Taking a Closer Look at Romans 1:1–4

A Brilliant Summary

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord . . . —Romans 1:1–4

It’s really easy, when you’re reading the first few verses of one of Paul’s letters, to think it’s perfunctory; it’s a formality; it’s just, “Hi, Paul here. This is what I’m going to talk to you about.” It can seem like it's sort of like a handshake. But the truth is, the openings of Paul’s letters are really very helpful in understanding the contents of the letter. They frame it beautifully. They're like a good introduction to an essay, where you preview what’s going to happen in the rest of the document.

And that’s what we get in these verses. It’s a brilliant summary of Paul’s gospel. We don’t have many summaries of Paul’s gospel in his letters. Perhaps 1 Corinthians 15 is the most famous: “I have delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures . . . .” But here in Romans, we get Paul introducing himself, and immediately, he describes himself as one “set apart for the gospel of God.” Now, the gospel of God could be the gospel about God, or it could be God’s gospel—the source of the gospel is God. It doesn’t really matter which it is, but I think our best understanding is to say that this is God, as the author of the gospel message. And what we have here in the summary is very important because it tells us the contents of the gospel. If you boil down the gospel, what you find is that it’s about Jesus Christ. So, the content of the gospel is Jesus Christ. And we see that he says this in verse 3, “This gospel concerns God’s Son.”

Strengthened by the Gospel

Brian S. Rosner

In this volume of the New Testament Theology series, Brian S. Rosner examines the central theology and themes of Paul’s gospel message in Romans to strengthen and encourage disciples of Jesus today.

It’s important with these summaries, though, to realize that they are just summaries. There’s not much in this little gospel summary at the beginning of the letter which tells us about the need for the gospel (it’s not about human sin), the benefits of the gospel, and there’s not even anything about the death of Jesus. We get something about the resurrection, but nonetheless, it’s a beautiful little summary of what the gospel is about. So the contents of the gospel is Jesus Christ, and the function of the gospel, we learn from other passages, is salvation, and the means of the gospel is faith. So, that’s really a broad brushstroke understanding of the gospel, and we get a lot of it here in these opening verses.

If we take a closer look at some of the aspects of the gospel that Paul gives us here, we could start with verse 2 where he says this gospel was “promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures.” Paul doesn’t refer to what we call the Old Testament as the Old Testament; he calls it “the holy Scriptures.” “Holy” meaning they’re God’s special possession. They have this status as being set apart by God. What’s really interesting for us is that in our day, we think that everything that’s new and novel is terrific—the latest iPhone, the latest movie that comes out. But in the ancient world, they had something called the “argument from antiquity.” The really true and important things were the things that had a long backstory and history. And the gospel of the Lord Jesus has this magnificent backstory. Really, if you want to understand the gospel, the first thing to do is to read the Old Testament. And that’s what Paul is telling us here, that it was promised beforehand by his prophets in the holy Scriptures. In the rest of Romans, he quotes the Old Testament, as we call it, on numerous occasions. Genesis 15:6: “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Habakkuk 2:4: “The just shall live by faith.” He also takes from Deuteronomy and Isaiah. So Paul grounds his gospel—and he tells us that’s what he’s doing—in the Old Testament Scriptures. It’s the backstory, if you like. Imagine if you started with the fourth volume of Harry Potter. It would be fine, but the best way to read it in order to get a full-color, surround sound version is to read the first three volumes. And that’s what you’ve got to do to really grasp the depths of Paul’s gospel, and that’s what he does for us in the rest of Romans.

The gospel can strengthen us and give us power to live the Christian life.

If we read on, it says two things about Jesus that are of fundamental importance. He was “descended from David.” Just that little word “David” tells us a great deal about Paul’s gospel, because what he’s alluding to is the Davidic Covenant in 2 Samuel 7. It’s a wonderful passage. David comes along and says to God, “I’m going to build you a house.” And God, who seems to be fond of plays on words, says, “No, I’m not going to let you build me a house. Your son, Solomon, can do that. I’m going to build you a house. Not a physical house, but a dynasty.” Even in English we get that beautiful ambiguity. “House” can mean a building, or it can mean a dynasty. And God promises in 2 Samuel 7 that a descendant of David will reign on his throne forever. And the Lord Jesus is a fulfillment of that prophecy.

He then goes on to say “according to the flesh.” He’s a human being. This is where we get some Christology about the person of Christ. We learn that he was descended from David, meaning he was a human being (“according to the flesh”). He “was declared to the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead.” So he’s not just a human being; he’s also God. That’s what is hinted at in this passage.

You might wonder if it means he became the Son of God at the resurrection. Was he not the Son of God until he rose from the dead? That’s a little bit of a puzzle there. I think the answer is the little phrase “in power.” Before the resurrection, Jesus was the Son of God in meekness, or in weakness, if you like. But after the resurrection, he’s the Son of God in power. And power ends up being a really important concept in the book of Romans because the gospel is “the power of God for salvation.” The gospel can strengthen us and give us power to live the Christian life.

It continues, “in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.” Those three words are really helpful for understanding the person of Jesus. Jesus, which means Savior. He’s our Savior. Christ, which means he’s the Jewish Messiah, the Anointed One and coming King. And Lord is an indication that he’s more than just a human being; he’s our master. And the word lord, of course, in Old Testament usage on many occasions is a reference to God himself.

One final thing about this passage that I really love is the Trinitarian thread that runs through it. We learn in verse 1 that it’s the gospel that comes from God—presumably, God the Father. The content of the gospel is God’s Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, and he’s declared to be the powerful Son of God by the Spirit. So all three persons of the Trinity are there. It’s not explicit. It doesn’t give us any indication that all three persons are one God. Later theological reflection puts these pieces together. But in many passages in Paul’s letters, you get this Trinitarian thought almost unconsciously woven through the passage. It’s usually for a practical purpose. In this case, it’s about our salvation, it’s about the gospel, it’s about God’s Son, and it’s about the Spirit’s work in bringing him to life and bringing us life in him.

Brian S. Rosner is the author of Strengthened by the Gospel: A Theology of Romans.

Brian Rosner (PhD, Cambridge) was principal at Ridley College in Melbourne, Australia from 2012–2024, where he now lectures in New Testament. He previously taught at the University of Aberdeen and Moore Theological College. Rosner is the author or editor of many books, including How to Find Yourself: Why Looking Inward Is Not the Answer. He is married to Natalie and has four children.

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