The book of Romans is theologically rich and contains the truth about the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It helps us understand our need for a Savior, someone outside of ourselves, to bridge the gap between us and God. Several key verses have been identified from the book of Romans that become steps to helping us accept Christ as Savior and give us tools to help lead someone else to Christ. It is many of these verses that we are encouraging you to memorize during the month of March. These passages have been referred to as the “Romans Road to Salvation.”
Let’s walk that road this morning and look at the steps that are needed for someone to have peace with God both now and for eternity. First up is Romans 3:23. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23
Notice that there is no one exempt from the truth of this verse. All have sinned. Sin is a universal problem. We all are sinners in need of a Savior. If you back up in the chapter and read the last part of verse 22, you read that there is no distinction. That means no matter your gender, your race, your age, your socio-economic background…no matter who your parents are, regardless of your political persuasion, no matter what you have done for a living or how nice you are to your neighbors, not one person can claim they are born without a sin problem.
All have sinned. What does it mean to sin? In Bible terms, when you go back to the Greek, to sin means “to miss the mark.” It’s like an archer who is shooting arrows at a target, but that person misses the bull’s-eye. God has a desire, a will, a righteous way for us to live, a mark for which we are to aim, and we are born with a propensity to miss that mark, and we miss it often. God has a standard and we fall short of it. We might be aiming at righteousness, but there is a struggle that we have, as humans, with sin and a desire to do our own thing which keeps us from hitting the mark of God’s standard.
The whole problem with sin is that it keeps us reliant on self and causes a separation or disconnect between us and God. You and I were never meant to live a life apart from God. The sin nature that we are born with AND the sins we have committed can’t be made up for by sinning less. They can’t be blotted out by a month of good behavior, a promise to do better, or years of community service. They had to be paid for and forgiven through a perfect sacrifice, something none of us could ever achieve on our own.
So, we’re all in the same boat. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We have missed the mark, and because of that, we are marked by sin. Sin is our default. Sin is our go-to. Our impulse is to be self-led and self-satisfied rather than led by the Spirit of God and fulfilled in and through that relationship. Sin, in its purest form is rebellion against God’s purposes for our lives.
God has never missed the mark. Jesus, the sinless Son of God, was and is perfect and He is the standard to which we look to understand what it is God wants for us. Jesus came to demonstrate what the mark, what the bull’s-eye looked like. When He walked this earth, Jesus revealed the heart and character of God the Father, and He perfectly accomplished the Father’s will. In doing so, He perfectly reflected God’s glory. He perfectly glorified God, in every situation. Why is that important?
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. The “For all have sinned” part of this passage deals with what we have done. It is past tense. We can’t undo what we have done, but even tougher to swallow is that we continue to fall short of the glory of God. Each person was created to glorify God, to reflect the image of God, to be in communion with God in such a way that we would never defile that relationship or disconnect, even for a minute. We were made to glorify God in everything we think, say and do.
Isaiah 43:7 speaks about how every person has been created for God’s glory. We have a part to play, a purpose to fulfill, and our part, and when we live it out, our purpose will wind up giving glory to God. Because of sin, however, we fall short of that intended purpose. Your particular assignment might look different from mine, but our ultimate purpose is that we were created to glorify God.
What’s the big deal? Why do we need to be worried about glorifying God? God is the Creator, the Architect, the Designer. He made us with specific purposes in mind which would result in bringing Him glory. When we don’t walk in those purposes, which are always righteous and holy, when we don’t live those out according to His mark, his standard, we don’t glorify God. Why should He have a say at all? Because He created us. As Creator, He gets the say about how the creation is supposed to live.
If I were an inventor, and I invented a pen that had all of the parts it needed to be able to allow ink to fill up a page, so that I could delight in the communication that would result, but the pen, even though it had the capability and all of the parts, rebelled and wouldn’t work but decided instead it wanted to be used differently (go with me here, I realize pens don’t have a choice about what they will or won’t do, but suspend your imagination for a second). Let’s say instead of being a writing instrument, the pen wanted to be used as a nail file. And in the process of seeking to become a nail file, something it was never intended to become, what if in the process of trying to become a nail file, it got brittle and broken and hurt my fingernails, perhaps even dumping ink into my cuticles and stained my fingers and caused an infection as the ink seeped into my nail beds, and was so broken it could never be a pen again. It could never be used to put ink on a page. Well, if that was possible, it would be a “sinner pen.” What I mean is that it would be trying to do something it was never created to do. It would be rebelling against me as its designer and would break down and do damage in the process.
Friends, that is exactly what has happened with the human race. We were born with a propensity to become something God never intended, and we have taken that ball and run with it. You and I were created for God’s glory, and boy have we messed that up! As a result, we are broken down and we do damage instead of giving God glory. Are you with me? Do you understand Romans 3:23? All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. This is our problem. This is our condition, and we can’t help ourselves. We can’t be restored to our original purpose and point to God’s glory without God’s intervention.
The next verse on our Romans Road to Salvation is Romans 5:8. “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
This is great news. God knew what He was getting when He stepped in to save the likes of us. He was getting a bunch of broken-down sinners who He would have to work in and work on to restore to the place where they could reflect God’s glory. Not only did He demonstrate that He was willing to do an intervention, but He said He did it because He loved us. Are you seeing this? He loved us when we were at our worst. He loved us when we were sinners. It wasn’t just about our behavior, although that is a problem for God when we choose to sin, but it was about our condition. Sin breaks us. It causes damage to ourselves and others. It most definitely causes damage to our relationship with God.
It makes us cynical, vengeful, angry, selfish, mean, arrogant, rude, belligerent, and unwilling to change. How can anyone in that condition glorify God? They can’t! Because of a holy love for us, one I could never comprehend, God said, “I want to invest. I want to sacrifice. I want to take them on and recreate them, and I am willing to allow my Son, the second part of the Godhead, God who became flesh and lived a perfect life, I am willing to send Him to be crucified for the sins of the world on a Roman cross. What they deserve, I will take on myself as Jesus is crucified.”
Come on! How many of us would sacrifice for someone else? We might get someone a birthday and Christmas present to show we care about them. We might buy someone a tank of gas. We might offer to transport people to appointment. We might give someone a place to live for a while. We might call and check on people who are going through a rough time. Perhaps we would cut someone’s grass on the regular if they had been good to us through the years, if they had been good to us, maybe we’d go beyond any of the gestures I have named. But y’all, we were filthy, rotten, hellbent sinners, and God said, “Let me demonstrate how much I love you by giving my life for you!” It’s hard to wrap your mind around, right?
“But God.” I love those two words in this passage. “But God.” God who isn’t like us, God whose love is perfect and whose sacrifice is all-consuming, God stepped in to pick us up and take us on because of His love for us. We throw the “love” word around casually. I do happen to love Chinese food. I love Angie Woodall’s meatloaf and Jeannie Lemon’s chocolate chip cookies! I love watching the UK Kentucky Wildcats play basketball. In fact, Thom, Josh and I are going this Tuesday to the UK/LSU game, and we have the kind of seats that might get us two seconds of fame on national TV, so be watching! Anyway, we say we love a lot of things, but would we sacrifice the way God sacrificed for us for any person or experience? No way.
Biblical love, God’s love, is a commitment that costs something. God could never demonstrate love without sacrifice. The depth of sacrifice proves the depth of God’s love. God’s love was proven as it was demonstrated by Jesus’ sacrificial death.
Why was the cross a demonstration of God’s love? Why did He send Christ to the cross? Sin had to be dealt with. The next stop on our Romans Road tour explains it. “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23
There are consequences for sin, and some of those steep consequences involve physical and spiritual death. When Adam and Eve sinned, death entered the human experience. The reason spiritual death is a problem is because it disconnects us from fellowship with God. We need God to help us navigate life, to empower us to glorify God in the ways God had in mind when He created us, and we need God to overcome life’s challenges. We need spiritual life because without it we don’t have peace, joy, hope, or supernatural strength, and we can’t glorify God. So, spiritual death is a problem.
But physical death is also a problem because when we take our last earthly breath, there is no more opportunity for spiritual life. While you live, you have time to get right with God and to receive the grace that will get you into Heaven when you die. When your physical life ends and eternity begins, the decision you made to accept or reject Christ will determine where your eternity is spent. It will either be spent in Heaven or in Hell.
Since sin causes death, the only way for sin to be forgiven and done away with is by a sacrificial death. Only the death of a perfect and righteous person can atone for another person’s sins. What I mean is that only the death of someone divine, only God Himself, could pay the sin debt humanity owed and remove the problems of spiritual and physical death.
On the Cross, Jesus took every sinner’s place. He hung there as if He had broken each of God’s laws. He took the judgment of God against our sins. He paid the penalty our sins deserved, and because He did, there is a gift for us. His death purchased our gift. Our gift is salvation through the forgiveness of our sins.
Not only did Jesus die for us, but He was also raised for us, proving that death has no hold on the person who will receive the forgiveness of sins and be restored to a right relationship with God. Physical death is no longer an enemy, it is no longer bad news for the person who has received the righteousness of Christ. He was raised, and those who accept what He did on their behalf will be raised with Him. Receiving and following Him takes care of our spiritual and our physical death problems. We no longer have to be separated from God in life or in death because of our sin. Our Savior has conquered our sin problem so that we can enjoy God now, in life, and forever in eternity.
Am I being clear this morning? Sin earned us the death penalty, but Jesus took the penalty for us. If you haven’t given your life to Christ, the death penalty is still hanging over your head. Not trying to manipulate anyone’s heart or mind this morning. I’m simply telling the truth. The wages of sin is death. Sinners are still earning death for their sin, but there is a free gift on the table for anyone who wants to receive it. No, you don’t deserve it. None of us does. No, you can’t earn it or even work to repay God for His kindness. You have to humble yourself and receive it by faith. Simply agree with God that you are a sinner, you are in violation of God’s laws, you are subject in your current condition to the consequences of physical and spiritual death, you need to be restored so that you can glorify God, and you are willing to let God cover and restore you to the condition and purposes for which He created you.
When you do that, you are executing the next stop on the Romans Road which says, “9 If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” Romans 10:9-10
Yes, we must confess that we are sinners and need forgiveness, but our ultimate confession must be that Jesus Christ is Lord. Many people might agree they are broken and need fixed, but they may not claim that Christ alone is their Savior. Jesus IS THE ONLY WAY to salvation. Salvation is found exclusively in Christ. Acts 4:12, speaking of Jesus, declares this: “12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Not Buddha. Not Mohammed. Not Joseph Smith. Not the Catholic Church or the Church of God or any other religious entity. Christ alone is Lord and Christ alone provides salvation through His sacrificial blood.
To become a Christian, you must confess Jesus Christ is Lord. You must believe He paid the price for your sin through His death, and you must believe that God enabled Him to conquer sin and death on your behalf. Salvation involves your desire to identify with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. I guess you could think of it as riding His coattails. He has done the work. You just walk with Him and by virtue of what He did, when you are in Him, when He is in you, you are made right with God and all of the rights and privileges of God’s children belong to you. You are made right in the sight of God, and you can resume your life’s purpose which is to glorify Him. He’ll empower you to do it. He’ll cover you when you don’t!
So, to recap, Salvation has a price tag, but God paid the price and extends salvation to us as a gift. We simply have to receive it by believing in faith and confessing with our mouths that Christ is Lord.
Romans 10:13 promises that “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Saved from what? Saved from the penalty of sin. Remember, the wages of sin is death. In Christ, you will find abundant life here on earth and eternal life in Heaven. Salvation is an escape from the penalty of sin. It is also the escape from condemnation. I want to end our Romans Road experience with Romans 8:1-2. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:1-2
One of the byproducts of sin is a sense of shame, a sense of condemnation for not living according to the God’s standards. These things steal life from us. God is for us. He wants us to have life in the Spirit and not the death that results from our sin. In Christ, we are pronounced “not guilty.” In Christ, we are not only no longer guilty of our sin, but we are declared righteous! We have a change in identity. We are changed from sinners to saints who appear before God as if we never sinned! We are set free from the law of sin and death. II Corinthians 5:21 says, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” II Corinthians 5:21
Nothing greater has ever happened. On the Cross, Jesus became like us, so that we could become like Him. And now, unburdened by sin and the disgrace of your past, you are free to love God and to glorify Him. He has returned you to your intended condition for His intended purposes. That is salvation.
The Romans Road points us back to the words of Jesus to Nicodemus when He said, 16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
Love bought your pardon. Love freed you from the consequences that come with spiritual and physical death. Love removed your shame. That love isn’t an impersonal, ethereal force. That love comes from the God who said you were worth dying for. I hope you are on the road of salvation, and if you aren’t, it’s time to walk toward that path. There is no hope or help for those who won’t travel with Jesus. Get on the Road to Salvation today!
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