As a young writer who never loved to write but would do it when asked, I would often be asked to work on those run-on sentences. The ideas would get flowing, and the and’s would be used. Too much to share and not enough sentences. (haha) As I read Romans 1, I stopped after reading verses 1-7. All one sentence. But none of my sentences have ever been as profound as what Paul shares.
Paul, a servant[a] of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David[b] according to the flesh 4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
This greeting to the Roman Christians covers the whole gospel in these verses. Sending an opening statement that sets our foundation for faith. The commentary I read by Pastor John MacArthur broke these verses down by the following.
| Verse 1 | The preacher | Paul – preacher of the good news. |
| Verse 2 | The promise | Gospel promised in the Old Testament. The New Testament is the fulfillment of the Old Testament. |
| Verse 3 | The person | His Son – Jesus |
| Verse 5 | The provision | We will inherit grace and apostleship. Grace that we can’t earn |
| Verse 6 | The proclamation | To bring everyone to the obedience of faith. |
| Verse 7 | The privilege | God loves us, and we are called to salvation. |
So, we see the preacher of the good news, the promise of the good news, the person of the good news, the provision of the good news—grace and apostleship—the proclamation of the good news. And it is a proclamation of obedience. Lastly, we are loved by God and called to salvation.
What an opening statement to the Roman Christians. What an opening statement to us today as we trust in the words of Paul in our lives today.
I know God will be glorified in your life today as you respond to His good news and proclaim it to those we talk with today and have ears to hear.
I pray for our obedience and faith today.
Today’s Readings: 2 Samuel 15-17, Psalm 3, Psalm 63, Romans 1