The Content of the Gospel

Transcript

GR 1446
10/17/10
The Content of the Gospel
Romans 1-8 Overviewed
Gil Rugh

We've been looking through the book of Romans and we've completed the first eight chapters which unfold a clear presentation of the gospel that God has given. And what I want to do is take a break before we move into chapter 9, which moves us into a new section. Chapters 9-11 tie together as a section on the sovereignty of God and His purposes and plans in salvation and how they impact the nation Israel as well as Gentiles. But I'd just like to go back with you and highlight some of the things in the first eight chapters. I think these eight chapters are as key as any section in the Word of God. They unfold in a clear, systematic way the content of the gospel. And if the church is not clear on the gospel, everything else will unravel. So I realize this is review, but that's what it is intended to be. We have spent the last year or so moving through the first eight chapters so I just want to go back and highlight some of the things from each of the chapters and each of the sections to refresh your mind and to be sure that we have our understanding of the gospel firmly fixed.

You come back to chapter 1, really the first seventeen verses form something of an introduction to the book, a salutation and an introduction. Paul began in verse 1 by identifying himself by name and by his position. He is Paul, a bond servant or a slave of Christ Jesus, a called apostle, set apart for the gospel of God. And there is progression there from just who he is, then his basic relationship to Jesus Christ, a slave, one who carries out the will of his master. He's been called as an apostle and set apart particularly for the realm of ministry with the gospel of God. The gospel of God is the gospel God has given. Here is what God's message is, the good news from God. And it's the same message that was promised in the Old Testament, verse 2 tells us. He promised it beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures. There is a message way back, if you were here, we noted that this message began in the Old Testament scriptures. It concerns His Son, Jesus Christ. So the good news, the message from God was prophesied in the Old Testament, now is unfolded more in detail. It concerns His Son and His Son was a descendant of David, physically speaking, declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead according to the spirit of holiness and one of the rare references to the Holy Spirit in the opening part of the Book of Romans. It's not until we get to chapter 8, you remember, that there is any detailed discussion of the role of the Holy Spirit--but here the Holy Spirit's role in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And it was because of Christ that Paul has been called and entrusted with an apostleship.

The Roman church, the church in Rome was a strong church. Their testimony was known in various parts of the empire. When Paul would go to other places, he doesn't say where, perhaps Corinth, perhaps Ephesus, perhaps in Jerusalem, we're not told. But we are told in verse 8 that “your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world.” What a great testimony for a church, to be well known for their faith in Jesus Christ and their faithful commitment to Him. And then he says again in verse 9, “for God whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel of His Son. . .” Again the reminder, my ministry, my realm of serving my Lord is in the proclamation of the gospel which is the message of the Son of God and God's work of salvation in the person of Jesus Christ.

Verse 15, he tells them he was eager to come to Rome. “For my part I am eager to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also.” I'm eager to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome. He's writing to a church, their testimony in Christ was known in various parts of the world. And what is Paul going to do when he comes there? Preach the gospel so that others might come to believe, so that the church might develop and mature. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.” Then he quotes from the Old Testament, “the righteous shall live by faith.” I'm not ashamed of the gospel, I'm coming to Rome for the gospel. When I come to Rome it's going to be to preach the gospel.

That's what the book of Romans is about, particularly these first eight chapters unfold the details of that gospel. It seems simple but it is absolutely essential that we, the church, be sure that we maintain our clarity on the gospel. So easy for the church to be moved suddenly away from its focal point. The things that in and of themselves aren't bad, but they become disastrous as they usurp the place of the gospel. The moralism, the social reform, those kinds of things, as though if only we could turn back the tide in our country, if we could only bring people back to ............. The church is not here to bring about reform.

I think it's interesting, and we noted this when we started our study of Romans, observed that in the times of Paul when Paul would have written this, he said there was never a night when there weren't a number of babies abandoned outside the coliseum in Rome, left there by parents who didn't want them. And they would either die of exposure or sometimes slave traders would come by and take the healthy ones and raise them until they were old enough to be sold into slavery. But you know Paul doesn't say, I want to come and we as a church can make a difference in dealing with the tragedy of these young babies. We can start a program to rescue the children. And that would have popular appeal and broad appeal, but Paul says, I want to come to Rome to preach the gospel. We say, Paul, we already know the gospel, we have a reputation in the world. What are you going to do when you come to Rome? I'm going to preach the gospel. I'm not ashamed of the gospel, it's the power of God for salvation.

Now what he's going to begin to do beginning with Romans 1:18 is demonstrate how the gospel is the absolute essential and everyone everywhere must hear and respond to the gospel for salvation. Where he begins is where people don't like to begin. Verse 18: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” Paul, no place to begin; you should begin some place a little more positive, a little more appealing. You get through the introduction to your letter and right away, the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven. Well, wait a minute, that's where we must begin. So what he's going to do, he talks about the gospel is the revelation of the righteousness of God in verses 16-17. The first thing we must understand is the righteousness of God revealed in the condemnation of sinful men. And so the first major section of this letter, remember, is on condemnation, the judgment of God on sinful human beings. That will go from chapter 1 verse 18 through chapter 3 verse 20.

So he starts out by saying the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against men who are suppressing the truth in unrighteousness. We say, some people may be suppressing the truth of God in unrighteousness, but not everybody does. But where Paul is going is to show everyone is guilty of rejecting and suppressing the truth of God apart from the salvation of God in a life. How so? Because that which is known about God is evident within them or among 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 by the creation through what has been made. So they are without excuse. In other words everyone everywhere sees the creation. The creation is a clear manifestation and display of God's eternal power, of His divine attributes. But men everywhere reject that revelation, they suppress the clear, obvious truth and come up with strange and confused ideas to replace God.

Verse 21 says, “even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God. They became futile in their speculations.” Their ability to think in these realms ....... they can be very intelligent but they are empty in their thinking. So the most brilliant scientist looks at the creation and doesn't see the display of the eternal power and divine attributes of the God who created it all, but rather becomes empty in his thinking. Their foolish heart was darkened. They think they are wise, they are fools. They don't stop being religious but they worship the creature rather than the Creator.

That brought the judgment of God on man. “Therefore God gave them over,” verse 24, “in the lust of their hearts to impurity.” He didn't cause them to do this, but as a result of their rejection of Him, He turned them over to their sinful desires and to reap the consequences. Verse 25, “they exchanged the truth of God for a lie.” Verse 26, “for this reason God gave them over to degrading passions.” He gives an example here—homosexual conduct, rejecting the clear, revealed purpose and plan of God in His creation. They exchange the truth of God for a lie. God gave them over to degrading passions.

So verse 28,” just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind.” Understand, people live in the realm of empty speculation, with hearts that are darkened in regard to the knowledge of God and His truth. They live controlled by a depraved mind. And so they do the things which are not proper. And a whole list here, beginning with verse 29. They are “filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil, envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, gossip, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful. And they know that those who practice such things deserve death.” And they've been created in the image of God that has been marred and distorted by sin, it has not been removed. Man does not function in ignorance in that sense, but he is in willful rebellion against God. That's why we don't try to take apologetic arguments and demonstrate to the unbeliever because his problem is not that there is not enough evidence. He claims that's his problem. His problem is in his heart and mind. He is determined he will not submit to the God who has revealed Himself. He will not acknowledge Him. So he lives controlled by his sin.

Now you'll note here, man's sinful practice is an evidence of his being under the judgment of God. This ought to say something to the church about getting involved in moralism. Homosexuality is a great issue today as people become more open and more blatant in the display of their rejection of God and His plan in creating us. But you know that's not the issue, it's the manifestation of an issue, and that is sin. But for the church to say, we have to stand up for marriage, we have to put a stop to this conduct. We're not doing anything. Because look at the list at the end of chapter 1. All this does is display that men and women are living under the judgment of God right now and they are totally consumed and controlled by their sin. That's all they want and that's all they can do. So the church is not called to get into try to defend marriage, stand against homosexuality. We reveal it as sin, but it's just one on the list. You understand if you never practice homosexuality, you're never immoral, you're still a sinner separated from God and on your way to hell. We don't want to confuse people. If you would clean up your life, if you would do a little better, if you would stop certain things, then you would go to hell looking better. That really helps a lot. I mean, that's not an answer. It is a horrible miscarriage of our responsibility as the church to even imply such a thing.

If someone came to me and said, “I've been involved in immorality but I'm going to quit.” I would say, “I think your life would be better if you quit but you understand you would still be lost, separated from God and on your way to an eternal hell. Cleaning up your life cannot bring you to a place of pleasing God.”

So Romans 1 is demonstrating the impact of sin. It has enveloped us all because we have all been exposed to God's revelation in creation and all responded negatively. Now don't make a mistake, there is not enough revelation in creation to save a person, you need the special revelation of the message of Jesus Christ. But there is enough revelation in creation to reveal that we reject God and refuse to acknowledge Him.

Chapter 2 moves into those who are more religious, moral, particularly Jews. Jews were religious people and moral people by the standards of the day. And they would have thought that chapter 1 described the Gentiles very well and they deserve everything they get. But Paul goes on in chapter 2 to show the sin of the most religious people, the most moral people. Verse 4, “do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” Everyone needs to bow in repentance before God, acknowledge their guilt and sin and place their faith in Him and His Savior for salvation. Otherwise you are living under the judgment of God now and you are just storing up wrath for the ultimate judgment when you stand in His presence to be sentenced to an eternal hell.

Verse 11 says “there is no partiality with God.” The Jews who were proud that they didn't sin like others, remember the prayer of the Pharisee? I thank you, Lord that I am not a sinner like other men. And many religious people, moral people today, I'm not a bad person, I don't hurt people, I don't .............. That would have been what the Jews thought. And they were much better in moral character and behavior than what characterized the pagan Roman world of the day. But it didn't make them any less sinful in the sight of God.

So he reminds them in verse 16, there will come “a day when according to my gospel God will judge the secrets of men through Jesus Christ.” But you ought to note something here again, don't forget, that the judgment that is coming is part of the gospel that Paul preached. Remember in Romans 1 he was set apart for the gospel that God had given; he was looking forward to coming and preaching the gospel in Rome; also, he was not ashamed of the gospel which is the power of God. Now he tells us in chapter 2 verse 16 there is a day coming when according to my gospel, the gospel that had been entrusted to him, God will judge the secrets of men through Jesus Christ. Because as Jesus told us in John 5, God the Father will judge no man, but He has committed all judgment to the Son. So the judgment of God will be executed through God the Son. So part of the gospel that we present is there is a day of judgment coming and at that day of judgment God will not only judge your overt acts, He will judge the secret things of your heart and mind. Jesus Christ, the Savior will also be the judge.

He goes on to show that those who are confident that they kept the Law of Moses would come under judgment just like everyone else. How sad, people today still think they are going to be saved by keeping the Ten Commandments. I try to keep the Ten Commandments, I lead a good life. Well that kind of life will lead you to hell. That is Paul's point here. Why? You need, the end of the chapter he says, to have your heart changed, what is referred to in verse 29 as the circumcision of the heart. We noted here that this is not saying that now Gentiles become Jews. He's going back to the Old Testament. The Old Testament required for God's people to have their heart circumcised, sin removed from the inside. So that's true today, true for Jews and true for Gentiles. So a Jew who was placing his confidence in the fact that he possessed the Mosaic Law and he tried to keep the Mosaic Law fails. He needs an operation on the heart that only God can do. And Gentiles need that as well.

So chapter 3 opened up and pick up verse 4, “let God be found true though every man a liar.” I mean, this is the final word. You hear people say, this is my belief, this is what I think is true, this is the kind of path I try to follow, this is what I think God wants. All of it is irrelevant. Only what God says matters. So “rather let God be found true though every man be found a liar.”

Verse 9 asks the question, are we Jews better than they, the Gentiles? No, not at all. Why? We have already charged that both Jews and Greeks, non-Jews, are all under sin. There are no exceptions here. All Jews and all non-Jews, that encompasses everyone, are under sin. No one gets away because they have a privileged position. The Jews were the unique nation, the only nation that God had chosen for Himself. They were a unique people, the only people to whom God had given His law and so on. We talked about that in the opening part of chapter 3. But the conclusion of the matter is Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin. Then you have a list of quotations there, and note how conclusive. He says, “all are under sin,” verse 9. Then he quotes from various Old Testament passages. “There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks for God. All have turned aside, together they have become useless. There is none who does good, not even one.” That's about inclusive as you can get. So anyone who thinks they will be acceptable before God because they tried, they did their best to lead a good life, they tried to keep the Ten Commandments, and on it goes, needs to be reminded of what God says and what His good news is. You are under sin, under its control, under its condemnation, and under its ultimate penalty which is an eternal hell. And there are no exceptions. There is none righteous from God's viewpoint.

Down in verse 18, “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” That's the bottom line. The greatest philanthropic work ever done, we have people now giving away millions and billions of dollars to charity and philanthropy and so on. We say, that's a good thing to do with your money. On a human level comparing one to another, that is better than hiring 500 terrorists to murder people. But you know in the sight of God it is not a good deed, it's not a righteous act. You'll note what he says in verse 12, “all have turned aside, together they have become useless,” worthless to Him. What's the problem? There is no fear of God before their eyes. We're back to chapter 1 verse 18, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against those who suppress the truth concerning Him in unrighteousness. They have no reverence and awe of the living God, they don't bow down in conviction of their sin before Him, cast themselves on His mercy, place their faith in Him and His Son for salvation. Everything else is irrelevant. That's why we do not want to give any misconception that we want to help you clean up your life.

I was reading a missionary magazine I received yesterday. I read it from cover to cover. You know the tragedy of it was that as I read 6-10 testimonies of different missionaries in different places that serve in this organization, the gospel was totally absent. It didn't appear in the record as they told of what work they were doing here and here and here. And sad to say I think that's true of many churches—the gospel is absent. Well, we presuppose it. You can't presuppose the gospel. It is the power of God for salvation. So what we've established here is the need.

Verse 19 of chapter 3, “we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law.” Verses 10-18 are quotes from the Old Testament law, the law being a reference to the Old Testament in its entirety here. Because the Jews would have thought this would be applicable to Gentiles, but Paul is saying whatever the Law says it speaks to those who are under the Law. For sure you wouldn't be excluded, God wrote it to you. So even though it includes everyone else, it for sure includes you as well. What's the point? Verse 19, “so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God.”

So this first section of the book of Romans where we begin to explain the gospel brings us to this understanding—no one has a word to say, every mouth is shut because all the world has been demonstrated to be guilty and accountable to God. There are no exceptions. That is part and parcel of the gospel, and those under the judgment of God for their sin, their rebellion against Him will someday be judged before His throne, upon which the Son of God will sit. And as scripture reveals, they will be sentenced to an eternal hell.

If we stopped there, it would be despair. But verse 21 as we have it in our Bibles, picks up another section to move us along. You'll note how verse 21 begins. “Now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested.” Back in chapter 1 verse 18, the wrath of God has been revealed. And we demonstrated why the wrath of God has been revealed—because of the sin of man. Now you come to chapter 3 verse 21, “the righteousness of God has been manifested.” So while the righteousness of God has been revealed in the condemnation of sinful men, which is a manifestation of His wrath and a revelation of His wrath, now we are told that God has also revealed His righteousness. The righteousness of God has been revealed, and this righteousness was revealed in the Old Testament, “even the righteousness of God through faith in Christ Jesus for all who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” That was established in basically the first three chapters, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God—His perfection, His holiness, His righteousness. We have sinned, we fall short, all of us, no exceptions.

You'll note this righteousness of God that has been manifested, verse 22, is the righteousness of God through faith in Christ for all who believe. When we did this section we looked at all the uses of the words “ faith” and “believe” in the rest of chapter 3, through all of chapter 4 and into the opening verses of chapter 5. Faith, believe. It's the righteousness of God through faith for all who believe. And this is for everyone because everyone is in the same condition, all have sinned. So we are being justified, verse 24, as a gift by His grace. And it is somewhat redundant for emphasis. A gift is something you are given, you didn't earn it, you didn't work for it, you didn't merit it. It was given as a gift. Grace is something unearned or unmerited. It's “a gift given by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith.” I mean, it just packs it all in here. It's through faith in the death of Christ.

Verse 25, whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation, a satisfaction, in His blood, in His death through faith. You see you must have faith in Jesus Christ and His death as the full and final payment for your sin. We have emphasized this a number of times in our study of Romans. We must not lost sight of this fact. To be justified, declared righteous by a holy God, to be absolved of guilt for our sin, we must place our faith in Jesus Christ and His death on our behalf. Having faith does not save you, having faith in God does not save you, having faith in Jesus Christ does not save you. Ask many people, do you believe in God? Of course. Do you believe in Jesus Christ? Every Protestant and Catholic, of course I believe in Jesus Christ. I believe in God. And they are not saved. The Jews believed in God. You know James wrote in James 2, you have faith. Wonderful. So do the demons. Now what? People talk about people of faith, and we're getting people of faith together to do something. What do you mean, people of faith? There is only one saving faith, that is faith in Jesus Christ and His work on the cross. And that alone. Not faith plus something else. Faith in Jesus Christ alone. Not faith in Jesus plus faith in the church, faith in Jesus plus faith in baptism. No. Faith in Jesus Christ alone.

Verse 28, “we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.” There is only one God and there can only be one way of salvation for Jews and non-Jews alike, verse 30.

So chapter 4, remember the example. If there is only one God, there is only one way of salvation. We will go and find a person who is clearly declared righteous by God and how was he declared righteous, then we'll know how anyone who is ever saved will be saved. So in chapter 4 we have the example of Abraham, and he would be one that the Jews would respect. He is one we can find out clearly how he was declared righteous before a holy God. So in verse 3, what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God.” There is our word,” believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Verse 5, “to the one who does not work but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.” Repeated again down in verse 9, faith was credited to him as righteousness, faith in the God who provides righteousness, faith in what God has promised. And on he goes to talk about Abraham.

The point being, verse 23, “not only for his sake was it written that it was credited to him.” It wasn't just written for Abraham's benefit that Abraham believed God and it was credited to Abraham as righteousness. It was written for our benefit also, verse 24, “to whom it will be credited as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.” You see there is specific content to our faith. It is the person and work of Jesus Christ. This is what saves. You know we have multitudes of people in our churches, a church like this, who say, I believe in Jesus Christ and I believe in what God says. But you know they are not saved. We learn a lot of facts about Christ and we believe about Him, but that personal understanding of my guilt and I am a person under the condemnation of a holy God. I must turn from my sin and place my faith in Him as the One who raised Jesus from the dead, who had been delivered over to the cross because of my sin and was raised because of my justification, the work of my being absolved of guilt in the courtroom of God had been completed. That's what I am believing in, that brings me salvation.

So chapter 5 could begin, “Therefore having been justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” What a change from chapter 1 verse 18, “for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,” to chapter 5 verse 1, “Therefore having been justified by faith,” absolved of guilt, declared righteous, “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

He goes on down to verse 12. Verses 12-19 are a great theological explanation of how salvation could come to us through the action of one man. It's a parallel with Adam in the Garden of Eden. That one man, the sinful act of one man brought death on the race. And the comparison and contrast is with Jesus Christ--one man who by one act of righteousness in dying on the cross has brought life to the race. So we noted the word “one” is used a dozen times in verses 12-19. It is contrasted with “the many”-- the one, the many. And just as all of us by physical birth are descendants of Adam and the consequences of his action acting as our representative brought death on us because sin and guilt passed to us, so Jesus Christ by His death on the cross brought righteousness for the race to the same many. Verse 15, “by the transgression of the one the many died.” The grace of God and the gift by grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, will abound to the many. But verse 17, you have to be in Christ. So the middle of the verse, it's for those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness. That's what places you in Christ and makes you a recipient of what He has provided. So that understanding and explanation of how sin came to infect us all and how righteousness was provided for us all, and we can enter in to that provision through the one man, Jesus Christ.

You come to the end of chapter 5 and you complete that section that began with chapter 3 verse 21 on justification. Some title everything from chapter 3 verse 21 through chapter 8 justification, and make sanctification a subset of that. I don't have a problem with that, but I break it for clarity.

Chapter 6 begins to explain how those who have been justified by God now live. That is not just, and I'm not minimizing this so don't misunderstand. God declares us righteous, absolves us of guilt. Now we can go on and live as we would please, we've taken care of our eternal destiny. But the salvation of God is a complete work. So at the end of chapter 5 he talked about how that even though the sin of Adam spread and encompassed the whole race and multiplied that one act of sin, how many sins have been committed by the descendants of Adam? I mean, in human history down to today, how would you even count them? How many times did you sin this past week in thought or deed? Multiply this out and around the world and billions of people ....... And the grace of God encompasses it all in its provision and availability to all who will believe in Christ.

Well then, chapter 6 opened up and we move into the section we call sanctification. How are those who have been justified to now live? “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may increase?” Well if my sin magnifies the grace of God, maybe my sin is not so bad. Maybe the more I sin the more God's grace is evident, and isn't that good? Paul says, “May it never be!” The King James version says, “God forbid.” Such a thought is inconceivable. You can't even mention such a thought. That we would say that it is good for us to sin and try to excuse it by saying that will magnify the grace of God? And his response is not God is too holy to approve of that, because to us, what has happened to us? How shall we who died to sin still live in it? If you ask such a question, you don't even know what happens to you in salvation. You die. How did we die? By the baptism of the Holy Spirit, that work of the Holy Spirit who identifies us when we believe, with Jesus Christ in His death, in His burial and in His resurrection. Don't you know what happened to you when you believed in Jesus Christ? Then how could you ask the question? How should those who died continue to live in it? Some of you have friends and loved ones who died not too long ago. They are not living in this world any longer, they are not doing the things they used to do. Why? They died. That's a total change. So we died. We have died with Christ, verse 4, “so we, too, might walk in newness of life.” Because when we died with Him we were raised with Him to new life.

Verse 6, “knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.” Now you see as you move along in this explanation of the gospel, things are even clarified from the section where he talked about justification. What happens when we are justified by God? How does He declare us righteous? Because we died with Christ, we are buried with Christ. Now we are raised as new creatures in Christ. If any man be in Christ he is a new creature, a new creation. Old things have passed away, behold new things have come, II Corinthians 5 says. That's why the answer, if you will, the solution to the sin problem of the first three chapters is not moralism, trying to get people to live better and stop practicing certain practices and so on. They have to die. That's the only answer. You have to die with Christ.

A person comes to see me and says, I've been living in this immoral sin and I've been embezzling money and I've been lying to my spouse. I'm going to quit and clean up my life and do better. Well, that would be nice and I'm sure your family would appreciate it and there would be benefits to come. But you understand that's not your problem. You won't be anymore pleasing to God when you have your life all cleaned up than you are right now. You will not be on any different road than the road to hell than you are right now because what God requires of you is that you die. The penalty for your sin is not cleaning up your life, the penalty for your sin is death. You don't stop a certain sin and therefore, now you are more pleasing to God. You are a guilty sinner under condemnation and the penalty for your sin is death. Your only answer is Jesus Christ.

That's why we go back, the gospel is the power of God for salvation. We cannot imply to anyone that anything else is pleasing to God. He who has died is freed from sin. Then he tells them in verse 11, so consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Don't let sin reign in your bodies, don't present the members of your body to sin. Present them to righteousness. But that's not told to unbelievers, that's told to believers. This is how we live, we are new people. Well, we are not under law but under grace so I can do as I please. So the first question was, can we continue in sin to magnify God's grace? Verse 15, the question is if I don't live under the Mosaic Law, now I am lawless so I can do as I please. So don't tell me what I can do. Well, the same answer, “May it never be!” Such a thought is inconceivable. Don't you know, same way verse 16 starts, verse 3. _________________________ obvious. What's the problem here? Biblical truth is so clear on this that you shouldn't be confused.

Verse 18, “having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.” People like to talk about their freedom. In one sense there is no freedom. You are either a slave of sin or a slave of righteousness. Well I'm a free person, I do as I want. You are either a slave of sin or a slave of righteousness. Verse 22, “having been freed from sin and enslaved to God.” You were a slave to sin. When you believed in Jesus Christ you were set free from the stranglehold of sin and you became a slave of God and of righteousness. Now that's true freedom, being a slave of God and righteousness, because true freedom is the ability to function as you were created to function. And that happens when you function in a right relationship with the God who created you. So that's why Jesus said, if the Son shall set you free, you'll be free indeed. You'll be free from the slavery of sin and now you'll be enslaved to righteousness and to God and that's what you were created for. And you can function as God created you to function.

So we're not involved in moral crusades, in cleaning up pornography, in stopping homosexuality. There is no end to trying to stem the tide of the conduct of sinful people because they are under the judgment of God. They are controlled by their depraved mind as a consequence of their rejecting God. God has turned them over to that mind. I'm not going to fight against God, but God has provided deliverance. The gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.

You come to chapter 7 and he shows how when you come to faith in Christ, you are not under Mosaic Law and trying to live according to the Law is no answer. We come to chapter 8 where we've just been, so we'll spend less time here because it is most recent on our minds. But chapter 8 unfolds the ministry of the Holy Spirit. And now things come together because how did that person enslaved to sin and dominated by sin, functioning with an empty mind and darkened heart, how does he come to salvation? We have the work of the Holy Spirit. And that is the ongoing enablement now for me to live my new life in Christ. We are those, verse 4, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Verse 6, “the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.” You see how there are just two categories here and two ways of living, those who have their mind set on the flesh and its sinful desires, and those who have their mind set on the Spirit of God and His desires. The Spirit of God brings life and peace to a heart and mind. The mind set on the flesh, the wicked are like the waves of the sea, constantly churning.

You'll note here, verse 7, “the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so.” That's why I don't want to tell a person to try to clean up their life, stop doing sin. The person who is unredeemed, unsaved has his mind set on the flesh, he is hostile toward God, he is not able, he has no power to change his life and do what is pleasing to God. Those that are in the flesh cannot please God. You understand an unsaved person never, not for one moment of one day, does something that is pleasing to God. We have people filling churches and religious places and they have never done one thing pleasing to God, including sitting in that pew or that religious place. They've done many kind things. What does verse 8 say? “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God” because the foundational issue of pleasing God must come from a heart that honors Him, that pleases Him. Back to chapter 3 verse 18, “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” They have not come to recognize He is a holy, righteous God. He is one to be feared. I am a sinner, unclean and defiled and condemned. I bow in Your presence and claim mercy, seek Your grace. I cannot redeem myself, I cannot cleanse myself, I cannot pay my penalty. I place my faith in You, the living God, in Your Son whose death paid the penalty for me. He is my only hope. He is alive and I believe in Him.

That brings salvation, that brings freedom. So verse 9 of chapter 8, “you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit if the Spirit of God dwells in you,” and if the Spirit of God doesn't dwell in you, you don't belong to Christ. And if the Spirit of God dwells in you some day that Spirit will __________ supernatural power to resurrect your dead body and transform it into conformity with the resurrection body of Jesus Christ. That's glorification, that's the climax of God's program of salvation as we have seen. That's the wonderful plan of salvation, that's what we must hold onto, individually and as a church. This is the message we have, this is the truth of God. People say, you don't want to help your city and clean it up. Yes, it's going to take heart surgery, circumcised hearts. People are going to have to die. Through faith in Christ, that identification will occur and you can be raised to new life, clean, declared righteous by a holy God, absolved of all guilt. And as chapter 8 concludes, nothing in time and eternity will ever separate you from the love of God that you have entered into in Jesus Christ.

What a glorious gospel we have. We must be careful to hold onto it, be faithful to it and not allow anything to share a place with it.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for that glorious gospel that in Your grace was brought to our hearts and lives. Thank You for the message of Jesus Christ, thank You for the messengers, the human instruments, You use. Thank You above all for the work of Your Spirit who made the precious work of Your Son, His death and resurrection real to us in these self-focused, selfish hearts and minds, deluded and self-deceived, come to realize and believe in the One who is the Savior, the One in whom is life. Lord, may we be careful in the handling of this message. May we be faithful in the passing on of this message and may we never fail to give You glory for Your gospel which is Your power for salvation to everyone who believes. We pray in Christ's name, amen.