The Gospel Shaped Church

Plan:

Theme: The Gospel shaped church.

Scripture: Romans 1:1-17

Compliment Scripture: 1 Corinthians 1:18 “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

Big idea: The foundation of our faith is the Gospel of Christ

Have you ever wondered about all the different churches that we see around today and thought, does everyone get along? Surely

I mean with so many different churches doing lots of different things, it’s fair to ask is there really any unity among Christians these days? And you might possibly think, if I’m a Christian, then how am I supposed to interact with other Christians? We are supposed to be friends right?

Well, to answer those questions and more, Paul writes to the church in Rome. And to help us understand some of the undercurrent of the letter, it helps to have a little history recap. Because this letter has been written to a people who were struggling to be united.

The church in Rome, which isn’t a big 1000 person gathering, it’s many little gatherings all across the city, is not all on the same page as each other on what matters the most about faith in Jesus.

The church is made up of Roman Jews and Roman Greeks, and they are experiencing a division of what we would call “secondary issues.” And we often see this in the church across New Zealand,

Issues such as; songs we sing and don’t sing, kinds of prayers we pray and don’t pray, elements of communion, baptisms, membership, mercy ministries, and mission. And potentially at the heart of the issue is Pride, Paul doesn’t call it pride, but the sense of the argument is that of pride. Proud Greeks and Proud Jews, claiming ownership over the church and of the Gospel.

Therefore to help reconcile the church in Rome, and also the churches around the world. Paul sets the central focus of all that matters to the church on the Gospel of Jesus.

Paul begins the letter by grounding everyone’s focus in the centrality of the gospel, then showing how the gospel shapes our relationships with one another, to set our hearts alive for the mission of the church. Ultimately uniting all Christians in Rome, towards unity in the Gospel.

That is to say, Today’s sermon will draw out these three main points:

1, The centrality of the church is the Gospel 1-6

2, The church grows with Gospel shaped Relationships 7-13

3, The united church is on Gospel Mission 14-17

The centrality of the church is the Gospel: v 1-6

Now this section of text, which may be called the greeting in your bibles, is actually doing far more than simply saying hi to those in Rome.

Paul qualifies himself as a servant of Jesus and an apostle set apart for the gospel of God. Two rather contrasting titles to give himself, that help us to see from the beginning, who Paul is in Christ’s church as he is set apart for the gospel of God.

And from this point, Paul is going to express to Rome the centrality of this gospel to the church. For in Paul’s expression of what the Gospel is, we see what it has done for us.

So if we were to summarize all the verses of 1-5 we would see that

The gospel is:

of God (verse 1),

according to scripture (Verse 2),

about Christ (verse 3),

Which is to say, God is the owner and maker of the Gospel. It’s his, not Paul’s, not the churches, not made up by a group of lads to trick the world.

In fact all the scriptures have spoken of the Gospel, it’s what all of scripture points to, even as far back as Genesis, the first book of the bible, all of scripture has promised this Gospel.

That is the gospel of God whom we meet as the person of Jesus. Jesus was always the answer to the problem of sin in the world. Jesus was always the hope for Israel, for the nations, for all of history. Gospel is about Jesus.

And it’s about Jesus because of what he did for us in his life, death, Resurrection, and ascension. Because what is it that Jesus did?

Look at verse 5, “through whom we have received grace.” A simple statement, yet so important for the church to hold tightly to.

Friends, the Grace that God has given us, is the forgiveness of our sins upon the death of Jesus on the Cross. Where his Resurrection showed the world that he indeed is God, that Jesus indeed has the power to forgive the sin of the world.

for to each of us, Paul says, to each of us this grace of God has been given. Not just to the few super holy ones, not just to this group of people and a few of those people. No, it is given to all who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

And this central focus on the Gospel of God’s grace, that Paul is drawing the attention of the church, is because this Gospel, through the teaching of the apostleship, is the how of how God has designed his church to grow (Verse 5) in the obedience of faith, for the sake of his name, among all the nations.

For it’s through recieving the grace of God, that God no longer becomes simply a thing or a concept. Rather God becomes your saviour and the Lord of your life.

Obedience is not simply an option in God’s kingdom, no, it’s the work of Grace that reshapes who rules our lives. See this grace is what has brought us from death to life, it is salvation from the curse of sin that we produce.

And therefore to respond to this salvation and live in accordance with God’s word, is what glorifies his name. For we can give no greater glory to God, than to simply live as he teaches us to live.

And it’s in living obediently that the world around will witness the power of the gospel, that the world would see Christ and know his glory.

Paul is really saying all of this, church, what matters most in any discussion, in any doctrinal teaching, or argument of interpretation. Church what matters the most is to ground our thoughts and discussions in the reality of God’s grace which he has given to us in Jesus. This is the mark of a gospel centered church.

And I wonder, if we think of the last time we were engaged in a discussion of the Christian faith, I wonder how much of our thought was grounded in the grace and teachings of God through Jesus?

Friends, the Gospel is what matters most. For it is when the church understands that what unites us all is the Gospel of God, it is then that gospel relationship grow and God’s church focuses on her mission.

Which draws us to our second section of the text, where we will see how the Gospel shapes Paul’s efforts to build a relationship with the church in Rome. Where we can be encouraged to know that...

The church grows with Gospel shaped Relationships: v 7-13

If you’ve ever wondered what a gospel partnership should look like, or what should be expected of an evangelist, look no further than Paul, establishing a relationship with the Roman church. Who he has not met yet.

“ Romans 1:7 “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.”

This is a letter to all the Christians in Rome, and how valuable it is to see this grace word again. Grace to you, which is to put front and center God’s forgiveness of sins. Setting a tone of gratitude toward God as he prepares to engage in a discourse of church doctrine.

Needless to say, this is an example of a gospel centered start for Paul in establishing a relationship with the church in Rome. And he doesn’t end there, in fact, he goes on to:

verse 8: Thank God for all the faithful in Rome,

Verse 9: He Prays for the church, even one he hasn’t met, he prays and he does so with a strong conviction to be with the people.

Verse 10: He seeks God’s will to be done, not his own.

Verse 11: he hopes to benefit them, hoping to impart some gift that presumably he is will for God to reveal what specific gift that may be.

Verse 12: He seeks mutual encouragement. This church in Rome is not some project for Paul to work on, nor are they a means to an end. Which by the way, he is on a support drive for a missions trip to Spain, but that seems to be irrelevant at this point because primarily the relationship is that of mutual encouragement.

I hope we can all see how the gospel is ruminating Paul’s words. That for Paul, before all else, he sets to establish a gospel centered relationship with the church before he gets down to doctrinal teaching.

I mean, that surely has to be the text book example for how we should view our relationships to each other. I mean, how important is it to you to establish a gospel relationship with someone new that you meet?

At what point in the conversation do we acknowledge God’s grace? How often do we express thankfulness for the other persons faith? Let’s be honest, how often do we actually pray for others that we come across?

I mean, making friends isn’t easy. Then keeping friends can be even harder, especially if those friends we meet have different ideas on what church is, or what the church is for.

Even those who don’t follow Jesus, have thoughts on the church and it’s purpose.

And so we might ask ourselves, what does it mean to have a gospel relationship with people who disagree with us? With both those who believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior and those who don’t?

Well I believe that Paul here is showing a few key elements of how Gospel centered relationships start.

Which is first, valuing the grace of God that he has given the world through the gospel. Value that in our hearts above all else, see ourselves as sinners whom God saved, sinners who God thought was worth the effort.

Because seeing ourselves as those saved by Jesus, levels the playing field.

We aren’t talking on home base, neither am I a nervous person talking in your home base. No, the person I’m talking to is a sinner just like me, and it’s only God’s gift of Grace that I am so thankful for that means I’m not in either my home base nor their home base, rather I’m in the kingdom of God, and either I’m talking to someone else also in the kingdom of God or I’m inviting them to join me in Gods kingdom.

That’s the gospel centered attitude that underpins everything else that we say.

Now while Paul points out his thankfulness and prayers.

He also shows that as interested as he is in seeing people come to Christ, verse 13” that I may reap some harvest” he is also interested in seeing those who belong in Christ develop in their faith. Verse 11 “That I may impart some spiritual gift to strengthen you”

See, Paul’s gospel relationships are for two purposes: Evangelism, which is inviting the non believer to receive God’s gospel grace. And Discipleship, growing others in the faith of God’s gospel.

Which is a challenge for us today as we read these words of Paul,

How much value does God’s grace given to me, flow out into the relationships that I’m building with others both in the church and out of?

Because that’s really the heart of the matter.

Until we ourselves value the grace of God in our lives, then intentionally cultivate the grace of God into our conversations with all around us. Until we as a church unite relationally on the Gospel of God’s grace, we will struggle to be effective for God’s mission to the nations.

Which is our last point this morning,

The united church is on Gospel Mission: 14-17

In this section of the text, Paul makes three I am statements. When reading our bibles, we ought to notice repeated phrases and words, they help us to structure the authors flow of thought.

The first I am that Paul states is: verse 14: I am under obligation. And to help us understand this obligation, perhaps a better word is debt and that is more the sense of the original language. Paul is in debt to both Greeks and to Barbarians, here’s a scenario to help us understand this debt that Paul speaks of:

If I borrow $1000 from you, I would be in your debt until I paid you back. Equally, if a friend of yours were to hand me $1000 to give to you, I would be in your debt until I handed it to over.

In the first case, I would have put myself in debt by borrowing. However, in the second case, it is your friend that has put me in your debt by entrusting me with the money that is for you.

Such is the debt or obligation that Paul is under to both the Greeks and the barbarians, the wise and the foolish. See, God has given his gospel to the church, for the world to hear.

Christians have not loaned the Gospel from God. Rather God has given Gospel to Christians to give out to those who whom we speak with. Both Christians and non christians. It is our burden to speak with Gospel hearts.

The Second I am from Paul is verse 15, that he is eager to preach the gospel. Preaching the word is for everyone, yes, we have formal preachers in church on a Sunday, but don’t mistake what is happening when you talk about Jesus on a Monday.

Preaching in the sense of what Paul is saying is the declaration of God’s gospel of Grace. That’s for all the church to do in all their relationships. Sunday preaching is still preaching, as is sharing the gospel with a friend on Thursday night.

Maybe sometimes we’ve thought preaching God’s word is only for the trained and ordained. While that’s true for Sunday gathering, the word has wider application than simply once a week.

And going onto his third I am, Paul says in verse 16: that he is not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for the salvation to everyone who believes.

This point, is what really sets the tone for the rest of the book. The Gospel is the central component of the faith that we have received through the forgiveness of our sins in Jesus name.

When we turn to Jesus with our sin and confess that he is Lord, it is God’s power through the gospel that he says to each of us, you are forgiven. This is the grace that Paul wrote about in verse 5.

Therefore the righteousness of God is revealed in the cleansing of our sin because only a righteous, sinless God carry the burdens of the seemingly infinite amount of sin, because for as much sin that can be produced, God’s sinlessness is still far greater.

Which is the righteousness that we then live with and through as we continue to live on earth. We don’t live in our own righteousness, we live in Gods. And we don’t do it by earning it, or trading for it. No we live in God’s righteousness by living in faith that Jesus is our savior and Lord over our lives.

It’s not what we have done, but what God has done for us.

I hope that if this is new to you, if you are not following Jesus, I hope that you would see in this room, a whole bunch of people who are no better than yourself.

Not one person here is able to say, I live in God’s righteousness because I do A B C and D. No, everyone here is a sinner. Everyone here only has God’s righteousness because God chose to give it.

So no one here is special. We are all in need of God’s grace.

And that is the amazing news for us today,

God has given his grace, he has given us Jesus. Read about it in your bibles for every page points to God’s gospel.

Receive this grace, and live by faith today, tomorrow, and for ever live by faith that God’s righteousness is enough for you.

Because church when live by faith, we cultivate gospel hearts in our lives, that then cultivate gospel relationships with others, that then sees the church united on mission to share God’s glory with the nations, see God’s power at work as his righteousness is revealed through the gospel which is salvation for all who believe.

Church, the Gospel matters most.

Let’s pray