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An Attempt To Listen To God

Outline of The Epistle To The Romans

Study to shew thyself approved unto God . . . 2 Timothy 2:15

The Author

For notes on the author, see “Books of the Bible - Introduction to the Roman Epistle”.

There is no way of knowing who founded the church at Rome. There are several conjectures, but since God did not tell us, it is apparent it is of no value for us to know. It is evident it was not Paul, for he had not visited Rome. (ch. 1:8-15; 15:23-24)

By the time this epistle was written, Paul had been a believer for some 20 years. It is generally taken that he was converted somewhere between 33-36 AD and the writing of Romans in approximately 54-58. If these figures are correct, then he had been approximately ten years toiling as an evangelist. The gospel was dear to him and great emphasis was laid on its reception by faith and the practical life that follows conversion. The matter of being justified by grace and not works was intensely assailed by Judaizers who taught that Gentiles must be circumcised and keep the law of Moses. They attacked his person and doctrine, as Corinthians and Galatians makes clear. In 2 Corinthian Paul responded to the attack on his person, and in Galatians he defended the truth of salvation by faith and its liberty.

Now the time had come to move from an apologetic perspective to an evangelical perspective and lay out the prerequisites, method of reception, its relation to the promises of God to the Jew, and the expected response for the recipients of the gospel.

However, it is more than a presentation of the gospel, for it is a manifestation of the lessons he had learnt in the school of God in the proceeding years.

Why The Book Was Written

The Roman epistle, as written by Paul, was one of clarification and explanation. In it he can be viewed as a prosecutor and defense lawyer, or that of a physician, diagnosing an ailment and prescribing the remedy.
	a)	It contains: 16 chapters, 433 verses, and 76 questions. The words:
			i)	“What” being used
			ii)	“Know ye not” being used and it is these that give it the sense of an investigation by a lawyer.
	b)	The terms used for salvation are legal, righteousness, justification, sin, transgression.

Romans is the answer to the question Job asked: “How should man be just with God?" (Job 9:2). For one to be just with God means the individual must be in conformity with God's character. This, by ones own doings, is a human impossibility. Romans gives the glorious answer; our every need is all found in Christ.

When Was It Written?

By gathering all the evidence, it would appear Romans was written while Paul was on his third missionary journey, when in the home of Gaius in Corinth. If one wanted to narrow it down, it would possibly have been written during the “three months” mentioned in Acts 20:3.

To Whom The Book Was Written?

Romans was written to the saints in at least three church gatherings at Rome, while Paul stayed with a well to do Corinthian believer called “Gaius” (Ch. 16:23). When I say “written”, the actual writing was done by Tertius, but it was Paul who was dictating (Ch. 16:22).

After his greeting, Paul begins: “To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints” (ch. 1:7); and again: “Now the God of Peace be with you all” (Ch. 15:33). The three gatherings were:
	a)	The church in the house of Priscilla and Aquila. (ch. 16:3)
	b)	Asyncitus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes and all the brethren which are with them. (ch. 16:14)
	c)	All the saints with Nereus, and his sister. (ch. 16:15)

In those gatherings there were Gentiles, as is seen from (ch. 1:6, 13; 11:13, 25, 28, 30; 15:15-21) and it is just as clear that there were Jews as well (ch. 2:17; 4:1; 7:1).

Theological Perspective

Of all the New Testament epistles, “God” is mentioned more in Romans than any other book. Observe this is NOT the number of verses in the book nor the only ways God is spoken about. It is a list of the number of verses where the word “God” is specifically used.

Book	Occurrences	Verses	Book	Occurrences	Verses
Romans	103	144	Titus	14	12
1 Corinthians	103	88	Philemon	2	2
2 Corinthians	75	62	Hebrews	72	67
Galatians	33	31	James	17	13
Ephesians	33	33	1 Peter	39	35
Philippians	23	22	2 Peter	7	7
Colossians	22	21	1 John	64	41
1 Thessalonians	39	31	2 John	4	4
2 Thessalonians	9	14	3 John	2	1
1 Timothy	22	20	Jude	5	4
2 Timothy	15	15	Revelation	99	90

Keys

1) The key verses are chapter 1:16-17
2) The key concept is, justification and sanctification comes by faith alone.

Peculiarities

These are words, that I am aware of, that are only found in the Romans Epistle.

Expression	Reference	Expression	Reference
Become unprofitable	Ch. 3:12	May be refreshed with	Ch. 15:32
Kindly affectioned	Ch. 12:10	Are clearly seen	Ch. 1:20
Preferring	Ch. 12:10	Cheerfulness	Ch. 12:8
Infirmities	Ch. 15:1	Asps	Ch. 3:13
Forbearance	Ch. 2:4; 3:25	Malignity	Ch. 1:29
Newness	Ch. 6:4; 7:6	May be comforted together	Ch. 1:12
Putting you in mind	Ch. 15:15	Without excuse	Ch. 1:20
More boldly	Ch. 15:15	Became vain	Ch. 1:21
Are covered	Ch. 4:7	Worshipped	Ch. 1:25
Planted together	Ch. 6:5	Lust	Ch. 1:27
Art called	Ch. 2:17	Whisperers	Ch. 1:29
Inventors	Ch. 1:30	Haters of God	Ch. 1:30
Remnant	Ch. 11:5	Backbiters	Ch. 1:30
Ministering	Ch. 15:16	Unmerciful	Ch. 1:31
Hardness	Ch. 2:5	I have stretched forth	Ch. 10:21
Godhead	Ch. 1:20	Bow down	Ch. 11:10
Consent	Ch. 7:16	The olive tree which is wild	Ch. 11:17, 24
May be also glorified together	Ch. 8:17	Were broken off	Ch. 11:17, 19, 20
Maketh intercession	Ch. 8:26	Severity	Ch. 11:22
Are we better	Ch. 3:9	A good olive tree	Ch. 11:24
Is present	Ch. 7:18, 21	Am left	Ch. 11:3
Changed	Ch. 1:25-26	Unsearchable	Ch. 11:33
Impenitent	Ch. 2:5	Hath first given	Ch. 11:35
Proportion	Ch. 12:6	The answer of God	Ch. 11:4
Good words	Ch. 16:18	Slumber	Ch. 11:8
Graffed in	Ch. 11:17, 23, 19, 24	Coals	Ch. 12:20
Cannot be uttered	Ch. 8:26	Highly	Ch. 12:3
A trap	Ch. 11:9	Abhor	Ch. 12:9
Counsellor	Ch. 11:34	A great desire	Ch. 15:23
The giving of the law	Ch. 9:4	That ye strive together	Ch. 15:30
Covenant breakers	Ch. 1:31	Come abroad	Ch. 16:19
Without natural affection	Ch. 1:31	Succourer	Ch. 16:2
Righteous judgment	Ch. 2:5	Without law	Ch. 2:12
Throat	Ch. 3:13	Bearing witness with / I testify	Ch. 2:15; 8:16; 9:1
Used deceit	Ch. 3:13	Guilty	Ch. 3:19
Cursing	Ch. 3:14	That are past	Ch. 3:25
Destruction	Ch. 3:16	Condemnation	Ch. 5:16, 18; 8:1
Commit sacrilege	Ch. 2:22	Delight	Ch. 7:22
Receiving	Ch. 11:15	Warring against	Ch. 7:23
We are more than conquerors	Ch. 8:37	Oldness	Ch. 7:6
Lie	Ch. 3:7	Travaileth in pain together	Ch. 8:22
A short	Ch. 9:28	Groaneth	Ch. 8:22
An hundred years	Ch. 4:19	Whether	Ch. 6:16

Old Testament Quotations and Similarities

There are a number of Old Testament quotations in the Roman Epistle. The following is a list of those I am aware of. If time was taken to go through all the references it will be found they are divided into three groups:
	1)	Those which are direct quotations.
	2)	Those which are similar to, but not word for word.
	3)	Those which are the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament.

Whether they are direct or allusions, the fact that the Holy Spirit used them settles their validity.

Romans	Old Testament	Romans	Old Testament	Romans	Old Testament
Ch. 1:17	Hab. 2:4	Ch. 9:12	Gen. 25:23	Ch. 10:19	Deut. 32:21
Ch. 2:6	Prov. 24:12	Ch. 9:13	Mal. 1:2-3	Ch. 10:20	Isa. 65:1
Ch. 2:24	2 Sam. 12:14	Ch. 9:15	Ex. 33:19	Ch. 10:21	Isa. 65:2
Ch. 3:4	Psa. 51:4	Ch. 9:20	Isa. 45:9	Ch. 11:3	1 Kgs. 19:10, 20
Ch. 3:10	Psa. 14:1	Ch. 9:25–26	Hos. 2:23	Ch. 11:4	1 Kgs. 19:18
Ch. 3:12	Psa. 14:3	Ch. 9:27	Isa. 10:22-23	Ch. 11:8	Jer. 5:21
Ch. 3:13	Psa. 5:9	Ch. 9:28	Isa. 28:22	Ch. 11:9	Psa. 69:22
Ch. 3:13	Psa. 140:3	Ch. 9:29	Isa. 1:9	Ch. 11:34–35	Isa. 40:13
Ch. 3:14	Psa. 10:7	Ch. 9:33	Isa. 8:14	Ch. 12:19–20	Deut. 32:35
Ch. 3:15	Isa. 59:7	Ch. 10:5	Lev. 18:5	Ch. 13:9	Ex. 20:13-16 Lev. 19:18
Ch. 3:16	Isa. 59:7	Ch. 10:6	Deut. 30:12-13	Ch. 14:11	Isa. 45:23
Ch. 3:18	Psa. 36:1	Ch. 10:8	Deut. 30:14	Ch. 15:3	Psa. 69:9
Ch. 4:3	Gen. 15:6	Ch. 10:11	Isa. 28:16	Ch. 15:9	Psa. 18:49
Ch. 4:7	Psa. 32:1-2	Ch. 10:13	Joel 2:32	Ch. 15:10	Deut. 32:43
Ch. 4:17	Gen. 17:5	Ch. 10:15	Isa. 52:7	Ch. 15:11	Psa. 117:1
Ch. 4:18	Gen. 15:5	Ch. 10:16	Isa. 53:1	Ch. 15:12	Isa. 11:1 & 10
Ch. 9:7	Gen. 21:12	Ch. 10:18	Psa. 19:4	Ch. 15:21	Isa. 52:15
Ch. 9:9	Gen. 18:14

Relationship With Other New Testament Books

The New Testament is broadly subdivided into two major sections:
	1)	The Historical books which are Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Acts.
	2)	The epistles which are all the books from 1 Corinthians to Revelation.

Romans was not the first epistle written. From that which can be determined, it was the 6th, and that being so, why is it first in the sacred record? It needs to be understood that the New Testament has a broad chronological order. It begins with five books of history which are subdivided into two sections. The four gospels tells of the coming of the Saviour and the historical record of the procuring of salvation. The Acts informs us of the spread of the Christian gospel. Then there is laid down in Romans a systematic exposition of the gospel as it relates to Jews and Gentiles. It is a fundamental book for two reasons, among several:
	1)	It teaches salvation by faith, which had the Galatians saints understood in its fulness, they would not have had their problems.
	2)	It teaches positional and practical sanctification, which had the Corinthian saints known, it would have been a preservation for them.

Structures and Outlines

There is not a book in the scriptures which can be outlined or having only one structure because these things depend on the perspective one is taking. Obviously, an outline based on geographical settings would be different from linguistic settings. For this reason there is now given various outlines:

1) Romans Divided Into 3 Sections

Doctrinal	Chs. 1-8
Dispensational	Chs. 9-11
Duty	Chs. 12-16

The righteousness of God:

Relative to my relationship with Him and the method of providing salvation	Chs. 1-8
Relative to His promises to Israel	Chs. 9-11
Relative to its being manifested in my daily living	Chs. 12-16

The unveiling of God’s righteousness	Chs. 1-8
The demonstration of God’s righteousness	Chs. 9-11
The reasonable expectation of God’s righteousness	Ch. 12-16

2) Romans divided into 5 sections

Sin	Chs. 103
Salvation	Chs. 4-5
Sanctification	Chs. 5-8
Sovereignty	Chs. 9-11
Service	Chs. 12-16


There are 16 doxologies in the New Testament epistles, some addressed to God and some to Christ. Romans & 1 Timothy are the only epistles where there are two doxologies, and Revelation has three. In Romans the doxologies divide the book into two sections:
	1)	Chs. 1:17-11:36 which ends with a doxology and deals with that which God has done for man in grace.
	2)	Chs. 12:1-16:27 which also ends with a doxology, and this section deals with that which man can do for God out of gratitude.

1st Doxology	2^nd Doxology
Ch. 11:33-36	Ch. 16:25-27
Celebrating the superlatives of His wisdom and understanding	Celebrating the fullness of the gospel
The “mystery” is used before the doxology ch. 11:25	The mystery is mentioned in the doxology ch. 16:25
The mystery is the dealings of God with Israel in its limited duration until the fullness of the Gentiles is brought in.	The mystery unknown in ages past but now revealed is how God was going to righteously justify man and be Himself just.

The first section deals with divine provision in providing salvation, the second with human reflection of Christ through salvation.

The first section answers the question: “How can a man be put in a right relationship with his creator?”, and the second answers the question: “How is this right relationship with His maker seen in daily life”?

May God grant us good understanding as He, by His Holy Spirit, deigns to guide us into all truth.
John 16:13