Called to the Obedience of Faith

Transcript

GR 1405
Called to the Obedience of Faith
Romans 1:5-7
10/11/09
Gil Rugh

We have just begun a study of the book of Romans together so turn in your Bibles to Romans 1. The book of Romans is about the gospel of God, foundational truth that every single person must come to hear and believe if they are to experience the salvation that God has provided. It's the message of the death, burial, resurrection of Jesus Christ as the payment for our sins and through faith in Him and His finished work we receive God's salvation.

Just like the letters of our day, all have a standard form whether you are writing to a family member or you are writing a business letter, you're writing to believers or you are writing to unbelievers. We start out in a similar way. Dear so-and-so and we close, yours truly or sincerely or with love, depending on whom we are writing to. And we follow a rather standard format. Begin by addressing those we are writing to and end by identifying ourselves. In New Testament times the letters followed a standard form as well. Our New Testament letters written to churches follow the form that they would have used when they were writing in the non-believing world. They started out by identifying themselves as the writer and then addressing those that they were writing to. And that's what happens in the first seven verses of Romans 1. Particularly in verse 1 Paul identified himself as the author, down in verse 7 he'll identify the people in Rome, believers in Rome as the recipients. In between there is some elaboration. In verse 1 when Paul identified himself as the writer, he said he was a slave of Christ Jesus, he was a called apostle, and he was set apart for the gospel of God. And that gospel will be the theme of the book of Romans.

And when he mentions the gospel he proceeds to elaborate on that gospel, really down through verse 4. So a little bit of a sidetrack but an expansion of what he has said in verse 1. And he says several things about the gospel. And at the end of verse 1 he called it the gospel of God. And we noted that that establishes as a message that comes from God. The gospel is a message of good news, God's plan of salvation and redemption. If we're going to talk about God's salvation and how a person can be right with God, how a person can have forgiveness of sins, there is no one that can tell us except God Himself. People have all kinds of ideas and thoughts, sometimes preachers come up with ideas. But really only God can tell us what salvation is, how you can have salvation. The gospel of God is what Paul has been entrusted with. He has been set apart for the gospel of God, to minister what God has said regarding salvation.

The second thing he said about this gospel is in verse 2. It had been promised in the Old Testament scriptures. So it's new in the sense it has just been fully accomplished and provided, but it is old in the sense it had been promised for centuries. Down through the Old Testament the prophets, the writers had foretold of a coming Savior and the salvation that He would bring. So it is not new, it's part of God's eternal plan as unfolded in the Old Testament.

And the third thing we noted about this gospel is in verse 3, it concerns His Son. It's the gospel of God concerning His Son. Now it's important we noted in our discussion of this. The gospel focuses on Jesus Christ. we must not lost sight of that. We don't share the gospel when we say to people, it's important to have God in your life, we all want to have a relationship with God, I hope you have a relationship with God. Those things aren't necessarily untrue, but they are not the gospel. The gospel is about Jesus Christ. Until a person has heard the message concerning Jesus Christ, who He is and what He has done to provide salvation, they haven't heard the gospel that they must believe to be saved. So we want to be careful that we are clear on this. We sometimes say, I shared the gospel with someone and really what we did was talk about God in generalities. But the gospel is about God's Son, it's not about God the Father, primarily, it's not about God the Holy Spirit. Now they are involved in this work of salvation, but the gospel concerns the Son of God.

Back up to John 3:16, a verse that you are all familiar with. And we could probably quote it but I want you to look at it, too. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him, His only begotten Son, shall not perish but have eternal life. God did not send His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him, in the Son, is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. You see a person must come, not just to believe in God, they must come to believe in the only begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ and His death on the cross as payment for their sin. And believe that that payment is all that is required for my salvation. So the gospel is about the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

Come back to Romans 1. He wants to make two points about the Son of God and these are things we have already looked at, they are just to refresh your mind. First he said concerning the Son in verse 3, He was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh. He was of the line of David, He was a descendant of David because the Messiah and Savior of Israel had to be a descendant of David. And we looked at some verses from the Old Testament that spoke of that very fact. Now the Son of God has become a physical descendant of David, a descendant of David according to the flesh. This is not the beginning of the Son of God, He has existed in eternity as the prophet Micah said, that the One who would be born at Bethlehem was the One who dwelt in eternity. But He has been born into the human race in the line of David, physically speaking.

The second thing he said about the Son is that He was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead in verse 4. We noted here that word declared really means appointed, installed. We looked at verses relating to that. As a result of the finished work of Christ, His work on the cross, His resurrection. He was raised, the last verse of Romans 4 will tell us, because of our justification. That finished work. He was appointed Son of God with power. He didn't become the Son of God at that point, we noted, but the Son of God who had become a descendant of David according to the flesh had died on the cross to pay the penalty for sin, had been raised in victory. Now He is appointed Son of God with power, power to forgive sins because He has provided redemption. So He has the power of salvation and we'll see down in verse 16 the gospel is the power of God for salvation. He has the power to judge. So God has appointed all judgment to be done by the Son. Because now He can judge men and judge between the saved and the unsaved. God could always judge sinful man, but there would be no salvation. But now as the Savior, the Son of God who is the Savior, He has all power in salvation, in judgment and ultimately to rule and reign. Because there could have been on kingdom without His salvation because there would have been no redeemed people to populate the kingdom, because all would have been under judgment and condemned to an eternal hell.

So He is of the line of David, but He has been appointed the Son of God with power because He has finished the work of redemption. And in verse 4, this was according to the Spirit of holiness. So He is of the line of David according to the flesh and He is the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, the Holy Spirit. And the presence of the Holy Spirit, the bestowal of the Holy Spirit with the gifts of the Holy Spirit are an evidence of the power of the Son of God now in operation.

He is identified at the end of verse 4 as Jesus Christ our Lord. That's a burden that Paul is going to emphasize. He started out in verse 1 by saying Paul a bond servant or slave of Christ Jesus. Now at the end of verse 4 he says He is Jesus Christ our Lord. Paul is His slave, Christ is His Lord. That's true of us, He is our Lord, He is our Lord Jesus Christ, He's the One that we serve, the One that we obey. And Paul is going to move into that very subject.

So when we pick up with verse 5 Paul picks up with his area of service, which is apostleship. So he says in verse 5, through whom we have received grace and apostleship. He said in verse 1 he was a called apostle as a slave of Christ Jesus. Now he says Jesus Christ is our Lord and He is the One, verse 5, through whom we have received grace and apostleship. And he's going to talk about his ministry as an apostle. Through whom, through Christ we have received grace and apostleship. And when he talks about grace and apostleship, he's talking about the grace that enabled him to be an apostle. So not two separate items, but the grace that has resulted in his serving as an apostleship. Remember the gifts that Christ has bestowed as the result of His resurrection are gifts of grace. You have the gifts through Christ.

Turn over to Ephesians 4. Not too long ago we studied a portion of Ephesians 4 together. Verse 7, but to each one of us, talking about each one of us as believers in Jesus Christ. To each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. So Christ has measured out in grace a gift to each believer, a gift and ability to serve Him in carrying out His will and His purposes. This ability, this power to bestow gifts on men is a result of His having ascended on high as the victor, the conqueror, the Savior, verse 8. And verse 9 reminds us His ascension to heaven has meaning because He died and was buried. He descended into the lower parts of the earth, talking about His being buried, put in a tomb. His ascension would be meaningless if he hadn't been raised from the dead. If Christ had just come down from heaven and lived on earth and then went back to heaven without dying on the cross, that would be interesting but it would not be a help. We would still be lost in our sin. Because the penalty that had to be paid was death. But the fact that He ascended after His death and burial and thus was resurrected, that shows He had the power. That's where He got the power to bestow these gifts. And so as we saw in our study, verse 10, He who descended is also He who ascended. The same One who stepped down from heaven now as a result of finishing the work of redemption through His death and resurrection, has ascended back to heaven. And verse 11, He gave some as apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers. So verse 7, He gave each one of us grace, the grace is the gifts that were given, according to verse 11.

Come back to Romans 12. When we get to Romans 12 we'll talk about spiritual gifts again, as Paul will bring it into his discussion on presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice as servants and slaves of the living God. Verse 3, for through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you. Paul is really saying the grace given to me, my ministry as an apostle, this I say to you. Look down in verse 6, since we have gifts that differ, according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly. So he uses this. When he talks about grace and apostleship, he is just emphasizing that my ministry as an apostle is the result of God's grace. And everyone who is a believer in Jesus Christ has been bestowed a gift by Christ's grace, and that is a stewardship entrusted to us. And we will give an account to Him as our Lord, we are His slaves, how we carried out the stewardship entrusted to us in exercising that bestowal of grace in gifting and enabling us to serve Him.

Come back to Romans 1. Paul had received the gift of apostleship through grace for this purpose, to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake. There are three prepositional phrases here. Don't you just love grammar? I never did, but a prepositional phrase is simply a phrase that starts with a preposition. And so you have three of them here. The first is to bring about the obedience of faith, literally unto the obedience of faith. And this is an interesting expression, much discussion if you read the commentaries. What does this expression the obedience of faith mean? I don't think we ought to make it any more complicated than it needs to be. Obedience and faith are consistently joined together. We are saved when we obey God, but we are not saved by works.

Turn over to I John 3:23, this is His commandment, God's commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ. So your first act of obedience to God was when you believed in Jesus Christ. I say your first act of obedience because that was the beginning of a life of obedience, because when you placed your faith in Jesus Christ you obeyed the command of God to believe in His Son. Now you have become the slave of our Lord Jesus Christ. So that's the beginning of a life of obedience. It's a beginning of a life of faith. And obedience and faith are consistently joined together through the Word of God. And any disassociation from them is a violation of the word. Can you believe in Christ and not obey God? Of course not, because His commandment is to believe in His Son. Now that commandment also includes loving one another and it's interesting he uses commandment, singular. This is His commandment that we believe in His Son and love one another. These are His commandments, but they go together. When you believe in Christ, that's the beginning of a life of faith and it's a life of obedience.

Look back in John 3. You know another way of seeing this is to look at the negative. Those who will not believe are said to disobey God. They are disobedient to God. So unbelief is an act of disobedience. Belief is obeying. Look in John 3:36, he who believes in the Son has eternal life, but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on Him. And that word translated not obey, you may have a marginal note that says or believe. That would be an interpretation of it, but the word is a different word than believe. It means to not obey. But in the context he is saying the same thing as not believing. When you don't believe in Christ, you are disobeying God, you are not obeying Him, and you won't see life.

Turn over to Acts 14. Paul is preaching the gospel and he is in Iconium and he enters the synagogue and many people believe, both Jews and Gentiles, Jews and Greeks. Then verse 2, but the Jews who disbelieved, you may have a marginal note there. The Jews who disobeyed, they refused to believe. So you see the opposite of believing is not obeying. There is the other side. That's the same thing as not believing, you are not obeying, you will not submit to the command of God, the Word of God, do what God says you must do. So you are in rebellion.

Look in Acts 19:9, but when some were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way. So people respond to the gospel, they either obey by believing, or they disobey by refusing to believe. And the ongoing connection is important.

Go to Ephesians 2. This is not just relating to our initial salvation. That is the beginning of our faith, that's the beginning of our obedience. But it is only the beginning, it's the beginning of a life. When we get to Romans 6 we'll see that we have been raised with Christ to a new life, and that life is a life of faith, it's a life of obedience. In Ephesians 2 he describes what we were like before God cleansed us from our sin and made us new. He starts out, you were dead in your trespasses and sins. Dead in the sense our relationship with God was nonexistent, we were separated from God and on our way to hell. In which you formerly walked in your trespasses and sins, according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the devil, the spirit that is now working, note this, in the sons of disobedience. You know a description of unbelievers, sons of disobedience. A son of disobedience is one whose life is characterized by disobedience to God. The unbeliever lives his life in a state of rebellion against God. He never does anything that is pleasing to God. We'll get to this in Romans 3. There is none that does good, no not one. That's from God's perspective. The unbeliever lives in a continual state of rebellion against God and so those in the flesh cannot please God, they can never do anything acceptable to God. Salvation is the result of God's grace, as will be unfolded for us, and is our first act of obedience, when we place our faith in Jesus Christ.

That same statement is made in Ephesians 5:6. Verse 5 for the context, you know with certainty, note this, no doubt about this, that no immoral or impure person, or covetous man who is an idolater has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words. That's what they are. We tell people, God is understanding. I know you are in immorality but that's all right, I know you'll be saved. Know this with certainty that no one's going to be part of the kingdom that's established on this earth under the reign of the Son of God that is characterized by that. Let no one deceive you with empty words for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Any wonder that Paul says his apostleship was to bring about the obedience of faith. Because it begins a life.

Come back to Romans 1. As I mentioned this is part and parcel of when he talks about the fact, verse 1, he's a slave of Christ Jesus; the end of verse 4, Jesus Christ is our Lord; the end of verse 7 he talks about the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember Jesus asked the question of those who would be His followers during His earthly ministry, why do you call Me Lord, Lord and do not do what I tell you. I mean, those are empty words to say Lord, Lord and not do what I tell you. Many will say to Me on that day Lord, Lord, we did many mighty works in your name. And He said, depart from Me you who commit lawlessness. I never knew you. I mean, faith and obedience go together and just like my faith in Christ had a beginning point, it has no ending. My obedience to Christ had a beginning point, it has no ending. Those who live lives of disobedience to the Word of God are sons of disobedience, they are children of the devil. If you life a lift of faith you live a life of obedience. That doesn't mean there are no stumbles, it does mean you live a life of obedience and you live a life of faith. That's part and parcel of His being Lord, you being a slave; you being obedient, He being our master.

Come back to Romans 1:5, through whom we have received grace and apostleship. First prepositional phrase—to bring about the obedience of faith. Second prepositional phrase—among all the Gentiles. Praise the Lord. You know Paul's apostleship was unique. There were other apostles but their ministry as apostles was directed to the Jews. Doesn't mean they never told the Gentiles about the gospel, they did. Peter did in Acts 10 before Paul carried on that ministry. But the focus of Peter's apostleship was to Jews. Paul is unique, his apostleship was directed toward carrying the gospel to non-Jews. Even though he shares the gospel with Jews, many Jews, the prime focus of his life and ministry as an apostle was to non-Jews, the Gentiles.

Turn over to Romans 15. We are in the introductory part of Romans, when we get to Romans 15:15 we'll be in the concluding part of Romans. Verse 15, I've written very boldly to you on some points so as to remind you again because of the grace that was given to me from God. Talking about his apostleship, that was the grace given to him. To do what? To be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God. So here he is, using an analogy from the Old Testament, like the priest stood between God and men. We don't have a formal priesthood but Paul says, I am like that in that I have the message of the gospel from God and I am giving it to Gentiles. So that my offering of the Gentiles, and the Gentiles are like a sacrifice I've been preparing as I present the gospel to them and they hear and believe and are saved. That my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. You see his apostleship was directed to the Gentiles. And Paul saw that the salvation of the Gentiles was part of the responsibility God had entrusted to him when He gave him a gift of grace to minister the gospel to Gentiles. And he wanted to be pleasing to God in that ministry.

Turn over to Galatians 2. It's important for us to learn from this. We'll talk about it when we talk about the gifts in Romans 12, but God not only determines what gift you will receive, it's a gift of His grace. You can't earn it, you can't work for it. It's a gift bestowed because God has sovereignly determined He will give that gift to you. He also determines how and where it will be used. And so Paul's gift will be used to minister to the Gentiles, primarily in places outside the region of Palestine, the land of Israel. In Galatians 2 Paul talks about the Council at Jerusalem and his appearance there and what went on. We want to pick up with verse 7. But on the contrary seeing that I, Paul, had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised. That's the Gentiles. Just as Peter had been to the circumcised, to the Jews. So you see Peter was a key apostle in ministry to the Jews, Paul to the Gentiles. For He who effectually worked through Peter in his apostleship to the circumcised, effectually worked for me also to the Gentiles, recognizing the grace that had been given to me, James and Cephas who is Peter and John, who were reputed to be pillars gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship so that we might go to the Gentiles.

So Paul's apostleship is unique from the other apostles. They were all called to minister the gospel but Peter, James and John, for example, were directed by God to carry on that ministry to the Jews. Paul was told to move out beyond so we find him traveling the world outside the land of Israel, carrying the gospel to the Gentiles. That began with Paul, the transition to the church began in Acts 2. But the carrying of the gospel to the Gentiles didn't even begin until Peter did it in Acts 10. And it doesn't get carried on in any expanded way until Paul begins his missionary journeys in Acts 13. Now the gospel is carried to new places and on Jewish land. Aren't you glad because 2000 years later most of us sit here as Gentiles, saved by God's grace because what God sovereignly determined to carry out through the Apostle Paul has continued to be carried out because we live in the time of the fullness of the Gentiles and Paul will get to this when we get to Romans 11. This is a day and a period of time that began in Acts 2 and came to fullness with Paul's ministry where God is focusing His work of salvation in Gentiles, in contrast to what He did beginning in Genesis 12 until Acts 2. And that will go on until the Rapture of the church. And then He will resume His program focused in Israel.

So when you come back to Romans 1:5, Paul's ministry as an apostle was to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles. And that expression will become important because he's not just telling about an interesting point about himself, but he is preparing the way for the Romans to accept his apostleship. We'll see that in a moment. But he has one more prepositional phrase here.

To bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake. Do you know why this is all done? So the Gentiles can get saved. No, so Christ can be glorified. Not so Paul can get the satisfaction of exercising his gift, the personal enrichment that comes from that, not so Gentiles can get saved and escape hell, but so that Christ can be honored. And not that Paul doesn't get a fulfillment in carrying out the responsibility God has given him, he refers to that. Not that he is not passionate that the Gentiles get salvation. But the ultimate purpose of God in all that He does is to bring glory to Himself. Even our salvation is so that God can receive the glory and honor that He deserves.

So Paul puts it and keeps it in perspective. It's not about Paul, it's not about the Romans. It's about Christ. And all this has to be done. That's true for all of us in the exercising of our gifts. Put it in perspective. Oh, I don't know that I get fulfilled in this the way I used to. Wait a minute, it's not about you, it's not about me. It's about Him and Him receiving the glory that is due Him as we function as He in His grace has enabled us to function. For His name's sake, name referring to all that He is. That He receive all that is due Him.

Verse 6, among whom you also are the called of Christ Jesus. So you see now how Paul moves it to the Romans. He has been gifted by Christ in grace to serve as an apostle, to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the glory of Christ. Among whom you also, among whom. You understand, you Roman believer, you were Gentiles, you are part of the group that Christ has appointed me to minister the gospel to for the obedience of faith. Paul's ministry is not limited to bringing about the salvation of Gentiles, but also to bring about the development and growth. We see this in the letters he writes to the churches that have been established, because their faith and obedience is to be an ongoing thing.

So among whom you also are the called of Christ Jesus. You Roman believers are Gentiles so you understand my writing to you, my visiting you when that becomes possible in the plan of God as Paul anticipates. I come with the authority of Jesus Christ. Some may think, what does Paul have to do with us here in Rome, he didn't start the church here in Rome. We're not a result of Paul's ministry. Who is he to be writing a letter telling us what to do? Well wait a minute, you understand the Lord of the church has given me a role and a responsibility and authority to minister to all the Gentiles. Among whom, you are part of the Gentiles that I am responsible to minister to. So I'm just carrying out my apostleship.

Among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ. The called. That word used in verse 1, Paul, called an apostle; used here, the called of Jesus Christ; used down in verse 7, called saints. We'll unfold it in more of its fullness when we get over into Romans 8. The call of God when used in the writings of Paul always refers to the effectual call, a call that has been effective, that will be effective. In other words everyone that God calls will respond in faith to that call. So they are the called of Christ Jesus, verse 6, those that He has called to Himself. It's used differently in the gospels. Jesus said, many are called but few are chosen. There He refers to it as a general call that goes out to all and among those, some are chosen. When Paul uses it in the epistles, call always refers to those who are chosen and so respond to the call.

Turn over to Romans 8:28, we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. There is our word. For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to become conformed to His image, so they would be the firstborn among many brethren. These whom He predestined, He also called; these whom He called, He also justified; these whom He justified, He also glorified. You see there he takes us to back before the creation, the sovereign electing work of God and in predestination, and to the future work of God in glorification of the resurrected saints. And in that is the call of God. And those that God calls, the Holy Spirit effectually moves in their heart and mind and brings them to the place where they place their faith in Jesus Christ.

And Paul says, back in Romans 1:6, you Gentiles are among those that Jesus Christ has called to belong to Himself. So you see his ministry of bringing about the obedience of faith is not just limited to initial salvation because they are already saved. But he still has to teach them about a life of faith and a life of obedience. And that will be part of his ministry to them.

Verse 7. Now verse 7, you really could put a parenthesis around verses 2-6, because you could read verse 1, Paul, a bond servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God and then pick up with verse 7, to all who are loved of God in Rome. And it would make perfect sense. Everything in verses 2-6 has been an elaboration on the gospel, on Paul's apostleship, because they are inseparably linked together. The ministry of the gospel and Paul's responsibility in carrying it to the Gentiles is tied to the ministry he is going to have through this letter and through his personal visit at a future time.

He is writing to all who are beloved of God in Rome. Beloved of God, another wonderful expression. Isn't it amazing, as those who have been called of God and experienced His salvation, we are the objects of His special love. That God would place His love on us and according to I John 4:10, 19. It's not that we love God, but that He loved us. He is the initiator, He initiated with the call, He initiated by putting His love on us. The same idea comes from the Old Testament with the word to know. You know Adam knew his wife and she conceived, the word know conveying that special affection and love, intimacy. And yet in Amos 3:2 God says to Israel, you only have I known among all the families of the earth. But He is omniscient, He knows everything. But that's the only nation He has placed His love and favor upon. So now we are the objects of God's special love, favor, attention if you will. So the believers in Rome he is writing to, these beloved of God.

He's writing to called saints. Now some translations insert in italics called to be saints. Here we have the word as inserted, you can see it with italics, it's not there. This is just literally called saints. We are not called to be saints as though it is something future that we should attain, we are called saints. The result of the call of God, that's what we are. We are saints, a word that with one exception is always used in the plural in the New Testament, referring to the group of saints together. It's the sovereign call of God that set them apart for Himself. To be a saint is to be one who has been set apart. You are familiar, the word saint, sanctify and holy all come from the same basic Greek word, a form of that same basic word. The basic idea is to be set apart. Someone who is holy is set apart from the defilement of sin. So God is holy because He is completely set apart from any defilement, any impurity, any sin of any kind. We are to be holy because God is holy. We, too, are to be set apart from sin. Here he is talking about called saints, the basic point here is we have been set apart by God for Himself. In His call He set us apart for Himself. We belong to God. What an honor, what a privilege. Called saints.

Look over in I Corinthians 6:9, do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? There is coming a time when the Messiah, who has been appointed with power, the power of salvation, the power of judging, will exercise that power to establish a kingdom on the earth. And all the righteous will be part of that kingdom. But the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom, they won't be part of it. Do not be deceived. How often are we warned about the danger of listening to empty words or being deceived about this message. Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. But there is hope. Such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, set apart. God washed you clean from the defilement of you sin, He set you apart from sin for Himself. You were justified, declared righteous in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Spirit of our God. This all happened when God saved us. We were washed clean from the defilement of sin, we were set apart from sin for God, to belong to Him. And we were declared righteous by Him. There is no other way of salvation. That's why we don't tell people they ought to quit being immoral, they ought not to get drunk. You understand if you're not immoral, that doesn't save you. You need to be washed from the defilement of sin. These are just examples. We'll get more into this later in Romans 1. The point we want to pick up is God washes you, He sanctifies you. You are a saint, set apart by God for Himself, and He declares you righteous. That happens the moment you believe, you are sanctified, you are a saint, set apart from sin for God Himself. Now that continues on in our lives. We talk about progressive sanctification, that goes on.

Turn over to II Thessalonians 2:13, Paul says, we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord. Paul just always in awe of the wonder and beauty of God's salvation. How can I stop giving God thanks for you Thessalonians, you're brethren beloved by the Lord because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation. How? Through sanctification by the Spirit. The Spirit sets you apart and you believe in the truth, and faith in the truth. You see the same thing he's talking about. Called saints, washed, sanctified, justified, chosen, belief. I mean, they all go together. Set apart by God to belong to Him. This is what we are. We're not to become holy, we are holy, now we are to live holy. You shall be holy for I am holy. How can we do that? Well we are partakers of the divine nature. So we are living out now what we have become in Christ. That's where our obedience naturally comes.

Back in Romans 1. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. There is the greeting. The grace comes from God, grace comes to us in our initial salvation, we are saved by grace. But you understand that grace is the ongoing provision for us to live and serve. God's peace that stands guard at our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, as Paul wrote in Philippians 4, is to be their portion. Paul wants God's grace to be richly bestowed and evident in their lives, then to be enjoying the peace that comes from God as they are faithful and obedient to Him.

And you note this comes from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Could you say grace and peace to you from God our Father and Paul? You can't say that, Paul can't give grace and peace, only God can. You know, here is another reminder that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is Himself deity also—God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. And grace and peace come to us from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. God the Father provides, but it only come through the Son who has completed the work that the triune God had planned in eternity past and carried out in time with the coming to earth of His Son. And now that is the message that is being proclaimed. And you and I sit here as redeemed people today, testimonies of the power of the gospel to bring salvation to everyone who believes. Not everyone who comes through these doors and sits here has experienced the power of God's salvation, but everyone who has placed their faith in Jesus Christ has experienced that power, knows what it is to be free from the defilement and the guilt and the condemnation of sin, the awesome wonder to have been set apart by God for Himself, to have been justified, declared righteous because the righteousness of Christ has been credited to us. Now we are the beloved of God. What a wonderful salvation we have, what a powerful salvation we have. This is the gospel that Paul is proclaiming in the letter to the Romans, this is the gospel that we must believe to be saved.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for the wonder of your salvation. Lord, we are in awe to consider that the message of your Son is the message that brings life, that this gospel, this good news is your power to bring about the salvation of each individual who hears and believes the wonder of the truth that your Son died on the cross to pay the penalty for sin and was raised because the work of redemption was done. I pray for any who are here, Lord, who have yet to believe this message. May this be a day when they bow the knee in obedience and place their faith in your Son, our Savior, in whose name we pray. Amen.