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Romans
Lesson 1
TEXT: Rom 1:1-7
I. INTRODUCTION
A. Some facts about the Book of Romans
1. Written by the Apostle Paul
from
2. Paul had not yet visited
3. Romans is the doctrinal book in the New Testament on salvation: is it NOT Acts
a. You can find the message of salvation in Acts (albeit not in Chapter 2) but the primary book on the doctrine of salvation is Romans
4. The theme of Romans is justification by faith
5. The key term of Romans is “of God”
a. Appears 74 times in Romans
b. Righteousness, faith, truth, salvation, gospel, power, love, and wrath
6. Paul is the apostle to the Gentiles – Rom 15:16
a. Peter and the others were primarily sent to the Jews and the Gentiles sort of their secondary mission
b. Paul was sent to the Gentiles with the Jews as his sort of secondary mission
c. Romans is a letter to Gentiles and we can take doctrine from it
d. Acts is a historical book of the transition from God’s focus on Jews to Gentiles
(1) Acts contains doctrine but it is primarily a history book
(2) Romans contains history but it is primarily a doctrinal book
7. Romans is different from
Paul’s other epistles because he did not start the church in
a. Much of the other epistles are about Paul correcting or encouraging the churches he started or had already been involved with
b. The epistle to the Romans was written to establish doctrine that was not already present
II. HISTORY OF THE CHURCH AT
A. Who started this church?
1. Sure wasn’t Peter
a. Despite Catholicism’s claim
of Peter being the first pope, there is no scriptural evidence that Peter ever
stepped foot in
b. If Peter had been there at this time, Paul would probably not have written this letter, and if he had he surely would have mentioned him in Ch 16
2. Wasn’t Paul either
a. He had never been to
b. His trip to
B. The probable origins
1. Acts 2 – Jews and Proselytes
were in
a. This was when the Holy Ghost was given and the mighty preaching began with 3000 souls and then many being added daily
2. These people later returned to their own cities and homes and began telling others what had happened
3. They began meeting in homes and having their own churches
a. The Book of Romans only
mentions one church in
b. This could mean that there was
only one church in
4. In about 49 AD, Roman Emperor
Claudius expelled the Jews from
a. Priscilla and Aquila were
among those expelled and lived in
b. Paul knew these two as well as many others who it would appear were among those expelled; these are they that Paul mentions in Ch 16
c. When they were allowed back
into
(1) Claudius died in 54 AD so it
is likely that upon his death the Jews were allowed back into
III. PAUL’S INTEREST IN
Note: Paul seems to have better
understood than any of the other apostles that Jesus intended the gospel to go
to the whole world. The other
apostles were there to hear Jesus give the Great Commission and Paul wasn’t
even saved. Yet he did more to get
the gospel to the world than any of the others.
A. Paul saw
Note: William Barclay wrote,
“Paul was always haunted by the regions beyond.
He never saw a ship at anchor but he wished to board her and carry the
good news to men across the sea. He
never saw a range of mountains but he wished to cross them and to bring the
story of the Cross to men who had never heard it.”
1. Rom 1:11 Paul has a great
desire to go to
2. Rom 15:24 Paul is already
thinking even beyond
3. Rom 15:25 Before he goes to
4. Paul had an incredible vision for the world!
a. He had a desire to preach
Christ to the entire world and longed for the ability to continue traveling to
places where the message had not yet been preached to those who did not know
B. So why did he not just go to
1. Rom 15:24-28 – He had
something he needed to accomplish prior to his trip to
2. He had taken love offerings
from the Gentiles in
3. Rom 1:13 – Paul says that he
had wanted to go to
a. The meaning of the word “let” has changed to “allow” when it used to mean “hindered”
b. So Paul was hindered from
going to
(1) The question then becomes, who hindered him?
(2) Probably by God; for the most part, Paul was very sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit and did not want to do things contrary to His leading
(3) He had to be patient and wait upon the Lord’s timing
IV. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS LETTER
A. To send ahead before his visit
and to tell of his desire to travel to
B. To teach vital doctrines necessary to a young and undeveloped church
C. To provide a “more sure word of prophecy”
a. Paul had not yet read 2 Pet 1:19
b. But he certainly knew that it was true and that people needed things written from those in the know to help them learn and to have a foundation to build upon
D. To provide a sort of missionary letter and ask for prayer
V. CONCLUSION
A. In the next few lessons we will look at Paul’s ministry, his heart, his message and much more
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