F.A.I.T.H
- Seeing The World As it Is
Read Romans 1.1-17
1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to
be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— 2 the gospel he
promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3 regarding
his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, 4 and
who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God
by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. 5 Through
him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people
from among all the Gentile to the obedience that comes from faith. 6 And
you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.
7 To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:
Grace and peace to you from God our
Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
8 First,
I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being
reported all over the world. 9 God, whom I serve with my whole heart
in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you
10 in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s
will the way may be opened for me to come to you.
11 I
long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you
strong— 12 that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by
each other’s faith. 13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers,
that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so
until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had
among the other Gentiles.
14 I
am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. 15
That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at
Rome.
16 I
am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation
of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 17 For
in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by
faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by
faith.”
Today we’re embarking on a voyage of
discovery. We are about to tackle the book of Romans. And if you don’t know
much about it let me give you a few background notes and then the way things
will go this morning.
Romans was written by the Apostle
Paul. It his longest and most complete letter describing God’s plan for
humanity from beginning to end. Paul touches on creation, God’s great promise
to Abraham and how God fulfills his promise
first to the Jews and then to all the nations of the world. Paul’s main
concern is to preach Jesus the Messiah and how everything is different because
of his coming, his death and resurrection.
Romans is also a very practical book
teaching us about grace, forgiveness and how to live well together in the world
we have.
The Christian movement in Rome was
probably started by believers who had been at the Pentecost celebration the
year Jesus rose and the Spirit was given. They went back to their home synagogues
and we know from history these new disciples of Jesus cause quite a stir.
Claudius the Roman emperor at the time got tired of the public unrest causes by
“arguments about this Christ” and expelled all Jews – Christian or not in AD
49. Some years later, they returned and it’s to these people that Paul writes.
Paul’s goal is to give them a
spiritual blessing, to unify them in their understanding of Old Testament
teaching and fulfillment in Christ. Their faith was strong already – world famous
even. They had the Spirit and practiced profession of faith publically. They
baptised new believers and probably their children as well declaring Jesus is
Lord in a city where you could do anything religious except that. In Rome Caesar
was Lord and Saviour. Each profession of faith brought danger of jail time or
death. Christians were traitors and blasphemers in the eyes of Rome. So Paul offers
Biblical understandings to
structure and strengthen their faith communities.
The people who first heard the letter
were a mix of Jews and non-Jews. They came from a variety of social backgrounds.
Some wealthy and some poor. They had a
good knowledge of the Old Testament and we know that because Paul writes no
really new material. He, like Jesus simply re states what God had already said
in light of Jesus’ coming. In fact, Romans is one of the major bridges that
connect our two testaments describing God’s work of reconciling the world to
himself first to the Jews and then to all other people.
The central theme is therefore the
gospel and not simply justification. The
gospel as we shall see later on is much more than having our sins forgiven and
being declared not guilty. That’s one way to describe justification. And as we
will see it is part of the gospel but not all of it.
Here is a quick outline of the letter:
1.1-17 - The introduction of grace
1.18-3.320 - The explanation of
guilt and misery common to all people
3.21-4.25 – God desire to enact justification by faith
5.1-11.36 – God’s actions to accomplish the solution to guilt and misery
12.1 - 16.27 – The believer’s response - living in gratitude
As you can see there is lots of
material to cover and I’m not sure how long this will take. But what you can
expect each week is a careful and thorough study. We’re determined to leave
nothing out. I say this because there are hard issues in the Letter. Things
like homosexuality, self-control, moral and sexual purity and what exactly does
God have in mind for the Jewish people.
Okay, that’s enough background for
now. Here’s what we’ll do next.
First I’d like us to pray and let what
we’ve heard so far sink in.
Second, I’ll tackle the text for today
verses 16-17. There is one point to make and I want to make it clearly.
Third, as this is the week of
preparation for Lord’s Supper, be aware right now that the message on verses 16
& 17 will also serve as the encouragement – God’s call - to come next week
to the table in a worthy manner.
Theme verses:
16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the
power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew,
then for the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God
is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is
written: “The righteous will live by faith.”(Hab.
2.4, Gen 15.9)
I will keep to my promise and make a
single point, I’m just not ready to tell you what it is right now. We need to
be ready for it first. So, let’s do that by unpacking the two verses.
Verse 16 could be arranged like this:
16 I am not ashamed of the gospel,
- (the main thought)
because it is the power of God (What it is)
for the salvation of
everyone (why it is or its purpose)
who
believes: (who it affects)
first
for the Jew,
then
for the Gentile.
You can see that the gospel is BIG.
The gospel is THE POWER OF GOD – what God
invests the most energy in. God invests different amounts of attention - power
in different things. Creation was big, but salvation is an even bigger act – a more
powerful act.
Salvation: the best translation from
either the Greek or Hebrew is rescue. Rescue from sin, misery, evil and
spiritual death. Salvation is life now – options, confidence, fullness,
freedom. In Christ, because of Christ, forever.
And the gospel is for all who believe.
No one has any idea for sure how many have or how many will ultimately believe
because salvation is the goal of God. This is beyond human understanding. God’s ways are beyond us - the size, scope,
the extent of the gospel’s power. As Paul says, we see through the lens of our
broken humanity. Easily confused and mistaken to judge and condemn based on
opinions and tradition. God alone knows the heart.
Verse 17 says:
17 For a righteousness from God
is
revealed in the gospel
a righteousness that is by faith
from first to last,
just as it is written:
“The
righteous will live by faith.”
The first phrase controls the sentence,
the key word is righteousness or righteous. It’s connected to the gospel, maybe
the heart of the gospel. So what does “A righteousness from God” mean?
The Old Testament explains it this
way. Because God is Creator and owner of heaven, earth, the sea and all of us.
Because God is perfectly Good and perfectly just. Because God is completely
wise and loving.
God and God alone has the knowledge,
power and accuracy to declare truth. And the truth God declares in this passage
is this: Because of Christ’s living, dying and living again God has changed humanity’s status from
being guilty to being innocent by way of acquittal. God separates us from our
sin – as far as the east is from the west (psalm 103). But and this is
important – God does not forget our sin. God chooses to not hold it against us
anymore (Isaiah 43, Jeremiah 34, Hebrews 8, 10 and Romans 3 25).
Think of a law court. You’ve just
gotten a ticket for speeding or being a distracted driver chatting away on the
phone. The police pull you over, they’ve given you a fine and tell you to show
up in court. The judge hears the case. The officer speaks, you confess your
guilt – or not – it doesn’t matter. The officer has video – your guilt is there
for all to see. The judge hears and then pronounces sentence. He says: my
decision on the matter is as follows. On such and such a day you were on the
phone, broke the law and are guilty of the crime. Therefore I have decided to
grant you a pardon. You are free to go.
Wow.
Notice – the guilt is valid and
deserved. The fine is right and just. The truth is plain to see. You walk away
feeling what? Relief, smugness, giddiness, joy?
What just happened there?
This may be why God makes little sense
to so many. God set’s the guilty free; God rescues the guilty from prison. It’s
not fair, and that is the point.
God has bigger motives than most
realize. God’s activity of pardoning or acquitting or making right – is the power of
salvation – and it happens so that humanity can rejoin God’s community.
God’s righteousness is relational. God’s
goal is relational. The result of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection is to be declared
right with God, reunited with God into fellowship. And this is and has been God’s
desire from day 1.
Paul quotes Habakkuk 2.4 “The righteous will live by faith.”
Which is itself a reference to Genesis 15.6. “Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as
righteousness.” Which is the formal beginning of God’s plan to reunite humanity
to himself after the disastrous events in Genesis 3.
To sum up:
“A righteousness from God,” gives produces
two things. 1 - the status of being in
right relationship with God and 2 – a faith that
never fails.
This is what is revealed in Christ through
the power of the Gospel.
So, anyone here who has received these
gifts has a relationship with God, and that can be experienced in many ways.
Emotionally – rationally – physical and in any combination. You’ll know that
you know because God makes it clear.
And anyone here who has received these
gifts has a living faith. Ultimately, an absolute reliance on God and his word rather than human means or ability or will. Doubts may remain, faith
must grow through testing and refining. But the key is that these two gifts are
given without condition.
God does not require anyone to get
their act together before giving. God does not wait for a clean moral record
before giving. God does not give the gifts only if they are asked for first. God
does not take his gifts back when sins are committed after the fact either.
God makes no sense in this – at least
from a human point of view. God does not operate as the average person does.
Isaiah 1.18“Come now, let us reason together,”
says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.
“Come now, let’s be serious,” says our
God. “You’re a mess of sin, lust and mixed motives” and in the quiet place we
all know it. “But as for me,” says the Lord, “I declare you right in your
relationship with me. I declare you pure regardless of what you’ve done. Now, walk
with me and learn to sin no more.”
People of God, the point is God
forgives freely, completely and proactively so that grace may transform lives,
communities and ultimately all of creation. For God, forgiveness is not
conditional. And so he urges all those who has received freely to freely give.
2 Cor 5.16-6.1
16So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point
of view. If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone,
the new is here! 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to
himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19that
God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins
against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20We
are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal
through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21God
made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the
righteousness of God.
As God’s co-workers we urge you not
to receive God’s grace in vain.
Regard no one from a
worldly point of view, do not receive grace and fail to embrace it.
Live into a new God-given point of view.
You see, Jesus tells us to pray for those
who have wronged us or others, to forgive them as a response to the forgiveness
we have first received. And if we don’t, then we’ve misunderstood or rejected
God’s grace. And that is a dangerous place which leads to isolation, and
bitterness, holding onto hurts and grudges or self-righteousness and that place
is death. There is no way out save through confession, repentance and opening
to God so that a true rescue takes place. Satan deceives whom he may. And those
who refuse to forgive as God has forgiven are in serious spiritual danger.
Small wonder words such as these are spoken before we come to the Table of the
Lord.
Forgive as Christ forgave. Read the
gospels. Jesus never approved of the sin. Jesus always spoke grace first so
that the sinner can find strength to walk in a different way. Jesus always
forgave before he was asked. Jesus never withdrew his loving kindness from
those who walked in rebellion. Jesus asks us to do the same.
This is how we know God is real,
different and much more than an exercise in good morals. This is how we know
that scripture is God breathed and good. This is how we know that there is hope
and there is nothing between any two people that cannot be forgiven.
Forgiving as Christ forgives is not about
being friends again or business partners or marriage partners. That may come,
but it’s not the point. Forgiveness is all about releasing grace into the world
so that the future – your future - is formed by grace: by hope, peace and love,
not anger, hatred, fear or bitterness.
Who has wronged you or someone you
care about? Who has acted and brought hurt or harm into the world? Have you
forgiven that person? Have you forgiven yourself? God already has. What are you
waiting for? What possible reason to wait can there be that is godly, what
possible reason to wait and allow the devil a foothold? The time to decide is
now. As Christ’s ambassador, in his name release grace that we may be healed.
No comments:
Post a Comment