The Word Made Plain

Guest (Female): Welcome to The Word Made Plain with Senior Pastor Tony Clark of Calvary Chapel Newport News in Virginia. Currently, Pastor Tony is teaching through the book of Romans. Please open your Bibles to Romans chapter one, verses two through seven.

Tony Clark: The Greeks and the Romans loved to hear some new teaching or some new doctrine. We saw this in Acts 17:21 when Paul talked to the philosophers in Athens, Greece. It says, "For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing new but either to tell or to hear some new thing."

The rumors going around were that Christianity was this new thing that had come around, and Paul is saying, "No, this was talked about in the Old Testament. Let me show you." We know that today we are saved by grace. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is a gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."

Well, it was the same way in the Old Testament. In Genesis chapter six and verse eight, it says, "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord." Some people say, "No, grace is only in the New Testament." No, grace is in the Old Testament as well, all the way back to the book of Genesis. Noah found it; he found what? Grace in the eyes of the Lord.

We know that faith and belief are a part of salvation. Notice in Ephesians 2:8-9, "For by grace you have been saved through faith." Genesis 15:6 says, "And he," referring to Abraham, "believed in the Lord, and he," God, "accounted it to him for righteousness." Habakkuk 2:4, another Old Testament book, says, "The just shall live by faith."

I could go on and on, but I just wanted to whet your appetite for how our salvation, which is by grace through faith, was spoken about in the Old Testament. This means that God keeps His promises. He promised to save by grace through faith all the way through the Bible. So this means as children of God, we need to be known to keep our word as well.

If we promised our spouses or children something, we need to do it, and we need to keep our word to them. The Bible says in Matthew 5:37, "But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No.' For whatever is more than these is from the evil one," meaning that if we don't keep our word, we lie, and lying is of the devil according to John 8:44. Now, we all know that things come up and plans change, but let this be the exception and not the rule.

God keeps His promises to us. He has always planned on saving Gentiles or non-Jewish people. Amos chapter nine and verse twelve says, "And all the Gentiles or non-Jews who are called by My name, says the Lord who does this." This is what Paul was telling the believers, especially the Jewish ones in the church.

This was so important because the Jewish people in the days of Jesus hated non-Jews. The rabbis even taught that the only purpose for non-Jews is to keep the fires of hell burning. This is how much they disdained them, and Paul is trying to let them know, "No, God had always had a plan to save the non-Jews or the Gentiles."

So, Paul told them that he was called to be an apostle in verse one to preach the Gospel of God, which He promised in verse two. The Gospel is all about His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David. Once again, speaking to those believers with a Jewish background, God promised King David, Israel's greatest king, in Second Samuel seven, verses twelve through seventeen, that he would have a son or descendant of his to sit on his throne forever.

It was fulfilled through Jesus Christ, and this is why it is said about Jesus in verse three that He was born of the seed of David according to the flesh. Paul goes on to say in verse four, "and declared to be the Son of God." The term "Son of God" speaks of Christ's deity, that is, that He is fully God, and the term "born of the seed of David" speaks of His humanity.

So, Jesus was and is fully God and fully man. I want to draw your attention to the word "declared." The Greek word is horizō, and it means to define or to determine. It is where we get our English word "horizon." It is defined as or it means a line that determines the farthest visible part of Earth in reference to the heavens.

Or what we would say when you are at a beach, as far as you can look, it looks like the heavens and the Earth are coming together. That is called the horizon. In other words, you can look as far as the eye can see in the horizon, you will not find a clearer depiction of God than Jesus in the Gospel.

He came with power according to the Spirit of holiness, meaning that He was without sin. By the resurrection from the dead, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is all about His death, burial, and resurrection. Believing in the resurrection of Jesus Christ is one fundamental truth of being saved.

Because if Jesus just came, said some profound things, and died, He would have been no different than any other religious leaders who have ever come on the scene, said some profound things, and died. But what sets Jesus apart must be in our presentation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: the resurrection.

To rise from the dead to never die again, and seeing that our judicial system is based upon the testimony of witnesses, if the resurrection of Jesus Christ was put on trial, it would have an overwhelming victory because according to First Corinthians 15:6, it says that over five hundred people saw Jesus alive. So, if you had a court case and five hundred people can march into the court and say that they saw Jesus alive, there would be an overwhelming victory.

So, the resurrection of Jesus Christ must be a part of our preaching of the Gospel. None of this stuff which is a modern preaching of the Gospel: "Come to Jesus and He will give you love, joy, peace, happiness, and a good life." That is America's way of preaching the Gospel. No, the preaching of the Gospel—the true preaching—is Jesus came to die for your sin.

This is why He came, to die for your sin so you can be brought back into a right relationship with Him. He came to die for your sin, was buried, and rose again. That is the preaching of the Gospel, not giving people the benefits of the Gospel. Yes, with Jesus in your life, will you have love, joy, and peace and a good life? Yeah, for in a sense.

But don't give people the cure without first convincing them that they have a disease. Many people, this is what they do. You are giving people the benefits of the Gospel without showing them why. Why did Jesus come? You try to preach love, joy, peace, happiness, and a good life to someone who is part of the lifestyle of the rich and famous, and they will say, "That may be fine for you. My life is good without Jesus."

But when you tell them, "Hey, guess what? Jesus came to die for your sin," and you point out sin to them, now you convince them that they have a disease and that Jesus is the cure to that disease. But so often the preaching today is just preach the benefits of salvation without giving the true Gospel. The true Gospel is about the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Paul continued in verse five and said that it is through Him, referring to Jesus, "we have received grace and apostleship." Paul just gave an overview of the Gospel, and now he returns to talk about how he received this grace and apostleship that he mentioned in verse one.

Through this grace, we receive forgiveness of sins. This is so important that we do what Paul is doing here and share with people how God's grace saved or rescued us from a life of sin. I say this because a lot of people think Christianity is for a bunch of perfect people. No, Christianity is about a bunch of forgiven people, saved by God's grace.

So, Paul said, "Not only have I received God's grace, but also direction, a calling to be an apostle." Notice he says, "for obedience to the faith," or Paul is saying that for him, his obedience is tied to him being called to be an apostle. I just want to know, are you being obedient to the calling of God upon your life?

For Paul, this was his life, to be an apostle. He said he was called to be an apostle. He said, "This is my life." The same fervor he gave to persecuting and killing Christians before he was saved, he gave that same fervor to his Christian life. He told the believers in the city of Colossae in Colossians 3:4, "when Christ who is our life appears, then you will also appear with Him in glory."

He told the believers in the city of Philippi in Philippians 1:21, "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." So when the grace of God came upon Paul's life and God called him to the apostleship, he went for it with all his might. Has this happened to you? Is Christ your life? Do you live for Christ? Paul did.

Paul could also say in First Corinthians 11:1, "Follow me as I follow Christ." Can we say this to those around us? Can we say this to our families, that we are so about that life, that Christ-life, that we can say, "Follow me as I follow Christ"? I pray I can say this to my family. But Paul was about this life.

I just wonder what you are about today. If we were to sum up your life, what would you say your life is about? Making it to the top? I'm trying to go to the top of the corporate world, go to the top of the military world, go to the top of my job, my profession, whatever it is. You talk to young kids today, they want to go to the NBA, they want to make it. All those things they have their place.

But for Paul, he said, "For me, it's Christ." He said, "I live for Christ." He said, "For me to live is Christ, to die is just gain. I'm living for Him now, but when I die, I'm just going to go be with Him. It's going to be a gain for me. No matter what, it's all about Christ." He said, "This is what I'm about."

I just wonder what we are about, what we are about in this life. Can we say, "Follow me as I follow Christ"? Paul was all about it. This is why I've always said, and many scholars agree, Paul was the greatest Christian to ever live. He said, "I was the chief of sinners," and when that grace came upon him who was killing and persecuting Christians, he said, "Now I'm going to be about Him. I'm about Him." And we are about all kinds of other things but Christ.

May we be about the Lord. I love how Paul told them in verse six, "among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ." In other words, Paul was saying, "You're called too. Jesus Christ called you, believers in Rome, just like He called me." Then he said in verse seven, "To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints."

Rome at this time was the largest city in the world with a population of over one million people. They also worshipped many gods, and in contrast, the followers of Jesus Christ worshipped one God and lived by a higher moral standard, and they stood out in this corrupt Roman society that they were living in.

And what I find beautiful about this is Paul telling these believers living in such a corrupt culture that the one God called them, notice, beloved and called them saints. I bring this up because out of the 7.5 billion people on the Earth today, in the midst of a corrupt culture like America, if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you too are beloved and called to be a saint as well.

Oh yes, you might have blown it this week or this year, and you don't feel like you are beloved by God, but you are. You're loved by the Father. Yes, you are. But not only beloved, but called to be saints. See, some people think that saints are special people in religious history, but in reality, there are two types of people in this world today: saints and 'aints. Just two. Just two.

So, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you are a saint. And then Paul wraps up his prologue or introduction in typical Pauline fashion with, "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." See, in Paul's day, when Greeks greeted each other, they would say charis, which is Greek for grace.

And when the Jews greeted each other, they would say Shalom, which is Hebrew for peace. So in most of Paul's letters, he linked the two greetings together: grace and peace. And they are always in this order. I was talking to one of my dear brothers this past Wednesday about this very thing.

And they're always, you will always find when Paul uses these two greetings, they're always in this order: grace and peace. You won't find peace and grace. No, it will be grace and peace, and they're always in this order. Why? Because you can never experience the peace of God until you have experienced the grace of God.

I've been saying this for almost 30 years now here at this church. You can never experience the peace of God until you have experienced God's grace. See, if you're trying to find peace in relationships, in money, in positions, or in isolation, you will lack true peace. The peace this world offers is external and so temporary.

I say this because if you're looking for peace in a relationship, what happens when the relationship breaks up? Or if you're looking for peace in money or job position, what happens when these things are gone? Then your peace leaves as well. God offers a peace that is internal and eternal. It is obtained by receiving the grace of God through Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:1 says, "Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God." How? "Through our Lord Jesus Christ." Do you want peace today? Do you want true peace? Then receive the grace of God through Jesus Christ by repenting of your sins and accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior, believing that He died for your sins and was buried and rose again on the third day just for you.

This is the true Gospel that we must be preaching to those around us. Let me conclude with this. In this message called "Promise Keeper," we saw how God is a promise keeper. He promised to send His Son, Jesus Christ, born of the seed of David, to bring salvation to the world. God put His stamp of approval on what Jesus did by raising Him from the dead.

He gave us His grace and called us for a purpose. If you have received this grace, are you walking in the calling for your life? Look at your life today. Can you truly say you're walking in the calling? Because how we're going to be judged, we're going to be judged based upon, for those who are believers. We still, you understand, believers will still be judged by the Lord. We have the judgment seat of Christ.

We'll go through the judgment seat of Christ, not being judged for our sin or sins. That was dealt with on Calvary's cross. But we will give an account for what we did for Him here, how we used the gifts and talents that He's given us here. And our obedience to the faith is based upon our calling. And whatever it is He's called you to do, are you walking in this calling?

And if you don't know, I guarantee you your calling is connected to your desires and passions. He's given us desires and passions to point us toward the calling He has for our life. The Bible says you delight yourself in Him; He gives you the desires of your heart.

And then it says that God who works in us, Philippians 2:13, He works in us both to will and to do His good pleasure. He works in us to will, desire, and to do the power to carry out His good pleasure. God, from the foundations of the world, knew He was going to call me to what I'm doing now.

And I can either get upset at God's people and church and drama and mess...