THE ROMANS ROAD: JESUS DID THE WORK!
By Pastor Peaches Watkins
Church, I came here today with a word. I came here today with a ROAD MAP. I came here today with some CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT. Because somebody in this building has been trying to BUILD THEIR WAY TO GOD with absolutely no permit from Heaven. And I came to tell you: PUT. THE HAMMER. DOWN. PUT THE TWO-BY-FOUR DOWN! PUT THE LADDER DOWN! BACK AWAY FROM THE SCAFFOLDING! BECAUSE JESUS ALREADY DID THE CONSTRUCTION!
Now I've been watching some wrestling promos lately — don't act like y'all don't know that about me — and I got to tell you something. Christians are used to seeing a man standing in a pulpit with the spiritual equivalent of a hard hat, pointing at the camera, saying: I'M DOING CONSTRUCTION HERE!
But today, we ain't renovating your behind. Today we are renovating your understanding. Because some of y'all have spent so long trying to renovate yourself into somebody God will finally love, you have turned your whole life into an HGTV show that never airs. Every week it's a new demo day. Every week it's "this season on Fixer Upper: My Soul." And the finale never comes because you keep finding another wall you think needs to come down. And the Gospel walks right into that mess and says: HE ALREADY LOVES YOU. Sit down. Put the sledgehammer back in the truck. Let's take the Romans Road.
Exhibit One: The Problem
Romans 3:23 says:
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
ALL. Not just "all the really bad people", "all the people who got arrested", "all the people whose search history would make the FBI open a field office." ALL. You have sinned. I have sinned. Your mama has sinned. Yes, I said it. Sister Odessa, I see you clutching that fan — she's on the list too. Every pastor you ever listened to has sinned. The person sitting next to you has sinned, and if you don't know what they did, that's between them and Jesus, and I'd like to keep it that way. And that means something very important: NONE OF US GETS TO STAND BEFORE GOD AND PRESENT OUR RESUMÉ.
You can't walk up to God with a manila folder and say, "Lord, I donated money."
"Wonderful."
"I stopped cussing people out — mostly — in traffic — sometimes!"
"Wonderful."
"I read the whole Bible! Twice! In a year!"
"Wonderful."
"I haven't looked at anything I shouldn't in seventeen years!"
"Wonderful."
"I never miss church, Pastor Peaches can vouch for me!"
"I said WONDERFUL."
And then God says: "What have you done with Jesus?"
The Gospel isn't: "Look what I built." The Gospel is: "LOOK WHAT CHRIST BUILT."
Exhibit Two: The Love
Romans 3:23 tells us the problem. We've all fallen short. But thank God the Romans Road doesn't dead-end at the problem, because it's not a cul-de-sac, it's a THROUGHWAY. Romans 5:8 says:
"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
WHILE. WE. WERE. STILL. SINNERS. Did you hear that? He didn't wait until you got your act together. He didn't wait until you cleaned up the construction site. He didn't wait until you got sober enough, moral enough, religious enough, generous enough, respectable enough, put-together enough, presentable enough, or WHATEVER ENOUGH YOU THINK YOU GOTTA BE. CHRIST DIED FOR YOU WHILE YOU WERE STILL A MESS! That's love! You know what religion says? "Clean yourself up and come to God." Jesus says: "COME TO ME." You don't renovate the house before you invite the builder inside — that's not construction, that's just you standing in a half-demolished kitchen exhausted, alone, and $4,000 over budget. THE BUILDER IS THE ONE WHO RENOVATES THE HOUSE!
Exhibit Three: The Gift
Romans 6:23 tells us:
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Now, church, I need you to lean into that word. GIFT. A gift. If somebody hands you a Christmas present and you say, "Thank you, but let me earn this real quick," you have misunderstood the entire concept of Christmas. You don't earn a gift. You receive it. You don't pay for it. You don't spend the next fifteen years side-eyeing the box, wondering if the giver is going to come back and repossess it because you weren't good enough that quarter. IT'S A GIFT! And Paul says eternal life is a gift from God in Christ Jesus. You don’t have a probationary membership with a ninety-day trial period and a manager who can still let you go and a punch card where you get eternal life after ten consecutive weeks without screwing up — and Lord knows none of us would ever make it to week two. A GIFT.
And somebody says, "But Pastor Peaches, I don't deserve it." THAT'S WHY IT'S CALLED GRACE! If you deserved it, it wouldn't be grace, it'd be a paycheck. Romans 11:6 says:
"And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace."
If it ain’t free, it ain’t grace. If you work forty hours and your employer hands you a paycheck, that's wages — you clocked in, you earned that, take it to the bank.
If your grandmother slips you twenty dollars folded up small in her palm like she's passing government secrets and says, "Go get yourself something nice, don't tell your mother," — that's a gift. And nobody in their right mind stands there and says, "Grandma, I don't know if I've performed sufficiently to qualify for this twenty dollars. Let me submit a formal request." She will put it in your hand and close your fingers around it herself. That's what Grandma does. That's what grace does. It says: "STOP TRYING TO EARN WHAT I'M ALREADY GIVING YOU."
Exhibit Four: The Ungodly
But Paul doesn't stop there. Romans 4:5 says:
"However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness."
NOW HOLD ON. I WANT TO MAKE SURE Y'ALL HEARD THAT. "THE ONE WHO DOES NOT WORK." The one who doesn't show up with his spiritual hammer and say, "Lord, watch me renovate myself, give me about six more months." The one who TRUSTS GOD. And what does God do? JUSTIFIES THE UNGODLY. Not the already-perfect, as if there were such a thing. We were already given Christian Platinum Status with the complimentary lounge access, because Jesus did a great job. THE UNGODLY. It’s pretty easy to qualify for "ungodly" with flying colors. That's the whole point! The Gospel isn't God looking at good people and saying, "I'll make them a little better." The Gospel is God taking people who cannot fix themselves and saying: "I WILL DO IT." You don't bring God your ladder. You bring God your NEED. You don't bring Him your résumé. You bring Him your FAITH. You don't bring Him your construction plans, all rolled up and color-coded like you're pitching HGTV executives. You bring Him your TRUST. Jesus Christ has already gone to the Cross. He already died. He already rose. He already paid the price. He already accomplished what you could not accomplish with a hundred lifetimes and a fully stocked Home Depot. And if you're waiting until you're worthy to come to Jesus, I've got some bad news. YOU NEVER WILL BE. And I've got some good news. YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE.
Exhibit Five: The Everyone
Romans 10:13 says:
"Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
EVERYONE. Not "everyone who has never screwed up", "everyone who has their life organized", "everyone who has a perfect church attendance record", "everyone who knows enough theology" — some of y'all still think Sodom and Gomorrah were a law firm, and God's not waiting on you to catch up before He saves you. EVERYONE WHO CALLS. You know what that means? The door is open. RIGHT NOW. You don't have to climb the ladder. You don't have to build the bridge. You don't have to swim the river. You don't have to renovate your life before Jesus will accept you into it. CALL ON HIM. Trust Him. Believe Him. Come to Him.
The Road, Laid Out
That's what people call the Romans Road. Let me lay the whole thing out so you can walk it home in your head tonight:
Romans 3:23 — I have fallen short.
Romans 5:8 — God loved me anyway.
Romans 6:23 — Sin brings death, but God gives life as a gift.
Romans 11:6 — Grace cannot be earned.
Romans 4:5 — God justifies the ungodly who trust Him.
Romans 10:13 — Call on Him, and you will be saved.
That's the road.
And I want to tell somebody something. You may have spent your whole life thinking Christianity was about becoming the kind of person who finally deserves God. It isn't. It's about discovering that GOD HAS ALREADY DECIDED TO GIVE HIMSELF TO YOU. You may be sitting there thinking, "I've done too much." Romans 5:8 says: CHRIST DIED FOR YOU WHILE YOU WERE STILL A SINNER. You may be thinking, "I haven't done enough." Romans 4:5 says: THE ONE WHO DOES NOT WORK BUT TRUSTS GOD IS JUSTIFIED. You may be thinking, "I can't afford this." Romans 6:23 says: IT'S A GIFT. You may be thinking, "Surely God doesn't want me." Romans 10:13 says: EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON HIM WILL BE SAVED. EVERYONE!
So what are you waiting for? You don't need to promise God you'll never screw up again — you will, and He knew that before He hung the stars, and He came anyway. You don't need to crawl into church on your spiritual knees and say, "Maybe if I cry sufficiently, God will let me in." HE'S ALREADY INVITING YOU IN! The Cross isn't God standing at the door saying, "PROVE YOURSELF." The Cross is God tearing the door clean off the hinges and saying,"I HAVE PROVEN MY LOVE FOR YOU." That's the difference. That's grace. That's Jesus.
The Invitation
And if you've never trusted Him, you can do it right now, right where you're sitting. You don't need magic words. You don't need a particular posture. You don't need somebody up here manufacturing an emotional moment so the organ hits at the right time. You can simply call on Him. You can say:
"Jesus, I need You. I believe You died for me and rose again. I trust You. Save me."
HE WILL.
Put down the blueprints you've been redrawing since 2009. STOP TRYING TO BUILD A WAY TO GOD! JESUS ALREADY BUILT THE WAY! HE FINISHED IT. He said so Himself, hanging on that cross, with His very last breath before He gave up His spirit: "It is finished." Past tense. Completed action. Not "it is in progress." Not "it is pending inspection." FINISHED.
So back away from the construction site. Put out the orange cones. Everybody clear the area. Because the Savior has already gone to work, and He didn't leave the job half done for you to pick up with duct tape and good intentions. He isn't building you a probationary membership. He isn't building you a temporary shelter. He isn't building you a house He might tear down tomorrow because you missed an inspection. HE IS BUILDING A HOME FOR YOU IN GRACE. The foundation has already been poured. The price has already been paid. The deed has already been signed — in blood, not in pencil, not with an escape clause. The door is already open. And the invitation is still standing: COME TO JESUS CHRIST. COME BECAUSE HE ALREADY LOVES YOU. AND THAT'S A SAVIOR I WANT YOU TO KNOW! COME ON HOME.
AMEN!
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