Biblical Theme Map

Romans develops a small number of major themes across its sixteen chapters. Mapping where each theme appears helps keep terminology consistent across a curriculum that will be taught and translated lesson by lesson rather than as one continuous document.

Theme progression

Universal need (1:18-3:20) — every person, Jew and Gentile alike, stands guilty before God. Key terms: sin (günah), universal accountability, resisting the fitrə (born-sinless) assumption.
Justification by faith (3:21-4:25) — righteousness credited through faith, grounded in Abraham/İbrahim. Key terms: righteousness (salehlik), justification (saleh sayılma), grace (lütf), faith (iman).
New life in Christ (5:1-8:39) — peace with God, union with Christ, life in the Spirit, adoption, assurance, intercession. Key terms: peace (sülh), sanctification (təqdisetmə), adoption (övladlığa götürülmə), Abba, intercession (vasitəçilik), assurance (təminat).
Israel and the nations (9:1-11:36) — God’s faithfulness to his promises, the place of Israel and the nations. Key terms: election (seçilmə), covenant (əhd), unity of Jew and Gentile.
Transformed living (12:1-15:13) — practical outworking of the gospel in the church and society. Key terms: church (kilsə), spiritual gifts (ruhani hədiyyələr), kingdom of God (Allahın Padşahlığı).
Closing and mission (15:14-16:27) — Paul’s mission to the nations and personal greetings. Key terms: mission (müjdə yayma xidməti), fellowship (ünsiyyət).

Use in this curriculum

Each lesson in the Romans curriculum should be tagged with which theme-block it falls under, so terminology introduced in an earlier block (e.g. “justification” in block 2) is reinforced rather than re-explained from scratch when it recurs in a later block (e.g. block 3’s “intercession,” which carries the added weight of distinguishing Christ’s mediating role from Imamate şəfaət).