Both Jews and Greeks
Paul wrote his Letter to the Romans with at least two purposes in mind. First, to prepare the ground for his visit to the city and his planned missionary trip to Spain. Second, to deal with conflicts between Jewish and Gentile believers in the assemblies of Rome. In the Letter’s first half, he explains his Gospel. In the second, he addresses the status of the Jewish people and the specific conflicts in the congregation.
Paul planned to take the Gospel
to the Iberian Peninsula and support from the Roman church would have been
critical to this effort. He had not been to Rome in his previous missionary
activities - someone else established the faith in the city, therefore, the Apostle
to the Gentiles needed to establish his credentials with the community of believers
in the imperial city.
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But in Rome, the church was experiencing tensions, including disagreements over dietary restrictions and calendrical observations. Based on his years of dealing with Jewish and Gentile believers, Paul was certainly qualified to deal with such matters.
- “I am debtor both to Greeks and to Barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you also that are in Rome… For I am not ashamed of the gospel, it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” - (Romans 1:10-12, 15-16).
In his first paragraph, Paul points
to the role of the Gospel for both Jews and Gentiles. By the term “first”
he does not mean that Jewish believers have special privileges over Gentiles as
his subsequent stress in the Letter demonstrates. The conflict between Jewish
and Gentile believers is key to understanding the Letter, and it has influenced
how Paul presents his Gospel.
For example, he warns that “tribulation
and anguish will
befall every man who works evil, of
the Jew first, and also of the Greek.” – (Romans 2:9-10).
Israel certainly did receive a great
privilege that was offered to no other nation, especially the possession of the
Law or Torah handed down at Sinai. But that also came with special
responsibilities and heightened penalties for failure to keep it.
It is not the “hearers of
the law” who are justified before God, “but the doers of the
law.” Moreover, though they may not possess the Mosaic Law, many Gentiles
“by nature do the things that are required by the law.”
ALL MEN UNDER SIN
As Paul wrote, both “Jews
and Greeks are all under sin.” The one God of Israel is also the
“God of the Gentiles.” In the end, both the men who sin “within the
law” (Jews) and “without the law” (Gentiles) will find themselves
judged by the one God of all who will not show partiality on the “Day of Wrath.”
Obedience counts, NOT ethnicity or nationality.
Neither is Paul suggesting that
believing Gentiles are better off than Jewish saints. “Are we better
than they? No, certainly not; for we
before charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.”
All men and women are in the same predicament due to their disobedience to and
rebellion against their Creator.
All have “sinned and therefore lack the glory of God.” Likewise, all will be saved in the same way - “through the faith of Jesus Christ for all that believe, for there is no distinction” – (Romans 3:1-26).
The issue becomes
front-and-center in Chapters 9 through 11 where Paul deals with the challenge,
“Has the word of God failed?” Despite possessing the ordinances and
covenant promises, collectively, Israel had rejected her Messiah. So, did God
likewise reject the Jewish people? Paul declares most emphatically, “No!”
Moreover, not all “Israel are
of Israel, neither because they are Abraham's seed are they all
children.” It is NOT biological descent that determines membership in the
covenant people, but a faithful response to the Gospel.
FAITH NOT BIOLOGY
Paul himself provided clear
evidence that God has not rejected the Jewish people since he was a convert and
Jewish disciple of Jesus. Likewise, many other Jews at the time had accepted
Jesus as their Lord and Messiah.
The many “wild branches” (Gentiles) were “grafted into the olive tree” because of their faith. But many
of the “natural branches” (Jews) were “cut off” from the ONE olive tree “because
of their unbelief.”
But the “natural branches” may yet be grafted back in if
they come to faith in Jesus, just as the “wild branches” previously grafted onto the tree may yet find themselves “cut off” for unbelief. Once again, FAITH is the
determining factor, not D.N.A.
Jesus was sent to Israel to “confirm the
promises to the fathers.” But those promises always envisioned the
inclusion of the Gentiles in God’s one covenant people - (Romans 15:8-12).
In all this, Paul refers to
only one Church or Body of Christ which is comprised of believing “Jews and Gentiles” who have been justified “from
the faith of Jesus Christ.” The Gospel
he preached is the “power
of God for salvation for everyone who believes, to the Jew first, and also to
the Greek.”
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