2018 STUDY OF ROMANS
Chapter 1, Verses 1-17
The Gospel of Paul!
[3-25-18]
This Week’s Lesson: “The Gospel of Paul!”
Romans 1:1-17) [NIV] Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God-
2) the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures
3) regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David,
NOTE: Paul was a servant of God set apart to preach the Gospel that was foretold in the Old Testament, the Good News about Jesus, the descendent of David.
4) and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.
QUESTION: What does vs. 4 tell us about Jesus?
ANSWER: The resurrection of Jesus Christ was a declaration from God that Jesus truly was the Son of God!
5) Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.
(NLT) Through Christ, God has given us the privilege and authority to tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done for them, so that they will believe and obey him, bringing glory to his name.
“Grace, the general gift bestowed on all believers: apostleship, the special manifestation of grace to Paul” [Vincent].
QUESTION: What do we learn here about Paul’s commission?
1 Timothy 1:1-11) [NIV] that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.
Galatians 2:7-8) [KJV] But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter;
8) (For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles🙂
1 Corinthians 15:10) [NIV] But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them-yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
ANSWER: God chose Paul to be His apostle to the non-Jews by grace/Divine favor; then he empowered Paul to get the work done through grace/Divine enablement.
QUESTION: Did God save you by grace because you were really deserving of salvation?
Romans 11:6) [KJV] And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.
ANSWER: Absolutely not! You were totally undeserving of salvation, as was I.
6) And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.
NOTE: Paul received grace {Divine favor, Divine enablement} through the resurrected Jesus to summon people from among the non-Jews to come to saving faith in Christ. The saints at Rome were among those who found salvation through Jesus.
7) To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
8) First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world.
9) God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you
10) in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you.
QUESTION: What do we learn from vs. 8-10?
- The faith of the Christians in Rome was being talked about “all over the world” [vs. 8].
- Because of their faith Paul constantly prayed for them [vs. 9-10].
- Paul also prayed that it would be God’s will that a “way may be opened for” him “to come to” them in Rome [vs. 10].
11) I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong-
12) that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.
QUESTION: Why did Paul long to see the Christians in Rome?
- He wanted to “impart to” them “some spiritual gift” to give the strength [vs. 11].
- He wanted them to be encouraged by his faith; and he wanted to be encouraged by their faith [vs. 12].
13) I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.
NOTE: Paul wanted his readers to know that he had “planned many times” to visit them but had been “prevented from doing so.” He wanted to visit them so that he could have a “harvest among” them in the same way that he had “among the other Gentiles.”
14) I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish.
“obligated” – “1) one who owes another, a debtor; 1a) one held by some obligation, bound by some duty; [Thayer].
“Greeks and non-Greeks” – “Gentiles without distinction. Paul takes the conventional Greek division of all mankind into Greeks and non-Greeks” [Vincent].
15) That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome.
QUESTION: Why was Paul eager to/driven to “preach the gospel” to those in Rome?
ANSWER: As the individual who had been entrusted with the Gospel and commissioned to carry that Gospel primarily to the non-Jews he felt he was literally in debt to them to do so.
16) I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
(NLT) For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes — Jews first and also Gentiles.
QUESTION: Why did Paul literally feel like he actually owed it to all of the non-Jews to share the Gospel with them?
- He was commissioned by God to preach to the non-Jews.
- He understood that the Gospel message is the only message on planet earth that can get someone from here to Heaven.
Romans 2:9-11) [KJV] Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;
10) But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:
11) For there is no respect of persons with God.
QUESTION: In God’s economy why is it always “the Jew first, and also to the Gentile”?
ANSWER: Israel is the only physical nation that has ever been in covenant with God! The Church is a spiritual nation made up of Jews and non-Jews; but only Israel is a literal physical nation that is in covenant with God. Therefore God always deals with them first.
John 1:10-11) [KJV] He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
11) He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
NOTE: God sent Jesus to the Jews first because they were His covenant people; but then, when they, as a nation, rejected Him the coming Gospel was to be made available for every individual Jew and non-Jew.
17) For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
(NLT) This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”
QUESTION: How does the Gospel message bring us to salvation?
ANSWER: It reveals to us how we sinners can enter into a relationship with a Holy God wherein He has absolutely nothing against us, wherein He declares us to be righteous in His sight!
2018 STUDY OF ROMANS
Chapter 1, Verses 17-32
The Wrath of God!
[4-8-18]
Review: “The Gospel of Paul!”
Romans 1:1-17) [NIV] (4) and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.
NOTE: The resurrection of Jesus Christ was a declaration from God that Jesus truly was the Son of God!
7) To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
14) I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish.
15) That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome.
NOTE: As the individual who had been entrusted with the Gospel and commissioned to carry that Gospel primarily to the non-Jews he felt he was literally in debt to them to do so.
16) (NLT) For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes — Jews first and also Gentiles.
QUESTION: Why did Paul literally feel like he actually owed it to all of the non-Jews to share the Gospel with them?
- He was commissioned by God to preach to the non-Jews.
- He understood that the Gospel message is the only message on planet earth that can get someone from here to Heaven.
QUESTION: In God’s economy why is it always “the Jew first, and also to the Gentile”?
ANSWER: Israel is the only physical nation that has ever been in covenant with God! The Church is a spiritual nation made up of Jews and non-Jews; but only Israel is a literal physical nation that is in covenant with God. Therefore God always deals with them first.
John 1:10-11) [KJV] He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
11) He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
NOTE: God sent Jesus to the Jews first because they were His covenant people; but then, when they, as a nation, rejected Him the Gospel was to be made available for every individual Jew and non-Jew.
17) For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
This Week’s Lesson: “The Wrath of God!”
Romans 1:16) [NIV] I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
Romans 1:17-32) [NIV] For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
(NLT) This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”
(GW) God’s approval is revealed in this Good News. This approval begins and ends with faith as Scripture says, “The person who has God’s approval will live by faith.”
QUESTION: How does the Gospel message bring us to salvation?
ANSWER: It reveals to us how we sinners can enter into a relationship with a Holy God wherein He has absolutely nothing against us, wherein He declares us to be righteous in His sight!
QUESTION: Once God makes us “right with Him” how do we stay “right with Him”?
ANSWER: We remain in the state of being right with God the same way we entered into the state of being right with God; that way is to continue walking in faith. We must continue to believe that we are righteous because God declared us righteous.
18) The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness,
QUESTION: What group of mankind is on God’s bad side?
ANSWER: Those who suppress the truth of the Gospel for personal gain, or agenda.
“wrath of God” – “It is the temper of God towards sin, not rage, but the wrath of reason and law (Shedd). The revelation of God’s righteousness in the gospel was necessary because of the failure of men to attain it without it, for God’s wrath justly rested upon all both Gentiles (Rom 1:18-32) and Jews (2:1-3:20) [Robertson].
QUESTION: Vs. 16 tells us that the Gospel has the power to save us. Vs. 17 tells us that the Gospel reveals to us how we can enter into a relationship with a Holy God where He holds nothing against us. Why do we need to understand those 2 verses?
ANSWER: According to vs. 18 we need to understand the Gospel message that teaches us how to be saved because a Holy God is justifiably angry with the sin of mankind.
19) since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.
20) For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
21) For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
22) Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools
23) and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
QUESTION: What does God think about those who deny His existence?
ANSWER: They are foolish because they have no excuse for their denial of Him.
QUESTION: What is meant by verses 21-22?
ANSWER: Mankind once knew the true God, but then forsook Him. Also, each individual man has evidence in nature of a Creator.
24) Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.
25) They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator-who is forever praised. Amen.
“God gave them over,” – “This divine abandonment of men is here strikingly traced in three successive stages, at each of which the same word is used (Rom 1:24, Rom 1:26; and Rom 1:28, where the word is rendered ‘gave over’). ‘As they deserted God, God in turn deserted them’” [JFB].
QUESTION: What did God actually do?
ANSWER: He gave them a false reality that they longed for, one without God.
NOTE: Idol worship came as a result of this.
26) Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.
27) In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
NOTE: These verses are talking about Homosexuality.
QUESTION: What does God think about this kind of conduct?
ANSWER: He calls it “shameful lusts,” and “indecent acts.”
28) Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.
29) They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips,
30) slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents;
31) they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
32) Although 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.
NOTE: They didn’t want God in their lives, so He allowed the inevitable to happen; their minds became depraved.
NOTE: All of the above manner of sin was the result.
NOTE: There are people who love to sin, but go beyond that, and take pleasure in causing others to sin.
NOTE: These individuals know that God will punish this kind of activity, but they continue to delight in sin, and in those who sin.