The Reformed Home Schooler

Weekly Bible Study - Romans 1:1-4 Oct. 22, 2007

By Reading the Book of Romans with an open and discerning mind when I was younger I was led to see that the Roman Catholic church was really no church at all and I needed to get out if I was to truly follow Christ.  It was the beginning of my journey to becoming a Christian.

Today the Book of Romans is often not viewed in it's entirety in many Church's because much of the doctrine contained therein contradicts the particular belief of some denominations.  This is unfortunate because it clearly sets out the means of  Justification, t he act of Adoption by our heavenly Father and the process of Sanctification.  It clearly states God's plan for Salvation for his chosen people.  I still find much comfort in reading it today an I hope that through this study we will be able to explore it together to open up these great truths it professes.

This weeks Passage: Romans 1:1-4

1 Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God 2 which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, 3 concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, 4 and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.  (NKJV)

WOW!!!

This simple introduction has so much meat in it that is often missed at first Glance in it Paul provides an example of Christian Living,  Biblical Prophesy and the Authority of Scripture,  the complete Gospel Message and even the Trinity.

Romans has so much in to help us have a better understanding of the will of God for our lives, how God works in his eternal plan, God's vision for his church, and the theology of salvation that it should be no surprise that these simple 4 verses contain so much. 

What is the Christians Relationship with God?

In the opening verse Paul tells us who he is, what his job is and what state he is in.  Paul tells us he is a "Bondservant"  The original Greek word that is used here is "doulos" it is sometimes translated as  Bondman in 21st Century society we are familiar with the word Slave  but Bondservant or Bondman are not words in our common day usage.  So let me explain the meaning of these terms of a non Biblical Historical example.  Some of my ancestors arrived in Canada in the 1840's escaping the Potatoe Blight in Ireland as Endentured Servants, they were "bondservants" they were poor and could not afford the voyage on thier own so they came this way.  What this meant is that they had a debt (to the Captain or owner of the ship) when they arrived somebody paid this debt and they were to serve the payer to pay back the debt, they were in his servitude.  This was a common practice especially after the slave trade ended in the British Empire  This was not just used in History as a way of paying for ship fare but was often used off for many debts.  It was a very common practice.   

A couple of basic points about "Bond servitude"  the debt was theirs to pay but a benefactor paid it and because they had thier debt paid they had an obligation to serve the one who paid it.  Much the same Paul is saying he had a debt that needed to be paid.  As we will see later in the study the debt is from his sin and one only has to briefly skim over the Old Testament to see that the payment for sin requires Blood. 

So Paul as a Christian is a Bondservant  he also says he was called to be an Apostle.   Apostles were an office of the Early church only.  Apostles are different than any other church office because they were specifcally chosen by Christ  in an outward manner.  A man might have a calling today to be a minister, elder, deacon, missionary etc. but the calling is a much different one.  But I don't want to get into the nature of the office as much but to see that Paul had a specific calling.  Likewise we all today have a calling, we might not be called to be chuch leaders but as Christians we have a calling to serve Christ and to as Paul says seperate ourselves to the Gospel. 

I want to examine where Paul says this Gospel comes from he says it was promised through the Scriptures and the Prophets.   Paul is not only stating the prophesies of the Old Testament were fulfilled by Christ but also that Christ is the Gospel message of the Old Testament.  Simply God is unachangeable, his way of salvation is unchangeable.  God had ordained Christ to be the way of Salvation since the beginning of time, not just for the New Testament church but for God's Old Testament Church as well.  Simply there was not one way of salvation for one historical age and a different one for another.

In Genesis 3 God made a covenant promise to man in regards to overcoming Satan

"14 So the Lord God said to the serpent: "Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel."

This plan was always for Christ to die for our sins and it always was the ONLY way to have your sins forgiven.  The Old Testament sacrifices did not restore Israel to God but only pointed towards the one worthy Sacrifice which was to come.  Those who had faith and trusted in this were redeemed.  Abraham was saved not because he was willing to sacrifice Isaac but because he had faith he trusted in the promises of God that he would be blessed through Isaac, he trusted that God could raise Isaac up again.  He witnessed with the Ram that God would send another to be our sacrifice to pay the debt for our transgressions.

Paul states openly and emppahtically that Christ is the "Son of God" and that through the resurection God declared openly that Christ is his Son. Paul not only identifies the 2nd person of the God head but he also identifies and acknowledges the work of the 3rd, the Holy Spirit.

What does this mean for the world?

What does this mean for us as believers?

How can we apply this knowledge to our day to day lives?

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Untitled Comment

Arby - 10:33 AM - Oct. 23, 2007

Untitled Comment

Chris - 5:17 PM - Oct. 23, 2007

Good Start

rcelliott - 10:12 PM - Oct. 23, 2007