Romans Exposition 1:2

“Where, how, and by whom was the Gospel written in advance?”

Everyone, today we will look at Romans chapter 1, verse 2.
I have only one promise to you. Not “how I felt,” but the original text, the grammar, and the argument. We will examine exactly what the apostle Paul is actually saying.

The identity of the “Gospel” as Romans 1:2 states it

In Romans 1:2, Paul defines the “Gospel.”
In other words, he does not explain “What is the Gospel?” by emotion or experience. He settles it by sentence structure.

In the Greek text, verse 2 begins with a relative pronoun.
That relative pronoun points back to the Gospel already mentioned in the previous verse, verse 1.

In Greek, the sentence can naturally proceed with only “that,” but in a translation, if you leave only “that,” it can easily become unclear what it refers to. So translations usually unpack “that” and make it explicit as, “This Gospel…” The key point is this: verse 2 takes hold of the Gospel from verse 1 and explains the nature of that Gospel.

Now, Paul speaks of the Gospel like this.

First, the Gospel is “what God promised beforehand.”

Paul states firmly, “The Gospel is what God promised in advance.”
The Gospel is not a new idea that suddenly appeared in the New Testament era. It is a promise that God planned and publicly declared long before.

Second, that promise was delivered “through the prophets.”

Paul says, “through the prophets.”
The Gospel does not begin with the apostles’ private experiences. Paul connects the root of the Gospel to prophetic testimony. In other words, the Gospel is the promise that was foretold through the mouths of the prophets.

Third, the place where that promise is written is “the Holy Scriptures.”

Paul says, “in the Holy Scriptures.”
Here Paul makes it clear that these “Scriptures” are not merely good religious literature. He writes, “en graphais hagiais,” “in the holy writings,” indicating the divinely authoritative writings that the community of Israel recognizes as holy. In other words, this refers to the Torah and the whole Old Testament Scripture.

So, the summary is this.

What is the Gospel?
→ It is consideration of what God promised beforehand.

Who delivered it?
→ God delivered it through His prophets.

Where is it written?
→ It is written in the Holy Scriptures.

Paul does not begin Romans by placing the root of the Gospel in “New Testament religious life.”
From the start, the Gospel stands on the promise of the Holy Scriptures, that is, on the promise of God already written down.

A major issue that arises here: claims that blur “graphe (Scripture)”

However, today many people, or certain theological systems, make this starting point vague.
The argument usually goes like this.

“Since the New Testament also uses the word ‘Scripture (graphe),’ New Testament documents must have been treated right away as Scripture in the same position as the Old Testament.”

And the passages most often brought forward as evidence are 1 Timothy 5:18 and 2 Peter 3:16.

If we summarize the opposing argument very briefly, it is this.

1. In 1 Timothy 5:18, the phrase “Scripture says” is used, and then a Torah text is followed by a line similar to Jesus’ saying. Therefore, New Testament tradition was also treated as “Scripture.”

2. So, this shows an “early canon consciousness,” meaning that New Testament documents held scriptural authority from a very early time.

3. And in 2 Peter 3:16, Paul’s letters are mentioned together with “the other Scriptures,” so Paul’s letters also belong in the category of Scripture.

But I believe we must first follow what the text itself is actually doing.
Because the text does not exist so that we can build a system. The text has its own structure, and it speaks in its own way.

(1) 2 Peter 3:16 — What are “the other Scriptures”?

In 2 Peter 3:16, the phrase “the other Scriptures” appears.
This expression strongly carries the sense of “the rest of the Scriptures.”
What does that assume?

It assumes that there already exists a set of Scriptures known as “Scripture.”

The text also includes an even stronger premise.
It says that if those “other Scriptures” are twisted, it leads to destruction.

This warning is not at the level of, “If you misunderstand a helpful book, you may be troubled.”
It is the kind of warning that presupposes a text with divine authority, a text where misinterpretation can be tied to destruction.

Therefore, the most natural reading is that “the other Scriptures” refers to the Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament, which the church of that time already preserved and read in scroll form.

One more important point.
This verse places “Paul’s letters” and “the other Scriptures” side by side, distinguishing them in the structure of the sentence.
Parallel placement does not automatically declare “the same category.”
The text connects the phenomenon, “they twist them in the same way,” but it does not establish a definition saying, “Paul’s letters = Scripture.”

(2) 1 Timothy 5:18 — Torah citation plus Jesus’ most accurate explanation

1 Timothy 5:18 begins with the words, “Scripture says,” and then it attaches two statements.
The first statement is a Torah citation that no one can deny.

“Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.”

This saying is in the Torah.
Its meaning is not merely an animal-protection rule. It contains a principle: a working being has the right to share in the fruit of its labor during the process of work.

And Jesus applied that principle most clearly and explained it by saying,
“The worker is worthy of his wages.”

Here is the key point.
If the Torah is cited, and Jesus has given the most accurate explanation of the Torah’s intent, then this is not the Torah being undermined. It is the Torah being established as the Torah.

Yet some present the Torah together with Yeshua’s accurate explanation and then argue, “Because New Testament tradition is present in the text, the ‘graphe’ here does not refer only to the Hebrew Scriptures.” Reaching that conclusion can easily become a way of placing a pre-made framework on top of the text, rather than letting the text itself lead to that conclusion.

Conclusion: the Gospel’s starting point in Romans 1:2

Now let us return to Romans 1:2.

When Paul speaks of the Gospel, he says that the Gospel is:

• what God promised beforehand,

• delivered through the prophets,

• and written in the Holy Scriptures.

So Paul’s starting point is clear.
The Gospel was promised beforehand within the Scriptures.

Therefore, a method that blurs the authority of the Hebrew Scriptures, or that pushes them back by labeling with a “newly coined term,” does not match Paul’s starting point. We do not put the Scriptures on trial under a system. We follow the grammar and the argument as the Scriptures themselves speak.

Today, even with only Romans 1:2, we have confirmed how clearly Paul states what the Gospel is, and who wrote it, where it was written, and how it was recorded in advance.

In the next lesson, we will cover Romans 1:3 and 1:4.
Paul develops the point that this Gospel is ultimately “about His Son,” and he presents, with careful logic, who He is, the lineage according to the flesh, and the confirmation of power. We will examine that together next time.

Thank you.

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