the Week of Proper 23 / Ordinary 28
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Daily Devotionals
Day by Day Devotional - Year 4 of 5
Romans 1:1-17
The epistles are letters addressed by the apostles to assemblies or to individual believers, and in which we find Christian truths set out. The epistle to the Romans, although written after some of the others has justly been placed first, for its subject is the Gospel. Before receiving Christian teaching, we must start by becoming a Christian. Dear reader, the opportunity is now given you, if you have not yet grasped it.
There is a story told that a certain evangelist, who was taking a series of meetings in a town, limited himself each evening to reading the first six chapters of this epistle without adding a single word. And each evening there were several conversions. Such is the power of the Word alone, and the authority of the gospel, "the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." (v. 16).
This letter was written well before the eventful voyage recounted at the end of the Acts. Paul had not up till that time seen the Romans. But – and this is the essential condition of fruitful service – he is full of love for them and above all for the One whom he is going to present to them: Jesus Christ. His name fills these first few verses. Is He not in fact the very substance of the Gospel, the basis of all relationship between God and man?
