Culture & Context: Romans

Welcome to Culture and Context, a blog that will flesh out the context of the PATH journal and other content that we study here at True North.

Fellow PATH Journalers - we are approaching the end of Year 1, Book 1 of our PATH journey, and I am so excited to finish out in the book of Romans, one of my favorite books in the Bible. When I was a young(er) mother, over thirty years ago, I did an in-depth study of Romans in a women’s group, and one of the things we did was to memorize all of Chapter 8. I could not recite those passages today, but I know when I hear them and several of them have continued to strengthen me over the years.

Romans is Paul’s longest letter, written around AD 57. There is no question of authorship, as Paul identifies himself as the writer in his greeting (Romans. 1:1-7). Paul had a secretary named Tertius who did the actually writing

"I Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord." -Rom. 16:22

which was customary in a time when writing was done with scarce resources. We think nothing of writing something and re-writing it as we edit, because we don’t have to write on papyrus!

He wrote the letter while in Corinth during his third missionary journey. We know he was in Corinth because he referenced Erastus as the treasurer of the city

"Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you" -Rom. 16:23b

and an inscription beside a theater in Corinth states “that it was laid by Erastus, the city treasurer, in appreciation for his election,” (Elwell &Comfort, TBD). Paul was readying for a journey to Jerusalem and then Spain with a detour to visit the Roman church

"I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while. At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints" -Rom. 15:24-25

Paul hoped to use Rome as his base of operations for the Mediterranean region.

Rome is one of only two churches that Paul did not establish (the other was at Colosse). It consisted of both Jewish and Gentile believers and was probably started by Jewish believers who were present at Pentecost (Acts 2:10). N.T. Wright tells us that, “the Roman church consisted of several house churches with significantly different viewpoints...(and) some of these house churches might be suspicious of Paul and his theology.” (Wright, N.T. & Bird, M. F.).

The expulsion of Jews from Rome by the Emperor Claudius in AD 49, and their subsequent return to Rome after Claudius’ death in AD 54, may have caused some division in the house churches. Some historians speculate that the Jews returned to a Rome and to churches that had changed for the five years that they were entirely Gentile. These historians believe that Paul wrote his letter to unify the Gentiles and returning Jews by reminding them of the things that they all should agree upon: the Gospel message of Jesus, the righteousness and faithfulness of God, the new covenant and the new way that people should live.

Paul, himself a Jew, wanted the Christians of Rome, especially the Jewish Christians, to remember that the gospel message was rooted in Israel’s traditions and the prophecy of the Messiah, a prophecy that led to the new covenant between God and man.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” -Rom. 1:16-17

Hellen is the word translated as “Greek” in verse 16, and in this instance it refers to the Gentiles. Paul may have heard from his Roman friends that the churches in Rome might be in some turmoil as the returning Jews tried to re-integrate Jewish practices into churches that become predominantly Gentile. These house churches might well fracture under disagreements over implementing Jewish observances...and at a time when Rome was predominantly pagan and antisemitic.

N. T. Wright sums up the letter to the Romans as “a gospel-based exposition and exhortation; a masterpiece of missionary theology, a theological study and exegesis of Jesus, pastoral care and artful rhetoric, designed to win over the many strands of Roman Christianity” (p. 510)...to lend support for Paul’s mission to other cities... “to draw Jewish and Gentile Christians in Rome closer together, to strengthen them in their faith despite the perils of Roman culture,” (page 510).

Why should we study Romans? What does it mean to 21st century Christians? Tyndale’s Bible Dictionary states:

The major theme running throughout the book is that both Jew and Gentile have fallen short of God’s glory and stand in need of salvation (Rom 3:21–31). God’s righteousness has not been revealed only to the Jew—because God is not God only to the Jews but to the Gentiles as well, since there is only one God (3:29).

Every person living today needs a Savior. They need to hear the amazing story of how Jesus’ sacrifice leads to belief in Him and a relationship with Him, and how to grow in their new-found faith. The messages in Romans can be applied to believers both in first century Rome and today, and help those believers grow in their relationships with God and His church. The NIV Application Commentary says: “think about what Romans teaches us: what human beings really are like and what they need, what God has done to provide a way of escape from our estrangement and mortality, and what a lifestyle that grows out of a Christian worldview looks like.”

Once a person believes, they are justified by God, as Paul outlines in the first three chapters of Romans. Chapters 4-8 explain how God’s grace, sovereign love and purposes for us are part of our new relationship with God. Chapters 9-11 cover God’s plan in Israel’s history, His covenant and faithfulness in the gospel and the calling of the Gentiles along with the Jews into one church. Chapters 12-15 contain practical application for believers, including the renewal of the mind and growth together in unity. The final chapter is filled with Paul’s personal greetings to friends, some final instructions and closes with a doxology, a hymn of praise to God.

The book of Romans had a profound effect on prominent historical figures in the church. Augustine (354- 430), the son of a pagan father and Christian mother, was floundering in his faith until he heard a child’s voice tell him to “take and read.” He opened a Bible to Romans 13:12-14 and read the words that changed him forever:

The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Martin Luther (1483-1546), a Roman Catholic monk, agonized over the condition of his soul until studying the book of Romans helped him realize that on his own, he could never do what had already been done by God- his sins were forgiven by Christ’s death on the cross. His theological understanding of salvation was completely changed and eventually led to his break from the Catholic church. He spawned a denomination and a transformation of Christian living across Europe.

In May of 1738, John Wesley attended a religious meeting in London where he heard a message on the preface to Martin Luther’s commentary on Romans. He wrote in his journal that his heart was “strangely warmed” as he put his trust in Christ alone, that Christ had taken away his sins and saved him from the law of sin and death. His warmed heart led to the Evangelical Revival in London and the establishment of the Methodist denomination.

Romans is not an “easy” read. It needs to be read slowly, and as Pastor Justin says, we should chew over the words. It might be helpful to keep a Bible dictionary and a regular dictionary on hand, as Paul uses some technical and theological language that may be unfamiliar. Even though Romans is not an easy read, I promise you that it is worth studying.

I will leave you with the words of Paul, Rosner and Mosser from the IVP Introduction to the Bible:

For all its difficulty, the theological and practical significance of Romans is immense. There has never been written a more compelling exposition of the way of salvation, which defends the character of God at every turn, and of the nature of holiness and Christian obedience.

Works-cited and Resources

• Albin, T. R. (2016). Wesley, John (1703–91). In M. Davie, T. Grass, S. R. Holmes, J. McDowell, & T. A. Noble (Eds.), New Dictionary of Theology: Historical and Systematic (Second Edition, pp. 953–955). Inter- Varsity Press; InterVarsity Press. Elwell, W. A., & Comfort, P. W. (2001). In Tyndale Bible dictionary. Tyndale House Publishers.

• The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). Crossway Bibles.

• https://biblehub.com/esv/romans/1.htm

• McKnight, S. (General editor). Cohick, L. & Gupta, N. (Associate Editors). (2023). Dictionary of Paul and His Letters: A Compendium of Contemporary Biblical Scholarship, Second Edition, p 937.

• Moo, D. J. (2000). NIV Application Commentary: Romans. Zondervan Publishing House.

• Moo, D. J. (2014)  Encountering the Book of Romans: A Theological Survey., Baker Academic.

• Paul, I., Rosner, B., & Mosser, C. (2014). Letters. In P. Johnston (Ed.), IVP Introduction to the Bible: Story, Themes and Interpretation (pp. 215–263). Inter-Varsity Press.

• Radmacher, E. D., Allen, R. B., & House, H. W. (1999). Nelson’s new illustrated Bible commentary. T. Nelson Publishers.

• Strong, J. (2020). Ἕλλην. In Strong’s Talking Greek and Hebrew Dictionary. WORDsearch.

• Tomlin, G. (2016). Luther, Martin (1483–1546). In M. Davie, T. Grass, S. R. Holmes, J. McDowell, & T. A. Noble (Eds.), New Dictionary of Theology: Historical and Systematic (Second Edition, pp. 537–540). Inter-Varsity Press; InterVarsity Press.

• Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary. Victor Books.

• Wright, N. T., & Bird, M. F. (2019). In The New Testament in Its World: An Introduction to the History, Literature and Theology of the First Christians. Page 502.