Scripture Romans 1:16-17
Movie Trailer “I am not ashamed”
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJJ2xphZjjA)
Romans 1:16-17
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it
is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the
Jew, then for the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is
revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is
written: "The righteous will live by faith."
In
1516–17, Johann Tetzel, a papal commissioner for indulgences,
was sent to Germany to raise money to rebuild St Peter's Basilica in Rome. (In the
teaching of the Roman Catholic Church,
an indulgence is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one
has to undergo for sins". It may reduce either the penance
required after a sin has been forgiven or the temporal punishment after death,
in the state or process of purification called Purgatory)
On October 31st
1517, Martin Luther wrote to Archbishop
Albrecht, protesting against the sale of indulgences. He enclosed in
his letter a copy of his "Disputation of Martin Luther on the Power and
Efficacy of Indulgences," which came to be known as The 95 Theses. Luther
did not mean to condemn, rather to reform the catholic church. However, some of the “95” were not received
well; like thesis 86, which asks: "Why does the pope, whose wealth today is greater than the wealth
of the richest Crassus, build the basilica of St.
Peter with the money of poor believers rather than with his own money?"
Luther also objected to a saying attributed to Tetzel that read, "As soon
as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs." He
insisted that, since forgiveness was God's alone to grant, those who claimed
that indulgences absolved buyers from all punishments and granted them
salvation were in error.
Again, Luther
did not want to break from the Catholic Church – he wanted reforms to take
place and to become a biblical Christ centered people. How much better if were
a United Universal Church. Even when a break was inevitable – the reformers
could not agree on anything which is how we ended up with so many
denominations. Now it is worse – People
think it is great to have an Interdenominational or worse of all a Non-denominational
church. The battle cry is “We don’t have some leaders telling us what we can
and cannot do when the truth of that idea is – “We are Christians and we are
going to do things OUR way without any accountability or real relation to any
other Christian group.
Churches are not
in competition with each other. It is also not the church against the world –
in fact it is the church FOR the world.
John 3:16-18 “For God so loved
the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes (faith) in him shall not perish but have eternal
life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but
to have the world through him. Christ was not against the world but FOR the
world. We look at
the world and say “Oh what a
horrible place” God looks at the world and says “My son can fix this!”
Martin Luther
was not ashamed – Rachel Scott was not ashamed – Ashland Church is not ashamed!
It is Jesus who
provides the answer but the church has to be the one to help the world ask the
right questions.
I
have noticed over the past few years one reason the church in America has been
dying. I also realize that I may drive people crazy when I emphasize it, but I
am not ashamed to do so, because it is necessary to change the tide of church
decline along with a declining number of people turning to Jesus for Life. That
observation is this: The church has been told for 20 years that we no longer
live in a church culture but we have done little to change our mindset,
language or how we do things, outside of changing some of our music.
We
don’t really believe there are people who have never heard of Jesus. We don’t
believe there are people who have never been to church. We like that church is
a place where there are things familiar to us and assume they are familiar to
everyone. I am not talking about Ashland Church; I am talking about the church
in America of which we are one. But we are one who will do well in not only
hearing that we live in an unchurched culture, but alter how we speak and act
to reach those who are truly not unchurched but NEVER-CHURCHED or the
CHURCHLESS. As you might expect, the data show some striking generational
differences when it comes to secularization. The pattern is indisputable: The
younger the generation, the more post-Christian it is. Nearly half of Millennials
(48%) qualify as post-Christian compared (40%) of Gen X-ers, 1/3 of Boomers
(35%) and 1/4 of Elders (28%).
I
have been guilty of insider thoughts and comments and so have most of us. Even
the Apostle Paul did it in today’s text: He said; For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed. That is
insider language. You had to be a Jew (and Paul was the missionary to the
Gentiles) to understand what he was saying. The righteousness he speaks of is
very much an Old Testament concept.
Isa 51:5-8 My righteousness draws
near speedily, my salvation is on the way, and my arm will bring justice to the
nations. The islands will look to me and wait in hope for my arm. Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the
earth beneath; the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like
a garment and its inhabitants die like flies. But my salvation will last
forever, my righteousness will never fail.
"Hear me, you who know what is right, you people who have my law in
your hearts: Do not fear the reproach of men or be terrified by their
insults. For the moth will eat them up
like a garment; the worm will devour them like wool. But my righteousness will
last forever, my salvation through all generations."
Righteousness
is THE requirement for salvation. However, the people are incapable of being
righteous. So God says I am bringing MY righteousness. Our salvation is
dependent on God’s righteousness coming into us. SO when Paul says For in the gospel a righteousness from God
is revealed. He is announcing that God’s righteousness can be delivered to
us in the gospel. Gospel is the good news that Jesus died on a cross and rose
again to remove our sin and become righteousness for us because we are
incapable of being righteous.
OT
righteousness is that God is just
and cannot be anything else (i.e. the flood). He is ‘right’ in all thoughts and
actions. NT righteousness has to do with our right relationship with God.
Therefore,
to understand what Paul is saying you needed to be an insider – a Jew or one
who knows the OT. It is up to the church
to take the Old and New Testament and present it in such a way (language and
actions) that people in today’s ever changing culture can understand it and
apply it to their lives.
For
instance, the church used to say “Here is Jesus, become like us and you will
find him” Now we have to say, “Here is Jesus let us help you find him.” Instead
of people becoming like us and pointing to Jesus, we now point to Jesus and
help them find him however we can. 1 Cor 9:19-23 Though
I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as
many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those
under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the
law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became
like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under
Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became
weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all
possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel,
that I may share in its blessings.
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