Here’s an acrostic of Romans to remind us about some of the big things we learn from Paul’s letter.
The R in Romans is for rich. Romans doesn’t teach us this, but it’s certainly something we learn from spending time in the book. It is one of the richest books in Scripture.
What makes it that way?
One thing would be its depth. Romans lends itself to repeated readings because it has so much to say, so the more we read the more we learn. And no matter how many times we read it, there is always something to discover or connect with.
But Romans is also rich because it is profound. Not everything that’s deep. is profound. We’ll all spent time plunging into the depths of something only to find out when you got to the end there just wasn’t really anything there to justify the time and effort that you invested in it. Romans is not like that. Paul is not rambling on about trivialities—he is explaining how our Father has faithfully brought all things together in Jesus Christ and how in Him we are heading toward a glorious future.
Last but not least, Romans is rich because if you want to build well, you must dig deep—and Romans helps us to do just that. The New York Times recently spoke of the resurgence of faith due to the fact that many people are “dissatisfied with the alternatives to religion.” It went on to talk about how we are “looking to heady concepts — confession, atonement, forgiveness and sacrifice — for answers.” That’s Romans!
O is for obedience. Having said that Romans is rich doesn’t mean it’s just an intellectual exercise to give us important things to think and talk about. Romans challenges our lifestyle. You can’t read chapter 6 concerning being dead to sin and alive to God, chapter 8 about living by the Spirit, or chapter 12 telling us to present our bodies as living sacrifices without being challenged. And did I mention overcoming evil with good?
All this points us to obedience. Paul begins and ends the letter by saying that what he’s after is “the obedience that comes from faith” (1:5, 16:26). It was through the obedience of one man (Jesus) that many were made righteous (5:19). And when we were baptized, we became slaves “to obedience, which leads to righteousness” (6:16). Obedience is our gift to God, ourselves, and the world around us.
But a word of caution: what we need is the obedience of faith—not faith in our obedience. That’s what tripped up many of the Jewish people in Paul’s time and can mess us up today as well. No matter what we do, no one is good enough to be good enough.
M is for mercy. Paul tells us in 11:32, “For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that He may have mercy on them all.” The word “that” is indicative of purpose—God wants to be merciful to all. That’s who our Father is.
Mercy also provides the motivation for how we are to live. When Paul talks about presenting our bodies as living sacrifices, he prefaces it by saying, “in view of God’s mercy.”
Finally, mercy roots us in life. In speaking of people who had departed from God, Paul says “they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy” (1:31). Life without mercy is no life!
A is for atonement (what else could it be for in Romans?). Along with Hebrews, Romans is where we go to learn about the cross work of Jesus. And learn we do!
As with the rest of Scripture, Paul never precisely spells out exactly how the atonement works (i.e., he doesn’t answer all our questions). But I think he provides us with enough truth to appreciate that atonement is about the righteous life of Jesus that culminated in His sacrificial death. Paul will say in 8:3, Christ was “a sin offering.” Paul is precise in the words he chooses and how he says them. He doesn’t say that God condemned Jesus, but rather In Christ’s sacrifice, He “condemned sin in the flesh” (8:3). We would do well to remember that in thinking about the atonement.
Beyond that, Paul gloriously shows how the atonement provides the basis for all humanity coming together as one. “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” (3:23-24).
Last but not least, the atonement of Jesus displays the righteousness of God in forgiving our sins. It shows us how God is“just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus” (v. 26).
N is for new life. Paul tells us in 6:4 that, “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” In the context, the new life he’s talking about is one where we count ourselves “dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (v. 11). It is one where we “do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires” (v. 12).
God’s desire is not just to get us into Christ—it’s to get Christ in us! As we live the new life, we allow God to do this. We are allowing Him to continue to work out our salvation (Philippians 2:12-13) as the deliverance we experienced at baptism permeates all phases of our lives.
S is for Sovereign. Jesus is Lord. He’s Lord of heaven and earth. He is Lord of life and death. He’s Lord of you and me.
For the disciples at Rome this meant that Claudius could move them around as he did when the Jewish disciples had to leave Rome (Acts 18:2)—but Jesus could bring them back (and He did). It meant that Nero could bully them as he would when he persecuted the disciples in connection with the church at Rome—but Jesus could put an end to Nero (and He did).
Paul will say in 10:9-10,
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
Jesus is Lord! That’s where Paul wants to take us in Romans!
A Taste of Grace with Bruce Green 