There are many resemblance between the Epistle to the Romans and the Sermon on the Mount. Because they are both written about how to apply the old covenant and the law in our days. Jesus said to the people in His sermon that He did not come to this world to abolish the law or the prophets but to fulfill them. In Paul’s days the salvation for gentiles brought in some problems between them and the Jews about keeping the law. So both Jesus and Paul had to teach them the right way of applying the law in the New Testament.

The Fulfilment of the Law and the Prophets

“… which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures…” (Romans 1:2)
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (Matthew 5:17)

Lust – Adultery

“Sins of lust” (Romans 1:26-27, 6:12)
“Thou shalt not commit adultery.” (Matthew 5:27-32)

The Capital Crime

“Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.” (Romans 1:32)
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.” (Matthew 5:21-22)

Unrighteous Men – Blessed Men

“They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.” (Romans 1:29-32)
“Blessed are the poor in spirit… those who mourn… the meek… those who hunger and thirst for righteousness… the merciful… the pure in heart, … he peacemakers… those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake… when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.” (Matthew 5:3-11)

Leading Others to Sins

Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. (Romans 1:32)
Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:19)

Judging Others – Forgiving Others

“O man, every one of you who judges… you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself…” (Romans 2:1-6)
“… and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”(Matthew 6:12)
“Judge not, that you be not judged.” (Matthew 7:1-5)

The True Jews and the True Good Works

“For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.” (Romans 2:28-29)
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven…” (Matthew 6:1-18)

Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery

Jews taught others not to commit adultery even though they were not keeping this commandment themselves. (Romans 2:22)
Jesus’ teaching on the law “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” (Matthew 5:27-32)

The Persecution for Righteousness’ Sake

“More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance…” (Romans 5:3-5)
“Blessed are the poor in spirit… those who mourn… the meek… those who hunger and thirst for righteousness… the merciful… the pure in heart, … he peacemakers… those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake… when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.” (Matthew 5:3-11)
e things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:33)

The Law and the Prophets

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it– (Romans 3:21)
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. (Matthew 5:17)

Rejoice in the Lord Always

“Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and were joice in hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:2)
“Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:12)

“Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness…” (Romans 6:13)
“If your right eye… if your right handcauses you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.” (Matthew 5:29-30)

In Romans 14, Paul taught about the brotherly love by explaining the problem of criticizing the people whose faith is weak. Because in the days that Paul wrote this letter, there were some problems among the brothers about what they are allow to eat, keeping the day and also about circumcision and the baptism. So Paul had to write to them so that they will not offense their brothers or judge one another for these problems. He wrote about food and the day in particular in this chapter to encourage them to love one another. Than what did he teach about brotherly love in chapter 14?

“As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables.”
- Romans 14:1-2

Do Not Cause Another to Stumble

So why did food and the day became the problem among the brothers in the first place? As Paul wrote about himself in the beginning of this letter that he was elected to spread the Gospel especially among the gentiles, the Word of God was outspread to the gentiles as well as Jews. So the difference of their tradition caused them conflicts.

“One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.”
- Romans 14:5-6

Do Not Judge One Another

Even though the Jews taught other to keep the law and judge others for not keeping them, they did not keep themselves and sinned. And they judged and offended one another. So Paul taught them not to judge others but to give thanks to God and do everything for Him. And to have confidence in what they do. Because even if they judge one another, they will have to stand before the Lord to be judged for what they did. We are the servants of the Lord so even if we judge each other, everything is under His control whether we fall or we stand. So we have to do everything for God our master as the servants.

“Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.”
- Romans 14:4

God is God of All the People

Not only that Christ died for the one who’s weak in faith but for all the Christians. So God is God of all the people both dead and living, So we should not let our appetite destroy someone who Christ died for. This is why Paul wrote to his brother in Christ, so that they will not let their difference in tradition cause divisions and offenses among them.

“For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.”
- Romans 14:9

We should not have divisions and offenses between us, because we are the servants of the master our Lord Jesus Christ. Instead, we have to work together with unity to build the Kingdom of God. In order to do that, we have to have peace among us. Because as Paul wrote in Romans 14:17 “God’s kingdom isn’t about eating and drinking. It is about pleasing God, about living in peace, and about true happiness.”.

What should we do instead of judging one another as brothers in Christ? Paul wrote that we have to give thanks to the Lord for all things. Whatever we do we have to do for God. Because unlike the Old Covenant, there is no restriction about eating in the New Covenant. But instead we were commanded to do everything for God with faith and the heart of thanksgiving. To have love and peace between us is how we should live as the servants of God and this is the reflection of true faith.

“So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.”
- Romans 14:19

The Parables of the Olive Trees and the Vine

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.” This is a line from the famous parable that Jesus taught the people. He addressed Himself as the vine and us as the branches. In Romans 11:16-24, Paul wrote the parable of olive tree to describe about our faith. So by studying Paul’s parable, let us seek the meaning Jesus’ parable of the vine and it’s branches.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”
- John 15:1-2

The Grafted Branches

Paul used the analogy of olive tree to describe about the salvation that was given to both Israelites and the Gentiles. And in this parable, Paul described that God himself is the tree and the root. He said that branches are the one who were saved but at the same time, he noted that we are from the wild olive tree and not the natural branches. Which means that we were grafted to Christ by the salvation. We were not the branches of the olive tree but by we were made the branches of God when we received faith. Because we were once gentiles before we were saved. But we were grafted to Jesus Christ the olive tree by His grace.

The Wild Olive Tree Branches

We are the branches from the wild olive tree but the Israelites who turned away from God were once the natural branches as well. So that is why we were called “the wild olive tree branches”. Some of the Israelites were broken off from the tree because of their unbelief but instead we were grafted in by faith.

The Branches that Remained on the Tree

But Paul also warned us not to become proud but fear, because the reason that we were grafted in was not because we did something right and the Israelites did wrong, but the salvation was given to us only by God’s grace. We were saved by His grace like some of the Israelites that remained on the tree by the election of Grace. So God did not reject all the Israelites but the Israelites that turned away from Him were broken off from the tree. Likewise we can be broke off from the tree if we turn away from God and do not stay in His mercy. Paul described this as the kindness and the severity of God. For this kindness, if the branches that were once broken off repent and return to God’s mercy, they will be grafted again.

Jesus Christ the Vine

What did Christ teach the people through the parable of the vine? As Paul used the metaphor of olive tree to describe about Jesus Christ. Jesus used “vine” as the metaphor for Himself and compared us to it’s branches. He also mentioned about the “vinedresser” in His parable. The vinedresser is God our Father who takes away the branches that does not bear fruit. But from the parable of Olive Tree in Romans, we can tell that he also grafts the branches that believe in Him.

If the Root is Holy, So Are the Branches

There is an important keyword that comes out in both parables. The words “holy” or “clean” were used in both passages. The context that these words were used are not similar but when Christ told this parable he said “Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.”. And Paul said “if the root is holy, so are the branches.” about being grafted to Christ.

In both parables, God was likened to the tree and we are it’s branches. Both Christ and Paul taught us to stay in God’s love and mercy by telling these parables. So that we will not be broke off from the tree for our unbelief. Because those who will be taken away from the tree are the ones who do not bear fruit. But we have to stay in God’s love and mercy by keeping His commandment. As Christ taught us in John 15, loving each other as God loved us is the way to keep His commandment and the way to stay grafted to “the tree”.

“If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.”
- John 15:10

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”
- John 15:12

The Gospel of Salvation

Paul wrote about salvation by faith especially in the beginning and in the end of this letter. Because this letter is about gospel and as Paul described gospel is the good news about salvation. By the fulfillment of perfect redemption by Jesus Christ, the blessing of salvation were given not only to Israelites but also Gentiles. So whoever believes in Christ will be saved. Than what did Paul teach about salvation in this letter? What do we have to learn about it in the Epistle to the Romans?

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
- Romans 1:16

The Slaves of Sins

Paul used many words to describe the salvation of Christ. And “Slave” is one of the keywords in the description about salvation. Paul represented unsaved people “the slaves of the sin”. Because we were once reigned by sins and were in bondage of sin and death. So we were under the yoke of sins as the slaves, living our lives following the unrighteousness. The only way to be freed from this captivity was our death, but by God’s grace, Jesus Christ died for us and He fulfilled the promise of salvation.

“We know that our old selfwas crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.”
- Romans 6:6

Freedom from the Dominion of Sins

Freedom from the dominion of sins by Christ’s death and resurrection will be given to all people who believes in Christ. So God will sees us as people who died on the cross with Christ. We are slaves of sin no more, but the slaves of righteousness. When Paul explained about the people who were saved, he used the word “slave” even though we were “freed” from sins. Because the slaves of righteousness is under God’s dominion which means that we have true and perfect freedom under God. The true freedom comes from the obedience to the Lord and His commandments. So this freedom is not something that comes from freewheelingness but the obedience to God and His perfect dominion. So being the slaves of righteousness means that we are God’s property and that we are under his reign.

Temporal Binding of Our Earthly Fresh

By the salvation of Jesus Christ, we were saved to become the slaves of righteousness. So we are now under the rule of grace of God instead of sins and death. But while we live in this world with our worldly fresh, we still sins and even if we wished to do good, we often do unrighteousness. Because this earthly body that we have right now is still under the law. But even if we are trapped in this body, the fundamental part is completely different from the slaves of sin. So the temporal binding of sins and death will not take us apart from the eternal life that God promised us.

“For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.”
- Romans 7:22-23

How the Sins and Death Entered this World

Than how did the sin and death enter this world even though God created this world perfect? The beginning of the reign of sins and death is in the beginning of Genesis, when Adam sinned. By the sin that was committed by just one man, the sin entered the whole world. And death entered this world as the curse for the sin. Death was the judgement from God upon sinners. But by grace God also promised Adam and Eve the salvation from the dominion of death. One man’s sin brought sins into the world but God brought salvation to world by one Man’s death. And we were put under the dominion of life by the salvation and the redemption of Christ.

“Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned–”
- Romans 5:12

The Slaves of Righteousness

Paul described the people who were saved as the slaves of righteousness, but he also explained about them as the children of God. Theses two words “slaves” and “children” might sound paradoxical but both words represent the men with true freedom. And the word “the children of God” represents grace and salvation. Being under the dominion of eternal life is the true freedom and the salvation from the dominion of death. The true freedom is our hope in our earthly lives. Because the sufferings and hard times that we go through in our lives is temporal.

“But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.”
- Romans 6:17-18

Abraham in the New Testament

Abraham the son of Terah was a man who lived in the days of Genesis. Even though he is a person that comes out in Old Testament, his name was mentioned 69 times in the New Testament. There are many passages about Abraham in the Epistle to the Romans as well. So what can we learn about him from these passages in the New Testament? What is his role in the New Testament?

“When Terah had lived 70 years, he fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot.”
- Genesis 11:26-27

Abraham and His Justification by Faith

Paul wrote about Abraham especially in chapter 4 in the context about justification. He wrote about Abraham as an example of the justification by faith. Because when Paul wrote this letter, there was a problem between Jews and the Gentiles about justification by faith and justification by works. So Paul had to write in this letter that the Gospel was given to all the people who believe in God no matter if the person was circumcised or not. So he made clear that justification is only by faith by telling the story of Abraham our ancestor.

“What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”
- Romans 4:1-3

Abraham as Our Father of Faith

If Abraham our ancestor was justified by his faith, we are also going to be justified by our faith because we are his descendants. But why are we called his descendants even though we are not Jews or Hebrews? As Paul wrote in Romans 9:4-8, we are not his descendants in flesh but we became Abraham’s children in faith by the redemption in Christ. Jesus Christ our Lord fulfilled the promise by his death on the cross and resurrection. So we can call Abraham the father of our faith. Because people will be called “Abraham’s children” by their faith and not by the blood relationship.

“This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.”
- Romans 9:8

Why Are We Called the Children of Abraham?

Abraham was justified by his faith. So his children in faith were also justified by faith. In the New Testament, people who were circumcised were not the only Abraham’s children anymore but he became the father of all the people who will be justified by faith. And this is the fulfillment of the promise that God gave to Abraham in Genesis. The promise that all the people who believe in God will receive inheritance from Him is the grace of God that He gave to Abraham and his descendants. Not by law or works but only by faith. We will be part of the promise only by believing in God.

“He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.”
- Romans 4:11-12

The Promised Heir of Abraham

When God gave this promise to Abraham about the promised heir. He had no child. Even when they grew older, they did not have a child. Even though he was called “the father of many nations” he had no child. But not only that he did not doubt the promise but his faith grew stronger and he kept believing in the fulfilment of the promise. This is his faith that justified him and it is an good example for all of us for the justification.

“For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.”
- Romans 4:13

The Father of Faith and His Children

Abraham our father of the faith is the example for our faith. So Paul wrote about him and his justification no only for his sake but for us too. Because we will be justified by faith like Abraham was. And this is why Christ died and resurrected and fulfilled the promise.

“But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord…”
- Romans 4:23-24