But Now … The Righteousness of God

Not that it’ll help you anytime
soon, but if you would take your Bibles and turn to the book of
Romans, I don’t mean to frighten anyone when the indication on the bulletin
says that I’m going to be preaching the entire book of Romans, but
it’s true. Settle in. The mind of man plans his way,
but the Lord directs his steps. Such is the well-known piece
of wisdom from Proverbs 16, 9. Those lines articulate the sovereignty
of God that touches everything that we do. Solomon says first
that man plans his way, and there is no rebuke in that. There’s
no recrimination for planning. It’s not wrong to develop some
lofty goal or plan, whether it be a career or an adventure or
a relationship. It’s not wrong to plan. In truth,
it would be wrong, even foolish and potentially disastrous, not
to plan. But be assured, that in all of
our planning, God will sovereignly direct. At times, God’s sovereign
providence may present itself in a complete redirection of
a well-laid plan, or even an outright cancellation of the
plan. And at least initially, these
redirections may be distressing to us. We know that a door has been
closed, or perhaps desires have changed, or perhaps the means
to accomplish our desired goal have evaporated, or some insurmountable
obstacle has arisen. We know what the reality is,
but we don’t understand it, and we find it difficult to let go
of our original plan. We find ourselves pining, stewing,
lamenting at God’s providence. We understand that God is sovereign
and that He seemingly has closed a door, but we don’t know why. And that, to us, can be upsetting. God has, for his own purposes
and glory, redirected our steps, and we see it all the time. Other
times, our plans seem to kind of morph along the way, taking
the shape of something that we did not fully envision at the
beginning of our planning. Generally speaking, our plan
is coming to fruition, but it looks so different from what
we planned and thought about at the outset. And this for us
is easier to accept. We seem to be much more readily
able to see God’s hand in such providential redirection, whether
slight or profound, We see it and we welcome it. But God has
indeed directed our steps. Paul walked in this truth, and
he happily yielded to God’s sovereign providence in his life and ministry.
He was never one to shy away from planning. For him, it would
have been grossly irresponsible not to have some aim, some goal,
some direction, But Paul routinely submitted his plans to the Lord. It would have been unthinkable
to Paul to try to execute any task without first submitting
such task and plan to Almighty God. He readily sought and He
joyfully yielded to God’s sovereign redirection of his plans. And when God did redirect Paul,
even his well-thought-out and noble and just plans, Paul modestly
yielded to these infinitely superior
plans of God. because they were more in line
with God’s grand design than his own. One of the clearest
examples in scripture that we see of this is captured by Luke
in Acts chapter 16. Go ahead and turn there for a
moment. Keep your finger in Romans. I’ll
get there sometime this morning. Luke chapter, or Acts chapter
16 rather, Luke records that Paul is in the midst of his second
missionary journey, revisiting many of the churches that he
had already established. Glanced down at verse six, they
pass through the Phrygian and Galatian region, having been
forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. Paul
is doing the Lord’s work. He’s preaching the gospel. He’s
planting churches. And what he proposes to do here
is what would essentially constitute a left turn into the region of
Asia. But God says not now. God will
allow Paul to go there in time, but not now. The Holy Spirit
forbade him. And please note, it doesn’t even
say how the Holy Spirit redirected Paul. It only says that he did.
Look at verse 7. The narrative continues. They
came to Mycenae. They were trying to go into Bithynia.
And the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them. Going into Bithynia
to preach the gospel would constitute a right turn. And God, for His
own purpose and glory, disallowed that as well. And neither does Luke provide
any detail here, only that the Spirit of Jesus did not permit
them. And you know what? God has an
infinite number of ways of steering us. You know the rest, that God
ultimately directs Paul, by way of a vision, to bring the gospel
to Eastern Europe and Macedonia. You see, Paul knew that God was
all-knowing, all-seeing, all-wise. And that when he redirected Paul
and his team, he had good reason for doing so, even if he didn’t
divulge that reasoning to Paul. Well, years later, Paul came
up with another plan, another desired trip, another ministry
adventure, a notable undertaking that God redirected. and he redirected it seemingly
again and again. Paul long desired to visit the
imperial city of Rome to do so for the sake of the gospel. The
city of Rome, founded in 753 BC, was very well established
by Paul’s day. It was one of the premier cities
of the world. Population estimates range from
over a million to several million people in and around Rome. And
it seems that each ruler left a different legacy. The execution
of building plans, the expansion of the territory of the Roman
Empire, the establishment of political and legal systems,
the development of armies, the building of infrastructure, roads
and water distribution, various forms of worship. It was a beautiful
and modernized metropolis. Throughout the city, there were
scores of beautiful parks and gardens. These served the citizens
well because Rome boasted of over 150 holidays. They had plenty of time on their
hands. Well-constructed roads led in and out of Rome in every
direction, encouraging the familiar phrase, all roads lead to Rome. It was a stunningly beautiful,
thoroughly furnished city, amphitheaters, government buildings, bathhouses,
large homes, and more than 400 temples for idol worship. Rome as a city was a large, bustling,
opulent place. And it was as influential as
it was grand. Its reach was felt worldwide. But as powerful and influential
as Rome was, it was also exceedingly morally corrupt. Vice and immorality
were rampant. And so much of the history of
the early church unfolded during the time of these Caesars, the
Roman emperors. And in some cases, they were
thoroughly evil men. Jesus was born during the first
emperor, Augustus’ reign. Tiberius ruled during John the
Baptist and Jesus’ ministries. Paul conducted his entire missionary
journey under Claudius’s reign. Nero infamously would set the
slums of his city on fire and then blame the Christians as
persecution against them broke out. And it was under Nero that
Paul was eventually martyred. All of this provided an ample
motivation for Paul to minister there in Rome. there in that
city that seemed to be the very hub of the world. Paul understood the strategic
importance of Rome. If her goods and government were
being disseminated and distributed worldwide, as well as her vices
and idolatry, Paul knew that the gospel too could emanate
from Rome. He not only desired to preach
the gospel there, but he desired to strengthen the church for
the further advance of God’s kingdom. The Roman church had
never enjoyed so much as an apostolic visit, let alone systematic Christian
instruction. Paul knows this, and that’s his
desire. His was a reasonable and even
a magnificent goal. But God had other plans. God
intended something very different than one of Paul’s standard ministry
visits to this chief city. Paul would indeed go to Rome,
but it would look very different from the happy, shiny version
that Paul envisioned. Instead, Paul would be taken
to Rome by force as a Roman prisoner bound and guarded by Roman soldiers. God’s ways, indeed, are not our
ways. If you found your way back to
Romans, I want to look just at a few verses of Romans 1. As we begin to set our context
for what I call a flyover of the book of Romans, I’ll explain
that in a minute. For our initial purposes this
morning, I’d like you to just draw into verse eight of chapter
one. Romans chapter one, verse eight,
and I’ll go down to verse 12. First, I thank my God through
Christ Jesus for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed
throughout the whole world. For God, whom I serve in my spirit
in the preaching of the gospel of his Son, is my witness as
to how unceasingly I make mention of you, always in my prayers,
making request if perhaps now, at last, by the will of God,
I may succeed in coming to you. for I long to see you in order
that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be
established, that is, that I might be encouraged together with you
while among you by the other’s faith, both yours and mine.”
Paul evidently had a longstanding desire to minister the gospel
in Rome. In this letter, he repeatedly
expresses this unfulfilled desire to minister there. In this very
opening chapter, as we saw, he speaks of a yet unfulfilled desire
to visit the church there. He says in verse 10, perhaps
now, at last, by the will of God, I may succeed in coming
to you. And when he says, at last, we
can hear of this longstanding desire. But he’s also fully submitted
to the will of God. A few verses later, verse 13,
he says, I’ve often planned to come to you and I’ve been prevented
thus far. not only was visiting Rome a
long-standing desire, it was his desire that he must have
frequently submitted to God. Lord, is now the time. Lord,
can I go now to Rome? Often I have planned to come
to you, Paul says, and yet he has thus far been prevented. Near the end of this very letter
in 1522, Paul echoes this same sentiment. I have often been
prevented from coming to you. Paul doesn’t say it in either
place, but it’s clear that he means that God is the one who
has prevented such a visit. God is the one that has redesigned
his plans. God is the one who has said no. This is not a grumbling blame
on Paul’s part, but a humble acknowledgment. God has me. God is steering me. So Paul desires
to visit Rome, and he submitted his travel plans to the Lord,
who has other ideas as to the timetable. God had sovereignly
redirected Paul’s wonderful plans. And yet even then, Paul did not
abandon this passionate desire to preach the gospel in the important
city of Rome. Near the end of his third missionary
journey, he’s heading, as you may recall, he’s heading to Jerusalem. And Luke records him reiterating
this desire in Acts 19.21, after I have been there, that is Jerusalem,
I must also see Rome. But for now, Paul is conducting
a ministry of mercy for the Jerusalem church, delivering the collection
of money for famine relief in Jerusalem. But he seems to plead here, doesn’t
he? As if he’s pleading to the Lord
himself, he utters this passionate desire once again. I must see
Rome. Even the Lord affirms his desire. Eventually, as you may recall,
once Paul gets to Jerusalem, Paul was almost immediately arrested,
right? And then he’s put through a series
of inquisitions and trials. And in Acts 23 verse 11, standing
before the Jewish council, Luke records that the Lord stood at
his side and said, take courage. For as you have solemnly witnessed
to my cause at Jerusalem, so you must witness at Rome also. You must. It’s a promise of the
Lord. At long last, Paul has God’s
own assurance that he’s going to have the opportunity to preach
the gospel in Rome. But it’s gonna look very different
from the pleasant little gospel outreach that Paul originally
conceived, though he has God’s promise that he will indeed minister
in Rome, for now a letter to the church in Rome will have
to suffice. But when will Paul find the time
to write such a detailed and monumental composition as the
epistle to the Romans. God sovereignly opens the door
for this as well. We can be relatively certain
that Paul wrote this letter from Corinth. Let me tell you why.
There are several clues in the Epistle of Romans itself that
indicate this. The first clue is Paul’s commendation
of a lady named Phoebe. In 16, don’t turn there, I’m
not gonna be there when you get there. In 16.1, Paul says, I
commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant of the church,
which is at Centria. Receive her in the Lord in a
manner worthy of the saints. Centria was a port city of Corinth. Phoebe, in some degree, was a
servant there of the church, not necessarily a deaconess,
but a well-known servant. as so many of our saints. Paul
commends her as such to the Romans, which points at least to the
possibility that she was the official emissary, the bearer,
the carrier of this epistle. What an incredible honor. The
second indication that Romans was written from Corinth is Paul’s
reference in the letter to a man named Gaius. In his first letter
to the Corinthians, Paul mentions Gaius as being one of the very
few people that he personally baptized. And this Gaius, it
seems, hosted not only one of the city churches, but was also
hosting Paul during his stay at Corinth. Romans 16, 23, Gaius,
host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Finally, Paul’s reference
to a man named Erastus points to the fact that this letter
was written from Corinth. There is in Corinth a man named
Erastus who served an important official capacity in the city
of Corinth. Romans 16.23, again, Paul tells
the Romans that Erastus, the city treasurer, greets you. All
of those point to the fact that Romans was written from Corinth. The only question is when? We
know that Paul spent 18 months in Corinth, but it’s not like
he had a whole lot of time and opportunity to sit down and write
a letter such as this. And it’s important to point out
that even though Romans stands first in the epistles in our
Bible, just following the gospels, Romans was not written first.
In fact, it probably takes position number six in the writing of
Paul’s epistles behind Galatians, both of the Thessalonian epistles,
and perhaps both of the Corinthian epistles. Because Paul was in
Corinth a number of times, it’s hard to pin down exactly when
this was written. We know that Paul was there for
a lengthy stay as recorded in Acts 18, but Acts 20 records
another subsequent visit to that region. Luke records, following
his departure from the near three years that he spent in ministry
in Ephesus, that Paul had three months to winter over in Greece,
the same neighborhood, if you will, of Corinth, 70 miles between
Athens and Corinth. This was for Paul a break of
sorts. He had just completed eight years
of arduous ministry. Would Paul maybe put his feet
up and rest? For these three months, hardly,
this is the likely occasion for Paul to write this incredible
letter to the Roman Christians, profound, thorough, exactingly
reasoned. That period of time, those three
months, seems to have offered enough quiet downtime for Paul
to write this epic document. So the Epistle of Paul to the
Romans was written from Corinth during Paul’s third missionary
journey, probably around AD 56. There’s another question that
arises with regard to this writing. Why does Paul allow himself to
take such an interest in this church in Rome? It’s understandable
that Paul should write letters to churches that he had personally
planted, Corinth, Thessalonica, Philippi, Ephesus. But by his
own omission, Paul had never even been to Rome, much less
preached the gospel there. Near the end of his letter, we
can hear the door creaking open in answer to this conundrum. Near the end of the letter, Verse
20, chapter 15, Paul articulates a guiding ministry principle.
He says, I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ
was already named, so that I would not build on another man’s foundation. That was his principle. He didn’t
want to step on another brother’s toes. Fascinating conviction. He purposes not to build on another
man’s conviction. Why then write to the Roman church
that was already in existence? The church there was flourishing,
renowned. By the time he writes them this
epistle, it’s abundantly clear that the gospel was already running
over its banks. It was a church that was already
flourishing. The Roman church was so strong
that in the opening remarks of this letter, he acknowledges
that their faith was being proclaimed throughout the whole world by
his own standard. Paul would not have meddled in
another man’s work, Peter’s or John’s or James’s or anyone else. And so the answer to this puzzle
elicits some wonderful considerations. How did the Roman church even
come into existence? Who planted it? He doesn’t want to step on another
gospel worker’s toes and yet he’s writing to a church that
he did not plant. We know very little about the
founding of the Church of Rome. History, in or outside of Scripture,
does not tell us. The Bible leaves us unaware of
any apostle or apostolic delegation that preached the gospel in Rome. In fact, the first time in Scripture
that we even learn of an official gathering in the Roman Church
is this epistle. There’s just no biblical claim
that this church was due to any official apostolic work. It’s
unthinkable that if another apostle had planted this church that
Paul would have bullied his way in by sending an uninvited letter. So the Church of Rome was established. And this must have heartened
Paul greatly. But if neither Paul nor any other
apostle planted the church, how did it come to exist? From the earliest moments of
the church on the day of Pentecost, we get a clue as to the origin,
the possible origin of the Roman church. If you would turn briefly
to Acts chapter 2. Such a fantastic scene. I don’t
mind having you turn there to read. Acts chapter 2, you know the
scene. Christ is ascended into heaven.
This is the giving of the Holy Spirit, beginning in verse 1. When the day of Pentecost had
come, they were all together in one place, and suddenly there
came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it
filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there
appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves,
and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled
with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues,
real languages, mind you, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.
Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every
nation under heaven. There’s your first clue. When
this sound occurred, the crowd came together and were bewildered
because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own
language. They were amazed and astonished, saying, Why are not
all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we each hear
them in our own language to which we were born? Parthians and Medes,
Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia,
Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the districts of Libya around Cyrene,
and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes. Following
this amazing scene, Peter lays out the gospel of Jesus Christ,
and the result is overwhelming. You remember this. down at verse
41. So then those who had received
his word were baptized, and that day there were added about 3,000
souls, 3,000 Christians, who would then take the gospel to
their respective cities and towns. People from all over the known
world were there for this amazing event. So one reasonable explanation
to the origin of the Roman Church is that these Jews and proselytes
converts, Jewish, I mean, Gentile converts to Judaism and then
Christianity. They saw these amazing things
in Jerusalem that day. They heard the gospel, were converted,
and took this news, this doctrine, this gospel back home. The gospel had taken over. The
gospel was doing what the gospel is going to do. The spread of
the gospel had gone far beyond the official mission-oriented
intentionality. The gospel was doing its own
thing in saving people. The gospel was now spreading
by natural means, average believers. Interacting with loved ones,
neighbors, co-workers, friends, and strangers in their normal
everyday interactions. Fourth century historian Ambrosiaster
believed that the Church of Rome, he said, arose among the Jews
of Rome and that the Gentiles to whom they conveyed a knowledge
of Christ had not seen any miracles of the apostles. It was the pure
gospel of Christ. Amazing. Paul enjoyed the company
of one such Jewish convert, Aquila, of whom Luke tells us in Acts
18.2, he came recently from Italy with his wife, Priscilla, because
Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome, including
those that were converts to Christ. We don’t know if Aquila and Priscilla
were there for the events captured in Acts chapter 2, but it’s very
possible that they were influenced, even evangelized, by those who
were. Amazing possibility. When we begin to consider the
outline of the Book of Romans, we enter into a daunting task,
admittedly. After all, this book entails
16 chapters, profound truths of God’s Word. It presents to
us five great themes, though. We’ll look at those this morning
very briefly. Following his greeting in verses
one through seven, we come to Paul’s first major section in
his letter. Chapter one, verse eight. And
that section carries all the way down to chapter 3, verse
20. The first section encompasses a lengthy discussion, lasting
nearly three chapters. And we could label this section
simply as sin. That’s what Paul’s going to talk
about. Or if you want a longer title, sin and the judgment of
God. The two things are inseparable. Paul does address additional
things in this chapter. In 8-12 of chapter 1, he discusses
his own relationship with the Roman Church. In 13-17, he effectively
presents the thesis of this entire letter, the righteousness of
God, which is by faith. is that introduction of this
truth culminates in verse 17, declaring that in the gospel
the righteousness of God is revealed and that by this righteousness,
this righteousness may only be obtained by faith. It cannot
be developed through well-intentioned It cannot be purchased for any
amount of money. It cannot be handed down from
generation to generation. The righteous man, Paul concludes,
if he is to have God’s righteousness, shall live by faith. Well, that
opens up naturally to discussion of the sinfulness of humanity
and their desperate need of God’s righteousness. He addresses the
sinfulness of the heathen world in 118 to 32. And then in chapter
two, he picks up that theme as it applies to the Jewish people. They too stand under God’s judgment
as sinners, and therein lies humanity’s great problem. They
lack what ensures access to God and heaven, the righteousness
of God. As a result, they’re stuck in
the grasp of sin. And Paul declares in 118, he
calls down the unquenchable wrath of God. In 3.9, Paul concludes
that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin. If your Bible
is open in front of you, glance down at 310 through 18. A masterful
combination of citations from the Psalms about the human condition.
There is none righteous, not even one. There is none who understands. There is none who seeks for God.
All have turned aside. Together they have become useless.
There is none who does good. There is not even one. Their
throat is an open grave. With their tongues they keep
deceiving. The poison of asps is under their lips. Whose mouth
is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed
blood. Destruction and misery are in
their paths, and the path of peace they have not known. There
is no fear of God before our eyes.” That is a description
of you and me. There’s none righteous, not even
one. There’s a clear transition at
chapter 3, verse 21, a transition from the discussion of sin to
the, happily, a discussion of salvation. So the second major
section we can label as salvation of God. Following Paul’s dreadful
conclusion of the sinfulness of humanity in 320, with great
relief, Paul moves to the good news, that of salvation. And
this section will carry us all the way down through chapter
5, verse 21. And we should never, at least
I don’t want to ever omit an opportunity to proclaim and meditate
on these words. Would you just look at chapter
3, beginning verse 21, and do so with thankfulness in your
hearts. This is the best, the most incredible news ever declared
to sinners. But now, apart from the law,
the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed
by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God,
through faith in Jesus Christ. For all those who believe, there
is no distinction. For all have sinned and fall
short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace. through the redemption which
is in Christ Jesus, whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation
in his blood through faith. Well, following his declaration
of the great means of salvation, faith in Jesus Christ and his
work of redemption, it’s a work of God by which we
are all declared righteous. Paul highlights that in such
salvation all glory goes to God. There can be no boasting by the
sinner, verses 27 to 31. Paul details a wonderful example
of salvation by faith in the account of Abraham, chapter four.
That leads to one of at least my favorite chapters in all the
Bible, chapter five, the blessings of salvation, peace with God,
divine assistance, and freedom from the wrath of God. What could
be better news than that? There’s another strong transition
in chapter 6 verse 1, a transition to the subject of sanctification. Sin, salvation, sanctification. The discussion carries us all
the way down through chapter 8 verse 39. Here Paul gives two
outstanding images of the process of sanctification. The first
we see in 1 through 14 that I would characterize here as death to
sin. We’re baptized, immersed into
Christ Jesus, and the result is that we are now dead to sin. Paul says it this way, in verse
two, he queries, how shall we who died to sin still live in
it? The second illustration that
Paul uses to explain the process of sanctification, verses 15
to 23, is the idea of slavery. You are the slaves of the one
whom you obey. Paul says in verse 16, as Christians,
we have a new master. We’re no longer slaves to sin.
Chapter 7, still under the heading of sanctification, discusses
the role of the law in the life of the Christian, the scope of
the law, the purpose of the law, the limits of the law, and our
cry under the law. And this leads to a happy, if
not abrupt, transition into chapter 8, where the most glorious news,
the greatest, most comforting sentence in all the Bible, There is therefore now no condemnation
for those who were in Christ Jesus. And the whole chapter,
chapter eight, sustains a comforting thought as it presents essentially
divine assistance, God’s help. And the whole chapter eight presents
to us all the members of the Godhead, pictured as actively
at work in the believer’s life. were established in Christ Jesus,
one through 11. We are sustained by the Spirit
of God, verses 12 through 27, and the whole of our lives is
ordained by the Heavenly Father, verses 28 through 30. No wonder
as Paul steps back and looks at that, he concludes at the
end of chapter eight that the Christian enjoys a divine covering,
verses 31 through 39. Chapter 9, Paul refers to the
vexing subject of Israel’s sin and their standing before God,
which he established in the second chapter. The problem is that
while salvation is provided by justification by faith in Christ,
and once provided that salvation is secure, Israel largely rejected
the Messiah of salvation. Paul purposes here in this section,
chapters 9 through 11, to discuss the status of the nation of Israel.
And you likely already see the pattern here. Sin, salvation,
sanctification, sovereignty. God will have his way. God is sovereign even over unbelief. He’s sovereign over rejection
and election. Chapter 9, he’s sovereign over
the nation that while zealous, They were dulled to the means
of saving faith, chapter 10, and God is sovereign over Israel’s
purpose and restoration, chapter 11. Well, that discussion of
these chapters leads Paul to that magnificent doxology at
the end of chapter 11. Oh, the depth of the riches,
both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are
His judgments and unfathomable His ways. For who has known the
mind of the Lord or who became His counselor? Or who has first
given to Him that it might be paid back to Him again? For from
Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the
glory forever. Amen. Well, the fifth We’re going
to make it. The fifth and final major section
begins in chapter 12. It’s arguably the clearest and
most agreed-upon breaks in all of the Book of Romans. Paul’s
great doctrinal discussion has drawn to a close, and he abruptly
transitioned to the practical application of these spiritual
truths. In keeping with our alliterative outline, something I repented
of many years ago, not only sin, salvation, sanctification, whatever the other one was, service,
service to God. Number five, it opens with these
familiar words, which really set the theme for this entire
section. present your bodies a living
and holy sacrifice acceptable to God, which is your spiritual
service of worship. And this service is rendered
first and foremost to Christ’s church, to the people of God,
but it extends to every known relationship for the Christian.
other believers, hateful people, downtrodden people, contrary
people, the civil government, everyone, but especially our
so-called weaker brother. Paul transitions in his closing
words to the conclusion of the epistle in the following verse.
The little word now in verse 13 clearly indicates a break,
a transition in thought, And this, coupled with the end of
verse 14, indicates that the transition to the conclusion
begins here. Well, no wonder that Christians
of all periods throughout history have held Paul’s epistle to the
Romans in the highest esteem. One historian wrote, Romans is
Paul’s completest explanation of his understanding of the gospel. One historian noted, a man named Samuel Coleridge, author
and poet, called it the most profound work in existence. Martin
Luther held it to be the chief part of the New Testament and
the very purest gospel. But of all the lofty comments
made about this book, one caught me quite by surprise. One commentator
referred to this magnificent work as the greatest doctrinal
treatise in the New Testament. And I’ll tell you, that shocked
me. Because as glowing as that endorsement
sounds initially, it falls woefully short. Because if the New Testament
is the final revelation of God’s plan of redemption, then Romans
is the greatest doctrinal treatise in the entire Bible. And if the
Bible is God’s Word, then Romans is the greatest doctrinal treatise,
period. And if this doctrinal treatise
presents God’s greatest message to sinful humanity, the gospel,
then Romans is the greatest document ever written. In a message that has been largely
introductory, allow me please to close with one small devotional
element. back, if you would, find your
way back to chapter 1 and to verse 5, where Paul exclaims
there that he had received grace and apostleship to bring about
the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for his namesake. And if you’re just now arriving,
you didn’t miss the main point here. All I really want to observe
is that little four-word phrase, the obedience of faith. Paul essentially says that’s
what the whole epistle is about. That’s what his whole ministry
was about. That’s what Christianity is about, is the obedience of
faith. And so committed to this great
goal is Paul that he echoes this phrase at the end of his letter
in 1626. He says that his entire gospel
effort was for this same goal. The obedience of faith. So what
does it mean? It certainly isn’t obedience
that leads to faith, like we gotta be good and do good and
get ourselves right to present ourselves as faithful people. It isn’t obedience that attends
faith even, as if the two come in at a dead finish. nor is it
obedience that produces faith, certainly, nor is it even obedience
that attends faith. Rather, it is the obedience that
is produced by, flows from, is a product of faith. In other words, saving faith
in Jesus Christ will ultimately show forth in obedience to Christ’s
commands. But first faith, then obedience. In a treatise devoted to salvation
by faith in Christ alone, this little phrase captures it well. The gospel of Christ declares
the obedience of faith. In the weeks to come, if you’ve
never been with us for what we call a flyover, There are 16 chapters and our
flyover will be approximately 16 weeks. I never hem us in. We’ll typically read an entire
chapter of scripture and then zero in on a verse or a set of
verses. This is not designed to be a
thorough exposition of the Book of Romans. It’s an overview.
Nor are these messages predictable, and in that I would ask for your
prayers, because I have no idea what verse or verses I will preach
next week or the weeks to come. I let the Lord guide me, and
then I come to nourish the saints. It will be directly from God’s
Word, from the greatest epistle, the greatest treatise ever written.
Would you humble yourself before him? Our merciful God, we thank you
and praise you for this letter, for the hand that wrote it, for
the spirit that inspired it. And Father, we thank you most
of all for the truth that is embedded in it. The gospel of
faith in Jesus Christ, faith alone for salvation. Lord God,
we humble ourselves before you and we do pray that you would
take us as it were by the hand and lead us through this incredible
study of this wonderful letter. Father, if there are any in our
midst who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ, it can never be
by our effort. It can never be by our deeds.
It can never be by our good works, our church attendance. It is
only by faith alone in Christ alone and then and only then
Does obedience and good works flow? The same God that begins
the work of salvation also begins the work of sanctification. Father,
we submit ourselves to you and we pray that you would have your
way with every one of us. And we pray these things in Jesus’
name. Amen.