The Road To Victory

Introduction

Romans 8:1 NIV Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

In the book of Romans, we find the path to the place where there is no condemnation - a place of victory in the spiritual war in which we all find ourselves. 

Romans 8:37 NIV No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 

In this life of battles, how can we know that we are on the road to victory? In this lesson and the next, we will explore seven powerful words - the high points of the teaching of Romans. 

A few things we need to know about Romans before we dive in. Paul seems to have three purposes:

He is coming to Rome and he hopes to establish a missionary base to reach out into Spain. This will require some money and a church that sponsors and trusts him. 

He is sharing with them the details of the Gospel he preaches. Romans 11:33 NLT Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!

He is attempting to help them iron out the complexity of the Gentiles and Jewish brothers in the same church but with different values and ideas. Emperor Claudius expelled the Jews in AD 49. Five years later, Nero became Emperor and allowed them back in. In the meantime, Gentiles led the church and when the Jews came back, there was major turmoil. Paul heard about this from Aquilla and Priscilla. He wants to help them iron these differences out in the spirit of Jesus.

These eight chapters give us directions on the road to victory. Here are eight powerful words to give us strength for the battle!

1. POWER (1:16-17)

Romans 1:16-17 ESV 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.”

This is the launching pad for Paul - the foundational truth. The Good News is the Power of God for the Salvation of believers. Twelve times in Romans Paul appeals to the Gospel - six of those in chapter one! He ends his letter with an expression of faith in the Gospel. Whether you are Jew or Gentile, the same news is needed. The Good news is that we can be righteous before God - but Only by God’s power. The first eight chapters is an exploration of the power of the Good News of Jesus.

2. PLIGHT  (3:9-10)

Romans 3:9-10 LSB What then? Are we better? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; as it is written, There is none righteous, not even one. 

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

The reason we need Good News is that the bad news is real. No one can claim to be good enough without the Gospel. All have sinned. The Jews who preserved the written Word and had personal and up-close contact with God still sinned. The Gentiles who had natural revelation, the creation testified to the presence of a Creator, still sinned. No matter who you are, where you come from, or how Godly you’ve tried to be - all have sinned. That’s the human plight. In these chapters, God outlines what those sins looked like … declares that “ they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.” (1:32)

3. JESUS (3:24-25)

3:24-25 NIV …all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood - to be received by faith….

Our only hope is Jesus who brings …

Justification - a cleansing declaration that we are free from our sin.

Grace - the gift we do not deserve, but that we all need.

Redemption - the broken people we are can be made new

Atonement - brought back close to God when our sin separated us from His holiness.

All brought about at the cross - the shedding of his blood. This is to be received by faith/trust… putting our lives in his hand.

4. FAITH (4:4)

4:4 What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

He wasn’t justified by works - no one can be that good! 4:17b “He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.”

Abraham believed God could and would do what he promised. This teaches us how to have faith in Jesus. (24-25 NIV “But also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness - for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”)