Romans 1:8-32
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Big Idea:
Big Idea:
The gospel is God’s plan to accomplish His will.
Intro:
Intro:
Good morning Church,
I’m excited to jump into the Book of Romans this morning. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover… but I also realize there might be people who missed last week or are new this week. And last week was a really important Sunday, amen?
Last week was what we call Vision Sunday. It’s the when we share our “vision” - or what it is we believe God would have us focus on during the year. Last year, our vision was “Jesus is Lord.” And for 2025, our vision is, “There is more.”
We believe God has more for our lives this year.
We believe God has more for our church this year.
We believe God has more for our community this year.
And one of the primary ways we’re gonna discover what this “more” is is by the studying the Word of God, specifically the Book of Romans. The current plan is to spend over 40 weeks going verse-by-verse through this amazing letter by the apostle Paul.
And that’s a long time. Believe me. But one of the ways we’re strategically planning to move through almost 3/4’s of the year, is to treat Romans as a Netflix show called, “There is more.” And there will be 10 seasons, averaging 4 episodes each, with each season focusing on a very specific “more.” And season one is titled, “More to God.”
Today, we begin episode 2 of season one, but before we press “play,” I want to mention something else we shared last week…
Many of are really hungry this morning…
Hungry for God’s word? Maybe…
I remember when Janelle and I used to watch The Biggest Loser. I loved that show. I know it’s somewhat controversial, but for me, it always inspired me to do MORE.
Anyways, as I’m sitting on the couch (with Janelle and my mother-in-law) watching other people exercise, there’s this scene when everyone is crying…
My mother-in-law asks, “Why are they always crying?”
Janelle says, “Because they are HUNGRY!”
It’s true! Depriving yourself of food changes you. You respond to life differently. You see things different. And it’s actually biblical.
Last Sunday, I asked our church to fast and pray for 21-days. Why? Because, as I shared last week, there’s a building. It’s a building that could become a permanent home for our church. More than that, it can be a place where people are saved by the gospel, equipped for the gospel, and sent out with the gospel.
And we’re fasting and praying for two primary reasons:
We want to know if this is the building God wants us to purchase.
If it is, we want to know what’s our part in the process? How would God have us sacrificially be part of building His (physical) church?
[In Person: So, as we get into God’s Word this morning, if the person next to you starts crying, it might be because they are hungry. Or, it might be because the gospel is changing their lives.]
[Online: So, that’s what’s happening in our church…].
You know, when you start a new show, sometimes the first episode is boring. [Chosen?] Many times it’s because you need to know MORE in order to fully appreciate what’s to come (plot-building).
For many, Romans is THE BOOK of the New Testament. And you can dive in and learn a lot. But you can learn even MORE if you know a little MORE. So, let me quickly give you some…
This book/letter is written by the apostle Paul. At the time, he’s writing from the city of Corinth. He’s likely on his 3rd missionary journey, which means he’s been serving Jesus now for about 25 years. And he’s on his way to Jerusalem.
But Jerusalem is not his final destination. Afterwards, he’s planning to head to Spain, which for him, is the ends of the earth. You see, Paul is simply obeying Jesus, who said…
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
But on the way, he planned on stopping by Rome, the ruling world empire. But here’s an interesting fact: Paul had never been to Rome.
But you might ask, if Paul didn’t plant/start the church in Rome, who did? Most Bible teachers point to this important moment in church history for the answer…
When the day of Pentecost had arrived, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like that of a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were staying. They saw tongues like flames of fire that separated and rested on each one of them. Then they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them.
Now there were Jews staying in Jerusalem, devout people from every nation under heaven. When this sound occurred, a crowd came together and was confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language. They were astounded and amazed, saying, “Look, aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? How is it that each of us can hear them in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites; those who live in Mesopotamia, in Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts),
It’s believed that the Jewish people from Rome, but visiting Jerusalem for Pentecost (1 of the 3 Jewish festivals people traveled to Jerusalem for), heard the gospel at this time, took it back to Rome, and started the church.
And for a time, the Roman church was primarily Jewish. But then, Emperor Claudius kicked all the Jewish people out of Rome, and the church became primarily Gentile (non-Jewish). Eventually, Jewish people were allowed back into Rome, but by that time, the church was primarily Gentile. And this created tension between Jews and Gentiles. I mention this because it’s one of three motives behind this letter…
Paul writes to answer the question, “Who belongs to the people of God (church)?”
Paul also writes to introduced himself and clarify what he believes. Paul faced much opposition and had a controversial reputation. And some believe this is why Paul is so doctrinally and theologically thorough in this letter.
But above all, Paul clarifies what is the gospel.
There’s so much MORE I could share, but we’re already running out of time, so let’s jump in…
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,
I’m super excited to back to Brazil this year. Last time, I got a chance to visit a giant ferris wheel. On the ride, some girls from Chapel Pointe (the church we were partnered with on that missions trip) sang and danced to a Britt Nicole song. I recorded the video and posted it to Instagram. And Britt Nicole liked it! Not only that, she shared it and messaged me about it! Our entire group was so excited that a “somewhat” famous Christian paid attention to us.
I’m guessing that’s what it must’ve been like for the Romans. THE APOSTLE PAUL is writing to them.
Not only that, he’s coming to visit them.
Not only that, he’s been longing to spend time with them.
Not only that, he wants to invest in them!
And maybe rightfully so… after all, they had a reputation of spreading the gospel. This was a good church!
I pray that The River Church would be known for spreading gospel everywhere!
And then Paul says something wild…
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.
Paul has an expectation that he will spiritually benefit from spending time with the Romans! Why?
Part of that Britt Nicole song says…
This is for all the girls, boys all over the world
Whatever you've been told
You're worth more than gold
I think this speaks to something important that Paul has in mind…
So God created man in his own image;
he created him in the image of God;
he created them male and female.
Have you ever thought about what that REALLY means? It means you have incredible, immeasurable value. That from conception, you are stamped with the very image of God…
You are not a mistake.
You are not a clump of tissue.
From day 1, you are a unique, special human being made in God’s image.
You’re worth more than gold!
Furthermore, remember…
For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
We are loved by God! Think it’s crazy that Paul thinks about you? Or Britt Nicole reposts you on Instagram? It’s MORE crazy that God thinks about you. A lot.
How do we know that? God says it…
God, how precious your thoughts are to me;
how vast their sum is!
If I counted them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand;
when I wake up, I am still with you.
God thinks about you. God loves you. And you have incredible purpose. Purpose that has been planned from eternity past…
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.
Your life matters. It has immense value to God. And because it matters to God, it matters to His people. And that’s how Paul saw people…
He saw them with God’s heart.
He loved people because God loved people.
He couldn’t wait to spend time with them because He saw their God-given value and potential.
God created them for a purpose and he wanted to be a part of that!
I wonder… do we feel this way about people? Do we feel this way about our brothers and sisters in Christ? Do we see people the way God sees them, or do we only see their faults? If it’s the latter, maybe we need to learn MORE about God.
Paul goes onto write…
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.
[If you’re taking notes today] point number 1 is this…
1) God desires all saved and living in His good purposes (vv. 8-17).
1) God desires all saved and living in His good purposes (vv. 8-17).
Paul shared God’s heart for people. He wanted to spend time with people so he could share the gospel with them and see them saved… Why? Because God desires all to be saved. Why? Because loves them, wants a relationship with them, and created them for good purposes.
…but why do people need to be saved? Why is the gospel good news?
Because originally, we were designed to live in perfect relationship with God.
But when Adam and Eve (the first humans) sinned, it broke that relationship. And, as their descendants, that sin was passed down to all of us and broke it for us too.
And ultimately, this eternally separates from God. The Bible calls this hell. It’s a place we all deserve, and without Jesus, are destined for. And there’s nothing we can naturally do about it.
Which is why we need to be saved.
But how are we saved? Well, Paul says, “By the gospel!”
But, what is the gospel? It’s implied in our passage, but maybe not known to us today…
The gospel is the good news that all though we deserve hell, God loves us and is not content with us being eternally separated. So… John 3:16. He sent His Son, Jesus, to take on human flesh, live the perfect life we could never live, and then sacrifice that life on the cross in our place - as perfect payment for our sins.
And if anyone will believe (if they will put their trust, their faith) in Jesus as Lord and Savior - that He died for our sins and then rose 3 days later showing the sin-payment was paid in full, they too will be forgiven and given new life in Jesus, no matter who you are or what you’ve done.
The perfect righteousness of Jesus will be applied to your life. Like you lived that way. And when God sees you, He doesn’t see your sin, He sees His Son. That’s what verse 17 means…
…but verse 17 also speaks to how God remains righteous in this plan of salvation. Because if God just forgave or dismissed sin - sin that really matters - He would not be a Holy, Righteous Judge. We understand this… human judges who turn their head from crimes are considered corrupt, not righteous. But with the gospel, God is both just and the justifier!
He is JUST because our sin WAS judged and paid for. Jesus paid for it. God remains righteous.
And we are justified (just-as-if-I-never-sinned; made right), not by our own doing, but by Christ’s righteousness being applied to our lives. The great, glorious, gospel exchange is OUR SIN for HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS.
That’s the gospel! And by it, the righteousness of God is revealed.
And I love when it says, “from faith for faith”… there’s two ways to look at this:
This can also be translated, “God’s righteousness is revealed by faith from first to last.” In other words, it’s all about faith. It’s all about your relationship with God.
But this phrase also highlights the power and process of the gospel. It goes something like this…
I believe. So, I share it with you.
Believing you will believe (because it’s the power of God unto salvation).
And then you believe in response to God’s power and love.
And then you share it with others to believe, because now you know it’s the power of God to save others!
And others believe…
That’s why Paul is not ashamed of the gospel. He knows it works. My friends… it’s still working.
Over 20 years ago, someone shared the gospel with me because they believed. And eventually, I believed. And for the past 20 years, I’ve been sharing the gospel because I believe it’s the power of God unto salvation. And I’ve seen many believe for themselves. And for the past 10 years, we’ve been sharing the gospel in Glastonbury. And many people in New England are being saved by the gospel because it works.
So, let me ask…
Who do you need to share the gospel with this week?
Or, are you ready to finally believe the gospel and be saved?
Because even though the gospel is powerful… there’s another parallel truth that exists. And Paul talks about that next…
For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth, since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made. As a result, people are without excuse.
In this last part of chapter 1, we’re definitely going to learn MORE about God. For example…
Just as God is love, He is also a God of wrath. But it’s not human wrath… like a WWE wrestler raging in the ring. God’s wrath speaks to the intensity of His righteous judgement. He is fully committed to judging sin, because sin matters and destroys what He loves.
Also, God has revealed Himself. He is not hidden. He is not an imaginary coping mechanism for weak-minded people. He is real. And His existence is clearly seen through creation, which all people have access to (no excuse)…
When we’re willing to be honest, it’s clear to see that life on earth is too complex for coincidence. Too many things have to be just right for life, let alone complex life. Creation points to a Creator, just as a painting points to a Painter.
So, why do people not believe? It’s because they choose to suppress the truth. As Paul continues…
For though they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became worthless, and their senseless hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles.
The truth is we have chosen to deny God’s existence. Instead, we choose to worship created things, including ourselves…
Therefore God delivered them over in the desires of their hearts to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served what has been created instead of the Creator, who is praised forever. Amen.
Here’s something MORE to learn about God… He’s given us a free will, meaning, He lets us choose and that choice matters. We are not robots. We are living, free humans, made in God’s image, who also has the ability to choose.
And [if you’re taking notes], point number 2 is this…
2) We naturally deny God and live in increasing darkness (vv. 18-32).
2) We naturally deny God and live in increasing darkness (vv. 18-32).
This is why we need to be saved. This is why sin matters. Think of it this way…
We were designed to live in relationship with God, just as a TV needs to be plugged in to work.
Sin disconnects us from God. It unplugs us from the power we need to operate.
And nothing works the way it is intended to work.
Sin makes everything stopped working. Not only that, but things get worse. And this downward spiral only gains momentum over time. We never make upward progress on our own, nor do we want to… because our natural sinful disposition is to deny God. Our only hope is to be saved!
But, we must choose Jesus. And we won’t do that if we don’t understand why we need to be saved… if we don’t understand sin and how it keeps us living in increasing darkness…
For this reason God delivered them over to disgraceful passions. Their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. The men in the same way also left natural relations with women and were inflamed in their lust for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the appropriate penalty of their error.
Is Paul talking about what we think he’s talking about? Yes. He’s talking about homosexuality. I know we live in a day when there’s a lot of passionate perspectives about this subject, especially when it comes to what the Bible says versus what current culture says.
And I want to say a few things before continuing… because I realize some of you might be unclear about the subject. You might even disagree with the biblical perspective. But my ask is you take a moment to listen today before preloading judgments…
God’s word is clear about the subject. And God gives us a choice to either agree with the truth or suppress it.
God’s people (the church) have often done a terrible job speaking about this subject; at times, over-emphasizing it… not because Scripture emphasizes it, but as a reaction to culture.
Just so we are clear, homosexuality is not an acceptable lifestyle in the Kingdom of God; however, demonizing it is not the intention of this passage, which is why Paul attaches the following…
And because they did not think it worthwhile to acknowledge God, God delivered them over to a corrupt mind so that they do what is not right. They are filled with all unrighteousness, evil, greed, and wickedness. They are full of envy, murder, quarrels, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, arrogant, proud, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, senseless, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful. Although they know God’s just sentence—that those who practice such things deserve to die—they not only do them, but even applaud others who practice them.
If it’s not clear, we never celebrate or encourage any sin. All sin matters to God. All sin sent Christ to the cross. But to learn MORE, there’s another verse I like to share…
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
Again, if there is tension in your heart on what God’s Word says, please be patient and listen a little longer…
In Corinth (as well as in Rome), almost everything was permitted, similar to today. And so Paul is writing to a culture like ours, speaking about specific things in the culture being practiced and were not part of God’s natural order… they were unnatural, a result of sinful (rebellious) living apart from God. But consider this…
In the Greek language (of NT), there’s what’s called Appositions. Basically, it’s when nouns or adjectives are placed side by side, written in a specific way, that gives a sort of equivalency to them. And whether we’re in Romans or 1 Corinthians, homosexuality is listed among these appositive lists. And if you notice, these lists are broad.
Maybe you remember the list in Romans 1 had murder, but also disobedient to parents. That’s a huge sweep. And here in 1 Corinthians, we have homosexuality but also greedy.
What’s this tell us about God? To God, all sin matters. Furthermore, if God doesn’t emphasize a specific sin, why do we? Who are we to prioritize what God doesn’t?
What we need to be emphasizing is what Paul (in God’s Word) emphasizes, the power of the gospel! Because look at what Paul writes to the Corinthians next…
And some of you used to be like this. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
The gospel has the power to change anyone’s life, even what we consider them impossible people. So, emphasize the gospel!
And to say one final thing about homosexuality… when we discuss sin, we rightfully stand on God’s holiness (we never celebrate sin), but we also never ignore God’s love.
Because we are talking about real people.
People made in God’s image.
People God loves.
People Jesus died for.
People God has called us to love.
People who are our family members, friends, and neighbors, not just numbers…
The gospel never stops at the bad news… it always moves onto the good news. If your message towards any sin doesn’t include the good news, it’s not the gospel. Preach the full gospel. The gospel is God’s plan to save the world.
Response:
Response:
So as we close, what MORE do we learn about God today:
God values us.
God gives us purpose.
God clearly reveals Himself in creation.
God gives us a free will as part of being made in His image.
God takes sin very seriously.
God loves us and desires to save us.
So, let me ask a couple questions in response to the preaching of God’s word today:
Are you “living in God’s good purposes” or “living in increasing darkness?” Your answer reveals your current relationship with God.
What are you exchanging God for? He’s given you a free will? Are you choosing to worship Him or something created.
To end, I’d like to share a testimony (story of transformation) from someone who chose to believe the gospel…
Carrie’s Testimony
What kind of change does God want to make in your life? My prayer is that in 2025, we have MORE testimonies about the power of the gospel.
Let’s pray…
Father, change our lives today. We believe in the power of the gospel. We believe that Jesus can change our lives. So, do that today. May we never be the same as we put our faith in Jesus today, and every day. And it’s in His name we pray, amen.
