The Just Shall Live By Faith

Paul literally in his opening remarks to the Church at Rome addressed the readers and listeners as a bondservant of Jesus Christ.  He says in his greeting in verse 1, “Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an Apostle, separated to the gospel of God.”  Paul gives us a model of faith; he was literally a servant of Jesus Christ who had given up all of his personal rights for the sake of the gospel.  All of his selfish desires were taken away for the sake of sharing the gospel to a lost and dying world.

Historically it began with God’s work and God revealing His grace.  Christ met Paul and Paul found Christ on the Damascus road.  From the villages of southwestern Alaska, we too have our own stories of how God has been revealed to us. 

When Christ entered our lives we were transformed!  If we are transformed by the indwelling Holy Spirit, then Christ literally has taken over as Lord or Master of our lives.  Paul “the Persecutor of Christians” was transformed.  Today God is still in the business of changing our lives for the better. In verse 5 it says, “Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name.”  Praise God through His grace, His mercy, compassion and help is available to guide us.  In verse 5 of Romans 1 it says because of this grace each one of us has an “apostleship”; that is we all have the mission of bringing the gospel of salvation to others thus improving the quality of life for our villages.  When our spiritual lives are in tune with God’s Will, I believe that everything around us is made better; relationships are improved, our needs are met, and better yet, we have a mission.  This is the most important mission we can receive in this world; that is something to do for Christ and it is to win others to his kingdom of love and peace.

In verse 11 it is clear that Paul who was once a murderer of Christians now has a big desire to help others.  He says, “For I long to see you that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established.”  Here the understanding for spiritual gifts is not the gifts outlined in Romans 12:6-8, but what Paul is saying is that he wanted to convey or share the truths of the Christian faith, which he grew into and learned from God over the previous 21 years.  These are the profound doctrines of God’s righteousness and man’s sinfulness.  Over the previous years of his growth as a Christian scholar Paul developed an orderly and logical development of profound theological truths filled with the great themes of redemption, the guilt of all mankind, our inability to earn favor with God, the redeeming death of Christ, and the free gift of salvation to be received by faith alone.  According to what I have read, these are the spiritual nuggets that have sparked many awakenings and revivals in the church over the centuries. I think it is time for us as members of a truly evangelical Church, which is the Alaska Moravian Church to become reacquainted with the greatness and mystery of God and His grace toward us and to understand what He wants and can do through us.

The Moravian Church is older than the Great Reformation begun by Martin Luther.  Organized in 1457, we are the oldest Protestant Church in the world.  Over the centuries, we literally have been a standard bearer for Protestantism and world-wide evangelism.  A true Moravian in 1457 or for that matter a true Moravian believer, today, should use verses 16 and 17 as a statement of faith.  This literally is also a great summary of the Gospel.  This was a proclamation of Paul’s faith.  This should be an explanation of our faith to others.

As we reclaim the faith of our fathers, it is the recognition that God’s power to save is still available now.  It is available to save us from God’s coming wrath.   Do you believe in the coming wrath? What do you believe when it comes to Eschatology -the study of end times?  As Moravians, today, in the 21^st Century, we still believe in the 2^nd Coming of Christ; we believe in Matthew 24, and we believe we are living in the end times as we continue into latter days of the year of our Lord 2008.  And we know it is more urgent, now, than any other time in our lives.  It is extremely important that each one of our loved ones comes to know Jesus Christ as personal Savior and friend.

It is my prayer that Romans 1:16 and 17 becomes our byword as we move on in mission as a Moravian Church in Alaska’s largest city, Anchorage.  This proclamation or summary of our faith goes like this, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes for the Jew first and also for the Greek.  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith’”.

Once we come to know Jesus Christ as Lord, He should be our Lord until the day we die.  Daily, we go from faith to faith; we are the ones who are justified by the blood of Jesus Christ.  Justification means literally because of the shed blood of Christ and our belief in Christ’s finished work of salvation, God sees us as perfect and acceptable to Him.  Since we are justified and since we are the just, we shall live by faith.  Is that you?  I pray so!

The remainder of Romans Chapter 1 deals with God’s coming wrath or anger upon the people who are the sinners of the world.  These are people without Christ.  People without Christ are without excuse if they reject God.  Why?  Paul says, because Creation reveals God.  In creation there is design and order.  In creation there is variety and beauty.  In creation there is purpose and laws.

One of the sad things is that according to Paul an indication of a society in its last stages of corruption is the fact that homosexuality is no more a movement but a culture.  God forbid that our Alaskan villages will allow this type of lifestyle to flourish.  We must speak out against this!  It hurts our families.  But we must be careful and do our part to show Christ’s love to those who are following alternative life-styles.  We all have a responsibility to reach out in love to everyone and win them to a saving knowledge of Christ.

As Anchorage Moravian Church members, we are challenged to realize our true identity.  We are “in Christ”.  In Christ we have spirit gifts and God can use us to touch the lives of others.  May each one of us respond to the need for sharing the gospel so that others may be transformed like Paul and like so many of us.  May we point unbelievers to the cross of Calvary where Christ shed His blood for the remission of sins.  It is there we were transformed by our faith.  And because of this transformation we now have a big interest in attending church, reading God’s Word, learning it, and applying it to our lives. 

In the Sunday’s ahead through the brief series on Paul’s writing to the Book of Romans, I hope we will understand more fully our sinfulness and the way of salvation and the means to finding and living lives of purpose and meaning.  And through the fulfillment of living out Christ’s life unashameably, others will be won for the Kingdom.

Pastoral Prayer:

Heavenly Father, on this day of worship we praise you for your Church, the Body of Christ which gives us a place to belong.  We thank you for helping us to be part of a special move of God in our midst.  Even though the cost of energy is up.  Even though there is inflation and the cost of living still creeps upward, Father, we know we need not be anxious.  You said and we believe, "do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on" (Matt. 6:24).  Help us to practice our faith and commit to live your life better.  Bless each one of those precious souls on our prayer bulletin.  Bless each one that has a part in this service of worship today and bless each one that has come.  In Christ name.  Amen.

© Copyright 2006 Anchorage Moravian Church
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