Romans
I once was asked if I was only able to
have only one book of the Bible for the rest of my life, which one would I
select. For me the answer is easy, the
book of Romans. Why you might ask? I would select it because it is a
straightforward and articulate synopsis of the New Testament. This week we will look at Romans 1:1-17, this
serves as an introduction to the book. Paul
is writing to believers he has heard about in Rome, but he has not been able to
travel to meet with them. Paul begins by
introducing himself and the Gospel he preaches in the first 6 verses.
1 Paul, a servant of
Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which
he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3
concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4 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, 5 through whom we
have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for
the sake of his name among all the nations, 6 including you who are called to belong
to Jesus Christ,
Romans 1:1-6
ESV
There are some things we can learn from
Paul even in this short introduction. 1)
He sought out other believers to mentor; 2) He shared the Gospel even though he
assumed they knew it, and 3) as we will see, he believed they could encourage
him as much as he could encourage them.
The first two points almost go hand in hand, Paul as an Apostle was out
on a mission to share the gospel and build solid disciples. Perhaps his main reason for writing to the
Roman believers was to ensure that this group of Christians, who had sprung up,
had a proper theology and understood the Gospel. So even in his introduction he included a
brief synopsis of the Gospel and an appeal to his authority to clear up any
misunderstanding of the Gospel as an Apostle of Jesus Christ.
8 First, I thank my God
through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all
the world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel
of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you 10 always in my prayers, asking
that somehow by God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. 11 For I
long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen
you— 12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both
yours and mine. 13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often
intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may
reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 I am
under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the
foolish. 15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
Romans 1:8-15 ESV
Paul is clear that he is happy to hear of
their conversion and that news of their faithfulness was spreading throughout
the land. His purpose is come and
encourage them and preach the Gospel, to me this seems to imply that he desired
to come build them up into spiritual maturity.
He shares with them that he has desired to come to them, but thus far
had been unable to do so. It seems that
he wrote the letter because he had not been able to travel there and wanted to
share the things in this letter with them whether he would be able to come to
them or not.
16 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. 17 For in it the
righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The
righteous shall live by faith.”
Romans 1:16-17 ESV
Paul ends his introduction with this
transitional declaration that he is not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is
the power by which he and everyone else who believes is saved. In this statement Paul lays down the basis
for the Gospel, that we are saved by faith and not works; perhaps that one
phrase more than any other is the singular message that Paul preached.
So as we begin this look at the book of
Romans, we see that Paul is writing to correct any incorrect beliefs about the
Gospel, he is writing to encourage them, and disciple or mentor them in their
faith. As Christians we should all be
moving down this path, as we advance in our studies and understanding we come
alongside other believers and non-believers; we share the Gospel with them and
mentor them into maturity as we ourselves are continuing to grow and mature. Maybe you are hear reading and you haven’t
taken that step to accept Jesus as you savior and Lord, that’s okay and I would
encourage to stick with us as we go through this book as it will share the
Gospel and perhaps answer a few of those questions you have, but haven’t asked.
‘Lord,
I am thankful for each and every person you have brought here to read this
message. I ask that you would be with
each of them this week as they go out.
Father I ask that you would place people in our lives to mentor and
mentors in our lives to mentor us. Thank
you for your grace and mercy, we desperately need you. It is in Jesus name we pray. Amen.’