The mp3 of this talk can be downloaded from the Bethany City Church website here 

Why do an overview of Romans?

1. At Bethany City Church we are starting a new series looking at Romans 8, under the series title ‘Living by the Spirit’. In order for us to do this with any sense of confidence that we are plumbing the depths of the chapter we need to understand Ch 8 in the context of the rest of the book. It is a little like watching an episode of the TV series ‘Heroes’, or ‘Lost’ without having seen the rest of the series. It makes far more sense and we will see the glory of chapter 8 if we know where it fits in the bigger plot.
2. The Letter to the Romans has been called ‘the Jewel of the NT’. It is a book that is rich in content, in theology, in what it tells us about Jesus and about what it tells us about us. Without Romans we would not understand in quite the same way why the gospel is so important for us and how it declares the glory of God. As Paul explains to us in more detail the meaning of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, we see why we are the way we are. And if we let it, it will transform us!
3. Dealing with the whole book in 1 sermon might seem like a crazy thing to do (people have spent 13 years preaching through Romans week by week). However, in order to see the big picture, an overview has valuable lessons for us.

 

So where do we start?

Well, let’s start in first century Rome – the heart of the Roman Empire and the centre of civilization in its day. Paul writes to a vibrant Christian community in Rome, less than a lifetime before the Romans themselves started building ‘Hadrian’s wall’ to prevent raids into Britain by the Pictish tribes of the North.

 

Conversations in Rome

As Paul and his scribe Tertius (16v22) wrote this letter, in Rome itself you might have hear Christians having these kinds of conversation.

If you had walked into a café in the large Gentile quarter of Rome in AD56, you might have heard Christians sharing with one another stories of a faith that was genuine, vibrant and strong. But you might also have picked up stories of tension between these Gentiles and their Jewish brothers. You might have got the impression that these Gentiles viewed their Gentile neighbours with more than a little suspicion, even with arrogance. You might have heard mutterings about the Jews having an old fashioned faith, or about most of them not really following God anyway. You would hear conversations about what happened when they last got together as a church and one of the Jewish old boys was preaching… again. And what he was saying was offensive to the Gentiles. Telling them that they really ought to get themselves circumcised and follow the law.

However, if you had walked into a café in the small Jewish Quarter of Rome you might have heard different conversations going on. Again, you might have heard Christians - converted Jews, sharing stories of a genuine and real faith with one another, but you might also hear grumblings and moaning about the ‘liberal’ lifestyles of some of those Gentile believers. You might have heard complaints of people who seem to have no regard for living in a way which honours God, and seem to have no regard for the fact that the Jews were the promised people of God and those Gentiles are lucky to know God at all.

 

In other words, you would have met Christians who had a genuine and real and growing faith, but had some fundamental issues that they still need to sort out.

•  Jews looking down on Gentiles because of their heritage.
• Gentiles looking down on Jews because the gospel has been rejected by the Jews, but is being accepted by the Gentiles.
• They are judging one another – ( for example, on what they eat and drink (Ch14-15))

 

So Paul takes the opportunity to write them a short note – well, a 16 chapter letter ,with some of the most profound theology and instruction ever written.

He seems to have three reasons for writing.

 

1. Paul addresses a mixed (Jewish and Gentile) audience on some of the issues we have already highlighted. (15v14-16)
2. Paul wants to visit Spain (where the gospel has not yet gone) and is therefore seeking support from the church in Rome. (15v23-24)
3. He does both of the above by explaining again exactly what the gospel is.

 

So, after a brief overview of the background, by way of introduction, lets get down to the message of Romans itself.

 

The message of Romans

• The gospel is being right with God - 1v1-17

Throughout the book of Romans, and particularly in the first half (up to the end of Ch 9) one word comes up time and time again. It is translated in 4 different ways, and it is really what this book is about, because it is what the gospel is about. The word is righteous, (or righteousness, just, or justification.) The origin of the word is the same however it is translated, and for us to understand this letter we need to understand this phrase.

 

‘I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” Romans 1v16-17

 

To be righteous is to be right with God because we are like him. God is totally perfect and consistent in his character. He only does what is good perfect and ‘right’. As a direct result of this aspect of his character he can and will only associate with those who are like him – who are perfect, good and right. To do otherwise would be to change his character and make him less holy and perfect. But God is righteous.

We understand something of this absolute aspect of God’s character by reflecting on our own law of the land. Our legal system only works because its standards are absolute and maintained. If we started to say we can bend the laws to fit our own particular bents and desires to break the law then we would actually be lowering standards and therefore affecting who we are as a nation.

To be right with God, we need to be like him, because he is not going to change.

The issues the Jews and Gentiles in Rome disagree over and the issues that very often Christians today struggle over are just these issues. How can I be right with God? By obeying a list of laws, by saying or doing the right things, by praying enough or getting dreams or visions.

No. Paul makes clear in the seminal verse in the letter ‘The righteous will live by faith.’ (1v17)

 

The Paul goes on to explain why.

• The problem - getting to grips with the depths of sin! - 1v18-3v20

Having defined his purpose he goes on to paint a grim picture of the depths of the problem. It is much deeper than we might think.

Imagine your life is a boat that has collided with another boat and sunk. Morally, Paul says, our lives are a ship wreck – but it is not just a matter of bailing out the bad things and our lives with right themselves. Our boats have sunk and our problem is much deeper that we might think.

Sin affects everyone. Both the Jews (who have broken God’s law) and the Gentiles (who show that they know something of God’s character on their hearts, but don’t even keep that) are affected by the ship wreck of sin.

 

But the real problem with sin is this –

‘All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.’ 2v12-13

 

The real problem with sin is that God is angry about it and will do something about it. He will punish sin. Which means every Jew and Gentile in Rome, and each of us are in trouble and face death (punishment) because of our shipwrecked lives.

In fact, knowing the law actually does just one thing – it exposes sin. It is powerless to change us, but rather just shows us where we fail!

 

• The solution – put your faith in Jesus (and nothing else!) - 3v21-8v39

In Ch 3:21-8v39 we find the central message of Romans.

If we are all shipwrecked and sunk by sin, face punishment and death as a result of our sin and the law is powerless to help us and make us right with God, then how can we have any hope?

 

‘But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he left the sins committed beforehand unpunished…’ 3v21-25

 

This is amazing. The doctrine of Justification by faith is not a dusty, dull and grey doctrine that should scare us into submission. It is a means of life, and light and hope. It is glorious truth that sets the universe alight with songs of praise to God from those whose hearts have been set alight.

Righteousness comes through believing that when Jesus died on the cross, he died to (v25 NLT) ‘take the punishment for your sins.’

This of course leaves us no place for boasting, for pride, arrogance or judgmentalism.

 

‘…there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.’ (5v30)

 

OK so far? If so, here is a question.

What about those people who lived before Jesus, in the OT? Without the death of Christ to rescue them, they were right with God if they lived in a God honouring way – right?

‘Well’, Paul says, ‘let’s look at perhaps the greatest hero in the OT. Abraham.’

Ch4 is Paul’s answer to this question. He stretches back to the story of Abraham. Abraham had no children and was old – very old. Yet God made him a promise, and he believed it.

 

‘Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he promised. This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” 4v20-22

 

Abraham, the Father of the Jews was made righteous by doing what? By believing God!

And this was before he became a Jew (was circumcised) which means he is an example (or Father) not just to the Jews, but to everyone.

In fact read on in Romans 4

 

‘The words “it was credited to him” were not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness – for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.’ 4v23-24.

 

Paul wants to make the message clear in chapter 4. Righteousness requires one thing, and one thing alone. Faith in Jesus!

 

This truth should make a huge difference to our lives. We often think, ‘now I am a Christian, I must try to live like God’. But Paul cries No!

Rather, Ch5 tells us that now you are a Christian, you are like God (righteous) and if you believe the gospel, you will become more like him.

 

‘For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.’ 5v17

 

Paul says we now ‘reign in life’ or ‘Live in triumph over sin’ (NLT). The reason the message of Jesus is so good is because, not only is it the power to be saved, it is the power to be changed! Not only are we made righteous, we become the righteousness of God!

 

At this point we would do well to stop, reflect and give thanks. The gospel is God, and is glorious!

 

Any Questions?

In chapters 6-7, Paul addresses questions that Ch 1-5 may have raised. They are an aside from the main flow of the argument of Romans, but helpfully answer any misunderstandings raised so far.

 

He answers 4 questions which are stated in 6v1, 6v15, 7v7, 7v13. They are questions prompted by Christian experience.

 

So firstly (6v1), if we are saved entirely by God’s grace, should we continue to sin so that God’s grace may be seen to be more glorious?

By no means, because when we died with Christ we were raised with him in order to walk in newness of life. We are now mastered by the master of life – Christ himself! We cannot sin because we have been made new, and have newness of life. Therefore we are to actively consider and treat ourselves as the people we are (v11-12). Treat your bodies as instruments of righteousness.

 

Secondly (6v15), having died with Christ we have died to sin and to the law which means we are no longer under the law. Therefore, surely it makes sense that it no longer matters if we sin because we are not under law but grace?

By no means, because we are slaves, but no longer slaves to sin and death. We were slaves to sin that leads to death, but we are now slaves to obedience that leads to righteousness. We cannot be slaves to two masters. We are the slave of one or the other. Paul makes clear in 6v18-19, we have become slaves of righteousness, slaves of God (v22) and the fruit of this is sanctification and eternal life. In Ch7v1-6 he makes the same picture, but using the image of a husband. We are married to only one husband, the question is, which one? We are either married to law which leads to sin and therefore death, or married to grace. If we are married to grace, then we have life in the spirit and are under the new code which leads to righteousness and eternal life.

 

Thirdly (7v7), so is the law itself sin?

No, the law exposes sin. We wouldn’t have known what sin was, were it not for the law. But the law itself increases our sin because sin itself ‘seizes the opportunity’ that the law creates by pointing out sin and therefore produces all sorts of sinful covetous desires in me. The more I see what sin is, the more I want to sin!

Without the law, sin lies dead (v8) but as soon as the law comes, the very law that promised life created by providing more opportunities for me to sin.

And this of course leads to the obvious 4^th question.

 

Did the law therefore turn out to be a bad thing because is brought death to me?

No! It is sin in me that took what is good to produce death in me

And this is the ongoing experience of the Christian. Sin, taking the law, producing sin. ‘I do what I don’t want to do.’

This exposes sin within me, and the battle between law and sin, and the law of God which I delight in.

 

Which leads us to Ch8.

 

In Ch 8, Paul returns to the flow of his argument - and reaches the climax of what he is saying.

What does it mean to live in triumph over sin through the gospel of Jesus?

Ch 8 tells us as both in terms of this present life, and the life to come.

• We live with no condemnation, we live by the Spirit.
• We have been set free,
• We live as children of the Father
• We live longing for heaven
• And nothing can stand against it.

Ch 8 is a glorious chapter – so for we are going to spend 8 weeks looking through it one step at a time. Don’t miss out – find the audio for these talks here.

 

Chapters 9-16

• The promise – grace has always been the solution

In 9v1-11v31 Paul makes clear that to get excited about Mission we need to get excited about the gospel (the gospel is about being right with God!)!

 

 

• The Spirit – so now we learn to reign in life

In 12v1-15v13 we find that getting excited about being right with God will mean we reign in life(life of the Spirit!)!

 

• The plan – God’s work goes on!

And finally, in 15v14-16v27 Paul expands on his plans and God’s work in calling people to repentance through calling people to proclaim the good news.

 

So, what now?

How do we respond to the message of Romans? Of course, asking that question means how do we respond to the gospel?

In two ways -

Put your trust in Jesus Christ, his death and resurrection and believe that there is now no condemnation for those who trust in Christ! This is the glorious truth of Romans, the Christian life, and what it means that the ‘righteous will live by faith’!