Romans 5:19

Romans 5:19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

Paul again points out that the disobedience of Adam caused the whole human race to be sinners.  However, through the obedience of the one man, Jesus Christ, many sinners will be made righteous through faith in his atoning sacrifice on the cross of Calvary.  Being fully God and fully man, Jesus perfectly obeyed the Old [Mosaic] Covenant and qualified as the perfect substitute for the sins of all who have faith in him.  By doing so, his perfect righteousness is imputed to all who have faith and our sins are imputed to him as the perfect Lamb of God without blemish.  He bore our punishment on the cross and gave us his perfect righteousness in order for us to be reconciled to God.  The last thing he said was, “it is finished”, which signified the fulfillment and end of the Old Covenant.

Praise God that sinners can become saints through faith in Christ.  

Romans 5:15

Romans 5:15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!

The whole human race died by the sin of one man, Adam.  The gift of God’s grace came by the one man, Jesus Christ.  This grace has brought spiritual life to many.  Therefore, by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone the many will receive the gift of eternal life by being in Christ by spiritual birth rather than being in Adam by physical birth.  Instead of being children of Adam and represented by him, Christians are represented by Christ and are children of God.  Praise God that we can reverse the effect of Adam’s original sin by faith in Christ.  By the grace of God we can regain the paradise that was lost by our first representative Adam.       

Romans 5:12

Romans 5:12  Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—

Sin entered the world through Adam and this caused death for Adam just as God had warned him.  He ate of the forbidden fruit and it caused death to come to him and the entire human race.  This fact is referred to as original sin and is also called the “fall” of the human race.  While Adam was not created a sinner this caused all human beings from this point on to be born sinners.  It is just a matter of a short time before actual sins will come from all human children.  We are not sinners because we sin… rather we sin because we are sinners. 

We are born in Adam and in sin.   

Romans 5:6-11

Romans 5:6-11 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.  Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die.  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!   For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!   Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Sinners are powerless apart from the atonement of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary.  What great love was demonstrated by God to send his only son to die for the sins of all who place their faith and trust in his atoning sacrifice.  Before this salvation we were enemies of God and under his wrath.  Therefore, believers are saved from the wrath of God and given the gift of eternal life [Romans 6:23].  It is through the shedding of blood that justifies, saves, and reconciles believers to God.  Praise God that Christ died for the ungodly and secured our spiritual salvation… what amazing grace this is.  
   

Romans 5:1-5

Romans 5:1-5 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.  And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ have peace with God.  The wrath of God is no longer on those who have faith in Christ, but remains on all that do not.  Human works or effort have nothing to do with receiving God’s grace, as Paul developed thoroughly in chapter four.  It is a free gift that comes through faith and all of the credit is to the glory of God.  God’s love has been poured into the hearts of believers as they have been born again by the power of God.  Their hearts of stone have been replaced with a heart of flesh or as Paul put it in chapter two verse 29, their hearts have been circumcised by the Holy Spirit.  It is by God’s grace and from his sovereign power that transforms a sinner into a new person that through faith has peace with God.  All the glory goes to God in changing a person from a sinner to a Saint. 

Romans 4:18-25

Romans 4:18-25  Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”  Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.  Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.  This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”  The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.  He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

Abraham believed God would be able to do what seemed to be impossible and this is why this belief was credited to him as righteousness.  This is the same situation that exists for those who believe in Jesus Christ today.  In the sight of God, the righteousness required to be justified is credited to all who have faith in Christ.  It is the righteousness of Christ that is credited to us and not that we are actually righteous because of faith.  Jesus Christ died for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.  Faith is the instrument we use to take hold of justification not the cause of our justification.   

Romans 4:13-17

Romans 4:13-17 It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless, because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.
Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.”  He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.

It is through the righteousness that comes by faith that enables Abraham and his offspring to receive the promise… not the Law of Moses.  If it is the natural descendents of Abraham who are the heirs, then faith means nothing and the promise is worthless because the law brings only wrath.  The law of Moses has no power to save and cannot save.  Anyone who is depending on their own law keeping or works to be save is depending on fools gold. 

Therefore, the promise comes by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.  This promise is only for those who have a personal faith in Christ.  As the Apostle John said in John 1:12-13… It does not depend on children of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but only those born of God.  While circumcising Old Covenant Jews placed them in a physical covenant with God, it did not place them in a spiritual covenant.  Likewise, baptizing infants does not place them in a spiritual covenant.  In fact it does not place them in any covenant since the Mosaic Covenant has ended [Heb. 8:13, 2 Cor. 3, Gal. 3, etc.].

Romans 4:9-12

Romans 4:9-12 Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness.  Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before!  And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them.  And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

Paul here describes Jews as the circumcised and Gentiles as the uncircumcised.  Paul makes the important point that Abraham’s righteousness came through faith before he was circumcised and it is faith that provides the needed righteousness, not circumcision.  Therefore, Abraham is the father of all who believe even it they have not been circumcised.  This means Gentiles as well as Jews.  Thus the distinction is between believers and non-believers rather than Jews and Gentiles.  The spiritual children of Abraham are believers only and include both Jews and Gentiles.     

Since unbelieving circumcised Jews are not children of Abraham, it follows that baptized unbelievers [including infants who never come to faith] are not spiritual children of Abraham either and are not in the New Covenant as defined in Heb. 8. 

It is also interesting that circumcision for Abraham was a sign and seal of the righteousness he had by faith, but the circumcision that his descendents received only signified the physical covenant God made with them as physical offspring of Abraham.  Most of them were not spiritually saved, as only a remnant of Jews throughout history has believed.  It is crucial to distinguish between the spiritual & physical strands of the Abrahamic covenant of promise.  Paul covers this later in Romans 9. 

Romans 4:4-8

Romans 4:4-8 Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.  David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.  Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them.”

After demonstrating how Abraham was saved, Paul then uses David by quoting Psalm 32:1-2.  In this Psalm, David refers to those who have their sins forgiven and covered.  It is God who forgives sin and it Jesus Christ who covers sin by his perfection and atonement on the cross of Calvary.  Here again Paul excludes all works from having any benefit in being right with God.  It is faith alone through Christ alone that saves sinners.  Works do not add to the process… it is Christ alone and not faith plus a little bit of human effort.  In later chapters, Paul will deal with Christian growth through progressive sanctification and how that is accomplished, but here the subject is being made right with God [justification].  Sinners are made Saints by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone… They do not become Saints because they no longer sin. 

Romans 4:1-3

Romans 4:1-3 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter?  If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God.  What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

What about the people who lived before Christ came?  What about Abraham… how was he justified and made righteous in the sight of God?  In this passage Paul refers to Genesis 15:6, which states that Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.  Sin still had to be atoned for in the person and work of Jesus Christ in the fullness of time but Abraham was declared righteous because of faith… not works.     

Romans 3:27-31

Romans 3:27-31  Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith.  For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.  Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.  Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.   
 
Since salvation is totally from God, a person cannot boast in anything he accomplished on his own.  It is faith alone and not any works of the law that justifies.  It is faith alone and not being a Jew that justifies.  It is faith alone without benefit of being born to Christian parents [John 1:13].  My father is Jew, my father is a Christian, I try to keep the Ten Commandments, or I do good works are all of no avail in being justified by God… it is faith alone that saves and boasting is excluded.

Christ obeyed the law perfectly and his perfect righteousness is imputed to believers through faith.  Therefore, through faith in Christ, believers uphold the law through this faith.  Perfection is required and faith in Christ is the only way to achieve this perfection.  Praise God that through faith in Christ, believers uphold the law and now serve in the new way of the Spirit [Rom. 7:5-6].  Believers are set free from the law of sin and death [Rom. 8:1-2].

Romans 3:25-26

Romans 3:25-26 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

Jesus was a sacrifice of atonement for those who have faith.  In the bad news of Romans one and two it was shown that God’s righteousness required that his wrath against the sin and unrighteousness of mankind must be punished.  All of humanity throughout history are under this wrath as Romans 3:9-18 points out.  Through the blood of Jesus Christ God is able to be just by punishing our sin in our substitute, Jesus Christ, and also justify those who through faith in Christ are counted as righteous.  Our sin is imputed to him and his righteousness is imputed to us in this transaction.  Faith is not meritorious, but is the instrument by which sinners take hold of this salvation.  We are not made righteous but are counted as righteous by this atonement.  We are washed clean by the blood of the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world [John 1:29].      

Romans 3:21-24

Romans 3:21-24 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.  This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,  and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

Paul here begins to describe the good news of how the righteousness of God can be received by man.  This righteousness is a gift that is given by God.  It does not depend on man’s actual righteousness of performance because as Paul has explained this is impossible.  This free gift of justification is entirely based on God’s grace. 

Paul goes further to describe why there is no difference between Jew and Gentile.  While the Jews were a chosen physical people of God, very few of them were redeemed spiritually.  As an entire nation they were never God’s spiritual people as Paul points out in Romans chapter 9.  Therefore, it depends on faith for both Gentiles and Jews… Being born a Jew and in a physical covenant with God did not automatically save Israelites spiritually. 

Grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone is the wonderful message as Paul begins to explain the gospel of grace in this passage.  Praise God that he has provided the way for sinners to become Saints and that is through faith.         

Romans 3:20

Romans 3:20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.

Paul concludes the bad news of mankind’s impossible situation in being reconciled to God through his own efforts.  The bottom line is there is no hope to be reconciled with God by works righteousness.  Man cannot achieve a declaration of righteousness from God based on his works, deeds, morality, spirituality, mercy, empathy or any other way.  The most loving, moral, and ethical person who ever lived [other than Jesus Christ] cannot escape the wrath of God for his sin.  Mankind is dead in the water and there is no hope for spiritual salvation through his own efforts.  

Praise God the next verse begins with, but now.

Romans 3:9-10

Romans 3:9-10 What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one;

Here Paul lays out the hard truth that One hundred percent of Jews and Gentiles are all under the power of sin.  The end result was the same whether they had the written code [Law of Moses, Ten Commandments] or the works of the law written on their heart.  This means the Law including the Ten Commandments cannot produce the perfect righteousness needed to be right with God and neither can the works of the law on the heart. 

 

Over and over in this passage of bad news that begin in verse 18 of chapter one Paul makes it clear that human beings on their own are totally incapable of achieving the righteousness required to have a right standing before God.  It is totally impossible as Paul emphatically points out. 

Yet many people believe their righteousness and basic goodness will be sufficient to present to God on judgment day.  In our day there is a great emphasis on the social gospel where striving for love, tolerance, good works, morality, etc. is the goal and focus of this viewpoint…  This passage speaks to the probability of success for such a plan to make a person right with God.  It is nothing but fools gold to think a person can become righteous enough on their own to be justified before God.  

Romans 2:28-29

Romans 2:28-29 A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical.  No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.

Paul makes an important distinction in this passage between physical and spiritual circumcision as well as physical and spiritual Jews.  God made the Old Covenant with the physical nation of Israel that he redeemed physically from Egypt.  They received a physical circumcision based on their race alone.  They were born into the Mosaic Covenant whether or not they would ever be spiritually saved and only a remnant of them was saved spiritually.  

God made the New Covenant with a spiritual nation of believers that he redeems from the law of sin and death.  They receive a spiritual circumcision of the heart through spiritual regeneration by the Holy Spirit.  Through faith in Jesus Christ they are the true spiritual sons of Abraham.  No one has ever obtained a new heart by following the written code [Ten Commandments].

This passage clearly shows the picture [Old Covenant physical Israel] and the fulfillment [New Covenant spiritual Israel].  While there was a small remnant saved from the Old Testament era, it is a mistake to think of Old Covenant national Israel as a spiritual body of believers like the true New Covenant body of believers that are in Christ by faith.  Israel was a physical people of God and New Covenant believers are the spiritual people of God.    

 

 

Romans 2:25

Romans 2:25 Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised.

Circumcision was an external rite given as a sign to God’s chosen physical people.  Many Jews believed that through birth as a Jew and the physical sign of circumcision, they were in right standing with God.  Paul makes it clear that this is not the case.  Since one hundred percent of old covenant Jews broke the law, they are left with a huge problem concerning their spiritual salvation.  They just like Gentiles need the good news that Paul describes in Chapters 3 & 4.   

Much confusion can be avoided if we remember the fact that national Israel was a chosen physical people of God and only a remnant of Israel are a part of God’s saved spiritual people.  Neither circumcision or obedience to the law was the grounds for the small remnant that was spiritually redeemed.   

 

Romans 2:12-14

Romans 2:12-14 All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law.  For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.  (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law.

Jews had the Law of Moses and Gentiles do by nature the things of the law since the works of the law is written on their hearts…  Therefore, everyone is guilty of sin because all have sinned against either the Law of Moses or the works of the Law.  This passage affirms that verses 6-11 were only about a hypothetical salvation that no human being can hope to attain.  This is more of the bad news that man is in a terrible situation.  Praise God that God has provided a way for mankind to be reconciled to God and this is the good news that begins in Romans 3:21.  

Romans 2:6-11

Romans 2:6-11 He will render to each one according to his works:  to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.  There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek.  For God shows no partiality.

God will repay each person according to his works.  Uh oh!  This is the same bad news that Paul gave to the Gentiles in chapter 1.  On judgment day all people that are not in Christ by faith will be judged by their works to determine their eternal destination. Not a single person will be found to have the perfect works required to receive eternal life. Therefore, in this passage, Paul is explaining a hypothetical salvation of unbelievers based on works alone.  At this point Paul has not yet explained the good news of faith in Christ. 

In thoroughly laying out the gospel in Romans, Paul began by giving the spiritual condition of human beings with the Holy God who created the universe and everything in it. Beginning in Rom. 1:18 and going through Rom. 3:20 Paul explained that this condition was totally hopeless for both Gentiles who did not have the law and Jews who had the law. This is the immediate context of this section. His conclusion in Rom. 3:9-10 is that all, Jews and Gentiles, are under sin and that none are righteous. He ends this section of Romans by stating in Rom. 3:20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

It would be a terrible mistake for anyone to read this passage and think their works were good enough to earn eternal life.  Even worse would be to think that works are needed along with faith in Jesus Christ.  

Romans 2:1

Romans 2:1 You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.

After Paul thoroughly explains how sinful and without hope Gentiles are in chapter one, he turns his attention to Jews in chapter two.  Here in verse one he basically puts Jews in the same boat with Gentiles.  Old Covenant Jews had the law as a covenant contract to obey and receive the blessings that were promised for this obedience.  They failed miserably and Paul points this out emphatically at the beginning of chapter two.  

Romans 1:26-32

Romans 1:26-32 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done.  They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy.  Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

In this passage Paul lays out the extent and pervasiveness of mankind’s sin.  He begins with the sin of homosexuality, calling it shameful and unnatural.  In the last sentence he declares that all of the mentioned sins deserve death and yet people will not only do these things, but also approve of those that practice them.  In America today we are seeing this very thing happen as even some who profess Christ approve and endorse homosexuality as well as some of these other sins.  While true Christians still have a sin problem that grieves them, they do not object to and disregard the Word of God in favor of worldly standards.  To do so is nothing short of rebelling against the law of Christ and the standards of morality that are given for the New Covenant believer.  This amounts to being ashamed of Christ and his words, and Jesus said he would be ashamed of anyone who was ashamed of him or his words when comes back to judge the world.  It is sad and amazing today to watch supposed men of God waffle and be ashamed to stand up for Jesus Christ and the truth of the Word of God in their ministries.  Beware of following them… If you profess Christ, read the Scriptures and do not be ashamed to affirm all that it teaches including this passage in Romans 1.  

See:  Luke 9:26, 1 John 1:8, 1 John 2:4, 1 Cor. 9:21

Romans 1:19-20

Romans 1:19-20 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.  For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

In these two verses Paul explains natural revelation.  Mankind was made in the image of God and has the power to think and reason.  From this God given ability to think and reason it is evident that the creation that man sees and experiences has come about from only two possibilities.  One possibility is that a supreme being of immense power created the earth and everything in it.  The other possibility is that something came from nothing without an outside cause and not only that but it produced life, balance, and order.  Although the second option is pure nonsense, many secular humanists and even eminent scientists are endorsing this option.  This is a great example of suppressing the truth that Paul described in the prior verse.  Therefore, even people who have never heard about the written revelation of God are without excuse.  Also, Paul goes on to explain in chapter two that the works of the law are written on people’s hearts. 
 
From this point through Romans 3:20 Paul explains the bad news concerning man’s sin and his hopeless predicament in and of himself with his creator.

Romans 1:18

Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

Many in churches today proclaim that man is basically good and announce to the world that God loves them unconditionally. They are suppressing the very truth that Paul reveals in this passage about the wrath of God. While God is love and his grace and mercy abound in many ways to the human race, His anger and wrath against human unrighteousness and sin is revealed clearly in Holy Scripture. John the Baptist did not announce the coming of the Kingdom of God by telling people to continue on unchanged because God loves them unconditionally. No, he told them to repent for the forgiveness of sins. Through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ sinners can experience the redeeming love and mercy of God.  Without this faith they will experience the wrath of God.

Through regeneration and faith in Christ the Holy Spirit indwells believers and the truths of Scripture are accepted and no longer suppressed.  

Romans 1:17

Romans 1:17 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.”

The power of God in the gospel is the incredible way that God imparts righteousness through faith in Christ.  Through this faith in Christ, his righteousness is imputed to all who believe because the penalty for sins is paid by his atoning sacrifice.  Furthermore, this faith is not a one-time faith for justification only, but is an ongoing faith for sanctification as well.  It is faith and the work of the Holy Spirit that is source and fountainhead of sanctification… not external law keeping by the flesh.  The Law of Moses was a guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith in Christ.  Once faith in Christ came, the law and the temporary Mosaic Covenant came to an end.  Therefore, the righteous live by faith… not law keeping.

Paul develops this theme fully in the book of Romans.  It is through grace and not the law that believers are justified and sanctified. 

Other references: Acts 15, Galatians [especially chapter 3]

Romans 1:16

Romans 1:16 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. 

Jesus Christ and him crucified is the power of God in salvation.  This is the gospel that Paul explains thoroughly in the Book of Romans.  Paul told the philosophers at the Areopagus [Acts 17] that God gave proof of this power by raising Jesus from the dead.  This gospel brings salvation to all who believe.  All of the Old Testament pointed to this gospel of spiritual salvation.  Jesus Christ is the focal point of all of history from Adam until he returns in glory.  While the nation of Israel had a central role in God’s gospel plan, God never intended that they, as an entire nation, would be the recipients of the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ [Rom. 9]. 

Through the person and work of Jesus Christ the gospel secures a holy nation of believers from every tongue and tribe.  This holy nation is called the church or the body of Christ and all the credit, honor, and glory goes to Jesus Christ.  The Old Testament and Old Covenant pointed the way to the fulfillment of God’s power and plan to glorify his son, Jesus Christ.  This is the gospel and Paul lays it out in Romans.

Since Paul is not ashamed of the gospel, it would be a serious mistake for anyone who claims to be a Christian to be ashamed, impugn, marginalize, or contradict Paul and the book of Romans.  Jesus Christ said that he would be ashamed of anyone who was ashamed of him or his words when he comes back in glory [Luke 9:26].  Romans contain the words of Christ through the revelation received by Paul and to reject them is to come under the warning of Jesus.                   

Romans 1:1

Romans 1:1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God—

Paul in the Epistle to the Romans declares that he was called to be an apostle and that he was a servant of Jesus Christ set apart for the gospel of God.  In other epistles such as Ephesians and Galatians he explained that he was given revelation from God concerning this gospel.  He was in fact writing under the authority and inspiration of the Holy Spirit.  His writings are infallible and without error. 

 

The book of Romans is the most comprehensive explanation of the gospel given in the bible.  It is the gospel of God for which Paul was set apart.  In this gospel he Paul lays out how the wrath of God is on sinners, which includes all human beings at their birth.  Then he explains how human beings can be made right with God [justified] through Jesus Christ and become Saints.  Next he explains how Saints are sanctified through the Spirit of God and not Old Covenant Law.  Throughout the letter he deals with the distinction between physical Israel and spiritual Israel.  He closes the letter with practical applications on New Covenant morality and living.