ROME'S POSTAL SERVICE
There was no postal service in Rome, except for official business. Therefore, when Paul needed to send a letter to the young churches, he had to use travelers going to those particular cities. In the case of his Roman Letter, he asked Phoebe, a deaconess from the Corinthian suburb of Cenchreae, to carry the missive. It was an important letter and is considered by far the most doctrinal epistle of the New Testament. Poet Coleridge calls the book of Romans "the most profound work in existence," while Martin Luther said it is "the chief work of the New Testament."Although the book of Romans is placed before it in the Bible, 1 Thessalonians was the first New Testament book to be written. The reason Romans follows Acts in our Bibles is that it provides the foundational doctrine of the early church. Here is Paul's strongest theological argument and the nearest thing to a systematic theology we have in Scripture.
Paul accomplished several purposes when he penned Romans. First, he heralded the Gospel of Christ to the Gentile world. Because he wished to convince his Jewish friends that Jesus was the Savior, he outlined in detail how Christ is indeed the Messiah. Then, wanting to guard against false doctrine slipping into the young church, Paul warned them to be alert and to resist those who propagated such doctrines. In this masterful book, Paul says it is the believer's privilege and responsibility to present himself to God. By doing so, rather than being conformed to this world, the believer is transformed. Today, present yourself in prayer, asking God to make your life meaningful for Him.
“And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.”
Romans 12:1 NLT
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