Romans 1:1–7 (ESV)
Greeting
1 Paul, a servant
of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4 and was declared to be the Son
of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 6 including
you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,
7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:
Grace to you and peace from God our
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The book of Romans is probably the most powerful book in the Bible outside of the Gospels. If you want to understand about Justification, Faith, and the meaning of
the Gospel Message, this is the Book. It was pivotal to Martin Luther and his understanding about faith. I look forward to venturing into this “meaty” text. There is a lot to chew on and digest. Today’s reading begins with
Paul’s Greeting. This author of this book is not in dispute,... well I guess someone out there will dispute anything. It begins with “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus”. That leaves little doubt as to the author.
Paul’s greeting is like me saying I’m hungry and someone immediately through a steak at my face and knocking me out. His greeting shows you what you need to expect when we cover all 16 chapters. I actually find this exciting... except I got
dirt all over my steak. I do believe in the 5 second rule, just don’t know how long I was out!
I pray: O Lord, I thank Paul for the book of Romans and all the teachings that come from him.
Help me to remember that even though Paul wrote it, You inspired it. All scripture is from you of Lord. Let your Word teach and guide me according to your will. Amen.