Paul begins his letter to the church at Rome by giving glory to the Lord, by greeting ALL who are "the called of Jesus Christ: to all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints" (1:6-7), and by expressing his hope that he will be able to visit them soon so that he might "impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established." (1:11) The "spiritual gift" of which Paul speaks is not to be understood as being "gifts of the Spirit" for in the very next sentence he defines exactly what it is he means: "that is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me." (1:12) What Paul is saying is that he hopes to add to what spiritual knowledge they already have and thereby assure himself that the doctrine of faith by which the Christians at Rome live is the same doctrine of faith by which Paul himself lives and has taught for these many years to all the churches: the gospel according to Jesus Christ.
"So as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth: to the Jew first and also to the Greek [Gentile]. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH." (1:15-17)
There is a LOT packed into that statement of Paul's. Crucifixion was a death filled with shame. To the world, spreading a message relayed by one who died such a shameful death would also be shameful; the stigma of shame would also attach itself to any messenger of one who died so shameful a death. Whereas in our modern times the world uses shame to promote themselves…the more shameful the activity, the bigger the publicity and the more the world loves them; in Paul's day, shame carried a lot of weight.
But regardless of what the world around him thought, Paul refused to acknowledge shame in regards to the gospel for he KNEW it to be something much, much more. He knew it to be God's POWER. Through Jesus Christ the ARM of God was revealed in both the miracles of healing and by the miracle of salvation itself: the power of God carried by the Holy Spirit to the hearts of men who were able to receive it (who believed) revealing God's righteousness, thereby unmasking man's unrighteousness and bringing them to repentance and salvation. To those who could not receive it, to those who would not believe it, the gospel became only an interesting story; such it is today also to those who will not believe.
Both the receiving of the Good News (the gospel) and the living out of the Good News can be done only by faith, by believing.
"But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, AND that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." (Hebrews 11:6)
FAITH believes that GOD IS. FAITH believes that God rewards those WHO DILIGENTLY SEEK HIM (versus those who are NOT diligent to seek Him…does that include AFTER they get saved?) THE JUST (those who have been declared righteous by God through Jesus Christ) SHALL LIVE BY FAITH (conviction of the TRUTH). What truth is that? That GOD IS (that HE EXISTS AND IS GOD) and that HE IS A REWARDER OF THOSE WHO DILIGENTLY SEEK HIM.
The Good News of Jesus Christ is that Jesus is "GOD WITH US" as demonstrated by the power of God that Jesus walked in. Faith believes that JESUS EXISTS AND IS GOD. Faith believes that JESUS IS A REWARDER OF THOSE WHO DILIGENTLY SEEK HIM.
"Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me, or else believe me for the very works' sake." (John 14:11)
It takes faith to receive the gift of righteousness from God through Jesus Christ; it takes faith to walk like we BELIEVE we have it, too! No longer condemned, but saved from condemnation!
After that tremendous and powerful statement, Paul then directs his letter specifically to the Gentiles, explaining to them in simple terms their own unrighteousness. Remember, one of the purposes for this letter is the strife that has developed between Jews and Gentiles in the church at Rome…a result of judging each other according to their own judgment rather than God's. So he will remind the Gentiles of their unrighteousness, then remind the Jews as well…and hope to bring them back to the common ground of their own unrighteousness before God from which they have no right to judge one another…before he then leads them to the righteousness they didn't deserve but which was imputed to them by Christ. [The term "imputed" which is often used by Paul and elsewhere in Scripture means: to credit to a person. In other words, Jesus credits His righteousness to us by faith when we repent and receive Him into our hearts and lives.]
The reason why the Gentiles are counted as unrighteous begins in verse 18:
"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;"
The word "hold" in the Greek is defined as "to hold back, to detain, to restrain, to hinder". So, Paul is talking about men whose unrighteousness hinders or holds back the truth; unrighteousness that does not allow the truth of God (His EXISTENCE, His RIGHTEOUSNESS, His LOVE FOR US) to show forth through man whom God created for that specific purpose.
But Paul is talking to Gentiles…they didn't even know God, right? They didn't have holy scriptures handed down to them for centuries like the Jews did. So why is God against those who never heard about Him? How could they have walked in righteousness when they didn't know God in the first place?
"Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse." (Romans 1:19-20)
The Gentiles did not have the Holy Scriptures at their disposal; they were not raised up in those scriptures as the Jews were. But Paul says they still are not excused from being unrighteous. Paul says that God showed them who He was; that "invisible" things are clearly seen being understood by things that are made. Sounds a little complicated?
We will explore that in the next posting.
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