Romans – Page 6

God: Faithful, True, and Just

By Bob Burridge | July 11, 2011 - 12:09 am |July 22, 2011 Bible Studies, Christian Living, Reformed Theology, Romans

God: Faithful, True, and Just

Studies In Paul’s Letter to the Romans
by Bob Burridge ©2011

Lesson 13: Romans 3:3-8

Something was lacking in Israel at the time of the New Testament. It wasn’t that they weren’t large enough or rich enough. It wasn’t that they lacked influence, or didn’t have their doctrines all spelled out. Though they had many errors, there were some who had stated things correctly. The problem was that they were not holy. They were not living in a way that truly honored their God, and set them apart as his people.

While we identify many problems in churches today, the most pressing problem is not that we aren’t large enough or rich enough. It’s not that we don’t have enough influence in our society, schools, businesses or governments. It’s not that we need to better spell out our doctrines, and better define our organization or methods. Though there are always imperfections in our understanding, there is a place were things are stated correctly. The problem is that we are not holy enough. We need to get our lives in order so that we truly honor our God according to the principles he gives us in his word.

In the first two chapters of Romans Paul showed from the Scriptures that all have sinned, both Gentiles and Jews, and are equally condemned before God. So then, what advantage is there in being marked out as a covenant child of God if it doesn’t liberate you from the final judgment?

Chapter 3 began by explaining the great advantage to the members of God’s covenant family. They have the Scriptures, the word of God. In this book God’s true character is spelled out and our duties to him are made clear. This book also points to the restoration that is possible by the gospel.

Even with the advantage of Scripture, instead of learning what God was really like, and learning how to be holy, Ancient Israel assumed their blessings assured them of eternal salvation without a Savior like the one promised.

What had happened to Israel, the people of the book?

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

God made his covenant with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It was renewed through Moses, King David, and the prophets. He would make their descendents a special nation blessed uniquely. Through them the Messiah would eventually be born. All this was clearly spelled out in God’s word which had been graciously given to them.

The problem was that Israel did not remain faithful to the covenant. In Acts 7:51-53 Stephen summarized that history to the Jewish leaders, “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.”

Through their long history of unbelief and sin God had not abandoned them. He sent his prophets, and delivered them from their captivities. So why did God preserve Israel through all those times of rebellion?

She had not yet completed the purpose for which God had chosen them. By them was to come the Messiah who would reign on the throne of David forever, who would be the final Passover lamb to actually do what the other sacrifices only represented. He would suffer and die in place of his people to redeem them.

By the time Paul wrote to the Romans, the promised Messiah had come. The atonement had been made. The gospel message had been explained. God had completed the purpose of the Jewish nations as an image of the church to come. The church was now born. The symbolisms of it were no longer needed.

The time had come when their unbelief reached its absolute limit, the breaking point. Israel committed the final and ultimate breach of God’s covenant. She rejected and crucified the One God had promised from the beginning.

Their rejection of Messiah denied a major point of the law (if it is understood rightly). The law was intended to reveal God’s perfect holiness and fallen man’s inability to live up to it. It was designed to drive humbled sinners in repentance to the promised Christ. But the Jews changed the idea of the Messiah from a needed Redeemer, into a Jewish conqueror. They made the law into a way of salvation instead of what reveals the need for salvation.

Far from admitting that, the Jews saw the problem in a different way. Their question was, “If what you are saying is true Paul, that there is no special treatment for us Jews. Has God’s faithfulness to his promise to us been annulled? Was it no longer in effect?”

Paul dramatically denied that idea in his answer in verse four.

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

Just what had God promised Israel? God had not promised them that each person would be exempted from judgment. God had not revealed his holiness as an optional thing which they were free to redefine. He said, “… You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy…” (Leviticus 11:44)

They had imagined that God’s covenant exempted them from that responsibility. They reduced the awfulness of sin into a minor issue. Jewish scholar Abarbanel once wrote, “If a Jew commit all manner of sins, he is indeed of the number of sinning Israelites, and will be punished according to his sins; but he has, notwithstanding, a portion in eternal life,” Many other statements of the Rabbis could be added saying the same thing.

When what we believe or practice differs from what God has said, God’s truth must prevail over man’s theories and excuses.

Paul quotes from two portions of Scripture that were familiar to the Jews. First he used Psalm 116:11 to remind them that lies are common to man, not to God. When what we say or do differs from what the Scriptures teach, we must abandon our position.

Then he quoted from David’s psalm of repentance, Psalm 51:4. He quoted directly from the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament popular in his day. In Psalm 51:4 David prayed, “Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight — That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge.”

The problem was not that God did not live up to what he promised. It was that he never promised what they had imagined. The prophets often warned Israel that she had misunderstood God’s promises. Jesus gave a full explanation of how Israel had distorted God’s truth. Paul, the other Apostles and other New Testament writers continued that same lesson.

According to the prophets, and as Paul was teaching here, even Israel’s unbelief was part of God’s design. By their unbelief God revealed his mercy and revealed more of his plan. It was their unbelief that produced the atoning death of the Messiah on the Cross when their sin-blinded leaders demanded his crucifixion.

So a new objection is anticipated by Paul in this next section. If God used their unbelief and sin to further his plan and to reveal his glory, then how can he hold them guilty and condemn them?

How can God judge unbelief if he uses it to promote his plan?

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

Paul makes it clear that he is raising a hypothetical question. He is speaking not for himself now, not for God, but as one of their objectors might speak. So if Israel’s unbelief was all a part of God’s plan, how can God find fault with them?

This is the classic problem of the place of sin in the sovereign plan of God. “If God uses even our sin for good, then how can he rightly judge us?”

People creatively justify their sin by making it appear good and acceptable to God. Though this relationship between our sin and God’s plan isn’t directly explained in Scripture, it is the height of presumption to assume that no explanation exits.

The question, as Paul words it, implies the negative. God is not unjust or unholy when he uses man’s sin and rebellion to advance his plan.

Paul quickly and clearly lays aside that charge.

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

This question only becomes a problem for those who presume unfounded things.

The pantheist sees everything as nothing more than God acting. If God is the force in us that sins, then there can be no human responsibility, no just judgment, and no real acts of men. By this line of reasoning Hitler’s desire to purify the human race would justify his atrocities. By this line of reasoning we are wrong to arrest or punish criminals of any sort. By this line of reasoning no one should be judged by God for anything.

This is clearly false. Scripture shows that individuals are clearly held accountable for their immorality. Therefore the sins of people are their own acts, not God acting in them.

The religious humanist sees God as being controlled by man’s choices and actions. God is reduced to a beggar-deity hoping man will make the right choices so his plan will work out. By this line of reasoning man is god and is sovereign over the final outcome of all things. By this line of reasoning God does not direct anything to a planned outcome. By this line of reasoning nothing is certain and there is no wrong way for things to happen.

This is clearly false. Scripture shows that God has decreed all things eternally. He has also decreed that individuals will be held accountable for immorality. It is the sinner who is morally responsible for his acts which are really his, though God decreed them to happen as part of his perfect plan.

Assumptions like these attempt to gut the idea of holiness. They presume that God cannot hold us responsible since his plan never fails. The fact of God’s Sovereignty and Providence are clearly established by direct statements in the Bible. God calls us to be holy. We are to be specially his children, set apart from what we were before the transformation of our souls by grace, and from what we would continue to be aside from his power at work in us as his beloved children.

Since neither of these views is consistent with Scripture, man has no excuse for his sin. Israel has no exemption from judgment for her many sins, and for her recent rejection and crucifixion of the Messiah.

The unredeemed often blend biblical language with those pantheistic or humanistic theories. Men object to the biblical teaching that “no one is saved by his own choices or deeds.” They hate the doctrines of God’s grace and the stated fact of eternal election of some to life. They ask “How can anyone be blamed for rejecting the gospel if God has ordained all things?”

Why would men dream up such convoluted ideas as these to explain away plain biblical statements? Our fallen nature hates the truth, and love its sin. It wants the kind of God who doesn’t hold them accountable for their actions and attitudes. It wants the kind of power and enlightenment Adam and Eve hoped for in Eden, to be like God.

To sweep away such a plainly wrong notion, Paul points to one simple fact: God does judge men in the final judgment. If the Jews could say their sin is excusable because God uses their unbelief for good, then anyone could say the same thing. No one would be held guilty for any sin since all is part of God’s decree. That is obviously not sound reasoning. There is a judgment. Therefore their logic and the data they assume to be true must be flawed.

How ridiculous it would be if a child said, “Yes Dad. I did play out in the street today. I know that was bad and against your rules. But by such bad things you get to show what a loving and forgiving parent you are! If you punish me it will make me feel bad, and you don’t want that. So instead of punishing me you should maybe reward me for giving you such a good opportunity to show your kindness.”

Or if a convicted felon said, “Yes Judge. I did shoot that man while I was trying to rob him. But it’s by such things that we get to see our fine judicial system at work. You get to show what a loving, kind, wise, and fair person you are. These jurors get to be good citizens, and the whole idea of civil law ends up looking good. Perhaps we could write a book or go on talk shows together! Since what I’m doing can be used for good, then certainly I don’t deserve any punishment.”

Though parents and courts may bring good results out of our bad behavior, that does not excuse the bad behavior.

Certainly the same is true on a much higher plane with God. Though our Lord uses our sin and rebellion to move along his greater cause, this does not excuse the sin and rebellion. It still demands the death of the sinner, and his eternal separation from God.

Only if a perfect Savior pays the debt in the sinner’s place is the guilt removed. This removal of guilt is not an indication that God doesn’t care about our sin. The infusion of spiritual life when a sinner is redeemed ought to produce something wonderful. It is not to produce a care-free sinner unafraid to sin again and again. It is not to produce a judgment free society which we call a “church”. It is to produce people who are holy, set aside to honor God as his covenant people.

This is “scriptural optimism”. It is stated in clear language many times and summarized well in Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”

This does not mean that the sins of individuals become good. It shows that God in his plan uses even the sins of men for good, contrary to the nature of the act. Ancient Israel’s and modern man’s reasoning is wrong. We dare not presume that a loving God will not judge rebellion. The same Bible that teaches us that God is loving and has made a covenant, also tells us that his promise does not excuse us from accountability.

Only being born again by the work of the Savior can we be set free from our guilt. Those who are free, are also made alive, and will evidence it by their love for holiness.

Those who dig for philosophical excuses to sin without accountability show they have no place in his covenant except for taking advantage of and abusing its outward privileges. They heap judgment upon themselves by such conjectures.

Paul then takes this dangerous idea another step
to show how its implications are inconsistent.

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

If the Jews are so quick to excuse their own rejection of Messiah and their own sins, and if they presume that since their unrighteousness furthers God’s glory, then why do they find fault with Paul and his gospel? Isn’t Paul’s gospel, even if it’s a lie, a part of God’s plan and by their reasoning excusable?

This reasoning is clearly false. God judges all sin and all sinners. Judgment is a fact. The same Scripture that declares there is a God, tells us what kind of God he is and how his moral principles work. You can’t believe only the parts you like or you become the judge of all things over God.

The only hope anyone has is that Jesus the promised Messiah has suffered for him. That was the ancient promise. It was not that every Israelite would be exempted from judgment, but that all who show the evidence of grace in their hearts are judged innocent by imputation. The righteousness of Christ is declared to be theirs, and their sins are declared to be his. He suffered and died as the infinitely perfect sacrifice who alone could be their substitute.

It is not Jewishness that delivers men from judgment. It is the Savior. Salvation was not to make us able to sin and still be saved. Salvation is to make us holy even as the Lord our God is holy.

Paul took his reasoning one last step.

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

Why not go all the way to the extreme then, and do more evil to make more good. Some had obviously slandered the Apostle by actually saying that he taught this.

Those who misunderstand the purpose of God’s law will misunderstand the message of grace. Law does not save us. Neither by our obeying it to earn salvation (which no man can do sufficiently), nor by assuming that the covenant God makes with us frees us to sin without judgment. There is no legal code or promise of God that defends sin. The law always promotes holiness, even though it cannot produce it aside from the work of our Redeemer.

When we understand our lack of this important quality, we are brought by grace to the Savior Jesus Christ. He not only forgives and declares us holy, he also transforms us and makes us begin to grow in holiness.

So what marks out the true covenant child of God? What affirms that he is delivered from judgment by Christ? It’s not his circumcision or baptism. It’s not his pure theological correctness. It’s not his response to an altar call or an emotional decision he made. It’s not his heritage, culture, or family. the legitimate child of God does not try to philosophically justify his sins.

The mark that distinguishes us is Christ-likeness implanted into a changed human heart. We are called to be different than the fallen human race into which we were born. This practical side of holiness should be our goal, our passion, the test of all we allow to be part of our lives.

Paul summarizes the objections to what God has said with one terrifying thought: “their condemnation is just.” Though God uses even sin to advance his plan and to display his glory, that sin is still evil, and is not excused.

Our human creativity is able to make up complex excuses. We imagine all sorts of theories attempting to fill in what God has not made known. In our fallen nature we arrogantly reject his truth on the basis of our own foolish assumptions.

The Gospel promotes holiness. There are reasons for our rebellion, but there are no excuses for it. Those who are transformed by the Gospel will seek to be holy. They will see that their excuses for sin do not make it acceptable.

As you set important goals for yourself, for your family, for your job, for what you will leave behind in the memories of those you have loved and known, make sure that they are all directed toward holiness. We were created to bear the image of our Creator in the world he made. Individuals are redeemed to be restored to fellowship with God so they can display the grace, mercy, love, and power of their Redeemer.

This is our created purpose. It is that for which our Savior died. It is your vocation in every part of your life. Nothing else is more important. Nothing else will bring true inner peace and happiness.

(The Bible quotations in this article are from the New King James Version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.)

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Covenant Advantages

By Bob Burridge | July 4, 2011 - 12:13 am |September 16, 2012 Bible Studies, Reformed Theology, Romans

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Covenant Advantages

Studies In Paul’s Letter to the Romans
by Bob Burridge ©2011

Lesson 12: Romans 3:1-2

In the first two chapters of his letter to the Romans, Paul showed that all people, Jews and non-Jews, stand guilty before the judgment throne of God. There are no advantages or exceptions when it comes to God’s moral justice.

Those untaught by Scripture, are nevertheless exposed to God’s truth. Creation and their own human conscience confront them with enough information about God. In failing to honor him as their Sovereign Creator they are without excuse.

Those who had been taught the Scriptures, are even more without excuse before God. They will be judged by the law which God had mercifully gave them. Since it demands perfect obedience and condemns eternally for even the least moral violation, no one has ever been, nor could ever be, justified by his personal deeds or choices.

Our fallen nature cannot admit that things can be that bad for us. Many of the Jews in the first century had corrupted God’s promises, and reasoned that since God made a covenant with their ancestors; Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and since God gave them his word and marked them out as special by circumcision, therefore they thought they would be exempted from God’s final judgment. God had not promised them anything of the sort.

Many today also rely upon promises God has never made. A fantasy faith not only fails to produce what people expect, it also leads to wrong ways of living. It obscures the truth God has made known, and confuses people when the imagined promises fail.

Jesus, and Paul here in Romans, often confronted the corrupted Jewish leaders about this issue. Contrary to what many had come to believe, there is no special privilege or exemption when it comes to being restored to fellowship with God. No one is above or beyond the law of God. There is no promise, no assurance, no good deed, no heritage, that has ever excused anyone from sin. Nothing can escape the fact that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). The religion God had mercifully given them had been turned into something superficial and false.

There is only one way in all of Scripture to be made right with God. God promised to send a Messiah who would die in the place of his people. On that basis God would grant forgiveness and infuse spiritual life into individual dead souls. Their faith in him and obedience to his word are a result of, not the cause of, that new life.

Paul raised the questions the Jews were asking in order to give his answer.

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

If, as Paul had been teaching, neither circumcision nor being born a Jew involved a promise of eternal salvation, then what advantage is there in being marked out as a covenant child? Was Paul discounting all of these wonderful blessings of God upon the Jews? Was he teaching that there is no advantage to being a member of the covenant community?

He gave them a dramatic answer about their advantage in verse two.

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

He had listed some of the privileges of being one of God’s covenant children in 2:17-20. What’s more, God delivered them many times during their history from enemies and oppressors, even when they had been wicked. He had promised to bring the Messiah into the world through them. He used them to be a foreshadowing of the gospel community of the church after the coming of Christ, and to reveal his electing grace.

He doesn’t say their greatest advantages were miracles, victories in battle, heritage, or culture. Their primary advantage was being entrusted with the word of God. Here Paul calls it the “oracles of God.” Paul used a term the people in Rome would know well. Their culture was filled with visits to the oracles of the gods of Rome. They came seeking messages from these imagined supernatural beings. Paul applied that heathen terminology more correctly to God’s word which alone is true. God has spoken! He made himself known by his prophets, and preserved what he said in the written Scriptures.

This prophetic word had been specially entrusted to Israel. They were to preserve that word, love and obey it, and promote it to the whole world. God’s family, all of its members in every period of time including our own, ought to love, obey, and promote God’s word.

How is having the word of God an advantage for the covenant people,
if it doesn’t assure salvation to each person who possesses it?

First, there is an outward benefit to any society where God’s word is respected.
God reveals himself not only by redeeming an elect family, He also makes his truth known much more broadly by moral principles to which all of created humanity is held accountable. By the pledge of his word God instituted a community of covenant people to live in the midst of an openly rebellious world.

There are three basic groups to whom God reveals himself to promote his glory.

The first group includes all of mankind. All people in all ages see God’s power and glory displayed in Creation. They all have a moral conscience that brings inner conflict when they do wrong. However, in their fallen condition, aside from a special work of saving grace, they will not honor God as revealed. They will pervert his truth to serve themselves, and heap well deserved judgment upon themselves.

The next group is smaller. It includes all those who submit at last outwardly to God’s covenant. They are the visible, or outward church, the “covenant people of God.” From the time of God’s promise to Abraham up to the Apostolic era after the resurrection of Jesus they were the people of Israel. After that time, they are those who make up the Christian church at large, both Jews and Gentiles.

Finally, there is a still smaller group, those God actually redeems by the Messiah. These are the ones the Bible calls the Elect of God (Ephesians 1:4-6). They are commanded to join and identify themselves with the outward or visible church to be part of the covenant community. Not all who are in the covenant community are actually redeemed as individuals, but all the redeemed ought to become part of the covenant community.

The Jews should not assume they are redeemed or immune to judgment just because God entrusted them with his word, and marked them out as a special people by circumcision.

Though these advantages do not redeem them, God’s word and membership in the covenant community are a benefit to all who are united together as the church outwardly in each era. Having the oracles of God makes for a better society and a healthier and happier people in a temporal sense. By identifying sin and commanding punishments, it holds back the free expansion of sin. Living among restrained hypocrites is better than living among unrestrained haters of God. It is less dangerous to have a neighbor who goes to church and refrains from sin in selfish ignorance, than one who is openly profane, violent, and criminal.

This provides a more godly setting for the benefit of God’s redeemed children. Not that keeping the law redeems the good neighbor in God’s judgment day — it does not. But it helps his redeemed neighbor to live in more outward peace. Those who enjoy God’s temporal restraint of evil, but who fail to give him the glory for it through Christ, only condemn themselves all the more.

All who claim to be Christians but who are not actually redeemed by Christ, have temporal advantages by growing up in a godly home, a sound church, or a law abiding community where God’s word is known and respected.

There is also a special inner benefit which God’s word brings to the redeemed.
The Scriptures are God’s means of revealing the work of redemption to his people. When the convicting power of the Holy Spirit opens the heart by redeeming it, the wonderful promise of redemption is understood. The Cross becomes a personal deliverance. This is the intended outcome of the law of God for his children. His oracles, when accompanied by his saving grace, convince and convict of sin, and drive a humbled person to the Savior with a true God-implanted faith in the work of Christ.

Psalm 19:7, “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul…”

2 Timothy 3:15, “… the Holy Scriptures … are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”

The power of the word and law is not just to promote a set of behaviors. At its root, and all through it, the word is the revelation of God to his people. It teaches that God is Sovereign and Wonderful. It reveals that man is lost and deserves complete separation from God and eternal suffering. It also explains that God has promised to provide a Messiah to redeem his people and to reveal his grace. Jesus said in John 5:39, “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.”

This is the focus of the oracles of God. They point to Messiah. They display a redemption not by works, but by imputation of holiness by grace. Without this gospel message the law can only condemn.

For the redeemed, the law becomes a light to guide them in how to please the Savior. It informs the conscience by removing the misconceptions of fallen hearts. It helps us to grow to be more holy like our Savior was holy.

Psalm 119:9, “How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word.”

Psalm 119:11, “Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.”

It is not just having or obeying the outward details of God’s word that redeems a person as many of the Jews thought. It is when the Holy Spirit applies the work of Christ to an individual called by God’s grace alone. That is what transforms him wonderfully into a growing child of God.

How is the word of God to be handled by those to whom it is entrusted?

The people of God are to learn what God’s word says.

The primary place for instruction is the Church.
God’s people are to learn under the organized teaching of ordained Elders. This is clearly the case not only in old Israel, but also in the New Testament form of the church.

Elders are given the duty to oversee the instruction of the people in God’s word. They are held responsible for filtering out human ideas which are contrary to what God has said, and for being well studied in the Word so they can guard against the constant flood of errors (Titus 1, 1 Timothy 5:17).

As God ordained, his people are told to go to the Elders for instruction. They are not to seek out teachers just because they are good speakers or writers with a captivating and entertaining style. They must be men who are sound in their beliefs, and who know their Bible’s well. Those who merely entertain may appeal to our still imperfect hearts and mislead those who listen to them.

2 Timothy 4:3-4, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.”

This is why it is crucial for the health of God’s people that they be regular in attending all the worship services of a sound church. The worship and primary lessons of the Sabbath Day provide for the Elders to teach all of God’s word in a systematic way. To only attend some of the lessons is like going to school, but skipping some important classes.

The next level of instruction in God’s word is the home.
While the home is the most “basic” unit for instruction, authority, and discipline, the parents are to be in subjection to the Elders of the church as those shepherds God set above them in these matters. Then, as obedient sheep, parents and particularly the male heads of the home are to enforce and practice in their families what they learn under the shepherds of the church.

The Oracles of God made this clear from the beginning. Moses and the Elders of Israel gave and explained the law as those called of God to do so. In the home it is also to be daily studied and exemplified. Deuteronomy 6:6-9 says to the parents of the home, “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

Paul commended the home where Timothy grew up saying in 2 Timothy 3:14-17, “But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

The obedient Christian family will responsibly honor the Oracles of God in their home by letting God’s word permeate all of its activities. It is not enough to limit this to just “devotional times”. Parents living a reasonable example of what they teach show what holiness looks like in action. The family should pray faithfully for the Holy Spirit to help others and themselves to grow spiritually. Parents should attend and bring their child to church regularly in all its services. Preparations should be made on Saturday to be sure that clothes are all ready, that everyone gets the sleep he needs, and has a plan for getting ready in time. When people go on vacations, attend sports activities, go to work daily, arrive on time for movies, dinners, and for special sales at the malls, but are not be able to get out to church, it betrays what is most important to them. It impresses that distorted order of priority upon their children. How you live teaches more effectively than what you merely say.

We are also to learn the word of God on our own, privately.
Every believer on his own ought to read, study, and think on what God has said. It ought to be our meditation day and night, wherever we are, and in all we do.

Psalm 1:2, “But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.”

Psalm 119:97, “Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.”

Paul commended the believers in Berea as more noble because, ” … they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.” (Acts 17:11)

So what is the advantage for us today in being acquainted with God’s word?

All of us ought to honor God as he shows himself in creation, providence, and conscience. Those who call themselves “Christians” ought specially to honor God’s word. Their church membership will not redeem them from guilt as Israel came to think. Many in the church today think that coming forward at an evangelistic meeting, or being baptized, or being a faithful church attender, or having prayed a so called “sinners prayer” will save them. But those things are never mentioned in God’s word as the cause of our being redeemed. The word well taught, condemns such ideas and tells us the wonderful truth of the gospel in its place.

The world in which truly redeemed believers live will be better to the degree that God’s word is obeyed, even if just superficially. This is a great advantage to those who grow up in the church. However, this has nothing to do with those who are lost being made right with God.

For the believer who is redeemed by Christ, the Oracles of God are a greater advantage than gaining mere outward peace and civility. They train up their little ones not only to know and to obey what is right, but they can also lead them to Christ who forgives them and enables them to live rightly. They can appreciate the true meaning of the law as a means of exposing our own helplessness, and showing the gratitude we ought to have toward our Savior for his undeserved favor and blessings. Those transformed by the Savior can and should effectively promote God’s word in their work, in the community, and in their homes. They are to bring all things captive to Christ.

A home or society permeated by and directed by God’s word is a better place to live for God’s people. It openly displays the characteristics of the Creator. When that word is accompanied by the redeeming work of Christ and the application of it by the Holy Spirit, God’s word brings spiritual life and promises a dwelling place in the home of the Lord forever.

(The Bible quotations in this article are from the New King James Version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.)

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Deceptive Hypocrisy

By Bob Burridge | June 27, 2011 - 1:28 am |July 22, 2011 Bible Studies, Christian Living, Reformed Theology, Romans

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Deceptive Hypocrisy

Studies In Paul’s Letter to the Romans
by Bob Burridge ©2011

Lesson 11: Romans 2:17-29

The religion of Israel was impressive in the time of Christ. The Jews had a glorious Temple, scholarly Rabbis, and a powerful Sanhedrin of honored spiritual rulers. They practiced fancy rituals, wore special clothes, and followed ancient traditions. But there was one serious flaw: it was a confusion of what God had actually commanded them to be and to do.

They had adopted a whole set of cultural rules that gave them spiritual pride. They thought that because of their strict observances, they were so holy that God was pleased with them and would bless them forever. But they had changed the real spiritual principles into superficial and outward rules. While they avoided certain places and certain unclean things, they had missed the real issues of God’s law. They had replaced them with the laws of men.

Paul wrote the Book of Romans to set things right. In the first two chapters he showed that God excuses no one from the demands of justice. The Gentiles, who were un-taught in Scripture, were guilty without excuse. God had generally revealed himself in creation and in their conscience. But they failed to honor their Creator as he had made himself known.

The Jews, who had been taught the Scriptures, were guilty without excuse as well. They will be judged by the law God gave them. It condemned even the least violation of morality. There was no special privilege or exemption from moral and religious responsibility. No one is above or beyond the law of God. Moral and religious principles were built into Creation itself.

So now in this next section of the letter, Paul went on to show them the danger, hypocrisy, and offense of their superficial religion.

The Jews had been graciously privileged to be called God’s people.

Romans 2:17-20, “Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God, and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law.”

The name “Jew” is from the Hebrew word “Judah” (יהודה). It means “one who is praised.” God had made a covenant with that nation to make unworthy sinners into his people. They were marked out by the sign of circumcision, and graciously given God’s truth by his prophets.

As a nation they considered the laws of Scripture to be trustworthy. They gloried in Jehovah who had promised to be their God. They knew that God’s will was revealed in the Scriptures. They gave approval to the things that were good, or “excellent.” They confidently considered themselves to be guides for the spiritually blind. The Rabbis called themselves the “light of the world”. Jesus used their own expression and applied it more correctly to his own Apostles. They dared to correct the foolish and teach the immature. They had the law of God, the very embodiment of knowledge and truth.

These are all good things. But there was a problem.

The Covenant People were not obedient
to what they said was good and right.

Romans 2:21-23, “You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law?”

In short, he was implying that they were hypocrites. Paul cited the common crimes of the Jews, the same ones Jesus had accused them of committing. They dared teach others but really needed to teach themselves. Jesus had corrected them saying in Matthew 22:29, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.”

They rightly condemned stealing, but they were guilty of theft. Paul didn’t mean that they actually crept into homes and stole someone’s belongings. However, they oppressed the poor, and kept for their own use what would have helped the truly needy. They charged unreasonable interest for loans, imposed high temple taxes, and demanded that worshipers pay to exchange their money for temple currency. As in the days of Malachai, they had re-directed God’s 10th of their income for their own use. The people couldn’t understand the prophet Malachi’s charge of theft so God through that prophet said. “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘ In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings.” (Malachai 3:8)

These abuses were obscured by the Jew’s complex and prideful rules and exceptions. It was just a cover up for self-gain and for disregard of God’s principles.

They condemned sexual freedom, but committed it themselves. This included spiritual adultery in lowering their idea of God to go along with corrupt popular ideas. It also included defending physical lusts and sexual looseness and immorality as long as it was done discreetly, and within certain popular contemporary limits. Jesus had also rebuked them for making excuses for their sexual liberties.

While condemning idolatry they robbed temples. The language here is more broad than just physical idols, or theft of temple treasures. The terms were used for showing a general disregard for holy things, sacrilege. As Jesus said, They had made the house of God into a den of thieves. They desecrated the true sacrifice making it an abomination as Daniel had warned.

In a culture of non-believers, a love of all kinds of religion is considered noble. God has always called broad inclusivism a serious offense. There have always been those who try to find words that make it sound as if we all believe the same things when we don’t. It was for their stand against such things that the prophets were persecuted and executed.

Paul seems to have a portion of the popular Psalm 50 in mind here. Notice the similarities.

Psalm 50:16-21,”But to the wicked God says: ” What right have you to declare My statutes, Or take My covenant in your mouth, Seeing you hate instruction And cast My words behind you? When you saw a thief, you consented with him, And have been a partaker with adulterers. You give your mouth to evil, And your tongue frames deceit. You sit and speak against your brother; You slander your own mother’s son. These things you have done, and I kept silent; You thought that I was altogether like you; But I will rebuke you, And set them in order before your eyes.”

It is sin enough to steal, or to practice sex outside of marriage, or to approve of false religions. Then to condemn others while speaking as God’s spokesman and doing the very same things, adds yet more offense to their charge.

The behavior of God’s people reflects upon
the reputation of God among others.

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

Notice that he says “just as it is written”. Paul is alluding to the Jew’s own Scriptures. The principle was laid down long before by Moses. He warned that because of their sin God would one day let them be taken as captives. While among the nations they would become a mockery. Deuteronomy 28:37, “And you shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all nations where the LORD will drive you.”

Long after the time of Moses, after listing the sins that caused Israel’s captivity, God’s Prophet said in Ezekiel 36:20, “When they came to the nations, wherever they went, they profaned My holy name — when they said of them, ‘These are the people of the LORD, and yet they have gone out of His land.’ ”

As children can bring disgrace and dishonor upon their parents, so Israel by her hypocrisy brought disgrace upon God instead of promoting his glory. They had been captured and were being held as slaves by the ones they called heathen. It was caused by Israel’s own sins and rebellion. Yet in the eyes of the heathen Jehovah appeared weak and defeated. They had been seen as a hypocritical nation holding forth the Ten Commandments of Moses and all their high standards, but living selfishly, deceitfully and lustfully. It made God appear to have founded an immoral nation.

The hypocrisy continued in Paul’s time. God’s people are marked out to be a testimony to the world of God’s glory. Disgracefully, they often obscure God’s truth and glory when their compromise with culture or
religion makes God’s ways seem unclear or unimportant.

God’s covenant with his people is not
just about the things we see outwardly.

Romans 2:25-29, “For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, judge you who, even with your written code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law? For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.”

God had commanded circumcision to mark out families as his own special people. As a mere act it had no magical powers and offered no benefits. It changed no one by itself, but as a sign and seal of God’s covenant it served a very important purpose. It marked out God’s covenant people from all others. It represented God’s pledge to fulfill his promises to them. It obligated the marked out people to all the stipulations of God’s covenant.

But a covenant carries with it both blessings and curses. Moses explained that part of God’s covenant in Deuteronomy 11:26-28, “Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you today; and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known.”

Circumcision was only one part of God’s revealed law. By marking themselves out as God’s people, they were obligated to live by all of God’s principles. Paul quoted another part of God’s promises from Deuteronomy 27:26. In Galatians 3:10 he said, “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.’ ”

So to take pride in circumcision but to disobey any other part of God’s law demands the curse of the covenant, rather than its blessing. The central duty for God’s people in the covenant is full obedience and faithfulness. Disobedience annuls the outward claims. The Jew who breaks the law makes his circumcision into uncircumcision.

Remember, this was Paul’s main point in this section of Romans. He was showing that all people, Jews and Gentiles alike, are in need of salvation by grace. Since all have sinned, no one can expect the blessings of God’s covenant.

Those who sin but are outside of the covenant have no promise of blessing. If such a person was to keep the law, his lack of an outward sign would not hinder God’s blessing. His obedience would show that he had been redeemed by God’s grace and deserved the sign. God judges by the deeds of men which reveal the state of their heart, not by their professions, claims, or rituals. (2:6).

Those who sin bearing the sign of the covenant, deserve its curses, not its blessings. Circumcision is no exemption from justice. God sees all and is not fooled. Circumcision marked out those who were outwardly God’s people. It is never said to actually redeem anyone from their guilt and excuse them from justice apart from the work of God’s redeeming grace.

The Jews had come to trust in the rites, not in the work the rites represented. God gave the law and its sign to point to the need for and promise of the Savior. However, the Jews made a “Savior” out of the law and its sign. Circumcision took on a magical sense to them. Rabbi Menachem said, “Our Rabbins have said, that no circumcised man will see hell.” The Rabbis wrote; “Circumcision saves from hell” (Jalkut Rubeni), “God swore to Abraham, that no one who was circumcised should be sent to hell”(Medrasch Tillim), “Abraham sits before the gate of hell, and does not allow that any circumcised Israelite should enter there” (Akedath Jizehak).

Such things directly contradict what Moses said. God looks on the heart and does not regard mere external circumstances. The real Jew is one circumcised in the heart, inwardly pledged to God’s covenant.

There has always been both a visible and an invisible people of God. The visible church is made up of those who are outwardly identified with God’s covenant. Stephen, in his detailed history of God’s covenant to the council in Acts 7 referred to Israel as God’s church or “congregation” in the wilderness. This same church continued after the time of Christ in a renewed form, but still represented those people called out by God’s promise of Grace. Paul said in Gal 3:7, “Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.”

The visible church is made up of all those who say they believe the truths revealed in God’s word, who promise to strive to obey the principles of God’s word, and who submit to the outward ordinances of God’s word including the authority of his church. These alone are biblically considered to be members of God’s covenant people. For the Jews the sign of membership was circumcision. For believers after the coming of Christ its the sign of baptism.

This, however, is only an outward relationship. It does not promise that each member is redeemed. This is the error made by the ancient Jews and by many Christians today. Baptism does not save a soul from hell any more than did circumcision. However, it does obligate all who are baptized to the whole of God’s revealed principles. Those who take on the sign but disobey call down the most frightening curses of God.

The invisible church is made up of those actually made right with God by grace. In ancient Israel it was those transformed by regeneration based on the future work of Christ. In New Testament times it is those regenerated by that same work of Christ now accomplished. We cannot know for sure who are of the truly redeemed. Only God knows for sure, so we use the word “invisible church.” We cannot see by our own judgment who is included.

We are told to look at the evidences of a redeemed life. By this the Elders are to admit believers to membership or to remove them from the Lord’s Table (as in Matthew 18 and 1 Corinthians 11). By these evidences we are to examine our own lives in light of God’s word. There is no hope in circumcision or baptism alone. However, if we see the evidences of a changed heart, we can have great hope in God’s promise.

What hope is there if we are hypocrites? If our lives contradict our profession? If our attitudes show no evidence of the Fruit of the Holy Spirit? If our morality is conditioned more by situations and feelings than by eternal principles? Then there is due cause for alarm and grave spiritual concern.

Jeremiah warned God’s people long ago in 4:19-22, “O my soul, my soul! I am pained in my very heart! My heart makes a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, Because you have heard, O my soul, The sound of the trumpet, The alarm of war. Destruction upon destruction is cried, For the whole land is plundered. Suddenly my tents are plundered, And my curtains in a moment. How long will I see the standard, And hear the sound of the trumpet? ‘For My people are foolish, They have not known Me. They are silly children, And they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, But to do good they have no knowledge.’ ”

Membership in the church, baptism, a memory of a decision or emotional moment, or a long list of rules and things you abstain from, are no ground for hope in God’s promises.

Since we are all guilty before the demands of God’s law, our only hope is in the provisions of the Savior Jesus Christ. By his perfect life his people are credited with righteousness, his righteousness. By his suffering and death the sin and guilt of his people are justly satisfied in God’s eyes. By the renewed fellowship they have with God by Christ’s redemption, real works of righteousness and the character of Christ are produced in them. He delivers us from hypocrisy by forgiving it, and by changing the heart itself.

Where the life contradicts the profession of faith, where situations and outward rules replace God’s more broad principles of morality, there is room for grave doubt.

Come to Jesus Christ and make your calling and election sure. Look back upon your baptism as an ordinance given in God’s Covenant God as a sign and as a seal of his pledge to redeem his people by the gracious work of the Savior, and that you do not see it as a replacement for the Savior.

Make sure you love the Law of God because you have been transformed by grace to love the God of the Law. Make no excuse that would diminish the holy and sovereign Lordship of the King of kings in your life. Confess and repent with a determination to live in faithful obedience by the power of the Holy Spirit according to the standards in God’s revealed word.

(The Bible quotations in this article are from the New King James Version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.)

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The Voice of Conscience

By Bob Burridge | June 20, 2011 - 12:00 am |July 22, 2011 Bible Studies, Reformed Theology, Romans

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The Voice of Conscience

Studies In Paul’s Letter to the Romans
by Bob Burridge ©2011

Lesson 10: Romans 2:11-16

When people do wrong they feel guilty.

Guilt is not a pleasant feeling. It’s not supposed to be. It lets us know that we are accountable to a standard of right and wrong. It weighs on us when we do wrong, and reminds us of how much we owe to the grace of God.

For the person who has not experienced the renewed spiritual life God gives in Christ, this guilt is a terror to them. Guilt itself becomes the enemy. The world wants to live freely in its sin and not be troubled by feelings of guilt. So it should not surprise us that the world tries to do away with the idea of guilt feelings. They say our conscience is just a learned set of feelings that we need to overcome. They blame parents, teachers, and specially the church for creating guilt feelings in society.

The surprising thing is how many who call themselves Christians buy into this heathen idea. Awhile ago I read a review of the book by some well known “Christian” counselors. In it they say that believers should try to rid themselves of guilt feelings. They imply that guilt is a harmful thing, and when we sin we ought not to feel guilty about it. They use good sounding biblical language to justify their very unbiblical teaching. They say that since we are in Christ we should be living guilt free lives. They argue that guilt feelings come from bad upbringing instead of from God.

Of course this is what people want to hear. However, it is tragically wrong. It is directly opposed to what the Bible teaches about guilt and conscience. The feeling of terror and conviction is not just a result of bad parental or institutional training.

God made us in such a way that wrong thoughts and deeds are supposed to trouble us. For example, When Adam and Eve first sinned in Eden they felt guilty. They sensed that something was wrong. They became afraid and hid from God. Obviously they had not been taught to feel guilty by bad parents or by an overly conservative upbringing. They showed a very real part of fallen man that responds to sin by triggering guilt feelings.

Guilt has a good purpose. God put it into us, and it is a good thing to have. The conscience provides an inner testimony of moral rightness and wrongness. This does not mean that those redeemed should fear that their guilt is not fully paid for by Christ. It should remind them of how undeserving they are of God’s blessings, and of how much our Savior endured to restore us to fellowship with God. It also helps us grow in holiness so that we recognize behaviors and attitudes that are sinful and need to be not only forgiven, but also overcome.

In our previous studies we saw that the non-Jews who did not have God’s word are held accountable for not recognizing and honoring what God shows of himself in nature. We saw the pitiful hypocrisy of the Jews who criticized the Gentiles, but did the same things. The main principle is given in Romans 2:11, “For there is no partiality with God.”

The Apostle Paul brings the two groups together under one judgment. Everyone stands equally condemned before God. There are no favorites or exemptions.

Then Paul explains further how
one moral standard judges us all equally.

Romans 2:12-13, “For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law (for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified;”

First: the non-Jews did not have God’s specially revealed law.
The words of the prophets and the written record of Scripture were basically unknown to them. The Gentile scholars were familiar with the Hebrew Bible in a general sense, but the people of the nations were unaware of what God’s word actually said. However, they are not considered innocent before God. Verse 12 says that they have sinned, and will perish because of it, even though they did not have the written law of God. They are held accountable for obeying the law even though they never heard it spoken. They are without excuse.

Second: those who sin having become aware of God’s law, are judged by the law. The Jews had received the warnings and teachings of the prophets. If the Gentiles, who had only received a general revelation from nature are held guilty, then so much more are the Jews held guilty who possessed God’s spoken word. Therefore, both groups, all humans, are inexcusable for their attitudes and behavior.

It is not those who hear the law who are justified before God. It is the doers of the law, those who actually obey and honor it. The Israelites may have had a knowledge of the word, but that was never enough. They had received the law, attended on its services, and were under the covenant, but some of the most well educated in the law are its worst violators. Law is not for mere curiosity, or for philosophy. It is for obeying.

Since the law demands full obedience, no one is innocent under its judgment. It is not just a guideline for better living. It is the absolute moral standard for God’s universe. The violation of one small part of the law condemns a person fully.

In Galatians 3:10 Paul quotes from Moses in Deuteronomy 27:26. Paul said, “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.’ ”

This does not mean that there is a possibility of salvation if someone keeps the law. This means that salvation by human merit is impossible. No one has kept God’s law perfectly.

Can someone be held accountable who is unaware of the rules?

Romans 2:14-16, “for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them) in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.

Ignorance of God’s written law is no excuse from moral responsibility. God has given us a conscience. Those who do not have the written law still see the need to do the things that are revealed in the law. Even heathen societies show that there is a moral standard created in the heart of man. The most ungodly of nations still have laws against murder, stealing, adultery, lawlessness, and other such things. Even though they pervert them or exempt some from them, they instinctively know they are wrong.

The fact that there are moral principles is inescapable. People may disobey them, confuse them, and reveal their sinfulness. Yet the idea of moral law emerges everywhere.

Humanism is the presumed religion of our modern society. Man is considered to be nothing more than an advanced evolving animal. They presume there can be no God, and therefore no moral laws.

In the Humanist Manifesto II , in the third section about Ethics, it says, “Ethics stems from human need and interest” — “Ethics is autonomous and situational.” It explains that the concepts of right and wrong do not involve god. Yet the document goes on to declare immoral any laws that restrict abortion, euthanasia, suicide, etc. It deplores the existence of separate nations, and provides a very long paragraph condemning any limitations upon sex as being morally “wrong.”

Even the extreme humanist believes that there is right and wrong. Even in their rebellion, they show that God made all humans with a moral sense. Of course, since they deny God’s word they have the moral principles all backwards.

We often hear unbelievers complain that you can’t “legislate morality”. It is true that law cannot make people obey. But the whole idea of morality presumes that some things are good, and some things are bad. The awareness of this principle persists even when it is perverted by fallen humanity with its inevitable errors about God and man’s depravity.

The reason that all men have laws is that the work of the law is written in their hearts. God implanted instincts and a moral sense into man from the beginning. The Bible calls it our “conscience”. That is the part of the inner man that responds to sin. It brings guilt feelings and misery when we do wrong.

The unbeliever struggles to silence and redefine it. Their own thoughts are busy testifying against them. They are constantly either accusing others to put the blame on them, or they are excusing immoral behavior. Without a redeemed heart, they appeal to a wrong standard. They blame their guilt feelings on the church, on parents, on society, on teachers.

Rather than admit to sin and submit to the true God, they are engaged in a life-long war with their own conscience. The battle takes its toll upon their own peace and sanity. They are always struggling to prove what is not, and to deny what is.

In contrast, the believer is brought humbly again and again to repentance by his conscience.

There is a moral awareness in all men. It makes them feel guilty. The truth of the situation will be made known in the Judgment Day. Men may hide evidences of their crimes from other men, but God does not need evidence. He knows the crime itself. Men must judge by evidence. God sees all the way to the heart. To him there are no secrets. There is no escape from the condemnations of God in the final judgment.

The conscience of man is part of creation. God made it to testify to moral truth. As Paul showed back in chapter 1:21, “because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

When the conscience testifies about moral guilt, our fallen nature suppresses it. It begins looking for excuses. It tires to shift the blame, or to redefine right and wrong. But the crushing weight of truth presses down destructively upon man’s inner being. He cannot escape the truth for long. He runs to his psychologist for help. He buys books that tell him that he is really “OK.” He seeks out churches that preach against the reality of guilt and promise false hope. He goes to rallies, and loves the charismatic experiences that sugar coat the truth with euphoric feelings that make him believe his is special. However, deep in his heart are the seeds of frustration and madness. He is struggling against the way things really are.

The whole gospel deals with the problem, not it’s symptoms. It accurately diagnoses the disease and offers a radical cure rather than just killing the pain. It tells us that all of us are without excuse before God.

Creation and conscience condemn even the uninformed heathen. These witnesses testify clearly that everyone answers to God. The spoken word of God preserved for us in Scripture condemns even the church member when he sins. But those redeemed by the work of Jesus Christ are really set free from guilt.

Jesus suffered and died a criminal’s death to pay the moral debt of his people. He lived a holy life to earn righteousness for his people and to enable them to live for him. This is the good news; the gospel sets us free. By this gospel the conscience can be restored to do its holy and good work:

The conscience must first be made alive in Christ by reunion with God. Grace alone restores the conscience. The Father’s eternal love chose to redeem some who are totally unworthy. God the Son redeemed them by his life and death in their place. God the Holy Spirit applies that redemption and regenerates the dead soul.

Once made alive, the conscience begins to operate as it was originally designed. Instead of making up excuses, or changing the rules, it convicts us of our need for a Savior, and it keeps convicting us to follow him repentantly, trusting in his word and promises.

The redeemed conscience must be fed with the revealed truth of God. We face a constant influence of past ideas and worldly confusion. A misinformed conscience makes us feel guilty for the wrong things and excuses our sin. The Bible restores our understanding of what is really right and wrong. Our feelings are not enough. They are not reliable. However, a regenerated conscience fed with the truth of God’s word is a valuable witness to us as we strive to grow into Christ-likeness by Sanctification.

(The Bible quotations in this article are from the New King James Version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.)

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No Special Favors

By Bob Burridge | June 13, 2011 - 12:16 am |April 2, 2012 Bible Studies, Romans

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No Special Favors

Studies In Paul’s Letter to the Romans
by Bob Burridge ©2011

Lesson 09: Romans 2:1-11

It’s hard to be objective when it comes to our own sins. It is so much easier to see a spec in some one else’s eye than to examine what may be in our own (as Jesus said in Matthew 7:3). There is a tendency to be appalled with evil in others, but to excuse it or to overlook it in ourselves. We are easily tempted to imagine that we will not face the same judgment that others face. When the tragic consequences of poor judgment comes along people say, “I just didn’t think it would happen to me”.

This principle is specially important when it comes to our standing before a holy God. Regardless of how we “feel”, or of what we expect, God’s justice is never laid aside for anyone to receive special treatment.

As this 2nd chapter of Romans begins, Paul turns the focus away from the Gentile nations. He had just made it clear that all humans, even those ignorant of the written law, are inexcusable for their failure to honor God as the eternally powerful and divine Creator.

God clearly makes himself known to all humans by the display of his glory in creation. Failure to worship and to submit to this true God is therefore inexcusable. By ignoring the fact of a Sovereign Creator one also denies that there are absolute moral rules. If right and wrong means something different for every person depending upon his own convictions, then nothing stands in the way of doing what ever a person wants to justify. This persistent twisting of moral truth offends God the Creator. Paul explained that at some point God gives them over to their own ways. In Romans 1:25-32 Paul summarized the kinds of immoral behavior which have become common in our fallen world.

Now Paul turns the focus of his attention away from society in general to look more closely at those who have heard God’s written word. The informed who judge others have no excuse when the do the same things.

Romans 2:1-3
1. Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.
2. But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things.
3. And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God?

Many of the Jews had developed a false confidence in their relationship with God. They saw themselves as superior to every other group. It is true that God had made a covenant to bless Israel specially as a nation. Some of them mistook this outward national blessing, for a promise of individual redemption.

The Jewish Talmud is a commentary by the Rabbis on the Scriptures. In one place it says that to live in Jerusalem is “equal to observance of all the commandments.” “He that hath his permanent abode in (Israel), is sure of the life to come.”

After reading Paul’s list of the sins of the Gentiles in Romans 1:25-32, some of these Jews were probably nodding with agreement that such things were intolerably wicked. In their pride they believed they would not be looked upon as sinners by God. But their blessings as a nation had nothing to do with individual salvation. By judging others while doing the same things they proved themselves to be hypocrites.

Jesus directly dealt with this dominant idea among the Jews many times. In Matthew 3:8-9 he said, “Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.”

In John 8:33 the Jews questioned Jesus saying, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?” Jesus answered them saying in verse 34, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin”

God’s judgment is “according to truth” (1:2). His justice is equal and consistent. It is based upon righteousness. Righteousness is obedience to God’s law from the heart.

The Jews thought their temple rituals and glorious heritage as “God’s People” would exempt them. In contrast, God is just. He will not overlook the sins of anyone just because they belong to some group, or because they practice certain rituals (even good rituals commanded by God). If God excused the Jews, while he condemned the Gentiles for the same things, then justice would not be according to truth as revealed in his law.

God’s patience should not be seen
as a reason to relax and to take comfort.

Romans 2:4, “Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?”

God’s patient kindness had been shown to Israel for many generations. There are three words here which describe the divine riches shown to them:

1. “Goodness” is God’s general mercy that blesses with outward benefits. However, this goodness is not the same as his redeeming love. All are outwardly blessed in many ways, but only some receive his saving grace.

2. “Forbearance” is God’s putting up with them while they sinned. It does not show his approval of what they did, nor does it show that he is not concerned. That is a common mistake people make when they sin but nothing seems to happen right away.

3. “Longsuffering” is the patience of God which shows how that forbearance may extend for many generations and ages.

There is a holy purpose for God’s kind and patient forbearance. It should have stirred them to admire God’s undeserved blessings upon them. It should have led them to humble repentance to such a kind and merciful God. Instead they just continued to sin and presumed judgment was not coming.

People think that way today too. Some think that God’s patience with them means he is treating them specially. They take refuge in the good parts of their lives, or in their being part of a good church, or in the goodness of their family. They think that God’s justice is modified by favoritism. The plain fact is that nothing in us or about us can eliminate God’s justice.

Some, when sin seems to go unjudged, imagine a divine apathy. They presume that justice is easily set aside, and that God doesn’t take sin seriously. They invent the idea that love eliminates justice. But it would not be a very loving society where crime has no punishment. It would not be a very just God who failed to demand the penalties he said must come.

God is eternally just. His love does not allow for injustice. Instead, a great price is paid for sin: the death of the Savior. To those not represented by Jesus on the cross, the great price remains to be paid by them individually. Grace provides for justice to be paid by a perfect Savior, it does not by-pass justice. Mercy may delay punishment for a while, but it does so only to accomplish and to display fully what justice truly demands.

By continuing in disobedience,
God’s people were storing up a treasury of wrath.

Romans 2:5, “But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,”

Paul describes them as having stubborn and unrepentant hearts. The word “hardness” describes a moral “stubbornness” or “stiffness” in their hearts. They remained impenitent as if they were still enslaved to sin and spiritually dead.

The truth is, we are each held responsible for what we do.

Romans 2:6, “who ‘will render to each one according to his deeds’ “

The clear teaching of Scripture is that each person will be judged according to his works. It is his sin that condemns him. It is God’s redeeming grace alone that transforms a life and enables good works to be done. Some have so perverted the fact of grace, that they abolish God’s sovereignty, justice, and holiness. It is as if grace was an improvement God later discovered as a better idea than his first plan. This cannot be in an unchanging and perfect God.

A cultish idea has crept into Christian circles today. Some react against the pagan idea that our good deeds can eliminate our past sins and guilt. They therefore assume that since works can’t save us, works are not necessary. That is an abysmal lie and a violent abuse of God’s truth. Nothing is more clearly taught in Scripture than that we ought to obey God. This principle has applied since man’s creation in Eden.

In the first 16 verses of Romans 2 there are 15 verbs about our actions, our works. God’s justice is based upon what we do, not upon what we say, know, or decide. We are not exempted by our heritage, needs, deeds or creeds.

Criminals are judged guilty because of what they do. They are not let off because they also did some nice charitable thing. They are not allowed to get away with murder because their parents were good, because they have joined community organizations, or have read some good books. They are not set free because they believe the right things about the constitution of the United States. Justice demands specific penalties for each crime. Nothing is rewarded but obedience to the law.

God has revealed in his word that the penalty for sin is death. Not just a penalty for committing many sins, but for even one transgression of God’s law. Paul summarizes this a little later after he has fully reviewed the issue. In Romans 6:23 he wrote, “the wages of sin is death.” The “death” mentioned here is both temporal and eternal death, complete separation from God forever.

The Bible could not be more clear on this: Judgment is based upon what we do.
Psalm 62:12, “… For You render to each one according to his work.”

Matthew 16:27 says that when the Son of Man comes in glory, “… He will reward each according to his works.”

2 Corinthians 5:10, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”

Revelation 22:12, “… My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.”

The rich young ruler asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life . Jesus answered him, ” … if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” (Matthew 19:17)

God says he will render judgment to every man, to each as an individual. If God looks on the heart, and he sees sin, he must judge that person with death for eternity.

We have also learned from Scripture that we are already born with guilt. The sin of Adam attaches to each of us because he represented the human race in Eden. God’s word says “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12)

So then, there is no hope for any person based on his personal innocence before God. Sinners do not plan on pure justice by absolute law. They hope for lenience. They imagine a mercy that outright dismisses justice. The fact is, since no one can do good deeds, no one is righteous. No one deserve blessing from God at all.

So then, is no one blessed? There is a way — but it is the way of Grace. The true believer is one who admits his total moral unworthiness before God. He also trusts God’s promise that Jesus Christ took his place to redeem him.

Far from generating pride. This unique doctrine of Christianity gives God all the glory. Only the perfect One, God united with humanity by a miraculous birth, only the infinite Savior, could satisfy justice in the place of another as his substitute.

By the death of the Savior, the penalty has been paid in our place. By the life of the Savior, righteous deeds were done in our place. Therefore, when God looks upon the one redeemed, he is judged by his works, not those he did on his own, but by the works of the Savior who lived and died in his place.

So then, do our personal deeds count at all? Indeed they do! But our good deeds are not the cause of God’s saving grace toward us. They are the evidence that his grace has both redeemed us and changed us.

The Pharisees and many today imagine a different sort of judgment by works. They imagine that each man has two accounts: one for his good deeds, and another for his sins. They imagine that judgment is according to which of the two is greater. This teaching is directly against the teachings of the Bible. Our inherited guilt, and any sin at all, tips the scale irretrievably. No one can clear his record of guilt by adding what appears to him as a “good work”.

Paul writes in Romans 3:20 “… by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, …” All the good works in the world will not satisfy justice for even one moral crime against God. God says that sin demands eternal death. That is what justice demands. Nothing else is just.

Different deeds of men bring specific results.

Romans 2:7-10
7. eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality;
8. but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness — indignation and wrath,
9. tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek;
10. but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

There are two possible results of God’s judgment upon an individual according to his works:
1. The person is condemned eternally according to God’s promise.
He deserves the Lord’s indignation and wrath. The fallen have selfish ambitions. They disobey the ways of their Creator. They do not live for the Glory of God. For them, there will be “tribulation and anguish.” God will certainly punish the wicked. Since all who are descendent from Adam are wicked, both Jew and non-Jew, any hope of special treatment is pure fantasy.

2. The person receives God’s promise of life eternal; glory, honor and immortality.
The only just hope of eternal blessing is perseverance in doing good. It must be done with a continuing and infallibly perfect committed effort. This is what must justly be awarded to those who are without sin: both of the Jews and of the non-Jews. The point is not that this is a way of salvation. Paul is saying that no one qualifies. This is what makes salvation by grace through the atonement of the Savior necessary.

Only one man, Jesus Christ has persevered in righteousness. Since no one is perfect in his obedience, there must be a means of justification other than personal merit. It is the way of Grace. Grace does not circumvent the law or justice. It satisfies it.

The Bible teaches a universality of punishment
which is deserved by every human soul.

Human distinctions make no difference in God’s Judgment. In verse 11 Paul tells us this directly.

Romans 2:11, “For there is no partiality with God.”

God is no respecter of persons. In Colossians 3:25 Paul wrote, “But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.”

We know from what God tells us in his word, that some fallen and undeserving people are saved from the wrath they justly deserve. On what basis are they saved then, if not by the works they have done? Election to salvation is not based upon anything the individual has done, or upon some favoritism by personal merit. Electing Grace is an eternal decree of God to display his power and mercy. When his redeemed children stand in eternal judgment it is judged that the penalty of their sins has been paid in full by the Savior, and that the Savior’s good works have been credited to them. The good works they have produced in their lives are evidence of that change in their soul by the power of God.

He who expects special treatment, is dead in his sins and will suffer God’s just wrath forever. He who repents and rests humbly in Christ will be judged to be righteous and holy forever. In this gospel promise we find a revealed hope, a certainty, that replaces our fantasies with God’s truth.

(The Bible quotations in this article are from the New King James Version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.)

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A Tragic Trade

By Bob Burridge | June 6, 2011 - 12:05 am |July 22, 2011 Bible Studies, Reformed Theology, Romans

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A Tragic Trade

Studies In Paul’s Letter to the Romans
by Bob Burridge ©2011

Lesson 08: Romans 1:18-32

We live in an age where electronics has given
us an amazing window on the world.

Television takes us to wars, scenes of crime, breaking news, and spectacular events. It provides us with an unlimited stream of mesmerizing entertainment interweaving carefully constructed messages about morality and life styles. Magazines and newspapers are able to produce sensational stories with overwhelming speed and influence. The Internet puts millions of pages of information at our fingertips and lets us talk with people all around the world at any time for as long as we want.

The rapid explosion of information, and the immediate connections we have today with so many, make us all the more aware and alarmed with the overflow of wickedness from fallen hearts, and it makes us all the more easily influenced by the dangerous standards and attitudes of the world.

This world that so closely surrounds us is sinking deeper and deeper into sin and depravity. With each generation the limits are pressed just a little farther.

Today, many no longer see governing over a nation, state, or town as a special trust. Constitutionally, leaders were to take time away from a career to represent the people. However, the drift in values has created an opportunists dream, and a nightmare for liberty. Some professional politicians consider it their job to manipulate the people greedily for personal wealth, power to promote their own causes, as a boost for their ego. Deceit and corruption to one degree or another are found in every party and at every level of society. Those few who still try to govern by our founding principles often find themselves losing elections.

Much of the worship in our modern society is not like the worship God has prescribed in Scripture. It has become either entertainment to attract a large audience, mystical rituals to soothe the emotions and divert the mind, a time for promoting political and social theories, or to some worship is ignored or neglected altogether.

The increased power of the individual to control the world around him has crated opportunities for brutal violence. Aggressive drivers run law abiding drivers off the road, and have even shot them. In the video game Carmageddon, you drive various cars through cities and stores to chase down pedestrians to run them over. The game provides painful cries and graphic displays of blood and mangled bodies. Points are earned by hitting and killing various kinds of people as they frantically try to run away with looks of terror on their faces.

Children have shot other children in our schools and neighborhoods. Sexual perversion has made the morality of Scripture something either to ridicule, or to hate. Sex outside of marriage has become so common and expected, that people often smirk with condescension at the mention of God’s commandments. Homosexuality has become a specially protected life-style under the law with special privilege. Homosexuals demand that we have no right to our own views and values. They demand under law that we must recognize marriages between same-sex couples and their right to adopt and raise children training them in their life style. Pornography (the portraying of sexually explicit material) is not only found in strip bars, adult magazines, and X-rated movies. It is there for all to see on network television, the Internet, PG and PG-13 movies, and magazines aimed at teens.

A tragic trade has taken place. The good things God has built into the human race are exchanged for perversions. The spiral into corruption goes down one more level with each generation of any given society.

When fallen man exchanges what is good and right, for what is bad and wrong, what does God do? Does he send fire from heaven? disease and plagues? death and poverty? That is not what it says in the Bible. It says that God gives them over to exactly what they wanted. We see the results choking the world we live in. There is an old saying, “be careful what you ask for … you may get it”

In our last study we saw that there is no excuse — no one can plead ignorance. God is clearly revealing himself in all the things that he made (Romans 1:20). Man suppresses that truth and refuses to see it (1:18). This leaves him inexcusable for his ungodliness (1:19,20).

Verses 21-25 show how the heart of fallen humanity deals with this clear testimony. In arrogant pride the fallen creature dares to stand as judge over his Creator. He runs to do things that offend God. He believes things contrary to what God has revealed. He uses God’s gifts as if they were things he either deserves or has secured on his own.

There are two principles summarized in this last section of Chapter One of the Book of Romans.
1. Fallen man makes an exchange: he prefers distorted truth over reality.
2. God justly gives fallen man over to his own corrupt ways.

1. Mankind in his fallen condition makes a tragic trade.

As we saw in our last study: The fallen nature of man suppresses the truth he sees in things, and foolishly prefers a distorted way of looking at God and what God made. Verse 25 mentions this exchange directly.

Romans 1:25, “… who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen”

The true worship of God is switched for the worship of the things God made. Paul goes on to describe this exchange as it relates to moral behavior. A wrong view of God always shows up in wrong living. The first issue that he brings up is fallen man’s confused attitude toward sex.

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

Fallen humans tend to exchange proper sexual desires for perverted ones. Sex is one of the strongest drives God has put into us. It is to be satisfied in only one way morally and with God’s blessing: one man and one woman united for life as husband and wife. Any sex outside of that union is condemned as a perversion of God’s creation order.

Paul uses an extreme example to illustrate this principle. He describes homosexuality. This was a growing practice in the ancient Roman Empire. First he deals with women looking to other women for sexual satisfaction. Then he deals with men who have sexual desires for other men. This is never presented in Scripture as an alternative life-style. It is contrary to the way God made us, and is a deep offense to him. These actions are called “shameful” [ασχημοσυνη (aschaemosun), “indecent”]. The practice and desire is called “error.” This is the progression God warns us will happen when we abandon his ways.

Since God condemns their favorite perversions, they reject God as revealed in Scripture.

Romans 1:28, “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting;”

What they do not like they reject. They judge everything against what they assume is right by their own standards. In their rejection, God gives them over to their depraved thinking. They rush ahead into those things that are not right.

The old King James Version says they do things which are not “convenient” The word convenient had a different meaning when the KJV was translated in 1611. Today “convenient” means things that are no strain on us, easy things that require less work. Originally it meant what goes along with something, what conforms with it. The sinner does the things that do not go along with what God says is right.

Then Paul gives a summary list of the sins they love both to do and to defend. Their lives are filled up with them. It is their life-style. They are obsessed with such things. Different translations may choose different English words. But the meanings are clear.

Romans 1:29-31, “being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful;”

Those who are given over to their own depravity are filled with unrighteousness [ἀδικία (adikia), “injustice”]. They care only for their own advancement. If a judgment serves them personally, then they see justice as being served. They care little for victims who suffer losses so that they can gain.

They love all sorts of sexual immorality [πορνεία (porneia)]. Most ancient manuscripts use this word for a broad range of sexual activities. Biblically it is used for all sexual conduct outside of a proper marriage bond. This would include sexual activities between unmarried people, as well as adultery committed by someone who is married.

They engage in wickedness [πονηρία (ponaeria)]. This is the disposition that leans toward doing things that are wrong, contrary to what God says is right and moral.

They are covetousness, greedy [πλεονεξία (pleonexia)]. This is that self-serving motive that leads people to covet what they don’t have. They grumble when they lack something. They act as if they have a right to things others have. They are likely to take advantage of others in business, even of their friends. They are not only greedy for financial gain, that may not be everyone’s evil motive. Some maliciously want to promote their own ideas or ways of life, or they want power or respect. Whatever it is that motivates them, they will not care if the liberty, safety, or peace of others is violated, as long as they get that for which they crave.

They are maliciousness, evil [κακία (kakia)]. This is the attitude of those not troubled by seeing people injured. They accept the suffering of others as the inevitable cost of their own advancement.

They are full of envy [φθόνος (phthonos)]. They jealously long for things others have. At the root is a discontent with what God has given them. They fail to see the value of what they have. They only see the value of things they don’t yet possess.

They tend toward murder [φόνος (phonos)]. Even the lives of others will not stand in the way of their personal peace and prosperity.

They are also full of strife [ἔριδος (eridos)]. They are contentious, arguing, and debating in a most demanding manner.

They have no problem with deceit [δόλος (dolos)]. The word here originally meant the bait you use in a trap to catch an animal. The animal sees what appears to be a good meal, but it was there to lure its victim into a hidden trap. These people Paul is describing will deceive, lie, or commit fraud to get what they want from others. They entice people only to take advantage of them.

They are filled with evil-mindedness [κακοηθεία (kakoaetheia), “malice”]. This is a disposition which is gloomy and mean.

These are whisperers [ψιθυριστάς (psithuristas), “gossipers”]. They secretly spread stories that hurt other people. Their intention is to appear superior to those about whom they gossip, or to use the gossip to get others to pay attention to them.

They are backbiters [καταλάλος (katalalos), “slanderers”]. This is when they say hurtful things about others. It is a compound word literally meaning to “speak against”.

They are haters of God [θεοστυγης (theostugaes)]. They have no love at all for God as he is revealed in Scripture. They not only invent a god in a form of their own liking, they actually despise and ridicule the biblical teachings about God.

They are violent [ὑβριστης (hubristaes), more accurately “insulting”, “insolent”]. These show no respect for other people. They put themselves first. Our English word “hubris” comes directly from this ancient Greek word. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “hubris” as, “exaggerated pride or self-confidence”

They are proud [ὑπερηφάνος (huperaephanos), “arrogant”]. These are those who think they are better than everyone else. They are the center of their own attention, and want to be the center of everyone else’s attention too.

They are boastful [ἀλαζων (alazon)]. Those are the ones who love to brag and to tell others about their accomplishments.

They are inventors of evil things [ἐφευρετὰς κακῶν (epheuretas kakon), “inventors of evil”]. They are always scheming ways to justify their immorality.

They are disobedient to their parents [γονεῦσιν ἀπειθεῖς (goneusin apeitheis)]. If authority structures break down in the home, it will produce disrespect in business, in the community, in the church, and wherever someone is held responsible for overseeing things.

They are undiscerning [ἀσυνετος (asunetos), “without understanding”]. This does not mean they have a low IQ, or that they do poorly in school. It means they have no comprehension in spiritual or moral matters.

They are untrustworthy [ἀσυνθέτος (asunthetos)]. The word means they cannot be relied upon. They have little regard for promises or vows. The word was often used for those who were covenant breakers.

They are unloving [ἀστόργος (astorgos)]. These have no natural affection for family or friends, no loyalties.

They are unforgiving [ἀσπονδος (aspondos)]. The word literally means “without a poured out drink offering.” This was normally part of the making of treaties and truces. It refers those who will not be reconciled with others. They are unforgiving, and will not come to agreements to settle differences.

They are unmerciful [ἀνελεήμων (aneleaemon)]. These are they who show no compassion, mercy, or pity.

* (See the literary note at the end of this lesson.)

These traits never stand alone. They stand in support of others who are the same.

Romans 1:32, “who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.”

They know such things are wrong, but look for company in their sins. They love to have others go along with them. They are the ones who would quote numbers as if large numbers agree, that makes it right.

2. God justly gives fallen man over to his own corrupt ways.

Throughout this sections it shows that God gives these unbelievers over to believe the lie (1:25). In their lusts they are left to their own to impurity, to the dishonoring of their own bodies (1:24). They are given over to degrading passions (1:26), and are left to their depraved minds to do what is improper (1:28).

God abandoned them to this level of corruption on the basis of their rebellion, both the rebellion they inherited from Adam, and their own sins that flow from that depraved soul. When God gives them up it is deserved. It is a judgment. It is their rightful punishment. Corrupt people get to live in the consequences of their own rebellion.

They are alone held responsible for their depravity, not God. However, God has a holy purpose in allowing it to be this way. The depravity of man is such that God is not bound ever to hold back man’s sin. If from Eden on God restrained no sin, there would be no injustice at all. However, to reveal the depth of man’s depravity, and to reveal his own justice, holiness, mercy, and grace, God permits them to have their own sinful ways. He allows them to fall deeper and deeper into depravity. They sin most willingly, and want to do it more and more. The abandonment to their flood of corruption is judicial, caused and earned by sin.

Some point out the corruption around us and say, “look at the violence, the sexual perversity, the corruption, the lies. God will judge us for this!” They are partly right. But according to the principles of Scripture, this is a sign that God’s judgment is already here! The evil they see is part of that on-going judgment.

If the heathen who only know God by creation and their conscience are judged in this way, then how horrible for those who know his word yet prefer the perverted things. This same principle applies to the covenant people of God. To his people Israel God said in Psalm 81:11-12, “But My people would not heed My voice, And Israel would have none of Me. So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart, To walk in their own counsels.” In Proverbs 8:36 God says, “But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul; All those who hate me love death.”

The Lord calls out to his children to see the danger and to turn back in sincerity, trusting in his deliverance. Psalm 81:13 says, “Oh, that My people would listen to Me, That Israel would walk in My ways!”

In those who turn to him he reveals the work of Christ, the promised Messiah, upon their hearts. Their sin, their guilt, and its power were dealt with on the cross in their place. He promises to restore the repentant so that again he will restrain sin among them and bless them. Psalm 81 ends with these words in verses 14-16, “I would soon subdue their enemies, And turn My hand against their adversaries. The haters of the LORD would pretend submission to Him, But their fate would endure forever. He would have fed them also with the finest of wheat; And with honey from the rock I would have satisfied you.”

In those who do not turn back, who do not repent, who do not rest in Christ, God reveals that they were never truly his. As Jesus said in Matthew 7:23, “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ ”

God abandons them to the horrors of his judgments. He gives them over to suffer in the sins they seemed to want. There they suffer the miseries of sin in this life, and face the horrible reality of eternal sufferings from which there is no relief or comfort.

This is the lesson Paul teaches us in this section of Romans

Fallen people exchange right things for wrong things, fantasizing that they will be satisfied by them. However, they are in rebellion against the God of the universe. This is a most frightening condition. At some point, God gives them over to the desires of their own hearts.

Instead of finding satisfaction and freedom, they find the horrors of living in a corrupt society. They find that the perverted things do not bring true inner peace and happiness. They search for more options for satisfaction in all the wrong ways, and show the evidences of their abandonment to sin. In those who persist in sin, God reveals his justice, and their own guilt. By contract, in those who repent and turn to the provision for forgiveness in Christ, God reveals his mercy and amazing grace.

Though believers must also live in the corrupt society brought down by society’s sins, they find in the midst of it the comfort of God. They enjoy peace in the church, and security in their homes. They are called to spread that promise of inner peace through the gospel of grace. They are to bear testimony to it in their places of work, among their friends, and in their communities.

God’s blessing always accompanies the obedience of faith in his promises. Our obedience is never the cause or foundation for our blessings, it is the means God uses by which his blessings are dispensed. The cause is always God’s grace. The foundation is always the work of Jesus the Redeemer. By covenant, God promises to honor his work in our hearts by granting the covenant blessings to those transformed by the life and death of the Savior.

We may not live in an age where masses will turn from sin and repent. There have been such times, and in God’s plan they may occur again. However, in our own obedience we tap the wonderful and endless resource of God’s promised blessings in whatever situation we find ourselves.

________________
* Literary Note: Notice the poetic structure of how Paul arranged these words in verses 29-31. They are in groups with similar or contrasting sounds. Read the Greek words out loud and notice the patterns used in some places as a literary effect.

unrighteousness (injustice) – sexual immorality – wickedness – maliciousness
ἀδικία – πορνεία – πονηρία – κακία
adikia – porneia – ponaeria – kakia

envy – murder – strife – deceit
φθόνος – φόνος – ἔριδος – δόλος
phthonos – phonos – eridos – dolos

evil-mindedness (malice) – whisperers (gossippers) – backbiters (slanderers) – haters of God
κακοηθεία – ψιθυριστάς – καταλάλος – θεοστυγης
kakoaetheia – psithuristas – katalalos – theostugaes

violent (insolent) – proud (arrogant) – boastful – inventors of evil – disobedient to parents
ὑβριστης – ὑπερηφάνος – ἀλαζων – ἐφευρετὰς κακῶν – γονεῦσιν ἀπειθεῖς
hubristaes – huperaephanos – alazon – epheuretas kakon – goneusin apeitheis

undiscerning – untrustworthy – unloving – unforgiving – unmerciful
ἀσυνετος – ἀσυνθέτος – ἀστόργος – ἀσπονδος – ἀνελεήμων
asunetos – asunthetos – astorgos – aspondos – aneleaemon

(The Bible quotations in this lesson are from the New King James Version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.)

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Seeing the Invisible

By Bob Burridge | May 30, 2011 - 12:19 am |July 22, 2011 Bible Studies, Reformed Theology, Romans

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Seeing the Invisible

Studies In Paul’s Letter to the Romans
by Bob Burridge ©2011

Lesson 7: Romans 1:18-25

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man — and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

When you look up into a cloudless night sky you can see stars of different brightnesses arranged in breathtaking patterns. If you look closely you can see that some have a slight color to them. With binoculars or a simple telescope you can see that some of the bright spots are more like little clouds than points of light.

The light from those distant stars has a lot more information in it than what you see with the eye. If you pass the light through a device that shows its spectrum you will see bands of colors that are different for each kind of star. If you magnify the spectrum and spread it out you can see little details in it. There are dark lines that sometimes split up into many very fine lines. The dark bands are caused by gasses absorbing certain colors as the light passes through the surface of the star. The splitting of the lines appears to be caused by the effects of the star’s gravity as the light streams away toward our planet. Sometimes the lines are shifted from where they ought to be on the spectrum. That’s because the star is moving away from us at very high speeds.

Star light often changes in cycles too. Some stars grow brighter then dimmer every month or so. Some stars pulse many times a second like a fast rotating lighthouse beacon. If you look at a graph of the radio and x-ray signatures coming from the stars you see amazing patterns. Each pattern has details that tell us a lot about the star, what is between us and the star, and how the distant star is behaving.

But there is more there still, information beyond those measurable physical features. Creation is pouring fourth information about the Creator every moment of every day. This amazing declaration is not just found in the stars. It is there to behold in the intricacy and beauty of the flowers, trees, and grass on the planet where we live. It can be seen in the complexities in the behaviors of ants, sea gulls, panthers, and alligators. It’s there in the textures, colors, and chemical composition of the rocks, soil, and sand. This testimony is always available to everyone in all the world.

The truth about God is not hidden.

God made all things to tell about himself. Romans 1:19-20 explains it from the Creator’s point of view. It says, “because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse”

This was not a new idea that Paul was referring to. God had explained this in his word from the beginning. David put it this way in the opening words of the 19th Psalm, “The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge.”

These verses in Romans explain that the visible things God made tell us about things we can’t see. They show us the Creator’s invisible attributes and glory.

This is a familiar principle. We often see the effects of things we can’t see directly. The wind can’t be seen, but we can see things being moved by it so we know it is there. Even art follows this principle as it attempts to tell us something about the invisible feelings and perceptions of the artist.

All of creation is the artwork of God. By observing what is made, we can see a display of God’s truth.

But, how much does creation tell us about God?

It is amazing how much information is pouring forth from the things God made. We just read Psalm 19:1 which tells us that the heavens and earth are constantly declaring “… the glory of God, and His handiwork.” Our text in Romans 1:20 says that the visible things Created show God’s invisible attributes, his eternal power and divine nature (some translations say “Godhead”).

Other passages in Scripture show us that even more information is being given out. There is the warning in Psalm 94:9, “He who planted the ear, shall He not hear? He who formed the eye, shall He not see?”

Of course this isn’t telling us that the invisible God, who is spirit, has actual ears and eyes. It is explaining that these things reflect something about the God who made them. We are aware of things, so is God. He gave us senses to become aware. Certainly God is aware of the same things he made us able to see and hear.

Long discourses in the book of Job explain how God shows his power and sovereign glory in the acts of nature. His power and glory are seen in the lightning, floods, wind, earthquakes, and similar things.

The apostles taught this truth as they spread the gospel:

When Paul and Barnabas came to the city of Lystra, the people began to honor them as if they were gods. Horrified, they explained to them that the one true living God is the One who made all things, and has controlled the course of history. He is revealing himself all the time. What the Apostle taught them is recorded in Acts 14:15-17.

“Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them, who in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways. Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.”

It is God who gives us the rain and our food. He gives us any gladness we might have. Nothing we have is deserved. It is all given by the mercies of our holy provider. By all this, he is witnessing of himself to all of mankind all of the time.

Paul told the Greek philosophers in Athens that since God is creator and since we are his creation, we should not think of God in terms of material images of silver and stone. It is in him that we “live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28-29)

The Westminster Confession (21:1) summarizes this principle saying, “The light of nature showeth that there is a God, who hath lordship and sovereignty over all, is good, and doth good unto all, and is therefore to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, and served, with all the heart, and with all the soul, and with all the might. …”

All this information is pouring forth from creation day and night. God put it there for that purpose.

Clearly God says he is revealing himself in detail all the time. This raises an important and obvious question.

Why is God’s truth not appreciated by ever observer of creation?

Something is wrong. Immediately after Psalm 19 speaks of how the heavens and the earth are declaring God’s glory, the next verse says, “There is no speech nor language Where their voice is not heard.”

There is a problem with the usual English translation of this verse. The word “where” is not there. There is no word or grammar structure in the Hebrew text to justify it being inserted. Usually they put the word “where” in italics to show that it is a translators insertion. Some believe that it was inserted because some had a problem with the teaching of the text if simply translated the way it is. A more accurate translation is, “There is no speech. There are no words; Their voice is not heard.”

Why, after saying that heaven and earth are pouring forth God’s message, would it say that their voice is not heard? Paul explains it in his letter to the Romans. He even quotes from this 19th Psalm to prove his point.

The fact is, we are lost in sin and that effects our ability to see the glory of God in creation. Paul summarized this biblical truth through out his letters to the churches.

Romans 3:11, “There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God.”
1Corinthians 2:14, “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

God tells us that as fallen humans we strip away the truth as we see what God made. Paul referred to this same idea later in Romans 10:18. There he wrote, “But I say, have they not heard? Yes indeed: ‘Their sound has gone out to all the earth, And their words to the ends of the world.’ ”

Do you recognize those words Paul uses? They are also taken from Psalm 19. Right after he said that the words of nature are spoken he adds the next verse from Psalm 19, “Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their words to the end of the world. In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun,”

The testimony of creation reaches all men even before the gospel comes to them. It is so clear that, as Romans 1:20 says, it leave them “without excuse!” God has made his truth “manifest to them.” (Romans 1:19). That means it is clear evidence, even if they ignore it or suppress what all of creation is declaring.

The message of creation is clear. It comes to us intact and clear.

The problem is with us, not with the message. Fallen man’s nature immediately strips the truth of God from what he sees. The unbeliever is left without any excuse for this.

So, who are those to whom this truth is shown in Romans 1:19? It is the ungodly, the unbelievers, those without a love for the gospel. Verse 18 of Romans 1 makes this clear: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,”

In Romans 1:21-25 Paul explained how the truth is suppressed and actually perverted by our fallen minds.

“because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man — and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”

Our fallen hearts are so prejudiced against
the real truth about God that they assume lies.

In trying to make up a religion more to his own liking, those still alienated from God’s fellowship accept a perversion of creation’s message. For example, the Humanist Manifesto in its first three articles affirms “the universe as self-existing and not created,” that “man is a part of nature and that he has emerged as a result of a continuous process,” and that “the traditional dualism of mind and body must be rejected.”

Such statements deny the obvious. To avoid facing the truths God has made known, the unredeemed must prove some kind of evolution of man. He must deny the existence of a spiritual part of man and accept him as just a complex bio-chemical machine. So he distorts everything to fit his pre-conceived ideas and conclusions about himself and the universe in which he lives.

God’s truth is rejected and replaced by many different religious and non-religious theories. But as Paul explains in Romans, all of these attempts exchange truth for a lie, and exalt some part of creation over the God who made it.

In humanism man and his desires are greater than the real needs God put into man. In socialism society is more important than the God who made its members. In materialism the universe determines all things by laws and chance without a Creator. In false religions man’s deeds, choices, and rituals are his way of salvation, God becomes the servant of man waiting for man to do the right thing so he can do good to his creatures.

The whole of creation cries out against these ideas. It declares an infinitely powerful God and his divine nature. It tells us that all things depend upon him and that he depends upon nothing outside of himself. The message is so clear that God’s word says it leaves us “without excuse”.

So then how do we know the true message
in creation if our fallen hearts distort everything?

God has also revealed his gospel, the good news. Jesus Christ died in place of his people to remove the offense that stands between them and God. Once redeemed and regenerated by God’s grace alone, our closed eyes are opened again. God’s word tells us clearly in Ephesians 2:4-6, “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus”

John Calvin explained this truth eloquently, “Therefore, though the effulgence which is presented to every eye, both in the heavens and on the earth, leaves the ingratitude of man without excuse, since God, in order to bring the whole human race under the same condemnation, holds forth to all, without exception, a mirror of his Deity in his works, another and better help must be given to guide us properly to God as a Creator. Not in vain, therefore, has he added the light of his Word in order that he might make himself known unto salvation, and bestowed the privilege on those whom he was pleased to bring into nearer and more familiar relation to himself.” (institutes 1:6:1)

Therefore, it is by grace alone that any of us sees God’s glory revealed.

All who receive that grace ought to respond with thankful worship and service. We must be attentive to notice the things God has made and the wonder of them. Believers ought to love the study of God’s universe.

In our privileged moment in history, we have seen close up photographs of distant planets, unraveled the genetic codes that shape our physical bodies, and made computer chips smaller than the connectors on Edison’s first lamp. We can sit at a computer in the comfort of our home to visit and to chat with people from all over the world. We power our homes with the energy formerly locked up in the nuclei of atoms. We fight cancer with lasers, chemicals, and surgeries unknown a few years ago. We can transplant the human heart, lungs, and almost every major organ in the human body.

We ought not see these things as mere amazing advancements of humankind. We should see them as revealing the infinite glory of the God who made us and who gave us the raw materials we use in manufacturing what was thought to be impossible fiction just a few generations ago.

We should be appreciative of the things God made, let their truth impress us with the wonders of the Creator which they display. When walk along the beach, through a woods, or see people shopping at the mall we should say in our hearts with the prophet Jeremiah, “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You.” (Jeremiah 32:17)

We must be thankful for the wonders of creation, and for the grace that opens our eyes to take it in. This should show itself in loving obedience to the Creator of all things, the Infallible Redeemer of all his people.

How can we be silent about such wonderful things? Not only does nature declare the glory of its Creator, God’s children must declare the gospel of Christ that gives life to lost souls, and opens blinded eyes to the wonders that surround them.

The Psalmist simply cries out as should we …

Psalm 72:19, “And blessed be His glorious name forever! And let the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and Amen.”

(The Bible quotations in this lesson are from the New King James Version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.)

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The Power of the Gospel

By Bob Burridge | May 23, 2011 - 12:56 am |July 22, 2011 Bible Studies, Romans

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The Power of the Gospel

Lesson 6: Romans 1:16-17

Long ago, a lone prophet sat waiting for God to answer him.

God’s prophet had become terribly confused and troubled. He wondered about the terrible times God’s people were going through. It was more than 600 years before the birth of Jesus Christ.

The northern tribes of Israel had been taken away as captives by Assyria over 100 years before. The remaining tribes of Judah were struggling with growing immorality in their nation. Their leaders were corrupt and self-seeking. Foreign nations were invading their cities. The Prophet Jeremiah warned that God would soon judge them with another captivity. The troubled prophet wondered why God was letting this happen.

So this prophet, broken hearted and perplexed, asked the Lord to explain this to him. He called out his questions to God, then he wrote in Habakkuk 2:1, “I will stand my watch And set myself on the rampart, And watch to see what He will say to me, And what I will answer when I am corrected.”

We don’t know if he stood gazing off at the sky or horizon from a literal guard tower. Very likely this was figurative language the prophet used of his vigilance, waiting for God’s reply. What could he tell the people to assure them? What would ease his own soul?

The answer he received was not exactly what he had asked for. In verses 2-4 he got his reply, “Then the LORD answered me and said: ‘Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry. Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith.’ ”

Instead of explaining all the secret complexities of why he was allowing his people to suffer, instead of telling why he was allowing heathen nations to seem to prosper, instead of just dealing with the details of that particular moment in history, God gave Habakkuk a general principle that applied to all situations in all times.

God explained that there are two different groups of people. On the one hand there is the proud. He is the arrogant and self-important person. He imagines he has control of everything, and that he can figure it all out if he just had more information. He presumes some special right to know what’s going on and why it was happening. However, he is unsettled within. There is no inner comfort. His soul is not “straight” but misshapen. The more he demands to know why everything happens, the more frustrated he becomes.

Then there is the person who is called “just”, or as some translate it, “righteous”. He is a child of God. He lives by a powerful and comforting principle; “The righteous will live by his faith.”

The Hebrew word used by Habakkuk to describe this person is tsadiq (צדיק). It means that something or someone is “just” or “righteous”. It is an adjective based upon the noun tsedeq (צדק) which according to the Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon is something “right, just, normal”. It is used of fair weights and measures, a just government and fair judiciary, and being right ethically. The adjective used in Habakkuk 2:4 applies these qualities to the person who is unlike the proud ones. He is right in God’s eyes.

However, God is perfectly holy. Habakkuk writes about God just a few verses later in this chapter, “You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness. …” (Habakkuk 1:13).

The righteous person knows he cannot measure up to that standard. Habakkuk tells us more about the characteristics of this person who is just. He will “live by his faith.”

The word for “faith” in Habakkuk 2:4 is actually the word for “faithfulness”, ’emunah (אמונה). This is an adjective often used to describe God’s faithfulness in his promises to his people. Here it is used to describe the way righteous people are to live. It literally says, the one who is righteous will live by his “faithfulness” or “steadfastness”.

Instead of relying upon himself and his own rights or merits, instead of living as if he has to know the reasons for everything, instead of imagining that everything centers on his own comfort and idea of what is best, he lives by his faithfulness to God, trusting his Sovereign Lord.

His hope is anchored in the Sovereign power and sure promise of God himself, and he strives to live accordingly. He satisfies himself with what God has commanded and explained, and he trusts God’s wisdom and ultimate goodness in the things that confuse him.

Paul builds the whole book of Romans on this text from Habakkuk.

In setting up his main theme, the Apostle explains the gospel in Romans 1:16-17, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.’ ”

The word “gospel” is central in what Paul is presenting in this first chapter. From our study so far we have shown that the word “Gospel” literally means “good news”, “good message,” or “a good announcement”.

Isaiah spoke of the gospel long before God revealed himself in Jesus Christ. In Isaiah 52:7 he wrote, “How beautiful upon the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, Who proclaims peace, Who brings glad tidings of good things, Who proclaims salvation, Who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’ ”

Paul’s message was that the good news promised in Eden and expected all through the ages had in his time come to completion in Jesus Christ.

The gospel is the power of God for salvation. It sets people free from their moral guilt before God. It really changes lives. Not all individuals will remain separated from God because of sin. There is a real promise of grace based upon the real sacrifice of the Savior in the lost person’s place.

Salvation does not come to all. The gospel is a promise that only causes hope in some. In all who are believing God’s promises, the gospel is a firm assurance. Faith is the major factor that distinguishes the two groups God told Habakkuk about. It distinguishes the two classes of men that are spoken of all through Paul’s letter to the Romans.

The promise was first made known to the Jews as God’s chosen people in ancient times. It was through them that the promises were explained and the Messiah was born. Now it was time, as Paul explained to the churches as he traveled, that the gospel was being extended to the other nations as well.

The heart of that gospel message is summarized by Paul in Romans 1:17

In Romans 1:17 he writes, “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.’ ”

By this gospel, this good announcement, the righteousness of God was made known. God is holy. His law shows us what that holiness demands. In Deuteronomy 6:25 God said through Moses, “Then it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to observe all these commandments before the LORD our God, as He has commanded us.”

The word used for “righteousness” is a noun form from that same root word used later by God to Habakkuk. The word is tsedeqah (צדקה).

We know we are not that holy. We all fall short of full obedience. No one is righteous when compared with this perfect standard.

Any righteousness that we have comes to us as a gracious gift of God. We are declared to be holy in God’s eyes, not by what we have done or decided, but by what Jesus did in our place; both by his perfectly moral life, and by his death on the cross to pay for our existing guilt. The evidence of this work of righteousness in us is our confidence (faith) in God’s promise.

Faith is a badly distorted idea today. This is partly why so many misunderstand Paul and the Book of Romans. It is partly why there are so many ideas about what Christianity is or should be.

The Bible makes it clear that faith is not present as a natural part of us. Paul wrote to the Thessalonian believers about the wicked ones who had come in among them. He said of them, “… not all have faith.” (2 Thessalonians 3:2). Jesus said to his followers in John 6:44, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

This faculty of resting upon the true God and upon his word is absent from us in our fallen condition. Our spiritually dead nature cannot understand this principle of true faith which comes from God. Given this faulty perception of reality, the kind of “faith” people look to for their deliverance from their guilt is understood as simply having some kind of “trust”.

Fallen humans trust in things for one of two reasons. Most often they trust in something because of their observations and reasonings. We examine chairs before we trust them to hold us up. From our past experience with chairs we decide to trust certain ones to sit upon them, and to not rely upon others. We may decide that a certain medicine works because we have heard testimonies from people who have used it and found it effective. Someone may decide to believe in alien visitors to the earth in flying saucers based on some book , movie, or testimonies he hears. That reasoning may or may not be sound, and the evidence may or may not be reliable. These kinds of choices are not what the Bible means here by “faith”.

In contrast with that trust based upon experience and scientific evidence, some trust in things irrationally by taking a blind leap into the unknown. They may commit to the idea that all men are basically good simply because they choose to believe that. They may decide to believe in fairies just because they are nice things to believe in. People may decide to believe in some kind of god because they want hope. But mere irrational desperation and wishing are not the ingredients of a true redeeming type of faith.

The rational method will fail because our fallen hearts will prejudicially deduce a different god than the one who really made all things. Only fools leap blindly to rest in something with no reason to believe it is reliable. These kinds of trust are possible even in the fallen mind, but they are not what the Bible tells us to do in these verses.

God reveals in Scripture that true faith comes in a completely different way. In his letter to the Ephesians (2:8-10) Paul tells about this living kind of faith. Those verses say, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

This God-implanted confidence comes to us only by grace as a divine gift. We are re-created in Christ. Our separation from God is repaired because our Savior suffered and died in our place and removes our offensiveness before God. Our re-born spirits are restored to fellowship with God, and are able truly and confidently to rest in his promises. That is the kind of faith spoken of in these passages.

John Calvin saw this in Scripture and defined this biblical faith as, “a firm and sure knowledge of the divine favor toward us, founded on the truth of a free promise in Christ, and revealed to our minds and sealed on our hearts by the Holy Spirit” (Institutes 3.2.7).

It is not something we figure out by experience or after hearing testimony. It is not a blind leap into the irrational and unknown. It is an assurance implanted into us by God himself. That implanted faith generates confidence in the things we learn that God has made known. So it moves “from faith to faith” as Romans 1:17 tells us.

Faith is not the cause of regeneration in Christ. It is the sure and efficacious evidence of regeneration. It is a means by which God works in our souls. By exercising that faith God gives us, he uses it to help us grow in faith and to be blessed.

This was not a new idea Paul was introducing. It is the same principle that has always made believers out of sinners. Paul appeals directly to the greatest authority of all, the word of God. He says ” … as it is written.”

What Paul says has a firm Old Testament foundation. In fact, Romans is filled with support from the Old Testament Scriptures. There are about 60 quotes from the Old Testament in the 16 chapters of Romans (an average of almost four per chapter).

Here Paul bases his advice on this text from Habakkuk, as he does also in Galatians 3:11. The writer of Hebrews 10:38 also quotes this same text. Martin Luther often used this text from Habakkuk to show how he came to understand the gospel. It was one of the banner texts of the Reformation. It is a key principle for Christians.

What Habakkuk wrote relates to our New Testament gospel. We too have a tendency to become anxious when we don’t understand why bad things occur. The world surrounding us teaches us to worry that everything might be out of control. Seeing only what our five senses can take in, everything seems random and meaningless. We crave to be able to explain it all, and to know the reasons why things are as they are. We imagine we can make things different by our own efforts if we could just figure it all out.

We too cry out to God and demand an answer as to “Why?” Job asked why God took away all he had, including the lives of his loved ones by horrible tragedies. David cried out asking why the heathen prospered while God’s people suffered. Habakkuk waited on his tower for God to explain it all to him. Humble but confused hearts call out in prayer every day to God, “Lord why? Why do these bad things happen?”

The answer was given a long time ago. It is a sign of pride to feel you have to have an answer, or that God owes you an explanation. The righteous person learns to live faithfully, confidently living by what God has made known, and trusting him for what remains a mystery. We don’t need to know more than what God has determined to tell us in his word.

God guided Moses to write in Deuteronomy 29:29 “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”

God’s word assures us that our Creator is Sovereign over all things. We ought to trust in his infinite wisdom and goodness. There is no justification for our fears and anxiety about the unknown. There is no foundation for doubts that arise from our inability to explain things.

Specially, when it comes to our own salvation through Christ, rather than doubting, worrying that we may not have done enough, or done the right thing, we ought to make sure we are resting with full trust upon the provision of Christ and the work of grace.

This verse doesn’t say the righteous shall “come alive” by faithfulness. It says he shall “live” by their faithfulness. There is a lot more in our Bibles than just how to become a Christian. Our faithful living must include all that God makes known. That is the evidence he produces in us to show the change he made in us.

Every week we hear about terrible acts of violence. We have watched depraved killers surrounded by police and swat teams as they hold terrified hostages. We are horrified at the deaths of law enforcement officers and defenders of our country. There are terrorist massacres by deranged fanatics. Scandals and accusations continued to disgrace our nation.

People cry out “Why?” But somewhere, hidden in the secret counsels of God, there is a reason we need not know.

A better question is “Lord, what should I do?” We ought to love and teach our children, encourage our spouses and friends, live faithfully within the boundaries of God’s word, tell others about the good message, and trust God with unshakable confidence even for what we cannot understand.

As for your eternal salvation and standing before God, there are no grounds for anxiety either. If the Holy Spirit is convicting your heart of sin, and you know you ought to rest in Christ, then set all other vain hopes and efforts aside and thank God for his work of grace.

Regarding your daily struggle in this world, the same solution applies. When tragic things happen, and we don’t know why God lets them, rather than fret or doubt, the person who has been declared to be righteous by grace ought to live faithfully, taking God at his word and being satisfied with that.

This is truly good news! This confidence in God’s grace through Christ is the foundation for the whole of our Christian life.

(The Bible quotations in this lesson are from the New King James Version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.)

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The Duty of the Gospel

By Bob Burridge | May 16, 2011 - 1:02 am |July 22, 2011 Bible Studies, Reformed Theology, Romans

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The Duty of the Gospel

Lesson 5: Romans 1:13-17

Some people love to give advice. Someone in a group mentions that he has a head ache or a stomach ache, then the suggestions and remedies begin. Each person has a strongly recommended cure. You might casually mention that you need to pick a vacation spot. Before long everyone is a travel agent. They all want you to go to some special place. Or when you say you are thinking about buying a car it’s not uncommon to hear story after story of car buying horrors or personal testimonials of favorite cars to own. This is the way we often learn and get information. The things our trusted friends have found helpful are much appreciated.

When a person brings up things relating to God’s law and justice, of things relating to his soul, he speaks of far greater matters than relief of a headache, where to go on vacation, or buying a car. Most headaches go away, bad vacation choices often give us great stories to tell. Even buying a lemon of a car is something we can survive. But the needs of the soul are eternal, far more important than these other matters.

It’s strange that believers often feel conflicted to help others with important spiritual advice. Few hesitate to advise about taking aspirin, buying a Saturn, or taking a trip to Bush Gardens, but to tell someone at work they need Christ’s forgiveness, to tell a family member they will not find peace outside of living by God’s ways, or suggesting to a neighbor to honor the Sabbath day as God commandment, these issues are seen as bing much harder to bring up.

There should be something in the soul of a true believer in Christ that presses on his conscience to let others know about the gospel that has meant so much to him, a gospel that not only gives eternal life, but also satisfies his deepest needs, and enables him to live in a way pleasing to God.

Sadly, believers often hesitate to speak out for the gospel of Christ. We are all well aware of how such messages are often received. Strange cults have given religious advice a bad reputation. The current morality condemns and scoffs at anyone who believes in absolutes and truth. The real message of the gospel humbles a person and points out his need. Today, people have come to religiously believe that man’s soul has no real problem, that he’s fully able to help himself without God. Many who say they trust in the finished work of Christ are not confident that God can make his plan work without our help.

Modern prejudice has put an anxiety in people’s hearts. They may really want to help,but they don’t want to alienate friends, build barriers, or drive them somewhere else. This presents a great temptation not to say anything, or to modify the message making it more acceptable to the fallen heart.

Paul faced attacks and rejection when he presented the gospel of God. He was shouted at, ridiculed, exiled from cities, beaten, stoned almost to death, accused of imagined crimes, arrested on false charges, jailed, and eventually executed. But until death itself silenced him, he kept on presenting that life changing message. Here in Romans 1:13-17 we see a glimpse of what helped him overcome his anxieties. Paul offers some principles as remedies to help us faithfully represent Christ to a lost world.

A person growing in Christ is compelled to testify about the gospel.

Paul had a great desire that could not just let the issue drop. In Romans 1:13 he said, “Now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you (but was hindered until now), that I might have some fruit among you also, just as among the other Gentiles.”

In verse 15 of the same chapter he wrote, “So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also.”

In our study of verses 8-12 we saw Paul’s strong desire to fellowship with the believers in Rome. He wanted to care for them, and to enjoy their fellowship and encouragement for himself. But there was work to be done in many other places in the world also. So God, in his providence, had not yet provided for Paul to go to Rome.

Yet, in spite of all the threats, dangers and personal sacrifices involved, something inside him kept pressing on his heart to teach those at Rome about God’s message of grace in the Messiah. He did the only thing he could do considering the circumstances. He took time to write this very well planned and organized letter to Rome summarizing the message of the Gospel.

Where did Paul find that power that overcame the threats of his enemies? that so willingly accepted challenging inconveniences? What was it that made him willing to risk even his friendships which he had in his career as a respected Rabbi?

It came from a life transforming work on his soul, the very fruit of the Gospel itself. No one can be a witness for Christ by the mere words they speak. They must be personal recipients of God’s saving Grace themselves. He puts life into us which can be seen by others. He produces a change in us.

Paul wrote to the believers in Ephesus in Ephesians 2:5 where he said, “even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)”

Our new life in Christ shows through us as a testimony to the power of God, not to our own power. Ephesians 2:8-10 tells us, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

If we are redeemed, the inner change ought to compel us to tell others about God’s nature and promises. In 1 Thessalonians 1:7-8 Paul wrote, “so that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe. For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place. Your faith toward God has gone out, so that we do not need to say anything.”

Paul also put it clearly in his letter to the believers in Corinth. In 1 Corinthians 9:16 he wrote, “For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!”

Peter and John were often persecuted for their message. They were threatened, jailed, and beaten. When told by men to silence the message, they explained the same inner conviction in Acts 4:19-20, “But Peter and John answered and said to them, ‘Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.’ ”

There is no reason for shame in the gospel. In Romans 1:16 Paul wrote, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.”

There is nothing about which to be shy. Its message really helps people. Your personal remedy for a headache may not work for everyone. Your dream car may turn out to be a nightmare to someone else. But God’s remedy for the soul in Christ has no defects when it is presented honestly and received with a God-given faith.

Of course you know that the un-redeemed soul will not see it that way. Is that why you hesitate to tell others? In Paul’s time the promoters of the many Roman gods saw Christianity’s belief in just one God as atheism. The Jews saw Paul as one who was bringing in gentile culture and subverting their traditions. Together they ridiculed, and persecuted the Apostle.

Considering all that, when warned of his arrest in Jerusalem, Paul said, “… For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” (Acts 21:13)

He boldly entered Athens where he faced the philosophers alone. He went to Jerusalem where he was arrested, just as had been foretold to him. Later he came to Rome as a prisoner to face trial in the courts of the Empire. In each case he stood as a clear spokesman for Christ. He could not hold back out of fear from all the intimidation and threats.

Paul understood why those who needed the message of Christ would be opposed to him. God explained it in many places in Scripture and Paul summarized the problem in his First Letter to the Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians 1:23 he said, “but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness.” Then in 1 Corinthians 2:14 he explained, “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

We should not let the unbeliever’s wrong assessment of his own need silence us. Paul encouraged young Timothy saying, “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God” (2 Timothy 1:80). In verse 12 of the same chapter he explained his own confidence which overcame his intimidation, “For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.” (2 Timothy 1:12).

No religion is as offensive to the pride of man and stirs his anger as much as the true gospel. Instead of telling men they are basically OK, it tells them they are in eternal danger and have offended the eternal God beyond any hope of repair. It calls them to admit their own inability and rest in God’s Savior alone. Fallen man hates to admit to things like that.

Don’t let that keep you from telling God’s truth. There is a strong temptation to hide parts of God’s truth, or to make up messages more appealing to lost hearts than the true one.

Transformed people will love the plain, unvarnished truth of God. To those who are made alive in Christ, the gospel is a wonderful message. However, it begins with a sobering truth that must not be hidden. We dare not sugar coat it with a deceptive lie to tell the unbeliever.

We twist God’s word if we say, “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.” Eternity in the fires of hell? Is that the wonderful plan? Yet it God’s plan for many fallen humans. It is where we all deserve to spend eternity according to God’s word. That’s where the masses of humanity will end up. Only those who are washed in the blood of Christ are rescued from that.

Now that’s a hard doctrine! It may cause you to not speak out, or to change it. God forbid that we should be ashamed of the real good news, the truth of God.

Dr. Haldane observed, “The more the Gospel is corrupted, the more its peculiar features are obscured by error, the less do we observe of the shame it is calculated to produce. It is in fact the fear of opposition and contempt that often leads to the corruption of the Gospel.”

God’s truth will always be despised by the unregenerate. It challenges that most loved myth of man’s independence and his imagined ability to determine his own path. It shakes up his security and brings him face to face with the Almighty and Holy God he has offended.

Jesus said, “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:38)

Therefore to overcome your shame in the gospel it must first have its powerful work in you. It is the Gospel alone that transforms and produces that compelling desire that is greater than our own self-comforts and defenses. Once you are his, the most important way to become a better representative for Christ is to better know Christ yourself. When the gospel grows in you, it will compel you to testify eagerly about the gospel.

(The Bible quotations in this lesson are from the New King James Version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.)

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Encouraged Together

By Bob Burridge | May 9, 2011 - 12:03 am |July 22, 2011 Bible Studies, Romans

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Encouraged Together

Lesson 04: Romans 1:8-12

People were not created to be alone. We were created to be families and communities. We were created to work together to produce the things we need. We were commanded to organize into churches, and into governed societies. This can get frustrating at times. These groupings are as imperfect as the individuals that form them.

There are wrong ways of dealing with imperfect groups of people. Some people just withdraw and isolate themselves when they have a hard time with the behaviors of others. They might tolerate working with others in limited ways out of necessity, but they try not to develop close relationships. They may even attend worship, but limit their contacts with the others in the church beyond that.

Others keep jumping from group to group looking for a more perfect situation. They have little commitment to their workplace, community, and sometimes even to their family relationships. They often drift from job to job. They may even move from community to community. They are the ones who never find a church they like. To justify their lack of commitment they list all the faults and imperfections of those who make up or who lead the group.

This is not the way God taught us to live. If there are problems we need to become part of the solution. Loyalty and commitment are important character traits. We ought to develop them. The fallen world has abandoned those values in favor of a more self-serving ethic. Today loyalty and commitment ends when the going gets hard.

Marriages end for reasons not justified by God’s law. People leave their spiritual families in churches as easily as they leave their spouses. It’s hard for employers to afford new workers when they leave as soon as opportunity comes along, even after considerable expense has been made to train them.

Instead of abandoning others when problems arise, and in place of that critical spirit of finding faults, there ought to be mutual encouragement of one another in Jesus Christ. There is great joy in seeing God at work in families, churches, workplaces, and communities.

Paul appreciated the Roman church’s
great reputation which was spoken of world-wide.

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

The faith God had put into the hearts of the Roman believers was testifying powerfully. It provided a real-life demonstration that the gospel is God’s truth, it works!

In our study so far (Romans 1:1-7) we have seen that the gospel means “good news”. All humans are separated from God’s fellowship because of the offense of real moral guilt. Not just individual guilt, but primarily the guilt and corruption we inherit from Adam. But God made a promise in Eden after the first sin. One would come who would be born of a woman, who would suffer in place of God’s people and crush Satan.

As history unfolded more details were made known. By the time of the Apostle Paul, it had become clear that Jesus was that Promised One.

The good news that there are fallen humans who are reconciled with God through Jesus Christ had come to Rome too. The hearts of believers there had been changed by the power of God. Faith had been implanted along with life-transforming power. Good News indeed!

The watching world had seen the changes in the lives of the Roman believers. Paul calls believers “epistles.” In them, the world could see the effects of the gospel. In 2 Corinthians 3:2-3 Paul wrote, “You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.”

Similarly Paul said to the believers in Thessalonica in 1 Thessalonians 1:7-8, “… you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe. For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place. Your faith toward God has gone out, so that we do not need to say anything.”

We should all be concerned to show the work of Christ in our lives. Others, both in the church and outside of it, will observe our words and actions. God’s truth and grace in Christ ought to be evident in us. Jesus said our lives should shine like light so that men might see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16).

The believers in Rome, were imperfect (we will see more of that as we continue), yet they were being a good testimony to the world of Christ’s life-transforming power.

Paul explained that he was in continual prayer
to praise God for what he had seen in them.

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

Similarly, when John saw other believers living as evidence of Christ’s power, he rejoiced. He wrote to them saying, “I rejoiced greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth, as we received commandment from the Father.” (2 john 1:4), and “For I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you, just as you walk in the truth.” (3 John 1:30).

Man’s fallen nature tends to become jealous about the success of others. However, we should not be just individuals trying to get gain for ourselves. We ought to learn to rejoice in the success of others. Specially others in the body of Christ. We are a family together with them. There should be evidence of certain family traits in each of us. The fruit of the Holy Spirit and our spiritual loyalty ought to mark us out.

There is a fundamental unity that we ought not ignore, even when things are imperfect. 1 Corinthians 1:10 says, “Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.”

There are also some limits placed upon our fellowship. There ought to be some kind of division that separate us from those who have no loyalty to Christ and to his church. There should be no confusion about who is a representative of Christ, and who is not. A compromising testimony by the church does not honor God. It confuses his message and obscures the gospel.

In that same letter to the Corinthians Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 5:9-13, “I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner — not even to eat with such a person. For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? But those who are outside God judges. Therefore ‘put away from yourselves the evil person.’ ”

From the larger context we see that this is not about shunning those who sin. We would have no one left in our lives if we did that, since we are all sinners by God’s definition of it. The context is in the membership of the church. Those who continue to rebel against God’s standards unrepentantly should not be on the roll as members of God’s family. They are not rightly part of our spiritual family’s meals and trust. Out of respect for the standards God demands of his church, such people need to be put out of the church as long as they insist on defending their rebellious behaviors and attitudes. But we are not to be unkind to them. We are told to treat them as unbelievers and work to bring them to humble repentance and restoration to fellowship through the power of the gospel.

In his second letter to the church at Corinth Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 6:14-17, “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: ‘I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.’ Therefore ‘Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.’ ”

When the church stands together, marked by loyalty, it presents a powerful testimony to the world. The goodness of God’s news is made plain by the transformation of lost souls woven together into a family of God.

We should set aside time in our prayers to praise God for his blessings upon his people. Paul’s prayer reminds us again of the wonders of Grace. Paul does not commend the Romans as if God had them to thank for the good testimony of the church. He thanks God for their obedience of faith. God is the one who works goodness in us. Nothing remains in which we can boast. There is no place for self-pride. Instead, we have a marvelous sense of God’s redeeming and sanctifying grace.

Paul had a compelling desire to be encouraged
together with the Roman believers.

Romans 1:10-12, “making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you. For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established — that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.”

Paul very much wanted to go to Rome to see these believers in person. However, God had not provided the opportunity. When we study verse 13 we will see how Paul, though wanting to come to them, kept his own desires in submission to God and his greater and often hidden plan.

The Apostle’s purpose in wanting to go to Rome had two parts. On the one hand he wanted to build them up by imparting spiritual gifts to them. Some of that work was special to the office of Apostle. There were unique miraculous gifts in that Apostolic era for the building of the church’s foundation.

Some of the gifts to be imparted were a common work we all do as believers. By our fellowship we are to stir one another to spiritual growth. We help one another develop the fruit of the Spirit. We become mutual examples of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (see Galatians 5:22-23). In humility we correct one another when we fall into sin or into neglect of these fruits.

On the other hand Paul longed for himself to be encouraged by the believers in Rome too. Ministers and members of the church alike are important to one another in Christ.

The union we have as a church is very special. Our bond is not just because we have common interests, or like temperaments, or similar backgrounds and circumstances in our lives, or even plans for the future. Those may occur among us but our bond is much stronger than that. It is not just because we have common beliefs and convictions.

These are the things that cause union in the world too. But in the family of God there is an element the world cannot know. The special nature of our fellowship consists in our real spiritual union in Christ. We have an actual family bond. We have the same Father in heaven. We are joint heirs of eternal blessings in Christ. We are truly brothers and sisters spiritually.

In John 15:5 Jesus used a helpful analogy. He said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”

We all draw from the same nourishment. The same sap flows through us. Our spiritual life blood is the same. We share in the same covenant benefits, live by the same rules, and are one with the same Lord. 1 Corinthians 6:17 says,”But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.”

Paul wrote important instructions to the church in Ephesus. In Ephesians 4:2-6 he said, “with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”

Though we have this unity, we are not all the same. Not by far. There is a diversity of gifts in the body of Christ. We are all very different from one another: We are born in different decades. We dress differently, wear our hair differently (for those who have it), and have different styles of speech. We have different talents and abilities. God has called us to different occupations.

1 Corinthians 12:14-18 explains it so well, “For in fact the body is not one member but many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.”

Every member of the body is vital to the whole. Paul adds in verse 22, “No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary.” In verses 25-27 he says that we need to value every member of the church, “that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.”

Because one of us has a gift, we all have it too as brothers and sisters in the Lord. We are a family in Christ.

Ever since I was very little, I’ve loved to take things apart. I disassembled radios, television sets, door bells, carburetors, kitchen faucets, and so on. Putting them back together was always harder. I know you have all had the experience in one way or another of putting parts together. It’s a bit unsettling when you have some parts left over. A few times I’ve ha to install new kitchen faucets. I remember once when there was a rubber washer left over. When I turned it on all seemed ok — until I tried the rinsing hose. Water sprayed all over. That little washer was important! Just as every component and wire is important to a radio of computer, so also every one of you is important to the proper functioning of the body of Christ.

What happens when a vital part of the body is missing? even just for a while? Can you imagine what it would be like if your body parts only worked once-in-a-while? What if your eye or a particular finger only was available occasionally? What if a lung shut down unexpectedly every few days? Could you be just as effective if you never knew when you would have to do without an arm or leg for a day? or for a week? Think of what it would be like walking down the street and a foot unexpectedly decided to shut down for a while.

That is why it is important to have regular attendance in the church. When attendance is occasional, it’s like occasional paralysis. Each part contributes to the whole. It could be a little story, or experience in your life, a little personal insight or a lesson you’ve learned, or how you smile at one of the children, or when you show a bit of humility among the adults. These each may seem insignificant to you in casual conversation over refreshments after worship, but maybe that little gesture or comment is exactly what someone else needs to see or hear.

When one person is absent it effects the whole — as when a family member is gone. Of course sometimes God in his providence keeps us away. We may get sick, or may be called out of town, or travel on vacation. Unless we can’t be there by reason of God’s providence, we have a job to do for Christ as part of his family.

Jesus Christ has called each one of us to family union and Kingdom service. Don’t cripple the body by withholding that talent or experience God has entrusted to you. It ought not be a chore to be with God’s people in worship on the Lord’s Day. It ought not to feel as if you are making a sacrifice. Being there instead of home watching TV, or sleeping in, is an important family duty. Getting to bed decently on Saturday night so you can get here on time Sunday morning, ought to be a satisfying preparation for your service to the church, and for fulfilling your part as the whole body comes together to worship the God who saved us.

We each have a joint obligation to devote our gifts to the glory of Christ, and the growth of the body of his church. It is a job for which we need to make preparations. We need to take our Christian responsibilities seriously. Hebrews 10:24 says, “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works.”

Our service together on Sundays, and our support of one another all week long, is not an option or an extra to add to our lives as Christians. It is our reasonable service.

The fallen world around us has a different standard. It makes friends to satisfy self-needs, to gain what friends can offer, or to feel accepted. We have been transformed from that by Christ. Our friendships in the Lord are to honor our Savior and to help one another.

Christ did not call us to be alone. Nor has he called us to neglect our families, jobs, church, or community. They may be very imperfect places. Other families, jobs, churches, or communities may look more appealing to us in some way. However, children don’t leave families and move in down the street with another family because they have a better pool or TV set, because there are more kids to play with, because the allowance is better, or because it’s a shorter walk to the mall. There should be loyalty and commitment to the family. So also there ought to be an undying loyalty to the imperfect unions we have at work, and in our communities. We should not looking for something better, but how to serve where God puts us. Even more so there should be loyalty and a sense of belonging in the church, our spiritual family, the body of Christ. Be an active member lending all you can to the needs of your brothers and sisters in Christ.

The church works best when every part is committed and working hard as a family. Oh, what a testimony that is to the glory of our Heavenly Father when the spiritual family works together, when all its parts are functioning, when everyone is present and on time looking for opportunity instead of looking for gain.

This is what Paul is saying in this part of his introduction to the letter to the Romans. He longed for a time of fellowship with the believers in Rome so he could encourage them, and be encouraged by them.

(The Bible quotations in this lesson are from the New King James Version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.)

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God: Faithful, True, and Just

What had happened to Israel, the people of the book?

Paul dramatically denied that idea in his answer in verse four.

How can God judge unbelief if he uses it to promote his plan?

Paul quickly and clearly lays aside that charge.

Paul then takes this dangerous idea another step to show how its implications are inconsistent.

Paul took his reasoning one last step.

Covenant Advantages

Paul raised the questions the Jews were asking in order to give his answer.

How is having the word of God an advantage for the covenant people, if it doesn’t assure salvation to each person who possesses it?

How is the word of God to be handled by those to whom it is entrusted?

So what is the advantage for us today in being acquainted with God’s word?

Deceptive Hypocrisy

The Jews had been graciously privileged to be called God’s people.

The Covenant People were not obedient to what they said was good and right.

The behavior of God’s people reflects upon the reputation of God among others.

God’s covenant with his people is not just about the things we see outwardly.

The Voice of Conscience

When people do wrong they feel guilty.

Then Paul explains further how one moral standard judges us all equally.

Can someone be held accountable who is unaware of the rules?

No Special Favors

God’s patience should not be seen as a reason to relax and to take comfort.

By continuing in disobedience, God’s people were storing up a treasury of wrath.

The truth is, we are each held responsible for what we do.

Different deeds of men bring specific results.

The Bible teaches a universality of punishment which is deserved by every human soul.

A Tragic Trade

We live in an age where electronics has given us an amazing window on the world.

1. Mankind in his fallen condition makes a tragic trade.

2. God justly gives fallen man over to his own corrupt ways.

This is the lesson Paul teaches us in this section of Romans

Seeing the Invisible

The truth about God is not hidden.

But, how much does creation tell us about God?

The apostles taught this truth as they spread the gospel:

Why is God’s truth not appreciated by ever observer of creation?

The message of creation is clear. It comes to us intact and clear.

Our fallen hearts are so prejudiced against the real truth about God that they assume lies.

So then how do we know the true message in creation if our fallen hearts distort everything?

Therefore, it is by grace alone that any of us sees God’s glory revealed.

The Power of the Gospel

Long ago, a lone prophet sat waiting for God to answer him.

Paul builds the whole book of Romans on this text from Habakkuk.

The heart of that gospel message is summarized by Paul in Romans 1:17

The Duty of the Gospel

A person growing in Christ is compelled to testify about the gospel.

Encouraged Together

Paul appreciated the Roman church’s great reputation which was spoken of world-wide.

Paul explained that he was in continual prayer to praise God for what he had seen in them.

Paul had a compelling desire to be encouraged together with the Roman believers.

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Paul then takes this dangerous idea another step
to show how its implications are inconsistent.

How is having the word of God an advantage for the covenant people,
if it doesn’t assure salvation to each person who possesses it?

The Covenant People were not obedient
to what they said was good and right.

The behavior of God’s people reflects upon
the reputation of God among others.

God’s covenant with his people is not
just about the things we see outwardly.

Then Paul explains further how
one moral standard judges us all equally.

God’s patience should not be seen
as a reason to relax and to take comfort.

By continuing in disobedience,
God’s people were storing up a treasury of wrath.

The Bible teaches a universality of punishment
which is deserved by every human soul.

We live in an age where electronics has given
us an amazing window on the world.

Our fallen hearts are so prejudiced against
the real truth about God that they assume lies.

So then how do we know the true message
in creation if our fallen hearts distort everything?

Paul appreciated the Roman church’s
great reputation which was spoken of world-wide.

Paul explained that he was in continual prayer
to praise God for what he had seen in them.

Paul had a compelling desire to be encouraged
together with the Roman believers.