These are the five things I learned from reading Romans 3. Bible study for beginners-like me!

Five things I learned from Romans 3

Romans, the letter Paul wrote to the church in Rome, has a lot of great stuff that everyone should know. This is just a Bible study for beginners-like me. But we don’t have to be Bible scholars to learn from it, here are five things I learned from Romans 3. There is a lot more in there, but this is what I got.

One, “1 Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? 2 Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. 3 What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? 4 By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar…” Romans 3:1-4a.

Paul is telling us that the history of his people, the Jews, is important. It is important for them, and it is important for us non-Jews (a.k.a., Gentiles) to know. There are a lot of lessons for us to learn in the Old Testament and its history. The call and rescue of the Israelites, and how they settled in their land teaches us a lot today.

Two, “What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin” (Romans 3:9.)

To start with, go read Romans 3:10-18, where this thinking is continued. In those verses God tells us what we are like without Him, how we were born, and that none of us is any better than another.

Three, “ For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin” Romans 3:20.

What does it mean by “law”. It is human nature to think that I can do something to make me better than everyone else and gain favor with God. Jesus and Paul are telling us that is not so, that we are saved by the grace of God in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. It is not in anything I can do.

Four, “the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Romans 3:22-23.

From Abraham’s call in Genesis 12, up to today, we see that it is faith that justifies us and makes us righteous before God. (Genesis 12:4 and 15:6, along with Romans 1:17, among MANY other verses). All of us are guilty of sin, all of us need to be saved. All of us must live by faith, meaning we trust God, obey God, and repent to God.

Five, “and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” Romans 3:24

This sums all this up. We are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). There is nothing we can do to be righteous, but there is everything we must to in obeying God. We are saved by what Jesus has done, all we can do is follow Him.

This is not an in-depth study of this chapter but is what I learned from it. We must turn to God in repentance and follow Him in faith. If we live this way we become a different people, a people who can spread the message of the gospel-the love and mercy of God. And that is good news!