Some letters do not bring good news. If you get a letter from the magistrate you might be a little apprehensive in opening it. Perhaps it will tell you that your presence is required to appear in court on a certain date due to some violation of the law. The Romans might have asked themselves, “What reason might an apostle be writing to us? Have we done something wrong? Are we in trouble?” However, as soon as they read the verses before us today, they fears would have been relieved.

This letter is truly the most important piece in the New Testament. It is purest Gospel. It is well worth a Christian's while not only to memorize it word for word but also to occupy himself with it daily, as though it were the daily bread of the soul. It is impossible to read or to meditate on this letter too much or too well. The more one deals with it, the more precious it becomes and the better it tastes. Paul teaches the right way to be saved; he says that we're all sinners, unable to glory in God. We must be justified through faith in Christ, who has merited this for us by his blood and forgives us all our previous sins. We find in this letter, then, the richest possible teaching about what a Christian should know: the meaning of law, Gospel, sin, punishment, grace, faith, justice, Christ, God, good works, love, hope and the cross. Paul bases everything firmly on Scripture and proves his points with examples from his own experience and from the Prophets. Paul, in writing this letter, wanted to compose a summary of the whole of Christian and evangelical teaching.

(Martin Luther, Preface to Romans)