- “We are not saved for believing but by believing.”
- –Thomas Taylor
Last Sunday’s sermon was delivered by our Timothy Track Intern, Skylar Schellin. As an aside, the Timothy Track program, through Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, is experiencing a name change. They will soon be called “Shepherd’s Fellows.” We are blessed by these students no matter what Midwestern calls them. Skylar’s sermon was the beginning exploration of a lengthy passage, Romans 1:18-32. This is an oft-cited passage that mentions the sin of homosexuality. Skylar’s exposition of the passage briefly mentioned that sin and the others in what is a lengthy list (see Rom. 1:29-31), but rightly focused on the root cause of God’s just wrath which is the suppression of the truth of God’s power and nature. The apostle Paul writes, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth… Therefore God gave them up…” [Romans 1:18 and 24 excerpted]
Here is one of the pertinent passages from Skylar’s sermon:
Homosexuality is not the reason for the punishment, it is one aspect of the punishment. I want each of you here to notice that Paul starts this section of the text by saying, “for this reason.” Paul is making clear here that the homosexuality and the other sinful actions outlined here are not the reason that the wrath of God is revealed. Instead, the first action is humanity’s suppression of the truth, God responds by revealing His wrath. Then, part of God’s wrath is to give sinners over to their sin so that they commit these sins. This means that the root of the problem is humanity not honoring Yahweh, and Yahweh’s wrath being revealed. As I stated earlier, only the gospel can solve these two problems. Only the death of Jesus Christ in the place of sinners can redeem them from their sin and from the penalty for their sin. To put this another way, even if you convince someone to avoid all these sins outlined here, they are still under the wrath of God if they don’t repent and believe in Christ. Keep the gospel as the focus. (italics mine)
Amen to that, keep the gospel as the focus. It is not the leaving off of any one of those sins in that list that saves. An individual may make an attempt to curtail his maliciousness, envy, slandering, gossiping, and deceitfulness, etc. but it is repentance and faith in Christ alone that saves. The book of Romans is not a text given to help us clarify techniques in moral reformation, it is, as Skylar reminded us, an exposition of our need of the Gospel and God’s glorious provision of salvation through Christ. Have a blessed week and we will see many of you on Sunday.
Love in Christ,
Pastor Dale
