Romans, Grace

The book of Romans is quite possibly the most read and studied book in the entire New Testament, if not the whole Bible. It is the longest epistle and covers a wide variety of topics so there is something for everyone, to use a phrase. The first great Reformers, such as Martin Luther, based the majority of their theology off of Romans. In fact it was by reading Romans that Luther came to realize what he did about faith and salvation.

Given the sheer amount of importance placed upon this letter, it should be no surprise that countless volumes of research of every kind has been done on Romans. In fact I wouldn't be shocked if there were more Romans specific scholars than Old Testament scholars! So let's take a look at Romans and see what some of the major themes are and if there is a unifying point to the whole book.

Background

The book of Romans was probably written in AD 57. This, however, is disputed. We do know for sure that Paul wrote it in Corinth. The question is when. The two options are AD 50 and AD 57, or during his second or third missionary journeys. Either date works just fine with the timeline in Acts. I am placing it here simply as a matter of convenience.

A very important piece of background information has to do with the Edict of Claudius in AD 49. During this time, in the city of Rome, a conflict was brewing. There was heated debate amongst the Jewish community about some man named "Chrestus," or Christ. As we know from the book of Acts, this sort of debate about Jesus being the Messiah is not uncommon. In Rome, however, the situation got so rowdy that Claudius, the Emperor, decided to ban all Jews from Rome. 

So the Jews left, but that didn't get rid of all this "Chrestus" talk. The Gentile Christians remained. With their Jewish brethren gone, a lot of the leadership positions in the church needed to be filled. So they stepped up. Well when Claudius died the Jews were able to come back. The Jewish Christians returned eager to resume the leadership roles they once had. However the Gentile Christians had been in these roles for years, and the church had grown. Thus began a conflict that reached the ears of Paul, who had actually never been to Rome before.

Themes

The book of Romans has many themes since it covers a variety of topics. We will talk about some of the more prevalent ones.

The theme of reconciliation is incredibly important in the book of Romans. Paul is trying to facilitate a reconciliation between the Jews and the Gentiles in the church at Rome. He talks about how Christ has reconciled us back to God and to the creation. In fact you could argue that reconciliation is the main theme of Romans, but there is one other that I think supersedes it. 

Faith is another big theme in Romans. Paul is lambasting the notion that some of the Christians in Rome had that works alone can save you. Paul repeatedly makes the point that only our faith in Jesus saves us.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the theme of justification, which is very closely tied to faith. Justification, which is thrown around a lot, refers to our standing before God because of Jesus. On the cross Jesus made us right before God.

Right alongside justification we have sanctification. The buck doesn't stop at our standing before God. The Spirit now lives in us transforming our lives and renewing our minds. As Christians we are empowered to live as living sacrifices and to love each other and the world properly.

The final big theme I will mention here is the role of the Law. Paul is specifically going after the view that obedience to the Mosaic Law brings about salvation. He is NOT saying that the Law is unimportant or irrelevant, as so many interpret him to be saying. Rather he is trying to show us that the Law is best seen through the lens of Jesus, as was always intended.

Theological Point

While all of these themes are incredibly important, there is one overarching theme that serves as the context for the rest; grace. In the end Romans is about the grace of God. Reconciliation, whether between us and God or with each other, is only possible through God's grace. Our being justified through faith and being sanctified by the Spirit is only possible through grace. The Law is not a means to salvation, but rather an act of grace meant to show us what sin is.

Salvation would not be possible without God's grace. Now a common misconception we have is that grace is free. It is certainly unmerited and we could never hope to earn it through works, but that does not mean it is free; at least not in the way that we think of freedom. Grace demands surrender and obedience. We see this in Romans 6 when Paul talks about baptism or in Romans 12 when we are called to be living sacrifices, giving up our very lives for God.

The cost of grace is discipleship. Grace releases us as slaves of sin so that we may be slaves of God. What we must understand is that this is true freedom. Today we tend to believe that freedom is the ability to do whatever we want whenever we want. That is a lie. True freedom is found in surrender to the will of Jesus our King. 

Conclusion

Romans is an undeniably powerful book. Many have come to Christ simply by reading it. It is a powerful witness from an apostle who has encountered Jesus and surrendered completely. Next week we will be looking at a very different kind of book. By this point many of the first hand witness of Jesus are dying. Several of the apostles have now been executed for their faith. The story of Jesus needs to be told anew for the next generation. Next week we will look at the Gospel of Mark.