Sermon Tone Analysis

MBC - 5~/30~/2004 - Pastor Doug Thompson

*/“The Gospel of God”/*

Romans 1:2-4

 

ROM 1:1 Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,

ROM 1:2 which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures,

ROM 1:3 concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh,

ROM 1:4 who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,

ROM 1:5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake,

ROM 1:6 among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;

ROM 1:7 to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

This morning we’re just going to look at vv.2-4, but I want you to consider that this is 3X the number of verses we covered last week!

We are moving at warp speed through Romans!

But it’s essential that we understand the terms Paul uses in these first 7 verses because Paul is laying the foundation for the rest of this letter.

Every word and phrase is packed with significance because they contain in seed form what Paul will spend the rest of Romans unpacking.

And the “seed” this passage is presenting is “the gospel of God.”

The word for Gospel: /euanggelion/, occurs 60X in these 16 chapters.

And it means “good news.”

The Gospel is Good News!

I am reminded of that so often when I hear about the mess that sin makes of people’s lives--

 

Selfishness

guilt

meaninglessness

hopelessness.

Jesus said He came to give His sheep abundant life, and eternal life.

The antidote to selfishness, guilt, meaningless, and hopelessness, and the antidote to death and judgment.

But can we trust the gospel?

Is it real, is it true--does it have power to save us and transform us and take us to heaven?

The answer is yes, because the gospel is rooted and grounded in the Promise of the gospel in Scripture, and the Person of the gospel in Jesus Christ.

I.e. the Gospel is established on the rock of Sola Scriptura, and Solus Christus.

*I.

The Promise of the Gospel.*

Ø      v.1,2: . .

.the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, [If you’ve ever wondered why your Bible says “Holy Bible,” it comes from this verse.]

Why does Paul say this--why do his readers need to know that the gospel was promised in the OT Scriptures?

They need to know that this gospel is not new.

It’s not novel.

There is perfect continuity between what God said about the gospel in the OT Scriptures and what Paul is going to explain about the gospel in the NT Scriptures.

The Gospel is the story of the Bible!

It begins with Paradise lost, and ends with Paradise regained.

It is the story of seeking and salving lost man.

Ø      A couple of weeks ago someone asked me after church if we had a lost and found, and I thought, “That describes most of the people here!

They once were lost but now they’re found.”

And the gospel is the fulfillment of the entire OT.

Doesn’t this take us right back to Hebrews, where we saw for 13 chapters, how all of the OT, all of the Jewish religion, all pointed forward to Jesus Christ and Who He would be, and what He would do for His people?

Ø      I was talking to someone this last week in the office about their Bible reading, and they were saying how Leviticus was heavy-sledding--a lot of stuff that seems very foreign and strange to us.

I said, “So what does Leviticus leave you thinking or feeling?”

They said, “I’m so glad that now with Jesus, we don’t have to do all of that stuff!”

And I said, “That’s exactly what God wants you to get out of Leviticus!”

That is the message for those of us living under the New Covenant: “Jesus has fulfilled all the types and shadows, and sacrifices and rituals--now we rest in His sacrifice for our sins, and His righteousness imputed to us.”

But why would Paul need to remind his readers that the gospel was promised by God in the OT Scriptures?

I.e., /Why would he have to establish the scriptural authority of the Gospel?/

Romans is written primarily to a Gentile audience, but we’re going to see that there was a heavy Jewish influence among the Christians living in Rome (We should know that if Hebrews was written to Jewish-Christian believers living in Rome--right?)

So the Gentile Christians, with this Jewish influence, should have already known all about the gospel in the OT Scriptures, right?

Not necessarily--

 

Paul deliberately says “*the holy Scriptures” /because he wants to establish the  authority of the gospel, it comes from the Word of God,/ *not the teachings of the Rabbis, which the Jews of his day studied more than they studied the Scriptures.

The rabbinical writings said little or nothing about the gospel of God, but *the holy Scrip-tures* said a lot about it.

*/Mishna and Talmud--/*

Let me take just a minute to explain this: From about 200 B.C., to 135 A.D., the Jewish Rabbis began to write down their commentary on the Law of Moses.

This was called the /Mishna/.

But don’t get the idea that this was like the footnotes in your study Bible!

The /Mishna/ actually told the Jews how they were to obey the laws of Moses--and where Moses wasn’t specific--the Mishna was! I.e., it added laws and rules and regulations.

Later, from about 250 to 500 A.D., Jewish scholars in Jerusalem and in Babylon began writing out a commentary on the /Mishna/, which they called the /Talmud/.

The Babylonian Talmud is 36 volumes and 36,000 pages!

Ø      What happened to the holy Scriptures?

For many Jews, they almost got lost in the pile of rabbinic traditions.

Do you remember in the Gospels how many times Jesus had to contrast the Word of God with the “traditions of men?”

This is what He was talking about, the teachings of the Mishna: how far you could walk on the Sabbath, or what constituted work on the Sabbath; how to wash your hands in certain ways before you ate; using certain utensils for certain foods--none of that was in Scripture--it was in their Mishna.

The Mishna was meant to be a hedge around the Law protecting it from being broken--so it took on a sacred significance, to the point that many Rabbis regarded these traditions as greater than the Scriptures, The Scriptures themselves were looked upon as more of a sacred relic--but if you wanted spiritual guidance, you went to the writings of the rabbis!

Paul is laying a foundation here, the authority of the gospel comes from holy Scripture and the authority of holy Scripture is God Himself!

It doesn’t spring from the traditions or opinions of men, and it doesn’t even spring from Paul’s own experience of the gospel--and if anyone ever experienced the gospel, it was Paul!

 

No!

The gospel was in the mind of God before time began.

And He Himself promised this good news in His own Word, long before it was personified in the coming of Jesus Christ.

What are some examples of God promising the gospel in the OT Scriptures?:

 

Ø      GEN 3:15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel."

Ø      GEN 22:18  "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."

Ø      GEN 49:10  [Jacob’s blessing on Judah--the tribe that David came from, and Jesus] "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.”

[Shiloh means, “the One to whom it belongs”]

 

Ø      NUM 21:9 And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.

Ø      PSA 16:10 For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.

Ø      ISA 9:6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

Ø      ISA 9:7 There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore.

The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.

Ø      ISA 52:13 Behold, My servant will prosper, He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted.

Ø      MIC 5:2  "But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.

His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity."

Ø      ZEC 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem!

Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

The Gospel was promised by God beforehand in the holy Scriptures--and what we are going to see is that even more specifically--get this--the doctrine of justification by grace through faith comes from OT Scripture--God’s sov. in election, comes from OT Scripture.

(You might sit down as a family this week and look through Romans for the OT citations--the capitalized passages--and see how Paul found the gospel in the OT.)

So what is the point of v.2--mark it: Paul is establishing his authority, and what is it?

Sola Scriptura--Scripture alone!

Paul is going to argue with the scribes and rabbis in Romans, but he is never going to cite them or appeal to their opinions.

His authority is the book from God, Holy Scripture.

*II.

The Person of the Gospel.*

Ø      ROM 1:3 /concerning His Son/, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh,

Ø      ROM 1:4 who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,

 

So what is the gospel about--and what did all the promises of Scripture point to?

Connect the end of v. one: “the gospel of God--with the beginning of v.3--“concerning His Son.”