Starting today let’s study the book of Romans.  An American alcoholic had been in the hospital for over 2 months, but he couldn’t get over his need for alcohol.  His therapy finished and he was released from the hospital.  On his way home he went past a drinking bar. The strong temptation to drink came over him and it began to control him. However, right next to the bar was a “Milk Viking Bar”, all the milk you can drink for $2.30.  He went into the milk bar and drank milk until he could hold no more.  When he went in front of the drinking bar he had no problem going past it because he no longer had any temptation to drink.  That was because his stomach was already full of milk.

              This is the theme of Romans.  By being full of not milk, but the Gospel of God, we are victorious. 

Galatians 5:16

The key to being victorious over the flesh is to be filled with the Holy Spirit.  Today let’s look at when Christians are overcome by temptation, by the flesh sometimes we fall powerlessly.  However, the Gospel of God is the key to us being victorious.

Ｒｏｍａｎs 1:16

We can walk in the will of God by understanding this Gospel, being changed by this Gospel, and living by this Gospel.  Today let’s look at 3 aspects of this Gospel.

      

I.                Called and set apart for the gospel of God  (vs. 1)

First let’s look at Paul’s feelings about his calling. Paul wrote 13 letters that are contained in the New Testament.  This letter to the Romans is unique from the other letters.  All the other letters were sent to churches that either Paul or one of Paul’s disciples had evangelized at and established. Only this letter to the Romans is different.  The Roman church had already been established.  Probably some people that had been saved at Pentecost returned to Rome, evangelized and established the church there.  The reason that Paul sent a letter to this Roman church that he was not close to was because he wanted to make Rome a base location from which he could evangelize to the west. He wanted to evangelize as far as Spain.  However, now when Paul was writing this letter he couldn’t do that. This letter was written when Paul was on his third mission trip while he was staying 3 months in Corinth.  After that he had to return to Jerusalem with the offerings from Macedonia. He sent a female disciple named Phoebe, who was a servant of the church in Cenchrea, to Rome (16:1), possibly bearing the Roman letter.  Cenchrea is the seaport of Corinth. He sent the letter because that’s how much he wanted the Roman church to understand the Gospel correctly, and he wanted them to stand strongly in the Gospel.  At the beginning of the letter Paul introduces himself as “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God.” (1) 

This is an unusual way of introducing yourself.  If you were writing a letter to someone that you had never met, would you introduce yourself this way?  Here Paul is giving his strong thinking and assurance. That is that he had assurance that he was chosen, called and his purpose for living was to preach the Gospel. That’s why he was able to say in Acts 20:24  “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me-the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace. ”This was the source of his dedication.

Why are you here in this world?  Were you born out of chance with no purpose, and no meaning?  No, God does nothing by chance. God knows even when one sparrow falls to the ground.  It is said that we have over 200,000 hairs on our head, but God knows the exact number of hairs each of us have.  God has a purpose and a plan for each of our lives.  The purpose God has for us is to share the Gospel. It is the Lord’s will that we testify to the Gospel. All those who believe in Christ are saved but the reason that we are on this earth is for the purpose of sharing the Gospel. Those who are strongly holding on to that purpose, no matter what temptation confronts them, they are never shaken. Also they have assurance and can dedicate their lives to Christ.  Being conscious of that purpose gives the person a purpose for living.

Last year more than 30,000 people committed suicide in Japan. For the last 10 years over 30,000 people have committed suicide every year.   If you included those who are considering suicide, the number would be very, very huge.  The reason so many people commit suicide is because they don’t know their purpose for living.  The clearer a person’s purpose for living the more joy and feeling of calling he has.  A person who commits suicide feels that life has no meaning and it is in vain. A feeling of uselessness even though it doesn’t soon kill the person, day by day it eats              the person up.  On the other end, a person that is conscious of his purpose is given life, and is a strong person.

Paul had assurance that he was “called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God.” (1) He had a clear conscious of his purpose.  That was the source of his power of living.  He had such a feeling about his calling so he was dedicated to God and willing to give up all for the Gospel. We are the same. We have been called and set apart for the Gospel. When we realize that that is why we are here, we will be dedicated to give up all for the Gospel.

II.          The Gospel is Jesus Christ (vs. 2-4)

Next let’s look at what the Gospel is, the contents of the Gospel.  After Paul introduced himself he should have written who the letter was to, to all the believers in Rome. In other words, he should have progressed to verse 7.  However, he sort of got off the road and jumped into the central theme of this letter, God’s Gospel.  He probably wanted to talk about this so much that he couldn’t wait.   People say what is in their mind.  People who always talk about food are always thinking about food.  People think in their head and talk about what is in their heart.  I am always thinking about the church 24 hours a day so I am always talking about the church.  What Paul thought about, and was thinking about was God’s kingdom.   He was always thinking only about the Gospel so between his self introduction and writing to whom he was addressing, he strayed off the road.  That is how much his heart was caught up in the Gospel.  However, here he didn’t write everything he had to say.  It was like hors d’oeuvres before a meal.  It was to get you ready and expectant for the full course.

Let’s look at these hors d’oeuvres. The Gospel was “promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures” (2), the Old Testament.  It was about “his Son.” (3)  His Son on earth, or with regard to his human nature, “was a descendant of David, and who the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead.” (4)  Jesus was born as the Old Testament prophets prophesized he would as “a descendant of David”. (3) He was born as was “promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures” (2), the Old Testament. In other words, He is the real Savior.  Not only that, but by “the Spirit of holiness” (4) He was resurrected from the dead. He was “appointed the Son of God in power” (4, NIV 2010 edition)  He “was declared with power to be the Son of God” (4,NIV 1984 edition) The word “appointed” or “declared” is “horizon” in Greek meaning “to define; to mark out the boundaries or limits; to determine, appoint”  In other words, it was the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead that marked off the boundaries showing that He was indeed the Son of God.

Acts 2:24

In other words, Jesus was born just the way the Messiah was prophesized to be born.  Jesus’ resurrection from the dead shows us clearly that He is the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ.  Through Jesus Christ our sins are forgiven and we can live with joy and thankfulness. This is the Gospel.  Jesus Christ is the Gospel.

              The Gospel is definitely not an idea or an ideology.  It is a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. It is only by being strongly tied to Jesus Christ that we can have an abundant life. Without such a relationship, we can not call it the Gospel.  The Gospel that Paul believed in was such Gospel that he had experienced, a certain power, it had life.   That is why he said in verse 16 The Gospel “is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes; first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.”  The Gospel is power.

              When Jesus was in Caesarea Philippi He asked his disciples, “Who do the people say the Son of Man is?” (Matt. 16:13) The disciples answered that there were many ideas like John the Baptist, or Elijah, or Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.  Then Jesus asked them about themselves, “Who do you say I am?” (Matt. 16:15)  He wanted them to make a confession of faith for themselves.  Then one of Jesus’ disciples, Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” (Matt. 16:16) Then Jesus praised Peter, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah” (Matt. 16:17) Jesus isn’t asking what other people say.  He wants to know what you say.  He wants to hear your confession.    

              However, we tend to not make our own confessions.  We talk about what others say about Christ. We talk about the answers to prayer that other people have experienced.  This is not preaching the Gospel.  Preaching the Gospel is testifying to what you yourself have seen, heard, and experienced. We have to be able to clearly state that “Jesus is power.” “The cross is the power of salvation.” “Prayers will definitely be answered.” “Jesus is our only hope.” And etc. You have to have the testimony and your own faith to say so.  You have to be able to testify to Jesus whom you believe in, the Gospel that you believe in, and the Gospel that you have experienced. This is the source of strength.  The Gospel has power so if you only read the Bible to someone, there is  great power. However, more powerful is to testify about the Word of God that you are actually experiencing.  The Gospel is Jesus Christ, not an idea, but power. 

III.         By Christ (vs. 5-7)

Lastly, let’s look at the purpose and how Paul shared the Gospel with the Roman church.  Paul while giving his introduction, got off the road and mentioned a little about the Gospel, but skillfully returned back to writing the letter and moves from who the letter is from to whom he is sending the letter to.  He ties together the essence of the Gospel, Jesus Christ, that he has just introduced and talked about with his calling to be an apostle by Jesus Christ.  Here is says “we received grace and apostleship” (5) This means the grace or favor of the apostolic office.   Paul often speaks of the office of the apostleship as a matter of special favor. Paul is saying that he received this honorable office of the apostleship from the Gospel itself, Jesus Christ.  He received the office of apostleship so that he could call all peoples “to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake.” (5)  “the obedience that comes from faith” (5) in Greek is written “Faith, in other words, obedience towards God”   Therefore, “the obedience that comes from faith” (5) means the contents of faith is following God whom you have faith in. Paul was given the grace of the office of apostleship so that all peoples could believe in this Gospel, and by receiving that salvation that God had prepared, they could live a life of following God.  That is not only Paul, but “you also” (6). In other words, the Roman Christians were the same.  We are the same too.  That’s because we too have been called by Jesus Christ.  We too are loved and called by God and like Paul we must call all peoples “to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake.” (5) We can do this “through him”. (5)  “Him” is Jesus Christ, the Gospel itself. Through the Gospel we can call all peoples “to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake.” (5)  It is definitely not by human strength or policy.

In Nehemiah 8 when the Jews that had been taken captive to Babylon returned to Jerusalem, Nehemiah ordered the scholar Ezra to bring the law of Moses with them.  Ezra read it at the square in front of the Water Gate where all the people came together “from daybreak till noon”. (Nehemiah 8:3)  As a result a revolution in the Israelite faith occurred: the feast of Tabernacles which had disappeared was reinstated, marriages with Gentiles were abandoned, there was a movement to follow the Sabbath, and everyone began “to give a third of a shekel every year for the service of the house of our God.” (Nehemiah 10:32)   This was the “Watergate” revival. (Joke)  This was brought about by Israel returning to God’s Word and decisively standing upon the Word of God.

This can be seen in Acts in the first church too.  For example, in Acts 19 when Paul evangelized in Ephesus, as soon a Paul shared the Word of God, the people who practiced sorcery brought their sorcery books and burned them.  Their value was worth 50,000 silver coins, about 3,000,000 yen.  They did this because they heard the Word of God, and understood it.  When we really understand the Word of God, then naturally our behavior is going to change.

The revival in 1903 in Whales was the same.  When there was a        awakening towards God’s word, the theaters and bars began closing their doors.  Also the factory workers that had stolen things came and returned them.  Soon there was a mountain of returned stolen goods.   This happened because the owners who abused the workers by whips after receiving the grace of God had deep mercy.  There were even some owners who embraced their donkey and shed tears.   When a person’s insides are changed by the Word of God, society also is revolutionized.

The revival that occurred in Pyongyang in present North Korea in 1907 was the same.  The believers that had be awakened by the Word of God all rested from their work on Sunday. The believers who were 10% of the population closed their shops so all of Pyongyang started taking the day off every Sunday.  When 10% of the population becomes Christian, it makes a huge influence on all of society.

Up until now we have had to persevere.  Now less than 1% of the population is Christian in Japan.   However, when it gets to be 10% it will become a huge wave of revolution in society.  The key is the essentials of faith, God’s Gospel.  We need to return to the Gospel and continue to stand decisively on the Gospel.  There is no other way.  It certainly can’t be done by human methods or programs.

A wild pig’s favorite food is acorns. Wild pigs love acorns and get stuck on them.  However, wild pigs aren’t smart so when the acorns are gone, they think that the acorns come from the ground and start turning up the ground.  However, acorns don’t come from the ground.  They fall out of trees and fall from above.

Col. 3:1,2

The best way is not kicking the dirt around, but set our hearts on things above. “set your hearts on things above.” (Col. 3:1)    That is what God wants us to do.

May this year be such a year for us.  “By Christ”  “By the Gospel of God” may your hearts be sifted.  May you always return to the Word of God, and receive grace and strength from it, and fulfill the wonderful commission. May this church stand decisively on the Gospel and be a church that by the grace and strength of Christ moves forward.