Total Transformation—Jamaica 2012

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Friends of Christ United in Service (FOCUS)

Romans, Justification, and the Third Angel's Message

Norman McNulty

Romans 1—The Totality of Justification

I'm glad that you all are here for our Romans seminar.

So, just want to make sure you have that.

And then did any of you not get this little booklet that I passed out, The Mind of Christ?

So just to explain to you, I don't know that we'll get through all of the handout in the time that we have, And that's fine, but this gives you some things to look at and study further on your own.

And I'll make sure that we hit the most important points from the Book of Romans during the time we have this afternoon.

And then we have 2 more hours tomorrow afternoon and I hope that you can come to as much of it as possible.

And then the Mind of Christ is a very nice booklet that's recently been published that goes through the issues of righteousness by faith and it ties in to what we're talking about in the book of Romans.

So having said that, let's bow our heads for a word of prayer and let's start our study.

Father in Heaven, we thank you so much for bringing us here to this weekend to a conference that talks about being totally transformed.

As we study from the book of Romans, may it bless us and help us and challenge us.

And may we understand the power of the Gospel.

May we really understand what it means to have the experience of justification by faith.

How many of you have studied the book of Romans?

How many of you have not studied the book of Romans before?

And it's okay, raise your hands, that helps me to know who I'm speaking to.

So some of you have, some of you haven't, and that's fine.

And Romans, as you're going to see, is a very critical book in Scripture to understand.

Now I was talking with Eric Walsh last night.

I was kind of joking about how I was saying that Romans is so much more important than the genealogies.

And he was like, well the genealogies are important too.

But then he agreed, the book of Romans, This is a very important passage of scripture to understand.

Genealogies are good, but Romans gets into the essence of salvation.

So that's what we're going to be looking at.

And when you look at the book of Romans, Romans has 16 chapters, But we're just going to look at the first 8 chapters, the main points from the first 8 chapters, because it's in the first 8 chapters that Paul deals with the theology of the Gospel.

And so that's what we're going to take a look at over the next several hours.

Now, let's go ahead and open up to the book of Romans.

And here we read, Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God.

Now first of all, we look at verse 1 we see the authorship of the book.

So you want to know who your author is, and that can be helpful because then you can compare other books of scripture that Paul has written and see similar themes and you can kind of piece that together.

In the book of Galatians, Paul makes some very similar points and it helps sometimes to understand some of the things he was saying in Romans a little bit better.

So, Paul is the author of the book of Romans And it also says he's a servant of Jesus Christ.

He's a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated under the gospel of God.

When he says he's a servant of Jesus Christ, he's actually going to talk about what it means to be a servant to Jesus Christ in Romans chapter 6.

So I'm giving you a little bit of foreshadowing so that you can think ahead.

But Paul can write about the gospel, and he can write about being a servant to Jesus Christ, which he will do in chapter 6, because He himself has that experience.

A quick point here for us to think about is we can talk about the gospel, we can preach about the gospel, we can teach the gospel, but if we're not experiencing it, then it doesn't have the same effect.

So Paul, as a servant of Jesus Christ, that qualifies him to talk about calling us to be servants to Jesus Christ.

Then it says, he's separated unto the gospel of God.

What does it mean to be separated under the gospel of God?

What Paul is saying here is that, he's saying, I have separated myself from the things of this world.

The gospel has changed my life so dramatically that I have separated myself from this world and I have dedicated myself completely and fully to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Now the question we have to ask ourselves is, have we separated ourselves to the gospel of God?

Because if we want to go out and be workers for God, to proclaim the gospel, we need to be separated to the gospel of God.

Now, continuing on in verse 2, and he puts in parentheses here, So he's making a quick parenthetical statement about the gospel.

So he's like, Paul, I'm an apostle separated to the gospel of God, I'm a servant of Jesus Christ separated to the gospel of God.

And then he says in parenthesis, which he had promised afore or before by his prophets in the holy scriptures." How many of you have heard that the Old Testament teaches the Law and the New Testament teaches grace.

Paul, the Gospel scholar, just said that the Old Testament proclaimed the gospel.

So don't let people tell you that there's Old Testament Christians and New Testament Christians.

All we want to be is biblical Christians, Old and New Testament.

Let's not divide up the Old and the New Testament.

So Paul says, this gospel that I'm separated unto, it was talked about before in the Scriptures, in the Old Testament.

And if you read the book of Romans carefully, especially the first 8 chapters and onwards, Paul is quoting liberally from the Old Testament to make his points.

And we're going to see that when we study Romans chapter 4, which is 1 of the chapters we will look at in this seminar.

He's saying I am a servant of Jesus Christ.

I'm separated under the gospel of God, and this gospel was promised in the past in the Old Testament.

And the question is, what is this gospel?

Well, first of all, what does the word gospel mean?

So Paul is separated to the good news of this message that he's about to proclaim.

There's more in the red bag over here too if you need more.

And what is it that he's going to proclaim about this gospel?

Verse 3 answers the question because Paul is really excited about this gospel that he's going to proclaim.

Because the gospel talks about Jesus Christ.

Now, the gospel is good news because it talks about Jesus Christ, but What about Jesus Christ is good news?

What is it about Jesus Christ that makes the gospel the gospel?

Concerning his son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh." So what's the good news of the gospel?

It's that Jesus Christ is Lord, that the gospel is talking about Jesus Christ.

He was made of the seed of David according to the flesh.

Okay, what about Jesus being a human being is good news?

Okay, why Is the gospel such good news that Jesus was made of the seed of David according to the flesh?

Well, let me give you a couple of things to think about.

Romans 2&3—The Totality of Human Depravity

Okay, well why don't we go ahead and move on to part 2.

And why don't we say a word of prayer and we'll move into the second section of our study here.

Father in heaven, thank you for the privilege we have of studying from your word.

Be with us as we enter into this next section on the book of Romans.

May it give us a deeper understanding of the truth for our time.

So, I had some good questions during the break, and I'll mention a few points from that.

Let me give a brief review of what we talked about in the first hour.

He's a servant of Christ Separated to the gospel of God the good news is that Jesus was made of the seed of David according to the flesh As 1 of the brothers pointed out to me unfallen angels have proven that unfallen beings can keep the law of God.

Jesus, in his perfect life, proved that a being who had a fallen nature could also keep the law of God, showing that we as humans who have fallen natures can keep his law.

The other point that I wanted to bring out that I didn't say too much about is when it says the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith as it is written the judge shall live by faith what does it mean when it says you shall live from faith to faith?

That's living from faith experience to faith experience or growth to growth.

It's the Christian growth experience and it's like the parable of first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn and the ear.

You have a plant that grows and it's perfect at every stage, but only at the end is it ready for the harvest.

And God will have a group of people at the end of time who will be ready for the harvest as well as they understand this message.

And the power of the gospel is the power of the gospel because we see the life of Jesus Christ demonstrated in the lives of his believers.

Now, we've basically covered the key points of the gospel, yet Paul goes even deeper in the following chapters.

And what he does under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is actually quite amazing, the way he sets up the book of Romans.

We're not going to read in detail much of the rest of chapter 1 or all of chapter 2 just because it gets into some pretty basic points.

After he announces the power of the gospel in Romans 1, verses 16 and 17, he goes on to show why we need the gospel.

Because none of us can say, hey, I'm pretty good, you know, there are some people that Jesus probably needed to die for, but I'm 1 of the ones that...

I've lived such a pretty good life, it's above average, that he didn't really need to die for me.

Now I know none of us say that, but Paul is basically showing why all of us need the gospel.

So at the end of chapter 1, what he does, verses 18 through 32, is he shows that a judgment is coming against the wicked.

Verse 18, he says, "...for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness.

And then he goes on and he talks about people who basically ignore the fact that God is the creator and they worship and enjoy the things that God created rather than worshipping the creator and then they go on and and do things that are so foolish, vain, and ridiculous that they reach a point where in verse 26 we see that God gives them up unto their vile affections.

And you see that Paul talks about when humanity becomes debased, homosexuality becomes 1 of the sins that inevitably follows.

And he goes on and he talks about various awful sins.

He lists them, covetousness, maliciousness, envy, malignity, all of these various issues.

And when you come to the end of Romans chapter 1, basically what you see is a description of horrible, awful, wicked people.

Perhaps you could say it would fit the description of the gangsters, the druggies, the people who go out and shoot and murder people.

They don't have God on their mind at all and they're just really horrible, bad people.

When you come to the end of chapter 1, as a believer in God, you say, man, it's a good thing that God is going to pour out his judgment against those wicked homosexuals and murderers and gangsters and druggies.

I'm so glad that 1 of these days God is going to take care of those people.

And then in Romans chapter 2, Paul turns the tables on us as believers.

Notice what he says in verse 1, Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judges.

For wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself.

For thou that judgest doest the same things.

Now, he's not saying that the professed Christian world is going out and practicing open homosexuality, open murder, open druggies.

Yes, there are closet homosexuals in the Christian Church, but they...

Well, unfortunately in modern times, some people think you can even come out and practice that in Christianity.

But By and large, throughout the years, there might be these horrible, wicked practices in Christianity, but they were closet practices.

Paul is not saying, oh yeah, you guys are out there openly doing the same thing.

You may be a professed believer in God, but you sin too.

They go out and commit homosexuality, murder, drugs, alcohol, all of that horrible, awful stuff, But we who promote and uphold the law of God, we are going out there, and we have ministers who are committing adultery.

We have husbands who are cheating on their wives.

We have families who are fighting with each other all the time, and the Spirit and love of Christ is never there.

We come to church, And we put on our nice clothes and we say, Happy Sabbath, how are you?

And we were just having a nasty argument on the ride over to church.

And Paul is saying, look, Those wicked people in the world, they will receive the wrath of God and the judgment if they don't change.

The same judgment will be given to you if you don't change.

So don't act like you're all wonderful and great.

And it's sad to say that even in this last year, year and a half, I can think of at least 3 well-known Seventh-day Adventist ministers or leaders who fell into sexual sin.

And that should not be happening among God's last day professed people.

And Fifth Through mentioned it in the discussion panel this morning.

You know, the Elijah message at the end of time is going to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, the hearts of the children to the fathers, because many of our home lives are a wreck.

We can break down Daniel and Revelation, well some of us might be able to, not as many of us can as we used to, and that's too bad.

But some of us can break down the prophecies of Scripture, we can explain even perhaps the correct process of salvation, and yet we're moody, grumpy, and irritable, yelling at our spouse, Kicking the dog, you name it, whatever, and we're not showing the righteousness of Christ.

And so Paul is saying, yes, the gospel is the power of God unto salvation, but the world is wicked.

We're just not doing the culturally unacceptable sins that the world is doing.

I know it hits home to me because I speak about these topics and then my old human nature likes to come rising up within, especially in my home life.

I mean I have a good happy home life, but in my home life that is where my weaknesses are most likely to show themselves.

My wife and I have a wonderful, happy marriage.

Don't get me wrong, but I'm just saying, if I'm going to show my weakness, it's going to be in front of my wife.

And if you're not married, If you're younger, it would be with your parents.

Mom or dad says something and you just want to push back at mom or dad.

When you get older and you get married, then it's with your spouse.

And what the power of the gospel that we're talking about is that it takes us from being like that, from not having a good, victorious, consistent home life, to actually being a Christ-like home where angels love to dwell.

And you know, Jamaica here, this country, has the highest per capita of Adventists in the world.

And I'm so thankful that I have the privilege to be on this island this weekend to speak here in this country where Adventism is so prevalent.

My burden for the Adventism on this island is that the Adventism of this island will become a demonstration to the rest of the world church of what Adventism can do.

Not just in numbers, but in the strength of the character of the people here on this island.

He's saying, you know, the world out there is really wicked, But we in the church, we have some problems as well.

And you know, let's pick it up in verse 11.

Verse 11, Paul says in chapter 2, for there is no respect of persons with God.

Yes, and in his time he's referring to the terribly wicked people in the city of Rome.

He's saying, yes, the wicked people in the city of Rome, or yes, the wicked people on the streets of Jamaica, they're in serious trouble.

If you're coming to church and you are living a life of sin, God is not going to care if you're a world famous creature.

He's not going to care if you've traveled the globe over or if you're a janitor, whatever the case may be, if you are living a life of sin, that's the only thing that God looks at at the end of the day.

Do you have the righteousness of Christ, or are you living your own life of sin?

That is what it's all about at the end of the day.

Romans 4—Fully Persuaded

Okay, why don't we bow our heads for a word of prayer.

Father in heaven, we thank you that we've been able to study the first 3 chapters of Romans thus far.

As we get into Romans chapter 4, please help us to understand what it means to believe, and to see clearly what Abraham believed and how he believed, so that we can experience this righteousness as well.

So, So far we've been talking about some pretty theological material.

Justification by faith, surrender, being like Jesus, believing so that we can receive salvation.

We still have not answered the question, what does it mean to believe so that I can have salvation?

You want to know what it means to believe, do you not?

If believing properly allows us to have salvation, then we want to know what it means to believe, amen?

What then, or what shall we say then, that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, has found?

Now Abraham is described as the father of the faithful or the father of those who have faith.

And Paul is saying, you know, how did Abraham deal with his flesh?

How did he deal with his fallen human nature that we also have?

And so now we are going to get into a practical explanation of how to have this belief that will bring saving transforming faith.

Verse 2, For if Abraham were justified by work, he hath whereof the glory, but not before God.

So if Abraham had worked his way to heaven, then it would be about the glory of Abraham, not the glory of God.

Notice verse 3, then, "...for what saith the Scripture?

Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness." So, the Bible says Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

So, the Bible says Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

You know, Paul is quoting the Old Testament here.

Now before we go to Genesis 15, which we're going to do briefly, Abraham believed and God counted him righteous.

To be counted righteous is the same as being declared righteous or it's the same as having imputed righteousness.

Now Before we go to Genesis 15, I'm going to take you to the end of Romans 4, and I'm going to tell you to look at verse 22 because this is going to give us a clue that Romans 4 is going somewhere.

Romans 4 verse 22, speaking of Abraham, it says, and therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.

In Romans 4 verse 3, Paul says, what says the scripture?

Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness.

But then he explains what it meant for Abraham to believe and for God to then say, righteousness is imputed to your account.

But in order to understand even better what it means for Abraham to believe God, let's go to Genesis 15.

And in Genesis chapter 15, Abraham is speaking with God and he's telling God, you know, I don't have a child and you've promised that I will be the father of a great nation.

Why don't you take Eleazar, the steward in my house, and you can just pass my line on to him.

He can become the heir, and we won't have to worry about the fact that Sarah and I are past childbearing age.

And in verse 4, God says to Abraham, Behold the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, this shall not be thine heir, but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.

In other words, God is saying, look, when I say that you're going to have a child, I am not saying that I'll just legally declare your servant to be your son when he really isn't your son.

I'm going to do this, the humanly impossible.

I am going to give you a child from your own flesh, even though your flesh is physically dead with respect to producing child.

You're too old to have children, Your wife is too old to have children, but I'm going to produce a child through you anyway.

Okay, so let's go back to what we were talking about.

Sorry, I kind of lost my train of thought there.

So God is saying this child is not going to come from your servant, your heir is not going to come from your servant, it's going to be your own child.

And So Abraham is saying, Okay, but Sarah and I are past childbearing age, how could this be possible?

And he brought him, or God brought Abraham forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them.

And he said unto them, So shall thy seed be.

So God is saying to Abraham, look up at heaven.

So how could it be that Abraham could have a seed that would come after him that would be as the stars of heaven.

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Series

Romans, Justification, and the Third Angel's Message

Romans 2&3—The Totality of Human Depravity

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