Is the Roman’s Road Evangelistic Approach Valid?

Summary

Podcast Summary: Grace in Focus — "Is the Roman’s Road Evangelistic Approach Valid?"

Podcast: Grace in Focus
Host: Grace Evangelical Society (Bob Wilkin, Ken Yates)
Date: February 27, 2026
Duration: 13 minutes

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Episode Overview

This episode critically examines the widely used "Romans Road" evangelistic method, exploring whether it is a valid way to present the gospel to unbelievers. Bob Wilkin and Ken Yates analyze commonly cited verses in the Romans Road approach, discuss their context within Paul's letter, and question the theological accuracy of applying these passages as evangelistic tools. Their discussion emphasizes the importance of sound biblical interpretation and keeping justification and sanctification distinct within evangelism.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. What is the "Romans Road"?

• The Romans Road is an evangelistic technique that strings together several verses from the Book of Romans (and sometimes other books) to explain the gospel and lead someone to a profession of faith.
• Ken Yates: “There are a lot of tracts that use this approach...but I wrote an article on it in which I said the Romans Road ends in a cul de sac.” (01:37)
• Most Romans Road tracts primarily use three to five verses from Romans but often include passages from John, the Gospels, or the Old Testament. The approach usually culminates at Romans 10:9-10.

2. Analysis of Romans 3:23

• Verse Quoted: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
• Bob Wilkin: "It’s usually presented like this: We’re all sinners and we’re going to go to hell." (02:39)
• Ken Yates: Emphasizes that Paul includes himself; this is not just an accusation against the listener but a universal statement—“everybody has sinned in the past and fall short of the glory of God. That’s present tense.” (03:12)
• Critique: Ken notes that because Jesus has taken away the sin barrier, focusing on this verse in evangelism may misapply its intent, which relates more to sanctification and undercuts the assurance that sin is already dealt with for the believer.

3. Romans 6:23 in Context

• Verse Quoted: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
• Evangelical Misuse: Typically, it’s interpreted as a warning of hell for the sinner.
• Ken Yates and Bob Wilkin: Assert that Romans 6 is about Christian living, not evangelism (04:43).
  • “Why are we using this as an evangelistic verse for unbelievers?” - Ken Yates (04:48)
• Bob Wilkin: "Paul says, should we continue in sin that grace may abound? No...He’s talking to believers. Should we as believers continue to sin because we’re no longer under law or...under grace? And the answer is no...Because sin produces death." (07:27)
• Zane Hodges Commentary (cited): Eternal life in 6:23 is about the lived experience of the believer, not initial justification. “When we produce holiness, we are living out the gift that God gave us when we were justified by faith.” (08:09)
• Insight: The gift of eternal life is for those already justified and now called to walk accordingly. The use of this verse in evangelism conflates sanctification ("walking in life") with justification.

4. Romans 10:9-10 and Public Confession

• Verses Quoted: “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
• Common Misinterpretation: Some evangelistic tracts and major figures (e.g., Billy Graham) insist that both internal belief and external confession are required for salvation (11:06).
  • Bob Wilkin: “I was in a Sunday school class...and they said, ‘You’ve got to confess Jesus as Lord in order to make it into the kingdom. Believing is not enough.’” (11:15)
• Ken Yates: Stresses that Romans 10:9-10 should not be used to teach that belief is insufficient or that confession/public declaration or baptism is necessary to be saved: “Whatever Romans 10:9–10 is saying, it’s not saying that believing in Jesus for eternal life is not enough.” (11:48)
• They note this passage merits deeper examination in a future episode due to its theological significance and frequent misuse.

5. Overall Critique of the Romans Road

• Key Point: The verses commonly cited in the Romans Road are often taken out of their intended context—Paul is mostly addressing believers, not providing formulaic instructions for evangelizing unbelievers.
  • "These verses are used as a Roman road for evangelism. What we're saying and what we're going to say at the conference is: Get off of that road." – Bob Wilkin (12:13)
• The approach risks blurring the lines between justification (being declared righteous by faith) and sanctification (the ongoing life of the believer).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Romans 3:23:
  “We all fall short of the glory of God. So if I share that verse...I typically don’t share it in evangelism because...Jesus has already taken away the sin barrier.” — Ken Yates (03:21)
• On Romans 6:23:
  “Romans 6 is right in the middle of Paul’s discussion on Christian living. So why are we using this as an evangelistic verse for unbelievers?” — Ken Yates (04:43)
• On Proper Evangelistic Method:
  “How can we be using these verses in an evangelistic way when Paul’s not using it that way?” — Bob Wilkin (09:57)
• On Romans 10:9-10:
  “Whatever Romans 10, 9, 10 is saying, it’s not saying that believing in Jesus for eternal life is not enough. It’s not saying you’ve got to also confess him publicly or you’ve also got to be baptized...” — Ken Yates (11:48)
• Takeaway on the Romans Road:
  “Get off of that road. No, don’t use these verses to tell an unbeliever how to go to heaven by confessing Jesus as Lord.” — Bob Wilkin (12:16)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:33] — Introduction to discussion of the Romans Road approach
• [02:39] — Romans 3:23: Common presentation and its context
• [04:43] — Romans 6:23: Context as applied to believers, not unbelievers
• [07:27] — Romans 6: Christian living and the implications for the believer
• [08:09] — Zane Hodges commentary on living out eternal life
• [10:16] — Romans 10:9-10: The necessity (or not) of public confession and baptism for salvation
• [12:13] — Summary point: Do not use Romans Road for evangelism

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Conclusion

Wilkin and Yates challenge the scriptural validity of using the Romans Road as a tool for evangelism, arguing that its key proof texts are often misapplied by failing to account for their actual context and audience. They warn against blending sanctification themes into evangelism, urging gospel communicators to “keep grace in focus” and use clear, contextually accurate presentations of assurance and salvation.

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Transcript

[Announcer]

The following is a listener supported ministry

[Bob Wilkin]

from the Grace Evangelical Society.

[Announcer]

Is the Romans Road a legitimate way to evangelize unbelievers? What are some of the pitfalls of this approach? That's what we'll talk about today. Glad you've joined us, friend. This is Grace and Focus. Grace and Focus is a ministry of the Grace Evangelical Society. Our offices are in North Texas and our web site is faithalone.org we have our national annual conference coming up soon. Soon. We've been talking about this. The dates are May 18th through the 21st. It will be at Camp Copass in North Texas. Beautiful place with lots of wonderful people. So use that website to get all the details you need to get signed up. It's faithalone.org and now with today's question and answer discussion, here are Bob Wilkin and Ken Yates.

[Bob Wilkin]

I'm Ken Yates and I'm sitting here with Bob Wilken, my boss. And we are going through some of the, what we hope to be our plenary sessions, our main sessions in the upcoming Grace Evangelical Society conference that's going to be held May 18th, 21st here in North Texas. And one of the sessions that we're hoping to have at this conference is answering the question, is the Roman Road a legitimate way to use the book of Romans to evangelize unbelievers?

[Ken Yates]

Okay, now there are a lot of tracks that use this approach, right?

[Bob Wilkin]

Right. Oh yeah.

[Ken Yates]

I mean, and a lot of people suggest this. So the Romans road, I wrote an article on it in which I said the Romans road ends in a cul de sac. In other words, if you're in the semi trailer, you're not going to be able to get out because you get stuck in there. But you might go to faithalone.org and you can read it. But what I found, I looked at a lot of tracts and, and I put those in that article and what I showed is that I think there's only one or two that completely sticks with Romans. Most of the Romans road approach use three or four or five verses from Romans. But then they'll throw in a verse from, let's say the Gospel of John or they may throw in a verse from the Gospels or they may throw in an Old Testament text. So they throw in some other verses. But where they're headed with the Romans road approach is Romans 10, 9, 10.

[Bob Wilkin]

Right, right. And they usually start off, my experience is Romans 3:23. Right.

[Ken Yates]

All right, what is that?

[Bob Wilkin]

Romans 3:23 says, for all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God. And it's usually presented like this. We're all sinners and we're going to go to hell. I mean, that's basically what they say, right?

[Ken Yates]

Right.

[Bob Wilkin]

For all have sinned and our sin is going to send us to the lake of fire.

[Ken Yates]

However, experience has been, when people do this, it goes more like this. For you have sinned and you have fallen short of the glory of God. But if you read Romans 3:23, he's talking about, all right, everybody, including Paul himself.

[Bob Wilkin]

Right.

[Ken Yates]

In other words, everybody has sinned in the past and fall short of the glory of God. That's present tense.

[Bob Wilkin]

Present tense. So we all fall short of the glory of God.

[Ken Yates]

So if I share that verse. Well, I do share it, but I typically don't share it in evangelism because the point is, Jesus has already taken away the sin barrier. So I don't really need to get into this from an evangelistic. This is a sanctification issue. But still, when Paul's bringing that up, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. I think his point is that the moralist can't claim that he's going to have eternal life based on his works. Right, right.

[Bob Wilkin]

Or that he is going to escape the wrath of God because we all fall short both living like I am, I deserve the wrath of God. How do I avoid it?

[Ken Yates]

And the way you avoid it, first of all, you're justified. But then secondly, you're sanctified. You have to live the Romans 5 through 8 experience. Or as we said in the last one, 4:25, through the end of chapter 8. And if you do, then you'll escape God's wrath.

[Bob Wilkin]

And then it goes in the Romans road normally. And to me, this was a key, Bob. When I was first exposed to this, I said, boy, this makes a lot of sense. Because the next verse on the Roman road that's often used if you look at gospel tracts is Romans 6:23. But stop right there.

[Ken Yates]

Yes.

[Bob Wilkin]

Romans 6 is right in the middle of Paul's discussion on Christian living.

[Ken Yates]

True.

[Bob Wilkin]

So why are we using this as an evangelistic verse for unbelievers?

[Ken Yates]

Okay, so here, let's read Romans 6:23, and then maybe we can talk about it.

[Bob Wilkin]

Right. Romans 6:23 says, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. So they read these verses, the wages of sin is death. And evangelicalism across the board says, okay, the wages of sin is death. That's talking about the lake of Fire, you know, the lake of fire. I'm going to go to hell because of my sin. Exactly.

[Ken Yates]

The wages of sin is physical death. And the reason why Bob Wilkin and Ken Yates are going to die if the rapture doesn't occur first is because of sin.

[Bob Wilkin]

Right.

[Ken Yates]

When Adam ate the forbidden fruit, he plunged himself and the entire human race into mortality. Remember, the Lord told him, in the day you eat of it, you shall surely die. Well, he didn't physically drop dead at that moment, but he did become mortal at that moment.

[Bob Wilkin]

He will die.

[Ken Yates]

And from a Jewish perspective, he started dying.

[Bob Wilkin]

Sure.

[Ken Yates]

Let's say a person gets shot and they're in critical condition and three days later they die. Well, it would be fair to say that them being shot killed him.

[Bob Wilkin]

Sure.

[Ken Yates]

Even though it took three days. Well, him eating that fruit killed him.

[Bob Wilkin]

The second you got shot, you're going to die.

[Ken Yates]

And the second he ate that fruit, he was going to die.

[Bob Wilkin]

He was going to die.

[Ken Yates]

He started dying and he became mortal.

[Announcer]

It's coming. It'll be here before you know it. What am I talking about? The Grace Evangelical Society's National Conference, 2026, May 18th through the 21st at Camp Kopas, an absolutely beautiful campground in North Texas, right on the lake with lots of recreation, great food, a great place to stay, wonderful fellowship and wonderful free Grace Bible teaching information and online registration [e-mail] events. First timers waive registration fees. Faith alone,

[Ken Yates]

and we all die because we're his offspring. We are mortal, and so we die. And so the wages of sin is death means that because we sin, we die.

[Bob Wilkin]

And let me just say I mentioned it just a minute ago about this was, I think probably the key verse for me to understand that the Roman road, we need to get off the Roman road is an evangelistic thing. Because like I said in Romans 5, 6, 7, and 8, he's talking about Christian living. And twice in chapter 6, Paul says, should we continue in sin now that grace may abound?

[Ken Yates]

No, may it never be right.

[Bob Wilkin]

And he's talking to believers. Should we as believers continue to sin because we're no longer under the law or because we're under grace? And the answer is no. Well, why? Because sin produces death. Or we would say in the book of Romans, it produces the wrath of God in our lives.

[Ken Yates]

Okay, so then why does he say, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Why mention eternal life?

[Bob Wilkin]

Well, we've been given eternal life, and we've been given it freely, but now we can Walk in it.

[Ken Yates]

Okay, so in other words, according to this view, there is a contrast between death and life.

[Bob Wilkin]

Right.

[Ken Yates]

The wages of sin is physical death, but the gift of God is eternal life. But I think when Zane Hodges in his commentary talks about that, he more or less said what you just said. Here's what Hodges says. But eternal life is an unearned experience because at its core, eternal life is the gift of God that is given in Christ Jesus our Lord. When we produce holiness, we are living out the gift that God gave us when we were justified by. By faith. And he goes on to say, the whole gracious bestowal can be described as justification sourced in life. And he says C5,18. And he says the closing words of verse 23 in Christ Jesus our Lord are identical to the words that close verse 11. And he says the repeated words serve to emphasize the truth that the eternal life, which is given to us as a gift is our possession in union with the Savior in whom we died and in whom we have been raised to walk in God's paths. So what Hodges is seeing in Romans 6:23 is a call to live in this eternal life experience that he has given us. He's given us this life, and. And we need to live in it.

[Bob Wilkin]

Yes. So we can either walk in life or walk in death. That's the option. But he's talking to believers.

[Ken Yates]

Or another way, you could say, walk in light or walk in darkness.

[Bob Wilkin]

Sure. And he's not talking. Nowhere in chapter six is he talking about unbelievers.

[Ken Yates]

Right. This is not an evangelistic verse in Romans.

[Bob Wilkin]

And I would just say that anybody who goes to the Romans, so many are going to insist upon it, you know, because of the Gospel tracts. I would say, to do what I did, look at this Romans chapter 6 and say, how can we be using these verses in an evangelistic way when Paul's not using it that way?

[Ken Yates]

Exactly. And it gets worse when we get to Romans 10, 9, 10. Yes, because when we get to Romans 10, 9, 10, what people say is, it's not enough to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. You've got to both believe and confess Him.

[Bob Wilkin]

Right.

[Ken Yates]

And they say the belief is internal and the confession is external. Maybe you could read that.

[Bob Wilkin]

Okay, which verses do you want to read in Romans 10, by the way?

[Ken Yates]

9 and 10.

[Bob Wilkin]

Okay. In Romans, chapter 10, verses 9 and 10, it says. And this is another verse that you'll see in these gospel tracts, Part of the Roman Road. It says in Romans 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth, the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead. You will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto. Yeah.

[Ken Yates]

Now, I mean, this is what Billy Graham and other evangelists used a lot. Remember, they would say, the buses will wait, you need to come down and confess Christ.

[Bob Wilkin]

And I said that I was in a Sunday school class just recently and they said, you've got to confess Jesus as Lord in order to make it into the kingdom. And they said, believing is not enough. And they used these verses.

[Ken Yates]

Okay, so because this is such a big deal, I think we're going to have to carry this over into the next one and specifically talk more about Romans 10, 10, 9 and 10. But let me make this point clearly. Whatever Romans 10, 9, 10 is saying, it's not saying that believing in Jesus for eternal life is not enough.

[Bob Wilkin]

Right.

[Ken Yates]

It's not saying you've got to also confess him publicly or you've also got to be baptized, which a lot of people say this is referring to baptism because that's where we confess him publicly. Or some people will say that's where you go forward in an evangelistic meeting or at a church meeting or at a evangelistic crusade. That's not what Romans 10, 9, 10 are saying. So we'll take a look at that in the next session.

[Bob Wilkin]

Yeah, but the main point here is that these verses are used as a Roman road for evangelism. What we're saying and what we're going to say at the conference is get off of that road. No, don't use these verses to tell an unbeliever how to go to heaven by confessing Jesus as Lord.

[Ken Yates]

Alright, in the meantime, let's keep grace in focus.

[Announcer]

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[Bob Wilkin]

The proceeding has been a listener supported ministry from the Grace Evangelical Society.