The Good News

The Good News

# Reason for this study- “You can’t have grace if you haven’t heard where we came from, then we’re saved from the wrath of God.”

Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

• Since we understand the bad news, we realize that everyone has sinned, no one has been perfect except for Jesus Christ. 

Romans 3:24-25 “And are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.”

• God gave us Jesus Christ as a gift. The greatest gift ever. He gave us his only son who lived a perfect life, took our sin, and died for those who believe in him! There is no better gift! (John 3:16-18, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4) 
• Jesus’s blood was shed on the cross so that we may live! (Romans 5:9)
• God did this because he loves us even though his people are going in the wrong direction (Romans 5:9)... So this shows us his righteousness; because of Christ, and if we believe, God passes over our sins.

Romans 3:28 “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.”

• You cannot be saved by works. You can only be saved through faith in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Romans 4:4 “Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due.”

• For those who do good works, they are expected to do these works as they claim they are Christian. It is our duty as Christians to do good works for His name and not our own.

Romans 4:13 “For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.”

• Abraham gained his righteousness from God just through faith in God. He didn’t have to do anything physical but to show God his faith and trust in him. (Story on Abraham sacrificing his son Isaac as proof of faith- Genesis 22)

Romans 4:15 “For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.” 

• The law brings wrath on those who think they obey it. It is impossible to live perfectly under the law. If you believe that you are living under the law, then you are being justified by works. Like you are saving yourself. However if there wasn’t a law in place there would be no reason for transgression- breaking the law. So then there would be no point of a savior!

Romans 4:16 “That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring--not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all...”

• By having faith in Jesus, God guarantees his grace to us. The promise of God is that if we have faith in Jesus, God will give us grace. (John 3:16, 2 Peter 1:2, James 4:6, Romans 3:24, John 1:17)

Romans 4: 24 “... 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.”

• commenting on verses 20-23... saying “it was counted to him” was not just a word of God for Abraham, but also for those who believe and have faith in Jesus, who died for our sins and was raised as proof to everyone that Jesus is Lord (1 John 4:14).
• If Jesus didn’t raise from the dead, then Christianity would be a hoax and we would not have salvation.

Romans 5: 6 “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.”

• Saying that we were weak (read the bad news and you know we were weak) or lacking moral strength which pins us just like the ungodly. So Christ died for us to give us strength. 

Romans 5: 7-8 “For one will scarcely die for a righteous person-- though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die-- but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” 

• As humans, one may die for a morally good person. But God’s love is completely different. God didn’t die for morally good people. Instead he died for everyone who is unrighteous. 

Romans 5: 1-2 “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin shall still live in it?”

• Just because we asked Jesus to take control of our life and are considered free from sin doesn’t mean we can continue in sin because our sin is forgiven (Hebrews 3:14, 2 John 1:9, Romans 11:22).

Romans 6: 6-7 “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin.” 

• Our sin was crucified on the cross like Christ was crucified. Therefor we are dead to sin. Not physically dead but our old self, old ways, old lifestyle, etc. are dead. When the Holy Spirit came into our heart, we were swept clean. 
• We are also no longer slaves to sin, sin does not control us. So we leave our old sinful ways - Romans 6:11-23

Romans 6: 24 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

• Sin leads to hell, but thanks to God he gave us a “free gift” which is eternal life for those who have faith in Him.

Romans 8: 1-2 “There is therefor now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.”

Romans 8: 31 “What then shall we say to those things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”

• Therefor we should not be afraid or ashamed of anything because we are guaranteed life and no one can take that away. (John 10:28)
• check romans 8:38-39

Romans 8: 38-39 “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 creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord.”

• Simple... God loves us :) and if we truly believe in Him, then nothing can separate us from His love

***Romans 10: 9-10 “because, 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.” 

• When we bow down and repent our sins and confess with our mouth, then we will be saved. 
• We must also believe in our heart and not just give a soft fluffy “im sorry God” and get rid of our guilt, we must bow down and repent our sin because we now understand that we offended God in our past. We ask for forgiveness (1 John 1:9).
• This is the key to being saved. True repentance and faith in our loving God

Romans 10: 12-13 “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

• It doesn’t matter what our ethnic background is, who we are, or what we have done in the past. There is only one God and he is the God of all. If we believe in Him we will be saved.

** So after we repent of our sins, and ask for forgiveness and pray for Jesus to come take over our lives... where do we go from here? Well check out Romans 12- 15! Gives us clear instructions on what we are to do as Christians. I hope that you have made that decision and if you have and are struggling in faith, its time to ask for forgiveness and forget about the past. We only have one life, don’t make that mistake. 

Song of the Day! Click here --> Strong Tower- Kutless

The Bad News

Our Salvation

Romans: The Bad News- Recognizing our sin- Written by Paul

• The process of human thinking- How it all starts:

Romans 1:18 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.”

-Ungodliness: not accepting God or a particular religious doctrine; irreligious; atheistic (dictionary.com)

-Unrighteousness: sinful; wicked 

• Paul has started by explaining everyone has sinned (also see Rom. 3:23)
• All sinners suppress or keep the truth from being known. No one wants to hear they are sinners and destined for hell. So people suppress the truth so the issue never comes up.
• However even though God’s “eternal power and divine nature” are invisible we are without excuse from knowing his existence because of the creation of the world and “things that have been made” (Rom 1:20)

Romans 1:21 “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

• Ever since the creation of Adam and Eve we knew a higher being existed. 
• Our main purpose in life is to worship and glorify Him (Isaiah 43:6-7), however we missed the mark and became “futile” (purposeless) in our thinking.
• With “futile” thinking, we have no purpose in what we do, so we fled from the light of God. We are left with a “darkened” heart.

Romans 1: 22-23 “Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.”

• We pretend like we know what we are doing and why we are here and because of this we give up God for worldly things that God created such as “mortal man (famous people, anyone we strive to be like) and birds and animals and creeping things (false idols or Gods humans worship like in tribes, etc.)- “because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever!” (Romans 1:25)
• We do this all the time, wanting to be like MJ, Tiger Woods, Carrie Underwood, etc. These are mortal people that give us no promises or sense of security. Instead of following God we break his first commandment! (Exodus 20 1-17 and 22-23).

Romans 1:29-32 “They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.” 

• I think you get the idea. We are a sinful being. Thus God has every right to condemn us (“those who practice such things deserve to die”- sent to hell). 
• God has every right to send us to hell because we chose to worship the world instead of Him

Romans 2:1-3 “Therefore you have no excuse, O man, everyone of you who judges. For in passing judgement on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. Do you suppose, O man-- you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself-- that you will escape the judgement of God?”

• Anyone who judges another is just “condemning” themselves because we who judge are acting as if we haven’t done those same sins as the person we are judging. A.K.A. Hypocrisy (John 8:1-12, Matthew 7:5)
• We all fall short (Romans 3:23) so we are a sinful people. Since we are not perfect (Jesus) we have no right to judge another.

Romans 2: 9-11 “There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.” 

• Anyone who goes against God’s commands does evil, no matter who you are or where you are from. Therefore “God shows no partiality.” (Amos 3:2)
• Do not get fooled when the scripture here says “but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good.” Paul is talking about those who do good in faith by what Christ did for us on the cross. This “good” is proof of genuine faith (Galatians 5:6, James 2:14-26)

Romans 2: 14-15 “For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them...”

• Saying that those who do not know God’s law live by a moral code somehow given to them; so God’s law is written on their hearts without them knowing Him. This is where our morals come from when we were a non-believer (gentile).
• ex.) Obeying our parents, doing good deeds, abstaining from sex, etc. People still do these things even though they are non-believers

Romans 2: 23-24 “You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. For, as it is written, ‘The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because off you.’”

• We who call ourselves Christians and proclaim the Lord’s name can dishonor God because we break his law (Look at verses 17-22). If we proclaim his name and still live in satan’s lie, we are dishonoring God. 
• If we live immoral lives and claim his name, then non-believers see this and they are pushed away. ex.) if you are leading someone to Christ, and then they see you out drunk and acting like a fool, that person would be hurt and frustrated that they listened to a hypocrite and they may talk with others about Christians in a bad way.

Romans 2: 25 “For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision.” 

• Before Christ was born, circumcision was God’s physical sign of righteousness with Abraham for his faith (Genesis 17: 9-14). 
• If we are physically circumcised and we obey the law, then all is good. However we are sinners and if we do not have the holy spirit in our hearts, we break the law. So no matter if we are physically circumcised or not, we are condemned. A.k.a. “your circumcision becomes uncircumcision.” 
• Circumcision to the Christian is being circumcised in the heart; meaning we uphold God’s law and we trust in Him, living according to his purpose. (We have received the Holy Spirit. Romans 2: 29)

Romans 2: 29 “But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.” 

• The true mark of a Christian is not the physical mark of the body (circumcision) but of the regenerating of the heart through the Holy Spirit.
• We are not Christian just because someone tells us we are. Only God can save us and no man can save us. (John 5: 41-44, 1 Corinthians 4: 1-5)

Romans 3: 5 “But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? By no means! For then how could God judge the world?"

• How can we show the glory of God through sin? It is impossible because God is perfect. It would be a sin for us to show his Glory by doing what is wrong. 
• If we are showing God’s righteousness by doing what is wrong, how can He then judge us? It wouldn’t make sense. Ex. If you kill someone and then say, Judge Matthews is a righteous judge who demands justice, how could he/she set you free?

Romans 3: 9 “What then? Are we jews and better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin...”

• No matter what race, religion, etc. we are all charged under sin in Gods eyes. (Romans 3: 10-19) 

Romans 3: 19-20 “Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.”

• We now understand that we are all under the law and because we all have the law in us, we all will be judged by God.
• If we did good works according to the law, we think we are good morally. However we are not justified in God’s sight because we do not have the spirit in us (Isaiah 64:6).
• We are not justified because the law shows us that we are unrighteous. If the law showed us that we are righteous, then there would be no purpose for Jesus (Galatians 2:21).

This is all bad news that is very hard and convicting to us…It shows us how weak we are. But thank the Lord for the Good News! coming up next blog post :)


Song of the Day! Click- Forgiveness, Toby Mac ft. Lecrae