THE BOOK OF ROMANS
Romans |ˈrōmənz| a book of the New Testament, an epistle of St. Paul to the Christian Church at Rome.
The book of Romans is made up of 16 chapters and written to the Church of Rome from the Apostle Paul in AD 55-57.
As I was looking through Romans to share some of my favorite verses with you, I noticed that I had highlighted nearly every page. This is one of my favorite books of the Bible because Paul is writing from a place of understanding the constant struggle between obeying the "law" and leaning on God’s grace.
Paul reminds the Romans that “obeying the law is what makes us right in His sight,” (Romans 2:13) not just listening to it or knowing what it says. Obedience and following God’s instruction means more to God than our knowledge of the Bible or our lip service.
In the same way, “no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are,” (Romans 3:20).
So, God is honored by our obedience.
But following the law doesn’t “save" us.
So… what does?
Thankfully, Paul makes this clear in Romans 5:1-2:
“Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight BY FAITH we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of OUR FAITH, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.”
What’s even more incredible is the fact that God sent His Son as a sacrifice for us “while we were still sinners,” (Romans 5:8).
That means, grace was offered to us before we even asked for forgiveness.
Grace was offered to us before we even knew we needed forgiveness.
That’s really beautiful.
“Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his WONDERFUL GRACE? Of course not!” (Romans 6:1)
It can be really easy for us to accept God’s grace for our sin and then keep on doing what we want because it’s all been covered. But that’s not a good idea… because it’s not true relationship or true love.
Imagine you’re married (or if you are, you can imagine your spouse). Imagine your spouse keeps cheating on you, but apologizes for it every night. You keep forgiving him, because you love him, but at some point—you’re going to grow numb to his apologies because his actions aren’t lining up with his words. (And I truly hope you wouldn’t stay with him!)
In the same way, Paul is explaining the importance of the balance between obeying the law and leaning heavily on God’s grace. He even discusses his own struggle with sin in Romans 7:14-17 saying, “The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good.”
This back and forth internal and external struggle with sin is all part of being human. The honest truth is this: as long as we’re alive, breathing, and human—we will be sinful and in need of God’s grace.
The best part? Our need for God’s grace actually draws us into a loving relationship with Him.
And that, my friends, is the point.
“And I am convinced that NOTHING can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today or our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from GOD’S LOVE.” Romans 8:38
We can NEVER be separated from God’s love. And that is Good News.
XO-
Sabrina
PS: If you are reading this and would like to start a relationship with God today, I would be honored to pray with you today. Romans Ch. 10:9, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Father, I believe in You and in the sacrifice Jesus made for me and my sins. I want to honor You with my life. I want a relationship with You. I trust and believe in You today. Help me to understand and obey Your Words. Thank You for your grace, mercy, and love for me. Amen!
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