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Roman's Road
The Highway to a Relationship with God
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The Roman's Road – it’s not just a systematic way to build highways inherited from the Roman Empire in the 1st Century. It’s also God’s plan
of salvation set forth in Paul’s letter to the Romans. Also known as the Roman Road, the following is a collection of passages that
build a beautiful and systematic approach to the gospel of grace by and through Jesus Christ.
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God’s Desire
Romans 1:20-21: For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.
Humanity was created to live in relationship with God. From the very beginning this was God’s desire when He chose to create mankind in His own image.
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Mankind’s Decision
Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Ultimately the separation we earned in sin leads to eternal separation in death. However, God does not desire this for His creation. Therefore, he offers us the gift of eternal life through Christ Jesus.
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Mankind's Dilemma
All men have an internal understanding that there is a creator which we are separated from and a ‘hole’ which we try to fill with many things. This is why there are so many world religions; it is mankind’s attempt to find God. Often we try to fill this hole with things other than religion, such as success or human relationships. Other times we fill the hole with worldly pleasures such as sex, drugs and alcohol. Still others try to make peace with God through doing things which they believe to be good. The problem is that in all of our efforts we come up short. The gap between us and God remains.
Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.”
While God desired relationship, Adam and Eve chose their own path. In spite of all God had blessed them with they decided to disobey. A choice all of us make. This disobedience is what the Bible calls sin. Sin places a chasm between us and God.
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God’s Demonstration
Romans 5:8: “But God demonstrates His love toward us, in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Jesus Christ came to this earth. He lived a sinless life in perfect relationship with God. He then offered up that life on the cross as sacrifice for us. Once crucified he was laid in a tomb for three days On the third day he rose. It is through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection that God showed his immense love for us.
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Your Decision
In a great selfless act of love Jesus gave himself, bridging the gap between us and God. The question becomes what will you do with the gift you’ve been given? You can choose to debate it. You can choose to deny it. However, God desires us to accept it and return to living in a relationship with him.
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How Do I Accept the Gift
Accepting the gift of salvation is just like accepting other gifts we receive. If you receive a wrapped present for a birthday or Christmas you make it part of your life, you’d have to unwrap it and remove any packaging. To truly make the gift yours, you need to put it to work in your life by wearing it or using it as it was intended. You do these things not because you are trying to earn the gift, but are simply making the gift part of your life. In scripture we are provided actions we are to take in accepting God’s gift.
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Confess and Believe
Romans 10:9-10: “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
This verse in Romans gives us the outward and an inward actions of confessing and believing. Confessing begins with agreeing with God that you have sinned. It is also acknowledging that due to your sin, you need a savior, believing in Jesus as the fulfillment of that need and seeking forgiveness via repentance for our sin. Confession is not just feeling sorry we are sinners, but a desire to allow Christ to change our hearts and thus our lives to move away from sin. Confession does not ask us to be perfect, just to seek the one who was and is the perfect sacrifice. We are told this is to be done with our mouth, openly and publicly.
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Baptism
Romans 6:4: We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
God provided a physical action to the Jews to acknowledge their adherence to his covenant. It was circumcision. He also provided a physical action to the church to acknowledge one’s faith and belief in the sacrifice of Jesus. It is baptism. The apostle Paul later draws a parallel between the two in the book of Colossians. Baptism is a picture of and identification with Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection. According to Romans 6:4-10, when you're baptized, you're buried with Christ through baptism, thus it is the death of ones old self. At the same time your are also raised into Christ. You are acknowledging a cleansing of the old and a putting on of a new life in Christ.
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It’s About a Relationship not a Religion
Understanding your disobedience (sin) has separated you from God, knowing there is no way for you to re-earn that relationship, acknowledging your need for Jesus’ sacrifice and accepting his gift are all valuable steps to living life as God intended it. However, this is truly is a relationship. And like other relationships it must be fostered and grown. We pray you will find a good church home to help you grow in your relationship.
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Other Scriptures
The scriptures in the Roman's Road are great way to understand what it means to establish a relationship with God through His son Jesus. However, they are not the only ones in Bible to speak about this. Below are some other passages you may with to consider.
John 3:16: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 14:6: Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Acts 2:37-38: When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the
forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Colossians 2:13-14: When you were dead in your sins and in the un-circumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.
2 Corinthians 5:21: God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Hebrews 9:27-28: Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
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