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    Romans–Galatians
    Romans–Galatians
    Romans–Galatians
    Ebook1,269 pages20 hours

    Romans–Galatians

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    About this ebook

    Continuing a Gold Medallion Award-winning legacy, the completely revised Expositor's Bible Commentary puts world-class biblical scholarship in your hands.

    A staple for students, teachers, and pastors worldwide, The Expositor's Bible Commentary (EBC) offers comprehensive yet succinct commentary from scholars committed to the authority of the Holy Scriptures. The EBC uses the New International Version of the Bible, but the contributors work from the original Hebrew and Greek languages and refer to other translations when useful.

    Each section of the commentary includes:

    • An introduction: background information, a short bibliography, and an outline
    • An overview of Scripture to illuminate the big picture
    • The complete NIV text
    • Extensive commentary
    • Notes on textual questions, key words, and concepts
    • Reflections to give expanded thoughts on important issues

    The series features 56 contributors, who:

    • Believe in the divine inspiration, complete trustworthiness, and full authority of the Bible
    • Have demonstrated proficiency in the biblical book that is their specialty
    • Are committed to the church and the pastoral dimension of biblical interpretation
    • Represent geographical and denominational diversity
    • Use a balanced and respectful approach toward marked differences of opinion
    • Write from an evangelical viewpoint

    For insightful exposition, thoughtful discussion, and ease of use—look no further than The Expositor's Bible Commentary.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherZondervan
    Release dateJan 4, 2011
    ISBN9780310590576
    Romans–Galatians

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      Romans–Galatians - Zondervan

      THE EXPOSITOR’S BIBLE COMMENTARY

      in Thirteen Volumes

      When complete, the Expositor’s Bible Commentary will include the following volumes:

      Volume 1: Genesis—Leviticus

      Volume 2: Numbers—Ruth

      Volume 3: 1 Samuel—2 Kings

      Volume 4: 1 Chronicles—Job

      Volume 5: Psalms

      Volume 6: Proverbs—Isaiah

      Volume 7: Jeremiah—Ezekiel

      Volume 8: Daniel—Malachi

      Volume 9: Matthew—Mark

      Volume 10: Luke—Acts

      Volume 11: Romans—Galatians

      Volume 12: Ephesians—Philemon

      Volume 13: Hebrews—Revelation

      To see which titles are available, visit www.zondervan.com.

      ZONDERVAN

      The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Romans—Galatians

      Romans—Copyright © 2008 by Everett F. Harrison and Donald A. Hagner

      1 Corinthians—Copyright © 2008 by Verlyn D. Verbrugge

      2 Corinthians—Copyright © 2008 by Murray J. Harris

      Galatians—Copyright © 2008 by Robert K. Rapa

      All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Zondervan.

      ePub Edition August 2009 ISBN: 978-0-310-59057-6

      Requests for information should be addressed to:

      Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      The expositor’s Bible commentary / [general editors], Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland.—Rev.

           p. cm.

      Includes bibliographical references.

      IBSN 978-0-310-23501-9

      1. Bible. N.T.—Commentaries. I. Longman, Tremper. II. Garland, David E.

      BS2341.53.E96 2005

      220.7—dc22                                                                                             2005006281

      All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible: New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

      Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible. Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

      Interior design by Tracey Walker

      CONTENTS

      Title Page

      Copyright Page

      Contributors to Volume Eleven

      Preface

      Abbreviations

      Romans

      1 Corinthians

      2 Corinthians

      Galatians

      About the Publisher

      Share Your Thoughts

      CONTRIBUTORS TO VOLUME ELEVEN

      Romans: Everett F. Harrison (Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania) was founding faculty member of Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, where he served as professor of New Testament for some thirty years.

      Romans: Donald A. Hagner (Ph.D., University of Manchester) is the George Eldon Ladd professor of New Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California.

      1 Corinthians: Verlyn D. Verbrugge (Ph.D., Notre Dame University) is senior editor of academic and professional books at Zondervan in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

      2 Corinthians: Murray J. Harris (Ph.D., University of Manchester) is professor of New Testament exegesis and theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois.

      Galatians: Robert Keith Rapa (Th.D., University of South Africa) is dean and professor of New Testament at Asia Baptist Theological Seminary in Singapore.

      General editor: Tremper Longman III (Ph.D.,Yale University) is Robert H. Gundry professor of biblical studies at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California.

      General editor: David E. Garland (Ph.D., Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is associate dean of academic affairs and William M. Hinson professor of Christian Scriptures at George W. Truett Seminary, Baylor University, in Waco,Texas.

      PREFACE

      Frank Gaebelein wrote the following in the preface to the original Expositor’s Bible Commentary (which first appeared in 1979): The title of this work defines its purpose. Written primarily by expositors for expositors, it aims to provide preachers, teachers, and students of the Bible with a new and comprehensive commentary on the books of the Old and New Testaments. Those volumes achieved that purpose admirably. The original EBC was exceptionally well received and had an enormous impact on the life of the church. It has served as the mainstay of countless pastors and students who could not afford an extensive library on each book of the Bible but who wanted solid guidance from scholars committed to the authority of the Holy Scriptures.

      Gaebelein also wrote, A commentary that will continue to be useful through the years should handle contemporary trends in biblical studies in such a way as to avoid becoming outdated when critical fashions change. This revision continues the EBC’s exalted purpose and stands on the shoulders of the expositors of the first edition, but it seeks to maintain the usefulness of the commentary by interacting with new discoveries and academic discussions. While the primary goal of this commentary is to elucidate the text and not to provide a guide to the scholarly literature about the text, the commentators critically engage recent academic discussion and provide updated bibliographies so that pastors, teachers, and students can keep abreast of modern scholarship.

      Some of the commentaries in the EBC have been revised by the original author or in conjunction with a younger colleague. In other cases, scholars have been commissioned to offer fresh commentaries because the original author had passed on or wanted to pass on the baton to the next generation of evangelical scholars. Today, with commentaries on a single book of the Old and New Testaments often extending into multiple volumes, the need for a comprehensive yet succinct commentary that guides one to the gist of the text’s meaning is even more pressing. The new EBC seeks to fill this need.

      The theological stance of this commentary series remains unchanged: the authors are committed to the divine inspiration, complete trustworthiness, and full authority of the Bible. The commentators have demonstrated proficiency in the biblical book that is their specialty, as well as commitment to the church and the pastoral dimension of biblical interpretation. They also represent the geographical and confessional diversity that characterized the first contributors.

      The commentaries adhere to the same chief principle of grammatico-historical interpretation that drove the first edition. In the foreword to the inaugural issue of the journal New Testament Studies in 1954, Matthew Black warned that the danger in the present is that theology, with its head too high in the clouds, may end by falling into the pit of an unhistorical and uncritical dogmatism. Into any new theological undertaking must be brought all that was best in the old ideal of sound learning, scrupulous attention to philology, text and history. The dangers that Black warned against over fifty years ago have not vanished. Indeed, new dangers arise in a secular, consumerist culture that finds it more acceptable to use God’s name in exclamations than in prayer and that encourages insipid theologies that hang in the wind and shift to tickle the ears and to meet the latest fancy. Only a solid biblical foundation can fend off these fads.

      The Bible was not written for our information but for our transformation. It is not a quarry to find stones with which to batter others but to find the rock on which to build the church. It does not invite us simply to speak of God but to hear God and to confess that his Son, Jesus Christ, is Lord to the glory of God the Father (Php 2:10). It also calls us to obey his commandments (Mt 28:20). It is not a self-interpreting text, however. Interpretation of the Holy Scriptures requires sound learning and regard for history, language, and text. Exegetes must interpret not only the primary documents but all that has a bearing, direct or indirect, on the grammar and syntax, historical context, transmission, and translation of these writings.

      The translation used in this commentary remains the New International Version (North American edition), but all of the commentators work from the original languages (Hebrew and Greek) and draw on other translations when deemed useful. The format is also very similar to the original EBC, while the design is extensively updated with a view to enhanced ease of use for the reader. Each commentary section begins with an introduction (printed in a single-column format) that provides the reader with the background necessary to understand the Bible book. Almost all introductions include a short bibliography and an outline. The Bible text is divided into primary units that are often explained in an Overview section that precedes commentary on specific verses. The complete text of the New International Version is provided for quick reference, and an extensive Commentary section (printed in a double-column format) follows the reproducing of the text. When the Hebrew or Greek text is cited in the commentary section, a phonetic system of transliteration and translation is used. The Notes section (printed in a single-column format) provides a specialized discussion of key words or concepts, as well as helpful resource information. The original languages and their transliterations will appear in this section. Finally, on occasion, expanded thoughts can be found in a Reflections section (printed in a double-column format) that follows the Notes section.

      One additional feature is worth mentioning. Throughout this volume, wherever specific biblical words are discussed, the Goodrick-Kohlenberger (GK) numbers have been added. These numbers, which appear in the Strongest NIV Exhaustive Concordance and other reference tools, are based on the numbering system developed by Edward Goodrick and John Kohlenberger III and provide a system similar but superior to the Strong’s numbering system.

      The editors wish to thank all of the contributors for their hard work and commitment to this project. We also deeply appreciate the labor and skill of the staff at Zondervan. It is a joy to work with them—in particular Jack Kuhatschek, Stan Gundry, Katya Covrett, and Dirk Buursma. In addition, we acknowledge with thanks the work of Connie Gundry Tappy as copy editor.

      We all fervently desire that these commentaries will result not only in a deeper intellectual grasp of the Word of God but also in hearts that more profoundly love and obey the God who reveals himself to us in its pages.

      David E. Garland, associate dean for academic affairs and

      William M. Hinson professor of Christian Scriptures,

      George W. Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor University

      Tremper Longman III, Robert H. Gundry professor of biblical

      studies,Westmont College

      ABBREVIATIONS

      ROMANS

      EVERETT F. HARRISON AND DONALD A. HAGNER

      Introduction

      1. Founding and History of the Church at Rome

      2. Authorship, Date, and Place of Origin

      3. Destination and Integrity

      4. Occasion and Purpose

      5. Composition of the Roman Church

      6. Literary Form

      7. Theology

      8. The New Perspective on Paul

      9. Canonicity

      10. Bibliography

      11. Outline

      1. FOUNDING AND HISTORY OF THE CHURCH AT ROME

      By common consent, Romans is the greatest of Paul’s letters and one of the foundational documents of Christianity. The Roman church was to become one of the major centers of Christendom, yet next to nothing is known about the circumstances surrounding the founding and early history of this church. The apostle writes to a well-established Christian community that seems to have existed for decades and had already become famous far and wide for its faith (Ro 1:8). Luke refers to visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism) as pilgrims who were present in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost (Ac 2:10). From this it seems possible, or even probable, that converts within this group who became Christians returned to Rome and became the nucleus of the first Christian church there. This agrees with the testimony of Ambrosiaster (fourth century AD) that the Roman church was not established by an apostle but by unnamed Hebrew Christians: The Romans had embraced the faith of Christ, albeit according to the Jewish rites, although they saw no sign of mighty works nor any of the apostles (preface, Ad Romanus). If it is correct that the church was founded by new Jewish Christians returning from the Feast of Pentecost, then the foundation of the Roman church may be said to go back virtually to the beginning of Christianity. Beyond this, Luke tells us only that Aquila and Priscilla, with whom Paul lived and labored at Corinth, had recently come from Italy (18:2). He says nothing about Paul’s preaching of the gospel to them, so the presumption is that they were already believers.

      In AD 49, the emperor Claudius expelled both Christian and non-Christian Jews from Rome as the result of what the historian Suetonius (Claud. 25) describes as disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus. Since the confusion of i and e was not unknown in Latin renditions of Greek, it is possible to conclude from this statement that the Roman Jews had become unusually agitated and disorderly over the proclamation in their midst of Jesus as the Christ (Christus), provoking the emperor to take action against them. But the stir could have been caused by messianic fervor with revolutionary overtones.¹ During the years that the Jews were under the ban from Rome, the remaining church would have been exclusively Gentile in composition. The return of the Jews and the Jewish Christians after Claudius’s death in AD 54 and the reintegration of the latter into the Christian community constituted the apparent cause of tension between the Gentiles and Jews (see Ro 11; 14) in the Roman house churches (at least five such groups may be reflected in ch. 16).

      The emperor Nero made the Christians into scapegoats, accusing them of starting the fire that destroyed almost the whole of Rome in AD 64 and thus bringing a time of great persecution on the Roman church. In the aftermath or shortly thereafter, both Peter and Paul were martyred in Nero’s Rome (1 Clem. 6). From the middle of the second century, the places of their respective martyrdoms were known and marked. As F. F. Bruce observed, Christianity in Rome, having survived the first attack on its existence, was destined to advance, in spite of subsequent and more severely organized attacks by supreme authority, until at last it was the city and empire that capitulated to the church.²

      2. AUTHORSHIP, DATE, AND PLACE OF ORIGIN

      From the postapostolic church to the present, with almost no exception, Romans has been credited to Paul. If the claim that the apostle wrote the Galatian and Corinthian letters is accepted, there is no reasonable basis for denying that he wrote Romans, since it echoes much of what is in the earlier writings, yet not slavishly. A few examples must suffice: the doctrine of justification by faith (Ro 3:20–22; Gal 2:16); the church as the body of Christ appointed to represent and serve him through a variety of spiritual gifts (Ro 12; 1Co 12); the collection for the poor saints at Jerusalem (Ro 15:25–28; 2Co 8–9). Understandably, Paul makes fewer references to himself and to his readers in Romans than in 1 and 2 Corinthians and Galatians, since he had not founded the Roman church and guided its struggles to maturity as he had the others. We know that Paul used a scribe in writing this epistle, since the latter boldly inserts his name in 16:22: I, Tertius, who wrote down this letter, greet you in the Lord. Paul probably dictated the letter to Tertius, who may well have taken it down by shorthand. This may account for some of the broken sentences of the letter, although anacoluthon (broken syntax) is not unusual in the writings of Paul, whose mind must have often raced along faster than his words.

      Fixed dates for the span of Paul’s labors are few, but one of them is the summer of AD 51, when Gallio arrived in Corinth to serve as proconsul of Achaia. After this, the apostle stayed in the city for some time (Ac 18:18). Possibly in the spring of 52 he went to Caesarea and Jerusalem, stopping at Antioch on the way back and probably spending the winter of 52 there. Presumably his return to Ephesus was in the spring of 53, marking the beginning of a three-year ministry there (20:31). At the end of 56, he spent three months in Corinth (20:3), starting his final trip to Jerusalem in the spring of 57. When he wrote Romans, the fund for the Jerusalem church seems to have been finally completed (Ro 15:26–28). This may indicate a date in early 57 rather than late 56 for the writing of the letter. (The fund was incomplete when Paul, on the way from Ephesus to Corinth, wrote 2Co 8–9.) It is highly unlikely that Romans was written before 55 or after 58.

      Corinth is the most likely place of composition, since Phoebe of nearby Cenchreae was apparently entrusted with the carrying of the letter (Ro 16:1–2). The mention of Gaius as Paul’s host (16:23) confirms this conclusion, Gaius having been one of the most prominent of converts during the apostle’s mission at Corinth (1Co 1:14). Cenchreae is a less likely possibility. Paul would not naturally have gone there except to board ship. At that juncture, a plot against his life forced him to change his plan (Ac 20:3). Thus it is hard to imagine Paul finding time or peace of mind at Cenchreae for composing a book such as Romans. A Macedonian origin has also been claimed, with Romans 15:25–26 as support (I am on my way). But the present tense of the verb (poreuomai, GK 4513) can also be understood futuristically (I am going to, i.e., I am about to go).

      3. DESTINATION AND INTEGRITY

      The titles of the Pauline Epistles are not part of the original text, so the superscription The Letter of Paul to the Romans cannot be attributed to the apostle but must be taken as reflecting the understanding of the church as a whole sometime during the second century. Nevertheless, there can be no serious doubt that the intended readers were located at Rome. It is true that a few minor textual witnesses omit the words in [or at] Rome in the two places where they occur: in 1:7 (G, noted in the margins of 1739 and 1908, Old Latin, some MSS of the Vulgate, Origen, Ambrosiaster) and 1:15 (G and Origen [Lat. translation]). This may well be due to the apparent fact that Romans at an early point circulated in more than one form.

      Further textual variations argue in favor of this conclusion. The early papyrus manuscript has the entire closing doxology (16:25–27) at the end of ch. 15 rather than at the end of ch. 16. The minuscule 1506 puts it at the end of both chs. 14 and 15 and lacks ch. 16 altogether. It is furthermore worth noting that the last verse of ch. 15, The God of peace be with you all. Amen (15:33, found in the entire manuscript tradition, except for a few manuscripts that omit the final Amen [ A F G, a few minuscules, and Ambrosiaster]) seems to be the end of the epistle, thus excluding the following chapter. These data seem to point to a confusing situation in which different editions of the letter were sent to different churches. T. W. Manson suggested that reflects the letter as Paul wrote it to the Roman church but that the apostle at the same time sent a copy, minus the indication of Roman destination and with ch. 16 added, to the church at Ephesus.³ This would explain the long list of names of persons to be greeted in a church that Paul had never visited. The people mentioned in the closing chapter were thus living at Ephesus rather than at Rome. Attractive though this view is, it has not been universally received, because a good case can still be made for a Roman destination for ch. 16.

      Nevertheless, the conclusion that ch. 16 was a part of the original document sent to Rome does not exclude the probability, suggested by the textual variations that have been mentioned, that the letter was sent to different recipients in slightly different forms.⁴ Probably the original letter written by Paul contained all sixteen chapters, but then when it was sent to other churches, ch. 16, together with the words in Rome (1:7), were omitted for obvious reasons. The more unusual fourteen-chapter version may possibly have been the work of Marcion or his disciples.

      4. OCCASION AND PURPOSE

      When Paul’s Ephesian ministry had continued for more than two years, with tremendous impact on the city and province, he sensed that it would soon be time to move to another field of labor. It may be that for some time he had been looking westward toward Rome (see many years in Ro 15:23). Now the conviction grew that he must act by beginning to plan for work in the West (Ac 19:21). He had already preached the gospel in the strategic centers of population in the East, and his restless spirit yearned to reach out to places where Christ was not known. He would go through Rome to Spain to plant the gospel there (Ro 15:22–24).

      The question naturally arises, Why did this plan dictate the writing of a letter such as Romans? Why not send a note by Phoebe simply to inform the church that he would be coming to them in a short time? What are the reasons for the writing of Romans?

      Although this question has been much discussed in recent years, no unanimity has been reached. For a long time, the view of Romans as a time-transcending compendium of doctrine, a kind of final summary of Paul’s theology, reigned supreme. In recent years, however, the occasional character of Romans has emerged with new emphasis.⁵ It is also increasingly observed that Paul probably had several purposes in writing Romans. This seems already apparent in the fact that Paul has three journeys before him as he writes—journeys to Jerusalem, Rome, and Spain. The probable truth is that Romans is directed both to specific realities in the churches of Rome and at the same time constitutes a systematic presentation of Paul’s gospel. Though it is clearly not an abstract doctrinal treatise, yet that it is a deliberately systematic presentation of Paul’s gospel can hardly be doubted.

      There are some obvious specific reasons for Paul’s desire to write a full account of his understanding of the gospel. First, since Paul hoped to go beyond Rome, even as far as Spain, he evidently expected to have in the Roman church a base of missionary operation comparable to Antioch in the East. If this was to be realized, he needed to share with the church a rather complete exposition of the gospel he had been preaching for over twenty years. By putting this exposition in writing and sending it ahead, he would give the Christian community in Rome an opportunity to digest the message and be ready to share in the extension of the gospel to the West. Jacob Jervell has suggested another possibility: Romans may be a defense of Paul’s gospel that the apostle intended to present to the Jerusalem church (cf. 15:28, 31; Ac 21:21–22)—a defense he thought useful to send also to the Roman church in preparation for his visit.⁶ Another factor may have entered in. The very passage that sets forth his plan and purpose is followed by one requesting prayer for his safety and success as he went on to Judea (to deliver the offering collected for the church there) prior to leaving for Rome. Particularly ominous is his expressed need to be delivered from unbelievers in Judea (Ro 15:31). The plot by Jews at Corinth against his life (Ac 20:3) may already have been made and become an omen of future events. Possibly at this point intimations from the Holy Spirit began to warn him about the imprisonment and afflictions that awaited him (Ac 20:23; cf. 21:11). What if he should not live to declare the gospel in the West? Then he must write a letter so systematic and comprehensive that the church would be able intelligently to continue his work, proclaiming the very gospel he was spelling out for them, taking it in his stead to the farthest reaches of the empire. For all he knew at the time, this letter might be in a sense his last will and testament, a precious deposit bequeathed to the church and through it to the community of the faithful everywhere. John Drane argues that Paul wrote this letter to define his gospel in the light of the challenge by the Judaizers:"What we have in this, his magnum opus, is therefore a conscious effort to convince himself as well as his opponents that it is possible to articulate a theology which is at once antilegalistic without also being antinomian."⁷ Manson’s theory that the apostle provided a copy of the letter to go to Ephesus (see DESTINATION AND INTEGRITY) would fit into this concept, such a copy being intended as a lasting memorial to him and a blueprint for intensified evangelization by his friends in the yet unreached regions of the East. But believers at Ephesus must already have been well informed about the gospel after Paul’s long ministry in their midst. So Manson’s conclusion is speculative. We should not overlook the distinct possibility that, in addition to its evangelistic function, Romans may have been designed to meet needs within the congregation, for alongside its kerygmatic materials it abounds in teaching. The degree to which Paul was familiar with conditions within the church at Rome may be debatable, but it is highly probable that he knew a good deal about them. Beginning at least from the time of his contact with Priscilla and Aquila at Corinth, he doubtless had a fairly continuous stream of information about the church, especially during his stay at Ephesus, since travel to and from Rome was relatively easy. The number of people listed in ch. 16 suggests many individual sources of information.

      Yet for Paul to exhibit on the surface too intimate a knowledge of conditions in the church would be indelicate and might even betray the confidence of his informers. Likewise, to deal with these problems too directly and pointedly would be unseemly in view of his personal detachment from the Roman situation. Consequently, passages that may seem a little broad and general might well have been penetrating and highly relevant to the Christians at Rome, who could hardly avoid seeing the passages as a reference to themselves and thus feel compelled to wonder at the unexpected discernment of an apostle who had not set foot in their city. Especially pertinent in this regard is the tension between Jews and Gentiles within the church (cf. 11:18), two groups that may be approximately identified with the weak and the strong (see 15:1–8). Then there is the warning not to be lifted up with pride because of Israel’s being set aside (11:20–21), followed by a reminder that this setting aside is temporary (11:25–26). The very fact that Jews and Gentiles (rather than general humanity) are given so much prominence in the main theme (1:16) and in the section that demonstrates the need for salvation (1:18–3:20) argues for the impact on the apostle of this tension at the time of writing.

      5. COMPOSITION OF THE ROMAN CHURCH

      The problem of the composition of the church at Rome has divided students of Romans through the years. The church seems clearly to have been a mixed community of Jewish and Gentile congregations. But can we decide whether the believers were mainly Gentiles or mainly Jewish Christians? At the outset Paul seems to refer to his readers as Gentiles (1:13; cf. 1:5–6), and this should incline us to think of the church as predominantly Gentile. On the other hand, there is also evidence that may point to Jewish readers—for example, where the apostle speaks of Abraham as our forefather (4:1) and in the passage where he deals with the law (presumably the Mosaic) and says that his readers know it (ch. 7). These passages, however, constitute no guarantee that the readers were necessarily Jewish, since Gentile Christians could also claim Abraham as their father (cf. 4:11), and those Gentile believers who had earlier been God-fearers would also have known the Scriptures from their synagogue attendance. Furthermore, Paul was always careful to teach the spiritual kinship that existed between the Israel of the past and the people of God in the Christian dispensation. As to the familiarity of Roman Christians with the Mosaic law, we know that Paul feels perfectly free to quote the Law and other portions of the Scriptures even when writing to obviously Gentile churches—e.g., Galatians and Corinthians. Furthermore, in writing to the Galatian churches about the purpose of the law, Paul affirms that it was put in charge to lead us to Christ (Gal 3:24). Though Gentiles were not under the law, they were to profit from it as a guide leading and impelling them to Christ as Savior. With consistency, Paul preserves the same stance in writing to the church at Rome.

      There remains, however, the fact that the apostle devotes three chapters (9–11) to the nation of Israel. The failure of this people as a whole to turn to Jesus as the Messiah was a source of deep grief to him. One may well ask,Was it not to inform and comfort a church essentially in the same position as himself that he discusses this matter at such length? Not necessarily. Here one can ask a counterquestion:Would Paul be at pains to warn Gentile believers in direct terms not to take their position for granted and lapse into a false security (11:13) if he were writing for the benefit of a chiefly Hebrew-Christian group?

      Going back to the solid fact that Paul addresses the church as Gentile in character (1:13), we must ask ourselves whether chs. 9–11 might have a special purpose as addressed to Gentile believers. These people could certainly learn much from the passage—namely, the obvious advantages God had given the Jew, his own sovereignty in setting them apart as his chosen people, his righteousness in cutting them off as far as national privilege was concerned, and his faithfulness to covenantal commitments to be seen when the nation by repentance and faith would be restored. Gentile believers could find much here to warn them and much to lead them to prayer and witness on behalf of Israel. When these considerations are added to the generous use of the OT in the development of the theme of Romans, it becomes clear that Paul is concerned, lest Gentile Christianity lose sight of its heritage in OT history and revelation.

      6. LITERARY FORM

      Of the four types of writing found in the NT (gospel, acts, epistle, apocalypse) the epistle is by far the most common. The word itself is a transliteration of the Greek epistole m(GK 2186), meaning a communication, usually of a written nature. Romans bears this label in 16:22 (letter). Paul uses the word fairly often in reference to his correspondence with churches (e.g., 1Co 5:9; Col 4:16; 1Th 5:27). There is also a reference to his writings in 2 Peter 3:16 (all his letters).

      The appropriateness of using the word epistle to describe Paul’s written works has been challenged in modern times by Adolf Deissmann,⁸ who contended for a distinction between epistle and letter, based not on the form but on the intent of the author. He reasoned that the epistle has a public character, often being of an official nature, intended to be preserved for posterity, whereas the letter is a private communication dealing with matters of the moment and not expected to survive for scrutiny by future generations. Furthermore, Deissmann pictured Paul as a rough artisan possessed of little literary skill and requiring the aid of a secretary in composing his letters. Such a view is certainly not in accord with the judgment even of Paul’s opponents (cf. 2Co 10:10). C. H. Dodd exposed the fallacy of this view when he acutely observed, That [Paul] was not born to a proletarian status seems clear from the tone of his letters. A man born to manual labour does not speak self-consciously of ‘labouring with my own hands’ [1Co 4:12].⁹ The very fact that we can speak of a Pauline style shows in itself that even when Paul used an amanuensis, the mold of his thinking was well preserved. A passage such as 1 Corinthians 13 can hardly be attributed to an assistant.

      Deissmann’s weakness was his failure to recognize the wide gap between the letters found in the nonliterary papyri and the letters of Paul. The latter are not properly classed as private correspondence; indeed, even the most personal, the letter to Philemon, was directed also to the church that met in his house. So we must conclude that as far as Paul’s writings are concerned, the line between private and public letters cannot be sharply drawn. One may with perfect propriety describe them either as letters or as epistles. As letters, they are direct, unstilted, relevant to the needs of the moment; as epistles, they convey in elevated and beautiful expression the timeless truth of the gospel intended by God for all generations.

      Many have observed that Romans is almost like an essay, showing comparatively little attention to the personal needs and pressing problems of the readers; in this respect it is strikingly different from 1 Corinthians, for example. Such a difference is not unexpected, since Paul did not found the Roman church and was doubtless acquainted with only a limited number of its constituency (ch. 16). But the difference should not be overstated because, as we have already indicated, Paul is to some extent addressing himself to the situation of his readers. For example, he would hardly have allowed himself to discuss the problem of the strong and the weak (14:1–15:7) at such length had he not learned that this was a matter of concern to the Roman church. Again, his warning about those who cause divisions and put obstacles in [the] way (16:17) could reflect awareness of actual threats to the unity and soundness of the church. The source of his information could have been one or more of the friends listed by name in the closing chapter.

      7. THEOLOGY

      Romans satisfies the craving of the human spirit for a comprehensive exposition of the great truths of salvation set out in logical fashion, supported and illumined by OT Scripture. The systematic element includes due attention to doctrine and life—and in that order, because right relations must be established with God before one can live so as to please him and mediate his blessings to others.

      The question as to what is most central to Pauline theology has been long debated. Some have said that it is justification by faith. Others have insisted that life in Christ is the secret, for it lifts one out of the rigidity and barrenness of legal terminology, disclosing the positive and dynamic relationship the believer may have with God’s Son. Thankfully, we do not have to choose between these two, because both are important in Paul’s presentation. Without justification there can be no life in Christ (5:18), and such life in turn confirms the reality of justification.

      Salvation is the basic theme of Romans (cf. 1:16)—a salvation presented in terms of the righteousness of God, which, when received by faith, issues in life (1:17). It is helpful to realize that salvation, righteousness, and life are primarily eschatological terms. The apostle talks about salvation with a future reference (13:11). Righteousness, too, in the absolute sense, belongs only to the perfected state. Again, life comes to fullness of meaning only in terms of the future (6:22; cf. Mk 10:29–30).Yet all of these future realities are to be entered into and enjoyed during the earthly pilgrimage of the saints. Salvation is a present reality (Ro 10:10). So is righteousness (4:3–5). So is life (6:23; 8:2). In the last analysis, only the grace of God permits us to participate now in that which properly belongs to the future.

      Though Romans does not give special instruction about the Trinity, it clearly delineates the respective responsibilities of the members of the Godhead. The gospel of salvation, which is the theme of the letter, is called the gospel of God at the very beginning (1:1) before it is called the gospel of his Son (1:9). God’s righteousness must be reckoned with, both by sinner and by saint, for it is the basis of judgment and the wellspring of salvation. The Son of God is held up to view also from the first, because the gospel centers in him (1:3). He is the one through whom the grace of God is mediated to sinful humanity in justification, reconciliation, and redemption. The man Christ Jesus is set over against the first Adam as the one who has succeeded in undoing the universal ruin wrought by the fall (5:12–21) and who now sustains and preserves all who put their trust in him (5:10). The Spirit’s role is to nurture the new-creation life of the children of God by providing assurance of their sonship (8:16), release from the bondage of sin (8:2–4), effectiveness in prayer (8:26–27), and experience of the love of God (5:5), as well as other joys of the spiritual life (14:17). It is the Spirit who crowns the saints with the confident hope of the bliss of the better state that is to come (8:23; 15:13). The Spirit also provides the dynamic for Christian service (15:19).

      It is not possible, however, to claim for the epistle a complete coverage of doctrine. Salvation is central in Romans, yet its climax in terms of the future coming of the Lord is not unfolded to any extent (cf. 13:11). The glorification of the saints is given some attention (8:18, 19, 23) and the future salvation of Israel is spoken of in 11:26, but these subjects are not developed fully. Furthermore, though the word church appears five times in ch. 16, it is not itself a theme for definitive instruction in Romans. Too much can be made of this seeming incompleteness, however. From chs. 9–11 it appears that Paul is deeply concerned about the composition of the church, about how Jew and Gentile relate to it in the divine plan. Again, any attempt to deal with the concept of covenant is lacking, for the two references (9:4; 11:27) say nothing about the new covenant in Christ (cf. 2Co 3; Gal 3–4). That there should be no mention of the Lord’s Supper may seem strange, especially since baptism is mentioned (Ro 6:4). But in Romans Paul is not concerned with ecclesiology, at least not in the sense of giving it specific (as opposed to incidental) treatment. Despite these omissions, it remains true that nowhere else in Scripture is the subject of salvation dealt with so systematically and in such breadth and thoroughness.

      In the so-called practical section of the epistle (chs. 12–15), the effect of these great truths (the mercies of God) is set forth in terms of transformed conduct. Christians have a life to live in this world as well as a faith to hold and a fellowship to enjoy. Paul was pastor as well as preacher. In Romans, as in his other letters, his theological teaching was given not merely for the sake of information but always to build up and encourage the people of God.

      8. THE NEW PERSPECTIVE ON PAUL

      In the last twenty-five years, a revolution in Pauline studies has been underway. This revolution centers on the understanding of Second Temple Judaism and Paul’s relation to that Judaism. There had already been a tendency among Jewish scholars to see Paul as increasingly Jewish.¹⁰ But in 1977, E. P. Sanders published his Paul and Palestinian Judaism (Philadelphia: Fortress), a book that was to have an enormous impact on Pauline scholarship. From his survey of Jewish literature Sanders concluded that the Judaism of Paul’s time was not legalistic, i.e., that the Jews did not attempt to gain salvation by observance of the works of the law. Instead, their observance of the law was within the prior framework of the covenant; hence Judaism was, in Sanders’s phrase, a covenantal nomism. A fair view of Judaism shows that it is as much a religion of grace as is Christianity. The salvation of the Jews depends not on observance of the law but on the election of Israel—a matter of pure grace, as the OT indicates.

      The traditional understanding of Paul as one who opposed the idea of righteousness before God as something gained by works of the law is now therefore regarded by some as wrongly conceived. It has been dubbed a Lutheran reading of Paul, namely, a reading of Paul in the light of Luther’s private struggle with the issue of righteousness. This point had been made nearly fifteen years earlier by Krister Stendahl in a now-famous article, The Apostle Paul and the Introspective Conscience of the West.¹¹ These developments have given rise to a reevaluation of the place of the law in Paul’s theology, which affects greatly the interpretation of Romans. The so-called new perspective on Paul, as for example represented in the writings of J. D. G. Dunn,¹² a main proponent of this view, argues that Paul had no fundamental problem with the law per se. He only opposed the law insofar as it constituted Jewish identity markers (i.e., circumcision, Sabbath laws, and dietary laws) that by definition excluded the Gentiles from salvation. Paul’s problem, as it has been put, was not grace but race. Paul has no polemic against works of the law as the means of salvation since no Jews (according to Sanders’s thesis) would have thought of the law as the means to salvation.

      There is little to quarrel with in the contention that Judaism ideally conceived—i.e., in its best representatives—was a religion of grace and not works-righteousness. At the same time, however, there is also little reason to doubt that there were probably many de facto legalists—persons who lived daily life as though their salvation depended on observance of the law. The postexilic emphasis on the law had the practical effect of pushing the law to center stage and the covenant to the wings rather than maintaining a healthy balance between law and covenant. There is, moreover, a natural human tendency to believe that one must earn one’s way with God. Paul’s language about the law is much easier to understand if he is arguing against such a mistaken perspective. Only if we understand Paul as mounting a basic soteriological argument with equal relevance for both Jew and Gentile can we do justice to passages such as Galatians 2:16; 3:10–14; and Romans 3:20, 28; 4:4–6; 5:20; 11:6.

      On the other hand, as we will see, in a few passages (e.g., Ro 2:6–10, 13–16; 3:31; 8:3–4) where Paul speaks positively about the law, the new perspective could make good sense, were it not for Paul’s overwhelmingly negative polemic against the law as a means of salvation. It is Paul’s position on the universality of human sin and its single antidote in the death of Christ that leads us to the conclusion that his critique of the law has to do with more than its function in specifying national identity markers. The law is not a problem simply for the Gentiles; it is also a problem for the Jews. For the Jews too, and not only the Gentiles, the issue is nothing less than the basis of salvation or justification.

      It is, of course, clear that Paul would have been opposed to the law conceived of as the marker of national identity, insofar as it excluded Gentiles from the possibility of salvation. But this represents only a relatively small part of Paul’s problem with the law of Moses. For in Paul’s view, many, if not most, Jews had misunderstood and therefore misused the law. Paul’s statements in Romans concerning the law are hardly less than revolutionary in import.¹³

      9. CANONICITY

      Since ancient authorities regularly include Romans without question, the full canonicity of Romans has never been seriously challenged. Marcion had it in his list, as does the Canon of Muratori. Although its position in the various lists is not uniform, from the fourth century onward and even in the third ( of the Chester Beatty Papyri collection), Romans stands at the head of the Pauline Epistles. Though the reason for this is its length—since the NT epistles are primarily ordered by length—there is nevertheless a suitability to its being first in the Pauline corpus as the supreme exposition of the Pauline gospel. Indeed so powerful is this document that, consciously or unconsciously, it serves for many as a canon within the canon, the classic interpretation of the meaning of Christ’s work.

      10. BIBLIOGRAPHY

      The following is a selective list of commentaries and monographs on Romans available in English, confined for the most part to those referred to in the commentary (they will be referred to simply by the author’s name [and initials only when necessary to distinguish two authors of the same surname]). In instances where the same author has written a commentary as well as (a) book(s) and/or (an) article(s), the commentary will be referred to by the author’s name, and the book(s)/article(s) by the author’s name and short title.

      References to resources that do not appear in the bibliography will carry full bibliographic details at the first mention and thereafter a short title.

      Achtemeier, Paul J. Romans. Interpretation. Atlanta: John Knox, 1985.

      Barrett, C. K. The Epistle to the Romans. 2nd rev. ed. Black’s New Testament Commentaries. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1991.

      Barth, Karl. The Epistle to the Romans. Translated by E. C. Hoskyns. London: Oxford Univ. Press, 1933.

      Bengel, John Albert. New Testament Word Studies. 1864.Vol. 2. Translated by Charlton T. Lewis and Marvin R. Vincent. Repr., Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1971.

      Bruce, F. F. The Epistle of Paul to the Romans. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1963.

      Byrne, Brendan. Romans. Sacra Pagina. Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 1996.

      Calvin, John. Commentary on the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans. Translated by R. Mackenzie. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1961.

      Cranfield, C. E. B. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Romans. International Critical Commentary. 2 vols. Edinburgh:T&T Clark, 1975, 1979.

      Denney, James. St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans. Expositor’s Greek New Testament. Vol. 2. Pages 557 — 725. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1904.

      Dodd, C. H. The Epistle of Paul to the Romans. Moffatt New Testament Commentaries. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1932.

      Donfried, Karl P., ed. The Romans Debate. Revised and expanded edition. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1991.

      Dunn, James D. G. Romans. 2 vols.Word Biblical Commentary 38. Dallas:Word, 1988.

      Edwards, James R. Romans. New International Biblical Commentary on the New Testament. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1992.

      Fitzmyer, J. A. Romans. Anchor Bible 33. New York: Doubleday, 1993.

      Godet, Frédéric. Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans. 1883. Translated by A. Cusin. Repr., Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1956.

      Käsemann, Ernst. Commentary on Romans. Translated and edited by G.W. Bromiley. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1980.

      Leenhardt, Franz J. The Epistle to the Romans. Translated by H. Knight. London: Lutterworth, 1961.

      Metzger, Bruce. A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament. Revised edition. Stuttgart: German Bible Society, 1994.

      Michel, Otto. Der Brief an die Römer. Meyer Kommentar. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1978.

      Moo, Douglas J. The Epistle to the Romans. New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996.

      Mounce, Robert H. Romans. New American Commentary. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1995.

      Murray, John. The Epistle to the Romans. New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1968.

      Nygren, Anders. Commentary on Romans. Translated by C. C. Rasmussen. Philadelphia: Muhlenberg, 1949.

      Sanday,William, and Arthur C. Headlam. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans. International Critical Commentary. 5th ed. Edinburgh:T&T Clark, 1902.

      Schreiner,Thomas R. Romans. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1998.

      Stuhlmacher, Peter. Paul’s Letter to the Romans: A Commentary. Translated by Scott J. Hafemann. Louisville, Ky.: Westminster, 1994.

      Taylor,Vincent. The Epistle to the Romans. London: Epworth, 1955.

      Ziesler, J. A. The Meaning of Righteousness in Paul. Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series 20. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1972.

      11. OUTLINE

      I. Introduction (1:1 — 15)

      A. Salutation (1:1 — 7)

      B. Paul and the Church at Rome (1:8 — 15)

      II. Theme: The Gospel as the Revelation of the Righteousness of God (1:16–17)

      III. The Need for Salvation:The Plight of Humankind (1:18 — 3:20)

      A. In the Pagan World (1:18 — 32)

      B. Principles of Judgment (2:1 — 16)

      C. Specific Guilt of the Jew (2:17 — 29)

      D. God’s Faithfulness and Justice (3:1 — 8)

      E. Summary (3:9 — 20)

      IV. Justification:The Imputation of Righteousness (3:21 — 5:21)

      A. Justification as the Answer to the Sinfulness of Humanity (3:21 — 26)

      B. The Availability of Justification through Faith Alone (3:27 — 31)

      C. The Illustration of Justification from the Old Testament (4:1 — 25)

      1. The Case of Abraham (4:1 — 5)

      2. The Case of David (4:6 — 8)

      3. The Promise to Abraham—Prior to and Apart from Circumcision (4:9 — 12)

      4. The Promise to Abraham—Apart from the Law (4:13 — 17)

      5. Abraham’s Faith the Standard for Every Believer (4:18 — 25)

      D. The Benefits of Justification (5:1 — 11)

      E. The Universal Applicability of Justification (5:12 — 21)

      V. Sanctification:The Impartation of Righteousness (6:1 — 8:39)

      A. The Believer’s Union with Christ in Death and in Resurrection Life (6:1 — 14)

      1. The Statement of the Fact (6:1 — 11)

      2. The Appeal Based on the Fact (6:12 — 14)

      B. Union with Christ Viewed as Enslavement to Righteousness (6:15 — 23)

      C. Union with Christ Viewed as Deliverance from Law (7:1 — 6)

      D. The Relationship between Law and Sin (7:7 — 13) E. The Struggle to Observe the Law (7:14–25)

      F. The Blessings of Life in the Spirit (8:1 — 39)

      1. Liberation by the Spirit from the Law of Sin and Death (8:1 — 13)

      2. Additional Ministries of the Spirit (8:14 — 27)

      3. The Security and Permanence of the Life of the Redeemed (8:28 — 39)

      VI. The Problem of Israel: God’s Righteousness Vindicated (9:1 — 11:36)

      A. Paul’s Sorrow over Israel’s Condition (9:1 — 5)

      B. God’s Choice of Israel Based on Election, Not on Natural Generation or Works of Merit (9:6 — 13)

      C. God’s Freedom to Act in His Own Sovereign Right (9:14 — 29)

      D. Israel’s Failure to Attain Righteousness Due to Reliance on Works Rather Than Faith (9:30 — 10:21)

      E. Israel Not Entirely Rejected;There Is a Remnant of Believers (11:1 — 10)

      F. Israel’s Temporary Rejection and the Salvation of Gentiles (11:11 — 24) G. Israel’s Future Salvation (11:25 — 32)

      H. Praise to God for His Wisdom and His Ways (11:33 — 36)

      VII. Our Spiritual Service:The Practice of Righteousness (12:1 — 15:13)

      A. The Appeal for Dedication of the Believer (12:1–2)

      B. Varied Ministries in the Church, the Body of Christ (12:3 — 8)

      C. Principles Governing Christian Conduct (12:9 — 21)

      D. The Duty of Submission to Civil Authority (13:1 — 7)

      E. The Comprehensive Obligation of Love (13:8 — 10)

      F. The Purifying Power of Hope (13:11 — 14)

      G. Questions of Conscience Wherein Christians Differ (14:1 — 15:13)

      1. Christians Must Refrain from Judging One Another (14:1 — 12)

      2. Christians Must Avoid Offending One Another (14:13 — 23)

      3. The Unity of the Strong and the Weak in Christ (15:1 — 13)

      VIII. Conclusion (15:14 — 16:27)

      A. Paul’s Past Labors, Present Program, and Future Plans (15:14 — 33)

      B. Personal Greetings,Warning Concerning Schismatics, and Doxology (16:1 — 27)

      Text and Exposition

      I. INTRODUCTION (1:1–15)

      A. Salutation (1:1–7)

      OVERVIEW

      The opening lines of Romans follow the basic ancient letter form: A to B, greeting. In a way that he is particularly fond of, Paul expands the elements of this form with material that sets the tone and anticipates what follows. In vv.1–6, allowing himself unusual length, he describes both his calling and the gospel he proclaims.

      ¹Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God—²the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures ³regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, ⁴and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. ⁵Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. ⁶And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

      ⁷To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:

      Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

      COMMENTARY

      1 As in all of his letters, Paul uses his Roman name, Paulos. The shift from Saul occurs in the biblical context where he came in contact with a Roman official (Ac 13:6–12). Paul’s relation to Christ is primary, so to express his attachment to his Lord he uses the term servant (doulos, GK 1528; lit., slave, suggesting full, but not unwilling, obedience). By beginning in this fashion, Paul initially puts himself on the same plane as his readers. But Paul is more than a servant of Jesus Christ. He is an apostle by divine calling (the sense of called here; cf. 1Co 1:1) and accordingly possesses a special authority as Christ’s appointee. This would include not only his right to preach the gospel (believers in general could do that) but to found and supervise churches and, if necessary, to discipline them.

      Paul has been set apart (aph r ismenos, GK 928) in order to proclaim the gospel of God (euangelion theou; cf. 15:16). As a Pharisee he had been set apart to a life of strict observance of Jewish law and custom. Now his life’s work has become the proclamation of the gospel, the good news God has for humanity—something this epistle will focus on powerfully. Possibly Paul locates the time of this setting apart at the Damascus Road commission (cf. Ac 9:15; 26:16), but more probably he thought of it as occurring already at his birth. Thus in Galatians 1:15–16 he refers to being set apart (using the same verb as in Romans) before he was born (perhaps an allusion to Jer 1:5) and being called to preach the gospel to the Gentiles.

      The word gospel (euangelion, GK 2295) in its verbal form (euangelizomai) has a rich background in the LXX. The proclamation of good news in Isaiah (40:9; 52:7; 60:6; 61:1) comes readily in the NT to indicate good news referring to Jesus Christ (cf. Jesus’ citation of Isa 61:1 in Lk 4:18).The gospel of God is what Romans is all about.

      2 Before the historic events providing the basis for the gospel message unfolded, God promised the good news in the prophetic Scriptures (16:26). Promise means more than prophecy, because it commits the Almighty to make good his word, whereas a prophecy could be just an advance announcement of something that would happen. The concept of promise and the associated idea of God’s faithfulness permeate Romans (see, e.g., 4:13–25; 9:4; 15:8). God did not invent the gospel to cover up disappointment over Israel’s failure to receive Christ. The gospel was God’s purpose from the beginning (cf. 1Pe 1:20). Nor did Paul create the gospel, which was his (Ro 2:16; 16:25) in an entirely different sense (cf. Gal 1:10). The reference to the Holy Scriptures prepares the reader for the rather copious use of the OT in Romans, beginning with 1:17. For Paul, as for the early church, the gospel is the fulfillment of the OT expectation.

      3–4 The gospel above all centers in God’s Son, who at the end of v.4 is referred to as our Lord. These two verses appear to enshrine and adapt an early liturgical confession. This seems evident not only from the weighty content of the material but especially from the balanced, antithetical form: (lit.) born of the seed of David according to the flesh; appointed Son of God according to the Spirit [or, possibly, his spirit] of holiness. In the original manuscripts all the letters were capitals, and hence it is not clear whether the word Spirit here should be capitalized—i.e., whether this is a reference to the human spirit of Jesus or a reference to the Holy Spirit. The balanced construction of kata pneuma (GK 4460) over against kata sarka (GK 4922), may suggest spirit in contrast to flesh, perhaps making the point that the human nature of Jesus was so holy, so absolutely free of sin, that death could not hold him (cf. Ac 2:24). If one takes this statement as a flesh-spirit antithesis, this would be a reference to the twofold nature of Jesus Christ: as to his humanity a descendant of David; as to the holiness of his spirit, his deity, the Son of God. More probably, however, Spirit of holiness is a Hebraic way of referring to the Holy Spirit rather than to Jesus’ spirit, and these two clauses are to be understood as sequential. That is, in the humility of the incarnation Jesus was born a descendant of David, but now through his resurrection from the dead he has been appointed Son of God in power by means of the Spirit.

      There may be a suggestion here that Jesus, anointed and sustained by the Holy Spirit in the days of his flesh, was acknowledged by the fact of the resurrection to have successfully endured the tests and trials of his earthly life, having been obedient even to death. By resurrection he has become a life-giving spirit (1Co 15:45). His rising was indeed from the dead. But Paul says more: of the dead (the simple genitive nekr n, GK 3738), suggesting that Christ is the forerunner of others in this transformation (cf. 15:20–21).

      "As

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