Romans Introduction worksheet
Q1 Who wrote the letter/book (Romans 1:1-6)?
Q2 Who assisted to get this book in our hands (Romans 16:1 and 16:22)
Q3 To whom was this letter written (Romans 1:7 and 1:15)?
Q4 Who founded the church in Rome (Acts 2:10)?
Q5 Were these people believers (Romans 1:7-8)?
Q6 Paul went to Rome three times by free will. But the fourth time he was not a free man. Explain using Acts 28:17-31.
Q7 Where was the letter/book Romans supposedly written from (Romans 16:23 and 1 Corinthians 1:14)? Look in these two verses for two man’s names, Gaius and Erestus (Romans 16:23 and 2 Timothy 4:20).
The city of Corinth was corrupted, also called korintiasomai κορινθιάζομαι, which means ‘corrupt’. Romans 1:18-31 makes sense. Therefore Paul wanted to travel to Rome several times. See 2 Corinthians 13:1-2, where he writes that sin, comparable with what he noticed in Corinth, needed to be addressd.
Another reason for Paul to write this letter to Rome was that antisemitism had seeped into the Roman church. Emperor Claudius commanded all Jews to leave the city. That early in history. We’ll come back on that when we comment on Romans 10 and 11.
Q8 When was this letter/book written?
The church expanded from Jerusalem in northwest direction. First the church of Antioch was established. After that Paul spent three years in Ephesus (Acts 19:1-10). However, Paul knows that the center of all Europe was Rome. He wanted to setup the church’s headquarters in Rome. Rome was Paul’s launching place for his future missionary expansion to the world. Next country would be Spain.
Q9 All New Testament letters are written to address a certain urgent problem or crisis. Why did Paul write the letter/book of Romans? Was it a preparation for a next visit (Romans 15:22-24)?
Q10 What was the second reason to visit the Roman church? Had it to do with the unique situation that Rome was the church that was never founded by an apostle? Did the Roman church need a greater doctrine?
Another reason for Paul was to resolve a Jew-Gentile conflict in Rome (Romans 14 and 15). And another reson was to vindicate/prove the righteousness of God (Romans 9:14) and also to preserve a written record of the Gospel for the subsequent generations, including the explanation of the starting church age dispensation.
Paul also wants to protect the church from false teachers (Romans 16:17-20) by exposing the church to the truth.
A final reason to go to Rome was to counterfit antisemitism (Acts 18:2).
Read this book to have insight in what started with the early church in persecuting Jews. God is not finished with the Jew (Romans 9, 10, and 11).
What is the message of the letter/book? Answer: the Gospel. Everybody’s justification (in an instant), sanctification (a process), glorification (out of this body). This deals with the past tense of salvation, the present tense of salvation, and the future tense of salvation.
In chapters 9, 10, and 11 God starts to speak about the nation of Israel. He reminds everyone what He has promised:
35This is what the Lord says, he who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the Lord Almighty is his name: 36“Only if these decrees vanish from my sight,” declares the Lord, “will Israel ever cease being a nation before me.” 37This is what the Lord says: “Only if the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth below be searched out will I reject all the descendants of Israel because of all they have done,” declares the Lord (Jeremiah 31:35-37).
Q11 With the prophecy above in mind, what do you need to do to get rid of Israel, despite Israels shortcomings?
God has never broken His promises. Also not the promises He made to Israel. For Paul reason enough to spend three chapters (9, 10, and 11) on this in his letter/book.
In Romans 12 we learn about our service.
What is the outline of the book of Romans?
1. 1:1 - 1:17 Salution
2. 1:18 - 3:20 Sin (no Gospel, no love nor grace of God)
3. 3:21 - 5:21 Salvation
4. 6:1 - 8:39 Sanctification relationship to sin, law, and Spirit
5. 9, 10, 11 Sovereignty and Israel
6. 12:1 - 15:13 Service
7. 15:14 - 16:27 Conclusion
Chapters 1-11 is about doctrine or orthodoxy
Chapters 12-16 is about application or orthopraxy
What makes this book so unique/special? It’s masterful logic. It refers to the Old Testament and is therefore consistent. The book has touched many: Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Tyndale, Wesley, and many more.
May we not go through the book of Romans. But may the book of Romans go through us.