Princeton Presbyterian Church (EPC) Sermon # 1700
September 7, 2025
Romans 1.8-17; selected texts Click here for audio worship.
Dr. Ed Pettus
(This is an extended outline, not a verbatim transcript.)
“Sowing Seeds of the Gospel”
8First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 9For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you 10always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. 11For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—12that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine. 13I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. 16For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
• Not Ashamed
We have been on a journey through the Gospel of Mark and last Sunday our friend Bucky continued that journey preaching on the parable of the sower. The sower scattered seed across a variety of surfaces and the results where that some seed was eaten by birds, other seed sprouted quickly but the sun scorched the plants, other seed grew until the weeds and thorns choked them out, but the seed that fell on good soil flourished. Jesus had to explain the parable to the disciples telling them that the seed is the Word of God and various people receive it differently, some reject it all together, others hear and for a short time but end up ignoring it, others let the cares of the world choke the Word out of their lives. The last group receive it and bear fruit. Bucky and I thought it would be a good idea to follow up this parable, stepping aside from Mark, to offer some seed for sowing. So today we are exploring several passages through the book of Romans.
This first passage from Romans 1 is not really a part of the casting of the seed, not usually a part of what people call the Romans Road, except that it is a foundation for sowing seeds. We cannot be ashamed of the gospel and, at the same time, share the gospel. As I was focusing on this topic I remembered back in the latter days in the PCUSA, that I could not, in good conscious, invite people to join the church while we were affiliated with that denomination because I was ashamed of the positions they had taken over the years of cultural influence. I was never ashamed of the gospel, but the apostasy of the denomination made it difficult sow seeds. I still would invite people to our church and certainly to come to know Jesus as Savior and Lord, but it was so often thought of as an invitation with an asterisk, a footnote of trepidation toward an apostate denomination. Today, I’m still ready and able sow seeds of the gospel and have people come among us for worship and fellowship, but we are possibly on the verge of another tainted denomination. I hope not. I want you all to know that I am in the fight to keep things biblically solid and not influenced by cultural idolatry.
I am in the fight because I am not ashamed of the gospel, not ashamed of the Bible, not ashamed of the positions of orthodoxy that call men men and women women, that hold up sexual ethics, and an orthodoxy that is solely informed by traditional and foundational interpretations of Scripture that are not co-opted by cultural tends that seek to destroy what God has created.
The apostle Paul first thanks the church for their faithfulness and his desire to come to them for mutual encouragement. He was eager to preach the gospel to all and is not ashamed. Take note of why Paul is not ashamed… “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” Paul is thoroughly convinced and he is “all in” that the gospel is the power of God for salvation. The message of the gospel has power because it is the message of the One who has power. It is the gospel of Christ, Son of God, Redeemer, Savior, Messiah, the Lamb of God, and much more! This is our primary message to the world, to the lost, and to one another as a reminder and encouragement. The Romans Road gives us a summary of the main points of the gospel. These are the seeds we sow and as we know, some seed will fall on a variety of surfaces. The gospel will be received by some and rejected by others. And just a reminder, we need to cultivate the soil of our own hearts to continue to be nurtured in the gospel of Christ so that we will never be ashamed of the gospel and so that we might bear the fruit of righteousness.
• All Have Sinned
In the classic Romans Road path, this is the first step along the road. This is the first seed. It is the realization that we are sinners in need of salvation. None are righteous. The main verse that is quoted for this point is Romans 3.23 but I want to back up just a bit to read more, starting at 21,
21But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—22the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
The righteousness of God has been revealed apart from the law, that is, it has been revealed in Jesus. But please see something very clear here, that the Law and the Prophets, that is, all the Old Testament bears witness to the Christ, to the righteousness of God. The whole of the Bible points to the gospel because it all points to Christ. Anyone who claims we need to rid ourselves of the Old Testament is missing the point of the Old Testament. My advice to anyone whose pastor is preaching against the Old Testament: run away!
The first point of the Romans Road is that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. This dates back to the story of creation and the Fall of Adam and Eve. It is the truth of the inherited condition of sin that has passed on from the first Adam. The Bible demonstrates the sinful nature of human beings from then on: Cain murdered Abel; Moses killed the Egyptian; Israel practiced idolatry; and we could list a host of other sinful acts. This is the truth revealed in Psalm 14.3 and 53.3 which Paul quotes to make this point in Romans 3.10. We are all up the creek without a paddle. This is the bad news. This is the news that some churches do not preach today. I assume they want to draw people into the sanctuary by making the gospel more attractive, less offensive, nicer. I suppose they could get them in and then tell them they are sinners, but that is the sin of bait and switch. “You told us God loves us as we are, you did not say we were sinners in need of repentance.” Or, even worse, people may never hear the first step on the Road and never know that they are sinners, unrighteous, and need the forgiveness of a Savior. Well, let me tell you the truth, we are sinners, we have sinned, and we need Jesus – on the cross, shed blood, dead and buried, risen from the grave so that we can be set free from the truth of our sinful nature. The good news of Christ starts here with the bad news of sin.
• Christ Died For Us
The good news that follows the bad news is that Christ died for us. Even while we were still sinners, Christ died for us! This is the second seed.
Romans 5.6-8, For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—8but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Just as Romans 3.23 is the primary verse for step one on the Road, so Romans 5.8 is the second step along the Romans Road.
Let’s put them together: 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...8but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Two of the most important words in the gospel message, “but God”. The good news pivots on “but God”. You know another place where those two words change everything? Ephesians 2.1-5, listen for the two words!
2.1And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
Ephesians 2.1-5 is another expression of the gospel that we can use if we prefer it over the Romans Road. And stepping aside for a moment, John 3.16 is another, Psalm 107.1-3 another (let the redeemed say so), Judges 5.11 – people gathered around the watering hole to tell of the triumphs of God. The Romans Road is one of many gospel expressions that we can have at the ready to defend our hope. Another is our own personal testimony of what God has done for us. All of these are seeds for sowing the gospel.
Step two on the Romans Road is what Christ has done to save us from our sin. Now, when we have memorized that we are sinners and the Christ died to forgive our sins, we will often have to say something more about repentance, confession, belief, and discipleship. We do not have to to give the entire counsel of God, but perhaps a few more things would help. We do not have to have the whole of the Bible memorized to share the simple message of the gospel. Two steps: Sinners – Christ died for us. God can do a lot with those seeds sown in someone’s life.
• Wages of Sin and Gift of Life
A third step, or the third seed, that people will quote along the Road is Romans 6.23. This verse kind of rewinds the two steps previous. Sin leads to death, Christ leads to life.
Romans 6.23, For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
3.23 – we are all sinners –> 6.23 – sin leads to death.
5.8 – But God shows His love in that Christ died for us –> 6.23 – the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ.
We have this road map to the gospel message in Romans. I think it is simple, easy to recall, encouraging to remember, and at the ready to reveal the power of God. These three sections are really the simple gospel, but there is more to add if we really want to complete the journey for someone. We can offer the faithful response to having heard the gospel – confess and believe.
• Confess and Believe
The road concludes with what to do in response to the gospel message of sin, death, resurrection, and the gift of God. A fourth seed!
Romans 10.8-11, But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”
The bare bones are three passages from chapters 3, 5, and 6. We have sinned, Christ died for us to forgive that sin, wages of sin death, gift is life. If that is the bag of seeds we can carry with us, we will do well to cast them out in the field. But it helps to have more seeds!
Confess and believe.
The faithful response, the good soil response is Romans 10.9, 9...if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Confession here is in the sense of proclamation, of affirmation of what we believe about Jesus. We also know that confession in another sense is about confession of sin, repentance. That is a part of the reception of the seed of the gospel. While not specific to these passages, it is evident, of course, in others. What we teach new converts is that we no longer have to live in bondage to sin, but we are set free to live unto God. Those who have truly received the seeds of the gospel will desire to repent, desire to turn from sin, and desire to follow Christ.
Once we have received the seed of the gospel, we are ready to walk with Christ and bear the fruit of repentance (Matthew 3.8), fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5.22-23), fruit of righteousness (Philippians 1.11), fruit of God’s Word (Psalm 1), and the fruit of light (Ephesians 5.9). Good soil produces fruit. Those with the Good Word sow seeds. May we be those people and may God give us those opportunities. Share the seed of Romans: we are sinners, Christ died for sinners, confess, and believe. Amen.
