June 17, 2012
Evening Service

We were all challenged this morning to cultivate the soil of our heart, making it fertile ground for the seed of the Word to grow in.

 

Our battle plan goes like this:  surrender first, trust Him with all our heart, and always remember how big our God is.

 

 We need to approach this study like Paul is sitting across the kitchen table from us just freely sharing and explaining the Gospel message God has given to him.

 

Rom 1:1-7  Paul, a slave of Jesus Christ, a called apostle, separated to the gospel of God  (2)  (which He had promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures),  (3)  about His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who was made of the seed of David according to the flesh,  (4)  who was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead;  (5)  by whom we have received grace and apostleship, to obedience to the faith among all nations, for His name;  (6)  among whom you also are the called-out ones of Jesus Christ:  (7)  to all those who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

·         Remember Paul was a member of the Pharisees; the strictest sect of the Jewish faith.  He had extensive knowledge of the Scriptures. (Verse 2)

·          Though Jesus was totally man (vers3), He is declared to be God’s Son with power.  His works declared Him to be true; having power over all things even death. (verse 4)

·         It is Christ who has granted Paul the unmerited favor of grace and his calling to apostleship and his ministry of calling all nations to obedience of the Gospel message.

·         He uses his usual greeting of asking for grace (Greek) meaning the favor of God and peace (Jewish) meaning peace of God to reign among them.

 

Rom 1:8-15  First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.  (9)  For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you  (10)  always in my prayers, making request if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come to you.  (11)  For I long to see you, so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, to you for the establishing of you.  (12)  And this is to be comforted together with you by our mutual faith, both yours and mine.  (13)  But I would not have you ignorant, brothers, that oftentimes I purposed to come to you, and was kept back until the present; that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other nations.  (14)  I am debtor both to the Greeks and to the foreigners, both to the wise and to the unwise.  (15)  So, as much as is in me lies, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are at Rome also.

·         You can feel the compassion is his voice as he addresses this church, complimenting them for their faith and assuring them of his constant prayers and desire to come to them.

·         He longs for a chance to minister to these brothers and sisters and also be ministered to.

 

Rom 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto 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 to faith, as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."

·         The Gospel of Christ, or good news, is simply that God became man, dwelt among us, died for our sins and ever sits at the right hand of God making intercession for us.

 

 

1Co 15:3-4  For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures,  (4)  and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures;

 

Col 1:26-28  the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints.  (27)  For to them God would make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the nations, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory,  (28)  whom we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, so that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.

 

Act 2:38-39 Then Peter said to them, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ to remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  (39)  For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all those afar off, as many as the Lord our God shall call.

 

That Gospel message is the power of God to salvation.  We are saved from what?

·         Mat 1:21 And she shall bear a son, and you shall call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins.

·         Mat 18:11 For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.

·         Act 2:40 And with many other words he earnestly testified and exhorted, saying, Be saved from this perverse generation.

·         Rom 5:9 Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.

 

Verse 17 mentions the righteousness of God.  Righteousness is..

·         A description of God’s character by which He always does the right thing consistent with His attributes.

·         The method by which God justifies sinners through the perfect sacrifice of His Son.

·         The perfect standing He provides for those who believe on Him.

 

2Co 5:21 For He has made Him who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

 

“The just shall live by faith.”

·         Paul here quotes Habakuk. 2:4. He begins to set the tone for the rest of his letter introducing to us that faith is the single most desired attribute we need to please God.

 

 Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

·         This falls under our Trust tab from this morning.  If you don’t truly believe in who God is and what He is able to do, you can never please Him.  When we do believe we diligently seek Him.  Notice how that works, our seeking Him comes because we believe (have faith).

 

In summary, we have seen Paul notice and compliment the Roman church for their faith.  He also is faithful himself in praying for them. 

 

He states that the Gospel message that we all know and love is the power of God to our salvation; from our sin, lostness, this evil generation and the wrath of God.

 

Our righteousness comes from our faith in Christ, not our works.