Romans 1:4

Romans 1:4, in plain English

But Jesus is also God's Son, and His resurrection from the dead is the ultimate proof of His divine power and authority.

Why it's here

Paul is being both/and, not either/or. Jesus was fully human (verse 3), but He was also fully divine, and the resurrection was the moment that power became undeniable and public. For the Roman church facing skepticism, this mattered enormously.

Who's speaking

Paul

Where it sits in the story

The resurrection is the turning point of human history in Paul's understanding. It's not just that Jesus died for our sins—it's that death couldn't hold Him. That's the foundation everything else rests on.

The scholarly reading

Jesus was vindicated and designated as God's Son through His resurrection by the Holy Spirit, demonstrating divine power.

Language and setting

Here Paul employs the term 'declared' (horisthentos—literally 'marked off' or 'defined'), suggesting that the resurrection publicly revealed what was true about Jesus's identity. The phrase 'Spirit of holiness' (pneuma hagiosunes) is theologically dense: it emphasizes the eschatological work of the Spirit in inaugurating the age to come. For Paul's Roman audience, many of whom had witnessed or heard about Jesus's crucifixion, the resurrection represented not defeat but vindication. Calvin and later Protestant commentators stressed that this verse does not imply Jesus became God's Son at the resurrection, but rather that His divine sonship was publicly confirmed through it.

Voice

Paul, establishing the theological significance of Christ's resurrection.

Significance

The resurrection is the pivot point of Christian history: it reverses the shame of the cross, validates Jesus's claims, and inaugurates the new creation. This event stands as the first-fruits of the eschatological harvest, guaranteeing that death itself has been defeated and that believers will participate in resurrection power. The Spirit's role in raising Jesus prefigures the Spirit's future work in raising believers.

2the gospel He promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures,

3regarding His Son, who was a descendant of David according to the flesh,

4and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.

5Through Him and on behalf of His name, we received grace and apostleship to call all those among the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.

6And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

Read all of Romans 1 — Paul's masterpiece — the most systematic explanation of the Christian faith ever written. Dense, brilliant, and life-changing from first verse to last.