History tells us that Martin Luther, the leader of the Protestant Reformation, described the book of Romans in the New Testament as the “clearest gospel of all” and according to Jack Sequeira, a retired Seventh-day Adventist pastor, the reasons are two-fold. The first reason, Sequeira says, is a general one and that’s because Romans was written by Paul, the theologian of the New Testament. The second reason is more specific and that’s because Paul had neither established nor visited the church at Rome before he wrote this letter, and this means Paul had to spell out the gospel in such a way that it would make sense to people who had never heard it before.
It is for this reason, Sequeira says, that no other book of the Bible or passage of Scriptures explains the plan of salvation – the teaching of righteousness by faith – as clearly as Romans does, and during the next few months I will be facilitating a series of Bible studies on this book and topic on location at Chatswood Church from 9.45am-10.40am, Saturdays. By way of introduction to these studies we had a discussion during our Worship Service this morning based on Romans 1:1-17 and I have uploaded the introduction, passage of Scripture and discussion questions for you to explore. May God ever increase our understanding and experience of what it means to be saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ!
