I DO Know You From Adam (Romans 5v12-21)

Paul and Jesus believed Adam and Eve were real people God created in the Garden of Eden and what they did has a lasting effect to the present day.

David Guzuk wrote,

It is important to understand that the Adam and Eve account is not an optional passage to be accepted or rejected, or allegorized away.  According to Paul’s theme here in Romans 5, you can’t take away Genesis 3 without taking away principles that lay the foundation for our salvation.

The importance of Adam being a real person is clearly seen in Romans five.  You are regarded by God and treated by God based on the actions of another person who acted on your behalf.  When your representative acted, God says that you acted.  He says that you were “in” that person.

There are two, and only two, persons who acted on your behalf: Adam and Jesus.

When Adam acted in disobedience in the Garden of Eden, he acted for you as your representative, and God says that you sinned.
But, just the same way, when Jesus acted in obedience, He acted for you as your representative, and you can therefore, in Him, be declared righteous.

The second portion of Romans five contrasts what it means to be “in” Adam and “in” Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:12  Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned –

“All sinned” when Adam sinned.  By the way, guys, Adam is held responsible for the fall of humanity, not Eve.  She was deceived; he sinned willfully.

It is true that you inherited a sin nature from Adam; it is also true that you commit individual sins.  But, in  addition to individual and inherited sin, God also imputed sin to you because Adam represented you.  He sinned; you sinned.

Paul knew this would be hard to swallow, so he gives you proof that you sinned in Adam.  The fact that all men die physically is his proof that, from God’s perspective, all men sinned in Adam.  He says that because you see “death spread to all men,” to the whole human race, you must believe that God imputed Adam’s sin to the whole race.

Here’s another truth we glean from this.  Since death is the wages of sin, and since everyone dies, then everyone is a sinner!

Romans 5:13  (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
Romans 5:14  Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.

The law was not given until the time of Moses, yet all men from Adam to Moses were subject to death.  What, then, was the reason for their deaths?  The only possible conclusion you can reach is that the disobedience of Adam, which caused him ultimately to die, is imputed to all his descendants.

Adam was “a type of Him who was to come.”  In other words, just as Adam could represent you, so could someone else.

You can’t help being in Adam; but you can help staying in Adam!  Before you accuse God of being unfair, realize this: Just as God regards you in Adam, He can regard you in Christ!  He sees Christ as your representative.  Those who are justified by faith gain much more than they ever lost in Adam.

A series of contrasts between being “in” Adam and “in” Jesus Christ are presented.

Romans 5:15  But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.

Because of Adam’s “offense,” his sin in the Garden, “many died.”  In fact, all “died” as we just saw in verse fourteen when it said “death reigned from Adam to Moses.”

By contrast, Jesus offers salvation as a gift through God’s grace which “abounded to many.”

The word “many” is being used in two different ways:

The first “many” refers to all those who are “in” Adam, which is every member of the human race.
The second “many” refers to all those who are “in” Jesus Christ.  This is not the whole human race but, as is described in verse seventeen, “those who receive” Jesus Christ by faith.

Not all people will be saved.  At the Cross of Jesus Christ an atonement for sin was made that is sufficient for “whosoever will believe.”  Everyone is, therefore, potentially justifiable.  But only those who “receive” Jesus are actually justified.

For those of you mulling over Calvinism, regarding the extent of Jesus’ work on the Cross at least one notable Calvinist, John Calvin, said this.

Paul makes grace common to all men, not because it in fact extends to all, but because it is offered to all.  Although Christ suffered for the sins of the world, and is offered without distinction to all men, yet not all receive Him (CC, 8.117-18).

Romans 5:16  And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification.

God passed “the judgment” upon Adam after he sinned and the entire human race that he represented, and that sprung from him, was thereby condemned.

Adam’s “one offense” gave rise to all the “many offenses” his descendants commit.  Nonetheless, by God’s grace those who receive the gift of God’s salvation are “justified” despite their “many offenses.”

Romans 5:17  For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)

“Death reigned through” Adam.  It was (and is) a tyrant bringing every human being under its grip and into fear.

By contrast, those who “receive” the salvation offered by God through Jesus “reign in life.”  In other words, you become a co-ruler in a new kingdom characterized by eternal life.

As I indicated earlier, you may not agree with the idea that you were “in” Adam when he sinned.  But you certainly like the idea of being “in” Jesus Christ.  If we aren’t made sinners by Adam, then it isn’t fair for us to be
made righteous by Jesus.

If every man must stand for himself, without the representation of either Adam or Jesus, then we will all perish. None would be saved, because each of us sins and falls short of the glory of God. Only a sinless person acting on our behalf can save us, and it is fair for Him to act on our  behalf because another man put us in this mess by acting on our behalf (Guzik).

Romans 5:18  Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.

Adam’s sin was the “one offense.”  The Cross of Jesus Christ is the “one… righteous act.”  As a result “the free gift came to all men.”

Again we point out that not “all men” are saved at the Cross.  But “the free gift” of salvation is available “to all men,” and those who “receive” it by faith have the result of being justified.

Without making a choice you were represented by Adam in his offense.  But the very nature of a “gift” is that it must be “received.”  As to being “in” Jesus, human beings are offered a choice.  And if God gives you a choice then He also gives you free will to choose.

Romans 5:19  For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.

The same conclusion is stated in different words where Adam’s act is called “disobedience” and the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ is called “obedience.”  As a result “the many” were “made” (literally, stand constituted as) “sinners.”

In the second half of verse 19 “the many” means “those who receive.”  They are not simply declared righteous but they will be “made righteous.”  It’s the same word used for made that means stand constituted as.

You are justified and then God begins to change you in the process the Bible calls sanctification.  You start to practice what you already have by virtue of your position “in” Jesus.

Let me make a quick theological note.  The idea of Adam and Jesus as two representatives of the human race is sometimes called Federal Theology.  Adam and Jesus are sometimes referred to as Federal Heads.  Under a federal system of government representatives are chosen and the representative speaks for the people.  Adam speaks for those he represents, those “in” Adam, and Jesus speaks for His people, those “in” Jesus.

If you were a Jew, especially in first century Rome, you would wonder where the Law of Moses fit into all this discussion of salvation and sanctification.  Paul takes up that topic in the final verses of the chapter.

Romans 5:20  Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more,

Earlier we discussed the period of time between Adam and Moses, before God’s law was fully given.  Now Paul discusses history from Moses forward.

The Law of Moses gives definition to just how much we sin.  When you see God’s righteous standard, you see how Adam’s one “offense” abounds.

But no matter how much sin abounds, God’s “grace abounded much more.”

Romans 5:21  so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

“Sin reigned in death,” and does still, for those “in” Adam.  Receive Jesus Christ by faith and “grace” will “reign through righteousness to eternal life.”

Paul pictured “death” as a king that reigns over your life.  The reign of death kills every hope, every dream, every joy with its brutal reality.

Paul pictured God’s grace as a king that reigns over your life.  The reign of grace is characterized by “righteousness.”  If grace is reigning, I will respect God’s standard of “righteousness.”  I will love “righteousness.”  Grace does not result in license to sin.  Quite the contrary.  Grace isn’t something that accommodates sin.  It conquers sin by abounding when sin is present.

Thomas Benton Brooks is quoted saying,

Grace is no friend to sin; it is its sworn enemy. As heat is opposed to cold, and light to darkness, so grace is opposed to sin. Fire and water may as well agree in the same vessel as grace and sin in the same heart.

I can enjoy “eternal life” right now.  Death and all its fears have no hold upon me.  Like the apostle Paul I can say,

Philippians 1:21  For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Philippians 1:22  But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell.
Philippians 1:23  For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.

Like the apostle Paul I can say,

2 Corinthians 4:17  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,
2 Corinthians 4:18  while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

God Shed His Love On Thee (Romans 5v1-11)

“To gush,” “to run greedily out,” “to spill.”  It’s the word the KJV translates “shed abroad” and the NKJV translates “poured out” in Romans 5:5.

J.B. Phillips translates it, “Already we have the love of God flooding through our hearts by the Holy Spirit given to us.”

Think of the overflowing of a levee or the breaking of a dam.  There’s no stopping the flow of water.

When you get saved, it’s like the breaking of a dam as God the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within you and to flood and go on flooding your heart with God’s inexhaustible love.

If you were saved later in life you might remember that initial flooding as waves of forgiveness and acceptance and hope washed over you.  You were simply carried about on its currents wherever you went.

Fast forward your life.  You’ve been a Christian for some time.  Instead of describing your life as being carried along by torrents of living water it seems you are experiencing a spiritual drought.

The promise of Romans five is that God is still pouring out His love in your heart.  It comes with being justified.  It’s from God and He won’t revoke it.

If you and I are not experiencing it, then we have forgotten the joy of His salvation.

Romans 5:1  Therefore, having been justified by faith,…

“Having been” is in the past tense.  You have already been justified by faith.  The moment you received Jesus Christ as your Savior you were fully and completely justified before God.  You did not begin to become justified after a life of effort and energy.
That’s important for many reasons but one is that you can be sure that certain spiritual blessings are yours to experience and enjoy right now and anytime you choose to avail yourself of them.

Paul identifies several of these blessings.  These cannot be reduced or lost because they originate with God and are part of His freely justifying you.  These are yours and ready for withdrawl

The first is that you have “peace with God.”

Romans 5:1 …we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

We sometimes speak of people as having made their peace with God.  This is wrong.  It is God Who has made peace with us.  We were at war with God, sinners by nature and by choice.

God imposed His terms for peace in the Gospel.  His terms are the Cross of Jesus Christ.  Jesus died there in your place to deliver you from God’s holy wrath against sin.  You must accept His terms through surrender to Jesus Christ or continue in your war against God.

When you surrender to God through Jesus Christ, you are immediately at peace with God.  “Having been justified, [you] have peace with God…”

Since it is God Who has made peace with you, and not the other way, you need never doubt His attitude toward you.  It’s why you can claim promises like Jeremiah 29:11 which says,

Jeremiah 29:11  For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Because you are justified and at peace with God, you also have access to God.

Romans 5:2  through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand…

The word “access” means entrance to the king through the favor of another.  The Jew had been kept from God’s presence by the veil in the Temple and the Gentile was kept out by a wall and warnings.  When Jesus died the veil was torn and He broke down the wall.

You have entrance to the King because of Jesus.

It is therefore the cruelest of all heresies that teaches men they need other mediators to approach God besides Jesus Christ.  You have immediate access to God through Jesus Christ.  There is no intermediate access – not through priests and not through the deceased.

Look, I understand how things work on a natural level.  Growing up I never asked my dad anything.  My mom was the mediator.

So when people suggest that you’ll get to God quicker if you go to Mary or to another saint, on a natural level it makes sense.  But it’s nonsense at best and damning at worst.

Jesus once declared that all believers are His mother and brothers and sisters.  In other words, there are no intermediaries since we all are equal.

Warren Wiersbe said something I especially liked: “The child of a king can enter his father’s presence no matter how the child looks.”

Because you are justified, at peace with God, and have immediate access to Him, you also have hope.

Romans 5:2  …and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

In the Bible, “hope” means you are encouraged to look to the future with certainty.  You can be certain “of the glory of God.”  A couple of things come to mind when I hear that phrase, “the glory of God.”

One thing that comes to mind is that God will reveal His glory at the end of all things.  He will finish His plan of redemption for mankind.
The other thing that comes to mind is that I am the biggest part of His plan!  Saving me and bringing me home to Heaven is God’s purpose for creating the universe.  I will reveal His glory when He is finished with me and I am in my glorious new resurrection body for all eternity.

I saw an old interview with astronomer Carl Sagan in which he suggested it was the height of arrogance to suggest mankind was alone in the universe.  You know what the real height of arrogance is?  Suggesting there is no God Who created the universe in which He has said He is mindful of us!

Since it is true that you, through Jesus Christ, stand in the very presence of God, you are able always to “rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”  Your earthly situation cannot affect your heavenly standing.

This is why Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego could rejoice in the fiery furnace.  God would deliver them… Or they would die!  Either way they were certain of the future.  Either future was glorious.

God’s got your life covered past, present, and future.

“Peace” covers your past.  Whatever you’ve done, God has made peace with you.
“Access” covers your present.  Whatever you need, spiritually speaking, you can go to God and seek from Him.
“Hope” is the sure promise of your glorious future.

These are not merely philosophical idea to meditate upon.  They are practical tools to get you through everyday living.

Let me put it this way.  Does knowing these things really make a difference day-to-day?  Well, let’s take a look at how peace, access and hope affect us when we are really under the gun.

Romans 5:3  And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations…

Trouble is the common lot of the human race, but only the Christian glories in “tribulations.”  It is not that you enjoy trouble, or even that you merely endure it; even unbelievers can do as much.  You “glory in tribulations” when the glory of God in which you stand shines through your trouble, surrounding your surrendered life for all to see.

Tribulation is your servant.

Romans 5:3  …know[ing] that tribulation produces perseverance;
Romans 5:4  and perseverance, character; and character, hope.

God is at work in your tribulation.  Tribulation is in the Greek thlipsis, and originally conveyed the idea of “pressing together; pressure.”  It describes the pressing of olives into oil, and the crushing of grapes into wine.

The application of this word to human sufferings was first used in the New Testament.  The Christians were the first ones to think of themselves as being in the vat like olives or grapes, and being pressed or crushed to the point where they were like oil or wine.

It is not possible to have oil and wine unless olives are pressed and grapes crushed.  As Donald Grey Barnhouse wrote,

Even the finest fruit will not yield its essence without this process.  Indeed, the finer the fruit the firmer the skin, and the heavier the pressure that must be put upon it to burst its surface that the juices may spurt.  If you are to be splashed with joy, you must be crushed.

The process for producing really excellent oil and wine from the pressing and crushing of your life is always the same: perseverance, character, and hope – one leading to the next.   Even in, and especially in, tribulations the believer can persevere, knowing he has peace with God, access to God, and a certain hope.  Persevering, you experience God’s proving and sense His approval – which is the real measure of character.  As you experience a greater sense of God’s approval, it confirms your hope.  As your hope is confirmed, you cannot help but rejoice.

Romans 5:5  Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

“Hope does not disappoint.”  You need never be disappointed, you need never despair, about one thing.  God loves you.

“The love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit Who was given to us.”  The Holy Spirit can witness directly to your heart that God has an unconditional, unchangeable love for you.  In the very moment you might despair or grow disappointed it is the Spirit’s responsibility to remind you of God’s love.  The answer to disappointment and despair is to be overflowed with the knowledge of the love of God for you.  And the way to do that is to see what God has done for you in justifying you while you were yet ungodly.

In verses six through eleven, Paul describes this witness of the Holy Spirit to your heart.  This is what the Holy Spirit wants to say to you each time you are disappointed or you despair.

Romans 5:6  For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
Romans 5:7  For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.
Romans 5:8  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:9  Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
Romans 5:10  For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

His reasoning is simple:  Since God justified you while you were yet ungodly, how much more will He do for you now that you are His dear child?

You were once “without strength” to save yourself, but God acted in love to save you.
You were still a “sinner,” ungodly and unworthy, but God acted in love to save you.
You were even God’s enemy, but He acted in love to save you.  He “demonstrated” His love for you once and for all by sending Jesus to die for you while you were in this hopeless condition.

If God did all that for you while you were hopeless, how much more will He do for you now that you have the certain hope of Heaven?  The answer is, He not only “saved you from wrath” when you were hopelessly lost, but you “shall be saved by His life.”

“Saved by His life” means you can be certain that the power of His resurrection life is available to you moment-by-moment, day-by-day.

Romans 5:11  And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

We saw in Chapter four that Jesus’ death propitiated, or satisfied, the just demands of God’s wrath against sinners and so man can be reconciled with God.  Because of Christ’s death the whole world is said to be reconciled.

2 Corinthians 5:19 …God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

The whole world is reconciled, but not everyone is saved.  Paul speaks of preaching “the word of reconciliation,” and of your “receiving the reconciliation.”  You receive it when you are justified by faith, when you are saved.  The whole world is savable, but only those who receive Jesus are saved.

Since you received the reconciliation when in a hopeless state, how much more can you expect to receive now that you have the certain hope of your standing before God, justified by grace through faith?

If you could be saved by works, if you could earn it or merit it or deserve it, then you could never know whether or not God really loved you.  He would be obligated to save you based upon what you had done.

Since salvation is God’s gift receive through faith, you can be absolutely certain God loves you.  The only possible motive for saving you is love!

Ask God to restore to you the joy of His salvation.  Know again His love shed abroad in your heart.

Like Father, Like Sons (Romans 4v16-25)

If salvation were by works of righteousness, you could never be saved.

First of all, you could never perfectly keep God’s law in your behavior.
Second of all, even if you could somehow perfectly keep God’s law in your behavior, you could not keep it in your heart and mind.  You may not kill someone or commit physical adultery, but you certainly get angry with people and you have lusts.
Third of all, before you were ever conceived or born sin was imputed to the entire human race by the choice of Adam and Eve to disobey God in the Garden of Eden.

You commit individual acts of sin.  You inherit a sin nature.  Sin is imputed to you.

God has therefore determined to give eternal life as a free, undeserved gift to ungodly sinners who receive it by a simple act of faith.

Romans 4:16  Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all

Since eternal life is God’s “promise,” you can be “sure” of it.  It does not depend at all upon you.  You can be sure you are saved because of the authority of God’s Word.

This sure promise of God is available to “all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham…”  Those who are “of the law” are Jews, the nation of Israel, who were given God’s law.  No matter that they had the law, they were saved by believing in the promise of God by grace through faith.

This promise of eternal life is available to anyone who, like Abraham, believes God.  He is therefore the “father of us all.”  He is, of course, the physical father of the Hebrews.  He is also the spiritual “father” of all – Jew and Gentile – who believe in the promise of God by grace through faith.

Paul expands on this spiritual fatherhood of Abraham in verse seventeen.

Romans 4:17  (as it is written, “I HAVE MADE YOU A FATHER OF MANY NATIONS”) in the presence of Him whom he believed – God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did;

This is a quote from Genesis seventeen.  Built-in to the Old Testament was God’s declaration that Abraham was “father of many nations,” not just the Jews.  God’s plan to save men was never confined to the physical descendants of Abraham.  It was for all men everywhere.

What did Abraham believe?  He “believed God, Who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did.”

We’ll see what this means in the next few verses.

Romans 4:18  who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “SO SHALL YOUR DESCENDANTS BE.”

God’s promise to Abraham was that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the heavens or as the grains of sand on the earth.    This promise was “contrary to hope” because Abraham and Sarah would be physically incapable of having even one child by the time God would fulfill it.  Still, Abraham believed God’s promise.

Romans 4:19  And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.

When God first promised Abraham he would be the father of innumerable people he was 75 and Sarah was 65.  They were still physically capable of having children.  Abraham was because he fathered Ishmael by Hagar.

Here in verse nineteen Paul was talking about Abraham at age 100 and Sarah at 90.  Abraham considered his own “body” to be “already dead” in so far as the possibility of fathering a son.  He knew “Sarah’s womb” to be “dead” as well.

Humanly speaking, the situation was hopeless.  Nevertheless he believed God’s promise that he would father a child.

Romans 4:20  He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God,

William MacDonald, commenting on this verse, wrote, “As far as [Abraham] was concerned there was only one impossibility, and that was for God to lie.”

The hopelessness of his condition actually encouraged his faith!  He was “strengthened in faith, giving glory to God.”

Romans 4:21  and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.

Abraham had no idea how God would fulfill His promise.  He was “convinced” that whatever God had “promised” He both could and would “perform.”

Does it take great, immense faith to take God at His Word?  In one sense, it does not, because, after all, He is God!  He cannot lie and He is all-powerful.  If He promises He is going to do something, it’s a sure thing He will do it.

Romans 4:22  And therefore “IT WAS ACCOUNTED TO HIM FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS.”

“Accounted,” you remember, is a bookkeeper’s term.  It means to put something over into the ledger.  When Abraham believed God, when he took God at His Word, God put “righteousness” into Abraham’s heavenly ledger.  It was not by Abraham’s works of righteousness, for he had none and could accomplish none.  It was all a gift, given to Abraham based solely on the fact he believed God’s promise.

Romans 4:23  Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him,
Having discussed the particulars of Abraham’s belief, Paul again reminded his readers that Abraham’s story is not just about him, or even about his physical descendants.  No, he is the father of all who believe God the way Abraham did.  We all become part of God’s spiritual family by believing God.

Romans 4:24  but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead,

Just as God “imputed” righteousness to Abraham when he believed, He imputes righteousness “to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead.”

Abraham believed God would give life through him when it was hopeless.  We see the strength of his belief when some years later God asked him to sacrifice Isaac.  He was about to do it when God stopped him.  Later we read of Abraham that he believed God would have to raise Isaac from the dead but, at any rate, God would certainly keep His promise to Abraham.

We can’t say how much Abraham understood about his near-sacrifice of Isaac.  Did he know that it was a picture of God the Father centuries later going through with the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus, on that same spot?

When Isaac asked his father, “Where is the lamb for the sacrifice?,” and Abraham responded, “God will provide himself the lamb,” did he know he was speaking prophetically about Jesus – the Lamb of God Who takesaway the sin of the world?

All we can say for sure is that Abraham believed the promise of God to give life to many through his son, Isaac, and that if Isaac were sacrificed, God would resurrect him to thereby accomplish it.

We believe God gave life to the dead by raising Jesus from the grave.  We believe in an accomplished fact of history.

Romans 4:25  who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.

The ancient Greek word translated delivered (paradidomi) was used of  casting people into prison or delivering them to justice. “Here it speaks of the judicial act of God the Father delivering God the Son to the justice that required the payment of the penalty for human sin.” (Wuest)

Jesus was “delivered up because of our offenses.”  This has two shades of meaning:

Jesus was “delivered up,” He was crucified, because of our offenses.  Someone needed to take our place as a substitute because, as the word “delivered” indicates, sin requires death as its penalty.
Jesus was also “delivered up” in order to put our offenses away from us.

He was “raised because of our justification” means that by His resurrection of Jesus God has declared He is satisfied that sin is atoned for and He can therefore declare believing sinners “justified.”  The fact that Jesus rose tells us the price has been paid, the work is finished, and men can be saved by believing in God’s promise.

By the way, the physical, bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ is an essential Christian doctrine.  There is no justification if Jesus is not risen.

Abraham is the illustration of what God desires to do for everyone.  He stands ready and able to impute Heaven’s perfect righteousness over into your account if you simply believe Him.  You must believe God’s testimony that Jesus died for your “offenses” and that He rose from the dead for the purpose of saving you.

One commentator, William Newell, says, “God is eager to impute righteousness.”  I like that!  In all this doctrine we must never lose sight of the heart of God.  This whole plan involving judicial satisfaction was born out of love.

Some people can believe and not be saved.  In Acts Twenty-six, King Agrippa believed and assented to the facts that confirmed that Jesus was the Savior (Acts 26:27).  But he refused to trust Jesus for His salvation.

What makes the difference between those who believe and are not saved and those who believe and are saved?

“Believe” is hard to define in a way that preserves both the richness of God’s grace and the scope of your responsibility.  It is the one thing you can do without doing anything, and it is the only thing you must do to be saved.  Theologian Charles Ryrie likes the word “trust,” saying,

…The words believe and faith sometimes seem to be watered down so that they convey little more than knowing facts.  Trust, however, implies reliance, commitment, and confidence in the object or truths that one is trusting.  An element of commitment must be present in trusting Christ for salvation, but it is commitment to Him, His promise, and His ability to give eternal life to those who believe.

Those who believe and are not saved know the facts of the Gospel and may even give assent to its truthfulness, but they are unwilling to trust the Savior for their personal salvation.  Knowledge and assent to the truth without being willing to trust cannot save you.
Those who believe and are saved trust in God’s truth.  It is the only thing you can do without doing anything, and it is the one thing you must do to be saved.

Precious And Accounted For (Romans 4v1-15)

As Paul and Silas sang praise songs in the Philippian jail an earthquake rocked the place.  The cell doors sprang open.  The keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself.  Paul called with a loud voice, saying, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.”  Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas.  He brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

Paul and Silas said there was only one thing he could do:

Acts 16:31 “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved…”

They did not tell him to become more righteous; they did not tell him to perform a ritual; they did not tell him to keep a set of rules.  They told him to simply believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

“Faith” and “believe” are used fifteen times in Romans chapter four.  It is the Bible’s great chapter on salvation by grace through believing alone, apart from your behavior.  It is, in many ways, the Bible’s great chapter.

Jews listening to Paul’s message would wonder how it squared with the Scriptures.  Paul turned his attention to Abraham, the “father” of the Jews.

Romans 4:1  What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh?

Abraham is the “father” of the Jewish people – the first Jew, called to be separate from the world by God to be head of a new nation that God would bless.  Looking back at him, Paul asks us “What did Abraham accomplish in himself by which he was saved?”  In other words, “Was it his own works of righteousness that changed his standing before God and made him savable?”  If it was, then,
Romans 4:2  … if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.

Justification is the act of God by which He declares a believing sinner righteous on the basis of Jesus Christ’s finished work on the Cross.

If Abraham was justified by his own works of righteousness, he would be able to boast of having attained Heaven by his own effort.

Paul said in Romans 3:27, “Where is boasting then? It is excluded.”  Not even Father Abraham can boast before God!  Besides, the Scripture is abundantly clear about how Abraham was justified.

Romans 4:3  For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

This is a quote from Genesis fifteen.  Abraham was justified, he was saved, by simply believing God’s promise to him.  Even in the Old Testament no one – including Abraham – was ever saved by their own works of righteousness.

The Jewish teachers of Paul’s day taught that Abraham was justified by his works, by keeping the law.   One ancient passage from the rabbis says: “We find that Abraham our father had performed the whole Law before it was given” and “Abraham was perfect in all his deeds with the Lord.”  The rabbis argued that Abraham kept the law perfectly, even before it was given, in that he kept it by intuition or anticipation.

Abraham’s righteousness did not come from his performance of good works, but from his belief in God. It was a righteousness obtained through faith.

Abraham was a Gentile pagan idolater in the land of Ur when God called him.  He was not performing works of righteousness, making himself ready for salvation.  God revealed Himself to Abraham while he was yet ungodly.  Abraham believed God and then God “accounted” him righteous.

This word “accounted” is also translated “reckoned” or “imputed” or “counted.”  It is a banking term, borrowed from bookkeepers.  It means to put over into your account; it means to make an entry in your ledger.
If you could have seen Abraham’s ledger sheet before he believed God it would have been filled with the record of his sins.  The moment Abraham believed God, his sins were put over to the account of Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ’s righteousness was put over into Abraham’s account.  Thus Abraham was saved – justified while he was yet ungodly – having no righteousness of his own to offer God.

Paul offers an illustration from everyday life in verses four and five.

Romans 4:4  Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.

The idea of grace stands opposite to the principle of works.  Grace has to do with receiving the freely given gift of God, while works has to do with earning our merit before God.  A system of works seeks to put God in debt to us, to have God owe us His favor because of our good behavior. In works-thinking, God owes us salvation or blessing because of our good works.

Romans 4:5  But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,

Think of an automatic deposit of your paycheck into your bank account.  If you work, you earn the money that is put into your account.  What is the “work” you must do to have Jesus Christ’s righteousness put into your account?  According to Jesus Himself, in John 6:29, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”

When you believe in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation, God not only cancels your debt of sin, he also makes an automatic deposit of all Heaven’s resources into your account.

God only justifies the ungodly.  No one can ever first cease to be ungodly, then believe.  While yet ungodly, you believe and God justifies you.

Abraham clearly had no personal righteousness before he was saved.  While he was yet ungodly, God justified him.

How extensive is justification?  By that I mean must you work to achieve and maintain personal righteousness in order to become fully justified?

Paul gives you the illustration of David, quoting Psalm thirty-two:

Romans 4:6  just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:
Romans 4:7  “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered;
Romans 4:8  Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin.”

David, a justified man, went on to sin wickedly.  He committed adultery; he committed murder; he was a hypocrite.  Yet he was saved!  At one point he cried out to God, saying, “restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation.”  He had lost his joy, not his justification.

Warren Wiersbe says,

Once we are justified, our record contains Christ’s perfect righteousness and can never again contain our sins.  Christians do sin, and these sins need to be forgiven if we are to have fellowship with God, but these sins are not held against us.  God does keep a record of our works, so that He might reward us when Jesus comes; but He is not keeping a record of our sins.

This is the “blessedness” that is mentioned by both David and Paul, that “lawless deeds are forgiven… sins are covered… and the Lord shall not impute sin.”

Be careful that you understand what I am saying.  I am only saying what the Bible says – that you are fully justified the moment you believe in Jesus.  You do not start on a path towards final justification, towards the mere possibility of justification if you achieve and maintain a certain personal righteousness.  If that were the case, David could not be in Heaven today.  If that were the case, no one would ever be in Heaven, for we all continue to sin!  David was fully justified from the moment he believed God.  You are fully justified from the moment you believe God.
You cannot see into the courtroom of Heaven to see who God has justified.  You only see the results of justification in the behavior of men on earth.  Justification in Heaven is proved by purity on earth.  What you are in Jesus Christ will be seen in what you are before men.

Habitual sinners prove they have never been justified.  Saints still sin; but when they do, they remain saints and can thank God for the blessedness that their “lawless deeds are forgiven…[their] sins are covered…and the Lord shall not impute sin.”

In justification, God doesn’t declare you “godly” – He declares you “righteous.”  He accepts you because you stand in His imputed righteousness.   Once you are justified, God works in you to produce godliness day-by-day.  Our justification is not God making us perfectly
righteous, but counting us as perfectly righteous.  After we are counted righteous, then God begins making us truly righteous, culminating in our resurrection.

Justification is the act of God by which God gets us out of sin legally.  Sanctification is the process by which God gets sin out of us actually.

You can see this in the life of Abraham.  He was justified by faith in Genesis 15.  In James 2:21 you read that Abraham was justified by works.  It’s not a contradiction.  Thirty years after he was justified by faith his justification was vindicated by his works when he started to sacrifice Isaac.  It was the outward demonstration he had been truly justified by faith.

Justification is not attained or maintained by personal righteousness.  Neither is it attained or maintained by the performance of any rite or ritual.

The great rite of God’s sanctioned religion was the sign of circumcision – the cutting away of the foreskin.  In verses nine through twelve you see that Abraham was already justified more than a decade before circumcision was first required.  Circumcision is not necessary for salvation – nor can any other rite or ritual save you.

Romans 4:9  Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness.
Romans 4:10  How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised.

The argument is almost too simple.  If Abraham was already justified by faith prior to his circumcision some fourteen years later, then no rite or ritual is necessary for salvation – only believing!

Romans 4:11  And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also,

Circumcision was an outward sign to demonstrate the inward grace of salvation that had already occurred.  Circumcision was a sign of faith – not a substitute for it!

Romans 4:12  and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised.

Something much deeper is indicated in Abraham’s justification by faith.  Even though he would go on to be the physical father of a new nation, he would also be the spiritual father of any from all nations who believed God and were justified by faith.  Abraham is the Bible’s example for all men everywhere from all time of salvation by grace through faith alone.  God’s plan of salvation includes a special place and purpose for the literal descendants of Abraham, but it excludes no one.

Romans 4:13  For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

Abraham was saved before the law was even given.  Rules cannot save you, even if they are God’s divinely sanctioned rules.  You are saved apart from keeping rules through the imputed righteousness of faith.

Obedience to the principles and precepts of the Old Testament law, given much later to Moses, had to do with the behavior of an already redeemed people.  It’s goal wasn’t to save them, but so that they might secure for themselves health, happiness, and practical holiness.

Just so, the principles and precepts of the New Testament do not add to your salvation.  Obedience to them secures for you peace, prosperity, and power.

Romans 4:14  For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect,
Romans 4:15  because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression.

If you could inherit eternal life by keeping God’s rules, eternal life would not be a “promise” you could ever be certain of.  You’d always fall short because until we go to be with the Lord we continue to sin.

No one can perfectly keep God’s law; it only reveals the wrath of God against your sin, and against you as a sinner.

“Transgression” is the violation of a known law.  Paul did not say that where there is no law, there is no sin.  He simply pointed out that it becomes known as a transgression when there is a law forbidding it.

It’s wrong, a sin as it were, to speed through a school zone.  It becomes a transgression when a sign goes up limiting your speed.

Obeying the law cannot save you from the penalty of sin.  It only serves to reveal your guilt.  If you are to be saved, God must remove the penalty of sin, and this He can only do by declaring you righteous on the basis of believing what Jesus has accomplished on the Cross.  It’s the only way.

Justification is the act of God which saves us from the past penalty of sin.
Sanctification is the process, in which we must cooperate with God, that is saving us from the present power of sin.
Glorification is the future act of God that will save us from the very presence of sin forever!

Now You Seek Him, Now You Don’t (Romans 3v9-18)

Mt. Everest was named in 1865 after Sir George Everest, the British surveyor-general of India.  It was once known as Peak 15.  It was first ascended was on May 29,1953 by Sir Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal.  James Whittaker was the first American to the top on May 1, 1963.  Junko Tabei of Japan was the first woman to make the ascent on May 16, 1975.  The youngest person to reach the summit was 15; the oldest, 64.

Approximately 6000 climbers have attempted to summit Everest, but only 2249 have made it.  Over 200 people have died trying and of those, at least 120 bodies are still missing on the mountain.

Climbing Mt. Everest is almost a metaphor for human potential.  If you can get to the summit, you’ve done something few have done or will ever do and you can do anything.  You stand – both literally and figuratively – far above other men.

Mt. Everest rises five miles above sea level on the earth, which is 8,000 miles in diameter.  From an earthly perspective it soars high into the heavens.

From a vantage point in the heavens, however, it is unnoticeable.

If you take a billiard ball two and a half inches in diameter and do a little figuring, you will find that a protrusion on the billiard ball proportionately as high as Mt. Everest is to earth would be less than one-six hundreth of an inch high.  There are no human fingers sensitive enough to feel such a ridge on a billiard ball.  The billiard ball seem smooth.

Looking down upon the earth from a vantage point in the heavens it appears as smooth as the billiard ball, Mt. Everest and all.

God looks down from Heaven upon the righteousness of men.  Even if your righteousness was like that of Mt. Everest, reaching high above that of your fellow men, and you were one of the few standing on the summit of good works, you would still be level with the rest of the human race.

Jews had an advantage over Gentiles because they had the special revelation of God through the Scriptures.  Their advantage did not alter the fact that they were just as lost as Gentiles.

Romans 3:9 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.

There is a difference between “sin” and sins.

Sins indicates we do things that are wrong.
Sin refers to the fact we are dominated by a fundamentally evil nature.

Our predicament is not so much that we have done a few wrong things but that we are under the control and condemnation of sin and cannot by ourselves escape from it.  As one writer put it,

The difference is not unlike that which exists between the symptoms of a disease and the disease itself.  Any solution to the human problem that fails to deal with the root cause of “sin” is no more a solution than cold compresses on a fevered brow are a cure for the infection causing the fever.

This verse could also be translated, “Are we Jews worse off than Gentiles?”    It’s a valid question in that it recognizes that if you have greater revelation you have greater responsibility to respond to it.

Either way you read this verse the point is that Jews are no better but no worse than Gentiles but that “all” mankind are “under sin.”

In the next several verses Paul will quote from at least six Psalms and the Book of Isaiah.  Why?  To prove from Scripture that this was not a new teaching of Paul’s.  It was written in God’s Word.

Why, then, was there so much misunderstanding about God’s method of saving people?

If you were to go to each of these Old Testament passages, at least some of them in their original context contrast Gentiles with Jews.  The Jews are even called “righteous” in those Old Testament texts.

For example.  In verses ten through twelve Paul quotes from Psalm 14:1-3.    In those verses the psalmist describes people he calls “the workers of iniquity (v4).  But then he contrasts them with people he calls “the generation of the righteous (v5).

The Jews had concluded that “the workers of iniquity” referred to the unsaved Gentiles, and that they – all Jews – were “the generation of the righteous.”  They equated being a Jew by birth with being righteous.  Everyone else was lost.

In fact those texts describe the righteous as anyone who had come to God by faith, who God had justified, who God had declared righteous.  Everyone else – Gentile and Jew – was unrighteous.

So you can see that a huge change in their way of thinking was being called for.  It thus required that Paul defend it from their Scriptures.

Commentators have suggested that you can get a better handle on these next few verses if you see God portrayed first as a judge, then as a physician, then as a historian.

‘Judge God’ renders the following judgment.

Romans 3:10 As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one;
Romans 3:11 There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God.
Romans 3:12 They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.

Context is always important.  Psalm 14, from whence these verses come, begins with the famous phrase, “the fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”  The words, “there is,” are not in the original text.  So it read, “the fool has said in his heart, ‘No God.’ ”

It indicates one of two things:

It indicates that this person has decided, despite evidence to the contrary, that there is no God.
Or it indicates that this person is saying “No” to God and living as they see fit.

My point is that they are the same people Paul described in chapter one when he said, “although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God…” (v21).

When the Scriptures say “there is none righteous, no, not one,” it means there has never been a man (except Jesus) who had a perfect righteousness.  Even Adam, the first man, was innocent, but not righteous.

“There is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God.”  This is troubling to people, especially when you consider that God Himself has said that men can and should seek after Him.  For example in Jeremiah 29:13 the Lord promises, “and you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”

This is why I mentioned the context of Psalm 14 and showed that these people are the same people who Paul said once “knew God.”  It is possible for lost men to seek after God.

So what does it mean, used of the human race, “there is none who seeks after God”?  I think it simply means that if man is to be saved God must take the initiative to reveal Himself.  It means that God can only be known if He reveals Himself.  We are reading too much into it if we conclude it is impossible for the natural man to seek God even if he is given revelation.

God has revealed Himself, through creation and conscience, but especially by the special revelation of His Word.  I guess what I’m saying is that no one could seek God and find Him apart from Him revealing Himself, but because He has revealed Himself it is perfectly reasonable for Him to say, “you will seek Me and find Me…”

Because He has revealed Himself He can encourage those who are lost and without any righteousness of their own and who could never find Him on their own to seek after Him and find Him.

Are lost men seeking God?  In chapter one we were told that “although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God.  In verse twelve it says, “they have all turned aside.”  Same people, same description.

We learned in chapters one and two that Gentiles had “turned aside” from creation and conscience to worship the creature rather than the Creator.
We learned in chapter three that Jews had “turned aside” by supposing that they could keep the law and achieve salvation as a work rather than receive it as a gift.

These are people who willfully ignore God’s revelation of Himself.

It applies to Gentiles who willfully ignore God’s revelation of Himself through creation and conscience.
It applies to Jews who willfully ignore God’s special revelation of Himself with regard to the fact that Jews are not automatically saved by virtue of birth and the keeping of the law outwardly.

“Unprofitable,” in verse twelve, is related to the word “withered” in John 15:6.

John 15:6  If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

To be “unprofitable,” then, means you are unfruitful because there is no life-giving connection.

“There is none who does good, no, not one.”  Of course men can do certain good deeds.  But those deeds have no spiritual value in and of themselves.    In keeping with the idea that there is no life-giving connection, and that it is like branches pruned from the vine, there is no fruit being produced.

Here, then, is God’s judgment.  All men are “under sin” and have no righteousness of their own by which to get into Heaven.  They are lost and in darkness.  God thus reveals Himself to all men so that they might seek Him.  Those “fools” who turn aside from the revelation that God has given of Himself, those who do not seek Him, remain cut-off from His life and all their good works cannot be considered fruitful from an eternal perspective.

Next God is portrayed as a physician analyzing the human condition.

Romans 3:13 “Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit”; “The poison of asps is under their lips”;
Romans 3:14 “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”

Jesus once said insightfully, “what goes into a man’s mouth does not make him ‘unclean,’ but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him ‘unclean'” (Matthew 15:11).

What comes out of the mouth, your words, represents what is in your heart and shows you to be unsaved.  Even if you guard your words, what Jesus was really talking about is your mind and your thoughts – from whence words come.

If you are honest you will admit that your thought-life is far from righteous!  In comparison to God’s standard, which is perfection, your thoughts can be described as poison, cursing, and bitterness.

Inside we are spiritually dead and, thus, whatever comes out of our mouths is like the opening of a tomb.  Again, this is all by comparison.  Compared to other men I might seem to be at the summit of Everest in my thought life and speech.  Compared to God I am on a level with all other men.

Next we have history interpreted by God.

Romans 3:15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
Romans 3:16 Destruction and misery are in their ways;
Romans 3:17 And the way of peace they have not known.”

These verses are a good summary of the overall conduct of the human race throughout history, continuing right through our so-called modern age.

In verse eighteen Paul comes to a conclusion.

Romans 3:18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

This is from Psalm 36:1.  It’s a summary of the people Paul had just described.  All unsaved Gentiles AND all unsaved Jews are included.

We could put it this way.  All men are “under sin” – Gentiles and Jews.  All are unrighteous before God.  A Jew might be on the summit of Everest in comparison to a Gentile thanks to the many advantages of his birth.  But he was and is just as lost and in need of saving.

Paul seems to really belabor this point, does he not?  That’s because the Jew (especially) thought he was saved as a result of his natural birth and that righteousness was achieved and maintained by keeping the law outwardly.

If a Gentile approached a Jew seeking God he would be told that the way of salvation was through rites and rituals and rules and regulations.

This is important and that is why Paul is belaboring it.  Paul was not teaching some new way of salvation.  He was presenting what the Hebrew Scriptures had said all along.

By the way, it’s more common than you might think for even Christians to misunderstand this.  It’s easy to think a person was saved in the Old Testament by keeping the law or at least by offering blood sacrifices.

Nope!  No one was ever saved that way!  Salvation has ALWAYS been a matter of faith and of God declaring you righteous based on believing in Him, on believing in His Son, Jesus Christ.
Beyond that, even today many Christian groups add some work or another to believing in Jesus.  It might be baptism or the keeping of the Sabbath, but whatever it is, if it is a work that is said to be essential to either achieve or maintain salvation, then those who are teaching it are in exactly the same position that the Jews were in.

So while we might think we ‘get it,’ that we must be declared righteous, that we receive it as a gift by believing – Jews and many Christians – at least those who profess to be Christians – STILL do not ‘get it.’

Or we ‘get it’ theologically but then, in practice, we become legalistic.  Having begun in the Spirit we start to think we will make progress by adding rules and regulations, rights and rituals, dress, diets and days to our walk.

We think we can reach the summit by our own efforts.  It’s all grace, all the time, all the way home.

Don’t Diss Your Advantage (Romans 3v1-8)

Have you ever engaged in role playing as an educational tool?  It’s when you rehearse a scenario that you might encounter in the real world in order to learn and practice necessary skills in a less stressful environment.

For example, at our Law Enforcement Chaplain training seminars we role play things like death notifications.  The person being trained assumes the role of Chaplain while trainers and other trainees get assigned various survivor roles.

This next section of Romans, verses one through eight of chapter three, reminds me of a role play.  We might call it an apologetics role play.  Paul asks anticipated real-world questions then answers them.

I’m sure that these were questions he had encountered from Jews as he taught in their synagogues.  Here in his letter to the Romans he anticipates them and asks and answers them as if he were actually there.

The questions are arguments or complaints a devout Jew might ask in light of Paul’s teaching in chapter two.  He had established that being born a Jew, and having God’s Law, and being circumcised, did not save anyone.  He would go on to clearly state that “there is none righteous” – neither Jew nor Gentile.  If anyone is to be saved, God must declare them righteous, which He does when a person believes in Jesus Christ.

If a Jew is just as lost as a Gentile, then why did God make such a distinction between Jews and Gentiles?  If there was some definite advantage to be found in the nation of Israel, and in the fact that the Jew was marked-off by the command of God by the cutting of the flesh to symbolize the covenant, how could Paul say that circumcision had brought nothing to the Jews unless there was a corresponding spiritual cutting of the heart?

Romans 3:1  What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision?

The fact that there are none righteous doesn’t mean Jews had no advantage over others.  The Jew, in fact, had a great advantage over the Gentile and it is expressed in verse two.

Romans 3:2  Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God.

Paul will later expand on the advantage of the Jewish people in Romans 9:4, explaining that Israel also had the adoption, the glory, the covenants,the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises.

By “the oracles of God” Paul means the Hebrew Scriptures, what we call the Old Testament.  Paul doesn’t need to say too much about why this was an advantage because he had alluded to it in the previous chapters.  There we saw that the Gentile has the witness of creation and conscience.  If he will respond to the limited witness he has, God will see to it he receives greater, special revelation – namely, the Word of God in some form.

The Jew already has God’s special revelation of Himself!  Obviously this is a tremendous “advantage” over the Gentile.

The Word of God wasn’t simply available to them.  It was “committed” to them.  It was theirs to read, to study, to proclaim.

Think of it this way.  Is it better to have in your hands a complete Bible?  Or would you be just as knowledgeable if you had only a small portion, a page or two, like many believers in countries like communist China?

OK,  there definitely were advantages to being a Jew.  They had the special revelation they needed to be saved.  But Paul had pointed out that many Jews remained unsaved.  Doesn’t it therefore follow that God had failed?  Had not God made certain unconditional promises to Israel – even indicating ‘all Israel would be saved’?

Romans 3:3  For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect?

Paul used the word “some.”  In fact, as to the coming of Jesus Christ as their Savior, the leaders of the nation of Israel and most of its citizens rejected Him and “did not believe.”

It seemed to make God ineffective in reaching them.  It seemed that His plan of salvation was flawed.

Even today there are folks who suggest that it shows some sort of failure on God’s part if a person Jesus died for ultimately rejects Him.  They thus suggest that the Lord did not die for everyone – only those who He knew would be saved.  They limit the scope of the His work on the Cross to include only those who actually believe.  Their teaching is called “limited atonement.”

We disagree with them.  We would say something like Paul did in verse four.

Romans 3:4  Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. As it is written: “That You may be justified in Your words, And may overcome when You are judged.”

We like the animated movie, Megamind.  There’s a line of dialog spoken by Megamind to his helper, Minion.  He had been wrong but he couldn’t quite bring himself to admit it.  He says to him, “You were right.  I was… less right.”

Whenever there is a question whether God or man is right, always proceed on the basis that God is right and every man is not just “less right” but, by comparison, a liar.

Charles Spurgeon said,

It is a strange, strong expression; but it is none too strong. If God says one thing, and every man in the world says another, God is true, and all men are false. God speaks the truth, and cannot lie. God cannot change; his word, like himself, is immutable. We are to believe God’s truth if nobody else believes it. The general consensus of opinion is nothing to a Christian. He believes God’s word, and he thinks more of that than of the universal opinion of men.

God is faithful.  Unbelief within the elect nation does not render His Word or His plan ineffective.

Paul doesn’t stop there.  He doesn’t just say, “God is always right.  Period.  That’s the way it is.”  He could have stopped there, but he added something.  “That You may be justified in Your words, And may overcome when You are judged.”

This is taken from Psalm 51:4, the psalm in which David is repentant for his sins of adultery and murder.  Despite David’s massive failures, God remained faithful to His Word and to His overall plan for the nation of Israel.

God had made a promise to David, that of the fruit of his body he would set upon his throne; that the Messiah should spring from him; that he would of his seed raise up unto Israel a Savior.  David sinned.  But it did not make the Word of God ineffective.  Not at all.  God’s plan remained intact.

David declared God was “justified in [His] words.”  What words?  His promise that through him Jesus would be born.  Then David declared of God that He would “overcome when [He is] judged.”  “Overcome” can be translated pure.  God may be “judged” by men, but He will remain pure in His faithfulness to keep His promises despite the fact men still sin.

Hmm.  I wonder, then, if it’s a good thing that I sin so that God can put His grace and mercy on display?  And if it is – why does God judge me at all?

That’s the question (complaint, really) of verse five.

Romans 3:5  But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unjust who inflicts wrath? (I speak as a man.)

If our “unrighteousness,” our sin, demonstrates the “righteousness,” the holiness, of God, then it seems unjust for God to judge us for it.  If God is in control of everything, doesn’t it follow I am merely His puppet?
Paul quickly adds “I speak as a man,” meaning that this is an argument, a complaint, in this role play – not a valid conclusion.

Romans 3:6  Certainly not! For then how will God judge the world?

God does not encourage or condone sin to bring glory to Himself.  If He did, He would have no basis upon which to judge men at all.  The Jews could not deny the revelation of Scripture that God definitely would judge sin – so this argument must be wrong.

Romans 3:7  For if the truth of God has increased through my lie to His glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner?

This is another way to state the same argument.  If sin brings glory to God, if my “lie,” for instance, reveals His glorious truth – how can He judge me as a sinner?

Romans 3:8  And why not say, “Let us do evil that good may come”? – as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just.

Taking this even further, if my sin brings greater opportunity for God to be revealed in His holiness, then why not really go for it and sin as much as possible!

By the way, one way of examining a teaching or a theology is to take it to its logical conclusion.  If you arrive at something odd and unbiblical then the  premise of the teaching is flawed.

Sinning so that grace might abound was what the Jews always accused Paul of teaching.  Because he emphasized the grace of God, and because they did not understand grace, they said he was not just condoning sin but actually encouraging sin.

Paul says simply that this was slander.  He nowhere taught that you should sin so that grace might abound.  Rather, since sin abounds already, grace must much more abound if you are ever to be saved!

His answer to this last set of complaints was “Their condemnation is just.”  He was referring to sinners and saying that it is “just” for God to condemn them.

God must condemn sin and sinners.  He is holy.  But He is also love and not willing that any should perish.

That’s where His grace comes in.  Grace is the only method by which to resolve the problem of how a holy God can receive sinners.

God can be both just and the justifier of sinners because of the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross.  His grace-gift of Jesus provides the only possible solution to sin.  On the Cross sin is judged AND sinners are saved.

To suggest that grace condones or encourages sin is to totally misunderstand sin, the Savior, and salvation.

If we find ourselves sometimes accused of preaching a gospel that is “too open” and too centered on faith and grace and God’s work to the exclusion of our works then we find ourselves in good company with Paul.

In Romans 6:1 Paul wrote, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?”  Having just proclaimed that where sin abounds, grace does much more abound (Romans 5:20), Paul confronts the argument that he is preaching that we should go ahead and sin considering that God’s grace is greater.
In Romans 6:15 Paul wrote, “What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under law, but under grace? God forbid.”  Paul preaches so much of God’s grace as being different from God’s law that he is often accused of being soft on sin due to his heavy grace preaching.
In Romans 7:7 Paul wrote, “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid.”  Having preached about the power of the law to incite sin, Paul is accused of preaching that the law is a bad thing.  He refutes that with this argument, going on to state that the law is “holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good” (Romans 7:12).

I ran across this quote about grace.  “Once you are justified by faith, you can do what you want.  But if you want to do all the things you did before you knew Jesus, you don’t understand grace.”

The message of grace balances itself.  Titus 2:11 says, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age.”  God’s grace trains us to “renounce ungodliness.”  Grace itself becomes our instructor.

You and I do not live by rules.  We live in relationship to Jesus Christ.

Some one compiled the following, which I found in a sermon by D.L. Moody.

The Law was given by Moses.
Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

The Law speaks of what man must do for God.
Grace tells of what Christ has done for man.

The Law addresses man as part of the old creation.
Grace makes a man a member of the new creation.

The Law says – This do, and thou shalt live.
Grace says – Live, and then thou shalt do.

The Law demands holiness.
Grace gives holiness.

Would You Like That Circumcised? (Romans 2v17-29)

Growing up I believed there was a God.  I believed that Jesus Christ was the Son of God.  I knew that He died and rose again on the third day; that He ascended into Heaven; and that one day He would judge the living and the dead to determine whether their destination would be Heaven or Hell.

I wasn’t too worried because I was taught that I was born right.  I was born into the right religion, which for me was Roman Catholicism.  I had admirably performed the basic rites and rituals: Baptism, Confession, First Holy Communion, and Confirmation.  By birth and by rites and rituals I would be going to Heaven – if not immediately, eventually.

What a satanic deception!  I was on the broad path that leads to destruction.  All these things were my own works of righteousness which would fall far short of getting me into Heaven.

If ever there were a people born right and into privilege, it was and is the Jews.  If it were possible to be saved, to get into Heaven, based on birth and rites and rituals, then the Jew would have an advantage, for sure.

Paul will effectively argue that even the privileged Jew must be justified by God by believing in Jesus Christ.

Paul discusses Jewish confidence in their Hebrew birth in verses seventeen through twenty-four:

Romans 2:17  Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God,

These are things the Jews trusted in to get them to Heaven:

“Called a Jew” means they were part of God’s chosen nation.  God called Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees and had made a great nation through him.
“Rest on the law” means they believed that their possession of the law gave them ultimate spiritual rest and salvation.
“Make your boast in God” has to do with the fact that the one true God had made unconditional promises to the Jews.

Romans 2:18  and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law,

“Know His will” meant the Jew had special revelation from God.  They had the Hebrew Bible.  They could “approve the things that are excellent” because God had told them what things to do, to not do, to love, to hate.

Jews thus had a great advantage over the Gentiles.  As we saw in chapters one and two, all that the Gentiles had was creation and conscience to guide them.  Special revelation belonged to the Jews.

Romans 2:19  and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness,
Romans 2:20  an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law.

All their privileges gave the Jews a sense of superior knowledge.  They knew the “truth” and had the “law.”  They were at the top of the religious pile.  Gentiles must convert to Judaism in order to enter in to these privileges.

None of these things, however, was sufficient to save even one Jew!  They, too, were lost and in need of the salvation that can only come through being justified by faith.  They, too, needed to be declared righteous by God because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Don’t forget that the point of these opening chapters of Romans is to establish the universal problem that all have fallen short of the glory of God, including the Jews.  There is no one, Jew or Gentile, who is righteous.

Even with all these advantages and privileges being a Jew outwardly brought no change inwardly.

Romans 2:21  You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal?
Romans 2:22  You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?

The Jews taught others, supposedly about God’s righteousness, but they remained unrighteous.  Their teaching had no power to bring change and it was evidenced by the lack of change in themselves.

They still stole and committed adultery.  They did so both openly and secretly.

Openly the Jews stole by, for example, in their practice of what was called korban.  “Korban” means given to God.  A Jew would declare something “korban” and thus it prevented their needy parents from using it.  However, they could still use it while they were alive!  It was a form of stealing from your parents – a form of elder abuse.
Openly the Jews committed adultery, for example, by allowing divorce and remarriage for causes other than physical adultery.  The person who married someone who had been divorced without grounds was committing adultery.

They were also doing these things secretly.

Secretly the Jews stole by coveting.
Secretly the Jews committed adultery by looking upon a woman or a man with lust.

As for idolatry and the robbing of temples, while the Jews may not have idols in the traditional sense, they did allow idolatrous practices to go on in their Temple, e.g., the moneychangers and the selling of ‘approved’ sacrificial animals.

Or this may simply refer to having idols in their hearts and fantasizing about them, in effect “robbing the temples” of the world.

When He was on the earth Jesus strongly rebuked the Pharisees for urging others to do what they could not themselves do.  They put religious burdens on men that they were not able to bear.

Here, Paul accuses the typical Jew – not necessarily the Pharisee, the scribe, or the Sadducee – of doing the same thing the Pharisees did.  They taught and demanded one thing of others and did something else.

Romans 2:23  You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law?

Obviously if you were breaking the very law your were boasting of having and keeping it was dishonoring to God.

Romans 2:24  For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” as it is written.

This is a quote from the prophet Isaiah.  It was intended to cause the first century Jewish reader to think back over the history of Israel.  Far from being a light to the Gentile nations, Israel’s history is one in which her sin caused the name of God to be blasphemed.  Israel had been conquered by the Assyrians, then the Babylonians, then were subject to the Medo-Persians, the Greeks and the Romans.  They would shortly be scattered all over the globe and be without their promised land for about two thousand years.  I’d say that qualifies for the name of God being blasphemed among the Gentiles!

Israel’s greater privileges put her under greater responsibility, and she had failed.

Having said all this, I think we need to understand how difficult it might be for an ethnic Jew to think he was anything other than chosen and thus saved.  He might, for example, point to circumcision as proof he’d been set apart from birth.
No other people circumcised their male children on the eighth day of life. God used it as a mark or a sign, authenticating that the person had made the Old Covenant with Him.  It was done on the eighth day to indicate that Israelites were born into a covenant relationship with God.  They had to do nothing except to be born.

True, but circumcision was always meant as a symbol.  Circumcision was never intended to save anyone.  Even in the Old Testament God told Israel that He was looking for an inward change, a change in the heart, a circumcision of the heart:

Deuteronomy 10:16  “Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer.

The prophet Jeremiah told the circumcised Jews of the sixth century, “Circumcise yourselves to the Lord; remove the foreskin of your hearts, O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem” (4:4).

No outward ordinance or ritual can save anyone.  God is looking for a change of heart, not of flesh.

Romans 2:25  For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.

After a time the Jews became so proud of the outward ritual that they contemptuously called Gentiles “the uncircumcision.”

This comment of Paul’s is pretty strong language.  He was essentially saying that a Jew was no better off than a Gentile.  Worse, that a Jew was just like a Gentile!  He backed it up with irrefutable logic.

Romans 2:26  Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision?
Romans 2:27  And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, judge you who, even with your written code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law?

Paul was saying that the uncircumcised Gentile who followed his own conscience and in principle kept the righteous requirements of the law he didn’t even know – that person had a circumcised heart.

The circumcised Jew who broke the law had an uncircumcised heart.

Circumcision is important – but it’s the spiritual circumcision of the heart which is depicted by the cutting away of the flesh.

Physical circumcision is no longer necessary for spiritual purposes.  It was a forerunner or type of what God really wanted – circumcision of the heart.
This is why the assembled apostles and elders of the New Testament church declared circumcision to be one of the physical requirements of the Old Covenant that is not necessary for Christians.

Circumcision is strictly a medical issue today.  Do what your doctor says!

Romans 2:28  For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh;
Romans 2:29  but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.

True circumcision is a matter of the heart not just of the cutting away of the flesh.  Physical circumcision was meant to picture outwardly what God was doing inwardly.

Paul was talking to the Jews about rites and rituals.  He did not say, nor did he mean to say, that there was no longer any difference in God’s plan between Jews and Gentiles.  He will make it abundantly clear in chapters nine, ten and eleven that God still looks upon the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in a special way.

This passage is not teaching that all believers are now Jews, or that the church has replaced Israel.

Paul was simply stating to Jews that their privileges of birth and special revelation and the law were not sufficient to save them.
You may not be aware of it but it is becoming increasingly more popular for evangelical Christians to join what is called the Jewish roots movement.

I’ll let one of their proponents define what that means.

If you are a Christian then most likely you grew up in a Christian Church where you were taught to be a follower of Jesus. Seldom does it dawn upon the traditional Christian the fact that Jesus Christ, as depicted in the New Testament, was not a Christian but is depicted as a faithful “Orthodox Jew” with a completely different “religious belief system” than a typical Christian. Fewer still ever think at the ramifications of such a statement and go on unknowingly as a traditional Christian as if they are actually a “follower of Jesus” never once allowing the full weight of such a statement to hit home where they begin to compare “doctrinally” the Jewish faith with their Christian birth faith.  Fewer still every think that a “Jewish Jesus” of the first century could not and would not ever ascribe and adopt many of the same “religious beliefs” which they hold and cherish which has been taught them by Gentile Roman Christianity.

The idea is for evangelical believers like us, who are Gentiles, to understand what it meant to be a ‘god-fearer’ and convert to worshipping the way Jewish Christians did in the first century.

Truth is, many in the Jewish roots movement are depending upon the tradition of rabbis that came later than the first century.  Thus it’s not really a return to the Jewish roots so much as it is a turning to some form of Judaism.

Paul would fight these guys!  In fact he did fight them and at the church council in Jerusalem early in the Book of Acts these Jewish Christians refused to put Gentiles under any part of Judaism.

You are not gaining anything by turning to Judaism.  You’re losing something – your freedom in Jesus Christ.

Don’t be fooled.  Having begun in the spirit we will not be made perfect in the flesh.

My Way Ain’t The High Way (Romans 1.21-32)

Warren Wiersbe introduces this portion of Romans by saying, “The greatest judgment God can inflict upon us is to let us have our own way.”

We are going to see what happens when, instead of receiving the witness of God, mankind rejects it and God lets us go our own way.

Romans 1:21  because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

“Although they knew God…”  This is a summary of the previous verses which taught us that God has given a witness of Himself to all men everywhere both externally, in creation, and internally, by putting “eternity in [our] hearts” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

God’s witness is not sufficient by itself for men to be saved by it alone but is enough for men to grope after God, to seek Him, and be found of Him as He sees to it they receive greater revelation of Himself.

Norman Geisler puts it like this: “Someone lost in the darkness of a dense jungle who sees one speck of light should go towards it… If any unbeliever truly sought God through general revelation, God would provide the special revelation sufficient for salvation.”

Those who refuse this witness are next described.  They first of all “[do] not glorify Him as God.”  This means that they will not have God rule over them.

That takes us back to the original sinner and to original sin.  Satan was the original sinner.  In his pride he desired to be like God rather than have God rule over him.

It led to his temptation of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  They, too, desired to be like God and in their pride brought original sin into the human race.

Next men become “unthankful.”  Although God is the source of every good thing men possess, in failing to acknowledge His rule you immediately become unthankful for His resources.  In fact, you start to blame God for the state of things.

Men “become futile in their thoughts.”  Since God ultimately gives everything meaning and purpose, having rejected His rule men must speculate for themselves on the meaning and purpose of life.  These various speculations are man’s godless reasonings about his own nature and the nature of the universe. One author put it like this:

The mind devoid of God’s truth has no way to discriminate between truth and falsehood, between right and wrong, between the significant and the trivial, between the truly beautiful and the monstrous, or between the ephemeral and the eternal.

As he continues to follow his own wisdom “his foolish heart is darkened.”  The light God has given is overcome by ever increasing spiritual darkness.  As Jesus said, “For out of the [darkened] heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies” (Matthew 15:19).

Romans 1:22  Professing to be wise, they became fools,

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote, “the whole drift towards modernism that has blighted the church… and nearly destroyed its living gospel may be traced to an hour when men began to turn from revelation to philosophy.”

Psychology provides a great example.  Godless men speculate on the human pysche, on the human condition, on what makes you and I tic.  They do all this without reference to the description of man as fallen and in need of salvation.  It is proffered as “wisdom” but it can only be foolishness.

Romans 1:23  and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man; and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.

Man in his own wisdom still tries to fill the “eternity in his heart” with worship.  He invents his own religion.  Man becomes an idolater.  He fashions gods to resemble himself, then settles for gods in the image of lesser creatures.

By the way, historians verify an important fact.  Ancient cultures begin with the worship of one god and only later begin to worship many gods.

Herodotus, the famous Greek historian of the 5th century BC, said that the earliest Persians had no pagan temples or idols.
The 1st century Roman scholar Varro reported that Romans had no animal or human images of a god for 170 years after the founding of Rome.
Lucian, a 2nd century AD Greek writer, made similar statements concerning early Greece and Egypt.
The 4th century Christian historian Eusebius declared that “the oldest peoples had no idols.”

This is just what you would expect from Paul’s analysis, and it is exactly the opposite of what the Theory of Evolution would and does predict.

Man’s worship is a wreckage; so is his wedlock.  Wedlock is the pledge of marriage within God’s blessed boundaries.  This most cherished of a loving Creator’s purposes for His creatures is in global wreckage today, just as described in these verses:

Romans 1:24  Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves,
Romans 1:25  who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

The “truth of God” Paul seems to be referring to is the sanctity of marriage.  I say that because the discussion here, about sexual perversions, depend upon there being a standard, a measure, for proper sexual expression.
And it’s clear Paul was thinking about the Garden of Eden because he refers to their believing “the lie,” a reference to Satan’s temptation.

God’s first commandment to Adam and Eve was “Be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28).  What He meant by that is stated in Genesis 2:24, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”  Monogamous, heterosexual marriage was God’s purpose and wisdom for His creatures.  It should be no surprise, then, that once His creatures have rejected His right to rule them that monogamous, heterosexual marriage gives way to the perversions listed here.

You are told “God gave them up.”  This doesn’t mean that God gives up on mankind; it means that He gives mankind over to the inevitable consequences of their decision to reject His rule and to rule themselves.  He gives mankind over to what they desire, but then they must bear the awful consequences.

From the sanctity of marriage they are given over to “uncleanness in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves.”  Because of the discussion of homosexuality that immediately follows we tend to overlook that this verse is likely referring to heterosexual perversions of the sanctity of marriage.  Fornication between unmarried men and women, as well as adultery by those who are married, are just as sinful as what follows.  The fact that these are so common in society so as to no longer shock us does not change their perverse nature.

There is then a discussion of homosexuality.

Romans 1:26  For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.
Romans 1:27  Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.

The verses speak for themselves.  All male and female homosexuality is “vile,” “against nature,” a “burning lust,” and is “shameful.”
It’s interesting to note Paul wrote to a culture where homosexuality was
accepted as a part of life for both men and women.  For some 200 years men who openly practiced homosexuality, often with young boys, ruled the Roman Empire.  At times the Roman Empire specifically taxed approved homosexual prostitution and gave boy prostitutes a legal holiday.  Legal marriage between same gender couples was recognized, and even some
of the emperors married other men.

Does Paul single out sexual sin, and especially homosexuality, because it is the worst sin?  Or because once a society gets there it’s through?
Probably not, because there are other sins which are just as bad.  C.S. Lewis shares this insight.

If anyone thinks that Christians regard unchastity as the supreme vice, he is quite wrong.  The sins of the flesh are bad, but they are the least bad of all sins.  All the worst pleasures are purely spiritual… A cold, self-righteous [person] who regularly goes to church, may be far nearer to hell than a prostitute.  But of course, it’s better to do neither.

Why, then, are these sins singled-out?  It may be because they are so obviously unnatural that they illustrate the extent to which men devolve apart from God.

Fornication, adultery and homosexuality are sins.  To say that this is an antiquated view, that we know better now, is exactly the kind of ‘professing to be wise when we are fools’ that Paul was talking about.  Acceptance of these behaviors isn’t something to be proud of, as if we are smarter than our ancestors.  It’s something to be ashamed of because we have become more foolish.

It’s actually good news that they are sins because it means you can be forgiven and delivered from them.  Listen to this passage from First Corinthians 6:9-11.

1 Corinthians 6:9  Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites,
1 Corinthians 6:10  nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.
1 Corinthians 6:11  And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

Do we think “thieving” is something you are born to do?  Do we think that “coveting” should be legalized?  Is “extortion” to be expected?  The Bible puts sexual sins and drunkenness in this same category.

Some of the Corinthians had been homosexuals and drunkards, etc.  Not anymore!  They had been “washed… sanctified… justified.”  They got saved!

It says here that those who commit sexual sin receive “in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.”  Do you realize that there would never have been sexually transmitted diseases if mankind had followed God’s purpose for marriage?

In rejecting God men pervert their worship and their wedlock.  Paul now describes the resulting wantonness of their society.  When you give up God and give up God’s way of founding your society on biblical marriage, these are the results.

Romans 1:28  And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting;
Romans 1:29  being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers,
Romans 1:30  backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
Romans 1:31  undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful;

This is a perfect description of our contemporary society.  You could take anything listed here and list statistic after statistic to verify that our society is increasing in these things with no end in sight.

As a final indictment Paul says in verse thirty-two,
Romans 1:32  who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.

Here is something else all men everywhere for all time are said to “know” – they know that these behaviors are deserving of punishment by God Who is revealed to them in creation.  Nevertheless they “did not like to retain” this knowledge of God.  They willfully reject all that God has revealed to them, rather than responding to it.

“Do the same” doesn’t mean behaving exactly the same way.  It’s talking about having the same attitude of pride regardless the specific manifestations in behavior.  It’s like the C.S. Lewis quote.  Those whose sins are spiritual “do the same” as those whose sins are fleshly.

Worse than the activities of wantonness is the attitude of a society in approving of it.  Now you most often hear this applied to sitting in front of your TV set or going to a movie to be entertained by activities that are ungodly.

I’m not defending that but let’s get real.  If that were the case, you wouldn’t be able to read large portions of the Bible!  We do need to be careful regarding what we watch and expose ourselves to.  But I always think of it in terms of intent as well as content.  In other words, some of the content portrays evil behavior, but what is the intent?  With the Bible, the intent is to reveal the grace of God, the mercy of God… things like that.

A better understanding of this verse has to do with society passing laws that condone these activities, giving approval to them.  We’ve done that in America and we will, as a populace, continue to do it until we return to God.

It’s right to oppose homosexual marriage.  Just realize that we’ve already passed laws legalizing or at least condoning and giving tacit approval to many other sexual sins.  I am admittedly naive when it comes to both the law and politics, but it seems to me that no-fault divorce gives tacit approval to adultery.  Adultery doesn’t really factor in to the legal dissolution of marriages.

A ‘win’ by stopping homosexual marriage is good but we’re already pretty far into the perversions listed here.

I’m not against fighting our devolution as a society on the level of the laws we pass.  Just don’t forget that the political fight doesn’t deal with the root issue.  We must be about the sharing of the gospel so that what we can say to folks,  “And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”

The Grace Of Wrath (Romans 1.18-20)

“Has the God who prepared the gospel for all peoples also prepared all peoples for the gospel?”

It’s a question Don Richardson asks then answers in his classic book, Eternity in Their Hearts.  It is full of historical information showing ways various unreached peoples have exhibited a divine preparation for the gospel.

In biblical terms we would say that God has given all men everywhere for all time a witness of Himself in creation as the Creator.  The next three verses in Romans chapter one (18-20) talk about that witness.

The witness is both external and internal:

Externally you read in verse twenty, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen…”
Internally you read in verse nineteen, “…what may be known of God is manifest in them…”

Let’s look more closely at these verses to determine what they mean.

Romans 1:18  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,

Paul in verse seventeen has just told us that “the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith…”  We talked about exactly what he meant.  He meant that God saves ungodly sinners and gives them a right standing before Him without violating His holy nature when they believe what Jesus did for them on the Cross.  God justifies them, declaring them righteous.  He sees them ‘just-as-if-they’d’ never sinned.

Now Paul says that something else is “revealed.”  The “wrath of God is revealed from Heaven…”

God hates sin.  His hatred of sin brings His “wrath.”  God’s wrath is not what we think of as anger.  It is simply His terrible judgment upon sin and sinners.

God’s wrath has been compared to the waters that gather behind a dam. While the dam holds, all who live in the fertile valley below are secure to go about their business as they choose, giving no thought to their danger.  When the dam breaks all who have ignored their danger are engulfed and destroyed.

God’s longsuffering with mankind is the dam that holds back His wrath.  As you read in Second Peter 3:9, “the Lord is not slack concerning His promise [of judgment to come], as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

Paul says that the wrath of God “is revealed from heaven.”  It has been revealed in the past and that it will ultimately be revealed.

God has in the past intervened to reveal His wrath against sin from Heaven.  Noah’s Flood and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah revealed God’s wrath.
God will intervene in the future to reveal His wrath against sin from Heaven.  Revelation chapters six through eighteen describe the outpouring of God’s wrath against sin during the future Great Tribulation that is coming upon the whole planet earth.

God’s wrath is “against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men…”

“Ungodliness” is a wrong relationship with God.
“Unrighteousness” is a wrong relationship with men.

We’ll see more of this, the specific acts of unrighteousness, in the closing verses of chapter one.
Men are said to “suppress the truth in unrighteousness.”  It means that they suppress the truth for the sake of their own unrighteousness.  They love their sin and so they don’t want to acknowledge the truth.

What is the “truth” that they suppress?  It is the witness of the Creator, both internally and externally, described in verses nineteen and twenty.

Romans 1:19  because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.

Are folks who have never heard the gospel really lost? Yes, but not because they haven’t heard the gospel.  It’s because they refuse the witness God has given them.

Charles Hodge is described as “the most influential American Presbyterian theologian of the nineteenth century.”  This extremely conservative theologian writes concerning Romans 1:19,

The knowledge of God [described here] does not mean simply a knowledge that there is a God… it is not of mere external revelation of which the apostle is speaking, but of that evidence of the being and perfections of God which every man has in the constitution of his own nature, and in virtue of which he is competent to apprehend the manifestations of God in His works…This knowledge is a revelation; it is the manifestation of God in His works, and in the constitution of our nature.

Everyman everywhere for all time has a capacity to know God.  Solomon described it in Ecclesiastes by saying that God “has put eternity in their hearts” (3:11). You were created with an internal capacity to respond to God’s revelation of Himself as your Creator through His external creation.

The external witness of God’s creation is in verse twenty:

Romans 1:20  For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,

Design demands a Designer; Creation calls for a Creator.  In Psalm 19:1-4 you read,
Psalms 19:1  The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.
Psalms 19:2  Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge.
Psalms 19:3  There is no speech nor language Where their voice is not heard.
Psalms 19:4  Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their words to the end of the world…

Paul, in full agreement with the psalmist, is saying that all men everywhere for all time have a witness of God both through His creation and in their own capacity to respond to God’s revelation of Himself through creation.

He is also very specific about what attributes of God can be known to all men everywhere for all time: “His eternal power and Godhead.”

We might summarize this by saying that creation declares both a power and a person.  Creation reveals the power and existence of God.

This knowledge leaves you “without excuse.”  It leaves you without excuse for remaining alienated from God in your unrighteous condition.  All men everywhere for all time are held accountable for personally rejecting God’s revelation of Himself to them through creation.

One author commented, “man are not condemned for rejecting a Savior they have never heard of, but for not being faithful for what they could know of God.”

Men cannot be saved by the witness of God to themselves through creation alone.  Ecclesiastes 3:11 reads in full,

Ecclesiastes 3:11  He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.

In other words, God has revealed Himself to everyone through creation, and He has given them the capacity to respond to that witness, but the witness of creation to your heart is not sufficient for you to “find out the work that God does from beginning to end.”  You need further revelation from God to be saved.
Evangelicals hold the position that God further reveals Himself to those who respond to His universal witness of creation to their hearts.

Theologian Robert Lightner puts it best when he says,

God has given to all a revelation of Himself in [creation]… In lands where the gospel has not reached, God holds men responsible to receive the revelation He has given them.  When they receive it, He in sovereign grace sees to it that they hear the Good News of salvation in Christ alone so they can believe and be saved.  Response to God’s message in [creation]…does not bring salvation, but it does reveal a willingness to respond to God.  It gives evidence of an open and receptive heart.

Pastor John MacArthur writes,

Every person, no matter how isolated from God’s written Word or the clear proclamation of the Gospel, has enough divine truth evident both within and around him… to enable him to know and be reconciled to God if his desire is genuine.

Is this going too far?  Not at all!  Paul says the same thing himself, in Scripture, in Acts 17:26-27,

Acts 17:26  “And [God] has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,
Acts 17:27  “so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;

We would add to this an understanding that God saves those who, for one reason or another, cannot believe.  That would include children who have not reached an age of accountability and those with diminished mental capacity.

But how can they be saved?  On what basis, since we are all inheritors of sin?

Salvation is made possible by Jesus dying on the Cross and rising from the dead.  Commenting upon the salvation God has provided, the apostle Paul said in First Timothy 4:10,

1 Timothy 4:10  For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.

It’s an important statement because it establishes that the Cross of Jesus Christ is sufficient to save the entire human race.  Those who exercise faith and “believe” are actually saved.  Those who do not exercise faith remain dead in their trespasses and sins.

The question we are asking is, “What about all those, like infants and children, who cannot believe, who cannot exercise faith?”

Those who cannot believe are never called upon in the Bible to believe!

Only adults capable of making a decision are called upon to believe.  Infants and young children, and we would add anyone who is mentally incapable of making a decision, are never called upon to believe in order to be saved.

Faith has no merit of its own.  It adds nothing to the salvation provided by Jesus Christ.  It’s absence in those who cannot believe does not exclude them from being saved.

Is this universalism?  Am I saying that everyone is saved?  Of course not!  I’m saying that in the case of all who cannot believe God is able to apply the finished work of Jesus Christ on the Cross without the need for them to exercise faith.

God Himself often distinguishes between the decision-making capacity of adults and children.  We find one important example in the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy.  God was explaining to the Israelites that because of their prior decision to disobey God they would never enter the Promised Land.  God, however, would not hold their children accountable for that decision.

Deuteronomy 1:39  ‘Moreover your little ones and your children, who you say will be victims, who today have no knowledge of good and evil, they shall go in there; to them I will give it, and they shall possess it.

There are other passages we could cite that speak of children as having no “knowledge” of good and evil and, so, not held accountable (Jonah 4:11 & Romans 9:11).  They are still sinners, inheritors of a sin nature.  But when the die God can save them by His grace based on the shed blood of Jesus without faith that they cannot possibly exercise.

Some would argue that the Bible never states a particular ‘age of accountability.’  That’s true, there is no one age at which accountability kicks-in.  But it is clear from the passage in Deuteronomy that God Himself distinguishes between adults who can be held accountable for their decisions and children who cannot.

Am I going out on a theological limb?  If so, I’ve got company!

James Strong, theologian and famous for the Strong’s Concordance,  writes,

The condition of salvation for adults is personal faith.  Infants are incapable of fulfilling this condition.  Since Christ has died for all, we have reason to believe that provision is made for their reception of Christ in some other way.

Robert Lightner writes,

Faith has no merit of its own.  It adds nothing to the complete salvation provided by Christ… Since faith contributes nothing, its absence in those who cannot exercise it does not hinder the sovereign God from accomplishing in them all that He does in those who can and do believe.  All who can believe must do so to receive eternal life.  All who cannot believe receive the same eternal life provided by Christ for them at the time of death because they are able to neither receive nor to reject it.

Regarding the place of personal faith in salvation, even the Reformer, John Calvin, insisted that while Romans 10:17 (“so then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”) makes hearing the beginning of faith, Paul was only describing the usual method which the Lord uses in calling people to Himself.  Calvin said, “[Paul is] “not laying down an invariable rule, for which no other method can be substituted” (Institutes of the Christian Religion, book IV, 542).

In other words, God can save apart from a person exercising personal faith, and He does in fact save in the case of those who cannot exercise faith, e.g., infants and children and the mentally disabled.

All men everywhere for all time are in God’s heart to save.  When they respond to His revelation of Himself in creation, He in Sovereign grace sees to it that they receive more revelation.  Thus all men everywhere who reject God’s witness through creation are without excuse; they are “suppress[ing] the truth in unrighteousness.”

Let me read to you (in closing) an account from Don Richardson’s book.  It is in a section subtitled, The Chinese and Their Writing System.

Early missionaries to China faced a formidable obstacle.  They had to learn the Chinese writing system.  As westerners, accustomed to writing with European alphabets of approximately 26 letters, they gasped!  Chinese writing, they found, used a system based upon 214 symbols called “radicals.”

They gasped again when they learned that those 214 radicals… combined to form between 30,000 to 50,000 ideographs.
Why on earth would the sovereign God permit any people to develop a writing system so “radical”?  … [It seemed] that Chinese writing placed an almost impassable barrier in the way of communicating the gospel to one-quarter of mankind.

One day, however, one of the missionaries… was studying a particular ideograph, the one which means “righteous.”  He noticed that it contained an upper and a lower part.  The upper part was simply the Chinese symbol for a lamb.  Directly under the lamb was a second symbol, the first personal pronoun I.  Suddenly he discerned an amazingly well-coded message hidden within the ideograph: I under the lamb am righteous!

It was nothing less than the heart of the gospel he had crossed the ocean to preach.

Paul’s Roads Lead To Rome (Romans 1v8-17)

There are times I almost regret not seeing the Great Wall of China when I was in Beijing.  I didn’t see anything of any tourist interest, really, because I was babysitting one of the believers on our Bible-smuggling trip who was having an extremely difficult time with homesickness.

In retrospect I don’t really care because I did get to see something much more precious.  I got to meet secretly, clandestinely, with a couple who were involved with the secret underground church.  It was better than anything I could have hoped for.

The apostle Paul wanted to go to Rome.  It wasn’t the Coliseum that interested him; it was the church.  Not a building, but the people – whom he had never even met!

Romans 1:8  First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.

Before he got too deeply into the explanation of the gospel, Paul showed the Roman believers the effect of the gospel.  The gospel he preached caused him to “thank my God through Jesus Christ” for “all” of them.  He had never seen them, he didn’t know them.  When he finally arrived in Rome there would be those among them who resented Paul.  Nevertheless the gospel had so affected his heart that he could not help but “thank’ God for them.

It is so important to be right about God, to have correct doctrine.  It is also important to be affected by it in a way that reveals itself by loving those whom God loves.

Paul was thankful “through Jesus Christ.”  He saw these Romans the way Jesus did – “through” the compassion of Jesus.  He saw them as works in progress on their way to completion and perfection.
The Roman church of the first century had an incredible reputation.  Their “faith” was “spoken of throughout the whole” of the Roman “world.”

Sometimes “world” means the whole world, as in “God so loved the world…”  And other times it is being used as we would in everyday language to mean something less than the whole world.  Context will determine the meaning.

If I mentioned a particular church, something would come to your mind about them and their gatherings.  That is how they are “spoken of” throughout the world of Kings County.

That means we have a reputation!  How would you describe us?  How do others?  It is an interesting question.  Send me an e-mail, if you’d like, telling me how you describe Calvary Hanford when asked.

Romans 1:9  For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers,

Paul takes an unusual oath, saying “God is my witness.”  I’m not sure why he felt it necessary.  But it is interesting as a reminder that God is witness to our spiritual life – the real one no on else sees!  That’s not a bad thing.

Paul tells them he constantly prayed for them but he establishes that it was out of joy rather than duty, out of relationship rather than religion.  He served God “with [his] spirit,” as a matter of his heart.

Obviously Paul didn’t mean he was 24/7 on his knees.  Praying without ceasing is something outside of the physical realm.  It is knowing you are in constant communication with God, in an attitude of being in His presence.  It must include actual prayer times!  But it is more than those.

Romans 1:10  making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you.

Paul was called to preach to the Gentiles and, since Rome was the center of the Gentile world, to Rome he wanted to go.  His prayer was passionate but subordinate to “the will of God.”

Paul was a guy whose philosophy was to ‘go’ unless God stopped him.  Others are more ‘stay’ unless God prompts them.  I don’t see one way of thinking as more spiritual than the other, and either can be unspiritual.

You can force your way into some service, some position, that is really not the will of God.  You seem like a ‘go’ type, but the question becomes, “Were you sent, or did you just went?”
You can refuse some service, some position, that is the will of God for you for a variety of reasons.

If you’re always breaking down doors, that’s a problem.  If you’re never going through open doors, that, too, is a problem.  Figure it out!

Romans 1:11  For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established –
Romans 1:12  that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.

What did Paul mean by saying he wanted to “impart some spiritual gift?”  In our minds we might gravitate to the thought that, because he was an apostle, he could, by the laying on of his hands, be a channel through which God would impart spiritual gifts to a believer.

While we practice the laying on of hands for various things, including when we ask God to give gifts, it seems from what he says next that Paul meant something less exclusive.  He was simply describing what happens, or what can happen, in the meetings of the church.

Paul had a very high regard for the fellowship of God’s people with one another.  Not just their friendships and socializing.  There’s nothing wrong with that, but here he was talking about meetings of the church.  He saw them as times when the “mutual faith” of believers would encourage everyone in attendance as they exercised their various “spiritual gift[s].”  He would “impart,” which means share, his gifts, e.g., teaching.  In doing so they would be “established,” meaning they would be strengthened.  The believers would also “impart,” or share, their gifts and the result would be the encouragement and edification of the whole body of Jesus Christ.

Romans 1:13  Now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you (but was hindered until now), that I might have some fruit among you also, just as among the other Gentiles.

If you follow Paul’s missionary journeys you see he was “hindered” in at least four ways:

The Holy Spirit sometimes hindered him, for example, when Paul wanted to go Asia to preach the gospel but instead he received the Macedonian Call in a vision.
The devil sometimes hindered Paul.  He says so outright in First Thessalonians 1:18.
Other times the pressing needs of the churches he had founded hindered him from going to Rome.
Paul warned about false teachers to believers in Galatians 5:7, “You ran well.  Who hindered you from obeying the truth?”

Some hinderances, then, are for the betterment of your walk.  But others are not!  Ask yourself, “What, if anything, is hindering me right now in my relationship with Jesus?”

If it is something you can do something about, do it!  If it isn’t something you can change, don’t get frustrated or lose focus.  Ride it out and learn what God is teaching you.

Paul speaks in verse thirteen of “having some fruit among you also, just as among the other Gentiles.”  By “fruit” he was anticipating that many more nonbelievers would come to Christ through his teaching the believers and preaching to nonbelievers.

Paul thought that the gospel ought to have an effect.  So should we.

Romans 1:14  I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise.
Romans 1:15  So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also.

Paul was a “debtor.”  We think of that as a very negative term and it can be.   His idea of “debt” wasn’t a lack but an overflow. He had been given so much by the Lord he felt he was indebted and had to give back by sharing from the abundance he had been given.

Paul was ready to preach to those who were cultured as well as those who were crude; to those who were intellectuals as well as to those who were ignorant.

The gospel is a universal message.  It’s not an eastern message, or a western one.  It is not an ancient message or a modern one.  It is for everyone, everywhere, throughout all of human history.

The gospel message does not change.  How we deliver it must change if we are truly wanting to reach people with it.  We should not expect nonbelievers to conform to our presentation, to learn our jargon, in order to hear the message of salvation.  Without changing the gospel in any way we must present it in ways that make sense to folks across every demographic.

Paul was “ready to preach the gospel” in Rome as he had elsewhere.  John Phillips, in his commentary on the Book of Romans, noted,

When Paul preached the gospel at Jerusalem, the religious center of the world, he was mobbed.  When he preached it at Athens, the intellectual center of the world, he was mocked.  When he preached it at Rome, the legislative center of the world, he was martyred.

Mostly we will be mocked.  It can make us feel ashamed.

Romans 1:16  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.

There were a lot of reasons why you might be ashamed of the gospel in the first century.

Among Jews you might be ashamed because they considered it a shameful thing for a person to be crucified.  Yet you were suggesting that their Messiah was, in fact, crucified.
Among the Greeks you might be ashamed because they considered the message of the Cross to be an inferior, ignorant position.

We still face those criticisms today.  Especially the accusation of ignorance.  Christians are thought to have left their brains at the door when they converted to Christ.  After all, really smart people have proven that the Bible is full of errors, haven’t they?  They’ve shown that God doesn’t exist, haven’t they?  Religion is for wimps who cannot cope, isn’t it?

The gospel “is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes…”   One author wrote,

The gospel is not advice to people, suggesting that they lift themselves.  It is power. It lifts them up.  Paul does not say that the gospel brings power, but that it is power, and God’s power at that” (Morris).

Rome was reputed to be the center of world power but despite all her power she was powerless to change men’s lives.  The ancient philosopher Seneca called Rome “a cesspool of iniquity” and the ancient writer Juvenal called it a “filthy sewer into which the dregs of the empire flood.”

“Salvation” has the basic meaning of being delivered.  The gospel delivers sinners from the penalty, the punishment, and the power of sin.

Notice the emphasis on “believes,” not on behaving.  God does not ask men to behave a certain way in order to be saved, but rather to believe.

Historically this message was preached “for the Jew first and also for the Greek.”  Jesus told His first followers to wait for the promise of the Holy Spirit and then preach the gospel in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and then to the uttermost parts of the world.  We live in the time when the gospel is going out to the uttermost.

The gospel is given to us in just a few words by Paul in First Corinthians 15:1-4.

1 Corinthians 15:1  Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand,
1 Corinthians 15:2  by which also you are saved…
1 Corinthians 15:3  For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
1 Corinthians 15:4  and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

That’s simple enough, but here is the question.  Since God is infinitely holy, how can He save sinners and receive them into His presence based solely on what they believe?

It has to do with what is here called “the righteousness of God.”

Romans 1:17  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.”

The word “righteousness” is used in one way or the other over sixty times in this book.  The word is used in at least three ways:

First it is used to describe the attribute of God by which He always does what is right, just, proper and consistent with His nature.
Second the righteousness of God refers to the method by which He saves ungodly sinners.
Third it refers to the perfect standing which God provides for those who believe on Jesus.

God’s righteousness, then, has to do with how He is able to save ungodly sinners and give them a right standing before Him without violating His holiness or any other attribute of His nature.

How He does this is “revealed” to be “from faith to faith.”  That means the way God saves sinners consistent with His nature is by “faith” from beginning to end.  It begins with faith and then it continues by faith.  It is a matter of belief not behavior.  Works never come into the picture.

Another word is introduced: “just.”  “Just” is short for “justified,” or for “justification.”

William Barclay explains the meaning of the ancient Greek word dikaioo, which means I justify, and is the root of dikaioun (righteousness).

All verbs in Greek which end in oo… always mean to treat, or account or reckon a person as something.  If God justifies a sinner, it does not mean that he finds reasons to prove that he was right – far from it.  It does not even mean, at this point, that he makes the sinner a good man.  It means that God treats the sinner as if he had not been a sinner at all.

Justification is the act of God by which He declares a believing sinner righteous on the basis of Jesus Christ’s finished work on the Cross.

“The just shall live by faith” could be translated, “the justified-by-faith-ones shall live, i.e., have eternal life.”  A paraphrase would be, “justification by faith is how God saves sinners and remains holy.”

God saves ungodly sinners and gives them a right standing before Him without violating His nature when they believe what Jesus did for them on the Cross.  He justifies them, declaring them righteous.

We’ll later on in Romans see Paul utilize a banking metaphor.  He’ll tell us that when a person believes in Jesus, God puts righteousness in their account in Heaven, He credits them with righteousness, while withdrawing all their sin, debiting their sin.

The Book of Romans will explain that there is no one righteous, nor can you ever become righteous by behaving a certain way.  The only way for you to have God’s righteousness is for Him to declare you righteous, and the only way He can do that is for you to believe in Jesus, the God-man, God incarnate.

In verse seventeen Paul quoted from the Old Testament Book of Habakkuk.    In Romans he will quote from the Old Testament more than in all of his other writing combined.  This is no new message, invented by Jesus or Paul in the first century.  It is God’s plan of salvation from the beginning.

I’ll close with this quote by E. Stanley Jones: “Religions are man’s search for God; the gospel is God’s search for man.  There are many religions, but one gospel.”