Salvation: Why? and How?
or, SALVATION: ITS NEED AND PROVISION
Romans Chapters One to Five
Calvary Baptist Church
Series Begins Sunday, September 30, 2012
Sermon 3: The Man Who Said “Yes.” (Or, Paul and His Commission)
October 28, 2012
Romans 1:14-17
Romans 1:14-17 I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. 15 So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
INTRODUCTION:
• We are in the section of Romans that I have called the salutation (1:1-17).
• Last week we looked at Paul and his calling (1:1-7).
• Then we turned our attention to Paul and the Church (1:8-13).
• One of the ways that Paul expressed his love for the believers in Rome was to tell them that he wanted to come work with them in evangelizing Rome.
• He felt a compulsion to go there (see handout for sermon 2).
• Today we look at Paul and his commission (1:14-17)
• He expands his vision to one in which the object is to reach all men with the good news about Christ!
THEME: Paul's awareness that his salvation, his calling and his unique gifts obligated him to preach the gospel to all men.
OBJECTIVE: The listener will understand that our gifts, talents and training bring with them responsibilities to use them for the Lord.
Paul evaluated the need, evaluated his calling and gifts and said “yes” to God. Each believer must do the same.
STATEMENT: The man who said “yes.”
CONCEPT: Paul saw the need, saw the problem (Jewish message to Gentile world), saw his unique preparation and said, Lord, I am ready. Yes, Lord, yes!
Paul and His Commission (1:14-17)
I. Paul’s Responsibility for Preaching (1:14)
Romans 1:14 (KJV) 14 I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.
Debtor – one under obligation.
EXAMPLE USE: Matthew 6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
Greek – those conversant with Greek culture.
Barbarian – One who is foreign. One who speaks a strange and unfamiliar language. Those who say “bar bar.” Those not familiar with the Greco-Roman culture.
Wise – The clever, skillful, experienced person.
Unwise – The foolish, dull-witted person.
• Paul’s declaration is that he will preach to all classes of people, all cultures of people, all educational levels!
• All need Christ.
II. Paul’s Readiness for Preaching (1:15; Mt. 26:41)
Romans 1:15 So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.
Ready – prothumos. Eager, willing.
EXAMPLE USE: Matthew 26:41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
A. Ready in His Effort
“as much as in me is” (Lit., the according to me eagerness)
B. Ready in His Extent
“to you that are in Rome also”
III. Paul’s Resolve In Preaching (1:16)
Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
A. The Pride about the Gospel (Cf., Mk. 8:38)
“not ashamed”
EXAMPLE USE AND APPLICATION: Mark 8:38 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.
B. The Power of the Gospel
“it is the power of God”
EXAMPLE USE: Matthew 11:20 Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not:
ILLUS: The girls home sang, “I am so glad, go saves ole sinners, I’m thrilled and amazed, that he sets them free, but the greatest thing, about saving ole sinners, is that he would save, a sinner like me.”
• Girls so bad their own parents threw them out!
• Yet they came to know Christ!
• Oh, the power of the gospel!
C. The Promise of the Gospel
“unto salvation”
• We are not pushing the peddle cart of religion through the streets of this world.
• We are not standing on the street corner hustling people into reformation.
• We stand and offer freely the great gift of eternal life!
D. The People of the Gospel
“to every one that believeth; to the Jew first and also to Greek”
IV. Paul’s Reason for Preaching (1:17)
Romans 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
Everyone loves life. But spiritually, we are dead. How can a dead sinner become a living saint? Paul says, “I’m glad that you asked.”
A. The Righteousness of God (Rom. 3:26)
• A holy God can redeem unholy men and still be righteous in the act!
Romans 3:26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
B. The Relationship with God
• Spiritual death is to be separated from God.
• It is our sin that separates.
• God waits with open arms.
• When you come to Him and He justifies, then the relationship is restored.
• We have a Heavenly Father, a Savior, a family.
C. Redemption (life)
“the just shall live”
• You are under the curse of sin (by birth and by choice).
• You will face eternal death in the lake of fire.
• But when we come in full faith (from faith to faith) God redeems us from the penalty of sin.
• We have life (Jn. 3:16)!
• Everlasting life!
See UBS Handbook
APPLICATION:
NOTE: See Barclay’s The Mind of St. Paul, chapters 1 and 2
CHRISTIANITY began with one tremendous problem.
Clearly the message of Christianity was meant for all men.
• It was because God so loved the world that He sent His Son (John 3: 16).
• It was Jesus' confidence that, if He was lifted up, He would draw all men unto Him (John 12: 32).
• The Church regarded it as her commission that she must go and teach all nations (Matthew 28: 19).
It was clear that Christianity had a message for all the world, and that unless that message was delivered, the Church would fail in her God-given duty.
But the fact remained that Christianity was cradled in Judaism; and, humanly speaking, no message which was meant for all the world could ever have had a more unfortunate cradle. The Jews were involved in a double hatred the world hated them and they hated the world. The Mind of St. Paul, William Barclay
Paul as a Jew
First of all, let us look at Paul the Jew. To the end of his life Paul was proudly, stubbornly, unalterably a Jew.
• When he wrote to the Corinthians in answer to the charges of his detractors, he took his stand on his Jewish lineage:
" Are they Hebrews ? So am I. Are they Israelites ? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I " (2 Corinthians ii : 22).
• The three words he uses all have their own meaning.
1) A Hebrew was a Jew who could still speak Hebrew in contradistinction to the Jews of the Dispersion who had forgotten their native language for the Greek of their adopted countries.
2) An Israelite was specifically a member of the covenant nation.
3) To be of the seed of Abraham was to have absolute racial purity.
Paul's claim was that there was nowhere in the world a purer Jew than he.
Paul and the Gentile World
• The first sermon of Paul recorded in the Bible, Paul reveals what the Lord had told him.
Acts 13:47 For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.
• When the captain of the Roman guard planned to scourge Paul like any common trouble-making revolutionary, Paul could look him in the eye and say, "You had better think over what you are about to do."
Acts 22:22-29 And they gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted up their voices, and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live. 23 And as they cried out, and cast off their clothes, and threw dust into the air, 24 The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, and bade that he should be examined by scourging; that he might know wherefore they cried so against him. 25 And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned? 26 When the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief captain, saying, Take heed what thou doest: for this man is a Roman. 27 Then the chief captain came, and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? He said, Yea. 28 And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born. 29 Then straightway they departed from him which should have examined him: and the chief captain also was afraid, after he knew that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.
• There were four ways to become a Roman citizen:
1) As an honor for heroic military service.
2) As an honor for loyal service to the Roman republic.
3) By purchasing citizenship.
4) By being born in a Roman city or colony.
Perhaps No Passage Reveals the Dual Citizenship of Paul Like the Final Verses of Acts 21
Acts 21:37-40 And as Paul was to be led into the castle, he said unto the chief captain, May I speak unto thee? Who said, Canst thou speak Greek? 38 Art not thou that Egyptian, which before these days madest an uproar, and leddest out into the wilderness four thousand men that were murderers? 39 But Paul said, I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city: and, I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the people. 40 And when he had given him licence, Paul stood on the stairs, and beckoned with the hand unto the people. And when there was made a great silence, he spake unto them in the Hebrew tongue, saying,
• Paul says, "I am a Jew."
• "I am a citizen of Tarsus"
• So he says, "I am Jewish, and I am Roman."
• And then he stands to speak to the Jewish mob in the Hebrew language.
• In Romans he wishes that he could be accursed for the sake of his kinsmen.
• And in the same book, he tells believers to obey the government placed over them.
CONCEPT: Paul saw the need, saw the problem (Jewish message to Gentile world), saw his unique preparation and said, Lord, I am ready. Yes, Lord, yes!
APPLICATION: To each of us God has given talents and gifts.
ILLUS: Debbie when she sees a pretty lady that can also sing, "There ain't no justice in this life at all."
You may only have only one talent, one gift, but for whatever we have been given, much is required of us.
