Romans 1:12-17
by:
Dan Hill, PhD
Pastor
Southwood Bible Church
7655 South Sheridan Avenue
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74113
E-Mail: hill918@aol.com
Romans 1:12
That is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each
of us by the other's faith, both yours and mine.
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The communicator, Paul, is encouraged when others become established.
An interesting principle is involved here. Giving that which God has given
to you does not impoverish you but enriches you.
Normally when we give we think in terms of loss. But here Paul see that
when he has the opportunity to teach positive believers he is blessed.
This is emphasized by the word "encouraged". In the Greek, it
is preceded by the prefix SUM which means that this will be a joint encouragement.
This is the only use of this word in the Greek New Testament. Zodiaties
defines it as receiving (passive voice) solace, comfort, encouragement in
the society of other believers.
This kind of godly encouragement is something that can only be done in the
community of the Local Church.
The motivation for this joint encouragement is found each other's faith.
Paul was impressed and encouraged when he saw others who lived by faith.
None of us faces the same challenges and difficulties in life, but we do
face similar situations. It is an encouragement to us when we come to see
how others live by faith, firmly established in the Word, facing similar
situations.
In other words, our faith rubs off onto other believers.
Romans 1:13
And I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that often I have planned
to come to you, and have been prevented thus far, in order that I might
obtain some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles.
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The Fourth Window into Paul's soul:
"I have planned . . ."
Here Paul is assuring them that his longing to come to them is not merely
in words; he has planned to come to Rome, but to this time he has been prevented
in doing so.
The word "planned" means to make something a priority. This mission
to Rome had, at times, been a priority to Paul.
The verb is aorist tense, middle voice, indicating that this trip would
be for his benefit as well as theirs, as stated in the prior verse.
Romans 15:23, But now, with no further place for me in these regions, and
since I have had for many years a longing to come to you.
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The word "prevented" is a passive verb indicating that HE did
not prevent this mission from occurring but was prevented by outside sources.
Several things can prevent us from doing what we desire.
1. Satan can hinder our plans.
I Thessalonians 2:18, For we wanted to come to you - I, Paul, more than
once - and yet Satan thwarted us.
Satan can hinder us; yet even when that happens we know that God is greater
and He is in control. When this occurs it is because God allows it.
2. God can hinder our plans.
Acts 16:6-10, And as they passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region,
having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia; and
when they had come to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the
Spirit of Jesus did not permit them; and passing by Mysia, they came down
to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a certain man of Macedonia
was standing and appealing to him, and saying, Come over to Macedonia and
help us. And when he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into
Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
3. Our present responsibilities can keep us from fulfilling our desires.
Romans 15:20-22, And thus I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ
was already named, that I might not build upon another man's foundation;
but as it is written, They who had no news of Him shall see, And they who
have not heard shall understand. For this reason I have often been hindered
from coming to you.
But we can also see that accepting a responsibility that is not our own
can also hinder us:
Romans 15:24-26, Whenever I go to Spain - for I hope to see you in passing,
and to be helped on my way there by you, when I have first enjoyed your
company for a while - but now, I am going to Jerusalem serving the saints.
For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the
poor among the saints in Jerusalem.
So what stands between you and following God's plan for your life? You do,
no one else, nothing else. God is in control except when we take control
from Him.
The best way for a Christian to operate is found in:
Proverbs 16:9, The mind of man plans his way, But the Lord directs his
steps.
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"That I may have some fruit among you also."
Paul desires to come to them so that he can have fruit or production among
them:
Two things can be said of fruit:
- Fruit is born naturally, it is unforced and comes about as a result
of proper conditions.
- Fruit denotes that which is genuine. Plastic bananas are easy to identify
and they don't taste very good.
The production we seek, the fruit we desire to bear, will come not because
we are trying to make fruit but because we observe the proper conditions
of faith.
And it will be genuine fruit when it comes from faith.
Romans 1:14
I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise
and to the foolish.
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The fifth window to Paul's soul states that He is under obligation. Paul
understood his mission in life, his job as an apostle.
An obligation looks at a debt that is owed. And yet we are the recipients
of the grace of God. How does grace line up with being under debt?
- God has accomplished for us what we could not do for ourselves. Jesus
came to pay a debt that he did not owe because we owed a debt we could not
pay.
- The wages of sin is death, and we owed that debt of death.
- But grace did not end there. At salvation more than 40 things were
given to us by the grace of God including our spiritual gifts.
- God has given to us the untold riches of His grace yet He never demands
repayment.
- The debt or obligation is not demanded by God but should be accepted
by us.
1 Corinthians 6:20, For you have been bought with a price: therefore
glorify God in your body.
- Paul accepted this obligation and placed himself under debt to fulfill
the will of God in his life and ministry.
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The extent of this obligation is found in the next phrase:
"To Greeks and to barbarians, to the wise and foolish."
Jesus Christ is an equal opportunity Saviour. No distinction whether by
language (Greek or other Gentile languages) or by culture (wise or foolish).
Romans 1:15
Thus, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in
Rome.
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Paul proclaims that he is ready for whatever God has for him
"For my part" is the same as saying "as far as I am concerned".
"Eager" means "to be ready", As he would later say to
Timothy.
2 Timothy 4:2, Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season;
reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.
"Praech" is an infinitive which views it as a result.
Today's preaching is often sharing of one's heart but true biblical preaching
is a result of knowing the heart of God.
Topic: PREACHING
Preaching is the objective proclamation of what God has given us in His
Word.
Romans 1:16
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation
to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
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Romans 1:16-17 indicate Paul's attitude regarding his mission, ministry,
and the proclamation of the Gospel.
You can see the progressive flow of these verses.
Paul: I am eager to preach the gospel in Rome.
Question: Paul, why are you so eager?
Paul: Because I am not ashamed of the Gospel.
Question: And why are you not ashamed of the Gospel?
Paul: Because it is the power of God for salvation.
Question: And why is it the power of God for salvation?
Paul: Because it reveals the righteousness of God.
This pattern is common to Paul. He loves to make a statement and then add
to it logical support. The Greek language makes it very easy to do this.
BUT WHY DOES PAUL NEED to make this statement? Would he be caused to be
ashamed of the Gospel? What occasion prompts him to say this?
1. Rome was the capital of the world. Perhaps the place he was
going might cause him to be ashamed. It was the seat of world culture and
pride, the essence of pomp and power. Almighty Rome, the city set upon seven
hills. Many may consider themselves far too refined to listen to the words
of a preacher regarding some itinerant Jew who died on a Roman cross.
2. Paul may also be tempted to be ashamed because of the opinion of the
wise. Even in Athens, the academic center of thought and wisdom his message
was rejected with scorn. Would the wisdom of Rome intimidate Paul?
But Paul says NO, he will not be ashamed of the Gospel because unknown to
man it is the very power of God.
MEN NEED THE SAVIOUR, THEY NEED THE GOSPEL and Paul knows there is only
one thing that can bring about salvation and that is the Gospel of God.
In Latin the word "Rome" actually means power and might, and Paul
is going to set the power and might of the Gospel of God against the very
Power of Rome.
Paul uses salvation here for the salvation of the unbeliever from sin and
death and a destiny in Hell.
This is, as we will see, the only time he uses this word for our initial
salvation in Romans. But here the unbeliever is in view . . . first the
Jew and then the Greek
The order of these two groups of people looks at chronology, not priority.
The Gospel first went to Jerusalem, then Judea, then Samaria, and the uttermost
ends of the earth.
NOW WHAT BRINGS ABOUT THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL: It is given to everyone who
believes . . . Faith is what unleashes the power of God.
NOW NOTICE SOMETHING IS THESE first 17 verses: We have faith in verse 5,
in verse 8, and again in verse 12, then "believe" (same root as
a verb) in verse 16. And now in verse 17 ...
Romans 1:17
For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it
is written, But the righteous man shall live by faith.
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That which we find at there very center of salvation and sanctification,
in deliverance and in death, in our walking with the Lord and in our waiting
upon Him ... Faith.
Hebrews 11:6, And without faith it is impossible to please Him.
Romans 14:23, Whatever is not from faith is sin.
And here in Romans 1:17, The just shall live by faith.
When you were saved faith alone in Jesus Christ alone was the issue. Now
that you are a Christian ...
Colossians 2:6, As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord,
so walk in Him.
HOW ARE WE TO WALK IN HIM . . . by Faith.
Verse 17 describes the full scope of the Christian's life..
The pronoun "it", which is neuter singular, looks back to the
word "gospel" in verse 16.
In the Gospel, the revealed good news from God, the righteousness of God
is revealed.
"Revealed" is present tense, indicating that God's perfect righteousness
is revealed, not only when it is taught but also when it is applied by the
believer.
1. God's righteousness demands our righteousness
2. But man is incapable of perfect righteousness, the best he can do is
a righteousness that is relative to man.
3. Therefore, God provided a way He can give or impute to us His own righteousness.
READ 2 Cor. 5:21.
4. At salvation this is done as a result of our faith in His Son
5. And in the Christian way of life, it is accomplished the same way.
6. Faith is what unleashes the power of God in the life of the one who believes.
7. This shows us the power of God in doing for us that which was impossible
for us and through this being able to have a relationship with us.
The revealing of the righteousness of God is said to extend from Faith to
faith.
Topic: FAITH
Paul quotes a passage from Habakkuk 2:4 which he had previously quoted in
Galatians 3:11 and would be quoted by the writer of Hebrews in Hebrews 10:38.
The righteous man or just man (same word that we saw on Sunday used for
Joseph) shall live by faith.
God originally said this to the prophet Habakkuk when He was condemning
Israel.
FAITH has always, from the time of the fall, been the way man can both live
unto God in God's power and please God.
Psalm 51:16-17, For Thou dost not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would
give it; Thou art not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God
are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not
despise.
In this Psalm, David was not saying "do away with the sacrifices"
but "do not see the mechanics of sacrifice as the way to approach God".
The broken, repentant heart that approaches God by faith is what pleases
God.
Would you care to guess how many times Paul will use the word FAITH as either
a verb or noun in the book of Romans? More than 50 times in sixteen chapters.
In the NASB the word is found in nearly 500 verses. We could spend the next
couple of years just studying that one word.
If you want to see faith in the Word you will see it, but if you do not,
you never will.
Paul, in quoting Habakkuk 2:4 gives us the key to the CCL, we are to live
by faith.
Faith was the only thing you could do at salvation and it is the only thing
you can do now.
Get the order wrong and you will be either a fatalist. Take faith out or
put some work in prior to faith and you become a legalist.
From Sin you are drawn to faith and then you put faith in the Cross and
you are Saved or Restored.
Satan's great tactic against unbelievers is to keep them from believing
in Christ; and he attacks Christians by trying to keep us from faith.
The verb "shall live" is the future, middle, indicative of ZAW.
We live "out from" or "upon the basis of" faith.
This life of faith benefits us, we can enjoy life by faith.
This verse is what all of Romans is built around.
We need the righteousness of God. How do we get it? By faith.
Warren Doud [ Grace Notes ]
1705 Aggie Lane, Austin, Texas 78757
Phone: 512-458-8923
E-Mail: wdoud@bga.com
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