Historically (especially since the Reformation), the book of Romans has held a place of primary importance in the mind of the Church. John Calvin, in his commentary on Romans, writes, “…when any one gains a knowledge of this Epistle, he has an entrance opened to him to all the most hidden treasures of Scripture.”¹ Thomas Draxe, a seventeen-century Puritan, called Romans “the quintessence and perfection of saving doctrine.”² Such lofty praise should, no doubt, cause us to wonder what this book contains. And the short answer to that question is that Romans contains the gospel. To elaborate a bit, Romans contains not only the simple statement of the gospel but a thorough examining of each piece of the gospel so that each portion of it might be held up to the light of the sun and marveled upon by those who watch. As Douglas Moo puts it, “What, then, is the theme of the letter? The gospel….Romans is Paul’s summary of the gospel that he preaches.”³ So, it should suffice to say that as we begin this 23-week walk through the book of Romans, our topic of discussion will be the gospel as a whole and in each of its particulars.
But, so as not to give a false picture of Paul’s letter, I should also point out that Paul is going to spend a good bit of his time elaborating on the effect that this gospel should have on our lives. For, even as we will see this morning, the factual statements of doctrine that can most narrowly be called “the Gospel” cannot be separated from the effect that they should have in our lives. This reality is that which Paul will call “the obedience of faith” in our text this morning. For the reality is that, in the minds of Paul and Calvin and the Puritans and all faithful believers who have gone before, if an individual goes through Romans and gets nothing more than a mental grasp of the bare pieces of information that make up the Gospel, then they have failed to rightly understand the book. Rather, the truths of Romans are meant to be taken all the way to the heart and meditated upon and loved and lived out. Luther said it this way, “[Romans] is worthy not only that every Christian should know it word for word, by heart, but occupy himself with it every day, as the daily bread of the soul. It can never be read or pondered too much, and the more it is dealt with the more precious it becomes, and the better it tastes.”⁴ So let us read Romans with that in mind.
Before we look at our text for this morning, it will be helpful to sketch out briefly the historical context in which this letter was written. It seems most likely, from the evidence of Scripture, that Paul wrote Romans near the end of his third missionary journey. Paul was on his way back to Jerusalem to drop off the collection that he had taken up for the Jewish Christians there, and then – as he makes clear himself in Romans – he hoped to travel to Rome personally on his way to Spain. So, with that historical context, we can see that Paul wrote this letter to the Romans to inform them of his desire and intention to visit them soon. Moreover, the letter is extremely detailed because Paul is writing to a church that, though he is familiar with – as Romans 16 makes clear, he has never seen. The church itself is made up of both Jews and Gentiles, and Paul’s intention in Romans is to lay out the gospel that he preaches in order to unify this young church that he hopes to visit in the near future. As Thomas Schreiner writes, “…one of Paul’s primary aims was to unify the church in Rome, so that Jews and Gentiles together would worship God in harmony, understanding that their unified worship fulfilled what the OT [Old Testament] Scriptures taught.”⁵
So, in that context, we come to our text this morning – the first seven verses (one long sentence) of Paul’s letter in which he basically introduces himself. But this is no mere introduction. Of course, it contains all the elements of a normal letter: identification of the sender (v. 1), identification of the recipients (v. 7a), and a common greeting (v. 7b). But in the midst of those elements is an incredibly weighty introduction to a number of the topics which Paul is going to address. It is almost as if he cannot wait and he begins to get ahead of himself. As Schreiner puts it, “This is easily the longest and most theologically complex of all the Pauline openings.”⁶ So, on the most basic level, we will be looking at nothing more than the introductory details of a letter this morning. But, on a much grander scale, we will see the pioneer missionary of the church introducing himself to the Romans by focusing on the message he wants to proclaim and the mission he lives to accomplish. So, we will look at each of these three parts in turn this morning: an introduction, a message and a mission.

Paul introduces himself as the servant of the Lord (v. 1).

Paul begins the letter by making himself known to the Romans. He writes, “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God.” This is a very basic introduction, but it sets up two major themes that will dominate the rest of our text this morning.
The first of these two themes is the authority that Paul has as an apostle. Because he has never been to this church before, Paul – in one sense – is laying out his credentials. He highlights his role as an apostle, so that his readers might recognize the inherent authority that is invested in that position. Paul makes it very clear that he has been called out for something – he has a distinct mission.
The second of these themes is Paul’s position as one in service to another. Alongside the clear statement of his authority as an apostle, Paul makes clear that he is “a servant of Christ Jesus” (v. 1). It seems that Paul’s goal is to make clear that the authority he has is not inherent within himself because of any worthiness in him. Rather, the authority that he has is authority derived from another. Much like an ambassador, Paul’s authority is real, but it exists because of the one over Paul. Even the way Paul writes verse 1 makes clear that someone else called him and set him apart. For Paul’s part, the verbs are passive – meaning something was done to him.
So this introduction by Paul, though brief, makes some clear statements that will drive the rest of Paul’s words in this opening greeting. He is a servant who is laboring for another and carrying another’s message (v. 2-4). But, nonetheless, his authority is real, and so he takes his mission seriously (v. 5-6).

Paul lays out the basics of his divine message (v. 2-4).

Having concluded verse 1 by saying he was “set apart for the gospel of God,” it is almost as if Paul cannot help but take the opportunity to lay out some of the more exact details of that gospel. Specifically, knowing that his audience is both Jew and Gentile (and knowing that there seem to be some disputes arising along those lines), Paul seems to focus – at least in this introduction – on some of the particular points of the gospel that address its fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy.⁷ So, in a brief and introductory way that will be expended later, Paul lays out the message he has been called to proclaim.

1. This gospel is the fulfillment of the Old Testament Scriptures.

Paul writes, in verse 2, that the gospel was “promised beforehand through his [God’s] prophets in the holy Scriptures.” So Paul’s first point is that the gospel, of which he is a minister, is no new work. Rather, it has been prophesied about for ages. In other letters, Paul goes so far as to point out that the gospel was part of God’s plan from before the world was even created (Eph. 1:4; 2 Tim. 1:9), but here in Romans, he simply refers back to the Old Testament.
So, knowing that, what exactly is Paul referring to here? The reference seems to be very general, and I think that is intentional. There are any number of examples that could be given here, but at the most basic level, Paul is laying out the truth that the purpose of the entire Old Testament was to point to the gospel. This foreshadowing of the gospel occurs in varied ways. The most familiar way it happens is through specific and detailed prophecies.⁸ But there are other more subtle ways that this gospel was foreshadowed and prophesied. In the Old Testament, there are a number of “salvations” and “deliverances” that serve to foreshadow the greater salvation and deliverance that was to come in the gospel (i.e. Israel’s deliverance from Egypt and Israel’s release from captivity in Babylon). Further, there were certain rituals and institutions that demonstrated, without question, specific realities about the gospel (i.e. the sacrifices, the priesthood, the temple, and pretty much anything mentioned in Hebrews). And then, on top of these, there are certain individual people that functioned as types of the one who would bring salvation (i.e. Moses and David). In all of these various ways, the gospel was prophesied through the holy Scriptures of the Old Testament. Paul wants his readers to understand, without a shadow of a doubt, that he “never conceived of his gospel as antithetical to or contradictory of the OT. He understood it to fulfill the OT in a way that surpassed the expectations of both Jews and Gentiles.”⁹

2. This gospel is centered on a person – Jesus Christ.

Paul continues laying out some of the details of this gospel of God in verse 3 as he says it is “concerning his [God’s] Son” (v. 3a). Now, just stopping there, this ties in nicely with the issue Paul just talked about – the fulfillment of the Old Testament. For, in the Old Testament, it is very clear that Israel is in the position of God’s Son. In Exodus, we read, “Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son, and I say to you “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son’” (Ex. 4:22-23).¹⁰ So Paul’s readers, particularly the Jewish readers, would have at least had that reality in mind as they read Paul’s words. But as Paul continues on in Romans 1, it becomes clear that he is not talking about the nation of Israel but about a particular individual whom he is calling God’s Son. So who is the individual? Paul identifies him at the end of verse 4 as “Jesus Christ our Lord.” Paul is making very clear to his readers that the gospel of God, for which he has been set apart, is the gospel of Jesus Christ – the true Son of God. Schreiner speaks of it this way: “…by calling Jesus the Son, Paul now assigns to Jesus the designation for Israel as God’s Son.”¹¹ This is a major lynchpin in Paul’s argument, because he is ultimately concerned with pointing people to a person, Jesus of Nazareth – the Son of God.
But Paul does not stop by simply identifying Jesus; he makes some very particular and weighty statements about him. First, at the end of verse 3, Paul says that this Son “was descended from David according to the flesh.” The importance of this statement is that it represents the fulfillment of one of the specific prophecies of the Old Testament that we mentioned earlier. In 2 Samuel 7, God said to David, “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever….And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever” (2 Sam. 7: 12-13, 16). It is clear from Israel’s subsequent history that they took this prophecy to mean that one of David’s descendants would rule on the throne forever.¹² So, in light of that prophecy, it is clear why Paul’s statement in Romans 1:3 is so important. This is a statement about a specific way in which the holy Scriptures have been fulfilled.
Paul goes on to say, in the first half of verse 4, that Jesus “was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead.” At first glance, it seems that this statement is simply saying that Jesus’ resurrection demonstrated that Jesus was the Son of God, which was true of him before the resurrection. In this thought process, nothing new happened at the resurrection. Rather, God just gave further proof of what was already true. While this is a piece of the answer, the true answer seems to go a bit deeper than that. It honestly seems, from this text as well as others, that something real and new happened to Jesus at the resurrection. This is not to say that Jesus’ essence was changed. He was most certainly divine before the resurrection – just as he was after the resurrection. The thing that had changed is that, at the resurrection, Jesus was given a new and exalted position as ruler and Lord. Peter made this same declaration at Pentecost: “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:36). Paul makes this same argument in Philippians 2 as he makes clear that after and because of Jesus’ humble death on the cross, God “highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name” (Phil. 2:9). This explains Jesus’ bold statement in Matthew 28:18 that “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” Even Jesus recognized that after, and because of, his resurrection, he was placed in a position of authority and dominion that he had not been in before. Prior to his resurrection, there were still enemies that had not been conquered and battles that had not been won. That is no longer the case after the resurrection (even though we do not yet see the final effects of those battles being won yet – that reality awaits Jesus’ return in glory). Schreiner writes, “…the point is that Jesus was ‘appointed’ to be God’s son in power at the resurrection of the dead. He was exalted to a level of power and authority that he did not have previously….While Jesus was on this earth, he was the Messiah and the Son of God, but his death and resurrection inaugurated a stage in his messianic existence that was not formerly his. Now he reigns in heaven as Lord and Christ.”¹³
So, in these central verses of our text, Paul is laying out the bare essentials of the gospel for which he has been set apart. In 1 Corinthians 15:3-5, Paul writes, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins [assumed in Romans 1 because in order to be resurrected, Jesus had to die] in accordance with the Scriptures [Romans 1:2], that he was buried [like Christ’s death, assumed in the resurrection], that he was raised on the third day [Romans 1:4] in accordance with the Scriptures [Romans 1:2], and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.” So, in Romans 1:2-4, Paul lays out – in basic form – the gospel: Jesus Christ came to earth as a man, died, was buried and rose again. Here is the message; here is the gospel.

Paul gives some details of his divine mission (v. 5-6).

In the final part of his introduction, Paul moves from the details of his message to his apostolic mission. The reality of the gospel (the message Paul has just laid out) is that it is not just information; it actually has an effect – it brings about something. Paul lays out for his readers exactly what this outcome is and then makes clear his own mission to carry the gospel to every nation so that the outcome might be multiplied among all the peoples of the earth.
So, in verse 5, Paul makes clear that it is through Jesus Christ (i.e. the gospel that has just been described) that “we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith.” Most likely, Paul’s use of “we” in this verse is referring to him and his fellow apostles. But Paul’s point is that the gospel has a goal and is to be responded to in a particular way. Specifically, Jesus Christ is to be responded to with the “obedience of faith.” Essentially, the reference here is to saving faith in the gospel and the obedient life that subsequently flows from that faith. Everyone in the world is not automatically made a follower of Jesus Christ as a result of his death, burial and resurrection. Grace is required to bring someone to faith, and a conscious response is necessary. Paul makes clear that that proper response is faith in Jesus himself that results in a humble heart that is ready to serve him as King. In light of this statement, Paul’s declaration in verse 1 becomes even clearer. He is a servant of Christ Jesus by nature of the fact that he has believed in the gospel and submitted himself to the Lordship of that Christ. Moreover, grace was shown to him and he was made a servant of Christ. This is the goal of the gospel, and it is the correct response to the gospel. It is the heart that drives Paul to write, in Ephesians 2:8-10, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
But Paul does not stop at his own salvation and the grace that has been shown to him as an individual. He goes on to point out that the grace that has been shown to him drives him to a particular mission in life. After stating that the result of the gospel is the obedience of faith in his heart, he goes on to say that this obedience of faith is “for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ” (Rom. 1:5b-6). Paul makes clear that the goal of his salvation is not just his salvation. Rather, the goal is to make him an instrument through which the name and the gospel of Jesus Christ go out to all the nations of the world. Once again, Schreiner writes, “The ultimate reason for a mission to the Gentiles was not the salvation of the Gentiles but the proclamation of the name of Jesus Christ. What was fundamental for Paul was the glory and praise of Jesus Christ. This aim was accomplished through the preaching of his gospel to both Jews and Gentiles.”¹⁴ Paul’s dearest aim is to see the name of Jesus Christ exalted. As we saw in Philippians 2 earlier, God has given the resurrected Christ a name that is above every name, and Paul sees it as part of his responsibility and service and calling to take that name to the nations and declare to them how it has been exalted above every other name.

Application

So, if that is the message of this text, does it have any immediate relevance for us today? If Paul is merely talking about himself and his immediate circumstance, what does that have to do with us? In short, it concerns us immensely; it has everything to do with us. Here are a few ways:

1) If you are not a believer, turn away from your sins and trust and follow Jesus Christ.

This is the most obvious application that I can make from this text. If you have heard and understood Paul’s message in these first seven verses of Romans, you have heard the gospel. But as we just saw, it requires a response from you. Believe in Jesus Christ. Believe that he was the promised Messiah of God and that he lived a perfect life and that he died on the cross to the pay the penalty for your sins. Believe that he rose from the dead and is alive today – exalted to the highest position of authority in the universe. And follow him obediently. If you do this, you will be saved. If you do not, you will find yourself as an enemy of Christ and you need to know that all of his enemies will be destroyed in the end.

2) If you are a believer, live out the obedience of faith.

As we saw, Paul said that he had “received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith” (v. 5). Unlike Paul, we have not received the call of apostleship, but we have – like the Romans in verse 6 – been “called to belong to Jesus Christ.” And just as those readers mentioned in verse 7, we have been “loved by God and called to be saints.” We, like Paul, have received grace to bring about the obedience of faith. If you are a believer, you have exercised the faith of which Paul speaks, and you must make sure to live out the obedience of that faith. The faith by which we are saved and the good works that flow from it should be absolutely inseparable. One does not exist if the other does not exist. We are called to live out our faith. If obedience is lacking, it could be a sign that faith is lacking. If faith is absent, obedience is like filthy rags because anything not done in faith is sin (Rom. 14:23).

3) Live out the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations.

Like Paul, our salvation is not an end in and of itself. It is meant to bring about a greater good – the proclamation of the name of Jesus Christ to all nations. Some might say, “But Paul was called to missions – that was his task, and I am not called to that.” But the reality of our situation is that we are all called to be saints and that call necessarily entails the primary task of taking the name of Christ to the nations. The nations may very well include your neighbors and your city, but do not seek out some excuse to avoid this task. The taking of Jesus’ name to all the nations is not a task for professionals; it is a task for Christians. It is not a task for missionaries alone; it is a task for the Church.

And so, as we take communion, we remember the very thing that Paul spoke of this morning. We remember the gospel. Over these next weeks, we will saturate ourselves with the smallest details of the gospel in hopes that it will move our hearts to love that gospel and to proclaim it to the world. So as we take this communion, remember what these elements represent. Think on the sacrifice of Christ and be moved to declare his name this week. Amen.

¹ John Calvin, Commentaries on the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans, Calvin’s Commentaries, vol. XIX (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2003), xxix.

²Douglas J. Moo, The Epistle to the Romans (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1996), 1.

³Ibid., 29-30.

⁴Ibid., 22.

⁵Thomas R. Schreiner, Romans (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1998), 21-22.

⁶Ibid., 31.

⁷As Moo writes, “…because he [Paul] writes this summary in a context charged with uncertainty and controversy over the gospel’s relationship to the OT – especially the torah – and its embrace of both Jew and Gentile, he nuances his summary with constant reference to these issues.” [Moo, 30]

⁸Examples include: Gen. 3; 12; 49; Num. 24; Deut. 18; 2 Sam. 7; Ps. 2; 22; Isa. 7; 40; 53; Jer. 23; 34; Eze. 21; 34-37; Dan. 7; Hos. 2; 11; Amos 11; Micah 5-7; Hab. 2; Zech. 3; 12; and Mal. 4 just to name a few.

⁹Schreiner, 38.

¹⁰This is also made clear in Jer. 31:9 and Hos. 11:1 – the latter of which is actually applied to Christ as its ultimate fulfillment when Joseph is forced to flee to Egypt with Jesus and Mary.

¹¹Schreiner, 40.

¹²Psalm 132:11 says, “The Lord swore to David a sure oath from which he will not turn back: ‘One of the sons of your body I will set on your throne.’” Isaiah 11:1 says, “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.” Jeremiah 23:5 says, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.”

¹³Schreiner, 42-43.

¹⁴Ibid., 35-36.

AN INTRODUCTION, A MESSAGE, AND A MISSION