Brandon James: What DID Jesus Do?

Lord would become evident to us and that it would be for your glory Lord. Always For Your Glory in Jesus name. Amen. So all right move over here. We're going to preach through the first part of Romans chapter 1 today.

So if you got your got your Bibles were going to be in Romans 1 we're going to be in verses 1 through 17 today.

We've all heard the word the gospel right that mean we've we hear it's quite a bit in our in the in our churches, but how precisely if we were actually asked to Define it could we to find it now? We know that the Greek translation of gospel is good news. It's the good news, right? But there's a lot of good news. I mean, you know getting a raise at work that's good news. There's all sorts of things that are good news. What what makes the gospel good news and I think in order to truly understand why the good news is so good. We have to understand why the bad news is so bad. And Romans is a book that will illustrate that for us. Very very well. When we distribute these little New Testament psalms and Proverbs on college campuses. We we asked the students as they walked by would you like us all new testament proper been the response and I use this to understand. It's a cultural responses. I'm good. I'm good. Thank you, but it's kind of a telling response. I'm good. I'm good. Well, are we really in good shape?

The Book of Romans is an epistle written by Paul that's unlike most of the other letters that Paul wrote were address to Church's to address specific issues something going on in the church. The Romans is just a general epistle not written to a specific location, but it's outlines the entire rest of God's word I've heard

The Book of Romans described as the commentary on the rest of the Bible and I think that's pretty accurate description of it It's it's historically been a very powerful book. There's a man that most may be familiar with Saint Augustine Augustine of Hippo in the fourth Century. He was crucial in establishing the doctrine of grace and works. He fought against the heresy at the time known as pelagianism, which is a heresy that you know, was it works if there's nothing new Under the Sun Play Jesus m is still alive and well, but he fought especially hard against against this in the in the 4th and 5th Century.

If you know much about him some of the books that he wrote the confessions is an amazing book. There's one the city of God written by Augustine that was written right about the time that Rome was falling is contemporary Jerome was there with him and a lot of people put their trust rather than in God. They put their trust in the state enrollment living room was too big to fall and when it did this that book the city of God know this was written by Augustine is is a Incredible Book on on some of the you know, how God's sovereignty actually work. So this is this is what Augustine brought us. But Augustine in his early life was he kind of likes in he really liked he was very promiscuous. He loved it. This is what he said is he boasted of sins? He had not had the opportunity to commit rather than seem to have fallen behind his ear. So he really loved the world. He loved to live.

In those in the flash he was born to a Christian mother and a pagan father and if his mother prayed for you salvation, no Augustine was deeply stirred by Paul's Epistles loved Paul's Epistles, but he also looked into platonism all sorts of different. Worldview's I guess you would say and then one day he he had kind of Hit the end and he was set down in Detroit open up the Bible. We will probably all been there where you open up God's word and if it's not coming off the page like a does sometimes and that's what happened to Augustine. So he began to weep threw himself onto fig tree needs any tried how long O Lord and his heart answered why not now and then it's said that a child's voice came to him clearly repeating over and over take it and read it take it and read it take it and read it and Augustine opened up to the Book of Romans and read Romans 13 13 and 14 and it says let us behave decently not in orgies and drunkenness not in sexual immorality and debauchery not in dissension and jealousy rather clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh. so

with that Augustine became a Christian and God used him to bring some incredible. He's he's actually viewed is probably one of the chief. That's not what you in a bit of a Orthodox Christian doctrine today. So Romans chapter 1 starting in verse 1 it says Paul a servant of Christ. Jesus called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God the gospel. He promised before hand through His prophets in the Holy scriptures. So we know right off the bat here that is impulse introduction. He says that he is a servant of Christ. Jesus called to be an apostle now. What he is claiming there is that he is a capital a apostle which is something that we need to understand that the Apostle one of the criteria for being an apostle was that you had to be a witness of the Risen Lord Jesus.

We are familiar with Paul with his Damascus Road experience. Paul was Saul and was a huge persecutor of the church. But then on these on the way to persecute the church on the Damascus Road, the Lord knocked him off his horse and took that same tenacious personality and turned it around for the gospel in 1st Corinthians. Paul himself says, he says then he referring to Jesus appeared to James then to all the apostles last of all as to one untimely born he appeared also to me for I am the least of the Apostles unworthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted the Church of God.

One of the things one of the reasons it's really important that we understand capital a apostle is because there was certain criteria that you had to be a eyewitness of the Risen Lord Christ. But that also the the Canon of our New Testament scripture was established by the capital A Apostles. They either had to endorse or have written those books they cease to exist with John about the end of the first century. So, you know, you'll hear all the time these there's what things will come up they called it. The Jesus seminar comes in, you know, you've got these old gospels that are found the Gospel of Thomas all these these new books that you know, somehow we've missed that come in Gospel of Barnabas The Apocalypse of Peter. There's all these new books that are most of them are 3rd 4th Century Gnostic writings that come in. And the reason we can dismiss him in our in our context mean they're really old writings and he's our third Century. These are several hundred years old. Obviously, they were closer than us. Why would we not trust them? Well, they were not endorsed by an apostle. They were they were not part of the original Canon of scripture. So

And then in verse to we see he says that he is an apostle set apart for the gospel of God. The good news the gospel. He promised before hand through His prophets in the Holy Scripture. So God's Plan of Salvation his good news has gospel was not plan B when Israel screwed up plan a it was always plan a Christ was always plan a and that's what Paul was appointed to do in the Book of Romans actually contains over 60 Old Testament scripture quotes. So continuing on and verse 3 it says Regarding his son who has to his Earthly life was a descendant of David and who threw the spirit of Holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead Jesus Christ Our Lord through him. We received Grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to The Obedience that comes from faith for his namesake and you also are among the Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ to All In Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. so Paul after he introduces himself and gives his credentials of being an apostle waste no time. Just jumping right into the deep end of the pool, which was I think pretty

Kind of went with his personality. So he says okay. I'm an apostle. I'm here to proclaim the gospel set apart by God that he clipped declared beforehand and this gospel is about and then he jumped right into the the deep end of the pool with the christology of Christ regarding his son who has to his Earthly life was a descendant of David and who threw the spirit of Holiness was appointed the Son of God, so we jumped right in and says, oh and by the way is Jesus 100% man hundred percent God

You waste no time. Just jumping right into the deep end by I remember I took a little class one time on hermeneutics of interpretation going through the Bible and the professor said Polly goes, you know, when I read through poly, but I'm not sure we would have got along too good because you know the professor take a Leo. I'd like to take a break. I like to go fishing go hunting York to enjoy some downtime cuz I'm not sure Paul actually had the ability to do that. He was just such an intense personality mean and we can see that in in his personality prior to his salvation.

He was he was intense persecuting the church. And then once he became a Christian, he was intense standing up for the truth of God's word. So that's one of the things that God God does work created with a certain demeanor certain personalities. And God doesn't change those God just uses those like you did with Paul. So continuing on here. Versace that says Paul says first I think my God through Jesus Christ for all of you because your faith is being reported All Over The World God whom I serve in my spirit and preaching the gospel of his son is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayer at all times and I pray that now At Last by God's will the way may be open for me to come to you I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong that is that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith. I do not want you to be unaware brothers and sisters many times to come to you but have been prevented from doing so until now in order that I might have a harvest them on you just as I have had among the other Gentiles, I am obligated both the Greeks and non-greek both of the wise and the foolish that is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome. so we going to see Paul's passion right and his tenacity and how he would stand up and we see this and other portions of the Bible where Paul is not ashamed to stand up for the truth, but he stands up for truth in love as well. If you see here the the softer side of all the loving side of Paul because he's a new creation in Christ Jesus. It says I long to see you in person 11 so that I may impart to use some spiritual gift to make you strong. He says in verse 12 that is that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith. That is one of the purposes of that's what God created us for he created us for community so that we could be mutually encouraged by each other's faith. you know this week as we get together and we see we see God at work in other lives in God does he speaks to us through our brothers and sisters we were talking about right before the servants actually, so

continuing on in verses 16 and 17 will look a little bit more detail of these two cuz these are the these are really the two verses that are let's summarize the rest of the book of Romans right here. Paul says in 16 and 17. He says for I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes first to the Jew then the Gentile for in the gospel. The righteousness of God is revealed. A righteousness that is by faith From First to Last just as it is written the righteous will live by faith.

These these versus right here. Summarize the rest of the book of Romans pretty much there. Once we see why he's not ashamed of the gospel and why he has his boldness. I think we can have that same boldness. We talked a little bit about Augustine and how it was the book of Romans that that brought him to a saving knowledge of Christ work. There's another great Theologian that I wanted to talk a little bit about who also came to a saving knowledge through these two versus right here versus 16 and 17. And that is Martin Luther the great reformer Martin Luther. It was very versus that he read that actually help to ignite the Protestant Reformation that brought all of the Protestant denominations out of out of Roman Catholicism Martin Luther prior to the Reformation was actually

A Roman Catholic professor at the University of Wittenberg and it's interesting Martin Luther had a similar personality to pause. He was very intense. I remember hearing a story one time one of his professors Martin Luther was just dug into God's word. So deeply that you any would ask questions about things. I just asked and asked and asked you was just so intense. What about God's word?

so This is the words that he taught now. Well, I'll read this is what this is what Martin Luther said. He said I had already four years read and taught the holy scriptures both privately and publicly. I knew most of the scriptures by heart and furthermore had eaten the first fruits of knowledge of and faith in Christ namely that we are Justified not by works but by faith in Christ, so You know what? We what type of a misunderstanding it wasn't as if in the prior to the Reformation in that the Roman Catholic Church didn't have the book of Romans. It wasn't like they just discovered the book of Romans in right at they read the book of Romans Martin Luther new The Book of Romans my heart but we'll see it just there was annoying that was going on with him. So this was the primary. This is the present teaching in in Martin Luther's day the pret the prevailing teaching of the church was that Grace the grace of God was an infused Grace So it's a disgrace. It's put in the center so that he might become righteous. So the Christian Life in the faith was heavily focused upon obediences and behavior. It was a gradual healing process in which the sinner starts to become righteous. As God creates a new will and man and he begins so we begin to fulfill the law so they held that the Christ and that Christ and the grace of God made salvation a possibility. For the believer, but never a certainty. So because it was an infused Grace that was given to you to work to please God, they viewed salvation as always a possibility but never a certainty. So at the Final Judgement they they held the God would decide if the Christian who have been infused by God's grace had done Justice to that gift of Grace and that was that was hell salvation was achieved so You know, it's some of the stuff if you don't dig into it's like oh and fuse brace, you know think that there's their interests really what this boils down to is salvation by works. It sounds strikingly similar to what will here today and and I myself once claimed it one time. You know, this is it says I know I think I think God's fair. I think bad things you look at good things, you know, as long as as long as I'm a good person and the good outweighs the bad then I'll be fine. You know, what is mostly a matter of the heart. Anyways, you know that that matters and God knows my heart right here and that's how that's what the world says gets us into heaven. so Luther struggled with these two verses here with his with his work space righteousness that he was that he was taught and this is this is what he said about this on 417 about the righteousness of God. Luther says nevertheless in spite of The Passion of my heart. I was hindered by the unique word in the first chapter of Romans. The righteousness of God is revealed in it. I hated the word righteousness of God because in accordance with the usage and custom of the doctors, I have been taught to understand it philosophically as meaning as they put it the formal or active righteous According to which God is righteous and punish the Sinners and the unjust As a monk, I let an irreproachable life never the last I felt that I was a sinner before God. My conscience was restless and I could not depend on God being perpetuated by my satisfactions. Not only did I not love but I actually hated the righteous God who punishes Sinners does a furious battle raged within my perplexed conscience. But meanwhile, I was knocking at the door of this particular Pauline passage earnestly seeking to know the mind of the great Apostle day and night. I tried to meditate upon the significance of these words. The righteousness of God is revealed in it as it is written the righteous shall live by faith. so note that says for years not days not months Luther struggled with this for years and what we just read right there Luther knew that he was not through his own works right before God. He he understood that he was a sinner fallen short of God's glory, but after you know several years, he finally actually understood this term the righteousness of God and this is what he writes. He says then finally God had mercy on me and I began to understand that the righteousness of God is a gift of God by which a righteous man lives namely faith and that sentence the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel is passive. Indicating that the merciful god justifies this by faith as it is written the righteous shall live by faith. Now I felt as though I had been reborn altogether Luther Luther Ford 1500 even reborn all together and had entered Paradise in the same moment the face of the whole of scripture became apparent to me my mind ran through the scriptures as far as I was able to recollect them seeking analogies and other phrases such as the work of God by which he makes us strong the wisdom of God by which he makes us wise the strength of God the salvation of God the glory of God just as intensely as I had now hated the expression the righteousness of God, I now lovingly praise this most Pleasant word this passage from Paul became to me the very gate of paradise.

So Martin Luther understood his human condition and in spite of everything that he had been taught in his in his and he was he was a prominent Roman Catholic Professor. He was teaching people how this was supposed to work.

You know, it's isn't it interesting how a lot of times we focus on the attributes of God that are Pleasant to us, you know, we have those and these are these are attributes of God and the love of God the grace of God the mercy of God the kindness of God. But he has other bad for boots after abuse as well. He hated he is a perfect God he is a just God is perfection his Justice his wrath. Those are natural boots that we like to think about but those are attributes of our God.

You know, is it perhaps that Martin Luther didn't like to think about these things because in his he knew that he was trying to earn God's favor. He ever he realized he could never earn God's favor. He could never do enough to be made righteous in God's sight and he and he grasped that so It's kind of a natural way of thinking of our Humanity. I think to not want to look at these things because we're taught there is no free lunch. Right? We if you want something you got to work for you got to earn it. But God's grace is nothing we can work for we can't earn his favorites only through the shed blood of Christ.

You know what verse by verse study as we go through. Those are those are really good things to look at it. Right, but all of these new testament Epistles specially the Pauline Epistles these their letters he sat down and he wrote those letters. So if a friend sends you a letter

You don't pay can like analyze the first paragraph and study through it and saying it and this is my tendency to so I'm no preacher to myself is you know, you look through a look at the Greek in that word, right? That's that's good things to do. But first when you get that letter you read the letter and then you go back and you can see the whole context that was written that letter I would challenge everybody and it's it's a tough to get stuff to do to sit down 16 chapters in Romans. Sit down out loud read the 16 chapters Romans in one sitting just read through try to not hang up on the little words and stuff just to get the grass with a cuz the book of Romans the first three chapters are tough because they tell us the bad news that makes the good news so good.

so the every does the term weather turns Paul uses in all of his Epistles is his grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace and peace from God our Father that Grace in that piece that we have is in the understanding that it is purely a gift from him that we have that

1st Corinthians chapter 122 and 24 says Jews demand signs and Greeks search for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to gentiles. Because they don't understand that the world does not understand God's word God's truth God's love and that's why nobody likes to talk about the justice of God the wrath of God. Those are attributes that God has because he's perfect. Holy and righteous.

There's a familiar term there's bracelets has written all over it. And everybody wears them. That's the the wwjd right? What would Jesus do bracelets and that's a great question to ask. But the first question that we have to make peace with and understand is not what would Jesus do? It's what did Jesus do at a single point in history on the cross of Calvary? What did Jesus do he came and took that wrath? The God is a past pour out because he's just God is a just God he would not he would not be a god were serving. If he that if the wrath of God was not true on the sinfulness of the world because he's perfect. He's holy.

But what did Jesus do he took that wrath and covered it? So we are no longer under wrath if we accept Christ as our Saviour, so let's pray. Lord God we just we thank you for your Your Love Oh Lord You're your care for us Lord it hi weird. You don't meet us but you love us and decided to make a way for us to be with you forever Lord rather than have to bear the the Wrath that we are just Lord.

Can we just

Ask that your your attributes Lord. would would end well in our minds and we would just contemplate on those Lord like Mary when the angel appeared to her so she pondered these things Lord help us to just Ponder your word. Ponder your characteristics or attributes that you're

Your Glory would be made evident to us Lord, we just thank you that we were able to get together Lord as brothers and sisters Worship You Lord that we may be as far as your mutually encouraged by each other's faith God we just ask a blessing on this church I do Lord

Jared that you just would be with him Lord.

We just did I thank you for all that. You do God in Jesus name. Amen. Amen.

Thank you.