A Study of the Book of Romans

[Pages:106]A STUDY OF THE BOOK OF ROMANS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................................................... 4 ROMANS 1:1-17 ...............................................................................................................................................................5 ROMANS 1:18-32 ............................................................................................................................................................8 ROMANS 2:1-29.............................................................................................................................................................11 ROMANS 3:1-20............................................................................................................................................................14 ROMANS 3:21-31 .......................................................................................................................................................... 17 ROMANS 4:1-25 ..........................................................................................................................................................20 ROMANS 5:1-11 ............................................................................................................................................................ 23 ROMANS 5:12-21 ......................................................................................................................................................... 26 ROMANS 6:1-11 ............................................................................................................................................................ 29 ROMANS 6:12-23 ........................................................................................................................................................ 32 ROMANS 7.................................................................................................................................................................... 35 ROMANS 8:1-17............................................................................................................................................................ 38 ROMANS 8:18-39..........................................................................................................................................................41 ROMANS 9:1-5.............................................................................................................................................................44 ROMANS 9:6-29.......................................................................................................................................................... 47 ROMANS 9:30-10:13 ................................................................................................................................................... 50 ROMANS 10:14-21 ....................................................................................................................................................... 53 ROMANS 11:1-24.......................................................................................................................................................... 56 ROMANS 11:25-36....................................................................................................................................................... 59 ROMANS 12:1-8 ........................................................................................................................................................... 62 ROMANS 12:9-21......................................................................................................................................................... 65 ROMANS 13 .................................................................................................................................................................. 68

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ROMANS 14................................................................................................................................................................... 71 ROMANS 15:1-13.......................................................................................................................................................... 74 ROMANS 15:14-33........................................................................................................................................................77 ROMANS 16.................................................................................................................................................................. 80

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INTRODUCTION

This Bible study was developed out of love for those who will come seeking God's truth in the book of Romans. My prayer is that the teaching of this letter will open our minds and hearts to a higher view of God so that we may begin to understand "the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God"! See Romans 11:33.

You should begin this study with prayer, asking the Lord to help you understand the truths of His Word. Next, read the Bible passage and answer the questions developed for those verses. The notes, which follow the questions, were developed to add background and insight to the passage. If you would like further study on any chapter, I suggest you read Dr. James Boice's commentaries on Romans.

I have found it is most helpful to do this study with others. It is very helpful having an open discussion about how each of us answers the questions. However, it can also be used effectively as a personal Bible study. Finally, at the end of each lesson there is a corresponding doctrine and memory verse. (The study uses the N.I.V. translation of the Bible for references.)

This Bible study may be reproduced and used without cost. However, I would gratefully appreciate your prayerful consideration of a donation of any size to the scholarship fund of Scott Theological College in Machakos, Kenya. In Africa there are many potential pastors called to serve Christ in ministry but they lack the necessary funds to continue their education. The African Inland Mission colleges have been very integral in training national pastors. Any financial support that you give would be used to help pay part of the tuition for qualified students. The entire cost to send a student to Scott Theological College for one year (room, board, and tuition) is $1,400.00. I know this is an investment in "good soil" as Mark 4:20 states, "others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop - thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown."

If you have any questions or need more information about Scott Theological College or African Inland Mission and their effort to train pastors, I would be very pleased to respond to them. Also if you have any comments or suggestions about this study please feel free to contact me at carlfzt@. I appreciate hearing from those doing the study as I pray both for the study and those who are working on it.

Please send checks to:

A.I.M. Scott Theological Scholarship Fund

P.O. Box 178 Pearl River, NY 10965

What do I need for this life and the life to come?

I need God. I need to know that God is real, that He tells me about Himself, and that, although I am a sinner, He loves me and forgives me through the obedience, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Psalm 19:1-2; Psalm 100:3; John 3:16; John 17:3; Romans 3:23; Hebrews 11:6; Romans 3:22-25

Memory Verse

"The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple." Psalm 19:7

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ROMANS 1:1-17

1. What do you learn about Paul from verse 1? For what do you believe God has you set apart and why?

2. Do you have enough knowledge of the Scripture to present the gospel to others? If so, practice writing the gospel in your own words. If not, will you commit to learning how to share your faith in our study of Romans?

3. From verse 15, what was Paul's attitude toward his obligation? What is your attitude toward your obligation to share with others what God has given you in spiritual understanding?

4. From verses 16-17, find three truths about the gospel that are the basis for Paul not being ashamed of it. Are these truths valid today also? If so, how?

5. List specific questions you have in understanding or accepting the truths of Christianity. See if at the end of our study of Romans those questions are answered.

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ROMANS 1:1-17 Paul is writing to the church in Rome as one who had been given a message that should be received by them as the very words of God. This has meaning for us, for it tells us how we are to receive this book and benefit from it. If we are to profit from our study, we must receive Romans as a message from God to both our minds and hearts. Consequently, we must obey it, just as we would obey God if He should speak to us directly. In verses 1-17, the introduction of Romans, `gospel' is the most important word. It is repeated six times and is important because it is the theme of the letter. Romans was written to make this `Good News' from God more widely known. The `Good News' is Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God. We confess that everything we believe, everything we are and hope to be as Christians centers in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Too often the gospel is offered as something good to make people happy or more complete as a person, but which they are at perfect liberty to refuse. Sin becomes little more than a bad choice and faith is a good work for which people pat themselves on the back. Missing in this approach is recognition that sin primarily is rebellion against God, and that God commands us to repent and turn towards Him. In order for the gospel to be obeyed, it must be preached as a command. Paul, as God's apostle, and in the name of God, commands people to turn from sin, believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and follow Him as Lord. In our society there is the delusion that without the gospel all is well with our soul when in truth people are without Christ and perishing. Notice in the first four verses Paul's clear recognition of both the human and divine nature of Jesus. Jesus was, is, and always has been God. In verse four Paul is thinking of the resurrection as the striking revelation of God's power over sin and death. Verses 7-13 show Paul's commitment to prayer and mutual encouragement of Christians. Prayer for Christians is not optional. It is essential even though it can be a struggle and difficult at times. We will never fully understand the power of prayer, but we can trust that God hears us and is striving to bring us closer to Himself. A.W.Tozer was once asked which is more important to a Christian, Bible study or prayer. He answered, "Which is more important to a bird, his right wing or his left?" Verses 16-17 contain the heart and purpose of Paul's letter. These verses are the most important in the book for they express the very essence of Christianity. They tell how a man or woman may become right with God. We are not right with God in ourselves. This is what the teaching of original sin is all about. We are in rebellion against God. Therefore we are to be judged by Him. What is to be done? On our side nothing can be done. Yet here Paul says that God has done precisely what was needed. He has provided righteousness for us. And this is received, not by our doing righteous things, but through faith. It is received through believing that what God tells us is true. Let's look at what Paul says about this gospel. Firstly, it is the power by which God accomplishes salvation. The most important thing happening in the world at any given time is the preaching of the gospel. Lives are transformed by God's power when the gospel is told. Paul is not ashamed of the gospel because it is God's might working. God is not simply telling us about salvation; God Himself is providing salvation through the gospel. The second important point in these verses is that the gospel is for "everyone who believes." It is first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. In the systematic disclosure of the gospel, the Jewish people chronologically occupied a first and important place. From them is traced the human ancestry of Jesus Christ. (Romans 9:3-5) A full appreciation and understanding of the gospel is gained as you study the Old Testament, the historical preparation for Jesus Christ. Unbelievers argue, as an excuse, that the gospel may be for other people, but not themselves. Actually the whole world needs the gospel, since all are separated from God because of sin and cannot stand before a holy God holding on to anything except the grace of God in the atoning death

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of Jesus Christ. The gospel is for everyone who believes. At Pentecost Peter declared, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Acts 2:21 and Joel 2:32) Indeed, the Bible ends on this note: "Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take of the free gift of the water of life." (Revelation 22:17)

How can one be ashamed of a gospel that offers hope to the vilest, most desperate of men, as well as to the most `respectable' person? How can we be ashamed of anything so gloriously universal? The reason is because the world is opposed to God's gospel and ridicules it. The gospel was despised in Paul's day and it is rejected in ours. People today reject the simplicity of the gospel; that it is all from God and of God. We cannot add to or work for our salvation. They oppose God's mercy for others, placing themselves above God's perfect judgment. In verse 17 Paul speaks of "righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith." (Habakkuk 2:4)

What is faith? Is it something to which we can attain? No. Faith is believing God. It is opening a hand to receive the righteousness of Christ which God offers. The great preacher Charles Spurgeon once wrote, "Faith is not a blind thing, for faith begins with knowledge. It is not a speculative thing, for faith believes facts of which it is sure. It is not an impractical, dreamy thing, for faith trusts, and stakes its destiny upon the truth of revelation. Faith...is the eye which looks..., the hand which grasps..., the mouth which feeds upon Christ."

Our call as Christians is to be not ashamed of the gospel. Why should we not? Because "it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes." It is no less powerful today than it was in Paul's day. We need never be ashamed of it, for it is truth and it is life!

How can I know the truth about God and His work?

The only clear and saving knowledge of God comes from the Holy Spirit and is revealed in the truth of the Holy Scriptures. John 14:26; Psalm 119:105, 142; Psalm 19:7; Hebrews 4:12

Memory Verse

"I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, and then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: `The righteous will live by faith'". Romans 1:16-17

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ROMANS 1:18-32

1. Why do you think God's wrath is so seldom spoken of today?

2. What can you learn about God from nature? What can you not learn about God from nature?

3. From this passage list some of the characteristics of a depraved mind. What are the reasons for this type of thinking?

4. Name several things our culture "approves" of today which the Bible says are wrong. If possible give a verse to support you answer.

5. Verse 32 tells us that they know God's righteous decree, yet they continue in their sinful ways. Why? What in your life are you tempted to put in God's place, and what will you do about it?

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