I believe that Paul's letter to the Romans in the Bible is the greatest letter, and the greatest anything, ever written and that will ever be written. It is the key to understanding the entire Bible and, therefore, life. It is the most comprehensive presentation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The truths from Romans continue to transform my life and 100s of precious people I minister with and to. I count it all joy to share some of the miraculous background of this letter with you in this Rest Stop!
GOD'S PLAN FOR THE AUTHOR
God uniquely prepared Paul in order to specially deliver the message of this letter to us in the church today.
Paul was born a Jew. With his God-given brilliant intellect, along with God arranging for him to be trained by the best Jewish theologian, Paul was an expert lawyer regarding the details of God's holy law.
Paul was also a Roman citizen.
And God planted Paul to live in Tarsus (modern day Turkey). Tarsus, along with Alexandria, Egypt and Athens, Greece, were the primary centers of Greek cultures. Paul could communicate with Greek philosphers and poets.
Before Paul was saved, he (Saul) used these God-given gifts and background to persecute God's church.
After Paul was saved, the Holy Spirit enlivened Paul to use his God-given gifts and background to prove Christ is the Messiah to the Jews and to spread the Christian gospel to the Gentiles.
In other words, God prepared Paul to take the gospel of His Beloved Son to the world, including you and me!
God the Holy Spirit breathed into Paul the words in the letter to the Romans. God didn't breath His words into a robot, but into Paul's unique personality and giftings.
You and I, too, have been uniquely gifted and planted for God's use and glory! Believe this is God's plan for you even if you cannot see it at this time! Grow in this hope.
Expect God to faithfully work in and through you mightily and uniquely as He blazes the glory of His Son across this darkened world!
GOD'S PLAN FOR THE LETTER
The letter to the Romans is located in the Bible immediately after the historal books Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Acts. All the other 20 New Testament letters follow Romans. This is not because Romans is the earliest written letter, but is because it is the most foundational letter.
Romans was preached verse-by-verse by Augustine to counter a dangerous
heresy that infiltrated the early church in the 5th century.
"Justification by faith alone" in Romans inspired Martin Luther to start the Protestant Reformation in the 1500s. Luther later wrote a commentary on Romans. Below is an excerpt from Luther's Preface to the Epistle to the Romans:
This
letter is truly the most important piece
in the New Testament.
It is
purest gospel.
It is
well worth a Christian's while
not only to memorize it word for word,
but also
to occupy himself with it daily,
as though it were the daily bread of the soul.
It is
impossible to read this letter too much.
The more
one deals with it,
the more precious it becomes.
It is
in itself a bright light,
almost bright enough to illumine the entire
Scripture.
Romans nurtured John Bunyan to write Pilgrim's Progress in the late 1600s.
In 1738, John Wesley was saved while listening to a reading of Martin Luther's Preface to the Epistle to the Romans in a chapel on Aldersgate Street in London.
Wesley subsequently rode over 20,000 miles on horseback each year preaching the gospel. His sister described him as "out of breath seeking souls."
The Greatest Letter 
