Not Ashamed of the Gospel

Transcript

GR 2203
04/07/2019
Not Ashamed of the Gospel
Romans 1:16-17
Gil Rugh

We’re in the Book of Romans together, and things just started recently, our study of this book, a book that we have studied on other occasions together. But a foundational book in a more full and systematic way than any other book of the Bible. It lays out the gospel of Jesus Christ, so for an understanding of the details of the gospel and clarity on it, from beginning through the end, you need to understand and know Romans. Now again, it’s not the only place the gospel’s talked about, but for the full systematic development and explanation of the gospel, there’s nothing to compare with the Book of Romans. Paul has never been to the church at Rome. We don’t know for sure how it was started, but there is a sound solid church there and its reputation has spread to other places. Since Rome is the capital of the world and a cosmopolitan city, people would come and go. There’d be interaction there, and Paul says the testimony of their faith has become known in other places, and he is looking forward to visiting.

Paul has priorities, and his priority is to take the message of the gospel to those who have not heard. And as much as he would like to visit Rome, he has put that further back on his list because there were places the Lord opened up for him to go that had not heard the gospel. But now he thinks that the Lord is opening the way. We’ll see as we get toward the end of the letter that he’s been taking a collection for needy saints in Jerusalem. He’ll be returning to deliver that money and then he plans to carry the gospel to Spain. That would enable him to stop in Rome and have a ministry there while he moved on to a place that had not heard the gospel, so a little bit of the context. He’s identified himself as an apostle, set apart for that ministry of proclaiming the gospel. That’s where he opens up; that’s what the Book of Romans will be about, the gospel that Paul had on his heart. This is what God has commissioned me to do, to carry the gospel to the lost, to the Jew first as we’ll see and also to the Gentiles.

Even though Paul hasn’t been to the church at Rome, he had a love for the Roman believers. He had a love for believers wherever they were so he had included them in his prayers and part of his prayer life for the Romans had included his desire that he would be given the opportunity by God to visit them and minister to them and be blessed by their ministry to him. Down in verse 13 of chapter one he said, “I don’t want you to be unaware, brethren that often I’ve planned to come to you (I’ve been prevented so far) and I look forward to having a profitable fruitful ministry to you and also, to benefit from your ministry to me.” He wants to obtain fruit among the Gentiles. He is the apostle to the Gentiles. He obviously preached the gospel to the Jews on a number of occasions, but he was the one set apart, to break out from the bonds of Judaism and carry the gospel to non-Jewish people, where God’s focus in salvation, because of His judgment on Israel for their persistent sin, culminating in the rejection of their Messiah. God has put Israel under judgment. He has not rejected them, we’ll get to that when we get further in the letter and Paul will ask the question. “God has not rejected His people, has He” referring to the Jews and Paul says megenoito, translated in some of our Bibles, “God forbid,” because it’s a strong way. Such a thought is inconceivable!

But God has set Israel aside for a time and focused His offer of salvation to the Gentiles and the establishing of the Church, the period of time in which we live. In verse 14, Paul said, “I’m under obligation to both Greeks and to barbarians to the wise and to the foolish.” There’s no limit. I’ll take the gospel to anyone everywhere is the idea. So, for my part, “I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.” Now he’s writing to believers in Rome, but he wants to carry the gospel to them. It’s not enough that they have heard it and believed it, but they must have a depth of understanding of it. I mean, consider as we have the letter to the Romans. It’s 16 chapters of serious theology that Paul writes anticipating that he will be coming personally. And he’ll further clarify and explain, he’s not satisfied with just what we might call a superficial understanding, we’ve got the basics, the death, burial and resurrection of Christ and that’s all you need. No, you need much more. I want to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome and, of course, that would include then reaching out to unbelievers who would be in Rome as well, and strengthening the church to do that.

I’m eager to preach the gospel to you and then you have really what is the theme of the letter to the Romans in verses 16 and 17, “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. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘BUT THE RIGHTEOUS one SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.’” This is the message that Paul brings. This is the condensed version in verses 16 and 17. The rest of the Book of Romans will unfold that in its various aspects so that we have clarity of understanding. You’ll note, “I’m eager to preach the gospel to you because I’m not ashamed.” I am not ashamed of the gospel. You know going to a city like Rome, Paul knows what trouble is; he’s not new to this ministry. Now I’ll talk about coming to Rome, the center of the Empire, dealing with things like emperor worship and all the pagan gods in the Pantheon of Rome. He knows the potential for problems. I wonder what the church at Rome thought. Oh, here comes Paul, trouble. Why? Because he’s going to be bold with the gospel.

They had no other reason to come if I’m not going to tell you the gospel and explain that in depth, and “I am not ashamed of the gospel.” A couple of reasons why he would have to say that, he’s expressed this on other occasions. Come over to 1 Corinthians chapter 1 where Paul says in verse 17, “Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel.” You see the same thing wherever it is to whomever, I’ve been commissioned to preach the gospel. Then he says here, “not in cleverness of speech,” not in wisdom of speech, not because I am the intellectual, apologetic expert who can come and challenge the Romans on their own level, no not in the wisdom of speech “so that in the cross of Christ would not be made void.” Paul is concerned any alteration of the gospel as God has given it is a corruption of that gospel, and that can render it null, and void.

This is so important. This is what he stresses in the letter to the Galatians where he says, “the gospel, that corrupted gospel of the message of Christ” plus, in that case the works of the Law. That’s not the gospel at all. It’s not connected to what I preach at all. Well wait, they’re saying, you know, believe in Christ the Son of God in His death and resurrection, but they also preach you have to keep the Law. Paul says that’s not the gospel I preach. That renders it null and void, so the devil’s very clever. He has an antidote to the gospel, it’s the message of the gospel plus, others, other things. If I tried to wed my wisdom to impress you, I would nullify the affects of the gospel. And here is the problem, why sometimes we are ashamed of the gospel, it is foolishness to those who are perishing. That’s it, its foolishness, it is something they do not think is characterized by wisdom, and that’s their attitude and we don’t like to be looked at as fools. We want to be respected. We’re not looking for high honor, but I don’t like everybody talking about me as though I’m a fool, I’m not very smart and what he tries to promote is just goofiness. It’s foolishness, to those who are perishing.

He understands this and he then talks about the wisdom of men but the wisdom of men didn’t bring salvation. So, in verse 21, “since in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe” and that becomes key. We’ll come back to this because of that. Now, Paul’s burden was to get the gospel out. Foolish as it is in the sight of men, when it is believed, it has a power you can find no place else. And verse 22, “the Jews ask for signs the Greeks search for wisdom.” I know if I come and do miracles, the Jews are impressed. If I come, trying to display intellectual creditability, then the non-Jews would recognize that, but I don’t give men what they want. I give men what they need, the truth of God. “We preach Christ crucified. Now that is it’s a stumbling block to the Jews and it’s foolishness to the Gentiles” but you know there’s no alteration.

This is a constant problem in evangelicalism, our schools, we see the journal. I just got it today it came this week and I just got it out of my box here, and you know, it’s an Evangelical Journal. It even has evangelical in the name but some of it, it is so intellectual I don’t even know what they’re talking about half the time. We want to impress people. Some of you are studying neo-evangelicalism and its impact and what is one of the things the neo-evangelicals were concerned about? We must have respectability, even among the unbelievers of the world. So they don’t think Christians are just these foolish, dumb, non-intellectual people, but when you try to meet the world on its level, according to what it respects, you have compromised the gospel and rendered it null and void. Paul says I make no such adjustment. I know what they want. I also know what they need, and it becomes…it gets dressed up. Well we want to reach people and so this is part of our reaching people. Reach them for what purpose? That’s what Paul says.

I come to bring a gospel that brings salvation. Everything else does nothing, can’t do it, so this becomes what Paul’s talking about in Romans. “We preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block, to the Gentiles foolishness,” but when God is at work and those that He has chosen called, then salvation is brought about. Chapter 2 goes, “when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” That doesn’t mean he wasn’t intimidated. He says, “I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling.” I mean Paul was human. It wasn’t that he went because he had no fear. Whatever, I’m just bold. He’s human, you know this was going to stir animosity, it was going to stir problems, but “I do it because I’m commissioned of God I’m entrusted with the truth.” So, the message of the gospel can seem unimpressive. It’s not what the world is looking for. The world doesn’t look at Christians and say, boy they are really intelligent, wise, smart people. When you look for the respect of the world, you have to compromise so often and in so many ways your Christianity.

And then the second reason that can cause us to be ashamed is, it stirs the animosity. They look at it as foolishness and further than that, they despise that message. They hate it, they don’t want to hear it and so we’re reluctant to present it because it’ll only cause trouble. Come over to 1 Timothy chapter 1, 1 Timothy chapter 1 and in his letter to Timothy—2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 8. “Therefore, do not be ashamed,” now he’s writing to Timothy. “Do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me.” You note he puts the Lord first. Why would Timothy be ashamed of Paul? Well Paul comes with the boldness of the gospel—I don’t know, you know if I get identified with Paul, it’s going to bring pressure, but when you’re ashamed of Paul and the message he preaches, you are ashamed of the Lord, the testimony regarding Him. It’s a terrible thing.

Any of us want to stand up and say, “I just want to say I’m ashamed of the Lord and the message about Him.” Well no, I wouldn’t want to say that, but when it comes down to—well then let’s go tell some people about Him. Well I don’t know that I’m really good at that. Why? You know we have the greatest message. This is good news from God that every person has to hear if they’re not going to spend an eternity in hell. For somehow, you know it’s hard to talk to people. Paul has to tell Timothy, verse 7, “God has not given us a spirit of timidity,” and you have in the margin of your bible where it means cowardice. Paul puts it right out there. Timothy, if you’re a coward with the gospel you don’t get that from God. He doesn’t produce that cowardice timidity. You can use both the words here, but He gives us a spirit of power and love and discipline. But we just read in Corinthians, Paul said “He was with them in weakness and fear and trembling” but he still did it, and God gave him the courage to do it. You know thank God for people who carry the gospel. None of us in this room would have ever been saved if someone hadn’t told us the gospel, and some are blessed to have Christian parents and heard it in that context. Heard it from believers that you were exposed to but somewhere along the line, it came into the family the first time.

I’ve shared, in my family it was two little old ladies. I don’t know the exact context, met my mother, they lived down in a little nicer place, down the mountain a little, down the hill, but they talked to my mother, two little old ladies. They have been in glory a long time, but they brought the gospel, which impacted one person in our family, which impacted another, which impacted another, which impacted another, two little old ladies. (I like little old ladies I married one. Where was I? Happy Birthday Hon . . . this is her birthday. I forgot to tell you earlier today.)

I’m….where was I? But the point, two little old ladies, what can they do? Well they could tell someone about the gospel. You don’t have to be a powerful person. You don’t have to be someone who has gone and gotten advanced degrees and now can—just two old ladies share the gospel, people get saved. Here I am today, saved by God’s grace. Why? Because through that, led through this, through this, through this, the family impacted, my cousin spent 20 years in France carrying the gospel. That was from that chain of events of two little old ladies sharing the gospel with one woman, and God used that gospel to transfer from her, spread, spread, spread, and you, if you share your testimony, it would be similar. How the gospel got into your home or your life, the family so Paul tells them, don’t be ashamed. Don’t be ashamed of the testimony of the Lord and God doesn’t give us cowardice, so I say Lord I want you to give me that boldness, that courage, power, love, self-discipline to step out and do what I would not do in my own strength. Step out and do what I’m afraid to do. Paul wasn’t afraid to admit. When I came to you, I was afraid. I was trembling, but I did it!

So, we’ve got to do one more verse, back up to Ephesians, chapter 6 a little bit before Timothy, Ephesians chapter 6 as he talked about the armor of God that we need because we’re in a war, we’re in a battle. We not only face the normal things that we’ve talked about a little bit in Ecclesiastes that come with living in a world that is under the curse and judgment of God for sin, but we are here stirring up the animosity of a world that hates our God. And hates those who belong to Him, because they’re children of the devil and we are children of God, and there is no peace between the two, apart from the saving grace of God. So Paul talks about the armor of God then down in verse 18 he says to them, “With all prayer and petition, pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints.” Be praying for other believers, a regular part we pray for one another, and then on my behalf, I want you to pray that “utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains.” This is one of Paul’s prison letters, what we call the first Roman imprisonment here. He knows what it is to be punished for preaching the truth, but you know what he wants, you say Paul this is one thing you don’t need to pray for Paul, you don’t need to pray “for boldness for which I am an ambassador in chains that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly as I ought to speak.”

You know Paul was human, like you and me. You know like James writes about like Elijah, he was a man of like passions. These men that God so greatly used, it wasn’t because they were cut from a different cloth, they were made in a different mold. A little timid, a little fearful, and reluctant, and they were just like us. Paul says, “pray that I’ll be bold.” Wait, Paul you are bold, that’s why you are in prison. You might say that he’d be asking--pray that I’ll have the kind of balance and carefulness--don’t pray for me to keep quiet. Pray for me that I’ll have boldness in the opening of my mouth to speak with boldness the mystery of the gospel. We often ask for prayer that we might be wise in how to do this and I realize that you know there are different situations that we approach a little differently. What we really need to pray for one another is we’ll be bold to open our mouth and say what we should say, to speak the gospel with clarity and boldness. Don’t pray for me to be careful. Pray for me to be bold. Pray for one another. Now Lord You’ve scattered us as a congregation in different places through the week. Lord I pray You’ll give boldness, to the fellow members of our body, wherever we are Lord give us boldness to speak openly, to make known the mystery of the gospel that we should be bold, as we ought to speak, so these kinds of things.

When you come back to Romans chapter 1 when Paul says, “I’m not ashamed of the gospel.” He’s not and I don’t want to act like one who’s ashamed. I can think of a lot of reasons why it might be better to be more careful. I realize there are certain settings where, but you know, stop and think. How many people have you shared the gospel with, in the last month? It seems like we may sometimes be so careful that nobody gets to hear from us, but we’ve been a lot of places, and rubbed shoulders probably with a lot of unbelievers, and had a lot of contacts. If we don’t share the gospel with them, who will? Why did God put us in that context? Why did He give us that opportunity? I think if we’re honest, we don’t need to pray that we’ll be as careful as we should or not say anything we shouldn’t. We need to pray like Paul that I’ll be bold to open my mouth and speak it. How else are people going to hear?

You know the gospel is a dead letter if it’s never opened and we’ll get to this in Romans 10 when he’ll talk about nobody can be saved who doesn’t hear. And nobody will hear unless someone tells them so that’s what the book of Romans is about, Paul’s unfolding the gospel because these Romans are going to have to be bold in a world that we think, oh, well, you know we’re in a hostile situation. If there were real hostility there, you’d go to prison for it. You know what happened to most of the original apostles; they died as martyrs. You know how Paul’s going to die? As a martyr. We know that. We say, well you know it’s a different day. It’s not; yeah it’s an easier day. Paul would come here and say, boy you can just meet and preach the gospel. We could go out and tell everybody we want to, let’s go, whom do you know? Um—well, but he was like us.

“I’m not ashamed of the gospel.” “I was with you in weakness and fear and much trembling” but I’m not ashamed of the gospel. I didn’t speak it because I’m bolder than other people. Keep praying for me that I’ll be bold enough to open my mouth. Let’s start praying for one another that way. Lord, give the people at Indian Hills a boldness. Maybe we ought to start asking each other, just wanted to check, have you shared the gospel with anyone recently? Tell me about it. You know it’s a good kind of pressure for us all. I think I should tell them the gospel but maybe this isn’t the right time. Now wait! That’s what Paul is saying, I’m not ashamed of the gospel. That explains why you wouldn’t be ashamed of God’s “good news.” You don’t even like to talk that way. I’m ashamed of what God has to say, what God has done for us. I’m not ashamed of the gospel. Why? “It is the power of God for salvation.”

Let me read what Donald Grey Barnhouse preached at Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia a number of years ago and then it was published around 1960. “Paul was not ashamed of the gospel as he moved towards Rome. It was a city of slaves, but he would not center his preaching against slavery. It was a city of lust, but he would not center his preaching on moral reform. It was a city of economic injustice, but he would not center his preaching on momentary palliatives. It was a city built on war’s rapacity, but he would not center his preaching on passivism.” Paul had one thing to say. Now what about slavery? You know we’ve got people, even churches, that think we’re going to get into moral reform. You know what Paul said? I’ve just got one thing on my mind; I’m coming to Rome to preach the gospel. When he went Corinth, there’s one thing on my mind, to preach the gospel. You know the problem with the Evangelical Church today? It’s got too many things on its mind. We’ve got a simple…..preach the gospel. Tell the truth of Jesus Christ. “I am not ashamed of the gospel, it’s the power of God for salvation and he’s going to explain the gospel."

Four words…..I’ve put them on a slide that are key on what he’s going to say, four key words. The first one is “Power” it’s the power of God for salvation. The second word, “Salvation” to everyone who believes. Third word here, “Believes,” has faith for in it the “Righteousness” there’s our fourth word. The righteousness of God is revealed for it’s in the gospel, that God’s righteousness can be credited to a sinful human being. Now we can justly, by a just God, be declared righteous. These four words, we’ll walk through here as you see them unfolded. Why wouldn’t you be ashamed of the gospel, and he gives the reason because it’s the power of God understand that we get the word dynamic, dynamo, dynamite, those kinds of words from this word. This is the power that comes out from God Himself. It’s not dependent on my wisdom, it’s not dependent on my education. It’s not dependent on my personality. The gospel is in the power of God and the gospel is that power.

So, oh Lord, if we only had Your power. Oh Lord, give us power. Madison sang a song that was the favorite of Alva J. McClain, who was the President of Grace Seminary, the founder; he was retired by the time I went there. But in his commentary on Romans, he says this. “We are told the Church has no power today, the diagnosticians and experts are running around in circles trying to find what is the matter and discover a remedy, so that the Church may recover its lost power. They tell us that all churches must unite; they must hold the young people, they must get into politics, they must teach the fatherhood of God the brotherhood of man. They must cease preaching the theological dogmas of the Bible. All these are mere quack remedies. If the Church has lost its power, it is because it has lost the gospel, because the gospel is the power. God has vested His power in the truth we preach. The church is not the power nor the preacher, nor the members in the pew, nor methods organization and money. Some say we ought to pray more. When we pray more, we will have more power. That’s true but the most astounding spectacle in all the universe is an apostate church, which having cast away the true gospel, is now on its knees praying to God for power. An astonishing contradiction and yet that is the tragic situation today. On the one hand throwing away the power and then on the other hand praying for it. It must make the angels weep and the devils laugh.”

There’s truth in that the gospel’s the power of God. Oh God, we need Your power. You have it. Use it, the gospel is the power. Now think about that. He said, you know you can have God’s power. Boy, does that mean I could raise the dead? That means I could heal the sick. You can do something that is of a much greater importance and of eternal significance. It’s something that only God could do. You can save a sinner. Paul said I become all things to all people that I might by some means save some. Paul’s not saying the power for salvation rests in me, but the message, which is God’s power for salvation, has been imparted to me entrusted to me. Now think about that we walk around like what are we. We have the power of God entrusted to us. What more could I ask for? You’d think we’d be going around saying, “man I just can’t wait to turn this loose.” God’s power entrusted to me, not because of me, it’s not in me, it’s in the message that’s been given to me. This is the power of God!

Come back to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. As Paul talks about this in verse 21 he says, we read this, “in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached, because this is how the world in its wisdom sees the message we have, its foolishness. But God is pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. And we preach Christ crucified,” now the Jews and the non-Jews alike, discard it reject it, “but to those who are called,” verse 24 “both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” When you preach Christ, present the gospel, the good news of what Christ has done and His death on the cross, paying the penalty, the power of God is sent out, that’s not going to impact everyone because in the stubbornness of sin men and woman reject it, but to the called, God will use that in the lives of those He’s called. So, we want to be like Paul, we are enduring all things for the sake of the elect that they might come to that salvation that is found in Christ.

The foolishness of God is wiser than men, the weakness of God stronger than men, and look around, God saved you. That’s what Paul tells the Corinthians. I don’t see many wise in your group, I don’t see many mighty, I don’t see many noble, but I see saved people, and God used what the world considers as moronic. We get the English word “Moron” from this translated foolishness. The foolishness, isn’t it amazing? You know it’s almost blasphemous, but the world considers God a moron, because what He says they say is moronic. It’s foolishness, it makes no sense. And we should allow ourselves to be shut-up and intimidated? God has chosen the foolish things of the world and that’s His intention.

You come down into chapter 2, he’s preaching Christ crucified, and he didn’t do it with worldly wisdom. He didn’t do it with impressive power. “I was with you” in verse 3 “in weakness in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom.” That’s not where the power of Paul’s ministry was. It was in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. You know what? If I share the gospel with someone and he believes, that’s a testimony that it is God’s power, and that He would use a nobody like me, a nobody like you, to bring His power to a life that would be transformed by that gospel.

The world doesn’t understand it. They can’t. That’s why we don’t want to get into a debate with the world on its level. We want to turn the gospel around quickly. You know we said there’s an opportunity down at the university and you have to go down and present the gospel. You may say, well I don’t have a doctor’s degree, you know, I’ve never been to the university. Your answer ought to be, “sure, where should I be and at what time,” because you’re not down there to impress them with your wisdom. We can tell the university we’re going to send a nobody down there, just a little fool, and he’ll tell you what you need to hear. Can’t we present the gospel? Are we ashamed? We’re not going to meet the world on what it considers its level. Let them think of me as a fool. In their eyes I am. I’m here to tell you what will transform your life, what only the power of God can do. I can’t do it, I can’t impress you with my wisdom because I’m not wise as you would consider it, but I can tell this, “Christ Jesus died for your sins” and that’s where he’s going to start in Romans. We have to first make clear, everybody is in sin, which nobody wants to hear unless God is doing a work, so the power of God.

Back up to Acts chapter 11, and we’re going to look at verse 14. This is about Peter reporting on his carrying the gospel to the Gentiles, in Acts chapter 10 after a vision God gave him. And in verse 14, he said reporting what the Lord had revealed at the house of Cornelius to them in preparation for Peter coming. He had told them to send to Joppa, get Peter, have him come and note what Peter will do. “He will speak words to you by which you will be saved” that’s all Peter had to come and do. And that’s what he does, you go and read it and he just walked through the gospel. I mean here I am, and he makes clear I didn’t even want to come, and I wouldn’t have come if there weren’t special circumstances, but, let me tell you why I’m here. Let’s get right to the point. In any conversation all you want to do is how do I turn this conversation to the gospel. We don’t want to talk about the weather indefinitely. We don’t want to talk about the political situation indefinitely. Maybe that’s how it starts.

I’ve shared with you, I used to ride the subway in and out of Philadelphia. You know you get on, and it’s crowded and so it used to be a challenge. And when I got--you know partly you ride the bus and partly you ride the subway and I’ve got to sit down with this person that’s reading their newspaper or stand next to them. And I don’t know when they’re getting off at the stop, so I have to engage them in conversation and get to the gospel before they get off, and it sort of became the challenge. Oh, you’re reading the newspaper. Are you finding it interesting going on in the world. Sometimes people aren’t too interested in your interrupting them, but you try it out anyway. What are they going to do? They aren’t going to throw me off the subway, the door’s closed, they can’t get it open. And then you say, “well you know what really matters, what’s in the newspaper you won’t find there what you really need to know today, but there is something God has said you should to hear. And I’d like you to hear it before we go our separate ways and can I present the gospel?”

And you know that’s why I tell people who go out on Monday night, if you haven’t done it, practice doing it. And then say I have to be, if I can do nothing else as God’s child, I ought to be able to present the gospel clearly and concisely, so that wherever God puts me I’m ready and I’m looking for that opportunity. So that’s what Peter did. He didn’t say, well I don’t know what to say, what should I tell you, I’ll just tell you the gospel, because that’s the power of God and we know they were saved. All right it’s the power of the gospel, come back to Romans 1, for salvation and that’s what we need, salvation.

I’ve put up four points that may help me move along a little quickly. Just four provisions of salvation and there--could make a long list but these are four things that are involved in salvation. Number 1 Forgiveness of sins. Well when the angel announced the coming birth of Christ he says, “You shall call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins.” That’s what the gospel is about…..Jesus saving by doing what only He could do, so one of the provisions of salvation is the forgiveness of sins. Well now the world would say, I don’t agree, I don’t think we’re sinners. I don’t think I’m a sinner. I understand and you’re welcome to that opinion. I just want to share with you what God says, and you have to evaluate that. It brings forgiveness of sins. We won’t turn there but Colossians 1:14 says Christ Jesus is the one in whom we have redemption the forgiveness of sins. There’s nowhere else you can go to get it, you can’t get it in your church; you can’t get it in the sacraments. You can’t get it in keeping the Ten Commandments you only get it in what Christ has done, so there’s forgiveness of sins. Many people realized that. If they’re Catholics, they go to confession, they go to church, to the Mass, we can pick them up. Protestants are going to church for something. They have even less idea than Catholics, but they’re going to church. They think you ought to be religious. There’s forgiveness of sins. It’s the power of God for salvation.

Secondly, it’s freedom from slavery to sin. We get into this in the opening chapters of Romans as we pick up beginning in verse 18 and into chapter 3. We are “slaves to sin.” It will be developed more fully in chapter 6 when everyone is a slave. You’re either a slave to sin and the devil, or you’re a slave to righteousness in God, only two groups of people in all the world. There is freedom from slavery to sin in Christ. Jesus said, in John 8 “everyone who sins is the slave of sin,” John 8:34, “but if the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed,” that we bring a message of forgiveness of freedom. People think oh, Christianity with all those rules and regulations, and do this and don’t do that. I don’t tell people that, no I have a message that sets you free, true freedom, freedom from the slavery to sin.

People are struggling with all kind of things today. There are various addictions and drugs and sex and gambling. Well you know I have an addiction. Well the biblical word is slavery. There are things that control you and you can’t get free. That’s the characteristic of sin, it enslaves, that’s the work of the devil. Everyone who is unsaved is a slave of the devil, but Jesus said, “you are of your father the devil and you always do his will.” You’re enslaved to him. Christ sets you free from slavery to sin that’s why I don’t try to talk to people about cleaning up their lives. It’s hopeless. That’s like telling them they can save themselves. We don’t want to tell them that, you cannot. When I used to go to the missions in Philadelphia and you talk to the—I am hopelessly enslaved to alcohol and I know when I leave here, I’ll be drunk before the week’s over again. I say, I agree, it’s hopeless except there is only one-way for you to be truly free. Only one ray of hope but that’s all you need.

It’s freedom from spiritual death, now the third thing freedom from, deliverance from spiritual death, because we’re separated from God. You know the problem is, we try to be religious. You’re cut off from God, you have no access to God. God says, “no you can’t come to Me. No you just can’t come.” Jesus says, “come unto Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden,” but men can’t come on their own. I go to my church, I have my beliefs, you have your beliefs. I go to God my way, you go to God your way. The problem is I can’t get to God my way and you can’t get to God your way. The only way to God is His way, and spiritual death is being separated from God. We shall be saved. He’ll deliver us. We were dead in our transgressions, that’s spiritual death. We were made alive in Christ. Now we can pick up, people like the, there’s programs on TV something about the walking dead or the living dead or I see it advertised. Who wants to watch that but at any rate that’ll give me nightmares? You’re the walking dead. Maybe you believe in zombies whatever they are. You are one of them. As far as God’s concerned, you’re dead, you’re cut off from Him you have no relationship with Him, and you can’t have it.

Except then the fourth thing, deliverance from the wrath of God.
There is an eternity. Oh, I don’t believe in that. I shared the gospel with someone a couple months ago and he said I just don’t believe like you do. I don’t believe that there’s something after this life. What can I say? I can’t change your mind, you can believe as you choose, but you ought to give careful consideration. God says there is something after this life, and you will bear the full brunt of His wrath unless you believe in His Son. You can be saved from the wrath of God through Him. Now look back in Romans chapter 1 verses 16 and 17, it’s “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” Everyone who believes that’s the third word we had. We’ve talked about power, we’ve talked about salvation, now we talk about beliefs on that list. The word believes is the word faith. You can have a verb and a noun and a believer, we talk about Christians as believers. We are those who have faith, not just general faith, everybody has faith, everybody believes something. The person I talked to who believed that everything was over when you die, there’s nothing else to come, nothing else to follow, you just cease to exist forever. He had faith in that, he firmly believed it, but were talking about the gospel, you must believe what God says. It’s the “power of God for salvation to everyone who believes,” places their faith in that truth. And you’re aware of faith in its various forms will be mentioned numerous times, especially when we get to chapter 4 and 5. You have to have faith.

You know you can grow up in a Christian home, you can have Christian parents, Christian grandparents, but that can’t save you, and I can’t save anyone else. I can tell them what will save them, but they have to believe it, “for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that” everyone would be saved. No, “so that whosoever who believes, in Him would be saved.

And sometimes you talk to people. I know you say you don’t think that’s true, and you don’t want to believe it, but just think for a moment. Isn’t that the most amazing thing God could do if that is true? If it is true, why would you reject it? God says you are a sinner. I know you don’t like to think of yourself as a sinner but God says you are and if there is a God, what He says will be true. And He says I’ll give you salvation, I’ll cleanse you, forgive you if you’ll simply believe. You don’t have to work for it, you don’t have to earn it, you just have to believe what I’ve done. I can’t make people believe but I can present this truth to them again and again. That’s what I’m looking for and at the same time, I’m praying Lord only You can open a closed heart. Only You can open blinded eyes. The devil is blinding the mind of the unbeliever lest the light of the glory of the gospel shines in, doing battle with the devil and his forces, doing battle with the obstinate sin of the human heart. But I come with the power of God, and He’ll use that to penetrate a heart according to His will and His purpose to everyone who believes, and that’s all there is.
The message and the response, I can only bring the clarity of the message with a burden for their salvation.

This is just not, this is out here, you take it or leave it. No, I can tell him that it’ll be your choice for which you will be eternally accountable. But it’s by faith, nothing else. So, it’s not, well, if I could convince them and they say you know he’s pretty smart I could tell by our conversation that he’s a very smart person. Well I didn’t come to impress you that I’m a smart person. I come, satisfied that you think I’m a fool, but I tell you a message that is true wisdom because it’s the only message that is powerful enough to save you. It’s for everyone who believes and why is it the power of God, for salvation, it’s to the Jew first and to the Greek and it came to the Jew first. And, in fact, through the book of Acts, the Church is established in Acts chapter 2 and it’s not until, Acts chapter 10 that we have a specific outreach to the Gentiles. And it won’t be until chapter 9 that Paul gets saved and then in chapter 13 when he launches out to carry the gospel to the Gentile world, but it’s for all people that’s the point Jew and non-Jew alike.

There is one Savior, there is way of salvation, for in it, in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed, it’s made known. This is what we need, the righteousness of God. Isaiah says in Isaiah 64 “all our righteous deeds are like filthy polluted defiled rags” in the sight of God, the best that we can do is polluted and defiled. He doesn’t ask us to do anything to clean up our life. You meet people and you share and says you know I’ve been trying to do better, I’ve been thinking about going back to church, and they may be talking about any kind of church. You know that won’t help you. Well, how about if I come to your church? That won’t get you to heaven either. What you’ll need to believe the message that I’m going to tell you now, and we’d like to have you if want to come to our church, but I’m don’t want to give them the idea coming to this church will save them. We have people that have sat in this church, grown up in this church, and were not saved. That doesn’t save you, nothing but the gospel, which is the power of God. The benefit of coming to a church where the gospel is preached is, they hear the gospel and it’s the gospel that’s the power of God, not the church, not the preacher, not the teacher, not you not me.

In it, “the righteousness of God is revealed,” made known and it’s “from faith to faith”. “It’s for everyone who believes” as verse 16 said, it’s from faith to faith and faith is just a form of the word believe, it’s a basic Greek word you know we might say it believe, and a believer and you see it’s the same because if you say pisteuo and pistis, those are the two words. You can see it’s the same basic word. Having faith, the one who has faith we could say, to everyone who has faith in verse 16. “The righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written,” and he quotes from Habakkuk, “THE RIGHTEOUS SHALL LIVE BY FAITH,” and it begins by faith and it continues by faith. We sometimes have the discussion, is he talking about initial faith, is he talking about ongoing faith. Yes, we’ll just do one passage that quotes Habakkuk 2:4. Hebrews chapter 10, Galatians quotes it as well those are the three references, Romans and Galatians but we’ll take this in Hebrews. Chapter 10 is talking about in verse 26, “if we continue sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth; there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.”

The point is, if you reject the sacrifice of Christ, there’s nothing else acceptable to God but the sacrifice of Christ, so if you persist in rejecting Christ, there is no sacrifice for your sins. You will pay your own penalty. That’s the point there, and you can be sure judgment will come, the same the book of Ecclesiastes ends. And then you come down and he’s reminding these believers you need endurance, and then he quotes in verse 38. “BUT MY RIGHTEOUS ONE SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.” He’s quoting from Habakkuk, the righteous shall live by faith; “AND IF HE SHRINKS BACK, MY SOUL HAS NO PLEASURE IN HIM,” because the righteous shall live by faith. You enter into life when you believe in Christ but then you just don’t go on with your life willy-nilly. Now the rest of my life, is shaped by the fact, my faith is in Jesus Christ. We are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.

It’s just like obedience. My first act of obedience was the command of God to believe in Jesus Christ as we saw earlier in Romans 1, but now my life is lived in obedience to Him because my life is no longer my own. I’ve been bought with a price. My body belongs to Him. We’ll get into this in Romans 6. Now the same with faith, I placed my faith in Jesus Christ many years ago, and from that point on, I’ve lived my life with faith in Him. That doesn’t mean I haven’t stumbled, there haven’t been times when I have been unfaithful, but the characteristic of the life of a believer is faith. For those who turn back and reject Christ, it’s an indication they never had saving faith. I think people have an emotional experience, they want to share that emotional experience but if it hasn’t changed your life, the power of God comes into a life, it transforms that life on the inside. You say the power of God impacts a life and nothing happens. That’s not salvation. That salvation we’re talking about brings the righteousness of God. We’ll talk more about that as we go on into Romans, its God’s righteousness that comes to us and only His power can bring to salvation that can bring His righteousness to be credited to our account.

It’s amazing! It’s supernatural that I can share the gospel with someone and God may be pleased to use that in that life to turn that person from their lost hopeless condition to place their faith in Christ and be changed forever. You know usually we run around grabbing onto everyone, I’ve got to tell you something. You may have heard this, you may not have, but give me three minutes and I’ll tell you the most important thing you’ll ever hear. Maybe you have a tract you give them with it. We ought to be looking for ways to tell people. We have, I don’t know 200,000 plus people on our doorstep, lost and going to hell. I’m sure we can, each one, find someone to tell. “How shall they believe in Him of who they have not heard? How shall they hear without someone to tell them, and who can tell them but those who have the message.” So that’s what Paul’s about, with this then he’ll launch in to the first detailed unfolding of this good news of the gospel, the gospel of our salvation, our sins, we need forgiveness. We need to be rescued, and so then he’s going to take into chapter 3 to talk about sin and understand that, he wants the Romans to understand it. They believed but you have to understand this, be clear on it, and as we hold on to these things, they’ll keep us from drifting from the truth of the gospel.

Alright, let’s pray together: Thank You Lord for the riches of the gospel and Lord what an awesome blessing we have had, to have heard and believed the gospel and we are testimonies of Your grace and will be for all eternity, because the gospel was Your power. When we heard it and by Your grace believed it that made us new on the inside. We would never be the same. We had been born again. Life is totally different, it will never be the same and we would never want it to be the same. And then we have been entrusted with this gospel, your power. We can tell others about Jesus Christ and Your Spirit to take that truth and use it to so change a life that they will never be the same again. They will be born again made new, forgiven sins, Lord how awesome it is. May we be a people who are about Your work wherever we are, whatever situation. May we be ready, and quick, and bold with the gospel so that others might have the privilege of hearing? Bless our fellowship even as we share together through the rest of the evening we pray in Christ’s name. Amen.