Romans part I: Pride and Prejudice
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Where do you find your identity?
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God—which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures—concerning his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who was a descendant of David according to the flesh and was appointed to be the powerful Son of God according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection of the dead. Through him we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the Gentiles, including you who are also called by Jesus Christ.
What is the Gospel’s Identity? (v. 2-6)
What is the Gospel’s Identity? (v. 2-6)
The Gospel is a person, and that person is Jesus.
In the Old Testament He is predicted
In the Gospels He is revealed
In Acts He is preached
In the Epistles He is explained
In Revelation He is expected
Jesus Fully Man, descendant of David according to the flesh
Jesus was human like us
Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death— even to death on a cross.
He understands our heartache
When Lazarus died Jesus wept sharing in Mary and Martha’s grief
He understands temptation
Before He called the disciples Jesus spent 40 days and nights in the wilderness being tempted by Satan
He understands weakness
Jesus got tired, hungry, and thirsty. We see at different times Jesus taking naps and going across the sea of Galilee to get some space and time to rest. We see Him sit at the well and ask the woman for a drink.
Jesus Fully God, Triune Son of God according to the spirit
He was God incarnate
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
He was without sin
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin.
Jesus would live a perfect life, die on the cross paying the penalty of sin, and rise again on the third day in victory over sin and death. He offers us that forgiveness and victory freely by His grace through faith alone in Christ alone.
What is the Apostle Paul’s Identity? (v. 1, 5-6)
What is the Apostle Paul’s Identity? (v. 1, 5-6)
The Apostle Paul’s Story
The story of Paul is one of the most beautiful depictions of grace and transformation in the Bible. I’m sure you’re familiar with the story. Paul began his life as Saul of Tarsus, a man devout and well trained as a pharisee. He was zealous about the Law and hated Christians. The book of Acts goes as far as to say that he breathed threats and murder against the disciples. He hated Christianity with a great deal of passion. He recieved permission from the High Priest to go from city to city and round up Christians, drag them from their homes, and send them to await trial and execution. It was on one of these crusades that the risen Jesus appeared to Saul in a bright light on the road to Damascus. Jesus confronted Paul and asked him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”. Immediately Saul was blinded and had to be led to Damascus by the men who were with him. While he was there God called Ananias to come and minister to Saul. Jesus said to Ananias, “Go, for this man is my chosen instrument to take my name to Gentiles, kings, and Israelites. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” Ananias went and ministered to Saul who was now called Paul. He restored his sight and in both a spiritual and physical sense Paul’s eyes were opened to the truth. Paul was transformed by grace and went from being a murderer and enemy of the church to an Apostle and servant of church.
“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
The Enemy of the Church is dead. Now lives the Servant of Christ
Because of the Gospel, Paul sees himself first as a servant of Christ. This word servant is also translated as bond servant or slave.
Lexham Theological Wordbook δοῦλος
δοῦλος (doulos). n. masc. servant, slave. Refers to someone who is the property of another.
A servant (doulos) is someone who is a slave and obeys the commands of his or her master. For example, in Matt 8:9 the centurion claims that he says to his servant (doulos), “Do this,” and he does it. Paul often refers to himself as the servant (doulos) of Jesus Christ (Rom 1:11; Gal 1:10). The idea that he is a slave to Christ carries the sense of belonging to him—Christ has bought him, and owns him.
The Pharisee is dead. Now lives the Apostle
Because of the Gospel, Paul sees himself as an apostle of Christ. This word apostle is designated to the 11 disciples, Matthias, and Paul.
Lexham Theological Wordbook άποστόλος
άποστόλος (apostolos). n. masc. messenger, apostle. One sent out; in the NT, especially those sent out by Jesus to preach the gospel.
This word is related to the verb ἀποστέλλω (apostellō, “to send out”), and, in the extrabiblical sources, it has the meaning of “something sent” (e.g., a naval expedition; Plato, Ep., 7, 346a) or “someone sent out” (Josephus, Ant. 17.300). In the NT, this word only occasionally indicates “personal messenger” (John 13:16; Phil 2:25). The majority of the occurrences of this term are references to the 12 disciples whom Jesus sent out (apostellō) to preach the gospel (e.g., Mark 3:14); they continued to do so after he died (Acts 5:40). The work of the apostles (apostolos) and the prophets (προφήτης, prophētēs) of the early church created a firm foundation for the church to grow (Eph 2:20).
Paul was set apart by God to take the Gospel to the Gentiles. Throughout the book of Acts we see this play out. In city after city the Jews would reject the Gospel message and Paul would then take it to the Gentiles in the city. God used Paul as the primary vessel for taking the Gospel to the outsider, to preach freedom to people who had never heard the truth about Jesus.
What is the Roman’s Identity?
What is the Roman’s Identity?
The city of Rome was a dark place. It was the cultural and religious center of the empire. It was drenched in paganism and temple prostitution. It was filled with corruption and injustice. It was the heart of darkness in the ancient world, yet here exists this small community of believers. These Christians were famous for their faithfulness. Their was no mistaking where their identity was. In a context where people boasted in their Roman citizenship and their sophistication as citizens of the founding city these believers knew their home was not in this world. To be a Christian in Rome during the first century could have cost them their lives, but their lives were not their own...
“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
Recipients of Grace
χάρις (charis). n. fem. grace, good will, favor. Conveys the sense of a gift of kindness and favor given to a person or persons.
Loved By God
Lexham Theological Wordbook ἀγαπητός
ἀγαπητός (agapētos). adj. beloved, dear. A person who is in a special, close relationship with another.
The term of endearment agapētos is related to the verb ἀγαπάω (agapaō, “to love”) and is used to indicate someone who is considered dearly loved or valued. Agapētos occurs frequently in the NT, mostly in the letters. In the Synoptic Gospels, a voice calls Jesus “my beloved Son” both at his baptism (Mark 1:11) and at his transfiguration (Mark 9:7; compare 2 Pet 1:17). For authors like Paul, Peter, and John, the word is used to indicate their close bond as believers in Christ, but it also can function as a rhetorical device to signal exhortation.
Called as Saints
ἅγιος (hagios). adj. holy, set apart, consecrated, dedicated, saints. Refers to the quality of God who is transcendently distinctive, unique, majestic, perfect, and pure.
For us who have put our faith in Jesus our identity is the same. There are some things that can never be changed. His grace towards us, His love for us, and His righteousness covering us can never be taken away. That is who we are.
For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
This is who we are. For many of us we struggle with our identity. Who are we? It is so easy to have a low self worth. To feel like nobody cares about us to feel isolated and forgotten. But God cares very deeply for us. These attributes are declared by God and cannot be taken away.
What, then, are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He did not even spare his own Son but gave him up for us all. How will he not also with him grant us everything? Who can bring an accusation against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies. Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is the one who died, but even more, has been raised; he also is at the right hand of God and intercedes for us. Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: Because of you we are being put to death all day long; we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Take a second and think about all we have talked about so far. The Gospel is a new beginning a fresh start. It’s a call to put our trust in Jesus and be transformed by His power. It is the story of how the God of the universe bankrupted heaven to pay the way for us to have a relationship with Him. Its grace, forgiveness, love, purpose. He offers us everything we need for peace, joy, satisfaction He offers to us in Himself. Words cannot describe the power of the Gospel.
The Gospel completely transformed Paul and he dedicated his life to sharing that hope with others and because of that witnessed people’s lives change over and over. Because of this Paul was unashamed of the Gospel. In a world where sin causes so much guilt and shame Paul has found something to celebrate. Why? Because the Gospel is the power of God to transform everyone who believes. Not just the descendants of Abraham, but all who believe both the Jew and the Greek.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.
If you were to hear the story of the Gospel (God’s design, man’s rebellion, God’s grace through the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, the restoration of the world through the second coming of Christ) If you were to hear the story of the Gospel what would you infer about God’s character. This Gospel reveals to us that God is righteous. He is abounding in steadfast love, good, kind, just, merciful, gracious, patient, forgiving. It shows us just how deeply He cares for us.
If the Gospel reveals the righteousness of God than finding our identity in Christ means we then share in His righteousness.
If the Gospel reveals the righteousness of God than finding our identity in anything other than Christ finds us to be unrighteous.
The Romans that Paul is writing to were living in a society that celebrated darkness. It was a violent culture motivated by greed and lust. It was a pagan world and a hedonistic world.
Hedonism: The pursuit of pleasure; sensual self-indulgence; an ethical philosophy that pleasure (in the sense of the satisfaction of desires) is the highest good and proper aim of human life.
Our world today is not all that different. Satan’s lies are the same as they have always been. Our culture is a place that celebrates darkness. It is a culture motivated by greed and lust. A culture of idolatry, worshipping money, power, status. Chasing after what will make you happy, and when that gets old just find something new to satisfy you. People are treated like objects. We are in a time in our history in which the culture we are in is becoming hostel to the truth. Our culture teaches us from a young age to indulge ourselves, to follow our heart and passions wherever they may take us, and that we can identify any way that we want to. The Gospel however, is entirely contrary to that lifestyle. Hedonism promises all the comforts and pleasures the world can offer but in truth it is a chocolate covered turd.
Imagine your dog pooped in the yard. Would you eat it? No. What if I covered it in chocolate? What if I put sprinkles on it? Would you eat it then? Sin leads to death. The cost of our sin is death. Satan tries to make sin attractive, to make us feel like we deserve it, likes it’s good for us, but sin by any other name is till sin. We live in a culture that has rejected the truth and has become proud of its lies. It desperately tries to redefine words that cannot be changed. They try to change words like love, justice, sexual purity, but these things are not defined by man but by what Jesus says to be true about them. Jesus, our truth, defines what truth is and He does that through His Word.
More than that the world tries to steal our identity. In Christ we are new creations. The old has passed away the new life has come. We talked about it a second ago, we are recipients of grace, loved by God, and called saints in His kingdom. The world tries desperately to steal that from us. They offer all these distractions and alternate identities. But don’t lose sight of what is the truth.
When the world puts itself in the place of God it is destined to fall. When we try to put ourselves in the place of King we will find ourselves at war. There can only be one king. And if we aren’t careful we can quickly find ourselves at war with God.
See how this plays out in the first chapter of Romans
The World is without Excuse
The World is without Excuse
For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth, since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made. As a result, people are without excuse. For though they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became worthless, and their senseless hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles. Therefore God delivered them over in the desires of their hearts to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served what has been created instead of the Creator, who is praised forever. Amen. For this reason God delivered them over to disgraceful passions. Their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. The men in the same way also left natural relations with women and were inflamed in their lust for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the appropriate penalty of their error. And because they did not think it worthwhile to acknowledge God, God delivered them over to a corrupt mind so that they do what is not right. They are filled with all unrighteousness, evil, greed, and wickedness. They are full of envy, murder, quarrels, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, arrogant, proud, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, senseless, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful. Although they know God’s just sentence—that those who practice such things deserve to die—they not only do them, but even applaud others who practice them.
The World has chosen. Christ recieved God’s wrath on the cross but in rejecting Christ the world welcomes God’s wrath upon itself. God has revealed Himself through creation and His perfect design, He has revealed Himself through His word, He has revealed Himself through Jesus. The world has no excuse. The world tries to suppress the truth. They bury it deep down under nonsense and lies. They run and hide from God and in the process they have forgotten who God is. Again and again they attempted to replace God with worthless idols, vain pursuits for happiness, and all the while found themselves wanting. Over and over they rejected God until God gave them over to what they wanted.
You see God’s grace is a free gift, but He will not force it on someone that wants nothing to do with it.
And so the further down the rabbit hole the world got the more they began to find identity in their sins. The road to a stolen identity begins in the...
Heart
Heart
Therefore God delivered them over in the desires of their hearts to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served what has been created instead of the Creator, who is praised forever. Amen.
It begins with a desire. We begin to covet in our hearts what we do not have. We begin to feel discontent and deserving, and our passions move from our hearts to our...
Hands
Hands
For this reason God delivered them over to disgraceful passions. Their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. The men in the same way also left natural relations with women and were inflamed in their lust for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the appropriate penalty of their error.
We know its wrong but we can’t help ourselves. We begin to commit our hands to the work of unrighteousness. We find ourselves drawn to our sin by the desires of our hearts and begin to act on it with our hands. To appease the guild and shame we begin to rationalize and justify with our...
Mind
Mind
And because they did not think it worthwhile to acknowledge God, God delivered them over to a corrupt mind so that they do what is not right. They are filled with all unrighteousness, evil, greed, and wickedness. They are full of envy, murder, quarrels, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, arrogant, proud, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, senseless, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful. Although they know God’s just sentence—that those who practice such things deserve to die—they not only do them, but even applaud others who practice them.
Our world view distorts to whatever we can believe to justify what we are doing. We think ourselves as wise and enlightened. We think ourselves as woke when really we are foolishly blind in our sin. We begin to celebrate sin and boast in our wickedness. We throw gay pride parades and call rioting social justice. We consider cancel culture to be the purest form of justice and murder, rape, and pillage anything in our path.
The world is unashamed of its sin while Paul is unashamed of the Gospel. Why?
Paul is unashamed because Jesus transformed his...
Heart
Heart
“When they arrive there, they will remove all its abhorrent acts and detestable practices from it. I will give them integrity of heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove their heart of stone from their bodies and give them a heart of flesh, so that they will follow my statutes, keep my ordinances, and practice them. They will be my people, and I will be their God. But as for those whose hearts pursue their desire for abhorrent acts and detestable practices, I will bring their conduct down on their own heads.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.
The transformative work of the Gospel begins in our hearts and moves outward to our...
Hands
Hands
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things.
From a transformed heart the Holy Spirit works through our hands to produce fruits of the Spirit. We do good works out of gratitude for what Christ has done for us. Finally, the Gospel renews our
Mind
Mind
Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
With a new mind we can think like Christ. Our mind is renewed as we pray and study Scripture. The more time we spend with God the more we begin to understand and know Him.
How do we respond to the world’s brokenness? Not with prejudice but with love
I think as Christians it is easy for us to build walls and hide from sinful people. But as Christians we have a responsibility. God has called us to get our hands dirty and work to heal what has been broken. It would be very easy for us to avoid imperfect people. To hide from the chaos and surround ourselves with quaint comforts. But God calls us to be servants. Sent out to share the Gospel. To offer hope in the way the World cannot. The Gospel is the power to heal what has been broken and we have been called to take it to every nation.
How will you respond?