The letter of Paul to the Romans is something that should not only be studied by Christians, regardless of how long they’ve been Christians, but should also be used when witnessing to – and sharing God’s Word with – non-Christians, according to Rt. Rev. David Cook, Moderator-General of the Presbyterian Church of Australia. He said this while conducting a seminar on Romans at the Multi Purpose Hall in the Cathedral on Saturday, 16 th May 2015.
Broken up into 3 talks with a small group discussion after each talk, the Romans seminar also featured a panel Q&A session at the end with both David Cook and our own Dean, Andrew Cheah. Romans is one of the most powerful books in the Bible, being Paul’s most detailed explanation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and of how we as Christians should live, if we truly believe the Gospel message. It is also the book which sparked off the Reformation, a series of very important events in church history. As David Cook puts it, everybody needs Romans, and every time the church wanders away from the Gospel, it is usually Romans that serves to bring the church back.
Romans starts off with Paul outlining the bad news; namely, that all of humanity is under God’s anger and judgement because we fail to give Him the glory and honour that is rightfully His. Worse than that, we deliberately encourage others to do the same. Gentiles and Jews alike face God’s wrath, and we are utterly unable to rescue ourselves from this situation. As Paul says, “all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God” (3:23).
But then Paul goes on to proclaim the good news. While nobody is saved by the works of the Law (of Moses or of the conscience), God has made it possible for us to be saved through His grace, via the work of His Son, Jesus Christ, who died for our sins on the cross. Romans makes it very plain that we humans cannot boast of our salvation, only of He who saved us. For it was God Himself who chose us to love Him first, before time even began. God, who was faithful to the true Israelites, will likewise bring the elect remnant of Israel back to Himself once the Gentiles have been fully gathered – so again, neither Jew nor Gentile has any reason to boast.
From there, Paul then explains the implications of being saved by grace through faith. We are no longer our own, but Christ owns us, and through the Holy Spirit, we are reshaped to become more like Him. Romans discusses how believers should relate to the Body of Christ, to each other and other men as individuals, to the civil authorities, and as Christians of different levels of spiritual maturity, given salvation by grace through faith.
David Cook pointed out that Paul’s letter to the Romans begins and ends with the Gospel. All throughout the epistle, righteousness (the state of being in right relationship with God) has been the focus; how we don’t have righteousness, how God provides righteousness, how we grow in righteousness, God’s righteousness to Israel, and then communal righteousness. He reminded the participants that in discussing how we should live the Christian life, we must not forget to explain why we should live the Christian life, and Romans lays out the foundation quite well.
Seminar talk available to download/ listen at https://stmaryscathedral.org.my/ministries/seminars/12/