“The Nature Of The Gospel” • Calvary Laguna • 7.15.07
Intro.
- I once heard comedian George Burns describe the secret to a good sermon.
• "The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending, then having the two as close together as possible!"
- I'll do my best to adhere to this, but I have charge of one of the greatest themes in the entire Bible: The Nature of The Gospel.
- The two verses before us can be called Paul’s “Thesis Statement” for the book of Romans.
- Paul, the super Apostle, is writing a letter to a church that is just beginning in Rome.
- He has not been there yet and it’s likely just beginning due to the subject matter of the book, which is the most pure theology presentation in the New Testament.
- He begins his thesis statement in a strange way.
- He says, "I am not ashamed" of the gospel.
- Why would he write this? Being ashamed is synonymous with the word "embarrassed!"
- “I am not embarassed by…”
- Paul was proud, but the people of Rome, the new Christians that He was talking with, might have an inclination toward shame.
- Think of their audience: Rome, known as the "Eternal City," has been the scene of the highest sophistication and the most debaucherous behavior.
- Rome was a mighty conquering nation. It's military might and legendary engineers provided a time of unparalleled peace.
- One of the lands which had been conquered by Rome was Judea.
- With that as context, it becomes clear why Paul would write this.
- Who could possibly be ashamed of a Jewish Saviour, who was murdered at the hands of the Roman Government, but had a very small, yet loyal, following of peasants and slaves!
- Jesus was not honored in the Pantheon of Roman deities; He did not fit the bill!
- The more things change, the more they stay the same.
- Much of the body of Christ still suffers from the malady of being spiritually ashamed.
- This shame generally works itself out in 2 ways. The first is to never say anything at all.
- Some have never shared their faith in any way with anyone! This is a crime!
- The second way of sharing Christ when one is ashamed, comes when a person waters down the details and makes things so general, that almost anything could replace Christ at the center!
- Paul wants the Roman church to be proud of the core of their faith.
- Paul offers 5 tools that will help us articulate the gospel and take the shame right out of us!
I. It’s Declaration
II. It’s Definition
III. It’s Dynamic
IV. It’s Demographic
V. It’s Destination
Text
I. It’s Declaration
• Romans 1:16,17 : “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. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.’"
- The “gospel.” That word itself is instructive to us.
- The Greek word can be simply defined as good news, but that does not help us.
- Let me tell you who might use this word in ancient Rome.
- On the battlefield, it was difficult to know when a battle was won.
- Soldiers could not simply turn on their iPhones and get the latest updates from Google!
- Soldiers were stationed at fixed positions, waiting for news from larger battles that might turn the proverbial tide and eventually determine victory.
- When someone brought “news of victory,” they brought the gospel message.
- The word “gospel” then, to a Graeco-Roman mind, was news of victory!
- A messenger would come and deliver this factual report, which would eventually spread to the entire regiment!
- The word represents a factual declaration of victory over the enemy.
- You might think that I am taking this too far in believing that there is a military insight to what Paul is saying? I’m not so sure.
• II Corinthians 2:14-16 : “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things?”
- Look at the picture here: Christ is leading us in triumph, just like Roman military captains would do. Roman citizens and sympathizers would smell the torches and incense of the Roman army and it would be the aroma of life! To the conquered ones, it would mean death to their way of life.
- The Gospel is not a debate or dissertation. It’s a declaration of victory over our enemies!
- When we think of the word “Gospel,” let us think then in these terms.
II. It’s Definition
• Romans 1:16,17 : “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. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.’"
- Notice the specificity. It’s the gospel of CHRIST!
- This point is very important. Allow me to illustrate why.
- I have witnessed conversations that went something like this:
- “Do you believe in God?” “No.” “Do you want God to come into your life and forgive your sins?” “Yes.” “Good, let’s pray.”
- At this point, whether I hear it on the radio, watch it on television, or see it in person, I turn from placid, joyful Frank to homicidal maniac! Something like the Incredible Hulk minus the roids!
- If you have ever led a conversation like this, let me tell you now that you have only pre-qualified your listener to become a demon, for James says that the demons believe in God and tremble!
- Everyone believes in God! Every heathen thanks Him when they win awards for Anti-Christ film or music!
- The Gospel is not the gospel of victory without the ultimate victor, Jesus Christ!
- Listen to the words of Peter in the book of Acts.
• Acts 4:9-12 : “If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
- Consider the words of Paul in the book of Corinthians.
• I Corinthians 1:2 : “To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:”
- Any gospel presentation that does not present the facts that Christ lived perfectly, died sacrificially, rose powerfully and lives eternally is an incomplete gospel declaration!
- Anything less lacks in what we see next.
III. It’s Dynamic
• Romans 1:16,17 : “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. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.’"
- It is the power. The Greek word is akin to our English word for “dynamite.”
- Notice something here: It is powerful! We do not make it powerful!
- It’s nature, it’s essence is explosive power.
- I believe that we think that we make this message worthy of belief by our persuasive arguments and smooth delivery. Wrong! The Gospel Of Christ, the message alone, contains an effective power.
- I think about this when I consider the story of Cornelius, the Roman centurion who was the first Gentile convert in the book of Acts.
- You remember the story. Peter is preaching to a group of Gentiles, likely a squad of Roman soldiers. He presents the facts and we read a great statement:
• Acts 10:44 : “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word.”
- This Greek word was also used in another way.
- When the early Greek pharmaceutical companies wanted to describe a medication, they would use this word to express it’s curative properties!
- The Gospel of Christ has curative power to save the sinner from the ultimate ill, namely his own sinful nature!
- The gospel of Christ has the power to transform lives, to deliver people from sin, to bring them into relationship with God.
- What can change a person? What can do a work when nothing else will? The Gospel of Christ!
- Do I give it power? No, you and I only present it!
- How does it bring the cure? When the person listening believes!
- The cure becomes effective when the person receives it into himself! The gospel, powerful and strong, then applies it’s power to that believing, receiving person.
- Rome was obsessed with power. Power to be seen in the might of the military. Power in the justice imposed upon criminals. They just had no power to be righteous before God!
- This, the gospel of Christ had power to affect.
- Righteousness, salvation is more than saving a sinner from hell. It is also very much the restoration of that sinner to a right relationship with God that was ruined when man fell into sin.
- The Gospel of Christ has the power to save and to heal!
IV. It’s Demographic
• Romans 1:16,17 : “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. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.’"
- This is an interesting comment. The Gospel is for the Jew first and then to the Greek.
- What is the significance of that?
- J. Vernon McGee clears this up when he says that the gospel came to the Jews first chronologically.
- The Bible tells us that the gospel was preached by Noah and understood by Abraham!
- The Jews carried the word of salvation in their very scriptures.
- Then, Jesus came to the Jews and revealed Himself as their Messiah.
- After they had rejected Him and after they had rejected Paul, the gospel went out to the Greek, which at this time had lost it’s racial significance and spoke about the Greek mindset, which was prevalent in the world at Paul’s time.
- It’s Paul’s way of writing that the gospel is for everyone!
- The Gospel of Christ is for the power broker in Washington in his power suit.
- And the Gospel of Christ is for the homeless man in San Bernardino.
- The Gospel of Christ is for our proud parents, as well as our small children.
- The Gospel of Christ is for Paris Hilton as well as Prince Harry!
- There is no person on Earth that the gospel call is not meant to save and transform.
V. It’s Destination
• Romans 1:16,17 : “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. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.’"
- Finally, the gospel lands all men who believe it at one destination: His righteousness.
- In it, the gospel, is the righteousness of God.
- Presented in the message of Christ is the message of God’s righteousness, Jesus.
- It is a righteousness presented to the world and received by faith.
- It is God, imparting righteousness to an otherwise unrighteous person, based on the action of Christ and the faith of that individual in Christ.
- It starts with a decision to believe in Jesus Christ and trust Him by faith.
- Then, that leads to a life, lived by faith in Christ, never wavering from the foundation of His righteousness on our behalf.
- It can never be that a man begins in faith and then continues on in works! It must be faith leading to faith, leading to faith.
- In two places in the New Testament, the Lord preserves a warning against such a position.
- Think of Paul’s words to the church of Galatia.
• Galatians 3:1-3 : “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?”
- Works, legalism, law keeping is NOT the destination of the believer.
- Think of the words of Christ, a person whose opinion truly matters, when He spoke to the church of Ephesus in Revelation.
- He commends them for great virtues for 2 verses, and then the hammer comes down in verse 4, when He says, “Nevertheless, I have this against you!”
- Insert big gulp! I don’t want Jesus to have anything against me!
- He tells them that they had left their first love. They had begun to define themselves by their work and deeds done for Jesus.
- This is a dangerous problem for Christians. I define my Christianity by this: Jesus is righteous and He is my Savior!
- Many people define their Christianity by what they don’t do. “I don’t listen to secular music,” “I don’t watch T.V.,” “I don’t sleep around.” This is their attempt at being righteous and they think that that does it for God.
- WRONG! Christ’s righteousness is the only sufficient stance before God the Father.
- Other Christians define their Christianity by what they do do, which is DOODOO to God!
- “I have witnessed to countless people,” “I’ve read the Bible faithfully,” “I’ve been charitable.”
- All good, but when we have anything that we think compels God to pronounce righteous over our lives, we have moved from faith in Christ’s righteousness to a faith centered in us!
- I am a pastor. Some think that that is the ticket in. When I get there and am asked why I might gain entrance, I have two words that I will utter: Christ’s Righteousness!
Conclusion
- What am I leading you to this morning? First, if you are ashamed of the gospel, confess your sinful attitude to God, and be proud of the gospel of Christ that saved you!
- Second, PREACH, PROCLAIM, PRESENT the Gospel at every opportunity. Don’t make excuses, don’t fall back! The point of this message today is to equip you for that work specifically. The method and timing is up to you, and that responsibility is yours!
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