You will have no idea if you're not faithful to share Christ how few people know that God loves them. Most people have in their mind a caricature of God. Usually, He's frowning. What a ridiculous and wicked. concept God.
loves us. And the Bible is full of that kind of content. Imagine opening your mailbox and finding a letter from God addressed to you. Today, on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindahl explains how the book of Romans is exactly that. It's not an academic record of ancient history.
The book of Romans is God's Spirit speaking directly to you. The writer of Romans, Paul, was a former Christian hater. After his conversion, Paul became passionate about God's grace, the kind that stoops down to rescue us. In this study, we'll see how his profound letter builds essential boundaries around your mind. while igniting your heart for authentic Christian living.
Well, we're studying the letter to the Romans as we begin this first chapter together. I invite you to turn. If you're unfamiliar with your Bible, there are four. Gospels in the New Testament. followed by a rather lengthy book of history.
called the Acts. Meaning the acts of the early apostles. And then began the letters. of the New Testament. Paul wrote 13 of them.
Probably did not write Hebrews, so we wouldn't say 14. His first letter wasn't Romans. Though in the compilation of our Bible, it's been placed. first among his letters. His first one was 1 Thessalonians.
Probably the earliest letter of the New Testament is James. written before the middle of the century. the first century. By James, the Lord's half-brother. Anyway, Romans, the uh Doctrinal constitution of the Christian faith.
Follow along, will you, as I read at verse one of chapter. One. 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 requests.
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. plan to come to you. and have been prevented so far.
so that I may obtain some fruit among you also. I don't know. Even as among The rest of the Gentiles. Before you close your Bible, just look again at the first section. that we just read.
First time you uncover a period is at the end of verse 7. Just one of those lengthy introductions. where Paul takes an excursion. Tying in verses one and seven, you have the simple introduction, Paul. to the Romans And in between, you have an invisible parenthesis.
where he writes of the gospel. Between verses 2. And six. Then the parenthesis closes before the sentence ends. And you get to the end of the sentence, verse 7.
Part of the reason people lose interest and find themselves bored in Romans is that they forget Paul in this letter, like no other, takes excursions. This is an excursion Paul takes. We'll get into that later. But just wanted you to know. that you are allowed to breathe at the end of verse 7 when you're reading these first Seven verses.
as the beginning of the letter. You're listening to Insight for Living. To dig deeper into the book of Romans on your own, be sure to purchase Volume 1 of our Searching the Scriptures Bible Study Workbook by going to insight.org slash offer. Chuck titled today's message, Getting a grasp of the gospel. Electronic mail has just about ruined great writing.
I know, I know, it's uh efficient. It's simple. It's fast. It gets the job done. All of which is why I say it ruins great writing.
Because great writing is never fast. nor simple. And great writing frequently requires Trial and error over and over and over we work at it.
Some of my most treasured Possessions are in the form of Handwritten letters. Let me explain a handwritten letter. It's a person puts a pen in his fingers and. We had a little fun moment the other evening. My wife and I participated in a little brief birthday time with one of our grandchildren.
He's 11 and we were all celebrating the He is uh Passage into twelve and uh It's uh Wonderful moment.
So we had given him a little card, had a little money in it, and so he opened the card and he smiled, and we all smiled. Cynthia had written a note there to him and He smiled at us and said, I can't read cursive. Isn't that amazing? He can run circles around me with a computer. But you can't recursive.
We don't write cursive.
Okay. And what a shame. The intimacy of a handwritten letter. With its inimitable touch, and feel and sometimes even smell. Of the person we love.
who has taken time with her or his own hand to write. And to sign it with that curl of a cursive character. Not today. Yeah. Email has caused us to dread the arrival of mail.
Okay. That's why our favorite key on the computer is that delete button. Get rid of that. Isn't that amazing? Why, we get letters by the multiple numbers every day.
If you're like me, hundreds of them every week. Most of them Written quickly, discarded quickly. Not designed really to be that. significant they just Getting information across. Not a bad idea for communicating information, but a dreadful idea in communicating.
significance The ancient letters were never written in a hurry. Nor electronically. Writers labored over them. Just the putting of ink on a piece of papyrus. was a massive task.
And then rolling it and preserving it and hand delivering it. another major task.
So, when it comes to New Testament letters, what we have is the treasure. of the scriptures.
Some letters are corrective by nature, some are confrontive. Most of them inspiring and encouraging, and a few of them. Um profound. All of them instructed. None more so than the letter to the Romans.
Written a little past the midway point of the first century. By a man sitting in an unknown Room With Tertius by his side. Writing as a scribe, as the Spirit of God. Miraculously reveals the heart of God regarding his truth. To the servant of God, Paul.
Who spoke God's truth to Tertius? Who wrote the truth? Into the text. The miracle of revelation came when God gave his word. The miracle of inspiration came when God had his word written.
Both of those processes have ended. But the joy of illumination goes on and on. And this great doctrine is ours to experience. As we glean from this ancient First century letter Written by a man we've never met. to a group of people we've never known.
Living in a city that's altogether different now than it was in the first century. Before we go further, let me say my last message I left unfinished. Because I wanted to attach that application to the beginning of this time together.
So let me give you these three thoughts I wanted to close with last time, but chose to wait till now first. If we see this only as a first-century letter from Paul to the Romans, we'll miss it all. It'll become a historic document. Artifact irrelevant. Nice for them, having little to say to us, if anything.
We'll miss it all. Second, if we see it only as a doctrinal treatise, Just a theological statement written by a man. in the first century, we'll only get half the message. God's Word was not given just to fill our heads with doctrine. Though doctrine is the foundation, it is the anchor.
for our vessel. But it is not given simply to establish our minds with an understanding of logical truth. which doctrine does. You'll get only half the message. Much of Romans is practical.
and we'll do our best to pull from it. every chance we get the practical application. Third, and this is the best part. If we see it as a personal letter handwritten by the Spirit of God to us. will get it all.
It'll make a difference in how we think. It'll build the necessary borders around our minds so that we will know what to tolerate. and what to reject. What to live with? What to fight against.
What to stand for? What you ignore. and what to resist.
So let's get into it. I love the way letters were written back then. They sign their letters at the beginning. Isn't that smart? We get a long, lengthy letter.
What do we do? We look to see who wrote it, don't we? Because if it's written electronically, you don't know about the handwriting. And so you have to look at the end of it to see who wrote the letter to you. In those days, Paul.
Right out of the shoe. There's no question. Paul Look down at verse 7. To all who are beloved of God in Rome. Stop right there.
I promise to keep this simple.
So what we have is a lengthy sentence. that introduces the letter in over 125 English words. With one period. That concludes the opening thought. The parenthesis is wrapped around verse 2 down through verse 6.
Again, I say, if you miss the excursion, you'll get confused. Paul is a master in this letter to the Romans, connecting one thought to another, beginning a next verse that modifies a word in the previous verse, tying together the thoughts like dominoes that bump up against one another.
So, Paul introduces himself in verse 1, tells us three things about himself. He tells us in verse 7, he's writing to the Romans, and in between, he highlights what is really on his heart, and that's the truth regarding the gospel. How do I know that? It's mentioned four times in this introductory section. If you'd like to mark your Bible, it's mentioned in verse 1.
The gospel of God. Verse 9. The preaching of the gospel of his son. Verse 15. I am eager to preach the gospel.
to you also who are in Rome. Verse 16, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. If God includes in a few verses the same word again and again and again, the repetition is to underscore it, it's to highlight it. Today's words, it's to put it into a bold font. It's God's way of saying, pay attention.
This is what I want you to see right out of the chute. The gospel.
So Paul caused himself to begin with these three things. First, A bond servant. In Paul's day, there were six terms he could have chosen. He chose the one that is the strongest word to describe absolute servitude. We would call it a bond slave.
In those days, slaves were sold on a block. Thank God we no longer see that. But in big cities like Rome, it wasn't uncommon to have a slave market. where there were large rocks that were blocks. Of stone.
Slaves were brought there in chains. They stood there, usually naked. as the a potential owner would bid to buy this human tool. Having taken him in chains, he would bring him to his place, either place of employment or place of living, and the slave would live like an animal for the rest of his life under the ownership of the man who bought him. Paul is saying, I'm a bond slave.
of Christ. Christ has seen me on a slave block of sin, and He has paid the price for my freedom. And now I answer to him as my master. I'm a bond slave of Christ. Called an apostle.
The little word as is italicized and you can leave it out. The editors, the translators have added it for the sake of clarifying.
Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't.
So Paul is called an apostle. meaning called of God. Not of his own work, Not of the word of any man, not the succession of some Denomination or some religious authority or hierarchy, he is called. From God to God You'd be an apostle. That was one of his spiritual gifts.
And thirdly, he says of himself, I am set apart to the gospel. The word apostle means one sent forth. Never forget that at the heart of Paul beat the heart of a missionary. If you miss that, you'll miss the thrust of his driving. Message again and again with the gospel.
He longed to see his fellow Jews born again. He longed to see the Gentiles that surrounded him, now in this case in Rome, born again. It's a missionary heart. He is sent forth to take the gospel. To get a grasp of the gospel, it would help to know what the word means.
The ancient Anglo-Saxons referred to it as the good spell. It came to mean the gospel. The good news. Every time you see the word gospel, you can substitute the words good news. This is the good news.
of God given to humanity regarding his son Christ. While I'm on the subject Look at that word. The gospel of God. The origin of the gospel is God. This isn't Paul's gospel.
This isn't his church's gospel. And as we live our life today, it's not our gospel, it's the gospel. of God. God originated it. God's love impelled him to come and to reach down to us in grace.
And to win us, it took someone to pay the price for sin. And that is Christ.
So the content of the gospel is Jesus Christ. as we will see in working our way through this letter. But before we do that, drop down again to verse 7. Let's notice it goes. To those who are beloved of God.
in Rome. Don't you love that? In the busy city of Rome, which was the busiest and most significant megalopolis of that first century. There existed a pocket of people who love Christ. Paul tells them, you are beloved of God.
Because that's what the gospel is all about. You will have no idea if you're not faithful to share Christ how few people know that God loves them. Most people have in their mind a caricature of God. Usually, He's frowning. Sometime he's carrying a club.
He exists for the purpose of making life miserable and making you and me guilty. What a ridiculous and wicked Concept. And what an error of thinking. God Loves. Uh And the Bible is full of that kind of content.
When Karl Bart came toward the end of his illustrious and significant years of teaching and writing. He took a trip. that touched virtually every continent around the world. The journey took him really months to complete. He stopped at cathedrals and great places of worship and great schools of learning.
He met people who had read him. and knew of him. had their lives changed and shaped by his teaching. When he finally got back home to Switzerland, He had a friend take him to a meal to eat, and while they were sitting there eating together, His friend said to him, Dr. Bart, What was your greatest thought while you were traveling?
Now that you finish the journey around the world. What would you say was your greatest thought? He smiled with a twinkle in his eye, without hesitation, said, My greatest thought. was Jesus loves me. This I know.
For the Bible tells me so. Hmm. It doesn't get better than that. The gospel is the good news. That God loves you.
He loved the people of Rome and he loves the people today. to whom I speak. And those to whom you will speak in the week to come. This is the good news that originates with God. How about Are receiving it.
The revelation, remember, giving it from heaven to earth. How did we get the gospel? Verse 2 answers it. Which? And that word modifies the gospel.
That's the first time some of you have heard the word modified since you got out of high school English class, isn't it? Don't you wish you'd have paid more attention to your English teacher? I often think that when I work my way through the sentence structure of a text like this. Which answers back to the gospel? I think of a little arrow that points back up to the gospel.
The gospel is what he promised, he is capitalized, so it's God. It's that which God promised beforehand. through his prophets In the Holy Scriptures. Look closely. God originated the gospel.
God has communicated the gospel through the channel. of the Holy Scriptures. Romans 15:4 states, Whatever was written in earlier times, referring to the Old Testament, was written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort in the Scriptures should have hope.
So Paul is saying, as I deliver the gospel as an apostle, and as I carry it, being called to this work of mission. As I do all of this, I remember that it's not mine, it's really that which I have received from centuries past. You'll be surprised perhaps to know, as I was when I found this week, 61 times in the letter to the Romans. The Old Testament is quoted. Five times he quotes Genesis, four times Exodus.
twice Leviticus, five times Deuteronomy. Twice 1 Kings, 15 times from the Psalms, twice from Proverbs, 19 times from Isaiah. Once from Ezekiel, twice from Hosea. And Watson, Joel, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Malachi. Sixty-one times, Paul quotes, from that long channel of information called the holy scriptures.
As men were borne along by the Holy Spirit, they wrote the truth of God, and it's found its way now to Paul in the first century and comes all the way to us. here in the 21st century.
So it comes through us through the Holy Scriptures, and please note the content. The substance of the gospel, verses 3 and 4. It's concerning his son. And immediately, Paul thinks chronologically, starts with his humanity, works his way to deity, messiahship, and authority. Watch how it unfolds.
He was born of a descendant of David, that's the birth in Bethlehem according to the flesh. He was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection. That's the deity of Christ. According to the Spirit of Holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord. See the word Christ?
It's the term that means anointed one. Frequently, can be rendered Messiah. The work of Messiah is the work that Christ carried out, fulfilling the promises and the requirements set forth in the Old Testament regarding Messiah. And the term Lord always refers to authority. Paul's letter to the Romans contains everything we need to truly understand the gospel of Jesus Christ, and we're just getting started.
If you joined us late in the program, you're listening to Insight for Living and the Bible Teaching of Chuck Swindahl. He titled today's message, Getting a Grasp on the Gospel. Insight for Living has a great collection of study tools for this series, so if you're prepared to dig deeper into Paul's letter to the Romans on your own, you'll want to take advantage of these resources. The first is the Searching the Scriptures Bible Study for Romans. We also have Chuck's entire commentary on Romans from the Living Insights commentary collection.
And finally, the C Ds or MP3 files for Volume 1 of the study on Romans are available. You'll find all this and more by going to insight.org/slash offer. But that's not all. If you're looking for an end-of-summer book that fills your mind with soul-satisfying truth, we highly recommend a brand new book from Chuck. It's called Looking in All the Right Directions.
This book, more than 100 pages in length, features the final five sermons Chuck delivered to the congregation that he shepherded for over 25 years. In these emotion-filled messages, Chuck shares his heart on matters common to all of us. getting through seasons of unwanted hardship. Standing firm for the truth in a world that rejects the truth, and using your God-given gifts to bring meaning and purpose to your life. To purchase a copy of Looking in All the Right Directions by Chuck Swindahl, call us at 800-772-8888 or go to insight.org/slash offer.
Finally, if you'd like to write to us with comments or questions or to make a contribution to support Insight for Living, here's our address: it's Insight4Living. Post Office Box 5000. Frisco, Texas 75034. That's Post Office Box 5000. Frisco, Texas, 75034.
Um I'm Bill Meyer. Join us again when Chuck Swindahl continues his message called Getting a Grasp on the Gospel. Thursday on Insight for Living. The preceding message, Getting a Grasp of the Gospel, was copyrighted in 2006, 2010, and 2025, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2025 by Charles R. Swindahl, Inc.
All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.
