1 1Greetings from Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus. God chose me to be an apostlea and gave me the work of telling his Good Newsb. 2God promised long ago through his prophetsc in the Holy Scripturesd to give this Good News to his people. 3-4The Good News is about God's Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. As a human, he was born from the family of Davide, but through the Holy Spiritf he was shown to be God's powerful Son when he was raised from death. 5Through Christ, God gave me the special work of an apostle - to lead people of all nations to believe and obey him. I do all this to honor Christ. 6You are some of those who have been chosen to belong to Jesus Christ. 7This letter is to all of you in Rome. God loves you, and he has chosen you to be his holy peopleg. Graceh and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 13Brothers and sisters, I want you to know that I have planned many times to come to you, but something always happens to change my plans. I would like to see the same good result among you that I have had from my work among the other non-Jewish people. 14I must serve all people - those who share in Greek culture and those who are less civilizedi, the educated as well as the ignorant. 15That is why I want so much to tell the Good News to you there in Rome. 16I am proud of the Good News, because it is the power God uses to save everyone who believes - to save the Jews first, and now to save those who are not Jews. 17The Good News shows how God makes people right with himself. God's way of making people right begins and ends with faith. As the Scripturesd say, "The one who is right with God by faith will live forever."j 20There are things about God that people cannot see - his eternal power and all that makes him God. But since the beginning of the world, those things have been easy for people to understand. They are made clear in what God has made. So people have no excuse for the evil they do. 21People knew God, but they did not honor him as God, and they did not thank him. Their ideas were all useless. There was not one good thought left in their foolish minds. 22They said they were wise, but they became fools. 23Instead of honoring the divine greatnessk of God, who lives forever, they traded it for the worship of idols - things made to look like humans, who get sick and die, or like birds, animals, and snakes. 24People wanted only to do evil. So God left them and let them go their sinful way. And so they became completely immoral and used their bodies in shameful ways with each other. 25They traded the truth of God for a lie. They bowed down and worshiped the things God made instead of worshiping the God who made those things. He is the one who should be praised forever. Amenl. 26Because people did those things, God left them and let them do the shameful things they wanted to do. Women stopped having natural sex with men and started having sex with other women. 27In the same way, men stopped having natural sex with women and began wanting each other all the time. Men did shameful things with other men, and in their bodies they received the punishment for those wrongs. 28People did not think it was important to have a true knowledge of God. So God left them and allowed them to have their own worthless thinking. And so they do what they should not do. 29They are filled with every kind of sin, evil, greed, and hatred. They are full of jealousy, murder, fighting, lying, and thinking the worst things about each other. They gossip 30and say evil things about each other. They hate God. They are rude, proud, and brag about themselves. They invent ways of doing evil. They don't obey their parents, 31they are foolish, they don't keep their promises, and they show no kindness or mercy to others. 32They know God's law says that anyone who lives like that should die. But they not only continue to do these things themselves, but they also encourage others who do them. aapostle A follower of Jesus chosen to represent him in a special way. During his earthly ministry, Jesus named twelve men as apostles. They had the specific responsibility and authority to represent him and proclaim his message throughout the world. Later, he appeared to Paul and gave him a similar commission, especially to non-Jewish people. Barnabas, Paul’s missionary companion, and James, the brother of Jesus, are also called apostles, as well as several others in the New Testament. Some of these occurrences of the word, however, have the more general sense of “messenger” or “representative.” bGood News In the Gospels this is usually the news about the coming of God’s kingdom (see above) or its representative Jesus the Messiah. In other places it is, more specifically, the news or message of God’s grace - that he has made a way through Jesus Christ for people to be made right with him and enjoy his blessings now and forever. cprophet A person who speaks a message from God. Many of the books in the Old Testament are messages spoken or written by “the prophets,” who were some of those God chose to speak for him. God often used dreams or visions to tell or show his prophets what they should say. dScripture Part of the Scriptures or “Holy Writings” - the Old Testament. eDavid Israel’s greatest king, who ruled about 1000 years before Christ. Besides being a great military and political leader, he was a deeply spiritual man and a gifted musician, who wrote many of the Psalms. He made plans and arrangements for the building of the first Temple in Jerusalem (“the city of David”), which was actually completed by his son Solomon. The Scriptures said that a descendant of David would be God’s chosen messiah (king), who would establish an eternal kingdom. For that reason, Jesus is sometimes called “the Son of David.” f1:3-4 Holy Spirit Literally, “spirit of holiness.” gholy people Literally, “saints” or “holy ones,” a term used in the New Testament to describe followers of Jesus Christ as God’s special people. They are holy because they have been made pure through Christ and belong only to God. See “holy.” hgrace The love and kindness that God shows in his complete willingness to give people favors he does not owe them and blessings they don’t deserve. i1:14 those who share … civilized Literally, “Greeks and barbarians.” See “Greek” in the Word List. j1:17 Quote from Hab. 2:4. kdivine greatness Literally, “glory,” a word that refers to the special qualities of God. See “glory.” lAmen A Hebrew word meaning “That’s right,” “True,” or “Yes.” It is used to express strong agreement with what has been said. |