Paul continues his letter to the church in Rome. Last time I reviewed his reasons for writing (laying a strong theological foundation and his plans to visit on his way to Spain), as recorded in Romans 1-5 and 15-16. The rest of the book (chapters 6-14) focuses on Christian living.

As the NIV study bible notes explain, the whole book focuses on the righteousness of God. God’s righteousness sets Him apart from all of creation and humans, in contrast, have no righteousness of their own. Chapters 1-5 focused on the fact that all people (Jew and Gentiles) are in desperate need for a way to approach a righteous and holy God, and this access is granted through the gift of Jesus Christ. Paul focuses on two aspects of this.

1. The imputation of his righteousness – This means that He takes His righteousness (through the perfect life and sacrificial death of Jesus) and transfers it to our “account” so that we can stand before Him while being declared righteous.
2. The impartation of his righteousness – This is not just the “label” of righteousness, but the ability to actually live out a right and holy life through the indwelling of God’s Holy Spirit. It is this impartation that Paul focuses on the chapters 6-14.

In chapter 6 he says, “How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”

Then, in chapter 7, he emphasizes that this walk is not always an easy one. He says, “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 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. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Paul emphasizes that the struggle for righteous living is real, but the answer is through the power of Jesus Christ!

Then in chapter 8 he explains, “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you…. Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.“

Paul finishes the letter (chapters 12-15) by encouraging godly living among the Christians in Rome – “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.“. But before those final words of encouragement (chapters 12-15), he returns to the topic of Israel. While earlier in the letter he emphasized that as far as righteousness goes, there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles. However, in chapters 9-11 he returns to a discussion of God’s continuing love for the nation of Israel and for Paul’s desire to see his kindred return to God through the messiah Jesus Christ. He explains in chapter 10, “Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes…. 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. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?” Paul opened this section expressing such a yearning on his part for his Jewish brothers – “I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever.“

This yearning on Paul’s part for faith among the Jews will play a part a bit later in my retelling of Paul’s story. But first, we need to watch him as finishes his work on the third missionary journey and heads back to Jerusalem. We’ll start looking at that next time.