THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL
LESSON FOR THE JUNIOR CLASSES
STUDY SCRIPTURE: ROMANS 1: 8-17
Sometimes we fall into the trap of thinking that things we are being taught in Scripture are more difficult to understand than they really are.
It’s just the same kind of problem that young people face when they are supposed to start studying more and more about mathematics. Young people as well as adults will tell you how difficult mathematics is without really trying to understand what it is all about and how one should go about mastering this field of study. It turns out that the subject is not as difficult as people like to think. The problem is when you set your mind against something because of what people keep telling you over and over again, you tell yourself before you even start to study that it is difficult. You have added on a level of difficulty that you should not have done. You have just made what you have to learn more difficult.
We face the same kind of difficulty when we study the Book of Romans.
Our Scripture Study comes from the Book of Romans which is a great letter or epistle written by the Apostle Paul to the church in Rome. Rome was the capital of the most powerful empire at that time. Everybody wanted to go to Rome for all the excitement you would want would be there. It was therefore very important for the Apostle to tells that church and to tell us how God would provide salvation for men. So if you have any interest in studying what God really wants from us you should look at this Book carefully. Some of the great people of the past who did great work in creating revivals when people were becoming lackadaisical in their Christianity were influenced by this Book for it brought them to a changed life and understanding.
Nehemiah The Book was written to teach us about Jesus and the fact that God the Father had promised to send Him to earth as a Saviour. So Paul made it clear that the Old Testament Scriptures had been teaching all the things that he was now teaching the people in the church in Rome.God had warned the What a big difference that made to the people in the church. This is very bad day andThe Apostle made them understand that God intended to save the people of Israel that were obedient to His lawsAlong the way as well as the people who did not belong to the nation of Israel but who listened to the teaching of the Apostles and had faith in Jesus as their Saviour.
This was a directOnly Paul was regarded as the “Apostle to the Gentiles” for his life was dedicated to teaching Gentiles about Jesus. He stressed that Gentiles (who are non-Jews) should understand the Gospel of Jesus. Lesson for us today thereforeIts starting point would be understanding that the religion that Moses had taught the people of Israel was a religion of grace for God freely chosen them, rescued them, looked after them, provided for them, and as well had provided a means for them to be forgiven of their sin.So God told the people So she managed to get through the crowdAlong with that now this Gospel preached by Paul continued to focus on Jesus who he pointed out Scriptures are called the Son of David and the Son of God. Jesus would graciously choose the Gentiles to belong to Him, and he would rescue them, look after them, provide for them, and the means for them to be forgiving of their sins. Through Him both the Jews and Gentiles would be able to have eternal life. They both would be welcomed into the family of God.
So even though there So even though there are a lot of detailed teaching in the Book of Romans Paul simply stressed that all men whether Jew or Gentile had sinned and needed to be forgiven of these sins. God provided Jesus to do that great work. Paul thanked the people who were members of the church in Rome for their understanding of many of the truths of God, and for the great faith that they had shown in Jesus . He complimented them for carrying the message of Jesus to everybody that they met. So he constantly prayed for them thanking God for their conversion to believe in Jesus as their Saviour, and their faith in Him.
He wished that he could come and visit them for he wanted to use the gifts that God had given him to help the people in the church grow in understanding who God was. Since he knew how important it was for people to be saved he was not ashamed of the gospel for he knew that the gospel showed the righteousness of God which was the nature of God. He wanted to be of help to the Christians in the Church in Rome. The idea also was that they also would be of help to him for when they were together they would help each other by using the gifts that the Holy Spirit had given them. So remember that just as the Apostle Paul had a important role to play in teaching the people in the Church in Rome and in using his gifts to made them grow and mature, so you have a role to play. The Spirit of God has given you gifts and you should be prepared to use them to build up and strengthen the people in your church. Whether you meet someone who is a Jew or someone who is not a Jew you should remember that both will be invited into the kingdom of God if they have faith in Jesus. It is your job to teach them about Jesus so they can be saved.