Romans Chapter One Lesson 13
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With
these 2 verses, Paul presents us with some very powerful logic,
In
vs:16-17 he gives us the reasons, the logical support
for what he has just said! The Greek
language uses connectives extensively to express the logical relationship
between ideas.
Notice
the "For" 3x's in these
2 verses and also at the beginning of vs:18;
Maybe
we can see the logical flow if I use a question-answer format.
Paul: I am eager to preach the gospel in
Question: Paul, why are you eager?
Paul: "Because I am not ashamed of the
gospel."
Question:
Why are you not ashamed of the gospel Paul?
Paul:
"Because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to
the Jew first and also to the Greek;
Question:
"And why is it the power of God for salvation to all who believe?
Paul:
"Because it reveals the righteousness of God."
You
cannot overlook the connectives, to do so is to miss the flow of Paul's thought
and therefore the message.
We
must read and study the Word of God very carefully, we
need to concentrate on every word and every phrase.
We
need therefore, to be committed to careful exposition of the ONLY source, the
ONLY repository of absolute truth there is, the Holy Scriptures.
In these 2 verses we see:
1. Paul's attitude toward the gospel 1:16a
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel,"
Why
would Paul be ashamed of the gospel, and therefore of Jesus Christ?
This
is the center of the world, the seat of culture, it was also center of
idolatry, it is the center of military power of the
empire.
> This brings us to another reason that Paul might be
tempted to be shamed, that is the dominant opinion of the "wise ones"
of the day, the wisdom of the day.
As
directed toward the gospel. 1 Cor 1:18; (rabbit
trail)
Elements of this
message:
à
Who died?? Why did He die?? What is the Result of that death??
1.
First the evaluation of the unsaved, the perishing 1:18a
"For the word of the cross is those who
are perishing foolishness.."
- Those who do not properly evaluate the cross not only
will perish but are in the process of perishing right now!!
"foolishness" - mwri,a = 2 main ideas:
#1 - anything that does not fit into man's system of
logic, rational thinking, to them that was
foolishness.
#2 - Anything that was the product of a feeble mind was
considered foolishness.
2.
Notice the evaluation of the Saved to the same msg. 1:18b
but to us who are
being saved it is the power of God.
- The first thing we should notice is that it is more than
just a series of words, albeit powerful words;
It is literally God's
power, du,namij. [same
word as in Rom 1:16]
Why
should Paul be ashamed of the gospel? He
had seen what that message did when proclaimed in the wicked cities of Corinth
and Ephesus and he was confident that this message would also work in Rome.
Back
to Rom
Note: I would add of Christ tou/ Cristou/ to the first line of v.16;
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of
Christ" expresses Paul's
attitude toward the gospel; no matter what man may say about it;
He
knew it to be God's life giving message to a lost and dying world!
-
note 2 Tim
Every
time the gospel is believed, by anyone, it always results in that person's
salvation; Always! No exceptions;
for it is God's
power for salvation
power = du,namij [6 words for power in Grk;] this one is
selected by the H/S; looks at power, as
natural ability, inherent power residing in a thing by virtue of its very
nature;
He's
not saying the gospel is powerful; nor that the gospel has power, what he is saying
is that the gospel IS, keeps on being the power of God by its very nature that
results in, or leads to salvation for every one believing it.
- implicit here is that there is nothing else that will result
in salvation;
- Since it takes God's power to effect
salvation; what does that do to man and all of his various attempts to earn
salvation?
Salvation: swthri,a; basic idea is of deliverance; safety; preservation; healing; soundness;