Dynamic Studies in Romans II

Brief Introduction to Romans
About 500 BC Socrates said to Plato, “It may be that deity can forgive sins, but I do not see how.” The inherent problem with this dilemma is that it is impossible for a holy and just deity to forgive sins without acting counter to his nature.
The God of the Bible, however, had a solution to this problem that to a human mind seemed insurmountable. That solution was God’s grace. We have all seen the acronym that describes this.

God’s’

Riches

At

Christ’s

Expense

The problems inherent to the dilemma put forth by the Greek philosophers became apparent during the dark ages in Europe from about 590 to 1517.
During this period of time, we saw the understanding of God’s grace enjoyed by the early believers erode into forms of legalism.
This brought us to the Reformation.
In 1483 in Eisleben, Saxony a baby boy was born to a poor coal miner. Having watched his parents live in poverty, this young man, named Martin, decided to become a lawyer. He attended the University of Erfurt where he was a top student.
In 1504 a thunderstorm so violent that it almost scared him to death broke when he was walking across campus. He instinctively called out to the patron saint of coal miners, Saint Anne, and said, “If you save me from this storm I will become a monk.”
He lived through the storm and fulfilled his promise to become a monk. In this role he found no peace since he held to a form of religion without substance. When on a pilgrimage across the Alps he almost died and was rescued by a monk who did know about true Peace and Grace and suggested that he read the book of Habakkuk.
This ultimately led this man, who we know as Martin Luther, to find God’s grace and fueled his efforts that became the beginning of the Reformation.
Many people at that time then returned to God’s word, and found true Grace and Peace.

This leads us to the theme of Romans, which is God’s grace revealed.
Many scholars have called Romans the most profound book of all literature.
For many people this is the most important book in the New Testament.
As we begin our review of the marvelous book of Romans, we should again remind ourselves that it is part of an integrated message system, which we call the Bible, that comes to us from outside the boundaries of time and space. Every detail, every place name, every form of punctuation is there by design. In a human sense it was written by at least 40 authors over thousands of years and fits together in ways more perfect than we can comprehend.
As we review the book of Romans and see how it fits into the whole of scripture, we will, with the help of the Holy Spirit, be astounded at the depth of the writing and the Grace of our Creator.
It has been said that “If God were small enough for our minds, he wouldn’t be big enough for our needs.” We will become even more aware of the truth of this statement during the time we spend in Romans.
During our study we will ask God to open our minds and teach us from His Word.
Some of the most famous and most often used Biblical references over history come from Paul’s letter to the Romans. They succinctly lay out man’s condition without God and the way yet still open to a relationship with Him through Jesus Christ.