The Gospel According to Romans - Living under Grace 3: Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ

Preacher: Alan Cameron

Verses: Romans 6:1-14

Thomas Schreiner aptly describes this as ‘one of the most complicated and controversial portions of Romans’. It has also been referred to, tongue in cheek, as a ‘good Baptist chapter for a Presbyterian to preach on’.

I would argue that Paul is not referring to baptism in a sacramental sense i.e. water baptism. Rather he is using it as a metaphor for conversion and new life in Christ. “All of you who were baptised into Christ have been clothed with Christ through the new birth” (Gal 3:27). “Our ancestors were all under the cloud and they all passed through the sea. They were all baptised into Moses in the cloud and the sea” (1 Cor 10:1,2). Moses was their representative head into whom they were baptised. Someone has cheekily observed that the only people who got wet that day were the Egyptians who drowned in the sea! Moreover Mark 10:38 speaks of the impending baptism which Jesus must undergo i.e. his death and suffering on the cross...

The Great Comission

Preacher: Jones Liwewe

Verses: Mark 16:15-18, Matthew 28:18-20

Matthew 28:18-20 is perhaps the most well-known version of the Great Commission but each of the Gospels expresses it in different ways. In Mark 16:15-18, for instance, we are told to "Go into the entire world and preach the gospel to all creation (all people)". In Matthew 28:18-20, the instruction is to "Go and make disciples of all nations (all peoples)". I believe that the Holy Spirit inspired each writer of the Gospel to write in the way they did. I also believe that what they wrote was in line with what Jesus commanded them. So the command therefore is to go into the world to preach the gospel to every creature, and to make disciples of all nations

The Gospel According to Romans - Living Under Grace 2: Grace Trumps Sin

Series: Living Under Grace

Preacher: Alan Cameron

Verses: Romans 5:12-21

This is one of the more difficult passages of Paul’s letter to the Romans: a series of running contrasts between acts of Adam and the acts of Christ and their respective consequences. N.T. Wright aptly describes it as ‘after the measured sentences of the first eleven verses of chapter five, verses 12-21 is like turning from Rembrandt to Picasso.’ Much of the language is new to the argument of Romans, and the style changes from the exhortation of vv1-11 to the resumption or argumentation in vv12-21. Moreover, Paul starts something in v12, gets side tracked in verse 13 like most preachers and only resumes the argument in v18. That said, the passage is crucial for a robust understanding of sin. However, sin is no match for the person and work of Christ, depicted as the second Adam...

The Gospel According to Romans - Living under Grace 1: Peace With God

Series: Living Under Grace

Preacher: Alan Cameron

Verses: Romans 5:1-11

As we return to Romans, having looked at chap 1-4 in the first quarter, we celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in which Martin Luther and Romans played a crucial role. In his Preface to the letter Luther writes, “The epistle is really the chief part of the New Testament, and is purest gospel… as the daily bread of the soul. Therefore, let every Christian be familiar with it and exercise himself in it continually.”...