Romans Chapter One Lesson 5
Review:
* So Paul's focus here is the commission that
he received from Christ for his ministry to the Gentiles; all that was necessary to carry out his
responsibility
2 goals are given;
first an immediate goal and then the ultimate goal.
* The immediate goal
"to bring about the obedience of faith
among all the Gentiles,"
* The grace, the apostleship given to Paul was
for the purpose of obedience; need to ask obedience to what? by whom?
- Attached to this
prep phrase is a noun, "of faith" pi,stij;
-
There are 3 basic ways that faith can relate to obedience grammatically:
#1 Subjective gen: obedience that springs from
faith;
#2 Objective gen: Obedience directed toward or
in faith;
#3 Descriptive gen: [defines/describes]
indicates how the two nouns are related to each other; 1st noun, obedience,
general term which is further defined by the noun in the gen. faith.
Faith further
defines obedience; faith is an act of obedience;
Need to rule out #1,
doesn't fit the context;
Either #2 or #3 would
fit; but I believe that #3 is stronger and fits more closely with what Paul
says elsewhere;
-
It was Paul's objective as he fulfilled his responsibility as an apostle to
"bring about the obedience that consists of believing."
-
So the immediate goal is the salvation of the Gentiles; that's the immediate
purpose of Paul's commission.
* The
ultimate goal: "for His names sake," This last phrase puts all of Paul's ministry
and objectives into perspective; as it should ours.
-
Paul does not minister for his personal gain, or enhancement in any way;
-
Nor was his motivation primarily even for the salvation of men, that's an intermediate goal, it was
ultimately for the glory and benefit of Jesus Christ His Lord.
<1:6-7> Those addressed - the called in
>
Verse 6 is a transition, almost parenthesis leading to vs:7 where Paul actually
begins the formal address to those he is writing;
>
Of these believers Paul first refers to them as simply "the called of Jesus Christ."
-
Called is a title for those who have heard the message of the gospel, and have
believed that message; [effectual hearing]
When
we think of being called we're always to think in terms of God's purpose for
us;
This
goal - purpose we will find unfolded for us as we move through Romans.
Calling
is consistently expressed as the work of the Father;
Some
examples: 1 Cor 1:9; 2 Tim 1:9;
Rom
<7> Here Paul finally identifies who he is addressing;
The three characteristics of these believers
in
1. "beloved of God" avgaphtoi/j
qeou/
-
this speaks of the most fundamental relationship of the believer; he is the
object of God's love;
This is a relationship
that we should note that Jesus never used, He never joined with the disciples
in speaking of God as our Father;
Reason He always
made that differentiation is that His relationship with the Father was unique
and unlike the relationship that we have with the Father.
2. "called as saints" klhtoi/j
a`gi,oij [set apart for a purpose]
-
having responded to the gospel we're then the called; we are also
"saints" - which speaks of our position that results from salvation;
who we are now as believers!
3.
recipients of "grace and peace"
It is based totally
on our new position in Christ which gives us a new and the only basis for
relating to God.
-
Out of this new relationship flows peace with God;
It
is a condition not a feeling; your condition having peace with God is a
constant;
-
Point is the condition of peace is always present even if the feeling of peace
is not.
Summary Observations: 1:1-7
1.
<v.1> "Called an apostle" It is characteristic of Paul to begin an
epistle to begin an epistle to either remind those to whom he is writing that
he is an apostle or as here to establish that since he is an apostle his
message to them has authority.
2.
<v.1> Paul = bond-servant = a called apostle
- He was first a
servant then an apostle
Paul first
submitted to God before he became an apostle to speak for God.
3.
In God's plan Paul has the leading role in communicating the great truths of
the Gospel.
- that is in
explaining, defining, proclaiming, defending the gospel.