 Welcome to class, everyone. Thank you, Lubega, Jeffina, Nailama, Zaluttholi and Georgia for joining class. We'll begin with a word of prayer. So, can I ask one of you to please lead us in prayer, please? Anyone? Anyone can lead us in prayer? Nobody wants to pray? Okay, let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word. Your word is living and active and powerful. The word encourages strength, builds us up. Your word is life, God. And we thank you for this most precious gift that you have given to us. We thank you for your divine revelation to people. We've written so that we can be strengthened, we can be guided, we can be led, we can have an understanding about who you are, your nature and your ways, Father. And even as we look into your word, we pray that you would open our eyes, open our ears, help us to perceive and discern and understand. And God, we pray that we will not just know your revelations and know your truth, but your truth will empower us, will help us to live lives that are fruitful, that will enhance and build your Kingdom and God that we can be your mighty people here on Earth. We thank you God. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So we are looking at the introduction to the book of Romans and we stopped at a few key highlights last time. So the first key highlight for the book of Romans is that it's a book where the Gospel is mentioned in much detail, talks about how we are sinners, how Christ died for us, he rose again, and those who believe in him will receive forgiveness of their sins. So this is one of the episodes where the Gospel is given to us in the clearest, in a detailed way. Another key highlight of the book of Romans is that our full spiritual journey is described here very beautifully and we looked at it in detail last class, in each chapter, what is the detail of the spiritual journey that all outlines for us. The third key highlight where we stopped was that the book of Romans reveals the righteousness of God. We know that God is right, he's just, he's right and just in everything that he does he says and he can never be wrong in what he does, cannot do anything that is evil because basically righteousness is a moral attribute of God, it is who he is in himself. So he does not have to follow certain rules and regulations outside him, but he is the standard. His very self, who he is, sets the standard for morality, for what is right and for justice. So God is righteous. And a major theme that runs throughout the book of Romans is righteousness. This word righteousness is used 36 times throughout this book and we see that Paul talks about God being righteousness in judging sin. God is righteous when he forgives sin on the basis of Christ's atoning work. God is also righteous in imparting his righteousness to believers. So we look at that in detail at Romans chapter 5, how we are made righteous not because of who we are or not because of our works, but Christ's righteousness has been imputed upon us, which means Christ's righteousness has been put into our account. So to say, oh, we are cloded with Christ's righteousness. We look at that in Romans chapter 5. And he also talks about a believer walking in the righteousness and empowered by the spirit in Romans chapter 6 to chapter 8. And then in chapters 12 to 15 he talks about the believer living a righteous life. So the way the whole topic of righteousness has been treated or has been imparted to us in this book. We find it in no other book in the Bible, excepting here in the book of Romans. Another key highlight in the book of Romans is, you know, that we see how both the Jews and the Gentiles have been chosen by God. So in Romans chapters 9 to 11, you know, Paul addresses the relationship between the Jews and the Gentiles. Or he's talking about Israel and the church and what God is doing with the church, what God is doing with the Jewish nation, what God is doing with the people of Israel. Where is Israel and the church fit in in what God is doing in the present scenario, in the present time and season? And again, we don't see this addressed in such detailed manner, in such specific manner. Or this, you know, subject is not treated anywhere else in the New Testament, or both Jews and Gentiles, like it is being treated or addressed here in the book of Romans. So this is an interesting part of the study of the book of Romans. So these are some of the key highlights of this book. Now we look at why Paul vote to the believers at Rome. Okay, what was his need to write to the believers at Rome? Now we know that Paul had never gone to Rome. He had never gone and seen the churches there, which means he has never established the churches there. So he has no spiritual oversight or responsibilities for the individuals or the churches there because he has not founded the churches. He was not directly connected with the church at Rome or the churches, the house churches at Rome. But we see in spite of that, Paul is writing to them and these two epistles, the epistles of Colossians and Romans, Colossians, which Paul is writing to the church at Colossae. And this episode of Romans, which he's writing to the church at Rome, are only two exceptions where he has, Paul has not been directly connected with the church. But in spite of that, we see that Paul has a connection with the church at Colossae and with the church at Rome, which came through people in leadership in these churches. Okay, so how did he have connection with the church at Colossae? For which reason he's writing the book of Colossians or the epistle of Colossians is because, you know, he had a personal relationship or basically he would have mentored or trained or he would have, you know, let these people who are leaders in these churches at Colossae and at Rome to the saving knowledge or the grace of Jesus Christ. So we see that, you know, those who ministered at the church at Colossae, Paul had a strong personal relationship with Philemon who lived in Colossae and who a church met at his home. Also, he, Paul had a strong relationship with Epaphrys, who was from Colossae. We read about Epaphrys in Colossians chapter one was 17, chapter four was 12 to 13, and Philemon chapter one was 23. And Paul also led a runaway slave called Onissimus, a slave of Philemon. So Onissimus ran away from Philemon, landed up in Rome and somehow got in touch with Paul when he was in house imprisonment. And, you know, Paul led Philemon to the Lord. And so we see that, you know, we will study about this book, I think in the next semester, and how he wants to send back Onissimus. And so he writes the letter of Philemon. So, you know, he has a personal connect with all of these people. And so that's why he writes these episodes or he writes these letters to them. So similarly, you know, how does Paul have a relationship with the people of the Church of Rome. We looked at in the last class that, you know, he heard much about the churches at Rome through the, to whom? For the people he heard about the church at Rome, Aquila and Priscilla, yes, okay, who he worked with at Corinth. And also possibly, you know, he would have met other believers from Rome. And so he's heard about the people, the church at Rome, the churches at Rome, their faith, how they're growing. And so he feels he has his personal connection with these people and hence he writes these episodes to them. So we look at, you know, some of the things or some of the reasons why he writes this letter. It's one is, you know, he has a personal connection with few people who are leaders in the churches. The second thing is his passion that, you know, he has for these churches and that he has been praying for them. So, you know, you know, Paul has been passionately praying for them. We read this in Colossians chapter 1, verses chapter 1, 3, verses 3 and 4 and verse 9. Colossians chapter 2, verses 1 to 5 and Romans chapter 1, verses 8 to 10, okay. Look at Romans chapter 1, verses 8 to 15, can somebody read that, please? Romans chapter 1 verses 8 to 15, can somebody read that loudly for us? Romans chapter 1, verses 8 to 15. Romans chapter 1 verse 8 verse 8 first I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world for God is my witness whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his son that without season I make mention of you always in my prayers making request if by some means now at least I may find a way in the will of God to come to you for I long to see you that I may impart to you some spiritual gift so that you may be established that is that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me now I do not want you to be unaware brethren that I often plan to come to you but was hindered until now that I might have some fruit among you also just as among the other Gentiles I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians both to wise and to unwise so as much as in me I'm ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also thank you Rosalind so here we see that in verse 9 Paul says that without season I make mention of you always in my prayers that means he's always praying for the church at Rome he does not stop without seizing so that is another reason why he's writing to them because he has been passionately praying for them another reason is he desires to minister to them in part and also fellowship with them look at what he says in Romans chapter 1 verse 11 he says I long to see you and the same verse he says I long to impart to you some spiritual gift and verse 15 he says I'm ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome okay and he also longs to fellowship with them he says in verse 12 that I may be encouraged to together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me so he you know he just longs to be with them he longs to fellowship with them he also makes this known in Romans chapter 15 we read this last class in Romans chapter 15 he says in verse 24 he says that I may enjoy your company for a while he also says in verse 23 that you know his he has his great desire these last so many years to come to you to be part of you you know to fellowship with you we also see in Romans chapter 15 that he desires to minister to them he says you know that I may come to you in verse 29 he says that I come to you that I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Jesus Christ and he says that you know and I come to you with joy verse 32 by the will of God and maybe refreshed to go together with you so he's writing this he's making known his desire to minister to them to impart to them and his longing and his desire just to be with them and just to fellowship with them okay so that is the third reason that he is writing the first one is because he has some connect with those in leadership the second thing is because he's been praying passionately for them the third thing is because he desires to minister and impart and also have fellowship with them and also there are the reasons why Paul is writing to the believers in verse 11 that was read to us it says for I long to see you so he's having this long desire long-standing desire of basically seeing them fellowship with them ministering to them also he wants to he's also writing this letter because he's wants to make known to them that he's heard about that faith okay so maybe the church at Rome very strong in their faith why do you think Paul is mentioning about their faith what is the characteristic of their faith why do you think he's talking about and saying that your faith is spoken throughout the whole world why do you think that he mentions it I'm sure he's not just saying it for the sake of saying it you know Paul is not a man who just flatters people you know why do you think he's saying this from what we look at the background any idea think of why Aquila and Priscilla left Rome and went to Corinth why did they go hello all of you were present in my class our first class everyone there knock knock who's there why is their faith spoken off okay so what she says yes okay why is their faith spoken off throughout the world reason could be because they went through such persecution such difficulties you know under Emperor Claudius and Nero and all of that and they stood on to their faith in Christ Jesus okay so that is how you know their faith has been spoken off throughout the whole world so he says that you know heard about your faith possibly from Aquila and Priscilla and from the others as well okay and also we see that you know Paul desires to preach the gospel he's very passionate about preaching the gospel about Jesus Christ and he's also passionate and desires to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to the people at Rome and we see this in Romans chapter 15 which was read to us he says so as much as in me I'm ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also and also we read this in Romans chapter 15 in verse 29 he says but I know that when I come to you I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Jesus Christ so we know that Paul is so passionate about preaching the gospel he he does not waste any opportunity he longs he waits for the opportunity to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ okay and also we see that you know it is he's he's preparing himself to visit them so that he can impart spiritual truths to the believers we read that you know and so writing this episode is like a precursor or like a foundation to what he is going to impart to them so it's like hey this is all the things that I want to say to you and I'm writing this to you but more is yet to come when I meet you personally okay so this is basically something like a precursor foundation to what more he wants to spiritually impart into their lives and also like I said he wants to enjoy their company he wants to be refreshed spiritually verse 32 says you know so that I can be refreshed together with you and also you know to enjoy their fellowship and he also wants to be helped on his journey to Spain so he's making that known Romans chapter 15 verse 24 he says where wherever I journey to whenever I journey to Spain I shall come to you for I hope to see you on my journey and to be helped on my way thereby you first I may enjoy your company for a while so he wants to enjoy their company their fellowship their hospitality and also he's looking for some kind of help that he can be helped on his journey to Spain okay so these are some of the things why Paul is writing his letter to the church at room okay some things to keep in mind when we are basically studying this episode to the Romans you know we know that all scripture is given by the Holy Spirit the inspiration of the Holy Spirit all scripture is given by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and we know that Paul has received everything that he's writing about through the revelation from Jesus Christ so whatever he's teaching and preaching it's basically he's receiving it as a revelation but not only in this letter but all his episodes that he's writing but you know we also need to keep in mind that even though it's a revelation that he's receiving he's using his own style his own presentation skills his own culture his own mindset to write so he's writing it from his own style the way he presents it he's writing that and we also need to keep in mind that Paul you know was a scholar he was highly intellectual he was well read well trained well thought you know and he studied under great preachers and teachers one of them is Gamaliel and so we see that there was yes you know divine inspiration from Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit and also he comes from a good solid learning background information intellectual training and knowledge that he has received so he brings in this revelation you know combined with sound logical understanding and reasoning and if you look at Paul's letter to the Romans you know it's a powerful book and you can also see how beautifully Paul very beautifully logically he presents the truths he reasons with the Jews and it's very interesting and very nice and he uses a lot of Old Testament content because you know he's so well read so well thought in the Old Testament and he brings it out so beautifully and so interestingly okay so Romans is the book of Romans episode of Romans very scholarly and it's like you're actually chewing on something very scholarly and there's a lot of logic and reasoning that is there in every chapter so that makes it more interesting for us to study this book okay and in this book we also see a lot of references to the Old Testament there's always going back to the Old Testament a lot of reference from Old Testament scripture or concepts from the Old Testament and we know that Paul was well read in the Torah the Old Testament he was a scholar in the Old Testament scripture so as he's writing here by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit he's also bringing out things from the Old Testament and why is he talking so much about the Old Testament here in the Book of Romans any idea to reveal how is Christ revealed in the Old Testament okay what do you think Paul is bringing about so much of Old Testament scripture here in the Book of Romans yes excellent thank you Jeffina you know yes Lubega yes go ahead Lubega you can unmute your mic speak I was saying that it is practically because he wants to show us that there is a difference between Christ and Moses or Adam and Christ to show us that the other one was it is Moses basically it is the other one was by law and this one is by faith I think that is a teacher thank you okay thank you Lubega yes talking about law and faith yes also he talks about how because righteous is the main theme in the Book of Romans so he talks about you know their great forefather Abraham the patriarch and how Abraham was justified not by the the covenant of circumcision but by righteous he was already declared righteous by faith and not true you know the covenant of circumcision but exactly why is he talking about more of Old Testament here is because he's talking he's addressing to the Jews you know and he's also talking about Israel and the church remember I said that the whole of Old Testament you know just was focusing on this right suddenly the New Testament you know the whole nation of Israel is kind of forgotten it's no longer there in the picture and we see that so much in the Book of Romans so where is Israel in this whole you know picture of what God is doing now at the present and the Jews you know so he's talking to to the Jews basically and so he is bringing out of Old Testament scripture and helping the New Testament believers or the people who are on this side of the cross helping us to understanding to understand the meaning of all the things that was revealed to us in the Old Testament so the Holy Spirit is bringing out things from the Old Testament and helping us as New Testament believers or people who are on this side of the cross helping us to understand all of those meanings or zealotations in the Old Testament so you know we have a lot of references to the Old Testament scripture and also you know another reason to another key thing to keep in mind when studying the Book of Romans is the local context the church at Rome comprised of both the Jews and the Gentile believers now the Jewish believers were thinking okay we have accepted Jesus we have embraced Christianity now what about Judaism okay or what about the nation of Israel because they belong to the nation of Israel you know and they they thought they had the covenants they had the laws they had the prophets they had the forefathers everything was given to them you know now what about Israel and the Gentile believers were saying hey we have accepted Jesus Christ we are part of the church now you know what about Jewish brothers have we are we become part of Judaism where are we in this whole equation okay or where are we in this whole relationship so Paul is basically addressing you know both these group of people the Jews and the Gentiles of Israelites and the church and he's helping them address that the Christ about the Christian faith and helping them to grow together in the Christian faith or being part of the church okay another thing that we need to keep in mind as we study the Book of Romans that it is a single letter it is one long continuous letter but you know and it's not chapter and verse but this chapter and verse is made for our convenience for our reference but if you look at it is just one continuous development of one letter of one thought and revelation that has been given to Paul so when we are trying to understand what Paul is writing or revealing or teaching or when he's talking about certain doctrines we need to keep in mind or look at it is a forward look and as a backward look okay I'll explain what this forward look and backward look is so basically when we are starting from chapter one verse one and going through chapter one we need to go also have a forward look that means we need to go ahead in in the few chapters or what Paul is writing later on in his letter about the same concept about the same doctrine or about the same teaching which he's mentioned here so maybe he's talking about sin here but he talks about it he just begins to talk about it but he later on develops upon it maybe in chapter three then goes on to chapter six so maybe we need to have a forward look we will go ahead and see what you're not audible is that only me or everyone I'm not audible what about we can hear we can hear thank you can anyone hear yes so but she says he can hear I can't hear okay so but she says he can hear me what about the others no first I can't hear okay Zellatoli also says she can hear me the sound unclear on my side Lubega says I'm clear maybe there's something about the okay there are two students who says they can't hear me clearly two of them who say they can hear can you just ask I've been asked to connect and just see if you can more audio but Zellatoli I better type it for her just connect and see if you can hear me please okay I think okay we'll continue so we need to have a forward look which means we need to you know look on what have all has explained detailed explain in detail later on in his letter or in the other chapters so while interpreting something in an earlier chapter we also need to look at you know the forward look what he has developed into or so that we can stay aligned to the intent of what he's trying to explain to us the truth he's trying to present to us so that we don't mislead we don't you know misinterpret and we don't go away from what he is explaining to us so we will have will have a forward look and then similarly when interpreting something in the later chapters we will need to have a backward look which means we will need to go back and look at what Paul has already interpreted or what he has you know he's explained to us what he's already stated on the subject previously you know and if you don't have this forward and backward look then there is a possibility of us you know taking these verses in isolation misinterpreting it out of context out of meaning out of what Paul really intends to say or has said about it and you know we would lose the whole deeper meaning or the deeper significance of what he is writing so even as we study this you know we would look at you know the forward and the backward look okay now what do we expect through the study of Romans okay we would expect to have a clearer understanding of the Gospel we will we will be able to grasp the whole Gospel what it's saying truly in its fullest sense and what is the significance of it in our own lives so I said that you know in this episode Paul mentions how we are all sinners how Christ died for us how we rose again and whoever believes in him received forgiveness of that so we'll have a clearer understanding of the Gospel and also how it's what significance it has in our lives okay another thing that we can expect through the study of Romans is a revelation of life transforming so even as we delve into the book of Romans we will receive or we will encounter profound truths that has the power to transform our lives basically the teachings or the doctrines of grace righteousness the power of the cross the work of the Holy Spirit even as we study these doctrines study these truths it has the power to bring significant changes in our mindset in our perspective in our thinking and also in our behavior as a believer okay we will also learn what it means to be you know recipients of this abundant grace of God the His righteousness and how this will transform our relationship with God okay we will learn how to walk free from sin how sin has no longer dominion and power over us we will learn how to walk in the spirit how to you know overcome the dictates of our flesh or not given to the flesh we also learn about immeasurable love of God that nothing can separate us from the love that is in Christ Jesus our Lord we will also learn how to live our everyday lives as believers and how our relationship is affected by this personal transformation that we receive through Jesus Christ okay so in this book of Romans yes there is a lot of doctrines that people study and there are also teachings but these teachings which Paul gives us in Romans will be life changing will be life transforming okay so the whole purpose is to bring about this transformation and this transformation will happen as we study sorry the book of Romans okay this book also you know brings about a personal transformation by the power of the Holy Spirit okay so like we said the revelations the insights that we read here is basically you know what has been imparted by the Holy Spirit to the Apostle Paul so the revelation and insights you gain from study Romans will not just be mere intellectual knowledge but will be accompanied by the power of the Holy Spirit and this is what is going to bring transformation in our life so the spirit of God will use these truths that we learn to bring about personal transformation personal growth in our own lives again so yes false teaching in Romans goes beyond mere intellectual knowledge but it carries you know the power of the Holy Spirit to bring about transformation in the lives of those who study it those who read it so the purpose of this book is not merely to impart information but it's basically to lead believers into a deeper understanding about God's plan of redemption and this whole plan of redemption that we will be studying in detail will become an experience that is life changing even as we encounter the truths in this episode okay so even as we understand and apply the teachings of the book this what we study in the book of Romans believers will be encouraged to live in alignment with God's purpose we would also be encouraged to walk and to live in righteousness and also experience a deeper intimacy with God okay now the transformation occurs even as the Holy Spirit eliminates the truths that I've found in this book and you know these truths with empowered individuals to live out their faith in a way that brings glory and honor and praise to God okay so what we are basically saying in essence is that you know this book of Romans of this episode of Romans not only is theological masterpiece you know but it also guides us into spiritual growth it's also a catalyst for personal transformation it encourages believers to embrace the love of God the grace of God to submit to his Lordship and to live our lives out of you know what the gospel was meant to bring about in our daily lives okay so even as we go through the study like you to just soak in it you know and also just apply it in your own lives okay so that is the introduction to the book of Romans anyone has any questions any questions about the introduction anything that you like to say anything that you like to ask okay jeffina wants me to explain the forward look and the backward look so the forward look you understood right you know even as we start studying the book of Romans there are some things that Paul would have elaborated as he writes his letter so for us to understand those truths in the beginning of this letter we might have to look at some of what he has explained in detail later on on how he is built on it later on so that we can you know interpreted in context in the holistic way and not misinterpreted and stay aligned to what his thought is so what he intends to reveal to us to write to us or the truth that he's trying to present to us similarly even as we go on in his letter reading his letters studying his letter we need to maintain a backward look which means we need to look back to see what he has already stated about this subject previously what he's already mentioned about it so that we are consistent in what he is telling us we don't take out these verses in isolation interpreted in isolation but we interpreted in the whole context in the whole book of what in the whole way that he's writing to us so some doctrines you have started off in chapter one he or chapter three he will build it on in chapter six you know so we need to have this backward look where we go back and see what he's already spoken about and then based on that how we can interpret or based on that how we can understand you know what he is talking about in the later part of his letter or the latter part of his letter okay anyone else has any questions any thoughts you'll like to share about the book of Romans okay before we look at chapter one I would just like to ask all of you to share no if you've read the book of Romans before or you know what has really impacted you what has you listen to a message or a sermon or you preach something what is something that has been deeply ingrained in your mind about the book of Romans or if you've not studied the book of Romans why haven't you studied the book of Romans any anyone please go ahead and share if you studied the book of Romans what did you like listen to the you know sermons or if you just talk about the book of Romans what is that one thing that comes to your mind or if you have not read it why haven't you studied or read it when I think about book of Romans chapter 8 verse 26 is what struck me for the first time when I heard when I read this and heard a sermon also on this but this is a scripture that really blessed me and my prayer life that likewise the spirit also helps in our weaknesses for we do not know what we should pray for as we are but the spirit himself makes intercession for us the grown-ins which cannot be uttered so this is the scripture that really blessed my prayer life thank you thank you Rosalind thank you so much for sharing anyone else anyone else likes to share about performance if you've not studied it or you've not you know read that why yes I think it's better to be better than you if you're like yeah so I think this Romans chapter 8 or someone said before also something that I keep reading again and again and again as far as I think and the moment talks about life in the spirit I'm not sure when which passage so I kind of lead Romans very often in my life the very first book that I was touched by was Romans I remember when I was I mean even before I got saved I remember there was a pastor who thought about the whole romance like chapter by chapter was by verse and my mom used to play that sermon again and again at home but I was not really into Christ then but I felt some I still remember some preaching from there and I also remember studying this book very sincerely I felt like it explains the gospel like fully like the cross and kind of helps us understand really who Jesus is than the other things there are other instructions in all the other letters but I felt like Roman is a package of gospel like you can really understand like what Jesus did what has been done on the cross and that helps us help me to understand other gossips also in a better way gossips and letters the whole new testament after reading Romans I felt like the revelation of the other books are better now because Romans have made that foundation for me great thank you Jeffina I think you should teach them go Romans can just see that excitement on your face yeah Romans chapter 8 talks about you know verse 12 13 talks about you know life in the spirit life in the flesh yes anyone else likes to share I think one of the scripture passages for many favorite scripture passages for many is Romans chapter 8 this Romans chapter 8 is one of my favorite scripture passage other than Psalm 139 and to be honest when I was in my younger days the youths days I never used to read the book of Romans because I found it very difficult to understand but it's it's a powerful letter yes anyone else likes to share okay time is up we'll we'll begin Romans chapter 1 next class I think it's on Monday right so we look at Romans chapter 1 please read Romans chapter 1 and come so that you can share your inputs you know just this weekend you can read Romans chapter 1 when we come you know you can share what really struck you you can see the Reema word some truth it was highlighted we can begin with all of our sharing and I like you know last participation it would be more interesting otherwise if I stood the talking people okay so let's do that small homework and come ready for Monday thank you all have a blessed weekend a refreshing weekend and see you all on Monday thank you thank you man thank you Rosalind thank you