As Paul concludes his letter to the church in Rome, he is keen to impression them the importance of unity in the fellowship. Paul is writing here to the leaders of the church to give them some final instructions. He wants them to be discerning about those who will influence God's people through their teaching and preaching. He doesn't want them pulled away by various winds of doctrine. His letter as a whole has given them what they need to know to stand strong, in unity, against teaching that will pull people away.

As Paul finishes he makes sure that he displays his heart to the church and to us. Romans is a rich, dense, glorious book, one saturated with the beauty of the triune God and the redemption he has accomplished. At the heart of it is how to know and live the gospel so that we don't fall away, but daily be captivated by his great love for us.

Romans - The heart of the Gospel is a teaching series from Annalong Presbyterian Church. Find out more at www.annalongpc.org/sermons.

We have seen before that Paul has a deep heart for this church in Rome. Even though he hasn't visited Rome he knows some of its members. Chapter 16 details for us these people and their names tell us more about them. Long lists of names aren't simply in the Bible to fill space; they communicate important details of how God works through his people to build his church.

The church in Rome was a diverse church made up of Jews, Greeks and Romans. It had nobility and slaves and it was a place where both men and women worshiped and served. This has bearing for us as a church today.

Every church should strive to welcome and greet all who enter its fellowship. This includes those who are visitors and those who come week by week. The church should also express its affection and acceptance of one another in deeds as well as words. When we work together in the church we get to know each other and so our bond of fellowship grows. And when we do all of this then we should expect growth in the church as we live as the people of God.

The picture Paul paints for us in Romans 16: 1-16 is a beautiful one of what the church should be and how God's people should be one in the Holy Spirit, under one gospel.

Romans - The heart of the Gospel is a teaching series from Annalong Presbyterian Church. Find out more at www.annalongpc.org/sermons.

There is one more aspects of the church's maturity that Paul wants to address and it is to do with mission. In the second half of chapter 15 Paul affirms once again his calling to be a missionary to the Gentiles. So far this has been in the east of the Roman Empire, but now he knows his calling to the western part of the Empire and to places where the gospel has never been preached. Paul is writing the letter to the Romans while in Corinth and he will leave there to go to Jerusalem to leave with them the collection from the churches in Macedonia and Achaia and then head to Spain. En route he will stop in Rome to visit with the believers there.

His purpose for stopping in Rome is two-fold: (1) to encourage the believers there and (2) to give them opportunity to share in this mission. They may not be able to go to Spain, but they can support Paul through their prayers and giving as he makes the journey and spends time at the ends of the earth of his day.

Paul knows this is part of their ongoing discipleship, but he also knows that the work of the Holy Spirit is essential as they do this together. And so we learn of the need of the Holy Spirit in our lives as we undertake God's mission in the world. We can see these in three Ps:

1. Power of the Holy Spirit
2. Partnership in the gospel
3. Prayer for all the church

Romans - The heart of the Gospel is a teaching series from Annalong Presbyterian Church. Find out more at www.annalongpc.org/sermons.

Paul is approaching his final conclusion and in chapter 15 he wants to address what it means for the church to be a welcoming place.  If it is to welcome new converts into the faith then it must be a welcoming place for each other.  The believers are to be of one accord in Jesus Christ.

Paul continues to use Scripture to show us the enteral plan of God in ingrafting Gentiles into his covenant family.  He demonstrates why our knowledge of Scripture is important as we live for him today.

Romans - The heart of the Gospel is a teaching series from Annalong Presbyterian Church. Find out more at www.annalongpc.org/sermons.

As Paul continues the practical outworking of our Christian faith he address an issue that is not just fixed to the first century church, but a problem that has seen damage in the church in every generation. Paul addresses the human problem of judging. In the context of chapter 14 of Romans, Paul is telling the church then and now that there is no place for judging in the fellowship of believers. He makes this clear in a number of verses that conclude each time by taking us to God’s perspective. It is God alone who is judge and as judge he sees us through his son Jesus because our faith is in him for our salvation.

Rather than judging, Paul takes us in the second half of the chapter to consider how we can build each other up. Once again, this doesn’t come without a challenge as Paul warns us that our freedom to do certain things can cause another to stumble. We are to be a church that speaks well of Jesus as we live well for him together. We are to think of others before ourselves and live Biblically as Paul directs us.

Romans - The heart of the Gospel is a teaching series from Annalong Presbyterian Church. Find out more at www.annalongpc.org/sermons.

Continuing his great application of his rich theology, Paul presents a logical progression of how we are to live as followers of Jesus.  Having looked in chapter 12 at how worship through our service and love our brothers and sisters in Christ.  In chapter 13 he continues this theme of love, but this time Paul wants to tell us how love lives well in society.

Beginning with looking at the civil authorities, out obedience to the law of land is part of the Christian's integrity.  Paul affirms that civil leaders are appointed by God's authority, therefore they are to serve as his agents in the moral law.  This does not mean that Christians simply sit back and take what comes their way.  If the civil authorities are not leading in a Christ-centred way, then we take a stand for what is right and true - we obey God rather than man.

This leads Paul into the second part of the passage as he considers how love keeps us from sinning.  Sacrificial love means we stay on the path of light and not on the path of darkness.  Living in the light means we stay true to the gospel, whereas walking in the darkness will only lead to sin.  Paul urges us to be sincere in our love of Christ so that we can live well in the church and in society.

Romans - The heart of the Gospel is a teaching series from Annalong Presbyterian Church. Find out more at www.annalongpc.org/sermons.

We have reached a key moment in our studies in the letter to the Romans. Paul has spent 11 chapters detailing his great theology on what the gospel is. But it has to be more than head knowledge and so in these closing chapters, chapters 12 to 16, Paul tells us how we apply this gospel in our daily lives. He begins by detailing what our response is to God. Knowing the gospel means we respond in love to God and understand that everything we do is our spiritual worship.

Having established our response to the gospel is love for God, Paul goes on to talk of how the church its to be a place of sacrificial love. Believers are to be transformed by Jesus and not conformed by the world. We are to be different people who demonstrate a better way - the Jesus way. We are called to live as Jesus did so that we will show what the love of God looks like in our daily lives.

Romans - The heart of the Gospel is a teaching series from Annalong Presbyterian Church. Find out more at www.annalongpc.org/sermons.

Verses 25 to 36 draw Paul's great theology of the gospel to a close. He has been directing us in the first 11 chapters to the heart of God's love towards us. As he concludes he speaks of a future time when the Jews (ethnic Israel) will come to know the fullness of the gospel through Jesus Christ. For now they have been partially hardened towards the good news, but when the fullness of Gentiles has been achieved (a time and number we do not know), then God will remain faithful to his covenant people. Paul is clear - the only way for Jew or Gentile to know salvation is and can only be through Jesus Christ.

As we live gospel lives today we have great certainty that God is faithful to his promises and he will remain so. Our faith is not misguided, but is well placed.

Romans - The heart of the Gospel is a teaching series from Annalong Presbyterian Church. Find out more at www.annalongpc.org/sermons.

Romans 11 is one of the hardest chapters of the Bible to understand. Looking at the first 24 verses we learn from Paul God's plan of salvation for both Jew and Gentile. Using the illustration of a grafted olive tree, the root and trunk are God's plan of salvation. Israel was the natural branches for the Lord's blessing of salvation, but due to their disobedience we now live in a time when their position has taken a back seat so that the Gentiles, now grafted in as a wild olive branch, can know the blessing of salvation for them also.

The overarching message of this passage is that God knows what he is doing and that salvation is only through Christ alone. Paul has made this clear throughout this letter. He continues to show his mercy and grace on both Jew and Gentile, for none is excluded from the truth of the gospel.

Romans - The heart of the Gospel is a teaching series from Annalong Presbyterian Church. Find out more at www.annalongpc.org/sermons.

Paul begins what are two difficult chapters with some great news. His message in chapter 10 is the truth that salvation is for all who will hear and respond. We need to be attentive to it. But we also must share it! We cannot keep the gospel to ourselves, hidden and locked away. It's to be shared in word and deed so that the world will know the truth of the risen Saviour.

Our call as followers of Jesus is to know Christ each day and learn together from him what it means to be his faithful witnesses in this day, wherever he has placed us.

Romans - The heart of the Gospel is a teaching series from Annalong Presbyterian Church. Find out more at www.annalongpc.org/sermons.