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How To Get Right With God
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We are reaching the end of our study through the book of Romans, now in chapter 15. Next week we'll enter chapter 16 where Paul will close his letter by celebrating and affirming leaders and people within the congregation in Rome. Today, Paul is shifting to lay out his plan and inform the church what to expect next.
Throughout this study, Paul has done something remarkable: he is marketing his faith publicly within the context of culture and society. He has invited objections, criticism, and skepticism to the table, reasoning well together. What you find in Romans is Paul meticulously, gently, diligently, and persuasively laying out the doctrine of the gospel and Christian beliefs, anchoring it in history all the way back to creation, the Torah, the prophets, Moses, the law, and the temple. He presents a rock-solid, fundamentally sound, and extremely unique case for who Christ is and what he desires to do in our lives.
The first eleven chapters of Romans deal with theology and explanation. Then Paul moves into chapter 12, known as "marks of maturity." If you are a Christian, these ought to be evident in your life—the natural byproducts of saying yes to Jesus. If you have surrendered your life fully to the lordship of Jesus Christ, here's how you ought to live, think, and steward everything God has entrusted to you: your time, resources, talent, health, and your body as God's temple.
It's productive for all of us to ask: What is the gap between my beliefs and my behaviors? How long is the lag time between God's command and His prompting and your obedience? Delayed obedience is still disobedience. If He is Lord and King of your life—if He paid the ultimate price—then you take your marching orders from Him. How does that look in your life?
Paul says the person who gives their life to Christ cannot help but discover His ability to radically change anybody's life. There is not an individual who's too far gone and outside the reach of His mercy. God knows you completely—and rather than filling you with fear, this should fill you with delight, knowing that the one who knows you best loves you the most.
When you surrender to Christ, He will change you from the inside out. This doesn't mean waking up every day placing pressure on your performance. We've established throughout this study that the grace we've received is a gift, not compensation. It's about receiving, not achieving.
How does this transformation happen? It is by the same power of the Spirit of God that conquered the grave—the same power that now resides in every single one of us who have surrendered our life to Christ. It is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that begins to regenerate our lives, maturing us into the image and likeness of Christ and empowering us to live beyond our own capacities and abilities.
If you would trust your life into the tender care of God, you would find yourself accomplishing and living at a standard of life, fulfilling certain desires and purposes that God has placed in front of you and within you in ways you didn't even know to pray for. You will live with a new demeanor, a new devotion heading in a new direction with new desires and new dreams.
You will discover that the entire time you were placing yourself on the throne of your life, you were settling for a lesser version of what God had in mind when He knit you together in your mother's womb. You are fearfully and wonderfully made on purpose and for a purpose.
Much of sanctification is waking up every single day discovering: Why on earth did God put me here? Who you are is God's gift to you, but who you become is your gift to God. Every single day, we surrender all that we are and go after Him. It's all an act of grace. Every one of us begins to discover: He seeks to change my life. And if I give my life to Him, He will do exceedingly, abundantly, immeasurably more than I could ask, think, or imagine.
When I first stepped into this position as senior pastor about four years ago, I was pretty overwhelmed. I stepped into a role that was new to me, and we launched a two-year capital campaign right when I arrived—which was terrifying. I was now charged with raising the most amount of money I had ever heard a church raise, with a congregation I had zero relational equity with. This made finances the entire theme of my first two years as your pastor.
Then I went through some smear campaigns online. I got beat up with bad press and false rumors. It was terrifying and overwhelming. There was a day I was playing the victim—and I'm pretty good at that if I'm not careful. One day I was telling my wife Kristen my frustrations, and I made this statement: "I don't think I have what it takes." She said, "You're absolutely right. You don't have what it takes." She said, "Babe, this is all an act of grace. If God doesn't show up and if God doesn't provide and if God doesn't lead us and if God doesn't intervene in all of this, we're all in trouble."
Folks, it's all an act of grace. That's why we say the entry exam into heaven is not a litmus test of knowing all the answers. It is a blood test—knowing that what Christ did on the cross is sufficient. It is enough.
Paul is saying: expect radical change in your life.
In chapter 15, verse 23, Paul lets the church know his plan to visit them in Rome. He says, "But now there is no more place for me to work in these regions. And since I have been longing for many years to see you, I plan to do so when I go to Spain."
Paul makes a similar statement to one he made the previous week: "My desire has been to come to Rome, but I have been hindered up until this point." Now he says, "I have been longing for years to come to you."
I wonder if there's anyone here this weekend who has been longing for something for some time. Is there a desire in your heart? Something you've been praying for, believing for, dreaming about? A vision you've been holding onto? Something that you feel God placed within your heart that you've tried your best not to grow weary about, but it is taking some time and you feel like you've been at it for years.
What I love about Paul is his resolute commitment. Despite the delay and despite the inconvenience, he stayed steadfast in his commitment to God. Paul was called to a people outside the Jewish community. He was called to the Gentiles—a region where there was no frame of reference for the gospel. No foundation, no mention of Christ, no exposure to the Torah, traditions, or the temple. He went to regions where every conversation started at square one. That is a daunting task, and he was so committed to it.
Paul had what I'd call a righteous stubbornness. Have you ever considered whether stubbornness can be redeemed? Can stubbornness be a righteous thing?
In the book of Ezekiel, God tells the prophet, "Hey, I'm calling you to go speak to a wicked people, and I am going to give you a forehead of flint." That's God's way of saying, "I am going to make you hard-headed for this hard assignment."
Sometimes you need some righteous stubbornness. Sometimes you need to put one foot in front of the other and, despite the momentum of your season, continue moving forward. The cross before me, the world behind me, no turning back. So whether I'm soaring or sprinting or strolling at a snail's pace, I'm still moving in the direction God has placed before me. That is the desire upon my life.
Paul says, despite the delays, despite how long it has taken, I want you to know I'm still on my way. Paul is nearing his 60s at this point and has already accomplished wonderful things. He's already written other famous letters. He could hang it up. But what you discover in Paul is that his dreams carried far more weight than his memories.
What has the greatest gravitational pull upon your life? Is it the vision you're living for? Is there a burning passion and dream you're pursuing? Or are your glory days behind you?
The good news of the gospel is: if you're not dead, God's not done. If there's breath in your lungs, there's still life to be lived. You have no idea what God could do in the later chapters of your life. Often what you see in scripture is: the later it gets, the greater it gets.
Paul was immovable, but he was also a faithful leader. He says, "Okay, before I come there is one thing I have to do. We've now received this offering from Macedonia and Achaia, and we now need to take that to Jerusalem."
Christianity, if anything, is a movement of generosity. Our cornerstone verse is: "God so loved the world that he gave." When you and I give, we reflect our heavenly Father. Generosity has moved the faith forward throughout the centuries.
How did Christianity spread from Galilee and Judea—a remote, undeveloped region—to every continent around the world? It has shaped medical endeavors throughout human history. It has shaped educational endeavors. It has shaped civil rights movements. You have to ask: In what ways did Christianity move forward?
It's because people before us believed that what Christ did was a game-changer. They believed that other people had made it possible for them to hear the gospel, and they decided to play their role in doing the same. That's what you have in this text. Paul says that the Jews had shared their spiritual blessing with the Gentiles.
God raises up a man who raises up a family who becomes a tribe who becomes a nation—Israel. That man is Abraham. That's the redemptive story from the very beginning. It begins with the Jewish people, but it was for the world. Through what Christ does, the door swings wide open to anyone and everyone. You do not have to be Jewish to have a relationship with your heavenly Father.
Paul is saying that the Gentiles recognize: the Jews shouldered the load. Now it's an opportunity for us to do for them, or to do for others, what others have done for us. They shared in their spiritual blessing. Now we can take the opportunity to share in our material blessing.
What you find is something beautiful that happens every single week here at Northview Church. Why? We're better together. We have multiple locations, and every single month as we start new locations and different congregations within Northview, the collective efforts of everyone keeps the thing moving forward. It's a beautiful thing.
The Macedonian church and the Achaian church received an offering so they could bless and move forward the efforts of the church in Jerusalem. And why do we give? Not so we can pay off debt—that's not what we're trying to do. We give so we can pay it forward. God, entrust our resources to have a blessing and influence in someone else's life the way someone else's resources had a blessing and influence in mine.
What is interesting is that Paul says, "I'm coming to Rome, but first I have to go to Jerusalem." Well, folks, this was not on the way. This is not like him saying, "Hey, I'm heading downtown and I'm going to stop by Fishers on my way there." This is more like saying, "I'm heading to Indianapolis and I'm going to run over to Philadelphia first." It's a massive detour.
He's not doing something on the way. He is so radical in his service that he's willing to go out of the way. When it comes to your faith, do you only do things on the way, or are there moments where you've done something that was out of the way? When have you taken on inconvenience, operated with sacrifice, all so you could serve the cause of Christ, even if it didn't come with comfort for you?
Here's the thing: When we make comfort our compass, we almost always drift into compromise. You see that throughout church history. If comfort is the guiding force, we will always drift in our post. Paul says, "Hey, I have to honor this commitment. I have to take it to Jerusalem. Pray for me as I go."
What happens to Paul in Jerusalem? Here's a great opportunity as we round the corner in our study of Romans to really survey the life, ministry, and journey of Paul. What were the steps he took? How did this life come to be? What did he experience?
Paul is going to go to Jerusalem and get falsely accused of three things: being anti-Jew, anti-law, and anti-temple. They'll accuse him of defiling the temple by bringing a Gentile in there. They're literally going to drag him out and try to beat him to death. A Roman guard sees Paul being beaten and steps in, pulling him up on some steps. Paul is covered in blood and bruised, and he still turns around and begins preaching to the mob. This guy was extraordinary. I love Paul. He's there to do what? To be a blessing. He's there to serve. He's there to carry out a faithful assignment. Yet it comes with hardship.
He's arrested and put on four trials. He has to stand before the Sanhedrin. He has to stand before two governors, Felix and Festus. Then before King Agrippa. Then he appeals to his Roman citizenship and gets a trial with Caesar. They put him in shackles. They put him on a boat and head him off to Rome.
Think about this man's story. He shows up on the scene as who? Not Paul, but Saul—Saul from Tarsus. This is such a unique individual. According to a recent article from Cambridge University, second to Jesus Christ, there is no individual in human history more influential and with a bigger impact on the world than Paul.
Saul was a Jew by ethnicity but Greek by culture. However, he was Roman by citizenship. Those three things shaped his worldview. He was highly trained, very gifted, astute, and academic, raised by the legendary Rabbi Gamaliel, who trained him in the strictest of traditions. He became a Pharisee of Pharisees—zealous, fervent, and really hellbent on doing whatever he could to carry forward the tradition he was in.
He hears of this new movement, this claim that Jesus of Nazareth is the coming Messiah, and he takes it upon himself to stomp out the rumors, to put an end to Christianity, to kill the church before it starts. In Acts chapter 8, Stephen is preaching and sharing the faith. There is a group of people who cannot stomach what he's sharing, and they decide to stone him to death. The practice of the day is that the person with the greatest authority would stand there while everybody else laid their coats at his feet.
When Stephen is preaching and sharing the faith in Acts chapter 8, a group of people cannot stomach what he's saying and decide to stone him to death. The practice of the day is that the person with the greatest authority stands while everyone else lays their coats at his feet. They remove their coats to shed layers and gain mobility in their arms so they can throw stones with greater force.
This is when Saul of Tarsus arrives on the scene. He stands there as the coats are laid at his feet and they begin to throw rocks, taking Stephen's life. This is our introduction to Paul. He then receives authority and permission to go throughout the region persecuting, arresting, and even killing Christians and those following Christ.
In Acts chapter 9, Saul is heading to Damascus when he has an encounter with Christ along the way. There is an illuminating light that literally knocks him off his horse. He is blinded by the experience, and they take him into the city. Paul stays for a few days in a house on a street called Straight Street.
When you encounter Christ moving forward, one of the best things you can do is stay on straight street. God prompts a man in town named Ananias—who, despite running from persecution himself—to go and tell Saul, "Hey, God has a plan for your life. God can use you." I wish I could be Ananias for some of you. Despite your brokenness and all the weird poor decisions and all the shame that you carry, he has a plan for you.
Ananias is hesitant. He says to God, "Wait a second, God. You may have checked out over the last few days. This guy's here to kill us." He even feels the need to inform God of things he didn't know—as if we're omniscient and he's not.
God tells Ananias, "I know, but he's my chosen instrument, and I will make him aware of how much he will have to struggle for my name." God instructs Ananias to go pray for Paul. When Ananias prays for him, scales fall off Paul's eyes. He regains his sight and opens his eyes to see the very individual he came to persecute.
That's what happens when you give your life to Christ. You live so dogmatic and blinded by your bias, blinded by the things that you have rooted in your preferences. Then you encounter Christ and you realize from day one he begins to shift your perspective. From day one, he begins to open your eyes and help you see the things you weren't seeing clearly.
But outside the door, the Jewish community begins to plot. They think: "He's here to kill us, but if we take him out before he takes us out, that's a win." So Paul has to be literally lowered outside a window in a basket to escape town. This guy was literally a basket case. And God says, "Hey, I'm going to use you."
Paul then makes his way to Jerusalem, where a man named Barnabas—known as an encourager—sticks his neck out for him. Paul has a really negative reputation, but Barnabas goes to the apostles and says, "Hey, listen. I truly believe that Christ desires to use this guy."
Here's what happens for us in church. We are uncomfortable with God's turnaround time when it comes to his grace. Someone shows up, gives their life to Christ, and God says, "You are in. Loved, accepted, chosen, and I receive you as my child." But the rest of us swell up in religious pride and think, "Well, wait a second. We want to see this play out for the next 12 months. Let's see you prove it before we get on side with what God is saying over your life."
Barnabas was an early adopter. He puts his neck out for Paul and introduces him to the disciples. After that, Paul returns to Tarsus and goes off the grid for about 10 years. Most people think he spent this time trying to reconcile the Messiah and who Christ was, understanding how that fulfilled every promise, prediction, and prophecy throughout scripture.
Then a church begins to explode in a town called Antioch—the first predominantly gentile church in all of church history. The apostles decide to send Barnabas there to provide leadership, teach them, and raise up leaders. When Barnabas accepts the assignment, he realizes he needs a helper. He thinks, "I've got the perfect person in mind," and goes to get Saul from Tarsus. Barnabas brings Paul to Antioch, and the two faithfully serve the church there.
The church in Antioch then decides, "Hey, you should go and do for others what you've done for us." And Paul and Barnabas become the first two missionaries in church history. They are sent on a mission to go throughout wicked lands, facing evil opposition and testifying to the goodness of God.
Paul's journey was painful. He arrives in Jerusalem, goes on trial, is beaten and flogged, persecuted, put in shackles, and placed on a boat headed to Rome. Then a storm completely destroys the ship, and they float onto the shores of Malta. When Paul walks up to a fire taking place there, a poisonous snake jumps out and bites him.
Ever looked at your situation and thought, "I don't think it can get any worse"? The man is shipwrecked and now he's snake bit. The entire community leans in because they know that's an infamous snake—this guy's about to die. People love to see people suffer, so they all pay attention. But he doesn't die. Everyone begins to ask, "Wait a second. How was your life spared?"
Paul, in shackles, shipwrecked, and snake bit, once again shares the gospel. What's amazing is the entire island of Malta gives their life to Christ. I once had to defend the position in a master's course that Malta was Paul's greatest, most successful missionary endeavor. It was unanimous—everybody became a Christian and gave their life to Christ in a very short time. Unbeknown to him, God had booked him a cruise ship and planned to stop not at some vacation destination, but at Malta, because there were other people that God had in mind in that town.
In 2 Corinthians chapter 11, verse 23, Paul himself testifies to what he went through. He says, "People were trying to discredit him because you went through trials. Because there will be people who think your trials disprove God's work or calling upon your life—and often times they just serve as evidence."
He asks, "Are they servants of Christ?" and then says, "I am out of my mind to talk like this. I am more. I have worked much harder, been imprisoned more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again."
He then lists his sufferings in detail:
This guy is a legend, a renegade. His writings have shaped and infused so much faith into our own lives. Though we don't know Paul personally, in many ways it's like he's a mentor and a friend. The guy gets the job done despite horrific things, natural dangers, societal dangers, political dangers, religious dangers, and emotional dangers.
You can do your own studies about how disappointment and discouragement can lead a person into considering harming themselves. At what point did Paul start to think, "I don't know if it's worth it"? But you and I hold on to a letter written by an individual who wasn't shallow in his faith. He wasn't a cute, passive Christian. He was so resolute, so convinced that who Jesus is—the son of God, the light of the world, the savior of all people—is true.
This guy goes from an enemy, an adversary, a persecutor, a person who was torturing Christians to becoming one of the greatest heroes of the faith in human history. You cannot tell me God cannot change any person's life.
Paul is on house arrest for two years, and is eventually freed. Some think he was even able to make it to Spain. But around 68 AD, Nero begins to orchestrate another wave of Christian persecution. Paul is arrested once more—this time not placed on house arrest, but in shackles in a cold dungeon. Even there, he writes a letter to Timothy.
At that point, most of us would be done. But this guy turned prisons into epistles. He didn't waste the moments that God was entrusting him with.
Paul writes to Timothy from his dungeon cell and says, "My time is coming to an end, and I am being poured out like a drink offering." In 2 Timothy chapter 4, he says:
For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day. And not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
He's saying, "Hey, despite what I've been through, I'm not afraid of death. It's lost its sting. I'm aware that, like all of us, I'm stepping into a moment where I am going to experience my Maker seated upon his judgment throne. But I'm not expecting punishment. I know that he has a crown and an award for me. And when I step into that moment, everything I've been through is going to be worth it. I fought the good fight. I finished the race. And I have kept the faith."
Folks, that's the standard.
Days later, Nero would have him dragged out, mocked, humiliated, and beheaded in front of the community. We can all do more for the cause of Christ and know that God redeems everything you go through. It's living every single day saying, "No matter what I'm doing—marriage, parenting, my career, my health, my attitude, my desires, my ambitions—I'm running it all through the filter of honoring Christ."
