Start with a study through Genesis, open a second front in Romans, and watch the gospel come into sharper focus. We walk through why this letter to the Romans matters for new believers and curious skeptics alike: its trusted authorship, its striking choice of Greek, its first-century timing, and the real tensions inside the church at Rome that still echo in our communities today. This letter isn’t some dry, abstract lecture; it’s a strategic guide meant to establish faith, clarify doctrine, and unite a diverse body around Christ.

We trace Paul’s credibility as a firsthand leader in the earliest church and explain how language served the mission. Writing in Greek gave Paul precision and reach, turning a local letter into a portable curriculum for the growing Christian world. Dating Romans to around AD 58 places it within a generation of Jesus and inside a city reshaped by Claudius’s expulsion and the return of Jewish residents. That backdrop—Gentiles filling the pews, Jewish believers reentering the fellowship—sets the stage for Paul’s patient, forceful case: righteousness as a gift, justification by faith, grace that saves and transforms, and God’s sovereignty in election.

We also open the door to the 1st Century Church at Rome’s origin story—likely sparked by Pentecost pilgrims rather than an apostolic founder—which helps explain leadership gaps and why Paul felt compelled to write before he could visit. Along the way, we preview how, in this letter, Paul engages the Old Testament with depth and care, from Abraham and David to Jacob and Esau, showing that the new covenant isn’t a break from Israel’s story but its fulfillment in Christ. If you’ve ever wondered how the gospel holds a fractured church together, Romans offers hard-won clarity and hope.

Subscribe to follow the series and share this episode with someone exploring faith.