The Book of
Romans
Lesson One
Exploring the Riches of Romans
Augustine – 386 AD
Romans 13:13-14
“13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime,
not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual
immorality and debauchery, not in
dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe
yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and
do not think about how to gratify the desires
of the sinful nature.”
Augustine
“No further would I
read, nor had I any
need; instantly, at
the end of this
sentence, a clear
light flooded my
heart and all the
darkness of doubt
vanished away.”
Martin Luther
“I greatly longed to understand Paul’s
Epistle to the Romans, and nothing stood in
the way but that one expression, ‘the
righteousness of God,’ because I took it to
mean that righteousness whereby God is
righteous and deals righteously in punishing
the unrighteous … Night and day I
pondered until … I grasped the truth that
the righteousness of God is that
righteousness whereby, through grace and
sheer mercy, he justifies us by faith.
Martin Luther
Thereupon I felt myself to be reborn and to
have gone through open doors into paradise.
The whole of Scripture took on a new
meaning, and whereas before ‘the
righteousness of God’ had filled me with
hate, now it became to me inexpressibly
sweet in greater love. This passage of Paul
became to me a gateway to heaven.”
John Wesley
“… went very unwillingly to a society in
Aldersgate Street, where one was reading
Luther’s Preface to the Epistle to the Romans
… About a quarter before nine while he was
describing the change which God works in the
heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart
strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ,
Christ alone, for my salvation; and an
assurance was given me that He had taken my
sins away, even mine; and saved me from the
law of sin and death.”
Karl Barth
Paul’s words had a
powerful impact upon
Barth, and his
exposition, we are told
by Dr. Karl Adam; fell
“like a bombshell on
the theologian’s
playground.”
Martin Luther
“This Epistle is the chief book of the New
Testament, the purest gospel. It deserves not
only to be known word for word by every
Christian, but to be the subject of his
meditation day by day, the daily bread of his
soul … The more time one spends in it, the
more precious it becomes and the better it
appears.” He spoke of it as “a light and way
into the whole Scriptures …”
John Calvin said of it “when any one
understands this Epistle, he has a passage
opened to him to the understanding of the
whole Scriptures.”
Coleridge pronounced Romans “the most
profound work ever written!”
Meyer considered it “the greatest and richest
of all the apostolic works.”
Godet referred to it as “the cathedral of the
Christian faith.”
Gordon H. Clark recently wrote of Romans
that it is “the most profound of all the
epistles, and perhaps the most important
book in the Bible …”
Hamilton, in his recent commentary on
Romans, calls it “the greatest book in the
Bible.”
A Personal Challenge
• First, pray that God would use this book in your life,
in a powerful way. Expect God to speak to you, and
pray that He will.
• Second, set some specific goals for your own study.
Determine when and how you will study Romans
during the week.
• Third, follow through with your study of the Book of
Romans. I am convinced that those whose lives were
transformed were those who worked hard at studying
Romans. Don’t expect God to transform your life
apart from your own thorough search of these
Scriptures.
Proverbs 2:1-5
1 My son, if you accept My words and store
up My commands within you, 2 turning
your ear to wisdom and applying your heart
to understanding, 3 and if you call out for
insight and cry aloud for understanding,
4 and if you look for it as for silver and
search for it as for hidden treasure, 5 then
you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.
The Relationship Between Paul
and the Church at Rome
No one actually knows when the church of
Rome was founded or by whom.
We do know that at the time of Paul’s writing,
there was a church in Rome made up of
both Jews and Gentiles.
“First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ
for you all, because your faith is being
reported all over the world.” Romans 1:8
Paul had wanted to visit Rome and
the saints there, but up to this point
in time he had not been able to do so.
Romans 1:8-10
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all
of you, because your faith is being reported all
over the world. 9 God, whom I serve with my
whole heart in preaching the gospel of his Son, is
my witness how constantly I remember you 10 in
my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at
last by God’s will the way may be opened for me
to come to you.
Romans 1:11-15
11 I long to see you so that I may impart to you some
spiritual gift to make you strong— 12 that is, that you
and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s
faith. 13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers,
that I planned many times to come to you (but have
been prevented from doing so until now) in order that
I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had
among the other Gentiles. 14 I am obligated both to
Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the
foolish. 15 That is why I am so eager to preach the
gospel also to you who are at Rome.
Romans 15:22-25
22 This is why I have often been hindered
from coming to you. 23 But now that there
is no more place for me to work in these
regions, and since I have been longing for
many years to see you, 24 I plan to do so
when I go to Spain. I hope to visit you while
passing through and to have you assist me
on my journey there, after I have enjoyed
your company for a while. 25 Now,
however, I am on my way to Jerusalem in
the service of the saints there.
Romans 15:26-29
26 For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to
make a contribution for the poor among the
saints in Jerusalem. 27 They were pleased to do
it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the
Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual
blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with
them their material blessings. 28 So after I
have completed this task and have made sure
that they have received this fruit, I will go to
Spain and visit you on the way. 29 I know that
when I come to you, I will come in the full
measure of the blessing of Christ.
Acts 18:1-2
1 After this, Paul left Athens and went to
Corinth. 2 There he met a Jew named
Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently
come from Italy with his wife Priscilla,
because Claudius had ordered all the Jews
to leave Rome. Paul went to see them.
Acts 28:14b-15
14b … And so we came to Rome. 15 The
brothers there had heard that we were
coming, and they traveled as far as the
Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns to
meet us. At the sight of these men Paul
thanked God and was encouraged.
The Time and Place
of the Writing of Romans
Paul’s comments in Romans 1:8-15 and
15:22-29, when compared to the events of
Acts 18:1-2 and 20:3, 6, 18, definitely point
to a time late in 57 or early 58 A.D.
The place of writing seems quite clearly to be
Corinth.
F.F. Bruce wrote,
“The copy which was taken to Rome was certainly
treasured in the church of that city, and survived the
persecution of AD 64. About AD 96 Clement, ‘foreign
secretary’ of the Roman church, shows himself well
acquainted with the Epistle to the Romans; he echoes
its language time and again in the letter which he sent
in that year on behalf of the Roman church to the
church in Corinth. The way in which he echoes its
language suggests that he knew it by heart; it could
well be that the Epistle was read regularly at meetings
of the Roman church from the time of its reception
onwards … From the beginning of the second century
Paul’s letters circulated as a collection—the corpus
Paulinum—and not singly.”
Tracing the Righteousness
of God Through
the Book of Romans
The predominant theme of the Book of
Romans is the righteousness of God.
Romans 1:1-15
Romans 1:16-17
First, the gospel is the “power of God for the
salvation” of both Jews and Gentiles.
Second, the gospel reveals the righteousness of
God.
The Righteousness of God
Revealing the Unrighteousness
Of Man
Romans 1:18 – 3:20
Paul’s purpose in this section is not only to demonstrate
man’s sin, and thus his need for a righteousness that is
of God, but to show us that man’s sin actually
demonstrates God’s righteousness.
This is precisely what Paul concludes in chapter 3:
“But if our unrighteousness brings out God’s
righteousness more clearly, what shall we say?”
(Romans 3:5a).
Two Major Thrusts
Self-indulgent Sinners – Chapter One
- those on and through whom the wrath
of God is presently being revealed
Self-righteous Sinners – Chapter Two
- those whose judgment is viewed as
future
God’s righteousness is demonstrated by
His judgment of sinners, sinners of either
kind—the self-indulgent or the selfrighteous.
God’s righteousness is seen not only in the fact
that He judges sinners, but also in that He
judges them impartially.
The righteousness of God requires His wrath
to be expressed toward unrighteousness.
The Jews prided themselves in their
privileged position and in their
possession of the Law, but they failed
to practice it.
Paul shows that possession of the Law
(symbolized by circumcision) was of no
value unless the Law was also practiced.
There is even greater condemnation for those
who have the greater revelation of the Law
and yet fail to meet its demands.
God’s Righteousness
God’s righteousness is revealed by the way
that He judges unrighteousness. God
condemns sinners without partiality.
He has no “favorites” whose sin He
overlooks. He judges men impartially
and righteously in that He judges men on
the basis of the revelation given to them.
First Question:
If the possession of the Law did not make the
Jew better than anyone else, “What
advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or
what value is there in circumcision?”
Paul’s answer was that while being a Jew did
not make one righteous, it did give one the
great privilege of being entrusted with
God’s Word.
Second Question:
Does man’s unbelief, man’s unfaithfulness to
God, reflect on God’s faithfulness to man?
If the revelation of God in nature and in the
Law has not made any man righteous, but
has only proven man to be unrighteous,
what does this say about God? Has God
failed?
Man’s failure has demonstrated the
righteousness of God.
Third Question:
Can God be righteous when He has created
men who are sinners, and when He has
provided a revelation which only seems to
produce unrighteousness rather than
righteousness? Has God’s purpose of
revealing His own righteousness by
demonstrating man’s unrighteousness
backfired, so that God is made to look evil?
Paul merely states that the
condemnation of such people is just.
Paul concludes…
…that Jews are no better than Gentiles and that both
are unrighteous, guilty before God. He draws together
a series of quotations from the Old Testament which
describe man’s fallen, sinful condition, a condition
which is universal and which is true of Jew and
Gentile alike.
The Law was given to those under the Law, not to make
them superior to those who did not have the Law, nor
to make them righteous, but to demonstrate their
unrighteousness. The Law reveals man’s need of
righteousness; it does not provide men with
righteousness. The Law is not the solution.
The Law is to salvation what an
x-ray is to a cure.
The Law reveals man’s problem:
He is unrighteous, under the wrath of a
righteous God.
Man’s unrighteousness demonstrates
God’s righteousness.
How, then, is man ever to
obtain righteousness?
The Righteousness of
God in Saving Unrighteous Men
If God was shown by Paul to be righteous by
His response to the unrighteousness (sin) of
men in judgment (1:18–3:20), He is now
shown to be righteous by His response to
man’s sin in providing salvation (3:21–5:21).
The righteousness God has provided is
that which Jesus Christ accomplished,
a righteousness based upon His
person and His work.
This righteousness is that which men
receive as a free gift, as a gift of grace,
and not as the result of human effort or
Law-keeping. Since this righteousness is
independent of man’s works, and since it
is offered to both Jews and Gentiles
alike, men have nothing to boast about
when they are declared righteous.
In
saving men in this way, the righteousness
of God is revealed, just as in His
condemnation of men.
Abraham
David
Circumcision
Righteousness
….living according to the standards of
God’s righteousness, as revealed in the
Law, is the result of faith and not the
result of works.
Works are the RESULT of
righteousness, not the cause.
The gospel…
…has not really changed from the Old
Testament to the New. This is why both
Jews and Gentiles are saved in the same
way, by the same gospel. This is why both
Jews and Gentiles are saved by faith, apart
from Law-keeping.
The Law only condemns; it only shows how
far short of God’s righteousness men fall.
Faith…
…rests in the person and in the promises of
God. Faith believes God and receives the
forgiveness of sins and the gift of
righteousness through Jesus Christ.
The gospel which Paul preached, and which
the Roman saints had received, offered the
same righteousness (the righteousness of
Christ) through the same means (faith),
apart from works.
God sent His Son, Jesus Christ,
to die for our sins, to make us
righteous, while we were still
sinners.
If God did this for us while we were still
His enemies (the greater work), then
surely He will now keep us and preserve
us from His wrath now that we are
forgiven and are His children (5:8-10).
“Greater than”
In the final verses of chapter 5, man’s
unrighteousness is taken back to its original
source—the sin of Adam.
Who is the greater of the two, Adam or
Christ?
Christ is the greater of the two, far greater.
If this is so, then we can be assured that
the results of Christ’s righteousness
overcome and overshadow the results of
Adam’s unrighteousness.
The Righteousness of
God Is the Goal of Salvation
Paul very clearly indicates not only what we
have been saved FROM (Ephesians 2:1-3),
but also what we have been saved FOR
(Ephesians 2:10).
While our efforts to produce good works can
never save us, when God provided salvation,
He provided us with a salvation that results
in good works.
The Righteousness of
God Is the Goal of Salvation
In Romans 6-8 Paul takes up
his argument at the point of
salvation, showing that salvation
requires righteousness, which is
beyond our own capabilities, but
that God has given us provision for
righteous living.
Briefly…
Romans 6 instructs us that righteousness is a
requirement for the Christian.
Romans chapter 7 teaches us that while
righteousness is required, it is nevertheless
humanly impossible, due to the weakness of our
flesh and the power of sin.
In Romans 8, Paul explores the divine provision
for righteousness—the Holy Spirit, by whose
power Christians can fulfill the righteousness
which the Law commanded and which God still
requires.
Chapter 6 begins with the question,
“What shall we say, then? Shall we
go on sinning so that grace may
increase?”
If grace outruns sin, then why not continue in
sin so that grace can increase in greater
measure? Once we have been saved, our
sins forgiven, and heaven has become a
certain hope, why not continue to live as we
once did?
A decision is called for by Paul, a
decision to cease presenting our bodies
as instruments for accomplishing sin
and to present our bodies to God as
instruments of righteousness.
We are the slaves of that to
which we give ourselves.
We will either become slaves of
righteousness or slaves of sin.
There IS a problem…
Now, in Christ, we have the desire to do what is
right, but no power to accomplish it. Sin still
gets the best of us. We do what we hate (sin),
and we cannot do what we love (righteousness).
The Law is not the problem, for we agree with
what the Law requires and forbids. The
problem is with our flesh, which cannot
overcome the greater power of sin. The
righteousness for which we were saved, and
which we are obligated to perform, WE are
unable to achieve.
A Divine Solution
God has provided His children, those
whom He has saved, with the power of
the Holy Spirit.
Those who walk in the Spirit are able to
overcome the power of sin and to
practice that righteousness which God
requires through the Law
(see Romans 8:4).
Our righteousness will not be
complete until we are in heaven.
The Holy Spirit…
…is God’s provision for our
present inadequacies, helping
us in our time of weakness,
interceding for us with God,
even when we are not able to
express our groanings with
words.
The Righteousness of God in History
(Romans 9-11)
God is impartial in condemning sin, but He
deals differently with those He condemns.
Those who have not received the revelation of
God’s righteousness in the Law are judged
apart from the Law and only in accordance
with what has been revealed to them.
Those who have received the Law are
judged by its standards
(Romans 1 and 2).
Throughout history God has always
dealt impartially with men, but He has
also distinguished between the Jews
and the Gentiles.
These dealings of God with men
in history are summed up in
chapters 9-11.
A Problem…
God had made certain
promises of salvation to the
Jews in the Old Testament.
The nation Israel had rejected Jesus as their
Messiah, and now the gospel was being
proclaimed to the Gentiles as well.
A Problem…
In verses 1-5 of chapter 9, Paul begins by
revealing his own heart with respect to the
Jews.
These are a privileged people, but the
restoration of Israel and the fulfillment
of God’s promises to this nation will
not be fulfilled until later in history, as
Paul is about to demonstrate.
In chapter 9…
…Paul defends the righteousness of God by
expounding the doctrine of election. In
proportion to the Jewish population, only a few
Jewish saints could be found. This seemed to
puzzle the Jews, because they thought that the
promised blessings of God would be poured out
on all the descendants of Israel (Jacob). In fact,
they seemed to think that being the physical seed
of Abraham assured them of these blessings (see
Matthew 3:9; Romans 4:10-17).
“For not all who
are descended from
Israel are Israel.”
Through the principle and process of
election, God continued to restrict His
blessings to some of the descendants of
Israel, but not to all.
Election = Unfair?
It is exactly the opposite.
Election is precisely that means of God’s blessing
some which demonstrates His righteousness.
“9 There will be trouble and distress for every
human being who does evil: first for the Jew,
then for the Gentile; 10 but glory, honor and
peace for everyone who does good: first for the
Jew, then for the Gentile. 11 For God does not
show favoritism” (Romans 2:9-11).
By verse 20 of chapter 3, Paul has
concluded that there is NONE who
does good, and that ALL men (Jew
and Greek alike) do that which is evil.
This means that the justice of God
requires that ALL men be punished,
and that NONE deserve God’s
blessings of glory, honor, and peace.
God’s mercy…
…joins forces with His justice, so that
salvation is provided, in a way that
satisfies both God’s mercy and His
righteousness.
Jesus Christ, God’s beloved Son, died for
sinners, bearing the Father’s wrath
toward sinners.
How is it determined?
There are two answers to this question,
provided in Romans 9 and 10.
In Romans 9 Paul tells us that God chooses
those whom He will bless, and those who
will continue on the path to their own
judgment.
The basis of this choice is
crucial, for the righteousness
of God is at issue.
God cannot choose to bless men on the basis
of their “goodness” or on the basis of the
good works that they will do, for we have
already seen that ALL mankind is sinful,
unrighteous, and falls under divine
condemnation.
Men will be blessed on the basis of
the righteousness of Christ, not on
the basis of their own works.
All men could have been righteously condemned,
because all sinned. No one should have been
blessed, for none merited God’s blessings. But
God chose to pluck some from the wrath and
destruction their sins required and to bestow
His blessings upon them, based upon the death
of Jesus for their sins, and HIS righteousness.
To have the choice rest only with
God is the only basis on which God’s
blessings and cursings could be
righteously imparted.
From the beginning God planned to
save some Jews and some Gentiles,
based upon His sovereign choice.
God is just in judging some sinners,
and He is both merciful and just in
saving and blessing other sinners.
And God is just in saving and
rejecting both Jews and Gentiles so
that He shows no partiality.
On What Basis??
The first answer, of Romans 9, is that the
basis is the sovereign choice of God—divine
election.
The second answer, found in chapter 10,
is human responsibility: men are
condemned because they reject God’s
revelation and His provision and
choose to persist in striving on their
own.
Why?
- Why are some men blessed?
Because God chose them for blessing.
- Why are some men blessed?
Because God’s offer of blessing was
offered them, and they accepted it, by
faith.
Why?
- Why are some men condemned to
eternal suffering?
Because God chose to allow them to
suffer the consequences of their own
choices and not to override their
condemnation with salvation and
blessing.
God always preserved a
remnant of His people Israel,
through whom His promises
could be fulfilled.
Who would have ever
thought of this plan?
Truly God is not only righteous,
loving, and merciful;
He is also infinitely wise!
The Righteousness of God
Reflected by Believers
(Romans 12-15)
The righteousness of God is to be
reflected (partially and imperfectly) in
His children.
The broad forms this righteousness
should take are outlined by Paul in
chapters 12-15.
Sacrifice
Rather than presenting animals and other
items as a sacrifice, we are to present
ourselves (Romans 6).
We are to serve God by setting aside those
attitudes and practices of the world in
which we live, and to be renewed in our
minds with the knowledge of that which is
the will of God, which is both good and
pleasing to Him (Romans 12:1-2).
The first area…
…of sacrificial service is in using the spiritual
gifts which God has given us for service.
Every gift is to be employed in a way that will
serve God and benefit others.
Chapter 12 ends with more general principles
which are to guide us in our conduct and in
our relationships with others (12:9-21).
In Chapter 13…
Paul turns to the Christian’s practical
righteousness in relationship to the
government which God has placed in
authority over him (13:1-7).
The Christian is to regard the authority of
government as having come from God, and
thus one should obey government as unto
the Lord unless there are very exceptional
circumstances.
In Romans 14:1–15:3…
Paul lays down principles for relating to one
another as Christians when we see things
differently, based upon our maturity or
upon different convictions.
We are not to exercise our rights in ways that
would cause another to stumble. We are to
strive to strengthen others, not to hinder
them. We are to use our strength to serve
the weak rather than to benefit ourselves.
In Chapter 15…
…Paul closes in much the same way he
began this Epistle.
Christians are to accept one another and
not fall into disunity and divisiveness.
If God shows no partiality, then WE
too must avoid racial prejudice and
tensions.
Paul’s Postscript
(Romans 16)
Chapter 16 is primarily Paul’s closing of this
letter with personal words of greeting and
with final words of exhortation.
While Paul may not yet have reached Rome,
he knew of many of the saints there by
name.
His concern for the saints in this city was far
from minimal.
Factors to Consider:
1.
Romans focuses on the great
themes of the Bible.
Romans is a book that deals with the major
themes and doctrines of the Word of God
and which does not focus on others.
Perhaps no other book of the Bible is so allencompassing in its outlook and approach:
James I. Packer:
“…In Romans, Paul brings together and sets out in
systematic relation all the great themes of the Bible—
sin, law, judgment, faith, works, grace, justification,
sanctification, election, the plan of salvation, the work
of Christ, the work of the Spirit, the Christian hope,
the nature and life of the Church, the place of Jew and
Gentile in the purpose of God, the philosophy of the
Church and of world history, the meaning and
message of the Old Testament, the duties of Christian
citizenship, the principles of personal piety and
ethics.”
Christians can become so
entangled in the particulars of
Christianity that they lose
sight of the great principles.
Factors to Consider:
2.
Romans is gospel-centered.
There is no other book of the Bible which so
fully expounds the gospel as Romans.
If you would understand the gospel, go to
Romans.
Why (in Romans 1:15) does Paul say
he desires to preach the gospel to his
audience in Rome, when they are
already believers?
(1) The gospel is never understood as fully by the
Christian as it could and should be.
(2) The gospel is constantly being distorted.
(3) The gospel is not only that truth by which we
are saved and that truth by which others are
saved as we bear witness, it is also that truth
which is the standard for our daily lives.
Why is the gospel so important?
The gospel is “the power of God for the
salvation of everyone who believes,”
and
“in the gospel a righteousness from God
is revealed” (Romans 1:16-17).
Factors to Consider:
3.
Romans is God-centered.
It is God who is to be central and preeminent,
not men. It is we who are to orient our lives
to Him.
I would like to suggest that the righteousness
of God is that attribute of God’s character
which makes His other attributes all the
more glorious.
The
righteousness
of God.
The Book of
Romans
Lesson One
Exploring the Riches of Romans
Print Slide