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Introduction to Romans Part 2

The Church in Rome
We have started our study of Romans with a look at the one who wrote this letter Paul. This week, well
learn what we can know about the ones who received the letter the church in Rome. Finally, well
consider the time frame in which Paul was writing, as well as why he wrote this letter to them.
The Scriptures tell us little concerning when the gospel actually came to Rome. It is apparent from this
letter that Paul was not the one who initially brought the gospel to Rome; in fact, as of the writing of this
letter, Paul had never even been there (Rm 1:10-13).
As we will see, Paul is actually introducing himself to the Roman believers in the beginning of his letter.
And if you have had a chance to read the end of the letter, you may have noticed that Paul speaks about
coming to see them for the first time (Rm 15:22-24, 29).
The Roman Catholic church says that Peter founded the church in Rome. But the Scriptures do not bear
witness to this. In fact, the Scriptures indirectly refute this, by their silence on the subject in Lukes record
of Acts, and in Pauls letters. And certainly, if Peter had established the church in Rome, there would be
mention of it particularly in this letter of Pauls, to the Roman believers; yet there is no mention.
So who did bring the gospel to Rome? We dont know. But there is one possibility that presents itself, in
the Scriptures.
Turn to Acts chapter 2. Following His resurrection, Jesus had come to His disciples and given them the
Holy Spirit collectively here was Light to enlighten the Body of Christ (Jn 20:22).
Jesus had then spent 40 days opening up the understanding of His disciples, that they might comprehend
the Scriptures that is, that they might see how Jesus fulfilled them (Lk 24:44-48).
Jesus then ascended back to His Father. Ten days later, from heaven, Jesus poured out the Holy Spirit upon
His Body of believers on earth, which was the anointing for their ministry: the ministry of reconciliation.
This took place on the feast of Pentecost; it initiated the fulfillment of that feast.
The feast of Pentecost, or Weeks, was one of three feasts for which the men of Israel were commanded in
the Law to appear before the LORD, in Jerusalem (Deut 16:16). And when they appeared before the LORD,
they were not to do so empty-handed; they were to offer the LORD a free-will offering.
The offerings all pictured Christ; for that is the only offering a man can make, which the LORD can accept.
Then the offerer can be accepted, in his offering (Gen 4:4-7).
On this day, in fulfillment of the Feast of Pentecost, many would make the acceptable offering to the LORD,
and on that basis, be accepted by Him. Pentecost was a harvest feast; in its fulfillment, there would be a
harvest of souls into the kingdom.
Pious Jewish pilgrims from throughout the Mediterranean region had come up to Jerusalem for the feast.
They were at the temple at the time of the morning offering, when they hear an unexpected sound the
sound of their own native languages being spoken. They rushed to the source of the sound; and where was
it coming from? It was coming from the mouth of the disciples of Jesus.

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They were speaking in tongues languages that were not spoken by them naturally, but which they were
being empowered by the Holy Spirit to speak, as He gave each one utterance. These languages were
unknown to the Galilean disciples; but they were completely familiar to their listeners, these foreign-born,
Hellenist Jews.
This was a manifestation of the charismata, the spiritual graces, with which the Body of Christ was filled
as the Spirit was poured out on them on that day of Pentecost. The Spirit distributed to each believer
individually as He willed (1 Cor 12:11), in this case with the speaking in tongues, for the work of His
ministry, to reconcile men to God.
Luke then records the reaction of the Jewish pilgrims.
[Acts 2:5-12]
v. 5 Luke is referring to the religious pilgrims here; principally Hellenist Jews. Why were Jews living in
all these other nations meaning here the known nations, of the day? This was the result of Gods
judgment on the Jews, for their unbelief.
Long ago, the nation of Israel had forsaken the true and living God, and pursued idolatry. First came the
judgment on the ten northern tribes, at the hand of the Assyrians, and they were taken into exile; then the
judgment of Judah to the south, by Babylon; and they were also taken into exile.
Those captivities left many of the Jews scattered out of their land; they became strangers, in strange lands.
After the conquests of Alexander the Great, these exiles became Hellenized, assimilating the Greek
language and to some extent, the Greek culture.
The more pious of these Jews still made their way to Jerusalem for the feasts, if they could a merely
religious gesture, on the part of some; but for others, it suggested hearts that desired to be right with God,
that were seeking Him. Here God was giving them the opportunity to find Him; and to become the
righteousness of God, in His Son.
v. 6-8 So God drew them to Himself; this multitude of pilgrims, that were attempting to draw near to God,
in their way (Ja 4:8). But each one was drawn individually through the sound of his own native language
being spoken. This was a personal approach, to each man who was there because our God is personal.
He meets each person, right where theyre at.
To those who were carried away exile to Babylon, the LORD said, You will call upon Me and go and pray
to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your
heart (Jer 29:12-13).
The Lord sees to it that He can be found, known, understood, believed. He creates circumstances to cause
men to seek Him out for their own eternal good. And then He meets them, in their circumstances if
they will turn to Him, with all their heart. The Lord avails Himself to men; those who seek Him will find
Him.
Initially, the multitude was confused; it was not usual to hear their own native dialects being spoken in
Jerusalem. They were used to hearing only Aramaic, the native language of the Judean Jews, and Greek,
which most people in the Empire spoke.

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To the confusion was added amazement, as the pilgrims sensed this must be a miracle; Galilean Jews,
known to be practically language-challenged, could not be naturally speaking all of these different
languages!
And the pilgrims were beginning to listen to what was actually being said, in their languages in verse 11,
they recognize what they are hearing to be an account of the wonderful works of God. What works of God
do you think that the Holy Spirit was having the disciples recount? The works of Jesus? Yes; His
wonderful work of redemption, of reconciliation to God.
Now Luke gives a partial listing of some of the nations that were represented by the pilgrims, in Jerusalem.
v. 9-11 This list is not meant to be exhaustive, but just a sampling of nations represented by the pilgrims.
If you look at the map, you can see that these geographic locations are mostly scattered around the
Mediterranean region. Notice one of the locations cited; Rome, in verse 10.
And Luke mentions that the visitors the pilgrims are both Jews and proselytes. Remember that
proselytes are Gentiles who have converted to Judaism, even going so far as to be circumcised. You can
see they were as pious as the Jews, making this journey to Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost. This would
be one trip that was well worth their while.
v. 12 Now that the Spirit had gotten their attention, Peter addressed the multitude. You may remember
Peter explained that the speaking in tongues is a fulfillment of Joels prophecy concerning the pouring out
of the Holy Spirit; a sign that the last days have begun, which will culminate in the Day of the LORD, a day
of judgment.
Peter ended with the last part this prophecy of Joel: and it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the
name of the LORD shall be saved (Acts 2:21).
Peter then told these religious pilgrims about the basis of that salvation; whose name they must call upon to
be saved; Jesus. Peter showed them that Jesus fulfilled the Scriptures concerning Messiah in His death,
resurrection and ascension, of which His disciples were all witnesses.
Finally, Peter exhorted the men to be saved from their perverse generation (Acts 2:20) to turn from their
religion of Judaism, which had twisted their Scriptures concerning Messiah into a crooked system of works.
Many men received Peters exhortation that day. They turned to Jesus, whom they now recognized to be
their Messiah, their Savior, through whose shed blood, their sins were remitted. They received the Holy
Spirit, and were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, as a testimony to their decision to unite themselves to
Jesus, by faith.
Three thousand souls were added to the Lord, that day; to His Body, the Body of Christ. This was the
beginning of the fulfillment of Pentecost; the harvest of the Body of Christ, the church.
What happened to those men? Well, after the feast, where would they have gone? Certainly back to their
native lands; to their homes, and to their lives there. But they would have brought something back with
them, wouldnt they?
Remember these were pious Jews and proselytes; zealous for God, not unlike Saul was. As pious pilgrims,
they would have been steeped in the Scriptures. And they just had the eyes of their understanding opened
for the first time, in Jerusalem.

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Their Messiah had come - Jesus. He had indeed saved them from sin and death. He fulfilled all the
prophecies concerning Messiah, which they knew so well.
Thanks to Jesus, they had also been freed from the Law; from thinking that they must keep its
requirements, in order to make themselves righteous. Now they had become the righteousness of God, in
Christ. They were just beginning to understand that.
And for the first time, they had peace with God and began to experience the peace of God as well, that
surpassed all their understanding. They had the Holy Spirit within them, who was continuing to enlighten
them to all truth, to guide them in it. And they had joy the joy of the Lord, their new-found strength.
Those pilgrims who had believed were transformed not unlike the transformation of Saul. And what did
Saul do, immediately, once he believed and was baptized, and received his sight back? He began to witness
to others. Who can keep such marvelous news to oneself? This is good news that must be shared!
Of course, the religious pilgrims would have returned to their various geographic locations, and begun to
witness to others that Jesus is their Messiah. And one of those locations was Rome.
So although we cannot be absolutely certain, it is most likely that the church in Rome came into being
through these religious pilgrims, returning from Jerusalem around 30 AD, when the feast of Pentecost had
fully come (Acts 2:1).
Now, Rome in that day had a population of about a million people. And although there was great wealth in
the city, the majority of its residents were poor.
In fact, half of the population in Rome was actually slaves. The aristocracy distained manual labor, and
used the slaves to carry out all the mundane tasks of day-to-day living.
Of the million or so inhabitants in the imperial capital, about 50,000 were Jews. Thats a small percentage
of the overall population; but still, its a lot of people. How did so many Jews come to be in Rome? Well,
about ninety years before this time (63 BC), Pompey had conquered Judea, and he sent a large number of
Jews as prisoners to Rome to be sold as slaves.
The problem was that the Jews didnt make very good slaves. The Jews tenaciously adhered to their
religion, insisting on keeping the Sabbath, striving to keep their ceremonial cleanliness, and refusing orders
they saw as a violation of their religious Law.
So after many futile attempts to beat them into submission, most of the Jewish slaves wound up being set at
liberty by the Romans. The Roman government assigned the Jews a place in the vicinity of the city across
the Tiber River away from the desirable neighborhoods. Here a town was built, which became
principally inhabited by Jews. But the Jews there were mostly impoverished; the town was a veritable
ghetto.
Some Jews improved their lot, and in so doing, moved into other parts of the city, establishing themselves
separately from their Jewish brethren across the Tiber, forming their own community. Despite these
exceptions, the majority of the Jews in Rome were poor.
The Jews established synagogues in Rome, to accommodate their communities. At least 10 men who were
heads of their households were required as a quorum, to form a synagogue.

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This provided a place for the Jews to come to worship and pray together, and to hear their Scriptures read
and expounded. The leaders of the synagogue often invited Jewish men in attendance to read from the
Scriptures or to speak to the assembly.
You can see that this would have been the perfect place for the Jewish pilgrims, returning from Jerusalem
that Pentecost, to share their good news about Jesus right in their own synagogues. In attendance would
have been both Jews as well as Gentiles, including what were known as God-fearers, Gentiles who had
abandoned their pagan practices to worship the God of Israel.
The God-fearing Gentiles were not full converts to Judaism, unlike the circumcised Gentile proselytes, who
would also have been in the synagogue. In this way, both Jew and Gentile would have been exposed to the
good news that the Messiah of Israel had come, Jesus, the Christ; and that He was the Savior of the world.
Now, you may remember from last week that the Holy Spirit had Paul follow this same pattern, whenever
he came into a city; to preach in the synagogue first, to the Jews and the Gentile proselytes and Godfearers, which would then create a bridge for the gospel into the pagan Gentile communities.
I want to show you another pattern; what typically happened when Paul did this. Turn to Acts chapter 13.
Paul had preached the gospel to a synagogue in Pisidian Antioch.
[Acts 13:42-50]
v. 42 When the synagogue meeting was over, the Gentile proselytes and God-fearers in attendance
requested that Paul speak again the next week; they were quite taken with his message.
v. 43 You can see that Luke is saying there were both Jews and Gentiles who were being enlightened, and
drawn to the Lord.
v. 44 The idea here is that the Gentiles who attended synagogue invited their pagan Gentile friends to
come; theres the bridge.
v. 45 This is not speaking of the Jews mentioned in verse 43, but those Jews who did not believe the gospel
when they heard it. They were envious because the pagan Gentiles of the city were being drawn to the One
Paul preached Jesus instead of to their religion of Judaism. So now, they were arguing with Paul, trying
to undermine his preaching.
v. 46-50 So the word went out, and many believed, but the unbelieving Jews stirred up persecution against
Paul and Barnabas, and forced them to leave.
The same thing happened in Iconium. Look down in chapter 14.
[Acts 14:1-6]
v. 1 The Greeks here are referring to the Gentiles.
v. 2-6 You can see that the unbelieving Jews were the instigators, again.
In the next city, these unbelieving Jews actually followed Paul and Barnabas, and then incited the people.
The people then stoned Paul, and left him for dead (he wasnt).

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This pattern continued in Pauls second and third missionary journeys, as well. Thessalonica. Berea.
Corinth. Ephesus. The good news brought salvation to those who believed; but those who refused the
good news were stirred to great enmity against it; it disturbed the status quo of the world order of things.
As we shall see shortly, it appears that this enmity manifested itself in Rome as well, though Paul never
preached there. This makes it apparent that the enmity didnt really have to do with the messenger; the
enmity had to do with the message; and specifically, with the One proclaimed in the message.
Jesus warned His disciples, If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you
were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out
of the world, therefore the world hates you (Jn 15:18-19). This is the reproach of Christ.
Although Scripture does not record how the gospel spread in Rome, we know that it did, because by the
time of Pauls letter, assemblies had been established certainly, these would have been home fellowships,
as in other cities.
In the beginning of Pauls letter to them, Paul states his gratitude for the Roman believers, saying, I thank
my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world (Rm
1:8). Paul was referring to the reputation of the Roman believers, that their faith was well-known to all.
This would certainly suggest that they had been established in the truth.
Further evidence of this appears at the end of the letter. Paul sends an incredibly extensive list of greetings
to individuals he knows or knows of in the church in Rome. Most of these individuals were laborers in
the gospel, whom Paul knew from some other setting, and may even have worked with, who were now
laboring in Rome.
Well be considering these individuals when we get to the end of the letter someday, but I just want to look
at the list quickly to point out a few things.
Turn to Romans chapter 16.
[Romans 16:3-7]
v. 3-5 We will talk more about Priscilla and Aquila shortly. They were a well-to-do married couple, Jewish
believers. You can see that Paul worked with them, and that they currently had a church which was
meeting in their house in Rome; a home fellowship.
Skip down to verse 7.
v. 7 When Paul says my countrymen, he is saying that these were fellow Jews another husband-andwife ministry team. They had been imprisoned for their faith; as Paul had also by this time, in Philippi
(Acts 16:19-40). Paul calls them apostles, using the term in its general sense, as sent ones, missionaries
who travel about, preaching the gospel. Currently, they were ministering in Rome.
Among this extensive list, we find individuals and households; slaves, freemen and Roman citizens; the
poor and the rich; Jewish, Greek and Latin names; men and women; all believers in Rome, most of whom
Paul had known, personally, who were currently laboring in parallel to him, for the gospel in Rome.

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The sense is that, by this time, the gospel had reached the whole city, and that the church in Rome was
well-established. Within five years of this letter, the gospel even penetrated the imperial household (Phil
1:13, 4:22).
Although the exact progress of the gospel in Rome is not known over the 25-or-so year period from the
Day of Pentecost to the time Paul is writing to them, there is one additional historical note that bears
significantly on Pauls letter.
As mentioned before, when the gospel is preached, it will provoke enmity from those who are unwilling to
receive it to be the good news that it is.
About twenty years after the gospel was likely to have first come to Rome, the Jews were expelled from the
city by the reigning emperor, Claudius. We find the reason for this in the records of the Roman historian
Suetonius.
Suetonius wrote, Since the Jews constantly made disturbances [rioted] at the instigation of Chrestus, he
[Claudius] expelled them from Rome Claudius, 25.1-5). Chrestus is considered to be a corruption of the
Greek Christos Christ.
This shows the familiar pattern had emerged in Rome. As the gospel of Christ penetrated the synagogues,
the unbelieving Jews began to refute the message, and then persecute the messengers as well as those
who believed the message. To the authorities, it appeared to be a riot among the Jewish population in
Rome.
The emperor had no reason to tolerate rioting in the imperial city from non-Roman citizens, and every
reason to seek to maintain law and order; so Claudius simply expelled all the Jews from Rome. Now, his
edict would not distinguish between the unbelieving Jews, and those Jews who had believed into Christ
they were all expelled. The Romans initially perceived Christ Ones as simply belonging to another sect of
Judaism.
We see evidence of this eviction of the Jews from Rome in Lukes record in Acts. Turn to Acts chapter 18.
Pauls second missionary journey has taken him to the city of Corinth, for the first time.
[Acts 18:1-3] In that Luke indicates that Aquila was a Jew, it may be that he and his wife Priscilla were not
yet believers. But whether they heard the gospel from Paul for the first time or not, they certainly would
have grown in their faith during the time Paul lived and worked with them.
Aquila and Priscilla would minister with Paul in Corinth for the next year and a half. When Paul left, they
would travel with him as far as Ephesus, where Paul briefly shared the gospel, before he returned to
Jerusalem. But Paul would leave Aquila and Priscilla in Ephesus to minister there, until such time as Paul
could return.
Notice what it says about Claudius. This reflects his decree to expel all the Jews and Jewish Christians
from Rome.
The Jews were expelled from Rome in 49 AD. After Claudius died five years later, his edict was
automatically repealed, and the Jews were free to return to Rome. Aquila and Priscilla clearly did return to
their home there, as we saw evidence of at the end of Pauls letter to the Romans.

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The significance of this expulsion of the Jews has to do with the dynamics of the church in Rome. Until
that time, the church, in its growing home fellowships, would have been composed of both Jewish and
Gentile believers and the Jews initially may have been in the majority, although by the time of the
expulsion, they were probably not.
Nonetheless, the Jews would have been highly influential in the church in Rome, with their knowledge of
the Scriptures and specifically, of the Law. And as elsewhere, it may have been the tendency of the
Jewish believers to think that the new Gentile believers needed to keep the Law, as well as to believe in
Christ; and the Jewish believers would show them just how to do that!
It is a good possibility that the home fellowships were mixed, as Jews and Gentiles has also attended
synagogue together; but the Jews would always tend to retain their sense of separation, considering even
the Gentile proselytes to still be unclean. After all, the Gentiles were considered unclean from birth; what
could change that? An understanding of the new birth would help, there.
What is certain is that after the Jews were expelled from Rome, the church in Rome all the home
fellowships would have become exclusively Gentile. And as the church was added to, its new members
were all Gentiles; there were no Jews left, in Rome.
You can see that the dynamics would tend to change, with the removal of the Jews and their culture. The
Gentile believers would have been more inclined to embrace their freedom in Christ, learning to live by the
Spirit. They would be less inclined to follow the Law, which was never a part of their culture.
Five years later, the Jewish believers returned. This was in 54 AD about three years before Paul wrote his
letter to them (57 AD).
Now, Jewish and Gentile believers had difficulty meshing as it was truly understanding their unity in
Christ that there is neither Jew nor Gentile (Gal 3:28). Can you picture the additional burden that the
church in Rome experienced?
It would have been natural for the Gentile believers to be arrogant toward their returning Jewish brethren;
to feel even superior to them, in the spiritual realm, for the first time (Rm 11:17-20). The church had
grown in the absence of the Jews, and had really begun to experience their freedom, in Christ.
And meanwhile, as the legalistic Jews began to head back to Rome, theyre naturally thinking that they
needed to whip the Gentiles into shape again; to resume their positions as their teachers, their leaders (Rm
2:21); their spiritual superiors, as they saw it.
And what did the Jewish believers find, when they came back? The Gentile believers had been practicing
what they viewed as lawlessness, in their absence. How typical, of the lawless Gentiles! And the fact that
the Jewish believers were an ever-dwindling minority would have made them more defensive than ever.
At the very least, the two communities would have tended to be exclusive of one another, unwilling to be
united as one Body; perhaps there might even have been conflict and division, due to this lack of love and
submission.
Within Pauls words to the Romans, we see this issue as a consistent thread of thought throughout his letter.
We have the unrighteousness of the Gentiles in the flesh apart from the Law, and the unrighteousness of the
Jews in the flesh with it (Rm 1 and 2).

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We have the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ, apart from the Law, for both Jew and
Gentile (Rm 3-8).
We have Gods ultimate plan for His nation, Israel, even as He works out His plan for the Gentiles (Rm 911).
And finally, we have Jewish and Gentile believers bearing with one another in love (Rm 14-15).
But the Jewish-Gentile issue is merely an undercurrent in Pauls letter to the Romans; he is not addressing
that issue directly, but rather showing how it relates to his chief subject.
And what is that subject? What is the letter really about? Its about the gospel. Turn to Romans chapter
15. As Paul was wrapping up his letter, he speaks of the reason he has written.
[Romans 15:14-16]
v. 14 You can see from what Paul is saying here that the church in Rome was already established, and had
been taught the truth.
v. 15-16 Despite the fact that the church in Rome had knowledge of the truth, Paul wrote to them on some
points concerning the gospel of God. Why? Because Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles; the Lord had
appointed him to preach the gospel to them. As Paul said elsewhere, Woe is me if I do not preach the
gospel! (1 Cor 9:16).
Also, as Paul cannot go to Rome yet, he is writing to them to ensure that they are established in the truth
the whole truth. Remember the timing of this letter; Paul has been reestablishing many of the assemblies in
the truth, because of false teaching that had been taken in most recently, at Corinth, from which he is
writing. So establishing the believers in Rome in the truth of the gospel would have been on Pauls mind.
But most importantly, Pauls explanation of the gospel and its ramifications, which is the essence of his
letter, will show the Jewish and Gentile brethren in Rome their equal footing in Christ; that there is no
difference in them as sinners; that there is no difference in how they are saved; and that there is no
difference in how they are to live.
All have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Rm 3:23); all are justified by simple faith in Christ
(Rm 3:28); all are to walk according to the Spirit (Rm 8:4).
And once the Jewish and Gentile believers really understood the full significance of the gospel personally,
their perceived differences would evaporate, even as their hearts became knit together in love. For the
gospel is divisive only to those who reject it; but for those who receive it, it brings the unity of the Spirit
in the bond of peace (Eph 4:3).
Next week: chapter 1. Read it, Acts 2; Acts 13:16-39; 2 Sam 7:1-16; Ps 2.