Bible Studies

Romans

Introduction

Paul, a disciple of Jesus, wrote the book of Romans, which covered a wide range of topics that fell in accordance with what Jesus taught. This bible study will cover main ideas from the book of Romans by going through the chapters numerically. I hope you get to see why the bible can be so life-changing because of the ideals and principles it teaches. While many may be easy to understand, they can be hard to enforce in our daily lives. Let's start with the first four chapters.

Part 1

In Romans 1, Paul says that he really wants to visit Rome again. He's been a few times before but not enough to know the people very well, which is why he is writing the book of Romans as a letter to them. A letter that will show them what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Ironically, one of the first things Paul does is show the destruction of people who refused to follow God. The following quoted scripture is part of Romans 1:21-25 of The Message translation.

"What happened was this: People knew God perfectly well, but when they didn't treat him like God, refusing to worship him, they trivialized themselves into silliness and confusion so that there was neither sense nor direction left in their lives. They pretended to know it all, but were illiterate regarding life. They traded the glory of God who holds the whole world in his hands for cheap figurines you can buy at any roadside stand. So God said, in effect, 'If that's what you want, that's what you get.' It wasn't long before they were living in a pigpen, smeared with filth, filthy inside and out."

Of all the things Paul could choose to discuss in the first part of his letter to the Romans, why do you think he chose this topic? Think about that for a second. Perhaps he wanted anyone in Rome who knew about God but refused to acknowledge or believe in Him to go ahead and give their lives to God before they could persuade anyone else to do the same destructive things.

Influence can be both good and bad, which is why we have to be aware of who we may influence and how we're influencing them. If we do something that causes someone else to stumble in their faith, it needs to be stopped before it can do anymore harm. No wonder Paul wanted the people in Rome to put an end to any destructive or negative behavior against God. Chapter 2, however, begins on a slightly more positive note, although it may not be what many people want to hear.

This chapter starts off with the simple concept of not judging others. Simple to understand, not so easy to live out. According to Romans 2, God shows no favoritism and judges fairly. That's why He is known as the Good Judge. It continues on by bringing up one of those good makes-you-think questions. If you tell someone not to do something, do you do it yourself? Judging others can be hard to resist, but we have to put our trust in God, knowing that He will judge those who deserve judgment, including ourselves.

The last part of the chapter discusses circumcision, a topic that can sometimes be controversial among Christians. Romans 2:25 (NIV translation) says, "Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised." In this verse, Paul is saying that circumcision isn't that important if you don't obey God. Later on, verse 29 explains that "circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code.", meaning that you don't need to be physically circumcised to be circumcised (if that makes sense). It is the meaning behind the action rather than the action itself that is important.

Romans 3 can be a bit tricky to understand in some sections. Overall, it discusses the importance of God demonstrating righteousness through Jesus' sacrifice since not one of us is righteousness. It also mentions Jews and Gentiles and how there is no difference between them when it comes to righteousness; everyone has sinned and falls short compared to God. Romans 3:9 (MSG translation) expresses this.