Sermon title: The Power of the Gospel
Scripture: Romans 1:1-17
Paul’s letter to Rome- The Bk. of Romans.
Introduction:
We will be studying the book of Romans in detail for the next while.
· Why does Paul write this letter particularly since he did not start the church in Rome?
· Why is he so interested in this church?
o Background-
i. Paul’s purpose and motive could be one of these two view points:
a) He wants to share his basic theological understanding of the Gospel, so the Church can get to know him and begin a relationship with them.
b) The second view sees Paul as a pastor and missionary, concerned about real problems, such as the disunity in a church he had never visited but knew enough about to address. Focus on a how to live a Christian life? Also with the intention to get the financial support of the church to carry out a successful mission to Spain.
Trans. Let us look at some scriptures which declare his desire and purpose.
· Rom.1:13- He had a desire to visit but never could until now
· Rom. 15:23-25-He would stop in on his journey after stopping in at Jerusalem and then proceed onto Spain. Thus he is preparing them to collect an offering for the trip to Spain and for the church there in Spain.
Trans. Now that we have understood the purpose and reason for Paul’s letter some may ask how did he know the problems and struggles with in this church?
· He knew that this church had disunity amongst the Christian Jews and Christian Gentiles because:
I. When we read in ch.’s 14 and 15 we see that he is addressing some specific problems there. It is believed that prior to AD.49 the emperor Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome. Thus when the Jews there were forced out of Rome Paul met a number of these Christian Jews and got to know them,(Priscilla & Aquila Acts 18:2,3 ;Romans 16:2,3).) and after Nero took over the leadership of Rome he then permitted them back, thus these Christian Jews had went back to Rome with their relationship to Paul already established they would be continually able to write to Paul, and obviously informing Paul of the problems there. The book of Romans was written after Ad 54.
II. This may explain some of the tensions between The Jews and Gentile Christians, the two groups may not have seen eye to eye after the removal of the Jews the Gentiles were left on their own to run the church there.
When did Paul write this letter? Late AD 50’s.
Where did he write it? Probably in Greece, spent three months there. Paul went to Macedonia after leaving Ephesus, then on to Achaia(Greece), on to Jerusalem and finally on to Rome. It is believed that Paul wanted Rome to be the centerbase for evangelistic endeavors- it is true that all roads did lead to Rome. Thus he implores Rome for support of an evangelistic endeavor in Spain. It is also believed that while the Jews & Gentiles were having their disputes, the intention of Paul was to get them to work together on this evangelistic project, thus barriers could be broken and prevent a split in the church- all would support the gospel going into Gentile lands.
This now brings us to another question concerning the various parts of Romans.
All of these sections form a coherency on the whole of the book.
I. Romans 1-8: Heaviest theological exposition.
1.The Gospel introduced (1:1-16)
a. Letter Opening-the Obedience of Faith (1:1-7)
b. Thanksgiving (1:8-15)
c. Revelation of Righteousness Through the Gospel (1:16,17)
2.God’s wrath revealed in Universal human sin(1;17-3:20)
a. God’s wrath revealed in the idolatry and immorality of the nations(1:18-32).
b. God’s wrath revealed in the judging and the disobedience of the circumcised(2:1-29).
c. The universality of sin(3:1-20).
3. God’s righteousness revealed in salvation by grace through faith for all (3:21-8:39).
a. God’s free gift for all (3:21-31).
b. Abraham as a model of salvation by grace through faith for all (4:1-25).
c. Death for all in Adam and life for all in Christ (5:1-21).
d. The free gift is not a license for Sin (6:1-23)
e. The role of law-Holy and good, but powerless to save (7:1-25).
f. The role of the spirit (8:1-39).
II. Romans 9-11: Jew and Gentile-relationship in God’s plan of Salvation and unity.
4. God’s continuing purpose for the Jews(9:1-11:36).
a. Paul’s concern for his people(9:1-5).
b. Examples showing that God’s promise has not failed(9:6-32).
c. Why Israel failed(10:1-21).
d. God has not rejected his people(11:1-10).
e. God’s surprising plan to save all(11:11-36).
III. Romans 12-15:13: The Christian Life of Love and Unity.
5. The Christian life of love and unity (12:1-15:13).
a. Love in the community (12:1-21).
b. Christian responsibility to the authorities (13:1-7).
c. The law fulfilled in love (13:8-14).
d. Unity when Christians don’t agree-the weak and strong (14:1-15:13).
IV. Romans 15:14-16:27: Conclusion
6. “ “ “ “
a. Paul’s plans for ministry (15:14-33)
b. Personal greetings (16:1-23)
c. Concluding doxology-the obedience of faith (16:25-27).
Part 1. The Gospel introduced:Rom.1:1-7
· Paul introduces his letter as usual with a greeting.
· Always begins his letters with his name first, Paul
· In the letters to the Romans, Philippians, & Titus he begins by addressing himself as a “bondservant” rather than as an “apostle”, which was not typical for Paul.
· Why did he do this? Because; he didn’t know his congregation in Rome very well, thus he did not want to assume his apostleship there.
· This standard of greetings in letter writing was typical in his day.
Name, role & authority, and to whom. Only does Paul fail to mention his apostleship in I,II Thess. & Philippians.
Note: An apostle was one who had seen the risen Lord and been commissioned to witness for Him (Acts 2:21,22).Thus the 11 disciples plus Matthias were the apostles. But Paul addresses the fact that he had seen the Lord, and his work among them proved his apostleship (I Cor.9:1,2; 15;8). Called specifically to the Gentiles (Rom.1:5; Gal. 2:8).
Part 2. Rom.1:8-15-Thanksgiving
· Paul is giving a thankyou and his gratefulness to the church at Rome for their faith and the witness that their faith gives all over the world.
· He remembers them in prayer and wants to come and see them (1:8-10).
· Paul expresses briefly his plans. Then we see Paul’s diplomacy:
1. He wants to see the Romans, so that he may impart to them some spiritual gift to make them strong (1:11)
2. Then he interrupts his sentence to insist that he also would like to visit them to receive mutual encouragement. He will benefit from them also.
· “Called to be saints”(vs.7)
· What does this term mean? Does it mean an ancient, larger-than-life, perfect Christian. No, it actually is referred to all those who have been called out and set apart by God who became a part of the community of faith. Paul uses this term frequently, even to those in Corinth who had some serious problems. So he also attributes this term to all those in Rome, even though they had some serious problems. If Paul were writing to the Swan River or Hudson Bay Church, I believe he would have addressed us as “saints” whether we deserved it or not that is not the point. We are God’s people, we identify our selves as God’s people, thus we are saints of God.
Trans. Now that we have seen how Paul begins his letter by using and modifying the standard forms that made up the typical letter, we turn to the most important content of these verses, Paul’s teaching about the gospel, good news.
Vs. 2 the term gospel means what?
· A very important concept for Paul.
· “Gospel” originally could mean the messenger who carried good news or the good news itself.
· Paul’s day term used for official pronouncements declaring such events as the birthday of the emperor or an imperial victory.
· But Paul’s good news is much more profound and all-encompassing.
Trans. Notice what we learn from these few verses.
· Notice that this gospel or good news is not something made up but it had a history.
· Promised by Israel’s prophets in the Holy Scriptures-the O.T.
Note: Most of gospels of N.T. had not been written by this time when Paul wrote this letter which actually was dictated to his secretary Tertius (Rm.16:22).
· Vs.2,3-Begins with affirmation that the center of the gospel is “JC”(Jesus Christ) that he was the human descendant of David, but was also the “Son of God.”
· Vs.4-The Resurrection- Revealed His Divine power.
· Without the resurrection of JC. Then our preaching would be in vain and our faith would be in vain. If Christ be not risen we would not rise from the dead and our faith would be futile, thus no good news without the cross and resurrection (1 Cor.15:12-18).
Trans. As a result of this gospel –the life, death and resurrection of JC. The only appropriate response to the gospel is trust that JC is our Lord and Saviour.
· This trust comes from a faith and belief in JC. A term to refer to a deep, personal commitment of trust and dependence upon God’s grace revealed in JC.
· Rom. 1:5. The obedience of the faith that God demands is this trust and dependence.
· The gospel demands a response and that response is faith.
Part 3. The revelation of the righteousness through the gospel Vs.16,17
· Paul here says that the expression of the gospel is where one finds the power of God to salvation. So when we are ashamed of this gospel then we are saying JC’s sacrifice on that cruel cross was not good not enough for me, For it is foolishness, We exclaim our doubts when we do not proclaim this gospel.
· The just shall live by faith.
· We show that we are ashamed of the gospel:
I. When we do not show in our actions the attributes of Christ,
II. When we do not let the transforming power regenerate us into the image of Christ. Friend let us profess the gospel until JC comes again. Not only in word but in deed. Amen!
III. When we get to ch.3 we will discuss vs17 in much more detail.
Why are we tempted to rely on something more than this?
· We tend to believe I can attain to this salvation by my own achievements, the rituals and forms of religion, knowledge, power, or a host of other idols. Our human instincts or inclination is to trust to ourselves not to something or someone else to do for me. It effects the ego to receive something for nothing.
· There is only one reality that has the power of salvation. THE GOSPEL
· IT IS THE LIFE, DEATH, AND RESURRECTION OF JC. This is where God’s gracious desire upon the sinner is effected.
· Who does this include?
EVERYONE: THE JEW & GENTILE alike
This gospel was promised to everyone even to those who lived in the times of the OT.
In conclusion:
Doughnut story- Gospel.
Seminary Donuts
There was a boy by the name of Steve who was attending Seminary in Utah. In
this Seminary classes are held during school hours. Brother Christianson
taught Seminary at this particular school. He had an open-door policy and
would take in any student that had been thrown out of another class as long
as they would abide by his rules. Steve had been kicked out of his sixth
period and no other teacher wanted him, so he went into Brother
Christianson’s Seminary class.
Steve was told that he could not be late, so he arrived just seconds before
the bell rang and he would sit in the very back of the room. He would also
be the first to leave after the class was over.
One day, Brother Christianson asked Steve to stay after class so he could
talk with him. After class, Bro. Christianson pulled Steve aside and said,
"You think you’re pretty tough, don’t you?"
Steve’s answer was, "Yeah, I do."
Then Brother Christianson asked, "How many push-ups can you do?"
Steve said, "I do about 200 every night."
"200? That’s pretty good, Steve," Brother Christianson said. "Do you think
you could do 300?"
Steve replied, "I don’t know...I’ve never done 300 at a time."
"Do you think you could?" Again asked Brother Christianson.
"Well, I can try," said Steve.
"Can you do 300 in sets of 10? I need you to do 300 in sets of ten for this
to work. Can you do it? I need you to tell me you can do it," Brother
Christianson said.
Steve said, "Well...I think I can... yeah, I can do it."
Brother Christianson said, "Good! I need you to do this on Friday."
Friday came and Steve got to class early and sat in the front of the room.
When class started, Brother Christianson pulled out a big box of donuts. Now
these weren’t the normal kinds of donuts, they were the extra fancy BIG
kind, with cream centers and frosting swirls. Everyone
was pretty excited. It was Friday, the last class of the day, and they were
going to get an early start on the weekend.
Bro. Christianson went to the first girl in the first row and asked,
"Cynthia, do you want a donut?"
Cynthia said, "Yes."
Bro. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked, "Steve, would you do ten
push-ups so that Cynthia can have a donut?"
Steve said, "Sure," and jumped down from his desk to do a quick ten.
Then Steve again sat in his desk.
Bro. Christianson put a donut on Cynthia’s desk.
Bro. Christianson then went to Joe, the next person, and asked, "Joe. do you
want a donut?"
Joe said, "Yes."
Bro. Christianson asked, "Steve, would you do ten push-ups so Joe can have a
donut?"
Steve did ten push-ups, Joe got a donut. And so it went, down the first
aisle, Steve did ten pushups for every person before they got their donut.
And down the second aisle, till Bro. Christianson came to Scott. Scott was
captain of the football team and center of the basketball team. He was very
popular and never lacking for female companionship. When Bro. Christianson
asked, "Scott, do you want a donut?" Scott’s reply was, "Well, can I do my
own pushups?" Bro.
Christianson said, "No, Steve has to do them." Then Scott said, "Well, I
don’t want one then."
Bro. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked, "Steve, would you do ten
pushups so Scott can have a donut he doesn’t want?"
Steve started to do ten pushups. Scott said, "HEY! I said I didn’t want
one!"
Bro. Christianson said, "Look, this is my classroom, my class, my desks and
my donuts. Just leave it on the desk if you don’t want it."
And he put a donut on Scott’s desk.
Now, by this time, Steve had begun to slow down a little. He just stayed on
the floor between sets because it took too much effort to be getting up and
down. You could start to see a little perspiration coming outaround his
brow.
Bro. Christianson started down the third row. Now the students were
beginning to get a little angry.
Bro. Christianson asked Jenny, "Jenny, do you want a donut?"
Jenny said, "No."
Then Bro. Christianson asked Steve, "Steve, would you do ten pushups so
Jenny can have a donut that she doesn’t want?"
Steve did ten, Jenny got a donut. By now, the students were beginning to say
"No" and there were all these uneaten donuts on the desks. Steve was also
having to really put forth a lot of effort to get these pushups done for
each donut. There began to be a small pool of sweat on the floor beneath his
face, his arms and brow ere beginning to get red because of the physical
effort involved.
Bro. Christianson asked Robert to watch Steve to make sure he did ten
pushups in a set because he couldn’t bear to watch all of Steve’s work for
all of those uneaten donuts. So Robert began to watch Steve closely.
Bro. Christianson started down the fourth row. During his class, however,
some students had wandered in and sat along the heaters along the sides of
the room. When Bro. Christianson realized this; he did a quick count and saw
34 students in the room. He started to worry if Steve would be able to make
it.
Bro. Christianson went on to the next person and the next and the next. Near
the end of that row, Steve was really having a rough time.
He was taking a lot more time to complete each set.
Steve asked Bro. Christianson, "Do I have to make my nose touch on each
one?"
Bro. Christianson thought for a moment, "Well, they’re your pushups. You can
do them any way that you want."
And Bro. Christianson went on. A few moments later, Jason came to the room
and was about to come in when all the students yelled,
"NO! Don’t come in! Stay out!"
Jason didn’t know what was going on. Steve picked up his head and said, "No,
let him come."
Bro. Christianson said, "You realize that if Jason comes in you will have to
do ten pushups for him."
Steve said, "Yes, let him come in."
Bro. Christianson said, "Okay, I’ll let you get Jason’s out of the way right
now. Jason, do you want a donut?" "Yes."
"Steve, will you do ten pushups so that Jason can have a donut?" Steve did
ten pushups very slowly and with great effort. Jason, bewildered, was handed
a donut and sat down.
Bro. Christianson finished the fourth row, then started on those seated on
the heaters. Steve’s arms were now shaking with each pushup in a struggle to
lift himself against the force of gravity. Sweat was dropping off of his
face and, by this time, there was not a dry eye in the room. The very last
two girls in the room were cheerleaders and very popular.
Bro. Christianson went to Linda, the second to last, and asked, "Linda, do
you want a doughnut?"
Linda said, very sadly, "No, thank you."
Bro. Christianson asked Steve, "Steve, would you do ten pushups so that
Linda can have a donut she doesn’t want?"
Grunting from the effort, Steve did ten very slow pushups for Linda.
Then Bro. Christianson turned to the last girl, Susan. "Susan, do you want a
donut?"
Susan, with tears flowing down her face, asked, "Bro. Christianson, can I
help him?"
Bro. Christianson, with tears of his own, said, "No, he has to do it alone.
Steve, would you do ten pushups so Susan can have a donut?"
As Steve very slowly finished his last pushup, with the understanding that
he had accomplished all that was required of him, having done 350 pushups,
his arms buckled beneath him and he fell to the floor.
Brother Christianson turned to the room and said. "And so it was, that our
Savior, Jesus Christ, plead to the Father, "Into thy hands I commend my
spirit." With the understanding that He had done everything that was
required of Him, he collapsed on the cross and died. And like some of those
in this room, many of us leave the gift on the desk, uneaten."
I believe as we study the book of Romans we will be transformed. We will grasp a greater understanding of the gospel than we ever had before because we will come at it at a different angle. We will gather from Paul a greater appreciation for the gospel and his epistle to the Romans.
May I recommend that you begin reading a chapter a week. But with an understanding of where Paul is coming from, why he is writing this gospel? and his purpose in writing this letter to the Romans. I believe God will bless you when you approach God’s word from this perspective rather than from perhaps the narrow perception that we at times come into God’s word. Be willing to explore more of what God is trying to say in his word.
Next time we will deal with God’s Wrath Romans 1:18-32
Appeal: May we ever be willing to receive this gospel proclaim this gospel of our Lord until he comes.
