An Epic Journey Down Romans Road
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen."
What is The “Romans Road”?
For those who don't already know what the Romans Road is, please allow me to explain. The Romans Road to Salvation is a collection of biblical verses in the apostle Paul's epistle to the Romans, that Christians can use as a simple step-by-step guide to lead people in the saving knowledge of God's salvation. These verses of Scripture clearly explain why we need salvation, how God has provided salvation, how we can receive salvation, and what the results of our salvation will include. As a precursor, the Bible clearly lets us know that as Christians we are commanded by God to spread His teachings to all the world. In Christianity, this is called "The Great Commission.
"The opening verse in this blog post is the famous verse you will get if you did a Google search and typed in the words "The Great Commission." It is Matthew 28:19-20. However, below, I've listed five other verses in Scripture that also give support to God's commandment to "Go Therefore."
John 15:16 "You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you."
Romans 10:14-15 "How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!"
Matthew 4:19-20 "Then He said to them, follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. They immediately left their nets and followed Him."
Acts 1:8 "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth."
John 21:17 "He said to him the third time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me? Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, do you love Me?" And he said to Him, Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You. Jesus said to him, feed My sheep."
As you can see, even Jesus Himself explains that anyone who loves Him has a responsibility to feed His sheep. And that is the commandment of the great commission.
"The Acknowledgment"
Romans 1:20 "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse."
First, we must take them to this verse because we all have to acknowledge that God is the Creator of all things including ourselves. We need to humbly accept our position in God's created order, realizing that all we need to do is look all around us and up to the heavens to see His creation, therefore being without excuse and knowing deep down in our hearts that it could not possibly have all happened because of an accident.
Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
We then take them here to prove that we are "all" sinners and we "all" fall short of God's glory and therefore we "all" need forgiveness in order to be accepted in God's kingdom of heaven. We can explain that "all" means "all" and that's "all" "all" means. "All" includes us!
"The Provision"
Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
Here at our third stop, we can explain to them that through God's love, He provided a way of salvation by offering up His only begotten Son (John 3:16) to die on a Roman cross for the payment of all the past, present and future sins of "all" who would believe in, and follow Him. God's love showed us that "He paid a price He didn't owe because we owed a price we couldn't pay."
"The Pardon"
Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
At our fourth stop, we explain the two types of lives that Paul talks about. Those without Christ are slaves to sin, and those who follow and trust in Christ are servants of righteousness. If we choose not to follow Christ then we only have ourselves to blame and according to this verse, our wages of sin will clearly earn us a paycheck of eternal death (Thanatos – Strong's G2288), which is eternal separation from God. No matter how good a person may think he or she is, according to Isaiah 64:6, no amount of good works will be counted good enough to enter into God's kingdom. That's why it's so important to accept the free gift of eternal life offered by believing in and following Jesus Christ.
"The Process"
Romans 10:9-10"That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation."
The fifth place we take them to explains the two-step process of confessing with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believing in your heart that He rose from the dead. This confession shows that you understand that there is no other way to salvation. Acts 4:12 says "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." And also, Jesus Himself says in John 14:6 "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." You see? If anyone wants to see heaven, the only way is through Jesus Christ our Lord. Below is an example of a simple prayer that you could lead someone into when they've decided to accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.
"The Results"
Romans 8:1 "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit."
And,
Romans 8:38-39 "For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Six and lastly, we show them the results of their salvation. Because Jesus paid the price for our sins and suffered in our place, we will never be condemned. Psalm 103:12 says "As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us." In Romans 8:38-39, the apostle Paul reassures us by listing everything in every category and realm that anyone could imagine, that might separate us from God's promise of love and salvation. We might go through persecution, hardships, and sometimes fail to obey God, but Paul's explanation has included everything - including powerful forces in heavenly places. He makes it perfectly clear that nothing will ever be able to separate us from God's loving grip.
"However"
Even successfully leading an unbeliever down the "Romans Road" to salvation doesn't mean that we pat ourselves on the back, thank the Lord, and then move on to the next one. We need to help them get plugged into a good church and even attend that church with them a few times if possible, to make sure they get the personal support they need from the pastor and elders at that church. The new believer needs to know the importance of falling in love with Scripture. Otherwise, after leading them down the "Romans Road" to salvation, without any support team, their faith will most likely be quickly choked out by the cares of this world as in the parable of the sower spoken by Jesus in Matthew 13.
Our church has a saying,
“Read Your Bible and Pray
Every Day!”
As we can see from this 2019 Discipleship Pathway Assessment Study from LifeWay Research, learning to fall in love with Scripture is something that we all need. According to 2 Timothy 3:16-17, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
So as God commands us, let's all "Go Therefore" and make disciples among men and take them down the "Romans Road" to salvation!