Sermon Tone Analysis

Romans 1:1-5 By His Grace for His Name

*Through the Obedience of Faith*

Ro 1:1 Pau'lo" dou'lo" Cristou'  jIhsou', klhto;" ajpovstolo" ajfwrismevno" eij" eujaggevlion qeou', Ro 1:2 o} proephggeivlato dia; tw'n profhtw'n aujtou' ejn grafai'" aJgivai"

Ro 1:3 peri; tou' uiJou' aujtou' tou' genomevnou ejk spevrmato" Daui;d kata; savrka, Ro 1:4 tou' oJrisqevnto" uiJou' qeou' ejn dunavmei kata; pneu'ma aJgiwsuvnh" ejx ajnastavsew" nekrw'n,  jIhsou' Cristou' tou' kurivou hJmw'n,Ro 1:5 di j ou| ejlavbomen cavrin kai; ajpostolh;n eij" uJpakoh;n pivstew" ejn pa'sin toi'" e[qnesin uJpe;r tou' ojnovmato" aujtou',

Romans 1:1-5

/Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, 4 who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 *through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake.*/

This morning we are going to focus on verse 5, and in particular the three phrases: "grace and apostleship," "obedience of faith," and "for his name's sake."

We will try to see the /nature/ of grace as a free and undeserved enabling for ministry, the /effect/ of grace in the obedience of faith, and the ultimate /goal/ of grace in the glorifying of Christ's name among all the peoples.

*Grace – at the Heart*

  Grace is a very precious reality.

I hope I can show you from the book of Romans what it is and why it is so precious.

The word is used 155 times in the New Testament – over 100 of them in the writings of Paul, and almost a fourth of those in Romans (24 times).

You cannot comprehend this book if you don't comprehend grace.

We will see it again and again.

It is at the heart of the book and the heart of the gospel and the heart of God.

But I don't assume the word communicates now the precious Biblical reality it was meant to.

Today, I would guess that the average person would say grace is the beautiful movement of an ice skater or a ballerina, some maybe even the way a wide receiver catches the football.

Then they might say grace is a short prayer before meals.

And finally, some might say grace is undeserved kindness.

But what is the Biblical reality of grace?

Let's look at Romans 1:5 and its connections.

Notice that in verse one Paul began to introduce himself and speak of his being a bond-servant of Christ and of his calling as an apostle and his consecration for the gospel of God.

Then in verses 2-4, he talks about what the gospel of God is: it's planned long before it happens; it's about God's Son; it's about the fulfillment of Old Testament hopes and the arrival of the Messiah, the Son of David; and it is about the risen Christ who came forth triumphant from the dead as reigning Son of God in power.

With that picture of a great, triumphant, reigning Messiah and Lord before us, Paul can now talk about grace on its proper basis.

He says in verse 5/, "through whom we have received grace."/

In other words, God's grace has come to Paul through the Lord Jesus Christ who was born as a son of David and was raised as Son of God in power.

We may say from what Paul writes later that grace was obtained for us through the obedience and death of the incarnate Messiah (Romans 3:24-25; 5:18-21); and grace is poured out through the risen and reigning Son of God in power.

There is no grace toward sinners apart from the life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Verse 5 says plainly that God gives grace "through him," referring to "Jesus Christ our Lord" at the end of verse 4.

So grace is a reality that comes from God; and comes through Jesus and his work for us.

It is not something we have a right to.

Jesus obtained it for us.

We get it freely because of the obedience and death of another.

*What is Grace?*

But what is it?

Well, in this verse it is connected with Paul's ministry, his apostleship.

"Through [Christ] we have received /grace and apostleship/."

I take this to mean that his calling as an apostle was a gift of grace and that he fulfils that ministry by the power of this grace.

So that grace is not just God's clemency toward Paul's sin, but is also a power to enable Paul to do his calling as an apostle.

I base this on what Paul says about the relation between grace and ministry in chapters 12 and 15.

For example, in 12:6 Paul says, /"We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us."/

And in 12:3 he says, /"Through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you . .

."/

In other words, grace is God's enabling for various ministries through gifts he gives, and Paul's gift includes speaking as an apostle.

Similarly in 15:15b-16 Paul says, "Grace was given me from God, to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles."

So I conclude that when he says in 1:5, "Through whom we have received grace and apostleship," he means that God not only saved him from his sin, but he also gave him grace to be an authoritative spokesman for the risen Son of God in power.

*How Do We Get Grace?*

And how does that mean he gave it to him?

Does it mean that he gave it in response to good works?

No. Paul said that he was set apart for the gospel before he was born (Galatians 1:15; Romans 1:1).

Grace is not God's response to our deserving or meriting.

Grace is God's free gift before we do anything good, and his enabling of us to do anything good.

For example, in Romans 4:4 Paul says, "Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited according to grace, but according to debt" (my translation).

In other words, grace is not what you get when you work for somebody: that's what he /owes/ you.

Grace is never owed.

It is always a free bonus from the overflow of goodness.

Therefore grace is always received through faith, not earned by works.

You can only receive grace as a gift and acknowledge that it comes to you freely; you can't work for it or earn it.

Romans 11:6 states the principle: "If it [election] is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace."

Grace would not be grace if you earned it by your works.

We receive it through faith.

By simply welcoming it as a gift and relying on it.

This is why Romans 4:16 says, "For this reason it [being an heir of the promise] is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace."

This is Paul's way of saying that grace is absolutely free and cannot be deserved or merited.

When grace comes to you it is through faith or not at all.

Grace has its own power.

You don't work it up.

It is, in fact, part of the power referred to in verse 4, where Paul says that Jesus "was declared the Son of God /with power/ by the resurrection from the dead."

Grace is not just forgiveness of our sin and mercy on our misery, it is also a divine power that comes to us through Jesus absolutely free for the sake of ministry.

Paul says in Romans 5:21, "As sin reigned in death, even so grace reigns through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (translation).

Grace is the power of a king: it "reigns" and leads mightily to eternal life through Christ.

So we have seen that grace is a /power/ from God for ministry (like Paul's apostleship).

It is /free/ and cannot be earned or deserved.

It is received as a gift by /faith,/ not merited by works.

*The Effect of Grace*

Now think about the implications of this for a moment – for Paul and for us.

I mentioned one of them two weeks ago.

When Paul calls himself, in verse 1, a "bond-servant of Christ Jesus" and an "apostle," he means that he /serves/ the risen Christ as an apostle.

But now, from verse 5, we know something utterly crucial about that service: it is given and enabled by grace.

He says in Romans 15:18/, "I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me [that's the power of grace], resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles"/ – which is the same aim as 1:5.

Paul serves Christ by the grace with which Christ serves Paul.

I linger over this because if we grasp it early, the book of Romans will open to us like a flower.

And if we don't get it, the book will make no sense.

And I linger over it because this is the essence of how God means for us to live our life.

God wants us to read verse 5 and in the end put “our” calling in the place of the word "apostleship."

"Apostleship" is Paul's – not mine and not ours.

So we might put, "Through Christ I have received grace and the teaching role."

Or: grace and singing.

Or: grace and studentship.

Or: grace and singleness.

Or: grace and widowhood.

Or: grace and motherhood.

And what we should mean is: God has freely given us forgiveness and the power to perform a calling, and fulfill a role which we accept by faith.

There is not a role in life that can be lived the way God wants it lived apart from enabling grace.

Being a godly mother or being an apostle is impossible without the power of grace.

So when Paul says, in 1 Corinthians 15:10, that all his apostolic labor is by grace, you insert your own calling: "By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me."

The decisive, enabling power for all ministry and all service is God's grace.

Paul is tremendously jealous to exalt grace in his life and in yours.

We should join him in this.

Why? this is becomes clearer as we look at the next two phrases in Romans 1:5.

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*"The Obedience of Faith"*