Paul’s dominant concern in Romans is salvation—God’s reconcili­ation of the world through the cross of Jesus Christ. In Christ, God is working to reconcile all people to himself, to reconcile people to one another, and to redeem the created order from the evil forces of sin, death, and decay. Paul’s concern is not abstract but practical. His aim is to heal the divisions among Christians in Rome and to enable them to work together to accomplish God’s will for their lives and work.

In this setting, Paul shows how salvation comes to us as a free gift bought by God’s faithfulness in the cross of Christ and by God’s grace in bringing us to faith in Christ. In no way does this free gift imply that God does not care about the work we do and the way we work. Instead, Paul shows how receiving God’s grace transforms both the work we do and the way we do it. Although we don’t work to earn salvation, as God is saving us, he gives us the amazing diversity of gifts needed to serve one another and build up our communities. As a result, we walk in a new way of life, bringing life in Christ to those around us and, in God’s time, to the fullness of creation.