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| ROMANS |
| Explanatory Footnotes |
| 1:17 Luther's Gateway to Heaven Verses 16-17, a capsule summary of Paul's message to the Romans, changed Martin Luther forever. After he finally understood the phrase "righteousness from God," Luther said, "Thereupon I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise. The whole of Scripture took on a new meaning. . . . This passage of Paul became to me a gateway to heaven." 3:10 Need for a Cure If a doctor suddenly appeared on a television news program announcing, in an excited voice, a cure for the Paraguayan flu, who would notice? For his discovery to impress us so deeply that we would seek vaccination, he would first need to prove the terrible danger of the unknown virus. Paul's message to Romans is the great news about God's amazing grace: a complete cure is available to all. But people won't seek a cure until they know they are ill. Thus, Romans begins with one of the darkest descriptions in the Bible. Paul concludes, "There is no one righteous, not even one" (3:10). The entire world is doomed to spiritual death unless a cure can be found. 4:13 How to Please God Paul goes to great lengths in chapter 4 to make a theological point. He traces the Jewish heritage back to Abraham, who lived hundreds of years before Moses and the Old Testament law. Abraham, says Paul, pleased God exactly as we do; through faith. The Old Testament law was never meant to bridge the gap between God and people. Only Jesus Christ could do that. Paul stresses that the law was given not to bring about redemption, but to point up the need for it (5:20). 6:1 More Sin, More Forgiveness? Paul often uses this writing technique: he pauses in the |