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Romans Chapter 1 The Clearest Gospel of All

Romans Chapter 1 The Clearest Gospel of All No book or section of Scripture expounds so clearly and so masterfully the plan of salvation and this doctrine of righteousness by faith than Paul's epistle to the Romans. No wonder Luther described the epistle to the Romans as the clearest gospel of all. In fact, it was through his understanding of Romans 1:17 that Luther was delivered from his bondage to legalism and became the great leader of the Protestant Reformation. The same doctrine, which was expounded by Luther, led to the conversion of John Bunyan commonly known in Great Britain as the immortal tinker of Bedford. Most of those in America know him as the author of Pilgrim's Progress. In the same way, it was by listening to the preface of Luther's Commentary to Romans that John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church, felt his heart strangely warmed on the evening of the 24th of May, 1738. The result was that it brought about the birth of the great and tremendous revival in Great Britain during the 18th century. There are other examples but Romans has been the basis of most of the revivals in the history of the Christian church. The question is, “What makes Paul's epistle to the Romans so special?” There are at least two reasons. One is a general reason and the other one more specific. We will begin with Acts 9 for here we have the wonderful account of how one of the great persecutors of the Christian church, on his way to Damuscus to persecute the Christians there, found Jesus Christ. Not too long after, God appeared to Ananias and told him that he had to go to the street called Strait and meet this young man, bless him, baptize him and open his eyes. This is found in Acts 9:1-12. Ananias thought that God had made a mistake for here was the great persecutor of the early Christian church. But notice how God responds to Ananias in Acts 9:15: “But the Lord said unto him, Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel.” (NKJV) We are told that, after Paul was given his vision back and was baptized by Ananias, he immediately proclaimed Jesus Christ saying, “He is the Son of God.” When Christ came to this world two thousand years ago, He came that there might be a gospel to be preached. But it was Paul that God chose to be the instrument to expound the unconditional good news of salvation which He obtained, to the whole world, in Jesus Christ. With this in mind, we will turn to the book of Romans which we will now study. Notice in Romans 1:1 how Paul introduces this epistle to the Christians at Rome: “Paul, a servant (the Greek means slave) of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God.” (KJV) Paul was the theologian of the New Testament. Almost half of the New Testament is Paul's writings. In fact, the Christian Church would be at a terrible loss if we did not have his writings. The first reason Romans is so special to every Christian is because Paul was God's chosen vessel to expound the gospel to the world. But the second and most specific reason for considering the study of Romans as the clearest gospel of all is that, unlike any other epistle Paul wrote whether to the churches or to individuals, this is the only letter that he wrote to a body of Christians whom he had not established or whom he had not seen except for a few who had known him previously. When Paul wrote his epistle to the Corinthians or the Ephesians or the Philippians or to individuals like Titus or Timothy, he was writing to people to whom he had already proclaimed and expounded the gospel verbally. But in the book of Romans, he was writing to a group of people he had never met before apart from a few individuals. In Romans, Paul expounds the full message of the gospel which he would have done if he had been there speaking to them verbally. In Romans 1:11, Paul says that the purpose of writing this letter and the purpose of his desire to visit Rome was that he, Paul, might impart to the Roman Christians some spiritual gift to the end that they may be established. If there is ever a time that Christians need to be established in the truth of the gospel, it is now. Then in Romans 1:13 Paul says, “Now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you (but was hindered until now).” (NKJV) He continues telling why he was hindered in Romans 15:22 and 23. God told him that he was not to go to Rome until he had entered every unentered area in the Middle East. Now, having done that, he was ready to come to Rome. But God had another reason why Paul wrote this letter to the Romans. He had us in mind because if Paul did not write this message of the gospel in clear distinct tones which he did to the Christians at Rome, we, then, would not have had Paul's full message in a written form. But because he had not yet been to Rome, he was writing to a people he had not yet seen. He is expounding the gospel in all its clarity so that it came to us in the Word of God. Therefore, Luther was right when he defines Romans as the clearest gospel of all. We may, therefore, conclude that the main reason Paul wrote this rather lengthy letter to the Christians in Rome was to establish them. We will spend thirty-two studies going step by step through this epistle so that we may discover in this epistle what Paul is telling us about the whole plan of salvation. The great theme of this book of Romans is expressed in Romans 1:15-17. Let us look at this passage. Paul has already told the Roman Christians that he wants to come to Rome and then in verse 14, he tells them that he is a debtor, both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the unwise. He wants to preach this gospel to everyone in Rome, to the captain as well as to the slave. Rome, of course, was regarded as the capital of the world in those days and Paul is saying to these Roman Christians in verse 15: “As much as is in me (with every ability that I have) I would like to come to Rome and preach this gospel to those who are residing there.” He is saying that he has preached this already in the Middle East and now, having finished his work there, he wants to come to Rome. This epistle is to prepare them for that trip. Paul makes this tremendous statement, his introduction to his epistle and his gospel in Romans 1:16: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek (that is, the Gentile).” It was quite customary in Paul's day, when they wanted to make an emphasis, to put things in the negative. Paul uses the negative in verse sixteen to emphasize the positive. If Paul was living today, he would have put the whole thing in the positive for that is how the Western mind would understand it. He would probably have said, “I am absolutely and completely excited and would like to know nothing among you except the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I have nothing else to proclaim except this message.” Paul is saying that he is not ashamed of the gospel even though the Romans looked on the Christians as third class citizens. The Romans had a class distinction. They considered themselves first class citizens. They were the rulers of the world as it was known in those days. They looked upon the Jews as second class citizens but Christians, both Jews and Gentiles, were looked upon as third class citizens because these citizens were worshipping a man who was crucified on a Roman cross which to them was a symbol of shame and degradation. Understand clearly that Rome was a proud city. All kinds of philosophies were being proclaimed in it. It boasted of military power, architectural power and economic power. But Paul is saying he wants to come to Rome, not because he has another human blueprint that he had invented but to bring the gospel of which he is not ashamed. The reason he is not ashamed is because it is not man's but God's power unto salvation. Rome, with all its pride, all its accomplishments, had failed to do one thing. It had failed miserably to conquer sin. In fact, it was sin that eventually brought the downfall of that great empire. Paul says he wants to make this power available to those who are in Rome. Ashamed of it? Why should he be? It is the only power that can save man. As long as we accept salvation and believe, whether Jews or Gentiles, we have the power of God who is able to save both the wise and the unwise, the rich and the poor, the noble and the slave. It does not matter to which class we belong or to which category we belong. It does not matter in which time of the world's history we are living, whether in the first century of this Christian era or the twenty-first century because man is a slave to sin and the only power that can liberate him from sin is the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to the New Testament, it is God who takes the initiative for our salvation. This is why, having announced his ultimate confidence in Romans 1:17, Paul defines the gospel as the righteousness of God. By this, Paul means that the gospel is a righteousness planned by God. Second, it is a righteousness prepared by God and finally, it is a righteousness made available to mankind by God Himself. Man has made no contribution to this salvation. Therefore, it is unconditional good news. In Romans 5, we will discover that while we were helpless, incapable of saving ourselves, while we were ungodly, while we were still sinners and worse still, while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son. God took the initiative and our salvation in Jesus Christ is a salvation that comes entirely from God based on His unconditional love for mankind. God so loved the world, we are told in John 3:16, that He gave us His only begotten Son, that whoever believes should not perish but have everlasting life. The commission God gave to Paul was to preach this to the world. This is the commission we have, today, to go into all the world and preach the gospel. Paul, in this book of Romans, presents the unconditional good news of salvation that God prepared in Jesus Christ for all man. This, of course, is the grand theme of the whole Bible, Old and New Testament alike. But in no place is this message of salvation set forth so clearly and explained so masterfully as in the epistle to the Romans. In this book, the apostle Paul unfolds for us the whole counsel of God. He presents to us our sin problem which we will study later on. The gospel is God's solution to our sinful condition. But before he presents the gospel, Paul must convince us that we are sinners, one hundred percent sinners, in need of a Saviour. Then, salvation is described by Paul as the truth as it is in Christ, His birth, His life, His death and His resurrection. Christ is our Righteousness. He came to this world as our Representative, as our Substitute and as our Surety. Paul goes on to describe, in this book of Romans, our human response because the righteousness of Christ has to be made effective. And it is made effective by faith alone. He describes faith in Jesus Christ as the basis of making that salvation effective in our lives. Then, Paul continues, describing in the book of Romans, the work of the Holy Spirit in our sanctification. God has not left us on our own. As Christians, having accepted Jesus Christ, He gives us His Holy Spirit so that we may experience the power of the gospel in our personal lives. Finally, in the concluding chapters of the book of Romans, Paul expounds the practical application of the gospel in daily Christian living. The gospel, when applied to sinful human beings, is defined as righteousness or justification by faith. The just shall live by faith and, having been justified by faith, the question is, “How shall we live”? Paul, in Romans 12 to 16, is describing practical Christian living or Christian ethics. Everything we need in the plan of salvation is found in this book of Romans. We must confess it is a difficult book, not because Paul wrote this for scholars, but because Paul wrote it to a people living in his day whose mind-set was so different from people, living today in the twenty-first century. The purpose of this book is to bridge that gap between Paul's day and ours so that the gospel of Jesus Christ, as expounded by Paul in this epistle to the Romans, may come to us as the clearest gospel of all. We will study this book in detail because here we have the most extended treatment of the entire range of Scripture on this crucial doctrine of justification or righteousness by faith. The devil does not want this message to be clearly understood by Christians today. He wants us to believe that “we” have to “do” something in order to attain salvation. He trapped the Galatians into this mixed, confused idea of salvation. He wants to do the same thing with us. For this reason, it is important for us to understand this message of righteousness by faith. It was this message that turned one man's ministry around. Five years of his ministry was in legalism, trying to work his way to heaven. He became so discouraged that at the end of the five years, He was willing to give it all up. But then, God stepped in and turned him around as He opened to his mind this wonderful message of salvation by grace alone through faith in Jesus Christ. Now, he enjoys preaching from the pulpit even though, by nature, he is an introvert. We need to share this message so that we may know this truth. Let us briefly, in concluding, hear what Paul is telling us in this whole epistle. There are four major parts into which we can divide this book . This doctrine of justification by faith is a truth that tells us that God has already unconditionally, redeemed all mankind in the holy history of His Son Jesus Christ so that, lawfully or legally or forensically, all humanity has been reconciled to God and stands justified before a holy God. Paul brings this out in Romans 5:18. This is the unconditional good news of salvation. Paul tells us, in Ephesians 1:3, we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Jesus Christ. This is what Paul will expound in Romans. Secondly, Paul then tells us that this legal, forensic justification, while it does apply to all men, has to be made effective. All mankind will not go to heaven, not because Jesus has not redeemed us, but because God has created mankind with a free will. He will not force this salvation on any human being. This justification, which He obtained for all men, has to be made effective. It is not done by going on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, not by doing some good works or not by keeping the law. It is made effective by faith alone. The gospel and our human response, put together, sums up the doctrine of justification by faith alone. Luther's greatest discovery, Justification made effective by faith alone, turned Europe upside down as he proclaimed it in Germany and the rest of Europe. The third point is that Justification by faith does not stop at giving us peace and assurance of salvation. Yes, it does that. Thank God for it but it goes beyond that. It further teaches that, because we have become children of God, He sends His Holy Spirit to indwell the believer so that we may become partakers of the divine nature. Through this indwelling power, we may escape the corruption that is in the world. What is this corruption? If we turn to 1 John 2:16, we will notice how Paul defines this corruption. He says it is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. These are three basic drives that control the sinful man. Paul tells us that, through the indwelling Spirit, we may escape this corruption. We may live a life that is pleasing to Him. Remember what Jesus said in John 15:4. Jesus reminded His disciples, “Abide in me and I in you.” He is talking to born again Christians, to His disciples who had already accepted Him as the Messiah. This statement is also applied to us who have accepted Him. Jesus tells us, “Without Me you can do nothing, but, if you abide in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit and My Father will be pleased.” Again, in Matthew 5:14, Jesus, addressing the disciples by the Sea of Galilee in the Sermon on the Mount, makes this statement: “You (Christians) are the light of the world.” The word “light” in the original Greek text is in the singular but the word “you” is in the plural. The English translation does not bring this out. Jesus is saying that we Christians who are many are but one light and that light is “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). When Jesus came into this world, He came to bring light into darkness. Jesus is no longer here today. He is in heaven but His body, the church, the called out people, are still living on this earth. Jesus said, “You are My representatives. You are to be the instrument through which I am going to shine.” Then, in Matthew 5:16, Jesus said, “Let this light shine so that men may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” This is the final purpose of the gospel. But there is a fourth point which must be added. Even though we have accepted Christ, even though we stand justified, even though we are perfect in Christ, even though we are born again Christians, our nature is still sinful and will remain until the Second Coming of Christ. Paul does bring out in Romans the wonderful news that one day Christ will come and He will redeem us from the corruption that we inherited through the Fall. One day, we will know the power of the gospel in its fullness. Until then may God help us to know this truth as we study this excellent book, the epistle to the Romans, the clearest gospel of all.

By: David Kayumba
Category: My Blog

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Why did Jesus equate raising Lazarus from the dead with "seeing the glory of God"?

Jesus once asked, "how they believe unless they see"? When people witness miracles, the glory goes to the Father, because they have known what He is capable of doing. Whenever God's wrath went through the nations that were against Isrel, they all bowed down to the God of Israel, for His glory.

URL: http://www.JesusCentral.com

By: Christine Nakyeyune Muwanga
Category: Jesus Raises Lazarus From the Dead

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Why did Jesus equate raising Lazarus from the dead with "seeing the glory of God"?

Jesus wanted the maltitude that was around Him to believe that He had been sent by God. He prayed to God in front of them and God anwered His prayers by raising Lazarus from the tom. The crowd saw and believed that Jesus had been sent by God.

By: Thembisile Dlamini
Category: Jesus Raises Lazarus From the Dead

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