Week 3 - The Simplicity of the Good News Part 2

Romans Week 3

I'm thrilled you have decided to join me on the journey through Romans. In week 3, we continue to clarify the simplicity of the Good News by delving into the beginning of the letter Paul wrote to the Romans. If you haven't had the opportunity to start the series with me, I suggest starting with Week 1: An Introduction to Romans, followed by Week 2: The Simplicity of the Good News Part 1. An introduction is not necessary for understanding Romans, but it does provide helpful context. You'll be caught up to speed by watching week 2 as well.

The following "blog" is an outline I used to create the vlog below. Either follow along or join in the study by watching the video below. Sometimes, I'll include information in the footage not contained in the blog. However, it is easy to follow a long one.

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Romans is all about the Good News of Jesus Christ. That’s the main theme. Romans 1:17 tells us how we are made right in God’s sight by His Son, Jesus Christ – that is the good news.

Wrapped up in that Good News is the avenue from death (because of sin) to life (because of Jesus). Romans 1:5 says, “Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace…” and it was as Romans 3:25 says, “through faith in the blood of Jesus…” and finally, in Romans 9:16 Paul reveals “It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.”

We need to come to terms with the words grace, faith, and mercy. Christians and people who don’t know God often confuse mercy with grace, unfortunately. If we received and believed an understanding of them incorrectly, what we believed may produce in us a very different understanding of the Good News, therefore causing us to live out this wrong belief. So, let’s have a look.

Let me start with mercy

Simply put, Mercy is not getting what we really deserve.

I lived in Korea for 6 years. In this amazing country, I took up some of the habits of the local people. When I decided to start driving, I had already learned many of the good (and not-so-good) habits of Korean drivers. There, you need to be a bit more assertive, or shall I even say, aggressive in your driving style. Side note: I remember coming back to the U.S. for a visit and driving like I would in Korea – this you cannot do, or you WILL get into an accident. I had to adjust my driving to my local area. Anyway, I remember once driving a bit aggressively and going through a red light just as it was changing. I saw a flash and realized I had been captured by CCTV. I thought, Oh shoot! I’m getting a ticket.

Good News. I didn’t!

I deserved to get the ticket, but I didn’t get it. Somehow, the Korean system had been merciful to me. I didn’t get what I really deserved.

Mercy in God’s economy is just like that. Mercy is to receive a second chance from God, while I did not deserve it. Jesus dying on a cross for MY sins. That is mercy. He didn’t deserve to die because He was completely innocent. I didn’t deserve to live because of sin. But God loved us and did it anyway, not because we were sinners, but while we were still sinners according to Romans 5:8. Peter added to this view of mercy when he wrote in 1 Peter 3:18, “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God…” Christ’s death was an act of mercy.

Grace, on the other hand, is what we receive that we do not deserve. Mercy is often a one-time thing, whereas God’s grace is His working tool to transform us, constantly working in our lives.

That’s why the Gospel is not just accepting Jesus once in a prayer you prayed once. It is not just something to be accepted in an evangelistic event or conversation. The Gospel is a continuation of Jesus’ transformative work in our lives through grace! It daily transforms us in all areas of our lives, more than just. Why? Because Jesus is Lord!

King Jesus should be Lord over your thoughts, emotions, and desires. Grace and our faith together give us the strength to hand over the reins. Grace transforms us into what God intended us to be in the first place. It’s His mercy (not giving us what we deserved) that enabled us to come to Him in the first place, but it is His grace that takes us to our created value, what we were made for. He made you a new person!

Your new identity is Righteousness! Now, I won’t have enough time to dig into that statement, but hold on to it because in a couple of weeks, we’ll dive deep into your new identity in Christ.

It’s mercy that gives us a second chance, but it is God’s grace that transforms us. We get confused about these two a lot. We may even make peace with our sins under the façade of ‘God has forgiven me’. Yes, God has forgiven us, but through our faith his grace is also transforming us. His forgiveness is not once and done…it’s a continuation on to a whole new person by his grace. Titus 2:11-12 says, “For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God…” Salvation by grace is forgiveness of sins, repentance, AND obeying the King. This is the full gospel of Jesus Christ for which Paul and I defend.

Conclusion

·      Mercy means you receive a second chance even though you don’t deserve one.

·      Grace means to receive the transforming power of the finished work of Jesus.

·      Grace transforms us into the original state of how God really sees us – Righteous in his son Jesus

·      Grace is received by your faith that Jesus is the Son of God.

·      God’s grace and your faith married together form the new you in Jesus Christ.

·      Through His righteousness, He is transforming us back into the original image of God.

·      God does the hard work. We believe it and receive it. The works He prepared for us flow out of our new identity as disciples of Jesus.

·      It is not by anything you could ever do on your own.

· In Paul’s letter, he talks a lot about the law… Many Christians believe they need to live under some type of law, which is often referred to as legalism.

In week 4, we’ll flesh out what Paul is talking about. 

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8