Paul’s letter to the Romans reveals God’s solution for sin and sinners and what some have called “the cosmic crime.” This crime is the rebellion of creatures against their Creator. Imagine for a moment the magnitude of this. The creature is turning away from the Creator saying, “I don’t want You.” In this message from the New Testament survey, Scott Brown explains the book of Romans and examines some of the key teachings from what may be the most important letter ever written.

Open your Bibles to Romans chapter 1 and let's pray. Lord we thank you for documenting the truth so that we would be delivered from the lies. To exchange our lies for your glory, to find ourselves being healed and sent in the same way that we see these things here in this wonderful letter to the Romans. We pray that you would help us to be a living picture of what you wrote to the Romans, that our church would be like that church. We would be church members like the ones that you described.

Lord, we thank you for the beautiful direction that's here, the unforgettable message. Amen. So Romans, Romans identifies what is the heart of every revival that has ever taken place in history. And that is the doctrine of regeneration. And whenever there's a revival, you find conditions where people are in churches and they're not regenerate.

They have either heard a false gospel or they've never really understood the gospel, but Regeneration is always at the heart of every revival, and this is the entire focus of the book of Romans. And it's particularly exciting to enter into the book of Romans because it contains the most complete testimony of the regenerating power of the gospel of Jesus Christ that occurs in the New Testament. The detail, the granularity is remarkable in the letter to the Romans. Now, but the most important feature of the book of Romans is that it really gives us the only solution to the hopelessness that there is in the world today. And that solution is the justifying power of Jesus Christ.

Justification by faith alone. Now Romans is the longest of all of Paul's letters. Romans is the most quoted letter that he wrote. So let's talk about the theme here. You've got an outline in front of you.

The theme of Romans is justification by faith alone and that Paul is not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The heart of the letter to Romans is stated I think in two particular passages And you've got them listed right there in your outline. Let me read them in chapter 1 verses 16 and 17 for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for It is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes for the Jew first and also 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. That first text is so clear. The second one expands upon the first in chapter three, verses 21 to 25.

But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood through faith to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time his righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. So the message of the gospel is communicated by using really important words that we need to understand the definitions of. Justification, redemption, propitiation. Those three words are so important in order to understand what Jesus Christ did on the cross and what it means to be a child of God.

In addition to these three words, justification, redemption, and propitiation, there are two really critical parts of Romans that I want to mention. There are two aspects of the letter to the Romans that we need to remember. And the first is that it's a revelation of the nature of sin and what some have called the cosmic crime. The crime is rebellion. Creatures rebelling against their creator.

And imagine the magnitude of this. A creature is turning his back on his creator. It's a crime. And this crime, this cosmic crime leads to what we would call the great exchange, which is explained here in Romans, that man exchanges the glory of God for a lie. He turns his back on the truth and exchanges that truth for a lie and chapter 1 sets the stage for this whole problem.

And the rest of the letter gives the solution to this problem of man turning his back on God and exchanging the glory of God for a lie. And you see this in Romans 1 in verses 18 to 27. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness because what may be known of God is manifest in them. For God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and godhead, so that they are without excuse, because although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness in the lusts of their hearts to dishonor their bodies among themselves." And look at verse 25, "...who exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the creator, who is blessed forever. And then he goes on and talks about how this expresses itself in sexuality and various other things. And it identifies man's great problem. He made a tragic exchange.

He exchanged what was beautiful, life-giving, good, happy-fying, marvelous, perfect. He gave that up for a lie. He made an exchange. Now, the hope of the gospel is that a man or a woman can come to his senses and realize that he exchanged the glory of God for a lie. And he can actually make another exchange to exchange the perversity, the rebellion, for something that will breathe life into his soul.

And this is the exchanged life. You can have a change out and that's the hope of the gospel. So you have this great tragedy of human life where we exchange the glory of God for a lie. Now he gives various kinds of exchanges in the book of Romans and this is really important. The first exchange that he talks about is exchanging the glory of God for images.

And in chapter 1 verses 23 there's this tragedy that takes place in the soul of a human being where he exchanges the glory of God for images. And what are those images? In today's language, they are the things that your eyes see. They could be movies. They could be a horse or a car or a house, anything.

You change these images, these things, you change them out for what's inferior. The second exchange is the exchange of sexual relations with the opposite sex and with the same sex. So the second kind of exchange is really about sexuality and he's speaking about how mankind has changed what is beautiful and good and as a result He's storing up wrath. There's another exchange. Actually, there's so many exchanges in the book of Romans if you track it.

It's very interesting. We exchange grace for our works. You'll find that in the book of Romans. You'll find the exchange of his transformation and the power of the Holy Spirit to transform you for just outward conformity. But this first dark exchange is the exchange of idolatry.

And the second part of the Book of Romans, after you consider this matter of the exchange, this great exchange, is the matter of hope in Romans, because Romans is a revelation of hope it shows you how you can escape your bondage and most of the book of Romans Paul is just boasting in the hope that there is in God. I think it might have been eight years ago I preached through the book of Romans in our church and I remember one time I was with my daughter Claudia and we had been reading the book a couple of times as a family just to understand what it was saying. And I asked Claudia what her thoughts about Romans was, and she said, Papa, there's a lot of hope in this letter. Now, she was just a little girl at that time. But there's a lot of hope in that letter, a lot of hope.

But it's a realistic hope. It's not an immature, diffusive, empty hope. It's a hope that doesn't disappoint. So Romans casts this vision, first of all, of a fallen world, the disappointments and the tragedies that take place in your life when you exchange the glory of God for a lie. But it also presents the hope.

How can you have hope when you're trapped in sin? And you know it. And Romans helps us to understand that. And in Romans chapter 5 you see this declared really clearly where Paul speaks of exalting in the hope of the glory of God. He says, therefore having been justified by faith, this is Romans 5 verse 1, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God and not only that but we also glory in our tribulations knowing that tribulation produces perseverance and perseverance, character and character, hope.

Now hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For while we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love toward us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. So this is the vision of hope that the Apostle Paul brings out in the book of Romans.

Now without justification, there's no hope. Without justification, you're still in bondage to your sin. And Justification is a judicial action. It's an action in favor of the one who is guilty. And this act of justification is an act that is done.

And I mean done. It's over. Once a person turns to Jesus Christ, his justification is complete. And all your worries about your status can drift away. And you can recognize that you have been justified.

You didn't deserve it. You've been set free. You've been cut loose. He broke the chains off your arms and your legs and set you free. And that's the whole matter of justification.

I'd like to talk about the influence of the Book of Romans. The Book of Romans has been used for the conversion of many in church history. Augustine was converted by reading Romans 13, 13, and 14. He had lived an immoral life. He had a child out of wedlock.

And he was running after the world and he was in anguish over it. And he was sitting in a garden with a friend and he heard a child nearby saying, tola legae, tola legae, which means in Latin, take up and read, take up and read. And he picked up a scroll that was just lying next to his friend. And it happened to be the book of Romans. And he read these words, "'Let us walk properly as in the day, "'not in revelry and drunkenness, "'not in lewdness and lust, "'not in strife and envy, "'but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts." And Augustine reports that he didn't even have to finish the sentence, but he was saved.

And he says that this light flooded into his heart and the darkness vanished away. His heart changed in a moment by reading Romans 13, 13. And Martin Luther had a very similar experience. He was reading Romans 1, 16 and 17 where it says, For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it's the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes. And then he read this, for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.

As it is written, the just shall live by faith. And at that moment, he understood that he could not earn his salvation, but that it was being justified by faith alone. This single verse fueled the Protestant Reformation. It's remarkable what a single line of scripture can do in the heart of a person who's converted. You know, John Bunyan used Romans to guide him in writing Pilgrim's Progress.

And about a hundred years after Bunyan, John Wesley was without assurance of salvation. And he read Romans 8, 1 through 4. And he was converted as well. So Romans has been used mightily in history in the conversion of Augustine, Martin Luther, I believe John Calvin was in a similar category but if you have someone that you love who's not saved, read them or recommend they read the book of Romans. You just never know what might happen.

Let's talk about the author of the book of Romans, Saul, Saul of Tarsus. Let's talk about the writing of the letter. Paul did not sit down and write this letter with his own hand. In Romans 16, verse 23, we learn that he had an amanuensis. He had someone who was doing the writing for him.

So he would dictate it and it would be written down by this other person. Paul was a Roman citizen. He was born in the city of Tarsus. He was educated as a Jew under Rabbi Gamaliel. You learn that in Acts 22, verse three.

He was a persecutor of the church. If you can imagine, he's dragging men, women, and children out of their homes and taking them to their death who were Christians. He was a very religious, highly committed Jew who was working to stamp out the church and He was converted on the road to Damascus and this Pharisee turned into a bond slave of Jesus Christ and We also know that he was a tent maker in Acts 18 verse 3 He was a missionary went on three missionary journeys and he was a martyr It was the gospel that caused him to be killed. And when he's writing the book of Romans, He's on the way to Jerusalem with a collection that had been gathered up in the churches of Asia Minor. And he was taking funds that he raised from Gentile churches to Jerusalem, where there was a famine, where there was enormous persecution, and he was bringing funds as an act of mercy to the Jerusalem church there when he was writing the book of Romans.

Let's talk about the genre of this book. Romans is a letter or an epistle. You know, what is an epistle? Someone once said, the epistles were female apostles. Well, that's not true.

Somebody else said that the epistles were the wives of the apostles. Well, that's not true either. Epistle is a letter. And this is one of 13 epistles that are in the New Testament. There are various genres of literature in the New Testament.

For example, there's prophecy. That would be the book of Revelation. There's a genre of history. That would be the book of Acts. There is the genre of the Gospels, the documentation of the life of Jesus Christ.

And then there are the epistles and there are 13 of them and some of them are directed to churches and others are directed to individuals. So this is the epistle to the Romans, the letter to the Romans. It's quite extensive. It's not like a lot of letters that you would conceive of because he covers so many different things. But it is an epistle, one of the 13.

Now I want to give you a number of things to consider about the content of the book of Romans and there are lots of key phrases to help you understand the heart of God on certain things and these words really sort of form the structure of the meaning of the book and here's some of the really critical words. Law, you'll read about law. Sin is another word. Justification, grace, faith, righteousness. Those are really critical words that explain the whole doctrine of regeneration.

The second thing I'd like to point out is the matter of antithesis because the Apostle Paul speaks of the opposites. For example, he speaks of faith not works. You're saved by faith. You're not saved by works. Here's another one.

The Spirit and the flesh. Those who are led by the Spirit, those who are led by the flesh. The works of the Spirit look like this, the works of the flesh look like that. So you have these opposites that are presented in the book of Romans. The third critical matter about the content of Romans is the doctrine of the Holy Spirit because Paul has a lot to say about the Holy Spirit and he really presents to us an almost complete doctrine of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 8 particularly focuses in on this. But throughout the letter, there's a broad testimony of the person and the work and the power of the Holy Spirit. Here are a few things that you learn about the Holy Spirit in Romans. In chapter 8 verses 4 through 6, you learn that the Holy Spirit imparts life. The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, is a person who imparts life.

Secondly, He sets us free. In Romans 6, 18 and verse 22, there's a freedom that a person experiences under the filling of the Holy Spirit, a freedom. It's a freedom from all kinds of things, Fears, pressures. It's a freedom from sin in various ways. Here's another thing that the Holy Spirit does.

He makes us sons and daughters. That's Romans 8, 15. And when he makes you a son something happens to you. Your whole disposition toward God changes. The spirit cries out inside of you, Abba Father.

The Spirit cries out in recognition that you have a Father. And this very tender term Abba, Abba Father, is an experience that a true Christian has. You've experienced this. If you're a Christian, you know what it's like. It might be in the middle of the night.

It might be when you first wake up in the morning. It might be just when you're going to bed. Those are critical times where people tend to cry out, Abba Father, Or throughout the day when a certain thing happens and you lift up your eyes under the hills from whence your help comes and you say, Abba Father. He also intercedes for us in Romans 8 26. He takes our prayers and he Frames them before the Father he takes our confused thinking and He presents it before the Father and he intercedes For us He stands between us and the Father to interpret us before Him somehow.

He sanctifies, meaning He cleanses. He improves your life. He makes you holy. That's in Romans 8, 13. He reveals the will of God.

This is another thing that the Holy Spirit does. In chapter 7, verse 12 and 16, 22, he was given also for the preservation and the blessing of the human race in chapter eight, verses one through seven. He was given to reveal sin in chapter 10, verse five. He was given for guidance in Romans 8, 3, 12, 1, and 8, 8 through 10. So, Romans presents almost a complete doctrine of the Holy Spirit.

And the Holy Spirit is one of the great neglected persons of the Trinity. But He is one of the most blessed. And then notice the people you'll meet here. Now the people you meet in Romans are all part of this narrative of the Gospel and the power of regeneration and what regeneration really is. And one of the personalities we meet is Abraham, particularly in chapter 4.

And Abraham is given an example of what it means to be saved because Abraham was justified by faith, not by works. There's that statement. Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. Here's what you need to realize about this. This is stunning.

Before Abraham performed any act of obedience, Before he did any of the works of the law, he was justified by faith. Because man is justified by faith alone, not by the works of the law. Now, those who are justified will strive to keep the law, but no one has ever been saved by keeping the law. You also meet David. In Romans 4, 7 and 8, Paul quotes David.

Paul says this, blessed is the man whom God imputes righteousness. Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whom the Lord will not impute sin." Now he is quoting David when he says that. Adam, another character that emerges in the book of Romans, in Romans 5, 12 through 21. "'Through one man, sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because all sin for by one man's offense many died and much more the grace of God and the gift of the grace of one man Jesus Christ abounded to many.

Through one man's offense came judgment, that's Adam, even so through one man's righteous act, that's Jesus Christ, resulted in justification of life. So you have the first Adam and you have the second Adam. The first Adam sinned, the second Adam delivers from sin. You also meet Sarah, Rebecca, Jacob, and Esau. In Romans 9, 9-13 these are examples of just how wonderful, how deep, how powerful the grace of God is.

These people had problems. Sarah, Rebecca, Jacob, and Esau. And the purpose of their lives is stated in chapter nine, that the purpose of God, according to election, might stand not of works, but of him who calls. In other words, God rescues those who he desires. Then you have Pharaoh.

Pharaoh is given as an example of God's absolute sovereign control over the hearts of people. And in Romans 9, 15, we read, So then, it is not of him who wills or of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. For the scripture says to the Pharaoh, for this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show my power in you and that my name may be declared in all the earth. Therefore he has mercy on whom he wills, and whom he wills he hardens." So Pharaoh has used an example of how God hardens people's hearts. And he softens and he hardens hearts according to his own sovereign will.

Which is why you should never get too upset with unbelievers whose hearts remain hard because only God can change their hearts. You're free to love them. You can be nice to them because you know God's in control And only God can change their hearts. Then after Pharaoh, there are lots of friends of Paul. Paul knows lots of people in this Roman church.

And what you get, particularly in chapter 16, are all kinds of words of tenderness toward these people that he has been in companionship with. And you see his appreciation for these people. And he really demonstrates the love that is in the Church of Jesus Christ where people they appreciate one another. He says this, I commend you to Phoebe our sister who is a servant of the church in Centuria, that you may receive her in the Lord. Greet Ampleus, my beloved, in the Lord." He has very tender things to say in chapter 16, and he mentions lots of people there.

But in chapter 16 also, he issues a very sharp warning in chapter 16 verse 17. Now I urge you brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them." In other words, you will find divisive people who cause division, who flourish offenses, and he says to do two things note them and Avoid them. That's what you should do and Then there are a number of really prominent messages Throughout the book of Romans and of course, we've already said this but I don't think we can say it enough, is that Paul's primary point is justification by faith alone. And he loves to use that word. And it's a very shocking idea that God would justify sinners.

First of all, He would justify them when they were running away from Him. They would be in rebellion, and He would stop them and turn them, and He would justify His enemies. But then, as they are being perfected and they continue grappling with their sins, Christians are sinners. But to recognize that if you've been raised up with Jesus Christ, your sins really have been forgiven. And they've been put at the bottom of the ocean they've been put as far as the east is from the west and that's justification by faith alone and this really is the heart of the entire theme of the book of Romans.

Now, Paul says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel, because it's the power of God. How could he be ashamed of demonstrating how a sinful, broken person can escape the wrath of God into the arms of Jesus Christ and to receive the righteousness of God. How could he be ashamed to become a vessel of glory or stand under this shower of grace that Romans five talks about. How could he be ashamed to possess a hope that doesn't disappoint? How could he be ashamed to be carried to heaven on the promises of God.

How could he be ashamed of a transfer from futility to fruitfulness? That's why Paul says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God unto salvation. He sees the beauty and the goodness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now let's talk about some of the things that are in the book itself. You see the overall outline.

Romans is really easy to outline. There are three basic parts. The first is the introduction from chapter 1 verse 1 to chapter 1 verse 17 where the apostle begins to break out the basic messages. And then the first part of Romans begins in chapter 1, verse 18, and it runs all the way to the end of chapter 11. And that's justification by faith alone.

And then the apostle changes the tone, changes the direction, and he speaks of what it looks like to be a saved person. And what it looks like to be a saved person is that your relationships are different. Your relationships are transformed. A justified people have certain kinds of relationships. Now, Many of Paul's letters are outlined just like this, where he lays down the doctrine first, and then he shows you what it means to live according to that doctrine.

And the book of Ephesians has the very same outline. The first four chapters focus on the doctrine of what it means to be in Christ. And then from five on, it's what it means to live it out. And Paul does the very same thing in Romans. He lays down the theology and then he lays down how it works in your life and so the outline of Romans is the very same way.

So in chapter 1 you see Paul he greets the people that he's writing to but he goes straight to the problem, and that is we've exchanged the glory of God for a lie. Now, I wanna talk about the greeting in chapter one, because it's startling in many ways. It's startling in its tenderness. Look at verse 7 in chapter 1. He says, To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. But these words in verse seven really give you a sense of God's presence in a church To all who are in Rome, beloved of God. What does that mean? That means that people in the church are beloved of God. To be loved by God and to know you're being loved by God is the most helpful thing you can experience in this world.

God loves his people. But this phrase, Beloved of God, is so reflective of God's kingdom. You come into His kingdom, He picks you up right where you are, and He loves you. And this is what a church is. It is a collection of people who are beloved.

You know, John used this word too in 1 John, I don't know if you've noticed it. Beloved, let us love one another, For love is of God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God." Well, life in the church is life with the beloved. Now when you're with your brothers and sisters, It's really important that you understand God's attitude toward them. Because you won't be able to relate with people very well unless you understand God's disposition toward His church. And here it's very clear that he is declaring those in Rome as beloved of God and then called to be saints.

It's just a beautiful picture of what the Church of Jesus Christ is before God. The Church of Jesus Christ is beloved of God. And then in chapter 2, you get this judgment toward sinners and His mercy toward those with faith. Now, it comes on the heels of chapter one that describes society that has exchanged the glory of God for a lie, and how it exchanges for images, and it exchanges its sexuality. If you read the end of Romans 1, you have to think about the times that we live in now, the gender-bending that's going on, the corruption of it, and the reality that these words in Romans 1 and Romans 2, they're regarded as hate speech today, because they confront a corrupt world that has exchanged the glory of God for a lie.

And in chapter 3, there's the doctrine of righteousness by faith alone, and that there is none righteous, no not one. And many have called Romans 3 20 sort of the theological center of the whole Bible. And it reads like this, Therefore, by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight. For by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God, apart from the law, is revealed.

So the theological center of the Bible is that no flesh will be justified by the works of the law. You can't work your way before God for his favor. Chapter 4 it's all about Abraham and how he was justified by faith, and how the Old Testament saints were saved by faith alone. The Old Testament saints were not saved by the sacrifices that happened in the temple. The Old Testament saints were saved by faith, just like Abraham was, just like the New Testament Christian is as well.

Abraham was justified before his circumcision. Before he did any act of obedience, He was justified. And there's some words in chapter 3 that are really pivotal. Believed, accounted, impute, promise. These are words that really explain how a person is saved.

And then if you go to chapter 5, it's a summary of how justification guarantees final salvation. And there's some of the most encouraging things in all the Bible written in chapter 5, that you rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, and that you have a free gift that grace abounds in your justification. And then chapters six through eight is how a justified person wrestles with ongoing sin. And this is this famous set of chapters that speak of the war that goes on in the life of a Christian. And there are various commands in here in terms of leading us not to use the parts of our body for sin, but for righteousness.

Chapter 7 is about newness of life and this battle against sin. Chapter 8 is summarized by two words, no condemnation. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Chapters 9 through 11 are really all about election, the sovereignty of God in salvation. It does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.

Jacob I loved, Esau I hated. And it makes it very clear that God is sovereign in salvation. And then in Romans chapter 10 is a description of Israel's rejection of the gospel and the consequences of that rejection. In Romans 11 speaks of how the church is grafted in to the vine and all this language about the seed of Abraham and the tribe of Benjamin and Elijah and the blindness of Israel and the riches of God in bringing in the Gentiles. And then in chapters 12 through 15, Paul turns a corner, he moves away from the doctrine, and he talks about how a justified person lives in this world and how that person exists in the government, in the church, with friends, with enemies, with weak believers.

There are all kinds of scenarios that Paul identifies to help us to understand what it means to fulfill the law of love that God has given to us. And in chapter 12, verse one is such beautiful language that explains how this happens. He says, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. So he makes it clear that your body is meant to be sacrificed before God and not conformed to the world, but transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Your whole transformation happens by the renewing of your mind, by changing your mind about things through the Word of God, shifting your thinking from worldly thinking to godly thinking. And that brings about all the transformation that God has for you. Now in Romans 12 you have this declaration of life in the church But one of the most detailed passages on love is in Romans 12. In Romans 12, nine through the whole end of the chapter, where he says, let love be without hypocrisy. In other words, let love be real.

You don't just put it on. It's a fruit of the Holy Spirit. Let love be without hypocrisy. Christians aren't fakers. It's real love.

It comes from a root. It comes from being connected to the love of Jesus Christ, where you love people the way that Jesus Christ loved you. So let love be without hypocrisy, abhor what is evil, cling to what is good, Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor, giving preference to one another, not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer, distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse.

Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. Repaying no one evil for evil.

Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as it depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath, for it is written vengeance is mine I will repay says the Lord therefore if your enemy is hungry feed him if he is thirsty give him a drink for in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." This is a prescription for life in the church and it is an explanation of how you fulfill the law of God. You do it by love.

You overcome evil with good. You pour it out on those who are doing you evil. Chapter 13 is a summary of relationships with the government and how to spread love among different kinds of people. Romans 14 is how you handle debutable or debatable matters with the strong and the weak and how you love those who have different tolerance for different things. Romans 15 is a call to unity in the church, in the midst of people who have different sets of scruples because the church is composed of different people at different places.

And then Romans chapter 16 is just sort of a snapshot of these loving relationships. It's a warning against divisive people, and also it's a call to prayer. He ends with this, Now to him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ Now did you get that? How are you established? It's through the gospel and it's through preaching Those are the two things that God has given to the church for the blessing of the church.

He says, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began, but now has been made manifest by the prophetic scriptures, has been made known to all nations according to the commandment of the everlasting God for obedience to the faith. To God alone wise be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen. So Paul uses all of his words in Romans to glorify the power of the gospel, to explain why he cannot be ashamed of the gospel because of its transforming power, because of the love that it sparks in your heart, because you're set free, because you no longer have to live with guilt, because you have been justified by faith, because God loves you. He looks at you as His beloved.

And all of these things happen as a result of the power of the gospel. And it makes it so clear why it is that we must have our doctrine of regeneration right. Without a right doctrine of regeneration, there's no blessing in the church. There's no freedom. There's no love.

And as we go about our lives in this world, we have to understand our primary message. It's justification by faith alone. That is the beginning of every good thing that happens in this world today. And that's why Paul says this, Now to him who is able to establish you according to my gospel. That's Romans 16 verse 25.

It's the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now what does that mean for us? It means that we can never tire of proclaiming the gospel to two kinds of people. First of all, ourselves. We must proclaim the gospel to ourselves lest we be overcome with a sense of our weaknesses, our frailties and our sins.

You must remind yourself of the gospel of Jesus Christ, that you're justified by faith alone apart from the works of the law. And you are accepted by God and you stand in hope as a result of that. The hope of the glory of God. So you must preach the gospel to yourself and to preach it in the world so that people can be set free, so that they can find the power of the Gospel, and so that they could become like Paul, never ashamed again. Not ashamed of the Gospel because of the power of God.

Every good thing that can happen in the heart of a human being that is of true value, is a fruit of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And that's the book of Romans. Thank you.