I have noticed over the years that Christians tend to interpret the Bible in a way that pushes all, or most, punishments and rebukes of believers onto unbelievers. I suppose that this somehow appeases our consciences so that we can continue to indulge in certain sins that we just don’t want to give up. But, it is important to note one thing. The Bible is written almost entirely to believers. Very little of the thousands of words and hundreds of chapters of Scripture should be considered “evangelistic” in the sense of attempting to “save” us by making us believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who died for our sins and rose from the dead to bring us eternal life.

This is particularly true of the Book of Romans. Here Paul clearly wrote for and spoke to Christians, people who already believed in Jesus. Consider his introduction alone:

Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, (Which he had promised before by his prophets in the holy scriptures,) Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was made of the descendants 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: By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name: Among whom are you also the called of Jesus Christ: To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. (Romans 1:1-8 KJ2000)

In this short passage Paul makes it clear he speaks to Christians in three separate verses, verses 6, 7, and 8.  Then in verse 11 he speaks of imparting spiritual gifts to them to establish their faith and in verse 12 he equates their faith with his. Then, interestingly, he tells them in verse 15 that he wants to “preach the gospel” to them. This implies that the “gospel” includes far more than merely the truth about who Jesus is and that he died for their and our sins. Remember, he speaks to believers, not unbelievers here.

This means that one of the world’s most famous and popular Scriptures relating to initial salvation, in fact the beginning of “the Romans Road to salvation” has nothing to do with our initial salvation at all.  Here is the verse:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. (Romans 1:16 KJ2000)

The “gospel,” that which Paul desires to bring to the Romans and preach to them, is, he says, the power of God unto salvation. Remember, he is speaking to believers already. This salvation, he says here, is for “every one that believes.” In other words, one has to already believe the truth about who Jesus is before one may go on to this salvation Paul speaks of here. What could this salvation be if not one’s initial spiritual salvation that one gains through faith in Jesus Christ? It is the salvation which allows us to ENTER the Kingdom of God. These Roman Christians to whom Paul speaks here could SEE the Kingdom, but they could only see it from afar. Paul now begins to teach them how they may one day enter into this most desired place. And he does so through the Gospel!

Part 2