Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it – the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.

For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

(Rom 1.1-6, 16&17:3.21-26)

I firmly believe that one of the most useful things which any church leadership can do for their flock is to teach them not to be afraid to read and learn from every part of the bible. That may sound a bit obvious, but not every congregation of believers has regular teaching from books of prophecy, Old Testament history or law, the wisdom books like Ecclesiastes – and many will not know much beyond the gospels in the New Testament! This can leave us fearful of the reputation of a book which we have never studied – we hear it described as “challenging” and decide to skip it.. thereby missing out on things which God has designed and provided for our blessing as the Spirit works through the word in our minds and hearts.

I have much to be thankful for when I recall the congregations in which I grew up, not least the commitment of the ministers in each one to the systematic exposition of the bible, a deliberate investing of teaching time in every kind of biblical writing, which has set me free from fear arising from ignorance. In particular at this time, I am grateful to James Philip, under whose ministry in Edinburgh I was raised, and who had a great passion for the letter of Paul to the Romans – he preached through it several times over the course of his decades-long ministry. I am so thankful that I can approach a current bible study in Romans with confidence, and anticipation, because I recall Mr Philip’s deep enthusiasm for it as treasure worth mining!

I do not intend – nor am I equipped – to embark on a succinct and helpful summary of that immense, deep, closely reasoned and forensically accurate argument which Paul presents in his letter, I only want to encourage others to get hold of a decent commentary, and start reading and mining its depths for themselves! Yes, Paul can get very intense, and his paragraphs are breathless in their flow of thought, but I love that! I get the feeling of being in the room with the great apostle, hearing the joy and thrill in his voice as he pours out the truth which has transformed his life, and which he sees transforming lives and communities everywhere he goes. Paul, in his former life a highly trained Pharisee, was God’s perfect instrument for this articulate and detailed exposition of the problem of human sin, the place of the law and the old covenant, the promise of salvation, and the glorious reality which is God’s gift of grace – the story of the rescue which humanity so desperately needs, and which must come from the One against whom we have so completely and consistently rebelled.

I know that I could go on revisiting this great text for years and never fully master its arguments and realise the breadth and depth which Paul is revealing to us. And how wonderful is that?! What a treasure to have with us, what satisfying rations for the journey of faith we find in this book..

Heavenly Father, I praise and worship you today for the great and glorious gospel which is revealed to us in Jesus; I rejoice to know myself the object of your grace and to rest by faith in the complete saving work of your appointed sacrificial lamb.

Let the studying of your word nourish and strengthen the faith which you have gifted to me; let me feast on the rich and strong meats which are in Paul’s letter to the Roman church, and be able to say with him, that I am not ashamed of the gospel, but rather exult in it, and exalt the One who revealed and delivered it! In His Name and for His glory I pray, Amen!