Romans series – Josh Hanson Ministries

Final Warnings and Blessings

Josh — Thu, 13 Nov 2025 12:16:01 +0000

‌SCRIPTURE: Romans 16:17-20, 25-27 (ESV)

DATE: 11-16-25

As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

SERIES INTRO

Can you believe it? Today we finish the book of Romans.

We began Romans back in 2017. I wasn’t even the Senior Pastor at the time — that’s how long ago we started Romans. We finished chapters one and two of Romans that year.
In 2018 — I was the Senior Pastor now — we looked at chapters three and four.
In 2019 we looked at chapters five, six, and seven — woo-hoo — three whole chapters that year!
But — then — things slowed down quite a bit for us. Romans chapter eight was eighteen sermons long — which we split between 2020 and 2021.
We then took a two year break — no Romans in 2022 and 2023 — you may not even remember that. I knew we’d taken a break but had forgotten how long it was.
But we picked right back up — in Romans chapter nine — in September of 2024. And — other than breaks for Christmas and Easter, a short series on suffering, and our recent two week break — we’ve been in Romans ever since.

So — if you’re newer to Gateway — maybe today’s your first day with us — obviously you’re coming in at the end of a long investment for some of us. But know that you can catch up on all that you’ve missed by going to our website — gatewayepc.org — where you’ll find all of the sermons that have been preached from the book of Romans.

And since you know what’s ending today — here’s what you can expect for the rest of the year. Next week — one of our elders — Matt Heft — will be preaching as part of our Westminster Shorter Catechism series. A catechism — if you don’t know — is a resource that has questions and answers that focus on what we believe. I find catechisms to be a very helpful resource because — often — a question I’m asking is answered in a catechism.

That’s next week. Then we’ll begin our Christmas series — which will take us up through Christmas Eve. And — the final Sunday of the year — December 28th — we’ll have a combined campus worship service. Only one worship service that morning and we’ll all gather at our County Road 9 Campus. That morning will be focused on prayer and — you won’t want to miss it because — one — it won’t be live-streamed — so no online option that day — two — we’ll be taking the Lord’s Supper together — and three — we’re going to have some Gateway family members visiting with us who we sent out earlier this year to serve in a country that — in 2025 — is ranked as the tenth most dangerous place for Christians. I’m going to interview them during the service so you all will get to hear directly from them. But — since we’re live-streaming right now — I won’t say their names or their location — but — if they’re watching — we love you and look forward to seeing you soon.

So that’s what you can expect in the coming weeks. But now let’s turn to our final verses in the book of Romans. Here are Paul’s final words to the Christians living in Rome. We’re in Romans chapter sixteen — beginning in verse seventeen.

Romans 16:17–20 ESV

17 I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. 18 For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. 19 For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. 20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

And skipping to verse twenty-five we read…

Romans 16:25–27 ESV

25 Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages 26 but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— 27 to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.

In Paul’s concluding words to the Christians in Rome we find his final words of warnings and his final words of blessings to them. Final warnings and final blessings. This is Paul’s focus as he ends his letter — and it’ll be our focus for our final sermon in Romans.

FINAL WARNINGS

First, his final warnings. We’re in verse seventeen.

Romans 16:17–19 ESV

After praising so many in the church — which we looked at last week — Paul takes an abrupt turn here. “Watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you’ve been taught; avoid them.”

Watch out! Be careful! Don’t be duped — because — there are people in the church who cause division and create obstacles. These people don’t serve Jesus — regardless of what they say — they don’t serve Jesus — they serve themselves. And these people are cunning and are able to deceive those who are naive. Paul’s final warning to the Christians in Rome.

But this isn’t the only time Paul shared such a warning. To the Christians in Corinth Paul wrote…

2 Corinthians 11:12–15 NLT

12 But I will continue doing what I have always done. This will undercut those who are looking for an opportunity to boast that their work is just like ours. 13 These people are false apostles. They are deceitful workers who disguise themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 But I am not surprised! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 So it is no wonder that his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. In the end they will get the punishment their wicked deeds deserve.

To those in Philippi he writes…

Philippians 3:2 ESV

2 Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh.

And later he tells them…

Philippians 3:18–19 ESV

18 For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.

And notice the similar language between Paul’s description — of the kind of people we’re to watch out for — and what’s found in the book of Proverbs.

Proverbs 6:16–19 ESV

16 There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18 a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, 19 a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.

False apostles.
Deceitful workers.
Servants of Satan who disguise themselves as servants of righteousness.
Evildoers.
Enemies of the cross of Christ.
Lying tongues.
Hearts that devise wicked plans.
Those who sow discord.
People whom Paul warns us to watch out for.

About Paul’s description — that these people use “smooth talk and flattery” — one pastor has said, “The word for flattery [means] blessing. And smooth talk…means pleasant and plausible. So the reason we must be so vigilant over biblical doctrine is that those who depart from it take simple people with them by pleasant, plausible speech that presents itself as a blessing. False teachers don’t get a following by being rough and harsh. They get a following by being nice.”

Be vigilant in knowing what you believe — don’t be naive or simple — because the naive will be led astray by the pleasant, nice sounding words of false teachers.

But here’s my question for us: How do you know when you’re dealing with someone who’s misguided versus someone who’s using smooth talk and flattery to be divisive so they lead people away from the truth?

Meaning — how do you know when someone’s a false teacher versus a mistaken teacher? There is a difference!

But it’s so hard to know who’s who, isn’t it? Perfection can’t be the standard — for we all make mistakes — even doctrinal ones. But how do you know if it’s not a mistake — but is intentional deception meant to lead people astray?

Here’s something I’ve learned having been a pastor for nearly twenty years: Rarely does the conversation go well when someone says to me, “Pastor, this book (or this sermon or podcast or whatever) has changed my life. Would you read (listen or watch) it and tell me what you think?” Because — when whatever they share is bad — meaning it’s deception or heresy or the like — me saying so doesn’t go well.

Here’s a real life example. A few years ago I was given a book by a member of Gateway. He handed it to me and said, “This book has changed my life!” Now I know we’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover — but — by the title I knew it was a health, wealth, and prosperity kind of book. If you’ve never heard of that phrase before — it’s a false gospel that teaches that God always wants you to be healthy, wealthy, and prosperous — usually accompanied by a request for money to be sent to their ministry so that God’s blessing on your life can be guaranteed. And — if the blessing seems to be delayed — well — you probably need to send a bit more money — to their ministry, obviously — so the blessing gets to you faster. I so wish that wasn’t an exaggeration.

But I read the book. And I told the guy — who gave it to me — that I’d read it, had some concerns, and would like to talk to him about it. We met on my front porch. And do you know what happened? Every concern I brought up — even with Bible passages to back up my concern — he dismissed because, “He had discovered the truth and I just wasn’t willing to accept it.” Afterall, that’s exactly what the author told him would happen — the author literally wrote to expect that your pastor is going to disagree with the “truth” found in this book. Talk about a worker of Satan.

But here’s the sobering part to this story: The guy who was duped by the book wasn’t a new Christian. He’d been at Gateway longer than I’d been. He’d sat under solid Bible preaching for years — and yet — was deceived by the smooth talk and flattery of an author. And he left Gateway because I disagreed with an author that had changed his life.

I bring this up to let you know what’s become my ministry philosophy when it comes to the true gospel versus false gospels. It’s based on a well used preaching illustration that — turns out — is actually true! The illustration is about federal agents and how they’re taught to spot counterfeit money. They’re taught to spot counterfeit money by studying — not counterfeit — but real money.

Here’s how this relates to my ministry philosophy: Instead of warning you of false teachers that are writing books, preaching sermons, and producing podcasts — my goal is to make you so familiar with the true gospel that you’re able to spot an impostor without my help. That’s what grieved me about the man who left Gateway. Somewhere, somehow he’d not become familiar enough with the true gospel to not be deceived by that wicked imposter.

And my ministry philosophy is also why I emphasize the difference between the essentials of our faith and the non-essentials. False teachers go after the essentials. And I don’t want you to mislabel a true teacher of God’s Word — who you disagree with over a non-essential — as a false teacher. Disagreements over a non-essential doesn’t mean someone’s a false teacher.

Another reason why I have this philosophy of ministry is because there’s just not enough time in my day to make exhaustive lists of who are the false teachers and who are true teachers — but would disagree over a non-essential — and who are true teachers — who agree with all of our non-essentials — and so on. There’s just no way to keep up in our day and age with all of the books, podcasts, and sermons that are out there.

So I do my best to teach you — as clearly as I can — the true gospel — and what’s essential to the Christian faith versus non-essential. And — I do so — so you’re equipped to recognize the true gospel — and its false imposters — as you follow Jesus.

But — let’s do the even more difficult task — and move from out there — to the people out there writing books, preaching sermons, and producing podcasts — and let’s move in here — to us — to Gateway. For Paul’s writing to a local church — and he warns them about divisive and obstacle-creating individuals who were among them. What are we to do about such people?

In one of his other letters — Paul gives a clear biblical command as to what we’re to do with such people. He tells Titus…

Titus 3:10–11 ESV

10 As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, 11 knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.

First warning. Second warning. Then have nothing more to do with a divisive person in the church.

Now — think about it: Who really does this? Have you been part of a church that’s this swift to act? There’s some sort of expectation — isn’t there — to not be so “strike one, strike two…you’re out!” — when it comes to divisive people — especially in the church, right? Why?

Because no one’s a fan of church discipline — which is the topic we’re now talking about. Where someone in the church is creating division — they’ve been warned about their behavior — and they’ve been warned a second time — and now — instead of obeying Paul’s words — we give them a third warning. Maybe a fourth. A fifth.

We start to think, “Maybe if we ignore them this will all go away.” Church leaders wrestle with, “What will the rest of the congregation think if we actually do something about this individual? Some will definitely get upset — remember — smooth talk and flattery wins people over. Others will leave. Some will want to know more than they need to know. Others will think anything we do is heavy handed and anything we say is gossip.”

What I’m pointing out to us is how the church has lost her ability to practice church discipline. Not just Gateway — but God’s Church has lost this important skill.

Do you know why church discipline is a good thing? The purpose of discipline — according to our church constitution — is…

To maintain the honor of God.
To restore the sinner.
And to remove the offense (the sin not being repented of) from the church in order to keep the church pure and holy.

When Paul — in verse nineteen — tells the Christians in Rome “to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil” — I wonder if he had something like the purpose of church discipline in mind.

For it’s good to maintain the honor of God.
And it’s good to restore sinners.
And it’s good to keep the church pure and holy.
Similarly, anything that doesn’t maintain God’s honor, or restore sinners, or keep the church pure — is evil.

And when we realize that excommunication — or removing individuals from the fellowship of the church — is only reserved for the most grievous and unrepentant of sinners — which should be on the rarest of occasions — we see that most discipline that happens in the life of the church is actually what’s called discipleship. Where individual members commit to grow in Christ-likeness and holiness and purity so that God is honored in our lives. For — and I think this is obvious — the words discipline and discipleship are similar in their spelling — because — they’re words that are related to one another.

Discipline is what happens to disciples who — instead of growing in Christ-likeness and holiness and purity — head off in a sinful direction that brings dishonor to the Savior who gave his life for them. And — the practice of discipline — helps all who follow Jesus — catch a glimpse of how easy it is to head off in a sinful direction: that fleeting lustful thought that caught your attention, that desire to switch to private mode in your browser to search for porn, the ease it is to tell a lie and to believe the lies you tell, how good it feels to gossip. None of us are beyond sin — thus discipline is God’s gracious way of keeping us from destroying our lives for all eternity by giving into sin.

This is Paul’s final warning to his readers.

FINAL BLESSINGS

And — now — his final blessing. We’ll begin with a verse we’ve already looked at — verse nineteen.

Romans 16:19–20 ESV

19 For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. 20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

And skipping to verse twenty-five we read…

Romans 16:25–27 ESV

Paul’s final words of blessing. Words of blessing which include, “Your obedience is known to all — so I rejoice.” What wonderful words to write to the Christians in Rome. He writes a similar praise to the Christians in Thessalonica when he tells them…

1 Thessalonians 1:8 ESV

8 For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything.

This verse has become one of the prayers I pray for us as a church. For I regularly pray that “reports of our faith in God will spread and be an encouragement to others. Not for our glory — but for God’s glory.” A prayer that I’d encourage you to join me in praying for us — so that our testimony of what Christ has done for us — and is doing in and among us — encourages other churches and Christians to live more faithfully for Jesus. Where our obedience to Christ — both individually and corporately — would inspire other Christians and churches to live in obedience to Christ. That our example would spur on others to do far more for Jesus than they might have ever dared dream is possible.

But what an opportunity to rejoice. When we recognize — even more than we do right now — how God’s hand of blessing is upon us.

We witness people come to faith in Christ.
We get to celebrate when people are baptized.
We have parents bring their children before us with the intention of raising their children up to know and love Jesus.
We’ve sent a couple to one of the hardest places in the world to be a Christian.
We’ve got someone else leaving soon to go overseas long term.
Another couple is also in the process.
We’ve got our first pastoral resident joining us in January. Someone who we’ll train in pastoral ministry, get him the seminary education he needs, and then send him and his family out with our blessing to go pastor God’s people in a local church.
We’re becoming more and more of a sending church — which is a blessing and a reason for us to rejoice.

Yet there’s even more blessings for us to recognize. For — in verse twenty — Paul writes…

Romans 16:20 ESV

20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

A few weeks ago we looked at God’s covenant promises to his people — including us today. One promise is found shortly after Adam and Eve rebelled in the Garden. When God says…

Genesis 3:15 ESV

15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

As I told you in that sermon — on the cross — though Satan bruised Christ’s heel on the cross — Jesus crushed the head of our foe — for on the cross our victory was secured. Yet — as of now — our victory isn’t fully experienced. For Jesus must still return for that final day of victory to be inaugurated. But the blessing Paul reminds us — in his closing words — is that: The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.

So the day is coming soon — and it’s a reason for us to rejoice. But what about this: God will crush Satan under our feet.

“Under our feet? Under my feet?” Yes, under your feet. “I thought Satan was crushed by Jesus’ feet.” He was. But dear Christian — the blessing here for us is in knowing that every step of obedience we take — every moment when you choose holiness over wickedness — faithfulness over rebellion — joy in Jesus over joy in the things of this world — each and every one of these moments is a step closer to the Serpent being finally and forever defeated. Every step of faithful obedience that you take is another blow to the head of our enemy.

CONCLUSION: DOXOLOGY

Which — with such blessings bestowed upon us — is it any wonder that Paul ends his letter with worship? That’s what he does — he ends Romans with praise — what’s called doxology.

Romans 16:25–27 ESV

To him — the only wise God — to him who is all powerful — which means he’s able to strengthen you by his power — which he does through the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. To him who’s revealed what was once a mystery — that his plan has always been to save people from all nations. To him the only saving God — who brings people to faith and obedience so that his Son looks glorious to the world — to this only wise and all-powerful and saving God — be glory forever, and ever. Amen. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Father, what more can we pray than what we just heard. You are the only wise, all-powerful, and saving God whose plan has always been to rescue people from all nations.

Holy Spirit, you shine the light of the gospel into the hearts of people as the Good News is faithfully preached — as you do the wonderful mysterious work of raising spiritually dead people to eternal life.

Jesus — all of this is possible because you gave your life in love for us. Crushing the head of the Serpent on the cross. Shedding your blood for our sins. Clothing us in your righteousness.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — to you alone be glory forever and ever. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available)

May you go knowing that the only wise God has — and is — making you wise and strong for his glory. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

Friends in Ministry

Josh — Thu, 06 Nov 2025 13:10:38 +0000

‌SCRIPTURE: Romans 16:1-16, 21-23 (ESV)

DATE: 11-9-25

INTRO

We’re continuing our series in Romans this weekend. And we’re in the practical application section of Paul’s letter where — after eleven chapters of rich theological truths — he transitions to the “so what” section of his letter. Meaning he’s addressing how all of the theology — that’s found in the first eleven chapters — is to play itself out in how we live. Or at least how it should influence the way we live.

And today we start the last chapter of Paul’s letter. And — in these final words of his — Paul is very personal. In fact — I went back and forth — do I end with this sermon or with next week’s sermon — but decided to end how Paul ends his letter — even though this sermon is my favorite of the two. For in our text for today — Paul praises his friends in ministry. And today — like Paul — I’m going to praise many of you — my friends in ministry.

PAUL’S FRIENDS

But before we get to that — let’s turn to Paul’s words. Here are his words in Romans chapter sixteen — beginning in verse one.

Romans 16:1–16 ESV

1 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae, 2 that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well. 3 Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, 4 who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well. 5 Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia. 6 Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you. 7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles, and they were in Christ before me. 8 Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. 9 Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys. 10 Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the family of Aristobulus. 11 Greet my kinsman Herodion. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus. 12 Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord. 13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well. 14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers who are with them. 15 Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them. 16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.

And skipping to verse twenty-one — we read…

Romans 16:21–23 ESV

21 Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen. 22 I Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord. 23 Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you.

One person has called this, “The least-preached-upon chapter of the most-preached-upon book in the New Testament.” Meaning — no book in the New Testament is preached more than Romans — one could argue that it’s the most preached book in the entire Bible — yet — no chapter in Romans is preached less than chapter sixteen. Why’s that?

Because this is the kind of passage we long for in our devotional time, right? No! A list of a bunch of names that are hard to read — much less pronounce — thank you very much. A list of names inevitably causes us to ask, “What do a bunch of names have to do with me?”

My hope is that — after some reflection on these names — and especially after what we do later in this sermon — that the names you read will remind you of names you know — saints among us — who are worthy of being praised and commended for their faithfulness to the Lord and their friendship in ministry.

Back to Paul. He begins by commending a woman named Phoebe. And he calls Phoebe a servant of the church. I bring her up to briefly explain why we have women deacons here at Gateway. The Greek word translated as servant — in verse one — is the same word translated as deacon in other places in the Bible. Now — it’s true that the word isn’t always translated as deacon — sometimes it’s translated as minister or servant — but in one sense — all of the people Paul mentions in this chapter are servants in the church — so why does he single Phoebe out in this specific way when he commends her to the Christians in Rome? I believe it’s because she held a special leadership role in the church — that of a deacon.

Let’s continue on through the names — and as we do — don’t miss the intimate details that Paul includes. For example, Prisca and Aquila — who we find in the book of Acts — about them Paul says, “They risked their necks for my life.” We have no idea what situation Paul’s referring to — but essentially he’s saying, “I’m alive and doing ministry today because of these friends of mine.”

We learn that Epaenetus was the first person to believe in Jesus in Asia. That’s pretty cool.

Paul praises the hard work of a woman named Mary. He mentions that two of his friends experienced imprisonment. There’s Rufus and his unnamed mother — “Paul, why didn’t you give us her name?” But what a sweet statement, “She was like a mother to me.”

I wonder if she even had a name. “A name? Why wouldn’t she have a name?” Well — not all of the names in Paul’s list are actual names.

For example…

Romans 16:22 ESV

22 I Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord.

Tertius is the man who’s been writing down Paul’s words. This was a common role in the Roman world — where one individual would dictate to another words to be written down. Sometimes the individual was a slave — we’re not sure but it’s possible that Tertius was a former slave.

But — Paul — after sending greetings on behalf of Timothy, Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater — all people with names — I want you to imagine Paul looking at Tertius — the man writing down his words — and Paul says to him, “Tertius, go ahead. Greet them yourself.”

Now that may not seem like a big deal to you. But the reason why this is so moving is that the name Tertius isn’t actually a name — it’s a number. It means third or three. And — after his greeting — come the words, “Our brother Quartus, greets you.” Quartus means four or fourth.

Listen to what one Bible scholar said about these two men being listed in our chapter. He said, “The distribution of personhood in the Roman Empire was profoundly unequal. Very few people were recognized as a persona — the Latin word from which we get person — which is a legal term in Latin — that means that someone has a full standing in law and society to be recognized as a full human being. Only the head of households was considered a full human being and everyone else lived in various degrees of personhood. From children — who could aspire to inherit their father’s status — to women — who were always treated as property of the head of household — and then the twenty to twenty-five percent of the Roman Empire who were slaves — not based on race but on commercial or military misfortune. The Romans were very practical people — and if you didn’t really have any prospect of becoming a person — they didn’t bother with giving you a name. So if you were a male — you were often just named by your birth order. Second, third, fourth, fifth. Or a child born to a slave woman would be named “useful” — which in Greek — is the name Onesimus — which is a name in the book of Philemon.”

So according to Roman culture of Paul’s time — people — who were viewed as having no potential of becoming a full person — weren’t given names.

If we went back through the names Paul mentions in our chapter — we’d find names typical of heads of household — as to be expected. Some of the other individuals were probably firstborn sons due to the fact that they have names — as to be expected by the culture of the day. But women are also mentioned — which is culturally stunning — remember — they were considered property in Roman culture — not fully human. And — not only women — but we find the names third and fourth as well — Tertius and Quartus.

We don’t know if Tertius and Quartus were brothers — but they were both men not given the dignity of being named by their families because — as you now know — in the culture of the time only individuals with the potential of becoming a full person were named. And the third and fourth born sons in a family had no potential. Yet look at what dignity the Christian faith gives to all people. For the Christian faith says that all people — men, women, and children — regardless of their birth order — all are made in the image of God, all have dignity, and all are fully persons.

The Christian faith gives a name to the nameless. In fact — all who believe in Jesus — we’re told — are given a new family name — because the firstborn Son of God came to earth so that we — all of the seconds, and thirds, and fourths —could be given a new name when we’re adopted into God’s family.

I hope you see the beauty in a list of a bunch of names that are hard to pronounce. For it — this list of names — shows the power of the gospel to change people’s lives. Those whom the culture of the day said, “You have no personhood, no dignity, and no value” — those whom the culture of the day was willing to discard — the gospel gave them personhood, dignity, and value. And — just like then — the gospel today gives personhood, dignity, and value to all people — for all are made in the image of God.

OUR FRIENDS

And now we turn to us — and what’s my favorite part of this sermon — and maybe of our entire time in Romans. A time for me to praise many of my friends in ministry. Now — to no one’s surprise — time for a caveat — the “there’s not enough time for me to praise all of my friends in ministry here at Gateway.” In fact, I’ve contributed no names to the list that I’m about to read. Instead, I did something much more fun. I got others involved.

I sent out an email to around forty or so folks and asked them to send me names of people who they see faithfully following Jesus here at Gateway — those who are friends in ministry. And I asked them to tell me why they sent me the individual’s name. I also asked them to keep their list to no more than five individuals.

And I decided to put the list of names together this way — because — I know that my knowledge of what goes on among us is pretty limited. And I love to hear stories of what you all are doing that I would never know about without others telling me.

And here’s the reply I got to my email. Here are some of the many faithful friends in ministry among us. Some women. Some men. Some young. Some not as young as they used to be. Some singles. Some married. Some people you may know and others you may not. But all are family members and friends in ministry to you and to me — people for whom we’re to be thankful to God for.

And — yes — I purposely asked for the names to not be included in the sermon manuscript on our website and app so that this would be a surprise.

Randy MacDonald – He greets the kids of our County Road 9 Campus with a bag of candy and engages with them while their parents connect with others on Sunday morning.
Kristin Sharpe – She always makes others feel welcome and pours herself into serving our members.
Justin Stiles – He is consistently praying for the needs of others and thinking through ways that we can help or care for those in need. Even when he has plenty on his plate at home, he puts others first.
Lincoln Peters – He consistently seeks out and encourages our young kids at church. I often see him with an arm around a young man asking about his week and engaging them on Sunday mornings.
Terry Jolliff – He is always spreading the gospel with those he interacts with at work, church, or in the community. I have had multiple people tell me that if it wasn’t for Terry’s encouragement, they might not have come to church or known how Christ was working in their life.
Jessica Thomas and Ashlyn and Brody – as a family they serve faithfully in the nursery.
Heidi and all of our worship team leaders who faithfully lead us in worship each week. If you’re wondering why Heidi was named — her husband submitted her name. 🙂
Cory Hartman for keeping us safe every week.
Brinley and Bowen Fought for ushering regularly. You’re never too young to be faithful.
Chad Benedict for preparing communion for us.
Ron Beach – He is an encourager and writes a devotional every week for anyone who wants one.
Laura Moore – I don’t think people appreciate how much happens behind the scenes all because of Laura (and I probably don’t know the half of it). Her faithfulness and dedication to our church family is remarkable.
Matt and Amberly Heft – They are a pillar in our church—modeling faith in action and setting an example worth following. They don’t just talk the talk, they go, and they inspire others to go with them. Matt also genuinely cares about raising future leaders in our church family.
Michael and Lauren Shivers – He graciously leads our deacons with humility. They serve as life group leaders. Lauren serves in the diverse needs ministry and both are actively involved in the VBS program.
Michael and Annie Gill – They serve as life group leaders. Annie also helps with Kidway and Michael serves on the tech team on Sunday. Their family is missional in everything they do.
Damien and Amanda Barrientos – They serve in preschool classes and make Bible lessons engaging on Sunday mornings. Amanda also helps on respite nights for our diverse needs families welcoming the families of Gateway with a smile and a warm heart.
Jamie and Keri Harpst – They serve in the kid’s ministry, cafe, and women’s Bible study. They always encourage others and live out what it looks like to walk with Christ.
Emma McDougle – She serves faithfully with the preschoolers every Sunday as well as any event that requires childcare and does it with a smile, welcoming children into her care.
Krista Wachtman – She serves faithfully with the preschoolers every Sunday as well as helping in our diverse needs room.
Cheryl Drake – she serves faithfully every Sunday with the first graders, as well as leads the diverse needs life group, her own life group, and teaches English on Saturday mornings to students in Bangladesh. I’m sure she does much more that I am missing. To which I — pastor Josh — will add — she’s been a great mentor to my daughter.
Christina Lishawa – She intentionally teaches and leads her Kidway class weekly, she cares for her life group deeply, she loves others with notes of encouragement, and is willing to go on mission trips to share the good news. When she and Randy had a college student living with them last year, she frequently opened her kitchen to his fiancee — not only inviting her to dinner, but teaching her how to cook the meals they enjoyed together.
Renee Criblez – She goes above and beyond teaching first graders Bible literacy skills on top of teaching the weekly lesson, she’s quick to help out in Kidway with childcare or creating something to be used as a prop or tool, and is both humble and extremely knowledgeable.
Emily Weizer – She teaches large group monthly and is always thinking how to better communicate the Bible. She disciples her youth group girls well, has a heart for Go and missions, and is willing to help in whatever way she can.
Samantha Scherger – Sam is willing to Go, she leads a life group, is a greeter, and is a sub for Kidway and is always willing and ready to say yes to stepping into a classroom to help.
Nancy Cramer – She always fills in for the nursery whenever needed. She helps with Lifewise. She faithfully prays for the needs of others.
Kathy MacDonald – She schedules the greeters and has done so for years — faithfully making sure those who enter our building feel welcomed.
Harlan Hoy – He schedules the parking crew. Takes on parking for VBS — making sure kids are safe as they enter and exit the building. He also has taken charge of parking for our outdoor services.
Jordan Harpst – He is engaged in each area of our discipleship process, worshiping weekly, leading a Life Group, serving on the security team and as an usher, and going overseas to the hard places.
Seth Butler – He is a devoted husband and father who faithfully guides and disciples his family in their walk with God.
Hannah Otley – Her love for the Lord is very evident, whether helping lead worship on Sunday morning, sharing an encouraging word during Life Group meetings, or simply talking about Jesus with a supernatural kind of excitement.
Michele Jewitt – She is always praying and reaching out to our Life Group for prayers and how she can be praying for us and just genuinely checking in.
Heather Routson – She’s always asking how people are doing and has an amazing ability to follow up on conversations with care.
Jenna Wilson – The most kind person I know. She cares deeply about how people are doing and how she can be praying for them
Joel and Adrienne Kozlesky – They serve in many areas faithfully — including in Kidway, as Lifegroup leaders, at VBS, and have a passion for sharing the Good News to others both locally and abroad.
Joe McCool – He is a dedicated Christ follower who is always striving to deepen his relationship with God. He shares his love of Christ by joyfully serving and teaching in Kidway.
Heagan Sparling – She has a heart for teaching children about Jesus. She serves in Kidway and many other areas.
Ted Criblez – He is a faithful greeter with a smile and a kind word. He is there early every Sunday to open the Kidway doors, making all feel welcome.
Sherry Shultis – she has led the women’s Bible study for many years. She’s always an encourager. And she makes it possible for women to connect and feel at ease as they share.
Sandra Tietje and Annette Peverly – Both serve in the Sew Quilt Share ministry to provide materials and projects so women can use their sewing talents to bless others.
Etta Malone – A smiling face every Sunday as she gets around with her walker. She gives hugs to all making them feel loved and special. She is truly a blessing.
Chad Hermiller – he serves the youth as a life group leader and has done so for years.
Mike Norman – he’s willing to give guidance and help those who are looking to grow in their faith. He also gives a helping hand whenever asked.
Leslie Sawmiller – she will quietly sign up to bring a meal EVERY time a need is sent out for a family in our church.
Cori Benedict – Cori is such a servant for Christ! She strives to be a better mom everyday. She is never content with mediocrity when it comes to leading her family to the Lord.
Dan and Janet Blanchard – they have given their lives to fostering and caring for over 150 displaced children in our county over the years and now they faithfully care for the kids in our nursery each Sunday.
Matt Sawmiller – Matt has an evangelistic heart and has never met a stranger. He’s faithful to meet every person with love, care, and kindness and he does a fantastic job of sharing the Gospel and his faith with others.
Sara Tomlinson – she serves in multiple ways, she takes the initiative in stepping out, encouraging, and supporting our faith family.
Dan Harmon – he serves on Sundays, and is authentic and real in conversation.
Abe Sparling – he always shows up and he gets things done.
Mike McLaughlin – he recently moved here, jumped into the discipleship process, joined a Life Group and started serving — all pretty quickly.
Emily Hanson – Emily does more than required as a pastor’s wife by serving our youth and going above and beyond with VBX.
Lyn Loewen – is a faithful usher and leads his volunteers well. No matter what’s going on in his life or health, he makes everyone around him feel welcome and loved!
Peggy McBride – has faithfully served as a deacon, preparing and serving communion. She also serves in other areas on Sunday, and no matter what she’s doing, she makes you feel so cared for.
Jay and Coleen Kiesel – they serve in so many ways and are another couple who step up no matter the need. They bring a calm and quiet leadership to everything they do.
Hisako Tabogami and Elizabeth Jarrell – Both women are found serving our congregation as greeters or in the cafe. They extend the love of Christ by individually and compassionately recognizing the different people they serve.
Boden and Anna Fisher – Demonstrate their commitment to prayer by not only praying with individuals at the end of service, but also by regularly sharing their personal prayer requests so others can pray for them. In addition, they answered the call and recently became Life Group leaders.
Sam Deeter – he faithfully serves and motivates elementary students during Kidway with a smile and an enthusiasm for the Word.
Samantha and Kevin Boose – they seem to eagerly volunteer and serve almost everywhere. They model how they follow Jesus as a family. On days when Kevin serves on tech, you can find the whole family gathered for breakfast in between tech practice and the start of the first service. Sam’s also an amazing example of a Godly mother who tries her best (and is doing an amazing job) to raise her little disciples in a God-honoring way while also being humble enough to ask for help when it’s needed.
Logan Rickle – He stood in the parking lot during pouring down rain and welcomed everyone with a smile and a wave.
Susan Kayser – She faithfully serves on the worship team and sets the proper tone with her piano playing during communion.
Lindsay Norman – She builds cohesive worship teams each week despite everyone’s busy schedules. In her prayer requests she regularly asks that God would be her portion instead of praying for her circumstances to change. Her prayers and wisdom show a deep respect and reverence for the Lord.
Lana Fought – I’m regularly spurred on by her faithful service and her obvious love for the church.
Ashley Peters – She puts her relationship with the Lord first in the way she evangelizes and serves those around her.
Katie Kramer – Her heart for people, the Lord, and her reverence for the Word show her deep love and commitment to the Lord.
Nicole Dishong – For the past couple months she has come in during the week to prep supplies for the Kidway lessons.
John Lynch – He serves several of our homebound members by visiting them on a monthly basis.
Randy and Rita Casper – They faithfully check in with and pray for several members who are suffering from prolonged illnesses.
Dick and Greta Schrock – Partners in ministry by mentoring, hospitality, missions, and investing in people!
Paul and Ann Hadde – they serve in so many capacities at Gateway — the nursery, middle school life group, Sunday school, Christmas Tea, and VBS. They’re very generous with their time and resources to invest in — not only Gateway families — but the community as well.
Carsten Weizer and Morgan Cooper — two of our staff members — both spend a lot of time on Sunday mornings with their ministry responsibilities, but they’re also willing to come and serve and invest in our youth on Sunday evenings.
Brady Reutz – a high school student who serves alongside adults (that he didn’t already know before serving with them) to greet our members and guests on Sunday mornings.
Trevor and Nikki Gillig – they’re always willing to set up or clean up our cafe….even during special services such as Christmas Eve.
Andrew Thomas – he goes above and beyond on so much in the church. He does his official job, but is always quick to jump into other areas to use his gifts to be a blessing to others.
Tara McBride – she’s been helping with youth ministry for DECADES. She is so faithful with her girls and spends so much of her time investing in them.
Marc Krause – His dedication to serving alongside youth in the cafe is a great example of serving at Gateway.
Brent Steiner – Even though his weekend schedule can be extremely demanding he always ushers us into service with a warm smile and hello.
Howie Ohler – he serves regularly on the security team and warmly greets and talks to people throughout the lobby and hallways.
Ben Ruetz leads worship and fills in for others routinely, playing bass, playing guitar, or singing – however the worship team needs him.
And — as of a personal privilege — to the elders, staff, and deacons — thank you for your faithfulness in serving this congregation. And — since someone else submitted my wife’s name — I’d like to thank that individual for my free “get out of jail card” — as Emily loves for me to talk about her in my sermons. This time it wasn’t my idea — it was someone else’s.

CONCLUSION

I recently read a book titled The Power to Bless written by a friend of mine. At one point in the book, he addresses what many raise as a concern about blessing others. The concern is that if we bless people — or publicly praise or thank people, like I just did — that it’ll go to their heads. After all — he asks tongue in cheek — “Isn’t there too much self-love going on in our culture?”

To which he responds, “The rampant self-absorption we see in society is not the fruit of self-love. It’s the consequence of self-hatred.” He refers to the parable of the prodigal son. If you’re unfamiliar with the parable, a man has two sons. The younger — the prodigal — asks his dad for his part of the inheritance — which is another way of saying, “Dad, I wish you were dead.” He then goes off, squanders away all of his money, destroys his life, and finds himself so hungry that he longs to eat the slop being fed to animals.

The younger son thought he was loving himself, fulfilling his dreams and desires — but it was all self-hatred. My pastor friend then asks, “Would you ever, in your wildest imagination, on your worst day, do to the one you love what the younger brother did to himself?” No. Yet most of us are uncomfortable saying anything positive about ourselves in fear of sounding proud — which has bled over into it being uncomfortable to praise others for Christ-like faithfulness we see in them.

So — today — we’ve pushed back against such ideas. For praising others — and being thankful for their faithfulness and friendship in ministry — is a way we honor our God whose faithfulness works in and through his people. So may we grow even more in our thankfulness to God for our friends in ministry. And — like Paul — may we let each other know that we’re thankful to God for how he’s using them in our lives. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Gracious Father, thank you for your grace to us as seen, felt, and experienced through those around us — our spiritual family members — our friends in ministry.

Holy Spirit, prompt us — we ask — to not just think thoughts of gratitude about each other — but to share our gratitude to those for whom we’re thankful. A text message. A handwritten note. A phone call. An invitation for coffee. Spirit, help us to be people who express our thankfulness.

And — Jesus — all of the joys we experience as family and friends comes from your love for us. May our gratitude for one another always amplify our love and gratitude for you and all that you’ve done for us.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — for any who are lonely, who feel nameless, who feel less than fully human, who are desperate to be loved — may we be the family and friends they need. Open our eyes to see them — and open our hearts to love them. And we pray all of this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available)

May you go savoring the blessing of being part of a beautiful faith family — a congregation full of friends. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

Paul’s Call, Our Call

Josh — Thu, 16 Oct 2025 12:09:03 +0000

‌SCRIPTURE: Romans 15:14-33 (ESV)

DATE: 10-19-25

SERIES INTRO

We’re continuing our series in Romans this weekend and we’re in the practical application section of Paul’s letter where — after eleven chapters of rich theological truths — Paul’s now in the “so what” section of his letter. Meaning he’s showing us how all of the theology — that’s found in the first eleven chapters — is to play itself out in how we live.

But — before we turn to our text for today — I want to let you know what to expect in the coming weeks. Starting next week — we’re going to take a break from Romans — just when we’re almost at the end — and we’re going to take three sermons to look at three important practices in the life of our church: church membership, baptism, and the Lord’s Supper — also called communion.

In a few weeks we’ll have a combined evening worship service here at our County Road 9 Campus. And during this evening service we’ll welcome new members into our faith family, celebrate baptisms, and take the Lord’s Supper together. So I thought it’d be good for us to spend some time looking at all that will be happening during that evening worship service ahead of time.

So next week we’ll look at church membership. The following week we’ll look at baptism. And then — during the evening worship service — we’ll look at the Lord’s Supper.

Then — after our short break — we’ll jump right back into Romans for the final two sermons we have left in the book.

But — today we’re in Romans — we’re not on break from it yet. And our final three sermons in Romans may end up being the most unique. For Paul — as he ends his letter — becomes quite personal in his final words. Let me show you what I mean.

Here’s what Paul writes in Romans chapter fifteen — beginning in verse fourteen.

Romans 15:14–33 ESV

14 I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. 15 But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17 In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. 18 For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, 19 by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; 20 and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation, 21 but as it is written, “Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.” 22 This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you. 23 But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, 24 I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while. 25 At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. 27 For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings. 28 When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected, I will leave for Spain by way of you. 29 I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ. 30 I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, 31 that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32 so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company. 33 May the God of peace be with you all. Amen.

As I said — this is a very personal section of the letter for Paul. And in this part of his letter we find two ideas: The call that God had on Paul’s life — and the call that God has on us — individually and as a church. Paul’s call and our call — that’s what we’re going to explore together today.

PAUL’S CALL

We’ll begin with Paul’s call — but know that there’s overlap even with the specific call God had for Paul and God’s call for us. But we’ll do our best to focus on Paul’s call — beginning in verse fifteen — where he writes…

Romans 15:15–25 ESV

15 But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17 In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. 18 For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, 19 by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; 20 and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation, 21 but as it is written, “Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.” 22 This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you. 23 But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, 24 I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while. 25 At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints.

And skipping to verse twenty-eight we read…

Romans 15:28–29 ESV

28 When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected, I will leave for Spain by way of you. 29 I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.

In these words, Paul helps us understand how he viewed his call. And he describes his call — and I rarely do this — but we’re going to go for it today — he describes his call as that of a priest, of power, of preaching, and of planting. For those of you who’ve been waiting for some preaching alliteration — today is the day the Lord has made for you. Paul’s calling was one of priest, power, preaching, and planting.

Part of God’s call on Paul’s life was to be a priest. We see this beginning in verse fifteen where Paul writes…

Romans 15:15–17 ESV

15 But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17 In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God.

And in verse twenty-eight we read…

Romans 15:28–29 ESV

Paul was called to be a priest. Where a prophet speaks on behalf of God to the people — a priest intercedes on behalf of the people to God. We’ll get to Paul’s prophetic role in preaching the gospel — in just a moment — but I want us to focus on his call which he describes as a priestly service.

When I think of this priestly call on his life — I can’t help but think of his prayers for the Christians he writes to. Think of some of the words he wrote to others that are an expression of this priestly call on his life.

To the Christians in Thessalonica Paul wrote…

1 Thessalonians 1:2–3 ESV

2 We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, 3 remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

And…

2 Thessalonians 1:11–12 ESV

11 To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, 12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

To the Christians in Ephesus he wrote…

Ephesians 1:16–21 ESV

16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

To the Christians in Colossae he wrote…

Colossians 1:3–5 ESV

3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven.

To Philemon he wrote…

Philemon 4–6 ESV

4 I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, 5 because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, 6 and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.

To Timothy…

2 Timothy 1:3–7 ESV

3 I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. 4 As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. 6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, 7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

I wonder how God might want you to enter into a similar kind of priestly service for others by praying for them in this way? In our most recent membership class, I was asked what’s the best way to encourage me as the pastor of Gateway. My answer was to pray for me. To pray for my family. And to let me know that you’re praying for me.

A recent addition to my list of life resolutions came from the sweet joy of realizing how many of you are praying for me. I worded my new resolution this way. Remember: God’s people are praying for you. I’m encouraged every time I read these words.

You may or may not be aware — but before every worship service a group of men pray with and for me. One of these men is Dave Vaas. I didn’t warn Dave that I’d be mentioning him — so Dave — warning — I’m about to pastorally brag on you. Knowing Dave — he’s probably already read this anyway. You’ll know what I mean in a second.

As I said, Dave’s one of the men who meets with me to pray for me and my sermon before I preach. And — what I so appreciate about Dave’s prayers — is how he comes having read through my sermon manuscript. He — Randy Casper also does this — to pastorally brag on someone else — Dave and Randy will pray for a specific point in my sermon, or a section that stuck out to them — and they often pray that God will use that point or section to speak to you all. They’re fulfilling a priestly service for me and you. To Dave and Randy — and to all of the men who pray with and for me before I preach — thank you for fulfilling such an important priestly ministry that God has called you to.

Paul was called to be a priest.

Additionally, part of God’s call on Paul’s life was to be a vessel of God’s power. We see this beginning in verse eighteen where Paul writes…

Romans 15:18–19 ESV

18 For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, 19 by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ;

Paul was called to be a vessel of God’s power. Earlier this year we spent quite a few weeks looking at the spiritual gifts that Paul mentions in chapter twelve. In those sermons we saw how the Holy Spirit empowers every follower of Jesus with a spiritual gift that’s to be used to build up and strengthen the church. And here — in our verses — Paul tells us that living by the power of the Spirit was an important part of God’s call on his life.

A call — not only on Paul’s life — but on all who follow Jesus — is a call to be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. Regardless if we’re preaching, evangelizing, greeting people when they enter our buildings, enjoying the giggles and screams of terror by our toddlers, or whatever you may do around here. We’re called to live by the power of the Holy Spirit and to recognize that what goes on around here isn’t natural — but is a supernatural work of God. For — when we’re served by each other — we’re being served by the Spirit of God who’s working through each of us.

Yet don’t miss that — when Paul points to what Christ accomplished through him — he says it came about by “word and deed…by the power of the Spirit of God.” This is why part of God’s call on Paul’s life was also that of being a preacher. We’re back in verse eighteen again…

Romans 15:18–20 ESV

18 For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, 19 by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; 20 and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation,

Paul was called to be a preacher of the gospel. And when we take these two calls on Paul’s life — calls of power and of preaching — we come to one of the characteristics we desire to see in every follower of Jesus here at Gateway. We call this being Word and Spirit Christians. Where our desire is to live under the authority of the Word of God and by the power of the Spirit of God so that we make our saving God look glorious to the world.

Obviously not all of us are called to preach the Bible — but all of us are called to proclaim the Good News. Every follower of Jesus should know the basics of the gospel — the Good News of what Christ accomplished in his life, death, and resurrection — so that — you can share it with others.

Do you see this call on your life — to share the gospel? Are you fulfilling this call that God has on your life?

Finally, part of God’s call on Paul’s life was that of planting — or starting — new churches. We’re in verse twenty…

Romans 15:20–25 ESV

20 and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation, 21 but as it is written, “Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.” 22 This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you. 23 But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, 24 I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while. 25 At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints.

Paul was called to plant new churches. Paul had a passion for taking the gospel to people living in places where the gospel had not yet been heard. So he planted — or started new churches — which would be an outpost for the gospel in their community. This was part of God’s call on Paul’s life.

Obviously, not all Christians are called to be church planters. But we’re all called to go in some way. After all — Jesus’ final words before ascending into heaven were…

Matthew 28:18–20 ESV

18 “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

And as Luke records in the book of Acts…

Acts 1:8 ESV

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Something I love about us as a church — is our commitment to taking the gospel to places where it’s currently not believed. We just had our Go celebration this past week and it was great to see so many of you come together to hear stories of how we’ve been going this past year.

We call this our commitment to being Kingdom-minded around here — more on that in a moment. But I want to acknowledge that I know how hard it can be to imagine that there are still places on this planet where the gospel isn’t heard or believed. We live in a bit of a Christian bubble here in the US. Obviously, not everyone in our country is a Christian — but it’s hard to live in the US and not hear about Jesus — there are churches everywhere! But that’s not the case across the globe.

According to Joshua Project — an organization that tracks people groups that lack the gospel — there are a little over 7,000 people groups who are considered unreached — which means they have no access to the gospel. This represents over three billion people who have little or no access to the gospel — which we rightly believe is the only means of salvation.

And — like Paul — God has uniquely called us — Gateway Church — to go where the gospel is currently not known. In fact — this calling on us is so great — and our commitment to fulfill this calling is so known — that we’re viewed as a very missional church in our denomination. If you don’t know — missional basically means spreaders of the gospel — locally and globally. Like me, you may be thinking, “Really? Aren’t we the Bible church? Or the kid’s ministry church? Or the church with rocking worship music?” All I know is that the further removed you are from us — the more we’re seen as the church who takes seriously the call to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. And I hope that you — like me — are happy to claim this reputation.

OUR CALL

Having looked at Paul’s call, we’ll now look at our call a bit more. I know we’ve done so already — but there are few more aspects of our call found in our text. We’re back in verse fourteen.

Romans 15:14 ESV

14 I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another.

Skipping to verse twenty-six we read…

Romans 15:26–27 ESV

26 For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. 27 For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings.

And in verse thirty Paul writes…

Romans 15:30–33 ESV

30 I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, 31 that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32 so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company. 33 May the God of peace be with you all. Amen.

When it comes to our call — as a faith family — though this doesn’t encompass all that we’re called to — in these verses Paul reminds us of our call to be disciples who make disciples, our call to be generous, our call to be a family, and — again — our call to be Kingdom-minded. All — I hope — are familiar ideas for you — for these are four out of the five characteristics we hope to see in all who follow Jesus here at Gateway. The fifth being Word and Spirit Christians — which we looked at earlier.

First, we’re called to be disciples who make disciples. Paul writes this in verse fourteen…

Romans 15:14 ESV

14 I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another.

Paul praises the Christians in Rome because he knows that they’re filled with goodness, with knowledge, and — thus — are able to instruct — or disciple — one another. The call to make disciples of all nations — which Jesus gave us — is a call locally as much as it is globally. And it’s a call on us corporately — as a church — as much as it is individually. For every disciple of Jesus is called to make disciples of Jesus.

How are you fulfilling this call on your life — and how are you helping us fulfill this call as a church?

I’m so thankful for those who make disciples by serving as a Life Group leader.
And for those who serve in our Kidway ministry — helping us make disciples of the youngest in our church.
For those who make disciples among our youth.
Who lead equip classes.
Who meet one on one over coffee or a meal to help someone else grow in their faith — that’s being a disciple who makes disciples.
For parents who read God’s Word to their children, and teach them to pray — making disciples in your home.

If you’re not currently a disciple who’s making disciples — and you want to become one — stop by the Resource Center before you leave. They’ll take down your name and I’m sure we can find a way for you to step into this call God has on your life.

We’re also called to be generous. In verse twenty-six Paul writes…

Romans 15:26–27 ESV

26 For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. 27 For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings.

How lucky are you, right? Everyone loves when the preacher talks about money — not! When it comes to our desire — for us to be a generous people — generosity must include our finances. The old “time, talent, and treasure” mantra unintentionally shifted to the idea that we have a choice — “I’ll be generous with my time, or my talent, or my treasure” — when the Bible calls us to be generous with all of it.

And here — in our verses — the Christians living in one area of the world were pleased to be financially generous with Christians living in Jerusalem. Twice Paul tells us that it pleased the Christians to be financially generous. And he tells us that it pleased them because their financial generosity was birthed out of the spiritual blessings they’d been recipients of.

I wonder how the spiritual blessings you’ve received have made you into a more financially generous person? For it’s not just in these verses — but throughout the Bible — that you’ll see a connection between recognizing and appreciating the spiritual blessings you’ve been given and how financially generous you are.

We’re also called to be a family. We’re in verse thirty…

Romans 15:30–33 ESV

30 I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, 31 that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32 so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company. 33 May the God of peace be with you all. Amen.

These verses also show us our call to be Kingdom-minded. We see our call to be family in Paul’s description of this striving together — implying a unity among these Christians in their prayers for Paul. A family like unity birthed from Jesus being our Lord and the Holy Spirit filling us with love for one another.

And we’re called to be Kingdom-minded. We saw this earlier, but here Paul mentions Judea and Jerusalem — two of the areas Jesus mentioned in our call to be his witnesses.

CONCLUSION

Paul’s call and our call. God’s call on us as a church and his call on you as one of his followers. May we — like Paul — fulfill the calling to which we’ve been called — so that — we strive together in unity, and pray for one another, and find refreshment and joy by one another’s company — because — Jesus is our Lord and Savior — and because we’ve been filled with love for one another by the power of the Holy Spirit. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, thank you for your call upon us — both as a church and as individuals. For those you call as individuals you call into your church. May we never try to separate your call upon our lives — individually — with your call upon your church.

Holy Spirit, you’re the One who awakens deaf ears, blind eyes, and dead hearts to the Good News of the gospel. You give new life and we believe. This is the very first call in any of our lives. May you make this call — right now — to many who hear my voice and yet don’t believe in Jesus. Call them. Awaken them. Give them life so that they believe.

And — Jesus — for those who respond — you call to a life of purpose. That of being a disciple who’s a Word and Spirit Christian. Who’s generous. Who makes disciples. Who’s Kingdom-minded. And who fulfills his or her call as part of your faith family. What a gift it is to be called by you. What a purpose. What a thrill.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — may you use each of us to fulfill your calling upon us as a church. And may the result be unity, and refreshment, and joy among us. And we pray all of this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available)

May you respond to God’s call upon your life as we will fulfill his call for us as a church. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

Hope-filled, Christ-exalting Lives

Josh — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 11:41:34 +0000

‌SCRIPTURE: Romans 15:8-13 (ESV)

DATE: 10-12-25

SERIES INTRO

We’re continuing our series in Romans this weekend and — I don’t want to get you all too excited — but we’re down to our last four sermons in Romans. I believe that today’s sermon is the seventieth one I’ve preached during our time in Romans. And — if you think that’s a bit much — pastor John Piper preached around two hundred and twenty-five sermons when he took his church through the book. We literally could go through Romans two more times to equal that number. So — yeah — you’re welcome for the speediness at which we’ve made our way through the book.

If you’ve been with us in recent weeks and months — you know that we’re in the practical application section of Paul’s letter where — after eleven chapters of rich theological truths — Paul’s now in the “so what” section of his letter. Meaning he’s addressing how all of the theology — that’s found in the first eleven chapters — is to play itself out in how we live. Or at least how it should influence the way we live.

And we just finished a three part mini-series within our series in Romans — as Paul just concluded a lengthy section on how Christians are to disagree with one another regarding secondary issues — or what are sometimes called non-essentials.

For over a chapter Paul has stressed how uniting around the essentials that we believe — beliefs about God, salvation, sin, the Bible, and so on — along with our love for one another — will create an atmosphere of unity even when we disagree with each other over non-essential beliefs or behaviors. And this kind of unity is a signal to the unbelieving world that our faith in Christ actually affects and shapes the way we live.

For we live in a world where division is the norm. Where even the smallest and most minor of disagreements is reason for judgment, name calling, questioning of character, and so on. God dishonoring behaviors that have found their way into the church and among God’s people as we’ve taken our cues from the world instead of the Word. And — any behavior that dishonors God — brings joy and delight to our enemy and foe — the devil. And he’d much rather we fight against our fellow Christians than unite together to fight against him.

Thus the question Paul’s put before us is this: Who will we fight against? One another or our real enemy?

Now — though the mini-series on how to disagree was only a three parter — today’s sermon does reveal to us a result of what happens when we disagree biblically with one another. What result is that? That as a faith family we’ll experience and display hope-filled, Christ-exalting living. For hope-filled, Christ-exalting living is a characteristic of God’s people when they’re unitied together on the essentials of the faith and disagree — biblically — when it comes to non-essentials.

This is what we find in our text for today — which is Romans chapter fifteen — verses eight through thirteen. So if you have your Bible — please turn with me there — to Romans chapter fifteen — we’ll begin in verse eight. There Paul writes…

Romans 15:8–13 ESV

8 For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9 and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.” 10 And again it is said, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.” 11 And again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples extol him.” 12 And again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope.” 13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Hope-filled, Christ-exalting lives — that’s our focus for today. For hope-filled, Christ-exalting lives will be a result of our commitment to being united and unified on the essentials of the faith. Hope-filled, Christ-exalting lives fueled by knowing that…

One — Christ came to reveal God’s truth.
Two — Christ came to confirm God’s promises.
Three — Christ came to show God’s mercy.
Which leads to Christ being our hope.

That’s where we’re headed today — today — like every time we gather together — is all about Jesus. For he came to reveal God’s truth, to confirm God’s promises, to show God’s mercy, which results in him being our hope.

CHRIST CAME TO REVEAL GOD’S TRUTH

Let’s begin by seeing how Christ came to reveal God’s truth. We’re back in verse eight. There Paul writes…

Romans 15:8 ESV

8 For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness…

Here Paul tells us that Jesus came to earth to be a servant to the circumcised — that’s the Jewish people. And Paul tells us that Jesus became their servant to show them God’s truthfulness.

Now — before we get to how Jesus did this — we need to remember that — part of the reason there was disagreement and conflict in the church in Rome is because there were Christians coming from Jewish backgrounds along with Christians coming from Gentile — or non-Jewish — backgrounds. The examples of what they were disagreeing over — that Paul used in the previous chapter — show us how their different backgrounds — even different religious backgrounds and upbringings — was causing division and disunity in the church.

I bring this up as a reminder because — here in our verse — Paul reminds us that Jesus came to earth as a Jewish man to show the Jewish people God’s truthfulness. Why would Jesus need to come to reveal God’s truthfulness to the Jewish people? Because the Jews had drifted from God’s truth.

There are all kinds of reasons for their drift from God’s truth — but they’d drifted so far that — when Jesus came to earth — the Jewish people — especially the Jewish religious leaders and experts in the law — or the Old Testament — thought Jesus was a rebellious law breaker when all he was doing was revealing to them how far they’d drifted from God’s truth.

Think of how far one must drift from the truth in order to see Jesus — not as revelation of God’s truthfulness — but the opposite. I wonder how accurately your view of Jesus aligns with God’s truth? The only way to know is to compare the Jesus you believe in with the Jesus found in God’s Word.

The apostle John — in his gospel — his account of the life of Jesus — emphasizes the connection between Jesus and God’s truth.

For example, in some of the first words of his gospel — John describes Jesus this way.

John 1:14 ESV

14 And the Word (that’s Jesus) became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

A few verses later — John adds…

John 1:17 ESV

17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

A few chapters later John records Jesus’ conversation with a Samaritan woman who he met at a well. In his conversation with her — the topic of worship comes up — to which Jesus replied…

John 4:23–24 ESV

23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

True worshipers of God will worship him in spirit and in truth. Truth matters — for Jesus came to reveal truth.

And pay close attention to what we read in a lengthy encounter that Jesus has with a crowd of people. The crowd was split in their opinion of Jesus. Some believed him — others didn’t.

John 8:31–47 ESV

31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide (or stay) in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They (these are the folks who didn’t believe in him…they…) answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. 38 I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.” 39 They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, 40 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. 41 You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.” 42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. 43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? 47 Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”

Jesus tells the crowd — and us — that the words he speaks are words of truth. Then he adds that — in believing his words of truth — one will find freedom. Freedom from what? Freedom from being enslaved to sin. Freedom from being ensnared by the lies of the devil. Freedom from self-salvation and other false forms of salvation — for there’s only one way of salvation: faith in Jesus Christ.

We’re not saved by our opinions about Jesus.
We’re not saved by our political affiliations.
We’re not saved because we attend church.
We’re not saved because the popular vote happens to agree with Scripture.
We’re not saved because they — the other side of whatever division we find ourselves in — welcomes worse sinners than our side.
No — we’re saved when we repent of our sins — the big ones and the small ones — and turn to Jesus Christ in faith for our salvation — for he is the only way of salvation.

Well that sounds awfully intolerant. Is Jesus the only way of salvation? This is exactly what Jesus said to his disciples when they were troubled. Jesus said these comforting words to them.

John 14:1–7 ESV

1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

Jesus is the only way of salvation. He is the revelation of God’s truth. And he is where life — the “abundant and overflowing with joy for all eternity” life — is found.

And — in his tenderness towards us — those who follow him today — Jesus says…

John 14:15–17 ESV

15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

In his love for us — Jesus — who reveals to us God’s truth — with the Father has sent the Spirit of truth to live in his people. And the Holy Spirit lives in us to lead, guide, and direct us according to the truth.

Yet Jesus is still not done revealing to us the truth. For Jesus prayed this prayer.

John 17:14–19 ESV

14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.

Sanctify means “to make holy” — the word can also mean to be “set apart.” And — here — Jesus says that he’s set his disciples — those who believe in him — apart from falsehoods and apart from lies and has set them in the truth.

And where is this truth found? According to Jesus — now that he’s in Heaven — truth is found in God’s Word to us — the Bible — and in the Holy Spirit — who dwells in us. Thus we long to be Word and Spirit Christians here at Gateway — followers of Jesus who are being made holy by the truth — for Jesus came to reveal God’s truth.

CHRIST CAME TO CONFIRM GOD’S PROMISES

Which leads us to another reason why Jesus came — to confirm God’s promises to his people. This is what Paul tells us in verse eight when he writes…

Romans 15:8 ESV

8 For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs,

Here Paul echoes back to something he wrote earlier in Romans. Way back in chapter nine we read…

Romans 9:1–5 ESV

1 I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. 4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. 5 To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

Both here — and in our chapter — Paul’s wanting to remind the Christians with Jewish background that Jesus is the fulfillment of the promises God had made to their ancestors — the Israelites. Promises that God made to his people are often called covenant promises. In fact, one definition of the word covenant is a “relationship God establishes with people on the basis of his promises.” (Lexham Survey of Theology)

Examples of covenant promises would include the covenant God made with Abraham — when God promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations.
A covenant promise is what God made with the Israelites after he rescued them out of their slavery in Egypt.
God made a covenant promise with David — for God promised to David that — from his line will one day come a King whose reign and rule will never come to an end. Paul even alludes to this covenant promise with David in some of his first words in the letter when he writes…

Romans 1:1–4 NLT

1 This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News. 2 God promised this Good News long ago through his prophets in the holy Scriptures. 3 The Good News is about his Son. In his earthly life he was born into King David’s family line, 4 and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord.

And what may be the most familiar covenant promise of all — is what’s called the new covenant.

Jeremiah 31:31–34 NLT

31 “The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. 32 This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,” says the Lord. 33 “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the Lord. “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”

And — in Jesus — we see the confirmation of all of God’s promises come to fruition. In Christ — God shows us that he can be trusted to fulfill every promise he’s made to us. For from his birth through his death and resurrection — and all that comes in between — Jesus reveals to us the faithfulness of God in fulfilling his promises to his people.

CHRIST CAME TO SHOW GOD’S MERCY

Which leads us to another reason why Christ came — to show God’s mercy. Let’s go back to verse eight again.

Romans 15:8–12 ESV

8 For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9 and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.” 10 And again it is said, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.” 11 And again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples extol him.” 12 And again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope.”

In these verses Paul quotes from the Old Testament a lot! For example, “I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name” — in verse nine — is a quote of…

2 Samuel 22:50 ESV

50 “For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations, and sing praises to your name.

And…

Psalm 18:49 ESV

49 For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations, and sing to your name.

David sang these words of praise to his God who had rescued him from the hands of his enemies. Though the “waves of death” nearly overwhelmed him — and the “torrents of destruction” terrified him — David called upon his God for his rescue — for his salvation — and believed that God would deliver him. And it’s in response to being saved that David praises God — and sings songs of praise to God’s glorious and mercifully saving name — and longs for these songs of praise to be sung by people of all nations.

In our verses Paul also quotes…

Psalm 117:1 ESV

1 Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol him, all peoples!

And…

Isaiah 11:10 ESV

10 In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.

The nations, the nations, the nations!

People from all nations praising the God who saves.
Praising the One who’s a descendant of Jesse — King David’s father.
Praising the One who fulfills the promise that God made to David — that he would have a descendant sitting on an eternal throne as King of kings forever and ever.
This is the One whom people of all nations will turn to in praise.

And — in this church in Rome — the nations were represented. For many in the church were believers in Jesus who came from Gentile backgrounds. Paul acknowledges this near the beginning of his letter when he writes…

Romans 1:16 ESV

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.

The gospel — the Good News that God is merciful and saves sinners who put their faith in his Son — the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. People of Jewish background as well as people from all nations.

This is why you’ll often hear that one of our desires — for those who follow Jesus here at Gateway — is that we’d all be Kingdom-minded. Where our desire is for the gospel of Jesus Christ to not only change our community, our state, and our country — but that the gospel would be Good News that changes our world. For that’s what God intends his news to do. For the gospel is news of God’s mercy towards sinners who turn to his Son in faith.

Mercy for all who turn to Jesus. No matter your race or gender. No matter your nationality or socio-economic background. No matter all of the ways the world tries to divide us. Christ came to show all people the mercy of God.

CONCLUSION

And where does all of this lead? That Christ came to reveal God’s truth, that he came to confirm God’s promises, and that he came to show us God’s mercy — where does all of this lead us? What destination have we arrived at?

To hope-filled, Christ-exalting lives.

In verse twelve Paul writes…

Romans 15:12–13 ESV

12 And again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope.” 13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

The root of Jesse — the descendant of King David — Jesus Christ — is the hope of all who believe in him. For Jews who believe — Jesus is their hope. For Gentiles who believe — Jesus is their hope as well. And — in being our hope — those who believe in Jesus are filled with joy and peace — echoing back to what Paul said earlier are characteristics of what it means to live according to the values of the kingdom of God.

Romans 14:17 ESV

17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

For the Holy Spirit — who lives in the people of God — fills us with joy, peace, and hope — a hope that abounds — or overflows — in our lives because of what Christ has done. And — by hope — Paul doesn’t mean wanting something to be true while being uncertain if it’ll come to pass. No — hope — according to Paul — and all the authors of Scripture — is a confidence in God’s faithfulness to his people. A confidence that his words are true and trustworthy. A confidence that every promise he’s made will be fulfilled. A confidence that he is merciful to all who believe in his Son. A confidence that overflows in a person’s life — changing how they live and how they view the world. Leading to a life that is hope-filled and that exalts — or magnifies — the worthiness and beauty of Christ.

The way we describe this kind of hope-filled, Christ-exalting life — here at Gateway — is a life that worships, connects, serves, and goes.

Though a hope-filled, Christ-exalting life of worship is much more than just gathering on Sundays with God’s people — it’s no less than that. Meaning — rare is the individual who doesn’t prioritize weekly worship with God’s people who still prioritizes hope-filled, Christ-exalting living in the rest of his or her life.

And though a hope-filled, Christ-exalting life of connecting to others — or fellowship, as it’s sometimes called — is much more than gathering with God’s people in small groups — what we call Life Groups here at Gateway — it’s no less than that. Meaning — rare is the individual who doesn’t prioritize regularly gathering with God’s people to apply God’s Word to life and care for one another — who still prioritizes hope-filled, Christ-exalting living in the rest of his or her life.

And though a hope-filled, Christ-exalting life of service is much more than serving God’s people in a local church — it’s no less than that. Meaning — rare is the individual who doesn’t prioritize serving God’s people in a local church who still prioritizes hope-filled, Christ-exalting living in the rest of his or her life.

And though a hope-filled, Christ-exalting life of going is much more than a local church’s missions program — it’s no less than that. Meaning — rare is the individual who doesn’t prioritize going with people in their local church to proclaim the gospel who still prioritizes hope-filled, Christ-exalting living in the rest of his or her life.

And — like Paul — for in just a few verses he’s about to start name dropping in his letter — naming people who model a hope-filled, Christ-exalting life of worshiping, connecting, serving, and going in this church in Rome — it’s tempting for me to want to get ahead of Paul and start name dropping the many of you who are examples of what it means to live hope-filled, Christ-exalting lives here at Gateway. To praise the good works you’re doing to make your Savior look glorious to the world. To tell others of your commitment to God’s truth as revealed to us in his Word. To share stories of your trust in his promises to his people even in the midst of sorrows and tragedies of life. To thank you for displaying God’s mercy to those suffering and in need of care in life’s most sensitive moments.

But — like Paul — I’ll resist name dropping for now. That’ll come when we get to chapter sixteen. Instead — a general thank you will have to suffice for now — a thank you to the faithful ones of our Gateway Church family.

Thank you for worshiping, connecting, serving, and going. Thank you for your commitment to the truth which is God’s Word. Thank you for your trust in God’s promises. Thank you for displaying his mercy to one another. And thank you for living hope-filled and Christ-exalting lives. Thank you — for you are making your Savior look glorious to the world. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, thank you for always and only speaking words of truth. For this makes you absolutely and unwaveringly trustworthy. Thank you for guaranteeing that every promise that you’ve made to your people will be fulfilled. This also makes you absolutely and unwaveringly trustworthy. And thank you for being merciful towards us — your people. Mercy is not what we deserve — but mercy is what you’ve chosen to give — making you absolutely and unwaveringly trustworthy.

Holy Spirit, for the truthfulness of your Word to be seen and believed — we first need you to open our eyes and give us hearts to receive. For without you doing so — we remain spiritually blind and cannot see — with spiritually dead hearts that cannot respond. This act of mercy — you giving us eyes to see and hearts to respond — is the fulfillment of a promise given to your people. Open more eyes — give life to more hearts — we ask — so that more might respond and experience your mercy.

And — Jesus — we can confidently and expectantly pray such a prayer because of all that you’ve done for us. You came to seek and save those who were lost. To reveal truth to those who’d fallen for the lies of our enemy. To fulfill promises that would cost you your life — so that — we might live. For the life we live is because of the mercy we’ve received which came at the cost of your death.

But not even the grave could keep its hold on you — for there was another promise to be fulfilled. The resurrection. The defeat of death. The defeat of sin. The defeat of the devil. And the defeat of hopelessness. For your resurrection is the reason why we can live lives full of hope that make you look glorious to the world.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — thank you for truth. Thank you for fulfilling your promises to us. Thank you for mercy. And — friends — “may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available / How to Grow booklet)

May you go living hope-filled and Christ-exalting lives. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

How to Disagree (pt 3)

Josh — Thu, 02 Oct 2025 11:39:56 +0000

‌SCRIPTURE: Romans 15:1-7 (ESV)

DATE: 10-5-25

SERIES INTRO

We’re continuing our series in Romans this weekend and we’re in the practical application section of Paul’s letter where — after eleven chapters of theological truths — we’re now in the “so what” section of Paul’s letter. Meaning he’s now addressing how all of the theology — that’s found in the first eleven chapters — is to play itself out in how we live. Or at least how it should influence the way we live.

And — today — we’re concluding our mini-series within our series in Romans — as Paul continues to address the same topic we’ve looked at the last two times we’ve been together. What topic is that? How to disagree.

When Paul started his discussion on how to disagree, he began with something quite controversial for the times in which we live. He says that part of the reason why we have disagreements with each other is because — and this is the controversial part — some of us are weak and some of us are strong. And — what he means by that — is that some of us are weak and strong when it comes to our understanding of the Christian faith and how it applies to life — which tells us that Paul is focusing on disagreements among Christians — though there are many ways to apply what he teaches to all of our relationships.

Last time — Paul instructed us on what we’re to do — and not do — when we disagree with one another. We were told to not despise or pass judgment on Christians with whom we disagree over a non-essential matter. This isn’t disagreement over an essential of the faith — doctrines like faith alone in Christ alone for salvation — this is about disagreements over non-essential matters. The examples Paul uses indicate that the Christians in Rome disagreed over what foods were acceptable to eat as followers of Jesus and whether or not there were special days for worship. Neither of these topics are essential to being a Christian.

And — as I’ve said again and again — non-essential doesn’t mean non-important. Many non-essential beliefs and practices are very important — they’re just not essential in determining whether someone’s a Christian or not. Non-essential also doesn’t mean that we believe in subjectivism — that what’s true for you is true for you, but for me this other thing is true. It just means that — in our fallibility and human limitations — we haven’t come to unity on what the Bible teaches on these matters and we believe that Christians on both sides are trying to be faithful to God and what they believe he’s said on the matter in the Bible.

So with that as a guide as to where we’ve been — if you have your Bible — please turn with me to Romans chapter fifteen. We’ll be in Romans chapter fifteen today — looking at verses one through seven. Where Paul — concluding his discussion on how to disagree — writes…

Romans 15:1–7 ESV

1 We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3 For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” 4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

In this — our final look at how to disagree — Paul reminds us of our ultimate goal in life. What goal? That God would be glorified in all areas of our life — including how we disagree with one another. We’ll look at this goal before turning our attention to an obligation we must fulfill in order for us to accomplish our goal. And — finally — we’ll see how we fulfill our obligation.

We’ll begin with our goal: the glory of God. Then we’ll look at an obligation we must fulfill in order for God to be glorified in our disagreements. And — finally — how we accomplish our obligation.

FOR THE GLORY OF GOD

So — first — our ultimate goal in life. The ultimate goal — when we disagree — should be the same for all areas of our life as followers of Jesus: That God would be glorified. That’s why Paul ends his section on how to disagree with the words — this is verse seven…

Romans 15:7 ESV

7 Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

Now — why did I say that the glory of God is our ultimate goal — not just in our disagreements — but in all areas of life? Because this is what we read in Scripture. For example…

1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV

31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Including using the spiritual gifts that God’s given to each of us — which we looked at earlier this year — for Peter writes…

1 Peter 4:10–11 ESV

10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Glorifying God also includes what we do and don’t do with our bodies…

1 Corinthians 6:19–20 ESV

19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

And why must we do this? For God is the One who created us…

Isaiah 43:6–7 ESV

6 I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, 7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I (God) created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

Which means all that we do is to be done for the glory of God so that others might turn to him. For as Jesus said…

Matthew 5:16 ESV

16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

And…

John 15:8 ESV

8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

And — when we live this way — we’ll join the psalmist and say…

Psalm 115:1 ESV

1 Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!

And join the saints in heaven who proclaim…

Revelation 4:11 ESV

11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”

And join creation for…

Psalm 19:1 ESV

1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

Because we agree with Paul who said…

Romans 11:36 ESV

36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

All things — including our salvation — which is a gift from God. For…

Ephesians 1:11–12 ESV

11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.

All things — including grace…

2 Corinthians 4:15 ESV

15 For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

All things — including our love for and unity with one another…

Philippians 1:9–11 ESV

9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Thus we say…

Psalm 86:12 ESV

12 I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever.

Knowing that God’s glory will continue to expand across creation…

Habakkuk 2:14 ESV

14 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

Therefore we’re to…

1 Chronicles 16:28–29 ESV

28 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength! 29 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him! Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness;

So…

Isaiah 60:1–2 ESV

1 Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. 2 For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you.

And — at just the right time — the moment when darkness covered the earth — the Light of the world pierced the darkness…

Philippians 2:9–11 ESV

9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

For God has said…

Isaiah 42:8 ESV

8 I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.

Therefore when Jesus had fulfilled all that his Father required of him — and as the cross was just before him — he said…

John 17:4 ESV

4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.

To glorify God in all of our life — that’s the ultimate goal for every Christian — including our goal in how we disagree with one another. This means that displaying God’s greatness and praising his name is the primary goal in our disagreement. Not winning an argument. Not proving our point. Not getting the other side to concede. For you can be on the right side of the debate and not have God being glorified as your goal — and that would mean you win an argument and yet fail to fulfill your God given purpose.

For God being glorified in your life is why you — and I — and all people exist. This is why you exist — Christian or not. God being glorified is why you’re alive and breathing — Christian or not. And we’re either moving towards this goal — as followers of Jesus — the theological term is growing in our sanctification — so that God being glorified is more and more the goal of our life. For — if we’re not growing in our spiritual maturity — then we won’t disagree with one another in a way that glorifies our God.

AN OBLIGATION FOR THE GLORY OF GOD

So how do we grow in our spiritual maturity when it comes to our disagreeing with one another? Because — in order for us to accomplish our goal — that God would be glorified even in our disagreements — we must recognize the obligation that’s now before each of us who follow Jesus. For our goal — that God would be glorified in our disagreements — comes with an obligation. There’s something expected and required of us who follow Jesus. Paul tells us this in verse one.

Romans 15:1–2 ESV

1 We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.

Here’s our obligation if God is going to be glorified in our disagreements: We who are strong are to bear with the failings of the weak — and none of us are to please ourselves, but we’re to please our neighbors — our fellow Christians — so we build them up in the faith.

Bearing with the failings of the weak — and pleasing them — doesn’t mean that we just capitulate and give them whatever they’re asking for. After all — our goal is to build them up. And often the very thing the weak think will please them is what’s keeping them from maturing in the faith. That’s what Paul means by “the failings of the weak.” These aren’t moral failings — or necessarily sinful behaviors — this is a lack of spiritual maturity on their part when it comes to non-essential beliefs and behaviors.

And I want to be clear about something: A person can be spiritually mature in many areas and weak in others. So it’s not that one person is always a weak Christian or always a strong Christian — for one can be strong in ninety percent of their Christian faith and yet incredibly weak in the other ten percent. And this is why disagreements among Christians are so tricky — for most of us think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think. We think, “Well I read my Bible regularly. I attend worship every week. I’m actively involved in my Life Group. I serve. I give. I go on missions trips. I’ve memorized lots of God’s Word. I can defend my view of the end times and so on.” And all that is great and spiritual growth and to be commended. But all of that can be true — and yet — you’re still an immature spiritual leader in the home. Or unaware how the religion of your political party has sunk its nails in you. Or how social media has consumed your time and thoughts and views in many areas of life.

Not to mention how many of us don’t read our Bible regularly, or attend worship weekly, or serve, or give, or go on missions trips and so on — and yet — view ourselves as spiritually refined and mature in our views on — well — on everything!

All that to say — though some of us may be new to the faith — and thus — generally speaking — weak in most areas — while others of us have been faithfully following Jesus and growing in the faith for years — and thus — generally speaking — strong in most areas — the majority of us fall somewhere in between. We’re strong in some areas — really strong in others — weak in some — and more weak than we realize in other areas.

But our aim — if you remember — is to glorify God — to please him first and foremost. And that means — especially if you happen to be the weak brother or sister in Christ in a particular situation — that we realize that — just because you don’t get what you want or what you think you should — that doesn’t mean that the strong are being unloving, unkind, or disobedient.

And — for those who happen to be the strong — in a particular situation — the strong are to be bearing — which means enduring — and kind towards your weaker spiritual siblings. Your goal should be to help them mature in the faith in this area. For Paul wants the weak to become strong — which should be the desire of all of us — we should desire for all who follow Jesus to grow stronger and stronger in the faith.

I wonder what your attitude is towards those whom you think are weak or spiritually immature on a particular non-essential issue? Sometimes everything about them is immature. Other times it’s just one area where you happen to disagree with them. Regardless, what’s your attitude towards the other person? Is your desire to help them grow and mature? Or do you just want to avoid another long conversation with them? Maybe you just want to prove to them how wrong they are? Or to get them to agree with you? I wonder if your answers to these questions reveal that — maybe — just maybe — you’re not as strong as you think you are?

HOW WE FULFILL OUR OBLIGATION

At this point — we now know our goal — that God would be glorified — and that we have an obligation we must fulfill in order to accomplish our goal — we’re to bear with the failings of the weak, not please ourselves, but seek to please our fellow Christians instead. And that sounds good and all — but how do we actually fulfill our obligation? Do we just grin and bear it? Tighten our belts and trudge on through the disagreements among us? Give up and go our separate ways?

Paul explains how we do all of this beginning in verse three.

Romans 15:3–6 ESV

3 For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” 4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul gives us three reminders that we must keep before us in order to fulfill our obligation when we disagree — so that God is glorified in our disagreements. Three reminders — think of them as instructions that you most likely already know — that Paul gives us so that we become the kind of people who glorify God in our disagreements.

First, we must look to Christ. In verse three Paul writes…

Romans 15:3 ESV

3 For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.”

To fulfill our obligation we must look to Jesus and remember that Christ did not please himself. But notice that Paul doesn’t say, “For Christ did not please himself, instead, he did what we wanted.” That’s not what Paul writes. Paul goes from Christ not pleasing himself to something Christ did that is unexpected and challenging to those who follow him: he gave his life on the cross. And it’s his sacrifice which ultimately pleases his people — for his sacrifice is the reason we have found true life.

You see, Jesus didn’t try to appease the unappeasable. He knew us — he knew our hearts — he knew that we’d never be pleased for there’s always one more demand, suggestion, “helpful piece of feedback” we’d have given him. Yet he denied himself for our sake anyway — he gave up his freedom so we might be set free from our enslavement to Satan, sin, death, and hell.

And — when we look to Christ — we see the One who welcomed us into his family, into a relationship with him — not because we deserved it or even because he looked around at humanity and thought we were the best options available. No — he did so because he chose — in love — to take our sins — our reproaches — that were offenses against him — and instead of giving us what we deserve — he experienced the judgment we deserved for our sins on the cross.

Thus what we’re to remember is this: Whatever we may have to give up for the sake of our brothers and sisters in Christ is — as they say — small potatoes. Not even worth comparing to what Jesus gave up for our sake. A great question to ask yourself is this: Am I seeking to please others as Jesus has first pleased me? Am I following Christ — and his example — of what it means to bear with the failings of the weak?

Remember — he is the One…

Philippians 2:6–11 ESV

6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

To be the kind of people who glorify God in our disagreements we must look to Christ.

Second, we must turn to the Bible. In verse four Paul writes…

Romans 15:4 ESV

4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

This book is what was written in former days. For sure — Paul would’ve been thinking of the Old Testament — but we’re blessed with the Old and New Testaments. And as Paul writes elsewhere…

2 Timothy 3:16–17 ESV

16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Thus all of God’s Word is written for our instruction — so that we may be complete and equipped for every good work. Including the good work of disagreeing with one another in a way that glorifies God.

Yet Paul tells us that we’re to turn to the Bible with a specific purpose in mind: We turn to it for both endurance and encouragement. Again in verse four we read…

Romans 15:4 ESV

4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

Do you know what makes division so easy when you find yourself in a disagreement? It requires no enduring with the other person. Do you know why it’s so easy to allow divisiveness to spill over into words that do anything else but encourage the other person? Because we’re not submitting ourselves to God’s Word.

God’s Word — at all times — but especially when we disagree with a fellow Christian over a non-essential matter — will give us the endurance and encouragement that both parties need so that unity — not division — is the result — which leads to us living with hope.

Again in verse four Paul writes…

Romans 15:4 ESV

4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

And hope is what we all need in this divisive age in which we live. Culture says, “Oh, you disagree with me — we’re through — it’s hopeless.” Yet God says to his people, “Endure with one another. Encourage one another. Stay unified with one another. Continue to love one another. In this way you will have hope — hope that abounds and overflows.” Whose voice will we listen to? Whose voice will you listen to? Culture’s voice or God’s?

Finally, we must remember to pray. Did you notice how — after all of chapter fourteen — and four verses of chapter fifteen — in this lengthy instruction on how to disagree — Paul suddenly starts to pray? Look at what happens in verse five.

Romans 15:5–6 ESV

5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul goes from instruction straight into prayer. No “let’s all bow our heads and close our eyes” — none of that. He just goes straight into prayer.

And what does Paul pray for? He prays for everything he just instructed us to do in order to fulfill our obligation so that God is glorified in our disagreements. For our God is the “God of endurance and encouragement” who grants us the endurance and encouragement we discover when we turn to the Bible as our final authority. And doing so gives us hope. This is the very endurance and encouragement we need in order to live in harmony with one another. And all of this follows the example of our Savior — Jesus — who we’re to turn to. So Paul ends his discussion on how to disagree by praying — and he prays that God would be glorified in our lives.

CONCLUSION

Christ. The Word. And prayer.

Jesus. The Bible. And bringing one another — and our disagreements — to God in prayer.

This is our goal. This is how we disagree in a way that brings glory to our God. This is how we can disagree over non-essential matters — and not have to go our separate ways. But only if we’re all committed to following Christ, submitting to God’s Word, and to prayer.

Our unity is in our hands. No one of us can maintain our unity — we must all work to maintain it together. But it only takes one of us to create division. Which will you choose to be? A promoter of unity or of division?

That’s the question before each of us. And my prayer — and even more — my hope for all of us — is that we will fight for our unity — especially in our disagreements. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, when we think of all that you’ve done to unite us with you — and with each other — all we can do is stand in amazement — and ask for forgiveness. For often we work against you and the unity you desire for us to display to the world.

Holy Spirit, this is why we’re so desperate for your power in our lives. For the only way that we’ll submit to the Word of God in all areas of our lives — including in how we disagree — is by being empowered by you who lives in all who believe in Jesus. For Scripture calls you the Spirit of unity — unite our hearts together we pray.

And — Jesus — our unity with your Father — and each other — is only possible because of the loving sacrifice you offered when you gave your life on the cross. You came to earth to fulfill what we failed to do — which ultimately led to your death in our place. May we look to you. May we look to your love for us. May we look to the love you displayed — with your arms stretched open wide on the cross — for each other — and maintain the unity you died for.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — it’s hard not to see the division in our world — and the division is exhausting. May those who don’t yet believe in you — hear of the unity you offer — and see it in our faith family — so that they respond by believing in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. And we pray all of this in his name. Amen.

COMMUNION (JOSH MOVES TO TABLE)

As we turn our attention to the table — the Lord’s Table — in the words of Paul that we’ve looked at today…

Romans 15:5–7 ESV

5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant us to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together we may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 May we welcome one another as Christ has welcomed us, for the glory of God.

Therefore…

Leader: Lift up your hearts.

Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord.

Leader: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

Congregation: It is right for us to give thanks and praise.

Leader: With joy we praise you, gracious God, for you have created heaven and earth, made us in your image, and kept covenant with us — even when we fell into sin.

Congregation: We give you thanks for Jesus Christ, our Lord, who by his life, death, and resurrection opened to us the way of everlasting life. Therefore we join our voices with all the saints and angels and the whole creation to proclaim the glory of your name.

We give thanks to God the Father that our Savior, Jesus Christ, before he suffered, gave us this memorial of his sacrifice, until he comes again. At his last supper, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, he took the cup after supper and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this in remembrance of me.” For whenever we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. – 1 Corinthians 11:23-26

Leader: Therefore we proclaim our faith as signed and sealed in this sacrament.

Congregation: Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.

INSTRUCTIONS

At this time, I’d like to invite forward those who are going to be serving us. And — while they make their way forward — know that as the bread and cup are passed down your rows, you’re to take the bread on your own — but save the cup — which we’ll drink together. Also — there’s a gluten free option in the trays with the bread.

If you’re not taking communion today — first — know that no one is judging you. And — second — we’d appreciate it if you could help those who are taking communion by passing the trays to the next person in your row. If you have any questions about communion — or what it means to follow Jesus — please stop by the resource center before you leave today.

Eat the bread on your own — but save the cup — which we’ll drink together.

COMMUNION PASSED OUT (Worship song)

The blood of Christ, shed for you.

CLOSING WORSHIP SONG

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available)

I think it’ll be good for us to hear Paul’s prayer one last time:

Romans 15:5–7 ESV

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

How to Disagree (pt 2)

Josh — Thu, 25 Sep 2025 11:51:38 +0000

‌SCRIPTURE: Romans 14:13-23 (ESV)

DATE: 9-28-25

INTRODUCTION

We’re continuing our series in Romans this weekend. And we’re in the practical application section of Paul’s letter where — after eleven chapters of rich theological truths — Paul gets to the so what beginning in chapter twelve. Meaning he addresses how all of the theology that’s found in the first eleven chapters is to play itself out in how we live. Or — at least — how it should influence the way we live.

And — today — we’re continuing our mini-series — as Paul continues to address the same topic we looked at last time we were together. What topic is that? How to disagree.

Now — if you weren’t with us last time — you should know that in starting his discussion on how to disagree — Paul began with something that’s quite controversial for the times in which we live. He says that part of the reason why we have disagreements with each other is because — and this is the controversial part — some of us are weak and some of us are strong. And what he means by this controversial statement is that some of us are weak and strong when it comes to our understanding of the Christian faith — what we believe and how it applies to life — which tells us that Paul is focusing on disagreements among Christians — though there are many ways to apply what he teaches to all of our disagreements.

And Paul’s focus — in our verses — is on disagreements over non-essential matters. This isn’t about disagreements on essentials of the faith — doctrines like faith alone in Christ alone for salvation — this is about disagreements over non-essential matters. For example — the Christians in Rome apparently disagreed over what foods were acceptable to eat as followers of Jesus. Some held a belief that you couldn’t eat certain foods and be faithful. Their belief — obviously — resulted in how they behaved. And their beliefs and behaviors caused division in the church even though this was a non-essential matter.

Yet — and this is important for us to hear and recognize — non-essential doesn’t mean non-important. Many non-essential beliefs and practices are very important — they’re just not essential in determining whether or not someone is a Christian.

Non-essential also doesn’t mean that we believe in subjectivism — that what’s true for you is true for you, but for me this other thing is true. It just means that — in our fallibility and human limitations — we haven’t come to unity on what the Bible teaches on the topic and believe that both sides are trying to be faithful to God and what he’s said in the Bible. That last sentence is important — so I’ll repeat it: In our fallibility and human limitations — we haven’t come to unity on what the Bible teaches on a topic and believe that both sides are trying to be faithful to God and what he’s said in the Bible.

So with that as a guide as to where we’ve been — if you have your Bible — please turn with me to Romans chapter fourteen. We’ll be in Romans chapter fourteen today — looking at verses one through twenty-three. Here’s what Paul says in his discussion on how to disagree. Beginning in verse one writes…

Romans 14:1–23 ESV

1 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. 2 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. 3 Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. 4 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. 5 One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. 10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” 12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. 13 Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. 14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. 15 For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. 16 So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. 19 So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. 20 Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. 21 It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. 22 The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. 23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

Here’s the big idea — the main takeaway — for us today: When we disagree, we’re to pursue peace with each other as we grow in our faith together. When we disagree — and the “we” refers to fellow Christians — when we disagree — we’re to pursue peace with each other as we grow in our faith together. And our big idea leads to an important question: How do we pursue peace and grow in our faith together?

Paul’s going to tell us some things that we’re not to do — then he’ll tell us some things we are to do. And — again — what we do and don’t do both have the same goal: to pursue peace and grow in our faith together when we disagree on something non-essential.

WHAT WE ARE NOT TO DO

Let’s begin by looking at what we’re not to do when we find ourselves in a disagreement with one another over a non-essential issue.

Here’s what Paul says in verse three.

Romans 14:3–4 ESV

3 Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. 4 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

A few verses later he asks…

Romans 14:10 ESV

10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God;

And in verse thirteen Paul writes…

Romans 14:13–15 ESV

13 Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. 14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. 15 For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died.

As followers of Jesus — when we disagree — what are we not to do? We’re not to despise one another nor are we to pass judgment on one another. Don’t despise and don’t pass judgment.

You see, the temptation of the strong is to despise the weak for their lack of spiritual growth and immaturity — the strong are tempted to be impatient with the weak — to look down on the weak.

The temptation of the weak is to pass judgment on the strong — believing that the strong are loose with their theology, unprincipled in their practices, and dishonoring God by their behavior.

Don’t despise and don’t pass judgment — what we’re not to do.

Up to this point — I haven’t asked any self-reflective questions — so here’s the first one: Which of these temptations do you find yourself struggling with most? Do you find yourself more often despising other Christians — because of what they believe or how they behave — being impatient with others — or do you find yourself more often passing judgment on others — being suspicious of their theology or behavior?

This isn’t a sure fire way to know with certainty whether you’re weak or strong, but it’s still a helpful question to ponder. For when we remember that — the reason we’re not to despise or pass judgment — is because a disagreement has occurred — we begin to see the complexity of the situation. For — once again — though these disagreements are over non-essential matters — that doesn’t make the matter unimportant.

So when we discuss our differences and disagreements on non-essential issues — instead of despising and passing judgment — we’re to discuss our differences with our Bibles open. As we like to say — we’re striving to be “Word and Spirit Christians” here at Gateway. Which means we want our differences to be discussed with God’s Word opened — because — submitting to God’s Word on all things is something we all agree is an essential!

And instead of despising and passing judgment on each other — we’re to pursue peace and grow in our faith together. And how do we do this? With our Bible’s open and by living according to love — that’s what Paul tells us. For when we live according to love — not only will we not despise or pass judgment on each other — we’ll refuse to do anything that will cause each other to stumble in the faith.

As I mentioned earlier — the topic of division — for the Christians in Rome — was over what food Christians were allowed to eat — a non-essential matter. And Paul is clear that he believes there is a right side of the argument to be on: No food is unclean. Meaning — Christians are free to eat whatever they want.

Yet — and this ties directly to how we walk in love with each other — those who are on Paul’s side of the argument — even though they’re biblically correct in believing they can eat whatever they want — they’re not walking in love if they allow their freedom to be a stumbling block — or hindrance — or means by which they grieve a fellow Christian. For — to use their freedom in this way — is to not walk in love. Or — as Jesus famously said — they’re not loving their neighbor as themselves.

And this stance that Paul takes — that those who are strong — even when they have biblical justification for their behavior — are to set aside their freedom out of love for their fellow Christian — runs counter to everything the world in which we live teaches us. Where the world tells us to be true to yourself — Paul tells us to submit to the conscience of the weak in regards to these non-essential matters. Why? Because — as the strong ones — you’re obligated to sacrifice your freedom for the sake of those whose consciences are bound to obey what they believe is the will of God.

To eat meat was of secondary importance for the strong Christians who were part of the church in Rome. But for the weak Christians — though it should’ve been a non-essential — it wasn’t. Yet Paul says the obligation is on the strong to give up their freedom in order to not cause the weaker Christians to stumble.

And this leads us to another self-reflective test: For — if you refuse to sacrifice your freedom for the sake of others — on a non-essential matter — this may reveal to you that you’re not as strong as you think you are. And — perhaps — are the weaker Christian in the disagreement.

Last time I read our Essentials of the Faith and had all of our Gateway members reaffirm their commitment to the essentials. I wonder what’s something not listed as an essential that you believe everyone else at Gateway must believe or do? And I wonder if you’re so committed to that non-essential belief or behavior that you’re willing to cause others to stumble — instead of giving up your freedom by loving your fellow Christian?

Again — counter to everything we want to believe. But as one Bible scholar states…

Paul’s advice to the strong is simple: when the exercise of your legitimate liberty [encourages] the weak to violate their conscience, you must, in love, defer to their interests and refrain from what would otherwise be permissible for you to do. Paul’s appeal to the death of Christ is powerful. Since Christ was willing to lay down his very life for your salvation, how can you possibly refuse to forgo a comparatively insignificant liberty for the sake of your fellow believer? It is the contrast between, on the one hand, the extreme and glorious sacrifice that Jesus made in dying for the weak person and, on the other hand, the strong believer’s selfish insistence on exercising their freedom regardless of the spiritual interests of the weak brother or sister. (Sam Storms)

WHAT WE ARE TO DO

Which leads us to another way to test the maturity level of our faith. But before we get to this second test — let’s return to Paul’s words.

Romans 14:1 ESV

1 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.

And why do we welcome the weak — even when their weakness is a potential cause for division? Because…

Romans 14:3 ESV

3 God has welcomed him.

Remembering that — whether weak or strong…

Romans 14:4 ESV

4 he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

And God upholds and makes both the weak and strong stand — because — both are Christians. Therefore…

Romans 14:6–9 ESV

6 The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

Thus both the weak and the strong believe that…

Romans 14:10–12 ESV

10 we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” 12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

And the key to all of this — according to Paul — is that…

Romans 14:5 ESV

5 Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.

Now we just read some amazing, soul-lifting, unity producing truths.

We’re to welcome each other — even with our disagreements — because — God has first welcomed us. That’s why you hear words like, “Welcome one another as Christ has first welcomed you” around here.
And — whether weak or strong — God holds us up and causes us to stand firm so that his will is accomplished in our lives.
And — in knowing that we’ll all stand before the judgment seat of God — which — for the Christian is not a threat — but a time to receive eternal rewards for having lived our lives to honor the Lord — even to the point of allowing our death to honor him.
Thus — each of us should be fully convinced in his or her own mind — and not just on the essentials — but on the non-essentials as well.

And how are our minds to be fully convinced? By God’s Word.

We looked at this earlier, but let’s ask ourselves some more self-reflective questions: What’s the role of God’s Word in your disagreements with fellow Christians? Is God’s Word even considered? Opened? Explored and studied for what God has to say — and not just a verse or two over here that supports your position — but also the verses over there that support the other position? Do you allow God’s Word to shape what you believe — even regarding non-essential doctrines? And are you reading, studying, and memorizing God’s Word regularly enough so that it shapes what you believe?

And — let me say this — and I do so with a heavy heart — for it’s far more common than it should ever be — but Christians often debate, argue, disagree — and even divide — over non-essential beliefs and behaviors — and do so without ever opening God’s Word. May that never be the case for us — especially with our unified commitment to be people who live under the authority of the Word of God.

Think of your last disagreement with a fellow Christian over a non-essential doctrine or practice: What role did God’s Word have in your disagreement?

Later Paul highlights the importance of submitting to God’s Word, when he states…

Romans 14:16–19 ESV

16 So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. 19 So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.

Here Paul says something that — at first — appears to contradict all that I’ve just explained to you. For he says, “Don’t let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil.” If you believe eating meat is good — don’t let eating meat be called evil by other Christians. Same with special days of worship — which he mentioned back in verse five — or — the example I closed our last sermon with — infant baptism or child dedication.

Paul’s point here doesn’t invalidate what he’s just said about walking in love. What he’s saying now is that — as you walk in love — by giving up your freedom for the sake of a weaker Christian — don’t let the weaker Christian call your belief evil or blasphemous.

This tells us that it’s good to lovingly defend your position — but as you heard me say a moment ago — do so with your Bible open. Because the desire for any Christian — especially when we find ourselves in a disagreement with a fellow Christian — should be to better know and submit to what God’s Word says on the issue. For the result of this posture among Christians — a posture of submitting to God’s Word — will result in righteousness — meaning right living — and peace between the two parties — and mutual upbuilding — meaning both the weak and the strong Christian will grow in their faith and understanding on the topic.

Which tells us something else that’s important about the Christian faith and how we disagree: Christians are to be more concerned about the spiritual growth of each other than we’re concerned about winning an argument or making a point. Paul says this is what the kingdom of God is all about. Not eating or drinking — or which side of the debate of infant baptism and child dedication you agree with — but the kingdom of God is a matter of peace and joy in the Holy Spirit for both the weak and the strong.

Time for another question for those of us who follow Jesus: When you find yourself in a disagreement with a fellow Christian — what’s your goal? That both you and the other person grow in your faith — that you grow in your peace with each other — that you both grow in your joy in the Holy Spirit? Or that you win the argument? Be honest!

Think of the last disagreement you had with your spouse — if they’re a Christian — a disagreement over something that wasn’t essential to the faith? What was your goal? That you both grow in faith, peace, and joy? Or that he or she knew you were right and they were wrong?

Or the last theological debate you found yourself in with a fellow Life Group member over some non-essential doctrine? What was the win for you?

Or the last time you disagreed with something I did or didn’t say in a sermon?

Be honest — what’s been your goal in situations like this? What should be your goal when you find yourself in a disagreement with a fellow follower of Jesus over a non-essential? According to Paul, the goal of the Christian should be righteousness — right living — peace between you and the other person — and joy in the Holy Spirit for both of you — for this is what it means to live according to the kingdom of God.

Finally — in verse twenty — Paul writes…

Romans 14:20–23 ESV

20 Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. 21 It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. 22 The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. 23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

Again Paul uses the debate over food and drink as his illustration. And — again — he reiterates to the strong not to cause the weak to stumble — even when the weak are incorrect in their views. Yet Paul gives permission to the strong. For when the weak aren’t around — when the situation is just you and God — or even you and other Christians who you know are in agreement with you — feel free to live in the freedom you have in Christ.

Obviously this means we must really know our fellow Christians and what each other believes. And not just on the essentials — but on the non-essentials as well. Knowing what each other believes so that — silent despising or passing judgment doesn’t take place because one individual assumes everyone else agrees with him or her on an issue — while those who disagree don’t speak up — because most of us do our best to avoid conflict.

We keep up appearances instead of being obedient to Scripture.
We keep “peace, peace when there is no peace” by not making our views known.
We keep each other from growing in faith, and peace, and joy by far too often not even knowing what we believe — or even if what we believe is biblical — or not sharing what we believe in order to not offend anyone.
May God grant us the strength, courage, humility, and love for one another to be honest in these situations. For this is how we’ll all grow in our faith together.

CONCLUSION

A final thought on all of this — especially our freedom in Christ — and on what it means to be strong in your faith. The Bible scholar I quoted earlier says this…

Christian liberty (or freedom) is a precious gift, but it does not have to be expressed outwardly to be enjoyed. – Sam Storms

An idea — which again — goes against the cultural air we’re so used to breathing in. For culture tells us that to be free means we have a right to — and must — express our beliefs. But is this what it means to be a strong Christian in the faith? The scholar goes on to write…

Ironically, those who feel the freedom to eat meat and to drink wine can themselves fall into legalism. They can hold to the truth of Christian liberty so tenaciously that they ignore the welfare of their weaker brothers and sisters. They insist at all times and under every circumstance to have the right and freedom to eat and drink whatever they want. In effect, they have become slaves to their own freedom. They are in bondage to their own liberty. If you believe that you must always exercise your freedom, even to disregarding your fellow believer, not only are you not walking in love, but also are enslaved to your own liberty.

And — if you look carefully at the world around you — especially to our nation — you’ll see this slavery to freedom. Many are in bondage to their own freedom. Many believe it’s their right to ignore the conscience and beliefs of others by forcing what they believe on everyone else — no matter the disunity, division, and violence it causes. This enslavement to personal liberty is described in your news feeds and social media accounts — you see and hear about it in the hallways at your work and school. For people everywhere believe that it’s a fundamental right to always exercise their freedom — and even to disregard what anyone else thinks in order to exercise their freedom.

Yet the Christian faith says something different — the opposite in fact. That — to follow your Savior — who gave up his freedom — his life even — in love for you — is now how you’re to live in love towards others — especially your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Not as a slave to your freedom — but as a slave of Christ who uses your freedom to help those who are weak to become strong. For when this is your goal — even when you disagree with others — you will honor the One who gave up his freedom so you could become strong. Let’s pray together.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, we want to begin by thanking you for the patience and kindness you have towards us. Far too often we think we know what’s the right thing to believe and the right way to act — so we think, “How dare someone disagree with me” — without ever really considering whether or not you agree with us. What an assumption we make — that what we think and do is always what you agree with. But you’re the perfect One — not us. You’re the One who knows all things — not us. You’re the One who always acts righteously — not us.

Holy Spirit, despite our lack of knowledge, our misunderstandings, our ignorance, and our blatant rebellion — you desire — and have promised — unity for us — the people of God. For you live in all who believe in Jesus — and you give us the desire and the strength to know what is true and to act on what is true. Increase our desire to not only know, believe, and live according to the essentials of our faith — but to seek out your truth when it comes to non-essentials — as we patiently and lovingly help others mature in their faith.

For — Jesus — when we do so — we’ll show the world that we’re your followers. For you patiently and lovingly help us mature in our faith. And you desire and have called us to help others in the way that you’ve first helped us. May our unity — even in our disagreements — make you look glorious to the world, nation, and community in which we live. And we pray all of this in your name. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available)

Because of all that God has done for you — may you go pursuing peace as you help build each other up in the faith. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

How to Disagree (pt 1)

Josh — Thu, 11 Sep 2025 11:34:28 +0000

‌SCRIPTURE: Romans 14:1-12 (ESV)

DATE: 9-14-25

With the week that our local community, nation, and world has had — it’s especially good to be with all of you. And — as always — there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

INTRODUCTION

We’re continuing our series in Romans this weekend. And we’re in the practical application section of Paul’s letter where — after eleven chapters of rich theological truths — Paul shows how all of the theology that’s found in the first eleven chapters is to play itself out in how we live. Or — at least — how it should influence the way we live.

And — today — we begin another mini-series — as Paul is going to address the same topic for quite a few verses. What topic is that? How to disagree.

Now let me pause and let you in on something. A few weeks ago — when I was writing this sermon — I wrote the following — obviously having no idea what would happen this week. Here’s what I wrote.

If you’ve been around Gateway for a few years — you may remember that — when we were in the book of Acts — we also looked at this topic — how to disagree. That was way back in 2020 — a time in history when the world was at peace, everyone was getting along with each other, there were no controversies, and — oh wait — 2020 was the exact opposite of all of that. And unfortunately division — instead of peace — disharmony — instead of getting along — and controversies — instead of truth — all of that — was also happening in the church among God’s people.

But here we are in 2025 — a time in history when the world is at peace, and everyone is getting along with each other, there are no controversies — and — since none of that’s true — including in the church — it’s a great time to return to the topic of how to disagree with each other — for disagreements are sure to come. Yet — for the followers of Jesus — how we disagree with each other is as important as what we disagree about. In fact — there should be an obvious difference between us and those who don’t believe in Jesus in how we disagree. For we follow a Savior who had many disagreements with us and — news flash — I’m sure still has many disagreements with us at this very moment — and yet — he continues to welcome us in fellowship with him even as he reveals to us the error of our ways.

CURRENT EVENTS AND PRAYER

So — before we continue with the sermon — let me even be more direct in comparing 2020 with 2025. In 2020, cell phone footage rocked our nation — and the world — as we all watched the final moments of man’s life — his name was George Floyd. This week, cell phone footage rocked our nation — and the world — as we all watched the final moments of another man’s life — his name was Charlie Kirk. I’m not comparing the men — I’m comparing the moment — to show that our nation is still in desperate need of the gospel.

But I want to direct our attention not to national headlines — but to a local one. For as much as we should grieve that a wife became a widow on Wednesday — and that two young children lost their father — on that same day — another wife became a widow — also because of a gun being fired. And this widow attends our church. Findlay police officer John Schimmoeller — who often was our security officer at our North Main Campus — took his life on Wednesday.

If my memory is correct — this is the fifth suicide in the last six years that has directly affected families in our church. And this is the second Findlay police officer to take his life affecting family and friends in our church.

First, to our Gateway family members who serve in law enforcement — thank you for what you do.

Now — for some intentionally direct words of love to our law enforcement folks: If you’re struggling — get help. I pray for you all every week. And one of my prayers for you is that you would not only try to save the lives of others, but that you would live life yourself. Stop believing that you have to be stoic, or that you can’t let anyone see weakness in you, or whatever particular lie is on repeat in your mind when it comes to your mental health. I know that some of you are really mad at John for not getting help. Be mad — I get it — but why not get help so you don’t end up being the reason others are made some day? The most noble and brave decision you’ll ever make is to get help.

And — to the spouses of our law enforcement folks — the most loving and brave decision you will ever make is to seek out help for them — if they’re unable to do so for themselves.

Yet I know it’s not just police officers who struggle with suicidal thoughts. So — if this is you — please seek out help. Call the church office. Stop by the Resource Center. Come up for prayer. Tell your Life Group. Let your shepherding elder know. Tell someone.

We love you. And as people who follow the One who calls himself the Life — we are prolife — which means we are for you and your life.

Finally — something that’s been on our radar for some time is the lack of mental health resources available in our community. This has been an ongoing topic of discussion and what our role — as a church — should be. I bring this up because the time is now for us to do something. Our goal is to establish a counseling center ministry for our church family and — to the best of our ability — our local community. This is going to be a top priority over the next year and I want you to be aware so that — just like you think of the church when it comes to your theology and Bible questions — you’ll start thinking of the church when it comes to your mental health — or what the Bible would refer to as your soul and life questions or struggles.

But — now — we’re going to pray for the family of officer John. For it’s not just his widow — but some of his extended family members attend our church — including a nephew who’s on our church staff. And we’ll pray for our North Main Campus family as many there knew officer John and are deeply grieved by his death. Let’s pray and then we’ll continue with the sermon.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, your Word tells us that “you are near to the brokenhearted and you save the crushed spirit.” (Ps 34:18)

And Jesus you said, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4)

Father, you are sovereign over all things — including the salvation of your people. You know whether or not John put his faith in your Son. So we trust that you have made the perfect decision. For we know that murder is not an unforgivable sin — not even self-murder. For all sins can be forgiven through faith in Christ.

For John’s wife and family, may they know that you are near. Spirit give them comfort, peace, and rest. Absorb some of the shock for them. The uncertainty. The despair. Be a very present help in this time of trouble for each of them.

For the Findlay police department — God we ask you to continue to protect them as they work to protect us. And I’ll repeat my prayer for them right now: May they not only try to save the lives of others, but may they live life themselves — the abundant life — a life overflowing with joy in Jesus.

For our North Main Campus family — it is right and good to weep right now. May we all weep with those who weep. May we comfort those in need of comfort. May we be quick to listen. And be available and present.

For our Findlay community — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — I ask you to bring revival to our hearts. May your church — the church of Findlay — not just Gateway — but your church wherever she is faithfully found in our community — experience revival, a love for you and your Word, a commitment to your gospel being proclaimed, and may our community know that we are your disciples by our love for one another and them.

Finally, for any who are currently struggling with self-harm or suicidal thoughts — Holy Spirit lead and guide them to make the bravest decision they will ever make — to seek out help. And — Jesus — may you be the Lord and Savior of those they turn to — so that — the help they find is you. And we pray all of this in your name. Amen.

TEXT

If you have your Bible — please turn with me to Romans chapter fourteen. We’ll be in Romans chapter fourteen today — looking at verses one through twelve. There Paul writes…

Romans 14:1–12 ESV

How to disagree — that’s our topic. And — after all that we just prayed for — I hope that we’ll take Paul’s words seriously — for how we disagree matters — as the people of God — and it matters at least as much as what we’re disagreeing over.

So — how to disagree. Paul starts us off on this journey with a pretty unpopular statement: Some of our disagreements are due to the fact that some of us are weaker than others. I’ll explain what he means by weaker in a moment — but know that Paul’s point runs counter to the egalitarian view of our culture — where everyone’s thoughts, opinions, insights, and so on are equally valid. Paul — inspired by the Holy Spirit to write these words on behalf of God — disagrees with our culture. Not all views — not all beliefs — not all opinions — are equally true and valid. Some of our disagreements are due to the fact that some of us are weaker than others.

Now here’s what we’re going to do today. Today we’re going to define who the weak and the strong are. Then — next time — we’ll look at what we’re not to do when we find ourselves in a disagreement — along with some things that we are to do when we find ourselves in a disagreement. What not to do and what to do will be what we look at next time.

And let me say this early on: Disagreements among us should not surprise us! I mean — look around the room you’re in right now. Here at Gateway we’ve got people of all ages — even a couple of ninety year olds among us. Different generations see things differently.

But it’s not just our physical ages that make us see things differently — we’ve got people of all kinds of spiritual ages. Some of you have believed in Jesus for decades — some for days. Some of us think we believe in Jesus — and don’t as of yet — because your knowledge about Jesus hasn’t become belief in him.

We’ve got all sorts of backgrounds of what our lives were like before we believed in Jesus. Some of us were raised in a Christian home. Some in a non-believing home. Some were raised Catholic. Others Methodist, or Baptist, or Lutheran, and few of us — ironically — were raised Presbyterian.

Some of us came from legalistic type churches and you can’t believe that people wear shorts to Gateway on Sunday. Others of us come from churches that were the opposite of legalistic — you wonder why I don’t wear shorts when I preach.

Some of us are Matt Chandler, John Piper, and Tim Keller fans. Others listen to Steven Furtick, Andy Stanley, and Craig Groeschel sermons. And some of us — I’m sure — really like TD Jakes, Joel Osteen, and Joyce Meyer.

Why do I bring all of this up? Because all of these differences have the potential to create all kinds of problems for us when it comes to unity and being biblical in our disagreements. And this is what Paul is warning us about as he encourages us — in yet another way — to love one another. For how we disagree with each other is an opportunity for us to love each other as we’ve first been loved by Christ.

THE WEAK AND THE STRONG

With that — let’s understand what Paul means when he calls some of the Christians in Rome weak and others strong. We’re back in verse one.

Romans 14:1–2 ESV

1 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. 2 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables.

And skipping to verse five we read…

Romans 14:5–6 ESV

5 One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.

And — to clear up a question you may have — “Josh, I saw Paul call some weak, but I didn’t see him call anyone strong” — later on he will say…

Romans 15:1 ESV

1 We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.

That’s in the next chapter — which tells you that Paul’s gonna spend a long time on this subject. Apparently division in the church isn’t a new problem — it’s an ancient one. Because our enemy loves nothing more than for God’s people to spend time fighting with one another instead of uniting together to fight him.

But back to the weak and the strong. Paul starts off his thought with a command: to welcome those who are weak in faith. So let’s talk about the weak.

First, those who are weak — are weak in faith. Meaning — they are believers! Now the weakness of their faith doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re brand new Christians — for Scripture warns that you can be a Christian for a very long time and still not have matured much spiritually. And this is what Paul seems to be suggesting when he calls these Christians weak in faith: They’re Christians whose faith hasn’t matured very much. And Paul gives us some examples of what this looked like in the church in Rome.

Apparently these Christians — who were weak in faith — held some sort of belief that eating meat was unholy. The weak person — Paul says — eats only vegetables. This isn’t a knock on being a vegetarian — for health reasons — because the weakness isn’t about their diet — it’s about their spiritual view of the diet.

Which may make you wonder, “What’s the big deal about meat for these people?” If you know your Old Testament, what to eat and not eat was a really big deal for the Jewish people — go read the book of Leviticus if you don’t believe me. What you ate — or didn’t eat — was a matter of holiness for the Jewish people. And — in the church in Rome — there were many Jews who’d come to believe in Jesus — just as there were many Gentiles — or non-Jews — who’d also come to believe in Jesus. And within this diverse group — there was disagreement over what a person could eat while still being faithful to Jesus.

Now — to keep these weak Christians from getting a bad reputation — you should know that they weren’t legalists. You can be weak in faith — have an incorrect view of something — and not be a legalist. Paul’s quick to call out legalists when the situation is called for — but here he doesn’t treat the weak Christians as legalists. Why not?

To answer our question let’s look at an example of how he does respond to people who are legalists. To the Christians living in the area of Galatia, he writes…

Galatians 1:6–9 NLT

6 I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ. You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News 7 but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ. 8 Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you. 9 I say again what we have said before: If anyone preaches any other Good News than the one you welcomed, let that person be cursed.

But what exactly was Paul reacting to? He makes it clear when he writes…

Galatians 3:1–3 NLT

1 Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross. 2 Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ. 3 How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?

The legalism that Paul rejects — is the belief that our works — what we do — make us right with God. In the Galatian church there was division around many works — circumcision, as an example. Some in the church believed it had to be done — in addition to believing the gospel — in order for a person to be saved and made right with God. And Paul totally and completely rejects such legalism.

He calls it a false gospel. He says things like, “Who cast an evil spell on you” and “Let anyone who preaches such things be cursed.” Paul doesn’t hold back when it comes to legalism. As one person said, “Jesus plus nothing equals everything.” For as soon as we try to add anything to Jesus — and what he accomplished in his life, death, and resurrection — we lose everything. Because the gospel — the Good News of salvation — is about what Christ has done to save his people.

So back to these weak Christians in Rome. Instead of the forceful language that he uses against the legalists in Galatia — Paul is gentle with the weak Christians in Rome. This tells us that Paul doesn’t view them as legalists. This tells us that the weak weren’t saying, “To be right with God you must believe in Jesus and not eat meat.” Whatever questions, concerns, and beliefs they had about eating meat — though mistaken — didn’t mean they were being legalistic.

But — you may wonder — why do I say that the weak Christians were mistaken? Because of what we read elsewhere in Scripture. For example…

Mark 7:14–19 NLT

14 Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “All of you listen,” he said, “and try to understand. 15 It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart.” 17 Then Jesus went into a house to get away from the crowd, and his disciples asked him what he meant by the parable he had just used. 18 “Don’t you understand either?” he asked. “Can’t you see that the food you put into your body cannot defile you? 19 Food doesn’t go into your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.” (By saying this, he declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God’s eyes.)

Paul agrees with Jesus — for he taught the same thing.

1 Corinthians 8:8 NLT

8 It’s true that we can’t win God’s approval by what we eat. We don’t lose anything if we don’t eat it, and we don’t gain anything if we do.

Again — though the weak Christians were mistaken in their beliefs about food — they were not taking their beliefs to the realm of legalism — where eating or not eating was a sign that a person was a true Christian or not.

But guess what? Though they weren’t being legalistic — their mistaken beliefs were still causing division in the church! Yet eating or not eating meat wasn’t their only mistaken belief.

Apparently these weak Christians also held a view where certain days were “better” — or more “sacred” — than others. This may have had something to do with the Sabbath — Saturday — being the day for worship — versus the Lord’s Day — or Sunday — but we’re not exactly sure — Paul doesn’t give us enough details. He just lets us know that this was also a point of division in the church.

And — again — Paul makes it clear that these weak Christians weren’t being legalists about their view of these special days — even though they were mistaken in their views about the special days.

Now at this point — it’s completely understandable if you’re thinking, “What does eating or not eating meat and this or that special day have anything to do with me?”

Though meat and special days aren’t causes for division in the church today — there are many beliefs that Christians have that do cause division in the church. And — to stay in line with Paul’s thinking — these are mistaken beliefs by Christians who are weak in the faith. They’re not legalists — that’s a different topic — but they do have mistaken beliefs that are causing division in the church.

Here at Gateway — we call this the difference between essentials and non-essentials. This isn’t something we came up with — this is how our denomination articulates the idea — which isn’t even unique to our denomination — but is an idea that goes back centuries.

The essentials of the faith are made explicit in a document that our denomination cleverly titled “The Essential of Our Faith.” The essentials are what all members of Gateway are required to agree to — they’re what unite us together as a faith family — even when we disagree over other matters. There’s no room for debate or disagreement with the essentials — non-essential — yes — room for debate and disagreement — but not so with the essentials. And what are the essentials?

I’m about to read them — but first — if you’re a member of Gateway — would you please stand up right now — if you’re able — that goes for folks at our North Main Campus too. Friends in Bucyrus — you’re part of the EPC and have the same essentials of the faith — so you can stand as well if you’re a member of the faith family there in Bucyrus. I know that standing during a sermon is different — but I thought we’d take the opportunity to reaffirm the essentials that we believe as a sign of our unity as members of this faith family. At the end I’ll ask you to respond by affirming that this is what you believe as a member of Gateway Church and First Pres Bucyrus.

Here are the essentials. I’ll read them and cue you when to say “I do.”

We believe that…All Scripture is self-attesting and being Truth, requires our unreserved submission in all areas of life. The infallible Word of God, the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, is a complete and unified witness to God’s redemptive acts culminating in the incarnation of the Living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible, uniquely and fully inspired by the Holy Spirit, is the supreme and final authority on all matters on which it speaks.

We believe in one God, the sovereign Creator and Sustainer of all things, infinitely perfect and eternally existing in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. To him be all honor, glory and praise forever!

Jesus Christ, the living Word, became flesh through his miraculous conception by the Holy Spirit and his virgin birth. He who is true God became true man united in one Person forever. He died on the cross, a sacrifice for our sins according to the Scriptures. On the third day, he arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven, where, at the right hand of the Majesty on High, he now is our High Priest and Mediator.

The Holy Spirit has come to glorify Christ and to apply the saving work of Christ to our hearts. He convicts us of sin and draws us to the Savior. Indwelling our hearts, he gives new life to us, empowers and imparts gifts to us for service. He instructs and guides us into all truth, and seals us for the day of redemption.

Being estranged from God and condemned by our sinfulness, our salvation is wholly dependent upon the work of God’s free grace. God credits his righteousness to those who put their faith in Christ alone for their salvation, thereby justifying them in his sight. Only such as are born of the Holy Spirit and receive Jesus Christ become children of God and heirs of eternal life.

The true Church is composed of all persons who through saving faith in Jesus Christ and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit are united together in the body of Christ. The Church finds her visible, yet imperfect, expression in local congregations where the Word of God is preached in its purity and the sacraments are administered in their integrity; where scriptural discipline is practiced, and where loving fellowship is maintained. For her perfecting, she awaits the return of her Lord.

Jesus Christ will come again to the earth — personally, visibly, and bodily — to judge the living and the dead, and to consummate history and the eternal plan of God. “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”

The Lord Jesus Christ commands all believers to proclaim the Gospel throughout the world and to make disciples of all nations. Obedience to the Great Commission requires total commitment to “Him who loved us and gave himself for us.” He calls us to a life of self-denying love and service. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

As members of Gateway Church and First Pres Bucyrus, do you reaffirm your belief in the essentials of our faith? If so, say “I do.” You can be seated.

A few quick responses to what we just did.

First, if you’re a member and — for some reason you weren’t comfortable saying “I do” just now — maybe because something’s changed in your beliefs or you’re wrestling with some doubts — please reach out to your shepherding elder. My recommendation would be to do so today. We’d love to have a conversation with you about the essentials and what you believe.

And — second — if you’re a Christian, regularly attend Gateway, but are not a member — and you just felt left out or uncomfortable because you felt singled out when others stood up — know that becoming a member is pretty simple around here. And maybe the discomfort you just felt is God’s way of leading you towards the formal commitment to this faith family that those who stood up have made — at least that’s my hope for you. So stop by the Resource Center at your campus for more information on becoming a member.

Finally, if you’re not a Christian — you’re probably glad I didn’t have you stand up — that would’ve been really awkward. If you have questions about any of the essentials — please stop by the Resource Center before you leave. The folks there will either point you to some resources to check out or take down your info so someone can contact you about your questions.

My prayer for us — as a faith family — and I hope this is your prayer for us as well — is that our being united on the essentials will keep us united when we disagree on non-essential matters. For sure — non-essential doesn’t mean non-important. But if we’re united on the most important doctrines — on the essentials — why would we allow non-essential doctrines to divide us? For when we divide and go our separate ways over non-essentials — we demonstrate that the essentials aren’t actually our essentials — whatever we’ve divided over was more important. Otherwise why would we go our separate ways?

CONCLUSION

Since this topic is going to go on for a few weeks — I think that’s enough for today. However, I thought I might end with an example of why I’m so proud of you all when it comes to disagreeing.

If you’re newer to Gateway — and haven’t attended one of our baptism services — something you’ll notice about us is that you’ll see families who bring their children up for infant baptism while others bring their children up for child dedication. In many churches, it’s infant baptism or child dedication — because everyone knows that a church practices one or the other — but not both.

Now long before I came to Gateway — which we’re at the nine and half year mark for anyone keeping count — but way before my time — the practice at Gateway was to offer both infant baptism and child dedication. Why? Because baptizing or dedicating our children is a non-essential — and we have people coming from all kinds of church backgrounds with various traditions. But more importantly — we’ve got people in our faith family who’ve come to different conclusions on this important — but not essential doctrine — and have done so with their Bibles open.

So in order to do our best to welcome each other — we practice both around here. And what I love most is how we celebrate with families — regardless if they’re baptizing or dedicating their children. Because we’re a congregation that’s thankful and supportive of families who are committed to raising their children up to know and love Jesus.

Thank you — Gateway — for honoring the Lord. And for welcoming one another — even in our differences — or I should say — especially in our differences. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Father, thank you for your goodness, kindness, and graciousness towards us. For there’s much that we believe and do that you disagree with. And yet you welcome us anyway into your family and — even more amazingly — into your eternal presence.

Spirit, you are the Spirit of unity and you desire unity among us. Unite us — we pray. Knit our hearts together. Produce within each of us a spirit of hospitality — so that we become the most welcoming people that others know.

And — Jesus — us being welcomed into your family and into your Father’s presence is possible because of what you did — in love — for us. You lived for us. Died for us. And defeated death for us — and for our unity. May we fight hard — as we live under your Word to us and by the power of the Holy Spirit in us — to display the unity that you’ve made possible. And we pray all of this in your name. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available // Resource Center for membership info)

May you go welcoming each other as God has welcomed you into his family. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

Know the Times

Josh — Thu, 21 Aug 2025 11:46:05 +0000

‌SCRIPTURE: Romans 13:11-14 (ESV)

DATE: 8-24-25

INTRODUCTION

We’re continuing our series in Romans this weekend. We’re in the practical application section of Paul’s letter where he shows us how all of the theology — that’s found in the first eleven chapters — is to play itself out in how we live. That’s the journey we began earlier this year with Paul’s big “therefore” statement — when he writes…

Romans 12:1–2 ESV

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Paul tells us — in light of all the theology he’s taught us — to live our lives as sacrificial offerings to God — where our lives are acts of worship that make our God look glorious to the world.

But now I need to let you in on a little insight about these verses — and this ties into today’s sermon. When Paul says, “Do not be conformed to this world,” the word translated in English as “world” doesn’t mean the planet we live on — nor does it mean “that which is in opposition to God.” The word used means “age or era.”

I think you’ll see why I bring this up if you turn to our text for today. We’ll be in Romans chapter thirteen — looking at verses eleven through fourteen. Again that’s Romans chapter thirteen — beginning in verse eleven — where Paul writes…

Romans 13:11–14 ESV

11 Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. 12 The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Paul’s returning to the idea found back in chapter twelve — do not be conformed to the world — when he writes “you know the time.” Not being conformed to the world means to not be conformed to the time in which you live — the era — the age in which you live. For every age has its way of leading us away from faithfulness to Christ — so we must not conform — we must stand firm — for this is war.

Which leads us to where we’re headed today. We’re going to talk about knowing the time in which we live — something we’re commanded to do — to know the time. Then we’ll look at how not to live in this age. Followed by how to live in this age.

Know the time. How not to live in these times. And how to live in these times.

KNOW THE TIME

Let’s begin in verse eleven where Paul writes…

Romans 13:11–12 ESV

11 Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. 12 The night is far gone; the day is at hand.

The first thing I want you to notice is the urgency in Paul’s words.

The hour has come.
Salvation is now nearer to us.
The night is far gone.
The day is at hand.

There’s urgency here.

As you may know, Emily and I have three kids. Three kids — three very different birth experiences. For Wesley — our oldest and firstborn — Emily’s water broke while we were playing a game at our dining room table. We went to the hospital…and we waited. And waited. And waited. Her water may have broken, but Wes didn’t get the message it was time to be born. Emily and I played board games in the hospital for hours to pass the time away. There was no sense of urgency.

For Caleb — our second child — things were quite different. We lived in Tampa and the hospital was quite big with lots of babies being born. Emily started having contractions — things felt kind of urgent — so we went to the hospital.

Now — though Emily felt an urgency — the hospital staff — well — not so much. We got checked in but were sent to a large waiting room. And we waited. And waited. And waited. Or — at least that’s what I did. Emily — on the other hand — was going through labor. There were some young gals waiting for their friend to give birth and I’m pretty sure watching Emily go through labor changed their minds about having kids in the future.

Eventually Emily strongly suggested that I go tell the security officer that he either needed to get someone to see us ASAP or come over and deliver a baby. So I went up to the guy and was all like, “Yeah. So you probably get this a lot. But my wife says she really needs to be seen by someone or you need to go deliver our baby.” He went and got a nurse who took us to what seemed to be an ER type room — and then she left! That’s right — she left me with my wife all by myself — can you believe she treated me that way? More time went by — resulting in Emily strongly suggesting I go get someone because it was time.

Now — I don’t like telling medical professionals how to do their job — but — even more so — I don’t like to be on the bad side of a very stressed — and about to deliver a baby — wife. So I went to the nurse’s desk and said, “Yeah. So you probably get this a lot. But my wife says she really needs to be seen because she’s about to deliver our baby.” Though I think she didn’t trust my wife’s assessment of the situation — she did follow me to the room. She asked a few questions and then said she’d check to see how things were progressing. And — ALL OF A SUDDEN — things became very urgent for that nurse. She pressed some button and a flood of people came rushing into the room. I was pushed to the side. And Caleb was born. There was a sense of urgency for Emily — but the hospital staff didn’t quite see things the same way — until they did!

With Alice — our beautiful, talented, and — let me check what else she told me to say — amazingly funny daughter — with Alice I think Emily decided to split the difference. Here I am sleeping the night away while she went through labor. I guess she figured, “I’ve been through this twice before — I’ll know when it’s time.” She woke me up in the wee hours of the morning and said, “Josh. It’s time. We need to go to the hospital. We called our friend to come over to watch our boys, got to the hospital, and Alice was born within the hour.” Emily knew the times. She knew what to expect. While I was literally sleeping the night away — only to be awakened from my sleep to an urgent situation.

What Paul’s telling us — we who believe in Jesus — is that the time in which we live is a time of urgency. This is not like Wesley’s birth — a time for board games while you wait for a baby to be born. This is a mix of what that nurse in Tampa went through — when she finally saw that Caleb was coming — or what I went through with Alice — which may be the better analogy because I was literally asleep — for Paul says, “The hour has come for you to wake from sleep!” A phrase he loves to use in his letters.

Ephesians 5:13–14 NLT

13 But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them, 14 for the light makes everything visible. This is why it is said, “Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”

And…

1 Thessalonians 5:6 NLT

6 So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded.

And…

1 Corinthians 15:34 ESV

34 Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.

And…

1 Corinthians 16:13 ESV

13 Be watchful (wake up), stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.

And…

Colossians 4:2 ESV

2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.

And not only Paul says this — Peter does as well.

1 Peter 5:8 ESV

8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

And Jesus agrees.

Matthew 24:42–43 ESV

42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into.

And…

Matthew 25:13 ESV

13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

And…

Matthew 26:41 ESV

41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Know the time in which you live so that you stay awake and don’t fall asleep. For the time in which we live is one of urgency. For we don’t know when our Savior will return — AND — we do know that our enemy is prowling around seeking people to devour.

Add to this urgency that our time is limited. Your time is limited and so is mine. Time is our greatest asset and we so easily squander it away while focused on trivial things.

If you’re not a Christian — you know your time is limited. All born into this world will die. And I know there are some crazy ideas out there right now — the AI apocalypse — not AI taking over like Terminator — but a merging of humanity with AI so we’ll somehow live forever. God help us for such manmade substitutions of promises he’s already made and guaranteed. Humanity has always put our hope in the next great technological discovery that will be our defeat of death. We’re not the first generation to think we’ll conquer our greatest enemy — but will we be as foolish as the previous generations who thought they could save themselves while rejecting God’s Savior? Will you reject God’s plan of salvation in hope that man will come up with a better plan?

And — for the Christian — because your time is limited — for all who are born into this world will die — there’s no time to waste. You have the Good News of salvation entrusted to you — by God — to share with others. No time for apathy. No time for waste. No time for indifference. No time to be caught like a worker who didn’t know that his Master was about to return or a sleeping father who didn’t know his daughter was about to be born.

I’m not talking about ignoring God’s gift of rest — I’m talking about wasting away God’s gift of life. For you are…

Ephesians 2:10 ESV

10 God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

And — until Jesus returns — or your death day arrives — you’re to live with God’s good works for you in mind. Knowing that every day is both a gift and one day closer to your day of salvation — the day when your salvation is completed when you see Jesus face to face.

And here may be the greatest motivation for living this way in the time in which we live.

Romans 13:12 ESV

12 The night is far gone; the day is at hand.

With Jesus’ first coming — the rising sun of salvation began to dawn on God’s creation. The night — creation under the curse without the resurrected Savior — came to an end. Yes — it’s not fully day yet — that’s the eternal glorious day of eternity — but the night has come to an end. Winter is over. The first signs of spring — signs of joy and life — are upon us. The sun is rising, the day has dawned, and hope has burst forth into God’s creation.

I love what one author says about the phrase “the night is far gone.” He writes, “The reign of evil has almost expired and is in its last gasp.”

Though we still live in what Paul calls the “present evil age” to the Christians in Galatia — this isn’t an age of defeat for the people of God. It’s an age of power. An age of love. An age where the Holy Spirit lives in us — giving us new desires that run counter to the desires of this “present evil age” — new eyes that see how this age isn’t to be sought after and lived for — as if it’s the age to come.

Our present age — the culture in which we live — like all cultures — is declining in morality — and this shouldn’t surprise us. For all cultures decline in morality to the degree that they reject Jesus. Thus we must live with eyes wide open to the values of the culture in which we live and not allow ourselves to be overtaken by a worldview that’s rejected Christ. Living for this “present evil age” is what we did prior to believing in Jesus — but now — we live for the “age which is still to come” — the age we catch glimpses of in this age — glimpses that give us an even greater longer for the sun to fully rise and for the night to give completely over to the eternal day that’s coming.

HOW NOT TO LIVE

Thus — in knowing the time — let’s look at how not to live in this present age. We’re back in verse twelve. There Paul writes…

Romans 13:12–14 ESV

12 So then let us cast off the works of darkness…13 Let us walk…not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy… 14 and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Notice Paul’s instructions.

Cast off the works of darkness.
Let us walk…not in.
Make no provision for the flesh — which means our sinful, rebellious nature.

In this age there are ways of living that we’re to cast off — that we’re to get rid of — like clothes you’ve worn all day while working out in the hot sun. You take them off and you throw them into the dirty laundry pile far away from the noses of your family members who don’t want to smell your stank. Similarly, Paul’s saying, “There are ways you used to live” — works of darkness, he calls them — “ways that people live in this present age — that you need to take off and throw in the dirty laundry pile.” And he gives a few examples. Not an exhaustive list — just a few highlights so we get the idea of what it means to live according to the values of the present age.

He says don’t walk in orgies and drunkenness. A Bible scholar states, “These words used together picture drunken individuals having a so-called “good time” and disturbing the citizens of the town.”

Paul says don’t walk in sexual immorality and sensuality. The same scholar says, “Sexual immorality is a Greek word which can simply be translated as “bed” and the word rendered “debauchery” is one of the ugliest words in the Greek language, describing one who is not only given over to immorality, but is incapable of feeling shame.” Our present age’s love for pornography — and its snare on many Christians — is exactly the kind of thing Paul’s saying we must throw into the dirty laundry pile.

And don’t walk in quarreling and jealousy. This would include things like holding grudges and being envious of the success of others.

This is how you used to live — Paul says — when you were in the darkness — when you lived according to the present evil age — when you were a child of wrath.

HOW TO LIVE

But now — Paul says — we’re to live differently as the people of God. In verse twelve he says…

Romans 13:12–14 ESV

12 So then let us…put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly as in the daytime… 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ…

Here’s a truth we all need to believe more deeply: We’re not helpless victims, but are victors because of what Christ has accomplished on our behalf. Christ did not depart for heaven to leave us as orphans — or the illustration Paul uses — as soldiers without the weapons and equipment we need to fight and win. No — we’ve been provided everything we need in order to defeat the works of our enemy, to not give in to our fleshly desires, and to live a life of victory. But this life of victory is only possible when we walk closely with Jesus — meaning when he has the desires of our heart — instead of our desires being given to the things of this present age.

Paul’s use of armor — I’m sure — can’t help but remind many of you of what he says in Ephesians chapter six.

Ephesians 6:10–18 ESV

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.

While others may think of his words to the Thessalonians.

1 Thessalonians 5:4–11 ESV

4 But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. 5 For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 6 So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

Here Paul only mentions the breastplate and helmet — where to the Ephesians there’s much more to the armor. But I found this to be an eye opening connection: In First Thessalonians Paul calls it a breastplate of faith and love, and the helmet the hope of salvation. Faith, hope, and love. Anyone recognize this trio of Paul’s? They’re found in Paul’s love chapter that we looked at last week — where he writes…

1 Corinthians 13:1–13 NLT

1 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. 4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. 8 Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! 9 Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! 10 But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless. 11 When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. 12 Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. 13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

If we think back to what we learned last week — how love does no wrong — we now see how important love — along with faith and hope — is. Faith, hope, and love are part of our spiritual armor. They’re part of how we live faithfully for Christ in this present age. They’re part of what it means for us to put on Christ — which Paul tells us to do — because our faith, hope, and love are in a person — Jesus Christ.

Now — if you know your Bible — you may wonder, “But Josh, isn’t there some place in the Bible that says we’ve already put on Jesus Christ?” Yes — and Paul’s the one who says it.

Galatians 3:27 ESV

27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

If we’ve already put on Christ — how are we supposed to put him on again? Great question! In Galatians, Paul’s referring to our justification — a theological word that means the moment we’re declared to have a right standing with God. In Romans, Paul’s referring to our sanctification — a theological word that means our ongoing growth in Christ-likeness and holiness that comes after we’ve been justified.

In other places in the Bible we see that we’re declared to be holy — justification — and also commanded to grow in holiness — our sanctification. The Bible uses different language to express the same idea — but here in Romans — Paul’s using the imagery of putting off and putting on.

But — specifically and practically — how do we put on Jesus? Let’s use faith, hope, and love as the key to help us understand what it means to put on Jesus. Paul told us earlier in Romans that faith comes from hearing. So we put on Christ — through faith — by hearing the Word of God about Christ. This would include regularly worshiping with a local church where Christ is faithfully preached. This would also include listening to Scripture and listening to Christ-exalting songs.

Hope comes by believing in God’s promises to his people. To put on Christ — through hope — means we must know, remember, and remind ourselves of God’s promises to us that are guaranteed because of what Jesus has done for us. We do this by reading and meditating on Scripture. We do this through Bible memorization where — you take a verse that declares a promise of God to his people — and put it to memory. We also do this through discussing God’s Word with others — something many of you do in your Life Group.

Finally — there’s love. We put on Christ — through love — by seeing and savoring the beauty and loveliness of Christ. By dwelling on his love for you — which will lead you to love others as you’ve first been loved by Christ.

If we return to the clothes analogy — one person has said, “When I get up in the morning I put on my clothes, intending them to be part of me all day, to go where I go and do what I do. They cover me and make me presentable to others. That is the purpose of clothes. In the same way, the apostle is saying to us, “Put on Jesus Christ when you get up in the morning. Make him a part of your life that day. Intend that he goes with you everywhere you go, and that he acts through you in everything you do. Call upon his resources. Live your life IN CHRIST.” And [remember that] Paul emphasizes that it’s “the Lord Jesus Christ” that we put on. We bow to his Lordship. We’re to live under his lordship. He is King of all or he is not King at all.”

And though I don’t want to make this a legalistic rule — as I understand some of us have unique situations — this putting Jesus on is accomplished during your quiet time — your devotional time — your whatever “Christianese you want to call it” time. And it’s best when this is done first thing in your day.

I know some of us aren’t morning people — and I think our enemy loves for our “not being a morning person” to be the reason why we go about most of our day without having put Christ on. For that’s what happens if you wait until half or nearly all of the day has gone by to spend time with Christ.

Think about it — how many of us sleep in the clothes you’re going to wear the next day? For most of us that’d be weird. If that’s true for our physical clothes, why do we think we can do this spiritually? As followers of Jesus — who live in this present evil age — we need to wake up every day and put on our armor.

If you don’t know where to begin — when it comes to starting your day by putting on your spiritual armor — let me recommend this booklet that I’ve written on How to Make the Most of Your Devotional Time. It’s available at the Resource Center at your campus and on our church website — gatewayepc.org. And it’s free! So grab a copy and begin starting your day by putting on Jesus Christ.

CONCLUSION

Know the time. And — in knowing the time — make the most of every opportunity to live faithfully in the day in which you live. For salvation is now nearer than when you first believed. The time is drawing near. Therefore put on the armor of light. Walk properly. Put on Jesus Christ. And live for him. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, thank you for your Word to us today. A warning about the time in which we live — and — a hopeful message about the time in which we live. For the night is far gone — and the day is at hand. What hope there is in knowing that the dawn of the sun has pierced the darkness of our world.

Holy Spirit, we need your power, your guidance, and your wisdom to live faithfully in this present age. We need you to remind us each day — and each moment of every day — to put on the armor of light.

And we’re able to do so because you — Jesus — gave yourself in love for us. You lived faithfully in the age in which you lived. You remained faithful and hopeful as you saw all of us wandering aimless in the darkness. And you were determined that our enemy would not be victorious — but that we would be victors because of your sacrifice on the cross.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — indeed — faith, hope, and love will last forever. May you call many to come to faith, to experience true hope, by receiving your love for them today. And may you empower those of us who do believe to live in faith, and with hope, and in love because of all that we’ve been given in Christ. And we pray all of this in his name. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available)

In knowing the time — may you go and live faithfully — having put on the armor of light and of Christ. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

Love Does No Wrong

Josh — Fri, 15 Aug 2025 05:34:00 +0000

‌SCRIPTURE: Romans 13:8-10 (ESV)

DATE: 8-17-25

INTRODUCTION

We’re continuing our series in Romans this weekend and — to everyone’s delight — we’re moving on from the topic of politics — three weeks on the subject was enough. But we are continuing in Paul’s letter — and we’re in the application section — where he’s showing us how what we believe is to change how we live.

So — if you have your Bible with you — please turn with me to Romans chapter thirteen. We’ll be in Romans chapter thirteen — looking at verses eight through ten. There Paul writes…

Romans 13:8–10 ESV

8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Today we’re going to focus on what it means to be people who love others. And we’ll do so by looking at — one — what Paul means when he says that we owe others our love — two — how our love fulfills the law — meaning the Ten Commandments — and — three — what it means to love others as ourselves. What does Paul mean when he says we owe others our love, how does our love fulfill the law, and what does it mean to love your neighbor as yourself? That’s where we’re headed today.

Now — if you’re here and wouldn’t call yourself a Christian — know that for those who follow Jesus — God’s Word is our final authority on all things — or at least it’s supposed to be. We Christians are a work in progress — individually and corporately — so don’t hold our failures against God. But with God’s Word as our final authority on all things — his definition of love and what it means to be a loving person is what we aim for. Again — God’s Word gives us the ideal — of who we Christians can and should be — but because of our sin — just like you — we regularly fail at being who we long to be. That doesn’t invalidate God’s Word — in fact — many times our failures prove the truthfulness and trustworthiness of God’s Word because — often — it’s like, “Yup. The Bible did say that would happen if I did that.”

That you’d experience anxiety by putting all of your hope in keeping up your appearance rather than being honest with others about what’s really going on in your life.
Or that you’d face a seemingly insurmountable gap in your relationship by betraying your spouse for that one night stand on a work trip.
Or that you’d know the feeling of loneliness by refusing to practice spiritual disciplines that God designed for his people’s good.

So — yes — God’s Word is our final authority. And — yes — we Christians still often try to find a way to fulfill what we long for while ignoring God’s Word. But we gather together each week to sit under God’s preached Word — so that — we’re all drawn back to God and his Word and live the “therefore lives” that Paul’s describing to us. Which — today — is on how we’re to love others.

WE HAVE A LOVE DEBT TO PAY

So let’s jump in by returning to the beginning of verse eight where Paul writes…

Romans 13:8 ESV

8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other…

With as slow as we’re going through Romans — it’s hard to remember how what we’re currently reading relates to what we’ve previously seen in Romans. But not too long ago, Paul wrote…

Romans 12:9–13 ESV

9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

We looked at this passage back on Mother’s Day — three months or so ago — which is long enough to miss the connection between it and our verses for today. My point is that our love for others isn’t a new topic for Paul. He brought it up back in chapter twelve — early in his description of what a life changed by Christ looks like. In fact, I’m not sure that Paul ever left the topic of love. In describing genuine love — in Romans twelve — Paul mentions “holding fast to what is good” and “honoring” others. He then tells us how to overcome evil with good and — as we’re all familiar with by now — he goes on to talk about how we’re to honor those who are in authority over us. Including the words…

Romans 13:7 ESV

7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

Which then transitions nicely to our verse…

Romans 13:8 ESV

8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other…

Paul’s made it clear — I think — that those who believe in Jesus are not to go delinquent on the debt we owe. Whether it be taxes to the government. Revenue for something we’ve purchased. Respect and honor to those in authority. But — now — he adds love. And Paul says that we’re to owe no one anything — except — to love each other.

Some take Paul to be saying that Christians are not to have debt — no credit card, car, or mortgage debt. Yet this would be quite odd for Paul to say right after saying, “pay back what you owe people” — including financial debts. I’m not saying we’re free to pile on a bunch of debt — there’s biblical warrant for being careful about debt — but what I am saying is that this kind of debt isn’t on Paul’s mind in our verse — he’s focusing on a different kind of debt we owe: a debt to love others.

In fact — the point of this sermon’s title — “love does no wrong” — is to highlight the importance God has put on love in the life of his people. For God calls his people to be lovers of people — where everything we do is to be done as a loving person. And love does no wrong towards the one loved. As Paul writes elsewhere…

1 Corinthians 16:14 ESV

14 Let all that you do be done in love.

…including — paying back the debts we owe. Which means that we — who believe in Jesus — don’t just pay our taxes — even non-Christians can and should do that. But we’re to pay our taxes — not reluctantly, or angrily, or indignantly — but lovingly. And we pay for our purchases lovingly. And we show respect and honor — and are to do so — lovingly. And we know exactly what Paul means by love. For he defines it when he writes…

1 Corinthians 13:4–7 ESV

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Words used in wedding ceremonies — but unfortunately — have failed to be applied to the breadth that Paul originally intended. For Paul wasn’t even writing about marriage when he wrote these words. He was just talking about love. Love for husbands and wives? Sure! But also love that Christians are to have for other Christians. And love that Christians are to have for non-Christians. Even love that Christians are to have for their enemies.

Now — in our culture — love is often described as a subjective feeling. Then there are people who — if you say, “You never say ‘I love you’,” will respond with, “My actions demonstrate that I do.” Paul challenges both of these views of love. Love isn’t a subjective — undefinable — feeling — he’s defined love! — and neither is it purely action. As one pastor has said…

Love is not just an action toward a person; it’s a mindset, an attitude, a disposition that produces behaviors that are good for people. Isn’t it amazing that Paul’s description of love contains almost entirely inner dispositions not outward actions. To be sure all these dispositions produce certain outward behaviors, but that is not the essence of love: patience, not envying, not arrogant, not irritable, not resentful, not rejoicing at wrong, rejoicing in the truth, bearing, believing, hoping, enduring. These are all acts of the soul first, not acts of the body.

Which means — you can be doing all of the “loving things” while still not loving people — or God — for that matter.

So — here’s where we are. Everything we do is to be done in love. And love is specifically defined for us in God’s Word. Yet we still haven’t seen how loving others is a debt we owe them. Remember Paul tells us to…

Romans 13:8 ESV

8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other…

Admittedly confusing language — because — owing something usually means that they’ve given us something. Whether we agree with all that it goes to or not — we owe taxes because we receive benefits from the government. We owe someone revenue because we’ve received something from them. And so on. But there are many people who’ve never given you or me anything — and yet — Paul says we owe them our love. So what does he mean — how did we get in their debt?

Let’s make this personal — how did you get into my debt — where you owe me your love — just as I owe you my love — just as we all owe each other our love — just as we owe everyone in Findlay and Bucyrus — and ultimately the world — our love? That’s a really big debt to owe, right? So how’d we get into such debt?

Again Paul says, “Owe no one — that’s all inclusive — anything, except to love each other” — and the “each other” refers back to “no one.” So — for the Christian — this command includes loving Christians and non-Christians — because loving everyone is a debt we owe. So how’d we get into this debt?

We believed in Jesus.

Look at what Paul wrote earlier in Romans.

Romans 1:14 ESV

14 I am under obligation (“I owe a debt”) both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.

And what is the debt Paul owes them? He goes on to tell us.

Romans 1:15 ESV

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

The debt he owes — to Jews, Greeks, barbarians, slaves, and freemen — is sharing the gospel with them. And why is Paul under this debt? He tells us in his opening words of the letter.

Romans 1:1–7 ESV

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.

God had called Paul — called him from spiritual death to spiritual life — called him from being an opponent of Christianity to an apostle. He says that God set him apart for the gospel — set apart is one of the most common phrases used to describe God’s people — holy ones, saints, set apart ones — something true not just of Paul but of all who believe in Jesus. Additionally, Paul says that God had given him grace and faith — and gave these gifts to Paul for the sake of God’s name being proclaimed among all the nations — including those in Rome who are loved by God. And — all of this — put Paul in debt.

And since — if you believe in Jesus — God has called you from spiritual death to spiritual life. And God has set you apart for the sake of his gospel being proclaimed throughout all of his creation. And God has saved you through faith in Jesus Christ and all that he accomplished in his life, death, and resurrection on your behalf. You also are in debt.

Yet this is not a debt you can pay back to God. So the debt you owe isn’t to God — you can’t pay that debt back. Yet — the debt we owe to others isn’t because of something we’ve received from them either. The debt we owe — to love others — all people — Christians, non-Christians, even our enemies — with a love that is patient and kind, isn’t arrogant or rude, and so on — the debt of love you owe to others is because you’ve been loved by Christ when you did not deserve his love. And — in response to his love for you — not to pay him back — but because you want to honor him and make him and his love for you look glorious to the world — you love all people.

What about those who don’t deserve your love? Remember — you didn’t deserve Christ’s love.
What about those who won’t receive your love? How long did Christ love you without you receiving his love?
But, Josh, this sounds awfully self-sacrificial and costly.

1 John 3:16 ESV

16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought (are debtors) to lay down our lives for the brothers.

1 John 4:11 ESV

11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought (are debtors) to love one another.

Two questions before we move on. First, do you know that God loves you in this way — unconditionally so? God doesn’t love you because he weighed his options and thought, “Well, I’ll get a little more something out of this one than that one, so I’ll love her and not him.” He didn’t think, “Look at how pathetic she is, I’ll only give her a little bit of my love, but not all of it.” Nothing like that.

When God chose to love you he knew everything about you. Including that…

Ephesians 2:1–3 ESV

1 you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, [and how you followed the] the course of this world, [and followed] the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, [and how you carried] out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

And — yet — he said, “This one’s mine anyway. I love him. I love her. She’s my daughter. He’s my son. They’re my forever children.” Pastor Tim Keller described all of this with these words: “The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.”

And — in being loved this way — we find ourselves obligated to love God in return — so much so that our love for him overflows into our love for all people. And this kind of love is a love that fulfills the law.

A LOVE THAT FULFILLS THE LAW

As Paul writes…

Romans 13:8 ESV

8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.

And…

Romans 13:10 ESV

10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

The “law” — here — refers to the Ten Commandments. We know this because Paul quotes some of the Ten Commandments in verse nine. This is important for us to understand — because this highlights the difference between true Christianity and what many think is Christianity. Many think that Christianity is — if you do these things — or don’t do these things — then God will love you. Where — what you do — earns God’s love. And that’s not Christianity.

Christianity — true Christianity — is what Tim Keller said. Yes — you are more flawed and sinful than most of us would ever dare admit about ourselves. And — at the same time — you’re more loved and accepted by Jesus than most of us are able to dare believe is true. But — in being loved — not because of what we have or haven’t done — but simply because God has chosen to love you — now — what you do isn’t done to earn God’s love, but is done because you are loved. Meaning the motivation behind what we do — having believed in Jesus — isn’t the law — “if you do this you’ll be rewarded or if you do that you’ll be punished” — but is love. For the God who created everyone and everything has said, “You are my forever loved son or daughter.” Love — not law — is the motivation for what the Christian does. And — plot twist — that includes — obeying God’s law!

So it’s not that the law — or the Ten Commandments — is unimportant or out of date. What Paul is stressing is that the motivation for the Christian — when it comes to…

Worshiping no other gods.
Including the idols of our day.
And not taking God’s name in vain.
And resting as we remember the Sabbath.
And honoring our fathers and mothers — which — as we saw the past few weeks — applies to all who are in authority.
And our motivation for not murdering.
And not committing adultery.
And not stealing.
And not lying.
And not coveting…

…is love. God’s love for us and our love for him in return. And our love for God can’t help but spill over into our love for other people. I mean — right — more than half of the Ten Commandments are about our relationships with others. And our obedience to these commandments — like all of the commands — is love.

Which may make you wonder, “Then what’s the point of the law?” Traditionally there are three reasons for God’s law — but we’re only focused on one: God’s law shows us how to love God and love others. That’s why — when Jesus was asked…

Matthew 22:36–40 ESV

36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

LOVING OTHERS AS WE LOVE OURSELVES

I’m sure you noticed — if you hadn’t already — that Paul quotes Jesus when he writes…

Romans 13:9 ESV

9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

“You shall love your neighbor as yourself” is a quote from the Old Testament book of Leviticus. What an interesting command — the wording, I mean: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Some have tried to take Jesus’ two commands and make them into three. 1) Love God. 2) Love others. 3) And love yourself. But that’s not what he says — that’s not what Paul says either.

It’s 1) love God and 2) love others…as you already love yourself — or in the same way that you already love yourself. You see — Jesus and Paul — and the rest of the Bible for that matter — assume we already love ourselves. Now — because this is what we do — we go to a few exceptions. Like, “What about the suicidal person? Do they really love themself?” There’s not enough time to explore such a personal subject like suicide. All I’ll say is that — exceptions like this — prove a principle — they don’t disprove it. And what we see all around us is that the vast majority of people are experts at loving themselves. Thus God found no need for “love yourself” to be a command.

So what are Jesus and Paul saying? Essentially they’re saying, “With all of the passion, zeal, energy, and focus that you put in loving yourself — make that your measure of what it means to love others.” Sometimes we Christians are way too quick to call the idolatry card on others simply because they’re finding enjoyment in God’s creation. And — to be clear — being loving towards yourself and enjoying God’s creation aren’t necessarily sinful — though they can become sinful.

For example…

For those who love to golf — who find great joy and delight in getting out on the course. Take the same passion you have for golfing — the zeal, the time you put into it, and so on…Paul says, and “Put in the same effort toward loving God and loving others.” Then you’ll know that golf is simply a gift from God that you enjoy and not an idol of your heart.
Or maybe you find joy in sewing, or crafts, or painting — what Jesus and Paul are saying to you is to put the same passion you have for your sewing, crafting, painting, or whatever — the same zeal, the same time and effort you put into it, and so on…and put the same effort in your loving God and loving others. Then you’ll know that your hobby is simply a gift from God that you enjoy and not an idol of your heart.
Whether it be running, or listening to music, or playing video games, or going on vacations to Disney World, or whatever you find joy in — put the same energy and focus into your love for God and others — so that you love others as you love yourself.

Now — some of you are playing mind referee right now. Instead of thinking about yourself — you’re thinking of someone else. If this is you — the first thing you should do is repent. And — second — know that the very real spiritual enemy we face loves nothing more than for you to hear truth from God and ignore how it applies to your life by thinking of how it applies to someone else.

Does it apply to others? Absolutely! But the point of hearing God’s Word preached is for God to speak to you about your life first.

All of us have good gifts from God that are vying for the affections of our heart.
All of us have an enemy who wants us to hear God’s Word and — instead of being changed — to become religiously smug and proud. The irony being that — in doing this — we end up being unloving towards ourselves.
So I’ll be honest for all of us: We all have room to grow in our love for God and others. None of us have matched our love for others with our love for ourselves.

So…

How might God want you to love others?
To love your family?
To love your spouse — if you’re married?
To love your co-workers?
To love those who are part of your church family?
To love the kids in Kidway?
The youth?
To love your neighbors?

CONCLUSION: LOVING OTHERS AS JESUS FIRST LOVED US

Yet we can’t talk about loving God and loving others — without remembering two other things Jesus said on this subject.

Luke 10:25–37 NLT

25 One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?” 27 The man answered, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” 28 “Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!” 29 The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied with a story: “A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road. 31 “By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. 32 A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side. 33 “Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. 34 Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. 35 The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’ 36 “Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked. 37 The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.” Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”

Jesus’s point is obvious: it’s possible to be very religious — and — very unloving. You can even be an expert in God’s Word — and — be an expert in being unloving. At the same time — someone can not fit the mold of those same religious so-called experts — and yet be someone who fulfills the law by their love.

Second, Jesus said this about love.

John 13:34 ESV

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

Followers of Jesus are not only to love our neighbor in the way we love ourselves — we’re to love others in the way we’ve been loved by Christ. For Jesus is the true and better Good Samaritan who didn’t leave us to eternally perish on the side of the road because of our sin, but entered into our world to soothe and bandage the wounds caused by our sin. And he took our place — not just half dead beside the road — but on a cross where he died for our sins. And it’s this love — Jesus’ love for you as displayed in his life and death — that he now commands you — and me — and all who believe in him — to love others with. For this is the only love that does no wrong — not to God or others. For it’s a love in response to — and empowered by — the perfect love that Jesus Christ has for you. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Loving Father, today your Word has told us of your great, powerful, and saving love for your people. And — in being loved by you — we’re indebted to love others. Forgive us — we ask — for the many times we’ve not loved you or our neighbors. And forgive us for forgetting and doubting your love for us. For when we really trust in your love — grasp your love — dwell on your love — we will be changed into people who love.

Spirit, you’re the One who causes this change in us. Change us, we ask. Give us new hearts. Open our eyes and ears. For those who already believe — stir in us an increasing passion and trust in your love so we live a life of loving others.

And — Jesus — you are the perfect display of what it means to love your neighbor as yourself. We’re so grateful for your love. May we keep our eyes fixed on you so that we show the world your love for them through our love for them.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — to any who’ve yet to trust in your love — may you draw them to you — giving them new life — as you give them faith to believe and trust in your love for them. And we pray all of this in Jesus’s name. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available / I believe, now what? at Resource Center)

May you go knowing that Jesus gave his life in love for you — and in response — may you love God and love others. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

Authority (pt 3)

Josh — Fri, 01 Aug 2025 05:10:00 +0000

‌SCRIPTURE: Romans 13:1-7 (ESV)

DATE: 8–3-25

INTRODUCTION

We’re continuing our series in Romans this weekend. We’re in the practical application section of Paul’s letter where — after eleven chapters of rich theological truths — Paul shows us how what we believe is to shape how we live. That’s the journey we began with Paul’s “therefore” statement…

Romans 12:1–2 ESV

Paul tells us to live our lives as sacrificial offerings to God — where our lives are acts of worship that make our God look glorious to the world because of what we believe. And — one of the ways that our lives can make God look glorious to the world — is something we’ve been looking at for a few weeks. For Paul’s forcing us into the nitty gritty of life so we see how — what we believe — is to shape how we live. And this is all incredibly practical stuff — for it addresses how the Christian faith actually changes us.

So — if you have your Bible — please turn with me to Romans chapter thirteen. We’ll be in Romans chapter thirteen — looking at verses one through seven. There Paul writes…

Romans 13:1–7 ESV

1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

If you’re just joining us, two weeks ago we saw that what this text teaches is pretty straightforward — it’s not hard to understand. But we returned to this passage for a second and third week because — though it’s straightforward and easy to understand — applying this text is where things get hard. Last week we looked at what God’s Word says both to those in authority and those under authority and — today — we’ll look at some implications of this text and how we’re to live because of our faith in Jesus Christ.

Now — if you wouldn’t call yourself a Christian — know that we’ll be talking about politics today — but not how you might think. You see — when we talk about submitting to authority — one area of life where this can’t be ignored is in the area of government. And — generally speaking — politics is a religion in our country. And we’re a nation full of fully devoted followers of the religions of the Republican and Democrat parties.

For example, it’s not a surprise to me that — after the first week on authority and submission — I started hearing you all ask the question, “What about Hitler?” Our culture’s aversion to submission has made Hitler the go to example. First, I don’t know that Nero — the Roman Emperor that Paul refers to in Romans — was much better than Hitler. Admittedly we don’t have near the detailed history on Nero that we do on Hitler — but what we do have on Nero isn’t all warm and fuzzy.

And — second — and this gets to the religiousness of politics in our country — both political parties in our country love to compare the other side to Hitler and Nazism.

On the right — author Eric Metaxas — in his book Letter to the American Church — essentially compares living under the Biden administration to living in Germany in the 1930s, compares the American Church of today with the German Church of the 1930’s — who conceded to Hitler — and uses Dietrich Bonhoeffer as the example of how Christians should respond to what was happening in the US with civil disobedience.

But now that Trump is president — Bonhoeffer is the example used by the left because — of course — Trump is like Hitler, the Republican Party is like the Nazis, and so on. When the other party’s in charge — this is absolutely believable. But when your party’s in charge — it’s absolutely ridiculous to make such a comparison. And — that’s the case — because — politics is a religion in our country.

Now — today — as I promised — we’ll focus on two questions: When to obey authority and when to disobey authority.

THE PURPOSE OF GOVERNMENT

But — first — we need to talk about the purpose of government according to the Bible. Did you know that God has a purpose for government? That’s what Paul tells us in verse three when he writes…

Romans 13:3–4 ESV

3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.

Government — when it fulfills its God-given purpose — will promote what is good and prohibit and punish what is evil — good and evil as defined by God. This is God’s purpose for our government — here in the United States, here in Ohio, and here in Findlay. Yet this is also God’s purpose for the governments of the United Kingdom, Brazil, Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea. All governments have this purpose — no government is outside of God’s authority and — as governing authorities under his absolute authority — they have an obligation to do what God has created them to do.

This is no different than God’s purpose for any of us as individuals. For example, God has a purpose for every single Christian.

Ephesians 2:8–10 ESV

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Every single Christian has been saved by God to make him look glorious to the world by doing the works he’s called us to do.

God has also created the church — a gathering of his people here on earth — for a purpose. The way we describe this purpose at Gateway is “we exist to glorify God by making disciples of Jesus Christ.” For Jesus said…

Matthew 28:18–20 ESV

18 “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

And — in our verses from Romans — Paul tells us that the purpose of government is to promote what is good and to punish what is evil. When governments — any government — promote what is good and punish what is evil it is fulfilling its God given purpose. And when governments — any government — don’t do this — they’re not fulfilling their God given purpose.

As I mentioned two weeks ago — the Westminster Confession of Faith — our denomination’s doctrinal standard — says…

God, the supreme Lord and King of the whole world, has ordained civil authorities to be over people under him for his own glory and the public good. For this purpose he has armed civil authorities with the power of the sword to defend and encourage those who are good and to punish wrongdoers. (WCF 23.1)

But did you notice how Paul describes governing authorities as God’s servant? Some translations have “God’s ministers.” This tells us that those who serve in government are not to be self-serving — how about that for a radical idea? Instead, those serving in government are to serve their citizens with the purpose of God being glorified. For that’s what it means to be a servant of God.

Additionally, being called God’s servant implies that those in government have an obligation to submit themselves to God’s authority, commands, and definition of what is good and what is evil. Those in government are not free to do whatever they want. They’re not free to choose what is good and what isn’t. They’re not free from authority — but occupy a position of authority because they’ve been appointed by God and are under his authority.

Like I said last week — Paul’s words would’ve been a warning to Caesar — the emperor of Rome. A man who assumed he was at the top of the authority org chart. The man everyone else in the Roman Empire also assumed was at the top of the authority org chart. To the emperor, Paul says, “Caesar, you’re God’s servant. He’s put you in authority to do his purpose. You’re no god — you’re a servant of God.”

Instead of “in God we trust” on their coins — the Roman Empire had some variation of “Caesar is Lord” or “Caesar, the son of a god” on them. If only we — the citizens of a nation who have “in God we trust” on our money — would live up to our motto. The citizens of the Roman Empire — they lived up to their motto — which is why Jesus was once questioned about whether people should pay taxes to Caesar or not. So he asked for a Roman coin…

Mark 12:16–17 ESV

16 And they brought one. And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar’s.” 17 Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they marveled at him.

A Roman Coin had Caesar’s image on it — so give the coin back to Caesar — pay your taxes. But don’t forget that God has put his image on something — and that is something all of us are to give back to him.

Do you know what that something is? Us — for we’re all made in the image of God — Christian or not — including Caesar. Including President Trump, and Governor DeWine, and Mayor Muryn, and all who serve in government — here in the US — and anywhere else.

All of this is on Paul’s mind when he calls those in government God’s servants. “Give yourself first to God — so that — in your position of authority — you promote what God has said is good and punish what God has said is evil.”

Mr. President, give yourself first to God — so that — in your position of authority you promote only what God has said is good and punish only what God has said is evil.
Mr. Governor, give yourself first to God — so that — in your position of authority you promote only what God has said is good and punish only what God has said is evil.
Madame Mayor, give yourself first to God — so that — in your position of authority you promote only what God has said is good and punish only what God has said is evil.

As followers of Jesus, this is to be our attitude towards those in government — when the person in office is who we voted for and when it’s not. And — this being our posture — means that we’ll be different than those who are followers of the Republican or Democrat religions. For we take God at his Word — and trust that there is no governing authority except those who’ve been appointed by God to be his servant. Including Nero. Including Biden. Including Trump. And — yes — even including Hitler. For the only alternative is to believe that God’s sovereign authority is limited — that he’s not above Nero or Hitler or Biden or Trump. And a God who isn’t above all things, people, places, and nations is not a god worthy of our worship.

WHEN TO OBEY AUTHORITY

With that being said — and in knowing that all those who serve in earthly authority are sinners and may inadvertently or purposely promote what God has said is evil and punish what God has said is good — including those who are members of your political party — we now turn to the nitty-gritty and controversial topics of when to obey those in authority and when to disobey.

Let’s begin with when to obey authority. But — first — a reminder of what Paul tells us.

Romans 13:1–2 ESV

As I’ve been reiterating, God — in being sovereign — in being in control of all things — has appointed all who hold a position of authority — including those in government.

The people you voted for.
The people you didn’t vote for.
The people who serve in our country’s government.
And the people who serve in China, Iran, Iraq, Somalia, North Korea, you name it.
For there is no government outside of God’s control and there are no individuals in authority who are outside of his sovereignty either.
Thus — Paul says — be subject to the governing authorities. Submit to them. Obey them.

Which tells us that the starting point — for every follower of Jesus — when it comes to your relationship with those in authority — is one of obedience. Our default position should be obedience — not disobedience. For we’re to obey them — regardless if we voted for them or not — when what they ask or command us to do is not sinful. And that’s key: If what those in authority over us are asking or commanding us to do — is not sinful — we’re to obey.

And I know what some of you are thinking, “But what if — it’s not sinful — but I still disagree?” We’ll get to that in a moment, but for now — what I want you to see — from Paul’s words — which are God’s Word to us — is that our relationship with those in authority begins with our submission. Rebellion against God’s authority is what destroyed our relationship with him in the first place. Satan was first to rebel against God’s authority and he convinced Adam and Eve to rebel as well. And — for the rest of us — it didn’t take any convincing — we were born rebellious against God’s authority. And much of the tension we’ve felt while exploring the topic of authority and submission — is rooted in — not our distrust and rebellion against earthly authority — but is really rooted in our distrust and rebellion against God and his sovereignty over all who are in authority. Something true for Christians and non-Christians alike.

Remember — Jesus said pay taxes to Caesar.
Remember — that Paul wrote these words while a wicked man was emperor of Rome.
Remember Joseph — and how he submitted to Pharaoh and served as his second-in-command in Egypt.
Remember Nehemiah and Daniel — who served Babylonian kings. And Esther who was married to one.

We have biblical example after biblical example after biblical example — in addition to clear commands — of what our posture is to be towards those who are in authority over us: When they’re not asking us to sin — we’re to submit to their authority.

WHEN TO DISOBEY AUTHORITY

But now we turn to what you all have been waiting for. For there are times when we must disobey authority. One last reminder from Paul.

Romans 13:3–5 ESV

When those in authority — instead of promoting what is good — as defined by God — and punishing what is evil — also as defined by God — promote what God has said is evil and punish what God has said is good — then we must disobey. And because we live in an age that is defiant to authority — even godly and God-appointed authority — I want you to pay close attention to these biblical examples of disobedience to authority.

When Pharaoh ordered the murder of all male Jewish babies — some midwives refused to obey his command. This was before “thou shall not murder” was etched in stone — but it was still sin. Here’s what happened.

Exodus 1:15–17 NLT

15 Then Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, gave this order to the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah: 16 “When you help the Hebrew women as they give birth, watch as they deliver. If the baby is a boy, kill him; if it is a girl, let her live.” 17 But because the midwives feared God, they refused to obey the king’s orders. They allowed the boys to live, too.

Why did they refuse the king’s order — what was the root of their disobedience? Their fear of God. A pastor from the 1600’s said, “The carnal person fears man, not God. The strong Christian fears God, not man. The weak Christian fears man too much and God too little.” When our disobedience to those in authority is required — it must be rooted in our fear of God.

This was true of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who — though threatened with death if they would not sin by worshiping the statue of King Nebuchadnezzar — said to the king…

Daniel 3:16–18 ESV

16 “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

The midwives disobeyed because they feared God and the consequences of murder which they knew — even without the Ten Commandments — was evil. Daniel’s three friends also feared God and refused to disobey his command “thou shall have no other gods before me.” But what I want you to notice is how they would rather die than sin by following the orders of the king. And they did not resist being thrown into the furnace. They did not resist the sword that Paul refers to in Romans — that may slaughter us. Rarely are we asked to commit sins such as murder or false worship today — and yet — our default position is not only to disobey authority — we also get upset when there are consequences for our unbiblical disobedience.

Continuing with biblical examples.

Daniel 6:10 ESV

10 When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.

Daniel’s opponents had convinced the king to sign a decree that no one could pray to anyone but him — and Daniel disobeyed the decree — even when he knew it would mean meeting some hungry lions up close and in person. When’s the last time the US government asked you to pray to a political figure?

Or take Esther who — when learning that her fellow Jews were in serious trouble because of a decree her husband had been tricked into signing — and knowing that the law of the land stated that if anyone approached the king without being invited — including her, his wife, the queen — they were subject to possibly being killed! She says…

Esther 4:11–16 ESV

11 “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law—to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live. But as for me, I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days.” 12 And they told Mordecai what Esther had said. 13 Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. 14 For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” 15 Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, 16 “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.”

Another case where the act of disobedience came with the potential of death. Not inconvenience — death! Not even jail time — but death! Oh how far we’ve fallen — not only in what we will disobey authority over — but also in how we think that our disobedience should come without consequences. Yet this is not what we find in the Bible.

The biblical examples continue — there’s Peter and John. Who were arrested and threatened by those in authority for preaching about Jesus. The authorities told them to stop preaching about Jesus. What was their response to these threats?

Acts 4:19–20 ESV

19 But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, 20 for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”

And — after being arrested and threatened again — because they were preaching about Jesus…

Acts 5:29 ESV

29 Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.

And — before being released — the authorities had them beaten for their disobedience. Do you know how the apostles responded to their beating? They rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer for Jesus. Why do so few Christians today find it a joy to be counted worthy of suffering for Jesus? Because we want our disobedience without the suffering, don’t we?

All of these examples are summarized by one of my Bible commentaries, which states…The Bible gives a very clear basis for civil disobedience; namely, if the state commands what God forbids, or if the state forbids what God commands, then civil disobedience is a Christian duty.

On the Conscience and Is Yours Biblical?

Which leads to one last aspect of submission and authority: What if what’s being asked isn’t sinful, but you still disagree with the decision of those in authority? This is the question of conscience. This is a question in which we must be biblical in our answer and not take our cues from the culture around us. For it’s far easier than we think to confuse our conscience with what God has said in his Word — and we’re far too trusting of our conscience — as if our conscience is the Holy Spirit or untainted by sin or something. Yet listen to what Paul says about this.

1 Corinthians 4:3–4 ESV

3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. 4 For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me.

Paul says, “When others judge me — even in a court of law — that’s no big deal. I’m not aware of any reason for me to be judged — my conscience is clear. But” — and this is key — “just because my conscience is clear doesn’t mean I’m innocent. The Lord will judge me.”

Did you know that your conscience being clear doesn’t mean that you’re innocent when it comes to God? That’s true for the Christian and non-Christian. Which is why we Christians must be biblical in our relationship to those in authority. For as one author writes…In an era when respect for authority is at low ebb, it is necessary to point out that Christians must be very careful to ensure that any act of civil disobedience is a matter of conscience inspired by divine principle, because there is an unfortunate tendency for Peter’s dictum — “We must obey God rather than men” — to be applied in a manner far removed from the original intent.

CONCLUSION

Some concluding thoughts based on what we’ve seen over the past three weeks.

First, remember that we — Christians — are people who follow a Savior who submitted himself to those in authority even when it cost him his life. And he’s called us to be people who — not only look to his cross for salvation — but carry our own — as we follow his example of submitting ourselves to those God has placed over us in authority.

Second, remember that God’s purpose in our submission to authority is to grow our trust of his sovereignty and — simultaneously — to grow us in humility. Did you know that God is more concerned about your trust in him than he is in your civil liberties? And that he’s more concerned about your humility because — when God says he opposes the proud — he means it. And submission to authority is a key way God destroys our pride.

Third, we must remember that Jesus never promised us a fair fight in this world. In fact — he warned us to not be surprised when those in authority use it against us. He even said, “If they treat me this way, how do you think they’re going to treat you?” Our submission to authority isn’t about us being treated fairly — it’s about us trusting our God.

Fourth, remember that being treated unfairly — being persecuted even — by those in authority is not what sends a person to Hell — and this is good news! Pride, unbelief, and being self-centered are reasons people spend eternity in Hell. If you have faith in Jesus there is nothing anyone can do — not Caesar, not Hitler, not Biden or Trump — there is not anything anyone can do to keep you from eternity with Jesus if you believe in him.

Finally, we must remember that — not only will our submission to authority show an unbelieving world how Christ has changed us — but our being respectful and honoring to all in authority will make our God look glorious to the world. For this is the kind of submission to authority that he’s called and commanded his people to display — for it reflects our submission to his authority over our lives, our marriages, our families, our churches, our city, state, nation — and yes — over the entire world. For our submission to authority is first and foremost about our submission to him — before it’s about our submission to them. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Sovereign God, what a challenging word — yet again — for us today. It seems as if everything in us wants to follow the path of Satan when it comes to submission — we want to rebel. Like Adam and Eve we so easily distrust you and your Word to us that we our default is to disobey you. We think we know better. We choose to go our own way: The way of the fool. The way of the wicked. The way of those who will be judged by you.

Spirit of God, if not for you calling us out of the darkness of our rebellion — none of us would submit ourselves to your authority. And — yet — you delight in opening the eyes of the spiritually blind, of giving ears that hear to those who are spiritually deaf, to give new — full of life — hearts to those who’ve been hard towards your love — hearts that find joy in submitting to your authority.

This is all possible because you — Jesus — fully submitted yourself to your Father’s authority. Including obeying ahead of time what Paul would later write in Romans — for you submitted yourself to the governing authorities of your day. Even when they used their power and position to murder you. Forgive us for believing that we’re able to benefit from your submission while not submitting ourselves to your Word on this issue. For your Word makes it clear: We’re to submit to authority. Yes — there are times where disobeying authority is biblically valid and necessary — but based on the examples we’ve seen — many aren’t submitting when we should and we rebel when we have no biblical grounds. Forgive us for not representing you well. And help us — empower us — remind us of your Word — so that we do represent you well from this day forward by obeying your Word and making you look glorious to the world. And we pray all of this in your name. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available)

May your submission to your sovereign God be displayed in your submission to the authorities he’s placed over you. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.