No images? Click here ROMANS March 9, 2022 To the Saints March 6, 2022 In the first verse of this epistle to the Romans, Paul identifies who he is: a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel. Then in verses two through four he introduces us to Christ, who was prophesied to come, who was descended from David and declared to be the Son of God in power, and the resurrection proves Him to be the Son of God. In verse five, Paul explains how the gospel has affected him: by grace he was chosen to be an apostle and to bring the message of the obedience of faith to all nations. In verses six and seven, he explains how Christ has affected all who are His sheep, to all who are loved by God and called to be saints. Also in verse seven, Paul pronounces a blessing of grace and peace from God, The Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul had not visited the church in Rome prior to writing this letter, but he had a great desire to visit them. He wanted to make certain the church understood the doctrine of salvation, known in academic circles as the doctrine of soteriology. Is it important to know how we are saved, why we are saved, what we are saved from, and what we are saved to? If it is important to know these things, why?
Peter answers the last question in 1 Peter 2:2: “so that you may grow up to salvation”. He says, like newborn infants, we should long for the pure spiritual milk and that includes understanding the gospel of our salvation. As children mature, they begin to ask questions such as, where did I come from, why am I here, why are people different, why do we look differently, and many other questions. We need to be able to answer these questions in an age-appropriate manner but as the child matures, the explanations will have to be explained in greater detail. If we want to grow in our salvation, we need to grow in our understanding of how salvation was achieved, not just for our sake but also for the sake of others. Peter exhorts us to always be prepared to explain our hope of salvation (1 Peter 3:15). If we don’t understand how we were saved, how can we explain it to others?
It is true that we will never be able to understand all the ramifications of what the Bible says about our salvation (the theological term is soteriology) because we don’t know what we don’t know. We may be confident in the things we do know but it is the unknown that always comes back to bite us. The reason for studying soteriology is so that the things that we don’t know are revealed to us and then become things that we do know. So often when someone tries to explain the gospel, we hear words such as: “You just need to accept Jesus into your heart” or “If you believe in Jesus, you will go to heaven rather than hell when you die”. Also, many times we hear Revelation 3:20 taken out of context. In this verse the Apostle John reports Jesus speaking to the church at Laodicea, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” John MacArthur states that the context of this verse is Jesus speaking to the church at Laodicea, not an individual. Christopher J. Gordon wrote in TableTalk, August 2019: “This verse is not addressing the status of the individual’s heart but is instead a call for the church in Laodicea to repent for having departed from the gospel of the kingdom Christ gave it to proclaim.” He also pointed out that, “If Jesus was waiting on me to let Him into my heart for salvation, I knew that door would never open.”
We need to understand that salvation is a work of God, from first to last. God initiates and completes the work of salvation. From first to last suggests that there is a chronological order to the process, called in Latin, Ordo Salutis. Romans 8:29-30 states, “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” Paul is not giving an exhaustive list of the aspects of salvation for he left out sanctification, an important part of our final destiny. Theologians have noted that all these verbs are in the past tense. Derek Thomas points out that “the order functions not as a chronological order but a conceptual one” in the union with Christ, but goes on to say, “Still, some chronological issues prove necessary – in a reformed ordo salutis, for example, faith and repentance cannot occur before regeneration, glorification (at least as a completed reality) cannot occur before justification.” (https://www.monergism.com/order-salvation)
Returning to the idea of saved how, why, from, and to: The how of salvation is by substitutionary atonement; that is that God would accept a substitute (Christ) as payment for our bent. God chose us from before the foundations of the world (Ephesians 1:4), Christ paid the debt that our sin earned, and Christ earned for us the perfect righteousness that God requires (2 Corinthians 5:21). In John 6:44 Jesus declared that no one can come to Him unless The Father draws them. The why saved is for God’s good pleasure and glory (Romans 9:23; Ephesians 1:11-14; 2 Timothy 1:9) and “those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance” (Hebrews 9:6). The from saved what is God’s wrath (Romans 1:18). The to saved is for good works. (Ephesians 2:10). Peter points out that the salvation believers receive was prophesied long ago and the Spirit of Christ in men has led them to inquire carefully as to whom and when their Messiah would suffer then be glorified. The angels longed to understand salvation, how God could transform a sinner into a saint. The aspect of salvation that the angels probably struggled with most is the fact that the redeemed are “heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17). Four Realities of a Christian: I. Called of Jesus Christ (V. 6) Paul was called to salvation and called to be an apostle. Scripture describes two different types of calling. ● General Call When Jesus was teaching a parable about a wedding feast, He stated, “For many are called, but few are chosen" (Matthew 22:14). Jesus commanded us to call everyone to repentance (Example, Matthew 28:18-20). We are to scatter seed everywhere, understanding that only the hearts prepared by God will receive the Word (Matthew 13:1-9). God has issued a general call as described in Psalm 19:1, “The heavens declare the glory of God…” And Romans 1:19-20 explains that God has clearly revealed Himself to mankind in nature, and that man is without excuse for not believing. The general call results in some receiving salvation and some not. ● Effectual Call The call that results in salvation is known as the Effectual Call because it effects salvation. God draws people to Himself and they respond to the call, but only because God has first chosen and prepared them for the call. Today we look back to the cross and what it means to us, whereas the Old Testament saints looked forward to a coming Messiah. They believed God’s Word and repented of their sin because God worked in their hearts. There are two classes of people: those who belong to God and those who belong to Satan. In His high priestly prayer, Jesus stated that He was praying only for those who belonged to The Father, not for those of the world (John 17:9). Jesus calls people to salvation through the gospel message. A prime example is Lydia. Paul, Silas, and Timothy went to the river outside Philippi where they met Lydia along with other women. Acts 16:14 says that she was “a worshipper of God”, but she didn’t know Jesus; however, “The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.” She believed and was baptized. Only those who belong to The Father receive an effectual call. II. Loved by God (V. 7a) All of us have probably memorized John 3:16 which tells us that God loves the world, yet, there is a difference between God’s love for the world and God’s love for His children. In the same manner, we can love the children of our friends, but certainly, we love our own children differently. As mortals, we cannot fully understand God’s love. For example, in Malachi 1:2-3 God says, “I have loved Jacob but Esau I have hated”. Then Jesus said in Luke 14:26-27, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” That seems very harsh to us! On the flip side, it seems like God does love everyone for 1 Timothy 2:4 tells us that God “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” And Ezekiel 33:11 tells us that God takes “no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.” We know that God chooses some for salvation and passes over others. In Romans 9:14, Paul asks the rhetorical question: “Is there injustice on God’s part?” The answer is obviously an emphatic “No”. In verse 18 Paul says that God “has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills” and he goes on to say in verses 19-20, “You will say to me then, ‘Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?’ But who are you, O man, to answer back to God?” In Isaiah 55:8 God declares that His thoughts and ways are higher than our thoughts and ways. Though we are not able to fully understand God’s ways, we can believe that God is holy and just, and His justice demands that the reprobate, those who refuse to obey Christ, die for their sins. The question might arise, If God doesn't want anyone to perish, why would He choose only some for salvation? I think we need to understand that it is true that God chooses some and passes over others. We can't fully understand why, but we do know that it is not that God looks down the corridors of time and chooses for salvation those who will choose Him. The Bible is clear - God doesn’t learn from us - who can teach him? Who has given him counsel? Who knows justice better than he does? (Isa 40:14)The best we can do is say: we know that God is not capricious and He is just in all He does. Romans 9:18-20 reminds us. So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. 19 You will say to me then, "Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?" 20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? While God has a general love for his creation, he has a special love for his elect. First John 3:1 shows the deep love that God has for His children: “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God” This love for God’s children is amplified in John 17:23, “I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” It is inconceivable to us that God would love us in the same way He loved His Son, but these are the words of Jesus! Then 2 Corinthians 2:9 tries to explain what God has planned for His children: "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him." We can only begin to scratch the surface of the love of God. III. Called Saints (V. 7b) ● Saints are God’s Children A saint is a child of God, not a title bestowed by man. It refers to the members of the body of Christ, the true church, the ecclesia. “The ekklesia in the New Testament is a group of people who have been called out of the world and to God; it is the church.” (https://www.compellingtruth.org/definition-ekklesia.html) ● Saints are Set Apart for God Saints are set apart, holy, sacred unto God. Saints are called out from the world by God and set apart to represent Him in the world – but we are not left alone. Jesus told his disciples (including us today) that He would not leave us as orphans (John 14:18) but would send a helper to be with and in us forever (John 14:16-17). The Spirit of God is Jesus to us and Jesus in us. Believers are sealed with The Holy Spirit of God for the day of redemption (Ephesians 1:13-14; Ephesians 4:30). We have a guaranteed inheritance that will not be taken away. Jesus assures us, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out” (John 6:37). If The Father gives Jesus the gift of His children, He will never take them back. How do we recognize saints? They are the ones who seek after righteousness. It is of utmost importance that we understand that we don’t pursue righteousness to become a saint but, as saints, we pursue righteousness to honor and glorify God. Saints strive to look like God, act like God, love like God, and to love the things that God loves. We are new creations in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17), so we have new desires, new thoughts, new attitudes, and these grow throughout our life. John clearly distinguishes the children of God from the children of Satan: “By this, it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother” (1 John 3:10). We can know we are the children of God because our desire is to be holy. As 1 Peter 1:15 states, “…he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct…” The Old Testament mentions many things that were set apart for God: Israel, the priests, the tabernacle then the temple, the arc, the furnishings, the showbread, the incense, the oil lamps, the tribe of Levi, etc. All things in the Old Testament were but a foreshadowing of the reality that is now in Christ (Hebrews 8:5). Now that we have the Holy Spirit living in us we don’t need an earthly priest. First Peter 2:9 tells us we are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession”. Prophets speak to people on behalf of God and priests speak to God on behalf of people. In one sense, we are both prophets and priests to the world; we are called to share the gospel with people and to plead with God for Him to bring them to salvation. We are also a temple to the world. First Corinthians 3:16 reminds us of our responsibility: “Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?” Verse 17 then charges us to live holy because God’s temple is holy. IV. Objects of Grace and Peace (V. 7c) Those who respond to the gospel call are loved by God with a very specific love; we are set apart for Him, and we represent Him to the world. We are objects of God’s grace and peace. Grace is the kindness of God in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have grace in our redemption, grace in our justification, grace in our sanctification, grace in every aspect of our salvation. We are recipients of grace and recipients of peace; we have the peace of God because we have peace with God, the peace that Jesus secured in our propitiation. Peace sets up apart from the world; the world constantly searches for peace but cannot find it. It is not found in wealth or fame or power or fun or in anything else; it is found only in Christ. In this letter, Paul is saying in essence, “I want you to read this letter, and I want you to obey it, and as you do, this is God’s grace to you.” Paul ends this letter by saying, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you” (Romans 16:20). Paul’s message is that his letter represented grace to them, and he exhorted them to take grace with them. As we understand that we are called by Jesus Christ, loved by God, made saints, and are objects of God’s grace and peace, we can face any trouble the world brings. In fact, we can look with great anticipation to what God is going to do in our life as we are being conformed into the image of Jesus Christ, being joint-heirs with Him. Selah:
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