Romans (III)

Review

Unity: We are all far from God (and we know it), we all need faith in Christ’s work (and we know it), we are all headed toward the same place - the sacred family.

Christ’s Atonement: On the day of atonement the priest enters into the presence of God and pays a blood sacrifice for sins, then lays his hands on an animal that takes the sins to a place where they will never be found again. On OUR day of atonement Christ was the priest, he paid the blood sacrifice, and he took our sins down into death where they will never be found again. Then He rose to new life! We will be counted righteous if we put our faith in that truth.

The fruit of the gospel: It’s not just an idea - it’s doing something.

Why did Paul write about Jesus? So that people could be saved/go to heaven/have peace with God! Not what he says

Romans 16:25–27 “25 Now to him who is able to establish you in accordance with my gospel, the message I proclaim about Jesus Christ, in keeping with the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, 26 but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all the Gentiles might come to the obedience that comes from faith—27 to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.”

The obedience that comes from faith

Romans 1:14–17 Every person who has ever been set free from sin was set free by faith

“14 I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. 15 That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.””

Romans 3:19–26 (NIV) In fact - you cannot be set free by following the law

19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin. 21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe… 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith.

Romans 4:4–5 What is faith (in this context)?

“4 Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. 5 However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.”

Romans 4:18–22 Abraham understood the “deadness” of his own body, and believed God

“18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 22 This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.””

EX: Why did God wait until Abraham was old?

Romans 5:20–6:14 (NIV) We were saved to walk with God, we couldn’t do that under his wrath

We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

Not just “have” live

5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

James: You are already free, you just forgot. Go back to the mirror and see the person you are in Christ.

8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

EX: The obedience that comes from faith is exactly that - the death we died we died to sin, but the life we live we live to God.

11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

Romans 6:15–23 (NIV) Ultimately your obedience says more than your mouth ever will

15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! 16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness...

Not only that but what benefit was sin in the first place?

21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 9:30–33 Paul doesn’t have any issue with the pursuit of righteousness, only when it’s without faith

“30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. 32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. 33 As it is written: “See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame.””

Faith without works is dead and works without faith is dead.

Saved from death, by grace, through faith, to obedience

One more way to think about this: Because of contention

Two sides of the same coin: Have faith and Be faithful: If you have it then you have it

Being faithful to your wife: I am faithful to my wife not so that I can BE married but because I meant it when I got married.

Being faithful to God: I am faithful to Christ not so that I can BE saved but because I meant it when I got saved.

Wrap it all up:

Paul is writing to the Roman church, people he has not met. He’s been doing this for a while and he’s shared the gospel in a lot of places. So he explains the gospel and along the way tries to deal with questions that pop up. He explains that all of us are going to be held to account for our lives. We are under the power of sin and we’ve traded relationship with God for the worship of idols which has lead to all kinds of perversions. But along the way there have been those that have been counted righteous. Not by works of the law, but through faith. Faith: believing that God can fulfill the promises He’s given. In His Son, Jesus, God has given us an amazing list of promises. He’s promised to forgive our failures, to take them to a place that they will never be found, and give us a life of righteousness, peace, and obedience that will not last a mere lifetime but FOREVER. You might have some questions like; why didn’t all of the Israelites believe, if more sins lead to more grace then why not sin, if God chose the younger instead of the older for the promise then what was the advantage of the first born, if I’m free from sin then why do I still sin? He’s got some answers but he doesn’t have them all. Ultimately we need to trust God with the things we don’t understand because His ways are so much higher than ours and as his work, the clay, we have no right over our creator. We have been set free, and through the Holy Spirit a life is being offered. We are not simply saved from death but TO life. From the slavery of flesh to the freedom of The Spirit. So live. Live for the will of God which is humility, service, love, and worship.

How do we present this to others? NO 9 AM NEXT WEEK