... in the name of the Father, and of
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. Through the prayers of our holy Fathers, Lord
Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen. Glory
to You, our God, Glory to You.
O Heavenly King,
the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, You are everywhere and fill all things, Treasury
of blessings, and Giver of life: come and abide in us, and cleanse us from every
impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal,
have mercy on us (three times).
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it is now, was in the beginning, and ever
shall be, world without end. Amen.
The
Epistle
Romans 1:1-7
1Paul, a slave of Jesus Christ, a called
Apostle, having been severed into God’s good message, 2which He
foretold through His prophets in sanctified writings,[1] 3about His Son,
having come from the seed of David according to the flesh, 4being declared the Son of God in [the] power of
sanctification according to [the] Spirit, from[2] [the] resurrection
of [the] dead,[3] Jesus Christ our Lord.
5Through Whom we received joy[4] and apostleship for [the]
heeding[5] of conviction[6] in all the nations, on
behalf of[7] His name, 6in
Whom you all are also called by Jesus Christ,
7To all being in Rome, beloved by God, called
saints,
Joy to you all, and
peace from God our Father and [our] Lord
Jesus Christ.
Paul
Paul is a condemned murderer. He is in no position to condemn anybody
else. He was arrested, arraigned, tried
and convicted in the court of last resort; being condemned to death, so to
speak, when he was left helpless and blind on the Damascus road. Then, in a manner of speaking, he was raised
from the dead to newness of life, when scales fell from his eyes and he could
see again (Acts 9:1-31). Now the hunter
became the hunted, and Paul would live out his life in frequent danger (2
Corinthians 11:23-30) and under threat of death (Acts 23:12-13).
Paul is a rescuer. As one who has returned from the dead, in a
figure of speech; his burning concern is no longer condemnation, but
conversion, repentance, and commitment to Christ. He wants others who once faced the threat of
death that he once faced, to be rescued from harm as he was once rescued from
harm.
Paul is an ex-murder. The Scripture does not harp on his sin; but
rather, puts it in the past, and it is forgotten. Paul no longer practices murder: by God’s
grace in Christ, and the power of the Holy Ghost, Paul no longer murders
people. Evidently, he never commits this
sin again, not even once. Paul is out of
that practice forever.
Paul is a tentmaker. We must not suppose that Paul went to the
local fabric shop, bought fabric, and stitched it together on his faithful,
industrial grade, foot-treadle Singer.
Nor should we suppose that his product was a four-man Army tent. People lived in these tents: for many, these
would be the only houses they would ever know.
Paul would most likely do his own weaving of the heavy cloth. He would also have shaped the framework of
the tent using his carpentry skills. His
tents may have had interior paneling of the sort described in the Old
Testament. Although, we are not exactly
sure what went into a first century tent, we may be absolutely positive that
there was considerably more involved than with the modern item. When we approach the book of Romans we should
consider the possibility that Romans is a woven tapestry, as much as it is a
written document. Romans is a woven tapestry
that hangs on a strong framework the way woven tent cloth is supported by its
tent frame (Acts 18:1-3).
Paul is a traveler. He is concerned about having “a good road”,
which is another figure, indicating that he wishes to have God’s blessing and God’s
will directing his journey. God has made
His road and set each of us on it. At
one end of the road He beckons us as a loving Father, desiring us to come
home. At the other end of the road lies
the only possible consequence of life without God, the Lake of Fire, which is
designed for wicked angels. We are all
on that road and were once going in the wrong direction. As with Paul something turned us around. Yes we deserved death. Now, understanding our danger, we have two
desires. One of our desires is to return
to God as quickly as possible, when we find that He is running to meet us with
outstretched arms. Our other desire is
to warn others of the dangers that now lie behind us. Now, in the confidence of our loving Father;
He puts us to work, so that we are busy erecting danger and warning signs,
detours and barricades, rescue stations and hospitals along the road. Now with every hope in our heart we seek to
get weary, lonely, and lost travelers turned around, strengthened, and headed
in the right direction. Yet as soon as
they cry out for help, our loving Father is there to meet them. This road is not about condemnation, it is
about redemption. Paul knows this better
than any man who has ever lived: he is the chief of sinners. Yet, Paul also knows what lies at the other
end of the road, he understands the urgency of that redemption (1 Timothy
1:12-17).
Paul is a slave of Jesus Christ.
He loves his heavenly Father. He
knows there is no higher office than to be a messenger of God’s Word, which is
exactly what a slave of Jesus Christ is, a Word bearer.
Paul is a called Apostle, his former life and all that he held dear are
now far behind, as he takes up the pleasant duties of a Royal Ambassador. Now, in running for his life, he spreads life
to others.
Paul is severed into God’s good message. He is not simply cut off from his old life
and his practice of murder. He is cut
into a new life, grafted, so to speak, into the good message itself. The sanctified writings are not merely
something Paul has read, or will now write about. The sanctified writings are cut into his
heart as a covenant is cut into stone.
Yes, he is a messenger of the good message; a living messenger made into
the living message (Galatians 6:17; 2 Corinthians 3:2-3).
Paul is a bringer of joy. This
word, which we usually translate grace, has its roots in joy. It is the expression of overwhelming joy when
we discover that our loving Father has accepted us home again, put the family
ring of honor on our finger, killed the fatted calf, and proclaimed a Royal
Feast. Indeed, there is joy in heaven
over one sinner who repents. This is the
joy when one has been healed of a dreaded and deadly disease. Grace means the gift of unquenchable joy.
Paul has experienced the heeding of conviction. He has put God to the test and discovered
that God is true, while he himself is a liar, living in the denial of the
truth. But now God has proved Himself to
be true; now, Paul is paying attention, so as his newfound convictions and
commitments about the Truth develop in his heart, he erupts spontaneously into
action. This is the heeding of
conviction, the so called hearing or obedience of faith. It is more than either hearing or
obedience. It is the spontaneous
eruption of a heart that cannot do otherwise, when faced with the Truth.
Conclusion
Neither Paul, nor Romans 1 is about condemnation. Both are about the development of convictions
in the heart in the face of Truth. As
these convictions erupt, Paul in Romans is concerned about the conversion of
sinners, who will put away their former practice to become ex-sinners. The Greco-Roman Christians share this
experience with Paul, but many of their neighbors still live in grave
danger. Paul with all his Greco-Roman
Christian brothers and sisters share this concern for these neighbors, that all
might return to God. This is the shared
calling of The Church.
[1] We
understand this to mean the Old Testament Scripture, but such wisdom may have
escaped the average Greco-Roman listener.
Paul is making a friendly point, not sharpening an axe.
[2]
Out of, not far away from
[3]
The power of resurrection declared by the Holy Ghost on the day or Pentecost in
33 AD. Jesus is resurrected (singular)
from among the dead (plural). However,
in conquering death by death, He is bringing about the eventual resurrection of
all; some of whom follow Him and walk about Jerusalem in the flesh in 33 AD.
[4]
This word is frequently translated, grace.
This completely removes the idea that the root word is about joy. Grace is something that flows from and
through joy in the Holy Ghost.
[5]
Obedience is too strong a translation; hearing is too weak a translation.
[6] The
obedience of faith conveys only part of the meaning. Faith and pathos (experience: joy and
suffering, ending in death) have the same root idea. Modern society seeks a faith without pathos,
and that is impossible to achieve. Real
faith carries with it the costs of commitment and conviction, as well as the
price of Christ’s death on the cross.
There is no such thing as easy belief or cheap grace. The grace of joy comes through a veil of
tears. To follow Christ in faith is only
to follow Him in His passion.
[7]
Above, supported by
[8] If
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