The Romans Road
Ancient Rome, the capital of the empire. In 55 A.D., Rome was the most important city in the world, the very center of civilization. At that date, there were a number of Christians living in city of Rome. The Apostle Paul wrote a letter to these Christians. And this Epistle has become one of the most important books of our Bible. During this summer, I have been re-reading Romans, since the epistle readings from the lectionary have come from this book.
Did you know that when he wrote the letter, Paul had not yet visited Rome? He intended to visit. Someday Paul would fulfill his dream to visit Rome. But when that day came, he would be in chains. In Rome, Paul would be put to death by Emperor Nero because of his faith in Jesus Christ. This, together with the death of Peter and many other Christians, caused Rome to be called the “city of the martyrs.”
But when Paul wrote the Epistle to the Romans, these events lay in the future. Although he had not yet visited Rome, Paul planned to visit the Christians living in the capital. Paul was writing this letter to introduce himself to the faithful in Rome and to give them a summary of the things he believed about Jesus, the Christ or Messiah, and the salvation that comes from Christ. Because of all the elements that are in this summary, there is no book in the Bible that is more important for the study of Christian theology than Romans.
Among other things, the Book of Romans contains all of the key points, that it is necessary to know about Christ, in order to receive his salvation. Taken together, the steps to salvation, as outlined in Romans have been called “the Roman Road.”
The first principle to know about salvation, which is outlined in the Epistle to the Romans, is that God loves us. It all starts with the love of God.
Romans 1:20 reminds us that God created us, and that we can see the presence of God in creation. And God loves us. Romans 5:5 says that, “God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.” Romans 8:39 promises that “nothing shall separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” God loves us. And his love towards us is constant.
But God has given us a precious gift: the gift of free will. The Lord does not force himself on us. We are free to love him and acknowledge him, or we are free to ignore him, or turn away from him or reject him.
The Bible says that all of us have sinned, and we have separated ourselves from God by that sin. Romans 3:23 reminds us, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” All of us: That is, every single one of us. Has sinned. In New Testament Greek this is the Past perfect tense. Something we have done in the past. And we are falling short: Present indicative. That means something we are continually doing in the present. We have sinned in the past, and we are continually falling short in the present.
The word sin, in Greek, means literally to “fall short.” It is like an arrow that you shoot towards the target, but it doesn’t quite get there, and it falls into the dirt. Isn’t that just like us? We start off in the right direction to be whom God wants us to be. But somehow, before we get there, we fall short.
Romans 6:23 says, “the wages of sin is death.” Sin separates us from God. If we let it, sin can separate us from God forever. Yet we long to be close to God. We feel that God is holy and “up there,” and that we are sinful and way down here, separated from him. We think that maybe we can find a way to bring ourselves up to God. For instance, we think, “if I just do enough good deeds, I can climb up to be close to God.” This is the guiding principle of most religions: that we can save ourselves by our own good deeds.
But the Bible says that you cannot save yourself. Only God can save you. At the end of Romans 7, Paul cries out: “Who can rescue me from sin and death?” And the answer (Romans 8:1): God has done it through Jesus Christ!
What we could not do for ourselves, God has done for us. As Romans 6:23 says, “The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ.” Sin, the breaking of God’s eternal law, requires punishment. But as an act of the grace and the love of God, Christ gave his own holy life to pay the price for our sins. Romans 5:8 says, “God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Paul says: think about what kind of love this is. How many people would lay down their lives for a good person? But Jesus gave his precious life for the worst that is in us. When I think about the sacrifice of Christ How much he loved me. And then I think about my sin. These thoughts together cut right through me.
Salvation. This gift too, however, comes with a free choice. As powerful as God’s salvation is in Jesus Christ, he does not force it on us. We are free to reject it, ignore it, or walk away from it. To receive it, requires an act of the will. But whoever will take that action, will know Christ and his salvation. Romans 10:13 says, “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” What a promise! Won’t you call on the name of the Lord?
It is an act of faith. Romans quotes the Old Testament prophet Habakkuk: “The righteous person shall live by faith.” We are justified by faith. It is through trusting in Jesus Christ, by receiving him and his righteousness that we are set right with God.
(5:1-2) Since we have been set right with God through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
(8:1) Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!
And again, Romans 10:9-10 promises, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth confesses, resulting in salvation.” So Paul talks about two parts to our response: First, trusting Christ in our hearts. And second, confessing Christ with our lips. That is, when the Lord has saved us, we tell our story, and we proclaim what the Lord has done for us. People are hungry to hear our story. They don’t want some fake testimony. But they are hungry to hear the real story of what God is doing in your life.
What a difference it makes to know the salvation of Jesus Christ, to see the power of God at work in our lives. In Romans 1:17 Paul says, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ because it is the power of God unto Salvation.” The message of Jesus is good news for those who need hope. Through the salvation of Christ and the presence of the Holy Spirit, God brings power into our lives. It makes such a difference to know the Lord. To feel our hearts touched by his Spirit. To know that we are loved. To know that he “will never leave or forsake” us. To see the blessing of eternal life.
And Romans reminds us that it is not just about good intentions. When our life belongs to Christ, we want to live it for him. When we think of how he gave himself to us so completely. We want to give ourselves to him completely. Romans 12 says, “Present yourself, soul and body, as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is your spiritual act of worship.” There is no worship; there is no honoring of God that pleases him more than living your life for him. And Romans 12 goes on to say, “Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Let your mind and your heart and your attitude be given over to God. The rest will follow. This is so that your life will demonstrate and reflect “the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Great words from a great book!
I want us to have some time today to pray and to respond to the word of God. Think of some of the things that we have to consider:
The eternal and unconditional love of God.
The struggle that we have with sin.
The victory of the salvation of Christ.
The cost of our salvation. The pain of Christ and the depth of his love.
The importance of making a decision to trust Christ and come with confession and
repentance.
The power of the Gospel.
The challenge of living your life to the glory of God.
Maybe you have never made a clear commitment to Christ. Now is the time to do so!
Perhaps you are living as what John Wesley called a half-way Christian. You believe in Christ, but there is so much in your life which is not right.
Now is the time to trust him more. Now is the time to let him set things right.
Maybe you know someone who does not know Christ, but who really needs him. Your heart is full for them. Now is the time to lift them up in prayer.
Come forward now as we sing, and let’s pray. Do you love this old hymn as much as I do?
Come, just as you are. Come!