The Book of Romans has always stood at the head of Paul's letters, and rightfully so. In Paul's day the city of Rome influenced the entire world being its economic and political base. Paul, being an opportunist, knew that if he could share the gospel in Rome, that it would be very likely that it would spread and influence the whole world. Because of this idea Paul desperately wanted to go to Rome but was always hindered so finally in 58AD he did the next best thing; he picked up a pen and paper and penned this letter. If he couldn't physically preach the gospel in Rome, he would send the gospel to them! Instead of getting frustrated about what he couldn't do, he did what he could do and wrote this amazing letter.

Unlike his other Epistles, Paul knew nothing about the Church in Rome that he was writting to because he had never been there. He didn't know how spiritual they were, or how much of the scriptures that they knew, or how mature or immature they were. Because of this Paul didn't write about one or two issues that the Church might have been going through like other letters, but rather wrote a very broad letter that encompasses the whole of Christian theology. Romans is the most important book in the New Testament in that it is the closest systematic presentation of Christian theology as will be found in God's Word. John Calvin wrote, "When anyone understands this epistle, he has a passage opened up to him to the understanding of the whole scripture."

We hope that your heart will be stirred to revival as you study along with us!