Preparing Our Minds and Hearts to Study the Book of Romans

Reading Romans Prayerfully Romans rightly has a reputation for being a very rich book, and it is a very rich book. Paul has some zinger verses in Romans as well, and there are not a few topics in Romans where the church lands in some different places, and we pull these proof texts from Romans to argue our position one way or the other. So, anybody who embarks on studying Romans has that awareness and is thinking, There’s a lot in here. How should I approach it? I think the first way to approach it is with an open mind, to be ready to read passages that have somehow become proof texts for multiple different perspectives, and then asking the Spirit to help show you what is in here. What has God tried to communicate to the church for all of time—the church at Rome, the church that I’m in right now, and the church eternal? What is it that God has for us in these verses? Reading Romans with an open mind and prayerfully is really important. And then secondly, I think it’s important to remember context. As a Bible teacher, I’m constantly saying context is king. We have to ask, What was the original audience like? What was the author of this like? What was his purpose in writing this lette...