Grace OPC Sewickley PA

Sermon Series: Romans

  • The Righteousness of God Is Revealed

    The Righteousness of God Is Revealed

    About this sermon

    Paul is eager to preach the gospel in Rome because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. The wrath of God is also revealed against all who suppress the truth and exchange the glory of God for idols. God declares sinners righteous through faith in Christ, who was raised for their justification, so believers are not ashamed of the gospel and keep proclaiming it.

    More sermons from Romans · Browse all sermons

    Sermon transcript

    We come now to the reading of God’s Holy Word as we open our Bibles together to Romans 1. Romans 1, we’ll begin reading at verse 15 through the end of the chapter. Give your attention, for this is the Word of God. Romans 1, verse 15. So for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

    For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith as it is written. But the righteous man shall live by faith.

    For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them. For God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes, his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen being understood through what has been made so that they are without excuse.

    For even though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Therefore, God gave them over to the lust of their hearts to impurity. so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason, God gave them over to degrading passions. For their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural.

    And in the same way, also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind to do those things which are not proper. Being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, they are gossips. slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful inventors of evil, disobedient to parents without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful. And although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

    Thus far, the reading of God’s inspired word. Let’s pray once again. Father, we do ask now that this word of truth, this word of the holy apostle written for our instruction, would be the word that occupies our mind, our heart, our attention for this next hour. Oh, God, that we would be devoted to it all of our lives and that we would act in accordance with it. May you write it upon our hearts even. And may you bless not only the reading, but the preaching of your word and the hearing of it together today. that we might grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that you might be glorified by it and through it. We pray these things together now in the name of Jesus, giving thanks. Amen.

    The Apostle Paul was resolute in his desire to preach the gospel in Rome. In verses 16 and 17 of our text, he gives the reason for this determination. He says, for I am not ashamed of the gospel. That might sound like a strange way to begin, but remember, Paul’s, remember how Paul understands this world’s contempt for the gospel. I’m thinking of his words in first Corinthians one verses 18 to 24, where he says, for the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.

    But to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. For indeed, the Jews ask for signs and Greek search for wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified to Jews, a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness. But to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Consider, then, the fact that Rome, as the very seat of the famous world empire, was the very epitome of worldly wisdom and power.

    And Paul wanted to go there to preach the gospel. In that light, consider the weight of Paul’s statement, I am not ashamed of the gospel. As John Murray says, the emotion of shame with reference to the gospel when confronted with the pretensions of human wisdom and power, betrays unbelief in the truth of the gospel. And the absence of shame is the proof of faith.” That’s a quote from John Murray.

    Cross-referencing there the gospel of Mark, chapter 8 and verse 38. Hear what Jesus says about being ashamed of the gospel. Jesus says in Mark 8, 38, For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man also will be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. That’s Mark 8, 38, the quote from Jesus.

    And then think of Paul’s own words in 2 Timothy 1, 8-12. where Paul writes to his beloved protege and son in the faith, Timothy, saying, Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me, his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity. but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher.

    For this reason, I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day. You will find that there is a continuous and progressive unfolding of reasons in our text this morning that tell us why the Apostle Paul is not ashamed. The Apostle Paul tells us first why he is ready to preach the gospel at Rome. He says he is not ashamed of the gospel. Then he tells us why he is not ashamed of the gospel, for he says it is the power of God unto salvation. And then finally, he tells us why it is the power of God unto salvation. For there in the righteousness of God is revealed, he says. When we read this, the power of God unto salvation. What is the power of God unto salvation?

    The subject of that clause is undoubtedly the gospel. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. The gospel is the message. It is, of course, always a message proclaimed. But the gospel itself is the message. We must not, therefore, overlook the simple but profoundly important proposition that the message of the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. God saves through the message of the gospel. And the implication is that God’s power, as it is operative unto salvation, is through the gospel and through the gospel alone. It is the gospel that is God’s power unto salvation.

    The message is God’s word and the word of God is living and powerful, sharper than any two edged sword. It is the power of God. The power of God is the power that belongs to God and therefore the power characterized by those qualities that are specifically divine. In order to express the thought rightly, we should have to say the omnipotence, the all powerful nature of God.

    And consequently, the meaning is no less than this, that the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ is the omnipotence of God operative under salvation and salvation will have to be understood both negatively and positively. And what I mean by that is that salvation as salvation is from sin and death, but salvation is also unto righteousness and life. There is a positive and a negative from something negatively, but also positively unto something righteousness and life.

    Such is the message of salvation revealed and developed in this epistle of Romans. To this, we add, after just a couple of sermons in Romans, that we’ve only just begun to explore this message, though we’ve heard it many times in the past. We’re going to hear it again in the course of our studies and bear We are going to hear it afresh. We’ve only just begun to hear and understand that wonderful message.

    The power of God under salvation, of which the gospel is the embodiment, is not universally operative under salvation. It’s not every man, woman, and child will be saved. Paul has already made us aware of this in the words of verse 16 when he says, it is the power of God under salvation, quote, to everyone who believes. This informs us that salvation is not accomplished irrespective of faith. Hence, the salvation with which Paul is going to deal in this epistle has no reality, no validity, no meaning apart from faith.

    And here we are already prepared for the emphasis which is placed upon faith throughout the whole of the epistle. The concept of salvation developed in this epistle of Romans, therefore, is the power of God operative under salvation through faith. It is this salvation that is proclaimed in the gospel and the gospel as message is the embodiment of this power. We must not discount the emphasis that the gospel is unto salvation to everyone who believes.

    This is directly germane to the character of the gospel. and also to the meaning of faith. There is no discrimination arising from race or culture, and there is no obstacle arising from the degradations of sin. Wherever there is faith, there the omnipotence of God is operative under salvation. This is a law with no exceptions. Wherever there is faith, there the omnipotence of God is operative under salvation.

    To the Jew first and also to the Greek, Paul says, Since Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles, and since the church in Rome was comprised predominantly of Gentiles, it is the more significant that he should have intimated so expressly the priority of the Jew as he does here.

    But it was the divine purpose in the economy that the gospel should have been preached first of all to the Jew, not merely in terms of time, But rather, the implication seems to be that the power of God unto salvation has primary relevance to the Jew, which arises from the fact that the Jews have been chosen by God in the Old Testament economy of things and chosen to be the recipient of the promise of the gospel. And that to the Jew were committed and add to that to the Jew were committed the oracles of God. Salvation, after all, was of the Jews. The lines of preparation for the full revelation of the gospel were laid in Old Testament Israel, and for that reason the gospel is preeminently the gospel for the Jew, but not for the Jew only, but for the Gentiles also. Salvation is for the Gentile who worships the idol, thinking himself to be wise, And the salvation of the gospel is for the Jew who hides himself behind the law, thinking himself better than others. So also the gospel is for the world, a world condemned to sin and death from the beginning. These are those whom Jesus came to save, sinners under the curse of death.

    And this is the miracle of God’s grace and power made manifest in the existence of the community of believers. the work of the Son of God, the fruit of his death and his resurrection. And in gathering of believers from every nation, tribe and tongue, God revealed his righteousness through the mission of Jesus Christ. How magnificent and powerful is his work in salvation?

    I would ask you to lay verses 17 and 18 of our text side by side in parallel to each other. and read them in parallel to one another. In verse 17, we read that in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. But then look also in verse 18, where we read that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.

    In this context, then, we see clearly that when the apostle says the righteousness of God is revealed, He means that in the gospel, the righteousness of God is actively and dynamically brought to bear upon man’s sinful situation, upon man’s unrighteousness. It is not merely that it is made known as to his character, to human apprehension, that we learn that God is righteous, but that the righteousness of God is made manifest in its saving efficacy, saving men from sin and death. That is why the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. The righteousness of God is redemptively active for the salvation of men in the sphere of human sin, the sphere of human unrighteousness in the sphere of man’s ruin and death. The righteousness in view that is revealed in the gospel is one that is brought to bear upon us unto salvation.

    While it is true that God’s attribute of justice cannot be violated in the salvation which we enjoy, yet it is not merely the attribute of justice that affects our salvation. Of itself, justice, after all, would seal our damnation, wouldn’t it? Hence, the righteousness of God in view here must be something other or something more than merely the attribute of justice. Justification is the theme of this epistle of Romans. And in these verses, the apostle is giving us an introductory summary of his leading thesis, justification by grace through faith.

    The righteousness of God is therefore the righteousness of God that is unto our justification. The righteousness, which Paul will call later on in chapter five, verse 17, the gift of righteousness. We’re again in chapter five, verse 18, one act of righteousness. And again in chapter five, verse 19, what Paul will call the righteousness of God, the obedience of the one referring, of course, to Jesus Christ, the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel from faith to faith.

    And the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth and unrighteousness. The Creator God has made himself known, and we, beloved, belong to that God, and to him we must give an account. You cannot escape him. He is everywhere present. Where the word of Jesus is, God’s righteousness becomes evident, because that is where faith arises. For where the word of Jesus is not, there is not the absence of God, but rather wrath becomes effective. where Jesus’ word is not being preached, because that is where all kinds of godlessness and injustice are to be found, where the word of God, where the word of Jesus is not being preached.

    This is what Paul demonstrated in religion, what he demonstrates happens in man’s body, what has happened in human society. I’m thinking of the remainder of chapter one of the book of Romans that we’ve read here this morning. This righteousness of God coming to bear where there is not faith, where there is sinfulness in men, shows itself in the destruction of men’s bodies. It shows itself in the destruction of religion. It shows itself in the destruction of human society. Look at verses 21 to 23, verse 24 of our text, verse 26, verse 28, the righteousness of God over against the sinfulness of man produces devastating effects, doesn’t it? God’s presence, he’s not absent, God’s presence becomes very, very much evident in God’s resistance to sinful humanity. We see that in scripture, don’t we? We see it in history. The individual experiences the work of God in terms of the execution of God’s justice. a justice that causes man to perish in things such as Noah’s flood. Consider Sodom and Gomorrah.

    This is what lends the offer of salvation its profound meaning. Before God, salvation is required for the individual. But how can he save himself before God? Salvation before God is available only from God. Even when Paul pondered human guilt and danger, He did not allow for what might be called synergistic notions, that is, somehow man might cooperate or contribute to his own salvation. Even in his sinning, the individual is not left to his own devices and in isolation. In his fall and its resultant corruption, he experiences God’s verdict against him.

    But only those who do not know God harbor the notion that it is the individual who changes God’s mind and who terminates God’s wrath by means of his own merits and his own good works. No, it is not God who must be made anew. Instead, God himself makes something new.

    And the new act of God that liberates men from the revelation of God’s wrath is the revelation of God’s righteousness in Christ Jesus. Help has come to the one who has God against him at the point when God’s righteousness declares him righteous by grace through faith. As we shall see in the course of our study of Romans, of course, justification is an act of God’s free grace, wherein he pardon us all our sins and accept the thoughts as righteous in his sight only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us. and received by faith, by faith alone.

    Beloved, today is the day of salvation. Today the gospel is being preached. Even so, while the saving work is yet being proclaimed on the earth by Christ-appointed messengers, there remains those persons, perhaps even among us here today, who have not accepted the message and even yet stand under the wrath of God revealed from heaven.

    There is no protection against it. Naturally, that is, according to the fallen human sinful nature of man, humans continue to cause the shame and misery on account of which they experience the wrath of God in their own bodies, in their families, and in their other spheres of life. And to feel the pangs of censure and judgment even from those entrusted by God in this world with authority in the civil and in the ecclesiastical spheres, Every person, Paul will tell us in Romans, is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Romans 13 verse 1. Therefore, whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God.

    Even so, just as life comes from God alone, so also the judgment that brings about death is God’s work. the one who will be coming from heaven, Jesus Christ will complete that work. But today it is he, that is, Jesus Christ, who offers the righteousness of God unto salvation to everyone who believes. Who will accept his offer? It is He, Christ Jesus, who calls you. It is He, Christ Jesus, who lived the perfectly righteous life. It is He, Christ Jesus, who offered Himself as the perfectly righteous, sacrificial death in your place. It is He, Christ Jesus, the righteous One, who rose victorious from the grave on the third day, and who ascended to heaven for your justification.

    Do you believe this? From faith to faith, I pray you do. Amen. Let’s pray together. Father, we recognize that in the gospel and the good news of Jesus Christ, therein is revealed the righteousness of God from faith to faith, that we would receive that good news that Christ has done for us what we could not do for ourselves, that he has saved us by his life, his death and resurrection, and that we who were dead in our trespasses and sins might in him be made alive. May we believe the good news. May we teach others to believe the good news also. May we not grow weary of preaching the good news. And may we not be ashamed of the gospel, for it is indeed the power of God unto salvation to them who believe. Our Father, thank you for this good news. Bless it through us even here today. For we pray these things together, giving thanks in Jesus’ name. Amen. I would ask you to join in singing with me, if you would, hymn number 58.

    The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.

  • Not Ashamed of the Gospel

    Not Ashamed of the Gospel

    About this sermon

    Romans opens with Paul’s longest greeting, introducing himself as a servant of Christ Jesus set apart for the gospel of God, promised beforehand in the Holy Scriptures. That gospel concerns God’s Son, descended from David and declared to be the Son of God in power by his resurrection. Paul is not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

    More sermons from Romans · Browse all sermons

    Sermon transcript

    word as we open our Bibles to the book of Romans and there we’re going to begin with chapter 1 verse 1 Romans chapter 1 read verses 1 through 17 give your attention for this is the inspired Word of God Paul a bondservant of Christ Jesus, called as 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 born of a descendant of David, according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for his name’s sake, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ. To all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

    First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world. For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of his Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you, always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last, by the will of God, I may succeed in coming to you.

    For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you that you may be established. That is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine. I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that often I have planned to come to you and have been prevented so far, so that I may obtain some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles. I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith as it is written, but the righteous man shall live. by faith. Thus far, the reading of God’s inspired word.

    Let’s pray together briefly, shall we? Father, we do ask that this particular portion of scripture, the Romans, would be a blessing to us tonight and in the days and weeks to come. Our Father, we do ask that you would bless the one who stands before the congregation, having read and now is about to preach the word of God. We pray that you would grant the power and grace of the Holy Spirit as that word would go forth with power, converting the hearts and the minds of your people here assembled, building us up in true and saving faith, and that your name would be exalted as the good news of your salvation revealed in Christ Jesus would be pronounced and accepted by the people of God. Our Father, guide us in all that we do and say here tonight. Prepare us for service in your kingdom. that we might obey the good news, the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. For we pray together, giving thanks in his holy name. Amen. We embark this evening on what we propose, Lord willing, will be a series of sermons on Paul’s epistle to the Romans.

    Having just concluded our work, which has taken us through 1st and 2nd Corinthians, we recall there Paul’s determination revealed in 2nd Corinthians in particular, his determination to make a third visit to Corinth. This must have been an intense period in Paul’s spiritual life. In 2 Corinthians, as he wrote that epistle, he had been constrained to deal forthrightly with intense opposition from pseudo apostles who had appeared in Corinth and who had called into question Paul’s very status as an apostle. In time, Paul did make his way to Corinth. Indeed, it was from there, the city of Corinth, that Paul wrote to the Christians gathered in Rome, the epistle of Romans, which is before us.

    From Corinth does this letter go out, a letter in which he expresses his intent to embark upon a new area of ministry. His work in the Eastern Mediterranean was almost finished, and he greatly desired to visit the Roman church. At this time, however, he could not go to Rome, so he sent a letter there instead, intending to visit Rome while en route on a mission to Spain. This letter serves as a theological introduction to that hoped-for personal ministry among this people.

    As Paul makes clear from the opening of the letter, his message to the church at Rome is nothing more than a proclamation of the scriptures, scriptures that have been fulfilled in the incarnate, crucified, and risen Christ. The roughly 60 citations of the Old Testament that we find in Romans said to be more numerous and concentrated here than in perhaps in any of Paul’s other letters. Such 60 references are only a portion of the biblical witness upon which this letter rests. Much of the apostles appeal to scripture here in this letter appears in the form of allusions. The incarnate, crucified, and risen Christ is indeed the center and the end of Scripture. Paul’s interpretation of Scripture arises from that very confession that Christ is the center and end of Holy Scripture.

    Paul begins this epistle with a salutation, as he often does in writing a letter. But notice that the salutation of this epistle is longer and more detailed than that of any other of Paul’s letters. In fact, his salutation leaves us almost breathless. It can be read as one run-on sentence, those first six or seven verses. And I’m going to offer that to you, his salutation.

    He begins identifying himself as Paul, a bondservant of Christ Jesus, called as 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 born of a descendant of David, according to the flesh, who was declared the son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the spirit of holiness.

    Jesus Christ, our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for his name’s sake, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ. According to the salutation, this is he who wrote this letter, identifying himself as he does. And he wrote this letter to whom? To all who are beloved of God in Rome, he says, called as saints, to which he addresses grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

    What did the Roman Christians have to expect from Paul? namely this, Paul belongs to Jesus, and as Jesus’ bondservant, Paul does what Jesus has ordered him to do. As Christ’s bondservant, charged with representing Christ, the work Paul was commanded to do was to speak the message of God.

    The authority to speak and act in the name of Jesus was given him through his very calling as an apostle. Because Jesus brought himself brought the message of God that proclaims salvation. It is the task of his servant and messenger, the apostle Paul, to communicate God’s message to humanity. This is the task for which Paul is set apart, rendering him distinct from all others and in which he engages with all his might. This is who Paul is, and this is what Paul does. God’s story, God’s redemptive work in Christ Jesus in history, is Paul’s story, so he says.

    Called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God. That is, set apart for the ministry of the gospel, the good news. We think of all of the rich and diversified gifts of Paul’s heritage in which he could claim descendancy from Israel while also maintaining Roman citizenship, you remember, and yet he could refer to himself in some ways as a Greek also. And all of those aspects of his heritage and upbringing were foreordained by God with a view to his apostolic service. particularly fit for the work which is at hand.

    Consider Jesus’ own words in Acts chapter 9 verses 15 and 16 addressed to Ananias concerning Paul being set apart for ministry. For he, that is Saul, Paul, is a chosen instrument of mine to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for my name’s sake.

    The gospel of God spoken here by Paul is nothing less than God’s own joyful proclamation of the victory and the exaltation of his son, whom he has seated upon the throne of heavenly Mount Zion, far above all rule and authority, and to whom has been given a name, a name that is above every other name, as all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him, Christ Jesus.

    The good news of the gospel is the salvation which men may now enjoy through faith in Christ, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Paul’s life, in other words, is completely dedicated to declaring the good news. Paul elaborates on the meaning and the content of the gospel in verses 2 through 4 of our text, saying that the gospel is that which God 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 in power according to the spirit of holiness by His resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. Here Paul indicates first that the gospel was something promised in the Old Testament.

    It was not something completely unrelated to what had gone on before. He makes plain that the gospel concerns Jesus Christ. This Jesus was descended from David and is indeed the long-awaited Messiah, the Christ. He was declared to be the Son of God in power.

    What Paul is claiming is that the pre-existent Son of God, who entered into human history and experience as the promised Messiah, was appointed on the basis of the resurrection to a new and more powerful position in relation to the world. Paul is referring here to Christ’s exaltation, His exaltation to the right hand of God.

    Following Paul’s salutation and reading, Paul expresses thanksgiving for the church at Rome and his desire to visit them. He declares here that he is eager to preach the gospel in Rome, and then explains why. For he says, For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation, to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, but the righteous man shall live by faith. The gospel, the good news concerning Jesus Christ, which to the world appears weak and foolish, is the manifestation indeed of the power of God directed towards the salvation of mankind. This gospel reveals the righteousness of God.

    Paul’s salutation in Romans may be detailed, it may indeed be very intense. But let us by no means miss the point. Just as Paul’s life is defined by the gospel of God revealed in Jesus Christ, this inspired word which Paul has written would have the Christians in Rome, indeed would have Christians everywhere, and that includes you and me. This inspired word we read tonight would have you understand and have you understand very clearly that your life too is defined by the gospel of God.

    The prophetic message of salvation has now been accomplished in and through the Messianic Son of David, Jesus Christ our Lord. Just as Paul was called, we remember he was called as an apostle, look at verse 1, So now He, as Christ’s Apostle and Messenger, writes to you all who are beloved of God, look at verse 7, called, as Paul was called, so you are called as saints, by divine vocation, by divine calling, summoned by God to be His holy people, to be set apart for Himself, Paul insists upon designating Gentile believers along with their Jewish brothers as God’s holy people, saints by calling. So as your pastor, I greet you who believe week by week in our salutation and worship. I address you as God’s holy people, called to be saints, and extend to you God’s holy blessing, His grace, and His peace. I ask you to look with me at verse 7 of our text. Addressing God’s Holy One, Paul writes those wonderfully familiar words that we are so familiar with, where he writes, Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. These are not empty words, beloved.

    The grace of God is his free love and unmerited favor to men such as you and me. Favor shown us and imparted through the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace and peace. The peace of God is the well-being which God’s people enjoy through His grace. These things are yours through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Indeed, this is the gospel. This is the good news of God.

    The term which Paul uses to address the church in Rome and address us as those beloved of God points, does it not, to the intimacy, the tenderness of the love, the love of God the Father, the embrace of his people in the bosom of his own affection. It is the consciousness of this bond of love that binds the apostle to the saints at Rome, Jews and Gentiles alike, children of God, loved of God, beloved of God. It is the consciousness of this bond of the love of the Father that binds you too to God and which binds you also to one another as the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, the body of Christ. Be sure you are saints, God’s holy people, only by God’s grace and His effectual call through the gospel and the power of the Spirit of holiness, that is, by the power of the Holy Spirit Himself, by whom you too have been raised from death to life in Christ Jesus.

    Praise be to God. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. to the Jew first, and also to the Greek, and to you also, beloved of God. And so I remind you, God’s story is your story. This is who you are. This is what you do. Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, and now living in you, to will and to do His good pleasure.

    Beloved of God, called to be saints. Amen. Let’s pray together. Father, we pray thanking you for the good news, the good news of the gospel. And we would not be ashamed of the gospel. Indeed, we would be identified by it as those who have been born again and joined to Jesus Christ, the very son of God, the son of David, revealed as Messiah and King for the redemption of his people. And we would be counted among that people, O Father, as we have been called to be holy ones, saints set apart for Jesus glory. We ask, dear God, that you would fill us with your spirit, fill us with the knowledge of the gospel. For indeed, we would live and move and have our being in that one who so loved us and gave himself for us.

    Help us to hear the word rightly here tonight imprinted deeply upon our hearts and minds as we seek more and more to glorify the God of our salvation, as we rejoice together in the gospel, the good news of God. the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray together, giving thanks for those things we have read and heard read here tonight. For your glory, we pray it, giving thanks. Amen. I would ask you to join with me then in singing hymn number 133, for a thousand tongues to sing. you

    The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.