Please turn in your Bibles this morning to Romans chapter
1 as we begin a journey into this fascinating epistle or letter
that Paul wrote to the church in
Now just to give you some background information regarding this book, it is obviously written by Paul the apostle, he states his name in the first verse. And keep in mind from our study of the book of Acts that Paul made three extensive missionary journeys, and you can read of them in Acts 13:4-21:17 and in those journeys he was bringing the Gospel message, the Good News of Jesus Christ to the world!
And then, in Acts 27:1-28:16 Paul makes his final journey to Rome, as a prisoner to be heard before Caesar, and then he was released for a short time, rearrested and put to death for his faith in Jesus Christ by Caesar Nero in around 67 A.D.
On his third missionary journey he went a second time to Corinth. This city was a seaport city located in the providence of Achaia in what is now Southern Greece. He spent three months in Corinth, a very wicked city, a very immoral city on his third missionary journey, staying at the house of Gaius and it was there that Paul wrote his epistle or letter to the Romans, sometime in 57 A.D.
Then, this completed letter was given to Phoebe, who was from the church in Cenchrea, which was a city located near Corinth, and this Christian woman took this letter that Paul wrote and brought it to the church in Rome. But how did the church in Rome get started if Paul was never there prior to his writing of this letter? And no, it was not started by Peter as some may think, there is no record of that happening; it is not in the Scriptures!
We are not completely sure how the church in Rome got started but we do have some hints in the Scriptures. I believe it is as simple as this and yet as powerful as this. Jewish Christians and proselytes who came to Rome from Judea could have started the church in Rome. How can that be?
On the day of Pentecost, we are told in Acts 2:10 where some of the people came from who were visiting Jerusalem for this feast, “Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes.” And as Peter gave to them the Gospel message, empowered by the Holy Spirit, as the Holy Spirit touched their hearts, we are told, “Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.” Acts 2:41. You see, it could have been some of these Jews and proselytes who came to Rome for the feast of Pentecost and left believers in Jesus Christ! And as they brought this Good News to Rome, many got saved and the church was started, not by apostles but by common people doing a mighty work through the power of God!
Thus, this church in Rome that started without the influence of the apostles was growing and Paul is going to give to them this powerful doctrinal letter to encourage them, to help them to grow, to help them mature in the faith and to see others come to the faith! Paul is going to spend 11 chapters dealing with the doctrines of God and then, beginning in chapter 12 is where the rubber meets the road, he is going to tell us how to apply those truths of God to our lives, how to walk by faith, to put into practice what we believe and he will continue that basically through the end of the letter!
Many have called the book of Romans, “The greatest book ever written.” That is truly a pretty bold statement to make but I do believe it is true. If you only had the book of Romans out of all the other books of the Bible, you can still be saved and know how to walk because Romans is that powerful of a book as it brings the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a very clear way as we will see!
Historically speaking, the book of Romans has touched and influenced many, many lives. Let me give to you a few examples to show you what I mean:
Augustine, one of the most brilliant theologians of the early centuries, came to the conviction of sin and salvation in the summer of 386 after reading some verses from the thirteenth chapter of Romans.
Martin Luther, in 1517, after reading of the doctrine of salvation by faith in Romans 1:17, “the just shall live by faith” was born again and was a leader in the Protestant reformation. Of this experience we are told:
I greatly longed to understand Paul's Epistle to the Romans, and nothing stood in the way but that one expression, "the righteousness of God," because I took it to mean that righteousness whereby God is righteous and deals righteously in punishing the unrighteous . . . Night and day I pondered until . . . I grasped the truth that the righteousness of God is that righteousness whereby, through grace and sheer mercy, he justifies us by faith. Thereupon I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise. The whole of Scripture took on a new meaning, and whereas before "the righteousness of God" had filled me with hate, now it became to me inexpressibly sweet in greater love. This passage of Paul became to me a gateway to heaven.
- Barend Klaas Kuiper, Martin Luther: The Formative Years, pp. 198-208
In fact, of this book, Luther called it “really the chief part of the New Testament, and . . . truly the purest gospel”. He continued: “It is worthy not only that every Christian should know it word for word, by heart, but also that he should occupy himself with it every day, as the daily bread of the soul.” That is how Martian Luther felt about Romans.
John Wesley was saved back in 1738 after hearing the preface to Martin Luther’s commentary on Romans as it was read in a Moravian house church on Alders Gate Street in London.
John Calvin wrote this regarding the book of Romans, “When any one gains a knowledge of this Epistle, he has an entrance opened to him to all the most hidden treasures of Scripture”
John Bunyan was so inspired by the themes in the book of Romans that out of it he wrote Pilgrim’s Progress as he sat in the Bedford Jail for his faith in Christ, a story of faith from this life on into the eternal in which millions have read!
William Tyndale, one of the British reformers and the father of the English Bible Translations, wrote in his prologue to Romans, describing it as:
Forasmuch as this epistle is the principal and most excellent part of the New Testament, and most pure evangelion, that is to say, glad tidings, and that we call gospel, and also a light and a way unto the whole scripture; I think it meet that every Christian man not only know it, by rote and without the book, but also exercise himself therein evermore continually, as with the daily bread of the soul. No man verily can read it too oft, or study it too well; for the more it is studied, the easier it is; the more it is chewed, the pleasanter it is; and the more groundly it is searched, the preciouser things are found in it, so great treasure of spiritual things lieth hid therein.
- Doctrinal Treatises and Introductions to Different Portions of the Holy Scriptures by William Tyndale, Henry Walter, p. 484
The popular Bible expositor Donald Grey Barnhouse, who broadcast eleven years of weekly messages on the book of Romans, wrote regarding this beloved epistle,
A scientist may say that mother's milk is the most perfect food known to man, and may give you an analysis showing all its chemical components, a list of the vitamins it contains and an estimate of the calories in a given quantity. A baby will take that milk without the remotest knowledge of its content, and will grow day by day, smiling and thriving in its ignorance. So it is with the profound truths of the word of God.
- Donald Grey Barnhouse, Man's Ruin: Romans 1 p. 3
Folks, my prayer as we go through this letter to the Romans is what it has done for others it will do for us, transform our lives by the power of God’s Spirit working in us and through us! And no it will not take us 11 years to get through this letter, but I will not promise how long it may take, but may we draw all the treasures it has for us. May we draw closer to the Lord, that we would have a clear understanding of who we are and who He is and what He has done for us so that we may share that with others! And just think about this for a minute. The word “God” is used some 153 times in this letter, which works out to it being used once every 46 words! Thus, we need to pay attention to what he is saying as we go through this letter.
Let me also say this regarding the focus of the Reformation of the sixteenth century because this letter that Paul wrote to the Romans, as we have seen, has influenced these men. There were three basic slogans that emerged that truly summarize the return to the essentials of Christianity, something that I believe is lacking in the church today. And keep in mind that Paul spoke these truths in this letter to the Romans. They are:
The first is SOLA SCRIPTURA or by Scripture alone. It is speaking of the Bible being the final authority for faith and for life, nothing else is needed for us to grow and walk in the Lord!
Then there is SOLA GRATIA or by grace alone. It is speaking of God’s free gift of salvation that is given to us, not as the result of man’s merit, not that he deserved it, but He has freely given to us something that we don’t deserve.
And lastly, there is SOLA FIDE or by faith alone. You see, God’s free gift is received by us through faith and not by works. We don’t work our way into heaven. It all boils down to this. We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone not because I have said it, but because God has said it to us through His Word! Scripture alone, grace alone and faith alone, may we get back to the basics of the faith!
Also, John MacArthur gives to us this picture of the book of Romans from his Commentary and he does a great job driving home this points. He wrote:
“The epistle to the Romans speaks to us today just as powerfully as it spoke to men of the first century. It speaks morally, about adultery, fornication, homosexuality, hating, murder, lying, and civil disobedience. It speaks intellectually, telling us that the natural man is confused because he has a reprobate mind. It speaks socially, telling us how we are to relate to one another. It speaks psychologically, telling us where true freedom comes to deliver men from the burden of guilt. It speaks nationally, telling us our responsibility to human government. It speaks internationally, telling us the ultimate destiny of the earth and especially the future of Israel. It speaks spiritually, answering man’s despair by offering hope for the future. It speaks theologically, teaching us the relationship between the flesh and the spirit, between law and grace, between works and faith. But most of all, it profoundly brings God Himself to us.”
- John MacArthur
Thus, the book of Romans, its central theme, can be summed up like this: THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST! In fact, many feel that this is the most important book, theologically speaking, in the entire New Testament for it gives to us a systematic approach or presentation to Christian theology. It paints for us why the Gospel is so important to every single person! In fact, R. Kent Hughes made this statement in his commentary on the book of Romans. He wrote:
In our own century, while we may not always agree with his theology, Karl Barth’s arguments from the book of Romans devastated liberal Christianity.
There is no doubt about the power of the book of Romans. The study of it produces genuine excitement and genuine trepidation – excitement because of the possibilities the life-changing themes of Romans bring to us, and trepidation at reasonably expounding their massiveness.
- R. Kent Hughes, Romans, p. 15
Now, one more point before we get to our text this morning and that is the outline we will be following as we go through this letter. The outline is as follows.
ROMANS 1:1-7
OPENING SALUTATION
ROMANS 1:8-17
PAUL’S INTRODUCTION
ROMANS 1:18-3:20
CONDEMNATION – Paul shows us that the whole world
is guilty before God.
A. Romans
1:18-32 The unrighteous
heathen condemned by creation.
B. Romans
2:1-16 The self-righteous
moralist condemned by his conscious.
C. Romans
2:17-29 The super religious
person condemned by the commandments of God.
D. Romans
3:1-20 All are guilty
before God.
ROMANS 3:21-5:21
JUSTIFICATION – Paul shows us the righteousness
of God that has been revealed from heaven apart from the works
of the Law.
A. Romans 3:21-31
Description of righteousness.
B. Romans 4
Illustration of righteousness.
C. Romans 5:1-11
Benefits of righteousness.
D. Romans
5:12-21 Contrast of
righteousness and condemnation.
ROMANS 6-8 SANCTIFICATION – Paul shows us the power of God’s Spirit to live a life that is pleasing to God.
A. Romans 6
Sanctification and sin.
B. Romans 7
Sanctification and the Law.
C. Romans 8
Sanctification and the Spirit.
ROMANS 9-11 ELECTION – Paul shows us that we are chosen by God and yet, free will on our part to chose the Lord or reject Him. Truly a controversial section!
ROMANS 12:1-15:13 APPLICATION – Paul now lays it on the line and shows us that it is not only important to know these truths but you must also apply them to your life! This is a very practical section, you might say it is where the rubber meets the road, if you are not applying the things of God to your life, then you are not walking as you should!
ROMANS 15:14-15:33 PAUL’S CONCLUSION
ROMANS 16:1-24 PAUL’S GREETINGS
ROMANS 16:25-27 CLOSING BENEDICTION
With that as our background, let’s begin reading in Romans chapter 1, starting in verse 1 as we look at Paul’s opening salutation to the believers in Rome and see what the Lord has for us this morning as we study His Word. Remember, SCRIPTURE ALONE, GRACE ALONE and FAITH ALONE!
As we have read through this opening salutation, keep in mind that Paul was writing to a church that he never founded and thus, he is spending the first few verses introducing himself to them. And we are going to go through these verses we have read through in more detail, breaking them down and seeing what we can glean from them.
VERSE 1
Paul starts out by telling them he is a “bondservant” or “bondslave”
of Jesus Christ. He uses the Greek word DOULOS and his point is
this. In Israel, according to Exodus chapter 21, a slave was required
to serve his master for six years and then he was to be released
in the seventh year. But, if you wanted to remain with your master,
if you loved him and loved working for him you could then become
a bondslave. And what they would do is take you to the doorpost
and the master would take a nail or awl and pierce your ear and
place a gold ring in it. That would tell others you are a bondslave,
freely serving your master. It was your choice, no one forced
you to do this and once you committed to this, you remained a
bondslave.
Now Paul takes this truth and applies it to his life and
he is saying that he has freely given his life to Christ as a
bondslave and it is not only by choice, it is for life! Think
about our Lord and how He takes care of us, who else do you want
to serve? There is no one like our Lord. Thus, will you serve
the Lord out of love or out of constraint? He wants you to serve
Him out of love!
Now you may be thinking that you are a slave to no one,
you are master of your own destiny, you do as you please, but
you are wrong. I think Bob Dylan got it right when he wrote these
words in his song, “It may be the devil, or it may be the
Lord, but you gotta serve somebody.”
Thus, who are you going to serve, there are really only
two choices?
Paul was not only a bondslave of Jesus Christ but he also
was “called to be an apostle.” The word “apostle” comes from the Greek word meaning
“one who is sent by authority with a commission.” Paul
did not pick this position, he didn’t buy his way into it,
he didn’t know somebody who was able to pull a few strings
and get him in. God called Paul to this office, to be an apostle
to the Gentiles!
Now, in saying that, what has
God called you to do? No, not necessarily what do you want to
do, but what does God want you to do, what has He “called” you to do? If you are not sure,
then spend some time with Him and listen to what He is saying
to you, listen for needs in the body of Christ, look what doors
God is opening for you!
So we have seen that Paul chose
to be a bondslave of Jesus Christ and God has called him to be
an apostle to the Gentiles, but what was he to bring to them?
We don’t have to guess for Paul tells us that he was “separated
to the Gospel of God.”
What was Paul separated from? Before he came to Christ
Paul or Saul was a Jewish rabbi who, as a Pharisee kept or tried
to keep the Jewish Law and traditions.
But on the road to Damascus the Lord got a hold of Paul’s
heart and he surrendered to Jesus. Thus, he was now separated
from the Jewish Laws and traditions in the sense of doing them
for salvation and he was now sold out to the Gospel or Good News
of Jesus Christ and that is what he was bringing to the people,
to the lost, that is the message he took to them!
Poole tells us this very thing
as he wrote, “Some think he alludes to the name of Pharisee,
which is from separating: when he was a Pharisee, he was separated
to the law of God: and now, being a Christian, he was separated
to the gospel of God.” I think he is correct.
His name went from Saul, which means the “requested
one” to Paul or the “little one.” Why did that happen? Because
he saw that it is all about Christ and not about him anymore and
his message was no longer about him.
You see, it is difficult to bring the Good News of Jesus
Christ to people when you are so focused on yourself and Paul
understood that and was able to bring the Good News, the Gospel
message, the EUANGELION in the Greek, to the people as he uses
this word some 36 times in this epistle!
VERSES 2-4
We need to understand that the Gospel message is not a
new idea, something that Christians made up. God spoke of it,
He promised it to us through the Old Testament prophets starting
all the way back in Genesis 3:15 and going all the way through
Malachi! Yes, the Old Testament prophets spoke of these things,
they wrote them down but they did not fully understand them as
Peter tells us, “Of this salvation the prophets
have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace
that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time,
the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified
beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would
follow. To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to
us they were ministering the things which now have been reported
to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the
Holy Spirit sent from heaven — things which angels desire
to look into.”
I Peter 1:10-12.
And what does God promise us, what was He speaking about
through the prophets who wrote these things down for us and which
became the Word of God, the Holy Scriptures? It is all about Jesus Christ
and apart from Him there is no Good News from heaven only the
coming judgment of God for our sins!
Paul starts out by showing us the humanity of Jesus, that
He was flesh and blood, born of the seed of David, just as the
prophets said. Jesus was born and became a man; he was fully human,
not partially human or pretending to be human!
Not only was and is Jesus fully human, He was and is fully
God. Paul uses the Greek word HORIZO for “declared”
and from this Greek word we
get our English word “horizon” from. In other words,
Jesus has always been God, He never ceased being God, and He will
always be God just as the horizon stretches across the sky!
Paul, in Philippians 2:6-11 makes this powerful point of
Jesus being fully God and also becoming flesh and blood. In other
words, He is 100% God and He is 100% man, and I can’t explain
it, I can only believe it by faith because that is what the Scriptures
are telling us.
Listen to what Paul said here
in Philippians chapter 2, as he is speaking of Jesus, “who,
being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal
with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of
a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found
in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient
to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore
God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is
above every name, that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven,
and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that
every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the
glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:6-11.
Paul
is saying here that Jesus Christ has existed and will always exist
as God, which is unchangeable. The word “form”
is the Greek word MORPHE and it speaks of the outward manifestation
of an inward reality. In other words, the second person of the
Holy Trinity, The Word has always existed, He has always been
God and when He become flesh and dwelt among us, He was still
God even though He took on a body of flesh, that inward reality
was manifested in the things He did even though He was covered
with flesh!
What does Paul mean when he says that Jesus “did not consider it robbery to be equal with God”? He is saying that Jesus did not try to steal His deity from God, He didn’t try to take away something that was not his. You see, Jesus is God, equal with the Father; He is not “a god” but Almighty God! Thus, he didn’t have to take it because it was already His!
We are told first of all that He emptied Himself of His divine glory, and we see that in John 17:1, 5, “ . . . ‘"Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You . . . And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.’” Secondly, He emptied Himself of His divine authority as we are told in John 5:30, “I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.” Thirdly, He emptied Himself of some of His divine attributes, he did not stop being omniscient or all-knowing; He did not stop being omnipresent or present everywhere; He did not stop being omnipotent or all-powerful; He did not stop being immutable but He chose not to exercise those attributes during His earthly ministry.
We see Him get up early to pray and seek direction from His Father. In Mark 13:32 we are told, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” And the fourth thing is that we see Jesus empty Himself of His eternal riches that are due Him. We see that in II Corinthians 8:9, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.” And in Mark 10:45 we are told, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
The
fifth thing that Jesus emptied Himself of when He became flesh
and blood was that He temporarily emptied Himself of His intimate
relationship with the Father as He bore the sins of the world
on the cross of Calvary. In Matthew 27:46 we are told, “And
about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying,
‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God,
My God, why have You forsaken Me?’”
Before glory there was death. As the Son humbled Himself to the point of death, being obedient to the Father, the Father “super exalted” Him! He who humbled Himself was raised in glory and is now seated at the right hand of the Father, the place of power. And His name is Jesus or YAHWEH IS SALVATION and He alone has that name for there is no other name under heaven, given among men, by which we must be saved, none at all!
How do we know this is true, that God became flesh and dwelt among us to pay the penalty for our sins? It all boils down to His resurrection from the dead as the Scriptures tells us and because He rose from the dead we have that assurance that one day we will be raised in glory if our faith is in Him. James Denny put it this way, “ . . . the sonship, which was declared by the resurrection, corresponded to . . . the spirit of holiness which was the deepest reality in the Person and life of Jesus.”
VERSES 5-6
Paul’s point here is simple. We are saved “through Him” and not apart from Him! And it is out of that relationship with Him that we become apostles or sent out ones, ambassadors for Christ you might say!
Paul put it like this in II Corinthians 5:18-21, “Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
As we make peace with God through Jesus Christ we then can bring this peace of God to others, that reconciliation to the Father that is only found in Jesus Christ. We are truly His ambassadors, bondslaves of Jesus Christ!
You see, true saving faith always produces obedience and submission to the Lord. James put it like this, “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, ‘You have faith, and I have works.’ Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe — and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?” James 2:17-20. Our lives should be a witness of Jesus Christ to the lost and they will only see this witness as we are obedient to the Lord, as we surrender our lives to His lordship!
VERSE 7
As you read this, Paul is writing to the saints who are in Rome and some people, because of their theology that they have been taught, picture Paul writing to dead people. You see, in their minds, what they have been taught is that a saint is someone who has lived a godly life and after they die, there are certain criteria that has to be met and then they will be made into saints! Folks, Paul is not writing to dead people, but to Christians who were living in Rome and they are saints. The Greek word is HAGIOS and it speaks of being “set apart” or “sacred.” That is something that God has done in us and not what we have done.
In fact, the words “to be” are in italics because they do not appear in the original text. Thus, this verse should read, “you are called saints” you are not becoming saints! And as I have said, we are only saints because of what the Lord has done in our lives, the gift He has given to us and thus, if you are a believer, you are a saint! Think of it like this. There was a little boy that attended a church that had beautiful stained-glass windows depicting St. Paul, St. Peter, and St. John. One day, when asked in Sunday School class, “What are saints?” he answered, “They’re people who the light shine through.” That is what we should be, letting the light of Christ shine through us!
Then Paul speaks of the Siamese Twins of the New Testament, Grace and Peace! Paul uses the Greek greeting of CHARIS and the Jewish greeting, SHALOM, linking both Jew and Gentile together into the family of God. The word “grace” speaks of getting what we don’t deserve, and in this case it is eternal life when we should get death because of our sins. The word “peace” speaks of rest. The thing is, you will never find Paul speak of the peace and grace of God, never in that order, why? Because you can’t experience the peace of God until you first know the grace of God in your life, you have made peace with God through Jesus Christ!
And please notice that this grace and peace is “from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Why is that important? Because Paul is showing us the equality of Jesus with the Father. If Jesus was just a man, or like some say a god, it would be absurd to list Him as an equal with the Father. But He does and thus, Jesus and the Father are one, they are equal!
Let me close this morning with this story. We are told:
Lou Johnson, a 1965 World Series hero for the Los Angeles Dodgers, tried for 30 years to recover the championship ring he lost to drug dealers in 1971. Drug and alcohol abuse cost him everything from that magical season, including his uniform, glove, and the bat he used to hit the winning home run in the deciding game.
When Dodger president, Bob Graziano, learned that Johnson's World Series ring was about to be auctioned on the Internet, he immediately wrote a check for $3,457 and bought the ring before any bids were posted. He did for Johnson what the former Dodger outfielder had been unable to do for himself.
Johnson, 66, who has been drug free for years and a Dodger community relations employee, wept when given the gold ring. He said, "It felt like a piece of me had been reborn."
Countless Christians can testify to a spiritual rebirth as a result of the price that Jesus paid on the cross in their place. He did for them what they could not do for themselves.
- Preaching Today
May we not forget that and we will see this spoken of many times in this epistle or letter to the Romans by Paul, the grace and mercy of God extend to us through Jesus Christ. May we be people who let the light of God shine through us and touch the lives of others, may we light up their lives! Thus, we have seen here in Romans 1:1-7 Paul’s opening salutations to the church in Rome and I will leave you with this, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”