Week 7

This week we find ourselves at a sort of crossroads. We’ve come along the path with Paul and understand that we are sinners. We also understand that our main issue is that God has a case against us. We’ve come to know about Jesus and that through His death, we can be reconciled to God. But here we find an intersection where this Gospel truth meets my responsibility. Last week, we ended the discussion with the question: shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Which is to say, the further down the road of grace we go, the more we can sin. Nothing could be further than the truth. Let’s see how Paul reacts to this question.

Romans 6:1-4 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any loner in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Paul’s rhetoric might be difficult to understand at this point. His response involves a discussion about baptism, which sounds like a quick lane change. It really isn’t, though. To our evangelical ears, it is difficult to discuss baptism without talking about physical water. Whatever our convictions or understanding may be about water baptism, it must be admitted that this is not Paul’s concern in the current discussion. In 1 Corinthians 10:1-2, Paul even refers to a “dry” baptism: “I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.” In other words, Paul refers to the Israelites crossing the Jordan on dry land to be a baptism. So, Paul’s failure to enter water into the discussion of baptism is not abnormal. Back to our study.

Paul is telling us that if we think we should keep sinning, we don’t understand what has happened.

Question: What does Paul mean when he says we were baptized into Christ’s death?
Answer: We receive the benefits of the death of Christ (reconciliation) without having to suffer the consequences of our sins (hell and damnation).

We can consider this to be a rudimentary understanding of baptism. Let’s go with Paul here. If we have benefited from His death by being buried with Him through baptism, Paul says we also have benefited from His life by being raised from the dead with Him (through baptism). You cannot have the death of Christ without the resurrection of Christ. The argument Paul is addressing (shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?) is an attempt to undergo a half baptism. That is to benefit from Christ’s death without benefiting from His life. Such a scenario is not an option according to Paul. Thus he tells us that to be buried with Christ is also to be raised with Him. The result: walking in newness of life.

Romans 6:5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be I the likeness of His resurrection…

Again, we cannot choose a one-sided baptism. Either we die and rise with Christ, or we just die. There is no such thing as a half baptism.

Romans 6:6-7 …knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin.

Now, if we asked the question posed in 6:1, Paul is bursting our bubbles. We have no choice but to cease from sin. Here, Paul begins to talk about the old man versus the new man.

Question: Is our old man destroyed (read verse 6 again before looking at the answer)?
Answer: No.

The New King James Version says that the old man (or body of sin) is “done away with.” A better translation is “rendered inoperative,” or “rendered powerless.” The idea is that our old man is no longer living our life. That is, we are no longer slaves to sin. The “me” that was controlled by its desire to sin is now powerless. The new “me,” the one raised with Christ, is now driven by a force much stronger. This of course doesn’t mean I cannot sin.

Let’s contrast the old and new man. Before I was raised with Christ, I was subject to my every whim. I had no reason not to sin. If sin was avoided, it was only to avert getting caught. In other words, I was sin’s slave. Now, since being raised in Christ, there is a stronger power within me making me a new creation, or a new man. Now, the ultimate goal is not to see how much I can sin without getting caught, but to simply not sin at all. To be freed from sin means to be freed from the power of sin, not the presence of sin.

Romans 6:8-10 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.

Before he moves on, Paul makes a final point on the life and death of Christ: death has no dominion over Him. Remember, we receive the benefits of His resurrection without undergoing His suffering and death. That is, death no longer has dominion over us because it has no dominion over Him. This is good news indeed.

Romans 6:11-12 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus or Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey in its lusts.

As Paul continues to answer the question posed in verse 1, he reminds us of the doctrine of the two captains: what applies to one applies also to many. Just as Christ died and rose from the dead, we should consider ourselves to have done the same thing. His point is that this should produce fruit. The fruit is not letting sin reign in our mortal bodies. He’s taken many verses to answer that one small question which is a resounding “No!”

Romans 6:13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

Later, in Romans 13:14, Paul tells us to, “make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” This is a perfect summery for Paul’s instruction on not sinning. It might be important to note here that the point of Paul’s instruction on the doctrine of grace is for the purpose of our discipleship. If our learning of grace does not produce in us the fruits of righteousness, it is indeed pointless. Remember that God wants us to become who we really are in Christ.

The remainder of chapter 6 reiterates the concept of being a slave to sin. You can read this for a deeper understanding. For our purposes, we’ll move on to chapter 7.

Chapter 7

The Analogy of Marriage

Romans 7:1-6 Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives? For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man. Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another––to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.

Despite its length, this passage is quite simple. Paul gives us the example of marriage. Evidently, the Jewish law stated that marriage is a done-deal until the husband dies. Should a divorce or separation occur, the wife is still required, by law, to honor the marriage by not marrying another man as long as her husband is alive. This is another principle: the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives.

But the Christian is faced with a peculiar problem: I have undergone death but remain alive. How does this new principle apply to me?

Paul picks up the analogy in verse 4. He tells us that our husband was the law and that we died to the law “through the body of Christ.” The analogy is just as peculiar. Christ fulfills the law and its requirements becoming our greater than our husband (the law). If we are baptized in Him, because of His death, our husband, the law, has died and we are free to marry. But as we said before, we can’t have His death without His resurrection. Therefore, He who is greater than the law becomes our husband, Christ.

Romans 7:7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.”

At this point, Paul anticipates his audience’s logic. If my husband was the law and I was always sinning under it, then the law must be sinful. In other words, if I revered the law prior to my baptism in Christ, and tried to keep it, thinking it was good only for it to die to me and I to it, what was wrong with it in the first place? You can understand why many Jews stumbled at Paul’s teaching. Simple logic would lead anyone to this conclusion. Paul, again, reacts in the negative.

To put the snake on the table, Paul is illuminating the purpose of the law. We would not know what sin was were it not for the law. The law teaches us how far removed from God’s holiness we really are. Because of it, we know what is good. Let’s skip to verse 12.

Romans 7:12 Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.

So, coming full circle, we were married to a husband we could never please. Therefore, it was a grace that we die to that husband and him to us that we might be remarried to a husband of grace.

Romans 7:13 Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good. So that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful.

The problem is not with the law. As Paul just told us, the law is holy, just, and good. The problem, as he states in v. 13 is the sin in us that was producing death. Again, we are conscious of our ailment. It might be supposed that we would be better off in ignorance if sin is not imputed where the law doesn’t exist (5:13). Apparently this is not the case. Apparently, according to Paul, it is better that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful. Why might this be?

Let’s liken sin to a disease that will most likely kill us. We are in pain and are suffering but we don’t know why. We could go to the doctor and see if he can diagnose is and treat it or we could take our chances and just suffer through it. Most of us would seek a diagnosis and treatment in hopes of healing. We can probably agree that to opt for ignorance would be foolish, especially if we saw a commercial for a drug that would fix our problem easily.

This is the same situation. Man is faced with a slew of existential problems that result in pain and suffering. The law is the diagnosis and the gospel that Paul is teaching is like the drug commercial. To claim that the law, which is good, has become death to me would be like saying I will die of my disease because I was diagnosed. This is foolish. A diagnosis doesn’t cause us to die. Disease causes us to die. Paul is saying that we need to be informed (or diagnosed) of our disease so that we know to take the treatment (the Gospel) when it is prescribed.

Romans 7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.

Here, Paul introduces a tension between the spiritual and the carnal. He elaborates.

Romans 7:15-16 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good.

Again, this is the Christian’s peculiar struggle. There is a tension between what is good and what is not good. If the law is good, then why do I act in opposition to it? Spiritually, I know what is good. Carnally, I act in opposition to what I know to be good. The explanation for this follows.

Romans 7:17-18 But now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.

Paul teaches us a simple fact: sin dwells in our flesh. We ought not to regard ourselves slaves to sin because of this. Remember that we have died to sin and that our old man is rendered powereless. Even so, Paul finds a new law at work, which he states a few verses down. Verses 19-20 reiterate the previous verses. Let’s skip to verse 21.

Romans 7:21-23 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members.

By now, we might get frustrated because it feels like Paul flops back and forth. In one passage, it sounds like he says we should sin that grace might abound. Then he says we should not sin at all. Then he says we aren’t under the law. Then he seems to say we need to keep the law. Now he’s telling us that if we sin, it isn’t really we who are sinning. What are we to do with this? If Paul were in the room with us, we might go to him and shake his shoulders demanding a clear explanation of things. I imagine his response would be something like this: welcome to the club!

This passage should bring us much comfort. If we’ve been following Paul for the last couple of chapters, we’d understand that our situation was hopeless because we couldn’t keep the law, which is good and holy. We’d understand that even though we are reconciled to God through the death of Christ, we have also been raised with Him in newness of life. Therefore, we are to cease from sin. However, our reconciliation and righteousness are due to Christ’s fulfillment of the law, not our attempts to keep it. At the end of the day, we are left to rely on Christ completely for both reconciliation and righteousness, yet we have the responsibility to cease from sin. Welcome to the Christian life. We are not alone when we throw our hands up. Paul joins us.

Romans 7:24-25 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God––through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.

Paul laments the tension with us. How wretched are we? If we live in this tension for very long, we, too, will thank God through Jesus Christ for our deliverance from this body of death.

One last note. Verse 25 mentions that with our flesh, we serve the law of sin. I hope that we’ve been listening to Paul this whole time. We do well to heed all of his words. Taking this verse out of context, it is easy to develop a Gnostic lifestyle that says, since I can’t help but serve the law of sin in my flesh, therefore, I’ll live a holy life in mind, and continue in sin in the flesh. If this logic is adopted, the reader hasn’t wisely considered the rest of Paul’s teaching.

It is also easy to be confused by verse 25 because it seems to contradict Paul’s earlier teaching in 6:14: “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” Let me make two final points: 1) that teaching was introduced prior to 7:14 where he makes a distinction between the spiritual and carnal, and 2) such a service with the flesh to the law of sin is not a forced service. One can imagine an American driver on and English street. He is under English law although he might habitually submit to American rules. So it is with the Christian who serves the law of sin in the flesh. Remember, the admonition form Paul is to “not let sin reign in your mortal bodies (6:12).”

We’ve covered a lot of ground for one week but we are back on track. In week 8, we’ll look at chapter 8, which continues this discussion further. Until then, I encourage you to walk back through chapters 6 and 7. Follow Paul’s train of thought until it is clear in your mind where he is going and why. This is a lot to swallow so take your time.

Week 6

The previous week, we discussed some pretty heavy stuff. We learned from Paul that Abraham is our father by faith. That is, we are sons and daughters of Abraham, not if we descended from him physically, but if we have faith as he did. Remember, both Isaac and Ishmael descended from Abraham, yet God chose Isaac to bear the Seed. God made a promise to Abraham and he believed. Scripture tells us that this belief is what made Abraham righteous. We, too, are made righteous by our faith. This is Paul’s point.

We also saw that, contrary to what we might have thought, Abraham did not stagger at the promise of God. We usually assume that since Abraham had Ishmael by Hagar, that he was impatient with God. However, when Abraham had a child by Hagar, God had not yet revealed that the child of promise would come from Sarah.

Paul’s point in all of this is that God fulfilled His promise to Abraham in Christ. He has made Abraham a great nation because those that believe as he believed, that is, in the Seed of promise, are accounted as righteous.

What should we do with all of this? How should we respond?

Romans 5:1-2 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Paul tells us what we should do with the teaching in chapter 4. First, he tells us what the result is: peace with God. Remember when Paul taught us that we are all sinners? Remember when he persuaded us that we are guilty of the same things we judge others of? Remember how depressing and dismal we were after reading the first few chapters of Romans? Here is the good news: we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ! The Roman church had already heard the Gospel. After all, Paul is writing to the church. They know about Jesus. We are receiving, along with the Romans, a deeper understanding of the faith that saves us. As Paul tells us, this understanding should lead us to “rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” This is how we respond.

Romans 5:3-5 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

To get the full impact of Paul’s words in vv. 3-5, it may be beneficial to do a quick study on Paul’s early ministry. In Acts 14, we learn about Paul and Barnabas in the city of Lystra. Paul heals a crippled man and the city attempts to worship the missionaries. Up until this point, their missionary journey has been wrought with ups and downs, yet they remain steadfast. Lest we believe Paul to be an over-zealous evangelist who doesn’t stick around long enough to be persecuted for the faith, we read in vv. 19-20 that he was stoned. Apparently, this stoning was so bad that everyone thought he was dead. For most of us, this might be the end of our missionary efforts. Although we’d probably continue in the faith, we’d be assured that God was satisfied with our service and that He certainly wouldn’t mind if we retired from the mission field. Let’s advance to v. 22: strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.” We can imagine a black, blue, and bloody Paul standing before a small congregation like some creature from a horror film. Was this Paul’s swan song? No. Paul continued on in ministry; he brought the same Gospel to many other places. Now, here is a man who can say, “we also glory in tribulations…”

Paul has shifted from the tough theology of the previous chapter to a word of practical encouragement. By reading vv. 1-5, we can be assured that the faith we have in Jesus Christ is active and not passive. That is, it can transform tribulation into patience. This activity is what we call discipleship. If we listen to Paul, we understand that his tribulation is the result of love for Christ and love for His church (Phil 1:24-25). The patience that has been produced in him is the result of this tribulation. It must be understood that the bottom line of discipleship is to produce in us a heart of love.

Romans 5:6-8 For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

First, Paul begins this passage by stating two points in v. 6: 1) we were without strength, and 2) we were ungodly. As he stated in previous chapters, our own strength and abilities were no strength at all. Therefore, we were ungodly. But he simply says that Christ died for the ungodly.

As if to punctuate the significance of this fact, he asks us to imagine such a transaction in our own experience. We might imagine a situation where we (or someone) might die in the stead of a good or righteous person. Our films and stories are filled with this sort of sacrifice. It is easy to imagine a less-than-perfect person deeming a better person’s life more valuable and therefore suffering in their stead. If we are honest, though, we probably wouldn’t do such a thing. Such an act is rare, which is why Paul says that is scarce or “someone would even dare” to do such a thing.

Conversely, it is much more difficult to imagine the opposite situation. Suppose you were to see a drunken and immoral man passed out on the sidewalk in a country where such an act is punishable by death. As you walk closer, the police seize him and put a pistol to his head. The officer then announces that unless one volunteers to die in his stead, he will be shot and justly punished for breaking the law. This man is ungodly. He is not like the righteous and good man we just discussed. As rare as that situation might have been, it is virtually unheard of for someone to die for this man. Such an act would not be heroic; it would be foolish. They don’t make movies about it.

This brings us to the significance of v. 8. The righteous man dies for the ungodly. Christ turns everything on its head with this single act.

We must remember that these verses are about how good Christ is and not how good we are or even need to be. Yes, our discipleship requires us to die to ourselves and consider others to be better than we are. However, we should not view this verse as a condemnation on those who, given such an opportunity as described above, opt out of dying for the ungodly man (or even good man). Again, Paul says that such an act is unheard of.

Romans 5:9-11 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

The bad news: God has a case against us. The good news: through the death of Christ, we are reconciled. Again, this is all by faith. Paul now points us to the resurrection. It may be supposed that since the work required for our salvation was accomplished by Christ’s death, there is no need to preach the resurrection. Without exploring all of the theological implications of such a suggestion, it can be stated that such is not the full Gospel, or good news. Yes, Christ’s atoning sacrifice for us was accomplished by His death, but what is even more significant to us is that because of His resurrection from the dead (i.e. His life), the good news does not stop with our reconciliation!

The Doctrine of the Two Captains

Paul has already established that men are without excuse. Because we have seen God’s eternal power and Godhead (Romans 1:20; see notes on week 2), and not given Him thanks, we are guilty. However, it is often supposed that man should not be held accountable for breaking particular laws when he is unaware of such laws. Therefore, it is said, men should not suffer damnation because he is ignorant. Very well. Let’s read on.

Romans 5:12-14 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned–– (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come…

This can be troubling so we need to take a close look at what Paul is saying.

…just as through one man sin entered the world…

Paul is talking about Adam. Adam was given a single law: don’t eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (Gen 2:17). Adam broke that law. Thus, sin entered the world.

…and death through sin…

As God told Adam that he would surely die, Adam died.

….and thus death spread to all men…

Everyone after Adam, including Eve, have died.

…because all sinned…

Adam and Eve break man’s unity with God and pass that division to their descendants. We see this as early as Cain’s murder of Abel. This pattern of sin continues to this day.

...For until the law sin was in the world…

We know that God did not administer the Law until Moses. However, if God’s character is eternal, any action not consistent with it would be considered sin, whether man knew it or not.

…but sin is not imputed when there is no law…

Here is our stumbling block. Paul says, basically, that man is not held accountable for breaking individual laws if he is ignorant of them. It is easy to assume that all peoples before Moses were not guilty, so long as they, too, did not eat of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (which would have been impossible because God barred man from the Garden of Eden). Not so fast.

…Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam…

So here is a question: why did Abel die? Let’s suppose, for a moment, that Abel acted in complete accord with the character of God. That is to say, suppose Abel did not sin. After all, the only law he had received from God up unto this point was not to eat the fruit of a particular tree. We’ve already said that such a sin was impossible and unavailable. Nevertheless, he died. Lets suppose Cain had not killed him. We have no reason to assume that he would have remained alive forever. As a matter of fact, there were certainly folks who lived between Adam and Moses who were not killed. When we read the biblical account of Adam lineage, we learn that, in fact, everyone dies. This brings us to the first point of the Doctrine of the Two Captains: death is an inherited disease. We know this in our bones.

This is less a discussion about whether man should suffer death and more about the reality that man does suffer death. Remember, we are not necessarily talking about hell (that is quite another discussion altogether), just death. Let’s move on.

…who is a type of Him who was to come…

This brings us to the second point of the Doctrine of the Two Captains: in the same way, one man’s righteousness, Christ’s, results in the life of many. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

The Gospel of Free Grace

Romans 5:14 But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.

By contrast, our second captain, Christ, offers life, not death. The principal is the same but the result is quite different. We become resentful of the fact that we must suffer death because of one man’s sin. Even though we know that we couldn’t do any better than Adam did, we still like to blame him for all of our troubles. With the Gospel of Free Grace and the Doctrine of the Two Captains, however, this is unnecessary. Just as we effortlessly inherited death, we, too, can effortlessly inherit life. This is the point Paul makes through v. 19. Let’s skip down to v. 20.

Romans 5:20-21 Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The final point Paul makes in chapter 5 is in reference to the introduction of the law. Here’s the scenario: Adam and his descendants are given a single law, which they are not physically able to break and yet they still suffer death. Let’s consider such an existence. If this seems unjust to us, let’s imagine how unjust it must have seemed to them. We can assume they had some sort of funeral ritual at the time of one’s death. Surely they were not exempt from the same grief we feel when we lose a loved one. However, if we are theologically savvy, we can conjure up some explanation for death. These guys had no such explanation at their disposal. We can assume that Adam passed down an explanation of things but even then, man had to have the same resentment we have. We can imagine the rationale like this: that’s great, father Adam, but what does your disobedience have to do with us? Then one day it starts to rain and everyone drowns. Noah’s family survives and everyone starts sinning again. Enter Moses.

God give Moses the law and commandments. Now we can imagine things clicking in everyone’s heads. “Now we know exactly what displeases God; now we know why God has done all He has.” But now we have a new problem. It would have been natural to assume that man could prevent the sentence of death by obeying the law. This, of course, doesn’t happen. Again, we reiterate Paul’s point in v. 14.

Paul says that, “the law entered that the offense might abound.” Why would God do this? It sounds like God wanted us to sin. How does the introduction of the law result in grace? Paul makes it sound like the law was the answer to all of our problems. What is he talking about?

We must understand the purpose of the law. Paul expounds on this in his letter to the Galatians. Let’s use scripture to interpret scripture. Galatians 3:24 says, “Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” The only problem the administration of the law solves is man’s ignorance of particular sins. If it is only a tutor, we learn from it what displeases God. The Jewish law and sacrificial system understands that this law cannot be kept. Thus it was necessary to offer sacrifices repeatedly. Recall our study in week 4 when the Israelites stated that, “all God says, we will do.” Then Moses sprinkles them with blood as if to reply, “no you won’t.” (see Exodus 24).

It isn’t that God wanted us to sin; He wanted us to be aware of our inability to attain the same level of holiness He possesses. We must understand, again, that God’s intention for us was freedom (as in the Garden of Eden), not bondage under the law. This is evident in the law’s late introduction in human history. What Paul means by “that the offense might abound,” is that we might be conscious of sin. When we learn the law, we are aware of our spiritual deficiencies.

As for how the law results in grace, we must return to the Doctrine of the Two Captains, which results in the Gospel of Free Grace. Sin and death reigns because of one man, Adam. Grace and life reigns because of another man, Christ. The most significant teaching we can walk away with at this point is this: just as we were not responsible for our suffering and death, neither are we responsible for our life and salvation in Jesus Christ. The more we become aware of our sin, the more grace we understand ourselves to have received. Remember when Jesus says of the sinful woman, “Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little (Luke 7:47).” We must be aware of the depth of our sins to be recipients of the abundance of grace granted to us through Jesus Christ.

This, of course, spawns a new question: shall we continue to sin, that grace may abound? This is exactly the question Paul anticipates the Romans will ask. In week 7, we’ll look at Paul’s response.

Week 5

We have found the gospel in the Old Testament, we have established that we are hopelessly lost; we are persuaded that we are sinners, we are acquainted with the law but we are aware of the “righteousness of God apart from the law.” Are we the only folks who are aware of this? Do we have to have Paul tell us these things? This week we take an in-depth look at one of the first people to be justified apart from the law.

We are now ready to tackle chapter 4 so brew a fresh pot of coffee, get your Bible and buckle your seatbelts: this is going to take a while.

Romans 4:1- What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

What happens when we see a righteous man? Most of us know people who are better than we are. No matter how much we try, we convince ourselves that they outshine us in good deeds and righteousness. Paul was one of those folks. He even says that He exceeded in righteousness (Phil 3:4-6). Perhaps Abraham was such a man. However, Paul says that even if he was such a man, he would have nothing to boast of before God. God was not concerned with Abraham’s righteousness. God saw his faith and his faith was more important than his righteousness. Thus it is written: “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” This passage comes from Genesis 15.

Genesis 15:1-3 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” But Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!”

Remember in Genesis 12, God gave Abram promises, namely that through his seed the nations would be blessed (12:3). By chapter 15, as we could imagine, Abram is looking at the situation and doesn’t see the promises fulfilled. God comes to him and tells him that He is his great reward. Perhaps the best response to this kind of conversation would be falling on one’s face in reverence and adoration with thanksgiving and praise. Instead, Abram cuts to the chase: “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!” Let’s go back to Genesis 15.

Genesis 15:4-5 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” Ad He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”

So Abram saw that Eliezer was going to be his heir. Eliezer was only “born in [his] house,” he was not his son. God had not fulfilled His promise. But God reveals a very important detail that He withheld from Abram in chapter 12: that the seed He promised would come from Abram’s own body. Abram, being very old, could do two things here: he could look at the situation and call God crazy or he could believe God.

Genesis 15:6 And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.

There has been no time spent on how “good” Abram was. He has done nothing to earn righteousness. Last week, we spoke of the righteousness of God apart from the Law. At this point, there is no established law. God doesn’t give the law to Moses until much later. So, just as Paul says, if Abraham is justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. That is to say, even if Abraham’s righteousness exceeded that of the Pharisees, that righteousness was not what God saw to declare him righteous. Paul is only teaching what we learn here, in Genesis: the just shall live by faith. Even the Pharisees had this teaching available. If asked how Abraham was considered righteous before God, a Pharisee would have to say, “Because he believed God.” So we have answered the question we asked earlier: are we the only folks who are aware of this kind of righteousness, righteousness by faith? No. Anyone looking at this passage in the Old Testament had this teaching available to them.

Here is a little quiz: how was Abraham saved?
A) By sacrifice
B) By the blood of goats and bulls
C) By the keeping of the law
D) By faith

If you chose D), we can move on. If you didn’t, review week 5’s notes again.

To move on, we must go back to a very important detail mentioned above. God promised Abram that this seed would come from his own body. Until now, God had only revealed a vague promise and withheld a lot of information. Little by little, Abraham is fed more details. We should not fault him for not understanding God’s purpose. Being very old, he sees that it isn’t probable that he will have children of his own, yet he still expects God to stick to His word. But lest Abram should think that what God meant by his seed was only figurative; God tells him that this seed will come from his own body. Prophesies are funny things. When received, we could take them literally or find some hidden meaning. We won’t know exactly what they mean until after they are fulfilled. This is the situation that Abram found himself in. Imagine his joy when God told him this news. The significance of this information, however, is much bigger than God bringing joy to the heart of a nomad. The purpose of prophecy, oftentimes, is so that we might glorify God and His omniscience. We are given information about the future; we cannot know for sure what it will be like; it happens; we are amazed; we glorify God. So when a prophecy is given to Abraham about his seed and that through it, all the nations will be blessed, God will be glorified in the day that it is fulfilled. The promises made to Abraham are complex because, although he did not live to see it completely fulfilled, he did see it partially fulfilled. Ishmael is born, praise God! Isaac is born; this is even more amazing. Abraham had to take it on faith that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars because he knew he couldn’t live long enough to see it happen. In the twenty-first century, we can see this promise fulfilled but in two different ways.

The Physical Descendants of Abraham and the Israel of God

We can trace Abraham’s lineage. We can follow his children and his children’s children. Surely, God fulfilled His promise to Abraham. The Jewish nation spawned from Abraham. If you are Jewish, you could call Abraham your father, and you would be correct. Physically, you came from Abraham. However, if all God wanted to do was bless Abraham with a lot of children, why does He say that all of the nations will be blessed through his seed? If we understand this prophecy as purely physical, as many people do, we must ask ourselves how all of the nations have been blessed by the Jewish people. Whatever answer we come up with will fall short of the truth if it does not ultimately end with Christ.

Thankfully, we do not need my insights here, but we can refer to Paul’s teaching. Let’s look at Galatians 3:15.

Galatians 3:15-18 Brethren, I speak in the manner of men: Though it is only a man’s covenant, yet if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it. Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ. And this I say, that the law which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect. For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise.

The first thing we must address, here, is a translation phenomenon. This passage quotes Genesis 22:16-19. Paul is telling us what this passage means: God’s promise to Abraham was that the nations would be blessed by one of his descendants. However, in most translations, this teaching is obscured. A typical reading of this passage would have us believe that there is nothing more to this prophecy than that God would rise up a great nation from one man. But Paul says that God’s promise was not to Abraham’s many descendants, but to ONE of his descendants. This is a phenomenon because, although Paul’s translation is clear, our Bibles miss the boat, almost across the board, in this passage. To avoid any future confusion, cross out the word descendants/offspring in verse 17 and replace it with the word “Seed” with a capital “S.” Also, a better translation for the word “their,” would be “His.” In effect, verse 17 should read: “blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your Seed shall possess the gate of His enemies.” Now we are on board with Paul.

So, if the promise is made to Abraham’s Seed, that is Christ, then in Christ all of the nations will be blessed. Paul tells us that this is the key to understanding the God’s promise to Abraham. Let’s take another quiz:

How has God blessed the nations of the earth through Abraham and his Seed?

A) He increased Abraham’s physical descendants,
B) The promise has not yet been fulfilled,
C) Through Abraham came the one Seed, Christ, who offers salvations for Jew and Gentile alike.

If you answered C, you are correct. This is the solution that Paul has given us.

Paul tells us in Romans, chapter 4, that Abraham was justified, not by works, but by faith. Faith in what? Faith in God’s promise. What was God’s promise? That through Abraham’s Seed the nations would be blessed. Abraham’s faith in a rudimentary gospel is how righteousness was imputed to him. We are jumping through a lot of hoops to prove this point but we are trying to follow Paul.

Abraham Did Not Stagger at the Promise of God

Romans 4:20-21 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.

The last point we covered in week 5 also counters a modern phenomenon. Usually, modern preaching and teaching uses the story of Abraham and Hagar to illustrate Abraham’s lack of faith that God would fulfill His promise. Romans 4:20-21 clearly teaches the opposite. The reason for this is that it seems as though Abraham was impatient and took it upon himself to fulfill God’s promise. Therefore, he fathers Ishmael through Hagar. This is simply not the case. If we look at the sequence of events and God’s revelation, we can see how Abraham did not stagger at the promise of God by lying with Hagar.

In Genesis 12:1-3, God makes a covenant with, or promise to, Abraham. All that is revealed to him is that 1) God will make him a great nation, 2) he shall be a blessing, and 3) all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Knowing what we know now, this seems like a vague revelation. How could an old, childless man be made into a great nation? How could he be a blessing? And how could all the families of the earth be blessed by him? God only gives him a little information. A few chapters later, God gives him a little more information.

Genesis 15:4 “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.”

As we said before, looking at the situation, Abraham sees that to be a great nation, he would need an heir. Not satisfied with the prospect of Eliezer becoming his heir, he complains to God. God reveals to Abraham that this blessing will indeed come by his offspring, as he suspects, but by his physical offspring. This is information that God withheld in chapter 12. What happens next?

Genesis 16:1-4a, 15 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. And she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai. Then Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan. So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived…So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.

With our current knowledge, we tend to look at Abraham and ask, “What are you thinking?” We know that Sarah eventually conceives and it is in her child that the promise is fulfilled (partially). Clearly, it would seem, Abraham “messed up.” Was Abraham impatient? Possibly. If so, was his impatience faithlessness? No. Why? Because God has only told Abraham, at this point, that the promise would come through his physical body, not Sarah’s. Sarah did the math and figured that she would not bear the child of promise; God had not told anyone that she would. She proposed that he take Hagar, that she might bear the child of promise. This, being a common custom, seemed good to Abraham. It isn’t until chapter 17 that God reveals a little more of the promise.

Genesis 17:19 Then God said; “No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him.

Now Abraham has information that he did not have before taking Hagar to be his wife. That is, Abraham could not have had faith that Sarah would conceive and bear the child of promise had God not told him so. How can it be, then, that Abraham was faithless by taking Hagar as his wife only to “fulfill” God’s promise? He didn’t know any better. Proverbs says “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, it is the glory of kings to seek it out.” When God points man in a direction, it is his glory to seek it out.

Another quiz:

True or False
Abraham wavered at the promise of God.

If you answered False, you are in agreement with Paul. Amaze your friends with this teaching.

What does all of this mean for us? Why is Paul talking about Abraham and faith? He just spent several chapters convincing us that we are sinners, why bring Abraham into the whole mess? The answer is, in Abraham, we should see ourselves: a people who are not righteous but to whom righteousness is accounted. Next week, we will look at chapter 5 where Paul elaborates on why Abraham’s faith is so significant and how it relates to us. Next week is a mandate to praise. I told you it gets better.

Week 4

Last week, Paul persuaded us that we are sinners and cannot escape God’s righteous judgment. He runs this idea into the ground for a while. We might even say that Paul was the first “hellfire and brimstone” puritan preacher. Hopefully, Paul makes us more uncomfortable by the verse. As if this wasn’t enough, he introduces the idea that the physical descendants of Abraham are not God’s literal people, an idea that, too, that is central to his New Testament teachings. If we let Paul shake us up a bit we can better understand his point. As we said before, it must get worse before it gets better. I might also add that to some, these might seem like elementary theological truths. However, it is essential for us to grasp these concepts to understand God’s love for us. He is a jealous husband who delights in the praise of His wife (us). If we remember even the most elementary facts of the gospel, we are moved to a place of gratitude and will respond with the praise of Christ. That being said, let us begin.

Romans 3:1-2 What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God.

Suppose that you are Jewish (if you aren’t) and you read the book of Romans. You think of the entire history of Israel and the enormous testimony of the Old Testament. You draw the conclusion that Paul is insane. “Paul is making me nervous/Paul is making me scared/Into this room he swaggers like he’s God’s own messenger,” as one Jewish songwriter puts it (Glen Philips, Toad the Wet Sprocket). You ask, “If this is so, why did God establish circumcision? Why did God deliberately set a physical nation apart, physically, if an ‘outward’ Jew is not a Jew after all? And, if what Paul says is true, then what advantage does the physical Jew have as Paul asks here in 3:1.”

Paul addresses these questions, beginning with the latter. Most importantly, he teaches, unto the Jews are committed the “oracles of God.” What are the oracles? The prophecies are the oracles Paul speaks of. If what Paul says is true, these really shouldn’t be new teachings to his readers because they know these oracles. Remember what Jesus says: You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me (John 5:39).” Paul was a Jew. He counted himself as blessed because, unlike the Gentiles, the gospel was available to him through the Scriptures.

Romans 3:3-4 For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? 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.”

Still supposing that you are a Jew, you realize that if this is true, most of the Jews throughout history have missed the point. Were you to ask Paul about this he would tell you that, even though it is true that most Jews have missed the point, God is still righteous in his judgment. In other words, if one rejects this idea of inward circumcision, that is faith in Christ, he is still under the curse of the law. He will not be exempt from God’s judgment (2:3). You can follow Paul’s train of thought from verse 5 through verse 20. In week 4, however, we skip down to verse 21.

Romans 3:21-25 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness…

If you’ve been sweating in the pew as Paul has taught of the hopeless condition of man before a righteous and holy God, consider verses 21-25 a fresh breeze and cold drink. Just when we thought we couldn’t take any more, Paul introduces the Good News. Up until now, we have been taught that whatever righteousness we can muster up does not change the fact that we are destined to suffer God’s wrath. Isaiah says our righteous deeds are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). All of this talk of judgment and sin is according to the Law. The Law is the measuring stick by which God judges. He has spoken what is good and anything outside of that is considered sin. But the Good News is “apart from the law.”

Paul says, as we covered in week one, that the Law, itself, and the prophets, that is the Old Testament, has “witnessed” this “righteousness of God apart from the law.” This implies that God intended salvation to happen “apart from the Law.” This should exclude any notion that the Gospel was God’s plan B. Lets look at Exodus, chapter 24. Moses takes the Book of the Covenant and reads it to the Israelites. The Israelites then respond: “all that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient.” Moses then sprinkles the people with blood and says, “this is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words.” The lesson we should learn from the Israelites is that to be totally obedient to God is impossible. We should not shake our heads at them as if we could have kept the commands of God. We should know better. This is exactly why Moses sprinkles the blood. He prefigures the blood of Christ. By sprinkling the people, it is as if he is saying, “it is not your obedience that will save you but the blood.” The blood of what? Hebrews 10:4 says, “for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.” So the literal blood that Moses sprinkled did not take away the peoples sin; there is no way that it could. Only the blood of Jesus Christ, the spotless lamb, could do such a thing. This is what Paul means when he says the righteousness of God, apart from the law, is witnessed by the Law and the prophets.

But what is this “righteousness apart from the law,” how do we have access to it, and why should we want it? Lets address the last question first. Why should we even be concerned with the righteousness of God. After all, it is His righteousness and not ours? The answer: He expects from us the same righteousness that He possesses (Lev 11:44). As verse 23 states, we have all fallen short, and therefore we are to be judged by one who does no wrong. Now we can see why possessing His righteousness would be desirable. So how do we access His righteousness? Paul tells us in verse 22: through faith in Jesus Christ. Before we continue, we must stop and realize what Paul means by “through faith.” As we have learned in preceding weeks, Paul has discouraged us from trying to attain salvation by obeying the law. Even in our best attempts we fail. The phrase “by faith” stands in direct contrast to the idea that we can earn righteousness. Hebrews 11:1 defines faith as “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Now think about the contrast between faith and the Law. Which is easier? It is a trick question, really. So we have access to the righteousness of God through faith, but what is the righteousness of God? We find the answer in 1:16-17: “…I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ…for in it the righteousness of God is revealed.”

So there we have it. If we, by faith, believe that Jesus Christ is God and He offered Himself as the sacrifice that Moses prefigured, then we have attained salvation apart from the law.

We covered little ground on week 4 but chapter three is quite heavy. Paul summarizes the point he is trying to make in verses 27-31. We can chew on this for a while. In week 5, we take a look at Abraham and explore this concept of the righteousness of God apart from the law, that is, the concept of faith.

Week 3

By week 3 we have reached chapter 2. So far we have studied the gospel through the lens of the Old Testament and established that we are without excuse concerning our knowledge of sin. Chapter 2 flows from distinguishing God’s judgment from ours to the teaching of the “True Jews.” Let us begin.

Romans 2:1 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.

Paul’s teaching implies a principle of judgment that is important for us to understand: you cannot judge another if you are guilty of the same thing. Is this so? I always imagine a judge in a courtroom for the sake of analogy. Imagine a judge sending someone to prison for murder after he, himself, is guilty of the same thing. Perhaps politicians would serve as a better example. At any rate, we can agree with Paul here: it is wrong for one to judge when he/she is guilty of the same thing. The issue Paul is addressing is something we are all guilty of: hypocrisy. The most common mistake we make while reading this is to assume Paul is talking to “really bad” folks and not us. This is wrong. Paul is talking directly to us. If you have never judged anyone, this doesn’t apply to you; skip down to the next section. For the rest of us, we are undone. Why? Because Paul is telling us we are guilty. Another mistake we make is to take inventory of our own judgments. We easily let ourselves off the hook by pleading “not guilty” to a list of things we judge others for. However, Paul is making an absolute statement, not open to interpretation: if you judge, you are guilty of the same. He isn’t saying “make sure you’re not guilty of the same thing before you judge.” This is important for us to understand before we move on.

Romans 2:2 But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things.

If you need to be convinced that you are guilty of every sin that you could possibly judge others for, read the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5-7). Here, Jesus levels the playing field, so to speak. So if we are guilty of all things that we might judge others of, why can’t I think of any time I have murdered? “But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment (Matt 5:22).” Jesus just told me I am guilty of murder. God knows every secret of the heart. This is why “the judgment of God is according to truth…” God does not judge according to randomness, relevance, or whatever “mood” he finds Himself in. No, He judges according to truth. When we think that God “grades us on a curve,” we have fallen from orthodoxy. Paul tells us that He sees the truth, as Jesus outlines in the Sermon on the Mount, and judges accordingly. If this upsets your understanding of man’s wickedness before God, stick with me. This is exactly what Paul is trying to do. Let’s skip to verses 6 and 7.

Romans 2:6-7 …who “will render to each one according to his deeds”: eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality.

Paul mentions three things that those who are patient and seek to do good seek after. They are 1) glory, 2) honor, and 3) immortality. Immortality is a given. Perhaps most pagans believe that doing good will some how result in immortality. A good question to ponder would be: what does it mean to do good? However, I would like to focus on the first two. Glory and honor are certainly desirable. We love to be praised for doing what is good; we love to be “honored” before many. Receiving awards and recognition all fall under this category. So is Paul saying that those who are patient seek immortality and recognition for doing good? No. Let’s look at Proverbs 25:27. “It is not good to eat much honey; so to seek one’s own glory is not glory.” If scripture says it is not good to seek our own glory, than what Paul is saying must mean something else. The glory and honor that Paul speaks of is the glory and honor of Christ.

How does this relate to the preceding verses? The context, here, is how to escape the wrath of God. Paul states in verse 5 that all our judgment will do is “store up for [ourselves] wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” So God grants eternal life to those who seek to honor Him and glorify Him forever.

Before we go any further, we must understand Paul’s teaching to this point. God’s law is ABSOLUTLY INFLEXIBLE. If you have violated the law, ever, you are guilty of breaking the WHOLE law. Paul is convincing us that we are sinners.

Teaching of the True Jews

Romans 2:28-29 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 the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.

Why did God choose a certain people? Have you ever asked this question? Many Christians believe that the Jewish people are the chosen of God, therefore, regardless of what they believe, they will be saved. Is this teaching consistent with the New Testament? Paul teaches us otherwise. If God chose a people, will God not save them from wrath? Yes. Who has God chosen? Israel, the Jews? Yes. Who are the Jews? Are they the physical descendants of Abraham? No (see Romans 4:9-11). Paul answers this question in verses 28 and 29. “…he is a Jew who is on inwardly.” This distinction is important because it presupposes all of Paul’s New Testament teaching. He thus coined the phrase “The Israel of God (Gal 6:16)”

This is where week 3 ends. We move on to chapter 3 in week 4 to discuss the Israel of God in more detail.

Week 2

In week-one we established what the gospel of God is and what it isn’t. We also saw how God has been preaching this same gospel since the days of Adam and Eve. By the Doctrine of the Seed we saw how Jesus Christ fulfilled the promises made to Eve, Abraham, David and Mary to name a few. This week we move on a bit more rapidly to the end of chapter one.

Romans 1:3-4- …concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead…”

Paul confesses that Jesus is both Son of Man and Son of God. That is to say that Christ fulfilled the prophesies made to David (2 Samuel 7:12), that He will come from David’s line, but also He would be divine, as Isaiah 53 says. Paul, from the beginning, is making it clear that He preaches, confesses, professes and teaches Jesus Christ, the God-Man, the Messiah-with-a-Name-and-Body. By confessing that Jesus was the Son of God both by David and by the Holy Spirit, he confesses what is known as the duel nature of Christ. That is fully God and fully Man, as the creed says.

Romans 1:5- …Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name…

Paul’s apostleship is to preach the gospel to all nations. Although an understanding of the Old Testament is helpful for us to know God, it is not necessary to believe in the gospel. In other words, no Jewish background is required. However, Paul uses the word “obedience.” He is not teaching easy-believism.

Romans 1:11-12- 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 says he comes to impart “some spiritual gift” to the Roman church. Some might teach that this gift is of a charismatic nature, i.e. speaking in tongues or prophesy, etc. However, this may not necessarily be the case. It might be. But it could be that he is only speaking about the teaching he is brings in this letter. He goes on to explain that in his theological training of the Roman church, he also receives encouragement. In other words, training in the faith strengthens faith. The stronger our faith is, the more we rejoice with each other in its truth. Paul is training up the church so he might have some to rejoice with. Is this not true in your life? Do we not find kindred spirits with those who share our faith? With those who we might otherwise have nothing in common? When one Christian’s faith is strengthened, the whole body of Christ is strengthened.

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.”

This is what many regard as Paul’s Thesis. That is to say that Paul summarizes what he is about to expound upon in these two verses. Again, his thesis really isn’t anything new because it all hinges on the verse he quotes from Habakkuk 2:4: “the Just shall live by faith.” So what we can expect from Paul is an in-depth explanation of what it means for the just to live by faith.

Also in these two verses we find an exclusive tone in Paul that counters much of what our culture says; even church culture. The power of God to salvation that Paul speaks of is contingent on one thing: belief. He does not say: for in the gospel is the power of God to salvation for everyone but for everyone who believes. A good reading through the book of Romans, as we will see, reiterates this fact.

Romans 1:18-20- 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.

Now, with the formalities out of the way, Paul begins to teach. First, that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. Paul tells us that there is something we can know of His wrath against sin “since the creation of the world (v. 18, 20).” To put it another way, we do not need the specifics of the gospel to know that our creator hates sin. There is an underlying moral code known to mankind. Paul says that man has ignored this code, so to speak (v. 21).

Can we know the gospel by looking at nature? It might seem like Paul says we can, but the answer is no. He does say we can know two things by looking at creation: 1) His eternal power, and 2) His Godhead (v. 20b). This is, according to Paul, enough to know or see God’s wrath. Now Paul seems to speak of a specific people who “knew God, but did not glorify Him as God…” Who knew God but did not glorify Him? Perhaps the answer is the people in Noah’s day. Whatever the case, we can learn from Paul that it should catch no one off guard that they have sinned. “Nobody is perfect,” is our mantra but do we really believe it? Paul says we are without excuse (v. 20). According to him, we don’t have to believe our own mantra, we know it.

A brief word study would be beneficial, as a side-note. Paul uses the word Godhead in the above quoted passage. He also uses the word Godhead in Colossians 2:9. The words both translate as Godhead but have slightly different meanings. In Colossians the word Paul uses is Theotes, meaning divinity. But here in Romans he uses the word Theiotes: god-like or “God’s attributes.” This is a slight difference, but the point is that although it is very general, the revelation of God without the Bible is still revelation and thus men are without excuse.

Should this trouble us? If it does, we miss Paul’s point. Our knee-jerk reaction might be to think of those who have never heard the gospel and hope that God will still save them. If this is our line of thinking then we believe that a person is damned to Hell simply because he has not heard the gospel. This is not so. Paul says that man is without excuse. Excuse for what? Excuse for not having heard the gospel? No! Man has a great excuse for not hearing the gospel: “no one came to my village and shared the gospel with me, Lord.” Man doesn’t need the gospel to know he is a sinner; therefore he is without excuse regarding the fact that he deserves punishment. In other words, he cannot plea with God to simply let him off the hook because he didn’t know better. Paul says here that he does know better, hence he is without excuse. Man is not accountable to God to know the gospel; he is accountable to God to be perfect as He is perfect. I am getting ahead of myself, though. For know, we must understand where Paul is going. It must get much worse before it gets any better. And it doesn’t get much better for a few weeks so you might want to read ahead.

Week 1

In week-one we cover a lot of ground work. Little time is spent in the book of Romans. We only make it through 1:3. We must first establish an Old Testament understanding of God’s promise “through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures (1:2).”

Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God…

What is an apostle? An apostle is 1) someone sent to preach the gospel in new places, or 2) Apostle (capital A) can refer to the 12 Apostles spoken of in the New Testament. In the latter sense, an Apostle must have seen Jesus’ resurrected body. Paul claims apostleship in verse 1. See 1 Corinthians 15:8. Paul is always on the defensive regarding his apostleship since he is one “born out of due time.” You can read about Paul’s witness of the resurrected Christ in Acts 9.

Before we can go any further with Paul we must understand what he means by the gospel. This is clearly outlined in 1 Corinthians 15, specifically in verses 3 and 4.

The gospel is not: 1) living like a nice person, or 2) believing in God.

The gospel is:
1) Jesus died for our sins
2) Jesus was buried
3) Jesus raised in a real body
4) Jesus really appeared to the brethren
5) Jesus ascended in a real body

All “according to the scriptures…” What scriptures. The New Testament has not been written yet therefore Paul is referring to the Old Testament.

…which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh…

If what Paul says is true, where can we find the gospel in the Old Testament? Here is the ground work. I will only list a few of the scriptures, all of which we covered in week one:

Concerning the Son of God:

2 Samuel 7:12- When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.

This verse seems to be about David’s yet-to-be-born son, Solomon. In one sense it is about Solomon. However, Solomon’s throne comes to an end. The physical Davidic monarchy is not established forever. Either God did not stick to His promise or He wasn’t referring to Solomon entirely. If not referring to Solomon, than to who was He referring? This must be a prophecy of the Messiah. In this prophecy God calls the Messiah His Son. We may have trouble with the latter part of verse 14 (…if he commits iniquity…). Christ did indeed suffer chastisement with the rod of men and blows with the sons of men for He was punished greatly (Isaiah 53:5). We hold and teach that Christ knew no sin as does the Bible. “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (1 Cor. 5:21). This is how Jesus fulfills this prophecy.

Genesis 3:15- And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.

This is the first mention of the gospel in scripture. It is God’s address to the serpent after the fall in which He mentions the woman’s seed. This is the only mention of the woman’s seed. Since Jesus was born of the virgin Mary, He fulfills this prophecy. However, Eve only had knowledge that she would bear the seed. God gave her no further information. For all she knew, her first child might have been this Seed God spoke of. Therefore, in Genesis 4:1, Eve says “I have acquired a man from the Lord.” The literal Hebrew translation of this verse is: “I have brought forth a man, the Lord.” Not only did she believe Cain was the fulfillment of this prophecy, she believed he was the Lord. This, she would soon find out, was not the case.

Genesis 12:1- Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

This is the first instance of God’s promise to Abraham. It is very general and is conditional on Abraham’s obedience. Abraham must trust that God has spoken and that God will fulfill His promise. Abraham obeys. In Genesis 22:15, God reveals a little more to Abraham.

Genesis 22:15-18- Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son—blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your Seed shall possess the gate of His enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.

This passage is essential for understanding doctrine of the Seed. Let’s start by addressing translations. The above passage is taken from the New King James Version. I have altered the translation to match that of the Apostle Paul’s (Galatians 3:16). In verse 18, most translations say “descendants” or “offspring.” We miss a very important detail of the gospel when we use these words. Paul quotes this passage and uses the word “Seed.” He makes a very important point that we will address later. For now, suffice it to say, we must trust the Apostle Paul over our English Bible translators.

Let’s move on. God now reiterates His initial promise to Abraham. The blessing He promised will come “in his seed.” This is important because it is God who is using this language of seed. Not only that, but, as Paul teaches in Galatians, this Seed is one particular person, Christ or the Messiah.

One last note. God tells Abraham that He will multiply his seed as the stars in heaven and sands on the seashore. We can read into these two different kinds of seed: Heavenly seed and Earthly seed. We might say that the heavenly seed are those descendants of Abraham who spawn from the same faith that was accounted to him as righteousness (Gen 15:6). Or in other words, the saved. These are like the stars in heaven. There is also an earthly seed, or the sands on the seashore. This means the literal sons of Abraham; these are his descendants according to the flesh.

Psalm 2- Why do the nations rage? and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.” He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath and distress them in His deep displeasure: “Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the Lord has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; you shall dash, them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’” Now therefore, be wise, O kings; be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.

Psalm 2 is jam-packed with theology that will help us see that Jesus is the Son of God. Before we go very far, it is clear that David is not talking about himself. Verse 2 mentions the Lord and His Anointed, referring, of course, to Christ. The Psalm begins quoting God or He “who sits in the heavens,” laughing. Yet Verse 7, although maintaining authority to “decree,” quotes another. We know this because whoever is being quoted in verse 7 is quoting Him who was quoted in verse 6: the Lord. In verse 7, the Lord says “You are My Son.” We are admonished, or the kings and judges of the earth, to “kiss the Son, lest He be angry (v. 12).” We can conclude by Psalm 2 that God has begotten a Son and that that Son is God.

Psalm 16:8-11- I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will rest in hope. For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

We can know elements of the gospel in the Old Testament as we can here. The key verse in this passage is verse 10. God does not allow His “Holy One” to see corruption nor does He leave His soul in the grave. This implies two very important teachings that are reiterated in the New Testament: 1) Christ was buried, and 2) Christ rose from the dead.

Psalm 110:1- The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”

Sound familiar? It should remind us of the promise God made to Abraham about His Seed possessing the gate of His enemies. It should also remind us of Psalm two where we read God speaking to Himself. This is a very good proof-text for the doctrine of the Trinity. “The Lord said to my Lord…” or God says to God. He is one God, yet He speaks to Himself implying two persons. Add the Holy Spirit and we can see that the Bible, even the Old Testament teaches “God in three persons, blessed Trinity,” as the hymn goes.

Proverbs 30:2-4 Surely I am more stupid than any man, and do not have the understanding of a man. I neither learned wisdom Nor have knowledge of the Holy One. Who has ascended into heaven, or descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has bound the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son’s name, if you know?

That God has a Son is not an unusual concept in the Old Testament! Here, Agur somehow knows that God has a Son. This doctrine is not specific to the New Testament!

Isaiah 7:14- Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall cal His name Immanuel.

This passage should remind us of the first prophecy mention in the Bible concerning the “seed of the woman.” Though that prophecy does not imply the virgin birth, Isaiah 7:14 does coincide with Genesis 3:15. Remember, these are both Old Testament passages. The virgin birth is not a New Testament concept but, as we see here, originated in Old Testament prophesies.

Look at the name Immanuel. Your Bible probably has a footnote giving the literal meaning of this word which is “God With Us.” Now, is the Seed of the woman God? Eve thought so, Isaiah said so. Is the Seed of the woman the Son of God? Gabriel told Mary that He was (Luke 1:32, see also Matt. 1:18-25). As we have read in prior verses, namely Psalm 2, we can conclude that the Son of God is also God. Up until this point, we have uncovered nothing new or additional concerning these things. Though Old Testament man might not have called these prophesies the gospel, they were, nonetheless not new concepts. What is new is that through Mary, by the Holy Spirit, the Seed of the Woman is finally born and is given a name, Jesus.

We will discuss the Law and sacrificial system later, but whatever purpose they served, they did not nullify this promise given to Eve, Abraham, Israel, David, Mary or us.

Isaiah 9:6- For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

The child who is born in Luke 1 and Matthew 1 is the Child spoken of here. What is said of this Child? He is named or better yet, described. Among that description is “Mighty God” and “Everlasting Father.” Again, a child will be born and we will call Him “Everlasting Father?” Everlasting Father means God. The only way to make “sense” of this is to say that the Child is God. The Son is the Father, the baby is God.

Isaiah 53- Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken. And they made His grave with the wicked—But with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.

Yet is pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

We did not get too in-depth with Isaiah 53 in our study. For our purposes, we cannot find a clearer presentation of the gospel in the Old Testament than we do here. Isaiah puts the “snake out on the table,” as Dr. Padelford might say. By the words of the prophet we have details of the Messiah’s work, what He accomplishes and how He accomplishes it.

Notice the use of the word “seed” in verse 10: “He shall see His seed.” Christ accomplishes the atonement for those who the Father Him; He says, “It is finished (John 19:30).” If we follow the gospel as outlined in 1 Corinthians 15, particularly vv. 5-6, we see that Christ indeed beheld His seed. As we will establish later, the true seed of Abraham are those who share his faith for Paul says: “…and if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Are Abraham’s seed not ultimately Christ’s seed? Therefore, He “see[s] His seed.


Some of this doctrine of the Seed can be confusing or it might be uncomfortable for us to interpret the first few prophesies of the Seed as one seed and not many. Lest we come up with this stuff on our own, we have the Apostles to teach us. In Galatians 3:6, Paul teaches this very thing. To trust scripture, we must trust the Apostle’s teachings as well. “Check it out.” Remember; let the New Testament teach us what the Old Testament is saying.

Some of this material was actually covered in week two. The next blog will contain notes from that week where we left off here.