God’s Impartial Judgment (Romans 2:1-11)

Prepared and preached for and at Bethel Friends Church on Saturday, January 30 and Sunday, January 31, 2021

In 2001, Tim Goeglein started running the White House Office of Public Liaison, providing him almost daily access to then President George Bush for seven years. Then it all ended abruptly on February 29, 2008. A well-known blogger revealed the startling fact that 27 out of 39 of Goeglein’s published articles had been plagiarized. By mid-afternoon the next day, Goeglein’s career in the White House was over. 

Goeglein, who admitted his guilt, said that this began “a personal crisis unequaled in my life, bringing great humiliation on my wife and children, my family, and my closest friends, including the President of the United States.” 

Goeglein was summoned to the White House to face the President. Once inside the Oval Office, Goeglein shut the door, turned to the President and said, “I owe you an…”

President Bush simply said: “Tim, you are forgiven.” 

Tim was speechless. He tried again: “But sir…” 

The President interrupted him again, with a firm “Stop.” Then President Bush added, “I have known grace and mercy in my life, and you are forgiven.” 

After a long talk, a healing process was launched for Goeglein, which included repentance, reflection, and spiritual growth. “Political power can lead to pride,” Goeglein later reflected. “That was my sin. One hundred percent pride. But offering and receiving forgiveness is a different kind of strength. That’s the kind of strength I want to develop now.“[1] 

Have you been forgiven? Are you trusting in Jesus and His work on the cross for your salvation?

I have some honest questions for you:

1. When it comes to salvation, does God favor a certain cultural group?
2. When it comes to salvation, is one more likely to be saved if they live a moral life?
3. When it comes to salvation, is one more likely to be saved if they have not committed certain sexual sins?
4. What do you believe and how do you live?

We are going to look at a Bible passage that teaches that everyone needs salvation. There is no partiality with God. I think most of you believe that, but I am concerned that many do not live that way. I think many think God favors the moral person. In other words, many may think that as long as you do not commit certain sins God favors you. I think many may think that God favors Americans, or another country. To be clear, Israel was, and remains, God’s chosen people. But this meant that the Savior came through Israel and God still has a purpose for that country. Everyone needs salvation through the cross.

We are walking through Romans and we come to Romans 2. Let’s read Romans 2:1-11 and my theme is the following:

God’s impartial judgment

My application is:

Repent and live for Jesus, then share the Gospel with others

Romans 2:1-11:

Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. ² We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. ³ Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? ⁴ Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? ⁵ But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

⁶ He will render to each one according to his works: ⁷ to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; ⁸ but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. ⁹ There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, ¹⁰ but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. ¹¹ For God shows no partiality.

Remember the context

This passage is the second chapter of Romans.

Romans is Paul’s great treatise on salvation.

In the book of Romans Paul is writing about how we are saved, and who needs to be saved, and the extent of salvation.

In verse 1, Paul addresses some who think they are okay.

Paul addresses people who think they are okay because they are Jewish or practice a moral law.

Paul had just given this litany of sins (Romans 1:18-32) and now he tells them that they are without excuse.

They practice the same things.

It seems as though in Romans 1, Paul is addressing the Gentiles and now he is addressing the Jewish people. There are different views on this. Some think he is now addressing the gentile moralist. That would mean one who teaches a moral law.

One source points out, The NIV misses the force by translating simply “You.” The exclamatory is used to express emotion (BDF , par. 146.1b). “You, sir!” would supply the vitality inherent in the phrase.

MacArthur shares: Having demonstrated the sinfulness of the immoral pagan (1:18–32), Paul presents his case against the religious moralist—Jew or Gentile—by cataloging six principles that govern God’s judgment: 1) knowledge (2:1); 2) truth (v v. 2–3); 3) guilt (v v. 4–5); 4) deeds (v v. 6–10); 5) impartiality (v v. 11–15); and 6) motive (v. 16).[4]

Now, in verses 1b-4 Paul says they do the same things as Paul had written about in Romans 1:18-32.

In the second half of verse 1 Paul says that they do the same things.

One writes: We are reminded of the encounter between David and the prophet Nathan (2 Sam 12:1–14). David agreed that the rich man who killed the poor man’s pet lamb deserved to die. But having passed judgment on another, he quickly learned from Nathan that he had judged himself. “You are the man!” declared the prophet. You have taken the lamb (Bathsheba) of the poor man (Uriah) for your own pleasure. In judging another, you have judged yourself. God’s judgment is based on truth. It is impartial and makes no distinction between rich and poor, king or pauper.^[8]

Jesus talked about this in Matt. 7:1; Luke 6:37

In verse 2 Paul says that God’s judgment rightly falls on those who practice such things. What things? I think this is going back to Romans 1:18-32.

In verse 3: it seems as though there were some who were very hard on others. These may have been Jewish people hard on the Gentiles.

Paul asks them if they think they will escape the judgment of God.

They think because they are moral, or because they are Jewish, they are okay.

But we all need salvation.

The Jewish people would usually be more moral, they would usually not commit much of the sins in Romans 1:18-32, but they still need a Savior.

In verse 4 we see God’s kindness leads to repentance.

Notice the three words in verse 4: “kindness,” “forbearance,” and “patience.” These are riches from God.

In verses 5-11 we see the contrast between the non-believer and the believer.

We see the contrast between the person trusting Jesus and not trusting Jesus.

Notice they have a “hard” and “impenitent” heart.

They are storing up wrath.

verse 5: they are unrepentant. They are storing up wrath for themselves.

Paul is as hard on them as he was on the gentiles and their litany of sins.

They are storing up wrath. There is also a reference to the day of judgment.

Paul says that they have a “stubborn” or “hard” heart. About that word MacArthur shares: The English word “sclerosis” (as in arteriosclerosis, a hardening of the arteries) comes from this Greek word. But here the danger is not physical, but spiritual hardness (Ezek. 36:26; Matt. 19:8; Mark 3:5; 6:52; 8:17; John 12:40; Heb. 3:8, 15; 4:7).[10]

Paul says that their heart is hard and “impenitent” or “unrepentant.” Again, MacArthur shares: A refusal to repent (cf. Rom. 2:4) and accept God’s pardon of sin through Jesus Christ.[11]

They are storing up more wrath through their unrepentance. The day of judgment refers to the final judgment that comes at the great white throne at the end of the Millennium (Rev. 20:11-15).

verse 6 is from Psalm 62:12; also Matthew 16:27.

Some think this is teaching salvation by works. That is not true, we are saved by faith, but we are saved unto good works (Eph. 2:10).

I like what Mounce writes:…But in the immediate context Paul was not teaching how we are made right with God but how God judges the reality of our faith. Faith is not an abstract quality that can be validated by some spiritual test unrelated to life. God judges faith by the difference it makes in how a person actually lives. A. M. Hunter is right in saying that “a man’s destiny on Judgment Day will depend not on whether he has known God’s will but on whether he has done it.”⁷⁷ That is why Jesus taught that those who respond to the needs of the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the sick, and the prisoner will be rewarded with eternal life; but those who fail in these down-to-earth tasks will “go away to eternal punishment” (Matt 25:31–46).[12]

Beginning in verse 6 we see a contrast between the redeemed and the unredeemed. The redeemed are in verses 7 and 10 and the unredeemed are in verses 8 and 9. We are not saved by works, but we are saved unto good works (Eph. 2:10). The deeds of the redeemed are evidence of salvation, not what saves them.

This is called an ABBA chiastic structure.

verse 7 is about the redeemed:

Paul gives quite a list of nouns that are received by persevering to the end. If the redeem persevere they receive:

Glory

Honor

Immortality

eternal life

There is an emphasis on perseverance of the saints not easy believism.

This is Paul’s first mention of “eternal life” in Romans. It is life that is qualitatively different from the life of this present age.[13]

Verses 8-9 are written about unbelievers. Verses 8-9 show what happens to the person who does not persevere, the non-believers.  

These are those who are selfishly ambitious or “self-seeking” about that Greek term, MacArthur shares: This word may have originally been used to describe a hireling or mercenary; someone who does what he does for money regardless of how his actions affect others.[14]

These are unbelievers, they do not obey the truth, but unrighteousness. They will experience God’s wrath and fury.

Verse 9 shares that they will face tribulation and distress. This goes to the Jew first, but also the Greek.

verse 10 brings back the contrast to the positive.

Now, we are back to the believers. This is about perseverance and doing good. The believers will experience glory and honor and peace, again, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. These are repeated from verse 7 except “peace” replaces “immortality” and “eternal life.”

We must persevere: Remember the Child’s Toy that’s a big vinyl doll with a heavy round weight of sand in the bottom? You punch it, it bounces right up again. Punch it again and it comes back to the upright position. Similarly those Christians in the early church kept bouncing back.^[15]

We must be like them.

MacArthur: Just as the Jews were given the first opportunity to hear and respond to the gospel (1:16), they will be first to receive God’s judgment if they refuse (cf. Amos 3:2). Israel will receive severer punishment because she was given greater light and blessing (see Rom. 9:3–4).[16]

Glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good. Again, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

verse 11 There is no partiality with God: Deut 10:17 and Acts 10:34.

Applications:

We must be humble and understand that I need redeemed as much as anyone (verse 1).

We must understand that God does not show partiality (verse 11).

We must understand that God does not show partiality to the Jewish people over the gentiles (Acts 10:34; Galatians 3:28; Revelation 7:9-11)  .

We must understand that God does not show partiality to people with a Christian background.

We must understand that God does not show partiality to people who live moral lives.

We must understand that God does not show partiality to Americans.

We must be SO careful about judging while doing the same things (verse 1).

Judging condemns ourselves (verse 1).

We must not be spiritually arrogant.

We must remember that the judgment of God falls on us when we practice such things as from Romans 1:29-31.

We must understand that we will not escape the judgments. Again, God is not partial.

We must NOT think lightly on the riches of God’s kindness, tolerance and patience (verse 4).

We must not trivialize that these are riches. Our salvation comes from God’s riches.

We must not trivialize the “riches” of God’s kindness.

We must not trivialize the “riches” of God’s forbearance or tolerance.

We must not trivialize the riches of God’s patience.

We must repent when we do trivialize these great riches from God. We must repent as we see that God’s kindness is to lead us to repentance.

We must remember that there will be a day of judgment (verses 5-10 and (Rev. 20:11-15) and we must repent now, while we have time.

We must seek Christ now, we must live for His Kingdom.

Prayer

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[1] (Warren Cole Smith, “Wins & Losses,” World magazine, 10-23-10, p. 11. From a sermon by C. Philip Green, Love and Longing, 5/13/2011)

[2] NIV  NIV New International Version

BDF  BDF F. Blass, A. Debrunner, R. W. Funk, A Greek Grammar of the New Testament

SBLDS  SBLDS Society of Biblical Literature Dissertation Series

¹  Robert H. Mounce, Romans, vol. 27, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995)

[3] Robert H. Mounce, Romans, vol. 27, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995).

[4] Excerpt From: Crossway. “The MacArthur Study Bible, ESV.” Apple Books. https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-macarthur-study-bible-esv/id419199195

[5] Excerpt From: Crossway. “The MacArthur Study Bible, ESV.” Apple Books. https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-macarthur-study-bible-esv/id419199195

[6] Excerpt From: Crossway. “The MacArthur Study Bible, ESV.” Apple Books. https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-macarthur-study-bible-esv/id419199195

⁶¹ Luther noted that while “the unrighteous look for good in themselves and for evil in others … the righteous try to see their own faults and overlook those of others” (Romans, 36).

^[7] Robert H. Mounce, Romans, vol. 27, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 88.

^[8] Robert H. Mounce, Romans, vol. 27, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 89.

[9] Excerpt From: Crossway. “The MacArthur Study Bible, ESV.” Apple Books. https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-macarthur-study-bible-esv/id419199195

[10] Excerpt From: Crossway. “The MacArthur Study Bible, ESV.” Apple Books. https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-macarthur-study-bible-esv/id419199195

[11] Excerpt From: Crossway. “The MacArthur Study Bible, ESV.” Apple Books. https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-macarthur-study-bible-esv/id419199195

[12] Hunter, Romans, 36. Similarly, Stuhlmacher writes that “in the final judgment, one’s works, as a visible expression of the nature of a person, are evaluated. What is pleasing before God is rewarded; what is evil or was neglected, will be punished” (Romans, 46).

¹  Robert H. Mounce, Romans, vol. 27, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 91

[13] Robert H. Mounce, Romans, vol. 27, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995).

[14] Excerpt From: Crossway. “The MacArthur Study Bible, ESV.” Apple Books. https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-macarthur-study-bible-esv/id419199195

^[15] Charles R. Swindoll, The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart and 1501 Other Stories (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2016), 437.

[16] Excerpt From: Crossway. “The MacArthur Study Bible, ESV.” Apple Books. https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-macarthur-study-bible-esv/id419199195

^[17] Charles R. Swindoll, The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart and 1501 Other Stories (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2016), 481.

^[18] C. H. Spurgeon, Feathers for Arrows (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1870), 121.

God’s Wrath on us Points to Our Need for Christ (Romans 1:18-32)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church on Saturday, January 23 and Sunday, January 24, 2021

In Lee Strobel’s book, The Case for Grace he gives real testimonies of:

Racists transformed by God’s grace

Addicts transformed by God’s grace

Murderers transformed by God’s grace

The Abused transformed by God’s grace

The Abusers transformed by God’s grace

I remember jogging listening to one of the “Case for…” books as Strobel writes about a man formerly on death row who had been transformed by Christ and is now a pastor.

How does this happen? How do people change? What is the big deal?

C.S. Lewis writes about our moral law and believes that this is evidence for a God. Without God, how can we know that there really is a right and a wrong?

Two weeks ago, we began a sermon series on Romans. We are still in Romans chapter 1. In Romans chapter 1 we see the Apostle Paul write about the depravity of humanity.

I want to get into a passage about this very thing and my theme comes from Romans 1:18 and is:

God’s Wrath on us Points to Our Need for Christ

That is my theme. As we look at this passage and the messages over the next few weeks, we will see that we all, and everyone, need Jesus. No one is good enough.

Application:

Trust in Jesus and point others towards Him as well.

I spent time on this passage a few months ago during my worldview series, so I just want to review and add a few things.

Read with me Romans 1:18:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 

1. First, let’s look at the context of this passage.
   • From 1:18-3:32 the major point in Romans is that being Jewish does not give one salvation, nor does being gentile. No one escapes the consequence of their sins.
   • Remember, Romans is Paul’s great treatise on Salvation. This is called soteriology. This is very important for us to take seriously.
   • As we look at the following verses, we see a litany of sins.
   • As we jump ahead, we see chapter 2 which is directed at the Jews and begins with: Therefore you have no excuse…
   • As we get into chapter 3, Paul begins with Then what advantage has the Jew?
   • In 3:10-20 there is a quote from the Psalms regarding Jewish unrighteousness.
   • Then we come to 3:23: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
   • But check out verse 24: and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…
   • Do you see my point?
   • Prior to looking at these passages we may think, “How legalistic Paul is!” Prior to looking at these passages we may think, “I cannot believe Paul would mention these politically incorrect things!”
   • Realize that Paul is pointing people to Jesus.
2. I do wish to briefly talk about this passage. First, let’s read it.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. ¹⁹ For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. ²⁰ 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. ²¹ For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²² Claiming to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

²⁴ Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, ²⁵ 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.

²⁶ For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; ²⁷ 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.

²⁸ And 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. ²⁹ They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, ³¹ foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. ³² 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.

1. I walked through this passage a few months ago, so let me just point out a few main things.
   • This list of sins is NOT complete. Paul is showing our potential in sin. Paul is showing that we need a Savior. Paul is also showing that the further we get from God, the more depraved we may be; however, remember that we all have a sin problem and we all need Jesus.
   • Notice:
   • In verse 18 we see two uses of the word unrighteousness — twice. Wrath is coming against our unrighteousness. And we are holding down or suppressing or hindering the truth in unrighteousness.
   • Piper shares, “Surely Paul, in writing those two words, unrighteousness, means for us to connect them with the word righteousness in verse 17. And he wants us to hear that the reason we need a righteousness from God is because we are unrighteous. That’s what he wants us to hear in these words. So, don’t miss that connection.”
   • Further Piper shares: “In other words, you can see right off the bat that the bad news of verse 18 is meant to highlight the good news of verse 17. And if you don’t get your condition as unrighteous, you won’t love the awesome reckoning of verse 17. So, don’t run from these things. Don’t run from the diagnosis.”[1]
   • Verses 19-20 are all about general revelation. God has made Himself known.
   • God gave us morals. God gave us morality.
   • Near the end of WWII, the first town with a concentration camp that the Allied forces liberated was Ohrdruf, Germany. Allied soldiers got there before the Nazis could get rid of any evidence of the camp, and the American soldiers walked into that camp to find hundreds upon hundreds of dead bodies.
   • It is difficult to exaggerate the horrors of these camps. When General Patton arrived in Ohrdruf, he promptly vomited upon witnessing the scene. It was—and is—too horrific for words.
   • Patton knew that the German people needed to know what had happened. He brought the mayor of Ohrdruf and his wife to see the camp. He then ordered every able body in the town to dig graves for the bodies, and they held a funeral for the deceased.
   • After the funeral, Patton found out that the mayor and his wife had hung themselves. Before their death, they left a note that read, “We didn’t know … but we knew.”[2]
   • One pastor writes: Suppression, you see, is not the same as ignorance. Suppression means the truth is in there, but you keep yourself from acknowledging it. Like a beach ball you are attempting to hold under the water, it keeps trying to come to the surface, and you keep pushing it down.[3]
   • Verses 22-23 share: Claiming to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
   • One pastor gives this illustration: It would be a great folly and a great tragedy if a man loved his wedding ring more than he loved his bride. But that is what this passage says has happened.[4]
   • Imagine that.
   • Three times this passage says that “God gave them over…”
   • Verse 24 says God gave them over…
   • Verse 26 says, God gave them over…
   • Verse 28: God gave them over…
   • Notice verses 28-32: God gave them over to a depraved mind.
   • We are depraved, we need Divine intervention. We cannot save ourselves.
   • This is how Paul begins Romans. He reminds us of our depravity.
   • I recently heard someone share the following: Realize the difference between Passive wrath versus active wrath.
   • Romans 1:18-3:21 are almost all about sin. I like what John Piper shares: And if you try to do an end run around this section and jump from Romans 1:17 to Romans 3:21, you won’t love the gospel. That’s being taught all over the world today in the name of Christianity. “Let’s just jump over this sin stuff. Let’s just jump over this wrath stuff. This is not encouraging; it is not going to make people want to come back to my church on Sunday morning.” I don’t believe that, by the way, visitors, whoever you are. Frankly, I think you’d like an interpretation of death and suffering and moral degeneracy in our society. I think the world is kind of interested in questions like “Where’d death come from? And is there any hope to overcome it?” So, I’m not worried about talking about sin and chasing anybody away. People leave for all kinds of reasons, and people come for the most strange reasons you can ever imagine. God brings you here this morning for this message. You’re here for this message, and I pray that you’ll be listening.[6]
   • We could go into a series and preach on each of the sins listed in this passage, and maybe we will some day, for now, remember that Jesus is Lord, we are depraved and we need salvation. We need a Savior.
   • The sins in this section are real and they are sinful. Also, the deeper you get into a sinful lifestyle, the further you get from God. Repent as soon as you are convicted and get help.
   • The hot topic from this passage is homosexuality. I realize that for some of you that is an emotional issue because you, or someone you know, is in the homosexual lifestyle.
   • The Bible makes clear from Genesis to Revelation that God has a better way. God’s plan is sexual relationships are to be male and female. I believe that human nature teaches that, biology teaches that.
   • But I must add, heterosexuality does not mean godliness. One can be married to the opposite sex and in sin. Purity is the goal and being heterosexual does not mean that one is pure.
   • If you are here and you are heterosexual, don’t be prideful, you must repent of any lust, or pornography, or temptations in any way.
   • We all must repent of our sins.
   • Listen, I am here to help.
2. Let’s apply this:
   • Trust in Jesus and point others towards Him as well.
   • Who are you trusting in for Salvation?
   • Are you recognizing that you need Jesus?
   • Do you recognize that others need Jesus?
   • Point others to Jesus?
   • Do you know Jesus?
   • Are you dependent on Jesus?
   • Do you need Jesus?
   • Or, are you self-sufficient?
   • Are you confident in your own thinking? Realize that even our mind is depraved (verses 28-32).
   • In this passage we see human pride. Many think pride is the root of sin, which it may be the root of all sin.
   • Regarding verse 18, I recently heard the following “The lack of a thankful heart is when we start departing from the Lord” (Ray Ortlund Jr quoting Francis Schaeffer).

Anthropologists say we are telic creatures –purposed people–who always find some greater cause to live for. We find something to attach ultimate value to; something we determine that without that thing life would not be worth living . It’s like Jordan Peterson, the Canadian psychologist, who is

not a Christian, says it: “There are no true atheists, practically speaking. There are those who acknowledge the gods they are worshipping and those who don’t.”[7]

So, as I close this sermon I encourage you to seek the Lord and make sure that He truly is your Lord. Repent of anything that is an idol. Make sure that Jesus is your cause to live for.

Remember, Jesus forgives.

One pastor writes:

When I was a young Christian, it was very popular for youth groups to attend True Love Waits rallies every summer, where thousands of teenagers would commit to abstaining from sex until marriage.

My friend Matt Chandler tells the story of being at one of those rallies, where the speaker was trying to demonstrate the damage sexual sin causes. At the beginning of his talk, the speaker passed out a beautiful rose to someone in the audience and told them to pass it around and notice how good it smelled and soft the petals were.

When it got back to him at the end of his talk, the rose was wilted and drooping, with most of the petals fallen off. He held it up and said, “Who wants this rose?” The implied answer: No one.

I think I get where that speaker was coming from. In an increasingly fluid culture, we need to be clear about what the Bible says about sex. One of our culture’s favorite lies is that sex can be casual. But it never is. Sex inherently unites people, body and soul, so much so that “casual sex” does damage to everyone involved.

But there’s a difference between warning people about sexual sin and heaping shame on the sexual sinner.

Remember: There is a Savior who came and died for those sins. He overcame them through the grave so that he could restore those who have suffered because of their sin.

This is why, when Matt heard the speaker ask, “Who would want this rose?” he wanted to jump up and yell, “Jesus wants the rose!”[8]

Jesus wants to forgive and give second chances.

Prayer

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[1] https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/how-do-i-grow-in-wisdom?utm_campaign=Ask+Pastor+John&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=82923175&_hsenc=p2ANqtz–SrVVZcZQQzC_qEc42DhqypkGrl4r23th2F6_S3DqGNeXKzGODaF1tfLwKCRTyPqZ7IWTPOhd8aO_A8tX75iWyCaIYIg&_hsmi=82923175

[2] https://jdgreear.com/blog/dont-know-know/?utm_source=JD+Greear+Newsletter&utm_campaign=8e436bed15-BLOG_DIGEST_DAILY&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_009733a9e6-8e436bed15-87118783

[3] https://jdgreear.com/dont-know-know/

[4] Devotional excerpted from The Pleasures of God, pages 85–86

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-message-of-creation

[5] https://realfaith.com/ask-pastor-mark/what-is-the-difference-between-passive-and-active-wrath/

[6] https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/how-do-i-grow-in-wisdom?utm_campaign=Ask+Pastor+John&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=82923175&_hsenc=p2ANqtz–SrVVZcZQQzC_qEc42DhqypkGrl4r23th2F6_S3DqGNeXKzGODaF1tfLwKCRTyPqZ7IWTPOhd8aO_A8tX75iWyCaIYIg&_hsmi=82923175

[7] https://www.summitrdu.com/wp-content/uploads/sermons/2019/01/4-Romans-1-24-32-Judgment.pdf

[8] https://jdgreear.com/jesus-wants-the-rose/

Not Ashamed of the Gospel (Romans 1:16)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Saturday, January 16 and Sunday, January 17, 2021

Please turn to Romans 1:16

I read the following a few years ago.

In January of 1925, Nome was this remote outpost, faced suddenly with a deadly outbreak of diphtheria, and virtually no vaccine to stop it. The National Health Department in Washington concluded “an epidemic of diphtheria is almost inevitable.” That meant up to 75% of the children in and around Nome could die.

Well, a train brought the needed antitoxin as far as the train could go – to Nenana. That’s 640 miles from Nome. From there, it had to be dog teams, taking the mail route that they called the Iditarod Trail. But that was usually a 25-day trip, and that was way too long to save the lives in Nome.

Knowing that their mission was life-or-death, the mushers and their dogs defied the weather; they defied the odds to do what had never been done before. Like the Pony Express, one team went as far as they could and then handed it off to another musher and his dogs. And history records that the winter of ’25 was one of the worst ever, with temperatures that plunged to 60 below. Then the blizzard closed in around them. The only doctor in Nome said, “All hope is in the hands of the dogs and their heroic mushers.” 

At 5:30 in the morning on January 30, the final musher drove his dogs – and the serum – into the streets of a sleeping Nome. It took twenty men; it took 150 dogs to get it there. Amazingly, they made the trip in just five and a half days, breaking the world record, and more importantly, saving hundreds of lives.

The drama of that desperate race to Nome touches something deep inside me, because it’s a picture of a race for life where the stakes are even higher; a race that began on an old rugged cross 2,000 years ago. Our word for today from the Word of God in 1 John 3:16 and chapter 4, verse 9, says this: “Jesus Christ laid down His life for us that we might live through Him.” The news of His death for our sins and His game-changing resurrection – that’s the only “serum” that can save a person from a hellish eternity and give them heaven instead.

And from generation to generation that life-saving message has been entrusted into the hands of every person who’s been saved by hearing it. And today, it’s in my hands and the hands of every person who belongs to this Jesus.

Getting Jesus’ message to the people within my reach is not some casual, “get around to it sometime” thing. It is urgent beyond words. In the Bible’s words, it’s snatching “others from the fire” (Jude 23 ), it’s rescuing “those who are being led away to death,” it’s holding “back those who are being led away to slaughter” (Proverbs 24:11 ). People I know. People I see all the time. People whose forever depends on what I know about Jesus. They are one heartbeat away from meeting God. Waiting any longer to tell them is gambling with their eternity.

Somewhere along the way, the cause for which Jesus died has become, well, like the Iditarod, a spectator sport, lots of activity but no thought about the lives at stake. But those of us who’ve been saved by the serum of the Gospel are responsible before God to get that serum to those who are going to die without it. Jesus expects that the driving passion of His people and His Church, will be the passion that kept Him on the cross, “to seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10 ). In a very real sense, we hold their eternities in our hands.

It really is a race for life[1]

So, this is the purpose of Romans. Romans is all about the Gospel. Romans is all about Paul getting the good news of our salvation out to the world. He wanted to spread the serum.

Let’s look at the thesis statement:

Read with me Romans 1:16-17:

¹⁶ 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. ¹⁷ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Now, turn to Romans 15:20:

and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation…

My theme and application:

Don’t be ashamed of the Gospel. Take the Gospel seriously.

1. Pray for a passion for the Gospel.
   • Look at Paul’s passion for the Gospel. 2 Timothy 2:10: Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
   • Let’s come back to Romans 1:16-17.
   • Paul says he is not ashamed of the Gospel.
   • Why?
   • The Gospel is the power of God for salvation.
   • Who are saved?
   • Paul says the Jew first. This is likely because salvation came through the Jewish people, through Jesus, and back to Abraham.
   • Paul says, “also the Greeks.” This was a big deal in that time period. Salvation is opened to everyone.
   • Verse 17 references “The righteous man shall live by faith” and this is a quote from Habakkuk 2:4: The Righteous shall live by faith
   • Now, let me talk about these two verses with applications for us:
2. We must also be eager to preach the Gospel.
   • Paul says that he is not ashamed. If we go back and look at verse 14 he says that he is under obligation to preach the Gospel to Greeks and Barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.
   • Barbarians would be anyone who did not speak Greek. This is based off of their language.
   • 1 Cor. 9:16 Paul writes: For when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, since I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 
3. We must not be ashamed of the Gospel. Let’s make this more personal.
   • We must not be ashamed at school.
     • We must not be ashamed at work.
     • We must not be ashamed in public.
     • We must not be ashamed on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.
     • We must not be ashamed at church. At church? You are wondering what I mean by this. Even churches are compromising the Gospel. We are compromising the Scriptures and compromising our Savior.
4. We must proclaim the Gospel.
5. We must have a Gospel mindset, always praying, and thinking of opportunities to share.
6. We must recognize the exclusivity of salvation and the inclusivity of the Gospel.
   • The Gospel is the only means to salvation. So, in that way Salvation is exclusive, only through Jesus. But the Gospel is inclusive, opened to all.
   • John 3:16-18; 14:6
     • ¹⁶ “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him. ¹⁸ The one who believes in Him is not judged; the one who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

John 14:6:

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

So, get this in John 3:18, rejecting the Son means rejecting the Father.

Notice John 14:6: Jesus is the only way.

Luke 9:23:

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.

We must recognize that the Gospel represents the power of God. I must be compelled to worship our mighty Savior.

We must recognize that God’s righteousness is revealed. We are only righteous by faith in Christ. We are only right before God by faith in Christ (Eph. 2:8-9). This must compel us to worship. 

This passage, this phrase “righteousness of God is revealed” has brought a lot of theological debate. I had a note in my Bible that says “our faith alone for salvation, not works.” I think that is key.

Some would say this is talking about God’s righteousness in the way we are saved. Others would say that we only receive righteousness by trusting in Jesus. I really like both. God is righteous. But we only receive right standing before God by trusting in Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Close:

A bazaar was held in a village in northern India. Everyone brought his wares to trade and sell. One old farmer brought in a whole covey of quail. He had tied a string around one leg of each bird. The other ends of all the strings were tied to a ring which fit loosely over a central stick. He had taught the quail to walk dolefully in a circle, around and around, like mules at a sugarcane mill. Nobody seemed interested in buying the birds until a devout Brahman came along. He believed in the Hindu idea of respect for all life, so his heart of compassion went out to those poor little creatures walking in their monotonous circles.

“I want to buy them all,” he told the merchant, who was elated. After receiving the money, he was surprised to hear the buyer say, “Now, I want you to set them all free.”

“What’s that, sir?”

“You heard me. Cut the strings from their legs and turn them loose. Set them all free!”

With a shrug, the old farmer bent down and snipped the strings off the quail. They were freed at last. What happened? The birds simply continued marching around and around in a circle. Finally, the man had to shoo them off. But even when they landed some distance away, they resumed their predictable march. Free, unfettered, released . . . yet they kept going around in circles as if still tied.

Until you give yourself permission to be the unique person God made you to be . . . and to do the unpredictable things grace allows you to do . . . you will be like that covey of quail, marching around in vicious circles of fear, timidity, and boredom.

Excerpted from Day by Day with Charles Swindoll, Copyright © 2000 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. (Thomas Nelson Publishers). All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission.

People need Jesus.

Do you see the Gospel as healing serum which people need?

Paul was not ashamed. He wanted to preach the Gospel. He wanted to preach to those who have never heard.

Let’s review the Romans road to Salvation:

Walking Down the “Romans Road” to Salvation . . . .

Because of our sin, we are separated from God.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God  (Romans 3:23).

The Penalty for our sin is death.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23).

The penalty for our sin was paid by Jesus Christ!
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).

If we repent of our sin, then confess and trust Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we will be saved from our sins!
For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved  (Romans 10:13).
…if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation (Romans 10:9,10).[2]

Go and share the Gospel

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[1] https://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-mission/the-race-to-nome-6619

[2] http://www.davidjeremiah.org/site/about/becoming_a_christian.aspx

Preach to those Who Have Never Heard (Romans 1:8-15; 15:20)

Theme: An Intro to Romans

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Saturday, January 9 and Sunday, January 10, 2021

We are going to be turning to Romans 1 in a moment. First, allow me to introduce the passage with something I read from Rick Sams, the retired pastor of Alliance Friends.

WHITE OUTS by Pastor Rick Sams

  White outs come in the form of blizzards where you cannot see a thing.

  Then there’s the kind we used before computers. Wite-Out dates to 1966 when an insurance-company clerk named George Kloosterhouse and a guy who waterproofed basements developed a correction fluid for typing mistakes. It was originally called “Wite-Out WO-1 Erasing Liquid.”*

  Have you ever sent a text message that you regretted? Now you can electronically “white it out” by using Apple’s app called “Wiper Messenger.”**

  Don’t you wish we had a “white out” for all your words and actions?

  We try to use white out when we say we’ve “stretched the truth,” but we’ve flat out lied.

  We call it “spin” when it’s actually false reporting.

  “Re-inventing” products is really the same old stuff in a bigger package and bigger price.

  “Revisionist history” is just bad research and recall.

  “Pardon my French” is a cover up for swearing. I’ve heard French and what follows this phrase is not French.

  “Bless their heart,” is often used right after we’ve smeared someone, as if this makes it right.

  “Communication breakdown” is often a cover for laziness or somebody not doing their job.

  “Mistakes” are too often sins.

  “Affairs” are adultery.

  “Issues” are really problems–usually big and bad.

  But the Bible says there really are do-overs and white outs: “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18b).

  What a Savior. What a white out.[1]

Okay, that is exactly what we are going to start talking about today. We are beginning a sermon series on Romans. For most of this year we will be preaching through Romans. We will not hit every verse, but instead I will be picking out key sections in each chapter. Romans is all about our great salvation. This is Paul’s treatise on salvation.

Do you think about your salvation?

What are you saved from?

How are you saved?

Are you saved by works?

Can you earn your salvation?

We find a lot of those answers in Romans. 

Today, I want to introduce Paul’s Thesis in Romans and give a little bit of background to Romans.

My theme and application:

Be Gospel Centric as Paul was Gospel Centric.

Read with me Romans 1:16-17:

¹⁶ 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. ¹⁷ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Now, turn to Romans 15:20:

and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation…

Let’s start with the point, person, and time of the writing of Romans.

Over a million people lived in Rome at the time of this writing.

Paul most likely wrote Romans from Corinth around A.D. 57.

The theme of Romans is the revelation of God’s judging and saving righteousness in the gospel of Jesus Christ. In the cross of Christ, God judges sin and yet at the same time manifests his saving mercy.[2]

Let’s think more about Rome.

What are some things that you think of from Rome?

Anyone may answer this.

Has anyone here ever been to Rome?

The Colosseum is estimated to have seated more than 45,000 for gladiatorial spectacles.

Daily life in Rome could be luxurious for the wealthy but onerous for others. Multiple aqueducts and a huge sewer system provided for the immense water requirements of Rome, including the many bathhouses, fountains, and latrines. Food had to be imported to satisfy the needs of this thriving metropolis, and the emperor often directly oversaw the vital grain supply. Luxury villas in Rome were the privileged possessions of the wealthiest families (often of senatorial or equestrian rank) and especially of the emperors, but most of the housing in ancient Rome consisted of insulae (multistory apartment buildings often constructed above first-floor shops). Contemporary authors spoke of a severely overcrowded, loud, and smelly city—a place that provided every virtue and vice known to mankind. The residents of Rome were mostly pagan, although a sizable Jewish population also existed (as evidenced both by 1st-century literature and by later remains of inscriptions). The expulsion of the Jews under the emperor Claudius (a.d. 49) was a limited measure.

Getting into Romans:

Some specific theological topics include

principles of spiritual leadership (1:8–15);

God’s wrath against sinful mankind (1:18–32); principles of divine judgment (2:1–16);

the universality of sin (3:9–20);

an exposition and defense of justification by faith alone (3:21–4:25);

the security of salvation (5:1–11);

the transference of Adam’s sin (5:12–21);

sanctification (chs. 6–8);

sovereign election (ch. 9);

God’s plan for Israel (ch. 11);

spiritual gifts and practical godliness (ch. 12);

the believer’s responsibility to human government (ch. 13); and

principles of Christian liberty “(14:1–15:12).

The Epistle to the Romans is, by popular consent, the greatest of Paul’s writings. William Tyndale, the great English reformer and translator, referred to Romans as

“the principle and most excellent part of the New Testament.” He went on to say the following in his prologue to Romans that he wrote in the 1534 edition of his English New Testament:

“No man verily can read it too oft or study it too well; for the more it is studied the easier it is, the more it is chewed the pleasanter it is, and the more groundly [sic] it is searched the preciouser [sic] things are found in it, so great treasures of spiritual things lieth hid therein.”

Martin Luther wrote the following commendation of this epistle.  “[Romans] is worthy not only that every Christian should know it word for word, by heart, but occupy himself with it every day, as the daily bread of the soul. It can never be read or pondered too much…

We find Paul’s purpose written in Romans 1:16-17 and I believe in 15:20:

So, as we look at Romans, that is Paul’s Thesis:

Romans 1:16-17:

¹⁶ 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. ¹⁷ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

We will come back to this next week.

But I see another core belief in Romans:

Now, turn to Romans 15:20:

and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation…

Paul wanted to go to Rome and use Rome as staging point to launch a ministry to Spain, wow!

But as we look at this passage, are you Gospel Centric? Paul was centered on the Gospel.

Next are you sure of your salvation?

Think about “white-out.” Have your sins been whited out?

Walking Down the “Romans Road” to Salvation . . . .

Because of our sin, we are separated from God.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  (Romans 3:23)

The Penalty for our sin is death.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

The penalty for our sin was paid by Jesus Christ!
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

If we repent of our sin, then confess and trust Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we will be saved from our sins!
For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.  (Romans 10:13)
…if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:9,10)[3]

So, have you asked God to use the “white out” on your sin?

Pray

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[1] * I read this in Rick’s Ramblings from Rick Sams. He referenced: “Forgiveness Is God’s Gift to ‘Wite-Out’ Mistakes,” John Ortberg, PreachingToday.com 8/5/14 **“Delete Your Conversations from Other People’s Phones,” Kim Komando blog (9-9-14)

[2] ESV Study Bible

[3] http://www.davidjeremiah.org/site/about/becoming_a_christian.aspx