Commentary on Romans (Commentary on the New Testament Book #6)

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Introduction

Dear reader,

Here you have part of a commentary on the whole New Testament, published by Baker Academic both in hardback and as an ebook. The electronic version has been broken into segments for your convenience and affordability, though if you like what you find here you may want to consider the whole at a proportionately lower cost. Whether in whole or in part, the e-version puts my comments at your fingertips on your easily portable Kindle, iPad, smartphone, or similar device.

I’ve written this commentary especially for busy people like you—lay people with jobs and families that take up a lot of time, Bible study leaders, pastors, and all who take the New Testament seriously—that is, people who time-wise and perhaps money-wise can’t afford the luxury of numerous heavyweight, technical commentaries on the individual books making up the section of the Bible we call the New Testament. So technical questions are avoided almost entirely, and the commentary concentrates on what will prove useful for understanding the scriptural text as a basis for your personal life as a Christian, for discussion with others, and for teaching and preaching.

Group discussion, teaching, and preaching all involve speaking aloud, of course, and when the New Testament was written, even private reading was done aloud. Moreover, most authors dictated their material to a writing secretary, and books were ordinarily read aloud to an audience. In this commentary, then, I’ve avoided almost all abbreviations (which don’t come through as such in oral speech) and have freely used contractions that characterize speaking (we’ll, you’re, they’ve, and so on). To indicate emphasis in oral speech, italics also occur fairly often.

You’ll mostly have to make your own practical and devotional applications of the scriptural text. But such applications shouldn’t disregard or violate the meanings intended by the Scripture’s divinely inspired authors and should draw on the richness of those meanings. So I’ve interpreted them in detail. Bold print indicates the text being interpreted. Translations of the original Greek are my own. Because of the interpretations’ close attention to detail, my translations usually, though not always, gravitate to the literal and sometimes produce run-on sentences and other nonstandard, convoluted, and even highly unnatural English. Square brackets enclose intervening clarifications, however, plus words in English that don’t correspond to words in the Greek text but do need supplying to make good sense. (As a language, Greek has a much greater tendency than English does to omit words meant to be supplied mentally.) Seemingly odd word-choices in a translation get justified in the following comments. It needs to be said as well that the very awkwardness of a literal translation often highlights features of the scriptural text obscured, eclipsed, or even contradicted by loose translations and paraphrases.

Literal translation also produces some politically incorrect English. Though brothers often includes sisters, for example, sisters doesn’t include brothers. Similarly, masculine pronouns may include females as well as males, but not vice versa. These pronouns, brothers, and other masculine expressions that on occasion are gender-inclusive correspond to the original, however, and help give a linguistic feel for the male-dominated culture in which the New Testament originated and which its language reflects. Preachers, Bible study leaders, and others should make whatever adjustments they think necessary for contemporary audiences but should not garble the text’s intended meaning.

Out of respect for your abilities so far as English is concerned, I’ve not dumbed down the vocabulary used in translations and interpretations. Like the translations, interpretations are my own. Rather than reading straight through, many of you may consult the interpretation of an individual passage now and then. So I’ve had to engage in a certain amount of repetition. To offset the repetition and keep the material in bounds, I rarely discuss others’ interpretations. But I’ve not neglected to canvass them in my research.

On the theological front, the commentary is unabashedly evangelical, so that my prayers accompany this volume in support of all you who strive for faithfulness to the New Testament as the word of God.

Robert Gundry

Romans

Paul wrote this letter in Corinth, Greece, during his third missionary journey (15:25–26; 16:23; 1 Corinthians 1:14). There being no public postal service, the commendation of Phoebe, a woman who lived in Cenchrea right next door to Corinth, probably indicates that she carried the letter to Christians in Rome (16:1–2). They were predominantly Gentile (1:5–6; 13, 11:13, 22–31; 15:15–16). Paul hadn’t founded a church in Rome, but he planned to visit the Christians there and gain their support for a mission to Spain farther west (15:24, 28). So the letter takes the form of a self-introduction in terms of the gospel he proclaims.

INTRODUCTION

Romans 1:1–17

The introduction to Romans divides into a greeting (1:1–7), Paul’s plan to visit Rome (1:8–15), and a statement of the letter’s theme (1:16–17).

1:1–7: Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called [to be] an apostle, having been set apart for the gospel of God ²that was promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures ³concerning his Son, who in accordance with flesh came on the scene out of David’s seed, ⁴who in accordance with the Spirit of Holiness was designated God’s Son with power by resurrection from the dead—[namely,] Jesus Christ, our Lord, ⁵through whom we’ve received grace and apostleship for the purpose of bringing about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name, ⁶among whom [referring to all the Gentiles] also are you [as] Jesus Christ’s called ones—⁷to all God’s beloved who are in Rome, called [to be] saints: Grace and peace to you from God, our Father, and the Lord, Jesus Christ. Paul identifies himself by name, by a self-designation (a slave of Christ Jesus), and by a designation placed on him (an apostle). To be the slave of an important personage gave one prestige, and the placement of Christ as a title (the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew Messiah) before Jesus highlights Jesus’ importance. So Paul’s self-designation sounds a note of derived authority. Since most of the Roman Christians didn’t know him, he needed to establish his bona fides right from the start. The note of authority carries over into the designation placed on him, for an apostle was someone sent to speak and act with the full authority of the sender. The mention of Christ Jesus makes clear that he’s the one who called Paul to be his apostle. As elsewhere, Paul uses called for an effective initiative on the part of the caller (compare Isaiah 49:1–6; Jeremiah 1:4–5). Having been set apart distinguishes Paul from Christians who aren’t apostles and thus underlines his authority yet again. For the gospel identifies proclamation of the gospel as the purpose of his call to apostleship. For the gospel as promised, compare Galatians 3:13–29. Beforehand indicates that the gospel was promised prior to the coming of Christ, whose death and resurrection made the gospel possible. Through his prophets casts the prophets in the role of God’s mouthpieces, so that the gospel originated from God—hence, "the gospel of God. In the Holy Scriptures points to the written records of the prophetic promise and therefore assures the Roman Christians that Paul doesn’t proclaim a gospel disagreeable with the Old Testament. Holy" describes those scriptures as sacred, that is, as different from other writings because of divine inspiration.

Concerning his Son tells who Christ Jesus is in relation to God and thus implies Jesus’ deity. As to humanity, Paul references Jesus’ physical descent from David, because the prophetic scriptures promised that the Messiah, the Christ, would stem from David’s royal line (2 Samuel 7:12–17; Isaiah 11:1–5, 10; Jeremiah 23:5–6; 33:14–17; Ezekiel 34:23–24; 37:24–25; Acts 13:22–23, 32–34; 2 Timothy 2:8). Since Paul has paired Jesus’ divine sonship and humanly physical descent, the designation of Jesus as God’s Son with power puts emphasis on his investment with the power of his messianic office. By resurrection from the dead identifies the occasion of this investment (compare Acts 2:29–36). In accordance with the Spirit of Holiness attributes Jesus’ resurrection to the action of God’s Spirit and indicates that it’s characteristic of the Spirit to give life through resurrection just as in accordance with flesh indicated that it’s characteristic of flesh to give life through procreation (8:11; 1 Corinthians 15:45). And just as Holy described the Scriptures as belonging to a different category from other writings because of divine inspiration, of Holiness describes the Spirit as belonging to a different category from human, angelic, and demonic spirits because of divinity. (The Spirit of Holiness differs from Paul’s usual phrase, the Holy Spirit, and thereby supports a hypothesis that he’s quoting an early Christian confession.)

Jesus Christ identifies God’s Son, and our Lord identifies Jesus Christ in terms of his designation as God’s Son with power. Our would seem at first to include the Roman Christians along with Paul. But he immediately uses we for the recipients of grace and apostleship in distinction from you who are among all the Gentiles. So who are the our and we? Because Paul hasn’t mentioned any cosenders of the letter (whereas in his other letters he usually does) and because his apostleship concentrates distinctively on the evangelizing of Gentiles (see, for example, Galatians 2:2, 7–9), most commentators think that Paul is using an editorial our and we that excludes any others. Nevertheless, he will send the Roman Christians greetings from Timothy as his fellow worker (16:21); and elsewhere he regularly uses we, our, and us in close connection with his fellow workers, his traveling companions, and then switches to I, my, and me for himself alone. It seems likely, then, that here Paul includes Timothy, anonymously for the time being, not as an apostle but as a sharer in Paul’s apostolic ministry to Gentiles. Grace and apostleship describes Paul’s apostleship as a gracious gift, ill-deserved because prior to his call he persecuted the church (see especially Galatians 1:13–16, 22–24). Through whom portrays Jesus Christ as the agent of this gracious apostleship and alludes to his calling and commissioning Paul on the road to Damascus (Acts 26:12–18).

"The obedience of faith makes believing the gospel an act of obedience in that the word translated faith can equally well be translated belief (10:16; 15:18); and the obedience of faith puts this obedience in the category of belief/faith rather than of works (see 4:4–5 for Paul’s distinguishing between these categories). Among all the Gentiles establishes Paul’s apostolic prerogative to proclaim the gospel in Rome. For the sake of his name means to bring Jesus Christ honor by getting Gentiles to confess him as Lord and to call on him as such for their salvation (10:9–10, 13). As called ones, the Roman Christians don’t simply belong to Jesus Christ. He himself called them to salvation just as he called Paul to apostleship. As usual, the call proved effective. God loves the Roman Christians because his Son, Jesus Christ, called them. To all God’s beloved who are in Rome finally locates the addressees and includes a minority of Jewish Christians (see, for example, 4:1; 16:3 [with Acts 18:3], 7) in addition to the majority of Gentile Christians (all the Gentiles . . . among whom also are you), though there may be an allusion to groups of Christians scattered around the big city of Rome, in which case Paul is indicating that this letter should be circulated among them all (compare 16:4–5, 14–15). Called [to be] saints doesn’t mean that they’re urged to become godly in their behavior (though of course they should)—rather, that their call has already consecrated them to God and in this respect made them unlike the other Gentiles, pagans, among whom they live. For the greeting Grace . . . and peace, see the comments on 1 Peter 1:2; 2 John 3. From God, our Father, and the Lord, Jesus Christ transforms an expected greeting from Paul into a greeting from God and Jesus Christ the Lord, so that once more the authority of this letter is underscored. Yet balancing the element of authority is the designation of God as our Father, for it establishes a familial framework for Paul’s coming explanation of the gospel. Since Jesus Christ is the divine Lord as well as a human being, Paul pairs him with God, so that the two become objects of one and the same preposition, from."

1:8–12: First, on the one hand, I’m thanking my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being heralded in the whole world. ⁹For God, for whom I’m doing religious service in my spirit in the gospel of his Son, is my witness [as to] how incessantly I mention you ¹⁰when begging [God] always on [the occasion of] my prayers if somehow now I’ll sometime have my way paved in God’s will to come to you. ¹¹For I long to see you in order that I may share with you some Spiritual gift so that you may be stabilized—¹²that is, on the other hand, so that [I] may be mutually encouraged among you through the faith [that we share] among one another, both your [faith] and mine. Letter-writers customarily followed the introductory address with a thanksgiving or prayer for the addressees. Here Paul follows the custom and includes both a thanksgiving and a prayer to establish rapport with the Roman Christians, because most of them are personally unacquainted with him. Such rapport will dispose them to accept his explanation of the gospel in the rest of his letter. Thanking God for them both compliments them and gives God the glory for their Christian faith, that is, their belief in Jesus Christ his Son. For all of you see the comments on all God’s beloved who are in Rome (1:7). "I’m thanking my God reflects Paul’s feeling of closeness to God. Through Jesus Christ portrays him as the way to God for Paul’s giving of thanks to God. Rome was a big city and capital of a far-flung empire. It was natural, then, for the faith of Christian residents of that city to be heralded abroad: The gospel has reached Rome and prospered there! Since Paul aspires to proclaim the gospel where Christ hasn’t yet been named (15:20) and since he plans to go to Spain (15:23–24), in the whole world means either that the Roman Christians’ faith but not the substance of the gospel has been heralded in the whole world, or that Paul is using hyperbole. In either case, the whole world" probably means for him and his audience the civilized world consisting of the Roman Empire.

Paul calls his apostolic work a religious service for God. In my spirit describes this service as taking place within Paul himself, and therefore sincerely, rather than in a temple, where other religious service is normally done. In the gospel of [= about] his Son describes this service as taking place also outwardly through Paul’s proclamation of this gospel (15:15–16). God . . . is my witness emphasizes the truth of what Paul is about to say. Given God’s witnessing how well Paul’s words agree or disagree with the truth, Paul wouldn’t dare lie to the Romans. The truth is that as shown in his prayers, he wants to visit the Christians in Rome. Begging intensifies his praying that his way be paved for such a visit. Incessantly adds persistence to intensity. A redundant and therefore emphatic always fortifies the persistence. Somehow indicates that Paul wants to visit the Roman Christians by any means possible, and sometime indicates he wants to visit them at any time possible. But now indicates his preference for a visit in the very near future. Nonetheless, in God’s will subordinates Paul’s desire and preference to the will of him for whom [he’s] doing religious service. So how does Paul’s thanking God for the Roman Christians show itself? Answer: by the incessant mention of them in Paul’s prayers. Why does he mention them incessantly in his prayers? Answer: because of long[ing] to see them. And what is the purpose of the desired seeing of them? Answer: the sharing with them of some Spiritual gift for their stabilization.

A Spiritual gift is a gift given to Christians by the Holy Spirit—hence the capitalization in Spiritual. There’s a multiplicity of such gifts (for listings, see 1 Corinthians 12:8–11, 28–30), and Paul has more than one of them (including apostleship, teaching, miracle-working, and speaking in tongues [see, for example, 1 Corinthians 14:18; 2 Corinthians 12:12]). Depending on what he sees the Roman Christians need, he’ll share one of those gifts with them in the sense that he’ll exercise it to their benefit. So that you may be stabilized [in your faith] defines the benefit in view of the pressure on them to apostatize (16:17–19). On the other hand balances mutual encouragement in a future visit over against Paul’s thanking God for them during present absence (1:8: on the one hand). By being among them Paul would both give and get encouragement. Through the faith [that we share] among one another would provide the means of mutual encouragement. Both your [faith] and mine underlines the sharing of faith in Jesus as that means.

1:13–15: And I don’t want you to be ignorant, brothers, [of the fact] that I’ve often planned to come to you (and heretofore have been curbed [from doing so]) in order that I may have some fruit also among you, just as also among the rest of the Gentiles. ¹⁴To both Greeks and barbarians, to both wise people and mindless people, I’m a debtor—¹⁵thus my eagerness to proclaim the gospel also to you, the ones in Rome. In several ways Paul continues trying to build rapport with the Roman Christians so that they’ll accept his explanation of the gospel, which includes lifestyle as well as belief: (1) his addressing them affectionately with brothers; (2) his expressing a desire that they not be ignorant of his past plans; (3) his having planned to visit them; (4) his describing the planning as frequent; (5) his describing the planning as having been frustrated each time, so that his failure to visit them heretofore hasn’t been his fault; (6) his describing himself as a debtor to the Romans, as also to others; and (7) his describing himself as eager to pay off his debt to the Romans by proclaiming the gospel to them.

At first blush, Paul’s purpose to have some fruit also among [the Roman Christians], just as also among the rest of the Gentiles looks like a figurative reference to gaining converts, so that they have the fruit of eternal life (compare 6:21–22). But it’s he, not they, whom he wants to have some fruit. Maybe fruit stands for successful ministry on his part, then (as in Philippians 1:22). In 15:22–29, however, Paul clearly uses fruit as a figure of speech for the material support he hopes to get from the Roman Christians for his projected mission to Spain, and he includes indebtedness in the discussion just as he does here.