Paul’s Essay on Faith
—Outline of Romans 1-4
This lesson is an outline, for your reference, of Romans chapters 1 to 4. In these chapters Paul teaches us about faith in Christ.
Paul's Introduction to Romans
Greeting
From Paul (Romans 1:1-2,5)
- Bond servant of Jesus
- Apostle for the gospel
On behalf of Jesus (Romans 1:3-4)
- The seed of David
- The Son of God
To the Romans (Romans 1:6-7)
- Beloved of God
- Called to be saints (holy ones)
Desire to Visit
Paul prays that he might visit the church in Rome (Romans 1:8-10)
- He prays with thanksgiving
- He prays unceasingly
- He prays in submission to God's will
Paul longs to visit (Romans 1:11-15)
- He longs to impart grace
- He longs for mutual encouragement
- He longs to obtain fruit among them
- He feels an obligation to them
- He wants to preach the gospel to them
1 Opening declaration
Why Paul is not ashamed of the gospel (Romans 1:16-18)
- It is God's power for salvation to all believers
- It reveals God's righteousness and wrath
- It is the source of true faith
2 Darkness of the faithless
The wicked know about God (Romans 1:18-20)
- It is they themselves who suppress the truth
- The Creator has made himself evident to them
- They are without excuse
The wicked nevertheless dishonour God (Romans 1:21-32)
- They don't give thanks to God
- Prefer their own wisdom
- Worship the creature rather than the Creator
- Practise sexual immorality
- Approve of what they know God condemns
They think they are righteous when they are not (Romans 2:1-5)
- They condemn themselves by judging others hypocritically
- They show contempt for God's kindness by boasting of their own worthiness
- They are storing up wrath for themselves because of their impenitence
3 Faith in relation to law and judgment
How God judges man (Romans 2:6-16)
- Those who do good receive eternal life
- Those who do evil receive wrath
- All mankind, Jew or Gentile, are judged by the law God has given them
God’s attitude to the Jews (Romans 2:17 to 3:18)
- God is dishonoured by those who boast of the law yet break it
- A circumcised Jew who breaks the law is regarded as uncircumcised
- An uncircumcised Gentile obeying God's law is regarded as circumcised
- It is being a Jew inwardly that counts
- When Jews break the law they prove God's attitude to be right
- God regards both Jew and Gentile to be all equally under sin
How God applies the law (Romans 3:19-31)
- God's law condemns even if broken in only one point, therefore it does not make one righteous
- God's law usefully produces a guilty conscience
- God's law itself testifies to a righteousness by faith
- God's law makes it impossible to boast before God because all fall short of its righteous requirements
- Therefore, whilst works of obedience to God's law are good and necessary, something else apart from them is essential, namely faith in Christ
- We uphold God's law not by our attempts to keep it (because we fall short) but by our faith in the atoning blood of Jesus Christ
4 The Great Example of Abraham's Faith
Abraham’s faith was accounted as righteousness (Romans 4:1-9)
- Paul quotes Genesis 15:6
- When righteous is accounted it is a gift, not a due
- The accounting of righteousness (justification) cancels out the sin that would otherwise be held against us
- Paul quotes Psalm 32:1-2
Abraham's faith transcends Jewish law (Romans 4:10-22)
- Abraham was uncircumcised when righteous was accounted to him
- This means that circumcision and Mosaic law are not required for justification
- Abraham's strong trust and hope in God were required for the accounting of righteousness to him
- The same blessing was promised to all Abraham's seed or offspring
- The seed or offspring of Abraham are not his biological descendants but rather those who imitate his faith. The true children of Abraham are his spiritual children of faith (cf Romans 9:6-8).
Note —CHILDREN In scripture, “child” does not always mean biological offspring. The followers of a person’s doctrine and example are called the “children” of that person. For instance, those who imitate Abraham’s faith, are called his children (Romans 9:6-8, Galatians 3:7).
Abraham's faith looked to the Cross (Romans 4:23-25)
- In accounting Abraham’s faith as righteousness, God was looking ahead to the death of Jesus Christ
- The example of Abraham holds a promise for us
- Those who believe (have faith) in Jesus will have righteousness credited to them
- The accounting of righteousness to us passes audit because our sins can be written off on account of Christ's death and resurrection (cf Romans 5:9)
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