WWUTT 097 Promised Beforehand (Romans 1:1-7)

The book of Romans is one of the most doctrinally rich books in the whole

Bible, written by the Apostle Paul to the church in Rome. But it was a work hundreds of years in the making, according to the sovereign plan of God when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand the Text, a five -minute Bible commentary to help encourage your time in the Word. Here's your teacher,

Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. Romans chapter one, beginning in verse one, 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 Christ Jesus, 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. There you go. Paul's introduction to the Romans, one sentence, seven verses long.

Now this is one of two letters Paul wrote to a church congregation he had never been to before. The other being his letter to the

Colossians. Where did the Roman church come from? Well in Acts chapter two on the day of Pentecost, the apostles received the gift of the

Holy Spirit and went into Jerusalem sharing the gospel. Now Pentecost was a Jewish feast celebrating the giving of the law to Moses and the people of God at Mount Sinai.

And Peter came in preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ who fulfilled all of that law and the prophets.

By the anointing of the spirit, the apostles spoke the gospel in everyone's own language. In Acts 2, 8 through 11, we see the different parts of the world represented at Pentecost.

The Parthians, Medes, Judea, Egypt, and so on, and visitors from Rome. Now this was a holiday that brought in Jews from all over the

Roman empire. Six hundred years earlier, the Jews were exiled into Babylonian captivity, resulting in multiple dispersions to different parts of the world.

The exile opens the book of Daniel and fills out a good chunk of the Old Testament. Like you're talking all except maybe a dozen books of the

Old Testament were directly influenced by the exile, either leading up to it or coming out of it.

It was because of the sins of Israel and Judah that the Lord gave them into the hands of their enemies. And though Israel's worship of false gods was something evil,

God turned it into something for His glory. The exile would play a significant role in the spread of Christianity around the world, bringing the message of salvation for all mankind.

That's something that man could not have devised. It is only by the grace and mercy of our loving

God. For significant Jewish festivals, the Jews would return to the temple in Jerusalem, and it was at Pentecost that they heard the gospel in their own language.

Peter went through the Old Testament scriptures. He showed how all of it pointed to Christ. Even David, Israel's greatest king, spoke of Jesus.

David's body is still in a tomb, but the tomb of Jesus has been empty for the past seven weeks.

Peter said this Jesus God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses. Being therefore exalted to the right hand of God and having received from the

Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.

Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made Him both

Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. Jesus died and atoned for the sins of those who killed

Him, a God who bears our sin. Many who heard this message were convicted and were baptized, and about 3 ,000 souls became

Christians that day. That was the start of the church. After Pentecost, they all went back to where they came from, some back to Rome, and started to church, likely in one of the synagogues, and as they shared the gospel, many

Gentiles were also converted and became Christians. And that's where the Roman church came from.

It was a ministry hundreds of years in the making, according to the sovereign plan and foreknowledge of God.

And by the witness of this church in Rome, we continue to learn from them today. We'll talk more about this letter tomorrow in our intro week to a study of Romans.

You've been listening to When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. We hope you are a part of a church family committed to gospel teaching, and we thank you for including us in your

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