Roman Road
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My youth group days in the 1990s introduced me to the Roman Road, a walk through the Bible that relayed key truths about the gospel message. Here are the stops on the journey:
Romans 3:23 declares that we are all sinners, Romans 5:8 states that while we were yet sinners, “Christ died for us,” Romans 6:23 reminds us that the wages of sin is death, but God’s gift is life eternal in Christ Jesus our Lord, Romans 8:1 asserts that therefore there is “no condemnation,” and Romans 10:9 outlines our response: to declare with the mouth Jesus is Lord, and to believe in the heart that God raised him from the dead; thereby, “you will be saved.”
I was reminded of the Roman Road while at First Baptist Church of Woodway this week. There is a short garden path, along which are granite markers. As you walk, the markers along the way take you along the Roman Road. Other verses were displayed as well, such as Ephesians 2:8 and John 1:12.
What brought me to First Baptist Woodway was an opportunity to spend time with ministry leaders. Truett’s DMin Program welcomes men and women from all over the United States as they come to learn from professors and practicioners how to better serve the church. Each morning, the 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. school day begins with prayer and time in the Scripture. I was invited by the program director to lead students as their day began. I considered this an honor and privilege.
Most days I arrived at the church around 7:30 a.m. after dropping my son at school. I walked the Roman Road. And I thought about how these verses helped me to gain an elementary understanding of the gospel around twenty five years ago, providing for me a way into the story. Years later, I reflected upon the fact that the story of the Roman Road begins with sin, rather than with the glories of God’s creative action, the “before the fall narrative” with which the Bible begins. That’s a problem, of course. God didn’t create junk. And God’s action, in Christ, was meant to redeem and restore what had been lost. That’s an important detail.
I also thought about the fact that the end of the Roman Road is but another beginning. Once one confesses Christ and places faith in Him, the salvation that comes is a status that is received and a new journey that is then begun, the journey of sanctification, walking with Christ day by day, opening ourselves to the Holy Spirit, desiring that we be perfected in and by God’s love, and trusting that God will, one day, bring the work which he began to completion.
In John 14:6, Jesus is recorded as saying, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” With “the way,” there is movement, direction, even progress. Jesus leads the way.
Christ is our forerunner. He is also our path.
Book Notes
I continue to make my way through Ronald Reagan’s autobiography, An American Life. I’m through the first year of his presidency, right after John Hinckley, Jr. attempted to take Reagan’s life.
I am near completion of Beth Allison Barr’s The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth, and I have continued to read Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy. Check out 100 Days of Dante.
Sights and Sounds
I watched Nobody and enjoyed it. Check out this video of incredible Cristiano Ronaldo moments (soccer season for my kids begins tomorrow).
Last Words
On the blog: I shared the spiritual discipline of doing nothing and a quick sketch of the Blind Bartimaeus story.
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Be well this week. Bless others.
Best,
BAS
P. S. - The walking path at First Baptist Church Woodway, Texas.
