Romans Reflections

Grace and peace to you,

As I have come to the end of this experiment, I find that there are many things to reflect upon. The study itself has grown me and challenged me from start to finish. The format seems to resonate with my learning style and need for deadlines. The commitment to memory passages directly tied to the study has been invaluable and essential. It takes time, effort, brain-power, and persistence...but He has blessed my heart with His Word at every turn and in so many ways. The trick will be sustaining these passages as I move on in the study. With previous memory verses, the longer I keep them fresh in my mind, the more readily they seem to come back.

A lot has changed since my first entry. The main purpose has remained; to study God's Word chapter by chapter and memorize key passages from each chapter in order to begin a framework for hiding God's Word in my heart. The memory passages range from 3-7 verses (in spite of my desire to keep it to 2-3) and I have had to go back and insert more in order to make the picture of each chapter more complete.

The outline is as follows:

Romans

“The Righteousness of God”

1. Righteousness in the Gospel

2. Righteous Judgment of God

3. Righteous Justification by Grace

4. Righteous Faith of Abraham

5. Righteousness Free Gift of Grace

6. Righteousness Sets us Free

7. Righteous Obedience in the Spirit

8. Righteous Walk in the Spirit

9. Righteous Sovereignty of God

10. Righteous Word of Faith

11. Righteous Restoration of Israel

12. Righteous Sacrifice of Life and Love

13. Righteous Submission

14. Righteous Liberty in Christ

15. Righteous Ministry of Hope

16. Righteous Obedience of Faith

The righteousness of God is the main theme of Romans; what it is, what it isn't, why we must attain it, the only way we can attain it, and how we must walk in it.
The passage that best summarizes the main theme of Romans, and the Gospel for that matter, is Romans 3:20-24 (the memory passage for chapter 3)

Romans 3:20-24 (ESV)
²⁰ For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. ²¹ But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— ²² the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

The Righteousness of God can not be obtained through the law, but only through faith in Jesus Christ. No human has it, every human needs it to have eternal life in heaven, and only through the gracious free gift of Christ can we get it.

So if the main theme of Romans is the Righteousness of God, the 'obedience of faith' would be a sub-theme. This phrase appears in Romans 1:5 and 16:26; the beginning and the end. Paul's calling as an apostle is linked to 'bringing about the obedience of faith' (1:5). But in 16:26, 'to bring about the obedience of faith' is the 'command of the eternal God'.

Clearly, the willful obedience of the believer to the eternal God who justifies us by His grace through faith is our response to His righteousness.

May you walk in the obedience of faith to our righteous, Eternal God,

Ethan