religion

Romans 1:1-7: An Intro to the Gospel

/ Neal Embry

Welcome to 2017! I’m grateful for all of you taking time to read this, and hope you’ll stick with me through Romans, a few select Psalms, Hebrews and maybe more this year. Romans is a lofty beginning to the new year, but by God’s grace, I plan to move through it and help us see and enjoy God’s glory and be better equipped to obey Him and make much of Him.

“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.”–1:1-7

If we’re going to understand Romans, we need to understand a few things about the author, Paul. Paul is a key figure in the first-century church, as he planted many churches and wrote 13 books of the New Testament. Paul, also known as Saul, was a former persecutor of Christians until God saved him on the road to Damascus. Here’s how Paul describes himself in these opening verses:

  1. A servant of Christ Jesus. Paul understands that his life isn’t about him, but about Jesus. The Greek word for servant or bondservant typically describes a slave who can’t get away from his masters, but Paul uses the Hebrew sense to describe how he submitted to a master he loves and trusts.
  2. Apostle: Apostle means “one who is sent,” and is generally used only in reference to the original 12 and those who saw Jesus face to face. Paul saw Jesus when Jesus stopped him in his tracks on the way to Damascus. Now, Paul is sent out to tell people who Jesus is.
  3. Set apart for the gospel of God: Paul gets that the gospel is more important than anything else. He has been set apart for a specific purpose: to honor Jesus by sharing and spreading the gospel.

So what is this gospel, and what is it about? Maybe you’re new to my site and haven’t ready any posts before, and you have no clue what I’m talking about. Maybe you’re wondering why Paul would describe himself in this way. Maybe you’ve just forgotten what Christianity is all about.

Paul can’t contain himself. He immediately, in the opening verses, jumps into the gospel. Gospel means “good news,” so Paul believes his role, as given by God, is to preach the good news of Christ. But he understands that the gospel has been promised long before he was born. Indeed, the gospel was promised beforehand and taught through the Old Testament (“through his prophets in the holy Scriptures”). The Old Testament serves the purpose of pointing us to God’s promise of a Savior, our need for a Savior, and how God sovereignly brings that Savior about.

Secondly, and most importantly, the Gospel is about Jesus. That’s why Paul writes that the gospel is “concerning his (God’s) Son.”

The gospel is not about what I do for God, but what God has done for me in sending Christ, His Son, to die in my place. The gospel is not about going to church, but Jesus Christ dying on the cross and rising from the grave to create a new people, the church, for Himself. The gospel is not about trying harder or doing better, but being rescued by Christ despite my sin, and continuing to be rescued despite my ongoing battle with sin. That’s the gospel…the grace of God given through the person and work of Jesus Christ for all who will place their trust in Him and commit to Him as Lord!

Here, Paul describes Jesus as both God and King. He is King because He “descended from David.” David was an Old Testament king, and while he was a great king, he pales in comparison to Jesus. But Jesus comes through his line and is the rightful king of the universe. Jesus is also both fully God, as shown through the resurrection. So the gospel is about how Jesus is both God and man, and because of that resurrection, has gained victory over sin and death.

The question you have to answer, that we all have to answer, is what are we going to do with Jesus?

In the last few verses, Paul lays out some of the implications of the gospel for us.

He says we have received “grace and apostleship” through Jesus. We have received grace, that is, we have received forgiveness of our sins and eternal life with God though we did not deserve it if we trust in Christ’s work on the cross and in the resurrection. While the role of an apostle is no longer in use today, we have been sent to go share this news with others, so they may learn to obey Jesus with us.

By using the phrase “obedience of faith,” Paul teaches that we obey God by trusting Jesus, while also teaching that faith leads to obedience. We are not saved by our works or by our obedience, but those who are saved exhibit obedience and a desire to serve God.

In verses 6 and 7, Paul says we are called to belong to Jesus, and says we are called to be saints. What a great identity! We belong, not to sin or death, not to our parents or our bosses, but to the King of the universe! We are saints…not just sinners or losers or the outcast, but saints in the kingdom of God!

We must let our identity determine our behavior. We should obey God, not because we want Him to love us, but because He does. We act like saints because we are saints. We act like people who belong to God, not because we want to, but because we already do belong to God!

New Year’s Day is a day where many make resolutions. As a Christian, don’t make your resolutions thinking they will make you better-looking in the eyes of God. Make resolutions to love Him and change your behavior and live better for Him because of what He has already done for you!

As we continue walking through Romans this year, we’ll explore more and more of the gospel, and more and more of God’s glory. I hope you continue this journey with me.

Lord, may we remember who we are in you. May we remember who you are, and may our remembrance of your grace and your glory lead to joyful obedience and an increased love for you. May we honor you better, praise you louder and make more disciples in 2017 than we ever have before.

God bless,

Neal E.

Jesus is Better than Santa Claus

/ Neal Embry

Christmas is finally here! This morning, many of you tore into presents, and spent time with family and friends, and, hopefully, spent time worshiping the Lord.

For many kids, they awoke to find presents from “Santa Claus.” They waited for the mythical man from the North Pole to come down through the chimney with lots of toys.

But I want to take time today, as in every day, to make much of Jesus and show that He is so much better than “Santa.” The gospel shows us how Jesus, in every way, surpasses jolly St. Nick.

SPOILER ALERT: There’s one obvious way Jesus is better than Santa Claus: Jesus is very much real, and Santa is not. While Santa represents St. Nicholas, who was real, and who was a godly man who was known for his generosity, the modern Santa Claus doesn’t exist. But Santa does represent, for many people, how we understand reality and different aspects of it, such as “being good vs. being bad,” our ideas of reward vs. punishment, and for some, even how we view God. The ideas and belief that sustain the idea of Santa Claus are important to understand and examine so we can show others that Jesus is so much better and that our hope is in the real Son of God.

To clarify, I’m not knocking anyone who lets their kids believe in Santa. If Santa is seen merely as a symbol of generosity and joy, and you want your kids to get a picture with Santa and partake of Christmas activities with their friends and classmates, go ahead. But as a Christian parent, you do have a responsibility to show and teach your children that Jesus is better than Santa Claus. You do have a responsibility to lead them to desire and love Jesus more than they do Santa Claus.

Reason #1 Jesus is better than Santa: Santa teaches kids to be good in order to get presents and promises bad kids that they’ll get coal in their stocking. Jesus came to forgive bad children and bad adults, and, though we don’t deserve it, He rewards us with eternal life and fellowship with God.

“You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, I’m telling you why…Santa Claus is coming to town.” I’m not sure who wrote this song, and I’m not sure what they did for a living, but I feel it’s safe to assume they didn’t spend a lot of time around kids. Children cry and pout….a lot. They don’t watch out, rather, they do what they want to do. Children, as great as they are, are sinners. And if Santa was real and lived up to his decree in this song, and others, no child would receive Christmas presents.

What about Jesus?

“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”–Rom. 5:8

While we were actively disobeying God and telling Him “no,” God the Son came and gave His life for us on the cross, taking all of our sin and the wrath of God and laying it in the grave. Santa cannot and did not do that. Jesus gives grace to bad people, which is all of us.

Reason #2 Jesus is better than Santa: Santa gives us stuff. Jesus gives us Himself.

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”–John 10:10-11

I write my posts a day early, so as I’m typing this, it’s 11 p.m. on Christmas Eve (I know, Santa won’t come until I go to sleep…working on it). I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited about opening presents tomorrow. I like receiving gifts as much as anyone. But 80 years from now, if I’m still kicking at 105, I doubt those gifts will be useful. And while that won’t stop me from being grateful to my Mom and others who sacrifice of their own resources to give me things I don’t deserve, and won’t stop me from using and enjoying the gifts now, the reality of eternity makes me realize that Jesus is better than any gift.

He lays His life down for us so we can be forgiven, so we can know God. He gives us His righteousness, and His body, so we can be saved, and then after He rises from the grave, He comes and leads us in new life, eternal life.

That skateboard Santa’s bringing just doesn’t compare.

Reason #3 Jesus is better than Santa: Santa makes a list and checks it twice, to make sure we’ve “earned” our presents. In Christ, there are no such lists.

Santa goes to great lengths to make sure bad kids don’t get presents, according to those lyrics. He’s going to check it twice, just to make sure someone undeserving doesn’t sneak his or her way on there.

But in Christ, we have forgiveness. Our sins are gone, and we have been redeemed. Jesus doesn’t just know when we’re sleeping or when we’re awake…He knows the depths of our hearts and the wickedness of our sin, and He still chose to die for us. 

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.”–Eph. 1:7

In Christ, there is no list. We have been forgiven; we are loved, just as we are. There is no coal in the stocking. There is no command to be good in order to get presents, but rather a promise that we who are in Christ have received “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,” by God’s grace, not our efforts. Now, we obey God because He loves us, not in order to get “stuff.”

The “Christmas spirit” is, because of Jesus, not Santa, one of joy and grace and love, because God has loved us when we did not love Him. Remember that this Christmas. Point your kids, and point yourself, to Jesus, who is so much better than Santa.

Merry Christmas!

Lord, may we worship you this Christmas. May we remember that you are the greatest gift. May we remember that you are better than “Santa,” so much better than legalism and any effort to be good to get something from you. May we remember your grace and reflect it to others.

God bless,

Neal E.