featured image for the Book of Romans

The Book of Romans

If you want to understand Christianity, the best way is to read the Bible for yourself. The book of Romans in the New Testament, is the essence of Christian doctrine.

“Doctrine,” in a general sense simply means ‘whatever is taught.’ The doctrines of the gospel are the truths taught by Jesus and his disciples.

“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”
~Jesus (John 17:17)

Alexander Scourby is reputed to be the greatest audio-book narrator in history. He recorded 422 audiobooks for the American Foundation of the Blind’s “talking book program.” Among the books he recorded was the King James Bible. Listening is a very pleasing experience.

However, there are places where I believe the emphasis should be different from where Scourby placed it. Further, the rights to his recordings are owned by someone else.

So, I decided to make a recording of the book of Romans on mp3, for the purpose of giving it away without copyright or encumbrance of any sort.

To download the individual chapters, or the book of Romans as a single file, scroll down to the bottom. I don’t need your email address or your money. Though I would appreciate it if you’d share. If you’d prefer to use your browser, the links are directly below.

The book of Romans has 16 chapters. The first eleven establish the state of the world, our situation, what God has done for us, and where we fit in to the family of God. The remaining five chapters establish our mission. How we should live as Christians, the things we should focus on, and the things we don’t have to worry about.

If, like me, you grew up in an environment of legalism, this is quite a relief.

Chapter 1 – Introduction to God, judgement, and sin.
Herein, the word “let” is a legal term (“without let or hindrance”) that means “prevented.” The word “meet” means “fitting or suitable.”
Chapter 2 – You gotta keep the law to be righteous.
When you see the words “circumcision” and “uncircumcision” here (and elsewhere in the New Testament), He is referring to “Jews” and “Gentiles” respectively.
Chapter 3 – But you can’t keep the law. We’ve all sinned. All we can do is believe in Jesus, God, come in the flesh, who DID keep the law as a human. Our belief (faith) in Him is what justifies us.
Chapter 4 – You cannot work your way to righteousness. It’s all about faith in Jesus.
Chapter 5 – Here’s how faith, atonement, and grace works.
Chapter 6 – Okay, so I’m covered. Does that mean sin is no big deal anymore?
Chapter 7 – No. The law was made to teach us what sin is. Our flesh is trapped in it.
Chapter 8 – But we, our spirit, serves God by his grace. We are his children. We are “in the [living] will” so to speak.
Chapter 9 – What’s up with the Jews, and where do they fit in to all this? What about we Gentiles?
Chapter 10 – How to be saved. Further clarification on righteousness, the law, and faith. Where Israel got it wrong.
Chapter 11 – A final word about Israel, after the flesh. It’s as if God knew there would come false teachers, and cults who would claim that Israel is no longer God’s people. See also: Ephesians 2 and Galatians 3.

A word about The Jews

I have noticed an increasing number of people who want to blame the Jews for all the ills of the world. This subject deserves its own essay. However, read Deuteronomy 28. The next time you hear some angry, wild-eyed crazy claim that “It’s da Joos, I tell ya!”… Understand that God both warned Israel that what is coming, is a consequence of rejecting him, AND that those nations whom he uses to judge Israel (all of them), will themselves be judged.

Chapter 12 – in which we begin to learn how Christians are to treat one another. After all, we are part of the family.
When you read the word “holy,” think “set apart” (see also: 2 Corinthians 6:14-18)
Chapter 13 – Where we learn that rulers are not a terror to good works. We also learn what the law and the commandments mean to us in the age of grace. What is love?
Chapter 14 – Is it alright for a Christian to eat pork? Shellfish? Have a glass of wine? Work on Saturday? If you’ve ever wondered about such things, you need to study chapter 14.
Chapter 15 – Reinforcing the Gentile saints as part of the family. Additional instructions to look out for one another, take care of each other, pray for each other.
Chapter 16 – Closing remarks, salutations, introductions, and endorsements. In modern parlance, it’s a bit like “say hello to Bubba for me, he’s a good man, and treat Mary right, she does right by the family,” and that sort of thing.

Please share:

Romans: chapter download links

Right click and choose “save link as”
mp3 files are tagged so your device will display the titles properly.

Chapter 1Download
Chapter 2Download
Chapter 3Download
Chapter 4Download
Chapter 5Download
Chapter 6Download
Chapter 7Download
Chapter 8Download
Chapter 9Download
Chapter 10Download
Chapter 11Download
Chapter 12Download
Chapter 13Download
Chapter 14Download
Chapter 15Download
Chapter 16Download

Romans: complete download

All the files have been concatenated into one mp3 file.
as above: right click, “save link as,” mp3 tagged.
Total run time: about 1 hour 4 min.

RomansDownload

Technical details

Microphone: Blue Yeti
Software: Audacity (open source)

Sound processing steps:

  • Noise Removal – removes ambient noise
  • High pass filter – 60Hz at 6 db
  • Low pass filter – 4400Hz at 6db
  • Equalization – slight bass boost below 300Hz
Ron Jones
Latest posts by Ron Jones (see all)