Gratitude That Adorns The Gospel-2

GRATITUDE That ADORNS The GOSPEL-II—Romans 1:15-25

OR: Gratitude That Graces The Gospel

Attention:

Christians employ Christmas Trees to symbolize & remember the birth of their Savior & Lord.

Christians ‘adorn’ the tree[itself representing eternal life & continual growth] with various things that honor their greatest interests—God & family.

Need:

There is an undercurrent of Christian influence in American society, which causes a deep appreciation for the family that God has blessed them with. These openly recognize God’s provision for them. These realize that they have been abundantly blessed by the Lord their God.

Even those without Christ may recognize ‘a higher power’ as it were. Unfortunately this can lead to sentimentality during Christian holidays such as Thanksgiving, Christmas , & Easter.

For those of Christ, our Thanksgiving holiday is an opportunity to reflect on God’s love for them & to offer many heartfelt thanks for all they have been blessed with.

Titus 2:9-10—“Exhort bondservants to be obedient to their own masters, to be well pleasing in all things, not answering back, not pilfering, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things.”

1Pet. 3:3-4—“Do not let your adornment be merely outward--arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel-- rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle & quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.”

For the Christians in Rome, Paul delineated the relationship of gratitude to the Gospel.

Personal Gratitude must properly adorn the Gospel of Christ.

What manner of Gratitude properly adorns the Gospel of Christ?

OR...

How can your Gratitude adorn the Gospel of Christ?

8 assurances that your Gratitude is one that Adorns God’s Good News.

Last Sunday morning we found that

Our Gratitude adorns the Gospel thru...

1. Our SHAMELESS TRUST(:15-16)

2—Gratitude adorns the Gospel thru...

SHARING(:17)

Explanation: (:17)

:17—“For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.””

In the Gospel of Christ(“it”—Good News(:16)), “the righteousness of God” is manifested to all yet it is only revealed “from faith to faith.”

“From faith to faith”—quoted from Habakkuk 2:4:

Hab 2:2-4 “Then the LORD answered me & said: “Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, & it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry. “Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith.”

This phrase is a description of the fact that the truth of the power of God in Christ(“righteousness of God”) moves & conquers by means of my personal faith to your personal faith, to another’s personal faith, etc.

God’s “righteousness” is “revealed” on at least 2 planes—

—1)Horizontal—meaning that faith can only be “revealed” to another person upon their faith acceptance of the Gospel. It can never be “revealed” in its fullness except thru another’s faith. And thus it continues, multiplies, progresses & prospers.

—2)Vertical—meaning that the believer’s relationship to the understanding as well as exercising God’s righteousness is something that continues to grow greater & more multifaceted thruout their lives. Thus the believer is carried to new levels of faith which reach into all areas of life.

To be “Just” is to be ‘declared as righteous’ & thus accepted by God. Thus by God’s declaration those who are full of faith in the revealed God, are ‘justified’ in what they believe & do in Christ. And therefore they are ‘just’ in their dealings. Their actions reveal their faith.

Rom. 4:19-5:2—[of Abraham]“And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead(since he was about a hundred years old), & the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, & being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, & was raised because of our justification. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, & rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

And we obviously should invite others to this faith!