The year was 57 A.D. and the apostle Paul was at Corinth near the end of his third missionary journey. He was writing a letter to the ecclesia at Rome.
He desired to visit the ecclesia on his way to a proposed missionary trip to Spain, but first he must take a donation to Jerusalem. The money had been gathered from the Gentile ecclesias in Macedonia and Achaia (Rom. 1:9-16; 15:23-27). Paul’s hope was that the gift would help smooth relationships between the predominantly Jewish ecclesias in Judea and the Gentile believers. Because of developments in Jerusalem, Paul was not confident he would ever reach Rome; he thus wrote the epistle to provide a full summary of the gospel of grace which would answer the doctrinal challenges presented against it.
Conditions in Jerusalem
As a spirit of Jewish nationalism intensified in Judea, new and dangerous conditions had developed for Paul and the ecclesias. A few years earlier, Paul (then known as Saul) had been a hero to the Sanhedrin and the unbelieving Jews. Now, however, he was marked as an enemy of Judaism. Resentment toward him had grown as the doctrine of grace took root in one city after another.
In addition to danger from without, there were challenges within the ecclesia from the circumcision party. This was composed of Christian Jews who continued to exalt the law (Acts 15:1; 21:20-21;). No wonder he appealed to the Romans to “strive together with me in your prayers to God for me; that I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judea; and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints” (Rom. 15:30-31).
A gentleman’s agreement
From later events, it is evident the ecclesia at Jerusalem was very concerned not to offend the believing Jews who were still zealous of the law. Many of the Jewish converts might tolerate Gentile converts not becoming Jews, but they would not allow that Jewish believers should discontinue following the law (Acts 21:20-25). They viewed the truth of the gospel as set within a continuum of the law.
In their desire to avoid a split, when Paul arrived, James and the other elders requested him to make clear he still followed Jewish customs (vs. 23-26).
Changes needed
When writing to the Romans, Paul knew that the gospel of grace must be clearly understood as the universal Christian doctrine. Answers must be available to difficult theological questions and these he proceeded to supply.
Additional changes were to occur by the Roman overthrow of Jerusalem and the temple. That event would weaken incorrect doctrinal influences and would allow for the complete fulfillment of the Lord’s prophecy that the day would come when God would be rightly worshiped in spirit and in truth (John 4:21-24).
One consequence of this change was the increased importance of the Roman ecclesia. It is a sad testimony to the history of that ecclesia, that as the Jerusalem problem receded, the Hellenistic apostasy (the influence of Platonic philosophy) and Gnosticism began to arise there and elsewhere. If they had held fast to the gospel of God’s grace in Christ Jesus, they would have remained sound both in doctrine and in practice.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One