A Journey Through Romans 1
Our Obligation
Romans 1:1-17
March 18, 2007
Most of you might not recognize the name Robert the Bruce. His character was in the Mel Gibson’s movie Braveheart!. Robert the Bruce was the Scottish noble whose character is most remembered for betraying Wallace, but he later rose up to lead Scotland to freedom after Walllace’s execution.
He died in 1329 at the age of fifty-four. History and legend teach that shortly before his death, Robert the Bruce requested that his heart be removed from his body and taken on crusade by a worthy knight. James Douglas, one of his closest friends, was at his bedside and took on the responsibility. The heart of Robert the Bruce was embalmed and placed in a small container that Douglas carried around his neck. In every battle that Douglas fought, he literally carried the heart of his king pressed against his chest.
In the early spring of 1330, Douglas sailed from Scotland to Granada, Spain, and engaged in a campaign against the Moors. In an ill-fated battle, Douglas found himself surrounded, and in this situation death was both certain and imminent. In that moment Douglas reached for the heart strapped around his neck, flung the heart into the enemy’s midst, and cried out, “Fight for the heart of your king!” One historian quoted Douglas shouting, “Forward, brave heart, as ever thou were wont to do, and Douglas will follow his king’s heart or die!” The motto of the Douglas clan to which the present duke belongs is even to this day simply, “Forward.”
I really used to believe that the one person that I wanted to meet from Scripture was John. After all, who wouldn’t want to meet John? He was the apostle that Jesus loved.
However, after digging deeper into Scripture that one person that I would love to meet is Paul.
Why? You say! Paul is the one person from Scripture that you really see fighting for the heart of his king.
You know who Paul’s king is, don’t you? Paul’s king is God!
- God the Father
- God the Son
- God the Holy Spirit
And if there was and is one thing that is on the heart of God it is the fact that God wants His people at home in heaven with Him.
You may be familiar with 2nd Peter 3:9:
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
The heart of God is that everyone comes to repentance. Then there is the statement from Jesus Himself, letting us know what He came to the earth to accomplish. When talking to Zacchaeus Jesus said:
Luke 19:10
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.
The heart of God is for His people to be in heaven. So that takes us back to the life of Paul. The Bible speaks of David being a man after God’s own heart. I also believe that Paul was that man as well.
There are a lot of verses that are worthy of pointing out this fact in the life of Paul, but listen to what he said of himself found in Acts 20:24:
I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.
So Paul made it his lifelong goal to fight for the heart of his king. He did that by preaching and writing most of the books that we have in the New Testament. Over the next few weeks we are going to discuss probably the most important book that Paul wrote. The book of Romans!
The theme of the book of Romans is Grace + Faith = Justification (Salvation)
The book of Romans is truly a special book. It has been said by many that if the book of Romans were the only book of the New Testament it would be sufficient for us to understand what God expects of us.
Listen to what the great reformer Martin Luther wrote about the book of Romans.
“This epistle is really the chief part of the New Testament, and is truly the purest gospel. It is worthy not only that every Christian should know it word for word, by heart, but also that he should occupy himself with it every day, as the daily bread of the soul. We can never read it or ponder over it too much; for the more we deal with it, the more precious it becomes and the better it tastes.”
While I agree on the fact that the book of Romans is truly an important book, I don’t want to go as far as saying that it is the only book that we need. After all, the book this great commandment is not found in the book of Romans: Matthew 22:37-39
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: `Love your neighbor as yourself.’
With all of that being said, let’s dig into the book of Romans.
Romans 1:1-17
Read 1-13
In the beginning of this book Paul opens up with his credentials.
- Servant of Christ Jesus
- Called to be an apostle
- Called to call the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.
- He also open up praising them for their faith that being reported all over the world.
I read all of those verse because I wanted us to see a couple of things.
One, Paul wanted to go and visit the Roman church. The origin of this church is not known for sure. Many believe that this church was started by Roman Jews who had traveled back to Rome after the Pentecost in which there were 3000 and more baptized. Others believe that this church was started by people who moved into Rome from other areas in which Paul had planted churches.
Here is the significant side point that I would like for everyone to see. Paul wanted to go to Rome to impart spiritual gifts to the people there so that they would be a mutual encouragement to one another. Our Roman Catholic friends will teach us that Peter was the first Bishop of Rome. If that were the case, why would Paul need to go there and impart spiritual gifts to the Roman Christians?
However, the main point I want for us to see here this morning is found in verses 14-17. In these verses we see a man who is fighting for the heart of his king.
Keep Your Bibles Opened Up There!
Those first three words are what I would like to concentrate on this morning. “I am obligated”. What was it that Paul was obligated to do? He was obligated to preach Jesus Christ. He was obligated to fight for the heart of his king.
You say, “What is so amazing about that? So what, He was a preacher, that’s what he supposed to do.”
Why? Why was Paul obligated to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ? This the question I would like for us to spend the rest of our time together this morning answering. And what does Paul’s obligation have to do with us?
Paul was obligated…
1. Because of his forgiveness in Christ!
You may be familiar with the story of Saul.
Saul was Paul before Paul met Jesus Christ. And Saul was trained by Gamaliel who was the most respected teacher of the Law in Israel. As a matter of fact Gamaliel was given the title “The Beauty of the Law”. The Talmud later wrote of Gamaliel, “Since Rabbi Gamaliel died the glory of the Law has ceased.”
This was the man who trained Paul to observe the Law of Moses through strict observance. This meant not only observing the Law completely for himself; it meant persecuting everyone who didn’t observe the Law completely.
Naturally this made Paul an enemy of the cause of Christ.
As a matter of fact the first time that we are introduced to Saul is when he is standing in approval of the stoning death of Stephen. It is hard to say for sure, but I would be willing to bet that Stephen was not the only death that Paul approved of.
Tell His Conversion Story!
Paul went to Damascus to persecute, and what did he end up doing?
Acts 9:20-22
At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. 21 All those who heard him were astonished and asked, "Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?" 22 Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.
That is truly amazing. Paul didn’t wait for special training. Paul didn’t wait for a church to call. Paul went to the very people that he was hoping to kill and began to fight for the heart of his new king right before them.
How ironic is it that while he was among the people that he was hoping to kill, the Jews began a plot to kill him. After many days had gone by, the Jews conspired to kill him
You see, Paul knew that he was saved for a purpose. He was saved so that he could not only tell his story, but so that he could tell the story of his king.
Listen to what he wrote to Timothy.
1TI 1:15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst. 16 But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.
Now listen to this!
17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Sounds like a man fighting for the heart of his king!
Paul was obligated because of the forgiveness he found in Christ.
Paul was obligated…
2. Because of the need of forgiveness in Christ.
The world that Paul lived in was controlled by the Roman Empire. The main god of the Roman Empire was Caesar. There were also other gods.
Also, there were great injustices being done against people who were not Romans citizens.
Remember, Paul wanted to go to Rome to preach the gospel of Christ. He wanted to got to the capital of the known world of the time and preach Christ.
He didn’t want to go there and talk about:
- Social injustices
- Roman Veterans being ignored
- Unfair treatment of non-citizens
- No, he wanted to go there and preach the gospel of Christ.
There was a deep need for the gospel of Christ to be preached.
All you have to do is to read on in the rest of Romans 1 and then in 2.
A. There was a need because the plain facts about the existence of God were being ignored.
Follow along as I read 1:18-25
You know, that have been times in my Christian life in which I have had some doubts. I really believe that everyone does. However, the thing I look to when I have those doubts is the creation of God.
The things that amaze me are the sun, the moon, the stars. It amazes me that these things are there for us day after day. Then there is the human body itself. How can anyone look at the complexity of the human body and not realize that there was a divine inspiration to it.
For that matter the people in Paul’s day were a lot like ours. In Paul’s day, they worshipped the created things. In our day we may not worship images of wood, but we do worship the images of money and self.
B. There was a need because of the plain facts about sin.
Follow along as I read 1:26-31
Homosexuality was common place in the city of Rome. And then how do you like the laundry list of sin found in the last few verses of that chapter.
- Wickedness
- Evil
- Greed
- Malice
- Strife
- Deceit
- Malice
- Envy
- Murder
- Gossip
- Slanderers
- God-Haters
- Arrogant & Boastful
- Inventors Of Evil
- Disobedient To Parents
- Then he wraps it up with these four lovely words
o Senseless
o Faithless
o Heartless
o Ruthless
Talk about a people who need the Gospel of Christ. If all of those things weren’t bad enough listen to how he wraps this thought up in verse 32.
It is interesting to notice that Paul didn’t want to run away from these sinners. He wanted to preach the gospel to them.
Why? Because he was fighting for the heart of his king, and the heart of his king loved these people.
Not only was there a need for preaching the Gospel among the sinners of Rome…
C. There was a need because the plain facts about the gospel were being distorted.
I am comforted by the fact that our generation of Christians is not the only generation of Christians who has messed the plain gospel message of Christ up.
What is that plain message?
- Jesus died on the cross for our sins.
- Jesus was buried in a grave.
- Jesus is alive today because of His resurrection from the grave.
- We accept that gift of God’s grace through
o Belief
o Repentance
o Confession
o Baptism
The problem was that there were Jewish believers who didn’t think it was enough to merely accept the gospel of Christ through obedience to the commands of the gospel. No, they wanted to force Gentile Christians to observe the law.
Paul spends most of his time in chapter two of the book of Romans reminding the Jewish Christians to be careful what they are teaching and requiring.
Then look at what Paul says in Romans 2:28-29
Paul was obligated to go to Rome to preach the plain facts about the Gospel because it was needed.
Paul was obligated…
3. Because the power of forgiveness is found only in the Gospel of Christ!
Paul said,
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
Big deal you say. It is a big deal when you consider:
For the sake of preaching the Gospel Paul was:
- Imprisoned in Philippi
- Chased out of Thessalonica
- Smuggled out of Berea
- Laughed out of Athens
- Considered a fool in Corinth
- Struggled with a thorn in the flesh
- Beaten with the forty lashes minus one five times
- Beaten with a rod three times
- Stoned (Some people believe to death) once
- Shipwrecked three times
- Spent a night and a day at open seas.
- Constantly on the move
- In danger from rivers
- In danger from countrymen & gentiles.
- In danger in the city, the country & sea
- In danger from false brothers.
- Even when he feared his impending death he wrote:
2TI 4:6 For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
- In spite all of these things Paul preached the gospel of Christ.
Now there is a man fighting for the heart of his king.
Remember there were a lot of things that Paul could have went to Rome to speak out against. But if he were given the chance to go to Rome he wanted to proclaim the gospel.
It is in the gospel of Christ that salvation is found. And Paul wanted to make sure that the Christians in Rome understood that the only way to heaven was through faith and obedience in the gospel of Christ. No system of law keeping would ever get anyone in heaven. The Jews couldn’t get to heave through keeping the specific law of God. The Gentiles couldn’t get to heaven through the general law that God laid upon their hearts. Paul wanted them to know that the power of salvation in found only in the gospel of Christ.
Paul was obligated because of forgiveness:
- His own
- The need of
- The power found in the gospel of Christ.
What does that have to do with you and I?
It’s simple! Paul’s obligation should be our obligation.
1. We should be obligated because of our forgiveness in Christ.
Paul was motivated to preach because of his own forgiveness.
What about you? Do you have an obligation to preach? Yes, Yes you do.
God has saved you and set you free for the purpose of telling other people about it.
You say, “I don’t know enough”. Stop the excuses and start the preaching. Remember, Paul didn’t wait to have special training. He began to preach Christ as soon as he had two ears to talk to.
If you know enough to be a Christian, then you know enough to share that message with someone around you. Paul said this to the Corinthian church:
1st Corinthians 2:1-5
When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.
Are you willing to fight for the heart of your king?
2. We should be obligated because of the need of forgiveness in our world.
Friends, I don’t want you to think that I believe that our world is worse today than it was in Paul’s day. I am of the belief that sin has always been sin.
Since the very first sin in the garden of Eden there has been a need of forgiveness in our world.
How easy is it for us today to look at the world around us and begin to pass judgment on the sinful inhabitants? We can take on the attitude of the Jews mentioned in first part of the 2nd chapter of Romans and pass that judgment forgetting that we were once in bondage to the sin that entraps the world.
Our world needs forgiveness found in Christ. Are you willing to fight for the heart of your king?
3. We should be obligated because of the power of the gospel of Christ.
We have got it messed up. We have stopped believing in the power of the gospel of Christ for the salvation of everyone who believes.
You say, “No we haven’t”. Yes we have.
Take a look around at what the Christian world is teaching. You have people like Joyce Meyer, Joel Olstein and Charles Stanley that are primarily preaching the power of living the right kind of life and the blessings that God will give you for doing so.
Whatever happened to the gospel message? Whatever happened to Christians remembering their own forgiveness, seeing the need of forgiveness, understanding the power of the gospel and preaching the truth of the gospel message?
Why is it that we as Christians are willing to go half way around the world for a short-term mission trip but we aren’t willing to go across the street and share the gospel of Christ?
I’ll tell you why, because instead of fighting for the heart of our king we are fighting to keep this form of domesticated Christianity.
True power for living is not found in this positive living junk that is spewed by so many of our television preachers. The power for living is not found in the pseudo-spiritualism of Oprah Winfree.
The power for living is found in the Gospel of Christ. It is time that we Christians remember that and give our lives to it.
You may not know this, but the movie Braveheart is one of my favorite three movies. The other two favorites are Mel Gibson movies as well.
If you seen the movie Braveheart you might remember the scene of Ben Wallace talking to the princess just before he was killed. She begged him to pledge allegiance to the king of England and he would be able to live instead of dying.
Then he looked her and said something like, “Every man dies, but not every man chooses to live.”
What about you Christian man, woman and child? Do you look at your Christian life and see a life that is living to fight for the heart of your king?
Can you like Paul say, I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes…
If you can say those words that means you are preaching them at every opportunity, stay faithful. If you can’t say those words then lay aside all fear and begin today to fight for the heart of your king.
Invitation!
