Studying His Word and His Works

Listen here: Romans Bible Study-About

This is a series of dozens of weekly Bible studies I did with a group of young men from 2024-2025. I am not a theologian, but I can read what great theologians wrote about Paul’s amazing letter to the Romans, and discuss their conclusions. I pray that by sharing publicly, it will likewise strengthen your Christian walk as it has strengthened mine, and be a help to you as you disciple others. And if you are an unbeliever, lost in the fray, I pray this study is part of God’s rescue plan for you!

Paul most likely wrote Romans from the city of Corinth (Acts 20:2-3), around AD 55-58. His scribe(a.k.a amanuensis) was Tertius (Romans 16:22).

Paul wrote the letter to the “saints” or believers (Romans 1:7), in Rome. While the letter is directed mostly to Gentiles (non-Jewish), there are many points directed towards Jewish converts to Christianity.

The first 11 chapters mainly focus on God’s character. The word “righteous” appears in Romans with more frequency than any other book in the Bible, making it a major theme. Man’s lack of any righteousness at all versus Christ’s righteousness, imputed to believers.

The remaining chapters focus on application, on renewing your mind daily in Christ, on missions and discipleship and church unity and what Christ-honoring civil government looks like.

In Romans, Paul takes us deep into history, showing us how the story of God and man has always been about believers, about the faithful. That there’s always been one tree, one body of believers, with branches broken off and others grafted in.

Romans is about justice and mercy, wrath and repentance, faith and not works, election and justification, salvation and sanctification, strong arguments and weak, spheres of influence, beautiful feet and missions, God’s sovereign will over man’s will, and so much more.

There are MANY commentaries, sermons, podcasts, etc. on Romans, so what makes this one different? First, everyone seems to leave out something (including me), so this study will help fill some gaps. Second, this study brings in the incredible history of Christian missions to Hawaii from the 1800s. A spectacular history that is mostly forgotten or unknown. That history is reflected even today in the Hawaii state motto, “The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness.” Third, my background is science and engineering, so I will occasionally connect to the history of amazing Christian scientists and mathematicians, men who made amazing discoveries because they believed, like Paul, that God’s attributes are clearly found in His creation (Romans 1:20). Lastly, this is an effort to help saturate the internet with Christ’s gospel, in hopes that some who read or listen will repent and believe (Mark 1:15), and born again believers will be strengthened and encouraged.

Resources: The following are resources used in creating this Bible study. I don’t agree 100% with any of the commentaries or YouTube sermons, but found myself agreeing more with RC Sproul’s commentary than anything else. Schreiner’s is good for explaining individual word meanings in context. Spurgeon makes good points but is pretty brief and missing several chapters. Also, if you are into theology at all, you might note the list of authors has a “reformed” feel to it. That is true, but I would encourage you to heed Paul’s words in I Cor. 3:4 and not focus on what “camp” this may or may not fit into, and instead focus on Paul’s letter and what God is explaining to us through those words.

• Commentaries
  • R.C. Sproul, Romans, an Expositional Commentary, 2019. Reformation Trust Publishing.
  • Thomas Schreiner, Romans, 2nd ed., 2018. Baker Academic.
  • Charles Spurgeon, Romans, Amazon Kindle Edition.
• Historical Authors
  • Augustine
  • Martin Luther
  • John Calvin
• Bible Memory
  • Versify app
  • In the Word Bible Journal on Romans, published by Reformation Heritage Books
• Bible Version
  • Mostly ESV version (esv.org)
• YouTube Sermons (these were the main pastors I watched/listened to)
  • John Macarthur
  • Voddie Baucham
  • Gary Hamrick
  • R.C. Sproul
• Computer research tools
  • Logos Bible app (ESV Study Bible)
  • alter.systems AI, mainly for studying word usage and word frequency in a chapter or section.

Ready to start? Click here to begin with Romans 1:1-7. Text and audio versions available.