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Book 45 of 66 · Letter of Paul

Romans

The most influential letter in Christian history, written to mixed Jewish and non-Jewish churches in Rome. One God, one people, and a gift that has to show up at a shared table.

The big idea

In short: grace comes first. Being made right with God is a gift, not a paycheck. And the gift has to turn into love for real people: “love is the fulfilling of the law” (13:10).

Paul says his theme is God’s power to save Jews and non-Jews alike (1:16–17). God makes them one people who eat at one table (14–15).

The rule underneath: Law 12 · Repair

Confess, make restitution, forgive, start again.

Keep it: Relationships heal, and you get a fresh start.
Break it: Hidden wrongs grow and spread.

Shows up in: Leviticus, 2 Samuel, Psalms, Luke, 1 John

Other rules in this book: God first, Love the actual person, Image, not tool

Live it: Playbook 10 · How to repair

16For 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. 17For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.Romans 1:16-17 · KJV

At a glance

What it is
A letter from Paul to the house churches in Rome. 16 chapters, his longest letter, which is why it comes first among his letters, not because it was written first.
Who wrote it
Paul. Nearly all scholars agree. The man who wrote it down for him, Tertius, adds his own greeting (16:22).
When and where
About AD 55–58, probably from Corinth. Paul is about to carry money from non-Jewish churches to poor believers in Jerusalem, then hopes to visit Rome on the way to Spain (15:23–28).
Who it was for
Churches Paul had not founded, with Jewish and non-Jewish members. The Roman writer Suetonius says Emperor Claudius expelled Jews from Rome (probably around AD 49); many returned after 54. Many scholars think that history lies behind the letter’s tensions. debated
Its influence
Augustine’s conversion turned on Romans 13:13–14 (“not in rioting and drunkenness… But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ”), not on the passage about government. Martin Luther’s reading of 1:17 in the 1500s helped start the Protestant Reformation, the split that created Protestant churches. Wesley’s heart was “strangely warmed” hearing Luther’s preface to Romans.
Read it in
About an hour.

What it says

1–4 · Everyone needs grace. Non-Jews have swapped the Creator for idols, and it has bent their lives. Then Paul turns on the reader nodding along: you who judge do the same things (2:1). God shows no favoritism (2:11). All have fallen short, and all are made right freely, as a gift (3:23–24). Abraham is the proof: he trusted God before he was circumcised, so he is father to Jewish and non-Jewish believers alike (4).

5–8 · The new life. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (5:8). Grace is not permission to keep sinning (6). The self is divided: “the good that I would I do not” (7:19). The Spirit makes us God’s children, and all creation waits to be set free (8). Nothing can separate us from God’s love (8:38–39).

9–11 · What about Israel? Paul grieves that most of his own people have not accepted Jesus. He pictures an olive tree: non-Jews are wild branches grafted in and must not look down on the natural branches (11:17–24). He ends in hope and worship (11:26, 33–36).

12–16 · The shared life. Offer your whole self to God (12:1–2). Love without faking it, welcome strangers, never take revenge, overcome evil with good (12). Respect governing authorities (13:1–7). Love fulfills the law (13:8–10). Don’t split the church over food and holy days; “receive ye one another” (15:7). Greetings to about two dozen people, many of them women.

8Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. 9For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 10Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.Romans 13:8-10 · KJV
Go deeper
  • Original words. Dikaiosynē means both righteousness and justice. Charis, “grace,” means gift; in the ancient world a gift created a bond of loyalty in return.
  • Structure. The problem (1–3), the gift (3–5), the new life (6–8), Israel and the nations (9–11), and life together (12–16).
  • How the laws interlock. Law 12 starts with God: grace comes first (5:8). It then has to become Law 2 (13:8–10) and Law 3 (“there is no difference,” 3:22), and it is tested at a shared table (14–15).

Hard parts

Faith and works

What it says “A man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law” (3:28). James says “by works a man is justified, and not by faith only” (James 2:24). Romans also says God “will render to every man according to his deeds” (2:6).

The rule underneath Grace comes first, and it has to show up as love (13:8–10).

What people added This is the Reformation fault line. Older Protestant readings start with the guilty person asking how to get right with God. Catholic and Orthodox readings stress being changed and sharing in Christ’s life. A newer scholarly reading, the “New Perspective,” says Paul’s main fight was over how non-Jews join God’s people without becoming Jewish, so “works of the law” means things like circumcision and food laws. debated Churches have split; this page does not settle it.

Romans 13 and the state

What it says “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers” (13:1). The ruler is “the minister of God to thee for good” who punishes evil (13:4).

The rule underneath Authority serves the people under it and answers to God. The passage describes rulers who do good and punish evil.

What people added The chapter has been quoted to support just governments and unjust ones, including Nazi Germany and apartheid South Africa. Others point to the Hebrew midwives (Exodus 1:17), Daniel, and “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). Christians still argue where obedience ends. Churches have split; this page does not settle it. See 09 · How to lead.

How it has been used: In 1985, South African church leaders wrote the Kairos Document, which criticized the apartheid government’s use of Romans 13 to demand obedience. In June 2018, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions cited Romans 13 to defend enforcing immigration law during the policy that separated migrant families.

Predestination (8:28–30; 9–11)

What it says “Whom he did predestinate, them he also called” (8:30). Chapter 9 speaks of God’s choosing. The section ends: God has shut all up in unbelief “that he might have mercy upon all” (11:32).

The rule underneath Grace comes first.

What people added Reformed readers see God choosing individuals. Arminian and Wesleyan readers see God knowing ahead who will believe. Many Catholic, Orthodox, and recent scholars read chapter 9 as about the roles of peoples in history. debated Churches have split; this page does not settle it.

Romans 1:26–27 and sexuality

What it says Paul says women and men exchanged natural relations for “that which is against nature” (1:26), and he lists this among the results of turning from God. Then he turns on the reader who judges: “thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest” (2:1).

The rule underneath Never use a person as a tool, and love the actual person.

What people added Traditional readings take the passage as a clear, lasting prohibition. Other readings argue Paul had exploitative forms in view, or reasoned from ancient ideas about nature. Churches have split; this page does not settle it.

Translation notes that change meaning

  • Dikaiosynē means both righteousness and justice. English splits one Greek word into “righteous,” “justify,” and “just,” and hides the link. God’s righteousness includes God making things right.
  • 3:22. “Faith of Jesus Christ” (KJV) or “faith in Jesus Christ” (most modern versions). The Greek can mean our trust in Christ or Christ’s own faithfulness. debated
  • 13:9. The KJV includes “Thou shalt not bear false witness”; the WEB and most modern versions leave it out. The early manuscripts are split: some of the oldest (𝔓46, Vaticanus) lack it, while Sinaiticus, just as early, has it.
  • 16:1–7 Phoebe and Junia. Phoebe is a diakonos (“servant” in the KJV, “deacon” in others) and a prostatis (usually “patron”). Most scholars now read Junia as a woman’s name (some 20th-century printings had changed it to a man’s). “Of note among the apostles” can mean outstanding among the apostles or well known to them. debated Complementarian and egalitarian readers draw different conclusions about church roles from these words, and this page does not settle them.

Where it leads

  • 02 · How to love: 12:9–21 and 13:8–10.
  • 11 · How to live together: one body, and the shared table of chapters 14–15.
  • Also feeds 12 deciding (Romans 14 on disputed matters), 09 leading (13:1–7 and its limits), and 10 repair and change (no revenge; “be ye transformed,” 12:2).

One thing to do

This week

Overcome one evil with one good

Name someone who wronged you and whom you are tempted to pay back, even with a cold shoulder or a story at their expense. “If thine enemy hunger, feed him” (12:20). Do one concrete good for them that doesn’t excuse the harm and doesn’t need them to know it was you. Write in your journal what you did and how you felt before and after.

Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.Romans 12:21 · KJV

How to read it. Read it straight through once, like a letter. Then read it in four parts: 1–4, 5–8, 9–11, 12–16. Keep asking how a Jewish believer and a non-Jewish believer at the same table in Rome would each have heard it.