A Commentary on Romans with Old Testament Allusions

Book excerpt: Romans is almost universally celebrated to be one of the greatest Christian writings ever penned. It is the most detailed explanation of the gospel and the relationship between faith and righteousness in the New Testament. Paul accomplishes this by relying heavily on Old Testament passages that provided a foundation for many of the arguments he used to enlighten the Israelites of God’s plan to include the Gentiles as his people along with them. It takes one on a journey to explore how that gospel works to bring man to a place of salvation through obedience by baptism into Christ (Gal 3:27). Its impact on the lives of many noted religious leaders throughout history during the Protestant Reformation and Restoration Movements cannot be underestimated. Such leaders as Augustine, John Chrysostom, John and Charles Wesley, Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Thomas and Alexander Campbell have all expressed the profound impact Romans had on their lives. Luther sparked the greatest religious revival at the time, the Protestant Reformation at Wittenberg in 1517 when he nailed 95 theses to the door of Castle Church which he said was inspired by his reading of the book of Romans. The Campbells began the Restoration Movement during the early 19th century around the time of the “Great Awakening” in the early frontier days, with a call of restoring the pure gospel that Paul explained in the book of Romans. The overarching theme throughout its 16 chapters is to reveal God’s sovereign plan of justification and sanctification to both Jew and Gentile in the church through the gospel where the righteousness of God is revealed. (Romans 1:17) It is God’s blueprint as to how we obtain and maintain faith and what it means to live a righteous life before God.