Piper #5 - Romans 1:1-7

Called and Beloved, Part II

 

Dr. Piper looks at two words in the initial greeting. Called which was part I and Beloved which is Part II.  He speaks of this word beloved as not just a general love like God has for the evil and the righteous, or a love for the world that he sent his son, but a called love, a specifically chosen love, like a man has for a wife. God chose us to love us in a special covenantal relationship.  And I love this quote, “I argued that this means Christians are called by God to belong to Jesus Christ (Romans 8:30; 1 Corinthians 1:9); and that this call of God is not just an invitation, but is the kind of call that creates what it commands.”

 

It is the kind of call that creates what it commands. That is grace. He calls and in his love sustains us and changes us and transforms us.

 

I was moved by this quote:

“ to put it simply and bluntly: the love of God keeps us from being separated from the love of Christ. Will “the called of Jesus Christ” be separated from him? No! Why? Because God loves us! The covenant love of God triumphs in preserving his own…In other words, the special, covenant love of God for us will triumph over everything that tries to destroy our faith and pull us away from God.”

 

What an amazing thought. God’s love not only woos us, not only transforms us, but keeps us from being separated from him.

 

We are His beloved.

 

I like how he ends it.

“This is what Paul means in Romans 1:7 when he says, “to all who are beloved of God in Rome.” And it is what God means when he says to you Christians today: You are the called of Jesus Christ; you are my loved ones. I have chosen you for my own; I have called you; I have justified you; I will keep you; I will work in you what is pleasing in my sight (Hebrews 13:21); nothing will separate you from me; because I love you with an everlasting love. You are my beloved.”

 

 

 

 

 

Steve Allen

ACTION Zambia

www.aliveinafrica.com

 

 

Piper #4 - Romans 1:6-7

Called and Loved, Part I

 

Piper focuses on the word called in this passage.  I didn’t really realize how crucial this word is to this book.  I knew the word was important in the bible, but  after reading this sermon and the looking up the word called on Logos, I found some key verses in Romans:

Romans 1:1 - ¹Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,

Romans 1:6 - ⁶including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,

Romans 1:7 - ⁷To 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.

Romans 8:28 - ²⁸And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:30 - ³⁰And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Romans 9:11 - ¹¹though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls—

Romans 9:24 - ²⁴even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?

Romans 9:25 - ²⁵As indeed he says in Hosea, “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’ ”

Romans 9:26 - ²⁶“And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’ ”

Romans 11:29 - ²⁹For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

 

So there definitely is an undeniable aspect of salvation that relates to God’s specific call.

 

“When (Paul) describes what it means to have a Christian identity in verses 6–7, Paul does not put the first emphasis on what we do. He puts it on what is done to us and for us, just as he did in describing his own identity as a slave and apostle and servant of the gospel.^[1]”

 

  Piper shares how difficult it seems that in a world so big that God’s call would be so specific.  He writes:

“So today, whether it looks like it or not, all authority in heaven and on earth belongs to Christ. And unless we know that and believe that with all our hearts, we will be overwhelmed by the apparent bigness of all that happens in the world. In the absence of that truth, Christianity looks hopelessly insignificant and Christians look foolish. So set your mind on the magnificence of Christ as the Lord of the universe, and on the power and wisdom of God the Father who created all this and plans all this and is managing all this, precisely for the building of his church—his people—by bringing about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations.^[2]”

 

So the purpose of our lives is to live out the calling that has redeemed, justified and given a new purpose and meaning in our lives.  Whether we like it or not, agree with it or not, God has had mercy on whom he has mercy. He hast turned on the light for whom he has turned on the light for, according to 2 Cor 4:4-6.   

 

“That is what Paul means in Romans 1:6 when he says, “You Romans are the called of Jesus Christ.” God has said in your hearts, “Let there be light,” and you have seen his glory and come to him and called on him, and he has saved you, and forgiven you and accepted you and poured out his love in your hearts. That is what has happened to you, Christian. Learn who you are. Learn how to thank your God, and live in the humble wonder of grace.

And say with me to every unbeliever, on behalf of Christ, and in the power of his Spirit: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you” (Ephesians 5:14).”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve Allen

ACTION Zambia

www.aliveinafrica.com

 

 

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^[1]Piper, J. (2007). Sermons from John Piper (1990-1999). Minneapolis: Desiring God.

^[2]Piper, J. (2007). Sermons from John Piper (1990-1999). Minneapolis: Desiring God.

Piper # 3 - Romans 1:1-5

“I linger over this because if you get it early, the book of Romans will open to you like a flower. And if you don’t get it, the book will not make sense. And I linger over it because this is the essence of how God means for you to live your life.”

What is this thing that Piper sees as the key to understanding Romans?

Grace.

 

Grace to both save and enable ministry.

 

Too often people only see grace as something that saves you, but Piper’s point is that “he means that God not only saved him from his sin, but he also gave him grace to be an authoritative spokesman for the risen Son of God in power.^”

 

 

So, what is grace?

 

“So we have seen that grace is a power from God for ministry (like Paul’s apostleship). It is free and cannot be earned or deserved. It is received as a gift by faith, not merited by works.”

 

Piper draws an important connection with Romans 1:5 with Romans 15:18.

He says in Romans 15:18, “I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me [that’s the power of grace], resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles”—which is the same aim as 1:5.

 

And the best quote of the whole message:

“Paul serves Christ by the grace with which Christ serves Paul.^”

 

How do we apply this message?
“God wants you to read verse 5 and in the end put your calling in the place of the word “apostleship.” “Apostleship” is Paul’s—not mine and not yours. You might put, “Through Christ I have received grace and the teaching role.” Or: grace and singing. Or: grace and studentship. Or: grace and singleness. Or: grace and widowhood. Or: grace and motherhood. And what you should mean is: God has freely given me forgiveness and the power to do a calling, and fulfill a role which I accept by faith.  There is not a role in life that can be lived the way God wants it lived apart from enabling grace. Being a godly mother or being an apostle is impossible without the power of grace. So when Paul says, in 1 Corinthians 15:10, that all his apostolic labor is by grace, you insert your own calling: “By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.” The decisive, enabling power for all ministry and all service is God’s grace.”

 

As Piper does so well, he asks questions upon answers to give us more insight:

“But how do we receive and rely on grace? The answer is “by faith.” So you can see why all true obedience is the fruit of faith. It’s the fruit of faith because God’s grace is given to enable obedience, and faith is the way we rely on that grace, and so obedience is the fruit of that faith.”

 

So, I’ll finish off this with a practical application for me:

“So what we have seen so far is that God wants to be the Giver in this relationship. God wants to be gracious. God wants to be the fountain and the source of our service and our obedience and our ministry—whether apostleship, or pastor, or student, or mother, or any other calling. God intends to be the source of enabling, empowering, sustaining grace. Our job is to trust him and act in reliance on him. This is the essence of the Christian life.”

 

God has used this sermon in a very insightful way for me, to help me see, how truly destitute that I am in ministry and how much I really need his grace.  It’s all about grace. From start to finish.  I can claim nothing on my own

 

Piper - #2 - God's good new concerning his son - Romans 1:1-4

The beginning of every message seems to be a quick review of the previous message and in this case. Sometimes these reviews drone on and on. In this message, it was a gem that I want to share. In speaking about Paul living to please God with his whole life, Piper writes:

In other words, Paul serves Christ in the power with which Christ serves Paul. “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve” (Mark 10:45; see also 1 Corinthians 15:10; 1 Peter 4:11). We will skew the whole meaning of Romans from the outset if we don’t see that Paul serves Christ in the power that Christ supplies, so that Christ gets the glory for Paul’s service

And then the next phrase says, “This sovereign, all-supplying Christ.”

I had never seen it phrased about Christ coming to serve is one who still serves. He really does continue to serve in ways that are power supplying and life altering. He is a serving God. And as Paul says, we will skew the whole meaning of Romans if we don’t see that the grace that Christ gives to serve Christ comes from Christ.

As for this second message, he starts off by saying it is about the gospel of God. It is easy to skip right over the beginnings but in this case, Piper doesn’t and I am glad. A couple of things jumped out at me:

First, I am in the middle of preparing an Old Testament survey course to the pastors class in Zambia and I have been really encouraged to see how the Old Testament is all about Christ and fulfilled in Christ and is typified in Christ. He is the reality of all that was written about “beforehand in the holy scriptures.”

Piper writes, “

1) The gospel of God is the fulfillment of Old Testament promises.

It is not a new religion. It is the fulfillment of an old religion. The God of the Old Testament is the God of the New Testament. What he was preparing and promising then, he fulfilled in the coming of Jesus.

2) God keeps his promises.

Hundreds of years go by. The Jews wonder if the Messiah will ever come. They go through horrendous suffering. Then God acts and the promise is fulfilled. This means that God can be trusted. It may look as if he has forgotten his promises. But he does not forget. So verse 2 is not only a statement about the content of the gospel, but is also a reason for believing it. If we can see that God promised Christ centuries before he came and that in many details he fulfils these promises, our faith is strengthened.

3) These are holy, inspired writings we should reverence and believe.

Read the verse carefully: He [God] promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures.” God promised in the Scriptures. God is speaking in the Scriptures. That is what makes them holy. This is Paul’s understanding of Scripture and should be ours. If you have ever wondered why our Bibles say “Holy Bible” on the front, Romans 1:2 is the answer.

Piper also talks about the fact that Jesus was born as a man and raised by the Spirit of Holiness. Another insight here was that he was born according to the prophetical writings of God (his promises came true) and it also says that he raised. To be raised you have die. And that was against all the hopes and dreams of the Jews. Piper quotes (Luke 24:21, “But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel”

So, all in all, a good foundational start to the GOSPEL of GOD

Romans - For my 40th year

I am turning 40 on this upcoming January 6.  I was trying to think of something I could start and end during this 40^th year that would be significant and yet doable and encouraging.  I feel led to go through each of John Piper’s sermons on the book of Romans, 244 sermons in a year. But I still have five months left before I turn 40, and I thought, why wait? So, I am going to give it a shot, starting now.… 244 sermons in approximately 500 days.  Each sermon, every few days, I’ll give a short snap shot of what I am learning with a quote from Dr. Piper from the sermon. The beauty of this is that he has it in both manuscript as well as audio, so I will be taking advantage of each.  Rather than give the link to each sermon each day, I will be just giving the link of the sidebar that will take you to every sermon on Romans.  I am looking forward to this new challenge/goal. And just as the the book of Romans is more about God than Paul (see Romans 1:1), this goal isn’t about me.  The whole sermon a day idea was merely an accountable tool to get me learning and growing in God’s word.

 

See ya on the other side and hopefully throughout it as well.

 

 

Steve Allen

ACTION Zambia

www.aliveinafrica.com

 

 

Piper - Roman 1:1

“So verse one may look like it is about the author of the letter; but behind every phrase is Someone far greater. God bought him by the death of his Son, God called him to be an apostle (Galatians 1:15; 1 Corinthians 1:1), God set him apart from before he was born. And he did it all, “for the gospel of God”—which we will look at next week. In other words, even in the first verse we hear Romans 11:36, “From him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory for ever.”^[1]”

 

Appreciated this challenge to one see the sovereignty of God at work in Paul’s life to accomplish glory for God and I appreciate the challenge to reflect on my whole and see if I both recognize and believe that God is at work in the same way in my life. 

 

 

Steve Allen

ACTION Zambia

www.aliveinafrica.com

 

 

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^[1]Piper, J. (2007). Sermons from John Piper (1990-1999). Minneapolis: Desiring God.