In our study of Paul's letter, we will look at God's righteousness and our proper response to that knowledge. This epistle (letter) was written by Paul to the Christians that were in Rome. The "church" in Rome was started without any apostle actually being in the city. People that Paul and his companions had led to Yeshua and taught while they were in the Roman colonies traveled to Rome and some moved there to stay. They, in turn, followed the example of Paul and his fellow servants and spread the gospel throughout the city.
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From: Sha'ul, a slave of the Messiah Yeshua, an emissary because I was called and set apart for the Good News of God.
Paul introduces himself first as a slave but the actual meaning is that of bondslave which is a servant for life who only does the will of his master. Then, he introduces himself as an apostle and it is interesting to note that Paul did not usually throw around fancy titles. There are many today that get caught up in a fancy name/title and lose sight of their calling but Paul always kept his focus on Yeshua and God's will for his life. The final part of his introduction of himself is that he is "set apart" and this means anointed just as priests and other things were set apart for God's use in the Old Testament. This calling (anointing) was of God and not by his will or by any degree/proclamation of anyone else. Yeshua simply showed up (in person) and told him that he was to be an apostle.
God promised this Good News in advance through his prophets in the Tanakh.
Paul (as Saul) was trained by one of the most famous teachers of the Jewish Law and he knew the scriptures very well. He is reminding the people that he is not preaching something new because all of the Scriptures pointed to the coming of Yeshua Messiah.
It concerns his Son - he is descended from David physically;
The term "regarding" is very mild compared to the actual meaning and more accurately could be described as "encircling". The entire gospel is centered around Yeshua Messiah and, as the scriptures promised, he was related to King David.
he was powerfully demonstrated to be Son of God spiritually, set apart by his having been resurrected from the dead; he is Yeshua the Messiah, our Lord.
Yeshua was not only a descendant of King David but was also the son of God. It was made obvious by his resurrection from the dead.
Through him we received grace and were given the work of being an emissary on his behalf promoting trust-grounded obedience among all the Gentiles,
Paul is telling the reader of his qualifications for the ministry and it is a very good example for us. First, we see that the purpose in his ministry and any other must be to proclaim the name of Yeshua the resurrected son of God. Then, we see that it is through grace (an unearned gift) that Paul received the call to be an apostle to the Gentiles. Many people of today want to call themselves apostles but, as we see with Paul here, you cannot just simply call yourself an apostle as they were personally given that title by Yeshua Messiah. The last part of the verse reminds us that the ministry is not simply a call to accept Yeshua as savior but also as lord which means we are called to obedience to our master.
including you, who have been called by Yeshua the Messiah.
Paul is reminding them and us that the call to salvation is for all men. When Yeshua went to the cross, he paid the penalty for all sin that ever was or ever will be as sin was defeated at that time. The call is to simply accept what has already been achieved.
To: All those in Rome whom God loves, who have been called, who have been set apart for him: Grace to you and shalom from God our Father and the Lord Yeshua the Messiah.
Paul addresses this letter to the saints in Rome. A saint is one that has been sanctified (set apart) for God's use and that includes everyone that accepts Yeshua Messiah as their savior and lord. It is not an act of a "church" or any person but is entirely from God. Paul gives the traditional greeting of "grace" which the Gentiles used as well as "peace" which the Jews used. Both come from God and together are a picture of the unity in the faith.
First, I thank my God through Yeshua the Messiah for all of you, because the report of your trust is spreading throughout the whole world. For God, whom I serve in my spirit by spreading the Good News about his Son, is my witness that I regularly remember you in my prayers; and I always pray that somehow, now or in the future, I might, by God's will, succeed in coming to visit you.
Paul consistently prayed for the people that had heard the gospel and put it into practice. He lets us in on his prayer for the Roman Christians as he says that he is thankful that they are known for their great faith. Then, we see that Paul is praying that God has finally opened the door to allow him to visit. Paul is specific in his prayers as well as consistent.
For I long to see you, so that I might share with you some spiritual gift that can make you stronger - or, to put it another way, so that by my being with you, we might, through the faith we share, encourage one another.
Paul was first and foremost a teacher of the gospel and here we see two reasons why he loved to share the Word. First, he wanted to teach so that those who heard would be built up in the faith. That is the purpose of any gift that God gives to his people. The second reason that Paul loved to teach was that in doing so he was encouraged just as the student was encouraged. Sharing the word and seeing people take it to heart built Paul up so that, when times got tough, he could remember that his labor had a purpose and that it was effective.
Brothers, I want you to know that although I have been prevented from visiting you until now, I have often planned to do so, in order that I might have some fruit among you, just as I have among the other Gentiles.
Are you impatient? Take heart; Paul is telling us here that he had made many plans to go to Rome but that God had intervened. We see Paul explain that he knows now that God was preparing the place for a harvest at the proper time. God's timing is perfect in all things and even the apostle Paul had to be reminded of that.
I owe a debt to both civilized Greeks and uncivilized people, to both the educated and the ignorant; therefore I am eager to proclaim the Good News also to you who live in Rome.
Paul did not limit his ministry to a little group of people instead he felt obligated to preach the gospel to everyone that he could. We have that same obligation because we have the same Savior.
For I am not ashamed of the Good News, since it is God's powerful means of bringing salvation to everyone who keeps on trusting, to the Jew especially, but equally to the Gentile.
Why was Paul compelled to preach? The answer is found in this verse and it is the simple fact that he knew the power of the gospel of Yeshua Messiah. Paul sold out to Yeshua on the road to Damascus and there was no shame in telling everyone about it.
For in it is revealed how God makes people righteous in his sight; and from beginning to end it is through trust - as the Tanakh puts it, "But the person who is righteous will live his life by trust."
The power that is revealed in the gospel is God's power to overcome sin and provide a way for men to have a restored relationship with him. Righteousness is simply a proper (right) relationship between each of us and God. It was only made possible by God sending his son to pay for our sins and the righteous will live by faith in that son and the payment that was made.
What is revealed is God's anger from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people who in their wickedness keep suppressing the truth; because what is known about God is plain to them, since God has made it plain to them. For ever since the creation of the universe his invisible qualities - both his eternal power and his divine nature - have been clearly seen, because they can be understood from what he has made. Therefore, they have no excuse;
There are no excuses for saying that God doesn't exist. His very power and nature are on display by his creation. There are many who try to "suppress the truth" but all you have to do is take a look at everything around you and ask yourself how it came to be. The only logical answer is that all things have been created and therefore there must be a creator.
because, although they know who God is, they do not glorify him as God or thank him. On the contrary, they have become futile in their thinking; and their undiscerning hearts have become darkened.
As we see here, simple knowledge of God doesn't please God. We are called to worship and glorify his name. When we do not do so, everything else becomes meaningless.
Claiming to be wise, they have become fools! In fact, they have exchanged the glory of the immortal God for mere images, like a mortal human being, or like birds, animals or reptiles!
Many that the world calls "wise" do not believe that God exists. In fact, many worship created things in place of the creator. Some may call it being a "nature lover" or other seeming harmless name but it is really just plain old idolatry and foolish.
This is why God has given them up to the vileness of their hearts' lusts, to the shameful misuse of each other's bodies.
The people that Paul is talking about knew the truth but didn't like it so they twisted it to fit their own purposes. They turned their backs on God and so he allowed them to follow the desires of their heart which led to all kinds of sexual impurity.
They have exchanged the truth of God for falsehood, by worshipping and serving created things, rather than the Creator - praised be he for ever. Amen.
The people turned their backs on God and his Word. It began with statues and other idols but even went to worshiping pleasure especially physical pleasures. Instead of giving glory to God who created everything, they lifted up the creation to worship.
This is why God has given them up to degrading passions; so that their women exchange natural sexual relations for unnatural; and likewise the men, giving up natural relations with the opposite sex, burn with passion for one another, men committing shameful acts with other men and receiving in their own persons the penalty appropriate to their perversion.
"Because of this" is talking about the verse before and the fact that the people turned away from the word of God. Then, we see that God allowed them to pursue the desires of their hearts (God grants us free will). In this case, it is talking about homosexuality as we call it today. God created a man and a woman to be together and this is what we call marriage. The sexual relations outside of this type of relationship are called "shameful lusts" and go against the very word of God. This is a sin but we must also remember that God does not rank one sin as worse than the other. Although there may be other earthly consequences such as disease, the penalty is ultimately separation from God. This sin, like any other, must be paid for and this involves turning back to the word of God and calling sin what it is.
In other words, since they have not considered God worth knowing, God has given them up to worthless ways of thinking; so that they do improper things.
God loves us so much that he is willing to let us go our own way. When we go our own way, we will end up doing things which aren't good for us or others around us.
They are filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and vice; stuffed with jealousy, murder, quarrelling, dishonesty and ill-will; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God; they are insolent, arrogant and boastful; they plan evil schemes; they disobey their parents; they are brainless, faithless, heartless and ruthless.
What a description of life without God! Sin may start with what we think of as being something small but, as we see here, that first step leads to many more. God is love and so, when you turn your back on him, there is no love for anyone anymore as it becomes all about yourself.
They know well enough God's righteous decree that people who do such things deserve to die; yet not only do they keep doing them, but they applaud others who do the same.
Not only do they do these evil things themselves but they encourage others to do the same and they know better. This is happening so much today as even leaders of "churches" have abandoned the word and approve of things that are contrary to the very word of God.
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