A Roman Take on the Romans Road

The letter to the Romans is commonly viewed as friendly to non-Catholic views on salvation and hostile territory for us Papists.  For instance, the epic story of Martin Luther’s crusade to reform the Church supposedly began with him finding a dusty, long-lost copy of Romans and subsequently rediscovering the true Gospel (tm).

In more recent history, there is a tract which used to be common in Evangelical circles called “The Romans Road”.  It uses selected verses from Paul’s letter to the Romans to spell out their doctrine of salvation and guide a person into become Christian.  But it does this while skipping over large swaths of perfectly good Scripture.

Today I wanted to offer a Catholic take on “The Romans Road”.  One which I believe reflects more accurately the intention of Paul’s letter.


Step 1: A pure heart is necessary to be justified

Paul begins his letter by laying out the conditions for being righteous in the sight of God.  He gives three criteria:

“He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life;  but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.” – Romans 2:6-8 

“For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.” – Romans 2:13 

“For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.” – Romans 2:28-29

So the one who is right before God has a circumcised (pure) heart, does good, and fulfills the law.

Step 2: But we’re fallen sinners 

But there is a problem.  Paul notes in Romans 3 that no one can meet this standard because everyone falls under the condemnation of their sins.  He says:

“What then? Are we (Jews) any better off? No, not at all; for we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin, as it is written: ‘There is no one who is righteous, not even one…’” – Romans 3:9-10

How did we get this way?  Paul explains that Romans 5.  Namely, the human race was placed in bondage through the sin of Adam:

“Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned…” - Romans 5:12

As a result we find ourselves messed up inside.  Even if we desire to do good, we are always struggling against our temptations… and we consistently fail.  As Paul says in Romans 7:

“So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.” – Romans 7:21-23

Step 3:  We can only receive righteousness as a gift 

This means it is impossible to meet the criteria of Romans 2 under one’s own power.

Even if one held in his hands a body of laws which perfectly described the life of holiness, one would find it impossible to keep.  We are all sinners, and nothing we do can earn divine forgiveness or solve the problem of our wounded nature.  We need a savior.

Therefore, righteousness can only be received as a gift.  A gift received by faith in that savior, Jesus Christ.  As Paul says in Romans 3:

“For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith.”  – Romans 3:23-25

And again, in Romans 4:

“Now to one who works, wages are not reckoned as a gift but as something due. But to one who without works trusts him who justifies the ungodly, such faith is credited as righteousness.” – Romans 4:4-5

Step 4: We are made righteous and acceptable through faith

There are some folks who think God merely regards us as if we are righteous… despite that fact that we’re not.  This is known as “forensic imputation”.  A famous analogy for this concept is the person being a pile of dung being covered over by pure white snow.

However, that understanding is contrary to what Paul is actually asserting in Romans.  Rather, Paul asserts that by faith we are actually made righteous. In Romans 5 he remarks:

“For just as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.” – Romans 5:19

Now, what does this righteousness consist in?  Remember the criteria from Romans 2; the circumcision of the heart, keeping the law, and doing what is good.

That is precisely what Paul says is given to us by faith.  Regarding the circumcision of the heart, he says:

“Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. […]  God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” –Romans 5:1-5

And what of keeping the law?  In Romans 8, Paul says that we are enabled to walk in the spirit and thus fulfill the requirements of the law.  He says:

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.  For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” – Romans 8:1-4

What are the requirements of the law?  Is it all the precepts of the Mosaic Law?  Not quite.  A little later on Paul gives us that answer:

“Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery; you shall not kill; you shall not steal; you shall not covet,’ and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this saying, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no evil to the neighbor; hence, love is the fulfillment of the law.”  – Romans 13:8-10

With this in mind, you can see the truth in something Paul wrote way back in Romans 3:

“Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.” – Romans 3:31

That is to say, it’s not that faith allows us to totally circumvent the criteria laid out in Romans 2.  Rather, the grace received in Baptism circumcises the heart, allowing one to love God and love neighbor – and thus fulfill the law and be truly righteous.


Step 5: The medium of this gift is baptism 

But how exactly does this transaction take place?  Do we have to recite a certain prayer? Or have some kind of special inner experience?  Not exactly.

Paul describes the medium of this gift in Romans 6:

“Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.  For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” – Romans 6:3-5

That is to say, the way we receive righteousness by faith … is in the sacrament of Baptism.

Step 6: And we must endure to the end 

Lastly, Paul holds out the possibility that Christians can fall away.  In Romans 6 he warns his audience not to submit themselves to sin and thus incur spiritual death:

“What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?”  - Romans 6:15-16

And in Romans 11 he gives a special warning to the Gentiles to the same effect:

“Indeed you (Gentiles) will say, ‘Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.’ That is so. They were broken off because of unbelief, but you are there because of faith. So do not become haughty, but stand in awe. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either. See, then, the kindness and severity of God: severity toward those who fell, but God's kindness to you, provided you remain in his kindness; otherwise you too will be cut off.” - Romans 11:19-22

Therefore, even after we are baptized and made righteous, we must endure to the end.  Only then will be truly “saved” in the most absolute sense.  This is why Paul refers to salvation as a future tense even in Romans 13:

“Our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.” – Romans 13:11

This points us forward to the day when we stand at our judgment acquitted – saved from the guilty verdict which would have otherwise been our due.  A day when God says to us in truth:

 “Well done, good and faithful servant.”