Romans 1

Unashamed

Introduction:

The book of Romans is foundational book to Christian Doctrine and Christian Theology — simplified = doctrine is what we believe and theology is thinking Gods thoughts — the belief in 3D

this is how much the book of Romans talks about God — of the 432 verses the word God, Jesus, or the Spirit is used 326 times.

setting of romans:

have you ever heard someone say we live in a post-modern culture or post-christian culture —- the reality is that we live in a post-truth culture —- this means that we as believers of Jesus must KNOW deeply who Jesus is and what the Bible tells us about who our God is and what we are supposed to do about it!

We muast learn how to filter culture through the word of God not filter the word of God through culture —- Romans is at the epicenter of helping us do this! —— and in there own way the audience of this book, the Romans, had to combat many cultural beliefs and gods to stand firm in the Gospel

who wrote this book? Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus

Paul who once was Saul the christian slayer —- and now is a “servant of Christ” — church how does one go from being one who seeks to destroy Christians to one who is now living to glorify Him in all that he can do?

Salvation is the only thing that could ever make this happen through the move of God

how do we introduce ourselves? don’t we often say hi i’m ____ and I am a (insert job here) or insert one common detonator between the two of you —— of course we know that Paul is writing to other christians —- but even when i’m speaking with other Christians it is unnatural for me to even bring up my commitment to Christ

Summary of the intro Romans 1:1-7: “saved by Christ, servant of Christ, Sent by Christ — to see the GOSPEL OF GOD bring about the obedience of faith among the nations” - Brock Graham

Romans 1:1-7, 14-16

1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, 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 descended from David according to the flesh 4 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, 5 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, 6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,

7 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.

14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Christians are saved by Christ the one true savior, Servants of Christ, and Sent by Christ

Paul goes straight into theology 101 in at the jump —- Pauls depicts the deity and humanity of Christ as well as the promise for Christs coming in this introduction:

Romans 1:2 (ESV) The Promise

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

Romans 1:3–4 (ESV) The deity (Godness) of Christ and the humanity of Christ

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,

explained: Jesus, who was the promised savior of the old testament promises, was the descendent of David (as promised) a human person from a human family, but was also declared the Son of God in power by the spirit of holiness

Jesus was fully man, and fully God —- why is this vitally important to the Christian faith?

because Christ the savior came as a human: experiencing all and more than we will ever experience or go through and as God: the only one who could live a sinless life and save us from sin and separation from God

That is who we put our trust in — the God-man who came to set us free from sin and darkness and into the marvelous light of freedom

—- JESUS had to be both to come and do what He was promised to come and do

No other deity or god has ever accomplished what our savior accomplished

1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God

one commentary said the Christian who is set apart is the “custodian” and the “proclaimer” of the Lord Jesus Christ —- the custodian watches over and oversees the truth, while the proclaimer tells others about it. —- we are diligent to understand and diligent to tell others

Romans 1:5 (ESV)

“Jesus Christ our Lord..” 5 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,

this verse has a what, a why, and a where:

What: Pauls duty, and the Gospels goal, is to bring about the “obedience of faith” among all people — what is the “obedience of faith” —- 1) True faith in Christ results in obedience to God’s will as Christ & the scriptures reveal it 2) The Christian faith affirms and denies certain things (affirms a bodily resurrection) & denies an understanding that Jesus is not the only way to heaven.

Why: “for the sake of His name” — this means under Jesus’ authority and under his will.

Where: to “them” the nations —- to those who do not yet believe to the ends of this world

Saved by Christ, Servants of Christ, Sent by Christ —

GOSPEL:

saved by the messiah who was fully God and fully the man who lived a perfect and sinless life and then went to the cross for our sins —- and rose again conquering death forever for those who believe

Servants of Christ — the “obedience of faith” — this means we sit under and submit ourselves to His way — His teachings — and the account of the Biblical truths

Sent to the nations with His gospel

“saved by Christ, servant of Christ, Sent by Christ — to see the GOSPEL OF GOD bring about the obedience of faith among the nations”

2) Unashamed of Christ and His way

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

why does Paul have to proclaim something that may have been wildly obvious to the readers especially with all that he had gone through for the Gospel? “I am unashamed of the Gospel”

well he does something like this in 1 Corinthians 1 as well —- he said The word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing —- he mentions that the Greeks were searching for wisdom and the jews are searching for Signs —- but Christ is wisdom of God and the power of God for those who believe —- Paul here is stating that he is not ashamed on any account of his full and total belief in Jesus the risen savior and all that the scriptures teach about Him

the foolishness of man said to the gospel being proclaimed in these cities and many said that it was foolishness

this is wildly important for us Christians today —- Christians have been met with pushback for all of time and that has not changed today —- and the temptation in the church is to say “maybe the Christian message needs to be updated and changed for modern times…”

Paul says NO NO NO — I am unashamed of this gospel that is salvation for all who believe —- and to those who are looking for something else they will never ever find it and this gospel and it proclaimed is all we need

!!!!!! The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation !!!!!!!!! —- not how it might be presented or how we package it or what new thing we come up with to make it sound enticing

so…..

if you say “yes, Lord I believe in you” - this is a transforming declaration —- what did salvation from Jesus accomplish?

It saved people from sin, it empowered them to live in newness of life, it formed Christ’ church, and it provided a future expectation that gives eternal hope

salvation is the righteousness of God given to those who believe

example: this is not simply a get out of jail free card —— imagine your driving 65mph in a 45mph zone and you get pulled over and the police officer lets you off because they gave you grace —- this is NOT all that salvation is —— you getting out of having to pay for something you actually did may garner appreciation for the officer but it would not garner love —- the gospel is much better than that —- yes the Lord of Lords yes says your offense (sin) is now swallowed up and forgiven in His sacrifice upon the cross — but now HE is calling you to fullness of life in Him —- where He calls us into the life you we were always supposed to live and gives us the Spirit to walk alongside us in doing so.

yes Jesus has saved you from your sin, and yes you commited an offense in sin that will end in death and seperation from God forever without faith — and yes he wipes that total offense away in His death and resurrection —— BUT he doesn't stop there —- He then says “what is mine is now yours ands its called righteousness” —- and He is never ceasing to make you NEW in Him everyday!

there is so much for you in the Gospel … its the greatest thing you and I have ever seen and its so good to be a christian —— this causes us to be UNASHAMED of the good news of Jesus Christ

We cannot settle in this life for anything less than what Gospel calls us to

to be unashamed of something is to proclaim it and stand on it any chance one gets

17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

for in the gospel —- the righteousness of God is at the center of faith — both in its saving power and in its transformative nature in the one who believes

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith

-Paul here is saying the righteousness by which through grace and mercy God justifies us —- is through faith —- in other words Gods righteousness is revealed through justification by faith —- why is this so groundbreaking? because you cannot earn faith — you can not work hard enough to get faith —- for faith is from God and it reveals His righteousness in that he makes you in right relationship with Him through FAITH —- salvation is from the Lord — it is by grace through faith that you have been saved —— and that salvation reveals the righteousness of God that is now gifted to you

Sinclair Furgeson says this of the Pharisees “they did not understand God as Father”

what does that have to do with this passage? the pharisees believed that they were becoming holy because of their actions and could never be assured of their salvation because they could not have known if they were doing enough —— at any point the hammer in the sky could condemn them forever —- but they did not know that they had a father who loved them and who sent His son to do the work of salvation that they could never ever do

17 For in it (the gospel) the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

this is the very moment that the gospel transforms our very being and how we seek to live until we take our last breathe —- and we are to be unashamed of this gospel

Action Steps:

Trust this Gospel — apply this gospel in times of struggle — continuing to be unashamed in sorrow

Work to have courageous faith

apply what Jesus has done for you in every aspect of your life - “how does Christ fulfill this area of my life?”