Kevin Walker
Occasion & setting. Paul writes on his third missionary journey, from Corinth, in the home of Gaius, using Tertius as his scribe (cf. Rom 16). Date: AD 57.
He hasn’t visited Rome yet. He’s introducing his gospel and his ministry in order to strengthen a good church and enlist their partnership for mission.
External opposition. Paul counters slanders (3:8) and warns against divisive agitators (16:17).
Internal tension. Chapters 14–15 reveal friction over food laws and observance of days—likely sharpened by the return of Jewish believers after the Claudian expulsion.
Missional purpose. He wants Rome to pray as he carries relief to Jerusalem and to partner with him as he pushes west to Spain (15:22–33).
Tone. Not Corinth or Galatia—Rome is healthy: “Your faith is proclaimed in all the world” (1:8); “you are full of goodness… able to instruct one another” (15:14). Yet strong churches still need reminders (15:15) and strengthening (1:11; 16:25).
Big takeaway: Romans explains the gospel amid opposition, addresses tension, and calls a healthy church to unified mission—so that God would strengthen them for it.
Romans opens (1:1–17) by introducing Paul and his gospel; it closes (15:14–16:27) with his ministry report, plans, greetings, and doxology. Between those bookends, note four major sections—each beginning with a significant OT person/event and resolving with future-hope language.
1:18–5:11 — Creation → Wrath to Reconciliation
Start: Creation/Fall (1:18–32).
End: Future hope “we shall be saved” (5:9–11).
Focus: How can sinners move from God’s wrath to peace? By faith.
5:12–8:39 — Adam → Death to Life
Start: Adam (5:12–21).
End: Spirit-empowered hope and perseverance (8:18–39).
Focus: How do believers actually live free from sin’s dominion? By grace through the Spirit.
9:1–11:36 — Abraham/Patriarchs → Promise to People
Start: Israel’s covenants (9:4–5).
End: Redeemer from Zion; mercy triumphs (11:26–32).
Focus: Have God’s promises failed? No—God forms one redeemed people by mercy.
12:1–15:13 — Sacrifice (Leviticus) → Worldliness to Worship
Start: Living sacrifices (12:1–2).
End: Jew and Gentile glorify God together (15:7–13).
Focus: How should the church live together? Love that fulfills the law, producing unified worship.
Faith (1:18–5:11).
Wrath revealed (1:18), universal sin proved (1:18–3:20), then the righteousness of God apart from the law revealed through faith (3:21–26).
Result: Justification, peace, and hope (5:1–11).
Summary: Jew and Gentile are made right with God the same way—by faith.
Grace (5:12–8:39).
Adam brought sin and death; Christ brings abounding grace and life (5:12–21; 6:23).
Grace doesn’t excuse sin; it frees us from sin’s reign (6) and overcomes the law’s powerlessness by the Spirit (8:1–17).
Summary: The Spirit, gift of grace, empowers believers to live new lives.
Mercy (9–11).
Who are truly God’s people? Not by bloodline or effort, but by God’s mercy (9:6–18).
Gentiles “who did not pursue righteousness” have attained it by faith (9:30).
God’s wise plan consigned all to disobedience that he might have mercy on all (11:32).
Summary: God keeps his promises by forming one people—Jew and Gentile—through sovereign mercy.
Love (12:1–15:13).
Present yourselves to God; then love becomes the ethic of the renewed mind (12:9–21).
“Love is the fulfilling of the law” (13:10).
In disputes of conscience, welcome one another; do not “destroy…for food” the one for whom Christ died (14:15; 15:7).
Summary: Love builds unity and culminates in shared worship.
Christ’s death
Propitiation / Justification (3:21–26): His blood satisfies God’s wrath; we are justified.
Sanctification (6:1–14): United to his death, we die to sin and walk in newness of life.
Christ’s resurrection
Lord of all nations (1:3–5): Declared Son of God in power, grounding Paul’s mission “to bring about the obedience of faith among all nations.”
Justification (4:25): “Raised for our justification.”
Glorification (8:11): The Spirit who raised Jesus will give life to our mortal bodies.
Let the passage you’re in govern how you speak about the cross and resurrection.
Obedience of faith (1:5; 16:26).
First, obey the gospel by believing. That’s where Paul starts and ends.
Unity in love.
We’re justified the same way (faith), sanctified the same way (grace/Spirit), included the same way (mercy), therefore called to the same ethic (love).
Practice welcome, mutual deference, and edification in the body (12–15).
Mission.
A strengthened, unified church becomes a partnering church—praying for gospel advance and supporting new frontiers (Spain!) with confidence that the risen Christ is Lord of all nations.