Paul is writing to the Romans about 30 years after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He has been preaching the gospel and planting churches for about 20 years by now.
The Christians being addressed in Romans had never received any face to face teaching, from any of the apostles. Since Paul’s previous attempts to visit Rome had been unsuccessful, this letter provided an alternative way to for him to teach on some of the greatest principles of the gospel. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans is a bit different from the letters he writes to other New Testament churches because the emphasis is focused more on God, His redemptive plan for mankind, and instructions for godly-living. His other letters tend to focus more on addressing conflicts and challenges within the churches.
Chapter 1 tells us that although Paul had not visited Rome in his missionary travels he was eager to get there. That’s interesting because Paul is virtually unknown in this area of the world and the One he would proclaim, Jesus, was not exactly a crowd favorite. To get an idea of how what it would be like to be a Roman Christian reading this letter, and to figure why Paul is so excited about them, let’s take a look at Rome, circa 58 A.D.
Rome was the capital of the largest empire in the world. It’s population at this time is estimated to be around one million people. Much like a modern day metropolitan city, it had beautiful architecture, great wealth, and was a thriving economic force. On the flip-side, much like a modern day metropolitan city, it also had many slums where large numbers of people lived in extreme poverty. As the center of world commerce, many people would travel to Rome for business (or pleasure) from miles and miles away.
The Romans had a reputation for being an immoral and violent people. They enjoyed watching gladiators killing each other like barbarians and made sport out of watching slaves (and eventually Christians) being ripped apart by animals. You remember the movie Gladiator!
Christianity was not a state sanctioned religion at the time of Paul’s letter. It was more a fringe group, initially considered to be a bit wacky, yet harmless, by most Romans.
There is no Biblical evidence that points to a definitive origin of the church in Rome. Acts 2 mentions that several people from Rome were present at the Day of Pentecost. It seems that following their conversion by the work of the Holy Spirit, many of these Roman citizens carried the gospel back home with them. Over the course of time, it would have been natural for some Christians to migrate there for business and join the church that had been established.
Rome held power in the highest regard and the Romans were a proud and egocentric people. The idea of a Jewish savior, not to mention one who was crucified, was laughable to them. They considered anyone who embraced the message of Jesus Christ to be among the lowest class of people.
Christians in Rome eventually came to be referred to as ‘enemies of the human race’. They were often wrongfully accused of acts of incest and cannibalism. They were victims of grave persecution under Emperor Nero. Such persecution might involve being skewered, or drenched in oil and torched, or being thrown to the lions in the Roman sporting arenas.
Paul says in his letter that he doesn’t want the Christians in Rome to be unaware that he has planned to visit them many times. It is possible that by emphasizing this point, Paul is attempting to squash any rumors being circulated by unbelieving Romans that might suggest he (or any other apostolic missionary) was not bold enough to evangelize in Rome. Perhaps Paul is saying that in spite of all the cultured Greeks who would mock his preaching as foolishness, and the possibility of his own persecution, he eagerly and unashamedly desired to join the Christians in Rome to preach Christ and Him crucified.
So, what’s got Paul all excited??
Military power and economic success had all eyes fixed on Rome. Practically everything that happened in Rome would be magnified and the stories would be carried to other parts of the world. That meant that the testimonies of the Christians who lived there went viral (I guess that’s how we would say it in 2017)! Their strong faith in the Lord was becoming well known! Paul was thankful that faith in Jesus Christ was spreading throughout the Roman world and that it was producing good fruit in the believers in Rome. They represented a great light in a very dark and broken world.
In the midst a pagan and vile culture, these Christians had evidently been clinging tightly to the God of their salvation. They refused to conform to the patterns of the world around them and by the grace of God, they were standing firmly on the gospel.
I believe that as Christians living in 2017 there are some things we can learn from these Roman believers. As we live in a society that seems more broken and godless than ever, I pray that like the church in Rome, we would be found clinging tightly to the God of our salvation and standing firmly on His gospel so that believers all over the world might hear of our faithfulness and be encouraged.
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