What Drives You?
Romans 1:1 – 17
Introduction:
You are probably familiar with the slogan, “what drives you?” if you pay attention to TV commercials. It is the slogan used for Caltex. The point of the slogan is that Caltex fuels will bring you farther and faster compared to other fuels. However, what is interesting about the Caltex commercials, like the one you just saw, is that the person has a motivation for excellence or great performance and the means to achieve these would be through the use of Caltex fuel. In the commercial, it is the desire to provide the freshest produce on time to his customers that drives the farmer to work hard and to use Caltex fuel.
Now, I am not here to tell you to fill up your cars with Caltex gasoline nor am I endorsing their products. However, I would like for us to pay attention to their slogan, “What drives you?” What is the driving force of our lives? What motivates you to excel or to survive? What is the goal that you are aiming for? For some people, the motivator may be their families – the desire to see that their families would be well-provided for and that the children would grow up as fine individuals; for others, it may be the desire to make a reputable name for one's self. Some are motivated by the money and the things they can buy with it, thus they strive to gain much of it. Still, there are those who are motivated by what is called altruism or simply the desire to do good without selfish reasons because they desire for a better world.
What about us as believers? What drives us? This morning, we will begin our study of the Book of Romans. In today's passage, we find that Paul had a particular motivation as to why he was so zealous in working for the Lord. Now, his motivation is not like what some believers have when they serve the Lord. Some believers think that when they serve the Lord, they will surely be blessed materially. This explains why many believe in the prosperity gospel. Others think that when they serve the Lord, they will gain favor with the Lord which they can claim later when they have a need or want. Paul however served the Lord with the motivation being nothing less than the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Now, what is the Gospel of Jesus Christ? So often, our comprehension of the word “Gospel” is limited simply to the salvation we have because of what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross. Nothing wrong in thinking like this, but this isn't exactly the whole picture when we use the word, “Gospel.” According to a Bible scholar, the central message of the gospel is the person of Jesus Christ himself, how he lived his life, how he died and rose again, with the desired result that we will believe him for our salvation as well as follow his example and abide in his grace in our sanctification and glorification. In fact, the Kerygma or the proclamation of the Christian church centers on Christ. The same scholar, in his online commentary, wrote on the topic of kerygma and I found the following to be the essential proclamation of the church or, we could say, the very message of the gospel:
1.The promises by God made in the O.T. have now been fulfilled with the coming of Jesus the Messiah
2.Jesus was anointed as Messiah by God at his baptism
3.Jesus began his ministry in Galilee after his baptism
4.His ministry was characterized by doing good and performing mighty works by means of the power of God
5.The Messiah was crucified according to the purpose of God
6.He was raised from the dead and appeared to His disciples
7.Jesus was exalted by God and given the name “Lord”
8.He gave the Holy Spirit to form the new community of God
9.He will come again for judgment and the restoration of all things
10.All who hear the message should repent and be baptized
(Online Commentary on Romans by Rev. Dr. Bob Utley)
What drove Paul in life was the Gospel or the very person of Jesus Christ. Before his conversion along the road to Damascus, Paul was simply driven because of his zeal for the Jewish religion and his desire to conform to the Law of the Jews; his encounter with Jesus changed all that. He became so enamored, so in love with Jesus Christ, that everything he did and say were all done for the sake and for the glory of the Lord Jesus. What made Paul so zealous for the gospel message? I would like to share with you three things we must have if we want to have the zeal Paul had for the gospel. To help us remember these three things, each starts with the letter “C”.
I. Confidence in the Message of the Gospel
Paul had great confidence in the message of the Gospel. In Romans 1:16, Paul wrote, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.” He was confident that it had the power to bring about salvation, that any person, whether Jew or Gentile, who believes in the message, the person of Jesus Christ, will surely find salvation. If the apostle Paul were a gambling man, he would, without hesitation, put everything he has at stake. This, I am sure, was the extent of his confidence in the gospel message.
Why would Paul have such a great confidence in the Gospel message? I believe that his confidence came about because he had personally experienced the Gospel in his own life and had seen how powerful it was as to transform him from a persecutor of the church to becoming an apostle of Christ. He had seen for himself how the gospel had changed him from a violent, angry man to someone who was tender and loving. Let me give a word of caution regarding experience – when I speak about experience, I am talking about the transformation that God brought about in a person's life, of how God changes a person from a sinner to a saint; I am not talking about ecstatic, supernatural experiences. Although believers can have supernatural experiences, these are not accurate gauges of a person's transformation because even Satan can duplicate supernatural events and use these to deceive people into thinking that they are right with God. The most important experience that we can have with regards to the gospel is the experience of real transformation.
Aside from the experience that Paul had which confirmed his confidence, I believe his confidence in the Gospel also stemmed from the truth of God's Word. Paul was heavily grounded in the Word of God and he knew that Jesus fulfilled the OT prophecies regarding the Messiah. Both his experience of Jesus in his life as well as his familiarity and love for the Scriptures gave him confidence in the Gospel message.
When we are properly grounded in the Word of God and when we are continually experiencing the transforming power of the Gospel in our lives, we will not be easily swayed by the false teachings that proliferate today that tells us that all roads lead to God or that the gospel is an insufficient message for salvation. What is sad is that many people who profess to be Christians are not going deep into God's Word and they are not experiencing God's transforming power at all. Such people will never form true confidence in the gospel and it will be extremely easy for them to sway from one false teaching to another, from one wrong practice to another. I pray that we will all have real confidence in the message of the gospel, that it is indeed powerful to bring about salvation.
II. Conviction in Bringing the Gospel to the Lost
It is great to have confidence in the message of the Gospel, for it means that you don't doubt the message; it means you believe it to be true and effective. However, what good would that be if you are not moved to see the great need out there, of the countless souls who are lost, who will forever be lost unless they hear the Gospel and respond to it? Thus, the second “C” that we all need is conviction – a conviction that we are all responsible for bringing the gospel to the Lost.
The apostle Paul had conviction regarding his personal responsibility in preaching the Gospel. In fact, in today's passage, he viewed his conviction as being an obligation – he was obliged to the Gentile people to preach to them the gospel (1:14); however, this obligation was not something he did begrudgingly but he did this with eagerness. I would surmise that conviction entails both a sense of obligation and a sense of eagerness. Without obligation, we would not go about doing what we have to do; without eagerness, we will simply be doing our responsibility but without excitement and joy. We need both obligation and eagerness – that's what conviction is all about.
In 1 Corinthians 9:16, Paul proclaimed a curse upon himself if he did not fulfill his obligation of preaching the gospel. On the other hand, when you look at how Paul seemed unstoppable when it comes to preaching the gospel, you see his eagerness to get the message across to the lost. Consider what Paul had gone through just to preach the Gospel and you will see that he was truly a man with conviction about the gospel message:
1. Stoned in Galatia (Acts 14:19)
2. Imprisoned in Philippi (Acts 16:23-24)
3. Smuggled out of Berea (Acts 17:4)
4. Chased out of Thessalonica (Acts 17:10)
5. Laughed at in Athens (Acts 17:32)
6. Regarded as a fool in Corinth (1 Corinthians 1:18, 23)
What about us? Do we have conviction with regards to the gospel that we are eager as well as obliged to share it? Again, it is not enough that we have confidence in the message, but we must also be convicted as to actually be proclaiming it to the lost.
There is the story of a woman who had seen a beautiful needlepoint picture being sold in a garage sale. The message of the needlepoint picture was “prayer changes lives”. The woman bought the picture and she brought it home, seeking for an appropriate place to hang it. She finally decided that the best place to hang it would be in the dining hall area. When her husband came home, she excitedly showed him the picture. The husband looked at the picture but did not make any response, whether favorable or unfavorable. The next day, the wife noticed that the picture was missing while she was cleaning the house. She continued her chore and then found the picture behind the bookcase. She took the picture and returned it to the dining hall. The next day, the picture was again missing and the wife looked for it and found it behind the bookcase. When her husband returned home, she confronted him, asking why he moved the picture. She asked if the artwork was not pleasing to him and the husband responded that the picture was beautiful. She then asked if the problem was the location; the husband replied that the location was perfect. The wife then concluded that it must have been the message of the picture, but when she asked her husband, the husband said the message was great. Baffled, the wife then asked, “So, what's the problem?” The husband replied, “I just don't like change.” The husband, no doubt, believes that prayer really can change life; in fact, we could say that he had confidence that prayer really works, however, he has no conviction whatsoever about praying – he has no eagerness nor sense of responsibility about praying. The same is also true for preaching the gospel. If you have no conviction whatsoever regarding your responsibility to share the gospel, your confidence in the gospel would be something useless.
III. Consecration to the Task of Sharing the Gospel
Finally, the third “C” we need to have if we want to have zeal in sharing the gospel is the need for consecration on our part. What does the word “consecration” mean? It is simply to devote one's self to a specific purpose. We find this to be true of the apostle Paul, for in verse 9 Paul expressed that he serves God with his whole heart in preaching the Gospel of Christ. He was not half-hearted at all when it comes to preaching the Gospel; but rather, he gave himself wholly to the task. Even when he faced so much trials and persecutions for preaching the gospel, he remain committed and devoted to the task. It is because he devoted himself to the preaching of the gospel.
Without consecration or a personal commitment to share the gospel, we will never get around to actually doing it. We can be confident about the message of the gospel; we can be convicted that we need to share the gospel; but if we do not make the personal resolution that we will share the gospel, we will never get around to doing it.
We do not need to become great orators in order to preach the gospel. We do not need to work in church or to be in full-time ministry in order to preach the gospel. The gospel is a message all believers, whether laypeople or clergy, must bring to the lost. We all have our spheres of influence – our colleagues, our classmates, our family, our friends – they all need the gospel. If we are not devoted to the task of sharing the gospel, no amount of confidence or conviction will give the lost the chance to hear the gospel. It is your consecration or devotion that will ultimately drive you to speak the words of life and peace to the lost.
Conclusion:
Let's review what we've learned this morning. What will drive you to make the preaching of the gospel your lifestyle? First, we must have confidence in the message of the gospel. Without confidence, we will be easily swayed by false teachings or we will be hesitant about sharing the gospel with others. Second, we must have conviction regarding our responsibility to share the gospel. If we do not believe that we have a God-given responsibility to share the gospel, we will not go out and do it, even if we are confident in the message of the gospel. Finally, we must be consecrated or devoted to the work of preaching the gospel. We can be confident about the gospel, we can have conviction about our responsibility to share, but if we do not say to the Lord, “Here am I, send me,” or “Here am I, use me,” then the likelihood that we will be zealous in sharing the gospel will be quite thin.
I pray that we will, like Paul, be driven by the message of the Gospel to go and preach it to those who we come in contact with everyday. Let us have a passion, a zeal for sharing the gospel, because it is a life-giving message that everyone needs to hear.
