As we start the new year, we also will start a new series in Romans. Martin Luther said of this book, “This Epistle is really the chief part of the New Testament and the very purest Gospel, and is worthy not only that every Christian should know it word for word, by heart, but occupy himself with it every day, as the daily bread of the soul. It can never be read or pondered too much, and the more it is dealt with the more precious it becomes, and the better it tastes.”

This week we begin with Romans 1:1-7, which is one long sentence that lays out the most theologically rich greetings that I can imagine. We see the purpose of the letter very early in the first chapter: the good news of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ.