As a youth in South Florida, I was trained on a program called Evangelism Explosion, which drew from what’s often called the “Romans Road,” a sequence of verses from the book of Romans that outlines the gospel message. They became a helpful mental roadmap to share the good news of Christ’s saving work:

• Romans 3:23 diagnosed our universal problem: All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
• Romans 6:23 warned of the consequence: The wages of sin is death.
• Romans 5:8 revealed God’s solution: Christ died for us while we were still sinners.
• And Romans 10:9–10, 13 called for a response: Confess Jesus as Lord, believe in your heart, and you will be saved.

I fondly recall memorizing these passages and using them in conversations with unbelievers—from shopping malls to door-to-door evangelism to high school classmates and professors. What I didn’t realize then was that I was stepping into a long and rich history of believers for whom the book of Romans played a vital role in salvation.

As Obbie Tyler Todd writes, “While John 3:16 has long been regarded as the most well-known verse in Scripture, and while every book of the Bible is equally inspired, no book has more transformed the course of human history than Paul’s epistle to the Romans.” From Augustine to Luther to Wesley to Bunyan to Packer, the Lord has used this epistolary masterpiece to awaken sinners, ignite revival, and shape movements.

And it still does today. Whatever comes of our AI-driven world, the rock-solid truth remains that “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (10:17). Both my teenage and middle-aged self praise God for the message of Romans—of a God who saves!