The Ps of the Gospel

The P's of the Gospel Romans 1:8-17, esp. v. 16. Introduction: A. I heard a story about a man who was vacationing in Mexico. 1. One day he was walking along a beach when he saw a man approaching from the opposite direction. 2. As he watched the man, he saw that the man kept bending down, picking something up and throwing it into the water. 3. As he got closer, he could see that the man was picking up starfish that had washed up onto the beach and he was throwing them back into the water. 4. As the two men met, he said, "Good morning. I was wondering what you are doing." 5. "Why, I am throwing these starfish back into the ocean, because if I don't, they will die." 6. "I understand, but there must be thousands of starfishes on this beach and you can't possibly get all of them. Can't you see that you can't possibly make a difference?" 7. The man bent down and picked up another starfish and threw it back into the ocean. 8. He smiled at the man and said, "I made a difference to that one, didn't I?" B. All over the world there are people like a fish out of water. 1. They are dying because they don't know about Jesus. 2. Can we make a difference? 3. Maybe we can't get to all of them, but we can tell those that we meet each day about the love of Jesus. 4. Each time that we tell someone about Jesus, we can say, "I made a difference to that one." C.In this series focusing on grace, we come to two verses in the middle of Rom 1 that summarize what Paul is going to talk about throughout chapters 1-8. 1. So far in Rom 1, Paul has used the word “gospel” 4 times. 2. Then he uses it in both verses 16 and 17. D. The word gospel simply means “good news.” 1. There is so much sad news today. 2. It is refreshing to hear good news. 3. What does Paul say about the gospel in Rom 1:16? I. The Pride of The Gospel (“For I am not ashamed of the gospel.”) Some Christians are ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Why? A. We don’t want to tell people they are spiritual failures. 1. Jesus didn’t come for the well. a. He came for the spiritually sick. 2. He didn’t come to coach people with spiritual potential to become greater successes. a. He came for people who had no spiritual potential. 3. He came for spiritual failures. 4. For failures like you and me, the only way to be saved is through a gift. 5. This is good news, but it’s also offensive news. 6. This offends moral and religious people who think their decency gives them an advantage over the less moral. B. We don’t want to tell people they are wicked. 1. The gospel doesn’t just say we’ve all made mistakes. a. It doesn’t say we could all do a bit better. 2. It levels the playing field by saying that apart from God, we’re utterly wicked. a. We are so wicked, in fact, that only the death of Jesus could save us. 3. This offends the widespread belief in the “innate goodness of humanity”—or the belief that we just need to get in touch with our inner beauty. C.We don’t want to tell “good people” they are going to hell. 1. The prevailing religious view today is that good, sincere people will be okay in the end. a. Maybe God grades on a curve. b. Maybe he’s at the top of a mountain, and our best efforts get us there in diverse ways. 2. People tend to think that good intentions are good enough for God. a. The gospel truth is as jarring as it could be. b. Good, moral people are not guaranteed heaven c. Why not? None of us are good, moral people! 3. Jesus didn’t come to bring nice people to heaven. a. “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32). b. God is the only one who can provide salvation, and if we are going to receive it, we must do it his way. D. We don’t want to tell people being a Christian is difficult. 1. The gospel tells us that our salvation was accomplished by Jesus’ serving and suffering. 2. It also says, as His followers, we should expect the same in following him. 3. This offends people who want salvation to be an easy life—nice and comfortable. 4. However, the way of Christ is the way of service, and Jesus promised that those who hated him would hate his followers. 5. “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you” (John 15:18). 6. If our lives are filled with affluence and ease, it’s worth asking if we’re following the suffering Savior. E. Paul understood that it is hard to tell people they are sinners. But why wasn’t he ashamed? II. The Power of The Gospel (“…for it is the power of God…”) A. Power is the same word from where we get the word dynamite. 1. Dale’s mule story. 2. Dynamite has the power to destroy and prepare for something new. 3. The gospel has the power to destroy and prepare for something new. B. Scripture on the power of the gospel: 1. 1 Cor 1:18, “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” 2. 1 Cor 1:23-24, “…but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” 3. 2 Cor 10:4, “…for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.” C.The Roman people understood power. 1. They had military power, a great army. a. They had engineering power to construct roads, buildings, and weapons of war. b. They had governmental power and ruled most of the known world. c. They had monetary power and taxed the Empire heavily. 2. No matter how much power Rome had, they could not save themselves from their sins, from the grave, or from hell. a. They trusted in the things of the world but forgot about the things of the soul. b. 2 Cor 4:18, “…we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” D. The gospel has power, but power to do what? III. The Pardon of The Gospel (…for salvation…) A. What is the gospel? 1. It is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 2. 1 Cor 15:3-4, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…” 3. These are the facts of the gospel found in the first four books of the NT. B. Notice what he says in verse 3, “Christ died for our sins.” 1. This is the good news of the story of Jesus, and Paul says that in the book of Romans. 2. Peter agrees, “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24). 3. Paul talks about our pardon in Rom 1-5 and talks about our living righteously in Rom 6-8. C.The Old Rugged Cross (v. 3) In that old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine, A wondrous beauty I see, For 'twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died, To pardon and sanctify me. 1. What does it mean to be pardoned? a. Pardon is a cancellation of a penalty for a crime. b. Isaiah 55:7, “Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the LORD, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” 2. How does God pardon? a. Someone must pay. b. Jesus Christ paid the price for our sins. c. We are like Barabbas in Matt 27:26, “Then he released Barabbas for them; but after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified.” IV. The People of The Gospel (…to everyone who believes…) A. There is an erroneous idea out there that God chooses who will be saved. 1. Some say Jesus Christ came only to die for people God chose: the elect. a. Jesus Christ did not come to die for those who God did not choose them. b. Here Paul says, the gospel is for everyone. 2. Heb 2:9, “…Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.” a. Jesus took our penalty, but not everyone is going to heaven. b. No, this verse says for everyone who believes. c. The gospel is conditional. d. John 6:40, “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.” B. What about this Jew first and then the Gentile? 1. Paul will discuss this more in Rom 1-3. a. It is enough to leave it at everyone who believes. b. Rom 3:22-23, “…there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” 2. The ground is level at Calvary. a. The gospel is for all people regardless of race, social condition, or community standing. b. There is no difference between people. Conclusion A presentation of the gospel is not complete until we show how to respond to the gospel. A. Believe, Confess, Repent, and Be Baptized. 1. If a lock has three numbers in its combination, each number must be turned to in its proper sequence before the lock can be opened. 2. Suppose a lock has the combination of 8 to the right, 19 to the left, and 32 to the right. 3. If you omit a number, the lock won’t open. 4. If you turn 19 to the right instead of the left the lock won’t open. 5. If you add a number, the lock won’t open. 6. If you leave out a number, the lock won’t open. B. The same is true with obeying God: 1. Omitting a part in God’s plan of salvation will NOT provide salvation. 2. Changing what God has commanded will NOT provide salvation. 3. Adding something to what God has commanded will NOT provide salvation. 4. Leaving out something that God has commanded will NOT provide salvation.