Romans is widely regarded as the most complete summary of the gospel message and Christian doctrine found in any single biblical book. It is certainly Paul’s most extended and concentrated presentation of God’s saving work in Christ. 

. . . 

One approach to discovering what is most central in Romans is to note which significant nouns are used most frequently. God (153 times). He is the subject around whom the entire epistle revolves. Romans lifts our gaze from the tyranny of our self-absorption to the grandeur of a God of kindness (Romans 2:4), faithfulness (Romans 3:3), truth (Romans 3:4), righteousness (Romans 3:5), and glory (Romans 3:7), to name just a few of his attributes. Yes, he is severe in judgment (Romans 11:22), yet through faith he is so dear that his people know him as “Abba” (Romans 8:15), their caring heavenly Father. They have “peace with God,” they stand in his grace, and they “rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:1–2). 

—Robert W. Yarbrough 

Source: Content adapted from the ESV Gospel Transformation Study Bible by Crossway. This article first appeared on Crossway.org; used with permission.

The best candidate for the theme of Romans, I would argue, is the “gospel.” Paul highlights this concept in the opening and closing sections of the letter (Romans 1:1, 2, 9, 15; 15:16, 19). And it is the key word in his own statement of the letter’s theme: “I am not ashamed of the gospel…” (Romans 1:16 NIV). We require a theme as broad as the gospel to encompass the diversity of topics the apostle handles in the letter. Moreover, as I have argued, Romans grows out of Paul’s missionary situation, and the gospel he preaches is the heart of that missionary work.

—Douglas J. Moo

Source: Taken from The NIV Application Commentary: Romans by Douglas J. Moo Copyright © 2009 by Douglas J. Moo. Used by permission of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. www.harpercollinschristian.com

Paul maintains that the true Israel and the genuine Davidic king is Jesus the Messiah. God’s saving promises for Israel and the gentiles have become a reality in him. God’s saving promises are now being realized because God has raised Jesus from the dead and appointed him as the messianic king. The reference to the resurrection signals that the new age has come and that God has begun to fulfill his promises to his people. Since God through Jesus Christ is now fulfilling his promises for worldwide blessing, it is hardly surprising that Paul’s mission is to bring about the obedience of faith among all peoples. In doing so, he brings honor to Jesus Christ, who is the Lord of all. 

—Thomas S. Schreiner 

Source: Schreiner, Thomas S. Romans. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2018.

As most Christians know, Romans is “doctrinal.” That description scares many off, who are afraid that Romans will be both dry and difficult. It is certainly difficult at times. And preachers and teachers—to our shame—can sometimes make it pretty dry too. But think about what Romans teaches us: what human beings really are like and what they need, what God has done to provide a way of escape from our estrangement and mortality, and what a lifestyle that grows out of a Christian worldview looks like. Such topics should certainly not be dry or boring! 

In fact, Romans is one of the most interesting and engaging books in the Bible—precisely because it shapes the way we think about so much of the universe we inhabit. I am convinced that the contemporary church desperately needs to grapple with what is going on in Romans…Thus far we have talked about Romans as a great doctrinal treatise, which it is. But we will badly misunderstand that doctrine unless we root it in the specific setting of the first-century church. Paul did not sit down one day and decide to write a textbook on doctrine. He wrote a letter. He wrote it to a specific church to handle some problems the church was facing. As we will argue below, those circumstances combined to turn Romans into a book that tackles basic issues of the Christian worldview. 

—Douglas J. Moo

Source: Taken from The NIV Application Commentary: Romans by Douglas J. Moo Copyright © 2009 by Douglas J. Moo. Used by permission of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. www.harpercollinschristian.com

Unfortunately, many Christians might think that once they become Christians, the gospel is completely behind them. So rather than focusing on the gospel, they assume the gospel and focus on relatively peripheral issues. But the gospel continues to be central good news for Christians—not merely because God will rescue you from hell and because you can enjoy the pleasures of heaven. It’s good news because you can enjoy God himself like you never could in your shackles of sin.[1] And you don’t need to try to earn God’s favor. You can’t. You should live a certain way (Titus 3:1–2) because of the gospel (Titus 3:3–7), not to placate God or put him in your debt. As Jerry Bridges shrewdly observed, “Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God’s grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God’s grace.”[2] The glorious message of Paul’s letter to the Romans is that the gospel reveals how God is righteously righteousing unrighteous individuals—both Jews and Gentiles—at this stage in the history of salvation. 

1. See John Piper, God Is the Gospel: Meditations on God’s Love as the Gift of Himself (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2005), especially 13, 15, 47.

2. Jerry Bridges, The Discipline of Grace: God’s Role and Our Role in the Pursuit of Holiness, 2nd ed. (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2006), 19. 

—Andrew Naselli 

Source: Content adapted from Romans by Andrew David Naselli. This article first appeared on Crossway.org; used with permission.

In Romans 6, Paul reveals the secret of a life of victory: living in Christ—dead to sin but alive to God! This tells us how we can lead Christian lives. Self, we have learned, was a condemned thing, unable to be good, never righteous (see Romans 3). Now when self becomes a Christian and tries to live a Christian life, it finds this to be impossible. But we are saved by faith; we cannot live by our own efforts.  

This sad truth is revealed in Romans 7, which tells us why we cannot live a victorious life. Mark every “I” in this chapter, and you will find it is used more than 30 times in the 25 verses. Although “I” tries, it finds only defeat. Dr. W. H. Griffith Thomas, a famous New Testament scholar, said, “It is not hard to live a Christian life; it is impossible.”  

Paul said, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20 NIV). Listen to the words of the man who tries to live by his own effort. “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin” (Romans 7:24-25 NIV).  

Finally, “I” finds that there is One who is sufficient. Struggling yields to power, defeat is changed to victory, misery is transformed into joy. When “I” goes out, Christ comes in.  

—Henrietta Mears  

Source: This content is from What the Bible Is All About, written by Henrietta Mears. Copyright © 1953, 2011 by Gospel Light. Copyright assigned to Tyndale House Publishers, 2015. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a division of Tyndale House Ministries, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

If the most terrifying news in the world is that we have fallen under the condemnation of our Creator and that he is bound by his own righteous character to preserve the worth of his glory by pouring out his wrath on our sin . . . 

. . . Then the best news in all the world (the gospel!) is that God has decreed and enacted a way of salvation that also upholds the worth of his glory, the honor of his Son, and the eternal salvation of his elect. Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. 

—John Piper

Source: By John Piper. © Desiring God Foundation. Source: desiringGod.org.