WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE GOSPEL?

Background Passage: ROMANS 1:1-17

Lesson Passage:ROMANS 1:1-5, 8-17

BELIEVERS EXPRESS CONFIDENCE IN THE GOSPEL BY THE IMPORTANCE THEY GIVE IT IN THEIR LIVES.

KEY BIBLE VERSE: ROMANS 1:16

Through his church, Tom gave a large amount of his money to missions. And in his car, he kept a small stack of gospel tracts on the seat beside him. Every day he handed some of them out to the people he encountered in his work as a sales representative.

Tom's friends admired his devotion to missions and personal evangelism. Often they wondered what made him so intentional about sharing the good news of Christ. One day Tom revealed his motivation to one of his friends. He said that hearing about Jesus Christ had turned his life around. He was sure that if the gospel could make such an eternal difference in his life, it could make the same kind of difference in the lives of other people who still need to hear it.

Paul expressed that same kind of confidence in the gospel when he wrote his letter to the Christians in Rome. In the first chapter of the Book of romans, he showed his confidence in the gospel by what he said about his personal relationship with Jesus.

BACKGROUND PASSAGE OVERVIEW

Paul began his letter by introducing himself in terms of his relationship with Jesus. God had singled Paul out to be a slave of the gospel. According to the promises of Scripture, the line of David, the resurrection, and the Spirit of holiness, the centerpiece of the gospel is Jesus Christ. Paul knew that people who have accepted the gospel share the task of taking it to the world. In that context, Paul greeted the Roman Christians.

Paul told them why he had wanted to write the letter. First, he affirmed them in their faith. He rejoiced over what God was doing in their lives. News of their faith had reached him, and he had been passing it along to others. Second, he wanted them to know that he planned to visit them soon. Paul's burden for reaching people everywhere with the gospel motivated him to plan a trip to Rome. He wanted to join the Christians in Rome in the work of sharing the gospel there.

As Paul wrote about his plan to visit, he expressed his confidence in the good news of Christ. He was sure that he would never be ashamed of devoting his life to the gospel. He went on to describe what motivated him to be so intentional about sharing God's good news. He was absolutely certain that God's power accompanied the good news of Christ. The gospel is God's way of reaching everyone in the world. Any person can respond to the gospel message by faith. When people respond to the powerful gospel by simple faith, they are made right with God.

Paul got right to the point as he started his letter to the Roman Christians. He wanted them to know who he was and why he wanted to write them. At the heart of his opening statement was his relationship with Jesus.

STUDY QUESTIONS 1.According to Paul, what was the purpose of grace and apostleship?(Romans 1:5)
2.Why did Paul express gratitude to God for the Christians at Rome?(1:8-9)
3.What two groups of people did Paul name when he talked about believing the gospel?(1:16)

PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLES AND READ ROMANS 1:1-5

Romans 1 1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,
2 (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,)
3 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;
4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:
5 By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:

VERSES 1-2 ~ Paul used very distinctive words to paint a picture of himself. Each of them reflects his devotion to serving Jesus. He called himself a slave, someone whose sole purpose was to please His master. Likewise, the word apostle has to do with being sent out like a servant. Being singled out portrayed the Lord's initiative in changing Paul's life and sending him out to share God's good news to the whole world.

VERSES 3 ~ Paul also portrayed the centerpiece of the good news. Again, he used some distinct words to do so. When he brought up God's Son, he had Jesus in mind. By referring to Jesus as Christ, Paul noted that Jesus was the Messiah who was to be a descendant of David. Paul also used the title Lord to portray Jesus. This word suggests the absolute authority of Jesus Christ over a believer's life.

VERSE 4 ~ Jesus' resurrection had established the undeniable fact that He was the Son of God. If anyone was skeptical about whether Jesus was really the Messiah, His resurrection erased all doubt! It was by far the ultimate affirmation that Jesus was God's Son and that He was powerful.

VERSE 5 ~ Paul began to talk about the gospel in terms of what he had received when he responded to the gospel of Christ. (See Study Question 1) Grace suggested God's love toward Paul, even though he didn't deserve it. Apostleship implied the commission He had given to Paul to go out in His name and share the gospel. Undeserved acceptance and a royal commission awaited Paul the day he received Christ..

Paul taught us that if the gospel is important to us, we will reflect its priority in the ways we respond to it. If God's good news has changed us, Jesus has become the centerpiece of our lives. We know Him as the powerful Son of god. If the gospel has made a difference to us, we will reflect that difference in how we live and what we say about the gospel.

PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLES AND READ (ROMANS 1:8-15)

8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.
9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers;
10 Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you.
11 For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established;
12 That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.
13 Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles.
14 I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.
15 So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. .

VERSES 8-9 ~ Because the gospel had made an impact on Paul's life, he wanted to give everyone in the world an opportunity to hear it. He had heard that the Roman Christians had a heart for God and the good news about His Son. No one knows exactly how the gospel message actually got to Rome or how the church there got started. When Paul heard about the reputation of the congregation's faith, he talked about it everywhere he went. (See Study Question 2).

VERSE 10-12 ~ Paul prayed for the church, too. Specifically, he asked God to give him the opportunity to visit the congregation. Having never been to the church in Rome, Paul looked forward to meeting the Christians there. He wanted to be able to strengthen them. He seemed quite certain that they would be an encouragement to him.

VERSE 13 ~ But Paul had more than mutual encouragement in mind. He intended to visit Rome so he could do the same kind of evangelistic work there that he had done everywhere else. Certain that a fruitful ministry awaited him in Rome, he wanted the church to join him in sharing the gospel with the Gentiles. Although his visit to Rome had been delayed, he assured the church that it would not be canceled.

VERSES 14-15 ~ As Paul described the Gentiles he wanted to reach, he showed that the gospel had no boundaries. No one was too sophisticated or too simple to hear it. Paul knew he was obligated to give everyone the chance to respond to the good news of Christ. He gladly tried to fulfill that holy obligation. That's why he was eager to get started in Rome.

Paul's eagerness to share the good news of Christ sprang from his devotion to it. Throughout the centuries, Christians have embraced the gospel in the same way. Passionately they have thrown themselves into the work of spreading the good news. When the gospel makes a deep impact on us, we are eager to let others know about its life-changing ability.

PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLES AND READ ROMANS 1:16-17

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

VERSES 16 ~ Paul expressed clearly how he felt about the gospel. He declared that he was not ashamed of it.

As parents, we want our children to make wise choices. For that reason, we warn them not to make choices today that they will be ashamed of tomorrow. We know from personal experience that bad choices can embarrass or shame us later.

After Paul's conversion, he chose to devote his life to the gospel of Christ. He was never embarrassed over his choice. The ministry of sharing the good news had never shamed him, and he was certain that it never would in the future.

Paul expressed an important reason for not being ashamed of the gospel. He knew that god's power accompanied His good news. For Paul, the gospel was not a static recollection of stories about a Galilean preacher named Jesus. It was the dynamic proclamation of the living Christ.

God's power can move the people who hear the gospel. Sometimes we think about God's power in terms of a stick of dynamite exploding in an open field. God's power through the gospel, however, is more like an engine that moves an automobile toward a destination. In the same way, God's power is exerted to move people toward salvation when they hear the gospel. (See Study Question 3).

VERSSE 17 ~ Paul gave another important reason for not being ashamed of God's good news. He understood that responding to the gospel by faith could make people right with God. Think about righteousness as being upright. When a coffee cup has been tipped over, it has to be set upright in order t be useful. God is righteous, and He has always been upright. When we respond to the gospel by faith, god sets us upright. In other words, He makes us righteous. Then He helps us to live by faith according to His righteousness.

The affirmations Paul passed along to the Roman Christians can encourage us too. We can rejoice in the power of the good news to make people right with God.

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

Remember Tom? The gospel had made an eternal difference in his life, so he devoted himself to it confidently. Following his example, his friends reflected on the impact of the gospel in their lives and become more confident about it too.

How confident are you in the gospel? Expressing your confidence openly is important. If you are a Christian, perhaps you can express your gratitude to the person who led you to Christ. Also, you can spend more time thanking god for the gift of His Son, who transformed your life. Also, think about the people who who still have not received Christ. You can make a list of at least two people who need you to share the gospel with them. You can begin to pray for them to ask god to help you to talk to them about God's good news.

Equally important is talking positively about the gospel with other Christians. In conversations with other believers, you can affirm God's power to save anyone who responds to the gospel.

If you are not a Christian, you can respond to the gospel by faith. As Paul said, receiving Christ by faith opens the door for a personal relationship with God.