Romans Lesson 2

Lesson 2 (Romans 1:8-17)
The Righteousness of God

Read and discuss 1:8-17

Paul begins his letter to the members of the church in Rome in verse 8 by thanking God for their faith. He makes much of the fact that because they are actively engaging their faith (they are living it), it is being spoken about all over the Roman Empire. Of course, it could be he was complementing them for personally proclaiming their faith throughout the Roman Empire. In other words, the complement might have been a recognition of their evangelistic fervor. Or, he may have been pointing out their faith was so incredibly obvious and powerful that everyone who met them was so impressed they talked about it everywhere they went. Frankly, the bottom line for either interpretation of the text would bear the same result. People were being evangelized, blessed, and grown to maturity in Christ as a result of the faith of the church that was in Rome.

1. Who was Paul’s witness and to what did He witness? 1:9a

2. How did Paul serve Him? 1:9b

3. What gospel was Paul preaching? 1:9c

4. To what did God witness about Paul? 1:9d-10

5. What two reasons did Paul give for wanting to visit the church at Rome? 1:11

6. What spiritual gift do you suppose Paul wanted to impart to the church at Rome that would establish them? 1:11b cf. Eph. 4:11-16



7. For what other reason did Paul long to see the church at Rome? 1:12



8. About what did Paul not want the church to be unaware? 1:13a



9. What did Paul want to accomplish among them? 1:13b



10. To whom was Paul under obligation? 1:14



11. To whom was Paul eager to preach? 1:15



12. Why was Paul not ashamed of the gospel? 1:16

hint: for . . .



13. To whom did the gospel come first?



I believe Paul’s words, “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith,” simply mean God’s righteousness is imputed solely on the basis of faith. The accompanying words, “as it is written, ‘BUT THE RIGHTEOUS MAN SHALL LIVE BY FAITH,” expand upon and support the former statement.

Verses 8-17 remind us how important it is to be living our faith. I believe it is the wise man in Christ who develops a strategy for reaching others in Christ, based on his own lifestyle. Today, this strategy has been coined, lifestyle evangelism. I think it is more appropriate to simply refer to it as being a faithful steward of all God has given us. At the center of all faithful stewardship is the determination to preach the gospel to any who will listen. One of the greatest compliment I have ever gotten was that I would preach to a stop sign if it would listen. And preaching the gospel does not mean one needs to stand on a street corner and shout his lungs out telling those who don’t accept the gospel they are going to hell. Preaching the gospel, as I believe it applies to everyone who is truly in Christ, is spoken about in I Peter 3:15, “ . . . but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reference; . . .”

This verse alone is rich with mounds of theological truth. If we have sanctified Christ as Lord in our hearts, we must “always” be ready to make a defense (not be defensive), to “everyone” (aka any who will listen), who asks us to give an account (again, any who will listen), for the “hope” that is in us (why we have such peace in the face of adversity), yet with “gentleness and reverence.” In other words, we don’t necessarily have to go door to door, insisting people listen to our canned presentation of the gospel. Paul went into public places to preach the gospel, but there is no indication anywhere he went to people’s homes, knocked on their doors, and preached the gospel to them. While there is no reason to believe it is unbiblical to do so, it is likely the least effective way to get people to listen. We don’t argue vehemently with those who contradict. We gently and reverently present the gospel message to any who will listen.

Of course, as already stated, if we are not living lives that bring glory and honor to God, we are not in a position to preach the gospel. Such hypocrisy is a dishonor to both the gospel message and our Lord. Most certainly, Matthew 7:1-5 is applicable to this scenario. Being a living testimony means avoiding course jesting, off color jokes, attending drunken brawls, failing to pay contracted obligations, and spending our income on loose living, or anything clearly and obviously extravagant. It means having our daily lives in order, making sure we spend time daily praying, studying God’s word, and caring for those we love. If we would like our faith “to be proclaimed throughout the world,” we must begin by being faithful stewards of God’s abundant blessing.

Close this session with a discussion about sharing the gospel, getting our lives in order, and talking about how our faith can draw others to Christ.