Romans 1 The Beginning of Doctrine

Introduction

Welcome on this Lord’s day. Let us rejoice, and be glad.

We’re a little short on the worship today, because we start exegeting the first New Testament book. The Ten Commandments were pretty fast moving, but today we begin the book of Romans.

To really do Romans justice would require one pericope - unit of thought - a week. I hope to hit one chapter a week. It’s going to take six of my thirty minutes just to read the chapter.

Point 1: The Righteous and the unrighteous

The Faith of the Roman Church

Romans 1 NASB95PARA

Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name’s sake, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world. For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you, always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you. For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established; that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine. I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles. I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. 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. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.” For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

It’s important to begin any pastoral ministry to start by putting in place elementary doctrine, and the proper starting place is always through Scripture.

We’ve reached the unthinkable, where we have to start a ministry by making statements about the inerrancy of Scripture. The Bible is without error, needing no correction in whole or in part. By placing a high view of Scripture right from the start, we make a statement that sadly today, sets us apart from a large majority of Christians today. James White calls this the “Dividing Line”, hence the name of his radio and Internet show. The number of people who do not affirm inerrancy today far outnumbers those who do.

The Church is the pillar and ground of the of the truth. It is not only what holds up society, it also forms the basis for the lives of the Redeemed.

To get us started in the right direction then, it always is important to establish some basic truths, a bedrock of doctrine that will serve us from this point on. A Christian must always adhere to sound Biblical doctrine. We get our doctrines from the Bible, and it’s important to get some of these nailed down right from day one, hence this brief exposition of Romans. My goal is to hit one chapter a week for now. Later on, we’ll dig into this book at length, but we need to do this cursory examination to make sure certain doctrinal truths are established in our minds and daily lives.

The Book of Romans stands out as one of the bright, solid pillars in the Bible. It is the closest thing in the Bible to a Systematic Theology, and should form the core of any Biblical understanding of sound doctrine, including the doctrines of Grace.

The faith of Christ shameful to unregenerate Rome

Paul starts this epistle, hitting certain words right off the bat. Paul is a servant, δοῦλος Doulos in the Greek. This word δοῦλος I’m sure you’ve heard really means slave. John MacArthur waged an unsuccessful war to get the ESV Bible to translate δοῦλος as slave, but we’re so accustomed to the higher status of servant that we’ve mistranslated the word for centuries.

Paul identifies himself as a servant of Jesus Christ, as are we all. When we are born again, this relationship - of which a LOT can be said - is established. The first paragraph of Romans really sets the tone - Jesus Christ is named by name or Title five times in this paragraph alone. God the Father is named three times, and twice Christ is called Lord. No less than three times Christ is tied by relationship to God the Father in this first paragraph, and even the Holy Spirit is mentioned once as the Spirit of Holiness.

Right away, Paul is calling the Trinity to our attention. It remains one of the foundational doctrines of Christianity. If you do not believe this, you cannot call yourself a Christian, or claim to be one of the Elect. Every Christian believes in the Trinity. This is not negotiable. Those who reject the Trinity, defined as One God revealed in three persons, are among the Reprobate.

Paul is also making a statement to Rome in terms they would have understood, and the vast majority rejected. The Romans saw themselves as the pinnacle of civilization, much as Western Society does. To be identified as δοῦλος in those days was shameful, a major stumbling block to Roman society - yet Paul doesn’t hesitate to use that phrase. He is identifying himself as property of God. Jesus Christ owns me, is what he is saying. That statement alone is enough to prevent most of the nobility class in Rome from accepting Christianity. This is why Paul states elsewhere no many noble are called.

It’s interesting that some theologians make a great deal of verses eight through fifteen as the point of the entire book of Romans. It’s essentially the good example of missing the point of the book entirely, which is verses 16-17. Paul says “I am not ashamed of the Gospel - it is the power of God unto salvation unto everyone that believeth.”

John 6:35–40 NASB95PARA

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”

And right away we are introduced to the next of our doctrines. So far we’ve seen the Trinity, the Lordship of Christ, the Resurrection of the dead, redemption and the doctrines of Grace, and we’re only two paragraphs into Romans. Paul is going to dwell on the doctrines of grace for almost three quarters of the epistle to the Romans, and we’re going to discuss them at length.

The Righteousness of God revealed in the Gospel

Paul says he wanted to impart a spiritual gift to the Romans, and the text makes it clear that Paul considers this exposition of the Gospel to be that spiritual gift. Paul doesn’t just talk to talk, his letters are very specific, sometimes to a fault.

Paul twice has identified the doctrines of Grace as being central three times now, in verse six when he says

Romans 1:6 NASB95PARA

among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;

in verse seven when he says

Romans 1:7 NASB95PARA

to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

and again in verse 16

Romans 1:16 NASB95PARA

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.

The word called is important. it is κλητός, which means called, in the sense of summoned. The word has the sense in which refusal to come is not an option.

Dwell on that for a while. “among whom you also are the κλητός, called ones who cannot refuse the summons - of Jesus Christ.

The power of God unto salvation is what I want you to focus on. If the Bible advocated a Pelagian or semi-Pelagian point of view, then it wouldn’t focus on God, but rather, man’s choice. The salvation would be the power of our joining with God, or the power of repentance. Instead, the Bible offers us only this - it is the power of God unto salvation. In modern Evangelical Christianity, we have what is essentially a one sided conversation - most Evangelicals espouse a doctrine that is pure Pelagianistic doctrine - that we are on the verge of drowning, and God throws us a lifeline to catch. Instead, as R. C. Sproul said in the movie “Calvinist”, we are dead at the bottom of the ocean - and God dragged us out, bringing us to life.

We do not call on God. God summons us. We do not respond because we believe - we believe because we are summoned and called.

We start the Gospel in one spot - the Wrath of God against ungodliness and unrighteousness. This is why Sovereign Grace starts with Total Depravity. We assume rightly that God will condemn all men to Hell for unrighteousness.

And God is just to do this. All we like sheep have gone astray

Point 2: The Wrath of God and the unrighteousness of man

God revealed Himself in Nature (Rom. 1:20), man gave Him not the Glory

Romans 1:20 is one of the verses every Christian should memorize. An Atheist said in an interview that if he met God, he would ask God why God made Himself so difficult to find.

It’s really simple - let me lay this out for you.

If the universe had an origin, then it has an originator.

Molecules do not simply detonate unless acted on by outside force. The atheist mind cannot conceive of nothing. They see vacuum in space, with floating matter in it, and assume that is the nothing, the void. Yet even they postulate all the matter in the universe compressed into a tiny spot, which explodes.

So, what external force caused the pressing? Well, its own mass, we are told. That would make sense if all the matter in the universe originated as one dense neutron star billions of light years wide. But if it originates as a cyclical free floating void such as scientists imagine nothing to be, there’s no mass to compress - so it wouldn’t be a massive neutron star. Indeed, it would not collapse unless - again - acted on by outside force.

What made the molecules? What made the gases? Who created the laws of nature? What keeps the laws of nature constant? Why would free floating atoms appear? From what source? The atheist solution is what is called begging the problem - someone else has the answer.

It’s a fancy way of saying, “I don’t know.”

The answers you seek are the answers to the questions I asked. If the universe was created, it had a creator. And if that Creator wanted to share the greatest scientific discovery in the world it would be His own eternal existence. He would do so in miraculous ways, and would make demands on mankind in the knowledge of His existence.

All this is consistent with the Bible. Why not the other religions? They don’t have the confirmation of history, the evidence of archaeology and eyewitnesses, and fulfilled prophecy.

Only Christianity.

Only the Bible.

Well, that was easy. And I didn’t have to discuss orbital mechanics to get there.

In Romans 1:20, we see in the Greek the term ἀναπολογήτους· anapologētous; the root word from which we get the term apologetics to defend the Christian faith. It’s roughly akin to saying “They have no defense in the judgment.”

Steven Runge writes:

Since in 1:20 Paul tells us that God has clearly made Himself known by revealing His divine attributes, we cannot blame our separation from God on our lack of knowledge. Rather, the problem stems from our response to the knowledge He gives. Verse 21 is pivotal for understanding this problem. Paul makes clear in 1:21 that although the people knew God, they chose not to honor Him as God and thus rejected His intended order. It’s not as if they misunderstood who He was; in fact, it was quite the opposite. They understood exactly who He was, but refused to honor Him as God (1:21). This initial rejection leads to even worse natural consequences: futile thinking and a darkening of their hearts (1:21).

God gave them up to uncleanness

Because the world refuses the wisdom given by God and a pursuit of holiness, God gives them up to foolishness.

Every way we examine the problem, man is inherently sinful.

We don’t accept God as revealed to us by nature. We should Glorify God as God. One of the most important understandings a person gets when they accept the Doctrines of Grace is an understanding of the sovereignty of God. When you truly understand who God is, you will Glorify God. God is powerful, righteous, and terrifying. Jesus even commanded us to fear Him who can condemn the soul to Hell. When you consider the might and power of God - and then consider He chose us from before time - it is an awe inspiring thought. It’s even much more amazing that God would even redeem us through Grace when minute by minute we turn our backs on God and reject Him, and slap Him in the face.

We rebelled in the garden of Eden, and passed a sinful, rebellious nature onto our children for all eternity. Every one of us are dead, according to the Bible. We are born spiritually dead, eternally in rebellion against almighty God. We exalt ourselves and love ourselves, and every now and then grudgingly think of God and give Him a brief thanks.

And that’s the actions of the Elect. That’s as good as we get.

Sinful inclinations lead to sins. Sins lead to more sins. Sin upon sin, sin after sin. We are addicted to sin.

You are dead in trespasses in sins.

Man worshipped the creation rather than the creator

When we look at the pagan religions, we see over and over again, men worship rocks. Carved wood. Molten images. Ourselves. Sports stars. Animals. Fish. Floppy, gelatinous fish that turn inside out if brought from the depths to the surface too quickly.

That’s your god.

Sheep, and cattle. That’s your god. Golden calves, silly things that drool copious amounts, that chew a cud. Cattle and sheep do nothing tremendous to inspire worship.

Sharks kill men in the waters, but they have no hands to make anything.

The most impressive of God’s creations is ourselves, and we die. We come into the world unable to care for ourselves, and most of the time, that’s how we leave the world.

This is your gods?

God gave them up to vile uncleanness

The more you depart from the truth, the more you become disposed to the lie. It’s not just you convincing yourself - it’s a divine punishment. If you seek to worship any other God than the God of the Bible, it will become easier and easier to worship that lie. Humans worship rivers. That’s really dumb. We worship trees. We carve them into idols. We carve rocks into idols. We may soften the blow by calling them “saints”, but we still pray to them, and that’s an essential part of idolatry.

God will allow a sinner to pursue sin. You want Sin? You know where it leads you. If you choose to add sin after sin after sin instead of God and His mercy, this is what you get - the Judgment of God. He will allow you to pursue it to your own destruction. God is infinite patience, but someday that patience will be exhausted.

Now, the objection to Sovereign Grace is this - if Man cannot accept Him without God leading man to Christ, then God is unjust. The point is, we ALL deserve Hell. Our judgment won’t be on whether you were predestined, but on the fact that all humanity has gone from unrighteousness to ungodliness, and now to uncleanness - and we do it willingly, day after day, hour after hour.

The point is not why does God predestine some - the point is why does God predestine ANY. Romans makes this point over and over again in this chapter.

God will allow a sinner to pursue sin. You want Sin? You know where it leads you. If you choose to add sin after sin after sin instead of God and His mercy, this is what you get - the Judgment of God. He will allow you to pursue it to your own destruction. God is infinite patience, but someday that patience will be exhausted.

Now, the objection to Sovereign Grace is this - if Man cannot accept Him without God leading man to Christ, then God is unjust. The point is, we ALL deserve Hell. Our judgment won’t be on whether you were predestined, but on the fact that all humanity has gone from unrighteousness to ungodliness, and now to uncleanness - and we do it willingly, day after day, hour after hour.

The point is not why does God predestine some - the point is why does God predestine ANY. Romans makes this point over and over again in this chapter.

man worships nature, but revels in that which is against nature

Men turned against women, and turned to men. Women turned against men and turned to women. We exalt nature, but deny it with our actions. Idolatry has consequences. It may take generations, but according to Scripture, it is inevitable.

Eph 2:1 “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,”

Romans 1:28-32 “And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.”

These five verses alone are sufficient to support the decisions of the early church at the council of Orange - Pelagianism, the belief that there is an uncorrupted spark in man that allows him to choose God, was denounced as unBiblical and heresy early in Church history.

We are utterly corrupt. Even if we could choose God, we would not.

Point 3: The unrighteousness of man reveals the righteousness of God

The unrighteousness of man answered by the incomparable righteousness of God

The entire focus of Romans is the single clearest presentation of the Gospel, in all its logical form. The focus on Romans 1 becomes this - the sinfulness of fallen man reveals the righteousness of God.

All men are unrighteous, utterly depraved, sinful, and lost in the eyes of a Righteous God, unless God elects them through the adoption of faith in Jesus Christ.

Our depravity reflects as pure evil as seen against the background of the glory and righteousness of God. This alone could serve as our judgment at the Great White Throne.

But there will be more at that judgment. God is utterly righteous, and utterly holy, In Him is no lie, no sin.

We reveal - by our own sinful nature - the righteousness of God. By ourselves, we deserve nothing but unending torment in hell.

The Cross - when viewed in this manner - becomes indescribable. There was no reason other than mercy and love that caused Christ to go to the Cross in our place. Only God could love like that. If you believe Christ was just a righteous man who went to the cross in your place, then He did not go in your place, and there remains only a certain fiery judgment.

God the Son willingly gave His life and endured suffering, torture and an agonizing death in your place on the Cross.

This is the good news, that you were saved simply by the grace and mercy of God, because of love, and that while we were enemies, Christ died for us.

Why is the church at Rome more righteous than the Roman people?

They give God the Glory, having obtained the adoption of faith through the election of Grace.

We often get the Gospel confused with the be-all and end-all of the Christian life - I got saved by God, all's good, forgiven, box checked. We're done. This is far from the truth. God doesn't just grade on a curve, we didn't need to take the test. Jesus's grade, so to speak, was applied to us. Failing grade removed, A+ given. This is the meaning of imputed righteousness. But the Christian is expected to go on beyond that, and we'll be speaking of this more as we get to the close of Romans in a few months.

The Roman church was praised for their faith, and clearly the persons described in the epistle as being condemned, without excuse do not include the Roman church. Why? What one thing separates them? They have faith, but faith in what? Faith is not an ephemeral substance like oil that you can touch. Faith must have an object.

As we discover through the rest of the epistle, it is faith in Christ that saves. A believing faith given by God as a gift. This is why we call it the "gift of faith", brought about by the sovereign election of God, predestined before history.

Everlasting judgment and death of the reprobate, mercy to the redeemed

The called grow towards goodness as best they can, hindered by sin and a fallen nature - while the reprobate fall more and more towards evil and sin after sin.

It is faith in Christ that saves

Matthew Henry writes that as a former Pharisee, Paul might have once said aphōrismenoi eis ton nomon; Separated unto the Law, but now as a Christian his claim is aphōrismenoi eis ton Euengelion; separated unto the Gospel.

We’ve gone a little long today, but I had to establish these truths in your hearing. Trust me when I say, I have glossed over this text to get through Romans 1 so quickly. Everything we will learn in the next few months will build upon what we’ve established today.

Let us pray.

Lord, we come before you in brokenness, begging You to be our God. Save us O Lord. Redeem us. We are broken in the knowledge of our sinfulness, as seen against Your holiness and glory.

Lead us in this coming week, O Father, help us to grow in Your grace and sanctification. In Jesus Name, we pray.

Numbers 6:24–26 NASB95PARA

The Lord bless you, and keep you; The Lord make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.’