P A U L ' S   L E T T E R   T O   T H E   R O M A N S
                              Introductory Outline 

     The letter to the people at Rome is one of Paul's most thorough 
     statements of the Good News about Jesus Christ.  The organization 
     of this letter may be compared to climbing over a mountain.  Paul 
     begins on the plane of ordinary human experience, then climbs to 
     the work of God in Christ.  At the center of the letter we reach 
     the high point of Paul's statement of the gospel.  As we head down 
     the other side of the mountain, Paul shows how God continues to work 
     and how the good news pertains to our daily human life.

     Each chapter can be viewed as following a similar pattern of noting 
     what is, stating the heart of the message, and then drawing out the 
     implications.


                    G e n e r a l   O u t l i n e

     I.  The State of Human Life Today
          1.  Humanity has wandered far from God.
          2.  God will judge the secrets of the heart.
          3.  True relations with God are based on God's gift.
          4.  Abraham's legacy is for all believers
       

               II.  What God Has Done
                    5.  God has given the gift of uprightness.
                    6.  We are dead to sin and alive to Christ. 
                    7.  Sin remains as a part of life.

       
                         III.  CONDEMNATION IS NOW IMPOSSIBLE.
                              8.  WE ARE ACCEPTED AS A PART OF 
                              THE UNIVERSAL FAMILY.

       
               IV.  What God Will Do Yet
                    9.  God chooses the people God wants to choose.
                    10.  Spiritual health is for all who believe.
                    11.  God will not cut off the Jews forever.

       
     V.  The task of Christian Living
          12.  Be transformed to the good.
          13.  True relations with others are based on love.
          14.  God will judge his own servants.
          15.  We are to travel with God.

       
     
     A p p e n d i x
          16.  Those who are with Paul send greetings to those at Rome.

                                                               June, 1994