Last week we began a series on Romans called “Road Trip.” On
a road trip, you come along sign posts that point you in the right direction on
the way to your destination. Similarly, we looked at how the Romans Road to
Salvation has given us sign posts in understanding how to be reconciled with
God. The Romans Road was a method I learned as a teenager, and memorizing the
Scriptures has proven to be helpful to me in my understanding God’s direction
in my life.
The theme verses we looked at gave us the overall direction
of our Road Trip:
Key Verses: Romans
1:16-17
16For I am
not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone
who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17For in it
the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written,
“The righteous shall live by faith.”
The Gospel of God reveals 1) the righteousness of God, 2)
the need for faith, and 3) the power for salvation to those who believe. Romans
1 reveals God as the righteous Creator who cannot overlook sin. Romans 3:23
shows we, Jew and Gentile, are all in the same boat, we are all sinners and
deserve the wrath of God. We have a big problem in that we are born sinners and
are separated from God. We cannot be good enough to earn salvation. On our own
we are hopeless, and no one is without excuse.
Because we are sinners, our paycheck for sin is death
(Romans 6:23). That’s the verse we ended on last week. When we truly understand,
what sin is, that we are sinners and how pervasive our need is, we will know
how hopeless we stand on our own merit.
But Romans 6:23 also introduces us to the source of hope in
God’s provision! Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free
gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” What do you have to do to receive a gift?
What is the gift of God? It’s eternal life in Jesus Christ.
What does that mean? Many have focused on one aspect of eternal life, and that
is a promised home in heaven. To them, eternal life is a place. But God’s Word
describes eternal life as much broader and bigger than just a place. Eternal
life is sinful enemies of the righteous God being reconciled to the Father,
living in daily communion and service of Him both in this life and the next.
But Romans 1-3 says we are broken sinners deserving the
wrath of God, how can God just give us eternal life? Romans 5:8 says, “but God
shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
God is righteous and just, He cannot overlook sin. All sin, any
sin, deserves the death penalty. So, this free gift God offers is not free to
Him, but very costly. Imagine someone offering to give you something extremely
valuable to them as a gift, like they used their life savings to purchase a
special gift and freely gave it to you. It’s a gift that you can receive
without payment, but it cost them everything. That’s what God did for you and
me.
God demonstrated His righteousness and His love for us in
this way, while you and I were still rebelling against Him, He sent Jesus
Christ to die in our place. God’s only begotten Son was willing to die so that
we might live.
How can this be?
Last week we looked at Romans
5:12, “Therefore, just as sin came
into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all
men because all sinned” and we saw that in Adam we all fell. We are all
broken and born into sin.
Until Christ Jesus came into this world, born of a virgin,
and lived a perfect and sinless life. He became the only possible sacrifice for
our sins and was willing to go to the cross to shed His blood to pay for them.
Romans 5:19, “For as by the one man's disobedience the
many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made
righteous.” Because of His obedience, we can be made righteous. Because He
fulfilled the Law of God perfectly, something we can’t even do for one day, His
death satisfied the wrath of God.
2 Corinthians 5:21, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew
no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” He took our sin on Himself and offers His
righteousness to us.
This is amazing! Listen to what God is telling us. We are
born as enemies deserving judgment. Nothing we can do about. It’s because God
is righteous, and His righteousness demands that sin is punished. Because of
His great love for His creation, He provided a payment that would satisfy His
wrath and transfer us from children of wrath to children of righteousness. It’s
this important truth that sets Christianity apart from all other world
religions. God moved toward us, provided a way for us, and freely invites us to
receive this gift. It’s not about what you or I can do, but what Jesus did do.
So, I ask again, what do you have to do to receive a gift?
Nothing, but receive it with gratitude. Will you receive the
free gift Jesus offers?
Overview Part 2:
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