Introduction to Romans
SCRIPTURE: Introduction to Romans - by Dr. Case Thorp 
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PURPOSE: Paul’s essential purpose in Romans is to help Christians, whether their background had been as a Jew or a Gentile (non-Jew), understand their relation to Judaism now that Jesus Christ has come.
AUTHOR: The Apostle Paul is the author of this letter, yet he does mention in Romans 16:22 the assistance of a scribe named Tertius. This is different than the letter to the Galatians where Paul indicates he is writing with his very own hand (Galatians 6:11). Utilizing a scribe while dictating was quite common in this day.
DATE WRITTEN: For twenty-five years Paul has systematically planted churches around the eastern Mediterranean in both urban and rural settings. While he was quite successful and left a lasting legacy for the universal church’s strong beginning, there were deep suspicions and divisions among Christians from a Jewish background and those with a Gentile background. These suspicions extended for many centuries. We have lists of house church members in Rome in the second and third centuries that continue to divide the families by their Jewish or Gentile roots!
He is writing this letter while on his third missionary journey, probably from the city of Corinth (modern day Greece) in AD 57. He notes in Romans 15:25 that he is one his way to Jerusalem, but plans to come and visit the Roman churches before going on to Spain.
Paul writes this letter while carrying in his purse donations to be given to the church leaders in Jerusalem to help the church with the largest number of Jewish-background believers, and who are impoverished mostly due to the extreme persecution they experienced due to living under the watchful eye of the Jewish authorities. Paul seems to indicate in Romans 15 he hopes this gift will help to bless the Jewish-Christian church leadership that they might see the goodness of the Gentile Christians. When reading the book of Romans, keep this major division in mind. For in this letter Paul provides the fundamental theology upon which the church has built an understanding of the Gospel’s universal applicability in tension with the Gospel’s role among Jews and God’s faithful commitment to Jews.
We know from Acts that his travel plans are thwarted due to his arrest in Jerusalem. He makes it to Rome as a prisoner and lives out his final days awaiting a court appeal. Paul never makes it to Spain, from what we know, and was martyred in Rome, perhaps under the great persecution begun by Emperor Nero. Yet, while in prison at the end of his life, Paul was nurtured by the Christians of Rome, who would have already received this letter.
SETTING: The origin of the churches in Rome is difficult to know clearly. While the Roman Catholic Church looks to Peter as the founder of the Roman church, this is not textually possible due to Peter’s activities seen in the New Testament, Paul’s timing, and the presence of house churches in Rome already. Peter did, however, make it to Rome later in life and had great influence over the house churches there. It is theorized that new believers created at Pentecost in Jerusalem returned to the empire’s capital to share their newly charged faith among the Jews there.
Ancient historians note the increasing conflict within the Jewish synagogues of Rome because of those who followed “Chrestus”, which scholars take to be Christ. Emperor Claudius expels the Jews from Rome in 49 A.D. due to the constant bickering, which is confirmed in Acts 18:2 when Luke writes, “(In Corinth) (Paul) met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome.”
Such an expulsion most likely drove Christians to establish “underground” or secret house churches independent of the now-empty synagogues. One can see, then, how needed Paul’s letter must have been since the Christians in Rome would have been scared, confused, and hungry for a theological understanding of how they were to relate with one another (Christians with either a Jewish or Gentile background) and the local Jewish population.
Many times in our Christian experience we are challenged about our faith. We think we believe what we know though doubt may often abide itself within our soul. Paul writes to the church in Corinth with a challenge to those that had come to faith in Christ through the gospel proclaimed while he was with them. They had shared a true measure of assurance but others had come sharing heretical interpretations. The onset of fallacies had led many to misunderstand the redemptive nature of the work of Jesus. Many said they believed but what they believed in was being questioned. Could they, would they, pass the test. Paul calls for them to hold their knowledge against the truth of the gospel hope. Many more would have fallen if Paul had not intervened. Paul encourages them toward perfection. This perfection is based upon their knowledge of the truth and the power of Christ in them.
CENTRAL THEME: Paul’s central theme is that the righteous in God live by faith in Jesus Christ, not via the commonly understood Jewish method of keeping the law. Yet, he also reserves a special place for Jews in God’s plan that stands as a warning for us as Christians not to discount them or condemn them to hell. Unfortunately moments in church history have ignored these passages and persecuted Jews as “Jesus killers.” Our responsibility is to understand Paul’s logic and love accordingly all people, most especially God’s chosen Jews.
KEY VERSES: Romans 1:16-17 (NIV)
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."
Romans 8:35-39 (NIV)
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 10:9-13 (NIV)
…If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."