Romanos - Introdução a carta - Pr Hernandes Dias Lopes

I invite you to open your Bible with me in Romans, chapter 1, verse 1. Today we are going to make the introduction of the letter, we are not going to expose a text, but we are going to make the introduction of the letter to the Romans and place this letter in the New Testament and understand its relevance, who wrote it, when he wrote it, for whom he wrote it, why he wrote it.

These data are important for us to later enter the content of this robust epistle of Paul. Romans 1:1, let's go together, all of us. Paul, servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the Gospel of God. Studying Paul's letter to the Romans is a great challenge, it is a great privilege.

and an immense responsibility because Paul's letter to the Romans is, in a fair way, considered the greatest theological and doctrinal treatise of the whole New Testament. More than an epistle, it is a treatise. Unlike the other epistles, Paul does not write this letter to solve a problem existing in a certain church

but he writes this letter to make a kind of great defense of faith. If Pastor Arival told us today about fighting for faith, we would say that Romans expresses the content of this faith. So Romans is a kind of exposition and at the same time defense of the Gospel of Grace. It is a Christian manifesto and someone has already considered that Romans

is the Gospel according to Paul. And someone has also said that Romans is certainly the greatest book written in the history of humanity. It is almost impossible to exaggerate the importance of this letter in the history of the Church. The most important moments in the history of the Church were Romans, with the bread in the background.

I would like to briefly highlight here four fundamental incidents. First of them, the conversion of the greatest exponent of Christianity in the period of the Fathers of the Church, known to you as Saint Augustine, Aurelio Augustine. His mother, Monica, prayed for him for almost 30 years. He was a cult man, a teacher of oratory, but a man who led a life of devassity. But the Gospel surrounded him.

God, who calls and calls effectively, made a beautiful work in his heart when he was in the yard, in the garden of a friend, in the house of a friend named Alípio, and he hears the child in the neighbor's house, screaming: "Take and read, take and read, take and read!" And he takes exactly Romans 13. And when he reads the text, this word enters like an arrow in your heart. The eyes of your soul are illuminated.

The vendas are taken, the earplugs are taken, his heart is touched and there, in that garden, Augustine is converted to Christ. To become the greatest theologian of the parents of the Church. To become the source where the great reformers went to drink, Luther, Calvin, and still today, a reference for all of us.

God used the text of Romans 13 to lead this man to conversion. But you can also remember that the Protestant Reformation has as a base Romans, because the monk Augustinian Martin Luther, who for an experience he had, he was studying for the right, it was his father's dream to be a lawyer, and in a certain circumstance of life, he is caught by a storm, he was very mystical, and he realizes that he is going to die,

because he saw a lightning bolt falling near him, fuming a person, and he then, in that despair, he promised to Saint Anna, who was his patroness, that if he were free from death, he would enter the convent. And he was free from death, to fulfill the promise, he entered the convent against his father's will. He became a monk, in a very rigorous order, the order of the Augustinians. And there he tried to seek his salvation. He flagellated himself, physically.

He used to go to confession every day. He spent two hours confessing his sins in detail and meticulously. In a way, causing great wear on the priest who received this confession. One day the priest said to him, Lutero, the day you have a serious sin, you come here, I can't stand your lies anymore. But he was tormented by guilt. Until the day he found...

"Pose your soul in Romans, when you read, the righteous will live by faith." And she was a professor in Wittenberg. And she starts before the reform to teach the letter to the Romans in this university. And it was by the grace of God

Based on this letter and this text of the Judgment by Faith, is that the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century comes. And you know well when Johannes Gutenberg, sent by Pope Leon X, goes to Germany to sell indulgences, because he was in need of money for the construction of the Basilica of St. Peter. And then, Luther, on October 31st,

of 1517 will fix in the doors of the Wittenberg church the 95 theses deflagrating the Protestant reform of the 16th century but later in the 18th century there is another very interesting episode on Aldersgate street in a group called the Saint Club and they were gathered for prayer and there was among them the young John Wesley John Wesley was a believer he was a son of a believer and he had a spiritual life already

a very deep knowledge pontiff, but his experience with God was not yet so deep. And God touches his heart with the reading of the preface of Luther's Comment to the Romans. Then his heart is acquired. And this will lead to another experience on December 31, 1739,

when in this prayer meeting the Holy Spirit descends with great power and covers him where he was, George Whitefield, his brother, Carlos Wesley and begins the great revival in English in the 18th century that saved England from the revolution, from the bloodbath of the French Revolution. But now in the 20th century another curious fact happens, is when the perhaps most prolific writer

of the 20th century, called Carbarth, who was neo-orthodox, fighting liberalism, writes his commentary on the Roman epistles. This commentary is considered as a torpedo in the camp of the liberals. So, among so many other things that are worth highlighting, we highlight these four points: Agostinho's conversion, the 16th century reform,

deep experience of John Wesley and the comment of Carbarte now in the 20th century let's think about this letter who wrote it well, Paul has, unlike the gospels all our four gospels contained in the bible are anonymous, isn't it true? you don't find like this, Matthew to the brothers, Mark to the other brothers, Luke sending to someone else

John sending to someone else. But Paul's letters are letters where he self-present as the remnant of the Epistle. And here it is not different. Paul, servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated by the Gospel of God. He is the human author of this letter, because the divine author is the Holy Spirit. We need to understand that when Paul writes this letter and the others,

We do not believe in that idea of inspiration where God nullifies the personality, the background, the history, the knowledge of the writer, dictating word by word, comma by comma. That is not how we believe in inspiration. We believe that the Holy Spirit watched, revealed,

But that revealed content and watched by the Holy Spirit, passes through the personality of the writer. In such a way that Peter has a style, John has another style, Paul has another style. And when Peter is writing his last letter, his second letter, he says there that Paul, our brother, with the wisdom that God gave him, wrote difficult things to understand. This is a relief for me.

because if the apostle Peter himself thought that Paul wrote difficult things, then it is not only you and I who think that. So God gave him a wisdom, in a way, differentiated. And he is the one who wrote, and wrote with a certain depth, differentiated.

And today we are here, seated at the feet of this great apostle, to learn with him these great truths that the Holy Spirit revealed and gave to him. In this very verse, there are two points that I find so interesting, which is the sense of humility and the sense of authority. Sense of humility, Paul serves Jesus Christ. Sense of authority, called to be an apostle.

What the pastor said today in the cult is a very important thing for us to understand. Spiritual privileges do not give us a reason for spiritual pride. The more you receive from God, the more humble you must be. It does not combine life with God and arrogance, pride, pride and presumption.

That's why he was careful to put servant before apostle. The fact that he was an apostle, an apostle to the Gentiles, and if he were to look at a human assessment, it would be greater. What apostle did what he did? Who had the broadness that he had? Who traveled through regions that were larger than him? Who planted more churches than him? Who influenced the history of Christianity more than him?

Who leaves in the history of humanity such a legacy as his? But when he will talk about himself in 1 Corinthians 15:9, he says: "I am the smallest" And he was not there with false rhetoric, he was there with full conscience: "I am the smallest because I had no right to be an apostle, I was born out of time, I persecuted the church of God" So it is this man who is writing this epistle

And this man has as support, both internally, because he self-declares himself the author of the epistle, but this epistle had practically no resistance

neither in the period of the Fathers of the Church, nor in the period of the Reformation, nor the posteriores, no one says: "no, this letter is not from Paul, it does not have the profile of Paul, it does not have the style of Paul, no, it is a consensus that in fact Paul wrote this letter. Another question: where did he write it? Where did he write it? Although it does not explicitly act in the text, but it is fact

that Paul wrote this letter, most likely from Greece. Look with me, please, chapter 20 of Acts, verses 2 and 3. You can read with me Acts 20, Acts 20: 2 and 3. Let's go together. "Having crossed those lands, strengthening the disciples with many exhortations, he went to Greece, where it took three months.

having been a conspiracy by the Jews against him when he was to embark on the way to Syria determined to return by Macedonia note the context here Paul had already made the three missionary trips the first trip was to where? Galatia planted churches in Antioch of Pisidia, Iconium, Derbe and Lystra second trip, where did he go? to the province of Macedonia

Macedonia, whose capital was Thessalonica, and planted churches in Philippi, Thessalonica and Béia, passing by Athens, and reaching Corinth, where he stayed for 18 months. Third trip, where did he go? To Ephesus, the capital of Asia Minor, he stayed there for three years. Now he is leaving Ephesus to take an offer to the Jewish church. Pay attention to this.

Why is he going to Jerusalem? Why is he taking this offer? Because in the period of Claudius, and you know that Claudius was the emperor who preceded Nero, if Nero begins to reign in 54, then Claudius precedes the year 54. And the Bible says that there was a time of hunger at the time of Claudius. It was not enough this economic world crisis,

It is written in Acts 18:2, you can check it out. Look there, please. Acts 18:2. That this Claudius the Emperor expels the Jews from Rome. Can you read with me? "There he found a certain Jew named Aquila, natural of the point, recently arrived in Italy with Priscilla, his wife, in view of having Claudius decreed that all Jews withdraw from Rome.

Paul approached them. So this couple here, Priscilla and Aquila, he's talking about Aquila, had left where? From Italy. He's using Italy here as the country and not the capital. Claudius had sent the Jews away.

But when these Jews left, they didn't say: "I'm going to sell my house, I'm the emperor, so how much does your house cost? I'm going to pay for your house." Because today, sometimes the government misappropriates properties, isn't it? To use for some purpose of the government, they go there and pay. It wasn't like that. And these Jews had to return to Judea, many of them, of course not all of them,

when they returned to their region, the Judea, they returned without their goods, without their lands, without their houses, without their agricultural activities, without sustenance. What does Paul do? Paul raises a special offer between the Gentile churches of Macedonia and Achaia, therefore we are talking about Philippians, Thessalonians, Berea, Corinth, take

for these poor Jews, when he is leaving Ephesus to take these offerings in the interregnum of the departure of Ephesus to embark on Caesarea, is that he writes this letter. When he is in Greece, he does not write from Ephesus, he does not write from Jerusalem, he does not write from Caesarea, he writes before the trip, before the trip.

If you stop to notice, this takes us to a date, around the year 57, year 58 after Christ. It also means that this letter was written before his prison in Caesarea, where he stays two years, and obviously before his prison in Rome, where he stays two more years in prison.

So it is very clear to understand that this letter was written in this period before he left for this trip. Now let's understand another important thing. Paul writes this letter to whom? To the church of Rome. Who founded this church? It's a good answer, Peter. Roman Catholicism teaches that Peter was the bishop of Rome. Ah...

from the year 45 to the year 67 of the Christian era. The big question is: is there a biblical proof of this? The second question is: is there a historical proof of this? And the unequivocal conclusion is that we have no biblical or historical basis to say that Peter was the founder of the church, not even that Peter was a bishop of the church of Rome. And let me give you a very simple reason for you to understand. Imagine you

If Peter was the pastor of the church, the founder of the church, the pastor of the church when Paul writes this letter, which would be within the period that the Catholic Church says he was the bishop of the church, then the first pope, etc. and such, we would have a lot of difficulty in what Paul wrote. Open Romans now. Open Romans now. Look what Paul says in Romans. Romans chapter 1, verse 11. 1:11, look there. Let's go together?

"For I desire to see you, in order to give you some spiritual gift, that you may be confirmed." Now verse 13: "For I do not want, brethren, that you ignore that I have often proposed to go to you, of what has been forbidden until now, to get, equally among you, some fruit, as also among the other Gentiles." Think well if Peter

was the pastor of the church, the founder of the church and the bishop of the church and Paulo sending a letter to the church of the brother pastor Pedro I want to get some fruit between you teach a little bit of you there what do you think Pedro would feel? I'm here, man I'm teaching this people, what's the matter? you want to teach here? you're not seeing me? I bet too it's obvious, it's obvious that it would be a delicacy of Paulo

say this here if Peter had been the founder of the church and was the bishop of the church? Let me give you another reason. If you go to the end of the letter, chapter 16, this is the longest list of greetings that Paul makes in one of his letters. Chapter 16, from verse 3 to verse 16, he quotes several, several, several, several names. Now, ask me if Peter was the pastor of the church.

the founder of the church, and I am writing a letter to that church that the apostle is her pastor and founder, the apostle Peter, and I quote several members of the church and I do not even mention the name of the founder, the pastor and the bishop of the church. It would be another incorrigible disrelegance. Why does Paul not quote the name of Peter?

It's because certainly, Peter was not there, Peter was not the founder of the church, Peter was not the bishop of the church. There is no biblical basis, there is no historical basis to say that Peter was the founder of the church of Rome, not even that he was the bishop of the church. But who founded the church? We do not know. We do not know. What can be, and there is plausibility for this, is that in Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out,

There were people there in Jerusalem from all over the world and most likely Jews converted at the Pentecostal feast that was in Jerusalem returning to Rome, the Church of Rome begins. This is the most likely possibility. Is there a likely possibility? I don't know, now you've confused me all. I'm kidding.

So, beloved, the fact is that it does not apply in Scripture that any apostle has been the founder of the church of Rome. Now, curiously, look my brothers how fantastic it is. If Claudius, if Claudius ruled in the period preceding Nero, and if Paul writes, and he did, how many Jews did he expel from Rome? How many? All, all.

And if Paulo writes this letter around the year 57, 58, which was the end of Nero's government, because Nero starts in 54, no, sorry, it goes until 68, 10 years later. It means a very curious fact, because Claudio governs until 54. If Paulo writes this letter in 58, I'm talking about four years after Nero took over the government.

and again he writes a letter to the church of Rome. What did you conclude there? What did you conclude? Or, or, that the Christians expelled returned, because it is probable, because it is probable, or those who stayed restarted the work. The Church of God is a living organism. The Church of God does not kill itself. The Church of God does not die.

Gedeon dies. So, it is for this church that Paul is writing. And in this letter, when writing, he says some things that I think are fantastic. So let's open again in Romans 1, to understand this here. Look what he says, verse 11: "For I long to see you." Paul had never been to Rome before. Rome was the capital of the empire. Rome was a city of one million inhabitants.

Rome was the eternal city, known as the eternal city. Rome was the city that received influence from all over the world. The city of opportunities, the administrative center of the empire. Rome that had begun as a kingdom, passed through a republic and now was an empire. At the same time, Rome was called the cloaca of the world, the sewage of the world. A hyper immoral city, where it was funny

from the palace, the moral perversions more ascended to the point of a historian stating that of all the emperors of Rome only Claudius was not homosexual but his wife was a meretriz. Paul writes this letter saying the following: "I long to see you" and now note you in verse 13 when he says:

"I do not want, brothers, that you ignore that many times I have been to you, in what has been until now, prevented." It gives the impression that Paulo planned, it did not work. Planned again, it did not work. Planned again, it was unforeseen. Planned again, something went wrong. He wanted to go several times, several times, several times, and in the many times he wanted to go, he could not go.

Now let's go to chapter 15, so you can see some more aspects of this. Verse 22: "And that was the reason, because I often felt prevented from visiting you, but now, having no field of activity in these regions, wishing to visit you a lot, note that he is saying the following: "Look, I've already drained my work field here.

I have already preached the Gospel in the province of Galatia, Macedonia, Caia, Asia Minor, and now I want to go to a new place, where Christ has not been preached yet. But see his purpose. Look at verse 24: "Think of doing it when you travel to Spain, for I hope that I will be with you, and that there I will be led by you.

after having first enjoyed a little of your company. But now I'm off to Jerusalem to serve the saints. So let's understand this here. Paul was a missionary and a strategic missionary. Paul had no problem asking for help when it was God's work. He's saying the following, look brothers, I've been sustained, sent by the church of Antioch, Syria. I've been...

in a way, supported by the missionaries of the churches of Macedonia when I was in Caia, the church of Corinth, the church of Ephesus, it was a strategic church, to plant a church in the province, but now Rome, which is the capital of the empire, I want to pass it on to you, because my project is for Spain, the last limit of the Western world known at the time. He is saying the following, I want you to be my base church, I want you to be a support church,

Pay attention to this: missionary is not freelance. Missionary needs to be located in a local church. Missionary needs to be committed to a local institution. It is the local institution that sends the missionary, that supports financially and spiritually the missionary. And Paul is wanting the Church of Rome to have this role in his ministry to go to Spain. He has plans, he has projects. The man's head does not stop.

He doesn't settle for today's victories, he still wants achievements for tomorrow. But until today he was what? Forbidden to go to Rome. He wanted to go, he had plans to go, but he didn't go because he had difficulties. And he doesn't detail all these difficulties. Well, then, it is very important for you to understand that it was your desire to go. But let's note something else.

He is in Jerusalem, taking the offerings that he collected from the Gentile churches. And, a note of footnote, important to highlight: Paul took a good money. The money was so big that he collected among the Gentile churches, to take to the poor of Judea, that the governor Felix, there in Caesarea, was interested in this money. Have you ever thought about something like this? It seems that people who exercise power, like money. Now pay close attention to Paul.

When he is taking the offerings, he does not take this money alone. Paul is a man who is careful with his reputation. Money lacks prudence. He named a commission to take the money. It means transparency, integrity. Now, when he arrives to take this offer,

He is imprisoned in Jerusalem. What was his plan? To take the offer, deliver the offer from there to Rome. And from Rome to where? To Spain. Then he is imprisoned in Jerusalem. Read what is written there in Acts 23, verse 11. The plan of him from Rome, let's see. Acts 23, verse 11. Did you find it there? So let's read. 23, verse 11. Let's go together. The following night...

"The Lord, putting himself before him, said: 'Courage, for in the way that you bear witness to my respect in Jerusalem, so also bear witness in Rome.'" Who is saying this to him? God. Now, let's understand one thing: Are there any accidents in God's plans? Can God's plans be frustrated? Does God scratch us in His plans? No. Paul planned many times and what happened? He was prevented.

He wanted to go to Rome. Now God says: "I want you in Rome." Courage! He dreamed of arriving in Rome, brothers, free, visit the brothers, have a pleasant time of communion with the brothers. The brothers said: "Paulo, you can go, son, you can go to Spain, we are here holding the rope. They will support you. We don't want you to be worried about making tents, but you are too old to make tents. So now you just go preach. We will support you." When he arrives in Rome, how does he arrive? Prisoned, imprisoned. The man makes plans,

But the right answer comes from God. Isn't it a frustration? No? Do you want to serve God? "Oh Lord, I want to serve you, you don't protect me." What is this? Why does he get arrested? Why does he get arrested? Because God is wonderful. When you think that the thing is out of the way, God is writing the most important chapter in your story. And he testifies to this in Philippians chapter 1, verse 12. Can you read it? Philippians 1:12.

Look what he says, let's read together? 1:12 "I want, brothers, to identify that the things that have happened to me have previously contributed to the progress of the gospel." What things? He got arrested. And then three things happened. First, the church of Rome moved. When he saw Paul, arrested, working more than him, loose, he said: "What is this? Is this a shame for us?"

This guy is stuck and preaching, "Magnus and Norton are loose here, let's move." This led Ray Steadman to say that one of the best methods of church growth is to put the pastors in the chain. What is that? Just for there? Note more, he says in Philippians chapter 1, check with me, verse 13: "So that my chains in Christ became known to all the praetorian guard,

Of all the others, the praetorian guard was the elite guard of the emperor. High status. 16,000 soldiers of the school. If Paul had been released, he would not reach this elite of Rome. God takes him prisoner, because only in prison would he reach the members of the palace of Nero. Did you realize that?

In the words of William Cowper: "Providence is a snob, but the face is a smile." Why was he arrested? Obviously, he has to do one thing, he can't visit the churches, he will write letters to the churches. One thing is to preach in Rome, another thing is to write letters in Rome. The preaching was silenced, the letters still speak today.

God did not allow him to do something that would cease with time, to do something that time could not erase. Did you understand why he was so many times, willing to go home and did not get it? Why did he not get it? Because God said: "My son, you only go there when the prison arrives, when you're in prison, it's time. As long as you are not in prison, you will not go. Of course, God did not say this to him as an antecedent.

So do not complain about difficult circumstances because God is in control. God has a plan. And God's plan can not be what? Frustrated. Well, let's look at something else. What is the purpose of the letter to the Romans? What is the purpose? So he lists here five purposes. First, first, come back with me to Romans chapter 15. Romans 15, verses 30 and 31. Who can read with me?

15:30 and 31, let's go? "I ask you, brothers, for our Lord Jesus Christ, and also for the love of the Spirit, who fought with me in prayer to God in my favor, that I may be free from the rebels who live in Judea, and that my service in Jerusalem may be well accepted by the saints." So the first thing he's asking, my brothers, is prayer of the church in your favor.

I can say: "Well, I'm an apostle, I don't need the prayer of the brothers, I pray for myself, my prayer is powerful, I am a guy who has intimacy with God. Stop with that! Stop with that! You and I need prayer. Just to get the word "battle" again, he's saying that you fight in prayer to God. Prayer is: fight, is war, is battle. But what

The prayer request he is doing, verse 31: "So that I may be free from the rebels who live in Judea." He knows that he will take an offer to Judea, but there in Judea there are not only believers, there are also rebellious people. The believers will receive the offer with joy, but the rebels will conspire against him, he already knows that, before traveling. Now, let me ask you a question, if you are a missionary, you are going to a field,

and bringing something like that, very expressly to help the brothers who are there in the field. But you already know the following, the brothers will receive what you will take with great joy, but those who are around the brothers, who are the rebels, will break with you. You will? My brothers, I'm not feeling opportune yet, it's time to... I'm feeling the heart that I'm not going to... He is asking for prayer, for what? For God to free the rebels.

And what did the rebels do to him? Conspired against him, set up a scene for him to be arrested, made a vote of anathema that they would not eat, would not eat before killing him. But Paul had prayed for what? For God to deliver him from whom? From the rebels. God sometimes does not deliver us from problems, sometimes God delivers us from problems.

Sometimes God allows you to go to the last hole of the belt, go down to the bottom of the well, be thrown in the lion's den and thrown into the fornalha. Because God could have taken the rebels off the path, but God allowed the rebels to do everything that was in their hearts. But whoever delivers with the pastor of this is God. Whoever gives the final word is God. Our life is in the hands of God.

Now look at the second request he makes in verse 31: "And that my service in Jerusalem be well accepted by the saints." What saints? The Jews. Come here, come here, let's stop a little here. Imagine you, that you are going through a need, and I'm raising an offer to go there and bless your life.

And I collect from here, from there, from there, I pray, I pray, I exhort the brothers, I collect, in my commission now everyone is accepting, I am taking an offer to the brother who is going through a need. And then I start to ask for prayer from the rival, I say: "Oh rival, you pray there, because I'm taking an offer to the brother there, to see if the brother there does what? You are well accepted. Have you ever asked for prayer from someone and received a gift from him? Oh God, bless that brother to receive the gift that I am taking from him. Have you ever done this prayer?

Today no one needs prayer to receive gifts. Gifts you receive, you give a hug, what a good thing, next time you can bring it again. Why is he asking for prayer so that he is well accepted by the saints of Judea? Why? Because the apostle Paul is not interested only in meeting economic, financial, material needs.

The Apostle Paul is also interested in sewing the spiritual unity of the Gentile and Jewish churches. Let me say something precious to you brothers and sisters. Do you want to create bridges of friendship with people? Two ways: first, ask a favor; second, do a favor.

A person is very upset with you, is fighting with you, says bad things about you, and pokes you, and etc. and such, and one day she comes to her and she is waiting for you to kick her in the face. You speak ill of her too. You call her and say: "I need a favor, can you help me?" You burst into a person. You burst into a person. "I need a favor, can you help me?" Or she is waiting for you to hurt her, because that's what she wants from you. Then you get there and say: "I came here to bring you a gift."

It is what Paul says: "You pay evil with good." Well, beloved, what other purpose did Paul have in writing this letter? Of course, to demonstrate, as we have already spoken here, your desire to visit the Church of Rome. Third, to demonstrate, as has been said in chapter 1, to share with the believers of Rome some spiritual gift. Fourth place, it has already been said here, fourth purpose: to be sent by the Church of Rome, where?

Spain and fifth place make a detailed presentation of the Gospel so, having said that I would like to look with you at least initially what are the main emphasis of this letter I will be very brief because we will expose these principles first thing that Paulo works brothers is to present the Gospel and he already opens this letter

And if you noticed in chapter 1:14-17, I already present the Gospel. And he says three things: I am a debtor, I am ready and I am not ashamed of this Gospel. And this Gospel, which is the content of the faith that the pastor Ivan preached this morning, is what? The power of God. For what? For salvation. Of whom? Of all those who believe. Why?

Because the justice of God is revealed, where? In the Gospel. In the Gospel. How so? You are not saved by the work you do for God. You are saved by the work that God has done for you. When Jesus Christ went to the cross, He paid his debt. He took away his debt. He died for his sins. He died as his substitute. As his mediator. As his representative. And when he died there on that cross, he gave a bread.

is consumed, is paid, "He who believes in Me shall have nothing more, is bound by the law, is bound by justice." And now this person is declared by God, justified. He shall have nothing more before the court of God. The justice of God is revealed where? In the Gospel. The righteous will live by faith. And from there, Paul then begins in chapter 1,

Note with me from verses 18 to 32 to show the corruption of the world. This is the radiography of society today. This thing you are seeing, gender ideology, you almost need to apologize for being heterosexual today. I'm sorry, I'm heterosexual. Rome was already like that. After chapter 2, he will show that

All, all, all are tied up, prisoners, enslaved by sin. Not only in the Gentile world, but also in the Jewish world. Because in verse 17 he says, If you, however, who have by name Jew, and rest in the law, and glorify you in God,

who knows his will, approves of the excellent things, being instructed in the law, etc. He goes on talking, talking, talking, talking. He says, you are also as sinners as... So who is a sinner? The impious and the religious, the Gentile and the Jew. And it is in this sense that he will say in verse 28, it is not only the Jew who is externally, nor the circumcision, which is only in the card. And he will...

close this question in chapter 3, verse 9, can you read with me? What is concluded? Let's go together? What is concluded? Do we have any advantage? Not at all, because we have already demonstrated that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin. So sin is universal. 3:23, let's read? Everyone together?

"For all have sinned and are in need of the glory of God." After Paul ends everyone in sin, there is no one just. In chapter 3, verses 21 to 31, perhaps the most important part of the Bible, the highest point of Scripture, he will show how salvation comes. God ends everyone in sin.

to show that man does not save himself, man has no power to save himself, but what man cannot do, I'm doing for him. Then comes the glorious doctrine of justification, expiation, redemption. In chapter 4 he illustrates how justification happens, bringing to the ball the story of Abraham, the redemption, the salvation of Abraham by faith.

In chapter 5 he will talk about the fruits of justification. Peace in the past, grace in the present and glory in the future. In chapter 6 he will talk about the new life we have in Christ Jesus. And in chapter 6 he will say something beautiful: "You and I should walk with the certainty of death in our pockets." I read a phrase a few days ago from a widow of a soldier in Rio de Janeiro, who touched me a lot, I thought about the Christian. She said the following:

Being a policeman in Rio de Janeiro is walking with the certainty of an abortion in your pocket. Dramatic, huh? And not unreal, not fictitious. But in chapter 6, look at what Paul writes about the Christian. Chapter 6, verse 11. Let's read together? "Thus also you, consider yourselves dead for sin, but alive for God in Christ Jesus." Do you know what he's saying?

You should walk with the certainty of the choice in your pocket. Remembering Augustinho. Augustinho told you that he had a very devastated life. After being converted, one day he was walking on the street and an ex-lover saw him from afar and ran after him, shouting: "Agustinho! Augustinho!" Augustinho and he walking. "Agustinho! Augustinho!" and he walking. There, by the stands, he stopped near her and she stopped near him and said: "You are not recognizing me? It's me!"

And he answered: "You, you, but I'm not me anymore." I died! That guy you met died! He took out of his pocket the certainty of the law. "Consider yourselves dead for sin, but alive for God." Chapter 7 is the great internal drama of the heart. Chapter 8 is the great chapter of liberation, the work of the Holy Spirit.

If the "I" appears several times in chapter 7, it is the Holy Spirit that appears several times in chapter 8. Chapter 9, 10 and 11, the sovereignty of God in salvation. Chapter 12 to 16, the practical part of the letter. Paul was a theologian and a pastor at the same time. Paul taught doctrine, but not as an academic. He taught doctrine to apply it in life.

I believe, ok, what do I do with it? This needs to be brought to life, in practice, in ethics, in daily behavior. And this letter then goes with these relationships from chapter 12 to chapter 16 and concludes in chapter 16 with many personal greetings. Some people

says the following, this letter, some more modern critics, maybe it's not from Paul, or at least chapter 16 is not from Paul, because if Paul was not in Rome, if he did not know Rome yet, how can he write a letter to Rome and quote so many people? People forget two things: first, that Paul was a comrade, in line with everything that happened in the Christian world at the time. Second, there was great mobility at that time to Rome.

It is so true, I tell you, that Christians are expelled, all Jews, are expelled from Rome, the government of Claudius, but a few years later, Paul writes a letter to the church of Rome. So, Paul, possibly, and this, William Barclay suggests this idea, I think it's good, does not quote so many people to the churches that he was a pastor or founded, to not generate what? Jealousy.

because you know that ... let me tell you a sin that I committed with a pastor I went ... I started the pastoral service in Vitória the following year I went to Israel do you know what I did? I got a very nice postal card and sent it to all the presbyters of the church ah my brothers how I suffered because the deacons said: you only send to the presbyters but for us deacons you don't send then the brothers said: you only send to the presbyters and to us, members of the church I felt a drama in my skin

Why? Because in fact, the brother said: "Look what a beautiful card you sent me." I said: "It was sent to you, not to me." I was shocked. Now I do the following: I do not send to anyone. I send to all the brothers and sisters of the church. Done, the matter is solved. Think about what the hell you are facing. For the church that he never went, there is no problem if it is the so-and-so, the Beltran, the Cyclone, etc. There is no jealousy.

That's why he doesn't quote so many people to the churches that he had already been a pastor, but a rosary of people to the church that he had never been to, because he had no problem with jealousy, with melindres. It's true that today there are no more believers with melindres, right? The people are mature in faith, today there is no more of this thing. It's a blessing. Well, people, I am very excited to make this wonderful trip in the letter to the Romans.

I hope in God that I learn, you learn and we grow together. Okay? So pray for this course that we are starting this year of 2018, entering into this most important letter of Paul and this work so precious in the history of the Church, hoping in God to be a blessing for you and for me. Thank you very much. God bless you. Let's stand up and let's pray.

Lord, receive our gratitude for this precious time of study. Study your word. Cheer our heart. Feed our soul. Strengthen us in grace. Give us taste, hunger, for your word. Open the eyes of our heart to understand your blessed truths. And that they edify us, comfort us, animate us, and make us fruitful in your kingdom. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

God bless you, in a little while the cult of the eyes.