The Promise of the Gospel
Romans 1:2
July 15, 2007
As we said this morning, we are beginning a study of the book of Romans so that we may gain a true understanding of the gospel.
And not just any gospel, but as Paul stated in verse 1, “the gospel of God”.
God has “good news” for mankind.
And we want to know what His gospel is.
And in verse 1, Paul made the claim that this is the good news that he is preaching.
BUT KEEP IN MIND
Paul can’t be sure exactly who he is dealing with in Rome. This is not a church that he planted, nor has he ministered there.
It is a church that has constantly been on his mind.
He had heard good things about them.
(8) “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world.”
Paul constantly prayed for them, and for an opportunity to come to them.
(9-10) “For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you, always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you.”
Paul wanted to see them.
(11) “For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established;”
And many times Paul had tried to go to them, but was not allowed.
(13) “I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles.”
Paul had a longing for them, but beyond that, Paul did not have personal knowledge of them.
Therefore, when Paul writes this letter, he writes with the assumption of an argument.
Paul had been around for a while by now.
Many think he wrote this letter during his third visit to Corinth, while on his way to Jerusalem, where he would be arrested.
And he knew what sort of arguments he would face from the Jews.
And even if those who received this letter were not prone to argue, Paul knew what sort of arguments they would face, and so one of the first things he sets out to do is to PROVE THAT THE GOSPEL HE IS PREACHING REALLY IS “THE GOSPEL OF GOD”.
And of course he does this quite often.
Galatians 1:11-12 “For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.”
And this is also his point in the text tonight.
Paul wants all those who will read this letter to understand that the things he speaks of here, is not from his own imagination, but can be clearly seen, and understood in the Old Testament.
And this is a wonderful truth to learn.
Many today try to treat the gospel like it is some sort of “Plan B” attempt at salvation. This is not true. The message of the gospel has always been God’s plan of salvation.
And of course we will get in to it,
But the Law was never the plan to save. It was always Jesus.
Beyond that, works was never the way to be saved, it was always faith.
The sacrifices were never more than a picture…
The feasts were never more than a promise…
Everything in the Old Testament was pointing to this gospel that Paul is now preaching, and he wants the Romans to know that.
So, now, after revealing that he is preaching “the gospel of God”, he now devotes this statement to prove such.
And there are three points that he appeals to that we will look at a little deeper to reveal that this gospel is not something new, but has always been God’s plan.
3 things
#1 THE GOSPEL WAS PROMISED
Romans 1:2a “which He promised beforehand”
There was a tendency among Jews to think that if they left Judaism, and the sacrifices to embrace Jesus that they were leaving their heritage behind, and this was a very difficult choice.
Some thought they were running the risk of condemnation to do so.
But they had been deceived.
What they didn’t realize is that their manner of Judaism
Was leading them to condemnation.
WHY?
Hebrews 10:4 “For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”
They needed to see that their belief system was the defection from the truth, not the gospel.
The gospel has always been God’s plan.
IT WAS PROMISED
And we can see that in the Scriptures.
The Old Testament was the root of the “New Covenant”
TURN TO: Jeremiah 31:31-34
TURN TO: Jeremiah 32:36-41
TURN TO: Ezekiel 36:22-32
The idea that man was going to be saved by his own good merits Was never the idea of God.
You never find that in Scripture.
God always promised a day when He would change them from the inside out.
And God promised this salvation by promising a person.
The Old Testament is full of “Messianic Promises”
God continually promised a Messiah.
Now the Jews knew that, but they had a limited understanding of who He would be.
They grasped one point real well, they partially understood another aspect, and they missed one aspect all together.
The aspect they got really well was this:
THE MESSIAH WILL BE SENT FROM GOD
Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.”
Isaiah 9:6-7 “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.”
Isaiah 42:1-4 “God’s Promise concerning His Servant “Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations. “He will not cry out or raise His voice, Nor make His voice heard in the street. “A bruised reed He will not break And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice. “He will not be disheartened or crushed Until He has established justice in the earth; And the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law.”
Now, they got that.
In fact, they were looking for this coming King.
And they even knew were to look.
Micah 5:2 “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.”
They couldn’t wait to find the One who would restore Israel.
And that leads to the second aspect that they only partially understood.
THE MESSIAH WILL BE A SAVIOR
They understood this, but only in a political sense. They knew Him to be the one who would break the back of Rome and deliver them politically like David had done.
What they didn’t understand was that He would come to save from a much more deadly foe, and that was sin.
Isaiah 59:15-20 “Yes, truth is lacking; And he who turns aside from evil makes himself a prey. Now the LORD saw, And it was displeasing in His sight that there was no justice. And He saw that there was no man, And was astonished that there was no one to intercede; Then His own arm brought salvation to Him, And His righteousness upheld Him. He put on righteousness like a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing And wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle. According to their deeds, so He will repay, Wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies; To the coastlands He will make recompense. So they will fear the name of the LORD from the west And His glory from the rising of the sun, For He will come like a rushing stream Which the wind of the LORD drives. And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” declares the LORD.”
Isaiah 61:1-3 “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners; To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.”
And He would be the Savior, not just for Jews, but also for Gentiles.
Isaiah 49:5-7 “And now says the LORD, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, To bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel might be gathered to Him (For I am honored in the sight of the LORD, And My God is My strength), He says, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel and its Holy One, To the despised One, To the One abhorred by the nation, To the Servant of rulers, “Kings will see and arise, Princes will also bow down, Because of the LORD who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You.”
They knew He would deliver politically (at His 2nd Coming) they didn’t realize that He came to deliver from sin.
So they knew He would be sent from God, and they kind of understood that He would be the Savior.
But the third aspect, they never grasped, and that is that
HE WOULD BE THE SACRIFICE FOR SIN
Isaiah 52:13-14 “Behold, My servant will prosper, He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted. Just as many were astonished at you, My people, So His appearance was marred more than any man And His form more than the sons of men.”
TURN TO: Isaiah 53
They never grasped all that, and many still do not.
That is the offense of the cross.
But the point is that this is and always has been God’s Gospel.
The things concerning Jesus (His death, Burial, Resurrection) was not a new idea, this was promised in the beginning.
The Old Testament promised these things.
And Paul wants you to see that.
First, the gospel was promised
#2 THE GOSPEL WAS PROCLAIMED
Romans 1:2b “which He promised beforehand through His prophets”
Now at this point, I suppose the Jews could argue, that if you manipulated the text, you could come up with a view of Jesus.
I mean anyone can look back at a text and reinterpret it right?
I suppose, but that is not the case with the gospel of God.
The requirements of the gospel that Paul preaches are the same requirements that God has always had in place.
In short, The Gospel was not something to be put into effect later, the gospel has always been in effect. Even in the Old Testament.
Salvation was never by works…
Salvation was never purchased by goats or bulls…
It was never liturgical…
It was never legalistic…
THE GOSPEL THAT IS PROCLAIMED TODAY WAS PROCLAIMED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT AS WELL.
And we know that to some degree.
OBVIOUSLY REPENTANCE WAS PREACHED.
Joel 2:12-13 “Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “Return to Me with all your heart, And with fasting, weeping and mourning; And rend your heart and not your garments.” Now return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness And relenting of evil.”
Jeremiah 3:12-14 “Go and proclaim these words toward the north and say, ‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the LORD; ‘I will not look upon you in anger. For I am gracious,’ declares the LORD; ‘I will not be angry forever. ‘Only acknowledge your iniquity, That you have transgressed against the LORD your God And have scattered your favors to the strangers under every green tree, And you have not obeyed My voice,’ declares the LORD. ‘Return, O faithless sons,’ declares the LORD; ‘For I am a master to you, And I will take you one from a city and two from a family, And I will bring you to Zion.’”
Jeremiah 4:1-4 “If you will return, O Israel,” declares the LORD, “Then you should return to Me. And if you will put away your detested things from My presence, And will not waver, And you will swear, ‘As the LORD lives,’ In truth, in justice and in righteousness; Then the nations will bless themselves in Him, And in Him they will glory.” For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, “Break up your fallow ground, And do not sow among thorns. “Circumcise yourselves to the LORD And remove the foreskins of your heart, Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Or else My wrath will go forth like fire And burn with none to quench it, Because of the evil of your deeds.”
Jeremiah 4:14 “Wash your heart from evil, O Jerusalem, That you may be saved. How long will your wicked thoughts Lodge within you?”
That right there should have been enough to stomp legalism. Religious ritual deals only with the external. There is an external sacrifice for every external sin, but Jeremiah and Joel came talking about the sin of the heart.
Even the Gospel was in the Old Testament telling men to repent of the wickedness of their heart.
Not only that, but the Gospel was in the Old Testament which revealed that man was saved by faith, and not works.
Habakkuk 2:4 “Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; But the righteous will live by his faith.”
Isaiah 28:16 “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed.”
Even the Old Testament taught that justification was by faith.
In fact, the Old Testament repeatedly taught the futility of works.
Hosea 6:6 “For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”
Amos 5:21-24 “I hate, I reject your festivals, Nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. “Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings. “Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. “But let justice roll down like waters And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”
Micah 6:6-8 “With what shall I come to the LORD And bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, With yearling calves? Does the LORD take delight in thousands of rams, In ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?”
1 Samuel 15:22 “Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.”
Jeremiah 6:20 “For what purpose does frankincense come to Me from Sheba And the sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable And your sacrifices are not pleasing to Me.”
(Asaph)
Psalms 50:8-15 “I do not reprove you for your sacrifices, And your burnt offerings are continually before Me. “I shall take no young bull out of your house Nor male goats out of your folds. “For every beast of the forest is Mine, The cattle on a thousand hills. “I know every bird of the mountains, And everything that moves in the field is Mine. “If I were hungry I would not tell you, For the world is Mine, and all it contains. “Shall I eat the flesh of bulls Or drink the blood of male goats? “Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving And pay your vows to the Most High; Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.”
(David)
Psalms 51:16-17 “For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”
BLATANTLY OBVIOUS
The Old Testament taught repentance, it taught justification by faith.
It even gave the same warning that Paul will give in Romans 6 against cheap grace.
Jeremiah 7:1-11 “The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, “Stand in the gate of the LORD’S house and proclaim there this word and say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah, who enter by these gates to worship the LORD!'” Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. “Do not trust in deceptive words, saying, ‘ This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’ “For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly practice justice between a man and his neighbor, if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, nor walk after other gods to your own ruin, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever. “Behold, you are trusting in deceptive words to no avail. “Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery and swear falsely, and offer sacrifices to Baal and walk after other gods that you have not known, then come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’ — that you may do all these abominations? “Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers in your sight? Behold, I, even I, have seen it,” declares the LORD.”
The point is that not only was this gospel of Paul promised in the Old Testament, but it was also preached in the Old Testament.
This has always been God’s gospel.
It was promised, it was proclaimed
#3 THE GOSPEL WAS PRESERVED
Romans 1:2c “which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures.”
The point here is that not only has God been proclaiming the same truth for years, but God has also preserved this gospel in His word.
He has not changed it…
He has not allowed it to pass away…
He makes sure that it is always readily available for anyone who is willing to dig for it.
Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.”
Matthew 5:18 “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”
Matthew 24:35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.”
In a historical sense, it is somewhat secured because it is written in two dead languages.
Even in this way God has preserved it.
But the main point is that this is God’s gospel, it has always been God’s gospel, it will always be God’s gospel.
SO WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR US.
Well obviously, first, if you have not accepted God’s gospel, you still must do it.
No amount of intention, or good works will save you.
You must submit to the gospel of God.
Repentance from sin…
Faith in Jesus Christ…
It has always been God’s plan.
Romans 10:5-10 “For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law shall live by that righteousness. But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: “DO NOT SAY IN YOUR HEART, ‘WHO WILL ASCEND INTO HEAVEN?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), or ‘WHO WILL DESCEND INTO THE ABYSS?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).” But what does it say? “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART” — that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”
(Deuteronomy 30:12-14)
BUT BEYOND THAT
It is obvious that God has two passions about the gospel.
1) HE WANTS IT PROCLAIMED
2) HE WANTS IT PRESERVED
That makes our job clear.
We are called to proclaim the gospel.
Romans 10:14-17 “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!” However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, “LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”
We are called to preserve the gospel
Jude 3-4 “Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”
We now carry the torch that Paul carried.
We proclaim the gospel, and we preserve the gospel.
There is no doubt it is “the gospel of God”
We must devote our lives to it.
