The Roman Road – Revisited & Expanded
The book of Romans was, of course, authored by the Holy Spirit, but written by the Apostle Paul in A.D. 56 to the believers in Rome. Of all the epistles in the New Testament, this epistle is probably the most organized and systematic. It starts with creation and the fall of man; and it ends with having our minds renewed to know the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God.
The “Roman Road” is a well-known and often-used method of sharing the Gospel message with a few key verses from the book of Romans. We could use this as a subtitle: “The Highway to a Relationship to God.”
I remember the first time I used the “Roman Road” to share the Gospel. It was July, 1976, a few weeks after I had been born again in the summer before my senior year of high school. It was a God-arranged opportunity to share about my salvation with my sister, Julie, who was one year younger than me. Being newly born again, I had no idea about what I was doing. But I had the “Roman Road” verses written down in my Bible, and I shared them with her late one summer night in our basement. God opened up her heart and she received Christ and was marvelously born again. Even after we had gone to our rooms to sleep, Julie had so much joy that she had to come running back down the hall to tell me one more time just how happy she was!
Since that wonderful night with my sister, I have used the “Roman Road” many times – in both English and Spanish; with children and with older folk as well. We can only imagine how many Bibles have had the “Roman Road” highlighted or written down in the margin like I did that night. I often wonder just how many redeemed souls we will meet in Heaven on that day that will excitedly tell us that they are there because someone took the time to lead them down that “road” of four short Bible verses! Oh, what a day that will be, right? Hallelujah!
It can be as simple or as detailed as necessary. I like to think of these four points as pegs on a peg board upon which I can hang many other verses that support that same idea. For this reason, I want to create a small series of teachings based upon each “step” of the “Roman Road.” It will be an ongoing project and a growing teaching series since there are many other Scriptures and teaching points that can be added. Below, in this first article, I will explain the overall idea of the “Roman Road.”
The Roman Road – “in a Nutshell”
Roman Road – Step 1: All Have Sinned
Key Verse: Romans 3:23
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
The Bible says that all of us are guilty sinners before a righteous God. It makes it clear that no one is “good enough” to go to Heaven.
Romans 3:10-12 – As it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
Romans 3:19 – Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.
Galatians 3:11 – But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.”
[Click here for the expanded version of Roman Road Step 1.]
Roman Road – Step 2: Punishment for Sin is Eternity in Hell
Key Verse: Romans 6:23(a)
“For the wages of sin is death…”
God has set the judgment for sin very high. The “death” Paul refers to the eternal separation from God in a place of punishment and torment called Hell. It is a debt that no man can pay for himself or others. Everyone is a sinner. Everyone needs a Savior. Everyone has a debt with God because of sin – an eternal debt!
[Click here for the expanded version of Roman Road Step 2.]
Roman Road – Step #3: The Gift of God is Eternal Life
Key Verse: Romans 6:23(b)
“…BUT the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
“But” is a very important word! Because of what Jesus, God’s only begotten Son, accomplished by His death, burial, and resurrection, God now offers the free gift of eternal life. Salvation and the gift of eternal life are FREE, but they are NOT CHEAP! It cost God the suffering and death of His only Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only One who could pay our eternal debt, and He did so with His death upon the Cross, rising again to conquer over sin, death, and the grave.
Romans 5:6,8 – For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly… But God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
[Click here for the expanded version of Roman Road Step 3.]
Roman Road – Step #4: Receive the Gift of Eternal Life
Key Verse: Romans 10:9-10,13
“That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
While it is a free gift, yet God waits for man receive this gift by confessing Jesus as Lord and surrendering to Jesus’ Lordship, and believing in His heart that Jesus, whom God raised from the dead, is the only Savior. This is what it means to “receive Jesus” –
John 1:12-13 – But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
[Click here for the expanded version of Roman Road Step 4.]
