Preparing Our Minds and Hearts to Study the Book of Romans

Reading Romans Prayerfully

Romans rightly has a reputation for being a very rich book, and it is a very rich book. Paul has some zinger verses in Romans as well, and there are not a few topics in Romans where the church lands in some different places, and we pull these proof texts from Romans to argue our position one way or the other. So, anybody who embarks on studying Romans has that awareness and is thinking, There’s a lot in here. How should I approach it?

I think the first way to approach it is with an open mind, to be ready to read passages that have somehow become proof texts for multiple different perspectives, and then asking the Spirit to help show you what is in here. What has God tried to communicate to the church for all of time—the church at Rome, the church that I’m in right now, and the church eternal? What is it that God has for us in these verses?

Reading Romans with an open mind and prayerfully is really important. And then secondly, I think it’s important to remember context. As a Bible teacher, I’m constantly saying context is king. We have to ask, What was the original audience like? What was the author of this like? What was his purpose in writing this letter? As you sit down to read Romans, rather than looking at it for proof texts, to win an argument, or to gain ammunition in whatever the conversation is at the moment, the point in reading is to understand what God was saying through Paul to Rome.

Romans

Jen Oshman

In this volume in the Conversational Commentary series, Jen Oshman offers women a warm and clear verse-by-verse examination of the book of Romans. It’s an accessible resource for personal study, small-group discussions, teaching, and outreach.

It’s helpful to know more about Paul, to know his story, to know what his history was, and to know about his conversion. He was a very deeply religious Jew, a Pharisee before he came to Christ. Jesus literally knocked him out, struck him spiritually blind, and then opened his eyes spiritually and physically to Jesus. He surrendered to the Lordship of Christ and just became obsessed with grace and the gift of grace. He moved from being this very legalistic, law-abiding Jew of Jews to understanding that salvation is a free gift of God. He knew there was nothing he could do to earn the gift of salvation. We really need to get into Paul’s story. What drove him?

And then when you read Paul’s words to Rome, you realize that what drove him was grace—the free gift of God. The righteous live by faith. It’s by grace through faith. It’s no rules that I’m following. It’s no perfectionist way of living. That preaches a word to us today for we who want to somehow participate in our own salvation or we who somehow want to earn God’s favor.

Paul says over and over, No, there’s nothing we can do to earn more of God’s love, and there’s nothing we can do to lose his love. We are approved of in Christ once and for all.

When you see Paul’s story, you see what motivates him and what he wanted to speak so clearly to the Jews and the Gentiles in Rome. Having that context of who the author is really important.

We are approved of in Christ once and for all.

Context Is King

Secondly, the geographical context is important. Who’s Rome? What’s happening in Rome? When did the gospel come to Rome? Who planted the church at Rome, and what are they going through? The history of the time is such that the church at Rome was likely originally planted by Jewish believers who heard the gospel, came to faith in Christ, and planted that church. And then Gentiles, obviously, came to faith as well. But then the Jews, whether they were Christian or not, were kicked out of Rome. For a time, they had to leave Rome. So can you imagine this church that’s planted probably mostly by Jewish Christians, and then they leave it in the hands of the Gentiles, and then they come back in and have to reintegrate into the church?

Think of the oppression and persecution they were suffering at the hands of the Roman Empire and what it cost the Christians who were in Rome to follow Jesus. Think about what was going on between the ethnic groups in Rome and consider believers as they faced the outside world and the cost of following Jesus. The situation was really intense. We think the context that we live in right now is divisive, polarized, and intense. But I think it’s nothing compared to what was happening in the first century in Rome.

So then you begin to read Romans and what’s happening in their context, and it gives you a deeper understanding and appreciation, especially for Paul’s call on us to be humble and unified. The direction toward unity takes on a new weight when you understand the context of Rome.

So my encouragement to those who are studying the book of Romans is to, one, leave your bias, as far as you are able, behind. Open up God’s word prayerfully, being led by the Spirit. Look at it from the perspective of who Paul and Rome were. What is the message for then? What is the message for now? And what is the message for always, for eternity, that God has for us on those pages?

Jen Oshman is the author of Romans: Saved by Grace.

Jen Oshman is an author, speaker, church planter’s wife, and mom of four teen and young adult daughters. She has served as a missionary and church planter for over two decades on three continents. She currently resides in Colorado, where she is the director of women’s ministry at Redemption Parker, which her family planted in 2017. You can keep in touch with Jen at jenoshman.com.

Podcast: The Danger in Being a Self-Made Woman (Jen Oshman)

March 02, 2020

What does it look like to pursue real fulfillment in God, rather than in ourselves? And what's wrong with the self-obsessed, individualistic culture that dominates our world today?

Read Romans Like a Snowball, Not a Bowling Ball

Brian S. Rosner

January 24, 2026

Romans is the longest and most imposing of Paul’s letters, with innumerable exegetical problems to solve and several libraries of long commentaries to negotiate.

Podcast: How to Read 4 Confusing and Controversial Passages in Romans (Brian Rosner)

November 17, 2025

Dr. Brian Rosner discusses the controversial, confusing, and difficult to understand parts of Romans, and what makes this book so helpful for believers today.