Day 1: Romans Introduction
I am really excited that we are going to be journeying through the book of Romans together.
This is a book that has come alive to me in the early months of this year and one I’ve found myself coming back to again and again. The book of Romans has been appropriately termed the Cathedral of the Christian Faith, largely because of its profound theology and its impressive writing style (the mixture of the two captivate me). It is indeed worthy of its assigned place amongst Paul’s letters in the bible, that place being the first!
If you picture the book of Roman’s like a tree and each chapter of the book being a leaf on that tree then over the course of our journey together we will be able to study the leaves in greater detail but for this introduction I just wanted to study the tree and give you the overarching theme of the whole book which can be found here:
Romans 1:16-17 NIV
[16] For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. [17] For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed – a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
For me, this is the book of Romans.
RIGHTEOUSNESS THROUGH FAITH.
This is good news people! We didn’t earn it or achieve it by works or by any human strength but simply by putting our faith in Jesus. We are all sinners, we have all messed up and fall short BUT through our faith in Jesus we obtain righteousness. This blows my mind, and no doubt will continue to blow my mind. In fact I pray that this never stops baffling me. God has been SO good to us.
What you can expect from the book of Romans:
- Righteousness through faith
- Beautiful links between the Old and New Testament, displaying God’s perfect plan.
- A fresh understanding of God’s Grace.
- What it means to live this new life in Christ.
- Practical application, LOTS OF IT. So please, don’t just read truth, apply truth.
Check this final thought out: This letter written approximately 1,960 years ago to a Church in Rome; hold’s within its pages LIFE CHANGING TRUTH for us today.
Come back tomorrow for Chapter 1.
Ps Ed Winbow
Penrith Campus Pastor