Series Title: The Line in the Sand
Message Title:
Scripture: Romans 1:16
16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
Introduction:
What do people actually know about God? What do they actually know about His power? And, what do people really know about the gospel?
Right in line with that, what do people actually know about many of the ongoing movements that are seemingly Christian yet they are subtly teaching a social or ‘feel-good’ gospel that has nothing to do with the gospel of Christ?
Appearing in an article in Christianity Today, February 10, 1992, was this information on the New Age movement:
About half of the Americans who are familiar with the New Age movement don’t take its teachings seriously, and a third of them say New Age thought runs counter to Judeo-Christian teaching, says a new poll by the Princeton Religious Research Center.
The poll also shows that the general population’s awareness of the New Age is low, but the number of Americans who adhere to New Age practices is alarmingly high, even among professing Christians. "Many who consider themselves good Christians nonetheless have engaged in practices that seemingly are counter to the teaching of their church," the pollsters said.
Roughly half of all Americans say they believe in extrasensory perception. Thirty percent of Roman Catholics and 22 percent of Protestants say they believe in clairvoyance, while 48 percent of Roman Catholics and 44 percent of Protestants say they believe in psychic healing, the poll shows. The poll indicates that 25 percent of both groups believe the movement of the stars may help govern the affairs of men and women.
With all of that said, what is your personal take on Romans 1:16 where Paul says “…the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes:”? I must admit, for the longest time when I was a neophyte in Christ, I would read the beginning of that verse, “I am not ashamed of the gospel…” and continue reading the rest of the verse with those words echoing through my mind and not paying attention to what I had read. Yet, they are just as important, if not more so, than the beginning, because the beginning speaks of Paul’s relationship to the gospel and the rest of it tells us why he’s not ashamed, and what the gospel is and what it is capable of doing for our Christian lives.
In a previous message concerning Romans 1:16, we dealt specifically with the first part of that first verse where Paul proclaimed that he is not ashamed of the gospel. In the first part of this message I want to spend a little time concerning, “What is the power of God for the salvation of everyone. “ Then later we’ll look at the universal availability of the gospel in the statement, Everyone who believes.
I. The Gospel: The Power of God for the Salvation of Everyone
In any encounter such as competitions, business dealings, even wars, when the lines become blurred it’s difficult to know when to stop. If the lines are obscured, it may even get to the point of not knowing which side you are on.
When you watch baseball, if you watch some of the seasoned pro players, you’ll notice that many of them stand as far back in the batter’s box as they can, which gives them a few added inches with which to watch the ball on its way to the plate. Prior to settling down in the batter’s box and waiting for the ball, you’ll notice that they will do a lot of scraping and digging around with their baseball shoes. Sure, they are trying to move the loose dirt away and get down to the firmly packed soil so they won’t slip, but there is an ulterior motive. As they dig and scrape, they obscure the lines that forms the box. By obscuring or blurring the lines, they can then set up a little further back in the box and not have to worry about the umpire calling an automatic out, for them being out of the batter’s box during a pitch.
The gospel, the word, has had its lines blurred to the point that many don’t even know exactly what the word means. And, this isn’t the only word from the Word that has become blurry and faint in its meaning. There are many words, words that have been used so often and sometimes so random, that people take them for granted and their definitions have become fuzzy, no longer sharp and definitive at the edges. You can’t tell where it ends and something else begins. Take for instance the word freedom. If you were to ask someone in North Korea what that word means, I’m sure you’ll get an entirely different meaning from someone somewhere else.
The word “gospel’ has been thrown around so often and with such a cavalier attitude that other systems and doctrines have grown up under the title of “gospel.” The Bible is very clear about what these are, they are “another gospel.” Not the Gospel of Christ. Paul told the Galatians, in 1:6-9,
6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!
Looking at these verses and the text of Romans 1:16, with learn that the true gospel is the gospel of the grace of Christ. The gospel is God’s truth about a certain set of historical facts. Anything else, according to Paul, is worthy of condemnation. And, what are these historical facts? Paul gives them to us in 1 Corinthians:
15:1 Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance : that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.
Three central historical facts are presented here: (1) That Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. (2) that He was buried, and (3) that He rose again.
Anything that does not flow from these three central facts is not and cannot be considered the gospel. Any attempt at adding to this or any attempt to present any other facts as being the centrality of the gospel is nonsense that should be quickly dismissed as such. The teaching of Christ, apart from these three central facts hold no meaning, and have no impact on the world other than as simple literature. Yet with those three central facts, with the GOSPEL OF THE GRACE OF CHRIST we are able to go to the lost and condemned and tell them that the Savior died and that the way has been cleared for sinful man to come into the very presence of a holy God. Jesus paid it all. There isn’t anything left for us to do except take it to the world and let them know.
“Jesus Paid It All”
Words: Elvina M. Hall, 1865.
Music: John T. Grape
I hear the Savior say,
“Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all.”
Refrain
Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.
For nothing good have I
Whereby Thy grace to claim,
I’ll wash my garments white
In the blood of Calv’ry’s Lamb.
Refrain
And now complete in Him
My robe His righteousness,
Close sheltered ’neath His side,
I am divinely blest.
Refrain
Lord, now indeed I find
Thy power and Thine alone,
Can change the leper’s spots
And melt the heart of stone.
Refrain
When from my dying bed
My ransomed soul shall rise,
“Jesus died my soul to save,”
Shall rend the vaulted skies.
Refrain
And when before the throne
I stand in Him complete,
I’ll lay my trophies down
All down at Jesus’ feet.
Refrain
II. Everyone who believes
The gospel of the grace of Jesus Christ is the truth that rises out of the three central historical facts: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, and that He rose the third day according to the Scriptures. Now, in Romans 1:16, we see Paul present the fact that belief in the good news of those three central facts brings salvation.
16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
First, let’s briefly cover what salvation is and what it is not.
The English word “salvation” comes from the Latin word for health. It described the health of the body; but later on it was applied to the health of the soul and the spirit. Again, we see a blurring of a word’s meaning, yet this is in a good direction and for good purpose. With this new application, we can therefore say that salvation is a healthy soul and spirit, and the only way one can attain a healthy soul and spirit [i.e. salvation], is to have a right relationship with the God who created us. Yet, just looking at verse 16 of Romans chapter one, is not going to help us in this regard. As such, we need to look at the entire book of Romans with its presentation that we really need salvation in the first place. There must be a conviction within the sinner that he really does need salvation before he can be saved, and that this salvation must have its origin in God.
Looking at the epistle to the Romans, we see that the first chapters of the book contains the diagnosis of the present condition of the human soul, totally separated from God and lying in a state of spiritual death. And, in this state, the sinner is incapable of doing anything to correct the problem. It is for this reason that salvation had to begin and end with God, and it had to be His work. It had to be ALL HIIM.
The ‘great good news’ of the Gospel [Lit. ‘God’s Good News’] is that God began the work of reconciling the world to Himself. The wonderful message of the Gospel is that a gracious Creator was and is actually mindful of a wayward and hateful creation. The Bible says,
(Psalms 8:4) what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?
First John says that God came in Christ, the Word made flesh, and dwelt among us in order to complete the three historical events which make salvation possible. The entire work of salvation was accomplished through Jesus Christ, and now it can be applied to the individual. This is the good news that we need to take to the world. This is the good news that the lost and dying need to hear and not some other heretical nonsense that is only aimed at making people feel good enough to come to church and give money. No! It is those three central facts, and those three facts alone that have the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.
There can not and must not be any other outside attempts at bringing salvation to man. We cannot work on their outward circumstances or on their present ‘outward situation’ in life if they are to have salvation. We cannot work on their outward habits and detestable practices if they are to have eternal life. Tuberculosis is not cured by taking cough syrup or by aromatherapy; no, it is cured by a long and protracted regimen of medication aimed at curing the individual of tuberculosis. Anything else and the patient dies! As such, we have to present the three central facts of the GOSPEL OF THE GRACE OF CHRIST, and because they are the power of God for the listener’s salvation, then salvation will begin from within, by the work of God in the heart of the sinner.
Salvation begins when the sinner realizes and recognizes the fact that he is less perfect than God and is condemned to an eternal death. Salvation begins when the sinner realizes that there is nothing good in him, and there is nothing good that he can do in order for God to take notice of him.
Joseph Hart penned the following hymn, Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy. Note who is doing the saving and note the cost of the gift. And, finally, note the condition of the sinner and the sufficiency of the gift that is offered.
Come, ye sinners, poor and needy,
Weak and wounded, sick and sore;
Jesus ready stands to save you,
Full of pity, love and power.
Refrain
I will arise and go to Jesus,
He will embrace me in His arms;
In the arms of my dear Savior,
O there are ten thousand charms.
Come, ye thirsty, come, and welcome,
God’s free bounty glorify;
True belief and true repentance,
Every grace that brings you nigh.
Refrain
Come, ye weary, heavy laden,
Lost and ruined by the fall;
If you tarry till you’re better,
You will never come at all.
Refrain
View Him prostrate in the garden;
On the ground your Maker lies.
On the bloody tree behold Him;
Sinner, will this not suffice?
Refrain
Lo! th’incarnate God ascended,
Pleads the merit of His blood:
Venture on Him, venture wholly,
Let no other trust intrude.
Refrain
Let not conscience make you linger,
Not of fitness fondly dream;
All the fitness He requireth
Is to feel your need of Him.
Refrain
Now that we have a firm grasp of what salvation is, let us return to Romans 1:16,
16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
“Everyone who believes…” We cannot for a moment think that it is possible to be saved without faith. The Bible specifically tells us:
Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
Faith is belief. And what is faith but acting upon the word of another. Every day of the year you act on the word of another, mostly on the word of those we don’t even know. We follow information given to us through the media. We follow instructions given to us on the road by a man or woman waving a flag and telling us to go into the wrong lane because of road construction ahead. You place your faith in a total stranger for directions. In the area of spiritual things faith is acting upon the Word of God through the Spirit of God. The Word tells me I’m a sinner but that’s not enough. I need the Spirit of God acting upon that word in my heart and in my mind to reveal the condition of my heart so that I can turn from my wicked ways and put God first in my heart. That’s the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
First Corinthians 15:2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
Summary:
The world is filled with unbelievers that have written New Year’s resolutions that center on their own selfish needs. Many of those resolution will be thrown out or laid by the wayside until the time is right, yeah right!
Here in the church, many of us have made resolutions to better ourselves, to improve ourselves in the eyes of Christ. But let’s make sure those resolutions are based upon those three central facts: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, and that He rose the third day according to the Scriptures.
Don’t put it off any longer. If you’ve been listening or following a different ‘social gospel,’ then you need to get back to these central historic truths, for they are the Gospel of the Grace of Christ, and are the power of God unto salvation for everyone that believes.
What church do you belong to? Do you belong to the church of Jesus Christ? Or, are you a procrastinator that is a faithful member of the First Procastinarian Church?
There is only one thing the latter can say, and that is:
"The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved" (Jeremiah 8:20 KJV).
