#christianworldview

Read here: https://www.ojgreenministries.com/defending-the-christian-faith-in-a-secular-world/

The most important invention in your lifetime is… Every few years, society crowns a new king. “This is the invention that changed everything.” Until the next one shows up—and quietly dethrones it. So when I’m asked, “What is the most important invention of your lifetime?” my answer unsettles people a bit: My lifetime is in God’s hands. I cannot yet say. Not because inventions are…

Sometimes, it was a single letter that redirected the mighty current of history. In the 16th century, Martin Luther clung to one sentence—“The righteous shall live by faith”—and the torch of the Reformation blazed to life. And Augustine, once immersed in a dissolute life, was transformed into a great theologian by a single verse: “Not in revelry and drunkenness.” What they held in their hands was none other than the letter Paul wrote to the church in Rome—the Epistle to the Romans.

This “Spiritual Arsenal,” which has led countless spiritual battles to victory throughout Christian history, begs a question for us today: How should we open it and enter in? Through Pastor David Jang’s Romans sermons—rich with theological depth—we seek to unearth the hidden treasures within.

Light and Darkness on the Canvas, and Paul’s Conversion

One is reminded of the Italian master Caravaggio and his celebrated work Conversion on the Way to Damascus. In pitch-black darkness, Saul is overwhelmed by a fierce light, falling from his horse. His two arms, stretched out in utter helplessness, paradoxically symbolize the greatest surrender of all. This is the moment when Saul—the fiercest adversary of Christianity—is reborn as Paul, “a servant of Jesus Christ.”

Pastor David Jang connects this dramatic scene to the opening confession of Romans: “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ…,” and re-illuminates Paul’s identity. The name “Paul” comes from the Latin Paulus, meaning “little one.” Once called Saul, dreaming of king-like authority, he was utterly shattered before the light on the road to Damascus—and came to call himself “the smallest.”

Pastor David Jang emphasizes that, just as Jesus Christ “emptied himself” and took “the form of a servant” (Kenosis), Paul likewise became a servant by emptying himself. A doulos—a bondservant—lays down his own will as one who belongs to his master. Yet, paradoxically, within that very servanthood, Paul received a freedom no emperor could possess, along with the glorious calling of an apostle. For modern people who endlessly thirst for elevation and recognition, this confronts us with the weighty question of what the “beauty of self-emptying” truly is.

The Mystery of God in Human Flesh, the Gospel’s Duet

Then what, exactly, was the gospel Paul risked his life to proclaim? Romans does not describe the gospel as a lofty abstraction floating above reality, but as an event that decisively intervened in history itself. Drawing from Romans 1:3–4, Pastor David Jang highlights that Jesus Christ came from the “line of David” as true man (Vere Homo), and at the same time was revealed in power as true God (Vere Deus) by rising from the dead.

This is more than a doctrinal formula—it is God’s love letter.

We often want to escape the brokenness of our world and set our eyes only on glory “up there.” But as Pastor David Jang’s insight underscores, the gospel begins with the Incarnation: the holy God breaking into the very center of our lowly, manger-like reality. He put on the garment of human flesh—descended from David—entered into our pain, bore our griefs, and ultimately conquered death through the resurrection, delivering to us the victory proclamation of life.

This duet of the cross and the resurrection is the heart of the gospel we must hold fast. Pastor David Jang explains that this gospel is not merely “news,” but the power of God that breaks the chains of sin and brings true freedom—which is why Paul so passionately longed to go to Rome.

Greeks or Barbarians, We Are All Debtors of Love

Paul confesses to the believers in Rome, “I am a debtor.” To Greeks who prided themselves on being civilized, and to so-called barbarians deemed uncultured, Paul says he is indebted. Here, Pastor David Jang offers a profound reading of the “debt of love.” Unlike the Pharisees, who treated God as a debtor who owed them reward for their good works, Paul placed himself in the position of a debtor because he had realized his salvation was sheer grace.

We do not share the gospel or serve our neighbors to accumulate merit. We do it because the love we have already received is so overwhelming and astonishing that we cannot bear not to let it overflow—a “holy indebtedness.”

In his sermon, Pastor David Jang describes relationships in Christ not as vertical or triangular, but as a circular relationship in which each finds comfort and strengthening in the other. Rather than asserting authority as an apostle to instruct from above, Paul approaches with humility: “that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.” This is the true power of the gospel—leadership marked by gentleness.

Romans is not a cold theological treatise; it is a letter written as a fervent prayer for a living soul. As we reopen the prologue of Romans through Pastor David Jang’s preaching, it asks us:

Who is your master? And are you living as one who repays the debt of love?

Just as all roads once led to Rome, may every road of our lives ultimately lead into the grace and peace of this gospel.

Ever wondered what it’s like to be an atheist in a Christian classroom?

This CWV 101 reaction GIF thread has you covered!

From awkward silences to unexpected moments, these GIFs capture the unique challenges and humor that come with navigating differing worldviews in class.