Introduction to Paul's Letter to the Romans - Part 2

Introduction

WW Digital Currency:

Epoch Times, September 12, 2023. G-20 Announces Plan to Impose Digital Currencies and IDs Worldwide.

Plans to build a global framework and public infrastructure, digital economy, crypto assets.

Critics say that these proposals could allow government authorities to impose a social credit score system and decide how their citizens can spend their money

Revelation 13:17 LSB

17 and that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.

Introduction

Before we begin with our study in the book of Romans, I want to take you to Matthew 3:7. This is part of our Prophecy Study tonight and it is important to understand this and it will relate to our future studies. There are many in the Church today who seem confused or uninformed about the nature of prophecy at it relates to the Gospel. It was during COVID that I realized this and how as a pastor I was neglecting the full counsel of God in my own teaching. The reason was simple, it wasn’t popular.

I think, in part, that is why God allows things like COVID or 9/11 to happen. It is to wake us up from our slumber. He is standing at the door and knocking so that we might answer (Revelation 3:20). Sometimes we are uncomfortable with that image because Jesus wasn’t addressing the lost in that verse; he was addressing the church. Looking back can we really say that our world is better off than we were on September 10, 2001? I don’t think so. Do any of us really remember what life was like before then?

September 12

Then I think about September 12. Everyone was genuinely looking at each other as humans. It wasn’t partisan or divisions. But then things didn’t go back to normal. We digressed as a society. We didn’t hear from God - we retaliated, we built a bigger tower, we decided we needed less freedom for ‘peace and security.” Then came COVID… are you seeing a pattern yet. There are people of power and influence waiting anxiously for the next 9/11 or COVID to happen.

Mt Olive Discourse

So last week, I started our study with the first of signs Jesus warned about in his Mt Olive Discourse, Matthew 24:5 “5 “For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.” The first of many warnings Jesus gives us is deception and false hope - from many. And I’ve told you as it relates to birth pangs that these signs increase with intensity and frequency; and we’ve seen this. But what is happening now is something that we’ve never seen before - a convergence of these signs.

John the Baptist

So that brings us back to Matthew 3:7. John the Baptist arrives on the scene and begins to preach the gospel, Matthew 3:2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Hmmmm… not much different that I am preaching today - ‘get right with God; time is short.’ And the Sadducees and Pharisees (the church police) arrive on the scene to find out what is going on and this is where John gets interesting. I never picked this up before the other day.

He says:

Matthew 3:7 LSB

7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

Pharisees

I’ve always focused on the character differences: John the Baptist vs. The Pharisees. But did you notice his question: “who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” And it occurred to me as I drove the other day and someone mentioned this verse on the radio, there is something we really must examine here:

Pharisees

Jesus was equally appalled by this group of Jewish leaders.

They were only fit for their hell (Matthew 23:15)

They were called blind guides and leaders (Matthew 23:24, 26; Matthew 25:14; Luke 6:39)

They were people who were evil who pretend to do good (Matthew 23:28)

They were snakes and children of snakes (Matthew 23:33)

They were guilty of all murder (Matthew 23:35).

Just to name a few. However it is clear that Jesus does not count them as part of the heavenly kingdom. They are doomed for hell, unless they repent. They are lost and condemned people, regardless of their national affiliation.

John the Baptist

But what wrath is John referring to?

The Cross of Christ? Maybe, but John was asking them who told them to ‘flee’ the wrath to come. May I suggest to you that John was referring to what we call the Great Tribulation and final judgement of the living and the dead - in other words, the 7 Year Tribulation is the impending judgement of God’s wrath.

What we are witnessing now is a blip of what is about to come - foreshadows to wake us up and turn to God. Let me just quickly cover a couple of things that are happening in our world - what some would call ‘natural disasters.’ But I submit to you, they are the events mentioned in Matthew 24, with certain people in power manipulating them as a means to deceive many

Lybia

In Lybia this week, devastating floods broke dams and swept away entire neighborhoods in coastal towns. More than 40,000 people have been displaced, and the national death toll is feared to exceed 10,000

Slovenia

In Slovenia, a few weeks ago, a month’s worth of rain fell in a day, causing massive flooding.

China

In China in early July, massive flooding wiped out crops, killing hundreds and causing over 5 billion in losses.

Lahaina

In Lahaina, a massive wildfire devastated the entire city, leaving over 1000 dead.

There are wildfires happening all over the world like never seen before.

Morocco

Earthquakes on historic levels, like in Morocco this past week.

Earthquakes

United States

Flooding in Alaska, the US Northeast over the summer.

In the United States, we experienced the highest number of weather disasters in history already in 2023. Not to mention train derailments and other man-made disasters

Climate change?

The media and environmentalists want you to believe this is caused by climate change. However, these are the beginnings of the birthing pangs. Now, we are no longer at the beginning as we witness the convergence of all of these taking place.

John makes it clear that the Spirit of the Antichrist is at work to setup for the arrival of Satans false messiah:

1 John 4:3 LSB

3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.

Nicodemus

These are warning signs of the times to flee the wrath that is yet to come. Jesus was astounded by Nicodemus who failed to see the signs in his day. How much more should we be aware?

John 3:9–10 LSB

9 Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things?

Nicodemus

The wrath is about to come and we must be ready to point to the signs and warn the world to flee

There is a story from 9/11 that most of us either forget or never knew and that is the story of “The Great Boat Lift” I think this is a parable of the Church. Please watch this with me: https://youtu.be/MDOrzF7B2Kg?si=_8bHb6I95ZzBpTNB

The Greatest Boat Lift

It is the job of the church to prepare for the greatest evacuation that is about to occur - the Rapture of the Church. Which brings me to our study of the introduction of Romans where Paul tells the Church in Rome that Jesus came to save all of us. Our purpose is to warn them of the wrath to come:

Romans 1:1–7 LSB

1 Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, having been set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning His Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, 4 who was designated as the Son of God in power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we received grace and apostleship for the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of His name, 6 among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; 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.

Review

Last week we looked at the life of Paul. This week we are going to finish Paul’s introduction of Romans with answering 2 questions. Why did Paul write this letter and who were the people Paul was writing to?

Remember that last week I mentioned that Paul was a man who knew redemption and grace personally. Paul’s story is a story of redemption through Jesus Christ. He was a learned and elevated in the Sanhedrin Counsel, likely among those 70 who condemned Jesus to crucifixion. He became an ardent opponent and persecutor of Christians until he had a powerful encounter with the resurrected Christ. From that point on he was one of the most influential voices of The Way. He is known as The Apostle to the Gentiles (Romans 11:13; Ephesians 3:1)

Review

Paul’s life is a series of important events that allowed God to fashion him into the man he needed to be to share the gospel throughout the known world. The importance of this is because of knowing his authority. The inclusion of Paul’s letters in the New Testament Canon isn’t about a political or personal affluence. This is the intention of the Holy Spirit as men in the first generation Church who were appointed to write these Scriptures. So with that we can turn to these writings with confidence of their truth and use the words inspired by the Holy Spirit to keep us from deceptions.

Review

Now, Paul delivers a customary salutary greeting to the believers in Rome with identifying himself as a “slave” (v.1); a ‘doulos’ or ‘bondservant’ of Jesus Christ and he is known for his passionate preaching and proclaimation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the heart of the message to the Romans because in these pages we find some of the most renown truths of the Gospel and Scripture.

Herein may lie the answers to why this book was written and stands at the front of all other letters written by Paul. Immediately after all the Gospel and history of the early Church comes this marvelous book with its comprehensive treatment to the truth of God in order to safeguard the believers against the clever attacks of the enemy.

1 Timothy 3:14–15 ESV

14 I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, 15 if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.

Gospel of Grace

And so right out of the gate, in typical Pauline style, the Apostle lavishes us with some incredible truths that should instantly draw us in:

Romans 1:1–5 (LSB)

set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning His Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, 4 who was designated as the Son of God in power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we received grace and apostleship for the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of His name,

Jesus' Divinity

Here we find four things powerfully affirmed by Paul about Jesus: His Name, His Humanity, His Deity, and His Authority

First Paul calls him “God’s Son, Jesus, Christ, Our Lord.”

“Son” defines his unique relationship to the Father

That phrase, “spirit of holiness” is not a reference to the Holy Spirit, although it is not absent of the Holy Spirit’s inclusion of the Trinity. What Paul is referencing here is Jesus’ essence of the Divine.

“There is a shrinking contrast between the verbs used in this introduction. AS to his humanity, he was made the seed of David, by to his divine nature, he is the Sone of God. Humanity is a created thing; the flesh of Christ came at a definite point in history, but his divine nature has existed through eternity and needed only to be declared that men might see it.” (Alvin J. McClain)

Jesus’ Humanity

“Jesus” refers to his humanity, being both Divine and man

John 1:14 LSB

14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Jesus’ Humanity

Jesus was not born flesh, but he was made flesh. He was not born as the seed of man, but the seed of the Holy Spirit. This is why the Virgin Birth is a central doctrine of the faith

Jesus the Messiah

“Christ” speaks of his messianic office and is intimately linked to verse 3 as, “the seed of David according to the flesh” Christ is Greek for Messiah or Anointed One

Revelation 22:16 LSB

16 “I, Jesus, sent My angel to bear witness to you of these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”

Jesus the Lord

“Lord” refers to his exalted position as above all.

Philippians 2:9–11 LSB

9 Therefore, God also highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that EVERY TONGUE WILL CONFESS that Jesus Christ is LORD, to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus the Lord

It is by the Authority that Christ received that Paul is able to even write this letter. No body but the risen Christ can dispense the office of apostleship. What is amazing here is that Paul didn’t appoint himself as apostle. He didn’t even consider himself worthy of being an apostle. He humbly carried the title as a “doulos.”

1 Timothy 1:12–15 LSB

12 I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He regarded me faithful, putting me into service, 13 even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; 14 and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. 15 It is a trustworthy saying and deserving full acceptance: that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost.

And now, he adorns his readers in Rome a treasure: Romans 1:6-7

Romans 1:6–7 LSB

6 among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; 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.

Beloved of God

What a glorious expression of love from our Lord and his Apostle. The first title given to the believers, “beloved of God” fits everyone (Chuck Smith). Friends, you are a beloved of God. Sometimes it is difficult for us to fully appreciate and accept God’s love because we can never understand how God can truly know us and still love us. Moreover we have a hard time loving ourselves, much more believing that the King of the Universe care for us that way. But he does and Paul reminds us of that and includes a customary, but wonderful salutation, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Grace and Peace

Chuck Smith calls these the siamese twins of the New Testament because that are always coupled together and must be in this order. You can’t have the peace of God until you know His grace, which Paul reminds us in Chuck Smith calls these the siamese twins of the New Testament because that are always coupled together and must be in this order. You can’t have the peace of God until you know His grace, which Paul reminds us in Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;”

Claudius

According to Acts 18 and secular history Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome somewhere around 49 AD. It is reasonable to assume that Christianity also faced significant political and cultural opposition. There is no stated reason why Paul wrote the letter, but the consensus is that it is an encouragement to the believers there in Rome and Paul encourages them with the truths of God and the Gospel.

Closing

Many Christians think that once they become a Christian, the gospel is behind them, but in reality it is to the contrary. Rather than focusing on the gospel, many believers tend to focus on relatively peripheral issues. But the gospel continues to be central good news everyone, we have heaven before us but we can live in the presence of God today unlike before in your shackles of sin.