TOMS: Romans 8

For an introduction to this series, click here.

July 11, 2007

This chapter is about the gift of the Holy Spirit - the indwelling Spirit, not the fraudulent gifts promoted by some churches - but that is another topic for another time.

Paul begins this chapter talking about the freedom we have in Christ and the difference between being subject to the Spirit and being subject to the flesh: "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God." (8:1-8)

This is an incredible passage. We who are born sinners and slaves to the flesh have an opportunity to experience something much greater: abundant life in Christ. But this opportunity did not come cheaply: it required Christ to die and take our place. These eight verses are a nice summary of the doctrines of substitutionary atonement and Christian liberty. We all say that Christian liberty does not mean that we are free to do whatever we want, and of course at a certain level that is true. But it is obvious from this passage that being free from the old law only means that we are now bound to the law of the Spirit. And the indwelling of the Spirit gives us the right desires, so therefore in a way we are free to do what we want. St. Augustine is reported to have said, "Love God and do what you please." I'm sure there is more to what he said than that, but even this little statement has a lot of truth in it - more truth than some who are Christians are willing to admit.

Paul then describes another benefit of the gift of the Spirit: "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!" The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs-- heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him." (8:14-17) As believers we are sons and heirs of God. We don't deserve it, but it is a gift from God.

Another benefit of the Spirit is that He is at work in our lives: "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified." (8:26-30) 

Everybody likes to quote verse 28, but it is interesting that that verse is connected to the verse about the Spirit helping us with our prayers. He is at work in ways we don't really understand in our lives. He helps us when we pray, He intercedes with the Father for us, and that is why all things are working together for good. 

And of course the last two verses are a solid presentation of the doctrine of election. You may remember from your math classes that if A=B, and B=C, then A=C. Paul is using simple logic here, but we have to follow it carefully. First of all, the ones whom God "foreknew" are the same ones who "are called according to his purpose," that is, all believers. All these are predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. That includes both sanctification in this life and future glorification in heaven. All those predestined are called, that is called to salvation. All those who are called are justified, and all those who are justified are glorified. God chose and called all believers for the whole ball of wax: justification, sanctification and glorification. I don't pretend to understand it all, and I’m not sure any of us completely understand it, but there it is in black and white. Just because some people go off the deep end concerning election doesn't mean the general concept is not taught in Scripture. It definitely is. 

Because of this call, and because of the indwelling Spirit, God's love for us is unchanging: "If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died --more than that, who was raised-- who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, 'For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.' No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (8:31-39, ESV) 

This is an incredible passage, and it gives us incredible confidence. Those who think they can lose their salvation have never sat down and really read Romans 8. If you understand the doctrine of election, then certainly you understand that God's sovereign call for salvation is not based on anything desirable in us, it is only based on His love. And His love is eternal, not subject to change based on what we do. Remember what Paul said about Abraham in Romans 4. Because Abraham was credited with Christ's righteousness, in God's eyes his faith never wavered, even though Abraham certainly did fail from a human perspective.

TOMS: Romans 7

For an introduction to this series, click here.

July 10, 2007

Well this is a controversial chapter, at least the last part. Hopefully I can shed some light on it for you.

Paul continues his discussion of how we are free from the Jewish law: "Or do you not know, brothers - for I am speaking to those who know the law - that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? Thus a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress. Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve not under the old written code but in the new life of the Spirit." (7:1-6)

I have heard preachers take the passage about women and their relationship to their husbands and say that a woman who is divorced should never remarry. If you read this in context, that is clearly not the point of the passage. Paul is using the marriage relationship as an example that we are no longer obligated to the Law of Moses and are entered into a new relationship with Christ.

Paul begins the argument in the passage above that the Law brought about sin. He expands on that in the next section: "What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, 'You shall not covet.' But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. Apart from the law, sin lies dead. I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me." (7:7-10)

This is what Paul means in Galatians when he says the Law is a schoolmaster. It teaches us that we are sinful people. That's why I like the Way of the Master series, if you have ever seen that. I can't say I agree with everything they do - we could have made it without those ubiquitous million dollar bills. I saw one on the sidewalk in Fayette last week; I picked it up and threw it away - but they emphasize the fact that we need to confront people with their sin. If you've never read any of their material, it's worth a look.

Now the rest of this chapter is very controversial. I guess I will just copy and paste it, and then discuss it: "For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin." (7:14-25, ESV)

This is a tough passage to interpret. There are many who say this describes a believer's struggle with sin as a Christian. There are others who say Paul is describing his attempts as an unbelieving Pharisee to obey the Law of Moses. There is a third theory that says this describes Paul as an immature believer who struggled with sin in his flesh. I have read or heard each of these arguments, and there is an element of truth in all of them. 

I take the position that Paul is talking about his current struggle with sin. We need to embrace what Paul tells us in the previous chapter about not being under the power of sin. When we recognize that we have Christ's righteousness, as Paul tells us in Chapter 4, it gives us confidence to overcome sin. Those are truths that we should live in and strive to make real in our lives.

But we don't always feel that way, do we? We need to remind ourselves about our standing in Christ all the time, but we are still trapped in this flesh and in this world. When I was a kid I can remember thinking that by the time I got old - say about 30 (my 30th birthday is coming up later this month) - that I would be so mature or so spiritual or so boring that sin and temptation would not be a problem anymore. How wrong that was!

TOMS: Romans 6

For an introduction to this series, click here.

July 9, 2007

The deeper we go into Romans, of course, the better it gets. Paul just got through saying that God's grace is more powerful than the power of sin, and actually overcomes it. And so now Paul answers the objection that if God's grace abounds where sin is, you are saying that we should sin to get more of God's grace. Paul could not be more vehement in his rebuttal of that idea: "We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus." (6:6-11) 

I was going to comment on this, but I think the next passage says it lots better than I ever could: "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace." (6:12-14)

Sin has a destructive power that I don't think we understand, or at least I am sure that I don't. Of course we all know at some level that sin destroys our lives and of course brings about physical death for everyone. But just a little bit of sin in a person's life is enough to bring about a small kind of death, both spiritually and physically. Now of course the Lord is able to forgive and restore, but it is better not to be entangled. And Paul says here that we are not to allow ourselves to become enslaved by sin since we have been set free by the grace of God.

But we have to serve somebody. And if we don't serve sin, who or what do we serve? Paul gives us that answer too: "But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification." (6:17-19)

I really like what Paul has to say here about lawlessness leading to more lawlessness. That's the way sin works, and that is also the way God works. When we yield ourselves to Him, He brings about good fruit in our lives, and that good fruit also compounds itself in our lives. God doesn't shortchange us. When we do His will, He rewards us. We may not see the rewards in this life but usually we understand that He is bringing about good fruit in our life, even if we don't see it all right now.

This chapter finishes up (I hope you realize the chapter and verse divisions were added later for reference's sake) with Paul telling us exactly what I was trying to say: "But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (6:22-23, ESV)

We use that last verse in evangelism to try to pound home the idea that sin leads to death. But the emphasis in context is on the gift of God, the positive that the Lord brings about in our lives. I'm not saying that we should not use this verse in evangelism, but a lot of people have never heard that verse outside of a witnessing context. It's amazing the truth you can learn from very familiar scripture if you just read through the Bible and look at how a verse weaves in with the whole message of the book. That is very important in the epistles, which were meant to be read aloud from beginning to end all at once by the receiving church. 

TOMS: Romans 5

For an introduction to this series, click here.

July 6, 2007

Paul continues to explain what it means to be justified by faith. First of all it means peace with God, and then it means that we are wonderfully blessed to be a part of God's plan: "For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person - though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die - but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life." (5:6-10) 

This is one of my favorite passages in all the Bible. God's mercy is overwhelming. He could have left us alone and given us all what we deserve: eternal punishment separated from Him. But God chose to bridge that gap between Him and us, His enemies, by sending Jesus to die in our place. What a humbling thing that is. I don't deserve God's love or even His consideration, but yet He paid for my redemption by the death of His own Son. That is why rejection of this amazing gift deserves the ultimate punishment. If God was an uncaring being somewhere, and we humans were all in the same predicament, then there would be no shame in rejecting Him. But He came down to us and became one of us so He could take the punishment that we deserve. To reject that love is an unspeakable evil, worthy of judgment.

Next Paul compares Adam, the first man, to Christ: "But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. If, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ." (5:15-17)

Adam's sin brought spiritual and physical death on the whole human race. But because of Christ's sacrifice God's grace is able to overcome that death sentence. 

In fact, God is able to overcome a multitude of sins: "Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (5:20-21, ESV)

God's grace is truly amazing. Even before Christ came, He never left mankind without a plan for redemption. He is able to break the heart of stone and give us a new heart.

TOMS: Romans 4

For an introduction to this series, click here.

July 5, 2007

There are two significant Old Testament passages that are quoted in the New Testament epistles with varying effect. Both of them are found in Romans. The first is "The just shall live by faith," which is quoted at least four times in the New Testament, and "Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness," which we find here in this chapter and also in the book of James.

Paul began late in chapter 3 to make the transition from God's righteousness to man's sinfulness and utter hopelessness without God. Here the transition is complete. Read this profound statement about man's need of a Savior: "For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? 'Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.' Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness," (4:2-5)

There are so many incredible passages here I almost feel like comments are unnecessary. But here I go again anyway.

Next Paul destroys those who said that it was necessary for new Christians to live like Jews. The ultimate symbol of Judaism is of course circumcision: "Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised." (4:9-11) 

Paul cannot be more clear here. Abraham was converted and pronounced righteous by the Lord in Genesis before God gave him the sign of circumcision, not at the same time, and not after. Therefore Paul says the fact that even Abraham was "saved," to use a New Testament term, before he received circumcision means that no Gentile has to be circumcised in order to be saved.

The rest of the chapter tells how Abraham was an example of how we should be faithful. Paul makes a statement here that actually seems to be untrue: "He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised." (4:19-21)

Now I don't know about you, but when I read Genesis, I see Abraham as "weakening" and "wavering" all over the place in his faith. First of all he agreed to have a son with Hagar, Sarah's servant. Then when God told him he would have a son with Sarah, he laughed in God's face. 

But the fact remains that he already had the righteousness of God, as Paul goes on to say: 
"But the words 'it was counted to him' were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification." (4:23-25, ESV)

This statement is a comfort to me. My faith is not very strong, and I usually have a lot of problems. The fact that God acknowledges the sincere faith of our hearts and forgives us when our faith is not what it should be is very reassuring. From a human perspective, Abraham was not a perfect example, but God saw his heart that he really did trust God.