The way salvation works then, is a person responds inwardly (from the heart) to God.
“Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised.” An outward sign of faith like circumcision or baptism has value if you ‘practice the law’...
“You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” ” Ultimately a life without spiritual integrity is dishonoring to God and caused his...
“You, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?” Again the...
“If you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark,an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth.” The Jews had...
“Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God;if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law;” The Jews have a certain advantage historically at this point and...
“This will take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.” God will judge the secrets, or more literally, the short-comings and failure to keep the law and compare our behavior to the...
“(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. They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their...
“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...
“There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile;but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism...
“To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.” So here is the end of...
“Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath...
“Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?” Evidence in salvation...
“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.” A stern warning about our tendency to find...
“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...
“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...
“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...
“Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the...
“Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.” As man’s heart is darkened, his arrogance...
“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.For although they knew God, they neither...
“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.”...
“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.” ” Paul quotes Habakkuk 2:4 and says that the gospel reveals the...
“That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome. 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.” Paul...
“I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles. I...
” I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.” What happens when Christians get together? Spirtual gifts are...
“God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you.” One of...
“First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world.” Paul’s first reaction to the Roman believers is to thank God for them. Why? They were evidence that the gospel...
“To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people:Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ” The believers are reminded that they are loved of God- The Creator of the universe has...
“And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.” The Roman believers were a representative part of what God was doing in fufilling his promise to save the Gentile world.Even though as Jesus said...
“Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake” The first qualifier for Paul to share the gospel was grace – the unmerited favor of God –...
“And who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus’ resurrection sits apart as the greatest miracle in history. He is recognized (declared) the...
“Regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David” Part of the prophecy concerning the Messiah was the that he would be a descendant of David. His kingdom (unlike David’s) would be everlasting. This was one...
“The gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures” God has given mankind, the Jews in particular and the Gentiles as well as promises of his salvation. These promises came through the patriarchs and prophets...
“Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God.” Why would a man burn into the posistion of power, influenece, respect and even education identify himself as a bond-servant? Because, Jesus...