Let’s review the first seven verses of chapter 1:

Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name’s sake, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 1:1-7 NASB95)

We ended our last discussion on the phrase "the gospel of God", found at the end of verse 1.

By way of review and as a starting point for our discussion this evening, I want to reiterate my understanding of what Paul means when he uses the phrase "the gospel of God".

In 1Corinthians 15:1-4, Paul makes this very straightforward statement: Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…. Many people believe these verses completely and succinctly convey Paul’s message when he uses the word "gospel"…I disagree.

I believe that to define Paul’s gospel by these verses is misleading and incomplete. He says that the death, burial and resurrection of Christ was "of first importance" (protos (pro·tos)); first, chief, first in rank, not complete or exclusive. Paul’s gospel was not just the "good news" about Jesus Christ; it was the "good news" about God the Father, His Son Jesus Christ and The Holy Spirit!

The cross is certainly the foundation of Christianity…every doctrine of eternal consequence is grounded in that historical event, but that event is not the whole story. Paul says that it began with God the Father long before Jesus came to live as a human and God’s work of redemption has continued long after Jesus was resurrected and ascended into Heaven. Paul’s gospel is the "good news" of a Triune God who has descended from Heaven on a "no-holds-barred" mission to bring back all who are lost and separated from Him and Who will not stop until every last one of His family members have been brought home!

The word for "gospel" used here in Romans is euaggelion (yoo·ang·ghel·ee·on). In its earliest biblical usage, it meant a reward for bringing good news. Through the passage of time, the reward idea was dropped and it came to mean the good news itself. Although there are a dozen places the word appears in Matthew and Mark, twice in Acts, once in 1Peter and once in Revelation, it is a primarily a Pauline word. On both of the occasions in Acts, Paul was involved; the council at Jerusalem where Peter claimed his own designation as apostle to the Gentiles and the other is found in Paul’s farewell to the Ephesian elders as he was about to depart for Jerusalem where he would be taken into Roman custody: But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God. (Acts 20:24 NASB95)

In 2Corinthians 5:14-24, Paul gives what I believe is his most comprehensive description of the ministry he received by direct revelation form Jesus Christ: For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Do you see why I believe that when Paul says "the gospel of God", he means the good news that God in Christ has reconciled the whole world to Himself and he is begging everyone who hears that message to accept it as true and enter into the joy of that "right relationship" with God?

I want to draw your attention to the phrase Therefore if anyone is in Christ. In the New Testament, the little word "if" has about ten different possible meanings, but there are four main ones: 1) Conditional, "maybe he will; maybe he won’t" 2) Statement-of-fact, "if and he will" 3) Statement-contrary-to-fact, "if and he won’t" and 4) Condition-of-fact, "since, because or when".

In the phrase Now all these things are from God, Paul seems to convey that his "gospel" is far more than human breath and words, it carries the creative power of God to bring about all that it announces!

Let’s look at verses 2-4 where he elaborates on the gospel of God: which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord…

Here Paul speaks clearly about the "duality" of Christ; He was a human, born in the lineage of King David…both His earthly mother and His legal father were descendants of David. But Jesus Christ was unique! Not only was He fully human; He was also fully Divine…the only Son of God! Although He laid aside His prerogatives of immensity (omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence) for thirty-three and a half years while living in this world, Jesus Christ never stopped being the second person of the eternal Godhead!

Ponder these next two questions together, because the answer to the second will lead you to the correct answer to the first:

Moses, Samuel, David, Micah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi would all predict the coming Messiah and his subsequent death in such detail that Peter, John, Matthew, Luke, Paul and unnumbered thousands who followed would believe that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the Son of God…the promised Messiah! Moses foretold that Jesus would be born of the tribe of Judah. Micah predicted that He would be born in Bethlehem. Psalms and Isaiah foretold that He would be rejected, beaten, crucified and they would cast lots for his garments. Jesus Himself foretold that He would be killed and resurrect on the third day.

Jesus was declared to be the Son of God, Who would save His people from their sins, by the angel to the virgin Mary; He was declared to be the well-pleasing Son of God by the thundering voice of the Father on the occasion of His baptism by John the Baptist and here, Paul says He is declared to be the Son of God by His resurrection.

Our English word, declared, is the Greek horizo (hor·id·zo), and conveys, when referring to a person, the concept of being appointed, ordained, or chosen. When referring to a place or thing, it means to mark off with boundaries or limits. At His birth and baptism, the declaration was verbal; at His resurrection, the declaration was tangible.

Paul says that Jesus was resurrected according to the Spirit of holiness; what or who is the Spirit of holiness?

There are at least two schools of thought on this subject, the first is expressed in the New Living Translation: And Jesus Christ our Lord was shown to be the Son of God when God powerfully raised him from the dead by means of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 1:4 NLT) The Message (Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase) seems to carry the same thought.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary says: "That resurrection declared Him to be the Son of God because it validated His claims to deity and His predictions that He would rise from the dead (John 2:18-22; Matt. 16:21). This declaration was made through (lit., "in accord with") the Spirit of holiness. This is the Holy Spirit…"

Although good arguments are made by MacArthur and others that Jesus had willingly emptied Himself of all His Divine power and was totally dependent upon the power of the Holy Spirit, I’m inclined toward the latter position because of the words of Jesus found in John: "For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. "No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father." (John 10:17-18 NASB95)

The phrase resurrection from the dead is found in the NASB95, along with most other translations, but again, Vincent makes an interesting observation: "Wrong, since this would require the preposition έκ from (which is not found in the original). The Revised Version words it correctly, of the dead. Though this resurrection is here represented as actually realized in one individual only, the phrase, as everywhere in the New Testament, signifies the resurrection of the dead absolutely and generically — of all the dead, as exemplified, included, and involved in the resurrection of Christ."

Personally, I think that both meanings are present…the resurrection of Jesus was the literal transition from the state of being dead, without life, to the state of being alive as He was before entering the state of death. It is also comforting to know that the resurrection of Jesus guarantees the resurrection of all who have died.

Go Back