Romans 1:8-17 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Romans 1:8-17. Let’s go!
Romans 1:8 (NIV)
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world.
On verse 8: I love how Paul always begins his letters with thanks. That’s such a great to live life and to do relationships. Always begin with an attitude of gratitude.
Romans 1:9-10 (NIV)
9 God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you
10 in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you.
On verses 9-10: Paul had never met the Christians in Rome before, but his heart went out to them and he would pray for them often. A great way to love people when you can’t be with them is to pray for them.
Romans 1:11-12 (NIV)
11 I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong–
12 that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.
On verses 11-12: There is a strength and mutual encouragement that comes from being together with other believers. Paul comes across in his letter not as one who just wants to take from the Christians in Rome, but as one who wants to give to them and to bless them. Likewise, may you value and prioritize being together with your brothers and sisters in Christ, knowing that the give and take exchange that happens can benefit everyone involved. In your church don’t just be a consumer who takes, but be a contributor who gives, a family member who happily gives and receives.
Romans 1:13-15 (NIV)
13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.
14 I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish.
15 That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome.
On verse 13-15: The church is Rome was most likely made up of mostly Greek Gentiles with a minority of Greek Jews and maybe some Jews from Jerusalem. Paul, a Jew by background, clarifies that he is here to serve both “Greeks and non-Greeks”, regardless of their intellectual sophistication (“both to the wise and the foolish”). For the gospel is for people of all backgrounds, ethnicities, languages and cultures. God’s kingdom is the most multi-ethnic, multi-coloured, diverse family that has ever existed or will exist.
Romans 1:16 (NIV)
16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
On verse 16: The gospel is not a human-powered thing, but a God-powered thing. Thus it is “the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes”. When we believe the gospel – this good news that Jesus died for our sins and rose again – we are then saved by the power of God. Our faith in Jesus activates God’s power to save us. Like Paul, may we not be ashamed of the gospel (v16).
Also, what does “first for the Jew, then for the Gentile” mean? It means that the gospel first came to the Jews before being spread to the Gentiles. As Jesus says in John 4:22: “salvation is from the Jews”. In other words, the gospel is like something contagious spreading where the Jews were the first ones to catch it and then spread it to the rest of the world.
Romans 1:17 (NIV)
17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
On verse 17: “Righteousness” is the state of being completely pure, holy and without sin. Because God is righteous, anything less than 100% pure and holy, anything with sin, cannot stand in God’s presence. As hard as we might try, we can never be righteous on our own. But the good news – the gospel – is that “a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith”. In other words, knowing that we could not attain righteousness on our own merit or strength, God made available to us a righteousness that you access by faith, by believing in Jesus and what He did for us. Paul quotes the prophet Habakkuk’s “the righteous will live by faith” (Habakkuk 2:4) to show that this idea of righteousness by faith is not some brand new concept but was something God promised beforehand through his prophets in Scripture (see Romans 1:2).
Father God, thank You that I can place my hope in You. Thank You that through Jesus You have revealed a righteousness that I could never earn by my own good works, but that I can receive by faith in who Jesus is and what Jesus has done for me. Thank You that through Jesus Christ I get to be part of the largest and most diverse family that has ever existed. May I not just be a consumer in this family but a contributor too. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
