Editor's note: Enjoy today's devotion from The Lighting-Fast Field Guide to the Bible by Matt Whitman.
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Vital Stats
Position: 45 of 66.
Chapters: 16.
Verses: 433.
Word Count: 7,111 (28/66).
Most-Used Words: God, law, faith, sin, justified, righteousness, Christ, grace, flesh, spirit, Israel.
Group: Letters to churches.
Audience: Christians in Rome.
Written From: Corinth.
Date: AD 57.
Popularity Rank: 8 of 66.
Lightning-Fast Summary: A letter from Paul to Roman Christians that explains God’s righteousness and human unrighteousness, and how God gives His righteousness to Jews and Gentiles alike through Jesus.
Unique Feature: Romans dives deeper into the mechanics of salvation than any other book of the Bible.
Who Wrote It? The apostle Paul, a guy for whom salvation was not an academic abstraction. He used to persecute Christians but then was transformed when Jesus confronted him on the road to Damascus in Acts 9.
Original Language: Paul wrote Romans, and all his letters, in Greek. It was the perfect language for Paul’s purposes because Jews and Gentiles spoke it, and it was sufficiently sophisticated to carry important theological ideas.
Letters Until Revelation: From here until the final book of the Bible, it’s all letters passed around among early Christians. These next twenty-one books feel much different from the Gospels and Acts, which are narratives, but these letters still have tension, stories, and stakes. The first nine letters (including Romans) are from Paul to specific churches somewhere around the empire. The next four are letters from Paul to other Christian leaders he’s helping (these are called the “Pastoral Epistles”). The final six letters are by James, John, Peter, and Jude (plus whoever wrote Hebrews). They’re written to Christians in general and are sometimes called the “General Epistles.”
What Prompted Romans? It’s AD 57, and Paul is facing a tough decision. He’s halfway between Rome and Jerusalem in the city of Corinth. It’s his third missionary journey, and on the one hand, he wants to keep going west to visit the young Christian community in Rome (the most influential city in the world). He’s heard about a tension in the church there between Jewish and Gentile Christians, and he’s also got ambitions to take the gospel from Rome on to Spain. But on the other hand, Paul is carrying around a bunch of money given to him by Gentile Christians to help their Jewish brothers and sisters in Jerusalem during a horrible famine. The collection is more than timely cash; it represents a huge moment in building the unity of the multiethnic global church. Ultimately, Paul decides he has to deliver the money immediately and in person, even if it means that Rome and Spain must wait.
For now, a letter will have to do.
Purpose: If Paul couldn’t visit personally, he at least wanted to shore up the Roman Christians’ understanding of God’s redemptive work. In the past, Paul had seen outside agitators sneak into fledgling Gentile churches to sow confusion about how a person is forgiven and made right with God. He wanted to prevent that from happening again, and he wanted to bolster the Romans’ clarity and confidence in the gospel so they could thrive in it themselves and be better equipped to reach others with it.
Paul wants them to be locked in on the theology of salvation in Christ.
Tone and Feel: Theologically complex but clearly and practically explained.
To What Do I Owe the Pleasure? These are letters, so they all start with some sort of personal hello, with a few words about the occasion of the letter included. After that, there’s often a ten-thousand-foot view statement of basic Christian theology in the form of a blessing.
Most of Paul’s letters also include a list of personal greetings at the very end. Romans has all these elements.
The Good News: Throughout the body of the letter, Paul uses plain language to lay out a handful of related theological truths that add up to a clear picture of what salvation is and how it works. Paul explains that God alone is righteous, and that people aren’t (3:23). That’s a problem because the wages of sin is death (6:23). So we’re doomed unless God steps in and finds a way to pay the costs of sin and give us His righteousness. Paul shares in Romans 5 the good news is that God has done exactly that. Those who put their faith in Jesus have forgiveness for sin, are justified and given right standing before God, are spared the penalty of their sin, and have peace with God. Paul makes it clear that this isn’t a new revelation, but that salvation has always been by faith, citing in Romans 4 the example of Abraham. But salvation from sin isn’t the endgame. Paul goes on to explain in Romans 8 how the Holy Spirit works in Christians to defeat sin and nurture lives of obedience toward God.
Theme: God is righteous in everything, including His dealings with Israel and all humanity. Salvation happens when God’s righteousness is given to unrighteous Jews and Gentiles alike through faith in Jesus.
If You Don’t Have Time to Read the Whole Thing, at Least Read: If a person only reads one New Testament letter, Romans is the way to go, but if time doesn’t allow you to read the whole thing, there’s a lot to be gleaned from this classic list of verses: Romans 1:16–17; 3:10–18, 23; 5:1, 8; 6:23; 8:1, 38–39; 10:9, 13.
When You Visualize Romans, Picture: A well-marked path leading to the cross.
Excerpted with permission from The Lighting-Fast Field Guide to the Bible by Matt Whitman, copyright Matt Whitman.
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Your Turn
Romans is one of the most beloved books of the Bible for very good reasons! It’s important because it gives one of the Bible’s fullest explanations of what the gospel means and how it changes both belief and daily life. Let’s dive in today! ~ Devotionals Daily