Paul wrote the book of Romans during his visit to Corinth on his third missionary journey. He did not plant the church in Rome and had never visited there. Those who started the church in Rome were in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost and heard the gospel. This is probably why Paul speaks about general topics in the book of Romans rather than specific issues. No other letter contains such comprehensive doctrine and universal application.
Paul starts his letter noting that he is a slave of Jesus Christ called by Christ to apostleship. He clarifies that Jesus’ coming was prophesied by the prophets and that Jesus was a descendent of David according to the flesh. Jesus’ genealogy is given in the books of Matthew and Luke, if you compare them they are different. Matthews account shows the bloodline coming from David’s son Solomon, this is Joseph’s bloodline. Luke’s account comes from David’s son Nathan, this is Mary‘s genealogy. The Messiah‘s genealogy was extremely important to the Jews and should be to us as well. It is one of the ways we identify who the true messiah is which is why Matthew and Luke documented Jesus’ genealogy.
Paul must’ve received good news reports about the Romans and their level of faith. He thanks them for having the level of faith they had. Have you ever been thanked by anyone for your level of faith? Being thanked for something people see in you that you know is actually the Holy Spirit within you being revealed is very humbling. Often times we don’t even recognize it ourselves, it has become part of who we are. Paul says he often mentions the Roman Christians and he is always asking God if he could visit Rome. The way Paul mentions this makes it sound like he asks in casual conversation with God about the things he wants in life, do you have casual conversations with God? Whether on your knees in prayer or just simply talking to God, all communication with God is prayer. I try to be in a prayerful attitude with God all day, kind of like hanging out with him as the disciples did with Jesus. Then when another driver does something stupid in traffic and my first thought is very critical and negative, I feel God‘s presence, my second thought is to ask for his forgiveness and request he change my heart to a heart of love for others so I can love like he loves. In versus 11 & 12 he says:
For I want very much to see you, so I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you, that is, to be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.
That’s Christian fellowship, when we get together I should be imparting some spiritual gift to strengthen you and I should also be receiving some spiritual gift that strengthens me as a result of our fellowship. When you’ve been with other Christians and you walk away from your conversation, don’t you usually have a sense of strength and feel uplifted? Jesus traveled with an entourage of 70+ people who He taught and fellowshipped with and yet He modeled this by having a group of 12 men he chose who He was closer to and had a more intimate relationship with. Then he had 3 men he was closer to than the other 9 and then there was John who he seemed to have an even closer relationship with. It seems easier for women to have a great spiritual support group, men have a tendency to struggle with that. We all need 2 or 3 people we could share anything with but, we definitely need to have at least 1 person who we can turn to when we can’t make sense of the reality of the world we live in.
These men learned from Jesus, were amazed by the insight Jesus had into the Scriptures and blown away by the miracles he performed. After Jesus was gone, all they had was each other, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, that was more than enough. They leaned on each other and spoke with each other and encouraged each other so they would not give up living a life of faith in Jesus Christ. I’m thankful for those people in my life and will tell them how grateful I am that God put them in my life.