Romans 1:1-17 This morning we are going to partake in Communion Why do we do this? Why is it important for us? It is important because it regularly commemorates the death of Christ until He comes again It is a badge of sorts, belonging exclusively to Christianity Communion encourages the faith of believers in Christ, because it is clear that we are not alone - we have one another Communion literally means “to be ONE” with Christ and one with one another within the Body And not just the local Body of Christ , but with the Universal body of Christ It is important that we regularly take time to stop and remember Jesus and the sacrifice He made on our behalf So let’s take a moment to pray silently… The elements (the matza and the juice) are symbolic of Jesus’ Body, which was broken for us, and His precious life’s blood, which was poured out for us This is a repeating ordinance in the Church of Jesus Christ, so that we continually remember what He has done for us It is something that we could never accomplish for ourselves, so we humbly give thanks for His goddess and grace! On the night that Jesus was betrayed, He took the bread - the Matza - and He broke it and gave it to His disciples, saying, “This is my body, broken for you! Take. Eat.” Later, He took the cup and the wine, and shared it with His disciples, saying, “This is my blood of the New Covenant. Take and drink.” So let’s approach the Lord’s Table with reverence and joy in our hearts for all He has done for us! When all have gone through : PRAY Father God, we love you, and we love your way, which are always righteous and good We ask that you fill us again today with Your holy Spirit, so that we may walk uprightly before you, doing your will in the world, and especially making you known We thank you for your love and grace. AMEN. Songs - Behold the Lamb SERMON: When in Rome… Romans 1:1-17 PRAY WITH ME: LORD Jesus, we ask once more for your Spirit to be in us and among us, leading our hearts and minds…Lord, help us to be attentive and to apply these words of Scripture to our minds, and that they might sink into our souls and into our hearts, that we might walk in Your ways, O God, and all this in Your Name. Amen. This morning, we are beginning our engagement with the New Testament book of Romans So I want to start by asking you a question: If you had to BRIEFLY explain the book of Romans, how would you frame it or explain it? Think about it for a few seconds… Romans is a book in which the grace of God is revealed It is all about God’s righteousness, our iniquity, and His remedy through His grace Socrates said to Plato in 500 B.C. “It may be that Deity can forgive sins, but I do not see how.” Socrates couldn’t see it, though he did have great insight into the condition of man and the righteousness and justice of God But this is the Gospel according to Paul, and it is the most comprehensive book in the New Testament In Habakkuk 2:4 we read that “The just shall live by faith” So Romans is (if you will) part of a trilogy founded on this idea The Just (Who are they?) – Romans Shall live (How?) – Galatians By faith! - Hebrews (which we just finished) And unlike some other books of the Bible, when it comes to Romans, Pauline authorship is denied by almost no one – even the ancient heretics admitted that he wrote the letter Paul was writing to the church in Rome which was a melting pot of Jews and Gentiles Sometime between 41 AD and 53 AD, the Emperor of Rome, Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome And during the time of this expulsion, Gentile Christians established a thriving church in Rome Most of the synagogues left behind by the Jews remained abandoned since Christians did not want to be associated with Jews for obvious religious and political reasons From what we know, the Christian church in Rome was probably a series of house churches At some point after Claudius’ death in AD 53, his successor Nero rescinded the expulsion Therefore, both Jewish Christians and Jews flooded back into the city, but there was a problem What were the Jewish Christians to do? Return to their Jewish synagogue? Would they join the Gentiles in their house churches even though the Law forbade Jews from entering the homes of Gentiles? One can imagine both Jews and Gentiles looking down on one another and having a difficult time finding a way forward in unity in that moment And this reality an the undercurrent of what Romans is about Therefore, Paul’s thesis for the entire book is revealed to us in Romans 1:16-17: 16 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. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” Everything that follows that is an unpacking of it that statement Paul is going to spend the rest of the book showing the Jews that they have to be righteous by faith, just like the Gentiles They aren’t “grandfathered” into the Kingdom They could not stand on their blood heritage as Jews in order to be saved! So the INTERLOCUTOR Paul uses is his way of answering perceived objections to different aspects of this thesis He’ll ask rhetorical questions (as He is writing, not orating) to draw out the strong truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ So with that, let’s go to V1 1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, Paul made himself a Doulos (Gk) - a bondservant That would have been someone who was freed, but chose to remain and serve others It is a type of a slave, a person owned by another, specifically here in this context In that context, a person who had gained his or her freedom could, of their own volition, chose to remain forever with the family they served And this was ratified and done symbolically with an ear piercing That piercing, and the ring in it, showed that he or she was now bound to this house/family And Paul loved this title in referring to himself (you’ll see it in Gal.1 and Titus 1) But he was also an Apostolos - He was someone who was sent with a message, and in this case, sent by Jesus Paul had an Apostolic gifting, which is generally considered to be someone who starts new works And just to cut off the flow of nuttiness in the Church, there are no Apostles after the 12 - though Paul was Jesus’ choice to replace Judas How do we know that? Because Jesus tells Him in Acts These men were sent not only with the Gospel, but some of them also being used by the Spirit to write the New Testament In this context, “Servant" means "bondslave" The slave was completely at his master's disposal His one goal in life was to serve Now "Apostle" means "one who is sent" and Paul was called to be an apostle and he was sent by the Holy Spirit to witness to the Gentiles So let’s catch it up… Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, The message of the gospel was promised in the Old Testament Where are these promises? Where can they be found? Think with me - What prophecies would you point your Jewish friend towards? I want to challenge you to think about that (and of course, to actually put it into practice!) The Greek word here is Graphe’ - which simply means “writings” But the phrase “By his prophets” denotes the channel of the message In the Holy Scriptures - God deliberately chose written communication rather than oral tradition WHY? To what purpose or benefit? I personally think that the Lord did it this way to make us work for it We typically don't value things that we haven’t worked for Proverbs 25:2 - It is the glory of God to conceal a matter and the glory of kings to search it out. 3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh Why is this important to us? David was the shining light of Israel and though he sinned (badly) he was always repenting to the Lord and asking forgiveness That’s an example to us who will never in this life be sinless, but we should sin less Also, the Lord has an army - He has political and military authority over the entire planet as we will see in the future His advent was not for this purpose, though it sets it up for a later time The name Jesus is the Greek word for Joshua, which in Hebrew means "Jehovah is salvation" Christ is Greek for the Hebrew word "Messiah" which means "Anointed One" Jesus is His given name, Christ is His distinction, and Lord is His title, signifying our relationship with Him! And remember that Mary was a descendant of David, to whom God had made the promise that Messiah would come through him! 4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, Uihos theos - Son of God Jesus has all power according to Scripture Power - dunamis - dynamite When it comes to power, our’s is directly and inextricably linked to our holiness, both positionally and experientially The Resurrection of Jesus was THE THING that declared to the world that He was and is the very Son of God It is also the reason that we now can receive CHARIS - grace - and be sent out like the Apostles were (though we’re not Apostles - that office is closed We look around at the world today, and I see a blending of beliefs and religious systems happening with great urgency But verse 4 is that stop sign that should keep Christianity from blending with Islam to form Chrislam? Now, I think we’ll see more of that in the days ahead, but maybe we won’t be here for that abomination! And don’t be offended on the part of Islam, because if you ask any Muslim if Allah has children, he or she will scoff at you! They will tell you plainly that Allah has no son! But we Christains maintain that Jesus is the very Son of God! And right there, in that simple discrepancy, is how we know that they cannot both be right - it’s simple logic! But I will warn you, nevertheless, when the Church is removed, they will attempt it - Chrislam or some variation of syncretism So put your faith in Jesus alone so you won’t have to navigate those dark days 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, The purpose is to bring about obedience and faith in Christ - that’s our mission (though we are not Aspotles) In order to bring about obedience to the faith, salvation must take place, and this is why we call ourselves evangelicals - because the Evangelion (Gospel) is what must be embraced by the individual But it is ONLY by grace through faith It cannot come to anyone any other way! So v5 has some application to us, but we are not APOSTOLOS We are brother and sisters in Christ, the family of God And now, instead of Apostles (which there aren’t any now) there are missionaries and the Church around the world, and WE have been tasked with this mission - actually a CO-MISSION! We work together with the Spirit to get the Gospel to people who don’t know Jesus, and therefore have no hope of salvation 6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, That includes everyone in this room and all who’ve put their faith in Him Did you know that you were and are called? Not because God chose you in eternity past to be saved while consigning all others to damnation - NO! In fact, God Himself has gone to great lengths to draw men, women, boys, and girls into the Kingdom, and one of the ways that happens is through the Bible, but also through the witness of Creation! Psalm 19:1–4 [1] The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. [2] Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. [3] There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. [4] Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun… And we won’t read the whole psalm, but the point is that everywhere humanity looks, there is a witness that God is real, and that He is just and good! And that He WANTS a relationship with each one of us 7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Are you a Saint? What are Saints? Is that a special class of humans who have been really, really good??? No. That is not how this works All those who are in the body of Christ are saints! After we experience the grace of God and make our peace with Him, embracing Him as Lord, we can know the peace of God in every situation because His Spirit comes to live in us! My question is, “Why is there confusion on this question in the Church?” There shouldn’t be any We are HAGIOS - in Latin SANCTUS - we are His holy (ones) not because of what we have done but, because of what Jesus has done for us!! So this idea of a calling is not exclusive, but INCLUSIVE Our Reformed friends have it backwards, in my humble opinion 8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you 10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. The testimony of the faith of the Believers in Rome was told and celebrated throughout the Church, and made known to all throughout the world at that time Paul was a great intercessor in prayer for the Saints And his deep desire was to come to them and see them in person And since then, the Light has gone out into the world God is SO gracious that He even says, right up front, “WHOSOEVER MAY COME!!” John 3:16 - “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— 12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. Paul's desire to go to Rome was to minister to the church there, to encourage and build up the Church by imparting new strength by PNEUMATICO CHARISMA - the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, or spiritual gifts PNEUMA - Spirit / CHARIS - gifts, thus the Spiritual Gifts given and distributed by the Holy Spirit as He sees fit We won’t take the time right now to study each of the gifts right now, but I encourage you to take that on at some point personally, and I’d be happy to help you! And if you’ve never asked the Lord what your spiritual gift(s) are, you really should pray consistently about that! It’s a great place to start! What are some of your spiritual gifts? Do you know? Have you ever explored this aspect of your faith? Jesus is an incredible gift giver And He has give us gifts, not for ourselves, but for others We are to use our spiritual gifts that God has granted us build up the Church, and to make Jesus known to the nations So if you’re in Christ, then you have at least one spiritual gift and that so you might use it for His purposes in expanding the Kingdom 13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers ,that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles Paul desired to be among them, to serve and minister, and also to reap a harvest…to see and enjoy the fruit that would come about as a result But he had been unable to get to them in Rome He poured himself out in Rome, and all over the known world at that time And he ended up eventually dying in Rome And while the Bible does not say how the apostle Paul died Writing in 2 Timothy 4:6–8, Paul seems to be anticipating his soon demise: “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.” 14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. Why 2 groups? Greeks and barbarians? What is Paul telling us? "Barbarians" refers to those who didn't speak Greek They weren't necessarily wild, coarse people as the name implies today, though some of them likely were! But the grace of God obligated Paul to ALL men (all people), not just the Jews Sometimes we get antsy about going to people with the Gospel - people who are different from ourselves in many ways But this is something that God who made us has also called us to go in obedience to His commands We need to be good stewards of all that He entrusts to us! That necessarily means that we must take the Gospel to those around us God might have not called you to deepest, darkest Africa, but what about your neighborhood? What about Stanwood, WA? Who’s going to them? Should we just stand aside and let the bigger churches do it because they have more resources? NO WAY! Jesus has called ALL of His children to take the Gospel to others And if you want to do that, let’s talk! 16 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. 17 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 KEY VERSE for all of Romans This verse speaks of the power of God The reason why Paul was so ready and willing to preach the Gospel, even when he ran the greatest risk to life, was because it was "the Gospel of Christ" Therefore, he preached, and he was not ashamed of it, unlike some today who preach “Man’s best thoughts about God” To be ashamed of the Gospel is a dire sin To obfuscate and hide and conceal the truth of God’ glorious Gospel is a very great sin, indeed Let those who have abilities to preach it, do so courageously Or perhaps orate, tell tales, memorize and tell of history past or of what the future may hold, but not the preach the Gospel And do not sink so low as to preach the Gospel only in part It is not a private matter It is something that our glorious God wants disseminated to every man, woman, boy, and girl It will be a hard thing to stand before Jesus, knowing His Gospel of truth, but having quaked because of the fear of Man, quaking so hard that you only own Jesus in private These are they who will not preach in public, but use ambiguous words, put doubt for certainty There are those who blend the Gospel with their own inventions, seeking to please men, and live upon their applause They regard their own interest, and not Christ's! And the reason for it is that they cannot bear the reproach of His Gospel, being Men-Pleasers, for Paul was a man of conviction who would not stand down or soften the well-meant Gospel offer Church family! How can we do any less?? Paul was not ashamed of the Gospel He wasn’t ashamed to preach it, which he did faithfully and consistently He preached openly and publicly, and boldly, in the face of all opposition because it was "the Gospel of Christ" It was and is the only way to salvation - there is no other way But never forget where the power is located It is in God’s Word, not coming from us Not a function of our eloquence or delivery So this verse speaks of the righteousness of God and introduces the theme of this epistle: righteousness comes by faith, not by works And this is how Jesus Christ wants us to live and love - in righteousness! The Gospel is for the Jews as God’s covenant people and it has come to us, the Gentiles also (which is everyone else) The Gospel, more than anything else, reveals the righteousness of God And this revelation is only known by faith Anyone can pick up and read a Bible, and I tried when I was 14 and 15 years old, but I couldn’t understand it It wasn’t until I gave my life to Christ that I received the Holy Spirit who dwells in me (and you, I assume) that I was able to begin to understand it in my Bible because of the Spirit’s indwelling, which happens at Salvation And the longer one walks by faith, the more deeply is God’s righteousness revealed Just as the Scripture tells us: The righteous shall live by faith. (Habbakuk 2:4) As you walk out of this theater this morning, and into the world, DO NOT BE ASHAMED of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! And do not allow anyone to tell you different Only Jesus saves - no one else! Let’s pray! Prayer We want to be going to whosoever will hear and receive the well-meant Gospel offer We want our families and friends to come to know Jesus If the love of the Father is in us, then we will want ALL people to come and accept the forgiveness that only Jesus can offer Bhudda can’t save anyone Krishna cannot save one single soul - only Jesus! So give us hearts of praise and mouths that speak the Truth in Love And by Your holy Spirit, awaken our families, friends, neighbors, co-workers and strangers to who you are and what you’re doing in these Last Days.