Who wrote the book of Romans? What is the obvious answer? Well, you’re technically wrong if you said “Paul.” It was actually a scribe named “Tertius.” At the very end of Romans, in 16:22, when Paul is greeting various people from the Church at Rome, Tertius the scribe wrote, “I, Tertius, who wrote down this letter, greet you in the Lord.”
We think Paul may have had bad eyesight, based on several passages from his epistles, but the most important one can be found in Galatians 6:11: “See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!” Similarly, in Galatians 4:15, Paul wrote this: “Where, then, is your blessing of me now? I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me.”
We know that Paul was blinded on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:8-9), when the Lord Jesus called him to be the apostle to the Gentiles. And some scholars surmise that his eyesight may never have fully recovered. This could have been what Paul was referring to when he discussed his “thorn in the flesh” in the context of his “visions.”
“We think Paul may have had bad eyesight, based on several passages from his epistles.”
Paul says the following in 2 Corinthians 12:7b-10:
“Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:7b-10)*
There we have the indomitable and resilient apostle Paul. Even his weaknesses he considers to be strengths with God on his side.
Back to Romans. The epistle to the Christians living in Rome is routinely considered the apostle Paul’s magnum opus (his “great work”). It is the longest letter, or “epistle,” in the New Testament. If someone knew only the book of Romans—as would have been the case for at least some of the early church Christians—they would be able to reach out to God, understand the gospel, and receive salvation. Yes, it is that good, and that profound.
“The epistle to the Christians living in Rome is routinely considered the apostle Paul’s magnum opus.”
Romans was written from the city of Corinth, in modern-day Greece. Paul wrote it around A.D. 56, during his third missionary journey. Of course he was evangelizing during this trip, but he was also raising funds for the church at Jerusalem. He was excited to visit the city of Rome in the near future, but events (such as a shipwreck off the coast of Malta) prevented him from doing so until the spring of A.D. 61, about four or five years later, while heading to his own trial in the capital city.
The intended audience is identified in Romans 1:7, “To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Why did Paul write Romans? There are three commonly cited reasons:
First, Paul wanted to use Rome as a hub for more evangelism, specifically to Spain, where he had long wanted to go. In Romans 15, Paul writes the following:
“But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to visit you, I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to see you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while.…So after I have completed this task…I will go to Spain and visit you on the way.” (Romans 15:22-24, 28)
“Of course he was evangelizing during this trip, but he was also raising funds for the church at Jerusalem.”
Second, Paul wrote Romans to give great clarity to the theology of the gospel of Jesus—that God wanted to reach not only Jews, but also Gentiles. The gospel was meant to be shared all over the world…and Paul was the chosen vessel to break down the Jew/Gentile barrier. All people were to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Third, Paul wrote Romans to bring unity to Jews and Gentiles. They were very different people from each other. Jews were God’s “chosen people,” but God’s plans were to “graft in” the non-Jews as well—known as the Gentiles. We read about this in Romans 11:11-16:
“Again I ask: Did they [the Jews] stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring! I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.” (Romans 11:11-16)
“Paul wrote Romans to bring unity to Jews and Gentiles.”
In other words, no longer are Gentiles rejected as being outside God’s plan. God wants all people to confess Him, to repent of their sins, to be baptized, to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and to become raised from the dead and enjoy eternal life with God the Father of all humankind.
What is the key passage of Romans that should capture our attention? Scholars regularly cite Romans 1:16-17 as encapsulating the core of Paul’s argument in the book:
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’” (Romans 1:16-17)
Don’t get discouraged if the book of Romans challenges you. It seems even the great apostle Peter struggled to understand Paul’s grand erudition. In 2 Peter 3:15-16, we read this personal insight from one of the members of Jesus’ core ministry team:
“Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.” (2 Peter 3:15-16)
“Don’t get discouraged if the book of Romans challenges you.”
We should not be intimidated, however. We ought to regularly feast at the buffet of the book of Romans. There is profound insight in there that will help you to understand what God was doing from Genesis to Revelation. The core doctrine Paul teaches is justification—that we are not justified by doing the specific doctrines of the Old Testament. Rather, we are justified by faith in Jesus. This is the case both for Jews and Gentiles.
Through Jesus Christ’s life, teachings, death, and resurrection, we can be absolved from our sins and be raised from the dead. Jesus did the work. Our job is to believe and obey. By faith, we are justified through the atonement that Jesus accomplished on the cross.
What is the atonement? It is the “at-one-ment.” It specifies that, on our own, we are separated from God due to our sin. However, because of the graciousness of God—in sending Jesus as a sacrifice—we can become “at one” with God. What was once division can become unity with God. And when we believe, get baptized into Christ, and become God’s new temples (we are the temple of God’s Holy Spirit), then we become “at one” with God.
A Tour of Romans
Let’s take a quick tour of Romans, chapter by chapter:
Part 1: The Need for Salvation (Chapters 1–3)
- In Chapter 1, Paul introduces the gospel as “the power of God for salvation.” He argues that all people are without excuse because God has revealed himself through creation, yet humanity chose to worship idols instead.
- In Chapter 2, Paul addresses those who judge others while committing the exact same sins. He clarifies that religious heritage (Judaism) or circumcision (a practice by Jews to show their identity) does not exempt someone from God’s impartial judgment.
- In Chapter 3, Paul argues that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” He introduces justification by faith as the only solution for both Jews and Gentiles.
Part 2: The Gospel and New Life (Chapters 4–8)
- In Chapter 4, Paul repeatedly cites Abraham, living 500 years before Moses, as an example, definitively proving that righteousness has always been credited through faith, not by works or the Law of Moses.
- In Chapter 5, Paul explains the results of justification: peace with God and hope despite our present suffering. He contrasts Adam (through whom sin entered) with Christ (through whom grace abounds). In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul beautifully elaborates on this central teaching: “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.…If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So it is written: ‘The first man Adam became a living being’; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man” (1 Corinthians 15:22, 44b-49).
“Just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.”
- In Chapter 6, Paul addresses the misconception that grace encourages sin. He argues that believers are “dead to sin” and should now live as “slaves to righteousness.” In this chapter we read one of the most beautiful texts in the Bible, Romans 6:1-4: “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning, so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”
- In Chapter 7, Paul describes the internal conflict between the desire to do good and the powerful pull of sin, concluding that the Mosaic Law cannot save us from our sinful nature. Only Christ’s atoning work on the cross can accomplish that.
- In Chapter 8, Paul writes triumphantly, declaring “there is no condemnation” for those in Christ. He describes life led by the Holy Spirit and the assurance that nothing can separate believers from God’s love. In Romans 8:11, Paul writes this beautiful sentence: “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.”
Part 3: God’s Sovereignty and Israel (Chapters 9–11) 
- In Chapter 9, Paul discusses God’s purpose in choosing Israel and his right as the “potter” to show mercy to whom he chooses. This chapter discusses a theological concept called “the sovereignty of God,” illustrated in Romans 9:14-21: “What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’ It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. For Scripture says to Pharaoh: ‘I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.’…Who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? ‘Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, “Why did you make me like this?”’ Does not the potter have the right…?”
- In Chapter 10, Paul emphasizes that salvation is available to everyone who “confesses with their mouth that Jesus is Lord” and truly believes in their heart…culminating in baptism, which joins us to Jesus Christ.
- In Chapter 11, Paul explains that God has not rejected Israel but has used its unbelief to bring salvation to the Gentiles, with a future plan to restore Israel back to Himself.
“Paul explains that God has not rejected Israel but has used its unbelief to bring salvation to the Gentiles, with a future plan to restore Israel back to Himself.”
Part 4: Practical Christian Living (Chapters 12–16)
- In Chapter 12, Paul transitions to practical application, urging believers to offer their bodies as “living sacrifices” and to use their spiritual gifts to serve the church. This chapter is also famous for its beautiful section on love: (Romans 12:9-13): “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”
- Chapter 13 includes instructions on submitting to governing authorities, paying taxes, and fulfilling the law through the command to “love your neighbor.”
- In Chapter 14, Paul addresses disputes in the church over non-essential matters—like diet and special days—urging believers not to judge one another but to always act in love. He writes this famous verse in Romans 14:19: “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.”
- In Chapter 15, Paul encourages unity between Jews and Gentiles and shares his desire to visit Rome before traveling to Spain.
- In Chapter 16, Paul offers a very personal conclusion, featuring greetings to over 25 individuals, a warning against those who cause divisions, and provides a final praise to God in Romans 15:13: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
I am overwhelmed with gratitude by the book of Romans, and now would be a great time to join in this wonderful doxology near the end of the letter:
“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!
‘Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?’
‘Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?’
For from him and through him and for him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.” (Romans 11:33-36)
I encourage you to read the book of Romans, and stand in awe of God for his mercy to save us from our sins. He is our Father, and he went through great pains to reconcile us to himself. If you want to understand the gospel of Jesus Christ, respond to it, and build your life on it, this book will direct you.
*All Scripture references are in NIV.
