Romans 1:1-23

We are made right before God.

We are given a righteousness by our faith. The great summary statement for the entire book can be found in chapter 1 verse 16 and 17 where he says, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes. The gospel is good news to this world and in order to truly appreciate the gospel we have to understand some bad news first. Today we continue our countdown of Skip's top 40 messages on the Connect with Skip Heitzig YouTube channel. In the number 20 spot is a message on Romans chapter 1.

In it Skip shares the life transforming hope you can experience by understanding the full weight of the gospel. Before we begin we want to let you know about an opportunity for you to visit the sites where the prophets and kings in the Bible heard from God. You're in for an incredible time as we travel throughout Israel and experience the culture that's so unique to that country. Now I've been to Israel a number of times over the years and I can honestly say that visiting the places where the events of the scriptures unfolded where Jesus lived taught and healed it just never gets old. We'll start on the Mediterranean Sea and head north seeing places like Caesarea and Nazareth, the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River. We'll spend several days in and around Jerusalem and see the Temple Mount, Calvary, the Garden of Gethsemane and the Mount of Olives and much more. This remarkable itinerary is made richer with times of worship, Bible study and lots of fellowship.

The Bible will come alive to you in a way it never has before. I hope you'll join Lenny and me on what is always an unforgettable trip. I can't wait to see you in Israel. This dream can come true for you. Start planning and saving now to tour Israel with Skip Heitzig. Information at inspirationcruises.com slash cabq.

That's inspirationcruises.com slash cabq. Now let's dive into today's teaching. We'll be in Romans chapter one as Skip Heitzig begins the study. You remember that Jesus in the book of Acts told his followers that they would be his witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, in all Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the earth. As far as Jerusalem was concerned Rome was pretty uttermost.

Though it was the center of the world, as far as Jerusalem was concerned it was way far away. But Jesus said you're going to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth. What's interesting about that is at that time Paul the apostle was not a saved man and he would be the one to take the gospel to most of the uttermost parts of the earth at that time.

God will get a hold of him in Acts chapter 9, but when Jesus spoke that promise at the very beginning part of Acts the uttermost parts of the earth had really remained untouched. The gospel was just taking root in Jerusalem, but it was Jesus' intention that it go everywhere and Rome was the center of the world. As far as Rome is concerned it was like a magnet for Paul the apostle. He had always wanted to go there. When we start reading the book of Romans he will express his desire to go to Rome having not been there when this book was written. Now chronologically when we left off in the book of Acts, which was some time ago, but we already saw that Paul does make it to Rome in the 28th chapter of Acts. He gets there.

But when he writes the letter to the Romans it was still a desire in his heart. Wanted to go there. Tried to go there, he mentions, but he couldn't make it.

Something got in the way. You remember, I'm sure, in the book of Acts. Paul the apostle was in the temple in Jerusalem one day. He had gone there. He had taken a vow with four other men, a Nazarite vow.

He had paid the money for the completion of the Nazarite vow in the temple, the shearing of the hair, the sacrifice. And when he was in the temple some of the Jews saw Paul the apostle, recognized him. That's Saul of Tarsus turned Paul the apostle. And since there was an Ephesians, Paul the apostle, since there was an Ephesian in the city that week named Trophimus that the Jews recognized, a very famous Gentile, they made a mistake thinking that Paul had had brought Trophimus into the temple itself. And so a riot broke out and they apprehended Paul.

They wanted to rip him limb from limb. The garrison of the Roman guard got wind of it, apprehended Paul to protect him. And then Paul stood up and gave a testimony before his Jewish brethren, which made them more unglued.

He went into Roman custody again. And while he was in prison that night the Lord gave Paul a promise. He said, Paul don't fear, as you have testified for me in Jerusalem, so you will bear witness of me in Rome also. So it's like yes, I've always wanted to go to Rome and now the Lord has made me a personal promise, I'm going to go to Rome and bear witness of him. Can't wait to go there. I'm already planning my missionary trip.

I've already got the agenda going in my mind. What Paul did not bank on is how he would go to Rome. I'm sure he thought it would be missionary journey number four. He had been on three missionary journeys. He couldn't wait to make number four his trip to Rome. He would make a fourth journey. He would go to Rome, though not as a missionary, but as a Roman prisoner. For he was arrested in Jerusalem, as I mentioned, taken to Caesarea later on. He will spend three years in that city going through successive trials before the governor, Festus Felix, Felix Festus, and then King Agrippa, King Herod Agrippa. He gets accused every time.

They make up accusations every time. He thinks the trial is over. He keeps going through the same rigmarole for three years. Finally, he pulls out a right that is the right of every Roman citizen called Appellatio. Appellatio is the Latin word for to make an appeal. It was the right of any Roman citizen, if he felt his case was not being tried fairly, justly, with equity, to make a personal appeal to have none other than Caesar himself hear the case. That was the right of every Roman citizen. So finally he just had enough of the going round and round and round, and he thought, I appeal to Caesar. And King Herod Agrippa said, you know this guy could have gone free, but he appealed to Caesar, to Caesar he will go. Now Paul is taken and put on a grain ship as a prisoner and he makes his journey to Rome. So he goes incarcerated in chains, but what's cool about that is instead of raising money from the churches to send him on a fourth journey, the Roman government pays for his trip to Rome.

I love that. You're going to Rome, Paul, and all expenses are paid. I've got you covered. I'm going to make sure you not only go to Rome, but you don't have to raise money from the brethren, you don't have to raise money on your own, you don't have to use any of your own funds. The Roman government will pay for your trip to Rome. I do believe that God is interested in economy, and if you're looking for a deal, maybe God can get you a deal.

Although the outcome may not be what you intended. So he goes as a prisoner and he makes his way to Rome. But here in this book he has not yet gone, it's his desire as we will see. And what can we say about the book of Romans? Well, it has been called the Manifesto of the Christian Life, the Great Christian Manifesto.

Now there are some repeated words you need to know about in this book. The word law appears 78 times. It doesn't just refer to the law of Moses, sometimes it is used like a principle. Paul will say, for the law of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. He's not speaking of the law of Moses, he's speaking of the principle of life and the principle of faith versus the principle of death. But 78 times the word law is used in the book of Romans. The word righteousness appears 66 times and the word faith appears 62 times.

So by looking at the repetition of key words we get an idea of what the theme of the book is. The theme of the book, put those words together, it's how we are made righteous before God by faith, the principle or the law of faith, not the law of Moses or the principle of death. We are made right before God, we are given a righteousness by our faith. The great summary statement for the entire book can be found in chapter 1 verse 16 and 17 where he says, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek or the Gentile. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith as it is written, the just shall live by faith. The book of Romans can be traced, a study of the book of Romans can be found in every major major revival in church history.

Just think of that for a moment. Every major revival in church history you will find the leaders transformed, touched by, influenced by their study of the book of Romans. One is the great Protestant Reformation. This is the book that transformed the life of Martin Luther. Martin Luther became an Augustinian monk at 21 years of age. He was in the the halls of Erfurt, Germany as an Augustinian monk, but he struggled. He struggled with the burden of his own sin.

He wanted to be free from that. He found the book of Romans and he decided I'm going to make a prolonged study of the book of Romans. And Paul the Apostle said the book of Romans is the chief part of the New Testament. It is the purest gospel to be found.

But let me tell you a little bit about what he found to get there. Martin Luther as I mentioned was burdened with his own sin and as he started reading the book of Romans, we just read that little phrase in chapter 1 verse 16 and 17, his greatest impediment was a phrase that bothered him greatly. It was the phrase the righteousness of God. That bothered him because Martin Luther interpreted that to mean that God is righteous and the righteousness of God is the righteousness that God has by which he punishes the unrighteous. But as he kept reading through the book of Romans, he found that he had defined it wrongly, interpreted it wrongly. The righteousness of God that Paul was speaking about isn't a righteous God judging an unrighteous world as much as a righteous God imputing righteousness to an unrighteous world by faith. That he would use his righteousness to forgive the unrighteous and it totally changed his life. God justifies the ungodly. So one of the great commentaries on the book of Romans, and I know I'm belabored, I'm giving you a long introduction, and believe me I intended to go through chapters 1 and 2, but I always bite off more than I can chew.

And sometimes I feel you need to know a little bit of the background. So, Martin Luther wrote a commentary on the book of Romans. And in the 18th century, a guy by the name of John Wesley started reading it. And it so greatly influenced John Wesley that John Wesley, just reading the introduction of the commentary by Martin Luther on the book of Romans, says, my heart was strangely warmed by the truth that I was reading in the introduction of the commentary.

And that provoked a great evangelical revival of the 18th century under John and Charles Wesley. So again, every great revival, and you just find it over and over again, will trace some of its influence back to the book of Romans. In the book of Romans, just about every major doctrine, biblical doctrine, is found.

Usually articulated and spelled out, but at least found. Every major biblical doctrine. Now let me give you a quick outline of the book. The book of Romans falls into four categories.

Easy to remember. The wrath of God, the wrath of God, the grace of God, the plan of God, and the will of God. That's the entire book. So chapter 1 to chapter 3 verse 20 is about the wrath of God. Actually beginning in chapter 1 verse 17, or 18, the wrath of God becomes the focus. From chapter 1 verse 18 to chapter 3 verse 20, Paul will paint a dark background about the wrath of God, followed by the grace of God. Chapter 3 verse 21 to chapter 8 verse 39, or the end of chapter 8, is all about God's grace.

He will really in depth dissect that idea of God's grace. Then in chapters 9, 10, and 11, it's the plan of God for the Jew and the Gentile. Because they had all sorts of questions about, well if we're saved by faith, what about the Jewish race? What about the Jewish nation?

Does God have plans for Israel? That's chapters 9, 10, and 11. And then beginning in chapter 12 to the end of the book, it's all about the will of God in the life of the believer.

So we begin. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called an apostle literally, the words to be are not found, called to be an apostle separated to the gospel of God. Ancient letters always put the author's name first. In our western culture, we put the author's name last.

We put the recipient's name first. If this were a western letter, it would say dear Romans, and then we'd have 16 chapters, and then finally it would say Paul the apostle, servant of Jesus Christ. And so we would get this long scroll, the book of Romans, and it would be to us the Romans. And you'd look at it and go, well who wrote this thing?

You'd go all the way to the end of the scroll, turn it over and go all the way to the end. Oh, Paul wrote it. So I think it's just better to begin the letter by saying, hi this is me, I'm writing this letter. So you don't have to go to the end and find out who wrote it.

The author always names himself or herself first in ancient literature. So Paul, Paul writes this letter. Paul writes so many of so many of the letters in the New Testament. The word Paul, the name Paul, means little. Of course his Hebrew name was Saul, and Saul means asked of God. He was named after King Saul, who was the first king of Israel from the tribe of Benjamin. Paul the apostle was also a Benjaminite from the tribe of Benjamin, and he was named after one of the heroes in antiquity, King Saul. Saul of Tarsus was his name.

He was from the area of Cilicia, ancient region, which is today eastern Turkey. And he was from the city of Tarsus. The name Saul I get. The name Paul, as I mentioned, means little. Now we don't exactly know why he was named Paul. That's his Gentile name, or his Greek name, Paul.

I have told you before though that in ancient times people would name their children based on circumstances of their birth. It could be that Paul was a small child, and he could have grown up to be a small man. Now we don't know. However, there's only one piece of information regarding how Paul the apostle looked from ancient records.

Only one. And it could not be, it could be true, it could be false. We don't know. But the only surviving description we have of what Paul the apostle looked like is interesting. It says he was a very short man, and he was sort of hunched over. He had a hooked nose, according to this description, losing his hair on top. And he had one, his eyebrows, it says joined in the middle. So a unibrow, hooked nose, unibrow, balding, short guy. And the description says bold-legged.

So maybe it's true, maybe it's not true. It is interesting if that's the way he looked, because he will mention that, you know, when you look at me you might not think I'm impressive, but wait till you read my stuff. He's very, very powerful.

Not much to look at in person, but quite bold and quite persuasive in his speech and in his letter. So Paul, and he introduces himself as a servant of Jesus Christ. Not Paul the great apostle, but Paul a slave. It's one of his favorite titles for himself, doulos is the Greek term, called an apostle. And I like this, separated to the gospel of God. Before Paul was saved he was a Pharisee. He says in Galatians, Philippians, when he writes that letter, I was a Pharisee, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, as touching the law of Pharisee, concerning righteousness which comes from the law, I was blameless.

Perfect. The word Pharisee means separated. Parashim is the Hebrew word. It means to be separated. And the idea is separated from people, separated from activities, separated from sinfulness. I live a life of separation from these things. Very stringent Pharisees prided themselves in being unlike everybody else, separated from them. And so you would see devout Pharisees walking down the streets, and if Gentiles were coming their way, they would, the Pharisees would take their robes and place them very tight across their bodies, as if to say I won't even get close to you or let my robes rustle in your general direction. You are so stinking defiled you Gentile that I'm not going to get cooties from you, I'm just going to be separated from you. But here Paul doesn't say I'm separated from something, he says I'm separated to something.

That's important. A lot of people take refuge in a negative righteousness. I don't do this, and I don't do that, and I don't do the other thing. Cool, what do you do?

What is it you do? What are you separated unto? I think it's possible to have a saved soul, but a lost life. Your soul is saved, you're going to heaven, but you don't do anything with your life.

You're not separated to some grand purpose to be used by God. I'm separated to the gospel. I want to make sure people hear this good news, that's what gospel means of Jesus Christ, which he promised before through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures. The Old Testament anticipated the New Testament. That's Skip Heitzig's number 20 message on our Top 40 Messages countdown.

It's from the series Expound Romans. Find the full message and more of Skip's teachings that you can watch on your big screen TV from the comfort of your couch at youtube.com slash Calvary ABQ. Now, here's a resource that will help you grow even closer to Jesus than ever before. When Neil Armstrong took man's first step on the moon, the whole world watched, and his first words are well known. That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. What is not common knowledge is that the first meal on the moon was the Last Supper. Here's Levi Lusko to discuss his new book, The Last Supper on the Moon. This book, Last Supper on the Moon, it begins with Buzz Aldrin, 1969, July, summer on the lunar surface before Neil Armstrong gets out of the Eagle to take that famous first step on the moon, the giant leap. But just before that, Buzz Aldrin opened a pouch and took out wine and bread representing the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

And he had a personal communion service. And that moment, when I found out about it about a year previously, hit me like a thunderbolt, you know, just to realize that the first thing ever eaten on the moon was the Last Supper. The Last Supper on the Moon is an epic new hardcover book by Levi Lusko, and it's our resource offer this month. Receive your copy when you give a gift of $35 or more to support this program. Just go to connectwithskip.com or call 1-800-922-1888.

That's connectwithskip.com or call 1-800-922-1888. Tomorrow, Skip Heisig shares another Top 40 message and helps you understand the times we're living in and God's plan for the future. Let me just say, don't be afraid of prophecy. And that's because one fourth of your Bible is prophecy. To be precise, 26.8% of the entire scripture is prophetic. So if you don't want to read prophecy, there's a lot of the Bible that'll be unread. It's all over scripture.

I want you to think of prophecy as being an aspect of one of God's great attributes. God is omniscient. He knows omniscient.

He knows everything. Make a connection. Make a connection at the foot of the crossing. Cast all burdens on His word. Make a connection. Connection. Connect with Skip Heisig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.