Today’s Reading: Romans 1:1-17; Psalm 97

For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes — the Jew first and also the Gentile. This Good News tells us how GOD MAKES US RIGHT IN HIS SIGHT. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” – Romans 1:16-17

GOD MAKES US RIGHT IN HIS SIGHT BY FAITH.

Just as God can make our circumstances right when everything around us is going wrong, He can also make us right in His sight. This truth goes beyond the guilt of our unrighteousness and the inadequacy of our self-righteousness. This is the theme of Paul’s letter to the Christians in Rome.

As we saw in Acts and see again in Romans 1:8-15, Paul had a strong desire to go to Rome. He knew the gospel had reached Rome (probably when the Jewish believers were scattered following Pentecost), and he longed to go there to bring them some spiritual gift that would help them to grow strong in the Lord (1:11), to encourage their faith (1:12), and to work among them for the sake of seeing spiritual fruit (1:13). Paul desired to preach the Good News in Rome, but this letter would explain the gospel to those who were new to the faith until Paul could be there in person.

One of the things I always pray for is the opportunity, God willing, to come at last to see you. For I long to visit you so I can bring you some spiritual gift that will help you grow strong in the Lord. When we get together, I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours…I want to work among you and see spiritual fruit…I am eager to come to you in Rome, too, to preach the Good News. – Romans 1:10-15

God knew of Paul’s desire and promised Paul he would make it to Rome. Paul’s intention was to head for Rome but first he had to stop by Jerusalem to drop off the gifts he had received from the Gentiles. What Paul did not know when he wrote this letter is that he would be arrested in Jerusalem and personally escorted to Rome in chains. God’s promise would be fulfilled but not in the way Paul expected. Let’s spend the next two weeks diving into this letter Paul sent the Romans before he was arrested.

The believers in Rome had come to faith in Jesus Christ, which had set them free from the bondage of their sin. But now what? Paul’s goal with this letter was to explain the gospel to the Romans so that they would know how to live now that they belong to Christ Jesus. Paul started his letter by introducing himself, not for the sake of them knowing him but for the purpose of the Roman believers seeing who they are in Christ.

GOD GIVES EACH OF US IDENTITY & PURPOSE.

This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News…Through Christ, God has given us the privilege and authority as apostles to tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done for them, so that they will believe and obey him, bringing glory to his name. And you are included among those Gentiles who have been called to belong to Jesus Christ. I am writing to all of you in Rome who are loved by God and are called to be his own holy people. – Romans 1:1,5-7

Paul starts out saying — this is MY identity and this is MY purpose. He goes on to say — this is YOUR identity and YOUR purpose. You have been called! You belong to Jesus! You are loved by God and are called to be his own holy people, set apart and consecrated for His purposes. Your identity isn’t about who YOU are but about who HE is. Your purpose in life isn’t about YOU but about HIM.

IT’S NOT ABOUT OUR UNRIGHTEOUSNESS OR SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS, BUT ABOUT GOD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS.

The world around us wants to identify us by our messes and mistakes, by our storms and shipwrecks. But when we encounter Jesus, when we come to accept Him by faith, our identity changes. It is no longer about our unrighteousness, nor is it about our self-righteousness; it is now about HIS righteousness. When God makes us right in His sight, our identity changes and our purpose changes. And, praise God, our destiny changes as well!

WHAT ARE YOU LETTING DEFINE YOU?

In what ways have I allowed the world to identify me? Do I find my self-worth in all of the mistakes I have made, defining myself by the trail of debris left by the storms in my past? If so, God is calling me to find my identity and my purpose in Him. It is not about my unrighteousness or about my failed attempts to be righteous of my own strength, but about HIS righteousness being produced in me. God makes me right in His sight! Therefore, I choose to find my identity and my purpose in Him!

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! – 2 Corinthians 5:17