Together for the Gospel! (Exposition of Romans 16:1-27)

I attended a conference this week in Louisville, KY called “Together for the Gospel”. In this conference there were approximately 3,000 people gathered together of various ages, from multiple denominations, from all over the world united around the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

There were many differences among those gathered in Louisville this [...]

A Farewell to the Book of Romans

This morning I preached the 46th and final message on the book of Romans. As I placed my favorite five commentaries on the shelf for the last time last night, it was with mixed emotions. I have joy because of the benefit that I know my time of study in Romans has been [...]

A Biblical Model for Ministry (Exposition of Romans 15:14-33)

There are many different models of Christian ministry competing for dominance in the church today. But here in Romans 15:14-33 we find a biblical concept of Christian ministry modeled by the apostle Paul. Three times the apostle Paul calls upon his readers to follow his example or imitate him (see 1 Corinthians 4:16, [...]

Receive One Another! (Exposition of Romans 15:1-13)

This passage is the conclusion of the larger section beginning at 14:1 dealing with the differences in the Roman church between the Jewish and Gentile believers. There are some right ways and some wrong ways to deal with differences. I read about a family from New York who bought a ranch out West [...]

Do Not Cause Your Brother to Stumble! (Exposition of Romans 14:13-23)

Martin Luther wrote in his foundational work The Freedom of a Christian that, “A Christian man is the most free lord of all, and subject to none, a Christian man is the most dutiful servant of all, and subject to every one.” This quote is a great summation of the relationship between the first [...]

Do Not Judge Your Brother! (Exposition of Romans 14:1-12)

Comedian Steve Martin said, “Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, when you do criticize him, you’ll be a mile away and have his shoes.” That’s not exactly what Paul has in mind in this morning’s text. But he does urge us not to judge our brothers [...]

Living in Light of the Lord’s Return (Exposition of Romans 13:11-14)

What time is it? There are many different ways of telling time in our world today. There are the clocks and watches that have the hour, minute and second hands. There are digital clocks. Clocks on computers, cell phones and in handheld personal data devices. You can even purchase a [...]

Love Fulfills the Law! (Exposition of Romans 13:8-10)

According to a report from the Federal Reserve released this past Thursday, household debt increased at a faster pace than at any time in the past twenty years in 2005 to a record $52.1 trillion. Similarly, a story from last August’s U.S. News and World Report titled “Drowning in Debt” shows that the average amount [...]

Submission to Government (Exposition of Romans 13:1-7)

What is a believer’s relationship to government? How should a believer relate to the laws of the land?
At the beginning of chapter 12, Paul called upon believers to not be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewal of their minds. In the remainder of the chapter, Paul provided several [...]

Genuine Love in Action (Exposition of Romans 12:9-21)

I believe that verse 9 provides an adequate summary and appropriate heading for what follows in vv. 10-21. The first sentence translated: “Let love be without dissimulation.” is only two words in the Greek, a noun and an adjective. It is literally “non-hypocritical love” or “Genuine Love”. Genuine love does not say one [...]