[Chapter 1-6] Paul, a Missionary To the Gentiles (Romans 1:1-32)
(Romans 1:1-32)
“Paul,
a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to
the gospel of God which He promised before through His prophets in the
Holy Scriptures, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born
of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son
of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the
resurrection from the dead. Through Him we have received grace and
apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name,
among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; To all who are in
Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from
God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. First, I thank my God through
Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the
whole world. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the
gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in
my prayers, making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a
way in the will of God to come to you. For I long to see you, that I may
impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established—that
is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both
of you and me. Now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I
often planned to come to you (but was hindered until now), that I might
have some fruit among you also, just as among the other Gentiles. I am a
debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise.
So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are
in Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is
the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew
first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is
revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by
faith.’ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all
ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in
unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them,
for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His
invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things
that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are
without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify
Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and
their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became
fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made
like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping
things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of
their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged
the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature
rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason
God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the
natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving
the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men
with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the
penalty of their error which was due. And even as they did not like to
retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to
do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all
unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness,
maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness;
they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud,
boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who,
knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such
things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of
those who practice them.”
(Romans 1:1) “Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God.”
Paul
was chosen for God’s gospel. Who could be chosen to preach God’s
gospel? If anyone thinks that he was chosen as a servant of God without
knowing the gospel of God’s righteousness, he is only fooling himself.
If you do not know this gospel of God’s righteousness, and yet you
believe you were called by God, this is a delusion. One is called by God
only after he comes to know His righteousness and believes in it. How
could one ever be called His servant if he is completely ignorant of the
gospel of the righteousness of God? No one can be called like this.
In
spite of this, countless pastors all over the world have turned
themselves into God’s servant all on their own, without understanding
the gospel Word of God’s righteousness. One of their common
characteristics is that they are hypnotized by their own emotion.
Another characteristic is that they have become God’s servants all on
their own, as they have made a vow to God, and they feel they are bound
by this promise. Could such people really be called as God’s servants?
Some
pastors are hypnotized by their own congregations. They received
recognition from many people and heard them saying, “You can become
God’s servant.” Hypnotized by what people around them say, they are made
ministers by others. If they do not know what God’s righteousness is,
there is clear evidence of their incapacity to do God’s work. In other
words, God does not call someone who is ignorant of His righteousness to
be His servant and He does not use such people. Who then, does God call
to be His servant? Those who are called by God are those who know and
believe in the gospel of the righteousness of God. Those who become
God’s servants are called to His service only after they first receive
the remission of their sins by believing in the Word. Then God gives
them the power to preach the gospel of His righteousness. Of course,
there are servants who are called and used as ornamental knobs for the
spreading of the gospel. There were seven bowls made like almond
blossoms on top of each branch of the golden lamp in the Tabernacle.
Each bowl was supported with an ornamental knob so that the lamp gave
light brightly inside the Tabernacle (Exodus 25:31-39). In fact, Jesus
is the Light and we are the ornamental knobs that support the preaching
of the gospel of the righteousness of God.
Paul
was a missionary to the Gentiles. He was God’s servant who testified
the righteousness of God clearly and systematically. Had Paul preached
man’s righteousness instead of God’s righteousness, he would not have
been a servant of Christ. He was, however, an apostle sent by God who
preached His righteousness. This is why he is greatly respected in
Christian communities. If Christians do not believe in the righteousness
of God that Paul preached, it would seriously undermine the Christian
faith. By believing in Paul’s written testimony of the righteousness of
God, Christians have been passing their faith from generation to
generation. Through the righteousness of God revealed in the Book of
Romans, we can come to understand the righteousness of God and believe
in it.
Paul Was Sent by God
What
does the word Apostle mean? It means one who is sent by God. An apostle
is one who is sent by God to testify the works of Jesus Christ who has
saved mankind from sin and to bear witness of His salvation. Why is
apostleship so special? We can find the answer to this question if we
examine the duties performed by the apostles who were sent by the Lord.
They did not see themselves as mere witnesses of the gospel. They knew
that they were God’s special ambassadors. Because they were apostles,
God spoke through their authoritative words, and therefore the words
they spoke had power that came from God.
In
the Book of Romans, Paul wrote the letter introducing himself as an
apostle. Paul reminded the saints in Rome of this, but this also
pertains to us. It tells us how we should interpret the Book of Romans
for our benefit. We must accept it as the Word of God that preaches His
righteousness to us. God does not speak to us directly, but through the
Pauline Epistles we can still hear of God’s righteousness. Therefore, we
must obey what God is teaching us through the Apostle Paul. This is why
the apostle’s words are so important. The words of the apostles are the
words that reveal God’s will and His righteousness, and they have His
authority.
The Historic Gospel Where God’s Righteousness Is Manifested
(Romans 1:2) “Which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures,”
The
gospel of the righteousness of God must be able to be proven in the Old
Testament. A gospel claiming to be the gospel of God’s righteousness,
and not having the support of the Word prophesied in the Pentateuch and
the Books of the prophets in the Old Testament cannot be called the
gospel of the righteousness of God. The true gospel cannot be completed
on its own without the Word of the Old Testament.
Then
what is the gospel of the righteousness of God? It is a gospel that is
founded on the Word of promise prophesied in the Old Testament. In
speaking about the gospel of the righteousness of God, the Apostle Paul
said, “Which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy
Scriptures, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” Just as this
passage says, the gospel of God’s righteousness can be found in the
sacrificial system that was practiced in the Tabernacle. This
sacrificial system practiced in the Tabernacle prophesied about how and
by what method Jesus Christ would take upon Himself the sins of mankind.
The laying on of hands included in the Tabernacle’s sacrificial system
refers to Jesus’ baptism in the New Testament.
The
most important word in the opening of the Book of Romans is the
“gospel” where God’s righteousness is manifested. This word is critical
because it is the very subject of the Book of Romans. The Book of Romans
was written to explain God’s great righteousness.
In
verse 1, Paul mentioned “the gospel,” and he stated that it was “the
gospel of God.” It was for this gospel that he was called and separated.
In verse 2, he explains in more detail where this gospel began. He
found its beginning in the promise of the Old Testament, “which He
promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures.” In other
words, it is a gospel that is founded on the prophecies of Jesus Christ.
In verse 9, Paul once again underscores the majesty of the gospel,
calling it the “gospel of His Son.”
To Understand the Gospel as the Good News
We
take the meaning of the “gospel” (euaggelion in Greek) as “good news.”
However, many people stop at this definition of the gospel as the good
news, and are unable to grasp that it actually means God’s
righteousness. For us to understand why the gospel is the good news, we
need to begin by first understanding how flawless God’s righteousness
is.
In
the religions of this world, the standard of good and evil is relative.
However, in Christianity, the righteousness of God is absolute; it is
something unique that cannot be compared to any human being’s
righteousness. Paul said that God’s righteousness is revealed in the
gospel (Romans 1:17). Therefore, the gospel of the righteousness of God
is the gospel of salvation for all sinners. If anyone believes in the
gospel that contains the righteousness of God, all his sins will
disappear and he will become a sinless person. This is the very purpose
for which God has given us the gospel where His righteousness is
revealed.
Before
Paul came to know the righteousness of God, he followed the Law. The
Law demanded good deeds and high moral standards. However, this Law
could not bring any peace to him, nor could it enable him to receive the
true righteousness of God. Paul, like all of us, was incapable of
keeping the Law, and he confessed that in the Law, he was an utterly
“wretched man" (Roman 7:24).
Even
the atheists, if they turn around, hear what the good news of the
righteousness of God is and believe in it, then they too will be saved
from their sins and receive eternal life. This is the most precious
blessing coming from the righteousness of God. It is not the
righteousness of man. The gospel that God has given to mankind is good,
because His righteousness is in it. Also, it is good because God has
saved us from our sins through the works of Jesus Christ. Because of our
sins, we could not come before God. Our sins had separated us from God.
The righteousness of God opened a bridge to enable us to go to God
because Jesus Christ took upon all our sins and blotted them all out.
Even though we had longed to do so, we couldn’t find God because we did
not know God’s righteousness. Now we are praising the Lord who has come
to us as the righteousness of God.
Jesus Christ Is God for the Believers
(Romans 1:3) “concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh,”
This
passage tells us that Jesus Christ was born in the household of Judah.
From the very beginning, Jesus Christ was the Son of God and the King of
kings. According to Old Testament’s prophecies, He was born of the seed
of David, in the household of Judah, and became the High Priest of
Heaven. Only the Levites could become priests of the people of Israel.
No one could become a priest unless he was from this tribe. However,
Jesus Christ is not an earthly priest, but the heavenly Priest. He came
to this earth, and to remit away all the sins of this world through His
baptism and His shed blood on the Cross, He has blotted out the sins of
the world. The duty of the heavenly Priest lay in the baptism He
received and the blood He shed on the Cross.
Christ
is the center of Christianity and the incarnation of God’s
righteousness. Everything else plays only a supplementary role. Jesus
Christ is God Himself, and the Savior for all those who believe in Him.
Jesus not only had divine attributes, but for mankind, He has become
their Savior. There is no human being who is like Him. Only Jesus Christ
is the everlasting God and the Savior of sinners. For us, only Jesus
Christ and He alone is our God. This does not mean that we do not
recognize God the Father and the Holy Spirit as God.
For the Entire Mankind, the Lord Is the Everlasting Creator and the Eternal Savior
(Romans
1:4) “And declared to be the Son of God with power according to the
Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.”
In
essence, Jesus Christ is the sinless, holy Son of God. Jesus Christ is
the Holy God by nature, but He came to this earth incarnated in the
flesh, took upon Himself the sins of the world through the baptism He
received from John the Baptist, was crucified and shed His blood on the
Cross, rose from the dead again, thereby becoming the Savior of all who
believe in God’s righteousness.
Because
Jesus Christ is our Creator, even death and darkness could not hold Him
back. He is the Son of God the Father, the Lord who lacks nothing to be
recognized as the Savior of sinners. Although Jesus Christ is
omnipotent, He has saved sinners from their sins through the baptism He
received from John the Baptist and His shed blood. He has thereby
completed His work to move them to the Kingdom of God. What did Jesus do
when He came to this earth? By being baptized by John the Baptist,
dying on the Cross, and rising from the dead again, He has given the
gift of the Holy Spirit to all those who believe in the righteousness of
God. This is why Jesus Christ is the Savior who has saved sinners from
their sins by receiving His baptism on His body for sinners, dying by
being nailed to the Cross, and rising from the dead again. He has become
the God of all His believers, because He has fulfilled His promise
truthfully.
“Jesus
is the Son of the living God and the Savior of sinners.” This statement
was the basic element of the Christian faith during the Early Church
era. However, such faith has been substituted by the “Apostles’ Creed”
in terms of formalism. Since 313 AD, when Constantine the Great
proclaimed the Edict of Milan that granted Romans religious freedom, the
Apostles’ Creed has been used as the standard bearer for baptizing
people as a sign of being Christians.
To
call Jesus as the Lord entails two meanings: First, it means Jesus is
God; second, it means Jesus is the Savior of sinners. These two meanings
show us why the Early Church Christians did not want to use the name
“Lord” for anyone else. If they had used this name for someone else, it
would have been tantamount to not believing in Jesus Christ as their
Savior. The Lord is the everlasting Creator for all mankind and the
eternal Savior. Jesus Christ is the everlasting righteousness of God.
(Romans 1:5) “Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name,”
Those
who have been remitted from all their sins and become the servants of
the righteousness of God by believing in the God-given righteousness are
the ones who have become Jesus Christ’s people and obey Him. Because of
this, they only preach the righteousness of God achieved by Jesus
Christ, and they have no reason to spread their own carnal wisdom,
knowledge, or pride. If anyone claims to be God’s servant and yet boasts
of his knowledge, wisdom, or good deeds of the flesh, then he is not a
servant of Jesus Christ. Those who have truly become Jesus Christ’s
servants preach and spread only the righteousness of God throughout
their entire lifetime. To testify the righteousness of God, His servants
may use examples in their sermons, but through such examples they just
want to exalt God’s righteousness even more.
God’s
servants are those who live only for the works that manifest the
righteousness of Jesus Christ. God has made such servants of
righteousness spread His righteousness to everyone throughout the world.
By hearing the Word of salvation preached to them by the servants of
Jesus Christ, countless people living on earth are being remitted from
all their sins and becoming God’s children.
(Romans 1:6) “Among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;”
All
the saints in Rome were Gentiles at first. We, too, were not God’s
people at first, but Gentiles. However, by realizing the gospel Word of
the water and the Spirit containing God’s righteousness, and by
believing in this gospel Word, we have come to belong to Jesus Christ.
We
are the followers of Jesus Christ called by God. We now belong to
Christ. This is such a great blessing and wonderful honor. How could
something like this have happened to us? By nature, we could not avoid
being born as slaves to sin from our very birth, and yet through the
gospel of the righteousness of God, we have now become the followers of
Christ. We can only thank God for the gospel of truly amazing power.
(Romans
1:7) “To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Those
of us who believe in the righteousness of God desire everyone to have
the God-given grace of the remission of sin and peace in their hearts.
That is why we want to preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit. If
we, the righteous, did not have this desire, then we would not be
devoting our hearts to other souls. However, in the hearts of all those
who have attained the righteousness of God by faith, the Holy Spirit
dwells in them, and they have the yearning for everyone to receive the
remission of sin. As such, to all those who still do not know the
righteousness of God and still have all their sins intact, we want to
preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit, the God-given gift of the
remission of sin, and we want them to believe in this gospel. It is my
heart’s desire for all of you to believe in God’s righteousness, and for
your hearts to have peace flowing like a river.
Paul Gave Thanks to God Due to the Faith of the Righteous
(Romans 1:8) “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.”
Paul,
who believed in God’s righteousness, always rejoiced whenever the
gospel containing the righteousness of God was preached all over the
world. Like him, the righteous are thankful for their faith in God’s
righteousness and His will. The righteous are rejoicing because the
gospel Word of the water and the Spirit is now being spread vigorously
throughout the entire world. The gospel of the water and the Spirit is
the gospel of Truth that the Lord spoke of in John 3.
In
John 3:5, the Lord said, “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit,
he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.” The water mentioned here refers to
the baptism that Jesus received from John (1 Peter 3:21). The Spirit
here implies that Jesus is the Son of God and God Himself, and that by
believing in the baptism that Jesus received when He came to this earth
to blot out our sins, in the death He suffered on the Cross and in His
resurrection, we can become God’s people and enter and live in the
Kingdom of God.
Why
did the Apostle Paul say that he was thankful to God for the saints in
Rome? There were two reasons for this. First, because the saints in Rome
believed in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and by believing in this
righteousness of God, they were saved form their sins. Second, it was
because of the saints in Rome that the gospel was being preached
throughout the whole world.
To
preach the gospel in the Book of Romans, Paul often quotes from the Old
Testament prophecies. He defines the righteousness of God as one “which
He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures,” and he
concludes that his calling is to make the Gentiles among all nations
obey God by faith. After saying this, he praises God for the Christians
in Rome. He does this because their fundamental faith was the very faith
placed in the righteousness of God, and because they preached God’s
righteousness to others as well.
The
reason why the faith of the Roman Christians was pure is because they
had defended their faith in God’s righteousness even in Rome. Rome was a
place filled with pagan religions, and this is why Paul thanked God for
the faith of the Christians living in Rome. This does not mean,
however, that Paul began his epistle by exalting them for their
devotion. Rather, Paul just gave glory to God for their faith.
Christians in Rome were all born again by believing in the righteousness
of God. Like this, the result of our faith in God’s righteousness makes
us to be born again. Had the Christians in Rome fronted their own
righteousness of man rather than God’s righteousness, Paul would have
rebuked them. It was to the Christians in Rome who believed in the
righteousness of God that Paul wrote his letter of fellowship.
(Romans
1:9) “For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel
of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my
prayers,”
The
Apostle Paul loved the brothers and sisters in Rome. He thanked God
very much for the believers in Rome. Why? The fact that there were God’s
people in Rome made Paul’s heart so happy. And because through Rome, he
yearned to preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit in which the
righteousness of God was manifested throughout the whole world. So, Paul
prayed constantly for the gospel, and for the people of God in Rome so
that the gospel containing the righteousness of God would be preached
throughout the whole world. In the end, Paul’s desire would be
fulfilled.
(Romans 1:10) “Making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you.”
A
missionary who spreads the righteousness of God always prays and looks
for the door of the gospel. And rather than working by himself, he wants
to work united with others. Paul was a missionary to the Gentiles and a
true spiritual father to them.
As
the saints in Rome once again came to learn and know what the
righteousness of God was through Paul, they came to cast aside the
righteousness of man. Today, the entire world is also coming to believe
in the righteousness of God manifested in the gospel preached by Paul
through the Book of Romans. Through Paul, God made the gospel of the
baptism of Jesus, His death on the Cross and His resurrection known to
and heard by not only the Romans in Paul’s days, but people all over the
world. Now as then, anyone who believes in God’s righteousness lacks
nothing to become one of God’s people.
(Romans 1:11) “For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established—”
To
establish the faith of everyone who believed in Jesus even more firmly,
Paul wanted to share the gospel Word, the spiritual gift that contains
the righteousness of God.
It
is when we believe in the God-given gospel Word of the water and the
Spirit that our faith is made even more solid; unshakable by any doubts.
The reason for this is because in this true gospel, the righteousness
of God is revealed. When Paul saw the faith of the saints in Rome, he
saw at least some need to strengthen it more. This is why he said that
he wanted to impart “some spiritual gift” to them.
What,
then, is this spiritual gift before God? It refers to the gospel of the
water and the Spirit containing the righteousness of God, with which
God has blotted out the sins of mankind. This God-given Word of the
water and the Spirit fortifies Christians’ faith and enables them to be
born again. If one believes in the gospel holding God’s righteousness
and preached by Paul, an unstable faith is changed into a stable faith.
Do you not also want to change your imperfect faith into perfect faith?
(Romans 1:12) “that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.”
The
gospel of Truth preached by Paul and containing God’s righteousness
brings peace and comfort to the minds of all who believe in it. That’s
because the gospel preached by Paul is the gospel of the water and the
Spirit. The saints in Rome needed to be comforted by the gospel Word of
the water and the Spirit. Paul’s heart, too, could always be comforted
by the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit that he preached.
Is
the gospel that you believe in is a gospel that comforts your hearts?
The Truth that can really bring peace and comfort to mankind is the
gospel of the water and the Spirit. This gospel is the gospel that both
Peter and Paul, along with all the Apostles believed in (1 Peter 3:21;
Galatians 3:27; and 1 John 5:6).
Prayers That Are Answered
(Romans
1:13) “Now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often
planned to come to you (but was hindered until now), that I might have
some fruit among you also, just as among the other Gentiles.”
Paul
wanted the gospel to bear fruit. He had covered very large areas as his
mission field, preaching the gospel containing the righteousness of God
in many different regions. And every time he did so, he had abundant
spiritual fruit; that is, he had many people receive the perfect
remission of their sins and become God’s sinless children by believing
in God’s righteousness.
The
gospel preached by Paul was different from the gospel preached by
today’s religious people. The gospel that the Apostle Paul preached
contained God’s righteousness. But in the gospel that is preached by
today’s Christians, this righteousness of God is missing. The gospel of
Truth that holds God’s righteousness is the gospel of the water and the
Spirit, and any gospel that does not include the righteousness of God is
an imperfect gospel. In the God-given gospel of the water and the
Spirit, the baptism that Jesus received from John, His death on the
Cross and His resurrection are all contained. However, in the gospel
preached by today’s Christians, only His death on the Cross and His
resurrection are found.
The
Apostle Paul wanted to go to Rome to preach the gospel containing the
righteousness of God. But his way was blocked. Although the Apostle Paul
longed to go to Rome, his prayers were not answered so easily. Like
this, there are times when it seems as though God doesn’t answer the
prayers of His saints and servants so easily, but God never fails to
hear to them. God’s answer to Paul’s prayer may seem to have been
somewhat reluctant, but it was just to make the situation in Rome ripe
for Paul’s evangelical ministry, and to prepare his heart.
God
wants wholehearted prayers. What, then, is a prayer that asks for truly
spiritual things? It is a selfless prayer that’s offered for the
preaching of the righteousness of God. There is no reason for such a
prayer to go unanswered. All prayers that are given according to the
righteousness of God are answered without fail. You may be disappointed
when your prayers are not answered for a long time, but if you pray
according to God’s righteousness, then your prayers will be answered
right away. As such, if we have truly come into the faith that knows the
righteousness of God, then our prayers will also be answered. Paul,
too, entered Rome as his prayers were answered, and he preached the
gospel containing God’s righteousness to people all over the world.
The Gospel Is Always for Everyone Who Is Poor in Spirit
(Romans 1:14) “I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise.”
Through
his faith, Paul explains the gospel in which the righteousness of God
is manifested. “I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to
wise and to unwise. So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the
gospel to you who are in Rome also.”
Such
a heart is one that can be had only by those who know the righteousness
of God. As someone who had faith in the righteousness of God, Paul had
the duty to preach the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit to
everyone throughout the whole world. This responsibility weighed down
his heart. That’s why he called himself a debtor. Even now, the
believers in God’s righteousness desire to preach the gospel to people
all over the world.
The
gospel where God’s righteousness is manifested is always for all those
who are poor in heart. Jesus Christ taught the gospel not only to the
likes of Nicodemus, the privileged few who were born into good families
and were well educated, but He also taught the gospel to “tax collectors
and sinners.” In John 4, Jesus taught the gospel of the righteousness
of God to a Samaritan woman. Later on, during the Apostolic Age, God
told Peter that the gospel was given not only to those who are
ritualistically “clean,” like the Jewish people, but also to the
Gentiles like Cornelius. To this, Peter declared the following statement
and made this fact clear: “In truth I perceive that God shows no
partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works
righteousness is accepted by Him” (Acts 10:34-35).
(Romans 1:15) “So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also.”
In
Paul’s eyes, even among the Christians in Rome who were professing to
believe in Jesus, there weren’t enough believers who actually understood
God’s righteousness properly. So Paul also wanted to preach the gospel
that he believed in to the Romans who already had faith in Jesus.
You
and I must be able to understand Paul’s heart. Can you understand why
Paul wanted to preach the gospel even to those who already believed in
Jesus? To understand Paul, we must first approach the gospel that he
believed in. This gospel that Paul believed in contained God’s
righteousness. The overwhelming majority of today’s Christians believe
in a different version of the gospel that does not contain the
righteousness of God instead of the gospel that holds God’s
righteousness. Paul wanted to preach the true gospel that holds the
righteousness of God.
The Gospel Where God’s Righteousness Is Revealed
(Romans 1:16) “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.”
The
gospel preached by Paul was a gospel that enabled anyone to be saved
from his sins, if only he would believe in it. Today, in contrast, there
are many people who are preaching other gospels, and many Christians
also believe in such false gospels. What, then, is the gospel that has
“the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes”? This gospel
is the gospel of the water and the Spirit that contains the
righteousness of God. Few, however, know this. While many people talk
about the power of the true gospel that Paul talked about, they do so
only with their lips. There is only an extremely small number of people
who have actually experienced what this power of the true gospel is like
by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
What
about you? Have you really experienced the gospel power of the water
and the Spirit that Jesus spoke of? If you had really believed and
really experienced it, then no doubt you would have become wholly
sinless, and you would have witnessed to people all over the world to
proclaim the gospel power of the water and the Spirit and make it known.
This
passage is the subject of the whole Book of Romans, and it is the key
principle of Christianity and the core of faith. The reason for this is
this verse explains to us how we can encounter the righteousness of God.
The fact that we are incapable of reconciling ourselves to God on our
own is the very Truth taught by God’s righteousness. Because we had
rebelled against God, without a peace offering it’s impossible for us to
be reconciled to God—on the contrary, we must be condemned by Him.
Moreover, we have been polluted by the sins of our forefathers. Just as
someone who is very sick and emits a repugnant odor looks unclean to
others, in God’s eyes, we are not only unclean, but if we stand before
God in that state, we will be destroyed forever.
How,
then, should mankind solve the problem of their sins? On our own, there
is nothing that we can do to remove our sins. However, God has given us
His righteousness that has blotted out our sins. It is by simply
believing in this righteousness of God that we can receive the remission
of our sins. God’s righteousness given to us is contained in the Word
of the water and the Spirit (John 3:4-5; Matthew 3:13-17; and 1 Peter
3:21).
The Righteousness That Came from God
As
Paul summarized in this passage, the righteousness of God refers to the
fact that Jesus Christ has saved mankind from their grave and hopeless
sins. God’s righteousness is revealed in the gospel of the water and the
Spirit, the glorious Truth. The reason why “God’s righteousness” was
thus revealed to mankind is because everyone is a sinner and cannot
reach the righteousness of God by himself. So, we must find God’s
righteousness on the assumption that mankind is totally depraved and
incapable of reaching God’s righteousness from its origin.
The
righteousness hidden in the gospel is the righteousness of God. This
righteousness of God comes “by faith in Jesus Christ.” When we look at
what the Apostle Paul said in the beginning of this epistle, we can see
that the righteousness of God is none other than the righteousness of
Christ that God has given to us. So Paul says, “God’s righteousness is
revealed in the gospel.” And the gospel is related to Jesus Christ
(Romans 1:2-3). Therefore, He who fulfilled God’s righteousness is
Christ, and it is by believing in this righteousness of God fulfilled by
Christ that we are saved.
Paul
explains God’s righteousness in two parts, and both of them are
indispensable. First, from the very beginning, Jesus has been righteous.
Put differently, because Jesus is God, He is absolutely holy and
completely sinless. This is why when He was in the flesh, He could say,
“I always do those things that please Him” (John 8:29), and asked His
opponents, “Which of you convicts Me of sin?” (John 8:46)
Second,
by obeying the Law of God, Jesus fulfilled the perfect righteousness of
God. When Jesus asked John the Baptist to baptize Him, John said to
Him, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” Jesus
then said to John, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for
us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:14-15).
Paul
said that the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel, meaning
that God’s righteousness can be found in the baptism that Jesus received
from John. This shows us how we can attain the righteousness of God
that we all need. It also tells us that God’s righteousness can be
attained only by faith.
What Is the True Righteousness of God?
(Romans
1:17) “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to
faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.’”
We
can see that the gospel spoken of by the Apostle Paul is different from
the imperfect gospels preached by today’s Christians. That’s because in
the gospel that Paul spoke of, the righteousness of God is revealed.
What, then, does this gospel where God’s righteousness is manifested
refer? It refers to the gospel of the water and the Spirit that Jesus
spoke of (John 3:5).
What
exactly is the gospel of the water and the Spirit then? It consists of
the baptism that Jesus received from John the Baptist and the blood that
He shed on the Cross. Why, then, was Jesus baptized by John the
Baptist? He was baptized to fulfill all the righteousness of God
(Matthew 3:15). What did Jesus achieve by being baptized? By receiving
His baptism, He accepted all the sins of the world once for all. Where
is the evidence for this? The words “for thus” in Matthew 3:15 are the
evidence. The words “for thus” are “οϋτως γάρ” in Greek, which mean
“just in this way,” “most fitting,” or “there is no other way besides
this.”
In
other words, by being baptized by John, Jesus accepted all the sins of
the world once for all, and in doing so He fulfilled everything that God
the Father sought to do. Having shouldered the sins of the world
through His baptism, Jesus Christ went to the Cross and was crucified.
He then rose from the dead again, and has washed away all the sins of
mankind, just as the Father desired. This is the righteousness of God.
Paul
says that it is by believing in God’s righteousness that we can join
the ranks of the born-again believers. Indeed, the righteousness of God
is found in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, and all those
who believe in this gospel become sinless and God’s own people. In
contrast, unbelievers cannot reach God’s righteousness, for they do not
believe in the righteousness of God that has come to them by the gospel
of the water and the Spirit.
Paul
goes on to say, “The just shall live by faith.” This means that even if
one has received the everlasting remission of sins once for all by
believing in the righteousness of God, he should still continue to lead
his life of faith by believing in God’s righteousness to the end. Those
who believe in God’s righteousness will live; but those who do not
believe will die. The gospel that the Apostle Paul is speaking of is the
gospel in which God’s righteousness is revealed, just as he said, “In
it the righteousness of God is revealed.” Do you believe in this gospel
where God’s righteousness is revealed? You can live only if you believe.
“The
gospel in which the righteousness of God is revealed” is written in
Matthew 3:13-15. Through Mary, Jesus was born unto this earth incarnated
in the flesh of man. It is written, “She will bring forth a Son, and
you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their
sins” (Matthew 1:21). Here in this passage, the name Jesus means
“Savior,” that is, Jesus is the One who will save all mankind from their
sins.
When
Jesus came to this earth, He had led a private life serving His family
until 29, but when He turned 30, He went to the Jordan River to be
baptized by John the Baptist according to the will of God the Father.
This was the beginning of His public life. At that time, John the
Baptist was baptizing people in the Jordan River. The baptism that John
gave to the people was a baptism that demanded their repentance, but the
baptism that He gave to Jesus was the baptism that put all the sins of
everyone in this world on Him.
We
must be very careful here and not confuse these two different types of
baptism; that is, the baptism of repentance that John the Baptist gave
to ordinary people, and the baptism of Jesus through which John passed
all sins to Him. It was to take upon all the sins of the world that
Jesus was baptized by John. Jesus had ordered John, “You shall baptize
Me,” but John asked Him, “When I should be baptized by You, why are You
telling me to baptize You?” However, Jesus answered and said, “Permit it
to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all
righteousness,” and John could do nothing but obey Him.
What
meaning is hidden in this passage? As I told you just before, the words
“for thus” in Matthew 3:15 are in Greek “οϋτως γάρ”, which mean “just
in this way,” “most fitting,” or “there is no other way besides this.”
The meaning of the word “thus” refers to the process through which Jesus
had to take upon the sins of the world by receiving, without fail, the
baptism that was given by John the Baptist. This was the reason why
Jesus had to be baptized by John the Baptist.
By
being baptized by John, Jesus shouldered all the sins of the world. The
gospel of the water and the Spirit testifies the righteousness of God.
When Jesus was crucified, as He bled to death on the Cross, right before
taking His last breath, He said, “It is finished.” These last words
meant that by being baptized by John the Baptist and shedding His blood,
Jesus has now saved everyone from all the sins of the world.
The
baptism and blood of Jesus constitute the gospel in which the
righteousness of God is revealed. Jesus had to take upon all the sins of
this world until its end by being baptized, He had to shed His blood
and die on the Cross, and He had to rise from the dead again. This
gospel, where God’s righteousness is manifested, can save all the
sinners of this world from their sins. This and nothing else is the
righteousness of God that is revealed in the true gospel of the water
and the Spirit given by the Lord. This very gospel is the greatest and
most joyful news brought to all sinners.
Are
your acts perfect, or are they insufficient? Do you believe in the
righteousness of Jesus? Do you believe in the significance of the
baptism Jesus received from John the Baptist and the blood He shed on
the Cross? It is the baptism of Jesus and His blood on the Cross that
constitute the gospel in which the righteousness of God, which has
blotted out all the sins of this world, is revealed. You must all
believe in this gospel with all your hearts, that Jesus has washed away
all the sins of this world by being baptized by John the Baptist.
When
those of you who are single get married, most of you will have children
of your own. True faith, then, is to believe that even these children’s
sins were included in the sins of the world and were all passed onto
Jesus through His baptism. If we assume here that a brother among us
will live for 82 years before passing away, then we must believe that
all the sins of his entire lifetime, all 82 years, were also passed onto
Jesus when He was baptized by John the Baptist. Jesus is telling us
that each and every sin that was, is, and will ever be committed until
the end of this world are all included in the sins of the world, and
that to take upon all these sins, He was baptized by John the Baptist.
He went to the Cross and shed His blood. The baptism here that Jesus
received from John was the perfect baptism that was more than sufficient
to wash all of mankind from all the sins of the world. Romans 1:17
says, “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to
faith.” This gospel is none other than the gospel of the water and the
Spirit where the righteousness of God is revealed.
True Faith Is to Believe Like Abraham
Abraham
had no child even as he was a hundred years old. One day, God appeared
before him when he was still named “Abram” and called him, “Abram,
Abram.” “Come out and look at the sky. Do you see the countless stars?”
“Yes, there are so many stars.” “I will give you as many descendants as
those stars in the sky.” “Yes!” Although this seemed impossible in
Abraham’s thoughts, he still believed in it, because it was God’s Word.
Like this, because Abraham believed in God’s Word, his faith was
approved by God.
Abraham
believed that mankind, who was incapable of keeping the Law of God and
all its 613 commandments, would receive God’s righteousness by believing
in the baptism that Jesus received from John the Baptist and His blood.
Since Sarah,’ Abraham’s wife, was already past menopause, realistically
speaking, it was impossible for her to give birth to a child. Yet
despite this, Abraham still believed God’s Word, and because of this
faith he was able to attain Isaac. This kind of faith is the faith in
the righteousness of God. It is with such faith that we believe in God’s
righteousness and are saved from all our sins.
Just
as Abraham was approved by God because he believed that there was
nothing God could not do, and that He would keep His promise without
fail, our faith, too, is approved by God when we believe in His Word. He
who believes in God’s Word has received the gift that is obtained by
believing in His righteousness. He who believes in the righteousness of
God receives the remission of his sins and the gift of Holy Spirit. If
you believe in God’s righteousness bestowed on mankind, you will be
blessed to have this righteousness of God.
God
brings salvation into the arms of those who believe in His
righteousness manifested in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. What
kind of faith does God demand from us? If God had said that we would be
saved from our sins through our own righteous acts, no one would be
able to be saved from sin. However, it is to those who believe in God’s
righteousness that He has given them salvation from sin. God does not
take on the attributes of man. Did God really give the Law to mankind so
that people would keep it? Didn’t He give His Law to them so that they
would realize their sins and believe in the gospel of the water and the
Spirit? That’s right. Today’s Christians must realize just how gravely
erroneous it is to believe in God without knowing His righteousness. It
is to teach mankind that everyone has sin, which binds all to hell, that
God gave the Law (Romans 3:20).
Romans
1:17 says, “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith
to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.’” We human
beings have no righteousness of our own before God. From our very birth,
we were all born with twelve different sins by nature (Mark 7:21-25).
When we commit all kinds of evil, arrogant, murderous and adulterous sin
throughout our lives, how could we not need God’s righteousness? Our
God made Jesus bear the condemnation of our sins through His baptism and
blood, and in doing so, He has saved from all our sins by believing in
this righteousness of God. It is by believing in the gospel of the
baptism and blood of Jesus that we have obtained righteousness from God.
Those
who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and profess the
following will receive the Holy Spirit from God: “Through the
righteousness of our own acts, we cannot attain the righteousness of
God. That’s why it is only by believing in the gospel of the water and
the Spirit that we can receive God’s righteousness. When it comes to our
human righteousness, there is nothing that we can boast of. We believe
that the baptism of Jesus and His blood on the Cross compose the
righteousness of God.” By faith, we have become the ones who have
received all the blessings that God has promised. Do you have this
perfect faith placed in the righteousness of God? God’s righteousness is
in the baptism that Jesus received from John the Baptist and His blood.
After
Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, he shouted out to people,
referring to Jesus, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of
the world!” (John 1:29) By being baptized, Jesus took upon the sins of
the world. All the sins of us mankind were passed onto Jesus. Therefore,
all the sins of mankind are washed away by believing in this gospel
that Jesus has blotted out all those sins with His baptism and blood. If
anyone still has his sins remaining intact in his heart, that’s because
his heart does not have the righteousness of God, and therefore he has
not been able to be washed from his sins. It is through the testimony
that John passed the sins of the world to Jesus by baptizing Him and
Jesus took them all away, that we are washed from our sins. Your sins
were also all passed onto Jesus through His baptism, and Jesus
shouldered all the sins of the world once for all, went to the Cross,
was crucified, shed His blood, and thereby completed the righteousness
of God.
Let
us turn to John 19:28-30. “After this, Jesus, knowing that all things
were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, ‘I
thirst!’ Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they
filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His
mouth. So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is
finished!’ And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.”
Now
then, to whom were the sins of this world passed? And where were they
condemned? As Jesus was baptized by John, all the sins of the world were
passed onto Jesus’ head. By being baptized and shedding His blood,
Jesus has blotted out this world’s sins entirely. Yet despite this, some
people claim, “Jesus took away original sin, but not personal sins, and
therefore one must be remitted from his personal sins by asking for
God’s forgiveness everyday through prayers of repentance.” This kind of
faith is not the faith that is placed in the righteousness of God. The
Bible clearly states that Jesus has saved sinners from their sins by
being baptized and shedding His blood. That is indeed the case. Anyone
who believes in Jesus properly must have no sin in his heart.
Once
human beings are born, for them to be saved from their sins, they must
receive the remission of their sins by believing in the righteousness of
God revealed in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Those who are
born again by their faith in the righteousness of God can overcome the
world and live a life that is completely free from the sins of the
world. This is also followed by their newly attained rights as God’s
children. Before we believed in Jesus as the Savior, “we all once
conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of
the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just
as the others” (Ephesians 2:3). But once we believe in the gospel of the
water and the Spirit where the righteousness of God is revealed, we
become the righteous. The very moment we believe in this Truth, we
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38).
That
is why we must all believe that the baptism Jesus received from John
the Baptist and the blood He shed on the Cross are God’s righteousness.
This is the gospel of the water and the Spirit in which the
righteousness of God is revealed. I beseech all of you to also return to
the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and to accept the gospel of the
righteousness of God! All the sins in your hearts will then be cleansed
away as white as snow, and you will receive the fullness of the
indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
If We Are Vigilant Christians
(Romans
1:18) “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all
ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in
unrighteousness,”
The
wrath of God is brought upon those who stand against the gospel of His
righteousness with their unrighteous thoughts and judgments. Who, then,
are such people? They are the ones who do not believe in the gospel of
the righteousness of God. In other words, among Christians, there are
those who believe in God’s righteousness and are thankful for it, but at
the same time, there also are those who stand against it and blaspheme
it.
So
for such people, God’s fearful wrath awaits them in the last days.
Since they are ungodly before God, they have no desire to study the Word
of God any further. Because they do not fear Him, they ignore God’s
righteousness and do not believe in it. God will punish such people with
the judgment of fire and brimstone brought down from the sky. Hell is a
place that is prepared for those who do not believe in God’s
righteousness. The righteousness of God is the love with which He loved
us. To those who have rejected God’s love, only the fearful wrath and
punishment of God await them.
It
is written in Song of Solomon 8:6, “For love is as strong as death,
Jealousy as cruel as the grave; Its flames are flames of fire, A most
vehement flame.” God the Father gave us His Son, passed our sins onto
the Son, put Him to death on the Cross, and raised Him from the dead
again. By doing so, God has saved all sinners so that they may all
received the remission of their sins. This is God’s love. To anyone who
does not believe in the salvation that has come through this love and
rejects it, His love will change and descend on them as cruel
punishments. The reason for this is because they are standing against
God as Satan’s servants.
Song
of Solomon 8:7 also states, “Many waters cannot quench love, Nor can
the floods drown it. If a man would give for love All the wealth of his
house, It would be utterly despised.” Far from believing in the
righteousness of God, many Christians who claim to believe in Jesus are
instead volunteering and devoting themselves to other causes in His
name. Although they may labor hard to give more offerings and
evangelize, all that awaits them is to bear God’s despise and wrath. You
must realize that the wrath of God will descend on all those who do not
believe in His righteousness.
Sermons
in today’s churches are too lacking in testifying the righteousness of
God. However, the wrath of God and His righteousness are the main
teachings of the Bible, and when it comes to preaching the Lord’s Word,
the gospel that reveals the righteousness of God must not be overlooked.
Yet despite this, when we examine today’s Christian denominations
according to the Word, most of them tend to leave out God’s
righteousness and His wrath, and instead just tell people to believe in
Jesus somehow. That’s because today’s Christianity has turned into a
worldly religion. If anyone is a vigilant Christian, he must of course
believe in both the righteousness of God and His wrath.
The Righteousness of God Is an Indispensable Element for Evangelization
When
today’s Christians preach the gospel to other people, what do most of
them preach first? Most of them begin with the blessings of the flesh
when they “evangelize.” They take the blessings of the flesh that their
listeners can easily agree as the starting point of their evangelizing
effort. The reason why they do this is because they try to satisfy the
desires of their listeners. However, when it comes to believing in God,
the most fundamental problem that must be solved first is the problem of
sin. Before God, one must focus on the issue of how he can solve the
problem of his sins, and decide whether or not he would have faith in
God.
But
when many Christian actually go about trying to evangelize others, do
they actually address mankind’s sins and God’s righteousness? No, they
don’t really address these issues. On the contrary, they are incapable
of addressing them, so they actually try to avoid them. That’s because
they do not know the righteousness of God.
Paul
said, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine,
but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears,
they will heap up for themselves teachers” (2 Timothy 4:3). The “itching
ears” here refer to one’s pursuit of his own desires. In this passage,
Paul is warning that an evangelist must not try to evangelize sinners by
fulfilling their human desires. The Apostle Paul did not preach the
gospel in which the righteousness of God is revealed to satisfy such
“necessities.” However, today’s preachers are promising carnal blessings
to their listeners. In other words, they are preaching the gospel by
emphasizing that the listeners would receive abundant rewards only if
they accept Jesus.
The
most commonly used strategy to preach the gospel is to emphasize that
Jesus has blessed us in the flesh. And for this reason, Christians are
also encouraged to preach the gospel to others. However, Paul did not
use such tactics as his evangelizing method. On the contrary, Paul said,
“The reason why I want to go to Rome and preach the gospel to you is
because I want to tell you about the righteousness of God that I have
received, so that you may also have the same faith. You can have this
faith if you want it, and God’s righteousness is all ready for you.” Yet
many people still do not believe in the righteousness of God, and
therefore they are still under His wrath and at the risk of being
forever condemned by His hands.
(Romans 1:19) “because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.”
To
those who stand against the righteousness of God and do not believe in
it, what may be known of God has already been given in two ways: One is
the conscience that God has given them, and the other is the Natural
Revelation of creation. By manifesting these things, God has made those
who stand against Him know His existence as well as the fact that He is
the God of love who has bestowed the grace of salvation on them.
However, because most of them do not accept God’s love to the end even
when they know this, they all deserve to bear the punishment of curse
from God for their sins.
Even If One Were to Come up with Excuses
(Romans
1:20) “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are
clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His
eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,”
Those
who are to bear the wrath of God will claim that they did not know
about His existence. However, God has already manifested His existence
to everyone through His creation. Therefore, those who do not believe in
God, nor believe in the love of God’s righteousness even as they heard
it from His evangelists, will not be able to excuse their sins. It’s His
law of justice for God to apply the principle that “the wages of sin is
death,” and cast sinners into their destruction. Whoever escapes from
God’s law of love will be judged by God with His law of wrath, that is,
His law of justice.
Toward
the latter part Romans 1, Paul spoke about what will happen in the last
days, saying that men and women will stand before God in silence. They
will not be able to excuse their unbelief in God’s righteousness even if
they were to try, and that the whole world will be under God’s
judgment.
We
are now living in the age of God’s grace. However, His wrath is still
accumulating. We see the wrath piling up as a flood. My fellow
believers, do not wait until you are buried in this wrath. Do not give
excuses. Admit that you won’t be able to give any excuses for not
believing in His righteousness before God, and escape from His wrath by
holding onto His righteousness. To be saved from God’s wrath, there is
no other way but to believe in His righteousness. You should remember
that God has given the gospel of the water and the Spirit even to you,
who do not know His righteousness, so that you, too, may be clothed in
the righteousness of God.
This Passage Applies to Today’s Christians Also
(Romans
1:21) “because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as
God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their
foolish hearts were darkened.”
Who
will bear the wrath of God? They are the Christian sinners who, while
believing in God, have nonetheless not been delivered from their sins,
for they do not believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit
that has glorified God and become His righteousness. Most Christians
today are such sinners. In other words, while they do believe in God and
in Jesus Christ as their Savior, they do not believe with their hearts
the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, through which God has
remitted away every sinner’s iniquities. This kind of faith is
erroneous. Anyone who has this kind of faith stands against the love of
God’s righteousness, even as such people profess to believe in Jesus.
That’s why God said that He would make sure to bring His wrath upon such
people.
This
passage is fulfilled to today’s people also as written in the Bible.
Because they do not know the righteousness of God, even as they claim to
know Him, they do not thank Him, nor do they glorify Him, but their
thoughts are filled with only futile thoughts. That’s why Paul explained
the fearful state in which those who are exposed to the wrath of the
Almighty God are placed, and what made them come under God’s wrath. The
reason why they have become the objects of God’s wrath is because they
have rejected the knowledge of the righteousness of God. This knowledge
is the Truth that God has manifested Himself comprehensively through the
nature and all things created in it, and has made us His children
through the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
By
showing the wretched consequences that stems from rejecting the
knowledge of God, the Apostle Paul sought to describe the future of
mankind in more detail. The human heart is darkened by sin. When the
righteousness of God is shown by the revelation of nature and written in
the Word of the Bible, not to believe in it even as one sees it is to
ask for God’s wrath on his own.
Who,
then, can “glorify” God? He who has the proper knowledge of the
righteousness of God can glorify Him. Only those who know that God is
the Lord, holy, omniscient, unchanging, full of love, and righteous can
glorify God.
The
reason for man’s existence is to glorify God. But people do not like
God because of His sovereignty over them. They dislike Him because His
sovereignty negates their independence. They dislike Him because He is
holy. God’s holiness points out their sins and condemns them, and
because God is omniscient, people do not like Him. God’s omniscience
makes them fearful, because they are afraid that their sins might be
exposed. People do not like God also because God is unchanging. That God
is unchanging means that His attributes are always the same without
changing. Human beings do not like such truths. So they try to suppress
these truths and to deny their existence. However, what is clear is that
because of such human characteristics, people do not praise God.
Nonetheless,
through the righteousness of God, people can obtain His mercy and come
to glorify God. But that is possible only if one believes in the
righteousness of God.
Foolish People
(Romans 1:22) “Professing to be wise, they became fools,”
Who
are the fools? They are the ones who do not believe in the Word of God,
and instead believe in themselves, thinking themselves to be wise.
Since such people believe they are smart on their own, they don’t dwell
too much on what the righteousness of God is and what their souls need,
so they feel no need to believe in God. God described people like these
as beasts that perish (Psalm 49:20).
What
about you? Do you not consider yourself a good Christian, even as you
do not know the righteousness of God? If so, then you must turn around
from your foolish thoughts and believe in the God-given gospel of the
water and the Spirit. You will then receive the wisdom and salvation of
God.
Sinners
substitute God with material things. That’s why they’ve become fools.
Fools act foolishly. They commit the foolish act of turning God into an
image of a creature. This is why God’s servants must preach His
righteousness to them. Unless they do so, mankind cannot hear God’s
righteousness, and people will be destroyed as fools. However, God’s
mercy is such that His righteousness is preached sufficiently even to
the foolish people.
(Romans
1:23) “and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image
made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping
things.”
Those
who are foolish before God give up their souls to Satan and idols, when
they should partake in the glory of God instead. They will therefore
suffer with the world when it’s destroyed, and be forever accursed.
Everyone
needs the kind of faith that knows God properly and glorifies God
properly. Anyone who worships God’s creatures as his god is a fool.
Many People Say to God, “Please Leave Me Alone!”
(Romans
1:24) “Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of
their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves,”
Those
who are to be cursed by God are the ones who betray the Truth of His
righteousness, disbelieve it and reject it. Such people live in this
world according to the wishes of the lusts of their flesh. God leaves
them alone to go on to commit their sins, and the reason why He does so
is for them to fill the amount of their sins, so that they would surely
be destroyed on the last day. That’s because God has mercy on whom He
has mercy and condemns those whom He cannot help but condemn.
Ungodly
people commit sin according to their lustful desires. The ultimate
embodiment of carnal lusts is homosexuality. But, you should realize
that the wrath of God is revealed “from heaven” against such sinners.
Human beings, unaware of this wrath of God, insist to Him, “God, please
leave me alone. Don’t try to reign over me; just leave me alone so that I
can live my life as I wish.” People do not even wish to know the
righteousness of God. This is a great sin. That’s why God leaves them
alone under His wrath. However, like the father of the prodigal son, God
is still waiting for the rebellious children of wrath to return. He is
waiting for them to know His righteousness and come back to Him.
We
must return to God. Our own wish, too, is to return to God, but the
problem is that we cannot return to God through our own efforts. On the
contrary, our own efforts can only bring the opposite results, making us
depart from God and stand against Him.
In
our flesh we think that God has taken away everything that can make us
happy. We think that if we run away far from God, we would be happy and
free. However, what we discover more and more as we run away further and
further is not happiness, but misery. It’s not freedom that we see, but
only our helpless weaknesses of the flesh. Therefore, we must give up
our preposterous ideas, and obey God’s Word to receive His love of
salvation freely.
God
does not just leave mankind in futility, but He hands them over to His
judgment. However, mankind can still overcome the judgment through their
faith in the righteousness of God. By believing in God’s righteousness,
they no longer have to be actually condemned for their sins; on the
contrary, they will receive far better splendor.
(Romans
1:25) “who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and
served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever.
Amen.”
God
is to be forever praised by all of us. Far from praising God, however,
there are those who disobey His will, exalting and worshiping human
sexuality above the will of God. Homosexuals are at the extreme of such
people. Even so, God’s righteousness is such that for even these people,
if they believe in the gospel of His righteousness, their sins can be
washed away as white as snow, and they, too, can become God’s children.
(Romans
1:26-27) “For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even
their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.
Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in
their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful,
and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.”
There
are many people dying from AIDS on this planet. At this very moment,
this disease continues to bring untold sufferings. It has been reported
that AIDS is more infectious for homosexuals than heterosexuals. God
abhors the sins and acts committed by homosexuals. Yet because human
beings are weak, many still continue to commit these sins. They will
however eventually come to bear the costs of their sins with their own
bodies. But still, through the gospel of His righteousness, God has
washed away all the sins that are in their souls.
Even
if you have fallen into this sin, if you believe in the gospel of the
water and the Spirit in which God’s righteous is manifested, then you,
too, can be delivered from all your sins. God loves your soul. That’s
why Jesus Christ was baptized by John the Baptist to accept the sins of
the world. He died on the Cross, rose from the dead again, and has
thereby become your Savior.
For
you to escape from the curses of disease and eternal death, there is no
other way but to believe in the righteousness of God. If you believe in
God’s righteousness, this righteousness of God will become yours. It’s
my sincerest desire for you to have God’s blessings.
(Romans
1:28) “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge,
God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not
fitting;”
What
consequences are brought about to those who do not wish to retain God
in their hearts? Their hearts are injured. As a result, they end up
committing all kinds of sins, and because of these sins, their souls are
ultimately destroyed. They turn into truly wretched souls. It breaks
our hearts to see that there are so many such souls on this planet. All
of us believe that the gospel Word containing the righteousness of God
is absolutely needed by them. That’s because they, too, can be saved
from all their sins if they believe in God’s righteousness.
(Romans
1:29) “being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality,
wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife,
deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers,”
These
sins are most prevalent among the Christians who believe in Jesus but
have not been born again yet. Their sins are usually manifested in these
forms, and the first of these is that their thoughts are evil. For
those who do not believe in the righteousness of God, their hearts are
ruled by Satan, and they commit countless sins that stem from their evil
thoughts. Their hearts and acts are ugly and wicked. The hearts of
sinners are filled with all kinds of greed, and full of desire to do
evil. They like to talk about others behind their backs. God described
such people as “a brood of evildoers” (Isaiah 1:4). However, these
people, too, can still be washed from all their sins if they believe in
the gospel of the water and the Spirit and return to God. I pray that
the righteousness of our God’s mercy is with you all.
(Romans 1:30) “backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,”
These
are the list of sins committed by those who stand against the
righteousness of God and do not believe in it. The hearts of sinners,
which do not have the Holy Spirit, are filled with such sinful desires
so much that their hearts are overflowing with them. First, they are
prone to criticize others and have no mercy for anyone else. Second,
they hate God. They torment and hate God’s people. Because their hearts
are proud, they spend all their time boasting of their own
righteousness. Third, they scheme to do evil. Such people disobey their
own parents of the flesh and cause them heartache. However, even if they
have lived this kind of life and committed all these sins until now, if
they believe in the gospel where the righteousness of God is revealed,
then they, too, can be freed from all their sins and receive everlasting
life as sinless and righteous people. Therefore, all such people must
also believe in Jesus as their Savior. Jesus, as their Savior, will then
bestow the grace of the remission of sin on them and clothe them in the
glory of Heaven.
(Romans 1:31) “undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful;”
Because
sinners’ minds are blinded, they are incapable of discovering the real
Truth on their own. They betray their promises. They do cruel things
that no human being should do. If their interests seem to be threatened,
they resort to merciless acts to protect their interests. Because of
such sins, they will face death and be cast into hell.
To
them also, however, God has given the gospel of the water and the
Spirit, the grace of salvation, and has thus granted them the
opportunity to be saved. I thank the Lord.
(Romans
1:32) “who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who
practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but
also approve of those who practice them.”
Everyone
knows and believes that he would be sent to hell if he has sin. Yet
despite this, sinners not only practice their sins, but they also like
to provoke their fellow sinners to commit the same sins. They do this
because they are seeds of evildoers. Therefore they will not be able to
avoid the punishment for their sins. However, if they acknowledge before
God that they are seeds of evildoers and return to the righteous
salvation of God and believe in it, then they, too, will be remitted
from all such sins.
The
Lord has promised us all, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). I admonish all of you
to believe in this Word of the Lord, and to return to the faith that is
placed in the gospel Word, the righteousness of God. Although all human
beings are seeds of evildoers, if they believe in the righteousness of
Jesus Christ, they can all be saved from their sins.
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