The Epistle to the RomansGeneral Introduction – New Testament

Epistles

1) Narrative(historical) books

• Four gospels

• Book of Acts

2) Educational Books

• 14 Epistles of St Paul

• 7 Catholic Epistles

3) One Prophetic Book

• The Book of Revelations

What are Epistles?

What are Epistles?Epistles are letters or messages that were sent to others in a written or verbal format.

Epistles• Mainly discuss directions or

teachings to a church or a particular group of people.

• They are a big part of the church’s educational tool regardless of the time and era.

Epistles“For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope” (Roman 15:4)

Place of the Epistles in relation to the Gospels and

book of Acts• Four Gospels – declaration of God to

his people, through Jesus Christ.• Acts – History of the first church of

believers, who followed the teachings and commandments of Jesus Christ.

• Epistles – guided by the holy spirit to help believers make Jesus the center of their lives and faith.

Reasons for writing the Epistles

First:• Writing gives a precise explanation of

ideas and teachings discussed when delivered to different churches.

• A way of conserving the teachings and bringing the whole church together under the authority of the Holy Spirit.

Reasons for writing the Epistles

Second:• Spread of faith over the Roman

empire made verbal teaching impossible.

• Widespread Greek language, a language of theology and philosophy.

• Transportation and roads were created by the Romans.

Authors of the Epistles• St Paul – 14 epistles• John -3 epistles• Peter - 2 epistles• James – 1 epistle• Jude (Judas Thaddeus) – 1 epistle

Who followed Jesus?St PaulJohnPeterJamesJude

Who was among the 12 disciples?

St PaulJohnPeterJamesJude

St Paul• Jesus Christ taught St Paul

directly without the need of anyone.

• He wrote in 1 Corinthians 11:23 “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you…”

Agreement among the Epistles

• All the epistles, excluding the Epistles to the Hebrews and the first epistle to John, begins with the name of the author and the name of the intended church or recipient.

• Peter and Judas address all believers. They start and end with greetings to their recipients.

Agreement among the Epistles

The Epistles were on one accord in representing one Christ, one faith, one Baptism, one Salvation, one Comforter, and one Church to all believers.

Inspired by the Holy Spirit

• 1 Thessalonians 2:13 “For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe”.

Inspired by the Holy Spirit

• 1 Peter 1:12 “To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into”.

Inspired by the Holy Spirit

• St. Peter witnessed for the epistles of St. Paul being among the Holy writings “and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures”. (2 Peter 3:15-16)

Content of the Epistles• The persons of God (Father, Son, Holy Spirit)• The nature of man and his/her duties towards the

community• Human race, and the mutual duties of people

among each other, based on the teachings of Christ.

• Clergy and laymen• Hebrews• Wives and Husbands• Parents and Children• Slaves and masters

Content of the Epistles• Important teachings related to the

salvation, which the disciples did not understand before the resurrection of Jesus.

• Nature of the divinity• The redemptive death of Christ for our sins

and his resurrection to resurrect us with him.

• Preaching to the Gentiles• Plan of one church under God.

Content of The Epistles

It can be said that Jesus Christ, his divinity, humanity and redemption through his blood, is the center of these epistles.

Make the best of studying the Epistles

• The Holy Spirit guided the authors to write regarding certain matters according to church needs and necessity of discussion. As a result of this, the contents of the epistles are vitally important to all churches up till today.

• In order to understand the contents of the epistles, it is important to know the circumstances and the context that the epistles were written under.

Order of the Epistles• The Epistles were not put in

historical order but according to the importance and the length of each one.

No: Epistle Place of writing Time of writing

Remarks

1 1 Thessalonians Corinth A.D. 52-53 Second Missionary Trip (Paul)

2 2 Thessalonians Corinth A.D. 52-53 Second Missionary Trip (Paul)

3 1 Corinthians Ephesus A.D. 57 Third Missionary Trip (Paul)

4 2 Corinthians Macedonia A.D. 57 Third Missionary Trip (Paul)

5 Galatians Corinth A.D. 58 Third Missionary Trip (Paul)

6 Romans Corinth A.D. 58 Third Missionary Trip (Paul)

7 Ephesians Rome A.D. 61-63 First Captivity in Rome (Paul)

8 Philippians Rome A.D. 61-63 First Captivity in Rome (Paul)

9 Colossians Rome A.D. 61-63 First Captivity in Rome (Paul)

10 Philemon Rome A.D. 61-63 First Captivity in Rome (Paul)

No: Epistle Place of writing Time of writing

Remarks

11 Hebrews Italy A.D. 63/64

12 1 Timothy Macedonia A.D. 63/64

13 Titus Ephesus A.D. 63/64

14 2 Timothy Rome A.D. 67/68

15 James Jerusalem A.D. 60/61 Before the destruction of Jerusalem

16 1 Peter Babylon A.D. 63/67 Before the destruction of Jerusalem

17 2 Peter Babylon A.D. 67 Before the destruction of Jerusalem

18 Judas Jerusalem A.D. 68/70

19 1 John Ephesus A.D. 90/100

20 2 John Ephesus A.D. 90/100

21 3 John Ephesus A.D. 90/100

The Pauline Epistles• 1 Corinthians 15:10 “But by the

grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them – yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.”

The Pauline Epistles• Wrote his Epistles over 12 to 14

years (between 52-67 AD)• Books inspired by the Holy Spirit• Used the same greeting to begin

all his epistles – “Peace and grace”• Used the help of someone to write

his epistles because he had bad eyesight.

St Paul’s Epistle to the Romans

• It is the sixth book written by St Paul in the New Testament in 58 AD.• The epistle ended with the

phrase “Wrote to the people of Rome from Corinth by the hands of Phoebe, a servant of the church in Cenchrea.”

St Paul’s Epistle to the Romans

• Wrote the Epistle at the end of his third missionary trip (54-58 AD)

• The epistle was sent with Phoebe, a servant (deaconess) of the church in Cenchrea from Corinth. “Commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church in Cenchrea. I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been a great help to many people, including me.”

How the church of Rome was founded

• None of the apostles went to Rome and preached the word of God there

• The church was founded by a number of believers(people who listened to Peter’s sermon on the Pentecost, people from Antioch, Ephesus, Corinth, Asia, Macedonia and Achaia, who listened to St Paul preach, moved between the Empires and went to Rome).

How St Paul found out about the Church in

Rome• Though Aquila and Priscilla whom

he met in Corinth.• Roman 16:3-4 “Greet Priscilla and

Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus. They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful for them.”

Members of the Church of Rome

Formed by 2 groups:• Christians who were Jews• Christians who were of the Gentiles

The Jews always opposed the new faith while the Gentiles embraced it, hence there were more Christian Gentiles than Jews.

Epistle to the Romans

The Purpose of Writing this Epistle

• Preparing for his visit

• Presenting Christ

• Supporting believers

Subject and Contents

• Main subject – Justification by faith

• 2 partso First part – Theoretical or Doctrinal o Second part - Practical

Theoretical Part• Explanation of salvation

o Gentileso Jews

• Salvation – being justified by faith in Jesus

• Examples:o Abrahamo Adam

Theoretical Part• Justification through faith provides us peace with

God

• Justification:o Frees us from sino Frees us from the authority of the Lawo Gives us the Spirit of Sonship

Theoretical Part• God’s chosen people

o Fallen due to lack of faitho Have to become believers

• Salvation is for everyone (Jews and Gentiles)

Practical Part• Applying justification to daily life

• How?o “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy to offer your

bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.” Romans 12:1

• Teachings that benefit all Christians

Closure• Summary about himself and his work

• Promised to visit

• Asked for their prayers

• Warned them of those who cause divisions

The Problem of Choice

• God chose people according to his will and their works

• Examples:o Jacob and Esauo Pharaoh

• “is God unjust? Not at all!”

The Problem of Choice

• Motive:o To prove that God can accept the Gentiles

• God wants everyone to be saved

The Great City of Rome

• Built by Romulus in 753 B.C. (He became the first king)

• Capital of the Roman Empire

• 1.2 million people at the time when the epistle was written

Peter and Rome• Is Peter the founder of the Church of Rome?

o 4 Reasons

• 1) Peter - gospel of circumcision (Jews) Paul - gospel to the Gentiles

Peter and Rome• 2) “It has always been my ambition to preach the

gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.” Romans 15:20o Paul later visited Rome and preached thereo So Peter was not there between 61 and 63 A.D.

Peter and Rome• 3) Chapter 16 contained greetings to many early

Christians. Peter’s name was not on the list

• 4) Addressing believers o “To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints” Romans

1:7o “That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at

Rome” Romans 1:15

More Evidence• Before writing the Epistle:

o 51 A.D. - Peter was still in Judea and he later went to Antioch o Claudius Caesar decreed all the Jews to leave Rome (49 – 52 A.D.)o Peter escorted his wife during missionary trips till 57 A.D.

More Evidence• After Writing the Epistle:

o No sign that Peter was in Rome during 61-63 A.D. when Paul was there.

• Church tradition agrees that St. Peter was martyred in Rome 67 A.D.

• Peter did not go to Rome to preach or to found a church, as Paul was the founder

Questions??