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THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL.

IV. QUAR., LESSON I., OCT. 1, Rom. 1:8-17

Golden Text—”I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.”—Rom. 1:16

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We now come to the study of one of the most notable of all the Pauline epistles, the epistle to the Romans. Apparently this noble production, like the other epistles, was the result of merely accidental circumstances: Paul, while in Corinth, saw an opportunity to send his greetings and counsel to the Church at Rome by the hand of Phoebe, who was about to sail thither; and, in consideration of their condition and circumstances, he wrote this letter. The Church at Rome was composed of both Jews and Gentiles, and naturally there were among them some unsettled questions incidental to the transition from Judaism to Christianity, which the Apostle in this epistle endeavors to adjust. The full settlement of these questions, however, was to be found only in a clear explanation of the principles of the gospel, which the Apostle, therefore, so ably set forth in this writing.

Its preservation to us is due, humanly speaking, to the high esteem in which it was held by them and others of the early Christians. Recognized by them as a logical presentation of the gospel of Christ, penned by a divinely inspired Apostle, they carefully cherished it, as did the other churches the various apostolic epistles written to them; and later these important letters began to circulate among the churches that all might receive their valued instructions. But when we consider further, how these writings have been preserved from generation to generation, sometimes in the hands of those who devotedly appreciated them, but for a long time—all through “the dark ages”—in the possession of Antichrist, hidden away under the sack-cloth of dead languages, and again brought forth to bear their testimony even to us at the end of the age, we recognize in this gift to us also the beneficent hand of divine providence. Some in these days point derisively to the human agencies through which God’s truth has been handed down to us, forgetting that back of these has been the Lord’s almighty hand making use of these agents as his honored instruments. We are not at all surprised when, with the Apostle, we are enabled to see the deep philosophy of the divine plan, as sketched in this epistle, that he is not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for with him we see that it is indeed the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.—Verse 16.

This epistle was sent from Corinth. It was dictated by Paul and written by Tertius, at the house of one of the Corinthian Christians—Gaius. (Rom. 16:22,23; 1 Cor. 1:14.) Up to the date of its writing Paul had never been in Rome. It is not known how the Church at Rome started, though there were Christians there who had been in the way for many years. It was probably one of the results of the outpouring of the holy spirit on the day of Pentecost; for on that occasion there were present “strangers from Rome.” (Acts 2:10.) These probably returned to Rome with the blessings of the gospel, and began to live Christian lives and to preach the truth to others; and a company of believers, even in the midst of that corrupt city, was the result. It seems difficult to understand how, in the midst of such conditions as the city of Rome presented, a people could be found to give an ear to the Word of the Lord, and to submit themselves to his training and discipline. It was the capital city of a great and powerful empire, presenting all the contrasts of wealth and poverty and all the hideous deformities

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of sin. Yet God could work even there, and his Word was quick and powerful.

VERSES 1-7. Paul introduces his epistle by first declaring his apostleship, and his divine call to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ among all nations; second, by acknowledging the Christians at Rome as also called of God (but not as apostles); and third, by expressing his Christian greetings—”Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

VERSES 8-13. Here we see how the spirit of God had been at work in Rome; for they were widely known as men and women of great faith. Paul rejoiced over their spiritual prosperity, prayed for them continually, and longed and prayed for the opportunity of meeting them personally, to the end that he might impart to them some spiritual gift (such as the gifts of tongues and of interpretation, etc., some of which were given to all of the early Christians by laying on of the apostles’ hands, and never in any other way), that so they might be established and able to progress more rapidly in the knowledge and work of the Lord. Thus their mutual faith would be a mutual comfort.

VERSE 14. “I am debtor [I am under obligation] both to the Greeks and to the Barbarians; both to the wise and to the unwise.” Why? Because they had done something for him? No: but because God through Christ had done something for them, and Paul, as the servant of God, was charged with the commission to preach the gospel—to be his witness unto all nations.

VERSES 15-17. “So, as much as in me is [to the extent of my ability], I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ [Paul was not ashamed to bring it into contrast and competition with all the philosophies of men then extant]; for it is the power of God unto salvation [it is the instrument of God for salvation—to every one? No: but] to every one that believeth [God works through instrumentalities, and his truth is the instrument for human salvation. As Paul subsequently shows—Chap. 10:17—”Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” And there is not the slightest intimation in the Scriptures that there is salvation to any without faith in the promises of God’s Word]—to the Jew first [out of respect to the covenant made with their father Abraham], and also to the Greek”—the Gentiles.

VERSE 17. “For therein [in the gospel] is the righteousness of God revealed [the deep philosophy of his plan makes manifest his righteous character, as the Apostle shows in this epistle. It is revealed] from faith to faith [i.e., in coming to the study of the divine plan, we must come with faith begotten of reverence for its all-wise Author, expecting to find in it a wisdom superior to all human philosophies. And from this starting point faith will progress to higher and higher altitudes], as it is written, “The just by faith shall live”—those justified by faith must continue to live by faith until faith is lost in full fruition of the glorious promises of God.

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— September 1&15, 1893 —