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

1. Universal need (1:18–3:20) — every person, Jew and Gentile alike, stands guilty before God. Key terms: sin (罪), universal accountability, without civilizational-hierarchy softening (see 华夷 note under Gentiles).
2. Justification by faith (3:21–4:25) — righteousness credited through faith, grounded in Abraham. Key terms: righteousness (义), justification (称义), grace (恩典), faith (信心).
3. New life in Christ (5:1–8:39) — peace with God, union with Christ, life in the Spirit, adoption, assurance. Key terms: peace (平安), sanctification (成圣), adoption (儿子的名分), Abba (阿爸).
4. Israel and the nations (9:1–11:36) — God’s faithfulness to his promises, the place of Israel and the Gentiles. Key terms: election (拣选), covenant (约), unity of Jew and Gentile.
5. Transformed living (12:1–15:13) — practical outworking of the gospel in the church and society. Key terms: church (教会), spiritual gifts (属灵恩赐), kingdom of God (神的国).
6. Closing and mission (15:14–16:27) — Paul’s mission to the nations and personal greetings. Key terms: mission (宣教), fellowship (团契).

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, with its 义 disambiguation note already established) is reinforced rather than re-explained from scratch when it recurs in a later block (e.g. block 3’s “sanctification,” which needs its own separate 成圣 disambiguation).