There are not many letters in the New Testament that have produced
as much theology as Paul's letter to the Romans.
It is a panorama of doctrine and some chapters are very difficult to follow.
Here are two of the principle chapters of Romans, have a read and state in
15 lines or less what you believe Paul is saying.
Romans 7
4 Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law
through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another
to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.
5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused
by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death.
6 But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we w
ere held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and
not in the oldness of the letter.
7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary,
I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have
known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.”
8 But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner
of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead.
9 I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came,
sin revived and I died.
10 And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death.
11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me.
12 Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.
13 Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not!
But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through
what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful.
14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.
15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do,
that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.
16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good.
17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells;
for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do
not find.
19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.
20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.
22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.
23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind,
and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
25 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
Romans 8
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus,
who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from
the law of sin and death.
3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh,
God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh,
on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,
4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us
who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things
of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to
the law of God, nor indeed can be.
8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God
dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.
10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but
the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,
He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies
through His Spirit who dwells in you.
as much theology as Paul's letter to the Romans.
It is a panorama of doctrine and some chapters are very difficult to follow.
Here are two of the principle chapters of Romans, have a read and state in
15 lines or less what you believe Paul is saying.
Romans 7
4 Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law
through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another
to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.
5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused
by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death.
6 But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we w
ere held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and
not in the oldness of the letter.
7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary,
I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have
known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.”
8 But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner
of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead.
9 I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came,
sin revived and I died.
10 And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death.
11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me.
12 Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.
13 Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not!
But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through
what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful.
14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.
15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do,
that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.
16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good.
17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells;
for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do
not find.
19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.
20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.
22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.
23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind,
and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
25 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
Romans 8
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus,
who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from
the law of sin and death.
3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh,
God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh,
on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,
4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us
who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things
of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to
the law of God, nor indeed can be.
8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God
dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.
10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but
the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,
He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies
through His Spirit who dwells in you.
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