Romans 1-8 Summary1

January 12, 2014

December 13. A Problem You Can't Solve Yourself. 1:16-17: 2:5-11; 3:9-12

December 8. The Gift you can’t give yourself. 3:21-28

December 15. A Love You Can Experience. 5:6-11, 18-21

December 29. An Identity You must Embrace. 6:8-18

January 5. A Fight You Can’t Win by Yourself. 7:14-8:2

January 12. A Life You Can’t Live on Your Own 8:8-17, 26,27

The Letter that is Different

There is an obvious difference between Paul’s Letter to the Romans and his other letters both of at-

mosphere and of method. When Paul wrote to the church at Rome, he was writing to a church with

whose founding he had had nothing whatever to do and with which he had had no personal contact

at all.

Romans, of all Paul’s letters, comes nearest to being a theological treatise. In almost all his other let-

ters, he is dealing with some immediate problem, some pressing situation, some current error, some

threatening danger, which was causing trouble for the church to which he was writing. Romans is

the nearest approach to a systematic exposition of Paul’s own theological position.

All his life, Paul had been haunted by the thought of Rome. It had always been one of his dreams to

preach there. When he is in Ephesus, he was planning to go through Achaea and Macedonia again,

and then he wrote a sentence that comes obviously straight from the heart: “After I have gone there,

I must also see Rome.” (Acts 19:21.) When he was up against things in Jerusalem, and the situation

looked threatening and the end seemed near, he had one of those visions that always lifted up his

heart. In that vision, the Lord stood by him and said, ‘Keep up your courage! For just as you have

testified for me in Jerusalem, so you must bear witness also in Rome.

When he wrote the Letter to the Romans, the date was sometime in the year AD 58, and he was in

1 No claim of authorship is made. While some of the work is original, the majority is drawn from combined sources.1 | P a g e

Corinth planning to take the offerings he had collected in Asia to the poor Christians in Jerusalem

who were suffering persecution.

His object was twofold: 1. To mobilize the prayers of the Church before he embarked on this per-

ilous undertaking and 2. to establish Rome as his new base of operations for evangelizing the Ro-

man world, starting with Spain. He wrote this letter to set out for the church at Rome an account of

the very essence of his belief, in order that, when the time came for action, he might find in Rome a

sympathetic church from which the lines of communication might go out to Spain and the West.

Romans is an example of God having a larger purpose in his inspiration of Biblical writers. While

we have stated Paul’s conscious reasons, may I submit that perhaps one of God’s reasons in so in-

spiring Paul was to set out in organized form, the basic theology of the New Testament so we would

have it. In is trite to say, but the New Testament is a brilliant document giving all that is needed to

believe in Christ and practice what He preached. The Gospels set out who Christ is, what He taught

and what He requires; The Acts chronicle how the early Church wrestled with these ideas; and the

Epistles set out the theological structure for life and the practical principles for the living out of

those principles.

As we have studied, in Chapters 1–8, Paul deals with the problem of “righteousness” defined as a

“right relationship with God” and how to achieve it. The righteous person is someone who is in a

right relationship with God, and whose life shows it.

Like a surveyor setting a “point of beginning,” Paul begins with a survey of the Gentile world. He

uses this survey to establish the common understanding of all his readers, the basis upon which he

would proceed.

That survey revealed that the Greek world had become corrupt to the core. It was so corrupt that

even they knew it. Many of the contemporary Greek and Roman writers, let alone the Christian

and Jewish writers, acknowledged the corruption of the world and its dire need of a Savior. The

world then, as today, had devolved into moral bankruptcy.

For about 500 years, the Greeks sought to solve the problem intellectually; the Roman Republic

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and late Empire sought to solve it by force of arms; and in Old Testament times, during the inter-

testamentary times and continuing into Paul’s time, the Church Age, the Jews had sought to solve

the problem of righteousness by meticulous obedience to the law. As we all know, Paul had tried

that way himself, and his efforts only resulted in frustration and defeat.

As a complete Grace-gift of God, He reveals to Paul the way to righteousness in the way of com-

plete trust and total submission to Christ. Paul has learned that Christ not only turned the world up-

side down socially, but philosophically as well. With Christ, Paul learned, what is up is down, what

is right is wrong, and what is given away is all that is left. The only way to a right relationship with

God is to take him at his word, and to cast ourselves, just as we are, on His mercy and love. It is the

way of faith. It is to know that the important thing is not what we can do for God but what He has

done for us.

For Paul, the center of the Christian faith was the basic spiritual fact that we can never earn or de-

serve the favor of God, nor, in fact, do we even need to. The whole matter is one purely of grace,

and all that we can do is to accept this Grace in wondering love and gratitude and trust what God

has done for us.

That does not, however free us from obligations to actually do what is right in God’s eyes nor does

it entitle us to do anything we like; it means that we must forever try to be worthy of the love which

does so much for us. If you find this a strange thing, then you need to examine your relationship

with Christ. In theory, if you truly love Him, returning that love by doing what He says will be our

chief aim in life. I realize that no matter how much we love the Lord, we still have a sin nature that

will always attempt to surface and take control of our actions. While God sees us as “righteous”

now because of the Blood of Jesus, our physical righteousness or total sanctification is yet to come.

The problem of the Jews was a torturing one, especially for Paul, the Jew of Jews and Pharisee of

Pharisees. In a real sense, they were God’s chosen people; and yet, when his Son had come into the

world, they had rejected him. What possible explanation could there be for this heartbreaking fact?

The only explanation that Paul could find was that, in the end, it was all God’s doing. Somehow, the

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hearts of the Jews had been hardened. In the end, it would be the despised Gentiles that would bring

in the Jews and they could be saved. Paul acknowledges his call as the Apostle to them.

Paul insists that the real Jew is not someone whose flesh-and-blood descent can be traced to Abra-

ham, but someone who has made the same decision of complete submission to God in the same lov-

ing faith that Abraham made. The new Israel was not dependent on race at all; it was composed of

those who had the same faith that Abraham had. This is not to say that the Church has replaced Is-

rael as God’s chosen people nor that God doesn’t mean to fulfill his promises to Israel.

What the Scripture Says.

Find the right person to compare yourself to, and you can come off looking good. Set your stan-

dards low enough and you’ll come out on top. But how do you fare when God sets the standard?

God’s standard—a standard of perfect righteousness—is the only one that matters. Regardless of

how good we might think we are, we fall far short of this standard. The Bible makes this abun-

dantly clear, but it also makes the solution clear.

It has been said that the Law lays down what we must do, but the gospel lays down what God has

already done. In that regard, Paul, in Romans, gives us an opportunity to exam how to deal with

our desire for a ‘Do Over’ in life.

First, we all are in need of Salvation.

Q: What is salvation?

READ: Romans 1:16 through 17.

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is God’s power for salvation to

everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.

17 For in it God’s righteousness is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written:

The righteous will live by faith.

In this passage, we see:

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The gospel is nothing to be ashamed of;

God gives us power for salvation through the gospel;

The gospel is for everyone; God’s righteousness is revealed.

Barclay observes of salvation:

There had been a time when Greek philosophy was speculative. Up to 500 years ear-lier, much time had been spent discussing the problem: what is the one basic element of which the world is composed? Philosophy had been speculative philosophy and it had been natural philosophy. But, bit by bit, as the centuries passed, life collapsed on itself. The old landmarks were destroyed. Tyrants and conquerors and perils surrounded peo-ple; degeneracy and weakness haunted them; and philosophy changed its emphasis.

It became not speculative but practical. It ceased to be natural philosophy and be-came moral philosophy. Its one aim was to build a ring-wall of defence against the ad-vancing chaos of the world.[The Stoic philosopher,] Epictetus called his lecture room ‘the hospital for the sick soul’. Epicurus called his teaching ‘the medicine of salvation’. [The Roman,] Seneca, who was contemporary with Paul, said that everyone was looking ad salutem, towards salvation. What we needed, he said, was ‘a hand let down to lift us up’. People were overwhelmingly conscious of ‘their weakness and their inefficiency in necessary things’. He described himself as homo non tolerabilis, a man not to be toler-ated. “People loved their vices,” he added with a sort of despair, “and hated them at the same time.” In that desperate world, they were seeking a peace described by Epictetus as being ‘not of Caesar’s proclamation, but of God’s’.

There can seldom have been a time in history when men and women were more uni-versally searching for salvation. It was precisely that salvation, that power, that escape, that [Christ] came to offer.

Q: What’s the Point of the first session? In Romans 1, we learn that “you can’t meet God’s

standard on your own.” The standard we’re talking about is God’s perfect standard of right-

eousness.

This righteousness from God is available through Jesus Christ.

This righteousness from God cannot be earned.

This righteousness is received by believing.

In chapter 2, Paul focused on people who believed they were already “righteous” and thus,

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did not need a Savior.

READ Romans 2:5 through 11.

5 But because of your hardness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for

yourself in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed. 6 He will

repay each one according to his works: 7 eternal life to those who by persistence in

doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality; 8 but wrath and indignation to those

who are self through seeking and disobey the truth but are obeying

unrighteousness;9 affliction and distress for every human being who does evil, first

to the Jew, and also to the Greek; 10 but glory, honor, and peace for everyone who

does what is good, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek. 11 There is no favoritism

with God.

Q: In 2:5-11, what “works” is Paul talking about? Religious Jews and moral Gentiles

agreed with Paul’s condemnation of sinful perversions but failed to see their own need to

receive God’s righteousness by faith. Paul attributed that failure to a hardness and unrepen-

tant heart. The only “work” that Paul is considering is that of trusting in God as their only

Saviour. In other places, we learn that even this is not a “work” of man, but rather a mere re-

sponse to the call of the Spirit of God. Note the sobering nature of this passage: None of us,

on our own, before, now, or in the future is or ever will be righteous.

READ: Romans 3:9 through 12.

9 What then? Are we any better? Not at all! For we have previously charged that

both Jews and Gentiles are all under sin,

10 as it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one.

11 There is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.

12 All have turned away; all alike have become useless. There is no one who does

what is good, not even one.

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In Romans 3:20, Paul finished his indictment of us all when he said that none of us is justi-

fied by works of the law. Trying to meet God’s standard of righteousness by our works is like

trying to cool off on a sweltering day by fanning ourselves with a funeral home fan. It’s woe-

fully insufficient. In 3:21, note the words, “but now.”

READ: Romans 3:20, 21. “21 But now, apart from the law, God’s righteousness has been

revealed—attested by the Law and the Prophets.”

Q: Why are the words ‘But now’ so significant? “Our ‘but now’ moments can be life-chang-

ing. Paul went on to identify God’s ‘but now’ gift—righteousness through faith in Christ.”

READ: Romans 3:22-26.

22 —that is, God’s righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ, to all who believe,

since there is no distinction.

23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

24 They are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Je-

sus.

25 God presented Him as propitiation through faith in His blood, to demonstrate

His righteousness, because in His restraint God passed over the sins previously

committed.

26 God presented Him to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so that

He would be righteous and declare righteous the one who has faith in Jesus.

Importantly, this passage is the key to understanding life itself.

All men need salvation;

Salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ alone.

Salvation is for all who believe.

Q: What is righteousness? In v. 21), it refers to being right before God. People only become right-eous as God declares them so. It is a judicial term. It means being found “not guilty” even though you might, in fact, be very guilty. It is the view from the bench that you are not guilty. On the basis of what Christ has accomplished for sinners on the cross, God now views those who believe in Christ from an eschatological perspective.

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That is, He sees them not as they are but as they will be in Christ. He sees them as He sees Christ: perfect, holy, and without sin (compare 2 Cor. 5:21). God’s justification of those who believe is provided “freely by his grace” (3:24). 

We do not become righteous, but we are declared righteous. The distinction is important

This distinction is important because Evil is always nearby. Evil wants believers to feel very

proud of themselves. Evil wants us to think that surely God gave us this wonderful gift be-

cause He saw something good in us. Paul punctures this balloon.

READ: Romans 3:27-28.

27 Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By one of works?

No, on the contrary, by a law of faith. 28 For we conclude that a man is justified by

faith apart from the works of the law.

Note Paul’s continued contrast between law and faith. Paul wanted his fellow Jews to

understand that they had no advantage in salvation because of their position and possession

of the law.” (See 2:17-20,23.) Paul’s emphasis on his fellow Jews having no grounds to boast

can also make us who are long-time churchgoers sit up and take notice. We should resist the

temptation to boast about our religious practices.

The concept of justification by faith in Christ alone apart from any works can become a

stumbling block for people in two significant ways:

1. Some people cannot accept the truth that salvation is a gift. So, they try to store up good

deeds to outweigh the bad like building good Karma.

2. Others believe in accepting the gift by faith but believe they must keep their salvation se-

cure by their good works.

In Romans 5:6-11,18-21, Paul tells us that even at our best, we are not good enough and even at

our worst, God loves us.

In Romans 4, he illustrated that truth from the life of Abraham.

In Romans 5, Paul showed us the result of that justification: we have peace with God

meaning that we have been fully reconciled to God and given eternal life in Christ.

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READ: Romans 5:6-8.

6 For while we were still helpless, at the appointed moment, Christ died for the un-

godly.

7 For rarely will someone die for a just person—though for a good person perhaps

someone might even dare to die.

8 But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ

died for us!

The Sages and the Rabbis said there was a difference in “righteous” or “just” and “good,”

and gradations of each. A “righteous” man was one that kept the law. Motive or reputation

was irrelevant. A “good man” was one who may or may not have kept the law all the time,

but was considered as “good” or perhaps, “beloved” by his fellow men. It is probably the sec-

ond class of which Paul speaks. Sometimes, “righteous” persons are not so well liked. No-

body wants to die for a “holier-than-thou” jerk. However, a “good” man is a different thing.

In an emotional act, we may give up our lives for a “good” man.

We, on the other hand, are neither “righteous” nor good.” That being the case, one of the

many gifts God’s love gives to us is reconciliation, and Jesus is the One who put us back on

friendly terms with God.

READ: Romans 5:9-11 to see the re-connection Jesus gives to us.

9 Much more then, since we have now been declared righteous by His blood, we

will be saved through Him from wrath.

10 For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of

His Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by His

life!

11 And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We

have now received this reconciliation through Him.

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Q: What is “Reconciliation?” Reconciliation is restoration of friendly relationships where pre-

viously there existed resentment and estrangement.

Note the word enemies in verse 10. Consider your feelings for our nation’s enemies in wars

past and up to the present day. It is hard to imagine being worse than to be one of God’s ene-

mies, but even as enemies, God still loves us

When we’ve lived a long time, we’ve seen lots of tragedy, and it can seem that sin continues

to multiply. But Paul said ‘where sin multiplied, grace multiplied even more.’

READ: Romans 5:18-21.

18 So then, as through one trespass there is condemnation for everyone, so also

through one righteous act there is life-giving justification for everyone.

19 For just as through one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so also

through the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

20 The law came along to multiply the trespass. But where sin multiplied, grace

multiplied even more

21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace will reign through righteous-

ness, resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Now, we turn to an identity you must embrace where we learn from Romans 6 that Sin is no longer

your master; Christ is.

READ: Read Romans 6:8-11.

8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him,

9 because we know that Christ, having been raised from the dead, will not die

again. Death no longer rules over Him.

10 For in light of the fact that He died, He died to sin once for all; but in light of the

fact that He lives, He lives to God.

11 So, you too consider yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

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Jesus died to sin and is alive to God. Because of what Jesus did, Paul demanded that all be-

lievers see themselves in the same way.

Q: If we’ve been given a new identity, why are we so tempted to serve our old master? We

must be vigilant in our stand against sin.

Read Romans 6:12-14.

12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its desires.

13 And do not offer any parts of it to sin as weapons for unrighteousness. But as those who

are alive from the dead, offer yourselves to God, and all the parts of yourselves to God as

weapons for righteousness.

14 For sin will not rule over you, because you are not under law but under grace.

Before Christ saved us, we were bound to obey our old master. We were under sin’s power. It

reigned over us. Those who have received God’s grace through faith in Christ have been set

free to live in the beauty and power of Jesus’ righteous character and actions. We must

choose daily to say “NO!” to our old master and “YES!” to Jesus our Lord!

Read Romans 6:15-18.

12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its desires.

13 And do not offer any parts of it to sin as weapons for unrighteousness. But as

those who are alive from the dead, offer yourselves to God, and all the parts of

yourselves to God as weapons for righteousness.

14 For sin will not rule over you, because you are not under law but under grace.

Paul was very forceful in standing against anyone who claimed that salvation by grace

through faith actually promoted sin. It does the opposite. Grace creates a righteous lifestyle in

the person who trusts Christ. We are right back to thinking about the master we serve.

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In Romans 6, Paul wrote that our freedom from sin is not a license to sin. In Romans 7, Paul

pointed out that while we are free in Christ from the law, the law does a good thing in pointing out

our sinfulness and thus pointing us to Christ. We still struggle with sin, but deliverance comes

through Christ.

Now, in Romans 7:14-8:2, Paul leads us to “A Fight You Can't Win By Yourself.” Life is a struggle,

one that we are bound to lose unless . . .

Read Romans 7:14-23

14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am made out of flesh, sold into sin’s

power.

15 For I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not practice what I want

to do, but I do what I hate.

16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree with the law that it is good.

17 So now I am no longer the one doing it, but it is sin living in me.

18 For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For the desire to

do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it.

19 For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not

want to do.

20 Now if I do what I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but it is the sin

that lives in me.

21 So I discover this principle: When I want to do what is good, evil is with me.

22 For in my inner self I joyfully agree with God’s law.

23 But I see a different law in the parts of my body, waging war against the law of

my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body.

In verse 14, Paul contrasted his life as a believer to the Law of Moses. He sharply pointed

out that the law is spiritual, but he was not. In fact, Paul described himself as one made out

of flesh, sold into sin’s power. The difference between the two is stunning. 12 | P a g e

The Law is not evil. On the contrary, the Law is good because it originated with God Him-

self. Paul viewed himself as sinful in comparison. Through the rest of that passage, Paul

continues the theme of the struggle that he, in his flesh, and we, in our flesh, are bound to

lose. In the next passage, Paul tells us how it will all work out.

Read Romans 7:24–8:2

24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this dying body?

25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I myself am a

slave to the law of God, but with my flesh, to the law of sin.

8:1 Therefore, no condemnation now exists for those in Christ Jesus,

2 because the Spirit’s law of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin

and of death.

Finally, in our last lesson we learn about the gift of the Holy Spirit who empowers us.

Read Romans 8:8-13.

8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

9 You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God lives in

you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.

10 Now if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life be-

cause of righteousness.

11 And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then He

who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through

His Spirit who lives in you.

12 So then, brothers, we are not obligated to the flesh to live according to the flesh,

13 for if you live according to the flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit

you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

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Note the emphasis Paul placed on believers having the Holy Spirit dwelling within them.

Flesh equals death; Spirit equals life. So then, how can I know that I am saved?

“By Guidance”

“By Dispelling Fear”

“By Inner Testimony.

READ Romans 8:14-17.

14 All those led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons.

15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received

the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!”

16 The Spirit Himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children,

17 and if children, also heirs—heirs of God and coheirs with Christ—seeing that we

suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.

How wonderful it is to be God’s children. We all know that children need an advocate.

Thanks be to God, because we are weak children, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us.”

READ Romans 8:26-27.

26 In the same way the Spirit also joins to help in our weakness, because we do not

know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with

unspoken groanings.

27 And He who searches the hearts knows the Spirit’s mind-set, because He inter-

cedes for the saints according to the will of God

Summation. Our journey of faith is a long one. We who are up in years know that better than

most. It takes a lifetime, and thankfully, God did not leave us to travel alone. His Spirit is in

us to strengthen us until the very last step Hallelujah! FINIS.

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