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InVerse, 1st Quarter 2021: Romans

Sebastien Braxton

Justin Kim

Jonathan Walter

Callie Williams

01 The Power of the Gospel

Imagine yourself in the middle of, I don't know, a pandemic and you had the cure, the solution to the disease.

Or would you shout it out to the whole world?

Let's talk about it on this episode of Inverse.

Coming to you from Silver Spring, Maryland, welcome to Inverse, a Bible-based conversation on life principles, contemporary issues, and thought-provoking perspectives.

Now here's your host, Justin Kim, with Inverse.

We're not talking about a virus here, we're talking about sin and the solution to sin is the gospel.

Thanks so much for joining us on here on Interverse in the studio.

I'm Justin Kim and in the studio we have our friends, we have Sebastian Calley and Jonathan and we're gonna have a word of prayer, we're gonna read scripture.

So we're gonna encourage you to take out your Bibles, whether it's on your phone or in a book somewhere, and get into the actual text of, or in the verse as they say here.

So, Sebastian, can you please pray for us?

Father in heaven, we are grateful, Lord, to be here.

We're also thankful, Father, that we have the opportunity amidst these trying times to study your word and to gain encouragement.

We pray that you would be with those who may have loved ones or friends who are suffering under the weight of COVID-19, that you may provide comfort and healing.

And Lord, we also pray that you would guide us to the person who is at the very center of the gospel and ultimately the center of the book of Romans.

We thank you Lord for these gifts, and we offer this prayer from our hearts, in Jesus' name, amen.

I'm very excited about this episode and this quarter.

We're looking at the book of Romans, the letter to the Romans.

And for those of you out there who may not be familiar with the Book of Romans, the Letter to the Romans, we want to encourage you to go to inversebible.org and you can actually download and look at the online Bible study guide that we have.

It's for free, and it's an opportunity to get into chapter by chapter, verse by verse study of this, frankly, it's a difficult book, but it is a logical book, and we're going to do from episode by episode, and through our discussion, and through your study, we're going to look at this just really, what do they call it, A cornerstone, centerpiece, the core of Christianity.

So let's go to chapter 1, Romans chapter 1.

And Callie, I'd deeply like to read the whole chapter there.

I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise.

So as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, that just shall live by faith.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.

Because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.

For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.

Jonathan, tell me a little bit about this book of Romans.

Who wrote it and, you know, why is he writing to these Roman people?

Written by Paul, 1 of the great apostles who felt a burden to bring the gospel message of Jesus to the whole world.

He did not stay in Jerusalem where he's from, that area, But he said, no, I'm going out there because Jesus called me to share the gospel with what, you know, the Bible calls the Gentiles, those who are not Jewish.

And he did that through many missionary trips.

And the gospel had spread through some of the converted Jews who were in Jerusalem for the feast.

They would go back to Rome where they used to live or whatever.

Paul started some churches, but he felt the burden to encourage the believers or help them with their understanding of the gospel.

So he wrote a letter to the Romans, we believe around the end of the 57-58 AD.

So this was 28 years-ish after Jesus died.

And so the gospel is spreading and Paul is trying to encourage now the believers here in the Roman church.

And as we're going to study here in this segment, we're going to see that at the core of this book is the gospel, is Jesus.

I don't know when you when you first get a Bible, I always go to the back and I look at the maps, yeah?

And you always see like the first missionary and the second missionary trip of Paul and the third and then it's not a fourth but his trip to Rome where it's just funny and you see all the like you know whatever and this it was it was very not normal for a Jew, and Paul was Jewish, yeah, to, and as you said, to go out of his comfort zone, and to talk about the gospel to other people who didn't believe, and as you're saying, Jonathan, I want to underscore that.

And the good verse 11, for I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift so that you may be established.

That is that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith, both of you and me.

Now, I do not want you to be unaware brethren that I often plan to come to you." I mean this is kind of like, these aren't the best Bible verses to memorize when you're in the middle of a crisis.

Yeah, still the inspired Word of God, but it's a personal correspondence.

And verse 14 is where Callie started reading.

Sebastian, what's going on in these verses?

Let's actually look at the micro of this, of the verse.

Well, I think the first thing that Paul is establishing the burden that he has to preach the gospel, which he's about to kind of unfold throughout this.

And in fact, he says in the text that I am a debtor, right?

So in essence, Paul is, is looking at the fact that he owes the gospel to them.

And in essence, right, it's a debt, not so much that they lent the gospel to him and now he's paying back the gospel to them.

Right, so when you're like, I'm a debtor, like I owe you the gospel, but he's speaking more about his own experience.

So it's like what the gospel has accomplished for me is actually making me a debtor to those who don't have it or may not fully understand it.

We don't just owe the gospel to people who've never heard it, but even to people who may have heard it, but don't have a full grasp and understanding of it.

You think about it, we have to put ourselves into the context of the times.

We are now after 1500 years of Jewish traditions, the Jews doing their thing.

God gave them a lot of these rituals and all these things they had to do.

But they had kind of missed the point in some regards to the Messiah.

Jesus was there and they didn't recognize Him.

Sikhu Daco

02 The Power of Sin

There are so many judgmental people out there.

And aren't you glad that people like you and me are not judgmental on this episode of Inverse?

This is 1 of the most famous verses that people are aware of.

You are watching Inverse here in the studio.

My name is Justin Kim and I have my friends Siku, Callie, and Jonathan in the studio and we're looking at the Book of Romans.

If you haven't done it already, go to hopetv.org slash inverse to look at last week's episode and catch up on our really systematic study in the book of Romans.

We'll look at chapter 2, chapter 2, and before we read scripture, seek you if you can pray for us.

Loving Father, we are thankful for the gift of salvation.

We're thankful that we have knowledge of the gospel and as we continue to study your word We pray that we can truly come to appreciate the the wonderful message that the gospel is and That you would use it to transform our lives so that it can transform others as well You pray these things in your name.

Kelly, we looked at chapter 1 last week and can you just kind of hit those high points and we'll read, Jonathan, you read chapter 2, but let's just kind of recap and then move in.

Yeah, so we talked about in chapter 1 that the main thing there was why and how Paul is not ashamed of the gospel, what the gospel is, and how he is a debtor to share it with all people, no matter who it is, and we also talked about what God's wrath is and is not.

It's this big solution to save the world's problems, yeah, and then a component of that is God's wrath, and it's not his like, his anger, but there is a, but what he wants, he needs to eliminate that, that, the sin problem, yeah, and then we go to chapter 2, And I just, I love Romans because it is systematic.

Maybe it's the nerd in me that's just like, all right, A and then B.

And then, so if you're out there and you don't like that, then tough, it's Scripture.

And so Paul's being very, very logical with that.

Let's go to chapter 2 of Romans chapter 2.

For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law.

And as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law.

For not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified.

For when Gentiles who do not have law by nature do the things in the law, these although not having a law are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves, their thoughts accusing or else excusing them, in a day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.

Okay, let's go to verse 17 and see if you can pick up there.

Indeed, you are called a Jew and rest on the law and make your boast in God and know his will and approve the things that are excellent being instructed out of the law and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who whine darkness, and an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law.

You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself?

You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal?

You who say do not commit adultery, do you commit adultery?

You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law?

For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you, as it is written.

It makes me, it reminds me of that when the ancient scriptures were first written, they were read out loud and people had to listen to them.

Too often we think, oh, the other Bibles are all listening along.

I know that sometimes when you're listening to Scripture, your mind tends to zone out.

And this is why we have Bible Study Guide.

So go to inversebible.org and you can download and you can use it online or however you want to do it, our Bible study guide on the Book of Romans.

And we are very excited about the Bible study guide because it interacts with your digital device and the text and together, so it's 1 way to get into the verse.

I mean this is a long passage and for those of us who did zone out, what's going on and let's zone back in.

I think of the first part that Jonathan read, where he's talking about those who have sinned without the law perishing and for me this section like from verse 12 to 16 you know growing up in Zimbabwe and you know missionaries came to Africa and brought you know the gospel to southern Africa and I always used to wonder growing up like what did my grandparents great great grandparents do like what will happen in the judgment like how do how does God judge them when missionaries hadn't come to Zimbabwe generation before Christianity and generations before that And this text for me answers that, that God has a way of judging even the people who may not have had access to God's law in the form that we have it in the Word of God, but that God reveals Himself even to those people.

And so that even if a missionary hadn't come, it's not like God was absent from them and God doesn't care, but God still interacted with them and revealed himself to them at a certain level and he'll judge them by the knowledge that they did have.

Yeah, excellent question and excellent answer.

How many guys have you ever heard that question?

When I went to Africa, they're like, well what about those people living in Korea?

But we are worried about, or anxious about, older generations or current people who have never heard of the gospel, what happens to them?

Yeah, in the second section, kind of what Zico had been reading.

It talks about- Here's a comment on each other.

So he moves from the Gentiles now to the Jews.

And he's very interesting in his approach because he starts like, indeed, you're called a Jew.

You know, it's like, wow, you know, you are a Jew.

And then verse 21, you therefore who teach another, do you not teach yourself?

So now Paul is saying to these, to the people who just feel like, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm 1 of these guys.

You approve these things, but you don't practice.

You have the law, you know, the Gentiles, they don't have a law, and you know, that you kind of look down on, but you who have the law, you're not better.

And we know from Paul from other places where he says, you know, I'm a chief of sinners.

And he was, but he considered himself at 1 point, you know, the most righteous man.

And so he is now turning the tables, not because he's evil or angry with his fellow, you know, countrymen, but because he wants them to see the reality of what it means to stand before God as a sinner.

And even though you might have access to all these things, it doesn't make you automatically righteous.

And I think Asiku's tone when she was reading it kind of exaggerated in a very good way.

It is kind of passive, I don't wanna say passive aggressive, but passive emphatic.

03 The Gift of God’s Grace

Have you ever been a recipient of someone doing some good deed for you?

Do you ever have that feeling of, man, I gotta do something to pay this person back?

What is it about humanity that we want to pay back those gifts of grace that we have received.

We're looking at Romans chapter 3 in this systematic study on the science of salvation and we want to encourage you to go to Inverse bible.org to look at our online bible study guide and also hope tv.org slash inverse for past episodes especially I think we looked at Chapters 1 and Chapters 2.

In the studio we have Siku, Callie, and Jonathan, and we're going to look at the Bible.

We're going to Romans Chapter 3, and Jonathan, if you can pray for us, please.

Father, we just thank you so much for the book of Romans.

What a powerful explanation of the gospel that we have been given.

I just thank you that you revealed yourself in such a way to us through your word and that you have a desire for everyone to understand what the good news is.

I pray that as we study today that you will give us insights and clarity and that your spirit will be not only with us here but also with those watching at home.

Thank you so much Lord, we pray this in Jesus name, Amen.

Siku we have looked at chapters 1 & 2 yeah and just I mean there's Paul goes through a lot and Paul can be kind of difficult to read because he's just started just a little bit of that but overall what is what is he trying to lay the foundation for as we get into chapter 3?

So we talked about chapter 1, he's talking about the gospel, this is this powerful thing that he is not ashamed of and that's kind of foundational for what he's going to be talking about in the book of Romans, and then he switches gears and he starts talking about that we're sinners.

The heathen are sinners and they do all these horrible things and then he goes and he says, not just the heathen are sinners, but even those who have the law are sinners.

So he switches and he talks about the Jewish people are sinners as well, even though God has given them all this knowledge and all this light.

But at the end of the day, we're just all in the same boat.

And I think that's kind of where we were at.

He's kind of almost, he's kind of this like a PR campaign, if you will, and not to denigrate the gospel as a PR campaign, but he's saying, he's like, hey, my audience is worldwide.

The problem is worldwide and the solution is just absolutely 100% you know will solve I mean it's this all inclusive package he's starting off this gospel message with so let's actually get into the core because it is distilled let's go to chapter 3 verse 21 through 26 and Callie if you can read those verses for us.

But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe, for there is no difference.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by his blood through faith to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed to demonstrate at the present time his righteousness, that he might be just and the justifier of the 1 who has faith in Jesus.

Okay, now that was a very juicy passage, but that was a very dense passage.

God, help us break some of these things down.

I mean, we don't use these words, righteousness, just, propitiation.

I don't think the last time I used that word.

I know we use difference all the time, but what's, what's going, what's going on here?

Let's, let's do broad overstrokes and let's go into a couple of verses.

Well, it's really, this is, now we're getting to like, it seems like Paul's favorite topic, right?

He talks about the righteousness of God being revealed and then, And then that righteousness somehow being applied to those who believe, we kind of touched upon it in the previous episode briefly, but we see here court language.

So this court language, justification, the law, what does this mean and where do we fit into this?

Paul is trying to make clear that righteousness, which means right doing, it is everything that is appropriate and moral and is in harmony with God, that is the standard of eternal life.

And he's saying that this righteousness is something that, you know, comes from God, and for us sinners, it's only available, you know, by faith in Him.

Just before we see Qanun, but I wanted to just buttress your answer.

It says, The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.

And in chapter 2 and 3, it's like, hey, everyone's a sinner.

It's basically saying, because we are all unrighteous, we're going to receive the wrath of God, not the anger of God.

But that's just the natural property of God that God in His holiness and humanity in our unholiness or unrighteousness cannot coexist.

So we're just automatically going to just disintegrate from the existence of all existence of the essence of all existences.

And then you see that we establish that the heart of God has a problem with that, right?

So this righteousness, and I appreciate the court language, is something that we need, right?

To coexist with God and to live in terms of the universe and that.

Siku, okay, I just wanted to insert that and then move on, yeah.

I just wanted to speak on this word righteousness.

If you look in verse 20, chapter 3, verse 20, So just before that section that we read, 06.20 It says, Therefore by the deeds of the law, 06.20 no flesh shall be justified in his sight, 06.20 for by the law is the knowledge of sin...

So we get the foundation for what righteousness is when he's talking about, oh, this righteousness...

And then because then it says, but now the righteousness of God...

What he was talking about before, he's talking about deeds of the law, right?

So, righteousness would be doing those things that are required in the law.

But when you cannot do those things that are required in the law, then you are unrighteous, right?

So, so really that, that contrast, if you're like, oh, righteousness can seem like this lofty word, but if you have a standard, which is the law, and you're failing to meet that standard then you cannot be righteous, you are unrighteous and he's saying that we have all failed and doing...

Whether we know it, whether we know what the law is or we don't know what the law is, we're all failing at it.

In chapter 2 verse 21 it says that the righteous guys apart from the laws revealed being witnessed by the law and the prophets Yes, so it's these the Jewish people were given the law and the prophets They have that knowledge that we talked about in a previous episode.

So like man, we know what it is What righteousness looks like?

That's actually exactly what I was going to say.

It's just that the law is simply the standard.

It's the standard there, so like knowing that, oh there's a standard, Doesn't mean you meet it, you just see it.

And so there's a big difference between knowing something and actually practicing it.

You who say, do not commit adultery, do you commit adultery?

I mean, so it's exactly Paul saying that.

Paul agrees with what we're saying right now.

I love how it says that it's witnessed by the law and the prophets.

You know, as a witness, when you witness something, you see something happening.

So the law and the prophets, they see the righteousness of God.

The Old Testament points to the Messiah as the solution for our problem.

And Paul is saying, listen, the Messiah is Jesus.

Through faith in him, through believing and acknowledging that what he provides can help you, you will receive that help.

04 Abraham and Faith

Sometimes more than prayer and Bible study and evangelism and all these things, it's a little bit of laughter that's required for a little bit of faith.

1 of the archetypes of Judaism is the character of Abraham.

If you know his story, he started off his encounter with God and with the development of his family with laughter, and that's what we're going to talk about in Romans chapter 4 on the character of Abraham and how laughter fits into all of this.

In the studio with me is Sebastian, Jonathan, and Callie.

My name is Justin Kim, and you're watching Inverse, and especially in our arc on the study of Romans.

We are already in chapter 4, and we're gonna have a word of prayer, and we'll dive into the text.

Series

InVerse, 1st Quarter 2021: Romans

08 Inseparable Love

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