Vintage Grace's Podcast

No one is able to earn God’s love on their own. No one is able to find salvation and joy in the Kingdom of God through their own effort.  Rather, our sin and mistakes are a mirror that reveal the depth of our desperate dependence, our brokenness, & our never-ending need for Christ every single moment of every single day.

Paul is telling the Jewish listeners that though they have been “chosen”, they are still in need of Christ. Even when the chosen people of God are faithless, God remains faithful. God’s righteousness and holiness are based upon who God is, not based upon anything His creation does. We will only find joy when we recognize our desperate and dependent need for Christ.

Being chosen seems to inevitably breed a sense of entitlement, of being better than. This sense of being “good” or “better than” versus others is extremely spiritually dangerous, because the standard is Christ. Paul continues to build his case that ALL of us are guilty of sinning against God, no matter our background and no matter what we think the external signs show. In today’s text, Paul goes on to argue that though many of us have symbols unmistakably connected to faith in God, the symbols in and of themselves are actually worthless to save us.

In Romans 2 Paul has laid a trap for anyone who thinks that the list of sins in chapter 1 isn't about them–reality is we are ALL on the hook for our choices & sin against God. Paul is attempting to deepen our understanding & experience of God’s Gospel which is what unites all of us out of our sin and into Him! In 2:12-16 he continues to develop the essential truth that God is not lenient, but He is undeniably fair & unmistakably firm in His judgment of everyone. 

God’s Rubric for Life

1) God cares about what we actually do
2) God cares about our motives
3) God will evaluate everyone by the same standard
4) The Gospel

Our society has trained us to think that being a “good person” is pleasing to God. That our “good” actions like attending church or serving the poor gain us favor and forgiveness. However, the hypocrisy that leaks from our life is actually causing a righteous anger in our patient God. We are storing up the WRONG treasure (God’s wrath), and this has massive implications. 

Paul is writing to a multi-faceted Church to prove that at the foot of the cross they’re all equal: sinners who have rejected Christ, exchanged absolute truths for a lie, and settled for lesser joys. Sin is the “fruit” of His truth being exchanged for what we feel is right. It starts in the head, penetrates the heart and flows through the hands in a myriad of actions (hands) that show who really sits on the throne of our hearts. If it’s anyone other than Jesus, we are ALL in big trouble.

3 TRUTHS ABOUT THE GOSPEL
1) We don’t need to be ashamed of the Gospel.
2) The Gospel is the only viable solution to life’s greatest problems.
3) We need to know the Gospel to live the Gospel.

Paul calls the Church of Rome to be united by the Gospel. The benefit of this will literally change their neighborhoods, Rome, Spain & the Ends of the Earth. It is no wonder Paul desired to GO to Rome and one day be SENT by them too. May we faithfully and collectively be united by the Gospel to do and be the same—here and to the ends of the earth.

1. We are SENT (UnitedToGod +ToGether)

2. Paul got the Gospel, but really it’s the GOSPEL that GOT a hold of HIM.

#RighteousnessRevealed #UnitedBYtheGospel #Communitas #SendingStation #Sent