Paul's theological masterpiece written to a church he's never visited.

Romans lays out the architecture of salvation.

Righteousness by faith for Jew and Gentile alike, creating one family in Christ.

Hello, this is Seek Go Create.

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books in order in context.

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Alright, today, stop Romans, Paul's longest letter and.

We all primarily consider this to be his deepest theology.

Quick note before we get into it in the episode on First Corinthians, just

a few episodes ago, I said that First Corinthians was Paul's longest letter.

That's not quite right, so let's kind of correct that here.

Romans actually holds the title.

For Paul's longest letter, it was an easy mistake.

First Corinthians, I think this is actually what I said, is Paul's

longest letter to a church he actually planted and visited.

Romans is longer, but it's written to a church he had never met.

He had never been there.

He was planning to go, but he had never been there at the time he wrote this.

So sort of splitting hairs there.

But our New Testament that we read primarily arranges

Paul's letters by length.

That's why Romans comes first in your Bible that you most

likely have on your shelf.

Even though Paul wrote it after Galatians Thessalonians and both

letters to Corinth, ordering it by length is fine for organizing a

collection and possibly printing books.

But that's why we're doing what we're doing here.

We're reading them in the order they were written to.

Experience them the way early believers receive them.

And let's think about it.

We believe that Romans was written at about 56 57 ad, which is about six or

seven years, maybe almost eight years.

After the book of Galatians, and I think it's helpful to read with

that time gap in mind, which is exactly what we've done here.

The author of this book, we definitely believe and know that it is Paul.

The cool thing with a lot of Paul's.

Letters is that not only do we pretty definitively know that he was the

author, but we also know the timeframe.

The dates on this is between 80 56 to 57.

Probably during the winter.

We're more confident about these dates because we can cross reference much of.

Paul wrote to the Book of Acts and also some historical events, so some

of the dates that we put on some of the gospels and also some of the other

things written in the New Testament.

They do have question marks beside them.

Most of Paul's, many of Paul's.

Do not.

We feel pretty confident of those.

The audience, it's believers in Rome.

It's a mixed group of Jewish and Gentile believers that Paul has never met.

The setting is about 27 years post resurrection.

Paul is writing from Corinth and Phoebe will carry the letter.

To Rome.

Let's, let's mention something about Phoebe here.

I've always been fascinated by some of what some people might say

are minor characters in the Bible.

Phoebe would qualify as one of those.

She is more than a courier.

Just the fact that she's the courier.

Of what we now consider one of the most popular and most, I guess

most famous books in the Bible.

Romans, she's the courier.

She carried this letter, but Paul also calls her a deacon in Romans 16, one.

She likely.

Read this letter aloud to the gathered believers as she delivered it.

She's a woman caring and delivering Paul's most important theology, 2000 years ago.

So anyway, no hidden message in there.

I'm just sharing with the scripture, discusses and talks about a little

bit of background that I think we need before we get into Romans.

Let's talk about the expulsion that occurred in AD 49, 8 years before

this letter, and also this was around the same time that Paul wrote his

first letter, Galatians, that we've already should have already read.

If you're doing this in order.

Eight years before this letter, emperor Claudius expelled all Jews from Rome.

The Roman historian Satton says it was because of disturbances.

At the instigation of Cresta.

Almost certainly we believe disputes about Christ.

In the synagogues.

Can you believe it?

People were arguing about faith.

How about that?

Back in AD 49 in Rome, that is when a couple, Priscilla and

Aquila packed up and headed east.

They landed in Corinth, which is where they met Paul, and they

worked alongside him as tent makers.

They became key leaders in the early church.

Now, fast forward a few years to AD 54, still about three years before

Romans was written, but there was something that we call the return.

Claudius died.

The edict died with him.

Nero became the emperor.

We've talked some about Nero already, and we'll hear more about him later,

but then Jews could return to Rome now.

That's historical.

We know that.

But I'm gonna speculate on something here that I've read a little bit about,

and I wanna make sure you're clear.

This is Tim's thoughts and ideas.

Take it for whatever it's worth.

I believe that Paul, as soon as Claudius died, that he sent leaders

back into Rome strategically as soon as that door opened up.

He knew how significant that city was, the capital of the world, the

hub of trade, travel, and influence.

If the gospel was going to spread, Rome mattered.

Priscilla and Aquila were among those who returned.

By the time Paul writes this letter, they're hosting a church in their house.

We know that from Romans 16, three, and five.

So with that in mind, let's now look at the setting in Rome.

At the time of the writing of Romans, Nero is now on the throne.

Jews have been returning for the last few years after Claudius.

Expulsion that we just talked about, but there's tension between

Jewish and Gentile believers.

The gentile believers were not expelled, so they most likely continued to meet

without those of Jewish background.

Meanwhile.

South in Jerusalem.

The temple structure and system was still intact.

This was still in AD 57, 13 years before the event.

We now know that occurred, which is the destruction of the temple in AD 70.

The church, Roman believers are fractured and the tension is real.

When those Jewish believers returned after the expulsion, gentile believers,

like we said earlier, they'd been leading the church for five years without them.

Now there's friction.

Who's in charge?

Who's customs matter?

Who's the real church?

Romans 14 and 15 addresses this head on the strong.

The weak learning to accept one another.

It's interesting, we're reading this in context and we are putting

ourselves in the first century,

But like I've said, time and time again, we're learning about the

context so that we could then apply it.

That is something that definitely applies in our churches and

our world we're in today.

Paul has never visited.

He's writing to introduce himself and explain the gospel and heal divisions.

Why now?

Paul plans to visit Rome on his way to Spain.

Rome isn't his final destination.

It's a stop on the way West Spain represents the edge of the known world.

If Paul gets there, the gospel will have reached.

All nations fulfilling Jesus' words.

This letter prepares Rome for his arrival and lays out his

fullest theology before he goes.

Just a quick thought on something here, and again, I want to interject.

This is.

My thinking, not historical, nothing that I've really seen written in places.

So again, take this for what it is worth.

Consider this In the first century, believers faced

pressure from two kingdoms.

We've talked about this, the Roman Empire and the Jewish temple system.

They were being squeezed In between those two.

Romans is Paul's most comprehensive theology.

I mean, it seems as if he really wanted to pack.

Everything that he had into this letter, he sent it to the capital of the empire.

He knew that that was a place of significance and that it

would circulate in that hub of the known world at that time.

I'm a writer myself.

Many of you have written things.

I just picture Paul spending a little more time crafting this letter to make

it complete, to address issues, to make it where if someone only got a hold of

this letter, it would cover the theology.

Of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And so again, that's my speculation.

I do wanna mention that there's another book that we'll get to later,

Hebrews, that I believe does the same thing for the Jewish world.

So Romans is directed towards, obviously Rome and that empire.

And then Hebrews is directed to the Jewish world, a full theology of Christ addressed

to those tempted to return to the temple.

Together, these two letters speak the gospel to the two powers

pressing on the early church.

Well look at Hebrews later, but I just wanted to mention that here.

I think the significance, every letter's significant, but that.

Puts an extra level of significance, I believe, on Romans and Hebrews.

So here's what you're gonna encounter here.

Romans is systematic and profound.

Paul builds his case layer by layer.

Here's what you'll hear about in Romans, the human problem.

Gentiles are guilty.

They suppress the truth.

They worshiped idols.

Jews are guilty.

They have the law, but they don't keep it.

None is righteous.

No, not one talks about righteousness by faith, apart from the law,

through faith in Jesus for all.

Who believe he mentions Abraham.

He believed before circumcision, so before the law.

He is the father of all who believe.

Paul talks about life in the spirit.

No condemnation.

The spirit helps our weakness.

Nothing.

Nothing can separate us from God's.

Love.

Nothing can separate us from God's love.

Powerful message, powerful message in Romans.

Paul addresses Israel and the Gentiles.

Has God rejected Israel?

No, but salvation has always been by faith.

One olive tree Gentiles grafted in not.

Replacing, keep that in mind.

One olive tree, not two olive trees, not Israel and the

Gentiles, but one olive tree.

Paul addresses living sacrifice.

Present your bodies.

Be transformed.

Love one another.

Let chapters one through three convict before chapters four through eight.

Comfort, why it matters, why Romans is so significant.

It answers the question.

Every Christ follower eventually asks, how can a Holy God accept me?

Paul's answer isn't try harder, it's trust the one who already did it.

Righteousness.

Is a gift, not an achievement.

And that gift creates a new family, Jew and gentile slave,

and free grafted into one tree.

If you've ever felt like you don't belong, Romans says you do.

Now here's our reading assignment over the next four sessions.

A couple of long readings here, but chapters one through four, five through

eight, nine through 12, 13 through 16.

Over the next four sessions, you are going to read Romans, take the time,

spend time, and really enjoy this book.

This again is what we would consider to be Paul's.

Big, big theological masterpiece, so enjoy it.

What's next after this?

Next we go to Ephesians, cosmic Christ New Humanity, and a spirit empowered walk.

Don't forget, make sure you're downloading and checking out the information at

our hub, K two m.foundation/in team 90.

Now, before you read Romans picture this.

It's winter AD 57.

You are in Rome inside the home of Priscilla and Aquila.

They fled the city eight years ago when Claudius expelled the Jews.

Now they're back hosting a church in their house.

The room is crowded.

Jewish believers who returned after the expulsion sit near Gentile converts who

kept the faith going while they were gone.

There's tension.

You can feel who's in charge now, whose Customs matter.

A woman named Phoebe has just arrived.

She traveled from raa, the eastern port of Corinth, carrying a scroll from

Paul, a man none of us have ever met.

The room falls quiet.

Phoebe unrolls the scroll and begins to read.

Paul starts with a diagnosis.

Everyone is guilty.

Now, let's read.