Sermon Central
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Romans
Contributed by Gary Moore on Jan 21, 2008 (message contributor)
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1. Total Makeover
Contributed on Jan 21, 2008
Romans 12.1-2 exposition
Romans 12.1-2 is a natural bridge between the two major sections of Paul’s letter. In light of what he has just said in the first 11 chapters about the mercies of God, he now makes an appeal to the Roman believers to live their lives in accordance with the grace they have received through faith. ...read more
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2. What About Me?
Contributed on Jan 21, 2008
Oneness in the community of faith.
Oneness in the community of faith is achieved, not by conforming everyone to the lowest common denominator in Christ, but by recognizing that each person, as a result of God’s grace and the gifting of the Holy Spirit, receives an ability to supply what is needed for the common good of the whole ...read more
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3. True Love
Contributed on Jan 21, 2008
Love is the final apologetic.
Francis Schaeffer wrote that love is the final apologetic; it is the last word in the Christian’s defense of the gospel. John’s Gospel informs us that Jesus gave his disciples one last command before he was led away to be crucified: A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just ...read more
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4. Authority And Submission
Contributed on Jan 21, 2008
The crisis of authority
Know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other (Deuteronomy 4.39). As a nation we are in the midst of a crisis of authority. Many people distrust those in political leadership and the natural, albeit sinful, ...read more
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5. Love's Demand
Contributed on Jan 21, 2008
The marks of true Christian behavior
Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. In the previous section Paul outlined the marks of Christian behavior toward the various segments of society. Among themselves there ought to be ...read more
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6. Unity: Not To Judge
Contributed on Jan 21, 2008
Unity in Christ is a mark of the believer.
Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you (Matthew 7.1-2). Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? … “Purge the evil person from among you.”… Do you not know that the saints ...read more
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7. Unity: The Christ Model
Contributed on Jan 21, 2008
Jesus models unity with the God the Father and requires it of his disciples (cp. John 17).
May our dependably steady and warmly personal God develop maturity in you so that you get along with each other as well as Jesus gets along with us all. Then we’ll be a choir—not our voices only, but our very lives singing in harmony in stunning anthem to the God and Father of our Master Jesus! ...read more
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8. Travel Plans
Contributed on Jan 21, 2008
Paul ambition was to preach the gospel where it has never been declared.
I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation, but as it is written, “Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.” Paul concluded the main section of his letter ...read more
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9. An Appeal For Prayer
Contributed on Jan 21, 2008
I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your Prayers to God on my behalf.
The gospels attest to Jesus’ habit of prayer. Having observed Jesus’ prayer life, the disciples were encouraged to ask him to teach them to pray more effectively. The book of Acts speaks often of the efficacy of the church as it was devoted to prayer. The epistles of Paul are laced with prayers and ...read more
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10. Final Greetings
Contributed on Jan 21, 2008
Obedience in Christ
Romans 5.13 brings to an end the main section of Paul’s doctrinal teaching. The remainder of chapter 15 is primarily a personal afterword and chapter 16 is comprised of a lengthy personal greeting and a few “afterthoughts” that wrap up the letter. Though greeting 26 people by name is unusual, given ...read more
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11. A Last Word About Last Words
Contributed on Jan 21, 2008
The power of praise.
Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ … to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen. Paul ends his letter with a doxology (glory to God). It is not uncommon to find Paul’s letters interrupted with declarations ...read more
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12. Another Word About Last Words
Contributed on Jan 21, 2008
Strengthen in Christ
Paul closes his letter with a liturgical doxology that easily lends itself to a formal worship setting. As much as the letter is a tightly woven piece of logic, so too one finds a structural symmetry to the text that contributes to its overall cohesiveness. Paul’s final thoughts bear a striking ...read more
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13. The Stumbling Stone
Contributed on Feb 4, 2008
Distinction between "pop religion" and a biblical faith.
I am the LORD, and there is no other. I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the LORD, who does all these things (Isaiah 45.5-7). It has been my observation that many people like to think of God as a kind of protective big brother. It is somehow ...read more
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14. A Remnant
Contributed on Feb 4, 2008
The Lord preserves for himself a people who are his very own.
The LORD will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the LORD to make you a people for himself. … Only fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you (1 Sam. 12.22, 24) INTRODUCTION It is a wise ...read more
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15. Preaching And Accountability
Contributed on Feb 4, 2008
The proclamation of the gospel is essential to salvation.
While Paul maintains his focus on unbelieving Israel (10.16), he makes some general observations about the process of salvation that are universal. The main theme of this paragraph (10.14-21) is an explanation of why Israel failed to understand that God’s righteousness resides in Jesus who is God’s ...read more
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16. The Way Of Righteousness
Contributed on Feb 4, 2008
The personal pursuit of righteousness is essential for every believer.
I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that ...read more
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17. Mercy: Tender And Severe
Contributed on Feb 4, 2008
God is compassionate and he is also severe. "Our God is in heaven; he does all that he pleases."
Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases (Psalm 115.2-3). INTRODUCTION It is often difficult for the post-modernist reader to accept the doctrine of God’s sovereignty in salvation, even though it is one of the principles most ...read more
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18. God's Purpose In Mercy
Contributed on Feb 4, 2008
God is faithful in the execution of his plan of salvation. Paul deals with ethnic Israel.
This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. INTRODUCTION ROMANS 9.1-11.36 There is an obvious coherency to the first 8 chapters of Romans that culminates with an affirmation of the believer’s ...read more
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19. The Land And Death
Contributed on Feb 6, 2008
This message deals in part with Paul’s view of law and grace.
Apart from the law, sin lies dead. I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. The meaning of this section of Romans is laden with controversy. Is this an autobiographical account of Paul’s futile struggle to do what is right? If so, is Paul ...read more
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20. War In The Heart
Contributed on Feb 6, 2008
Paul describes the effect of living under the rule of the Mosaic law.
Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe (Galatians ...read more
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21. Present Suffering
Contributed on Feb 6, 2008
The believer’s future is connected with Christ’s. Christ is the faithful Son and is the Father’s rightful heir. The Christian by means of his adoption is a joint heir with Christ and may look forward to eternal glory in the presence of the Son (cp. John 1
For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too (2 Corinthians 1.5). Those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God; they have received the Spirit of adoption whereby they approach God as “Abba! Father!” Their adoption is sealed ...read more
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22. The Groaning And The Glory
Contributed on Feb 6, 2008
As a biological descendant of Adam he is heir both to the strengths and foibles of the first man; as one who is twice born, he is heir to the inheritance of the second Adam (1 Corinthians 15.45). As a new creation in Christ he is hopeful for what awaits h
For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands (Isaiah 55.12). The story of the Bible is largely an account of the progress of redemption. In between the fall ...read more
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23. The Spirit's Prayer
Contributed on Feb 6, 2008
Though the suffering that the Christian endures in life is nothing by way of comparison to the glory that awaits him (8.18), God does not leave him without help. The Spirit helps him in his weakness. Even if the primary weakness Paul has in mind is that o
O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So ...read more
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24. The Golden Chain
Contributed on Feb 6, 2008
Romans 8.29-30 supply both support and explanation for Paul’s premise that all things work together for good for those who love God. These verses in Romans are often used as a basis for structuring an “order of salvation” (ordo salutis). Though there is s
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and so whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. THE GOLDEN ...read more
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25. Salvation's Eternal Gobstobber
Contributed on Feb 6, 2008
From the beginning of his letter Paul has explained the necessity of salvation through the intervention of Christ’s sacrificial atonement. Having set forth the golden chain of salvation (8.28-30) he now culminates this portion of his letter with a final e
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of ...read more