A Brief Introduction to Romans
Romans is a letter written by Paul to the church in Rome around A.D. 57. At this time, the church there consisted of both Jews and Gentiles, though most likely the majority were Gentiles. Emperor Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome in A.D. 49 because of strife over “Christos” or “Christ.” Not only do we know this from the Roman historian Suetonius, but Acts 18:1-2 verifies at least the fact of the expulsion (though not the ‘why’ behind it).
During this time the Gentile church grew larger, but eventually the Jews started to trickle back in, especially starting in A.D. 54 when Nero took the throne and allowed them to officially return. As we can glean from certain chapters in Romans, there would have been tensions between Jewish Christians who observed the law (If you were Jewish, you often didn’t stop observing your laws, customs and traditions) and Gentile Christians who didn’t observe the law of Moses. This would have made eating together, for example, a big issue. We actually see this tension play out in Acts 15. Paul wrote this letter to unite the church under the unified gospel message; what the gospel means for Israel, what it means for Gentiles, and how the gospel speaks to the issues they were facing.
It’s essentially a letter observing different sides or facets of the diamond that is the gospel. It deals with the predicament all of humanity finds itself in: that is, as Isaiah 59:2 says; our sins have separated us from God. Not only that but any good works we do will not help rectify this situation. They are like filthy rags before God (Isaiah 64:6). God will therefore judge humanity and render to each person what they deserve (righteous wrath against wickedness). The good news is that Christ fulfilled God’s righteous standard on our behalf and died as a sacrifice for our sins so that any who place their faith in Christ will not get the punishment they deserve, but rather restored fellowship with the God who made them and eternal life. Paul essentially wants the church there to be on the same page on how justification before God works and how to live in service to Christ and in harmony with each other.