Traditionally this is called The Epistle (defined as a letter in 2Corinthians 7:8) of St. Paul the Apostle to the Romans. The postscript in the King James Bible says that Paul wrote it from Corinth and it was sent to the Romans by way of Phebe the servant (deaconess) of the church of Cenchrea, something we will discuss when we get to that part where she is mentioned.
Romans 1:1 ¶ Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, 2 (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,) 3 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; 4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: 5 By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name: 6 Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ: 7 To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
An apostle, from verse
1, is separated for the gospel of God. He is a preacher and a teacher;
1Timothy
2:7 Whereunto I am ordained a preacher,
and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the
Gentiles in faith and verity.
2Timothy
1:11 Whereunto I am appointed a
preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.
The apostles were
chosen by Jesus Himself;
Luke
6:13 And when it was day, he called unto
him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles;
14 Simon, (whom he also named Peter,)
and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, 15 Matthew and Thomas, James the son of
Alphaeus, and Simon called Zelotes, 16
And Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, which also was the
traitor.
Acts
9:10 ¶ And there was a certain disciple
at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And
he said, Behold, I am here, Lord. 11 And
the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight,
and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold,
he prayeth, 12 And hath seen in a vision
a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might
receive his sight. 13 Then Ananias
answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to
thy saints at Jerusalem: 14 And here he
hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that
call
on thy name. 15 But the Lord said unto
him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the
Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: 16 For I will shew him how great things he must
suffer for my name’s sake.
They were sent out for
the purpose of spreading the gospel;
Matthew
28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto
them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all
things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto
the end of the world. Amen.
In verse 3 is a phrase
that has caused many Christian groups to insist that God and Christ are two
distinct persons with individual wills, one being subordinate to the other. It
has also led Mohammed of Islam to call Christians idolaters, worshipping
multiple gods. Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord does not mean
that God had a son in the way that it means we might have a son.
Luke
1:35 And the angel answered and said
unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow
thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be
called the Son of God.
Gabriel, the angel in this passage,
announces to Mary what she is going to be a part of. This will be the basis of
the phrase only begotten Son of God
in John. Even though Alexander the Great had himself declared the son of god or
the gods and Roman Emperor Augustus even signed his decrees ‘deus fide’ or son
of god, God only came to live on earth as a man one time, in the form of Jesus
of Nazareth, not a king appointed by man or an emperor by virtue of his
military conquests, but a poor Jewish carpenter’s son from a backwater of the
Roman Empire who was the Son of God at the same time in that He was God in
human flesh.
It is important to understand the
meaning of sonship in the ancient world. The Jews understood that for Jesus to
be declared the Son of God meant He was equal with God, invested with God’s
authority.
John 5:18 Therefore the
Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath,
but said also that God was his
Father, making himself equal with God.
Philippians 2:6 Who, being
in the form of God, thought it
not robbery to be equal with God:
We believe and have
faith that Jesus Christ was God walking in human flesh.
John 1:1 ¶ In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and
without him was not any thing made that was made.
God is composed of three parts, as man and woman are;
a body, a soul, and a spirit.
1Thessalonians
5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify
you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved
blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God has a soul, the seat of self-identity and will.
Psalm
11:5 The LORD trieth the righteous: but
the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.
This is God the Father, sometimes referred to just as
God in the New Testament. He is invisible to us. As John says in John 1:18 and
in 1John 4:12 no one has seen God, presumably God the Father, at any time.
Every act of God’s will originates with Him.
God has a Spirit, how He moves throughout creation and
acts on it and in it.
Genesis
1:2 And the earth was without form, and
void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved
upon the face of the waters.
Romans
8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in
the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.
This Spirit is called the Holy Ghost, the Comforter.
1Corinthians
12:3 Wherefore I give you to understand,
that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no
man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.
John
14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he
shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world
cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him;
for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you…26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost,
whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring
all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
The Holy Spirit in its function, the Holy Ghost in His
identity, is the mind of God and also God.
For contexts where the
Spirit of God or the spirit of man can be synonymous with mind please see the
following;
Romans 8:27 And he that
searcheth the hearts knoweth what is
the mind of the Spirit,
because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
1Corinthians 2:16 For who
hath known the mind of the Lord,
that he may instruct him? But we have the
mind of Christ.
Ephesians 4:23 And be
renewed in the spirit of your mind;
Philippians 1:27 Only let
your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come
and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind
striving together for the faith of the gospel;
2Timothy 1:7 For God hath
not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
God not only has a soul and a mind but has a body, His
person, whom man can see, and has even touched, as God in the flesh, called the
Son of God.
Hebrews
1:1 ¶ God, who at sundry times and in
divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his
Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the
worlds; 3 Who being the brightness of
his glory, and the express image of his
person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by
himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
Colossians
1:
13
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us
into the kingdom of his dear Son:14 In
whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:15 Who is the image of the invisible God…
Of course, an image is the likeness of someone, what
he looks like.
Genesis
1:26 And God said, Let us make man in
our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion
over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle,
and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the
earth.
Genesis
5:3 And Adam lived an hundred and thirty
years, and begat a son in his own likeness,
after his image; and called his name
Seth:
Exodus
20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven
above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the
earth:
(Refer back to these verses when someone insists that
the image of God is man’s ability to discern between good and evil, which is
nonsense, as Adam was made in the image of God but did not taste of the fruit
of the knowledge of good and evil until he fell).
Jesus Christ is also the Word by which all things were
created. Read the first 18 verses of the Gospel According to John. God’s mind
formed creation and God’s Word spoke it into existence, bringing forth the
light, which He is.
Genesis 1:3 ¶ And God said,
Let there be light: and there was light.
One stark difference between man and God is that God’s
three parts can act independently of each other and still be one God.
Deuteronomy
6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is
one LORD:
Mark
12:29 And Jesus answered him, The first
of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
Matthew
28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost:
2Corinthians
13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you
all. Amen.
1John
5:7 For there are three that bear record
in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
Christ is then that bridge between God and man, fully
God and fully man, without whom the believer in God would be in the same
predicament as other religions where their god is so distant from man that
there is no connection, no compassion for man’s suffering, no understanding of
the human heart, fears, and affections.
God reveals Himself to special select people under the
Law and to all believers under Grace.
Amos
3:7 Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing,
but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.
John
14:26 But the Comforter, which is the
Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all
things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto
you.
(To deny this is to say that the so-called ‘Great
Commission’ of the end of Matthew does not apply to every believer but only the
Apostles).
The Lord Jesus Christ,
while walking in biological flesh on the earth, also had a human spirit, a
human will, being fully man and fully God. This spirit also manifested itself
to us.
Luke 22:42 Saying, Father,
if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine,
be done.
There was a great
argument in the Roman Empire’s church regarding whether Christ even had two
natures. Some focused on His divinity while others His humanity. The issue was
somewhat settled at the Council of Chalcedon in 451AD in Bithynia in Asia
Minor, in what is the country of Turkey today. It was understood that Christ
was one person with two natures, divine and human, God in the flesh. This does
not mean that they just figured that out but that they declared the other ideas
as incorrect.
The Son of God is God
in the flesh. In eternity;
1Corinthians
15:27 For he hath put all things under
his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that
he is excepted, which did put all things under him. 28 And when all things shall be subdued unto
him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things
under him, that God may be all in all.
Notice in verse 4, the
importance of the resurrection. The resurrection of Christ and the promise of
our resurrection and our eternal life is the centerpoint around which Christian
faith revolves. Without the resurrection Christianity becomes a mere philosophy
of living and Christ only a great teacher or even a madman. The resurrection
seals the deal, so to speak. We should celebrate it in our hearts every day not
just at Easter. It is how we know Christ was God in the flesh and it is the
basis on which the authority of the apostles rests.
Romans 1:6 includes us
down through history as also the called of Jesus Christ including us in
the command and authority to fulfill Matthew 28:18-20.
Saints
has special meaning in the Bible and that is not special individuals
honored by the Roman Catholic Church and given special mystical powers after
their deaths. Saints are sanctified ones, called to be holy, God’s
chosen people, either the Gentiles who still worshipped the true God or the
Israelites in the Old Testament or the Christian in the New Testament.
Deuteronomy
33:2 And he said, The LORD came from
Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and
he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for
them. 3 Yea, he loved the people; all
his saints are in thy hand: and they sat down at thy feet; every one shall
receive of thy words.
Acts
9:13 Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have
heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at
Jerusalem:
And yet, these are all
sinners, imperfect, depending completely on God’s goodness, His mercy, and His
grace.
Job
15:15 Behold, he putteth no trust in his
saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight.
Paul wishes for God’s
grace, His unmerited favor, to the church at Rome, and peace with God which is
one of the main points of the Bible and the reason for God’s sacrifice on the
Cross at Calvary. Having peace restored with our Creator after living in a
state of rebellion should be our first duty. Here in the next passage quoted,
Paul further explains peace with God and the union of Jew and Gentile to form
the church.
Ephesians
2:1 ¶ And you hath he quickened, who
were dead in trespasses and sins; 2
Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in
the children of disobedience: 3 Among
whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh,
fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the
children of wrath, even as others.
4 ¶
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath
quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6 And hath raised us up together, and made us
sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 7 That in the ages to come he might shew the
exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace are ye saved through
faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should
walk in them.
11 ¶
Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh,
who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the
flesh made by hands; 12 That at that
time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and
strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the
world: 13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who
sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
14 ¶
For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the
middle wall of partition between us; 15
Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments
contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making
peace; 16 And that he might reconcile
both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
17 And came and preached peace to you
which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. 18 For through him we both have access by one
Spirit unto the Father. 19 Now therefore
ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints,
and of the household of God; 20 And are
built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself
being the chief corner stone; 21 In whom
all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
22 In whom ye also are builded together
for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
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