The Roman's Road - and where it leads

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

What is the Roman's Road?
The Book of Romans' chief aim is to explain how the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God unto salvation. (Romans 1:16-17)  For years observant Christian teachers have discovered that key verses in the book of Romans can be used as a tool to walk a person through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Below are the string of  verses used in this evangelism tool that is referred to as the "Roman's Road":

Romans 1:16-17 = The Power of the Gospel
Romans 1:18; 3:23 = The bad news of the Gospel
Romans 6:23 = The results of rejecting the Gospel
Romans 5:8 = God's Love in the Gospel
Romans 10:8-10 = How to Receive the Gospel
Romans 12:1-2 = Living the Gospel every day

One thing to change about this presentation
This particular method of sharing the gospel is effective because it tries to follow Paul's argument for the power of the Gospel and its ability to convert the unbelieving heart to a heart of faith in Christ.  I have even used this tool from time to time in my conversations with unbelievers.  However if I were to change one thing in this presentation, it would be the way in which Romans 6:23 is used. 

No doubt Romans 6:23 tells us about the "wages" or "expected results" of sin - death.  Furthermore, Paul is contrasting "sin" and "eternal life".  However the question that needs to be asked is: "does this passage address believers or unbelievers"?  In the context of Romans 6,7,8 the overwhelming answer is that the verse is addressed to believers.  It is a warning to not be influenced by the still lingering remains of the sinful inclinations that reside within the Christian.  Though the Christian nature is designed by God to "sin no more" (see yesterday's blog), the presence of indwelling sin beckons and tempts the Christian to consider disobedience as a second option. (thus the point of Romans 7)  If a Christian never had to worry about ever sinning again, the warning about the "wages of sin" would not be issued. 

Revising the Roman's Road method
Being that Romans 1-5 is dealing with the journey one makes from unbelief to faith, and being that Romans 10 occurs within a context wherein Paul is appealing to his fellow Jews to be saved, I would propose the following revision of the Roman's Road:
Romans 1:16-17 = The Power of the Gospel
Romans 1:18; 3:23 = The bad news of the Gospel
Romans 5:8 = God's Love in the Gospel
Romans 10:8-10 = How to Receive the Gospel

Where the Roman's Road leads
By using this "revised" method, the verses dealing with the journey from unbelief to faith are used in accordance to their context.  Following an actual profession of faith, I would then bring in Romans 6:23 and Romans 12:1-2 to explain to the new convert the "now what's next" part of their faith commitment.  Romans' aim is to show the power of the Gospel that not only leads to salvation, but also how the power of the Gospel enables one to live the life of salvation.