Romans is the only one of Paul's letters that was written to a congregation that he had not established. The Christian group in Rome probably started with pilgrims that visited Jerusalem and experienced the miraculous Day of Pentecost. It would have been composed of Orthodox Jews mixed with Gentile converts, as were the other "house churches" scattered throughout the region. Paul hoped to use the Roman group as a springboard for a mission into Spain, and writes of his intention to visit them soon. When Paul finally did reach Rome, however, it was as a prisoner, and he never made it to Spain. But this letter (the longest of his surviving epistles), in which he gives his most complete statement of the Christian ethic, stands as one of his two great masterpieces.
It has also been the source of more debate about what it means to be a Christian than any other book of scripture. Martin Luther used the first seven chapters as the basis of his doctrine of justification by faith (rather than through Catholic rites) and John Calvin drew on chapters 8-10 as the basis of his doctrine of predestination. Evangelical Christians use its chapters to show that only faith in Christ is necessary for salvation. Yet close reading of the book reveals a deeper, more profound doctrine than any of these interpretations encompass. Paul is sketching, in broad strokes, what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Putting Christ at the center of our lives is less fussy, yet more demanding than any particular set of rules. Instead, it involves a daily striving toward what Paul calls "the mind of Christ." Living by the spirit is servitude of a new kind. We have either served sin or the law, and these we forsake for our new master, the Spirit of the Lord Himself, who teaches us everything from what to pray for, how to behave, and even how to die. It represents a whole new way of thinking for Jews, Gentiles, and all of us in between.
Paul shows his intellectual and spiritual brilliance here, using a rhetorical style known as a diatribe (a passionate argument riddled with rhetorical questions) that demands our attention with its emotional strength. He refutes the idea that the Mosaic law is essential to salvation by going back a thousand years before Moses to the story of Abraham, and showing how, by obedience to the spirit rather than a set of rules, Abraham was righteous in the sight of God. If following the spirit worked for him, it will work for all of those who enter the kingdom after the fulfillment of the law. Thus, circumcision and the 613 commandments of the Torah are not binding on those who are not born in that tradition.
Well, if not the law of Moses, then what law should govern the lives of Christians? The Holy Spirit is the new sheriff in town. To rely on divine revelation for guidance is a complete departure from both the pagan and the Jewish tradition. Paul sketches it out for us using legal and judicial jargon that helps us see our place in the scheme of things. Finally (lest we be too overwhelmed by the challenges ahead) he assures us that no power can separate us from the love of God. Chapter 8 is transcendently beautiful and full of hope and closes with this promise:
"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present
nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
(Romans 8: 38-39 NIV)
nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
(Romans 8: 38-39 NIV)
