This term our church is in it’s 4th year of taking 10 weeks (term 2) to slowly move through Romans. So, for our first bible study, rather than picking up in Romans 13 straight away, we did a basic overview of the whole book.

It seemed to work pretty well. I’ve taken a certain view of Romans that assumes Paul has got two audiences in mind (See P.Barnett’s “Why Paul Wrote Romans” RTR 2003). And therefore, each chunk of Romans makes the same point for everyone at Rome, before explaining it again with particular reference for the Jews in Rome.

• Romans 1:1-17 : Introduction: the Gospel as the Power of God
• Romans 1:18-3:19 : No-one is Righteous
  • 1:18-2:16 No-one is Righteous… Not the Gentiles
  • 2:17-3:20 No-one is Righteous… Not even the Jews
• Romans 3:21-4:25 : God Righteously Forgives through Faith in Christ
  • 3:21-31 God Righteously Forgives All through Faith
  • 4:1-25 God Righteously Forgives even the Jews through Faith
• Romans 5 : God’s Salvation is Certain and Assured
  • 5:1-11 Salvation from sin’s punishment (for all)
  • 5:12-21 Salvation from the law’s punishment (for the sake of the Jews)
• Romans 6-7 : Jesus is the new Lord in our Salvation
  • 6:1-23 Jesus is our new Lord over life and death (for all)
  • 7:1-25 Jesus replaces the law of sin and death (for the Jew)
• Romans 8-11 : Nothing will stop God’s Promise to Save his Elect
  • 8:1-39 Nothing will stop God’s plans (for all)
  • 9:1-11:36 Nothing will stop God’s plans (for the Jews)
• Romans 12-15:13 : God’s Mercy calls for new lives
  • 12:1-13:14 God’s Grace calls his people to love all people
  • 14:1-15:13 God’s Grace calls his people to love – even to love the Jews
• Romans 15:14-16:27 : Final Greetings and Instructions