Kress Biblical Resources :: The Promises, Provisions, and Privileges of the Gospel (Rom 5:1-8:39)

Detailed Outline of Romans

The Gospel of Salvation by Faith Unites All Believers—Jew and Greek

The Promises, Provisions, and Privileges of the Gospel (Rom 5:1-8:39)

1. Salvation—freedom from the wrath of God, and the joyous hope of glory (Rom 5:1-21)
   1. The results of being justified by faith (Rom 5:1-11)
      1. We have peace with God (Rom 5:1)
         1. The prerequisite to peace with God (Rom 5:1a)
         2. The peace explained (Rom 5:1b)
         3. The Person through whom we have this peace with God (Rom 5:1c)
      2. We have favor before God (Rom 5:2ab)
         1. The Person who gives us favor before God (Rom 5:2a)
         2. The privilege of standing in grace before God (Rom 5:2b)
      3. We have joy in our hope in God (Rom 5:2c-5)
         1. We rejoice in hope of the glory of God (Rom 5:2c)
         2. We rejoice in our tribulations (Rom 5:3-5)
            1. The reality of our joy (Rom 5:3a)
            2. The reasons for our joy (Rom 5:3b-5)
               1. The process of divinely wrought hope (Rom 5:3b-4)
               2. The pouring out of the love of God within our hearts (Rom 5:5)
      4. We have love from God (Rom 5:5b-8)
         1. The Person through whom we personally experience the love of God (Rom 5:5b)
         2. The proof of the love of God (Rom 5:6-8)
            1. While we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly (Rom 5:6)
            2. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Rom 5:7-8)
      5. We have salvation and reconciliation with God (Rom 5:9-11)
         1. We are saved from the wrath of God through Christ (Rom 5:9)
         2. We have been reconciled to God and will be saved by Christ’s life (Rom 5:10)
         3. We are rejoicing in God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom 5:11)
   2. The results of Adam’s sin—sin and death (Rom 5:12-14)
      1. Because of Adam, sin entered the world, and all sinned (Rom 5:12)
      2. Because of Adam, death entered the world, and all died (Rom 5:12-14)
         1. Death entered the world through Adam’s sin (Rom 5:12b)
         2. Death spread to all men, because all sinned (Rom 5:12c)
         3. Death came upon all sinners, even though many did not have special revelation from God that they violated (Rom 5:13-14)
   3. The reversal of the results of Adam’s sin—grace and life in Christ (Rom 5:15-21)
      1. The reversal of death through the grace of Christ (Rom 5:15)
      2. The reversal of condemnation through justification in Christ (Rom 5:16)
      3. The reversal of death through the grace of Christ (Rom 5:17)
      4. The reversal of condemnation through justification in Christ (Rom 5:18)
      5. The reversal of disobedience through the obedience of Christ (Rom 5:19)
      6. The reason for the Law, and the response of grace (Rom 5:20)
      7. The reversal of death through the grace of Christ (Rom 5:21)
2. Sanctification—freedom from the captivity of sin, the condemnation of the Law, and freedom to conduct ourselves in view of the certain hope of glory (Rom 6:1-8:30)
   1. The gospel sets us free from captivity to sin (Rom 6:1-23)
      1. Your position in Christ, under the rule of grace—you have died to sin and are alive to God (Rom 6:1-14)
         1. The possible objection to the rule of grace, and Paul’s inspired answer (Rom 6:1-2)
            1. The anticipated objection to the reign of abounding grace (Rom 6:1)
            2. The answer (Rom 6:2)
         2. The positional facts of our union with Christ (Rom 6:3-10)
            1. The reminder of our position as having been submersed into Christ (Rom 6:3-4)
               1. Baptized into Christ, baptized into His death (Rom 6:3)
               2. Buried with Christ, raised so we too might walk in newness of life (Rom 6:4)
            2. The results of being united with Christ in His death and resurrection (Rom 6:5-7)
               1. The facts restated—if we have been united with Him in the likeness of His death, we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection (Rom 6:5)
               2. The freedom recognized—our old man was crucified with Christ, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin (Rom 6:6-7)
            3. The recognition of our glorious hope—eternal life, living for God (Rom 6:8-10)
               1. We believe that our union with Christ guarantees our eternal life (Rom 6:8)
               2. We believe Christ’s resurrection guarantees victory over death (Rom 6:9)
               3. We believe Christ died to sin once for all, but lives eternally unto the glory of God (Rom 6:10)
         3. The personal responsibility of living the resurrected life (Rom 6:11-14)
            1. The principle stated: As Christ died to sin and was raised to eternally glorify God, so you must consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ (Rom 6:11)
            2. The practice explained (Rom 6:11-12)
               1. Do not let sin rule in your mortal body (Rom 6:12-13a)
               2. Determine to live as someone who is alive from the dead, to the glory of God (Rom 6:13b)
            3. The promise and privilege affirmed (Rom 6:14)
      2. Your privileges under the rule of grace—you have been freed from sin’s mastery and are willing slaves of righteousness (Rom 6:15-23)
         1. The slightly modified objection to the rule of grace restated [and answered again] (Rom 6:15)
         2. The slave-master principle explained—you are slaves of the one whom you obey (Rom 6:16)
         3. The sovereign conversion extolled—you were slaves of sin, but through the gospel you became slaves of righteousness (Rom 6:17-18)
            1. The Person responsible for your conversion (Rom 6:17a)
            2. The position you were in before conversion (Rom 6:17b)
            3. The personal repentance that attended your conversion (Rom 6:17c)
            4. The positional change that took place at your conversion (Rom 6:18)
         4. The simple application made—present your body a slave of righteousness (Rom 6:19)
         5. The sharp contrast developed—death to those who are slaves of sin and eternal life for those enslaved to God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom 6:20-23)
            1. When you were slaves of sin, righteousness did not control you (Rom 6:20)
            2. When you were slaves of sin, what fruit did you really get? Things of which you are now ashamed—whose outcome is death! (Rom 6:21)
            3. As slaves of God, the fruit is sanctification—and the outcome is eternal life (Rom 6:22)
            4. The summary statement that calls us to live as willing slaves of God (Rom 6:23)
   2. The gospel sets us free from the condemnation of the law (Rom 7:1-25)
      1. The proclamation that believers are released from the Law’s lordship (Rom 7:1-6)
         1. The law has lordship over a person as long as he lives (Rom 7:1-3)
            1. The proposition stated (Rom 7:1)
            2. The picture of marriage offered [as an illustration] (Rom 7:2-3)
               1. The death of a husband releases the wife from the law of the husband (Rom 7:2)
               2. The death of a husband releases the wife to be joined to another man (Rom 7:3)
         2. The law no longer has lordship over those who have died and are joined to Him who was raised from the dead (Rom 7:4-6)
            1. Our death to the law and its purpose (Rom 7:4)
            2. Our deplorable condition under the lordship of the law (Rom 7:5)
            3. Our delightful freedom that results in submissive service in newness of the Spirit, and not the oldness of the letter (Rom 7:6)
      2. The proclamation of the Law’s purity and its purpose in relation to sin [and its powerlessness to deliver from sin’s bondage] (Rom 7:7-25)
         1. The purity and purpose of the Law [in regard to sin] defended (Rom 7:7)
            1. The Law is not sin (Rom 7:7a)
            2. The Law reveals sin (Rom 7:7b)
         2. The principle of sin and its use of the Law detailed (Rom 7:8-11)
            1. Sin uses the law to excite in me all kinds lusts (Rom 7:8a)
            2. Sin uses the law to condemn me to death (Rom 7:8b-9)
            3. Sin uses the law to deceive me and kill me (Rom 7:10-11)
         3. The purity and purpose of the Law [in relation to sin] declared and defended again (Rom 7:12-13)
            1. The Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good (Rom 7:12)
            2. The Law is the medium through which sin is exposed as utterly sinful (Rom 7:13)
         4. The portrayal of how the Law exposes the utter sinfulness of sin—and the powerlessness of the Law to subdue the flesh described (Rom 7:14-25) ¹
            1. The presupposition and prospectus statement [what Paul was going to cover] (Rom 7:14)
               1. The Law is spiritual (Rom 7:14a)
               2. I am of flesh, sold under sin (Rom 7:14b)
            2. The principle of sin, and its utter sinfulness exposed by the Law (Rom 7:15-23)
               1. As I assess my actions, I see my own inconsistencies, inner-conflict, and impotence—and the Law’s beauty (Rom 7:15-16)
                  • The Law reveals my inconsistencies and inner turmoil (Rom 7:15)
                  • The Law reveals my impotence—and I agree that it is good (Rom 7:16)
               2. As I assess my own inconsistencies and impotence—and the Law’s beauty—I conclude that indwelling sin is the source of evil within me (Rom 7:17-20)
                  • Sin is greater than I imagined—it is an enemy that lives in me (Rom 7:17)
                  • I know the truth, and I want to do good—but I do not do it (Rom 7:18)
                  • I actually practice the very evil that I do not want (Rom 7:19)
                  • In light of this, I see that sin is greater than I imagined—it is an enemy that lives in me (Rom 7:20)
               3. As I assess indwelling sin in light of my conflicting desires and actions, I see my captivity to the law of sin (Rom 7:21-23)
                  • I see the law of evil present in me—though I want to do good (Rom 7:21)
                  • I delight in the law of God in the inner man (Rom 7:22)
                  • I see a war between the law of my body parts and the law of my mind—making me a prisoner of the law of sin in my body (Rom 7:23)
            3. The proclamation that reveals the sinfulness of sin, and the problem of what the Law cannot do (Rom 7:24; cf. Rom 8:3)
            4. The praise for God’s redemption in Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom 7:25a)
            5. The powerlessness of the Law to subdue the flesh (Rom 7:25b; cf. Rom 8:3)
   3. The gospel sets us free to conduct our lives according to the Spirit, as sons of God rather than slaves to the flesh (Rom 8:1-17)
      1. Freedom from condemnation, and the law of sin and death² (Rom 8:1-4)
         1. The reality of our freedom—no condemnation (Rom 8:1)
         2. The reason for our freedom—justification (Rom 8:2)
         3. The route to our freedom—substitution (Rom 8:3)
         4. The result of our freedom—sanctification (Rom 8:4)
      2. Freedom to conduct our lives as sons of God, rather than slaves of the flesh (Rom 8:5-17)
         1. The Spirit gives us a new orientation and new perspective (Rom 8:5-11)
            1. There are only two ways of life—and they are mutually exclusive (Rom 8:5-6)
               1. The two ways of life introduced (Rom 8:5)
                  • Those according to the flesh, who set their minds on the things of the flesh
                  • Those according to the Spirit, who set their minds on the things of the Spirit
               2. The two ways of life assessed (Rom 8:6)
                  • The mind set on the flesh is death
                  • The mind set on the Spirit is life and peace
            2. There are those who are in the flesh—unbelievers [those who are dead] (Rom 8:7-8)
               1. They are unwilling and unable to submit to God’s rule (Rom 8:7)
               2. They are unable to please God (Rom 8:8)
            3. There are those who are in the Spirit—believers [those who have life and peace] (Rom 8:9-11)
               1. You have the Spirit of God/Christ and belong to Him (Rom 8:9)
               2. You have a body that is subject to death, but are alive spiritually because of the righteousness of God (Rom 8:10)
               3. You have the glorious promise/hope of resurrection (Rom 8:11)
         2. The Spirit gives us a new obligation and new position (Rom 8:12-17)
            1. Our new obligation—to live by the Spirit, putting to death the deeds of the body (Rom 8:12-13)
               1. The reality—believers have no obligation to the flesh (Rom 8:12-13a)
               2. The responsibility—believers are responsible to be putting to death—by the Spirit—the deeds of the body (Rom 8:13b)
            2. Our new position—sons of God and fellow heirs with Christ (Rom 8:14-17)
               1. We are sons of God: we are led by the Spirit of God (Rom 8:14)
               2. We have intimacy with God: we are crying out Abba! Father!—rather than cringing in fear like slaves (Rom 8:15)
               3. We have assurance from God: we are confident that we are children of God—because of the Spirit’s witness with our spirit (Rom 8:16)
               4. We have hope in God: we are heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ—suffering with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him (Rom 8:17)
   4. The gospel seals us for glory in God’s sovereign plan and power (Rom 8:18-30)
      1. We have the promise/hope of glory, which incomparably outweighs our present suffering (Rom 8:18-25)
         1. The Apostle’s inspired reckoning—we will experience glory that is incomparably greater than any temporal sufferings now known (Rom 8:18)
         2. The anxious longing of creation—it waits eagerly for our glorification (Rom 8:19-22)
            1. Creation waits for the revealing of the sons of God (Rom 8:19)
            2. Creation was subjected to futility—in hope (Rom 8:20)
            3. Creation will be set free from its slavery to corruption (Rom 8:21)
            4. Creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth (Rom 8:22)
         3. The anxious longing of believers—we wait eagerly for our glorification (Rom 8:23-25)
            1. Believers [those who have the first fruits of the Spirit] wait for the future aspect of our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body (Rom 8:23)
            2. Believers [those who have the first fruits of the Spirit] wait in hope for that which they do not currently see (Rom 8:24-25)
               1. Hope is faith that looks forward to promises yet fulfilled (Rom 8:24)
               2. Hope is evidenced by perseverance in waiting eagerly for God’s promises to come to pass (Rom 8:25)
      2. We have the provision and prayers of the Spirit, who intercedes for us according to the will of God (Rom 8:26-27)
         1. We have the Spirit’s provision in our weakness (Rom 8:26a)
         2. We have the Spirit’s prayers of intercession on our behalf (Rom 8:26b-27)
            1. He intercedes for us in our ignorance (Rom 8:26b)
            2. He intercedes for us according to the will of God (Rom 8:27)
      3. We have the predetermined plan of God, which invariably leads to conformity to Christ’s image, and eternal glory (Rom 8:28-30)
         1. God’s predetermined plan providentially orders all things to ultimately work out for the good of those He has called (Rom 8:28)
         2. God’s predetermined plan has foreordained our conformity to Christ’s image (Rom 8:29)
         3. God’s predetermined plan includes our effectual call, our justification, and our glorification (Rom 8:30)
3. Security—freedom to live victoriously no matter the circumstances we may face, because of God’s indestructible love in Christ (Rom 8:31-39)
   1. The indestructible love of God extolled in poetic form (Rom 8:31-37)
      1. If God is for us—who can be against us? (Rom 8:31)
      2. If God did not spare His own Son—what good thing will He withhold from us? (Rom 8:32)
      3. If God justifies—who will bring a charge against His elect? (Rom 8:33)
      4. If Christ died, rose, and intercedes for us at the right hand of God—who is the one who condemns us? (Rom 8:34)
      5. If Christ loves us—who or what will separate us from His love (Rom 8:35-37)
         1. The rhetorical question (Rom 8:35a)
         2. The realities of what believers may face (Rom 8:35b-36)
            1. A summary list (Rom 8:35b)
               1. Trouble
               2. Pressure
               3. Persecution
               4. Hunger
               5. Nakedness
               6. Danger
               7. Death
            2. A scriptural reference—Psalm 44:22 (Rom 8:36)
         3. The recognition of believers’ overwhelming victory through Christ (Rom 8:37)
            1. We will triumph spiritually
            2. Our triumph is because of Christ and His love for us
   2. The indestructible love of God apprehended by faith (Rom 8:38-39)
      1. The comprehensive list of potential threats to our eternal security (Rom 8:38b-39a)
         1. Death can’t separate us from the love of God in Christ
         2. Life [circumstances] can’t separate us from the love of God in Christ
         3. Angelic beings can’t separate us from the love of God in Christ
         4. Rulers can’t separate us from the love of God in Christ
         5. Current events can’t separate us from the love of God in Christ
         6. Future events can’t separate us from the love of God in Christ
         7. Miraculous powers can’t separate us from the love of God in Christ
         8. The highest height in the universe can’t separate us from the love of God in Christ
         9. The deepest depths in the universe can’t separate from the love of God in Christ
      2. The conviction of faith concerning the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom 8:38a, Rom 8:39b)
         1. A Spirit-inspired conviction and confirmation (Rom 8:38a)
         2. A sovereign guarantee and Guarantor (Rom 8:39b)

¹ [Alternate Outline for Rom 7:14-25]
3. The picture of trying to pursue sanctification under the Law [or the problem of trying to pursue sanctification under the Law; or the problem of trying to serve God by the letter of the law rather than the Spirit] (Rom 7:14-25)

² The following four sub-points of this outline are adapted from Kevin McAteer’s sermon notes on Rom 8:1-4.