October 18 - November 15
Theme: Righteous
Overview:
This study of Paul’s letter to the Romans explores the righteousness of God. Students will see that God’s wrath and judgment are always right, that Jews and Gentiles alike are made right with God by faith—just as Abraham was—that God preserves a faithful remnant by his grace, and that righteousness shows up in how believers treat one another.
Author
The letter to the Romans was written by the apostle Paul (Romans 1:1), with his coworker Tertius writing down the words (Romans 16:22). Paul, once known as Saul of Tarsus, was a Jew from the tribe of Benjamin and a zealous Pharisee who persecuted the church before meeting the risen Christ on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-19; Romans 11:1; Philippians 3:5 6). God called him to be an apostle to the Gentiles (Romans 11:13), and Paul planted churches across the Roman world on three missionary journeys.
Audience
Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome, a church he had not founded and had not yet visited (Romans 1:10-13; 15:22-23). The congregation was a mix of Jewish and Gentile believers. Jews had been expelled from Rome for a time under Emperor Claudius (Acts 18:2), and when they returned, tensions between Jewish and Gentile Christians seem to have surfaced—an issue Paul addressed throughout the letter.
Date
Most scholars date Romans around AD 57, near the end of Paul’s third missionary journey, while he was staying in Corinth before taking an offering to the poor believers in Jerusalem (Acts 20:2-3; Romans 15:25-26; 16:1, 23).
Setting
Rome was the capital and largest city of the empire. Paul hoped to visit the believers there, be encouraged by them, and receive their help for a mission to Spain (Romans 1:11-12; 15:24, 28).
Theme
The theme of Romans is found in 1:16-17: the gospel is “the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes,” because in it “the righteousness of God is revealed.” Paul showed that Jews and Gentiles both stand guilty before a righteous God, and that both are made right with him the same way—by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
Why Study Romans?
Romans may be the clearest explanation of the gospel in all of Scripture. This study shows that God is righteous in his wrath and in his judgment, that Abraham’s faith is the pattern for our own, that God preserves a faithful remnant by grace, and that right standing with God shows up in right relationships with one another.
