Romans Simplified

As it Pertains to What the Gospel of Jesus Christ is All About…

There’s Probably Not a More Important Book of the Bible than Paul’s Letter to the Romans

Romans Gives Us One of the Most Theologically Rich But Also Clearest Pictures of the Gospel

Author & Audience

Everyone Agrees that Paul is the Author of This Letter

Even Though “Tertius” Actually Did the Writing for Paul as He Dictated it

Romans 16:22 (NASB95)

I, Tertius, who write this letter, greet you in the Lord.

The Audience are the Many House Churches is Rome

Romans 1:7 (NASB95)

to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Church in Rome was Likely Predominantly Gentile with a Minority of Jews

We Learn From Suetonius (a Private Secretary to the Emperor)…

That in A.D. 49, Claudius Caesar “Expelled From Rome Jews Who Were Making Constant Disturbances at the Instigation of Chrestus.”

Chrestus Likely Refers to “Christ”

The Jews Were Causing Trouble Because of Their Brethren Converting to Christianity

Luke Mentions this Expulsion of the Jews in Acts 18:2

Acts 18:2 (NASB95)

And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, having recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome.

This Would Have Led to the Roman Church Being Predominantly Gentile

But a Few Years Later the Jews are Allowed to Return to Rome

This Would Mean Jewish Christians Would Return as Well

And When They Returned, There Would Naturally Be a Clash of Cultures

Paul’s Letter Addresses Some of These Divisions and Seeks to Bring Unity

God’s People Aren’t the Jews or the Gentiles

God’s People are Everyone Who Place Their Faith in Jesus

When You Read the Book of Romans, You Find that Paul Sometimes Alternates…

Between Addressing Gentiles to Addressing Jews

Theme

The Primary Theme Seems to Be:

The Righteousness of God

(Chart) The Root Word for Righteousness is Mentioned More in Romans Than Anywhere Else

Paul Begins His Letter with this Idea (Also One of the Key Passages of This Book)

Romans 1:16–17 (NASB95)

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 to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”

The Righteousness of God can Mean a Lot of Things in Romans

It Can Refer to How He is Just and Fair

It Can Refer to How He is Faithful to Keep His Promises

But it Can Also Refer to the Righteousness that He Imparts On Those Who Place Their Faith in Jesus

One of the Main Points Paul Tries to Get Across is…

How People Try to Establish Our Own Righteousness…

Instead of Relying On God to Justify Us/Make Us Righteous

Romans 10:1–4 (NASB95)

Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

It’s a Great Thing to Be Zealous

But Zeal Without Knowledge Will Get You Nowhere

Zeal that Leads to a Religion of Box-Checking, Works-Based Salvation…

Is a Religion that Will Never Lead to Where Justification Can Be Found

Righteousness is Not Achieved Through Perfect Law-Keeping But Through Faith in Jesus

Purpose

There are Several Different Purposes for Why Paul Wrote this Letter

To Prepare Them for His Hopeful Visit

Romans 1:9–10 (NASB95)

For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you, always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you.

More Than Just Informing Them of His Coming…

He Wanted Them to Help Him in His Plan to Share the Gospel in Spain

Romans 15:22–25 (NASB95)

For this reason I have often been prevented from coming to you; but now, with no further place for me in these regions, and since I have had for many years a longing to come to you whenever I go to Spain—for I hope to see you in passing, and to be helped on my way there by you, when I have first enjoyed your company for a while— but now, I am going to Jerusalem serving the saints.

To Present the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a Church He Didn’t Personally Establish

Paul Had Never Met the Roman Church Up to This Point

So it Makes Sense Why He Would Give Such a Detailed Explanation of the Gospel in This Letter

He Wanted to Make Sure They Had the True Understanding of What the Gospel is All About

It’s Not About What We Can Do to Save Ourselves

It’s About What God Has Done Through Jesus to Save Us

Justification is By Faith in Jesus, Not Works

But Paul Doesn’t Just Focus On Justification…

He Also Focuses On Sanctification

How Those Who Have Been Justified By Faith Ought to Live

Romans 12:1–2 (NASB95)

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

The Gospel is About Justification and Sanctification

And There’s No Better Place to See These 2 Aspects of the Gospel Brought Together Than in Romans

3. To Address the Tension Between the Jews and Gentiles in the Roman Church

He Wanted Them to Understand God’s Plan for All People to Be His People

Summarized Outline

1.) The Gospel Reveals God’s Righteousness (1-4)

All of Humanity is Hopelessly Enslaved to Sin

They Need to Be Rescued, But that Won’t Happen Through Obedience to the Law

That Rescue Can Only Come Through Faith in Jesus Christ

When a Person Places Their Faith in Jesus, They are Credited the Righteousness of God

2.) The Gospel Creates a New Humanity (5-8)

Because We are All Born From Adam, We All Suffer in the Enslavement of Sin that Adam Started

And No Matter How Many Good Laws God Gives Us to Obey, We Were Never Capable of Keeping Them All Perfectly

God Knew this Would Be the Case

The Law Should Have Revealed to Us that We are Incapable of Ourselves Being Righteous

God’s Plan was to Send a New Adam

And Those Who are Reborn in Baptism into this New Adam Would Become New Humanity

They are a New Creation that is No Longer Enslaved to Sin

3.) The Gospel Fulfills God’s Promise to Israel (9-11)

If this was Always God’s Plan, Then What About the Promises Made to the Israelite People Who Don’t Place Their Faith in Jesus?

Paul Points Out that Being a Blood Descendant of Abraham Does Not Make One a Member of His Covenant

He’s Always Chosen Certain People of Abraham’s Lineage to Carry On the Promise

Isaac Instead of Ishmael

Jacob Instead of Esau

And the People He Has Chosen to Carry On that Promise Now are Those Who Have Faith in Jesus

But So Many Israelites Miss Out On These Covenant Blessings Because They are More Focused On Their Performance of the Law Than Having Faith in Jesus

4.) The Gospel Unifies the Church (12-16)

Since Justifying All People Who Place Their Faith in Jesus has Always Been God’s Plan…

This Family of Jews and Gentiles in Rome Ought to Live in Unity with Each Other

They Do this By Using Their Unique Gifts and Spirit-Led Christ-Like Character…

To Help and Encourage Each Other

They are to Love Each Other Because Love is the Fulfillment of the Law

Paul Focuses on Some Specific Things that Were Causing Division Amongst the Jewish and Gentile Christians

Differences in Opinions, as Well as a Variety of Different Cultural and Past Religious Issues

He Tells Them to Bear With Each Other Despite Their Differences in These Non-Essential Issues

If They Will Only Focus On Love, Not Uniformity of Beliefs, They Will Experience True Unity

Key Passage

Romans 3:21–26 (NASB95)

But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

It Isn’t Obedience to the Laws of God that Grants Righteousness

Righteousness/Justification/Having a Right Standing Before God is a Gift By God’s Grace

All One Must Do to Accept this Gift of Grace is Place Their Faith in Jesus

When a Person Does that, They are Exonerated/Pardoned of All Sin

That Means All Charges Against Us are Dropped

We are No Longer Guilty

But it was Already Stated that We Have All Sinned and Fallen Short of God’s Glory

So How Can a Righteous, Just, and Fair God Exonerate a Guilty Person?

If a Person is Proven Without Doubt to Be Guilty of a Crime…

But the Judge Pardons Them and Declares Them Innocent…

We Would Say that Judge is Corrupt, Immoral, and Unjust

So How Can God Be a Justifier of the Guilty and Still Be Just Himself?

That’s What the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Book of Romans is All About

How a Righteous God Made Sinful Man Righteous

He Did This By Redeeming Us

He Paid the Price and Bought Us Out of Our Slavery to Sin

The Price that was Paid was Jesus’ Own Life

He Became the Propitiation

He Became an Offering to God to Appease His Wrath and Bring About His Mercy

God’s Wrath Against Our Sin was Placed Upon Jesus

And Since Our Death Sentence was Paid for By Jesus’ Death…

We Receive the Grace and Mercy of God

God is Just Because His Wrath Brought Down Punishment Upon Our Sins

But it Wasn’t Us Who Received the Punishment

And Those Who Place Their Faith in Jesus Never Will Experience that Punishment

God is Just and the Justifier of Those Who Have Faith in Jesus

Robert H. Mounce - “Paul’s conclusion was that “no one will be declared righteous in [God’s] sight by observing the law.” People of every nation have always tried to gain favor with their gods by doing what they believed would please them. Hindus have prayer wheels, and Muslims bow down five times daily toward Mecca. Demon worshipers cut themselves in a frenzy of religious excitement, and Christians all too often count on regular attendance at church and deeds of kindness to their neighbors. According to the vast majority of people who inhabit the globe, righteousness is something we must earn. Not so, said Paul. It cannot be earned; it can only be received. No one will ever stand before God on the basis of what that person has done. The righteousness that comes from God is “apart from the law.” That is, it has nothing to do with our moral earnestness or religious fervor. It is absolutely unearned. It comes as a gift, and a gift is not a gift if it can be earned. That is why God’s way of setting people right with him had to be revealed (1:17). It is so radically opposed to our normal way of thinking that it would never have entered the human mind. The gospel is the “good news” that no matter how helplessly mired in our own self-centeredness we are, there is a way to gain a right standing before God.”