Romans Lesson 1: Introduction To Romans: Romans 1:1

Romans 1:1a a servant of Jesus Christ,

• Acts 9:15 - Lord called Paul His chosen vessel

• Galatians 1:10 - Paul was chosen to please Christ above men

Romans 1:1b Called to be an apostle. 17 times in his epistles Paul declares or defends his apostleship.

• 1Timothy1:1 and 2Timothy 1:1 it was God's will and commandment that Paul was a n apostle of Jesus Christ.

• Paul was called by the Lord to be the apostle to the Gentiles

• Paul was to be accepted by the churches as an apostle of Christ.

• 2Corinthians 12:11 Paul should have been accepted by the churches without having to defending his calling.  when the authority of Paul was questioned the church should have defended Paul and raised him up before his accusers.

• Romans 11:13 had to magnify or enlarge his apostleship to the Gentiles. He shouldn't have to do that. The Lord magnified his office by commandment.

 Romans 1:1c separated unto the gospel of God

• The gospel - not a gospel. There is ONLY ONE GOSPEL! Galatians 1:6-9

• 1Corinthians 15:1-4 The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ -

• Acts 26: 16-18

• 1Timothy 1:11 The Lord entrusted Paul with seeing that the gospel was declared truthfully and protected from corruption within the churches

• Ephesians 3:2 Paul was entrusted with passing on the dispensation of grace to the churches.

• Galatians 1:15-16 Paul understood the Lord knew him while he was in his mothers womb and when he was born he was born to serve Jesus Christ. It just took an amazing experience to get him on the right track.

Separated from what:  

Separated from the life of Saul of Tarsus

• Galatians1:13-14 Saul of Tarsus not only persecuted and wasted the church of God but as a Jew of Jews Saul profited from his position (monetarily and in prestige)

• Paul the apostle lost his wealth and respect of the Jewish leadership.

• He went from being sent by the Jewish leaders as Saul to being broken physically as Paul from the buffeting those who tried to stop him.

Separated from man's teaching to instruction from Jesus Christ

• Acts 22:3 from a youth Paul was taught  the perfect manner of the law of the fathers the greatest teacher of the time.

• Philippians 3:6 He believed he was blameless under the law as the persecutor of the church. he was taught that he was doing right.

• Galatians 1:12 what Paul passed on to the churches came through direct revelation from Jesus Christ Himself.

• Galatians 1:16 To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:

• No man was able to teach Paul the mysteries that Paul revealed to the churches. Why they were mysteries that only The Lord God could make manifest.

 Acts teaches about the transition the teaching of Jesus Christ to the Jews only to Gentiles mainly.

• Read Acts 11:19 with Acts 18:6

• It seems as soon as local churches were started there were those who set out to corrupt the churches with false gospels and false doctrine.

• Heresy #1: Replacement theology began. The church has replaced Israel and the promises given to Israel were now promises to the church.

• Heresy #2: The Jewish answer was the Old Testament law that gentiles who lived among the Jews had to become Jews in practice and follow the law. Gentiles who believed in Jesus Christ had to live under the law to be truly saved

• Paul answers both of these heresies in Romans.

 Romans was not Paul's first epistle, but it is placed first in order in the Bible. The road to salvation is seen in Romans. Romans is where the local church starts learning what Paul wrote to Timothy about - church doctrine. 1Timothy 3:14-16 ¶ These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly: 15 But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. 16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

• First, the local church is to be built upon the truth and where the truth is planted.

• Second, the local church is to hold the truth high above for all to see.

• Third, the truth the church is to be built upon and proclaimed begins with the mystery of godliness.

For the local church Romans is the beginning of the teaching about the truth the church is built upon and the errors the church must avoid.