Romans Chapter 1 Verse 2 - Proving the Gospel is Real

Notes from a message preached by Dr J Stewart Gillespie on: Romans Chapter 1 Verse 2 - Proving the Gospel is Real 'If its new its not true and if its true its not new' How authentic is this message? Did it come from man? Did it come from God? The authenticity of the Gospel. verse 1 - The Man verse 2 - The Message Hardly a more important question than this - is it real? Reasons the Gospel is Real: Personal Experience (v1) – Paul – Servant, Sent One and Separated The Promise (v2) - The Gospel lies (not very well) hidden in OT promises The Person (v3) - The Lord Jesus Christ is real The Power (v4) - The power of His resurrection is real The Product (v5) - The results are real The gospel is not real because I have a perfect understanding of it in all things! I use a computer but I don't understand how a microprocessor works but I believe it works, I go to Spain in a plane, don't really understand aerodynamics but believe the plane will take me there! Personal Experience (v1) First word we are presented with in this book about the gospel is a new name for an old man! Acts 9 – Sauls Complete Conversion from: Destroyer (9:21) to Disciple (9:19) Persecutor (9:4) to Preacher (9:20) Taking Christians out of the synagogue (9:2) to putting Christians into the synagogue (9:20) Darkness to light Foe to Friend Hunter (9:1-2) to hunted (9:23) Saul had to experience the gospel before he expounded or explained the gospel! It took the greatest work of God in the Chief of sinners (1Tim1:15), a murderer, a blasphemer and persecutor of the body of Christ, for the greatest exposition of the gospel to be written! Lets not miss the basics in our exposition of the book of Romans: this message changes lives! This much is evident in the first word of this epistle! Saul felt the gospel before he telt the gospel! We must know the power of Christ in our life before we will have a passion for Him! Paul was an example of the gospel before he was an expounder of the gospel! “servant” - “δοῦλος” - a slave First mention of “δοῦλος” in the NT: “Mat 8:9 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.” Here is the priniciple of the “δοῦλος” - a slave: “do this and he doeth it” Do we think that the apostle Paul suffered floggings, imprisonment, stoning and ship wreck because he enjoyed that kind of thing? Because it was convenient? Because he didn't have anything better to do? Because he wasn't otherwise busy that night? Because he didn't have a better offer? As God would take us and change us, knock off the rough edges, soften our hearts, take away lust and give us lust, take away resentments and give us rejoicing, turn bitterness into sweetness, move us from grudges to grace, give us victory over our addictions, and in place of fear fill us with faith. Then men can say what they will about the Gospel of Jesus Christ but this one thing they must face: that it is real and that it works! The Promise (v2) This message was promised As Paul begins to preach this message he will draw it all from the OT scriptures This path of salvation is nothing new! The gospel does not just go back to the 1st Century AD, goes way back beyond that: Psalm 19 – Creation Psalm 19 – Conscience of Sin Psalm 19:12 – Cleansing from sin Psalm 20 – Sacrifice (20:3) Psalm 20 + 21 – Salvation (20:5; 21:1,5) Psalm 22 – Christ and the Cross The ABC of salvation has not changed: A – Awareness of God – Creation B – Burden of Sin – Conscience and the Law C – Christ, Cleansing and the Cross of Calvary Can add D, E, F, G D – Decision E – Evidence (Rom5) F – Fight (Rom 6,7,8) G – Glory (Rom 8) The gospel does not just go back to the 1st Century AD, goes way back beyond that: Sin: The Law (2:21) Thou shalt not steal (2:21) Thou shalt not commit adultery (2:22) Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image (2:22) Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. (2:24) All of this is very ancient, extending back to the days of Moses: Exodus 20 and Deut 5. Nothing that the Gospel has to say about sin is new! The Psalms "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one" Rom 3:10 - Ps14:1-3 + Ps 53:1-3 "Their throat [is] an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps [is] under their lips" (Rom3:13) - Psalm 5:9 "There is no fear of God before their eyes" (Rom3:18) - Psalm 36:1. The teaching here on sin is nothing new God has not changed His mind about sin We can trace back this teaching on sin to: Moses and the 10 commandments David and the Psalms Salvation: The second section of Romans is on the great subject of salvation (3:21ff) Look how this section begins: "Being witnessed by the law and the prophets" How did men get to God in the Old Testament? Paul takes 3 examples: The Priest The Patriarch (Abraham) The Psalmist (David) The Priest The holiest man (or at least he ought to have been) in the nation Separated to the service of God Separated from birth Underwent elaborate rituals of cleansing and consecration Dressed in special white linen At times some had been known to give their lives in the service of the Lord eg. Zechariah the son of Jehoida in 2 Chron 24:20. Yet when it came to approaching near to the presence of God in the temple or tabernacle how did the priest get into the presence of God? On the basis of who he was? On the basis of his birth? On the basis of his elaborate religious ritual? No - the priest draws near on the basis of shed blood! The language of 3:25 is drawn from the OT language of the priesthood. "Whom God hath set forth [to be] a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God" (3:25) " ἱλαστήριον" - propitiation: 'mercy seat' The priest could only draw near to God because blood had been sprinkled on top of the law! The priest needed mercy like any other man needed mercy! Mercy came by shed blood! Not that the blood of an animal could placate a righteous and Holy God but the Priest had to come with "faith in...blood" The Priest had to trust that the Lord would accept the blood and allow him access into His presence! This is as it is with Christ: "through faith in His blood" (3:25) Not only was this the way of the Priest but it was also the: The Patriarch - Abraham (Rom4:3) "Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness" (Rom4:3) Faith was "reckoned" it was "credited" to him as "righteousness" Abraham did not gain favour with God He was given favour with God. Abraham did not know how Gods purposes and plans would be worked out in Christ but he trusted God that they would be! This verse has implications for the question as to what about those who never heard the gospel? If this message is so important how come we only have heard about it in the last 2000 years? There were those who were saved who rested in the fact that God would one day bring His salvation to pass, they did not know precisely of what that salvation consisted but they trusted Him to bring it to pass. The Psalmist Rom4:7 and Psalm 32:1,2 Bring these all together David states it negatively, God does not impute sin (4:8), God deals with sin (4:7) Abraham states it positively (4:3) Priest presents it practically - brought in by faith in His blood The Person (v3-4) Here is the subject of the Gospel: the person and work of Christ! We note here: Humanity of Christ (v3) Consider the prophecies of His humanity: Isa 7:14 Consider the specific prophecies that Christ would come through the family of Jesse (Isa11:1) and from the seed of David in particular: Ps132:11,12; 2 Sam 7:12-13, 16; Isa11:1; Ezek 34:23; 36:24ff; 37:24ff. Deity of Christ (v4) Consider the prophecies of His Deity: Isa 7:14; 40:1; Ps110; Ps2:7,12. The Power (v4) “Spirit of Holiness” Christ is separated from the rest, separated from sinners, from the dead! He is different! One unique man in history! The usual natural laws were broken, biological principles reversed, for this to have happened God as the author and sustainer of these laws must have been involved! He is therefore: “declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead” Christ is: The Son of God who came by Promise (v2) The Son of God declared by Power (v4) “And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. (1Co 15:17)” The apostles preached “Christ and the resurrection” (Acts 2:31) The Gospel is not a collection of ideas, a philosophy, a set of dogmas it is the power of God unto Salvation (Rom1:16)! By His Power the Christian life comences (Rom1:6,16) and by His resurrection power the Christian life continues (Rom8:1ff) “δύναμις” - “power” - 120 X in the NT and 7 X in Romans The Product of it (v6-7) Outline of Romans: Sin : Why do we need the Gospel: answered in chps 1 to3 – Sin and Condemnation: The Rotten Sinner (chp1) The (self) Righteous Sinner (chp2) and The Religious Sinner (chp2+3) Salvation : What is the gospel, What did Christ actually do (chps3-5)? - Propitiation. How do I receive salvation (chp 4+5) – justification by faith. What are the products of salvation? The 4 'Rs' – Righteousness (5:1) Reconciliation (5:2,10), Rejoicing (5:2,17) and Regeneration (5:12-21). Struggle : Chapter 6 to 8 – Living the Christian Life – death to the old life (chps 6+7) and new life in Christ (chp 8). It is a struggle! This pattern seems a bit familiar? You could have written this yourself? When God saves us, for the first time in our life He gives us the liberty and ability to chose! We've never actually had that before. The extent to which we chose to be yielded to Christ and to His Spirit is the extent to which I enjoy victory, and His peace, presence and joy. If I allow the passions of the flesh to dictate my paths and my priorities, I will live a life of spiritual failure, misery and sorrow and disappointment. Life is a struggle? Do you think nominal Christians have a struggle? Do you think unregenerate men and women have a great spiritual struggle in their life? Take courage Christian, a struggle means there is a battle going one for the Spirits victory over the flesh! When it stops being a struggle you are either home in heaven or you've just back slidden! Spirit : The Solution : Chapter 8 – how we gain the victory in Christ Sovereign Purpose - Chapters 9 to 11 – Election! Dealing with serious objections to the Gospel! There are some silly objections you meet over the years: 'you don't believe that a man could be raised from the dead?' or 'You don't actually believe that water could be turned into wine?' - well yes I do believe that God can raise the dead and turn water into wine! There are some serious objections and problems: 'If God is so great and the Gospel is so obviously true why doesn't everyone believe?' (9:6). 'If God does save some and reject others is God fair?' (9:14) 'If this gospel is so important as you say it is then why hasn't everyone heard it and what about those who have never heard the gospel?' (chp9 &10) 'So you believe in a God who created the universe, a thousand million stars in a thousand million galaxies and He's interested in YOU! Aye right, get a grip, get real!' - answered in chapter 9! Sacrifice and Sanctification: (Chps 12-16) The Struggle and the Spirit Dieing and living in newness of life https://graceinchrist.org/romans