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Welcome to this period of Bible study. My name is Larsen Plyler and this is Back to the Bible. And we are delighted to have this opportunity to consider, for just a little while, a portion of God's Word together. We invite you to reach out to us at the Bible Back to the Bible podcast website, backtothebiblepodcast.com There you can find information about the program, you can find a link to this episode and previous episodes, and you can contact us on that website. Whether you have questions or comments, or would like to study the Bible further, we would love to hear from you@backtothebiblepodcast.com Let me say that our aim is always to be faithful to the word of God and to be clear as we seek to explain it. And if there is any place in our work where you find us not to be faithful or you find us not to be clear, you would be a help to us in reaching out to us because we want to tell the truth and we want to tell it in a way that people can understand today. I want to jump into a study of Romans, chapter one, and we're going to begin at verse eight. Last time in our study together, we looked at the first seven verses of the Book of Romans in which Paul writes to churches in the city of Rome, and he testifies to them that he is an apostle, that he is a servant of Jesus Christ, and that he is in the service of preaching the Gospel, the gospel that was previewed, pointed to in the Old Testament in the Scriptures, that there would be one who would come, who would reign as king. And Jesus fulfills that promise, having been born of the flesh in the line of David, the Old Testament king, and then being raised from the dead, so that he now serves and sits as the Son of God and in power. Paul writes to them in Romans, chapter one and says that they were part of the people that he had preached to, who had come to be obedient to the faith, and so he wishes for them. In verse seven, grace and peace from God the Father. Now, when we jump into verse eight, Paul begins with a thanksgiving for the Romans and an explanation of why he is interested in coming to preach to them. I think from chapter one, verse one, all the way through verse 17, we have an introduction from the Apostle Paul about who he is and about what his work is, and about his interest in the Romans. And perhaps in the sections about who he is and his work, we have one of the fullest descriptions of how Paul thinks about his task as an apostle to the Gentiles. So we come to chapter one. And in verses one through seven, he lays so much groundwork for what we're going to see in the rest of the Book. And that intensifies as we come to the next paragraph. Looking at Romans chapter one, beginning at verse eight, Paul says, first, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world. For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how without ceasing, I make mention of you always in my prayers, earnestly asking if perhaps now at last, by the will of God, I may succeed in coming to you. For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be strengthened, that is to be mutually encouraged while among you by each other's faith, both yours and mine. I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that often I have planned to come to you and have been prevented so far so that I may have some fruit among you. Even as among the rest of the Gentiles, I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and the foolish. In this way, for my part, I am eager to proclaim the Gospel to you also who are in Rome. Paul begins here by expressing his thankfulness for the Romans. Paul is thankful because they are living faithful lives that is being proclaimed that are being proclaimed throughout the whole world. One writer said, this really is amazing. A non Jewish population of a pagan imperial power is known across the empire as being faithful, trustworthy subjects of Israel's God and King. Now Paul says that God was his witness that he did not stop praying for them. Paul is in God's service, and he's in his service in the work of the Gospel. And he continues to pray to God. He continues to petition that he would be able to come and see the Romans at some point. Now he says in verse 10 that he's praying earnestly that he could succeed and come to them in verse 11 so that he could impart some spiritual gift to them. Now, it is possible that there is a different definition for spiritual gift in this case than what I'm thinking. But I take it to be that Paul wants to come and wants to lay hands on them in order to impart what we might think of as a miraculously empowering spiritual gift. He could mean something else, but I take it to be he's talking about laying hands on them so that they receive what we might think of as these spiritual gifts empowered by the Holy Spirit. Now could this be an indicator potentially that there had not been an apostle among them? I think we can see as we make our way through the New Testament text that the way that the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the spiritual sense were passed on was through the laying on of the apostles hands. So it's possible, I think likely, I think we see this perhaps that there are those within the group who would have had the ability to carry out these spiritual gifts but not someone who had the ability to pass it on to someone else. So Paul wants to come there because he wants to, as part of his apostolic work be able to pass on these spiritual gifts to, to them. Now the intention of that is for their strength, for their spiritual strength. And he in fact says that he wants to come and he wants to encourage them even as they encourage him, that it would be a mutual encouragement both your faith, he says, and my faith would be encouraged. Now he says, I don't want you to think that I haven't been trying to come there. I have, but I have been prevented. Now all of the things that have prevented him we don't know. But we do know at certain points that he had made efforts to go into certain areas and the Lord had said don't go there. And then there were other instances in which we might say that other factors had limited his access to certain places. We don't know exactly what the prevention is at this point, but his plans and his preparations are to come to them. Now I want you to notice in verse 13 he wants to come and he wants to see the people who are members of the churches at Rome because he says, I want to get some fruit among you even as I have among the rest of the Gentiles. Now I want to emphasize that I believe that Paul is writing specifically to the Gentile brothers and sisters there at Rome. Now that does not mean that there weren't Jews in the congregations at Rome. I think that's true. I think there were Jews there. And it doesn't mean that they don't have anything to benefit from in reading the book of Romans I think they would. But I think his direct audience is going to be the Gentiles. I think we see several places where he makes reference to Gentiles and then directly comes to them and says this is for you. These are instructions for you specifically as Gentiles. Now why that's significant is I think that it will help us understand the way Paul frames his treatment of the law. Sometimes people have drawn the conclusion that, that Paul was hostile to the law. I think it's. Martin Luther said that the law was so bad, so terrible, that its only purpose was to point us to the Gospel. That's just not the way the Bible frames the law. Now, we would not say that the law is complete or sufficient or total. And we would say that the law certainly was never intended to be imposed on Gentiles. But Paul himself, in the book of Romans, will describe the law as holy and righteous and good. And this idea that the law was something that was just to see how high they would jump, it was just to see if they would go through all the motions. That is not what the law was. The law was always intended to strike right to the heart. And this idea that it was impossible to be justified by the law is not the way the law is presenting itself. And that it was something that was a burden on the people of Israel. It became a burden in their disobedience. It became a yoke because of the consequences they were having to bear. But In Deuteronomy, chapter 6, Moses, in talking about the law and the reasons why they had to observe all these rules and regulations, he says that the Lord gave them to us for our good always. And this idea of the impossibility that it being out of reach. What about Deuteronomy, chapter 30, which we may reference again later during this program, where in that passage he says, it's not as if I'm making you up to heaven to get it, or go down into the abyss and get it. I'm bringing it right here to you. And says, I've set before you life and death. So choose life. It was a real option available to them, a real opportunity to. That they could grab hold of. So Paul says, I want to come and I want to have some fruit among you, just as I did among the rest of the Gentiles. But so far he had been prevented from such an opportunity. However, he says in verse 14 that he is under obligation. He is a debtor. He owes this, I take it to be that what he owes is something to the Lord, that he's under obligation. And notice the groups he describes, Greeks and barbarians, wise and foolish. I think what we would see is that he feels like his obligations are to the Gentiles. He names the Greeks and the barbarians, which would have been two different categories, maybe we'd say civilized and uncivilized of those who are in the nations. Among the Gentiles now, he is eager, he says, to preach the Gospel. He is eager to proclaim this Good news? What good news is he eager to proclaim? He's eager to proclaim that message that the Scriptures pointed to, that Jesus is of the flesh born in the line of David, that he is of the resurrection inaugurated as the Son of God in power. And he wants to call people to the obedience of faith, to faithfulness, to loyalty, to allegiance, to Jesus the King. He is eager to preach that message. And I love the fact that he says he's eager to preach it. And where is he eager to preach it? He's eager to preach it in Rome. He is eager to preach the message of a new Lord. He's eager to preach the message of a new king, one higher than Caesar. And he wants to preach it right there in the heart of the empire. So he gives thanks for them. He tells them that he wants to come see them. And he tells them that he is eager to preach the gospel to them. Now, what I want you to notice is as we go through these next few verses, you're going to see the word for several times F O R for you'll see it in verse 16. A couple of times you'll see it in verse 17. And then we'll even see it in verse 18. But we may not make it that far today. We'll probably spend the rest of our time just in verses 16 and 17. Now, this word for there is the English translation of the Greek word gar. Now, that word gar, basically we could say, because now, not every time that the word for is used in the New Testament does it mean because of. But what we want to see here is that when we see. For in this sense he's giving an explanation, I am eager to preach the gospel for. Because. And then we'll work our way and we'll see that train of thought. And I think it's very helpful for us to see what Paul is doing here. Why was he eager to preach the gospel? Let's look at verses 16 and 17. 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. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed. From faith to faith. As it is written, the just shall live by faith. Now, what I want you to see here is that when you wonder, well, why Paul, are you eager to preach the gospel? And he says, because I'm not ashamed of it. I'm not ashamed of the gospel. I'm not ashamed of this good news. I'm not ashamed of this euangelion. Why is he not ashamed now? It might would have been something to be ashamed of, don't you think? He's writing to Romans about the king that he serves. And the king that he serves had been executed by the Roman government. The Jews had rejected him as their king. And then Pilate, with Roman authority, had crucified him. He served one who had been crucified by the Romans. He was proclaiming Jesus the crucified Jewish Messiah. And he's been proclaiming that all over the Roman Empire. And he wants to proclaim it right in the heart of Rome. And he wants them to know I'm eager to preach it because I'm not ashamed of proclaiming the crucified Christ in Rome. Well, why is he not ashamed? Notice the next four. Because it was God's power for salvation. Now, when we look in the Book of Romans about salvation, we see it at least, I think, in two senses. I think we see it in the sense of the present forgiveness of sins and in the hope of eternal salvation. He's not ashamed of the Gospel because it's God's power to save people now and eternally. Now let me show you a couple of passages where it shows up like that. Over in Romans, chapter five, beginning at verse eight, he says God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Think about verse nine. Much more than having now been justified by his blood, by made right, saved, reconciled. Verse 10 will say, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through him. And he says in verse 10, for if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. Paul is saying, we have been saved. We've been forgiven of our sin. We've been reconciled to God by the death of Jesus and his resurrection. But we don't just look forward to that salvation. We're looking forward to a future salvation in eternity with Christ. And then if you go over to chapter six in verse eight, he says, now if we died with Christ, excuse me, Verse seven. For he who has died has been justified from sin. Now, if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him. So I think the idea there is we've been justified. But if we are in Christ, if we have life in Christ, then we also have hope of eternal life with him. So why was he eager? Because he was not ashamed. Why wasn't he ashamed? Because this is the power of God for salvation to. To all those who Believe. And that word believe is our English translation, often of that Greek word pistis. But the idea of that belief is way more than mental acknowledgement. It's even deeper than trust. It's faithfulness. It's loyalty. It's fidelity. It is allegiance. And this was available to everyone, to the Jew first and also to the Greeks, to the Jewish people, and to the Gentiles, to the nations. So he's not ashamed of it because it's God's power to save people, whether they're Jew or Greek, if they will give their allegiance to Jesus the king in verse 17. Because how is it God's power to salvation? 4. Because it reveals God's righteousness. Now, there are lots of good Bible students, good brethren, who would have a different definition for what they think Paul is talking about here. When he talks about God's righteousness. I believe for a long time was taught well, and I taught for a while that it was the righteousness that God gives. But I don't think that's what's being referred to here. I think when Paul says that in the gospel, God's righteousness is being revealed, he is saying that God's faithfulness to his covenant promises are being kept. Righteousness means holding to a standard. And when God holds to the standard, that is him keeping his word. The righteousness of God could be paraphrased, perhaps we would say as the covenant faithfulness of God. Let me show you. And there are lots of places we could point to, but I'm only going to mention one here. And we may make others. I may note others as we go. But I want you to see in Psalm 98:1 he says, Sing to the Lord. Sing to Yahweh a new song. For he has done wondrous deeds. His right hand and his holy arm have worked out his salvation. The Lord has made known his salvation. He has revealed his righteousness in the eyes of the nations. He has remembered his loving kindness and his faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Do you hear what's being described there? He says his righteousness has been revealed. Well, what was his righteousness, his loving kindness, his faithfulness, his remembering, his covenant. Now the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel. The faithfulness of God to his covenant promises is revealed in the good news. In the gospel is the fulfillment of the promises that God made to Abraham, that in him all nations of the earth would be blessed. In Jesus is the fulfillment of the promises to David. That there would be a king who would reign on his throne who forever. Now it is true. And this would be, I think, the initial reaction of those good Bible students who disagree with me on this. They would say, but wasn't God's righteousness revealed in the Old Testament? Sure it was. And they would say, but what about chapter three, verse 19, where it says, now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are in the law, so that every mouth may be shut and all the world may become accountable to God. And because by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight. For through the law comes the knowledge of sin. Listen to verse 21. But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been manifested or made known, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. They will say, see, this is saying God's righteousness was not made known in the law, that it's only made known in the Gospel. And I would push back just a little bit. I believe that they are right that the righteousness of God is being revealed in the Gospel in a way that it was not revealed in the Old Testament, that it wasn't revealed in the law and the prophets. But it is not as if God's faithfulness to his covenant promises or his righteousness is only revealed in the Gospel. It is that it is ultimately revealed in the gospel. We see God's righteousness displayed throughout the Old Testament, throughout the Scriptures, but it is just testifying and pointing to the ultimate way in which God will show his righteousness, in which he will utterly keep his promises. And that is in the Gospel, in the proclamation that Jesus is the king. Now this is the way that the notion of God's righteousness was, was used throughout the Old Testament. We already looked at Psalm 98, but there are other passages as well. Thinking about how Moses speaks to the people of Israel near the end of his life. In Deuteronomy chapter 32 and verse 4, he says, the rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are just a God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteous and upright is he. We can see that again in Psalm 96 and 119 and 143. And I'll have those Scriptures on the screen for those of you who are watching now. It also seems to be clearly the way that the word is used in Romans chapter three in verse five. This says in verse five. And we'll have to talk more about the conversation that's happening here in chapter three when we get to it. This is A conversation partner with Paul that says, but if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is the God who inflicts wrath unrighteous? I am speaking in human terms. And of course he's going to say, no, God is not unrighteous. But what we see there is that this person is saying, well, if I didn't keep my end of the deal, does that mean God's not going to be faithful to his promise? And Paul says, absolutely not. God is going to be righteous. God's going to keep his promises. But notice that that's the way the idea of the righteousness of God is being used there in Romans 3:5. What we should see is that Abraham to Abraham, God promised the blessing. And to the people of Israel, the Lord offered life and death. So to Abraham, God promised a blessing. I want you to notice this in Genesis, chapter 12. I know many of you who are watching are good Bible students. If you're listening, you're a good Bible student and you know this promise. But I think that we're going to come back to this over and over through the letter of Romans. In Genesis chapter 12 and verse 3, it says, and I will. This is God speaking to Abraham. And I will bless those who bless you. And the one who curses you, I will curse. And in you all families of the earth will be blessed. All right, but in that family through whom all families of the earth would be blessed, through the descendants of Abraham. Moses spoke to them in Deuteronomy, chapter 30 and verse 11. And he says, See if this is verse 15. See, I have set before you life and prosperity, death and calamity. In that I am commanding you today to love Yahweh, your God, to walk in his ways, to keep his commandments, his statutes and his judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that the Lord your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it. So he says, I am putting life right in front of you. I'm giving you a choice between life or death. And what did they do? They did not choose life. They chose death. Now, nobody said, oh, I'd rather have death, thank you. No, by the way they reacted, by the way they rejected the instructions of the Lord. They chose death. So Paul will explain that God kept His promise to bless all nations. And even though Israel failed to choose life, one writer and I may reference this man a couple of times as we go through. His name is Rafael Rodriguez, and he wrote this book. It's called if youf call yourself a Reappraising Paul's letter to the Romans. Now, I don't agree with all of the positions that Dr. Rodriguez takes, and I don't agree with everything that he says in the book. But I do think he is helpful in helping us think about the audience as being Gentiles and these definitions, rooting them in the Old Testament and seeing Paul not as someone who is hostile to the law, but is hostile to the Jewish imposition of the law on Gentiles. And I would say hostile to Gentiles believing that adopting certain aspects of the law will justify their hypocritical ways of life. And, and we'll look at that in our next lesson perhaps. But he said, Dr. Rodriguez said in his book, the faithfulness to his promise Abraham the righteousness of God is revealed in the Gospel of God's son, Israel's King Jesus. Now, God's righteousness, the text says, is revealed from faith to faith. Now perhaps that could be rendered by faithfulness for faithfulness. I take it to be that God's righteousness, his faithfulness to his promises, was seen in Christ's faithfulness, which makes it possible for us to be moved by faithfulness to him. And that is how we're going to find life in Christ, is through our faith faithfulness to the king who was faithful to God even through his death and resurrection. Now, we will say more about that idea of the righteous living by faith in our next study. But until then, we bid you a pleasant good day.