Friday, February 28, 2020

The Book of Romans

Content:

  • Introduction
  • Obedience by Faith
  • We should Not be Ashamed of the Gospel
  • God's Wrath Revealed
    • Introduction
    • The Godless
    • The Educated Moralists
    • The Religious Ones
  • Righteousness by Faith
  • The Confidence of Abraham 
  • Jesus Died for Us While We Were Still Sinners
  • Christian Water Baptism
  • Freedom From Sin
  • Life in the Spirit
  • The Sufferings of the Present Age
  • The Confidence in God
  • God's Chosen
  • To All Who Believe
  • The Depth of Riches
  • Living Sacrifices 
  • This World is Not Our Home
  • Disputable Matters
  • Jesus is Our Hope
  • Warning
  • Epilogue
  • The Roman Doxology 

Introduction

The Book of Romans is a systematic presentation of the Christian faith by 
Paul the apostle. It's divided into two main sections:
  • Chapter   1–11: What we believe. Paul deals with the subject of Salvation.
  • Chapter 12–16: How we should live as Christians, see Sanctification.
The main themes are as follows:
Paul described himself as a bondservant of Jesus Christ (Rom 1:1, Tit 1:1, Gal 1:10) (NKJV), called by Jesus to be an apostle. Other Christian followers also described themselves as bondservants of Christ: Timothy (Phil 1:1), James (James 1:1), 
Peter (2 Peter 1:1), Jude (Jude 1:1), Epaphras (Col 4:12) (all verses from NKJV). Christian believers today should consider themselves bondservants of Christ
(Eph 6:5–8, 1 Pet 2:15–17) (NKJV). Even Jesus took the form of a bondservant 
(Phil 2:5–8) (NKJV), see Who is the Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?

Obedience by Faith

The gospel is about the person Jesus (Rom 1:3). Paul speaks of bringing people to obedience by faith (Rom 1:5), see time 4:36–8:10 in September 2024 Bible Q&A.
We have been set free from sin and shouldn't go back to a life of sin (Rom 6:11–14). The obedience we are called to live isn't obedience to instructions or rules from men, it's obedience through faith in Jesus. Sanctification brings us more into the image of Jesus. If we fall into sin, we can pray to Jesus and ask for forgiveness. He forgives us our sin, but we shouldn't allow sin to reign in us so that we obey its evil desires 
(Mat 6:12). Jesus also expects us to forgive those who have wronged us,
see Forgive and You will Be Forgiven. 

The New Testament which describes the New Covenant in the Bible mentions examples of sin that lead to being lost forever, if one doesn't repent:
  • "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." (1 Cor 6:9–10).
  • "Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." (Gal 5:19–23).
  • "Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood." (Rev 22:15). 
  • "Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence Earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the Book of Life,
    he was thrown into the lake of fire    .    " (Rev 20:11–15).
Obedience through faith in Jesus should cause us to choose not to fall for these sins. If we fall, we must repent, and come to Jesus and ask for forgiveness,
see Psalm 51: Coming to God when we fail.

The righteous shall live by faith (Rom 1:17, 3:21–22, Gal 3:11, Hab 2:4b),
see time 43:37–45:04 in Bible Q & A With Pastor Paul and Sue. No one becomes righteous before God by following the Mosaic Laws of the Old Covenant described
in the Old Testament (Gal 3:10–14). But as seen above there are moral laws in the New Covenant that must still be followed, see Jesus and the Law.

We should Not be Ashamed of the Gospel

Believers are supposed to be the salt and light of this culture (Mat 5:13–16). 
We shouldn't be ashamed of the gospel (Mark 8:38, Luke 9:26, Rom 1:16a).
Note that there is forgiveness for this too if you repent, see The Unforgivable Sin.
The gospel is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe (Rom 1:16b).

God's Wrath Revealed

Introduction

The biggest issue that we have to deal with as humans is the coming wrath of God, see God has wrath in God's Attributes. The whole world is condemned for sin.

Paul divides mankind into three categories that provoke God's wrath:
  • The godless
  • The educated moralists
  • The religious ones

The Godless (Rom 1:18–32)

Paul addresses the causes of the ungodly and unrighteous behavior to 
establish our guilt. They provoke God's wrath and show why God's wrath
is justified, and why men are guilty before God.
  • The suppression of the truth despite overwhelming evidence for
    God's existence (Rom 1:18–20, Psalm 19:1 (2 in some translations)).
    When we look at creation, we see the evidence of design and order.
    Order proves intelligence behind it, see What is Information?
  • Worship of the creation instead of the Creator. It means worshiping something other than God. If we don't worship God, we will worship something else. It yielded to shameful lusts (Rom 1:25–27), see
    Homosexuality. Worshiping anything other than the true God is idolatry and leads to a depraved mind (Rom 1:28–32, Heb 13:4).
It's good to know about being in this godless situation, that God in his love has
made a way out of this sinful behavior, see Salvation.

The Educated Moralists (Rom 2:1–11)

The educated moralists believe that they aren't sinners. They are aware of
what is right and wrong and find it easy to judge the ungodly people (Rom 2:1–3), see Do not judge others in The Sermon on the Mount. It's easy for them to criticize
other people. They have a sense of moral superiority, which blinds them to their own shortcomings (Mat 7:1–5, John 8:3–11). God gives us time to repent, because
we are all sinners (Rom 3:23, 2:1–5).

Paul emphasizes the importance of good works (Rom 2:6–11). Good works are
proof of what our lives are about. When you are a child of God, your life will show it
by doing good works. But you aren't saved by good works. Good works are a result of your life being changed, see The Parables of the Talents and the Ten Minas.

The Religious Ones (Rom 2:12–29)

The religious Jews who say they follow the Mosaic Laws of the Old Covenant will be judged by the same Law (Rom 2:12–16). However, it's not possible to keep the Law 
(Rom 3:20). The Law was given to make us aware that we can't keep the Law, 
that we are all sinners (Rom 3:23). We can't be justified by trying to keep the Mosaic Laws of the Old Covenant (Rom 3:28),
see Jesus and the Young Rich Man and The Parable of the Wedding Feast.

In the same way, we as Christians can say that we go to church, are baptized
in water, take communion, read the Bible and know what the word says.
But it's not enough to know the word if we don't obey the word, see
The Parable about the Wise and Foolish Builders. The first obedience we must
do is to put our faith in Jesus Christ and his work on the cross for us.
Technically this isn't work, it's faith in Jesus and what he has done for us.
Good works don't help us avoid God's wrath and judgment unless we are saved.

Religion can't change who we are, our heart. It's more of a challenge to live the Christian life, than to teach the Christian life (Rom 2:21–24), see Sanctification.

Righteousness by Faith

To summarize the wrath of God mentioned above:
  • God's wrath is coming (Rom 1:18).
  • The entire world is condemned as sinful (Rom 3:9).
  • The Law was given to show how sinful we are (Rom 3:20, 28, 5:20a).
  • Good works don't help us avoid God's wrath and judgement (Rom 3:12).
The righteousness from God is:
  • apart from the Law, it has nothing to do with keeping the Law,
  • justified by the grace of God, just as if I had never sinned,
  • through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.
God, in his love for humanity, has given the following way out of this situation:
We become righteous before God through faith in Jesus Christ, if we
believe in him and what he has done for us on the cross (Rom 3:21–24).
We are justified by grace through faith and not by works (Rom 3:27–28).
It's just as if we have never sinned, see The Atonement. God's wrath is consumed by Jesus' death on the cross, for those who believe in him (1 Thess 5:9–10).
The wages of sin is death. Someone has to die. Jesus took the punishment for us.

Because it's by faith, we have nothing to boast about (Rom 3:27–30).

Unfaithfulness among God's people doesn't nullify God's message, what God has said in his word, God's promises (Rom 3:1–6).

The Confidence of Abraham 

"How can a man be righteous before God?" (Job 9:2b (NKJV)). It means being in right standing with God; acceptable to God, approved by God, forgiven by God.
It's not the result of doing good works according to the Mosaic Laws, it's through faith in Jesus. A Christian is someone who has put his faith in Christ and rests on what Jesus did on the cross (Rom 4:5, 24, Luk 5:31–32, 1 Tim 1:15–17).

Abraham believed God the Lord, and it was counted to him as righteousness
(Rom 4:3, 5, Gal 3:6, Gen (1 Mos) 15:4–6). He trusted God. This happened before
he was circumcised (Rom 4:10), see circumcision as a picture in Typology.
It's the same for us believers (Rom 4:16, 23–25). See also Sanctification.
Abraham is the spiritual father of all who believe in Christ,
whether we are Jews or Gentiles, circumcised or uncircumcised, slave or free,
male or female (Rom 4:11–12, Gal 3:7, 28–29). Abraham was fully convinced
that God could do what he had promised to do (Rom 4:21). Abraham knew God.
God is faithful (Deu (5 Mos) 7:9, see God is immutable in God's Attributes.

Jesus Died for Us While We Were Still Sinners

Terms in Rom 5:
  • Justified/Justification: declared righteous/acquitted.
  • Grace: undeserved favor or supernatural help to accomplish something.
  • Glory: praise and honor.
  • Righteous/Righteousness: right-standing before God.
  • Reconciliation: to restore peaceful relations.
God's wrath is his natural response to sin. But because we have been justified by grace through faith, this wrath is taken away from us (Eph 2:8–9). Being justified
by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom 5:1).

 Our suffering can be an advantage, if we give it to Jesus to become more like him. "Suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope." (Rom 5:3–4). God can sometimes rebuke and discipline us to get us on the right track, see the beginning of The Book of James.
Suffering can also create hardness, bitterness, and hopelessness if we don't look up. It depends on what we do with it. If we give our suffering to God, it benefits us and gives us hope (James 1:2–4, Job 23:10, 2 Cor 5:1). If we let God shape us to be more like Jesus.

 Jesus died for us while we were still sinners (Psalm 14:2–3, Rom 5:8). We were saved from God's wrath (Rom 5:9–11) when we received him as our Savior.

 Sin came into the world through Adam, the representative of mankind, and
death came into the world through sin (Rom 5:12, 6:23). Death wasn't a part
of God's original creation. Adam brought death into the world because of his disobedience, but Jesus brought life (Rom 5:13–19). The Law came in to increase the transgression, to make the sin appear truly sinful. Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more (Rom 5:20). However, this doesn't mean that believers should give in to a life of sin in order to increase grace (Rom 6:1–2, 11–16). We shouldn't choose to sin, instead we should choose to follow God (Rom 6:13–14).

God knew that Adam and Eve would fall in the Garden of Eden, see The Fall of Man in The Biblical Creation and the Fall of Man. One reason God allowed it to happen is this: God has received more glory and people have received more blessing through Christ's sacrifice than if this sin had never happened at all. We are better off in Christ than if we had only followed an unfallen Adam. These things came as a result of the cross, see The Crucifixion of Jesus. (2 Cor 4:16–17).

 God will remove death for believers at the rapture, when believers receive new immortal bodies (Isaiah 25:8a, 1 Cor 15:51–56), see The Rapture.

Christian Water Baptism

"Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." (Mark 16:16). This speaks of the importance of believing in Jesus
to be saved, as other verses in the Bible also say: John 3:18, 36, 5:24, 12:44–50, 20:31, Rom 10:9, 1 John 5:13. Note that these verses don't require a person to be baptized to be saved. Mark 16:16 also doesn't say that a person who believes in Jesus but isn't baptized won't be saved. Baptism isn't a requirement for salvation, it's a response to salvation. When we are baptized, we give
a public confirmation that we choose to follow Jesus. It's for those who understand that although repentance is important, we can never be good enough
to merit salvation, see Jesus and the Young Rich Man; it's performed after we are saved. The thief on the cross who declared his faith in Jesus was assured by Jesus that he would go to paradise without mentioning baptism, see
Jesus 2nd words on the cross in The Crucifixion of Jesus. 

Christian immersed water baptism portraits this spiritual reality (Rom 6:3–6): 
  1. Standing before the water means a life without Christ (Eph 2:1–2). 
  2. Immersed in the water means to be united with Christ in his death. 
  3. To be in the water means to be united with Christ in his burial. 
  4. Brought up of the water means to rise with Christ to a new life
    (Rom 6:6–8, 11–14, Gal 5:1). We can choose not to sin.
Water baptism doesn't save people (Eph 2:8–9, 1 Cor 1:14–17), see Salvation.
A person can be saved without being baptized in water. Water baptism points to God's grace and mercy. It should be done by already saved people as an act of obedience to the word, see the following explanations in these videos:
It's a way of being publicly identified with Jesus Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection. It's a response to salvation, and that Jesus identified himself with sinful man by dying in our place on the cross. 

Jesus submitted to water baptism by John the Baptist. It was a baptism of repentance. Jesus was without sin and therefore didn't have to do it, but he did
it anyway. He identified himself with us who are sinners. There he was where we
would have been, when he was baptized by John the Baptist. Jesus showed the way. 
Jesus didn't receive the Holy Spirit at this baptism. He was born as the Son of God,
see The Trinity, and has always been connected with the Holy Spirit, see time 
28:55–30:31 in Bible Q&A with Pastor Paul │ October 2023. Jesus later died
on the cross for our sins, for us who receive him as our Saviour (2 Cor 5:21, 
Gal 3:13, John 1:12). Jesus did it for us. Our part in this is to recognize what he did and embrace it, see Salvation. See John the Baptist in The Prophecies of Isaiah.

The idea of ​​entering into the death of Jesus (as we depict in water baptism) also speaks of dying to self (Rom 6:3) and realizing that we are now called to choose Jesus over the life of the flesh which is contrary to the life of the spirit, see 
3) Blessed are the meek in The Sermon on the Mount. And after died to self,
water baptism continues to symbolize the reality of being raised to new life through the power of the Holy Spirit. See Sanctification.

Paul says the following about baptizing for the dead: "For otherwise, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized for them?" (1 Cor 15:29 (NASB)). When Paul speaks of a biblical truth he says we, not those. Paul addresses a contradiction from those who don't believe in a resurrection (1 Cor 15:12–24). He also mentions it to explain why it's wrong
behavior to baptize for the dead as Mormons do. Just because something is mentioned in the Bible doesn't mean that it's taught to be something to do.

See also what is said about infant baptism at the following times:

Freedom From Sin

We are saved from the penalty of sin. But we are also saved from the power of sin (Rom 6:14). By the power of God's grace, we can choose to say no to sin when temptation comes (Gal 5:1). We are no longer under the Mosaic Laws, but we need to say no to our sinful nature and say yes to God (Rom 6:15–16). We should obey God (Acts 5:29). We are now slaves to God (Rom 6:18, 22). It creates freedom in our lives. We can be free from living a life of sin (John 8:34–36). Sin leads to death
(Rom 6:16, 20–21, 23, James 1:14–15).
  • Before receiving Christ–our previous relationship to sin:
    ENSLAVED (sin was literally our Master) (Rom 6:20–21, 7:5).
  • After receiving Christ–our current relationship to sin:
    SET FREE (our obligation and slavery to sin is broken) (Rom 6:6–7).
    However, FREE FROM SIN doesn't mean we are SIN-FREE.
When we came to belief in Jesus, we were saved from the power of sin to dictate our lives. We have all sinned that we need to confess to God (1 John 1:8–10). We are freed from the Mosaic Laws (Rom 7:6), but the Law makes us aware of our sin 
(Rom 7:7–8). We are also aware of the spiritual principle that whatever we give ourselves to, we become slaves to that thing. The desire of the flesh (our sin nature)
is even for us as Christians against the Spirit, against God's will for our life. Man is born rebellious and wants to break rules (Rom 7:15–23). Even as Christians we have the old nature. There is a battle going on within us between the flesh and the Spirit
(Gal 5:17), see the end of The Book of Galatians. The Law tells us about sin but doesn't empower us to reject it (Gal 3:21–25). We need to reject sin in the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom 6:19, 22, 1 Thess 4:7), see Sanctification.

Life in the Spirit

There is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus (Rom 8:1–4 (NLT)). Because Jesus was sinless, he could pay for our sin (Heb 4:15). If he had sinned, he would have had to pay for his own sin and be disqualified from paying for anyone else's sin. That's why The Virgin Birth is so important. Jesus was condemned for us. We are no longer condemned by the Mosaic Laws. The power of the life-giving
Spirit has freed us from the power of sin that leads to death. It's through the power of the Holy Spirit that we can live a Christian life (Rom 8:13–14). If we are led by
the Holy Spirit we aren't under the Law (Gal 5:18, Rom 8:4). 

See To hear the small voice of God in Psalm 131: I have quieted my soul. 

The life of the Spirit is peace, order, joy, and understanding. We believers are a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 3:16, 6:19). The Holy Spirit has many names such as the Spirit of Jesus, the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of the living God, the Spirit of God, see The Trinity. It means that Jesus lives inside us through this person; the Holy Spirit. This means that we as born again Christians are one with Jesus in spirit (1 Cor 6:17). Because Jesus perfectly fulfilled the requirements of the Law, we do the same in him by believing and trusting in him. He makes it possible for us to live according to his law (Gal 5:14), see Jesus and the Law. We are in a different covenant than what was in the Old Testament with the 
Mosaic Laws (Jer 31:31–33, Luk 22:19–20, Mat 22:37–40, Gal 5:13–14).

When we mess up and don't live in the power of the Holy Spirit, we can turn to Jesus and ask for forgiveness because he has payed for our sins, see The Atonement. 
The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness and in prayer (Rom 8:26–27). Our true nature is that we are always weak. God's power is made perfect in weakness 
(2 Cor 12:9). We don't always know what to pray for or the will of God.

The Holy Spirit knows exactly what the need is and helps us to pray.

The Sufferings of the Present Age

Jesus suffered on the cross for us and then was glorified and sat at the right hand
of God the Father. Likewise, our suffering for Christ will result in eternal glory
(Rom 8:16–17, 1 Pet 2:20b–21). There are different levels of suffering. But first comes the suffering and then the glory. But the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed to us 
(Rom 8:18). We should endure all hardship as discipline, see the first part of
The Book of James. The hope of glory is the fulfillment of God's promise to restore
us and all creation (Rom 8:19–21). We await for the redemption of our bodies
(2 Cor 4:16–18, Rom 8:23, 1 John 3:2–3). When we put our hope in Jesus, we will sanctify ourselves, see Sanctification. A life separated from God is meaningless, see
The Book of Ecclesiastes. 

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress,
or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?" (Rom 8:35).
No one deserves God's love, but he loves us despite our failures (Rom 8:38–39).

The Confidence in God

"We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose" (Rom 8:28). Our ultimate good is to be formed into the image of Christ (Rom 8:29–30), see The Predestination Theory.

We can therefore always have an expectation of the Lord 's goodness.
"If God is for us, who can be against us" (Rom 8:31b). But we must still be attentive, diligent and watchful (1 Pet 5:8, Eph 4:27). These are warnings to us. But there is nothing in life that can happen to us that can rob us of what God ultimately intends for us (Rom 8:32, 35, 38–39). The reason for that is that God is the greatest power there is, see God is sovereign in God's Attributes.

To summarize what we have as Christians, see Salvation:
  • "There is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus" 
    (Rom 8:1     (NLT)), see Life in the Spirit.
  • ". . . you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him: 'Abba! Father!'." (Rom 8:15–16 (NLT), Gal 4:6–7a).
  • We are "heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ" (Rom 8:17a, Gal 4:7b).
  • ". . . the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us." (Rom 8:17b–18).
  • "In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness . . . 
    the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words"
    (Rom 8:26 (NASB20)). We live in a constant state of weakness.
    We don't always know what to pray for as we ought     or the will of God.
  • "For those whom he (God) foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son . . ." (Rom 8:29), see The Predestination Theory. 

God's Chosen

See God is sovereign (Rom 8:29–30, 9:10–21) in God's Attributes. God has the right to choose whom he wants to choose, and to do what he wants (Rom 9:15–16,
Exo (2 Mos) 33:19b). But whatever God does is always righteous, just, and fair because he can't go against his nature (Gen (1 Mos) 18:25b, Eze 18:23, 2 Pet 3:9), see God's Attributes and The Predestination Theory (Rom 9:19–21).

We all deserve to be punished for our sin. No one is good enough to be chosen by merit or effort. It's not enough to be a descendant of Abraham (Rom 9:3, 30–32a, 10:12–13), doing good works, or being a good person. God's choice isn't based on that. It's based on mercy (Eph 2:8–9). Salvation is a free gift. We are children
of God because we are born again (Rom 9:24–26), see The Book of Peter.

To All Who Believe

The Mosaic Laws are concluded for believers in the sense that our obedience and righteous standing before God is not based on keeping the Law. Christ is the fulfillment of the Law for righteousness to everyone who believes in him
(Rom 10:4). Jesus fulfilled the Law for those who believe in him 
(Gal 3:23–25), see Jesus and the Law. 

We are righteous before God through faith in Jesus (Rom 3:21–22):
  • "Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ."
    (Rom 10:17    , Heb 4:2).
  • "For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
    (Rom 10:13, Joel 2:32a).
  • "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved." (Rom 10:9–10).  
  • We need to receive Jesus in our heart when we hear the word:
    "To all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right
    to become children of God.    " (John 1:12    –13).

The Depth of Riches

Chapter 11 deals with the "Replacement Theology", also called the "Fulfillment Theology" or "Supercessionism". It means the following:
The belief that the Jews are no longer God's chosen people, and that God has no specific future plan for the nation of Israel. Furthermore, the Christian church is now the "Israel of God", meaning that all the promises to Israel now apply to the church. 

That theology is refuted in Rom 11: God hasn't rejected all the Jews in Israel 
(Rom 11:1–2a). There was a remnant left in Paul's day, chosen by grace 
(Rom 11:5–6). There is also today a remnant left in Israel, Jews who believe
in Jesus as Messiah. The Jews haven't fallen beyond recovery (Rom 11:11a). 
The word remnant means a small amount of something.

Through the transgressions of the Jews, salvation has come to the Gentiles, to the non-Jews, to make the Jews jealous (Rom 11:11b, 10:19–21, 
Deu (5 Mos) 32:21). God has revealed to his apostles and prophets through the 
Holy Spirit what was a mystery in the Old Testament that the kingdom of God also involves the Gentiles (Col 1:26–27, Eph 3:5–6, 2:11–19). We are all one in Christ
(Gal 3:28). 

God's plan with Israel is to save the Jews when the fullness of the Gentiles is saved (Rom 11:25–27, Dan 12:1). Jeremiah prophesied that God wouldn't abandon Israel as a people (Jer 31:35–37). When Jesus returns and delivers Israel from their enemies at the end of the Great Tribulation, the Jews will recognize him as Messiah, the one they had previously rejected (Zechariah 12:9–10, 9:14, 16). That's what is meant by the words: "all Israel will be saved" (Rom 11:26, Dan 12:1b). But even though their original number was "like the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved" (Rom 9:27, Isaiah 10:20–22). When Jesus returns, there is only a remnant of the Jews left. See this further explained at time: 
See also Messiah's Second Coming in The Prophecies of Isaiah. 

Living Sacrifices 

Jesus shouldn't only be our Savior, but also our Lord
(1 Pet 2:4–6, Rom 12:1, James 4:7). 

We shouldn't be conformed to this world (Rom 12:2a, 2 Cor 4:4, 
1 Cor 3:19a, 7:31b, 1 John 2:15–17, 2 Tim 4:10a). Our character should be transformed (2 Cor 3:18). It gives a better understanding of God's will (Rom 12:2b).

God wants us to use the gifts we have been given, according to the grace we have received (Rom 12:6–8). We should do what God has called us to do. If we don't know what we are called to do, we can always start doing something for God.

We should bless those who persecute us (Rom 12:14, 17–21),
see Love and not revenge in The Sermon on the Mount.

See How should we worship God? in The Woman's Place in the Congregation.

This World is Not Our Home

Chapter 13 is divided into three sections:

 13:1–7: The believer and the governing authorities: 
Every person should be subject to the governing authorities (Rom 13:1,
1 Pet 2:13–14). We should pay our taxes to whom the taxes belong,
and revenues to whom the revenues belong (Rom 13:7). 

But we should obey God before authorities (Acts 4:18–20, 5:27–32). So did the disciples and so must we if our governing authorities ask us to do something that is contrary to God's word or will. This is called "civil disobedience" and it has its place. But Christians should  never take such a thing lightly. We must always be respectful and honorable to those in positions of authority over us. 

But if we are asked (or commanded) to break God's word or will, we have the freedom to respectfully decline. We aren't obligated to obey authorities if they
ask us to do things that are illegal, immoral, or unbiblical.

 13:8–10: The believer and his fellow man:
We are to love our neighbor as ourselves (Rom 13:9), see The Golden Rule in 
The Sermon on the Mount. We should try to pay our bills on time (Rom 13:8 (NIV)). We should be true to our word and keep our promises (Mat 5:37).

 13:11–14: The believer who lives in the last days:
We need to repent from all the sin that is going on in our lives, so that we are forgiven when the rapture occurs, so that we aren't left behind. We should embrace the character of Jesus (Rom 13:13–14), even if it means persecution (2 Tim 3:12).

Disputable Matters

A person "weak in faith", is a person who has convictions about things
of misguided or non-salvation-related importance (see Rom 14). 
The early church gathered for worship on Sundays and not on the Sabbath (Saturdays) (1 Cor 16:2). This day was called the Lord's Day. Sunday was the day the women discovered the empty tomb, see The Resurrection of Jesus. See the commentary on the 4th commandment in The Ten Commandments, and time
22:26–26:08 in Hebrews 4:1-11 • Understanding the Sabbath • The Rest of God. 
To summarize: It doesn't matter what day of the week we meet.
 
Those matters are given more importance than they should have. 
But we should therefore not judge one another (Rom 14:13–15, 5). 
A person who is "weak in faith" isn't a worse Christian for holding such beliefs.

We must avoid offending a person's conscience (1 Cor 8:9–13). "Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble." 
(Rom 14:20–21, 1 Cor 10:28–29a). (The reference to meat is primarily meat sacrificed to pagan idols). It can harden a person's conscience and prevent him from following the directions of the Holy Spirit. See also Rom 14:22 explained at time 1:08–3:25 in Bible Q&A with Pastor Paul.

"Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength, and not just please ourselves. Each of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to his edification." (Rom 15:1–2 (NASB), Phil 2:4–7). Those who are stronger in their faith have an obligation to carry those individuals who are "weak in faith" and passionate about things that aren't necessarily in God's word. It's better to let the Holy Spirit
taking care of their hearts than trying to change their minds about it. 
It's then often necessary to give up the freedom we have in Christ for some other individual who is "weak in faith" and has some kind of anxiety about something.
See also time 24:51–28:05 in Bible Q & A With Pastor Paul │ July 2023.

We have to care what others think about our behavior. It takes love to do that.
"Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests,
but also to the interests of others." (Phil 2:3–4, 1 Cor 10:24, 31–33).

See also What does God think about Christians drinking alcohol? 
at the end of The Woman's Place in the Congregation.

However, this means that Sabbath keeping isn't critical for salvation. This means that it becomes unbiblical to exalt Sabbath keeping as a requirement for salvation. Something that belongs to disputable matters isn't critical for salvation. 
To make it decisive for salvation is to redefine the gospel.

Jesus is Our Hope

Paul says the following about the Old Testament: "For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and
through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope."
(Rom 15:4). This also applies to the New Testament.

He also says: "And again Isaiah says: 'The root of Jesse (Messiah which is Jesus)
will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope.' (Isaiah 11:10 (LXX), see The Millennial Kingdom in The Prophecies of Isaiah).
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that
by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope." (Rom 15:12–13). 

Warning 

Paul warns against those who cause division and those whose teachings are contrary to God's word (Rom 16:17–18, Acts 20:29–30), see Beware of false prophets in The Sermon on the Mount. We should avoid such people. 
See the power of influence in Psalm 101: How to live a holy life.

The method of causing division is to divide and conquer to get part of the body of Christ separated from the flock. Those whose teachings are contrary to God's word aren't slaves of Christ but slaves to their own desires, appetites, wants, and wishes. They don't serve the Lord. They speak twisted things to draw the disciples away after them. They want followers, see The Book of Galatians.

Epilogue 

Tertius was the person who wrote The Book of Romans at Paul's dictation 
(Rom 16:22). Phoebe was the woman who brought the letter to Rom,
probably from Corinth (Rom 16:1–2).

The Roman Doxology 

A doxology is an expression of praise to God, often placed at the end of a text:

"Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith—to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen." (Rom 16:25–27).

This praise is directed upwards to God who can strengthen us. It's done according
to the Gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, see The Four Gospels. We are strengthened by knowing what is written in in God's word (Eph 4:14). This generation today has more access to God's word thanks to all the digital tools than any generation before. We need to be people who base and stand on the word of God so as not to be misled because of unbiblical teachings. To achieve that, we need not only read the Bible, but also to study the Bible systematically and regularly.

The gospel offers the following to us who face life's challenges:

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