The Gospel In Focus
Notes
Transcript
Review
Review
Turn to Romans chapter one
As Paul began this letter to the Romans, he focused on several things that motivated him in his life and ministry.
Verse fourteen indicates that he was motivated by a sense of obligation. Paul felt indebted to preach the Gospel to people he didn’t know. He felt an obligation to tell them what he knew: that salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ alone!
Verse sixteen indicates that he was motivated by his confidence in the Gospel. And with that, Paul had arrived at the subject that mattered to him most: the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Introduction
Introduction
Read Romans 1:16-17
For several years as a young person I was fascinated by astronomy. I wasn’t interested so much in the history of space exploration, but more so I was interested in the science and latest discoveries of the day.
This interest lead me to beg my parents for a telescope. I had no idea how much one cost or really what it was capable of doing, but I think that deep down, I hoped to see the planets of our solar system like they looked in my science textbooks. I wanted to gaze at them and see what they looked like for myself.
I was in for a bit of disappointment because little did I know that with the average telescope at the time, that little dot in the sky would just look like a bigger dot in the sky.
Well one day my parents fulfilled my dreams and gave me a telescope. It was a simple device. It had a tripod, a long lens, and a viewfinder. Not much to it. I remember the first night that I could, setting it up and pointing it towards the moon. Now it took me a few minutes, but when I finally found the moon, it was bright in the viewfinder, but it was all blurry! I worked and worked at it and eventually it came into focus and boy was it a sight to behold! It reminded me of Swiss cheese. But when I brought it into focus, it was then that I could see the moon in all of its rugged beauty.
In verses 16-17, Paul points the telescope, he adjusts the settings, and he draws all of our attention to what is the grand theme of this letter. The rest of Romans is an outflow of these two verses. Here, Paul puts The Gospel In Focus, and he shows us several clear features of the Gospel.
First, the gospel of Christ…
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It is God’s dynamic way of saving souls - Romans 1:16
There is only one way of salvation that the eternal God has blessed with His power. He has infused the Gospel of Jesus Christ with a power that cannot be fully explained but neither can it be denied.
It has turned God haters into God-fearers!
It has converted atheists into preachers!
It has transformed wretched sinners into precious saints!
It has freed addicts from the chains of their bondage!
It has brought the freedom of forgiveness to those living in guilt!
It has saved children and the child-like!
It has confounded the world’s greatest philosophers!
It has outlived every mocking blasphemer!
All of that is evidence of the supernatural power of the Gospel!
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For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
The power of the gospel is not that it appeals to logic or reason.
The power of the gospel is not that it appeals to human wisdom.
The gospel of Jesus Christ is powerful because God has ordained it with His power. It is a simple message, but it is dynamic! It is a message energized by the Spirit of God! No other message is equal to the divine power of the Gospel! No creed and no religion can match it! It is in a class all of its own. When it is preached in a church service, when it is passed on in a gospel tract, when it is shared with a friend, it is divinely empowered to work in men’s souls.
Application: Christian, do you believe in the power of the gospel?
I suppose, if He wanted to, God could have chosen to save people by following a certain creed or list of rules, but He didn’t. The Old Testament law never saved anybody. And man’s religious rules don’t save anyone today.
I suppose, if He wanted to, God could have chosen to save people only of a certain skin color or ethnicity, but He didn’t.
In His wisdom, God has chosen to save anyone who trusts in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the salvation of their soul. That is the power of the Gospel.
We’ve seen that the gospel of Christ is God’s dynamic way of saving souls, secondly, the gospel...
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It is effective in every person that believes - Romans 1:16
I like things that are effective, don’t you?
I don’t take medicine much, but when I am super sick and I have to take some medicine for it, I don’t want the stuff that tiptoes around. I don’t want the stuff that takes just a few swings at the bacteria. I want the medicine to give that sickness a knockout punch. I want that bad bacteria to be crying for its mommy.
I like things that are effective.
Thank God! The gospel is effective! The gospel is guaranteed to save every single person that puts their dependence in it!
Read Romans 1:16
Notice, the verse doesn’t say its effective “for Americans only.”
In a room predominately filled with gentiles, I’m glad that this verse doesn’t say, “for the Jews only”.
The gospel is limited by no ethnic or national boundaries.
It is for all!
That’s why we are told in Mark 16:15 to preach the gospel to every creature. But there is a condition: the gospel is effective only in those that believe.
Now what does that mean? Because there’s a whole lot of people today who would say that they believe in Jesus but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they are saved from their sins. In other words, they might say they believe in Jesus but that doesn’t mean that their sins are forever forgiven.
“Believe” means to trust. It means to depend.
The power of God is effective in every person that casts their complete dependence on Jesus for the saving of their soul. It’s all or nothing!
You must get to this point: “I’m tired of my sin! I am choosing to trust Jesus and no one else! I’m not working for it! I’m not trying to earn it! Jesus already did the work by dying on the cross! I’m not hoping for my salvation! Jesus is my hope!
Application: who are you trusting for the salvation of your soul?
In Paul’s day, the Jewish person had to stop trusting their religion. The Greek person had to stop trusting their culture, their wisdom, and their pagan gods. Both had to turn to Jesus.
Invite people to believe the gospel here
Reject your sin
Realize that Jesus died on the cross as a sacrifice for your sin. He was buried, and He rose again from the dead, proving that God accepted His sacrifice.
Make a decision: trust Jesus alone to save you from your sin!
For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
We’ve seen that the gospel is God’s dynamic way of saving souls. We’ve seen that the gospel is effective in every person that believes. Now thirdly we see that the gospel…
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It is the revealer of God’s righteousness - Romans 1:17
When my parents gave me that telescope, although it wasn’t a very powerful one, it did some amazing things:
I saw little craters that I had never seen before with the naked eye.
I saw big craters that looked like the moon should have split in half when it was impacted.
That telescope did something for me: it revealed the face of the moon in a way that I had never seen it before.
That’s exactly what the Gospel does. It reveals God’s righteousness.
Now Paul tells us this in verse 17 but it begs the question, “how”?
Let’s review what the gospel is. In 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, Paul says that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the good news that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.
How does that reveal God’s righteousness?
Here’s how:
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God’s standard of righteousness is perfection.
Perfect righteousness is written into God’s DNA. He can be nothing less, and there can be nothing more. He does not allow anything into His presence less than perfect righteousness.
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Only Jesus met God’s standard.
Jesus offered himself as a perfect, sinless sacrifice for our sin.
God accepted that sacrifice and He proved it by raising Jesus from the dead. If Jesus wasn’t good enough, Jesus would still be dead.
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God’s condition for righteousness is faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Read Romans 1:17
You cannot enter God’s presence - you cannot enter heaven - apart from perfection. That’s what God requires. You cannot have perfect righteousness, apart from faith in Jesus Christ!
Paul quotes Habakkuk 2:4 as proof.
Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: But the just shall live by his faith.
This is one of Paul’s main arguments throughout the rest of this letter!
Read Romans 3:21-22, 9:30
It’s all about faith! God’s righteousness is obtained exclusively by faith in Jesus!
It’s an all or nothing equation. The work of salvation is all of God and nothing of you, or it isn’t salvation.
Application:
You can be a moral person.
You can do all kinds of good things.
You can be a religious person.
But your righteousness doesn’t impress God. You are hopeless apart from Jesus and His righteousness being applied to your account.
Make the decision today to reject your sin and to trust Jesus alone to be saved from your sins.
Conclusion
Conclusion
I was probably about 10 years old when I got that telescope and when I saw the moon like that for the first time. Obviously, it was an unforgettable experience.
Today we have seen The Gospel In Focus. Christian, I hope that for you, this passage of Scripture is something like an unforgettable experience also, because everything that we have seen today about the gospel is why we live for Jesus. This is why we serve Him. This is why we live For Christ Alone.
Invitation
Invitation
