Romans, The Gospel of God, and You Rom 1:1-7

Intro: Good Morning FE, we are glad to have you here this Labor Day weekend. My name is Josue Aguilar I am one of the elders here at FE. Today we kick off our new sermon series Living by Faith, which is going to focus on the book of Romans. Romans is 16 chapters, 7100 precious words of God to his people, the church.

We do not know how the church in Rome came to be, or who started the church in Rome. We do know that on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, when the Spirit was poured out on the 120 in the upper room, there were people coming into Jeruslaem from various regions and we read in Acts 2:10 there were

Acts 2:10 (ESV)

visitors from Rome,

maybe some were saved and went back to Rome and began to share the Gospel with those in Rome, we can also assume other followers of Jesus travelled to Rome to share the Gospel until churches were formed in Rome. These first churches would have been distinctly Jewish at first because the people who heard the Gospel in at Pentecost were Jews. When Christianity started, Rome treated it as a branch of Judaism, so they had the same privileges as the Jews. But as Christianity began to grow and spread, the Jews began to complain about followers of Jesus and began telling Rome that they have nothing to do with us and began fighting with Rome and fighting with followers of Jesus. The fights became such a nuisance, Emperor Claudius kicked out all the Jews from Rome, Emperor Claudius says,

Since the Jews constantly made disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus, he [the Emperor Claudius] expelled them from Rome.

We read in Acts 18:2 that when Paul met Aquila and Priscilla, Aquila and Priscilla left Rome because of this edict from Claudius.

Acts 18:2 (ESV)

And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them,

Y se encontró con un judío que se llamaba Aquila, natural del Ponto, quien acababa de llegar de Italia con Priscila su mujer, pues Claudio había ordenado a todos los judíos que salieran de Roma. Fue a ellos,

Did the church of Rome die when the Jewish Christians were expelled, of course not, but the church began to grow with Gentiles and instead of the church having a Jewish culture to it, it began to have Gentile culture and the church in Rome continued to grow. In AD 54, Claudius dies and Jews start returning to Rome, including Jewish Christians and the church is still growing and vibrant, we know this because Paul says in Romans 1:8, “their faith is proclaimed in all the world”

Romans 1:8 (ESV)

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.

En primer lugar, doy gracias a mi Dios por medio de Jesucristo por todos vosotros, porque por todo el mundo se habla de vuestra fe

The church un Rome is vibrant, growing and a faithful witness… but it isn’t with out its issues. We have Gentile believers and Jewish believers congregating together and we know throughout the NT this causes issues. When the church in Rome started it was very Jewish and Gentiles accommodated to the Jew, but its been 5-6 years and the church is very Gentile and the Jew is accommodating to the Gentiles.

This Jewish return to Rome is around the time Paul is writing to the church in Rome, AD 55 - AD 57. We have to notice the long introduction, which covers 17 verses, because the church in Rome doesn’t know Paul personally, they have heard of him, Paul may have met some from the church of Rome during his travels, but he has not met the church and has not done any work with the church in Rome. Yet Paul writes them a letter and it starts like this Romans 1:1-7

Romans 1:1–7 (ESV)

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,

To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Pablo, siervo de Cristo Jesús, llamado a ser apóstol, apartado para el evangelio de Dios, 2 que Él ya había prometido por medio de sus profetas en las santas Escrituras, 3 acerca de su Hijo, que nació de la descendencia de David según la carne, 4 y que fue declarado Hijo de Dios con poder, conforme al Espíritu de santidad, por la resurrección de entre los muertos: nuestro Señor Jesucristo, 5 por medio de quien hemos recibido la gracia y el apostolado para promover la obediencia a la fe entre todos los gentiles, por amor a su nombre; 6 entre los cuales estáis también vosotros, llamados de Jesucristo; 7 a todos los amados de Dios que están en Roma, llamados a ser santos: Gracia a vosotros y paz de parte de Dios nuestro Padre y del Señor Jesucristo.

We have to ask the question,

Why Is Paul Writing to the Romans?

Paul is writing to the church in Rome to,

To Introduce Himself and His Theology.

The church of Rome doesn’t know Paul, they may have heard of him, Paul have met some members of the church in his travels, but Paul doesn’t know them personally. This letter known as Romans is the Paul’s introducing himself, his theology, his goals and desires.

Look how Paul talks about himself, doulos of Christ Jesus, doulos is the greek word Paul uses and our Bible translations say servant, but the word is slave. Paul, like every follower of Jesus, is a slave to Christ Jesus, he is a man under the authority of Christ Jesus. FF Bruce points out the the term doulos/slave used by Christians is

The Epistle to the Romans (A. Salutation, 1:1–7)

the term conveys the idea of complete and utter devotion, not the degradation/humiliation which was the normal condition of the slave. Paul is affirming that he belongs to Christ without reservation

Paul goes on to say he is called to be an apostle. We read in Acts 9, when Jesus confronted Paul on the road to Damascus to persecute the church. Jesus confronted him with his sin, saved him from sin and Called him to be an apostle to the Gentiles. Paul’s apostleship is important, because there were people in Paul’s day, just like in our day who claimed to be Apostles. But what is an Apostle? According to the scriptures and apostle is someone who is called by Jesus and who witnessed the resurrected Jesus. We see these qualifications in Acts 1:21-22 and 1 Corinthians 15. We know based on Acts 9 Pauls was called by Jesus, I would argue we know that Paul seen the resurrected Jesus, because when he sees Jesus in glory he becomes blind.

Paul is also set apart for the gospel of God. Paul is set apart to preach the good news of God. He was to go where ever God sent him to preach the good news of God.

Paul also writes Romans because there are

2. Issues between Jews and Gentiles.

We see this right away, because in Paul in his introduction affirms the Jewishness of Christ, he is the promise spoken of by the Old Testament writers, he is a descendant of the line of David, claiming royalty and messiahship. But Paul also says, he sent to preach the Gospel to bring the obedience of faith among the nations, for the glory of Christ. Paul in is introduction is trying to get the Jew and Gentile to see they are united by the Gospel. He will continue to do so throughout this book.

Paul also is writing because of his,

3. Desire to use Rome as a missionary base.

We will see next week Paul’s desire to preach the Gospel and Rome, but his desire is to preach Christ where he is not known, so Rome was just going to be a stopping point for him on his way to Spain. And just like Antioch was a missionary base between Greece and Jerusalem. Rome was most likely going to be his missionary base for Spain.

Paul and the Gospel of God

Paul not only uses his introduction to introduce himself to the church of Rome, but he also uses it as a table of contents for what he will be talking about in the rest of the of the book.

When we think gospel, what comes to mind? This word gospel has its roots as a war time word. If a foreign nation was at war in a far away land, if they won the war, they picked some one to head to the home land and share the gospel or good news, to herald the good news of the victory.

Gospel means GOOD NEWS! But What does that imply? There is bad news. What is the bad news? All of humanity is under the wrath of God, that is the bad news, but the Gospel, the good news is

Through Jesus we receive Grace from the wrath of God.

The ministry of the church is to make disciples at home and across the world who live by God’s grace and for his glory. This is what Paul is doing “to call people from among the Gentiles to the obedience that comes form faith.” When Paul writes to Rome, he doesn’t start with the good news first, he starts with the bad news, put up slide 1 please.

Slide 1 - The Wrath of God Against Sin

Romans 1:18 - 32. Paul begins with wrath of God against unrighteousness. He opens with the problem of man, sin. Romans 2:1-11 - Gentiles are under God’s Righteous Judgement Romans 2:12 - 3:8 - Jews are also under God’s Righteous Judgement

Romans 3:9-20 - No one is righteous.

After this Paul moves to

The Good News which is the person and work of Jesus Christ our Lord.

The good news is not just a message, an idea, or concept, the good news is a person, and that person is Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus Christ our Lord was human, from the line of David. Jesus is also divine, Jesus is God, Paul says “through the Spirit of Holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead.” Paul is saying Jesus is God, and to prove that he is God, Jesus rose form the dead. We see that Paul after talking about the wrath of God, he takes a turn at Romans 3:21-23

Romans 3:21–23 (ESV)

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Pero ahora, aparte de la ley, la justicia de Dios ha sido manifestada, atestiguada por la ley y los profetas; 22 es decir, la justicia de Dios por medio de la fe en Jesucristo, para todos los que creen; porque no hay distinción;23 por cuanto todos pecaron y no alcanzan la gloria de Dios, 24 siendo justificados gratuitamente por su gracia por medio de la redención que es en Cristo Jesús,

Slide 2 - The Rightouness of God Through Faith

Romans 3:21 - 31 - There is righteousness of God through Faith for all who believe in Jesus.

Romans 4:1-25 - The Example of Abraham

Romans 5:1-11 - We are Justified by faith in Christ, we have peace with God, no longer under God’s wrath

Romans 5:12- 21 Death in Adam, Life in Christ

One of the beauties of Romans for me is that Paul, through the Inspiration of the Spirit, writes in such a way that he predicts or forsees how others may object to what he is writing. Kenneth Berding, a professor at Talbot School of Theology says he counted 85 questions in the book of Romans. If you have never read Romans, Paul phrases objections as questions. Slide 3 -

Slide 3 - Objections to Pauls Theology

Romans 6:1-23 - Should we continue to sin so we can receive more grace? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace?

Romans 7:1-6 - Free from the law.

Romans 7:7-25 - Is the law sinful? Does the Law bring death to me?

Romans 8:1-30 - Life in the Spirit

Romans 8:31-39 Who can bring any charge against God’s elect? Romans 9 - 11 - What about Israel? What about the Gentiles? Why are some saved and not others?

Paul in his introduction says he is preaching the gospel to call people to the obedience that comes from faith. After Paul lays out the Gospel, that we are all under God’s wrath, but those who have faith in Jesus have peace with God, they are no longer enemies of God, after explaining salvation by faith, he begins to explain how

To live by faith for the glory of God

Slide 4 - Saved by Faith, Now Live By Faith

Romans 12 - 15 - Saved by faith, now Live by Faith

Romans 16 - Personal Greetings and farewell.

Live by faith… this is the title of this sermon series. But this term depending on what faith tradition you come from can mean different things. Here is what I believe the scripture means to live by faith.

Living by faith means that we trust in the righteousness of Christ, not our own righteousness, to save us. There is nothing we can do to earn or gain favor from God.

Romans 5:1–2 (ESV)

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Por tanto, habiendo sido justificados por la fe, tenemos[a] paz para con Dios por medio de nuestro Señor Jesucristo, 2 por medio de quien también hemos obtenido entrada por la fe a esta gracia en la cual estamos firmes, y nos gloriamos[b] en la esperanza de la gloria de Dios.

My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus Christ, my righteousness; I dare not trust the sweetest frame, But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

Mi esperanza esta es Jesús,

Y su justicia por la cruz;

No existe obra que observar

Mas solamente en El confiar.

2. Living by faith means we trust in the promises of God and the truth of his Word. Can you imagine being and OT believer living right before Jesus was born. Hearing for thousands of years a messiah is coming… living by faith means you still believe… the book of Romans is full of promises of God for us, we must not lose heart, we must not grow weary, we must hold on to the promises of God, because God will keep his word and Paul points this out in Romans 1:2 when he said Jesus

Romans 1:2 (ESV)

which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures,

que Él ya había prometido por medio de sus profetas en las santas Escrituras

Here is another example of God’s promise,

Romans 8:31–32 (ESV)

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

 Entonces, ¿qué diremos a esto? Si Dios está por nosotros, ¿quién estarácontra nosotros? 32 El que no eximió ni a su propio Hijo, sino que lo entregó por todos nosotros, ¿cómo no nos concederá también con Él todas las cosas?

God keeps his promises, we live by faith by trusting in the Soverign Hand of God.

3. We live by faith by trusting in his righteousness, we live by faith by trusting in his promises, we live by faith trusting in the sanctifying power of His Spirit and his Word.

Listen to Romans 12:1-2

Romans 12:1–2 (ESV)

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Por consiguiente, hermanos, os ruego por las misericordias de Dios que presentéis vuestros cuerpos como sacrificio vivo y santo, aceptable a Dios, que es vuestro culto racional. 2 Y no os adaptéis a este mundo, sino transformaos mediante la renovación de vuestra mente, para que verifiquéis cuál es la voluntad de Dios: lo que es bueno, aceptable y perfecto.

Paul makes the argument in Romans 6 that if you trust in Christ, you are no longer a slave to sin but a slave to righteousness. Here in Romans 12 Paul tell you how to live as a slave of righteousness, you present yourself as a living sacrifice, what are you sacrificing? Your life, you are not your own, you were bought with a price, rejoice you belong to Jesus, now live for him here on this earth. Conform your passions, desires, thinking to Jesus passions, desires and thinking. Be transformed by renewing your mind with the scriptures, so you can test and discern the will of God. What Paul describes here in Romans 12:1-2 is the sanctifying power of his Spirit and God’s word transforming you into the image of Jesus Christ.