03-21-10 The 4 Crucial Questions

We are entering into a study

of the book of Romans.

Last week we spent our time

looking at some background concepts

and some introductory ideas

to help set our mental approach to the book.

Today I want us to return to something I started last week

but never finished.

I mentioned

that Paul’s letter to the Roman Christians

was written by him

to provide the answers

to 4 crucial questions,

4 questions that demanded answers

as the message of Christ

was being introduced into the world.

Paul’s letter to the Romans

is in many respects unique

when compared to all the rest of Paul’s writings.

If you have any personal knowledge

of Paul’s other letters

you know the way in which those letters

are filled with deeply personal exchanges between Paul and his readers.

The book of Philippians is an excellent example.

Throughout that letter he talks with them

about what’s happening in their lives,

and what’s happening in his.

He talks about their mutual friends,

and about experiences they have shared together.

In other words,

it’s a deeply personal communication

between the writer and the readers.

Most of Paul’s writings are that way.

But the book of Romans is unique

in that apart from a brief personal greeting at the beginning and the end of the letter,

there’s not one personal reference to Rome or the Roman Christians

throughout the entire letter.

We now have this book preserved for us

as it was addressed to the Romans.

But I believe Paul wrote the document

most of all as his concise summery statement of the Christian message,

in much the same way

as we would write a tract

or a booklet today.

It was a document he would want to leave behind

with every group of believers he contacted

so that they would understand

the fundamentals of this Christian message.

And in this document he offered the answers

to the four questions that had to be answered

for anyone who was looking seriously at the message of Christ.

And before I share those questions with you,

let me just remind you of what the religious scene looked like at the time of Christ.

Within the Roman Empire

there existed the entire spectrum

of religious diversity.

Whatever you wanted you could find.

There were Greek gods,

and Roman gods,

and the cherished deities

of every people group under the control of Rome.

There were temples built to some gods

in which the ‟worship service” involved having sex with one of the temple prostitutes.

I would imagine those religions

had especially strong followings

among certain aspects of the adult male population.

There were other groups who believed

the key to happiness could be found

in catering to every physical impulse and desire the human body offered,

and there were still other groups

who believed that the path to truth

could be found only through

total denial of all fleshly impulses.

And then, of course,

there was the nation of Israel

with their proclamation of a single,

all-powerful Deity

who had selected them, and them alone as His chosen people,

and then gifted them with His divine revelation of truth.

And then, onto this diverse and chaotic religious landscape

came a small but deeply passionate and committed group of people

proclaiming yet another deity.

This One was a Jew by the name of Jesus,

a Jew who claimed to be the Son of God.

He was executed in a joint effort by the Jewish religious rulers and the Roman government

because of the disruption He was causing throughout Israel,

but His followers were now reporting

that this same Jesus

rose from the dead

three days following His execution.

Now, from a strictly human point of view

this rather strange little off-shoot of Judaism

shouldn’t have had any hope

of even the smallest amount of significant success

as it entered the already cluttered religious arena.

And it wouldn’t have

except for three things.

First of all, with all of those religions floating around,

none of them were filling the God-shaped vacuum

within the lives of their followers.

We are created beings

with an emptiness within us

that only our Creator can fill.

Everything and everyone else in the religious marketplace

was offering people guidance in how they could or should reach up to God.

But all of them were like ladders

propped up against a concrete wall

offering people a way

to reach the moon.

Even if you climbed to the very top

of the highest ladder there,

when you reached the top rung

there was still an infinite chasm

between yourself and your God.

But when Jesus Christ entered human history

He did not come telling people

how they could reach up to God.

He came as God reaching out to us.

There was no way we could ever get to Him,

so He came to us.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...

John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him...

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

And just a little side comment here -

one of the big breakthroughs

in my early Christian life

came when I finally realized that

the only thing that has the power

to fully satisfy the human spirit

is the truth,

which means that,

whenever I am talking with a person

who is not a true Christian,

I know I am talking with a person

who has deep unmet needs within them.

Our hunger for God,

and for His love,

and for His forgiveness

cannot be satisfied by anything else on earth.

No matter how many human relationships

we try to cram into that void,

we still feel empty.

No matter how many things,

or how much success,

or how much travel,

or how much excitement,

or how much affirmation and praise from others we try to pour into the void,

it still remains.

And it helps me to remember

that, no matter what kind of external facade we try to hide behind,

without Christ in our lives,

under the facade there is always

an emptiness and a void

that only God Himself can fill.

Second, the message of Christ in the first century

had such an impact on the world

because the overwhelming evidence

confirmed that this Jesus really did rise from the dead.

Paul said simply,

(He) was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord...(Rom. 1:4)

And, as the enemies of the message of Christ

attempted to destroy the early church

through executing the followers of Christ,

they discovered to their utter frustration

that the threat of death

had no power over the early Christians.

They had seen their Lord alive after His execution.

They had heard His promise

that they, too, would be raised from the dead,

and the enemies of the Church

discovered to their own terror

that it was impossible to kill those who believed they would never die.

The threat of death was no threat

because the early Christians had seen beyond the grave

and what they saw was glorious beyond measure.

Then He said to Thomas, "Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing." Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed." Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.

John 20:27-31

And that life He offered them

was a life that began here and now

and literally stretched on throughout eternity.

Church tradition tells us that Andrew,

one of the first 12 disciples,

and the younger brother of Simon Peter,

so enraged the political leaders

with his preaching of the message of Christ

that he was ordered to join in a sacrificial offering to the heathen gods.

When he refused

he was severely beaten

and then executed by crucifixion.

But to make his crucifixion last longer

he was fastened to the cross

not with nails,

but with chords.

For the two days it took for him to die

he hung on the cross,

praising God,

and encouraging the spectators to come to Christ.

Now, how in the world do you go about defeating a message

that creates that kind of fierce loyalty in its followers?

And third, the truth of Christ flourished

because it was (and is) the work of God Himself.

What the men and women in the early church

were offering to their world

wasn’t just one more man-made religion

proclaiming yet another ladder

to get people to the moon.

It was the truth of God Himself,

being fueled by the Spirit of God

as He worked in the hearts of those who were open to Him.

And none of this has changed, of course.

There are some of you sitting here this morning

who came to this fellowship

with little more than a casual desire

to hear some interesting ideas

about the Bible and Christianity.

But something has been happening inside you,

something you did not expect,

something you don’t really understand.

You are discovering within yourself

a hunger you didn’t even know was there.

And it’s not just a hunger for more knowledge.

It is a hunger for something much deeper.

From my own personal experience

I can tell you what it is,

and I can tell you why it’s there.

It is a hunger for God Himself.

And it is there because the Spirit of God is working within you,

drawing you to Himself.

It has nothing to do

with any kind of persuasive manipulation technique I’m using.

It is something that God is sovereignly and miraculously accomplishing in your life.

Don’t be afraid of that hunger.

Don’t try to run away from it.

I promise you...GOD promises you -

what you long for most of all

you can and you will find

in the arms of your Creator.

That is what it’s all about, you know...

that is why we are here - to find our way back to our God,

and in Him to find our reason for this life we live each day.

Now back to those 4 questions...

As the message of Christ began to spread,

four crucial questions

were undoubtedly asked repeatedly,

questions that needed answers.

The first of those questions was this -

why was it necessary for Christ to come and to die as He did?

And it was His death, of course,

that formed the heart of the question.

The fact that God would take on human form

in order to reveal Himself to His creation

was, at least at some level, understandable.

But why was it then necessary

for Him to allow His own creation

to kill Him as we did?

In different forms

this same question continues to be asked today.

A number of years ago the CBS TV show ‟60 Minutes”

advertised an interview

with an Episcopal Bishop

who claimed he disliked religious people.

He sounded like my kind of guy

so I watched the interview.

But when I watched it I discovered

that he not only didn’t like religious people,

he also didn’t like Christianity.

He was on a life-long crusade

to free people from what he viewed

as the restrictive

and destructive teachings of the church.

At one point in the interview

he said he really could have no respect for a God

who would nail His own Son to a cross

and then who turns around and demands

that everyone who comes to Him

must do so on their knees.

Now, in his own twisted way

this sad little man was asking the same question Paul was answering in the first part of Romans-

why did Christ have to die as He did?

By the way, when I heard that interview

I remembered that a number of years earlier

I had read some of the writings of this fellow.

He was raised in a strong Christian home,

but his father died when this bishop was still in his early adolescence.

As I read his comments about that time in his life,

it was clear to me that he blamed God

for taking his daddy away from him.

In my mind I could see this thirteen year old boy

shaking his little fist at his Creator,

demanding an answer for the pain and loss he was suffering.

And as I listened to that interview on 60 Minutes

I could hear that same little boy

now housed inside a 60 year old body,

still angry at God.

If God took his daddy away,

then he would devote his life

to taking as many of God’s children away from their faith in their heavenly Father as possible.

We live in a world that is saturated

in the consequences of 6000 years of man’s evil and rebellion against God.

Every one of us will experience both suffering and loss

as a result of that evil.

And every one of us must decide

whether we will blame God for that evil,

and for the pain it causes us,

or whether we will take that evil

and place it into His hands,

and allow Him to reshape it into good in our lives.

And that is what He does, you know,

whenever we bring our pain to Him.

He doesn’t just remove it,

He reshapes it into good in our lives,

good that would never have existed had we not hurt.

Isa 61:3 To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.

But back to Romans...

The first question Paul answers

in the book of Romans

is, “Why did Christ have to come and die as He did?”

He answers that question

in Romans 1:18-3:20.

And I need to prepare you for the way he answers that question.

What he does in those two and a half chapters

is to show us exactly what our world

and our relationship with God looks like without Christ.

The only way to understand why Christ needed to do what He did

is to see what the human race looks like without Christ.

And with perfect,

powerful,

precise logic he describes for us

our options apart from Christ.

And the result is dismal,

depressing,

and drenched in despair.

If the only passage of the Bible we had

was Romans 1:18-3:20,

and if we were to read it honestly,

it would created within each of us

an agonizing sense of hopelessness.

Because, apart from Christ,

that is all there is - hopelessness.

Then, in Romans 3:21 through the end of chapter 8

Paul answers the second major question:

What is a Christian?

What does it mean for a person to live with God on the basis of faith in Christ?

What are the basics of this new agreement offered to us through Christ?

It is a powerful section of the book

in which Paul offers us

all the basic principles

of a grace-based life with God.

And just to whet your appetite,

I’ll read you the opening and closing statements of this section.

It begins in 3:21 by Paul saying,

Rom. 3:21 But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been revealed, ...even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe...

But now apart from the Law...!!!!!

And the section ends with Paul saying,

Rom. 8:38-39 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The third question Paul answers with the Book of Romans

is one we would be less likely to ask

because most of us are not from a Jewish heritage.

But it is a question that I guarantee will fascinate us when we get to it

because it is the key passage in all the Bible

dealing with the relationship between

the sovereign will of God

and the free will of man.

The question being answered in this section is,

given the fact that God has now established a new work through His church,

a work that draws people from

every tribe, and nation, and people group in the world,

what now happens with the Jews?

Are they no longer God’s chosen people?

If they are, then what does that mean

in the context God’s work through the church?

And Paul answers that question

in Romans chapters 9, 10, and 11.

And then the final question dealt with in the book of Romans

is answered in chapters 12 through 15.

It is the question, ‟What is the church and how does it operate?”

And in that section Paul offers

the 6 key principles for New Testament church life.

That’s where we’re going in the weeks ahead.

And for those of you who like to see it all in detail,

along with our notes for this morning

I’ve included a one-time offer

of my own verse-by-verse outline for the entire book.

You may find it of value in your own personal study of the book of Romans.

ROMANS OUTLINE

I. Romans 1:1-17, Introduction

II. Romans 1:18-3:20 Why was Christ needed? Life under the law covenant.

Key verses Rom. 3:19-20

A. 1:18-2:61 The need for the law

1. 1:18-23 current world condition

a. 1:18 we are under the wrath of God

b. :19-23 explains why

c. 1:24-2:11 explains how - two phases of Cod's wrath

1) 1:24-32 present phase: God gives us over to impurity, degrading, passions, depraved mind.

2)2:1-11 future phase: the day of wrath to come.

B. 2:12-3:20 The Law: God's basis for righteous judgement

1. 2:12-16 Basis of Gentile judgement

2. 2:17-29 Basis of Jewish Judgement

3. 3:1-18 Some critical questions answered

4. 3:19-20 purpose of the law - summery statement

III. Romans 3:21-8:39, What is a Christian? The new agreement in Christ.

A. 3:21-31 The New agreement

1. 3:21 two witnesses to the new agreement

2. 3:22-24 the New agreement stated

3. 3:25-26 How the new agreement operates

4. 3:27-28 relationship of works to the new agreement

5. 3:29-30 who qualifies for the new agreement

6. 3:31 concluding; statement

B. Romans 4:1-25 The New agreement illustrated in Old Testament

1. 4:l-8 Abraham and David show salvation by faith

2. 4:9-16 Abraham shows salvation my faith is for Jew and Gentile

3. 4:17-25 Abraham shows that salvation by faith has power to bring life from death

C. Rom. 5:1-11 Eight gifts Given to those who share in the new agreement

1. 5:1 Peace with God

2. 5:2 Introduction into the Grace Foundation

3. 5:2 Now exult in hope of the Glory of God

4. 5:3-4 Exult in tribulation process

5. 5:5 God’s Love Revealed

6. 5:5 the gift of the Holy Spirit

7. 5:6-10 saved from the wrath to come

8. 3:16 Exult in God

D. Romans 5:12-21 New and Old Agreements contrasted: Adam v/s Christ

1. 5:12-14 The 1st Adam's failure

2. 3:15-21 The 2nd Adam's success

E. Romans 6:1-7:6 Two critical concepts

1. 6:1-11 Our resurrection to new life

a. 6:1-3 baptism into Christ

b. 6:4-7 died to sin

c. 6:8-11 resurrected to new life in Christ

2. 6:12-7:6 Living under Grace v/s living under law

a. 6:12-14 Now we can choose

b. 6:15-23 the slavery principle

c. 7:1-4 law and grace illustrated

d. 7:5-6 the law of sin and of death

F. 7:7-8:11 The battle we face: new spirit v/s misprogrammed body

1. 7:7-14 the law and sin

2. 7:15-21 the rude awakening - rebellion in my members

3. 7:22-23 the problem clarified: a spirit submitted, a body not

4.8:1-11 How to handle the problem

a. 8:1-4 there is now no condemnation from God

b. 8:5-8 the Christian spirit and nonchristian spirit contrasted

c. 8:9-10 the Christian spirit defined

d. 8:11 the certain hope

G. 8:12-39 Summery statement: What is a Christian?

1. 8:12-17 The family likeness: 5 characteristics of the Christian

a. 8:12-13 by the Spirit he is putting to death deeds of body

b. 8:14 he is Being led by the Holy Spirit

c. 8:15-16 he has the spirit of adoption

d. 8:17 he is an heir of God, joint heir with Christ

e. 8:17 he suffers with Christ

2. 8:18-30 Living with the family likeness: 5 supports for suffering

a. 8:18 our future glory will surpass present suffering

b. 8:19-22 this abnormal world will be put back right

c. 8:23-25 your body's rebellion will end

d. 8:26-27 The Holy Spirit helps us in prayer

e. 8:28-30 God works all things together for my character growth

3. 8:31-39 The Family’s Father: 5 doubts forever dispelled

a. 8:31 God is for us, stands with us, fights on our behalf

b. 8:32 He gave His Son for us and will thus supply all other needs

c. 8:33 No one can bring a charge against God's elect

d. 8:33-34 God has justified us, no one can condemn us

e. 8:33-39 No created thing shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus

IV. Romans 9:1-11:36 What happens with the Jews now that God has established the Church? Key verses 11:30-32

A. 9:1-33 The role of God's will in Israel's salvation

1. 9:1-5 Paul's concern for Israel

2. 9:6 God is faithful to His promises

3. 9:7-13 The true Israel is by promise, not blood descent

4. 9:14-18 God is sovereign in His promises and choices

5: 9:19-29 His sovereignty defended

6. 9:30-33 results

B. Romans 10:1-22 the role of man's will in God's salvation: why Israel has become a vessel of wrath

1. 10:1-3 Israel's ignorant zeal

2. 10:4-13 the needed knowledge

3. 10:14-15 God's media for the needed knowledge

4. 10:16-21 Israel's rejection of the needed knowledge: the cause for their being a vessel of wrath

C. Romans 11:1-36 God's ultimate plan of acceptance for Israel

1. 11:1-2 God has not rejected Israel

2. 11:3-6 the remnant

3. 11:7-10 the hardening

4. 11:11-16 the Gentiles

5. 11:17-24 the illustration

6. 11:25-29 the fulfillment

7. 11:30-32 the purpose

8. 11:33-36 the benediction

V. Romans 12:1-15:13 What is the Church and how does it operate? The six key principles for New Testament Church life. Key verses Rom. 12:1-2

A. 12:1-2 Principle #1: The Battle we face - bringing the body under the leadership of the spirit.

B. Romans 12:3-21 Principle #2: the Body of Christ and spiritual gifts,

1. 12:3-5 two necessary attitudes

a. 12:3 your gift doesn’t make you more or less important in the Body

b. 12:4-5 Each Christian needs the other members of the Body

2. 12:6-8 The Gifts explained

a. 12:6-7 two major categories of ministries (note I Pet 4:10-11)

1. 12:6 prophecy - speaking ministry

2. 12:7 service - serving ministry

b. 12:7-8 five motivational gifts

1. 22:7 teaching

2, 12:8 exhortation

3. 12:8 giving

4. 12:8 ruling/leading

5. 12:8 showing mercy

3. 12:9-21 Practical guidelines for use of the gifts

C. Romans 13:1-7 Principle #3 The Church and Human Authority

1. 13:1 The Command: be in subjection to governing authorities

2. 13:1-5 five statements of explanation

a. 13:1 no authority except from God

b. 13:1 authorities which exist are established by God

c. 13:2 to resist human authority 1s to resist ordinance of God

d. 13:4 human authority is a minister of God for good

e. 13:5 necessary to be in subjection for two reasons

1. avoid sharing in the wrath disobedience brings

2. for conscience sake

3. 13:6-7 An illustration - Pay your taxes

D. Romans 13:8-10 Principle #4: the law we are under - the law of love

1. 13:8 the command to love

2. 13:9-10 the explanation: goal of commandments is to restore right relationships

E. Rom. 13:11-14 Principle #5: the enemy we face and how to fight him

1. 13:11 A proper perspective

2. 13:22 the basis for change - a new world coming

3. 13:13 the enemy we fight: the deeds of darkness

4. 13:14 two keys to victory

a. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ - grow in that relationship

b. make no provision far the flesh.

F. Romans 14:1-15:13 Principle #6:Use and abuse of Christian freedom

1. 14:1-12 weakness and strength in Christianity

a. 14:1 the principle: accept the weaker brother

b. 14:2-3 Illustration #1: meat v/s no meat

c. 14:4 Illustration. #2 don't judge another man's servant

d. 14:5 Illustration. #3: special days v/s no special days

e. 14:6-12 our accountability is to God, not one another

2. 14:13-23 Principles governing use of Christian freedom

a. 14:13 Key principle: don't put an obstacle in a brother’s way

b. 14:14 why our lists differ: because areas of weakness differ

c. 14:25-18 the greater issue - not who is right, but do we relate in love

d. 14:19-21 the healthy approach to other Christians' lists

1. pursue peace

2. seek to build up one another

e. 14:22-23 the healthy approach to our own lists

1. 14:22a Accept and hold to the list God has given you

2. 14:22b accept and enjoy the freedom God has given you

3. 14:23 The attitude, not the action determines sin.

3. 15:1-13 concluding comments an Christian freedom

a. 15:1-2 the strong bear the burden

b. 15:-3-4 two sources of encouragement: Christ and Scriptures

c. 15:5-7 final plea for unity

d. 15:8-12 sources of encouragement illustrated

e. 15:13 Benediction

VI. Romans 15:14-16:27 concluding comments and greetings

A. 15:14-21 Paul's Reasons for writing

1. 15:14 Paul's confidence in Romans

2. 15:15-21 Paul’s three-fold responsibility

a. 15:15-16 to remind them again

b. 15:17-19 to boast in things of God

c. 15:20-21 to preach in new regions

B. 15:22-33 Paul's traveling plans

1. 22-24 future plans to visit Rome

2. 25-29 immediate plans to visit Jerusalem

3. 30-33 plea for prayer concerning Jerusalem

C. 16:1-23 comments concerning people

1. 16:1-16 greetings to those in Rome

2. 16:17-20 warning against false teachers

3. 3.6:21.-23 greetings from those with Paul

D. 16:25-27 Final benediction