Truth Encounter: Romans Series

Have you ever spent weeks, maybe months or years, trying to reason with a divisive person with a silver tongue? Whether it’s your extended family, your church, or your business­­—almost every place has a person who divides. Maybe the best policy is to stop listening to their speeches, give them a straightforward rebuke, and then, if they fail to respond, avoid them? The Apostle Paul closes the most powerful statement of the Good News about Jesus Christ in the New Testament with some closing words about Uniters and Dividers and then blesses us all with the benediction. Our passage is Romans 16:17-27. It could save you hours of pointless conflict.

The Samsung 500 powers up at the Texas Motor Speedway today. What makes NASCAR fans brave even the threat of Fort Worth tornados is not the speed, but the connections. NASCAR has become the largest spectator sport in the country because they have rushed to fill a vacuum. In a culture with no front porches but large treated wood decks and stainless steel grills in the backyard—all defended by a high privacy fence, NASCAR invites thousands to an old fashion area wide celebration and tops it off with the roar of engines. Will the Church rush into this passion for connections or will we leave the relationship building to NASCAR and tailgate parties before an A&M football game?

For two chapters, Romans 14 and 15, the Apostle Paul struggled to get believing Jews and Gentiles to unite as brothers and sisters.But Paul doesn’t just talk about the uniting power of Christ’s blood, he lives it. In his conclusion of chapter 15 in vv. 22-33, he explains his present mission. He is on his way to Jerusalem with Gentile body guards to deliver a large material gift to the Jewish Home Church.

It’s one thing to be excluded from a pick up basketball game. It’s another to be excluded when you come to church. Tragically, Sunday morning groups of believers can become one of the hardest games in town to crack. In the 1st Century Roman believers still keeping the Jewish law condemned those who didn’t, and the “liberated” distained the “legalists.” Why not simply divide the Church into a Jewish service where they played Jewish music and ate kosher and a Gentile service where they sang Roman praise songs to Jesus and ate ham? Why should believers in Christ welcome each other as family? The Apostle Paul in Romans 15:8-13 did not solve the problem of disunity by creating two homogeneous groups. Instead, he challenged them to think deeply about their true unity factor.

"I've got my rights!" "Why should his conscience dictate my behavior?" "Didn't Christ call us to be free?" The strong believer stands on solid ground. Jesus did declare all foods clean; thus destroying the legalistic system of the religious rigorists of His day who tried to conquer evil on the inside with rules on the outside. Does all this freedom mean that grace causes us to forget about the conscience issues of a more delicate believer? In a culture that worships personal rights does Christ call us to be willing to sacrifice our freedom for the sake of another? Romans 14:12ff gives us not my answer but the Apostle Paul's strong advice to arrogant believers who think they only have to worry about themselves.

What are the triggers that ignite fights, disunity, and then fracturing in a local church? To drink or not to drink? Hymnals or projected contemporary praise? Coats and ties or jeans and open shirts? African-American Soul and Tony Evans type oratory or Bach fugues and Max Lucado’s quiet story telling? Each of you could add to this list and you could also color in anecdotes of how church fights have divided friends, families, and wounded delicate new believers. The Apostle Paul knew the power of food fights in the church and the debates over when and when not to worship. In Romans 14:1-12 he took on this challenge.

"Did you know that Baghdad has the largest international embassy complex in the world and that there are already ten major Islamic nations united to make their mark on the stage of power politics?" My friend was breathless with excitement. Could the coming of Christ be near? Then in my Bible reading I turned to Romans 13 and discovered that the Apostle Paul thought the end was near in AD 57. Was he wrong to think so? Is my friend wrong to get excited about Christ's soon return today? And perhaps the more pressing question is --How should we prepare for Christ's return? Turn to Romans 13:11, read it for yourself, and then join Dave as he applies Paul's words to the Roman believers to our 2008 lives.

There are many reasons why we disobey the Law of the Land—“The speed limit was designed for power cars like mine!” “The politicians are only a bunch of liars. What right to they have to legislate my life.” “I don't need to report that income I received in cash. They will never know and they only abuse the money they do receive.” We live in a lawless society, but if you submit to Jesus, what does He tell you about obedience to the governing authorities?

There are many reasons why we disobey the Law of the Land—“The speed limit was designed for power cars like mine!” “The politicians are only a bunch of liars. What right to they have to legislate my life.” “I don't need to report that income I received in cash. They will never know and they only abuse the money they do receive.” We live in a lawless society, but if you submit to Jesus, what does He tell you about obedience to the governing authorities?

This present world is full of feigned love, jokes about sex, and biting disrespect for all in authority. It’s 2008 and the world hasn’t changed, but have we? What does it look like for a believer in Christ to live as a living sacrifice? What concrete actions result when believers are renewed in their core values by the Holy Spirit? The Apostle Paul’s exhortations in Romans 12:9-21 make a great New Year’s resolution list, but it will take the power of the Spirit every second for us to start to react and live with these Christ-like characteristics.

Christmas Gifts…unless you’re Scrooge, I pray that all the driving, sizing, debating, searching, and returning, and finally giving don’t smother your Christmas cheer. After all, we do all this not just to make sure that our friends in retail can make salaries for the year, we do it to get in the spirit of our Father who gave His most precious gift on the first Christmas. Did you know that God is still into gift giving? If you have entered into the faith that Paul has been telling us about in Romans, then you, too, have received a gift package. Do you know what is in your package?

In the TV ad the self-reliant, gorgeous woman finally buys herself the gift that she deserves--a brand new Cadillac. During this Christmas season, we will be challenged again and again to indulge ourselves, but deep inside we know that somehow this is exhortation to self indulgence doesn't ring true. In Romans 12:1-2 the Apostle Paul urges us to remember God's mercy and then find life by doing the opposite of indulging self. Have you ever considered becoming a living sacrifice?

Mention theology and it brings to mind professor types arguing over how many angels can stand on a needle point. Actually, true theology is more awe-inspiring than 50, 000 foot thunder heads leading a powerful charge into Texas from Oklahoma, and as Paul catches a glimpse of God's amazing mercy revealed in Jesus toward both Jews and Gentiles, all he can do is shout, Glory! It's time to get down on our knees with Paul as we listen to his conclusion in Romans 11:33ff. It's the close to the theology section of Romans, but it's hardly a yawner.

A Christian believes in Jesus. Jews do not. But as we open up Paul’s 1st Century letter to the Romans, he tells us about a future time when the majority of Jews will believe in Jesus and about the need in the present to try to turn as many Gentiles and Jews as we can toward Jesus as their Messiah and Lord. Paul actually claims that he tries to bring as many Gentiles as he can to Jesus with the hope that he might arouse jealousy in the hearts of his own Jewish people. Can there be such a thing as redeeming jealousy?

When you stretch out your hands to your eight-year-old, their usual response is to thrust their hands out to you so that you can grab them up into a big hug. Imagine a situation when instead of responding, your child obstinately turned away. That would hurt and amazingly that's what some of God's children do as He stretches out His arms toward them. You need to carefully read Romans 10:16-11:10.

Have you ever been driving on a road totally convinced that you were headed to a certain destination and then discovered, you were wrong? Sincerity and fervency is not enough when it comes to driving from New York to Washington. If you head north you'll be in Montreal, not D.C. We all know this when it comes to directions. Why do we think we can take any road to heaven as long as we are sincere and fervent? This is the question the Apostle Paul discusses in Romans 10:1-15 in a message we have titled "Closer than a Heart Beat."

Have you ever seen a skilled potter shaping a vase? Now animate that picture. Suddenly, the clay jumps off the wheel and declares to the potter, "You don't exist!” or “You're an idiot. I'd rather do it my way!" Sound ridiculous? It’s what a lot of us do with our Creator. Romans 9:19-32 declares that with all of our strutting and fist raising, we are, after all, just clay in the Potter's hands. The question is, “Do we respond to His merciful touch or have to be trashed because of hardened resistance?”

Already the promises are flowing from all the candidates running for office. The big question I have has to do with security. Can President Bush promise us that the United States will not be struck by another terrorist attack? In fact can any political leader provide us this kind of security? Here's a far more serious security question—Can God promise us eternal salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ, and is it certain? For the answer listen to what Paul has to say in Romans 9:6-18 in a message we have titled "Mercy Me!"

"Moses is for Jews and Jesus is for Gentiles." It's a commonly accepted fact of religious life in today's pop culture, but the truth is that neither Moses nor Jesus would ever put up with such a lie! In Romans 9-11 the Apostle Paul deals with a pressing question, If Jesus was the King of the Jews, why didn't Israel accept Him? For many Jews today "Jews for Jesus" is an oxymoron. Why would Paul disagree and why should you?

Floods in Texas, as well as other parts of the U.S., have taken lives this summer. One of the most tragic was a mom who had her little child ripped out of her arms by the deadly current. Are there deadly currents that can rip us from the arms of God in the floods of this life? The Apostle Paul answers this question in Romans 8:28ff as he speaks to us about the unbreakable bonds of God's love expressed in Christ Jesus.