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Bible Studies

Romans 1:7-17

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Words of Christ in " red "
Greek words and interpretations are " purple "
My highlighted text is in " dark blue "


Break Line

Romans 1: 7

"To all that be in Rome, beloved [ agapetos ] of God, called [ kletos ] to be saints [ hagios ]:  Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ."

     First let me explain that anytime you see words that are in italics in the King James Bible (and some others) it means that those words were inserted by the translators and were not in the original Greek manuscripts.  Many times the addition of those words help us to make more sense to the verse itself.  However in this particular verse, to me, it makes more sense to remove those words.  Note in the above verse the words "called to be saints".  By removing the "to be" the first part of the verse reads:  "To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called saints".

     So by removing the "to be" we see that Paul is talking not to those "called to be saints" but to those "called saints".  Since the bible notes that all Christians are considered "saints" it gives a more personal message to us.

     The Greek for "beloved" is "agapetos" {ag-ap-ay-tos'}, which is derived from the Greek word "agape", which basically means "Love".  Here, since the word used is actually "agapetos" {ag-ap-ay-tos'} it is better interpreted as "Loved Ones".  The greek word for "called" is kletos which we discussed in the above verse.

     The Greek word used here for "saints" is "hagios" {hag'-ee-os}, which is "set apart for God, sanctified ones, saints."  God uses this word to describe the Christian's unique relationship to Him.  "Saint", contrary to Roman Catholic doctrine, is not primarily used of one who has led an exemplary life in Christ while on earth.  It is used to describe all of those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal savior.  The term "Christian" was actually coined by people in Antioch of Syria ( Acts 11:26 ) to distinguish us from the worshippers of Caesar.  The term "Christian" basically means "little Christ".


Romans 1: 8 - 10

"[8] First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.  [9] For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing [ adaileiptos ] I make mention of you always in my prayers;  [10] Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you."

     Even though Paul had never visited the Church of Rome, we see here that he was planning on doing so.  Paul notes that the Church of Rome's testimony was so strong that it was being talked about throughout the whole world.  The reason this church was "spoken of throughout the whole world" is because of the testimony of the believers.  They were living pure lives in the midst of an immoral world.  The believers were "serious about service" to Christ, not saying one thing then doing another.

" Every believer should have a strong testimony, so strong it is talked about everywhere "

     During this time it should be remembered that the Roman Christians were brutally recipients tortured for their faith by the citizens of Rome.  Rome was an "enlightened" Government, however all Roman Christians, including Paul, were stripped of their citizenship.  This was of course because the Christians refused to worship Caesar as the Law required, and proclaimed Christ as their King rather than the governmental rulers.

     Paul notes that he prayed for the Roman Christians "without ceasing" using the greek word "adaileiptos", which means "without cessation or interruption".  In other words Paul stated that without fail, each time he prayed he prayed for the Roman Church.  Paul prayed that God would shortly send him to the Romans so that he could be with them a little while.

See my article on " How Do I Pray Without Ceasing? " for more on this subject.


Romans 1: 11 - 12

"[11] For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established;  [12] That is, that I may be comforted together [ sumparakaleo ] with you by the mutual faith both of you and me."

     Even though it may seem to read that way, Paul does not state that he is coming to the Romans to impart gifts such as to give them the gift of teaching, evangelism, or preaching.  Paul did not, nor does any man have that power and we see Paul telling us that in I Corinthians:

1 Corinthians 12:6-11 "[6] And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.  [7] But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.  [8] For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;  [9] To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;  [10] To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:  [11] But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will."

     God alone, through the power of the Holy Spirit, has the authority and might to dispense spiritual gifts to the body.  Our Father alone knows what that Body needs to reach maturity and completion.  The Father also gives us Gifts to use to benefit the entire Body, not just the recipient of that Gift.  Paul's meaning is that he wanted to come to the Roman Christians so that he could "exercise his spiritual Gifts", thereby adding to and establishing the Church.

     In verse 12 of our text we see that Paul wanted to be "comforted together" with the members of the church in Rome.  The greek word used here is "sumparakaleo" {soom-par-ak-al-eh'-o} which means basically "encouraged together".  It is important for us as Christians to note that we need to be "encouraged together", that is basically " You cannot grow as a believer apart from the Church".  If you are not now a member of a good church ... find one so that you can grow, share, and be encouraged together.  Your daily walk with Jesus depends on it!


Romans 1: 12 - 13

"[12] That is, that I may be comforted together [ sumparakaleo ] with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.  [13] Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let [ koluo ] hitherto,) that I might have ( obtain ) some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles."

     The Greek used here for "let" is "koluo" {ko-loo'-o} which means "to cut off or cut short, be hindered from doing".  Paul desired to be "comforted together or jointly" with the Roman Christians.  These Christians suffered horribly on a daily basis to uphold their faith.  Paul himself was no stranger to the same types of persecution.

     The word "have" is basically the word "obtain" as it is used here.  In verse 11 above Paul notes that he wanted to "impart" or use his "spiritual gifts" when he visited the Church in Rome.  But here he is noting that he also wants to "obtain" fruit from the Roman Church.  When we are "comforted together" within the body of Christ, the church, we not only "impart" our spiritual gifts to others but are also comforted by the spiritual gifts that are "imparted" to us by our brothers and sisters in Christ.  As I previously noted, " You cannot grow as a believer apart from the Church ".  Paul knew that and explained it very well in these verses.


Romans 1: 14 - 16a

"[14] I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.  [15] So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel [ euaggelizo ] to you that are at Rome also."  [16] For I am not ashamed of the gospel [ euaggelizo ] of Christ: ...

     Here we see what has become known as the three "I Am's" of Paul.  It is important that we as Christians note these three "I Am's" and apply them to our Christian walk.  His three "I Am's" are:

  • I Am a debtor - ( vs 14 )

  • I Am ready - ( vs 15 )

  • I Am not ashamed - (vs 16)

     Paul first felt as though he was a debtor, that was that he was in debt.  Who was he in debt to?  Like all of us that are Christians, he was in debt to Jesus Christ who paid the penality of sin for all of us.  He see Paul here noting that he was compelled to preach to both the Greeks and Barbarians as well as to the wise and the unwise.  The term "Greeks" refers to those that spoke the Greek language and the term "Barbarians" refers to those that did not speak the Greek language.  He also notes that it also didn't matter if a person was "wise" (educated) or "unwise" (little or no education).

     A little explaination is due here.  When Jesus was born the most popular language of the known or civilized world was Koine Greek.  The use of this language was so popular during this time that many of the Jewish faith could only speak Koine Greek and not Hebrew ... and many who could speak in Hebrew still had trouble reading things written in Hebrew.  Because of this situation the Old Testament was translated into Koine Greek and called the Septuagint, and the original books of the New Testament were all written entirely in Koine Greek.  There is no doubt, because of this situation, that our Lord also spoke in Koine Greek.  I personally believe that God set this all in place on purpose before He sent His Son into the world.  For more on that see my article titled:

" Why was the New Testament written in Greek " - Coming Soon!

     Paul's second "I Am" is "I am ready to preach the gospel".  The greek word used here for "gospel" is "euaggelizo" {yoo-ang-ghel-id'-zo} which means "To announce something that is good news".  Paul was always "ready" to preach the gospel ... in fact it was the strongest desire of his life!  In I Corinthians 9:16 he said:

1 Corinthians 9:16  For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of:  for necessity is laid upon me;  yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!

Do we, as modern day Christians, feel the same compulsions that Paul felt to spread the Gospel?

     We must always be ready to "Proclaim The Gospel" to this world we live in today.  Slowly but surely we are seeing the churchs go through what is known as the "Great Falling Away" from the Gospel.  I've been to a number of churchs and listen to sermons only to discover that Jesus Christ and God are "never" even mentioned !  For more on that see my article titled:

" Where Is The Church "

Note these end times scriptures:

I Timothy 4:1  "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils..."

Amos 8:11  "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord..."

     " I, for one, must say that I don't do enough to satisfy my debt before my Lord.  There are time when I feel that the Lord wants me to say something to someone and I don't.  Too often I'm afraid that I'll be judged a fanatic, a Jesus freak, someone who is only a little crazy and perhaps brainwashed by too much religion.  However I am becoming bolder with every passing year. "

     Paul's third " I Am " is "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ:"  Paul preached the gospel boldly no matter where he was.  Even when he was in prison he still preached the gospel.  There are so many examples of Paul preaching the gospel that I won't even try to list them here.  He was "never" in any way "ashamed" of the Gospel of Christ.  More on that in the next section below ...

Right now let's look at Paul's three " I Am's " again with personal questions:

  • I Am a debtor
    Do we truely realize that we also are debtor to our Lord Jesus Christ?

  • I Am ready
    Are we always ready to preach the gospel of our Lord?

  • I Am not ashamed
    Are we sometimes ashamed of talking about the gospel of our Lord?


Romans 1: 16 - 17

"[16] For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ:  ( not in most mss ) for it is the ( not in mss ) power [ dunamis ] of God unto salvation to every one that believeth [ pisteuo ];  to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.  [17] For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith:  as it is written, The just [ dikaios ] shall live by faith."

     Many of us are ashamed of the Gospel, because we fear ridicule, rejection, and even loss of prestige.  To many there is even a fear of intellectual shame or social shame.  But to be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ is to, by extension, be ashamed of Christ Himself.  Jesus made this very plain when he said:

Mark 8:38 "Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."

     That statement of our Lord alone should make you ever the more bold with proclaming the gospel.  Concerning intellectual shame Paul gave us this message in his letter to the Corinthians:

1 Corinthians 3:18-19 "[18] Let no man deceive himself.  If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.  [19] For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.  For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness."

     The apostle Peter then gives us a message concerning the subject of feeling "social shame" for the gospel's sake and why it should not be a concern of ours:

1 Peter 4:14  "If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye;  for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you:  on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified."

     Paul also tells us here that the gospel is the "power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth".  The greek word Paul uses here for "power" is the same one we saw in the first section, "dunamis {doo'-nam-is}" which means "inherent power, power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature".

     The Greek word used here for "believeth" is "pisteuo {pist-yoo'-o}" which means "to entrust a thing to one, i.e. his fidelity ".  So it not only means to simply believe in the Gospel but also it gives us the meaning of "handing ourselves over to Jesus Christ".  It gives us the thought of being "wholeheartedly" involved in His behalf.  For to trust Christ is to become totally involved in all the eternal truths He taught in the scriptures.

     Paul then states that salvation is "to the Jew first, and also to the Greek".  I've had more than one person ask me "Didn't Jesus only come for those of the Jewish faith?  Didn't He even say that in the Bible?".  The answer is "yes He did say that".  However that is pulling a verse out of context.  One thing I've notice during my walk with the Lord is that so many cults, and even Christians, love to pull verses out of context.  What really happened in this case was:

Matthew 15:22-28  "[22] And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David;  my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.  [23] But he answered her not a word.  And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away;  for she crieth after us.  [24] But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  [25] Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.  [26] But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs.  [27] And she said, Truth, Lord:  yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.  [28] "Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith:  be it unto thee even as thou wilt.  And her daughter was made whole from that very hour."

     Jesus' ministry was to the Children of Israel.  Why?  Because they were the promised ones as we can see in the Old Testament.  Now Jesus' response to her may seem a little harsh, especially when He said "It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs".  But notice in the above verses that this woman was a Canaanite.  Now the Canaanites lived in the promised land that God had showed to Abraham.  And Israel was told what to do about them from the start:

Deuteronomy 20:16-18  "[16] But of the cities of these people, which the Lord thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth:  [17] But thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee:  [18] That they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have done unto their gods; so should ye sin against the Lord your God."

     The Canaanites were a terrible race of people that had gone so far from God that He no longer wanted them on earth.  The Canaanites practiced the worst kind of worship on the face of the earth.  They basically worshiped the bull-god Baal.  During their regular worship service they would sacrifice infants and little children to appease Baal.  It's no wonder God wanted them gone.

     The Canaanites were such a terribly defiled people.  Yet Israel didn't destroy these people as God wanted them to, but allowed them to live while taking their women as wives and possessing their riches.  Israel would later suffer under Divine wrath for their disobedience for they would, as God foretold, cause Israel to follow in their evil ways.

     So whenever an Israelite looked at a Canaanite he basically saw two things:  First they were a living memorial to the fact that Israel did not obey God by destroying them and secondly they reminded the Israelites that they had to go through Divine judgment for refusing to do so.  Because of this the Canaanites were an outcast people, hated by all religious members in Israel.

     When this Canaanite woman approached Christ He "didn't" say anything about her being a Canaanite but most assuredly she knew that He knew that she was.  Instead he basically reminded her that His ministry, for now, was "unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel."  He used the term "dogs" because she was a Canaanite, part of those that practiced Baal worship.  When our Lord used this term it was not in reference to all Gentiles, but basically toward the Canaanites.

     But even so for the first time here we see Jesus showing His love toward not only the Gentiles but to Gentiles that were involved in a most despicable practice.  He still ministered to her, for her act of faith in saying "yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table".  Jesus granted her request because of her faith and for recognizing basically who He was.

     Even during His earthly ministry Jesus made it plain that the Gospel was offered first to the Children of Promise, the Jews.  But when Israel rejected the offer of salvation it was then offered to the Gentiles, who even now by faith become the "Children of Promise".

     In verse 17 we see Paul continuing on with his statement concerning salvation in verse 16 which said "salvation to every one that believeth".  He is noting that the righteousness of God is only given, or fully revealed, through faith in the gospel and salvation provided by Jesus Christ.  Here when he notes that "as it is written" he is quoting the Old Testament verse:

Habakkuk 2:4 "Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him:  but the just shall live by his faith."

     The Greek word used in verse 17 for "just" is "dikaios" {dik'-ah-yos} which means "righteous, one observing divine laws".  We are made "just" and clothed with the "righteousness of God" through our faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for us all!  It is "only" through Jesus Christ that God can see us that way.  Whatever we try to do on "our own" without Jesus is basically nothing more than "filthy rags":

Isaiah 64:6  "But we are all as an unclean things, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags;  and we all do fade as a leaf;  and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away."


" All that we do must be done By Faith "

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Last modified: February 9, 2011