Romans Review & Wrap-Up Series

Text: Romans 16

Title: Romans Review & Wrap-Up

I. Romans Review

a. Paul’s Purpose

i. Teach

ii. Exhort

b. The Theological House

i. Foundation- The Doctrine of Revelation

ii. Wall 1- The Doctrine of Sin

iii. Wall 2- The Doctrine of Salvation

iv. Wall 3- The doctrine of Last Things

v. Roof- The Doctrine of God

c. Key Applications

i. Submit to God

ii. Love Others

iii. Remain United

II. Romans Wrap-Up

a. Personal Greetings

b. Final Warnings

c. Closing Benediction

Whenever I run into an old elementary or Jr. high, or even high school teacher they always react with surprise at the fact that I graduated high school. And they are even more surprised to find that I went on to graduate school. I was kind of a slow learner for about the first 18 years of my life.

It wasn’t really until college that I was able to figure school out. And then it was a piece of cake from there. I learned three important lessons in my early years of college that served me well all throughout my education. Those lessons have also served me well even after school.

I am going to share these three lessons with you now. Many of you have already figured this stuff out, you high school kids should listen up, because this will come in handy.

First, I learned what I was passionate about, and it wasn’t math. Once I found how much I loved studying the Bible and writing and behavior sciences, then school was easy. I found that I really wanted to learn more and I saw my teachers as resources rather than tyrants.

Second, I learned how to read a book. I had always enjoyed reading, but reading fiction and reading text books are very different. I learned how to focus on the words in bold print, and how to read the first and last paragraphs, and how to scan a book for content. I learned to look for the main points and the big picture instead of trying to memorize everything.

And finally, I learned how to take a test. Right before a big test or a final the teacher would usually do a review of everything you learned that semester. Most of the time he would tell you exactly what you needed to know to do well on the test. If I made sure to focus on that final review I knew I would do well on the test, no matter how much I might have goofed off the rest of the year.

Today I’m going to give you a full review of the book of Romans. So even if you haven’t been able to make it every week or if you fell asleep a few times, you should still be able to do well on the final if you pay attention today.

I choose to preach through this book for a couple of reasons. First, I just love it. I have always enjoyed reading through this book. I had a desire to dig in deeper and study it more.

Second, I wanted to make sure that we were all on the same page, theologically. I wanted all of us to have a reminder of exactly what our faith is built on. You can’t come away from a study of Romans without a clear understanding of some important theological truths.

Third, Romans is a very encouraging, uplifting, motivating book. Paul has a lot to say about our abilities in Christ. My hope is that a better understanding of this book will motivate you to greater acts of service.

As we cap this book off, I want to spend a few minutes reviewing where we have been and then we will look at the closing remarks in chapter 16.

First of all, I want to remind you of Paul’s main purpose for writing this book. His basic reason was to encourage and uplift the church there. Right off the bat in chapter 1 Paul says, “11 For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established;” Paul’s desire was to help them understand how important they were to God and how meaningful their service really was.

So in a general way, Paul’s goal is to encourage, but in a more specific sense his desire was to teach them. They already knew Jesus; they already had a firm grasp on the basics. Here Paul digs in even deeper. He wanted them to have such a solid and firm foundation that nothing could ever shake them. We’ll review the details of what he wanted to teach in just a minute.

However, I don’t want us to miss the significance of solid teaching. Hopefully you all have a desire to be lifelong learners. The minute we think we have it all figured out and we don’t have anything left to learn is the minute we lose touch with reality. If you aren’t learning than you aren’t growing; and if you aren’t growing than you are dying.