THE DIVINE CALLING
ROMANS 1:1-17
LETTERS ARE A SIGINIFICANT PART OF OUR LIVES. I REMEMBER AS A CHILD HOW EXCITING IT WAS TO BE HANDED AN ENVELOPE THAT READ MASTER DOUGLAS PHILLIPS. IT WAS ALWAYS A SPECIAL DAY AS IT DIDN’T HAPPEN TO OFTEN.
I REMEMBER ON THE DAY OF MY MOTHER’S FUNERAL, THAT AFTER THE FUNERAL AND EVERYONE HAD GONE, MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS AND I WERE SITTING IN THE LIVING ROOM TALKING. SOMETHING CAME UP AND WE WANTED TO SEE A PAPER MOM HAD. WE KNEW THERE WAS A SHOEBOX OF PAPERS IN HER CLOSET AND SO WE GOT IT TO SEE IF IT WAS THERE. IT WASN’T, BUT WHAT WE DID FIND MADE OUR HEARTS GLAD.
WE WERE SURPRISED TO FIND A BOX OF LOVE LETTERS THAT MY FATHER HAD WRITTEN TO MY MOTHER, BEFORE AND AFTER THEY WERE MARRIED.
WE WERE ALWAYS OF THE IMPRESSION THAT DAD WAS A ROUGH AND HARD MAN. HE WORKED HARD AND ALWAYS HAD HIS FAMILY PRIORITY FIRST. HE WAS GREAT WITH KIDS, AND PASSED THAT ON TO ALL HIS CHILDREN. HE WASN’T OVERLY EXPRESSIVE OF HIS LOVE FOR MOM THOUGH, ALTHOUGH WE KNEW THEY WERE DEEPLY IN LOVE. I CAN REMEMBER SEEING THEM KISS ONLY ONCE, AT MY BROTHERS WEDDING.
WE SPENT HOURS JUST READING AND LAUGHING AT THESE LETTERS. WE DIDN’T LAUGH MUCH IN 1986 SO THIS TIME WAS GOOD.
I REMEMBER, ONE LETTER HE WROTE FROM A LOGGING CAMP. HE TOLD HER HOW MUCH HE MISSED HER AND WANTED TO BE WITH HER. HE SAID HE COULDN’T WAIT TO SEE HER IN A COUPLE OF WEEKS. IT WAS REAL MUSHY STUFF. HE ENDED IT WITH “BY THE WAY I GOT YOU THE 2 JUGS OF “RINCE-O BLEACH YOU ASKED FOR.”
YOU CAN SEE THAT A COMMON FACTOR FOR ALL THE PHILLIP’S WIVES, MINE INCLUDED, IS THAT THEY DESERVE A MEDAL FOR PUTTING UP WITH US. TO BE FAIR THE SAME IS TRUE FOR THE HUSBANDS OF MY SISTERS.
SOME LETTERS ARE STILL SIGNIFICANT TODAY FOR VARIOUS REASONS, DEPENDING ON WHO SENDS THEM. THE REASON FOR THIS IS A SIMPLE BUT PROFOUND CONCEPT, AND IT IS THAT RELATIONSHIP PRECEDES EXPERIENCE.
PEOPLE WHO NEED PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS AS THEY LEAD TO PERSONAL EXPERIENCES. RELATIONSHIPS SOMETIMES BEGIN BY ACUTALLY MEETING THE PERSON AS IN A LOVE LETTER. YOU DIDN’T MARRY YOUR SPOUSE AND THEN BEGIN THE RELATIONSHIP, YOU BEGAN THE RELATIONSHIP AND THEN HAD THE EXPERIENCE OF THE MARRIAGE.
SOMETIMES THE RELATIONSHIP BEGINS OUT OF REPUTATION AND A DESIRE TO EXPERIENCE A DEEPER RELATIONSHIP, SUCH AS A JOB APPLICATION, OR IF A CHURCH IS LOOKING FOR A NEW PASTOR.
SEE THE RELATIONSHIP IN THIS VIDEO.
THE RELATIONSHIP ALWAYS PRECEDES THE EXPERIENCE. BEFORE YOU EXPERIENCED SALVATION YOU EXPERIENCED THE BEGINNING OF A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST. THE RELATIONSHIP WAS INITIATED BY GOD BEFORE TIME BEGAN.
EPHESIANS 1:4-5:
FOR HE CHOSE US IN HIM BEFORE THE CREATION OF THE WORLD TO BE HOLY AND BLAMELESS IN HIS SIGHT. IN LOVE 5 HE PREDESTINED US FOR ADOPTION TO SONSHIP THROUGH JESUS CHRIST, IN ACCORDANCE WITH HIS PLEASURE AND WILL
THE BASIS FOR THAT RELATIONSHIP WAS MADE POSSIBLE AT CALVARY, AND THROUGH THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
FATHER WHO SENT ME DRAWS THEM, AND I WILL RAISE THEM UP AT THE LAST DAY.
NOW WITH ALL THE PIECES OF THE RELATIONSHIP IN PLACE GOD CALLS US TO A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM, AND WE EXPERIENCE A LASTING SALVATION. IT IS A SALVATION THAT IS BASED ON A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP THAT DRAWS US INTO NEW EXPERIENCES OF GOD’S LOVE.
THE DIVINE CALL OF THE GOSPEL IS TO A RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST THAT WILL LEAD TO MANY EXPERIENCES, GOOD AND PAINFUL, BUT NEVER, NEVER ALONE.
THIS WAS THE SITUATION PAUL WAS IN WITH THE ROMANS. HE HEARD ABOUT THE CHURCH IN ROME AND THEY HAD HEARD ABOUT PAUL, THAT’S WHERE THE RELATIONSHIP BEGAN. HE SENT THE LETTER AS AN ATTEMPT TO TAKE THE RELATIONSHIP DEEPER. IT GIVES US THE OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN ABOUT OUR SALVATION, GOD’S LOVE FOR US, AND HOW WE SHOULD RELATE TO EACH OTHER AS CHRISTIANS.
THE MAJORITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT BOOKS ARE LETTERS, AND THEREFORE ARE WRITTEN TO BUILD RELATIONSHIP RATHER THAN EXPERIENCE. ALL OF PAUL’S LETTERS RECORDED IN SCRIPTURE ARE LETTERS TO CHURCHES AND PEOPLE. THE BOOK OF ROMANS IS A LETTER. IT IS A VERY COMPREHENSIVE LETTER BUT A LETTER NONETHELESS AND IS THEREFORE GIVEN TO US TO BUILD OUR RELATIONSHIP AND CONSEQUENTLY LEAD US TO NEW DEEPER EXPERIENCES IN OUR WALK WITH THE LORD.
LETS TAKE A BIT OF TIME NOW TO GO THROUGH SOME OF THE INTRODUCTORY INFORMATION THAT LEADS US TO PAUL’S THEME FOR THE BOOK.
INTRODUCTORY INFORMATION:
THERE IS NO DOUBT AS TO THE AUTHORSHIP OF THE BOOK. PAUL WROTE THE BOOK AROUND THE YEAR 57 A.D., DURING A THREE MONTH STAY IN GREECE AT CORINTH, WHILE ON HIS THIRD MISSIONARY JOURNEY. IT WAS DURING THIS TIME THAT HE WOULD WRITE ROMANS AND 1-2 CORINTHIANS.
MORE IMPORTANT ARE THE CIRCUMSTANCES SURROUNDING THE WRITING OF THE BOOK, AND THE ORIGIN OF THE CHURCH IN ROME.
PAUL HAD BEEN BURDENED FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS WITH AN INTENSE DESIRE TO GO TO ROME. GOD FOR SOME REASON HAD ALWAYS SAID NO TO THE VISIT, UNTIL NOW.
PAUL WAS NEARING THE END OF HIS THIRD MISSIONARY JOURNEY AND WAS RESIDING IN CORINTH. FOR ALMOST TWENTY-FIVE YEARS, PAUL HAD PLANTED CHURCHES IN THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN AREA. HE SPENT THE LAST TEN YEARS FROM A.D. 47-57 IN INTENSIVE EVANGELIZATION OF THE TERRITORIES EAST AND WEST OF THE AEGEAN SEA. HE PLANTED CHURCHES AT, ICONIUM, PHILIPPI, THESSALONICA, CORINTH, EPHESUS, AND IN MANY OTHER CITIES. THESE CHURCHES COULD NOW BE LEFT UNDER THE CARE OF THEIR SPIRITUAL LEADERS AND THE SIRECTION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
PAUL’S MISSIONARY TASK WAS BY NO MEANS FINISHED. PAUL WAS DETERMINED TO BE A PIONEER MISSIONARY FOR GOD. HE HAD DETERMINED NOT TO SETTLE DOWN IN ANY REGION WHERE THE GOSPEL HAD BEEN PREACHED, AND SO HE SOUGHT FOR A NEW MISSION FIELD. IT WOULD TURN OUT TO BE SPAIN.
ROMANS 15:20: IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN MY AMBITION TO PREACH THE GOSPEL WHERE CHRIST WAS NOT KNOWN, SO THAT I WOULD NOT BE BUILDING ON SOMEONE ELSE’S FOUNDATION.
HE WOULD TAKE AN OPPORTUNITY WHILE ON THE WAY TO SPAIN TO GO TO THE CHURCH IN ROME. HE WANTED TO BE PART OF THE EXCITEMENT OF THE CHURCH THERE. THIS WAS A UNIQUE EXPERIENCE FOR PAUL IN THAT HE WOULD BE TEACHING AN ESTABLISHED CHURCH WHERE HE COULD HELP IT GROW, AND GAIN SUPPORT. HE SAW THE CHURCH IN ROME PARTNERING WITH HIM IN HIS MISSION TO SPAIN.
THIS LETTER IS WITHOUT A DOUBT THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE OF ALL OF PAUL’S LETTERS TO CHURCHES AND PEOPLE. WHEN PAUL ESTABLISHED HIS CHURCHES HE COULD ALSO ESTABLISH THEIR THEOLOGY. HIS LETTERS TO THEM WERE MORE FOR ENCOURAGEMENT AND TO ADDRESS SPECIFIC PROBLEMS THE CHURCH WAS ENCOUNTERING.
ROME WAS AN ESTABLISHED CHURCH, AND IN HIS LETTER HE WANTED TO SHARE WITH THEM WHAT HE THOUGHT THE CORE OF THE GOSPEL WAS. THIS IS A LETTER OF INTRODUCTION FOR PAUL.
IT IS ALSO A MEANS BY WHICH PAUL EXPRESSES WHAT HE TRULY BELIEVES TO THE CHURCHES IN ROME. PAUL WAS FACING GREAT OPPOSITION, FROM GROUPS OF JEWS IN ASIA DURING HIS LAST MISSIONARY JOURNEY.
THE SCRIPTURE SHARES WITH US THE SPECIFICS ABOUT THE THREE MONTH’S THAT PAUL STAYS IN CORINTH IN ACTS CHAPTER 18. ACTS CHAPTER 19 TELLS US THAT HE THEN WENT TO EPHESUS FOR TWO YEARS. IT WAS HERE THAT HIS PROBLEMS BEGAN THAT WOULD EVENTUALLY LEAD TO HIS ARREST IN JERUSALEM.
EPHESUS WAS A CITY KNOWN FOR IT’S IDOL WORSHIP. A SEAPORT, CENTER OF TRADE AND TRAVEL, IT WAS INFLUENCED BY MANY GODS. THE GODDESS ARTEMIS, WHO WAS THE GODDESS OF CHILDBIRTH HAD A TEMPLE IN EPHESUS.
WHAT WE WOULD CALL “A REVIVAL” BROKE OUT IN EPHESUS OVER THE TWO YEARS THAT PAUL SPOKE THERE.
ACTS 18:11-12:
GOD DID EXTRAORDINARY MIRACLES THROUGH PAUL, 12 SO THAT EVEN HANDKERCHIEFS AND APRONS THAT HAD TOUCHED HIM WERE TAKEN TO THE SICK, AND THEIR ILLNESSES WERE CURED AND THE EVIL SPIRITS LEFT THEM.
THE REVIVAL WAS FINALLY QUENCHED BY SATAN THROUGH THE USE OF ECONOMIC ATTACK. GREAT AMOUNTS OF MONEY WERE MADE BY MAKING IDOLS AND THE THINGS INVOLVED IN TEMPLE WORSHIP. A SILVERSMITH NAMED DEMETRIUS BROUGHT THE CRAFTSMEN TOGETHER AND SAID THEY WERE LOSING A LOT OF MONEY AS A RESULT OF PAUL’S TEACHING.
ACTS 19:25-27:
HE CALLED THEM TOGETHER, ALONG WITH THE WORKERS IN RELATED TRADES, AND SAID: “YOU KNOW, MY FRIENDS, THAT WE RECEIVE A GOOD INCOME FROM THIS BUSINESS. 26 AND YOU SEE AND HEAR HOW THIS FELLOW PAUL HAS CONVINCED AND LED ASTRAY LARGE NUMBERS OF PEOPLE HERE IN EPHESUS AND IN PRACTICALLY THE WHOLE PROVINCE OF ASIA. HE SAYS THAT GODS MADE BY HUMAN HANDS ARE NO GODS AT ALL. 27 THERE IS DANGER NOT ONLY THAT OUR TRADE WILL LOSE ITS GOOD NAME, BUT ALSO THAT THE TEMPLE OF THE GREAT GODDESS ARTEMIS WILL BE DISCREDITED; AND THE GODDESS HERSELF, WHO IS WORSHIPED THROUGHOUT THE PROVINCE OF ASIA AND THE WORLD, WILL BE ROBBED OF HER DIVINE MAJESTY.”
THIS SPREAD THOUGHOUT THE ENTIRE CITY AND A RIOT ENSUED. IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT JUST BEFORE THIS TROUBLE BEGAN, PAUL SPEAKS OF HAVING TO GO TO JERUSALEM AND ROME.
IT WOULD BE SOME OF THESE JEWS WHO HAD GONE TO JERUSALEM, FOR WHAT PURPOSE WE DON’T KNOW, THAT WOULD INCITE THE PEOPLE IN JERUSALEM AND EVENTUALLY LEAD TO PAUL’S ARREST.
PAUL SAW HIS JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM AS A NECESSARY PART OF HIS MINISTRY. HE HAD TAKEN AN OFFERING FROM THE CHURCHES IN ASIA, WHO WERE MOSTLY GENTILE, FOR THE STRUGGLING CHURCH IN JERUSALEM. IT WAS PAUL’S HOPE THAT THIS WOULD PROVIDE A SOLIDIFYING FACTOR FOR THE JEWISH AND GENTILE CHRISTIANS. HE COULD HAVE SENT IT THROUGH OTHER PEOPLE AND CARRY ON RIGHT TO ROME, BUT HE WANTED TO COMPLETE WHAT HE HAD STARTED.
PAUL DIDN’T REALIZE IT BUT HE WAS A PART OF A LESSON THAT GOD WANTS TO TEACH US TODAY. WE ALL DESIRE TO DO THE WILL OF GOD, BUT DO WE DESIRE THE METHOD THAT GOD CHOOSES TO ACCOMPLISH HIS WILL?
WHEN WE ASK GOD TO USE US, WE MUST ALSO REMEMBER THAT WE ARE ASKING HIM NOT ONLY TO CHOOSE THE MINISTRY, BUT THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE MINISTRY. PAUL INDEED WANTED TO GO TO ROME, AND GO TO ROME GOD ALLOWED, BUT AS A PRISONER, NOT A FREE MAN.
THERE ARE TIMES WHEN THE MINISTRY WE ARE TO PERFORM IS SO SPECIAL, THAT GOD NEEDS TO CREATE THE CIRCUMSTANCES FOR THAT MINISTRY TO PROCEED.
WHEN PAUL WENT TO JERUSALEM HE WAS ARRESTED, WENT THROUGH A SERIES OF TRIALS, AND BECAUSE HE CLAIMED HIS ROMAN CITIZENSHIP, WAS ALLOWED TO PLEAD HIS CASE BEFORE THE EMPEROR HIMSELF. THIS WOULD TAKE PLACE IN ROME.
PAUL WOULD RECEIVE HIS REQUEST TO GO TO ROME THREE YEARS AFTER HE WROTE HIS LETTER TO THE ROMANS IN A.D. 60 . HE WOULD BE GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO MINISTER THERE, WRITE MANY LETTERS WHICH WE HAVE IN SCRIPTURE, AND INFLUENCE MANY PEOPLE, ALL WHILE IN THE CONFINES OF HOUSE ARREST.
SEVEN YEARS AFTER THE WRITING OF HIS LETTER, WHILE PAUL WAS IN ROME, THE CITY WAS DEVESTATED BY A GREAT FIRE. SUSPICION FOR THE FIRE WAS DIRECTED AT NERO, AND HE SAUGHT A GROPU HE COULD BLAME. CHRISTIANS OF ROME WERE UNPOPULAR – REPUTED TO BE “ENEMIES OF THE HUMAN RACE’ AND GUILTY OF SUCH VICES AS INCEST AND CANNIBALISM. IT WOULD BE THIS PERSECUTION THAT FORMS THE SETTING FOR PAUL’S MARTYRDOM.
THE ACTUAL EVENTS THAT LED UP TO HIS DEATH ARE ONLY CONJECTURE. IT IS NOT CERTAIN IF HE EVER REACHED SPAIN. MOST LIKELY, HE WAS SENTENCED TO DEATH AT ROME AS A LEADER OF THE CHRISTIANS, LED OUT OF THE CITY ALONG THE OSTIAN WAY AND BEHEADED AT THE PLACE THEN CALLED AQUAE SALVIAE (MODERN TRE FONTANE). HIS TOMB LIES BENEATH THE HIGH ALTAR OF THE BASILICA OF SAN PAOLO FUORI LE MURA (ST. PAUL OUTSIDE THE WALLS.)
THE CHURCH IN ROME ORIGINATED WITH THE DAY OF PENTECOST. SOME JEWS WHO WERE CONVERTED ON THAT DAY, AND LEFT JERUSALEM AS A RESULT OF THE LOCAL PERSECUTION THAT COST STEPHEN HIS LIFE, SETTLED IN ROME.
THE EXPULSION OF JEWISH CHRISTIANS BY CLAUDIUS IN A.D. 49 HAD A GREAT IMPACT ON THE CHURCH IN ROME. IT WAS AS A RESULT OF THIS EXPULSION THAT PAUL WOULD MEET AQUILA AND PRISCILLA AT CORINTH. IT WAS THE EXPULSION THOUGH THAT ALLOWED GENTILE CHRISTIANS TO GAIN POSITIONS OF POWER AND CONTROL IN THE CHURCHES IN ROME FROM THEIR JEWISH BROTHERS.
WHEN THE EXPULSION WAS OVER AND THE JEWISH CHRISTIANS CAME BACK, THEY EXPECTED TO BE GIVEN BACK THEIR PLACES OF LEADERSHIP IN THE CHURCH. THE GENTILE LEADERS REFUSED TO GIVE WAY AND AS A RESULT GREAT TENSION RESULTED.
THIS LETTER THEN, WAS WRITTEN BY PAUL AS AN INTRODUCTION TO THE CHURCHES IN THE ROME AREA. WHAT IS IT THOUGH THAT HE WISHED THEM TO KNOW? THE ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION IS FOUND IN THIS PASSAGE.
PAUL INTRODUCES HIMSELF BY STATING HIS DIVINE CALL, HIS DIVINE MESSAGE, AND HIS DIVINE MISSION. HIS ENTIRE LETTER IS GOING TO BE AN EXPANISON ON THESE THREE ISSUES.
ROMANS 1:1: PAUL, A SERVANT OF CHRIST JESUS, CALLED TO BE AN APOSTLE AND SET APART FOR THE GOSPEL OF GOD
THIS VERSE CONTAINS THREE IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS OF PAUL AND SHOULD BE OF US AS CHRISTIANS.
1. A SERVANT: THIS IS ACTUALLY A BAD TRANSLATION AS THE ACTUAL WORD USED TRANSLATES BETTER AS “SLAVE”. PAUL IS A “BOND-SLAVE” TO JESUS CHRIST. HE IS A SLAVE BY CHOICE. HE HAS CHOSEN TO COME TO CHRIST AND HAS TURNED OVER HIS LIFE TO CHRIST TO BE USED AS CHRIST SEES FIT. HIS LIFE IS NOT HIS OWN ANYMORE.
1 CORINTHIANS 6:19-20:
DO YOU NOT KNOW THAT YOUR BODIES ARE TEMPLES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, WHO IS IN YOU, WHOM YOU HAVE RECEIVED FROM GOD? YOU ARE NOT YOUR OWN; 20 YOU WERE BOUGHT AT A PRICE. THEREFORE HONOR GOD WITH YOUR BODIES
WHEN WE ACCEPTED CHRIST AS SAVIOR AND LORD, WE MADE THE SAME PLEDGE. WE TURNED OUR LIVES OVER TO CHRIST TO LEAD AS HE SEES FIT. WE BECAME “BOND-SLAVES” TO CHRIST, IN THAT WE CHOOSE TO ACCEPT HIM INTO OUR LIFE AS OUR LORD.
2. APOSTLE: PAUL HAD TO DEFEND HIS APOSTLESHIP ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS, AND SO HE INCLUDED IT WITH MOST OF HIS WRITINGS. HE HAD A DEFINITE EXPERIENCE WITH CHRIST ON THE DAMASCUS ROAD, WHICH QUALIFIES HIM AS ONE OF THE FEW WHO CAN CLAIM THIS TITLE.
GALATIANS 1:1: PAUL, AN APOSTLE—SENT NOT FROM MEN NOR BY A MAN, BUT BY JESUS CHRIST AND GOD THE FATHER, WHO RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD
PAUL WAS TELLING HIS ROMAN BROTHERS THAT HE WAS CHOSEN BY GOD, FOR THE PURPOSE OF MINISTERING TO THE GENTILES.
MY QUESTION TO YOU TODAY IS, WHO HAS GOD CHOSEN YOU TO MINISTER TO? GOD HAS CHOSEN YOU TO MINISTER, NOT TO CONVERT. YOU ARE TO PRESENT THE GOSPEL MESSAGE AND CONVICTION IS THE DOMAIN OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. WE ARE NOT TO STOP MINISTERING, EVEN IF IT SEEMS THAT THERE IS NO RESPONSE. WE ARE TO BE FAITHFUL TO THE CALL. WE HAVE NO BEARING ON THE RESULT.
3. SET APART FOR THE GOSPEL: THIS IS A REFERENCE TO THE RELATIONSHIP PAUL HAS WITH JESUS. TO BE SET ASIDE IS TO BE IN A HOLY RELATIONSHIP. IT IS ONE THAT THE WORLD CANNOT ENTER IN. IT LEADS TO DEEPER EXPERIENCES IN CHRIST.
WHEN WE ACCEPTED CHRIST WE BEGAN A SET APART OR “HOLY RELATIONSHIP” WITH HIM. THIS IS A RELATIONSHIP THAT WILL LEAD US TO DEEEPER EXPERIENCES IN CHRIST AND WHERE WE LEARN TO LOVE HIM MORE.
NOTE THAT HE IS SET APRAT IN HOLINESS FOR THE “GOSPEL”. THE “GOSPEL” IS THE CHIEF THEME OF THE BOOK OF ROMANS. RIGHTEOUSNESS, SALVATION AND ITS TERMS, FREEDOM AND THE LAW, ARE ALL SUB-THEMES OF THE GODPWL.
VERSES 2-5 TELL US THREE THINGS ABOUT THE “GOSPEL” PAUL PROCLAIMS.
1. IT WAS PROMISED BEFOREHAND IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. WHILE AT THIS POINT HE HAS NO SPECIFIC OLD TESTAMENT REFERENCES IN MIND, HE IS SAYING THAT HE WILL BE ANCHORING HIS THEOLOGICAL POINTS TO THE OLD TESTAMENT. THE PROMISE-FULFILLMENT PATTERN, THE PROMISE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT IS FULFILLED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, WILL HELP PAUL IN DEALING WITH THE JEWISH ELEMENT IN ROME.
2. THE HEART OF THE GOSPEL IS THE SONE OF GOD: VERSE 3 SPEAKS OF BOTH HIS PREEXISTENCE AND HIS EARTHLY EXISTENCE. HIS PRE-EXISTENCE IS SEEN AS THE VERSE STATES THAT “HE CAME INTO BEING.” HIS EARTHLY EXISTENCE IS SHOWN IN THAT HE IS A ROYAL DESCENDANT FROM THE LINE OF DAVID.
3. VERSES 2-5 CENTER ON GOD’S DESIGNATION OF JESUS AS HIS SON: GOD HAS SHOWN US THROUGHOUT THE NEW TESTAMENT THAT JESUS WAS HIS SON. HERE PAUL SAYS THAT HE IS STATING THIS THROUGH THE RESURRECTION.
NOTE IN VERSE 5 THAT PAUL IS CALLING ON CHRISTIANS TO SUBMIT TO THE LORDSHIP OF JESUS CHRIST. A SPECIFIC PURPOSE OF PAUL’S IN THIS LETTER AS WELL AS IN HIS MINISTRY IS TO CALL CHRISTIANS TO “AN OBEDIENCE THAT SPRINGS FROM FAITH.” FAITH ALWAYS INVOLVES OBEDIENCE AND OBEDIENCE ALWAYS INVOLVES FAITH. AS WE HAVE SAID RELATIONSHIP ALWAYS PRECEDES EXPERIENCE.
VERSES 6-10 PROVIDE THE CONCLUSION OF HIS INTRODUCTION BY DESCRIBING THE RECEPIENTS OF HIS LETTER. PAUL CONSIDERS THE ROMAN CHRISTIANS TO BE FELLOW CHRISTIANS OF PRIMARY OR FIRST IMPORTANCE. HE SAYS THAT THEY ALL SHARE THE SAME CALL OF GOD.
PAUL INFORMS THEM THAT HE IS PRAYING FOR THEM, AND PRAYING FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO COME TO MINSITER TO THEM. HE BRINGS NO SPECIFIC PETITIONS FOR THE ROMANS IN HIS PRAYER. THIS IS AN INDICATION THAT HIS VISIT IS FOR FELLOWSHIP REASONS, NOT TO ADDRESS SPECIFIC THEOLOGICAL ISSUES, AT THIS TIME AT LEAST.
VERSES 14-17 INDICATE TO US THE SPECIFIC REASON THAT HE HAS COME TO ROME. PAUL INDICATES HERE THAT HE HAS A RESPONSIBILITY TO “PREACH THE GOSPEL TO ALL PEOPLE”, GREEKS AND NON-GREEKS. IT IS THE PREACHING OF THE CALL TO SALVATION, AND TO THE LIFE OF HOLINESS FOLLOWING AN ACCEPTANCE OF CHRIST AS SAVIOR SO THAT HE IS LORD AS WELL.
PAUL KNOWS THAT SALVATION IS OPEN TO ALL PEOPLE WHO BELIEVE. TO BELIEVE IS TO PUT FULL TRUST IN GOD, THAT HE IS WHO HE IS. TO BELIEVE IS TO ENTER RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD, AND THEN TO EXPERIENCE SALVATION AS THE RESULT.
PAUL IS NOT ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL FOR HE KNOWS THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL. HE KNOWS THE POWER OF THE RELATIONSHIP WE CAN HAVE WITH CHRIST.
PAUL DOES ACCORD SOME PRIORITY TO THE JEW, BUT THIS IS FROM A HISTORICAL CONTEXT. THE JEWISH PEOPLE WERE GOD’S CHOSEN PEOPLE, AND THEY WERE THE FIRST TO ENJOY RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD. NOW BECAUSE OF THE RESURRECTION IT WAS OPEN TO ALL.
THERE IS ANOTHER ISSUE HERE CONCERNING “RIGHETOUSNESS” WHICH WE WILL NOT GET INTO TODAY, BUT PERHAPS PAUL WILL SPEAK ON IT WHEN HE COMES TO SPEAK TO US.
CONCLUSION:
RELATIONSHIP ALWAYS PRECEDES EXPERIENCE. PAUL’S HOPE WAS THAT BY GOING TO ROME AND PREACHING THE GOSPEL TO THEM THE HE COULD BUILD A RELATIONSHIP WITH THEM THAT WOULD LEAD PEOPLE TO THE EXPERIENCE OF BECOMING PART OF GOD’S KINGDOM THROUGH SALVATION.
MY QUESTION TO YOU IS WHO DO YOU NEED TO BUILD A RELATIONSHIP WITH? IT COULD BE A FRIEND OR NEIGHBOUR. IT COULD BE A STORE CLERK, OR PERHAPS YOUR FAMILY DOCTOR. IT COULD BE A POLICE OFFICER. AS HE GIVES YOU YOUR TICKET, THANK HIM FOR HIS SERVICE AND ASK HIM IF YOU CAN OFFER HIM SOMETHING IN RETURN, THE GOSPEL.
LUTHER, WESLEY, CALVIN, AND BARTH ARE JUST A FEW WHO LIVES WERE MIRACULOUSLY CHANGED BY STUDYING THE BOOK OF ROMANS. LETS STUDY THE BOOK TOGETHER AND AD OUR NAMES TO THIS GREAT LIST OF BELIEVERS. LET’S ALLOW STUDYING THIS BOOK TO HELP US BUILD OUR RELATIONSHIP TO GOD, AND IN DOING SO, TO DEEPEN OUR EXPERIENCES WITH HIM. RELATIONSHIP WILL ALWAYS LEAD TO EXPERIENCE.
