Listen in to our Romans 1:1-7 Podcast
Romans 1:1-7 Podcast Commentary: The Declaration of Jesus as the Son of God By His Resurrection
In our Romans 1:1-7 podcast and commentary, we delve into one of the most profound passages in the New Testament. The phrase “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God…” marks the introduction to Paul’s letter to the Romans, laying a foundation for the gospel’s divine origin and purpose. This passage reveals key insights into God’s plan for salvation, the identity of Jesus Christ, and the role of Paul as God’s chosen messenger.
Exploring Romans 1
Romans 1:1-7 begins by establishing Paul’s authority as an apostle, called and set apart for the gospel. He identifies himself as a servant of Christ Jesus, emphasizing his submission to Christ’s mission. The gospel he proclaims is not a human invention but the fulfillment of God’s promises made through the prophets in the Holy Scriptures.
Central to this passage is the declaration of Jesus as the Son of God. While Jesus’ earthly lineage connects Him to David, it is through His resurrection that He is definitively declared the Son of God in power. Paul emphasizes that Jesus’ resurrection is not just an event in history, but the moment that confirms Jesus’ divine identity and authority. “Jesus Christ our Lord” becomes the focus of salvation through His life, death, and resurrection.
Key Themes
The key themes in Romans 1:1-7 include Paul’s divine calling, the gospel’s foundation in the Old Testament promises, and the revelation of Jesus Christ as the Son of God through His resurrection. Another crucial theme is the grace and peace that come from Jesus Christ. Through His work, believers are invited into a relationship of grace, peace, and mission.
Commentary Insights
Engaging with Romans 1:1-7 through commentaries, study guides, and sermons can be incredibly enriching. These resources offer valuable insights into how Paul’s introduction sets the stage for the rest of the letter. They highlight the significance of Jesus’ resurrection in confirming His divine sonship and offer practical applications for living in the grace and peace that flow from Christ. Understanding these foundational truths is essential for Christians seeking to live according to God’s plan.
Website and Books We Like
- BobGeorge.net
- Classic Christianity Book by Bob George
- Simple Gospel – Simple Grace by Bob Christopher
Live Bible Coaching
Can a Christian Lose Their Salvation?
Transcript of Podcast
Transcript of Romans 1:1-7 Podcast
Want to discover your freedom in Christ, then listen in as Mike Stone and Kevin Smith talk about it today on Grace Coach. Hello. Welcome to Grace Coach. I'm Mike Stone with my good buddy, Kevin Smith. How are you, Kevin? Great, Mike. How are you doing? Doing good. I'm excited about what we're about to do here, going through the book of Romans chapter by chapter.
Uh, today we'll probably get through half of chapter one, but there's so much in the book of Romans. It's so exciting. Yes, it is. There's so much in the book of Romans, and it is by far My favorite book that in hebrews neck and neck, but I would say romans just because it's so uh laid out and so a lot of just foundational doctrines of the christian faith just lays it out black and white but um Yeah, romans is a awesome book.
It has a lot to do with jesus christ and grace of god that he has manifested to the world. Such a powerful, powerful book. You know, so looking at, uh, you know, there's lots of commentary, lots of stuff on the internet about Romans. Um, just from what I can see, Kevin, you know, it looks like the book of Romans is written to Christians.
who are both Jewish and Gentile, because there's a lot of mention of the Jew and the Gentile, and really that makes up all of people, because if you're not a Jew, you are a Gentile, so that's written to all people. Now these, it was written to Christians. in Rome, even I know for me, before I was a Christian, I would still go through, you know, different scriptures.
And, you know, you could read the book of Romans and hear it and be saved through some of these verses that are salvation verses that you can understand that chapter five talks about. How we came into this world spiritually dead in Adam, and that was all people. And then, you know, in chapter 5, he talks about that Jesus Christ is the answer to spiritual death.
So it's definitely written to, you know, definitely Jew and Gentile Christians. We can see that as we read through it. But people who are not saved, and then become saved. Yeah, absolutely. That reminds me, when I became a Christian, I mean, the guy led me down the, quote, Roman roads. Ah. You know, and I kind of remember a lot of them.
Romans 3, 23. Romans 6, 23. Romans 10, 9, and 10. All of them, basically, you have to admit that you're a sinner. You have to acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the answer to your sin problem. You know, this big barrier of sin that stands between, as we read even in this first chapter, you know, there's a sin, there's a barrier that stands in between the whole world.
Every person, there is a barrier that stands between you and God. There's a little booklet, the four spiritual laws, that draws out a cross, between two, and the, two mountains. And there's God on one side of the mountain, and you on the other side. And the only thing that can bridge the chasm between you and God is the cross.
And, you know, you turn the page and there's a cross there. And where people have, you know, have the opportunity to walk across the chasm of sin. Uh, in order to become saved. So that's, uh, the Roman road. Absolutely. You know, when I look at, uh, what Paul wrote about Jews and Gentiles in the book of Romans, and I see that his attempt might've also been to encourage, encourage a unity in the faith between the Jew and the Gentile, because there is, there was such a riff between the two groups, as there's still a riff today.
Um, there's a wall of hostility and, you know, as he writes to the Gentile and he goes through the history of the Gentiles and he goes through the, in chapter two and three, when he talks about the Jew and their history. And then he says, finally in chapter three, that all have sinned, all are alike under sin, Jew and Gentile, all born into this world the same way, spiritually dead.
Separated from God, condemned for Hell, and it's for all people. So I can see his reasoning in writing this to really unify Jews and Gentiles to say, Hey, Jew, the Gentile's no different than you. And vice versa, yes, to the Gentile, the Jew is no different than you. You might. Have different religions and different practices, but you're all coming to this world the same way and Jesus is the only answer to both of you.
The Apostle Paul did a masterful job in basically arguing his case. I mean, he lays out his case for salvation through Christ in a masterful way in this whole, that's, that's really why I like it. Cause he He plays, he, he talks to each group of people. He talks to the Jews. He talks to the Gentiles. He talks to all of them at once and he condemns everybody under the law, the Jews that are trying to live under law.
There's absolutely no way you can make it to God living under the law. And he just does a masterful job of looking at every And because you know, he's had these arguments with people and now he's putting them in the book and he's just Reiterating what he's already talked about with other people, which is so cool.
Yeah, it is cool Yeah, so what let's read chapter 1 verses 1 through 6 Let's talk. Let's talk about it. But why don't you read 1 through 6? Super. Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God. Man, it's going to be hard for me to read this and not stop and talk about things.
The gospel of God. The gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the scriptures regarding his son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the spirit of holiness. was declared with power to be the Son of God. By His resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through Him and for His name's sake, We receive grace and apostleship to call people from among all Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.
Yeah, so let's, uh, go through some of these verses here and talk about it. You know, in the first verse it says Paul's a servant of Christ Jesus called to be an apostle and set apart for the, for the gospel of God. And so we know that in the book of Acts, on the road to Damascus, Jesus confronted Paul and says, Paul, Paul, why are you doing what you're doing?
And Paul at that time was going into Christian homes. He was taking Christians to jail. He was murdering Christians. His name was Saul at the time. He was there at Stephen's death, uh, giving approval. And then, so after a certain time, God had enough of this guy and says, I'm going to use this guy to proclaim the gospel to the world.
Yeah. And he was an unlikely candidate, right? Because In the book of Galatians in chapter 2, they didn't believe that Paul really had, you know, an encounter with Jesus. They were still afraid of him. Absolutely. There's some great Christian movies that, well, they're great Christian movies because they proclaim the gospel, but Compared to Hollywood's movies, of course, they're Christians, so they don't have the budget, but man, there's been some that have just shown how the disciples were scared of Paul.
They didn't want to, they didn't want him to come in, because they were like hiding from the Romans, right? You know, they were, they didn't want to get persecuted. And so they definitely, after hearing Paul going with letters of a recommendation to go and capture Christians. I mean, he had a bad reputation, bro.
Well, geez, he was doing some, you know, bad things and hurting people and hurting Christians. You know, who would do that, right? Who would just, you know, look for people who are putting their faith in Christ. and take them out and hurt them, murder them. But he was doing that. So he got, uh, came face to face with him on the road to Damascus.
And so that's what this first verse is talking about, that he was. called to be an apostle and set apart. And it says the gospel that he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures regarding his son Jesus. And so we're talking about the old covenant promises. Uh, there's over 350 prophecies that were fulfilled in Jesus.
Uh, at least 350. Yeah, there's a lot, a lot of prophecies. And I think, I think I like about this verse, verse two, the he is referring to God. God promised, you know, and we talk about the Hebrews six where, you know, God made an oath and a promise. I mean, it's like when God Promises something, it's rock solid.
Yeah, and hey, he's promised us to work things together for good. I think the greatest promise is the rapture to come. I mean, that could happen at any time. That could happen down the road, whether we're here or not. But just because something isn't here yet doesn't mean It's not going to happen. It's going to happen because God did promise these things.
And yes, this is a perfect example that He promised the Savior, Jesus Christ, was going to come into this world hundreds of years before He actually did. And it says that He was a descendant of David. And we see that if you read through Matthew chapter 1, you could read through the lineage in 1 6, it talks about that David, Uh, King David was part of the lineage that eventually Jesus was going to come through.
In, in regards to this, the descendant of David. Yes. He was from the tribe of Judah. And if there's any, any kind of, like, solid case. It's for somebody, if you're talking to somebody who's like, wait, we've still got to live under the law and obey the 10 commandments. This first verse where it says, you know, he's a descendant of Dave from the tribe of Judah.
What doesn't actually say tribe of Judah in here, but we know he was from the tribe of Judah, not from the tribe of Levi. Okay. And so that disqualifies him from being a priest in the line of the law. So we all know there's a new covenant and Jesus is the author of that new covenant. And he's the high priest of the new covenant.
And it's different from the Levite. Tribes. He's not a Levite. That's right. That was an earthly ministry of earth of man. Yes, right. That, uh, that performed all kinds of, uh, uh, religious religious duties. Yeah. Sacrifice of animals. But here in verse four, it says, uh, that he was a descendant of David and through the spirit of holiness, that Jesus was appointed the son of God.
in power by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Now notice that he wasn't appointed the son of God through his death on the cross. No, he was not taking away our sins as great as an event that was. That was the Good Friday event, when he took away the sins of the world. So he wasn't appointed through the Spirit of Holiness, and appointed the Son of God through the cross, but through his resurrection.
Yes. That a dead man named Jesus is now alive. Right. Absolutely. And the resurrection has given us life. That's right. And the same spirit that rose Jesus from the dead is, is what lives in us and raises us from the dead when we put our faith in Christ. So the resurrection is really, Paul is saying, is a key here.
that Jesus was appointed the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead. And it says, through Him we receive grace and apostleship to call the Gentiles to the obedience to that comes from faith for His namesake. And Kevin, you're like, well, is he calling only the Gentiles here? Is this letter only to the Gentiles?
And Paul made a switch in the book of Acts that he was going to after he, uh, was converted and he became a Christian and he went out to the masses. He first went to the Jew. He went into the synagogues. But it says that they wouldn't listen. And in Acts 28, he finally says, I am going to the Gentiles because they will listen.
And yeah, so that is why he's writing that through him we receive grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. Although we're going to see, he's going to be also talking to the Jew. But Paul, his main mission was to go to the Gentiles because they would listen.
You know, uh, go ahead, go ahead. Finish your thought. Yeah, no. And there will be a time just before the rapture when the last Gentile comes to believe that there'll be a switch that. No longer will God be going to the Gentiles, as we can see today, most churches are filled with Gentiles, but that He will be going to Israel after the last Gentile is ushered in, and that's in the Book of Romans, too.
Yeah, that's just a mind blowing concept to think. When you read some of the things that it says about the nation of Israel and Jewish people, from our perspective today, It's really hard to see that, but it's in black and white in the scripture, and you know, it's gonna happen to some degree, and God's going to make it happen.
Yes. And we're gonna be sitting there with our jaws dropping, like Oh, my gosh. Look what just happened. Another promise will be fulfilled that is hard to imagine right now. Yes, but you know what? I want to bounce back to verse 5, where it says, To the obedience that comes from faith. And I think that's such a unique little turn of a phrase, because very rarely do we combine obedience with faith.
When we talk about obedience, we talk about, oh my gosh, I've got to obey, got to do this, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and it's such a. Drudgery, but Paul says, I, I'll just read the whole passage so people can catch it again through him and for his namesake, we receive grace and apostleship to call people from among all Gentiles to the obedience.
that comes from faith. So it's the, your obedience is a result of your faith and your faith is about belief. And so it's the essence of it is your belief in faith and you're obeying the The gospel, it's obeying the gospel. Yeah, that this is not about our good works doing a good or bad thing. This is about believing in these scriptures.
Right, it's about salvation. Yeah, it's about salvation, that you come to Christ by faith, and you're obedient to that, so you put your faith in Christ, John 3, 16, whoever believes in him shall not perish. but have eternal life. And when you do that, when you put your faith in Christ and believe in Him, you just become obedient to the faith.
Right. So that's a great point there. Yeah. It's beautiful the way he puts that. Yeah. I think most people really struggle when they see that word obedience, just like you said, all of a sudden it turns to them. And am I doing enough? Am I You know, sinning or not sinning. What did I think about yesterday?
Paul is not talking about obedience to the law, right? The obedience in believing the gospel and being born again. Amen. Great point. So yeah, verse seven. We'll wrap it up here, Kevin, that says, To all in Rome who are loved by God and call to be His holy people, grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
So there it's clearly saying, Paul is saying, writing to those loved by God and called to be His holy people, those are born again Christians. And again, both from a Jewish and Gentile background, again, we'll see that as we go through this, but if you are in Christ and born again, you have the Holy One, Jesus, living inside of you, and He makes you holy.
And that is why you're a holy person, because you have the holy Jesus living inside of you. You know, I, I, uh, I know you're reading the NIV version, and I actually am reading the NIV 2, and I know you do the 1985, or before, after, whatever, so I must have a different one. My verse 7 says called to be saints, instead of holy people.
Kind of the same thing. Same thing. But the point I'm trying to make is that This is not the only time Paul addresses the New Testament epistle to saints. He doesn't call them, hey you sinners there in Rome, or you sinners over there in Corinth, but he addresses them as saints, and I think that is something that we cannot hear enough.
In the Christian world, we, we beat, we're beaten up and we beat ourselves up. Sometimes we're our worst critic when we do things, but the apostle Paul addresses this church as called to be saints. And we've talked about art and everything else, but. You know, you're, we are, if you're a Christian, you are a saint who sometimes sins and does stupid things, but your first and foremost identity is a saint, a beloved child of God.
You are the, the apple of God's eye. He The Bible says he has lavished his love on you, lavished his love on you in Christ. So, I hope all you guys out there listening just soak this up and believe it in your hearts. And when things aren't going right, Just go to the word of God and just soak your mind in it.
Thank you for listening to grace coach. If you want to connect with us, we would love to engage with you. Email us at the grace coach at gmail. com. Visit our Facebook page or visit our website, grace coach. org.
Transcript of Romans 1:1-7 Podcast
Want to discover your freedom in Christ, then listen in as Mike Stone and Kevin Smith talk about it today on Grace Coach. Hello. Welcome to Grace Coach. I'm Mike Stone with my good buddy, Kevin Smith. How are you, Kevin? Great, Mike. How are you doing? Doing good. I'm excited about what we're about to do here, going through the book of Romans chapter by chapter.
Uh, today we'll probably get through half of chapter one, but there's so much in the book of Romans. It's so exciting. Yes, it is. There's so much in the book of Romans, and it is by far My favorite book that in hebrews neck and neck, but I would say romans just because it's so uh laid out and so a lot of just foundational doctrines of the christian faith just lays it out black and white but um Yeah, romans is a awesome book.
It has a lot to do with jesus christ and grace of god that he has manifested to the world. Such a powerful, powerful book. You know, so looking at, uh, you know, there's lots of commentary, lots of stuff on the internet about Romans. Um, just from what I can see, Kevin, you know, it looks like the book of Romans is written to Christians.
who are both Jewish and Gentile, because there's a lot of mention of the Jew and the Gentile, and really that makes up all of people, because if you're not a Jew, you are a Gentile, so that's written to all people. Now these, it was written to Christians. in Rome, even I know for me, before I was a Christian, I would still go through, you know, different scriptures.
And, you know, you could read the book of Romans and hear it and be saved through some of these verses that are salvation verses that you can understand that chapter five talks about. How we came into this world spiritually dead in Adam, and that was all people. And then, you know, in chapter 5, he talks about that Jesus Christ is the answer to spiritual death.
So it's definitely written to, you know, definitely Jew and Gentile Christians. We can see that as we read through it. But people who are not saved, and then become saved. Yeah, absolutely. That reminds me, when I became a Christian, I mean, the guy led me down the, quote, Roman roads. Ah. You know, and I kind of remember a lot of them.
Romans 3, 23. Romans 6, 23. Romans 10, 9, and 10. All of them, basically, you have to admit that you're a sinner. You have to acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the answer to your sin problem. You know, this big barrier of sin that stands between, as we read even in this first chapter, you know, there's a sin, there's a barrier that stands in between the whole world.
Every person, there is a barrier that stands between you and God. There's a little booklet, the four spiritual laws, that draws out a cross, between two, and the, two mountains. And there's God on one side of the mountain, and you on the other side. And the only thing that can bridge the chasm between you and God is the cross.
And, you know, you turn the page and there's a cross there. And where people have, you know, have the opportunity to walk across the chasm of sin. Uh, in order to become saved. So that's, uh, the Roman road. Absolutely. You know, when I look at, uh, what Paul wrote about Jews and Gentiles in the book of Romans, and I see that his attempt might've also been to encourage, encourage a unity in the faith between the Jew and the Gentile, because there is, there was such a riff between the two groups, as there's still a riff today.
Um, there's a wall of hostility and, you know, as he writes to the Gentile and he goes through the history of the Gentiles and he goes through the, in chapter two and three, when he talks about the Jew and their history. And then he says, finally in chapter three, that all have sinned, all are alike under sin, Jew and Gentile, all born into this world the same way, spiritually dead.
Separated from God, condemned for Hell, and it's for all people. So I can see his reasoning in writing this to really unify Jews and Gentiles to say, Hey, Jew, the Gentile's no different than you. And vice versa, yes, to the Gentile, the Jew is no different than you. You might. Have different religions and different practices, but you're all coming to this world the same way and Jesus is the only answer to both of you.
The Apostle Paul did a masterful job in basically arguing his case. I mean, he lays out his case for salvation through Christ in a masterful way in this whole, that's, that's really why I like it. Cause he He plays, he, he talks to each group of people. He talks to the Jews. He talks to the Gentiles. He talks to all of them at once and he condemns everybody under the law, the Jews that are trying to live under law.
There's absolutely no way you can make it to God living under the law. And he just does a masterful job of looking at every And because you know, he's had these arguments with people and now he's putting them in the book and he's just Reiterating what he's already talked about with other people, which is so cool.
Yeah, it is cool Yeah, so what let's read chapter 1 verses 1 through 6 Let's talk. Let's talk about it. But why don't you read 1 through 6? Super. Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God. Man, it's going to be hard for me to read this and not stop and talk about things.
The gospel of God. The gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the scriptures regarding his son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the spirit of holiness. was declared with power to be the Son of God. By His resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through Him and for His name's sake, We receive grace and apostleship to call people from among all Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.
Yeah, so let's, uh, go through some of these verses here and talk about it. You know, in the first verse it says Paul's a servant of Christ Jesus called to be an apostle and set apart for the, for the gospel of God. And so we know that in the book of Acts, on the road to Damascus, Jesus confronted Paul and says, Paul, Paul, why are you doing what you're doing?
And Paul at that time was going into Christian homes. He was taking Christians to jail. He was murdering Christians. His name was Saul at the time. He was there at Stephen's death, uh, giving approval. And then, so after a certain time, God had enough of this guy and says, I'm going to use this guy to proclaim the gospel to the world.
Yeah. And he was an unlikely candidate, right? Because In the book of Galatians in chapter 2, they didn't believe that Paul really had, you know, an encounter with Jesus. They were still afraid of him. Absolutely. There's some great Christian movies that, well, they're great Christian movies because they proclaim the gospel, but Compared to Hollywood's movies, of course, they're Christians, so they don't have the budget, but man, there's been some that have just shown how the disciples were scared of Paul.
They didn't want to, they didn't want him to come in, because they were like hiding from the Romans, right? You know, they were, they didn't want to get persecuted. And so they definitely, after hearing Paul going with letters of a recommendation to go and capture Christians. I mean, he had a bad reputation, bro.
Well, geez, he was doing some, you know, bad things and hurting people and hurting Christians. You know, who would do that, right? Who would just, you know, look for people who are putting their faith in Christ. and take them out and hurt them, murder them. But he was doing that. So he got, uh, came face to face with him on the road to Damascus.
And so that's what this first verse is talking about, that he was. called to be an apostle and set apart. And it says the gospel that he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures regarding his son Jesus. And so we're talking about the old covenant promises. Uh, there's over 350 prophecies that were fulfilled in Jesus.
Uh, at least 350. Yeah, there's a lot, a lot of prophecies. And I think, I think I like about this verse, verse two, the he is referring to God. God promised, you know, and we talk about the Hebrews six where, you know, God made an oath and a promise. I mean, it's like when God Promises something, it's rock solid.
Yeah, and hey, he's promised us to work things together for good. I think the greatest promise is the rapture to come. I mean, that could happen at any time. That could happen down the road, whether we're here or not. But just because something isn't here yet doesn't mean It's not going to happen. It's going to happen because God did promise these things.
And yes, this is a perfect example that He promised the Savior, Jesus Christ, was going to come into this world hundreds of years before He actually did. And it says that He was a descendant of David. And we see that if you read through Matthew chapter 1, you could read through the lineage in 1 6, it talks about that David, Uh, King David was part of the lineage that eventually Jesus was going to come through.
In, in regards to this, the descendant of David. Yes. He was from the tribe of Judah. And if there's any, any kind of, like, solid case. It's for somebody, if you're talking to somebody who's like, wait, we've still got to live under the law and obey the 10 commandments. This first verse where it says, you know, he's a descendant of Dave from the tribe of Judah.
What doesn't actually say tribe of Judah in here, but we know he was from the tribe of Judah, not from the tribe of Levi. Okay. And so that disqualifies him from being a priest in the line of the law. So we all know there's a new covenant and Jesus is the author of that new covenant. And he's the high priest of the new covenant.
And it's different from the Levite. Tribes. He's not a Levite. That's right. That was an earthly ministry of earth of man. Yes, right. That, uh, that performed all kinds of, uh, uh, religious religious duties. Yeah. Sacrifice of animals. But here in verse four, it says, uh, that he was a descendant of David and through the spirit of holiness, that Jesus was appointed the son of God.
in power by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Now notice that he wasn't appointed the son of God through his death on the cross. No, he was not taking away our sins as great as an event that was. That was the Good Friday event, when he took away the sins of the world. So he wasn't appointed through the Spirit of Holiness, and appointed the Son of God through the cross, but through his resurrection.
Yes. That a dead man named Jesus is now alive. Right. Absolutely. And the resurrection has given us life. That's right. And the same spirit that rose Jesus from the dead is, is what lives in us and raises us from the dead when we put our faith in Christ. So the resurrection is really, Paul is saying, is a key here.
that Jesus was appointed the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead. And it says, through Him we receive grace and apostleship to call the Gentiles to the obedience to that comes from faith for His namesake. And Kevin, you're like, well, is he calling only the Gentiles here? Is this letter only to the Gentiles?
And Paul made a switch in the book of Acts that he was going to after he, uh, was converted and he became a Christian and he went out to the masses. He first went to the Jew. He went into the synagogues. But it says that they wouldn't listen. And in Acts 28, he finally says, I am going to the Gentiles because they will listen.
And yeah, so that is why he's writing that through him we receive grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. Although we're going to see, he's going to be also talking to the Jew. But Paul, his main mission was to go to the Gentiles because they would listen.
You know, uh, go ahead, go ahead. Finish your thought. Yeah, no. And there will be a time just before the rapture when the last Gentile comes to believe that there'll be a switch that. No longer will God be going to the Gentiles, as we can see today, most churches are filled with Gentiles, but that He will be going to Israel after the last Gentile is ushered in, and that's in the Book of Romans, too.
Yeah, that's just a mind blowing concept to think. When you read some of the things that it says about the nation of Israel and Jewish people, from our perspective today, It's really hard to see that, but it's in black and white in the scripture, and you know, it's gonna happen to some degree, and God's going to make it happen.
Yes. And we're gonna be sitting there with our jaws dropping, like Oh, my gosh. Look what just happened. Another promise will be fulfilled that is hard to imagine right now. Yes, but you know what? I want to bounce back to verse 5, where it says, To the obedience that comes from faith. And I think that's such a unique little turn of a phrase, because very rarely do we combine obedience with faith.
When we talk about obedience, we talk about, oh my gosh, I've got to obey, got to do this, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and it's such a. Drudgery, but Paul says, I, I'll just read the whole passage so people can catch it again through him and for his namesake, we receive grace and apostleship to call people from among all Gentiles to the obedience.
that comes from faith. So it's the, your obedience is a result of your faith and your faith is about belief. And so it's the essence of it is your belief in faith and you're obeying the The gospel, it's obeying the gospel. Yeah, that this is not about our good works doing a good or bad thing. This is about believing in these scriptures.
Right, it's about salvation. Yeah, it's about salvation, that you come to Christ by faith, and you're obedient to that, so you put your faith in Christ, John 3, 16, whoever believes in him shall not perish. but have eternal life. And when you do that, when you put your faith in Christ and believe in Him, you just become obedient to the faith.
Right. So that's a great point there. Yeah. It's beautiful the way he puts that. Yeah. I think most people really struggle when they see that word obedience, just like you said, all of a sudden it turns to them. And am I doing enough? Am I You know, sinning or not sinning. What did I think about yesterday?
Paul is not talking about obedience to the law, right? The obedience in believing the gospel and being born again. Amen. Great point. So yeah, verse seven. We'll wrap it up here, Kevin, that says, To all in Rome who are loved by God and call to be His holy people, grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
So there it's clearly saying, Paul is saying, writing to those loved by God and called to be His holy people, those are born again Christians. And again, both from a Jewish and Gentile background, again, we'll see that as we go through this, but if you are in Christ and born again, you have the Holy One, Jesus, living inside of you, and He makes you holy.
And that is why you're a holy person, because you have the holy Jesus living inside of you. You know, I, I, uh, I know you're reading the NIV version, and I actually am reading the NIV 2, and I know you do the 1985, or before, after, whatever, so I must have a different one. My verse 7 says called to be saints, instead of holy people.
Kind of the same thing. Same thing. But the point I'm trying to make is that This is not the only time Paul addresses the New Testament epistle to saints. He doesn't call them, hey you sinners there in Rome, or you sinners over there in Corinth, but he addresses them as saints, and I think that is something that we cannot hear enough.
In the Christian world, we, we beat, we're beaten up and we beat ourselves up. Sometimes we're our worst critic when we do things, but the apostle Paul addresses this church as called to be saints. And we've talked about art and everything else, but. You know, you're, we are, if you're a Christian, you are a saint who sometimes sins and does stupid things, but your first and foremost identity is a saint, a beloved child of God.
You are the, the apple of God's eye. He The Bible says he has lavished his love on you, lavished his love on you in Christ. So, I hope all you guys out there listening just soak this up and believe it in your hearts. And when things aren't going right, Just go to the word of God and just soak your mind in it.
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