(Adapted from Ray Stedman’s sermons on raystedman.org)
A Story to Begin
A man once bought a complicated drone for his son. The box promised incredible things: flight, stability, precision, but when he opened it, he found dozens of parts and a thick manual. Confident he could figure it out, he ignored the instructions and began assembling it himself. Hours later, frustrated and surrounded by scattered pieces, he finally opened the manual. Suddenly, everything made sense. The parts weren’t random; they were designed to work together.
Many Christians experience the Bible the same way. They know individual stories, they’ve heard sermons, but the pieces don’t always fit together. The books of Romans to Galatians function like the “instruction manual” for understanding what God is doing in the world-and what He intends to do within us.
At the heart of Scripture is this conviction: God reveals Himself to transform human lives. The Bible is a living book with a living message, and genuine contact with it should change us. If it doesn’t, something is missing in the way we are engaging with it. And because it takes the whole of Scripture to shape the whole of life, we step back to survey these books together, to see what they say and how they say it.
How These Books Fit into the Whole Bible
To understand Romans through Galatians, we must first see where they sit in the great sweep of Scripture. The Bible is not a random collection of ancient writings; it is a single, unified story of God revealing Himself to humanity. Every part contributes to this revelation, and every part ultimately points to Christ in you, God’s life shared with His people.
The Old Testament: Anticipation and Preparation
The Old Testament lays the groundwork for everything that follows. It reveals:
- Who God is - holy, faithful, sovereign, compassionate.
- Who we are - created for fellowship with God yet broken by sin.
- What God promises - a Redeemer, a new covenant, a transformed people.
Through the Law, the sacrifices, the prophets, the kings, and the wisdom writings, the Old Testament raises the great questions that the New Testament answers:
- How will God deal with sin?
- How will He restore His people?
- How will He dwell with humanity again?
The Old Testament is the long, patient preparation for the arrival of Christ.
The Gospels and Acts
In the New Testament, the Gospels and Acts stand together as the great presentation of Jesus Christ. The Gospels give us God’s inspired portrait of Jesus as He truly is, and Acts records the spread of this living, transforming Person across the world. In these five books, Christ steps out of the shadows as a real man in whom the character of God is fully expressed.
The Gospel
In the Gospel, we see:
- God in human flesh
- the kingdom of God breaking into history
- the perfect life we could not live
- the atoning death we could not die
- the resurrection that launches a new creation
The Gospels are God’s inspired portrait of Jesus, His character, His compassion, His authority, His mission. In them, Christ steps out of the shadows of prophecy and into the world as a living, breathing man.
Acts
Acts continues the story by showing what Jesus does after His ascension. It is not the story of the early church’s brilliance; it is the story of the risen Christ working through ordinary people by the power of the Spirit.
Acts shows:
- the gospel crossing cultural and geographic boundaries
- the Spirit empowering weak people
- the life of Christ spreading from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth
If the Gospels show Christ with us, Acts shows Christ in us and through us.
The Epistles
When we come to the Epistles, we move from presentation to explanation. These letters unfold the mystery of Christ in terms we can grasp and live out. They take the towering truth of who Jesus is and lay it out in a way that enables us to enter into His life.
A Brief Summary of the Epistles
The Epistles take the truth revealed in Christ and explain how it works in the lives of believers and communities. They answer the question: “What does it mean for Christ to live in His people?”
The Epistles fall into three major groups, each with its own theme and emphasis:
1. Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, “Christ in You.”
These four letters focus on the inner life of the believer. Their central theme is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” They explain:
- justification
- sanctification
- glorification
- the Spirit’s power
- the freedom of the gospel
This is the foundation of Christian living.
This group lays the foundation for Christian identity and spiritual growth.
2. Ephesians through Philemon, “You in Christ.”
These letters show how believers live together as the body of Christ. They explore:
- unity
- spiritual gifts
- relationships
- leadership
- perseverance
They teach that we grow in Christ together, not alone.
3. Hebrews through Jude, “Walking by Faith.”
These letters teach believers how to endure, trust, and walk with God in a world of pressure and opposition.
They emphasize:
- the superiority of Christ
- the life of faith
- holiness
- discernment
- hope
They teach us how to walk with Christ day by day.
Together, these letters take the compelling truth revealed in the Gospels and make it practical, lived, and experienced.
In this study, we focus on the first group: Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, and Galatians.
Overview of Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, and Galatians - What These Books Teach
Romans - The Foundation
Romans is the great foundational letter of the New Testament. It reveals the full sweep of God’s saving work, from the depths of human need to the heights of God’s glory. If you want to understand what God is doing in you and in the world, Romans is the place to begin.
Romans unfolds salvation in three tenses:
- Past: I was saved, justified by faith, given a new standing before God.
- Present: I am being saved, Christ’s character being formed in me through the Spirit.
- Future: I will be saved, glorified in the presence of Christ, and fully transformed.
These are captured in three great words:
- Justification, Christ in you as your righteousness.
- Sanctification, Christ in you as your life.
- Glorification, Christ in you as your future hope.
Romans then illustrates God’s plan through Israel (chapters 9-11) and applies salvation to every sphere of life, personal conduct, relationships, the church, government, and society. It is the theological backbone of the Christian faith and the starting point for understanding Christ in you.
Romans answers the question: “What has God done for us, and what does Christ now do in us?”
1 - 2 Corinthians - The Gospel in Real Life
If Romans lays the foundation, Corinthians shows what happens when that foundation meets the messy reality of everyday life. Corinth was a church full of gifts and full of problems, divisions, pride, immorality, confusion about worship, and misunderstandings about suffering.
Paul shows how Christ in you reshapes a community:
- Christ in you produces humility instead of pride.
- Christ in you brings purity instead of compromise.
- Christ in you turns spiritual gifts into tools for love, not self-promotion.
- Christ in you gives strength in weakness and hope in suffering.
Corinthians teaches that sanctification is not abstract-it touches marriage, singleness, conflict, generosity, leadership, and worship. And it lifts our eyes to the future: the resurrection hope in 1 Corinthians 15, where Christ in you becomes Christ before you, completing His work.
These letters show that the Christian life is not lived alone. It is worked out in the shared life of the church, where Christ forms His people together.
Corinthians answers the question: “How does Christ transform a community in the real world?”
Galatians - The Defence of Freedom in Christ in You
Galatians is the sharpest, most urgent letter in this group, a deliberate wake-up call. Paul writes with fire because the Galatians were abandoning the life of Christ in you and slipping back into a life of you in you, a return to self-effort, rule-keeping, and religious performance.
The theme is unmistakable: freedom in Christ. “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” (Gal. 5:1)
Paul’s concern is not theoretical. To return to law-keeping as the source of righteousness is to deny the sufficiency of Christ. It is to trade the living power of Christ in you for the exhausting burden of trying to change yourself.
Galatians insists:
- Christ in you frees you from guilt and condemnation.
- Christ in you breaks the power of the flesh.
- Christ in you produces the fruit of the Spirit.
- Christ in you is the only source of true holiness.
This letter has sparked renewal throughout history because it restores believers to the simplicity and power of the gospel: Christ living His life in you through the Spirit.
Paul’s message is urgent and liberating: Walk by the Spirit. Live by the Spirit. Keep in step with the Spirit. Let Christ in you be your life, your power, your freedom, your hope.
Galatians answers the question: “How do we live in the freedom Christ gives, without slipping back into slavery?”
So What? Why This Matters
If Romans explains the gospel, Corinthians shows it lived out, and Galatians protects it from distortion, then these books are not ancient theology; they are a blueprint for Christian living.
They teach us:
- You are not meant to live the Christian life by your own effort.
- Christ intends to live His life through you.
- The Spirit, not rules, produces real transformation.
- The gospel shapes both personal holiness and community life.
- Freedom in Christ is not license; it is life in the Spirit.
In other words, Christianity is not about trying harder; it is about Christ living in you.
A Modern Story to End
A man in Sydney once confessed to a friend that he felt like a “failed Christian.” He attended church, read devotionals, and tried to be good, but he felt exhausted and unchanged. His friend encouraged him to read Romans through Galatians slowly, asking one question: “What is Christ doing, not what am I doing?”
Weeks later, he said, “For the first time, I realised the Christian life isn’t me living for Christ, it’s Christ living in me.” He didn’t become perfect, but he became free. Free from guilt. Free from striving. Free to let Christ shape his life from the inside out.
That is the message of Romans to Galatians. That is the message of Christ in you. And that is the message that still transforms lives today.
Resources:
For more references, please see the following:
- Christ in You
- The Gospel Coalition - Introduction to the Epistles and Revelation
- Bible Project Guides - New Testament
