Romans 1:1-7 (Part 2)

The Gospel

It is the gospel of God, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord (vv. 1-3a) -> this is confirmation of the centrality of the gospel: Jesus Christ

The gospel is all about Jesus (its power/effectiveness, its glory, the work it produces, etc.)

The center of the Gospel, Jesus Christ, is also our Lord -> You cannot have Jesus as savior without having Him as Lord!

It was promised before, as seen in the prophets (v. 2) -> so much of Romans is based in the OT’s fulfillment as seen in the NT

This is the reason we have so much certainty in the validity of God’s word

Peter Stoner’s, “science speaks” shows us how impossible it would be for someone to just so happen to fulfill 8 prophecies

(1) Jewish man born in Bethlehem, (2) had a forerunner, (3) entered Jerusalem as a king riding on the colt of a donkey, (4) being betrayed by a friend and wounded in the hands, (5) betrayed for 30 pieces of silver, (6) after receiving a bribe for the betrayal of a friend, had returned the money, had it refused, had thrown it on the floor in the house of the Lord, and then had it used to purchase a field from the potter, (7) made no defense for himself when innocent and tried as a criminal, (8) was crucified

The chance that any man might have lived down to the present time and fulfilled all eight prophecies is 1 in 10^17 (using VERY conservative estimates)

This is the same likelihood of covering the state of Texas 2ft deep with silver dollars and having a blindfolded man picking one marked coin

The bible as a whole points to Jesus, not just the NT -> the coming of Jesus was expected and fulfilled -> the return of Jesus is also expected and will be fulfilled

God became man in Jesus, the seed of David according to the flesh (v. 3)

The pre-existent and uncreated very God of very God became flesh and was faithful to His promise to David () Jn. 1:14

That man Jesus was declared to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead (v. 4)

He left the limitations of His body here to have His glory restored to Him at the right hand of the Father () Jn 17:5

The promise of power in the great commission was not a bluff!

This declaration was according to the Spirit of holiness (v. 4)

Jesus is not the focal point of the gospel because man has said so, but because God has said so

The resurrection is the turning point from the age of Jesus’ earthly ministry to the age of the church empowered by the Holy Spirit

So far, we have seen that Jesus was prophesied of in the OT, seen to be the son of David at His birth, and was determined to be the Son of God at His resurrection

This Jesus is the one whereby we have received grace and our calling (for Paul, apostleship) (v. 5)

On one hand, we must recognize Jesus as the source of grace -> it is Him we must call on and rely on

Second, we must realize that it is grace we need -> unmerited favor, not earned rewards

It is by that grace from that source that we are called to discipleship

The calling of God in our lives is an unmerited gift to us, not a burden -> not to say it is easy, but it is a gift!

This grace brings about obedience of faith among all nations for His name (vv. 5-6)

The obedience of the saints works to the spread of the gospel through the whole world

The gospel is by its nature evangelistic, working through the church to the world