Last night we finished our study of Paul’s letter to the Romans. Here are the notes:
1. Paul’s Calling and His work
1:1-17 Paul has been given a calling by God – to be an apostle to the Gentiles
15:14-24 Paul has spent his life faithful to that calling—preaching from Jerusalem to N. of Greece.
Preaching where Christ is not named—Hence Rome is the road to Spain
15:25-33 But first, he brings Gentile’s offering to the Jerusalem church
16:1-16 Paul has many friends in this work, who are part of the Roman church
16:17-24 Don’t let the enemy mess this work up
2. The Romans were called to share in this work, and so are we:
See 15:14 they could help each other
15:24 they could help Paul’s work financially
15:30 they could strive together in prayer with Paul for Paul’s work
16:17 they could maintain unity
12:1-13 They could do all the things listed here: bodies offered, gifts used, fervent spirit serving the Lord in all situations
3. The Power for the Work: The Gospel
1:16, 11-12 Gospel is power to Salvation, Paul wants to “establish” or “strengthen” them.
16:25-27 God strengthens us by the gospel.
What does this mean? It means that the message about Christ. (“God gave us the One who could defeat sin and reconnect us to him”)
- …frees us from condemnation (3:23-24, 5:1); so the Gospel strengthens you when you face guilt…
- …grants us hope in trials (5:2-6); so the Gospel strengthens you when you face difficult circumstances
- …frees us from slavery to sin (6:10-14); so the Gospel strengthens you when you face temptation and sinful patterns
- …allows a whole new power for life (8:2-4); so the Gospel strengthens you when you think you might not have what it takes to live out God’s call
- …assures us that God is for us (8:31-32); so the Gospel strengthens you when you face feelings that God is against us
So when Paul says God is able to strengthen and establish us by the Gospel, he means that, just as we are saved by hearing and putting our trust in God’s message about who Jesus is and what he did, we live our lives as Christians that way. In every situation in life, we need to contemplate the death and resurrection of Jesus, and apply the truth of the gospel to every situation. By seeing how Jesus’ death and resurrection applies to individual circumstances, and by trusting what the cross and the empty tomb say about my situation, I receive strength from God to fulfill my calling and participate in his plan. In other words, I never receive the strength of God apart from Jesus and his work for me. I can’t get help anywhere but the cross. That’s where the power comes from—contemplating and trusting in what God did for me in Jesus.
What doesn’t the Gospel apply to?
The death of Christ changes everything.
The resurrection changes everything.
How do we access this? 16:26 – The prophetic scriptures, obedience, faith.
If you don’t know Christ: Here’s what God has done for you.