Romans 15:7-21

Romans 15: 7-21 –Gentiles, Paul and the Gospel

Sum Up 1-6  Bear the weaknesses of other Christians, be of the same mind and with one accord and one voice glorify God.

Read 7-21 Looking for Paul’s description of his Ministry Mission. (Preach the gospel of Christ to the gentiles or where it has not been preached before). V16

·         Paul was called to minister to gentiles

·         Paul was let by the Holy Spirit

·         Paul focused his speech on what Christ had accomplished through him.

This passage is an interesting comment on the idea of dispensationalism. Paul cites OT prophesy about how Jesus would come and ultimately rule over the gentiles and give them hope. The OT focuses on God’s interaction with His People, the Jews. But the NT, particularly Paul’s ministry spreads out to other people and nations. This section of scripture highlights the change in how God is moving on earth after Jesus came.

BUT I have advertised this section of Romans as the “practical” part of Romans, so let’s talk about a practical application from these verses.

Paul characterizes his sermons/ministry as highlighting God’s work over his own. He says, “¹⁷ Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God. ¹⁸ For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me,

For thought as we go:

Let’s take a few minutes and think about 2 or 3 conversations you have had this past week. How much of them boasted on things pertaining to God? For that matter, how many of them contained any mention of God at all? I will come back to this idea in a minute, but let’s look at a few other things first.

Of course we can all claim, “I’m no Paul”. We would be right about that. But if Jesus is your Savior, you have a lot in common with Paul. Let’s explore that idea a little.

Paul was called to minister to the Gentiles. I am sure that God has called me to be the best husband I can be (Karen is helping me with that), to lead this class, and to Obviously live for Him at work and in other places where I interact with People. What has God called you to do?

 There may be some folks here that are not sure what God has called them to do. What would you say to a person who is a believer but is unclear about how to respond to a question like that?

The next thing that Paul mentions is the leading of the Holy Spirit. I am sometimes a little skeptical of what people claim to be led to do by the Holy Spirit. Can you be sure that something that you want to do is from the Holy Spirit? How?

Finally, Paul focused his speech on what God had accomplished through him. I find that hard to do. At work, I’m usually thinking about teaching, getting tasks done, etc. Does anyone else feel like they sometimes go days without mentioning the Lord in a conversation? What kind of shift in thinking or actions can help us to use Paul’s technique (bragging on God) to fulfill the mission God has given us?

Romans 14

Pepsi Challenge

We are going to look at Romans 14 this morning. This chapter talks about amoral practices – those things which are not sinful in themselves, like one food or another. There are a couple of different examples in the passage, so let’s read through it.

Romans 14

Background – Some of the people Paul is saying have “Weaker faith” are Jewish believers who believe that they still needed to follow the Mosaic laws related to food and Holy days. The passage is directed to believers, not unbelievers.

This chapter is not really addressing food, holy days, or any amoral behavior, but is teaching us that we should not judge one another.

Paul gives 2 major arguments against one believer judging one another. What are they?

V10-12 We will all be judged by God

and 13 Don’t put an obstacle or stumbling block in a brother’s way.

Can you think of any examples of things that we as believers have the liberty to do but that might be a stumbling block for another believer?

Drinking Alcohol

Spanking children

Eating at a restaurant on Sunday

Working on Sunday

Repeat 17 and 19

V17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

¹⁹ So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.

The problem arises over how we interpret what is immoral vs what is amoral.

How can you handle disagreements over amoral things?

Does this mean that if someone professes to be a believer, we should never challenge them on their behavior or choices?

Romans 13:11-14

The Day Is Near

Intro on Supreme Court decision on same sex marriage.

Romans 13:11-14

    

SALVATION is  Justified/Sanctified/ Glorified

The next event in God’s ‘Big Picture’ plan involves us meeting Him. Paul describes how he thinks we should live as we wait for the Lord to appear.

How would you summarize the behaviors he wrote in v 13-14?

Paul wrote this letter over 2000 years ago. It is still true that our Glorification is closer now than when we first believed, but does all that time make you think that it could be another 2000 years before Jesus returns?

Would it make a difference in your behavior if an angel appeared to you and said, “Jesus will return on Tuesday, get ready!”

Romans 13:8-10

Christian Living in the community (not the CG)

Last week we talked about Christian living in relation to our government. Today we are going to see what Paul has to say about how we should relate to those people we encounter every day.

Love Fulfills the Law

Romans 13:8-14

This is not a prohibition against a proper use of credit; it is an underscoring of a Christian's obligation to express divine love in all interpersonal relationships (from SonicLight.com)

Luke 10:25-37 The Good Samaritan

In light of both of these passages, who are some of the people in your life (actual people with names) that you would identify as your neighbor?

What have you seen another Christian do for someone lately that demonstrates the kind of love Paul is talking about in this passage in Romans?

What are some of the things that keep us from acting neighborly to others?

Matthew 5:42 Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you. (Jesus)

Romans 13:1-7

 Government

Read Romans 13:1-7

This line of reasoning assumes God’s sovereignty. There are lots of ways that our government and other governments have acted in ways that are totally contrary to God’s design and principles.

What does Paul mean by the government being “established by God”?

God has "established" three institutions to control life in our dispensation: the family (Gen. 2:18-25), the civil government (Gen. 9:1-7), and the church (Acts 2). In each institution, there are authorities to whom we need to submit for God's will to go forward. In each of these institutions where there are good, capable leaders, and poor, broken, and even wrong leaders.

But in this case, Paul doesn’t qualify submission based on the individual’s judgement of how good the government is. He says be in subjection.

I’ve seen lots of different responses from Christians to our government. My former Pastor, Mike Huckabee left our church and became the governor of Arkansas and is running for the Presidency. I know many Christians who almost completely ignore the government, other than pretty much obeying the traffic laws.

 How would you describe your interactions or involvement with our government?

Does God’s sovereignty over the government give us a reason to just “go along” with everything that the government does? After all, He controls it all, right?

What does Paul tell us to do as US citizens in this passage? How should we engage our government?

Luke 4:5-8 

Mark 12:13-17 

1 Peter2 13-17  

Romans 12:14-21

Engaging the Enemy

I have been feeling a lot like Christianity is under attack lately.

PEW Research Study: Over the past seven years, evangelicals have lost less than 1 percent of their share of the population, holding steady at about 1 in 4 American adults (25.4% in 2014, vs. 26.3% in 2007) and preserving their status as the nation’s largest religious group.

Charisma News: A solid majority of Americans would now be comfortable with a president who is gay or lesbian, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll.

Midland MI Daily News: Religious Freedom Restoration Act is neither freedom nor religious  Jesus did not discriminate against serving people because they were different or did not meet his religion’s standards. 

We Christians would do well to go back to the model of Jesus for our daily living.

I think Romans 12:14-21 give us some excellent ammunition for the battle ahead. Let’s hear what it says:

Romans 12:14-21 

Well, Maybe ammunition for the battle is not the right metaphor. I picked out 4 clear responses to the cultural challenge that is on our doorstep from this passage. Let’s break this down and see what Paul is telling us about engaging the enemy.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse: We are not the “persecuted” church, yet, but it seems to be coming. More than at any time in the past. As we encounter people who want to declare that our views are intolerant and biased, how do we bless them?

Never pay back evil for evil to anyone AND  Never take your own revenge. What kind of attitude does this take?

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. I think to do this you have to see people as the same kind of sinner that you once were. I also think that there can be more power in goodness than there is in evil. Can you think of a circumstance where you have seen evil overcome by good?

Romans 12:9-13

13 exhortations for the believer.

• 1.       Let love be without hypocrisy.
• 2.       Abhor what is evil;
• 3.       cling to what is good.
• 4.       ¹⁰ Be devoted to one another in brotherly love;
• 5.       give preference to one another in honor;
• 6.       ¹¹ not lagging behind in diligence,
• 7.       fervent in spirit,
• 8.       serving the Lord;
• 9.       ¹² rejoicing in hope,
• 10.   persevering in tribulation,
• 11.   devoted to prayer,
• 12.   ¹³ contributing to the needs of the saints,
• 13.   practicing hospitality.

Let’s see if we can think of concrete examples of each of these actions/attitudes, one at a time.

Let’s assume that as we have gone through these exhortations, that we kept score on how well we are doing in each of these areas. I can say that I do pretty good at diligence and rejoicing in hope, but not all that good in being fervent in spirit or practicing hospitality. I just finished giving all the final exams in my classes this week, so grades are on my mind. (Rhetorical) what grade do you think you would get? What is the value of an “A” over a “C”? ie why should we strive to do these things?