The Book of Romans contains valuable information for Christians on a variety of subjects, including creation, sin, salvation, eschatology, ethics, and of course, theology. By studying Paul's letter to the Romans, Christians not only have a guide for Christian living, but also how to interact with non-believers as well.
Creation
Romans informs believers on several issues regarding creation. Romans 1:20 points out that all that can be known about God has been revealed ever since the creation of the world. The verse states: “For his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.” (ESV) Paul is stating is that all someone has to do is look around and marvel at the whole of creation, from the tiniest bug, to the ocean, to the stars above, and it should be apparent that it was God who is their creator. Paul also states that creation itself eagerly anticipates the day that the Lord returns and sets things right in Romans 8:22: “The whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.” (ESV) Creation “now is not what God intended it to be...but God will free the created world from this bondage one day, bringing it into the glorious freedom of his own children.”1
Romans also delves into the nature of humanity as created beings. Since mankind has given up on God, Romans 1:21-24 reveals that God has given some over to the depraved thoughts of their own design, having replaced God with the desires of their own flesh. Human nature itself is summarized in Romans 3:12: “All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” (ESV) This goes against the concept of a “good person”, because inherently human beings are not “good”, and that “all people, Jew and Gentile alike, are under sin's power.”2
Sin
Sin is a topic of primary importance in Romans, as the nature of mankind without Christ always points back to his sinful nature. Romans 5:12 points to the root of the problem: “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.” (ESV) Because of this act of disobedience, all of humanity since then has lived under the shadow of sin, and the consequences that followed. Romans 6:23 spells out these consequences: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (ESV) Until the coming of Christ, those who sinned either did so under the law, or apart from it, and the law was given as the standard by which God would judge, and “no person ever actually meets the standard of obeying the law required for right standing with God.”3 This is why Christ came, to fulfill the law, and for faith to become the new standard by which a person's sins were weighed against them.
Salvation
Paul's letter to the Romans deals heavily with the issue and mode of salvation. In 2:12, Paul shows that “all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.” (ESV) Having established that no one will ever be able to fully meet the requirements of the law, salvation had to be brought about by some other vehicle, which is faith in Jesus, shown in 2:16: “God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.” (ESV) We are now justified by our faith in the death of Jesus, and have been made righteous before God. Romans 5:1-2 shows that we now have peace with God because of this sacrifice: “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” (ESV) This is a two-fold peace. It is first the “peace of God”, which is an “inner sense of security and serenity that wells up in our hearts when we appreciate the blessings we enjoy in Christ.”4 The second is that now we have peace with God. This denotes that “God has ceased to be hostile towards us and has reconciled us to himself.”5 We have been moved out of the position of having wrath poured out onto us by our sin, and have been moved into a position of adoption into God's kingdom through a relationship with His Son, Jesus.
Sanctification
Since we have been set free from sin, we now enter into the process of the continual sanctification of our lives through the Holy Spirit. As 6:22 reminds us that we “have been set free from sin and have becomes slaves to God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.” (ESV) This verse is better explained in it's relationship to 6:12-1:3 “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do no present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life.” (ESV) The Christian is to now continually put sin aside, and present themselves to God in a manner that is reflected of the fact that their sins have now been forgiven and that they have been set free from God's wrath.
Eschatology
Paul, in Romans, also deals with the next phase of God's plan for creation and humanity. Paul lays out God's ultimate plan. That “plan begins with his foreknowing us, and then leads to his predestining, calling, justifying, and finally, glorifying us.”6 This plan has now passed from the Jews to the Gentiles, as Paul reveals in 11:25-26: “A partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved.” (ESV) What Paul “predicts in this chapter is a spiritual revivification of the Jewish people,”7 which will take place after a pre-determined number of Gentiles as saved, at a time which only God Himself knows.
Ethics
How Christian's are supposed to interact with the world now that they have been set free from sin is also addressed by Paul in Romans. Romans 12:1-2 shows us that we are to now “present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (ESV) The renewal that has taken place post-salvation is to be evident in all of our interactions with a world that still exists outside of God's righteous, and those that have either refused or not yet accepted the gift of salvation through Jesus.
Theology
Romans also reveals information about the nature of God as well. In 1:18, Paul reveals that God is righteous, and will reveal His wrath upon all that is unrighteous. Paul also reveals in 2:4 several more attributes of God, namely his kindness, forbearance, and patience. Romans 8:29 shows that nothing can separate a believe from the love of God in Christ Jesus, giving the believer confidence and the assurance of faith placed in Him. Paul also speaks about God's invisible attributes in 1:20, “namely, his eternal power and divine nature.” (ESV)
Studying through the Book of Romans will give Christians not only a better understanding of how they have now been brought into a position where they no longer live under the law, but also of how they have received God's mercy and will not suffer God's wrath. By understanding these concepts, Christians not only will be able to apply them to their own lives, but be able to better explain them to non-believers.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Moo, Douglas J. Romans. The NIV Application Commentary. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Publishing House, 2000.
1 Douglas J. Moo, Romans, The NIV Application Commentary, Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Publishing House, (2000), 276.
2 Ibid., 112.
3 Ibid., 85.
4 Ibid., 174.
5 Ibid., 174.
6 Ibid., 279.
7 Ibid., 286.
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