One Sentence
A few years before Jesus was born, in the town of Priene in Asia Minor, an inscription was carved into stone. It celebrated the Roman emperor Augustus's birthday, declaring, "the birthday of the god was for the world the beginning of the joyful messages...which have gone forth because of him." Rome itself was filled with the emperor's servants, who were often called "slaves of Caesar." To us, slave is never an honorable title. But those who represented the greatest ruler in their world often had it inscribed on their tombstones.
If you just read Romans 1:1-7, you've only read the first sentence of the letter. It takes commas and colons to translate it as one English sentence. Some translations give up and split it into four or even nine. Romans is full of ideas that are usually kept in separate boxes: faith and obedience, promise and fulfillment, slaves and apostles, God's work and our responsibilities, even Jews and Gentiles. I think Paul writes run-on sentences because he sees God uniting what we've divided. The word for "joyful messages" on the stone in Priene is "euangelia," the plural of the word Paul uses for the gospel, or good news. Augustus called himself the son of a god, but Paul's gospel is about God's Son. The emperor celebrated his birthday; Christians celebrate a resurrection. Written to the church in Rome, Paul's first sentence is provocative. When Paul says he is God's servant and representative, he's disowning absolute loyalty to Caesar. He is part of a story that started long before the Roman empire existed. Through his prophets, God promised to save his people, and these promises were recorded as sacred writings. Paul sees himself and the other apostles as authorized by God to proclaim to everyone these promises are now fulfilled in Jesus. Paul talks about one God working together as a Trinity: God the Father who promised, God the Son who fulfilled those promises, and God the Holy Spirit who empowered God's work to save us. He understands that Jesus is not only a human being in the line of David, but the Son of God, risen by God's power from the dead. Trinity and Incarnation, tied together in one sentence. From the start of the letter, God is taking the initiative. He made the promises, fulfilled them, and set apart his apostles to announce his good news. Jesus called Paul to be his apostle and calls us to be his saints (or holy ones). God gives grace and purpose; we receive them from him. It is because God is at work that we can be not only faith-filled but faithful to him. We do not belong to any empire, but we do belong to Jesus Christ. We are loved by God, and he gives us his grace and peace. I've often felt alienated and intimidated by Romans. It's dense, confusing theology that discourages me from thinking I'll ever understand it, or props me up with a self-righteous desire to prove that everyone else's interpretation is wrong. I learned to read it as a doctrinal encyclopedia. But now I'm reading it as a letter between friends and people he hadn't met yet, and he starts by reminding them of God's love. Paul introduces himself as God's authorized representative because he wants the church in Rome to respond to God's love, grace, and peace. When we know that we belong to the resurrected Lord, who gave his life for us and is still alive, we trust him with our hearts and with the entirety of our lives.
How do you define yourself? How does that compare with how Paul introduces himself?
If you belong to Jesus, then who or what do you not belong to anymore?
Paul says you are loved, called, and holy. What would change if you knew this was true of you, because you belong to Jesus?
Write out Romans 1:1-7 by hand without stopping. Then, take a picture of it and send it to a friend. Ask them, "Want to study Romans with me this year?"
Source:
Frank Thielman, Romans, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2018).