Before Paul wrote his letter, the church in Rome was marked by both growth and tension. The Christian community there did not begin under apostolic leadership but developed organically through Jewish believers and early Christian travelers who carried the gospel to the capital of the empire. As a result, the church initially had a strong Jewish character, shaped by synagogue life, the Scriptures, and the practices of the Law.

This balance was disrupted when Emperor Claudius expelled Jews from Rome around AD 49. Jewish Christians were forced to leave the city, while Gentile believers remained and became the dominant presence in the church. When the edict was later lifted and Jewish believers returned, they reentered a church that had continued without them and had developed largely Gentile leadership and customs. The result was friction—questions over authority, observance of the Law, food laws, holy days, and what it truly meant to belong to the people of God.

Paul writes into this fractured situation with pastoral precision. He addresses pride on both sides: Gentile believers tempted to look down on Jews, and Jewish believers struggling with the loss of former privilege. Romans is Paul’s effort to re-center the church on the gospel, showing that all—Jew and Gentile alike—stand equally guilty under sin and are justified only by grace through faith in Christ.

I see Paul’s letter as an effort by Paul to bring the church under an apostolic umbrella, hoping to keep the two factions, i.e., the Jewish and the Gentile believers, from fracturing.

Here is the YouTube Video link to this episode:

The Roman Church

The Spotify Link:

The Roman Church

Peering into the depths of Romans with you…

Paige