The importance of this letter to the history of Christian theology is unquestioned. Nevertheless, the literary skill with which this letter was written is more debatable. Childs complains of “its frequently broken style,” and Goulder states, “As a literary achievement, Romans is a mixed success.” However, Kasemann’s judgment – “Notwithstanding widespread views to the contrary, the apostle constructed the epistle very carefully and structured it systematically” – is definitely confirmed by the evidence given below.
Section Divisions and Overall Structure
There is general agreement among scholars regarding some of the intended literary sections that compose Paul’s epistle. In addition to these “majority” opinions are a wide set of variations with the result that there is no total agreement on the section divisions between any two authors. This is obviously an area upon which a structural analysis could shed some needed light.
One promising approach to determining the limits of each division within the epistle is to note any key words appearing at a general agreed terminus. For example, “Amen” at the conclusions of chs. 11 and 16 makes it likely that its occurrence at 15:33 marks the end of another major section. Even more useful is the observation that “Lord” appears in compound names for Jesus exactly fourteen times, often at the conclusion of a generally recognized section (i.e., 1:7; 4:24 ; 8:39). Other appearances are likely to mark the terminus of major subsections, such as at 1:4 and the ends of chs. 5, 6 and 7. With this ammunition in hand, some unique proposals for section divisions can be better defended, such as the conclusion of a major section at 15:6 where “our Lord Jesus Christ” appears. As in other NT epistles, the address “brothers” often signals the beginning of a major division. Examples in Romans include 7:1, 10:1 and 15:14.
The resulting sections in the letter can then be assembled into a highly organized pattern in which the correspondingly numbered units demonstrate parallelism in terms of both thematic emphasis and specific words and phrases utilized. This is pictured in Fig. 1.
Figure 1: The Structure of Romans
I. Greetings (1:1-7)
II. Gospel as the Power of God (1:8-17)
III. Gentiles do not Honor God (1:18-32)
IV. Judging Those Outside the Body (2:1-16)
V. Doing the Law (2:17-24)
VI. Present Position of the Jews (2:25-4:25)
VII. Justification by Faith (chs. 5-6)
A. Christ’s Death (ch. 5)
B. United With Christ (ch. 6)
VII'. New Life (chs. 7-8)
B. Dying to the Law (ch. 7)
A. Life in the Spirit (ch. 8)
VI'. Future Position of the Jews (chs. 9-11)
V'. Living in the Spirit (chs. 12-13)
IV'. Judging Those Within the Body (14:1-15:6)
III'. Gentiles Glorify God (15:7-13)
II'. Gospel Preached by the Power of the Holy Spirit (15:14-33)
I'. Greetings (ch. 16)
The unity within each section and the parallels in the letter as a whole can be demonstrated with a few representative examples.
Sections III (Rom. 1:18-32) and III' (Rom. 15:7-13)
The subject matter, natural man rejecting the common revelations of God, unifies vv. 1:18-32. The similarities in language between 1:17 and 1:18 might indicate a continuation of an earlier thought. However, it is more likely that this new section starts out as a deliberate contrast to the previous one: “the righteousness of God is revealed” in 1:17 vs. “the wrath of God is revealed” in 1:18. Kasemann points to 1:18-32 as “indispensable to an understanding of the righteousness of God.” A chiastic structure provides the literary architecture for this section, with “Amen” appropriately marking the center point.
Figure 2: The Structure of Section III
A. Wrath of God (1:18a)
B. Those who know God but do not honor Him (1:18b-23)
C. “God gave them up to impurity...because they exchanged the truth...for a lie” (1:24-25a)
D. Doxology (1:25b)
C'. “God gave them up to dishonorable passions...exchanged natural relations for unnatural” (1:26-27)
B'. Those who did not acknowledge God (1:28-31)
A'. Judgment of God (1:32)
At first glance there seems to be little commonality between the two diverse literary units III and III'. But both are opposite sides of the same coin in that they describe, respectively, the general rejection of God by the Gentile nations contrasted with the eventual glorification of God by these same people. There is even some common language shared between these two brief sections to heighten the contrast, including “power” (1:20; 15:13), “as it is written” (1:17; 15:21), eis with an infinitive (1:20; 15:9) (22), and “the truth of God” (1:25; 15:8).
Section VI (Rom. 2:25-4:24)
This section regarding the past and present status of the Jewish people before God can be divided into two subunits. The references to circumcision at 2:25 and the end of ch. 3 delineate the bounds of the first unit, which can be outlined as shown below:
A. Advantage of the Jews (2:25-3:8)
B. All are sinners (3:9-20)
1. introduction (3:9)
2. OT evidence (3:10-18)
1'. conclusion (3:19-20)
B'. God is righteous (3:21-26)
A'. Jews cannot boast (3:27-31)
The second part of Section VI, ch. 4, is clearly identified by its emphasis on the promise to Abraham and its use of Genesis 15:6 in its beginning and concluding verses. A key word appearing eleven times in Romans 4 is “reckoned / imputed.” Kasemann (and NRSV) further subdivides ch. 4 into three literary units whose subjects follow one another in logical order: Abraham's righteousness was not received by works (4:1-8), Abraham's righteousness was received through faith (4:9-20), and we can receive righteousness through faith in Jesus' resurrection (4:21-31). (7)
Several factors tie together the two sub-units of Section VI:
1. The close relationship between faith and grace is stressed in 3:22-24; 4:4-5; and 4:16.
2. Boda identifies 3:24-26a and 4:25 as two of seven confessional formulas in Romans concerning the significance of Christ's death.
3. The word “boast” appears in 3:27 and 4:2.
4. Jews are called “the circumcised” in 3:30; 4:9,12.
Section VI' (Rom. 9-11)
This section stands out within the book so much that it has been rejected by some as a non-Pauline interpolation and felt by others to constitute the central teaching of the epistle. “It is mainly in chapters ix-xi that God’s sovereignty comes into focus.” (Guthrie) As an inclusio for this whole section is the emphasis on God’s irrevocable gifts in 9:4-5a and 11:29 and the only use of the word “covenant” in the book, at 9:4 and 11:27. There is a similar function to the unusually positioned doxology of 9:5b acting in conjunction with its twin passage at the end of ch. 11 (v. 36). An approximate inclusio is also formed by the only two appearances of Jacob in the epistle (9:13 and 11:26).
The openings of chs. 9 and 10 are signaled by an address to the “brothers.” As Kasemann notes, the beginning of ch. 10 references the opening of ch. 9, and the opening words of ch. 11 look back to all of chs. 9-10. Common language found in these three chapters includes the repeated use of “saved,” “stumble,” “election,” “provoke” and “show mercy”; quotation of Isaiah 28:16 (at 9:33 and 10:11); and references to a remnant in 9:27 and 11:5. Silva notes that there are exactly four quotations from the Book of Isaiah in each of the three chapters in this section.
Sections VI (Rom. 2:25-4:25) and VI' (Rom. 9-11)
These separated literary units contain more parallels than any other coupled sections in the epistle. Concerning Romans 3:21-4:25 and 10:1-13, Cosgrove notes that “For Paul, the law's authority as a rule for righteousness has terminated in Christ. Both VI and VI' are characterized by the use of rhetorical questions and quotations from Scripture. As an inclusio to these paired sections is “the continuing validity of God’s special relationship to the Jews” as the theme of 3:1-2 and 11:29. Also, Morris observes that chs. 9-11 in effect answer the questions posed in 3:1. The complementary concepts that (a) not all ethnic Jews are true Jews while (b) some Gentiles are children of Abraham are found near the beginning of these respective sections (2:28-29; 9:6, 24-31). An additional similarity is seen in references to dissensions in 3:1-4:1; 9:31-32; and 11:11.
Emphasis of Overall Structure
As Brown has aptly noted, “Because scholars are convinced that Rom[ans] was carefully planned, a diagnosis of its structure is sometimes equivalent to a diagnosis of its theology.” Such a diagnosis can certainly help resolve the discrepancies between those who have proposed various candidates for the key theme of the epistle. After considering the many possibilities, Dunn concludes that “no single suggested reason on its own can explain the full sweep of the document.”
Closely related to the question of theme is that of the key verse(s) in the epistle. In one sense, the fourteen-part chiasm of Fig. 1 has no true center and therefore the opening and closing sections are invested with a great rhetorical importance. Morris states, “Nowhere is Paul’s ability to use the framework more apparent than in Romans.” In another sense, the combined center section VII-VII' can be viewed as the heart of the epistle and thus its conclusion (Romans 8:31-39) may represent the culmination of Paul’s thoughts. It is perhaps no coincidence that the key word “elect” appears in Romans only in these central verses and in the conclusion to the letter (8:33; 16:13).
Few scholars would disagree with the importance of Romans 8:31-39, not only within the context of this epistle but to the whole Bible:
a. Ryken points to these verses as a prime illustration of “Paul’s skill at writing a magnificent conclusion” ending “a long theological discussion about justification.” It is interesting that this takes the form of a paean to Christ’s love for us.
b. Doty marvels at this passage with its “ascent from climax to climax with unrivaled variety.”
c. Stott calls the conclusion “unsurpassed in grandeur, that the purposes of God are invincible and that the people of God are therefore absolutely and eternally secure.” Here “the apostle rises to sublime heights unequaled anywhere in the New Testament.”
d. “...one of the most wonderful parts of a wonderful epistle.” (Morris)
e. “It has always been felt that Paul’s fervor finds strongest expression in these verses.” (Kasemann)
Another view of the structure of Romans is as two halves with the change point between chs. 6 and 7. If so, then it would certainly explain the unusual observations that (a) the audience is addressed as “brothers” in 7:1 for the first time since the beginning of the epistle, (b) “slave” occurs in Romans only at 1:1 and within the closing verses of ch. 6, as a sort of inclusio for the first half of the epistle, (c) “deceive” appears in the letter only near the start (7:11) and end (16:18) of the second half, and (d) there is an emphasis on the revealed “teachings” at 6:17 and 16:17.
Most importantly, the concluding words of Romans 6 can now be seen as extremely pertinent in summarizing the main points of the first half of the epistle and preparing for the emphasis of the second half as well:
“ But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the return you get is sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 6:22-23
These verses certainly deserve strong consideration to vie with 1:16-17 as the prime thematic statement in the book.
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