creation is eagerly awaiting the revelation of God's children, because the creation has become subject to futility, though not by anything it did. The one who subjected it did so in the certainty that the creation itself would also be set free from corrupting bondage in order to share the glorious freedom of God's children. For we know that all the rest of creation has been groaning with the pains of childbirth up to the present time. However, not only the creation, but we who have the first fruits of the Spirit also groan inwardly as we eagerly await our adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For we were saved with this hope in mind. Now a hope that can be observed is not really hope, for who hopes for what can be seen? But if we hope for what we do not yet observe, we eagerly wait for it with patience. In the same way, the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, since we do not know how to pray as we should. But the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words, and the one who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, for the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to God's will. And we know that for those who love God, that is, for those who are called according to his purpose, all things are working together for good. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that the Son might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined, he also called; and those whom he called, he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified. What, then, can we say about all of this? If God is for us, who can be against us?
What, then, can we say about all of this? If God is for us, who can be against us? The one who did not spare his own Son, but offered him as a sacrifice for all of us, surely will give us all things, along with his Son, won't he? read more. Who will accuse God's elect? It is God who justifies! Who is the one to condemn? It is the Messiah Jesus who is interceding on our behalf. He died, and more importantly, has been raised and is seated at the right hand of God. Who will separate us from the Messiah's love? Can trouble, distress, persecution, hunger, nakedness, danger, or a violent death do this? As it is written, "For your sake we are being put to death all day long. We are thought of as sheep headed for slaughter." In all these things we are triumphantly victorious due to the one who loved us.
I am telling the truth because I belong to the Messiah I am not lying, and my conscience confirms it by means of the Holy Spirit. I have deep sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart, read more. for I could wish that I myself were condemned and cut off from the Messiah for the sake of my brothers, my own people, who are Israelis. To them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the Law, the worship, and the promises. To the Israelis belong the patriarchs, and from them, the Messiah descended, who is God over all, the one who is forever blessed. Amen. Now it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all Israelis truly belong to Israel, and not all of Abraham's descendants are his true descendants. On the contrary, "It is through Isaac that descendants will be named for you." That is, it is not merely the children born through natural descent who were regarded as God's children, but it is the children born through the promise who were regarded as descendants. For this is the language of the promise: "At this time I will return, and Sarah will have a son." Not only that, but Rebecca became pregnant by our ancestor Isaac. Yet before their children had been born or had done anything good or bad (so that God's plan of election might continue to operate according to his calling and not by actions), Rebecca was told, "The older child will serve the younger one." So it is written, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated." What can we say, then? God is not unrighteous, is he? Of course not! For he says to Moses, "I will be merciful to the person I want to be merciful to, and I will be kind to the person I want to be kind to." Therefore, God's choice does not depend on a person's will or effort, but on God himself, who shows mercy. For the Scripture says about Pharaoh, "I have raised you up for this very purpose, to demonstrate my power through you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." Therefore, God has mercy on whomever he chooses, and he hardens the heart of whomever he chooses. You may ask me, "Then why does God still find fault with anybody? For who can resist his will?" On the contrary, who are you mere man that you are to talk back to God? Can an object that was molded say to the one who molded it, "Why did you make me like this?" A potter has the right to do what he wants to with his clay, doesn't he? He can make something for a special occasion or something for ordinary use from the same lump of clay.
What can we say, then? Gentiles, who were not pursuing righteousness, have attained righteousness, a righteousness that comes through faith.
But about Israel he says, "All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and rebellious people."
Now if some of the branches have been broken off, and you, a wild olive branch, have been grafted in their place to share the rich root of the olive tree, do not boast about being better than the other branches. If you boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. read more. Then you will say, "Branches were cut off so that I could be grafted in." That's right! They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you remain only because of faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid! For if God did not spare the natural branches, he certainly will not spare you, either. Consider, then, the kindness and severity of God: his severity toward those who fell, but God's kindness toward you if you continue receiving his kindness. Otherwise, you too will be cut off. If the Jews do not persist in their unbelief, they will be grafted in again, because God is able to graft them in. After all, if you were cut off from what is naturally a wild olive tree, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much easier it will be for these natural branches to be grafted back into their own olive tree! For I want to let you know about this secret, brothers, so that you will not claim to be wiser than you are: Stubbornness has come to part of Israel until the full number of the gentiles comes to faith. In this way, all Israel will be saved, as it is written, "The Deliverer will come from Zion; he will remove ungodliness from Jacob. This is my covenant with them when I take away their sins." As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake, but as far as election is concerned, they are loved for the sake of their ancestors. For God's gifts and calling never change. For just as you disobeyed God in the past but now have received his mercy because of their disobedience, so they, too, have now disobeyed. As a result, they may receive mercy because of the mercy shown to you. For God has locked all people in the prison of their own disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all. O how deep are God's riches, and wisdom, and knowledge! How unfathomable are his decisions and unexplainable are his ways! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become his advisor? Or who has given him something only to have him pay it back?" For all things are from him, by him, and for him. Glory belongs to him forever! Amen.
Accept anyone who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of arguing over differences of opinion.
But the person who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not act in faith; and anything that is not done in faith is sin.
And again, Isaiah says, "There will be a Root from Jesse. He will rise up to rule the gentiles, and the gentiles will hope in him." Now may God, the source of hope, fill you with all joy and peace as you believe, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. read more. I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are filled with goodness and full of all the knowledge you need to be able to instruct each other. However, on some points I have written to you rather boldly, both as a reminder to you and because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of the Messiah Jesus to the gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering brought by gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, in the Messiah Jesus I have the right to boast about my work for God. For I am bold enough to tell you only about what the Messiah has accomplished through me in bringing gentiles to obedience. By my words and actions, by the power of signs and wonders, and by the power of God's Spirit, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of the Messiah from Jerusalem as far as Illyricum. My one ambition is to proclaim the gospel where the name of the Messiah is not known, so I don't build on someone else's foundation. Rather, as it is written, "Those who were never told about him will see, and those who have never heard will understand." This is why I have so often been hindered from coming to you.
This is why I have so often been hindered from coming to you. But now, having no further opportunities in these regions, I want to come to you, as I've desired to do for many years. read more. Now that I am on my way to Spain, I hope to see you when I come your way and, after I have enjoyed your company for a while, to be sent on by you. Right now, however, I'm going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints, because the believers in Macedonia and Achaia have been eager to share their resources with the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. Yes, they were eager to do this, and in fact they are obligated to help them, for if the gentiles have shared in their spiritual blessings, they are obligated to be of service to them in material things. So when I have completed this task and have put my seal on this contribution of theirs, I will visit you on my way to Spain. And I know that when I come to you I will come with the full blessing of the Messiah. Now I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, and by the love that the Spirit produces, to join me in my struggle, earnestly praying to God for me
Now I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, and by the love that the Spirit produces, to join me in my struggle, earnestly praying to God for me that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea, that my ministry to Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints,
that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea, that my ministry to Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, and that if it's God's will, I may come to you with joy and be refreshed together with you. read more. Now may the God who grants peace be with all of you! Amen.
Greet also the church in their house. Greet my dear friend Epaenetus, who was the first convert to the Messiah in Asia.
Now to the one who is able to strengthen you with my gospel and the message that I preach about Jesus, the Messiah, by revealing the secret that was kept hidden from long ago but now has been made known through the prophets to all the gentiles, in keeping with the decree of the eternal God to bring them to the obedience that springs from faith read more. to the only wise God, through Jesus the Messiah, be glory forever! Amen.
I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius,
I, Paul, am writing this greeting with 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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When the uproar was over, Paul sent for the disciples and encouraged them. Then he said goodbye to them and left to go to Macedonia. He went through those regions and encouraged the people with everything he had to say. Then he went to Greece read more. and stayed there for three months. When he was about to sail for Syria, a plot was initiated against him by the Jews, so he decided to go back 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 were scattered went from place to place preaching the word.
This happened three times. Then everything was pulled back up to heaven.
He had been instructed in the Lord's way, and with spiritual fervor he kept speaking and teaching accurately about Jesus, although he knew only about John's baptism.
It was while Apollos was in Corinth that Paul passed through the inland districts and came to Ephesus. He found a few disciples there and asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" They answered him, "No, we haven't even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." read more. He then asked, "Then into what were you baptized?" They answered, "Into John's baptism."
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is God's power for the salvation of everyone who believes, of the Jew first and of the Greek as well. For in the gospel God's righteousness is being revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, "The righteous will live by faith."
Now I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deaconess in the church at Cenchrea. Welcome her in the Lord as is appropriate for saints, and provide her with anything she may need from you, for she has assisted many people, including me.
I, Tertius, who penned this letter, greet you in the Lord.