SERMON: GM15-051
SERIES: Renewal Through Romans: The Gospel Defined, Explained
& Applied
SETTING: North Kelso Baptist Church
SERVICE: Sunday AM (March 22, 2015)
SECTION: The
Prologue to Righteousness (Romans 1:1-17)
SUBTITLE: God's Perfect Plan (Part 1)
SCRIPTURE: Romans1:16a
SUBJECT: It is good to experience confidence
SUMMARY: You must believe in the Gospel’s ability to deliver you
from your sins.
SCHEME: That each member of NKBC fully trusts in the gospel for its sanctifying
work
_____________________________________________________________
Our theme is: It is good to experience
confidence
This
is a good reminder for us all to remember that the gospel is designed to more
than simply save people from their sins. The gospel is the means by which the
HS uses in your daily sanctification.
Proposition: You
must understand the ability of God to deliver His people from their sin and how
he sanctifies his people.
Interrogatory Sentence: What does the text reveal to
us about confidence in the gospel?
Transitional Sentence: From
our passage we learn two very important truths about Paul’s confidence in the
gospel:
·
…the gospel produces saving faith in sinners
·
…the gospel produces sanctifying faith in saints
God's Perfect Plan
Romans 1:16a
(Part 1)
3A The Theme of Romans
Objective: That each
member of NKBC fully understands the ability, or the capability of God to
deliver His people from their sins.
Translation:
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it
is the power of God unto salvation for all who are believing, Jew first and
Greeks. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith unto faith;
as it is written the righteous by faith shall live.” (Romans 1:16-17,
GDM)
INTRODUCTION
George
Whitfield said, “The
righteousness of Jesus Christ is one of those great mysteries, which the angels
desire to look into, and seems to be one of the first lessons that God taught
men after the fall.”
Johnathan
Edwards once said, “If
there be ground for you to trust in your own righteousness, then, all that
Christ did to purchase salvation, and all that God did to prepare the way for
it is in vain.”
[Please, allow me to give you a…]
Definition
of Righteousness –
Righteousness is the moral
state of perfection that God, because of His own righteous character and nature
demands of any who would exist within His immediate presence.
IOW, because God is absolutely sinless and
absolutely perfect any being, or any person that comes into His presence must
also be absolutely sinless and absolutely perfect.
But, there is a problem, man is not sinless nor
is man perfect. Therefore there exists…
Dilemma
of Man
The bible clearly states that human beings
cannot achieve righteousness through their own efforts:
“Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s
sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of
our sin.” (Romans 3:20, NIV)
The Law of God or the Ten
Commandments shows us how far we fall short of God’s standards. The only
solution to the dilemma is God’s plan of salvation, the gospel!
Our theme today
is: It
is good to experience confidence
This
is a good reminder for us all to examine the intensity of Paul’s desire to
visit Rome in order to clearly explain the ability of God to deliver his people
from their sins.
Proposition: You must understand the ability of God to deliver His
people from their sin.
Interrogatory Sentence: What does the text reveal to
us about Paul’s confidence in the gospel?
Transitional Sentence: From
our passage we learn two very important truths about Paul’s confidence in the
gospel:
·
…the gospel produces saving faith in sinners
·
…the gospel produces sanctifying faith in saints
Paul
has waited until now, until what we call or know as our 16th verse
to inform his readers what his specific theme was in writing to them. We know
come to the great theme of this magnificent and powerful letter: the ability of God to save his people from
their sins through the gospel of Jesus Christ and the ability of God to
sanctify his people as his saints.
[Before we dig in to Paul’s
theme, let’s take a minute and…]
REVIEW
[Last week we took a good
look at the first clue in determining…]
Paul’s Argument for Visiting
Rome (14-15)
Paul
seems to be perfectly clear in what his argument was for was for visiting this
church. Last week we saw that Paul is very confident about the gospel. He knows
exactly what the gospel is and what the gospel can do.
We began
to discover Paul’s argument in verses 14-15. This first clue begins to tell us
what the teaching of this letter really is.
So,
we asked ourselves what does Paul’s argument actually prove. Last week we began
looking at the first aspect of Paul’s argument that he wanted to make to this
church. We began looking at:
The Gospel Produces Saving
Faith for Sinners (14-16)
Paul
is confident about the gospel. He knows exactly what the gospel is and what God
can do through the gospel. [We saw the
first way that the gospel produces saving faith for sinners by looking at its’…]
Demand to be preached
“I am a
debtor…”
(14a)
Paul
says I am a debtor. I am under a necessity. I am under an obligation. This
obligation on Paul fell on Paul when he was converted by God and commissioned
to be an ambassador of God to the Gentiles. We saw that in Acts 9.
When
we looked at this phrase we saw that at least five major things became very
evident.
First – Paul is stating, or really asserting, that he is the possessor of something that he can give.
He
has something that he can give to others. Paul has the gospel. He has firsthand
knowledge of the gospel. Paul has the gospel to give. So do you.
Second – Paul states, or asserts that he is able to give this give to everybody or anyone.
Look
again at what he says, “…both to Greeks and to barbarians…” and “…both
to wise, and to unwise.”
Third – Paul states or asserts that he has something he is able to give.
Everybody
needs the gospel. And Paul says I can give it to everybody. This seems similar
but it is different. Paul could preach in the palace, the university but also
in the slums, the jails, and streets. It didn’t matter to him, he had a message
and he was ready and able to impart it. To the cultured and to the uncultured,
to the educated or uneducated, Paul was able to get on their level and share
his message.
Fourth – Paul states or asserts that he has something to give and that all people need it.
You
cannot read the scriptures, particularly Romans chapter 3 and not come to the
same conclusion that Paul did; everybody needs the gospel.
“So, as much
as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also.”
In
the church, out of the church, in the community, educated, the uneducated, the
Greek or a barbarian, people need the Lord.
Fifth – Paul states or asserts that he must
give it. - “I am
a debtor…”
Paul
feels compelled to preach this gospel. Remember what he told the Corinthians? “Woe
to me if I do not preach the gospel?” (1 Cor 9:16b)
Why
did Paul feel that he had a debt or was under obligation to give or preach this
gospel?
·
He was commissioned to preach the gospel.
·
Paul was well aware of the tremendous need of sinners.
·
The gospel itself placed an obligation of Paul.
·
Paul had been a persecutor of those who had become believers.
[And so, we looked carefully
at the first way that the gospel produces saving faith for sinners and that was
by its demand to be preached…]
[Let’s move to our…]
TRUTH FOR TODAY
Before we begin taking a
deep look at this first, let’s make a few observations:
First
observation – Paul’s primary objective is
preach the gospel to the believers in the Roman congregation.
Why? He is eager to preach the gospel because of
the content of the gospel. Contained
in the gospel is the saving power of God. Paul explains the gospel in great
detail so that the Roman congregation will understand why he is so anxious to
preach the gospel in Spain, and in the West, and why he wants to enlist their
help.
It is the content
of the gospel that gives Paul the extraordinary confidence and boldness to preach the gospel in places where it has not been known.
The righteousness of God and the righteous
requirements of God pertaining to salvation are found in the gospel.
How is
one justified and enabled to live in the presence of God? The answer is clearly revealed in the gospel.
Second observation – Verse 16 marks the beginning of
a new section in chapter one. Paul has come to an end of his personal
references to himself and his calling in verse 15.
Remember in verses 1-7 Paul utilizes the
typical greeting of his day as he begin his letter. In verse 8-15 Paul makes some
general statements about himself.
Now, Paul finishes his thoughts about his
desire to visit this congregation and his relationship to them. Now he moves to
a new unit of thought.
This new unit of thought is actually the theme
or the subject of the entire letter. This
verse is an extremely important transition.
Third observation we make is that there is no
fan-fare. Someone once said, “Paul glides from one theme to another
theme.” There is no, “Now hear this.” This theme is simply stated. No
flourish – no drum roll if you please – just a natural movement in his thought.
[Now,
the second way that the gospel produces
saving faith for sinners is seen in its’…]
Demonstration of God’s
Power.
God
power is demonstrated for all to clearly see in two (2) different ways: The
Gospel Produces Saving Faith for Sinners, and secondly, the Gospel
Produces Sanctifying Faith for Saints.
[To
see the fact that the gospel produces saving faith for sinners, let’s begin
with…]
PAUL’S EXTRAORDINARY STATEMENT
(VS. 16a)
Look at the extraordinary
way Paul introduced his statement:
“For I am not
ashamed of the gospel of God…”
Why did
Paul say, “I am not ashamed of the gospel?
First of all, the word “not” is an adverb. It
modifies the verb ashamed.
Second, the word not is a primary word which when
used causes the meaning of “absolutely negative.”
In other words, Paul is absolutely, positively,
and completely unashamed of the gospel of Christ. As a matter of fact this is
actually what we know as “a negative of a contrary assertion.”
IOW, to say that Paul is not ashamed means that
he is really saying that he glories or boasts in the gospel. He brags about it.
Let me
illustrate:
In Acts
21:39 (ESV) we read, “Paul replied, I am a Jew, from Tarsus in
Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city.” What did he mean “no mean city?”
He meant he was from a very important city. The
statement actually asserts the opposite. Paul boasts in the gospel rather than
is ashamed by it.
Paul wrote, “…I am not ashamed of the gospel of
Christ…”
Before we look at verse in detail, I think we
have to ask ourselves, why would anyone be ashamed of the gospel? I think that
there are at least two (2) reasons.
[The first reason is that:]
The World
Ridicules the Gospel
The unsaved sees the gospel as absolutely
foolish. The gospel is contemptible.
Paul is helping the Romans to bear the reproach
of the gospel
·
The Jews rejected the gospel
·
The Greeks thought it was
foolish
·
The Pharisees & religious
crowd hated it
So, the world ridicules the gospel.
[The second reason is that…]
The
world rejects the gospel
Why does
the world hate the gospel?
Let me give you five (5) reasons why the world
hates the gospel. The world hates the gospel…
·
Because of its message
The gospel proclaims that men are under the
condemnation of God. This is the first thing a sinner needs to be told. They
were condemned in Adam and were condemned as they were born. We can’t give the
good news until we have established the bad news. The message of the gospel is
that men are condemned, judged, and they are doomed.
The gospel proclaims that men are sinners in
need of salvation. Men are sinners but men also possess a sin nature. Man’s
very being is encased in sin. Men must understand that not only do their
actions and attitudes offend God, but their very being offends God.
The gospel proclaims Jesus was crucified on a
cross as a criminal and claimed to be king and a savior. The message of death
is rejected by almost everyone and anyone.
The very
essence of the gospel produces hatred, ridicule and shame!
[The
second reason the world hates the gospel is…]
·
Because of its meaning
The heart of the gospel is that it is a statement of fact. The gospel is not theory, it is not
philosophy. The gospel is not merely an idea among ideas. It is a statement of
fact about a real savior who came to save real sinners. Men are sinners in
reality not in theory!
[The
third reason the world hates the gospel is…]
·
Because of its misalignment
What I mean by that is that the gospel is
opposite of all that the world holds to be true. Think about it:
World – look out for #1/take care of #1
Christ – deny self/die to self
World – find yourself, find your life
Christ – lose yourself, lose your life
World – accumulate everything/grab all you can
Christ – give it away, hang on to nothing, to be rich
is to be poor
You know, the way up is down, the way to be
first is to be last, the way to live is to die. And so on and so on it goes. Do
you get it? Christianity and the gospel is the exact opposite of the world and
all that it holds near and dear. The world hates that.
Let’s
stop and make an observation:
When you think about it, the ridicule,
rejection, and ranting against the gospel can serve as a test. These negative
things can be a test to see what you really understand the gospel to be.
Here is
the test!
The gospel is always offensive to the unsaved
or the natural man. The gospel is always ridiculed and held in contempt.
The test is what do you believe the gospel to
be –is your gospel offensive to the world? Does the wicked and the unsaved hate
your gospel?
Does the
world hate your gospel?
If properly preached or shared they will hate
it! If the world does not hate our gospel, your gospel, your message, and your
faith, then there is something wrong.
Martyn Lloyd-Jones used to say, “If you find the world, the unsaved man
praising the preaching or the message then I say you had better examine that
preaching and that preacher very carefully.”
Geoffrey Wilson wrote: “The unpopularity of a crucified Christ has prompted many to present a
message which is more palatable to the unbeliever, but the removal of the
offense of the cross always renders the message ineffective. An inoffensive
gospel is also an inoperative gospel. Thus Christianity is wounded most in the
house of its friends.”
John MacArthur said, “If the truth offends, then let I offend. People have lived their whole
lives in offense to God; let them be offended for a while.”
[Well, there is a fourth (4th) reason that
men ridicule, reject, and rant against the gospel, and that is…]
Because
of its mission
The
gospel condemns a man, it tells he needs to be
saved, and that he cannot save himself.
If you present Christ as a hero men will love
him! No one is offended by that. Tell them he is a great example and they will
applaud him.
Tell a sinner that Christ condemns him and he
will hate you. Tell them that God demands perfection, righteousness for salvation
and they will turn on you.
The world hates the gospel because it condemns
them, its mission is to show their lostness and then how God will use it to
demonstrate his power to save them.
Present Jesus as someone who wants to help
them, make them happy, healthy, and wealthy and they will love you. Tell them
God hates the wicked and is at enmity with them and they will hate you.
The world will not sing Charles Wesley’s song
that says Vile and full of sin I am.
The world hates the gospel and is ashamed of it
because it condemns the world.
But Paul was not ashamed of the gospel. He knew
that it was made to show that man is vile and full of sin. As a matter of fact,
as we have already said, Paul boasted in the gospel.
Paul did not, nor can we preach the gospel to
the lost simply as “a beautiful teaching.” If we do, the gospel will never cut
and offend them.
How is
the gospel preached to day?
·
Jesus can solve all your
problems
·
Jesus loves you and has a wonderful
plan for your life
·
Have trouble? Let Jesus take
them all away
Well, people are ashamed of the gospel because
the world sees the gospel as a ridiculous thing, because the gospel is a
statement of fact and not a philosophy or a choice among many, because it is
opposite of all that world loves, because it heavily convicts, and because it
condemns the sinner.
[Finally,
the world hates the gospel and men are ashamed of it…]
The
gospel emanates from God and not the world
Therefore the gospel is
·
Supreme – it trumps any
“plan” of man
·
Sufficient – nothing else is
needed
·
Simplistic – it is not a
complicated system of hoops, mazes, and mystery.
The world, the lost, the unsaved are God-haters
and hate anything that comes from God.
For
example:
John 3:19 says, “And this is the condemnation that the light has come into the world
and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.”
Romans 1 gives a pretty ugly description of
unsaved men, and includes in verse 30 that the unsaved are, “…haters
of God…”
Well, Paul is making two
very strong arguments:
·
The Gospel demands to be preached
(14-15)
·
The Gospel demonstrates God’s power (16-17)
The
gospel demonstrates God’s power in the fact that it produces saving faith in
sinners. We barely scratched the surface of this powerful statement as we
looked at Paul’s extraordinary statement; “For I am not ashamed of the gospel…”
The
World ridicules and rejects the gospel. The world ridicules and rejects the
gospel because of its message, its meaning, its misalignment, its mission,
and its origin.
Next,
week Lord willing we will take a close look at Paul’s Explanatory Statement.
Our theme today
has been:
It is good to experience confidence
I
think this is a good reminder for us all to examine the intensity of Paul’s
desire to visit Rome in order to clearly explain the ability of God to deliver his
people from their sins.
Proposition: You must understand the ability of God to deliver His
people from their sin through the gospel.
[But for now, let’s wrap
this up, shall we?]
CONCLUSION
Let’s
conclude with a humorous story from former NFL coach John McKay.
He
tells a story illustrating the supreme and absolute confidence of University of
Alabama football coach Bear Bryant:
"We
were out shooting ducks, and finally, after about three hours, here comes one
lonely duck. The Bear fires. And that duck is still flying today.
But
Bear watched the duck flap away, looked at me and said, 'John, you are
witnessing a genuine miracle. There flies a dead duck!'" We
was so confident that he hit his target.
Our
confidence is not in our own abilities that can sometimes hit or miss the
target. Our confidence is in the gospel which demonstrates the power of God to
save those who trust in it.
And So, I
exhort you as genuine believers to:
·
Examine your understanding of the gospel – do
you really know that the gospel is and why it is so crucial?
·
Examine the message, meaning, and the mission
of the gospel – meditate on the gospel, absorb the gospel, let it soak into you in
order for you to fully appreciate the gospel of Christ.
·
Examine whether you are ashamed of the gospel
or not – If you are ashamed, ask God to reveal to you
why you are ashamed. Are there aspects of the gospel that embarrass you? If
there is fix it. Stop it!
·
Examine
how not being ashamed of the gospel affects your life personally and your walk
with God -
make a list!
Remember
Simon Peter wrote in 1 Peter 2:6…
“Therefore it is also
contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect,
precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.” (1 Peter 2:6, NKJV)
Let’s
pray! J
Benediction Blessing:
“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be
with you all. Amen. (Philippians 4:23, NKJV)
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