A PROBLEM YOU CAN’T SOLVE YOURSELF
We cannot meet God’s standard on our own! If we compare ourselves to many people, we can come off looking pretty good. We can always find those that make us come out on top. But how do we fare when God sets the standards? We know that God’s standard of perfect righteous is the only one that matters. Regardless of how good we might think we are, we fall short of His standard. The Bible makes this clear, but it also makes the solution clear. For the next few weeks (except for 12/22), we will use Romans as our study guide. Paul wrote Romans to a group of believers he hoped to meet in the near future. Paul laid out the focus and passion of his ministry: the gospel of Christ, as his introduction to the church in Rome. The Book of Romans should be described as the most complete doctrine of salvation and Paul began by showing that all of us are in need of this salvation.
Read Romans 1:16-17
It is believed that Paul wrote Romans from Corinth toward the end of his third missionary journey. He had not yet visited Rome but had plans to do so on a future missionary journey. Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome to advise them regarding personal issues that threatened to divide and was carried to Rome by Phoebe. Paul’s powerful declaration of salvation by grace through faith alone in Christ became the source of Martin Luther’s spiritual awakening and the spark that ignited the Protestant Reformation.
Verse 16 begins with “I am not ashamed of the gospel”. Some have thought this to be just a figure of speech or a way of saying “I am proud” of the gospel. However, there was growing evidence that some were ashamed of the gospel. Rome was the cultural and political center of the world at this time. Many in Rome were well-educated in religion and philosophy. The simple gospel would doubtless be subjected to ridicule by many prideful Roman citizens. This is a big reason why many so called “elitist” today ridicule Christians. Paul had many scars to prove that preaching the gospel meant risking your life. Some probably remained silent or denied the truth of the gospel because of fear of persecution, but not Paul. Paul had learned that the gospel remains controversial, and believers should be prepared to defend and suffer if necessary to declare the truth. The more secular and biblically intolerant our nation becomes, the more courage Christians will require to declare the gospel.
What is the gospel that Paul was so eager to preach in Rome? Already in his opening remarks he had introduced two important features of the gospel¨1) It is fulfillment of God’s promises through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures (1:2); 2) It centers in the person of Jesus Christ, God’s Son and our risen Lord (1:3-4). Here Paul added another feature: The gospel “is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (v.16). So what is the gospel able to accomplish? The answer is salvation, a concept that lies at the heart of God’s purpose for His people, both in the Old and New Testaments.
Verse 16 contains the first of only five occurrences of the word translated “salvation” in Romans (10:1, 10; 11:11; 13:11. Although the word is found sparingly, the three major aspects of salvation (justification, sanctification, and glorification) are the primary focus of Romans. The gospel is God’s power for salvation but it will only be effective “to everyone who believes”. But it was first offered to the Jews because they were God’s special people for more than 2,000 years, ever since God chose Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3) and Jews were better prepared for God’s grace. God’s message of love and forgiveness was then offered to the Gentiles equally. Paul was clear that salvation was for all through faith.
Read Romans 2:5-11
In Romans 1:18-32, Paul pronounced a scathing rebuke of humanity and listed, many of the sins that demonstrated universal depravity. In chapter 2, Paul focused on those who believed they were exceptions to the need of salvation- the moral and religious. These types of people remain today some of the most difficult people to win to Christ. Religious Jews and moral Gentiles agreed with Paul’s condemnation of sinful perversions but failed to see their own need to receive God’s righteousness by faith. Paul attributed that failure to a “hardness” and “unrepentant heart”. So Paul warns that they were only “storing up wrath” for themselves. The “day of wrath” was forewarned in the Old Testament (Job 21:30; Ps. 2:5; Isa. 13:13; Dan. 8:19; Zeph. 1:15) and renewed in John the Baptist’s preaching (Matt. 3:7). On this day, God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. Whom would you describe as righteous- their characteristics? (Only those who believes and it cannot be earned! While works do not save, you will know a righteous person by their “fruit”.)
Although God does not usually punish us immediately for unrepentant sin, His eventual judgment is certain. We can’t know exactly when it will happen, but we know that no one will escape that final encounter with the Creator. John 12:48 and Revelation 20:11-15 tells much more about this coming judgment. Paul says that those who patiently and persistently do God’s will – will find eternal life. He is not contracting his previous statement that salvation comes by faith alone (1:16-17). We are not saved by good deeds, but when we commit our life to God, we want to please Him and do His will. As such, our good deeds are a grateful response to what God has done, not a prerequisite to earning His favor. No one will be justified in His sight by works (Romans 3:20). They will seek “glory, honor, and immortality by going good”. This where the Christians judgment comes- for more consistently doing God’s Will! Their acts are not in a quest for salvation but are the result of salvation (Eph. 2:10). They believed the truth of the gospel, acknowledged their need for salvation, trusted Jesus as Savior, and demonstrated their new life through their obedience (Jas. 2:18). Their reward is “glory, honor, and peace” at the final judgment.
Read Romans 3:9-12
Why is it so tempting to compare our goodness with goodness of others? (It is human nature to compare things and people.) The translation of Romans 3:9 remains uncertain. The problem centers in the meaning of the verb rendered as “Are we…any better off”? The same form is capable of the meaning “Are we… at any disadvantage?” (RSV). Thus we can’t be sure whether Paul asked about a supposed Jewish advantage or disadvantage, though their advantage seems more likely. However, Paul forcefully tells us that immoral Gentiles (1:18-32) and religious Jews (2:1-5) were all under sin. While one may appear worse than the other from human judgment, but in God’s eyes all were guilty and deserved wrath. Because of sin- there is no one righteous (which means “no one is innocent”) only God can make one “righteous” (forgive them from sin).
To support Paul’s charge, Paul strung together several Old Testament passages, much after the rabbinical pattern ( in verses 1-18*, taken from Psalm 14:13 (which is Rom. 3:10-12); Psalm 5:9; 140:3 (v.3); Psalm 10:7 (v. 14); Isaiah 59:7-8 (vv. 15-17) and Psalm 39:1 (v. 18). These verses state the cause for all of the disastrous effects which were so visible in Paul’s day- and our own. Psalm 14 was a logical choice for Paul, beginning with a condemnation of the fool who says there is no God (Ps. 14:1). Paul dealt with similar attitudes in Romans 1:18 and the following verse. He not only had in mind the atheist but the idolater who rejects the true God for a false one (Rom. 1:22-23).
Think about verses 1-12 and think about to whom do they apply. At some point, we all can see ourselves in them. Every person is valuable in God’s eyes because God created us in His image, and He loves us. But no one is good enough (that is, no one can earn right standing with God). Though we are valuable, we have fallen into sin. But God, through Jesus His Son, has redeemed us and offers to forgive us if we turn to Him in faith.
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