What was Paul’s purpose for writing Romans? What was the pleasues
soughted? What principles stressed? What are the potential for today?

Most commentators believe that with Romans, although the
letter is addressed to the church in Rome, it is a general epistle. In
other words, the letter was intended all along to be a letter to all the
churches. To make a distinction, consider the book of First
Corinthians. This book was definitely addressed to the church in
Corinth. It addressed specific needs and problems in Corinth. The same
could be said for Galatians and other of Paul’s letters. By contrast,
there does not seem to be any content in Romans (other than the final
salutations), in the book of Romans which is specific to the needs in Rome.

Therefore, in deciding the purpose of the book, one should
recognize that the letter is essentially intended for the church in
general. The specific purpose of the letter was to describe the doctrine
of salvation through the death of Jesus and through faith in the blood of
Jesus. To quote Paul, “The righteous shall live by faith.” (Romans
1:17). “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and
are justified greely by his grace through the redemption that came by
Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through
faith in his blood.” (Romans 3:23,24). “But God demonstrates his own love
for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans
5:8). Paul goes on at length about the role of faith in salvation and
about the necessity of the blood of Jesus, apart from our own righteous
acts for salvation. Human effort is not the key, but God’s sovereign
choice, as is stressed in chapters 8-9.

I am afraid I do not understand the second question, “What
was the pleasues soughted?” Perhaps you can ask again, making yourself
more clear You must have made a spelling error.

On the third question, “What principles are stressed?” I would
repeat the answer to my first question. The principles stressed are
righteousness through faith in the blood of Jesus. The last several
chapters in Romans are practical applications of this teaching on
righteousness. This is a pattern for Paul. In several of his letters he
presents a deep theological truth, followed by practical applications. In
Romans, the practical applications are living a sacrificial life (12:1-8),
loving one another in practical ways (12:9-21) and submitting to one
another in love (13-15:13).

What are the potential for today? I am afraid I also do not
understand this question. Perhaps you mean , “What are the practical
applications for today?” I would say that the practical applications are
found principally in chapters 12-15. Because of the love and sacrifice of
Jesus, we ought to live sacrificial lives as well (Ch 12), devoting our
talents and energy to serve one another (also Ch 12) and finding ways to
use love to make a difference in this world (also Ch 12). Chapters 13-15
are all about submitting our will and desire to the authorities of our
society and to the needs, both practical and spiritual of our brothers and
sisters and of others as well.

Feel free to clarify the two questions I could not understand
if you like.

John Oakes