Lessons #29 and 30
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = God’s Word, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New American Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ HCSB = Holman Christian Standard Bible +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
+ 4. Text is based on 1984 edition of the NIV +
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Gospel reveals God’s righteousness (Rom 1:16-17)
16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
This section of Romans 1:16-17, as we stated in our last study, is the third subsection of Apostle Paul’s introduction of his epistle to the Romans that is also his introduction of the theme of the epistle which is God’s righteousness revealed through the gospel. We also indicated that the apostle provided two characterizations of the gospel message that indicates its message is superior to any other message advocated by religious groups. The first characterization of the gospel of Jesus Christ is as God’s power to bring about salvation to those who believe in Jesus Christ given in verse 16. The second given in verse 17 is that the gospel reveals God’s righteousness that can be obtained by faith in Jesus Christ. These characterizations of the gospel led the apostle to state his attitude towards the gospel. Thus, we indicated that the central truth the apostle communicated in the passage before us is that the Gospel reveals God’s righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ that leads to salvation and so Paul is not ashamed to preach it. From this central truth, we derived a message we believe the Holy Spirit wants to convey to us which is this: You should never be ashamed to give the gospel to people because it is a message that tells of how to appropriate God’s righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ leading to salvation. Consequently, we considered the gospel the apostle preached and stated that it is because of the apostle’s experience with preaching the gospel in different places that caused him to assert that he was not ashamed of preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. We ended with the question as to why the apostle is not ashamed of the gospel as he stated in Romans 1:16 I am not ashamed of the gospel. It is with the answer the apostle gave that we begin our study this morning.
There are two reasons the apostle provided for not being ashamed of the gospel message. The first is provided in verse 16 and the second is in verse 17. We are certain that the apostle provided the first reason for not being ashamed of the gospel because the next clause of Romans 1:16 begins with the word because or for in many of our English versions. It does not matter whether the word “because” or “for” is used to begin the next clause of verse 16 that we will get to shortly since either meaning conveys the sense of reason for something. You see, the word “because” is translated from a Greek conjunction (gar) that has several usages. For example, it can be used as a marker of inference with the meaning “so, then, by all means” or it can be used as a marker of explanation with the meaning “for, you see.” In our verse, it is used as a marker of reason so it may be translated “for” or “because.” This means that what the apostle wrote next provides the first reason he was not ashamed to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The apostle’s first reason for not being ashamed to preach the gospel is that it is the means through which God’s power to bring salvation is revealed or demonstrated as in the clause of Romans 1:16 it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.
The word “power” is translated from a Greek word (dynamis) from which our English word “dynamite” is derived; it basically means “power.” The word may refer to special enablement or strength that the Lord Jesus promised the disciples would receive to help them be His witnesses as we read in Acts 1:8:
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
The word can refer to the power that works wonders as the power associated with Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry, as the Apostle Peter stated in Acts 10:38:
how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.
Power may be understood in a general way of the potential for functioning in some way. It is in this way that the word is used to describe the gospel message although it is described as “the message of the cross” in 1 Corinthians 1:18:
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
When the Greek word is used in the plural, the word predominantly means “miracles” as that done by God through Apostle Paul as stated in Acts 19:11:
God did extraordinary miracles through Paul,
In our passage of Romans 1:16, our word has the meaning of “power” in the sense of “potential for functioning in some way.”
A question arises as how we should understand the relationship of the word “power” to “God” in the phrase of Romans 1:16 the power of God. This is because the Greek phrase is subject to several possible interpretations. For example, the phrase power of God may be understood as power that characterizes God or power that belongs to God or power from God. It is probably the case that the Holy Spirit intended for us to understand the phrase as “divine power” or “divine capability.” We mean that the phrase should be understood as referring to “divine power” or “divine capability” that is demonstrated in accomplishing what the apostle said. In other words, the gospel is the means of revealing or showing divine power that accomplishes salvation since we have the sentence of Romans 1:16 it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. The declaration of the apostle in this sentence is similar to what he wrote to the Corinthians regarding the message of the cross, that is, the gospel in the passage we cited previously, that is, 1 Corinthians 1:18:
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Divine power as it relates to salvation is part of the gospel message in that the gospel conveys God’s power in the resurrection of Jesus Christ as we may gather from Ephesians 1:19–20:
19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20 which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms.
Anyway, when the apostle described the gospel as the power of God, he meant that gospel message is the means of revealing or showing divine power that accomplishes salvation.
The revealing or demonstration of divine power through the gospel has a purpose or results in something that is stated in the clause of Romans 1:16 for the salvation of everyone who believes. The word “for” this time is translated from a Greek preposition (eis) that may mean “to.” However, it may be used as a marker of goals so that in our verse it can be taken as indicating purpose or result. The divine power demonstrated through the gospel has a purpose or results in salvation.
Salvation in view is clearly that of eternal salvation. You see, the word “salvation” is translated from a Greek word (sōtēria) that is used both for physical and spiritual deliverances. Apostle Paul used it to describe to the Philippians his deliverance from death or physical danger as recorded in Philippians 1:19:
for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.
The word is used in our passage of Romans 1:16 in a spiritual sense with the meaning “salvation,” that is, the state of being delivered from sin and the eternal punishment due to sin as a result of faith in Christ. Hence, the gospel is the means by which divine power is demonstrated or revealed as a way to escape eternal suffering. It is because the gospel is the means through which God demonstrates His capability to keep anyone from eternal suffering and because it is an indispensable means of demonstrating divine power as it pertains to salvation that the apostle describes the gospel as “gospel of your salvation” as he wrote the Ephesians in Ephesians 1:13:
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.
It is true that the gospel is the means of demonstrating divine power or capability as it pertains to salvation, but this salvation is not for everyone but a select group described in the clause of Romans 1:16 everyone who believes.
The word “everyone” is a reference to the elect. How? You may ask since the word “elect” does not appear in the clause. This is because of the word “believes” that is translated from a Greek word (pisteuō) that its predominant meaning in the Greek NT is “to believe”, that is, “to think something to be true” as Apostle Paul used it to describe what he thought about the report of division in the church of Corinth that he received as we read in 1 Corinthians 11:18:
In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it.
The Greek word may also mean “to trust”, with the implication of total commitment to the one who is trusted, as it is used in Apostle Paul’s instruction through Titus regarding the conduct of those who have trusted God in Titus 3:8:
This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.
The word may have the sense of “putting something to the care of another,” that is, “to entrust” as Apostle Paul used it to indicate that the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles is a task given to him, as we read in Galatians 2:7:
On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as Peter had been to the Jews.
In our passage of Romans 1:16, the word has the sense of “to believe” or “to trust,” that is, “to trust in Jesus Christ as presented in the gospel message.”
Interestingly, the apostle used a present participle in the Greek. This is to convey that the kind of person that is the recipient of salvation is that individual that continually believes. In effect, the NT writers never conceive of a person who believes and then sometimes stops believing as one that has salvation. We make this observation because there are those who are eager to teach on the security of the salvation of believers that go overboard by saying such thing as “even if a person has once believed stops believing that person is still saved.” Such a statement is not supported by the use of the present tense in the Greek when it comes to the word “believe.” The NT writers conceive of the one saved as one that continually believes.
In any event, it is our assertion that only an elect of God that will believe in Christ. In other words, no one of the person’s accord decides to believe so as to be saved despite what some teach or claim. We are saying that it is God’s work on an individual who is an elect of God that causes the person to believe in Jesus Christ for eternal salvation. For sure, there are those who say they chose to believe, that is impossible. God acts on the elect, so the individual believes. The Lord Jesus stated this truth in John 6:44:
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.
The word “draws” is translated from a Greek word (helkō) that may mean to move an object from one location to another by dragging the object by force with the implication that the object moved cannot propel itself. In the case of a person, it implies that the individual is unwilling to do so voluntarily and so has to be compelled to move. When it comes to believing in Christ, the implication is that a person is unwilling to believe until God exerts a controlling influence on that individual, so the individual then believes. This makes sense since a spiritually dead person is incapable of anything that is spiritual or incapable of initiating anything spiritual that will change the person’s eternal destiny. Anyway, the idea that God must act on a person to believe is also conveyed by the Lord Jesus by what He taught that is recorded in John 6:65:
He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.”
The word “enabled” of the NIV is translated from a Greek word (didōmi) with the basic meaning of “to give” but our English words used such words as “allow” or “grant” to translate our Greek word here in John 6:65. For example, the clause unless the Father has enabled him of the NIV is translated unless it has been granted to him by the Father in some of our English versions. Regardless of the translation, the clause means that God acts in a person in such a way that the person believes. He prompts an elect to believe. Hence, it should be clear that only God causes a person to believe. However, we maintain that only an elect will believe. This truth is implied in what the Holy Spirit caused Luke to state about some Gentiles in Acts 13:48:
When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.
Those who believed as stated in this verse are described as all who were appointed for eternal life. These individuals are the elect that Apostle Paul declared elsewhere that it is because of them that he suffers to preach the gospel so that such individual would be saved as stated in 2 Timothy 2:10:
Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.
This passage indicates that election in and of itself is not salvation. The elect must still believe in other to be saved as Apostle Paul also implied in his thanksgiving to God for the salvation of the Thessalonians in 2 Thessalonians 2:13–14:
13 But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. 14 He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The point we are emphasizing is that when Apostle Paul wrote the clause of Romans 1:16 for the salvation of everyone who believes the word “everyone” refers to the elect of God since only an elect of God would eventually believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as God acts on such a person. It is no wonder the apostle indicates that faith that leads to salvation is a gift of God in Ephesians 2:8:
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—
Everything about salvation including the exercise of faith in Jesus Christ is a gift of God. Therefore, no one should think otherwise.
Be that as it may, as we have stated, the apostle’s first reason for not being ashamed to preach the gospel is that it is the means through which God’s power to bring salvation is revealed or demonstrated as in the clause of Romans 1:16 it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. This salvation we have argued is for the elect who eventually believes. However, the apostle goes on to elaborate on the order in God’s plan that salvation is brought to the elect. He indicates that the Jews had the first opportunity to receive salvation through faith in Jesus Christ as in the phrase of Romans 1:16 first for the Jew.
The word “first” is translated from a Greek word (prōton) with two general meanings. The first pertains to being first in a sequence, inclusive of time, set (number), or space. When used of time it may mean “first” as an adjective as Apostle Paul used it in his acknowledgment of the participation of the Philippians in his ministry of preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ as stated in Philippians 1:5:
because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.
As an adverb, the word in this first general usage may mean “after” as Apostle Paul used it to inform believers in Rome of his intention to visit them on his proposed journey to Spain as we read in Romans 15:24:
I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to visit you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while.
The second general meaning of the Greek word pertains to prominence. So, it may mean “most important” as in the question of one of the teachers of the law directed to Jesus Christ regarding the most important of all the commandments as we read in Mark 12:28:
One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
The word may be used as an adverb of degree with the meaning “in the first place, above all” as Apostle Peter used it as he described how we got our Scripture in 2 Peter 1:20:
Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation.
In our passage of Romans 1:16, the word is used with the meaning “in the first place” to convey a sense of degree of importance. Hence, in the first place, those who had the first opportunity for salvation are described as Jews in the phrase of Romans 1:16 first for the Jew.
People have problem understanding who a Jew is and so we have examined this topic in detail in the past but for completeness of our study I am going to review what we said about the word. The word “Jew” is translated from a Greek word (Ioudaios) translated “Jews” in our passage although strictly means “persons belonging to Judea”, that is, a “Judean” but it has been used in different ways depending on the period of history of Israel that is in view. Prior to exile, the term “Jews” was used to describe Judeans as we can gather from some passages. The term was used to describe Judeans in 2 Kings 16:6:
At that time, Rezin king of Aram recovered Elath for Aram by driving out the men of Judah. Edomites then moved into Elath and have lived there to this day.
The phrase the men of Judah is the way the translators of the NIV translated a Hebrew word (yehûḏî) that means “Judean, Jew.” Prophet Jeremiah used the term in the same sense of Judeans in Jeremiah 32:12:
and I gave this deed to Baruch son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel and of the witnesses who had signed the deed and of all the Jews sitting in the courtyard of the guard.
He also used it to describe all Hebrews prior to the exile, as recorded in Jeremiah 34:9:
Everyone was to free his Hebrew slaves, both male and female; no one was to hold a fellow Jew in bondage.
This usage of the term to describe all Hebrews was applicable in the time of exile. For example, Mordecai, from the tribe of Benjamin, was described as a Jew in Esther 2:5:
Now there was in the citadel of Susa a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, named Mordecai son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish,
Of course, it will seem that the term was widely used to describe the other Ten tribes who were scattered all over the vast kingdom of King Xerxes since the attempt to exterminate the Jews was one that was widespread throughout the kingdom of Xerxes. During the period of exile, the term was applied to some Gentiles who allied with the Jews, as implied in Esther 8:17:
In every province and in every city, wherever the edict of the king went, there was joy and gladness among the Jews, with feasting and celebrating. And many people of other nationalities became Jews because fear of the Jews had seized them.
The people of other nationalities became Jews in the general sense of one who identifies with beliefs, rites, and customs of Mosaic tradition. Consequently, after the exile, the term “Jews” was applied not only to those who are from the Southern Kingdom of Israel but to Gentiles who were adherents to the religion of the Judeans.
In the NT time, the term “Jews” was used to describe Judeans as those who adhered to Mosaic tradition. Of course, it is not a term that these Judeans used to describe themselves since they preferred to use the term “Israel”. That Judeans did not generally use the term to address themselves, but the term “Israel” may be seen by comparing the descriptions of Jesus during His crucifixion. On the one hand, the Jews referred to Him as the “King of Israel” in Mark 15:31–32:
31 In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! 32 Let this Christ, this King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
On the other hand, the Roman soldiers referred to Him as “King of the Jews” in Mark 15:17–18:
17 They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. 18 And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!”
That others used the term to refer to Judeans as those who adhere to Mosaic tradition is evident in its use by the Samaritan woman that Jesus spoke with, as recorded in the fourth chapter of John, specifically, John 4:9:
The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
Jews used the term to describe themselves when it is intended to differentiate themselves from Gentiles. Thus, Peter used that term when he preached in Cornelius’ house, as recorded in Acts 10:28:
He said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean.
It is in the same sense that Apostle Paul used it in his rebuke of Peter, as we read in Galatians 2:14:
When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?
Apostle Paul in this usage indicates that a Jew is one who by birth is an Israelite and so practices Mosaic tradition. But that is not all, he also implied that a true Jew is not one who is merely a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as evident in circumcision but one that is regenerated, as that is what we can gather from Romans 2:28–29:
28 A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. 29 No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise is not from men, but from God.
In any case, the term “Jew” refers originally to those who are Judeans, but it extended to those who are Hebrew people. Of course, today Hebrew people are found in every nation in the world although some of them do not even know they are Hebrews. However, current research to locate the lost tribes of Israel have led to a few discoveries. The tribe of Gad has been traced to the Ibos in Nigeria, the Yinglings of Sweden, among others. The tribe of Dan to Sudan, some Levites in Lemba tribe of Ethiopia. Other Hebrew people have been found in other parts of the world. This should not surprise anyone because of what Prophet Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 11:11:
In that day the LORD will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the sea.
By the way, proper identification of the Jews/Hebrews is important because of the promise of the Lord to Abraham in Genesis 12:3:
I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
Many Christians in this country, for example, support present Israel because of this promise but the present Israel consists primarily of a tiny fraction of the Hebrew people. Thus, for consistency they ought to know who the rest are, to avoid bringing curse on them through opposing other Hebrew people in other parts of the world or not coming to their defense.
Be that as it may, the question of who a Jew is, should be understood primarily as Apostle Paul would have used the term in the epistle we are considering. You see, in modern time, the word is used in different ways because of the existence of modern state of Israel. A person is accepted as a Jew by Orthodox Judaism if the person has been born to a Jewish mother and who, according to them, has not apostatized in the sense of being a Christian or converted to any religion. Others would include a Jew as one who has a Jewish father or who has converted to Judaism. Of course, Jewish leaders prefer the term “Israel” to describe the Hebrew people. Nonetheless, the term “Jew” may refer to a Hebrew person that practices Mosaic tradition. We say this because when Apostle Paul identified himself as a Jew, he meant one who was born a Hebrew that practiced the Mosaic tradition. He referred himself as a Jew during his address to a Jewish audience in Jerusalem as narrated in Acts 22:3:
“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. Under Gamaliel I was thoroughly trained in the law of our fathers and was just as zealous for God as any of you are today.
Here he associated being a Jew to the law, but he also associated being a Jew as that which one is born, as in Galatians 2:15:
“We who are Jews by birth and not ‘Gentile sinners’
To him, it is probably inconceivable that one would be a Jew without being a Hebrew, as we can gather from his description of himself as a Hebrew in Philippians 3:5:
circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee;
The point is while the term “Jew” may be used to include those who are not born as Jews but have converted to Judaism, that is not what the apostle would have had in mind in the phrase of Romans 1:16 first for the Jew. He would mean naturally born Hebrews who are considered different from Gentiles as implied in the phrase of Romans 1:16 then for the Gentile that we will get to at the appropriate time.
Anyway, we formally ask the question: What does the apostle mean in the use of the phrase of Romans 1:16 first for the Jew? To begin with, we should recognize that the phrase is one the apostle used to acknowledge the privileged position of Israel in God’s plan. The apostle discoursed the privileged position of Israel later in this epistle, specifically in the third chapter. That aside, the phrase first for the Jew as we have stated is the apostle’s way of recognizing the privileged position of Israel that Yahweh communicated to Israel through Moses and through the prophets as conveyed, for example, through Prophet Amos that Israel’s privileged position means that they would be severely punished because of their sin as stated in Amos 3:2:
“You only have I chosen of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your sins.”
What the prophet recorded here is in keeping with the principle that privileged position calls for greater responsibility as the Lord Jesus communicated as recorded in Luke 12:47–48:
47 “That servant who knows his master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. 48 But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
So, we get the point that privileged position puts greater responsibility on the recipient of the privilege. In any event, we contend that the phrase of Romans 1:16 first for the Jew is one that the Apostle Paul used to recognize the privileged position of Israel in God’s plan. He used the phrase two other times in this epistle. He used it to convey that God’s judgment on sinful conduct would be directed to Israel first as we read in Romans 2:9:
There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile;
Likewise, God’s blessing for living according to His word would be first directed to Israel as stated in Romans 2:10:
but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
Be that as it may, in the context of Romans 1:16, the phrase first for the Jew conveys that Israel was the first recipient of the gospel message that leads to salvation, or they are the first beneficiaries of salvation that comes through the preaching of the gospel. We say this because the Greek word translated for the Jew in the 1984 edition of the NIV may also be translated to the Jew as in the 2011 edition of the NIV and majority of our English versions. Both interpretations are justified because the Greek used what is known as the dative case which in our verse is to be understood as referring to the person to which something is given or for whom something is done. Both understandings are applicable here although the apostle primarily had in mind the sense of the one to whom something is given. In other words, Israel or the Jews are the first to receive the gospel message and consequently, they were the first to receive salvation. The first declaration of the gospel message on the day of Pentecost by Apostle Peter was directed primarily to Jews from all over the world who were in Jerusalem on that day. Later, Apostle Peter reminded the Jews that they were the first beneficiaries of Jesus’ coming into the world to die for our sins as well as those to whom His resurrection was confirmed as stated in Acts 3:26:
When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”
It is because the Jews were the first recipients of the gospel message and resultant salvation that Apostle Paul while preaching in Pisidian Antioch reminded the Jews that the gospel message was first sent to them as recorded in Acts 13:26:
“Brothers, children of Abraham, and you God-fearing Gentiles, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent.
Apostle Paul certainly recognized the privileged position of Israel that in his missionary journeys, he would first reach out to the Jews before going to the Gentiles. This was certainly what happened shortly after his conversion for we are informed that after he was saved, he shortly began to preach Christ in the synagogue in Damascus as we read in Acts 9:19–22:
19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength. Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. 20 At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. 21 All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” 22 Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.
That it was Paul’s pattern to preach the gospel first to the Jews before going to Gentiles is summarized during his defense of his missionary activities before King Agripa as narrated for us in Acts 26:20:
First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.
Anyhow, when the apostle wrote the phrase of Romans 1:16 first for the Jew he meant that the Jews were in a privileged position of being the first to receive the gospel message and the resultant salvation.
The fact that the Jews were the first to receive the gospel message meant also they were the first group responsible for spreading the gospel message. The Lord Jesus communicated this truth in His interaction with the Samaritan woman recorded in the fourth chapter of the gospel of John, specifically in John 4:22:
You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.
The clause for salvation is from the Jews indicates that the Jews are responsible for proclaiming the message that leads to salvation since only God is the source of salvation. Thus, the Lord Jesus instructed His disciples to begin declaring the message of salvation once they received the empowerment of the Holy Spirit as described in a passage we cited previously, that is, Acts 1:8:
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
It is not, therefore, surprising that the first person to preach the gospel message was Apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost.
In any case, as far the Scripture is concerned, humans are divided into two categories of ethnicity as it relates to God’s plan: the Hebrews and the non-Hebrews or Jews and Gentiles. Consequently, following the Jews as the first recipients of the gospel message, the next that received the message of the gospel so as to receive salvation are the non-Hebrews or non-Jews described in the last phrase of Romans 1:16 then for the Gentile.
The word “Gentile” is translated from a Greek word (Hellēn) that may refer to persons who are ethnically Greeks and those who are not but have been influenced by Greek education or culture so in a sense it could refer to those who are civilized or educated in some measure as that is the way Apostle Paul used it in describing those who do not understand the message of the cross because they are preoccupied with wisdom as he recorded in 1 Corinthians 1:22:
Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom,
The Greek word translated “Greek” may mean in a broader sense all persons who came under the influence of Greek, as distinguished from Israel’s culture so that the word may even mean “Gentile.” It is in this sense that the word is used in Acts 14:1:
At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Gentiles believed.
The phrase Jews and Gentiles is literally Jews and Greeks. In our passage of Romans 1:16, the word is used in the sense of a non-Jewish or Hebrew persons and so the meaning “Gentile.” Hence, the second group to receive the gospel message and eventual salvation is simply described as Gentiles as in our passage then for the Gentile. In any event, we still need to consider verse 17 but we are out of time and so we will get to it in our next study. Nonetheless, let me remind you of the message we are expounding which is You should never be ashamed to give the gospel because it is a message that tells of how to appropriate God’s righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ leading to salvation.
07/12/24