[0:00] Good morning, everyone. Please turn in your Bibles to Romans chapter 1. Romans chapter 1.
[0:12] Quick announcement before I get into today's sermon. December 17th, we will be hosting a baptism.
[0:23] So if you're sitting at home and you're wondering what you can get your family, friends and church, a wonderful Christmas present, what better than a baptism of following after Jesus Christ, right?
[0:37] So if that's something, please contact the office. Let them know that that would be your desire to be baptized as well as on that day. You'll be joining those that have already indicated the desire to be baptized.
[0:52] So we are in Romans chapter 1. If you are new or simply visiting us this weekend, let me welcome you to this study. Things have been a bit wonky, as many of you do know who've been here.
[1:03] We've kind of covered a few different subjects over the last month. In fact, the last time we preached from Romans was Thanksgiving weekend. So I think we've been blessed with the different ministries that had an opportunity to come and present from Creation Ministries, Acts 29, and Matt King's Counseling Ministry, just all bringing God's Word to us.
[1:28] But now we're back on the Roman Road to Salvation series and hope for the next while. This is where we will be planted for some time.
[1:39] If you are new and you do not know, our habit is to do what is called expository preaching. Expository preaching is a style of preaching where we mean to expose God's Word to us as God intends to expose that Word to us.
[1:55] We start in a book of the Bible at chapter 1, verse 1, and we go right to the very end of the last chapter and the last verse, making sure we have an understanding of what the text says.
[2:08] That means we study the history, the culture, and the original languages. And part of the process is from that, we want to seek to how to apply that message that was written over 2,000 years ago to us today.
[2:26] And that's part of my role as the pastor to bring out what is that practical application that we need to hear. So now we are back in this book of Romans.
[2:41] So this church in Rome is kind of an interesting church. Most of the churches that we read about in the New Testament, there's a connection to an apostle planting them.
[2:58] Rome is somewhat unique. They're not the only ones. There's other churches that were planted. We read about the church of Colossians was actually planted by those who had heard Paul preach in Ephesus and brought the gospel to Colossians, and a church was founded.
[3:16] Rome was founded, the church in Rome, by some believers or some new believers, some Jews that were in Jerusalem. In Acts chapter 2, when Peter preached his great message at Pentecost, and people came, they heard that message, and they went back to Rome, and they shared that gospel throughout the land.
[3:40] But at this point, there's no historical evidence that when Paul is writing this letter that there's any other apostle connected to them.
[3:54] Paul is writing this letter. He's writing from the city of Corinth. He's at the end of his third missionary journey, which was his final missionary journey.
[4:04] And he's telling them, hey, I can't wait to come to you. I can't wait to come to you. I want to see you, and I want to share in the gospel work that you are doing.
[4:16] Now, what's interesting is that throughout his journeys, Paul had been making his way through the Roman and Greek-influenced world. He's been planning churches.
[4:28] He's been preparing leaders. He's been discipling other leaders. He's been writing letters to churches, teaching them on theology. He's been correcting errors. He's been answering questions.
[4:40] He's been writing letters of encouragement. But yet, he's never made it to Rome, which is the capital of the world. And he's got this mind to write this letter.
[4:56] And if you could think about it, this church was planted over 20 years before Paul is writing this letter to them. And he tells them that he writes them and he applauds them for their great faith, that it's known.
[5:14] And even when we read in Acts, we read Paul coming across these other Christian soldiers across the new world. And they're connecting through this power of the gospel.
[5:26] They're knowing who each other are. If you read the end of Romans, he just goes through this litany of names of these people that he's met in his journeys. And he's hearing about the issues that are going on in Rome and the troubles that they've had.
[5:42] And he sets out to write this letter. And it's a letter that is at the center of the known world.
[5:54] And he writes about the gospel. Because he knows that if a church doesn't get the gospel right or understand the gospel, there's no use in writing about Christian church structure, how to live together, or how to encourage them if they do not understand the gospel.
[6:24] Because if you do not have the gospel rightly understood, the truth of the matter is the book of Romans will make little sense to you.
[6:38] Please turn with me. Let's look at verse 1. I'm going to do a quick recap. It begins simple enough. It's Paul, a servant. We also know that word is slave of Christ Jesus.
[6:53] Called to be an apostle. So that means he didn't join the club. He was called. Someone reached out and grabbed him for this role. And we understand that was Jesus Christ himself.
[7:04] As Paul was on the road to Damascus, as he was going to torment, imprison, and possibly kill Christians to stop the growth of this church, Jesus Christ reaches in, grabs them, pulls them into his world, and says, you are going to be my apostle.
[7:22] You're actually going to be an apostle to the Gentiles. It says he is set apart. This is his duty, his debt, his obligation for, notice what it says, the gospel of God.
[7:39] The gospel of God means God is the source of the gospel. This is a gospel that is revealed by God. It is set forth by God.
[7:50] It is sent by God. It is God's good news. It's not a message about God. It is a message that has as its source, God himself.
[8:05] God is the author of it. God is the owner of it. And Paul is simply saying, I am the messenger of that gospel.
[8:18] Notice in verse 2, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures. This gospel that I come is not a new message.
[8:32] It's an old message. This isn't a new philosophy. This is an old teaching. This existed since God has engaged with mankind. In fact, this is the same good news proclaimed in the First Testament, which we call the Old Testament.
[8:53] So now today, starting in verse 14, is where I would like to continue this morning. Notice verse 14. It says, I am under obligation.
[9:05] Some of your Bibles will say debt. This is the cost of being called by God. He knows he owes it. It says, I am under obligation, both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.
[9:20] What Paul is communicating here is that he is under obligation to teach to everyone from the highest of heights to the lowest of lows, as far as to the east, as to the west, to the sophisticated, to the unsophisticated, to the educated, to the uneducated, to the learned, to the unlearned, to the rich, to the poor, to the Greeks, and to the barbarians.
[9:47] This gospel that Paul is proclaiming is an all-inclusive gospel. And if you pay attention to any other world religion that exists, world religions exist in a pocket of their own culture.
[10:05] They do not survive being removed because they are culturally attached. That's what the false truth does. But God's truth, as you know, that Christianity isn't uniquely Jewish.
[10:18] It's not uniquely Roman. It's not uniquely American, and it's not uniquely Canadian. It goes all over. It is meant for every person.
[10:30] The gospel of Jesus Christ transcends every culture. Verse 15. So, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
[10:48] This is Paul's goal. This is Paul's raison d'etre. This is Paul's philosophy of ministry. This is Paul's fixation. I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
[11:07] And this brings us to the theme of this book. Many scholars who I would agree that this leads us to the theme of the entire Bible, which is found in verse 16 and 17.
[11:23] Pay attention to the line of Paul's reasoning that he gives here. Verse 16. He says, For I am not ashamed of the gospel.
[11:35] For it is the power of God. For salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
[11:48] For in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith. As it is written, the righteous shall live by faith.
[12:02] So for the weeks heading into Christmas, I want to spend some time looking into the characteristics of this gospel that Paul is so eager to preach, God's gospel.
[12:18] because if we do not understand God's gospel and if you are any bit of a pocket theologian or you do some reading about some of these issues, many of these issues come from a very poor, I don't want to say poor, maybe a less filled out understanding of this text.
[12:40] So this is where I want to plant us for these next couple of weeks because if we do not understand the words that Paul is speaking here, the rest of Romans will remain a mystery.
[12:57] For I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. As I said, the last time we were in this text was Thanksgiving week and I spoke about what it means to be ashamed of the gospel.
[13:18] The fact of the matter is Paul is speaking to a Middle Eastern context. They have a view of shame which is different than our type of shame.
[13:31] Their shame is an internal shame, ours, and North America tends to be an external. And what I mean by that is when we are thinking about shame or the way they think about shame is loss of status in the group upon which you live in.
[13:51] And you have to understand the Roman world is full of status. You are either a citizen who has rights or you're a non-citizen who doesn't have rights or you're a slave which has absolutely no rights and someone and anyone can pretty much put you to death and there's no consequences.
[14:09] So they're very cognizant of where they fit into the strata of society. And this is Rome which is the capital of the world.
[14:20] It is the foundation for much of our country today. Military leaders still study what they developed in their armies. People still use their system of government representation that they developed and many of their legal precedents form the basis of the thinking of our laws.
[14:46] Because there is sometimes an understanding or a belief that we may become shameful of this gospel. And mostly it's because it's how it will affect how people will view me.
[15:01] We read in 1 Timothy that Paul needed to encourage Timothy at different times. And I think it's understandable that we ourselves need to be encouraged.
[15:14] But what Paul also understands is that to those that truly understand the gospel who understand it are those who experience the gospel have no need to be ashamed.
[15:32] Paul knows firsthand how powerful this gospel is. He was a murderer. He beat innocent people.
[15:44] He hunted down and imprisoned Christians. And he didn't do that work thinking he was bad.
[15:57] he actually did that work thinking he was pleasing God. You with me on that? If I have God on my side I care for no other.
[16:10] But he was wrong. God went in hey hey Paul Paul why are you accusing me or why are you coming against me?
[16:23] Why are you persecuting me? Paul is the question that Jesus Christ asked them. Paul was a certified enemy of Jesus Christ but Paul as also a slave finished three missionary journeys.
[16:42] Paul has seen the countless miracles that happen along the way the hardships and how God saved them. Paul has seen and planted and been planted by those he discipled churches all over Asia.
[16:58] He has seen gospel growth with his own eyes. Paul has seen that this gospel that he has faithfully preached has transcended various cultures.
[17:11] believers. So what is the gospel that Paul the goal of the gospel that Paul wants to preach so ashamedly? It is this.
[17:24] It is the power of God for salvation. This morning I want to explore this word salvation.
[17:37] Let me ask you a question. Have you ever been asked are you saved? Have you ever been asked are you saved?
[17:52] I remember back in 2007 I had just graduated seminary and I needed to drive from California to Florida. The reason was I had to wait for my visa to come in so I wasn't allowed to leave the country and I needed a place to live.
[18:08] So a friend called and said hey why don't you use my condominium on Cocoa Beach and live there for four months. I can tell you it was probably one of the toughest roughest four months of my existence.
[18:21] But while I'm driving through on the bottom of the highway that travels the very south I'm filling up my car and this young lady comes up to me and she asks are you saved?
[18:34] And by this time I'm somewhere between Louisiana and Mississippi. And if you don't understand they actually don't speak English there. Right?
[18:45] It is a very different type of English. So at first she goes are you saved? And I'm like I can't. I'm not sure what she's asking me. And it reminded me of another time and just to let you know how their language is different.
[19:00] I remember one time we were traveling with my family and gas attendant had asked us if he could check under the hood of our car to make sure everything was okay. And my mom said there's chicken under the hood?
[19:15] So it's easy. So anyhow I ask her are, excuse me what do you say? She goes are you saved? And this was shortly after Katrina had landed.
[19:26] So I haven't a few thoughts. Am I in danger? Is there a problem here? What's going on? And then I finally figured out she's asking me a spiritual question.
[19:39] And let's be honest, it's not something that we think we're going to be approached on. It's an early morning, I'm heading out, I'm filling up the car and I don't think I'm going to get into a deep theological discussion on the doctrine of salvation sitting at a gas station driving through Louisiana.
[19:56] And when I finally figure out what she's asking me, I said, yes, I am saved. And then she says to me, I'm really happy to hear that.
[20:09] And in that brief few seconds pumping gas in that hot southern sun, I connect with this young lady over the doctrine of salvation and I thank her for asking me.
[20:22] Now remember what I just said, I just graduated from seminary and all sorts of responses are going through my head as I continued my journey. You see, I know that the word salvation can actually mean different things.
[20:36] The fact is when people use the term being saved, it can actually mean different aspects of God's truth. But at the core of the meaning, to say that we are saved means to be rescued from something, or saved to something.
[20:59] The heart of the definition means to be moved from a place of danger to a place of safety. It's why when we sing the famous song Amazing Grace, we sing, I once was lost, but now I'm found.
[21:18] We don't sing, I once was good, but now I'm better. We don't sing, I once was smart, but now I'm smarter. I once was close, but now I figured it all out.
[21:33] It's I once was lost, now I'm found, was blind, but now I see. See, the Christian message is not some self-improvement message.
[21:48] at the core of its message. It doesn't matter if you're mostly a believer or non-believer, if you're a Jew, a Greek, or barbarian.
[22:01] The reality is it comes from an understanding that you are lost. Salvation begins with an understanding that you are lost. Salvation begins with an understanding that you are in a place of danger.
[22:15] salvation begins with you understanding that you live in a world that is incredibly broken, and you do not know how to solve it, you do not know how to get out of it.
[22:29] If you remember, Matt King made a comment in his sermon, he says we live at a time where the world is recognizing that we are messed up just as much as we as Christians understand this world.
[22:45] And if we look out today, we see men and women everywhere trying to earn a righteousness of their own. They're trying to find a way out.
[22:57] They are trying to prove themselves. They are trying to get themselves out of danger. Even leaders, virtue, signal, all the time just hoping to make sure that they are on the right side of this crazy world.
[23:20] But here's the thing. It's always been like that. If you understand the Greeks, they were trying to develop a philosophy, and you know those Greeks, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, they recognized that mankind is really screwed up.
[23:36] Man needs to be saved. So they started developing a philosophy that perhaps, perhaps if we understood things differently or approached life differently, things would change.
[23:56] The Jews thought that salvation could come from their laws or being from the seed of Abraham. But as they would find out, none of that could rescue them from the life they were in.
[24:14] You see, to understand what the Bible means by salvation, it begins that you need to understand what life was like at creation. To understand salvation, you need to understand creation.
[24:31] You need to understand what happened to man as a result of the fall and the result of sin. You see, if we do not understand what Paul means by salvation, we run the risk of not understanding the rest of this book.
[24:46] If you happen to be a believer in evolution, you will never, ever understand salvation. And the reason is because at the heart of evolutionary theory is that you will eventually evolve out of your predicament.
[25:01] you will evolve into a greater state. They would argue that we are still in the process of evolving out of this hot mess that we tend to get ourselves in.
[25:17] But eventually mankind, over billions and billions of years, will hopefully evolve out of this mess. It's interesting is that at the end of the 1900s, humanism was at its highest height, its highest peak, man declared, we have no need for religion.
[25:45] Man has no need for philosophy. We found the way to peace and prosperity. Then World One happened, World War One happened, and man soon saw how depraved he was.
[26:01] You see, at creation, our relationship with God was perfect. It was harmonious. We walked in the cool of the day with our creator.
[26:16] We had perfect innocence. The idea of shame had not even entered into our mind. We had a perfect, harmonious, complete relationship.
[26:34] When Adam was tempted and fell, it destroyed that perfect, harmonious relationship. And this rebellion led to terrible consequences.
[26:47] Sin was birthed here on earth. life. So when we are trying to define salvation, we must incorporate an understanding of what it was like to return to the way we were created in the beginning.
[27:08] To say that salvation is simply the forgiveness of sins is an ignorance of what God is doing in salvation. That salvation has to include an understanding of what we were like with God.
[27:27] So there's three things I'm going to address this morning. An understanding of salvation must include what does it mean to be rescued from sin?
[27:40] What does it mean to be rescued to a reconciled relationship with God? hope of glory?
[27:55] That is what I'm going to share with you this morning. So there's three aspects. What does it mean to be rescued from sin? What does it mean to be rescued to a reconciled relationship with God?
[28:07] And what does it mean to be rescued to restored hope of glory? glory? So let me deal with the first aspect of what does it mean to be rescued from sin?
[28:20] To be rescued from sin actually carries three aspects. The first way we are rescued from sin is that when God rescues us, he rescues us from the guilt of sin.
[28:33] The guilt of sin. We are rescued from the penalty of sin. The fact is, as sons and daughters of Adam, we all are born into this state of guilt.
[28:45] All our sins produce guilt in the sight of God. I know a great many people that I've worked with who will say they don't believe in guilt, but when they have to answer to a higher authority, they start to feel this thing called shame.
[29:01] I didn't do the things I said I was going to do, or I didn't think I was smart enough to accomplish the task at work. And what they don't understand is that shame comes from this understanding that they are guilty.
[29:15] Fact is, if you're a dog owner, you understand that even dogs understand what it is to be guilty. You see, God is that ultimate authority, and the Bible says clearly that everyone will bow down to God.
[29:31] Everyone. All of us. Why? Because we are all under the wrath of God. Romans 1.18, which we will get to eventually, but it says, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
[29:55] All men will have to face the music. And the thing is about salvation, is salvation delivers us from this guilt, this penalty. salvation rescues us from the condemnation of sin from the law of God.
[30:14] The second way we are rescued from sin is that we are rescued from the power of sin. I don't know if you know this, but when we walked with Adam in the cool of the day at creation, we were in his dominion, his kingdom.
[30:32] And when we sinned, we transferred ourselves to Satan's kingdom, Satan's dominion, the dominion of darkness.
[30:43] And no amount of works, no amount of trying to change can get us back from that place of darkness to the place of light. And what's the most amazing thing about sin is that it taints everything.
[31:00] It corrupts everything. It pollutes everything. And as we sin, we taint ourselves even more with sin. And even our best works, when we are in sin, are tainted with this sin, this brokenness, this wretchedness, this rebelliousness.
[31:21] And what's interesting is that there's a lot of people who think, if I can just get ourselves out of this crazy, polluted world, if we could pick an island and put the best, greatest people on this island, we will be free of sin.
[31:36] Right? Well, we'll get rid of the internet. We will have no TV. We won't allow any outside influences. It won't work. Because the sin is found on the inside of us, not just the outside of us.
[31:53] You're just keeping yourself out of other people's sin, sin. But you still have your sin. And the biggest lie that Satan tells the world is that man can clean up his own corruption.
[32:06] This is a perversion. The fact is, we are corrupted, we are unclean, we are unholy because of sin.
[32:20] Any Christian philosophy that aims to take us out of the sin of the world is a lie because the sin is in us and the world is in us. But here's the thing about salvation.
[32:34] It cleanses us from all iniquities. Not only does it take us away from the guilt of sin and the shame of sin, but it removes the corruption of sin.
[32:49] sin. Salvation brings with it a day where everyone who believes in the name of Jesus will be found faultless and blameless before the throne of God.
[33:04] This is how Jesus delivers us. He delivers us from the first is the guilt of sin. He delivers us from the power of sin.
[33:15] And he also delivers us from, like I said, the corruption of sin. Fact of the matter is, there is no middle ground.
[33:29] There is no such thing as neutrality with God. We are either in his kingdom or we are not. God. This is why in the verse that Carl read to us this morning, Colossians 1.13, it says, Jesus has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son.
[33:59] God is the one who rescues us from sin. It is God who rescues us from the guilt of sin. It is God who rescues us from the power of sin. And it is God who rescues us from the corruption of sin.
[34:15] So that's the first area where what we need to be saved. We need to be saved from our sin. Salvation also means we have to be reconciled relationship to God.
[34:28] What that means is salvation needs to have at a core of its meaning that we are completely restored with God. It means to have a perfect fellowship with God.
[34:39] It means to be in perfect communion with God. Salvation means that our relationship with God needs to be restored to a way it was created to be. We walk with God in the cool of the day.
[34:53] Do you know that we enjoy that now? That God doesn't look down at us when we sin and gets angry with us or mad at us.
[35:06] We are as children. We are saved from the dominion of darkness and the dominion of light. Ephesians 2 said we are made children of God. What does a good parent do to their children?
[35:20] They discipline them, but it's not a discipline done in hate. It's done in love. And that discipline is actually a word for training. Ephesians 12 talks about this need to God continues to bring some issues in our life to grow us, to mature us, to train us for his righteousness.
[35:47] Too often there is a segment of Christianity that thinks if something wrong happens to us, whether it be cancer or we lose someone or a disease happens, that must mean God is mad at us, God is punishing us, but that's not what scripture teaches at all.
[36:05] We live in a broken world and we will experience the results of this brokenness in this world. But God grows us through those challenges, amen? He creates a dependence on them.
[36:21] It is bad and wicked theology to suggest that those that are hurt, sick, or in distress is caused from sin. So salvation delivers us from the consequences of sin.
[36:39] Salvation has to mean we are reconciled to a relationship with God. And salvation finally means we have a hope for future glory.
[36:49] glory. Like I said, when we sin, we came under the wrath of God. There was no hope for us in ourselves. The truth of the matter is the wrath of God sends the guilty to eternal destruction or better yet, eternal punishment.
[37:07] You and I, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, are rescued and you have a hope of glory. glory. So when you speak of salvation, we are to present that we are saved from sin, our relationship is restored to God, and we have a hope and glory.
[37:30] But what's interesting is a lot of people still get salvation messed up. And they bicker and fight and debate over some of the elements. And one theologian and one way to understand salvation is to understand salvation in terms of time.
[37:49] And we need to understand this because Paul is going to refer to this over and over again. So the first fact, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you are saved.
[38:00] You were saved from the moment you trusted in God for your eternal salvation. This is a theological term known as justification. It's actually a legal term.
[38:12] It means that God has justified you. You are declared not guilty. It's like when you're in a court of law, you are not guilty.
[38:23] Doesn't matter whatever else happens. God has justified you. Romans 5.1 says, Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
[38:40] The book of Ephesians says, Even when we were dead in our trespasses, Jesus made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved.
[38:54] For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God. The fact of the matter is, it is God who saved you. Amen? You were justified.
[39:06] You were made right. So when God looks down and he sees us as the broken vessels we are, he sees us in the righteousness that his son had.
[39:18] We are given Jesus Christ righteousness at salvation. That's how he sees us. A lot of people get really caught up on the issues of once saved, always saved, or the perseverance of the saint, which I absolutely believe with every heart of my being.
[39:37] But there's a lot of people who say we can lose our salvation. And I'm going to explain to you why they believe that to a degree. Because not only are we saved, we also read that we are being saved.
[39:51] So there's this present tense salvation that's occurring, which we call sanctification. Philippians 2.12 says, Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now not only in my presence, but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
[40:14] All right? So we're getting some tension created here, right? There's this you are saved, I have justified you. But now there's this process where you have to work out your salvation.
[40:28] That salvation is not yet complete. It is ongoing. God is making us holy. And anybody who's a human being recognizing this, who here is free of all sin?
[40:42] Jesus Christ, please lift up your hand. Right? He's it. We have sin. And even as saved people, we still struggle with the old man.
[40:54] Our thoughts, sometimes there's thoughts that come into my head that are out of nowhere. And I'm wondering, where in the world does that come from? It's why there's a commandment in Ephesians 6 to put on the whole armor of God.
[41:10] God. And then there's a third aspect of salvation that perhaps that will help you understand. It says that salvation will happen. Theologians call this glorification.
[41:24] Romans 8, Paul writes, And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the spirit grown inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoptions as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
[41:38] For in this hope we were saved. The fact of the matter is there is no redemption for our bodies in this life. That lies in the future.
[41:49] And until then we wait. Paul wrote the Corinth church in 1 Corinthians 1. He says, And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that as it is written, let the one who boasts, boast in thee, Lord.
[42:14] So as we dig down into this book of Romans, we need to understand what Paul means by salvation.
[42:26] Paul is talking about a present salvation, a salvation that occurred in the past of our lives when we accepted the Lord Jesus Christ.
[42:36] There's a promise, a sealing Ephesians 2 calls about. The Holy Spirit seals us to the day of redemption. But there's also a present salvation where we are encouraged to, it's not encouraged, we are commanded to fight the fight.
[42:56] We are commanded to obey. We are commanded to continue trusting in his eternal work. So we have a past salvation, a present salvation, and then we have a future salvation which is called glorification.
[43:13] salvation. And it is all done in Jesus Christ. It is to be given to us. And in fact, the matter is, in order to be saved, you not need a new law, a new philosophy.
[43:29] You simply need God's gospel. God's gospel. So if you ever asked, are you saved, you can say, yes, I am.
[43:44] I am saved. I am being saved and I will be saved. And you can say that with absolute confidence that all those things are true if you have trusted in Jesus Christ.
[43:57] And all of this is done to the glory of God's power to salvation. salvation. salvation. So to drive this point even more, there's going to be two boxes placed at the end of each door, beginning of each door, however you want to say it, at the doors, there's better.
[44:20] And it's a free gift we've been given. It's called God is the gospel by Piper. So we've been given this as a gift and I thought this fits in perfectly with an understanding of what God's gospel is as we are dealing with this understanding of God's gospel in Romans.
[44:41] And God's gospel first begins with the salvation message that we have been saved, we are saved, and we will be saved. Amen? Let's pray.
[44:54] Dear Lord, Heavenly Father, I think sometimes we look at these topics and they're somehow simple and easy enough for a child to understand, but it only takes an adult to mix them up.
[45:11] That sometimes we get confused and we pit verses against one another, not understanding they're all one message. And we get into these tireless debates because we don't understand the scope of everything that's being said.
[45:28] Father, we give you thanks for this book of Romans, which you take the time to spell these points out, that these issues that we're dealing with just in these two verses are going to be carried over through and through this book of Romans.
[45:44] And I pray that we would truly understand your glory in all of it. That we would see your glory in our salvation. That we would see your glory in us needing to be rescued.
[45:57] That we needed to be taken from danger. And that danger was your wrath. Because as we're going to be understanding that we, mankind, is under judgment by you.
[46:10] There is a wrath to come. And we rightfully deserve that wrath. We live for ourselves.
[46:25] We don't live for God's glory. We don't live for the Creator's glory. And that is essentially the crux of Christianity.
[46:36] Christianity, we have been saved unto a God in whom we are called to glorify. God, you are good and just.
[46:47] And I pray that you help us understand these words of justification. To understand these words of sanctification and glorification. And may we sing to them with thankfulness and understanding.
[47:04] That truly you have done far more work than simply forgiving us of our sins. You've brought us into a right relationship with you.
[47:17] And I can think of no greater thing that you could do. In your most holy and precious name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[47:36] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.