The Book of Romans Study Guide

By Reverend Harvey Smith

The goal of the book Romans Study Guide is to help those who are seeking a deeper understanding of the Gospel of Christ and its application to daily life. The commentary, practical applications, and questions at the end of each chapter are designed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the teachings of Christ. As you read and meditate on the content of this book and aided by the power of the Holy Spirit, your faith and fellowship with the Christian community will grow, and your spiritual life will have greater meaning.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Dec 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781638853909

Book preview

Chapter 1

Universality of Sin and Salvation

In the introduction of the letter to the church of Rome, Paul describes himself as a servant and apostle of Christ and addresses the letter to all the saints, or followers of Christ in Rome. The epistle to the Romans is viewed by many to be the most comprehensive biblical writings on the Christian Gospel. In an earlier epistle to the church at Galatia, Paul declared that he did not receive his Gospel from man but by revelation of Jesus (Galatians 1:21). The focus of the opening verses in this epistle is on the humanity and deity of Jesus Christ, the two natures of Jesus.

The deity and humanity of Jesus

Concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who as to His human nature was a descendant of David. And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead.

—Romans 1:3, 4

Paul is pointing to the fact that Jesus was both fully God and fully man. In his humanity, he hungered, thirsted, wept, and died the death of the cross. However, in his deity, he walked on the water, healed the sick and the lame, gave sight to the blind, and raised a dead Lazarus from the grave. In his letter to the church at Philippi speaking of Jesus, Paul says, And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross (Philippians 2:8).

Paul says in verse 4 that Jesus was raised from the dead according to the spirit of holiness, and it is by that righteousness that Jesus will judge the world, for the Bible tells us that God has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he has raised from the dead (Acts 17:29–31).

It is a proven fact that Jesus arose from the dead, and each and every one of us will have to stand before him someday, and those who have not received him as Lord and Savior will have to appear before him in the filthy rags of their own righteousness and will be condemned to an eternity of separation from God and eternal damnation in the lake of fire.

But the good news is that the offer of God’s grace and the gift of salvation is universal and is available to the whole of the human race, and we are saved so that we may surrender our lives to Jesus Christ, who is the author of our faith and has done everything necessary for our sins to be forgiven. In other words, the work has been done by the Savior, and all we have to do is answer to the grace that has been offered to us through his Word.

God the Father, in his infinite wisdom, determined from the foundation of the world that his Son Jesus, the second person in the Godhead, would come down to earth and die as a sacrifice for the remission of our sin so that we may be restored to a right relationship with God. The Gospel of Jesus had been foretold by the Old Testament prophets who prophesied about the coming of Christ. The Old Testament prophets not only described the coming of the Messiah in terms of power and earthly kingship but also foretold of his suffering and death.

However, there was confusion and conflict among the Jews and Gentiles in the church, and Paul wanted them to know that with the death and resurrection of Christ, salvation and the gift of eternal life was available to all who believed in the truth that Jesus was indeed the Son of God who died for the sins of the world.

How do you know that you have a personal relationship with Jesus?

In chapter 1, the primary focus is on the sin and guilt of the Gentiles, but the Jews were also guilty. Therefore, both Jews and Gentiles needed to hear the word of truth concerning the Gospel message that Paul had received in a revelation directly from Jesus. Paul had preached and planted churches throughout the Roman Empire, and in his letter to the believers at Rome, he presents his most comprehensive understanding of the Gospel message concerning universal sin and God’s plan of redemption.

Satan committed the first sin when he rebelled against God in the heavenly places. Sin in this world had its beginning when Adam and Eve willfully disobeyed God’s command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God knew that Adam would disobey his command, and from the foundation of the world, it was God’s eternal and divine plan to send his Son Jesus into the world to die as a sacrifice for our sin.

The central message of the Gospel is that by the finished work of Christ, lost souls can now be restored to the right relationship with God. In other words, the righteousness of Jesus is imputed to the account of all the saints of the Lord so that all believers are declared righteous in the sight of God, and their sins have been washed away by the blood of the cross.

By the finished work of Jesus, every believer has been brought out of the darkness of this world into the sphere of God’s spiritual blessings, whereby we are now children of God and reckoned (called) saints of the Lord. Paul and the Roman Christians were separated by distance but connected by prayer and faith in Christ Jesus and set apart for service unto the Lord.

Unfortunately, however, there are far too many saints who are not living the Christian life according to our calling; and throughout the Gospel message, we see that the seeds of sin are an inherent part of the makeup of the whole human race, including members of the church. How many times have we heard or read about pastors stealing money from the church or cheating on their wives? Christians shacking up or addicted to alcohol or drugs? And the list goes on.

What that tells us is that there is a huge difference between being called a saint and being saintly. From the word saint, we get the word sanctified or sanctification; and unlike justification, which is a one-time event, sanctification is a lifelong process where day by day the believer becomes more sanctified in the likeness of Christ. But as long as we are on this side of eternity, our holiness or righteousness will be like filthy garments in the sight of the Lord.

List some areas of your life that you need to work on in order to grow in holiness in the likeness of Christ:

The Bible says in Ephesians 2:10, For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. All three major religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—agree that mankind was created to live in a righteous relationship with our creator.

However, Christianity is the only religion that teaches the doctrine of justification, whereby a right relationship with God is not based on our good works but only on the perfect righteousness of Jesus imputed to us and received by faith through the hearing of the Word.

The power of the Gospel

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile.

—Romans 1:16

Paul was confident in the truth and goodness of the message he proclaimed and boldly declared that he was not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. The Gospel is the truth of God’s grace in the work of salvation attesting to the fact that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried and raised from the dead.

In other words, all true believers have been saved from the penalty and power of sin and in the future shall be saved from the presence of sin and spend eternity in the presence of the Lord.

But unbelievers, those who reject the truth of the Gospel message, will remain lost in their sin and will spend eternity in utter darkness. However, the Bible tells us that God does not desire that any should perish and commands men everywhere to repent and realize that Christ has done everything necessary for our salvation. Today, Jesus is calling on all lost souls to turn from their sin and put their faith and trust in him and the truth of his Word.

God’s wrath against sin

For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, the just shall live by faith. The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness.

—Romans 1:17, 18

In our study of this passage, it is important to note that God’s righteousness and man’s righteousness are two entirely different kinds of righteousness, and one of the greatest errors in human thinking is to think that there is a certain degree of righteousness in man that is acceptable to God.

However, the Bible clearly teaches that the norm for human righteousness will always fall short of God’s glory. In the text, when Paul says that the Gospel reveals the righteousness of God, what he is saying is that the word of God has clearly demonstrated that no man can ever satisfy the requirements for the penalty of sin by himself.

In other words, if absolute perfection is the standard for righteousness, then no man other than Jesus has ever lived up to the standards of human or divine righteousness; and when Paul says that God’s righteousness is revealed from faith to faith, he is referring to the fact that a true believer’s faith is from start to finish, from conversion to glorification. In essence, a true believer is saved by faith and will live and die by faith and, ultimately, will be in heaven by faith.

In Hebrews 11:6, we are told that without faith it is impossible to please God. In the text, Paul quotes the prophet Habakkuk when he says that