Romans Bible study and commentary

Romans chapter 1
1:1-2 - About Paul’s letter to Rome’s Christians
1:3-4 - Christ is God the Son
1:5 - How to obey God by faith
1:6 - A description of Rome’s first Christians
1:7 - It is important to bless people
1:8 - Reports about the faith of Rome’s first Christians
1:9 - Paul’s private prayers
1:10 - Paul’s prayer that he could go to Rome
1:11-12 - Why Paul wanted to be with the Christians
1:13-15 - The duty to declare God’s message
1:16 - God saves everyone who truly trusts Christ
1:17 - God’s people must live by faith
1:18-21 - We have no excuse when we do not obey God
1:22-23 - The respect that the true God deserves
1:24-27 - God’s attitude when people follow their own desires
1:28-32 - The most wicked behaviour
Romans chapter 2
2:1-3 - We should examine ourselves, not accuse other people
2:4-5 - God urges us to repent
2:6-8 - The nature of God’s judgement
2:9-11 - Nobody has any special advantages when God is their judge
2:12-13 - We must obey God’s message, and not merely hear it
2:14-16 - Some people who do not know God’s law, still obey it
2:17-20 - People who know God’s law, should teach it to other people
2:21-24 - People who teach God’s word, must obey it
2:25-27 - Is circumcision necessary?
2:28-29 - Real religion is in the heart
Romans chapter 3
3:1-2 - Why God gave the Bible firstly to the Jews
3:3-6 - God is right to make his judgement against our evil deeds
3:7-8 - Can we use evil methods to achieve good results?
3:9-12 - Everybody is guilty of sin
3:13-14 - Evil words are sin
3:15-18 - Sin destroys human society
3:19-20 - God’s law shows us that we need God to save us
3:21-22 - A right relationship with God depends on faith in Christ
3:23 - The most serious problem in the world
3:24-25 - God can forgive us because of Christ’s death
3:26 - The righteous Lord loves righteousness
3:27-28 - Christians must not be proud
3:29-30 - By faith, people from every nation can know God
3:31 - Do Christians have to obey God’s law?
Romans chapter 4
4:1-2 - A lesson from the life of Abraham
4:3 - How Abraham received a right relationship with God
4:4 - How to receive God’s kindness
4:5 - Whom does God help?
4:6 - How to be truly happy and content
4:7-8 - The wonderful news that God can forgive us
4:9-10 - Can people from every nation have a right relationship with God?
4:11-12 - Our ‘father’ Abraham
4:13-14 - The people who benefit from God’s promises to Abraham
4:15 - The judgement of the law
4:16 - How to receive the benefit of God’s promises
4:17 - Abraham’s beliefs
4:18-19 - Abraham’s hope
4:20-22 - Abraham remained firm in his trust in God
4:23-25 - How we can have a right relationship with God
Romans chapter 5
5:1 - Peace with God
5:2 - The hope of Christians
5:3-4 - How trouble can bring about hope instead of despair
5:5 - God does not disappoint his people, because of his love for them
5:6 - Christ died for people who did not deserve his kindness
5:7 - The person who dies to save someone else
5:8 - Christ died to save sinners
5:9 - The blood of Christ gives people a right relationship with God
5:10 - God, who forgave us, will complete his work in our lives
5:11 - Christians should speak boldly and with joy about God
5:12-14 - Paul compares Adam and Christ
5:15-17 - The two most important events that have ever happened
5:18-19 - Adam’s family and Christ’s family
5:20-21 - The greatness of grace
Romans chapter 6
6:1-2 - God does not want Christians to do wrong things
6:3 - Different meanings of baptism in the Bible
6:4 - Why the baptism of a new Christian is a joyful occasion
6:5 - God’s wonderful plans for his people
6:6-7 - God changes people’s lives
6:8-10 - The defeat of sin and death
6:11 - Recognise the effects of Christ’s death upon your life
6:12 - Christians should stand against sin in their lives
6:13 - Our bodies are weapons in the fight between good and evil
6:14 - Sin will no longer control God’s people
6:15 - Excuses for evil behaviour
6:16 - Who is your master: sin or God?
6:17 - The change in people's lives when they become Christians
6:18 - Sin and righteousness are opposites
6:19 - The two ways that people can behave
6:20 - If we are free from righteousness, we are the slaves of sin
6:21 - The true value of the best things that we can achieve
6:22 - God changes people's lives completely
6:23 - Sin's terrible reward and God's wonderful gift
Romans chapter 7
7:1 - Who, or what, has authority over your life?
7:2-4 - Christians are the bride of Christ
7:5 - Our wrong desires
7:6 - Who guides your life: God's Spirit or your natural thoughts?
7:7-8 - God's law declares the truth about our sin
7:9-11 - Choose life, not death
7:12 - God's perfect law
7:13 - The wise and foolish ways to live
7:14 - God wants to free us from the power of sin
7:15-16 - A person who wants to obey God's law, but cannot do that
7:17 - The weakness of Paul's efforts to obey God's law
7:18 - 'Nothing good lives in me'
7:19 - What causes someone to do wrong things that they do not want to do?
7:20-21 - The power and weakness of our desires
7:22-23 - The law of God and the law of sin
7:24 - A wretched life – but God gives life to dying people
7:25 - God can rescue us from our wrong attitudes and behaviour
Romans chapter 8
8:1 - No condemnation
8:2 - God's law, which makes us free
8:3 - God sent Christ to die for us
8:4 - Does God's law matter to Christians?
8:5 - What are you thinking?
8:6 - The forces that bring us life or death are working inside us
8:7 - When our natural, human thoughts oppose God
8:8 - Can people please God in this life?
8:9 - The Holy Spirit is present in the lives of God's people
8:10 - Live for God, because sin brings death
8:11 - The power of God's Spirit to give life
8:12-13 - Our greatest duty is to live as the Holy Spirit directs us
8:14 - God directs his people by his Holy Spirit
8:15 - Abba, Father!
8:16 - Knowledge that comes from the Holy Spirit
8:17 - What it means to be one of God's children
8:18 - God's people will share his glory
8:19 - The new age when God fully adopts his children
8:20-21 - God's plan for the plants and animals
8:22 - Can animals pray?
8:23 - God's people pray for God to complete his work
8:24-25 - Hope and patience
8:26 - The Holy Spirit prays through us
8:27 - The Holy Spirit's prayers for God's people
8:28 - God works for good in the lives of his people
8:29 - God's plan for his people
8:30 - How God prepares people to receive great honour
8:31 - If God is for us, who can be against us?
8:32 - God's perfect love for people
8:33 - Who accuses God's people?
8:34 - Who defends God's people?
8:35 - Nothing can separate God's people from the love of Christ
8:36 - When God's people have severe troubles
8:37 - More than conquerors
8:38 - The power of Christ's love
8:39 - Nothing can separate us from God's love
Romans chapter 9
9:1-2 - Paul's desperate prayer
9:3 - The love that God gave Paul for the Jewish people
9:4 - God's relationship with Israel
9:5 - Holy people in Jewish history
9:6 - Each person must trust God for himself
9:7 - God chose Isaac's family to receive the benefit of his promises to Abraham
9:8 - A lesson about how to become God's children
9:9 - God's people have their relationship with him because of his promises
9:10 - God does not make his decisions by natural, human reasons
9:11-12 - God often chooses those whom other people would not choose
9:13 - 'I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau'
9:14 - Could God act wrongly?
9:15 - To whom does God show special kindness?
9:16 - God wants to help us, but we cannot control him
9:17 - God can use even our wrong attitudes for his honour
9:18 - God's mercy and people's hard hearts
9:19-20 - Paul's reply to someone who complains about God's judgements
9:21 - God acts for his own honour, even in the lives of evil people
9:22-23 - God's patience with the people who oppose his plans
9:24 - People from other nations benefit from God's kindness to the Jews
9:25 - God's love for the nation that lost his love
9:26 - God brings his people back to himself
9:27-28 - The people in Israel who are loyal to God
9:29 - Why Israel did not become like Sodom
9:30-31 - We can only receive a right relationship with God by faith
9:32 - Why we cannot gain a right relationship with God by our own efforts
9:33 - We must trust Christ
Romans chapter 10
10:1 - Paul's prayer for the salvation of Israel
10:2 - Zeal for God
10:3 - True and false righteousness
10:4 - The death of Christ and the law of God
10:5 - How to receive the kind of life that God gives
10:6-7 - God is not asking people to do impossible things
10:8 - God's message is simple to accept
10:9 - What a Christian must declare and believe
10:10 - The connection between our words and our beliefs
10:11 - Nobody who trusts in Christ will be ashamed
10:12 - God's kindness is for people from every nation
10:13 - God will save everyone who calls upon his name
10:14 - We must hear and believe the message in order to act on it
10:15 - God sends people to declare the news of his salvation
10:16 - We should pray for those people who refuse God's message
10:17 - How to receive faith
10:18 - The Bible's message reaches across the world
10:19 - Is it ever right to be jealous?
10:20 - By the gospel, God helps people in an extraordinary manner
10:21 - God's sad words about the people who would not obey him
Romans chapter 11
11:1 - Are the Jews still God's special people?
11:2 - The people whom God 'knows'
11:3 - Baal: a powerful false religion
11:4 - God deals with Israel as a family
11:5 - Israel's remnant
11:6 - Grace – or works
11:7 - Right and wrong reactions when we hear God's message
11:8-10 - The people in Israel who refused God's message
11:11 - God makes Israel's people jealous so that they will turn back to him
11:12 - Israel's return to God will be wonderful for the whole world
11:13 - Paul: the apostle to the Gentiles
11:14 - Paul's work among his own people, the Jews
11:15 - Israel's return to God: life from death
11:16 - If part is holy, all is holy
11:17 - Christians need to appreciate God's kindness to them
11:18 - Christians should not be proud in their attitudes towards the Jews
11:19 - A Christian who forgets God's kindness, his power and his promises
11:20 - Unbelief and faith
11:21-22 - The kindness of God and the danger of unbelief
11:23-24 - God is able to bring Israel's people back to himself
11:25 - The end of Israel's troubles
11:26 - God will save all of Israel
11:27 - The Messiah's new covenant with Israel
11:28 - Enemies whom God loves
11:29 - When God chooses someone, he does not change his mind
11:30 - God's mercy to people from different nations
11:31 - God's mercy to Israel's people
11:32 - The mercy that God offers to all people
11:33 - The greatness of God's wisdom
11:34 - Who advises God?
11:35 - Who has the right to demand anything from God?
11:36 - Paul praises God
Romans chapter 12
12:1 - A living sacrifice
12:2 - New thoughts so that we can do what God wants
12:3 - The measure of faith
12:4-5 - Christians should help each other
12:6 - The ways that God works through his people
12:7 - The leader's duties at a church meeting
12:8 - Other duties of church leaders
12:9 - Instructions for every Christian
12:10 - How to love in a way that gives honour to other people
12:11 - An eager desire to serve God
12:12 - Joy during troubles
12:13 - Christians should be eager to help other people
12:14 - Christians should be kind to their enemies
12:15 - Christian attitudes towards other people's successes or troubles
12:16 - Christians should not try to be superior to other people
12:17 - Higher standards for Christians
12:18 - The right way to live in an evil world
12:19 - Revenge and the judgement of God
12:20 - Like burning coals on your enemy's head
12:21 - Do what is good to defeat the power of evil
Romans chapter 13
13:1-2 - Governments and the attitudes of Christians
13:3-4 - Rulers as the servants of God
13:5 - Christians and the law
13:6 - Christians and taxes
13:7 - The duties of Christians in this world
13:8 - Debts, duties, and the duty to act in love
13:9-10 - Love and God's commands
13:11 - Our salvation is nearer that when we first believed
13:12 - The day of Christ's return is near
13:13 - Wrong behaviour when we start to relax
13:14 - 'Put on' Christ
Romans chapter 14
14:1 - Christians who are weak in faith
14:2 - Arguments about the foods that Christians should eat
14:3 - Right attitudes when Christians disagree
14:4 - Christians are the servants of God
14:5 - Disagreements about holy days
14:6 - Our meals and our holidays give us a reason to praise God
14:7-8 - In life or death, Christians belong to Christ
14:9 - Christ's authority over both living and dead people
14:10 - Why Christians should not accuse each other bitterly
14:11-12 - Christians are responsible to God for their attitudes and actions
14:13 - Do not cause trouble for weaker Christians
14:14 - When a Christian acts against his conscience
14:15 - Do not please yourself: instead, act in love
14:16 - Christians must think about the effect of their actions on weaker people
14:17 - Righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit
14:18 - How can we do what is truly good?
14:19 - Peace in the lives of Christians
14:20 - Do not cause trouble for weaker Christians
14:21 - Should Christians drink wine?
14:22 - A lack of wisdom among Christians
14:23 - The person who eats in doubt, and not with faith
Romans chapter 15
15:1 - Strong Christians and weak Christians
15:2 - Should Christians try to please other people?
15:3 - Jesus did not try to please himself
15:4 - The Bible teaches, encourages and gives us hope
15:5-6 - Paul expresses his desires in prayer
15:7 - Accept each other
15:8 - Christ's work was on Israel's behalf
15:9 - All God's people should join together to praise God
15:10 - Joy for the people from every nation who trust Israel's God
15:11 - People everywhere should praise God for his love to Israel
15:12 - Christ, the root of Jesse, will rule the whole world
15:13 - Christians' hope
15:14-16 - Paul's explanation of the purpose of his book
15:17-18 - Paul shows that he is not behaving in a proud manner
15:19 - From Jerusalem to Illyricum
15:20-21 - A church leader's work in places where there are no Christians
15:22-24 - Paul's plans to visit Rome and Spain
15:25 - Important events in Paul's work for God
15:26 - Gifts from Macedonia and Achaia
15:27 - The love that Gentile Christians showed to Jewish Christians
15:28 - Paul's words for this 'gift'
15:29 - A full blessing
15:30 - Paul requests prayer
15:31-32 - A place to rest
15:33 - The unusual way that the Book of Romans ends
Romans chapter 16
16:1 - Phoebe, a lady with responsibility in the church
16:2 - Phoebe's special work for God
16:3 - Aquila and Prisca, a husband and wife who worked for God
16:4 - Aquila and Prisca: Jews who helped the Gentile churches
16:5 - How churches begin in new regions
16:6 - A Christian woman called Mary in Rome
16:7-12 - People whom Paul greeted in Rome
16:13-16 - Paul's 'relatives' in the family of God
16:17-18 - How we can protect ourselves from evil leaders in the churches
16:19-20 - The garden called Eden
16:21-23 - The Christians with Paul send their greetings
16:24-27 - A special prayer to praise God
Romans - a study guide
About the Book of Romans: its author, date and original readers
A brief explanation of each chapter in the Book of Romans
Reasons to study the Book of Romans
Romans - a 16 week study guide

Romans: Bible Study and Commentary

by Keith Simons. Free online Bible course and commentary from the Useful Bible Study Centre

Romans chapter 1

Romans chapter 2

Romans chapter 3

Romans chapter 4

Romans chapter 5

Romans chapter 6

Romans chapter 7

Romans chapter 8

Romans chapter 9

Romans chapter 10

Romans chapter 11

Romans chapter 12

Romans chapter 13

Romans chapter 14

Romans chapter 15

Romans chapter 16

Romans - a study guide