Romans Outline Chs. 1-8

While I'm working on Ch. 9 for next week, here's a critical outline of the project's progress so far. Many details within the commentary I've written so far support this structural analysis. Some fine points are much more structurally important than others, but at this moment in our analysis the minutiae start to matter very little. What I think about chs. 9-11 is, however, entirely dependent on the larger shape of chs. 1-8. Please let me know if there appears to be anything suspicious or unfounded in what you see below. If so, that ought to be sorted out before going on to the controversial material.

Romans 1-4 The Faithfulness of God

1:1-15 Exposition, God’s gospel and Paul’s service

1:16-17 The Gospel is God’s righteousness

1:18-32 Idolatrous Gentiles dehumanized by God’s wrath

2:1-16 “You” (judging) also under impartial unfavorable judgment

2:17-“You” the Jew directly challenged

3:1-8 Israel unfaithful but God faithful

3:9-20 Torah indicts Jew and Gentile alike

3:21-26 But now, God’s righteousness through the faithfulness of Jesus

3:27-38 One God of One Faith for Jews & Gentiles

4:1-8 Abraham the covenant father (by faith)

4:9-15 Abraham the father by faith, not by circumcision or Torah

4:16-17 Abraham the father of Jew and Gentile faithful

4:18-22 Abraham trusting in him giving life to the dead

4:23-25 And likewise to “us”

Romans 5-8 God’s people in the Messiah

5:1-5 Exposition, hope in suffering

5:6-11 Love demonstrated in the Messiah’s death

5:12-21 The Messiah greater than Adam

6:1-11 Dying and rising (baptism) with the Messiah—Exodus through the waters

6:12-23 No longer in slavery, but redeemed into freedom

7:1-6 Two marriages; being “widowed” to Torah

7:7-12 Is Torah sin? No, but its arrival (read Sinai) is Sin’s opportunity

7:13-20 Torah does not kill “me” (Israel) but Sin through it; Torah and “I” exonerated

7:21-25 The Torah bifurcates and so do “I”—I need rescue

8:1 Therefore, no condemnation

8:2-11 Because God has done what Torah could not in Messiah’s defeat of Sin; gives resurrection life

8:12-17 Therefore we are not people of flesh (circumcision) but heirs in the Spirit

8:18-30 The promised renewal of all things; recap of 5:1-5, hope in suffering

8:31-39 Nothing to separate us from God’s love