Romans Week 4, August 7, 2022
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Introduction-
Introduction-
Paul is not ashamed of the Gospel
Paul is not ashamed of the Gospel
Romans C. Paul: Convinced of the Power of the Gospel (1:16–17)
“There’s no sense in declaring that you’re not ashamed of something unless you’ve been tempted to feel ashamed of it”
The times in the Bible when others were tempted to be Ashamed or Jesus predicted this.
38 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
75 And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.
Two reasons Paul is confident in the Gospel
Two reasons Paul is confident in the Gospel
What’s the “For” there for?
Because it is the power of God
Because it is the power of God
The gospel reveals God’s power in our world.
For in it (the GOSPEL) a rightness from God is revealed.
For in it (the GOSPEL) a rightness from God is revealed.
The gospel highlights God’s righteousness to our world.
A crucial paradigm for the church today
A crucial paradigm for the church today
If we want the world to understand the righteousness of God and get who He is we need to share the Gospel.
If we want to help a desperately needing world to find hope, we need to share the Gospel.
It’s tempting for us to make church only about loving our neighbor by being nice or generous.
It’s tempting to just engage in social programs that care for the surface needs of people like food and clothing.
It’s tempting to just have fun fellowships.
But if we want our world to understand what can truly bring change we need to share the Gospel.
What the Old Testament Prophet Habakkuk teaches us about this passage.
What the Old Testament Prophet Habakkuk teaches us about this passage.
So what is the meaning of the righteousness from God? Is it a right, advantage, privelege....?
What does it mean for the righteous to live by faith?
To answer this, let’s turn to the Old Testament book of Habakkuk
When Paul says “The Righteous Shall Live by Faith” he is referring back to the prophet Habakkuk
4 “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.
Habakkuk lived in a time when wickedness was running rampant and it seemed like God didn’t care.
This lead Habakkuk to complain to God
2 O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save?
3 Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise.
4 So the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; so justice goes forth perverted.
In response to this God told Habakkuk how He was going to use the Babylonians to punish the nation of Israel.
Mind you the sins of the Babylonians made the nation of Israel seem like saints at times.
And Habakkuk complained even more about God’s choice to send the Babylonians.
13 You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong, why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he?
Habakkuk is upset over the sins of the nation and he doesn’t like God’s plan to deal with their sins.
But God wants Him to understand something important about what God wanted from Habakkuk.
2 And the Lord answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it.
God wanted Habakkuk to record the message of His righteousness so anyone can hear or read it and be warned. If Habakkuk is obedient to record God’s message then Habakkuk doesn’t have to fear being unjust or inactive in dealing with sin.
3 For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.
God wanted Habakkuk to remember that His visions and prophecies run on God’s time and not his. Trusting God requires patience at times.
4 “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.
The sinful man is puffed up and trusting Him or herself.
The righteous man lives trusting God to act justly and do what He has said.
The responsibility of Habakkuk is to remember he can’t fix the situation, he can only wait patiently and live obediently before God. Living obediently means sharing the message God has given him.
The Gospel Reveals the righteousness of God
The Gospel Reveals the righteousness of God
Fast forward to AD 57
Fast forward to AD 57
Paul is writing in AD 57.
3 years prior the Emperor Claudius had banished all jews from Rome due to disruptions instigated by debates over Christ.
What most historians believe is after Claudius’ reign ended, Jews were allowed to return to Rome. This happened prior to Paul’s letter.
The shame of banishment probably hung over the Jews in their return to Rome.
Let’s not forget that in the beginning the church was very much a Jewish thing. When you thought Christians, you thought Jews.
And looking ahead from the moment of this letter the Jews/Christians had more suffering to endure. Paul himself would die along with hundreds of other believers during the reign of Nero.
Paul had read Habakkuk and knew the modern Jews could relate to waiting for the justice and judgement of God. And so He writes Romans 1:16-17 ...
The Gospel is God’s Good news
Paul is the herald who is not ashamed of God or whats happening.
God’s righteousness is revealed in the Gospel.
Romans C. Paul: Convinced of the Power of the Gospel (1:16–17)
Do not think that God’s power is absent—it is here in the gospel! And God’s righteousness will be revealed against all manner of sin everywhere. In the meantime, the righteous must live by faith. Rather than thinking you are powerless to change Rome, the gospel gives you the power of God to change lives.
Habakkuk
God beats the Babylonian Empire
Not the empire—the sin it promoted, committed and caused.
Romans
God beats the Roman empire
Not the empire—the sin it promoted, committed and caused.
Today
God beats....
Not the empire—the sin it promotes, commits and causes.
We can feel powerless to change what’s happening in our culture
But God calls the righteous to live by faith.
and God’s Gospel is for all people.
The Gospel is the Power of God.
The Gospel is the Power of God.
It’s tempting to think the Gospel contains the power of God.
It tells us about a powerful thing that God did in Jesus.
But the reality is the Gospel also “IS” the power of God.
Isaiah reminded us of the power of God.
11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
And so also Paul reminds us:
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
Through simply sharing the Gospel, you are sharing the power of God to change lives.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Do we act like we’re ashamed of the Gospel? What does living “not ashamed” of the Gospel look like?
Paul learned like habakkuk to wait on the justice of God and live by Faith.
How can we trust God an live by faith today?
The Gospel is the power of God.
Talk about what Jesus has done for you.
Talk about the Gospel.