December 7: Acts 20:1-3, Romans 1-3

December 7, Acts 20:1-3, Romans 1-3

Acts continued & Romans… Introduction from the ESV Bible, “Romans is the longest and most systematically reasoned of Paul’s letters. Paul announces its theme in 1:16–17: the gospel is God’s power for salvation, because it shows us that the righteousness of God is through faith for all who believe. Paul explains the need for justification through faith because of sin (1:16–4:25). He then spells out the results of justification by faith in terms of both present experience and future hope (5:1–8:39). In the next three chapters, he expresses his sorrow that many of his fellow Israelites have not embraced the gospel, and he wrestles with the theological implications of this (chs. 9–11). He concludes by describing how the gospel should affect one’s everyday life (chs. 12–16). Paul wrote his letter to Rome in about a.d. 57.”

Romans 3 tells us “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” 

Acts 20:1-3 Paul in Macedonia and Greece. Paul had just went through an uproar where the local people were accusing Paul & his companions of making them lose money as people were not buying their idols as much anymore. After that uproar was over, Paul went and travelled and preached the Gospel…

Romans 1 Paul opens the letter with his customary greeting and makes sure that it is clearly known to the church in Rome that it is all about Jesus. Rome was the capital of the Empire… Paul expresses to them how grateful He is for their faith, as their faith is being proclaimed around the world and he wants to come and see them - for their mutual benefit and encouragement

The Righteous Shall Live by Faith. In light of their faith, Paul reaffirms for them and encourages us, “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 for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” The righteousness of God is revealed from faith (a free gift given to us by God) for faith (a gift given to us to be lived out in our lives). Our Justification is given to us by God. God ‘justifies’ us so that we can accept Him and His Son, then we receive the gift of faith. 

God’s Wrath on Unrighteousness. Paul just explained that there is salvation available for everyone with faith, now he goes into that truth is in God and by denying it, we suppress the truth & God. We have no excuse… “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” We can see God throughout the world, it is innate. So, instead of worshipping the one True God, they worshipped things that God had made. For doing this, “God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.” Because of their idolatry, God gave them over to their sin. This opened another door of depravity and God gave them over to that as well. “For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.” God is clearing stating that homosexuality is not His intended design and it is a sexual sin, just like all sex outside of a marriage between a man and a woman. Homosexuality is contrary to nature. Paul goes on to say that “…since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness.” They wanted sin so bad, God let them have it. This is not how we are to live. “Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.” Knowing God’s Truth and living God’s Truth are 2 separate things altogether. All of this sinning stems from idolatry.

Romans 2 God’s Righteous Judgment. Paul just revealed that God’s judgement will be against those who practice sin and he goes on to explain that they cannot be sitting their judging the ‘sinners’ when they themselves are doing the very same sins. What they were doing, was basically taking advantage of God’s goodness and patience and kindness. They did not realize that “God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance…” That is what God’s kindness is for - to bring us back to repentance. Now we are to live that way in light of God’s kindness. If we do not, God’s wrath is stored up for us. We will reap what we sew. Paul says, “He will render to each one according to his works…” and then Paul goes through a litany of a list of the good and the bad explaining that we sleep in the bed that we make. Again, we have no excuses…

God’s Judgment and the Law. Then we learn that even the Gentiles are without excuse. “For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.” And here is the difference, “For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.” Just because they are not Jewish doesn't mean that God’s laws are not written on their heart. We have to obey by doing God’s laws - living out God’s love. When we love God, His laws are written on our hearts and we live it out. From there, God judges the secrets of our hearts. God judges with absolute fairness. Where is your heart today? 

Then Paul focuses in on the Jews and basically asks them if they are living out what they know to be true. They know His will and His laws, yet they are living like pagans, not walking the walk, if you will. They were being hypocrites and relying on their Jewish line to help them. Paul calls them out in that. 

Romans 3 God’s Righteousness Upheld. Then Paul brings us to the dividing lines of righteousness vs unrighteousness. Some Jews were unfaithful to God and Paul asked, “Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means!” Just because some of God’s people are unfaithful, that does not mean that God is unfaithful! How then are to deal with this? “And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.” This attitude still prevails among some today and like Paul said, their condemnation is just. Paul goes on to quote some Old Testament passages to reveal that all people are under sin and then leads to the power and need of Jesus. Truth is, none of us are ‘seekers’ in the sense that we are seeking God - Christianity is much different than that of all other religions. We don’t seek God, God seeks us!

“None is righteous, no, not one; 

no one understands; 

no one seeks for God. 

All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; 

no one does good, 

not even one”

Why do we need Jesus so much? “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” With knowledge of sin, we need the righteousness of Christ…

The Righteousness of God Through Faith. As much as I like doing the summaries, Bakers Commentary spells this out so well, so here it is, “However, when for the sinner things begin to look very dark, the light of the gospel suddenly breaks through the gloom and dispels it: “But now, apart from law, a righteousness attested by the law and the prophets has been revealed, namely, a righteousness from God.” This righteousness, in order to be effective in the life of a person, must be appropriated by faith in Jesus Christ. This rule holds for everybody: Gentile and Jew alike, “for there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (verses 21–23).

The price paid by the Savior for the justification of those who place their trust in him, and through him in God Triune, was immeasurably heavy. It amounted to no less than the shedding of Christ’s blood, that is, the offering up of himself. This meant that the full burden of wrath was transferred from his people to himself, so that he, Lord Jesus Christ, bore it in their stead. All this took place in harmony with God’s design from eternity. What Jesus offered was therefore a voluntary wrath-removing sacrifice, made effective in the lives of God’s children by means of their God-given faith. Not until a person welcomes Christ into his heart and life by genuine, humble trust and self-surrender, does God pronounce him to be just; that is, free from every speck of guilt and therefore also bound to receive all the other blessings that are included in the term salvation.

Although it is true that this heavy penalty was not paid by Christ immediately upon the entrance of sin, and that accordingly throughout the entire old dispensation God treated with indulgence the sins of his people, punishment could not be delayed indefinitely. Divine justice had to be satisfied. During Christ’s entire life on earth and especially at Calvary the heavy price was paid: “God did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all” (Rom. 8:31). God did this “to demonstrate his justice in the present time, that he might be just and the One who justifies the person who has faith in Jesus” (3:24–31).”

To sum it all up: 

• Idolatry is ludicrous. If you think about it, we can worship the Creator of all things - God. Instead, we tend to worship things that God has made. Worship the Creator not the created.
• Run from idolatry! God will not accept it and it leads to a life of sin
• What do you want more, God or sin? You will get what you want… 
• Knowing God’s Truth and living God’s Truth are 2 separate things altogether. 
• What is what God’s kindness for? To to bring us back to repentance.
• Did you know that God judges the secrets of our hearts? Confess your sins and repent and live in freedom that only comes through Christ. 
• We don’t seek God, God seeks us!
• When things look dark, look to Jesus for help. I mean that - it is not some pithy statement made to sound like a bumpersticker, rather it is Truth.