an introduction

 To provide the historical context surrounding the book of Romans  To define key recurring terminologies

 Who  When  Where  Why  What  Recurrence

 Authorship  The apostle Paul is the author of Romans ▪ Rm. 1:1  Dictated by Paul, recorded by Tertius ▪ A friend of Paul and a Christian secretary  Audience  Both the Jews and Gentiles of the church of Rome

 Written in the early days of ~57 AD by Paul  Jesus was born between ~6-4 BC  Jesus made His final appearance in ~30 AD

 Written in Corinth during Paul’s third missions trip (53 – 58 AD)

 Paul’s plans  From 47 to 57 AD, Paul had been evangelizing around the Aegean Sea  Currently finishing third journey and was staying in Corinth for the winter at the home of Gaius  Next stop: Jerusalem

 Paul’s plans  Paul was a pioneer and focused on places where the gospel had yet been heard ▪ Rm. 15:20  Next mission: Spain, with a pit stop in Rome

 Purpose of the letter  To prepare the Romans for his visit  To provide a full statement of the gospel  To involve the Romans in his ministry

 Romans is a Christian manifesto  Manifesto – a public declaration of intentions, opinions, objectives, or motives, as one issued by a government, sovereign, or organization  Main message  Mankind is born as a slave to sin, but through Jesus Christ, is set free

 Important words  Law  Flesh  Spirit

 Law  The Pentateuch ▪ Rm. 3:21  Principle ▪ Rm. 7:21  Law of God ▪ Rm. 2:14-15

 Purpose of Law of God  To be a revelation of God’s will ▪ Ps. 19:9  Ensure health and preservation of the human race ▪ Rm. 13:1-7  Bring sin to light and to lead sinners to seek grace ▪ Rm. 3:20  Provide guidance for believers ▪ Rm. 8:3-4

 Flesh under the OT understanding:  Bodily flesh ▪ Dn. 2:11  Human nature in its weakness and mortality ▪ Ps. 78:39, Gn. 6:3

 Flesh as used by Paul  Bodily flesh ▪ Rm. 2:25-29  Natural human descent and relationships ▪ Rm. 1:3, 9:5  Mankind ▪ Rm. 3:20  Human nature

 Flesh in terms of human nature  Our weak human nature ▪ Rm. 8:3a  The human nature of Christ ▪ Rm. 8:3b  The ‘old nature’ in believers ▪ Rm. 7:18  The unregenerate human nature ▪ Rm. 8:8-9, 7:5-6

 Spirit  Capitalization  It is the polar opposite of flesh ▪ Rm. 8:4, 9  The ‘spiritual’ part of the human constitution ▪ Rm. 1:9, 8:16  The Spirit of God or the Holy Spirit

 What does the Holy Spirit do?  The Spirit imparts life ▪ Rm. 8:9  The Spirit bestows freedom ▪ Rm. 8:2  The Spirit intercedes for us from within ▪ Rm. 8:26-27 ▪ Christ on the other hand intercedes for us from His place of glory at the right hand of God (Rm. 8:34)