romans 1:2

Introduction to Romans
Rom 1:2
The Gospel is Good News, but it is Not New—“…which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures…”,

1. He Promised

a. The Character of the One Promising
(1) “God, who cannot lie…” Tit 1:2
(2) Heb 10:23 "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful."
(3) Rom 4:17-24
(4) Heb 11:11 "By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised."
(5) 1 Cor 1:9 "God is faithful, by whom you were called…”
(6) Heb 6:18 "that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us."

b. The surety of the Word of the One Who Promised

Psa 89:34 "My covenant I will not break, Nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips."

Psa 93:5 "Your testimonies are very sure; …”

Psa 111:7 "… All His precepts are sure."

Mat 5:18 ""For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled."

Luke 21:33 ""Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away."

c. The Promises
(1) Protect Abraham’s seed—Gen 12:1-3
(2) Eternal Life, Tit 1:2, 1 John 2:25 "And this is the promise that He has promised us; eternal life."
(3) 2 Pet 1:4 "… exceedingly great and precious promises…”
(4) Heb 8:6-12
(5) Gal 3:1-24

d. The Surety—the Earnest—Eph 1:13-14
(1) What is an Earnest?
(2) It is common in the papyri as earnest money in a purchase for a cow or for a wife (a dowry). In N.T. only here; 5:5; Ephesians 1:14. It is part payment on the total obligation and we use the very expression today, “earnest money.” It is God, says Paul, who has done all this for us and God is Paul’s pledge that he is sincere. He will come to Corinth in due time. This earnest of the Spirit in our hearts is the witness of the Spirit that we are God’s.

2 Cor 1:22 "who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee."
2 Cor 5:5 "Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee."
Eph 1:13-14 "In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory."


2. He Promised Before, Through His Prophets—
a. First—“He promised before,” is one word in the original—it is an aorist, a snapshot
(1) But, the prophets did not happen at a dot in time—they were spread over a long time, many centuries
(2) It is stated this way, because One God Made One Promise (with many parts),, and when He looks back over those long centuries, He sees it all as ONE event—See Heb 1:1-2
b. The Gospel--the culmination of the ministry of the Old Testament Prophets and patriarchs.

c. Examples: Gen 3:15, Gen 12:3, Gen 49:10, Job 19:25, Psa 118:22-26, Isa 53:5, Jer 23:5-6, Dan 7:13-14, Zec 3:8, Zec 9:9

d. These are only examples, there are dozens of scriptures that predict the Messiah, in excruciating detail.
(3) The Time of His Birth
(4) The Place of His Birth—Mic 5:2
(5) The Manner of His Birth—Is 7:13-14
(6) His Forerunner—Mal 4
(7) The Character of His ministry—Is 61:1-2a
(8) The manner of His betrayal—Zech 11:12-13
(9) The Manner of His death—and crucifixion had not even been invented at the time Psalm 22 was written—Ps 22:14-18
(10) His Second coming as well as His first—Is 61:b
(11) The prophets wrote all of this, but they did not understand the things they themselves were writing—1 Pet 1:10 -12

3. In the Holy Scriptures
a. The Scriptures, the Source of all Truth—specifically the Old Testament!
b. The Old Testament scriptures testified of Christ. The apostles preached out of the OT, because they found Christ everywhere in the Old Covenant scriptures.
c. Example #1
(1) The Emmaus Road experience
(2) Jesus revealed Himself to them through the Old Testament Lk 24:25-27
d. The life of Timothy: he had been raised on the OT—2 Tim 3:14-15
e. The preachers of Paul’s day—their main option was to preach Christ from the OT—2 Tim 3:16-17
f. Major doctrines taught in the Old Testament
(1) Monotheism—Dt 6:4
(2) The Purpose of the Human Race—Gen 1:26-31
(3) The Family—Gen 2:18-25
(4) The Fall—Gen 3
(5) Blood sacrifice—Gen 4, 15, 22,etc.
(6) Substitution—Gen 22, many more
(7) The Trinity—Gen 1:2, 26, 11:1-8, Ps 2, Is 48, many more
(8) The first coming of the Messiah—Is 7:14, 9:6, Daniel 7:13-14
(9) The ministry of the Holy Spirit in the New Covenant age—Joel 2:28-29
(10) Justification by Faith—Hab 2:4
(11) The Deity of Christ—Ps 2, Ps 102, many more
(12) The New Covenant—Jer 33
(13) The Second coming of Christ—Zec 14
(14) The Intercession of Christ—Zec 3:1-7
(15) The Covenants of Salvation—Gen 12, 15, 17, 1 Chr. 17:1-14, Luke 1:26-33
(16) The Salvation of the Gentiles—Isa 11:10 "And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, And His resting place shall be glorious."

(17) The Love of God—Deu 6:5 ""You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength."

(18) The duty to love your neighbor: Lev 19:18 "'You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD."

g. Major Doctrines NOT taught in the OT
(1) The Church
(2) Oneness with Gentile believers