In this episode, we delve deep into the Book of Romans, uncovering the profound truths of joy and peace that Paul intended to convey to the early Christians. Contrary to the common perception of Romans as a book of judgment, Paul emphasizes the core message of God’s love and the reconciliation brought forth through the sacrifice of Christ. Join us as we explore how approaching this scripture with an open heart can transform our understanding and relationship with God.
If we’re going to understand the book of Romans and really get to the heart of it, we need to realize that Paul is bringing to the Roman Christians here the good news of joy and peace, the good news of God’s love for us. There are so many Christians who approach the book of Romans with fear and trepidation, They fear it’s talking only about judgment and about condemnation or about an unreachable righteousness. But that’s not the case at all. In fact, he says right at the introduction here in Romans chapter 1, grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. That’s verse 7. And you remember way into the book in chapter 14, he says, but for the kingdom of God is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. And then when leaving his parting greetings, at least one of them, there are several of them, he says, that I may come to you with joy by the will of God and may be refreshed together with you. Now the God of peace be with you all, amen. And then in verse chapter, that was chapter 15, verse 32 and verse 33. And then in chapter 16, he says, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Now, do you see, I think this is what kept Paul going. If Paul were simply sending around judgment to the world and warning the world of dire consequences if they rejected God, then, of course, he would probably lose his energy after a certain point. Not to say there isn’t a warning and there isn’t caution, and there is only disaster if someone rejects God. But that is not his core message. His core message is that God has brought love to the world. He has brought the sacrifice of Christ to the world because he loves us and longs to have mercy on us. And that this joy and peace comes from the reconciliation that Jesus has brought on our behalf. To us, by his death on the cross and his resurrection, we are reconciled to the heart of the Father. Now, think of that in relation to how you read Scripture. How do you read Scripture? You will read Scripture unless, let me say, unless you truly absorb the words that are spoken to you, you will read Scripture from your own prejudices, from your own woundedness, from your own experiences of childhood. If you were brought up in various strict Christian environments, which were not joyful, not happy, not peaceful, but endlessly condemning and demanding of you so much strict ritual conformance, conformity, then what will happen is that you will approach the Word of God with some kind of resistance, unless, of course, you have resolved those issues by the means of the gospel itself. And if you have been abused in some way by religious people, then, of course, you will be angry towards God, and you will be angry towards Scripture, and there will be this feeling of not wanting to hear the Word of God. So, you know, you have to ask yourself, how do I hear God’s word? How am I going to hear the book of Romans? And, of course, you can’t get rid of all of those pains and difficulties and all of that abuse before you read the word. So what do we do? I think we have to say, Lord God, you know I have been hurt by Christians in the past. You know I had a very strict and rigorous and cold-hearted Christian upbringing, and therefore I approach the Word of God with resistance and reluctance. But I pray to you, dear God, that you will allow me to enter into the meaning of these words and rediscover their richness and their joy and their peace that you are bringing to me so that I may gain something new. And that’s how I want to encourage you to approach this. Don’t approach the book of Romans with the heart of a slave. Approach it as a child of God. And to the children of God, Paul has this message, Beloved of God, Peace from God, our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. What a tremendous thing that is. So Paul starts out by saying, Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be one, called out, an apostle, separated to the good news of God, the gospel of God. When Paul speaks of himself as being a bondservant, it’s the word for slave, actually, but not in the same cruel, harsh, negative sense in which slaves were entangled in bondage in the Roman Empire. This was Paul as a love slave. He had been won by the love of God, by the love of Jesus Christ, so much so that he was delighted to be a slave of God. In the sense of a love slave, I will devote myself to you, dear Lord, and I will be your slave, for you have loved me and you have set me free. This is the heart of Paul. a love slave, a bond slave of Jesus Christ, called to be sent forth. That’s the meaning of the word apostle, sent out, one sent. called to be an apostle and separated to the gospel of God. Now, you may look at that description as unique to Paul, but the truth is, it is not unique to Paul. It applies to all of us. That is, all of us who believe. We have been separated, set apart from for the good news of God, not only separate, set apart to receive it, but set apart to share it. Think of that. You are one who has been set apart by God to share the good news to someone else. And that doesn’t always mean a direct proclamation of the gospel. It may mean a comforting heart and spirit and an active faith life that leads you to help the poor or to help your neighbor or to go out of your way to assist a loved one who has been injured or wounded in some way, either emotionally or physically. So you see, we are set apart for something. Now look, the world needs to know that. They need to know that they are set apart. because the world has lost its identity. We’re endlessly searching for identity in scraps, in junk that the world has to offer. And it makes the whole of humanity look silly and absurd. But the meaning that is our meaning, the meaning of being a Christian, is that we have been set apart by the love of God. You love to know that you’re set apart. You love to know that you’re somehow unique in your identity, special in your identity. And that’s why we look for the scraps that we try to make something beautiful and good and rich and meaningful out of, but they’re still scraps. But when it comes to God and the love of God for us, we realize we have been set apart by his love. This is what Paul is telling us about himself. Now, why is he mentioning this first? Because he wants to commend himself to the Christians in Rome. How does he commend himself? by telling of his education, by telling them that he’s been a Pharisee and a member of the tribe of Benjamin and a member of the Sanhedrin, a scholar. No, none of that does he use. None of that descriptive language or history of himself does he use to set himself apart. He declares that he is set apart now. Do you want to be distinguished? Do you want to be unique in the world? The only way to be distinguished and unique safely and in truth is to let people know you have been set apart by the love of God. You’ve been set apart by the good news the gospel of Jesus Christ. The word gospel is a Germanic word, gos, good, bel, news, good spiel, good news, the good news of God. And it comes from the Greek word evangelium, the proclamation of God. And so we have been set apart by by God’s love, not only because it was proclaimed to us, but because we are also proclaiming it. We’re not standing on street corners necessarily. We’re just going gently about our business and taking those moments and opportunities in a day to lift the heart of other people by the good news of the love of God to them through Jesus Christ. Now this good news, he reminds us, verse 2, was promised beforehand through the prophets in the Holy Scriptures. Why do we believe the good news? It is, of course, that Jesus Christ himself authenticated that good news by his life and by the miracles that he proclaimed and the love that he professed to people and the healing. And then, of course, his own death as a sacrifice for sins and vindicated and authenticated by his resurrection. But there is even much more. Jesus did not appear out of nowhere, like an Asian guru. He was prophesied. He was proclaimed right from the beginning of the world when Adam sinned and God provided garments, skins for Adam and Eve. Those skins obviously meant that a sacrifice, an animal had been sacrificed on their behalf. And so God was teaching the world from the very beginning that a sacrifice would be made for the redemption of the world. And of course the animal sacrifices throughout Israel were all substitutionary sacrifices made in place of the one who had done the sinning. And so when a person sinned and he was very much aware of his guilt before God, that person went to the sanctuary and with an animal, and presented it to the priest. And that man, the sinner, laid his hands heavily upon that little animal, and the priest slit its throat. It was a very dramatic portrayal of the substitutionary sacrifice which was to come thousands of years later by the death of Jesus Christ. So we have a tremendous testimony. We have it in Christ himself and in the authentication of his miracles and his sacrifice for us that led to his resurrection, but also the authentication of Scripture, that if you trace through Scripture, you will see evidences and prophecies of the coming Messiah who would… fulfill all the promises of God on behalf of humanity. So Paul has here a weighty message. I’m separated, he said, for this good news which has been proclaimed since the beginning of the world, and I’m going to share it with you. Please listen. Thank you for joining me today. Colin Cook here, and how it happens. You can listen to this broadcast any time of the day or night on your smartphone. Simply download a free app, soundcloud.com or podbean.com, Apple, Google, wherever, and key in how it happens with Colin Cook when you get there. You know, it’s the beginning of the month, and funds are very, very tight. This ministry is self-supporting, and it is listener-supported radio. So if you would help with the donation, it would be so much appreciated. Send your donation to FaithQuest, P.O. Box 366, Littleton, Colorado, 80160. or make your donation online at faithquestradio.com. I do appreciate all your support over the months and years. Thank you so very much. And, well, that’s it. I’ll see you next time. Cheerio and God bless.
