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I ask because of noting how chapter 1 of Romans deals with the person of Christ – who he is – while not dealing with what he has done to save sinners until chapter 3. Could this be significant? I read the following comments in a magazine yesterday:
“The evangel of God, (which he had promised afore by his prophets in
the holy scriptures,) concerning his Son Iesous-christos our Lord,
which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; and
declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of
holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.” Romans 1:1-4“In these opening verses of the epistle to the saints at Rome Paul
summarizes the evangel. One thing stands out above everything else:
the evangel is concerned exclusively with the Son of God… In the
apostolic evangel the person precedes the work and that is how it is
preached… The cross is in chapter three but the Crucified is in
chapter one. The blood of propitiation is in chapter 3:25 but the
Propitiatory himself is in chapter 1:3,4. The evangel does not start
with the work of Christos, it starts with the Worker, Christos
himself. Apostolic preaching does not commence with what the Son of
God has done. It commences with whom he is; it declares his person.”
(Article ‘The Son of God’ in ‘The Ministry’, Spring 2020.)
Is Paul’s intent to deliberately present the person of Christ before explaining the gospel of Christ, perhaps because that one has to be believed in first before his gospel can be believed?
This question requires exegesis into the apostle Paul’s writing at the start of Romans, the first 4 verses. It will also require spotting a subtle change in the topic from chapter 1 and the start of chapter 3. The topic is still Jesus Christ. Why does he not make the gospel of Christ the start in chapter 1? No personal opinions will help with this question for it requires examining the author’s intent, not the reader’s personal opinion.
