Grace from Romans

Lesson 1
By who and to whom?

Romans 1:1-7

1 Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God

2 which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, 3 concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born 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 Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name, 6 among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; 7 To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

“On May 24, 1738, a discouraged missionary went “very unwillingly” to a religious meeting in London. There a miracle took place. “About a quarter before nine,” he wrote in his journal, “I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.”

“That missionary was John Wesley. The message he heard that evening was the preface to Martin Luther’s commentary on Romans. Just a few months before, John Wesley had written in his journal: I went to America to convert the Indians; but Oh! Who shall convert me?” Warren Wiersbe

In this first study on the Book of Romans we will take a look at the first six verses of chapter one. You may say to yourself that this is just the introduction, just Paul’s way of saying “HI.” I think that we will find as we look closely at these six verses, that they are full of wonderful truths about our God.

Let us first look at what the writer says about himself. In this book the writer calls himself Paul, not his old name of Saul. Saul had been well known among believers as the man who persecuted the church. Paul was known, however, as the man that spread the word and was a teacher of the church.

Here he calls himself a bondservant. In that day there were 60 million slaves in the Roman Empire. A person was a slave by being born into it or being sold by your family into slavery. Having a debt that you could not pay could also land you in slavery. This word bondservant has a bit of a different twist. It means willing slave. Here is one that is set free by his master, and yet says that he will continue to serve him willingly. Often times an ear would be pierced showing that this one was a willing slave. Paul here is saying that he is a volunteer slave of Jesus Christ.

Paul goes on to give his credentials for why he is writing this book. He says that he is called to be an apostle and separated to the Gospel of God.

The word called here means to be appointed by one in authority. It is a little like the president of the USA appointing ambassadors to other countries.

An apostle is one that is sent out with the authority to instruct in the name of the Lord.

Paul also says that he is separated to the Gospel. That is talking about being given a specific task to do apart from what everyone else is doing. In this case his special task was to spread the Good news about Jesus Christ to the Gentiles.

Next let us look at the message that he was spreading. This is summary statement of the entire book.

First, the end of verse one and the beginning of verse three state that the message was the good news (gospel) about Jesus Christ. Well what about this Jesus? First of all he was the son of David. This means that He had the physical right to rule in Israel, being descended from King David. Second, he was the Son of God, which is to say that he is God in the flesh, equal with and of the same essence (stuff) as the Father. Some people have great difficulty with the concept of the Son of God. “How can God have a baby, a son?” We must understand that the Bible is not calling Jesus the Son of God in the sense of offspring; rather it is a Hebrew expression of equality, of being of the same essence. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are all equal and of the same essence. He is one God, existing in three persons. He goes on to show that it was the resurrection that proved that Jesus was God and holy.

Second, the message is about what Paul had received from Jesus, Grace and apostleship. Grace talks of receiving something that one cannot earn or ever deserve. This is Salvation. Apostleship was the Job that Christ had given him to do, reaching all nations (the gentiles) with the message of God’s Grace and Mercy.

Paul then turns to the reader of the book and talks to them for a moment. This letter was being sent to Rome and Paul states that they are called of Jesus Christ Verse 6. Just as Paul was called by Jesus to be an apostle, the people at Rome have been called by this same Jesus. He goes on to say that they were all called to be saints. The word saints simply means, “people who have been separated from the world and consecrated to the worship and service of God.” Followers of the Lord are referred to by this phrase throughout the Bible. He also calls them beloved of God: ones that are greatly loved, special, or precious.

Here are the main things that I want you to take away from this passage.

1. We should be willing slaves for Christ

2. The Message of Grace and Mercy is for people of all nations.

3. We have a Job to do. We are called to be “Saints.”

Check it out

1. Knowing that we were all once a slave to sin, What are you doing to make yourself a willing servant of Jesus?






2. Since you are separated from the world and called a saint, What are you doing to spread the Good news to your friends and neighbors?

Pastor Tim Heinrich(PT)
pastor@tracychurch.org
814-1815 (cell)
833-8423 (church)