Romans



Romans 1:1-7
1Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,
2which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures,
3concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh
4and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,
5through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,
6including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,
7To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Yesterday as the study of Acts came to a close I had no idea what would come next. Being a person who struggles with control that was a bit of a problem. But since writing these devotionals is not something that I plan ahead or study up for I felt the Lord was leading me to not really ponder it until this morning as this is simply an outgrowth of my own devotional life. So when it became clear that Romans was to be the next book we examine I confess to a certain amount of trepidation. The study of Romans is no small task.

Romans is indisputably written by Paul who we just studied in great detail as we passed through Acts. I say that it is no small task because this book is considered by most to be the quintessential treatise on Christian doctrine. For me to approach it in this venue seems a little arrogant. So it will be examined with humility and an understanding that this still remains what it has always been; my own personal spiritual response to Bible study. I believe we will struggle with a few topics and there certainly won’t be resolution about everything. But the prayer always remains the same; that we would grow in our faith because we are reading and submitting ourselves to God’s Word.

Here is what Martin Luther has to say about the study of Romans. Clearly, Luther held Romans in high regard. So do I.

“This epistle is really the chief part of the New Testament, and is truly the purest gospel. It is worthy not only that every Christian should know it word for word, by heart, but also that he should occupy himself with it every day, as the daily bread of the soul. We can never read it or ponder over it too much; for the more we deal with it, the more precious it becomes and the better it tastes” (LW 35:365). In this epistle we thus find most abundantly the things that a Christian ought to know, namely, what is law, gospel, sin, punishment, grace, faith, righteousness, Christ, God, good works, love, hope, and the cross; and also how we are to conduct ourselves toward everyone, be he righteous or sinner, strong or weak, friend or foe—and even toward our own selves” (LW 35:380).

With those words of introduction we launch into Romans.

Dear Lord God, please empower our study of Your Word through the power of Your Holy Spirit. Enable us to understand what You want to teach us and use this Word to inform and transform our lives. We are submitted to You alone. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

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