For nearly 2,000 years, the book of Romans has shaped the lives of Christians in remarkable ways.
Augustine, Martin Luther, John Calvin, and John Wesley each testified to the transforming power of Romans. Across the centuries, God has used this extraordinary letter to bring conviction, renewal, and a deeper understanding of the gospel.
As I have spent the past year studying and teaching Romans, I found that God has continued that same work in my own life. Personally, God has challenged and renewed me through these words of Scripture, and my hope is that He will do the same for you.
The Questions We All Ask
Romans has been so influential because Paul addresses some of the most foundational teachings of the Bible as well as some of the most personal questions we face as human beings.
What does it mean to do God's will?
How can we have a secure relationship with God?
How do we grow and change?
Who are we?
As I studied and taught Romans, what surprised me most was not simply the depth of Paul's theology. It was the way this letter searched my own heart.
Paul's answer to each of these questions ultimately points us back to the same reality: the gospel of Jesus Christ. At the heart of Romans is Paul's declaration:
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last …The righteous will live by faith.”
The gospel is the power of God to save all who believe from condemnation and death and bring us into new life in Christ. Through faith in Jesus, we are brought into a secure relationship with God, transformed by the Holy Spirit, and united as one family across every race, ethnicity, gender, and status.
The Surprise Waiting in Romans
As I studied and taught Romans, what surprised me most was not simply the depth of Paul's theology. It was the way this letter searched my own heart.
Romans never leaves theology on the page.
I found myself returning to Paul's exhortations in Romans 12–15 to grow in being a person of greater love for others. I want to be a man who is joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer—but above all, one whose life is marked by genuine love for others.
Because it is often when misunderstandings arise, when disappointment comes, or when people wound us, that our character and our souls are truly revealed.
Jesus calls and saves people of all sorts—with different backgrounds, convictions, personalities, and wounds. We grow in Christlikeness, but we do not become identical people. Sooner or later there will be misunderstandings and hurts, even among Christ’s people. Romans reminds us that the same gospel that reconciles us to God also teaches us how to love one another.
The Gospel Is Bigger than Me
While it is certainly true that each of us must personally respond to the gospel and find a right relationship with God through faith, the gospel is not only about my personal faith and your personal faith. Nor is it merely about my personal sin and your personal sin.
The gift of justification by faith to you and me as individuals is actually part of the universe-wide work God is doing through Jesus in the of His Spirit.
The problem is not simply that individuals have sinned. The whole creation is broken and in need of redemption.
God is setting the world right.
From the beginning, God's purpose has been to dwell once again with His people. Through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, He is making us holy, good, and beautiful. The end of the biblical story is a new creation where God dwells with His people and we are finally home.
As one theologian has observed, “Salvation is not just God’s gift to His people; it is God's gift through His people.”
God rescues us from sin and death not only that we may be reconciled to Him, but that we can take our proper place in His work of renewing creation. As those who are now in a right relationship with Him through faith, we are invited into Christ's own work of bringing redemption to the world.
An Invitation
This is why Romans never leaves theology on the page. The gospel shapes people, forms communities marked by grace, and sends us into the world as ambassadors of Jesus Christ.
As you begin this study, perhaps these are good questions to ask yourself:
How might God be calling you to bless others in your family, your neighborhood, your church, or your workplace?
Who might God be leading you to speak with about the life found in Jesus?
Is there someone who comes to mind even now who needs your love and witness of the gospel?
The joy of the gospel is not only that we come to know and experience God, but that we get the profound joy of being His ambassadors and witnesses.
From the beginning, God's purpose has been to dwell once again with His people.
For nearly 2,000 years, God has used this remarkable letter to shape His people. He did so in the lives of Augustine, Martin Luther, John Calvin, and John Wesley—and He has continued that same work in me.
My prayer is that as you study Romans, God will continue that same work in you. May He deepen your understanding of the gospel, increase your love for others, strengthen your faith, and fill you with hope, peace, and love as you follow .