No Content Today--MungerFest Prep
I’ll write about Romans 9 on Monday. Have a great weekend, everyone.
"If God Is For Us"
Today we reach the crescendo of Romans 8, and if ever there were scripture verses worth knowing by heart, it would be these.
Today’s Reading: Romans 8:31-39
31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
This is the heart of the gospel, and the reason for Christians to be confident:
God so loved the world that he gave his only son. If God is like that, what won’t he do on our behalf?
33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
Who will condemn us if Christ won’t? Answer: no one.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
Paul quotes Psalm 44 to make the point that Christians face very real threats and sufferings. Nevertheless:
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Amen.
(Learn those words by heart.)
Why Do God's Beloved Children Suffer?
Paul has been writing about the Lord’s great love for us. The obvious question then is, “Why do God’s beloved children still suffer?” This is the question Paul sets out to address in today’s passage. Let’s go through verse by verse.
Today’s Reading: Romans 8:18-30
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
All you need to know: what God has planned not just for us but even in us will be SO MUCH BETTER than anything we currently suffer.
19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
Even the subhuman creation is currently suffering, waiting for the future time when God’s people will be perfected in glory and take their rightful place as stewards of creation. Remember, the purpose of humanity is to rule in God’s place over all of creation, but our sin has made that currently impossible and has had consequences in the subhuman creation. But it will not be like this forever.
22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
Paul uses the arresting image of childbirth and explains that it is as if the entire creation is in pain, waiting for the Kingdom to come. In the same way, we are also waiting for God to bring us through and into glory. We wait for that day with hope.
26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
But we are not alone! The Father has given us the Spirit, who comforts us and even helps us pray with words deeper than words.
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
One of the greatest verses in the entire scripture: God is taking EVERYTHING and turning it to the good of his beloved children, even their sufferings.
29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
Paul tells us that God has been actually working out this plan from before The Beginning. There is a good thing coming!
I’ll give Douglas Moo the last word on this passage:
“God’s intention, Paul emphasizes, is to bring to glory every person who has been justified [made right, declared innocent—AF] by faith in Jesus Christ. Our assurance of ultimate victory rests on this promise of God to us. But Paul, ever the realist, knows that that ultimate victory may lie many years ahead—years that might be filled with pain, anxiety, distress, and injustice. Thus he also encourages us by reminding us that God sends his Spirit into the heart of everyone he justifies. The Spirit brings power and comfort to the believer in the midst of suffering and he brings assurance in the midst of doubt. Christians who are unduly anxious about their relationship to the Lord are failing to let the Spirit exercise that ministry. It is by committing ourselves anew to the life of devotion—prayer, Scripture reading, Christian fellowship—that we enable the Spirit to have this ministry of assurance in our hearts”
Adopted As Heirs
Today’s Reading: Romans 8:12-17
12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.
Paul makes it clear that it is the death of Jesus that saves us and that we must respond in obedience. If you continue in sin, that kind of unrepentant behavior will lead you to eternal death. Obedient faith is saving faith.
14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
One of the gifts of the Spirit to us is that he makes us feel like we are God’s beloved children, i.e., he offers assurance. Because we are God’s heirs, our inheritance will be to share in God’s glory.
This Week We Read the Greatest Chapter in the Bible
Romans Chapter 8 has been called “the inner sanctuary within the cathedral of Christian faith; the tree of life in the midst of the Garden of Eden; the highest peak in a range of mountains.”
It’s a jewel in the crown, the crescendo of Paul’s great letter. And we get to read it together this week!
Today’s Reading: Romans 8:1-11
8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Let me quote extensively from Douglas Moo, whose commentary has been helpful to me:
“The central theme of vv. 1-11 is…. ‘life.’ The ‘no condemnation’ that heads this paragraph is grounded in the reality of the believer’s transfer from death to life. In vv. 2-4, this transfer emanates from ‘the Spirit of life,’ who applies to the believer the benefits won by Christ on the cross, thereby enabling the fulfillment of the law’s just demand.”
This is such a powerful idea: God himself fulfilled the law’s demands by sending his own Son. God pulled sin into one place and nailed it to the cross, thereby defeating it. As a result, we who now live by the Spirit are actually enabled to live faithfully.
5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you,then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.
More Moo:
“Verses 5-9 teach that the flesh is necessarily in opposition to God, turning every person into a rebel against God and his law and reaping death in consequence. This explains why it is only by ‘being in the Spirit’ (v. 9) and ‘walking according to the Spirit’ (v. 4b) that life and peace can be had. And the life that the Spirit gives is by no means ended by the grave, for the presence of the Spirit guarantees that the bodies of believers will be raised from physical death (vv. 10-11).”
"I Do What I Do Not Want to Do"
Today’s Reading: Romans 7:7-25
7 What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead. 9 Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. 10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me,and through the commandment put me to death. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.
13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good to bring about my death, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.
14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
This is one of the most famous passages in the Bible, and it has generated no end of opinions. Who is the “I” Paul is writing about?
Here’s what I think is the most persuasive interpretation:
In Romans 7, Paul is talking about his life as a Jew before coming to Christ, and by extension he is speaking about the experience of Israel before the coming of the Messiah. Though they had the Mosaic Law, it in itself was not enough to change their hearts.
Paul is explaining that, from personal experience, it’s not possible to be righteous on your own—you need the Spirit of God to change you, which is what he will start talking about in Romans 8.
Released From the Law, Bound to Christ
Today’s Reading: Romans 7:1-6
7:1 Do you not know, brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? 2 For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him. 3 So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.
4 So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. 5 For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. 6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.
Paul’s point is that a person is only bound by the law while he or she lives. If you are married and your spouse is living, then you are still under the law of marriage; but if your spouse has died, you are no longer under the law of marriage. He uses that little metaphor to explain that a Christian is someone whose old self has died and so we are no longer under the law; now, rather, we live by the Spirit. The old has gone and the new has come.
Does Grace Create Moral Hazard?
Does grace create moral hazard? That is, if people know they can be forgiven for their sins, does that knowledge encourage them to sin even more, knowing that they can just ask for forgiveness later? This is the question Paul addresses in today’s reading.
Paul’s answer will surprise you.
Today’s Reading: Romans 6:15-23
15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means!
Paul has previously made the point that Christians are no longer under (Old Testament) law, but are now under grace. Does that mean that they can sin as much as they want?
NO. And he goes on to explain why.
6 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
Paul’s point is NOT that Christians are now free from control, but that they are now controlled by Christ. Christians are still slaves, but now they are “slaves to righteousness.” Because they are slaves to righteousness, it makes no sense that they would continue to serve sin.
You gotta serve somebody.
As Douglas Moo puts it:
Those who are joined to Christ by faith live in the new age where grace, not the law of Moses, reigns. This being the case, believers’ conduct is not directly regulated by the law. Under Jewish premises, such a “law-less” situation would be assumed to foster sin….But Paul sees in God’s grace not only a liberating power but a constraining one as well: the constraint of a willing obedience that comes from a renewed heart and mind and, ultimately… the impulse and leading of God’s Spirit.
19 I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. 20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Paul admits that the slavery metaphor isn’t perfect, but he’s trying to make his point in language they understand. He goes on to ask what good came from their slavery to sin, compared with their current slavery to Christ. Sin leads to death, but Christ gives life.
For Paul—and for us!—the point is clear: you gotta serve somebody, and it’s better to serve the one who gives life than the power that leads to death.
Why Do Christians Still Sin?
Why is it that Christians still sin after baptism? This is the question Paul asks in today’s passage.
Today’s Scripture: Romans 6:1-12
Don’t forget I’m going to be teaching an in-person Bible study on Romans TOMORROW: Wednesday, October 20, 6-7 PM. More info here.
6:1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?
Paul has hit this question previously in Romans. If God’s grace shows up wherever sin is present, and if the greater the sin means the greater the grace, then why don’t we just sin more so there is more grace?
2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptizedinto Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sinonce for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
Paul emphatically answers the question from the previous verse: NO WAY. We don’t sin to “increase” God’s grace because that would imply we are still under the slavery of sin. But, in fact, in a mystical way, we have been united with Christ through faith, and our old sinful self has been crucified with Christ. What this means is that there is no reason whatsoever that Christians must continue to sin. It’s like we’ve been let out of prison—there is no reason to walk back inside the prison walls.
11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master,because you are not under the law, but under grace.
I find this passage really encouraging and convicting: there is no reason for me to be tolerant of sin in my life, because Christ has set me free from sin. This means there is nothing inevitable about my sin—through the work of the Holy Spirit, I can shut the door on past practices and live as a new man.
What do you need to walk away from today?
Adam vs. Jesus
Today’s Scripture: Romans 5:12-21
Don’t forget I’m going to be teaching an in-person Bible study on Romans this Wednesday, October 20, 6-7 PM. Hope you can join me.
12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—
13 To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.
15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16 Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, deathreigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in lifethrough the one man, Jesus Christ!
18 Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
20 The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal lifethrough Jesus Christ our Lord.
This is a complicated passage, and I found something in one of my commentaries that has been helpful to me. I’ve included it below.
Paul paints with broad brush strokes a bird’s-eye picture of the history of redemption. His canvas is human history, and the scope is universal. We hear nothing in this paragraph of Jew and Gentile; both are subsumed under the larger category “human being.” The perspective is corporate rather than individual. All people, Paul teaches, stand in relationship to one of two men, whose actions determine the eternal destiny of all who belong to them. Either one belongs to Adam and is under sentence of death because of his sin, or disobedience, one one belongs to Christ and is assured of eternal life because of his righteous act, or obedience. The actions of Adam and Christ, then, are similar in having epochal significance. But they are not equal in power, for Christ’s act is able completely to overcome the effects of Adam’s. Anyone who “receives the gift” that God offers in Christ finds security and joy in knowing that the reign of death has been completely and finally overcome by the reign of grace, righteousness, and eternal life (vv. 17, 21).
from The Letter to the Romans, by Douglas Moo
Suffering to Perseverance to Character to Hope
Today’s Scripture: Romans 5:1-11
5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.
We have been put right before God and all we had to do was just trust.
And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings,because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
Paul explains that those who are in Christ can even be grateful for sufferings because, through the grace of God, suffering can be used by God to produce hope that will not disappoint.
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies,we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
One of the most remarkable sentences in the entire Bible—Christ died for sinners!
Romans 4
My apologies for missing yesterday’s post. Today I cover yesterday’s and today’s readings in one long post on Romans 4.
Today’s Scripture: Romans 4
4:1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? 2 If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. 3 What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
Paul makes the point that Abraham, the great ancestor of the Israelites, wasn’t great because of what he achieved; Abraham was great because he trusted God. He was righteous because of his faith, not his works.
4 Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. 5 However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. 6 David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
7 “Blessed are those
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
8 Blessed is the one
whose sin the Lord will never count against them.”
Paul explains that when you are paid wages, your employer isn’t giving you a gift, but merely what you are owed. In contrast, when God just blesses someone with grace it’s a free gift and not some obligation that God was forced to provide.
9 Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. 10 Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! 11 And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. 12 And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
The Bible says that Abraham trusted God and it was his faith that made him righteous and that was before Abraham was circumcised. Paul’s point: Abraham is the spiritual father of everyone—both Jew and Greek—who puts faith in God.
13 It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. 14 For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless, 15 because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.
16 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. 17 As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.
Again, Paul makes the point that Abraham is not just the spiritual father of the Jews, but also the Gentiles who have faith in God.
18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.22 This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” 23 The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
Faith is not believing in the miraculous—Jesus walking on water, e.g.—faith is trusting God when the circumstances around you are bad. God told Abraham that he would give Abraham and Sarah a child, despite the fact that they were very old. To his credit, Abraham trusted that God would fulfill that promise. In the same way, we trust that the Father will save us through Jesus. Abraham is our great ancestor in the faith because of how he trusted God.
Faith is trusting God when the circumstances around you are bad.
How will you need to exercise faith today?
ANNOUNCEMENT: I’m going to teach another in-person Bible study on Romans next Wednesday, October 20, 6-7 PM. Hope you can join me.
But This Amazing Thing Has Happened!
Today’s Scripture: Romans 3:21-31
21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.
Paul says that the rightness of God has just come about in a surprising way—not through the Law (though the Law and the Prophets [i.e., the Old Testament] said it was going to happen). No, what is amazing is that God is doing something new by saving people through faith!
22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
From the study guide I gave out at the Munger Romans Bible Study last week:
Righteousness – the “rightness” of God, rooted in God’s identity, also God’s “making right” the wrong things of the world, also the characteristic of someone whom God has “made right” and is conforming to God’s standard.
Paul here says that all it takes to be made right by God is to trust—”faith”—in Jesus. Gentile or Jew—it doesn’t matter: each needs to be saved from sin and each can be. God’s righteousness is such that he doesn’t hold people’s sins against them, but forgives them because of the sacrificial death of Jesus.
27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith. 28 For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, 30 since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. 31 Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.
Paul says that none of us who is saved should boast about it because we did nothing to deserve or earn it—we only just trusted in Jesus. And again, this salvation is for both Jews and Greeks. And because Jews are saved through faith, this doesn’t mean the Law was useless; on the contrary, the Law shows that people need to be saved, because they are unable to keep it.
No One Is Good Enough
Today’s Scripture: Romans 3:9-20
9 What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin.
Paul, speaking to his imaginary Jewish interlocutor, makes his point again:
Just being Jewish doesn’t count for anything, because both Jews and Gentiles are sinful and need to be saved.
10 As it is written:
“There is no one righteous, not even one;
11 there is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.”
13 “Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit.”
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”
14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 ruin and misery mark their ways,
17 and the way of peace they do not know.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Here Paul quotes from the Old Testament—mainly the Psalms—to make emphasize the point he made above: people are sinful.
19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.
Again, just because the Jews have the Law doesn’t mean that they are better than other people. In fact, the Law proves just how sinful they are by not keeping its terms.
Paul is continuing to make his case about how sinful all of humanity it, so he can show just how amazing is the grace of God in Jesus Christ. Keep reading!
The Jews Are No Better than the Gentiles
My apologies for missing yesterday—I was so focused on our Wednesday night Bible study that I honestly just forgot about yesterday’s post. Below is two days’ worth of commentary. Happy Friday, everyone.
Today’s Scripture: Romans 2:12-3:8
12 For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. 14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them 16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.
Paul is responding to an imaginary Jewish interlocutor who says, “We’re fine, Paul, because we have the Law.” (Remember, “the Law” is a shorthand way Paul has of referring to the entire Old Testament and specifically the Torah, the first 5 books of the Old Testament that God gave Moses in the wilderness so that the Israelites would know how to live as God’s people.)
Paul’s response:
It’s not having or hearing the Law that matters, but actually being obedient to God;
Plus, the Gentiles have the law of their own conscience, so they have something;
17 But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God 18 and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; 19 and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth—21 you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. 24 For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”
25 For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. 26 So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 27 Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. 28 For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.
Paul is pointing out to his imaginary Jewish interlocutor that being Jewish doesn’t count for anything—that circumcision, the sign of the covenant and of one’s membership in Israel—is a worthless sign if you aren’t actually obedient. Just saying, “Well, I’m an Israelite, so I can’t be condemned for my sins” won’t work.
3 Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision?2 Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. 3 What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? 4 By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written,
“That you may be justified in your words,
and prevail when you are judged.”
“Okay, smart guy, if Jews stand condemned in sin just as much as Gentiles, then what’s the point of being a Jew? Why did God choose Israel as his people?”
Well, says Paul, for one thing, the Jews were given God’s word [“the oracles of God'“]. And even if some Israelites were unfaithful, that doesn’t change the character of God.
5 But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) 6 By no means! For then how could God judge the world? 7 But if through my lie God's truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? 8 And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.
“Okay,” says Paul’s interlocutor, “but if my sin shows God’s goodness, then doesn’t God kinda owe me for making him look good? Isn’t it good for Israel to sin, then, so that God can show his grace and righteousness? Shouldn’t we just sin more so God looks better? Why are we getting in trouble for making God look good?”
Paul says that anyone who thinks that way should be criticized, because that way of thinking is really twisted. After all, if God rewarded sin, then God would never right any wrongs or make any judgments. And that kind of God is no kind of God at all.
Remember, Paul’s main point in Romans 2-3 is that the Jews are no better off than the Gentiles, but are also totally sinful and in need of God’s grace.
We’re no different.
"Judge Not, Lest...."
“Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”
Today’s Scripture: Romans 2:1-11
2 You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. 2 Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3 So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?
Paul’s point here is that we tend to judge ourselves by our intentions and other people by their actions—we give ourselves a pass for the very same sins that we point out in others. And if your sins haven’t yet caught up with you, that’s only because God is showing you forbearance because he wants to give you time to repent!
5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 God “will repay each person according to what they have done.” 7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9 There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; 10 but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 11 For God does not show favoritism.
Because, sooner or later, every person will face judgment; no one gets to avoid it:
“For God does not show favoritism.”
Paul will go on from here to explain how the Jews are in no better position than are the Gentiles.
The Good News? The gospel is for both Gentiles and Jews.
Paul vs. My Pagan Ancestors
Today is the day we first see Paul hold nothing back. Done with the pleasantries, he goes straight at the heart of the matter, damn the torpedoes. Hold on tight, because here we go.
Today’s Scripture: Romans 1:16-32
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
Paul’s thesis statement for the entire letter: the gospel is a powerful, glorious thing that is saving the world and everyone in it, regardless of ethnic identity, if they are but willing to trust God.
This theme will be unpacked by Paul over the next 16 chapters.
And then Paul goes straight for my ancestors!
What I mean is, Paul spends the rest of chapter 1 explaining why the Gentiles (i.e., everybody who is not part of Israel, i.e., not Jewish) need to be saved.
The short answer: because they are all idolatrous sinners!
I’m not Jewish; one of my brothers did a genetic test a few years ago and shared the results with me: unsurprisingly, my ancestors all came from northwest Europe. So, at the time of Jesus, my fathers and mothers were prowling the great primeval forests of Germania and Gaul, painted in pagan warpaint and killing Romans, worshipping their false gods around druidic blazes.
And Paul unflinchingly explains why they had no excuse for their sin and violence.
18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
It was obvious to all ancient people that God (or gods) made the world, and if God made the world, then it follows there are right and wrong ways to behave. Paul’s point: even ignorant pagans knew that they often behaved in wicked ways. “A law written on their hearts,” or, as we would put it today, “conscience”. In other words, they couldn’t say, “It’s not our fault—God never gave us the Ten Commandments.” Paul’s reply, “You knew enough, and what you knew you didn’t keep.”
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
What’s the result of humanity’s refusal to acknowledge God? Well, God gives us over to our desires. And a result of this is our ignorance (though we think we’re smart) to such an extent that the ancient peoples literally worshipped idols and statues.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
Idolatry is worshipping something created rather than the Creator. We worship what we think will give us what we don’t have; worship is our focused attention on what we most desire.
One of the consequences of idolatry is sexual sin. Sexual sin is the worship of the human body rather than the Creator of the human body; sexual sin is what happens when we want pleasure on our own terms, that which is right in our own eyes. Because idolatry is a both a result of foolish rebellion and a cause of further foolishness, Paul sees “unnatural” sexual activity—sexual activity outside of the covenant of marriage, founded on the male/female union—as the paradigmatic example of pagan sin. Paul is talking about homosexual activity here, but I think the implication is larger than that and includes all forms of sexual sin. (I’ll have more to say about this at Bible study tomorrow evening (6 PM—be there!), but I think digital pornography is about the purest form of idolatry that there is, because it is about the focused desire of another person’s image.)
The brokenness that results from sexual sin is its consequence and proof that it’s wrong.
But Paul is not only concerned with sexual sin; rather, it is for him an excellent example of the consequence of pagan idolatry. So, he goes further and it is quite the indictment—buckle up:
28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy.32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
That is some list—hard to see what other forms sin might take that Paul doesn’t here condemn.
The point: the Gentiles (I’ve been calling them pagans) have no hope apart from the gospel. Their idolatry has caused them to be utterly corrupted by sin.
(Paul will spend the next 2 chapters explaining how the Jews are not actually any better.)
Consider that last paragraph of chapter 1—doesn’t it pretty much sum up the state of the world today in many places?
The Good News—which Paul is building towards—is that Jesus died for my pagan ancestors even as they worshipped the dark powers. Thanks be to God!
Today We Begin Romans
Today we begin our reading plan of Paul’s Letter to the Romans. We’ll finish the Wednesday before Thanksgiving (God willing), and our readings will be assigned to weekdays only. If you are on my Bible mailing list, you’ll receive each Romans blog post I write in your inbox every morning at 4:00 AM Central. (Subscribe and unsubscribe at any time.)
I’ll be leading morning prayer Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday mornings this week at 7:00 AM. (Evening prayer on Monday at 7:00 PM, too.) Would love to have you join me—I’ll give a very brief thought about each day’s Romans reading. Access via Facebook or mungerplace.live.
I’m teaching a churchwide Bible study at Munger this Wednesday from 6-7 PM. More info here.
Finally. get your own Romans scripture journal here and download the reading plan at www.mungerplace.org.
Today’s Scripture Reading: Romans 1:1-15
1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,
7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul begins his letter with a long “From” section. He has never been to Rome and didn’t found the Roman church, so he lays out his credentials and summarizes the gospel while he’s at it. He is an apostle of Messiah Jesus, this same Jesus to whom the entire Old Testament was pointing, born to a Jewish family, and then raised from the dead. Paul’s whole mission is to tell people about this Jesus.
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you 10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— 12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine. 13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
Paul tells the Roman church (whom he has never met) how much he prays and praises God for them. He has wanted for a long time to come visit them but was unable to do so, and he feels that he has something to offer them, though of course he knows that he would also be blessed just by spending time with them. He reminds them that he has a special mission to non-Jews—both the civilized “Greeks” and the uncivilized “barbarians”—to tell them about Jesus and invite them into the church.
I think what strikes me on reading this is the immediacy of the words; it’s as if Paul is writing the letter to us, today, and not to ancient Romans 2,000 years ago.
But this is the power of scripture—it is evergreen for God’s people.
What might 7 weeks of reading Paul’s great letter do in and for you?
“Don’t CONFORM, but be TRANSFORMED.”
Personal Update - Last Bible Post for a While
Personal Update
Friends, I’ve enjoyed blogging through the Psalms with you each day in May. Reading one psalm a day has been a life-giving habit for me, and I’m going to keep going. Since we started reading through the Psalms in April 2020, I’m now on my 3rd time through, and each time gets better. (To keep track of the days, I use an app on my iPhone called Days.)
I’m not going to be writing daily blog posts until school resumes in late August, when we’ll begin reading and studying Paul’s great Letter to the Romans. One of the things I’ll be doing this summer is reading like crazy to prepare for this! Right now, the plan is to take our time through Romans, August-Advent.
Though I personally won’t be blogging here, we’ll continue reading through Paul’s letters at Munger this summer. Be sure to check www.mungerplace.org/bible for info.
In late June I’m going to preach (6/20 and 6/27) through Paul’s little letter to Philemon. Instead of blogging about it, however, I’m going to be teaching on Philemon at an all-church Bible study on Wednesday, June 23, 6-7 PM, in the Munger sanctuary; we’ll have food trucks outside afterwards, and a separate study for kids at the same time as the adults. This will be the only Bible study I’m teaching all summer, so if you’re in town, don’t miss it.
In the mean time, I hope to be doing a bit more blogging on the general section of my blog: www.andrewforrest.org.
Now, back to today’s regularly scheduled programming.
“May the Lord cause you to flourish,
both you and your children.
May you be blessed by the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.”
The psalmist marvels at the stupidity at worshipping idols made with human hands, rather than the Lord all Creation, who made all things, including both the raw materials for idols and the human hands that fashion the idols into object of worship.
Because we know the truth, the message is simple:
“Praise the Lord!”
Psalm 115
1 Not to us, Lord, not to us
but to your name be the glory,
because of your love and faithfulness.2 Why do the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
3 Our God is in heaven;
he does whatever pleases him.
4 But their idols are silver and gold,
made by human hands.
5 They have mouths, but cannot speak,
eyes, but cannot see.
6 They have ears, but cannot hear,
noses, but cannot smell.
7 They have hands, but cannot feel,
feet, but cannot walk,
nor can they utter a sound with their throats.
8 Those who make them will be like them,
and so will all who trust in them.9 All you Israelites, trust in the Lord—
he is their help and shield.
10 House of Aaron, trust in the Lord—
he is their help and shield.
11 You who fear him, trust in the Lord—
he is their help and shield.12 The Lord remembers us and will bless us:
He will bless his people Israel,
he will bless the house of Aaron,
13 he will bless those who fear the Lord—
small and great alike.14 May the Lord cause you to flourish,
both you and your children.
15 May you be blessed by the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.16 The highest heavens belong to the Lord,
but the earth he has given to mankind.
17 It is not the dead who praise the Lord,
those who go down to the place of silence;
18 it is we who extol the Lord,
both now and forevermore.Praise the Lord.
Israel's Song
1 When Israel came out of Egypt,
Jacob from a people of foreign tongue,
2 Judah became God’s sanctuary,
Israel his dominion.
So much of the message of the psalms is memory: remember Israel’s story.
Jacob was the patriarch who was given a new name by the Lord: Israel. Jacob/Israel had 12 sons, who became over the centuries the 12 Tribes of Israel.
When Israel was enslaved among the Egyptians—”people of a foreign tongue”—the Lord brought them out. Judah was one of the tribes—the one that settled in Jerusalem and the one from whom David came.
3 The sea looked and fled,
the Jordan turned back;
4 the mountains leaped like rams,
the hills like lambs.5 Why was it, sea, that you fled?
Why, Jordan, did you turn back?
6 Why, mountains, did you leap like rams,
you hills, like lambs?
The psalmist imagines the glory of God leading the the Israelites across the River Jordan into the Promised Land. It was as if, says the psalmist, nature itself was awed and cowed by God’s power on behalf of Israel.
7 Tremble, earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,
8 who turned the rock into a pool,
the hard rock into springs of water.
Here the psalmist references the famous story of how as Israel wandered in the desert, the Lord brought water up out of the rock for them.
What should be instructive for us is how many of the psalms retell over and over again the stories of how the Lord blesses his people.
What past blessings do you need to specifically praise God for today?