Basic Bible Course on the Epistle to the Romans

In the first part of this course, we saw that Paul could not travel to Rome and visit the believers there. Nevertheless, he wanted to give them a systematic overview of what the "gospel" truly means and entails.

First, the apostle needs to prove that all people urgently need the Gospel. Therefore, he divides humanity into three groups, dealing with them one after the other:

1. The heathens in all their depravity (Romans 1:18-32)
2. The civilized people who live according to moral principles (Romans 2:1-16)
3. The Jews (Romans 2:17-29).

After Paul has shown that all three groups are thoroughly guilty and therefore subjected to the wrath of a righteous God, this is the starting point for God's work of justification.

First, read Romans chapter 1, verses 18-32.

There is not a single person in the world who does not need the Gospel. The first obvious objection that could be raised against this statement is:

"But how can a just God judge the poor, ignorant heathens who have never heard anything of Christ?"

How do they (the Gentiles) possess "the truth", when they don't have a Bible? (Verses 19 and 20)

One of the most important observations is that even these "poor heathens" have "no excuse" (verse 20).