A. In the year 386 A.D. a young professor of rhetoric named Aurelius Augustinius was wasting his life away in dissolution and debauchery.
1. Then one day, he happened to pick up a Bible, which just happened to fall open to the book of Romans, where his eye just happened to fall upon Chapter 13, Verses 13-14: “Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”
2. Instantly that Word from the Lord convicted his heart, and the prodigal professor renounced his wicked ways and became a devout Christian.
3. In fact, the man the world would later come to know and admire as "Saint Augustine" not only left his old life of sin behind him but he went on to develop into one of the most influential scholars in the history of Christianity. And it all began with the book of Romans.
B. One of the most far-reaching religious transformations in history was launched in 1515 A.D. when a German monk named Martin Luther was appointed to teach the book of Romans at the University of Wittenberg.
1. For many years Luther had struggled unsuccessfully to pacify his tormented conscience by strenuous works of religious merit, but no matter how much he did, it was never enough.
2. Then, while studying Paul's letter to the Romans, he came to realize that his whole approach was misguided: salvation is not earned by human righteousness.
3. It was in Chapter 1, Verse 17, where Luther discovered the revolutionary statement: “The righteous will live by faith.”
4. Luther realized that it is trusting faith, not works of merit, that make us right with God.
5. This profound insight not only set Luther free from the spiritual anxiety that had oppressed him for so long, but it also provided the spark which ignited what we know today as the Protestant Reformation. And it all began with the book of Romans!
C. When John Bunyan was thrown into the Bedford jail in 1660 for refusing to stop preaching without the permission of England’s ecclesiastical authorities, it was the book of Romans that he read, and the truths he found there inspired Bunyan to write Pilgrim’s Progress, one of the most influential religious books of all time.
D. The Methodist revival of the eighteenth century, which swept over the young nation of America like a mighty force and had changed the lives of millions, began in a small Bible study in London in 1738 when John Wesley heard someone reading from Luther’s Preface to Romans and for the first time Wesley comprehended, in a profoundly personal way, that the death of Jesus was for his benefit. And it all came from Romans.
E. Clearly this book called Romans packs a powerful punch!
1. In fact, the theme of the book of Romans talks about the powerful punch of the gospel.
2. In Romans 1:16-17, Paul wrote: For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
3. The Greek word translated “power’ in verse 16 is dunamis – from which we derive the word “dynamite”!
4. That is an appropriate word, because the message of the book of Romans has been “dynamite” from the first day it was written until now.
5. Jimmy Allen, a long-time teacher at Harding, likes to say, “If you ‘get’ Romans (i.e., understand it), then God will get you! (i.e., change you / save you).”
F. Paul’s letter to the Romans is still transforming people’s lives, just the way it transformed Augustine, Martin Luther, John Bunyan, and John Wesley.
1. And how wonderful it is that you and I can read and study the same inspired letter that packs such a powerful punch.
2. For the last thirty one years of preaching here at Wetzel Road, I have preached through almost every book of the New Testament, but I have waited for the right time when to preach through Paul’s letter to the Romans.
3. Over the years, I have considered preaching through Romans, but each time I backed off from the task thinking I wasn’t ready for the challenge.
4. John Piper describes the reason why he hesitated to preach through Romans for 18 years saying, “I felt like a mountain climber gazing up into the clouds around the peak of Mount Everest and then turning to lower heights. It felt very daunting.”
5. But in God’s timing and grace, I have felt in recent months that now is the time for us to climb the mountain of Romans that we might see God in all His glory and goodness from that height.
G. And so, with today’s sermon, we begin a new sermon series on Romans that I am calling “Paul’s Letter to the Romans: Pursuing Righteousness from God.”
1. Although, I am beginning a new sermon series today, I am not actually finished with our most recent series “Blueprint: God’s Plan for the Church.”
a. There are additional topics that I want to add to the seven sermons I already preached from that series, but I feel that we can come back to those topics individually.
2. As you know, I prefer preaching expositorially rather than topically; meaning, I like to preach through an entire book of the Bible or through a biblical person’s life, rather than on just topics.
H. So, let’s turn our attention to Romans.
1. Just like all of Paul’s letters, the letter to the Romans is an occasional letter.
2. What I mean by an “occasional letter” is that it is a letter that addresses the needs of the Romans and the situations they were facing.
3. When Paul wrote his letters, he didn’t just sit down and write about Christianity in general.
3. Rather, when Paul decided to write a letter to someone, like the Corinthians, or to Timothy, he wrote to address the specific things they were facing, and he included whatever spiritual teaching or theology that addressed their needs.
4. On the surface, Romans might look more like just a general treatise on theology, but it is not.
5. Everything that Paul included in the letter to the Romans is shaped to address the struggle or situation that the Christians in Rome were facing.
6. Allow me to give a brief introduction to the city of Rome and the situation facing the church in Rome.
I. It is estimated that Paul wrote the letter to the Romans in 57 AD, most likely while in Corinth.
1. Phoebe of nearby Cenchrea was apparently entrusted with carrying the letter to Rome (16:1, 2).
2. The mention of Gaius as Paul’s host (16:23) supports this conclusion, because Gaius was one of Paul’s most prominent converts during his mission at Corinth (1 Cor. 1:14).
3. We don’t know how the church was started in Rome, but we know that Paul was not the one who planted the church there, for he had never visited Rome at the time of writing the letter.
4. Perhaps Christians who had left Jerusalem because persecution had gone there, or perhaps some of the Jews who became Christians on the day of Pentecost had been from Rome.
5. Because Rome was the capital of the empire and the center of trade, it makes sense that the gospel would make its way to Rome and to have a great effect there.
J. Let’s talk for a minute about the Roman Empire.
1. In the first century all of the education, the language, the military might, the political and cultural influence, emanated from one spot – from the capital of the most powerful empire the world had ever known: ROME!
2. The Empire of the Romans stretched from Britain in the northwest to Arabia in the southeast.
a. The tramp of the feared Roman Legions could be heard all throughout that vast area.
b. And those soldiers were marching on roads so well-designed by Roman engineers that some of them are still in use today.
c. Those ancient thoroughfares were the ancient equivalent of today's interstate highway system – they made it possible for armies and merchants alike to journey swiftly and safely anywhere in the empire.
d. There is an age-old understanding: highways bring traffic, traffic brings trade, and trade brings prosperity.
3. In the first century, if you were fortunate enough to be a Roman citizen, the world was yours.
a. Wherever you went you would be protected by Roman law, enforced by Roman soldiers – you could expect in any city to find someone who spoke the Roman language (Greek), and you knew that you could make a purchase with your Roman coins.
4. The relentless reach of Roman rule can be seen clearly in the pages of the New Testament.
a. What happened in faraway Rome had a direct impact on the lives of people throughout the Empire.
b. For example, a young carpenter named Joseph and his very pregnant young wife Mary struggled to make an uncomfortable trip to Bethlehem because of a decree issued fifteen hundred miles away by Caesar Augustus.
c. It was Rome that set Herod up as king in Judea, and it was Rome that deposed his corrupt sons years later.
d. When the leaders in Jerusalem wanted to execute Jesus, they first had to persuade the Roman governor Pilate to issue the command.
e. On the other hand, when the apostle Paul, years later, was falsely accused and arrested, he took advantage of his Roman citizenship to go over their heads and appeal to Caesar.
f. Rome was the superpower in the days of Jesus, and indeed it would continue to dominate the world for another 4 centuries.
5. Rome was a powerful city.
a. When the Roman Senate gathered in the Forum it debated issues that would determine the fate of nations.
b. When the Caesar was in a bad mood, kings trembled.
c. When Augustus ordered a census taken, it revealed an Empire with almost 55 million subjects, and all of them were intensely interested in the latest news from Rome.
d. It is easy to see why Rome was known as "Caput Mundi," the "head of the world."
6. Rome was a proud city.
a. Rome in the first century was a cosmopolitan capital of more than a million people ...common folks lived in high-rise apartment buildings several stories high...the aristocrats lived in great villas in the suburbs, and commuted into town on the Appian Way.
b. Thanks to the lavish patronage of the emperors Rome was adorned with some of the most magnificent public buildings the world has ever seen, decorated with marble, silver, and gold.
7. Additionally, Rome was a pagan city.
a. Every kind of worship, cult, god or goddess could be found in Rome, along with every kind of immorality, debauchery, and perversion.
b. Even the Roman poets called the capital city a “cesspool,” because of the evil influences found there.
K. So, when the apostle Paul sat down in 57 A.D. to write the letter to the Romans, he knew his letter wasn’t going to some obscure corner of the empire.
1. He knew he was addressing a congregation, or congregations, of Christians who lived in the political and social center of the universe.
2. But Paul also knew he was writing to address the specific problem they were facing.
3. And in the midst of addressing that problem, with the help of the Holy Spirit, Paul wrote the most profound, most majestic, most comprehensive explanation of the gospel of Jesus ever recorded, before or since.
L. What was the occasion or problem that the Roman church was facing?
1. From history and Scripture, we learn that the Roman Emperor Claudius, who was in office AD 41-54, expelled all the Jews from Rome.
2. No one is certain of the specific reason for the expulsion, nor when it exactly began or ended.
3. But the reference in Acts 18 gives us some further details in narrowing the time frame.
4. We are told in Acts 18 that Priscilla and Aquila were Jews who came to Corinth following their expulsion from Rome by Claudius.
5. Paul mentions that this took place while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia.
6. Since history records that Gallio served as proconsul of Achaia from AD 50-54, then we know that the edict of Claudius must have happened during that time toward the end of his reign.
M. I believe a conflict arose within the church in Rome after the edict of Claudius was lifted.
1. When the Jewish Christians from Rome were allowed to return to Rome and rejoin the congregation that in their absence was completely made up of Gentiles, they received a less than favorable welcome.
2. While the Jewish Christians had vacated the congregation, the Gentile Christians had moved ahead in their Christianity and had neither the time nor the desire to have to deal again with the Jewish Christians and their Christianity tinted with Jewish traditions.
3. I believe that Paul responded to the situation with a letter whose purpose was keep the church at Rome from dividing the body of Christ.
4. Paul’s hope is clearly stated in Romans 14:19, “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification,” and Romans 15:5-6, “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
N. Let’s do a brief survey of the letter to show how Paul lays out his principles and arguments for unity among God’s people, both Jews and Gentiles.
1. Paul made his purpose clear from the start by stating his theme in Romans 1:16, “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.”
2. This immediately clarifies that the focus of this letter is going to be on both Jews and Gentiles.
3. Paul’s purpose in chapters one through three includes showing that all people are on the same level and are in the same position before God.
a. Chapter one states that the Gentiles are unrighteous.
b. Chapter two states that the Jews are unrighteous.
c. And chapter three concludes that all people are unrighteous and stand in need of righteousness.
4. Why did Paul do this? Well, if we understand the problem in Rome to be Gentile Christians not wanting to accept their Jewish Christian brothers and sisters because of conceit and controversy, and the Jewish Christians not wanting to accept their Gentile brothers and sisters because of pride and principle, then this discussion seems logical.
a. Paul concludes that all people stand in need of the righteousness that can only be found through faith in Jesus Christ.
5. From the end of chapter three through chapter four, Paul deals with a conceptual problem the Jewish Christians were likely struggling with regarding their heritage.
a. Just how could God allow the Gentiles to be saved apart from the law?
b. Paul used Abraham as an illustration to show the Jewish Christians that Abraham was made righteous by faith, apart from the Law, and that all people become children of Abraham by faith (not by the Mosaic Law).
6. If anyone wanted to argue that Paul experienced a digression while writing the book of Romans, it could be argued that chapters five through eight is where it occurred.
a. Nevertheless, these chapters can be worked nicely into the flow of thought, but they don’t deal as specifically with the Jew-Gentile problem in Rome as do many of the other chapters.
b. Paul paints a beautiful picture of justification by faith and peace with God through Jesus.
c. The main point of this section is to explain and put into perspective the fact that we have peace with God and yet we have conflict in the world and conflict within ourselves.
d. Paul’s explanation for this is the fact that the Christian lives caught between Adam and Christ.
e. We have the spiritual connection with Christ, but we are still trapped in this physical body and world, which has kinship with Adam.
f. The good news that Paul offers is that we don’t have to live in subjection to Adam any longer, but we can experience the power of Jesus manifested through the Spirit.
7. As Paul makes a transition to chapters nine through eleven, he emphasizes the point that God does not desert his people.
a. This is an important point because the Gentile Christians seem to have been using this argument as a basis for their rejection of the Jewish Christians.
b. In chapters nine through eleven, Paul’s purpose was to prove that God did not desert the Jews and that the Gentiles have no reason for conceit.
c. Paul emphasizes the fact that the Jews were rejected because of their disbelief and that the Gentiles could make the same mistake.
d. Paul also emphasized that the Gentiles were ingrafted branches and were indebted to the Jews for their roots.
e. If anyone doubts whether Paul was writing about a specific situation, notice Romans 11:13, where Paul said: “I am talking to you Gentiles.”
8. If our theory is right and Paul was dealing with a specific situation in Rome and had already described the problem, don’t you think he would give some suggestions for resolving the problem before ending the letter?
a. I think that is exactly what he did in the last section of the letter.
b. From chapter twelve through the first half of chapter fifteen, Paul offers practical suggestions for eliminating the tensions in the church at Rome.
O. Paul’s prescription for dealing with the problem of division between Jewish and Gentile Christians at Rome included the following:
1. Paul’s first prescription for unity in the church at Rome was for a transformation in their thinking. Paul wrote: “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Rom. 12:2).
a. Then Paul immediately added: “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you” (Rom. 12:3).
b. When there is a conflict, humility and right thinking are always a good place to begin.
c. Both the Jewish Christians and the Gentile Christians were likely both entrenched in their worldly thinking and pride, and therefore needed some transformation from the inside out.
2. From that beginning point, Paul quickly moved toward the promotion of love as a cure for what ailed them. Paul wrote: “Love must be sincere…Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves” (Rom. 12:9-10).
a. Paul goes on in chapters 14 and 15 to describe how the Romans were to love each other in a way that would heal their broken relationship and help them to get along with each other despite their differences.
b. For starters, Paul suggested that they love each other by accepting each other, “Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters” (Rom. 14:1).
c. Then, as the Romans strive to love each other, Paul suggests that they make up their minds not to put stumbling blocks or obstacles in each other’s way. Paul says that “if your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love” (Rom. 14:15).
d. Paul suggests to those who are strong that the loving thing for them to do would be to give up their freedom for the sake of the weak. Paul wrote: “We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For even Christ did not please himself…” (Rom. 15:1-3)
e. Paul concludes his argument by saying: “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs so that the Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy” (Rom. 15:7-9).
f. Here Paul summarizes his main desire for unity among the Jewish and Gentile Christians in Rome and he does so by pointing out that love would cause us to accept one another just as Christ accepted us.
g. Jesus became a servant of the Jews for the blessing of both Jews and Gentiles.
3. If the Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians in Rome would, with God’s help, transform their minds, humble their hearts, and love one another, then Paul’s prayer and hope for them would come to fruition: “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 15:5).
P. So, as Paul addressed this conflict in the Roman church, we will see Paul teach how the real gospel of God imparts true righteousness – a salvation by grace through faith.
1. Here is a simple outline of the book showing Paul’s development of righteousness from God:
a. Righteousness from God (1:1-17).
b. Unrighteousness of Humankind – Gentile and Jew (1:18-3:20).
c. Righteousness Imputed – Justification (3:21-5:21).
d. Righteousness Imparted – Sanctification (6-8).
e. God’s Righteousness Vindicated – Problem of Rejection of Israel (9-11).
f. Righteousness Practiced (12-15).
g. Conclusion (15:14-33), Commendation and Greetings (16)
Q. I am excited about our journey up “mount” Romans – it is indeed a challenging climb, but the breathtaking views of God and the righteousness that comes from God, will be worth the effort, for they will be life changing.
Resources:
“The Cure for Conflict in the Roman Church,” Sermon by David Owens
“Righteousness from God, Part 1: For All the Nations,” Sermon by Dan Williams
Romans: Be Right, The Bible Exposition Commentary, by Warren Wiersbe
Romans, The NIV Application Commentary, by Douglas Moo
Romans, Interpretatoin – A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, Paul Achtemeier
