Romans 1 Studies

For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each chapter is divided into a number of studies and each study or passage has a simple four-Part, verse-by-verse approach, to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Rom 1:1-7

1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God – 2 the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3 regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, 4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. 5 Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake. 6 And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

7 To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people:

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

A. Find Out:

1. What 3 ways does Paul describe himself? v.1
2. What 3 pieces of information does he give about the Gospel? v.1c-3a
3. In what 3 ways was Jesus revealed? v.3,4
4. What 2 things had Paul received? v.5
5. What 4 things are said about his readers? v.6,7
6. What 2 things did he desire for them? v.7  

B. Think:   

1. Why was Paul called to be an apostle?
2. What is the Gospel all about?
3. How is it based in history?

C. Comment:

These opening verses are packed with information. First of all Paul identifies HIMSELF [v.1,5]. He considers himself a servant (or slave) who has been equipped and named an apostle (a “sent one”) by Jesus, to tell the Gentiles (non-Jews) about the Gospel. We may elevate an ‘apostle’ in our minds, but Paul knows the reality – he is merely a servant. That is a good balance!

Second, Paul then identifies THE GOSPEL [v.1-3]. It comes from God (has its origins in Him, belongs to Him), was promised by Him through the O.T. prophets, and is all about His Son, Jesus. This letter is all about the Gospel, or Good News, because it is the basis for who we are as Christians.  We are only Christians because of the Gospel; that’s how vital it is.

Third, Paul goes on to identify JESUS.   He is an historical figure from the family line of David [v.3], very much a man, a human being experiencing all that humans experience. Yet by the power within Him (performing miracles, healings etc.) He was clearly shown to be the Son of God [v.4]; by His resurrection from the dead [v.4], He was shown to be Lord (over death and therefore over all things).

Fourth, Paul identifies HIS READERS. They are the Christians in Rome [v.7],   but more than this he emphasizes,  

• a) they belong to Jesus [v.6],   
• b) they are loved by God [v.7],   
• c) they are set apart (called saints) to God [v.7].

Note in passing that ALL Christians are called saints (set apart ones).

Fifth Paul identifies THEIR NEED: grace and peace from God [v.7b], a need we all have, and which God willingly meets in Jesus. “Grace and peace” were Paul’s desire of good (blessing) for almost every church he wrote to.   “Grace” here might simply be described as the God-given ability to cope with life in a Christ-like manner.  “Peace” is the ability to be at rest in the midst of life’s disturbances.  We need them both.

D. Application?

1. Are we as full of the Gospel as Paul was?
2. Do we see our need for, & ask the Lord for, grace and peace, daily?

Passage: Rom 1:8-13

8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. 9 God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you 10 in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you.

11 I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong – 12 that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. 13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.

A. Find Out:    

1. Why is Paul thankful for his readers? v.8
2. To what does he call God to be a witness? v.9,10a
3. What is he now praying for? v.10b
4. What does he want to do? v.11
5. With what result? v.12
6. Why hadn’t he come before? v.13

B. Think:

1. What does this passage tell us about the Roman believers?
2. What does it teach us about Paul’s prayer life?
3. What does it teach us about desire and actuality?

C. Comment:

Yet again Paul reveals much in a few verses. First of all he reveals the TYPE OF CHURCH IN ROME. Obviously they are strong because they have become known world-wide [v.8].

Second, he reveals his OWN PRAYER LIFE.   He prays:

• a) with thanks [v.8]
• b) constantly!! [v.9]
• c) about a people he hasn’t seen!! [v.10]
• d) with petition.[v.10]   

                  Ponder on each of these!

Third, he reveals his OWN MINISTRY. It

• a) is performed whole-heartedly [v.9]
• b) involves preaching Jesus [v.9]
• c) releases spiritual gifting [v.11]
• d) brings encouragement to the believers [v.12] and
• e) is fruitful. [v.13]

Fourth he reveals his OWN DESIRES. He:

• a) longs to be with them [v.11]
• b) longs to bless them [v.11,12]
• c) has wanted to come many times before [v.13]
• d) has been thwarted. [v.13]

Here we can see something of Paul’s heart for the Christians in Rome. He is committed to them, as evidenced by his prayer life. He has eager yearnings for them to be blessed by the ministry God has given him. We also see a simple but profound lesson here as well: that we don’t always get what we desire and pray for. Paul had been stopped from getting to Rome previously, but that hadn’t stopped him praying!

D. Application?

1. Let Paul’s prayer life challenge us. Look back over it.
2. Do we use what God has given us for the blessing of as many others as possible?

Passage: Rom 1:14-17

14 I am a debtor both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. 15 That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.

16 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. 17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed – a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’

A. Find Out:

1. To whom did Paul want to preach? v.14,16c
2. What powerful effect does the Gospel have? v.16
3. What does it reveal? v.17a
4. What is necessary to release that? v.16b,17b
5. What does it produce? v.17c (& Habakkuk 2:4)

B. Think:  

1. How is the Gospel shown here to have universal effect?
2. What is man’s side of the Gospel?
3. What is God’s side of it?

C. Comment:

In these verses we touch the heart of Paul’s message that is usually summarised as “justification by faith”.

First of all, Paul states the UNIVERSAL APPLICATION of the Gospel. It is for ALL men, Jews AND Gentiles (non-Jews), and within the Gentile population he singles out Greeks and non-Greeks (i.e. intellectuals and non-intellectuals). There are NO groups in the world population that are excluded from the need of the Gospel!

Second he states the UNIVERSAL EFFECT. It releases power to save people, by bringing them a new life of right standing with God (i.e. righteousness). NB. The righteous will live by faith, i.e. come alive by faith AND go on living by faith.  The Gospel is about God’s power to declare and make men righteous.

Third he states the UNIVERSAL REQUIREMENT. To be saved one (everyone!) must believe in Jesus.   This is what we call “Saving Faith”, faith that hears and responds to the good news about Jesus. Jesus said, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) The Gospel includes ALL people but excludes all other religions! Remember, those are Jesus’ words, not ours!

The ONLY means of salvation for the WHOLE world is believing in Jesus and entirely trusting in Him. When this happens, God declares that we ARE righteous and grants us new life. Our faith is what God looks for in us as He desires to declare us righteous. He has done His side of it with Jesus’ death, now we must have faith to believe.

D. Application?

1. Thank the Lord that the MEANS of salvation is the same for ALL (yes ALL!!) men and women – it’s Jesus!
2. Thank Him that as you believe and trust in Jesus you ARE righteous.

Passage: Rom 1:18-23

18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

A. Find Out:

1. What do men do? v.18c
2. What 2 ways are they described? v.18b
3. Why and where is the truth made plain? v.19,20
4. What didn’t men do? v.21a
5. What happened to them? v.21b, 22
6. What did they do? v.23

B. Think:

1. How is “wickedness” generally described here?
2. Why does Paul say there is no excuse for it?
3. What results does Paul say it has had?

C. Comment:

Having spoken about believers receiving life from God, Paul shows the other side of the coin, the foolishness of unbelievers. First he declares GOD’S ANGER over it. The Lord does not just sit back and let it happen, He FEELS strongly about it and DOES something about it. We will see that it is not something to destroy men but to bring them to their senses and back to Himself.

Second, he reveals the NATURE OF FOOLISHNESS.  He describes men as a) godless and b) wicked.  Godlessness comes before wickedness. Men are evil because they are first godless (i.e. rejecting God from their lives).

Third, he reveals the EXPRESSION OF FOOLISHNESS. Men suppress the truth about God which is plain to see through the Creation. They don’t do what is natural to do, i.e. praise and thank God for the wonderful provision of His world. Instead they become confused and mixed up in their thinking and end up creating ‘gods’ (idols) of their own making, in the image of what they can see. When men don’t do what is natural they can ONLY do what is unnatural. Man’s sin is clearly revealed here: it is the rejecting of God. All other evil acts and their consequences flow from that.

D. Application?

1. Read Psalm 14:1a.    Look for this in people around you.
2. Declare YOUR faith in Him today!

Passage: Rom 1:24-32

24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator – who is for ever praised. Amen.

26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worth while to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practise them.

A. Find Out:    

1. What did God let them loose to do? v.24
2. Why? v.25
3. How was that release of v.24 expressed? v.26,27
4. What else did God let them go into? v.28
5. How was this expressed? v.29-31
6. How was there a downward progression? v.32

B. Think:

1. What are all these sins shown to be?
2. Why did they happen?
3. What does it say about so much of the world’s activity today?

C. Comment:

Verse 18 spoke of the wrath of God being revealed. These verses show HOW it is revealed. We see first of all, that so many of the degrading and debasing sins of modern society are in fact the judgement of God on mankind. He lifts off His restraining hand from society so that they do every wrong thing they can think of.

We need to be quite clear about this: this passage declares that “God gave them over” to these things. The Living Bible says, “So God let them go ahead into every sort of sex sin” (v.24). Instead of striking them down with fire of judgement, God allows them to move deeper and deeper into sin where they destroy themselves. Some, in the depths of that sin, will cry out to God to have mercy and save them.

The principle behind this is the same as that shown in 1 Corinthians 5:5, that when man’s self-confidence is destroyed by the evil he has got into, he will come to his senses and cry out to God and be saved. Some of course will not and will therefore destroy themselves. AIDS across the world today, is a fruit of these verses and many die unnecessarily, because they refuse to turn to God.  Remember the primary reason for it – that men and women reject God, and all else follows from that!

D. Application?

1. Thank God for the wisdom that lets men bring judgement on themselves.   Free will to sin!!!  
2. Thank God that Jesus has freed us from sin’s power.