If you read Romans from beginning to end, you get the impression that the apostle Paul could have been the one who coined the phrase, “Tell them what you’re going to say, say it, and then tell them what you said.”
What I mean by that is, if you notice the vocabulary of the very first paragraph of Paul’s letter to the Romans you will see that it is strikingly similar to the vocabulary of the very last paragraph in the letter. That’s the “Tell them what you’re going to say,” and the “tell them what you said” portion of that saying.
For instance, look below at the similarities in the vocabulary of the first and last paragraphs of the Romans letter.
One could say that the mirrored paragraphs are just an incidental coincidental fundamental of Paul’s writing. Perhaps, it could be. But one could also say, perhaps it's intentional.
Because Romans begins as Romans ends, I tend to think that because it’s identical, perhaps it is intentional. Paul seems to begin with the end in mind. At the beginning of the letter he “tells them what he’s going to say,” and then at the end of the letter he “tells them what he said”.
In fact, the apostle Paul, in most of his writings, uses the first paragraph of his letters to not only introduce himself to his readers, but also to introduce his topic for writing. He usually gives a brief initial sentence that serves as an outline for what he will spend his time on in the chapters ahead as well as introducing himself to his readers.
For instance, the opening sentence in the Galatian letter, Paul uses his first sentence to introduce himself to his readers and then to also provide a skeleton of the contents of his letter. He says in Galatians 1:1,
“Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead…”
In the first sentence Paul identifies himself as “Paul.”
But he doesn’t stop there, he goes on to use that introductory sentence to lay out a foundational premise that he will spend the rest of the letter defending, i.e. his genuine apostleship from Jesus, and no one else but Jesus. Notice how he lays out his topic initially, that he uses to further identify and defend himself,
“an apostle, not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead…”
All of those qualifiers, (apostle, not from men, nor through man, through Jesus) become the main thrust of his letter as he defends the authority of his apostleship based on the resurrected-Jesus’-commission given to him on the Damascus road. Paul begins Galatians by telling his readers in the first paragraph what he is going to say, then he goes on to say it in the remainder of the letter. Then he closes his letter in 6:17 with what amounts to be no greater authentication of a genuine apostle of Jesus: bearing the marks of Jesus on his body. For Paul, that authentication is enough to end all arguments!
"From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus."
With Romans, Paul is no different. In Romans 1:1-6, Paul introduces his topic in the very first paragraph which becomes the focus of his discussion throughout the rest of his letter. The first six verses are as follows:
“Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations…”
First off, Paul identifies himself using his name, Paul. Then he further identifies himself in a very unique way, using verbiage that orients the reader in the direction of the Damascus road. It is common knowledge that Saul of Tarsus had a very eventful Damascus road experience that radically altered his perception of the Messiah and his understanding of the Scriptures, which additionally resulted in a radically altered perception of himself as well.
If the vocabulary that Jesus used in conversation with Paul in the Damascus road accounts, (Acts 9, 24, 26 and Gal 2), is compared to how Paul identifies himself here in the very first verse of Romans, it is easy to see that Paul is using the very same ideas and vocabulary expressed to him by Jesus in those accounts. It was there on the Damascus road that Saul came face to face with the resurrected Jesus of Nazareth and had his eyes opened to the reality that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the Messiah/Christ who had long been promised beforehand through the prophets in the holy Scriptures that he had so thoroughly studied since he was a young boy. In this realization, Saul no longer viewed himself as being a servant of the Law, but instead of the One who had come as the fulfillment of the law. His understanding of those holy Scriptures had been so radically altered that they had actually come to fruition in the person of Jesus. As a result, he had now become a servant of Messiah/Christ Jesus.
It was also there on that dusty road that Saul understood that it was specifically Jesus who set him apart for the gospel. In acts 9, Jesus, in a vision to Ananias, tells him, “Go, for he (Paul) is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.”
The word “gospel is never used this early in church history, as recorded in the book of Acts, to convey the message of/about Jesus, but the phrase “carrying my name before the Gentiles” is, in essence, the very definition of the Old Testament term “gospel.” It was this gospel of God...the message of the One promised beforehand, the One promised through the prophets, and the One of whom is written in the holy Scriptures, the One concerning God’s Son, Jesus Christ our Lord...that Paul lays out here in the first paragraph of his letter and which becomes the focus of the remainder of his letter.
It was also there on that dusty road that Saul understood that it was specifically Jesus who called him and sent him to the Gentiles “to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me” (Acts 9:17-18) Paul himself says that God “was pleased to reveal his Son to (or more literally "in") me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles” (Galatians 2:16) and “to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations/Gentiles…”
No longer did Saul march under the authority of the Sanhedrin, having been sent by them from Jerusalem to apprehend followers of The Way, and to imprison them even from foreign cities. The power God displayed in the resurrection of Jesus, which Paul came to understand on the Damascus road, declared to Saul that Jesus was indeed the Son of God, the long awaited Messiah, and now he marched under the authority of this resurrected Jesus, as one sent to the Gentiles to eagerly preach the Gospel concerning God’s Son.
That is the way Romans begins.
Romans end the same way.
Romans 16:20 ends the letter as follows:
“Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ!” (Romans 16:25-27)
Paul ends the letter to the Romans with another reference to his dramatic Damascus road experience. In reference to what Saul had said earlier, that God was pleased to reveal his Son to (or more literally "in") him there, he now says that the mystery that was kept secret for long ages, had now been revealed to (or more literally "in") him before his eyes on that dusty road as a new understanding of the prophetic writings. Those writings declared to him that the resurrected Jesus of Nazareth was the long awaited Messiah. It is this gospel message that Paul has been sent to preach and make known to all the nations/Gentiles, in order to bring all nations to obedience of faith, and with which Paul ends his letter.
So, Romans ends as Romans began. A mirrored beginning and end? Incidental coincidental fundamental of Paul’s writing? Perhaps, it could be accidental. But one could also say perhaps it is an transcendental intentional identical fundamental of his writing.
Perhaps...because not only does chapter 16 mirror the first paragraph in chapter 1, but also because chapter 15 demonstrates a striking similarity to the first paragraph. If we look closely at the penultimate chapter of Romans, a comparison of vocabulary between chapter 1 and chapter 15, we see they also are mirrored as 1 and 16 are mirrored and both, as well, are almost identical to chapter 16. So, perhaps we have a trifecta of an transcendental intentional identical fundamental of Paul’s writings?
Perhaps Paul chose this literary device on purpose in order to clearly demonstrate the emphasis and/or the focus of his letter. Perhaps he did not want his readers to miss the point…His point being…
....that the gospel of God, hidden for ages, and although written long ago in the holy Scriptures is now revealed among the Gentiles (specifically to/in Paul to be preached to the Gentiles) in order to bring them to the obedience of faith through the preaching of the resurrected Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. This is now a portion of the “say it” portion of the “Tell them what you’re going to say, say it, and then tell them what you said” phrase.
The chart below now includes the words all three chapters have in common which speak to the same identical topic; i.e. the gospel promised beforehand through the prophets and written in scripture long ago is now being preached among the Gentiles as the power of God who resurrected the Jesus of Nazareth and through the work of the Holy Spirit, revealed him to be the Messiah to the nations/Gentiles in order to bring about their obedience of faith to the glory of God.
So Paul has told them what he was going to say. He said it, and then he told them what he said.
It is those common words that are at the core of his topic that Paul communicates to “all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints.”
And with that common topic in all three chapters identical, I will make the end of this blog intentional.
In my next blog, with this core topic in mind, we will look at Romans 1:8-17 to understand "How Eager Am I to Visit? Let Me Count the Ways"
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