The Message of the Book of Romans in One Sentence
The Good News of the Gospel
Romans is about the good newsāthe gospel. The word gospel is prominent at the beginning and end of the letter, and itās foremost in the letterās thesis statement in Romans 1:16ā17: āIām not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, āThe righteous shall live by faith.āā
We can summarize the bad news and the good news with four words: God, man, Christ, response. Number one is God. God is the holy creator. Number two is man, or sinners, and number three is Christ. Jesus lived, died, and rose again for sinners. And number four is response. God saves sinners who turn and trust Jesus.
How does God save sinners? Romans specifies that God saves sinners by justifying them. That is by declaring that sinners have the status of righteous before God. And God is just when he does this, because Christ satisfied Godās wrath. Romans 3:25ā26 says God put forward Christ āas a propitiation to show Godās righteousness. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that God might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.ā So, God righteously righteouses the unrighteous. God justly justifies the unjust.
Romans specifies that God saves sinners by justifying them.
Iām borrowing from John Stottās clever way of putting it. And how does this happen? Itās by faith in Christ, apart from the law. And when does this happen? Right now, at this stage in the history of Godās saving people.
So Romans 3:21 begins, āBut now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law.ā
And this is the good news, not only for Jews, but itās for Jews and Gentiles alike. So hereās one way to summarize the theological message of Romans in just one sentence: The gospel reveals how God is righteously righteousing unrighteous individualsāboth Jews and Gentilesāat this stage in the history of salvation.
Andrew David Naselli is the author of Romans: A Concise Guide to the Greatest Letter Ever Written.
Related Articles
Life is complex. Gray areas abound. Yet Jesus taught that we all face a simple but fateful either/or: a wide way leading to woe, or a narrow way leading to life.
Romans explains the saving work of Jesus reported in the Gospels, and unpacks many of the teachings that were foundational to the churches that arose in Acts.
Why Romans Is the Greatest Letter Ever Written
Paulās letter to the Romans is relatively short (it takes about sixty minutes to read aloud), and it is profound. It explains and exults in and applies the greatest news we could hear.
Was Christās Coming the End of the Law? (Romans 10)
Christ is the termination of the law in the sense that he ushers in a new ageā both continuous with and different from the former age.
Go to Source
Author: Andrew David Naselli
The post The Message of the Book of Romans in One Sentence first appeared on Koa Sinag Ministry.
