Romans 01(08–17)

Introduction

We began to study Paul’s letter to the Romans last Sunday morning. In the opening seven verses, which we studied last week, Paul introduces himself to his readers and he described himself to them as a servant, or a slave even, of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God. And do you remember? At the mention of the gospel, Paul’s mind and heart began to soar and he launched into this wonderful summary of what the gospel is about. It’s the gospel God promised beforehand through the prophets in the Holy Scriptures. And it’s about God’s Son and his incarnation and how he was descended from David according to the flesh; and how he was declared to be the powerful Son of God according to the Holy Spirit by his resurrection from the dead. And I explained last week that Paul was describing briefly the two phases or the two stages of the Lord’s incarnation. The first stage was marked by weakness and dishonour and weakness and it’s summed up by the words ‘according to the flesh’. And it began with his conception in the womb of Mary and it ended with his death and burial. And the second stage of his incarnation, which is summed up by the words ‘according to the Holy Spirit’, began at his resurrection and it’s marked by power and honour and everlasting life, because, as one of us, he has now received all authority in heaven and earth to do all things; and he’s enthroned in heaven, where the angels and the saint worship him; and he will never ever die, but will live for ever.

And Paul went on to say that he, Paul, has been made an apostle by God’s grace to call people from among the Gentiles to the obedience of faith. And the believers in Rome are among those who have been called to belong to Christ. And they are loved by God and called to be saints. So, they are God’s beloved people and they are called by God to live saintly lives of obedience to him.

And if you’re a believer, then you too have been called to belong to Christ: to be his servant and to do his will in your daily lives. And you’re also loved by God. You are God’s beloved. He created you to be the object of his love and in love he has given you your life in this world; and he’s given you new life in Christ; and he will give you everlasting life in his presence, where he will love you for ever and for ever. And as his beloved here on earth, he calls you to live a saintly life of obedience to him.

Verses 8 to 13

Today we’ll focus on the verses which I read a moment ago. And we’ll begin with verse 8, where Paul expresses his thankfulness to God for the believers in Rome. And the reason for his thankfulness is because their faith is being reported all over the world.

As you know from our studies in the book of Acts, Paul travelled all over the Roman Empire to preach the good news of the gospel. And it seems that wherever he went people were telling him about the believers in Rome. And no doubt the reason people told him about them and about their faith is because wasn’t it truly amazing that there was a Christian church in the capital city of the pagan Roman Empire? The Romans were a pagan people, who worshipped all kinds of false gods. And they were a cruel people, because think about how they got their entertainment from watching people being killed by the gladiators in the Colosseum in Rome. And so, wasn’t it remarkable that in the heart of the pagan Roman empire a Christian church existed? This was a reason for rejoicing.

And, of course, the reason Paul gave thanks to God for the faith of the believers in Rome is because faith is the gift of God. As we’ll hear this evening from John 6, no-one can come to the Saviour and trust in him for salvation unless the Father draws him. God the Father must draw us to Christ for salvation. And he draws us to Christ by enabling us to believe. He creates faith in our hearts by his Holy Spirit. And so, if there are believers in Rome, it’s due to the abounding love and kindness of God the Father who enabled men and women in Rome to give up their false gods and to believe in the Saviour.

And so, Paul gives thanks to God through Christ for all of the believers in Rome. And he goes on in verses 9 and 10 to say to his readers that he often prays for them. In fact, he says that he remembers them constantly in his prayers and at all times. ‘Constantly’ and ‘at all times’. That’s how often he prayed for them.

And one of his prayers is that at last and by God’s will the way will be opened for Paul to come to them. He says that he longs to see them so that he might impart to them some spiritual gift to make them strong. And from what we know about Paul and about his ministry in other places, it’s likely that what he means is that he wants to teach them about God. That’s probably what he means when he says he wants to impart to them some spiritual gift. After all, that’s what he did wherever he went. Wherever he went, Paul would preach and teach about God: about God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ, who suffered and died for sinners before rising from the dead to live for ever. This is what Paul did when he was with unbelieving Jews and he was trying to convince them that the Lord Jesus is the promised Saviour. And this is what he did when he was with believers and he was trying to build them up in their faith. And when he was in a pagan place like Athens and surrounded by false gods, he taught the people about the one, true and living God and about Jesus Christ his Son. This is what Paul did wherever he went, because he believed that God used the preaching of the truth about God to bring unbelievers to faith and to build up believers so they became strong in their faith.

And so, Paul longs to get to Rome so that he can teach the people there and make them strong in the faith. And teaching them about God will not only help them, but it will also help Paul as well. As he says in verse 12, they will be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. He will be encouraged by them; and they will be encouraged by him.

And so, to summarise what we’ve read so far, Paul gives thanks to God for the believers in Rome. And he tells them that he’s been praying for them constantly and at all times. And one of his prayers is that a way might be opened for him to come to them, because he longs to see them.

If he longs to see them, why hasn’t he been to see them already? What’s keeping him? Well, he says in verse 13 that he planned many times to come to them. But so far he’s been prevented from doing so. And I think he means that the Lord has prevented him from doing so. The Lord has taken him to other places in the Roman Empire to preach the gospel there.

But just because he hasn’t come to Rome yet, doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to come to Rome. He’s not putting off a visit because he’s reluctant to visit them. On the contrary, he longs to visit them and he’s made plans to go many times in the past in order that he might have a harvest among them. Do you see that at the end of verse 13? Paul likens his work of preaching the gospel to the work of a farmer, who goes out into the fields to sow his seed. And the farmer’s seed sinks down into the ground and in due course it bears fruit for the farmer to harvest. And in a similar way, Paul goes out into the world and sows the seed of God’s word by preaching and teaching the people about God and about Jesus Christ. And in due course, the seed of God’s word produces fruit: people are converted to faith in Christ; and believers are built up in the faith. And Paul wants to have a fruitful ministry among the Romans.

Well, if you were to turn to Romans 15, you’ll see Paul’s travel plans. He intended to travel to Spain by way of Rome. And he’s hopeful that the believers in Rome will assist him on his journey to Spain. He wanted to make Rome a kind of base camp, where he could get the support he needed before heading off on the next part of his journey to Spain.

But then in Romans 15, Paul says that before he heads for Spain via Rome, he’s going to go to Jerusalem. And from our studies in the book of Acts, you’ll know what happened to Paul when he arrived in Jerusalem. He thought he would visit Jerusalem briefly and then head for Rome and then for Spain. But when he reached Jerusalem, he was arrested and imprisoned by the Roman governor, Felix. He was kept in prison for two years. And when those two years were up, Felix was replaced by Festus. And when Paul was brought before Festus, he appealed to Caesar, because it didn’t seem that Festus was going to release him. Festus therefore made arrangements for Paul to be taken to Rome. And so, Paul eventually reached Rome, but not in the way he was expecting when he wrote to the Romans about visiting them. No doubt he assumed he would come to them as a free man. But as it turns out he came to them as a prisoner of Rome.

But even though he was a prisoner, it says at the end of the book of Acts that he welcomed all who came to see him where he was kept under house arrest. And boldly and without hindrance, he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ. So, Paul got to do in Rome what he always wanted to do in Rome.

And isn’t that interesting? God always hears our prayers. And God always answers our prayers. But he perhaps doesn’t answer our prayers in the way that we were expecting. We expect him to answer us in one way, but he answers us in an entirely different way. Paul prayed to get to Rome to preach the gospel there. And God brought him to Rome to preach the gospel there. But God brought him to Rome under guard and as a prisoner.

God’s ways are higher than our ways and his thoughts are higher than our thoughts. He is so much wiser than us, because he is infinitely wise. And he is also infinitely kind and he is infinitely good. And since he is wise and kind and good, then he will answer our prayers in the way that is best for us. And so, we should always pray to the Lord about the things we need and about our plans. And having prayed, we should submit ourselves to our heavenly Father’s will for us, because he is good and kind and wise and he always knows what is best for us.

Verses 14 to 17

And why was Paul so eager to preach and teach God’s word in Rome? Take a look at verse 14. He felt bound to Greeks and non-Greeks. When he refers to Greeks, he means Greek-speaking Gentiles. And when he refers to non-Greeks, he mean Gentiles who don’t speak Greek. And so, he feels bound to every kind of Gentile and to those who are regarded as wise and to those who are regarded as foolish. And when he says he is bound to them, he means he is under obligation to them. He’s under obligation to reach them with the good news of the gospel. And so, that’s why he is so eager to preach the gospel in Rome. It’s because there are all kinds of Gentiles in Rome and Paul feels obligated to preach to them, because isn’t that what the Lord called to do? When the Lord called Paul to be his apostle, he made clear that while Paul was to preach to Jews, he was being chosen especially to reach the Gentiles.

And according to verse 16, Paul is not ashamed of the gospel. I suppose lots of people may have been ashamed of the gospel in those days. After all, we know from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians that there were people in those days who were only impressed by mighty miracles. That’s what they wanted to see. And other people were only impressed by wisdom. That’s what they wanted to hear. And for many who heard it, the gospel was neither of those two things, because it was a message about a weak and suffering Saviour who died. Where’s the power of that message? Where’s the wisdom of that message?

And perhaps there were people telling Paul that he’s wasting his time preaching the gospel, because who is going to accept such an apparently weak and foolish message? Can we not dress it up and make it more appealing?

But Paul says that he’s not ashamed of the gospel. Why not? Because he knows that the gospel message is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.

So, the gospel is powerful and not weak. And it’s powerful, because God works powerfully through the gospel to save everyone who believes. As one of the commentators says (Morris), the gospel is not advice for people, suggesting how they might lift themselves out of trouble. The gospel is power and therefore it lifts us up. It lifts us up from condemnation and death to salvation and everlasting life.

When the gospel is proclaimed, God is at work. And God works powerfully through the gospel to convince and convert sinners to faith in Christ; and to build up believers in holiness and comfort.

And, Paul says, God works powerfully through the gospel to bring us to salvation. And we should understand salvation in all its fullness. So, it means justification, so that we’re pardoned by God and accepted as right in his sight the moment we first believe in the Saviour. He saves us from the penalty of sin. And it also means our subsequent sanctification, when God works in the hearts of his believing people to renew us in his image and to make us more and more willing and able to do his will here on earth. He saves us from the power of sin in our lives. And salvation also means our final glorification, when we’re brought into the presence of God in the life to come, where we’ll be loved by God for ever and for ever. So God works powerfully through the gospel to lift us up from condemnation and death to salvation and everlasting life in the presence of God.

And since this is true, then Paul is not ashamed of the gospel. He’s not ashamed to preach it or to teach it. And in fact, because the gospel is the power of God, he’s eager to preach the gospel in every place including Rome.

And he’s not ashamed of the gospel, because not only is the gospel powerful, but in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last. That’s in verse 17.

When I first preached on this verse at the midweek back in 2014, I referring to Martin Luther, the man who started the Reformation in Europe. And through preaching of the gospel, the whole of Europe was transformed. But when Luther was younger, and was a monk in the church, the phrase, ‘the righteousness of God’ in Romans 1:17 used to bother him. At that time, he understood the phrase ‘the righteousness of God’ to refer to God’s justice. And justice means God has to punish the guilty and clear the innocent. So, if someone has done well, then it’s only just, it’s only right, for God to clear that person. But if someone has sinned, then it’s only just, it’s only right for God to punish him. That’s the right thing for God to do: God must punish the guilty.

And Luther was painfully aware of his own sins. And so, he hated the righteousness of God. He wrote:

I felt that I was a sinner, with an uneasy conscience in the sight of God…. I was angry with God, saying to myself: ‘It’s bad enough that miserable sinners should be condemned for ever by original sin, with all kinds of extra burdens laid on us by the OT law — and God makes things even worse through the gospel.’

Luther wondered: How is the gospel which Paul preached good news if the gospel is about how God will punish the guilty? He couldn’t understand it. And he believed that he would always remain under the wrath of God.

But then, in 1515, Luther realised that the phrase ‘the righteousness of God’ refers not to God’s justice, but to something else entirely. The righteousness of God is not the righteousness by which God condemns sinners, but it’s the righteousness by which God saves sinners. And therefore it is good news for sinners like Luther and for sinner like you and me.

And we can perhaps understand the righteousness of God in two ways. It refers first of all to God’s saving action. And it’s used in this way in the psalms. For instance, in Psalm 98 the psalmist praises God for making his salvation known and for revealing his righteousness to the nations. Making his salvation known is the same as revealing his righteousness. And they are the same because the right thing for God to do when his Old Testament people were in trouble was for God to save them. It was the right thing for him to do, because hadn’t he bound himself to his people with a promise to be their God and to save them? And so, when they were in trouble, the right thing for God to do was to save them. And the way God saved his people in the past from their enemies was a picture of the way he saves his people in every generation from our sin and misery in this world and from death and destruction. And it’s right for God to save his people from our sin and misery and from death and destruction, because hasn’t God bound himself to his people with a promise to save us by his Son, who died to pay for our sins with his life and who was raised to give us life.

And so, the righteousness of God refers first of all to God’s saving action. And his saving action is revealed in the gospel, because the gospel is all about what God has done to save sinners by his Son.

And the righteousness of God also refers to the righteousness which comes from God and which God shares with us. Instead of treating us as our sins deserve, God is prepared to treat us as if we’ve done everything right. Because of his abounding love and kindness to us in Christ Jesus, God is prepared to regard us as righteous in his sight, because he shares with us Christ’s perfect righteousness. Christ’s record of perfect obedience become ours. Christ’s status of righteousness in the sight of God becomes ours. And so, instead of being condemned by God at the judgment, which is what we deserve for our sins, we will be set free because of Christ and brought into the presence of God to enjoy everlasting life.

And as Paul says here in verse 17, it is by faith from first to last. We receive this salvation through faith and only through faith. Through faith alone, we cling to Christ the Saviour. And whoever clings to Christ the Saviour receives salvation in all its fullness. Through faith we’re pardoned and accepted and saved from the penalty of sin. Through faith we’re sanctified and renewed in God’s image and saved from the power of sin. Through faith we will be glorified and so, saved from death to live for ever.

And Paul adds a quotation from the Old Testament book of Habakkuk to make clear that this has always been the way. Habakkuk says: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’ That is to say, the one who is righteous by faith will live. We will live with God for ever.

Conclusion

The gospel is not advice. It’s not advice about how to lift yourself out of trouble. The gospel is the good news of what God has done to save sinners by his Son, who died to pay for our sins and who was raised to give us life. And the gospel is the good news that God is willing to treat his believing people as if we’ve done everything right. Christ’s record of perfect obedience becomes ours. And the gospel is the power of God, because God uses the preaching of the gospel to save sinners like us.

And so, we should all believe the gospel. And instead of being ashamed of the gospel, we should rejoice in the gospel, because the gospel is this wonderful news of God’s abounding love for sinners and of what he has done for us by his Son to bring us into his presence, where we’ll rejoice in his abounding love for ever and for ever.