Summer Bible Study: Romans // Chapter 1

Welcome! I’m so glad that you are here! I hope that you have enjoyed reading chapter one of Romans. If you haven’t read the intro to Romans, you can do so here!

So, what do you think about Romans so far?

Paul is a pretty cool dude, I think. He seems so passionate about writing this letter to his brothers & sisters in Christ living in Rome.

Before we jump into a few verses, I want to encourage you to do more than just read and walk away.

As you are reading Romans, ask yourself these questions:

1- What is this verse/passage/chapter saying?

You may even want to write down everything you see going on in the passage. Where is he, what is the writer or other characters doing, etc. This will enable you to put yourself in the shoes of these people. It will make the story come alive. Because after all, these are real accounts in history. They aren’t just fables and fairy tales. These are real writers writing to real people who are experiencing real things. Whatever you are reading is either commanding you to something, teaching you something, encouraging you about something or giving you some sort of insight.

2- How does this apply to my life or how can I apply it to my life?

I believe that all scripture can be applied to our lives. We have to make sure that we aren’t nitpicking it apart and only taking what sounds good to us but it is important to read and then apply it. But don’t do it on your own. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you. Let God teach you from His Word. Make sure you are not trying to teach yourself something from God’s Word. Always, always, always ask God to reveal Himself to you.

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Verse by verse:

Paul starts out by writing to his fellow Christians in Rome. He tells them how encouraged he is by them and the fruit that is growing from their faith in Jesus. He wants them to know how much he wants to come see them and encourages them to know that he is praying for them. He reminds the romans that the gospel isn’t just for them. It’s for everyone. The gospel, God’s saving grace, is available for every type of person. What a glorious thing! Verse 16 is a great verse to memorize and truly live out in life. It says, “for I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.”

* The last verses (18-32) are powerful. We do not want to miss these verses. God is speaking through Paul reminding us that God has revealed Himself to all men. (v19-20) People have a choice to make. They can choose to accept the truth and believe in God or they can choose to believe the lie that God doesn’t exist. God tells us plain and clear that He is real and Jesus is real and alive. “For His invisible attributes, that is His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what He has made. As a result, people are without excuse.” (v20 bold mine)

 Have you lived your life in disbelief? Let God show you Himself. He is real & He desires for you to know Him in relationship. That’s what you were made for. You DO have a purpose!

Are you praying for someone who is living in disbelief? Remember that God is faithful & desires all to know Him. Keep praying. Keep sharing Jesus. Keep loving.

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The chapter goes on to explain that humans, without Jesus, are so sinful that they can’t be in the presence of God. In His great wisdom, God gave them over to their sinfulness because they are so about wanting to be in their sin. (v26,28) They willingly traded the TRUTH of God for a lie, the CREATOR for creation. (v25)

 Sin is deception. It creeps in & kills. Be aware! The end verses (29-32) reveal the sinfulness that can so easily ensnare us if we aren’t in Christ.

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What I learned:

Before sitting down to read chapter one for the first time, I asked God to clearly reveal Himself to me. I asked Him to show me and teach me what I needed to see or learn.

I began reading and got all the way to verse 16, when God brought my eyes back to verse ONE! Verse one?! So many times, I quickly read through the first couple of verse because (I’m thinking..) it’s just a little intro like a hello you guys i’m writing to. But it took me a second to get what He was showing me.

In verse one of Romans chapter one, Paul says “Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God…” {nkjv}

Bondservant.

What does that mean?

A person bound in service without wages, a slave or serf

 other translations use the words slave or servant

Paul was immediately letting everyone know that he belonged to Christ. More than that, he was His slave.

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God started flooding my mind with what it looks like to be a slave. And that everyone is a slave. But all are not enslaved to the same master.

 I was once a slave to sin. As soon as I was born, my sin chained me to death. I served sin. Sin was my master.  I was dead in my transgressions, my sinfulness. And I was hopeless.

But because God loved us so much, He made a way for us to be free. Through Jesus, we would no longer be slaves to sin. Instead we would His!

I have been BOUGHT by Jesus through the blood He shed. I was bought by Jesus to be set free from sin and death and hell.

He bought me therefore I BELONG to Jesus. I am his slave.

Am I living that way? A slave’s life revolves around serving his/her master. Does my life? Does your life? The difference between this Master and an earthly master is Jesus considers us a FRIEND not a feeble slave of his. Because He is LOVE, He doesn’t boss us around or make us do everything while He sits around doing nothing. It may be hard to wrap our minds around but that’s because He is bigger and greater than we are. And His love for us is bigger and greater than we can imagine! We are His own, His beloved. He took the place of our death. We are alive through Him. It should be our JOY to lay our life down for Him. Because He did that for us and saved us from that nasty sin-master, Satan.

If you belong to Christ, if you have accepted His free gift of forgiveness of salvation and life, then you are Jesus’. You are not your own. Praise God! Jesus alone makes us free, clean, pure, & alive!

You are a bondservant of Christ. Do you live your life as His servant and slave?

Take a minute and think about that question. That’s what following Jesus and living for Him really means.

Being a slave of Jesus means giving up our rights, our goals, our dreams, our purposes, our plans & accepting His PERFECT plan for our life. After all, He did create us and He alone knows exactly what is best for us. His ways are perfect & He has great things in store for those who love Him and follow Him.

We may think that we have it all together. You may be thinking right now that you don’t want to give up your life & success & happiness to be His servant but the Truth IS that when we do just that, that’s when we truly live. We thrive. We find joy. We have purpose & we are fulfilled. We truly live when we die to ourselves.

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It’s a lot to take in. This is something that I have been praying over for weeks. I so desire to live a life that is not all about me. I want it to be all about Jesus.

We will fall short and mess up along the way but Jesus is so compassionate, He will always be there to pick us back up and walk alongside of us.

That’s also what your fellow Christian friends and family are there for. Helping one another grow. I hope that this summer, through this study, we can do just that for each other!

Now, I want to hear from you!

What did you get out of chapter one?!? Comment below or run over to Hot Tea and the Empty Seat on Facebook to share with us! Feel free to share pictures of your notes, your favorite verses, a prayer if you feel led. Don’t be shy!