How To Hear Romans (Romans 15:15-16)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:06.200 Let's turn to our attention to Romans, Chapter Fifteen, and will continue are 2 00:00:06.240 --> 00:00:15.109 reading through this portion of God's word. This is the closing of Paul's letter 3 00:00:15.390 --> 00:00:20.629 and I'm going to begin reading it Romans Fifteen, verse fourteen, and I'll 4 00:00:20.670 --> 00:00:32.700 read through verse sixteen. Pose so fourteen through sixteen. I myself am satisfied 5 00:00:32.740 --> 00:00:37.250 about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled 6 00:00:37.329 --> 00:00:42.369 with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. But on some points I 7 00:00:42.409 --> 00:00:47.850 have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace 8 00:00:47.969 --> 00:00:52.600 given me by God, to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the gentiles 9 00:00:53.200 --> 00:00:58.200 in the Priestly Service of the Gospel of God, so that the offering of 10 00:00:58.280 --> 00:01:04.790 the gentiles may be acceptable sanctified by the Holy Spirit. You may be seated 11 00:01:23.900 --> 00:01:30.700 as Paul closes the letter to the Roman church. These few verses, he 12 00:01:30.819 --> 00:01:36.170 does a couple things. One thing he does is he characterizes what has come 13 00:01:36.209 --> 00:01:40.250 before he explains to them or reminds them. This is how I've been writing 14 00:01:40.409 --> 00:01:44.969 to you. The other thing Paul does is he begins to talk about why 15 00:01:45.129 --> 00:01:49.680 he's been writing, not just sort of the character or quality of his writing, 16 00:01:49.719 --> 00:01:53.319 but the reasons they are behind it, and he'll extend that discussion on 17 00:01:53.680 --> 00:01:57.120 into the next through the rest of well, through the rest of the of 18 00:01:57.200 --> 00:02:02.109 the book, but especially Chapter Fifteen. That will focus on his ministry as 19 00:02:02.150 --> 00:02:07.230 as an apostle, and we'll talk about that some today. But as we 20 00:02:07.349 --> 00:02:12.349 begin, I want you to think first about these words. Very boldly Paul 21 00:02:12.430 --> 00:02:16.620 says on some points, I have written to you very boldly. Could have 22 00:02:16.659 --> 00:02:23.939 said boldly right adds the very of course, to emphasize that. I wonder 23 00:02:23.939 --> 00:02:29.460 if you know people who speak boldly. I think there's probably at least two 24 00:02:29.500 --> 00:02:34.090 kinds. There are the kind of people who speak boldly, who are brash, 25 00:02:34.969 --> 00:02:38.810 their unsympathetic. They don't was they speak. They don't really speak to 26 00:02:38.969 --> 00:02:44.560 you, they speak at you. It's like everything they say has caps lock 27 00:02:44.719 --> 00:02:47.879 on. There's no sort of downs, it's all up, all loud. 28 00:02:49.719 --> 00:02:53.560 These kind of bold people are they think of themselves as bold, but what 29 00:02:53.639 --> 00:03:00.509 they really are is obnoxious. They perceive themselves as challengers, as disruptors, 30 00:03:00.669 --> 00:03:06.789 as revolutionaries. Is People that think outside of the box, but really everyone 31 00:03:06.870 --> 00:03:10.909 around them those they're just loud mouth fools, obnoxious people that are pushing their 32 00:03:10.990 --> 00:03:15.860 weight around. This is one kind of bold speaker. It's it's bold in 33 00:03:15.939 --> 00:03:20.580 a way, but it's really a lot of other things, not nice things. 34 00:03:22.259 --> 00:03:25.139 The other kind of bold speakers the kind that Paul is, the kind 35 00:03:25.219 --> 00:03:31.169 of speaker who's judicious in what they say, understands balance priorities and yet at 36 00:03:31.210 --> 00:03:35.770 the same time, isn't weak in the knees when it's time to say something 37 00:03:35.969 --> 00:03:39.330 hard, when it really matters. He knows how to say it, how 38 00:03:39.409 --> 00:03:44.520 to say it very strongly, how to say it right. This, of 39 00:03:44.639 --> 00:03:46.879 course, is a boldness that is, I'm given to him by the Holy 40 00:03:46.960 --> 00:03:53.439 Spirit himself. Paul writes with his own personality, is own character, traits 41 00:03:53.520 --> 00:03:57.110 and all of that, his own a education, but ultimately it's the spirit 42 00:03:57.189 --> 00:04:00.550 of God who inspires these words in the book of Romans, and God himself 43 00:04:00.629 --> 00:04:08.870 who speaks very boldly at certain times throughout the letter. It's a holy boldness 44 00:04:08.949 --> 00:04:13.699 that looks friend or foe in the face and is willing to speak the truth 45 00:04:13.819 --> 00:04:19.019 no matter what. Well, God sometimes says very, very hard things. 46 00:04:20.180 --> 00:04:25.649 You can go to bookstores or libraries and find things like hard sayings of the 47 00:04:25.730 --> 00:04:30.810 Bible, which sometimes means difficult to understand and other times means difficult to accept. 48 00:04:31.370 --> 00:04:35.449 On there said in a hard way, but God is never hard without 49 00:04:35.529 --> 00:04:41.800 warrant, I'm he's never unsympathetic, he's never uncaring to the listener. When 50 00:04:41.879 --> 00:04:46.079 God speaks, he always speaks with wisdom, with truth, with proportion. 51 00:04:47.319 --> 00:04:50.800 So there are times when the spirit of God, like a wind, will 52 00:04:50.839 --> 00:04:56.389 move softly and quietly and other times when the spirit of God, like a 53 00:04:56.470 --> 00:05:00.110 wind, will move like a gale, will move strong and and fast, 54 00:05:00.750 --> 00:05:05.790 with great power. What Paul says here is that that has happened in this 55 00:05:05.949 --> 00:05:14.420 letter. That's why I mean he's characterizing the quality of his riding. He 56 00:05:14.699 --> 00:05:18.540 says there are places, if you've been listening, that are maybe surprising. 57 00:05:19.660 --> 00:05:25.689 Perhaps there have been places in Romans, if you have been listening along to 58 00:05:25.889 --> 00:05:29.449 this series or if you've read the book before, and I hope you'll read 59 00:05:29.449 --> 00:05:32.009 it many, many times over the course of your life, places that are 60 00:05:32.009 --> 00:05:39.600 surprising, places that sting, places that are very bold. But I want 61 00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:44.079 your mind you here. We're not here to be literary analysts. It's not 62 00:05:44.279 --> 00:05:48.120 enough to know that Paul has spoken strongly and sort of noted in the margins 63 00:05:48.480 --> 00:05:54.870 strong speech and then walk away right, that's not that's not enough. For 64 00:05:54.990 --> 00:05:59.509 example, a child who merely notices how strongly their parent is speaking to them, 65 00:06:00.029 --> 00:06:02.790 but fails to hear the words they're saying or to obey and respond, 66 00:06:03.420 --> 00:06:08.420 will find themselves in trouble. I notice, mom, that you're very upset 67 00:06:08.459 --> 00:06:13.379 right now. Wow, right, it's not enough to just simply note it. 68 00:06:13.939 --> 00:06:16.660 You have to note it and then respond properly. Right, we are 69 00:06:16.740 --> 00:06:21.850 to be listeners, not merely, and here is not merely observers of God's 70 00:06:21.889 --> 00:06:28.889 word. So how are we to respond to Romans? How are we to 71 00:06:29.050 --> 00:06:31.850 read Romans? What are we supposed to do with all of these deep and 72 00:06:32.040 --> 00:06:38.920 wide lessons, in particular the bold reminders that he's spoken to us? Some 73 00:06:39.319 --> 00:06:43.879 people will be tempted to turn the book into a kind of theological puzzle. 74 00:06:44.839 --> 00:06:47.750 Maybe you've seen children's games where it has connect the dots. Right, you 75 00:06:47.790 --> 00:06:54.589 don't looks like a random, random dots on a page, but the news 76 00:06:54.629 --> 00:06:57.949 you draw from one to two to three to five to thirty, all of 77 00:06:57.990 --> 00:07:01.220 a sudden there's a elephant on a ball or something like that. Some people 78 00:07:01.259 --> 00:07:04.779 try to treat Romans that way, or indeed the whole Bible. They think 79 00:07:04.819 --> 00:07:09.100 of it as sort of a series of theological dots, and our job is 80 00:07:09.300 --> 00:07:12.899 to know the Bible really, really well so that we can trace it out 81 00:07:12.939 --> 00:07:17.050 and see Jesus and go there. We did it. Good job us, 82 00:07:18.009 --> 00:07:23.329 but that's not the point, of course. Right Paul wants us to go 83 00:07:23.410 --> 00:07:26.730 much further. Our goal is not just to see the picture that emerges, 84 00:07:26.889 --> 00:07:31.079 that's of course important, but to respond to it. Paul speech, that 85 00:07:31.240 --> 00:07:36.240 is to say God's word, has a purpose and he tells us what that 86 00:07:36.560 --> 00:07:43.680 purpose is. Here Paul says that his theology, his doctrine, the things 87 00:07:43.720 --> 00:07:46.870 that he has been saying, has been in done in service to his mission. 88 00:07:47.829 --> 00:07:55.149 Paul's theology is done in service to Paul's mission and as one, and 89 00:07:55.269 --> 00:07:59.899 it's essential for us to understand that. The mission is that second thing I 90 00:07:59.980 --> 00:08:05.019 mentioned. He says, I've spoken to you these things very boldly. By 91 00:08:05.100 --> 00:08:11.220 Way of reminder here is why? Because of the grace given to me by 92 00:08:11.339 --> 00:08:16.329 God to be a minister of Christ, Jesus to the gentiles. So He 93 00:08:16.490 --> 00:08:20.089 is Paul saying something has happened to me that means that I need to do 94 00:08:20.329 --> 00:08:24.769 this. You can see it's already affecting him. Personally. But he goes 95 00:08:24.810 --> 00:08:28.000 on and explains a little bit. To Be a minister of Christ Jesus to 96 00:08:28.040 --> 00:08:31.559 the gentiles, he is to go into the world and show them this, 97 00:08:33.159 --> 00:08:35.320 but not just so that they can see it, he says, in the 98 00:08:35.519 --> 00:08:41.789 Priestly Service of the Gospel of God, so that the offering of the gentiles 99 00:08:41.830 --> 00:08:48.549 might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Essentially, Paul sees himself 100 00:08:48.590 --> 00:08:52.710 as a priest in the Old Testament. He is not a priest. There 101 00:08:52.710 --> 00:08:58.340 aren't any more pre after Jesus came. Hebrews tells us this. He was 102 00:08:58.419 --> 00:09:03.259 the once and and final priest. But Paul Fashions himself, or describes himself 103 00:09:03.379 --> 00:09:09.379 like an Old Testament priest in the way that they brought sacrifices to God holly 104 00:09:09.460 --> 00:09:13.730 and acceptable to him, as an offering of praise and Thanksgiving, for example. 105 00:09:13.529 --> 00:09:18.370 Paul sees his job to go and bring the gentiles to God as an 106 00:09:18.730 --> 00:09:24.639 offering to him. But Paul knows that that can't happen by his own work 107 00:09:24.759 --> 00:09:28.639 and his own will. They have to be sanctified by the Holy Spirit, 108 00:09:28.320 --> 00:09:33.279 sent by an apostle who has been sent by Jesus Christ in the service of 109 00:09:33.440 --> 00:09:37.559 the Gospel of God. If we have time, will think about this more 110 00:09:37.590 --> 00:09:43.509 later and we'll definitely consider it more in the following week at least, if 111 00:09:43.590 --> 00:09:46.950 not weeks. But my point right now, at the moment, is just 112 00:09:46.389 --> 00:09:50.830 for you to see this, this point, that Paul is connecting the dots, 113 00:09:50.990 --> 00:09:54.259 not just to connect the dots, but to connect it to something. 114 00:09:54.299 --> 00:10:01.059 He's doing, something God is doing, a mission of God himself through his 115 00:10:01.100 --> 00:10:07.250 apostle to the world. The doctrine, in other words, has an effect. 116 00:10:07.289 --> 00:10:13.169 You can't separate the two things. So let's think about these things. 117 00:10:13.250 --> 00:10:18.409 Let's make sure that we're listening to God in the way that he wants to 118 00:10:18.490 --> 00:10:22.480 be heard, and consider what Paul is saying in three parts. First, 119 00:10:22.519 --> 00:10:26.399 I want to note that he simply wants us to be thankful for what is 120 00:10:26.480 --> 00:10:31.120 God has already given to us. Second, he wants us to not be 121 00:10:31.279 --> 00:10:37.230 above reminders and third, he wants us to do here and listen to theology 122 00:10:37.830 --> 00:10:43.350 in the larger context of mission. This is how we read Romans. That's 123 00:10:43.389 --> 00:10:50.100 the answer to that question. How does Paul characterize what he's doing? How 124 00:10:50.139 --> 00:10:54.220 are we like the Romans to hear, hear the book, to apply, 125 00:10:54.379 --> 00:10:58.460 it were, to be thankful for what God has already given. We're to 126 00:10:58.539 --> 00:11:03.779 not be above reminders and we're to hear and listen to the theology and apply 127 00:11:03.899 --> 00:11:07.409 it in the larger context of God's mission in the world. So first, 128 00:11:09.009 --> 00:11:13.009 being thankful for what he's already given. God is already given. Paul begins 129 00:11:13.049 --> 00:11:18.759 the passage by affirming two things about his listeners. He's he are three things 130 00:11:18.799 --> 00:11:24.480 actually. First of all, he's satisfied with their current faith. You see 131 00:11:24.559 --> 00:11:28.919 that? He says, I am myself satisfied about you. He's he's happy. 132 00:11:28.440 --> 00:11:31.600 There's other places in the Bible where he's clearly not happy, and he 133 00:11:31.679 --> 00:11:35.269 speaks very boldly. He says to the glaciers, for example, who is 134 00:11:35.350 --> 00:11:39.629 but which shoe? Oh, glacians. Right. So that's very different from 135 00:11:39.629 --> 00:11:41.710 I'm satisfied about you guys. You're doing a good job, you're doing well. 136 00:11:43.230 --> 00:11:46.259 Okay. He says he's satisfied with them, and for a few reasons. 137 00:11:46.379 --> 00:11:52.539 First, he says they are filled with goodness. Oh, I wish 138 00:11:52.539 --> 00:11:56.700 you'd come say that about our church. That's what a wonderful description. Right, 139 00:11:56.779 --> 00:12:01.299 to be filled with goodness. Now to be filled can have a kind 140 00:12:01.340 --> 00:12:07.370 of physical sense, right to maybe a sponge filled with water, for example. 141 00:12:07.169 --> 00:12:13.649 But goodness is not a physical thing really. I mean it can manifest 142 00:12:13.649 --> 00:12:18.200 itself in physical ways, but really it's a spiritual fruit and invisible fruit that's 143 00:12:18.240 --> 00:12:22.399 born and expresses itself physically. But when Paul says that were filled with goodness, 144 00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:28.679 he has not a physical sense to this. As one dictionary puts it, 145 00:12:28.799 --> 00:12:33.629 this word that's used here can be used to mean thoroughly characterized by something. 146 00:12:33.710 --> 00:12:39.470 Right, that you are filled with something means that you were thoroughly characterized 147 00:12:39.830 --> 00:12:43.460 by something. So, for example, remember what Jesus says about the Pharisees. 148 00:12:43.500 --> 00:12:48.700 It's the opposite of being filled with goodness, he says. Outwardly you 149 00:12:48.899 --> 00:12:58.139 appear righteous, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. This is 150 00:12:58.259 --> 00:13:01.610 how their lives were characterized. They looked one way, but they were really 151 00:13:01.649 --> 00:13:05.970 another. But Paul says the Romans were the opposite it of this. Their 152 00:13:07.129 --> 00:13:11.490 lives are not characterized by hypocrisy. The lives of the Roman Christian church was 153 00:13:11.570 --> 00:13:16.639 not characterized by lawlessness. Know, they were full of goodness. They're like 154 00:13:16.759 --> 00:13:22.080 a tree that's full of good and ripe fruit. Let me pause just a 155 00:13:22.159 --> 00:13:31.149 moment to remind us that it's okay to speak positively about people's spiritual states if 156 00:13:31.190 --> 00:13:37.070 it's true. It's okay to say you're a very wonderful person or you're very 157 00:13:37.110 --> 00:13:41.299 kind. Sometimes I think that we are a little hesitant because we have a 158 00:13:41.340 --> 00:13:46.419 good doctrine of sin. We know that sin manifests itself so deeply and so 159 00:13:46.779 --> 00:13:54.539 a completely in us. But what Paul recognizes is one of the great truths 160 00:13:54.580 --> 00:13:58.250 that he's spoken about in Romans. When we're united to Christ, the spirit 161 00:13:58.450 --> 00:14:03.850 works in us and produces good things, and it's wonderful to recognize that, 162 00:14:03.649 --> 00:14:09.120 to praise God for it, to even remind and encourage other people. They're 163 00:14:09.159 --> 00:14:13.960 like a tree that is rich and full of ripe fruit. Does that mean 164 00:14:15.080 --> 00:14:18.240 that every single branch is perfect? Does it mean that there isn't a worm 165 00:14:18.279 --> 00:14:22.240 anywhere or that there isn't a little bit of mold or some disease somewhere in 166 00:14:22.320 --> 00:14:26.429 the tree, that it's not at risk of dying in some other way? 167 00:14:26.509 --> 00:14:30.429 Well, of course not, but it's still ripped, rich and full of 168 00:14:30.549 --> 00:14:33.190 good fruit, and that's what Paul says about them. He says you're full 169 00:14:33.309 --> 00:14:37.740 of goodness, you're characterized by this and I'm satisfied about this. I'm happy 170 00:14:37.860 --> 00:14:46.259 about this goodness. To quote John Murray, Systematic Theologian at Westminster Seminary, 171 00:14:46.340 --> 00:14:50.700 theological seminary, and one of the founders of the OPC, he does scribed 172 00:14:50.740 --> 00:14:54.490 it this way. He said goodness is that virtue opposed to all that is 173 00:14:54.649 --> 00:15:01.809 mean and evil and includes uprightness, kindness and beneficence of heart and life. 174 00:15:03.889 --> 00:15:09.679 That's what they were full of. Now to the fulness of to being full 175 00:15:09.759 --> 00:15:16.080 of goodness, Paul adds knowledge. Murray defines this as understanding the Christian faith 176 00:15:16.840 --> 00:15:24.830 and particularly related to the capacity for instruction. They know the Bible, they 177 00:15:24.990 --> 00:15:28.549 know Jesus, they have an understanding of who he is and what he's done. 178 00:15:28.590 --> 00:15:35.190 If you go back in Romans and look at the various theological and exegetical 179 00:15:35.230 --> 00:15:39.500 arguments Paul is making, you see some of the things that he assumes about 180 00:15:39.500 --> 00:15:43.299 their knowledge and you get a sense for the kind of knowledge that they have. 181 00:15:43.620 --> 00:15:48.820 Even as he brings to them these various reminders, they know what the 182 00:15:48.860 --> 00:15:52.929 Christian faith is about, so much so that they're able to instruct one another 183 00:15:52.970 --> 00:15:56.529 in it. So he says to them, okay, I'm telling you these 184 00:15:56.570 --> 00:15:58.690 things and I'm speaking very boldly, but hey, I don't want you to 185 00:15:58.809 --> 00:16:03.210 think I'm I don't want you to think that I think you don't know anything. 186 00:16:03.960 --> 00:16:07.799 This is essentially what he's saying. I don't want you to think that 187 00:16:07.919 --> 00:16:11.559 I think everything is rotten and terrible in your church. No, you're full 188 00:16:11.600 --> 00:16:15.559 of goodness, you're full of knowledge, you're able to instruct another one another, 189 00:16:15.639 --> 00:16:21.190 and all this, I'm honestly really satisfied. This is good. This, 190 00:16:21.350 --> 00:16:23.669 by the way, of course, is language of an authority. Right. 191 00:16:25.309 --> 00:16:29.190 Paul speaking as a minister, as an apostle, he's speaking as one 192 00:16:29.230 --> 00:16:34.139 who has been charged to oversee their spiritual health, and he's saying to them. 193 00:16:36.220 --> 00:16:41.779 This is good and I'm happy about this. But at the same time, 194 00:16:41.220 --> 00:16:45.899 and this brings us to point two, Paul wants them to remember, 195 00:16:47.019 --> 00:16:52.490 remember certain things they he doesn't want them or us, to be above reminders. 196 00:16:53.610 --> 00:16:57.289 But before we get to that, I want you to, I want 197 00:16:57.330 --> 00:17:00.330 us to apply a little bit and think about what Paul is saying to the 198 00:17:00.409 --> 00:17:06.200 Romans and ask ourselves if this is true of us. They've been instructed in 199 00:17:06.279 --> 00:17:08.839 the things of faith, in the word of God, and that's a good 200 00:17:08.920 --> 00:17:12.960 thing, but we want to ask ourselves. Does this apply to us? 201 00:17:15.240 --> 00:17:19.190 We must be careful that we don't apply to ourselves what doesn't belong to us, 202 00:17:19.309 --> 00:17:22.589 either as a church or as individuals. And let me talk to you 203 00:17:22.789 --> 00:17:29.630 on that level. If your life is not characterized by being full of goodness 204 00:17:30.140 --> 00:17:36.859 or full of knowledge, if you're full of ignorance or lawlessness, then don't 205 00:17:36.900 --> 00:17:42.460 let their concu commendation be an example to you. And you sort of excuse 206 00:17:42.579 --> 00:17:48.210 yourself as if the Roman the goodness in the Roman church sort of automatically applies 207 00:17:48.329 --> 00:17:52.650 to you. Perhaps it does, perhaps it doesn't. Each of us have 208 00:17:52.769 --> 00:17:56.450 to examine our own lives, our own doctrine, our own knowledge of God 209 00:17:56.609 --> 00:18:03.559 and His grace and ask ourselves, am I living in light of these things? 210 00:18:03.359 --> 00:18:08.640 Is My life characterized by knowledge, the knowledge of God and the things 211 00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:15.230 that he has said? Is My life characterized by goodness? And if not, 212 00:18:15.430 --> 00:18:22.029 then of course we pray for growth. We ask God to help us 213 00:18:22.069 --> 00:18:25.549 to put away the old things, to help us to grow in the knowledge 214 00:18:25.589 --> 00:18:29.180 of grace, to take hold of the new things, and to do so 215 00:18:29.420 --> 00:18:33.180 trusting in Jesus, who is our goodness, our righteousness, our knowledge and 216 00:18:33.299 --> 00:18:37.660 our wisdom, and but if we do see these things in ourselves, if 217 00:18:37.700 --> 00:18:41.609 we do say, well, of course I'm in perfect and of course I 218 00:18:41.809 --> 00:18:45.730 have significant struggles in various ways, but at the same time I do see 219 00:18:45.809 --> 00:18:49.289 God's grace in my life, the things that I have learned, the ways 220 00:18:49.369 --> 00:18:52.890 that I have grown, then we ought to give a praise to God for 221 00:18:53.089 --> 00:19:00.440 it, thank him and ask him for more. Well, now on to 222 00:19:00.559 --> 00:19:10.390 the reminders. The sanctification of God's spirit leads to further sanctification of God's spirit, 223 00:19:11.390 --> 00:19:15.670 and that means that a Christian that is truly being sanctified, that the 224 00:19:15.710 --> 00:19:19.390 old man is dying away the new man is continually being renewed and strengthened. 225 00:19:21.029 --> 00:19:26.460 That kind of person is never going to be above hearing reminders. A Christian 226 00:19:26.500 --> 00:19:30.619 who's really operating, thinking and feeling as a Christian is never going to say 227 00:19:30.140 --> 00:19:33.539 well, Hey, I already heard about justification by faith alone. That doesn't 228 00:19:33.539 --> 00:19:38.569 matter to me anymore. I've moved beyond that or sanctification or the work of 229 00:19:38.609 --> 00:19:44.130 the spirit or God's law or any of the things that we've addressed in Romans, 230 00:19:44.690 --> 00:19:47.130 any of things God spoken to us here, or in the rest of 231 00:19:47.210 --> 00:19:51.650 the Bible for that matter, the Christian who knows the depth of their sin 232 00:19:51.769 --> 00:19:56.559 and knows how good and Holy God is. It's never going to be above 233 00:19:56.680 --> 00:20:00.440 reminders, is never going to Balk God, the bold speech of God. 234 00:20:02.759 --> 00:20:07.390 Just the opposite. Mature Christians draw their good works from the Treasury of Christ's 235 00:20:07.390 --> 00:20:12.230 work in them. They know how weak they are, they know how important 236 00:20:12.269 --> 00:20:18.950 reminders are and they don't Balk when the master comes to tell us about himself. 237 00:20:21.700 --> 00:20:23.700 Think about it, just at a natural level for a moment. Do 238 00:20:23.900 --> 00:20:29.819 Pro basketball players ever rise above throwing free throws over and over and over and 239 00:20:29.940 --> 00:20:34.890 over again? No. Do professional musicians ever sort of stopped playing their scales? 240 00:20:36.930 --> 00:20:41.490 No, some professional musicians. That's all they do in practice is just 241 00:20:41.730 --> 00:20:48.569 play scales, just go over fundamentals. If that's true in so of a 242 00:20:48.730 --> 00:20:52.079 human and natural level for just natural skills, how much more so for the 243 00:20:52.200 --> 00:20:56.680 things that need to that the hat that require our own souls to be changed, 244 00:20:59.079 --> 00:21:07.990 a much more dramatic change and improvement and growth? What are the fundamentals 245 00:21:08.029 --> 00:21:14.069 of the Christian faith? Well, we read them in places like the apostles 246 00:21:14.150 --> 00:21:18.579 creed, the nicene creed, the Westminster shorter catechism or larger CATISM, catechism, 247 00:21:18.700 --> 00:21:22.980 confession of faith and of course we find these fundamentals throughout every page of 248 00:21:23.059 --> 00:21:30.779 scripture. May you never go beyond them. In a sense, you never 249 00:21:30.900 --> 00:21:34.970 want to get beyond I believe in God, the Father, Almighty maker of 250 00:21:36.049 --> 00:21:40.529 Heaven and Earth. You never want to sort of grow out of that right. 251 00:21:41.650 --> 00:21:45.410 That's how we're to understand these things. May you never stop believing and 252 00:21:45.569 --> 00:21:49.359 grounding your life in the firm conviction that you were made to glorify God and 253 00:21:49.480 --> 00:21:55.599 enjoy him forever. These fundamentals aren't stepping stones so that we can move to 254 00:21:55.720 --> 00:22:00.200 something else. There the foundation on which everything grows out of, and so 255 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:03.670 we constantly go back again and again, and that's what Paul says he's been 256 00:22:03.750 --> 00:22:10.349 doing here. He says I've brought I've spoken to you boldly. Know I've 257 00:22:10.390 --> 00:22:17.700 written to you very boldly by way of reminder. So what kind of things 258 00:22:17.740 --> 00:22:22.339 does Paul have in mind? I have to admit this has been a very 259 00:22:22.220 --> 00:22:26.940 fun thing for me to do this week and I would really encourage you to 260 00:22:26.019 --> 00:22:30.970 do this, to go back, read through Romans and try to discern for 261 00:22:32.089 --> 00:22:37.849 yourself where are the bold places, where are the places where Paul has spoken 262 00:22:37.250 --> 00:22:48.440 extra strong extra forcefully. I want to share with you some of my reflections 263 00:22:48.559 --> 00:22:52.920 on that, not all of them, but I think we have to start 264 00:22:53.039 --> 00:23:00.789 with chapter one, Verse Sixteen. Paul says, for I am not ashamed 265 00:23:00.990 --> 00:23:06.390 of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone 266 00:23:06.470 --> 00:23:11.750 who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. When somebody 267 00:23:11.859 --> 00:23:18.019 says I'm not ashamed of X, you know you're about to hear something pretty 268 00:23:18.019 --> 00:23:23.500 strong. He's saying I'm willing to take it. I'm willing to take embarrassment, 269 00:23:23.539 --> 00:23:27.009 I'm willing to take a shame, I'm going to willing to take shame. 270 00:23:27.450 --> 00:23:32.329 You can't embarrass me on this point. Say what you will, do 271 00:23:32.529 --> 00:23:37.809 what you will, but the Gospel is the power of God. I'm not 272 00:23:38.089 --> 00:23:41.759 going to send you off to this place or that place. I'm not going 273 00:23:41.839 --> 00:23:47.200 to tell you anything else, because the Gospel is the power of God. 274 00:23:47.480 --> 00:23:52.519 For what? For Salvation for WHO, for everyone who believes, to the 275 00:23:52.519 --> 00:23:57.269 Jew first and also to the Greek. A lot of times people think about 276 00:23:57.269 --> 00:24:02.150 Romans as being the great book about justification by faith alone, and it is, 277 00:24:03.630 --> 00:24:07.869 but I think it we would be more right to say it's about this 278 00:24:07.190 --> 00:24:11.940 in particular. It's about justification, to be sure, but it's also about 279 00:24:11.940 --> 00:24:19.339 sanctification. It's also about glorification for everyone who believes. We've just spent I 280 00:24:19.420 --> 00:24:22.859 don't know how long, months and months, thinking about all of these relationships 281 00:24:22.900 --> 00:24:27.369 between the Jewish Christians and the and the Greek Christians. Why? Because of 282 00:24:27.609 --> 00:24:33.609 this. Because the Gospel is the power of God for salvation for everyone who 283 00:24:33.809 --> 00:24:40.119 believes. Paul doesn't care about the attacks, the embarrassments, the slandering, 284 00:24:40.200 --> 00:24:44.680 the imprisonment, the mocking, the beatings, whatever he says. I'm a 285 00:24:44.759 --> 00:24:48.559 Minister of the Gospel for this reason and I'm going to do whatever it takes. 286 00:24:48.119 --> 00:24:52.349 I'm not ashamed. I think we have to start there, because that's 287 00:24:52.349 --> 00:24:56.390 where Paul starts and is where he ends in it, where he's where he 288 00:24:56.390 --> 00:25:02.150 keeps coming back over and over and over again as he givens to develop that 289 00:25:02.309 --> 00:25:04.470 point. He says, I think, very boldly, in chapter two, 290 00:25:06.069 --> 00:25:12.980 verse one. Therefore, you have no excuse, Oh man, every one 291 00:25:14.059 --> 00:25:18.619 of you who judges, for in passing judgment on another, you condemn yourselves. 292 00:25:18.259 --> 00:25:22.569 Skipping down to verse five, he says, because of your hard and 293 00:25:22.690 --> 00:25:26.650 impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself. On the day of 294 00:25:26.769 --> 00:25:33.930 Wrath, when God's righteous judgment, when we will be revealed. Unfortunately, 295 00:25:33.009 --> 00:25:38.200 there are many, many churches that say they teach the Gospel as the power 296 00:25:38.240 --> 00:25:45.799 of God for salvation, and yet refuse to say the things that support that 297 00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:49.829 truth, that makes sense of that truth, that contextualize that truth, and 298 00:25:49.950 --> 00:25:57.029 that includes talking about sin, talking about wrath, talking about judgment. Paul's 299 00:25:57.109 --> 00:26:02.309 not afraid. He speaks very boldly. He looks us in the eye and 300 00:26:02.470 --> 00:26:07.940 says, if you are standing apart from God and standing on your own righteousness, 301 00:26:07.579 --> 00:26:14.619 you're storing up wrath for yourself and there's no get out of jail free 302 00:26:14.700 --> 00:26:18.890 card on this. How can you, who judge other people, who know 303 00:26:18.809 --> 00:26:22.450 how to determine right from wrong, how do you think you will get away 304 00:26:22.450 --> 00:26:27.769 from God, who judges all things? It's a very bold passage. He 305 00:26:27.849 --> 00:26:32.880 says no one gets a pass and and then he goes on to through various 306 00:26:32.880 --> 00:26:41.359 arguments, condemned both Jews and gentiles equal opportunity condemn and it's because, not 307 00:26:41.519 --> 00:26:47.150 because he's in the mean spirited, but it's because the law of God, 308 00:26:47.470 --> 00:26:52.230 he says, applies to us all, all of us all of us are 309 00:26:52.269 --> 00:26:59.509 under obligation to obey him and all of us don't. That's the hard and 310 00:26:59.630 --> 00:27:03.019 bold truth that he says, and because of that we all come under the 311 00:27:03.059 --> 00:27:08.500 righteous judgment of God. It's a big and bold surprise in Chapter Three Twenty 312 00:27:08.539 --> 00:27:18.009 one, when he says, when he says that the righteousness of God has 313 00:27:18.049 --> 00:27:26.450 been manifested apart from the law. He says no one is righteous, no, 314 00:27:26.769 --> 00:27:32.440 not one, but a righteousness is available to us through the righteousness of 315 00:27:32.559 --> 00:27:37.319 God. Everyone is running around in the world trying to do these works of 316 00:27:37.359 --> 00:27:42.599 righteousness or not. Either way, he says, you're condemned. Either way, 317 00:27:42.759 --> 00:27:47.990 it's game over for you, because the righteousness of the law can't justify 318 00:27:48.150 --> 00:27:52.950 you. It's impossible. Well, now what? How can I stand before 319 00:27:52.950 --> 00:27:59.339 God as a innocent person? Then? How can I have righteousness in life? 320 00:27:59.779 --> 00:28:04.099 And he says in Verse Twenty One righteous but now right, the righteousness 321 00:28:04.140 --> 00:28:11.660 of God has been manifested apart from the law, the righteousness of God. 322 00:28:12.089 --> 00:28:18.210 He just drives through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe, or skipping 323 00:28:18.289 --> 00:28:22.730 two, verse six of Chapter Five, for while we were still weak, 324 00:28:22.730 --> 00:28:32.160 at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. Now to chapter eight, 325 00:28:32.240 --> 00:28:37.759 verse one, on the structure of this argument, on the real historical 326 00:28:38.119 --> 00:28:44.990 reality of our fallen nature, of our inability to see, to do anything 327 00:28:45.029 --> 00:28:48.230 that's right, to think things that are right, to feel that are as 328 00:28:48.390 --> 00:28:52.470 things that are right, are constant exchanging the glory of God for the glory 329 00:28:52.509 --> 00:28:56.980 of the things that he have been made and then being saved out of all 330 00:28:57.059 --> 00:29:03.420 of that through Jesus. Here's what he says in Chapter Eight. If you 331 00:29:03.579 --> 00:29:07.380 have been saved in Jesus, if you have received a righteousness that is apart 332 00:29:07.420 --> 00:29:12.569 from the law and is from God, then there is therefore now no condemnation 333 00:29:14.009 --> 00:29:17.849 for those who are in Christ Jesus. That is amazing. That is an 334 00:29:17.890 --> 00:29:22.690 extremely bold thing to say, that wicked, sinful people can stand before a 335 00:29:22.890 --> 00:29:32.000 perfectly holy, righteous God and have no condemnation, that you, with all 336 00:29:32.119 --> 00:29:36.200 of your sins and all of your filth and all of that, the Yuckiness 337 00:29:36.319 --> 00:29:41.589 that you despise and you hate, the things that drag you down and pollute 338 00:29:41.670 --> 00:29:48.190 you, that you can go and stand before a holy God and know that 339 00:29:48.309 --> 00:29:56.220 you won't be condemned. How is that possible? Because we're not righteous in 340 00:29:56.339 --> 00:30:02.859 ourselves, because God forgives our sins, washes all of that away and gives 341 00:30:02.859 --> 00:30:06.740 us a righteousness in Jesus Christ, so that, therefore, there is now 342 00:30:06.779 --> 00:30:14.650 no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. He says many, many 343 00:30:14.690 --> 00:30:18.849 wonderful things, and I think some of the boldest things come out at the 344 00:30:18.890 --> 00:30:23.039 end of the chapter when he says, what shall we say to these things? 345 00:30:23.119 --> 00:30:29.160 He's he sounds, I don't know, at a loss for words in 346 00:30:29.279 --> 00:30:33.400 a way. In light of all of this goodness and all of this grace, 347 00:30:33.519 --> 00:30:36.829 in this wonderfully rich salvation that God has given us, what do we 348 00:30:36.990 --> 00:30:41.069 say? Well, how about this? He asks a bunch of questions as 349 00:30:41.109 --> 00:30:45.309 a way to sort of express his lack of words but at the same time 350 00:30:45.349 --> 00:30:52.900 try to get at it, he says. And hear this Christians, if 351 00:30:52.019 --> 00:30:59.500 God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not 352 00:30:59.779 --> 00:31:04.049 spare his own son but gave him for us all? How will it not 353 00:31:04.089 --> 00:31:08.690 also, how will he not also, with him graciously give us all things? 354 00:31:10.890 --> 00:31:15.809 Who shall bring any charge against God'll let God's elect. It's God who 355 00:31:15.890 --> 00:31:19.720 justifies. Who is to coop condemned? Christ Jesus is the one who died. 356 00:31:21.000 --> 00:31:23.400 More than that who was raised, who is at the right hand of 357 00:31:23.480 --> 00:31:27.920 God and is interceding for us? WHO shall separate us from the love of 358 00:31:29.039 --> 00:31:37.710 Christ? Shall Tribulation, no or distress, no persecution, famine or nakedness, 359 00:31:37.750 --> 00:31:41.549 or danger or sword, as it is written? For Your Sake, 360 00:31:41.630 --> 00:31:45.710 we are being killed all the day long. We are regarded as sheep to 361 00:31:45.750 --> 00:31:51.619 be slaughtered. No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors 362 00:31:52.259 --> 00:31:57.740 through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor 363 00:31:57.900 --> 00:32:01.930 life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, 364 00:32:02.329 --> 00:32:06.410 nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all 365 00:32:06.490 --> 00:32:12.329 creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ, 366 00:32:12.410 --> 00:32:23.279 Jesus, Our Lord. Who doesn't want to hear that reminder? Speak 367 00:32:23.839 --> 00:32:30.109 boldly to us, Oh spirit of God, condemn our sins and bring us 368 00:32:30.150 --> 00:32:36.829 to life in Jesus Christ. What more could we ask for? Indeed, 369 00:32:36.869 --> 00:32:43.470 it's all things to receive that doubt. For the sake of time, I 370 00:32:43.589 --> 00:32:47.099 think I have to stop here, but I want you to continue reading, 371 00:32:47.539 --> 00:32:55.940 rereading through these places. Paul speaks strongly, boldly about the ingrafting of the 372 00:32:57.059 --> 00:33:01.809 gentiles, the place of Love in the body of Christ. But we need 373 00:33:01.930 --> 00:33:07.769 to move on, if for the moment. Finally, this third point. 374 00:33:07.849 --> 00:33:12.369 How do we hear these things? First, we praise God for the work 375 00:33:12.450 --> 00:33:15.640 that he's already done, the goodness and knowledge that we have. We repent 376 00:33:15.880 --> 00:33:21.599 and for what we are lacking and go to him and seek him and in 377 00:33:21.799 --> 00:33:24.599 that spirit we don't put ourselves above reminders. No, instead, we praise 378 00:33:24.680 --> 00:33:30.109 God for them, we accept them, we receive them for the Gospel, 379 00:33:30.630 --> 00:33:36.069 that is the power of God into salvation. But it's not just a hearing. 380 00:33:36.230 --> 00:33:42.579 Remember, it has to be applied and it's applied in faith. These 381 00:33:42.859 --> 00:33:47.259 doctrines, if we hear them, can never just sort of float around up 382 00:33:47.299 --> 00:33:53.380 here in a kind of mental abstraction. How could they be that? They're 383 00:33:53.460 --> 00:33:58.930 historical. First of all, they're things that have happened in history. Jesus 384 00:33:58.970 --> 00:34:05.690 Christ is not an abstraction. He's the incarnate born of God, born of 385 00:34:06.049 --> 00:34:13.400 Man, of woman, person. He touched people, people touched him. 386 00:34:13.519 --> 00:34:17.119 That's not abstract, it's not a philosophy, it's not an ideology, it's 387 00:34:17.199 --> 00:34:24.309 Jesus, and so we know him. But of course that continues to be 388 00:34:24.469 --> 00:34:30.110 true. His Holy Spirit who comes into his our lives and changes us. 389 00:34:30.630 --> 00:34:37.269 Doctrine is never meant to be a skeleton of ideas, devoid of life, 390 00:34:37.230 --> 00:34:44.139 propped up in some sort of scientists study of theologian to be examined and learned 391 00:34:44.219 --> 00:34:49.780 and diagrammed simply to publish another book. There I did it added to more 392 00:34:49.860 --> 00:34:55.010 to my Sev that's not the point. But it doesn't make doctrine irrelevant. 393 00:34:55.090 --> 00:34:59.489 Is it irrelevant? There is that, there is there now for no condemnation 394 00:34:59.650 --> 00:35:01.929 for you in Christ Jesus. Is that irrelevant? Is that not make a 395 00:35:02.050 --> 00:35:07.719 difference? Of course not. The structure, the skeleton or the outline of 396 00:35:07.800 --> 00:35:13.159 the doctrines and theology that we are given, the structure of faith is to 397 00:35:13.199 --> 00:35:16.840 be in each of us, holding us up, being made vital by the 398 00:35:16.960 --> 00:35:22.070 spirit working in us. And it's in this body and in the body of 399 00:35:22.190 --> 00:35:27.710 Christ in which we live, we work, we serve, and this is 400 00:35:27.789 --> 00:35:32.750 why Paul connects his theology directly to mission. I have reminded you these things 401 00:35:32.869 --> 00:35:36.980 again. We're back in, or at least I should be back in, 402 00:35:37.059 --> 00:35:44.300 Chapter Fifteen. I've reminded you these things because of the grace given to me 403 00:35:44.380 --> 00:35:49.219 by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus, to the gentiles in the 404 00:35:49.340 --> 00:35:53.570 Priestly Service of the Gospel of God, so that the offering of the gentiles 405 00:35:53.650 --> 00:36:00.289 may be acceptable and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. For Paul Individually, as 406 00:36:00.329 --> 00:36:06.039 an apostle, he sees himself as a preacher, he sees himself as an 407 00:36:06.079 --> 00:36:09.559 apostle assent one, one who is to go out into the world and tell 408 00:36:09.760 --> 00:36:15.599 people about this so that sot not so that they might write an interesting book, 409 00:36:16.679 --> 00:36:22.750 but so that they can be offered to God, made acceptable by the 410 00:36:22.909 --> 00:36:31.110 spirit, for their salvation and for God's praise in glory. Knowledge is connected 411 00:36:31.190 --> 00:36:35.739 with Paul's identity, with who he is, with what he does. The 412 00:36:35.900 --> 00:36:39.219 Gospel is borne out in every part of his life. It's borne out in 413 00:36:39.300 --> 00:36:43.940 the history of the world, it's borne out in our personal history. Is 414 00:36:43.980 --> 00:36:47.449 As the Gospel has gone out to us and as we have believed and as 415 00:36:47.530 --> 00:36:52.449 we have believed and have been sanctified by the spirit, the Gospel should be 416 00:36:52.489 --> 00:36:58.250 at work within us as well, changing us, sanctifying us, making us 417 00:36:58.289 --> 00:37:06.119 more and more like Jesus. So this is the great theme and purpose of 418 00:37:06.199 --> 00:37:10.400 Romans. This is what Paul has been speaking boldly about and reminding and developing 419 00:37:13.119 --> 00:37:21.750 to teach us that through faith in Jesus Christ, Jews and gentiles become a 420 00:37:21.869 --> 00:37:34.059 part of something almost inexpressible. Freedom, life, salvation, hope, love 421 00:37:35.619 --> 00:37:45.570 joy. We join the body of Christ, the great family of God. 422 00:37:46.289 --> 00:37:51.489 Through Jesus Christ, when we trust in him, when we believe in him, 423 00:37:51.530 --> 00:37:57.329 we become part of the great saving work of God. We become his 424 00:37:57.530 --> 00:38:01.559 children, through whom and to whom the spirit itself testifies to us that we 425 00:38:01.719 --> 00:38:08.519 belong to him. This ought to make a great difference in our lives. 426 00:38:10.119 --> 00:38:16.429 If this work is in us, we will desire these things. The spirit 427 00:38:16.469 --> 00:38:21.949 of God is at work among us. He is at work in our church. 428 00:38:23.230 --> 00:38:30.659 There is goodness here and knowledge and joy and peace and hope and loving 429 00:38:30.860 --> 00:38:40.889 service and unity purity. We're not perfect. We struggle, we have big 430 00:38:42.050 --> 00:38:47.929 struggles, huge challenges, but we know that the Gospel is the power of 431 00:38:49.329 --> 00:38:53.610 God, and so we hear it and we are reminded of it again and 432 00:38:53.769 --> 00:39:00.719 again and again, to our great joy. The Gospel is that Jesus Christ 433 00:39:00.920 --> 00:39:07.239 came into the world to save sinners like us, and he saved us while 434 00:39:07.280 --> 00:39:12.630 we were yet ungodly, while we were still sinners. He died for us 435 00:39:12.670 --> 00:39:16.110 so that we could be forgiven and so that the very spirit of God could 436 00:39:16.110 --> 00:39:23.860 draw us close to him to give us perfect life and eternal life. So 437 00:39:24.059 --> 00:39:30.699 how do we respond to Romans? We hear it and believe it. We 438 00:39:30.780 --> 00:39:35.019 apply it to our own lives. We think about where we stand into real 439 00:39:35.139 --> 00:39:38.530 in relation to God. We praise him for the work that's in us and 440 00:39:38.690 --> 00:39:45.489 we look to Jesus to continue that work. We confess God's generosity and His 441 00:39:45.650 --> 00:39:51.130 grace and our sin and we confess our sinfulness and in Christ, each and 442 00:39:51.250 --> 00:39:55.679 every day we draw closer and closer to Him who is crucified and raised for 443 00:39:55.840 --> 00:40:04.000 us. Praise God for his word. May he bless it to us. 444 00:40:05.800 --> 00:40:06.199 I'm in