WWUTT 098 Do As the Romans Did (Romans 1:1-7)

The world will try to stop the gospel from being spoken. Even if our government grants us freedom of religion, they'll expect us to keep it to ourselves, behind the doors of the church.

But we must not be silent and follow the example of the first century Christians in Rome when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand the Text, a daily study of God's Word, that we may be filled with the knowledge of His will.

Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. Romans 1, verses 1 -7, Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which

He promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh, and was declared to be the

Son of God in power, according to the spirit of holiness, by His resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our

Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of His name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints, grace to you and peace from God our

Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We looked yesterday at how the Roman church was started after Pentecost.

The Jews from Rome that heard the gospel there in Jerusalem returned home and started the

Christian church, converting many Gentiles to the faith as well. And this was the first church in the capital city of the world, starting in about 30

A .D. Now, Julius Caesar and later Augustus gave Judaism the status of religio lecita, which means permitted religion.

The empire exempted Jews from having to worship Roman gods or pay homage to the emperor as God.

According to the Romans, the emperor himself was a god. As long as the Jews paid their taxes and they kept their religion to themselves, then there wasn't going to be any problem.

But then Claudius came along and he passed an edict to have religio lecita abolished and the

Jews expelled from Rome. This happened in the year 49. Now, Claudius likely had

Judaism and Christianity confused. The Jews were just supposed to go about their religion privately, but then this new religion came in, worshiping a

Jewish carpenter who had been crucified by the Romans, presumably had risen from the dead, and instead of keeping their beliefs to themselves, they were actually going throughout

Rome and converting others. The Roman historian Suetonius wrote about a strife over Christos, and he misunderstood

Christos, which is Latin for Christ. So no one knew what was going on, and they ended up expelling the wrong group of people.

All of the Jews were sent away, while the converted Gentile Christians remained, and they converted others to Christianity.

After Claudius' reign ended, the Jewish Christians came back to a very different church, which was mostly

Gentile now. Paul wrote to them to clarify some doctrinal matters that were disagreed upon by the

Jews and the Gentiles, but also to encourage them, as both were being persecuted for their faith in Christ.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ, he wrote? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

Now, Paul was not being dramatic for the sake of addressing the most extreme of situations. These were the things that the

Christians in Rome were going through. They were undergoing tribulation, persecution, being cast out, and put to the sword.

But, he said, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all of creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our

Lord. And that's Romans 8, verses 35 through 39. My friends, we must not be persuaded by our government to keep our religion to ourselves.

We must do as these Christians in Rome did, sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ, the power of salvation for all who believe it.

We must do this, even if it may cost us our comforts, even if it may cost us our lives.

You are not serving men, but the Lord Christ. God, give us the courage to do your will, and the words to speak of your grace and mercy, so that others may know this truth that saves.

Restore our hope and assurance in the promises that are given in your word. And we pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen. Daily transcripts of these devotionals can be found at our website, www .wtt