Expound: Romans 1:1-23 - Part A

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. The gospel is good news to this world, but before you truly appreciate the gospel, you have to understand some bad news first. Today on Connect with Skip Heitzig, Skip shares the life transforming hope you can experience by understanding the full weight of the gospel.

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Visit connectwithskip.com slash offer to give online securely today or call 800-922-1888. Okay, we're in Romans chapter one as Skip Heitzig starts today's study. We come in Romans to the third major section of the New Testament. The New Testament begins with a four-fold testimony of the life of Jesus. Those are the gospels.

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The second section is the historical section telling us about the growth after the birth of the early church, how it spread to different areas of the world, and how it was taken by Paul the Apostle to different parts. Then we get in Romans throughout the rest of the New Testament until the book of Revelation, we get the letters, correspondence written by men of God to different churches because of different situations they were going through.

So this is the first of that section of the epistles or the letters of Paul the Apostle. 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 Saul of Tarsus turned Paul the Apostle and 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 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 gonna 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 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 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 one and two, but I always bite off more than I can chew. And sometimes I feel you need to know 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. The 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 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 the wrath 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 look at 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 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 Benjamite 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 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 the Bible. He was a very short man. 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 the way he looked because he will mention that you know when you look at me you might not think I'm impressive but why do 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. Dulos 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 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. The prophet Jeremiah in chapter 39 said behold the days are coming says the Lord when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel.

Not like the old covenant. So it was promised before in the holy scripture. The prophet Isaiah predicts the coming of Christ. Predicts his sacrifice on the cross in Isaiah 53. Concerning his son Jesus Christ our Lord who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh.

God began to promise the Messiah very definitely unmistakably when David was born and began to grow and God began to make a covenant with king David. That's Skip Heitzig with a message from the series Expound Romans. Now we want to tell you about a special opportunity you have to take your knowledge of the bible to a deeper level. Think taking classes in biblical studies can't fit your life? Here's Calvary College student Cresta. After years of wanting training in ministry I found Calvary College. Now I can deepen my walk with the Lord and I can go as little or as often as my schedule allows.

The classes are great and the schedule definitely works around my work and family life. Learn more about God and the bible on your schedule with Calvary College. Apply today at calvarychurchcollege.com. The way to know our living God is by knowing his word.

That's why we've made these life-changing bible teachings available around the world. And if you want to see more people come into a relationship with the living God, you can help make that possible with your generous gift today, which helps continue this broadcast and reach even more people with the gospel. To give, just visit connectwithskip.com slash donate. That's connectwithskip.com slash donate. Or you can call 800-922-1888. 800-922-1888. Thank you. Come back tomorrow as Skip Heitzig shares how you can cultivate gratitude and love for others in your life. . Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.