Lessons From Romans
Romans 1:1 (3/12/20)
March 12, 2020 • Benham Brothers
* Your business card does not define who you are. * What’s on your business card? * Your name, contact and company info, and your title. * Your title shows the thing you do, but says nothing about who you are and why you do it. * Paul’s business card looked a little different. * He typically opened his letters with his credentials. * Vs 1 - He put three things on there: * 1) WHO I am (identity) - “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus…” * He saw himself as a slave - the lowest of the low. * This put him in the position of servant-leader right out of the gate. * His one job was to do what the master wanted him to do - he was not his own. * 2) WHAT I do (calling) - “….called as an apostle…” * A slave was assigned a task to complete. * “Apostle” means “the person sent with full authority.” * An apostle was a catalyst, a creator, the person who set things up and established a firm foundation upon which something could be built. * An apostle downloaded God’s plan then entrusted faithful shepherds (pastors) to steward that plan. * Paul recognized his calling as a builder (he was prepped for it as a tent-maker). * He knew he was not to be the pastor. * 3) WHY I do it (mission) - “….set me apart with a mission to reveal God’s wonderful gospel.” * “Gospel” means “good news.” “News” means something happened you should know about. * God’s kingdom had come to earth and Jesus was King - that was the good news. * Paul’s WHY was so that the world would come to know Jesus! * Most people only talk about the second component - WHAT I do. * *** But if they don’t know the other two then it will lead to burnout. * Knowing these three things kept Paul from staying in one place and building a big church. * Here’s the KEY - all of us should have the same WHO and WHY as Paul, but what differentiates us is the WHAT. * So answer these questions: * WHO are you? * WHAT do you do? What’s your calling? * WHY do you do it?
Romans 1:1-7 (7/28/16)
July 28, 2016 • Benham Brothers
• Two of the greatest revivals in history were sparked by the book of Romans - the Protestant Reformation and the Wesleyan Revival. • The book is all about “righteousness” - how we can be in “right relationship” with God. • Paul is setting the stage for his most famous letter that establishes the foundation of Christianity. • He starts with an intro of Jesus - observe that he said: • 1) He was promised beforehand (vs 2) - everyone was looking for the Messiah. • 2) He was God’s Son (vs 3A) - not just a man, but God’s very own Boy. • 3) He was a King (vs 3B) - descended from the line of David, which meant royalty. • 4) He had power (vs 4) - He defeated Satan, sin, and death. • 5) He appointed leaders to spread the message and teach others to obey (vs 5) - you can’t be righteous unless you obey His Word. • vs 7 - Paul wanted believers to experience grace and peace. • Little do the readers know what they are about to read! • He power-hand slaps his readers with a scathing rebuke (vs 18-32). Why? • Because God’s grace & peace can’t be experienced apart from brokenness over sin. • Sean Connery in First Knight - “there is a peace that can only be found on the other side of war.”
Romans 1:9 (7/25/18)
July 25, 2018 • Benham Brothers
* Paul knew he was about to sharply rebuke the Romans. * Notice what he did before he brought the rebuke - he prayed for them. * We shouldn’t walk around mad at the world - we need to pray for them. * Then, if necessary, bring a proper rebuke. * When you pray for someone you gain the heart of the Lord for that person. * You begin to see them as God sees them. * Then, on that foundation of love, you will rebuke to restore. * That’s a proper rebuke.
Romans 1:14 (7/17/14)
July 17, 2014 • Benham Brothers
How you see yourself determines how you conduct yourself. Paul saw himself as a debtor to people. Why? Because of the price Jesus paid to set him free! Paul's life was spent honoring the One Who paid his debt! Imagine facing life in prison and the only way out was to pay 120 Billion dollars. Nobody could pay that. Then someone says, "I'll pay that debt under one condition; that every person you come into contact with on a regular basis you serve them in some way, and you do it in my name." You would see yourself indebted to this person forever! And you wouldn't worry about the reactions of the people because your focus is on honoring the man who set you free!
Romans 1:16 (7/30/15)
July 30, 2015 • Benham Brothers
Paul says this very popular verse just before he launches into one of the most controversial topics anyone could address. He was about to outline sin’s pattern, which was manifesting itself in sexual anarchy. The pattern: Deny Truth, Darkened Heart, Displace God, Degrading Passions, Depraved Mind. Then he ends with a rebuke for the Roman Christians for participating in this nonsense. Knowing what he was about to say to them, he quotes this verse. He then touches on the HOT TOPIC of the day - sexuality. He didn’t just do an in-depth teaching on how to become better people - he went right to the heart of the issue. Then he claimed that he wasn’t ashamed to do it. Why would he have to preface all of this with a verse like that if there wouldn’t be a massive push-back against what he was going to say? The same is true with us today - the hot topic is sexuality, and it’s time for God’s people to bring God’s truth into the mix.
Romans 1:17 (7/25/18)
July 25, 2018 • Benham Brothers
* Faith to Faith. * Our life with God starts with placing our faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. * This faith sets us free from sin. * This is the first faith. * Paul doesn’t say, “From faith to works.” * The second faith is one of living a life of faith for the rest of our lives. * Faith is “living without scheming.” * It’s trusting God and not relying on our own strength. * Our life with God started with faith and it will continue with faith. * Works are simply a byproduct of faith.
Romans 1:19-28 (7/17/14)
July 17, 2014 • Benham Brothers
1) vs 18 - They knew the law but refused to conform their lives to it - they wanted it to conform to them. Ungodliness breaks the first 5 commands / Unrighteousness breaks the second 5. 2) vs 19-20 - God makes Himself know inside each of us. Creation points God out to us but the voice within us reveals God to us. Animals do what they "want" but humans can do what we "ought" - this voice is a piece of God inside us. 3) vs 21-25 - They began to focus on the "things" of God instead of the God of things. It started with them not Praising nor Thanking God, even though they knew all things came from Him. 4) vs 24-26 - God gave them over to degrading passions. He let them follow the desire of their heart. Unchecked passion leads to depravity. 5) vs 26-27 - Their sin grew from natural sin to unnatural sin. Natural sin breaks one of God's moral laws, but unnatural sin breaks both a moral law and the law within our nature. Personal & National sin - even though not everyone was sinning "unnaturally" the nation of Rome embraced this type of behavior - it was accepted as normal. 6) vs 28 - God gave them over to a depraved mind. A depraved mind cannot distinguish between good and evil, light and dark, right and wrong, natural and unnatural. God didn't turn them over to a depraved mind right away - He wanted them to repent. He started by turning them over to their passions and when passions go unchecked it leads to a depraved mind where you cannot make any distinctions any longer. https://dl-http://web.dropbox.com/get/podcasts%20-%202014
Romans 1:21 (11/24/16)
November 24, 2016 • Benham Brothers
* It’s Thanksgiving - a time to reflect on what we’re truly thankful for. * Notice this verse - “For although they KNEW God…..they did not give THANKS to Him…..and their foolish hearts were DARKENED! * They knew they had something to be thankful for but they refused to do it. * The result - the lights shut off in their soul - they could no longer see. * It also says “futile” - a thankless person becomes useless. * Many theologians believe “ingratitude” was the primal sin. Why? * Because ingratitude says “I don’t need you. I can do this on my own.” * To say “Thank YOU” we have to address a person, which leads us to ultimately thank the creator of People. * To be truly thankful we have to get to the source of our gratitude, and that’s always a person. * So let’s be thankful today by recognizing the source of all things - God Almighty.
Romans 1:26 (7/30/15)
July 30, 2015 • Benham Brothers
Paul explained that the Romans were breaking the law of nature. He didn’t just explain that they broke God’s moral law. He could have just said that sex outside marriage was sin, but he went one step further. It would be like someone saying that they don’t believe in gravity, which is a law of nature. We don’t respond by saying, “God created gravity and therefore I believe it exists.” If you do this then you just have to agree to disagree. Gravity exists because it’s a natural law, so if you disregard it you’ll pay the price. Sexuality is the same - if you disregard God’s natural law you will pay the price. Verse 27 - the penalty for this is that they “receive in themselves the due penalty for their error.” (Gravity) I like to break down the law into three parts (I split the law of nature into the law of nature and the law of human nature): 1) Laws of Nature - the laws that govern the world (gravity, rocks, trees, animals, etc). 2) Laws of Human Nature - the unwritten rule inside us telling us what we “ought” to do. ex - a picnic table loaded with food. 3) Biblical Laws - God’s commands found in Scripture. Homosexuality, like what Paul talked about, breaks two laws.
Romans 2:21 (7/27/17)
July 27, 2017 • Benham Brothers
* Mahatma Ghandi once said, “I like your Christ, but I don’t like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” * This can be said of Christians in every generation since Christ. * There will always be those who don’t represent Christ well. * This is what Paul is driving at - Jewish Christians who knew everything but didn’t act it out. * They had the right theology but not the right biography. * They didn’t live what they preached. * We need to remember - everything we do is being watched, and it’s either drawing people closer to Christ or detracting them away from Him.
Romans 2:25-29 (8/1/19)
August 1, 2019 • Benham Brothers
* Circumcision was the outward sign that you were a follower of God. * But if you don’t have an inward relationship then your outward appearance means nothing. * vs 28 - Jesus challenged those Jews who only focused on the outward but not the inward. * Circumcision was a private matter - you didn’t show it to people publicly. * vs 29 - Those who are circumcised inwardly live to please God and not man. * They don’t parade around their religiosity for full display.
Romans 3:28 (8/2/18)
August 2, 2018 • Benham Brothers
* The number one core human need is the need for security. * Security asks the question, “who can I trust?” * A baby learns to trust her mom. * As she grows some type of trauma will hit where her faith in mom will be shattered. * Mom didn’t come through like she thought. * Will she continue to trust her mom? * Maturity says she will as she grows to understand her mom isn’t perfect. * This same trust is what we are to place in Jesus (faith like a child). * Romans talks about JUSTIFICATION - we are justified by faith. * God looks at us “just as if” we haven’t sinned. * We get this through faith in Jesus. * Faith is all about trust - we trust that Jesus is Savior and He died for us. * We trust in Him, placing our faith fully in Him, finding our security in Him alone. * When we do this we are seen by God “just as if” we have never sinned. * We are justified. * This thought brought about the protestant reformation. * vs 31 - the law is still good - it leads us to faith.
Romans 4:1-5 (8/2/18)
August 2, 2018 • Benham Brothers
* vs 1-3 - Abe wasn’t a “Christian,” but he had a credit on his account. * This is how people got saved in the Old Testament. * Their trust in God was credited as righteousness (being in “right relationship” with God). * Like me at the Chipotle line - all five of my family members go first, the lady at the register punches in their order and amount, then runs a tab until I get there to pay the bill. * They were able to take their food and eat because their meals were “credited” to them. * I happen to be the one who pays the bill - always! * The same is true - Abe’s faith gave him the credit he needed so Jesus could pay the bill. * vs 4-5 - Switching Accounts * Paul is telling them they can’t work for salvation - only faith can get it for you. * Otherwise God would be in your debt - when you work your boss “owes” you something, but God owes us nothing. * Jesus “switches accounts” with us. * Imagine you have $10 in your account and another guy has $1million. * He tells you he wants to switch accounts with you if you simply trust that he has the money and he will do what he says, and that you will tell the world about his generosity. * Would you do it? * This is what Jesus does for us, but it’s our choice. * We have nothing. He has everything. He will give it to us if we place our faith in Him. * It’s like me not just paying for my kids at the Chipotle line, but giving them my credit card.
Romans 4:15 (7/27/22)
July 27, 2022 • Benham Brothers • Romans 4:15
* Romans is the first deep-dive into theology. * Paul talks a lot about the law and how it works. * This is why he had to mention the Jews. * They were seen as the “law givers and keepers.” * Paul thanked them for being God’s chosen people to usher in the law and rebuked them not keeping it. * He explained how you can’t get right with God by keeping the law - we all break it (it’s in our nature). * We get right with God by repenting, and then God’s grace and mercy comes in and triumphs over the law. * This is what faith looks like. * It trusts God to forgive us even when we’ve broken the law. * Then Paul moved deeper into why the law exists in the first place. * The law is important. Why? * Vs 15 - it brings transgression. * The law sparks my sinful nature. * When we give into it, we sin. * When we sin, we need a Savior. * Needing a Savior leads us to Jesus. * Without sin there’s no need for a Savior. * Once we have the Savior we still need to obey the law. * The law is a fence around your life that keeps the good in and the bad out. * It’s not a barrier to keep you in bondage, it’s a boundary to give you freedom.