Romans 1:1 – Gospel of God
1. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,
2. (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,)
3. Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;
4. And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:
• Paul introduces here a word that will become the theme of the book of Romans. Before he declares later “I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ”, he begins by talking of his “SEPARATION” to the Gospel.
• Gospel literally means, “Good Tidings or Good news of the kingdom of God” and comes from the same Greek word we get “evangelist” from.
• “Good tidings” puts us in mind of the announcement to the shepherds on the first Christmas:
Luke 2:10-11 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
• The “GOSPEL” was the subject of Christ’s first synagogue message after Jesus was baptized and fasted 40 days. He came out of the wilderness in the power of the Holy Spirit to declare:
Luke 4:17-19
17. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
18. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
19. To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
• Jesus took His message from the prophecy of Isaiah where the prophet saw past the captivity of Israel to the coming Messiah:
Isaiah 61:1-3
1. The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
2. To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
3. To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.
• Paul mentions “GOSPEL” over a dozen times in Romans, with it being the theme of the book of Romans as he is expounding his “theological resume” to the church at Rome to form his new missions base to reach Spain.
• Paul talks of the “GOSPEL” in 1 Corinthians, similarly to Romans, emphasizing the POWER of GOD.
1 Corinthians 1:17-18
17. For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.
18. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
• One of the most critical areas where Paul talks of the Gospel is in his letter to the Galatians. This letter is so critical because it is an urgent letter written to a church is crisis. Paul sees the danger of the Galatian believers being deceived from the truth of the Gospel, and falling into false doctrine that will cause damnation.
• Hear his warning to the church at Galatia:
Galatians 1:6-9
6. I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in 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 them be under God’s curse!
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 them be under God’s curse!
• So in addition to the “Gospel” being the good news of the kingdom, Paul understands the gospel as the core doctrines that are necessary for salvation.
• This is similar to warnings from Jude (3-4)
3. Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
4. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
• And John, in his letter, warns a church battling pseudo-incipient, quasi-embryonic Gnosticism on the purity of the Gospel in 1 John 3:23
And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
• So how do you boil down all of Scripture to the teachings that are critical truths, that mistakes can have eternal consequences?
• Well, you can go through Scripture and see what truths the Bible says are necessary for eternal life:
• John 8:24
I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in
your sins.
Romans 10:9-10
9. That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
• But this requires a level of spiritual maturity, to know what truths are eternally essential, and what areas are not worth parting fellowship. To sift between what is “GOSPEL TRUTH” and what is “BLESSING TRUTH”.
• To help you see that there is a line, let me illustrate with my brother. While he and I agree on the key areas of “GOSPEL”, he takes certain truths as critical that I see as “BONUS” blessings. For instance, he is a strong believer in the pre-wrath rapture, which puts the coming of the Lord at the 7th trumpet of the book of Revelations, rather than a pre-tribulation rapture. Because of his disagreement with the Pastor over this interpretation, he felt that he needed to find another church.
• I believe defining what you believe is “BARE BONES CHRISTIANITY” is critical for a mature faith walk – knowing what to place unity and fellowship above, and where to draw the line and say ecumenical compromise is dangerous.
• While many ecumenical leaders want spiritual unity, I believe they go too far by saying that Jews, Christians and Muslims all share the faith of Abraham and should unite in worship to the God of Abraham.
Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
Philippians 2:5-11
5. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
6. Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7. But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
8. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
9. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
10. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
• Knowing that we will plunge into the core teachings of the GOSPEL over the next year as we work through the text of Romans, let’s look at the highlights:
1. Total sinfulness of man – our nature, our state, our actions
2. God’s justice toward sin
3. Powerful redemption and grace of Jesus Christ
4. Transforming power of grace to live life victorious over sin
5. Power of life in the Holy Spirit
• So to summarize, it is just as important to know when to be unified and look at extra “blessing teachings” and when to divide as critical “gospel teachings”
• So to help us learn to discern, what is critical to go to heaven, let me go through a few teachings we believe to see if we understand the difference:
1. Jesus Christ is the Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary
2. The Bible is the infallible, inspired Word of God
3. Divine Healing is provided for all in the atonement
4. The baptism in the Holy Spirit is available for all believers
5. In speaking with tongues as the Spirit gives utterance
• But this need to contend for the faith once delivered to the saints, has caused the church to put together statements that identify the core teachings, and they serve as a good guide for us.
• One of the earliest statements was from the church fathers around 180AD, about a century after the death of the last of the apostles. It is called the Apostles Creed:
1. I believe in God the Father Almighty,
2. Maker of heaven and earth:
3. And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord,
4. Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
5. Born of the Virgin Mary,
6. Suffered under Pontius Pilate,
7. Was crucified, dead, and buried:
8. He descended into hell;
9. The third day he rose again from the dead;
10. He ascended into heaven,
11. And sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
12. From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
13. I believe in the Holy Ghost;
14. The holy catholic {Universal} Church;
15. The Communion of Saints;
16. The Forgiveness of sins;
17. The Resurrection of the body,
18. And the Life everlasting. Amen.
Church of God Statement of Faith
1. In the verbal inspiration of the Bible.
2. In one God eternally existing in three persons; namely, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
3. That Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of the Father, conceived of the Holy Ghost, and born of the Virgin Mary. That Jesus was crucified, buried, and raised from the dead. That He ascended to heaven and is today at the right hand of the Father as the Intercessor.
4. That all have sinned and come short of the glory of God and that repentance is commanded of God for all and necessary for forgiveness of sins.
5. That justification, regeneration, and the new birth are wrought by faith in the blood of Jesus Christ.
6. In sanctification subsequent to the new birth, through faith in the blood of Christ; through the Word, and by the Holy Ghost.
7. Holiness to be God's standard of living for His people.
8. In the baptism with the Holy Ghost subsequent to a clean heart.
9. In speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance and that it is the initial evidence of the baptism of the Holy Ghost.
10. In water baptism by immersion, and all who repent should be baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
11. Divine healing is provided for all in the atonement.
12. In the Lord's Supper and washing of the saints' feet.
13. In the premillennial second coming of Jesus. First, to resurrect the righteous dead and to catch away the living saints to Him in the air. Second, to reign on the earth a thousand years.
14. In the bodily resurrection; eternal life for the righteous, and eternal punishment for the wicked.
