Dive into the rich teachings of Paul as he introduces Romans, dispelling misconceptions about judgment. We uncover the real message that grace is revealed through the challenges that life presents, showing us how the seemingly abstract apostle brings his message to life. Discover how Paul’s profound experiences and perceived weaknesses were, in fact, demonstrations of divine strength.
00:00:05 Introduction to Romans and Paul’s Message
So I shared with you in the last couple of days how Paul introduces his book by implying that he’s bringing good news. It’s a wonderful thing to be aware of because so many of us approach the book of Romans with a little bit of trepidation, as I said yesterday. The fear that he’s going to talk about judgment and becoming… dead to sin to such a degree that it seems unapproachable, and that he’s so abstract and seemingly distant from his audience. All of these are mistaken ideas, and one way of seeing that is to recognize that Paul is introducing this book by saying, “‘Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.'” That’s the proclamation that we have to the world, that God has brought grace. Yes, there are judgments, but the ultimate plan is that through those judgments, the world may see and have grace revealed to it. So that was what I shared with you in the last several days, but then I mentioned yesterday how he says, I’m not ashamed of the good news of Christ. and how that is such a beautiful and warm-hearted thing for Paul to say, because he had every reason one would think from a human point of view to be ashamed. He’d lost everything. He’d lost his reputation. He’d lost his work as a member of the Sanhedrin. He had lost his standing as a Pharisee. Everything had been lost. His friends had run afoul of him and what have you. So, for him to say, I’m not ashamed of Christ, is a wonderful thing. And, of course, it’s expressed so beautifully, as you recall in the book of Philippians. And you recall, there he says in Philippians chapter 3, But what things were gained to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Indeed, yes, indeed, I also count all things. What an amazing thing to say. How many people have you come across that think and speak like that? It’s so rare a thing, isn’t it? Jesus means so much to Paul that everything material and even relational in this earth is nothing compared to knowing Christ. So this is how Paul is introducing himself, a passionate man, a man very devoted, a man in love, in love with Christ. So I’m not ashamed of the gospel, he says, even though I have a bad reputation and nobody… thinks I’m sane anymore. They think I’ve gone off the deep end. It’s the power of God. The reason I’m not ashamed of it is that it’s the power of God. And I mentioned yesterday that this is the weak power of God. Remember, when everything falls apart in your life, when you’ve lost your health and when your finances are in ruins, when you’ve lost your relationships, when you’ve lost your job, all of these are weaknesses. And God and Paul reveals to us that the power of God is his weak power operating through those weaknesses of ours. I reminded you yesterday of that occasion where Paul asked God to remove the thorn in the flesh he had. Let me tell you a little bit more about this. He says, I know a man in Christ, and of course he’s referring to himself, who 14 years ago, whether in the body I do not know or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows, such a person, such a one, was caught up in the third heaven. And I know a man, such a man, whether in the body or out of the body, I do not know, God knows, how he was caught up into paradise and heard inexpressible things which it is not lawful for a man to utter. As of such a one I will boast, yet of myself I will not boast, except in my infirmities. Now apparently Paul had some infirmities. We do know that he said he wasn’t a good speaker. And there’s some suggestion that he was not a very tall man, pretty short. So he didn’t have a good presence. But there was something else about him too. For though I might boast, I will not be a fool, for I will speak the truth. But I refrain, lest anyone should think me above what he sees me to be, or hears from me. And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Now, there’s debate about what that thorn in the flesh was, but many people, many Christians and scholars believe it was Paul’s poor eyesight. He was slowly losing his eyesight, and it was a deep distress to him, a thorn in the flesh. Now, it says here, Concerning this, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And what did God say? He said, my grace is sufficient for you. That would be enough, wouldn’t it, to say my grace is sufficient for you? But God says more. For my strength is made perfect in weakness. What an odd thing for Jesus to say. My strength, and remember God’s strength appears to the world as a weak strength. It comes as a baby. And he comes as a baby that is so unknown that his mother has to give birth to that baby in a stable. And he grows up, and he’s unknown. He’s not a formal Pharisee. He’s not a member of the Sanhedrin. He simply goes about preaching, doesn’t have a place to lay his head in many instances. And then he dies this ignominious death, this utterly shameful death, which is equivalent to a curse according to the way the apostles interpreted it. For they say that Jesus died on a tree. Why did they say that? Because in Deuteronomy, dying on a tree is an accursed thing. And what they were saying by that is that Jesus was cursed. Why? On our behalf. That’s the strangest and most amazing thing. So all of this weakness of God is part of the salvation process, because God’s weakness enters into our weaknesses and makes us strong. And so when you’re worried about all the imperfections, I remember a Christian saying, I wish I had been famous. I never was famous. I’m just an ordinary person. You’re in the best place if you’re an ordinary person, because God shows his strength, which is a weak strength, in ordinariness. I remember when I lost the ministry years ago and I was living on a 70-acre property where I was a gardener. I was taking care of the flowers, mowing the lawn and all of that stuff in this residential care facility. And the doctor who owned the place introduced me one day while I was out mowing the lawn to a newcomer in the neighborhood who was actually a new preacher. And he introduced me to this man. And this man said, and he said, this is Colin Cook. And this man said, hello, Colin. And then they continued talking and ignored me. And I felt What shall I say? I felt embarrassed. I felt humbled. I felt that, hey, once I had a good name, once people knew me, now nobody knows me and just thinks I’m a gardener. And then I went to my room at that, well, sometime later, and I wrote in my journal, Dear God, thank you for ordinariness. Why thank God for ordinariness? Because God shows his strength in ordinariness. He does not show his strength in spectacular people. His purpose is to show his strength, to perfect his strength in weakness. What a strange and odd and beautiful thing. So rejoice in your disadvantages. And, of course, when I say to you what I’m saying, I have to remind myself to do it on a regular basis. Sometimes when I feel a certain weakness or a certain inadequacy, I get stressed. And then, after a time of either minutes or hours, God reminds me, okay, are you going to thank me for your weakness, for your ordinariness, and get on with life? That’s how it is. And thus, when Paul says, I’m not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation, he is meaning something spectacularly odd. I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the weak power of God in this world that brings rescue for everyone. In that regard, remember what Paul said in 1 Corinthians, For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? You see, Paul was a wise man once. He was a disputer of this age. He was incredibly intellectual and clever. But he determined after a certain time to know nothing among people except the cross of Jesus Christ, because he didn’t want his intelligence and his brilliance to get in the way of the gospel. So he says, For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to bring to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty, and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh, no humanity, should glory in his presence but of him you are in christ jesus who became for us wisdom from god and righteousness and sanctification and redemption that as it is written he who glories let him glory in the lord So are you a Christian because you belong to a mega church? Are you a Christian because you are a follower of a great and dynamic preacher? Are you a Christian because you belong to a massive denomination or a church that has centuries of history behind it? Forget it. The only reason you are a Christian, if you are one, is that you have put faith in a humbling human being who is the glory of God in this world. And when you do that, you realize you have nothing to hang on to But Jesus, not your church, not the glory of your denomination, not the respect of centuries of church tradition, not some fantastic preacher, but Jesus. And you cling to him. And he is weak in this world. And you are therefore called upon by faith to say, Lord God, I thank you for the weaknesses of my life because that’s you bringing your weak strength in which it is perfected in me. Forgive me, Lord, for my pride, for having complained so often of my weaknesses. Thank you for them, dear God, because they reveal your strength. Thanks for listening, everyone. Today, this is Colin Cook, and this is how it happens. Listen to this broadcast any time of the day or night, if you like, on your smartphone. Simply download a free app, soundcloud.com, or podbean.com, and key in how it happens with Colin Cook when you get there. Funds are needed to keep this listener-supported radio going. 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