So we finally get around to the Pauline and other Epistles. Before we go
forward, I have to present some disclaimers.
I’ve mentioned this several times, but I have to reiterate: This is a devotional,
not a commentary. I plan, God willing, to wrap this up by the end of the year.
I don’t think I have nearly enough “material” to take us through another year.
If by some miracle I was actually able to do a full commentary (which I’m
certainly not qualified to do), that would take us way into next year.
So therefore what you’re going to see over the next few months is an overview
of some of my favorite passages from the Epistles. I might or might not (as the
Spirit leads) do a few comments on all the passages in a small book or two
(like I did with Amos). But if you’re planning on my discussing every verse of
the Epistles, probably not going to happen.
Besides time constraints, there’s also the fact that a lot of this stuff has been
covered elsewhere on the blog. As you might have noticed, I quote a lot of
Scripture sometimes. The Bible is a unified work with several authors backing
each other up and repeating certain themes, so I’ve already quoted and
referenced Paul’s and others’ writings multiple times. Also I’ve used the
Epistles frequently in my short topical series.
Finally, I need to warn you in advance: By necessity, I’m going to repeat
myself a little bit. As we come into the home stretch, it’s going to be harder
and harder to present completely original material that I haven’t covered at
all. I’ll try not to, but I can’t avoid it entirely.
As an example of my first disclaimer, we’re skipping over the first fifteen verses
of Romans. I’ve probably said this before (as an example of my last caveat),
but Romans—if you held a gun to my head—is my favorite book of the Bible. I’m a
theologian, and there is no more theologically rich and complete book of the
Bible, with Hebrews being a close second. Can I make a recommendation? Go to
John Piper’s website http://www.desiringgod.org and download his
series on Romans. It’s a long series, but it’s entirely worth it, and best of
all, it’s free. As I write this, my wife and I are going thru his series on
Hebrews, and I have yet to hear a sermon by him in which I don’t actually learn
something. He goes over virtually every verse in Romans and Hebrews, missing
nothing that I’ve noticed. That’s my hearty recommendation; take it for what
it’s worth.
So let’s take a look at the reading for today. Like the rest of the book of
Romans, there’s 10 pounds of meaning stuffed into a five-pound bag. Paul is
going to a church that he didn’t start. He doesn’t know most of these people
personally. That’s why this epistle reads more like a theological treatise than
a personal letter.
Why is he coming to Rome? So that they might be mutually encouraged (vs. 12), and also to impart some “spiritual gift”
to strengthen them. He’s also coming to preach the Gospel to the people in Rome
(vs. 15).
But what is the "Gospel" that he’s talking about? What follows in the rest of the
book is the most complete presentation of our Message that you’ll ever read in
the Bible. This includes why we need Jesus, what Jesus did, what he’s doing in
our lives right now, and what he expects of his redeemed people.
But he makes a statement at the very beginning of his presentation, and it
bears some examination. Yes, that means I’m finally getting to the reading for
today.
He says that he is not ashamed of the “Gospel.” Let me make a little side-note
here regarding the term. Literally it is “good news,” or “good message.” The
word is euangelion, from which we get the term “evangelist.” The eu-
is a prefix meaning “good” (like in the term eulogy, literally “good word”). Angelion means
“news” or “message,” from which we get the term “angel” (literally a messenger
or a representative).
This is why I actually prefer the term “Good News” or “Message of Jesus” to the
term “Gospel” when I'm referring to a specific set of truths which people need
to know and respond to in order to become a follower of Jesus. An example would
be the presentation I have at the top of my blog which begins "How to understand the Bible in one verse." I usually reserve the term "Gospel"
for the four inspired biographies of Jesus which you find at the beginning of
your New Testament. Most unchurched people aren’t familiar with what “gospel”
means, and I can’t find a good reason other than tradition to use it as a term
for what they need to know in order to be saved. But this little quirk of mine is certainly not a hill
I'd die on, and every once in a while I'll use "Gospel" the way evangelists use it.
And my preferred term ("good news") emphasizes that what we are presenting is news.
It’s not primarily a philosophical or ethical system. Yes, the term entails
facts, so we need to get our theology right. But it’s news, as in something
that happened in the physical world.
And it’s good news. If someone hears and understands and
accepts this, it’s the best news they’ve ever heard or ever will hear. The
details of this news are what the rest of the book reveals.
And Paul says he's not ashamed of this Good News about Jesus Christ. Now, this
might seem odd at first glance. Why would he or anyone else be tempted to be
ashamed of Good News? If I revealed publicly that I’m a shoplifter, that would
be not-good news that I'd probably be ashamed to reveal. So why the
potential for shame?
Because the world is pushing us in that direction. Paul lived in a time of what
we’d call pluralism. The Roman government was actually pretty tolerant of most
religions, especially if they were older ones. But even if the new belief
system someone was hawking was a new thing, the Roman government pretty much
turned a blind eye. But there was one very glaring exception: There was a
state-sponsored worship of the Emperor. Everyone was expected to burn incense
to him every once in a while and at least pretend to pray to him. Jews were
exempt from this because the faith of their ancestors forbade it as idolatry.
But when the early church presented the Good News about Jesus to
pagans, their typical response would probably be “That’s fine. If you want us
to worship Jesus, we’ll make him god # 2773 right between god #2772 and god
#2774.”
You see, it wasn’t the fact that they worshiped Jesus as God in human form.
The Greeks had stories like that. They might even be open to the story of
Jesus’ sacrifice. But the main problem was the exclusivity of
the Message. Christians didn't claim that Jesus is a god
to be worshiped and served and followed. He is the way, the truth,
and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through
him. Following him means you have to give up worshiping anyone (like
the Emperor) or anything else. And everyone who doesn’t accept this
Message and become a follower of Jesus remains under God’s wrath against sin.
But despite pressure from the world, Paul was not ashamed of the Message. He
proudly proclaimed it to everyone who’d listen, and he didn’t wait for people
to come to him. Why wouldn't he be ashamed? Because the Good News is
God’s means of saving people. It’s his means of displaying his power by saving
people—as to saved from what we’ll get to that shortly.
And this Message was first for the Jews, then for the Gentiles (everyone else).
Jesus was a Jew, all of his apostles were Jewish, all of the authors of the New
Testament (indeed, all of the Bible) were Jewish save one (Luke), and the
entire first generation of believers were Jewish. The first Church council was
a debate over whether or not Gentiles had to
become Jewish in order to be follower of the Way. The answer to that question
ultimately was “no,” but the very fact that it was a huge debate and
controversy demonstrates that the Good News was “first to the Jew.”
But it didn’t end there. The Message was spread by Jews to Gentiles,
and that includes me and most of you.
I apologize for the long post, but I had to get some background stuff out of
the way. But before I end for today, I have to ask myself: “Am I ashamed
of the Good News? Have I given into the pressure to be silent? Do I really believe
that people outside of Christ are lost and bound for a horrible eternity? How
could someone tell?”
Lord Jesus, I confess
that to my shame, I keep silent way too often when I should speak up. Please
forgive me, and give me boldness.
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