Romans
Sunday School 2015
FBC Dadeville Romans
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Lesson 1
For Your Personal Reading
Book & Commentary Resources
What is it about Romans that has proved so life-changing and history-shaping? It is
because Romans is about the gospel. (Tim Keller Romans 1-7 For You)
And the theme, Paul lets us know at once, is the gospel of God. He tells us that in the
very first verse. That is what he is going to write about. And so he introduces himself; he sends
his greetings, etc.; he thanks God for them, and so forth, and then he says, “I am going to write
to you about the gospel of God.” What then is this gospel of God? Well, he begins to tell us in
the 16th verse of the first chapter, and I would put it to you that from the 16th verse of the first
chapter to the end of the fourth chapter he is beginning to elaborate this great theme of his
about the gospel of God, and especially in terms of justification by faith only. (Martyn LloydJones Romans)
I labored diligently and anxiously as to how to understand Paul’s word … the expression
“the righteousness of God” blocked the way, because I took it to mean that righteousness
whereby God is righteous and deals righteously in punishing the unrighteous. Although an
impeccable monk, I stood before God as a sinner … therefore I did not love a righteous and
angry God, but rather hated and murmured against him…
Then I grasped that the righteousness of God is that righteousness by which through grace and
sheer mercy God justifies us by faith. Thereupon I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone
through open doors into paradise … I broke through. And as I had formerly hated the
expression “the righteousness of God,” I now began to regard it as my dearest and most
comforting word. (Martin Luther Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans)
(Paul’s) goal is to unify the Roman Church and rally them around his gospel so that they
will help him to bring the gospel to Spain. (Thomas Schreiner Romans)
What, then, is the theme of the letter? The gospel. (Douglas Moo The Epistle to the
Romans)
Pray this Prayer
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Pray that the Lord would give you spiritual eyes to see Christ in His word as you study.
Pray that the Lord would help you see areas in your own life for repentance. Pray that the Lord
would make you sensitive to life struggles of the people in your class as you study.
Personal Study
History
What is it about Romans that has proved so life-changing and history-shaping? It is
because Romans is about the gospel. Paul was writing to the church in Rome in about AD57
because he wanted them first to understand the gospel, and then to experience the gospel—to
know its glorious release. He was likely writing to them during his third missionary journey,
quite possibly from Corinth, Greece. They were Christians he had never met, though he hoped
to do so soon. They seem to have been a church suffering from tensions between Jewish
Christians and Gentile Christians. But though Paul did not have first-hand knowledge of them,
he knew what it was they most needed to hear—the gospel.
The Roman Church was probably started by Jewish Christians returning to Rome after
responding in faith to the message of Peter at Pentecost. But a few years later, all the Jews
were expelled from Rome in AD49. They were expelled, most likely, as a result of conflict
between Jews and Jewish Christians over the message of the gospel. During this time the
Gentiles became the obvious majority in the church. When the Jewish Christians returned to
Rome in AD54, “the social distance between Jews (Jewish Christians in the church) and Gentiles
(Gentile Christians in the church) had increased, and the latter were much less inclined to
adhere to segments of the law that the Jews still practiced (viz., food laws and observance of
Sabbath). The differences of opinion between Jews and Gentiles are reflected in 14:1-15:3.”
Paul wants the Jews and Gentiles to be unified, so that they can support him in his
mission to Spain. The letter to the Romans is like a missionary support letter. “Paul alludes to
his hopes for such support in 15:24, using the verb propempo, which connotes ‘help on the way
with material support.’ We may, then, view Romans as Paul’s “letter of introduction” to a
church that he hopes to add to his list of ‘sponsors.’ This would explain the general theological
focus of the letter, for Paul would want to assure the Romans that they would be sponsoring a
missionary whose orthodoxy was without question.” (Tim Keller, Romans 1-7 For You; Thomas
Schreiner Romans; Douglas Moo The Epistle to the Romans)
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Literary Outline
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
The Letter Opening (5:1-17)
The Heart of the Gospel: Justification by Faith (1:18-4:25)
The Assurance Provided by the Gospel: The Hope of Salvation (5:1-8:39)
The Defense of the Gospel: The Problem of Israel (9:1-11:36)
The Transforming Power of the Gospel: Christian Conduct (12:1-15:13)
The Letter Closing (15:14-16:27)
(Douglas Moo, The Epistle to the Romans)
Literary Summary
What, then, is the theme of the letter? The gospel. The word “gospel” and the cognate
verb “evangelize” are particularly prominent in the introduction (cf. 1:1, 2, 9, 15) and
conclusion (15:16, 19) of Romans—its epistolary “frame.” And this is the word that has pride of
place in Paul’s statement of the theme of the letter: 1:16-17. “For I am not ashamed of the
gospel….” True, Paul goes on to speak of the interplay of salvation, the interplay between Jew
and Gentile, and justification by faith; and each has been advanced as the theme of the letter.
But they are all elaborations of the main topic of these verses, the gospel.
Everything else flows from this gospel theme. In the first two chapters, Paul shows that
everyone needs it. In chapters three and four, Paul demonstrates that the gospel consists of
being made right with God through the substitute sacrifice of Jesus to be received by faith
alone. In chapters five through eight, Paul explains the encouragement and hope we have in
the gospel. In nine through eleven, Paul defends the gospel plan of God by highlighting God’s
sovereignty. In twelve through fifteen, Paul demonstrates the transforming power of the
gospel in everyday situations. The gospel is the focus of Romans. (Douglas Moo, The Epistle to
the Romans).
Christ
Jesus is the center of the gospel. He is the active agent of the gospel as well as the goal
of the gospel. He saved us to bring us into fellowship with him. We are not only forgiven and
declared righteous by God because of Jesus, but we are also transformed through the life of
Jesus as we are united by faith. Our only hope is Christ. He is our life.
Application
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We all have different gospels that control our lives. For the majority of people, they are
the good news of their lives. Life revolves around them. They hope in their abilities. They
defend their actions, and they expose others’ faults to feel better about themselves. They
surround themselves with people that affirm their gospel. They are bitter towards anyone who
questions their good news. They order their life and place their hope in the sovereign “me.”
The good news of Jesus Christ is only good news if we embrace our inability. The
amazing thing about this good news is that if we humble ourselves before Jesus, his good news
will impact every area of our lives. It impacts our times of insecurity, dysfunctional
relationships, marriages, parenting skills, work, thoughts, motivations, desires, and actions. The
gospel is not just a message about going to heaven. The gospel is a different way of living life.
It is a worldview-transforming message. In essence, the gospel is a person, the Lord Jesus
Christ.
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Overview
Passage
Summary of Romans
Main Point
The gospel is the power of God for all who believe.
Bible Study Meets Life
The gospel impacts our standing before God, relationships with family and
friends, work, marriages, and parenting. Because of sin, we need power. It only
comes from the gospel to those who believe.
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Lesson
Tell the Main Point
The gospel is the power of God for all who believe.
Read Romans 1:16-17
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who
believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed
from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
Read Romans 3:21-22
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law
and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for
all who believe.
Tell the Sub-Points (Say that this sub-point explains the main point)
1. The gospel is the power of God for all who believe thus making us right with
God.
Read the Bible Questions (Give time for class to answer)
1. What does the word gospel mean? (It means good news. It is the good news
that Jesus Christ came to rescue us from our sin by becoming a man, living a
perfect life of obedience to the Father, suffering and dying on the cross as
our substitute sacrifice to take away the wrath of God, and being raised on
the third day in victory over sin and death.)
2. What does it mean to be made right with God? (We are declared right with
God by faith in Jesus Christ. We are forgiven of our sins and declared
righteous based solely on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.)
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Read the Illustration
Imagine you are in a courtroom where a judge sits in his official seat and rules
with authority on your case. He sees the evidence before him, and it is obvious
that you are guilty. You cannot think of any way out of jail time. Then in a twist
of events, the judge gives the verdict of “not guilty.” You are stunned. The court
must be corrupt. Someone must have come through for you and paid him off.
You then find out that someone else has decided to pay the penalty for you. You
are set free based on their perfect record, and they are punished based on your
guilty record. You will never forget this experience.
This example comes close to describing the concept of justification, being made
right with God. We deserve guilt but God declares us not guilty. We are not
truly righteous, just living with the identity of another.
Read the Life Questions (Give time for class to answer)
1. When a man gets defensive for being criticized for the quality of work at his
job, how is he demonstrating that he is not living according to the justified
work of Christ?
2. You notice that your child always feels the need to brag on herself to others.
You observe that she struggles to make friends because of her constant
insecurities. How can you gently but clearly communicate the need for her
to embrace the righteousness of Christ? Why would this help her problem?
Read Romans 5:1-2
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we
stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Tell the Sub-Points (Say that the point explains the main point)
1. The gospel is the power of God for all who believe thus giving us hope for
God’s grace in our lives.
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Read the Bible Questions (Give time for class to answer)
1. What are some blessings from Romans 5-8 that the Lord has given us so that
we could have hope? (Union with Christ, the Holy Spirit, etc.)
2. What is the “hope of the glory of God”? (It is God being glorified in our
glorification. When we are changed by God’s grace into his likeness, God will
get the glory from his persevering grace and our perfect reflections that
continually radiate his glory back to Him.)
Read the Illustration
Think about a child learning to swim in the deep end for the first time. They are
filled with fear as they jump in and begin to struggle to make the strokes to stay
afloat. What is it that keeps them trying even when it is hard and they may not
be able to make it all the way across? They continue to try because they know
their parent is there to catch them when they fall, and to continue to encourage
and teach them until they get it. Ultimately, the parent knows their child will be
successful because they will not let the child they care for fail, they will never
leave them alone.
Many times in the Christian life we can begin to question whether there is power
in the gospel to change our sin addictions. We fail over and over and begin to
wonder whether we have truly been justified. God has not left us alone. He has
given us his presence. Our hope lies in his ability not ours.
Read the Life Questions (Give time for class to answer)
1. You have hidden a pornography problem for a long time. One day you come
to the conclusion that you are finished with this struggle. You make it six
months and then you lose your job. Before you know it, you have fallen back
into porn again. How can you find hope when your life seems so hopeless?
2. You try diet after diet, but nothing seems to last. You laugh with others, but
you really are disgusted with yourself that you do not have better discipline
over your body. It seems like understanding Christ’s unconditional love for
you would give you reason to stop trying, but why does the opposite happen
when we truly understand the love of Christ?
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Read Romans 9:1-6
I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy
Spirit— that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I
myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen
according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the
covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs,
and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever.
Amen.
But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel
belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham …
Tell the Sub-Points (Say that the sub-point explains the main point)
The Gospel is the power of God for all who believe thus proving that God’s plan
has not failed.
Read the Bible Questions (Give time for class to answer)
1. Why is God’s election such a difficult topic for people? (Some people feel like
it is an uncaring view of God. It is a biblical concept, so we must learn what
the Bible says about it.)
2. What is election? (Its means to choose something. It is God’s sovereign
choice of individual’s for eternal life.)
Read the Illustration
A man had a son. The dad wanted to spend time with his teenage son, but the
boy never wanted to have anything to do with his dad. One day the dad decided
to ask the boy’s friend to play golf with the dad. The man and the boy’s friend
became good golfing buddies. The son started to take notice. At first, the boy
ignored it, but it began to make him a little jealous that his friend was having fun
with his dad. The boy decided one day that he would ask his dad to play golf.
Many in the first century Christian community were wondering how God’s gospel
plan could be faithful with all that God promised in the Old Testament scriptures.
The Jews were God’s chosen people. How could God turn his back on his people
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and turn to other people groups. God’s plan was to make his chosen people
jealous, so that they would turn back to Him. The glory of the gentiles will be the
glory of the Jews.
Read the Life Questions (Give time for class to answer)
1. Many Christians waste time arguing about who God has chosen, but they
never spend time thanking God for his choice of them. How do our
questions really reveal our inflated sense of worth and entitlement attitude?
2. If the center of God’s gospel plan is taking the good news to the people
groups of the world, how does that change how we approach missions as a
church?
Read Romans 12:1-2
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living
sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to
this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern
what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Tell the Sub-Points (Say that the sub-point explains the main point)
The Gospel is the power of God for all who believe thus transforming every
aspect of our lives.
Read the Bible Questions (Give time for class to answer)
1. In chapter 12, Paul transitions from proclaiming the glories of the gospel to
giving practical commands on everyday living. Why is it important to give the
truth of gospel grace before demanding the obedience of the faith? (The
gospel is our hope and motivation. The gospel gives us power to obey.
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Romans is similar to other New Testament letters of Paul, where he gives the
good news of the gospel and follows with the implications of obedience.)
2. It is probable that part of the problem with the Roman Church was infighting
between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians. In light of the gospel, why
is there such a need for unity within the church?
Read the Illustration
When choosing a college to go to, you want to go somewhere that has a good
reputation for the field you are studying. You want professors that are cutting
edge in their information. But if you are deciding between two schools with
equal reputation and academics, you always choose the school where the
professors have practical experience. Its always better to learn from someone
with everyday experience instead of theorists.
In the same way, Christians are called to have more than knowledge of the
gospel. If we can explain all the theology books but cannot give personal
testimony to the power of the gospel, then our faith is worthless. A theorist in
the Christian life is a person who likes to hear themselves talk. A person who
loves Jesus will not only know the truth but will live it.
Read the Life Questions (Give time for class to answer)
1. Your boss seems to be incompetent in much of his job responsibilities. You
continually join in with your coworkers when they make fun. When doing
this, how are you making a false profession of the power of the gospel when
you disrespect your boss?
2. You work for a company that is responsible for checking the quality of the
food in restaurants. You accidently forgot to check the cleanliness of one of
the restaurants on your list. The figures are do at the main office, so your
boss tells you to make up a typical number. Your initial response is to do
what your boss says, but you know it is wrong. You also don’t want to cause
problems over something that is not a big deal. What do you do? How does
your answer impact more than just you as an employee of the company but
as a member of the gospel community?
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Read the Gospel Response
Though we typically think of the gospel as relevant for being forgiven of our sin,
in the letter to the Romans we realize the pervasive impact of the gospel in all
areas of life. The gospel makes us right with God, gives us hope when sin seems
unbearable, confirms the sovereign plan of God, and transforms every aspect of
our lives. The gospel in truly an amazing message. The Father has blessed us
through his Son and by his Spirit when we receive by faith, the gospel.
Pray the Gospel Prayer (This is just a guide. You can pray this prayer or one
of your own.)
Thank you, Father, for your gracious provision of Jesus. Thank you that you
forgive me and judge me righteous through faith in Jesus. Help me not to
perform. Help me to adore Christ and what he has done for me instead of
desiring the praises of other people. Give me a great vision of who you truly are
so that I do not fall into the trap of performing for your blessing. Help me to
obey you and live the kingdom life for you and for others. In Jesus’ name I pray,
Amen.