Romans Outline

Introduction [1:1-15]
1. Greeting [1:1-7]
2. Paul loves them and plans to visit them [1:8-15]
[1:16-17] Theme:
- “The Gospel is the power of God and reveals God’s righteousness which is by faith”

[1:18-4:25] Justification by Faith
1. [1:18-3:20] We cannot gain righteousness from the law
  1. [1:18-32] God’s judgement is revealed against sin
  2. [2:1-5] You are just as much under judgement as those you condemn
    - [2:1] If you judge others, you automatically condemn yourself
    - [2:2] God has a standard of judgement
    - [2:3] Do you think that the fact that God has not judged you yet, means he has forgotten?
    - [2:4-5] Whereas actually he is giving you time to repent, else you will be punished in the end
  3. [2:6-11] God’s judgement is according to his standards and impartial for both Jews and Gentiles
  4. [2:12-3:8] Having the law does not give Jews a special status
    - [2:12-16] On the Day of Judgement will not be about what law you have, but how well you do what the law requires
    - [2:17-29] The limitations of the Old Covenant
      - [2:17-24] You may think you have a very special relationship with God because you have the law, but if you don’t keep it, the opposite is true—you dishonour God.
      - [2:25-29] Your status as a Jew through circumcision is worth nothing unless you keep the law. A Gentile who obeys the law is more Jewish than you!
    - [3:1-8] Problems
      - [3:1-4] Problem 1: What advantage is it to be a Jew? —there are many advantages
      - [3:5-8] Problem 2: Is God unjust to condemn actions that bring him glory —no, else he couldn’t judge anyone
  5. [3:9-18] Jews can be as evil as Gentiles
  6. [3:19-20] Therefore no-one can make themselves righteous by the law
2. [3:21-4:25] Righteousness by faith
  1. [3:21-26] Justification and the Righteousness of God
  2. [3:27-31] By Faith Alone: initial statement
  3. [4:1-25] Proof from Abraham
    - [4:1-8] Faith & Works
    - [4:9-12] Faith & Circumcision
    - [4:13-22] Faith, Promise and the Law
    - [4:23-25] Abraham’s faith related to ours
[5-8] New life and New hope
1. [5:1-5] Summary of argument so far and forward to the end of chapter 8
2. [5:6-21] Reconciled by Christ’s death
  1. [5:6-11] Reconciliation—an act of God’s love
  2. [5:12-21] Parallel between Christ and Adam
3. [6:1-23] Freedom from sin through grace
  1. [6:1-11] Union with Christ—Living a new life
  2. [6:12-14] Not under law but under grace
  3. [6:15-23] Living as people who are free from sin
4. [7:1-25] Inability of the law to bring freedom
  1. [7:1-6] Released from the law
  2. [7:7-12] Is the law sinful?
  3. [7:13-21] The law has no power against sin
5. [8:1-17] Victory in Christ through the Spirit
  1. [8:1-4] Christ has freed us from the law
  2. [8:5-11] Christ lives in you through the Spirit
  3. [8:12-17] Let by the Spirit to cry “Abba”
  4. [8:18-25] Our hope of Glory
  5. [8:26-27] The Spirit’s help in prayer
  6. [8:28-30] Chosen and loved
6. [8:31-39] Conclusion: Nothing can separate us from the love of God
[9:1-11:36] God’s Future for Israel
1. [9:1-5] Introduction—Paul is grieved by Israel’s’ rejection of the Gospel
2. [9:6-29] Not all Israel are of Israel—God’s sovereignty (Israel has no automatic right)
  1. [6-9] Has God failed?
    - No, because he never intended to save every single child of Abraham
    - Two questions: How is his word to be performed and Who are the true seed of Abraham?
  2. [10-13] In order to answer these two questions, Paul needs to talk about election
  3. [14-18] This raised the accusation “God is not fair”
  4. [19-23] Another protest about God’s fairness, but who can question the right of the potter?
  5. [24-26] God has a right to extend mercy to the Gentiles as well as the Jews and call them his sons
  6. [27-29] But a remnant of Israel will also be saved
3. [9:30-10:21] Israel has “missed the Gospel” and is totally without excuse
  1. [9:30-33] Israel tried to gain righteousness through the law
  2. [10:1-4] They had a lot of zeal for their own way of serving God, but rejected Christ
  3. [10:5-13] The Gospel is not about self-effort but is about believing and trusting
  4. [10:14-21] God has constantly reached out to them, but they rejected him
4. [11:1-32] but God has purpose for Israel that will demonstrate his kindness & mercy
  1. [1-6] Even now there is a remnant saved (including Paul!)
  2. [7-10] But many are hardened
  3. [11-15] Yet God has a purpose—to bring salvation to a greater number of people
  4. [16-24] Picture of root and branches—Gentiles should not be complacent
  5. [25-32] Future revival among the Jews, in God’s grace and mercy
5. [11:33-36] Conclusion: To him be the glory forever.
The life that pleases God [12:1-15:13]

Closing greetings [15:14-16:27]