Romans

We thrive in the unity of the Holy Spirit. One Body. One Church. Together we rise or we fall. Bound together in the love of Christ we conquer a multitude of sin. Grace by faith alone pleases God.

All of Paul’s other letters arise from a particular occasion and have a definite purpose. Romans is different; from the content it seems to have a much more general didactic aim. Having said this, it is possible to see at least three purposes Paul had in writing the book.

His first purpose was to prepare the Romans for his planned journey to Rome and later to Spain. His immediate itinerary involved a trip to Jerusalem, but his vision was toward the west. He clearly suggests that he expects assistance from them in his endeavor to carry the gospel to Spain. But if that had been his only purpose, a brief note would have been enough. Obviously Paul had more in mind.

A second purpose involved Paul’s understanding that the believers needed to “be established”. Paul wanted to give them a well-instructed faith. His letter is a kind of syllabus of Paul’s apostolic teaching. Romans is a masterful presentation of God’s plan of salvation for Jews and Gentiles.

The third purpose for the letter was pastoral. Paul wanted to exhort Jewish and Gentile believers to live in harmony. As in most of the early churches, the gospel brought different groups of people together who otherwise would have stayed apart, whether for reasons of nationality, status, or culture. Once they came together under one roof, the challenge was to preserve their oneness in Christ. Thus throughout the letter, Paul deals with problems arising from Jewish and Gentile differences.

He emphasizes what everyone shared. Since there is only one God, He is the God of both Jew and Gentile. Both groups are under sin, and both are saved through faith. Paul deals with the practical aspects of being together in one body. Paul hammers home his central theme: The righteous God justifies and ultimately glorifies both Jew and Gentile by grace through faith. NKJ Bible.

Romans 7:6 (NKJV)

⁶ But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.

Romans 8:28 (NKJV)

²⁸ And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

1 Corinthians 9:22 (NKJV)

²² to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.