Romans Archive

We've made it! In January 2024 we began our ascent of the mountain that is Paul's letter to the Romans. It hasn't been an easy climb, at times the going has been tough but as we have seen the view from the summit is spectacular as we have taken in the glory of God's plan of salvation in Jesus Christ. Now 18 months later are we completing our descent as we consider Paul's final words to the church in Rome in the second half of chapter 16. Where Paul finishes is where he began by giving all the glory to God. Paul was someone who would have said a loud amen to the answer to the first question in the Shorter Catechism - 'What is man's chief end?. 'Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.'

On the face of it Romans 16 doesn't look very promising. In fact it looks pretty dull. It is simply a long list of names of people we have never heard of and whose names we struggle to pronounce. It bears a resemblance to those long genealogies we often come across in other parts of the Bible. It would be tempting to simply skip Romans 16 assuming that Paul has already said everything that is important and worth hearing and that we won't find anything of value trawling through this chapter. But we would be wrong. Once again we need to remind ourselves that, “all scripture is God breathed and is useful.” So what is chapter 16 useful for? It is a rich and rewarding section that yields many insights into the life of Paul, into the lives of other early Christians and into the nature and character of the first century church.

The prologue to every episode of the classic Science Fiction drama 'Star Trek' set out the purpose of the Starship Enterprise - “it's continuing mission to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before.

In our passage today Paul speaks about his plans for his continuing mission as he seeks to journey to the ends of the world, seeking out new places and new people, to boldly where no Christian missionary has gone before.

In the first half of chapter 15 Paul concludes his teaching on the importance of maintaining unity in the church in spite of our great diversity. He shows how this unity in the church is part of God's sovereign purposes and then points us to two ways that can help us to keep and enjoy this unity.

As we have seen the church in Rome was a culturally diverse congregation- it included believers from both Jewish and Gentile backgrounds. As a result there were tensions over secondary issues that were threatening the unity of the church. In chapter 14 Paul is seeking to address this. We see how Paul calls for unity in the midst of our diversity and establishes the following theological truths:

Christ's goal for his church is unity not uniformity. The church has always been very diverse because it incorporates people from every nation, tribe and tongue. However this diversity can often pose a challenge when it comes to maintaining the unity of the church.

In Romans chapters 12-16, Paul is setting out how believers are to put the gospel into practice in their everyday lives. Last week in the final section of chapter 12 we saw the call to be loving servants to those in Church and our call to be loving servants in the world. Paul finished chapter 12 by instructing disciples of Jesus Christ not to seek personal vengeance when they are wronged but rather vengeance is to be left to God. Romans 13 develops this teaching by looking at the source and role of human government and showing how Christians are to relate to it.

In Romans 12 Paul moves from theology to application. He is seeking to show us what the practical outworking of Gospel theology looks like in the everyday lives of Christian disciples.

We have seen Paul's call to offer our bodies as living sacrifices and to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Last time we considered what that renewed thinking looks like in terms of ourselves, others in the church and in regards to our spiritual gifts.

Last time we saw how at eh beginning of Romans 12 Paul turns from theology to our practical response to it. Paul calls us to respond to the mercy of God shown to us through Jesus Christ in how we live our everyday lives. We are called to offer our bodies to God as living sacrifices and we are called to be transformed through the renewing of our minds. I the following verse Paul goes on to show how this renewed thinking should be seen first and foremost in the local church.

Having reached the summit of Romans in chapter 11 we are now finally beginning our descent. We saw last time that good theology leads to doxology - that is to worship. But it leads us to a much more all embracing understanding of worship than many people have. Romans 12 will set us on the path of thinking about our practical response to the incredible mercy of God shown to us in through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our worship continues through the practical application of these gospel truths in how we go about our everyday lives. So today at the beginning of chapter12 we will think about how the Gospel affects our relationship with God. In the coming weeks we will see how it effects our relationships with others in the church, our relationship with the state and then our relationship with our neighbours.

If working through Paul's letter to the Romans is like climbing a mountain then we have now reached the summit. Soon we will begin to make our descent but before we do that we have one final opportunity to marvel in the majestic view that we behold from the summit of Romans 11.

For 11 chapters Paul has been unfolding his comprehensive account of the Gospel. Step by step he has shown how God has revealed His way of putting sinners right with Himself. We have now reached the end of the doctrine section of Paul's letter to the Romans but before Paul goes on to outline the practical implications of this Gospel he falls down before God and worships.

In Romans 9-11 we see Paul's burden for his own people - the Jews and the pain and anguish he knew because the majority of them had not accepted Jesus as the Messiah.

In chapter 9 Paul seeks to answer the question, why this was the case? He does this by showing that throughout history God had repeatedly demonstrated that he operates by divine choice - Issac had been chosen over Ishmael and Jacob over Esau. From this we discover the difficult doctrine of God's sovereign election.

In chapter 10 we saw the other side of the coin - human responsibility.

Today in chapter 11 Paul answers the question - do the Jewish people have any future in God's purposes and plans?

Last time in Romans 9 we looked at Paul's burden for his own people - the Jews and his pain and anguish that the majority of them had not accepted Jesus as the Messiah. In that chapter Paul seeks to answer the question why this is the case. He does this by showing that throughout history God had repeatedly demonstrated that he operates by divine choice - Issac had been chosen over Ishmael and Jacob over Esau. From this we discover the difficult and inscrutable doctrine of God's sovereign election. This a doctrine that our finite human minds cannot fully grasp or understand but we are called to let God be God and to accept it believing that the judge of all the earth will do right.

We have recommenced our attempts to climb the mountain that is Paul's letter to the Romans. We have enjoyed the view from the summit of Romans 8. But now it is time to move on. When you climb mountains there are times that you become engulfed in thick mist while covering rough terrain. As we enter into Romans 9-11 it can feel like the mist is closing in. Tim Keller said, ”Chapter 9-11 are some of the most difficult and controversial in the entire Bible.”

We welcome Nathan Donnell back as he preaches on Romans 8:28-39

Sometimes our Ulster evangelicalism is far too narrow in its scope. We rightly talk about the need for sinful human beings to be saved through faith in Jesus Christ. But sometimes we behave as if this is the beginning and end of the Gospel. What we find as we move further into Romans chapter 8 is an ever increasing perspective that reveals to us that the gospel is so much wider and deeper and all encompassing than many of us ever realised. God's plan of salvation involves nothing less than the renewal of the whole created order - it is cosmic in its scale As Andrew Ollerton says, “The redemption of humanity includes the promise of a renewed creation. Remember the Gospel is not only personal and relational. It is also cosmic good news.”

Last time in chapter 7 we saw Paul's confession and Paul's conflict as he shared his daily struggle of trying to live a life pleasing to God resting in our own strength. Paul's conclusion is the cry of every Christian who has experienced the failure and frustration that this struggle brings when undertaken in our own strength, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?”

In the remainder of chapter 7 we find Paul confessing his own personal struggles with the sin that the Law revealed in him. We see the agonising internal conflict that he experienced but we also see his confidence in where to find the power to live an obedient Christian life.
In Paul's personal testimony we find the help and encouragement we need as we face similar struggles.

The opening verses of chapter 7 continue the discussion that Paul began in chapter 6:15 “Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace?” There he used the illustration of the relationship between a master and slave to show how Christians are called to submit in joyful obedience to Christ.

Verse 15 more or less repeats the same question he asked at the beginning of chapter 6, “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace?” Paul's answer is again an emphatic, 'By no means!'

If we are justified through faith and not by works then surely it doesn't matter how we live? Aren't we free to carry on sinning so that God can show forth his grace all the more? This is the objection that Paul has already anticipated and that he now addresses.

We have been enjoying the view from Romans 5 as we take in how far we have come and where we have been able to rest and reflect on the extraordinary blessings that are ours through faith in the atoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross - we have peace with God, we have access to God, we have hope in God, and we are loved by God.

Andrew Ollerton is his book on Romans, as a keen mountaineer, likens studying Romans to climbing a mountain. He says there are moments where you've sweated your way up steep terrain and faced some challenging sections, then you come over a horizon unto easier ground. Now is the time to sit down, take a breath and look back over the way you have come and admire the view that your new vantage point affords.

Having shared in the first three chapters the bad news of mankind's universal and common condition as fallen inners unable to save themselves Paul has now begun to explain the Good News of how God in his grace saves us through the completed work of Christ and our faith in it.

We have now heard the bad news and it is utterly devastating - we all stand condemned as guilty sinners before a holy God. Paul has demonstrated that everyone one of us are all in the same sinking boat, we are being pulled down by the weight of our sin. There is no way we can save ourselves. There are no lifeboats or life jackets on this sinking ship. Our only hope is that someone recognises our predicament and comes to recue us.

So having shown us the true extent of our human sinfulness we are now ready to hear the good news of the Gospel. Romans 3:21 marks the turning point beginning with the two small but incredibly important and powerful words, 'But now.' In the verses that follows Paul will begin to unfold how God has intervened to save us.

The last few weeks in Romans have all been concerned with the bad news for humanity. Paul has been setting before us the fact that the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the unrighteousness and ungodliness of humanity, In chapter one Paul gave his attention to the sinfulness of the Gentiles. We have seen how God has made his existence clear through creation so that we are all without excuse for refusing to acknowledge God as God. In chapter 2 he turned his attention to the Jewish people The Jews considered themselves exempt from God’s wrath because of the special privileges they possessed. But Paul argues that all of their religious privileges only increased they accountability before the Lord. In chapter 3 the devastating verdict is pronounced - Jew and Genite alike are all under sin and deserving of God's wrath.

Today we come to the end of the bad news we must grasp before we can fully appreciate and respond to the Good News which is now just around the corner.

In the second half of chapter 2 there is still more bad news to come before we reach the beginning of the good news in chapter 3. Having shown the reality of God's perfect judgement on everyone Paul now turns to answer the anticipated objections of his fellow Jews. Paul seems to be suggesting that Jews are in no better a position to Gentiles when it comes to being under God's wrath for sin. The Jews considered themselves exempt because of the special privileges they possessed. In the rest of chapter 2 Paul addresses these objections as he shows that all of their religious privileges only increased they accountability before the Lord. His overriding argument is that religion won't save you. What matters most is not outward profession and rituals but inward reality.

We saw last time how Paul has both good news and bad news to share. The Gospel is of course good news but before we fully appreciate that good news we need to hear and understand the bad news. As we enter into chapter two we find that Paul is not finished with the bad news yet. Before we get to the good news of the Gospel we must understand the two fold nature of our problem. First of all we do not understand the true nature of God's holiness and secondly we do not understand the true extent of own sinfulness. In these verse Pauls sets forth Gods perfect judgement on mankind's sin.

Sometimes people will say to you I have good news and bad news which do you want to hear first? Personally I like to hear the bad news first and get that out of the way and then hopefully have the negative impact of the bad news limited by hearing the good news. It is the same in the book of Romans - Paul has both good news and bad news to share. The Gospel is of course good news but before we fully appreciate that good news we need to hear and understand the bad news. We need to grasp just how sinful and lost we are without Christ. In the final section of chapter one Paul is explaining why so many people refuse to acknowledge God and the consequences that flow from a deliberate rejection of God's Lordship in our lives.

Two weeks ago we began our study of Paul's letter to the Romans. We thought about the important question of identity in our society today as people ask themselves, 'Who Am I?' We saw Paul's answer to this question in the very first verse of Romans, he is 'a servant of Jeus Christ.' This was Paul's supreme identity and it should be ours too. Today as we read on in this letter we discover what motivated Paul in his ministry as an apostle and what should also motivate us as disciples of Jesus Christ.

Today we begin our winter teaching series on the New Testament book of Romans. Andrew Ollerton as he begins his exploration of this letter remarks, “It has been said that if the New Testament were the Himalayas, Romans would be Mount Everest.” J. I Packer strikes a similar note when he says, “Paul's letter to the Romans is the high peak of Scripture… all roads in the Bible lead to Romans and all views afforded by the Bible are seem most clearly from Romans.” So Paul's letter to the Romans is clearly a very important work and yet at the same time it is also a very intimidating part of scripture to gets to grips with. Where do we begin when it comes to studying such a large and rich theological work? We will follow the same principle that applies when answering the question - How do you eat an elephant? The answer is that there is only one way to eat an elephant - a bite at a time!”