Strategy of the Gospel

 Romans 1:14-17; 9/8/2024; BCBC/IOUC; Rev. Paul Wang

 Introduction

In fact, I didn’t want to use “gospel strategy” as the sermon title today, because the word strategy can easily cause people to misunderstand and associate it with concepts such as plot. Using the “gospel method” is a bit thin and superficial.  Using “gospel wisdom” doesn’t seem to get the meaning.   Well, in the face of the limitations of human language, the decay of Chinese culture, and the shortcomings in translation,  let us use the word strategy to express today’s message.  Let’s look at the first point:

 Gospel debt owed

 God’s wisdom always comes from the heart in humans, and only God has such power.   Through Paul, He reveals to us that the essence of the relationship between God and man is that man is unworthy before God.  First, we all owe a debt to the gospel.  Please tell me, who owes whom the gospel debt?  I live in Dallas, so why should I be said to be in debt to you New Yorkers?  While Paul was still in Corinth, he wrote to the Romans, saying, I owe you a debt for the gospel.  This world cannot understand this truth!  This is why Paul mentioned  the Hellenists, the Greeks.   The Greeks, because of their philosophers, made everyone who spoke Greek great and proud.   It seems that everyone is Plato, everyone has the ability of Aristotle, plus Socrates, there is simply no one who can compare!

Second, use all the strength.  From an ethnographic perspective, Paul is not a Greek,  but a so-called outsider!  However, Paul’s Greek proficiency was excellent, he was considered a Hellenist at that time, and he was considered a wise man.  Therefore, Paul knew the people of that time very well.  This is why he has the confidence to say that he is “willing to do my best” to preach the gospel.  Paul knew that the world’s little cleverness could not understand the mystery of God’s gospel.  Let alone understand man’s debt to God, especially Paul’s debt to everyone for the gospel.  For us, this is also the guidance of the Holy Spirit, which is to preach the gospel to everyone and do our best.

Finally, the gospel reached Rome.  Missions must always be implemented, and visions must have a direction.  From the beginning of his third missionary journey, the Holy Spirit began to inspire Paul to go to Rome and preach the gospel to the Romans.  Of course, Romans is Paul’s letter of self-recommendation to missionary work in the Roman church, and it is also the guidance of the Holy Spirit to Paul.  It can be said that the closing chapters of Acts are basically the Holy Spirit leading Paul’s gospel on a journey to Rome.  Just as God led Hudson Taylor to spread the gospel to mainland China and led Timothy Richard to the coastal cities, it is the same reason.  Today, for Europe, where there are many churches and the gospel once flourished, it is already a “post-gospel era.”  Therefore, it is urgent to resume farming in Europe.  Let’s look at the second point:

 The power of God given

When a person makes up his mind, God will give him strength and demonstrate His power.  First, overcome shame.  How can there be any shame?  This is the first feeling and behavior of human beings after they sin.  Adam heard Jehovah God walking in the garden and asked, “Where are you?” The Bible says, the man hid, and became afraid!  Peter was asked in the court of the high priest: Do you know this man?  After being asked three times in a row, Peter was frightened by shame and ran away!  I remember when I first became a believer, I didn’t dare to pray in restaurants or in public places for fear of being heard.  When I first started preaching on the streets, it was difficult to say the words “Jesus loves you.”  Until one day, when a Chinese restaurant owner’s wife threatened to beat me with a broom and drive me away, I was no longer afraid!

Second, rely on God’s power.  No one can imagine that people grow from weakness to courage through persecution.  Paul’s situation was somewhat different.  He went from persecuting the gospel to feeling ashamed and afraid to preach the gospel, and finally embarked on the path of courageously preaching the gospel.  His sentence “I am not ashamed of the gospel” contains many bitter tears and hard steps.  Unless he truly experiences the power of God personally, he cannot say, “This gospel is the power of God.”  A person who has experienced the power of the gospel must be full of faith.  One thing that must be pointed out is that relying on the power of God does not mean that this person has any special powers.  In other words, people who claim to have some kind of power are often relying on the power of the old self, the world, or even Satan.

Finally, follow God’s order.  Why must it be “to the Jew first, and also to the Greek”?    What is the significance of God’s gospel order?  This begins with God’s promise to Abraham,   extends to the Davidic Covenant, and ends with Jesus Christ’s conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well.  Jesus Christ himself said: “For salvation is from the Jews. (John 4:22)”  This gospel sequence essentially demonstrates God’s faithfulness.  When He decrees it, it happens! The promises He made to Abraham were fulfilled one by one in history.  Even the Lord Jesus Himself chose to be born among the Jews.  The Jews rebelled against Him, but God remained faithful to His chosen people.  Let’s look at the third point:

 The righteous are justified by faith

Justification by faith is a theme in the Bible, but few people explain it clearly.  First, because of God’s righteousness.  God’s love and mercy are to satisfy God’s righteousness.  John says in Revelation, “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done.  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. (Revelation 22:12-13)”  What does it mean?  That is to say, the God we believe in is the God who exists from eternity!  God has been there since the beginning of all things.  At the end of all things, God will be there and still in control.  The order of all things in the universe is established by Him.  He is the standard and measure of all things and cannot be challenged.

Second, the gospel is righteousness.  The reason the gospel appears is because of man’s sin.  The reason why people sin is because Satan wants to challenge the order established by God.  God said, in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.   This is the righteousness of God.  He said, and it was so.  Adam and Eve fell into sin and entered death. Jesus came to tell people that His death replaced the death of sinners!  This is the gospel, and the gospel is the righteousness of God!  The atonement designed by God is the propitiation established by God through the death of Christ for all those who believe in Him.  This is why the gospel is good news.  While we were still sinners, He died for us, God’s love fully satisfies His righteousness.

Finally, believing in God is righteousness.  Because Abraham believed God, God counted him as righteousness.  Therefore, Faith is grace that reveals the two sides of God’s righteousness,   It is also the only way to express the relationship between man and God.  As Paul said: “and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith. (Philippians 3:9)”  Faith is the direction in which people strive toward God, and Christ is the benchmark toward which faith points.  The key is that belief in God is righteousness and will affect the testimony of our lives.  This will have a profound impact on everything we say and do.  Faith is not an empty word, but a guide for our lives that satisfies God’s righteousness.

Conclusion

When we realize that we are in debt to the gospel, life will have direction.  If we rely on God’s power, we will follow God’s order.  If we understand the truth of justification by faith, we will let faith become our testimony of glorifying God and benefiting others.

Let us pray……

Romans 1:14-17

14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and  to the foolish.

15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

16 For 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.

17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”