Introductions

All of Paul's epistles have introductions. You know, that's what letters do. "Dear Bob ..." Introductions. My tendency is to gloss over the introductions. "From Paul to Rome" ... blah, blah, blah. Got it. Let's get to the good stuff. That tendency, however, is a mistake. Look, for a moment, at the introduction to Paul's epistle to the Church at Rome. It is packed full of really important stuff.

¹ Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, ² which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, ³ concerning His Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh ⁴ and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by His resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, ⁵ through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of His name among all the nations, ⁶ including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, ⁷ to all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

There, that seems simple enough, right? It's from Paul. Yeah, we knew that. He is a servant of Christ, an apostle. Yeah, we got that. It was written to "all those in Rome" who are "called to be saints". Yeah, yeah, now can we move on? No! Because I just skipped some really big stuff!

Paul was "set apart for the gospel of God". (Notice, by the way, that it is "the gospel of God". Keeping that fact in mind will cause problems for the Pauline Dispensationalists that suggest that Jesus's Gospel was different than Paul's Gospel.) Since "the gospel of God" is in view, what is that gospel?

"Gospel" means "good news" and there is all sorts of "good news" available. It may be good news that you got a promotion or good news that the lump turned out to be benign or good news that you received unexpected money. But Paul is not talking here about just any "gospel", just any "good news". This is "the gospel of God". It is the core of Scripture, the purpose of Christianity, the point. What does Paul say about that gospel? Let's look.

1. The gospel was promised beforehand (v 2). The prophets and the Scriptures (to Paul, that's our Old Testament), these speak of the gospel of God.

2. The gospel is about His Son (v 3). God's gospel is not "the social gospel". As I said, there are lots of gospels -- "good news". The one about which God is primarily concerned is not justice for the oppressed, feeding the poor, or health care for all. It is "concerning His Son". The gospel of God is first and foremost about Christ. Now, "other gospels" is just one mistake that is often made. The other is that the gospel is about us. While it certainly affects us, it is not about us. That error is an error of pride. The gospel is "concerning His Son", not "the people of God" or anything like it. Christ is the central point of the gospel, not helping others or even our salvation.

3. Key to the gospel of God is the physical and historical nature of Christ. He was "descended from David" (v 3). He was "according to the flesh" (v 3). Any "metaphorical" or "spiritual" reality of Christ is missing the point. At the first point of contact God's gospel is about the physical and historical reality of Christ.

4. The Trinity is key to the gospel of God. Notice in the unfolding of this introduction to this epistle is the entire three-in-one Godhead. The Father promises and sends. The Son becomes flesh and dies and is resurrected. The Holy Spirit declares to all the deity and Lordship of Christ. Dismantling any part of that three dismantles the gospel of God. Many suggest that the Trinity is not essential to Christianity. If the gospel is essential to Christianity, then the Trinity is fundamental to the gospel.

5. The "proof" of the gospel of God is the Resurrection (v 4). Many voices today will try to tell us that Jesus didn't rise from the dead. "Preachers in good standing" argue that Jesus didn't even exist, let alone rise from the dead. Islam considers Jesus a great prophet, but they assure us He never rose from the dead because He never died. But biblically the resurrection of Christ, attested to by the eyewitness of the disciples, by Paul, and by "more than 500 brothers at one time" (1 Cor 15:6), is the key proof of the gospel of God. No resurrection, no gospel. No gospel, no hope.

6. The gospel of God includes the Lordship of Christ (v 4). There have been books written and arguments made for and against "Lordship salvation". Say what you will, but Paul holds that God's gospel entails "Jesus Christ our Lord". On one hand, the Lordship of Christ is part of the good news of God. On the other hand, stripping that away eliminates that good news.

7. The gospel of God supplies through the Lord Jesus Christ grace, obedience, and sainthood. We get the grace part. We're all good with that. But the gospel of God includes in its primary components the gift of obedience that faith produces (Phil 2:13) and a declaration of holiness for all who are elect. Roman Catholic sainthood is a specialized structure that is reserved for the elite. Biblical sainthood is the declared righteousness of all who are in Christ. That is basic to God's gospel.

You see, hidden in this nice little introduction to the letter to the Romans is a huge explanation of the gospel of God. It was not an after thought, but predetermined. It is absolutely about God's Son, not about some "social gospel" or what Paul calls "a different gospel" (Gal 1:6-9). God's Son came in the flesh at a historical moment, not some spiritual event or mythical story. The gospel is about the Trinity, the work of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and it is proven by the Resurrection, a fundamental event without which the gospel of God is no gospel. The point of God's gospel is Christ and Him as Lord. The outcome of God's gospel is His gift of grace, obedience, and holiness. In all of this, Christ is central. This is the gospel of God about which Paul says, "I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek" (Rom 1:16). Let's not get the point (Christ) mixed up with the result (salvation). Let's not get the cause (the Godhead) confused with the result (obedience). Let's not run off with "a different gospel". The Bible doesn't say nice things about that gospel.