Romans 1–3
The Gospel & Human Sin
Paul declares the gospel's power, establishes humanity's universal guilt, and reveals that righteousness comes only through faith in Jesus Christ.
Begin Study →Bible Study • The Book of Romans
Paul's magnum opus — the most complete explanation of salvation, justification, the Holy Spirit, and what it means to live transformed by the grace of God.
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes"
Romans 1:16 NKJVComplete book study
Oneness Pentecostal theology
Structured study roadmap
New King James Version
Why Study Romans?
The book of Romans is Paul's most systematic theological letter, written to the believers in Rome to lay out the full scope of the gospel in careful, reasoned argument. Unlike his other letters, which often respond to specific problems in a local congregation, Romans is Paul's magnum opus — a complete presentation of what the gospel is, why humanity needs it, how it works, and what it produces in the life of those who receive it.
Romans covers the sinfulness of all humanity (chapters 1–3), justification by faith (chapters 4–5), the new birth through baptism (chapter 6), life in the Spirit (chapter 8), and how to live as a transformed people of God (chapters 12–16). For Apostolic believers, Romans is especially rich because it contains some of the strongest proofs for Oneness doctrine in all of Scripture.
Pay special attention to Romans 6:3–4, where Paul connects water baptism directly to Christ's death, burial, and resurrection — the same obedience Peter commanded in Acts 2:38. Watch Romans 8:9–11, where Paul uses the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, and Christ in you interchangeably — not three persons, but ONE Spirit. And trace Romans 10:13 ("call on the name of the LORD") back to Acts 2:38, where Peter reveals that name is JESUS.
Romans 1:16 NKJV
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek."
Romans 6:3–4 NKJV
"Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."
Romans 8:9 NKJV
"Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His."
The Central Revelation
Paul builds his argument carefully through Romans — each section revealing another dimension of the gospel and its implications for how we are saved and how we live.
The gospel is the power of God unto salvation — not merely information about Jesus, but transforming power that changes everything it touches.
Romans 1:16–17
Jew and Gentile alike stand equally guilty before God. The universal need for the gospel is established: no one is exempt, no one is righteous on their own.
Romans 3:23
Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Righteousness is received by faith, not earned by human effort.
Romans 5:1
Baptism into Christ is baptism into His death. We are buried with Him and raised to walk in newness of life. This is Acts 2:38 explained doctrinally by Paul himself.
Romans 6:3–4
The Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, and Christ in you are used interchangeably by Paul — proving ONE Spirit, not three persons. The Oneness of God in a single passage.
Romans 8:9–11
"Whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved" (Romans 10:13) — Peter quotes this same Joel prophecy and then in Acts 2:38 reveals that name is JESUS.
Romans 10:13 • Acts 2:21, 38
Key Themes
Romans is structured as a logical argument from beginning to end. Each major section builds on what came before, leading to the transformed life of Romans 12–16.
Paul begins with the great declaration: the gospel is the power of God for salvation. From there he establishes the moral and spiritual failure of all humanity — Gentiles who rejected the knowledge of God in creation, and Jews who had the law but could not keep it. Everyone stands before God equally guilty. The answer is not better human effort but the righteousness of God revealed in the gospel: righteousness that comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe (Romans 3:22).
Reflection Questions
Paul looks to Abraham as the ultimate example that justification has always been by faith. Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness — and this happened BEFORE he was circumcised, meaning circumcision was a sign of faith already present, not the cause of his standing before God. This establishes that the Old Covenant system of ritual was never the basis of right standing with God. Faith was always the answer. Through Christ, that same faith-righteousness is available to all: Jew and Gentile alike.
Apostolic Focus: Romans 5:1 says we have peace through our Lord Jesus Christ — not through a doctrinal formula about three persons, but through personal submission to the one God whose name is Jesus. Jesus IS the Father manifested in flesh (1 Timothy 3:16), and to come to Him is to come to God.
Romans 6 is the doctrinal cornerstone of water baptism. Paul does not treat baptism as an optional ceremony performed after salvation — he treats it as the very moment of spiritual death and resurrection. To be baptized into Christ is to be baptized into His death. The old man is buried in the water. What comes up is a new creation walking in newness of life. This language perfectly mirrors what Peter commanded in Acts 2:38: repent (die to sin), be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ (be buried with Him), and receive the Holy Spirit (be raised to new life).
Romans 6:3–4 IS Acts 2:38 explained. Paul says baptism is death, burial, and resurrection with Christ. This is not symbolism — it is the actual spiritual transaction of the new birth. The "form of doctrine" Paul references in Romans 6:17 (which his readers "obeyed from the heart") is the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, experienced through repentance, baptism in Jesus' name, and the Holy Spirit.
Romans 8 is the greatest chapter on the Holy Spirit in all of Paul's writings, and it contains one of the strongest Oneness Pentecostal proofs in Scripture. In just three verses (8:9–11), Paul uses four phrases for the same Spirit: "the Spirit of God," "the Spirit of Christ," "Christ in you," and "the Spirit of Him who raised up Jesus." He uses them all interchangeably without any distinction — because they are ONE Spirit. If the Holy Spirit and Jesus were two separate divine persons (as Trinitarian theology teaches), Paul could not have written that "the Spirit of Christ" IS the evidence of belonging to Christ — because a different person-Spirit would not BE Christ.
Three phrases, ONE Spirit. The Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, and Christ in you are not three different divine persons — they are three ways of describing the one God dwelling within the believer. This is Oneness theology: God is ONE, His Spirit is ONE, and that Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Paul confirms it in 2 Corinthians 3:17: "Now the Lord is the Spirit."
Paul wrestles with one of the most difficult questions in theology: if Israel is God's chosen people, why have most of them rejected Jesus? His answer reveals the sovereign grace of God, the mystery of election, and the breathtaking scope of God's plan to include both Jew and Gentile in salvation. Romans 10:13 is the key: "whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved." This is a quote from Joel 2:32, the same passage Peter preaches from in Acts 2:21 — and then in Acts 2:38, Peter tells the crowd exactly HOW to call on that name: repentance, baptism in the name of JESUS.
Reflection Questions
The final section of Romans is not an afterthought — it is the whole point. Doctrine always leads to doxology and then to discipleship. Paul's "therefore" in Romans 12:1 connects everything he has taught in chapters 1–11 to the practical, daily life of the believer. Present your body as a living sacrifice. Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Love sincerely. Bless those who persecute you. Be devoted to one another. Overcome evil with good. The grace that justifies us is the same grace that sanctifies and transforms us.
Romans 10:13 • Acts 2:21, 38
One of the most important cross-references in all of Scripture connects Romans 10:13 to Acts 2:38 — and the answer it gives is unmistakable.
Romans 10:13 NKJV
Paul quotes from Joel 2:32. The question this raises is critical: which name? What does "calling on the name" look like in practice? Paul quotes the promise but does not explicitly name the name here.
Acts 2:21 NKJV
On the Day of Pentecost, Peter preaches from the same Joel prophecy and applies it to Jesus. The crowd asks, "What shall we do?" They want to know how to call on that name.
Acts 2:38 NKJV
THIS is how you call on the name of the LORD. Not a spoken prayer formula, but an obedient act of repentance and baptism in the name that saves — JESUS. The name of the LORD in Romans 10:13 is the name Peter commanded them to be baptized in: Jesus Christ.
Acts 22:16 NKJV
Ananias told Paul: "Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord." Paul himself obeyed baptism as the act of "calling on the name" — the very thing he writes about in Romans 10:13.
The name of the LORD in Romans 10:13 is JESUS — and calling on that name, as Peter showed in Acts 2:38, means being baptized in that name.
Oneness Proof in Romans 8
Romans 8:9–11 contains one of the most decisive Oneness arguments in all of Scripture. In just three verses, the apostle Paul uses four descriptions of the same Spirit without any distinction, treating them as completely interchangeable:
The Spirit is identified as belonging to God the Father.
The same Spirit is identified as Christ's Spirit — not a different being.
Now Paul drops the word "Spirit" entirely — Christ Himself is the indweller.
The Father's Spirit — once again, the same Spirit described differently.
If Trinitarian theology were correct — that the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ are two separate and distinct divine persons — then Paul could not have written these verses interchangeably. He would have needed to distinguish clearly between "the Spirit of Christ" (a third person) and "Christ in you" (a second person). Instead, Paul collapses all four descriptions into ONE reality: the ONE Spirit of the ONE God, who is Jesus Christ dwelling in the believer. This is Oneness Pentecostal theology rooted directly in Scripture.
Romans 8:9–11 NKJV
"But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you."
2 Corinthians 3:17 NKJV
"Now the Lord is the Spirit."
Colossians 2:9 NKJV
"For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily."
8-Week Study Plan
A week-by-week roadmap through Romans — from the universal need for the gospel to the practical life of the Spirit-filled believer.
Romans 1–2
Romans 3–4
Romans 5–6
Romans 7–8
Romans 9–10
Romans 11
Romans 12–14
Romans 15–16
Study Chapters
Each section covers key passages, Apostolic doctrine, and reflection questions to help you go deeper into the most complete presentation of the gospel in Scripture.
Romans 1–3
Paul declares the gospel's power, establishes humanity's universal guilt, and reveals that righteousness comes only through faith in Jesus Christ.
Begin Study →Romans 4–5
Abraham's faith is the model. Through Christ, we have peace with God — and the comparison of Adam and Jesus unlocks the scope of God's redemptive plan.
Begin Study →Romans 6–7
Paul explains what happens in water baptism: death, burial, and resurrection with Christ. Then he describes the struggle of trying to live righteously through law alone.
Begin Study →Romans 8
No condemnation, the Oneness of God in verses 9–11, the Spirit's intercession, and the unbreakable love of God. Romans 8 is the summit of Paul's theology.
Begin Study →Romans 9–11
God's sovereign election, Israel's stumbling, the Gentiles' grafting in, and the key that unlocks Romans 10:13: the name of the LORD is JESUS (Acts 2:38).
Begin Study →Romans 12–16
The "therefore" of the gospel: present your body as a living sacrifice, be transformed by the renewing of your mind, and walk in practical love toward all people.
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