Heritage Baptist Church of Frankfort IL

This sermon is designed to give an overall view of the message of the book of Romans.

The good news is found in Christ. His coming into the world was prophesied in the Old Testament. In the New Testament his salvation and kingship are confirmed by the resurrection from the dead.

The book of Romans was written by Paul who was a man that was drastically changed by his meeting with Christ. In the introduction to this book, Paul lays out some of the changes that occur in a person's life when they come to saving faith in Jesus.

These verses give the sum of what Paul is going to detail in the rest of the book. Individuals are in need of good news because of their sin. The only thing that has power to free men from sin is Jesus Christ and His death on the Cross. Salvation from sin is not something that can be worked for but it can only be grasped by faith in Christ. This is the passage that changed centuries of religious beliefs that said a person had to work for salvation. When individuals figured out that the just ones live by faith, it was a message powerful enough to change the world.

Many think that God displays His wrath as a result of random passions. However, God's wrath is displayed after giving mankind opportunity to respond to revelation about God. Mankind takes clear knowledge of God and casts it aside to come up with their own creation. Mankind chooses their own path that leads to wrath.

Mankind laid aside a knowledge of God and went after their own foolish creations. God in His wrath allows them to follow their own designs. Their own sins become the punishment that God uses in this life. The lifestyle they live is a display of the wrath of God for their sin.

Paul moves from chapter 1 where pagan Gentiles who reject God's revelation are judged to this chapter where religious Jews are the focus. The Jews assumed due to their background and all the gracious gifts from God that they would never be under the wrath of God. The Jews still sinned. Their judgment is even greater because they knew about God and sin from the specific revelation of Scripture. They deserve God's wrath for their sin just as much as sinful pagans.