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Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Friday, 17 May 2024:
Note: Here is a short video overview of the first four chapters of Romans: https://youtu.be/ej_6dVdJSIU
Romans 1:1 — Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God….
Paul uses the word “gospel” four times in the first chapter of Romans, a word that is used over 90 times in the New Testament. Paul says that he has been set apart for the gospel, that he serves with his spirit “in the gospel,” that he is eager to preach the gospel, and certainly not ashamed of the gospel which is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” Jesus preached the gospel and then called us to preach the gospel to “all creation.” So, what is the gospel?
Without digging into the entire word study (though recommended if you have the time), the word “gospel” means “good news.” So, what is this good news for which Paul and so many others have been willing to give their very lives to share? Most Christians will say that the good news is that God has provided the way to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Yes, but from what are we saved? Most Christians would answer, “saved from our sins.” However, first and foremost, we are saved from God Himself, from His wrath against us as sinners —
“The gospel is called the ‘good news’ because it addresses the most serious problem that you and I have as human beings, and that problem is simply this: God is holy and He is just, and we are not. And at the end of our lives, we are going to stand before a just and holy God, and we’ll be judged. And we’ll be judged either on the basis of my own righteousness–or lack of it–or the righteousness of Another. The good news of the gospel is that Jesus lived a life of perfect righteousness, of perfect obedience to God, not for His own well-being but for His people. He has done for us what we couldn’t possibly do for ourselves. But not only has He lived that life of perfect obedience, He offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice to satisfy the justice and the righteousness of God.
The great misconception in our day is this: that God isn’t concerned to protect His own integrity. He’s a kind of wishy-washy deity, who just waves a wand of forgiveness over everybody. No. For God to forgive you is a very costly matter. It cost the sacrifice of His own Son. So valuable and so powerful was that sacrifice that God pronounced its value and power by raising Him from the dead– Christ died for us, and He was raised for our justification.
So, the gospel is something objective. It is the message of who Jesus is and what He did. And it also has a subjective dimension. How are the benefits of Jesus subjectively appropriated to us? How do I get it? The Bible makes it clear that we are justified not by our works, not by our efforts, not by our deeds, but by faith–and by faith alone. The only way you can receive the benefit of Christ’s life and death is by putting your trust in Him–and in Him alone. You do that, you’re declared just by God, you’re adopted into His family, you’re forgiven of all of your sins, and you have begun your pilgrimage for eternity.” (R.C. Sproul)
After Paul’s opening greetings and overview of the gospel which “is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes,” the gospel of “Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace,” he immediately turns to “the wrath of God [being] revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.” It is the awfulness of God’s wrath that warrants the urgency for salvation and displays the true magnitude of Gods mercy, grace, and love through Jesus Christ.
Unfortunately, too many have lost perspective of the Holiness of God and the seriousness of God’s wrath. God’s wrath doesn’t preach well today. Sinners are often characterized as merely misguided “victims” of circumstances, and sins are just “mistakes,” no longer something for which a person can be held totally accountable. Today’s more popular God has little if any wrath, rather affection all the time; He is now accepting and tolerant of anyone and everyone because “He understands that we are just human.” However, the good news is only as good as the impending bad news — the looming wrath of God. Where there is no sin, there is no need of a savior, the good news becomes seemingly less relevant, certainly not worth total life commitment. Remember, the first recorded word preached by both John the Baptist and Jesus was “repent,” a word uses 65 times in the Bible but less and less from pulpits.
“The preaching of divine wrath serves as a black velvet backdrop that causes the diamond of God’s mercy to shine brighter than ten thousand suns. It is upon the dark canvas of divine wrath that the splendor of His saving grace most fully radiates. Preaching the wrath of God most brilliantly showcases His gracious mercy toward sinners.” (Steven Lawson, Tabletalk Magazine, Ligonier Ministries)
- Revelation 4:8 — Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!
- Revelation 8:13 — Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth.”
- Psalm 51:17 — The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
- Matthew 5:3 — Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
- Romans 6:23 — For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- John 14:6 — Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
- Acts 4:12 — And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
- Proverbs 28:13 — Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.
- 1 John 1:9 — If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
- 2 Corinthians 5:17 — Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Romans 1:5 – …we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations….
Christ’s Ambassadors were saved to call others to saving faith and obedience empowered by faith in and love for Jesus.
Romans 1:7 – To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints….
Rome was an ethically corrupt society. Those who are loved by God are called to be saints in a fallen world.
Romans 1:8 – First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.
Is your faith being reported all over the world?
Romans 1:9, 10 – For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you.
The love of Christ compels Christians to love others earnestly, pray for them continually, and do all they can to draw them closer to Jesus.
Romans 1:11, 12 – For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.
God wants Christians to earnestly seek to encourage one another and strengthen each other in their faith. Is this a top priority in your life?
Romans 1:14, 15 – I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
You are obligated to preach the Gospel to all people, eagerly without favoritism.
Romans 1:16 – 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.
Paul realized that some would be ashamed to preach the Gospel, but Paul reminds us that faith in God and love for others should overcome any shame.
Romans 1:18 – For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
World events reveal God’s wrath and a suppression of the truth of the Gospel.
Romans 1:19 – For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
Unbelievers have enough evidence to believe in God if they want to.
Romans 1:21 – …their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
The more you reject the truth, the less likely you will ever accept it.
Romans 1:22 – Claiming to be wise, they became fools….
Unbelievers believe they are wiser than believers.
Romans 1:24 — Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts.
As the old preachers says, whenever you see the word “therefore” in the Bible, you should ask, “What is it there for?” This word points to a relationship of causation and signals that you can’t understand what is going to be said next without understanding what precedes it. So, “God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts” for a specific reason that is critical to our understanding: “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools.” Paul reiterates the point – “they exchanged the truth about God for a lie…. since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done…. Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.” God turned them over to their lusts because they rejected Him as God. Having chosen to reject God and disobey Him, their thinking became futile until their hearts lost all desire for God. This is a pride that God hates. (Proverbs 8:13) They became completely desensitized to their sin and went from bad to worse. Paul says that, in observing this, the discerning can see the “wrath of God” being revealed.
Ultimately, all sin is a rejection of God (even but for just a moment); it is treason, it is subversion, an affront to the Lordship of God. Knowing that God is God, knowing that Jesus Christ paid for our sins through His blood, we willingly continue in that which He abhors – unthinkable! Fortunately, the Good News, as Paul points out, is that God gives us grace and peace through the Lord Jesus Christ, but this gift is certainly nothing to take lightly. With grace comes apostleship (or discipleship) “to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of His name among all nations.” (Romans 1:5) Having received grace, we now “belong to Jesus Christ.” Just as rejection of God has a consequence of destruction, grace and salvation through faith has an obedience consequence, driving us to follow God in love (rather than fear or mere duty). The saved don’t just “believe in God” they surrender their lives to Him, becoming disciples, intent on making more disciples who “obey” all that God commands – this is the Great Commission.
The goal of salvation is not that God will bless our lives and that we go to Heaven; the goal of salvation is that we glorify God and enjoy Him forever, that we grow in love and unity with Him and encourage others to do the same. We deny self, take up the Cross of Christ, and follow Jesus. In opposition to the world, the follower of Christ can only hate evil. (Proverbs 8:13) The one who hates evil won’t take it lightly, make light of it or overlook it. To do so, by definition, would be to make light of grace, or as Paul says, to trample underfoot the Son of God, to profane the blood of the covenant, and to outrage the Spirit of grace. (Hebrews 10:29) Today, the vast majority of Christians in America will entertain themselves with various forms of media which glorify that which God abhors, slowly desensitizing themselves to the horrors of sin. This should never be! It is time for repentance. Pray for revival (which must come from God).
Unbelief is often revealed by sexual sin.
Romans 1:26, 27 – For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions.
Homosexuality as with all other sexual sins (promiscuity, pornography, adultery, etc.) is the consequence of rejection of God’s truth.
Romans 1:29-31 – They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
Like homosexuality, many other sins are the consequence of rejection of God’s truth.
Romans 1:32 – They not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
Approving of sin, tolerating it, or accepting it is also unacceptable to the Lord.
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 17 May 2024: Today, focus on remaining obedient and pure before the Lord in a broken, sinful world, while proclaiming the Gospel through your behavior and your verbal testimony as people question why you are so different. Proclaim the whole Gospel message to someone today, the Good News within the context of the bad news, the need for repentance and God’s promise of reconciliation.
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 