Lesson Three
Epistle to the Romans
(Continued)

Righteousness Needed By Sinful Men: 
•	Romans 1:18-4:25.
•	1. EXPOSITION: Righteousness is the key to man's relationship to God. 
•	Man is unrighteous and as such cannot fellowship a God of infinite holiness whose throne is established on righteousness. 
•	The Apostle Paul, in this passage of Scripture, clearly shows that man is guilty before God and apart from the Lord, that there is no one who is righteous. 
•	He deals with this by showing four classes of people being guilty:
•	A. The Heathen: (Romans 1:18-32). 
•	The heathen are without excuse.
•	God is able to reveal Himself to man in any way He pleases. 
•	To reject God, to turn away from light, naturally brings darkness. 
•	Twice it is stated that God gave them up first to uncleanness and then to vile affections (verses 24, 26). 
•	As the heathen turned from light to darkness and from the knowledge of God to idolatry, it should be noted their downward steps of idolatry. 
•	First, images were made of man; secondly birds; thirdly beasts; and fourthly reptiles and creeping things. 
•	When people change the truth of God into a lie, and worship and serve the creature rather than the creator, the whole order of nature is violated and man slips downward into utter vileness and filthiness.
•	B. The Moralizer: (Romans 2:1-16). 
•	Paul here deals with the respectable sinner; the self- righteous man whom excuses himself in his own sins but condemns others. 
•	This type of sinner feels that other men's sins are worse than his are. 
•	He is measuring himself with others. 
•	C. The Jew: (Romans 2:17 - 3:8). 
•	Paul now shows that the Jews are also guilty before God. 
•	They plead religion as the basis of their action, but Paul let them know that God refuted their claim to innocence. 
•	Privilege increases responsibility. 
•	Knowledge of the divine oracles gave to the Jew a standard of judgment that no others had; therefore he was inexcusable.
•	D. The World: (Romans 3:9-20). 
•	All were unrighteous and none were attempting to know God's way for them to erase their guilt.
•	Speech, action and vision were all contaminated because tongue, lips, mouth, ways and eyes were being yielded as instruments of unrighteousness. 
•	The whole world was guilty; hence the whole world needed a Savior. 
•	To deny their guilt, to refute their need, would result in their rejecting their Savior, in whose name alone they could hope to find salvation. 
•	3. COMMENTARY: (Romans 1:26-27).
•	Here is stated the moral degradation that follows apostasy from God. 
•	Both homosexuality and lesbianism are mentioned here. 
•	The increase of these sins and the terrible moral perversion of man today is evidence of mankind's apostasy from the truth of God. 
•	Romans 2:5. 
•	This speaks of God's anger stored up in heaven against the man whose heart is hard and impenitent. 
•	Romans 2:14. 
•	"By nature" means instinctively. 
•	Romans 3:20. 
•	The law makes man aware of sin in his nature and character. 
•	Man by breaking the law, understands that he is in need of salvation. 
•	Only through the broken law can there come the conscienceness of sin.
•	4. SUMMARY: All men are proven to be guilty before God. 
•	This is done by the revelation of the righteousness of God in the law and by man breaking law this and revealing his own unrighteousness. 
•	It should be noted that this has always been the first step towards God: men seeing his own unrighteousness and need for God.

Righteousness Provided By God:
•	Romans 3:27-31; 4:1-25
•	Paul declares God's gift of righteousness is available to all. 
•	Man is wholly unable to within himself, become righteous.
•	The righteousness that Paul writes about here is neither the righteousness of man nor the righteousness of the law but the righteousness of God (verse 22). 
•	In this passage of Scripture, we examine some of the great truths of salvation. 
•	Faith, grace, justification, redemption and propitiation are all stated here. 
•	Redemption means to buy a slave out of bondage in order to set him free.
•	 Man apart from God is in a slavery from which he cannot free himself. 
•	The word "propitiation" is the putting away of God's wrath.
•	The wrath of God found adequate judicial satisfaction in the death of Jesus. 
•	Sin deserved punishment and death. 
•	There can be no reconciliation without judicial satisfaction. 

Righteousness Received By Faith:
•	Romans 3:27-31; 4:1-25
•	1. EXPOSITION: In this passage of Scripture, Paul proves that righteousness must be by faith and faith alone that it might be by grace. 
•	If the works of the law could receive righteousness, it no longer would be by grace. 
•	If it came through works, then man could boast of his goodness and of his accomplishments.
•	The sin of Satan in the distant past; brought about the need of salvation being provided. 
•	What was this original sin? 
•	It was the sin of pride. 
•	If pride and boasting could re-enter heaven, then all that God had planned and accomplished in providing salvation would be in vain. 
•	The Apostle Paul makes it plain that it is only if salvation is received by faith, that boasting could be excluded. 
•	If righteousness came through law or works, then there would be boasting, but if it is by faith alone, then all boasting is excluded.
•	Righteousness received by faith alone does not nullify the law, but rather the law is confirmed, or made valid. 
•	The fourth chapter of Romans proves that salvation is by faith alone.
•	Two Old Testament characters are used here to prove this great truth. 
•	Abraham is one of the greatest saints of the Old Testament. 
•	If works could not save Abraham, then nobody could. 
•	David was one of the greatest sinners of the Old Testament. 
•	If David could be saved by faith, then everyone could. 
•	We also have proven here that salvation is not trusting in the rites of religion. 
•	Abraham was a justified man, fourteen years before the rite of circumcision was given. 
•	The rite had nothing to do with his redemption at all. 
•	It did not confer righteousness; it merely confirmed the righteousness Abraham already had. 
•	Since the faith and bestowal of righteousness occurred before circumcision was a sign of the righteousness imparted to Abraham because of his faith, makes Abraham the father of Jews also. 
•	Finally, justification by faith alone is based upon the creative power of God, and the fact of the resurrection. 
•	2. COMMENTARY: (Romans 4:6-7).
•	The word "impute" simply means to reckon, to credit. 
•	When God imputes righteousness, to a man, God simply declares the man righteous and righteousness is credited to him. 
•	There is a difference between sins being forgiven and sins being covered, blotted out or remitted. 
•	Forgiven sins could be recalled but sins that are blotted out can never be recalled. 
•	Romans 4:20 - The word "stagger" means to be at odds with himself, to waver, to doubt. 
•	With Abraham there was no uncertainty because of unbelief. 
•	Romans 4:25 - The fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ validates the atonement.
•	3. SUMMARY: Abraham looked forward by faith to the finished work of Christ for Jesus said to the Jews: "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it and was glad" (John 8:56). 
•	We look back by faith, to the finished work of Christ and enjoy salvation. 
•	Two ways are compared and contrasted: salvation by trying, salvation by trusting. 
•	Salvation is by faith and by faith alone.

Lesson Three
Self Help Test

A.	What is man's first step towards God?

B.	Why must pride and boasting be excluded from salvation?

C.	Why are the heathen without excuse?

D.	Why did God give the Gentiles up?

E.	Explain the meaning of Impute:

F.	Explain the meaning of Propitiation:

G.	Why did Paul use Abraham and David as examples in his argument for justification by faith?

H.	Explain how the resurrection of Jesus validates the atonement.