ROMANS: GREETINGS

 GREETINGS

Passage: Rom. 1:1-7

Structure:

A. 1:1, Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus called to be an apostle

  B. 1:2-4, Son of God… Jesus Christ

A’. 1:5-6, Through whom we received grace and apostleship

  B’, 1:7, grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

Important terms:

Paul – we know that his “birthname” was Saul (Acts 7:58), like the first king of Israel. Yet, at some point, he adopted the name/title Paul (Acts 13:1 to 13:13). Paul means “a little one.”    

Servant – the better translation is “slave.” Lit. “owned body and soul.” The term is used often for the dedicated personalities serving God (Moses – Josh. 1:2; Samuel – 1 Sam. 3:9-10; David – 2 Sam. 3:18; 7:5,8).    

Called – two important things to note: (1) Paul is called, not “became.” It is Jesus Christ who calls to the ministry or in apostleship. (2) The word “called” is related to the word “church” – those who are called out.    

Name is proclaimed among the nation for salvation (cp. 4:12). Jesus is the name that God presents Himself to the world (John 17: 6,11-12).

Grace is a gift (3:24), used in Romans 24 times.  

Peace – a part of a regular Jewish greeting – Peace be with you, Shalom aleichem. Paul successfully combines the grace from God that results in peace among the people.  

Commentary:

Gospel was promised beforehand by His prophets in the Holy Scriptures. This means that the OT is a great witness for the Gospel. It is an important skill to able explain life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.   

Gospel was declared to be [the person of] the Son of God. Therefore, according to Paul the Gospel is not a set of propositions or theological statements, but the person of Jesus Christ. The main prove of the Gospel is His resurrection from the dead – victory over death that Adam brought into the world (5:12-14).    

In his discussion of the Son of God Paul sets juxtaposition of son of David and all nations. David was a king of Israel. Yet, it is through him God made a covenant promising that the God’s anointed will sit on the throne forever (2 Sam. 7). This Messianic King will be a blessing to all of the nations for the promise goes back to Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3).

Book of Concord:

1:3 – FC, SD VIII:37, in discussion of distinctive features of the person and the nature of Christ.

1:4 – FC, SD VIII:85, quoting Luther’s Treatise on the Last Words of David (LW 15:293-294), authors of the Formula of Concord reiterate the importance of identification of the human nature of Christ (not losing from sight His divine nature from the eternity).