Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and 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, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, To 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.
Romans 1:1-7 ESV
If you’ve ever written a letter to someone you don’t know, an introduction is usually in order. It often starts with one’s name, and then goes on to share personal, pertinent information. Paul does just this, but his personal, pertinent information contains none of his accomplishments, business affiliations, or worldly fluff we often share to give ourselves some credibility. He turns the attention straight to his Master Jesus Christ, and this is a pattern Paul often repeats in his letters. He provides the audience of his letter with enough information to know who is authoring the letter but sends the spotlight straight to Jesus. This practice is consistent with Paul’s philosophy to “know nothing but Christ and Him crucified (1 Cor. 2:2, see also Gal. 6:14). This lets us know right out of the gate that Paul believes his message is not about him, but about Christ. Paul tries to get out of the way so that the message, not the messenger, is doing all the speaking. May we learn this valuable lesson from Paul!
He continues by sharing a very concise but complete gospel message. Here are the important points of the gospel he hits:
- The gospel (good news) is about God and from God (v. 2)
- This gospel is not new; it was foretold and promised beforehand through the prophets and recorded in the Holy Scriptures (v. 2)
- It concerns His Son Jesus Christ, who is our Lord (v.3)
- Jesus was born of the seed of David in the flesh; meaning He meets all the ancestral qualifications of the promised Messiah who was descended from Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the tribe of Judah, King David, etc. (v.3)
- Jesus is declared to be the Son of God who has power by the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit of God testifies to Jesus’s personhood (v.4)
- Jesus is alive; He has resurrected from the dead (v.4)
He also tells these believers who they are and what they are to do with what they have just learned:
- It is through Jesus Christ that believers walk out His purpose for our lives; namely, to receive grace, to be obedient to the faith by sharing the gospel message we have received about Jesus for Jesus (v.5)
- These believers are loved by God and called by Him to be saints (v.6)
So much information already! Don’t let it be lost on you. This is still just Paul’s introduction. If we’re already getting this kind of good stuff in verses 1-7, what awaits us in the body of this letter?