You may not know it yet, but we are preparing to embark on a long journey through the Book of Romans. It is one of the longer books of the N.T. and is packed full of information about who God is and what He has done for us by sending His Son Jesus. The theology is rich and deep, and because of that, it can transform and change you.
We will not get through the whole book in one sitting. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. The Book of Romans is an elephant. We are going to take it one bite at a time.
We will start by looking at the book’s first section, which will take about nine weeks. Then, we will take a little break, and after the first of the new year, we will dig back in and look at the second section. We will follow that pattern until we finish the book’s four sections by the middle of next year.
Why Romans?
No book in history has changed as many lives as the Bible. But we sometimes forget that the Bible is more of a library than a single book. It is a compilation of sixty-six books, each contributing to the sum of God’s written revelation.
However, I do believe that if there is any one individual book out of the sixty-six that God has used to change lives more than any other, it is the Book of Romans.
To kick off our study this morning, I want to introduce you to Paul’s incredible letter to the church in Rome.
Let’s start with a bit of background. I know some of this may be review for many of you, but it is new information for others. I want to make sure we are all starting from the same place.
Romans was written by the man formerly known as Saul of Tarsus. Saul was a Jewish Rabi who belonged to a group known as the Pharisees. Saul was passionate about Jewish Law and tradition, and he saw followers of Jesus (Christians) as a threat to Judaism. Not only was Saul passionate about Jewish Law, but he became equally passionate about stamping out Christianity.
That is, until he met the risen Jesus on a journey to Damascus. You can read all about Saul’s encounter with Jesus in Acts 9.
This encounter with Jesus radically changed Saul. Instead of persecuting followers of Jesus, he was commissioned by Jesus as an apostle to the world of non-Jewish people called Gentiles—basically, everyone who is not Jewish. Because he is now traveling all around the Roman Empire, talking to Gentiles about Jesus, he begins going by his Roman name, Paul.
As Paul traveled around the Roman Empire, sharing the gospel message, people began following Jesus. Paul started to organize these communities of people who were now following Jesus into churches. Occasionally, Paul would write letters to these churches to answer questions and help them understand and grow in their relationship with Jesus.
Much of the New Testament is composed of these letters. The Book of Romans is one of these letters written to the church in Rome.
Acts 18 tells us that the church in Rome had existed for quite some time. It was made up of both Jewish and Gentile followers of Jesus.
Around AD 49, the Roman Emperor Claudius banished all Jews from Rome. Five years later, the Jews, including those Jews who followed Jesus, returned to Rome, only to find a church that had become very non-Jewish.
The early church retained much of the Jewish culture and customs, but because of the absence of Jewish influence, the church culture in Rome began to look very different. This created a church divided between Gentile and Jewish believers.
They were arguing about whether Christians should observe the Sabbath, whether they were required to eat Kosher, or whether or not Gentile Christians should be circumcised.
Not much has changed in 2,000 years, has it? The church still finds itself divided on many tertiary issues. Sound doctrine is essential. Understanding the Word of God is critically important, but there are many issues that Scripture is not crystal clear on and many other issues that Scripture simply doesn’t address. Issues that don’t involve salvation, the inspiration of Scripture, or the imminent return of Christ, but we allow these other secondary issues to divide us.
In the face of such division, Paul wrote this letter to bring unity to the church in Rome. A unified Roman church could become a staging ground for Paul as he planned to take the gospel into Spain.
With these thoughts in mind, Paul writes a letter that gives his fullest explanation of this gospel message: this message about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and what that means for those who choose to give their lives to Him and follow Him. It is Paul’s explanation of the gospel, then, that we rally around. It is the centrality of the gospel that ought to draw us together.
We don’t have to agree on every issue to be unified in our purpose if our purpose is to make sure that men and women, boys and girls, understand the gospel message.
That is why our study is called The Gospel Unveiled. Paul unveils this beautiful picture of the gospel’s truth.
He begins with the standard greeting we often see in Paul’s letters.
Rom 1:1 (CSB)—Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, and set apart for the gospel of God
In this first verse of Romans, we get more insight into Paul and why he wrote this letter to the Romans.
Paul begins by describing his identity as a servant of Christ. The word “servant” is not a great translation.
The word “servant” here, in the Greek, is doulos, which means “bondslave.”
Exodus 21:2 tells us what it meant to be a slave in Israel. A slave was required to serve only six years before he was set free. If, however, at the end of six years, he said, “I like it here. Life is good. I have everything I need and want. I want to become a bondslave,” the master would drive a nail through his right earlobe and place an earring in it, signifying he was a doulos, a slave by choice.
That is how Paul sees his identity; he is a slave by choice.
You might think, “I’m my own man—captain of my destiny, master of my fate. I don’t serve anyone.” But the reality is everyone will serve someone. Bob Dylan was right when he wrote the words to the song, Gotta Serve Somebody.
“It may be the devil, or it may be the Lord, but you gotta serve somebody.”
—Bob Dylan
And Paul chose to serve the Lord in totality.
Next, Paul describes his calling: “called as an apostle.”
The word “apostle” means “one who is sent out.” When the Roman Empire conquered a region, they sent representatives or messengers to that region to begin teaching the people there what it meant to be a part of the Roman Empire. They would teach the people about Roman law, Roman customs, Roman art, etc., and by this, they would begin to change the culture of that region to become Roman. Those sent out were apostles.
In the New Testament, there are three groups of apostles:
The first is the one Apostle appointed by God—Jesus Christ (Hebrews 3:1-2).
The second is the twelve apostles appointed by Jesus who traveled with Him. They witnessed Jesus, His teachings, and His interactions with people; because of this, they were the founders and leaders of the early church.
Third, in the Book of Acts, there were Barnabas, Titus, Andronicus, Junia, and a whole host of others who were called apostles and appointed by the Holy Spirit.
To this day, the Spirit continues to appoint apostles—people who are “sent out” specifically to bring about change.
Eph 4:11-13 (CSB)—And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into maturity with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness.
Next, Paul declares his vocation—the work his identity and calling led him to. What does he say? He says he is “set apart for the gospel of God.”
His job, Paul says, is to share the gospel.
The Greek word translated “gospel” is evangelion, from which we get our word “evangelist.”
In the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament), this was the word used when the people of Israel were released from their Babylonian captivity. It meant, “You can go home. You’re free. Good news!”
Paul’s identity and calling have led him to share the good news that there is freedom in Christ—freedom from the power of sin. Everyone serves something or someone, and sin has a way of enslaving us, making itself master over our lives, but in Christ, there is freedom—freedom from the penalty of sin. Sin leads to death and eternal separation from God, but the gospel declares there is hope and a future for those who follow Christ.
Paul was committed to sharing this good news of freedom because he knew its power to change lives. He had experienced it in his own life and had seen it transform countless others’ lives.
Look at what he says in the last section of the introduction of his letter.
Rom 1:15-17 (CSB)—So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.
The gospel, Paul says, has the power, the dynamis in Greek (where we get our word dynamite), to bring salvation. It has the power to change our destiny and our lives. Paul has experienced that power just like so many after him have experienced it’s power.
Augustine’s life was transformed by the power of the gospel when he read Paul’s letter to the Romans.
The monk and great reformer Martin Luther’s life was transformed by the gospel when he read these words from Romans 1:17.
Luther would later write:
“If you had asked me, did I love God, I would say, Love God? Sometimes I hated him. I saw Christ as a terrifying judge, who had the sword of judgment above my head, and I had no peace.”
—Martin Luther
When he read Rom 1:17 and began to understand that it is our faith, not our works or what we do, that justifies us, it changed everything for him.
Again, Luther wrote:
“When I understood that, and when the concept of justification by faith alone burst through into my mind, suddenly it was like the doors of paradise swung open and I walked through.”
—Martin Luther
And then there are all of you, sitting in chairs in this room this morning whose lives have been forever changed by the power of the gospel.
Not only is the gospel powerful for salvation, but it also reveals the righteousness of God.
Rom 1:17 (CSB)—For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.
What is the righteousness of God? In Romans, Paul describes how God’s righteousness means that God always does what is right and just and is always faithful to His promises.
So, not only is the gospel powerful to change us, but it also reveals the character of the God who loves us and pursues us so we can enter into a relationship with Him.
This is what motivated Paul. This is why he wrote the letter to the Roman church.
It was his identity as a servant of Christ, called to bring change to the world by sharing the good news of the gospel.
This morning, might I suggest we share the same identity, calling, and encouragement to share the gospel as the Apostle Paul? What was true for him is also true for us.
There is no better place to be than a bondservant of Christ. To serve the God who created us, knows us, cares for us, and has prepared a future hope for us. There is no better choice to make than to follow and serve him.
All of us have been called to bring change to the world around us. It doesn’t matter if you are a teacher, a baker, a contractor, a Walmart greeter, a small business owner, or a student. In the same way the Apostle Paul was called to bring change to the world, we have the same calling. The presence of the Holy Spirit resides in all of us who follow Jesus, and the Spirit empowers us, Acts 2 says, to be His witnesses.
Witnesses of what? The gospel message. The gospel is the only thing that has the power of salvation and the power to change even the most corrupt heart. The only thing that will bring healing and wholeness is the gospel message. The only thing that will give us hope when the world around us seems hopeless is the gospel message.
That is why the message of Romans is so essential for us to understand. As Paul unveils the gospel and we begin to understand it, we can turn around and offer that message to a world desperate to hear it.
Chris Hankel 
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