AN INTRODUCTION TO THE EPISTLE OF

PAUL TO THE ROMANS

The Book of Justification by Faith

The Book of Roman's relationship to the rest of the N.T. books can be seen in this chart:

THE 27 BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT

NAME TYPE ~DATE MAIN THEME CLASSIFICATION AUDIENCE

I. HISTORICAL (5)
1. Matthew N ~55 AD JESUS: THE KING- His Teachings
2. Mark N ~53 AD JESUS: THE SERVANT- His Deeds To
3. Luke N ~62 AD JESUS: THE PERFECT MAN- His Parables BIOGRAPHIES The
4. John N ~92 AD JESUS: THE SON OF GOD- His Deity
Apostles: SPREADING THE GOSPEL World
5. Acts N ~62 AD

II. DOCTRINAL (21)

A. Pauline epistles (14)
6. Romans T ~57 AD •To show: GOD JUSTIFIES BY FAITH EXPOSITION

7. 1 Corinthians Q ~54 AD •To show: PAUL ADJUSTING PROBLEMS DEALING

8. 2 Corinthians Q/E ~56 AD • Paul: COMFORTING & DEFENDING WITH To
9. Galatians Η ~49 AD •To show: SALVATION BY GRACE PROBLEMS
Local
10. Ephesians* T •To show: JESUS and THE CHURCH, His Body
11. Philippians* E ~62 AD •To show: JESUS as OUR JOY
PRISON Churches
•To show: JESUS as THE HEAD of the Body EPISTLES
12. Colossians* T/H
13. 1 Thessalonians# Q/H ~50 AD •To show: Jesus' Coming as a COMFORT 2nd COMING
14. 2 Thessalonians# Q/H ~51 AD •To show: Jesus' Coming in JUDGMENT EPISTLES

15. 1 Timothy P/E ~63 AD •To show: How to MINISTER in the Church
16. 2 Timothy P/E ~67 AD •To show: Paul ENCOURAGING Timothy PASTORAL To
17. Titus P/E ~63 AD •To show: How to SHEPHERD the Church EPISTLES Individuals
18. Philemon* P/E ~62 AD •To show: Paul PLEADING for Onesimus

19. ▲Hebrews* T ~67 AD •To show: JESUS, SUPERIOR to the Old Covenant EXPOSITION To Jerusalem
B. Non-Pauline epistles (7)
20. James E/Η ~48 AD •To show: How to PROVE our Faith by Actions
To
21. 1 Peter E ~63 AD •To show: How to ENDURE in Trials The
22. 2 Peter H ~66 AD •To show: How to OPPOSE False Teaching
GENERAL Church
23. 1 John Η ~90 AD •To show: How to WALK in Light & Love
24. 2 John P/H ~90 AD •To show: How to GUARD our Love
EPISTLES At
25. 3 John P/Η ~90 AD •To show: How to LOVE in Truth Large
26. Jude Η ~67 AD •To show: How to DEFEND the Faith

III. PROPHETICAL (1)

27. Revelation# F/E ~95 AD •To reveal: 1) JESUS 2) THE FUTURE 3) HIS RETURN APOCALYPTIC To The 7 Churches

▲For several reasons -- and despite the opinion of modern scholarship -- the Pauline authorship of Hebrews is accepted.

N - Narrative E - Encouragement F - Futuristic Visions

T - Theological Discourse Η - Heresy Addressed * - Prison epistles
Q - Questions Answered P - Personal Correspondence # - 2nd Coming epistles

1 J.F.B.
I. THE NAME:

Romans has been variously referred to as: the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans (KJV), the
Masterpiece of the New Testament,1 St. Paul's Magnum Opus,2 the Profoundest Piece of Writing in
Existence,3 the Whole Learning of Christ's Gospel,4 the Key to the Understanding of the Scriptures.5

Perhaps it is best described as "The Gospel According to Paul."

"Now to Him who is able to establish you according to MY GOSPEL and

the preaching of Jesus Christ." (Rom. 16:25. NASB)

II. THE WRITER:

Paul the Apostle, formerly known as Saul, the Jew of Tarsus (see Acts 13:9). He was desirous of out-
lining his doctrinal position (1:10-11) in anticipation of his coming to Rome, in order to collect funding
for his planned mission trip to Spain (15:22-28).

III. THE DATE:

Paul probably wrote the Epistle to the Romans in about A.D. 57-58.

IV. THE DESTINATION:

This Epistle is addressed to "all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints" (1:7), i.e., to the
church at Rome, the capitol of the ancient world. We note that Jesus introduced the word "church" in
Matthew's Gospel (16:18, 18:17), and which comes from the Greek word ekklēsía, meaning "called-out
ones." And so, even as salvation means to be delivered from sin by God, so also is the believer called to
come out from the world and unto God (Jas. 4:4). The church at Rome consisted mostly of Gentiles, 6 but
with a smaller segment of Jews. Nero was Emperor of the Roman Empire at the time of the writing of
this Epistle, and according to Eusebius (A.D. 263-339), it was under his persecution of the Christian
Church that Paul would eventually be martyred by beheading in approximately A.D. 67, probably in
Rome itself (cf. 2Tim. 4:6-18).

V. WRITTEN FROM

Paul wrote Romans from Corinth, as he was leaving for Jerusalem with a collection for the saints there
on his way first to Rome, and then on to Spain (15:22-28). He was staying at the home of Gaius of Cor-
inth (Rom. 16:23 with 1Cor. 1:14), and probably sent it to the Romans by the hand of Phebe (16:1-2).

VI. THE PURPOSE

1 Martin Luther, Preface to the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans, (Christian Classics Ethereal Library, www.ccel.org, Internet).
2 J. Sidlow Baxter, Explore The Book, (6 Vols.), (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1960), 6:67.
3 Samuel Coleridge, cited by Baxter, 6:66.
4 William Tyndale, A Prologue Upon The epistle of St. Paul To The Romans, (The William Tyndale Homepage (www.
williamtyndale.com/0romans.htm, Internet).
5 Philip Melanchthon, cited by John Schofield in Philip Melanchthon and the English Reformation, (Aldershot, England:
Ashgate Publishing Company, 2006), 16.
6 Cf. Rom. 11:13; also, note the predominance of Gentile names in chapter 16.

2 J.F.B.
The Purpose is very important because it reveals the reason for which the book was written; we find
that every book in the Bible was written for a specific purpose. Here a few examples:

• GENESIS was written to show the origin of all things, and the calling of the Hebrew nation.
• EXODUS was written to show the power of God in delivering Israel from Egyptian captivity.
• LEVITICUS was written to show Israel how to approach and worship the Lord God.
•1 CHRONICLES was written to detail the genealogy from Adam to David, and his rule over Israel.
• MATTHEW was written to prove Jesus was David's Son, and the rightful King of Israel.
• JOHN was written to teach people how to have eternal life by believing in Jesus.
- and so on.

Therefore, we find that Romans was written in order...

1) ...TO EXPLAIN God's plan of salvation for MAN  JUSTIFICATION

2) ...TO CLARIFY God's plan for "ISRAEL"  ELECTION
3) ...TO INSPIRE: God's call to holy living for BELIEVERS  SANCTIFICATION

VII. KEY WORDS7

Key words are those that the Holy Spirit -- as the Author of the Scriptures (2Pt. 1:21) -- has chosen to
emphasize due to their repetition, and come together to form a short sentence-synopsis of the book.

A. "God" ~165 times

B. "Law" ~78 times
C. "Christ" ~67 times
D. "Sin/s/eth" ~57 times
E. "Righteous/ness" ~42 times Both of these words have
the same Greek root
F. "Just/ify/ication" ~22 times = 64 times total

G. "Faith" ~39 times Both of these words have

the same Greek root
H. "Believe/d/eth ~21 times = 60 times total

I. "Life/a/liv/eth" ~40 times

J. "Jesus" ~38 times
K. "Death/Die/d/th ~38 times
L. "Spirit/ual" ~32 times
M. "Flesh/carnal/ly" ~32 times
N. "Gentile/s/Nation/s/People" (+ "Greek" - 3) ~29 times (same Greek word) (+3 = 32 times)
O. "Work/eth/ing/s = 26 ~26 times
P. "Israel/ite/s/Jew/s: ~25 times
Q. "Grace" ~22 times

R. "Righteousness (of God") ~7 times

"Although the Law of carnal works brought sin and death to Israel, God's grace through belief in
Jesus Christ brought life in the Spirit, i.e., Justification by Faith to both the Jews and the Gentiles."

7 All key English words are taken from the King James Version.

3 J.F.B.
IIX. KEY VERSES

Key verses help find the pivot points of a book, around which the writer's chains of thought revolve. In
Romans, Paul pivots his argumentation around four major occurrences of the word "therefore:"

1) 3:24-28 "Therefore..."  ...we have a JUSTIFIED FAITH

2) 5:1 "Therefore..."  ...we have a DIVINE PEACE
3) 8:1 "Therefore..."  ...we have a SPIRITUAL WALK
4) 12:1-2 "Therefore..."  ...we have a RENEWED MIND

X. KEY THEMES:

The major theme of Romans is Justification by Faith.

Romans answers the question Job asks in 9:2 of his book: "How can a man be just with God?" Paul
answers this question with the phrase "The just shall live by faith," quoted from Hab. 2:4. Paul is the only
N.T. writer to specifically quote this verse, doing so in 3 of his Epistles, each time with a different
emphasis of its 3 clauses:

1) quoted in Rom. 1:16-17 'The JUST" • JUSTIFICATION is the theme of Romans

2) quoted in Gal. 3:11 "shall LIVE" • The LIFE of liberty is the theme of Galatians
3) quoted in Heb. 10:38 "by FAITH" • FAITH is the theme of Hebrews

Since the 2nd century of the Christian era, the book of Romans has been recognized for its special
significance among all the Bible books, thus, it rightly stands first among the Epistles in the New
Testament -- following immediately after the historical Gospels and Acts -- due to its obvious
importance, and the clarity with which it propounds the gospel message of salvation in Jesus Christ. If
the Epistle to the Romans was all that existed of the Bible, it would be sufficient to explain the theme of
the entire Bible: God's plan to save fallen mankind from their sins by the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ. We
note Martin Luther's well-known description of Romans:

"This letter is truly the masterpiece in the New Testament. It is purest Gospel. It is well worth a Christian not only to
memorize it word for word but also to occupy himself with it daily, as though it were the daily bread of the soul. It is
impossible to read or to meditate on this Letter too much or too well. The more one deals with it, the more precious it
becomes and the better it tastes."8

William Tyndale's assessment of Romans is similar to Luther's:

"Wherefore it appeareth evidently, that Paul's mind was to comprehend briefly in this Epistle all the whole learning of
Christ's Gospel, and to prepare an introduction unto all the Old Testament. For without doubt, whosoever hath
this Epistle perfectly in his heart, the same hath the light and effect of the Old Testament with him. Wherefore, let every
man without exception exercise himself therein diligently, and record it night and day continually, until he be full
acquainted therewith."9

It is said that Early Church father John Chrysostom, "the golden-mouthed," (A.D. 337-407), had
8 Luther, Preface.
9 Tyndale, Prologue.

4 J.F.B.
Romans read to him twice a week in his old age.10

In order to differentiate the New Covenant of Grace from the Old Covenant of Works, Paul explains
his overall theme of Justification by Faith by discussing multiple contrasting themes in Romans:

• THE LAW OF GOD • THE GRACE OF GOD

• CONDEMNATION • JUSTIFICATION
• WRATH • PEACE
• WORKS • FAITH
• IN ADAM • IN CHRIST
• THE JEWS • THE GENTILES
• NATURAL ISRAEL • SPIRITUAL ISRAEL
• WALKING AFTER THE FLESH • WALKING AFTER THE SPIRIT
• CIRCUMCISION • BAPTISM
• SIN • FORGIVENESS
• DEATH • LIFE

XI. OUTLINES

Outlines of Bible books help us 1) to organize an overview of what God is seeking to teach us through
that book, which in turn, helps us 2) to understand the flow of thought of the book. Romans can there-
fore be outlined in two ways:

1) BROADLY:

THE 3 MAJOR EMPHASES OF ROMANS:

1. on a DOCTRINAL Exposition Chapters 1-8
2. on a NATIONAL Clarification Chapters 9-11
3. on an INDIVIDUAL Exhortation Chapters 12-16

THE 3 MAJOR THEMES OF ROMANS:

1. THE PRINCIPLES of Salvation Chapters 1-8
2. THE PROBLEM of the Jew Chapters 9-11
3. THE PRACTICAL Lifestyle Chapters 12-16

RIGHTEOUSNESS THROUGH JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH:

1. THE NEED?  SIN & DEATH Chapters 1-3
2. THE PROVISION?  FAITH & HOPE Chapters 4
3. THE BENEFITS?  FORGIVENESS & SALVATION Chapters 5-8

10 J.B. Morris, The Homilies of S. John Chrysostom, on the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Romans (1841), 1.

5 J.F.B.
 4. THE RECIPIENTS?  JEWS & GENTILES Chapters 9-11
5. THE WALK?  HOLINESS & LOVE Chapters 12-16

THE CAUSE: THE EFFECT: CHAPTER

1. THE SIN of Man = GUILT 1-3
2. THE MERCY of God = GRACE 4-6
3. THE LAW of The Flesh = DEATH 7
4. THE LAW of The Spirit = LIFE 8
5. THE STATE of The Jews = ELECTION 9-11
6. THE DUTY of Believers = HOLINESS 12-16

2) SPECIFICALLY:

*Just as Jesus is central to the Church -- His spiritual body -- and just as God made the heart central to the natural
body, so also is the revelation of the Cross (i.e., Salvation) revealed in the Scriptures as being in the central (or
middle) position: see Gen. 1:6, 2:9, 15:10; Ex. 3:2, 14:22, 38:4; Num. 2:17, 16:47; 2Chr. 7:17; Mt.18:20; Lu. 23:45; Jn.
19:18; Eph. 2:14; Rev. 2:1,7, 5:6, 7:17, 22:2, etc.

"The Just shall live by Faith."

6 J.F.B.