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Romans

  1. Lesson One
    Romans as a Theological Treatise (Romans 1–6)
    22 Activities
    |
    2 Assessments
  2. Lesson Two
    Romans as an Occasional Letter (Romans 9–11)
    19 Activities
    |
    2 Assessments
  3. Lesson Three
    The Real Difference (Romans 7–8)
    19 Activities
  4. Lesson Four
    Living out the Gospel in "Rome" (Romans 12–14)
    21 Activities
    |
    5 Assessments
  5. Lesson Five
    Author and Audience (Romans 15–16)
    22 Activities
  6. Course Wrap-Up
    Course Completion
    1 Activity
    |
    1 Assessment

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Romans The Real Difference (Romans 7–8) In | Paul and the Family of Believers
Lesson 3, Activity 9

In | Paul and the Family of Believers

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Sometimes the more generic parts of Paul’s letters can tell us a great deal about his theology and vision for the church. Something so simple as the way Paul addresses himself in these letters tells us a lot about his relationship with his churches. He begins Romans:

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God. 
Romans 1:1 NIV

This simple introduction may not seem very meaningful, but it’s precisely its simplicity that makes it notable. In Paul’s time and place, any letter written to strangers, and many written to people outside one’s family, would have included more formal self-identification. Dr. E. Randolph Richards, in his study on first-century letter writing, notes that for these types of letters: 

We should expect the address to read something like “Saulos Paulos of Tarsus.” Since his family was somewhat prominent . . . we expect him to identify himself by his family name, as was customary. Paul, however, does not.

Richards concludes:

Rather than using his earthly household, he identifies himself as a member of a new household . . . “Paul a servant of Jesus Christ.” Instead of identifying himself as the son of a prominent household he identifies himself as the slave of another.

The modesty and familiarity of Paul’s introduction to Romans and other letters is a significant and maybe unexpected reminder that Paul took the idea of the Church as a family body seriously. It was a reality that informed even the seemingly generic aspects of his message. 

Quotes from: E. Randolph Richards, Paul and First-Century Letter Writing: Secretaries, Composition and Collection, 2004, p. 165.