The Book of Romans: Introduction & Context (Part 2)

In this message from Romans 1:1, we begin our study by considering the remarkable nature of God's preserved Word and its power to establish believers in the faith. After tracing the historical flow of Scripture—from Israel's history in the Old Testament, through the Gospels and Acts, to God's calling of the Apostle Paul—we see why Romans occupies such a foundational place in the New Testament. Though not the first epistle Paul wrote, Romans is the first church epistle God places before us because it lays the doctrinal groundwork upon which the Christian life is built.

This message also explores the purpose and structure of Romans, emphasizing how the book establishes believers in the doctrines of justification, sanctification, God's present dispensation of grace, and practical Christian living. Along the way, we examine God's intentional order of the church epistles, the biblical pattern of spiritual growth through doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness, and Paul's calling as "a servant of Jesus Christ." As we begin this verse-by-verse journey through Romans, we are reminded that God's desire is not merely that we possess truth, but that we be established, matured, and equipped to faithfully serve Christ and build up His body.

Thanks for listening to the Living Faith St. Louis podcast. This episode is part of our weekly sermon ministry from Pastor Blade Sbisa, with occasional guest speakers and special series.
 For more information, visit the LFSTL website.

Transcript

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I feel it necessary to remind you of the blessing of what we have in the Word of God. Now I know at a a church that upholds the Bible and you know a a Christian hearing a message, you go, Yeah, the Bible. I know it's a good book. But I I really want to express to you how incredible it is. And I really think we forget, I forget. I mean, I I'm in the Bible daily, and uh I think about the text all the time, and yet I just forget how incredible the Bible really is. You know, a thousand reasons I could list for you with ten thousand beside, and the list could go on. And if there was enough paper in the world, we'd use it all up. There's no way to express how wonderful God has been and what he has done. Especially in giving us his word. Philippians chapter 2 and verse 16, we're going to look at some verses here that tell us about the word of God. In Philippians chapter 2 and verse 16, we learn that it is the word of life. In Acts chapter 13 and verse 48, it's referred to as the word of the Lord, a phrase that appears some 258 times in the Bible. The word of the Lord. When you open your Bible and you begin reading the text, you are hearing from the God who knew you before he formed you in your mother's womb. These are the words of the Lord. 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 15, in 2 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 7, in Ephesians 1 and verse 13, and Colossians 1 and verse 5. This is the word of truth. It's not just the word of life or the word of the Lord. It is the word of truth. And this is important in a world that's filled with so many varying false lights that vie for our attention and try to get our minds wandering unto doctrines that lead us astray from the life that God wants us to live. John chapter 17 and verse 17. Sanctify them through thy word. Thy word is truth. John chapter 8 and verse 32, and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. A lot of times we talk about this idea of being set free. We're even just singing about it, and I'm honestly okay with singing about it, because it's a good truth to consider. God has set us free from the bondage of sin. That is true. But the Bible actually never uses that phrase. It only uses the phrase made free. Or the truth will make you free. In other words, it's a permanent change. Once God comes in and does a work, you are forever changed. You're not just the prisoner who's set free. Go wander if you want. You can leave if you want. No, you are made free. You have been delivered. You are not a slave to sin anymore. Unless you want to be. And still, even if you want to be, you can't change the new identity that you have in Jesus. Praise the Lord. Because even in my Christian life, sometimes my flesh does things contrary to God. Oh wait. It always does things contrary to God. In my flesh dwells no good thing, Paul said. Jesus said in Matthew 22 and verse 29, ye do err or turn. You mess up. You're an error. Not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. Why? Why were they an error? Well, because Acts 14 and verse 3, and Acts 20 and verse 32 says, this is the word of his grace. And you and I must understand the gospel of grace if we're going to have a victorious Christian life. We can't go back to work-based thinking. We can't go back to striving and trying to give God our self-righteousness. That will only leave you frustrated and defeated. Anyone here this morning need help staying on the right path and not erring or erring, turning from the truth of God? Or no, you guys do it perfectly. Never struggled in your Christian life? Come on. You're not alone, but praise the Lord. We are blessed because we can remember David's words, recorded in Psalm 119, which says, Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. And if you lean not upon your own understanding, but acknowledge him in all of your ways, he shall God leads us right according to a right way and then directs our path within it. And that same psalm, David writes in Psalm 119 and verse 40, Thy word is very pure pure. Therefore, thy servant loveth it. Do you love the word of God? Maybe it's maybe if you struggle to love the word of God, it's because you don't love purity. Therefore, thy servant loveth it. The purity of God's word and its perfectness, if I can say it in that way, its holiness, allows us or draws us into a desire that we should have to know it. And love it and live it out. This same Psalm, in Psalm 119 and verse 60, says, Thy word is true from the beginning. The word of God has an origin that's pure. And that is a wonderful thing. It didn't start corrupted, and then over time God made it right. No, this was something settled in heaven. Psalm 119 and verse 89 says, Forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. Well, it started well, but that also means if it's settled, it will never fail. And that's what Peter tells us in his epistle in 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 25. It says, But the word of the Lord, there's the phrase, again, it endureth forever. Jesus said in Matthew 24 in verse 35, Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. The Bible is an incredible book. Amen. It really is. I mean, I know that I'm talking to the choir. You're like, yeah, we love the Bible. I know you do. I'm trying to put you in remembrance this morning. Has your walk with God been dry in the word? I feel like mine has, y'all. I'm talking to myself. I know I need to go deeper in the Word of God. I need to wake up earlier. I need to be more diligent in my study of God's Word and just my devotional reading in God's Word. I have a tendency to study the Bible. I enjoy study. It's easy for me to go through the text and compare scripture with scripture and figure out some theological thing. You know what sometimes I struggle to do? Just sit with a verse and chew on it all day and be content with that. And ask the Lord, is this verse a true reflection of my life, or maybe the other way around? Is my life reflective of what your truth says? The word of righteousness is what it's called in Hebrews chapter 5 and verse 13. And of patience, Revelation chapter 3 and verse 10. And of power, as we already saw in the Gospels, but also in Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 3, and in Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 12, which tells us the Bible or the Word of God is quick in power. It's able to divide asunder the soul and spirit. In other words, it's able to give you a new identity separate from your flesh. And it's able to get into places that you can't, that philosophy can't, that some good counselor can't, that therapy can't, that the spirit of this age can't, that some social media guru can't. That your parents can't, that enough, I don't know, tears. Some of us think we get close to God by crying hard enough. And our brokenness is what brings us close to the throne of God. I mean, brokenness is good if it's godly, but it is the word of God that's able to get in and tell us the thoughts and intents of our heart. It illuminates the areas that we can't see. And that's why we are told in 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 13 that we're to hold fast the form of sound words. That's a responsibility that Timothy had, to hold fast the form of sound words. Not just the words, but the form in which they were delivered to him. And that's ultimately what I want to talk to you about this morning is the significance of the Word of God in relationship to how it's been delivered to us and how it's been organized. I just briefly want to talk to us about that idea of context and discuss where the book of Romans fits into that broader narrative of the Bible. We talked about that last week, but now I want to talk to you about where it sits in the whole of the canon of Scripture. At Living Faith, we would accept 66 books in the Bible, not the Apocrypha or any other book or gospel that you might want to add. This is what has been received through the ages by the church. In Genesis through Esther, we find twelve historical books, from Adam in the Garden to Israel's cycles of sin and ultimately the then judgment that would follow. Next we find Job through the Song of Solomon's five poetic books which contain prophecy for Israel. And if you were to hop in to Job through Solomon, like right now we're in the book of Psalms in our Bible study, we're learning about doctrine pertaining Israel and specifically prophecy. Some of that prophecy got fulfilled in the life of Jesus Christ when he showed up in his first coming, but there are many promises still yet left unfulfilled because there's a promise that he will return again. From Isaiah to Malachi, we find 17 prophetic books that deal with Israel under, I'll refer to it this way, the fifth and final course of punishment as outlined in Leviticus 26. Okay, so if you are just thinking, how can I learn about the history of Israel? One place would be Acts chapter 7. Stephen's message when he's about to be stoned is the history of Israel. That's a great place to go. If you want a handle on your Old Testament, and everything that's going to fall out in your Old Testament, and everything that's yet to be fulfilled in a prophetic sense and things to yet to come, look at Leviticus 26. The Lord told Israel, if you behave well, you'll get blessing, and this is what it'll look like. But if you don't, if you disobey me, if you reject my word, hey, this judgment's gonna fall upon you. And oh, by the way, when that judgment comes, I want you to turn to me and repent. But if you don't, another cycle of judgment's gonna come upon you. And it'll be my mercy extended to you to say, turn back, I want to be a father to you. I want to show you mercy again. But if you don't, another cycle. So five. We see in the Old Testament four of those cycles pressed through, but then one left still yet unfulfilled. And so just consider these things. Isaiah begins with a warning of the carrying of the captive, uh, the captivity of the northern kingdoms, the ten tribes in the north, away to Assyria. And this is a warning that's being made. The second portion of the prophets are writing about the exile or the captivity of the two southern tribes of Benjamin and Judah as they're carried away to Babylon. The nation then re-enters the land, and God restores what was lost. And ultimately you see the rebuilding of the temple and the altar and the city life in the book of Ezra, as we already discussed in the morning, and the wall, and so forth. As we close our Old Testament and our Bible, we find the last prophet Malachi, and then a 400-year gap of complete silence in which God doesn't utter a single word to Israel. And this is actually prophesied by the prophet Amos. In Amos chapter 11, it says, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but the hearing of the words of the Lord. The words of the Lord. Okay, so I want you to see that a lot of times a verse like this is devotionalized, and we talk about the fact that there are dry seasons in our Christian life, and sometimes God withholds his word from us, and we're just really struggling to get into it. Listen, let me remind you, God has not withheld his word from you, and there is no famine of words in this age. He's extended them to you and said, if you want them, eat up. I mean, that's a blessing. Because a lot of times we devotionalize this because we just simply don't go to the Bible and learn it and love it and study it. And maybe it makes us feel good to think God's withholding from me. God's not withholding from you. God has given you so many riches and treasures in his word. And that's really what I want to encourage you with in part this morning. After that 400 years of silence, John the Baptist shows up on the scene and God begins to preach to Israel once again. And from Matthew to Acts, these five books, we find another series of historical accounts given to us to learn about how God has shown up on earth and made a redemptive work extend to all. And I bring this word to your attention, the historical nature of the books of the, you know, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and Acts, because a lot of times people over-emphasize doctrine for the church in those books. And a lot of times, it's not to say the words of Jesus aren't important. They're extremely important. Paul actually warns his son in the faith that there'll be some who do not consent to the wholesome words of Jesus. I believe that's 1 Timothy chapter 4. Okay, so the gospel books are important. But they're historical. The gospels, they're accounts, they're they're men relaying the life that they saw Jesus live. And wrapped up in all of those historical details are doctrinal messages to the nation of Israel. Because they aren't even first called Christians until Antioch, Acts chapter 11. Okay, but my point here is that sometimes we overemphasize the fact that those are doctrinal in nature, primarily doctrinal. They're trying to teach us something. And the reality is they're trying to record something for us, and that is that God has become a man and entered into this world, and he's offered life and a kingdom to Israel, and Israel has rejected that kingdom because they rejected the king and they crucified him. And the book of Acts then is a book given to us by God to help us understand how God has moved from dealing completely with the Jewish people, I mean, really starting in Genesis chapter 12, you could start it there, maybe before that. And now done something completely different. And I want you to hold on to these two words. If you've ever been confused in the book of Acts, I want you to hold on to these two words. Fall and diminishing. Fall and diminishing. You have to have those two concepts in your head to understand what God is trying to get us to understand in the book of Acts. Can we learn about the mission in the book of Acts? Yes. Acts chapter 1 and verse 8 tells us that we should be a witness after receiving the Holy Ghost to all of the world from Jerusalem to the uttermost. Yes. Absolutely. We get to learn about Paul's missionary journeys and how he was an effective minister of the gospel. We get to see the gift of the Holy Spirit given to the nation of Israel and specifically the apostles and the early church. It's an amazing thing. It's a really amazing thing. We get to learn about missions. But I'm convinced God has given us the book of Acts to teach us about Israel's fall and her diminishing. And it is a book completely dedicated for the Jewish mind to understand that Paul is a legit apostle. Paul is a legitimate apostle. And so that's why we see Paul actually given those Jewish sign gifts. The Bible says the Jews require a sign, but Greeks seek after wisdom. And in the early church, God gave signs, miraculous signs, to those Jewish apostles to convince Israel that God was working still post-resurrection. And then once Israel rejects her Messiah, God begins to do that with Paul to establish him as a true apostle. And we're going to get into that in a different week this morning. I want you to look at with me, just briefly, Romans chapter 1 and verse 1. By the end of our message, we're only going to talk about three words Paul, a servant. Paul, a servant. But it goes on. It says, of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God. In a week to come, here, probably next week, we're going to be talking about the uniqueness of Paul's apostleship in contrast to those other apostles we learn about in the book of Acts. This morning we get to have our attention on him as a servant. But I want you to consider this idea of Israel's fall and her diminishing. If you remember, in Acts chapter 7, they stoned Stephen. And I would express to you, this is their fall. They rejected God the Father in the Old Testament. You see God trying to be in relationship with Israel as a father. I mean, their names, the moniker given to them, is literally the children of Israel. And we learn about how God's dealing with them as a father in the book of Galatians, in Galatians chapter 4. Look it with me, though. In Malachi chapter 1 and verse 6, this is what God says to Israel by the mouth of Malachi. He says, If then I be a father, where's my honor? And if I be a master, where's my fear, saith the Lord of hosts? O priest that despise my name. God is trying to express to them that he wants to be a good father to them, but Israel once again has hardened their neck against what God is wanting to do. And then in the life of Jesus Christ and his earthly ministry, Israel rejects the eternal Son. So the Father, the Son, and the Spirit in the book of Acts. John chapter 1 and verse 11 recounts kind of the course of Jesus' earthly ministry. Summed up like this, and he, Jesus, came unto his own, that is Israel, and his own received him not. That's a nice way to say it, John. They crucified him. That's a nice way to say it, John. They received him not. They killed him. They crucified the one that they had been waiting for. And so Israel rejected the Father, the Son. And then if you remember in Jesus' earthly ministry in John chapter 14, he gave a promise to his disciples that he'd send the Spirit of Comfort to them, and that that Spirit would lead them into all truth and show them the things that God wanted for their life. And that is true. God did give the Spirit, and those that were willing to believe what Christ, who Christ was and what he had done, got the blessings and the benefits of the ministry of the Spirit. But the rest of the apostate nation of Israel rejected the Spirit. And I want you to see some things regarding Stephen. It says in Acts chapter six and verse eight, and Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. Verse 10. And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake. Verse 15. And all that sat in the council looking steadfastly upon upon him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel. Whoa. Undeniable. The Spirit of God was upon Stephen. And in killing Stephen, murdering him by stoning him to death. Israel was saying, We do not want the Holy Spirit to have any place in this in our kingdom. The problem was they weren't going to have any place in God's. Acts chapter 7 and verse 55 through 56 it says, And he, being full of the Holy Ghost, that is Stephen, looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing. Really significant phrase here. Because the Old Testament said that he would be seated until he made his enemies his footstool. Is that right? I think I'm quoting that wrong, paraphrasing that wrong. And the Son of Man, right, would stand up to bring in his day of wrath. We find that phrase in the Psalms in the book of Daniel. And so Jesus is now standing. This man filled with the Holy Ghost looks up into heaven as he's about to be killed, and he sees Jesus move from a place of being seated at the right hand of God to standing. What's happening? He's about to come down and bring all of those judgments that are prophesied about in the Old Testament. The Revelation 19 account. And wait, he doesn't. He stands up to secretly come down and meet the Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus and save his soul. Nobody saw it coming. Nobody expected it. Verse 56 it says, And he said, Behold, I see the heavens open, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. 58, a sad verse. And they cast him at his Stephen out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. And Saw Saul breathed out threatenings against the early church. That's Acts chapter 8 and verse 1, consenting unto the death of Stephen. This is the man that God would use and save to bring grace to the rest of the world. Look again. Says in Acts chapter 7 and verse 57, a few verses later. Then they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears. It's like they're saying, La la la la, I can't hear you. God's speaking to them, trying to get their attention. He's given them the gift of life, you know, via the crucifixion and the resurrection, and now the gift of his Holy Spirit. And they're like, we don't want to hear it. We're religious enough. We think our way is better than God's. Well, the the end of that way for them was death, and it will be a double death in a lake of fire. We can't behave this way. I mean, they were acting like like children when the word of God came to them. It says, and they ran upon him with one accord and cast him out of the city and stoned him. Again, the fall. I believe this event records for us the fall. Look at with me, Romans chapter 11 and verse 2. Do I have this in the PowerPoint? I don't think I do. No. Kind of. I think I wanted us to see it in the Bible. Romans chapter 11 and verse 12. Another word for you to consider. Romans chapter 11. In verse 12 it says, without getting into the doctrine here, we will eventually. It says, Now if the fall of them, that is Israel, be the riches of the world, that is the gospel coming to us. And the diminishing of them, the riches of the Gentiles, how much more their fullness? Okay, three ideas you have to get in your mind. The fall of Israel, the diminishing of Israel, their fullness. Their fullness has not happened yet. You understand? How much more their fullness. Paul is writing to the church at Rome, and he's saying, Hey, just I want you to understand something. Israel did fall, but not forever. And yes, God did diminish them. Tongues shall cease and prophecy shall fail. This is what he writes to Corinth. Some things are going to vanish away. That is the diminishing. You ever seen something vanish? It's a transition, it's a process of things falling apart. Tongues shall cease. In a moment, God stopped the gift of tongues. When that which is perfect was come. That's what we find. And what is that which is perfect? Not the perfect, that which is. That is the revelation that Paul hadn't fully received yet as he was receiving that from God. Like in 2 Corinthians, Paul says, I have yet to have, I yet have revelations and visions to come to. Like God hasn't shown me everything yet. And so the perfect man that we'll look at this morning, the measure of the stature, the fullness of Christ, Ephesians chapter 4, that the church is being brought into, that was not possible because the doctrine hadn't even been given to Paul yet. And so God temporarily in the early church gave some weird gifts. Isn't tongues weird? A lot of y'all weren't here last Sunday, but there was a gentleman who came in and talked to me in some unknown tongue for like a minute before service started. I had no clue what he was saying. God's not working that way anymore. He can. God can. He's able. I'm not denying that. God can heal. God can do miracles. He does them all the time. He did it with me when he saved me from Catholicism and delivered my soul from the bondage of hell and corruption. That's a miracle. I've seen God heal people, but you know what he's not doing? Uniquely gifting certain individuals in the body of Christ to go around and touch people and heal them. But he's able. You understand? He's able to do all that stuff. Now I bring this idea up to you, the fall, the diminishing, to tell you when you go from Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, which is hold the word in your mind, a transition. And you turn to the book of Romans, you're entering new territory. You're entering doctrine that has never been articulated to anybody in human history until that point. The Bible is amazing. And I just don't think we really understand that most people in human history don't have what we have. We get to look back at everything retrospectively and be like, weren't they idiots? And God's like, yeah, you are too. I'm sorry. Did I say that to you? We are. And we've got a lot to learn. I don't know if you feel like you have everything figured out, but and I feel like I'm learning everything over again every day of my life. The Christian life is hard, but God gives us the resources to be able to live it successfully. Upon the rejecting of Stephen, and that is to say, the message of the Holy Ghost, Israel falls and God calls out a new apostle, Paul. And we've got to establish him as apostle because there's false doctrine that goes around saying that he's not. And the book gives us that historical transition into a new dispensation of grace, a new age, a new economy, a new way that God's dispensing his grace to man. It's not on the basis of the law or works anymore or circumcision. It's based on faith in a particular message. It's a new steward, it's not Israel, and it's not even the Gentiles, it's something that was hid in the heart of God, the body of Christ, the church. And that's something that we looked at last time in Ephesians chapter 3. A unique thing that God told nobody about until Paul shows up on the scene and gets the information. Okay. All of this finally leads us to our focus this morning on the book of Romans and Paul as our apostle to the church, the body of Christ. Now, I take that much time because I think it's important for us to really see what type of book we're entering into. A lot of times, uh I like early on when I was beginning to understand the scriptures and read them, try to figure them out, you know, I just would put my Bible like somewhere and I'd be like, all right, yep, I will give thee the treasures of darkness and treasures of riches and secret places that thou mayest. I'm like, Lord, what does this mean for me? And I just try to figure out what God had for my life. And you know what? God met me there and spoke to me. And uh God still meets me there when I'm in the Bible. I'm like, why am I in this passage again, Lord? And He He's able to do that with His Word. Um But but to neglect the books that God has specifically given us to understand our Christian experience would be, I think, just a great failure. Uh and a disap disappointment to like the cre your own Christian life. Like, you're not gonna live the more abundant life that God wants you to without the specific doctrine to tell you how to live and and uh honor and please God with your life. We can be as genuine as possible with the best of intentions and still kind of miss the whole reason we're left on this earth. And that is to be grown up in Him and to be matured and edified unto the perfect man, Jesus Christ. God is doing something completely different than what he was doing in the Old Testament. Did God extend grace in the Old Testament? Yes. Absolutely. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Genesis chapter 6 and verse 8. It's the first mention. And the sacrificial system itself that was offered to Israel, and all of those innocent lambs that were being sacrificed. That is mercy. I mean, it's literally called the mercy seat. All of that blood being poured out, it is God extending grace. There's no doubt about it. We would all be utterly consumed if it weren't for his mercies, as the book of Lamentation says. I mean, it would be just eaten up. There's no way his righteousness would utterly consume everything. Yes, we exist because of God's mercy and grace. But I'm telling you that the economy or the kingdom that we're living in now, the spiritual opportunities we have now, are completely grace. It's not the law. So much so that if you begin to use the law, you don't have access to grace anymore. It's impossible. They're mutually contrary one to another. And so, as I said earlier, I want to talk to you this morning about this idea of holding the form of sound words, how God actually put the book together. I've walked through the scriptures and brought you up to the book of Romans so that you can see the Bible's actually compiled in a way to give us doctrine in a certain order. And a lot of times we just we do this with the Bible. It's like a big collage. And I think that way. I love seeing all the Bible verses do this. Like it's a bunch of sticky notes. And I see how they all relate. But I also want you to see that the Bible is also given to you in an order for a reason. And that the doctrine of Corinthians is meant to be understood in relationship to your understanding of the book of Romans. And you're supposed to move out of your understanding of the book of 1 and 2 Corinthians into the book of Galatians to be corrected on the alternative issue that you're going to deal with upon responding to the doctrine you receive in 1 Corinthians and so forth. The form, the order, the structure. We've got to see all of that this morning. I want to bring your attention to the fact that while the book of Romans is the first book that God's given us directly to us as Christians, it is not the first book that he wrote. That would probably be 1 Thessalonians or Galatians. And that's interesting. You know, a lot of times you'll hear this idea of like a chronological reading of the Bible or a chronological Bible reading plan. Anybody ever do those? It's a good thing, especially in the Old Testament, trying to make sense of all the prophets and how everything comes together. If you were to do that with Paul's letters, you would actually get them out of order. And I think God's given them to you in an order so that you can understand the doctrine of Corinthians because you have a foundation laid in your life, understanding ultimately your justification and sanctified life. Okay, so one of the reasons it is so foundational for the Christian experience is because of what we've already talked about in a kind of our introductory series leading up to the book of Romans, and that is our identity in Christ. You've got to know the doctrine relating to your salvation before you can know how you're gonna struggle in the Christian experience and how you need to be corrected. God wants you to understand some things that are true of you before he's gonna teach you about what the Christian experience is like. Here's our first principle of study that I want to bring your attention to in the book of Romans, and that is that God has systematically given us the books of the Bible so that a doctrinal foundation can be laid and we can properly be built up and matured in a certain order. And the word here I'm emphasizing is systematic. Systematic. We talk about this idea of systematic theology. That's fine, as long as we first see how God has systematized his Bible. We can't create my here's my point. A lot of denominations or a lot of Christians, what they do is they come up with theology that makes sense for the Christian experience, and that system of beliefs then is the the lens in which they view and understand the scriptures. We want to make sure we do it the other way around. And ask the simple question. Is there a reason that God preserved his word in the way that he did and put the book of Romans before the book of Philemon? Or why do all of the church epistles come before Hebrews and James and 1st and 2nd Peter and 1 and 2nd 3 John and Jude? Why are they in the order that they're in? Because God is giving them to us so that doctrine can be established properly. I used to be a home builder, a lot of uh you probably know that, uh, that know me. And uh I just want you to think about building a house upside down. Like roof first. Yeah, try that. Right? Across the parking lot, right? They're working on some stuff. They were redoing the roof yesterday. Imagine if they started pouring concrete on the roof. And they're like, you know what, we should just kind of flip this whole thing. Or, you know, better yet, it's like concrete, and then we're gonna just throw some electrical wire down, and then how about sheetrock? You guys want to paint? You want to furnish? Alright, great. Um, let's put some rafters in. Let's let's do the like it just doesn't make sense. And a lot of times we try to build our understanding of God's word that way. There's no context to anything we're doing. We're just kind of throwing it all together. Um, some of you guys do that with your Chipotle Brieables. You don't you don't leave it all separate. You you like stir it all up. That's disgusting. I'm just saying. Don't do that. Don't do that. You just mix all of your food together. It's like just eat beans. Like, it's just brand anyway. God wants us to eat his word in the way in which it's been prepared. I mean, imagine if a master chef, we talked about this illustration last week, the guy the idea that God wants to bring us like wonderful meals, the best meals of our life. Imagine if somebody meticulously, you know, ordered a meal. You've seen those like beautiful decorative meals where things are set right, it looks like an art piece, you want to hang it on the wall, and you just took that thing and you were like, hmm, I'm just gonna spoon it in. That's what my that's what my toddlers do. It's funny, it's disgusting, you know? And uh anyway, it's not it's not that bad in the Christian life, but we do it, and we we've just got to consider has God given this to me in in order for a reason. Romans chapter one and verse eleven it says, for the purpose of why Paul is writing. It says, For I long to see you that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift. Listen, for the purpose of, to the end, that ye may be established. Hold that word in your mind, established. When you think of the book of Romans, think established. Romans chapter 1 and verses 1 through 15. I think I have an outline here on the screen. This is very, very basic, but okay, God, through the book of Romans, wants us to get this down, okay? Establish in a perfect understanding of ultimately our justification before God. We have to first see the purpose of this book, and that is to have a foundation laid for our justification. Secondly, as we go from chapter 5 and 6, we have a need to be established in a perfect understanding of our sanctified living, or a sanctification in the gift of it. The goal here in Paul's writings and Romans chapter 6, really through 8, is to teach us how to more perfectly understand our sanctification, which allows us to live unto God and reflect that true identity we have through justification. We just talked about that. I won't belabor it. Romans chapter 9, then. We turn from 8 to 9, and we see that we need to establish our understanding regarding this age or this dispensation, and that ultimately the church has not replaced Israel. Okay? And we'll get into the details of that at a different time. There's a lot of confusion from Romans chapter 9 through 11. Uh let me just put the little seed in your heart. How much more their fullness. How much more their fullness. God's not done with them. God is not done with them. How much more their fullness. Something in in way of passing here by the topic around the way. Their fullness. It is true the nation of Israel had a kingdom and they were a nation, but the word great in your Bible is important. God promised to make them a great nation. And if you were to do a study on Israel a nation, and Israel a great nation, you'll find that their great nation status has not happened yet. And that is what is our being articulated in that phrase, their fullness. Romans chapter 12 then teaches us about our need to have a perfect understanding and be established in our Christian conduct, specifically our relationship to others in the body of Christ. And then lastly, a benediction as the book closes. And that's what I want to now turn your attention to. Romans chapter 16, starting in verse 25 through 26. It says, now to him that is of power to establish you. It's like, oh, that's an old English word, establish. Why the heck they drop the E? Because it means something different. The idea here initially, when Paul writes, he says, I want to establish you. I want to lay the initial foundation so that things can be built upon. The word establish without the E means the ongoing process of bringing stability to something. There's a difference. One is the initial work of laying that thing. The other is the support braces as you build the house so that the thing doesn't rack and fall into the yard or whatever it might be. God wants to establish a what? According to, Paul says, my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, but now is made manifest, and by the scriptures and the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith. The reason I use the word establish and perfect, or that we need to be brought into a perfect understanding of these things, is because that's the word the Bible is using. I'm not trying to be creative here. I'm just trying to be honest to the text. Moreover, the word perfect in the Bible is never used to describe sinless perfection or flawlessness, but rather maturity. Maturity, a qualitative perfecting. Something being purified. But not really purified. More like reckoned to be right. Because Colossians chapter 2 and verse 10, it says, ye are complete in him. Present tense. This is something that's true of you. You already have everything that you need in Christ Jesus. Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 4 says, Because we've been seated together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, we've received all blessings. All blessings in him. That's amazing. You have everything you need as a Christian. You're lacking nothing. Sometimes it feels like we're lacking things in the Christian life, doesn't it? We're lacking things. But we're not lacking anything in terms of quantity, but there is a qualitative maturity that God wants to bring us into. It's true we have everything we need, but we haven't unpacked the boxes or moved in the furniture to our home yet. We have it. It's just still in the totes. It's in the garage, and it hasn't been been all unloaded. We haven't hung the artwork. Second Timothy chapter 3 and verse 16 through 17, it says all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction and righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect. You're already complete, but you need to be made perfect, not thoroughly furnished, thoroughly furnished, unto all good works. In other words, God wants to begin a work inside of you, and you need to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Philippians chapter 2. God's trying to do something in you and have it worked out of you. And that is that work of perfecting. We get the foundation laid, and then God builds us up in him. Now, this is a very familiar verse, but I want you to see that it's pretty important in terms of the form of the words, the way that God has systematized the text. You're probably aware, but Paul uses two illustrations to describe this idea of maturity. Maturing or being perfected in Christ or being edified, the root word there, edifice, a building. It is what we also call discipleship. You ever hear the word discipleship? Yeah, I just talked about it in our announcements. Discipleship. What we mean by that is the process of maturing a believer and edifying them in the context of the local church, that they may grow up into Him in all things. Two illustrations that Paul uses a building and a body. Ephesians chapter 2, we talked about this a lot in the book of Ezra. Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 21, it says, In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord. It goes on in Ephesians chapter 4 and verses eleven through 13. Says, and he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. Why? For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. Till, meaning this is something that can be accomplished, till we all come in the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure and the stature of the fullness of Christ, verse 16, from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth according to the effectual working and the measure of every part maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. That's a mouthful, and it's so rich, I want to preach this text alone. But we just can't. And this is our second principle this morning, and that is that every book in our Bible has a purpose, focusing on specific doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction. Every book. As you look at a book that God's given, it can be outlined in that way. And we talked about this last week, I won't belabor it. God gives you the doctrine, He then reproves us or rebukes us on some ideas, corrects us back to what is true depending on what we know, and then instructs us. Not only tells us what's right and what's wrong and how to fix it, but how to keep it fixed. As I mentioned already, the book of Romans rushes us into the doctrine of justification, and then it begins to teach us about the sanctified life, correct our understanding regarding the law in six and seven, and then teach us about glorification in eight. And then some things are corrected again, and we're instructed to know how to operate in the church. My point here again is that this is internal to the book of Romans. And in passing, it is something I want to emphasize to you, and that is that edification requires your continued and active involvement in a local church. As we just read in Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 16, it says, from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth. The edification process is not you learning things about the Bible. The edification process is supplied when the members of the body of Christ come together. The joint supplies the edification. In other words, you cannot have any edification in your Christian experience without other members of the body of Christ. Why? Because it is the cords of charity, the tendons, that hold the members of the body of Christ together. In other words, you have no functional Christian power or life without other Christians next to you. And it is when God takes a group of people that aren't anything alike and brings them together that we're able to actually have some impact in this world. And we've talked again many times about that as well. I hope it never gets old. I hope you really consider the spiritual work of what Christ is doing as he brings people together and binds their lives and their hearts together and gives them an effectiveness to show the love of Christ in the world in a way that you could never on your own. And so listen carefully. It is the joints that supply the functional life to the body of Christ. And when we come together, we are finally able to be edified and matured under the measure and the stature of the fullness of Christ. Now, back to the first principle, I want to just remind you that the Bible's been given systematically, and while there's an internal structure in a book that relates to 2 Timothy chapter 3, the books themselves and how they're laid out also give this same type of framework. And so go ahead and go to this next slide. When we look at 2 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 16, we can find an outline of the Pauline epistles. The book of Romans is super heavy in doctrine. And as we continue to read the text, we find in Romans chapter 15 and verse 20, I don't think this is in the slides, it says, Yea, so I have strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation. Paul's laying the foundation. He's telling the church at Rome that. I mean, he is not correcting them really on anything. He's just saying, you should be ashamed of how you're living. It's not holy. You're abusing the liberty that Christ has given you. And then correction. In the book of Galatians. It's not that the Christians in Galatia needed a new doctrine. They needed to return to the doctrine that they already knew. They needed to be corrected from their turning. Galatians chapter 3 and verse 3. Are you so foolish? Have you begun in the spirit but now are made perfect by the flesh? They had some people coming into their churches saying, You need to go back to the law to live your Christian experience. Paul says, No, don't do that. You need to be corrected back to the gospel that you received. Galatians chapter 5 and verse 7, he says, Ye did run well. Who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? You had the truth, you left the truth, I'm correcting you back to it. And then as we get into the other books, like the prison epistles, like Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, we learn about very practical doctrine for Christian living, walking worthy of the vocation wherewith we're called, church life and polity, family dynamics, marriage, our relationship to others in the workplace and our bosses, and being an employee, being a servant or a master, witnessing, suffering, praying, warning against apathy, seeing the spirit of this age and turning from it, false doctrines, very practical instruction for the Christian life. And so there it is. The Bible is an incredible book. Somehow it does it all at the same time. Romans chapter 1, now as we close our service, I want to give you five markers of what it means to be like Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ. A servant of Jesus Christ. Look at with me, Romans chapter 1 and verse 1, just so that you can see the phrase Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated under the gospel of God. The first thing I want us to see as we wrap up this morning is that the servant of Jesus Christ seeks the Lord in prayer throughout the day for others. If you want to be like Paul and want to be a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, you need to serve in prayer throughout the day for others. Romans chapter 1 and verse 9. In the same exact chapter, we we see this. Paul says, For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit and the gospel of his son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers. Colossians chapter 4 and verse 12. Saluteth you, always laboring fervently with you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all of the will of God. It's not just that we're praying for others, it's that we're praying for others to be edified into the fullness of Christ. And so, again, a servant of Jesus Christ must seek the Lord in prayer, but secondly, he must share the gospel. If you want to be a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, you need to share the gospel. It's not enough for you to be a part of a really good church that does that. And you watch other people do it. God wants to take the life he's given you, and he wants you to be bold in your love and your witness to articulate that Jesus Christ, who knew no sin, became sin for the world, that they could be righteous. Romans chapter 15 and verses 15 through 16, it says, Nevertheless, brethren, I have written the more boldly unto you in some sort, as putting you in mind because of the grace that is given to me, uh given to me of God, verse 16, that I should be the minister or servant of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering or serving the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost. And the reason I swap out the word minister and servant there is because the gospel accounts do that in description of the life of Jesus Christ. John chapter twelve and verse twenty-six. Jesus said, If any man serve me, here it is, you want to be a servant of Jesus Christ? If any man serve me, let him follow me. And where I am, there shall also my servant be. If any man serve me, him will my father honor. And we know that if we serve him, we follow him, and if we follow him, he will make us fishers of men. We'll share the gospel. We'll care for the souls of this world. Matthew chapter four and verse nineteen it says, And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. So we must pray if we're going to be servants of Jesus Christ. We must share the gospel if we're going to be servants. We must also strive to keep unity in the body of Christ. We must strive to keep unity in the body of Christ. Romans chapter sixteen and verse seventeen through eighteen says, Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned, and avoid them. For they that are such here's the word serve not our Lord Jesus, but their own belly. And by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. If you want to be a servant of Jesus Christ, you must also suffer with him. You must also suffer with him. John chapter 15 and verse 20 it says, Remember the word that I said unto you, the servant is not greater than his Lord. If they were persecu uh if they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you. You want to be a servant of Jesus Christ? No. That if you live godly like Jesus Christ did, you will suffer persecution. That's a promise to you in 2 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 12, which says, Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. That's what being a servant of Jesus is. And if you look at the life of Paul, which we will continue to do over and over again in the book of Romans, you will find that he was willing to suffer for the sake of Christ. So the question this morning in relation to ship to all of these points is that, you know, are you praying throughout the day, and are you sharing the gospel, and are you striving to keep the unity in the body of Christ, or are you causing divisions in the body? Or are you more comfortable living your Christian experience with no persecution? Or you're uninterested in godliness. The fifth thing I want to share with you this morning regarding being a servant of Jesus is that this individual serves to only please the Lord. If you're going to be a servant to Jesus Christ as your master in life, then your one goal in life is to please him and not other people. It's not about what I think as your pastor. It is not what about you know your ministry leader thinks and whether or not you have their thumbs up of approval. It is not about what your parents think, what your school says, what your employer says. Yes, do all things under the Lord, be honoring to him. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Do things well in the workplace. Care about your boss and your parents. Give give your parents honor. Yeah, I get to all that. You know what the thing you need to be thinking about is this. Jesus Christ is worthy of my life being pleasing to him. Galatians chapter 1 and verse 10. For do I now persuade men or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. Any people pleasers in the room that care about what people think? Maybe I can ask it this way. Insecure about what your peers think? Your family? Your spouse? If you're going to please the Lord, and you're going to be a servant of Jesus Christ, you have to live a life that's moving in the direction of persuading God that you're a follower of Him, not of this world. Colossians chapter 3 and verse 23 22 through 23, it says, Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh. This is really about the workplace, but look at the devotional point that can be drawn as it continues. It says, Not with eye service as men pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God. And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as unto the Lord and not unto men. Anyone ever feel overwhelmed at the maybe the expectations that seem to come upon their life? I've got to do this, and I've got to please this person, I've got to make sure I'm right, and and ah, I just don't know how to fulfill all of this stuff. It stresses me out. Listen, just live a life pleasing to God. It'll set the pace that you need to go. Yes, work hard. Do it heartily as unto the Lord and not as unto men, but at the end of the day, have singleness of heart. Don't get worried about all the things and all the expectations from coming from every direction. Just think, Today, God has given me breath in my lungs to please him. Lord, what would you have me to do? Who do I need to speak to? What do you want me to meditate on? Will you help me? Lastly, Galatians 5 and verse 26. We'll close our sermon with this verse. It says, Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.