Let's all just bow together, please, for a word of prayer. And before we turn to read God's Word, let's pray. Heavenly Father, we draw near unto Thee. We wait here in Thy presence this Lord's Day morning, coming to the throne of heavenly grace in our Savior's name, drawing nigh to Thee by His merit, through His own perfect righteousness. Lord, we thank Thee for the privilege and opportunity of assembling again in thy house to study the Word. Lord, we bow before thee and we worship thee this day as the God of heaven, the God who has revealed Himself to men, even in the Scriptures of truth. And Lord, we thank thee that we may take thy Word and study it. And we rejoice that thou hast said that those things that were written aforetime were written for our learning. And Lord, we pray today that We will be taught by Thee that the Holy Spirit Himself will open up the word to our hearts. Bless this company of brethren and sisters and bless those who watch on by way of the webcast. We pray, Lord, that Thou wilt be pleased to draw near to each one and touch every heart. Remember our young people and our children as they meet in their classes. Bless all the teachers. We pray, Lord, that Thy work would prosper today in many hearts, and that there would be lasting fruit brought forth, as the Scriptures of truth are taught, and the Holy Spirit applies it all to the soul. So abide with us and bless us here, for we pray this in Jesus' name, and for His praise and His glory. Amen. Now, returning to the book of Romans, chapter 1. Romans, chapter 1. I want to welcome you all to the Bible class this morning, and also our webcast viewers. We're glad to have you watching on also, and we trust the Lord will bless each heart. So, Romans 1 in our study on this introduction to the New Testament, we're now just making our way through the books and saying a little about each. It's not an in-depth study by any means, but I trust that what we lay before you will give you some Desire to proceed yourself and study farther and look closer at God's Word. So, Romans 1, verse 1, Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, which he had promised afore by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning a son, Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh. and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead, by whom we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for his name, among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ. To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, call to be saints, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey, by the will of God to come unto you. For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end you may be established. That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith, both of you and me. I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, but was let hitherto that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles. I am debtor both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the unwise. So as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation. to every one that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith. As it is written, the just shall live by faith." And God will bless the reading of this, his own precious and infallible truth. Now, the origins of the congregation in the city of Rome are really surrounded with a lot of mystery. The one thing we are sure about as we read these verses is that the Apostle Paul was not the actual founder of the church in that city. Notice from these verses 10 to 13, part of our reading today, that he makes it very clear that he had never been to Rome prior to this point in time. Indeed, verse 13 reveals to us that he had often resolved to go to the city of Rome to minister there, but had not been able to do so prior to this, prior to writing this letter, I mean. He always had been hindered in his purposes with regard to going. to the city of Rome. So he was not the founder of the church in the sense of actually having gone there to minister the gospel and see to the formation of that congregation. The church had been formed actually sometime prior to the writing of this letter. In verse 7 it says, To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, call to be saints. So the church has already found it and an existence prior to the writing of the letter. But at the same time, Paul was familiar with some of the members of the congregation in the city of Rome. We learned that from the last chapter. If you want to turn over just now to Romans 16 for a moment or two. In that final chapter, you'll discover that he asks to be remembered to various people. He mentions individuals and the inference is that he knows of them or he knows them personally. Indeed, there are some here who actually laboured along with the Apostle Paul. Verse 1 says, I command unto you Phoebe, our sister, which is a servant of the church, which is at Cancria. Now Phoebe was a lady who gave notable service to the Lord Jesus Christ in this particular church as mentioned here at Cancria. If you turn to Acts 18 just now, in verse 18, you'll read of Cancria and you'll also read of the church there. And it says in Acts 18, verse 18, And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila, having shorn his head in Cancria, for he had a vow." Here's an instance of a place been mentioned almost in a casual way, this place called Cancria. We don't read about it at all with regard to the Scriptures except here in Romans 16 verse 1, and yet Paul was at Cancri on that journey that he mentions, and obviously there was a church there, so perhaps he stayed long enough to see a church formed in that place. And we find in Romans 16, verse 1, that this woman Phoebe, as she's called here, was a servant of the church, which is at Cancria. So, Paul had been to Cancria, and he had labored there, and he had known Phoebe there, and he refers to her as a servant of the Lord. And now as he writes to the church at Rome, obviously she's in Rome, because he says in Romans 16, or he says in Romans 16, 1, I command unto you Phoebe our sister, which is a servant of the churches at Cancria. So, she either was on her way to Rome or already was there, whatever the case might be, and Paul therefore knows her because of his association with that church in that other place. Then look at verse 5. It's interesting just to see these details and note these people. Verse 5 says, Likewise greet the churches in their house. Salute my well-beloved Ebeneezus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ. Here's another person, this man called Ebeneezus. He was one of the first converts of this place called Achaia, which was the area of Greece. where the city of Corinth was situated. So, Paul knew him. Now, he's in Rome, living there and dwelling there. Then, in verses 3 to 5 here, you'll read of Priscilla and Aquila. They are more well known to the Lord's people, if you've read the New Testament at all. Priscilla and Aquila, you first read of them in Acts chapter 18 as well. If you want to go back there once more with me and just look at it, Acts chapter 18. Verse 2 says, when he came to Corinth, he found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome. That's an interesting reference, because Priscilla and Aquila were Jews. They had to flee from Rome, and they went to Corinth. But the point is, they were already saved. They were already saved before they leave Rome to go to Corinth. And here they're mentioned in these verses when Paul gets to Corinth on his second missionary journey. And here's his initial meeting, therefore, with Priscilla and Aquila. Then they go with Paul as he left Corinth, and they go with him to Ephesus. And go back then to verse 18 and verse 19. We read verse 18, it refers to Priscilla and Aquila. And verse 19 then says, "...and he came to Ephesus and left them there." So, Priscilla and Aquila stayed on in Ephesus. It indicates that they must have settled there. Indeed, if you want just to see a little more history about this couple, turn to 1 Corinthians 16 and verse 19, and there you'll find that Priscilla and Aquila are still in Ephesus. 1 Corinthians 16, 19, it says, "...the churches of Asia salute you." Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their house." Now, when it refers there to Asia in verse 19 of this chapter, that would include Ephesus, because Ephesus was in Asia. So, they're still, therefore, in Asia, or specifically in the city of Ephesus, and they have got a church in their house. In other words, there's a congregation that meets in their home. Now go back to Romans chapter 16 and look with me at those verses where they are mentioned. Romans 16 and verse 3 to 5, as we said, "...greet Priscilla and Aquila, my helpers in Christ Jesus, who have for my life laid down their necks. Unto him not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. Likewise, greet the church that is in their house." He writes to the Romans here, and he mentions Priscilla and Aquila, and he asks to be remembered to them, which means that they're now in Rome. So, here's their story. They left Rome initially, been chased away by the emperor. They went to Corinth and on to Ephesus. They stayed there for a while. There was a church in their house there, but now they're back in the city of Rome, and there's a church in their house. Actually, when you read these terms about the church and their house here with regard to this letter to the Romans, that means there was more than one congregation in the city of Rome, most likely. Is that something to notice when you study the New Testament? That if you take Ephesus, for example, or even here, Rome, there was a plurality of congregations in each city. We can prove that very easily when you study these things out closely. You'll find that there was a plurality of churches in these great cities. It would be unthinkable, you see, for a city the size of Rome or Ephesus or Corinth in those times just to have one congregation. You can see clearly from this kind of study that there was more than one church. For example, in 1 Corinthians 14, You'll read there where Paul says concerning the woman, let your woman keep silence in the churches. And he's writing a letter to the church in Corinth. And yet in writing that letter to the church in Corinth singular, he at the same time refers to the churches in Corinth. And of course that all proves Presbyterianism. Putting in a plug here for Presbyterianism, because here is one church in Corinth, and yet there's a plurality of congregations. And that is Presbyterian church government. You have one church, one body of believers, but they are found throughout a plurality of congregations. So all of that is very interesting and therefore, as I show you these people in Rome in the epistle to the Romans who were known by Paul, we can notice all these little details about them. But the point is that Paul was familiar with many of the people in the city of Rome and that a company of believers who were from other places, who were notable Christians, who had gone to Rome, undoubtedly taking the gospel with them there, and taking their spiritual experiences with them, and therefore were helpful and instrumental in seeing the work of the Lord in that city founded and even carried on. Going back even earlier, to Acts chapter 2, you will read there in verse 10, of strangers of Rome. I'm still dealing here with the question, how was this church born? So Romans 2 verse 10 refers to strangers of Rome. And these people were present at Pentecost. They were Jews. Obviously, they had come to Jerusalem at Pentecost, along with all the others mentioned in those verses and Acts 2, for the Feast of Pentecost. They were converted, and no doubt they went back to Rome, as all the others went back to their respective places that had taken the gospel with them. And there is another clue as to the founding of the church in the city of Rome. There were people saved in the day of Pentecost who were from Rome. who would have gone back there with the gospel. It was Jewish people. Now, maybe, and I can't say this dogmatically, but maybe Priscilla and Aquila were part of that group. Because remember we saw in Acts 18 that they were already converted and then were driven out of Rome. So maybe, and they were Jews, so maybe they were some of the ones who had been in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, were converted, went back to Rome, helped to found the church there, and all these other things then transpired. But anyhow, these are some clues, some details as to the formation of the church in the city of Rome. And while I said earlier in my opening statement that it's shrouded in mystery, the formation of this church, with regard to all the fine details, yet I think it's true to say that we can glean some information at least as to how the work of God commenced in that great city. Now going back to Romans chapter 1, the church had a very clear testimony Verse 8 says, First I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. Now, the whole world there wouldn't refer to all the earth, of course. It would refer to the Roman Empire of that day, and more specifically, it would refer to the churches. scattered throughout the Roman Empire, because the heathen wouldn't really know much about what was going on in the city of Rome with regard to the Christian church there. But I would say to you, therefore, that when Paul says, your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world, he's talking about the Roman world and he's talking about the other churches in that area, in that empire and they had heard of this congregation in Rome, they had heard of its faith, they had heard of its love for the Lord, they had heard of its stand and its position and so on and therefore it was a church with a clear testimony. Now Paul did eventually see the realization of his desire to visit Rome. He writes here about his desire to visit Rome. He wants to get there to minister to these people, some of whom he knows and the others of whom he has heard. But turn back just one chapter to Acts 28 and notice what it says here in this chapter, verse 16, And when we came to Rome, So here is a reference to Paul eventually getting to Rome. Now, don't worry about the order of the books here, because when you read Acts, it comes before Romans. And you get to Romans and he says, I want to get to Rome. You read Acts, he's already in Rome, so don't get confused. In other words, what we're looking at here is not a chronological order. We're looking here at just how the Holy Spirit has had the New Testament laid out as far as the order of the books is concerned. But the point is, he eventually did get to Rome, but he got there as a prisoner. He had asked the Lord that he might get to Rome. He longed to be there, as the first chapter of Romans shows. He wanted to be there, and he had been hindered many a time. And the Lord told him, you see, earlier on, as you read in the book of Acts, As I has testified of me in Jerusalem, so you'll testify of me in Rome also." And at that point, Paul had just been taken a prisoner. Remember, he was in Caesarea. And he was kept in prison there. Remember how Felix dealt with him, and then Agrippa came along and so on. And at that time he was falsely accused, and when he was facing his false accusations, he said, I appeal to Caesar. That's how he got to Rome. He went to Rome as a prisoner. And that's what you read in Acts 28. But the thing is, he still was able to carry on a ministry. Look at verse 30 of Acts 28. And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house. and received all that came in unto him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no man forbidding him." So, for at least two years, he continued a ministry in the city of Rome. When he eventually got there, he was a kind of a prisoner, I could put it that way. He wasn't in a dungeon, he was in a house. And he had hired the house. He was kind of under house arrest. He couldn't leave the house. And yet he was free to minister, and there he was preaching away in the city of Rome. And that means, of course, that was not his only imprisonment. That wasn't his final imprisonment either, because when he finally was imprisoned in Rome, he was in a dungeon. And his final imprisonment, of course, that led them to his martyrdom, as 2 Timothy actually tells us. So, there's a lot of stuff here about Paul that makes very interesting reading. So, he eventually went to Rome. But before he got there, he wrote this marvellous letter, the Book of Romans. Rome was a strategic city. It was a centre of influence and power simply because it was the capital of the Empire. But that meant it presented a great opportunity for further dissemination of the gospel, further spread of the Word of God to other regions. And Paul knew that. And that's why Paul was so intent in getting to the city of Rome. And therefore, he writes a letter to prepare the way for his own visit to the city of Rome. But he writes this letter for another reason, and that is, because he wants the message of the gospel to be spread far and wide. And he knows that when he writes this letter to the church in the city of Rome, they will take it, as was the case, obviously, by all the letters that either Paul wrote or other apostles wrote, they would have taken this letter and copied it. And copies would have been sent here, there and yonder. And therefore, before he ever got to the city of Rome, he ministered to them. He wrote this epistle, and that epistle then would have been, as I say, copied and spread far and wide among other people, among other churches. But that's the way it was. You will find evidence of that in the New Testament. Paul wrote to the Colossians, and he said, when you've read this, make sure it's also read by the church at Laodicea. So the epistles were spread around. And undoubtedly that happened through copies being made, and of course that's proved by the fact that when you look at things even today, you'll find that there are thousands of copies of the original New Testament Scriptures. There are thousands upon thousands of copies still in existence, in museums. So it proves that copies were made and they were spread far and wide. So, he ministered to Rome, or he ministered to the church there, and even farther afield before he ever got to the city of Rome. Now, for a quarter of a century before Paul did write this epistle to the Romans, the Gospel had been spreading throughout the Roman Empire. And as the Gospel spread, It resulted in the formation of many churches, but it was inevitable with the formation of those churches and with the passing of time that questions would arise. and indeed problems would arise among the converts in all these congregations. And for that reason the epistles were written, to deal with problems, to deal with questions that arose among God's people. You see, God's people back then were no different from what they are today. And what I mean by that is, there's no church, there's no company of Christians that doesn't have its problems. I'm talking about individuals in those congregations who have got struggles and questions and problems in their hearts. And even sometimes, as you well know, problems arise in the whole congregation. And sadly, things take place where there are divisions and there are splits and all kinds of things happen among God's people. You know, the world looks on at the church and maybe sees some of these things happening. And the world says, well, you look at that bunch. They're supposed to be Christians and they're fighting with each other. That is very sad. Let me tell you something, that happened two thousand years ago. It doesn't make it right, but the point is, it happened. And that is often the reason why many of these epistles were written. Because the apostles had to deal with problems, and having to deal with problems, they had to deal with people. And in the epistles, they name people. They say to various individuals, you can imagine how they must have felt when Paul wrote to the Philippians. And in Philippians chapter 4, he actually names two women who were fighting with each other in the church at Philippi. And he says to them, I beseech you, Odias and Syntica, to behave themselves. That's not the way it's written, but that's what it means. Can you imagine how they must have felt? Because that was read out publicly to the whole church. And those two women were named by the Apostle Paul, in fact, by the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost had their names mentioned, and they're recorded right down to this very day as an example of the tragic things that happen among believers, because they just won't behave themselves. And they have to be named. They have to be dealt with. So the churches had problems, and therefore, letters were written. Now, the problems weren't always the same, the questions weren't always the same, and when you come to this church here in the city of Rome, the central matter that Paul must address when he writes this letter is the great doctrine of justification. Therefore, Romans is the most formal, most theological, and most logical statement of God's way of justification in all of Scripture. Now, all of the Bible teaches justification. The Old Testament teaches it. The New Testament teaches it. But if there's one book that has given over to teaching it in the sense of expounding it, it is the letter to the church in Rome. Here in this book we have a marvelous exposition of the doctrine of justification. And for that reason, Martin Luther, and you will know that Martin Luther was a man who championed the great doctrine of justification by faith, along with other Reformers in that time. But he said that Romans is the chief book in the New Testament. He said that every believer ought to know this book word by word, which means that Every one of us ought to memorize the book of Romans completely. That's how high in esteem Martin Luther placed upon this epistle, that every believer ought to know it word for word. In focusing on the doctrine of justification, Romans centers on the very heart of the gospel, which is, of course, free justification of sinners in the sight of God, sight of a righteous God by grace alone. That's what it's all about. Now, the key text is the last verse I read with you today, verse 17. And it says there, For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith. Verse 16 says, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. It is the power of God unto salvation. to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek, for therein," that is, in the gospel, that's the connection of thoughts, for therein, in the gospel, is the righteousness of God revealed. So what he's saying here is that the gospel is the revelation of the righteousness of God. And when he makes this statement in verse 17, he qualifies what he has said by quoting from the Old Testament. He says, as it is written, the just shall live by faith. And he's quoting there from the book of Habakkuk, chapter 2, verse 4, those great words that he quotes in three of his epistles, here Galatians and then Hebrews. But here he quotes them to support his assertion that in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed because it is written The just shall live by faith. Now, the question is, what is this righteousness that's in view in verse 17? The righteousness of God. Well, it is not God's own personal attribute of righteousness. Sometimes the term does signify God's own personal quality of pure righteousness. Look at chapter 3. of Romans in verse 5. It says, But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous, who take of vengeance? There you read of the righteousness of God. And also down in verse 26 of Romans 3, it says, I declare, I say at this time, His righteousness. that he might be just, and a justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." Now, in those verses, verse 5, verse 26, and in other places, the term refers to God's own personal quality, attribute of righteousness or justice. So, sometimes it does refer to that. But it doesn't in Romans 1, verse 17, where you read of the righteousness of God, as we've just noted. It doesn't mean here God's own personal righteousness, that He has, understand what I mean by this, this attribute of righteousness that belongs to God inherently and personally because of who He is. That's what is meant by the term sometimes as we saw in those few verses in Romans 3. But here it doesn't mean that. And how can we distinguish? How can I say to you that it doesn't mean that here in verse 17? Well, the answer is very simple, and that is faith in the truth that God is personally just does not save anybody. Do you understand what I'm saying? If a person says, I believe that God is holy, that He's absolutely pure, that He's perfectly righteous, and that is true of course, that doesn't save anybody. That doesn't justify anybody. But Paul is saying here, Romans 1, 17, "...therein in the gospel is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith." And sometime we will look at what that means. "...as it is written, the just shall live by faith." So he is talking here about men being justified by faith, and he talks about the righteousness of God being revealed to men. with regard to their justification, and the point I'm making is, to believe that God is holy or God is perfectly righteous does not justify anybody. So, right here, therefore, the righteousness of God doesn't refer to His own personal righteousness. You see, no more in Scripture does the Holy Spirit tell a sinner that by believing that God is righteous, or God is just, will that sinner be saved. Now, those who are saved, of course, or justified, do believe that God is just. They do believe that He possesses perfect personal righteousness. But God's own personal righteousness that He possesses as an attribute is not the object of faith or trust with regard to the justifying of a sinner. In actual fact, it is that truth that God is righteous that certainly brings conviction of sin. The knowledge that God is a holy God, a perfectly righteous God, does cause the sinner to be concerned and to be troubled and to feel his own guilt and his own wickedness. But the knowledge that God is righteous in Himself doesn't save a soul. So what is this reference, therefore, in chapter 1, verse 17? What does it mean here, the righteousness of God? Well, simply this, it's a reference to the righteousness that has its source in God in the sense that He provides it through His own dear Son, for the justification of the ungodly and their acceptance with God Himself. So, the righteousness of God here in verse 17 is the righteousness that God provides for men through Christ. Not His own personal attribute of righteousness, but the righteousness that He provides for men in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's chapter 5 of Romans. Let me just say this before I say what I was going to say. When Paul makes this statement here, therein is the righteousness of God revealed. From this point on, he is expounding that truth. That's what the book of Romans is all about. It's about the righteousness of God in this sense. that He provides it for sinners for their justification. And having made this statement that in the gospel this righteousness is revealed to men, He goes on from there to explain and expound that great theme the whole way through this book. Everything else in the book of Romans is an outworking of this statement. But as I was going to say there, chapter 5 of Romans especially shows the righteousness that God provides for sinners, that it is specifically the righteousness that results from the perfect obedience of Christ, both in His life and in His death, and a righteousness that is imputed to men freely, without their works, simply by faith alone in the Savior. That is the subject of the book of Romans. I haven't time, of course, to deal with that at any length, and I'm not going to at this point in this kind of study. I'm simply telling you what the book of Romans is all about. If you want to read the book of Romans and understand the book of Romans, you understand verse 17 of chapter 1. And from that point on, you always keep in mind this book is explaining that God has provided righteousness for sinners through His own Son and by His perfect obedience both in life and in death. Now, man needs that justifying righteousness. That's really the first thing that Paul discusses having made his basic statement or proposition in verse 17. Because in verse 18, notice what he does immediately. The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. And in verse 18, you notice that he focuses on man's sinful state immediately. He has said, here's the righteousness of God revealed in the gospel. And he's going to start expounding what he means by that. But the first place he goes is to deal with the matter of man's sinful state. And you have in verse 18 there the root of a sinfulness. It says that he's ungodly, the ungodliness of man. There's the root of man's sinful state. He is ungodly. Then you have the fruit of his sinful state. He is unrighteous. Now, those two terms are not the same. And I've mentioned that before in preaching, but I mention it again because it's very important. Ungodliness is different from unrighteousness. Ungodliness deals with the nature of man. He's ungodly. Unrighteousness deals with the behavior of man, how he conducts himself as a result of being ungodly. But notice something here very important. When the Bible, as it is right here, is dealing with justification, it can't deal with justification without first of all exposing why man needs justification. Because he's both ungodly and he's unrighteous. In the rest of chapter 1 and on through into chapter 3, the Apostle Paul is developing these two thoughts of man's ungodliness and man's unrighteousness by majoring on the doctrine of human depravity. He shows that man's depravity manifests itself in two ways. In chapter 1 verse 19 through to the final verse, verse 32, he shows that depravity manifests itself in the wickedness of man's sin. And then from chapter 2 verse 1 to chapter 3 verse 18, or verse 19 actually, but 18 will do, In those verses, he is exposing the wickedness of man's self-righteousness. Do you get what I'm saying? Man's sin, man's self-righteousness, both are explained here and expounded here because both belong to man's depravity. You see, some people think that I'm going to have to stop here, but some people think that there's a dear little woman lives down the road and she's very churchy and she pays in her money, whatever else she does. She's self-righteous. And people say she's a wonderful person. And maybe the minister will bury her and do so with glowing terms. But she's lost. You know why? Because even though outwardly she was not morally impure or whatever, not wicked in the sense of displaying terrible sin, yet she was wicked because she depended on her own righteousness. And that's as much a part of man's depravity as the other. Man being depraved is wicked. in his actions and in his behavior. But man being depraved is also wicked in the fact that he is good enough and his own works are sufficient to justify him. Both constitute the wickedness of the human heart. And Paul deals with that immediately here as he sets out to expound this great truth of the righteousness of God revealed in the gospel. We will have to leave it there. We will come back to this next week. Do you want to hold on to these notes, because we will come back to this next week and look at it again and seek to carry it a little farther. But may the Lord bless His Word to our hearts and help us as we seek to come to terms with what Romans is all about. And I trust that the Lord will bless it to your heart today. Let's just bow together and we will have a word of prayer. Our Heavenly Father, we pray that the Holy Spirit of God would take Thy truth, Thy word, and write it on our souls. We ask, Lord, that Thou wilt bless us today in our study of this book and in our understanding of its central message. We pray, O Lord, that Thou wilt be pleased to use Thy word for Thy glory, even to the deepening of Thy work in our own hearts. O Lord, deliver us, we pray, from all by which we are condemned. We thank Thee for Christ's righteousness that He has provided for us as a result of His own perfect obedience. We bless Thee for all that we have in Him and through Him, and help us, we pray, therefore, to love Him and to serve Him. We pray in Christ's name and for Christ's sake. Amen.