Introduction and Background for Romans 5

THE BACKGROUND FOR THE BOOK OF ROMANS

Paul wrote the book of Romans around A.D. 54-58 to the believers, both Jews and Gentiles, in the city of Rome. The church in Rome was not started by any of the apostles. Instead, there were both Jews and proselytes in Jerusalem, who were from Rome, that heard Peter preaching, and accepted Christ as their Messiah. When they returned home, they shared with their fellow Jews and neighbors the good news they had learned in Jerusalem, and the church grew there in Rome. Because an apostle did not start the church, it had no apostolic foundation. This is part of the reason that Paul wrote to the believers there in Rome. In Romans 15:15, Paul says he wrote to remind them. Because Rome was the center of the world, the church in Rome needed to be established apostolically and confirm what they already knew was right.

SUMMARY OF ROMANS 1-4

Paul begins the book of Romans by laying the foundation needed to share the Gospel. He begins in a place where everyone can relate. Paul shows that God has revealed His attributes through His creation. One of those attributes which is most noticeable is God’s wrath. Every person knows that there is a God, but they ignore this and try to convince themselves that either there is not a God, or that they can ignore Him and they will be fine. The problem is that they rebel against God, and because God is just, He has to punish their sinful rebellion against Him. Paul continues to show that no one is exempt from God’s righteous judgment. It does not matter if they are a Jew or a Gentile. God will judge based on what they have done. In Romans three, Paul continues to show that it does not matter if someone is a Jew or Gentile; they have sinned, and no one tries to follow God on their own. This is why Jesus came. Man does not try to follow God; even if he did, he would not be able to get to God on his own. Jesus was the sacrifice so that man’s sins could be forgiven. It is based on what Jesus did, not on anything man could do. Man has to have faith in the atoning work of Christ for the forgiveness of his sin. This was the intended purpose so that man would praise and boast only in God and not because of what they did. Then, in Romans 4, Paul uses Abraham as the example that shows that even those in the Old Testament were saved by faith and not works. Then, Paul begins Romans 5 by addressing the believers there in Rome about the assurance of their salvation and how this brings hope.

In next week’s blog post, we will dive into Romans 5:1 to learn about our justification in Christ and what that looks like.