Chapter 1 1 Paul, slave Jesus Christ, called Apostle, chosen to the gospel of God,
2 which God promised before through His prophets in the holy scriptures,
3 about his Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh
4 and was revealed to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, through the resurrection from the dead, through Jesus Christ Our Lord,
5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship, that in His name we might bring all nations under faith,
6 Among whom are you also, who have been called by Jesus Christ,
7 To all the beloved of God who are in Rome, the called saints: Grace to you and peace from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
8 First of all, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world.
9 God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that I make mention of you continually,
10 always asking in my prayers that the will of God may one day prosper me to come to you,
11 For I greatly desire to see you, so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you,
12 that is, to be comforted with you by our common faith, yours and mine.
13 I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, that I intended to come to you many times (but have been hindered even until now) so that I might have some fruit among you, as well as among other nations.
14 I am indebted to Greeks and barbarians, to the wise and to the ignorant.
15 Therefore, as for me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Greek.
17 In it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written: The righteous shall live by faith.
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.
19 For what can be known about God is obvious to them, because God has shown it to them.
20 For His invisible things, His eternal power and Godhead, have been visible from the creation of the world through the consideration of creatures, so that they are without answer.
21 But because they, having known God, did not glorify Him as God, and did not give thanks, but became futile in their speculations, and their foolish hearts were darkened;
22 Professing to be wise, they became fools,
23 And they changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man, and birds, and four-footed creatures, and creeping things, -
24 Then God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to uncleanness, so that they defiled their own bodies.
25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature instead of the Creator, who is blessed forever, amen.
26 Therefore God gave them over to shameful passions: their women exchanged natural uses for unnatural ones;
27 Likewise, men also, abandoning the natural use of the female sex, were inflamed with lust for one another, men committing shame on men and receiving in themselves the due recompense for their error.
28 And since they did not care to have God in their minds, God gave them over to a depraved mind - to do lewd things,
29 so that they are filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, malice, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil spirits,
30 slanderers, slanderers, haters of God, oppressors, self-praisers, proud, devising evil, disobedient to their parents,
31 foolish, treacherous, unloving, implacable, unmerciful.
32 They know the righteous judgment of God, that those who do such things are worthy of death; however, not only do they do them, but they also approve of those who do them.
Chapter 2 1 Therefore, you are inexcusable, every man who judges another, for by the same judgment with which you judge another you condemn yourself, because in judging another you do the same.
2 And we know that truly there is judgment of God on those who do such things.
3 Do you really think, O man, that you will escape the judgment of God by condemning those who do such things and (yourself) doing the same?
4 Or do you despise the riches of God’s kindness, meekness and long-suffering, not realizing that God’s goodness leads you to repentance?
5 But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath and revelation of righteous judgment from God,
6 Who will reward everyone according to his deeds:
7 To those who, by persistence in good deeds, seek glory, honor and immortality, eternal life;
8 But to those who persist and do not obey the truth, but give themselves over to unrighteousness, there will be wrath and wrath.
9 Tribulation and distress to every soul of a person who does evil, first the Jew, then the Greek!
10 On the contrary, glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, first to the Jew, then to the Greek!
11 For there is no partiality with God.
12 Those who sin without the law are without the law and will perish; and those who have sinned under the law will be condemned by the law
13 (for it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified,
14 For when the Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature what is lawful, then, not having the law, they are a law unto themselves:
15 they show that the work of the law is written in their hearts, as evidenced by their conscience and their thoughts, sometimes accusing, sometimes justifying one another)
16 on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secret deeds of men through Jesus Christ.
17 Behold, you are called a Jew, and you take comfort in the law, and you boast in God,
18 and you know His will and understand what is best, learning from the law,
19 And I am confident of myself, that you are a guide for the blind, a light to those who are in darkness,
20 A teacher of the ignorant, a teacher of babes, having in the law an example of knowledge and truth:
21 Why, when you teach another, do you not teach yourself?
22 When you preach not to steal, do you steal? When you say, “Thou shalt not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? By abhorring idols, are you blasphemous?
23 Do you boast about the law, but dishonor God by breaking the law?
24 For for your sake, as it is written, the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles.
25 Circumcision is beneficial if you keep the law; and if you are a transgressor of the law, then your circumcision has become uncircumcision.
26 Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the statutes of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision to him?
27 And he who is uncircumcised by nature and keeps the law, will he not condemn you, a transgressor of the law under the Scripture and circumcision?
28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision made outwardly in the flesh;
29 But he who is a Jew inwardly, and that circumcision which is in the heart is in the Spirit, and not in the letter, his praise is not from men, but from God.
Chapter 3 1 So, what is the advantage of being a Jew, or what is the benefit of circumcision?
2 This is a great advantage in every way, but especially in the fact that they have been entrusted with the word of God.
3 For what? even if some were unfaithful, will their unfaithfulness destroy the faithfulness of God?
4 No way. God is faithful, but every man is a liar, as it is written: Thou art righteous in Thy words, and thou shalt prevail in Thy judgment.
5 If our unrighteousness reveals the truth of God, then what shall we say? won't God be unjust when he expresses anger? (I speak from human reasoning).
6 No way. For how else can God judge the world?
7 For if the faithfulness of God is elevated by my unfaithfulness to the glory of God, why else should I be judged as a sinner?
8 And should we not do evil so that good may come, as some slander us and say that we teach this way? The judgment against such is just.
9 So what? do we have an advantage? Not at all. For we have already proved that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin,
10 As it is written: There is none righteous, not even one;
11 there is no one who understands; no one seeks God;
12 They have all turned aside from the way, even one of them is worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.
13 Their larynx - open coffin; they deceive with their tongue; the poison of asps is on their lips.
14 Their lips are full of slander and bitterness.
15 Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 destruction and destruction are in their ways;
17 They do not know the way of peace.
18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.
19 But we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth is stopped, and the whole world becomes guilty before God,
20 For by the works of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
21 But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, to which the law and the prophets testify,
22 The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ is to all and to all who believe, for there is no difference,
23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
24 Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption Christ Jesus,
25 whom God offered as a propitiation by His blood through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness in the forgiveness of sins previously committed,
26 during the longsuffering of God, for the demonstration of his righteousness at this time, that he may appear righteous and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus.
27 Where is there something to boast about? destroyed. What law? the law of affairs? No, but by the law of faith.
28 For we acknowledge that a man is justified by faith, apart from the works of the law.
29 Is God really the God of the Jews only, and not of the Gentiles? Of course, pagans too,
30 For there is one God, who will justify the circumcision by faith and the uncircumcised by faith.
31 Do we then make void the law by faith? No way; but we affirm the law.
Chapter 4 1 What, say, did Abraham our father acquire in the flesh?
2 If Abraham was justified by works, he has praise, but not before God.
3 For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.
4 The reward of the one who works is not accounted according to mercy, but according to debt.
5 But to him who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.
6 So David calls the man blessed to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:
7 Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered.
8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute sin.
9 Does this blessedness apply to circumcision or to uncircumcision? We say that Abraham's faith was counted as righteousness.
10 When was it imputed? after circumcision or before circumcision? Not after circumcision, but before circumcision.
11 And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness through the faith which he had while uncircumcised, so that he became the father of all who believed in the uncircumcision, so that righteousness might be imputed to them also,
12 and the father of the circumcision, not only having received circumcision, but also walking in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham, which he had while uncircumcised.
13 For the promise was not given to Abraham, or to his seed, by law, to be heir of the world, but by the righteousness of faith.
14 If those who are established in the law are heirs, then faith is vain, the promise is useless;
15 For the law produces wrath; for where there is no law, there is no transgression.
16 Therefore according to faith, so that it may be according to mercy, so that the promise may be sure to all, not only according to the law, but also according to the faith of the descendants of Abraham, who is the father of us all
17 (as it is written: I have made thee a father of many nations) before God, whom he believed, who giveth life to the dead, and calleth things that are not as though they were.
18 He believed with hope, beyond hope, through which he became the father of many nations, according to what was said: “So many will your seed be.”
19 And, not failing in faith, he did not consider that his body, almost a hundred years old, was already dead, and Sarah’s womb was dead;
20 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but remained steadfast in faith, giving glory to God.
21 and being fully confident that He is able to do what He has promised.
22 Therefore it was counted to him as righteousness.
23 But it was not written in relation to him alone that it was imputed to him,
24 but also in relation to us; will be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised Jesus Christ our Lord from the dead,
25 Who was delivered up for our sins and rose again for our justification.
Chapter 5 1 Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
2 Through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
3 And not only this, but we glory in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces patience,
4 From patience comes experience, from experience comes hope,
5 But hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
6 For Christ, while we were yet weak, certain time died for the wicked.
7 For hardly anyone will die for a righteous man; maybe someone will decide to die for a benefactor.
8 But God demonstrates His love for us in this, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Much more therefore now, having been justified by His blood, we will be saved from wrath through Him.
10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we will be saved by His life.
11 And not only this, but we glory in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so death spread to all men, because all sinned.
13 For even before the law sin was in the world; but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
14 However, death reigned from Adam to Moses and over those who did not sin, like the transgression of Adam, who is the image of the future.
15 But the gift of grace is not like a crime. For if through the crime of one many were put to death, much more will the grace of God and the gift by the grace of one Man, Jesus Christ, abound for many.
16 And the gift is not like judgment for one sinner; for judgment for one crime leads to condemnation; and the gift of grace leads to justification from many crimes.
17 For if through the transgression of the one death reigned through the one, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one Jesus Christ.
18 Therefore, just as through one transgression there was condemnation for all men, so through one righteousness there was justification for life for all men.
19 For just as through one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so through one man’s obedience many will be made righteous.
20 But the law came after, and thus the transgression increased. And when sin increased, grace began to abound,
21 That as sin reigned unto death, so grace also might reign through righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Chapter 6 1 What shall we say? Should we remain in sin so that grace may increase? No way.
2 We died to sin: how can we live in it?
3 Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
5 For if we are united to Him in the likeness of His death, we must also be united in the likeness of His resurrection,
6 Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, so that the body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;
7 For he who died was freed from sin.
8 But if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him,
9 Knowing that Christ, having risen from the dead, dies no more: death no longer has power over Him.
10 For because He died, He died once to sin; and what he lives, he lives for God.
11 Likewise, count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
12 Therefore let not sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts;
13 And do not yield your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as alive from the dead, and your members to God as instruments of righteousness.
14 Sin must not have dominion over you, for you are not under law, but under grace.
15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law, but under grace? No way.
16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves as slaves to obey, you are also slaves to whom you obey, either slaves of sin to death, or slaves of obedience to righteousness?
17 Thanks be to God, that you, having formerly been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you have given yourselves.
18 Having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
19 I speak from human reasoning because of the weakness of your flesh. Just as you presented your members as slaves to uncleanness and lawlessness for wicked works, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness for holy works.
20 For while you were slaves to sin, you were free from righteousness.
21 What fruit did you have then? Such deeds of which you yourself are now ashamed, because their end is death.
22 But now that you have been freed from sin and become slaves of God, your fruit is holiness, and the end is eternal life.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Chapter 7 1 Do you not know, brothers (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has power over a person while he lives?
2 A married woman is bound by law to her living husband; and if her husband dies, she is freed from the law of marriage.
3 Therefore, if she marries another while her husband is living, she is called an adulteress; if her husband dies, she is free from the law, and will not be an adulteress if she marries another husband.
4 So you too, my brothers, died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, who was raised from the dead, so that we may bear fruit to God.
5 For while we were living in the flesh, the passions of sin, revealed by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit in death;
6 But now, having died to the law by which we were bound, we have been freed from it, that we might serve God in the newness of the spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.
7 What shall we say? Is it really sin from the law? No way. But I knew sin no other way than through the law. For I would not understand desire if the law did not say: do not desire.
8 But sin, taking occasion from the commandment, produced in me every desire: for without the law sin is dead.
9 I once lived without law; but when the commandment came, sin came to life,
10 and I died; and thus the commandment given for life served me to death,
11 Because sin, taking occasion from the commandment, deceived me and killed me with it.
12 Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, and righteous, and good.
13 So, has what is good become deadly to me? No way; but sin, which turns out to be sin because through good it causes death to me, so that sin becomes extremely sinful through the commandment.
14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.
15 For I do not understand what I do: because I do not do what I want, but what I hate, I do.
16 But if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law that it is good,
17 Therefore it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
18 For I know that no good thing dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; because the desire for good is in me, but I don’t find it to do it.
19 I do not do the good that I want, but the evil that I do not want, I do.
20 But if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
21 Therefore I find a law, that when I would do good, evil is present to me.
22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inner man;
23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that is in my members.
24 Poor man I am! who will deliver me from this body of death?
25 I thank my God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So with my mind I serve the law of God, but with my flesh the law of sin.
Chapter 8 1There is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit,
2 because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death.
3 Because the law, weakened by the flesh, had no power, God sent His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh as a sacrifice for sin and condemned sin in the flesh,
4 that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on carnal things, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on spiritual things.
6 To be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace,
7 because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for they do not obey the law of God, and indeed cannot.
8 Therefore those who live according to the flesh cannot please God.
9 But you do not live according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.
10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
11 If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
12 Therefore, brethren, we are not debtors to the flesh, to live according to the flesh;
13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if through the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the flesh, you will live.
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
15 Because you did not receive the spirit of slavery to live in fear again, but you received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry: “Abba, Father!”
16 This very Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.
17 And if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with Him, so that we may also be glorified with Him.
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
19 For the creation waits with hope for the revelation of the sons of God,
20 For the creation was subjected to vanity, not voluntarily, but by the will of him who subjected it, in hope,
21 that the creation itself will be freed from the bondage of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers together until now;
23 and not only she, but we ourselves, having the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan within ourselves, waiting for adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.
24 For we are saved in hope. But hope, when it sees, is not hope; for if anyone sees, what can he hope for?
25 But when we hope for what we do not see, then we wait with patience.
26 Likewise the Spirit also helps us in our weaknesses; for we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings that cannot be expressed.
27 But he who searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because he makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
28 Moreover, we know that those who love God to those who are called according to His purpose, all things work together for good.
29 For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
30 And whom He predestined, them He also called, and whom He called, them He also justified; and those whom he justified, he also glorified.
31 What can we say to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?
32 He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not with Him also freely give us all things?
33 Who will accuse God's elect? God justifies them.
34 Who condemns? Christ Jesus died, but also rose again: He is also at the right hand of God, and He intercedes for us.
35 Who will separate us from the love of God: tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or the sword? as written:
36 For Your sake they kill us every day; they count us as sheep doomed to the slaughter.
37 But we overcome all these things through the power of Him who loved us.
38 For I am confident that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, neither the present nor the future,
39 Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Chapter 9 1 I speak the truth in Christ, I do not lie, my conscience bears witness to me in Holy Spirit,
2 that there is great sorrow for me and constant torment of my heart:
3 I would like to be excommunicated from Christ for my brothers who are related to me according to the flesh,
4 that is, the Israelites, to whom belong the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the law, and the worship, and the promises;
5 theirs are the fathers, and from them is Christ according to the flesh, who is God over all, blessed forever, amen.
6 But it is not that the word of God is not fulfilled: for not all are Israelites which are of Israel;
7 And not all the children of Abraham who are of his seed, but it is said, Thy seed shall be called Isaac.
8 That is, the children of the flesh are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are recognized as the seed.
9 And the word of promise is this: At this same time I will come, and Sarah will have a son.
10 And not only this; but so it was with Rebekah, when she conceived at the same time two sons from Isaac our father.
11 For while they were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad (so that the purpose of God in election might take place
12 not from works, but from Him who calls), it was said to her: the older will be enslaved by the younger,
13 Just as it is written: Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.
14 What shall we say? Is it really not true with God? No way.
15 For He saith unto Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will show mercy; I will regret whoever I feel sorry for.
16 Therefore, mercy does not depend on the one who wishes, nor on the one who strives, but on God who has mercy.
17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: For this very purpose I raised you up, that I might show My power over you, and that My name might be preached throughout all the earth.
18 So he has mercy on whomever he wants; and he hardens whomever he wants.
19 You will say to me: “Why does he still accuse me? For who can resist His will?”
20 And who are you, O man, that you argue with God? Will the product say to the person who made it: “Why did you make me this way?”
21 Has not the potter power over the clay, that out of the same mixture he may make one vessel for honorable use, and another for base use?
22 What if God, desiring to show His wrath and demonstrate His power, with great patience spared the vessels of wrath that were ready to perish?
23 that together He might display the riches of His glory upon the vessels of mercy, which He has prepared for glory,
24 over us, whom He called not only from the Jews, but also from the Gentiles?
25 As also in Hosea he says: I will call not my people my people, and not my beloved, beloved.
26 And in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” there they will be called sons of the living God.
27 And Isaiah declares concerning Israel: Though the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea in number, only a remnant shall be saved;
28 For the work is finished and will soon be decided in righteousness; the Lord will complete the decisive work on earth.
29 And as Isaiah foretold: If the Lord of hosts had not left us a seed, we would have become like Sodom, and would have been like Gomorrah.
30 What shall we say? The Gentiles, who did not seek righteousness, received righteousness, the righteousness of faith.
31 But Israel, who sought the law of righteousness, did not attain to the law of righteousness.
32 Why? because they sought not in faith, but in works of the law. For they stumbled over the stumbling stone,
33 as it is written: Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a stone of offense; but whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.
Chapter 10 1 Brothers! my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel's salvation.
2 For I testify to them that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.
3 For not understanding the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to the righteousness of God,
4 For the end of the law is Christ, for righteousness to everyone who believes.
5 Moses writes about the righteousness of the law: the man who does it will live by it.
6 But the righteousness of faith says this: Do not say in your heart, Who will ascend into heaven? that is, to bring Christ together.
7 Or who will go down into the abyss? that is, to raise Christ from the dead.
8 But what does Scripture say? The word is close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, that is, the word of faith that we preach.
9 For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses unto salvation.
11 For the Scripture says: Whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.
12 Here there is no difference between Jew and Greek, for there is one Lord of all, rich to all who call on Him.
13 For whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
14 But how can we call on Him in whom we have not believed? How can one believe in Him of whom one has not heard? How to hear without a preacher?
15 And how can we preach if they are not sent? as it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good tidings of peace!
16 But not everyone obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says: Lord! who believed what they heard from us?
17 So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
18 But I ask: didn’t they hear? On the contrary, their voice went through all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.
19 Again I ask: Did not Israel know? But the first Moses says: I will arouse jealousy in you because of no people, I will provoke you to anger because of a foolish people.
20 But Isaiah says boldly: Those who did not seek Me found Me; I revealed myself to those who did not ask about Me.
21 But of Israel he says, All day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and stubborn people.
Chapter 11 1 So, I ask: has God really rejected His people? No way. For I also am an Israelite, from the seed of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.
2 God did not reject His people, whom He knew beforehand. Or do you not know what Scripture says in the story of Elijah? how he complains to God about Israel, saying:
3 Lord! They have killed Your prophets, They have destroyed Your altars; I am left alone, and they are looking for my soul.
4 What does God’s answer tell him? I have reserved for Me seven thousand men who did not kneel before Baal.
5 Even so at this time, according to the election of grace, there remains a remnant.
6 But if it is by grace, it is not by works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace. But if it is by works, then this is no longer grace; otherwise the matter is no longer a matter.
7 What then? Israel did not receive what it sought; the elect received it, but the rest were hardened,
8 As it is written: God gave them a spirit of slumber, eyes with which they do not see, and ears with which they do not hear, even to this day.
9 And David says, Let their table be a snare, a snare, and a snare for their retribution;
10 Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and let their back be bent forever.
11 So I ask: did they really stumble so that they might fall? No way. But from their fall the salvation of the Gentiles is to arouse jealousy in them.
12 If their failure is riches for the world, and their lack of wealth is riches for the Gentiles, how much more is their fullness.
13 I say to you, the Gentiles. As the Apostle of the Gentiles, I glorify my ministry.
14 Shall I not make my relatives according to the flesh jealous and save some of them?
15 For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will there be to receive but life from the dead?
16 If the first fruit is holy, so is the whole; and if the root is holy, so are the branches.
17 If some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive tree, were grafted in their place and became a sharer of the root and juice of the olive tree,
18 then do not be arrogant before the branches. If you are arrogant, then remember that it is not you who holds the root, but the root of you.
19 You will say, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.”
20 Okay. They were broken off through unbelief, but you hold on by faith: do not be proud, but be afraid.
21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, see if He will also spare you.
22 So you see the goodness and severity of God: severity towards those who have fallen, but kindness towards you, if you continue in the goodness of God; otherwise you too will be cut off.
23 But even those, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.
24 For if you were cut off from the naturally wild olive tree, and were not grafted into the good olive tree according to nature, much more will these natural ones be grafted into their own olive tree.
25 For I do not want you, brethren, to be ignorant of this mystery, so that you do not dream about yourself, that a hardening has happened in Israel in part, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in;
26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: The Deliverer will come from Zion, and will turn away wickedness from Jacob.
27 And this is my covenant to them, when I take away their sins.
28 In regard to the gospel, they are enemies for your sake; and in relation to election, beloved of God for the sake of the fathers.
29 For the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.
30 Just as you were once disobedient to God, but have now received mercy because of your disobedience,
31 So now they too are disobedient, so that you may have mercy on you, so that they themselves may also receive mercy.
32 For God has imprisoned all in disobedience, that He might have mercy on all.
33 Oh, the depth of the riches of both the wisdom and knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are His destinies and unsearchable His ways!
34 For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who was His adviser?
35 Or who gave Him advance, that He should repay?
36 For all things are from Him, by Him and to Him. To him be glory forever, amen.
Chapter 12 1 Therefore I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service,
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
3 By the grace given to me, I say to each of you: do not think more about yourself than you ought to think; but think modestly, according to the measure of faith that God has allocated to each.
4 For just as we have many members in one body, but not all the members have the same function;
5 So we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.
6 And since, according to the grace given to us, we have various gifts, if you have prophecy, prophesy according to the measure of faith;
7 If you have a ministry, remain in the ministry; whether a teacher, - in teaching;
8 If you warn, exhort; whether you are a distributor, distribute in simplicity; Whether you are a boss, lead with zeal; Whether you are a benefactor, do charity with cordiality.
9 Let love be unfeigned; turn away from evil, cling to goodness;
10 Be kind to one another with brotherly love; warn one another in respect;
11 Do not slacken in zeal; be on fire in spirit; Serve the Lord;
12 Be comforted by hope; be patient in sorrow, constant in prayer;
13 Contribute to the needs of the saints; be zealous for hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless, not curse.
15 Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.
16 Be of the same mind among yourselves; do not be arrogant, but follow the humble; don't dream about yourself;
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but make provision for what is good in the sight of all men.
18 If it is possible on your part, be at peace with all people.
19 Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but give room to the wrath of God. For it is written: Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord.
20 So if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink: for by doing this you will heap burning coals on his head.
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Chapter 13 1 Let every soul be subject to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God; the existing authorities have been established by God.
2 Therefore he who resists authority resists God’s ordinance. And those who resist will bring condemnation upon themselves.
3 For rulers are not a terror to good deeds, but to evil deeds. Do you want to not be afraid of power? Do good and you will receive praise from her,
4 For the ruler is God’s servant, for your good. If you do evil, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain: he is God’s servant, an avenger to punish those who do evil.
5 And therefore one must obey not only out of fear of punishment, but also out of conscience.
6 For this reason you pay taxes, for they are God’s servants, constantly busy with this.
7 Therefore give to everyone their due: to whom to give, to give; to whom quitrent, quitrent; to whom fear, fear; to whom honor, honor.
8 Do not owe anything to anyone except mutual love; For he who loves another has fulfilled the law.
9 For the commandments: do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not covet the things of others, and all the others are contained in this word: love your neighbor as yourself.
10 Love does not harm one’s neighbor; So love is the fulfillment of the law.
11 Do this, knowing the time that the hour has come for us to awaken from sleep. For salvation is closer to us now than when we believed.
12 The night is past, and the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and put on the weapons of light.
13 As during the day, let us behave decently, not indulging in feasting and drunkenness, nor in sensuality and debauchery, nor in quarrels and envy;
14 But put on our Lord Jesus Christ, and do not turn the cares of the flesh into lusts.
Chapter 14 1 Accept him who is weak in the faith without arguing about opinions.
2 For some are confident that they can eat everything, but the weak eat vegetables.
3 He who eats, do not despise him who does not eat; and whoever does not eat, do not condemn the one who eats, because God has accepted him.
4 Who are you, judging another man's servant? Before his Lord he stands, or he falls. And he will be raised up, for God is able to raise him up.
5 One distinguishes one day from another, and another judges every day equally. Everyone act according to the evidence of his own mind.
6 He who discerns the days discerns them for the Lord; and he who does not discern the days does not discern for the Lord. Whoever eats eats for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and whoever does not eat does not eat for the Lord, and thanks God.
7 For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself;
8 And if we live, we live for the Lord; whether we die, we die for the Lord: and therefore, whether we live or die, we are always the Lord’s.
9 For to this end Christ died, and rose again, and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
10 Why do you judge your brother? Or are you also why you humiliate your brother? We will all appear at the judgment seat of Christ.
11 For it is written, As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to Me, and every tongue will confess to God.
12 Therefore, each of us will give an account of himself to God.
13 Let us no longer judge each other, but rather judge how not to give your brother any chance of stumbling or temptation.
14 I know and am confident in the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean in itself; Only to him who considers something unclean, it is unclean for him.
15 But if your brother grieves over food, then you are no longer acting out of love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died.
16 Let not your goodness be blasphemed.
17 For the kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
18 Whoever serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and worthy of people’s approval.
19 Let us therefore seek what leads to peace and mutual edification.
20 For the sake of food, do not destroy the work of God. Everything is pure, but it is bad for the person who eats because he is tempted.
21 It is better not to eat meat, not to drink wine, and not to do anything that causes your brother to stumble, or to be offended, or to faint.
22 Do you have faith? have it within yourself, before God. Blessed is he who does not condemn himself in what he chooses.
23 But he who doubts, if he eats, is condemned, because it is not by faith; and everything that is not from faith is sin.
24 Now to him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which has been kept secret from time immemorial,
25 But which is now revealed, and through the writings of the prophets, according to the commandment eternal God, proclaimed to all nations for the subjugation of their faith,
26 To the only Wise God, through Jesus Christ, be glory forever. Amen.
Chapter 15 1 We who are strong must endure the weaknesses of the weak and not please ourselves.
2 Each of us must please our neighbor for his good and his edification.
3 For Christ did not please Himself, but, as it is written, The slander of those who slandered You fell on Me.
4 But whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that through patience and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
5 May the God of patience and comfort grant you to be of one mind with one another, according to the teaching of Christ Jesus,
6 so that with one accord, with one mouth, you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
7 Therefore accept one another, just as Christ also accepted you to the glory of God.
8 I mean this, that Jesus Christ became a minister to the circumcision for the truth of God, to fulfill what was promised to the fathers,
9 But for the Gentiles - out of mercy, so that they may glorify God, as it is written: Therefore will I praise You, (Lord,) among the Gentiles, and will sing praise to Your name.
10 And it is also said: Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people.
11 And again: Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and glorify Him, all you nations.
12 Isaiah also says: The root of Jesse will rise up to rule the nations; The pagans will hope in Him.
13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.
14 And I myself am confident about you, my brethren, that you also are full of goodness, full of all knowledge, and able to instruct one another;
15 But I wrote to you, brothers, with some boldness, partly as a reminder to you, according to the grace given to me from God
16 to be a minister of Jesus Christ among the Gentiles and to perform the sacrament of the gospel of God, so that this offering of the Gentiles, being sanctified by the Holy Spirit, may be acceptable to God.
17 Therefore I can boast in Jesus Christ in the things of God,
18 For I will not dare to say anything that Christ has not done through me in subduing the Gentiles by faith, in word and in deed,
19 by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that the gospel of Christ was spread by me from Jerusalem and the surrounding area to Illyricum.
20 Moreover, I tried to preach the gospel not where the name of Christ was already known, so as not to build on someone else’s foundation,
21 But as it is written: Those who have not had news of Him will see, and those who have not heard will know.
22 This is what prevented me from coming to you many times.
23 Now, not having such a place in these countries, but from long ago having a desire to come to you,
24 As soon as I take the road to Spain, I will come to you. For I hope that, as I pass, I will see you and that you will take me there, as soon as I enjoy communication with you, at least in part.
25 And now I go to Jerusalem to minister to the saints,
26 For Macedonia and Achaia are zealous in giving some alms to the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.
27 They are zealous, and they are also in debt to them. For if the pagans have become participants in their spiritual things, then they must also serve them in their physical things.
28 Having accomplished this and having faithfully delivered to them this fruit of my zeal, I will go through your region to Spain,
29 And I am confident that when I come to you, I will come with the full blessing of the gospel of Christ.
30 Meanwhile, I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive with me in prayers to God for me,
31 that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints,
32 So that I may come to you with joy, if God pleases, and rest with you.
33 May the God of peace be with you all, Amen.
Chapter 16 1 I present to you Phoebe, our sister, deaconess of the Church of Cenchrea.
2 Receive her for the Lord, as is fitting for saints, and help her whatever she needs from you, for she has been a helper to many and to myself.
3 Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus
4 (who laid down their lives for my soul, to whom not I alone give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles), and the church of their own.
5 Greet my beloved Epenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia for Christ.
6 Salute Miriam, who has worked hard for us.
7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, my relatives and prisoners with me, who were glorified among the Apostles and who believed in Christ before me.
8 Greet Amplius, my beloved in the Lord.
9 Greet Urban, our fellow worker in Christ, and Stachy, my beloved.
10 Greet Apelles, tested in Christ. Greet the faithful from the house of Aristobulov.
11 Greet Herodion, my kinsman. Greet those from the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord.
12 Greet Tryphena and Tryphos, who labor for the Lord. Greet beloved Persis, who has labored much for the Lord.
13 Greet Rufus, the chosen one in the Lord, and his mother and mine.
14 Greet Asinkritus, Phlegontus, Hermas, Patrov, Hermias and the other brothers with them.
15 Greet Philologus and Julia, Nireus and his sister, and Olympanos, and all the saints with them.
16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.
17 I urge you, brethren, beware of those who cause divisions and temptations, contrary to the teaching which you have learned, and turn away from them;
18 For such people serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and with flattery and eloquence they deceive the hearts of the simple.
19 Your obedience to faith is known to everyone; Therefore, I rejoice for you, but I wish that you would be wise in good and simple in evil.
20 But the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet quickly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is with you! Amen.
21 Timothy, my fellow servant, and Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my relatives, greet you.
22 I, Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord.
23 Gaius, my host and the whole church, greets you. Erast, the city treasurer, and brother Quart greet you.
24 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

Greetings to readers (1–7). The reason and purpose of writing the message (8–17). Theme of the message: the revelation in the Gospel of the righteousness of God and the first proof that outside the Gospel people are subject only to the wrath of God (18-32).

Rom.1:1. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called an Apostle, chosen for the gospel of God,

The message begins with an extensive greeting addressed to the readers. Here the Apostle speaks of his right to address the Romans with epistles. He is an Apostle called by Christ and received certain powers from Him to preach the Gospel to all nations.

"Servant of Jesus Christ." All Christians are slaves of Christ, who is their Redeemer and Master (2 Pet 2:1). But Ap. Paul probably here calls himself a “servant of Christ” in a special sense, as chosen by Christ for a special service, as the closest and direct executor of Christ’s commands. This is how Moses calls himself a servant of God (Numbers 12 et seq.). Elsewhere in Ap. Paul denotes the same attitude towards Christ by the terms υπηρέτης (1 Cor 4:1), διάκονος (1 Cor 3:5), οικονόμος (1 Cor 4 et seq.). Wed. Phil 1:1, where the Apostle gives himself and Timothy the title of servants of Christ, calling other Christians simply saints.

"Called Apostle" In the primal Church, apostles were sometimes called wandering preachers of the Gospel, who, however, did not receive authority from Christ (2 Cor 11:5, 13, 23, 12:11) or from any Church.

Ap. Paul is not like that: he received a special calling (κλητός) to be an apostle, received from Christ Himself and was recognized as a true apostle of Christ by representatives of the Church (cf. Gal 2:7-10). This, of course, was announced by Paul's friends in Rome (Rom. 16:3, 7, 13).

"Chosen to the gospel of God." An apostle is a person set apart to preach the good news that comes from God. He is separated, freed by God from all other duties and concerns so that he can completely devote himself to the great work of preaching entrusted to him (the expression αφορισμένος - means “separated” - the same as the Hebrew word persha, in Greek transcription - φαρισαίος. Paul is a Pharisee - V highest value this word: he separated himself in Christianity from all ordinary activities and concerns, just as he separated himself from the common people, being a Jew and at the same time a strict Pharisee). He is called to be the Apostle of God's new revelation - about the salvation of people. His teaching is not human, but God's.

Rom.1:2. which God promised before through His prophets in the holy scriptures,

“Which God promised before.” Wanting to assure the Romans that the Gospel which he, as an Apostle, preaches is not a human doctrine, but a message of Divine origin, Paul says that it was foretold by God Himself through His prophets in the holy scriptures. Readers already knew, of course, that Christ and the apostles pointed to the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies in the New Testament (see Luke 4:17-21; Matthew 11:5; Isaiah 60 et seq.; Matthew 12:17-21; Isaiah 42: 1-4, etc.). Paul, no doubt, does not want to repeat this thought here. He only points out that the scriptures in which the coming of the New Testament is foreshadowed are holy, that is, they do not contain errors: they must also be believed in what they say about the Kingdom of Christ...

Rom.1:3. about His Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh

"About His Son." The good news that God now offers to people through His messengers, the apostles, has as its main subject or - better - its central point, around which everything else contained in the Gospel revolves, the Son of God. In what sense is Christ here called the Son of God? Since here the Son of God is called the main subject of the Gospel, that is, the apostolic sermon, and since this sermon has as its subject the Son of God in general - first in the state before the incarnation, and then as incarnate, we can conclude that Paul used this expression here in the general and broadest sense, as the embracing and eternal existence of the Son of God, and His life on earth. He was and always remained the true Son of God, even in a state of humiliation, the Only Begotten Son.

"Who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh." But although Christ was the Son of God, He appeared on earth as a man, taking on human flesh and blood (the expression “according to the flesh” complements the expression “from the seed,” that is, from the descendants of David). – The apostle speaks about the miraculousness of the conception of Christ in Rom. 8and in 2 Corinthians 5:21, which talks about the sinlessness of Christ. In fact, if Christ had only been called by Paul the Son of God in a non-proper sense, if Paul had believed that His father was Joseph, and not God, then he could not have considered Christ free from the hereditary sin of Adam. – It is remarkable that the most detailed information about the miraculous supernatural birth of Christ is reported by employee Ap. Paul, St. Luke.

Rom.1:4. and was revealed to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, through the resurrection from the dead, in Jesus Christ our Lord,

“And he was revealed as the Son of God.” Some of the newest interpreters, based on the meaning used here in Greek. In the text of the verb ορίζειν, which supposedly contains an indication of some change occurring in the person to which this verb refers, it is believed that here we are talking about a change in the human nature of Christ into a glorified, divine one, for which Christ prayed to the Father before his death (John 17:5). But, according to the interpretation of the ancient Fathers of the Church and other church interpreters, the Apostle says here only that from the time of the resurrection of Christ, His dignity as the Son of God, previously unclear even by His apostles, became clear to everyone. “The face of the Lord was finally revealed, and all who saw it by faith exclaimed with Thomas: My Lord and my God!” (Bishop Theophan). And how this was determined - the Apostle goes on to say - “in power” - that is, after the resurrection the Lord appeared as mighty to save (Isa. 63:1). He was previously in a state of weakness (2 Cor. 13:4; Heb. 2:14, 5:2).

“According to the spirit of holiness,” that is, the glorification of Christ as the God-man, had as its internal, effective cause His perfect holiness, which the Apostle speaks of in the last chapter. to the Hebrews (Heb. 9:14). Since in Old Testament It was also said that the saint of God will not undergo corruption after death (Ps 15:10), then the perfect holiness of Christ also excluded the possibility of the decomposition of His body after death, and Christ, as completely alien to corruption, needed to be healed miraculously, in an instant, when The hour of His resurrection has struck. Thus, the glorification of Christ in the act of resurrection was completely consistent with His perfect holiness, which was not eclipsed for a minute by anything during Christ’s earthly life.

“Through the resurrection from the dead,” that is, from the time (εξ) of the resurrection from the dead. The resurrection for Christ was the first (in time) discovery of His glorification as the God-man. "About Jesus Christ our Lord." These words form an appendix to the expression of the 3rd article: “about His Son.” - About the glorification of Christ, which, so to speak, brought Him out of the narrow circle of Jewish nationality (Rom. 15:8). The Apostle speaks in order to make it clear to the Roman Christians that he, Paul, was called by the glorified Christ, who through this glorification entered into a relationship with all humanity and, consequently, produced Paul in the same way as the Apostle for all the nations of the earth.

Rom.1:5. through whom we have received grace and apostleship, that in His name we might bring all nations under faith,

“Through whom we have received grace and apostleship.” The Greeks often replaced singular pronouns with plurals. This was done in those cases where the personality of the speaker was relegated to the background, and when, first of all, it was desirable to highlight the actual deed committed by the individual. So the Apostle here speaks, therefore, only about himself alone, as an apostle, appointed mainly to convert the pagans to the Church of Christ. – “Grace,” that is, the saving grace that was poured out on Paul on the day of his conversion to Christ (explanation of the word - Rom. 3:24). - “Apostleship” is a special grace-filled ministry that consisted in bringing salvation to the whole world. - In order to subdue all nations to faith in His name, - more precisely from the Greek: “in order to produce obedience to faith among all nations for the glory of His name.” By faith it is better to understand preaching about faith (cf. Acts 6:7: “many obeyed faith”).

"Peoples". Greek the word έθνη can also be translated by the expression nations, but both in the Old Testament (Gen. 12:3; Isa. 14:6) and in the New (Acts 9:15, 11:1; Gal. 1:16; Eph. 2:11 and in our epistle: Rom.2:14, 15, 3:29, 11:13, 15:9, 11) it is also used as a special technical term to designate the pagans, and here this expression undoubtedly has the same meaning. - “In His name.” These words (in Greek: υπέρ του ονόμ in honor of His, Christ, name) recall the words of Christ to Ananias about Paul: “he is my chosen vessel, to proclaim my name before the nations” (Acts 9:15).

Rom.1:6. among whom are you also, called by Jesus Christ, -

“Among whom are you also, who have been called by Jesus Christ.” By this the Apostle indicates his right to address the Roman Christians with a message. He is the Apostle of the Gentiles, and they were also Gentiles, and thus Paul is obliged to take care of them, and they must obey him. And he is called by Christ (v. 1), and they are also called by Christ (κλιτοί Ι. Χ.) - They have the same master with Paul, and if Paul serves Him as an Apostle, then the Romans should serve Christ as obedient children of the Apostle.

Rom.1:7. To all the beloved of God who are in Rome, the called saints: grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

"Everyone." With this addition, Paul expands the circle of people to whom he sends his message. It is obvious that there were also Jewish Christians in Rome. - “Beloved of God.” God loves all people (John 3:16), but in relation to unbelievers, God’s love can only be pity, and not the close inner communication in which God is with His children - believers. - “Recognized as a saint.” He calls Christians this way in order to show that they are holy, that is, separated from the sinful World by the calling of God, which serves as a guarantee for them of the strength of this holiness. - “Grace and peace to you.” By grace here we should understand the love of God, which manifests itself in more and more new discoveries among believers; peace is the feeling of complete mental peace that a person receives from the consciousness of his reconciliation with God. – From God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The love of God and the love of Christ are different: one is the love of the Father, this is the love of a brother. Christ loves people with his love (Rom 5:15). Showing that the giver of gifts is not only the Father, but also the Son, the Apostle, according to the explanation of the blessed one. Theodoret, “teaches us the equality of the Father and the Son.”

Rom.1:8. First of all, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, that your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world.

The Apostle is prompted to write to the Romans by his love for them, as well as by the consciousness of his duty that he has towards them as an Apostle and teacher of the pagans. This message has the goal of strengthening the Romans in the Christian faith and life. It replaces oral conversation, which the Apostle would like to conduct with the Romans, but could not hitherto. If they think that he has not come to them until now because he was embarrassed to preach about the crucified Christ in the capital of the world, then they are mistaken. He is not ashamed to preach the Gospel, because it is the power of God that saves people, and because the truth of God is revealed in it.

The Apostle begins almost all of his epistles with thanksgiving to God for the prosperity of the church to which he is writing the epistle. He especially highlights the fact that the conversion of many Romans to faith in Christ is being talked about all over the world. The Apostle thereby points out the great benefit that this fact should have in the spread of Christianity: the provinces will obviously follow the example of the capital city! - “My God.” With this expression, the Apostle points to his personal experience, in which he was convinced of God’s love, in particular, for him, the monster (1 Cor 15:8). - “Through Jesus Christ.” The Apostle sends thanks to God through Christ, as the Head of the Church and as his Head.

Rom.1:9. God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that I remember you continually,

The Apostle confirms by calling God as a witness that he constantly, in all his varied activities, remembers the Romans. “I serve” – Greek. the word placed here (λατρεύω) denotes the actual liturgical action (cf. Rom. 15:16). So highly does the Apostle place the work of preaching about Christ! - “With my spirit,” that is, with my entire inner being. - “In the gospel of His Son,” that is, (serve) preaching about the Son of God.

Rom.1:10. always asking in my prayers that God’s will may one day make it possible for me to come to you,

“Someday” – more precisely from the Greek. (ήδη ποτέ) even now, finally (cf. Phil 4:10).

Rom.1:11. for I greatly desire to see you, so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift for your strengthening,

Rom.1:12. that is, to be comforted with you by our common faith, yours and mine.

"Spiritual gifting." The apostle wants to serve them with one of the many spiritual gifts that he possessed (cf. 1 Cor. 12:26). – “To your establishment” – more precisely from the Greek: “so that you may be established.” Paul, using the form of suffering here. pledge, thereby pushing his personality into the shadows and putting forward only the very result of his activity, because, in his opinion, God himself strengthens Christians. - “That is” “or, to put it more correctly...” “To be comforted with you.” By strengthening others in the faith, the Apostle at the same time strengthened himself. He probably needed such strengthening then, in view of some of his failures (cf. Acts 28:15). “Common” – Greek. the word here (έν αλλήλοις) indicates the interaction by virtue of which the faith of the Apostle was supposed to act on the faith of the Romans and the faith of the Romans on the faith of the Apostle.

Rom.1:13. I do not want, brethren, to leave you in ignorance that I intended to come to you many times [but have encountered obstacles even until now] in order to have some fruit among you, as well as among other nations.

Rom.1:14. I owe both Greeks and barbarians, wise men and ignorant.

Rom.1:15. So, as for me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome.

Readers of the epistle with some right could ask themselves: how could it happen that Paul, who had already been an Apostle for twenty years, did not find time to visit the capital of the Roman Empire to proclaim the Gospel here? The Apostle answers this supposed question. Many times he wanted to come to them in order to spread the Gospel in Rome among those who had not yet heard it, but he still encountered serious obstacles to the fulfillment of his desire. And he is very well aware that it is his direct duty to preach in Rome, because he treats all the pagans (“nations” of Art. 13), as well as the Greeks, to whom he obviously includes the Romans (Cicero in his op. De finibus contrasts Greto and Italy - together - with the region he calls Barbaria - IÏ15), and the barbarians, is obliged to evangelize Christ. - “To you who are in Rome.” Here the Apostle obviously means not only Christians, but the entire Roman population, whose representatives for Paul are the readers of the epistle.

Rom.1:16. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Greek.

Paul did not come to Rome because he was ashamed to come here with his too simple gospel, as the Roman Christians might have thought. No, he is not at all embarrassed to speak with the Gospel before the Greeks and wise men, because this Gospel is the power for salvation, and if a person brings salvation to other people, then, of course, they will not pay attention to the form in which salvation is communicated to them, no matter how strange and imperfect it may seem to them.

"Salvation" (σωτηρία). This word contains two ideas: the idea of ​​liberation from evil, destruction, and the idea of ​​communicating goodness, eternal life in communion with God. The possession of both these goods is conceivable as a state mental health(from σώς – healthy, normal). Christians will receive this salvation in full only at the second coming of the Lord, at the last judgment (Rom 13:11, Phil 1:19; cf. 1 Cor 3:15, 5:5; Rom 5:9), but part of this salvation is given now : a Christian, in principle, already possesses it (2 Cor 6:2; Rom 3:24).

"To everyone who believes." The condition for receiving salvation is faith. Salvation would not be possible for everyone if it required something else besides faith, for example, fulfilling the Law of Moses. The faith that the Apostle is talking about here is nothing more than the simple acceptance of the salvation offered by the preachers of the Gospel. A person only has to accept and believe the Gospel - and he immediately begins to enjoy the saving fruits of the redemption accomplished by Christ. This is the original meaning of what is often used by Ap. Paul's expression to believe (πιστεύειν). This acceptance of the Gospel is not based on any logical data, but on heartfelt trust in the truthfulness of the preacher of the Gospel (Rom. 4:18, 10:16, 14, etc.) - the trust that the special grace of God produces in a person’s soul. Subsequently, of course, faith must appear in other numerous manifestations - in good works, in life by faith, but here the Apostle speaks only about the very first moment, when it is a simple acceptance of the truths of the Gospel.

“First to the Jew, then to the Greek.” The word “firstly” (πρώτον), according to the explanation of John Chrysostom, indicates “only the order in receiving grace,” which, according to Blessed. Theodoret, is based on the fact that Christ and the apostles are from the Jews, and on the fact that promises of salvation were given to the Jews (cf. Matthew 10:6). – Since the Greek is here contrasted with the Jew, then by Greeks we must understand not only educated pagans (as in verse 14), but all non-Jews or pagans in general. The pagans are called Hellenes here because the Hellenes, without a doubt, constituted the most outstanding nation among the pagan peoples.

Rom.1:17. In it the truth of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written: The righteous shall live by faith.

The very content of the Gospel already serves to explain its miraculous action in the world. It is in him that the righteousness of God, hitherto hidden, is revealed. From the Gospel we learn that God is righteous and what exactly His righteousness consists of. We learn all this through our own experience, because we assimilate and confirm the righteousness of God in ourselves. Previously, the possibility of acquiring this righteousness was a hidden secret (Rom. 14:24). – That “the righteousness of God” (δικαιοσύνη Θεοΰ) here means precisely “the righteousness of God” is evident from the fact that this expression corresponds in the next verse to the expression: “the wrath of God” in Greek οργή θεοϋ, where θεοϋ (God) will undoubtedly give birth . accessories. From here it is necessary to conclude that in the expression δικαιοσύνη θεοΰ the word θεοΰ is also will give birth. accessories (cf. Rom. 3:5, 24).

"From faith to faith." These words relate to the expression "revealed" as being closest in position in the Greek text. The Apostle wants to say that in the Gospel not all people see and assimilate the righteousness of God, but only those who have faith (from faith), that is, faith in Christ who died and rose again. They really do enter into new life and go to complete and saving confidence in future fate their own (Rom. 8:38-39) or reach the highest degree of faith (in faith).

"As it is written." And the prophet Habakkuk, to whom the Apostle refers as the exponent of the Old Testament worldview, also says that a person can be justified, saved only by faith in God or, what is the same, only by assimilating the righteousness of God within himself. Habakkuk knew no other righteousness, no other way of salvation! Thus, the word “by faith” is best, in accordance with the context of speech, attributed to the expression “righteous,” and the words “will live” are understood in the sense of “will be saved.”

Rom.1:18. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth through unrighteousness.

In order to present the greatness of the Gospel even more clearly, the Apostle further depicts the disastrous state in which humanity lived before Christ. Until the end of the first chapter, he, first of all, depicts the life of the pagans, who, although they could have some knowledge about God, deliberately suppressed the light of truth in themselves in order to live freely according to the desires of their hearts, and, in addition, invented false gods for themselves (18 –23). The angry God punished them in two ways. Since they deprived the Creator of the honor due to Him and exchanged Him for creation, God allowed them to reach the extreme degree of depravity and dishonor themselves with various unnatural vices (24-27). And since they neglected the knowledge of God that was possible for them, God allowed them to fall into such a dark abyss of immorality that they not only committed immoral acts themselves, but also approved of others who did the same (28-32).

The Gospel is necessary due to the fact that without it, first of all, the pagans would only have to bear severe punishment from God for their sins.

"It opens." The revelation of the wrath of God is not tied to any one era by the Apostle: the Lord has been punishing for sins ever since people began to sin. However, there is no doubt that the Apostle had in mind to mainly depict the fall of paganism in his time - the fall to which God, angry with them, allowed the pagans. – “The Wrath of God” (οργή Θ). The wrath of God is actually also the righteousness of God, but manifested in a negative direction. It has as its subject what is unrighteous in man, caused precisely by the moral anomaly of man, and not so much by an insult to the Divine personality. The Greeks also attributed wrath to their gods, but the wrath of these gods (μήνις) was not actually what Paul calls the wrath of God (οργή Θ). He had a character of intransigence, envy and hatred. The gods were offended by people mainly for the disrespect that people showed in relation to their personality, and calmed down when a person paid them for this with offerings, not paying attention to the internal state of the person making the sacrifice. The true God can turn his wrath into mercy only when a person has completely changed morally and for the better (Heb 10:5-6; cf. Ps 39:7-8).

"From the sky". The Apostle adds this in order to show that the phenomena indicated below were really the results of the wrath of God, and not just the natural consequences of the errors of the pagans. (The expression “wrath of God” could otherwise be interpreted in a figurative sense...). By sky here we mean, of course, not the atmospheric or starry sky, but the mysterious location of the throne of the Eternal Judge; The visible sky serves for us only as a symbol of this highest heaven. The Prodigal Son, confessing his sin before heaven and his father (Luke 15:18), obviously looked at heaven as an avenger for violated sacred feelings. - “To all wickedness and unrighteousness of men,” that is, against those who do not recognize the true God and do not want to be guided by His laws in life (this is wickedness - ασέρεια), for which their evil will is guilty, by which they they place their own self above God (this is not true - αδικία). That is, untruth is the cause of wickedness. - “Those who suppress the truth through unrighteousness.” These words more accurately define what the pagans were guilty of. They, as can be seen from the 19th article, could cognize God in nature and find at least some part of the great truth, that is, believe in the existence of the Eternal Judge of the rewarder, but they stubbornly tried to extinguish this saving light in their consciousness (κατέχοντας) and they did this, the Apostle again notes, precisely because of the bad motives of their corrupted will, which did not want to recognize the higher laws of life, the divine, so as not to abandon their vicious aspirations (“untruth” - έν αδικία). Here, obviously, is the same thought as expressed by the Lord in his conversation with Nicodemus: “people loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19).

Rom.1:19. For what can be known about God is obvious to them, because God has revealed it to them.

Here the Apostle proves that the pagans really intentionally extinguished the light of truth, and were not just mistaken out of ignorance (for) - “what can you know about God” (τό γνωστόν τοΰ θ), that is, every person can know, in a natural way, without receiving special revelations from God, and what it is - this is said in the 20th Art. - “It is obvious to them” - more precisely: in them (έν αυτοϊς), that is, in their consciousness (cf. Rom. 2:15). - “Because God showed it to them.” The Apostle wants to say by this that natural knowledge of God still has at its foundation the will of God. If the pagans sometimes wanted, so to speak, to forcibly take possession of the highest, divine secrets, then this was useless labor on their part; people can come to knowledge of God only when God wants it.

Rom.1:20. For His invisible things, His eternal power and Godhead, have been visible from the creation of the world through the consideration of creatures, so that they are irresistible.

"His invisible things." This is what the Apostle calls the properties of the being of God in order to show that people needed the special guidance of God to learn the truth, which is not subject to ordinary observation. - “His eternal power and Divinity.” This constitutes the closest definition to the expression: “His invisible things.” In the foreground stands the eternal power - one side or one property of the Divine - namely, the omnipotence of God. Indeed, God appears to primitive man first of all as Almighty. The omnipotence of God is called eternal, since it was necessary to distinguish the First Cause of everything from various secondary causes and forces. By Deity (θειότης οτ θείος) we must understand the totality of divine properties - wisdom, goodness, righteousness, holiness (The Deity itself or the Divine being is designated by Paul by another word - θεότης. Col. 2:9). - “From the creation of the world, through viewing creations, we are visible.” The properties of God (His invisible) have become subject to observation since the creation of God appeared. Adam could already see in God’s creations a manifestation of Divine wisdom, omnipotence, and goodness. Visible nature should have the same meaning for every person who looks at it (καθοραω) not like an animal, but rationally, considering what in the life of nature is the cause and what the effect (νοούμενα from νοΰς mind). - “So they are unrequited.” These words indicate the goal that God has in allowing humanity to know Himself in nature (in Greek, the particle είς is placed here, not ώστε - the latter really means: so, and είς always means: so that). Of course, the irresponsibility of the pagans was not the main goal of God when He revealed the picture of the world to man, but it is still certain that God, wanting with this picture to lead man to the path of true knowledge of God, at the same time wanted man, in case of his inattention to the revelation of God in nature, he would no longer condemn God, but himself, when God began to punish him for this inattention...

Rom.1:21. But how, having come to know God, they did not glorify Him as God and did not give thanks, but became futile in their speculations, and their foolish hearts were darkened;

Rom.1:22. calling themselves wise, they became fools,

Rom.1:23. and they changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man, and birds, and four-footed creatures, and reptiles, -

In the 19th–20th century. The apostle explained what he meant by truth in verse 18. In verses 21-23, he indicates more precisely what the suppression of truth consisted of, which he spoke about at the conclusion of verse 18. This suppression consisted in the fact that the pagans, although they knew God (γνόντες), were unable to retain this knowledge within themselves, but, on the contrary, hastened to extinguish the light of truth in their consciousness. - “They did not glorify Him as God,” that is, they did not give Him honor as the Highest, Most Peaceful Being, they did not adorn Him in their consciousness with the perfections due to Him - they did not have enough mind for this! - “And they didn’t thank me.” They did not even have a heartfelt attraction to God; they did not treat Him as their Benefactor. - “They became fussy in their speculations,” that is, they became people who in their thoughts are occupied with insignificant, base questions. The expression “mentalizing” (διαλογισμοί) indicates the disordered activity of the mind. - “Their foolish hearts were darkened.” The heart, the center of the activity of the mind and will, has become darkened, that is, it has become dark, having lost the light that true knowledge of God spills around itself. Due to the fact that people have sunk in their thoughts, their heart, or mainly their mental ability, has become unreasonable (ασύνετος). In fact, the more a person’s mind becomes unaccustomed to the pursuit of higher, divine objects, the more his receptivity and ability to comprehend them weakens: the mind becomes in this regard downright incomprehensible... - “They have gone mad,” that is, they have reached the point of extreme stupidity . We are talking about peoples who were generally proud of their mental development (Egyptians, Greeks, Romans). - “The glory of the incorruptible God,” that is, the greatest perfection of the Divine, as it appeared to people in visible nature (see v. 20). The pagans must initially have developed a highly brilliant image of the Divine - an image in which everything that was most perfect from the point of view of the human mind was concentrated. - “They changed it into an image,” that is, they replaced the image of God with the image of different creatures, which was initially revealed in their consciousness. The apostle is referring to the various images that the pagans worshiped - images representing people, animals and birds. Likewise, the psalmist says about the Jews: “and they exchanged their glory (i.e., Jehovah) for the image of a donkey eating grass” (Ps. 106:20). Of course, the Apostle does not think that the pagans considered these idols to be gods, but he still wants to show the madness of the pagans, who did not find anything better than to depict their gods under such images. Even the image of a man is an inappropriate image for the Divine, because man is a corruptible being and cannot represent the incorruptible God... It should be noted that, according to Paul, serving idols was not at all some step forward from fetishism (veneration of simple objects of nature – stones, trees, etc.). On the contrary, he views polytheism with its idolatry as the result of the spiritual degeneration of humanity, as a darkening of the mind and heart, which ultimately led people to the grossest fetishism. AND modern science confirms with his research this view of the Apostle. It shows that the original religion was everywhere monotheism and that the pagans of India and Africa are falling lower and lower in religious terms. [The book of the Wisdom of Solomon also speaks about the origin of idolatry (eg Wisdom 13:1-8, 14:11-20), but what is said there cannot in any case be recognized as the source of what we find in Ap. Paul: this is how the superficial description of idolatry in the book of Wisdom differs from the deep psychological analysis that Ap gives us here. Paul!].

Rom.1:24. then God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to uncleanness, so that they defiled their own bodies.

Rom.1:25. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature instead of the Creator, Who is blessed forever, amen.

Rom.1:26. Therefore, God gave them over to shameful passions: their women replaced natural use with unnatural;

Rom.1:27. Likewise, men, abandoning the natural use of the female sex, were inflamed with lust for one another, men committing shame on men and receiving in themselves due retribution for their error.

The first manifestation of the wrath of God, which the Apostle now begins to depict, was that God allowed people to reach the extreme degree of depravity: since they betrayed the word of God, then God allowed them to change or replace natural relations between men and women with unnatural or unnatural! - “Betrayed them.” Ancient interpreters agree to convey this expression as follows: “allowed or allowed them.” Blazh. Theodoret, for example, writes: “God, seeing them not wanting the creature to lead them to the Creator..., deprived them of His providence, allowed them to rush around like an unequipped boat, not wanting to control those who had fallen into extreme wickedness, which gave rise to lawless life.” But, in addition to permission, which actually implies only a passive attitude of God towards sinners, the verb betrayed also indicates the active manifestation of God’s wrath. God punishes man by betraying man to the will of his passions (cf. Acts 7:42; 2 Sol. 2 et seq.). But is it possible to combine such a way of action with the concept of God as the Most Holy Being? Can. God here is a wise educator, who, in order for his pupil to be fully convinced of the harm of a certain self-will, gives him the opportunity to reach the extreme manifestation of this self-will, after which a reaction must certainly begin: the pupil, having realized all the harm of self-will, turns to his teacher An example of this conversion is the prodigal son (Luke 15:16-18). - “In the lusts of their hearts.” Lusts or desires directed toward everything worldly and sinful carry a person away like waves of a boat torn away from the pier. – “Uncleanness,” that is, sins that defile a person (Rom. 6:19) and mainly carnal (2 Cor. 12:21; Gal. 5:19). This is the abyss where the waves carry the boat (in Greek it is put: είς ακαθαρσίαν into uncleanness). “So they desecrated their own bodies.” The peculiarity of the sins of intemperance is that through them a person gives up his own body to shame, as happened in various pagan cults (from the Greek, more precisely: “so that their bodies were deprived of honor”). - “They replaced the truth of God with lies.” Verse 25 is an interpolation. The Apostle here wants to give a more specific motivation for that decision of God, which is given in the 24th verse. People exchanged the truth of God, that is, the correct idea of ​​God (θεού - will give birth, a subject) for lies or for false gods, for idols (cf. Ps 105:20; Jer 3:10). - “And they worshiped” - (in Greek εσεράσθησαν) they honored (indicating primarily internal worship of God). – They served (in Greek ελάτρευσαν) they performed sacrifices and other functions required by the pagan cult. - “Creatures instead of the Creator.” Paganism, in its essence, is the deification of creation (cf. v. 23), combined with oblivion of the Creator God. - “Which is blessed.” The Apostle gives glory to God, who, despite the desire of the pagans to humiliate Him, will always be blessed as the Creator and Provider of the world. - “That’s why I betrayed him.” Here the Apostle returns to the thought he expressed in Art. 24. God was angry with the pagans and gave them over to the will of unnatural vices. Previously, they were in lusts (επιθυμίαι) - now in passions (παθη), which make a slave out of a person who has completely lost his will. These passions are shameful (ατιμίας), that is, shameful, consisting in a distortion of the order of nature, humiliating a person. The existence of those specified in Articles 26 and 27 unnatural vices in paganism are confirmed by the evidence of modern Ap. Paul of Greek and Roman writers. - “Receiving in ourselves.” For their deviation from true worship of God (error cf. vv. 21-23, 25), the pagans apparently received from God the due retribution or punishment from God, which consisted precisely in the betrayal of the pagans by God to such unnatural vices. It is clear that, according to the Apostle, the moral feeling in a person is alive only as long as the idea of ​​the All-Holy Being of God lives in him. He who reveres God ennobles himself, and he who rejects Him falls lower and lower morally. The Apostle obviously does not recognize “independent” morality.

Rom.1:28. And even though they did not care to have God in their minds, God gave them over to a depraved mind - to do indecent things,

Rom.1:29. so that they are filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, malice, filled with envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil spirits,

Rom.1:30. slanderers, slanderers, haters of God, offenders, self-praisers, proud, resourceful for evil, disobedient to parents,

Rom.1:31. reckless, treacherous, unloving, irreconcilable, unmerciful.

Rom.1:32. They know the righteous judgment of God, that those who do such things are worthy of death; however, not only do they do them, but they also approve of those who do them.

The second manifestation of the wrath of God. Because the pagans did not want to make the knowledge of God the guiding principles in their lives, God gave them over to the power of a complete darkening of moral consciousness. - “To a perverted mind.” Perverse mind (αδόκιμος) - unable to know what is evil and what is good. - “Indecency” (τα μή καθήκοντα) is what was previously considered immoral by the pagans themselves and which they later, with the loss of a properly functioning mind, began to consider good and therefore fearlessly commit. - “So they are fulfilled...” Here the Apostle gives a more detailed description of the “indecencies” of the pagans. Ap.'s list of vices. Paul is also given in the following places; Rom 13:13; 1 Cor 5:10-11, 6:9-10; 2 Cor 12:20-21; Gal 5:19-21; Eph 4:31, 5:3-4; Col 3:5, 8; 1 Tim 1:9-10; 2 Timothy 3:2-5. Both there and here, the Apostle does not adhere to a strictly logical order: broader and narrower concepts are found side by side, related vices and similar ones are associated (for example, φθόνος and φόνος). From the list of sins found in the Old Testament (for example, Exodus XX-XXIII ch.; Lev. 19; Deut. 27) the list of Ap. Paul is distinguished by the fact that in the Old Testament, seemingly individual actions and especially gross sins appear, while with Paul sinful moods are in the foreground, as the source of individual sins. - “They know the righteous judgment of God” (v. 32), that is, what God, as Lawgiver and Judge, requires. This is the natural law of moral consciousness (Rom. 2:15), which establishes the position that those who do such things are worthy of death, that is, eternal death. It should be noted that the pagans also had the concept of eternal hellish torment awaiting stubborn sinners after death.

“Those who do are approved.” These words contain an indication of the complete darkening of the moral sense in the pagans, which was the result of God’s wrathful allowance. Public opinion in the pagan world began to approve of wicked people as doing the right thing. It is known that both Caligula and Nero received encouragement in Roman society. Of course, this did not exclude the possibility of a different attitude towards vices and vicious people (see 2, 14, 26 et seq.), but such an attitude was truly an exception to the general rule in pagan society. One can even say that the pagans, who knew how to understand and appreciate, as they should, all the evils of depravity, in this case went against the general trend...

Both of Paul's main themes - the integrity of the good news entrusted to him and the unity of Gentiles and Jews in the messianic community - are heard already in the first half of chapter 1.

Paul calls the good news “the gospel of God” (1) because God is the author, and “the gospel of the Son” (9) because the Son is its essence.

In verses 1-5 he focuses on the presence of Jesus Christ, a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was powerfully proclaimed to be the Son of God after His resurrection from the dead. In verse 16, Paul speaks of his work because the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, “to the Jew first, and then to the Greek.”

In between these brief gospel statements, Paul attempts to establish trust with his readers. He writes to “all the believers who are in Rome” (7), regardless of their ethnic origin, although he knows that most of them are pagans (13). He thanks God for everyone, constantly prays for them, strives to meet them and has already tried several times (so far unsuccessfully) to see them (8-13). He feels it is his responsibility to preach the Good News in the capital of the world. He longs for this because the will of the righteous God has been revealed in the gospel: to “bring sinners to righteousness” (14-17).

God's Wrath (1:18–3:20)

The revelation of God's righteousness in the gospel is necessary because His wrath against unrighteousness is revealed (18). The wrath of God, His pure and complete rejection of evil, is directed at all those who deliberately suppress all that is true and righteous for the sake of their personal choice. After all, all people somehow acquire knowledge about God and virtue: either through the world around them (19ff.), or through their conscience (32), or through moral law, written in human hearts (2:12ff.), or through the law Given to the Jews through Moses (2:17ff.).

Thus, the Apostle divides the human race into three groups: the corrupt pagan society (1:18-32), the moralistic critics (whether Jews or pagans) and the well-educated, self-confident Jews (2:17 - 3:8). He concludes by indicting the entire human society (3:9-20). In each of these cases, his argument is the same: none of the people act in accordance with the knowledge they have. Even the special privileges of the Jews do not exempt them from God's judgment. No, “both Jews and Greeks are all under sin” (3:9), “for there is no partiality with God” (2:11). All human beings are sinners, all are guilty and have no justification with God - this is the picture of the world, the picture is hopelessly gloomy.

Grace of God (3:21 - 8:39)

“But now” is one of the most remarkable adversative expressions in the Bible. For in the midst of the universal darkness of human sin and guilt, the light of the Good News has shone. Paul again calls it “the righteousness of God” (or from God) (as in 1:17), that is, it is His justification of the unrighteous, which is possible only through the Cross, on which God showed His justice (3:25ff.) and His love (5:8) and which is available to “all who believe” (3:22) - both Jews and Gentiles. Explaining the meaning of the Cross, Paul resorts to such key words as “propitiation”, “redemption”, “justification”. And then, answering the objections of the Jews (3:27-31), he argues that since justification is by faith alone, there can be no boasting before God, no discrimination between Jews and Gentiles, and no disregard for the law.

Chapter 4 is a most magnificent work, where Paul proves that the patriarch of Israel Abraham was justified not by his works (4-8), not by circumcision (9-12), not by the law (13-15), but by faith. In the future, Abraham already becomes “the father of all believers” - both Jews and pagans (11, 16-25). Divine objectivity is obvious here.

Having established that God grants justification by faith to even the worst sinners (4:5), Paul speaks of God's wonderful blessings to his justified people (5:1–11). "So…", he begins, we have peace with God, we are in His grace and we rejoice in the hope of seeing and sharing His glory. Even suffering will not shake our confidence, because God’s love is with us, which He poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit (5) and confirmed on the Cross through His Son (5:8). Everything the Lord has already done for us gives us hope that we will be “saved” at the last day (5:9-10).

Two types of human communities were shown above: one burdened with sin and guilt, the other blessed with grace and faith.

The ancestor of the old humanity was Adam, the ancestor of the new humanity was Christ. Then, with almost mathematical precision, Paul compares and contrasts them (5:12-21). The first one is easy to do. In both cases, a single action by one person has an impact on a huge number of people. The contrast here is much more significant. If Adam's disobedience brought damnation and death, Christ's humility brought justification and life. Indeed, the saving work of Christ turned out to be much stronger than the destructive effect of Adam’s act.

In the middle of the antithesis “Adam - Christ,” Paul places Moses: “The law came after, and thus the transgression increased. And when sin abounded, grace abounded all the more” (20). Both of these statements were intolerable to the Jews, since they offended the law. The first seemed to lay the blame for sin on the law, and the second proclaimed the final destruction of sin due to the abundance of grace. Did Paul's gospel degrade the law and encourage sin? Paul answers the second charge in chapter 6, and the first in chapter 7.

Twice in chapter 6 (verses 1 and 15), Paul's opponent asks him the question: Does he think it is possible to continue sinning and God's grace to continue to forgive? Both times Pavel sharply answers: “No way!” If Christians ask such a question, it means that they generally do not understand either the meaning of their baptism (1-14) or the meaning of conversion (15-23). Did they not know that their baptism meant union with Christ in His death, that His death was a death “into sin” (that is, sin was satisfied and its punishment accepted), and that they were resurrected with Him? In union with Christ they themselves are “dead to sin and alive to God.” How can one continue to live in what they died for? It's the same with their treatment. Have they not given themselves resolutely to God as His servants? How can they bring themselves back into slavery to sin? Our baptism and conversion, on the one hand, excluded any return to the previous life, and on the other, opened the way to a new life. The possibility of going back exists, but such a step is completely impractical. Grace not only discourages sin, it forbids it.

Paul's opponents were also concerned about his teaching on the law. He clarifies this issue in Chapter 7, where he makes three points. First (1–6), Christians “died to the law” in Christ as well as to “sin.” Consequently, they are “freed” from the law, that is, from its curse, and are now free, but free not to sin, but to serve God in a renewed spirit. Secondly, Paul, based (I think) on his own past experience, argues that although the law exposes, encourages, and condemns sin, it is not responsible for sin and death. No, the law is holy. Paul defends the law.

Third (14-25), Paul describes in vivid imagery the ongoing intense internal struggle. Regardless of whether the "fallen" man crying out for deliverance is a regenerate Christian or remains unregenerate (I take the third), and whether Paul himself is this man or is simply a personification, the purpose of these verses is to demonstrate the weakness of the law.

The fall of man is not the fault of the law (which is holy) and not even the fault of one’s own human self, but of the “sin” “living” in him (17, 20), over which the law has no power.

But now (8:1-4) God, through His Son and Spirit, has accomplished what the law, weakened by our sinful nature, could not do. In particular, the casting out of sin is only possible through the enthronement of the Holy Spirit in its place (8:9), which is not mentioned in chapter 7 (except in verse 6). Thus now we, who are ordained to justification and sanctification, are “not under the law, but under grace.”

Just as chapter 7 of the Epistle is devoted to the law, so chapter 8 is devoted to the Holy Spirit. In the first half of the chapter, Paul describes the various missions of the Holy Spirit: liberating man, His presence in us, giving new life, teaching self-control, witnessing to the human spirit that we are children of God, interceding for us. Paul remembers that we are God's children, and therefore His heirs, and that suffering is the only road to glory. He then draws a parallel between the suffering and glory of God's children. He writes that creation is subject to disappointment, but one day it is freed from its bonds. However, creation groans as if in the throes of childbirth, and we groan with it. We passionately but patiently await the final renewal of the entire universe, including our bodies.

In the last 12 verses of chapter 8 the Apostle rises to the majestic heights of the Christian faith. He makes five compelling arguments about God's work for our good and ultimately for our ultimate salvation (28). He notes the five stages that constitute God's plan from eternity past to eternity to come (29-30), and poses five bold, unanswerable questions. Thus he strengthens us with fifteen proofs of indestructibility God's love, from which nothing can ever separate us.

God's Plan (9-11)

Throughout the first half of his letter, Paul does not lose sight of either the ethnic confusion in the Roman church or the ongoing tensions between the Jewish Christian majority and the pagan Christian minority. Now it's time to tackle the theological problem that lurks here head-on and decisively. How did it happen that Jewish people rejected his Messiah? How can his unbelief be reconciled with God's covenant and promises? How can the inclusion of the Gentiles be consistent with God's plan? It can be seen that each of these three chapters begins with Paul's very personal and emotional testimony of his love for Israel: there is anger at their alienation (9:1ff.), and a passionate desire for their salvation (10:1), and an enduring sense of belonging to him (11:1).

In chapter 9, Paul defends the principle of God's faithfulness to His covenant on the grounds that His promises were not addressed to all the descendants of Jacob, but only to those Israelites who are from Israel - His remnant, since He always acted in accordance with His principle of "chosenness" ( eleven). This was manifested not only in the preference of Isaac over Ishmael and Jacob over Esau, but also in the mercy of Moses when Pharaoh's heart was hardened (14-18). But even this bitterness of Pharaoh, forced to submit to the desires of his hardened heart, was in its essence a manifestation of God's power. If we still have doubts about chosenness, we must remember that it is not fit for a human being to argue with God (19-21), that we must humble ourselves before His right to show His power and mercy (22-23) and that in Scripture itself the calling of the Gentiles, as well as the Jews, is predicted to become His people (24-29).

However, the ends of chapters 9 and 10 make it clear that Israel's unbelief cannot be attributed to tout simple(God's choice) as Paul further states that Israel "stumbled over a stumbling block," namely Christ and His Cross. By this he accuses Israel of a proud reluctance to accept God's plan of salvation and of religious zeal not based on knowledge (9:31 - 10:7). Paul continues to contrast “righteousness by law” with “righteousness by faith” and, by skillfully applying Deuteronomy (30), emphasizes the availability of Christ through faith. There is no need to wander around in search of Christ, since He Himself came, died and rose again and is available to everyone who calls on Him (10:5-11). Moreover, there is no difference between Jew and Gentile, because the same God - the God of all people - richly blesses all who call on Him (12-13). But this requires the gospel (14-15).

Why didn't Israel accept the Good News? Not because they didn't hear or understand it. So why? After all, God constantly stretched out His hands to them, but they were “disobedient and stubborn” (16-21). This means that the reason is Israel's unbelief, which in chapter 9 Paul attributes to God's choice, and in chapter 10 to his pride, ignorance and stubbornness of the Israelites. The contradiction between Divine sovereignty and human obligations is a paradox which the finite mind cannot comprehend.

In chapter 11, Paul looks to the future. He states that Israel's fall will be neither total, since there is a believing remnant (1-10), nor final, since God has not rejected His people and they will be reborn (11). If salvation came to the Gentiles through the fall of Israel, now through the salvation of the Gentiles jealousy will be aroused in Israel (12). Indeed, Paul sees the mission of his evangelism as stirring up zeal in his people in order to save at least some (13-14). And then the “fullness” of Israel will bring “much more riches” to the world. Paul then develops the allegory of the olive tree and offers two lessons on this topic. The first is a warning to the pagans (like a grafted branch of a wild olive) against exaltation and boasting (17-22). The second is the promise to Israel (as a branch from the root) that if they ceased to persist in their unbelief, they would be grafted in again (23-24). Paul's vision of the future, which he calls a "mystery" or revelation, is that when the fulness of the Gentiles comes, "all Israel will be saved" (25-27). His confidence in this comes from the fact that “the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable” (29). So we can confidently expect the “fullness” of both Jews and Gentiles (12:25). Indeed, God “will have mercy on all” (32), which does not mean everyone without exception, but means having mercy on both Jews and Gentiles without dividing them. Not surprisingly, this prospect brings Paul into a state of rapturous praise for God and praises Him for the wonderful riches and depth of His wisdom (33-36).

God's Will (12:1–15:13)

Calling the Roman Christians his "brothers" (since the old differences had already been eliminated), Paul now makes an ardent appeal to them. He bases himself on the “mercy of God,” which he interprets, and calls them to the sanctification of their bodies and the renewal of their minds. He sets before them the same alternative that has always and everywhere accompanied God's people: either to conform to this world, or to change through the renewal of the mind, which is the “good, acceptable and perfect” will of God.

The following chapters explain that God's will concerns all of our relationships, which are completely changed by the influence of the Good News. Paul develops eight of them, namely: relationships with God, with ourselves and with each other, with our enemies, the state, the law, with the last day, and with “the weak.” Our renewed mind, beginning to understand the will of God (1-2), must soberly evaluate what God has given us, and not overestimate or underestimate ourselves (3-8). Our relationships must always be defined by service to one another. Love that binds members together Christian family, includes sincerity, warmth, honesty, patience, hospitality, kindness, harmony and humility (9-16).

Next it talks about the attitude towards enemies or those who do evil (17-21). Echoing the commandments of Jesus, Paul writes that we should not repay evil for evil or take revenge, but we should leave the punishment to God, since this is His prerogative, and we ourselves should seek peace, serve our enemies, defeating evil with good. Our relationship with authorities (13:1-7), as Paul sees it, is directly related to the concept of the wrath of God (12:19). If the punishment of evil is the prerogative of God, then He carries it out through state legally approved institutions, since the official is a “servant” of God, appointed to punish atrocities. The state also performs a positive function of supporting and rewarding the good deeds performed by people. However, our submission to the authorities cannot be unconditional. If the state misuses given by God power, forcing us to do what God forbids, or prohibiting what God commands, in this case our Christian duty is obvious - not to obey the state, but to submit to God.

Verses 8-10 are addressed to love. They teach that love is both an unpayable debt and the fulfillment of the law, because although we are not “under the law”, since we look to Christ for justification and to the Holy Spirit for sanctification, we are still called to fulfill the law in our daily submission God's commandments. In this sense, the Holy Spirit and the law cannot be opposed, because the Holy Spirit writes the law in our hearts, and the supremacy of love becomes more and more obvious as the day of the Lord Christ's return approaches. We must wake up, rise up, put on our clothes, and live the lifestyle of people who belong to the light of day (verses 11 - 14).

Paul devotes a lot of space to our relationship with the “weak” (14:1 -15:13). They seem to be weak in faith and conviction rather than in willpower and character. These were probably Jewish Christians, who considered it their duty to observe the law of eating, as well as holidays and fasts according to the Jewish calendar. Paul himself considers himself to be in the category of “strong” and agrees with their position. His consciousness tells him that food and the calendar are secondary things. But he does not want to act despotic and rude towards the vulnerable conscience of the “weak”. He calls on the church to “receive” them as God did (14:1,3) and to “receive” one another as Christ did (15:7). If you accept the weak in your heart and be friendly towards them, then it will no longer be possible to despise or condemn them, or to hurt them by being forced to go against your conscience.

The most significant feature of Paul's practical recommendations is that he builds them on his Christology, specifically the death, resurrection, and second coming of Jesus. Those who are weak in the faith are also our brothers and sisters for whom Christ died. He rose to be their Lord, and we have no right to interfere with His servants. He will also come to judge us, so we ourselves should not be judges. We must also follow the example of Christ, who did not please Himself, but became a servant—a servant indeed—to Jews and Gentiles. Paul leaves the reader with the wonderful hope that the weak and the strong, believing Jews and believing Gentiles, are bound together by such “one spirit” that “with one mind, with one mouth” they glorify God together (15:5–6).

Paul concludes by speaking of his apostolic call to minister to the Gentiles and to evangelize where they do not know Christ (15:14–22). He shares with them his plans to visit them on his way to Spain, first bringing offerings to Jerusalem as a symbol of Judeo-Gentile unity (15:23–29), and also asks them to pray for themselves (15:30–33). He introduces Thebes to them to deliver the Message to Rome (16:1-2), he greets the 26 people by name (16:3-16), men and women, slaves and free, Jews and former Gentiles, and this list helps us realize the extraordinary unity in diversity that wonderfully characterized the Roman Church. He warns them against false teachers (16:17–20); he sends greetings from the eight men with him in Corinth (16:21–24) and ends the message with praise to God. Although the syntax of this part of the Message is quite complex, the content is excellent. The apostle ends where he began (1:1-5): the introductory and concluding parts testify to the Good News of Christ, the providence of God, the appeal to the nations and the call to humility in faith.

I. DOCTRINAL PART: THE GOOD NEWS OF GOD (Ch. 1 – 8)

A. Introducing the Good News (1:1-15)

1,1 Paul presents himself as a man who was acquired(as can be seen from the words "servant of Jesus Christ"), called up(on the road to Damascus the Savior called Paul to be apostle special envoy) and elected(specially highlighted in order to evangelize to the pagans [see Acts 9.15; 13.2]).

Likewise, we have all been purchased by the precious Blood of Christ, called to be His witnesses and chosen to carry the Good News wherever we go.

1,2 Perhaps many Jews believed that the Good News was something completely new and irrelevant to their spiritual heritage, so Paul emphasizes that God promised Good News through His prophets even in the OT, both in specific statements (Deut. 18:15; Isa. 7:14; Av. 2:4), and in the form of various images and symbols (for example, Noah’s ark, the brass serpent, the sacrificial system).

1,3 The Gospel is the Good News of God Son, about Jesus Christ our Lord, Who, according to His human nature, came into being from the seed of David. Expression "according to the flesh" indicates that our Lord is not just a man, since this word emphasizes that we are talking about His human nature. If Christ were just a man, then there would be no need to particularly highlight this feature of His nature, because then there would be no other. But He is not only a man, and this is what the next verse says.

1,4 Lord Jesus named Son of God in power. The Holy Spirit, who is here spoken of as spirit of holiness, Himself pointed to Jesus at His baptism and in His miracles. The Savior's miracles, performed by the power of the Holy Spirit, testified that He was the Son of God. (Some theologians believe that the words "spirit of holiness" speak of the holiness of Christ Himself.) When we read that He revealed as the Son of God in power through the resurrection from the dead, Naturally, it seems to us that here we are talking about His resurrection. But in fact, these words literally mean “through the resurrection of the dead,” that is, the apostle may have been thinking about the resurrection of the daughter of Jairus, the son of the widow of Nain, and Lazarus. But, in any case, what is meant here first of all is the resurrection of the Lord Himself.

When we say that Jesus exists God's Son, we mean that He is the only one in this sense. God has many sons. All believers are called His sons (Gal. 4:5-7), and even the angels are spoken of as sons (Job 1:6; 2:1). But Jesus - special Son. When the Lord spoke of God as His Father, the Jews quite correctly understood that He was claiming equality with God (John 5:18).

1,5 Exactly through Jesus Christ Paul received grace(undeserved mercy, thanks to which he was saved) and apostleship. And when he writes that we have received grace and apostleship, it is most likely under copyright "We" means only oneself. Apostleship Paul was associated with pagan nations, and this distinguishes him from the rest of the apostles. His mission was to call upon all peoples to obedience to faith, that is, to obedience to the gospel call through repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21). And this worldwide preaching was carried out only in the name of the Lord, in order to please Him and give Him glory.

1,6 Among those who responded to the gospel call were those whom Paul addressed as called by Jesus Christ, thereby emphasizing that in the matter of their salvation the initiative belonged to God.

1,7 This Message is addressed everyone to the believers of Rome, and not to any particular church, as in the other Epistles.

His last chapter shows that in Rome there were several communities of believers, and the greeting contained in this verse applies to all.

Beloved of God, called saints- these two wonderful titles are true for all who have been redeemed by the precious Blood of Christ. Divine love extends to these chosen ones in a special way, their calling is to be separated from the world for God, since this is the meaning of the word "the Saints".

The standard Pavlovian greeting combines grace and peace. Grace(charis) – special wish in Greek, A world(shalom) is a traditional Jewish greeting. This combined greeting is especially important in this letter because here Paul explains how Jews and Gentiles become one new person in Christ.

That's not what we're talking about here grace, through which they receive salvation (readers of the Message have already been saved), but about that grace, which perfects a Christian and gives him strength for service. World- this is not peace with God in the usual sense (the saints already have such peace, since they are justified by faith), but world, dwelling in their hearts due to the fact that God rules there, although they themselves are in the very center of the cycle of life.

Wishing grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, Paul thereby clearly implies the equality of the Father and the Son. If Jesus were a simple person, it would be meaningless to put Him on a par with the Father in gifting grace and peace. It would sound something like "grace and peace to you from God our Father and from Abraham Lincoln."

1,8 Whenever possible, the apostle Paul began his epistles with words of approval and appreciation of what was worthy of praise in his readers. (A good example for us!) And here he is thanks God through Jesus Christ, our Mediator, for faith Roman Christians was proclaimed throughout the world. Their Christian witness was known and discussed throughout the Roman Empire, which represented the whole world from the point of view of a Mediterranean resident.

1,9 Because the Roman Christians were anxious to have their light shine before the people, Paul had to incessantly pray for them. He calls God V witnesses the constancy of his prayers, since no one can know this except God, Whom the Apostle served his spirit in the gospel of His Son. And Paul's prayers were not memorized and mechanically repeated daily, like some kind of religious ritual. This was his service, accompanied by fervent, faith-filled prayers. He was moved to this voluntary, devoted, tireless service by the spirit that most loved the Lord Jesus. This expressed his ardent desire to spread the Good News of God's Son.

1,10 While Paul thanks God for the Christians in Rome, he also prays that he will have the opportunity to visit them in the near future. And like everything else in his life, he wants this journey to live up to the will of God.

1,11 Paul was motivated by a desire to provide the Roman saints with some spiritual help for their statements in faith. Of course, this does not mean that he wanted to give them some kind of “re-blessing”, nor did he intend to give them any spiritual gift through the laying on of hands (which is mentioned in connection with Timothy in 2 Tim. 1:6 ). Paul wanted to promote their spiritual growth by preaching the Word to them.

1,12 He continues to explain to them that this help will be mutual. He can be comforted by their faith, and they are his. In a community where people edify each other, a kind of joint spiritual enrichment occurs. “Iron sharpens iron, and a man sharpens the sight of his friend” (Proverbs 27:17). Notice Paul's humility and graciousness - he did not at all consider himself above accepting help from other saints.

1,13 He intended many times visit Rome, but met various obstacles. Perhaps there was an urgent need to be in other places, or the Holy Spirit did not allow him, or perhaps it was the result of direct opposition from Satan. Pavel wants have some fruit and among the Roman pagans, as he had it among other peoples. Here he talks about fetus preaching the Gospel, as is clear from the next two verses. In verses 11 and 12 he expressed his desire to meet Roman Christians who were strong in their faith. Here he speaks of his desire to see people turn to Christ in the capital of the Roman Empire.

1,14 He who has Jesus Christ in his heart knows how to meet the greatest need of all mankind. He has a cure for the disease of sin, he knows the path by following which one can escape the eternal horrors of hell and gain a guarantee of eternal joy with God. This imposes on him the honorable responsibility of sharing the Good News with all people, regardless of what people and culture they belong to - both Greeks and barbarians, and regardless of their position and education - both the wise and the ignorant. Paul was clearly aware of this responsibility. He said: "I must".

1,15 In order to somehow pay off this debt, the apostle was ready preach the gospel to those present in Rome with all the authority given to him by God. Clearly this verse does not apply to the Roman believers, since they had already answered the joyful call. Paul intended to preach the gospel to the unconverted pagans of the imperial capital.

B. Definition of the Good News 1:16-17)

1,16 Apostle wasn't ashamed bring the Good News of God to the corrupt capital city of Rome, although the Jews considered the gospel a temptation, and the Greeks considered it foolishness: after all, Paul knew that it is the power of God for salvation, that is, the message that God by His power saves everyone who believes in His Son. This power applies equally to both Jews and Greeks.

That salvation is given firstly a Jew, and already then Elena, seen in the book of Acts. Although we will always be indebted to God's ancient people, the Jews, we are not obligated to go first to them and then to the Gentiles. Today, God's relationship with both Jews and Gentiles is on the same basis, so the call and timing are the same for everyone.

1,17 This verse is the first time in the Epistle that we talk about righteousness Therefore, we will stop a little and understand better what “righteousness” is. The NT uses this word in many different ways, but we will only look at three of its meanings.

Firstly, it denotes the quality of God, according to which everything He does is always right, just, true and consistent with all His other qualities. When we say that God is righteous, we mean that there is no unrighteousness, wickedness or injustice in Him.

Secondly, the righteousness of God may refer to His justifying ungodly sinners and yet remaining just, since Jesus, being the sinless substitutionary Sacrifice, satisfied all the demands of Divine justice.

Finally, the righteousness of God has to do with the perfect standing that God gives to all who believe in His Son (2 Cor. 5:21).

Those who are unrighteous in themselves are accepted by God as righteous, because He sees them in the light of the perfection of His Son and imputes His righteousness to them.

What meaning is used in verse 17? In fact, all three meanings of God's truth or righteousness may apply here, but the basic meaning seems to be that God justifies sinners by faith.

The righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel. First, the Gospel tells us that the righteousness of God requires that sin be punished, and the penalty for sin is eternal death.

But then we learn that God's love is ready to satisfy His righteousness. God sent His Son to die in the place of sinful people, paying full price for all. And now that the demands of God's righteousness have been satisfied, He can justly save all who will profit by what Christ has done.

The Righteousness of God is Revealed from faith to faith. Expression "from faith to faith" can mean: 1) from God's faithfulness to our faith; 2) from one degree of faith to the next; 3) everything is only by faith - from beginning to end. The most likely value here is the latter. God's righteousness is not imputed to man on the basis of his works, nor is it given to those who try to acquire or deserve it. It is revealed only by faith. And this is completely consistent with God’s decree in the Book of Habakkuk (2:4): "...the righteous shall live by his faith" which can also be understood as “he who is justified by his faith will live.”

So, in the first seventeen verses of Romans, Paul laid out its main theme and made several basic statements. He now moves on to the third fundamental question: “Why do people need the gospel?” The short answer is that without the Good News they are lost people. But this immediately raises additional questions. 1) Are those pagans really worthy of destruction who never heard the Good News (1:18-32)? 2) Are people confident in their decency and morality, whether Jews or pagans, also lost (2:1-16)?; 3) Should the representatives of God’s ancient people, the Jews, be considered dead (2.17 – 3.8)? 4) Are all people really lost (3.9-20)?

C. Universal need for the Good News (1.18 – 3.20)

1,18 In this verse Paul answers the question of why people need the gospel. And the answer is that without him they all go to ruin, which The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all wickedness people who, with their sinful lives suppress the truth unrighteousness. But how opens God's wrath? One of the answers is given here. God betrays these people to their own uncleanness (1:24), shameful passions (1:26) and perverted minds (1:28). But sometimes God intervenes in human history to show His extreme displeasure with human sin, for example: global flood(Gen. 7), the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 19), the punishment of Korah, Dathan and Abiron (Num. 16.32).

1,19 Are those pagans who never heard the Good News also lost? Paul explains that they go to destruction not because they lack sufficient information, but because, although they see the light, they nevertheless refuse it! That, what can you know about God through viewing creation, He showed them. God did not leave them without a revelation about Himself.

1,20 IN creation of the world two were open to all of us invisible God's Qualities: His eternal strength And Deity, that is, Divinity. They reveal God to us as a Person, full of glory, and not just as some kind of supreme Being, since His supreme Essence is already beyond doubt.

The argument is quite clear: creation cannot come into being without the Creator. A work of art requires an artist. By looking at the sun, moon and stars, anyone can understand that there is God.

So, we can say that there is no excuse for the pagans who have not heard the Good News. God revealed Himself to them in His creation, but they did not respond to His revelation. That is, these people are guilty not of rejecting the Savior, of whom they had never heard, but of not believing what they could know about God.

1,21 Because of, having known God through His creations, they did not glorify Him for who He is, and no thanks for what He did, but, on the contrary, gave themselves up to vain philosophies and the inventions of other gods, they lost the ability to think and see clearly. Those who refuse to see eventually lose their sight altogether.

1,22 As people became more and more self-confident in their supposed knowledge, they sank further and further into ignorance and extravagance. These two qualities are always present in those who reject the knowledge of God - they become intolerably arrogant and at the same time deeply ignorant.

1,23 Although some believe that man is constantly evolving from lower to higher, the ancients were people of much higher morals. Refusing to know the true, the infinite, incorruptible God, they subsequently degenerated to such madness and depravity that they began to worship idols. This verse refutes the theory of human evolution.

Religiosity is inherent in a person subconsciously. He needs someone he can worship. Having rejected the worship of the living God, he made himself gods from wood and stone, giving them an image similar to humans, birds, four-legged animals and reptiles. Note the regression in the sequence: humans, birds, animals, reptiles. At the same time, one must also remember that a person becomes like what he worships. And as his deity regressed, so did the moral character of the man himself. If his god is a reptile, then he himself has the right to live as he pleases. It is also important to note that the worshiper usually places himself in an inferior and subordinate position to the object of worship.

Thus, man, created in the image and likeness of God, places himself below the position of the snake! He who worships an idol worships demons. Paul states quite specifically that people who offer sacrifices to idols offer them to demons, not to God (1 Cor. 10:20).

1,24 This chapter says three times that God betrayed man to what he strived for: uncleanness(1.24), shameful passions (1.26) and a perverted mind (1.28). In other words, the wrath of God was poured out on every facet of human nature.

In response to the evil passions of their hearts, God gave them over to sexual impurity - adultery, fornication, licentiousness, prostitution, debauchery, etc. Life for them turned into continuous depraved orgies, in which they have defiled their own bodies.

1,25 God left them because at first they themselves abandoned truth God and surrendered lies idolatry. An idol is a deception, a false idea of ​​God. The idolater worships the image creatures which insults and dishonors Creator, Who worthy of eternal glory, not insult.

1,26 For the same reason God betrayed people to indulge in debauchery with members of the same sex. Women unnaturally shamelessly satisfied their lusts with women.

1,27 Men indulged in debauchery with men, completely perverting natural use. Having abandoned the marriage relationship established by God Himself, they fueled by lust on other men.

But this sin affected both their body and soul. Diseases, complexes, constant feelings of guilt and personality degradation struck them like the venom of a scorpion. This verse refutes the idea that anyone who has committed such a sin can easily forget about it. Nowadays, homosexuality is considered either a disease or a completely legitimate alternative way of life. Christians must be very careful in such matters not to adopt the world's point of view, but to be guided only by the Word of God. In the OT this sin was punishable by death (Lev. 18:29; 20:13), and the NT also says that those who do such things deserve death (Rom. 1:32). The Bible considers homosexuality a very serious sin. Because of him, Sodom and Gomorrah were wiped off the face of the earth, where men, driven by lust, rebelled against righteous Lot (Gen. 19:4-25).

The gospel offers pardon and forgiveness to homosexuals as well as to all sinners if they repent of their sin and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And even Christians who have fallen into this heinous sin can receive forgiveness and renewal if they confess and forsake it. Anyone who wants to submit completely to the will of God can be completely delivered from such attractions. At the same time, in many cases it is very important to have constant help and spiritual support.

It is undeniable that some people have a kind of natural attraction to people of the same sex. This is not surprising, since fallen human nature is capable of any form of vice and perversion. Sin lies not in the inclination to it, but in the action itself. The Holy Spirit gives us the strength to resist temptation and overcome sin throughout our lives (1 Cor. 10:13). Some Christians in Corinth were living proof that this sin can indeed be overcome (1 Cor. 6:9-11).

1,28 Since people refused to think of God as Creator, Preserver and Deliverer, He gave them over to their power depraved mind so that they indulge in all the following indecencies. This verse helps to delve deeper into the problem of why people like the theory of evolution so much. The reason is not intellectual arguments, but human desires.

People don't want have God in his mind. After all, the point is not that the arguments in favor of the theory of evolution are so obvious that people have to believe in it, not at all.

They simply want to find a theory of the origin of the world in which there would be no place for God; after all, they know that if God exists, then they are morally responsible to Him.

1,29 Here is a list of various sins that describe a person alienated from God. Note that he fulfilled these sins, and not just sometimes carried away by them. He is well trained in sins that are disgusting to human nature.

This unrighteousness(injustice), fornication(adultery and other forms of illicit sexual relations); craftiness(manifestation of evil); selfishness(greed, insatiable passion for hoarding); anger(desire to cause pain to others, poisonous hatred); envy(feelings of envy and jealousy towards everyone around you); murder(deliberate unlawful killing whether in anger or under any other circumstances); feuds(bickering, quarrels, discord); deception(cunning, betrayal, intrigue); malice(anger, cruelty, irritability).

[It is easy to see how some manuscript copyists mistakenly removed the words about sexual immorality: In Greek, the word "porneia" is similar in spelling to the word "poneria" (evil).]

1,30 People slanderous(backbite and gossip); slanderers(openly vilify and insult others); God haters(hate God); offenders(they despise and humiliate people); self-praise(boastful, flaunt themselves); proud(arrogant, self-confident); inventive for evil(they come up with various cunning ways to cause harm); disobedient to parents(deny parental authority);

1,31 reckless (lacking moral and spiritual priorities, unscrupulous); treacherous(break promises, agreements and contracts for their own benefit); unloving(act contrary to natural relationships and responsibilities between people); irreconcilable(they don’t want to forgive, they are inexorable); unmerciful(cruel, vindictive, ruthless).

[In Art. 31 contains five words with a negative meaning beginning with the negative prefix alpha- (cf. a-theist, “there is no God”), similar in structure to English words beginning with the prefix “un.” NU is missing the word “unmerciful” (aspondous), which is similar to the word “unloving” (astorgous).]

1,32 Those who misuse and pervert sexual relations (1:24,26-27) and indulge in the above sins (1:29-31) understand deep down that they are not only doing something wrong, but also worthy for that of death. And although they know God’s regulations, they still try to justify and legitimize their sins. This knowledge does not prevent them from fully indulging in wickedness. They band together with others to encourage them to do the same, and in doing so they feel a certain sense of camaraderie with their partners in sin.

PAGENTS WHO HAVE NOT HEARD THE GOOD NEWS

How then does God answer the question of whether those pagans who never heard the Good News are lost? The pagans are guilty of not living in accordance with the light that God revealed to them in His creation. Instead, they began to worship idols and, as a result, indulged in baseness and depravity.

But still, suppose that there is a certain pagan who really lives in accordance with God's light as seen in creation. Let's say he burned all his idols and is trying to know the true God. What will happen to him?

Evangelicals have two main schools of thought on this issue.

Some believe that if a person truly lives in harmony with the light that is revealed to us in creation, God will give him the opportunity to hear the Good News. Cornelius is given as an example. He was looking for God. God looked upon his prayers and good deeds and sent Peter to tell him how to find salvation (Acts 11:14).

Others believe that if a person lives by faith in the one living God revealed in creation, but dies without hearing the Good News, God will nevertheless grant him forgiveness based on the death of Christ on Calvary. And although this person knows nothing about Christ or His sacrifice, God, on the basis of his desire for light, extends the effect of this sacrifice to him. Those who adhere to this point of view argue that in the same way God saved those who lived before Calvary and saves mentally retarded people and children who die before reaching the age when they begin to bear responsibility for their sins.

The first point of view can be confirmed by the case of Cornelius. The applicability of the second point of view to the time after the death and resurrection of Christ (our time) is not confirmed in Scripture. Moreover, she greatly downplays the need for widespread missionary activity.

So Paul showed that the Gentiles are lost and need the Good News. Now he turns to the next group of people about which there are different points of view.

We believe that here he is addressing people who justify themselves by their decency and high morality, be they Jews or pagans. From the very first verse it becomes clear that these people are self-confident moralists, since they condemn the behavior of others, although they themselves commit the same sins. Verses 9, 10, 12, 14, and 15 show that Paul is referring to both Jews and Gentiles here. Thus, we are faced with the question: “Do people who are confident in their decency and morality, whether Jews or pagans, also perish?” As we will see later, the answer is clear: “Yes, they are also dead.”

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1. Meaning of the Message

Several prominent church leaders throughout the centuries have testified to the impact the message had on their lives, in some cases causing their conversion. To encourage the reader to take our research seriously, I will give here the names of five of them.

Aurelius Augustine, known throughout the world as Augustine of Hippo, the greatest of the early Latin Church Fathers, was born on a small farm in what is now called Algiers. In his youth, a very turbulent one, he was, on the one hand, a slave to his sexual addictions, and on the other hand, the son of his mother Monica, who constantly prayed for him. As a teacher of literature and rhetoric, he had a successful career in Carthage, Rome and then Milan. Here he fell under the spell of the sermons of Bishop Ambrose. It was there in the summer of 386, at the age of 32, that he walked out of his house into the garden in search of solitude.

In 1515, another scholar was caught in a similar spiritual storm. Like everyone in the Christian medieval world, Martin Luther was raised in an atmosphere of fear of God, death, judgment and hell. Since the surest path to heaven (as was then believed) was the path of monasticism, at the age of 21 he entered the Augustinian monastery in Erfurt. Here he prayed and fasted, sometimes for several days in a row, and adopted many other extremely ascetic habits. “I was a good monk,” he later wrote. “If a monk could go to heaven for his monastic deeds, then I would be that monk.”

“Luther tried all the means of contemporary Catholicism to alleviate the torment of a spirit alienated from God.” But nothing could console his troubled conscience until, after his appointment as professor of biblical studies at the University of Wittenberg, he began to study and interpret first the Psalter (1513-1515), and then the Epistle to the Romans (1515-1516). At first, as he later admitted, he was angry with God because He seemed to him more of a terrifying Judge than a merciful Savior. Where can you find a merciful God? What did Paul mean when he stated that “the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel?” Luther tells how this dilemma was resolved:

“I longed to understand Paul's letter to the Romans, and nothing stood in my way except one phrase: the righteousness of God. It seemed to me that this kind of righteousness was meant when the punishment of sinners is considered good. Night and day I pondered until I realized that the righteousness of God is a righteousness of grace, when only by His mercy He grants us justification by our faith. After that I felt that I was born again and entered the open gates of heaven.”

All Scripture acquired new meaning, and if before the words “the righteousness of God” filled me with hatred, now they revealed themselves to me in their inexpressible love. This phrase of Paul opened the way to heaven for me.

Nearly 200 years later, it was this divine revelation of justification by grace through faith given to Luther that helped John Wesley gain the same insight. His younger brother Charles, together with several friends from Oxford, founded the so-called “Sacred Club”, and in November 1729 John joined it and became its recognized leader. Club members engaged in the study of sacred documents, introspection, public and private religious experiences, and philanthropic activities, probably hoping to earn salvation through these good deeds. In 1735, the Wesley brothers sailed to Georgia as missionary priests to settlers and Indians. Two years later they returned in deep disappointment, consoled only by the thought of the piety and faith of several Moravian brothers. Then, on May 24, 1738, during a meeting of the Moravian Brethren in Aldersgate Street in London, where John Wesley went “with great reluctance,” his conversion from self-righteousness to faith in Christ took place. Someone was reading aloud Luther's Preface to Romans. Wesley wrote in his journal: “The clock showed a quarter to nine as I read about how God changes the heart of man through faith in Christ, and I suddenly felt an extraordinary warmth in my heart. I felt that I believed in Christ, only in Him and for the sake of my salvation; and I was given confidence that He took my, even my sins and saved me from the law of sin and death."

Mention should also be made of two Christian leaders of our century. They are Europeans: one is Romanian, the other is Swiss. Both are from the clergy, one is Orthodox, the other is Protestant. Both were born in the 80s of the 19th century, but never met and, perhaps, never heard of each other.

However, despite their differences in background, culture, and denominational affiliation, both experienced conversion as a result of their study of Romans. I'm talking about Dimitru Cornilescu and Karl Barth.

While studying at the Orthodox Theological Seminary in Bucharest, Dimitru Cornilescu longed for personal experience to gain a deeper understanding of spiritual reality. In his search, he came across a number of evangelical studies that directed him to the Bible, and he decided to translate it into modern Romanian. Having started work in 1916, he completed it almost 6 years later. While studying the Epistle to the Romans, he discovered previously unknown or unacceptable provisions that “there is none righteous, not one” (3:10), that “all have sinned” (3:23), that “the wages of sin is death” ( 6:23) and that sinners can be “redeemed in Christ” (3:24), “whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood through faith” (3:25).

These and other texts from Romans helped him understand that God in Christ has done everything necessary for our salvation. “I accepted this forgiveness as my own,” he said, “I accepted Christ as my living Savior.” “From then on,” writes Paul Negrut, “Cornilescu was convinced that he belonged to God and that he new person" His translation of the Bible, published in 1921, was accepted as the standard by the Bible Society, but he himself was sent into exile in 1923 Orthodox Patriarch and died a few years later in Switzerland.

Switzerland was also the birthplace of Karl Barth. During his pre-war religious quest, he came under the influence of the liberal scientists of his time and shared their utopian dreams of human progress and social change. But the carnage of the First World War, as well as reflections on the book of Romans, dispelled the illusions of liberal optimists. In his interpretation, he already said that “it did not take much effort to hear the distant drone of weapons coming from the north.” The publication of the first edition of his commentary in 1918 marked his decisive break with theological liberalism. He saw that the Kingdom of God is not a religious version of socialism, which is achieved through human efforts, but a completely new reality.

The stumbling block for him was the provision about the “Divinity of God,” that is, the absolutely unique existence of God, His power and His actions. At the same time, he began to understand the depth of man's sin and guilt. He entitled his interpretation of Romans 1:18 (Paul's denunciation of the sinfulness of the Gentiles) "Night" and wrote about verse 18:

“Our relationship to God is not divine... We believe that... we can build our relationship with Him like other relationships... We take the liberty to behave as His companions, patrons, consultants or delegates... This is undivinity our relationship to God."

Barthes admitted that he wrote about it “with a joyful sense of discovery.” “Because,” he added, “the powerful voice of Paul was new to me, and therefore to many others,” and the affirmation of the sinner’s absolute dependence on the sovereign saving grace of God in Jesus Christ accomplished in him what his English translator Sir Edwin Hoskins called it "storm and shock". Or, as the Roman Catholic and theologian Carl Adam said, using the military terminology of his day, Barth's comment exploded "like a shell falling on the playground of modern theology."

F. F. Bruce also noted (though more briefly) the influence of Romans on four of these five theologians. He wisely noted that the Epistle to the Romans influenced not only the giants of thought, but also the “utterly ordinary people” who also experienced its influence. So, indeed, “it is difficult to say what may happen when people begin to read this Message. Therefore, I appeal to those who have already started reading: be prepared for the consequences and remember that you have been warned!”

2. New perspectives on old traditions

For a long time, at least since the Reformation, it was taken for granted that the main point of the Apostle in the Epistle to the Romans was that God justifies sinners by faith by His grace through Christ. For example, Calvin, in his introduction to “The Topic of Paul’s Epistle to the Romans,” wrote that “the chief theme of the whole Epistle is justification by faith.” This does not, however, exclude other topics, such as hope (chapter 5), sanctification (chapter 6), the place of the law (chapter 7), the function of the Holy Spirit (chapter 8), God's plan for the Jews and for the Gentiles (chapters 9-11) and various obligations Christian life(chapters 12-15). Nevertheless, it is believed that Paul devoted his main attention to the issue of justification, and developed all other topics only as indirect ones.

Over the course of this century, and especially over the past 30 years, this idea has been challenged many times. In 1963, the Harvard Theological Review published an article by Professor Christer Stendhal, who later served as a Lutheran bishop in Stockholm, entitled “Alostolus Paul and the Introspective Western Mind,” which was included in his book Paul Among Jew and Gentile. He argued that the traditional understanding of Paul's teaching in general and Romans in particular, namely that its central theme is justification by faith, was incorrect. The roots of this mistake, he continues, are in a sick conscience western church and, in particular, in the moral struggle of Augustine and Luther, for which the church tries to blame Paul.

According to Bishop Stendhal, the concept of circumcision "is not the fundamental and organizing doctrine of Paul's worldview," but "forged by Paul for a very specific and narrow purpose: to protect the rights of Gentile converts to be called true heirs of God's promises to Israel." Paul's concern was not his personal salvation, since his conscience was a “sound conscience.” He strove for “integrity” (Phil. 3:6), had no sorrows, no problems, no pangs of conscience, no worries caused by awareness of his own shortcomings, but cared about the salvation of the pagans, their union with Christ not through the law, but directly . Therefore, “the apogee of Romans is actually chapters 9-11, that is, its reflections on the relationship between church and synagogue, church and the Jewish people,” and chapters 1-8 are the “introduction.” Thus, the book of Romans can be called "God's plan for the world and a demonstration of how Paul's mission to the Gentiles fits into that plan."

Here it is necessary to make some clarification. Since justification, as we have seen, cannot be said to be Paul's exclusive concern, chapters 1-8 of the letter cannot be reduced to the status of a mere "introduction." It seems that Bishop Stendhal is using an extremely sharp antithesis here. Indeed, Paul, as the Apostle to the Gentiles, was very concerned about the place of the law in the salvation of Jews and Gentiles in the one Body of Christ. However, he was also apparently concerned with the problems of interpreting and defending the good news of justification by grace through faith. In fact, these two problems, while not compatible, are closely related. For only devotion to the gospel can preserve unity in the church.

Whether Paul's pre-conversion conscience was as blameless as Dr. Stendhal believes, and whether we here in the West have an overly introspective conscience which we project onto Paul, can only be clarified by a careful study of the fundamental texts. However, in 1:18 - 3:20 it is Paul, not Augustine or Luther, who affirms the universal and unforgivable guilt of man. And Paul's own claims to "integrity according to legal righteousness" (Phil. 3:6) were only attempts to meet the requirements of the law. Indeed, in the middle of chapter 7, in sincere, autobiographical-sounding verses (if that is what they really are), he talks about what it meant to him to obey the commandment condemning hidden greed in depth hearts as sin, which, although not reflected in actions, awakens “various sinful desires,” leading to spiritual death.

Professor Stendhal does not take this passage into account; in addition, there is no need to polarize the “sick” and “healthy” conscience. After all, a healthy conscience threatens our safety by awakening pride, especially when the Holy Spirit “convicts the world of sin and of righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8). Therefore, you should not look for a completely clear conscience in an unregenerate person.

In 1977, a major work by the American scholar Professor E. P. Sanders, “Paul and Palestinian Judaism,” was published. Calling Palestinian Judaism a "religion of legalistic righteousness" and Paul's evangelism a conscious opposition to Judaism, he stated that his goal was to "destroy this opinion" as "totally wrong" and to show that it was "based on mass error and misunderstanding of the material." He admitted that this version of his was not at all new, since, as Dr. N. T. Wright wrote, a largely similar opinion was presented by G. F. Moore in his three-volume work “Judaism and the First Centuries of the Christian Era” (1927 -1930). However, Professor Sanders went further. With the greatest erudition he examined rabbinic, Qumran and apocryphal Jewish literature dating back to 200 BC. e. and ending with 200 AD. BC, and he called the religion revealed as a result of these studies “treasured nomism.” This means that God, by His grace, established a covenant relationship between Himself and Israel, and then required obedience to His law (nomism). This led Professor Sanders to present the Jewish "version of religion" as "entering" (by the merciful will of God) and "dwelling in" (through obedience). “Obedience ensures a person's continuance in the covenant, but it is not the cause of God's grace as such.” Disobedience was atoned for by repentance.

The second part of Professor Sanders' book is simply called "Paul." Although it is four times the size of the first chapter, it cannot be adequately appreciated in a few words. The main provisions of this work are the following: 1) for Paul, what was important was not the thought of the guilt of all sinners before God, but rather the confidence that Jesus Christ is the Lord and Savior of both Jews and Gentiles, so that “the conviction of a universal solution to the problem dominated the conviction in a universal obligation" ; 2) salvation is basically a “transition” from slavery to sin to the lordship of Christ; 3) such a transition is possible only through “participation in the death and resurrection of Christ”; 4) the statement that salvation is obtained “by faith” does not eliminate the sin of human pride, but implies that if it were acquired “by the law”, the pagans would be deprived of access to grace, and the death of Christ would lose its meaning (“argument in the benefit of faith is in fact an argument against the law" ; and 5) humanity thus saved is “one person in Christ.”

Professor Sanders calls this way of thinking “participatory eschatology.” It is easy to see, however, that in such a deliberate reconstruction of Paul's gospel, the familiar categories of human sin and guilt, God's wrath, justification by grace apart from works, and peace with God are subsequently found to be absent.

In the second book, Paul, the Law and the Jewish People, Professor Sanders, in response to some opponents, tries to clarify and develop his thought. In general, he is undoubtedly right that "Paul's theme is the equality of status of Jews and Gentiles (both are in bondage to sin), and the one basis on which they change their status - faith in Jesus Christ." . But then he insists that "the supposed objection to Jewish self-righteousness is absent from Paul's letters, just as any mention of self-righteousness is absent from Jewish literature at all." . This claim is much more controversial, so there are at least five important points to consider.

Firstly, it is known that in the literature of Palestinian Judaism there is really no concept of “weighing,” that is, “balancing advantages and disadvantages.” But does the absence of this image of scales prove the absence of the concept of virtues? Can't righteousness by works exist even if no one "weighs" it? Paul was not wrong when he said that the Jews who “sought” righteousness did not “attain” it (9:30), and some “tried to be justified by the law” (Gal. 5:4).

Secondly, in Judaism, entering into a covenant was considered dependent on the grace of God. This is hardly surprising, since in the Old Testament God appears to take the initiative by His grace in establishing the covenant with Israel. There can be no question of “deserved” or “earned” membership. However, Professor Sanders goes on to argue that the "theme of reward and punishment" is prominent in the Tannaitic "literature", particularly in matters of gaining life in the world to come. Doesn't this indicate that human merit, while not being the basis for entering into a covenant (in Judaism), is nevertheless a necessary condition for further stay in it? But Paul decisively rejects this idea. For him, both “entering” and “dwelling in” are accomplished by grace. Not only are we justified by grace by faith (5:11), but we continue to be in the grace into which we have been admitted by faith (5:12).

Third, Professor Sanders admits that Ezra 4 represents the only discrepancy with his theory. He says this apocryphal book "shows how Judaism works when it truly becomes a religion of individual self-righteousness." Here "the covenantal nomism fails, and all that remains is legalistic self-improvement." If one literary example has reached us, is it not possible to assume that there were others that have not reached us? Why couldn't legalism be more widespread than Professor Sanders admits? In addition, he was criticized for simplifying first-century Judaism, reducing it to "a single unitary, harmonious and linear development." Professor Martin Hengel notes the same thing. He writes that “in contrast to progressive Palestinian Judaism, united under the leadership of rabbinical scribes, after 70 AD. e. the spiritual face of Jerusalem in the days preceding its destruction was for the most part "pluralistic." After listing nine different social groups, he concludes: “Jerusalem and its environs probably presented a rather motley picture to the confused gaze of a visitor.” Again, “perhaps there was no such thing as what was called this very Palestinian Judaism with its obligatory connection to the law.”

Fourth, the theory developed by E. P. Sanders et al. is based on a thorough study of the relevant literature. But isn't it widely known that popular religion and the official literature of its leaders can differ significantly? It was this feature that led Professor Sanders to write: “The possibility of the existence of those Jews who are the focus of Matthew’s controversy cannot be completely excluded (23)<…>Knowing human nature, we can assume that such things actually existed. However, it should be noted that the Jewish literature that has reached us does not testify to them.” A parallel can be drawn here with Anglicanism. The Book of Common Prayer and the 39 Articles, that is, official church literature, insist that “we are considered righteous before God only by the merits of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, by faith, and not by our works or merits.” and that we do not “dare” to approach God by “trusting in our own righteousness.” But is it not also true that the real faith of many Anglicans remains one of works-righteousness?

Fifth, it is clear that Paul was warning against boasting, which has traditionally been understood as abandoning self-righteousness. We should glory in Christ and His Cross (e.g. 1 Cor. 1:31; 2 Cor. 10:17; Gal. 6:14), not in ourselves and each other (e.g. I Cor. 1:29; 3 :21; 4:6). However, Professor Sanders argues that Paul's hostility (e.g. 3:27ff; 4:1ff) is directed against their pride in their chosen status (2:17, 23) (which is incompatible with the equal rights of Jews and Gentiles in Christ), and not against pride in one’s merits (cf. Eph. 2:9) (which is incompatible with proper humility before God). It is amazing how subtly Professor Sanders manages to make this distinction. It seems that Paul speaks of the same thing in Philippians (3:3-9), where he contrasts “the hope of the flesh” with “glorification in Jesus Christ.”

From the context it follows that in the concept of “flesh” (what we are by our unregenerate, self-centered nature) Paul includes both his status as a “Jew of the Jews” and his subordination to the law: “according to the doctrine - a Pharisee ... according to the righteousness of the law [then is according to external compliance with the requirements of the law] - immaculate.” In other words, the boasting which Paul himself had renounced and now condemned consisted both of the righteousness of status and of the righteousness of works. Moreover, the Apostle twice writes of righteousness as belonging “personally” to us, since we either “have” it or strive to “establish” it (Phil. 3:9; Rom. 10:3). Both verses show that our own righteousness (that is, self-righteousness) is based on obedience to the law, and those who “obtain” it in this way show that they are not willing to “submit” to the righteousness of God. In Romans 4:4–5, Paul draws a clear distinction between “works” and “faith,” and between “reward” and “gift.” .

Lastly, I am grateful to Professor Sanders for his words on “human nature” quoted above. Our fallen nature constantly strives to concentrate on itself, and pride is a typically human sin, no matter what form it takes - conceit, self-confidence, self-affirmation or self-righteousness. If we human beings were given the opportunity to completely immerse ourselves in ourselves, we would even make religion our servant. Instead of selflessly worshiping God, we would make our very piety a platform from which we would try to approach God, presenting our claims to Him. As is known, all ethnic religions degraded in this way, and with them- and Christianity. Therefore, despite the intellectual explorations of E. P. Sandler, I cannot believe that Judaism is the only exception to this tendency towards degeneration, since it is supposedly free from the abomination of self-righteousness. As I read and reflect on his books, I keep asking myself: does he really know more about Palestinian Judaism than he does about the human heart?

Even Jesus counted “pride” among the sins that come from our hearts and corrupt us (Mark 7:22ff), and therefore felt it necessary to counter self-righteousness with His teaching. For example, in the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, He says that justification is obtained by God's mercy, and not by human merit; in the parable of the vineyard workers, He breaks down the ideas of those who trust in reward and reject grace. We also see that young children are models of humility and receive the kingdom of heaven as a free gift, not an earned one (Luke 18:9; Matt. 20:1; Mark 10:13). Could not the Apostle Paul, who knew so well the pride hidden in his own heart, discern it in the hearts of other people even under the cover of religious robes?

And finally, we have to return to the question of exegesis. It is generally accepted that Paul's gospel in Romans contains an antithesis. But what is this antithesis? Let's allow Paul to express his own opinion, and not impose on him whatever old traditions or new trends please. Although it is difficult to imagine any other interpretation of his negative conclusion that “by the works of the law no flesh will be justified in his sight” (3:20), and the positive that sinners “are justified freely by grace” (3:24 ).

Thus the controversy about Paul in general and about the Epistle in particular centers on the purpose and place of the law. In the works of some modern scholars, there are skeptical notes of doubt that Paul even had his own opinion on this issue. Professor Sanders is willing to admit that Paul was a “consistent thinker,” but he was not a “systematic theologian.”

Dr. Heikki Raisaanen, a Finnish theologian, is even less favorable towards Paul.

"It should admit Inconsistency and inconsistency are constant features of Paul's legalistic theology." In particular, it is argued that Paul was inconsistent regarding the modern status of the law. On the one hand, he “makes it clear that the law is abolished,” while on the other he asserts that it is fulfilled in the Christian life. Thus, Paul contradicts himself by declaring both “the abolition of the law and its permanently normative character.” Also, “Paul disputes the view that Divine company destroyed what God has done in Christ...” Most of Paul's controversial statements can be attributed to this point. He even tries to "silence the destruction of the law" by insisting that his teaching "upholds" and "fulfills" the law. But how can it be fulfilled if it is eliminated?

The problems Dr. Raisaanen discovered most likely live in his own imagination. Admittedly, Paul has different emphases when he responds to different situations, but it is possible to bring clarity to these issues, as I hope will be done through textual analysis. Our deliverance from the law is salvation from its curse and obligations, and therefore has two specific functions: justification and sanctification. And in both cases we are under grace and not under law. For justification we turn to the Cross, not to the law, and for sanctification, to the Holy Spirit, not to the law. Only through the Holy Spirit can the law be fulfilled in us (Jer. 31:33; Ezek. 36:27; Rom. 7:6; Gal. 5:14).

Professor James Dunn seems to agree with the basic principles of K. Stendhal, E. P. Sanders and H. Raisaanen and tries to develop them especially as they relate to law. In his famous work, Paul Revisited (1983), presented in the introduction to his commentary, he portrays Paul in the Epistle as a Jewish Rabbi arguing with a Christian Apostle. When he states that no one will be justified by “deeds of the law,” he does not mean “good deeds” in general and how worthy they are of reward. Rather, we are talking about the law of circumcision, the Sabbath, and the rules of eating, which "performed the function of a 'sign of identification' and a 'border line', heightening Israel's sense of its own specialness and separating it from the nations around it." Subsequently, this consciousness of one’s chosenness began to be accompanied by a “consciousness of one’s privilege.” The reason for Paul's negative attitude toward "works of the law" is not because they were thought to be a way to earn salvation, but because (a) they engendered boastful pride in Israel's privileged status and (b) they encouraged a sense of ethnic exclusiveness, which is incompatible with the work of bringing in the Gentiles, to which Paul was called. There is no doubt that Paul was well aware of both of these dangers. But Dr. Stephen Westerholm is right, who in his wonderful work “Israeli Law and church faith" (1988) analyzes aspects of this process of restructuring of consciousness. Paul, he believes, used the terms "law" and "works of the law" interchangeably, so he had much more in mind than specific Jewish rituals. Paul rebelled against boasting good deeds, and not a chosen position, as evidenced by the episode with Abraham (3:27; 4:1-5), and the main idea in discussions about justification by faith, and not by works of the law, is the affirmation of the dependence of human nature on Divine grace.

Of course, the debate about the contradictions in the Message has not yet come to an end.

It seems impossible to say that Paul's pre-conversion conscience was as blameless as is now pretended, or that he was so attached to the law and so concerned with the observance of rituals, as is again attempted to be shown, or that first-century Judaism was entirely free from concepts of merit and righteousness by works. However, scholars must be given credit for insisting that the Gentile theme is the central theme of the Epistle. The restoration and reunion of God's people, including both believing Jews and believing Gentiles, is the main idea that runs throughout the book of Romans.

3. Paul's goals

According to earlier interpretations, in Romans Paul created what Philip Melanchthon called a compendium of "Christian doctrine" - something completely removed from any specific sociohistorical context. Modern scholars, on the other hand, react too zealously to this statement and focus on the fickle nature of the writer-reader relationship. But not everyone fell into this delusion. Professor Bruce called the Epistle to the Romans "a sustained and coherent exposition of the Good News." Professor Cranfield calls it "a theological whole from which nothing essential can be taken away without deforming or distorting it." And Günter Bornkamm referred to it as “the last will and testament of the Apostle Paul.”

However, all parts of the New Testament (the Gospels, Acts, Revelation, and the Epistles) were created based on the needs of a specific situation, determined partly by the circumstances in which the author found himself, and partly by the circumstances in which his potential readers were located, or both . This is what helps us understand what prompted the author to write exactly what he wrote. Romans is no exception to this rule, although Paul never makes his motives clear. In this regard, various attempts have been made to clarify them. Dr. Alexander Wedderburn in his thorough monograph "The Reasons for the Writing of Romans" says that three pairs of factors should be taken into account: the epistolary nature of the Epistle (at the beginning and end) and its theological content (in the middle); the circumstances of Paul's life and the situation in the Roman Church; the division of the church into Jewish and pagan groups and their specific problems.

What were Paul's personal circumstances? He probably wrote from Corinth during a three-month stay in Greece (Acts 20:2ff.) shortly before he sailed east. He mentions three places he intends to visit. The first is Jerusalem, where he will deliver the money collected by the Greek churches to support the impoverished Christians in Judea (15:25ff.). The second is Rome itself. Having failed in his previous visits to the Roman Christians, he was confident that this time he would be successful (1:10–13; 15:23ff.). Third - Spain, since he wanted to continue his missionary work and where the name of Christ was not known (15:20; 24, 28). It was in these three directions that Paul intended to spread his written messages.

Indeed, Paul hoped that in Rome, located between Jerusalem and Spain, he would be able to rest after Jerusalem and prepare for the campaign in Spain. In other words, his visits to Jerusalem and Spain were extremely important for him, since they directly solved two constantly facing tasks: evangelism to the Jews (in Jerusalem) and the pagans (in Spain).

Paul apparently looked forward to his visit to Jerusalem with anxiety. He invested a lot of intellectual energy and effort, spent a lot of time promoting his business and put his personal prestige on the line. For him this meant more than just Christian charity (2 Cor. 8-9). It was a symbol of Judeo-Gentile unity and interaction in the Body of Christ, with the Gentiles sharing their material blessings with the Jews before sharing their spiritual ones (15:27). He therefore urged the Roman Christians to support him in his work of prayer (15:30), not only for the sake of his personal safety, so that he could “get rid of the unbelievers in Judea,” but mainly for the salvation of his mission, so that his ministry there would be “favorable.” saints" (15:31).

It should be said that he had reason to worry. Many Jewish Christians viewed him with great suspicion. Some accused him of betraying his Jewish heritage because, in preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, he advocated freeing them from the need for circumcision and keeping the law. For such Christians, accepting the offerings Paul brought to Jerusalem was tantamount to supporting his liberal position. Therefore, the Apostle, feeling the need for support from the mixed Jewish-Christian Roman community, asked them to support him in prayer.

If Paul's immediate destination was Jerusalem, his next destination was Spain. In fact, his evangelism in four provinces—Galatia, Asia, Macedonia, and Achaia—was already completed, for “from Jerusalem and the surrounding area to Illyricum” (roughly modern Albania) he preached the gospel everywhere (15:19). What's next? His dream, which actually became a firm course, was to preach the gospel only where the name of Christ was unknown, “so as not to build on someone else’s foundation” (15:20). Now, having combined these two factors (the actual state of affairs and the chosen strategic course), he concluded that he “had no such place in these countries” (15:23). Therefore, all his thoughts were about Spain, which was considered part of the western border of the Roman Empire, and there, as he knew, the Good News had not yet reached.

Perhaps he decided to go to Spain without even visiting Rome along the way and without informing the Romans of his intentions. So why did he write to them? Obviously because he needed their support. Rome was two-thirds of the way between Jerusalem and Spain, so Paul asks them to “conduct (him) there” (15:24) with moral, financial, and prayerful support. In fact, he wanted to "use Rome as a springboard in the western Mediterranean just as he had used Antioch (in the beginning) in the same capacity in the east."

So, a stopping place on a way Paul from Jerusalem to Spain was to become Rome. A church had already been established there, apparently through the efforts of Jewish Christians who returned from Jerusalem after Pentecost (Acts 2:10), but the name of the missionary who founded the church there is unknown. In light of the fact that Paul's upcoming trip is inconsistent with his intention not to build on someone else's foundation, we can only assume that Rome was then no man's territory and/or that Paul, as an Apostle, was chosen to minister to the Gentiles (1:5ff; 11:13; 15:15ff.), considered it his duty to serve in this capital of the pagan world (1:11ff.). However, he tactfully adds that he will visit them only “as he passes” (15:24, 28).

And again the question arises: why did Paul write to them? The fact is that since he had not been to Rome before and most of the members of the church were strangers to him, he felt obliged to speak his apostolic word, giving them the full gospel. His practical actions in this direction were mainly determined by the “internal logic of the Gospel,” while at the same time he was also concerned about the needs of his readers; I also had to repel the attacks of opponents, which will be discussed further. Therefore, he makes a threefold request to them: to pray for the success of his mission in Jerusalem, to assist him on his way to Spain, and during his stopover in Rome to receive him as the Apostle of the Gentiles.

The appearance of a written message to the Romans was due not only to his personal circumstances and, in particular, plans to visit Jerusalem, Rome and Spain. Another thing was decisive: the situation in which Christians found themselves at that time. Even a cursory reading of the Epistle makes it clear that the Roman Church was a mixed community of Jews and Gentiles, with the latter being in the majority (1:5ff. 13; 11:13). It is also clear that these groups were in serious conflict with each other. It is further revealed that this conflict was not fundamentally ethnic (that is, not caused by racial and cultural differences), but was theological (that is, rooted in different attitudes to the status of God's covenant, law, and salvation). Some theologians believe that the city's house churches (see 16:5 and verses 14, 15, which speak of Christians "with them") may have represented these different doctrines. It is also possible that the “unrest” carried out in Rome by the Jews “at the instigation of a certain Chrestus” (obviously meaning Christ), which Suetonius mentions, and which led to their expulsion from Rome by Emperor Claudius in 49 AD. e. (see: Acts 18:2), were explained precisely by this confrontation between Jewish Christians and Christians from the pagans.

What were the theological differences between Roman Jews and pagans that lay behind ethnic and cultural differences? Dr. Wedderburn calls the Roman Jewish Christians "Judeo-Christians" (since for them Christianity is "just a part of Judaism" and they forced their followers to "obey the laws of the Jews"), while he calls the Gentile Christians "supporters of the law-free Good lead." Further, he and many other scholars tend to call the first group "weak" and the second group "strong" (as Paul talks about in chapters 14-15). But this approach may seem extremely simplistic. “The weak in the faith,” who zealously observed ritual rules such as meals, condemned Paul for neglecting them. Apparently, they considered themselves the only heirs of God's promises and welcomed the gospel to the pagans only if they were circumcised and kept the whole law (cf. Acts 15:1). To them, Paul was a traitor to the covenant and an enemy of the law (that is, an “antinomian”). Those who were “strong in the faith” and, like Paul, who stood for the “law-free gospel,” were guilty of despising the “weak” for their senseless attachment to the law. Thus, the Jewish Christians were proud of their status, and the Gentile Christians were proud of their freedom, so Paul had to tame both.

The echoes of these disagreements—both theological and practical—can be heard throughout the book of Romans. And from beginning to end, Paul appears as a true peacemaker, calming unrest, striving to preserve truth and peace, without sacrificing one to the other. He himself, of course, was with both. On the one hand, he was a Jewish patriot (“I myself would like to be excommunicated from Christ for my brothers who are related to me in the flesh,” 9:3). On the other hand, he was the authorized Apostle of the Gentiles (“I say to you, the Gentiles: as the Apostle of the Gentiles...”, 11:13; cf.: 1:5; 15:15 et al.). That is, he was in the unique position of a reconciler of the parties, and therefore was determined to bring about a complete and renewed apostolic gospel that would not compromise any of the truths of the gospel and at the same time would resolve the conflict between Jews and Gentiles, thereby strengthening the unity of the church.

In his pastoral ministry of reconciliation, Paul develops two important themes and interweaves them in a remarkable way. One is the justification of guilty sinners by God's grace alone, in Christ alone, and by faith alone, regardless of position or department. This is the most humbling and equalizing of all Christian truths, and therefore became the basis of Christian unity. As Martin Hengel wrote, “Although people try to argue otherwise these days, the true meaning of Paul’s theology is that salvation is given sola gratia, only by grace - no one has ever been able to comprehend as much as Augustine and Luther.”

Another theme of Paul is the future rebirth of God's people, no longer based on lineage, circumcision or culture, but only by faith in Jesus, so that all believers would be true heirs of Abraham, regardless of their ethnic background or religious orientation. So, there is “no longer any difference” between Jews and Gentiles, either in regard to their sin and guilt, or in regard to the gift of salvation offered by Christ (e.g. 3:21ff., 27ff., 4:9ff., 10:11ff.), which is “the most important theme of the Epistle to the Romans.” Closely related to this point is the immutable reality of God's covenant (now including the Gentiles and testifying to His faithfulness) and God's law(why, although we are “set free” to receive salvation, we still, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, “do” the law, thereby following the holy will of God). A brief review of the Message and its analysis will help us shed light on the interweaving of these closely related aspects.

4. Summary of Romans

Both of Paul's main themes - the integrity of the good news entrusted to him and the unity of Gentiles and Jews in the messianic community - are heard already in the first half of chapter 1.

Paul calls the good news “the gospel of God” (1) because God is the author, and “the gospel of the Son” (9) because the Son is its essence.

In verses 1-5 he focuses on the presence of Jesus Christ, a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was powerfully proclaimed to be the Son of God after His resurrection from the dead. In verse 16, Paul speaks of his work because the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, “to the Jew first, and then to the Greek.”

In between these brief gospel statements, Paul attempts to establish trust with his readers. He writes to “all the believers who are in Rome” (7), regardless of their ethnic origin, although he knows that most of them are pagans (13). He thanks God for everyone, constantly prays for them, strives to meet them and has already tried several times (so far unsuccessfully) to see them (8-13). He feels it is his responsibility to preach the Good News in the capital of the world. He longs for this because the will of the righteous God has been revealed in the gospel: to “bring sinners to righteousness” (14-17).

God's Wrath (1:18–3:20)

The revelation of God's righteousness in the gospel is necessary because His wrath against unrighteousness is revealed (18). The wrath of God, His pure and complete rejection of evil, is directed at all those who deliberately suppress all that is true and righteous for the sake of their personal choice. After all, all people somehow acquire knowledge of God and virtue: either through the world around them (19ff.), or through their conscience (32), or through the moral law written in human hearts (2:12ff.) , or through the law given to the Jews through Moses (2:17ff.).

Thus, the Apostle divides the human race into three groups: the corrupt pagan society (1:18-32), the moralistic critics (whether Jews or pagans) and the well-educated, self-confident Jews (2:17 - 3:8). He concludes by indicting the entire human society (3:9-20). In each of these cases, his argument is the same: none of the people act in accordance with the knowledge they have. Even the special privileges of the Jews do not exempt them from God's judgment. No, “both Jews and Greeks are all under sin” (3:9), “for there is no partiality with God” (2:11). All human beings are sinners, all are guilty and have no justification with God - this is the picture of the world, the picture is hopelessly gloomy.

Grace of God (3:21 - 8:39)

“But now” is one of the most remarkable adversative expressions in the Bible. For in the midst of the universal darkness of human sin and guilt, the light of the Good News has shone. Paul again calls it “the righteousness of God” (or from God) (as in 1:17), that is, it is His justification of the unrighteous, which is possible only through the Cross, on which God showed His justice (3:25ff.) and His love (5:8) and which is available to “all who believe” (3:22) - both Jews and Gentiles. Explaining the meaning of the Cross, Paul resorts to such key words as “propitiation”, “redemption”, “justification”. And then, answering the objections of the Jews (3:27-31), he argues that since justification is by faith alone, there can be no boasting before God, no discrimination between Jews and Gentiles, and no disregard for the law.

Chapter 4 is a most magnificent work, where Paul proves that the patriarch of Israel Abraham was justified not by his works (4-8), not by circumcision (9-12), not by the law (13-15), but by faith. In the future, Abraham already becomes “the father of all believers” - both Jews and pagans (11, 16-25). Divine objectivity is obvious here.

Having established that God grants justification by faith to even the worst sinners (4:5), Paul speaks of God's wonderful blessings to his justified people (5:1–11). "So…", he begins, we have peace with God, we are in His grace and we rejoice in the hope of seeing and sharing His glory. Even suffering will not shake our confidence, because God’s love is with us, which He poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit (5) and confirmed on the Cross through His Son (5:8). Everything the Lord has already done for us gives us hope that we will be “saved” at the last day (5:9-10).

Two types of human communities were shown above: one burdened with sin and guilt, the other blessed with grace and faith. The ancestor of the old humanity was Adam, the ancestor of the new humanity was Christ. Then, with almost mathematical precision, Paul compares and contrasts them (5:12-21). The first one is easy to do. In both cases, a single action by one person has an impact on a huge number of people. The contrast here is much more significant. If Adam's disobedience brought damnation and death, Christ's humility brought justification and life. Indeed, the saving work of Christ turned out to be much stronger than the destructive effect of Adam’s act.

In the middle of the antithesis “Adam - Christ,” Paul places Moses: “The law came after, and thus the transgression increased. And when sin abounded, grace abounded all the more” (20). Both of these statements were intolerable to the Jews, since they offended the law. The first seemed to lay the blame for sin on the law, and the second proclaimed the final destruction of sin due to the abundance of grace. Did Paul's gospel degrade the law and encourage sin? Paul answers the second charge in chapter 6, and the first in chapter 7.

Twice in chapter 6 (verses 1 and 15), Paul's opponent asks him the question: Does he think it is possible to continue sinning and God's grace to continue to forgive? Both times Pavel sharply answers: “No way!” If Christians ask such a question, it means that they generally do not understand either the meaning of their baptism (1-14) or the meaning of conversion (15-23). Did they not know that their baptism meant union with Christ in His death, that His death was a death “into sin” (that is, sin was satisfied and its punishment accepted), and that they were resurrected with Him? In union with Christ they themselves are “dead to sin and alive to God.” How can one continue to live in what they died for? It's the same with their treatment. Have they not given themselves resolutely to God as His servants? How can they bring themselves back into slavery to sin? Our baptism and conversion, on the one hand, excluded any return to the previous life, and on the other, opened the way to a new life. The possibility of going back exists, but such a step is completely impractical. Grace not only discourages sin, it forbids it.

Paul's opponents were also concerned about his teaching on the law. He clarifies this issue in Chapter 7, where he makes three points. First (1–6), Christians “died to the law” in Christ as well as to “sin.” Consequently, they are “freed” from the law, that is, from its curse, and are now free, but free not to sin, but to serve God in a renewed spirit. Secondly, Paul, based (I think) on his own past experience, argues that although the law exposes, encourages, and condemns sin, it is not responsible for sin and death. No, the law is holy. Paul defends the law.

Third (14-25), Paul describes in vivid imagery the ongoing intense internal struggle. Regardless of whether the "fallen" man crying out for deliverance is a regenerate Christian or remains unregenerate (I take the third), and whether Paul himself is this man or is simply a personification, the purpose of these verses is to demonstrate the weakness of the law. The fall of man is not the fault of the law (which is holy) and not even the fault of one’s own human self, but of the “sin” “living” in him (17, 20), over which the law has no power.

But now (8:1-4) God, through His Son and Spirit, has accomplished what the law, weakened by our sinful nature, could not do. In particular, the casting out of sin is only possible through the enthronement of the Holy Spirit in its place (8:9), which is not mentioned in chapter 7 (except in verse 6). Thus now we, who are ordained to justification and sanctification, are “not under the law, but under grace.”

Just as chapter 7 of the Epistle is devoted to the law, so chapter 8 is devoted to the Holy Spirit. In the first half of the chapter, Paul describes the various missions of the Holy Spirit: liberating man, His presence in us, giving new life, teaching self-control, witnessing to the human spirit that we are children of God, interceding for us. Paul remembers that we are God's children, and therefore His heirs, and that suffering is the only road to glory. He then draws a parallel between the suffering and glory of God's children. He writes that creation is subject to disappointment, but one day it is freed from its bonds. However, creation groans as if in the throes of childbirth, and we groan with it. We passionately but patiently await the final renewal of the entire universe, including our bodies.

In the last 12 verses of chapter 8 the Apostle rises to the majestic heights of the Christian faith. He makes five compelling arguments about God's work for our good and ultimately for our ultimate salvation (28). He notes the five stages that constitute God's plan from eternity past to eternity to come (29-30), and poses five bold, unanswerable questions. Thus he strengthens us with fifteen proofs of the indestructibility of God's love, from which nothing can ever separate us.

God's Plan (9-11)

Throughout the first half of his letter, Paul does not lose sight of either the ethnic confusion in the Roman church or the ongoing tensions between the Jewish Christian majority and the pagan Christian minority. Now it's time to tackle the theological problem that lurks here head-on and decisively. How did it happen that the Jewish people rejected their Messiah? How can his unbelief be reconciled with God's covenant and promises? How can the inclusion of the Gentiles be consistent with God's plan? It can be seen that each of these three chapters begins with Paul's very personal and emotional testimony of his love for Israel: there is anger at their alienation (9:1ff.), and a passionate desire for their salvation (10:1), and an enduring sense of belonging to him (11:1).

In chapter 9, Paul defends the principle of God's faithfulness to His covenant on the grounds that His promises were not addressed to all the descendants of Jacob, but only to those Israelites who are from Israel - His remnant, since He always acted in accordance with His principle of "chosenness" ( eleven) . This was manifested not only in the preference of Isaac over Ishmael and Jacob over Esau, but also in the mercy of Moses when Pharaoh's heart was hardened (14-18). But even this bitterness of Pharaoh, forced to submit to the desires of his hardened heart, was in its essence a manifestation of God's power. If we still have doubts about chosenness, we must remember that it is not fit for a human being to argue with God (19-21), that we must humble ourselves before His right to show His power and mercy (22-23) and that in Scripture itself the calling of the Gentiles, as well as the Jews, is predicted to become His people (24-29).

However, the ends of chapters 9 and 10 make it clear that Israel's unbelief cannot be attributed to tout simple(God's choice) as Paul further states that Israel "stumbled over a stumbling block," namely Christ and His Cross. By this he accuses Israel of a proud reluctance to accept God's plan of salvation and of religious zeal not based on knowledge (9:31 - 10:7). Paul continues to contrast “righteousness by law” with “righteousness by faith” and, by skillfully applying Deuteronomy (30), emphasizes the availability of Christ through faith. There is no need to wander around in search of Christ, since He Himself came, died and rose again and is available to everyone who calls on Him (10:5-11). Moreover, there is no difference between Jew and Gentile, because the same God - the God of all people - richly blesses all who call on Him (12-13). But this requires the gospel (14-15). Why didn't Israel accept the Good News? Not because they didn't hear or understand it. So why? After all, God constantly stretched out His hands to them, but they were “disobedient and stubborn” (16-21). This means that the reason is Israel's unbelief, which in chapter 9 Paul attributes to God's choice, and in chapter 10 to his pride, ignorance and stubbornness of the Israelites. The contradiction between Divine sovereignty and human obligations is a paradox which the finite mind cannot comprehend.

In chapter 11, Paul looks to the future. He states that Israel's fall will be neither total, since there is a believing remnant (1-10), nor final, since God has not rejected His people and they will be reborn (11). If salvation came to the Gentiles through the fall of Israel, now through the salvation of the Gentiles jealousy will be aroused in Israel (12). Indeed, Paul sees the mission of his evangelism as stirring up zeal in his people in order to save at least some (13-14). And then the “fullness” of Israel will bring “much more wealth” to the world Paul then develops the allegory of the olive tree and offers two lessons on this topic. The first is a warning to the pagans (like a grafted branch of a wild olive) against exaltation and boasting (17-22). The second is the promise to Israel (as a branch from the root) that if they ceased to persist in their unbelief, they would be grafted in again (23-24). Paul's vision of the future, which he calls a "mystery" or revelation, is that when the fulness of the Gentiles comes, "all Israel will be saved" (25-27). His confidence in this comes from the fact that “the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable” (29). So we can confidently expect the “fullness” of both Jews and Gentiles (12:25). Indeed, God “will have mercy on all” (32), which does not mean everyone without exception, but means having mercy on both Jews and Gentiles without dividing them. Not surprisingly, this prospect brings Paul into a state of rapturous praise for God and praises Him for the wonderful riches and depth of His wisdom (33-36).

God's Will (12:1–15:13)

Calling the Roman Christians his "brothers" (since the old differences had already been eliminated), Paul now makes an ardent appeal to them. He bases himself on the “mercy of God,” which he interprets, and calls them to the sanctification of their bodies and the renewal of their minds. He sets before them the same alternative that has always and everywhere accompanied God's people: either to conform to this world, or to change through the renewal of the mind, which is the “good, acceptable and perfect” will of God.

The following chapters explain that God's will concerns all of our relationships, which are completely changed by the influence of the Good News. Paul develops eight of them, namely: relationships with God, with ourselves and with each other, with our enemies, the state, the law, with the last day, and with “the weak.” Our renewed mind, beginning to understand the will of God (1-2), must soberly evaluate what God has given us, and not overestimate or underestimate ourselves (3-8). Our relationships must always be defined by service to one another. The love that binds the Christian family together includes sincerity, warmth, honesty, patience, hospitality, kindness, harmony, and humility (9-16).

Next it talks about the attitude towards enemies or those who do evil (17-21). Echoing the commandments of Jesus, Paul writes that we should not repay evil for evil or take revenge, but we should leave the punishment to God, since this is His prerogative, and we ourselves should seek peace, serve our enemies, defeating evil with good. Our relationship with authorities (13:1-7), as Paul sees it, is directly related to the concept of the wrath of God (12:19). If the punishment of evil is the prerogative of God, then He carries it out through state legally approved institutions, since the official is a “servant” of God, appointed to punish atrocities. The state also performs a positive function of supporting and rewarding the good deeds performed by people. However, our submission to the authorities cannot be unconditional. If the state misuses God-given authority by forcing what God forbids or by forbidding what God commands, then our Christian duty is clear - not to obey the state, but to submit to God.

Verses 8-10 are addressed to love. They teach that love is both an unpayable debt and the fulfillment of the law, because although we are not “under the law”, since we look to Christ for justification and to the Holy Spirit for sanctification, we are still called to fulfill the law in our daily submission God's commandments. In this sense, the Holy Spirit and the law cannot be opposed, because the Holy Spirit writes the law in our hearts, and the supremacy of love becomes more and more obvious as the day of the Lord Christ's return approaches. We must wake up, rise up, put on our clothes, and live the lifestyle of people who belong to the light of day (verses 11 - 14).

Paul devotes a lot of space to our relationship with the “weak” (14:1 -15:13). They seem to be weak in faith and conviction rather than in willpower and character. These were probably Jewish Christians, who considered it their duty to observe the law of eating, as well as holidays and fasts according to the Jewish calendar. Paul himself considers himself to be in the category of “strong” and agrees with their position. His consciousness tells him that food and the calendar are secondary things. But he does not want to act despotic and rude towards the vulnerable conscience of the “weak”. He calls on the church to “receive” them as God did (14:1,3) and to “receive” one another as Christ did (15:7). If you accept the weak in your heart and be friendly towards them, then it will no longer be possible to despise or condemn them, or to hurt them by being forced to go against your conscience.

The most significant feature of Paul's practical recommendations is that he builds them on his Christology, specifically the death, resurrection, and second coming of Jesus. Those who are weak in the faith are also our brothers and sisters for whom Christ died. He rose to be their Lord, and we have no right to interfere with His servants. He will also come to judge us, so we ourselves should not be judges. We must also follow the example of Christ, who did not please Himself, but became a servant—a servant indeed—to Jews and Gentiles. Paul leaves the reader with the wonderful hope that the weak and the strong, believing Jews and believing Gentiles, are bound together by such “one spirit” that “with one mind, with one mouth” they glorify God together (15:5–6).

Paul concludes by speaking of his apostolic call to minister to the Gentiles and to evangelize where they do not know Christ (15:14–22). He shares with them his plans to visit them on his way to Spain, first bringing offerings to Jerusalem as a symbol of Judeo-Gentile unity (15:23–29), and also asks them to pray for themselves (15:30–33). He introduces Thebes to them to deliver the Message to Rome (16:1-2), he greets the 26 people by name (16:3-16), men and women, slaves and free, Jews and former Gentiles, and this list helps us realize the extraordinary unity in diversity that wonderfully characterized the Roman Church. He warns them against false teachers (16:17–20); he sends greetings from the eight men with him in Corinth (16:21–24) and ends the message with praise to God. Although the syntax of this part of the Message is quite complex, the content is excellent. The apostle ends where he began (1:1-5): the introductory and concluding parts testify to the Good News of Christ, the providence of God, the appeal to the nations and the call to humility in faith.

Vol. 34 (Muhlenberg Press, I960), pp. 336f; and also: Fitzmyer. P. 260 and gave. Also see: Gordon E. Rapp, The Righteousness of God: Studies in Luther. - Approx. ed.