1Romans was written to deal with the particular historical problem of the relations between Jewish and Gentile Christians in Rome. The function of Paul's gospel was to unify these two, while its content was a theology that placed Jew and Gentile on an equal footing, both in their sin and in their salvation. Sometimes a modern situation corresponds to Paul's original one. In such a case, Romans speaks directly. Most of the time, modern situations are different from those in Paul's time. Romans still speaks. Although the content of Romans was elaborated in a particular cultural context, its applicability goes far beyond the original milieu, as Christian history has amply demonstrated. Distinguished biblical scholar Charles Talbert's Romans leads readers into the biblical world of Paul's Letter to the Romans, while at the same time it seeks to open our ears to the lasting truth of God's word for today.