Teaching outline:  This outline incorporates all of the ‘Steps’ from “Into Thy Word” along with research, exegetical tools and Greek word studies.

      It is best to begin your own study by outlining the Bible passage yourself. You should do this before any outside influence, such as commentaries, stray your objectivity. After you have done your own work of observation, you can use the steps of interpretation and application. After you have done your own study, then you may proceed to commentaries and Greek grammar works (if you know Greek) or word study books (if you do not know Greek). Then you can check what insights you may have missed to give you added cultural and historical information. (See Appendix C from the book “Into Thy Word”)

Here is an example of some general themes from the book of Romans. This is an example of a finished polished outline that I personally use for teaching and sermons.

General overview of the whole book:

Romans has four main sections:

 ·        ONE: "The Gospel is the Revelation of the Righteousness of God" (chaps. 1‑4): The Gospel is the lightning rod that conducts God's creative power, because it reveals the justice of God in the justification of the ungodly.

·        TWO: "The Gospel is our Initiation into the Domain of the Spirit" (chaps. 5‑8): The Gospel is the operation of divine power. Because it is the means which transfers those who place all their faith in Jesus Christ from the realm of sin and death into the realm of the Spirit and life.

·        THREE: "The Gospel is the Resurrection of Israel for God" (chaps. 9‑11): The Gospel is a powerful demonstration of God's saving action. Because it is through faith in Christ that a New, Eschatological Israel, composed of both Jew and Gentile, is constituted in the fulfillment of the promises made.

·        FOUR: "The Gospel is the Transformation of Relationships" (chaps. 12‑15): The Gospel is the life‑changing power of God, because it transforms our relationships by virtue of the dynamic of love, which is the fulfillment of the law.

 I Introduction: (1:1-1:15)

General Idea: Our primary call is not to be perfect "church goers," being good and holy, but to be models of His character and to proclaim His Word. We do this because of our gratitude for redemption without hesitation or embarrassment! 

A. Greeting: (1:1‑7) Who is the Lord? Not us, but Christ!

a. A reminder of who we are in sin, our heritage through David.

1. Our purpose and reality is what Christ did for me, my redemption, thus what is my response?

2. Our growth and maturity will mean the removal of our aspirations with His purpose replacing them.

3. Our faith cannot be from our good nature because we do not have one.

4. Our ability to be good and holy is only because of the "effect" of redemption not the "cause," never confuse the two or you will have pride and arrogance.

5. Beware not to hear the call of our Lord because of the noise of our will. Being set apart for the Gospel is to be totally at the disposal of our Lord and master.

b. Paul calls himself a "bondservant" (9:3) the lowest form of a slave in Greek times; they rowed the boats of war with a whip at their back. This means total surrendered devotion, that the slaves/disciple of the Lord has a will that has been sacrificed to God's will and thus is totally at the disposal of our Lord! Paul's slavery is his freedom (Gal. 1:15; 2:20)!

1. Apostle means one who is sent with authority, in Paul's case, by the Holy Spirit.

2. Paul's driving force was not his character, but being separated to be in Christ’s service. If we focus only upon ourselves we will fail badly. Apostle and disciple are not synonyms!

i. Disciple means one who learns.

3. Paul's apostleship was unique; thus he needed to give an explanation of who he was.

            i. There are NO apostles today in the biblical since!

c. The promise is that Christ was announced at the fall and then throughout the Old Testament. In the OT, the nations salvation looked forward to the cross, ours by the NT looks back to what has been competed on the cross. (16:25-27)

1. This calls for our trust and obedience through faith.

2. The name Jesus in Hebrew means, "Jehovah is Salvation, the Anointed One;" this is His distinction and title.

3. "Lord" refers to how our relationship to Him should be.

d. Christ has two natures, fully God and fully man (1 Cor. 15:45; 2 Cor. 13:4).

1. If Christ was not God, or of the seed of David, He could not have paid our debt of sin.

2. If Christ had not risen He could have not been God.

i. Through Christ we have grace.

ii. A requirement of obedience and faith.

iii. Grace is for all nations.

e.  Paul sends his blessings.

B. Introduction of Paul's Ministry: (1:8‑15)

a. Thanksgiving of faith and who Christ is and has done.

1. Paul was a missionary to the Gentiles.

2. Paul is a pray warrior for the Romans.

b. Paul was a missionary to the Gentiles. He was planning a trip to Spain, and was seeking support from the Roman Church and Rome was his embarkation. (Acts 16:6f; 19:21f; 23:11f).

1. Paul probably never went to Spain; as a testimony to God's will. 

i. We have our plans, He has His; guess what, His will win out!

c. Paul desired to be with the Romans personally and encourages them too. He had no fear of what might happen to him. We must not be afraid of our future or danger either!

1. Thus, Paul’s foremost call and passion is to preach the gospel.

i. Be thankful. Be encouraged by each other’s faith, practicing prayer and using our gifts.

ii. Remember: Guilt (sin, our sinful nature).

iii. Grace (salvation, what Christ did).

iv. Gratitude (service, how we are then to live)! (These are the 3 main themes of the Heidelberg Catechism, and the Reformed faith.)

d. Paul's prayerfulness is an expression of his devotion and zeal (Eph 1:15; Phil. 1:6-9).

1. Paul's will was conquered with a sense of gratitude and indebtedness to Christ. Are you totally submitted to God's ways, do you feel indebted, or do you feel owed (1 Cor. 6:19-20)?

2. Being "poured out" is to take the focus off yourself and place it on others, as Christ did for us. Paul spent his life to express it!

e. "Mutual faith" means encouragement, support, using spiritual gifts, all working as a team. (Eph. 4:15-16) This is the strength of the church, without it we will fail.

III. Thesis statement / "Main Theme of Romans"! (1:16‑17)

a. This is the "Christian Manifesto"; this is the clear statement of God's good news. The main theme of Romans is commitment to Christ by Faith.

1. Being not ashamed of who we are in Christ, living out our faith with passion and conviction.

2. We are not to be embarrassed of who we are as Christians, nor fear to share our faith!

i. Thus, we as Christians must live by faith! (1 Cor. 1:22-30)

ii. Faith is based on knowledge given by God. Faith is not just simple trust; faith is not blind trust either, because we know the One who is leading!

iii. Our faith is based on historical evidence, logical reasoning, and valid testimonies.

iv. Faith is still trusting what is not seen and believing our God (vs. 1:16-32; 5:1-11; 10:14-17; Gal. 3:1-4; Eph. 2:8-9; James 2:14-26)!

b. We as the elect are free from our debt of sin, but we as debtors are to be witnesses to the lost!

c. We are not to be embarrassed of who we are as Christians, nor fear to share our faith!

d. Power is Salvation; it is by the work of Christ alone through the Holy Sprit.

1. This is through God.

2. It is for all, Jew to gentile.

i. "Salvation" means to be rescued from a terrible situation. Ultimately it means being delivered from God's wrath. It is also God's work for us: redemption!

ii. Justification can be a synonym of salvation, or it can refer to the future work of redemption. These works are from our Lord Jesus Christ and from no other!

e. Christ's righteousness is given to us (imputed, propitiation) by our faith, which we did not earn; hence grace is the ultimate free gift.

1. The righteousness of God is His character that vindicates His people. His people are to show their faithfulness back to Him.

2. Justification is God's righteousness covering us! This is not passive on our part; we are active "in with" faith. (2:5-16; 3:22; 5:10; 9:30)

3. These are the passages that God used to convert Martin Luther the reformer.

4. Every aspect of faith is built on faith, and nothing else, this is the corner stone of the gospel (Habk. 2:4).

i. Our response is by godly living, exercising out our faith with trust and obedience, whatever we face!

ii. In Christ we deal with God as a Man, a God/Man, and a mediator on our behalf.

Section Thoughts : General theme for Romans verses 1:18‑3:20 is No one is Righteous by the Law! All have sinned, all are condemned!

Principle idea: "The Gospel is the lightning rod that conducts God's creative and loving power, because it reveals the justice of God in the justification of the ungodly"!

A. Our justification rests solely on the mercy of Christ, and not on the Law, or anything we can do. What Christ did for us, is that He lived a perfect life in our place and died as a sacrifice in our place, to take away our sins.

1. He took our place in life and in death.

2. He took our place in judgment before God's just wrath, which we could never attain by ourselves, no matter how good and faithful we are.

3. Our creation and salvation is by His choosing and purpose, that as Christians we are not our own, but belong solely to our Lord. Thus we must live our lives as a reflection to His glory, and not to ourselves, because there is nothing we can do alone that deserves any kind of Merit to please God for salvation.

4. God desires and deserves our whole-hearted loyalty, allegiance, trust, obedience, and devotion; so, what is stopping you?

IV. Gentiles are without excuse: (1:18‑32)

a. The wrath of God is to be taken seriously, especially by those who reject Him. There is No Righteousness by the Law!

1. All have sinned, all are condemned! (1:18‑3:20)

b. We have no excuse God reveals Himself through His creation.

1. Beware of making idols that take you away from knowing Him.

2. If you know God you must also glorify Him.

c. When Adam fell, the Spirit left him immediately, not gradually! The wrath of God is to be taken seriously, especially by those who reject Him!

1. Beware not to ignore God; there will be an accounting for us all-judgment!!

2. Beware not to live for the creatures and the created while ignoring the Creator!

3. Intellectual arrogance will lead to destruction; it is an extreme insult to God (1 Cor. 2:14).

4. We cannot know God unless we know ourselves, and we cannot know ourselves without first knowing God: hence why the cause is the Holy Spirit (Gen. 1:27; Psalm 51: Acts 14:8-18; 17:22-31; Rom. 1:18-23)!

5. Self-awareness leads to knowledge of God, which in turn leads to a higher understanding of ourselves.

i. When the focus is just ourselves we are lost, if it is just God, we become meaningless and worthless for Him to use, as the saying goes, "so heavenly minded, no earthly good."

ii. This is the ultimate reversal of fortune to relay on our frail imperfect reasoning over God's pure perfection. God is righteous and He is revealed through His creation (Gen 3:4-5).

6. We have no excuse (Psalm 19:1)!

i. Man desires to seek the tangible; God is revealed in intangible ways, hence the making of the golden calf.

ii. The Patriarchs all had dramatic face to face encounters with God, except Joseph, yet Joseph was the recipient of more divine interaction than all the other Patriarchs put together.

7. Theological decay turns into moral decay as an excuse to rationalize the sin.

i. If our view of God becomes distorted, so will our behaviors. That is to trade a truth for a lie, to rationalize our behaviors by attacking our very Creator and Savior!

8. “Ungodly” means not being in the right relationship with God.

9. “Unrighteousness” means not being in the right relationship with those around you.

i. We cannot have a good relationship with God and not with each other, or visa versa (Psalm 37:23; 1 Thess. 5:18).

d. God reveals Himself through creation (General Revelation), thus we have no excuse. His moral character and duty is in all human kind, it is encoded upon our heart, mind and soul, even without knowing Scripture.

1. All people have a natural desire to believe in religion, thus every culture of every time had a system of beliefs. However, our sinful desire is to seek fulfillment elsewhere including worshiping the creation over the creator (Isa. 44:9-20; Col. 3:5).

i. The idols that we create often turn out to be the ones we become. Thus, we corrupt the truth of God to please our desires, this is what idolatry is.

ii. When we reject God we are destined to live life unfulfilled and frustrated. 

iii. Every human has a conscience to know what is good or bad, but not all know God!

e. Do not give into sin, especially sexual immorality (Lev. 18:22; 21:13; Gal. 5:19-21; 2 Tim. 3:1-7)!

1. Do not exchange the truth for a lie.

2. Do not worship the creation and forsake the Creator.

3. Including slandering others and being arrogant!

4. Arrogance and Pride is a sin "on par" with homosexuality!

i. The media likes to glorify sin, such as fornication, stealing, lying to name a few, beware; garbage in is garbage out!

ii. He may give us up to our sins, so we destroy ourselves (Gal. 6:7-8)! 

5. The greatest judgment God can give and inflect upon us is for us to have our way (Jer. 17:9-11)!