“Even Better Than You Think”: Sermon Series on the Book of Romans

Paul’s New Testament letter to the Romans is the most important letter ever written. Tim Keller said of it, “The letter to the Romans is a book that repeatedly changes the world, by changing people.”[1] You can see this in the conversions of some of church history’s most important figures.

Augustine was converted by hearing a voice that said, “Take up and read.” What he took up and read was Romans 13 and his life was never the same: “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires” (Rom 13:14).

The Reformer Martin Luther wrestled with Romans 1:16–17 until he figured out Paul was speaking of God’s gift of righteousness to be found through faith in Christ: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes....For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith." When he realized what Paul meant, he writes, “I felt that I was altogether born again and had entered paradise itself through open gates.” He was never the same again.

Martin Luther would go on to write one of the most famous commentaries on the book of Romans, and John Wesley would be converted by listening to Paul’s “Preface” in that commentary where he summarizes the argument of Paul’s letter.

And as Keller indicates, this transformational impact continues. On October 6 we begin a series in the book of Romans, and we hope Romans once again has this dynamic impact..

Here I want to give some introductory thoughts on this letter, so we can go into the series better armed to learn from it.

Basic Details of the Letter

We start with the placement of Romans in our New Testament. It is the first letter after the gospels and Acts. Paul’s letters were generally grouped together in early collections, and very quickly they were seen as best read alongside Acts where Paul featured so prominently. Within Paul’s letters, the works are arranged to groups first (Romans to 2 Thessalonians) and then to individuals (1–2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon). Within these two groupings, letters are arranged longest to shortest. So, Romans being written to a group and being the longest of Paul’s letters, it comes first in the collection.

Then there is the author. There is almost total agreement on the fact that the apostle Paul wrote this letter, the man converted to Christ in Acts 9 on the road to Damascus and the man who would go on to become one of the most important figures in all of church history. No serious alternative to this view has gained any traction among scholars.

Next we can consider when he wrote it. Paul likely wrote this letter from Corinth, the stay in that city mentioned in Acts 20:2–3. Luke records it as “Greece,” but this would refer to Corinth, one of the Greek cities. During his “three months” there he had time to reflect on the church in Rome and the gospel message he wanted to deliver. Praise God for this downtime for God’s apostle to write out such a message!

This three-month stay was likely around the year AD 57, about a quarter-century after Paul’s conversion and the crucixion and resurrection of Jesus. Paul had begun and completed two missionary journeys and was now on his third one (begun in Acts 18:23). He had written Galatians, 1–2 Thessalonians, and 1–2 Corinthians. In other words, a veteran apostle was writing this mature work of theology.

Rome at this point in Paul’s life was unchartered territory. We know from Romans 15:14–33 that he planned to go to Rome on his way to further missionary fields in Spain. He would get to Rome, but first as a prisoner after he appealed his court case all the way “to Caesar” (Acts 25:11–12).

Rome at this time was famous for its size, having a million people (and 40-50,000 Jews), but also its decadence. It was immersed in the Roman pantheon of gods and was known for its emperor worship. The ancient historian Tacitus said in his Annals 15.44 that Rome under Nero was “the City, where all degraded and shameful practices collect from all over and become the vogue.” When we read Romans 1:24–32 and the massive vice list Paul gives, we get some sense of the Roman moral climate.

What It’s About: The Gospel of Righteousness through Faith in Christ

Unlike many books in the Bible, Romans provides a thesis statement to help us understand what the book is about. It is found in the first chapter,

For I am 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. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” (Rom 1:16-17)

Paul’s central life boast has to do with “the gospel,” God’s “good news.” But note how he defines what God’s good news is. The "gospel" is “salvation” for believers, “in it” is something we desperately need, “the righteousness of God.”

“The righteousness of God” means “the righteousness that God demands.” The gospel provides this in a totally unexpected way: by faith (“from faith for faith”). We would expect that “the righteousness that God demands” would refer to perfect obedience to his laws. After all, aren’t people who obey God’s laws the righteous ones? Well, yes. But the problem is that we don’t obey God’s laws according to God’s standard of obedience. God's standard is perfection. Remember Jesus’s words, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt 5:48).

The true gospel, though, provides a way for sinners like us to be declared righteous by a way other than our own perfect obedience. And that’s what Romans 1–5 is all about, the focus of our sermons for the next several months. This will be Part 1 of the Romans series. Part 2 (Romans 6–8) and Part 3 (Romans 9–16) will be in later years. Part 1 of Romans will help us grasp fully what this gospel of righteousness by faith in Christ is all about.

“Even Better Than You Think”

We’re calling this series, “Even Better Than You Think.” The idea here is that Romans deals with many of the basics of the faith. And yet, these basics get fuzzy for us. “The gospel” is one of those basics. And yet, our gospel can get fuzzy. We start out by knowing that we are accepted by God because of Christ, but over time we lose sight of this. Suddenly without realizing it, our gospel has become, “As long as I obey, God will still love me.” The good news is no longer good at all. We have forgotten that God's good news is "even better than we think."

In a similar way, some of us had seasons where we read a lot about words like “justification,” “righteousness,” “propitiation,” “redemption.” We understood these words clearly, but over time they get fuzzy. We lose sight of their richness and the glorious treasures they contain. These ideas, too, are "even better than we think."

But even if we have kept a sense of the true gospel and the richness of some of the theological ideas in Romans, all of us need reminders that these truths are precious and point to the riches we have in Christ. We have only dipped our toes in the ocean of these glories. However good we think they are, they are even better than we think.

Over the next months we’ll see myriad ways that the gospel we have in Christ is even better than we think.

An Outline of Romans

From Romans 1:16–17 and the overall argument of Romans (along with the numerous uses of terms related to "righteousness"), "righteousness" is a useful theme to use to outline the whole book. Scholars label these sections differently, but most hold to a similar division:

• Rom. 1:1–17 – Introduction
• Rom. 1:18–3:20 – Our Problem: Our Unrighteousness
• Rom. 3:21–5:21 – God’s Solution: God’s Righteousness through Faith in Christ
• Rom. 6:1–8:39 – Walking in Righteousness
• Rom. 9:1–11:36 – Jewish Rejection of God’s Gift of Righteousness
• Rom. 12:1–15:13 – The Call to Righteous Living
• Rom. 15:14–16:27 – Conclusion

Sermons and Resources

You can see our sermon series here. If you’re looking for good, accessible commentaries on Romans, two to consider are Tim Keller’s and John Stott’s. John Calvin’s is available online for free. There are many other excellent ones to consider. 

So, buckle up! The Romans series starts soon.

Daniel

[1] Timothy Keller, Romans 1–7 for You (Turkey: Good Book Company, 2014), 7.