HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 1381
Romans
T H E P R I S O N E R C L I N G S T O the bars of his cell, dreaming of
freedom. There is no question in his mind that he is guilty of the crimes
that brought him here. If only he could be free, he would surrender his
life to God and spend the rest of his days serving him. But it is all a
dream. How could it ever happen? Then, in the midst of his dreams,
a guard appears with another man. “You are free,” the guard tells him.
“Someone else will serve your time in prison. You may go.”
What you will be
Another prisoner clings to the bars of a different
reading about
cell. This time the prison is of that person’s own
making—anger, alcoholism, enslavement to por1:1-17
The power of the gospel
nography, or something as seemingly innocuous as gossip. Whatever the habit or addiction
1:18 – 3:20
All people are sinners
or dependency, it captivates and imprisons this
person as surely as if it were a prison cell. The
3:21– 8:39
person longs to be free. But who can free us from
Freedom from sin through
faith in Jesus
that kind of imprisonment? Who can free us
from the prison cell of sin itself?
9:1–11:36
God shows mercy toward
The answer to that, Paul says in Romans, is
Jews and Gentiles
Jesus Christ.
12:1– 13:14
Paul starts Romans with a dark picture of
How to live the Christian life
pagan people who revel in wickedness and
14:1- 23
are under God’s condemnation. Moral people
Weak and strong believers
agree—they should be condemned. Then Paul
15:1- 33
drops a bombshell. You who wanted the heaHarmony among believers
then condemned have condemned yourselves,
16:1- 27
for you, too, Gentile or Jew, have failed to live up
Paul’s final greetings
to God’s standards. All have sinned. Every person
deserves God’s judgment.
But then comes the Good News: Jesus Christ died in our place. He accepted
the punishment that we deserved. Now we can be free from the condemnation
that sin brings, if we choose to be. Paul tells of the terrible struggle within us
as we wrestle with that choice. He tells about his own inner struggle, wrestling
with his desire to be free from sin but at the same time finding pleasure in the
sin from which he wants to be free. The more he tries to be good or keep the
law, the more he becomes a prisoner of his sinful nature. Paul shows that only
by understanding and accepting what Christ did can we truly be free from sin.
We are released from death row, free to enter God’s eternal Kingdom.
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