8/7/23 - Paul Reveals His Identity - Romans 1:1-7 - Pastor Jason Fritz

It is with great excitement that I write this update to you! Beginning this Sunday, we start a new verse by verse study in the book of Romans. This is one of the most life-changing letters in the entire Bible. We will be swimming in the deep end of the spiritual pool. If you come each week I promise you will understand God more and your faith will significantly increase. 

It was Romans that brought about the conversion of Augustine in 386 AD. Many years later in 1515 it was Romans that brought Martin Luther, an Augustinian monk, to a proper understanding of what it means to be in a right relationship with God. He stated, “This letter is the chief book of the New Testament, the purest Gospel. It deserves not only to be known word for word by every Christian, but to be the subject of his meditation day by day, the daily bread of his soul." Theologian John Calvin said, "When anyone understands this letter, he has a passage opened to him to the understandings of the whole scriptures.” More than any other book in the Bible, Romans is used to explain who man is, who God is and what a proper relationship between the two looks like. Biblical scholars are virtually unanimous on the towering significance and contribution of this writing.

One of the major themes is grace. We are going to hear the apostle Paul use this word a lot. Let’s understand what it means…grace is God’s unmerited favor toward you. In other words, God did not choose you to be on his team because he saw something special in you. He didn’t say, “Because you are so likable, I’ll assign you to be on my side." There was nothing in us that caused God to draw us to himself. Rather, just as God did with Paul, he chose to call us in the midst of our rebellion.

When a person works an eight-hour day and receives a fair pay for his or her time, that is a wage. When a person competes with an opponent and receives a trophy for the performance, that is a prize. When a person receives appropriate recognition for long service or high achievements, that is an award. But when a person is not capable of earning a wage, can win no prize, and deserves no award—yet receives such a gift anyway—that is a good picture of God’s unmerited favor. This is what we mean when we talk about the grace of God in Jesus Christ. 

Paul was a saint just like you. According to the Bible, a saint is one who has placed his or her faith in Christ. This has big implications because we function based on how we identify. Paul explains, in chapter 1 and verse 5 “...we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith.” Notice the identity of sainthood brings about the function of obedience to Jesus. This is our true identity brothers and sisters, so let’s walk accordingly!