The big picture
Romans 1 opens with a greeting that already carries the letter's architecture: Israel's promised Scriptures, Davidic descent, resurrection power, apostleship, and a mission among the nations all meet in Jesus Christ. Paul's hoped-for visit to Rome is not a celebrity appearance. He expects the Romans' faith to strengthen him as well. The governing announcement then arrives: the gospel is God's power unto salvation, revealing righteousness by faith to Jew first and also to Greek. From that height Paul turns to the human refusal of the Creator. The descent begins in worship before it appears in conduct. Glory is exchanged for images, truth for a lie, and proper relations for disordered desire. Three times God "gave them up," and the final list widens the indictment far beyond sexual sin to envy, deceit, pride, cruelty, and approval of wrongdoing.
Central truth
Romans 1:1–17 presents the promised gospel of God's risen Son as saving power for everyone who believes, crossing the boundaries Paul names. Romans 1:18–3:20 brings pagan idolatry and Jewish confidence in law before one impartial judgment until every mouth is stopped before God.
The study notes have a page of their own
The movement by movement analysis, the words to trace, the verse by verse notes and where readers differ are written for someone studying alone. They are on the Deep Personal Reflections page for this chapter. This page is the lesson.
A chapter-specific teaching brief
These anchors come from this chapter itself. They help a teacher use the Level 1 overview, the Level 2 study, and the Scripture text as one lesson.
Open with the chapter’s first image
Romans 1:1: “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,”
Slow down at the turning point
Romans 1:13: “Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you…”
Keep this word trail visible
Christ, faith, Jesus, gospel, both, gave
What to explain, in order
Teach the passage in this order. Each step names the verses it rests on, so every point can be shown in the text before it is applied.
Romans 1:1–17
Romans 1:1-7
A servant set apart for a gospel about the Son
Begin with the shape of the greeting. An ordinary letter named sender and recipient in a line; Paul takes seven verses because he cannot introduce himself without introducing the gospel. Explain “separated” as set apart and “apostle” as one sent with authority. Show that verse 5, “obedience to the faith among all nations”, is echoed in 16:26 at the very end, so the letter is framed by the same mission. Teach this first because everything Romans argues is an unfolding of this gospel, and its subject is a person before it is a doctrine.
Romans 1:3-4
Son of David, declared Son of God
Slow down on the two lines about the Son. Put them side by side on the board: seed of David according to the flesh, declared Son of God with power by the resurrection. Explain “declared” as marked out or publicly appointed, and note that verse 3 already calls him “his Son”. The first line ties Jesus to the promise to David in 2 Samuel 7; the second shows God's verdict on him in raising him. Teach this second because Romans returns to the resurrection again and again, in 4:24-25, 6:4, 8:11 and 10:9.
Romans 1:8-13
Thanks, prayer, and a visit long hindered
Paul did not plant this church and has never been to it. Read verse 8 and let the class hear that he begins with thanks for faith already known abroad. Explain “let hitherto” in verse 13 as hindered until now; 15:22 gives the reason. Then read verses 11 and 12 together and show the correction in “That is”: the apostle expects to be comforted by them. Teach this here because the posture of a guest who writes humbly to strangers explains the careful, full argument the letter is about to make.
Romans 1:14-15
A debtor to every kind of person
Explain “Barbarians” as the Greek word for people who did not speak Greek, a cultural label rather than an insult in Paul's mouth, and pair it with “wise” and “unwise”. Then press the word “debtor”. Paul has borrowed nothing from these people, yet he owes them, because he has been entrusted with something meant for them. Ask the class who would be on that list in their own town. Teach it just before the thesis, because verse 16 gives the reason for the debt: this gospel is God's saving power for every one.
Romans 1:16-17
The thesis: power, salvation, righteousness, faith
Read the two verses twice and mark the key words: gospel, power, salvation, every one, believeth, righteousness of God, revealed, faith. Explain “not ashamed” against a world that found a crucified Lord shameful. Then read Habakkuk 2:1-4 so the class hears where “The just shall live by faith” comes from. Name that “the righteousness of God” is read as God's own faithfulness, as a right standing he gives, or as both, and that “from faith to faith” has several readings. Close by reading 1:18 and showing that “revealed” appears in both verses: the next unit begins with the need.
Romans 1:18–3:20
Romans 1:18-23
Wrath revealed, and the truth held down
Start by laying 1:17 and 1:18 side by side: righteousness revealed, wrath revealed. The good news is announced first and the need second, which tells the class the bad news is not the last word. Explain “hold the truth in unrighteousness” as suppressing it. Verse 20 says creation makes God's power and “Godhead”, his divine nature, plain enough that people are without excuse. Then mark verse 21: the first failure is refusing to glorify God and to give thanks. Teach this first because every later sin in the chapter grows from this root of ingratitude.
Romans 1:24-32
Three exchanges and three handings over
Draw two columns. In one, the exchanges of verses 23, 25 and 26; in the other, God gave them up in verses 24, 26 and 28. Show that each handing over answers an exchange. Then read verses 26 and 27 soberly: Paul names same-sex acts among the results of a world that has turned from its Creator. Do not linger on them alone, and do not move past them. Read on through the list of verses 29 to 31, envy, deceit, gossip, pride, disobedience to parents, until everyone in the room is named. Finish on verse 32, approving what God condemns.
Romans 2:1-11
The judge in the dock
The pronoun changes from they to thou, and the reader who nodded along is now addressed. Read 2:1-3 and let the turn land. Explain “treasurest up unto thyself wrath” in verse 5 as storing it up. Then show God's character in verse 4: goodness, forbearance and longsuffering meant to lead to repentance. Verses 6 to 10 say God renders to every man according to his deeds, and verse 11 gives the principle: “there is no respect of persons with God”. Readers differ on whether verse 7 describes believers or states the standard before 3:20 shows no one meets it; name both.
Romans 2:12-16
Law in hand and law on the heart
Explain that Gentiles without the written law are still judged, and that the measure is the light they had. The phrase “a law unto themselves” does not mean making up their own rules; it means their conscience bears witness that they know right from wrong, accusing or excusing. Some readers take verses 14 and 15 as Gentile believers with the law written on their hearts, as Jeremiah 31:33 promised; others as conscience in everyone. Keep the fixed point of verse 16: God will judge “the secrets of men by Jesus Christ”. Nothing hidden is outside his court.
Romans 2:17-29
Privilege examined
List the privileges of verses 17 to 20 first and treat them as real: the law, knowledge of God's will, a calling to be a light. Then read the questions of verses 21 to 23 in turn. Verse 24 quotes Isaiah 52:5, so Paul is using Israel's own prophets. Explain circumcision “of the heart” in verse 29 from Deuteronomy 30:6 and Jeremiah 4:4. Take care here. Paul is a Jew arguing inside his own Scriptures, and this passage has been misused to feed contempt; 11:18 forbids exactly that. The point is that privilege without obedience gives no shelter, for anyone.
Romans 3:1-20
Objections answered and every mouth stopped
Read 3:1-8 as a set of questions an objector might raise, and let the class find Paul's two answers: God forbid, and God is true. Then read the chain of quotations in 3:10-18 aloud in turns, from the Psalms and Isaiah, and mark the body parts: throat, tongues, lips, mouth, feet, eyes. Sin uses the whole person. Close on 3:19-20 and let the room be quiet. Teach this last because the unit is built to end in silence; the next words of the letter are “But now”, and they mean most to those who have heard every mouth stopped.
Where learners get stuck
The misreadings this passage tends to produce, and how to answer each from the text.
Romans 1:1–17
“Paul founded the church in Rome, so he is writing to his own converts.”
Verses 10 and 13 say he has wanted to come and has been hindered, and 15:22-23 says the same at the end. The church's faith was already known throughout the world (1:8) before Paul arrived. Chapter 16 greets people he met elsewhere who had moved to Rome. He writes as an apostle to a church he did not plant, which is why he sets out his gospel so fully and asks for their help toward Spain (15:24).
“‘To the Jew first’ means God loves Jews more than Gentiles.”
The same verse says the gospel is power “to every one that believeth” and ends “also to the Greek” (1:16). In 2:9-11 Paul uses the same pairing for judgment and adds “there is no respect of persons with God”. “First” follows the order of the promise, which was given to Israel through the prophets (1:2; 9:4-5), and Paul's own practice of going to the synagogue first. Readers differ on how far that order continues; hold the “first” and the “also” together.
“Verse 4 means Jesus became the Son of God when he rose.”
Verse 3 already calls him “his Son” before the resurrection is mentioned, and 8:3 speaks of God “sending his own Son”. The word in verse 4 is “declared”: the resurrection publicly marked him out as the Son and set him in a new state “with power”. Paul is describing what the resurrection showed and accomplished, not the moment the Son began to be the Son.
“The gospel is good advice about how to live a better life.”
Paul calls it “the power of God unto salvation” (1:16), and its content is a person, the Son descended from David and raised from the dead (1:3-4), and a righteousness of God revealed (1:17). Advice depends on the strength of the one who hears it; power is God acting. Romans does give a great deal of instruction for life in chapters 12 to 15, but only after eleven chapters about what God has done, and it begins “by the mercies of God” (12:1).
Romans 1:18–3:20
“People who never heard of God are innocent, so Paul cannot mean them.”
Paul's charge is not ignorance of the gospel but suppression of what is plain: “that which may be known of God is manifest in them” and creation shows his power “so that they are without excuse” (1:19-20). Verse 12 of chapter 2 says those without the law are judged without the law, by the light they had, and 2:14-15 adds conscience. Paul is establishing accountability here, not answering every question about those who never hear, which Christians answer in different ways.
“Romans 1 is about those people out there; the rest of us are fine.”
Chapter 2 begins “whosoever thou art that judgest” and turns the whole of chapter 1 on the reader. The list in 1:29-31 includes envy, debate, deceit, whisperers, backbiters, the proud, boasters and the disobedient to parents, which leaves no one outside. The verdict in 3:9 is that “both Jews and Gentiles” are “all under sin”, and 3:10 quotes, “There is none righteous, no, not one”.
“Romans 2:6-7 and 2:13 show we can be saved by doing good.”
Paul states God's standard honestly: judgment according to deeds, and “the doers of the law shall be justified” (2:13). Then 3:9-20 shows that no one has met that standard and ends, “by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight” (3:20). Some readers take 2:7 and 2:13 as describing believers whose changed lives show their faith (compare 2:29 and 8:4). Either way, Paul is not offering a route to God by merit, as 3:28 makes plain.
“Paul is saying the Jewish people are worse than everyone else.”
Paul asks “are we better than they?” and answers “No, in no wise” (3:9): the same charge falls on both. He also says the Jew's advantage is “Much every way” (3:2), and that unbelief does not cancel the faithfulness of God (3:3-4). He quotes Israel's own Scriptures and is himself an Israelite (11:1). Teach this with care, because Romans has been used for contempt, and 11:18 tells Gentile believers, “Boast not against the branches”.
Learning objectives
- Identify Paul's calling and the gospel's subject in verses 1 to 7.
- Trace the widening mission language in verses 5, 13, 14, and 16.
- Follow the movement from greeting to thanksgiving, travel desire, and thesis.
- Distinguish what Paul says the gospel is from what it accomplishes.
- Connect verse 17 with its quotation from Habakkuk 2:4.
- Explain why Paul expects mutual encouragement when he reaches Rome.
- Trace the exchanges and repeated 'gave them up' pattern in Romans 1.
- Explain why Romans 2 turns judgment back upon the judging person.
- Identify truth, deeds, impartiality, and secrets within God's judgment.
- Show why possessing law and circumcision cannot shield a lawbreaker.
- Explain how Romans 3 preserves Jewish advantage without granting immunity.
- Summarize Paul's conclusion that Jews and Gentiles are all under sin.
Teacher preparation
- Mark every phrase describing Paul, Jesus Christ, the gospel, and the Roman believers.
- Read Habakkuk 2:4 so verse 17 is heard in its scriptural setting.
- Explain KJV 'Barbarians' in verse 14 as a Greek cultural category, not an insult.
- Mark 'all nations,' 'Gentiles,' 'Greeks,' 'Barbarians,' 'wise,' 'unwise,' and 'Jew.'
- Plan to slow down at verses 16 and 17, the letter's compact thesis.
- Mark every 'therefore,' 'for,' 'but,' and rhetorical question across the unit.
- Prepare Gentile and Jew columns under one heading: 'all under sin.'
- Review the Old Testament quotations collected in Romans 3:10–18.
- Flag Romans 2:14–16 and 2:28–29 as debated passages requiring restraint.
- Handle Romans 1:26–27 soberly within the chapter's much wider catalogue of sin.
Evidence and interpretation checks
Explicit
Verses 1 to 4 call it God's gospel, promised in Scripture and concerning Jesus Christ, David's descendant and risen Son. Romans 3:9 says Jews and Gentiles are all under sin; 3:19 says every mouth is stopped.
Scripture-supported
Verse 17 quotes Habakkuk 2:4, supporting Paul's claim that righteousness is revealed in relation to faith. Romans 3:10–18 chains several Old Testament texts together to support the universal charge.
Strong inference
Paul's paired groups in verses 14 and 16 strongly present a mission crossing ethnic, cultural, and educational divisions. The shift from 'they' in chapter 1 to 'thou' in chapter 2 exposes the morally confident reader.
Possible or traditional reading
'From faith to faith' has several readings. Keep the secure point: God's righteousness is revealed, and the just live by faith. Romans 2:14–16 has several readings. Keep the fixed point: God's judgment is impartial and reaches hidden things.
Limit
These verses announce the thesis but do not yet explain sin, justification, Abraham, Adam, law, Spirit, or Israel. This unit establishes guilt and law's limits but does not yet explain justification through Christ.
Discussion with answer guidance
1. What descriptions of Paul and the gospel appear before Rome is addressed?
What a good answer contains
Before Rome is even named, Paul has called himself “a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God” (1:1). The gospel is “promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures” (1:2) and is “Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord” (1:3). A good answer notices that Paul describes himself by whom he belongs to and what he is set apart for, and describes the gospel by its subject, a person. A weak answer lists Paul's titles as credentials and skips the Son.
Show teacher guidance
Require servant, called apostle, separated to God's gospel, and the gospel concerning his Son.
2. How do verses 3 and 4 hold Davidic descent and resurrection together?
What a good answer contains
Verse 3 says the Son “was made of the seed of David according to the flesh”: a real human descent that keeps the promise made to David. Verse 4 says he was “declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.” A strong answer holds both lines together and notices that verse 3 already calls him “his Son”, so the resurrection declares and installs in power rather than creates the sonship. Readers differ on whether “spirit of holiness” names the Holy Spirit; the main point stands either way.
Show teacher guidance
Verse 3 names descent according to the flesh; verse 4 names powerful declaration by resurrection.
3. Which phrases show Paul's mission crossing social and ethnic lines?
What a good answer contains
Paul's mission is “for obedience to the faith among all nations” (1:5), he wants fruit “even as among other Gentiles” (1:13), and he is “debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise” (1:14). Then the gospel saves “the Jew first, and also to the Greek” (1:16). A good answer names each pair as a real dividing line of language, culture, education and covenant. The vague answer “everyone” misses that Paul names the very lines a Roman congregation felt.
Show teacher guidance
Use verses 5, 13, 14, and 16 rather than accepting the vague answer 'everyone.'
4. Why does Paul want to see the Roman believers in verses 11 and 12?
What a good answer contains
Paul says “I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established” (1:11), then at once widens it: “That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me” (1:12). A strong answer catches that self-correction. The apostle expects to receive as well as to give. A weak answer has Paul coming to fix a church; verse 8 has already said their faith is “spoken of throughout the whole world”.
Show teacher guidance
Hold imparting a gift beside mutual comfort through the faith of both Paul and Rome.
5. What is the gospel in verse 16, and whom does it save?
What a good answer contains
The gospel “is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” (1:16). It is not advice that depends on the hearer's strength but God's own power. Its effect is salvation, the condition is believing, and its range is every one. A good answer also explains “not ashamed”: a crucified Messiah was a humiliating message in Rome. Make sure “first” is not heard as more loved; verse 16 ends with “also to the Greek”.
Show teacher guidance
It is God's power unto salvation to everyone believing, to the Jew first and also the Greek.
6. What work does Habakkuk's quotation perform in verse 17?
What a good answer contains
Paul writes that “therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith” (1:17). The quotation from Habakkuk 2:4 shows that the prophets, as verse 2 promised, already spoke of a righteous life received by faith. Habakkuk heard it while waiting for God to act against injustice. A good answer ties the quotation to righteousness and faith before discussing “from faith to faith”, which readers explain in several ways. Do not let that debate swallow the verse.
Show teacher guidance
Tie it directly to revealed righteousness and faith before debating the phrase 'from faith to faith.'
7. What is exchanged in Romans 1:23, 25, and 26?
What a good answer contains
First, people “changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man” (1:23). Then they “changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator” (1:25). Then “their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature” (1:26). A good answer sees that the first two exchanges are about worship and the third follows from them. A weak answer starts at verse 26 as though it were the chapter's main charge; Paul starts with God refused.
Show teacher guidance
Name glory for images, truth for a lie, and natural use for what is against nature.
8. What phrase repeats in Romans 1:24, 26, and 28?
What a good answer contains
“God also gave them up to uncleanness” (1:24), “God gave them up unto vile affections” (1:26), and “God gave them over to a reprobate mind” (1:28). This is how the wrath of 1:18 is first revealed: God hands people over to what they chose. A strong answer notices the order in each case, they exchanged and then God gave them up, and the wordplay of verse 28, where those who “did not like to retain God” receive a “reprobate”, that is unapproved, mind. A weak answer says God made them sin.
Show teacher guidance
Trace 'God gave them up' into uncleanness, vile affections, and a reprobate mind.
9. Why is the judging person in Romans 2:1 called inexcusable?
What a good answer contains
“Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things” (2:1). The reader who agreed with chapter 1 is caught. A good answer sees that the fault is not having moral standards but applying them to others while doing the same, and expecting to escape (2:3). Verse 4 adds the deeper fault: despising the goodness of God that “leadeth thee to repentance”.
Show teacher guidance
Verse 1 says the judge condemns himself by practicing the same things.
10. How do Romans 2:17–23 turn Jewish privileges into accountability?
What a good answer contains
Paul lists real gifts: “thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God” (2:17), knowing his will and confident of being “a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness” (2:19). Then the questions: “Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself?” (2:21). Privilege becomes accountability, because knowing God's will is measured by doing it. A weak answer hears Paul calling Jews worse than others; he applies to the teacher the same standard he applied to the Gentiles.
Show teacher guidance
List the privileges first, then read the repeated questions about teaching and obeying.
11. How does Romans 3:1–8 preserve advantage without excusing unbelief?
What a good answer contains
“What advantage then hath the Jew?” Paul answers, “Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God” (3:1-2). Israel's unbelief does not cancel God's faithfulness: “let God be true, but every man a liar” (3:4). Yet Paul refuses the conclusion that sin is fine because it shows off God's righteousness, rejecting “Let us do evil, that good may come” (3:8). A good answer keeps all three: real advantage, faithful God, no excuse.
Show teacher guidance
Verse 2 names the entrusted oracles; the paragraph still defends God's truth and judgment.
12. What can and cannot the law do in Romans 3:19–20?
What a good answer contains
The law speaks “that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God” (3:19). It cannot justify: “by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (3:20). A good answer says the law diagnoses but does not cure, and notices how the unit ends in silence. A weak answer concludes the law is bad; Paul will call it “holy, and just, and good” in 7:12.
Show teacher guidance
It stops mouths and gives knowledge of sin; it does not justify flesh by deeds.
Responsible application
Let the gospel set the agenda
Give Jesus Christ and the gospel more teaching space than Paul's travel plans or Roman background.
Refuse a one-way classroom
Use verses 11 and 12 to structure discussion around mutual textual encouragement, not expert performance.
Cross Paul's categories
Remove examples that quietly narrow the gospel to one ethnicity, education level, or social class.
Do not build better defendants
Keep respectable hypocrisy and obvious rebellion under the same examination of Romans 2:1 and 3:9.
Let privilege increase responsibility
Use Romans 2:17–24 to test the assumption that possessing Scripture equals obeying it.
Close where Paul closes
Before moving to 3:21, require a summary of stopped mouths, guilt, and knowledge of sin.
Session plans
Two timings of the same lesson. The shorter keeps the reading, the central discussion and one response; the longer gives the confusions and the application their own time.
Romans 1:1–17
45 minutes
The longest greeting
Read 1:1-7 aloud and ask the class what a letter usually says in its first line. Take question one.
Son of David, Son of God
Reread 1:3-4 with the two lines on the board. Take question two and confusion three.
A guest who expects to receive
Read 1:8-13. Take question four and confusion one, pointing to 15:22-23.
Debtor to every kind of person
Read 1:14-15. Take question three and list Paul's pairs, then the class's own.
The front door of the letter
Read 1:16-17 twice and mark the key words. Take questions five and six, then confusions two and four.
Handout and prayer
Read the key verse together, point to the take-home line, and pray for one group the class named.
90 minutes
Writing to strangers
Ask how the group would introduce themselves in a letter to a church they had never visited. Then read 1:1 and compare.
Servant, apostle, set apart
Read 1:1-7. Take question one, mark every phrase about the gospel, and read 16:25-27 to show the frame.
The Son in two lines
Read 2 Samuel 7:12-13, then Romans 1:3-4. Take question two and confusion three.
Prayer and a hindered journey
Read 1:8-13 and 15:22-24. Take question four and confusion one, and ask what Paul hoped to receive.
Greeks, Barbarians, wise, unwise
Read 1:14-15 and take question three. Ask whom the group would be most tempted to leave off Paul's list.
Not ashamed
Read Habakkuk 2:1-4, then Romans 1:16-17 twice. Take questions five and six, and confusions two and four.
Revealed, and revealed again
Read 1:17-18 together and mark revealed in both. Ask why the letter must now speak of the need.
Handout and prayer
Read the key verse aloud together, give out the sheet, and pray for the people named in the debtor discussion.
Romans 1:18–3:20
45 minutes
Two revelations
Read 1:16-23 and mark revealed in verses 17 and 18. Touch confusion one briefly.
Exchanged and given up
Read 1:24-32. Take questions one and two with the two columns, keeping verses 26 and 27 inside the whole list.
The judge in the dock
Read 2:1-11. Take question three and confusion two, ending on the kindness of verse 4.
Privilege and practice
Read 2:17-29. Take question four and confusion four.
Every mouth stopped
Read 3:1-20, the quotations in turns. Take questions five and six and confusion three.
Silence, then But now
Read 3:19-20, pause, then read 3:21 alone. Give out the handout and pray.
90 minutes
Good news before bad
Read 1:16-18 together. Ask why Paul announces righteousness before wrath, and mark revealed twice.
Truth held down
Read Psalm 19:1-4, then Romans 1:18-23. Take the first half of question one and confusion one.
Three handings over
Read 1:24-32. Take question two, keep the tone sober, and let the class name the sins in 1:29-31 they meet every week.
The judge in the dock
Read 2:1-11. Take question three and confusion two, then reread verse 4 slowly.
Law on the heart
Read 2:12-16. Name the two readings of verses 14 and 15 and take confusion three.
Privilege examined
Read Deuteronomy 30:6, then Romans 2:17-29. Take question four and confusion four.
God forbid, and God is true
Read 3:1-8 as objections and answers. Take question five.
Every mouth stopped
Read 3:9-20 with the quotations in turns, marking the body parts. Take question six.
Handout and prayer
Read the key verse together and pray, thanking God for the kindness that leads to repentance.
Adapting the lesson
Romans 1:1–17
Children
Bring an envelope with a card inside and explain that Paul wrote to friends in Rome he had never met. Let the children guess what he would write first, then read 1:16 slowly. Put cards around the room for people who speak other languages, people who know a lot and people who know a little, and draw string from each to one card that says good news about Jesus. Leave the debate about from faith to faith for older learners.
Youth
Start with the word ashamed. Ask when believing in Jesus has felt embarrassing, and explain that in Rome a crucified man was the last person anyone would boast about. Let them see that Paul still says not ashamed, and why: the gospel is God's power, not his. Then show 1:12, where an apostle expects to be encouraged by ordinary believers, and tell them their faith can strengthen others too.
Adults
Give time to the frame of the letter, 1:1-7 against 16:25-27, and to Habakkuk 2 in its setting. Present the main readings of the righteousness of God and from faith to faith fairly, and ask which phrases every reading must still explain. Then turn verse 14 into a real question: to whom, in this town or workplace, does this congregation owe the gospel, and who has quietly been left off the list.
One to one
Read the seventeen verses through together without stopping, then ask which phrase the person found hardest to say about themselves, perhaps not ashamed. If their faith feels small, show them 1:12, where Paul expects to be comforted by the faith of others, and 1:16, where the power belongs to God. End by asking whom they feel they owe the good news to, and pray for that person together.
Romans 1:18–3:20
Children
Hold up a mirror and a pointing finger. Read 2:1 simply and talk about how easy it is to see what others do wrong and miss our own. Go outside or show pictures of the sky and trees, read 1:20, and thank God together, since verse 21 says not thanking him was where things went wrong. Leave 1:26-27 aside entirely with this age, and end by telling them next week brings good news.
Youth
They know the reflex of judging others online and in person. Read 1:29-31 and ask them to circle what has become normal in their world, then read 2:1 and watch the turn. Some will ask about 1:26-27. Answer calmly from the text, keep it inside the whole list Paul gives, never allow it to become mockery of a classmate, and offer to talk privately with anyone who wants to.
Adults
Follow the argument as a courtroom, with charges, defence and verdict, and give time to the debated verses 2:7 and 2:13-16 without forcing a single reading. Discuss how religious privilege, knowing the Bible, teaching others, belonging to a good church, can become a quiet boast. Treat 1:26-27 with the same seriousness and gentleness as every other line; someone in the room may carry these questions personally.
One to one
Read 1:28-32 and 2:1-4 together and ask, without pressing, which words they recognise in their own life. If the person is crushed by guilt, show them that the unit stops at 3:20 on purpose so that 3:21 can begin, and read it. If they are confident of their own goodness, stay with 2:1-4. Ask where God's kindness has been leading them lately.
Song and video learning lab
A song or video may interpret, compress, or dramatize the text. Its value becomes clearer when its choices are compared with Scripture.
- Before the media: the exact passage and its central movement.
- During the media: the words, people, events, and emotions the artist emphasizes.
- After the media: what it clarifies, what it leaves out, and what belongs back in the biblical text.
Handout
One page for learners to take home. The print button prints this section alone.
Romans 1:1–17
The passage in brief
Paul writes to believers in Rome whom he has never met. He calls himself a servant of Jesus Christ and describes the good news God promised through the prophets: it is about his Son, born into David's family and shown to be the Son of God by rising from the dead. Paul has long wanted to visit, both to give and to be encouraged. He owes the gospel to every kind of person, and he is not ashamed of it, because it is God's power to save everyone who believes.
A verse to keep
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
Romans 1:16 · King James Version
Questions to take home
What does Paul say about Jesus in 1:3-4?
Why does Paul call himself a debtor in 1:14?
Why is Paul not ashamed of the gospel, according to 1:16?
This week
Name one person unlike you, and pray this week that the good news reaches them.
Romans 1:18–3:20
The passage in brief
Paul explains why everyone needs the good news. People could see God's power in creation, but they would not honour him or thank him, and they turned to idols; so God gave them up to what they had chosen. Then Paul turns to people who judge others, and to his own people who had God's law, and shows that knowing what is right is not the same as doing it. His conclusion is that everyone, Jew and Gentile, is under sin, and the law can show sin but cannot make anyone right with God.
A verse to keep
Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
Romans 2:4 · King James Version
Questions to take home
What did people exchange in 1:23 and 1:25?
Why does 2:1 say the person who judges others is without excuse?
What can the law do, and what can it not do, in 3:19-20?
This week
Before you judge someone this week, ask whether you do the same, and thank God for his patience with you.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
