Romans Sermon Podcast
You might expect the cost of receiving the gift of atonement provided by the eternal Son of God to be high and costly. You might expect the requirements for exchanging your sin for the righteousness of Christ and being made heirs with Christ, adopted as children of God, to be complicated and difficult to achieve. However, in simple language, the Bible declares that to be saved from your sin requires the confession of Jesus as Lord and the belief that God raised him from the dead.
The most offensive thing is to dispute someone's definition of what is good. The greatest of these offenses is rejecting what someone claims makes them good. What is so offensive about Jesus is not that he died but that he had to die for your sins. The world is happy to receive him as a dying martyr, but a savior dying to atone for your sins requiring believing faith, the world finds offensive.
The crowd wanted a warrior king, but Jesus was the suffering servant who came to die for man's sins (Isaiah 53). The crowd wanted someone to affirm and support their cause, but Jesus called sinners to repent of their sins and believe in faith on him. Jesus, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29), is also a stumbling stone and offensive to all who remain in their sin.
There are some places that you long to be. Maybe for you, it is at home or being with friends. These places and people refresh your soul. They offer you an opportunity to relax and be restored. Such places and people are both needed and desired.
As Paul closed his letter to the Romans, he expressed how he longed to be with his fellow believers. His longing was not just to have a meal or to be with friends (he had never been with the Roman church), but rather he longed to be with other believers who could (because of their shared relationship with Jesus) have fellowship with him.
The fellowship of believers is created to be a blessing to believers. Among the saints, we find the blessing of community, support, and prayer.
The world often sees freedom as being unrestrained from anything. However, grace known through salvation is not about being totally unrestrained but being free from the bondage of the law so that you might be free to obey Jesus willingly.
To be transformed is to be irrevocably changed. Once a caterpillar becomes a butterfly, it can no longer be a caterpillar again. Butterflies never return to being caterpillars, nor do those saved by the cross of Jesus go back to a life ruled by sin.
The end of Romans 5 says that where sin increases, so does grace. To the sinful mind, this sounds like an invitation to sin more to get more grace. In Romans 6, Paul responds by teaching what it means to be transformed. Yes, more sin equals more grace, but the response by one transformed by the gospel is not to desire more sin but more righteousness.
Romans Sermon Shorts
You cannot please God without the Spirit. Romans 8:5–17 teaches that pleasing God is not first about outward action, religious effort, or external righteousness. It is first a matter of the heart.
In this sermon short, Pastor Ben Smith explains that the indwelling of the Spirit only comes through salvation. A person may do many right things, but without knowing Jesus and being filled with the Spirit of God, all that effort remains unable to please God.
There is no sin that the blood of Jesus cannot cover, and this includes abortion. Dear friends, you must work with all your might to defend life and stop legalized abortion, but in your zeal to protect life, you must also declare that the only thing that forfeits the hope of the gospel is rejecting the salvation of Jesus.
Abortion is a shameful thing, but God’s grace is greater. Some of you have actively participated in the shamefulness of abortion. You have had abortions. You have encouraged someone to have an abortion. You have supported the legalization of abortion. Some of you have passively participated in the shamefulness of abortion. You have been unconcerned with abortion because it has not directly affected you or your family. You have turned a deft ear to the pleas of those contending for life. You have believed the lies of politicians and activists who advocated for abortion.
Dear Christian, you should recognize the shame of sin and plead for the grace of God.
Dear Christian, you should recognize the shame of sin and plead for the grace of God. The shame of sin is not erased by ignoring it. The shame of sin is overcome by confessing and repenting of sin. Dear Christian, there is forgiveness and restoration in Christ alone.
Anything that denies the sanctity of life is motivated by a desire to elevate personal freedom over God's authority. Abortion promises sexual freedom, economic freedom, and freedom to attain gender equality. However, these false freedoms do not deliver what they promise. The fruit of sin is enslavement to more sin, shame and guilt before God, and death. Dear friends, there is no true freedom in rebellion against God. Freedom is only found in righteousness before God.
The absurdity of Satan’s lies is that such theft, death, and destruction are preferable to righteousness in Christ. The end result of every sin is personal destruction, relational destruction, destruction of others, and community destruction. Dear friends, see abortion for what it is – a lie that brings death and destruction.
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I have a cheap little screwdriver in my desk drawer. Calling it cheap is likely too gracious of a word. It has the form of a miniature screwdriver but not the ability to perform the task of such a tool. This little screwdriver is not an effective tool for anything. It is cheaply made, and if it were to be used for anything that caused real pressure to be applied, it would likely break or bend under the strain. So why do I keep it in my desk drawer? I keep it because of who gave it to me.
I like to be right. Who doesn’t? It is a position of power and authority to be right. On the other hand, I hate to be wrong. Being right means that your actions are justified and correct. Being wrong requires repentance and discipline if not corrected.
My wife and I were once traveling through Atlanta long before the advent of GPS and navigation apps. It was late, and I was tired and ready to get home. For reasons that now evade my memory, we had gotten off the interstate and were entangled in the labyrinth of one-way downtown streets. I was driving and chose to rely on my own sense of direction while disregarding my wife’s gentle suggestions. I was sure that I knew the right way to get back on the interstate. After the next turn, stoplight, or block she would be forced to acknowledge that my choice of directions was right. However, after left and right turns gave way to more left and right turns, my level of frustration grew as I hopelessly searched for the interstate’s entrance that now seemed purposely eluding me.
Romans Sermon Manuscripts
A sermon for Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. Pastor Ben Smith’s sermon pulpit notes for preaching Romans 6:20-23. The PDF file contains sermon notes, illustrations, and sermon outline handouts.
Romans 6:20-23 is about the consequence of sin and the hope of the gospel. It is a precious passage that I have often preached in no small part because of the great gospel promise of verse 23. Generally, when preaching this passage, the majority of attention is given to the hope of salvation, which is the main idea of the passage. However, with this sermon, I want to give attention to the warning concerning sin.
All sin leads to death, both physical and spiritual.
In the confusion and brokenness of this world, the consequence of death is sometimes ignored but more often celebrated and even encouraged. Abortion brings death but is celebrated as a way to preserve sexual freedom, ensure individual autonomy, and provide gender equality. Abortion, as with all sin, is presented by the world as good and desirable, but it produces the rotten fruit of death.
The sanctity of human life is not first a political issue; it is, first, a theological issue. Christians must be clear concerning the cost and destruction of sin. Only then will you appreciate the great and glorious hope of the gospel.
This passage exposes sin’s necrotic nature and the remedy of the gospel.