This autumn I’m preparing to do something that I’ve never done before in twenty years of church leadership and that is to preach through Paul’s letter to the Romans. I’ve certainly preached from it before, how could you not, but I’ve never preached through it. There are any number of reasons why but mostly because Romans is daunting. It’s like looking up at Mount Everest thinking ‘I’ve got to get to the top of that’ and then realise the highest thing you’ve ever climbed before is your local hill. Or perhaps it’s like being asked to build the Colosseum but you’ve only got 30-40 minutes a week to do it.

Romans is daunting because it is has such a storied history shaping the lives and ministry of men like John Stott, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Karl Barth, John Wesley, Martin Luther, Augustine to name just a few.

Romans is daunting because it is dense with issues: the general revelation of God, the issue of homosexuality, the relationship of Israel in God’s unfolding purposes, the historical Adam & Eve, predestination, the law of God and the Christian, justification by faith, the wrath and judgement of a holy God, the relationship between church and state to name just a few. It’s pretty easy to bite off more than you can chew when considering this letter.

Unsurprisingly all that means that quite a lot has been written about Romans. The sheer amount of preparation that feels necessary so that you feel you have a grasp on the test is daunting. I have what I consider to be an incomplete library when it comes to Romans, missing some key contributions and perspectives. I still have 34 (!!!) commentaries and studies on it. That’s A LOT of reading. Even reading just a portion of just some of them, is A LOT.

Romans is also daunting because of what other preachers have done with it. And I’m thinking chiefly of the ridiculous 366 sermon long series that Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones preached over 12 years (on Friday evenings) at Westminster Chapel between 1955-1968.

Romans is also daunting because it is so rich with powerful verses. Here’s just one verse from each chapter where each verse (and sometimes not even complete sentences) could easily be a sermon in their own right.

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation, to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” – Romans 1:16

“Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” – Romans 2:4

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” – Romans 3:23

“No unbelief made him [Abraham] waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God…” – Romans 4:20

“but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:8

“For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.” – Romans 6:14

“But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.” – Romans 7:6

“There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” – Romans 8:1

“But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel,…” – Romans 9:6

“Because 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.” – Romans 10:9

“Oh the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledeg of god! How unsearchable are his judgements and how inscrutable his ways!” – Romans 11:33

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” – Romans 12:2

“Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.” – Romans 13:8

“For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.” – Romans 14:8

“May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus…” – Romans 15:5

“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” – Romans 16:20

That’s a pretty amazing series right there covering the Gospel, the goodness of God, the problem of sin, the death & love of Christ, the freedom of the Christian, the keys to salvation, the call to a new kind of living, and the future victory of God. But you may notice that I’ve left a fair bit out and I haven’t touched on any of the more challenging issues that Romans raises.

Trying to work out a series is a daunting exercise. Try to cover everything and you’ll be there for years and years, but if you don’t what will you leave out and why? There’s a risk of saying you’ve covered it and miss vast chunks of Paul’s letter. Even if you were to use a light sweeping overview of the book, such as the one Andrew Ollerton offers in his excellent book, you’d have a series anywhere between 10-20 weeks long.

For all those reasons and more contemplating a series on Romans is a challenge and daunting but I hope the preacher and the listeners will rise to the challenge of discovering the incredible truths and wisdom that Paul’s great letter contains. I’ll share my series outlines in a future post.