Romans 1: the doctrine of justification by faith

Author: Paul
Time: ~AD56

• v1: Paul called addressed himself as "a servant...called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God". Just as Ps Jesse preached at Ignite that leadership is a place of serving others, Paul dedicated his life to serving the needs of the world about him, and as a result, God raised him to a place of glory. He was called (Acts 9:15) into his purpose by Christ, and in this lay his authority and anointing, unlike the false apostles. Paul's life was set apart for God's purposes, unlike the Pharisees, who set themselves apart through the laws.
• v2: Christianity is not a new upstart religion - God is the same yesterday, today and forever, and traces its beginnings to the promises and prophecies of the Old Testament.
• v3-4: all Scripture points to Christ, the Son of God
• v5: We have received grace and favour to be apostles. The apostles led a life of toil, difficulty and ultimately martyred, yet Paul considered it an honour to serve God and have an opportunity to display obedience to the faith he professed. We didn't receive grace and apostleship to be saved and then do nothing, but out of that grace and the faith with which we receive that grace, we are called to obedience. Hence the result of faith is an obedience to God's law.
• v6: It is not only Jews who need to obey God's commands, but the Gentiles too, are called to belong to Jesus Christ, because we all received a common salvation.
• v7a: All Christians are loved by God, and called to be saints i.e. called to salvation through sanctification.
• v7b: "Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ" is one of the apostolical benedictions said by the priest in every Catholic Mass.
• v8-10: When's the last time you thanked God for your friends, for the people He placed into your life? And when's the last time you spent time praying for them? Being a Christian isn't just about ourselves - it's being concerned by the people around us.
  
• v11-12: When a leader meets with the people under him, he imparts into them something, but at the same time he himself is edified. They are thus both sharpened, as iron sharpens iron.
• v16: This is the start of Paul's thesis regarding justification. The gospel message is of a man hung upon a cross to die a criminal's death; yet Paul is not ashamed to own it. Within the gospel message is the power of God's Word, living, active, profitable, and the reason why we are saved. Without the power of God, the gospel is a dead letter, and the revelation of the gospel is the revelation of the arm of the Lord (Isa 53:1) as power went along with the words of Jesus to heal the sick. Yet for all its power, it only applies to those who believe. Faith unlocks the power of the gospel salvation; it is hidden to the unbeliever.
• v17: Our iniquity has left us in need of a Saviour and a method of justification. It is hence the gospel that makes known a righteousness whereby we can stand before God. This righteousness is from God, not from man; it's not about what we do or don't do, but about what He did to make us right. Faith is all encompassing - from the faithfulness of God's revelation to our faith in receiving salvation, to the working out our salvation in trembling and fear. Faith saves, faith justifies, and faith maintains us.
• v18: God is not only a God of love, but also a God of justice and wrath. Paul does not say that God's wrath will be revealed at the time of judgement, but that the wrath of God is being revealed now i.e. it is already a present reality.
• v19-20: Paul argues that even though non-believers may not have a knowledge of God's law, God did not leave Himself without a witness (Acts 14:17), for He has revealed Himself through creation. (Ps 19:1 - The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands) "what has been made" is too perfect, too ordered to have occurred by fhance; and hence there must have been an eternal intelligent being who called all creation into existence.
• v21-23: they failed to honour and thank God. As a result of their suppression of the truth and of goodness, their foolishness and wickedness clouded and darkened their minds. They professed to be wise, but became fools. Hence "in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe" (1 Co 1:21)
• v24: God "gave them over" does not in any way imply that God actively caused man to fall into sexual impurity and sin. Rather, it means that God has given up all people to their disobedience in an expression of His permissive will - He neither forces people's obedience nor determines their disobedience, but allows us to sink into the consequences of our own disobedience. By permitting man to become absorbed in its sinfulness, God has allowed man to sink and become trapped in their own disobedience. It is from this bondage of sin that God by His grace brings liberation.
• v24, 26, 28: Because man failed to glorfy God nor give thanks to Him, God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity. Because they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, God gave them over to shameful lusts and received the due penalty for their perversion. Because they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, God gave them over to a depraved mind, filled with wickedness, evil, greed, envy, gossip, arrogance, disobedience, faithlessness, heartlessness and ruthlessness.
• v28: Why do people think it not worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God? Is it because a knowledge of God necessitates an obedience to His will, a mastering of our own worldly desires, because it contradicts our own lusts?
• v32: Paul speaks about the intentional nature of sinners - that they knew the law, knew the penalty, and yet hardened their hearts and took pleasure in evil. If that is not all, they not only commit sin, but defend and justify it, and encourage others to do the same.
• In light of all these charges against the Gentiles, Paul lays it open for the reader to see for themselves whether the Gentile world, lying under so much guilt and corruption, can we justified before God by any works of their own.