From the beginning of creation, God desired to replicate the kingdom of heaven on earth by giving man eternal life.
We see this in the book of Genesis 2, when God created man according to His image and likeness, commanding him to have dominion over all created things.
God wanted a universe that man would govern, but not without His help. He wanted a man who would trust and rely on Him for guidance and the navigation of the earth to fulfill His purpose.
However, God’s desire was temporarily short-lived when Adam disobeyed His instructions. He was no longer fit for what God intended; hence Adam was disqualified.
The Romans’ road is a concept of salvation that captures the state of man after the unfortunate experience in the garden of Eden and God’s remedy for man’s restoration to build His kingdom on earth.
It is a way of presenting the gospel in an easy-to-understand manner by using bible verses from the book of Romans.
The Purpose of the Book of Romans
Apostle Paul wrote the book of Romans to the saints in Rome on his third ministry journey. It is an important book that captures the exciting journey of the fallen man, God’s plan of salvation of making sinners sons of God, and the expression in the local churches.
The apostle’s aim in writing this book was to enlighten the reader on the journey of man from creation, why he doesn’t naturally respond to God’s desire, and God’s provision in Christ Jesus for man to meet His demands.
The Purpose of The Romans’ Road To Salvation
The Romans’ road to salvation aims to help Christians communicate their faith to others. The Bible verses from the book of Romans explain why a person needs a savior, God’s provision for the fall of man, and what a person must do to receive God’s salvation plan.
The Meaning Of Romans’ Road to Salvation?
To make meaning of the Romans’ road to salvation, let us look at the four-step scriptural journey of Romans that a person must understand.
1. All Have Sinned – Romans 3:23
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
A question worth asking is, how did all sin? It is good we establish what sin is from God’s perspective rather than many people’s subjective definition of sin.
In the book Genesis 3, when Adam disobeyed God, it was accounted a sin to Adam and his wife Eve. They were our first parents because they flaunted God’s instruction.
Consequently, their disobedience led to spiritual death and eternal separation from God. God’s commands and instructions are absolute, and doing otherwise means we have sinned against Him.
A scripture in the Romans 5:12 gives us more light on how the sinful nature of disobedience was passed from Adam to all the earth’s inhabitants.
“Therefore just as through one man sin entered into the world, and through sin, death; and thus death passed on to all men because all have sinned-“
Many people don’t see a reason to repent because they do not see themselves as “good” people. They believe you’re acceptable to God by living morally right and doing good works.
However, they are yet to see God’s definition of sin objectively. This is why we must help people see from God’s perspective what he regards as sin and not what we think.
2. The Wages of Sin – Romans 6:23
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” In God’s eyes, all man’s action apart from God is a sin because it is regarded as man’s work and the wages of sin death.
This implies man was not only destined for physical death and eternal death but also the death in which he is entangled daily.
Death is a wage every man must pay according to the righteousness of what the man has done. So this meant there was no escape for man except God Himself had mercy on man.
3. God’s Free Gift – Romans 6:23
“…but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
This verse gives one of the reasons the gospel is called the good news. It is a sigh of relief from the prior bad news of man’s offense and the corresponding punishment.
God needed to intervene for man to qualify a man for His original purpose. He prepared a vessel, a man who would be killed to pay the wages of the sin man committed. For this reason, He sent Jesus Christ to die for Adam’s sin, which was transferred to every man for the forgiveness of sins.
His blood needed to be shed so that He could pave the way for forgiveness for every man.
“… and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” Heb 9:22
God did this for man to have eternal life, which he purposed from the beginning of creation. Eternal life is the only way a man can participate in God’s eternal purpose.
4. But God commends His love – Romans 5:8
But God commends His own love to us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
God is love, and He never wanted us to remain in a state of hopelessness in the hands of His enemy. A state of the complete dominion of sin. God’s enemy prevailed by deceiving man to disobey God, thus inheriting his sinful nature. God remedied this by sending Jesus Christ to destroy the works the devil wrought in man.
For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested so that He might destroy the works of the devil. 1 John 3:8
However, God demonstrated His love toward us by sending Christ to die while we were sinners.
5. Confess Jesus Is Lord – Romans 10:9
That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
How does God expect the man to respond to His provision of salvation?
The gospel of Christ contained in this collection of verses is regarded as foolishness by many. Because they do not understand the spiritual implications of Adam’s sin and God’s salvation plan, they mock and scoff at this message of salvation.
However, God’s only requirement is that a man confesses with his mouth Jesus as Lord and believes in his heart that God raised Him from the dead.
Since we have been made a vessel to contain God, we need to believe in our hearts to receive God’s eternal life and be saved. Saved from the wrath of God which will come on the children of disobedience who deny and refuse the gospel of Christ
What Questions Does Romans Road To Salvation Answer?
Romans’ road answers the following
- Who needs salvation?
- Why do I need salvation?
- How does God provide salvation?
- How do we receive salvation?
- What are the results of salvation?
