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Message 35
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“THE FOUNDATION”
COMMENTARY
By: Leroy Surface
A
VERSE by VERSE COMMENTARY
on
the FIRST ELEVEN CHAPTERS of the
book
of ROMANS
Plus,
(on this web site)
“THE FOUNDATION” Commentary
features
an
INTEGRATED Question and Answer
STUDY
COURSE
Especially
written and compiled by:
Keith Surface
to
work in conjunction with this commentary.
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About
this Commentary and Study Coarse.
In an attempt to
make the message of the book of Romans easier to understand, this commentary
has been divided into HEADINGS and TOPICS. There are 7 headings, under
which are listed 23 topics. These headings and topics do not, in all cases, correspond exactly to the chapter divisions,
but, the series of 23 Q&A LESSONS of the Study Course do correspond with the 23 topics. These LESSONS bear the topic (#),
the heading, the Topic name, and the scripture verses included in
the topic.
For the convenience
of the reader, you can, at the end of any topic (in the
commentary), go directly to the Question and Answer LESSON (Q&A) for that particular topic (in the
Study Course) by simply clicking on the Q&A link at the end of the topic. Then (at the end of each lesson)
you can (again with just a click) return directly to the following topic (in the
Commentary). We believe you will find, both the commentary, and the
integrated study course, wonderful assets, not only in learning what the
scriptures say; but in understanding the wonderful message of the “gospel of
Jesus Christ” contained in the words of these eleven chapters of scripture,
which were written to the Romans by the apostle Paul.
The answers to the questions in each Study
Course LESSON, is found at the end of each particular LESSON.
There is also a list of the answers for all 23 LESSONS at the end of
the STUDY COURSE. If you would like to do a print out of the answers
for all the
lessons, you can go to the Complete Answer List, copy
and paste the answers into your WORD processor, and print. To go directly
to the Complete Answer List from this point:
>CLICK HERE<
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TABLE
OF CONTENTS
To
go to any topic in this commentary, CLICK on its name below.
HEADING
(#)
TOPIC NAME VERSES
(#1)
The Justice of God
(1)
Not Ashamed of the Gospel 1:1-17
(2) A Nation Without Excuse 1:18-32
(3) The Prosecution 2:1-29
(4) The Condemnation 3:1-20
(5) Justifying the Ungodly 3:21-31
(#2)
Justification by Faith
(6) What Abraham Found 4:1-12
(7) Access to the Promise 4:13 - 5:2
(#3)
Grace
(8) Standing in Grace 5:1-11
(9) God’s Righteousness Revealed 5:12-21
(#4)
The Work of the Cross
(10) Dead with Christ 6:1-10
(11) Lest Sin Reign 6:11-17
(12) Free from Sin 6:18-23
(13)
Dead to the Law 7:1-4
(#5)
In the Flesh
(14) The Working of Sin 7:5-13
(15) Sold Under Sin 7:14-25
(16) The Carnal Mind 8:1-8
(#6)
In the Spirit
(17) Quickened by the Holy Ghost 8:9-16
(18) The Infirmity of the Body 8:17-28
(19) Glorification by the Holy Ghost 8:29-39
(#7) The People of God
(20) Who God Receives 9:1-29
(21) The Righteousness
of Faith
9:30 - 10:21
(22) Who God “Cast
Away”
11:1-15
(23) The Olive Tree:
God’s Israel 11:16-36
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“THE
FOUNDATION”
By: Leroy Surface
Foreword
to Paul’s Letter to the Romans
According to the
grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the
foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he
buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid,
which is Jesus Christ.
I Corinthians 3:10-11
The clearest
presentation of “the gospel,” ever given, is found in Paul’s letter to
the Romans. It plainly reveals how God saves sinners through “death and
resurrection” with Jesus Christ. Certainly this is the revelation of
“Jesus Christ and Him crucified;” the FOUNDATION upon which the true church is
built. Paul said “For other foundation can no man lay than that
is laid, which is (by, through, and in) Jesus Christ.”
The purpose of this
commentary is not to lay a new foundation, but to uncover the
original foundation; the foundation which was laid, by Paul, after
he had received it directly from God by revelation. This commentary is
the result of studying the King James Version of the Bible, along with “Strong’s
Exhaustive Concordance with Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries,” throughout
forty five years of ministry. I have not studied doctrine from any other
source. If the message of this commentary differs from most, it is
because this writer believes that scripture can only be correctly understood in
the light of all the other scriptures.
Paul speaks much
about “the righteousness (the justice) of God.” The purpose
of his letter to the Romans is to reveal the “righteousness (or justice)
of God” that saves sinners. Interwoven into this same epistle is
Paul’s defense of God for His righteous judgment of Israel. He lays it
out as the record of a court trial; complete with an indictment, prosecution,
charge to the jury, findings of the court, verdict, sentence, and finally, the “judgment
of God” of what to do with condemned sinners. It is here that the “righteousness
(or justice) of God” is revealed. Within days of His death on
the cross, Jesus said, “Now is the judgment of this world” (John
12:31). Perhaps Paul’s letter is a record of that judgment.
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The First Chapter of Romans
If Paul’s revelation
of the “righteousness of God” is laid out as a court trial, the “indictment”
begins with the eighteenth verse of this first chapter; the
controversy is between God and His chosen people, Israel. For centuries,
many have tried to show that it is the heathen nations who are “without
excuse,” but Paul clearly proves by repeated quotations from the Psalms,
that God’s displeasure was not with the heathen, but with His people,
Israel.
The sins of Israel,
as related in this chapter, are those that led to the destruction of Jerusalem
over five hundred years before the birth of Jesus Christ. In his “indictment,”
Paul clearly defends and vindicates God for His judgment against them.
TOPIC
1
The
Justice of God: Not Ashamed of the Gospel
Romans
chapter
1:verses 1 through 17
1-2 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ,
called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, (Which he had
promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,)
The “gospel of
God” was the “good news” the prophets of the Old Testament preached
concerning a wonderful salvation which was to come through a redeemer who would
be called “the anointed one (The Messiah).” Paul will show
that the salvation of which they preached has come through Jesus Christ,
the Son of God.
3 Concerning his
Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the
flesh;
The promised Messiah
would be born of the “house of David,” and would be called the “son
of David.” According to the scriptural records (of Matthew, 1:1-17, and Luke 3:23-38), Jesus was born of the
seed of David according to His fleshly lineage.
4 And declared to
be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the
resurrection from the dead:
The life and
ministry of Jesus, although a “sinless life” and a “miraculous
ministry,” aroused much hatred against Him from the religious hierarchy of
the Jews. Even the high priests, along with the scribes, Pharisees,
lawyers, and most of the Sanhedrin court plotted His death. It was His “resurrection
from the dead” that proved He was, in fact, “The Son of God with power.”
5 By whom we have
received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for
his name:
Paul said he had
received “grace and apostleship.” “Apostleship” was his “commission”
to preach the gospel to all nations. “Grace” was given to Paul to
fulfill the commission. As you study the writings of Paul, “grace” will take
on a completely different, but much more glorious, meaning than most people
understand.
6 Among whom are
ye also the called of Jesus Christ:
If Paul was called
by God to preach the gospel, even so are we who are “the called” of the
Gentile nations.
7-8 To all that be in Rome, beloved
of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and
the Lord Jesus Christ. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you
all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.
The church in Rome
was made up of both Jews and Gentiles who believed. It is likely that due
to the influence of the Jews among them, the church, while believing that Jesus
was the Messiah, the Son of God, also held to the Law of Moses for righteousness.
Paul’s desire was to give them his revelation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
9-11 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; Making request, if by any means now at length I might
have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you. For I long
to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may
be established;
Paul’s concern for
this church was such that he “prayed without ceasing” that he might come
to them “…to the end (the purpose or goal that) ye may be
established.” They were “believers,” yet as many others both
then and now, they needed someone to “expound unto them the way of God more
perfectly (Acts 18:26).” Paul had received
the gospel by “revelation of Jesus Christ,” and was pressed in his
spirit to bring it to them.
12-15 That is, that I may be comforted together with you by
the mutual faith both of you and me. Now I would not have you ignorant,
brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let (prevented, or
hindered) hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as
among other Gentiles. I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the
Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. So, as much as in me is,
I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.
“I am debtor…”
Paul had received something
from the Lord Jesus Christ that belonged to the entire world; it was the “gospel
of Jesus Christ.” In Galatians 1:11-12, Paul gave
his guarantee that the gospel he
preached was not from man, but from God; “But I certify (I guarantee) you, brethren, that the gospel which was
preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man,
neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.” In I Corinthians 9:17, Paul says, “A
dispensation (and/or administration) of the gospel is committed unto
me.” The “gospel” was committed to Paul to “dispense”
to the people. He said, “to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to
the wise, and to the unwise… to you that are at Rome also.” It was
his “debt” to pay.
We are also
debtors. We owe the same debt, and if it is to be paid we must preach the
same gospel that Paul preached. It is the message of “Christ-crucified.”
Any other gospel is “accursed” along with the one who brings it, for
Paul says in Galatians 1:8-9, “But though we, or an angel from heaven,
preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let
him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach
any other gospel unto you than that ye have received (from us),
let him be accursed.”
This should strike fear
into the hearts of many today who have “adapted” the “gospel” to
fit modern times and circumstances. The gospel is as unchangeable as God
Himself, and it is our debt to preach it just as Paul also preached it.
16 For I am NOT ASHAMED of the
gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that
believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
The “power of God
unto salvation” is to everyone who believes the “gospel of Christ.”
It is the message of “Christ-crucified” and all that was accomplished
through His death, burial, and resurrection for all those who hear and believe
the message. Paul said, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.”
In Romans 9:33, Paul quoted Isaiah, “As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion
a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed.” Many
stumble at “Christ-crucified;” many are offended; but “…whosoever
believeth on Him shall not be ashamed,” either in the presence of God or in
the face of their enemies. Paul preached the only message that is “the
power of God” to save a sinner “from his sin.” Why would
anyone be ashamed of such a gospel?
17 For therein is the
righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just
shall live by faith.
Paul explains why he
is not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; “For (or because) therein
(in the gospel) is the righteousness of God revealed....” Almost five hundred years ago, Martin Luther
was inspired by these two verses (Romans 1:16-17). The
last phrase, “The just shall live by faith,” was the foundation
scripture for the theology of the protestant reformation. The translation
of the scriptures Martin Luther studied from had the words, “the
righteousness of God,” translated as
“the justice of God,” and so it is. The gospel of Christ reveals
the “justice” of God in what He did to save sinners from their
sin. “From faith to faith…” means from the faith of those, who
like Abraham, “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness,”
to the faith of those who “believe the gospel,” and are “made to be
the righteousness of God in Christ (II Corinthians 5:21).”
Always remember that the “gospel of Christ” reveals “the justice of
God” to save sinners.
>CLICK HERE< to go to Q&A LESSON 1 (for TOPIC 1).
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TOPIC 2
The
Justice of God: A Nation Without Excuse
Romans
chapter
1:verses 18 through 32
18
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
A common error, and
one which brought about much of the horrors of the “dark ages” of
Christianity, is the belief that God’s “justice” and God’s “wrath”
are the same thing. They are not. If God is not “just,” He
would not have sent His Son to save His people from their sin (Matthew
1:21). The “righteousness (the justice)” of God to
save both the “ungodly” and the “unrighteous” is revealed in the
gospel. The “wrath of God” is revealed from heaven against all “ungodliness
and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness.”
Note that the wrath of God is specifically toward those who “hold the truth
in unrighteousness.”
19-20
Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed
it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the
world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his
eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
Traditional thought,
passed on for generations, is that this first chapter of Romans
is a condemnation of the Gentiles; that even those heathen nations which never
received any revelation from God are “without excuse” and will eternally
perish. This thought, even though many biblical “scholars” of the
past and present believe it, is very foolish to say the least. Those who “hold
the truth in unrighteousness” cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, be
those nations or people who never had a “covenant” with God.
Israel alone was “chosen” by God. He “set His love” upon
Israel. Hear the words of the apostle Paul in Romans 9:2-4:
“I have great heaviness
and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were
accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:
Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption,
and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law,
and the service of God, and the promises.” Why was Paul in such “great heaviness and continual sorrow”
for Israel? It was they who “held the truth in unrighteousness,”
and against whom the “wrath of God was revealed from heaven.” It
was Israel who was “without excuse.”
21
Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were
thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was
darkened.
The first great sin of Israel was that they
“glorified him (God) not as God.” Israel was the only nation that ever “knew
God.” God had “introduced Himself” to Israel. When God
came down on Mount Sinai to speak to Israel in an audible voice, the first
words He said were, “I am the LORD thy God, which have
brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage” (Exodus 20:2). God had chosen them to
be His “peculiar (special) treasure;” they would be a “holy
nation,” and a “kingdom of priests.” For all this, they were
not thankful, but their hearts were “darkened” by their own “vain
imaginations.”
22-23
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of
the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds,
and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
“And changed
the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image…” Without question, Paul is referring here to Psalms
106:19-20: “They
made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image. Thus they
changed their glory (their
God) into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass.” This is an
obvious reference to the “golden calf” which Aaron built and Israel
worshipped while Moses was on the mountain with God to receive the commandments
engraved in tables of stone. Within six weeks after God introduced
Himself as the God “which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt,”
Aaron introduced the golden calf, saying, “These be thy gods, O Israel,
which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt” (Exodus 32:4).
24
Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own
hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
Stephen testifies
against Israel in Acts 7:41-42, saying, “And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto
the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. Then God turned,
and gave them up to worship the host of heaven.” In Psalms 81:11-12, God explains the issue
like this, “But my people would not
hearken to my voice; and Israel would (have) none of me. So I gave
them up unto their own hearts’ lust.” In the light of these
witnesses, there can be no doubt that it is God’s own people, Israel, who are
spoken of in this chapter, and not the heathen. “Idolatry” was
their sin, and “uncleanness” was their punishment. “Given up”
by God, they became slaves to their own lusts, and worshipped demon gods in
demonic orgies that are beyond the ability of decent minds to comprehend.
25
Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature
more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
The second great sin of Israel was to “change
the truth of God into a lie.” According to the Greek wording of this
phrase, they “exchanged the truth of God for a lie,” a very common error
among those who “glorify Him not as God (verse 21).”
They served the creature (man) more than the Creator (God).
26-27
For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did
change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the
men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward
another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in
themselves that recompence of their error which was meet (their due
reward).
Because of this
second great sin, God gave them up to “vile affections.” By the
description given of their activities, it is clear that the reference is to “homosexuality.”
Again, “vile affections” were God’s punishment for their sin, which was
to “change the truth of God into a lie.” History repeats
itself. America and the western world are following the same course as
ancient Israel took towards reprobation. Today America worships many gods
and “vile affections” are given the protection of law. Nothing
short of the churches preaching the “gospel of Christ” as Paul received
it could ever restore our nation to godly morality once again. We are
very near to God’s “wrath” against those who “hold the truth in
unrighteousness.”
If there should be
any question whether Israel had such a problem, I will give four scriptures:
“And there were
also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of
the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel” (I Kings 14:24).
“And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, as
did David his father. And he took away the sodomites out of the land, and
removed all the idols that his fathers had made” (I Kings 15:11-12).
“And the
remnant of the sodomites, which remained in the days of his father Asa, he (King Jehoshaphat) took out of the land” (I Kings 22: 46).
“And he brake
down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the LORD…” (II Kings 23:7).
28
And even as they did not like to retain God
in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things
which are not convenient;
Israel’s third and final step toward reprobation
was, “they did not like to retain God in their knowledge.” For
Israel, this was the sequence of events that led to the destruction of
Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar about six hundred years before Christ.
For over a
generation, America and the western world have been thrusting “the knowledge
of God” from them. The attacks against prayer in schools, Bible reading,
the Ten Commandments, Christmas, etc, are all evidence of powerful forces in
our nation who “do not like to retain God in their knowledge.” We
will fare no better than ancient Israel.
29-31
Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness,
maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil
things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenant breakers,
without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
God does not destroy
“good” nations. When “good” nations turn away from God, He
lets them eat the “fruit of their own way (Proverbs 1:29-31).”
They “destroy” themselves. “O Israel, thou hast destroyed
thyself; but in me is thine help (Hosea 13:9).”
It is when they are “filled” with every unclean thing that they will
come to their end.
32
Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy
of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
In Romans
1:18 Paul has told us that the “wrath of God” is revealed
against those “who hold the truth in unrighteousness.” It is these
same people who know the judgment of God against sin, yet continue to “enjoy
the pleasures of sin.” There is a “key” in the words “not
only.” Some people willfully continue in sin even though they “know”
God’s judgment against sin. There are others who may never “commit”
the outward act of sin, but they are “entertained” by those who
do. Before God, both are equally guilty. Both are indications of a “reprobate
mind.”
>CLICK HERE< to go to Q&A LESSON 2 (for TOPIC 2).
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The Second Chapter of Romans
This second chapter
of Romans is written as a “prosecution” of Old Testament Israel in a
court of law. The charge is that the Jew is no better than the Gentiles
who surround them. The case will be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
TOPIC
3
The
Justice of God: The Prosecution
Romans
chapter
2:verses 1 through 29
1
Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein
thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for
thou that judgest doest the same things.
Romans
1:21-32 is a history
of the circumstances that led to the destruction of Jerusalem by the
Babylonians almost six hundred years before Christ. In this second
chapter, Paul speaks of the spiritual condition of Israel in the days of
Jesus. Their forefathers had been “without excuse (Romans
1:19-20)” when Nebuchadnezzar’s armies destroyed them some six
hundred years before Christ; because God had revealed Himself and His law to
them. The generation present in the days of Christ were “inexcusable”
because they judged the Gentiles for breaking the same “law” they
themselves also broke.
2-3
But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them
which commit such things. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them
which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment
of God?
It is beyond
incredible that there are so many today who think a “believer” will be
justified while committing the same sins for which an “unbeliever” is
condemned. Others have cast aside all judgment, not wanting to “condemn”
themselves while condemning others. Paul asks the question in I
Corinthians 6:2, “Do ye not know that the saints shall
judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to
judge the smallest matters?” It must
be understood that the church is not condemned when it “judges” the
world; instead, it is condemned because it “does the same things” it
judges the world for doing.
4-5
Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and
forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth
thee to repentance? But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath
and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
Many people often
mistake the “goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering” of God for His
approval. They do not know that in continuing in sin they have “treasured
up” unto themselves wrath to be revealed in the Day of Judgment. The
only “reward” they will receive is the anger and wrath of God in the day
of His judgment.
6
Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
Paul said, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that
every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath
done, whether it be good or bad (II
Corinthians 5:10).”
7-11
To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and
immortality, eternal life: But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey
the truth, but obey unrighteousness, (be) indignation
and wrath, Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of
the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; But glory, honour, and peace, to every
man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: For there is
no respect of persons with God.
In the seven letters
to the churches, in the second and third
chapters of Revelation, Jesus says to each of them, “I know thy works;”
literally, “I see thy works.” It was on the basis of their “works”
that He knew their spiritual condition. To one He says on the basis of
their works, “thou art neither hot nor cold;” to another, “thou hast
left thy first love.” In Ephesians 2:8-10 Paul
writes, “For by grace are ye saved through faith;
and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest
any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus
unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in
them.” It is clear that we are saved by grace,
through faith; “not of works,” but “unto good works.” Although
it is possible for a sinner to do “good works” before men and not be
saved, it is impossible for a “believer” to “continue in sin” and
be saved. God who “knows the hearts” and “discerns the thoughts
and intents,” yet judges us by our works.
12
For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as
many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;
“As many as
have sinned!” It does not matter if the sinner is “under
the law,” or “without the law,” both will perish.
13-15
(For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law
shall be justified. For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by
nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law
unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their
conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or
else excusing one another;)
These verses set aside by parenthesis are an explanation of the twelfth verse. God did not receive
the Jew simply because he “heard the law,” but because he “did the
law.” Paul gave the example of certain Gentiles who “do by nature
the things contained in the law.” The “work of the law” was “written
in their hearts.” Human nature has never pleased God or been accepted
by God. These Gentiles which Paul spoke of were obviously
Christians. They were “justified by faith;” they were “born
again” with “new hearts” and “new spirits.” God’s law
was “written in their hearts” (II Corinthians 3:3).
They were “partakers of the divine nature” (II Peter 1:4),
and therefore “did by nature the things contained in the law.”
16
In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to
my gospel.
This sixteenth verse is out of place, having been separated from the twelfth
verse by the parenthesis. Read verses twelve and sixteen together as follows: “For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without
law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law… in the
day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my
gospel.”
17-20
Behold, thou (who) art called a Jew, and restest
in the law, and makest thy boast of God, And knowest
his will, and approvest the things that are more
excellent, being instructed out of the law; And art confident that thou thyself
art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness, (You, who are) An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the
form of knowledge and of the truth in the law.
Paul’s letter to the
Romans was written to Gentiles. It is likely that many of them were
proselytes who had been converted to Judaism. Paul’s purpose in the first two chapters of Romans is to
prove that the Jews are also sinners, and that the entire world without Jesus
Christ is under sin. Notice that they were “called” Jews.
They “rested” in the law; they “boasted” of God; they “knew”
his will according to the law, and they were “confident” that they were “guides”
of the blind, “lights” to those in darkness, “instructors” of the
foolish, and “teachers” of babes. They certainly had no “self-esteem”
problems. They had the “form of knowledge” and the “form of the
truth” in the law, but they were also sinners. Paul will point this
out.
21-23
Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?
Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery?
thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit
sacrilege? Thou that makest thy boast of the
law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?
Like so many today,
they preached a law they could not keep and taught a lifestyle they could not
live. Paul pointedly exposes the hypocrisy of their faith with these
questions. Remember that Paul says in the first verse of this
chapter, “Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man,
whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same
things.” These were most certainly “without excuse.”
24
For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is
written.
Wherever people
claim to be the people of God and live sin filled lives, the “name of God”
is, by their actions, “blasphemed.”
25
For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a
breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision.
In Galatians
5:3 Paul tells those Gentiles who are enticed to be circumcised, “I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a
debtor to do the whole law.” If they did not keep the law to the smallest detail, it
was as if they were not circumcised.
26-27
Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his
uncircumcision be counted for circumcision? And shall not uncircumcision
which is by nature, if it fulfill the law, judge thee, who by the letter (the learning, i.e., the knowledge of the law) and circumcision dost transgress the law?
God is more interested
in “reality” than in “theology.” Even though your theology
may be perfect, if your reality is sinful, you will be judged as a
sinner. Outward things like circumcision or water baptism have no bearing
whatsoever on whether or not a person is saved from sin. It is as Paul
said in Galatians 6:15, “For in
Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a
new creature.” Jesus said those in Ninevah
who repented at the preaching of Jonah will rise up in the judgment to condemn
the Jews of His generation who kept every form of the law, yet transgressed the
spirit of the law.
28-29
For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision,
which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and
circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose
praise is not of men, but of God.
Just as a person is
not a Jew simply because he adopts the appearance and outward forms of a Jew,
neither is a person “circumcised” simply because he cuts away the “foreskin
of his flesh.” True circumcision is of the heart and in the
spirit. As Paul told the gospel believers in Colossians 2:10-11, “…ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality
and power: In whom also ye are (your heart is) circumcised with the circumcision made without
hands, in (the) putting off (of) the body of the
sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ.” True circumcision is of the heart and severs (separates) the
sinner from his old sinful heart (the sin nature). That is, it separates
the sinner from the “body of sin (the source of all of the ‘sins of the
flesh’), thereby making him “free indeed” from sin (Romans
7:24-25; John 8:30-36).
>CLICK HERE< to go to Q&A LESSON 3 (for TOPIC 3).
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The Third Chapter of Romans
In the first nine verses of this chapter there
are several questions the jury must answer in order to arrive at a
verdict. The first question being, “Did the defendant (the Jew) have
an advantage?” and the last question being, “Is the Jew better than the
Gentile?” If you answer the first question “yes” and the last
question “no,” then the jury must find them guilty. Amazingly, in
this trial the “defendant” must also be the “jury.” No man
can be justified that does not first find himself to be “guilty before God.”
Verses ten through eighteen are the “findings of the court,”
while the nineteenth verse brings
the verdict of “guilty before God.” It is not the Jew only, but “the
whole world” that is found “guilty before God,” and of course, the “sentence”
is death. It is at this point that the wonderful “righteousness of
God” to save sinners begins to be revealed in the twenty-first
verse.
TOPIC
4
The
Justice of God: The Condemnation
Romans
chapter
3:verses 1 through 20
1-2
What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of
circumcision? Much
(in) every way: chiefly, because that unto
them were committed the oracles of God.
What advantage
then, does the Jew have?
Paul says their main advantage is that God spoke to them through the law and
the prophets. God chose them, and set His love upon them. In Romans
9:4 Paul speaks of Israel, “…to whom
pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the
covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises.” From the time of Abraham until Christ, the Jew had much
advantage over the Gentile and heathen nations in every way.
3-4
For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God
without effect? God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar;
as it is written, that thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest
overcome when thou art judged.
What if some do not
believe? Unbelief does not change anything about God or the truth of
God. God does not “exist” simply because someone believes He
exists. He exists because HE IS. He exists regardless of what
anyone, anywhere, may or may not think or believe. He exists for the atheist as well as for the
saint; for the unbeliever as well as for the believer. Neither does the “truth”
adapt itself to what men believe. If no one believes the truth of the
gospel as it is in Jesus, it is still the truth, and will continue to deliver
all those who come to know and believe it (John
8:30-36; Romans 1:16).
5-6
But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say?
Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man) God forbid: for
then how shall God judge the world?
These verses must be understood in relation to verses seven and eight. The Jews felt excused in their unrighteousness
because they publicly promoted the righteousness of God. This would relate to
those who think God will not judge them for their sin because they are doing so
much for the kingdom of God.
This verse also
strikes down an error that is believed by millions of people today. It is
the belief that “grace” increases correspondently to the increase of “sin.”
If a “fornicator” is counted to be righteous by God, and is “covered”
by His grace, then the more he sins the more “gracious” God
appears. If this were true then we should hold up the “immoral” and
the “perverted” as examples of the grace of God instead of the “pure”
and the “holy.” Of course, the very thought of such is both absurd
and repugnant. The “righteousness of God” is revealed in that God
sent His Son to save sinners from their sin; through His death on the
cross. He will, however, take vengeance against all unrighteousness (II
Thessalonians 1:7-10).
7-8
For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory; why
yet am I also judged as a sinner? And not rather, (as we be slanderously
reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come?
whose damnation is just.
Paul rephrases the
question of the fifth verse to place emphasis upon the
absurdity of such a proposition. If a “lie (a fabrication)”
could promote the “truth of God,” then every gospel preacher should also
be a “liar.” Again, the very thought of such a thing is truly
preposterous, because “…all liars shall have their part in the
lake which burneth with fire and brimstone” (Revelation 21:8).
9
What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved
both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;
This is the fifth question in a series of five.
The question is, “Are we (the Jews) better than they (the
Gentiles)?” We must consider the relevance of the question.
The first question asked (verse one) was “What advantage
hath the Jew?” It was established that the Jew had great advantage
over the Gentile, “in every way.” Their main advantage was
because God had chosen them, revealed Himself to them, given them His law, and
visited them with His prophets, yet for all this they were “in no wise
(no way)” better than the Gentile nations around them.
10
As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
This is not a
blanket statement. The nineteenth
verse confirms that this was spoken of those who are “under the law.” The previous verse shows that “both Jews
and Gentiles” are under sin.
“There is none righteous, no, not one:” This is the condition of every
person on earth who is “without” Jesus Christ. In fact, it
establishes the reason Christ came, suffered, and died for us; that “many”
would be “made righteous” (Romans 5:19).
11-18
There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God (Psalms 14:2). They are all gone out of the way, they are (all) together become unprofitable; there is
none that doeth good, no, not one (Psalms
14:3). Their throat is an open sepulcher (Psalms 5:9); with their tongues they have used deceit (Psalms 78:36); the poison of asps is under their lips (Psalms 140:3): Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness (Psalms 10:7): Their feet are swift to shed blood (Isaiah 59:7): Destruction and misery are in their ways (Isaiah 59:7): And the way of peace have they not known (Isaiah 59:8): There is no fear of God before their eyes (Psalms 36:1).
“As it is
written…” Paul quotes numerous places in the book of Psalms and the book of Isaiah to prove his first statement; “There
is none righteous, no not one.”
19
Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are
under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become
guilty before God.
The Gentiles had no
claim to righteousness under the Old Covenant. Before Jesus came and died
for the sin of the entire world, the Gentiles were “…without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel,
and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in
the world” (Ephesians 2:12).
To this point, everything Paul has written in his letter to the Romans was
written about God’s “chosen people” of the Old Testament; the
Jews. If there had been even one found with the “righteousness of
Christ,” Jesus would never have suffered the cross. Why?: Because, if even one could be
righteous apart from the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, then everyone
could; but there was “none righteous, no, not one.” Therefore, Jesus Christ died to “make many
righteous” (Romans 5:19; as many as would ever believe the
true gospel of Jesus Christ; Romans 1:16).
20
Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his
sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
>CLICK HERE< to go to Q&A LESSON 4 (for TOPIC 4).
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TOPIC 5
The
Justice of God: Justifying the Ungodly
Romans
chapter
3:verses 21 through 31
The law was not
given for righteousness or justification. The law was given to identify sin,
and when the law entered, sin “abounded.” The “deeds” of
the law refer to the offering of slain animals, the keeping of feast days, the
observing of new moons, the holy days, and the Sabbaths. All these are
the “dead works” referred to in
Hebrews 6:1-2, 9:14, that could never justify
those who performed them.
21
But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed
by the law and the prophets;
Romans
1:16-17 has already
told us that the “gospel of Christ” reveals the “righteousness of
God.” The word “righteousness” is better understood throughout
the book of Romans as “justice,” or “the justice of God.”
The gospel reveals that it is the justice of God that demands salvation for the
sinner, and He does it without the law. Both the law and the prophets
foretold this wonderful salvation that would be wrought by the “righteousness
(or justice) of God.”
22
Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and
upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
As previously noted,
the term “righteousness of God” is better understood as the “justice
of God.” The manifestation of God’s “righteousness,” or “justice,”
is Jesus Christ shedding His precious holy blood in death, to “take away the
sin of the world” (John 1:29). It is “Christ-crucified…
(which is) the power of God and the wisdom of God (I
Corinthians 1:23-24) ...unto
(our) salvation” (Romans 1;16).
“…by faith of
Jesus Christ…” Notice that the term “faith of
Jesus Christ” is used instead of “faith in Jesus Christ.”
Everything God did to save man through the death and resurrection of Jesus
Christ, is called “The Faith of
Jesus Christ.” It, “The Faith of
Jesus Christ,” is a
finished work that is “unto all,” because “Christ died for all” (II
Corinthians 5:14-15). The fact that Jesus died for all
does not mean that all are, or ever will be, saved. The wonderful
redemption that was made for us in the blood of Jesus is “unto all,” but
it is only “upon all them that believe.” It is received only by
faith, and excludes only those who refuse to believe the gospel of Jesus
Christ. The last phrase, “for there is no difference,” refers to
both Jews and Gentiles. Neither have an advantage over the other under
this New Covenant, because salvation is to “everyone that believeth” (Romans
1:16).
23
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
The reason there is
no difference between Jew or Gentile is because “all have sinned, and come
short of the glory of God.”
24
Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus:
Both Jew and Gentile
have sinned, but both are “justified freely” by “His grace through
the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 1:7
and Colossians 1:14 both confirm
this, saying, “we have redemption through His blood.” In I
Peter 1:18-19 we read this, “...ye
were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold…But with the
precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” The definition
of “redemption” is “ransom in
full.”
25
Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood,
to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past,
through the forbearance of God;
God has “set forth”
His Son Jesus to be a “propitiation” for our sin. According to “Strong’s
Concordance,” the word “propitiation” refers to an “atoning
victim;” that is, a “sacrificial lamb.” John the Baptist
declared Jesus to be that atoning lamb saying, “Behold, the lamb of God which taketh
away the sin of the world” (John
1:29). Confirmation of this interpretation is found in
the Greek word, Strong’s #3929,
which is used only one time in the entire New Testament and was translated “remission.”
The Greek word is “paresis,” which means, “pretermission, i.e.
toleration.” The word “pretermission” means “to let pass
without notice or making mention.” In the Old Testament, the word “Passover”
is translated from the Hebrew word “Pecach,”
which is also defined as “a pretermission;” that is, a “passing by.”
For fifteen hundred years before Christ the sins of the people were “passed
over” by God when the “Passover” was offered, yet there was a “remembrance
again” of sins every year (Hebrews 10:3). God “set
forth” His Son Jesus to be our “Passover Lamb” for the “passing
over” of sins that are “past.” Through “faith in the blood
of Jesus,” there is “pardon” and “acquittal” for “sins
that are past.” There is, however, nothing in this verse that deals
with “present,” or “future” sins. Those who quote this
verse as “…remission for sins that are past, present, and future,”
make a gross error, and damn many souls through their manipulation of the word
of God. God made no provision at Calvary for those who “continue in
sin;” but there is “pardon” for the past.
“…to declare
His righteousness (justice)…” This
phrase is a reference to a wonderful prophecy in Psalms 22:30-31.
“A seed shall serve him;
it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. They shall come, and
shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that
he hath done this.”
This prophecy is of the “new
creation,” the born again “children of God.” To “declare
his righteousness” is to preach the true gospel of Christ; which is, the “justice
of God” to save sinners through the death and resurrection of Jesus
Christ. The apostle John was “declaring
God’s justice” when he wrote: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (I
John 1:9). The first work of God’s justice (or righteousness) is
to pardon sins that are past.
26
To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and
the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
“To declare, I
say, at this time…” Two time periods are mentioned in the twenty-fifth
and twenty-sixth verses.
In the twenty-fifth verse there is pardon, acquittal, and tolerance for “sins
that are past.” This included every sin that was ever committed, from
Adam to the death of Christ; for those who “believed God” as Abraham
did. “Sins that are past” also includes every sin committed in the
lifetime of any person until the time they come to the savior. For the
past, there is “pardon;” for the present and future, there is “redemption.”
Both are received “through faith in His blood” (verse 25).
The words in the twenty-sixth verse, “…at this time…” speak
of the “present time” of every child of God. God’s answer for the
present and future, is “justification by grace.” The gospel, which
is the “good news, must be preached that God “pardons sinners” and “justifies
the ungodly” (Romans 4:5) through “faith in His blood.”
This is much more than the “justification by faith;” as those of the Old
Testament knew it. We will see the difference as we continue through the next
three chapters of Romans.
The fact that the
Son of God suffered and died on the cross to take away the sin of the world
declares that God is righteous. He is “just,” and the “justifier”
of those who believe in Jesus.
27
Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the
law of faith.
The child of God has
nothing to boast in but the “Lord Jesus Christ.” We could not save ourselves;
we could not sanctify ourselves; we could do nothing by and of ourselves to
satisfy God. Salvation is of the Lord. We are “His workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:8-10),” thus,
boasting is excluded.
28
Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the
law.
“Therefore we
conclude…” It sounds like Paul is reaching a “conclusion”
about the matter of “justification by faith.” In fact, the same
Greek word that was translated “conclude” in this verse is used twelve
times in the next chapter. It is variously translated as “counted,”
“reckoned,” and “imputed.” Of course the “conclusion”
is, that a man is…
“…justified by
faith…” The word “justified” is translated
from the Greek word “dikaioo,” meaning, “to
render just or innocent,” or, to “show or regard as just or innocent.” The
English word “render” means “to give back, or restore.”
Justification in that sense of the word is “restoration to righteousness;”
which is spoken of in the twenty-fourth verse of this chapter. “Being
justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Previous to Calvary, the only definition of
“justified” was “to show or regard as just or innocent.” In
either case, justification is by faith.
“…without the
deeds of the law.”
The “deeds of the law”
are the animal sacrifices, the keeping of feast days, holy days, new moons,
Sabbaths, etc.
29-30
Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also (the God) of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also: Seeing
it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision (the Jews) by
faith, and (the) uncircumcision (the Gentiles who are not circumcised) through faith.
There is one God,
who is revealed in the Old Testament as the “God of the Jews” and in the
New Testament as the “God…of the Gentiles also.” The God that justifies
the Jews (“the circumcision”) “by faith,” is the “same
God” who justifies the Gentiles
(“the uncircumcision”), “through faith.” The word “by”
in this verse is translated from the Greek word “ek,”
which “denotes origin.” The Jew, being justified “by faith,”
denotes that “faith” was their “righteousness” before God, and
not the law; as Paul will establish in chapter
four. Since redemption has been made through the shed blood of Jesus,
our justification is “through faith;” meaning that “faith” is the
“channel,” through which we “access this grace wherein we stand”
(Romans 5:2).
31
Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the
law.
The “new
covenant” is the law of God written in the hearts of God’s people. It
is also known as the “covenant of grace.” It is grace alone that “establishes”
the law of God in the hearts of His people. The “law of God” should
not be confused with the “Law of Moses,” which was nailed to the cross of Christ along with our old man of sin (Colossians 2:14; Romans 6:6). The manifestation of the law of God in the
hearts and lives of the new creation, establishes that the law of God is “holy,
just, and good” (Romans 7:12).
>CLICK HERE< to go to Q&A LESSON 5 (for TOPIC 5).
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The Fourth Chapter of Romans
TOPIC 6
Justification
by Faith: What Abraham Found
Romans
chapter
4:verses 1 through 12
This fourth chapter of Romans seems to be
inserted as a “parentheses” between
the third and fifth chapters. Using Abraham’s experience, Paul shows
that it is those that “believe God” who are justified. No one at any time has ever been “justified”
by the deeds of the law. In Abraham’s experience we also find that it is
only those that “believe God” who receive the promises of God.
1
What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh,
hath found?
In this fourth chapter, Paul brings us to
consider the experience of Abraham, whom he calls “The father of all them
that believe (Romans 4:11).” This chapter does not define what
justification is, but how it is received. Can a man justify
himself? We saw in chapter three
why we cannot be justified by the “deeds of the law (the offering of
animal sacrifices; the keeping of feast-days, holydays, and Sabbaths; and the
obeying carnal ordinances).” Can we then justify ourselves by our
own works and abilities? Abraham is the best possible example for this
discussion.
2
For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before
God.
The word “glory”
in this verse is translated from the Greek word “kauchema,”
meaning “a boast.” Paul has already established, in chapter three, that “boasting is
excluded (verses 24-27);” because God is the “justifier
of him that believeth in Jesus.” Abraham could not be “justified
by works;” because, since the time of Adam’s transgression and the entrance
of sin, every work of man, whether “good” or “evil” has been
rejected by God as the product of sin that rules in the heart and nature of man.
Abraham had no righteousness of himself by which to approach God.
3
For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him
for righteousness.
The first account
given that Abraham “believed God” is found in Genesis 12:1-2; “Now
the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy
kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I
will make of thee a great nation….” Speaking
of the same incident, Hebrews 11:8
tells us, “By faith Abraham, when he was called to
go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed;
and he went out, not knowing whither he went.” The very fact that Abraham “believed what God said”
was a “righteousness” by which he could approach God. Ten years
later, as recorded in Genesis 15:5-6,
God said to Abraham concerning the number of stars in the heavens, “so shall
thy seed be,” and as it was written, “…he
believed in the LORD; and He counted it to him for righteousness.”
4
Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
“The reward” speaks of the promise that was given to
Abraham: “I will make of thee a great nation (Genesis 12:2);” “so shall thy seed be (Genesis 15:5);” and “Thou shalt be a father of many
nations.” The reward to Abraham would be fulfilled through the birth
of a son that must be born of Sarah, Abraham’s barren wife. “How to
receive the reward (the promise)” becomes the message of this chapter.
Abraham wasted
fourteen years of his life, from age eighty-five until age ninety-nine,
trusting in his own strength and abilities to bring to pass what God had
promised. He “worked,” and all that he received for his efforts
was the child “Ishmael” who was born to him by the slave girl,
Hagar. It was said of Ishmael that he would be a “wild man,” and
Abraham spent thirteen years trying to “tame that little wild man.” Every
effort of man to make himself righteous through self-improvement will fare no
better than Abraham did with Ishmael.
5
But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly,
his faith is counted for righteousness.
The promises of
God are fulfilled only upon those who “believe God (Romans 3:22).” For them, “faith is counted for
righteousness.” The fact that we “believe God” is a “righteousness” in which
we can approach God, and through which we receive the promise of God. In this verse we also see the simple
definition of “faith;” it is merely “believing God.”
6-8
Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the
man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, Saying, Blessed are
they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed
is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.
In order to
understand what David is saying, we must go to Psalms 32:1-5: “Blessed is he whose transgression is
forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD
imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile (Psalms 32:1-2).”
These are the words Paul quoted in our text. David was speaking of
himself after he repented of his affair with Bathsheba and the death of
Uriah (Psalms 51). David
describes his condition before he repented in the next two verses: “When I kept silence, my bones waxed old
through my roaring all the day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy
upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah (Psalms
32:3-4).” David’s spirit was “filled with guile” as
long as he covered his sin. He pretended to be righteous: he tried to
justify himself to himself, but he could not. His own heart condemned him
day and night (I John 3:21).
He said, “My sin is ever before me (Psalms
51:3).” This continued and worsened day by day as long as David
“kept silence” before God.
The word “Selah”
is a musical term. It is simply a directive to “pause” for a
moment. After the “pause,” David tells the remedy he found for his
sin; a “remedy” that brought great blessedness to him: “I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and
mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the
LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah” (Psalms 32:5).
What David
received from God when he repented is described in Romans 3:25 as “remission for sins that are past.”
David was forgiven and pardoned. His sin was not imputed unto him;
therefore it would not be remembered in the day of God’s judgment. His
pardon, however, was not a license to repeat the transgression in the future.
9-10
Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the
uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for
righteousness. How was it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or
in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.
“This
blessedness” speaks of the
“blessedness” of sins forgiven and the past pardoned, with no record
found in the day of God’s judgment. The experience of Abraham is offered
in this chapter as proof that the “blessedness”
David spoke of is not “for the circumcision only.” Abraham’s past
life had been as an idolater in an idolatrous nation. He was seventy-five years old when God called
him. He believed God, and his “believing God” was the
righteousness in which he approached God. By faith (believing God), he
walked out of the land of idolatry and came to God (Hebrews 11:8). All this happened twenty-four years before he was circumcised, and well over four hundred years before the law.
11-12
And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the
faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all
them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be
imputed unto them also: And the father of circumcision to them who are not of
the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our
father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.
Circumcision to
Abraham was a sign that he “believed God,” therefore Abraham is the “father
of all them that believe.” He is not, however, the father of “all”
who are circumcised, for it is only those among the circumcision who also “believe
God” that are justified. Abraham is the “father of all them
that believe,” whether they are Jews or Gentiles, circumcised, or
uncircumcised. The “righteousness of faith” is imputed unto all
who believe God. Their “faith” is their “righteousness.”
For us today,
there is a greater “circumcision” and a greater “righteousness”
than Abraham could know in his day; which was almost two thousand years before
redemption was made by Jesus at Calvary. In Colossians 2:11, this greater circumcision is called “the
circumcision of Christ”:
“In whom also ye are
circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body
of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ.” It is the “circumcision of the
heart” which is made “without hands.” It severs the “body (or
source) of the sins of the flesh” and takes it out of the heart and
nature of man. This is the new covenant sign that we have received the “righteousness
of Christ.” This “greater righteousness” is to be “justified
by His blood (Romans 5:9),”
which we will address further in chapter
five.
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TOPIC 7
Justification
by Faith: Access to the Promise
Romans
chapter
4:verses 13 through Romans chapter 5:verse
2
13
For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham,
or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
None of the
promises of God can be received by doing the works of the law. The promise
to Abraham was first, “I will make of thee a great nation” (Genesis 12:2).
Next, God told Abraham to look at the stars of heaven, and said, “So shall thy seed be” (Genesis 15:5). The
third time God appeared to Abraham, He told him, “Thou shalt be a father of many nations” (Genesis 17:4). All
these promises were given to Abraham over four hundred years before the law was
given. Even so, Abraham tried to fulfill the promise through his own
abilities by taking Hagar, the bondmaid, as a wife. In an allegory which
Paul gives in Galatians 4:24-25, Hagar
represents the covenant of works, and Sarah represents the
covenant of grace. The result of Abraham’s marriage to Hagar
(works) was Ishmael, of whom the angel of the Lord prophetically spoke that he
would be a “wild man” (Genesis
16:11-12). The promise could not come through Hagar, but only
through Abraham’s wife Sarah, who was a “barren woman.” The
promise to Abraham was not through the law (Hagar), but through the
righteousness of faith. The promise must come through the “barren
woman (denoting human impossibility),” therefore it must be received
“through the righteousness of faith.”
14
For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise
made of none effect:
In Paul’s amazing
allegory, “Ishmael” represents those who “are of the law.” If
God accepts Ishmael, there is no reason for Him to give Isaac, and the promise
is void. If our abilities to obey carnal ordinances could produce what
God has promised, there was no reason for God to give His Son. In Galatians 2:21 Paul says, “I do not
frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ
is dead in vain.”
15
Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression.
The purpose of
the law is to locate, identify, and punish sin, thus, “the law worketh
wrath.” But God does not need the law to locate, and identify
sin. He is “a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
Notice John 2:23-25: “Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day,
many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus
did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, and
needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.” Jesus did not judge the people by the Law of Moses; instead,
it was as Isaiah prophesied of Him, “He shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove
after the hearing of his ears; but with righteousness shall He judge…” (Isaiah 11:3-4).
The apostle John said, “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by
Jesus Christ” (John
1:17). It was “Moses” who gave the “Law of Moses.”
God had already spoken His “Ten Commandments” to the children of Israel
from Mount Horeb. This was His law, which He purposed to “write in
their hearts” (Jeremiah 31:33).
The people refused to even listen to God, but called for Moses to
speak with them. “And they said unto Moses, Speak thou
with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die” (Exodus 20:19). It
was in this moment and by these words that the Law of Moses was born. “And the LORD heard the voice of your
words, when ye spake unto me; and the LORD said unto me, I have heard the voice
of the words of this people, which they have spoken unto thee: they have well
said all that they have spoken. O that there were such an heart in
them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it
might be well with them, and with their children for ever!” (Deuteronomy 5:28-29).
If Israel could
have received the “Law of God” into their hearts there would never have
been a “Law of Moses” (Jeremiah
7:22-23). The Law of Moses was “added because of
transgressions” (Galatians 3:19).
God did not need the law because He knows the heart of man. Moses did not
know the heart of man, so he needed a law to judge the people by. The Law
of Moses not only contained commandments, but also punishments: “…every transgression and disobedience
received a just recompence of reward” (Hebrews 2:2); therefore, “He that despised Moses’ law died without
mercy under two or three witnesses” (Hebrews 10:28); hence, “the law worketh wrath” (Romans
4:15).
“For where
no law is, there is no transgression.” This phrase is greatly misunderstood by
many. Moses could only punish those who broke a specific law. God,
on the other hand, destroyed every man, woman, and child in the flood except
for eight who were in the ark, because “…every imagination of the thoughts
of his (man’s) heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5). Moses could
punish the people in great wrath only because he had the “law” to judge
them by. If, however, he could not find a law to identify an offense, He
could not punish because “there was no transgression.”
The absence of
the law does not equate with the absence of sin, only the absence of
transgression. Paul tells us in Romans
2:12, “For as many as have sinned without law
shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be
judged by the law.” Sin is of the heart, and only God can judge the heart of man.
The Law of Moses was given to identify sin in order that Moses and the
congregation could judge it (Hebrews
10:28).
16
Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise
might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to
that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
The issue for
Abraham was how he would receive the child of promise. It has been proven
by God’s rejection of Ishmael that the promise cannot come through works
(Hagar). The child of promise must come through Sarah (grace), but Sarah
is a barren woman, and cannot produce a child. Yet, God has promised that “Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call
his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting
covenant, and with his seed after him” (Genesis 17:19). At the time
of this promise, not only is Sarah’s womb dead concerning reproduction, but
Abraham’s body is also dead. There is absolutely no course of action
Abraham can take; he must “believe God” as simply as he had first “believed
God” twenty-five years before. Only then will Sarah (Grace) conceive
and bear a son to Abraham.
“Therefore it is of
faith, that it might be by grace.” Since
salvation is “by grace, through faith (Ephesians 2:8),” the promise is sure to everyone who “believes
God.”
17
(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom
he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
The first phrase
of this verse, placed in
parenthesis, interrupts the thought of the sixteenth and seventeenth
verses, which are one sentence. These verses should be connected as
follows: “…Abraham: who is the father of us all, …before
(in the sight of) him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth
the dead, and calleth those things which be not as
though they were (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many
nations).” From the moment Abraham first “believed
God,” he was destined to be “the father of all them that believe,” and
God saw him as such.
“…I have
made thee a father of many nations.” Notice that the same place and time that
God rejected Abraham’s abilities and works in Ishmael, is the same place and
time that He said to Abraham, “I have made thee a father of many nations” (Genesis 17:1-5, 15-16). It
is here we discover that God “calleth those things
which be not as though they were.” Abraham must believe to receive a
human impossibility that God has already finished. “I have made thee…”
speaks in the past tense. Even so, those who “receive the promise of eternal
inheritance” (Hebrews 9:15) have
believed God to receive what Jesus finished on the cross and in His
resurrection. Notice also Acts
13:32-33; “…the promise which was made unto the
fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath
raised up Jesus again.”
18
Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many
nations; according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.
Every hope that
Abraham had in Hagar and Ishmael was taken from him. Every hope he had in
the abilities of his flesh was also gone in that neither he nor Sarah could
physically produce a child, yet the scripture speaks of Abraham, “who
against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many
nations.” The man or woman who “believes God” is never without
hope. The word “against” in this verse was translated from the
Greek word “para,” which means “near,”
“from beside,” “at,” “in the vicinity of,” and “the proximity of.”
It was most often translated “with,” “of,” or “by.” It is
true that Abraham lost all hope in his abilities to fulfill God’s promise, but
that had always been a “false hope.” It was in the same day that
Abraham lost all hope in the flesh that he received the hope of the
promise. Abraham heard God say for the first time, “I have made thee a
father of many nations” (Genesis
17:5). It was with this hope that Abraham “believed in
hope….” Abraham’s “faith” became an “expectant faith.”
He “expected” to receive what God had promised, because with God, it was
already accomplished.
19
And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he
was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb:
Abraham was
ninety-nine years old and his body was “dead” concerning
reproduction. Sarah was ninety years old, and had for all her life
(before this time) been a “barren woman,” but now, she was also past the
“time of life” (the reproductive years) for women. Abraham did not
even consider these things; he simply believed God, based upon His promise.
20
He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in
faith, giving glory to God;
This is an
amazing text. Religious people do not stagger at problems; they learn to
live with them, and seek to overcome them. It is the “promise of God”
that religious people stagger at. As Abraham first turned to Hagar for a
child, and as the children of Israel turned to Moses for the Law of Moses, the “church”
today turns to thousands of “principles” to deal with every
problem. We “stagger” at the promise of God, which is so great,
and so wonderful, that no law or principle could ever fulfill it. We
stagger at the thought of both “justification” and “sanctification”
being finished at the cross, and in His shed blood. Unable to believe for
that which is already finished, we set about to accomplish it through our own
abilities, our own will power, and our own religious principles that can never
give life. In so doing, we also “go in unto Hagar.”
Abraham, at
ninety-nine years of age, “did not stagger” at the promise. He was “strong
in faith,” and “gave glory to God,” even after every false hope had been destroyed.
21
And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
“…what He
had promised…” The word “promised” was translated from the Greek word “epaggello,” meaning, “to announce upon, i.e. to
engage to do something; to assert something respecting oneself.”
When a promise is made, it speaks more about the one making the promise than
about the one to whom it is made. When God told Abraham to look at the
stars of heaven, and said “So shall thy seed be (Genesis 15:5),” God “committed” Himself to
Abraham. From the time God “commits” to do a thing it is finished,
even though it may not be manifested for some time. “Believing God”
is the one essential requirement for receiving that which He has
promised. Abraham was “fully persuaded” that God was well able to
do all that He had promised.
22
And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
The word “for”
in this verse is translated from the Greek word “eis,”
meaning “to, or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of
place, time, or (figuratively) purpose.” The Greek word was
used in the New Testament 1666 times, usually translated as “to,” “into,”
or “unto.” About 145 times it was translated as “for” as in
“forever,” meaning “into the ages.” Whenever the
same word is used in the phrase “for righteousness,” the
connotation of the word is “to be,” thus, “his faith” is counted “to
be” righteousness. Abraham stood in the “righteousness of faith”
to receive the promise.
The teaching that
one who “continues in sin” is counted to be “righteous” by God
because he “believes” is ludicrous. In John 16:8-9, Jesus was speaking of the work of the “comforter”
who was to come; “And when he is come, he will reprove the
world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they
believe not on me.” Since the time Jesus died on the cross and
arose again, people are sinners and continue in sin only because “ they believe
not on Jesus.”
23-24
Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for
us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus
our Lord from the dead;
This verse makes a transition from those who, like
Abraham, were “justified” before redemption was made at Calvary, to
those who are “justified…through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus
(Romans 3:24).” Abraham
was “justified by faith.” God counted his faith to be
righteousness, and his every righteous act issued out of his faith. He
stood in the “righteousness of faith” to receive the promise, which was
fulfilled in Isaac, the “child of promise.” There was, however, a
much greater promise that Abraham did not receive. The eleventh chapter of Hebrews, which is a
record of men and women who were all “justified by faith,” before
redemption was made at Calvary, ends with these verses; “And these all,
having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise” (Hebrews 11:39-40). The
promise they did not (and could not) receive is given to us through the
redemption. Paul, speaking in Acts
13:32-33 says, “We declare unto you glad tidings, how
that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the
same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again.”
Abraham was “justified
by faith” when he believed God who called him out of Haran into the land of
promise. Likewise, we are “justified by grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus (Romans 3:24)”
when we “believe the record that God gave of His Son” (I John 5:10). Abraham’s
total experience, from his “works” to “faith alone” to receive
the promise, is given to us as an “example” to “believe on him
that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead.”
25
Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
The word “for,”
used two times in this verse, is translated from the Greek word “dia,” meaning “through.” He was delivered
to death “through our offences,” and He was resurrected “through our
justification.” Simply put, if we had not been sinners, he would not
have died, and if His death of the cross had not been sufficient for our
justification, He would not have been raised again.
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The Fifth Chapter of Romans
In verses twelve
through nineteen we find the “deliberations of the Judge,” which
is God. It is here that the “justice of God” is established.
If sin entered the world and polluted the heart of man because of that first
man’s disobedience, justice required that there be a “second man” who
would “take away sin” and provide a “cleansing” through His
obedience to God. That “second man” could not be “of the earth,
earthy,” but must instead be of heaven; Jesus Christ, the “Lord from
heaven (Mark 1:1; I Corinthians 15:47).”
His obedience must not only be in His life, but it must also be in His “obedience
unto death, even the death of the cross (Philippians 2:8).” In this the “righteousness (or justice) of God” is
revealed.
TOPIC
8
Justification
by Faith: Standing in Grace
Romans
chapter
5:verses 1 through 11
1
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ:
Translated
literally, the verse begins, “Therefore having been justified by faith…”
The first manifestation of “justification by faith” is “peace with
God.” The eleventh chapter of
Hebrews gives the “honor roll” of those who were “justified by
faith,” including “Able,” “Enoch,” “Noah,” “Abraham,” “Sarah,” “Isaac,”
“Jacob,” “Joseph,” and “Moses,” and they all had “peace with
God,” and obtained this peace long before Christ died for us. This fifth chapter of Romans takes us
from “pre-redemption justification by faith” into “justification by
grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Since the
atoning death of Jesus on the cross and his glorious resurrection, “peace
with God” is only “through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
It is worth noting
that this is the only verse in the Bible that mentions “peace with God.”
This speaks of a “cessation of conflict.” In the redemption we not only
receive peace with God, but also the peace of God, which is a greater peace (Philippians 4:7; Colossians 3:15).”
2
By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and
rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
“…access by
faith…” Prior to the redemption made at Calvary,
faith was the righteousness wherein men stood before God. After
redemption was made, faith became our “access (our admission) into
this grace wherein we stand.” All the Old Testament
prophets prophesied of “the grace that should come unto you (unto us; I Peter 1:10)” when they
foretold the “sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should (would) follow” (I Peter 1:11). Abraham stood in the “righteousness of
faith;” we stand in “grace,” and “rejoice in hope
(expectation) of the glory of God.”
“…rejoice in
hope of the glory of God.” The Greek word, here translated “hope,”
means “anticipation, expectation,” and “confidence.” Hope to
an unbeliever is a very different thing than to a believer. The
unbeliever does not “believe” a thing to be so, he only “hopes”
that it is, or could be so; his “hope” actually expresses his
doubt. To a believer, hope is the result of faith, and is actually a step
beyond faith. “Faith” believes, and “hope” anticipates with
great expectation. The hope of the righteous is “an anchor of the
soul, both sure and stedfast…” (Hebrews
6:19). Those who have accessed grace through faith have great
expectations of the glory of God. This is their hope and their confidence
in which they rejoice.
In this verse, the cause of “rejoicing in hope”
is said to be “of the glory of God.” This “glory” comes
with “the baptism with the Holy Ghost” as we will see in verse five
of this chapter. It is also fully explained in the eighth chapter.
It is “the promise of the Father” (Acts
1:4-5; 2:39).
3
And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation
worketh patience;
“…we glory
in tribulations also.”
The Greek word translated “glory”
in this verse is the same word that was translated “rejoice” in the
previous verse. It is also the same word that is translated “joy”
in verse eleven. “Rejoice” would have been the
better translation in each of these
three places. To better understand “rejoicing in tribulations,”
we will see the apostle’s response to persecution for Christ’s sake in Acts 5:40-42: “…and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they
commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them
go. And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that
they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. And daily in
the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus
Christ.” In II
Corinthians 4:17 Paul says,
“For our light
affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more
exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (II Corinthians 4:17).
To those who “stand” in “this grace,” even the tribulations we
suffer can only “work for us” when we rejoice in them.
“…knowing
that tribulation worketh patience.” Strong’s
definition of the Greek word, here translated “patience,” is “cheerful
endurance.” This is another way of saying, “rejoicing in
tribulation,” for that is exactly what “patience” is. Those
who believe that God afflicts his people, or even allows the devil to afflict
them for the purpose of giving them patience, believe a foolish
thing. Tribulation is not the source of patience. The source of
patience is “this grace wherein we stand.” Paul’s entire ministry
was a time of personal “tribulation (II Corinthians 11:23-30).” He was persecuted from city
to city for the gospel He preached. In II Corinthians 12:7, he says of those who persecuted him: they are
“the messenger of Satan to buffet me.” In the next two verses he
says, “For this thing I besought the Lord
thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is
sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most
gladly therefore will I rather glory (rejoice) in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (II Corinthians 12:8-9).
This was the “patience” of the apostle Paul.
4-5
And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed;
because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is
given unto us.
“Patience,” defined as “cheerful endurance
(rejoicing in tribulation),” brings “experience,” and oh what
wonderful experience it brings. Paul and Silas were arrested in the city
of Philippi because they preached Jesus among the idolaters of the city and saw
many saved and delivered. After they were “beaten with many stripes,”
they were cast into the “inner prison” with their legs bound in
stocks. Acts 16:25 says, “And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto
God: and the (other) prisoners
heard them.” They “rejoiced in (the
midst of) tribulation.” They “cheerfully endured,” and the next verse says, “And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the
foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were
opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.” Before
the night was over the jailer and his entire household were saved. How
wonderful is the “experience” patience brings. It must be
understood however, that “patience” is not merely “enduring” but “cheerfully
enduring” the tribulations that come to a child of God.
“Experience,” such as comes out of “cheerful
endurance,” brings “hope that maketh not ashamed.” Notice the
full circle from “hope” in the second
verse, through tribulation, patience, and experience, to the “hope that
maketh not ashamed” in verses four and five. The
“circle” begins with the believer “rejoicing in hope of the glory of
God,” and ends with the believer “receiving the glory of God,”
hence, “…the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost
which is given unto us.” How different this is from those who
struggle through their religious efforts to please God, yet their very “experience”
casts them down to despair.
6
For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
This phrase, “when
we were yet without strength,” refers to the time before Christ died for us
when we had no access by faith “into this grace wherein we (now can) stand
(verse two).” Remember
that Jesus said to Paul in his time of affliction, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect
in (your) weakness” (II Corinthians 12:9. In this verse,) Jesus used the words “grace”
and “strength” synonymously. So what was the “remedy” given
for a weak and graceless people? “In due time Christ died for the
ungodly.”
7-8
For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man
some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in
that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
A good man may
lay down his life for those he loves most; wife, children, or some other he may
dearly love. A good mother may lay down her life to save her
children. A few would lay down their lives for the defense of their
nation, but Christ laid down His life for the ungodly (verse six), for sinners (verse
eight), and for His enemies (verse
ten). Such love for enemies is the proof of divine life and
love. God put His love on display for all to see; when Christ died for
us.
9
Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath
through him.
Just as there
were two separate time periods revealed in Romans
3:25-26 (see the commentary on these verses), those same time periods are
also revealed in verses one and nine of
this fifth chapter. “Therefore being (having been) justified
by faith…” in the verse one
speaks in the past tense. It was God’s way of dealing with “sins that
are past (Romans 3:25).” In
this ninth verse, “Much more
then, being now justified by His blood…” deals with the present.
Before Christ died for the ungodly, justification by faith was available
to everyone who would “believe God.” But now, Romans 3:24, Paul introduces justification “by grace”: “Being
justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”
It is “justification by grace” that Paul begins to reveal in this fifth chapter.
“Much more then…” In this ninth verse
Paul introduces the words, “much more,” which he will use five times in
this fifth chapter. With these
words he shows the great superiority, of justification by grace through the
blood and cross of Christ, over everything that has transpired before. It
is a justification that is greater than the “fall,” greater than the “law,” greater
than anything Abraham and the patriarchs knew; and greater than Noah, Moses and
other great men of faith comprehended. The writer of Hebrews has this to
say, “And these all, having obtained a
good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided
some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect” (Hebrews 11:39-40). The “better thing” he is speaking of
is “justification by grace.”
“…being now
justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.” Those who are “justified by His blood” have no fear of
the wrath to come. They have been “washed from their sins in His
blood” (Revelation 1:5).
10
For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his
Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
By nature we were “enemies” to
God. In Romans 8:7 Paul says, “…the
carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God,
neither indeed can be.” We have been “reconciled to God” by
(through) the death of His Son. Notice that reconciliation is “to
God.” God is not reconciled to man, but man is reconciled “to
God.” God has never changed. He is “merciful, gracious,
longsuffering, and forgiving,” from the beginning, into all the ages to
come (Exodus 34:6-7). God gave
His Son Jesus to reconcile man unto Himself; through His death, burial, and
resurrection. “Reconciliation to God” is the reality of what
salvation is all about. Being “saved by his life” is the natural
result of being reconciled.
The word “by,”
which is used two times in this verse is a mistranslation. The Greek
words translated “by” actually give us this meaning; we are reconciled “through”
the death of His Son, and we are saved “in” his life. Peter says
we are “begotten again…by (through) the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead (I Peter 1:4).”
11
And not only so, but we also JOY in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom
we have now received the ATONEMENT.
This is the third
time in this fifth chapter that
the Greek word “kauchaomai” is used. In
this eleventh verse, it is translated “joy.”
The word is defined by “Strong’s” as “to vaunt,” which means “to
brag or boast.” In the second verse of this chapter it is, I
believe, correctly used in the phrase “we rejoice in hope,” and
in the third verse, “we glory in tribulations.” Paul
says in Philippians 3:3,
“For we are the
circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ
Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.” Certainly
“rejoicing in Christ Jesus” is what Paul was also speaking
of in verses 2, 3, and 11 of this chapter.
Again, in this eleventh verse, the cause of our rejoicing
in Christ is that “through Him” we have received the “atonement.”
The word “atonement” is found only in this one place in the New Testament
and should have been translated “reconciliation,” which is the
meaning of the Greek word that was used. In recapping: When we first “access
into this grace” by faith, verse two, we “rejoice in
hope of the glory of God.” In verse three, having such hope,
we also “glory (rejoice) in tribulations also,” knowing
that tribulations can only work for us (II Corinthians 4:17).
Finally, in this eleventh verse we “joy (rejoice) in
God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by (through) whom we have now
received the atonement (reconciliation).” It is
not “someday” that we are reconciled to God through the death of
Christ Jesus; it is “now.”
This paragraph is
a brief, yet interesting history on the word “atonement” used in this
eleventh verse. It is the only original English word found in
the Bible. William Tyndale coined the word in an attempt, at least to his
mind, to better express the idea of “reconciliation.” To do this,
he connected three simple English words, “at-one-ment,”
creating a new English word, “atonement;” which expresses the
fact that the redeemed are “at one with God.” Later however, other
translators erroneously used the
same word numerous times in the Old Testament. In doing this, whether
ignorantly or intentionally, they totally destroyed the power that is in a
correct understanding of the true meaning of the New Testament word. This
is a typical example of just one of the many ways the devil has to blind our
minds to the truth of the gospel.
>CLICK HERE< to go to Q&A LESSON 8 (for TOPIC 8).
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TOPIC 9
Justification
by Faith: God’s Righteousness Revealed
Romans
chapter
5:verses 12 through 21
12
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so
death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
“…by one man sin entered into the world…” Paul brings up man’s fall into sin in order to bring us the
true meaning of reconciliation. He sees the pattern of our reconciliation
in the pattern of the fall. We know there was no sin until Adam
transgressed God’s one commandment; “But of
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in
the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die (Genesis 2:17).” It
was through Adam’s transgression that sin entered his heart and nature.
It was then passed to the heart and nature of every descendant of Adam who is
the common father of us all. Because of his transgression, we were all
sinners by birth. Even though we had not yet committed sins, we were
subject to death (mortality). Our nature was polluted with sin and the
sentence of death was upon us.
“…and death
by sin…” It was through the entrance of sin that
death also entered. The entrance of death was more than a physical death,
because Adam must eat of the “Tree of Life” if he is to “live forever
(Genesis 3:22).” It was
a spiritual death and separation from God that entered with the entrance of
sin. Adam died that death “in the day” he disobeyed
God.
“…and so
death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:” The key to understanding this phrase is found in the Greek
word which was mistranslated “for.” The Greek word is “epi.” According to “Strong’s Concordance,”
and I quote, “meaning superimposition (of time, place, order, etc.), as
a relation of distribution [with the genitive case], i.e. over, upon,
etc.” Death “entered,” and “passed upon all men,”“superimposed
upon the sin.” It does not require an act of sin by each
individual to make us subject to death; we are all born into this world as
sinners. Sin and death are inseparable companions, with death superimposed upon the sin.
Wherever there is sin, death also reigns.
13
(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is
no law.
We know that the
law “came by Moses” about twenty five hundred years after Adam’s
transgression. Due to the fact that there was no law during that time
period there could be no record of sins because it took the law to define an
act of sin.
14
Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not
sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him
that was to come.
From Adam to
Moses there was no written law for the people to transgress; yet death
reigned. Moses gave a Law, yet death continued its reign until Jesus
Christ. God destroyed the world in the days of Noah even though there was
no law, thus, no transgression. God did not need a “law” to judge
them because He knows the heart of man. “And
GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every
imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” None of these
had broken a written law, either of
God or of Moses, because no law had yet been given; nevertheless, they
perished because of what they were.
“…who is the
figure of him that was to come.” The key
to this phrase is the word “figure.” Translated from the Greek
word “tupos,” which is defined as “a die
(as struck), i.e. (by implication) a stamp or scar.” Adam’s
transgression is the “die” that was “struck” on the heart and
nature of “The first man, Adam.” He became the “prototype,”
so to speak, of fallen humanity. Paul says we have all “borne the image of
the earthy (I Corinthians 15:45-49).”
15
But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of
one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is
by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
This first
phrase, “But not as the offence, so also is the free gift,” seems
difficult, yet it can be simply understood. In effect the “offence” and
the “free gift” were opposites, but in principle they were the
same. The offence of Adam separated him from God and His likeness,
bringing every man down to depravity and slavery, while the “free gift”
reconciled man back to God through the death of Jesus, the Son of God.
The principle is the same in that one man, Adam, was proxy for all in the fall,
and one man, Jesus, was proxy for all in the redemption.
16
And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one
to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.
Another difficult
phrase, which is explained in the same verse; “And not as it was by one that
sinned, so is the gift.” Adam’s one offence brought the judgment of
condemnation (the death sentence)
to every person, but the “free gift” of Christ brings a person from many
offences unto justification. Let’s consider “justification” for a
moment. Many good, sincere gospel teachers have explained “justification”
simply as, “just as if I had never sinned.” The truth however is
this: “If I had never sinned,” I would still be a sinner, and thus
condemned by Adam’s sin. We should understand “justification” in
this way; it is “just as if Adam had never sinned.” What would we
be if Adam had never sinned? We would all be in the image and likeness of
God, breathing the breath (The Spirit) of God, and in perfect fellowship with
God. This is the purpose of reconciliation through justification by
grace.
17
For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive
abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one,
[even] Jesus Christ.)
The “reign of
death” spoken of throughout these verses must be understood to be much more
than the death and decay of the natural body. God counts every person
without Jesus Christ to be “dead in trespasses and sins.” Jesus
said, “...he that believeth in me, though he
were dead, yet shall he live; and he that liveth and believeth in me shall
never die...” (John
11:25-26). The sinner, who exists
from day to day, breathing the air, working on a job, and raising a family, is
never counted by God to be “alive;” while the child of God whose body is
laid in a casket is never counted by God to be dead. The person without
Jesus is a slave to sin and a prisoner of death. The person who has “received
Jesus Christ” has received “abundance of grace” and the “gift of
righteousness.” They “reign in life” through Jesus Christ our
Lord.
18
Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation;
even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto
justification of life.
Paul clearly
shows that it is by the “offence of one” that every person came under
the condemnation of death; yet in that same way it is by the “righteousness
of one” that the “free gift” comes upon every person “unto
justification of life.” He sets the stage for a single verse of
scripture to so clearly define the gospel message as follows:
19
For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of
one shall many be made righteous.
It was because of
Adam’s disobedience that we were all born as sinners into this world. “So
by the obedience of one…” speaks of the “obedience” of Christ as
described in Philippians 2:8: “And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and
became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” It is by Jesus’ “obedience” to the “death of the
cross” that many shall “be made righteous.”
The eighteenth
verse speaks of “the righteousness of one,” while the nineteenth
verse speaks of “the obedience of one.” They both speak of the
same thing, which is, “the death of the cross.” Romans 3:25 tells us that it is Jesus
Christ, “whom God hath set forth to be a
propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness
for the remission of sins that are past....” God
“set forth” His Son to be “an atoning victim” (a propitiation)
for our sin. Paul said it was to “declare His (God’s) righteousness.”
Is God righteous? Look to that place called Calvary. Look to the
one hanging on a cross between two thieves. Who is he? It is the
Son of God. If He is the Son of God, why is He nailed to that cross,
suffering as a deceiver and a blasphemer? If you can rightly answer that
one question, then you know that God is righteous. “Christ-crucified”
is the proof, and only proof, that God is righteous, because “Christ-crucified”
is the “righteousness of God.” To understand this is to
understand the wonderful gospel of Jesus Christ.
In the judgment
of God, it was not “right” that every person born into this world would
be condemned to eternal death by the offence of one man who disobeyed God’s commandment
thousands of years before. There had to be another man to undo, “for
all,” what Adam had done “to all.” There was no descendant of
Adam that could do such a thing, for all were slaves to sin and prisoners of
death. In John 1:1-3, the
apostle John begins the wonderful story this way; “In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made
by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” John continues in the verse
fourteen, “And the
Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as
of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” The creator of all things was made flesh to live among
us. He would give Himself to save His people from their sin. As
nothing else could, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, suffering and dying on the
cross for the sin of the world, declares “the righteousness of God” for
all to see and hear. God is just; and He is the justifier of all who
believe in Jesus.
20
Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin
abounded, grace did much more abound:
In John 1:17 the apostle John says, “For
the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”
In these words (of John) we receive understanding of the words of Paul in our
text. Paul says, “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.”
Many have believed and have even taught others that “the more sinful we are, the more gracious
God is.” What a soul damning thing to teach. The truth of the
verse is this, “the law entered,” not as a remedy for sin, but to
identify sin; and “sin abounded.” It was over fifteen hundred
years later that “grace and truth came by Jesus Christ;” and grace
abounded “much more” than sin abounded. We will see more about
this as we continue in these scriptures, but the “grace and truth” that
came by Jesus Christ is“ much more” than the offence which came by Adam
and abounded under the law.
There are five places in this fifth chapter of Romans
that the words “much more” are used. The sum purpose of these
words is to establish that the redemption made by and through Jesus Christ is “much
more” than the fall that came by and through Adam. If the offence of
Adam cast man down from the righteousness of the image and likeness of God into
total depravity, then the redemption that is in Christ Jesus cannot leave man
in his sinful state to continue in sin; therefore, the redemption is said
repeatedly to be “much more” than the fall.
21
That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through
righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
Sin reigns “unto
death.” Notice, however, the “past tense” that is used in the
language: “…as sin hath reigned unto death…” as though the person
has already died. It was “unto” the “death of Jesus
Christ” on the cross that sin had its reign. Remember this in the fourteenth verse, “Nevertheless
death reigned from Adam to Moses” over those who did not have a law.
Death also reigned from Moses to Christ over those who were under the
law. It is the entrance of “grace and truth” that ends the reign
of sin and death; through the “death” and resurrection of the Son of
God. For those who believe that sin continues its reign until we are
released from its power by the death of our natural bodies, nothing remains for
them but the “wages of sin” which is “eternal death.”
>CLICK HERE< to go to Q&A LESSON 9 (for TOPIC 9).
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The Sixth Chapter of Romans
In this sixth
chapter, the “wisdom of God” is revealed in how the “death sentence”
is carried out upon sinful man. We who believe, “die to sin” with
Christ. The very heart of the gospel is revealed in the sixth and seventh
verses of this chapter. Our “old man is crucified with Him
(Christ),” and, “He that is dead (with Christ) is freed from
sin.” The cross Jesus died upon was for us, and “our old man”
died with Christ. The death sentence against man is carried out at the
cross of Christ, “by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the
world (Galatians 6:14).”
TOPIC
10
The
Work of the Cross: Dead with Christ
Romans
chapter
6:verses 1 through 10
1
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
This sixth chapter of Romans begins with a
simple question, based upon an erroneous interpretation of Romans 5:20. The question is, “If sin abounds, and grace
abounds much more, why not continue in sin so that grace will be more
abundant?” Those who believe this error are ignorant of the truth
revealed by both Peter and James that “God resists the proud, and gives
grace to the humble (James 4:6; I Peter 5:5).” Those who continue
in sin do so without grace.
2
God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Paul answers
their question with a question. He notes the impossibility of one who is “dead
to sin” to “live any longer in sin.” This truth is built upon
his words in Romans 5:21; “…sin
hath reigned unto death.” Paul will establish in the next few verses that
every child of God has died to sin through the death of the cross, with Jesus
Christ. Sin has lost its power to reign over those who know the truth.
3
Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were
baptized into his death?
It was Jesus who
first said, “…ye shall know the truth, and the truth
shall make you free (John
8:32).” In this verse Paul calls their “knowledge of the
truth” into question. “Know ye not that every person that is in Christ was
baptized into His death?” It is in His death that we are joined to
Christ. It must be understood, however, that the “baptism” spoken
of in this verse has nothing whatsoever to do with what is commonly called the
“sacrament” or “ordinance” of water baptism. Jesus introduced the
baptism that is spoken of in these verses in Luke 12:50: “I have a baptism to be baptized with;
and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!” Jesus was speaking of His death on the cross as a “baptism”
which He would suffer. Again, in Mark
10:37, James and John came to Jesus with a request, “Grant unto us that
we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy
glory.” Jesus immediately answers; “Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I
drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” The “cup” spoken of here is the same cup Jesus prayed
to the Father about in Matthew 26:39,
“If it be possible, let this cup pass from me....” The “baptism”
spoken of in these verses is His
death on the cross. Water baptism is only a type and a shadow; of which “baptism
into His death” is the reality.
4
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was
raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk
in newness of life.
The purpose of
our being “baptized into His death” is our “resurrection” to “walk
in newness of life.” Peter tells us that God has “begotten us
again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…” (I Peter 1:3).
5
For if we have been planted (buried) together
in the likeness of his death, we shall be also (be raised together) in the likeness of his resurrection:
Our being in the likeness
of His resurrection is based upon, and subject to, our being in the likeness of
His death.
6
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin
might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
“Knowing
this…” When Paul uses the terms, “know ye not,“ or
“knowing this,” he is calling special attention to some very important
issues. This sixth chapter of
Romans contains the very foundation stones of the gospel of Christ. The
Christian life founded on these will not fail in the storm.
“Our old man
is crucified with Him…” The word
“with” is of utmost importance, because it comes from the Greek word “sun
(pronounced soon),” and denotes “union.” “Our old man is
crucified in union with Him.” When Jesus Christ, the Son of
God, was nailed to the cross, our old man of sin was nailed to that same cross
with Him.
“…that
the body of sin might be destroyed.” This
phrase denotes the reason our old man is crucified. It is revealed in the
Greek word “hina;” which was translated “that,”
and actually means “in order that.” “Our
old man is crucified in union with Christ, in order that the body
of sin might be destroyed.” Next, in this verse, we must look at
the word “body.” It comes from
the Greek word “soma,” which means “the body (as a sound whole).”
It is used throughout the New Testament to identify the natural body of man;
but differentiates between the entire body, and a hand or a foot, which are
simply “members of the body” which is made up of many members. To
clearly understand the term “body of sin,” think of the difference
between a “glass of water” and the “ocean.” The ocean is the “body of water,”
and the “source of all waters.” Now we read the text as follows; “Our
old man is crucified in union with Christ, in order that the entire
body and source of sin might be destroyed....”
“…might
be destroyed.” This entire phrase was translated from the
Greek word “katargeo,” which means, “to
be (or render) entirely idle (useless).” The word “might,”
which I have italicized, does not denote the “possibility” of man
conquering his own flesh, as many seem to think. Instead it is used in
connection with “that (in order that)” to show the reason Jesus
Christ died for us, and our “old man is crucified with Him.” It is
very positive. In II Corinthians 5:14, Paul said, “If one died for all, then were all dead (then all died).” If we
believe that Christ died for us, then believe the rest of the gospel, that we died with Him. That is the “faith”
which is the gospel of Christ. “Our old man is crucified with Him,”
and “the body of sin is destroyed.” In the eleventh verse, Paul will show that this is what we must believe to
live free from sin.
“…that henceforth
we should not serve sin.” The
Greek word translated “henceforth” is “meketi.”
It is a combination of two Greek words, “me” and “eti,”
which may rightly be translated “no further,” or “lest still,”
according to the usage in the sentence. This writer believes the sixth verse to clearly say the
following: “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified in union
with Christ, in order that the entire body and source of sin
might be rendered entirely idle and useless, lest we continue to be
slaves to sin.” If our “old man” is not crucified, and the source of sin disabled, we will continue to serve sin all the days
of our lives.
7
For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Thanks be to God
we are not slaves to sin, because, “he that is dead (he that is
crucified in union with Christ) is freed from sin.” In this verse, though concealed by the
translators, Paul gives us the scriptural definition of “justified.”
The word “freed” in this verse is translated from the Greek word “dikaioo,” meaning, “to render just or innocent.” It
is used forty eight times in the New
Testament and in every place, with the exception of this one in Romans 6:7, it is translated as “justified.”
So what is the scriptural definition of “justified?” “He that is
dead (with Christ) is justified.” One can only be truly justified by grace,
when their old man is crucified with Christ.
8
Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
The message of
our union with Christ is carried over from
verse six into this eighth verse.
The Greek word “sun (in union with)” is used in two places. “If
we died in union with Christ…we also live in union with Him.”
Drop the word “shall,” as it is not found in the Greek text. Our
union with Christ in life is now, even in this present evil world. In Colossians 1:27, Paul explains this “mystery”
as
“Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
9
Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no
more dominion over him.
This is the third time the matter of “knowing”
has arisen in this sixth chapter of
Romans. These are great and wonderful truths that we must “know” if we are to be free from sin. In this
verse Paul begins an example for every believer in the death and resurrection
of Jesus Christ. Jesus died once and, being raised from the dead, He will
never die again; because death has no more dominion over Him.
10
For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth
unto God.
This verse is
most important as establishing the basis for our great confession in the next
verse. Jesus died! He died unto sin; and He died but once!
Jesus lives! He lives unto God. This is the pattern of our
salvation through death and resurrection “in union with” Jesus Christ.
>CLICK HERE< to go to Q&A LESSON 10 (for TOPIC 10).
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TOPIC 11
The
Work of the Cross: Lest Sin Reign
Romans
chapter
6:verses 11 through 17
11
Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto
God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
“Likewise (in this way) reckon ye also yourselves…” The word “likewise” ties us to the facts that were
stated about Jesus in the previous verse.
He “died unto sin once…likewise, we died (with Him) unto sin once.”
He “liveth unto God…likewise, we live (in Him) unto God.”
When Jesus “died unto sin once,” we were “with (in union with)
Him.” In that, our old man died with Christ, we are “dead indeed
unto sin.” In His resurrection, a “new man” was born and we
are “alive unto God through (the Greek word is ‘in’) Jesus Christ our Lord.” Our union with
Christ is both in His
death and in His life.
The sentence
structure of this eleventh verse is
very interesting. The word “indeed”
is key to the power and reality of the confession. It is translated from
the Greek word “men.” The “Strong’s Concordance” definition
is as follows: “men:’ a primary particle; properly, indicative of
affirmation or concession (in fact); usually followed by a contrasted
clause with 1161 (the Greek word for ‘but’).” The “concession”
in the eleventh verse is this: “In
fact, I am dead unto sin.” The contrasted clause: “But
I am alive unto God in Jesus Christ my Lord.”
The “reckoning”
in this eleventh verse is not only
that we are dead unto sin, but that
we are also alive unto God.
The power of our “reckoning” is also found in the word “indeed.” It is a “fact” that, “in union with
Christ,” we are both dead to sin
and alive unto God. It is “indeed” a fact that (“in union with
Christ”) both of these things are so; but until we reckon them to be so, we will continue to struggle with sin in our
heart and nature.
12
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the
lusts thereof.
In this verse, the translators truly did an
injustice. Their error has bound untold millions of people to “continue
in sin,” even though it is not their will to be so. “Let not sin
therefore reign…” seems to prove that sin remains in the mortal body of the
believer. The wording indicates a continuous struggle with sin.
This is certainly not what the apostle Paul was saying in this twelfth verse. We must examine what Paul actually said;
to find the truth he reveals.
The first word in
this verse, “let,” is not found in the Greek text. It was borrowed
from the Greek word translated “reign” in this same verse, hence “let
reign.” It is the word “not” that is the key to understanding
this twelfth verse. It is
translated from the Greek word “me (may).” “Strong’s” gives the definition as follows:
“a primary particle of qualified negation (whereas 3756 expresses an
absolute denial); (adverbially) not, (conjunctionally) lest.”As an
adverb, the word would properly be translated as a very weak “not.”
As a conjunction, it should be translated as “lest.” In fact, it is
a conjunction, connecting the eleventh
and twelfth verses in this way: “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to
be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord, lest
sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, etc.” Paul establishes in
this verse that if you do not reckon the fact that you are
dead unto sin with Christ, and alive unto God in Christ, sin
will most definitely reign in your mortal body.
The last phrase
of this verse speaks of the reign of sin in the mortal body, “…that ye
should obey it in the lusts thereof.” The word “lusts” is
translated from the Greek word “epithumia”
which is defined as “a longing (especially for what is forbidden).” The
same Greek word is also translated as “concupiscence” in several places,
which is defined by the “New Century Dictionary” as “illicit desire;
sensual appetite; lust.” There are those in religion who have
successfully restrained their outward actions of sin, yet almost every thought
of their mind is on unclean or sinful things. These are “obeying sin
in the lusts thereof,” for it is sin in the heart that man cannot
control. Those who are “dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God
through our Lord Jesus Christ” have no such struggle. It is of vital
importance that we “reckon (accept as the truth [which it is]),”
this gospel truth to our lives.
13
Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but
yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your
members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
The Greek word “meede,” which is translated “neither” indicates
a “continued negation.” It is derived from two separate words
meaning “and lest,”
connecting the thirteenth verse with the
previous two verses as follows: “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to
be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord, lest
sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts
thereof; and lest ye yield your members as instruments of
unrighteousness unto sin.”
The last phrase of verse thirteen begins a
new sentence with the word “but,” which from the Greek “alla” means “contrariwise.” “Contrariwise
yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead, and yield your
members (hands, feet, mouth, etc) as instruments (offensive weapons)
of righteousness unto God.”
14
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but
under grace.
This verse begins
with the Greek word “gar,” translated “for,” and “assigns a
reason.” The previous verse instructed us to yield our members as
instruments of righteousness unto God, “because sin has no dominion
over you.” It is impossible to present to God for His service that
which sin still dominates. The reason is also given as to why sin has
lost its dominion over us: “because ye are not under the law, but under
grace.” Sin “abounds” under the law (Romans 5:20), and “reigns” unto death (Romans 5:21). Grace “abounded” at Calvary, and “reigns
through righteousness” unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 5:21). “Grace” is
the reason given that sin has no more dominion over us.
15
What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God
forbid.
This is the second time Paul answers an erroneous
view of grace in this sixth chapter of
Romans. In the first verse
the question was, “Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” Abounding
grace never results in continuance in sin. In this verse a perverted view of grace is repudiated a second time. “Shall we sin,
because we are not under the law?” Some believe that an absence of law
translates into an absence of sin. The truth is, there is never an “absence
of the law.” The “Old Covenant” is the law written on tables
of stone. The “New Covenant” is the law written in our hearts (Jeremiah 31:31-33; Hebrews 8:8-13); which is “grace.” Those under grace
cannot continue in sin.
16
Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye
are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto
righteousness?
The apostle asks
a question with an obvious answer. “Do you not know that you are a
slave to the one you present yourself (your body) to obey?” A
sinner has no choice as to whom he will serve. He is a slave to sin, and
when sin calls, he will answer. The message of this verse is simple; your
master is the one you must obey.
17
But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from
the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
This seventeenth verse is extremely
important. God is “thanked,” not because you “were the servants
of sin,” but because you are “made free from sin” (following verse; verse
eighteen). You have “obeyed from the heart....” In Romans 10:10 Paul says this, “For with
the heart man believeth unto righteousness.” In Galatians 3:1 he writes, “O foolish Galatians, who hath
bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth....” In Galatians 5:7: “Ye did run well; who
did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?” The
Galatians were obeying every command of Moses, beginning with circumcision, and
trusting they would be saved through the deeds of the Law; but they were not “obeying
the truth.” The “truth that makes free” is such that it cannot
be obeyed by any action or work of man. The truth that makes us free is
that “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself (II Corinthians 5:19).” He
did it through our death and resurrection with Jesus
Christ. Salvation is one hundred percent the work of God. It is a
gift received by faith alone: “only believe!” Obey “from the
heart” that “form of doctrine which was delivered (for) you;” that
“form of doctrine” is “Christ-crucified.”
“…that form
of doctrine…” The word “form” in verse
seventeen is translated from the same Greek word, “tupos”
which, in Romans 5:14, was translated “figure.”
Its primary definition is “a die (as struck).” Adam’s
transgression is the “die” that cast every person as a sinner; “Christ-crucified”
is the “die” that makes many to be righteous. From the instant of
Adam’s transgression it was forever settled that every descendant of Adam would
be a sinner; born in sin. From the moment that Jesus Christ, the Son of
God, died on the cross, it was forever settled that the children of God would
be “born again;” in righteousness and true holiness. It is a “fact”
that Jesus died on the cross, was buried, and was raised again on the third
day. The “faith” of the gospel is found in the sixth and seventh verses of this sixth
chapter of Romans; “our old man is crucified with Him (Christ), that the body (the
source) of sin might be destroyed.” If this is not true, we will
never be free from sin, but Paul concludes in the seventh verse, “He that is dead, (with Christ) is freed
from sin.”
>CLICK HERE< to go to Q&A LESSON
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TOPIC 12
The
Work of the Cross: Free from Sin
Romans
chapter
6:verses 18 through 23
18
Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
That “form of
doctrine,” which is “Christ crucified,” has made us free from sin to
become the servants of righteousness. In this verse, both “sin” and “righteousness” are
personified. We are delivered from the cruel master to serve the loving
master.
19
I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as
ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto
iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto
holiness.
In verses nineteen through twenty-two,
Paul gives a simple illustration to explain “freedom from sin” in human
terms. He begins, “I speak after the manner of men….” In the
past they had “yielded” the members of their body to uncleanness and to
iniquity, leading to more iniquity; but Paul instructs them, “being made
free from sin, and (having)
become servants of righteousness…yield your members servants to righteousness
unto holiness.” Paul’s simple illustration begins in the next verse.
20
For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
How free is
free? What does it mean to be free from sin? Paul answers with a
simple statement of obvious truth; “when ye were the servants of sin, ye
were free from righteousness.” Being “free from righteousness”
did not mean that they had “power over righteousness,” but simply that
there was no righteousness in them. Sin was their master and everything
they did was sin. Even their efforts to do good were unacceptable, for as
Isaiah said, “...we are all as an unclean thing, and all our
righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our
iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away (Isaiah 64:6).”
21
What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end
of those things is death.
The child of God,
being a servant of righteousness, is always ashamed of the past life of
sin. Everything he did, whether “good” or “evil,” was the
fruit of what he was, a slave to sin, and a sinner. The end result for
every servant of sin is always eternal death.
22
But now being made free from sin, and (having) become servants to God, ye have your
fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
“But now…” Oh what a contrast between “then” and “now.” “Then”
you were “servants to sin” and “free from righteousness.” “Now”
you are “servants to God” and “free from sin.” Your fruit is
holiness, and your “end” is everlasting life, because…
23
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Those wages have
never changed, but neither has the “gift of God” which is “through
Jesus Christ our Lord.”
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The Seventh Chapter of Romans
Just as the fourth chapter is to chapters three and five, the seventh chapter also seems to be an
insertion between the sixth and eighth chapters; thus, interrupting the
message of the “glorious liberty” of the children of God. This seventh chapter is written to reveal
the plight of those who are both “in the flesh,” and “married to the
law.” It is one of the “darkest” chapters in all of Paul’s
writings. Even the reading of it seeks to pull the reader down into the
despair of the twenty-fourth verse.
It is necessarily so, because Paul is telling of his own experience as it was
before he met Jesus on the road to Damascus. Romans 7:7-25 relates the experience of Saul of Tarsus.
In the sixth chapter of Romans, our death “with
Christ” makes us “free from sin.” In chapter seven, the same “death
with Christ” makes us free from the law; to be “married to Jesus.”
The law entered because of sin, and as long as sin continues, so does the law;
but he that is “dead to sin” is also “freed from the law.”
TOPIC
13
The
Work of the Cross: Dead to the Law
Romans
chapter
7:verses 1 through 4
1
Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the
law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?
Paul begins this seventh chapter by speaking of the “dominion”
the law has over man “as long as he liveth.” Notice the similarity
to the wording in Romans 5:21 which
says, “…Sin hath reigned unto death.” As long as a man lives, both
sin and the law have dominion over him. It is only through “death”
that man is released from sin and the law. It must be quickly added that
it is only our death “with Christ,” on His cross, that releases us from
the dominion of both sin and the law. The necessity of that “release”
is revealed in I Corinthians 15:56, “The
sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.” As
long as sin reigns in man, he will be “under the law;” and as long
as a man is under the law, sin will continue to reign.
2-3
For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long
as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her
husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another
man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free
from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another
man.
In verses two and three Paul uses an
analogy based on the union of marriage between a man and a woman. The
woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives, but if he is dead, she is no
longer under his dominion. She is free to be married to another.
4
Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of
Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from
the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
Notice the word “also”
in this verse. In chapter six we saw how believers are “freed
from sin” through death with Christ. Now Paul says, we are “also...
become dead to the law by the body of Christ.” Here we
understand the “body of Christ” as it is used in Colossians 1:21-22: “And you… hath he reconciled in the body
of his flesh through death….” We who are “dead to sin”
through the death of Christ are also “dead to the law.”
Those who are “dead
to the law” are not “lawless,” neither are they “without law.”
Instead, they are “married to Christ,” and “under the law to Christ”
(I Corinthians 9:21; Galatians 6:2). Paul tells
Timothy, “The law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless
and disobedient…” (I Timothy 1:9).
Those who were “without law” were the heathen and Gentile nations who
never had a covenant with God (Ephesians
2:12). A believer, being “married to Christ,” has the law of
God written in his heart. It is the “law” of a pure and holy bride
who submits herself to her “husband (Christ)” in all things (Ephesians 5:22-33, see verse 32).
The righteous man
has the same testimony as Paul gave in Galatians
2:20: “I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but
Christ liveth in me.” Being crucified (with Christ), we have died to
both sin and the Law, that we may be married to the one who loved us, died for
us, and raised again from the dead. We cannot have two “husbands.”
We cannot be married to both Christ and the Law. Neither are we without a
husband; we are either married to Christ, or bound to the Law. If we are
truly “married to Christ,” we will “bring forth fruit to God.”
>CLICK HERE< to go to Q&A LESSON
13 (for TOPIC 13).
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TOPIC 14
In
the Flesh: The Working of Sin
Romans
chapter
7:verses 5 through 13
5
For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did
work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
“When we
were in the flesh…”
The word “flesh” is
translated from the Greek word “sarx,” and has
various meanings and applications as follows:
Strong’s
definition of “sarx:” flesh (as stripped of the skin), i.e. (strictly)
the meat of an animal (as food), or (by extension) the body
(as opposed to the soul [or spirit], or as the symbol of what is external,
or as the means of kindred), or (by implication) human
nature (with its frailties [physically or morally] and passions),
or (specifically) a human being (as such):
The proper
understanding of the word “flesh” as used in the book of Romans is “human
nature.” The term, “when we were in the flesh,” however,
speaks of more than human nature. Paul was speaking of the time before he
believed upon Jesus when he tried to serve God through fleshly means under the
Law of Moses. Paul asked the question of the Galatians, who turned from
Christ to trust in the law, “Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit,
are ye now made perfect by the flesh” (Galatians 3:3).
They had been “born of the Spirit,” but they were seeking to fulfill their
salvation through the keeping of ordinances, principles, holy days, feast days,
and rituals, all of which are dead works of religion, and all of which are
performed “by the flesh.”
“…the
motions of sins, which were by the law…” The Law
does not create sin; it only identifies and forbids it. The very nature
of sin is to rebel against the law. “The motions of sins (the emotions
of sins)” speaks of “concupiscence,” which is defined as “longing,
especially for that which is forbidden.” It “works in the members”
of every unregenerate person, but especially those who are “under the law.”
When it is “at work (in motion),” every fiber of the human body
will seem to crave what the law forbids. Its only fruit is “unto
death.”
6
But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held;
that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the
letter.
“But now we
are delivered from the law…” Jesus
died on the cross to save us from sin. Being “saved from sin” we
are also “delivered from the law.” We are “saved from sin”
in that we are “dead to sin.” In this same manner, we are
delivered from the law. In this
verse, Paul uses two corresponding phrases that mean the same thing.
Those phrases are: “…we are delivered from the law,” and, “being dead
wherein we were held.” We are delivered from the law only “through
death with Christ.” “Our old man is crucified with Christ… (Romans 6:6)” and being
crucified, we are freed from both sin and the Law. I cannot over emphasis
that “sin” and “the law” are irrevocably connected. The “law”
is the proper husband for a sinner. Wherever you find sin, there you will
also find the law. Do not be deceived into believing that the answer to
the sin problem is to “revoke the Law.” A great shame in the
church today is that so many rejoice that they are “free from the Law,”
even as they angrily deny they are “freed from sin.”
“…that we
should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.” God promised in Jeremiah 31:31-33, and the writer of Hebrews confirmed the fulfillment of the promise (Hebrews 8:8-13), that the “New
Covenant” is “God’s law written in the heart of His children.”
This is what Paul means by “newness of spirit.” This is “Christ
in you, the hope of glory.” It is Christ, who now lives in us. To serve God in the “oldness
of the letter” is an attempt to please God through human obedience to His
law; whether written in ink or engraved in stone. (Please note that Paul is speaking, not only
of the law of Moses with the keeping of its ordinances, principles, holy days,
feast days, and rituals, all of which are dead, religious works performed “by
the flesh;” but of the ten commandment law of God itself.)
7
What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin,
but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt
not covet.
Beginning with
this seventh verse, and continuing
through the end of the chapter, Paul is relating his experience as Saul of
Tarsus. In this verse, he is speaking as one “delivered from the law”
to “serve God in newness of spirit,” while looking back at his
experience under the law. He shows that the law was not his problem, but
even as a devout Jew, sin had been the problem all along. The law only
identified sin. When the law said to Paul (Saul of Tarsus), “Thou
shalt not covet (the tenth commandment),” Saul discovered that even
the “desires of his heart” were also sin.
Jesus said, “Except your righteousness shall exceed
the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into
the kingdom of heaven (Matthew
5:20).” The scribes and Pharisees had no problem keeping the
first nine commandments, because these only regulated outward behavior.
In these they were “blameless.” It is the tenth and last
commandment, “Thou shalt not covet,” that destroys the “righteousness”
of the “self-righteous.” It is the only commandment that reveals
the sin which is resident in the heart of man. It is the only commandment
that no one can obey by the force of his or her will power. It is the
source of the breaking of all the other commandments. Take covetousness
out of the heart of man and he cannot break any law of God, because “covetousness”
is the nature and source of all sin. It was this one commandment that
ultimately stripped Saul of Tarsus of all his righteousness that was by
the law, and destroyed him in his own sight.
There are Ten
Commandments of God, six hundred and thirteen commandments of Moses, and hundreds
of “traditions of the fathers.” Saul of Tarsus kept all of these
so blamelessly in their outward form that he found none that could condemn
him. But from the moment he understood the tenth commandment, which exposed the sin in his heart, it was as
though there was but one commandment, “Thou shalt not covet;” and from
that day forward, he spoke of it in the singular as “The Commandment.”
In the next six verses, he will use
this term six times; and in
every case he is speaking of the tenth
commandment; “Thou shalt not covet.”
8
But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of
concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.
“But
sin, taking occasion by the commandment…” To this point, Paul has used the word “law” fifty three
times in this book of Romans. This is the first time he uses the word “commandment,”
which he will use five more times within the
next five verses, after which he will use the word “law” another
twenty two times in the remainder of his letter. His brief usage of the
term “the commandment” does not speak of the law in general, but of the
one specific commandment, “thou shalt not covet.” Notice Paul’s
words in the seventh verse; “I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust,
except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.” Something awakened Saul of Tarsus to the sin that was in
his heart; the sin that could only be identified by the tenth commandment: “Thou
shalt not covet.”
Saul of Tarsus
had been taught the law from the time he was a baby. It was with him day
and night. Saul was not, as the Jews called others, a “sinner of the
Gentiles (Galatians 2:15).”
His lifestyle was blameless (Philippians
3:6). No one could convict Saul of transgressing the law. He was
“exceedingly zealous” of the traditions of the fathers, and “profited
in the Jew’s religion above many of his equals” (Galatians 1:14). Saul was never “without the law”
in the sense of being “lawless;” he kept the law to the tiniest
detail. He loved the law; he meditated on it day and night. To Saul,
the law was not a harsh taskmaster. It identified no sin in him, for he
was righteous according to all that he read and understood in the law.
There came a day, however, that Saul “read” the law as it was written on
the heart of a man.
Jesus said of the
Pharisees, “If I had not come and spoken unto them,
they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin…If I had not
done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but
now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father” (John 15:22, 24).
In the case of Saul of Tarsus, it was not Jesus, but Stephen who came to touch
his life. It was Stephen, whose face was seen “as it had been the face
of an angel,” even while he was being falsely accused (Acts 6:15). It was Stephen, who spoke the truth without fear
to a court predetermined to slay him (Acts
7:1-53); who saw the glory of God and testified to seeing Jesus at the
right hand of God even as the members of the religious court “gnashed on him
with their teeth.” It was this same
Stephen who used his last breath to pray for the angry mob who stoned him to
death, saying, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.”
We know that the
New Covenant is God’s law written on the hearts of His children. Oh what
a contrast Saul of Tarsus saw that day between Stephen, who had God’s law
written on his heart, and those devout Jews, including himself, who only had it
as it was “engraved in stone.” For the first time, Saul of Tarsus
saw the “Law of God” written in life; and it identified him as a
sinner. He now understood the tenth commandment, “Thou shalt not
covet;” because in Stephen, he saw a man with a “pure heart” who was
free from “covetousness.”
“But sin,
taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of
concupiscence.”
“Concupiscence” in this verse is the same as “lust”
in the previous verse. In Romans
5:20, Paul said, “The law entered, that the offence might abound.” “Sin,
taking occasion by the commandment (thou shalt not covet),” wrought
in Saul every manner of sinful desire, and he became a “wretched man;”
filled with hatred and murder against the Christians. Saul was just like
the Pharisees Jesus had spoken of. If he
had never seen Stephen, he would “not have had sin.” That is, he would
never have became aware of his sinfulness; but now he had seen Stephen, and
hated both Stephen and his Lord, Jesus. In Saul’s sight, the “Christians”
were seen as the cause of his every problem. It was after this that Saul “made
havoc of the church (Acts 8:3),”
and “breathed out slaughter against the disciples of the Lord” (Acts 9:1).
“For without
the law sin was dead.”
This phrase is best understood
when connected to the next verse…
9
For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin
revived, and I died.
“For I was
alive without the law once…” Over
forty years ago, during the time of the civil rights movement in America, I
knew of a man who was Sunday School Superintendent in a church near
Houston. He was a good man, who served God along with his wife and small
children. He loved the brethren and the church loved and respected him as
a wonderful Christian man. One Sunday a godly black man visited their
church, arriving just as the superintendent finished his duties. Upon
seeing the black man enter, the superintendent walked down the aisle to his
family, said out loud to his wife and children, “Let’s go! If ‘they’
are coming here, we are not,” and with that, they left the service.
The black man never came back, and the superintendent tried to continue as
before, but he could not. Everything about him was changed, and it was
not long before he quit the church and entered a life of open sin. That
man had “been alive” once, but when “he” discovered the
sinfulness of his own heart (hatred), he died, and sin became his master.
In fact, sin had always been there, but it had been dormant, or as the Greek
word which Paul used, it had been a “corpse.” The “corpse”
revived that day, and slew the man. As
with Saul of Tarsus, if he had never came face to face with the target of his
hatred, he would never have known his sinfulness, but now he knew it, and he
died.
In everything
which Paul relates about his experience with sin and the law, before he was
saved, there is a parallel experience for every “Christian” who is moved
away from Christ-crucified, to trust, either in the law, or in the thousands of
man-made principles of religion which promise righteousness. Notice the
wording in this verse; “…sin revived, and I died.” Whether this seventh chapter speaks of Saul of
Tarsus, a man who was married to the law, but never to Christ; or whether it
speaks of one who was “married to Christ,” but has turned once again to
a law for righteousness, the results are the same; “sin” is “alive,”
and that person is “dead.” Chapter
seven cannot be the experience of anyone God would ever receive. They
may have once known God, but if so, they are now backslidden and lost; though
they may also be very religious.
10
And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.
The commandment, “Thou
shalt not covet” is life to one and death to another. Let me
explain! A sinner is convicted of sin and repents; he comes to God
believing the gospel that his “old man of sin (Romans 6:6)” is nailed to the cross with Jesus. He
hears the words, “thou shalt not covet,” and rejoices, because his
former life had been destroyed by covetousness (as is every life without Jesus
Christ). His heart, having now been “purified by faith (Acts 15:9),” has no covetousness
in it. He rejoices that the “Son has made him free, and that he is ‘free
indeed’ (John 8:36).”
“Thou shalt not covet” is good and wonderful news to this man. On the
other hand, to those who are merely religious, “thou shalt not covet” is
the most “grievous” of all commandments. For Saul of Tarsus in his
self-righteous state, the commandment was “unto death.”
11
For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.
When Paul speaks
of “the commandment,” he is still speaking of that one
commandment, “thou shalt not covet.” Sin had no occasion against
Saul of Tarsus in any of the other commandments. He was much like the “rich
young ruler,” who walked sorrowfully away from Jesus; “All these have I
kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?” (Matthew 16:19-22). All that both of these young men
lacked was revealed by the tenth commandment, “thou shalt not covet.”
The rich young ruler walked away “sorrowful” because he had great
riches. When Saul, discovering the meaning of the tenth commandment, he
was deceived. He thought he would obey this commandment also, and be
perfect. It was only then that he began to discover the nature of “sin”
that was in him. The warfare had begun.
Multitudes in the
churches today are also deceived by sin and condemned by the same
commandment. In order to make the fact of sin in their heart acceptable,
they are taught that the Law of God has been abolished. Others teach that
the things we have no control over cannot condemn us. In fact, the tenth
commandment is the only commandment that reveals sin in the heart; and that sin
(the sin nature) is what Jesus died to take away (John 1:29). Saul of Tarsus found no remedy in the Law of
Moses that would satisfy the Law of God. When “the commandment came,”
that is, when understanding of the commandment came, it destroyed all of his
righteousness and he became as a living dead man.
12
Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
Paul defends the
Law of God, and specifically the tenth commandment, as “holy, and just, and
good.” He defines the nature of God’s law, as he will further do in
verse fourteen.
13
Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it
might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the
commandment might become exceeding sinful.
Paul continues
his defense of the tenth commandment. Remember that the commandment was “ordained
unto life (verse ten).”
To the redeemed, it is the source of “glorious liberty” (Romans 8:21). Saul’s
problem was not “the commandment;” it was the covetousness of his
heart. Saul of Tarsus, a man who could not be condemned by any of the
first nine commandments (Philippians 3:6)
had always considered the desires of his heart to be as nothing; because he did
not obey them. Now that understanding of the tenth commandment, “thou
shalt not covet,” had come, Saul also understood that he was “exceeding
sinful.” In the definition of the Greek word translated “exceeding,”
we see that in Saul’s own sight he was a sinner “beyond others.”
Years later, Paul confirms this in I
Timothy 1:15; saying he was the “chief of sinners.” As Jesus
had told the Pharisees, he was like the sepulchers of the prophets; he was “beautiful
on the outside,” but on the inside he was “full of dead men’s bones,” and
now, he knew it.
>CLICK HERE< to go to Q&A LESSON 14 (for TOPIC 14).
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TOPIC 15
In
the Flesh: Sold Under Sin
Romans
chapter
7:verses 14 through 25
14
For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
With this verse we must make some
distinctions between “The Law of God” and “The Law of Moses.” The
Law of God is spiritual, and is written in the hearts of a spiritual people (Hebrews 8:8-13). The Law of
Moses, which was “added because of transgressions (Galatians 3:19),” is carnal (Hebrews 7:16, 9:10), and
was given to a carnal people. In
the twentieth chapter of Exodus
where God gave His Law audibly to the congregation of Israel, they could not
receive it because they were “carnal.” God defined the problem to
Moses in Deuteronomy 5:29, “O
that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my
commandments always….” They could not keep His law, because they were
“carnal, sold under sin.” The Greek word “sarkikos,”
which was translated “carnal” in this
verse, means “similar to flesh,” and was translated as both “carnal,”
and “fleshly.” That was the state of Saul of Tarsus; he was“…fleshly,
and sold under sin.” The Greek word for “flesh” is “sarx,” and speaks of the “human nature” which is
“sold under sin.” In the verses
that follow, he lays out the proofs that he was sold under sin.
15
For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I
hate, that do I.
The great apostle
Paul continues speaking as Saul of Tarsus for the remainder of this chapter. He offers proof that Saul is
carnal until the day of his surrender to Jesus Christ. The proof of his
carnality is “…what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.”
16
If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
Saul recognizes
that if righteousness does not reign in his heart, he must have a law to
control his actions, therefore he consents that the law is good.
17
Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Saul recognizes
that if he is doing things he doesn’t want to do then something else is in
control. It is not him, but sin that is in his heart and nature. He is a
slave to sin.
18
For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to
will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
“…(that is,
in my flesh,)…”
The word “flesh” as
used in this verse does not refer to the physical “body,” but rather to
the “human nature” which controls the body. “For I know that in
me (that is, in my human nature,) dwelleth no good thing…” It is
Saul of Tarsus who comes to this realization, and it is proven to him, “for
to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.”
It was in his “mind” to serve God, but it was in his “nature” to
serve sin. He had the “will” to perform, but he did not have the “way.”
What a sad predicament for a person to find themselves in, but there are
far too many who do.
19
For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
This verse continues to prove there was nothing good
in Saul of Tarsus, even though he had been “blameless,” according to the
righteousness of the law, for his entire lifetime (Philippians 3:6). Remember the saying of the rich young ruler
who walks sorrowfully away from Jesus, saying; “All these have I kept from
my youth up: what lack I yet?.”
In the verse that follows, Jesus takes the cover off and revealed his “lack.”
It was the tenth commandment, “thou shalt not covet,” that caused the
rich young ruler to “go away sorrowful” (Matthew 19:16-22).
20
Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth
in me.
Saul of Tarsus
discovered that even if he had never committed an outward act of sin, yet sin
dwelt in him. It was proven to Saul because he began doing things he did
not want to do.
21
I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
It is the very
nature of sin to resist the good and do the evil. As long as sin remains
in the heart and nature of man, he may struggle to do the good, and may even
succeed in the working of good, but evil is always present with sinful desires
in the heart.
22
For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
The “inward
man” of Saul of Tarsus was his mind and intellect. Intellectually, he
loved the Law of God, “but…”
23
But I see another law in my members,
warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law
of sin which is in my members.
“Human
nature,” left to itself,
is no better or higher than the beasts of the field. It is the intellect
that makes man to be above the beasts. The Law of God, being “spiritual,”
was given to “define” the higher divine nature, but Israel could not
receive it. The Law of Moses was given to “control” human nature.
Notice the level of some of the commandments: “If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman,
both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death;
their blood shall be upon them. And if a man take a wife and her mother,
it is wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they; that there
be no wickedness among you. And if a man lie with a beast, he shall
surely be put to death: and ye shall slay the beast. And if a woman
approach unto any beast, and lie down thereto, thou shalt kill the woman, and
the beast: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them” (Leviticus 20:13-16).
Human nature, left to itself, will descend to the level of the beast of the
field. It is only the “disciplines” of law, whether religious or
secular, that hinders that bestial level of human nature.
Saul of Tarsus
was well disciplined by the Law of Moses. Such behavior as described
above was out of the question, yet he, as does every unregenerate person, had
sin dwelling in his human nature, seeking control of his members. The “law
in his members” that warred against the “law of his mind” was simply
his “sinful human nature” that warred against his mind and intellectual
desire to please God.
“…warring
against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin…” This phrase brings to mind the methods of
ancient warfare. A city with strong walls would come under attack by a
powerful enemy. For a time, the walls would hold against the siege, but
the city would be cut off from all supplies from without. Daily, the
battering rams and the catapults would batter the walls, while inside the city
the food supplies would be rationed. The battering of the walls would
continue night and day until the walls were breached, at which time the
malnourished inhabitants would be taken captive and led away as slaves.
This is the description of the warfare within Saul of Tarsus after his “sin”
was discovered by “the commandment (thou shalt not covet).”
His “walls of defense” built up by the Law of Moses were battered to the
ground, and Saul could no longer keep himself. He was “brought into
captivity” to that “law of sin (sinful human nature)” which
was in his members.
24
O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
It must have been
during the time that Saul of Tarsus was “breathing out threatening and
slaughter (Acts 9:1),”
and “making havock of the churches (Acts
8:3),” that he became a “wretched man” in his own sight.
From within, though never publicly, there came the cry, “Who shall deliver
me from the body of this death.” The term “body of this death”
is used in the same way as “the body of sin” in Romans 6:6, and speaks of the “entire body (or source) of
sin and death.” It was that “cry for deliverance” that brought
Saul of Tarsus into a direct confrontation with Jesus Christ (Acts 9:3-5). There, he found the
answer, given in the next verse, which is the basis for the gospel of Jesus
Christ as the apostle Paul preached it.
25
I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve
the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
Thank God, there
is deliverance from sin “through Jesus Christ our Lord.” How this was
accomplished through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the
indescribably “good news” which is called “The gospel of Jesus
Christ.” The last phrase of this verse closes out the chapter, defining for
one last time the dilemma Saul of Tarsus was in before he met Jesus. With
his mind (intellect) he served the Law of God, but in his human nature, he was
the slave of sin.
>CLICK HERE< to go to Q&A LESSON 15 (for TOPIC 15).
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The Eighth Chapter of Romans
In this eighth chapter, Paul shows the “glorious
liberty,” the “overcoming power,” and the “complete victory”
of those who are “in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after
the Spirit.”
TOPIC
16
In
the Flesh: The Carnal Mind
Romans
chapter
8:verses 1 through 8
1
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who
walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
“There is
therefore now…”
The word “therefore,”
translated from the Greek word “ara,” “draws a
conclusion” about those who are “in Christ Jesus.” They are
not condemned; they do not live under the “death sentence” due to
sin, and neither do their “hearts condemn them (I John 3:20-21).” The word “now” speaks of “now…in
Christ Jesus,” and draws a contrast between those who are “married to
Jesus” and those who are “married to the law.” It is a
contrast between those who have received the “glorious liberty of the
children of God (from sin; Romans
8:21),” and those who continually struggle in the bondage expressed
in the seventh chapter of those who
are “under the law.”
“…no
condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus…” The word “condemnation” is translated from the Greek word “katakrima,” which means “adverse sentence.”
Paul will tell us in verse three why
we are not condemned.
“…who walk
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” The word “after,” used two times in this phrase, is
translated from the Greek word “kata.” It
was most commonly translated “according to,” and then as “after;” but these translations do not do
justice to the word as it is used in this
verse. “Kata,” in this verse, is best understood to
indicate the “source” of the walk of those who are in Christ.
Their source is the Spirit, and not the flesh (or, human nature). It is
also beneficial to understand that Paul often uses “flesh” and “Spirit”
to identify the two covenants, “law,” and “grace” (Galatians 3:3).
2
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the
law of sin and death.
The “law of
the Spirit” is “life in Christ Jesus.” Jesus Christ is
the only source of “life” to fallen man. The phrase “…hath made
me free…” should have been translated “hath liberated thee” from the
law of sin and death. If the “law of the Spirit” is “life
in Christ Jesus,” it follows that the “law of sin and death” is the “sin
and death” that inherently reigns in the human nature of man. Thank
God, we are delivered from “sin and death” through the death and resurrection of our Lord
Jesus Christ.
3
For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God
sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin
in the flesh:
“What the law
could not do” is defined
in the last phrase of the verse; “condemned
sin in the flesh.” The law could “condemn (try, condemn, and
punish) the man,” but it could never “condemn (try, condemn, and
punish)” the sin that was in the man. God sent His Son in the
likeness of sinful flesh (human nature) for the express purpose of condemning,
not the man that was in sin, but the sin that was in the nature of the
man. John the Baptist introduced Jesus to the world with the words, “Behold
the lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world (John 1:29).” This is what
Jesus did through His death on the cross. Paul explains it best in Romans 6:6; “Knowing this, that our
old man (of sin) is crucified with Him, that the body (the whole;
the entire source) of sin (not
the physical body) might be destroyed....”
4
That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after
the flesh, but after the Spirit.
The Greek word “hina,” translated “that,” means “in order
that.” Jesus passed the death sentence against sin, which is in the
heart and nature of man, and nailed it to His cross, “in order that’
the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us….” The only “righteousness”
the Law of Moses could give was “death to the sinner.” The
righteousness of God at Calvary was to slay the sin that is in the sinner;
hence, “the righteousness of the law (of Moses),” which is death
to the sinner, is “fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but
after the Spirit.” The Law of God, which had been engraved (written)
in stone, is now written in the hearts of those “who walk NOT after the flesh (the human
nature), but after the Spirit (the Spirit of life which we have in
Christ Jesus; II Corinthians 3:1-3).
5
For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they
that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
Those who live by
their human nature think on and desire the things of the natural man.
Their “affection” is on “things of earth” (Colossians 3:2), and they take care of those things.
Those whose life is of the Spirit and grace of God think on and desire the
things of God. Their affection is on “things above,” and they
“seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of
God (Colossians 3:1).” It
is actually a matter of what you are “born of.” Jesus said, “That
which is born of the flesh (fallen human nature) is flesh (fallen
human nature); and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6).
6
For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and
peace.
In this verse a
new English word is introduced. The word “carnally” is translated
from the Greek word “sarx,” and is used just
as the word “flesh” was used in previous verses. It speaks of “human
nature” under the control of sin. The word “minded,” translated
from the Greek word “phronema,” speaks of “inclination
or purpose.” “Carnally minded” relates to those who are “born
of the flesh;” they are “flesh,” sin dwells in their nature, and
their inclinations and purposes are “fleshly.” This is the
definition of “(spiritual) death.” Paul did not say the “carnally
minded will die;” he said “to be carnally minded is death.”
To be “spiritually
minded” relates to those who are “born of the Spirit;” they are
spirit, and their inclinations and purposes are spiritual. Paul makes the
conclusion, “to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”
7
Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law
of God, neither indeed can be.
Human nature
under the control of sin is the enemy of God. The inclinations and
purposes of man, which have their source in a nature polluted with sin, is what
Paul called “enmity” in this
verse. The Greek word “echthra,”
translated “enmity,” is defined by “Strong’s concordance” as “hostility;
… a reason for opposition.” It is the “quality” that
makes unregenerate man the “enemy of God.” Paul concludes that
human nature with indwelling sin is not subject to the Law of God because it
cannot be. That “impossibility” brings another conclusion in the next verse:
8
So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
We must keep in
mind that it is not the “body,” but the “human nature” (which sin
dwells in) that is the enemy of God. The conclusion is that “fallen
human nature” cannot please God.
>CLICK HERE< to go to Q&A LESSON 16 (for TOPIC 16).
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TOPIC 17
In
the Spirit: Quickened by the Holy Ghost
Romans
8:verses 9 through 16
9
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God
dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
Paul has drawn
several conclusions in previous verses, each of them proving more and more that
man can never please God through his own abilities or the inclinations of human
nature. In this ninth verse,
he brings yet another conclusion, this one with great hope. “…ye are
not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in
you.” All previous conclusions were based upon the fact of sin
dwelling in the nature of man. This conclusion is based upon the fact of
the “Spirit of God” dwelling “in us,” that is, “in our
nature.” It is impossible for the Spirit of God to “cohabit”
with sin, therefore the conclusion, “Ye are not in the flesh…if so be that
the Spirit of God dwell in you.”
“Now if any
man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” Peter says, “Whereby are given unto us exceeding
great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine
nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (II
Peter 1:4). God gave promise
in Ezekiel 36:26, “A new heart also will I give you, and a
new spirit will I put within you.” This is
the result of the “new birth” Jesus told us we must receive (John 3:6-7). The “new spirit,”
spoken of in Ezekiel 36:26, speaks
of a “new (divine) nature,” not of the Holy Ghost; because in the
next verse (Ezekiel 36:27), God
promises, “...I will put my spirit (the Holy Ghost) within you, and cause you to walk in my
statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.”
Paul spoke to the
Colossians about “the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from
generations, but now is made manifest to his saints.” He said it is “Christ
in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians
1:26-27). “Christ in you” indicates a “new heart,”
and a “new spirit (nature).” Paul concludes, “if
any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” Every person
should take note of this.
10
And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is
life because of righteousness.
Jesus said, “He
that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life,
and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24). Paul qualifies
this “life” with the words, “If Christ be in you…” The
thrust of this verse is “life
because of righteousness (the righteousness of God at Calvary).”
Our spiritual redemption is complete; it is finished at the cross, yet we
patiently “wait” for the “redemption of our body (Romans 8:23)” which is our
resurrection and change at the return of Jesus Christ.
The translators
erred in this verse (Romans 6:10) in that they neglected to
translate the Greek word “men
(‘indeed,’ or ‘in fact’)”
which should be inserted just before the word “dead.” “Strong’s Concordance” defines this
Greek word as follows:
“men:’
a primary particle; properly, indicative of affirmation or concession (in
fact); usually followed by a contrasted clause with 1161 (the Greek word for ‘but’).”
The “concession”
in this verse is “…the body is indeed (in fact) dead because of sin.” The
contrasting clause is: “But the spirit is life because of righteousness.”
The construction of this verse is very similar to Romans 6:11, “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed
unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Notice that the
body is dead “because of sin.” Our body is “dead” because
of Adam’s transgression. Paul did not say “our body is sinful;” he
said, “our body is dead.” It is “dead” to doing any work of
God, which Paul tells us, we are “foreordained” to do (Ephesians 2:10). The phrase, “the
body is dead because of sin,” lays the groundwork for the next verse (Ephesians 2:11), which introduces the
reality of receiving and being filled with the Holy Ghost; “which,” as
Paul says in Ephesians 1:14, “is
the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased
possession… (the resurrection and change of the body).”
11
But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he
that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by
his Spirit (the Holy Ghost) that dwelleth in you.
“The Spirit
of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead” is the
Holy Ghost. “He (God)…shall also quicken your mortal bodies by
His Spirit (the Holy Ghost) that dwelleth in you.” In the tenth verse the body is said to be “dead
(figuratively), while in the eleventh
verse, it is said to be “mortal (liable to death.” In
the tenth verse, Christ living in a
person makes their “spirit” alive, while in the eleventh verse, the Holy Ghost “quickens” their mortal
body. This “quickening” of the “mortal body” does not speak
of the resurrection of the dead at the return of Jesus, because it is still a “mortal”
body that is quickened. A “mortal body” is one that is growing old
and dying just as every man has since Adam’s transgression, yet our “mortal
body” can be “quickened” by the Holy Ghost to do the work of our
Lord (John 14:12). This is not
a onetime event, but a continuing and reoccurring work of the Spirit as we
surrender our bodies to God.
12
Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
Before a person
is saved and filled with the Holy Ghost, their “bodies” are “quickened”
by their human nature, which is controlled by sin. This simply means that
the “body” does nothing except what the sinful person in the body
does. The person that is “saved” is “crucified with Christ” (Romans 6:6), and sin that
polluted their nature is destroyed. After we have received the Holy
Ghost, we must not continue to live according to our “human nature,”
even though sin has been nailed to the cross. We who have received this
wonderful salvation are “debtors,” but we do not owe anything to our
flesh (our human nature). Our “debt” is to “preach the gospel
in every nation, to every person” (Mark
16:15). Paul says in Romans
1:14-15; “I am debtor both to the Greeks,
and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. So, as much
as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.” It is a debt that cannot be paid by human abilities,
talents, wisdom, or anything that proceeds out of “human nature,”
but only through the “quickening” of the Holy Ghost.
Paul clearly
states our commission in Acts 13:47: “For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be
a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be
for salvation unto the ends of the earth.” This is the debt we owe. Such a debt cannot be paid
through human abilities. Those who “trust in the flesh” will never
settle their debt. It is from this point in his letter that Paul speaks to
us concerning the necessity of the “Spirit filled” and “Spirit led”
life.
13
For if ye live after the flesh (human nature; …with its inclinations,
purposes, and abilities),
ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye
shall live.
The tenor of
Paul’s message changes with Romans
8:10-11, where he begins speaking to those who have both “received
Christ,” and have been “filled with the Holy Ghost.” These are
the ones whom “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” has “made…free
from the law of sin and death” that had worked in them. Sin no longer
“pollutes” their heart and nature. Now, when he speaks of “the
flesh,” he is still speaking of “human nature,” and even though it
is no longer polluted by sin, it cannot be the source of our life. If we
live according to the dictates of “human nature,” we “shall die”
a spiritual death just as Adam did. We should take note that there was
no sin in Adam’s nature when he walked away from the “Tree of Life”
to partake of the forbidden fruit.
“…but if ye
through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.” This phrase is badly translated. The words “ye
through” and “do” are not found in the Greek text. What Paul
actually said was, “But if the Spirit mortifies the deeds (‘practice’
or ‘office’) of the body, ye shall live.” The key to
understanding this phrase is in the Greek word “praxis” that was
translated “deeds.” “Praxis” is properly defined as “practice,”
which must be understood in the same sense as the “practice” (the
business) of a doctor or lawyer. The word is also properly translated as “office”
in Romans 12:4. The human body
is presented as an “office” in this analogy just as it is presented as a
“temple” in I Corinthians 6:19.
It is an office that is operated by human nature, with its abilities, talents,
and intellect. The Holy Ghost enters to destroy the “office” of
the body, and establish His “temple,” from which He will “quicken”
the mortal body for His service.
14
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
It is those who
are led by “the Spirit of God,” instead of by the “human nature,”
who are manifested to be sons of God.
15
For ye have not received the spirit of bondage (slavery) again to fear; but ye have received the
Spirit of adoption (sonship), whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
The “gospel of
Christ” is not a “New
Covenant law,” fulfilled in the obeying of thousands of religious “principles.”
Instead, the “gospel of Christ” is fulfilled in the “Spirit of
adoption,” whereby we are born again of the Spirit of God. In this verse it is the “Spirit of
Christ” that is called the “Spirit of adoption.” God is our
Father because Jesus Christ, His Son lives in us.
16
The Spirit itself (the Holy Ghost) beareth witness with (in union with)
our spirit, that we
are the children of God:
There is no “formula”
by which we may know we are “born again.” Many trust in a “sinners
prayer;” others trust in their “baptism,” or “church membership.”
All too many trust in a “good feeling.” It is only by the witness
of the Spirit of God “with” our spirit that we know. The word “with”
was translated from the Greek word “sun,” which means “in union
with.” The proof that we are the children of God is that our “spirit”
is “one” with “The Spirit” of God. It is a witness
that the world around us will see. The “witness of the Spirit” does
not end with this verse, but builds into a crescendo in the next verse.
>CLICK HERE< to go to Q&A LESSON 17 (for TOPIC 17).
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TOPIC 18
In
the Spirit: The Infirmity of the Body
Romans
chapter
8:verses 17 through 28
17
And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with (heirs in union with) Christ; if so be that we suffer with (in union with) him, that we may be also glorified
together (in union with
him).
The ultimate
proof, which the world will see, is that we are “one” with Christ, not
only as children, but as “heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.”
There is a “qualifying statement” in this verse, however; “…if so be
that we suffer with Him…” This phrase takes us back to Romans 6:6: “Knowing this, that our
old man is crucified with (in union with) Him…” It relates to
His sufferings on the cross, and our sufferings “in union with Him.”
Peter said that the prophets prophesied of the “sufferings of Christ, and
the glory that should follow” (I
Peter 1:11).
It is only as we
are “in union with” Christ that we have any claim to the things of
God. The Greek word “sun,” which denotes “union” is used
three times in this verse. It
is found in the words “joint-heirs,” “suffer with,” and “glorified
together.” The verse is clearer when understood as, “…heirs
in union with Christ; if so be that we suffer in union with Him,
that we may be also glorified in union with Him.”
In the thirtieth verse of this chapter, Paul
says “whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he
also glorified.” God “justifies the ungodly” at the cross of
Christ. It is the Holy Ghost who comes to glorify the children of God in
this present time. Those who have “suffered in union with Christ”
at the cross, will also be “glorified in union with Christ” by the Holy
Ghost.
18
For I reckon that the sufferings (the hardship
and pain) of this present
time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be (is about to be) revealed in us.
The sufferings “of
this present time” are those sufferings that are common to all of humanity
because of our mortal body. There are also those “sufferings”
which are afflicted upon the righteous by the enemies of Jesus Christ. Paul
has told us, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer
persecution (II Timothy 3:12).”
Paul described the sufferings of “his ‘present time” in II Corinthians 11:23-27 as follows: “Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak
as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in
stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the
Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten
with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I
have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in
perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in
perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in
perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and
painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and
thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.” Paul learned to rejoice in these
sufferings, and found they were not “worthy to be compared with the glory
which shall be revealed.”
The words “of
this present time” show a difference between the sufferings of the seventh
verse, which were inflicted on Jesus at the cross, and the sufferings of the
eighth verse, which may be inflicted on the believer in the present. The
believer suffered with Christ at Calvary, and Christ suffers with the believer
in the present, but it is only those sufferings “with Christ” at the
cross of Calvary that qualifies a believer to be glorified “with Him.”
The words “are
not worthy” tells us that the sufferings of the present time, are not “deserving,
comparable, or suitable” to bring us into the glory of God. Paul
tells us in I Corinthians 13:3, “…though I give my body to be burned, and
have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.” Human
suffering does not purchase anything from God. It is too sad to consider,
but there were those in history who were counted to be “martyrs” for the
faith, who were also lost. Consider the thousands who died in the “crusades”
of the Middle Ages, bound in the darkness of religion, and lost. Only
those who have “suffered with Christ” at the cross of Calvary, are
saved.
“…the glory
that shall be revealed in us.” The “glory”
spoken of here is the Spirit filled life. The Greek word “mello,” which was translated “shall” means “be
about to be.” It shows that the “glory” spoken of is not a
distant hope, but a present expectation. It expresses that the glory that
was promised is “about to be” for all who have suffered “with
Christ.” It is received through the baptism with the Holy Ghost.
The only qualification to receive the Holy Ghost is to be “justified” at
the cross, and “sanctified” by the precious blood that Jesus
shed. Jesus is the “baptizer,” and He will “baptize you with the
Holy Ghost… (Matthew 3:11).”
19
For the earnest expectation
(intense anticipation) of the creature waiteth
for (fully expects) the manifestation of the sons of God.
This word “creature”
is used in this verse for the first time since the first chapter of
Romans. It is best understood as Jesus expressed it in Mark 16:15: “Go ye into all the
world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” We know that
he was telling us to preach the gospel to “every person.”
Those who believe and are saved are called “new creatures (II Corinthians 5:17).”
Their “expectation” is to be filled with the Holy Ghost, which is the “manifestation”
of the sons of God. Paul told the Corinthians, “But the manifestation
of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal(I Corinthians 12:7).”
20
For the creature was made subject to vanity (speaks
of the fall of man through Adam’s disobedience), not willingly (It was the judgment of God against Adam’s sin), but by reason of him who hath subjected
the same in hope (in the same day that man came under the
curse because of transgression, God gave the promise of a redeemer),
The mortal body
is “subject to vanity (inutility, meaning ‘uselessness’).” James
said, “The body without the spirit (of man) is dead (James 2:26). If the spirit leaves
the body, it can do nothing. Men take it and bury it because it
immediately begins to decay. This is the spiritual condition of the mortal
body of a child of God without the Holy Ghost. It is useless pertaining
to the things of God unless it is “quickened” by the Holy Ghost, which
is the present hope of every child of God. Paul told the Ephesians, “…after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of
promise (the promise of the Father, Acts 1:4-5),which is the earnest of our inheritance
until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory (Ephesians 1:13-14).” The “purchased
possession” is our mortal body. “What?
know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in
you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought
with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your
spirit, which are God’s”
(I Corinthians 6:19-20).
21
Because the creature itself
(the human body) also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption (mortality
and decay) into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Paul begins to
speak of that which is called “the blessed hope,” which is our
resurrection and the change of our body at the return of Jesus
Christ. Paul explains this best in Philippians
3:20-21: “For our conversation (our citizenship) is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord
Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like
unto his glorious body…”
22
For we know that the whole creation (all of humanity) groaneth
and travaileth in pain together until now.
We need only to
look around us at the pain and suffering that is in the world because of the
curse of sin.
23
And not only they (the lost, unbelieving world), but ourselves also (believers, born again of the Spirit of God), which have the firstfruits of the
Spirit (having been baptized with the Holy Ghost), even we ourselves groan within
ourselves, waiting for (and fully expecting) the adoption, to wit, the redemption of
our body.
The “redemption
of our body” speaks of an event that Paul called a “mystery” in I Corinthians 15:51-54; “Behold, I
shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall
sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For
this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put
on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on
incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be
brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.”
And oh how we “groan within ourselves” for that blessed day.
24
For we are saved (this does not speak of the salvation of
our soul, but of the redemption of our body) by hope (anticipation
and expectation that comes from believing God): but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth,
why doth he yet hope for?
Our spiritual
redemption is complete, having been perfected on the cross; and our “body”
belongs to God, having been “bought with a price (I Corinthians 6:20).” Yet, the body remains “corruptible
(subject to death and decay, but not sinful)” until it is changed
(redeemed) at the resurrection.
25
But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience (cheerful endurance) wait for (fully expect) it.
It is obvious
that we have not seen the resurrection or change of our mortal bodies. We
fully expect it at the return of Jesus Christ, for it is the “blessed hope
(Titus 2:13)” of every child
of God. Until then, we will “cheerfully endure” the sufferings
that come with a mortal body, whether through persecutions or infirmities, “fully
expecting” the glorious appearing of our savior, Jesus Christ.
26
Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for
we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh
intercession for us with groanings which cannot be
uttered.
Our “infirmity”
is our mortal body, which Paul said is “subject to vanity (inutility;
emptiness).” The Holy Ghost is given to us to “quicken” our
mortal bodies for His service. Our mortal bodies, when controlled by
human nature, are absolutely useless for the service of the Lord. Our
bodies are, however, the “temple of the Holy Ghost (I Corinthians 6:19),” which is given to us.
The word “helpeth” is derived from the Greek word “antilambanomai,” which is a combination of three Greek
words. They are, “sun (in union with),”“lambano
(take hold of),” and “anti (opposite).” It is best
understood by the mental picture of two people taking hold of a heavy object at
opposite ends to move it. This verse actually relates to the sixteenth
verse, which says, “The Spirit itself (the Holy Ghost) beareth
witness with (in union with) our spirit…” This twenty-sixth verse says, “Likewise
(in the same manner) the Spirit also helpeth (taketh hold of in union with) our infirmities (mortal
body).” He is with us in ministry, labours,
sufferings, prayers and intercessions, and in whatever a child of God faces in
this present time. He is our “refuge and strength, a very present help
in trouble (Psalms 46:1).”
Without the Holy
Ghost we do not even know how to pray, or what to pray for. In ministry,
the Holy Ghost works through us; in intercession, the Holy Ghost prays through
us. The word “for” in the phrase “maketh intercession for us”
actually means “instead of” us. We can do nothing of spiritual
value, even as a child of God, if we are not “filled with” and“moved by” the Holy Ghost.
“…with groanings which cannot be uttered.” The prayer of those who are full of the Holy Ghost is vastly
different from those who are not. Those Christians who have never been
baptized with the Holy Ghost, if they “pray,” have learned how to
pray. If they “preach” they have learned how to preach. In
preaching, the Holy Ghost gives utterance to the preacher to speak clearly in
his native language to convince the hearts of the hearers. In prayer, the
Holy Ghost often “gives utterance” in “groanings
which cannot be uttered.” It would be absolute foolishness to an
unbeliever, but it is the powerful working of the Holy Ghost, making
intercession for us in things we do not know of.
27
And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the
mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to
the will of God.
The Holy Ghost
knows both the heart of man and the mind of God. His “intercession”
is according to the will of God. John says, “And
this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according
to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask,
we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him” (I John 5:14-15). Paul shows the necessity of being “filled”
with the Spirit if we are to be effectual in prayer.
28
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to
them who are the called according to his purpose.
This verse is one
that has been twisted beyond measure by men in an attempt to justify every
tragic event in the life of a Christian. Women who have lost their drug
addicted sons or daughters in tragedies are given a philosophical view of this
scripture, that somehow their loved ones being plunged into eternal damnation
is a “good” thing. Is a husband or wife to rejoice “because”
their companion is suffering horrible pain due to some terminal disease? A
child of God may rejoice “in” all things, but never “because of”
all things.
The “all
things” in this verse refers to every work of the Holy Ghost in the child
of God. He comes to “enable” us, “comfort” us, “teach”
us, “lead” us, “convince” us, and even “chasten” us.
He gives us “utterance” to speak His words, and “power” to do His
works. In all of these things it is not “us,” but the Holy Ghost
in us who does the work (John 14:10).
It is every work of the Holy Ghost in us, whether to empower us or to chasten
us, that works together for our good, who love God, and are “the called according
to His purpose.” It is also true that even things that the
adversary plots to hinder us will turn to aid us who are “the called
according to His purpose.” What “His purpose” is will be revealed in
the next verse.
>CLICK HERE< to go to Q&A LESSON 18 (for TOPIC 18).
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TOPIC 19
In
the Spirit: Glorification by the Holy Ghost
Romans
chapter
8:verses 29 through 39
29
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Before God made
the first man, He knew what He would make. He had a “pattern” to
make man by. “And God said, Let us make man in our
image, after our likeness… So God created man in his own image, in the image of
God created he him; male and female created he them” (Genesis 1:26-27).
Mankind, in the “image and likeness of God,” is the foreknowledge and
predestination of God. The entrance of sin was neither foreknown or
predestined. In the redemption, however, God’s foreknowledge and
predestination is a “new creation” made in the image and likeness of His
Son, Jesus. God’s “purpose” is that Jesus would be the “firstborn
among many brethren.”
30
Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called,
them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
The phrase, “whom
he did predestinate” does not indicate any one individual person out of
many. The “call” of the gospel goes out to “whosoever will.”
He calls sinners and the ungodly. He calls the atheist and the
idolater. It is only those who answer the call who are “justified”
at the cross of Christ.
“…and whom
He justified, them He also glorified.” The
child of God is “glorified” by the Holy Ghost. He “baptized
them with the Holy Ghost.”
31
What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against
us?
“These things” in
this verse are the same as “all things” in the twenty-eighth verse; all the things God has done in behalf of the
believer by His Spirit. The question follows, “If God be for us, who
can be against us,” literally, “If God be over us, who can bring us
down?” The rest of this eighth
chapter is dedicated to answer this question.
32
He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he
not with him also freely give us all things?
A thousand years
before Christ died for us, David said, “The LORD will give grace and glory:
no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly (Psalms 84:11).” Paul
greatly magnifies the point by the fact that God gave His own Son to die for
us. How would he not also freely give us “all things?” It is
in Colossians 3:1-2 that Paul
clarifies the nature of “things” that God will “freely give us.”
He exhorts us, “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek
those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of
God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the
earth.” The apostle
John agrees with Paul in this analysis, in I
John 2:15; “Love not
the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man
love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
Those who believe
that God gave His Son to suffer and die for us in order to give us a great
abundance of “things that are in the world,” are mistaken and, are in
great danger of eternal loss. It is those “things above” that God freely
gives to the redeemed, and He does it “by the Holy Ghost.” Paul
says in Romans 5:5, “…the love of
God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”
33
Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.
This is the first
time the word “elect” is used in the book of Romans. The Greek
word is “eklektos,” which means “select.”
It is the same word that is translated “chosen” in numerous places,
including the words of Jesus in Matthew
22:14, “For many are called, but few are chosen,” and in Revelation 17:14, “…they that are
with him (the Lamb) are called, and chosen, and faithful.”
Do not make more of this word than the definition gives. The call to
salvation goes out to “whosoever will.” It is those who answer the
call who are “the chosen.” They have been “justified” at
the cross of Christ. Their “past sins (Romans 3:25)” have been forgiven, and they have been
pardoned. They have been “quickened (made alive)” with
Christ, and they are “new creatures (II Corinthians 5:17)” in Christ Jesus. It is of these
the question is asked, literally translated, “Who shall lay any thing to
the charge of God’s elect whom God has justified?” Those who were
once “alienated and enemies” shall be presented before God, “holy and
unblameable and unreproveable (Colossians
1:21-22).” These are the “elect.”
34
Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is
risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession
for us.
Who is he that
can condemn those for whom Christ died, for whom He rose again, for whom He
sits at the right hand of God, and for whom He makes intercession? Christ
died for all, but again, it is those who come to God through death and resurrection
with Christ who cannot be condemned.
35
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress,
or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
The “love of
God” for us is revealed in that He “spared not His own Son, but
delivered Him up for us…” (Romans
8:32). The love of Christ is revealed in that He gave His life
for us (Galatians 2:20). Need
we fear that God, who gave His Son for us, or Jesus Christ who died for
us? Will He forsake us in the midst of
the “sufferings of this present time” (Romans 8:18)? No! Because He has promised, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee (Hebrews
13:5),” and again, “lo, I am with you alway,
even unto the end of the world (Matthew 28:20).”
36
As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted
as sheep for the slaughter.
Even in the
martyr’s death, He has promised to be with us. It is not our Lord that
has accounted us “as sheep for the slaughter,” but the thinking of the
world in times of great persecution against the church. The testimonies
of the grace of God to His people in the midst of unthinkable suffering and
martyrdom are absolutely amazing.
37
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Nothing shall
separate us from the love of Christ. His grace is more than sufficient
for us (II Corinthians 12:9), and we
are “more than conquerors through Him that loved us.”
38-39
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love
of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
>CLICK HERE< to go to Q&A LESSON 19 (for TOPIC 19).
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A brief
Introduction to Romans, chapters 9 through 11.
Beginning with the ninth chapter, and continuing through the eleventh chapter, Paul takes up the “defense” of God for His
treatment of national Israel. We remember that the “righteousness of
God” was called into question in Romans
3:5; “Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance?” Chapters three through eight of Romans were dedicated to revealing
the “righteousness (or justice) of God,” beginning with Romans 3:21, “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested,
being witnessed by the law and the prophets.”
The first chapter of Romans “indicted”
national Israel beginning with the eighteenth
verse, “For the wrath
of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of
men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness.”
The “idolatry,” the “immorality,”
and the “perversion” that brought the wrath of God against Jerusalem six
hundred years before Christ is clearly shown in this first chapter. The second
chapter shows the spiritual condition of Israel in the days of Jesus that
led to their rejection of Him, and to their destruction in seventy A.D.
Paul wrote this letter to the Romans about twelve to fourteen years before
Jerusalem was destroyed the second time. The “wrath of God” was
once again impending against national Israel. It is with this view that
Paul, in defense of God, gives the next
three chapters of Romans.
The Ninth Chapter of Romans
TOPIC 20
The People of God: Who God Receives
Romans chapter 9:verses 1 through 29
1-2 I
say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in
the Holy Ghost, That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.
The Christian experience is not one
of lighthearted frivolity, as many seek to display today. Instead, there
is often an underlying heaviness in the hearts of the saints (I Peter 1:6), even as they rejoice in
Jesus and preach the glorious gospel of freedom from sin. Most often the “heaviness”
is for the souls of those who are lost. Paul said he had “great
heaviness and continual sorrow.” It was a burden he was never
without.
3
For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my
kinsmen according to the flesh:
Jesus said, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a
man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).
Paul would have done even more for his “kinsmen according to the flesh.”
He would have been willing to be “accursed from Christ” if it would have
brought about the salvation of the Jew. Paul’s love for the Jew reminds
us of Moses’ intercession for Israel in Exodus
32:32; “Yet now, if
thou wilt forgive their sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy
book which thou hast written.” Paul
understood very well the words God spoke to Moses, “Whosoever hath sinned against me, him
will I blot out of my book” (Exodus 32:33).
4-5
Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption,
and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of
God, and the promises; Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the
flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
Israel, and especially the Jew, had the
tremendous “advantage” that was revealed in the questions asked in Romans 3:1-9. Every promise had
been theirs in Christ, but they had rejected Christ and were cut off from God
through their own unbelief. They who were of Jacob became the spiritual
heirs of Esau, who “despised his birthright.”
Israel was lost! They were “broken
off in unbelief (Romans 11:20),”
because they rejected their Messiah and did not believe that Jesus Christ was
the Son of God. Paul expressed his great love for the Jews in the
beginning of this chapter so it
would be known that he held no prejudice against them, but only love for
them. Nevertheless, he knows that God has rejected national Israel and
the natural Jew because of their unbelief. Paul begins his defense of God
in this ninth chapter, and reveals
even further the “righteousness of God” concerning Israel and the
salvation of the Gentiles.
6
Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of
Israel:
In the words “For they are not all
Israel, which are of Israel,” we receive the first indication of the
distinction that God makes between the nation of Israel, and “the Israel of
God” (Galatians 6:16).
Paul knew there were many who were of the nation of Israel that had no part in
the “Israel of God.”
7
Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In
Isaac shall thy seed be called.
In Galatians
4:22, Paul speaks of Abraham’s two sons, Ishmael and Isaac. Ishmael
was also the “seed of Abraham,” because he was “born (of Abraham)
after the flesh.” Isaac, being the “child of promise,” was “born
after the Spirit.” Both were the “seed of Abraham,” but only
Isaac was the “seed of promise.”
Paul does not speak of the “descendants
of Ishmael” versus the “descendants of Isaac” in this verse. Instead, he speaks of
the two “camps” of Jews in national Israel of his day; those who
believed, and those who did not. It is only those who believe on and
receive Jesus as Christ, who are the “Israel of God.”
8
That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children
of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
Jesus told the Jew (Nicodemus), “Ye must
be born again.” It was not enough that Nicodemus, who represented the
entire Jewish nation that night, had been born to Jewish parents and was
therefore the “seed of Abraham” according to his fleshly lineage.
He must be “born again” of the Spirit of God. He was presently a “child
of the flesh,” but if he were born again, he would be a “child of
promise,” and therefore a “child of God.”
9
For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have
a son.
Abraham had labored fourteen years to
produce in Ishmael a son that God would receive, and could not. God had
promised Abraham a son through the barren woman, Sarah, and when he “believed
God” concerning this promise, he received the son of promise.
The birth of Isaac to Abraham and Sarah was
a human impossibility. Anything that man can do through his human
abilities will never stand before God. It is only a “new man in Christ
Jesus,” which is “born again of the Spirit of God,” who is
acceptable to God. It is impossible to produce a child of God through
human abilities.
10-13 And not only this; but
when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; (For the
children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the
purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that
calleth;) It was said unto her, The elder shall serve
the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
It is in verse eleven that Paul first speaks of “election.” The
Greek word for election is “ekloge,” which
means “selection,” and is translated as “chosen” and “election.”
God’s freedom to “choose” between people or nations based upon faith,
actually disproves the traditional doctrines of “predestination” and “election.”
Examples of God’s “election (selection)” throughout the
scriptures are numerous. In Abraham, God chose a man; in Isaac, God chose
a seed; in Jacob, God chose a nation; in Judah, God chose a tribe; in David,
God chose a family; and in Mary, God chose a mother to give birth to the Son of
God. In each of these there was a reason for God’s selection, just as
there was a “reason” that “Noah found grace in the eyes of God.”
The reason was given in the following verse; “Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and
Noah walked with God” (Genesis
6:8-9).
Abraham “believed God,” and Isaac,
the “child of promise,” was the result of his faith. When God
selected Jacob there was an alternative choice in Esau, who was the “birthright
son.” Esau “despised his birthright (Genesis 25:29-34),” for which
God said, “I hated Esau” (Malachi
1:2-3). David was “a man after God’s own heart,” while the
alternative was King Saul, who repeatedly disobeyed God. Mary was chosen
as a chaste virgin, highly favored of God. She “believed God,” and
submitted to His word concerning the birth of the Son of God. It should
never be counted as strange when God turns away from “unbelievers,” to
those who will “believe Him.”
Paul gives the example of Jacob and Esau in
these verses. Before the children were born, God spoke to their mother
Rebecca in a dream, saying, “Two
nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy
bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the
elder shall serve the younger.” This
statement did not reveal “predestination” in the lives of these unborn
children. It came simply as a prophecy, the foreknowledge of God telling
the future of these children. A prophecy does not create the future, but
simply tells it in advance. Neither was this statement of future fact
based upon any good or evil that either child had done; because they were not
born at the time. Both children were equally righteous, yet the prophecy
said, “the elder shall serve the younger.” It was not until
fifteen hundred years later that God said, “I loved Jacob, and I hated Esau” (Malachi 1:2-3).
The love of God toward man is not based
upon any goodness or righteousness of man. Paul said, “…He loved us, even when we were dead in
sins” (Ephesians
2:4-5). When God “hates” man, it is based upon the actions of
the man. Esau “despised his birthright!” He sold it for
“one morsel of meat (Hebrews
12:16-17),” and became a symbol of all that God hates in man.
Paul will show that the Israelites of his day also “despised their
birthright.”
14-16 What shall we say
then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? God forbid. For he saith to
Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
“...Is there unrighteousness with God?...”
This question concerning God’s
righteousness is based upon His treatment of and statement about Jacob and
Esau; “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.” In response,
Paul quotes Exodus 33:19 where God
told Moses, “I…will shew mercy on whom I will shew
mercy.” Paul concludes, “So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God
that sheweth mercy.” In the parable of the Pharisee and the publican (Luke 18:9-14), the sinner’s prayer is “God,
be merciful to me a sinner.” This was the man who went home “justified.”
The Pharisee sought to establish his own righteousness (Romans 10:3). He was both “willing” and “running,”
but he was also “lost;” because his “willing” was contrary to
God’s purpose and his “running” was contrary to God’s working.
When God said, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy,” He
establishes the fact that it is He who sets the criteria for whom He will
receive.
There is a criterion for who God will show
mercy. Jesus preached, “Repent, and believe the gospel.”
Paul told the elders of Ephesus at his farewell meeting, “I kept back nothing that was profitable
unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to
house…repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts
20:20-21). God’s “mercy” is not randomly given based upon “foreknowledge,”
or “predestination;” instead, “…the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon
him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:12-13).
17
For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised
thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared
throughout all the earth.
In the several analogies Paul gives in this chapter, each of the various
people represent something else. For example, Ishmael, who is only
implied in verse seven, represents
all who are “the children of the flesh.” Isaac represents “the
children of promise.” Jacob represents the nation of Israel, while
Esau represents all that God “hates” in man. In this seventeenth verse, it is important
to understand that “Pharaoh” represents “Egypt,” which
represented “bondage” to the children of Israel. God did not raise
Egypt up to enslave Israel, but to be a blessing and provision for them during
the years they were developing into a great nation in the land of Goshen.
Neither did He raise them up for the purpose of their destruction.
Destruction came to Egypt and Pharaoh only when they hardened their heart
against God’s purpose regarding the children of Israel. God “endured with much longsuffering (verse 22)” the hardness of the
Egyptians hearts; for over a hundred years before He hardened the heart of
Pharaoh. If God could not be glorified through their righteousness, He
would be glorified through their destruction. The purpose of God, which
could have been fulfilled in righteousness, was instead fulfilled in wrath; for
the “name of God” became great among the heathen nations when God
destroyed Egypt. God’s purpose never changed; only the manner in which
the purpose was accomplished was changed.
18
Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
God has always been merciful to those who
humble themselves and seek His mercy, but He has always hardened those who
continue to harden their own hearts.
19
Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted
his will?
This hypothetical question takes into
account the fact that Paul has been speaking about Israel in each of his
analogies. Ishmael, Esau, and Pharaoh are all representatives of the
generation of Jews that refused Jesus Christ and rejected the “gospel of
Christ.” It is important to understand the allegory Paul gives in Galatians 4:22-26: “For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one (Ishmael) by a bondmaid, the other (Isaac) by a
freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but
he of the freewoman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for
these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar (Hagar). For
this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to
Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But
Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.” Keeping in mind that Paul stands in defense of God for
rejecting the unbelieving Jew, the question to Paul is, “...Why doth he yet find fault (with
national Israel)?
...who hath resisted his will (as
Pharaoh did)?”
20-21 Nay but, O man, who art
thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing
formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not
the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto
honour, and another unto dishonour?
Who is man to argue with God? In these two verses, Paul give two
analogies in which he shows that God is the creator, and we are the
creation. The creation has no voice in what the creator creates.
Since Paul is dealing with the rejection of national Israel, these two
analogies speak more of nations than individuals.
22-23 What if God, willing to
shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the
vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might make known the riches
of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,
In the “embryonic” stage and
formative years of Israel, Ishmael, Esau, and Egypt all persecuted the children
of promise (Isaac, Jacob, and “the children of Israel”). They were
“vessels of wrath” against young Israel. God “endured with much
longsuffering” their wrath against His people, willing to show His wrath,
which He did against Egypt. All of these were allegories of the Jew and
national Israel in the generation of Jesus and the apostle Paul. It was
the Jew that became the persecutor, being “vessels of wrath” against
Jesus and the believers. It was the young church, called “vessels of
mercy,” that was persecuted. Notice that the “persecutor” was “fitted
to destruction,” while the “persecuted” were “prepared unto
glory.”
To get a clear picture of the “longsuffering
of God,” read again the commentary on the first chapter of Romans, beginning
at the eighteenth verse;
as He strove to bring His chosen back to Himself before “giving them up,”
and finally “giving them over,” to prepare them for their own
destruction, which came to pass in the year 70 A.D.
24-26 Even us, whom he hath
called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? As he saith also
in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not
my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. And it shall come to
pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people;
there shall they be called the children of the living God.
God rejected the first-born, Esau, who “despised
his birthright,” to accept the younger son, Jacob. In the same
manner, God rejected unbelieving national Israel, and brought forth a “son,”
made up of “all who believe,” whether Jew or Gentile. There is a
sad but beautiful story in the book of Hosea that Paul relates to. Hosea
was married to an unfaithful woman. When she gave birth to her third
child, Hosea named it “Loammi,” which means “not
my people.” The child was illegitimate, and Hosea refused to be its
father. Hosea rejected his wife Gomer because
of her unfaithfulness, saying, “She is not my wife.” Gomer followed after other lovers for a long period of
time. Finally, God told Hosea to purchase an adulterous woman who was
being sold into slavery, and love her “…according to the love of the LORD
toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of
wine” (Hosea 3:1). Hosea
said, “So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer
of barley, and an half homer of barley” (Hosea 3: 2).
It seems that it was his wife Gomer, whom he had
rejected, that he now purchased. Having bought her with a price, Hosea
told her, “Thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another
man: so will I also be for thee” (Hosea
3:3). He received her
as a faithful wife, and adopted her illegitimate children, hence the saying, “in
the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they
be called the children of the living God.” This was an allegory of
the redemption that was made at Calvary, not only for backslidden Israel, but
for her illegitimate children as well. Salvation is for all who will
believe, whether Jew or Gentile.
27-28 Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children
of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: For he will
finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will
the Lord make upon the earth.
“…a remnant shall be saved:” This should read, “…only a
remnant shall be saved.” Paul is referring to Isaiah 10:22-23:
“For though thy people
Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the
consumption (the destruction) decreed shall overflow with righteousness. For the Lord GOD
of hosts shall make a consumption, even determined, in the midst of all the
land.” There have been three “destructions”
decreed against the land of Israel and the city of Jerusalem. Two have passed,
and one is yet to come. Isaiah said the destruction that was coming would
“overflow with righteousness (justice).” This must relate
to the question asked in Romans 3:5,
“Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance?” No! Jesus said
the “days of vengeance” would be fulfilled when Jerusalem was destroyed
in the year seventy A.D. (Luke 21:20-22).
The most horrendous slaughter the world had ever seen until that time, “overflowed
with righteousness (justice),” only because God had sent His only
begotten Son to Jerusalem, and they murdered Him. Those few that received
Him (the “remnant”) were saved, both from their sin and from the
destruction in Jerusalem.
Paul
said God will “finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness.”
There is another destruction decreed to come upon Jerusalem and the entire
earth. It will be “cut short” when the Jews “look upon
(unto) Him whom they pierced” (Zechariah 12:10). In the midst of almost certain genocide, the
Jews will “look unto Jesus,” for that is the correct meaning of the
Hebrew words of Zechariah. They will “believe upon Jesus Christ,”
and He will immediately return to destroy those nations that have fought
against Jerusalem (Zechariah 12:9-10).
A man asked Jesus the question, “...Lord, are there few that be saved?” Jesus
answered, “Strive to enter in at the strait gate:
for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able” (Luke 13:23-24).
In Matthew 7:14 Jesus spoke of the “strait
gate,” saying, “Because
strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few
there be that find it.”
The apostle John says of
Jesus, “He came unto his own (national Israel),and his own received him not. But as many as received him (whether Jew or Gentile),to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name”
(John 1:11-12). There were millions of Jews in the days of
Jesus on this earth, but He founded His church with a “very small remnant; a
hundred and twenty Jews who believed.
29
And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we
had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha.
Paul again refers to Isaiah. It is true that very few Jew’s escaped the first
destruction of Jerusalem to repopulate national Israel. These were those
righteous Jews who were carried away captive by Nebuchadnezzar. The “seed”
of promise, however, were those Jews who believed Jesus, and received the Holy
Ghost on the day of Pentecost. They were but a hundred and twenty in
number, but out of them have come a “…great multitude, which no man could
number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and
tongues” (Revelation 7:9). These are the “seed of Abraham” (Galatians 3:28-29); and they are “the Israel of God”
(Galatians 6:15-16).
>CLICK HERE< to go to Q&A LESSON 20 (for TOPIC 20).
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TOPIC 21
The People of God: The Righteousness of Faith
Romans chapter 9:verses 30 through Romans chapter 10:verse 21
30
What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after
righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is
of faith.
Paul said the Gentiles, who had been in
times past “...without Christ, being aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no
hope, and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:11-12), were “...made nigh by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:13).
They heard the gospel, even as it was at first preached to the Jews, and
pleaded that it should be preached to them also (Acts 13:42-48). The Gentiles simply “believed God,” as
had Abraham almost two thousand years before, and they also “attained to
righteousness.”
31
But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to
the law of righteousness.
To the contrary, national Israel had
followed after the Law of Moses; some even keeping it “blamelessly” as
to its outward effect, yet there was not one among them who attained to the
righteousness of that law.
32-33 Wherefore? Because
they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they
stumbled at that stumblingstone; As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of
offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
They did not believe the words of
Jesus. They did not receive Him as their Messiah. They had Him nailed
to the cross in fulfillment of the scriptures, and stumbled over the “stumblingstone”
of prophecy (Isaiah 8:13-15; Isaiah 28:16), which is “Christ-crucified
(I Corinthians 1:23).”
The Tenth Chapter
of Romans
1
Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be
saved.
Paul continues his defense of God in
relation to national Israel with a prayer that Israel “might be saved.”
That should also be our prayer.
2-3
For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to
knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about
to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the
righteousness of God.
The Jews were zealous through the Law of
Moses. They were ignorant of “God’s righteousness,” which was
wrought at Calvary and is revealed in the gospel of Christ-crucified.
They spent much time and energy, through the “deeds of the law,” trying to prove their own righteousnesses” which can never justify those who
trust in them (Romans 3:20).
They did not believe the gospel of Christ, and in their unbelief they refused
to submit themselves to the “death of the cross;” upon which Christ died
for all.
4
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
When the Son of God shed His blood and died
on the cross to redeem lost humanity, both “sin” and the “Law of
Moses” were nailed to the cross with Him for “everyone that believeth.”
It is “Christ-crucified” who is the “end of the law for
righteousness.”
5
For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of
the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.
It must be understood that the law could
never at any time give “life” to those who obeyed it. Paul says in Galatians 3:21, “If there had been a law given which could have given life,
verily righteousness should have been by the law.” In Hebrews 10:28
the writer says, “He that despised Moses’ law died without
mercy under two or three witnesses.” The only life the law could give was the “life” you
already have. The law said, in effect, “Do these things and enjoy long
life; despise this law and die before your time.” The idea that a
perfect keeping of the law would give eternal life is an error. It is the
nature of the Law of Moses that it could not give life, even to those it could
not condemn.
6-9
But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine
heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from
above:) Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again
from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth,
and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt
confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that
God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
These four
verses are somewhat difficult as they were translated, but very easy to be
understood when the two totally different thoughts are separated. As
translated, it seems that Paul begins to tell us how faith speaks, when
actually he is telling us how faith does not speak. The first phrase of this verse should be
connected to the ninth verse in this
manner; “But the righteousness which is of faith
speaketh on this wise, …that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord
Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead,
thou shalt be saved.”
The “speaking” of the
righteousness of faith is very simple; “confess Jesus with the mouth, and
believe with the heart that He died on the cross for our sins, and that God
raised Him from the dead.”
The seventh and eighth verses should then be connected to the
second phrase of verse six, and placed in brackets; thus, [Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend
into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) Or, Who shall descend
into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what
saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is,
the word of faith, which we preach.] Salvation
is a perfect work, finished at Calvary by the Son of God. Christ has come
down from heaven; He has died for us; God has raised Him from the dead; and He
sits on the right hand of the Father as our intercessor and mediator.
Simply believe that which God has already finished to perfection, and confess
your faith to those around you.
10
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation.
The human nature with its intellectual
reasoning cannot believe God. Paul says in Romans 8:7, “…the carnal mind is enmity against God.”
Our intellect argues against the truth of God. The “heart” that
believes has received its faith from God, for saving faith is also a gift of
God (Ephesians 2:8) to those who
call upon the name of the Lord. It is when we believe the gospel “from
the heart” that it is effectual in us.
11
For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
“Whosoever believeth on him…” Salvation is for “whosoever!” No one is
excluded. The call of the Spirit to “whosoever” is repeated
throughout the New Testament. Within the last four verses of the Bible we read the final call of God to man; “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him (come and) take
the water of life freely”
(Revelation 22:17).
“…shall not be ashamed.” Paul began this letter to the Romans
by saying, “I am not ashamed of the
gospel of Christ… (Romans 1:16).” Ten chapters later He assures the reader, “Whosoever believeth
on Him shall not be ashamed.” What the message of Christ-crucified
has done for one, it will do for all who believe it.
12
For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord
over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
In this “New Covenant,” there is not
any one nation, race, or people that is “chosen” above another.
The “unsearchable riches of Christ (Ephesians
3:8)” are for as many as call upon Him.
13
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Here is another confirmation that Paul did
not teach salvation by predestination of a chosen few. He confirms once
again that salvation is for “whosoever.”
14
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall
they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear
without a preacher?
It is man that has “predetermined” that some must be
lost. Jesus commissioned His church to “go into all the world and
preach the gospel to every creature.” When men and women who are “full
of faith and the Holy Ghost (Acts
6:5)” preach the gospel, it is God who convicts the hearts of those
who hear. Not everyone will believe, and as Jesus said, many “shall be
damned,” but “he that believeth…shall be saved” (Mark 16:15-16). We
determine that souls must be lost when we refuse to either take or send the
gospel to them. We must understand that we will also give account to God
for those lost souls.
Shall we think that God has predestined
billions of people to eternal damnation simply because they “have not
heard?” Paul gave a list of reasons why they are not saved, all
leading straight to the door of the complacent church. They are not “saved”
because they have not called. They have not “called” because they
have not believed. They have not “believed” because they have not
heard. They have not “heard” because we have not preached the
gospel to them. Paul says in I
Corinthians 1:21, “…it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to
save them that believe.”
15
And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How
beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad
tidings of good things!
The Greek word translated “sent” is “apostello,” which actually means “set apart.”
It is God who will separate and send his people. In Acts 13:2-4 we see how Paul and Barnabas were set apart and
sent. “As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said,
Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.
And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent
them away. So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost....” The modern church in America has sent men and women into
every nation on earth. All too often, however, they have sent those who
God has not sent, to preach a gospel that is not “the power of God unto
salvation” (Romans 1:16).
16
But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath
believed our report?
Jesus never promised that everyone who
heard the gospel would be saved. The promise is, “He that believeth shall be saved,” and “he that believeth not shall be damned (Mark
16:16).” Many of those who preach the gospel of “Christ crucified”
in this generation can identify with Isaiah, “Lord, who hath believed
our report.”
17
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Saving faith comes by hearing that which
God speaks. Jesus said,
“He that heareth my word,
and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come
into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I
say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead (in sin) shall hear the voice of the
Son of God: and they that hear shall live.” God
spoke to Israel through Isaiah, saying, “Incline
your ear (listen closely), and come unto me: hear, and your
soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant (the New Covenant) with you, even the sure mercies of David” (Isaiah 55:3).
18
But I say, Have they not heard? Yes
verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of
the world.
Paul gives a hypothetical question; “Have
they not heard?” The gospel had been preached throughout all the
known world of that day. Paul acknowledges that the “sound” of
their “words” went into all the earth, yet few among the Jews had really
heard. We must realize that it takes more than just the “sound of
words” to convert people to Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “The words
that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John
6:63). The lost must hear the word of truth as quickened by the Holy
Ghost.
19
But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to
jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you.
Paul gives yet another hypothetical
question: “Did not Israel know?” He is remembering the words of
their prophets who foretold the sufferings of Christ and the glory that would
follow (I Peter 1:11). Those
same prophets also foretold the gathering of the Gentiles to Christ. It
was the Gentiles that Paul referred to as “them that are no people,” and
“a foolish nation.”
This last phrase, which speaks of “them
that are no people” and “a foolish nation,” must also be a prophecy of
the last days just before Jesus’ return to earth. “Them that are no
people” speaks of the Gentiles who have believed and have been “grafted
into the good olive tree (Romans
11:24),” which is His church. Peter spoke of these in I Peter 2:9-10, saying, “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal
priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the
praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: Which
in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God....” These are the “redeemed” of all nations, the
righteous people of God who He will use in these last days to provoke the Jews
to jealousy (Romans 11:11). He
will also anger them “by a foolish nation.” This is being
fulfilled even now by the nations of the world that are currently gathering
against Jerusalem to destroy the Jews. The combination of these two, the
nations that hate them, and a “holy nation” that loves them, will soon
bring the Jew to look to Jesus for salvation.
20
But Esaias (Isaiah 65:1)
is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made
manifest unto them that asked not after me.
The fulfillment of this prophecy from Isaiah was explained by the
words of Paul in Romans 9:30; “The
Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to
righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith.” The
Gentiles simply heard the gospel of Jesus Christ and believed the good report.
21
But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a
disobedient and gainsaying people (Isaiah 65:2).
This scripture
confirms the fact that it was towards national Israel that God was “longsuffering;”
as spoken in Romans 9:22.
>CLICK HERE< to go to Q&A LESSON 21 (for TOPIC
21).
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The Eleventh Chapter of Romans
TOPIC 22
The People of God: Who God “Cast Away”
Romans chapter 11:verses 1 through 15
1
I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an
Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
Has God cast away His people?
Absolutely not. Paul uses himself as proof that God has not cast “His
people” away. He will further define “His people” in the next
verse.
2-3
God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot
ye not what the scripture saith of Elias (Elijah)? how he maketh intercession to God against
Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine
altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life.
It is “His people which He foreknew”
that will never be “cast away.” Romans 8:29 tells who they are. “For
whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of
his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” It was not any
particular “nation” or “individual” which God “foreknew.”
It is the redeemed; those who are of the “new creation;” those who bear
the image of His Son by the “new birth.” It is those who “believe
the record God gave of His Son (I
John 5:10).” The apostle John said, “He came unto his own, and his own
received him not (John
1:11).” Just as Esau had, almost two thousand years before, the
nation of Israel also despised their birthright. They disqualified
themselves through unbelief. John continues in the next verse, “But as many as received him, to them
gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:12).
These are “God’s people which He foreknew.”
Paul reminds us of the time Elijah prayed
to God against idolatrous Israel, establishing the fact that Israel’s history
had long been one of backsliding and rebellion. God loved them, chastened
them, and restored and blessed them when they repented; yet their history, as
Stephen proved in the entirety of the seventh
chapter of Acts, was one of backsliding and rejecting God. Stephen
drew this conclusion in his defense before the Sanhedrin Court in Acts 7:51; “Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in
heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so
do ye.” It cost him his life, for they stoned him
to death; but he had told them the truth.
4-5
But what saith the answer of God unto him (Elijah)? I have reserved to myself seven
thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Even so
then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of
grace.
In all of Israel there were only seven
thousand who did not worship Baal in the days of Elijah. The state of the
nation was so bad that Elijah thought he stood alone just as he had at Mt
Carmel. The “seven thousand” were the “remnant” God used to
deliver Israel out of the hand of Syria in the twentieth chapter of First Kings. God has always done His
work through those who will believe Him; though they be but a remnant.
“Remnant” in this verse,
is the same as “seed” in Romans
9:29. Throughout history, when Israel turned away from God, He always
turned to a faithful few, which He called “the remnant.” The
remnant was always the “seed” of what God would do in the future.
When Israel refused Jesus Christ as their Messiah and Son of God, there was a
remnant that received Him. The “remnant” was those who believed
Him and received the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost. These were the
promised “seed” through which Israel would be restored. They were
all Jews, and they were the “seed” of what God’s Israel would be in the
future. When Paul was writing this letter to the Romans, the “remnant
according to the election of grace” was made up of both Jews and
Gentiles. Notice what he tells the Galatians church, which was made up of
Gentile believers; “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is
neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in
Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed,
and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:28-29). These believers, both Jews and Gentiles, are
the “remnant according to the election of grace.”
6
And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace.
But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more
work.
“Grace” and “works” speak of two different covenants.
God promised a “new covenant” with Israel in Jeremiah 31:31-34, saying, “…this
shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those
days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in
their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.” The New Covenant is the “covenant
of grace:” it is God’s law is written in the hearts of His people.
Israel had been under the “covenant of works (the Law of Moses)”
for over fifteen hundred years, but now, God has given them a new and better
covenant. “The election of grace” does not speak of a “select
few” who are “predestinated,” but rather, the “whosoever (that) believeth” in Jesus; John 3:16. It is not by “works
(the Law of Moses),” but by “grace (Christ-crucified).”
7
What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election
hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded...
This reference to “Israel” speaks of
the nation of the Jews, under the Law of Moses. After fifteen hundred
years of seeking, under the law, the Jews still had not received the promise,
but “the election hath obtained it.” The “election,”
meaning “selection” or “chosen,” were all those who believed.
They were but a small remnant out of the millions of Jews who lived in Israel
in that generation. As Abraham had been “justified by faith”
almost two thousand years before, so were these who believed upon Jesus
Christ. Those Jews in Israel, who refused to believe, became so blind to
the truth they “could not believe” (John
12:37-40).
8-10 (According
as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they
should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. And
David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock,
and a recompence unto them: Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see,
and bow down their back alway.
Paul quotes Isaiah and David to confirm the
previous verse.
11
I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather
through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to
jealousy.
It is with this verse that Paul begins to
reveal a “mystery” that the Jews had been blinded to. In Ephesians 3:4-6 it is called the “mystery
of Christ.” It is “…that
the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and
partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel” (Ephesians
3:6). From the beginning of the world, it has been God’s
purpose that every people, tribe, and nation would be gathered together in
Jesus Christ and reconciled to God by the cross. His “eternal purpose”
is the view from which God has dealt with man since the beginning of
time. Did God predestine the fall of the Jew? No, but if they
should fall, God will continue to work His will, and through their fall the
gospel will be preached and salvation will come to the Gentiles. The
phrase, “for to provoke them to jealousy,” will be fulfilled in a very
shortly; just before the return of Jesus Christ.
12
Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them
the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?
Paul understands the principle by which God
“worketh all things after the counsel of his own will (Ephesians 1:11);” by his own
life experience. He told the Philippians, “Christ shall be magnified
in my body, whether it be by life, or by death” (Philippians 1:20). God’s purpose for Israel had been that
salvation would come to the entire world through their “fullness.”
If the unbelief of the Jews hinders the purpose of God, He will use their “fall”
to send salvation to the Gentiles. Paul will show that even though the
Jew has been “broken off through unbelief” (Romans 11:20), they
will, in fact, return to God through faith in Jesus “whom they pierced (Zechariah 12:10),” and
immediately come to their fullness.
13-14 For I speak to you
Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:
If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might
save some of them.
Paul spent his lifetime preaching the
gospel to the Gentiles, yet he never lost his love and desire to reach his
kinsmen, the Jews, for Christ. He hoped to provoke the Jews to “emulation
(jealousy).” This could only happen if the Jews saw the “promise”
that was given to their fathers fulfilled in believing Gentiles even as Saul of
Tarsus had seen it in Stephen. A weak and sin-laden church will never
reach the Jew for Jesus Christ.
15
For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the
receiving of them be, but life from the dead?
In the second
verse of this chapter Paul says, “God hath not cast away his people
which he foreknew,” yet in this verse it is clear that Israel had been “cast
away;” at least for a period of time. This fact indicates the
difference between the unbelieving Jew that made up the nation of Israel, and the
“very small remnant” that was the “Israel of God.” Paul
continually longed for the return of the Jews into covenant with God. He
sees that if, in their unbelieving state, they were instrumental in the gospel
going to the Gentiles, how much greater it would be if they also believed.
>CLICK HERE< to go to Q&A LESSON 22 (for TOPIC 22).
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TOPIC 23
The People of God: The Olive Tree; God’s Israel
Romans chapter 11:verses 16 through 36
16
For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy:
and if the root be holy, so are the branches.
With this saying Paul brings us to the
analogy of the “olive tree.” It is the olive tree, and not the fig,
that is representative of Israel. Jeremiah spoke of Israel in Jeremiah 11:16, saying, “The LORD called thy name, A green olive tree, fair, and of
goodly fruit.”
The “firstfruit”
of the tree is Jesus Christ, the “firstborn among many brethren (Romans 8:29).” “If the firstfruit (firstborn) be holy, the lump (many brethren)
is also holy.” The “root” of the tree is God, the Father of Jesus
Christ, from whom the branches receive their life. “If the root (God) be holy, so are the branches (the children of God).”
17
And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree,
wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;
Jeremiah
11:16-17 is the text from
which Paul draws the analogy of the olive tree: “The
LORD called thy name, A green olive tree, fair, and of goodly fruit: with the
noise of a great tumult he hath kindled fire upon it, and the branches of it
are broken. For the LORD of hosts, that planted thee, hath pronounced
evil against thee, for the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of
Judah, which they have done against themselves to provoke me to anger in
offering incense unto Baal.” Paul
understands that the olive tree represents Israel, of which the Jews have been
the branches. He also understands the saying of Jesus in John 15:1-2, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the
husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away.” When the husbandman prunes branches off of a tree, it is not
to destroy the tree, but to save it, and make it more fruitful. Paul
could see that the Jews, which were the natural branches of the olive tree,
were “broken off” because of unbelief, and those Gentiles who believed
were taken from a “wild olive tree” and grafted into the fruitful olive
tree. It is still the same olive tree even though the branches are now
both Jew and Gentile. It wasn’t long after the day of Pentecost that the
olive tree began to be called “the Church of Jesus Christ,” but it was
still “the Israel of God (Galatians
6:16).” In Ephesians
2:16, Paul was speaking of both Jews and Gentiles when he wrote these
words: “And that he might
reconcile both
(Jew
and Gentile) unto God in one body by the
cross....” There is no such thing before God as both a
“Jewish Israel” and a “Gentile church.” God’s “Israel”
and His “church” are the same body; made up of both Jewish and Gentile
believers.
18
Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest
not the root, but the root thee.
This is a warning to the Gentile
believers. Don’t rejoice that the natural branches were broken off.
Don’t exalt yourselves over or against the Jews. They are still the
natural branches of Israel. We who believe are totally dependent upon the
root (God); the root is not dependent upon us.
19-21 Thou wilt say then, The
branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in. Well; because of
unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by
faith. Be not highminded, but fear: For if God spared
not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
There are those who argue that the Jews
were “broken off, that I might be grafted in.” No! They were
broken off because of unbelief. We stand by faith, and only by
faith. We must not think of ourselves as better than the natural
branches, but rather fear, lest we should also be broken off through unbelief.
22
Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell,
severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness:
otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.
Dare we believe that we “who believe”
can take the same course under grace that the nation of Israel took under the
law and escape the judgment of God? Paul said we should see both the “goodness
and severity of God.” Even under the law it was only those who “believed
God” who were received by God. Others were as God said in Isaiah 29:13, “…this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips
do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward
me is taught by the precept of men.” They
observed certain ceremonial things and believed that God would be pleased with
their lip worship, even while their hearts were far away. Many people
today live under the severity of God and not His goodness, for the same
reasons. We who know His goodness are told to “continue in His
goodness.” How shall we continue? Believe God! Trust and
obey Him, and you will see His goodness.
23-24 And they also, if they
abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them
in again. For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by
nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much
more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own
olive tree?
If God is able to graft a wild branch into
a good tree and make it fruitful, how much more can He graft a natural branch
back into its own tree? Those branches in the good olive tree, whether
Jews or Gentiles, continue in faith. Those who are broken off continue in
unbelief, but if they believe the gospel, they also shall be grafted in,
whoever they may be.
25
For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye
should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to
Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.
The word “fullness” in this verse should be understood in the same
way it is understood in the twelfth
verse. This scripture does not say, as so many today think; that the
Jews must be blind and lost until after the last Gentile is saved and the
church is caught away. It is saying that they are blind in part
(partially blind), and cannot see until they see a “glorious church,”
for that is the “fullness of the Gentiles.” The sight of such a
church will provoke the Jew to jealousy with the result that they will “look
to Jesus,” believing at long last that He is their messiah. They will
call upon His name, and salvation will come to the Jew. God spoke these
things through the prophet Zechariah: “And I
will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit
of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have
pierced…” (Zechariah
12:10); “In that day
there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants
of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness” (Zechariah 13:1); “And I will bring the third part
through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them
as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say,
It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God” (Zechariah 13:9).
26-27 And so all Israel shall
be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion
the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my
covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
“All Israel” speaks of the “Israel of God,”
which consists of “all that believe (Acts 13:39-42),” whether they be Jew or Gentile. The “Israel of God” is typified in this chapter as the “Good Olive
Tree” with its natural branches (believing Jews) as well as those Gentiles
who also believed and were grafted in among the natural branches. Just as
God promised the gathering of the Gentiles to Jesus Christ, He also
promised the return of the Jew through Jesus Christ.
28-29 As concerning the
gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are
beloved for the fathers' sakes. For the gifts and calling of God are
without repentance.
The unbelieving Jews of that generation,
spoken of in another place as “the children of disobedience,” were
enemies to the believer of the gospel, whether Jew or Gentile; yet Paul and
other believers had a special love for them as the children of Abraham, Isaac,
and of Jacob. Every “true believer” will have that same love for
the Jew in this generation. We can know that God has not forever “cast
them away (verse fifteen),”
because, “the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.”
That particular generation was “broken off” through unbelief, yet God
has promised another generation of Jews that will believe and be grafted in
once again.
30-31 For as ye in times past
have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: Even
so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may
obtain mercy.
It is easy to forget that we who believe
are of the “Gentiles,” which in times past were heathen and barbaric
nations. At that time we were “…without
Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the
covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12).
Jesus died for all, regardless of race or color. It was when the Jews
refused to believe the gospel that the apostles finally determined to preach it
to the Gentiles (Acts 13:45-48; Acts 28:25-29). We Gentiles who
obtained “mercy” through the “unbelief” of the Jews; should not
our “mercy” now extend to the Jews of our generation? God Himself
has assured us that they will believe upon Jesus Christ in the last generation “before”
His return to earth (Zechariah, chapters 12-14). We can only
extend God’s mercy to the Jew, through preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to
them. They were the first nation to hear the gospel, and they will be the
last to receive it. Then, and only then, Jesus shall return.
32
For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
Paul said in Romans 3:9, that both Jews and Gentiles were “under sin,”
establishing that there was “no difference” between them (Acts 15:9; Roman 3:22; Romans 10:12).
God does not have both a “nation” and a “church.” Peter
told the gentile believers in the church that they are the “...holy nation… which in time past were
not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but
now have obtained mercy”
(I Peter 2:9-10). If God still accepts the Jews through
their obedience to the Law of Moses, then we Gentiles are deceived and
lost. If Jesus Christ is the only way to God under the “new covenant
(John 14:6)” which was
promised to Israel (Jeremiah 31:31),
then the gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation to “everyone that believeth; to the Jew
first, and also to the Greek” (Romans
1:16).
33-35 O the depth of the
riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his
judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of
the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Or
who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
Paul stands amazed at the wisdom and
knowledge of God. As he said in Ephesians
1:10, God “…worketh all things after the counsel of His own will.”
If the Jews will not believe, He will use their unbelief to show mercy to the
Gentiles. He will then use the “mercy” of the Gentiles to reach
the unbelieving Jew.
Paul’s amazement goes far beyond the
immediate issue in these few verses. He stands amazed at the entire gospel
scheme of salvation for whosoever will. It is such that the prophets who
prophesied of “the grace” that would come to us “...searched diligently…what, or what manner of time...” was signified when they foresaw the “...sufferings
of Christ, and the glory that should follow” (I Peter 1:10-12). The
prophets enquired, “what is this,” and “when shall it be.”
Even the angels of God desired to look into this wonderful salvation.
Paul says they will understand the “manifold wisdom of God (Ephesians 3:10)” when they see
His glorious church.
The “gospel of Christ” is “the
power of God unto salvation” (Romans
1:16). “For the preaching
of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved,
it is the power of God” (I
Corinthians 1:18). “Christ-crucified”
is both the “power of God, and the wisdom of God” (I Corinthians 1:23-24). Who, besides our great, loving, and merciful
God could have comprehended such a thing?
36
For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for
ever. Amen.
>CLICK HERE< to go to Q&A LESSON 23 (for TOPIC 23).
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Message 35 - By Leroy Surface - “THE FOUNDATION”
A Verse by Verse Commentary on the Book of
Romans, chapters 1 through 11.
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