One Remarkable Road

By Pastor Dan Hickling

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”—Romans 3:23 (NIV)

Have you ever considered how remarkable roads are when it comes to connecting things? Consider U.S. Route 1, which connects the Florida Keys with the northern woods of Maine. For 2,369 continuous miles, it links some of the most diverse places and people imaginable. You can experience a lot of the states (14 of them, as well as D.C.) from different angles—and you can do it all from the same road.

There’s another road that’s even more remarkable, because it spans an even greater distance and connects what would seem to be utterly un-connectable: humanity and God. It’s called “The Romans Road,” which is a series of Scriptures in Romans that paves a pathway from our broken lives to the presence of God.

The road begins in Romans 3:23 (NIV), which tells us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Every single person begins his or her earthly journey on earth in a spiritually broken state. This sad start has its beginnings in the very beginning as mankind chose to disobey God by eating the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. From that moment, every person’s nature would be defined by sin. This is really bad news, and it doesn’t take much convincing (if any) to face the fact that we’re imperfect sinners. And because of this, we have no part or place with God.

Although this is where the road begins, it doesn’t end here. It leads us to the next stop which tells us, “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away . . .” (Romans 3:10–12 NIV). We’re all born into a sinful state, and because of that, we choose to live in rebellion against God. We don’t seek God. Instead, we seek what we want, and this keeps us at odds with God.

But here’s what’s next: “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23 NIV). It could be argued that this is the most important verse in the entire Bible. Because while it affirms our sinfulness and how we deserve death and judgment, it also tells us that God has given us a great gift: the hope of eternal life and forgiveness of sin through Jesus Christ. And as the road continues on (Romans 5:8), we learn it was God’s love that led Him to suffer and die for us on the cross. The road is steadily rising above the sinful mists of this world.

There’s a responsibility; however, that rests upon every person in light of this great gift. “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9 NIV). In order to receive God’s gift of salvation, we must trust who He is and all He’s done for us. And when we do this, we’re given the guarantee that our faith in God has justified us and that we, who were once enemies with God as sinners, are now at peace with Him (Romans 5:1).

Anyone, no matter their background or bad choices, can be reconciled with God. Their lives can be lovingly linked with the Lord, and they can find total forgiveness and peace with Him—all by believing what He’s done on our behalf. That’s quite a connection and one remarkable road!

Pause: What does the “Romans Road” connect and why is it remarkable?

Practice: Memorize the mile markers of the Romans Road: Romans 3:23, 3:10, 6:23, 5:8, 10:9, and 5:1.

Pray: Lord, please help me to remember all that You’ve done for me. May I always be mindful of where I’ve come from and where You’ve led me to. And for those who still need to connect with You, use me to help them find their way on Your Romans Road. Amen.