Where We've Been Through the First Nine Chapters of Romans

A review of Romans 1-9.

Photo by Harley-Davidson on Unsplash

Well, we’ve made it through nine chapters of Romans!

I continue to benefit from and enjoy this study of Romans along with you. Let’s recap where we’ve been through Romans 1-9.

Remember the Theme of Romans.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:16-17)

I keep reminding us of this passage because what Paul wrote in this book is founded upon this verse. We can’t lose sight of the theme - the gospel of Christ.

Outline of Romans 1-9.

Here’s a brief outline review of where we’ve been in the first eight chapters of Romans.

Romans 1

• Paul’s greeting to the church in Rome (Romans 1:1-7).

• Paul’s desire to see the church in Rome face-to-face (Romans 1:8-15).

• The gospel of Christ is the theme (Romans 1:16-17).

• God's wrath and righteous Judgment upon the Gentile’s sin (Romans 1:18-32).

Romans 2

• God's righteous, impartial Judgment will be according to everyone’s deeds (Romans 2:1-16).

• The Jews’ knowledge of the law and circumcision would grant them no special treatment at the Judgment, for they, too, had sinned (Romans 2:17-29).

Romans 3

• God is the faithful Judge, so His justice can be trusted (Romans 3:1-8).

• All have sinned, so all stand guilty before the Judge (Romans 3:9-20).

• The guilty ones can be justified by Christ Jesus, demonstrating God's righteousness (Romans 3:21-26).

• Justification through Christ eliminates any boasting in self on the part of the justified ones (Romans 3:27-31).

Romans 4

• Abraham and David were justified by faith (Romans 4:1-8).

• Abraham is the father of the faithful to the Jew and the Gentile (Romans 4:9-12).

• The promise to Abraham is through the righteousness of faith, not through the law (Romans 4:13-25)

Romans 5

• We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and it’s through His death for us that God demonstrates His love for us (Romans 5:1-11).

• While death reigned through the abounding of sin, life reigned through the abounding of God’s grace through His Son, and His grace far exceeds sin (Romans 5:12-21).

Romans 6

• We shouldn’t sin that God’s grace may abound because we have been set free from sin and died to it (Romans 6:1-14).

• We shouldn’t sin to take advantage of grace because we serve a new Master now (Romans 6:15-23).

Romans 7

• The necessity of being set free and delivered from the Law through the body of Christ Jesus (Romans 7:1-6).

• The relationship between the Law and sin, and while the Law was good - it could not set a person free from sin (Romans 7:7-25).

Romans 8

• The Christian’s new life in Christ means no longer living according to the ways of the flesh but according to the way of the Spirit - which includes suffering with Christ (Romans 8:1-17).

• The future glory of the Christian far outweighs the suffering in this life, and God concerns Himself with His people’s suffering and continues to love them through their suffering (Romans 8:18-39).

Romans 9

• Paul is deeply grieved by Israel’s rejection of Christ and the gospel despite receiving many benefits and blessings from God (Romans 9:1-5).

• A misconception among many of the Jewish people was that they were “God’s nation” simply because they were physical Jews. Paul reminds them that this is not the case - and that God’s decision on this matter is just and consistent with the Scriptures (Romans 9:6-29).

• Many Jews failed to attain righteousness because they did not pursue it by faith but by works of the law (Romans 9:30-33).

Some thoughts about Romans 1-9.

Romans 9 begins with Paul’s deep sorrow - and he will express his anguish again in Romans 10-11. Paul was heartbroken to know that many of his fellow countrymen were lost.

I’m reminded how we ought to be heartbroken over the spiritual condition of the lost today and how we ought to demonstrate urgency in taking the gospel to a lost and dying world.