New Testament · Letters of Paul · World English Bible
Romans
"But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
— Romans 5:8 
The Reading LensEvery verse pulled to the top of a book is chosen by three questions: Where is God’s heart here? Who is He protecting? Who is being saved by the action? It marks the place where those answers come into clearest focus — a “look at this, in this book.”
About the Letter
The longest of Paul’s letters and the most systematic, written to a congregation he had not founded and had never visited — which is part of why he sets the argument out so fully rather than assuming it.
The structure is unusually clean for him: a sustained argument through chapter 11, then practical consequence from 12 onward, with the hinge at “therefore, I urge you.”
Chapter 16 is a list of names — more than two dozen people greeted individually, a third of them women, beginning with Phoebe, commended as a deacon and almost certainly the person who carried the letter to Rome.
16 Chapters
Not Ashamed
The gospel as the power of God for salvation — then the indictment begins, with what can be known of God from what has been made, and what follows from suppressing it.
You Who Judge
The trap closes: whoever passes judgment condemns himself, because he does the same things. Gentiles who do by nature what the law requires. Circumcision of the heart, not the flesh.
Every Mouth Stopped
No distinction — all have sinned. And then the turn: justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
Abraham
Counted righteous before he was circumcised and centuries before the law — which makes him the father of everyone who believes, not the ancestor of one group.
While We Were Yet Sinners
Peace with God, and suffering producing perseverance. Then the verse the book turns on, and the comparison of Adam and Christ.
Dead to Sin
Shall we continue in sin so grace may abound? Buried with him in baptism and raised to walk in newness of life. You are not under law but under grace — which is the reason, not the exemption.
What I Hate, That I Do
The law as holy and good, and the divided person who cannot keep it. The most quoted description of failure in the New Testament, and the cry at the end of it.
No Condemnation
The Spirit of life. Adoption and the cry of Abba. The whole creation groaning. All things working together for good — and the closing list of everything that cannot separate.
Israel
The argument turns to the people the promises were made to, and Paul says he would be cut off himself for their sake. The potter and the clay, and the remnant.
How Will They Hear
Righteousness by faith put in reach — the word is near you. Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. And the chain of questions about who goes and who tells.
The Grafted Branch
Has God rejected his people? By no means. The olive tree, the wild branch grafted in, and the warning to the graft not to become arrogant. It ends in a doxology rather than a conclusion.
A Living Sacrifice
Bodies presented, minds renewed. The body with many members and different gifts. Love without hypocrisy, bless those who persecute you, and leave room for wrath rather than taking revenge.
Governing Authorities
The passage about submission — followed immediately by the reason it has limits: owe no one anything except love, because love does no harm to a neighbour and so fulfils the law.
The Weak and the Strong
Food and days and the people who disagree about them. Do not despise, do not judge, and do not put a stumbling block in a brother’s way. Each stands or falls before his own master.
Bearing with the Failings
The strong ought to bear with the weak and not please themselves. Then the collection for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem, and his hope of going on to Spain.
The Names
Phoebe commended first. Prisca and Aquila, who risked their necks. Andronicus and Junia, outstanding among the apostles. Mary, Tryphaena, Tryphosa, Persis — and Tertius, who wrote it down, greeting them in his own name.