Some History:

In the summer of 386, a young man wept in the backyard of a friend. He knew that his life of sin and rebellion against God was killing him, leaving him empty; but he just couldn’t find the strength to make a final, real decision for Jesus Christ. As he sat, he heard some children playing a game and they called out to each other these words: “Take up and read! Take up and read!” Thinking God had a message to him through the words of the children, he picked up a scroll laying nearby opened it and began to read: not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires (Romans 13:13b-14). He didn’t read any further; he didn’t have to. Through the power of God’s word, Augustine had the faith to entrust his whole life to Jesus Christ at that moment.

In August of 1513, a monk lectured on the book of Psalms in a seminary, but his inner life was nothing but turmoil. In his studies, he came across Psalm 31:1: In Thy righteousness deliver me. The passage confused him; how could God’s righteousness do anything but condemn him to Hell as a righteous punishment for his sins? Luther kept thinking about Romans 1:17, which says that in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, “He who through faith is righteous shall live”(Habakkuk 2:4). The monk went on to say: “Night and day I pondered until . . . I grasped the truth that the righteousness of God is that righteousness whereby, through grace and sheer mercy, he justifies us by faith. Therefore I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise . . . This passage of Paul became to me a gateway into heaven.” Martin Luther was born again, and the reformation began in his heart.

In May of 1738, a failed minister and missionary went unwillingly to small Bible study where someone read aloud from Martin Luther’s commentary on Romans. As the failed missionary said later: “while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for my salvation, and an assurance was given me that he had taken my sins away, even mine.” John Wesley was saved that night in London.

More Testimony of Romans:

a. Martin Luther praised the Book of Romans: “It is the chief part of the New Testament and the perfect gospel . . . the absolute epitome of the gospel.”

b. Philip Melancthon called Romans, “The compendium of Christian doctrine.”

c. John Calvin said of Romans, “When any one understands this Epistle, he has a passage opened to him to the understanding of the whole Scripture.”

d. Samuel Coleridge, English poet and literary critic said Paul’s letter to the Romans is “The most profound work in existence.”

e. Frederick Godet, 19th Century Swiss theologian called the Book of Romans “The cathedral of the Christian faith.”

f. G. Campbell Morgan said Romans was “The most pessimistic page of literature upon which your eyes ever rested” and at the same time, “the most optimistic poem to which your ears ever listened.”

g. Richard Lenski wrote Romans is “Beyond question the most dynamic of all New Testament letters even as it was written at the climax of Paul’s apostolic career.”

The Book of Romans has life changing truth but it must be approached with effort and determination to understand what the Holy Spirit said through the Apostle Paul.

It quotes the Old Testament more than any other New Testament book, 57 times. The most common words in Romans are the word God–153 times, the word law–72 times, the word Christ–65 times, the word sin–48 times, the word Lord–43 times and the word faith– 40 times. It’s about God, the law, Christ, sin, the Lord, faith and all the ramifications of those terms.

Deisman(?) writing in the Expository Times said,

“Fire, holy fire shows between the lines of Romans. This holy divine flame is what warms and inter-penetrates us. The deep understanding of human misery, the terrible shuddering before the power of sin, yet at the same time the jubilant rejoicing of the redeemed child of God, this is what for all time assures to the Roman epistle a victorious sway over the hearts of men who are sinful and thirst for redemption”

Donald Gray Barnhouse wrote, “This letter will delight the greatest logician. This letter will captivate the mind of a consummate genius and yet will bring tears to the humblest soul and refreshment to the simplest reason. The book will knock you down and then lift you up. It will strip you naked and then clothe you with eternal elegance. It could take a Bedford Tinker like John Bunyan and turn him into the master who penned the Holy War and Pilgrim’s Progress.”

And Romans speaks to today.

It speaks to the issues we face today morally

It speaks about adultery.

It speaks about homosexuality.

It speaks about perversion.

It speaks about killing and hating and lying and civil disobedience.

It speaks to us intellectually.

It tells us why man is so confused because he possesses a reprobate mind.

It speaks to us socially.

It tells us how we are to relate to one another.

It speaks to us psychologically.

It tells us where true freedom comes to deliver men from guilt.

It speaks to us spiritually

It answers our despair with a hope in the future.

It speaks to us internationally

It tells us the ultimate destiny of the earth and specially the plan for the nation Israel.

It speaks to us nationally

It tells us our responsibility to the government.

It speaks to us supernaturally

It defines for us the infinite power of God.

It speaks to us theologically

It teaches us relationships between flesh and Spirit, law and grace. But most of all, it brings God to us profoundly.

Ending Thoughts: Grab your Bible and journal and get to reading.  This is a book that will forever rock your world.  Take a gander at John Warren’s blog on Romans at http://johnwarren.wordpress.com/category/romans/.  John has some great questions to help guide us on this awesome journey.

Love Ya