Most New Testament scholars agree that this letter is certainly the greatest of the apostle's writings. "It is the most remarkable production of the most remarkable man," says church historian Philip Schaff. "It is his heart. It contains his theology, theoretical and practical, for which he lived and died."
William Tyndale, the great English reformer, called it "the principal and most excellent part of the New Testament." In his prologue to the 1534 edition of his English translation of the New Testament, he went on to say, albeit written in old English, "No man can verily read it too oft or study it too well; for the more it is studied the easier it is, the more it is chewed the pleasanter it is, the more groundly [sic] it is searched the preciouser [sic] things are found in it, so great treasures of spiritual things lieth hid therein."
It was also from this epistle that the Protestant Reformer Martin Luther found the answer for his long quest for truth, for which reason he called it "the very purest gospel." This book, he said, "is worthy not only that every Christian should know it word for word, by heart, but occupy himself with it every day, as the daily bread of the soul. It can never be read or pondered too much, and the more it is dealt with the more precious it becomes, and the better it tastes."
A Unique Book
In the four Gospels (i.e., Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) the student of the Bible finds four separate accounts of the life, teachings and works of Jesus Christ. In the book of Acts he or she encounters a historical account of the birth of the Christian church, the works of Christ's apostles and the spread of the Christian gospel "from Jerusalem, to all Judea, Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth" (Acts 1:8) until it reached the city of Rome. In the epistolary books of the New Testament, one of which is Paul's letter to the Romans, the Bible student is exposed to letters specifically written to address specific issues and problems confronting specific local churches and individuals during the apostolic era of Christian history.
Among all the books of the New Testament, if not of the whole Bible itself, Paul's letter to the Christians in Rome is unique in the sense that it provides a systematic presentation of the gospel of Christ and the Christian doctrine of salvation. As Schaff puts it in his own summary statement for this book, "It gives the clearest and fullest exposition of the doctrines of sin and grace,and the best possible solution to the universal dominion of sin and death in the universal redemption by the second Adam."
This being the case, it has been considered by not a few scholars the most theological of all the books of the New Testament, not in the sense that all the other books are less theological but simply because of its form as a theological treatise and its more systematic approach to Christian doctrine.
A Short Summary of the Book
The epistle begins with a careful treatment of the doctrine of sin and humanity's consequent alienation from God (1:1 to 3:20). It then proceeds to a discussion of Christ's redemptive work on man's behalf, because of which justification before God, which is appropriated by faith alone, has become possible (3:21 to 5:21), which necessarily results into a sanctified life as one lives in the power of the Holy Spirit (6:1-8:39).
The student of the Bible also finds in this epistle a summary presentation of Old Testament history by a New Testament author. Here, Paul discusses Israel's role in the history of redemption (as unfolded in the pages of Old Testament Scripture), the opening of the doors of salvation to the Gentiles (i.e., the non-Jewish peoples of the world), and ultimately the restoration and salvation of the Jews (9:1 to 11:36). According to Bible teacher and evangelical pastor Bob Deffinbaugh, here is "the unfolding of God's salvation in human history ... a manifestation of God's infinite wisdom."
The epistle concludes with exhortations geared towards the practical application in life of the Christian doctrine of salvation discussed in the preceding chapters. As customary of all of Paul's epistles, his letter to the Romans points to the fact that the Christian doctrine is meant to be lived out by the people of God (12:1 to 16:27).
As Luther summed up his Preface to the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans, "We find in this letter, then, the richest possible teaching about what a Christian should know: the meaning of law, Gospel, sin, punishment, grace, faith, justice, Christ, God, good works, love, hope and the cross. We learn how we are to act toward everyone, toward the virtuous and sinful, toward the strong and the weak, friend and foe, and toward ourselves."
References:
- Bruce, F. F. "The Letter to the Romans" in Tyndale New Testament Commentary Series - Revised Edition. Leicester, England: InterVarsity Press, and Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1985.
- Carson, D. A., Carson, Douglas J. Moo and Leon Morris (eds.). An Introduction to the New Testament. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House,1992.
- Constable, Thomas L. Notes to the Romans 2009 Edition. Sonic Light, 1999-2009.
- Luther, Martin. “Preface to the Epistle to the Romans” (1522) in Works of Martin Luther (1932) Vol. VI. Available online with a modified title "Preface to the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans," Christian Classics Ethereal Library.
- Moo, Douglas. "The Epistle to the Romans" in New International Commentary on the New Testament Series. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1996.
- Schaff, Philip. History of the Christian Church - Volume I. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997.
Edwin Vargas - Edwin joined the faculty of Conservative Baptist Seminary – Asia as lecturer in Systematic Theology and New Testament Survey after ...
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