Romans

The importance of Romans to the Church and individuals today cannot be emphasized enough. It is the most concise, understandable, and well-ordered presentation of the gospel and Christian doctrine in all Scripture. When Martin Luther read Romans, he was amazed at the grace of God. As he began to study and understand Romans, he began to question medieval Catholic doctrine, which led to the Protestant Reformation. His "95 Thesis" led to one of world history's most significant dividing points! The way many people read and study the Bible is like the parable of a group of blind men in India who touch an elephant for the first time. Each blind man felt a different part of the elephant's body; then, they described the elephant based on the limited area they had touched. Each man described the elephant differently. Those who read only a small portion of Scripture without seeing the full context of what is written will be like those blind men. So, read Romans and the rest of the Bible in its historical context, in the context of what was written, in the genre in which it was written, and for the people or people groups to whom it was written.