Congratulations! Upon completion of this last session through Paul’s letter to the Romans, you will receive your GOSPEL HANDS AND FEET CERTIFICATE authorizing you to go into all your world and preach the Good News to everyone. Actually, the Lord has already commissioned every believer to do that in Mark 16:15 (see fine print provisions in Acts 1:8, John 17:17–18, Matthew 5:16)
In a way, this chapter is what Paul has been leading up to since his opening comments in chapter 1. Remember what Paul told them? Your faith is being talked about all over the world. Can that be said of us? With all that Paul has written, we know they faced challenges, needed instruction, and still had some growing to do. Can that be said of us? But their obedience to God was well known (Romans 16:19). Can that be said of us?
Few Bible commands are more difficult or more essential to follow through on than Christ’s command to love one another. It’s not always easy, is it? Sometimes arguing feels so much more satisfying. In this chapter, Paul talks about Christians living in unity without demanding uniformity. When it comes to matters of opinion that the Bible is silent on, we are given the freedom to choose—but not without considering others or compromising our Christian witness.
Nothing proves our Christian witness like the wear and tear of daily life. In chapter 12, Paul taught how we should treat one another in light of God’s mercy to us. Love is the motive, and the specific instructions Paul gives encourage us to examine how we come across as individuals. Do we respond in ways that reveal the transforming power of God’s love in our life?
Chapter 12 is a turning point in this letter—and Paul clearly wanted it to be a turning point in the life of every believer who reads it. Every topic he has touched on in Romans brings us to this place. It is safe to say that Paul was passionate about two things: Preaching the gospel to those who are lost; and teaching believers to live out the gospel in everyday life.
If you’ve seen Fiddler on the Roof, you remember Tevye saying to God, “I know we’re the chosen people—but once in a while can’t You choose someone else?” Some people do think that God rejected the Jews, took back all of the promises He made, and gave them to the church instead. But Paul (who never saw Fiddler on the Roof) takes care of that question in this chapter.
Can you remember when those simple words first penetrated your heart? It probably wasn’t the first time you heard them. Children are taught to recite this verse. If you’re older than fifty, you’ve probably seen the words plastered on a roadside sign left to fade in the sun. John 3:16 is a favorite verse—but what do people actually hear? Skeptics hear a slogan. Disinterested masses hear a one-size-fits-all phrase. Pretenders hear the words they intend to fall back on someday. What do you hear?
Chapter 8 finished on such a high note. If God is for us, who can be against us? What can separate us from the love of God? Every obstacle Paul could imagine—and he had experienced them all— evaporated in the light of God’s unwavering love. He will never let go of you!
Paul wrote this letter to hundreds of Roman Christians he didn’t know. In his mind’s eye, he wrote to his old friends Aquila and Priscilla and a roomful of faces he’d never met, in a house he’d never been to, in a city he’d never visited. But he loved them like family—pouring himself, body and soul, into the pages for their spiritual wellbeing. How could he know that countless multitudes, centuries later would still be poring over this letter, gleaning truth, puzzling and praying their way through his tightly reasoned rhetoric?
“Whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” The word abide means to stay, continue, dwell, remain, or be present. It is like living in a house. What types of things entice us to leave the house of God’s love?
We are halfway through our study! This week we step into a favorite chapter, not only in Romans but in the Bible. For some of us, it will be a first-time read and more familiar for others. Either way, get ready for what’s new. Not in the sacred page, but how it will speak to you amidst all the stuff and substance of your life and whatever is trending in your heart.
How do we wrap our minds around grace? If facts were enough, Romans 6 and 7 would only need to be two short sentences: Sin can’t control you. The Law won’t save you. But Paul isn’t dispensing facts—he is relating to real life. And living by grace is more caught than taught.
Complete freedom to act as one wishes or thinks best; writing one’s own terms for an agreement. Synonyms: free rein; a free hand; a blank check
To hear some people tell it, this is the definition of grace. Since God’s grace is inexhaustible, why worry about living a holy life? Paul knew that some would misinterpret his statement that, “Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Romans 5:20 ESV).
Verse 2 says that faith in Christ grants us access into “this grace in which we stand.” Grace is “favor or kindness shown without regard to the worth or merit of the one who receives it and in spite of what that person deserves.
Verse 2 says that faith in Christ grants us access into “this grace in which we stand.” Grace is “favor or kindness shown without regard to the worth or merit of the one who receives it and in spite of what that person deserves.
The major point of the last few chapters has been that we have been imputed with righteousness, and therefore have been justified in the sight of God, through faith in Jesus Christ. What is a natural result of our justification?
Paul wrote this letter to hundreds of Roman Christians he didn’t know. In his mind’s eye, he wrote to his old friends Aquila and Priscilla and a roomful of faces he’d never met, in a house he’d never been to, in a city he’d never visited. But he loved them like family—pouring himself, body and soul, into the pages for their spiritual wellbeing. How could he know that countless multitudes, centuries later would still be poring over this letter, gleaning truth, puzzling and praying their way through his tightly reasoned rhetoric?
Sometimes the truth is hiding in plain sight. We miss it because we think it has to be more complicated. Sometimes the truth gets buried in tradition; opinions passed down for so long they’re accepted without question and defended to death. No one knew this better than Paul, a former Pharisee.
Paul had always been one to speak his mind. He was trained to think a matter through and explain it decisively. His brilliance as a teacher/lawyer (that’s what a rabbi was) set him apart as a young man. Paul arrogantly pursued all the ceremony and demands of the Law, fully convinced that he was earning God’s approval. Then one day, on the Damascus Road, God knocked him down and turned his whole life right side up. The zeal remained, but the rage was gone.
If we could go back in time and visit the church in Rome, who would we be sitting with? There would be families and young adults, widows, and aging parents. Some worked a trade (Aquila and Priscilla were tentmakers) or in the marketplace but most would have been house slaves and manual laborers. Many were devout Jews and probably more were converted Gentiles.
Our first session finished on a high note, with Paul saying that the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. The good news is that anyone can be saved by putting their faith in Jesus. It really is amazing when you consider that God has given us this life-changing, eternity-altering relationship with Him when, in fact, the only thing we deserve is punishment for our sin. But to fully appreciate and share the good news, we need to acknowledge the bad news.
Romans may be the most important letter you will ever read. In it you will discover who you are and where you stand with God. There will be consistent opportunities to consider what God has done for you and what God expects from you. Paul takes time to explain the basis of the Christian faith without avoiding tough issues or soft-selling the gospel. Instead, Paul skillfully navigates the deep waters of doctrine so that his readers will be anchored in faith.
Paul’s letter to the church in Rome is such a thorough explanation of the gospel that it has been called a “Bible within the Bible.” Who needs the gospel? Why is the gospel powerful? What does the gospel look like in the everyday life of a believer? With passion and precision, Paul walks us through the essentials of the gospel and how it changes everything.