The value of Romans

For the German reformer Martin Luther (1483-1546), this Epistle to the Romans was the principal and most excellent part of the New Testament, the pure gospel.  Is this a summary to prove that a man is justified by faith only?  Paul also set forth the whole nature of man as poisoned and corrupt.  For others, it is a valuable attempt to understand the role of justification, salvation, and redemption.  Is justification by faith only valid so long as it is combined with obedient cooperation with the Holy Spirit?  Is this about personal salvation?  Above all, it is an important letter of the apostle Paul to the Christian community of believers in the great empire city of Rome in the mid-first century, some twenty-five years after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.