The Book Of Romans: Justification By Faith, Life In The Spirit, Weak & Strong Believers

Romans is a systematic presentation of what it means to be a Christian. Romans was written by Paul during his stay at Corinth, to the early church forming in Rome. It really outlines a deep dive into the overall theology of our faith.

This is the beloved book of the Bible that helped transform Martin Luther’s life. Luther was obsessed with justification, how could he be right with God? He was a catholic priest, who struggled greatly to understand what salvation is. He spent time in the monastery as a monk, and he would go the priest to confess his sins multiple times a day, because he was so obsessively concerned that he might’ve done something to offend God. He would beat himself with whips, he would fast for days, he would repent all day long, and it was never quite enough. But later when he traveled to university, he at last began to study the new testament, and he found in the book of Romans, the incredible concept that we are justified by God not through our own works, but by grace given by God, through faith in Jesus Christ. Our sins, are forgiven, wiped out, and this is what grace means, to receive something we don’t deserve, we receive forgiveness, and are justified before God by putting our faith in Jesus Christ.

Martin Luther’s realization completely changed the religious landscape of the time in which he lived. A new movement broke away from the catholic church, and it became known as Protestantism. Because Luther protested against the doctrines of the catholic church.

Luther developed some base beliefs that challenged the prevailing views of the day, famously documented as the 5 solas:

Faith alone

Grace alone

Christ alone

Scripture alone

To the glory of God alone

But as much as I’d love to delve deeply into Martin Luther and the reformation, that is not our purpose today.

One of my favorite scriptures is from Romans chapter 5. It’s so incredibly beautiful. One of the hallmarks of my life as a Christian, was understanding salvation from this perspective, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we[b] boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we[c] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” -Romans 5:1-5

One of the most important factors of the book of Romans is the way of salvation in Christ being explained so clearly. In fact “the Romans road” has long been a road map for explaining how to be receive Jesus as savior. Let’s take a look at some of those scriptures:

1. THE BIBLE SAYS ALL HAVE SINNED

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

2. THE BIBLE SAYS SIN CARRIES THE PENALTY OF DEATH

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord

3. THE BIBLE SAYS ETERNAL LIFE IS GOD’S GIFT THROUGH JESUS CHRIST

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord

4. THE BIBLE SAYS CHRIST DIED FOR SINNERS BECAUSE OF GOD’S LOVE

Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

5. THE BIBLE SAYS WE MUST CALL UPON THE LORD TO BE SAVED

Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

6. THE BIBLE SAYS WE MUST CONFESS AND BELEIVE IN JESUS AND HIS RESURRECTION

Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Romans 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

That is the Romans road of salvation, used in evangelism. But when I read that I wonder to myself, what’s missing there? There’s something missing. Well, several things are missing. First, repentance is missing, there’s no clear call to turn away from our sins and put our faith in Christ. Both of those aspects are important. Secondly, there’s no explanation of continuance in the faith. Is it just one and done? From that explanation, one might think, well, alright, I’m done here, I prayed a prayer, I confessed with my mouth, I’m done, I can go back to whatever I was doing before. But that’s not true. The Christian life is just beginning at this moment of salvation. So we have to be careful about oversimplifying the salvation equation.