A. The writer(s), the place, and the time: This book was written by the apostle Paul to the saints in Rome (1:7). It was written in Corinth (Rom. 15:25-32; Acts 19:21; 20:1-3) about A.D. 60, during his third journey of ministry.
B. The subject: The gospel of God makes sinners His sons, to become the Body of Christ, manifested in the local churches.
C. The background: [The gospel of God is the subject of the book of Romans (1:1). Christians are accustomed to saying that there are four gospels, the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. However, Paul also refers to his epistle to the Romans as a gospel. The gospel in the first four books of the New Testament concerns Christ in the flesh as He lived among His disciples before His death and resurrection. After His incarnation and before His death and resurrection, He was among His disciples, but not yet in them. The gospel in Romans concerns Christ as the Spirit, not Christ in the flesh. In Romans 8 we see that the Spirit of life who indwells us is simply Christ Himself. Christ is in us. The Christ in the four gospels was among the disciples; the Christ in Romans is within us. The Christ in the four gospels is the Christ after incarnation and before death and resurrection. As such, He is a Christ outside of us. The Christ in Romans is the Christ after His resurrection. As such, He is the Christ within us. This is something deeper and more subjective than the Christ in the gospels. Keep this one point in mind: that the gospel in Romans concerns Christ as the Spirit in us after His resurrection.
If we only have the gospel concerning Christ as in the first four books of the New Testament, our gospel is too objective. We need the fifth gospel, the book of Romans, to reveal the subjective gospel of Christ. Our Christ is not merely the Christ in the flesh after incarnation and before resurrection, the Christ who was among His disciples. Our Christ is higher and more subjective. He is the Spirit of life within us. He is such a subjective One. Though John chapters 14 and 15 revealed that Christ will be in His believers, yet that was not fulfilled before His resurrection. The book of Romans is the gospel of Christ after His resurrection, showing also that He is now the subjective Savior in His believers. So, this gospel is deeper and more subjective.]
D. The central thought: [Romans explains how the individual Christ can become the corporate Christ and how all of us who were once sinners and enemies of God can become parts of Christ and form His one Body. The book of Romans offers us a full definition of this, unfolding both the Christian life and the church life in detail.]
E. The general sketch: [The major structures of the book of Romans are three—salvation, life, and building. The first major structure of Romans is salvation, revealed in 1:1—5:11 and 9:1—11:31. Salvation includes propitiation, redemption, justification, reconciliation, selection, and predestination.] [Salvation is for the life unfolded in 5:12—8:39.] [In the last part of Romans, 12:1—16:27, we have the building, the Body with all of its expressions in the local churches. Salvation is for life, and life is for building.]
F. The sections: 1) introduction—the gospel of God (1:1-17), 2) condemnation (1:18—3:20), 3) justification (3:21—5:11), 4) sanctification (5:12—8:13), 5) glorification (8:14-39), 6) selection (9:1—11:36), 7) transformation (12:1—15:13), and 8) conclusion—the consummation of the gospel (15:14—16:27).
A. The writer(s), the place, and the time: This book was written by the apostle Paul (1:1; 9:1-2) about A.D. 59. He had been sent out as the apostle to the Gentiles fourteen years before he wrote it (Acts 13:1-4, 8), and he had been called eleven years before that (Acts 9:3-6, 15-16). He wrote it in Ephesus after he had been there for three years (16:8; Acts 20:31). The recipients were the saints—the church in Corinth, with all those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place (1:2).
B. The subject: Christ and His cross, the unique solution to all problems in the church.
C. The background: First Corinthians [was written because of the confusion and divisiveness in the church at Corinth. If we did not have the book of 1 Corinthians, we would not know how Christ could be our enjoyment in all kinds of situations. This book describes the enjoyment of Christ in a way not found elsewhere in the New Testament. We should thank the Lord for the confusion in Corinth that gave rise to this Epistle.]
D. The central thought: [As Paul was writing this Epistle, he was burdened to guide the distracted, philosophical Christians in Corinth back to Christ. These believers had been distracted by their wisdom, philosophy, and culture. Thus, Paul’s spirit was burdened to bring them back to the very Christ whom he had testified to them. This burden in Paul’s spirit is especially evident in the first two chapters of this book.]
E. The general sketch: [This book unveils to us that the very Christ, who is the portion of all believers, and into whose fellowship we all have been called, is all-inclusive. He is God’s power and God’s wisdom as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption to us (1:24, 30). He is our glory for our glorification (2:7; Rom. 8:30), hence, the Lord of glory (2:8). He is the depths (deep things) of God (2:10). He is the unique foundation of God’s building (3:11). He is our Passover (5:7), the unleavened bread (5:8), the spiritual food, the spiritual drink, and the spiritual rock (10:3-4). He is the Head (11:3) and the Body (12:12). He is the firstfruit (15:20, 23), the second Man (15:47), and the last Adam (15:45); and as such He became the life-giving Spirit (15:45). This all-inclusive One, with the riches of at least nineteen items, God has given to us as our portion for our enjoyment. We should concentrate on Him, not on any persons, things, and matters other than Him. We should focus on Him as our unique center appointed by God, that all the problems among the believers may be solved.]
F. The sections: 1) introduction—the initial gifts and the participation in Christ (1:1-9), 2) dealing with divisions (1:10—4:21), 3) dealing with an evil brother (5:1-13), 4) dealing with lawsuits among the believers (6:1-11), 5) dealing with the abuse of freedom (6:12-20), 6) dealing with marriage life (7:1-40), 7) dealing with the eating of food sacrificed to idols (8:1—11:1), 8) dealing with head covering (11:2-16), 9) dealing with the Lord’s Supper (11:17-34), 10) dealing with the gifts (12:1—14:40), 11) dealing with the matter of resurrection (15:1-58), 12) dealing with the collection of the gift (16:1-9), and 13) conclusion (16:10-24).