The Book of Romans, or more accurately, The Epistle to the Romans, was penned by Paul in or around the year 57 A.D. An epistle is a letter directed to a certain person or group of people. In this case, the church in Rome. Because Romans is written as a letter, the best way to understand the flows and transitions of the text would be to read it in a single sitting.
Don’t worry! I’m not asking you to do that!
It is believed that Paul wrote this letter during his stay in Corinth (see map (if you want to)). Though Paul was probably on his third missionary journey by now, we learn in Chapter 1 that his travels had not yet brought him to Rome. But he was eager to visit the church that had long been established there!
Throughout Romans, we will see Paul outline the foundations of the gospel. The Greek word for the gospel is εὐαγγέλιον. (That’s not a computer error, that’s how it looks in Greek.) The transliteration is euaggelion, which means good news or glad tidings. In the first few chapters, Paul focuses on the basics of the gospel which are essentially, God’s holiness, man’s sin, and the saving grace offered by Jesus Christ. In Chapter 1, Paul emphasizes that righteousness is given by God and received through faith in Jesus Christ. Since he had not been able to communicate with the church face to face, Paul wanted to be sure that there was no room for misinterpretations or confusion caused by false teachers.
As we head into this study, we can set Romans 1:16-17 as a summary of Paul’s message to the church.
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “’The righteous will live by faith.’”
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