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Grace: It really is Amazing Romans 1:5 |
January 25, 2004 Pastor Tom Marcum |
From time to time I find myself at a party or a gathering where the board games come out. While I rarely play such games I usually have a great time whenever I do. I enjoy intellectually challenging games like Trivial Pursuit. I enjoy a variety of card games. I especially love all kinds of word games. And for sheer mindless fun I enjoy a game called, Jenga.
Jenga begins with a set of identical wooden blocks carefully stacked to form a tower. The game proceeds as each player in turn, removes a block of their choosing. The game continues from player to player until one player is finally forced to remove a block that causes the tower to come crashing down. It's amazing how much fun can be had with nothing more than a few blocks of wood and some good friends.
Two weeks ago, we began an open-ended journey into what I described as the "deep waters" of the book of Romans. And, today, we're going to take a look at what may very well be the most pivotal word in the entire book. That word is, "grace."
Like that quintessentially important block of wood in the game of Jenga… that block of wood that ultimately proves to be key to the integrity of the entire tower of blocks, grace is the quintessential presence in the book of Romans. If you understand all that Paul means when he talks about grace you will likely understand the book of Romans. But if you misunderstand this word, Romans will forever be a mystery to you. If you try to pull grace out of Romans, this whole, incredible book will come crashing down like a poorly supported tower of blocks.
So, with that in mind, let's resume our journey.
"Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be Son of god with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name…" Romans 1:1-5 (NRSV)
I. THE NATURE OF GRACE
A few moments ago, I described grace as the quintessential presence in the book of Romans. We meet this quintessential presence for the first time in verse 5. And as we do so, let's think first about THE NATURE OF GRACE.
Ask the average man on the street to define grace and you'll likely hear that grace is a beauty of movement, or grace is an elegance of manner or that grace is the prayer that some people say before they eat. Those are common understandings of the concept of grace in our contemporary culture. But none of those notions is even remotely related to the biblical concept of grace that Paul is writing about.
A. Grace Comes to us Through Christ
Those of you who have been with us these past 2 weeks will remember that as we come to verse 5, Paul has just told us that Jesus is the focus of the gospel-God's plan for our salvation and that Jesus' resurrection established Him in power as the triumphant, reigning Son of God. And it's against that context that he says, here in verse 5, "…through whom we have received grace…" So, the FIRST thing we need to understand about the nature of grace is that GRACE COMES TO US THROUGH CHRIST. Jesus Christ, the crucified, resurrected Son of God is the means by which each and every one of us can have access to the grace of God.
Last week I said that if you take Jesus out of the gospel it ceases to be Good News. Now we've just identified one of the reasons why that is so. If you take Jesus out of the gospel you also have to take grace out of the gospel, because grace comes to us through Christ. And, folks, a gospel without grace is anything but Good News.
B. Grace is a Gift from God
The SECOND thing we need to understand about the nature of grace is that GRACE IS A GIFT FROM GOD. From top to bottom and inside and out, grace is a free gift from God. It is ALL about what Jesus has done for us and NOTHING about what we have done for ourselves. How do we know that? Because Paul has just told us that grace comes to us "through" Christ.
Folks, if grace comes to us through Christ, that means that it does NOT come to us through our hard work or through our good deeds or through our best efforts. It means that it does not come through us at all. We have access to God's grace because Jesus was obedient to God even to the point of sacrificing His life for us AND because God raised him from the dead.
So, here's what we've learned about the nature of grace: Grace is a gift from God that comes to us through Christ.
II. THE PERSONALIZED POWER OF GRACE
Now, let's move from the nature of grace to consider THE PERSONALIZED POWER OF GRACE. Here in verse 5, Paul identifies 2 specific ways by which the grace of God is personalized in power for each of us. He writes, "…through whom we have received grace AND APOSTLESHIP…"
A. The Power of Grace Personalized in Ministry
Two weeks ago, we saw that God called Paul to do the work of an apostle; Paul was called to speak as God's representative. And Paul also told us that God not only called him to do this work, but he also equipped Him for the work. Now, in verse 5, Paul tells us that God's calling and His equipping are both expressions of God's grace. And as we read other of Paul's writings we see that this is a theme that Paul takes up on several occasions.
In Romans 15:15-16, for instance, Paul writes of, "…the grace God gave me to be a minister of Christ Jesus…" So, grace ushered Paul into God's service and then grace empowered him to be effective in that service. And, folks, this is one of the places where the power of grace is personalized for each of us because the same thing is true for each of us.
Grace is more than just the means by which we are saved. GRACE IS also THE MEANS BY WHICH WE ARE INVITED AND EMPOWERED TO BE SERVANTS OF GOD.
--In Paul's case, the primary means by which he served God was as an apostle.
--In my case, the primary means by which I serve God is as a pastor.
Your primary means of service to God may be as an encourager, a teacher, a giver or a helper. God may have given you the gift of hospitality, the gift of discernment, the gift of mercy. Or it may be that your primary gift is in praying for others or a variety of other forms of service. Here's the key point: each of us have been given gifts of grace that empower us to offer meaningful service to God.
And this, again, is something about which Paul writes on numerous occasions. In Roman 12:6, for instance, he writes, "We have different gifts, according to the grace given us."
So, by His grace God calls all of us, His children, into His service.
And by His grace God empowers all of us, His children, to be effective in whatever service He calls us to do.
B. The Power of Grace Personalized in Obedience
Now, as we continue reading in verse 5, Paul tells us that the power of grace is also personalized in OBEDIENCE. And he does this by joining together 3 key words in a single, brief phrase. The key words are "grace," "obedience" and "faith." And Paul joins those key words together like this, "…we have received grace…to bring about the obedience of faith…" And the question that has stirred great debate among biblical scholars is this:
What is the relationship of each of these key words to the other?
How do "grace," "obedience" and "faith" connect with one another?
Without counting myself among that list of biblical scholars, let me offer the best explanation that this pastor can make.
--Paul has already told us that grace is the power that enables our service to God.
--And clearly obedience is a foundational act of service to God.
--And that means that true obedience to God is not something that we can accomplish on our own but, rather, true obedience must always be empowered by grace.
--And what is it that makes it possible for any of us to trust the sufficiency of God's grace? The answer is, faith. So, put it all together and it comes down to this: by faith I trust that God's grace will enable me to do what I could never do on my own, namely, walk in obedience to God.
Or, if you would allow me to personalize all of this in the form of a prayer it would probably sound like this: "Father, I know You want me to be obedient…and the truth is that I'd love to be obedient. But I've been trying to be obedient to You for a very long time now and it turns out that I'm not very good at it. I'm just too weak. Even the best of my efforts tend to end up in miserable failures. So, Lord, I'm going to need Your help. You've already forgiven me and saved me and now it looks like…if obedience is what You want from me…You're going to have to help me there, too." And God says to me, "Trust me. Let me introduce you to your new best friend, 'Grace.'"
So, the second way that we see the power of grace personalized is in our obedience. Our obedience is an expression of the power of God's grace in our lives.
III. The End of Grace
So, we started by taking a look at The Nature of Grace. Then, we moved on to consider The Personalized Power of Grace. Now, as we move to the end of verse 5 we want to spend some time thinking about, THE END OF GRACE. The goal towards which grace is leading. Paul concludes verse 5 like this, "…through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles…(and that simply means that the Good News of Jesus Christ was not for the Jews alone, but for everyone) …for the sake of his name."
Key phrase: "for the sake of his name." Folks, the ultimate goal of all of God's dealings with mankind is summed up in that single phrase, "for the sake of his name." From the very beginning to this very day all of God's actions towards mankind have been and continue to be directed toward this goal: that His name would be known by all people, reverenced by all people and praised by all people above all else. That's what God is up to in our world. All of God's actions involving you and me are designed to bring about the same end: that we will praise the name of the Lord above all other names.
Now, folks, I want you to let that sink in for a few moments because it is profoundly important that you clearly understand this truth about God.
--To begin with, it's profoundly important that you understand it simply because it is true. Folks, knowing the truth about God is just about as important as anything I can imagine. If there's anything we want to get absolutely right, it's our understanding of God.
--But, folks, it's also profoundly important that you understand this truth because misunderstanding it has led countless numbers of people to reject God altogether when they have concluded that they could not possibly worship a god whose greatest desire is to draw attention to himself. And, on strictly human terms, their logic makes perfect sense.
Any person so self-focused is considered conceited at best and pathologically narcissistic at worst. Surely, then, if it's unhealthy for a person to be so self-absorbed then it is infinitely worse for a god to be self-absorbed.
--How, these people wonder, could anyone possibly worship such a god?
--What are we to think of a god whose greatest desire is to draw attention to Himself?
These are serious questions deserving serious answers and it's critically important for us, the children of God, to be able to provide meaningful responses. And there are 2 keys that can help us do that.
The first key is this: If God's motivation for having His name praised was simply to wallow in the admiration of others, then these folk might have a point. But, folks, God's interest in having His name praised is not for His own benefit, but for ours. Romans 10:13 sheds useful light here as it says, "Every one who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved." Do you want to know why God is so singularly focused on seeing all of mankind praise His name? It's because God's passionate desire is that all of mankind would be saved. Folks, God's actions don't grow out of an overly active ego. God's actions grow out of His unwavering love for us. And it's absolutely critical that we understand that.
And that brings us to the second key, which is the realization that praising God is the greatest delight in all of life for those of us who love the Lord. Praising God isn't some loathsome chore to which we are dragged kicking and screaming. Folks, when you're in love with someone, the greatest joys of all are found in those opportunities that allow us to express our love.
So, with those 2 keys in mind, let's reconsider God's desire to see His name praised by all people.
Is God working round the clock to get mankind to praise Him? Yes. But, folks, for those who don't yet know Him that just means that God is working non-stop to lead them to salvation. And I have no problem whatsoever in worshiping such a God.
Is God working round the clock to get mankind to praise Him? Yes. But, folks, for those of us who do know Him, that just means that God is working non-stop to lead us to do the very thing that we most enjoy. And I have no problem whatsoever in worshiping such a God.
Conclusion
Through Christ, God has given us the gift of His grace.
--Grace that saves us.
--Grace that invites and enables us to serve Him in meaningful ways.
--Grace that empowers us to walk daily in obedience to God.
--Grace that empowers us to express our love for God through praise.
"O, Father, how can we ever thank You for the gift of grace?"
© Copyright 2004 Pastor Tom Marcum