Dr. Paul’s Letter to the Romans
Introduction:
Dr. Paul, as he comes to Corinth for the 3rd time: 1) to clear up any continuing problems among misinformed members of Jesus’ Kingdom there, 2) and begins gathering a giant contribution for the needs in Judea from among the many congregations in the Roman areas he has worked with over the last ten, or so, years. He is planning, after attending to these two needs: to deliver the contribution, which appears was being accumulating over the past year, to Jerusalem for distribution among the needy there and in the Judean area.
Also, during the three-month visit in Corinth, as an introduction, he writes an incredible Letter to the congregation in Rome. He plans to stop there on his way to Spain. In Rome he is having a large group of trained workers meet him, the majority of which will apparently travel on to Spain when he goes. This Letter explains these details, but also, because the Roman congregation has little experience personally with Dr. Paul, he creates this most informative Treatise as an explanation of the Good News of Jesus and His new Way, unparalleled in any of the contemporary histories concerning Jesus and His Kingdom. The Treatise breaks into two natural parts: 1st) His (Jesus’) Message (which in the earliest preserved Corinthian Letter, Dr. Paul declares he always proclaims the identical Good News and Its unique pattern, which is approved by God), clearly and objectively, which is presented to the Roman congregation, and 2ndly) the approved: specific teachings, actions, thinking and motives of each citizen of Jesus’ Kingdom (if ‘love’ is genuine) and the 25+ ‘called-out’ group’s actions (which he illustrates and defines) of Jesus’ kind of active ‘love’ among man and His Kingdom. These necessary reforms to Jesus’ likeness are best seen in these given expectations of their King.
Date: A.D. 57ish
Treatise:
(1st) Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called an Apostle, set apart unto God’s Good News, which He promised long ago through His prophets in the sacred Scriptures, concerning His Son, Who was out of David’s lineage according to the flesh, and was powerfully declared to be God’s Son, according to [the] spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord! {1:4}
Through Him we have put on Grace and Apostleship unto [the] “obedience of faith” among all the nations for the sake of His Name among whom, also, you all are the called of Jesus Christ. To all of God’s beloved in Rome, called saints, Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. {1:7}
(2nd) First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because ‘the Faith’ of you is being proclaimed in the whole world. God is my witness, Whom I continue to serve in my spirit in the Good News of His Son, that I constantly remember you, always requesting in my prayers, that by some means the way for me to come to you may now be opened in God’s Will.
I greatly desire to see you, that I may give some spiritual gift to you, that you may be strengthened, that is, that I may be encouraged together with you through ‘the Faith’ that is in one another, both yours and mine. I want you to know, brothers, that often I have planned to come to you (but I have been hindered until now), that I might have some fruit even among you, as also among the rest of the Gentiles. {1:13}
I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the unwise. Therefore, I am eager to evangelize the Good News to you also who are in Rome, for I am not ashamed of the Good News, because It is God’s saving power to everyone who believes, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. In It [the] God’s righteousness is being revealed out of faith into faith, as it is written, “The righteous will live out of [by] faith [Hab.2:4].” {1:17}
(3rd) God’s wrath from heaven is being revealed against all godlessness and wrongdoing of men who hinder the Truth in wrongdoing, because that which can be understood about God is clear among them, for God has made it clear to them. His unseen things – His eternal power and divine nature – are comprehended, being observed from the creation of the world, being understood by the things that are made, so that they are without excuse.
Even though they understood God, they neither honored Him as God, nor gave thanks to Him; instead, they were given to worthless speculations, and their senseless hearts were darkened. While they were claiming to be wise, they became foolish, and exchanged the splendor of the imperishable God for images like perishable man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles. God therefore gave them up to the lusts of their hearts in immorality, to degrade their bodies among themselves. They exchanged the Truth of God for the Lie and worshiped and served the creation rather than the Creator, Who is praised forever, amen! {1:25}
For this reason, God gave them up to lustful and shameful passions. Their females exchanged the natural use for unnatural intercourse, and likewise also the males abandoned natural intercourse with females, and were inflamed in their lustful passion for one another, males with males doing that which is unnatural, and receiving in themselves the inescapable punishment of their perversion. {1:27}
Because they refused to have God in their understanding, God gave them up to a worthless mind, to practice evil things. They have filled themselves with all wrongdoing, wickedness, greed, and malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and meanness. They are gossipers, slanderers, haters of God, obnoxious, arrogant, boasters, planners of evil things, disobedient to parents. They are senseless, disloyal, inhuman, and unmerciful. They, understanding the judgment of God, that they who practice such things deserve death, not only do them, but even approve of those who practice them. {1:32}
Therefore, you are without excuse, O man, who judges, because you condemn yourself in the way you judge another, since you, the one who is judging, are doing the same things. We know that God’s judgment against those who are doing such things is true. Do you think that you will escape God’s judgment, O man, who judges those who do such things, while doing the same things yourself?
Or do you scorn the abundance of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not understanding that God’s kindness leads you to a reform of mind and life? Because of your stubbornness and obstinate heart, you are laying up for yourself wrath in the Day of wrath and revelation of God’s righteous judgment. {2:6}
He will repay each one according to his works. Those who seek glory and honor and imperishability by being dependable in good works, He will repay with eternal life. But those who are selfishly ambitious, who disobey the Truth and obey wrongdoing, He will repay with wrath and fury, distress and calamity: indeed, to everyone who is doing evil, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. On the other hand, glory and honor and peace to everyone who is doing good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek, for God is not partial. {2:11}
All who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law; and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law. Those who ‘hear’ the Law are not righteous before God, but those who ‘do’ the Law will be accounted righteous. When the Gentiles – who have not the Law – naturally, do the things of the Law, these having not the Law are a law to themselves. They show the work of the Law written in their hearts, while their conscience gives supporting evidence, and their thoughts accuse or excuse one another, in the Day when God judges the secret things of men by my Good News through Christ Jesus. {2:16}
If you call yourself a Jew, and rely upon the Law, and take pride in God, and understand His Will, and determine what is right, being taught out of the Law; and if you have convinced yourself that you are a leader of the blind, a light of those in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the full content of the understanding and of the Truth; you, therefore, who teaches another, do you not teach yourself?
You, the one who preaches against stealing, do you steal? You, the one who speaks against adultery, do you commit adultery? You, the one who detests the temples of idols, do you rob temples? You, the one who takes pride in the Law, do you insult God by breaking the Law? Indeed, as it is written, “God’s name is slandered among the Gentiles because of you.” [Is.52:5] {2:24}
Circumcision certainly profits, if you practice the Law, but if you are a lawbreaker, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. If, therefore, the uncircumcised person keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? The naturally uncircumcised person who carries out the Law will judge you, the lawbreaker who has the Letter and circumcision. That which makes one a Jew is not visible: it is not fleshly, visible circumcision. But more so, that which makes one a Jew is invisible: his circumcision is of the heart in [the] spirit, not in [the] Letter, whose approval is not of men, but more so, of God. {2:29}
What is the Jew’s advantage? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? Much in every way. First, they were entrusted with God’s Oracles. If some were untrustworthy [no integrity], will their faithlessness nullify God’s faithfulness? No, that’s nonsense! God must always be true, and every man a liar, as it is written: “That You may be justified by Your words and superior in Your judgment.” [Ps.51:4] If our wrongdoing demonstrates God’s right-doing, what shall we say? Is God evil in bringing wrath? (I speak as a human.) Absolutely not! In that case, how will God judge the world? If God’s Truth abounds to His praise by my falsehood, why am I yet judged as a sinner? And why not say, as some slanderously assert that we say, “Let us do evil, that good may come”? Their punishment is deserved. {3:8}
What then? Are we in a worse position? Not at all! We have previously brought the charge that all are under sin, both Jews and Greeks, as it is written, “No one is righteous, not even one. No one understands. No one seeks God. All of them have turned away. All of them together have become worthless. No one is kind, not even one. Their throat is an open tomb. They deceive with their tongues. The poison of snakes is under their lips. Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to pour out blood. Ruin and misery are in their paths. They have not known the path of peace. Reverence for God is not before their eyes.” [Ps.14:1-3,5:9,140:3,10:7; Is.59:7-8; Ps.36:1} We know that whatever the Law says, It speaks to those who are under the Law, that every mouth may be silenced, and that all the world may come under the judgment of God; no flesh will be considered righteous before Him by the Law, for the consciousness of sin comes through the Law. {3:20}
Now! Apart from the Law, God’s righteousness has been revealed (being attested by the Law and the Prophets), even God’s righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ to everyone who is completely persuaded. There is no distinction: all have sinned and come short of God’s splendor and are justified freely by His Grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. {3:24}
God has displayed Him publicly, as a ‘mercy seat’, through faith in the blood of Him, as a demonstration of the righteousness of Him in overlooking past sins in God’s gracious tolerance, as (face to face) a demonstration of His righteousness at the present time, that He might be righteous, and accounting as righteous, the one who has [trust] faith in Jesus. {3:26}
Where, then, is boasting? It has been excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but more so, by a law of faith. For we consider that a man is accounted as righteous by faith without the works of [the] Law. Or is He the God only of the Jews, and not of Gentiles also? Yes, of the Gentiles also; if indeed God is One, and He will account as righteous the circumcision out of faith, and the uncircumcision by ‘the Faith’. Do we nullify [the] Law by ‘the Faith’? No, indeed! But more so, we make [the] Law to stand! {3:31}
(4th) What shall we say that Abraham our forefather has already found according to the flesh? If he was accounted righteous by works, he could boast, but not before [face to face] God. What does the Scripture say? “Abraham completely believed God and it was accounted to him unto righteousness.” [Gen.15:8] Now, to the one who works, the reward is not accounted according to Grace, but more so, according to debt [obligation]. But to the one who does not work, but believes on Him Who justifies the godless, his faith is accounted as righteousness, even as David also speaks of the happiness of the man whom God accounts as righteous apart from works, “Happy are they whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered. Happy is the man whose sin the Lord cannot take into account.” {Ps.32:1-2] {4:8}
Is this happiness for the Circumcision only, or also for the Uncircumcised? We say ‘the Faith’ was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. How was it accounted? In ‘circumcision’ or in ‘uncircumcision’? Not in circumcision but in uncircumcision! He received the mark of circumcision as an evidence of the righteousness of ‘the Faith’ he had before he was circumcised, that he might be the father of all uncircumcised believers, that righteousness might also be accounted to them. And he is the father of the circumcised, who not only are circumcised, but more so, also walk in the footsteps of ‘the Faith’ which our father Abraham had when he was uncircumcised. {4:12}
The Promise to Abraham and to his offspring – that he should be heir of the world – was not through the Law, but more so, through the ‘righteousness of faith’. If those of the Law are heirs, ‘the Faith’ has become meaningless, and the Promise has been nullified. The Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law there is no disobedience. Because of this, It [the righteousness] is out of faith, in order that It may be according to Grace, so that the Promise may be confirmed to all the offspring, not only to those of the Law, but more so, also to those of ‘the Faith’ of Abraham, who is the father of us all; as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations.” [Gen.17:5] He completely believed God, Who makes the dead to live, and calls things that do not exist as though they do exist. {4:17}
Beyond hope, he believed based on hope, that he might become the father of many nations, as had been said, “So shall your offspring be.” When he was about a hundred years old, he was not weak in ‘the Faith’, though he considered his own body and Sarah’s womb already dead. He did not waver in his faith in God’s Promise, but more so, he became strong in ‘the Faith’, giving praise to God, being fully persuaded that he was able to do what He had promised. Therefore, it was accounted to him unto righteousness. {4:22}
Moreover, it was not written for his sake alone, (that it was accounted to him), but more so, also for our sake (to whom it is going to be accounted), who believe based on the One who raised Jesus our Lord out of the dead. He was delivered up for our wrongdoings and was raised for our righteousness. {4:25}
(5th) Since we have been accounted righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom we also have had access by faith into this Grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of God’s splendor. Not only so, but we also rejoice in sufferings, knowing that suffering produces patience; and patience, character; and character, hope. Hope does not disappoint, because God’s love has been poured in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, Who was given to us.
While we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the godless. One will hardly die for a righteous man, but still for a good man perhaps someone dares to die. On the other hand, God displayed His love toward us, because while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Therefore, since we have now been accounted righteous by His blood, even more will we be delivered through Him from wrath. If, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by His Son’s death, even more so – since we have been reconciled – will we be saved by His life. Further, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom we have now been reconciled. {5:11}
Because of this, as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this manner death passed over to all men, for all have sinned. Sin was in the world until the Law, but sin is not charged when there is no law. However, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned in a way that is similar to Adam’s transgression, who [Moses] was a type of the Coming One. {5:14}
But the gift is not as the wrongdoing, for if many died by the wrongdoing of one, even more did God’s Grace and the gift by the Grace of one man, Jesus Christ, abound to many. And the gift is not as through one who sinned; for indeed, the verdict is of one to condemnation, but the gift is of many wrongdoings to an acquittal. If death reigned through one man by his wrongdoing, even more will they who receive the abundance of Grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through one man, Jesus Christ. Therefore, as the verdict of condemnation came upon all men through one act of wrongdoing, even so the gift of acquittal that brings life came upon all men through one righteous act. As many were made sinners through the disobedience of one man, so many will be made righteous by the obedience of one man. {5:19}
The Law entered with the result that wrongdoing increased, but where sin increased, Grace has increased even more, in order that, as sin reigned in death, even so might Grace reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. {5:21}
What shall we say? Shall we continue to sin that Grace may increase? No, that’s ridiculous! How shall we who died to sin [when immersed] continue to live in it? Do you all not comprehend that as many of us as were immersed into Christ Jesus were immersed into His death? We were co-buried together with Him through immersion into death (in order that we also might walk in newness of life), in the same manner that Christ was raised from the dead by the splendor of the Father. {6:4}
If we have been united with Him [when immersed] in the likeness of His death, we shall also be united with Him in the likeness of His resurrection. We understand this, that our old self has been co-crucified together with Him [when immersed], [so] that the body of sin might be destroyed, that we should no longer serve sin [were willing to reform our minds and lives]. He who has died has been freed from sin. If we have died with [in company of] Christ, we believe [completely trust] that we will also live with Him. We also know that since Christ has been raised from the dead, and dies no more, death has no more power over Him. In that He died, He died to sin once for all; and in that He lives, He is alive to God. {6:10}
In the same manner, consider yourselves indeed to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. You must not let sin reign in your mortal body to obey its lusts; neither must you yield your members as instruments of wrongdoing to sin. Instead, it is imperative that you yield yourselves to God, as alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. Sin shall not have power over you, for you are not under the Law, but more so, under Grace.
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the Law but under Grace? Absolutely not! Do you not know that, to whom you yield yourselves as slaves in obedience, his slaves you are whom you obey, whether of sin into death or of obedience into righteousness? Thanks be to God that you all obeyed from the heart the pattern of teaching into which you were delivered, though you were slaves of sin; and since you have been made free from sin, you have become slaves of righteousness. {6:18}
I speak in human terms, because of the weakness of your flesh: as you yielded [in past] the members of your body as slaves of immorality, and of increasing lawlessness, so ‘now’ yield the members of your body as slaves of the righteousness unto [total] dedication. When you were slaves of sin, you were free from the righteousness. What fruit, therefore, did you then have in the things of which you are ‘now’ ashamed? The outcome of those things is death. But ‘now’, since you have been freed from sin, and have been made God’s slaves, you have your fruit in dedication, and the outcome is eternal life. The salary of sin is death, but God’s gift is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. {6:23}
(6th) Or, do you not understand, brothers (I speak to them who understand [the] Law), that the Law has authority over a person as long as he lives? The married woman has been bound to her living husband by [the] Law; but if her husband dies, she is released from the Law of her husband. If she marries another man while her husband lives, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the Law, and is not an adulteress, even though she marries another man. So, my brothers, you also were put to death to the Law through Christ’s body, that you should be married to another, to the One Who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. {7:4}
When we were ‘in the flesh’, the sinful passions which were in our members were active, bearing deadly fruit. But ‘now’ we have been released from the Law, since we died [agreed to reform and at immersion] to that which held us [the Law], so that we serve in newness of the Spirit, and not in oldness of the Letter. So, what shall we say? Is the Law sin? No, indeed! I would not have understood sin, except through the Law; too, I would not have known covetousness, unless the Law said, “You will not covet.”[Ex20:17] But sin found an opportunity through the Command and brought about in me every desire. Sin is dead apart from the Law. I was once alive without the Law, but when the Command came, sin sprang to life, and I died; and the Command, which is to life, was found to be death to me. When sin found an opportunity through the Command, it deceived me, and killed me through the Command. {7:11}
Thus, the Law is sacred, and the Command is sacred and upright and good. Has that which is good become death in me? No, indeed! But sin, that it might be revealed as sin, brought about death in me through that which is good, that sin through the Command might become sinful beyond measure. We know that the Law is spiritual, but I am fleshly, having sold myself to serve sin.
I do not understand what I am doing. I am practicing what I do not will to practice; I am doing what I hate. If I do what I do not will to do, I agree with the Law, that it is good. Now I am no longer the one who is doing it, but it is the sin which is living in me. I know that nothing good is living in me, that is, in my flesh; for to will is present in me, but to do the good is not. I am not doing the good that I will; but I am practicing the evil that I do not will. If I am doing what I do not will to do, I am no longer doing it, but sin which is living in me.
I, then. discover the Law, that when I will to do good, evil is present in me. I delight in God’s law in the inner person, but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and making me a captive to the law of sin in my members. I am a miserable person! Who will rescue me from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! I, therefore, serve the law of God with my mind, but the law of sin with my flesh. {7:25}
(7th) There is, therefore, no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus; for the Spirit’s law of life in Christ Jesus has freed you from the law of sin and of death. What the Law could not do, because of the weakness of the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin: He pronounced sentence on sin in the flesh, that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
Now, they who live according to the flesh focus their attention on fleshly things, but they who live according to the Spirit focus their attention on spiritual things. The fleshly mind is death, but the spiritual mind is life and peace; the fleshly mind is hatred against God, for it is not in subjection to God’s law, neither can it be. Those who live according to the flesh cannot please God. You are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed God’s Spirit is living in you. If anyone does not have Christ’s Spirit, he does not belong to Him.
If Christ is in you, the body is indeed dead to sin, and the spirit is alive to righteousness. If the Spirit of the One who raised Christ from the dead is living in you, then He Who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, Who lives in you. Therefore, brothers, we are not debtors to the flesh to live according to the flesh, because if you live according to the flesh, you are going to die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. {8:13}
As many as are led by God’s Spirit, these are the sons of God. You have not received the spirit of slavery again to fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship, by which we are crying, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children; and if children, then also heirs, heirs indeed of God, and fellow heirs with Christ. We share together that we may be glorified together with Him. {8:17}
I consider that the present-day passions are not worthy of comparison with the splendor that is going to be disclosed to us, for the eager longing of the creation expectantly awaits the Disclosure of the sons of God. The creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be delivered from the slavery of moral ruin, into the glorious freedom of God’s children.
We know that the whole creation groans and is in great pain together until now. Not only the whole creation, but more so, we ourselves also, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, groan within ourselves, expectantly awaiting the redemption of our bodies. ‘Now’ we are saved by hope; but hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what he sees? If we hope for what we do not see, then with patience we expectantly wait for it. {8:25}
Likewise, the Spirit helps our praying, because we do not know how to pray as we ought; but the Spirit Himself intercedes in behalf of our inexpressible groanings. The Searcher of hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, Who, according to the Will of God, pleads for the saints. {8:27}
We know that to them who love God, the ones called according to His purpose, God works all things together for good; because whom He foreknew, He also predetermined as partakers together of His Son’s likeness, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And whom He predetermined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also accounted as righteous; and whom He accounted as righteous, these He also exalted.
What, therefore, shall we say about these things? If God is on our side, who is against us? Since He did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for the sake of all of us, will He not also give us all things with Him? Who will bring a charge against God’s chosen ones? God is the [only] One who acquits. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus is the [only] One Who died and was raised up; Who also is at God’s right hand, Who also pleads for us.
What will separate us from Christ’s love? Suffering? Anguish? Persecution? Famine? Nakedness? Danger? A sword? It is written, “We are put in danger of death all day long for Your sake. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” [Ps.44:22] In all of these things we are more than conquerors through Him Who loved us.
I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other thing in creation, can separate us from God’s love in Christ Jesus our Lord. {8:39}
(8th) I am speaking the Truth in Christ; I am not lying; and my conscience is testifying with me in the Holy Spirit. I have intense sorrow, and ceaseless pain in my heart. Indeed I could wish that I myself were condemned, and banished from Christ, for the sake of my brothers, my fellow-countrymen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, whose is: the sonship, and the glory, and the Covenants, and the giving of the Law, and the service, and the Promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom – according to the flesh – is Christ, Who is above all things, blessed by God forever! Amen. {9:5}
But it is not as though God’s Message has failed, for not all of those of Israel are Israel; neither are they all children simply because they are Abraham’s offspring. Instead, “Your offspring shall be called in Isaac.” [Gen.21:12] That is, the physical descendants are not God’s children, but the children of the Promise are counted as offspring. This is the statement of Promise: “About this time I will come, and Sarah shall have a son.” [Gen.18:10,14] Not only that, but more so, when Rebecca was pregnant by Isaac our father, before the children were born, or had done anything good or bad, that God’s purpose by selection might stand, not of works, but more so, of Him who calls, it was said to her, “The older shall serve the younger” [Gen.25:23]; as it is written, “I loved Jacob, but hated Esau.” [Mal.1:2-3]
What therefore shall we say? Is there injustice with God? No, impossible! He speaks to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” [Ex.33:19] Therefore, it is not of him who wills, neither of him who runs, but more so, of God who shows mercy. The Scripture speaks to Pharaoh, “I raised you up, that I might show My power in you, and that My Name might be proclaimed in all the Earth.”[Ex.9:16] Therefore, He has mercy on whom He wills, and hardens whom He wills. {9:18}
Will you say to me, “Why does He still find fault, because who opposes His Will?” On the contrary, O man, who are you to argue with God? Will the molded vessel say to the One Who molded it, “Why have You made me like this?” Or does not the potter have power over the clay to make from the same lump a dish, one for special use, and one for everyday use? Certainly, since God wanted to show His wrath, and to make understood His power, He patiently bore with instruments of wrath set unto destruction, in order that He might make understood the riches of His glory on instruments of mercy, whom He had prepared unto glory. Further, He called us, not only from the Jews, but more so, also from the Gentiles, as He said in Hosea, “I will call those My people who were not My people, and her beloved who was not beloved.” [Hos.2:23] In the place where it was said, “You are not My people,” there they shall be called the sons of the living God. Isaiah cried out concerning Israel, “If the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be delivered, for the Lord shall accomplish His Word on the Earth, carrying it out and bringing it about swiftly.” [Is.10:22f] Even as Isaiah had earlier spoken, “Unless the Lord of armies had left us an offspring, we would have become like Sodom, and we would have been made like Gomorrah.” [Is.1:9]
What then shall we say? The Gentiles, who were not following righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by ‘the Faith’. But more so, Israel, who was following the Law to righteousness, did not arrive at that law. Why? Because they sought it by works, not by ‘the Faith’. They stumbled on the Stone that causes stumbling, as it is written, “Behold! I place in Zion a Stone that causes stumbling, and a Rock that causes a fall”, but “he who believes in Him shall not be put to shame.” [Is.28:16, 8:14] {9:33}
Brothers, the desire of my heart, indeed, my prayer to God for them, is unto salvation. I testify for them that they have a zeal for God, but more so, not according to understanding. Since they are uninformed about God’s righteousness, and since they are trying to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted themselves to God’s righteousness. Christ is the goal of the Law to make righteous everyone who believes.
Moses wrote about the righteousness which is from the Law: “The man who does them will live by them.” [Lv.18:5] But the righteousness out of ‘the Faith’ speaks in this manner: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?'” (that is to bring Christ down), or ‘Who will go down to the grave?’ [Dt.30:12] (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead); but more so, what does ‘It’ say? “The Word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” [Dt.30:14] (that is, the Word of ‘the Faith’ which we are proclaiming). If you [sing.] do confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and [if] you [sing.] do believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; because with the heart one believes [present tense] unto righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses [present tense] unto salvation. The Scripture says, “He who believing on Him will not be put to shame.” [Is.28:16] There is no distinction between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord is over all, and is generous to all who are calling on Him; for “Everyone who might call on the Lord’s Name will be saved.” [Joel 2:32] But how can they call on Him unto Whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in Him of Whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without [one] proclaiming? And how can they proclaim, unless they are sent? It is written, “How welcome are the feet of those who are evangelizing good things!” [Is.52:7] But more so, they have not all obeyed the Good News; for Isaiah asked, “Lord, who has believed our report?” [Is.53:1] So, ‘the Faith’ comes out of the report, and the report comes from Christ’s Teaching. But more so, I say, have they not heard? Absolutely sure! As, “their voice has gone out into all the Earth, and their words to the ends of the world!” [Ps.19:4] {10:18}
But more so, I say, has Israel not understood? First, Moses said, “I will make you jealous of that which is no nation, and I will make you resent a foolish nation.” [Deut.32:21] Isaiah is very bold and says, “I was found by them who had not sought Me, and I was revealed to them who had not asked for Me.” [Is.65:1] He said to Israel, “I have held out My hands all day long to a disobedient and rebellious people. [Is.65:1-LXX] {10:21}
I say, therefore, has God rejected His people? Certainly not! I am an Israelite, of Abraham’s offspring, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture said about Elijah, as he complained to God against Israel? “Lord, they have killed Your prophets, and have destroyed Your altars, and I am left by myself, and they are seeking my life.” What did the Oracle say to him? “I have kept for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” [1 Kg.19:10-18] In this manner (at the present time) there is a remnant according to the selection of Grace. But if it is by Grace, then it is no longer by works, otherwise Grace is Grace no longer. What therefore? Israel did not obtain what he was seeking, but the selected ones did, and the others were hardened, as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor until this very day: eyes that do not see, and ears that do not hear.” [Is.29:10] And David said, “Their table must become a snare, and a trap, and that which causes a fall, for their reward. Their eyes must be darkened, so that they may not see; and must bend down their back always.” [Ps.69:22f] {11:10}
I therefore ask, did they stumble, that they might fall? No, indeed! But more so, salvation has come to the Gentiles by their stumbling, to make them jealous. Now if their stumbling is the wealth of the world, and their defeat the wealth of the Gentiles, how much more their fullness! I speak to you Gentiles. Since, then, I am an Apostle to the Gentiles, I honor my service, if perhaps I might make my own people jealous, and might save some of them.
If their loss reconciles the world, what will their acceptance be, but life from the dead? If the first-fruits are dedicated, so are the latter fruits; and if the root is dedicated, so also are the branches. Now, if some of the branches have been broken off, and if you, a wild olive tree, have been grafted in among them, and if you have become a partaker of the root and of the fatness of the olive tree, you must not boast against the branches. If you boast, you do not support the root, but the root supports you.
You will say, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” Very well: they were broken off because of unbelief; and you stand by faith. You must not be proud but must be afraid; for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will by no means spare you. You ought to consider the kindness and severity of God: severity to those who fell; but God’s kindness to you, if you abide in His kindness; otherwise, you also will be cut off. And they will be grafted in, if they do not continue in unbelief; for God is able to graft them in again. {11:23}
If you were cut from an olive tree that is naturally wild, and were grafted – contrary to nature – into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree? Brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed about this Mystery (so that you do not become wise in your own estimation), that a partial hardening has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has been realized. In this way all ‘Israel’ will be saved, as it is written, “The Redeemer will come from Zion, and will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is My covenant with them when I remove their sins.” [Is.59:20-21} According to the Good News, they are enemies for your sake, but according to the selection, they are beloved for the father’s sake. God’s gifts and calling are unchangeable. As you once disobeyed God, but have now received mercy because of their disobedience, in the same way these also have now been disobedient because of the mercy shown to you, so that they may also now receive mercy. God has imprisoned everyone in disobedience, that He may show mercy to everyone. [11:32}
O the depth of the richness of God’s wisdom and understanding! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways untraceable! “Who has understood the Lord’s mind, or who has become His adviser? Who has first given to Him, and will be repaid?” [Is.40:13-LXX] All things are from Him and by Him and to Him! Glory is His forever. Amen! {11:36}
(9th) Therefore, brothers, I beg you all through God’s mercies, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, dedicated and well-pleasing to God, which is your correct reasoned service. You must not be molded by this world, but more so, you must be transformed [metamorphosized] by the renewing of your mind, that you may discover God’s good and acceptable and complete Will. {12:2}
Through the Grace given to me, I say to everyone among you: do not regard yourself more highly than you ought; but more so, think sensibly, as God has given to each one a measure of faith. As we have many members in one body, and all of the members do not have the same function, so we, the many, are one body in Christ, and members of one another. Since we have gifts that differ according to the Grace given to [each of] us: whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of ‘the Faith’; or service, in the ‘service’; or the teacher, in the ‘Teaching’; or the one who encourages, in the ‘encouragement’; he who gives, in the ‘generosity’; he who leads, in diligence; he who shows kindness, in cheerfulness. {12:8}
It is imperative that ‘Love’ be genuine: [1]Hate the evil, and cling to the good; [2]in strong affection, be devoted to one another; [3]in honor, let each one esteem the other more highly; [4]be diligent, not lazy; [5]be spiritually enthusiastic, [6]serve the Lord; [7]rejoice in hope, [8]be patient in sufferings; [9]be devoted to prayer; [10]help the needy saints; [11]practice hospitality.
[12]You must bless the ones who are persecuting you; [13]it is imperative that you all bless and you must not curse. [14]Rejoice with the ones who are rejoicing, and weep with the ones who are weeping. [15]Agree with one another. [16]Do not fill your mind with inflated thoughts, but more so, involve yourself in humble matters. [17]You must not be wise in your own estimation. [18]When someone wrongs you, do not repay with another wrong. [19]Plan honorable things among all people. [20]If possible, as far as you are able, live in peace with all people.
Beloved, [21]You cannot take revenge, but more so, you must give way to [your] wrath, for it is written, “Justice is Mine; I will repay,” [Deut.32:35] says the Lord. “If your enemy is hungry, you must feed him; if he is thirsty, you must give him a drink, because you will heap burning coals upon his head when you do this.” [Pv.25:21] [22]You must not be overcome with evil, but more so, you must overcome evil with goodness {12:21} [23]Every person must be subject to the higher authorities, for there is no authority but by God, and the existing powers have been instituted by God. He who opposes the authority withstands God’s decree, and those who withstand will receive judgment on themselves. Rulers are not a threat to good works, but more so, to the evil. Do you wish not to be afraid of the authority? Do that which is good, and you will have approval from it. He is God’s servant to you unto that which is good. But if you do evil, you ought to be afraid, for he does not carry the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant to punish the evildoer in wrath. Therefore, it is necessary to submit, not only because of wrath, but more so, also because of conscience. This is why you pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers, and they give careful attention to this very thing. You must fulfill your obligations to everyone: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom is due; respect to whom respect is due; honor to whom honor is due. {13:7}
[24]You must not owe anything to anyone, except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the Law. It is written, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet!” [Ex.20:13-17]And if there is any other command, it is summarized in this, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself!” [Lv.19:18] Love works no wrong to a neighbor; love, therefore, fulfills the Law. {13:10}
You know the season, that it is already time for you all to arise from sleep, for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far gone, and the Day is near. We should, therefore, put off the works of darkness and we should put on the weapons of light. We should live properly as in the day; not in carousing and drunkenness; not in sexual debauchery and sensuality; not in quarreling and jealousy. [25]You must clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus, and do not make provision for fleshly passions. {13:14}
[26]You must welcome him who is weak in ‘the Faith’, but not unto arguments about opinions. One believes that he may eat all things, but another who is weak, eats vegetables. He must not, the one who eats, look down on the one who does not eat; and we must not, him who does not eat, condemn the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to condemn another man’s servant? It is the concern of his own master whether he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for the Lord can make him stand. One decides that a certain day is superior, while another holds every day in esteem. Each must be fully persuaded in his own mind. He who thinks highly of a day does so for the Lord; and he who eats does so for the Lord, for he thanks God. He who does not eat refrains for the Lord, and he thanks God. None of us lives to himself, and none dies to himself. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. Whether, therefore, we live or die we belong to the Lord. Christ died and came back to life for this: to rule over both the dead and the living. {14:18}
[27]Why do you condemn your brother? Why do you look down on your brother? All of us will stand before God’s judgment seat; for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bend before Me and every tongue shall acknowledge God.” [Is.45:23] Each one of us shall give an account of himself to God. Therefore, we should no longer judge one another. But more so, you must judge this, that you do not place a stumbling block or an obstacle before your brother. I know, and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean of itself, except it is unclean to the one who considers it unclean. If your brother is pained because of food, you are no longer walking according to love. You (sing.) must not destroy with your food that one for whom Christ died. You (sing.) must not let your good be condemned; for God’s Kingdom is not food and drink, but more so, righteousness and peace and in joy in the Holy Spirit. He who is enslaved to Christ this way is pleasing to God and respected among men.
[28] We should, therefore, pursue peaceful things, and things that build up one another. We must not tear down God’s work because of food. All things indeed are allowed, but wrong to the person who eats that which causes someone to stumble. It is honorable not to eat flesh, or to drink wine, or to do anything that causes your brother to stumble. Hold to yourself the conviction you all must have before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. The one who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he lacks conviction; and everything which is not of conviction is sin. {14:23}
[29] We who are strong are obligated to carry the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Each one of us must please his neighbor for what is good in building up. Christ did not please Himself, but as it is written, “The insults of them who insulted you fell on Me.” [Ps.69:9] The things that were written previously [old Covenant] were for our instruction, that we might have hope through the patience and encouragement of the Scriptures.{15:4}
Now, may the God of patience and encouragement grant you all to be ‘united’ in mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, that you may with one spirit and one mouth praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. {15:6}
[30] Therefore, you all must accept one another, as Christ has also accepted you, to God’s praise. I say that Christ has become a servant of circumcision in behalf of God’s Truth, so that He might establish the promises to the fathers. And that the Gentiles might praise God for His mercy, as it is written, “I will acknowledge You among the Gentiles, and I will sing to Your Name.” [Ps.18:49] Again, He says, “You all must be glad, Gentiles, with His people.” [Dt.32:43] Again, “Praise the Lord, all the Gentiles, and all peoples must praise Him.” [Ps.117:1] And Isaiah says, “He will be the descendant of Jesse, the One standing up to rule the Gentiles, and the Gentiles will set their hope on Him.” [Is.11:10] May the God of hope fill you all with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in the powerful hope of the Holy Spirit. {15:13}
(10th) I myself have been persuaded about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, since you have been filled with all understanding, and are able to instruct one another. I have written to you more boldly about some things, as reminding you through the Grace God has given me, that I may be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, serving as a priest in the Good News of God, that the Gentiles, as a sacrificial offering might be well-pleasing, since they have been set apart by the Holy Spirit. {15:16}
Therefore, I rejoice in Christ Jesus in things pertaining to God, for I will not be so bold as to say anything about Christ’s accomplishments through me, that is, the obedience of the Gentiles: by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, [or] by the power of God’s Spirit. I have fully evangelized the Good News of Christ from Jerusalem and its surroundings to Illyricum, trying not to evangelize the Good News where Christ had previously been named, so that I might not build on another’s foundation; but as it is written, “The ones who had not been told about Him will see, and the ones who had not heard will understand.” [Is.52:15] {15:21}
I have often been hindered from coming to you. But now, since I do not have any more opportunity in these regions, and since I have desired for many years to visit you, I hope to see you as I pass through on my way to Spain, and to be helped by you on my journey there, if first, I may enjoy your company for awhile. Now, I am going to Jerusalem serving the saints.
Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a certain contribution to the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. They were pleased, and their debtors they are; for if the Gentiles shared their spiritual things, they ought also to provide material [things] for them. After I have completed this and have safely delivered to them the sum that has been raised (this fruit), I will visit you on my way to Spain. I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of Christ’s blessing. {15:29}
I beg you, brothers, through our Lord Jesus Christ, and through the Spirit’s love, to join with me in prayers to God in my behalf: that I may be rescued from those in Judea who are disobedient; that my contribution for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints; and that by God’s Will I may come to you joyfully and have a refreshing visit with you. May the God of peace be with all of you. Amen. {15:33}
(11) I recommend to you Phoebe our sister, serving the congregation in Cenchrea. Welcome her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever need she may have, for she herself has helped many, and me also.
You all ought to greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow-workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their own life for mine, to whom not only I am grateful, but also all of the Gentile congregations, and the congregation that is in their house. You ought to greet my beloved Epenetus, the firstfruits of Asia in Christ. You ought to greet Mary, who has worked hard for you. You ought to greet Andronicus and Junias, my relatives and fellow prisoners, who are well known by the Apostles, and were in Christ before me. Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. You ought to greet Urbanus our fellow-worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys. You ought to greet Apelles who is approved in Christ. You ought to greet the household of Aristobulus. You ought to greet my relative Herodion. You ought to greet those in the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord. You ought to greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, who have labored in the Lord. You ought to greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord. You ought to greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine. You ought to greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers with them. You ought to greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them. You ought to greet one another with a sacred kiss. All of Christ’s congregations greet you. {16:16}
I beg you, brothers, watch out for those who are bringing about divisions and causes of stumbling contrary to the Teaching which you have learned. Turn away from them, for such people are not enslaved to our Lord Christ, but more so, their own bodily desire; and they lead astray – by smooth talk and flattery – the hearts of the unsuspecting. {16:18}
Your obedience is known by everyone, and I therefore rejoice over you. I want you to be wise toward the good, but innocent toward the evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. My fellow-worker Timothy greets you, and my relatives Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater. {16:21]
(I, Tertius, who wrote the Letter, greet you in the Lord.) Gaius, my host and the host of the whole congregation, greets you. Erastus, the treasurer of the city, greets you, and Quartus, our brother. {16:24}
Now to the One Who can strengthen you, according to my Good News, according to what is preached about Jesus Christ, according to the disclosure of the Mystery kept silent from all eternity, but now, has been disclosed through the prophetic Writings, according to the command of the eternal God, that was made understood unto the “obedience of faith” among all of the Gentiles, to the Only Wise God, may there forever be praise through Jesus Christ. Amen.