Romans is Paul’s longest letter and is written to the church in Rome, a church that he didn’t plant and isn’t fully acquainted with. His purpose in writing is to introduce himself and confirm what the church in Rome believers about the gospel. In these opening verses Paul on two occasions shares the gospel, culminating in verses 16 and 17. The gospel is to be our way of life, not a religious practice once a week. Paul’s concern for the roman church is that they will remain firm in the gospel and not be ashamed of it. We too are to be sincere about the gospel and proclaim it in each and every opportunity that comes our way.

Romans - The heart of the Gospel is a teaching series from Annalong Presbyterian Church. Find our more at www.annalongpc.org/sermons.

Romans 1 v 1-17 


And I got in trouble with Moroccan traffic wardens. Now you're going, what on earth is he talking about? key figure in all of this, and that is the Reverend Andrew Mullen. I blame him for everything. Andrew and I, whenever we were at Union College, we [00:01:00] travelled a lot together. Whenever we would have that space, a longer space between the Christmas break after exams were over and before we'd start again at the end of January, or indeed into February, we'd go away somewhere. 


We decided one year we'd go to Rome. I'd never been to Rome. And I was quite excited to get to Rome. Some of you possibly have been to Rome. Maybe some of you have been to Israel and the Holy Land. And if you have, you know there's a significance in going to these places. It's not because Andrew Mullen's going to get you in trouble. 


Maybe I shouldn't confess to that. Don't worry. There was thousands others there. It wasn't... We weren't having a wee cup of tea together with him. And if it does, if it does settle, we did walk out in protest. And that's how we got in trouble with the Swiss Guards. Don't worry, we didn't have banners or anything like that. 


It actually was lunchtime and we needed to go. But Rome is fascinating because of its history. And what is fascinating about it is, we are in three millennia of the church. The New Testament Church, and for those first a thousand years, the church was very much based Jerusalem, Alexandria, in North Africa, and in the East. 


And so for the next thousand years, we should expect the global south to dominate the scene of this New Testament church. Rome is significant because it has shaped us. for who we are today. This letter of Romans that was written to the people and to the church in Rome is the longest of Paul's letters. 


For humanity to know and to follow. And it's this gospel that is what Paul has in his heart and he wants to teach it because he wants it into the hearts of others. Paul wants the church to be clear about the gospel and to live by it. Now Rome isn't significant simply because Paul wrote to it. Sixteen hundred years after Paul, a man named Martin Luther would go to Rome. 


Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Each of those steps that he climbed, he recited that because he was crying out to God, because he was troubled by God. He was troubled by God's justice. Luther devoted himself to the pursuit of holiness by obedience, fasting, and prayer. 


Later in life, Luther would reflect on this time in his life and this life changing experience. Not the life changing experience of climbing those steps in Rome, but actually turning to the book of Romans. And this is what he said, though I lived as a monk without reproach. I felt that I was a sinner before God with an extremely disturbed conscience. 


I could not believe that he was placated by my satisfaction. I did not love. Yes, I hated the righteous God who punishes. 


And although he raged against God, his troubled conscience drove him to meditate. on Romans 1 17. Day and night he pondered the connection between the righteousness of God, especially the statement, he who through faith is righteous shall live. And you know, Luther was right to study Romans 1 17 so carefully because in that he found, as we find, the gospel. 


That we live by faith. We don't live because of us. We live because of him and his way of salvation. But Paul is writing to the church. Yes, he is writing to the church in Rome at that time, but his message has been for the church in every age. And so, like all of Paul's letters, he begins with a greeting for the Romans in verses 1 to 7. 


They heard it. And they returned and we believe it was that message that went back to Rome with these either faithful pilgrims, Jewish pilgrims, or whether they were Gentile traders. They went back to Rome and so the church grew. And in writing Romans, Paul is writing it around. 57 AD, probably while he's wintering in Corinth, where he had a long, fruitful ministry, and we're told that in Acts 18. 


And Paul directs the church in Rome to welcome her, as she probably delivered the epistle and came from Corinth. And once winter passed and the Mediterranean was safe to travel, Paul planned to bring a gift from the Gentile believers in Corinth to the Jerusalem church. And after he had done that in Jerusalem, he would then make his way to Rome, he would preach the gospel there, and then travel west to start churches in lands where the gospel was unknown. 


Isn't that a wonderful line at the end? He wants to enjoy their company. He's not going to be an itinerant preacher. He's not going to be the headline each Sunday that the Apostle Paul has come. And by the way, this is how he finishes. We're going to see why this is significant because of how he starts this letter. 


This is Paul, a believer, seeking out brothers and sisters in Rome who he can have fellowship and company with. So Paul hoped to visit the Roman church. He knew many individuals there, but wrote Romans to begin a relationship with the entire church. And his presentation of the Gospel is both self introduction, and it's also a gift to the Romans. 


Because as we've seen with many of Paul's other letters, he isn't going in all guns blazing. He's not telling them that he is the great apostle and he should be understood, Julos. 


He says that he has been called to be an apostle. This is not a job that he wanted. This is not a job that he assumed. This is not a job that he went to college and qualified for. This is a calling, not by man, but a divine calling. by God. And so he's letting the church know in this greeting, in these first seven verses, that this is an office given to him rather than assumed and that he's not going to take advantage of it. 


There's something different about the church of Rome. It's akin to the church in Philippi. But the difference is, Paul planted the church in Philippi. But he's done nothing or had no hand in the planting of the church in Rome, yet there's something here that is to be credited to them for their faith in the gospel. 


That this isn't something just made up. This has been from the foundation of the world. that God has foretold directly and through his prophets of the coming Messiah from the line of David that root and stump of Jesse. Because it has always been God's intention to save his people. This is what would lead us to think that this is a Jewish church or, uh, Jews who were converted and started this church. 


But of course, in the imperial city in Rome, there would be Gentiles. Of course there would be. And this is the place where they gossiped the gospel. We know, not through scripture, but through accounts in church history of how the Christians went out into Rome, and they actually got the Roman populace scared because of what they said. 


And this is good news, that we need not face that death. Yes, we will all fade and perish. We know that. That is the nature of life. But beyond that is eternity. And believing in the resurrection of Jesus means that we have the assurance of eternity in heaven. Ignoring this truth about Jesus and denying the resurrection will only lead to a lost eternity in hell. 


Paul then goes on to speak about grace and, and grace is something that he has received. So he's terming grace as a gift and of course we'll know that that's how he'll continue this in this letter to the Romans. Through Jesus, Paul has received a gift of being Christ's Apostle. That's why he says that I'm a servant. 


God's gift to Paul has been given by the grace of God for a specific purpose. And that was to be the Apostle to the Gentiles. His duties, his responsibilities as an Apostle may have been hard to bear, but the purpose is to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among the nations, he says in verse 5. 


That's what Paul was, to go out to the nations there, as that, as that closing statement says. To the Gentiles, to bring them in, and there's an interesting bit that comes up later where the whole of human history in Romans is described in three acts. An act where the message of salvation is for the Jews, then a second act where there is a message of salvation to the Gentiles, the time in which we're living, but there's a third act that we don't fully understand. 


Now this phrase there that we have in verse 5 can have two meanings to it. It may mean the obedience that is motivated by faith. In other words, we do it because we have faith. And that means that our obedience springs from our faith. Or, the obedience of faith. Which is the obedience that consists of faith. 


Grace to you and peace is Paul's favourite blessing. Grace is God's unmerited love, and it almost captures the gospel in one word. And Paul urges, or sorry, uses grace 24 times in Romans. He says we are justified by grace in Romans 3, 24. We rest on grace in chapter 4, 16. And we stand before God by grace in chapter 5 and verse 2. 


Imagine if you got a letter like that, that said, look to Christ. Look to his goodness, look to his grace that is poured out freely upon you. And you see, when we have grace, when we know God's grace through Jesus Christ, then we can do exactly what we said. We can enjoy his goodness. Yes, the success is in life. 


Knowing that it is God's gift towards us. It's part of his way of blessing us. When we can celebrate, when we can cheer on, and when we can enjoy, but, but grace also lets us endure adversity. Knowing that even in the hardships of life, we still have God's favor. Isn't that wonderful? Isn't that wonderful to know tonight? 


This is what they need to know, as they stand firm in the gospel. Well, let's move on to the second part. It's verses 8 to 15. It's thanksgiving prayers and a plan. And having brought his greeting, Paul now speaks to the church in a pastoral way and states his connection to the church. And so he begins by stating that he prays for the church in Rome. 


And he does two things in this prayer. And we have to remember that whenever we hear his heart of prayer for this church, this is not a church that he planted. He doesn't know it intimately as he did the Philippi church. He doesn't really have that strong a connection to it, but he prays for it, and there it is, in that imperial city, a beacon of light in the darkness. 


And so he changes, or he modulates his tone. He doesn't think that he has everything to give and nothing to receive. In verse 12, he hopes that they may... be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine. And isn't this a wonderful thing to hear from the Apostle? He recognizes what a true community of faith is. 


Yes, he has much to give, but also he recognizes that he has much to receive. 


We grow in it until the day we die, because the church is that place where we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, that we recognize that we have things to offer and give. And that we have to receive as well, so that we can be ready for that day when Christ will call us home. And I'm finishing off this section, Paul laments in his ability to reach Rome sooner in verse 13. 


Paul's a cultured man and surely he preferred the Greeks, but he willingly served fools and barbarians. He refused to limit the scope of his work, and he hoped for fruit on every branch. And whenever it comes to evangelism and the gospel, we often think, wouldn't it be great if we just spoke to people just like us? 


It actually turns out they may be the ones who don't want to hear the Gospel at all. And that there may be other sheep whom God is leading us to. We cannot be blinkered. We cannot be closed eyes to one demographic. We must know that the gospel is for everyone and as such we must bring it to everyone in the workplace, in the home, across the barriers and divides because the gospel is worth it. 


Because it is only the gospel that can save humanity. Thanksgiving, prayer, and a plan. Paul's plan was to visit this church, en route to plant other churches. The barbarians were in Spain. That was the ends of the earth. And so, of course, the stories had been told about all these barbarians. You know, if he'd headed north to England, my goodness, how much worse would it have been for him? 


This is going to be picked up time and time and time again. Because Paul 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 the Greek or Gentile. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed for, from faith, for faith, as it is written, the righteous shall live by faith. 


Whenever I went to university in England, after finishing college, I attended a small Christian fellowship on the campus where I studied. We were a minority on that campus. There were a couple of thousands of students on that campus, and 20 of us met each Tuesday evening. We called ourselves the Balls Park Christian Fellowship, and in the first few weeks of my first year, we were grounded in verse 16. 


Because it is the message that brings the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. No one will be turned away if they come with believing faith. And I wonder how easily can we become ashamed of the gospel? We get embarrassed by it. We don't want to talk about it. We'd rather talk about anything else under the sun, except the gospel, even in church. 


See, once we get into the world out there, we have the opportunity to speak, but all of a sudden our mouth go dry and, and the words don't come. Turns out we're not as brave or confident as we thought we might be. But I wanna encourage you this evening, there's three things in these two final verses that should help us because the first thing is the gospel is the power of God for salvation. 


I can't save anyone. That same Bible class teacher used to tell us, if only I could lift you up in my hands each Sunday morning, if only I could lift you up in my hands and bring you to the kingdom, I would, but I can't. Because he knew that the message was not his. The power of that message was not his. 


It's the power of God. So trust Him. That when you go to open your mouth, He will give you the words and the confidence to speak. But also secondly, salvation is for everyone. Salvation is not resigned to a small group or to one country in particular or one part of the world, it is for everyone. And so as we go out into the world and as we look in our places of work and in our homes and in our wider family and in our communities and neighbours, it is for everyone. 


It's his love towards us. That's why Paul's not ashamed of it, because it is God's good news. It reveals who he is. See, if we go back to where we started, the experience of Martin Luther. is illuminating for us because for years, Luther took the righteousness of God to mean God's righteousness in judgment. 


He understood the righteous shall live by faith to signify God's demand that people prove themselves faithful by doing what they can, a works righteousness. But because Luther was acutely aware of his sins, Romans 17, I'm sorry, 1 verse 17 provoked terror of God's wrath and anger at God's demands. And Luther contemplated this problem for years. 


He who through faith is righteous shall live. Sorry, he who, He who through faith is righteous shall live. Here I felt that I was altogether born again and had entered paradise itself through open gates. Luther was transformed by this righteousness of God that led him never to be ashamed of the gospel ever again. 


It is the only power to save us. So I ask you this evening, are you ashamed of the gospel? Or do you live in it day by day? Do you know its power in your life? And do you understand the power it can have in transforming sinners onto righteousness? The gospel is the most powerful thing we have because it encapsulates who God is and what his love is towards us. 


What Paul's saying here, I trust the gospel, I don't trust the world. Will it be so with you? Will you trust it? Will you believe it? And will you take it to the ends of your world? Not showing any favoritism or partiality, but telling each and every one who crosses your way. Let's pray. Our Fathers, we begin this evening in Romans. 


In Jesus name. Amen.