Romans
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
What do you think of when you hear the book of Romans?
A doctrinal battleground?
A theological lecture hall that smells faintly of old parchment and older arguments?
Do you prefer the landscape of the Gospels to the long halls of Romans?
We all have different proclivities. That’s why God made chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry ice cream. The early Church Had Paul, Peter, James, and John.
They each had different tendencies and emphasis. Each one was inspired by the Spirit.
2 Peter 1:21 “21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
Each brings, under the inspiration of God, his own unique emphasis.
Here me when I say that this:
There is no greater book of the Bible than Romans.
That’s a bold claim. Let me prove it and let me introduce you to this great epistle of Paul.
First,
A Book that Changed History
A Book that Changed History
Three men we can highlight here:
-Martin Luther
-John Wesley
-Martin Lloyd-Jones
In 1505, a German Monk named Martin Luther walks his donkey.
1510, travels to Rome.
1512, begins lecturing. Makes his way to Romans. Transforms Christianity and Christendom as we know it.
200 years later, John Wesley hears the commentary on that book. Wesley and Whitfield are used by God to transform Great Britain and America.
200 years after that, Doctor LLoyd-Jones begins his series on Romans. It took him ten years, and he handedly brought expositional preaching back into the forefront of Christians and preachers.
Romans is a book that changed history.
A Book that Conforms its Hearers
A Book that Conforms its Hearers
Romans has two great divisions:
-Chapters 1-11: Doctrinal/Indicatives
-Chapters 12-16: Practical/Imperatives
Paul teaches in the first half of the book and applies in the second half.
He shows us that you cannot have one without the other.
Doctrine without application doesn’t make disciples. It makes well-informed hypocrites on the fast track to hell.
flip it around. Application without doctrine doesn’t make disciples. It makes ignorant wind-bags on the fast track to burnout.
This letter gives you both. You are probably prone to one or the other.
You might chaff at doctrine or hate application. Romans will center you.
This letter changed history. It conforms its hearers.
A Book that Centers on Christ
A Book that Centers on Christ
Romans reveals the righteousness of God in the gospel as He justifies sinners through Christ, transforms saints by Christ, and exalts Christ to the ends of the earth.
That is why we are studying this book.
Now, let’s look at verse one.
1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,
Let’s talk about the first word here.
A Man Called Paul
A Man Called Paul
Who was Paul?
He was born Saul of Tarsus. He was intelligent. He was educated by the chief teacher of his day.
5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;
6 Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
He was a man that, if he never converted, you woud still know his name.
But notice what he calls himself in our text. Paul, the servant. Paul, the slave who belongs to Jesus Christ.
1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,
Christ had other plans.
Acts 9:1–18 “1 And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, 2 And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. 3 And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: 4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. 6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. 7 And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. 8 And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him…”
This is why, in our text, Paul calls himself not just a slave of Jesus Christ, but an apostle.
1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,
An apostle is someone who was specially commission by the Risen Christ to speak on His behalf to His blood-bought Church.
When you read the words of an apostle of Christ, you read the words of Christ.
No red letter nonsense.
Some people treat the red letters like they’re more important than the rest of the Bible.
Like Jesus speaks in red, and everybody else is just offering commentary you can ignore if you don’t like it.
But that’s not how Scripture works. When Paul speaks, Jesus is speaking through him.
These aren’t just a man’s opinions—they’re the very words of Christ, written by His chosen apostle.
If you believe Jesus speaks truth in the Gospels, then you can’t ignore Him when He speaks through Romans.
So when you read Romans, don’t treat it like secondhand theology.
It’s Jesus, still teaching. Still saving. Still commanding. Still comforting. And if you want to follow the real Jesus, you can’t pick which letters count.
You’ve got to let all His words read you, red or black.
Are you ready to hear this book?
What do we hear? And what was Pauls’ focus?
the next pat of our lesson. He was separated to one message: The gospel of God.
