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God Wants Us to Be Confident Christians
The Book of Romans
Romans 15:14-21
Sermon by Rick Crandall
(Prepared January 8, 2022)
BACKGROUND:
*Please open your Bibles to Romans 15:14.
Most of you know that in Romans 1-11, Paul spelled out the truth about our terrible sinfulness and our desperate need for God's salvation.
Paul made it clear that salvation can only come by God's grace through faith in our crucified and risen Savior Jesus Christ.
This is the heart of the gospel or good news about Jesus.
He died on the cross for all of our sins.
Then three days later, Jesus rose again from the dead, and now He will give eternal life to everyone who will receive Him as their Lord and Savior.
*Romans 12 marked a big shift in Paul's letter to the believers in Rome.
There he began to discuss how are we supposed to live this new life we have as Christians.
But starting here in chapter 15, Paul opened his heart to discuss his future plans and pour out his affection for the Christians in Rome.
Let's begin by reading Romans 15:14-21.
And as we read, please think about being a confident Christian.
MESSAGE:
*There are some well-known acronyms in Christian life.
Back in the 1990s, the most famous was W. W. J. D. -- "What Would Jesus Do?" Another acronym I remember is "Push," P. U. S. H. -- "Pray Until Something Happens."
Here's another good acronym for prayer: It's A. C. T. S., "Acts" in prayer.
A is for Adoration.
C is for Confession.
T is for Thanksgiving.
S is for Supplication.
That's making requests for ourselves and others.
A.C.T.S. is a great pattern for prayer.
*But "frog," F. R. O. G. is the best acronym for the message today.
That may sound strange, but F. R. O. G. is short for "Fully Rely On God."
And that's what God wants us to do.
God wants us to be fully confident Christians.
1. FIRST TODAY, WE CAN BE CONFIDENT IN THE GOODNESS GOD GIVES.
*We can be confident in the goodness God gives to everyone who receives Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
In vs. 14, this is the confidence that led Paul to say, "Now I myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another."
*Notice that Paul called these Christians his "brothers."
That was true even though Paul had never met most of them.
And one of the great things about being a Christian is that we have an instant bond with believers all over the world.
*Most of us have experienced this blessing as Christians.
Maybe it was on a vacation or a mission trip.
Maybe it was somebody new at school or work.
But we felt an instant bond of friendship and love, because we were fellow Christians.
That's because we are all part of the family of God.
*But Paul also said these believers in Rome were "full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another."
Here Paul was talking about the true goodness, the Heaven-sent goodness that comes to us when we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.
*From a human point of view, we all know some lost people, non-Christians, who we would freely describe as good.
They may be good neighbors with a measure of kindness, generosity, and honesty.
*But we must remember that all of our righteousness falls far short of the infinite goodness of God.
That's why Isaiah 64:6 says, "We are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away."
Also, in Romans 7:18 Paul testified that "in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells."
*But when we receive Jesus, we are born again by the Holy Spirit of God.
And 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us that "if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."
Galatians 5:22 also tells us that part of the fruit of God's Spirit in our lives is godly goodness.
And that's why we can generally trust other Christians to be good.
*Of course, there are false brethren, and Paul faced them too.
Plus, all of us fall short of the glory of God, so we can let each other down, and sometimes we do.
We all need to grow stronger in the Lord.
*When we trusted in Jesus we were born again as children of God.
But all babies need to grow, and God wants us to grow up spiritually.
In 2 Peter 3:18 the Bible tells us to "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
To Him be the glory both now and forever.
Amen."
*Even if we have been a Christian for fifty years, we're not perfect yet.
So, we all have to keep growing as Christians.
And thank God, we can!
One of the ways God helps us grow is by admonishing one another.
That's why in vs. 14 Paul was glad the Roman Christians were "filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another."
*Here, Paul was basically saying, "Church, you are good.
You are very good.
But as good as you are, there are some things you need to work on.
And thankfully, you can admonish one another."
*God also wants us to "admonish one another."
But this doesn't mean finger waving, condescending, or nagging other people.
"Admonishing one another" means gently warning and instructing each other.
It means lovingly reminding each other of the things that we should and shouldn't do.
*Thank God we can grow as Christians!
Thank God we can be better than we used to be!
*Dr.
Clyde Turner told about a little boy in Sunday School when Clyde was the pastor at First Baptist Church in Greensboro, Kentucky.
This little boy was an unholy terror.
Nobody knew what to do with him.
And finally, he stopped coming to Sunday School.
Dr. Turner later admitted, "I am ashamed to say it, but I think we were all glad of it."
*Nobody made a special effort to get the little boy back, but one day they were having a meeting in the sanctuary.
And that little boy came running down the aisle with a violin case under his arm.
"Dr.
Turner!" he said, "They gave me a fiddle for being good."
*Dr.
Turner thought, "In the first place, I could imagine nobody giving him a fiddle, and in the second place, certainly not for being good."
The little boy sensed the wonder on the pastor's face, and he explained, "You see, doctor, I'm gooder than I used to be."
*Then as the boy raced down the hall, Dr. Turner thought, "Yes, thank God, by the grace of God a lot of us are gooder than we used to be." (1)
*God wants all of us to be confident Christians, and we can be confident in the goodness God gives to everyone who receives Jesus as Lord and Savior.
2. WE CAN ALSO BE CONFIDENT IN GOD'S GRACE.
*We can have total confidence in God's amazing grace!
We can have the same confidence Paul had in vs. 15-17 where he said:
15.
Nevertheless, brethren, I have written more boldly to you on some points, as reminding you, BECAUSE OF THE GRACE GIVEN TO ME BY GOD,
16. that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
17. Therefore I have reason to glory in Christ Jesus in the things which pertain to God.
*Here Paul affirmed that every good thing he ever did came from God's amazing grace.
Every word he wrote in the Bible came from the grace given to him by God.
Every church Paul started came from God's grace.
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