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A biography of Martin Luther by Richard Marius quotes Luther as saying that Paul’s Epistle to
the Romans is “the high point of the New Testament . . . that can never be read too much; the
more it is considered, the more precious it becomes.” A strong statement. It made me wonder
when I last read Romans . . . have I ever read Romans? Oops. So I turned to Volume 21 of
“The Layman’s Bible Commentary” in the HTLC Library: The Letter of Paul to the Romans
written by Kenneth Foreman.


Some interesting factoids: the Book of Romans was written circa AD 57–58 while Paul was in
Corinth and before he had ever been to Rome; there seems to be no dispute among biblical
historians as to its authorship. It is the longest of Paul’s epistles and was written as kind of a
“handbook” to Roman Christians since no Gospel—not even Mark—had yet been written. This
community was important to Christianity by virtue of its presence in the Roman Empire’s capital
city.


Paul seems to use the words “Gentile” and “Greek” interchangeably, which can be confusing.
Nevertheless he makes it very clear up-front that “There is no favoritism with God.” Whether he
is talking in an encouraging or admonishing context, he repeats this phrase at least three times:
“Jews first, but Greeks as well”. Early on in the letter he just spews about the naughty goings-
on in the Corinthian community (here it is definitely the Greeks) as a warning to the Romans to
behave themselves.


Paul makes an interesting analogy between Adam and Christ: each represented the beginning
of a new race. Adam was the father of all sinners who fled from God and who brought death
and condemnation to humanity; while Christ as the “second Adam” reflected God and brought
life and acquittal to the new humanity.


Foreman writes that Chapters 9–11 are the most difficult in Romans and among the most
difficult in the entire New Testament: “One can skip from the end of Chapter 8 to the beginning
of Chapter 12 and feel no particular break.” I almost took him up on that but shame prevented
me. These chapters contain Paul’s meandering thoughts on the dilemma of nonconverting
Jews. As Romans was Martin Luther’s fave, this might have contributed to his conflicted
feelings toward the Jews.


So why was the book of Romans so special to Martin Luther? Chapter 3 contains some of the
central dogma of the Lutheran Church: “God’s saving justice given through faith in Jesus Christ
to all who believe . . . All are justified by the free gift of his grace through being set free in Christ
. . . A person is justified by faith and not by doing what the Law tells him to do.” Foreman
equates “keeping the Law” with trying to build a ladder to heaven out of good deeds: it is not
enough. However, this invokes the inevitable: “If good deeds yield nothing, why be good?
Grace is free.” Indeed, Paul cites “free grace” repetitively, reminding me of Bonhoeffer’s
criticism of what he calls “cheap grace”. (For more on that, read Bonhoeffer’s The Cost of
Discipleship.) Foreman offers this: that although we cannot earn the mercy of God, we can
through good works express our gratitude to God—who gives us both the willingness and the
power to do good.


If you desire a companion in exploring the Bible, the HTLC Bible Study on Tuesday is best; but if
that doesn’t fit your schedule, “The Layman’s Bible Commentary” series works too.


Brian McGuire