Romans 1:32 “Who knowing the judgment of God…”
Well, we’ve finally begun our study of Romans, and we ran into this verse last week. What a statement! It will change the way we share the gospel. God says we ought to approach others in the awareness that they know the judgment of God! It’s not our job to convince men there is a God and that they must give Him the honor due Him. They already know according to v. 18-19! “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.”
The devil has been working hard to trip us up in our day. He’s told us that we have to first convince men that God is real and the Bible is true before we can share the gospel with them, but God never said that! God said we are simply to declare what He has said. It’s His job to convince men it’s the truth!
Earlier in the chapter, the gospel of Jesus Christ is called “the power of God to salvation”. (v. 16) There is power in declaring God’s word in its purity and simplicity! We don’t need to add anything to it to spice it up. We don’t need to take anything away from it tone it down and make it less offensive. It is a word that transcends time and applies just as well in 2011 as it did thousands of years ago. Ps 18:30 says “the word of the LORD is proven” meaning “refined”. The refiner’s fire can’t consume it because there is no impurity in it. It will stand the test! It is sure and perfect according to Ps 19:7. You can’t depend on another’s word like this word. Heaven and earth won’t outlive it! Jesus said, “My words will by no means pass away”! (Mt 24:35)
When Eph 6 lists the pieces of the Christian armor, only one weapon is included in the list. It is “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God”. (v. 17) In declaring this word, the enemy will flee away! What did Christ do that sent the devil running following the temptations of Mt 4:1-11? He quoted the word of God! There is no other weapon like this weapon. It pierces deeper than any natural weapon can reach. It will disturb the conscience of a man because it “is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Heb 4:12) This fact should lift a heavy load off of you, Christian, if you’ve been struggling trying to figure out how to break through to that unbeliever over whom you are so burdened. Just faithfully declare the word of God as God by His Spirit leads you. The rest is up to the Lord. We are but to plant and water. Only God can bring forth the increase! (1 Co 3:6)
Jamie