Daily Thoughts from Romans: The Gospel Promised Beforehand (1:1-7)

Daily Thoughts from Romans: The Gospel Promised Beforehand

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)

Paul is writing a church he did not start but which he sees as important to the spread of the gospel beyond Rome to Spain (15:22-24).  He knows people in this church (ch.16) but needs to introduce himself to all the believers and needs to explain his gospel.  They need to see his credibility if they are to support him going to Spain.  Paul also knows that false views of the gospel will spread to this city.  And so he begins right here in his opening address to explain what the gospel is.  “Gospel” means good news.

It is the gospel of Jesus Christ.  He is a servant of Jesus, as are all believers, but also an apostle, a special representative of Christ responsible for maintaining the truth of the gospel and carrying it wherever he can.  Jesus’ words to Paul in Damascus were that he would be a witness to him for everyone and that included Gentiles, something it was hard for this trained Jewish rabbi to comprehend.  But he became the apostle to the Gentiles.

It is the gospel that was foretold.  The gospel he preaches was promised in the Old Testament scriptures, that Messiah, God’s Son, would come as the offspring of David the king and be exalted and declared to be Son of God by the Spirit through the resurrection.  He is alive and reigning and as such is the source of the grace of apostleship Paul received to bring to faith those from every nation.

It is the gospel ably defended.  This church has heard of Paul and his teaching but they are receiving in this letter his mature presentation of that gospel, argued with precision after many encounters with opposing viewpoints, especially Jewish opposition.  This is his magnum opus, or greatest work.

It is the only gospel we need.  The gospel is not the beginning of our relationship to Christ.  It is everything about our relationship to Christ.  We do not begin with the gospel and move on to deeper truths.  This is the deepest truth.  And Paul will expound this truth in its deepest aspects in this letter.  If you ever think you have grown beyond the gospel you have left apostolic Christianity.