THANKFULNESS IN ROMANS

We are beginning the month of November, a month marked by a societal-wide focus on Thanksgiving.

That is, we focus on being grateful for the many provisions and good gifts that we all enjoy.

Christians, in particular, should be thankful people. Not only do we enjoy many good gifts from God, but we also, through God’s gracious gift of salvation, enjoy God Himself.

Christians should, in increasing measure, be people of thankfulness.

What I would like to accomplish over the next few weeks before we head into Advent season is to spend time unpacking thankfulness in the New Testament.

I want to do this with two goals in mind. First, I want to help us see what types of things for which we should be thankful. Certainly this includes the many good gifts of this life (food, clothing, homes, etc.), but it includes much more than that.

Secondly, I want to tackle this because it will help us grow in our Christlikeness, which includes thankful hearts.

And because thankfulness is so woven into the NT writings, I am going to limit these sermons to two of Paul’s letters and John’s writings.

This morning we will examine the book of Romans. The book is perhaps one of the deepest books, at least on the theological level. It is jam packed with incredible truth. But through this master display of God’s beauty is the theme of thankfulness.

I. Salvation is a Cause for Thankfulness- Rom. 1:8-10

Salvation is God’s delivering us from sin, granting us Christ’s righteousness, and assuring us an eternal home

A. Paul thankfulness was directed toward his God- Rom. 1:8

One key difference between Christians expressing thankfulness and the world is that our thankfulness is directed toward God.

We are not thankful for thankful’s sake, but toward God, the giver of all good gifts (cf. James 1:17).

B. Paul’s thankfulness leads to spiritual prayer for his people- Rom. 1:9-10

Paul was grateful to God for God’s salvation of the Roman believers, and this thankfulness was moved to action. We will not unpack all this involves, but simply glean from Paul this important lesson.

Our thankfulness should involve more than physical things, most importantly our salvation, which should in turn lead us to pray for spiritual growth for each other.

A church filled with grateful people who pray for one another would be a great church indeed.

We could go on about this point, but the next section deals with gratefulness for sanctification.

II. Sanctification is a Cause for Thankfulness- Rom. 6:17-18; 7:25; 14:6; 16:4

Sanctification is the work of God where He, by the Word of God, the Spirit of God, and the people of God, crafts the image of Christ into His people

Romans 1-3 lays the ground work for the universality of sin, the hopelessness of man without God, and the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ, the only hope for deliverance.

Romans 4-8 address the Christian and his or her battle with the flesh, the ultimate victory we have in Christ, and what a faith-filled life looks like.

A. Paul’s thankfulness was for the change in masters- Rom. 6:17-19

Paul is not teaching a perfectionist view of sanctification. There is not a point at which Christians reach holiness and do not grow any longer.

This sanctification for which Paul was thankful, though, we not an idle event. We won’t dive into the details this morning, but notice Paul’s words in verse 19.

Romans 6:19 NASB95

19 I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.

“It [sanctification] is essentially a work of God, though in so far as He employs means, man can and is expected to co-operate by the proper use of these means.” Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology, 532

That idea that sanctification is “essentially a work of God” brings us to the next point for which Paul expresses thankfulness to God. God was active in theirs (and our) sanctification.

B. Paul’s thankfulness was reminding him of God’s role in sanctification- Rom. 7:25

To be honest, there is debate on whether Paul is speaking of a believer or an unbeliever in Romans 7. Without diving into that debate, I am assuming, for good reasons, I might add, that Paul is addressing believers.

With that in mind, Paul, like all of us, struggled with his flesh. Romans 7:14-25 is a back forth battle between the flesh and the spirit, doing what is right and doing what is wrong.

The battle seems hopeless; it seems that if you take one step forward you take three steps back. You finally get a handle on a particular sin struggle you have, and about the time you recognize it you fall into the sin again, and hard.

That is why Paul expresses words that I imagine every child of God can connect with, “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?”

And, Paul and every believer aware of the struggles of sin, expressed thankfulness for the truth in verse 25.

C. Paul’s thankfulness for differing views within the church- Rom. 14:6

This next point for thankfulness is incredibly fascinating, and it deals with different views within the church.

At the outset let me state clearly, these differences are not doctrinal, that is, that do not concern the beliefs of the church. To use an example, this does not allow a Jehovah’s Witness to come and be a member of this church while maintaining their JW’s views.

No, this is a difference in views regarding things that are indifferent. That is, things that are not right or wrong in Scripture.

In Romans 14, the focus is on eating meat or drinking wine. There were two groups. One group thought it was okay to eat anything, and the other group that it was wrong to eat meat.

There are more details in the passage, but one group looked down on the other (pridefully) and the other group looked down on the other (judgmentally).

Paul wants each group to look to Christ first, carefully considering how their relationship with Him affects their relationship with one another.

As Paul does this, he mentions specifically the observing or keeping of days or the consumption of food in 14:6, “for he gives thanks to God.”

In other words, if something is indifferent, i.e., not morally or biblically wrong, then a Christian may enjoy it for the glory of God. Other believers should not look down on them for any reason. And if the believer is enjoying that indifferent thing for the glory of God and knows that it grieves a brother or sister (in other words, leads them to sin or violate their conscience), that brother enjoying the thing indifferent should abstain for God’s glory and their brother’s good.

Paul was thankful that people with differing views could maintain unity and Christian charity.

For our growth in Christlikeness, we need to keep in mind that things that are not wrong in Scripture are up to individual believers. We are not to judge them or, if we enjoy more freedoms in Christ, we are not to look down on those who do not.

D. Paul’s and the Churches’ thankfulness for the sacrificial giving of others- Rom. 16:4

This last one is simple to understand, so we will not spend as much time on this one.

Prisca and Aquila, or Priscilla as she is known in other Scripture passages (Acts 18:2), were willing to sacrifice their lives for the work of Gospel ministry through Paul.

Paul and “all the churches of the Gentiles” were so thankful for their willingness to serve.

And we have a church filled with individuals who sacrifice time and money and energy for our church and our community. That should lead us to being thankful to God.

So far we have considered thankfulness in the book of Romans from a positive light. We should be thankful for our salvation and for our sanctification. But this also offers us one glimpse at the opposite of thankfulness, unthankfulness.

There are several good books for understanding this point better.

James Durham, The Scandal of Stumbling Blocks: Avoiding Spiritual Harm

Gavin Ortlund, Finding the Right Hills to Die On: The Case for Theological Triage

Andrew David Naselli & J. D. Crowley, Conscience: What It Is, How to Train It, and Loving Those Who Differ

III. Sin is a Cause for Ungratefulness- Rom. 1:21

A lack of thankfulness is a sign of an unregenerate heart.

Paul’s discussion in chapter one is an argument for the sinfulness of humanity which will carry over into chapter 3.

In verses 18-32 display what we can call human depravity, or “radical corruption.”

“Sin affects every aspect of our being: the body, the soul, the mind, the will, and so forth. The total or whole person is corrupted by sin. No vestigial ‘island of righteousness’ escapes the influence of the fall. Sin reaches into every aspect of our lives, finding no shelter of isolated virtue.” R. C. Sproul, What Is Reformed Theology?, 118

One of the many displays, or fruits, to use the words of our Lord, of an unregenerate heart is a refusal to give thanks.

This is not to say that if you ever, at any point in your life, fail to offer thanks that you are not saved. But, if this is a consistent sin in your life, it might be a good idea to reflect prayerfully on your heart before the Lord.

I remember a lady who was always ungrateful, unless of course she got her way. And even then it wasn’t so much as thankful as it was “they should have done it this way” or “it would have been better had they did this.”

If this is a mark of your life, it would be a good idea to examine your heart in a Psalm 139:23-24 way.

And if you are a Christian, this is a good diagnostic tool for our own spiritual wellness.