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Paul’s letter to the Romans is one of the greatest books ever written. A lot of books have been written about theology, which is the study of God and what God wants and what He does and how He works. This may be the greatest theology work ever written.

It was written by one of the greatest men who ever lived. It was written by Paul, who was an apostle, a prophet and a great rabbi.

Unlike some of Paul’s other writings, this letter systematically lays out his major teachings. It is his magnum opus, his greatest work.

It is divinely inspired. Every idea, every word is inspired by God and is true and accurate and should be believed.

It was written to Messiah’s Community in the capital city of the greatest empire the world had known – Rome.

It was written about 57-58 AD, in the early stages of the growth of Messiah’s Community.

Paul, a servant of Messiah Yeshua, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God – the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Messiah Yeshua our Lord. Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake. And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Messiah Yeshua.

Paul starts his letter to Messiah’s Community in Rome with his credentials. Someone with his credentials must be believed. He was a servant of Messiah Yeshua: Paul was a servant. He knew how to serve. And he knew who to serve. He is the greatest Person of all. He served the One most worth serving.

He was a servant of Messiah Yeshua – God’s anointed Prophet, Priest, King and Savior.

Yeshua is the greatest prophet, who heard from God the most clearly and spoke with the greatest wisdom and the highest authority. He should be listened to and obeyed.

Yeshua is the greatest priest, who is uniquely able to bring God and His blessings closer to people, and bring people closer to God and His blessings. He should be your priest.

Yeshua is the greatest king, who will rule over Israel and the nations with peace and justice – forever. He should be your King, now, and you should be His obedient subject – now.

Yeshua is the greatest savior, who is able to save human beings from the real and deadly forces of Satan and the demons; sin and the sin nature; death and Hell. He should be your savior.

Who in their right mind would not want to serve the greatest prophet, the greatest priest, the greatest king and the greatest savior? Paul was in his right mind. He was a servant of Messiah Yeshua.

Paul was a humble servant; an attentive servant; a faithful servant; an intelligent servant; a courageous servant; a hard-working servant. He worked harder than most of the Lord’s other servants. Paul was a suffering servant. He suffered more for the Lord he served than most other servants of the Lord ever have.

A servant is a low position. Paul was also in a very high position. He was called to be an apostle: An apostle is an emissary; someone sent to represent someone else. Paul was sent by Messiah Yeshua to represent the Son of God Himself.

Paul was not a self-appointed apostle, but was called to be an apostle. The Lord gave Paul his position as an apostle. A God-ordained, called-by-God apostle has the highest spiritual authority.

Paul was a servant, which is a low position, but also an apostle, which is a very high position. He was a servant and a leader.

As an apostle, Paul was privileged to know Yeshua and be close to Yeshua and able to understand Yeshua and His teachings in a very clear way. That makes Paul’s letter to the Romans, and all of his writings, true and authoritative.

Paul was an apostle; and he was a very special apostle. He was the apostle to the Gentiles, the Lord’s special representative to the nations of the world. Paul was a Jewish rabbi who was uniquely equipped to reach and teach the peoples of the world.

Paul continues with his credentials. He was set apart for the gospel of God: God set Paul apart to accomplish a specific task – the gospel, the Good News, the message about the Son of God and the salvation He makes possible.

Paul calls the Good News the gospel of God because it belongs to God. It’s His message. God made the Good News possible. And it’s called the gospel of God because the Good News is about God, the Three-In-One God who made redemption possible for fallen human beings who are in the greatest need of redemption. The gospel is a message about God the Father sending His Son; and the Spirit of God filling the Son and enabling Him to live a perfect life; and the Son paying the price so we could be redeemed from the satanic slave market of sin and death.

Paul was set apart for the gospel, set apart even before he was born. Before Paul was born, God had a plan for this man. The Lord knew that Paul would be tasked with proclaiming, teaching and defending the Good News; and the Lord made it possible for Paul to do that. Paul was a member of the Chosen People. He was a great scholar, so he was able to understand the divine revelation. He was a Roman citizen. He spoke and wrote Greek and was familiar with Greek and Roman culture, and so was able to communicate with the peoples of the Roman empire. Paul was set apart for the gospel, and gifted by God to proclaim, teach and defend the Good News.

Paul was one of the greatest proclaimers of the Gospel, if not the greatest evangelist, who ever lived. The Lord used him to establish communities of Messiah’s people in key areas of the Roman empire. He did so with wisdom, with power, with courage and with faithfulness.

Paul’s was one of the greatest teachers of the Gospel, if not the greatest teacher of the Good News, who ever lived. His teachings on the Gospel form much of the New Testament. His teachings are an essential part of the Faith. Even though he died almost 2,000 years ago, billions of human beings have been able to benefit from his great teachings about the gospel.

When an important event will happen, the Lord may tell special people about it before it happens. That reinforces the importance of that event. The Gospel – the arrival of the Messiah, and His life and death and resurrection, and the salvation He is able to provide, is one of the most important events that ever happened; and not surprisingly, the Gospel is something that God promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures.

God communicated to a small group of special Jewish men, prophets, that the Messiah would come. He promised them the Messiah would come, and God always keeps His promises. Those promises about the Messiah became part of the Holy Scriptures.

In fact, the Gospel is the very heart and soul of the Holy Scriptures. The focus of the Special Writings is about the arrival of Seed of the Woman who will undo the catastrophe that took place in Eden when humanity joined the rebellion of the fallen angels. God promised the prophets that the Son of God would come to Earth, through the incarnation, through the Chosen People and through the family of David.

The Messiah would live a righteous life, die an atoning death and rise from the dead, overcoming Satan and the demons, sin and the sin nature, death and Hell; and He will return to Earth and rule with justice over a renewed Earth. The Good News was promised beforehand through the prophets and is imbedded throughout their sacred writings.

The focus of the Holy Scriptures is the gospel; and the focus of the gospel is Yeshua. The gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son. Yeshua is God’s Son. Yeshua is the Son of God. That does not mean that God the Father birthed Yeshua in some way, or that the Father created Yeshua in some way. It means the opposite! Just as a human son shares the same human nature as his father, Yeshua shares the same divine nature as His Father. The Son of God is eternal, uncreated, sharing all the attributes of God. The Son of God was always, from eternity, in the relationship of Son to His Father.

And God the Father has made it obvious that Yeshua is His Son: through the Spirit of holiness he was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead. Yeshua’s resurrection and the Spirit of holiness – the Holy Spirit that emanates from the Son, makes it crystal clear that Yeshua is the Son of God.

No other human being who had died has been raised from the dead like Yeshua has. Yeshua has been raised from the dead. Not only raised from the dead, Yeshua has ascended to Heaven, to the right hand of God the Father, to the place of highest honor. Yeshua is there right now, the living, glorified Messiah, the Son of God.

He is real. He is alive. He is ascended. He is exalted. He is powerful. From the right hand of God Yeshua sends the Spirit of God to human beings on Earth.

That Holy and Divine Spirit transforms human beings, gives them a new, godly nature; that Spirit that Yeshua sends lives in people and empowers them. Yeshua’s resurrection and His ability to give the Spirit reveals that He is the Son of God.

Yeshua is the Son of God – fully God, and He is the Messiah, the Son of David – fully man. Yeshua has all the qualifications, all the credentials He needs to be the Messiah. As to his earthly life he was a descendant of David. The Messiah needed to a descendant of Israel, and be from the tribe of Judah, and from the family of David. Yeshua is a descendant of David. He is the ultimate son of David and the heir of David. He has the right to sit on David’s throne and rule over Israel and the nations as the supreme political authority – as the Messiah, as our king and our Lord.

Yeshua is the Son of God. He is the Son of David. He is Messiah Yeshua our Lord – the supreme authority in our lives; the One we have the duty to serve, the duty to obey.

It is this resurrected and ascended and glorified descendant of David, this risen and powerful Son of God, this all-powerful Lord who is able to send the Holy Spirit to human beings, who graced Paul so powerfully. Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake. It was Yeshua who gave Paul the gifts and talents and training and temperament and authority to be the apostle to the nations, His representative to the peoples of the nations.

What an amazing thing! To be tasked with the evangelism and teaching of the nations and peoples of the world; to help them understand the God of Israel, and the Holy Scriptures of Israel, and the Messiah and Savior of Israel, and a Jewish gospel – but do so in a way that they don’t become Jews; in a way that they are able to maintain their God-given identities. Paul was able to contextualize the Gospel so the peoples from the nations can remain whom God designed them to be, and remain within people, and impact their cultures with the Good News.

Because Paul taught that the Gentiles were under Messiah’s New Covenant, which is radically different from the Sinai Covenant; that the peoples from the nations were not under the authority of the Sinai covenant, and were not required to keep all the laws of the Sinai covenant, many have accused him of preaching a message of lawlessness. Paul did not do that. He did not teach lawlessness. He taught the Gentiles to have an obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake.

Paul’s message was one of obedience, not disobedience; it was one of obedience – but an obedience based on faith, not on keeping the laws of the Sinai covenant; it was a message of obedience – but not obedience based on human effort; it was an obedience based on faith, an obedience that comes from being in a proper relationship with God; an obedience that is the result of being graced with the Holy Spirit and transformed by the Holy Spirit and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

It was a message of obedience for the sake of God’s name – a faith-based obedience that pleased God; a faith-based obedience that honored God; a faith-based obedience that accomplished what God wanted.

Since they were Gentiles who needed to be obedient, as Messiah’s representative to the nations, Paul had the right to teach them with authority, as if it were Messiah Himself who was teaching them; and they had the duty to obey.

Paul identified himself; and the message he brings; and the One he represents; and his authority to speak into their lives; and their duty to obey him. Now he identifies the people to whom he is writing. And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Messiah Yeshua. The Christians in Rome were part of a greater community, human beings chosen from the nations who had been invited to belong to Messiah Yeshua.

It’s a good thing to belong to a good group; a good organization; a good company; to belong to a good family; to belong to a good person. I belong to Martha and she belongs to me – not as mere possessions, but as beloved treasures and partners. Our belongedness brings us much benefit. How much more beneficial it is to belong to Messiah Yeshua! You also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Messiah Yeshua.

To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people: Paul is writing to Messiah’s community in the heart of the Roman empire. God knows each one of them and loves each one of them. It’s wonderful to be loved by other human beings. Their love enriches our lives in many ways, doesn’t it? It’s even better to be loved by the eternal God, who made you and wants to be with you – forever.

Those in Rome who belong to Messiah are loved by God and have been called to be His holy people. God has invited them to become part of a very special group of human beings, human beings who are His people, human beings who become part of a set-apart community.

Messiah’s followers in Rome have been invited by God to be God’s people – not just any kind of people, but holy people – people who are set apart; people who are set apart from sin; people who are set apart from death; people who are set apart from the world; people who are set apart for God; people who are set apart to live with God forever.

What an amazing thing – to be invited by God to become part of His holy people. But, with that invitation comes responsibility. Those who are called to be holy people are responsible to live as holy people. They should live in a way that agrees with their holy calling. They should live holy lives; lives that are set apart from sin; set apart from anything that displeases God; set apart from the ways of a corrupt world; lives that are set apart to serve God.

After identifying those to whom he is writing, the first thing this great servant of God does is pray for them. It’s a short but meaningful prayer. I like short, meaningful prayers. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Yeshua the Messiah.

Grace is something good that happens that is unmerited, undeserved, unearned. Since we are sinners that deserve punishment, that merit judgment, that are worthy of death and Hell, we are in the most desperate need of God’s grace. What a meaningful thing Paul prays – that they would be recipients of divine grace.

Along with grace, the Rabbi prays that they would be blessed with peace. Peace is wholeness, completeness. It’s entering into a state of well-being. Since we are damaged, broken, fractured creatures; since we lack wholeness and integrity, we are in desperate need of peace.

Paul asks two separate, distinct persons – God the Father and the Lord Yeshua the Messiah – to give the people who belong to them in Rome, grace and peace.

The Father and the Son are full of grace and peace, and They are willing and able to bless their people with grace and peace.

Note that the Father and the Son work together to give people grace and peace. The Father and the Son are united in nature; they share the same divine nature; they share the same divine Spirit; and they are also unified in purpose. They work together, in perfect unity, to bring people grace and peace.

You want grace and peace? You want good things you don’t deserve? You want a sense of well-being, that despite your circumstances, you are at peace because it is well, it is well with your soul? Who wouldn’t want grace and peace? You’d be crazy not to! Then you need to be in a right relationship with the Father and with the Son. You need to belong to the Father and you need to belong to the Son. You need to be part of their holy, set apart people.

That happens when you enter into a right relationship with God. You become part of God’s people by understanding that God the Father is real; that Yeshua is the Messiah and the Son of God and the Lord; that the He came into this world through the incarnation; lived a perfect life; died an atoning death; rose from the dead; is alive now, ascended, exalted, powerful. You make a serious commitment to serve the Father and the Son; to be loyal; obedient; faithful. The Father and the Son then send Their Holy Spirit to you, who lives with you, and begins the work of transforming you from within.

I urge you today to make absolutely sure that this is you.

Paul, a servant of Messiah Yeshua, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God – the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Messiah Yeshua our Lord. Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake. And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Messiah Yeshua. To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Yeshua the Messiah.

Let’s pray:

Father, thank You for Paul, this great man. Thank You for setting him apart for the Gospel, for blessing him so that he could bless us.

Thank You for this great letter, for the wisdom and truth it contains. Help us understand it, and put its truths into practice.

Thank You for the Gospel, for making it possible, for helping us to understand it and act on it. Help us to live in a way that is consistent with the Good News. Help us to be faithful to proclaim the Gospel to others.

Thank You for the prophets, and that You revealed to them the Good News that Messiah would come to redeem us.

Thank You for the Holy Scriptures, which are such an amazing treasure.

Thank You for Messiah Yeshua, the ultimate prophet, priest, king and Savior; Messiah Yeshua, who is Your Son, but our exalted Lord. Help us to serve Him faithfully.

Thank You that we have been invited to belong to Messiah, and invited to be His holy people. Help us live in a way that reflects our calling.

Thank You that You love Your people, and extend grace and peace to them. May we love You in return, love You the way you should be loved. And may we be Your set-apart vessels to human beings around us Your love and grace and peace.