#1 9-10-06 AM - HCBC
Romans
Introduction to Romans
Who is it for?
Who is it from?
What does it say?
What do we do about it?
Who is it for?
The Church at Rome
Though Jews were known to be in Rome earlier, the incorporation of Judea into the
Roman Empire in 63 B.C. would have increased their number. By the
beginning of the Christian era, it is estimated that the Jews of Rome numbered
between 40,000 and 60,000.
Christianity had come to Rome some time after the birth of the church at Pentecost as
recorded in Acts 2.
Believers in Rome, in the early days of the church’s existence would have been a
combination of Jews and Gentiles, probably meeting in small groups or house
churches.
When Paul wrote, no Apostle had yet visited Rome.
The early church at Rome would have struggled with how to be Christians with their
Jewish influences.
Paul had a strong desire to minister the truth of the gospel to them.
The Church through History
“Commentators agree that most, if not all, of the great revivals and reformations in
the history of the church have been directly related to the book of Romans.”
Perhaps the greatest figure in the church between the time of the Apostles and the
Reformation, 15 centuries later, was a man named Aurelius Augustine. In
September A.D. 386, while contemplating the wickedness of his own life,
Augustine read the words of Romans 13:13-14 “Let us behave decently, as in
the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and
debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the
Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the
sinful nature.” Upon reading this passage Augustine received Jesus Christ as
Lord and Savior and went on to become one of the church’s outstanding
theologians and leaders.
A thousand years later, Martin Luther, a monk in the Roman Catholic order named
after Augustine, was teaching the book of Romans to his students at the
University of Wittengurg, Germany. As he carefully studied the text, he
became more and more convicted by Paul’s central theme of justification by
faith alone. He wrote: 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. Thereupon I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open
doors into paradise. The whole of Scripture took on 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.
Over 200 years later, John Wesley had been similarly confused about the meaning of
the gospel and wrote in his journal: “I 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 away my sins, even mine, and saved
me from the law of sin and death.”
The Church at Hollis
It has been said that Romans will delight the greatest logician and captivate the mind
of the consummate genius, yet it will bring tears to the humblest soul and
refreshment to the simplest mind.
It will knock you down and then lift you up.
It will strip you naked and then clothe you with eternal elegance.
The book of Romans took a Bedford tinker like John Bunyan and turned him into the
spiritual giant and literary master who wrote The Pilgrim’s Progress and The
Holy War.
Romans quotes the O. T. some 57 times, more than any other N.T. book.
It repeatedly uses key words:
God = 154 law = 77 Christ = 66 sin = 45 Lord = 44 faith = 40
The book of Romans is for today. It is for those who have yet to come to salvation.
It is for Christians as well!
Who is it from?
Paul: Man with a Testimony!
Before I met Christ…
Family
Born in Tarsus – Acts 9:11; 21:39; 22:3
Roman citizen – Acts 16:37-38; 22:25-29
Sister & Nephew Acts 23:16
Childhood
Taught the Scriptures and the traditions
Learned to work
13 bar mitzvah-son of the commandment
Education
Leaned tent-making Acts 18:3
Studied under Gamaliel Acts 22;3
Young Manhood
Was a chief persecutor Acts 9:1-3; 22:4
Present at Stephen’s stoning Acts 7:58
Kept the law Acts 26:5
How I met Christ…
His Conversion
Near Damascus 9:3
Saw a bright light 22:6
Was blinded 9:8
Christ’s rebuke 22:7-8
Saul’s reply 9:6
Led to Damascus 22:11
Fasted and prayed 9:9-11
Ananias sent to him 9:11-12
Was baptized 9:18
Since I met Christ…
After Conversion
Preached in Damascus 9:20
Went to Arabia – Gal 1:17
Returned to Damascus – Gal 1:17
Visited Jerusalem – Gal 1:18
Is suspected by the church 9:26
Befriended by Barnabas 9:27
Persecuted by the Jews 9:29
Sent by vision 22:17-18
Went to Tarsus 9:30
Brought to Antioch - Barnabas 11:25-26
Ministered at Antioch 11:26
First Missionary Journey (13:1 – 14:28)
Work in Cyprus 13:5-13
Perga – Mark deserted 13:13
Preached at Antioch 13:14-41
Iconium – Lystra – Derby 13:51 – 14:20
Returned to Antioch 14:21-26
Second Missionary Journey (15:36 – 18:22)
In Syria and Cilicia 15:41
Lystra – Timothy joins group 16:1-3
Phrygia and Galatia 16:6
Philippi – Thessalonica – Berea – Athens
Corinth – Ephesus – Antioch
Third Missionary Journey (18:23 – 21:17)
Galatia and Phrygia 18:23
Ephesus 19
Macedonia and Greece 20:1-2
Troas – Tyre – Caesarea 21:8
In Jerusalem
Received by the church 221:17
Seized by the Jews 21:27
First defense 22:1-21
Seized by Romans 22:24-29
Defense before Sanhedrin 23:1-10
Night vision & Jewish plot 23:11-12
Taken to Caesarea 23:23-33
In Caesarea
Defense before Felix 24:10-21
2 year imprisonment 24:27
Appeal to Caesar 25:10
Defense before Agrippa 26:1-29
Voyage to Rome
The storm 27:14-21
The vision 27:23-24
The shipwreck 27:26-44
On the Island of Malta 28:1-10
In Rome
Arrival in Rome 28:16
Preaching in Rome 28:30-31
Six letters – last words 2 Tim 4:6-8
What does it say? Bad news – Good news
What is the good news of God?
Is Jesus really God?
What is God like?
How can God send people to hell?
Why do men reject God and His Son, Jesus Christ?
Why are there false religions and idols?
What is man’s biggest sin?
Why are there sex perversions, hatred, crime, dishonesty, and all the other evils in the
world,and why are they so pervasive and rampant?
What is the standard by which God condemns people?
How can a person who has never heard the gospel be held spiritually responsible?
Do Jews have a greater responsibility to believe than Gentiles?
Who is a true Jew?
Is there any spiritual advantage to being Jewish?
How good is man in himself?
How evil is man in himself?
Can any person keep God’s law perfectly?
How can a person know he is a sinner?
How can a sinner be forgiven and justified by God?
How is a Christian related to Abraham?
What is the importance of Christ’s death?
What is the importance of His resurrection?
What is the importance of His present life in heaven?
For whom did Christ die?
Where can men find real peace and hope?
How are all men related spiritually to Adam, and how are believers related spiritually to
Jesus Christ?
What is grace and what does it do?
How are God’s grace and God’s law related?
How does a person die spiritually and become reborn?
What is the Christian’s relation to sin?
How important is obedience in the Christian life?
Why is living a faithful Christian life such a struggle?
How many natures does a Christian have?
What does the Holy Spirit do for a believer?
How intimate is a Christian’s relationship to God?
Why is there suffering?
Will the world ever be different?
What are election and predestination?
How can Christians pray properly?
How secure is a believer’s salvation?
What is God’s present plan for Israel?
What is His future plan for Israel?
Why and for what have the gentiles been chosen by God?
What is the Christian’s responsibility to Jews and to Israel?
What is true spiritual commitment?
What is the Christian’s relationship to the world in general, to the unsaved, to other
Christians, and to human government?
What is genuine love and how does it work?
How do Christians deal with issues that are neither right nor wrong in themselves?
What is true freedom?
How important is unity in the church?
What do we do about it? Let’s read it and do what it says! Let’s study and apply it!
We read it.
Hear it Rom 10:17
Read it Rev 1:3
Study it Acts 17:11
Memorize it Ps 119:9-11
Meditate on it Ps 1:2-3
We accept it.
Recognize our need
Repent
Receive Christ
We live by it.
Do what it says Jas 1:22
Change and grow Eph 4:17-32
Make it our goal to please Him 2 Cor 5:9
Become imitators of God Eph 5
We proclaim it.
The Great Commission Matt 28:18-20
Ambassadors for Christ 2 Cor 5:11 – 6:2
Paul and the Gospel 1:1-7
The origin of the gospel is God v. 1
The testimony of the gospel is Scripture v. 2
The substance of the gospel is Jesus Christ v. 3-4
The scope of the gospel is all the nations v. 5
The purpose of the gospel is the obedience of faith v. 5-6
The goal of the gospel is the honor of Christ’s name v. 5
The result of the gospel is grace and peace v. 7