"Righteous" is a word that usually has either a theological connotation or "self-" in front of it. Genesis 6 describes Noah as righteous and blameless. Read the chapter and see his actions. He didn't say a word, but he acted. But these actions showed his righteousness; they didn't establish it. Like ours, Noah's righteousness was through God. Like Noah, our righteousness results in God-pleasing action.
The book of Genesis isn't just about what happened, it's also about what is happening. This weekend, we begin a fall series on the Covenant of Grace described in Genesis 6 – 9. Our day is more like Noah's than we realize. We have cars and power tools, but hearts haven't changed. God warned the people of Noah's day judgment was coming, and he warns people of our day. Just like God was incredibly patient then, he's patient now. Now is our time to live in his patience, walk with him, and finally enjoy the safety not of an ark, but of his grace by faith in Jesus Christ. We’re so glad you’re with us and invite you to let us know if there’s some way we might serve you.
Finishing a book of the Bible is a big deal. It's been God's source of truth and inspiration for us for all of 2024. We'll miss you, Romans. But not really. We still have and we still need the message of Jesus we find in Romans. It's not going anywhere, except going more deeply into our hearts as we read it again. We’re glad you are with us today for the closing words from Paul through the Holy Spirit. Next week, we begin a six-week study on God’s “covenant of grace.” Those are two church-y sounding words, but by the end of the series we pray they are words you treasure.
After Paul plumbed the depths of the knowledge of God for 15 chapters of Romans, he concluded by naming 29 church members and 6 groups of church members in the final chapter. Why? The Spirit wants us to know God's Word matters, and the Spirit wants us to know God's people matter. It's true, we don't know much about Tryphena and Tryphosa. But we know this: they're in the Bible. That's more than I can say about myself or anyone I know. Wouldn't it be embarrassing to get to heaven, meet Tryphena, and say, "I don't think I've ever heard of you." After today, you need not worry about that. You’ll be able to say, “Oh, I read your name in the Bible!” More than that, the Spirit works through the Word you’ll hear to get you there.
“Let the gospel predominate” is an old Lutheran preacher's maxim. As sinners, all of us (not just preachers) have ways of binding up the gospel of Jesus. We hide it. We water it down. We empty it of its comfort. The end of Romans 15 is one part of Scripture that shows us the apostle's Spirit-led thinking: let the gospel not be bound by time, space, culture, or even human deficiencies. Let’s be intentional about the unbounded gospel.