Romans 1
AOSNAbout Romans.
Paul’s Letter to the Romans
Purpose
To outline the good news about Jesus
To address the theological and social divisions that had arisen in a church comprised of both Jewish and non-Jewish people
Author
Paul
Date
Likely around AD 57, near the end of his third missionary journey
Setting
Written (probably in Corinth) toward the end of Paul’s missionary activity, when he was making plans to visit the church in Rome on his way to Spain, after delivering a gift to the Jerusalem church
Some have called the book of Romans the greatest theological document ever written. In this letter, the apostle Paul explains the good news: God has made himself known to the world through his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul writes about the human condition, why our lives on earth matter, and the hope God gives for the future. He constantly emphasizes the basics of God’s truth revealed in Christ. He also teaches believers how to face the problems, failures, and disagreements that are part of life in this world.
Setting
We do not know who first brought the gospel to Rome. Some Jews from Rome may have believed in Jesus when God first gave his Spirit on the day of Pentecost (see Acts 2:10). Then they may have taken the message back to Rome. Soon, several house churches began to grow. Most of the believers in these churches had converted from Judaism.
In AD 49, Emperor Claudius forced all Jews to leave Rome. This included Jewish Christians (see Acts 18:2). Paul had never visited Rome (Romans 1:13). But during his travels, he met some Christians from Rome, including Priscilla (also called Prisca) and Aquil (Romans 16:3–4; compare Acts 18:2).
Claudius’s order later ended. So by the time Paul wrote Romans, many Jewish Christians had returned to Rome. But while they were away, the Gentile Christians had become the leaders of the Christian community there.
Paul probably wrote Romans around AD 57. At that time, the Christian community in Rome was divided into two main groups. The Gentile Christians were now the larger group. They were less focused on the Old Testament and the law of Moses than the Jewish Christians were. Some of them may even have looked down on the Jewish Christians (see Romans 11:25). The Jewish Christians were now the smaller group. In response, some of them insisted that believers should follow certain parts of the law of Moses.
Paul wrote Romans to address this divide. The problem was both theological and social. At its center was this question: How is Christian faith connected to Jewish faith, and how is it different?
Summary
In the opening part of the letter, Paul introduces himself and the Roman Christians (1:1–17. He thanks God for them (1:1–7). He also introduces the main theme of the letter: the good news about Jesus ("the gospel,” 1:16–17).
Before Paul explains this good news, he shows why all people need it. All people have sinned against God. Gentiles have turned away from what God showed them about himself (1:18–32). Jews have also turned away from what God showed them (2:1–3:8). All are "under sin," that is, under sin’s power (3:9–20). No one can be made right with God by what they do.
Into this hopeless situation comes the good news. It shows a new way to be made right with God. God provided this way by sending Jesus as a sacrifice for sin. All people can receive the benefits of this sacrifice by faith (3:21–26).
In 3:27–4:25, Paul explains why faith is so important. Faith leaves no room for boasting. It also gives both Jews and Gentiles the same access to God’s grace in Christ (3:27–31). develops these same points through reference to Abraham (chapter 4).
In chapters 5–8, Paul discusses the assurance or security of salvation. Believers can be sure that they will share in God’s glory (5:1–11). This hope is based on what Jesus Christ has done. Jesus more than reversed the terrible effects of Adam’s sin (5:12–21).
Sin cannot stop God from completing his purposes for believers (chapter 6). The law also cannot stop him (chapter 7) can stop God from fulfilling his plans for Christians. The Holy Spirit frees believers from death (8:1–17). He also assures them that present suffering will not keep them from the glory God has planned for them (8:18–39).
The good news (“the gospel”) is truly good news only if the message about Christ continues God’s promises in the Old Testament. But many Jews did not believe in Christ. This might seem to mean that God’s promises to Israel were not being fulfilled (9:1–5).
So in chapters 9–11, Paul shows that God is faithful to his promises. God had never promised salvation to all Jews, but only to a remnant, a smaller group he preserved (9:6–29). The Jews were responsible for their situation because they refused to recognize that God’s promises were fulfilled in Christ (9:30–10:21). Even so, God was still preserving a remnant of Jewish believers (11:1–10). God also still had more to do for his people Israel (11:11–36).
Trusting in the good news about Jesus rescues people from the punishment of sin. It also changes a person’s life. In 12:1–15:13, Paul explains the transforming power of the good news. This change calls for a new way of thinking and living (12:1–2). A changed life shows itself in:
This changed life gets its power from what God has already done. It also becomes urgent because of what God still plans to do (13:11–14).
In 14:1–15:13, Paul addresses a specific problem in the church at Rome. Christians were criticizing one another over different practices related to the Old Testament law. Paul urges them to accept one another. He also tells them to follow Christ’s example of self-giving love.
At the end of Romans, Paul returns to the form of a letter. He writes about his ministry and travel plans (15:14–33). He greets and praises fellow workers and other Christians (16:1–16). He ends with:
more comments about fellow workers,
a final warning, and
a doxology, a short statement of praise to God (16:17–27).
Date, Place, and Occasion for Writing
Paul probably wrote Romans during a three-month stay in Corinth, near the end of his third missionary journey (Acts 20:2–3). This was around AD 57. Romans 16:1 mentions Cenchrea, a port city near Corinth. This helps identify the location more clearly. By this time, Paul had finished his missionary work in the eastern Mediterranean region. His visit to Jerusalem was also near.
We can understand why Paul wrote Romans by looking at what he says about his past work and future travel plans (15:14–33). Four places are important:
Paul looks back on his past ministry. He says that he had "all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ" (15:19). Illyricum was a Roman province in the same general area as modern Serbia and Croatia. Paul had planted churches in major cities from Jerusalem through Asia Minor and into Macedonia and Greece. Acts describes this work in Paul’s three missionary journeys.
Paul planned to go to Jerusalem. He wanted to deliver a gift to the believers there (15:25). This gift was money collected from the Gentile churches Paul had started. It was meant to help the church in Jerusalem (15:26; see also 1 Corinthians 16:1–4; 2 Corinthians 8:1–9:15).
After visiting Jerusalem to deliver the gift, Paul planned to go to Rome (Romans 15:24).
Rome was not Paul’s final goal. Romans 15:24 shows that he planned to stop there on his way to Spain. Spain was his main goal because he wanted to plant churches in places "where Christ was not known" (15:20, 24).
These details suggest that Paul wrote Romans near the end of his third missionary journey.
Paul’s Purpose in Writing
Romans has three main purposes:
to explain Paul’s teaching,
to ask for support for a future mission to Spain, and
to help unite the church in Rome.
Paul's Teaching
Paul was at an important point in his ministry (15:20). He had fully shared the gospel in the eastern Mediterranean region (15:19). Now he was ready to preach the good news in new places. So Paul used his letter to the Romans to explain his teaching. This teaching had developed during 25 years of challenges and debates.
Even so, Paul did not write Romans only to summarize his teaching. He says little about some important topics, such as Christ’s person, the church, and the last days. This purpose also does not explain why Paul sent this summary to the church in Rome.
Support for Future Mission to Spain
Another purpose then becomes clear: Paul wanted support from the Roman Christians for his new mission to Spain. Paul’s sending church, Antioch, was far from Spain. So Paul looked for a new church to partner with him. The church in Rome was a natural choice (15:24).
This is likely why Paul sent such a detailed letter about Christian teaching to Rome. He wanted to explain who he was and what he believed. Many people had misunderstood Paul’s message. Because of this, he became a controversial person in the early church.
Paul probably knew that some Christians in Rome did not trust him. So he needed to give a careful and clear defense of his views on some of the most debated matters of the faith.
Unite the Church in Rome
Paul also wrote for a third reason: to help heal a division in the Christian community in Rome. The believers disagreed about how much the Old Testament law should continue to guide them (see 14:1–15:13).
Meaning and Message
In the letter to the Romans, Paul explained the gospel as he had come to understand it. At the center of this good news is God’s offer of salvation in Christ for all who believe. Paul discusses the problem of human sin. He explains God’s answer through Christ’s death on the cross. He also describes the sure hope of glory that believers have through a living relationship with Christ.
The message of Christ’s cross continues the promises of the Old Testament because those promises are fulfilled in Christ. It is also different from the Old Testament law because God begins a new covenant in Christ. This new covenant goes beyond the Old Testament law.
Interpretation
Since the Reformation, many Christians have read Romans as a letter about personal salvation. Martin Luther’s own spiritual journey was closely connected to Romans. Following his lead, Reformers such as John Calvin and Ulrich Zwingli saw Romans as a key biblical teaching about justification. They taught that people are made right with God by faith in Christ, not by their own effort.
The Reformers understood Paul to be arguing against a legalistic form of Judaism. This means a way of thinking that says people must obey the law in order to be saved. Many Jews were deeply concerned with the law. This led some of them to think that faithfulness to the law was enough for salvation (for example, 10:1–4).
Many interpreters today say this Reformation view left out important parts of Romans and first-century Judaism. They argue that Jews in Paul’s day did not believe they had to obey the law to be saved. Instead, they believed they were already saved because God had chosen them as his people. Obeying the law was how they kept their status as God’s people.
These interpreters say Paul was not arguing against legalism, the idea that people can earn salvation by obeying the law. Instead, he was arguing against exclusivism, the idea that salvation belonged only to Israel and should not be shared with Gentiles. According to this view, Paul shows how the gospel connects salvation by faith with two things:
God’s ongoing people from the Old Testament to the New Testament, and
the relationship between Jews and Gentiles in Paul’s own day.
This newer way of understanding Romans has much to offer. Christian interpreters have sometimes failed to see the grace and faith that are present in Jewish teaching. Romans also says a great deal about including Gentiles among God’s people. It also addresses the relationship between Jews and Gentiles in the church.
In the end, neither the Reformation view nor the contemporary view explains all of Romans by itself. We need both views to understand the whole letter. At its deepest level, Romans is about the gospel. And the gospel is first a message about how everyone can have a right relationship with God.
Romans 1:1-17
These verses include typical features of New Testament letter introductions:
identifying the writer or speaker (1:1–6),
identifying the audience (1:7),
a section of giving thanks (1:8–15), and
the theme of the letter (1:16–17).
Romans 1:1
a servant of Christ Jesus: The word servant describes key Old Testament leaders of God's people, such as:
Moses (2 Kings 18:12),
Joshua (Joshua 24:29),
Elijah (2 Kings 10:10), and
David (2 Samuel 7:8).
This title emphasizes the apostle Paul's total submission to Christ as Lord.
set apart: Paul may be saying that God set him apart for his mission before he was born. This idea is similar to the call of the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:5). Paul may also be thinking about God’s call during his conversion on the road to Damascus, when God chose him for a special task (Acts 9:15–16; compare Acts 13:2). God called Paul to preach the good news about Jesus to Jews and especially to Gentiles (non-Jews).
The good news, also called "the gospel," appears many times at the beginning of this letter (Romans 1:1, 9, 15, 16). Paul takes the word gospel from the Old Testament. There, the Hebrew word refers to news of victory. It describes the victory God wins for his people and the hope he brings to them (Isaiah 40:9; 41:27; 60:6; 61:1; Nahum 1:15; see Joel 2:32).
Romans 1:3-4
In the Greek text, these verses have a parallel structure. Paul might be quoting an early Christian statement of belief or a song about Jesus Christ as God's Son. He likely does this to show that they shared the same beliefs, since he had not yet visited them.
Romans 1:3
According to the flesh: Paul often uses the word flesh (Greek sarx) to speak about bodily life in this world (for example, 4:1; 8:3).
Paul mentions King David’s family because God promised that a person descended from David would be the Messiah (God's chosen one) and would have an eternal kingdom (2 Samuel 7:13–16; see Isaiah 9:7; Jeremiah 33:15). Jesus was born into David’s family line (Matthew 1:6; Luke 1:27, 32). This shows that he met God’s requirement to fulfill this promise.
Romans 1:4
was declared with power to be: Although Jesus has existed forever as the Son of God, his resurrection demonstrated him to be God’s Son, revealing him in all his power and glory. (1:3).
Romans 1:5
received … apostleship: The apostle Paul might be referring to both himself and the other apostles, or he might be using "we" to only refer to himself.
we received grace and apostleship: Paul always makes it evident that his unique authority is a gift from God (see also 15:15–16).
to the obedience that comes from faith: This summarizes Paul’s goal in preaching to Gentiles (non-Jews). It frames the book of Romans, as he repeats the idea in different words at the end of the letter (16:26). Paul wanted Gentiles to trust in Jesus Christ. He emphasized that trusting in Jesus Christ as the Lord means committing to obey him. Faith and obeying are not the same, but one does not happen without the other.
Romans 1:7
be saints: This essentially means to be set apart for God. This expression appears throughout the Old Testament to describe Israel, God’s people whom he chose (compare Exodus 19:6). God called Israel from among all other nations to belong to him. Paul calls the Gentile (non-Jewish) Christians "saints." Paul makes it plain that Gentiles who trust in Christ are now fully included among God’s people.
Romans 1:9
with my spirit: This might mean God's Holy Spirit influences Paul's inner self. The word spirit also refers to the deepest part of a person.
Romans 1:11
some spiritual gift: Paul probably means the spiritual benefit he hopes his ministry will bring to the Roman Christians.
Romans 1:13
brothers: The Greek word adelphoi describes people who are in a family relationship. Paul and other New Testament writers use this word to show that Christians belong to one family because they are united in Christ. The word refers to both male and female Christians.
but have been prevented from visiting until now: Paul wrote this letter while in Corinth near the end of his third missionary journey (see Acts 20:2–4; compare Romans 16:21–23). Paul had been busy planting and supporting churches in the eastern Mediterranean. Before visiting the Roman Christians, he needed to return to Jerusalem to deliver money collected from the Gentile (non-Jewish) churches for the poor Jewish Christians (15:23–29).
Romans 1:14
to Greeks and non-Greeks: The Greeks were proud of being educated and cultured. They often thought people from other cultures were inferior. They mocked the way foreigners spoke Greek, saying it sounded like “bar bar,” a meaningless sound. From this mockery comes the word barbarian (a person seen as uncivilized). Paul refers to this cultural divide to show that he wanted to preach the good news about Jesus to every kind of person.
Romans 1:16
The apostle Paul often emphasizes that the gospel (the good news about Jesus) is for everyone. He also insists that God first chose the Jews to be his people. God made promises to them and gave them a unique role in his continuing plan (3:1–8; 9:1–5). They have a special responsibility to respond to the gospel. They will experience God's judgment first if they reject the gospel (2:9–10).
Romans 1:17
the righteousness of God: This important phrase appears eight times in Romans (see also 3:5, 21, 22, 25, 26; 10:3; the only other occurrence in Paul's writings is 2 Corinthians 5:21). In the Old Testament, God’s righteousness refers to who God is (holy and faithful) and to what God does when he rescues his people and makes things right (see especially Isaiah 46:13; 51:5–8). Paul uses the second meaning in this verse. The gospel (the good news about Jesus) has the power to save because it fulfills God's promise to defend his people.
"The righteous will live by faith": The prophet Habakkuk struggled to understand how God could use nations that worshiped false gods to judge his own people, Israel. God reminded Habakkuk that his true people were the righteous, who needed to live by faith (Habakkuk 2:4). In Romans 1–4, Paul often insists that only by faith can humans become right with God.
Romans 1:18-3:20
Paul waits to explain righteousness through faith (see 3:21) until he first teaches about the sinfulness of all people. Both non-Jews and Jews are equally under the power of sin (1:18–32; 2:1–3:8). Because of this, both groups are in the same situation before God. No one can gain God’s favor by their own actions or obedience (3:9–20). All people need God’s saving action, not their own efforts.
Romans 1:18
The wrath of God: God’s wrath (or anger) is not a sudden emotional reaction. It is the holy God’s necessary response to human sin. Because God is just and good, God must respond to what destroys life and faithfulness.
The Old Testament often describes God’s wrath in specific historical events, such as Israel’s rebellion or injustice among the people (Exodus 32:10–12; Numbers 11:1; Jeremiah 21:3–7). It also looks ahead to a future time when God will judge human sin in a final and decisive way.
Paul usually speaks of God’s wrath as something that will happen at the end of history (Romans 2:5, 8; 5:9; Colossians 3:6; 1 Thessalonians 1:10). However, when Paul uses the present tense and says that God’s wrath “is revealed,” he points to God’s actions in history as well. These passages show that God has already responded to sin throughout human history, not only at the end of time.
Romans 1:21
In Scripture, to know God usually means to have a close and saving relationship with him (see 2 Corinthians 5:16; Galatians 4:9; Philippians 3:8, 10). Here, however, they knew God means that people knew about God. All people have some understanding of God through creation, but they do not do what is right based on that knowledge. Instead of learning more about God, they worship gods they create themselves.
Romans 1:24
When people replaced the living God with idols (false gods), God abandoned them. Paul emphasizes this point twice more in this paragraph (1:26, 28). The phrase gave them over suggests that God actively allows people to experience the consequences of their sin.
Romans 1:26
Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones: In this context, the natural way refers to the nature of the world as God made it.
As in the Old Testament, Paul refers to same-sex sexual behavior as one example of how people have turned away from honoring the true God (see Genesis 19:1–28; Leviticus 18:22; Leviticus 20:13; Deuteronomy 23:17–18).
God created human beings as male and female, and engaging in same-sex sexual activity is a violation of God’s creative intention.
Romans 1:27
received in themselves the due penalty for their error: When people turn away from the Creator’s purposes, God judges their actions. This judgment can happen in many ways, but the final result is spiritual death (see 1:32).
Romans 1:28
they did not see fit to acknowledge: Sin affects what people do and how they think. One serious result of turning away from God is an unsound mind. People can no longer think in the way God intended.
Romans 1:29-31
This list of sins follows a popular Hellenistic literary form called a vice list (a list that names sinful behaviors). The list does not include every sin, but it shows the many ways evil can appear.
Romans 1:32
To encourage others to sin is worse than sinning oneself (James 3:1; compare Testament of Asher 6:2: “The two-faced receive double punishment because they practice evil and approve of others who do the same; they imitate the spirits of error and join in the fight against humanity”).
Aquifer Open Study Notes © 2026 Mission Mutual, an adaptation of the Tyndale Open Study Notes © 2023 Tyndale House Publishers. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.