Peter Barnes | Romans 1:1-4
SERMON NOTES
PAUL: THE MAN AND HIS MESSAGE
Romans 1:1-4
– Martin Luther: ‘The more time one spends in it, the more precious it becomes and the better it appears.’ He wanted Christians to know it by heart, as ‘the daily bread of the soul’. God has used it to bring blessing to many, including Augustine, Luther, Calvin, John Wesley, and Robert Haldane.
1. Paul as servant and apostle set apart by God.
– 1:1; a servant (doulos) but note Joshua 14:7
– God set apart His prophets e.g. Isa.49:1; Jer.1:5
– note Acts 26:15-18
2. This gospel is promised in the Old Testament.
– 1:2; see Rom.3:21; Gal.3:8-9, 29
– the Old Testament tells of the Messiah’s world-wide authority (Ps.2:8); His divine and human person (Isa.9:6); and His dying for sinners (Isa.53:6)
3. The gospel is about the Lord Jesus Christ.
– 1:3-4; in His humiliation (v.3) and His exaltation (v.4)
– Son of David according to the flesh (Ezek.34:23-24; Mark 10:46-47); but appointed the Son of God with power through the resurrection. He was already the Son of God before the resurrection (Matt.3:17; 11:25-27; 16:16-17) but now it is with power (cf. Acts 2:36)