Sunday Sermon: An Introduction to Romans, Part 2 (Romans 1:1-7)

Romans 1:1-7 and the Gospel Greeting

You're listening to the preaching ministry of Gabriel Hughes, pastor of Providence Reformed Baptist Church in Casa Grande, Arizona. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday on this podcast we feature teaching through a New Testament book, an Old Testament book on Thursday, and our Q &A on Friday.

Each Sunday we are pleased to present our sermon series. Here is Pastor Gabe.

Romans 1, beginning in verse 1, 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 the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

To all those in Rome who are loved by God and are called to be saints, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. You may be seated as we pray. Heavenly Father, as we come to this passage here today, as we look at this again, this introduction to this great letter, I pray that our minds and our hearts would be filled with the doctrine of God.

That word doctrine very simply means teaching. And Lord, we would desire that you would teach us. And by your Holy Spirit, may our hearts be open to receive this teaching. There's much about it that we may not understand, even as we go through it, but work those things in us in our hearts is as this has been your intention for us.

We come to the Lord as babes. Hence, why, as Jesus said to Nicodemus, we must be born again. We are brand new in Christ Jesus and desiring to grow in the knowledge of who you are and mature that we may grow up into adulthood in the spirit.

It's talked about in Ephesians four that we may attain to Christ and grow in him and be presented before you, holy and blameless on that day that we enter into glory. These things are preparing us for that.

The preparation of our souls for eternity with God. This doctrine is powerful. It is life changing. And may we treat it as such as we come to these scriptures and desire to be taught by you. It is in the name of Jesus that we pray and all God's people said, amen.

I met a fellow believer named Barry and I asked him once how he became a Christian. He said, well, my dad was a pastor, but it just never caught on with me. In fact, when I was in college and he had to confront me about some of the immoral decisions that I was making, he told me, you either have to make up your mind that you're a Christian or you can't come to church here anymore.

And I chose the second option. So what brought you back around? I asked him. Barry said, well, I continue to live a very immoral lifestyle. I got drunk and slept around. I experimented with other drugs.

I was lazy and I had no ambition. I was living in a motel for $60 a week. I worked part-time or dead-end jobs and that was just so that I could eat and drink more. I went out to a bar one night and there was this girl there and I asked for her number.

She wrote it down for me and she included on the phone number a reference to Romans. Of course, I recognized it as a reference to Romans because I was a preacher's kid. And in my head, I thought, wow, this girl thinks she's a Christian and she's picking up a guy in a bar.

What was the reference, I asked him. He said, I don't remember. But that's part of the story. I actually lost her number and I couldn't remember her name or even what the Romans reference was. But I got this crazy idea that if I read through the book of Romans, maybe I would come to the verse that would trigger in my head what her name was.

So I got off work. I bought a six-pack of beer and a pack of cigarettes and some scratch cards. And I went back to my motel room. And of course, they had a Gideon's Bible in the drawer. So I opened it up and I started to read the book of Romans.

By the time I got to chapter 10, the beer was gone, the ashtray was full, and I was a Christian. I was completely broken over my sin, knowing that I deserved the wrath of God. But God sent his son to die for me and all I had to do was believe in him.

He said, I can even tell you on exactly what verse it happened. I read Romans 10, 13, which says, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. And he said, that was it for me. In tears, I prayed, thank you, Lord.

Those were my first words. Thank you. Forgive me. Forgive me of my sin. Forgive me for hating you and welcome me home. And I know that he did. This prodigal went home. And then he poked me in the chest and he said, and I'll tell you something else.

I hadn't just become a Christian, I was a full-blown Calvinist. I had just read through Romans 9, where it says, he has mercy on whom he wills and he hardens whomever he wills. And I could feel it as I was reading it, that God was softening my heart.

He had mercy on me because it pleased God to have mercy on me. And I am so thankful that he did. Now, in case anyone was wondering like I did, I had to ask the question, so what happened to the girl? I don't know, he said.

I never saw her again. And to this day, I still can't remember her name. But the Lord in his providence used my crushing on a girl in a bar to ask for her number, only for her to write down a reference to the book of Romans, which I couldn't remember.

And that got me to open his word, and he opened my heart to hear it, and I got saved. It was the greatest gospel tract that I ever could have read, God's word in the book of Romans. Today, we're going to continue our introduction to the book of Romans, briefly reviewing what we had considered last week, including the author and the recipients, the time in which this was written, and the purpose of the letter.

Then we will spend most of our time doing an overview or a basic outline of this book, and then we will conclude with a point of application. A lot of times when we do these introductions, it can just kind of be a bunch of like pouring out a bunch of information, but there is application to this, which we will do at the very end.

Romans, the Church in Rome, and the Theme of the Letter

So first of all, reviewing what we had considered last week, remember that the author is the apostle Paul. It was written by the hand of Tertius, his scribe, according to Romans 16 .22. And though it is not expressly stated, Paul was likely in Corinth when he wrote this letter in about 57 AD while on his third missionary journey.

Now, Paul had never visited Rome before. In fact, though himself a Roman citizen by birth, we don't have any indication that Paul had ever been to Rome in his life. Of all the letters that Paul wrote, two of them were to a church that he had never visited, the Colossians and the Romans.

But in this letter, Paul fully expresses his intention to come and visit them. And we know, according to the book of Acts, that by the end of that book, he does, in fact, make it to Rome. Now, in chapter 1, verse 10, Paul says that he is asking that somehow, by God's will, I may now at last succeed in coming to you.

When we get to chapter 15, he says that he is going to Jerusalem to bring a gift to the saints. And that's another clue that he was probably in Corinth when he wrote this. He went to Corinth to pick up the gift that he had instructed them to collect for the Christians who were struggling under persecution and in the midst of famine that was going on in Judea.

But he says to the Romans, I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain and to be helped on my journey there by you once I have enjoyed your company for a while. So his intention was to go from Corinth back the other way to Jerusalem, and then after bringing the aid to the Christians there, he would head back west, bound for Spain.

Essentially, he wanted to go as far as the west with the gospel as he could. And on his way to Spain, he would stop in Rome, not just the capital city of the Roman Empire, but what was considered to be at that time the capital city of the world.

The church in Rome had never had an apostle visit them before. And Paul wanted to be that apostle since God had called him to be an apostle to the Gentiles, as we read about in Acts chapter 9. The church in Rome was started by Jewish Christians, but by this point, there were more Gentile converts than there were Jews.

And I mentioned this to you last week, Rome had this verbal agreement. It wasn't written down in their law, but they had this verbal agreement with the Jews that was called Religio Laicita, which is Latin for approved religion.

Basically, the Romans said that the Jews could worship their one God. Fine, you guys want to be so incredibly devoted to monotheism, the Romans actually called this atheism. They thought the worship of one God was atheism.

But fine, you want to worship your one God, you can, as long as you pay your taxes and you're not trying to convert anybody else to your atheistic religion. Well, when the Jewish Christians who came to Christ at Pentecost returned to Rome, they began spreading the gospel, the good news of Christ, who had died for our sins and risen again from the dead, and they started converting Gentiles.

This upset Emperor Claudius, who felt like the Jews were breaking the terms of their arrangement. And he's hearing about these people, these Gentiles now, who are starting to worship this Jewish carpenter.

So he's like, okay, well, I know who to blame here. I'm blaming the Jews for that. So he exiled the Jews, not realizing that it wasn't Judaism that was converting the Gentiles, but Christianity is what they were being converted to.

Now, with the Jews exiled from Rome for several years, the church was made up of exclusively Gentiles who continued to spread the gospel in Rome. After Claudius died in 54, Nero became the emperor after him.

Now, we know Nero as being a tyrant and a persecutor of Christians, but at this particular time, he wasn't there yet. And he actually opened the gates of Rome and welcomed the Jews in once again. So those Jews returned to find that their church looked completely different from when they left it.

Now, there were a bunch of Gentiles. And there were still Jews with their Jewish traditions, which they were trying to conform to Christianity, and they didn't think the Gentiles were doing it right. The Gentiles, of course, in their place, were looking at the Jews going, well, you aren't doing it right.

And so there were some disagreements in this church between Jew and Gentile. So Paul uses this letter to bring them into solidarity, recognizing that we are all sinners who have fallen short of the glory of God, and we are all one in Christ through the gospel that has been proclaimed to us.

Same gospel for the Jews is also that same gospel for the Gentiles, and it is through the saving power of God that we are brought to salvation. Consider once again what I said was the thesis statement of this letter.

Look at Romans 1, 16 to 17, which says,. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God. The gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. To the Jew first, for it was to them it was first given, and then also to the Greek, which is another word synonymous with pagan or Gentile.

For in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith. As it is written, the righteous shall live by faith. The book of Romans is just very simply about the gospel. And the gospel is, as we shall soon see, that we are justified by faith alone in Jesus Christ.

We are not justified by our works. That is not good news, because by our works we could never be saved. By our works we would never attain enough righteousness to be pleasing in the eyes of God. It is the work that he has done through Christ, which we receive by faith.

And after Paul lays out the gospel, he also lays out the implications of the gospel. If the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, and the righteous shall live by faith, so then what does that look like in the life of a believer?

What does that look like for a Christian? So we have doctrine and we have duty, as I said to you a couple of weeks ago. So let's consider this together an outline of the book of Romans. Now, I'm going to do this outline in three parts.

It's kind of going to be like we're going to start way back and we're going to get closer and closer to Romans as we go. So first of all, we're going to get a really high view of Romans, as if you were up in space looking down at planet Earth.

You probably cannot see a whole lot of land formation. You can't see mountains or cities or things like that unless it's night. I don't know if you've ever seen a map of the world at night, but cities are just lit up.

But say we're on the day side of the Earth and we're looking down, you don't see too much distinction, but you can tell the difference between what is land and what is sea. And so that's the first view that we're going to get of Romans.

But then secondly, we're going to get a little bit closer. And as we do, we'll begin to identify some things. You'll not only see the land and the sea, but you'll be able to distinguish the, like, rivers and lakes and things like that and maybe see a few civilizations.

And then as we get even closer, we see cities and towns and rivers. And so that's kind of the way that we're going to approach Romans. So first of all, let's get way up high. And just like from space, you can tell the difference between land and sea so we can see that Romans itself is divided into two distinct parts.

And I've already named those two parts for you. They're doctrine and duty. Chapters 1 through 11 are doctrine-heavy chapters. Some of the deepest and heaviest theological teachings in the New Testament are found in these 11 chapters.

If I had to rank the next heaviest section in the Bible, it would probably be the first 10 chapters of Hebrews. But the first 11 chapters of Romans, very heavy on doctrine, deep in its teaching, and even what we will cover as we go through a study of Romans, we'll barely scratch the surface of all of the wealth and knowledge that can be gleaned from this wonderful book.

But then the next section, chapters 12 through 16, are about how we live in light of that doctrinal truth that we just read. It's not all just head knowledge we're reading about. And some of that in chapters 1 through 11 might sometimes feel like you're in a seminary lecture.

But this stuff is impactful. It will change your life. And we're going to have to do the work even as we go through the first 11 chapters to find application for it. We can't just wait until we get to chapters 12 to 16 to hear the application.

So what's going to be the application of doctrines like total depravity, or like God's sovereign election, or when we read about original sin in chapter 5, how are we going to do that application as we go?

Chapters 12 through 16 are all heavy on the application. So when we're in that section, we're going to have to be looking back on the doctrinal sections, and then bringing about the doctrine that we've learned into the application of this truth.

This stuff is so impactful that it changes your life. So that's what Paul lays out in the last five chapters of Romans. Based on what is given to us in Romans 1, 16 to 17, we'll title these two sections like this.

So chapters 1 through 11 are justification by faith, and chapters 12 through 16 are living by faith. Okay? It's doctrine and duty, but we're going to say the doctrine section is justification by faith, and the duty section is living by faith.

That's our highest aerial view of Romans. In case you're getting sick being up so high, let's get a little bit closer. And we'll see that each of those two parts can even be divided into smaller parts.

Now, I'm going to break chapters 1 through 11 into five parts. And you'll notice that each one of these parts, as I'm going to name them, they will end with the suffix shun, T-I-O-N. So that'll just make it easier for you.

I'm a Baptist preacher. We love our alliteration. So each one of these words, though they don't begin with the same letter, will end with the same sound. So in chapter 1, verses 1 through 17, we have our introduction to the letter.

And within that introduction, we also have the theme to the letter, which we considered this morning, and that is verses 16 to 17, as we have read. Then in chapter 1, verse 18, and this goes through chapter 3, verse 20, we have condemnation.

Not that Paul condemns the Roman Christians, but this is where we have an argument concerning the condemnation of all of mankind. Paul is going to bring all of man under condemnation. No one gets out.

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, as you've heard it said, whether they are Jew or Gentile. But then from chapter 3, verse 21, through chapter 4, all the way through to the end of chapter 4, we read of our justification that the only way a person is saved is by faith in Jesus Christ, and Paul will even give examples there.

So far, we have our introduction, we have condemnation, and we have justification. Next section, which starts in chapter 5, verse 1, and goes through to the end of chapter 8, here we read about our expectation.

If we have been justified by faith, then we have hope through Christ. And then in chapters 9 through the end of 11, we read about our restoration. God will save Jew and Gentile by the promise of his electing grace.

So once again, to summarize what we've done here in 11 chapters, chapter 1, verses 1 through 17, is the introduction. Verse 18 through chapter 3, verse 20, is condemnation. Chapter 3, verse 21, through chapter 4, is about justification.

Chapters 5 through 8, we read about our expectation. And then chapters 9 through 11 are about our restoration. And this is all under the heading of justification by faith. It's the section that we will call our justification by faith.

So then, that's the first 11 chapters of Romans. Next, we go on to living by faith, and this is chapters 12 through 16. This is broken into four parts. And each of these parts, I've titled beginning with the word relating.

So first of all, in chapter 12, verses 1 through 21, this is about relating to others. How is a Christian to relate to people in and outside of the church? Paul will talk about relating to our fellow believers in the church in chapter 12, and even those who are outside of the church.

Then chapter 13 is about relating to civic life, relating to civic life. How should a Christian submit to governing authorities? And Paul will even talk even further about how a Christian is to love his neighbor, whether he is a believer or not.

Then in chapter 14, which we'll go through chapter 15, verse 13, this is about relating to weak brethren. How are we in the church to care for less mature believers, relating to weak brethren? And finally, chapter 15, verse 14 through the end of chapter 16, this is about relating to the church in Rome.

So this section will get a lot more specific as Paul is talking to those Roman Christians and how they relate to one another. Paul shares his closing remarks, shares greetings to faithful saints, and then he gives a final benediction.

A Chapter-by-Chapter Overview of Romans

So we've started way up high. We've come to kind of a medium altitude. And now let's get even closer. And what I want to do here is give more of a chapter-by-chapter overview of this book. I don't have any fancy titles that I'm going to give you for this one.

This is just as if we're turning the pages in Romans and we're looking at those section headings that sometimes the editors of the translations will put in there. So once again, chapter 1, verses 1 through 17 is all introduction.

But you might notice, as we've opened by reading verses 1 through 7 for two weeks now, that those seven verses are all one sentence. This is Paul's longest greeting of the letters of his that we have.

He loves his run-on sentences. And this is a long one. It's 132 words in English before you even get to the period. And once he finally takes a breath, Paul expresses his longing to want to come and visit the church and to teach them in person.

But first, he teaches them from afar through this letter. Verses 16 to 17 are obviously the thesis statement. And here is why Paul is writing this, so that they may know the importance of the gospel of Jesus Christ and all of its implications.

And from there, we're off to the races. In verses 18 to 32, Paul shows how all of the Gentiles are under the wrath of God. They are without the law of God. They have not been spoken to by God about the differences between right and wrong, what God expects of them and what man does in his rebellion.

But whatever natural law has been written on man's heart, even that he rebels against. They know God exists, Paul is going to say in this section, but they would rather worship the created things than the creator.

And so God turned them over to a debased mind, and men and women are filled with all manner of filthiness in their rebellion. It's one of the most sin-deep sections of Scripture. But even though this is all about Gentiles, lest the Jews get on their high horse and think that they're any better than these Gentiles, chapter 2 is where Paul brings all of the Jews into condemnation.

Oh, don't think you're any better because if you pass judgment on the Gentiles, you condemn yourself because you guys practice the same things that they're doing. Paul points out that the Jews did worse, in fact, because unlike the Gentiles, they had the law of God, and yet they did not keep it.

Then we get to chapter 3, and Paul sums it up. Jew and Gentile together, both are in sin. This is not a Jew versus a Gentile, or the Gentiles are better versus the Jews. All of you are under condemnation and have fallen short of the glory of God.

And this is not a new concept Paul is going to point out, but it's actually spoken about even in the Old Testament. Paul quotes from the Psalms where he says in verses 10 through 12, none is righteous, not one, no one understands, no one seeks for God.

All have turned aside, together they have become worthless, there is no one who does good, not even one person. And now, having brought all men under the condemnation of the law, this is a great place for Paul to go, sincerely yours, Paul, and leave them in just this hopeless dread.

But he begins to give his redeemers hope. And beginning with that famous verse, Romans 3 .23, he says, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace. Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith.

Propitiation means that Christ satisfied the wrath of God, and this is the gospel. Paul will continue this concept of justification by faith into chapter 4, where he gives examples from the Old Testament, namely Abraham and David.

Being justified by faith alone is not a new concept. It's not like the gospel introduced some new doctrine. This has been the teaching of God's word since the first book of the Bible. In verse 3, he says, for what does the scripture say?

Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness. The promise of God to Abraham was realized through faith, and so it is with his offspring as well. In verses 22 to 35, Paul says, that is why his faith was counted to him as righteousness.

But the words, it was counted to him, were not written for his sake, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him, who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Chapter 5 begins with the section on our expectation, but first, Paul summarizes his argument on justification by faith alone. Verse 1, chapter 5, verse 1, therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

You're probably very familiar with verse 8, but God shows his love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. It is also in this chapter where Paul will explain the doctrine that we call original sin.

This is the first sin that was committed by Adam, and how all of us who are born in the line of Adam are born with his sin nature. But in Christ, we receive a new nature. And just as through one man death came into the world, also through one man will come life and the forgiveness of sins.

We are dead in Adam, but we are made alive in Christ. In chapter 6, Paul makes the argument that if we are dead to sin and alive to God through Jesus Christ, then we must not live in those works that our sinful dead selves were accustomed to.

But if we've been raised to new life, then we must walk in new life. No longer are we to be slaves to unrighteousness, but instead we are to be slaves to righteousness. And the chapter ends with another famous verse, kind of have the gospel wrapped up in this verse, Romans 6 .23, for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Chapter 7 is a complicated chapter, and one chapter of Romans that is perhaps the most debated chapter after chapter 9. And I won't go into the specifics of that one here. We'll wait for that until later.

But basically, the argument that Paul lays out in chapter 7 is this. Throughout the first six chapters, he's been saying, you're justified not by your works. You're justified by faith in Christ. Your justification is a work that God has done, because he has been merciful to you.

It's not by your efforts, but by God's mercy. So just as you don't justify yourself, so Paul says in chapter 7, you also don't sanctify yourself. Your sanctification even is also the work of God. Lest we get this idea that I've become a Christian, I've put my faith in Jesus Christ, and he saved me, but now I guess the rest is up to me.

Now I've got to work to make myself holy. Now I've got to work to keep myself in salvation lest I lose it. No, that's not even your work either. Even God is working at you through your sanctification also.

Chapter 7 ends with Paul kind of grappling with himself, struggling and desiring to want to do the holy thing, but can't seem to get it right. And he says, who will save me from this body of death? And the answer, another body of death, but that body being Christ's.

Praise be to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Paul says. And so that chapter, again, pointing us to the work of God, even in our sanctification, even in our being made holy, our growing in the doctrine of justification that was laid out in the beginning of the book.

So then when we get to chapter 8, and we start with this beautiful verse, Romans 8, 1, one that I think every believer should have memorized. There is therefore now no condemnation for all who are in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8 is one of the most glorious chapters of the Bible, emphasizing the ministry of the Holy Spirit who intercedes for us in our weaknesses, in our struggles, and in our suffering. Sometimes we might even struggle to wonder what words we should pray.

And the Holy Spirit groans for us in groanings that are too deep for words. This all culminates with knowing that God works all things together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose.

A beloved verse, but also one that is often misused and misapplied, Romans 8, 28. The good that he is ultimately working us toward is being conformed to the image of Christ. It says in verse 29, and nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

That's the beautiful assurance that we are given at the conclusion of chapter 8. But then we get to the hotly debated Romans 9, and this begins with an expression of sorrow. Paul weeps for the Israelites who have rejected the proclamation of the gospel which came first to them.

But does that mean that the word of God has failed? God gave his promises to the Israelites, they rejected the gospel. So is the word of God failed? No, Paul says. He will accomplish his purposes for all whom he had chosen from the beginning.

And then Paul points out that it has always been God's sovereign choice. He points to Abraham, who he called out from pagans. He points to Isaac and to Jacob, who were not the firstborn sons. And when the scripture says, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated, it's not Esau I hated, that's the shocking statement.

But Jacob I loved is the shocking statement. Man has nothing to boast in himself. There are men God has raised up only to tear them down to show his mighty power through them, that he might show the full range of his glory, not only in those whom he saves, but also in those whom he destroys.

And Paul gives Pharaoh as an example there. As God said to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. And no one can point the finger at God and say, why have you made me like this?

For who are you, O man, to answer back to God? He is called not only from the Jews, but also from the Gentiles. And only a remnant will be saved. That's in verse 27. Now, even though it is by God's sovereign choosing, chapter 10 so wonderfully states that the message of salvation is for everyone.

I remember once hearing a preacher say, you can't preach Romans chapter nine without sounding like John Calvin. And you can't preach Romans chapter 10 without sounding like Billy Graham. How can a person know if he is among God's elect?

Romans 10, nine tells us, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart, one believes and is justified.

And with the mouth, one confesses and is saved. In chapter 11, Paul mentions the remnant of Israel whom God will save. He paints for us a picture of a cultivated olive tree. There are branches that have been cut off because of their unfaithfulness toward God.

Other branches have been grafted in, which is in reference to the Gentiles who have come to faith in Christ. But some of those that have been cut off, they also will be grafted back in if they believe in and trust in Jesus.

This doctrine portion of Romans in the first 11 chapters concludes with this great doxology unto the Lord, which we looked at a couple of weeks ago when we were doing our section on the doctrine of solideo gloria, to God alone be the glory.

And the doctrine section of Romans ends with this statement, for from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever, amen. So I remember hearing Burke Parsons say that this is salvation, this is the doctrine of salvation or soteriology rather summarized.

We are saved by him, for him, from him, to him in Jesus Christ our Lord. And reminding us once again that salvation is from beginning to end the gracious work of God. Now, that is the doctrine section, chapters one through 11.

And having read this extensive argument of justification by faith, we next go to reading about living by faith. And chapters 12 through 16 are about how the Christian lives in light of the gospel that has just been presented.

In chapter 12, we begin by reading that we are to give our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to the Lord. And this is our spiritual act of worship. Jesus gave his body to die for us. We are to give our living bodies unto God as a spiritual act of worship.

We also read of that body that is called the church and how we are all individually members of it. Of course, we are to love fellow believers, but then Paul also explains that we are to love even our enemies.

In chapter 13, we read about how we are subject to governing authorities who are all appointed by God. Paul comes back again to loving your neighbor. For love is the fulfilling of the law, he says. And in all things, we are to put on Christ and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires.

So a call to holiness, to live in holiness, to abstain from sin, to love others. Chapter 14 is a chapter on what we sometimes refer to as the liberty of conscience or Christian liberty. These are things that we as Christians may differ on, but we're not to be divided from one another over these differences of opinion.

The two things in particular that Paul singles out as examples are with regard to days and food. Whoever eats, eats in honor of the Lord. Whoever abstains from certain foods, abstains in honor of the Lord, but each of us will give an account of himself to God.

That's verse 12. Let everyone be fully convinced in his own mind and do not use your liberty in such a way that you would cause your brother or sister to stumble in sin. In chapter 15, Paul renews this thought that we who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves.

Let each of us please his neighbor for his good to build him up, verses one and two. And this is following the example of Christ who gave himself for us. Verse seven says, therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you for the glory of God.

Paul presents himself as an example to the service of the saints and he expresses again his desire to come to them and to minister to them. Then in chapter 16, as things are coming to a close, Paul mentions a list of saints who send greetings to this church.