God's Perfect Plan (Part 2)

SERMON:             GM15-052

SERIES:              Renewal Through Romans: The Gospel Defined, Explained &           Applied

SETTING:          North Kelso Baptist Church

SERVICE:          Sunday AM (April 5, 2015)

SECTION:          The Prologue to Righteousness (Romans 1:1-17)

SUBTITLE:        God’s Perfect Plan (Part 2)

SCRIPTURE:     Romans1:16b

SUBJECT:          God’s saves sinners through the gospel

SUMMARY:       You must believe in the Gospel’s ability to deliver you from your sins through the gospel

SCHEME:           That each member of NKBC fully understands the ability, or the capability of God to deliver His people from their sins through the gospel.

_____________________________________________________________

Our theme is: God saves through the gospel    

This is a good reminder for us all to remember that the gospel is designated as the only means of effective salvation.

 Proposition:  You must understand the ability of God to deliver His people from their sin through the gospel. 

Interrogatory Sentence:  What does the text reveal to us about the power of the gospel?

Transitional Sentence: From our passage we learn two very important truths about the power contained in the gospel:

·        …the gospel produces saving faith in sinners

·        …the gospel produces sanctifying faith in saints

God’s Perfect Plan

 Romans 1:16b

(Part 2)

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 through the gospel.

Translation:

“…for it is the power of God unto salvation for all who are believing….” (Romans 1:16b, GDM)

INTRODUCTION

Martin Luther once said:

"The life of Christianity consists of possessive pronouns". It is one thing to say, "Christ is a Savior"; it is quite another thing to say, "He is my Savior and my Lord." The devil can say the first; the true Christian alone can say the second.”

We can confidently say that Christ is our savior because of the confidence that we have in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul focuses on the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul now explains why he is so eager to preach the gospel in Rome.

It is the power of God unto salvation for all who are believing, and he says to the Jew first and then to Gentiles. Paul had absolute confidence in the gospel!

Don’t forget Paul was anxious to preach this gospel, he was not reluctant little bit. He had absolute confidence in this good news!

Paul had been imprisoned in Philippi, he had been run out of Thessalonica. He had to be smuggled out of Damascus and Berea. He had been laughed at and ridiculed in Athens and had been considered a fool in Corinth. He was considered a blasphemer and lawbreaker in Jerusalem. Don’t forget that the Jews had rejected Paul and even deemed him to be a heretic, or even worse an apostate. They considered him to be a defector from the faith. He had been stoned and left for dead in Lystra.

The pagans considered the gospel to be atheism; the Jews hated because they thought him to be subverting the law, and the Gentiles thought  he was a disturber of the peace. Not to mention that the thought of a “crucified” savior was both a stumbling block and foolishness.

Vincent made this comment in his Word Studies of the New Testament, “marking the transition from the introduction to the treatise, ‘I am ready to preach at Rome, for, though I might seem to be deterred by the contempt in which the gospel is held, and by the prospect of my own humiliation as its preacher, I am not ashamed of it.”

Henry Alford wrote this, “Yea, to you at Rome also for though your city be mistress of the world, thought your emperors be worshipped as deities, though you be elated by your pomp and luxuries and victories, yet I am not ashamed of the apparently mean origin of the gospel I preach.”

Do you get the picture? He was not ashamed of the gospel. He maintained his conviction of the value and truth of the gospel. He was not ashamed, and the truth is, he actually gloried in the gospel. He gloried in the display of effectual salvation in the gospel.

Our theme is: God saves through the gospel    

This is a good reminder for us all to remember that the gospel is designated as the only means of effective salvation.

 Proposition:  You must understand the ability of God to deliver His people from their sin through the gospel. 

Interrogatory Sentence:  What does the text reveal to us about the power of the gospel?

Transitional Sentence: From our passage we learn two very important truths about the power contained in the gospel:

·        …the gospel produces saving faith in sinners

·        …the gospel produces sanctifying faith in saints

Most letters were written for a specific purpose or reason. As each letter is different, they may contain a number of items or be filled with varying information. Usually letters are written for a specific purpose. We are now dealing with Paul’s purpose for writing this letter to the believers @ Rome.

We have already stated that Paul has waited until now, until what we call or know as our 16^th verse to inform his readers what his specific theme or purpose was in writing to them. We have now 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.

IOW, we are looking at God’s Perfect Plan.

[Before we continue to dig in to Paul’s theme, and this perfect plan of God, let’s take a minute and…]

REVIEW

[Last week we began looking at God’s perfect plan by seeing that God’s perfect plan included…]

The Gospel Produces Saving Faith for Sinners (16a)

Paul is extremely confident in the gospel. Paul knows exactly what the gospel is and what God can do through the gospel.  Paul’s primary objective is preach the gospel to the believers in the Roman congregation.

[Last week we looked very carefully at the first way that the gospel produces saving faith for sinners by carefully examining…

 Paul’s Extraordinary Statement

Paul stated with no equivocation “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of God…”

Why? Why was Paul not ashamed of the gospel? He was not ashamed of the gospel because of the content of the gospel. He is eager to preach the gospel because of the content of the gospel    

So Paul is not ashamed. But the truth is many people are ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are well aware of the fact that the world ridicules the gospel and the world rejects the gospel. 

Last time we were together we looked at five (5) reasons people are ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ and why the gospel is so hated. Briefly, those five (5) reasons are:

·        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 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. Christianity and the gospel is the exact opposite of the world and al that it holds near and dear. The world hates that.

[The fourth (4^th) reason hates the gospel is…]

·        Because of its mission

The gospel condemns a man, it tells he needs to be saved, and that he cannot save himself. 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.

 [Fifth and Finally, the world hates the gospel is…]

Because of its Mainspring – its origin

The gospel emanates from God and not the world. It comes from the ultimate source of light, righteousness, and holiness. Men hate those things.

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 mainspring (or its origin.)

This is why Paul made such an extraordinary statement, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel…”

[Let’s move to our…]

TRUTH FOR TODAY

[Now, let’s continue in God’s Perfect Plan by examining…]

2E     Paul’s Explanatory Speech (16b-c)

“…for it [gospel] is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes, both to the Jew first and to the Greek.”

The remainder of this verse reveals two (2) disclosures contained in Paul’s explanatory speech. Paul’s discloses first of all, the resource of saving faith and he discloses, secondly the recipients of saving faith.

[So, let’s examine the first disclosure of Paul’s declaration and that is…]

1F     THE RESOURCE OF SAVING FAITH

          “…for it is the power of God unto salvation…”

          This morning I would like to at least begin sharing with you at the very least three           (3) elements of this wonderful resource of saving faith. These elements are The           Gospel Rescues Us, The Gospel Reconciles Us, and The Gospel Restores Us.

          [The first element of the resource of saving faith is…] 

1G     The Gospel Rescues Us

          There are five aspects to the fact that the Gospel Rescues Us; they are:

          The gospel’s substance, the gospel’s strategy, the gospel’s source, the gospel’s            sufficiency, and the gospel’s scope.

[Let’s begin by looking at the first aspect…]

The Substance of the Gospel – what is the gospel? What makes up the gospel?

First of all, the word “gospel” means good news. It refers to glad tidings. The gospel is the good news of eternity, it is actually the goodest news, or of the best news of eternity!

Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote: “It is by far the most wonderful and astounding message that man can hear.” [1]

Secondly and interesting enough, the word for “gospel” was originally applied to the announcement of victory in war. The news could only be good if you won a significant battle or even the war.

As time went on the word was applied to other messages or news that brought good feelings or joy.

Thirdly, the word for gospel, euangelion is used some 75 times in the NT. It became attached to the good news of deliverance or salvation. Basically the good news, or the gospel is that God, through Jesus Christ, fulfilled His promise to Israel which opened a way of salvation or deliverance for all types or kinds of men.

In ancient times, if you remember, good news was “heralded” or delivered by the means of “town-criers” who would walk through town shouting out good new, or glad tidings.

For example, they would shout out things like…

·        The Emperor had recovered from some type of sickness

·        The Empress or Queen had delivered a baby, preferably a son to be heir

·        Peace had been made with a warring country

·        A great harvested had been reaped which meant food for all.

And so, you get the picture! These things are good news. Well the gospel is good news also.

The substance of the resource of saving faith is the gospel. The gospel was originally a regular word in everyday vocabulary came to be known as the good news or glad tidings that God had provided a means of salvation of sinners through Jesus Christ.

[The second aspect in the resource of saving faith is…]

The Strategy of the Gospel -   what does the gospel do? What is the aim or plan of the gospel. It is a way of salvation

[Look at what Paul writes…]

“…it is the power of God unto salvation…”

Salvation is a very important word in the NT! You find this word throughout the NT in almost every gospel, every epistle, every narrative, and revelation.

What does salvation mean?

The dictionary basically says that salvation is a deliverance from danger or difficulty. The Greek word carries the idea of deliverance, preservation, safety, or salvation from an enemy. It also is used to signify deliverance from sin and used in reference to the safety of the soul.

Paul actually glories or boasts in this word, this idea of salvation. It is a great word and I think we need to really understand it in order to fully appreciate it. And so, we ask again,

What Does Salvation Mean?

First of all, it does mean to deliver one from their sins.

Now, if we are delivered from our sins, we have to ask ourselves, how are we delivered from our sins, or in what way? 

There seems to be at least four (4) ways in which we are delivered from our sin.

[First…]

·        We are delivered from the problem of sin.

What is the major problem we face or experience as a result of sin? Our Guiltiness! We are guilty of sin. If you don’t already understand our guilt and its devastating problem you will. Paul spends a great deal of time and ink from verse 18 all the way through chapter three and verse twenty to establish the fact that the entire world is guilty before God. Our guilt is a very serious problem.

Because we are guilty we are condemned. All of mankind is guilty before God. Salvation delivers us from the guilt. Salvation delivers from the condemnation and wrath of God. So Paul is not ashamed of the gospel because it delivers us from being guilty of being a sinner that has violated the righteousness of God.

Aren’t you glad you are not guilty before God now? There must be almost nothing    as devastating as having a jury or a judge conclude a trial with the words “guilty.”

I have sat on 4 different trials and in each of them I was elected the jury foreman. After hearing the evidence and weighing the evidence, the judge would ask if we had reached a verdict, and each time I said, “Yes your honor, we find the defendant guilty." The defendant’s fate was sealed.

We will talk more on this as we make our way through the next section. For now, the strategy of the resource of salvation is to deliver us from being our guiltiness.

[Secondly, salvation means…]

·        We are delivered from the power of sin

If you understand the fall of Adam and sin you know mankind is under the dominion of Satan. Man is bound by sin, he is in bondage to sin. Mankind lost his freedom in the fall of Adam in the Garden of Eden. When man is conceived and is born he is under the power of the prince of the power of the air, or the spirit that works disobedience. Sin is a terrible taskmaster, it is a slave owner. Man is a slave to sin and sin’s absolute power, when they are apart from Christ. The lost sinner does not have a free-will. Read The Bondage of the Will by Martin Luther or The Freedom of the Will by Jonathan Edwards.

         

The much larger problem is that no man can free himself from the power of sin. The gospel delivers us from the power of sin. You are going to see this in great detail beginning in chapter five, verse twelve and in chapter six.

[Thirdly, salvation means…]

·        We will be delivered from the pollution of sin

What do I mean by pollution?

This is the sin that is in our nature, every part of our being is polluted by sin. Every ounce of our being is polluted by sin. Our members, or our body parts are unwilling instruments of our sin nature. We are perverted and twisted in our nature. Inside of us is something that tempts, entices, and drags us down. This is why Paul told the Romans in chapter 6:

“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” (Romans 6:13, NKJV)

This is the main reason why we sin. Yes, there are times the devil’s demons and minions influence us to sin. There are times the philosophy of this world influences us to sin. But the main reason we sin is that we have a sin nature that lives inside us that wars against the HS who indwells us and it entices and lures us to sin in order to satisfy the desires of our flesh.

The sad truth is all of the unsaved and many saved people live according to the dictatorship of their own flesh. Flesh, the sin nature is something that we have to put to death.

But through salvation there is a day coming in which we will be delivered from the pollution inside of us. We will be saved from the sin nature when we are transformed into our glorified bodies. Then there will be no more sin in our flesh. We will no longer be controlled by the lusts or the desires of our flesh.

So, we will be delivered from the problem of sin and from the power of sin and from the pollution of sin. There is a 4^th idea to consider when we think about deliverance and salvation. 

[That is…]

·        .We will delivered from the presence of sin

There is coming a day when sin is totally destroyed and we will live forever in an environment that is absolutely free from sin.

Salvation delivers us from the problem, power, pollution, and presence of sin.

Christ will finally put Satan, the unredeemed, and sin into the lake of fire. All remaining will be in transformed and glorified bodies. Sin will exist only in hell. We will live here on earth for eternity in the absolute absence of sin.

[The third aspect in the resource of saving faith is…]

The Source of the Gospel - it is God’s way of salvation

Not only is this resource a “way” or a means of salvation, it is God’s way of salvation. The source, the originator of salvation is God.

This is another extremely important reason that Paul gives for not being ashamed of the gospel of God, it is the power of God unto salvation.

This salvation is God’s way! The gospel is God’s way of saving men. God could choose to save men anyway that he wanted to. The gospel is the means by which God has determined how he would save human beings from their sin and their eternal destruction.

I don’t mean to be overly simplistic but it is crucial that we understand this. There is no plan of man, there is no means that can save except by the plan God has provided.

The gospel is the greatest plan that could ever be devised because it is God’s plan. This is why all of the glory goes to God.

·        God ordained salvation – he determined that he would save some men

·        God provided salvation – he provided his only Son as an acceptable offering

·        God initiated salvation – he sent forth his Spirit to regenerate recipients

·        God secured salvation – he gave the gift of faith and repentance

·        God assured salvation – he keeps and preserves those who are his

Well, the gospel certainly rescues us doesn’t it?

The gospel is substantive – it is God’s good news to man

The gospel is strategic – it saves from the problem, power, and pollution of sin

The gospel is sourced – it comes from God and God alone

Our theme has been: God saves through the gospel    

This is a good reminder for us all to remember that the gospel is designated as the only means of effective salvation.

 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

I want to conclude with just a few lines from John Piper:

“The best news of the Christian gospel is that the supremely glorious Creator of the universe has acted in Jesus Christ's death and resurrection to remove every obstacle between us and himself so that we may find everlasting joy in seeing and savoring his infinite beauty." (John Piper)

Here in this explanatory speech of Paul, we see the resource of saving faith, it is God. Because this saving faith is of God we have absolute confidence in the gospel. God has acted in such a way so as to instill the greatest of confidence in our hearts.

 So, I exhort you as genuine believers to: live in the light of the fact that you have been rescued by God through his means of salvation.

Remember, the writer of Hebrews wrote in Hebrews 3:14…

“For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end.”  (Hebrews 3:14, 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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[1] The Gospel of God, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, (Carlisle: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2012), p. 271