Good News! - April 7, 2013 Sermon

By Pastor Greg

Back in the mid 70's the youth group in my home church sang a cantata called "Make It Clear". It was a musical presentation of the Gospel message as told by the Apostle Paul. Now mind you, we sang this 35 years ago, yet I still sing certain passages of scripture instead of merely reading them (don't worry, I'll sing them to myself). Now I tell you this because as I look back at that group of young people, many of them are still deeply committed followers of Christ. Three of them are pastors; one is about to become licensed. And somehow I can't help but wonder if our lives were deeply impacted for Christ because of the time we spent singing the words of scripture. Take Romans 1:16, for example. Every time I read “I am not ashamed of the gospel” I can still hear my dear friend Pastor Bill Wenger singing these words.

This is the power found within the Word of God. It has the ability to change the lives of people and nations. This is the Power of God at work within people’s lives. The Apostle Paul describes this “Power” as the “Good News”; the message of salvation, which he delivers so clearly and logically in his letter to the Christians living in Rome. I wonder if Paul knew that the words he would write in the winter of 57 AD would be changing lives all around the world even today. I suspect these words will be changing lives until the Lord returns, maybe even after He returns.

This is the Good News that Paul proclaims; the message of Salvation. Make it clear, make it plain, make it easy to be understood; which is exactly what Paul does. He walks us through a logical presentation of God’s plan of salvation for humanity. “This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News. God promised this Good News long ago through his prophets in the holy Scriptures. The Good News is about his Son. In his earthly life he was born into King David’s family line, and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord. Through Christ, God has given us the privilege and authority as apostles to tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done for them, so that they will believe and obey him, bringing glory to his name. And you are included among those Gentiles who have been called to belong to Jesus Christ. I am writing to all of you in Rome who are loved by God and are called to be his own holy people. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace” (Romans 1:1-7).

The reason this letter is addressed to the Christians in Rome and not the Roman Church, is because by the time Paul wrote these words, none of the Apostles had yet visited Rome. Many Bible scholars feel that there were Christians in Rome because there were Jews in Jerusalem during the crucifixion of Christ and for the day the Spirit was poured out upon the believers (Acts 2:10). So these people could have possibly witnessed the death of Jesus, heard the whispering of His resurrection, and seen the effects of the Spirit. Hearing Peter’s sermon, perhaps some Jews from Rome were counted among the 3,000 saved (Acts 2:41). Now although they were saved, I suspect many wondered just what salvation meant. Their minds would have been filled with the same questions people still ask today.

So in Rome you had believers by faith in Christ, but believers that probably didn’t fully understand what Salvation truly meant. Their minds were probably filled with all sorts of questions. “I’m saved, but what does that mean? What about my past? Will God still hold that against me? What happens when I sin today or tomorrow? How does that affect my relationship with God? So in response, Paul pens a letter for believers that answers questions like these that would be on the mind of any new believer; both the Gentile and the Jew; the educated and the uneducated. This is what Salvation means. This is the Good News that Paul was not ashamed to share.

Romans is a beautiful summary of God’s plan of Salvation for all of humanity. From Sin to Salvation, Paul teaches that anyone who places their faith In Jesus is no longer condemned, and that all who believe share in God’s great promises. This is the Good News. And this Good News displays God’s power. “For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. ¹⁷ This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, ‘It is through faith that a righteous person has life’” (Romans 1:16-17). The Good News is that through our faith in Christ God displays His great power by undoing the effects of sin. Righteousness is bestowed upon us not because we worked to earn it, but because we have placed our faith in Jesus. Because we stand with Jesus in faith, God stands with us, not against us. And no power above the earth, on the earth, or beneath the earth will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is found through faith in Jesus the Christ. This is the Good News.

Why would anyone be ashamed to proclaim this? Why does it seem that the Church today has become so timid in announcing this? Maybe it’s because we don’t fully comprehend the height and depth and majesty of all that God has promised for those who simply place their faith in Jesus. That’s why I think a thorough reading of Romans will help. If we better understand what God has accomplished for us, maybe we will stop being ashamed of this Good News which proclaims “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

I don’t normally give homework assignments, but for this topic I think reading the book of Romans will be helpful. So I want you to take the next two weeks and read all 16 chapters of Romans. I want you to look for specific themes that address condemnation, conviction, repentance, faith, justification, and righteousness. Read this letter closely and prayerfully, and see if it doesn’t change your life as well.