03/06/2022 – Day 007 – Romans 1 – 2 commentary / “Fundamental Nature of Christ’s Work” and “Basis of Man’s Standing before his Creator”
Again, I am going to share with you excerpts of the Romans introduction section from Halley’s Bible Handbook. It will probably be quite a few weeks before I bring in Henry H. Halley’s commentary again.
“Paul ws chosen by God to be the chief expounder of the Gospel to the world, and his Epistle to the Romans is Paul’s completest explanation of his understanding of the Gospel. Coleridge calls it, ‘The most profound work in existence.’
Date and Ocassion of the Epistle
WInter of A.D. 57-58. Paul was in Corinth, at the close of hi Third Missionary Journey, on the eve of his departure to Jerusalem with the offering of money for the poor saints (15: 22-27). A woman named Phoebe , of Cenchreae, a suburb of Corinth, was sailing for Rom (16: 1,2). Paul availed himself of the opportunity to send the letter by her…
The Purpose of the Epistle
To let the Roman Christians know that he was on his way to Rome… , and Paul did not as yet feel sure that he would get away from Jerusalem alive (Romans 15:31); in which cas, it seemed proper that he, the Apostle of the Gentiles, should leave on file, in the Capital of the World, a Written explanation of the Nature of the Gospel of Christ….
The Church in Rome
Paul had not yet been there. He reached Rome three years after he wrote this Epistle… Paul’s martyrdom, and probably Peter’s occured in Rome, about 8 years after this Epistle was written…
Paul’s Main Insistence
In this Epistle is that Man’s Justification before God rests fundamentally , not on the Law of Moses, but on the Mercy of Christ….”
Commentary – From John Gill’s online commentary, Romans 2: 13-14:
https://www.biblestudytools.com/romans/2-13.html
I highly recommend you click onto the next verse and study it a well. Note, without accepting Jesus Christ as our personal savior, both Gentiles outside of the law and Jews within the law of Moses will perish. Only God can judge a human heart, but if we have a heart turned to Christ, we can be nothing but doers of the Law, for the fear of the Lord comes over us with just the thought of grieving the Holy Spirit with our sin. Note – It is impossible to save ourselves through good works. We are saved only by the grace of Jesus Christ.
Soli Deo Gloria!