Romans 1:16-17
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith."
The intention of this essay is to outline relevant points of the historical background of Paul’s epistle to the Romans, including the church in Rome, Paul’s situation and the nature of the epistle itself, and to provide a grammatical exegesis of Romans 1:16-17. I will conclude with some expository thoughts.
Historical Background of Romans
It is traditionally thought that Peter planted the church in Rome, but insufficient evidence and Paul’s statement in Rom 15:20 make that very unlikely. It is more likely that the church was made up of Romans Jews who were converted on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem and brought their faith back to Rome. Some have pointed out that Paul did not use the normal term ἐκκλησίᾳ, suggesting that the recipients of letter were not one church, or even were unconverted and in need of the Pauline gospel, although this is not conclusive. Paul makes it clear that his audience were “those who know the law” (Rom 7:1). However, he also says that they are among the Gentiles whom he is called to minister to (1:5-6). This suggests that there were both Jews and Gentiles in the community. Suetonius, a Roman historian notes that Claudius “expelled the Jews from Rome because they were constantly rioting at the instigation of Chrestus” (Suetonius: Life of Claudius 25.2). This decentralisation probably precipitated the establishing of groups of Gentile-Christians in Rome. However, Claudius’ decree did not last long and the Jews returned, undoubtedly causing tensions between the Jews and Gentiles. This tension is likely to have contributed to the occasion for Paul’s letter. Paul had heard of these difficulties and sought to clarify the relationship between Judaism and Christianity and heal any unnecessary discord.
It is also required to examine Paul’s own situation and intentions. Paul had completed his collection for Jerusalem and was travelling there to deliver it. He then planned to preach and plant churches in Spain seeing as it had not yet been reached with the gospel. His letter to the Romans may have been intended to secure support or ‘sponsorship’ from the church for this future mission.
Luke in Acts says Paul spent time in Greece before travelling to Jerusalem. Paul commends Phoebe in Cenchrea and also mentions Gaius and Erastus who were probably the same as those in Corinth. All this indicates he was in Corinth at the time of writing: around 57AD.
Furthermore, Paul’s battles with the Judaisers such as in Galatia, Corinth and Jerusalem most likely left fractured relationships. The epistle gave him an opportunity not only to heal relationships within the community he was ministering to but also give a balanced conclusion regarding his personal contentions pertaining to Judaism and the law.
However, the lack of specific imperatives and applications in his letter together with the lack of Paul’s pastoral responsibility for the church make it difficult to make precise judgements about the occasion and purpose of the letter apart from general conclusions drawn from the themes of the text itself.
Awkward transitions in the latter and textual critical problem have suggested to some that the body of text we now have is not an integrous whole. For example, that “Romans A” is made up of a certain set of pericopes and “Romans B” made up of a separate set (W. Schmithals: Der Römerbrief als historisches Problem). However, this is not conclusive and it is most likely that Romans 1:16-17, for example, is itself integrous and is in the original position relative to the rest of the letter.
Examination of the text:
Verse 16
The book follows the usual structure of Paul’s epistles: moving from theological indicatives to ethical applications with the use of imperatives. Chapters 1-4 considers the righteousness of God in wrath and grace, 5-8 deals with the hope of life one has through faith, 9-11 examines God’s righteousness concerning Israel and the Gentiles and 12-16 applies the gospel to the life of the Romans and to Paul’s own mission.
Verses sixteen and seventeen of the first chapter are often considered the statement of the thesis of the letter. The εὐαγγέλιον, salvation, righteousness, faith and the relationship between Judaism and Christianity are all present in the two verses and are key points of Paul’s argument throughout Romans.
Three out of the five clauses in v16-17 begin with the connective preposition, γὰρ, meaning ‘indeed’ or ‘for’, as does the subsequent verse (18). This calls attention to the fact that the author, is not simply stringing together a set of unrelated theological statements, he is presenting a line of argument. Each point explains and enhances the point before. This builds up a picture of his theology in order to convey a specific message, as opposed to a dispassionate systematic delineation of separate topics. Paul says that he wants to visit the church he is writing to in order to strengthen them and preach the gospel to them (v11-15), the reason being (γὰρ), he is not ashamed of the gospel (v16a) in all its fullness (v16b-17). That is, the cause of his preaching is his confidence in the content of his preaching.
The fact that, instead of a positive assertion (e.g. ‘I am confident’), he expresses it as a negation (“I am not ashamed”) suggests he is speaking in opposition to a common view or possible misunderstanding. Paul had been a respected and powerful Pharisee and was now widely recognised as an Apostle. Surely safety and dignity were his prerogatives. It would be natural for Paul to regard this ill-financed, ill-supported gospel as weak, shameful and injurious. Yet now he wishes to preach it in Rome, centre of the largest power structures in the world and thriving pagan religions. The word ‘ἐπαισχύνομαι’ (to be ashamed of something) means to be recognised as in error concerning the placement of one’s confidence. Everything about his credentials and situation should disavow the gospel as a misplacement of his confidence, and yet he is not ashamed. The reason for which he goes on to explain.
“For (γὰρ) it [the gospel] is the power of God unto salvation”. But not simply the aseitic, impersonal transcendent power of Greek theology, but power ‘εἰς’ salvation (literally ‘into’ salvation). The gospel is the efficacious work of God, delivering people from destruction into safety. That is, Christ’s suffering as a ’propitiation’ (3:25) ‘takes away the sins of the world’ (John 1:29). This begs the question ‘if Christ’s work itself affects salvation, not Paul, why must Paul risk his life for his ministry?’ He must explain not only his confidence in the gospel itself, but also his confidence in his own preaching of the gospel. Evidently, he is seeking to validate to the Romans and achieve support not only of his status as “a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God” (1:1), but also his future ministry both in Rome and his travels in Spain.
This power unto salvation is παντὶ (‘everyone’ -dative) τῷ πιστεύοντι (‘believing’ –a participle verb acting as a noun). The effects, therefore, of the work of Christ is appropriated to those who believe. What precisely the object of that belief is to be, is suggested in the evidence given from Habakkuk (v17) but is only made explicit elsewhere, such as 4:24 and 10:9 which says “If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” If then, the gospel is not a misplacement of his confidence because it is the power of God, and this power is appropriated to believers only, and belief requires hearing, and hearing requires preaching (ch.10) then his preaching of the gospel is also not a misplacement of his trust.
The universality of this salvific power, Paul explains, is bordered by the faith of the subject but not by ethnic or political entities. The Jews understood God’s covenanting with Israel to limit his salvific work to them, whereas the Gentile-Christians’, establishing greater independence from the Jewish-Christians, may have regarded the Jewish nation as irrelevant or unimportant. But Paul counters both in expressing why he preaches to the church of both Jews and gentiles. “…to the Jew first and also to the Greek” is a clarification of what is included in the category of ‘παντὶ τῷ πιστεύοντι’. If a Jew believes, therefore, the power of the gospel is made effectual in him. This renders his preaching to the gentiles participatory in his previous statement concerning the power of the gospel. He is not ashamed of preaching to the gentiles.
But this does not make the Jews and gentiles equal in every respect. Salvation was affected Ἰουδαίῳ (‘Jewish’ -dative) πρῶτον (‘first’). ‘πρῶτον’ not only denotes temporal priority, meaning the election of Israel chronologically prior to the extension of the offer of salvation to all nations, but more properly denotes primacy. In Jewish culture, the father is greater than the son, not simply older in years. In this sense, salvation is Ἰουδαίῳ πρῶτον. Furthermore, “They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises.” (9:4). The Jews did not just stumble across God’s law. God chose the Jews apart from all other nations to covenant with and bless. Chronological, and logical primacy, however, does not detract from the universality of the gospel offer.
Verse 17
Paul further explicates the reason for his confidence in the gospel in verse 17, employing again the conjunction ‘γὰρ’. In the gospel, δικαιοσύνη (‘the righteousness’ –notwithstanding the absence of the definite article) Θεοῦ (‘God’ –dative) ἀποκαλύπτεται (‘revealed in’). δικαιοσύνη denotes justice, being upright and/or right standing before a judge. The breadth of the usage of the word δικαιοσύνη and its cognates in the LXX, itself allows for a range of meanings of the phrase ‘righteousness of God’.
Righteousness being an attribute of God, a status given by God and an activity of God are all possible interpretations (Douglas J. Moo: The Epistle to the Romans p70-71). Although the options are not mutually exclusive and elements of each probably contribute to the meaning, the immediate context indicates where the emphasis should lie. Just as the “power of God” in verse sixteen is an attribute of God that becomes an activity of God as He saves man (“for salvation”), so the “righteousness of God” is an attribute which becomes an activity (“revealed from faith to faith”). Often in the Psalms for example, God saves (activity) in His righteousness (attribute). For example, “In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me” (Ps 72:2).
How then, is this saving righteousness “revealed”? ἀποκαλύπτω means the uncovering of something previously hidden or (figuratively) making visible something immaterial. Based on passages like Ephesians 3:1-13, ἀποκαλύπτω probably refers to the fulfilling and perfecting of what had been unclear to the Israelites. Namely, that the work of Christ makes Gentiles “fellow heirs” (Eph 3:6).
Paul goes on to exposit the conditions of the recipient of God’s righteous salvific work. His unusual use of propositions (ἐκ πίστεως εἰς πίστιν) has often been translated ‘from faith for faith’ but more literally means ‘by faith to faith’. What the phrase specifically denotes is unclear but it is obvious that Paul is linking the righteous work of God inextricably with the faith of the recipient. The revelation of righteousness from faith to faith contrasts the revelation of wrath in the following verse against those who suppress the truth. Just as suppression of truth characterises the recipients of wrath, faith characterises the recipients of the righteousness of God.
Paul then uses the formal marker “it is written” in order to quote from the inspired Jewish scriptures (Hab 2:4). In doing so he reaffirms the importance of the Jewish religion and affirms the continuity between Judaism and Christianity. It has often been understood that Paul misuses the verse by reading into it a theology not intended by the original author. Certainly, in at least one sense the intended significance of the text differs greatly. The historical significance is in regards to the deliverance of God’s people from Babylonian captivity, now Paul is using it to refer to faith in Christ affecting salvation. But this change in meaning can be thought of as a progression or fulfilment as opposed to a subversion of original significance (Robert Haldane Exposition of the Epistle to the Romans p50-51).
Paul further expounds God’s righteous salvific work by citing this passage. Righteousness is not merely something one observes in God’s salvific work in Christ, but it is also something found in the recipient. This implies that the righteous work of God is constituted partly by the imparting or crediting (Gen 15:6, Rom 4:22) righteousness according to this principle of faith. The righteousness of God extending to affect and encompass the righteousness of man.
In summary, Paul addresses the tensions in the Church in Rome and prompts partnership in the gospel by expounding the gospel’s central facets. The gospel calls for his confidence because it is the effective and righteous means by which God saves (F. F. Bruce, The Letter of Paul to the Romans, p730), not only for God’s historic chosen people but for all who believe.
Some expository thoughts
1. There is no place for racism in the Christian. The gospel knows no racial divisions.
2. Righteousness comes from Jesus. There is no 'good', 'moral' life apart from in Christ.
3. The gospel is in the Old Testament. Abraham was not saved by another power.
4. Get our priorities right. Paul takes seriously the problem of sin. It is blindness and deadness and rebellion. And this cancer requires a specific, carefully chosen remedy. No matter how many bandages or chicken soup, or painkillers you give a cancer victim, the cancer will remain because these things have no power over it. Similarly, the world's blind, dead, rebellion cannot be cured by our good deeds alone, or by a vague 'loving on them', or by the cosmological argument, or by introducing them to my pastor, or by making our services 'relevant', or by speaking up against abortion and homosexuality. These alone do not enjoy the power of God. Without the gospel they are nothing: useless and meaningless. Jesus of Nazareth, crucified so I don't have to be, and vindicated by resurrection, alone bears the power unto salvation. Let the gospel be the centerpiece of of our preaching, apologetics, ministry, friendships, thoughts and affections. Soli Deo Gloria.
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