The epistle to the Romans was written from Greece, and probably from Corinth (16:23), during Paul’s third missionary journey, which terminated abruptly at Jerusalem, whither he went with the collection raised by the churches of Galatia, Macedonia, and Achaia for the poor saints in that city. The immediate occasion of his writing appears to have been to commend to them Phebe, a deaconess of the church in Cenchrea, the eastern port of the city of Corinth, and distant but a few miles from it. (16:1)
By whom the Church was planted in Rome, the metropolitan city of the empire, is to us unknown, but it owed not its origin to the personal labors of any of the apostles, though when founded it naturally came to be cared for by the apostle of the Gentiles. (Rom. 1:13; 15:15, 16) Paul was as yet a stranger to Rome, and to the bulk of the saints in that city (Rom. 1:10, 11; 15:23, 24), though there were those among them with whom he was well acquainted. (16) Purposing to visit them on his way to Spain, which we know not that he ever reached, he wrote this letter, which treats at some length of the gospel of God.
At the outset, as was fit, he describes himself, and presents his credentials. He was a bondsman of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God; and from the Lord Jesus Christ he received grace and apostleship for the obedience of faith among all nations, on behalf of His name, amongst whom were the saints in Rome, the called of Jesus Christ. Hence, he writes to them as beloved of God, called saints, wishing them grace and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Then, telling them for what he can give thanks on their behalf, and of his desire to see them, to impart unto them some spiritual gift, he proceeds to enter upon his great theme of the gospel, which he was prepared, when the opportunity should present itself, to preach to the saints in Rome; for there is a gospel for saints as well as one for sinners. How Paul preached to the unconverted the Acts of the Apostles teaches us. (Rom 1:13) What he would preach as gospel for saints the epistle to the Romans in part unfolds to us. Now of the gospel he was not ashamed; for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth-to the Jew first, and also to the Greek, for in it is the righteousness of God revealed from, or on the principle (ἐκ) of, faith to faith, in accordance with the prophetic declaration, “The righteous shall live by faith.” (Hab. 2:4) And the reason for this revelation of God’s righteousness in the gospel becomes apparent, when it is understood, that God’s wrath from heaven is revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness. God having revealed this latter has provided His glad tidings to be preached, to deliver all who believe them from the judgment they have richly deserved.
Having introduced the revelation of God’s wrath from heaven, the apostle proceeds to show the moral condition of Gentiles (Rom 1:19-32) and of Jews (Rom. 2:17-3:20), which proves that all were liable to endure it, because of that which they had done-the former being ungodly, the latter found guilty, in addition to holding the truth in unrighteousness. Further, both were without excuse; for though the’ Gentiles had not the law, God’s written revelation, there was a testimony to God’s eternal power and Godhead in the works of creation sufficient, if man had wished it, to have kept him from idolatry. (Rom. 1:19, 20) Thence the downward path of the human race is traced out for our instruction. Men once had the knowledge of God, but glorified Him not as God, nor were thankful. So darkness came upon them, and folly was displayed by them as they turned to idolatry. (Rom. 1:23) With that they became debased and vile, God giving them up to the vile practices which accompanied idolatry. But more; they did not like to retain God in their knowledge. God then gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which ‘are not convenient. Hence the lawlessness, selfishness, and injustice which are so rife upon earth. A state of savagery then is the fruit of man’s will, and not the primeval condition of the race. Of the fall we read in Gen. 3 Of the causes which led to man’s debasement after the flood, we learn about in Rom. 1 Concerning the apostasy, which will characterize Christendom and the ungodly among the Jews, we read of in the Psalms, the Prophets, 2 Thess., and Rev. 13 Such is man’s wretched history as traced out in the Word. The state of the heathen world cannot then be laid at God’s door. He gave them up to uncleanness only when they turned to idolatry; He gave them up unto vile affections; He gave them over to a reprobate mind. The state God permitted, but He did not create man in such a condition, nor force him against his will to be debased. The true history of man therefore only magnifies the grace of God, in that He should provide good news, and at such a cost, for His willful and vile creatures.
This is now set forth. Departing from God, as man did after the flood, he had nevertheless a conscience, by the light of which he judged others for sins which he also committed, and hence condemned himself, and owned thereby that he deserved the judgment of God-a judgment which will be executed in the day of God’s wrath, and the principles of which the apostle plainly sets forth. (Rom. 2:1-16) And this judgment will take knowledge of the secrets of men, and will deal with Jews as well as Gentiles. Whereupon the apostle proceeds to prove, from the Old Testament Scriptures, the Jew guilty not only of ungodliness, but also of unrighteousness. (Rom. 2:17-3:20) For man, then, to escape God’s wrath from heaven there was, as far as he was concerned, no hope. “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23), is the sweeping but true verdict pronounced by God upon the human race.
All then brought in guilty, and by One whose judgment is just, and from which there is no appeal, we are cast upon God for any door of escape from our righteously deserved doom. It is here the gospel comes in, the teaching about which runs on from Romans 3:21 to 8:39, and is arranged under three great heads; viz., freedom from the guilt of sin, freedom from the power of sin and from the law, and freedom from the presence of sin.
As to the first of these heads, we learn that God is perfectly righteous, by virtue of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, in justifying the ungodly, and has set forth Christ as a mercy-seat, or propitiatory (not propitiation), through faith in His blood to declare His righteousness for the passing over through His forbearance of the sins done aforetime-i.e. the sins of the Old Testament saints-and to declare at this time His righteousness, that He might be just, and the Justifier of him that believeth in Jesus. The reader should remark how God is first thought of in the gospel. His character is first vindicated, His nature too cared for, in that His righteousness and holiness are both met by the blood of Christ sprinkled, as it were, upon the mercy-seat. Boasting on man’s part is thereby excluded, and the law is established. (Rom. 3:21-31)
The ground on which God can righteously act in grace having been set forth in chapter 3., we next learn on what principle souls can be justified, as illustrated in the history of Abraham (Rom. 4:1-5), and the moral class which can share in this favor, of which David is the example. (Rom. 4:6-9) Then, returning to Abraham’s history, the apostle reminds us that he was justified before God instituted the rite of circumcision for him and his descendants; so Gentiles as well as Jews can share in it. He was justified by faith; so are we. But the testimony given to us to believe differs from that given to him. He believed God who quickeneth the dead, and calls those things which be not as though they were. We believe upon Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered for our offenses, and raised again for our justification. (Rom. 4:9-25)
Consequences great and blessed flow to us from being justified by faith. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; we have access by faith into the grace, or favor, wherein we stand, as pardoned and justified ones, before the throne of God; and we rejoice, or boast, in hope of the glory of God. And more than that, we boast in God Himself through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the reconciliation. (Rom. 5:1-11) This part of the gospel treats of the result of the atoning death of Christ for us, and the value of His blood before God. And believing God’s testimony about it, we know what it is to have the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost given to us. Thus far we learn from the gospel what it is to have, and how it is we can have, freedom from the guilt of sin. Forgiven-but of this the epistle does not treat, for it supposed that the saints knew it-they learned they were also justified, or reckoned righteous by God Himself; hence there was no barrier to their standing in holy boldness before the throne, and the blessings enjoyed, as the consequence of justification by faith, could not, they are shown, in their special line be surpassed.
But something else is needed, and this forms the second part of this gospel; namely, freedom from the power of sin and from the law. Now here the doctrine of headship of a race can apply. We have learned something of it experimentally, inasmuch as being descendants of Adam, in him, as head of the race, his condition, the fruit of his fall, and consequences of that fall, we all share in. But another Man has appeared, the head of a new race; so all who are ranged under Him, as their head, are viewed as in Him, and share in His present condition as regards sin and the law, and in the consequences of His act of obedience to death, the death of the cross. (Rom. 5:12-19) Would any charge God with injustice for making Adam’s posterity to share in the fruits of his act of disobedience? It is on this very principle that any one of us can really be blessed; for we who believe share in the consequences of the obedience unto death of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have to share in the temporal results of Adam’s sin; we do share in the everlasting consequences of the perfect obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus the ground is cut away from under the feet of an objector in hostility of heart to God, and the believer has cause to thank Him that, if suffering because of his forefather’s sin, on that same principle he shares in the blessed results of the obedience unto death of the Lord Jesus Christ.
But between Adam’s fall and the death of the Lord Jesus Christ the law has come in, and that in order “that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound, in order that as sin has reigned in the power of death, so also might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 5:20-21) The apostle here mentions the law and sin. He will now treat of them somewhat at length, but in an inverse order, showing that by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ believers can enjoy present freedom from the power of sin, and that those once under law are set free from it by that same death. As far as Romans 5:11 The apostle has written of sins. He now treats of sin.
“What shall we say, then?” he asks. “Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? “Antinomian teaching might encourage that. But the answer is ready and decisive: “How shall we, who died to sin, live any longer therein?” If we have died to it, we cannot go on in it, that is clear. But when? and how? some might ask. “Are ye ignorant,” he adds, “that so many of us as were baptized unto Christ Jesus, were baptized unto His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him by baptism unto death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” What had they professed by their baptism? They had not died to sin by it. They were buried by it with Christ unto death. They professed, however, by that rite to be disciples of Him who had died, and died to sin. The apostle then proceeds:
“For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also of His resurrection.” The condition of the head of the race as to sin is the condition of everyone who is ranged under that head. Christ has died to it. Christians, therefore, have died to it. Thus we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, and now await that of His resurrection. “We shall be of His resurrection.” But whilst awaiting that, when we shall be free from the presence of sin, God has judicially dealt with our old man in the cross of Christ, that we should now know deliverance from its thraldom. And since Christ, who has died to sin once for all, now lives to God, we are to reckon ourselves dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus.” (Rom. 6:1-11) Here for the first time in this epistle do we read of our being in Christ. This flows out of the truth of headship treated of, as we have seen, in the previous chapter. Exhortations now follow (Rom. 6:12-14), after which the subject is pursued one step further. If we may not continue in sin, may we sin? some might ask. We have changed masters, says the apostle, so that even cannot be allowed. We were servants to sin, but have become servants to righteousness and to God. Hence comes the exhortation, “Yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness,” and so be fruitful to God. (Rom. 6:15-23)
Paul had spoken of the entrance of the law and the purport of it. (Rom. 5:20) He will now point out how souls get free from being under it, and that is by death. But if free, as we have already learned (Rom. 6:22), we are not our own masters, that we may live to ourselves; for though we have died to the law, we are still here on earth. Hence, he adduces the illustration of a woman set free by death from her first husband, able to be for another husband. “So,” he writes, “ye are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be for another, even Him who is raised from the dead, that ye should bring forth fruit to God.”
Romans 7:1-4. That is the doctrine and the purport of it. The need of such a deliverance, and the experience of a quickened soul under law, is now set forth in Romans 7:7-25. What believer has not known something of this in the process of learning himself? Yet it is not true Christian experience. Nor are we to rest contented never to advance beyond it upon earth; for there are three defined steps by which the believer gets out of it. First, he learns that in himself there dwells no good thing. (Rom. 7:18) Next, he discerns the difference of the natures within him. “It is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.” (Rom. 7:20) Then looking round for a deliverer, for it is that he wants, he finds he has deliverance through Christ Jesus his Lord. (Rom. 7:24-25) He has not to hope for it.
C. E. S.