"The Gospel of Christ" Romans 1:1–15

The first reading is from Romans 1, 1-15.

For the sake of his name among all nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints,

grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you,

because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.

For God is my witness, whom I serve with his spirit, the gospel of his Son,

that without ceasing I mention you, always in my prayers,

asking that somehow, by God's will, I may now at last succeed in coming to you.

For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you,

that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine.

I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you,

but thus far have been prevented,

in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles.

I am under obligations both to Greeks and to barbarians,

both to the wise and to the foolish,

for I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

In May 1738,

a 30-year-old man walked into a Christian meeting at Aldersgate, London,

and upon hearing the message, he put his faith in Christ.

And what makes this story remarkable

isn't that a young man came to faith,

although that's remarkable,

be remarkable these days, absolutely.

But it's that this 30-year-old man was an Anglican minister

for some 10 years before he walked into this meeting.

Not only that, he was Oxford-trained,

and he even spent time in the New World

being a chaplain for the British colony in Georgia.

This young man was a religious man,

yet to his own testimony,

his heart was cold towards the things of God.

So on that night,

in 1738,

the Reverend John Wesley heard

Martin Luther's preface to St. Paul's epistle to the Romans,

this very thing,

many of us are holding in our hands,

and his heart was warmed.

And he wrote about this encounter in his journal,

and this is what he said,

quote,

About a quarter before nine,

while he was describing the change

which God works in the heart through faith in Christ,

I felt my heart strangely warmed.

I felt I did trust in Christ,

Christ alone for salvation,

and an assurance was given me

that he had taken away my sins,

even mine.

And save me from the law of sin and death,

end quote.

You know,

all scripture we say in this church

is God's word written,

it is breathed out by God,

yet Romans

holds a very unique place in the canon

and in many of our lives.

John Wesley,

whom I just read this story,

had his heart strangely warmed

towards the Lord

through the reading

and explaining

of Paul's letter to the epistle.

St. Augustine as well,

if you're familiar with his confessions,

he will talk about

hearing this voice,

say,

pick up and read,

and what he ends up reading

is a portion from Romans.

I know somebody close to me

that it was their experience as well,

hearing the gospel

explained by St. Paul

in Romans

that opened up their eyes

to the fact that they were truly saved.

Maybe it's the case for some of you

this morning.

All of God's

scriptures,

all of scripture is God's word written,

yet Romans

is really a remarkable book.

And as we turn to it

over these next few weeks

leading up to Easter,

we'll take a break from it.

We'll jump back into it in September.

Our goal is to hit the entire book

probably in three to four sections

over the next couple years.

But as we get into this,

we're going to see what the gospel is all about.

We're going to see how the gospel

is the very means

by which God draws people to himself,

that it is the only way

by which men and women can be saved.

And it isn't

just a nice set

of intellectual propositions

that we ascend to,

but it is

the only good,

true good news

that can truly fulfill the human heart.

So we're going to turn our attention

this morning

to this opening greeting

in Romans chapter 1,

Romans 1:1–15

verses 1 to 15,

and we'll see the centrality

of the gospel.

And we're going to keep things

very simple,

and we're going to look at

the author,

the message,

and then the implications

of the gospel.

The author,

the message,

the implications.

A bit of a background

before we jump into it.

So Romans was written around,

the historians and theologians,

figure about 57 AD,

AD 57,

by the Apostle Paul.

In terms of the biblical timeline,

if you're familiar

with the narrative in Acts,

we were in Acts

not too long ago,

but this would be

almost certainly

during Paul's

third missionary journey.

He's held up in Corinth

for a number of months,

and we believe that

that's when he wrote this,

this letter to this church in Rome.

Regarding the geopolitical situation,

interestingly,

it was written not long

after Claudius' expulsion

of the Jews from Rome.

That happened around AD 41.

It lasted to about AD 54.

And this is significant for us.

Not so much this morning,

although we'll see it,

its significance

throughout the weeks to come.

But here's why it's significant.

The church in Rome

almost certainly

was a mixed group

of Jews and non-Jews.

Jews and Greeks

and barbarians,

we'll see barbarians

as a term simply

to refer to Gentiles

who aren't Greeks.

So it's a mixed church,

and it would seem

that there was a number

of Jewish people

coming to faith in Jesus,

and it caused frustration

and alarm

amongst the non-believing

Jewish population.

So much so

that Claudius

expelled all of the Jews

from Rome.

So what ends up happening

is the church continues

to grow,

but it has lost

its understanding

and its connection

to its Jewish roots.

So, again,

this is just for background.

We're not going to get

into it this morning,

but we'll see that

Paul's going to address

a lot of these questions.

The church in Rome

would have had

about 10 years,

maybe longer,

devoid of Jewish believers.

So how would this

once mixed church respond

when some Jewish believers

return?

Again, maybe two to three years

after the expulsion

edict is lifted.

How would this tension

be navigated theologically?

Is it enough

to just have Jesus

completely separated

from the Hebrew scriptures

and the Hebrew patriarchs

and the Hebrew prophets

and the Hebrew people?

Do they still have a place?

Paul will answer this

throughout the letter,

but again,

we won't touch on it today.

So,

Paul has yet to meet

this Roman church.

He's long desired

to see them

as we'll read

in verse 13.

So he introduces himself

to them,

not unlike other letters,

but in a more expansive way

and in doing so,

he reveals not only

his identity

and bona fides,

so to speak,

but also provides

a very succinct

yet incredibly dense

explainer of the gospel.

Okay?

So that's a bit of the background

going into the letter.

We're just gonna look

at our first point,

who this author is,

who St. Paul is,

verse one.

Paul,

a servant of Jesus,

of Christ Jesus,

called to be an apostle,

set apart for the gospel

of God.

This will be a short point,

I think it's,

though it's very helpful

to draw your attention

to a couple of things.

Notice how Paul leads

with his bona fides.

I guess first consider

what he does not include

in there.

Now later on,

he'll talk about

how he's a Hebrew of Hebrews,

that he's from the tribe

of Benjamin,

he's a Pharisee,

he's knowledgeable,

doesn't mention any of that.

What does he mention

first off?

That he is a servant

of Christ.

He also mentions

that he is an apostle.

And on the surface,

these titles seem

somewhat conflicting.

Why?

Because of the

the disproportionate

separation of status

between a servant

and an apostle.

A servant,

it would be best

to describe it

or translate it

as a bond servant

or a slave.

Now,

just right off the bat,

this isn't the same

as Roman slavery existed.

In fact,

slavery has existed

in almost every culture

throughout time.

Roman slavery

is not the same

as chattel slavery

with the transatlantic

slave trade.

nevertheless,

even though

these Roman slaves

would have had

status

and affluence,

they were

lesser on the hierarchy.

So much so

that a Roman citizen,

it was against the law

for a Roman citizen

to become a slave.

So even though

a slave

in Paul's day,

in the first century,

would have had

somewhat high status,

they were still

pretty much

close to the bottom rung

of the social hierarchy.

So Paul is

a slave of Christ.

Yet on the other hand,

he is

an apostle.

Now the apostles,

at least within

the Christian community,

were held

with the highest esteem.

The apostles

were the ones

who walked

with Jesus,

who interacted

with Jesus

intimately,

who knew

the sound

of his voice

and sat

under his teaching.

Now the apostle Paul

becomes an apostle

not with the 12

and then later

the 11,

but rather

when he is

on his way

to persecute

the church

on the Damascus road

and the risen Lord

Jesus Christ

reveals himself

to Paul

and commissions him

to be an apostle.

Nevertheless,

the apostle

whom Paul

says he is,

I mean,

right up there

with the prophets

of old,

maybe even higher

in terms of

religious status.

So we have

a slave

on one hand

and an apostle

on the other.

And yet Paul

is identifying

himself as both.

Both as a servant

and an apostle

entrusted with the gospel.

I think the big

takeaway from all this

is that

the apostle Paul

is recognizing

and stating

right off the get-go

that his life

is not his own.

He has agency,

he is not

some kind

of automaton.

Nevertheless,

he is in

the service

of a higher power

of a higher king.

The apostle's

life is

no longer

his own.

He has been

commissioned by God

to proclaim

the gospel

specifically

to the Greeks

and to the barbarians.

So,

what is this

gospel of God

that he is set

apart for,

that he is

commissioned

to proclaim?

This gets into

our second point.

This will be

the longest section

that we look into.

It's verses 2 to 7.

But before we get

into the text,

a bit of the term

gospel.

Now,

gospel's a very

churchy word.

We've heard it

if you've come to church,

if you've come to this church

for some time.

It's a very

churchy word

and I've probably

not done the greatest job

explaining it,

rather assuming

that people know

what it is.

Okay?

That's on me

if you're like,

I've been coming

to this church

for a while

and I don't know

what the gospel is.

You know,

come to me,

let me know

so I can apologize

to you about that.

Nevertheless,

it's a word

that a lot of us

take for granted

that we know.

We have it defined

in our minds

or at least

we think we do.

And really,

this is what

the gospel is.

The gospel literally

means a good message.

It's a message

of victory

that in the ancient world,

it's not exclusive

to Christianity,

would be heralded

by a messenger.

So,

if you think about

in the first century

or the centuries

leading up to

the writing

of the epistle,

you think of

a big battle,

the victory is won,

peace is achieved,

and then a herald

will go before the king

city and proclaim

that the king

is coming back,

the victorious king

would be coming back.

This is what

a gospel is.

This is what

the good news

would entail.

Now,

this makes sense

in connection

to what we're

going to look at,

although,

it is not exactly

an apples to apples

comparison.

Jesus truly is,

and what we'll see,

is that he truly is

the victorious king,

but he is not

the victorious king

that unsheathes

the sword

and puts to death

enemies,

but rather

a king that

himself dies

so that he can

conquer sin

and death.

So,

this is what

the good news is

that we will encounter

throughout this letter.

Now,

there's many facets

to it,

and this is going

to be the whole

job and journey

of us

to figure out

as we go through

Romans

over the next

few weeks.

But Paul goes

on to explain

in a very succinct

way in the next

few verses,

outlining five

aspects of this

good news.

This is what it

says,

I'll read verses

one to six,

and then we're

going to jump

right into it

and look at

these five

aspects of the

gospel.

Paul,

a servant

of Christ Jesus,

called to be

an apostle,

set apart for

the gospel

of God,

which he promised

beforehand

through his

prophets in

the holy scriptures

concerning his

son,

who was descended

from David

according to the

flesh,

and was declared

to be the son

of God

and power

according to

the spirit

of holiness

by his

resurrection

from the dead,

Jesus Christ,

our Lord,

through whom

we have received

grace and

apostleship

to bring about

the obedience

of faith for

the sake of

his name

among all

the nations,

including you,

who are called

to belong to

Christ Jesus.

That is a

long sentence.

Let's break it

down.

First,

you'll notice

that the gospel

originates with

God the Father.

We see that at

the end of

verse 1.

It is not a

human invention

by Paul or

another earthly

church leader.

Because it

originates with

God, it

cannot therefore

be a contingency

plan.

What do I mean

by this?

It is not as

though God

created this

beautiful,

perfect world

and then

Adam and

Eve fell,

what we call

original sin,

the fall,

capital F,

and God was

scrambling to

figure out how

to fix it.

As if it

just, you

know, this

catastrophe

presented itself

and caught God

unawares.

Rather, this

has been the

plan of God

from before

all time.

Among God's

many attributes,

and this is

where understanding

some bits of

doctrine help

us to read

scripture better,

among God's

many attributes

that are exclusive

to him, which

means that we

don't share

them with God

in any way,

God is omniscient.

What does that

mean?

God's omniscience

means that he

knows all and

is surprised by

nothing.

All of his plans

and all of his

actions are not

in response to

surprises or

advances that

come upon him.

It means that

what God has

willed has been

willed from

before time.

Now, again,

we take this

mystery by faith

because it's

hard for finite

minds to grasp

an infinite God.

Nevertheless, it's

an important

point.

God is sovereign

in his will.

We do not have

time this morning

to take this

theological detour

into the sovereignty

of God in

relation to human

agency.

prophecy.

We're going to

touch on that in

later weeks in

Romans, especially

when we get to

Romans chapter 9.

Romans 9 · chapter mention

That's when things

get really wonderfully

complicated.

However, I want to

make the point that

God originates, the

gospel originates with

God and is his

planned good news of

victory over sin and

death forever.

Okay, the second

thing that we see in

this short little

opening from the

apostle Paul, that

it is promised good

news.

You'll notice that in

verse 2, that God

promised beforehand

through his prophets

in the Holy

Scriptures.

He's talking about the

Old Testament here.

It is promised good

news.

So this is a new

revelation from God,

something he wanted

to introduce through

Paul or even Jesus

himself.

And yes, the gospel

for sure is fully

revealed in Christ as

we will see here this

morning and in the

weeks to come.

However, the promise

that God would remedy

and redeem the

corruption and decay of

sin and death, it

goes all the way back

to the opening chapters

of the Bible, which

is to say that it is

the promised good news

of God's victory.

We see allusions, we

see symbols, we hear

prophecies.

There are numerous

instances in the Old

Testament that will say

pretty explicitly,

oftentimes implicitly,

that God is not okay

with what he sees with

sin and death and he is

looking to remedy it.

What will it look like?

He gives little clues,

leaves a breadcrumb trail,

so to speak.

But it's not absent from

the Old Testament.

Now, this is very

important for us because

there are other religions

that have come since

Christianity that have

claimed the same thing,

that claim a Genesis

back to, say, Genesis.

But a simple examination

of Scripture shows that

Muhammad would not be the

last and final prophet.

That Joseph Smith, for

instance, he did not

stumble upon a hidden truth.

In fact, so much of the

false religions that have

taken place since

Christianity came about,

they will always tinker

and tamper in some kind

of way with God's

Scripture so that they

either deny it completely

or they find in it

falsely proof that

justifies their religion

and beliefs.

The Gospel is promised

good news, finding its

Genesis in Genesis and

throughout the rest of

the Old Testament.

Thirdly, and most

importantly for us to

truly understand, is that

the Gospel concerns God

the Son.

God the Son.

Here is our first

example of Paul getting

incredibly specific in

Romans, wasting zero ink

about who Jesus is,

what he came to do.

The Gospel concerning the

Son is tied to the

incarnation, right off the

bat, Paul says.

God the Son descended,

taking on human flesh,

descended from the line

of David, yet he remained

fully God.

Not only that, but his

earthly ministry was both

humble and powerful, as

evidenced by his conquering

the greatest foe, death,

and through which he would

die himself and rise again

from the dead.

He defeats death by

death.

And here is where we

begin to see that this

good news is completely

connected to God the Son

being fully man and fully

God.

Not only has Paul cited the

incarnation, he has also

referenced the resurrection,

which is to say that he

has in mind the entirety of

Jesus' life culminating in

the victory over the grave and

his ascension to heaven.

This eternal plan of God,

promised in the scriptures,

carried out by the Son, was

for all humanity.

And this is then the fourth

point that Paul will make.

The scope of this gospel is

for all nations.

Later on in the letter, Paul

will talk about the primacy of

the people of Israel throughout

the Old Testament as God's

chosen people, and how

although they will continue to

have a special place in the

biblical narrative, not least

because the Savior was born a

Jew, but that this gospel

then is expanded and it

becomes good news for all

people.

All have sinned and fallen

short of the glory of God,

Paul will say in Romans

Romans 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3.

So if a human being exists

that has fallen into sin or

has missed the mark or who

has corrupted relationships or

a distorted way of thinking,

whose desires are all askew,

Paul says the gospel is for

you.

It is for you.

The scope of the gospel is for

all people.

All have been corrupted by sin,

which means all have the

inability to fix and redeem

and to become enlightened and

save themselves.

Therefore, all need a Savior and

all are therefore in need of the

gospel.

And then finally, the fifth

point that he makes is the

purpose of the gospel.

The purpose of the gospel to

bring praise and glory to the

one and only true king of all.

And this is expressed in two

ways.

The first is found in verse 6.

It means it's for all who

belong to Christ.

It means that we belong to him.

And again, Paul here is like he

is packing this one sentence

with numerous hyperlinks that

we could click on and explore

and we will explore in the

weeks to come.

But it is to say that through

the Holy Spirit, God is calling

people to himself to a life

under good and godly rule of

the one true God who is king and

lord over all.

It means like the apostle Paul

says in that opening verse that

if you are in Christ, you are no

longer your own.

You have become a new creation

and also a bondservant or a

slave of Christ.

He is your master.

I'll just pause really quickly

here because I don't want to be

mastered by anybody.

Whether you're a Christian or

somebody who is struggling with

the faith or maybe completely

outside of the faith, who wants

to be called a slave?

Who wants to be called somebody

who has a master?

We have moved on from such

uncomfortable statements.

But I think, and the more I

thought about this, the more it

made sense for me, okay, for me.

Maybe for you as well.

But I fashion myself as somebody

who is in charge of my own life.

But I am mastered by many things,

okay?

I am a slave to other things.

The stark reality is that

I am a slave, and maybe you

are as well, to your appetites,

to the pressures of performance

and achievement, to your desires

that aren't evil but terribly

disordered and thus becoming

evil.

You are a slave

to

the thought of

kicking back, putting up your

feet, and just resting as if that

is the pinnacle of your

week.

You are mastered by

things.

You are a slave to

things.

It's an uncomfortable truth, but

be honest with yourself.

Ask yourself, if you truly are in

the driver's seat of your life,

in all respects,

put another way,

we think we are

lords of our lives,

but we

certainly are not.

We think we sit on the throne

of our hearts, but we

certainly are not.

But with Christ,

this

master of all,

this lord of all,

this king of all,

he's perfectly just.

And he is

such a just

master

that he begins to shape

us and form us

so that the disordered parts

of our lives

become more

ordered.

We

begin to rightly

enjoy the things

that are good

that we have

previously

enjoyed a bit

too much

or put too much

emphasis upon.

We

begin to,

in a very

real way,

begin to look like

Christ.

He

shapes us

to conform

to him.

That's the first

way,

in verse 6,

we become

Christ's.

The second

way

that we

give glory

to him

is by

growing in

our fidelity

and obedience

to that king.

So it's not just

that he

makes us

his own,

but he,

again,

like I've

briefly mentioned,

he begins to

fashion us

and conform

us to

look like

him.

He,

the apostle

Paul says this

in verse 5,

through whom

we have

received grace,

that is

the power

and strength,

to bring

about the

obedience of

faith,

that is the

conformity

to that

king.

And he

gives us

the Holy

Spirit,

the very

power that

raised Jesus

from the

dead,

to help us

obey him

and live

under his

good and

beautiful

rule.

Five points

that mark

the gospel,

what the

gospel is all

about.

Not an

exhaustive list,

but certainly

a comprehensive

one for us

this morning.

And in them

we begin to

see that

this gospel

message is

not simply

this proclamation

that there

was a king

that defeated

death long

ago and

we,

it's great,

it's wonderful,

but that

this good

news

is actually

about a

human being

that lived

and died

and rose

again.

So less

about a

news brief

and more

about a

person.

And all

of which is

summed up in

verse 7.

Read with

me,

verse 7.

To all

those in

Rome who

are loved

by God,

called to

be saints,

and then he

says,

grace to you

and peace

from God

our Father

and the

Lord Jesus

Christ.

The love

of God,

it fuels

all of this,

for God

loves us

first,

before we

knew him,

before we

could recognize

our need

for him,

before the

gospel was

ever a

concept that

entered into

our minds.

his completely

undeserved love

for us,

marks us

above all,

for he

calls us,

beckons us

to joyfully

live out this

life.

And that

doesn't mean

a life devoid

of difficulty

or sadness,

but a life

of joy and

fulfillment in

him.

What he does

is that he

makes a sinner

into a saint.

He transforms

the lowly and

broken into

redeemed

children of

God.

God.

And this

is what

grace does

to the

human heart.

It gives

us a peace

that we

so desperately

desire,

yet our

corrupted

hearts are

incapable of

enjoying.

Peace with

God and

peace with

one another

is available

to us

through Christ.

This is

what the

gospel is

according to

Saint Paul.

That gospel

that gives

us grace

and peace

making us

saints

because of

God's love.

And now we

will see the

implications

of that

gospel in

our third

point.

Look with

me at

verses 8

to 11.

Actually,

before we

get into

this,

I'll just

say this.

As is the

case with

this opening

bit,

there's a

lot that we

could draw

from this

next section

looking at

the implications

of the

gospel.

We'll look

at three

implications

of the

gospel.

Now look

with me at

verses 8

to 11.

First,

I thank

my God

through Jesus

Christ for

all of

you.

Because your

faith is

proclaimed in

all the

world,

for God

is my

witness,

whom I

serve with

my spirit

in the

gospel of

his son,

that without

ceasing I

mention you

always in

my prayers,

asking that

somehow by

God's will I

may now at

last succeed

in coming to

you.

For I

long to

see you.

And now we

start to see

that the

apostle,

he's not met

these people,

but he loves

these people.

For I

long to

see you that

I may impart

to you some

spiritual gift

to strengthen

you.

And we'll

pause here.

Again,

much to draw

from these

verses,

but three

brief implications

of the

gospel.

First is that

the gospel

will result

in you

praying more.

The gospel

will make you

prayerful.

And we see

this in verses

8 to 11.

As the gospel

begins to

shape you,

you will

realize your

ongoing need

for God's

grace and

power in

your life.

You'll become

humble.

humble.

And when

people become

humble,

what ends

up happening

is that the

delusional

thoughts and

tendencies begin

to disappear.

What do I

mean by that?

We can be

awfully delusional

about our

ability to fix

ourselves or

the situations

around us.

Such things

are beyond

our ability

to fix,

and yet somehow

we think that

if we only have

this conversation

with this

person,

or we're

able to

tweak this

relationship

or incorporate

this aspect

of a healthy

lifestyle,

then we will

remedy the

problems that

we face.

So,

example for

me.

I had a

difficult

situation a

couple weeks

ago with

somebody close

to me,

and in

my mind,

for hours,

on and off,

throughout the

days,

and I'm not

exaggerating,

I promise

you,

okay?

I'm thinking

about,

I'm conspiring

about how

to fix

this,

okay?

How to say

it in such

a way that

it's going

to be heard,

how to tweak

the situation

with this one

person because

it's eating

me up,

until I

realized,

okay,

that I was

delusional.

And then

realizing that

this situation

is far bigger

than I can

handle,

and then I

realized,

oh wait,

I have a

God that

conquered

death.

Maybe if I

pray to him,

he can help

me.

And maybe he

will,

maybe he

won't in

his timing,

in his way,

that will be

satisfactory to

me,

but clearly

whatever he

decides to do

will be better

than what I

can do in

my own

strength.

And this is

what happens

with the

gospel.

We become

humble,

okay?

I'm not saying

I'm like a

super humble

person.

I'm using it

as an

example,

okay?

But

nevertheless,

we become

humble people

and we

realize that

we can be

awfully delusional.

So,

with the

gospel,

we see our

great need

for God's

grace and

power in

our daily

lives and

we desire

the same

for others.

So what

do we do?

We call

upon the

name of

God

to help.

Second

implication,

the need

for godly

Christian

community.

Read

verse 11

and 12

with me.

We've read

verse 11,

but we'll

read it

again.

For I

long to

see you

that I

may impart

to you

some

spiritual

gift to

strengthen

you.

That is,

that we

may be

mutually

encouraged

by each

other's

faith,

both

yours

and mine.

The

Christian

faith is

a communal

faith.

Often,

the Lord

ministers to

us through

the godly

encouragement

and exhortation

of others.

And it's

even true for

the apostles

themselves.

So listen,

the apostle

Paul comes

to this

church in

Rome.

They are

doing a lot

of good

things well.

He's talked

about how

their faith

is known

across the

Christian

world.

But nevertheless,

there are people

that need

a very long

letter to help

them navigate

some difficult

situations.

And yet,

he says,

listen,

I want to

come here,

I want to

strengthen

you,

but I

need you

to strengthen

me.

What does

the apostle

Paul need

strengthening

for from

them?

And yet,

that's what

he says.

I think

as we pray

and ask

the Lord's

intervention

into our

lives,

we will

find that

it will

come by

the people

sitting around

you in

this room.

In fact,

I would be so

bold to say

that you can't

be a Christian

if you are not

connected to a

local church.

Like,

you can't be.

if there's a

season,

for whatever

reason,

you're not

in church,

you don't

necessarily

cease to be

a Christian,

get back to

church.

I mean,

you guys are

all here,

so I'm not

really speaking

to anybody

who needs

to hear it.

Nevertheless,

to be a

Christian and

completely severed

from the

church is not

to be a

Christian.

Christian.

The third

century church

father,

Cyprian of

Carthage,

says,

and there's

a lot to

this statement,

but I think

it helps us

to understand

this implication

of the gospel

that no one

can have God

for his father

who does not

have the church

for his mother.

Which is to

say,

this is God's

plan for your

growth and

for your

spiritual welfare.

The third

implication of the

gospel,

you will share

the faith,

evangelism,

evangelism will

become a

part of your

life.

Read with me

verses 13 to

the end of our

section to

verse 15.

I do not want

you to be

unaware,

brothers and

sisters,

that I have

often intended

to come to

you,

but thus far

have been

prevented.

In order that

I may reap

some harvest

among you as

well as among

the rest of

the Gentiles,

I am under

obligation both

to Greeks

and to

barbarians,

that is,

non-Greeks,

both to the

wise and to

the foolish,

so I am

eager to preach

the gospel to

you also who

are in.

Rome.

Yes,

the apostle Paul

had a very

unique calling

as an apostle

to proclaim

the gospel to

a portion of

a world that

had never heard

of Jesus Christ

before,

a very unique

calling.

However,

what is not

unique about

the apostle

is his

obligation to

evangelize.

What do I mean

by this?

Verse 14,

it says this,

I am under

obligation both

to Greeks and

to barbarians,

obligation to

preach the

gospel.

I don't like

that,

I don't like

being obliged

to do

anything,

so maybe a

better reading

and some of

the commentaries

I looked at,

they would say

actually there is

a better reading

and that is to

be a debtor,

well that doesn't

help much either

because I don't

want to be in

debt to

anybody.

So what is

the apostle Paul

trying to

communicate to

us?

So I think

it's helpful

to consider

this debtor

language and

we can

understand debt

as two

different things.

The first,

you take a

business loan,

you take a

mortgage,

whatever,

you're in debt

to the bank

until you pay

back every cent

and they're

coming for

that every cent.

The second

way is that

somebody entrusts

you with

some form of

money or an

object for

you to give

to somebody

else.

I don't know

if this happens

too much in

our day but

it would be a

very common

thing in the

ancient world.

You then become

a debtor until

you have handed

over that

message, that

item, that

sum of money

to the person

it was intended

for.

So likewise

with the gospel

we have been

given this

enormous sum

and I think

by the way

it's the second

one that is

very helpful

for us.

So likewise

with the gospel

we have been

given an

enormous sum

freely and

lavishly by

God.

He has given

us salvation.

He has given

us his very

son.

And Paul is

saying here

that it is not

just a prize

or a gift

for us

to hold

and to

cherish

but the

way to

truly cherish

the gospel

to truly

cherish

Christ

is to

continue

sharing him

with others.

It's an

ongoing debt

that we owe

to all whom

the Lord

desires to

call to

himself

that we

are connected

to.

Now

that freaks

you out

it's okay

consider

verse 15

so I am

eager to

preach the

gospel to

you also

who are in

Rome.

Paul is

not saying

listen you

are heavy

laden with

a debt to

evangelize

suck it

up.

He is

communicating

immediately

after that

he is eager

that he is

excited

that he is

joyful

to do so.

Listen to

struggle with

sharing our

faith is a

real thing

but again

circling back

to prayer

and the

community

that you're

a part of

is to

rightly