Romans: The Gospel Unites; Week 2

Sarcasm

Good morning. We are in the second week of our look at the book of Romans. Last week we examined chapter 1, verses 1-7, which is the greeting .This week we will continue on down and do verses 8 to 17. It is important to note that all of chapter is Paul’s introduction. Similar to many sermons, an introduction is intended to introduce the ideas that the preacher or speaker will expound upon later. Keep that in mind as we continue to go through chapter one over the next couple of weeks.

Once Paul is finished with His initial greeting (vs. 1-7) he begins to address the Roman people on a personal level in what if refereed to as the “thanksgiving” section. Let’s go ahead and read our passages, then we will go through and examine them in more detail.

Romans 1:8–17 (CSB)

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you because the news of your faith is being reported in all the world. God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in telling the good news about his Son—that I constantly mention you, always asking in my prayers that if it is somehow in God’s will, I may now at last succeed in coming to you. For I want very much to see you, so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you, that is, to be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. Now I don’t want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I often planned to come to you (but was prevented until now) in order that I might have a fruitful ministry among you, just as I have had among the rest of the Gentiles. I am obligated both to Greeks and barbarians, both to the wise and the foolish. So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. 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.

I’m not going to spend time going over it, but in your handout I took Romans 1 and put it into outline form. Last week we covered A, under the first heading, while today we are covering b and c. You can look at that if you want.

I. The gospel as the revelation of God’s righteousness (1:1–17)

A. Greeting: The gospel concerning God’s Son (1:1–7)

B. Thanksgiving: Prayer for an apostolic visit (1:8–15)

C. Theme: The gospel of God’s righteousness (1:16–17)

II. God’s righteousness in his wrath against sinners (1:18-32)

A. The unrighteousness of gentiles (1:18–32)

1. Their rejection of God (1:18–23)

2. The consequences of their rejection (1:24–32)

Romans 1:8 “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you because the news of your faith is being reported in all the world.”

In most of Paul’s letters, after he wrote his greeting, he would normally go on to offer up some sort of thanksgiving. Typically, this would be him thanking God for the particular group of people he was writing to. For example,

1 Corinthians 1:4 “I always thank my God for you because of the grace of God given to you in Christ Jesus,”

Ephesians 1:16 “I never stop giving thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers.”

Philippians 1:3 “I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you,”

Those are just a few examples. We do, however, have one example that stands as almost the opposite.

Galatians 1:6 “I am amazed that you are so quickly turning away from him who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—”

Compared to most of his letters, including the one to the Romans, Galatians is worded quite differently in deed.

Even though Paul was not the one who founded the Roman church, I can image that Paul was very pleased that the gospel of Christ had reached the capital of the vast Roman Empire. Not only that, but the Roman believers had built up a good reputation…so much so that Paul was hearing good things about them, even outside of Rome. As we all know, Paul suffered more than his fair share of persecution, and he was constantly having to deal with problems in the various churches. I’m sure it felt good to hear good reports instead of bad reports.

The great reformer, Martin Luther, once said:

“Christianity is uniquely the religion of the possessive pronoun.”

In order to know what Luther was trying to convey, I guess we need to know what a possessive pronoun is.

As their names imply, a possessive pronoun shows ownership. For example, I thank “my” God through Jesus Christ. What Luther was saying was that the God of the Bible is personal. Paul says “my God,” not because Paul own’s God, rather, that God is personal and meets each of our needs according to His riches and glory.

Let’s keep moving forward to verses 9-10, which are one continuous thought...Paul thanks God that the gospel of Christ is being spread over the world, then

Romans 1:9–10 “God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in telling the good news about his Son—that I constantly mention you, always asking in my prayers that if it is somehow in God’s will, I may now at last succeed in coming to you.”

I’m sure we’ve all experienced times where we are speaking to someone and say something to really emphasize our point. For example:

Pastor Erik’s sermon was great last week....in fact, I spoke with my neighbor about it and encouraged them to watch it online.

We will make a statement, then we will follow that up with some sort of evidence that what we just said was true. After all, if I didn’t like the sermon, I wouldn’t have told my neighbor about it. In essence, that is exactly what Paul is doing here, except in reverse order. The beginning of verse 9 is actually Paul emphasizing what he says in verse 10…the fact that he (Paul) has always wanted to visit the Roman Christians. Using our example from a moment ago, it would sound like this:

For real, I told my neighbor to watch Pastor Erik’s sermon from last week, I really enjoyed it.

The phrase that Paul mentions

that I constantly mention you... always asking in my prayers that if it is somehow in God’s will, I may now at last succeed in coming to you.”

That phrase constantly mention you is the same idea that we find in

1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 “Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

You see, Paul had never visited the Christians in Rome, but they were constantly on his mind.

Last week we talked about how Rome was the only church not founded by Paul or one of the disciples....or at least that is what Scripture seems to imply. Perhaps some of the people in the Roman church wondered why Paul had never visited them? After all, Rome was the very center of the Europe at that time and they were probably supporting Paul in some way, shape, or form.

Up to this point in his greeting, Paul has communicated 3 things:

Heard great things about them.

He constantly mentions them to others

He greatly desires to visit them

Unfortunately, God had always steered him in another direction. Let’s keep going.

Paul says that God willing, he will come to Rome to visit

Romans 1:11 “For I want very much to see you, so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you,”

There is actually some minor controversy over verse 11 and verse 12, as to what Paul is actually referring to. Paul tells the Romans that he wants to see them, so that he could

“Impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you.” Depending on the person, Paul is either talking about a specific spiritual gift, or, on the other hand, Paul might not be referring to the “official” spiritual gifts at all, rather, he is just making a general statement that he wants to see the Roman’s strengthened. There are a couple of things to consider when trying to determine Paul’s intent here.

We know that Paul very much taught specific spiritual gifts. For example, later on in the book of Romans, and in 1st Corinthians, Paul lists a number of (what we refer to as) spiritual gifts. Let’s quickly look at those.

Romans 12: 6-8;

1 Cor. 12: 4-11; 28.

Romans 12: prophesying, serving, teaching, encouraging, giving, leadership, and mercy.

1 Corinthians 12:4–11: word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, faith, healing, miraculous powers, prophecy, distinguishing between spirits, speaking in tongues and interpretation of tongues.

1 Corinthians 12:28: healings, helps, administration, diversities of tongues.

So, when we read that Paul wants to impart “some spiritual gift to strengthen you,” it is not out of the realm of possibility that Paul is referring to one of the individual gifts. Let’s look at verse 12 before we make a determination:

Romans 1:12 “that is, to be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.”

If we combine verses 11 and 12, you get:

Romans 1:11–12 “For I want very much to see you, so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you, that is, to be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.”

So, when we combine verse 12, we can quickly discover that in fact, Paul does not seem to be talking about a specific spiritual gift…in fact, it is actually Paul’s desire to visit the Romans, so that He and they (the people) can be mutually encouraged by each other. Much has been written about the seeming contradiction of ideas here. Does Paul want to visit to strengthen and impart spiritual gifts to the Romans, or, does Paul want to visit for the purposes of mutual edification and encouragement. These two ideas seem different. I’ll quickly tell you what I think is going on here…and this is why context is important when reading scripture. We must understand that Paul is not the founder of this church, he had never visited them before…the people had never sat under the instruction or discipleship of Paul. Of course, Paul is aware of this and does not want to come across too strong, like he does in many of the letters he wrote…like the example I read earlier…in Galatians. Paul knows that he has much that he can offer to the people of Rome, but he also recognizes that He is not their pastor…as a result, Paul also emphasizes the fact that they to can pour into his life…that he doesn’t want to come there, just to give them something, but he knows that he will receive encouragement in return.

I do not believe Paul (in this instance) is referring to a specific spiritual gift, but if he is, that is OK as well…it is not an issue to get hung up on.

Before moving on, let’s talk about what Paul meant by mutual encouragement. There are a number of ways that we can encourage others. Sometimes, something as simple as a smile can encourage someone. Perhaps we get a person a nice card, or even speak some words that lift them up. All of these are very important. That said, in verse 12, notice that Paul defines what type of encouragement he is referring to. Paul says that they can encourage each other by their faith.

Romans 1:12 “that is, to be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.”

Paul didn’t say “to be mutually encourage by each other’s words, or deeds, Paul said (in this case) that they will be encouraged by each other’s faith. What does that mean exactly? I think a good example of what that looks like is the book of 2nd Timothy.

2 Timothy 1:6–9

“Therefore, I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgment. So don’t be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, or of me his prisoner. Instead, share in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God. He has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.”

Also, Paul writes in the 2nd chapter:

2 Timothy 2:1–2

“You, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”

Paul is encouraging Timothy to stay faithful to what he knows and what he has been taught. To stay faithful to the calling that God put upon his life. I think that is a good example of encouraging someone by your faith. You stand in the gap for them when they may be struggling. You lovingly remind them of God’s faithfulness and provision…In the book of Romans, Paul desires to both, be an encouragement in his faith and receive encouragement in the faith. Let’s keep moving

Romans 1:13 “Now I don’t want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I often planned to come to you (but was prevented until now) in order that I might have a fruitful ministry among you, just as I have had among the rest of the Gentiles.”

Paul continues to emphasizes his desire to visit and that the reason he has not visited them, is because life circumstances have prevented it. I’m sure there is a part of Paul that felt bad for not being able to be with them in person. Yet, Paul realizes that God is the one in control of those things. A couple of minutes ago I spoke about verse 11 and 12, how Paul had seemingly different motives for visiting the Roman church…I think verse 13 gives us further insight into what Paul intended to convey in verses 11 and 12. I contend that Paul is trying to walk the line between co-laborer and authority figure, that is why he worded verse 11 and 12 like he did. I believe the latter part of verse 13 only confirms that…Paul says

in order that I might have a fruitful ministry among you, just as I have had among the rest of the Gentiles.”

Unlike Paul’s other letters, where he already had an established relationship with the church, Paul had yet to make his mark (as it were) on the Roman church. Paul does not take for granted that he is already accepted as their leader. No doubt Paul’s reputation preceded him, so they knew who he was, but Paul was not trying to barge his way in. Paul wants to visit, so he can have a fruitful ministry among the Roman church…just like he has with the other churches. This is actually a very humble tone we see from Paul, but we can easily miss it, as this is just a single sentence in the entire greeting.

Romans 1:14–15 “I am obligated both to Greeks and barbarians, both to the wise and the foolish. So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.”

If you ever have to explain the ministry of Paul in one verse, Romans 1:14 is one of the best to use. Why did Paul so desire to minister, not just to the Romans, but also to the people in Ephesus, and Corinth, and on and on? The reason that Paul could not be stopped, regardless of circumstance or situation is because he had an encounter with the living Christ and was given the mighty task of bringing the gospel to the non-Jewish world. He did all of this because, as he says: I am obligated…in other words, I do not have a say in the matter. Paul speaks of this obligation in 1 Cor. as well:

1 Corinthians 9:16 “For if I preach the gospel, I have no reason to boast, because I am compelled to preach—and woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!”

It is clear that Paul did not take this obligation lightly. He worked day and night, not for his own purposes or for his own fame or glory, but so that the good news of the risen Lord might be spread over all of the earth. Unlike many of the original disciples, Paul had received a very in depth education, not just of Jewish tradition, but also of Roman civilization. This made him the perfect person to bring the message of Christ to the Greeks, as well as those who lived in and around the Roman empire.

As a side note, Paul’s statement “ So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome” has been written about, mostly by secular scholars who try to claim that the church in Rome was not officially recognised by Paul and the disciples and that in order for the church to be recognised, Paul, or one of the other disciples had to go there for it to be officially recognised. There are many problems with this idea, but the main issues lies with Paul’s own words…that He had heard great things about them and had talked about them everywhere he went. If in fact, the Roman Christians were not recognised as Christians, Paul would have never said those words.

Let’s finish up by looking at our last 2 passages, verses 16 and 17, which are a continuous thought.

Romans 1:16–17 “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.”

Verse 16, in particular is one of the most popular passages in all of the Bible. It is a preacher’s go to passage when he wants some easy “amen’s.” The truth is though, we rarely, if ever, think about this passage in the context that Paul said it, or that he meant it. To you and I, when we think of being ashamed of something, we think about a bad thing. For example, if my dog poops on the floor, I will scold him, so he will roll over on his back and tuck his tail between his legs…he is ashamed, because he did something bad. People experience shame when they get caught stealing (or they should). Shame isn’t always associated with something bad though. For example, an older person may feel shame if they need help with hygiene.

This is not the type of shame Paul is talking about. The ancient Roman world was an honor/shame society, as was Old Testament Jewish society. The ultimate form of shame back then was crucifixion. A person who was crucified brought shame upon their entire family. Paul talks about this in 1 Cor.

1 Corinthians 1:23 “but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles.”

Think about who Paul was writing to (in large part) in Rome, they were mainly non-Jewish Christians, although there were Christian Jews there as well. Paul is saying that the crucifixion of Christ is not shameful to him in the least bit…and then he goes on to say why. Why was Paul not at all ashamed to preaching the message of a guy who was crucified, because the message is the means of salvation, for everyone who believes.

The phrase “because it is the power of God for salvation” is often lost, as our emphasis is normally on the first part of the passage…not being ashamed. Think about what Paul is saying here…that the gospel…which is the good news, or in other words, the story of the crucified and risen Lord…Paul is declaring that this is not just some fancy story to get people wound up. It is not merely a nice story to tell in Sunday School…but this story itself (that Christ died and rose again) is the means by which we can share the very power of our Lord and Savior. I’ll pick this back up in a moment and explain what I mean in further detail. For now, though

What does Paul mean when he says, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek? I’ll share with you a quote from one of my study resources, as it explains it better than I can.

Ethnicity, national origin, race, or other human criteria do not in themselves save anyone. Paul mentions the priority of “the Jew” not because God is partial—he is not (2:11)—but because, going back to Abraham, God chose to focus on the salvation of people from all nations by singling out one nation and making his saving presence known in the world primarily through them (cf. John 4:22). By “Greek” Paul means all peoples who are not of Abrahamic descent—Gentiles, or “the nations,” in other words.

For the Jewish Christian, there is a sense of pride that they were chosen first, as it were. This tended to cause conflict in the early church. Paul is reminding the Romans that the salvation of God is no longer directed only at a single people, but now, it is for everyone who believes.

Verse 17, our final passage, I read a few moments ago says:

Romans 1:17 “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.”

For in “it”, the righteousness of God is revealed. This is a continuation of thought by Paul…he is pointing back to what he was previously talking about in verse 16. What is the “It” Paul is referring to that reveals the righteousness of God…because whatever “It” is must be pretty important. Let’s read verse 16 again real quick to determine what “it” is

Romans 1:16 “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.” and also, in “it” the righteousness of God is revealed…so, what is this mysterious “it”? What is both the power of God for salvation and the means by which God’s righteousness is revealed?

It is the gospel of Christ…the good news, the story of the crucified and risen savior…Paul says, that is the means by which people obtain salvation and the means by which God reveals His righteousness to humanity. So much wrapped up in two simple phrases.

What is the righteousness of God that Paul speaks about…it is something we say, but what exactly is it? This is actually a very difficult question to answer. Think about it for a moment. How would you define the righteousness of God? Paul mentions this phrase a few times

Romans 10:3 “Since they are ignorant of the righteousness of God and attempted to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted to God’s righteousness.”

Romans 3:5 “But if our unrighteousness highlights God’s righteousness, what are we to say? I am using a human argument: Is God unrighteous to inflict wrath?”

Romans 3:21–22 “But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, attested by the Law and the Prophets. The righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe, since there is no distinction.”

We may have just found our answer. I think the righteousness of God can be defined as the process by which God acts to put people into a saving relationship with Him…which Paul refers to as the faith. In other words, only God has the ability to make salvation available…Paul says that God does this for us, first to the Jew, then to the Greek. The righteousness of God is that process that only He can do. God then imputes or gives that righteousness to the believer, through Christ

2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

As we all know, none of us can rely on our own righteousness. We will discuss this in more detail when we get to Romans chapter 3. For today, that will have to suffice.

Lastly, Paul says:

Romans 1:17 just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.”

Interestingly, and many people do not know the context surrounding the O.T. passage that Paul is quoting, from the book of Habakkuk, more specifically

Habakkuk 2:4 “Look, his ego is inflated; he is without integrity. But the righteous one will live by his faith.”

In this chapter of Habakkuk, the prophet (Habakkuk) and God are going back and forth. God has pronounced judgment on Israel and has instructed the prophet to announce that the people of Israel will be defeated and captured by the Babylonian empire. Habakkuk does not like this idea. He complains to God that the Babylonians are way more evil and wicked than Israel, so why would God use a greater wickedness to punish a lesser wickedness. The prophet comes to the realization that although he doesn’t understand, those who are righteous must live by faith. This is clearly a different context from what Paul is talking about in Romans, however, the statement is still true…those who are imputed or given the righteousness of God must live by faith.

OK, that was a lot of information, I pray you learned something new today. To finish up, I want to very quickly, in 5 minutes, apply what we talked about in Paul’s greeting. In general, I think Paul’s message in his greeting to the Romans is important for us today. It is not simply information that we read and forget. Paul says that

1. Christians should be thankful for each other, instead of bickering and fighting.

2. Christians should seek to positively influence others, verses always looking for faults and focusing on the things that annoy us.

These first two I think are pretty much summed up in the book of col.

Colossians 3:16 “Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.”

If I am thankful for someone, then I will seek to lift that person up and encourage them…always pointing them towards Christ. It is for sure I will not seek to bring them down, I will not always be judgmental and pointing out their faults. If our relationships are built upon Christ, the fruit of that relationship should be good…not perfect, but good.

3. Christians should pursue relationships that allow for mutual edification, verses being involved in relationship that are an emotional drain on us.

This is a big one, especially for younger people. By the time we are older, we normally have our set circle of influence…meaning, we do not have tons of new people coming into our lives on a regular basis. I’m not saying that is good…but it is what it is. Young people, however, are constantly surrounded by new people coming in and out of their lives.As a result, it is much easier for them to get involved in a bad relationship, whether that is romantic in nature or simply a friendship. I don’t have time to really dig into this today, but it is important that any relationship we do not keep people in our lives that draw us away from the Lord, rather than pushing us toward the Lord. Mutual Edification simply means that both people have the same goals and values and they encourage each other to pursue those goals and values. Believe me, I could tell you some stories of the dangers of getting involved with people that pursue the opposite goals and values that scripture talks about. Outside of the rare occasion where the Lord would have us draw close to someone for the purposes of witnessing to them, we must use discernment ans wisdom with who we let into our lives or who we allow to speak into our lives.

So, be thankful for each other, be sincere and honest and don’t be afraid to admit mistakes; show genuine interest in what people are involved in…and do not allow yourself to be dragged into an ungodly relationship.

Let’s Pray.