REASON TO REJOICE

Love, Grace, and Forgiveness in Paul's Letter to the Romans

by Ray C. Stedman

Reason to Rejoice

(c)2004 by Elaine Stedman

All rights reserved.

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RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49501.

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Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture is taken from

The New International Version, (NIV) (c)1973, 1978, 1984 by

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Interior Design by Sherri L. Hoffman

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Stedman, Ray C.

(From guilt to glory)

Reason to rejoice: love, grace, and forgiveness in Paul’s letter to the Romans / by Ray C. Stedman

p. cm

Originally published: From guilt to glory Waco, Tex: Word Books, (c)1978.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 1-57293-091-8

1. Bible. N.T. Romans-Criticism, interpretation, etc. I. Title.

BS2665.52.S74 2003

227. 107-.-dc22

2003015684

Printed in the United States of America

04 05 06 07 08 09/EBI/10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Editors’ Preface

Chapter 1. From Guilt to Glory (Romans 1:1-17)

      Chart: The Structure of Romans

Chapter 2. The Divine Diagnosis (Romans 1:18-32)

Chapter 3. Sinful Morality (Romans 2)

Chapter 4. The Heart of the Gospel (Romans 3)

Chapter 5. The Father of Faith (Romans 4)

Chapter 6. Rejoicing in God (Romans 5)

Chapter 7. Whose Slave Are You? (Romans 6)

Chapter 8. The Never-Ending Struggle (Romans 7)

Chapter 9. No Condemnation (Romans 8:1-17)

Chapter 10. If God Be for Us (Romans 8:18-39)

Chapter 11. Let God Be God (Romans 9)

Chapter 12. How to Be Saved (Romans 10)

Chapter 13. The Church and the Chosen People (Romans 11)

Chapter 14. Who Am I, Lord? (Romans 12)

Chapter 15. God’s Strange Servants (Romans 13:1-7)

Chapter 16. Love, for the Night Is Ending (Romans 13:8-14)

Chapter 17. The Weak and the Strong (Romans 14:1-15:13)

Chapter 18. Paul’s Postscript (Romans 15:14-16:24)

Notes

EDITORS’ PREFACE

Ray Stedman (1917-1992) served as pastor of the Peninsula Bible Church from 1950 to 1990. He was known and loved as a man of outstanding Bible knowledge and wisdom coupled with a depth of Christian integrity, love, and humility. Born in Temvik, North Dakota, Ray grew up on the rugged landscape of Montana. When he was a small child, his mother became ill and his father, a railroad man, abandoned the family, so Ray grew up on his aunt’s Montana farm from the time he was six. He came to know the Lord at a Methodist revival meeting at age ten.

As a young man he tried different jobs, working in Chicago, Denver, Hawaii, and elsewhere. He enlisted in the Navy during World War II, where he often led Bible studies for civilians and Navy personnel, and even preached on local radio in Hawaii. At the close of the war, Ray was married in Honolulu, though he and his wife Elaine had first met in Great Falls, Montana. They returned to the mainland in 1946, and Ray graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary in 1950. After two seminary summers interning under the 'widely regarded Bible teacher, Dr. J. Vernon McGee, Ray traveled for several months with another renowned Bible teacher, Dr. H. A. Ironside, pastor of Moody Church in Chicago.

In 1950, Ray was called by the two-year-old Peninsula Bible Fellowship in Palo Alto, California, to serve as its first pastor. Peninsula Bible Fellowship later became Peninsula Bible Church, and Ray eventually served a forty-year tenure there, retiring on April 30, 1990. During those years, Ray Stedman authored a number of life-changing Christian books, including the classic work on the meaning and mission of the church, Body Life. He entered into the presence of his Lord on October 7, 1992.

This book, Reason to Rejoice, is derived from two sermon series Ray Stedman preached on the book of Romans.’ In Romans 12:1, Paul challenges Christians to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.” Though the book of Romans is rich in wisdom and practical instruction on many themes, from justification by faith to our struggle against sin to authentic Christian love, the theme of presenting ourselves to God as "living sacrifices’ is a good summation of what Romans is all about.

In these pages, you’ll be inspired and instructed as Ray shares powerful insights into the apostle Paul’s most famous New Testament letter. Like all of Ray Stedman’s writings, Reason to Rejoice is lively, conversational, and avoids technical jargon. Ray’s personal warmth and humor shine through, making this an enjoyable book to read--and reread. Most important of all, you’ll be challenged and encouraged to apply these life-changing truths in your every day life. The journey through Paul’s letter to the Romans is the journey of a lifetime. So turn the page and enrich your adventure of faith in Christ!

-The Editors

CHAPTER 1

FROM GUILT TO GLORY

Romans 1:1-17

Saint Augustine of Hippo was a great church leader of the fourth century. But as a young man before his conversion to Christianity, Augustine struggled with God and with the temptation to sin. He tried to live a morally upright life in his own strength, but he would inevitably fail.

In his autobiography, The Confessions, he wrote that on one occasion he felt such so much guilt, shame, and condemnation for his sins that he flung himself down under a fig tree and wept a flood of tears. "God, why can’t I live a righteous life?” he prayed. "I want to stop sinning, but I can’t!”

Just then, he heard a child, chanting in a sing-song voice, "Take up and read, take up and read!” He interpreted those words as a message from God.

But what did the message mean--take up and read”? Read what? Then Augustine remembered the scroll he had left with his close friend, Alypius--a scroll of Paul’s letter to the Christians at Rome. Augustine jumped up, went to his friend, and found the scroll. He decided to read the first passage his eyes fell upon:

Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature. (Romans 13:13-14)

Instantly, a sense of peace came over him. His struggle with God was over. Though he could not resist temptation in his own power, he could "clothe [himself] with the Lord Jesus Christ” and allow the Lord live through him. At that moment, Augustine was a changed man. His transformation had begun with two sentences from the book of Romans.

Paul’s letter to the Romans is his greatest. In fact, I believe it is the most powerful document ever written. Of all the New Testament letters, Romans is the broadest in scope and deepest in insight. No other document has affected and transformed more human lives. Here are just a few stories of lives it has changed:

Eleven centuries after St. Augustine, a German theologian named Martin Luther was meditating on this great phrase from Romans 1:17: "The righteous will live by faith.” As he contemplated those words, Luther realized that he had completely missed the point of the Christian gospel! True Christianity is not a matter of rites and rituals and ceremonies. The essence of Christianity is faith, not works! Those words from the book of Romans lit a fire in Luther’s soul, a fire that would become the great Protestant Reformation.

The seventeenth-century Puritan preacher John Bunyan spent twelve years in jail in Bedford, England. His crime? He left the Church of England and sought to worship God according to his own conscience. While studying Romans in his jail cell, Bunyan was inspired by the themes of Romans to write an allegorical novel, The Pilgrim’s Progress. Today, that novel--which illustrates how Christians should relate to God and the world around them--is still a widely read classic.

Another whose life was transformed by the message of Romans was a young Anglican minister, John Wesley. In 1735, Wesley went to America, where he had served a brief stint as a pastor to British colonists in Savannah, Georgia. There he was spurned by the woman he loved and rejected by his congregation. He returned to England in February 1738, embittered and dejected, feeling like a complete failure.

For the next few weeks, Wesley tried to live a righteous life, but he continually battled temptation. "I was indeed fighting continually, but not conquering,” he later recalled. "I fell and rose, an fell again.” During this time, he often doubted God and his own faith.

On May 14 of that year, Wesley went to a meeting on Aldersgate Street in London. There, a man was reading to the congregation from Martin Luther’s preface to the book of Romans. Wesley wrote in his journal that as he listened, "I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ alone for salvation.”

As a result of his encounter with the book of Romans, John Wesley’s life was transformed. He became one of the leaders of the Great Evangelical Awakening that brought thousands of people to faith in Jesus Christ.

That is the power of this amazing book. Embedded in the pages of Paul’s letter to the Romans is the power to change individual lives and entire societies. It is a power that we all long to experience as followers of Jesus Christ.

Every Christian should study and master the book of Romans. I hope that, by the time you have completed this study, you will be able to outline the great themes of Romans from memory. I pray that you will develop such a love for this life-changing New Testament letter that you will return to it again and again, and that you will live daily in its truths. If you do, I guarantee that it will change your life, just as it has changed thousands of lives through the centuries.

The Central Truth of Romans: Jesus Is Lord

The theme of Romans could be expressed as "From Guilt to Glory” In other words, this letter deals with how God, through Jesus Christ, has enabled human beings to move from a place of condemnation and sin to a place of reconciliation and righteousness The sixteen chapters of Romans divide into three main sections with a number of subsections:

Paul’s letter to the Romans was written around AD 56 to 58 while he was in the Greek city of Corinth on his third missionary journey. As you read this letter, you can catch glimpses of the social and spiritual condition of Corinth at that time. Corinth was located at the crossroads of trade in the Roman Empire, much like New York or San Francisco in our own time. And like those modern cities, Corinth was notorious for its godlessness and its atmosphere of bold, blatant immorality. Paul characterizes that godlessness in his letter to the Romans.

Paul wrote less than thirty years after the crucifixion and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. The impact of the life of Jesus was sharply etched in the minds of Christians throughout the Roman Empire. Paul wrote Romans to instruct them and remind them of these profound events that had shaken the first-century world.

The first seventeen verses of Romans are an introduction to the great themes of the letter. In those opening verses, Paul lays out the order to them that leads us to a central theme: Jesus is Lord. We see it in the first seven verses:

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God--the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles o the obedience that comes from faith. And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 1:1-7)

The heart of Paul’s argument is Jesus Himself. As he wrote in Colossians 1:27, "Christ in you, the hope of glory” is the one great truth from which all others flow other profound truths, such as justification by faith and sanctification (solving the sin problem) are certainly important, but the great central theme of the New Testament is the astonishing fact of our union with Jesus Christ, God’s Son. That’s why the person of the Lord Jesus is central to Paul’s thinking, just as it is central to God’s program for humanity. We do not simply believe in a creed or follow a philosopher. Our lives are joined to the life of the Savior, the Redeemer, the Lord.

Another major theme of Paul’s introduction is that Jesus is the promised Messiah whose coming was predicted throughout the Old Testament. The good news of salvation was promised through the "prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son.” The Christian faith was not invented in the first century AD; rather, it was the culmination of centuries of Jewish teachings, Jewish prophecies, and Jewish anticipation throughout Old Testament times.

In John 5:39, Jesus told the scribes and Pharisees, "You diligently study the [Old Testament] Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me.” Later, after His death and resurrection, Jesus met two discouraged disciples on the road to Emmaus. They didn’t recognize Him, nor did they understand that His death and resurrection had been predicted many times in the Old Testament Scriptures. So Luke 24:27 tells us, "beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he [Jesus] expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself” (KJV).

The great messianic passages of the Old Testament point unerringly to Jesus. When reading the Old Testament, we are gripped by the feeling that Someone is coming! All the prophets speak of Him, all the sacrifices point to Him, all the longings of humanity are focused on the coming Person who will one day arrive and solve the great crises of history. When the Old Testament closes, it is clear that He has not yet arrived--but He is expected.

And when the New Testament opens, the first story we read is of angels appearing to shepherds near Bethlehem. They sing a song of hope: "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11 KJV). The Promised One has come!

These resounding truths are echoed in Paul’s introduction to Romans as he points to Jesus as the One who was promised beforehand. Paul presents Jesus to us in two unique ways:

First, Paul speaks of His human nature. In Romans 1:3, Paul tells us that Jesus "was made of the seed of David according to the flesh.”

Second, Paul tells us that there was more to Jesus than mere humanity linked with His humanness is the profound deity of the Creator God. In verse 4, Paul writes that Jesus was "declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead” (KJV). That phrase, "the Son of God,” unmistakably, declares the deity of our Lord. He was God. Paul emphasizes this fact many times throughout his letter to the Romans.

Yet, as we see in Romans and other letters of Paul, Jesus set aside His deity when He came in human form. He didn’t come to act as God; rather, He came to act as a man filled by God. Jesus set an example for us, because Christians must live the same way, seeking to do God’s will by being filled with God’s Spirit. You and I can’t he God, but we can be possessed by God, so that He can fill us and use us to accomplish His good and perfect will.

In verse 4, Paul notes three signs of the deity of Jesus, saying that He was declared to be the Son of God (1) with power, (2) according to the spirit of holiness, (3) by the resurrection from the dead.

First, the phrase "with power” speaks of the miracles Jesus did--the healings, the deliverance of people from demons, the miraculous feedings, and many more signs of His authority as the Son of God.

Second, Jesus came by "the spirit of holiness.” Understand, this word holiness does not refer to putting on religious or sanctimonious airs. The word holiness actually comes from the same root as the word wholeness, and that is a good clue as to what holiness means. Paul is telling us that Jesus came as a whole person. He demonstrated a complete and fully integrated human personality He showed us what it means to be a whole person living in a world of brokenness. When we look at Jesus, we see what He is calling us to become as whole and holy human beings. That is good news for us all.

Third, the deity of Jesus is authenticated in His resurrection from the dead. That is where our faith ultimately rests. We can have confidence that God has told us the truth because of the historical fact that God raised Jesus from the dead. The Resurrection cannot be explained away. We will explore this truth as we move deeper into Romans.

Loved by God

In the next section of his introduction to Romans, Paul makes a profound statement about the Christians in Rome--a statement that also applies to you and me as Christians today:

And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 1:6-7)

First, Paul says that Christians have a calling. We are not self-made or man-made saints; we are called by God to be His saints. The word saint comes from sanctify, which means to set something or someone apart for a specific purpose. So when Paul tells us we are "loved by God and called to be saints,” he wants us to know that God cares deeply about us. He has called us and has set us apart for His eternal purpose.

God calls each of us in a unique way. But one common thread runs through every story of conversion to Christ: God sought us out. We may have thought we were seeking God, but the truth is that He sought us.

That is why Jesus said to His disciples., "All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away” (John 6:37). God sought us, God called us, God placed us in the care and keeping of His Son, Jesus.

Look again at Paul’s remarkable statement that we are "loved by God.” Later in Romans, Paul will have to scold these saints and correct them, so he begins by reminding them they are loved by God. He wants them to know that any correction that must take place will take place in a context of God’s perfect love for them.

This is the basis of our relationship with God: He loves us. "Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ,” Paul writes. Grace and peace should characterize our lives. The grace and peace God gives us are proof of His love for us. We cannot earn grace; it is a gift of God’s love.

Faith that Startles the World

Next, Paul highlights the faith of the Christians in Rome:

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. (Romans 1:8)

The whole world was talking about the faith of the Roman Christians! As Christians today, we tend to think the world will be impressed by the splendor of our church buildings, our growing congregations, or our glitzy, Broadway-class music programs. But these things do not impact the world for Jesus Christ. When God impacts the world through His saints, He does so through their faith.

The vibrant, vital faith of the Christians in Rome startled the entire world. Where did this vitality come from? Paul gives us this clue:

God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you. (Romans 1:9-10)

The faith of the Christians in Rome startled the world because Paul and other Christians were praying for them. At this point in his ministry Paul had never been to Rome. Even so, he prayed continually for the believers in Rome: "How constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times.” That is why the church in Rome was flourishing.

We need to recover this urgent sense of concern and prayer for one another. lam convinced that it would make all the difference in the world if we would continually uphold each other in prayer.

Set Apart from birth

Next, Paul points out that the Christians in Rome have been strengthened by gifts of the Holy Spirit:

I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong--that is, that you and I may mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. (Romans 1:11-12)

Here we see what makes a church strong: the exercise of spiritual gifts. When Paul says he wants to impart a spiritual gift to the Christians in Rome, he doesn’t mean that he has all the gifts in a bag and he doles them out wherever he goes. The word impart means "to share.” Paul can’t give anyone a spiritual gift; only the Holy Spirit can do that. Paul wants to share with the Roman Christians the gifts God has given. He wants to use his gifts among them, and he wants to experience their gifts in his own life. Spiritual gifts are given so that Christians can be mutually strengthened in the faith. That is how a church should function. The saints minister to each other, building up one another by their faith and by sharing and exercising their spiritual gifts.

Next, Paul defines himself as the great apostle to the Gentiles. As he writes, the good news of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus the Messiah is going out beyond Israel and into the world. Paul himself is helping build the bridge between Israel and the Gentiles. In Romans 1:1, Paul identifies himself with these words: "Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God.” He is a called apostle, and it was God who called him. When did God call him? You might think Paul’s calling took place when he had his blinding encounter with the Lord Jesus on the Damascus road (Acts 9:1-16). But no, Paul tells us in Galatians 1:15 that God "set me apart from birth and called me by his grace” (italics added).

God, who sees the end from the beginning, knows us and calls from a time before we even exist. That is the wonder of the God we serve. He sets us apart even before our lives and our awareness are formed. God used all the events of Paul’s early life--his training under Gamaliel, his zeal as a young Pharisee, and even his early hatred of the gospel. This was all part of setting Paul apart as an apostle. When the time came for Paul to be converted, God opened the trap door on the Damascus Road and Paul fell through. That trap had been set for Paul long before he was born, and every experience of his pre-Christian life was designed to make him a more effective minister of the gospel.

So don’t ever think that your life before you met Jesus was wasted. God can take all the sin, rebellion, sorrow, pain, and regret of your old life, and He can use it to make you a more effective minister of His grace in your new life in Christ. God doesn’t merely redeem our souls. He redeems all the experiences of our lives, and He refashions them for His good, for our good, and for the good of the people around us.

What does Paul mean when he calls himself an apostle? What is an apostle? The word Paul uses that we translate apostle is kletos in the original Greek, which comes from klesis, "a divine calling or an invitation from God.” Paul tells us in verse 5, "Through [Jesus] and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.” So an apostle is someone called by God and set apart so that he might call others to faith and obedience. Paul continues:

I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles, I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and foolish. That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome. (Romans 1:13-15)

Note that phrase: "I am obligated...” Here Paul tells us his mission in life. He is driven by a sense of purpose so dear and overwhelming that he considers it an obligation upon his life. He is obligated to preach the gospel to the Jews, to the Greeks, and to everyone else. He senses an urgent imperative to preach the gospel wherever he goes, to whoever he meets. Why? Because the gospel is the cure for sin!

If you were the sole possessor of a cure for cancer, would you be quiet about it? Or would you share the secret with everyone around you? Paul was intensely aware that he possessed the secret that everyone needs. He had the cure for the sin disease, and he was determined to share that cure with everyone he met.

Proud of the Gospel

What is this cure for sin that Paul feels driven to preach to the nations? He describes his message in the next two verses:

I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes; first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith.” (Romans 1:16-17)

Paul closes with a quotation from the Old Testament:  "The righteous will live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4). This is the phrase that gripped the heart of Martin Luther. This great truth, Paul says, is the life-transforming message of the Christian gospel: If you want to live a righteous life, then you must stop trying to achieve it by your own efforts. The righteous life can only be achieved by faith--that is, by a trust-relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

This is a transforming truth, and Paul says he is not ashamed of it. In fact, he is proud of it. He proclaims it boldly everywhere he goes. He can’t wait to get to Rome so he can preach this message there.

Paul is especially eager to proclaim this gospel in Rome because the Romans appreciated power, just as Americans do today. Roman military power had conquered the entire known world. Roman knowledge was power--their road-building technology, their war-making technology, their legal knowledge, their literary and artistic skill. Roman economic power had brought the wealth of the world to Rome through both trade and conquest.

But Paul knew the Romans were powerless when it came to changing hearts. Even with all its wealth and military might, the Roman Empire was riddled with violence, corruption, despair, and suicide. The "noble Romans” lived meaningless lives; their wealth and power gave them no inner peace.

That is why Paul is proud of the gospel. That is why he is eager to preach the gospel in the capital city of the Roman Empire. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God--power to do the very things that Roman power could not do. We never need to apologize for the gospel. It is power without rival, power to transform human lives, power to live a righteous life. The righteousness of God, Paul says, is received by faith. We cannot earn Gods righteousness but we can receive it anytime we need it-and that is good news Whenever we feel depressed, discouraged, or defeated, we can recall that God loves us, restores us, and gives us His righteousness to cover our own sin and inadequacy.

In the first seventeen verses of Romans 1, Paul has introduced the great themes of this letter. As we continue through this book together, I trust that these themes will transform our hearts as they have transformed the hearts of the first-century church, and of believers down through the ages. May you and I add our names to that list--Augustine, Luther, Bunyan, and Wesley--and may our hearts be strangely, wonderfully warmed by the life-changing truths of Romans.

CHAPTER 2

THE DIVINE DIAGNOSIS

Romans 1:18-32

The most famous mutiny in history was the rebellion aboard the HMS Bounty in April 1789. That incident inspired five motion pictures and numerous books. Three weeks after the Bounty left Tahiti with a cargo of breadfruit trees (a cheap food source for Caribbean slaves), the crew mutinied. First Mate Fletcher Christian, the leader of the mutineers, forced Captain William Bligh and eighteen loyal sailors into a small open boat and set them adrift.

The mutineers took the Bounty back to Tahiti. Sixteen crewmen chose to stay there. But Fletcher Christian and eight other men took some Tahitian islanders with them and set out for a safe hiding place. They chose a lonely, uninhabited island called Pitcairn. One of the sailors made whiskey from the native plants, and the resulting drunken orgies quickly turned to violent brawls. Though the island looked like a paradise, the mutineers began to view it as a prison. One by one, the mutinous crewmen were either killed in fights or murdered in their sleep. Even Fletcher Christian died violently.

Finally, only one of the mutineers was left alive, a sailor named Alexander Smith. As the last man living, he felt responsible to look after the women and fatherless children who remained. Smith regretted the sinfulness of his past, and he knew he lacked wisdom to care for the women and children. He needed guidance from beyond himself.

Looking through a sea-chest, Smith found a Bible. Over the next few weeks, he read it from cover to cover. Then he asked God to take control of his life. He also taught the women and children to read the Bible. Fathered by various mutineers, those children grew up, married, and had children of their own.

In 1808, the American whaling ship Topaz stopped at Pitcairn. The Americans were the first visitors to the island since the mutiny on the Bounty, eighteen years earlier. The sailors from the Topaz were astounded to find an orderly Christian society in which there was no crime, no disease, no alcoholism, and no illiteracy.

Pitcairn had been hell on earth under the reign of Fletcher Christian and his fellow mutineers. The people had suffered under something called "the wrath of God--the inevitable result of human hearts filled with murder, envy, lust, rage, rebellion, and drunkenness.

But when the last man on Pitcairn turned his heart over to God, the wrath of God was replaced by the love of God, and Pitcairn became a paradise on earth. The transformation of that tiny island is just a glimpse of what could happen in our own society if we would choose to receive the love and mercy of God, we would escape the wrath of God now being revealed against the godlessness and wickedness of our age.

The Wrath of God

Following his introduction to Romans, Paul sounds a new and somber note. Beginning with verse 18, he introduces the troubling phrase "the wrath of God.” Here, Paul begins a careful, logical analysis of the human dilemma:

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what maybe known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 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 men are without excuse. (Romans 1:18-20)

The wrath of God is a frightening subject, but it is necessary that Paul address this subject early in his letter. In these verses Paul tells us why we need the gospel. Human beings everywhere suffer tinder the wrath of God, and only the gospel can free us from that wrath.

What do you think of when you hear that phrase, "the wrath of God”? Most people think of something that follows death--the final judgment of God. It is true that hell is an expression of the wrath of God. But that is not what Paul means at this point. He refers to something present and active right now. As the text says, it is "being revealed from heaven” in the here and now. The wrath of God is inescapable, it is all around us. God’s wrath is His invisible resistance to human evil.

This conception of the wrath of God did not originate with Paul. It is consistent with what the Old Testament tells us:

All our days pass away under your wrath;

we finish our years with a moan. The length of our days is seventy years--

or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow,

for they quickly pass, and we fly away.

Who knows the power of your anger?

For your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you.

 (Psalm 90:9-11)

The brevity of life, the sorrow and tragedy of the human condition--this is all part of what Paul captures in the phrase "the wrath of God.” What provokes the wrath of God? Paul says it is caused by "the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.”

Notice the progression Paul describes: first godlessness, then wickedness. The order is never reversed. It is a godless attitude that produces wicked actions.

What is godlessness? It isn’t necessarily atheism, the belief that God doesn’t exist. Godlessness is thinking and acting as if God doesn’t exist. A godless person doesn’t have to deny the existence of God; he or she can merely disregard Him.

The inevitable result of godlessness is wickedness--those selfish and hurtful acts that people commit against each other. Why do we act selfishly? Why do we hurt each other? Because we disregard God.

And what follows as a natural consequence of our wicked actions? The truth of God is suppressed. In the next two verses, Paul sets before us the truth that human beings have wickedly denied:

...what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 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 men are without excuse. (Romans 1:19-20)

The truth that people try to ignore and suppress is the existence of a God of eternal power and majesty. They try to suppress the greatness of God. Puny human beings strut about as if there were no God--indeed, as if they are gods! But there are times when human beings cannot avoid the reality of God. When those times come, they don’t like to speak of God. They resort to saying that "nature” created us or that "fate” or "karma” controls their destinies.

But the reality of God can be avoided for only so long. The truth of God surrounds us and must eventually be faced--either willingly or unwillingly. God has revealed Himself, says Paul. He has made the truth about Himself plain. The reality of God is not a vague, incomprehensible enigma. The truth about God is obvious to all, even those who deny and avoid it. God has made the truth plain by displaying His eternal power and divine nature. So there is no excuse--the reality of God is on display throughout the universe. All human beings can read this revelation of God if they choose to do so.

One night my daughter, Laurie, and I were walking in the mountains of Southern California. We were away from the city

smog, and the sky was filled with millions of stars. I pointed out the Milky Way and explained to her that it was part of the galaxy that our sun belongs to. I told her there are millions of galaxies just like it in distant parts of the universe that have never been explored by human beings. I pointed out the Big Dipper, the North Star, the Pleiades cluster, and we talked about the vastness and beauty of the universe.

"But remember,” I added, joking, "that all of this happened purely by chance.”

Laurie immediately began to laugh! How ridiculous that this vast array of beauty and complexity could have arisen by sheer chance! How can we say that a wristwatch can come about only as the result of intelligence and skill, yet a universe can arise, a baby can be born, a rose can bloom by sheer random chance? The idea is ridiculous on the face of it.

Yet many people make that godless claim. They willfully suppress the truth that stares them in the face. So the apostle Paul tells us that human beings are without excuse. If we want to find God, we do not have to search hard. In fact, we can’t miss Him. Even God’s invisible qualities--His eternal power and divine nature--are evident all around us.

Hebrews 11:6 tells us, "Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” First, we must believe that God exists, that He is there--and Paul says that everyone knows, deep down, that God is there. The evidence is beyond question. You must work hard to convince yourself otherwise, and only the very intelligent are able to accomplish this feat. The rest of us, who simply see the truth of the universe and believe it, accept the fact that God is there. And all of us are without excuse.

Next, as Hebrews 11:6 tells us, we must diligently seek this God whose existence is revealed in the universe around us. If we fail to find God, it is because we don’t seek Him. If we seek Him, we will find Him.

In the next three verses, Paul tells us how human beings suppress the truth about God:

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. Although they clamed to he wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. (Romans 1:21-23)

Here, Paul traces a three-step process:

Step 1: People fail to glorify God and give thanks to Him. We see evidence of this throughout American society, where prayer has been banned from public schools, where Christmas is now called "winter break” and Easter is "spring break,” where the words "under God” are edited out of our Pledge of Allegiance, where the Ten Commandments can no longer he displayed in our courthouses and other public buildings. God is no longer welcome in the public square. The powers that rule our society no longer wish to admit that God exists. They do not glorify Him as God, nor do they give Him thanks.

Paul says that, as a result, their thinking has become futile. What is futile thinking? This refers to human ideas, schemes, plans, institutions, and programs that seem so brilliant, but ultimately come to nothing. I have lived through the New Deal, the Fair Deal, the Great Society, Peace with Honor, the Great Recovery, and the New World Order--and all of them have failed dismally! These human programs begin with good intentions, brilliant planning, and shining promises, but always end in dismal failure.

Paul also says that "their foolish hearts were darkened.” Human hearts are darkened by cynicism and selfishness. When a darkened heart sees human need, it does not feel compassion; it just shrugs and turns away. "It’s too bad,” the darkened heart says, "but it’s really not my problem.” That is the inevitable result of ignoring God.

Step 2: People claim to be wise. In other words, they place their own wisdom above the wisdom of God. They claim to know everything that can be known--and in so doing, they become fools! You may recall the tale of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice--the student magician who takes up the wand of his master and unleashes frightening powers he cannot control. Our "wise men” claim to have a godlike understanding of biology, chemistry, and physics, yet their "wisdom” has brought us to the brink of runaway biological, ecological, and nuclear catastrophes. These apprentice sorcerers have unleashed destructive forces upon our world--forces that are not only beyond our control but beyond our imagining. Claiming to be wise, they have become dangerous, destructive fools.

Step 3: People exchange the glory of the immortal God for images made like mortal man. They exchange the glory of the undying God for images made like dying creatures: men, birds, animals, and reptiles. Notice the descending order. Idolatry begins with statues of men. The world is filled with statues reflecting the images of heroes of the ancient Greek and Roman world. These images symbolize the ideas the people worship, and we still have such images today. But these images debase and dethrone God, replacing Him with something lesser, something human.

Idolatry begins first with men; then idolatry extends to birds, which are seen as heavenly creatures. Then idolatry descends to animals, the shaggy beasts of the earth. Finally, men even begin to idolize reptiles. When human beings cease to worship God, they begin to worship their own humanity--but they inevitably end up worshiping snakes.

You may think, "But people don’t worship idols anymore!” If that is so, then why are movie stars, pop stars, and sports heroes called "icons” and "idols”? Famous people, with their glittering images (and their feet of clay) are worshiped today; they are given the honor and glory that should be given to God.

There are other things we worship today: Some of us worship power, such as military power or corporate power or economic power. Some of us worship money. Some of us worship sex. Some of us bow before idols of success, beauty, youth, and extreme adventure. We’ve exchanged the glory of the undying God for the worship of lesser things.

The consequences of idolatry are terrible to contemplate, and they descend upon both individual idolaters and upon an idolatrous society. These consequences are what Paul refers to when he speaks of "the wrath of God.”

God Gave Them Over

In his book The Great Divorce, C. S. Lewis says that hell is made up of people who live at an infinite distance from each other. That is what happens when we lose the presence of God in our lives. Our relationships break down. We feel a toss of fellowship with the people around us. Even in a crowd, we experience loneliness and alienation.

In Romans 1:24-32, we will see that as human beings divorce themselves from God, they also divorce themselves from one another. We will also see that God, who has given all human beings the gift of free will, always allows us to make our choices freely. If we choose to reject God, He will step out of our way and let us reap the consequences of our choices.

We see this principle in this passage, where Paul repeats one somber phrase three times: "God gave them over.” That phrase occurs in verses 24, 26, and 28, and it perfectly describes what is taking place in our culture today Paul writes:

Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. (Romans 1:24)

The first mark of wickedness in a godless society is widespread sexual immorality--practices that degrade and dishonor the body. This sentence begins with the word therefore, which suggests a cause-and-effect relationship. The rise of sexual immorality is a direct result of the idolatry that Paul talks about in verses 21 through 23. Idolatry--the worship of people, objects, and ideas--leads inevitably to the spread and toleration of sexual immorality immediately after the word therefore, we come upon Paul’s first use of the phrase "God gave them over.” Many people think Paul is saying that God gives up on people who do these things--that He turns His back on them forever. But that is not what Paul means.

The apostle is saying that when people reject the evidence of God in nature, when they commit idolatry and do not glorify God or obey His moral rules for a satisfying life, God removes His restraints from society. He allows what is done in secret to be uncovered. He lets sinful people operate as they wish, so that they reap the consequences of their choices.

We see this principle in our own society sexual immorality has always been present in human life, though immorality has largely been considered shameful and scandalous and was kept secret. Today, however, we see the most vile and ugly perversions breaking out into the open, flooding our news and entertainment media, clamoring for acceptance, demanding to be tolerated as "normal.” Even pedophiles-those who sexually abuse children--are operating openly under a shield of "free speech,” lobbying for a legal right to sexually exploit our children.

When sexual perversion is allowed to break out into the open and demand acceptance, it is a sign that Gods wrath is at work.

God allows us to experience the full effects of our own riotous self-will. He removes the lid and allows the bubbling pot of sin and evil to boil over.

When God removes His restraints from society, people tend to respond in one of two ways. Some witness the social destruction that sin causes, and they come to their senses. Like Alexander Smith, the last mutineer on Pitcairn island, such people see the error of their ways, and they repent and turn to God for salvation. But others refuse to learn the lessons of God’s wrath. Instead they blame Him for the consequences of their own sin. They of turning to God in repentance, they rage and rebel against Him. They plunge even deeper into immorality--and God gives them over to their own choices and the consequences they have heaped upon themselves.

The Worst Sins

You may ask, "Why is sexual immorality singled out as the sign of God’s wrath? Why does sexual immorality signal the disintegration of a society?” There is a good reason for this--but not what you might think. It is not because sexual sins are the worst of sins. In his book Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis observed:

If anyone thinks that Christians regard unchastity as the supreme vice, he is quite wrong. The sins of the flesh are bad, but they are the least bad of all sins. All the worst pleasures are purely spiritual: the pleasure of putting other people in the wrong, of bossing and patronizing and spoiling sport, and hack-biting, the pleasures of power, of hatred. For there are two things inside me competing with the human self which I must try to become. They are the Animal self, and the Diabolical self. The Diabolical self is the worst of the two. That is why a cold, self-righteous prig, who goes regularly to church may be far nearer to hell than a prostitute. But, of course, it’s better to be neither.’

The book of Romans confirms the words of C. S. Lewis. Human godlessness and wickedness begin with sexual impurity and proceed to sexual perversion. However, the ultimate degradation is not sexual sin but the sins of the spirit. Pride, hatred, bullying and bossing, wielding power over others, destroying lives and reputations with gossip--these are truly the worst sins.

The reason God uses sexual sins as a visible sign of spiritual disintegration is found elsewhere. Now, brace yourself, because you may find this shocking: the reason is that sex is linked with worship. Our sexual longings are intimately connected with our longing for genuine worship, for an intimate connection to God.

Our sex drive is nothing more or less than the desire to possess another person, body and soul, and to be possessed in the same way. That is why the sex drive has rightly been described as "the urge to merge.” God intended that the human sexual urge should find its culmination in sexual relations in marriage, just as He intended that the soul find its delight in the "urge to merge” with God in worship. Whether we realize it or not, the deepest desire of the human soul is to possess and be possessed by God.

Jesus talked about this perfect union of souls when He prayed for His disciples, "that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us...I in them and you in me” (John 17:21, 23). Clearly, this is a spiritual prayer about a spiritual union, yet (as the Song of Solomon and other Scripture texts dearly show) the sexual union of marriage symbolizes the spiritual union in the worship relationship between God and His people.

The reason this idea seems shocking to us today is twofold. First, Victorian prudishness regards sex as something dirty, not to be mentioned in polite company This is not a biblical or godly view of sex. Second, the Sexual Revolution that began in the 1960s has produced an anything-goes approach to sex that puts sexual behavior and even sexual deviancy on public display as if God’s gift of sex was just so much meat in a butcher’s window.

Both extremes demean God’s beautiful gift of sex, turning it into something ugly and shameful. As God created it, there is nothing shameful about sex. It is a symbolic picture of the rapturous relationship we were made to experience with our loving Creator.

Many people mistakenly think that the sex urge is merely an animal drive for pleasure and procreation. But the sex urge is actually intertwined with our spiritual drive for communion and worship, an urge for oneness and fulfillment. That is why illicit sex leaves people empty and unfulfilled. Only union with God can satisfy that deep longing for complete unity-an experience of unity that is central to what we call worship. When we worship, we experience that sense of possessing and being possessed by God.

So when human beings seek a God-substitute in the form of illicit sex, God says, in effect, "You won’t find fulfillment there. You can only find fulfillment in Me. If you deny Me and ignore Me, seeking to gratify your senses instead of satisfying your soul, you will remain empty. Still, if that is what you choose, I will not stop you.”

So God removes the restraints and allows immoral sexual practices to become widely accepted. He knows that people who engage in such practices will end up as empty as when they started. But He also knows that many people will never turn to God until they reach the depths of hopelessness and despair. So He allows people to make their own choices in the hope that the consequences of those choices may ultimately drive them to Him.

God’s View of Homosexuality

In the next few verses, Paul shows us another sign of a godless and wicked society:

They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen.

Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. (Romans 1:25-27)

Here, Paul speaks frankly about an issue that remains controversial in our society today: homosexuality. In fact, he tells us that open homosexual practice is another sign of a godless and wicked society. Because godless people have exchanged the truth for a lie, God has allowed them to exchange natural sexual functions for unnatural functions. He has removed the normal restraints so that homosexuality has become widely accepted in a godless society.

In the first-century world in which Paul lived, homosexuality was commonplace and accepted, much as it is in our society today. Many of the great philosophers practiced it. Socrates was a homosexual, as were fourteen of the first fifteen Roman emperors.

Tragically, many homosexual people have accepted the myth that homosexual tendencies are genetically predetermined, and that some people are "born homosexual.” For example, in the early '90s, a study by Dean Hamer, published in the respected research journal Science, claimed that scientists were "on the verge of proving that homosexuality is innate, genetic and therefore unchangeable-a normal variant of human nature.” The main-stream news media latched onto the story; proclaiming that scientists had discovered a "gay gene” that causes homosexuality.

Repeated attempts to confirm Hamer’s findings have been unsuccessful. Though the public has largely bought the myth of the "gay gene,” the best evidence shows that people are not "born gay” and that homosexual tendencies are probably the result of influences in childhood and adolescence. The fact that several organizations (such as the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality) report success in treating homosexuality would suggest that homosexual tendencies are treatable--not genetic.

Having met and talked to people who have been delivered from homosexuality I know that there is help for homosexual people. It is not a sin to have homosexual tendencies; it is only a sin to indulge those tendencies--just as it is a sin to indulge heterosexual tendencies outside of marriage. No matter what sexual sin a person commits, he or she can be delivered and forgiven by the grace and power of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul speaks of a "due penalty” for homosexual sin. That penalty involves a loss of one’s sense of identity and place in life. Engaging in homosexual sin creates an almost unbearable tension in any human being. Sexual confusion is an attack upon the delineation God made at creation when he made us male and female.

A Depraved Mind

Paul gives us another sign of a godless and wicked society indo such things deserve death, they not only continue to do the concluding verses of Romans 1:

Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 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, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. (Romans 1:28-31)

These sins mark a society that is approaching total collapse. These wicked acts are so rampant and hateful that they constitute a sociopathic contempt for all other human beings. They distill down to a simple willingness to use and exploit other people as if they are not human, as if they have no feelings. Godlessness eventually reduces all human beings to things.

When society reaches this point, Paul says, God gives those rebellious people over to "a depraved mind.” Literally Paul calls it an "unacceptable mind,” a mind that cannot be lived with, a mind that is simply at odds with any rational concept of civilization. A depraved mind hates everything it sees and destroys everything it touches. A depraved mind is cruel and violent.

If we think that our own society has not yet reached the depths that Paul describes in Romans 1, we have only to look at the epidemic rates of child abuse, pornography, gang violence, and other senseless crimes in our land. A depraved mind culminates in an attitude of callous disregard for God and an eagerness to drag everyone else into a pit of depravity. Paul writes:

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. (Romans 1:32)

Fully aware that their actions are evil, they seek nevertheless to spread their wickedness, to seduce others into the same way of thinking and acting, to infect everyone around them with their godlessness and sin. They invade the fields of education, law and government; they dominate the news and entertainment media; they attempt to control the institutions of society so that they can impose their will on society.

Clearly, the words of the apostle Paul are as relevant to our times as anything you will see in USA Today or on CNN or Fox News. Paul has given us God’s diagnosis of the world we live in. Yet, even as this moral and spiritual darkness spreads over the world, God does not turn His back on the human race. He has not merely given us His divine diagnosis, then left us to die in our disease. Instead, God has lovingly and graciously provided the cure. He is continually at work in our lives, trying to bring us to our senses, offering the gift of deliverance and forgiveness.

As the prophet Isaiah wrote, "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned” (Isaiah 9:2). When the world was shrouded in gloom and despair, when idolatry, wickedness, immorality, and oppression covered the land, a great light suddenly shone over the skies of Bethlehem. The night air reverberated with the music of angel voices, announcing the birth of a Savior.

Ever since humanity fell in the Garden of Eden, there has been only one hope for a world mired in sin: Jesus Christ. The wrath of God has been completely and fully met by the righteousness of God. God’s righteousness cancels out His wrath--but only in the lives of those who receive His righteousness through faith in His Son Jesus.

Logically, you would think that people would be eager to receive the marvelous gift of God’s righteousness--the gift that heals our hurts, corrects our errors, covers our sin, and brings peace, joy, and forgiveness to the heart. Incredibly, people stubbornly choose pain, darkness, death, and despair over eternal life through Jesus Christ.

Why? Why would anyone choose death over life, wrath over righteousness? In Romans 1, Paul correctly diagnoses the spiritual cancer that has infected the entire human race: Human beings have refused to glorify God and give thanks to Him. As a result, their hearts have become darkened. Claiming to be wise, they have become fools. They have depraved minds, and are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and more. That is the divine diagnosis of the human race. That is why the human race has incurred the wrath of a holy and righteous God.

But you and I do not need to fear the wrath of God. We can escape the wrath if we heed the message of Romans and receive the cure God offers us. As we shall see in the rest of this study, the message of Romans is the good news of Jesus Christ.

CHAPTER  3

SINFUL MORALITY

Romans 2

John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, told of a man in his congregation who seemed to be greedy and stingy. The man had a good job and a nice home, yet he contributed only a paltry sum every year to the charities of the church. From the pulpit, Wesley once criticized the man for his stinginess.

Afterward, the man went to Wesley in private. "I know you think I’ve been holding back from the church,” the man said, 'but the truth is that I’ve been living on nothing but parsnips and water for weeks. You see, before I came to know Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, I lived irresponsibly and I ran up a great number of debts.

"Now however, I’m trying to live within my means. I’m skimping on expenses for myself, and I’m paying off my debts, one by one. Within a year, I hope to be debt-free. In the meantime, with all of these bills to pay I can only give a little more than a tithe to the church. But once I’ve settled up with the people I owe, I intend to give much more to the Lord’s work.” With a heavy heart, Wesley apologized for misjudging the man. That day Wesley learned a lesson that we all need to understand--the same lesson Paul wants to teach us in the second chapter of Romans: we often misjudge others because we cannot know another person’s heart. Only God, who knows all things, has the wisdom and the authority to judge people righteously

Stuck in denial

It is important to grasp the flow of Paul’s argument as we come to Romans 2. In Romans 1, Paul has given us his penetrating analysis of the human condition. He has talked about humanity’s rejection of the one true God who reveals Himself in nature and the human conscience. He has talked about how men and women have turned to false gods, sexual immorality, violence, and cruelty.

Romans 1 creates an instant division between "them” and "us,” between people who are grossly wicked and those who are not. Most of us in the church would read Romans 1 and say, "I’m thankful I’m not like that! I’m a law-abiding, home-loving, clean-living, decent person. If only the world were filled with people like me instead of all of those criminals, rebels, prostitutes, and perverts!”

I call this attitude "sinful morality--adopting a morally superior attitude toward others while denying our own sinfulness. It is a smug and false morality, rooted in a desire to build ourselves up by putting others down.

Here, in chapter 2, Paul turns and confronts all of us who are stuck in self-righteous denial. He attacks our "sinful morality” and cuts off our escape, forcing us to confront the truth about ourselves: We are not as decent and innocent as we suppose! We, too, are subject to God’s judgment.

In Romans 2, Paul turns the white-hot glare of his spotlight upon us with a devastating three-step argument. Let’s examine his argument, step by step.

Step 1: You Are Guilty Because Your Own Judgment Condemns You

The first step of Paul’s argument is found in the first verse of Romans 2:

You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. (Romans 2:1)

If you have never passed judgment on another human being, then feel free to skip this chapter and move on to the next. In my own case, however, I must honestly confess that I am guilty. I have passed judgment on others. To all of those, myself included, who come under the condemnation of this passage, Paul has two important points to make.

First, he points out that people who judge others clearly know the difference between right and wrong; otherwise they would not presume to judge. They understand moral standards. So they know which actions merit the judgment and wrath of God. This wrath, as Paul explained in Romans 1, primarily involves God’s removal of all restraints upon human wickedness. As God allows evil to reign in society, that society degenerates and human misery compounds.

Second, Paul points out that people who judge others are guilty because they do the same evil things themselves. They are hypocrites.

This point reminds me of our Lord’s account of His promised return, when all of the nations will come before Him to be judged (see Matthew 25:31-46). Jesus said He would separate the people of the world into two groups, the sheep and the goats. What determines whether you are a sheep or a goat? Jesus says the test is simple: You will be judged based on how you have treated others.

When He renders judgment, Jesus will say to the sheep, "I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” And to the goats, He will point out that they did none of these things. Both the sheep and the goats will be surprised. The sheep will say. "We don’t remember doing those things for you!” And the goats will say, "We never saw you in such need!” But Jesus replies that whatever we have done--or have failed to do--for other people will be counted as our treatment of Jesus Himself.

I have to confess that I remember times when I have been more goat-like than sheep-like. I confess that I have often been blind toward my own faults. Oh, I can pick out these same faults in the people around me, but I just can’t find them in myself. There are things that I have casually, thoughtlessly done to others, thinking nothing of it--yet if those same acts were done to me, I would be outraged and offended.

How blind I am to my own faults! I simply do not see them-such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere man, yet I am so quick to judge others for the same offenses. In so doing, I come under the condemnation of Romans 2.

At other times, I may be aware of my own sins and faults, yet I simply assume that God will let it slide, that He is easygoing and indulgent, lain so quick to forgive myself and forget my faults. As my own sin fades from my memory I assume it will fade from God’s memory as well.

One area in which most of us are prone to do this is in our thought-life. Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, told us that God looks at the heart and judges our attitudes and intentions. He doesn’t judge as people judge, by merely looking at the outward reality. God knows that if we are full of hate and resentment toward another person, then we have committed murder in our hearts. He knows that if we have lustful thoughts, then we have committed fornication or adultery in our hearts. If our thoughts are full of self-righteous arrogance and pride, He sees that we are guilty of the worst of sins.

We think these hidden sins will go unnoticed, forgetting that nothing is hidden from God. He sees all that we ignore. He remembers all that we forget. He knows when we speak spitefully toward others, when we cheat others, when we destroy reputations with malicious gossip, when we behave stubbornly or arrogantly or vindictively toward others. He sees when we are quick to judge others but slow to judge ourselves.

Another way we come under the judgment of Romans 2 is the way we label our behavior and the behavior of others. We accuse other people of lying--but we ourselves merely "stretch the truth.” Others steal; we merely borrow. Others are biased and stubborn; we have convictions. Our euphemistic labels may keep us in denial, but they do not fool God. He sees the reality of our hearts.

Step 2: You Are Guilty Because God Judges Truthfully

Paul goes on to develop Step 2 of his argument by asking two powerful confrontational questions. Here is the first:

Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? (Romans 2:2-3)

We foolishly think that God will harshly judge other people, but He will not judge us! We know that He sees the innermost thoughts and intentions of all people, yet we expect Him to overlook our sins while punishing the sins of others.

People often ask, "How can a good and loving God permit so much evil and suffering in the world? Why doesn’t God immediately judge the sins of evil people who kill, steal, rape, and oppress the innocent?” But if we were honest with ourselves, the question we truly ought to ask is, "Why didn’t God judge me yesterday when I said that harsh, hurtful word to my spouse? Why didn’t God shrivel my hand when I cheated on my income tax? Why didn’t God strike me silent when I gossiped on the phone this morning?”

We blame God for not judging the evil of others, yet think it perfectly natural that He indulge our sins and hurtful behavior. So Paul asks us, in effect, "Don’t you know that God judges truthfully? And if so, then how can you pass judgment on others when you are guilty as well? How will you escape God’s judgment, which is based on absolute truth?”

Paul then poses his second question:

Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance? (Romans 2:4)

Paul’s second question is, "Why do you act the way you do? You judge others, but you don’t judge yourself! If God judges on the basis of truth, then you must he included in that judgment as well! God’s kindness toward you is not intended to give you more opportunities to sin, but to lead you toward repentance and righteousness.”

Our tendency is to take God’s kindness for granted. But God wants us to respond to His kindness in gratitude. He knows that we are blind and filled with denial. He urges us to open our eyes and take His grace and kindness toward us as an opportunity for repentance and change.

Step 3: You Are Guilty Because God Does Not Show Favoritism

In the third and final step of his argument, Paul describes what lies ahead for those who refuse to face the actual condition of their lives:

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. God will give to each person according to what he has done.” To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism. (Romans 2:5-11)

I am amazed at how many times I have expected God to show favoritism toward me. Even as a Christian, I expect God to ignore my sins and flaws, and 1 feel ill-treated when God points them out to me! Yet the Scriptures tell us that God is constantly bringing these issues to our attention for our own benefit. When God holds a mirror up to us, forcing us to face our sinful and flawed condition, we should thank Him for His love, learn from the experience, repent and grow--not retreat into denial.

Paul says that when we refuse to judge these areas of our lives, we store up wrath for ourselves. The original Greek word translated "storing up” literally means "to heap up a great treasure.” Here, Paul draws an ironic parallel between "the riches of [God’s] kindness” (verse 4) and heaping up a great "treasure” of God’s wrath. If we do not judge our own hearts, then we are laying up a horrible "treasure” of judgment and condemnation.

We are constantly making deposits in a bank account. That bank account is continually accruing a terrible interest as God allows us to deteriorate as human beings. We are steadily becoming less and less of what God intended us to be. C. S. Lewis put it this way in Mere Christianity:

People often think of Christian morality as a kind of bargain in which God says, "If you keep a lot of rules, I’ll reward you; and if you don’t, I’ll do the other thing.” I do not think that’s the best way of looking at it. I would much rather say that every time you make a choice, you are turning the central part of you, the part that chooses, into something a little different than what it was before. And, taking your life as a whole with all your innumerable choices, all your life long you are slowly turning this central thing either into a heavenly creature or into a hellish creature; either into a creature that is in harmony with God and with other creatures and with itself, or else into one that is in a state of war and hatred with God and with its fellow creatures and with itself. To be the one kind of creature is heavenly, i.e., it is joy and peace and knowledge and power; to be the other means madness, horror, idiocy, rage, impotence, and eternal loneliness. Each of us, at each moment, is progressing to the one state or the other.

Lewis is telling us the same thing that Paul brings out in Romans 2: God is a righteous God. He judges human beings and assesses wrath against those who do wrong. The wrath of God operates as a principle throughout human life--but a day of judgment is also coming when God’s righteousness and wrath will be revealed.

So Paul’s question to us is this: What are you seeking in life? If you persistently do good, seeking glory and honor and immortality, then you will find it. God will give you eternal life. You will find Jesus as your Redeemer and Lord and Savior. You will grow increasingly like Jesus as you judge those evil areas of life and honestly repent of them before God.

But if what you really want is not God, truth, life, glory, and immortality--if you merely seek pleasure, fame, wealth, and power--then you are storing up a treasury of wrath for yourself. As Paul puts it, "There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.” God plays no favorites. Your skin color, your ethnicity, your national origin, your church membership will make no difference before God.

If you think that this description of God and His judgment makes Him seem harsh and unloving, then you have not understood the passage in its context. The judgment of God and the wrath of God are in no way inconsistent with the love of God. The Bible clearly shows us that God loves human beings and wants to restore humanity, not destroy it. God loves us so much that He tells us the truth about ourselves and about Himself; that is true love. He is not willing to leave us in a muddle of self-deception and helplessness. We do not like to confess that we need help. We cling to our illusion of self-sufficiency because admitting helplessness is humiliating. We want to believe that salvation is denial. Only the truth can set us free.

God lovingly seeks to move us toward a recognition of our sinfulness. Once we recognize our hopeless condition, we can accept the fact that God has dealt with our sinfulness in Christ. On that basis, God offers us full and free forgiveness. There is no other way.

Anyone who thinks there is any other way of escape from sin needs a soul-shaking blast of truth! Such a person needs to know that he or she is storing up a treasure-house of wrath. That realization should drive any rational person to God. If we surrender ourselves to God, if we give up seeking our own will and our own way, then we can begin to live for the God who made us and who loves us. We can get off the road to hell and set our feet toward heaven. If you lose your life--surrender it completely to God--then you will save it. If you submit your desires and ambitions to Him, you will gain eternal life. But if you look out for yourself, defend yourself, excuse yourself, and rationalize your sins, your life will become a ruin, and your soul will end up in darkness.

That is the gospel. We are all without excuse. We all need God’s forgiveness. You and I are as much in need of His forgiveness as any cold-blooded murderer. We have no right to see ourselves as superior to anyone else. Our condemnation of others only blocks the flow of God’s life and power in our lives. If we want to enjoy the peace and power of God on a daily basis, then we must stop judging others and we must begin judging ourselves.

Four Kinds of People

God has promised us an ultimate destiny that is beyond all our wildest dreams--and infinitely beyond our deserving. Yet I am continually amazed that people so often resist and refuse the good news of eternal life through Jesus Christ.

One reason people struggle against the gospel is that it cannot be received until we admit our need. Many people resist to the death--to an eternal death!--having to admit their hopelessness and helplessness. We do not like to confess that we need help. We cling to our illusion of self-sufficiency because admitting helplessness is humiliating. We want to believe that salvation is something we can earn for ourselves.

In Romans, Paul describes four types of people who refuse the gospel. At the conclusion of Romans 1 he describes Type 1: The Flagrantly Wicked. Such people are filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, depravity, envy, murder, deceit, and malice. Flagrantly wicked people flout morality and defy God. They are not content to destroy their own souls, but encourage others to destroy themselves as well.

Then, in Romans 2, Paul introduces the second group of people who refuse the gospel--Type 2: The Self-Righteous Moralists. These people are outwardly concerned with a form of morality, but are inwardly filled with resentment, jealousy, murder, hatred, and envy. These people are as sinful as the flagrantly wicked people of Romans 1. Because they maintain a facade of morality and respectability, they think God will overlook their hidden sin. They think they will he excused from God’s judgment because of their self-righteousness and their harsh judgment and condemnation of flagrantly wicked sinners.

Next, Paul will introduce two more types of people who refuse the gospel, beginning with Type 3: The Unenlightened Pagans. Here Paul deals with a troubling question: What will God do with those who have not heard the gospel? What about those who live where the Bible is unknown and who have never had a chance to hear about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ? In this passage Paul says that their problem is that they defile their consciences.

In the same passage, Paul also introduces us to Type 4: The Religious Devotees. These people believe that God is pleased by religious rites and rituals. They ignore the fact that God’s Word repeatedly states that God judges on the basis of the reality of a person’s thoughts and behavior. Religion and rituals cannot save us from God’s judgment. Only a sincere and authentic faith relationship with Jesus Christ can save.

The last two types of people are introduced by this statement of the universal lostness of humanity:

All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. (Romans 2:12-13)

This is probably the strongest statement from the hand of Paul. It answers the most common question that non-Christians ask Christians: "What about the people who have never heard of Jesus Christ?” Usually, the people who ask this question are thinking of people in remote parts of the world, such as the Amazon jungle. What these people fail to realize when they ask this question is that people in the Amazon jungles are in exactly the same spiritual condition as people in the concrete jungles of any American city. Paul’s answer to this question is that all people will be judged by their own standards. God judges people according to what they know, not according to what they don’t know.

So far in Romans, Paul has made three great statements about the basis of the judgment.

First, in Romans 2:2, Paul says that God’s judgment is according to the truth; it is based in reality. God judges only according to what is actually in our hearts and our behavior. God cannot falsely convict anyone but He judges according to truth.

Second, in Romans 2:6, Paul says that God judges according to our works. This gives us some insight into the patience of God. Though He sees what is going on in our hearts and minds, He waits patiently for our inner attitude to work itself out in words or actions that we manifest openly. So God allows us to be our own judge, to see for ourselves that our words and deeds manifest what is inside us.

Third, in Romans 2:9-10, Paul says that the judgment of God is according to light. In other words, God will not judge humanity on the basis of the Ten Commandments. We will be judged on the basis of our own inner standards of morality. He will say to each individual, "What did you think was right and wrong?” When the individual answers, God will then ask, "According to your own standard, did you do the right--or the wrong?”

By that standard, of course, everyone fails. I fail, and so do you. Paul tells us, "All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law” The fact that a person has never heard the Ten Commandments is no excuse. That person will perish in the judgment not because he or she didn’t know what God expected, but for failing to do right according to his or her own moral expectations.

Next, Paul goes on to take up the ease of the group of people we identified as Type 3: The Unenlightened Pagans.

(Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.) This will take place on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares. (Romans 2:14-16)

The New International Version places verses 14 and 15 in parentheses because this comes within the context of Paul’s argument regarding the coming day of judgment when God will judge the secrets of human beings everywhere, and all that is hidden will be revealed. Jesus spoke of this same day of judgment in Luke 12:3: "What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will he proclaimed from the roofs” (Luke 12:3).”

There were some in Paul’s day who said that, because the Jews possessed the Law of Moses and knew God’s truth, they would not be condemned in that judgment. But Paul is saying, "If your knowledge of God’s Law saves you, then everyone will be saved, even the pagans, because they have a law, too. It is written on their hearts. Their consciences act as judges within them.”

Of course, God does not judge according to what we know. He judges according to what we do with what we know. All people have an inner standard of right and wrong. They show it by the way they talk and the way they live their lives.

Some years ago, missionary Don Richardson wrote a book called Peace Child, the story of his encounter with the Sawis, a society of cannibals in New Guinea. When Richardson and other missionaries arrived there in 1962, they discovered a tribe that had become so degraded and immoral that they actually idolized treachery. They admired the man who could win someone’s trust, then betray and murder that person. Richardson was shocked to find that when he told the gospel story to the Sawi people, they thought that the hero of the story was Judas, not Jesus!

Because of this lack of a common understanding of morality, the Christian missionaries despaired of ever reaching the Sawi tribes for Christ. It seemed impossible to appeal to a society whose moral standards were completely inverted. But as the missionaries lived among the Sawi people, they discovered one area of life in which these tribal people were bound to a recognizable moral standard: the peace child. If one Sawi tribe gave a gift of a baby to another Sawi tribe, then that other tribe was bound to keep its agreements and honor its treaties. If the tribe did not honor the gift of the peace child and keep its agreements, that tribe would lose face and be utterly disgraced.

This gave Richardson and the other missionaries an idea for a way to introduce the Christian gospel. They told the Sawi people that God had given them a peace child, the baby Jesus. As a result, the Sawis were bound to honor God. The key God gave us to the heart of the Sawi people,” Richardson said, "was the principle of redemptive analogy--the application to local customs of spiritual truth God had already provided for the evangelization of these people by means of redemptive analogies in their own culture.”' By using the analogy of the peace child as a stepping stone to biblical truth, the missionaries were able to bring the gospel to the Sawis. Many of the Sawi people became Christians, and Sawi society was transformed.

It seems that God always prepares humanity for the gospel by building into every culture a concept that is ready and waiting when the gospel comes. All people have an inner sense of right and wrong, though that moral standard may be hard to find. The Sawi people were living according to the rule of conscience--a conscience that was so twisted that right seemed wrong and good seemed bad to these people.

The human conscience cannot produce inner peace, nor can it produce peace with God. But the innate moral sense of the human conscience can sometimes provide a pathway for the gospel to enter the human heart.

The Religious Devotee

Next, Paul deals with the religious devotee of his day: the committed, religious Jew. At first glance, you might think, This passage does not speak to me--I’m not a religious Jew. But we need only to substitute "church member” for "Jew,” and this passage becomes a pointed indictment of many Christians in the twenty-first century. There are many parallels between first-century Jews  and twenty-first-century Christians. As evangelical Christians, we are proud of our knowledge, understanding, and defense of Christian truth. Some of us go so far as to smugly assume that our biblical knowledge and doctrinal purity will deliver us from God’s judgment. Paul wants us to know that this is a tragically mistaken assumption. He writes:

Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and brag about your relationship to God; if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because youth have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth--you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? As it is written: "God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” (Romans 2:17-24)

Paul lists five great advantages that the Jews of his day prided themselves in.

First, they prided themselves on possessing the Law of Moses. Many evangelicals today take similar pride in possessing the Bible. We have the Bible in a hundred different versions, and we claim to have correct, orthodox, evangelical doctrine. In the church today, we often hear people bragging about their understanding of God’s truth, while putting down anyone who takes a different view of this or that doctrinal fine point. That is precisely the attitude of the deeply religious Jew of Paul’s day.

Second, the Jews of Paul’s day prided themselves on having a special, unique relationship with God. They were God’s chosen people. Today we often hear evangelicals talk about their special relationship with God that people of other traditions or denominations don’t have.

Third, the Jews of Paul’s day claimed to know the will of God. They had the Scriptures, the Law of Moses, and the Prophets. Many Christians today claim to have a similar knowledge of God’s will. They claim to know the only God-approved mode of baptism, the only God-approved view of worship, the only God-approved view of Bible prophecy. They boast of their knowledge of God’s Word and God’s will, and they are smugly secure in that knowledge.

Fourth, the Jews of Paul’s day prided themselves on their moral superiority There were certain things that no self-respecting Jew wild ever do, just as many Christians today pride themselves in the long list of "Thou shalt nots” that they observe: Thou shalt not dance, thou shalt not drink, thou shalt not go to movies, and so forth. Some Christians today practice a negative religion of restrictions and prohibitions, and they think their rigid observance of these restrictions makes them morally superior to everyone else.

In the same verses, Paul goes on to list four privileges that the Jews claimed because of the advantages that were theirs.

First, these religious Jews felt that they were guides to the spiritually blind. Today, many Christians seem to feel entitled to correct anyone around them. They make it their mission in life to impart the truth of God to their poor, ignorant brethren.

Second, these religious Jews felt that they were a light to those in darkness. Their Christian counterparts are with us today, trying to dazzle us with their Bible knowledge. They have it all figured out: the year of the Lord’s return, the identity of the Antichrist, the election-predestination debate, the elective decrees of God, the various views of the fall of man, and on and on. Such people take great pride in their knowledge.

Third, these religious Jews felt that they were instructors of the foolish. Many Christians today take the same position. Without any consideration for the feelings of others, these sharp-tongued saints never miss an opportunity to set others straight.

Fourth, these religious Jews felt privileged to be teachers of children. I’ve seen many Christians today who are of the same mind. It is wonderful, of course, when people volunteer to teach Sunday school or to be youth advisors. Unfortunately I have seen many volunteer for such positions not because they have been called and gifted by God to teach the young, but because they derive ego gratification from being in charge and helping to "straighten out” the next generation.

Paul pronounces a judgment against all such people, telling them, in effect, "You are outwardly righteous and correct, but inwardly you are doing the wrong thing. You religious zealots are dangerous people. You are envious, proud, covetous, lustful, and bitter. You preach against stealing, but do you steal? You condemn adultery, but do you commit adultery?” Paul brings them sharply to task for their hypocrisy.

Then Paul delivers the most devastating judgment of all. He says, in effect, "You brag about God’s Law yet your own behavior brings dishonor upon God’s name. The Gentiles blaspheme God because of you.” That was the ultimate judgment upon the Jews. To them, blasphemy was the worst of sins. Yet Paul tells them that people have turned away from God and dishonored His name because of the actions of these oh-so-religious Jews.

Blatant examples from American Christianity instantly leap to mind. We see pastors of prominent churches caught in sex scandals; televangelists caught abusing their prominence to gain sex, money, and power; so-called "faith healers” who get rich by exploiting the pain and desperation of the faithful; and church members who seem holy and pious on Sunday, but Monday through Friday they cheat their customers, abuse their employees, and otherwise disgrace the name of God. They consider themselves guides to the blind, lights to those in darkness, instructors of the foolish, and teachers of the young--yet they are actively hurting the cause of Christ.

When we as Christians try to share the gospel or invite a non-Christian friend to church, we are told, "Are you kidding me? I don’t need your gospel and I wouldn’t go near a church! Churches are full of hypocrites!” Some Christians keep records of how many people they win to Christ, yet they have no idea of how many people they have driven away from Christ by their spiritual arrogance, their unkind words, and their unrighteous example. The name of God is blasphemed because of such people.

What Is a Real Christian?

Next, Paul singles out the supreme symbol of Jewish separatism, the Jewish rite of circumcision:

Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law you have become as though you had not been circumcised. If those who are not circumcised keep the law’s requirements, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised? The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker. (Romans 2:25-27)

First-century Jews prided themselves on the rite of circumcision, the symbol that they were God’s people. Many Christians today derive a similar pride from baptism or church membership. Paul goes on to say that such outward signs are meaningless if there has been no "circumcision of the heart” (that is, inner transformation):

A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise is not from men, but from God. (Romans 2:28-29)

There is a significant play on words in that last phrase. The word Greek word for "praise” comes from the word for "Judah,” from which we get the word "Jew.” Paul says that when a person is truly a Jew, when there is not merely an outward symbol of circumcision but a genuine circumcision (transformation) of the heart, then that Jew receives praise not from people but from God.

To this day one of the most hotly debated questions in the state of Israel is this: What constitutes a true Jew? Is it religion? Is it observing the Old Testament Law? Keeping a kosher kitchen? Many Jews are atheists; they do not believe in God or in the Jewish Scriptures, yet they claim to be Jews on the basis of their ancestry. Is that a valid basis for claiming to be Jewish?

Paul tell us that there is nothing outward that makes you a true Jew. One becomes a Jew through the transformation of the heart. You become a true Jew when you believe in (to use His Hebrew name) Yeshua Hamashiach, Jesus the Messiah. Authentic Jewishness, Paul tells us, is not your culture, your ancestry, or the rites and rituals you observe. It is the fact that you have come to know the Lord Jesus Christ. That is what makes you a true Jew--and a true Christian.

Paul put it this way in another of his letters:

If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Galatians 3:29)

Paul’s conclusion of Romans 2 is that a human being without Christ is hopelessly lost. Outward rites and rituals have no value if there is not an inward transformation on the basis of a relationship with the Lord Jesus. That, and that alone, makes a Christian.

CHAPTER 4

THE HEART OF THE GOSPEL

Romans 3

Imagine an island that lies in eternal darkness. The sun never shines. Thousands and thousands of people live on that island, wandering in the darkness. There is never any joy, any peace, any happiness.

The people on the island yearn to escape--and, indeed, there is a pathway of escape that they can take if they can find it. The problem is that the only path of escape is a narrow bridge. That bridge stretches from a high cliff at the edge of the island, and it leads over a deep chasm. If your feet stray to the right or the left, you’ll fall to your death--and there is no light by which to find your way across the narrow bridge.

Everyone on the island has a little penlight that dimly illuminates no more than a foot or so in all directions. But there is one group of people who have been given a powerful searchlight. That searchlight casts a brilliant beam that provides light for up to half a mile. This searchlight was given for two reasons: (1) These people are to use the light to find their own way across the bridge, and (2) they are to share that light with others.

So what do these specially chosen people do with the powerful searchlight they’ve been given? Tragically, they do not point it at the bridge. Instead, they point their searchlight at the nearest haystack and proceed to search for needles in that haystack.

That is a fitting analogy for what Paul says the Jews of his day were doing. The Jewish nation had been given the light of God’s truth. Yet, instead of using that truth to point the way of escape spiritual darkness, the Jewish religious leaders pointed that light at meaningless theological debates over tiny differences in interpretation. Jesus, in Matthew 23:24, described such behavior this way: "You strain at a gnat, but swallow a camel.”

The Jewish religious leaders engaged in lengthy debates over how many footsteps constituted a violation of the Sabbath, or whether it is right to spit during the Sabbath day (they decided that spitting on a rock is permissible while spitting in the dust is not). 

This is how they used the searchlight of God’s Law. Meanwhile, the people continued to wander in darkness. Though the Jews had a tremendous advantage in having the Law, Paul indicts them for failing to use it as God intended.

A Squandered Advantage

Romans 3 carries Paul’s argument forward with a clear and carefully thought-out construction. In verses 1-8, Paul creates an imaginary dialogue between himself and a typical religious Jew of his day--a dialogue that grows from the issues he raised in Romans 2. In Romans 3:9-20, Paul describes the condition of fallen humanity before a holy, righteous God. At the end of that section, the condition of the human race seems hopeless.

Then, in Romans 3:21-31, we encounter a dramatic turning point in Paul’s argument. A light suddenly shines into the darkness of the human condition. The righteousness of God suddenly appears, coming to the rescue of the fallen human race.

Let’s begin by looking at the first eight verses of Romans 3. Here, Paul imagines that he is facing a Jewish objector. It is as if one of the Jews that Paul described in Romans 2 suddenly jumps up to argue with him. No doubt, Paul had experienced many real dialogues with angry Jewish objectors during his travels. Paul often taught and preached in the Jewish synagogues, and there were undoubtedly times when a Jewish rabbi would rise to debate him. That is what Paul suggests to us in this dialogue.

Is there a twenty-first-century counterpart to this imaginary Jewish objector in our own culture? Of course, there is. You can easily substitute any religionist for the Jewish objector in this dialogue--Mormon, Muslim, Hindu, Christian Scientist, Buddhist, Catholic, Baptist, or Presbyterian. Anyone who relies on religion for his salvation will offer the sort of argument Paul poses here.

Paul imagines a Jewish objector saying, "Hold on, Paul! These things that you say don’t count are the very things God has given to us--rituals, rites, doctrines, the Law of Moses, circumcision! Paul, you’re setting aside things that God Himself established. If these things don’t count, then what advantage is there in being a Jew? What is the advantage in being religious?”

In these two verses, Paul succinctly phrases those questions and begins to give us his answer:

What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God. (Romans 3:1-2)

Here Paul says that, "First of all,” that is, chiefly and supremely the Jews have the advantage of the Law of Moses, "the very words of God.” This is a tremendous advantage. Through Moses, the Jews were given the written Word of God, permanently engraved on tablets of stone. In this way, the Jews were entrusted with a knowledge of the mind, will, and character of God that other human tribes did not possess. The Jews had a greater opportunity to know and obey God than anyone else in that day--a tremendous advantage. Yet, for those Jews who failed to make use of this advantage, it did them no good at all. In fact, a Jew who did not use this advantage to obey God was no better off than if he had never known the Law at all!

Now, here is the parallel to our own situation today: Most of us, as Christians, have been raised in church and Sunday school. We have been taught the Word of God, and we may have even read it from cover to cover. We have memorized passages of Scripture. Bibles are available to us in dozens of translations. The mind of God is available to us. But are we any better off for having this advantage? Have we put our biblical knowledge to good use, studying God’s Word so that we can obey Him and serve Him better? If not, then we are no better off than those who have never seen a Bible or heard the name of Jesus. We have squandered our God-given advantage!

Let God Be True

The dialogue continues as the imaginary rabbi comes back at Paul with a second objection:

What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness? Not at all! Let God be true, and every man a liar. As it is written: "So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:3-4)

The imaginary rabbi says, "Paul, are you suggesting that if some of the Jews did not believe, then God might forget His promises to all of the Jews? Are you saying that just because some of us didn’t measure up to what God required in the Law, everyone in Israel has lost the promise that God gave them? You seem to suggest that God is not interested in the very rituals that He instituted. Are you saying that circumcision and all of the other rites and rituals of the Old Testament mean nothing to God?”

Paul’s answer uses the strongest words of denial possible in the Greek language: "Not at all!” Or, as other translations put it, "By no means! May it never be! God forbid!” To suggest God would go back on His promises is tantamount to saying that God is dishonest and unfaithful. Paul says that such a suggestion is totally unthinkable: "Not at all! Never let that be! Let God be true, and every man a liar.” No matter how many human beings may fail, God always keeps His word.

Paul then quotes from Psalm 51, the beautiful psalm of confession David wrote after his sin of murder and adultery. For a year and a half, David hid his sins and refused to admit them to God or anyone else. Finally, God sent Nathan the prophet, who exposed David’s sins (see 2 Samuel 12). At that moment, David broke down and confessed to God.

In his psalm of confession, David told God, "Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.” In other words, "You are not to blame, God; I did this sin, and you are right and justified in judging me for it.” Or, as Paul puts it, "Let God be true and every man a liar.”

Next, the imaginary rabbi raises a third objection, and Paul responds:

But if our unrighteousness brings out God’s righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing his wrath on us? (I am using a human argument.) Certainly not! If that were so, how could God judge the world? (Romans 3:5-6)

Paul notes, this is a common human argument. We often hear this same argument today. People say, "If my sin makes God look good because it gives Him a chance to show His love and forgiveness, then how can He condemn me? I’ve given God a chance to reveal Himself, and that’s what He wants. In fact, I should sin even more and make Him look all the better!”

To this argument, Paul replies, "Let’s carry this to its logical conclusion. If everyone lived on that basis, then nobody could be judged and God would be removed as judge of all the world.” In short, such reasoning would demean God. He would have no right to judge our sin if He had arranged the universe so that sin would glorify Him. If God does not judge the world, then sin cannot be arrested. Sin never glorifies God. Sin always has evil results. As the Scriptures tell us, those who plant seeds of sin reap only corruption (see Galatians 6:8). This is a law of nature, ordained by God, which no one can break.

Next, Paul reinforces his argument with a personal illustration:

Someone might argue, "If my falsehood enhances God’s truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?” Why not say--as we are being slanderously reported as saying and as some claim that we say--”Let us do evil that good may result”? Their condemnation is deserved. (Romans 3:7-8)

Translators of the New International Version erred by adding a phrase that is not in the original Greek text: "Someone might argue…” New King James Version renders this passage more accurately:

For if the truth of God has increased through my lie to His glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner? And why not say, "Let us do evil that good may come”?--as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just. (Romans 3:7-8 NKJV)

There is an interesting progression here, as if Paul is drawing a noose around himself. In Romans 1 he talks about "they” as in "They are without excuse.” In Romans 2, he talks about "you,” as in "You are without excuse.” In Romans 3, he talks about "our unrighteousness.” Finally, in verses 7 and 8, he tightens that noose around his own neck, saying, "my lie.” He has included himself in the circle of sin, judgment, and condemnation. I love to see this, because it tells me that Paul does not hold himself up as better than anyone else.

Paul says, in effect, "Wouldn’t it be logical to simply say, 'Lets do evil that good may come’? What a ridiculous argument! That kind of false 'logic’ removes all differences between good and evil!”

Here, we see the timeliness of Paul’s message in Romans, because this, in fact, is what many people are saying today: "There’s no such thing as good or evil. Whatever you like is good; whatever you don’t like is evil. Morality is all in your mind!” Paul says that such false "logic” is an absurdity, producing moral anarchy. Such thinking is precisely why our society is in moral chaos today.

No One Is Righteous

The dialogue continues. In the next section, Paul introduces another question, along with his answer:

What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. (Romans 3:9 NKJV)

The phrase "Are we better than they?” would be better translated "Do we have any standing at all?” Paul is looking at the entire human race and asking, "Is there any way that a human being can please God apart from faith in Christ?” His answer: None at all. Whether Jew or Gentile, our situation is hopeless.

Paul has already shown that blatantly wicked people have no hope because they defy God. The self-righteous have no hope because they delude themselves, thinking themselves to be morally superior to everyone else. The unenlightened pagans, whether in the Amazon jungles or the concrete jungles, have no hope because they do not even live up to their own standards. The religious zealots have no hope, because they cannot live up to their own teachings.

Finally Paul seals his argument with the iron-clad authority of Scripture. He gathers up a compilation of passages from the Psalms, Proverbs, and Isaiah to show that he is not introducing a new doctrine. He is simply stating what God has already said throughout His Word. The Scripture passages Paul cites deal with three themes: (1) God’s view of human character; (2) God’s view of human conduct in speech and action; and (3) the root cause of human character and conduct. He writes:

As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one.” (Romans 3:10)

Isn’t that an amazing statement? Here, Paul quotes God’s all-inclusive indictment of humanity in Psalm 14:1. Think of all the nice, kind, gracious people you know. You may think of them as "good” people, "good” neighbors, "good” friends. You may think of yourself as a "good” person. But God’s verdict on the human race is universal and all-inclusive: "There is no one righteous, not even one.” Paul continues:

"...there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.” (Romans 3:11)

Here, Paul quotes Psalm 14:2. All over the world, in secular universities and religious temples, human beings are searching for the answer to the mystery of life--and God says that there is not one who understands, not one. Moreover, God says that there is no one who truly seeks Him! The world is filled with millions of religious people, streaming into houses of worship, observing rites and rituals--but are they looking for God? No, says God. They may be looking for peace or answers to their prayers or feelings of religious ecstasy, but God says that there is no one who truly seeks God Himself.

"All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:12)

Paul quotes Psalm 14:3. This statement could not be any clearer: There is no one who does good, not even one. We read this and think, "But I’m not such a bad person! Everybody knows I’m moral and decent!” Does God, who knows your innermost thoughts, agree? If all your thoughts throughout the day were recorded and broadcast to the world, would everybody still regard you as moral and decent?

It is easy to fool the world and hide our innermost selves from others. It is impossible to hide our souls from God. He looks on the heart, He knows our thoughts, and His verdict is clear: There is no one who does good, not even one.

Next, Paul cites Psalm 5:9, 140:3, and 10:7 to give us God’s perspective on why there is no one who does good. The first area he deals with is our speech:

"Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.”

"The poison of vipers is on their lips.”

'Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”

(Romans 3:13-14)

Quoting three passages from the Psalms, Paul covers the whole realm of the sins we commit with our speech. It begins deep within us, in the grave--like darkness of the throat; it proceeds to the tongue, then the lips, and finally the whole mouth. The sins we do with our words come from our innermost selves and proceed outward. When God looks upon our sinful speech, He sees an open grave with a rotting corpse, with a horrible stench billowing forth. What are the sins of speech? There are sins of offensiveness and vulgarity, of spewing filthy words that cause people to feel repulsed and violated. There are sins of scorn and insult, of treating people with disrespect and abuse.

"Their tongues practice deceit,” says God, highlighting our sins of hypocrisy and lying. Some of our deceptions are stark and openly destructive. Others are "little white lies,” those tissue-thin facades we put up so that no one will know what we are really like.

"The poison of vipers is on their lips,” says God. This is a picture of the tongue being used to destroy reputations, to gossip and slander, to cruelly wound another person.

"Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” Cursing is profanity and blasphemy, taking God’s name in vain, or blaming God, or placing oneself in God’s place, verbally condemning another human being to eternal punishment. Bitterness is reproaching God for one’s own circumstances. We hear cursing and bitterness all the time, from the people around us, from our TV and movie screens, and even (I’m sad to say) from Christians.

Next, Paul cites Isaiah 59:7-8 to describe the acts that follow the sins of human speech:

"Their feet are swift to shed blood;

ruin and misery mark their ways,

and the way of peace they do not know.”

(Romans 3:15-17)

Wherever humanity goes, ruin follows. Every great city has its crime--and poverty-ridden slums. All of our beautiful wilderness regions and rivers are endangered by litter and pollution. Crime, violence, and war are an inescapable part of the human condition. Ruin is in the heart of humanity. I have often thought this statement would be an appropriate slogan for the United Nations: "The way of peace they do not know.”

Next Paul quotes Psalm 36:1:

"There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:18)

This statement recalls Paul’s words in Romans 1:18: "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.” The wrath of God is revealed against humanity because "there is no fear of God before their eyes.”

The Purpose of the Law

In Romans 3:19-20, Paul connects the sinfulness and wretchedness of humanity to the Law of Moses. His goal is to show us clearly why God gave the Law. The Jews of Paul’s day were convinced that God had given them the Law as a special privilege. In these verses, Paul punctures their self-righteous pride--and ours:

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. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. (Romans 3:19-20)

Reading this description of God’s view of humanity, we are tempted to respond, "Enough! Wipe them all out!” In view of our wretchedness, deceit, hypocrisy, vulgarity, and blasphemy, wouldn’t the universe he better off without us? Wouldn’t God prefer a universe free of our moral and spiritual pollution?

Amazingly, the same God who rendered this terrible verdict on humanity has also found a way to suspend the sentence of death that we so richly deserve. As John 3:16 tells us, God loved the world so much that He gave us His only begotten Son to take our penalty upon Himself.

The Law of God condemns us, proving that we deserve eternal death. But God did not send the Law to destroy us. He sent the Law to us to keep us from false hope and false pride in our own "good” works. He sent the Law to keep us from taking a false path of do-it-yourself righteousness. The Law condemns us--yet it is the very condemnation of the Law that makes us willing to listen to God, so that we will find the right path.

Paul says the Law does three things to us: First, it silences us. You can always tell that someone is close to becoming a Christian when they stop making excuses. Self-righteous people say, "Yes, I’ve done had things, but I’ve also done many good things.” But when the true meaning of the Law becomes clear to people, they realize good deeds can never outweigh the immense burden of sin we all carry. That realization silences all excuses. A friend of mine once received a traffic ticket. She felt that, even though she had committed the offense, her actions were justified because of extenuating circumstances. So she went to court to plead her case. She imagined that the judge would ask her if she was guilty or not guilty, and she would answer, "Guilty--but I have an explanation.” Then she would make her case and the judge would agree with her and the case would be dismissed. After the hearing, she told me what happened. "I had my argument all prepared,” she said, "but when I stood there all alone before the judge in his robe, and he looked over his glasses and said, 'Guilty or not guilty?’ all my arguments evaporated. I said, 'Guilty.’” Her arguments and excuses were silenced.

Next, Paul says that the whole world will beheld accountable to God. Time and death do not erase our sins. As the book of Hebrews tells us, "It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27 KJV).

What does the Law want of us? Jesus said that the two greatest commandments are, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind,” and, "Love your neighbor as yourself.” The entire Law, He added, is summed up in these two commandments to love  (see Matthew 22:37-40).

All the Law asks us to do is to love God and love one another. When we face ourselves before the Law, we have to confess that the greatest sins of our lives have been the many times we have failed to love. So, Paul says, we cannot he declared righteous by observing the Law. The purpose of the Law is not to make us free from sin, but to make us conscious of how sinful we are. Only when we are con scions of our sin are we willing to receive God’s solution for our sin.

"But Now...”

A major transition occurs at verse 21, signaled by the first two words, "But now…” The first twenty verses of Romans 3 have been a depressing assessment of the human condition. At verse 21, we feel a sudden spiritual lift, as if a brilliant ray of heavenly sunlight has broken through the overcast of our sin, bringing light and warmth to our souls. God has not left us under a sentence of eternal death. Though we were incapable of fulfilling the Law, God now shows us what perfect love looks like by sending us His Son. Here is Paul’s joyful transition:

But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify (Romans 3:21)

In the face of human failure comes God’s "But now”' Humanity can never supply its own righteousness--but now a righteousness from God has appeared to solve the human crisis!

In this concluding section of Romans 3, Paul explores what this "righteousness from God” means. In verse 21, Paul announces that God’s answer to the human crisis has arrived. In verses 22-24, he explains how this gift of righteousness can he obtained. In verses 25-26, he tells us how this gift works. In verses 27-31, he explains the results that follow in our lives when we receive this gift.

What is this "righteousness from God” that Paul announces in verse 21? Elsewhere in the New Testament, Paul refers to it as "the glorious gospel of the blessed God” (1 Timothy 1:11), the good news that Jesus Christ has become our righteousness.

This word righteousness is widely misunderstood these days. People tend to associate "righteousness” with "good works.” But in the book of Romans, Paul uses the word righteousness in a way that has nothing to do with works. In fact, he makes it clear that we cannot achieve righteousness by observing the Law. The phrase "righteousness from God” does not refer to anything we do; it refers to what we are in God’s sight. The gift Paul talks about is the gift of a righteous standing before God.

But the real meaning underlying this word righteousness is found in the word worth. People everywhere are looking for a sense of worth. Psychologists tell us that a sense of worth is essential to human well-being. We cannot function if we see ourselves as worthless and unworthy, so we are all on a quest for sense of worth. The good news of the gospel is that God has given us the gift of true worth, a righteousness that comes directly from Him. Some people will labor in vain all their lives to find that which God gives us as a free gift. We cannot earn a sense of worth. We can only reach out and accept it.

Now, perhaps, we begin to see that the gospel is significant not merely for its promise of an afterlife, but for what it means in the here and now. The good news of the gospel is that we are people of worth, thanks to the free gift of God.

Unfortunately, many people-including many in the church!--do not realize that this is what the gospel is truly about. Young people and old people, rich people and poor people, and people of every race and color are looking for a sense of worth, a sense that they are loved and accepted. The place where they should hear the good news of their own worth to God should be the church; tragically, many churches do not preach that wonderful news. That is one reason why many people have turned their backs on the church.

God offers us the gift of His own perfect righteousness, His own true and satisfying sense of worth. By faith in Jesus Christ, we receive that amazing, healing sense of worth and acceptance. There could be no better news to any searching, aching heart.

Paul goes on to add two important clauses to his argument about this "righteousness from God.” Let’s look at this statement again:

But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. (Romans 3:21)

Notice, first, that this righteousness is apart from the Law. In other words, it is not something we can earn by obedience to the Law. It is a gift. Anyone who tries to achieve righteousness (a sense of worth and right standing before God) by keeping the Law has already failed. No one can measure up to God’s standards of perfection. Nevertheless, God has found a way to give us the gift of righteousness.

Second, Paul says that this righteousness is witnessed by the Law and the Prophets. It is not something that popped into existence, unannounced, when Jesus Christ was born. This righteousness has been foretold down through the centuries, in the books of the Law (the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) and in the writings of the Old Testament prophets. The saints who lived before the birth of Jesus knew and experienced the wonder of this gift just as we do today, although they came to it by a different process.

The Law bore testimony to this righteous gift of God by providing a series of sacrifices. The Jews knew that they did not measure up to God’s standards, so the Law itself provided a system of sacrifices that could be offered on the altar. The entire sacrificial system of Old Testament worship symbolized the coming One who would be "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world” (see John 1:29).

The Prophets--such as Abraham, Moses, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and many others--not only talked about this gift but experienced it in their own lives. David, for example, wrote, "Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven, to whom the Lord will not impute iniquity, whose sins are covered” (Psalm 32:1). David wrote those words hundreds of years before Jesus died upon the cross of Calvary, yet David understood that God had found a way to cover those sins and give the unearned gift of righteousness to a sinner like himself.

The righteousness from God is not a new concept. It was thousands of years old by the time Paul wrote the book of Romans. Yet the source of that righteousness from God was difficult to understand until we could see it flowing to us from the cross of Jesus.

The Gift Must Be Accepted

In the next section, Paul tells us how to obtain this gift. Perhaps you are looking for this sense of being loved and accepted by God. How do you receive it? Here is Paul’s answer:

This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:22-24)

There is only one way to receive the righteousness and worth that comes from God. It is expressed here in four different aspects, but there is only one way: faith in Jesus Christ.

First, notice how Paul’s answer centers on the person of the Savior--not merely on His work or His teaching, but on His person. It is not by giving mental agreement to His teachings that we are saved. Rather, we are saved by believing and trusting in Jesus Himself. The gift of the righteousness from God requires that we have a relationship with a living person, Jesus Christ.

That is why the Bible never tells us, "Believe in what Jesus did.” Rather, it tells us, "to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (see John 1:12). That means there must come a time when you open your life to Christ, when you ask Him to be what He offers to be--your Lord and Savior.

Later in Romans, Paul writes, "That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved [being "saved,” of course, is another term for this gift of righteousness]. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved” (Romans 10:9-10).

There is no other way to receive the righteousness from God, the gift of salvation. No way can be found in all the religions of earth that can bring people to a place of righteousness and right standing in God’s sight except the way of faith in Jesus Christ.

Second, notice that Paul stresses the fact that all who believe are saved; those who do not believe are not saved. The righteousness from God is not automatically and universally applied to the entire human race. It is a free gift, but it is a gift that must be accepted in order to be received.

There are many religious groups today that teach a false doctrine called universalism the belief that all people will be saved or made happy in the afterlife, regardless of their sins. Some claim that the death of Christ was so effective that all are saved, whether they trust in Him or not. Others claim that a loving God would simply not allow anyone to suffer eternal death.

But Paul clearly states that there is no such thing as universalism in God’s plan. Salvation, says Paul, is a result of God’s grace through the redemption that comes by faith in Jesus alone. Grace is the gift God offers. Faith is the hand that accepts and receives that gift. A gift is of no use unless it is accepted and received.

Third, Paul describes how we obtain the gift of the righteousness from God through the phrase, "justified freely by his grace.” The gift of salvation is all God’s doing, and none of ours. We are justified and declared righteous by God’s grace. That word grace is defined as "God’s unmerited favor toward sinners.” We do not deserve grace, nor can we earn grace. There is nothing we can add to grace.

Many people mistakenly think that baptism is a substitute for grace, or that church membership is an add-on that completes grace. We cannot contribute a thing to the grace of God. As in the words of the old hymn, "Nothing in my hand I bring; Simply to thy cross I cling.”

The Heart of the Gospel

Next, Paul offers a brief explanation of how and why this redemption works. "How” is found in the opening words of verse 25; "why” is found in the rest of this passage:

God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished--he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:25-26)

This is the heart of the gospel and the ground of our assurance as Christians. Many Christians struggle with assurance. They have a sneaking suspicion that perhaps God is not quite satisfied with them. They worry that, even after receiving Jesus as their Lord and Savior, they might still somehow be lost. Pay careful attention to Paul’s argument, because this is the answer to that struggle.

First, Paul says that God has accomplished a sacrifice of atonement through faith in His blood. This phrase, "sacrifice of atonement,” is actually a single word, hilasterion, in the original Greek. This Greek word is also sometimes translated "expiation” or "propitiation”--theological terms that may not make much sense to you. But the meaning of "sacrifice of atonement” or "expiation” or "propitiation” is actually quite simple--and it is the heart of the gospel.

Expiation is that which satisfies justice; propitiation is that which awakens love. Both of these terms are involved in the death of Jesus, but expiation does not go quite as far as propitiation. Propitiation carries us clear through to the awakening of God’s love toward us. So I think "propitiatory sacrifice” is a better translation than the word "expiation.”

Let me illustrate the difference: Suppose someone is injured at work in an industrial accident. He is left partially paralyzed, and the company is at fault for neglecting to provide a safe work environment. As a result, the company is held accountable for the man’s injury and paralysis. The court awards this man a tremendous sum of money, to be paid by the company. When the money is paid, the company has expiated its wrongdoing and has satisfied the demands of justice. It no longer has any legal responsibility toward this man. That is expiation.

But expiation does nothing about how the man feels toward the company. Though he has collected a great sum of money, the man may spend the rest of his life hating the name of that company. The debt has been expiated, but it has not been propitiated.

Paul tells us that human sin has injured God, just as that man was injured by the negligence of the company. Justice demands that we be punished for our sin. That punishment was accomplished by the death of Jesus on the cross; with His death, God’s justice was satisfied. That is expiation.

But the reality of the cross goes much deeper than mere expiation. Paul is telling us that the death of Jesus on the cross also awakened God’s love toward us. Because of the sacrifice of Jesus, God grants us a sense of worth, acceptance, and value in His sight. That is what propitiation means. That is what the death of Jesus does. It not only satisfies God’s justice, but it awakens His love. As a result, He pours out His love upon us.

Paul shows us why this had to happen, beginning in the middle of verse 25: "He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished.” Here Paul refers to all the centuries when God apparently had done nothing about human sin. We often hear people questioning God on this very point. "Where is the God of justice?” they ask. "How can a just God allow tyranny, oppression, poverty, slavery, and genocide? Where is the justice of God?”

These questions are even found throughout the Bible: "Why does the way of the wicked prosper?” (Jeremiah 12:1). "Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?” (Job 21:7).

The last time in history the human race saw God’s holy justice on display was during the Flood of Noah. In response to human wickedness, God wiped out the whole human race except for eight people. The Flood was a testimony to God’s sense of justice; there has never been a manifestation of God’s justice to that degree since that time. So people ask, "Doesn’t God care about evil and injustice?”

The truth is that God has patiently held back His hand of justice so that the human race may continue to exist. Humanity does not see that, and shows no gratitude for God’s restraining grace. To most people, it seems that God doesn’t care about sin.

But God cares deeply about sin. The cross is proof of that. And He cares deeply about human beings. The cross is proof of that too. The cross is where the justice of God meets the love of God. All the stored-up punishment that we deserve was poured out upon Jesus at the cross. God did not spare His Son one iota of the wrath that the human race deserves.

That outpouring of God’s wrath explains the awful cry of abandonment that comes from the cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34). There Jesus entered into the eternal emptiness of God’s judgment.

Paul’s argument is that God presented Jesus as a sacrifice of atonement in order to demonstrate His justice, so that He would maintain His own justice while still being free to extend love and mercy to undeserving human beings. That is the amazing good news of the gospel. God’s love has been freed to act toward us, yet at the same time His justice has been satisfied. At the cross, His justice was satisfied--yet His mercy and love were also satisfied. That is the heart of the gospel.

Three Final Questions

In the closing paragraph of Romans 3, Paul shows us the results of this forgiveness:

Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified through faith apart from observing the law. Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law. (Romans 3:27-31)

Paul raises--then answers--three basic questions to show us the natural result of God’s merciful acceptance of us through faith in Jesus Christ. First question: Who can boast? Paul’s answer: No one. How can you boast when you have received the gift of grace without any merit on your part? If we can’t boast, then we can’t look down on others for their sins. All boasting is excluded. All religious and moral snobbery is excluded. We are accepted by God on the basis of the free gift of grace.

Second question: "Is God the God of Jews only?” In other words, are Jews the only recipients of God’s grace? Are the non-Jewish Gentiles excluded by God? Does God grant special favors to this group or that group because of their ethnicity, ancestry, or national origin? Is there one God for the Jews and another for the Gentiles? Paul’s answer: Of course not. There is only one God, and He is the God of both Jews and Gentiles, because both must come to God on exactly the same basis: by grace through faith in Jesus alone. The ground is level at the foot of the cross. No one can stand on any other basis but the work of Jesus Christ.

Third question: "Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith?” In other words, does faith cancel out the Law? Does faith mean that we no longer need the Law? Paul’s answer: No, faith in Jesus fulfills the Law. The righteousness which the Law demands is the same righteousness that is given to us in Christ. So if we have the righteousness from God as a gift, then we no longer need to fear the Law, because its demands--demands that are nothing less than absolute perfection--have been met.

Having received the righteousness from God, we are forgiven. But receiving God’s forgiveness is not something we do only once; it is something we must experience again and again. It is the cleansing basis on which we are to live from day to day. The apostle John puts it this way:

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

Forgiveness is God’s gift, and we need to receive it daily, even hourly, from the hand of God. When we slip into self-righteousness and pride, when we treat others with criticism or sarcasm, when we indulge in evil speech, talk, or thoughts, then we need to acknowledge our sin before God. When we return to Him in confession and repentance, we will find His love is still there. He accepts us, values us, and restores us. He is our Father, we are His dearly loved children, and He will never change.

That is what God’s gift of righteousness means to us. It is good news indeed, so that we never need to fear God or His judgment. The God of ultimate holiness is also the Father of infinite mercy. He has covered our worst sins with His own gleaming

CHAPTER 5

THE FATHER OF FAITH

Romans 4

One of the most honored people in human history is Abraham, the forefather of the Hebrew people. There are few names that are as honored throughout the world as the name of Abraham. He is revered by three faiths: Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. The apostle Paul spends the entire fourth chapter of Romans exploring the meaning of Abraham’s life, lifting him up as an example of what it means to live by faith.

In Romans 3, Paul told us how to receive the free gift of a righteousness from God to cover our own sinfulness and guilt. That righteousness from God gives us a sense of worth, value, and acceptance by God, and He offers it to us through the sacrifice of atonement that Jesus made upon the cross. That righteousness lies at the heart of the Christian gospel.

Now, in Romans 4, Paul points us to one of the clearest Old Testament examples of how human beings can receive the gift of the righteousness from God. That Old Testament example is Abraham--a man who lived thousands of years before Jesus was born, yet he received the gift of righteousness, acceptance, and right standing before God.

Faith in God’s Promise

In Romans 4, Paul raises two important questions about Abraham: (1) When was Abraham made righteous? (2) Why was Abraham made righteous? Paul introduces the first question in the first three verses:

What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter? If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about--but not before God. What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” (Romans 4:1-3)

Paul says that Abraham could have chosen two ways to gain a sense of worth and right standing before God. The first choice Abraham could have made: good works. There is no question that Abraham was a man of good works. We first meet Abraham in Genesis 11. His name at that time was Abram, and he was living the city of Ur of the Chaldeans in the Mesopotamian Valley. Abram was a religious man, but his religion was idolatry; he worshiped the Chaldean moon goddess--though he did so in ignorance.

While Abram was in that condition of ignorance, God appeared and spoke to him, commanding him to go to a new and strange land. Abram believed God and obeyed. Stepping out in simple trust, Abram gathered his family and possessions, and he launched out into the unknown. He trusted God to lead him to a land he had never seen before. So Abram/Abraham appears in Scripture as a man of good works.

But was Abraham justified, saved, and made righteous by his good works? Paul answers the question this way: "If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about--but not before God.” Another word for "good works” is performance. We all know that if you give a good performance in any endeavor you will be highly thought of by people. You will receive praise, awards, commendations, and testimonials.

But God is not impressed by the things that people find impressive. God knows the heart. He knows that grand performances are usually motivated by selfishness, ego, and greed. When we give a grand performance and receive our applause and accolades, we may experience a temporary sense of worth. But that is not the true, lasting worth that comes from possessing the righteousness from God. It is fleeting. It evaporates as soon as the applause no longer echoes in our ears, leaving us feeling empty and unfulfilled. Only the righteousness that comes from God lasts throughout our lives, and beyond, for all eternity.

That is the righteousness Abraham discovered--a righteousness that comes not from good works or grand performances, but from a secure and eternal Source. What is the Source of this righteousness Abraham found? To answer that question, Paul points us directly to God’s Word. "What does the Scripture say?” he asks--then he quotes Genesis 15:6: "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

That statement comes from the story in which God took Abraham out one night and showed him the stars in the heavens. "Abraham,” He said, "look up at the heavens and count the stars if you can!” Abraham looked at the stars blazing in their glory--and there was no way he could number them all. Then God said, "So shall your offspring be.” And at that point we find the statement Paul quotes: "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to hint as righteousness.” That was when Abraham received a sense of worth, acceptance, love, value, and right standing in the sight of God.

There is a common misunderstanding concerning God’s promise, "So shall your offspring he.” People assume that God is promising to give Abraham a vast multitude of descendants, but that is not the true meaning of this promise. In Galatians 3:16, Paul explains what this promise actually meant: "The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say, 'and to seeds,’ meaning many people, but 'and to your seed,’ meaning one person, who is Christ.”

So when God said, "So shall your offspring be,” He was not talking about a multitude of offspring (plural), but of one Offspring (singular), who was Jesus Christ. In other words, God told Abraham that there was One coming who would give Abraham a heavenly seed or offspring as well as a physical seed or offspring. Through Jesus, God would give Abraham a multitude of spiritual descendants--people descended from Abraham not merely by physical ancestry but by having the same faith that Abraham had.

This explanation of the promise was affirmed by Jesus Himself. He was talking to the Pharisees and they said to Him, "Abraham is our father.” Jesus replied, in effect, "If Abraham were your father, you would believe in me, because Abraham saw my day and was glad” (see John 8:56).

So we can only conclude that God revealed to Abraham (and Abraham understood by faith) that the Seed of righteousness, Jesus the Lord, was coming and He would remove the penalty of sin from all who believe in Him. We don’t know how detailed God’s explanation of this promise was or how clearly Abraham understood it. But we know that Abraham believed God, and that his faith was credited to him as righteousness.

It is interesting that the apostle James also quotes Genesis 15:6: "And the scripture was fulfilled that says, 'Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,’ and he was called God’s friend.” Note that last phrase: "and he was called God’s friend!” That is genuine acceptance and worth, to be called a friend of God. Abraham became God’s friend because he believed God’s promise. And if you and I have faith like Abraham, we also become friends of God.

Every year, I sit down and fill out my income tax. I have to confess that there is one tantalizing regulation in the tax code that tempts me every year. That regulation says that money that is given to you as a gift is not taxable. This rule tempts me to look for ways to make it appear that the money I receive from my various functions as a pastor is really a gift, not wages. But I know that the Internal Revenue Service will never accept such reasoning. I am a pastor, and the money I receive is payment for the work I do, so must be reported as taxable income. Paul uses an almost identical illustration from Romans 4:

Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. (Romans 4:4-5)

Paul’s argument is clear: If you work, then you have earned your wages. Wages are not a gift but an obligation that must be paid. A worker is entitled to take credit for what he has earned, but he cannot take credit for what he receives as a free gift.

It is the same way in the spiritual realm. If we could earn our salvation by our own good works, then we could take credit for our own salvation. But if we receive salvation as a free gift from God, then all credit goes to God alone. When we place our faith in God through Jesus Christ, our faith is credited as righteousness--not because we have earned that righteousness, but because we have received it as a gift.

Who is Paul talking about in these verses? From the context, it is clear that Paul is talking about Abraham. He is saying that Abraham, despite his good works, was not saved by his own works. Abraham was saved by his faith, which was credited to Abraham as righteousness.

Next, Paul points us to another Old Testament figure to confirm his argument: David the Psalmist. Paul says that David expressed the same idea--that faith is credited by God as righteousness--when he wrote these words (quoted by Paul from Psalm 32:1-2):

David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

"Blessed are they

whose transgressions are forgiven,

whose sins are covered.

Blessed is the man

whose sin the Lord will never count

against him.”

(Romans 4:6-8)

It is truly remarkable that David found this gift of the righteousness from God after his soul was stained by the murder of Uriah the Hittite and by his adultery with Uriah’s wife. David sinned grievously--yet he came to God in faith and repentance, and his sins were forgiven, his right standing before God was restored.

Paul makes it clear that Abraham never found the righteousness of God by being devout and moral. He found it when he believed God’s promise of the Seed that was to come--Jesus. In the same way King David did not find forgiveness for his sins by being a mighty king of Israel or by any other good works. David found forgiveness because he believed (as he wrote in Psalm 51:16-17) that God did not delight in the sacrifice of animals, but in the sacrifice of a broken and repentant heart. Because of his faith, David was called a man after God’s own heart (see 1 Samuel 13:13-14 and Acts 13:21-22).

Wouldn’t you like to be called a friend of God? Wouldn’t you like to be called a man or woman after God’s own heart? Paul’s message to its is that we can become God’s friends--not by our performance, but by placing our faith in Jesus Christ.

A Sign and a Seal

So Paul has answered the first of the two questions he raised: When was Abraham made righteous? Paul’s answer: When he believed God and His promise of the One who was to come, the One who would die for the sins of the world. Now Paul moves to the second question: Why was Abraham made righteous? He writes:

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. Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. (Romans 4:9-11)

Many people today are embarrassed by God’s emphasis upon circumcision. This is not hard to understand, because circumcision is performed on the male sex organ, and many people have been raised with a taboo on even discussing such matters. But the truth is that our bodies do not end at the waist. Pretending that they do is an unhealthy view of our bodies.

God chose circumcision as a symbol of the marvelous truth we are discussing in this chapter. He gave the rite of circumcision to the Jewish people for a specific purpose. Because God is not embarrassed to discuss circumcision, we shouldn’t be either.

Paul makes two important points about circumcision. The first is that rituals such as circumcision are powerless to save. He points out that Abraham was circumcised years after he was pronounced righteous by faith. Clearly, then, the ritual of circumcision has no saving value whatsoever. Abraham was a friend of God long before he was circumcised. Paul underscores this point to silence the arguments of those who trusted in this ritual to make them acceptable to God.

Paul’s argument also cancels out any modern analogies to circumcision, such as baptism. People are justified--made righteous and accepted in God’s sight-not by being baptized, but by having faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, in His sacrificial death and His resurrection.

The second point Paul makes about circumcision is that the real purpose of this ritual is twofold: It is a sign and a seal. I don’t wish to offend the reader, but it is important to set aside our prudery and discuss this matter candidly. There is a reason God chose this particular place on a man’s body to place His sign--and the reason is obvious. God wants us to remember what the rite of circumcision stands for, so he placed this sign on an organ that a man must see several times a day. God made sure that His sign in human flesh was impossible to overlook.

Paul calls this rite "the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness.” Circumcision is not only a sign, but a seal. What is a seal? It is a guarantee of permanency. Circumcision, the removal of the foreskin of the male organ, is an unchangeable act. Once done, it cannot be undone. It is God’s way of saying, in visible and indelible terms, "You have been accepted by Me, and that acceptance will never change.”

Next, Paul explains why Abraham was made righteous. Beyond Abraham’s own need of personal salvation, God had another reason:

So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might he credited to them. And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. (Romans 4:11-12)

The gift of being made acceptable before God, of receiving the righteousness from God, was given to Abraham, not only to save him, but to make him a father of many more yet to come. God promised Abraham that he would become the father of many spiritual descendants, more numerous than the stars in the heavens, and that promise is still in the process of being fulfilled. When we receive the righteousness from God by faith in Christ, then we become spiritual descendants of Abraham. This is true, Paul says, whether we are circumcised or uncircumcised, whether we are Jewish or Gentile.

This is the great secret of life. We do not have to earn God’s love and forgiveness. It is already ours every day There is no more liberating truth than that. We do not have to live for a fleeting sense of worth that comes from the applause and praise of others. We have an eternal sense of worth that comes from our right standing before God.

The Law Brings Wrath

In the concluding half of Romans 4, Paul explores the nature of Abraham’s faith. In the process, he explains what authentic faith is--and is not. Sometimes the best way to learn what a thing is, is by learning what it is not. Paul writes:

It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would he heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless, because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression. (Romans 4:13-15)

Faith, Paul says, is not trying to obey and fulfill a law. Faith is not doing your best to live up to a moral standard. Those who do so are not living by faith, but by works. If you live on those terms, you will find that you cannot receive what God wants to give you. If you think that God is going to accept you because you tried hard to live a moral life, you are on the wrong track. Paul explains why.

First, notice that Abraham received the gift, the promise of righteousness, long before the Law was ever given. "It was not through law,” Paul says, "that Abraham and his offspring received the promise.” Galatians 3:23-29 tells us that Abraham received the gift of righteousness centuries before the Law was given. So righteousness centuries before the Law was given. So righteousness clearly could not come by law.

Second, the Law renders the promise worthless. "For if those who live by law are heirs [of the promise to Abraham], faith has no value and the promise is worthless.” Let me put this another way. Suppose I promised you a million dollars if you could broad-jump the Grand Canyon. Would that promise actually be worth a million dollars? No. It wouldn’t he worth one cent, even if I made that promise in all sincerity and had the bank account to back it up. Why? Because such a promise depends on a human be doing what is humanly impossible.

In the same way, if God promises that you will have right standing with Him if you keep the Law of Moses perfectly, then His promise would also be worthless. Such a promise is based on a human being doing what is humanly impossible. With the exception of Jesus alone, no human being can live a sinless life.

But Paul does not stop there. He says there is another reason why we cannot gain righteousness by trying to keep the Law: the Law brings wrath. If you fail to keep it, the Law makes you subject to punishment.

As we have seen, wrath is defined in Romans 1. The wrath involves God’s removal of all divine protection and restraint--we can do anything we want. As C. S. Lewis once observed, there are two kinds of people in the world. There are those who say to God, "Thy will be done,” and there are those to whom God says, "Thy will be done.” When God gives us over to do what we want to do, that is wrath.

The Law brings wrath. Paul amplifies this by saying, "Where there is no law, there is no transgression.” In other words, where there is no law, people disobey in ignorance, not as deliberate law-breakers. For example, many young people today live together without marriage. Some were raised to know that this is wrong, so they are deliberate law-breakers. But others were never raised to know that living together without marriage is wrong, so they do so in all innocence of any transgression.

Don’t misunderstand: What they are doing is still wrong. But the people who do so in ignorance do not realize how damaging and destructive it is to live together without marriage. They lack the light of understanding. They fail to see that their lifestyle is destroying them in subtle ways, bringing harm to themselves, to their children, and to society.

When Paul says, "Where there is no law, there is no transgression,” he means that death and hell are taking their toll on human beings whether they know it or not. He will expand this idea in Romans 5, but for now his point is that when the Law comes, it makes you aware of what is wrong in your life. In a sense, the Law just makes us more miserable and more responsible for our sins, because when we sin with an awareness of the Law, we are deliberately disobeying God.

The Object, the Obstacles, and the Objective

Next, Paul tells us two things that faith does:

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 are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: "I have made you a father of many nations.” (Romans 4:16-17)

First, the promise comes by faith. You actually obtain what you desire by faith--a sense of being approved, loved, and accepted by God. You are a part of God’s family and you are forgiven of all your sins. What works could not do, faith does.

Second, faith introduces the principle of grace. Law and grace do not cancel each other out, but they accomplish two very different things. We need both law and grace. We should never say, "I am under grace, so I don’t need the Law.” The Bible never takes that position. It is the Law of God that draws you to the grace of God.

What, then, is grace? There are many ways to define it. One excellent definition is an acronym: G.R.A.C.E. stands for God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. Grace is all the richness of life--love, joy peace, and fulfillment--that we receive but do not deserve. It is a gift of God’s unmerited, undeserved favor toward us.

The Law put us down. Grace lifts us up. If salvation depended upon our effort to keep the Law, we would have no hope. But if salvation comes to us by grace, then we receive it as a free gift from God. That is why Paul says, "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 are of the faith of Abraham.”

Next we come to the heart of Romans 4, where Paul explains to us what faith truly is:

He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed--the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were. 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.” 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. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God. (Romans 4:17-20)

Paul explains the nature of faith in three dimensions: (1) the object of faith, (2) the obstacles to faith, and (3) the objective of faith.

First, Abraham believed God. God is the object of faith. The power of your faith depends upon the object in which your faith is placed. The amount of faith has nothing to do with it. That is why Jesus told us that even a tiny faith, like a grain of mustard seed, is powerful. It is not a question of how big your faith is, but how big your God is!

Abraham believed in the God who gives life to the dead. If your God has power over life and death, then you will never despair. And Abraham believed in the God who calls into existence things that do not exist. If you have a God of such a vast creative power you will never lose hope.

Second, Abraham faced obstacles to faith. Whenever you are called to exercise faith, there will be obstacles. What obstacle did Abraham face? The obstacle of hopeless circumstances. He and wife were old and barren, yet God had promised him a child through whom would come the promised Seed, Jesus Christ. Paul makes a tremendous statement: "Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead.” Abraham was realistic about the fact that there was no imaginable way that God’s promise could be fulfilled, yet his faith in God’s ability to do the impossible never wavered.

Though there was no hope, Abraham believed and hoped. Why? Because he remembered that God has the power to raise the dead; he remembered that God has power to create something out of nothing. Despite the obstacles to his faith, Abraham kept his faith focused on the Object of all faith, the infinite, omnipotent God.

Third, Abraham attained the objective of faith. Paul says that Abraham "did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God.” As we remain focused on the Object and overcome the obstacles, we attain the objective. The objective of faith is growth and maturity in faith. As Abraham obeyed in faith, he was strengthened in his faith and he gave glory to God. Faith never glorifies man; it glorifies God.

 Faith Grasps the Promise

Many people mistakenly think of faith as "belief without evidence.” In reality, faith is trust in what we have every reason to believe is true. Faith is not an unsupported, irrational hope, but the grounding of our lives in the truth about God. That is how Paul describes Abraham in the next two verses:

...being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness.” (Romans 4:21-22)

Abraham was grounded in the truth. He was fully persuaded. His was no irrational hope of "pie in the sky when I die, by and by.” Abraham knew God and walked with God. When God spoke, Abraham obeyed. God overcame unbelievable obstacles in Abraham’s life, so Abraham was fully persuaded. This proven, persuaded faith was credited to him as righteousness.

Faith grasps the promise. Faith lays hold of what God offers. As Abraham’s faith grew, he grasped the promise and found himself loved and accepted by God. And that is why Abraham was a friend of God.

In the centuries since Abraham, many children of Abraham--children of the faith-have grasped the same promise that was offered to the patriarch. Many have believed in the God of Abraham, and in the Son of God, and they have crossed over from death to life. These are the ones to whom Paul turns his attention as Romans 4 comes to a close:

The words "it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness--for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. (Romans 4:23-25)

Astounding! Those words "it was credited to him as righteousness” were not written for Abraham alone. They were written for you and me, today! We look at the faith of Abraham and say, "What an extraordinary faith!” But Paul says that Abraham’s faith was not extraordinary at all--it was an ordinary faith. Anyone can exercise the faith of Abraham. I can. So can you.

You can have the righteousness from God. You can be a friend of God, accepted by Him, with worth and value in His sight. You not only receive the righteousness from God at the beginning of your Christian experience. You actually receive His righteousness everyday--a renewed sense of worth fresh from His hand each morning.

If you believe in a God who is the Lord of Life and the Great Creator, raising life from the dead and calling everything into existence out of nothing, then you are going to experience an exciting, adventure-filled life! You are going to live the adventure of faith!

CHAPTER 6

REJOICING IN GOD

Romans 5

I was in Honolulu, Hawaii, during World War II. The whole city had celebrated when the war ended in Europe, though the celebration was muted by the fact that war still raged in our part of the world. The citizens of Honolulu were glad that the fighting in Europe had concluded, but we knew that many bloody battles lay ahead in the South Pacific.

Suddenly, in August 1945, came the shocking news of the atomic destruction of two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. On September 2, 1945, Japan signed a formal declaration of surrender on the deck of the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay. World War II was officially over.

I vividly remember the throngs of people pouring into the streets and onto the beaches of Honolulu. There was music and dancing, whooping and shouting. Streetlights and neon signs, darkened for years due to wartime blackouts, now burned brightly in the night. It was a wild and joyful celebration of the peace the world had waited for.

To me, that memory has tong been a symbol of the joy and celebration that takes place in our hearts when we realize that we have been justified through faith. The long, agonizing war is finally over. All conflict has ceased. We are at peace with God.

Justified Through Faith

In Romans 5, the apostle Paul traces the results of receiving the righteousness from God. The opening word of this chapter marks a major transition: "Therefore...” With that word, Paul sends a signal that everything he has said in Romans 1 through 4 is bringing us to a specific conclusion. He writes:

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

That little word rejoice is the key to Romans 5. Paul develops this theme of rejoicing in three stages: Stage 1--We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God (Romans 5:1-2). Stage 2--We rejoice in sufferings (Romans 5:3-10). Stage 3--We rejoice in God our Friend (Romans 5:11-21). Each of these stages represents a level of Christian growth. The overall theme of Romans 5, then, is learning to rejoice at these various stages.

If you understand what it means to be a Christian, you will he rejoicing--even in the midst of suffering. Some Christians seem strangely unable to grasp this idea. They trudge through life, dour and grim-faced, looking as if they are marinated in embalming fluid.

We are not talking here about people who suffer from clinical depression or bipolar disorder or some other medical condition that causes a state of depression. It is not sinful or unspiritual to be afflicted with a mental disorder. Paul’s directs his concern at those Christians who are capable of rejoicing if they would simply focus on their Christian hope instead of on thoughts of bitterness and self-pity.

The Christian gospel was designed by God to produce a spirit that can’t help but rejoice. Christian joy is not an artificial happiness. It does not mean putting on a plastic smile and pretending everything is wonderful when it’s not. It does not mean saying. "Happy day! I’m going bankrupt!” or "Hallelujah! I’ve got cancer!” Rejoicing is a deep sense of security in God, even when the circumstances of our lives are crumbling.

Our first and most immediate cause for rejoicing is that we have been justified through faith, which brings us peace with God. That is why we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. As we saw in the previous chapter, the term 'justified through faith” was exemplified for us in the person of Abraham. Abraham, of course, did not earn God’s acceptance. He received justification as a free gift through faith at the moment he believed that God would do what He had promised.

The same is true for us. We receive justification as a free gift by faith alone, with no merit or worthiness on our part. When we believe the promise of God, that He will save us according to the atoning work of His Son on the cross, then we are justified through faith.

Three results flow from being justified through faith. First: We have peace with God. All the conflict between ourselves and God is ended. We lose our fear of God. Something in all of us instinctively fears God. When I was a boy, I thought of God as a heavenly policeman, watching and waiting to catch me in some sin. I will never forget the joy that came into my heart when I realized that God was no longer my judge but my Father. Having been justified through faith, I lost my fear of God.

Second: If we are justified through faith, we are no longer afraid to die. As a boy, I lived for a while in the Red River Valley of North Dakota. As a Scottish Presbyterian settlement, the town had an old custom of ringing the church bell when someone died. I remember lying in my bed, listening to that slow, solemn death-knell, and feeling the cold clutch of fear as I thought about facing my own death. I knew I would die someday, and that death could come even for a boy, as it had come for a young friend of mine. I was terribly afraid of death.

When I came to know Jesus as my Lord and Savior, I experienced the joy that comes from being set free of that terrible fear. As Hebrews 2:15 tells us, Jesus has liberated "those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”

Third: We have an answer for our guilt. When we sin, our conscience accuses us and we feel guilty. Sometimes our guilt shouts at us, "How can you call yourself a Christian? No real Christian could do what you’ve done!” But when we know that we are justified through faith, we can remind ourselves, "My standing before God does not depend upon me. My sin is covered by the saving, atoning work of God’s own Son.”

So we have three wonderful results of being justified through faith: We have peace with God, freedom from the fear of death, and an answer to guilt. Whenever we are tempted to feel afraid of God, afraid of death, or afraid that our sin has canceled out our salvation, we can answer those fears with this firm statement of assurance: "I have been justified through faith.”

A Hope of Coming Glory

Next, Paul talks about our standing before God. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Paul says, "we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.” In other words, we have access to continued grace to enable us to stand in the midst of pressures, problems, and trials. This is a constant supply of grace because we have instant access to the God of all grace.

An account in the book of Esther beautifully illustrates this principle: Esther was a lovely Jewish woman held captive in the land of Persia. The king of Persia was smitten by her and made her his queen. After Esther became queen, a plot was hatched to destroy all the Jews in the land. The king was manipulated into signing a death decree against the Jews.

Queen Esther’s godly uncle, Mordecai, urged her to go to the king and tell him that this decree was wrong and would destroy her people. Esther knew that Mordecai’s plan could easily get her killed. It was the law that no one could come before the king without being summoned by him--not even the queen herself. Esther had only one chance of surviving: If the king extended his golden scepter toward her when she entered the throne room, she would live. If he didn’t, she would be executed,

But if she didn’t try, her people would be destroyed.

So Queen Esther fasted for three days and nights to prepare herself spiritually. Then she dressed herself in robes of beauty and glory. When she was ready, she went to the throne room of the king and appeared alone before him. The king was shocked at the queen’s bold, death-defying entrance.

But as he looked upon his beautiful queen, his heart went out to her. He stretched forth his scepter. Queen Esther was granted access to the king.

This is a picture of what Paul tells us in Romans 5:2. Who would dare stand before the God of all the earth, the all-powerful and glorious King of the universe, without being granted access and standing? Gods amazing promise to us is that, now that we are justified through faith, we have access to His presence. Dressed in robes of beauty and glory that do not belong to us--the garments of the righteousness of Jesus--we can step boldly into the presence of our King. We do not have to be afraid of Him. He extends toward us the golden scepter of His love.

As we read in Hebrews 10:19 and 22, "Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus . . . let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.”

Next, Paul tells us, "And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” We think of the word hope as referring to a wishful possibility, a chance of things working out in our favor: "Oh, I hope this is the winning lottery ticket!” But the word hope, as it is used in the Bible, has a very different meaning. It speaks of a well-founded certainty of something that is not yet visible.

Our Christian hope is based on the promises of God. Jesus promised us the hope of a future resurrection: "Because I live, you also will live” (see John 14:19). That is the certain hope of everyone who has been justified through faith. You cannot see the resurrection, but you have a sure and certain hope of the resurrection because you have God’s word on it.

A friend who lives in the Midwest told me of an experience he had in the dead of winter. He looked out the window of his farmhouse, across the snowdrifts that buried his front yard, and saw the mailman placing something in his mailbox. Eager for a letter to lift his wintry spirits, my friend hurried out to the mailbox. There he found only one piece of mail: a seed catalog. How disappointing! No personal letter from family or friends, just a seed catalog. He went back inside and was about to toss the catalog on the kitchen table--then on a whim, he started thumbing through it. On page after page, he saw the brilliant colors of flowers and vegetables. He could almost taste the cool crunch of a cucumber. He imagined the perfume of sweet alyssum, lemon mint, and zinnias. He could practically taste the sweet-tangy juice of a red, ripe tomato on his tongue. For a few moments in the dead of winter, the colors and fragrances of springtime came alive in his heart. My friend experienced a few moments of the coming glory of springtime.

That is what the Christian hope is like. In this world, life is like a cold, snowy winter. But we know that a brilliant and wonderful glory waits beyond this life. When we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, we experience a glimpse of His springtime amid the winter of our discontent. That is the hope of all who have been justified through faith. It is cause for rejoicing.

Rejoicing in Suffering

Next, we come to Stage 2 in our experience of Christian rejoicing: We rejoice in our sufferings. During my years as a pastor, I have been impressed by the number of wonderful Christians who have gone through severe trials and sufferings. I recall one couple who awoke one morning to find their troubled teenage son standing in the doorway with a gun in his hand. The boy shot the father one time and the mother twice. Both survived and their son was captured by police and confined in a mental hospital.

God has since used the father in a powerful way. Before this harrowing experience, he was reluctant to talk to other people about his faith in Christ. But after he and his wife survived their brush with death, he rejoiced to be alive. He felt that the experience had drawn himself and his wife closer to God. Suddenly, he was eager to share his faith with others. He traveled around the state, telling large groups that Jesus Christ is a reliable friend in times of trial and suffering.

I have met many other Christians who suffer with the loss of a child, with cancer, with multiple sclerosis, with AIDS, with ALS, with Alzheimer’s disease, with the aftermath of a rape or other assault. Again and again, I am impressed with the fact that suffering is something that all Christians experience in one way or another. To me, there is no question more difficult to answer than this one: "Why do Christians suffer?”

We rejoice that our sins are covered, that we are justified through faith, and that we have a sure and certain hope of future glory with the Lord. But as we probe deeper into Romans 5, Paul introduces us to a different kind of rejoicing--a Christian joy that is much more mysterious than the initial rejoicing that we experience as a result of our conversion experience. This rejoicing is the result of a deeper and more mature stage of the Christian faith. Paul calls it "rejoicing in suffering.” He writes:

Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. (Romans 5:3-5)

These words tell us clearly that Christians should expect suffering. Elsewhere, Paul puts it bluntly: "For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him” (Philippians 1:29). So if you became a Christian in the belief that Christians are spared from suffering, then you have been seriously misled!

The next question that naturally arises is, "How can anyone 'rejoice in sufferings’? When I suffer, I moan, I groan, I cry out in pain--but I don’t rejoice! Does God expect Christians to take some sort of masochistic pleasure in being tormented?” Clearly, the concept of "rejoicing in our sufferings” does not seem natural or rational.

I am reminded of the woman who was complaining about her troubles to her pastor. She went on and on about all of her sufferings, and finally the pastor stopped her. "Sister,” he said, "you really should not complain so. The Bible says that Christians are to rejoice in tribulations.”

"Well, I know that, pastor,” the woman said, "but I think that when God sends us tribulations, He expects us to tribulate a bit!”

We all have times when we feel like "tribulating” over our sufferings, and some of us do so freely and with gusto. But in those times when we feel like tribulating, we should remember that it is not only Paul but all of the New Testament writers who urge us to rejoice in our sufferings.

The apostle Peter puts it this way: "Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed” (1 Peter 4:12-13). Suffering is normal, so rejoice that you can share the sufferings of your Lord.

The apostle James puts it this way: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds.” There it is again: have joy when you face trials.

Even the Lord Jesus told us: "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven” (Matthew 5:11-12). Paul’s call to rejoice in suffering is echoed throughout Scripture. Let’s take a closer look at what rejoicing in suffering truly means.

First, rejoicing in suffering is not stoicism. It is not a "grin amid bear it” or "tough it out” attitude. It is not a spiritual contest to see who can take the worst punishment.

Second, rejoicing in suffering is not masochism. God does not expect us to enjoy our pain. Paul is not telling us that we should be glad when tragedy strikes. There is something twisted and unnatural about a person who actually enjoys being hurt, and that is not the position Paul urges us to take toward our sufferings.

Third, rejoicing in suffering is not an act. God does not expect us to pretend we are happy in times of suffering. Christianity is not phoniness or dishonesty When we suffer, it’s okay to say, "This is hard. This hurts. I wish it would stop.”

Paul reveals a deep truth when he tells us to rejoice in our sufferings. He is saying that even though we are not stoics or masochists, even though we are honest about the pain we are going through,  we can still experience a genuine sense of rejoicing. We can authentically say to people around us, "I am suffering, and I hate to suffer--but even through this pain, I am experiencing the joyful presence of our loving God. I have peace and joy even through this time of trial and testing.”

Don’t feel bad if you don’t immediately feel like rejoicing in your suffering. When suffering strikes, it’s normal to cry out in pain, bewilderment, and even anger. Give yourself time to adjust to the experience you are going through. As you gain the ability to reflect on your trial, listen carefully for the truths and lessons that God wants to teach you through this painful experience.

I once knew a man who had to have a leg amputated due to an advancing disease. Unfortunately, even the amputation failed to arrest the disease, and it soon became clear that he was going to die. I visited him in the hospital just a few days before his death and he told me, "I never would have chosen any of the trials I have gone through, but I wouldn’t have missed any of them for the world! God has taught me so much about Himself through my trials that I never could have learned from a life of ease.”

That is what it means to rejoice in suffering. This man didn’t choose his trials, and he didn’t enjoy his pain. He freely admitted that these trials had inflicted enormous misery on him--yet he rejoiced in the spiritual growth and Christian maturity he had gained through those trials.

Reason for Rejoicing

How do you reach a place where you can rejoice in suffering? That is what Paul wants us to understand. He says, "We also rejoice in our sufferings, because there is a reason to rejoice. What is that reason?

Paul explains: ". . . because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” Suffering produces something in our lives. It is the product of suffering that causes us to rejoice. What, then, does suffering produce? Paul lists four products of suffering. First, suffering produces perseverance. The Greek word literally means ,”to remain firm under pressure.” Pressure is something we want to get out from under, but suffering teaches us to stand firm under pressure. Another word for perseverance is steadiness. God uses our trials to make us more mature, stable, and steady under pressure.

Once, when Jesus and the disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee in a fishing boat, a storm arose. While Jesus slept in the back of the boat, the disciples panicked. They shook Jesus and said, "Wake up! Don’t you know we’re about to perish?” And Jesus stood up and told the disciples, "Don’t panic!” Then He commanded the wind and waves to be still, and the storm immediately ended. Jesus had a purpose for that storm in the lives of His disciples. He wanted them to learn steadiness under pressure.

And our Lord wants you and me to learn the same lessons. That’s what suffering does: it steadies us and teaches us not to panic. The process often works like this: We go through a time of trial and we panic. Then the Lord calms the stormy trial and we think, "I’m glad that’s over! I’ve learned my lesson!” A few weeks or months pass--and suddenly there is another storm! But this time, you don’t panic, at least not as badly as the first time. You respond with greater steadiness, greater faith. You discover you’re not as strong as you thought, but at least you are stronger than you used to be. You’ve grown.

With each new trial, you learn and grow a little more. Your faith becomes a little more resilient. In time, you find that you are handling challenges that you never imagined you could withstand. That’s how suffering produces perseverance.

The second product of suffering is character. Paul says that perseverance produces character. The Greek word for character connotes being put to the test and approved. Perseverance under pressure produces proven, reliable character qualities. When you show yourself to be steady under pressure, people know they can rely on you in challenging situations.

On D-Day June 6, 1944, Allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy France. That day was the beginning of the end of World War II, but it was a costly day for the Allies. Over 2,500 fine young soldiers from the free nations of Europe and North America died on that day alone. They scaled cliffs under a hail of machine-gun fire. They crawled across sandy beaches and grassy fields that had been sown by the Nazis with over 6 million landmines. They cut through coils of barbed wire and attacked steel bunkers bristling with machine gun muzzles.

The story is told of one particular sandy ridge where scores of Allied soldiers tried to punch their way up from the beach. That ridge was strewn with landmines. Soldiers went up that ridge only to have their legs blown to pieces out from under them. As those men lay dying, they spent their last breaths warning the men who came behind them--The mines are right here! The safe path is over there!”

Some of the men of D-Day suffered, sacrificed, and died. Others suffered but lived to see the liberation of Europe. They remained steady under pressure and demonstrated perseverance under fire. They were the veterans of World War II.

God is in the business of making veterans. A veteran is a person who has been through trial and pressure, a person who has been tested and proven. When the apostle Paul wrote about rejoicing in sufferings, he was speaking as a tested veteran. Here are his credentials:

We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us. (2 Corinthians 1:8-10)

Those are the words of a veteran. Paul had been through unbelievably difficult experiences, to the point where he had given up hope of survival. God brought him safely through it--yet Paul knew that there were even more perils ahead. Still, he trusted that God, who raises the dead, would deliver him. Perseverance had produced character and faith in the life of this seasoned veteran, the apostle Paul.

The third product of suffering is hope. In verse 2, Paul said. "And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” He spoke of hope for a future beyond this life, beyond death. Now, in verses 4 and 5, he says that character produces hope--”and hope does riot disappoint us.” Here, Paul speaks of the hope that we will share he character of God and the glory of God right now. We have the have hope that God is producing a Christlike character within us right now.

Remember, when Paul talks about hope, he is not talking about a wish or a possibility, but about a certainty. He is not saying that we might he changed and made more Christlike; he is saying we are being changed, we are becoming more like Jesus! We are growing in Christlike love, maturity, wisdom, and patience. Through our sufferings, God is doing the work He promised to do. He is transforming us into the image of His Son.

What does Paul mean when he says, "and hope does not disappoint us”? Perhaps it would be clearer to look at that phrase in the King James Version: "And hope maketh not ashamed.” Here Paul uses a figure of speech called a litotes, a negative understatement to underscore a positive idea (another example of a litotes: "This is no small problem,” meaning, "This is a huge problem”). Paul uses a similar figure of speech in Romans 1:16 where he says, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ.” Properly understood, Paul is not merely saying that he is unembarrassed; he is actually saying he is proud, confident, bold, excited, and exuberant about the gospel.

So when Paul says, "And hope maketh not ashamed,” he is actually saying, "Our hope makes us bold, proud, excited! We have a hope that sends the spirit soaring!”

Suffering and the Love of God

Paul goes on to explain why our hope does not disappoint us. He says it is "because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” I am convinced that this is one of the most important verses in the book of Romans. It is significant because it adds a statement to Paul’s argument that we have not yet heard in this book. This statement is Paul’s explanation of how to rejoice in suffering.

This statement is also significant because it is the first time the Holy Spirit is mentioned in the book of Romans--and it is the first mention in Romans of the love of God.

That brings us to the fourth product of suffering, which is love. Paul raises the issue of Christlike love here in verse 5, and he will develop it more fully in verses 6-11. It is important to see verses in context with verses 6 through 11 so that we will understand Paul’s true meaning. Here is the flow of his discussion of God’s love:

...God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, when 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! (Romans 5:5-10)

It is important to grasp the flow of Paul’s argument. If we understand what Paul is truly telling us, then we will know how to rejoice in suffering.

I know many Christians who suffer. Some are becoming increasingly more steady, reliable, and confident in their suffering; tragically, others are becoming steadily more bitter, resentful, and angry--even to the point of denying their faith. Suffering, you see, does not automatically produce good qualities.

What makes the difference between a Christian whose faith grows through suffering and a Christian whose faith withers under suffering? The difference is here in this passage, and it has to do with how we view God and His love. If we see our suffering as evidence of God’s love, we will rejoice in our sufferings. If we see our suffering as evidence of God’s wrath, we will become embittered and angry.

To rejoice in our sufferings, we must allow the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with an experience of the love of God--an experience so rich, radiant, and glorious that we can’t help but rejoice. We associate love with times of blessing, warmth, and case--but when we suffer, we naturally tend to feel broken and forgotten. At such times, says Paul, we need to return to the place where we first felt God’s love for us. What place is that? The place of the cross.

At the foot of the cross, we realize that God loves us even though we are worthless and sin-ridden. At the cross, we clearly see ourselves and our sinfulness. At the cross, we see God’s amazing love for us, in that while we were broken and sinful, Christ died for us.

Then comes the full force of Paul’s argument: 'For if, when 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!” In other words, if we clearly experienced God’s love when we first gave our hearts to Christ--when we were nothing more than enemies of God, helpless and powerless--how much more can we count His love now that we are His children! Even though we are suffering, we can rely on the fact that God loves us.

When that is our perspective, then we realize that our suffering is not the result of God’s anger toward us; it is the result of His love. God is using this time of suffering in our lives to produce character qualities that will enable us to become the people God wants us to be. He will lovingly carry us through whatever suffering we face.

An Avalanche of Love, Grace, and Forgiveness

Next, we come to Stage 3 in our experience of Christian rejoicing: We rejoice in God our Friend. Here, Paul introduces this concluding theme of Romans 5:

Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 5:11)

We rejoice in God Himself! In my book Authentic Christianity,’ I call this "an unquenchable optimism.” Christians always have grounds for rejoicing. The three stages of rejoicing described in Romans 5 represent three levels of maturity. We don’t necessarily experience these levels in chronological order, but they are levels of understanding and responding to God’s truth with a deepening maturity.

Notice the rich phrase Paul uses: "we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” As he so frequently does, Paul reminds us that everything good comes through our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Himself said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (see John 14:6).

Jesus is the way to God. He has reconciled us to God, so that God the Father is now our Friend. When we see the greatness of Jesus, we see the greatness of God. When we know the love of Jesus, we know the heart of God. That is why we rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

After introducing his theme of rejoicing in God, verse 11, Paul launches into an argument in four movements. First Movement, verses 12-14: Sin entered the world through Adam, the first man, Second Movement, verses 15-17: The first man, Adam, versus the God-man, Jesus. Third Movement, verses 8-19: The disobedience of Adam versus the obedience of Jesus. Fourth Movement, verses 20-21: The Law versus grace. Let’s examine each of these movements of Paul’s argument in turn, beginning with Paul’s discussion of the fall of the human race:

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned. (Romans 5:12)

Paul begins with the phrase, "Therefore, just as…” Any grammarian will tell you that when you have the phrase "just as” in a sentence, it must eventually be followed by the phrase "even so.” Paul is making a comparison here. The Greek text actually has the phrase "even so.” The New International Version doesn’t translate it that way, so permit me to offer a more accurate version of this verse:

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, even so death came to all men, because all sinned. (Romans 5:12, author’s translation)

This is Paul’s argument. He starts with two indisputable facts: (1) the universality of sin and (2) the universality of death. Everywhere we look we see evidence of the twin evils of sin and death. Paul says that sin entered the world by one man, Adam. And along with sin came death. From the moment we were born, we began to die. Later on in this passage, Paul says, "Death reigned.” Near the end of Romans 5, he says, "Sin reigns.” So in these two forces that have been introduced into humanity, we have a pair of oppressors who rule over the human race.

How did sin and death gain control of our race? Through one man, Adam. That is the key to this section. Paul is contrasting two men: Adam and Jesus. Death and sin came through Adam; life and forgiveness came through Jesus. In each case, our entire existence has been altered by a single man, either Adam or Jesus.

We sin and die because we are sons and daughters of Adam. The sins of Adam have injected us with the poison of death. Even before we are sufficiently aware to commit sins of our own, we are subject to death. Even babies, who have never sinned, sometimes die--and they die because the sin of Adam overshadows us all.

This is Paul’s argument as he writes:

Before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. 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 was a pattern of the one to come. (Romans 5:13-14)

Paul’s point is that death is the punishment for breaking God’s command. In the Garden of Eden, God said to Adam, "You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die” (see Genesis 2:17). Adam violated that command and ate of the fruit. In so doing, he chose to be independent from the God who made him. It was an act of rebellion and even idolatry. Adam enthroned himself as a god in the place of the one true God. As a result, death and sin passed upon all his descendants.

Paul is saying that death is the result of breaking a command. There must be a law in order for a command to be broken. You may have had the experience of driving through an unposted intersection for years--then one day a stop sign is placed at that intersection. You never stopped at that intersection before, and you were never penalized. But now the law has come, and if you do what you have always done--if you roll through that intersection without stopping--you will be breaking the law and incurring a penalty.

In order for death to come, says Paul, a commandment had to be broken. Yet we know that there was death in the human race long before the Law was given to Moses. How could that be, if death is the result of breaking a command? Paul concludes that the whole race actually sinned when Adam sinned. When Adam broke the command of God in Eden, we all broke it.

You may respond, "But that isn’t fair! God is punishing us all for Adam’s sin!” That argument fails to take into account the nature of our humanity. As human beings, we are all connected to each other. As the poet John Donne observed, "No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent.” it is a mistake to think that we stand alone, as though no one else exists. Human choices have consequences that radiate out to others. When Adam chose to sin, he plunged his whole race into disaster.

The most important phrase in this section is the last one: "...Adam was a pattern of the one to come.” In the rest of Romans 5, Paul will present Adam as a contrast to Christ. Paul writes:

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! (Romans 5:15)

The gift of righteousness from God through Jesus Christ is not like the trespass of Adam. The trespass came through Adam’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden; the gift came through the Lord’s obedience in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Death came to all through the disobedience of Adam--but we die only once, don’t we? So Adam brought to us the experience of the first death. But Jesus brought to us the experience of new life, a life that is renewed and re-experienced day after day. We can receive life from Jesus a thousand times a day! We can accept the gift of righteousness and worth over and over again. So Jesus is greater than Adam because the trespass of Adam brought death once, but the obedient sacrifice of Jesus brings life many times over.

Next, Paul writes:

Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. (Romans 5:16)

Adam’s single trespass brought judgment--death--upon the entire human race. The Lord’s single gift of obedient sacrifice brought justification--life--to those who committed a multitude of trespasses. Adam sinned once and brought death to many; Jesus died once and brought life to many There is a powerful principle here for your life and mine: No matter how many times we sin, God’s forgiveness is greater than our deepest sin.

Next, Paul writes:

For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned 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 life through the one man, Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:17)

Paul’s argument is that Adam’s transgression permitted death to reign over the entire human race. When Paul speaks of death, he means more than just the funeral at the end of your life. He is saying that, because of Adam, death reigns throughout our lives. Paul is talking about forms of death besides the mere cessation of life.

What is life? It is love, joy, vitality, and fulfillment. Death is the absence of all of those things; it is emptiness, loneliness, depression, and restlessness. How much of your life is made up of death? Probably a great deal of it. In fact, some people never seem to have anything but death in their lives. Death reigns because of Adam’s transgression.

Paul says that Christ’s death provides an abundance of life, even amid the pressures, troubles, and suffering of this life. You can he alive and joyful, experiencing joy, peace, and fulfillment. You can have all of this through the sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus Christ. What you lost in Adam, you regain in Jesus--plus so much more!

Just as a mountain climber can dislodge a pebble that rolls downhill and becomes an avalanche, so Adam’s sin dislodged a pebble that has grown into an avalanche of sin and death that sweeps across our entire race. But Jesus has unleashed an avalanche of love, grace, and forgiveness that covers all the sin and death that Adam has caused.

 The "Gift” of Adam and the Gift of Jesus

Paul continues his argument:

Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. 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. (Romans 5:18-19)

Judgment or condemnation, says Paul, is a gift” from Adam--the most terrible 'gift” of all. Since we are born in Adam, sin and guilt are not an option with us. We will sin because sin is part of our nature. Paul then contrasts the "gift” of Adam with the wonderful gift of Jesus, which is the righteousness from God--the love, acceptance, and worth we all need in order to truly live.

Paul concludes Romans 5 with a discussion of the role the Law plays in the scheme of sin and grace--and he begins with a startling statement:

The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:20-21)

Paul says that the Ten Commandments were never given to make people do right. This is a shocking notion. In our everyday experience, the function of laws--whether criminal laws or civil laws or traffic laws--is to govern human behavior. But Paul says that is not true of the Law of Moses, the Ten Commandments.

The Law he says, was added to show human beings how wrong they already are. The commandments were actually given to make human beings sin more and to increase their trespass! Why would God do such a thing? Paul’s answer: "Where sin increased, grace increased all the more.” In other words, the more we fling ourselves into rebellion and sin, the closer we are to being broken, to coming to the end of ourselves so that we can receive the cleansing, forgiving grace of Jesus Christ.

As special counsel to the president, Charles Colson was known as Richard Nixon’s "hatchet man.” He pleaded guilty to crimes connected with the Watergate scandal and served seven months in a federal prison in 1974. Shortly before he entered the penitentiary Colson made a decision to receive Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. Many people were skeptical of his conversion experience, but time has proven that his relationship with Christ is genuine.

While in prison, Colson found another Christian brother and they began praying together for their fellow inmates. Soon, they saw God begin to work. One by one, they saw hardened, violent, brutal men--men who had spent their lives in rebellion against God--begin to break down and seek God’s grace. If there is one place where it can truly be said that sin abounds, it is in a prison! Yet, as Charles Colson saw, where sin increased, grace increased even more.

The One who breaks through sin with the power of grace is Jesus. Adam ruined our lives, making us slaves to sin and death. Only Jesus Christ can set us free. He is the head of a new, race, the forerunner of a new humanity. He comes to live within us, to infuse us with His strength and purity, His wisdom and power. So we rejoice through our Lord Jesus Christ, who has reached down to us, lifted us up, and reconciled us to God the Father, God our Friend.

CHAPTER 7

WHOSE SLAVE ARE YOU?

Romans 6

Over the years, I have encountered a number of people who call themselves Christians, yet who claim that they have the right to live in blatant sin because their sins are forgiven through Christ. Are they right? Now that you are a Christian--now that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ has settled the debt of your sins--do you have the right to continue in sin?

In the first five chapters of Romans, Paul has been building an argument concerning the enormous breakthrough in history that resulted from the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In chapters 6 and 7, Paul interrupts his argument to address two practical questions. The question he deals with in Romans 6 is, "What about the sins of believers?” The question he deals with in Romans 7 is "What about the Ten Commandments and the demands they place on us?” Then, in Romans 8, Paul returns to his argument and continues to explore the tremendous impact of Jesus Christ on human history and the human condition.

So let’s examine with Paul this crucial question that is as relevant today as ever: "Can Christians continue to sin?” Paul writes:

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? (Romans 6:1-2)

That is Paul’s argument in a nutshell. He will expand on the logic of this argument in the verses that follow, but for now he puts his entire case into one concise rhetorical question: "We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?”

A Ghastly Thought

Three aspects of these verses are worthy of our careful attention:

First, notice that Paul’s approach is logical. "Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?” That is a reasonable question. If our preaching of the gospel does not arouse this question in people’s minds, our message is likely flawed. The grace of God logically gives rise to this issue. If the sin problem has been so completely solved by the forgiveness of Christ, then we don’t need to worry about sin, do we? We are free to sin because the consequences of sin have been removed by the cross of Christ--haven’t they?

Second, Paul’s approach is natural. He understands that it is only human nature to ask such a question. We think of sin as fun, and that’s why we like to do it! It is great fun to gossip about others, to elevate ourselves by putting others down; it is great fun to engage in sexual sins; it is fun to covet and take what is not ours. Sin is fun. So any suggestion that we can sin and get away with it--that we can have our sin and heaven too--is immensely appealing to our fallen nature.

Understand, when Paul talks about sin here, he is not talking about one or two isolated failures, but a lifestyle of sin. He is talking about Christians who live as they did before they were Christians. When he says, "Shall we go on sinning ?” He is using the present continuous tense, which refers to an action that occurs on a continual basis. Later, in Romans 6:15, Paul will discuss the effect of a single act of sin on a believer’s life; but here, in Romans 6:1-2, Paul talks about a lifestyle of habitual sin.

Third, Paul puts the question in a way that sounds pious. He is anticipating the question of someone who would rationalize sinning on the grounds that increased sinning would be a good thing, since it would lead to increased grace. Some people are so eager to rationalize their sin that they pretend they are doing God a favor by sinning! After all, God loves to show His grace, so if we sin more, God will have more opportunities to he gracious. Paul wants to put an end to such self-deceiving rationalizations. His answer is emphatic:

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! (Romans 6:1-2)

Paul’s answer is as blunt, forceful, and absolute as it can possibly be: "By no means!” The original Greek form states literally, "May it never be!” The King James Version expresses offense at the suggestion: "God forbid!” The Phillips version conveys a note of horror: "What a ghastly thought!” Clearly Paul wants us to understand that the idea of deliberately sinning in order to increase grace is an unthinkable abomination. Why? He explains:

We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? (Romans 6:2)

With four one-syllable words, Paul makes an airtight case. He will spend the rest of the chapter expounding and expositing that statement, but the logic of those four words is inescapable: We died to sin. That is all the argument anyone should require. But just to make sure that no one could misunderstand, Paul adds, "How can we live in [sin] any longer?”

Understand, when Paul said, "We died to sin,” he didn’t mean that sin is dead in us, that we have reached a point where we cannot be tempted to sin. Even though we are covered by the righteousness from God, the principle of sin is still at work in us, like an addiction that we can never break free of in this life.

Once, when I was working in the city of Pasadena, I went to a barbershop for a haircut. I sat in the chair, and as I chatted with the barber, I learned that he was a Christian. He told me that seventeen years earlier he had been "sanctified.” According to the doctrinal traditions of his denomination, this meant that he was no longer able to sin. For seventeen years, he had lived without sinning--not even once!

I began to discuss this doctrine with him, and I raised certain Bible passages that seemed to contradict his views. The discussion turned into an argument. The more we talked, the hotter he got--all while he was cutting my hair. When I saw how upset he had become, I said to him, "Look, if you can become so angry when you have no sin in you, what would you be like if you were a sinner like the rest of us?”

It was two weeks before I dared to appear in public after that haircut!

When Paul says, "We died to sin,” he is not saying that we are incapable of sin. Entire religious movements have been based on the idea that we are commanded to "die to sin.” You can attend conferences and camp meetings where you are exhorted to "die to sin,” to be "sanctified” so that you can reach a state of continual sinlessness.

But I submit to you that Paul never tells us that we should "die to sin.” He is telling us that we have already died to sin. He is speaking of an accomplished fact.

Some people say that Paul means we are dying to sin. In other words, the Christian is gradually changing and growing, and the more mature he becomes, the more he dies to sin. Eventually, says this view, a time will come in the life of the Christian when he or she outgrows sin.

But that is clearly not what Paul is saying. He puts his statement in the Greek aorist tense, which means that this statement is true, once and for all: We died to sin. It is done, it is accomplished, period.

In Romans 5, Paul makes it clear that sin is our heritage in Adam. We can’t escape it because Adam passed the taint of sin and death to us all. As children of Adam, we will sin. Even though we are Christians, we will sin.

Paul is saying that when you became a Christian, you received the gift of God, which is Jesus Himself and His righteousness. At that moment, you were no longer in Adam but in Christ.

Some Bible scholars teach that the believer has two natures, a new nature in Christ and an old nature of Adam. I disagree with that view. Yes, there are two natures--but only one of them is yours! Yes, there are two forces at work within us, and we feel the conflict between them-but only one of those forces belongs to us. We were once in Adam; now, as Christians, we are no longer in Adam but in Christ.

Having said that, we have to face the fact that Christians (who are no longer in Adam but in Christ) do sin, and they do die. Romans 5 told us that sin and death are the results of Adam’s transgression. How can we be free from Adam and still suffer the results of Adam’s transgression?

The answer lies in the nature of our humanity I believe this tension is easily resolved once we see what Scripture reveals about who we are as human beings.

The "Cup” of the Human Spirit

The Bible tells us we are spirit; we have bodies and souls, but the most essential part of ourselves is our spirit. That may sound "spooky,” but that is because we can see our material bodies and we can’t see our spirits. We have been brainwashed by the world to believe only in what we can see and feel--and who can see or feel a spirit? The Scriptures tells us that the most fundamental nature of our being is spirit. (God, too, is spirit, which is why He cannot be seen.)

The Scriptures often use a metaphor to describe the human spirit: a "vessel,” like a cup or howl. You can think of your spirit as a little cup inside of you, made to hold something. Of course, picturing the spirit as a cup is speaking in metaphors, but it is necessary to use symbols and metaphors when discussing things that cannot be seen.

The Scriptures tell us that, in the beginning, this cup was made to hold none other than God Himself. All the greatness and glory of God could be poured into that tiny human cup. That is what Adam was, as he came fresh from the hand of God. But when Adam sinned and fell, that cup was emptied, then filled again with a kind of poison. This satanic poison has sickened all our humanity.

When that poison fills the cup of the spirit, it overflows into the soul, which is the realm of the mind (reason and intelligence), the will (the power to choose), and emotion (the power to feel). The Bible tells us that all of these areas of our being have been poisoned by sin, so that we are unable to think, choose, and feel as we should. Ultimately, when the spirit and the soul have been poisoned, that harm is expressed in the functioning of the body. The poisoning power of sin always flows from the inside out. Jesus put it this way:

"For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.’" (Mark 7:21-23)

The evils that Jesus lists are the poisons that come to us from the original transgression of Adam. These are the poisons in the cup of the human spirit, and they will come out--nothing can stop them from spilling out.

What happens when a poisoned human spirit turns to Jesus and receives the gift of righteousness and worth that comes from God? According to Paul’s argument in Romans 5, the tie with Adam is broken. The spirit is emptied of its satanic poison--sin--and it is filled again with the Holy Spirit, who releases the life of Jesus to operate within the human spirit. That is what the Holy Spirit has come to do. Our human spirit, our essential nature, is no longer in Adam but in Christ. We have died to sin.

The problem is that our souls and bodies, which have functioned for years under the control of sin, are still going on in the same old way, operating according to the habits and patterns of the life of Adam. That is where the evil and sin in a believer’s life come from. So as we mature in the Christian life, we must reeducate the soul and the body We will experience many failures until we allow the Holy Spirit to bring every aspect of our lives under the control of the new life in Jesus Christ. It is a process, but it will happen.

The new life of Jesus is more powerful and persistent than the power of death from Adam ever was. If Jesus Christ truly fills the cup of the human spirit, He will continually work to bring the soul and body into conformity with His image. Just as we could not avoid sin while we were in Adam, so we cannot avoid becoming increasingly more Christlike if we are in Christ.

That is why Paul tells us, in effect, "Since we have died to sin, how can we live any longer in it? Why it’s impossible! It’s not a question of should we continue in sin; it’s a question of can we! And the only possible answer is: "What a ghastly thought! It cannot be!”

Indwelt by Adam or Christ?

In our neighborhood is a home that has been occupied by a number of different families over the years. One of those families allowed the place to fall into unsightly disrepair. The lawn died for lack of watering and became littered with trash. The house was a shambles, inside and out.

Eventually that family moved out and another family moved in. The new family shoveled all the trash and filth from the house, patched and repainted the walls, replanted the lawn, and repaired the fence. The most wretched house in the neighborhood suddenly became one of the most beautiful homes in the neighborhood. The reason for this change was obvious: The house was indwelt by someone new.

The same is true of a human "dwelling place,” a human being. When we are indwelt by Adam, we are filthy and wretched, inside and out. When Someone new comes to dwell in us--Jesus Christ--the change is evident to everyone. The transformation takes place inside and out.

What does it mean, then, if a Christian goes on sinning? What if someone claims to be forgiven yet goes on living a sinful lifestyle without any sign of a spiritual change? The biblical answer to this question is simple: These "sinning Christians” show that they are not truly Christians. They are deceiving themselves and others. They may believe they are Christians, but they are not genuine Christians because Jesus is not their Lord.

A "lord” is a master--someone who must be obeyed. If we call Jesus "Lord” but do not obey Him and do His will, then He is not truly our Lord. This is the point Jesus made when He said, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21), and "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord’ and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46).

It is impossible for your lifestyle to continue unchanged if Jesus is truly your Lord. When Jesus comes to live in you, a change must take place, beginning in your spirit, and moving outward into your soul and your body. Those who say they can be Christians while continuing in a life of sin reveal that there has been no change in their spirit, no break with Adam. They are still in the same poisoned condition. They are indwelt by Adam, not by the Lord Jesus Christ. As Paul writes elsewhere:

Of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person--such a man is an idolater--has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath come on those who are disobedient. (Ephesians 5:5-6; see also 1 Corinthians 6:9-11)

The biblical position on a sinful lifestyle is clear. So we must ask ourselves, Is Jesus truly the Lord of my life and my lifestyle? Do I truly hate sin as God hates it? Do I truly want to be free from sin, delivered from its power, healed of its poison? The power of sin will never be broken in your life until the Lord Himself comes into your heart to fill the cup of your spirit with a new Spirit. It is time to stop flirting with the poison of sin. It’s time to put sin out of your life.

Can we go on sinning? By no means! What a ghastly thought! May it never he!

The True Baptism

In verses 3-14, Paul expands on what he means when he says we have died to sin. In this next passage, he uses two visual aids to make his meaning clear: baptism and the grafting of a branch into a tree. He writes:

Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 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. (Romans 6:3-4)

Most people, when they encounter the word baptism, immediately "smell water.” When I was a boy in Montana, I had a horse that could smell water from a great distance. I’d be riding that horse across dry, parched plains when he would suddenly prick up his ears and quicken his pace. I knew that he smelled water and he invariably found it. If you "smell water” when you see that word baptism, I want to assure you that there is no water here. This is a "dry” Scripture passage. The baptism Paul speaks of in these verses does not involve water.

This passage deals with the issue of how we have died to sin. In other words, Paul is talking about how we became separated from our old nature in Adam, and how we became joined to Christ. No water can do that. Baptism with water is merely a visible symbol of the true baptism that Paul speaks of here--the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

This the same distinction John the Baptist made when he told the people, "I baptize you with water...But after me will come one who is more powerful than I...He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit” (see Matthew 3:11). Pul makes the same point when he writes, "For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink” (1 Corinthians 12:13).

Notice that Paul emphasizes that all believers were baptized into one body. If you are a Christian, you are baptized into one body and given one Spirit to drink; if you are not a Christian, you are not baptized into the body of Christ. Some churches teach that a Christian needs to experience a baptism of the Holy Spirit after conversion, but that is not what the Scriptures teach. This passage (and others) make it clear that you are baptized with the Holy Spirit when you become a believer, and you can’t be a believer without also being baptized with the Spirit.

Historically, the baptism of the Spirit occurred first on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came upon 120 people who were gathered in the courts of the temple at Jerusalem. This event fused them into one body, joining them to the Head, which is Jesus. At that moment, the church, the body of Christ, was formed, and all believers became members of one another and of the Lord Jesus Himself,

The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not something that is felt or experienced through the physical senses. It is something that the Holy Spirit does within the human spirit. Though invisible to the human eye, this baptism is essential to becoming a Christian. It is part of the process by which we share the life of Jesus Christ.

The way Paul speaks of the baptism of the Spirit, it is clear that he expects all Christians to know about it. He asks, "Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” At this time, Paul had never been to Rome and had never preached to the Roman Christians. Why did he expect them to know of the baptism of the Holy Spirit?

Here is where water baptism comes in. Water baptism teaches us--by picture and symbol--the meaning of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Water baptism is the shadow; the baptism of the Spirit is the reality. Paul expects that the water baptism the Roman Christians have undergone has helped them to understand the reality, of the baptism of the Spirit in their lives.

Notice, too, that Paul relates the issue of baptism directly to the fact that we have died to sin. He writes: "We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death.” When we were baptized by the Holy Spirit at the moment of conversion, we were buried with Jesus; we became partakers in His death.

Paul is still discussing the question, "Can a believer go on sinning?” Paul answers, "No, because we died to sin.” How did we die to sin? Paul explains it this way: Upon our conversion and baptism of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit caused us to he intimately identified with all that Jesus did. Christ died, and we died; Christ was buried, and we were buried with Him; Christ rose again, and we rose with Him. That is how we died to sin.

What’s more, this magnificent truth is one of the most important truths of the Christian life: We are dead, buried, and raised with Christ. Our union with Christ is the central truth from which everything else in Scripture flows. If we understand what this truly means, it changes everything about our lives. That is why Paul so urgently wants us to understand this truth.

Grafted into Christ

Next, Paul introduces the metaphor of being grafted into Christ as a branch is grafted into a living tree, although that metaphor may not be immediately apparent. He writes:

If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin--because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. (Romans 6:5-7)

When Paul writes, "If we have been united with him,” he is using a word from botany that refers to grafting a branch into a tree. Just as you can graft a branch from a nectarine tree into a peach tree, so that the life of the peach tree flows into the nectarine branch, so we are grafted into the life of Jesus. We are united with Him and His life becomes our life. We are no longer in Adam; we are in Christ. We are grafted into His death and we are grafted into His resurrection.

Paul goes on to say that because Jesus was crucified, we were crucified too. The Adam within us has been nailed to a cross and put to death. Jesus was crucified "so that the body of sin might be done away with.” In other words, Jesus was crucified so that the sin which was in His body on the cross should come to an end, so that His body would be rendered powerless with respect to sin.

You may be thinking, That’s wrong! There was no sin in Jesus! And that’s true, Jesus was the only sinless being who ever lived. There was no sin in Him-until He was placed on that cross. Then, as Paul tells us elsewhere in the New Testament, something amazing happened: On the cross, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Sin, in the believer, is located in the body. That is why sin is described in Jesus in terms of the body on the cross, His body became possessed by sin. That is why His body died; that is why He was buried.

Why do we bury a corpse? Because it is dead and useless. There is nothing more anyone can do with it, so we bury it. Jesus was buried to prove that the sin in His body was ended. The body was useless and dead. Paul says that the same thing happens to us when we receive Jesus as Lord and Savior: Our spirit, which is identified with Christ, dies in Christ, and the body of sin is rendered powerless.

Paul says that our old self was crucified with Jesus "so that the body of sin might be done away with.” What does he mean by the term "body of sin”? He means the physical body that is dominated and controlled by sin. In Adam, sin filled the whole of humanity--spirit, soul, and body. That is why we must sin when we are in Adam. Even though a person in Adam tries to be good, it is impossible.

A person in Adam, says Paul, is a slave to sin. No matter how much a person in Adam wants to be good, it is impossible. Sin is the lord and master of a person in Adam.

But a person in Christ, says Paul, is no longer a slave to sin. The bond has been broken. In Christ, the human spirit is free. It is united with Jesus, grafted into Him, dead and buried with Him, risen with Him, and free from sin. This explains the intriguing passage in 1 John 3:9: "No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.” John is talking about your spirit, the essential you. In that sense, it is proper to say of believers, "We cannot sin,” because the regenerated spirit is born of God and cannot sin.

As Christians, we do not have to sin. If we do, it is because we allow it to happen. But we are no longer slaves to sin. The body is the means by which we are tempted to sin. There is nothing inherently sinful about our bodies, but the alien power of sin remains in them. Sin comes from the body, not the spirit. That is why throughout our lives, even as Christians, we will struggle with the temptation to sin.

Dead to Sin, Alive to God

Even though we will be tempted, we are no longer slaves to sin. We have been set free, so that we can choose not to sin. Moreover, a new power to resist sin has been given to us, as Paul now explains:

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for

all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. (Romans 6:8-10)

Once we consider ourselves dead to sin, nothing remains but for us to proceed onward and upward to life. Once Jesus died, He could not go back into sin and death again. Sin and death were ended, and no longer had any claim on Him. Once we have died to sin through our identification with Christ, the same is true of us: sin and death are ended and no longer have any claim over us. So we need to recognize that we have died to sin with Christ, and that His life is in us now. When we decide not to sin, we have the power to carry it out, because Christ is alive in us. It all comes down to two simple steps that Paul describes in the next verse:

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. (Romans 6:11-13)

This is the first time in the book of Romans that we are given a command or an exhortation. Prior to this point, Paul has been building an argument about what God has clone for us. Now we are told to do something: "Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

Two principles that flow from this command will help you in tunes of temptation. First principle: When tempted, remember that you don’t have to obey sin. Don’t allow sin to reign in your mortal body. Don’t obey its evil desires. You are free to say, "Sin has no right to use my body for evil purposes.”

Second principle: When tempted, remember that the power of Christ in you enables you to offer your body to God, to be used for His purposes. You have been brought from death to life by a power that is greater than sin, greater than temptation. Of course, when you are tempted, you will be in for a struggle. After all, the strength of sin is very powerful in the body. But we have an even greater power living in us, if we will rely upon it: the power of God Himself, living in us.

We will always struggle with temptation but we have the strength and the right to resist sin. We have the freedom not to sin and the desire not to sin. That is what God has given to us through Jesus Christ. That is how to win over temptation.

Paul closes this section of Romans 6 with this powerful statement:

Sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. (Romans 6:14)

Why does Paul talk about the Law at this point? Because he is dealing with one of the most basic problems of the Christian struggle--an issue that depresses Christians more than any other issue of the Christian life: the feeling of condemnation we experience when we sin.

The Law condemns. The Law tells us that we have failed, we are washed up, and God wants nothing to do with us. Countless times, I have counseled Christians who feel defeated and discouraged because they are convinced that God is angry with them. That sense of defeat and discouragement comes from the condemnation of the Law.

But Paul says that we are not under the Law. We are not accused before God. We are under grace and God understands our struggle. He knows that we battle temptation, and He is not angry with us. He is alongside us, eager to pick us up when we stumble. Sin is not your master. The Law is not your master. Your Lord and Master is Jesus Christ, who brings you His righteousness and forgiveness. When you fail, you need only go back to God, confess your sin, and receive His forgiveness--then get on with the business of living for Him.

This verse, Romans 6:14, first came alive for me when I was a young man in the service during World War II. I was on a watch one night, reading the book of Romans from my pocket New Testament I had been wrestling with guilt over some failures in my life, and I was in a depressed mood as I read.

Suddenly, this verse leaped off the page and into my heart. The Holy Spirit made it come alive! In a flash, I saw the great promise of this verse, and I knew that all the things I struggled with as a young man would ultimately he mastered. They would be mastered not because I was so smart, but because God was teaching me and leading me into victory I remember pacing excitedly back and forth, my heart overflowing with praise to God as I rejoiced in the promise of that verse: "Sin shall not be my master, because I am not under law, but under grace!”

Looking back across the years since that night, I clearly see that God has broken the grip of many temptations and problems that held me down. Other problems have come, and in the power of my Lord and Savior, I am battling them and experiencing victory. The struggle remains, but the promise of God will outlast even the struggle: "Sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.”

Whose Slave Are You?

Some years ago in Los Angeles, I saw a man walking down the street with a large sign. The front of it read: I’M A SLAVE CHRIST. As he passed by, I saw that the back of the sign read: WHOSE SLAVE ARE YOU?

That is a good question. We are all slaves to someone. We are either slaves to sin or slaves to righteousness. We have no other choice. By the very nature of our humanity, we are made to serve forces beyond our power. So the question that confronts us in the closing section of Romans 6 is the same question that man wore on his back: Whose slave are you? Here is how Paul frames the question:

What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey--whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. (Romans 6:15-19)

"I put this in human terms,” Paul says, meaning that he is using the image of slavery, one of the common features of the first-century world, to give us a word-picture of the human spiritual condition. He pictures us as slaves, because he wants to make us aware of a profound psychological and spiritual fact: Human beings are made to be mastered.

The great question is: Who is our master? Who controls the choices we make? Paul shows us that our range of options is limited. In fact, there are only two: Righteousness and sin--or, to put it another way, God and Satan. The one you choose to obey is your master. If you choose God as your master, you choose life; if you choose Satan as your master, you choose death. If you yield yourself to sin, you become the slave of sin--and sin is a deadly master.

This principle didn’t originate with Paul. Jesus taught the same principle in John 8:34: "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” What is a slave? A person who is under the complete control of another. A slave is someone whose will is not his own.

If you tell one lie to cover up a sin, you will find yourself telling more lies to cover up the first lie, and the second, third, and on and on. You may not want to lie. You may wish you had never told the first one, but soon you are in so deep that you can no longer see any way out of the thicket of lies you have created.

Anger, gossip, greed, coveting, sexual immorality, foul language, gambling, drinking, drug abuse--all of these sins are addictive. It is easy to yield to them a little bit at a time. The sin seems minor at first. But each time we yield to sin, it becomes a little easier to yield the next time, and the next, and the next--until we suddenly wake up and realize that we are enslaved by it. We are the slaves of that which we obey.

Paul continues to explore this theme:

When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! (Romans 6:20-21)

I’m sure you can think of past sins that make you blush with shame. There are moments we can vividly recall in flashback, moments we wish we could take back. Such moments are a stain on our memories. Sin--no matter how small it may seem at the moment--always leads to shame.

But sin also produces something worse than shame-death "Those things,” Paul says, "result in death!” The sin of Adam placed him and all of our race under a sentence of death. And the sins of our race-your sins and mine-nailed our Lord Jesus to the bloody cross of Calvary. Why would we want to do the things that result in shame and death?

The Wages of Sin

In the closing verses of Romans 6, Paul sets before us a choice between life and death:

Now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:22-23)

The death he speaks of is both physical and moral. Physical death is a picture of moral death. Physical death involves darkness the end of light and life. And physical death involves corruption--the corruption of a decaying corpse.

That is what happens when we sin as believers. We experience moral darkness and moral corruption that is every bit as real as the darkness and corruption of physical death--indeed, it is more real. I’ve met many Christians who do not seem to understand this principle of God’s Word. They deliberately allow things in their lives that they know are wrong, things that are sinful, dark, and corrupt. They don’t realize that they are allowing death into their lives, into their souls, into their families.

When we as Christians allow sin, darkness, and death to enter our lives, we inevitably reach a point where we are sickened by it. We may not know why we feel sick of living the way we do; we only know that something about our lives has become nauseating and unbearable. Have you ever felt that way? Then that just might be the stench of death, the stench of the sin that you have been yielding to for too long. You have allowed yourself to become a slave of sin.

If that is your condition right now, then I have good news for you. Throughout Romans 6, Paul has stressed again and again that we do not have to remain in bondage to sin. "You have been set free from sin,” he says. Now that you have been set free, you no longer have to live in darkness, corruption, and death. You can choose life, light, and freedom.

The challenge of Romans 6 is this: Jesus Christ has made you free--free to be a whole person, free to experience an intimate relationship with the Lord and Creator of the universe. That is why Paul closes this chapter of Romans with these words: "The wages Lord.” Jesus Himself described eternal life in these words: "Now of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Jesus Himself described eternal life in these words: "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent (John 17:3). Eternal life is knowing God.

We have been called into an intimate relationship with the infinite God, called to life and light and joy--yet we foolishly toss it all away for a lifestyle that leads to slavery, shame, and death. "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free,” Paul tells us. "Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves he burdened again by a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1).

Jesus has purchased you and led you out of the slave market and into the bright sunlight of God’s love and freedom. Turn your back on the slave market of sin. Hold your head high and walk as a new, liberated person in Christ.

CHAPTER 8

THE NEVER-ENDING STRUGGLE

Romans 7

Comedian Red Skelton portrayed many characters in his comedy sketches, including Freddie the Freeloader, Sheriff Deadeye, San Fernando Red, and Clem Kadiddlehopper. One of his most famous characters was Junior, the Mean Widdle Kid. Junior continually got into conflict with himself as he pondered whether or not he should commit some act of mayhem. He would say to himself, "If I dood it, I’ll get a whipping!” His inner conflict would last about half a second, ending in a mischievous leer and the words, "I dood it anyway!”

That is the struggle many of us know all too well: We are confronted with the temptation to sin, we know that there will be consequences if we sin, we ponder the temptation for about half a second, then we "dood it anyway” In Romans 7, Paul summarizes this struggle with these words: "I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out…When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.”

Romans 7 is a commentary on Paul’s great declaration of Romans 6:14: "Sin shall not be your master, because you are not under la but under grace.” The central question of Romans 7 is this: "Does the Law help us handle the problem of sin in our lives?” Paul’s answer is, in effect, "Yes--and no. Yes, the Law does help us up to a point. It helps us define the problem. It helps to drive us to God. But no, the Law is no help at all in delivering us to” sin. In fact, the Law actually makes it harder for us to free ourselves from the struggle against sin.”

Paul’s Opening Illustration

Paul opens this discussion by showing that we can’t handle the sin problem with the Law standing over our shoulders. We must be free from the Law to be free from sin-but we don’t know how to handle such freedom. It is human nature to want rules, regulations, and instructions rather than freedom. That is the problem Paul addresses in the opening section of Romans 7:

Do you not know, brothers--for I am speaking to men who know the law--that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives? 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 of marriage. So then, if she marries 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, even though she marries another man. (Romans 7:1-3)

Paul uses an illustration taken from marriage. Paul begins by saying that this illustration is addressed to those who know the Law--that is, to the Jews. In Paul’s illustration, a woman marries and she is bound to her husband as long as he lives. This may seem strange in these days of easy divorce, but according to the Law of Moses, and according to God’s intentions, marriage is for life.

In the marriage ceremony, people today usually vow to take each other "for better or for worse, until death do us part.” Today however, most people seem to marry "for better or else.” As one woman put it, "I took him for better or worse, but he’s worse than I took him for!” So in our culture, divorce is commonplace, but in God’s sight marriage is for life.

The woman who is married is helpless to change her situation until her husband dies. Any attempt to change her marital status while her husband is alive is a violation of the Law. She becomes an adulteress if she tries to marry another man while her first husband still lives.

That is the background for Paul’s illustration at the beginning of Romans 7. Remember, Paul is not making a point about marriage; he is using marriage to make a point about the Law. Marriage, is just an illustration, and here is the concept Paul illustrates:

In Paul’s illustration, the woman is a picture of the believer--you and me. What, then, does the first husband represent? Some Bible commentators say the first husband represents the Law. I disagree. The Law in the illustration is what binds the man and the woman together, and I believe the Law in the illustration simply represents the Law. The first husband represents something else altogether.

If you follow Paul’s argument through the first six chapters of Romans, I think it becomes clear that the first husband represents our old humanity in Adam. In other words, the old husband is the sinful human nature, the old self that we inherited from Adam. We are bound to it as a wife is bound to her husband. We don’t like our old sinful self, but we are stuck with it--apart from Christ.

I think it is important, at this point, to make a distinction. What we are calling "our old self” should more accurately be called a "false self.” The Scriptures tell us that the sin heritage from Adam is actually an alien invasion of human nature. Sin invaded the human spirit when Adam fell, and it was passed along to the rest of the human race, with the single exception of Jesus Christ. Sin reigned unchallenged in the human race until it was challenged by Christ himself.

We have lived so long with this "false self” that we identify it with our real selves; we think it is us. Even so, we still feel the Spirit of God stirring a hunger within us for true righteousness. We think, "I wish I were not what I am; I wish I could choose to always do good.” We admire true righteousness, which is why the life of Jesus is so attractive to us.

Despite our hunger to be good as Jesus was, all our efforts to do good fail because in Adam we are bound to the sinful self, the false self. That brings us back to Paul’s illustration from marriage.

When we try to be good while we are bound by the Law to our old self, the result is a false facade of goodness. Deep inside, we know we are bound to sin, but we try to create a false front of goodness, an image or reputation of goodness--and the result is that we are hypocrites. Though we try outwardly to be good, we inwardly know that we are still the same old self-centered creatures we always were.

Paul describes this hypocritical self as an "adulterer.” Under the Law, all our attempts to marry ourselves to an image of good-ness makes adulterers of us, for we are still married by the Law to in our bodies, to the old life within.

But then Christ comes into our lives. He fulfills the Law through His death on the cross. When we authentically receive Him as Lord and Savior, we identify with His life, death, and burial. Our sinful sell-the old, false self in Adam--is officially declared dead. In his illustration, Paul describes the death of the old sinful self in these terms: "But if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage.”

When Jesus hung on the cross and became sin for us (as Paul describes in 2 Corinthians 5:21), He became what we were in Adam. He became the old husband, and he died. So when Christ died, our old husband, that false self, died. At that moment, we were set free from the Law. Now, in the terms of Paul’s illustration, we are free to marry another. There is now no hypocrisy, no adultery. The new marriage is holy and righteous and the new husband is the risen Lord Jesus Christ. Just as He became our old sinful self upon the cross, He now lives to become our new, true self.

This is the amazing declaration of Scripture: Jesus Christ, entering your life and mine by grace through faith, overthrows the alien invader, sin. He takes His rightful place in the very core of our being. Sin is now on the outside, calling to us, trying to seduce us. We can hear its siren call, but we do not have to answer it. So we must live in reliance upon Jesus--not the Law--to give us the power to remain faithful to Him.

Love Does What the Law Could Not

In the next few verses, Paul expands on his illustration from marriage:

So, my brothers, 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 to God. For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death. 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. (Romans 7:4-6)

When Paul says, "you also died to the law through the body of Christ,” he is referring to what the Scriptures say in many places:

On the cross, the Lord Jesus was made sin for us. He took our place on the cross and became sin for us. When He died, we also died--we died to sin and we died to the Law. The Law has nothing to say to anymore. We are free to be married to another, to the risen Lord Jesus Christ. Our first husband is Christ crucified; our second husband is Christ risen from the dead.

When we were married to sin, we were controlled by our sinful nature and our lives produced the fruit of sin and death. But now, through Christ, we have died to the Law that bound us, so that we serve God in a new way Because we share in the death and resurrection life of Jesus, we are free from any condemnation of the Law. Clearly, we will stumble, we will fail--but the Law no longer condemns us. That, after all, was the purpose of the Law: to condemn.

But now we have a new identity. We are no longer bound to our sin. When we stumble and fail, we can go to God, confess it, then forget it. That is the power of God’s love and grace.

So it is not the Law that makes it possible for us to live righteously before God; it is love and grace. Love can do what the Law could never do. It can help us to live righteously before God. The Law filled us with guilt and fear of condemnation whenever we sinned. Love fills us with gratitude whenever we are forgiven. When we truly understand how Jesus sacrificed for us, when we begin to grasp the love He has shown to us, we want to serve and obey Him out of genuine gratitude and love.

Is the Law Evil?

The Law condemns us--but we are no longer under Law if we are resting in Christ. Therefore, the Law does not serve any useful purpose in delivering us from sin. The Law can expose our sin and drive us back to Christ, but it cannot deliver us from sin. Only our love-relationship with God can do that.

What, then, is the purpose of the Law in a Christian’s life? Should we simply dispense with it?

Some Christians say, "I’m a Christian, saved by grace. The Law was given to Moses for the Israelites, but it doesn’t apply to a Christian. So I simply ignore the Law.” Christians who make such claims do not understand the biblical view of the Law and grace. Paul never says that we should dispense with the Law; nor does Jesus. In fact, Jesus told us in the Sermon on the Mount that if anyone disparages the Law or waters it down, that person is under the curse of God. The Law abides forever.

So we need to understand what Paul teaches about the Law and grace in Romans 7. The remainder of Romans 7 divides into two sections. In verses 7-13, Paul discusses how the Law exposes sin. In verses 14-25, Paul discusses what it feels like when the Law exposes sin. He writes:

What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "Do not covet.” But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead. Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. (Romans 7:7-11)

Paul is clearly describing his own experience with the Law. He employs the past tense throughout this passage, which suggests that he is describing his life before he became a Christian. We know that Paul was raised in a devoutly religious Jewish home. He was taught the Law from birth. So when he says he lived "apart from the Law,” he doesn’t mean that he didn’t know what the Law was. He simply means that there came a time when the Law came home to him. This is what he refers to when he writes, "When the commandment came, sin sprang to life.”

In the home in which he was raised, Paul was protected and sheltered from exposure to serious temptations. He was raised in the Jewish culture, where everyone around him was sheltered as well. So Paul grew up relatively untroubled by problems of sin. As a boy, he probably thought, Keeping the Law? That’s not hard! I hardly ever face temptation.

But then came a time when he was no longer sheltered, when he went out into the world and was exposed to temptations he never imagined before. Suddenly, for the first time in his life, young Paul felt the full force of the prohibition of the Law. The Law says, "Do not covet, commit adultery, murder, steal.” Yet the world said, "Do whatever feels good.” And he began to feel the prohibition of the Law.

What was the specific prohibition Paul encountered? It was the tenth commandment, "Do not covet.” He writes: "I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, 'Do not covet.’ But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire.” Suddenly Paul found himself awakened to this commandment He was a Pharisee before he became a Christian, and perhaps he began to covet the success, fame, and possessions of many of other Pharisees. In any case, he became aware of the Law’s prohibition of coveting, and his own covetous desires and ambitions were awakened by it.

Paul is telling us that sin lies silent within us. We don’t even know it’s there. We think we are handling life without difficulty. Then, without warning, we discover all kinds of sinful desires awakening within us. We find ourselves filled with vengeful thoughts, feelings of lust, covetous desires and ambitions. It is as if the engine of sin has been quietly idling until the leaden foot of the Law suddenly tromped on the accelerator, causing sin to come roaring to life inside us.

Does this mean that the Law is at fault? Is the Law a bad thing, producing evil in our lives? Paul answers this question in the next two verses:

So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good. Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! But in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful. (Romans 7:12-13)

No, the Law is not evil. It is holy, righteous, and good. It exposes the evil force of sin within each of us. The Law shows sin to be what it is--something powerful and dangerous, something that has greater strength than our willpower.

The Law Is Spiritual

In verses 14-25, Paul describes the same experience in terms of how we feel when the Law exposes the evil within us. There is only one major difference between verses 7-13 and verses 14-25: Paul switches to the present tense. That is significant because it means that he is now describing his experience at the time he wrote this letter to the Romans. The next few verses, then, describe the Law as it touches the life of a Christian--a believer who is deceived by the sin that still resides in him. Paul writes:

We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. (Romans 7:14-15)

The key to this whole passage is the statement in verse 14: "The law is spiritual.” Paul says, in effect, "The Law deals with my spirit. It gets right at the very heart of my being.” Human beings are essentially spirits, so the Law affects us in the spiritual dimension of our being.

"But I am unspiritual,” Paul goes on to say In other words, "I can’t respond to the Law because I am sold as a slave to sin.” Compare this with Romans 6:17-18, where Paul speaks of slavery to sin, saying, "But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.”

How could Paul write that he had become a slave to righteousness in Christ, then just a few paragraphs later write, "I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin”? Isn’t this a contradiction? No. Any apparent contradiction can easily be explained in that Paul is describing what happens when a Christian tries to live under the Law. When a Christian, by his willpower and determination, tries to do what is right in order to please God, he is living under the Law. When we try to live under the Law the result is that we become inwardly conflicted: What we want to do, we don’t do; and we hate the things we do.

The Never-Ending Struggle

Next, Paul moves right to the heart of the struggle we all face:

And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing. 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. (Romans 7:16-20)

Paul says that as a Christian, redeemed by the grace of God, there is now something within him that agrees with the Law and wants to do good. But at the same time, there is something else within him that rises up and says "No!” Even though Paul wants to do good, his resolve collapses and he sins. I’m sure you can identify with Paul’s confession.

How does Paul explain this contradiction between what he wants to do and what he ends up doing? He says, "It is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.” Isn’t that a strange explanation? Paul says that there is a conflict within our humanity. There is the "I” that wants to do good, and there is the sin that dwells in "me”--a "me” that is different from the "I.”

Human beings are complex creatures. We have within us a spirit, a soul, and a body. These are distinct from each other. Paul suggests that the redeemed spirit never wants to do what God has prohibited. The redeemed spirit, the "I” of this statement, agrees with the Law and says that the demands of the Law are good. Yet an alien power, a self-willed beast lies dormant within us until it is awakened by a commandment of the Law. The beast springs to life, and we do what we do not want to do.

Jesus agrees with this assessment. On one occasion He said, "If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off,” (see Matthew 5:30). He did not mean that you should literally amputate your hand. He was speaking metaphorically to underscore the seriousness of sin

He was also showing us that there is a "me” within us that gives orders to our hands, feet, eyes, tongue, brain, and sex organs--a "me” that is at odds with the "I.” The "I” is often offended and aghast at what the "me” does. So Jesus was telling us that the "I” must take desperate measures and cut off the sinful "me.”

Next, Paul looks at the other side of this problem:

So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a  prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. (Romans 7:21-23)

This is another view of the same problem: You want to do right, and your inner "I” delights in God’s Law--yet another principle is at work in the body That principle wages war against your inner "I.” It holds you hostage, forcing you to do what you don’t want to do. The result: defeat, discouragement, and self-condemnation. You hate yourself for doing what you keep trying not to do. You think, "What’s the matter with me? Why can’t I do what is right? Why am I so weak?” This is our never-ending struggle. Voicing the discouragement and frustration we all feel, Paul cries out:

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? (Romans 7:24)

We mistakenly think that resisting sin is a simply matter of having enough willpower. We think we can defeat sin in our lives by simply determining to do so. God stands by and allows us to battle sin in our own strength. Finally, we come to the end of ourselves and cry out, "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” Sin deceives us--and the Law comes in, opens our eyes, and exposes sin for what it truly is. Once we finally see how wretched sin makes us, we are ready to receive God’s prescription for sin. At that point, we can say with Paul:

Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:25)

Who will deliver us from this body of death? Thanks be in God, the Lord Jesus has delivered us! Once we the Law forces us to recognize our wretchedness and failure, we are ready to turn in God for our deliverance.

We are no longer under the Law. That is the fact. We must stop thinking, I need to battle these sinful urges and obey the Law in my own power! Instead, we must think, I am a free child of God! I am dead to sin and dead to the Law because I am married to Christ. His power enables me to walk away from sin, free in Christ.

There is one more sentence to Romans 7:25, but that sentence actually belongs to the topic Paul explores in Romans 8, so we will save that for the next chapter. Meanwhile, let me tell you a story that encapsulates the reality that Paul speaks of in that final, triumphant statement: "Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

Some years ago, before the fall of soviet communism, I met a pastor from Russia who was living in Canada. He had a burden to take the Word of God into the Soviet Union, even though the Bible was forbidden there. This pastor told us about his first experience of crossing the Soviet border with a load of Bibles in the trunk of the car. He didn’t want to smuggle the Bibles in or use any other dishonest tactic. He simply counted on God to help him get the Bibles into the Soviet Union somehow.

He and a friend loaded the boxes of Bibles into the car and drove toward the border. The closer they came to the border, the more anxious they felt. Just a mile from the checkpoint, the pastor’s friend said, "How do you feel?”

"Scared,” said the pastor. "Let’s stop and pray.”

So they pulled to the side of the road and poured out their hearts to God. "Lord,” they said, "we’re scared. We’re afraid of being arrested. But we know that You have led us to do this because You want Your Word to reach the people of the Soviet Union. We’re willing to take this risk, but You’ve got to see it through. We don’t have the wisdom to handle any problems that may come up, so if You want Your Word to go into that country, You have to make it possible.”

As he prayed, the pastor felt totally helpless and dependent upon God--but he also had a sense of peace. The two men got back on the road and drove to the checkpoint. There, the guard unexamined their car and said, "What do you have in the trunk?”

"Some boxes,” the pastor answered truthfully

"Let me see them,” said the guard.

The pastor opened the trunk. There, in plain sight, were the boxes of Bibles. The pastor waited for the guard to open and find the Bibles. Instead, the guard simply said, "Very well.” Then he slammed the trunk and waved them on.

The pastor and his friend drove on into the Soviet Union and they distributed the Bibles to the spiritually hungry people there.

This is the way God wants us to live. We must acknowledge that we are powerless to do God’s will. We are powerless--but we serve an all-powerful God. What is impossible for us is easy for God. If we acknowledge our own inability, we can rest in His infinite ability.

The Law exposes the sin and wretchedness in us so that we, in abject poverty of spirit, will cry out to God, "This is Your problem, I can do nothing! Lord, You take it!” And He will do so. We need the Law. We need it every time sin deceives us. But the Law will not deliver us from sin. The purpose of the Law is to bring us to the feet of our mighty Deliverer.

CHAPTER 9

NO CONDEMNATION

Romans 8:1-17

Alcoholics, smokers, and drug addicts all know this struggle: They want to quit, they determine to quit, but they can’t. The addicted person knows he may lose his family, his reputation, his career, and even his life--yet he is powerless in the grip of sin and addiction.

Those who struggle with homosexuality or other sexual sins feel the same way. They find it hard to say "No” to their old lifestyle, even though they desperately want to.

Those who struggle with anger and rage experience the same struggle. So do those who struggle with habits of overeating or gambling or some other destructive behavior.

No matter what our area of sin or habit, we are weak. We are helpless to change by will-power alone. That is the struggle Paul describes. That is the struggle of the Christian life.

Many Christians resent the fact that we have to struggle against ourselves throughout this life. They think that God should take this struggle away and remove temptation so they will never have to struggle again. When the struggle goes on and on, some people become disappointed with God because He doesn’t take them out of the struggle.

We all identify with that struggle. But as we come to Romans 8, we see that Paul does not leave us there. He wants us to know that struggle does not have to defeat us. It can be resolved-and he is going to tell us how. In the last verse of Romans 7, Paul gave this triumphant cry of relief:

Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 7:25)

The verse does not end there, of course-but the next sentence of that verse actually belongs at the beginning of Romans 8. Paul writes:

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. (Romans 7:25)

That statement serves as an important transition. It summarizes all that Paul has been saying in Romans 7, and it introduces the theme of Romans 8. In fact, there should not even be a period at the end of that sentence. It should run on into, and become part of, the first sentence of Romans 8. Here’s how the entire statement should read:

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin, [but] there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 7:25-8:2)

Notice the place where I have inserted in brackets the word [but]. The New international version starts a new sentence there with the word therefore. The only reason this sentence is interrupted is that the chapter division is arbitrarily and inaccurately made at that point. Keep in mind, the chapter and verse divisions of the Bible are not divinely inspired. When Paul wrote his letter to the Romans, there were no such divisions. Those were added hundreds of years later, and there are numerous instances, such as this one, where they interrupt the flow of the text in unfortunate ways. So we need to ignore the chapter division here as we try to grasp Paul’s original intent in these verses.

What is Paul saying in this passage when it is all taken together? First, it is clear that there is a struggle in the Christian

life--a struggle between what Paul calls "the sinful nature” and the Spirit of life. (To he precise, the word that is translated "sinful nature” literally means flesh in the original language; as used in Scripture, the word flesh refers not only to the physical body but to the sin that reigns in the body)

The body or "sinful nature” is our link to our father, Adam. Genetically, all that we have in our bodies is traceable through history to a single human being, Adam. God made a body for Adam that is like ours--with two eyes, two ears, a nose, and so forth. We have these characteristics because Adam had them. We have also inherited from Adam this principle of sin that is in us.

We could describe the principle of sin as the access that the devil has to our humanity--the means by which Satan is able to implant in our minds "the flaming arrows of the evil one” (see Ephesians 6:16). This refers to subtle satanic attacks in the form of obscene and lustful thoughts, selfish attitudes, spiritual arrogance and pride, bitterness and hate, and other sinful thoughts that come suddenly into our minds when we least expect them. They come from this root of sin that is in our bodies, inherited from Adam.

How can we break this hold that Satan has on us, this principle of sin? We break it, Paul says, by seeing ourselves in a new way--by learning to view ourselves as we truly are in Jesus Christ. That is the theme of Romans 8: There is an eternal struggle, and that struggle can cease only when we discover who we truly are in Christ.

What we truly need is a new self-image. That is our only path of deliverance. When we see who we truly are, we can say "No” to the flesh and "Yes” to the Spirit--and we can discover a whole new walk of life.

What Is Meant by "No Condemnation”?

'"There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” Paul says. The reason there is no condemnation is given in just one little phrase: "in Christ Jesus.” In other words, we are no longer condemned because we are justified by faith. Though we came from Adam, we are now in Christ. God will never condemn those who are in Christ--never!

Condemnation means rejection by God. So if we are no longer condemned, then we know that God will never turn us away We have been reborn into the family of God by faith in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit has come to dwell within us and He will never leave us.

One of the most beautiful stories of the Bible is the parable of the prodigal son. The prodigal son left home, wasted all that he had in sinful living, and ended up slaving away in a pigpen. The insightful Bible teacher, Dr. Vernon McGee, once asked, "Do you know the difference between the son in that pigpen and the pigs? The difference is that no pig ever said to himself, 'I will arise and go to my father.'” Dr. McGee is right. Only a son says that. The son got up, left that pigpen, and returned to his father. When he arrived, the son was not condemned by his father, not rejected, not tossed out of the family. He was loved and accepted.

That is a picture of our relationship to God, once we have been justified by faith. We are part of God’s family, and there is now no condemnation, only love and acceptance.

"No condemnation” also means that God is not angry with us when we struggle with temptation and moral dilemmas. He knows that we want to be good, we want to stop doing bad. He knows that we feel shame when we fail. He grieves with us over our sins. Though we condemn ourselves for our failures, God does not. He knows that, as the Scriptures reveal to us, we are children in His family, and we are learning to walk. A loving father does not beat his children for stumbling as they take their first steps. Rather, God encourages us and teaches us how to take the next step without falling.

"No condemnation” also means that there is no punishment. God will never take us to the woodshed because of our struggles. We may punish ourselves and cry out, "What a wretched person I am!” But God will never say that, and He will not punish us.

This is not to say that God will never discipline us if we deliberately rebel against Him. The Bible is clear that our loving Father disciplines those He loves, so that He can correct us and rescue us from a self-destructive lifestyle of sin and rebellion. But He will never punish us if we are sincerely struggling to walk as He wants us to walk.

The Way to Victory

Not only is there now no condemnation for the believer, says Paul, but God has also made a provision for victory "Through Christ Jesus,” he says, "the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.” That is why Paul voices this shout of triumph at the conclusion of Romans 7: "Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:25).

When we tell ourselves, "I’m a hopeless wretch,” God says, "You have the wrong view of yourself. You are not a hopeless wretch. You are married to Christ, and you have been set free. Accept His forgiveness, thank God for it, and move on in the confidence that your struggle has ended.”

Of course this does not mean that God has ended the reign of the flesh in our lives. The law of sin and death, like the law of gravity, goes on working all the time. But the moment you believe that what Jesus Christ says about you is true, a new law comes in. That new law is stronger than the law of sin and death.

God has given us a new image of ourselves. It may be hard for us to accept that new image of ourselves, because it doesn’t agree with the way we feel about ourselves. Unfortunately, many of us trust our feelings more than we trust the Word of God. Feelings are fickle and unreliable. God’s Word is eternal and dependable. His image of us is the truth upon which we can always rely.

Next, Paul explains to us the basis for victory:

For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:3-4)

This is a beautiful description of the good news in Jesus Christ. Paul says the Law is powerless to produce righteousness. It can demand and condemn, but it cannot make us good.

That is why nagging somebody never helps them to do good. Nagging is a form of law, and it only makes the behavior worse. If you try to nag your spouse or child, you will find this principle at work. Nagging only makes them worse. Why? Because, says Paul, the Law only stirs up the power of sin. It unleashes the beast of sin within us. Paul puts it this way elsewhere in the New Testament:  "The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law”(1 Corinthians 15:56).

To break through this vicious circle, God did an astounding thing: "What the law was powerless to do God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man.” There is a beautiful tenderness in the phrase "His own Son.” God did not send an angel or some other lesser being. He sent His own Son, a part of His own nature and being. He sent His Son as a man, in the likeness of sinful flesh. Jesus had a real physical body, like yours and mine. Since sin has been done in the body, it must be judged and broken in the body.

The body of Jesus was in the likeness of sinful flesh. It was like our sinful bodies, so it was subject to human infirmities. Jesus could become weak, tired, and hungry; Jesus could even die. But there was no sin in Him. In that body of flesh, without sin, Jesus became sin for us. As Paul puts it, God sent His Son "to be a sin offering” for us. In the mystery of the cross, which we can never understand no matter how long we live, the Lord Jesus somehow gathered up all the sins of the world so that they could be crucified in His own body. God’s view of us becomes real in our lives when we choose to live according to the Spirit, not according to our sinful nature. When we believe what God says about us and we see ourselves in a new way, then our behavior can’t help but change. This is God’s way of deliverance.

Hal Lindsey tells the story of the daughter of one of the royal families of Europe. She saw herself as unlovely and unlovable because of one feature--her large, bulbous nose. Her family hired a plastic surgeon to change the contour of her nose. After the operation, he removed the bandages and held up a mirror so that the girl could see that the operation was a complete success. Everyone around the girl gasped in amazement: Her nose was completely changed. She was beautiful.

The girl saw herself and gasped--not in wonder but in horror. "It’s no different!” she cried. "I’m still ugly! I knew it wouldn’t work!”

For months afterwards, the doctor and the girl’s family worked with her, trying to convince her that she was beautiful. Everyone else could see the change, but the girl herself could not. After months of therapy, she finally accepted the fact that she was changed and beautiful. Only when her view of herself changed did her behavior finally began to change. We are like that girl. We have been changed. We have been made beautiful in God’s sight. But for some reason, we are unable to believe and accept God’s truth about ourselves. We still see ourselves as hopeless wretches--and we behave accordingly.

Once we realize that we are truly free, we can act as free human beings, made in the image of God. Sin shall not have dominion over us, for we are under grace. By His grace, God affirms that we have been changed and made new. Now all we have to do is believe it!

The Mind Controlled by the Spirit

Next, Paul presents us with two possible ways that a Christian can live: We can (1) walk according to the flesh or the sinful nature; or (2) we can walk according to the Spirit. The New International Version of the Bible is a reliable translation, but it is not so accurate and helpful in this next section of Romans 8. So, from time to time, we will look at this passage in both the New International Version and in the "Ray Stedman translation.” Paul writes:

Those who live according to the sinful nature [literally, the flesh l have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. (Romans 8:5)

These two possibilities are set before us as Christians: Will we walk according to the flesh or according to the Spirit? The choice we make determines whether or not we manifest the righteousness that the Law demands.

Notice that it all depends upon what we set our minds on. Do we set our minds on what the Spirit desires? Or do we set our minds on what the flesh desires? That’s the deciding factor--what you do with your thinking.

The mindset of this world saturates our entertainment media, our news media, and the conversations of the people around us. What do most people focus on in life? Money, status, power, comfort, pleasure, fun. People desire these things because they mistakenly think that they bring fulfillment. These are the things the people of the world live for.

You may say, "What’s wrong with that?” Answer: Nothing. It is perfectly reasonable for sincere, dedicated Christians to devote a part of their lives to making money (providing for their families), to achieving positions of influence (which can be used for Christian leadership and witnessing), to making comfortable homes (where Christian hospitality can be practiced), to enjoying nature and entertainment (even Jesus took time to rest, relax, and enjoy Himself).

But when these things become the focus of our lives, when we seek our fulfillment in wealth, possessions, status, and pleasure instead of finding our satisfaction in God, then these perfectly good pursuits become destructive to our souls. God never intended that we should become Christian ascetics, living in caves, having no fun, doing nothing but memorizing Scripture and thinking about God all day. He gave us the whole world to enjoy but He intends to be at the center of our lives.

To have our minds set on the Spirit means that, in the midst of providing for our families and enjoying life, we are primarily concerned with loving God, loving others, and living to glorify our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Living with our minds set on the Spirit does not remove us from the mainstream of life, it places us in the middle of it--and it gives us God’s point of view.

Paul goes on to describe the results that flow from these two ways of living that he has set before us:

The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace. (Romans 8:6)

That is how the New International Version renders this verse. I think a more accurate rendering would read this way:

The thinking of the flesh is death, but the thinking of the Spirit is life and peace. (Romans 8:6, author’s translation)

What happens when you, as a Christian, let yourself live as the world lives, never bringing God’s perspective into your life? You are living according to the flesh--and the thinking of the flesh is I death. Death is not something waiting for you at the end of your earthly existence; it is something you experience now, whenever you live according to the flesh.

The Scriptures tell us that death, in this present experience, always comes down to four basic things: fear, guilt, hostility, and emptiness. These forms of death result when your mind is set on the thinking of the flesh--on making money, having fun, seeking status, seeking to gratify the self. If that is all you want out of life you will also have fear, guilt, hostility and emptiness.

Fear is experienced as a worry, anxiety, dread, or timidity. Guilt is experienced as shame, self-hatred, self-righteousness, or perfectionism Hostility manifests itself as hate, resentment, bitterness, revenge, or cruelty. Emptiness is experienced as loneliness, depression, discouragement, despair, or meaninglessness. These are all symptoms of death--the "living death” that comes from living according to the flesh.

What, then, is living with the mind set on the Spirit? It is placing God at the center of our lives--It means making Him the Lord of our careers and finances, our pleasure and fun, our fulfillment and joy, our ambitions and influence. We do not make it our goal in life to be powerful and famous; our goal is to serve God, and if He chooses to give us a position of influence so we can better serve Him, then we humbly accept it; if He chooses to use us in a place of anonymity, then we accept that position graciously and gratefully. We allow God to be the Lord of our lives.

The Body Is Dead

Paul goes on to explain why the mind set on the flesh produces death:

The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit God’s law, nor can it do so. (Romans 8:7)

Here is the crux of the problem: The mind set on the flesh brings death because it is hostile to God and it can’t obey the law of God. As James 4:6 says, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” If we live only to please, gratify, advance, and exalt ourselves, then we are opposed to God and God is opposed to us!

God gives grace to the humble. He advances and exalts those who place their confidence in Him, not in the self.

The next few verses form a parenthetical statement in which Paul shows us the difference between a Christian who lives "according to the flesh” and a non-Christian who is "in the flesh.” There is a great difference between these two states, and we need to carefully recognize that difference:

Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. (Romans 8:8-9)

Paul is literally saying:

Those who live in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. (Romans 8:8-9, author’s translation)

Many Christians miss the plain sense of that passage. Paul says that if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, that person does not belong to Christ. You cannot tell if a person is a Christian by what that person does at one given moment. You might take a snapshot of a Christian at a moment of failure, and his actions submit tonight be indistinguishable from the actions of a non-Christian.

You might catch that person committing an act of sin that looks exactly like the act of a non-Christian. But there is a difference, says Paul. The Christian has the Spirit of Christ in him (and that ultimately makes a huge difference in that person’s overall behavior); the other does not have the Spirit, and he will continue in sin, and his sinful condition will predictably worsen.

You may know non-Christians who are kinder, more thoughtful, and more gracious than most Christians. You may say, "Look at those non-Christians! If their behavior is so gracious and pleasant, surely they must belong to God!” But that is not necessarily so. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. Many people seem decent and pleasant when life is proceeding smoothly, without pressure or testing. The difference shows up in the ultimate tests of life. When the crunch comes, the one who does not have the Spirit will collapse; the one who has the Spirit will rise and ultimately conquer.

A Christian can live "according to the flesh” even though he is not "in the flesh.” This is a crucial distinction.

Paul continues, giving us an important insight into the nature and function of the Holy Spirit in our lives:

But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. 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 through his Spirit, who lives in you. (Romans 8:10-11)

That is a profound statement. In verse 9, Paul referred to the Holy Spirit as "the Spirit of God” and "the Spirit of Christ.” Here, Paul makes it clear that the Spirit is the means by which Jesus Christ Himself is in us. By means of the spirit, Christ is in you. And if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin. Does that seem like a shocking statement to you?

The problem is, our bodies are yet unredeemed. As a consequence, our bodies are the source of the sin that troubles us so. That is why the body lusts; that is why our minds react with hate and hostility. Sin finds its source in the body. That is why our bodies grow old and die. The sin that pervades our unredeemed bodies is killing us.

If you are not a Christian, death is your entire story. You are still in Adam, you are not in Christ. Your body is dead, and so is your spirit. Everything about you is falling apart, and will continue to do so.

But if you are a Christian, only your unredeemed body is in death. Your spirit is alive because of the gift of righteousness. Christ has come in and you are linked with Him. As Paul so beautifully puts it, "Though outwardly we are wasting away yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day” (see 2 Corinthians 4:16). The Spirit of God within us is stronger than the sin that is in our bodies. So even though our bodies are wasting away, the Spirit is increasingly giving us strength to control the body. That is the point Paul makes as he continues:

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 through his Spirit, who lives in you. (Romans 8:11)

Some commentators say that this verse refers to the promise of the resurrection at the end of life, when God will make our bodies alive once more. But that is not what Paul is saying. He is talking about the Spirit in us, giving life to our mortal bodies in the here and now. He is telling us that, though the sin in our mortal bodies tempt us, our human spirit has been made alive in Jesus Christ, and the Spirit of God dwells in us. The Spirit gives us the strength to say "No!” to temptation.

We cannot reverse the processes of death--no one can. Our bodies are going to die. But we can refuse to let the members of our bodies become the instruments of sin. We can refuse, by the power of the Spirit, to let our eyes, hands, tongues, brains, and sexual organs be used for evil purposes.

Next, Paul explains tells us how to truly live:

Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation--but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. (Romans 8:12-14)

When Paul says, "If you live according to the sinful nature, you will die,” he literally means that your present experience becomes experience of waking death. You may think you are alive, but all your living is really a form of death.

But if you live by the Spirit and put to death the sins of the body, you will truly live. You will experience authentic life, with all that life means in terms of security, fulfillment, vitality, joy, and peace. Paul stresses that authentic living takes place only by means of the Holy Spirit, by believing what the Spirit of God has said. That is how you live by the Spirit--by faith. When you believe that the sins of the body can be controlled by the power of the Spirit, then you can say no to sin.

A person who lives by the Spirit can make money, have fun, gain fame, and find fulfillment in life, and through it all, God will be glorified. The righteousness which the Law demands is fulfilled in those who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

The Sons of God Among Men

In the next section, Paul uses a term he has not used before in this letter:

Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father.” (Romans 8:14-15)

First, we should clearly understand that "son” is a generic term that includes both sexes. All genuine believers in Christ, whether male or female, are "sons of God.” The human spirit is sexless. What is true of the spirit is quite apart from what is true of the body.

Next, it is important to recognize that every human being is not automatically a "son of God.” People often speak broadly of the human race as being "the children of God,” and there is a real sense in which all human beings are the creatures of God, and therefore the offspring of God. But Paul is making a clear distinction here between people who are led by the Spirit of God and people who are not. Only those who are led by the Spirit of God are genuinely the "sons of God.”

This is an important distinction. In your struggle against temptation and sin, you need to know that you are not a slave to sin. You are a son of the living God, with the power and authority to overcome evil and sin. At times, you may be temporarily overcome but you are never defeated. Sin cannot defeat you, because you are a son of God.

Paul goes on to say, "For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship.” Literally, Paul says "you received the Spirit of adoption.” You became a son of God by being adopted into God’s family.

You may be thinking, What do you mean, I’ve been adopted into the family of God? I thought the Scriptures taught that I was born into the family of God when I was born again. Actually both concepts are accurate: As a Christian, you were both adopted and born into the family of God. As Jesus said on another occasion, "With man this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). You can’t be both adopted and born into a human family but you can in God’s family.

God has taken us out of our natural state in Adam, and has legally made us sons of God. But He reminds us that we are in His family by adoption so that we might never take His grace for granted. This is not to say that we should feel insecure. We are as much a part of God’s family as if we had originally been born into it. He will never disown us or reject us.

The next logical question is: "How can I be sure that I am a son of God?” Paul has been leading up to this question throughout this letter. This is the most important question that you and I must settle. Our joy and fulfillment in this life depend on it; so does our ultimate destiny in the next life. So the apostle Paul gives us three very practical tests--three levels of assurance--so that we can know for sure whether or not we are sons of God.

First, Paul says that if you are led by the Spirit of God, you are a son of God. To be led by the Spirit means that you are under the control of the Spirit. The evidence for this test is found in your own experience. As you look back over your life, do you see that your thoughts, behavior, responses, and goals have been submitted to God for His leadership? Is your life marked by a growing love for the Scriptures and an increasing understanding of the Scriptures? Is your life marked by a growing desire to spend time alone with God in prayer, both speaking to God and listening for His leading within your spirit? Do you see growing signs of victory over temptation and sin? Are you growing in your love for fellow Christians? Do you have a growing hunger for God and His righteousness? If you can see that you are being led by the Spirit of God, then you have passed the first test.

Second, Paul says that if you are led by the Spirit of God, you will have a growing assurance of your sonship before God. "You received the Spirit of sonship,” he writes in verse 15. "And by him we cry, 'Abba, Father.”' Abba is the Aramaic word for father. By means of the Spirit, we experience an emotional response to God in which we become keenly aware of His fatherhood. In that awareness, our souls cry out within us, "Abba! Father!” Abba is a baby’s word; it is like the sound a baby would make to his daddy: "Da-Da!" It is the word Jesus used in the Garden of Gethsemane when He begged the Father, His heavenly daddy, to let the terrible cup of the cross pass from Him.

The eminent Bible scholar, Dr. Alan McRae, tells the story of when his little son was learning to speak. His little boy came up to him with outstretched arms, saying, "Abba, Abba!” Dr. McRae turned to his wife and said, "Look! He’s already learning to speak Aramaic!”

The closest and most trusting relationship you can have is a relationship with a loving father. It gives you a wonderfully secure feeling to experience the embrace of those strong, protective arms and to hear the sound of that deep, warm voice of love. Children crave the affection of a father’s heart, the guidance of a father’s wisdom, the security of a father’s arms. If you have ever sensed the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of Jesus, it is because the Spirit of God has awakened your heart to an awareness of your place in the family of God.

Third Paul shares with us another level of assurance that we are the sons of God:

The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. (Romans 8:16)

This is the deepest level of assurance. The Spirit of God testifies with our spirit--a testimony that goes far deeper than emotions. It is a deep conviction born of the Spirit of God Himself--an underlying awareness that makes it impossible to deny that we are part of God’s family

Looking back, I can see this deep conviction of the Spirit in my own life. I made a decision for Christ when I was about eleven years old. While attending a Methodist brush arbor meeting, I responded to the invitation, went forward, and received Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I had a wonderful time of fellowship with the Lord that summer and the next winter. There were times when I was overwhelmed with a sense of the reality of God in my life. I would sing hymns until tears came to my eyes. I felt called to preach, and I would go out to the pasture and preach to the cows. Those cows were a good audience--they never went to sleep on me.

The next fall, we moved to a small Montana town that didn’t have a church. Gradually, because of a lack of Christian fellowship, I drifted away from that close relationship with God. I fell into behavior that I am ashamed of today. I developed some false attitudes toward God and the Scriptures. I ceased to believe in the inspiration of the Bible, and I argued against it during my high school and college years. I developed a reputation as a skeptic.

But during those seven lean years in my relationship with God, I found it impossible to deny God or turn my back on Him. Somehow I knew, deep down inside, that I still belonged to Him. I knew there were certain things I could not bring myself to do, even though I was tempted. I could not do them because I knew I had an unbreakable tie with God. That is the witness of the Spirit.

We may not always feel like genuine Christians--but feelings can betray us. The Holy Spirit, however, can never betray us. As 1 John 3:20 says, "If our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart” (see 1 John 3:20 KJV). There is a witness, born of the Spirit, which we cannot shake or deny. When we genuinely and sincerely receive Jesus as Lord and Savior, God’s Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are God’s own children. And because we are God’s own children, we are also God’s heirs, as Paul explains:

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. (Romans 8:17)

This verse introduces the climax of Paul’s letter to the Romans. Here, Paul calls us "heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ,” and he speaks of the glory that awaits us. He also connects that glory with the sufferings we are going through now--which ties this passage to Romans 5, where Paul encourages us to rejoice in our sufferings.

This is a good place to see where Paul has led us in this discussion. He tells us that we had our beginning in Adam, from whom we inherited a body of sin. Now, by faith in Christ, we are justified by faith. There is now no condemnation for us, because we are in the Spirit. If we are in the Spirit, we are led by the Spirit. If we are led by the Spirit, we are the sons of God. If we are the sons of God, we are heirs of God. All that God owns will be entrusted to us--what a staggering thought!

This is what we must remember when we face temptation and struggle with guilt. This is how God views us. This is who we are. If we remember who we are, then we will act according to who we are. When we do, we will find that there is power available to us--the power to say no to the flesh, the power to say yes to the Spirit, the power to walk in the way God created us to walk.

CHAPTER 10

IF GOD BE FOR US

Romans 8:18-39

In February 1947, a young missionary named Glenn Chambers waited to board a plane for Quito, Ecuador. Once he got aboard that plane, he would he on his way to fulfilling a dream of becoming a missionary broadcaster at Radio HCJB, "the Voice of the Andes.”

While he waited at the Miami airport, he decided to dash off a quick letter to his mother--but he had no stationery with him. So he flipped through a magazine until he found a page with a lot of white space on it. He ripped out the page--an advertisement that had a single word WHY? printed in the middle of the page and some smaller print at the bottom.

Writing quickly Glenn Chambers wrote down his thoughts in the white spaces of the page, including some words of affection and thanks to his mother for her prayerful support of him while he was in missionary training. Then he folded the page, sealed it in an envelope, purchased a stamp from a vending machine, and addressed it to his mother. As the boarding call sounded, he dropped the letter in a mailbox. Then he boarded the plane.

Hours later, as his plane flew over the rugged mountains of Colombia, something went terribly wrong. The plane crashed into a mountain peak, leaving no survivors. Two days later, Glenn Chambers’ grieving mother received the letter her son had written at the Miami airport just hours before his death. She opened the envelope and unfolded the paper. There, in huge black letters, was the one word that had been haunting her. Since she heard the news of her son’s tragic death: WHY?

Though she was grateful to have this last message of love from her late son, that question--WHY?--continued to trouble her for days and weeks afterward. Glenn was so young, so talented, so full of promise, so eager to serve the Lord. Why did God allow him to die?

In time she came to a conclusion that gave her a measure of comfort amid her pain. She expressed that comfort in an interview "I don’t know why Glenn died,” she said, "but I do know this: God is too kind to do anything cruel. God is too wise to make a mistake. And God is too deep to explain Himself.

That is the theme Paul brings us to in the closing verses of Romans 8--the theme of Christian suffering. Paul talked about rejoicing in suffering in Romans 5; then, in Romans 8, he returned to the subject of suffering when he wrote:

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. (Romans 8:17)

In that verse, Paul links two concepts that we generally do not associate: suffering and glory. It seems a bit like pouring ketchup on ice cream, or like adding maple syrup to a tuna sandwich. The idea of linking suffering and glory, hurls and hallelujahs, makes no sense to the human mind. Yet we find suffering and glory join together in almost every passage of Scripture that deals with the suffering of the Christian. For example, Paul links suffering and glory together in this passage:

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. (2 Corinthians 4:17)

Clearly, then, suffering and glory do go together in God’s eternal plan. Our sufferings as believers are directly linked with the glory that is coming.

The Privilege of Suffering

God’s Word continually presents both the sufferings and the glory as privileges that are given to us. As Paul has plainly stated:

For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him. (Philippians 1:29)

We should not get the idea that we earn glory by our sufferings. The Bible does not teach that those who suffer the most earn the greatest degree of glory. We cannot earn God’s glory. Rather, God's glory is given to us as part of our inheritance in Christ. It is a gift, a privilege granted by His grace. Suffering, too, is our inheritance in Christ. It is a privilege that we have to share in the sufferings that Jesus underwent on our behalf.

Paul underscores the theme of the latter part of Romans 8 in this verse:

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

(Romans 8:18)

The theme of this verse and verses that follow is the incomparable glory that awaits us as believers--a glory beyond description, greater than anything we can imagine. Throughout the Old Testament and into the New Testament runs a thread of hope, a rumor of approaching glory. This rumor speaks of a day that is coming when all the pain, heartache, and injustice of this world will be explained, justified, and absorbed into a time of incredible blessing and glory upon the earth. The whisper of this approaching glory actually increases in intensity throughout the Old Testament, as the New Testament approaches.

That whisper becomes a shout in the writings of Paul, where he makes this astounding statement that our present sufferings are not even worth comparing with the coming glory. That statement would ring hollow if not for one important fact: The man who made that statement was a man who had suffered greatly!

The apostle Paul endured beatings with leather whips, beating with fists, and stonings in which he was practically buried beneath a pile of brick-sized rocks. He was chained and imprisoned for the "crime” of preaching the love of Christ. He was shipwrecked, starved, naked, and cold. And the man who endured all of this and more tells us, "Our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”

I am not making light of your sufferings. I have seen people go through physical illness and injury or emotional distress that seems beyond human endurance. I would never minimize such suffering, nor would Paul. His message is not that our sufferings are trivial; his message is that the glory to come is so utterly beyond our comprehension that our sufferings will one day seem insignificant. C. S. Lewis gives us a glimpse of this coming glory in his book The Weight of Glory:

The door on which we have been knocking all our lives will open at last…We are to shine as the sun. We are to be given the Morning Star. I think I begin to see what it means. In one way, of course, God has given us the Morning Star already: you can go and enjoy the gift on many fine mornings if you get up early enough. What more, you may ask, do we want? Ah, but we want so much more--something the books on aesthetics take little notice of. But the poets and mythologies know all about it. We do not want merely to see beauty, though, God knows, even that is bounty enough. We want something else which can hardly be put into words--to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it.'

Those words fill us with a yearning to plunge into the incredible glory that God has prepared for those who love Him yet even those words, as beautiful as they are, do not come close to doing justice to that glory. Even though we can't imagine it, we can accept on faith the fact that this glory will he ours to bathe in and enjoy, because we are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.

Meanwhile, we suffer. If you are a follower Of Jesus Christ, you will suffer. It is a privilege, though it hardly feels like one. Yet we can endure the suffering, and even triumph in it, because we know the glory that is to follow.

Creation Suffers and Waits

Next, the apostle Paul offers two proofs that confirm this hope of glory. The first proof is that nature itself testifies to the coming glory He explains it this way:

The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to he revealed. (Romans 8:19)

The original Greek word that is translated "eager expectation” offers an interesting insight. It is a word used to depict a man waiting for something to happen, craning his head eagerly forward.

The Phillips translation captures this imagery when it renders this verse in these words: "The whole creation is on tiptoe to see the sons of God coming into their own.”

Paul continues his discussion of his proof from nature:

For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. (Romans 8:20-21)

Paul says that creation awaits the coming climax of history because the history of creation is linked with the history of the human race. Creation fell when the human race fell in Adam. Not only did our whole race fall into the bondage of sin and death (as we have earlier seen in Romans), but the entire physical universe fell, too. It was human sin that put thorns on roses, and that put hostility and blood-thirst in the hearts of carnivorous beasts. The human world and the natural world (including the animal world) all testify to the fall of Adam. The universe has been subjected to frustration, bondage, and decay.

The phrase Paul uses, "its bondage to decay” is an accurate description of what scientists call "the second law of thermodynamics,” or "the law of entropy” This law of physics states that everything is decaying; the universe is running down; order is becoming disarranged and disordered. Everything that lives eventually dies. All of this is the result of the fall of humanity, the sin of Adam.

One of my favorite vacation spots is the beautiful High Sierra region of California, where the great sequoia trees grow. Today only a few small sequoia groves remain. Sequoias are the oldest living things in the world; a few are up to 3,000 years old, which means they were a thousand years old when Jesus was born. Tragically, many of these great trees were destroyed a century ago by loggers. The first white men to discover these precious sequoia groves didn't realize how rare these trees had become and how old they were. All they saw was a forest of massive trees and the possibility of huge profits. So they cut down hundreds of those ancient trees and cut them into boards, only to discover that the wood of the sequoia tree is so soft that you can't build anything out of it.

If you go to those groves today, you will see a few remaining trees, still incredibly tall and majestic--but they are surrounded by blackened stumps and rotting logs. Hundreds of ancient trees are simply gone, wasted--and nobody made even a dime on all of that destruction. Most of the trees that were cut were never removed, but were simply left to rot.

That is what man does to God's creation wherever he goes. He despoils, ruins, and pollutes. This is just a small part of the overall bondage to decay that we see in the creation around us, the result of human sin and rebellion.

But Paul tells us that when humanity is finally delivered from decay, nature will be delivered as well. A time is coming when the sons of God will be revealed--when what God has made us in our spirits will be visible before the world. In that hour, nature will be set free from its bondage to decay The universe will burst into bloom, demonstrating a beauty we cannot possibly imagine right now. The desert will blossom like the rose, the prophet says, and the lions will lie down with the lambs. No one will suffer any harm on God holy mountain. Rivers will run free and clear and sweet again (see Isaiah 11:9; 35:1-10).

In anticipation of that day Paul says, nature groans--but it groans in hope and eager expectation:

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.

(Romans 8:22)

Nature groans in the hope that the creation itself will be brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. Someone once observed that all the sounds of nature are in a minor key. Listen to the sighing of the wind. Listen to the roaring of the tide. Even the warblings of songbirds are in a minor key All nature sings--but it sings a song of bondage. Yet nature also sings a song of hope, looking forward to that day of the glory of the children of God.

Next, Paul tells us that our present experience confirms that this day of glory is coming:

Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. (Romans 8:23-25)

Here Paul says here that though we are redeemed in spirit, our bodies are not yet redeemed; as a result, we, too, are groaning. Here we see a contrast as well as a parallelism between our present groaning and our future glory. Nature groans; we groan. Yet this groaning will one day result in glory. Our present trials, as Paul says, "are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (2 Corinthians 4:17). Do you think of suffering that way? Do you reflect on the fact that your sufferings are working for you? Every groan is a reminder of the promise of glory. As you reflect on this truth, it will transform your sufferings.

Our lives consist of groans. We groan because of the ravages of sin in our lives. We groan over lost opportunities. We groan over lost loved ones. We remember that, as Jesus approached the tomb of His friend Lazarus, He groaned in His spirit because of His grief; He groaned even though He knew that He would soon raise Lazarus from the dead. We groan in disappointment, in bereavement, in sorrow, in pain. Life consists of a great deal of groaning.

But Paul reminds its that in our groaning there is hope. Nature groans in expectation of future glory, and so should we. As believers, we are saved in hope, and by that hope we live. Paul tells us that hope is the earnest, confident expectation of something unseen: "But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes let what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”

The waiting is made bearable by the fact that we already have the firstfruits of the Spirit. We know that the spirit of God is able to give joy in the midst of heartache. He is able to give us peace in the midst of turmoil. This is what Paul calls the firstfruits of the Spirit--the power of God to make a heart calm and peaceful despite turbulent, painful circumstances. Moreover, Paul says, the Spirit is alongside us as we wait for the coming glory:

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 with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. (Romans 8:26-27)

Here Paul tells us that even the Holy Spirit is groaning. He mentions three groanings in this passage: nature is

groaning, we are groaning, and the Spirit is groaning with words that cannot be uttered. This passage helps us to understand prayer. Paul says that we do not know what we ought pray for. We lack wisdom.

This does not mean (as I have actually heard some people claim!) that since we don't know how to pray as we  ought, and since the Spirit is going to pray for us anyway, then we don't need to pray. Such a claim contradicts everything else the Scriptures have to say about prayer.

God wants us to pray, but at the same time, we have to acknowledge that we often do not know how to pray

adequately nor do we know what to pray for. At times when we feel an urging to pray, we sense that something is wrong, but we don't know what we should pray for. So we lift our souls to God, expressing our bewilderment and our lack of wisdom. We ask God through His Spirit to make the request of the Father that ought to be made. That prayer is always answered because the Spirit always prays in agreement with the will of God the Father.

God Works for Good in All Things

Next, Paul tells us what happens when the Spirit intercedes in prayer:

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. (Romans 8:28)

This verse is often plucked out of context by well-meaning believers. But it is important to see it within the overall flow of Romans 8. This verse should never he interpreted separately from the previous two verses. Paul says that what the Spirit prays for is what happens. The Spirit prays according to the mind of God, and the Father answers by bringing into our lives the experiences we need.

This means that even the trials and tragedies that occur in our lives are the Father's answer to the prayer of the Spirit. All the events in our lives, the pleasant things and the painful, the ease and the pressures, happen according to the plan of God. The Spirit prays for us with groanings too deep for words; the Father answers those prayers and allows certain events to happen. Why? We can't fully know why, but we do know that God knows best. He permits those events because either we or someone close to us needs this to happen. God weaves these events into a perfect plan, so that good will come out of even the worst suffering and tragedy.

This verse never tells us that everything we experience will be good and pleasant. This verse says that, whether an occurrence is bad or good, pleasant or painful, it will ultimately work together for good if you are called by God to play a part in His eternal plan and purpose. This perspective makes a great difference for us as glory! God does not guarantee that we will never suffer, but He does guarantee that our suffering brings us closer to the coming glory.

We are being prepared for something beyond our ability to imagine or comprehend. One of these days, when we reach the end of life (if not before!), we will step out of time into an incredible eternity of glory. It is the glory that Jesus Christ had before the beginning of the world, a glory that we will one day share with Him.

As we face our sufferings, we are blessed and comforted by the privilege of being considered worthy to suffer for the name of Jesus, so that we may share in His glory.

Five Steps to Glory

If there is one verse that serves as the high point of the book, of Romans, it is certainly Romans 8:28: "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.” Note that important statement: As Christians, we are called according to God's purpose.

Think of it! You and I have a God-given purpose in life. What seems to be a meaningless jumble of events is actually a complex schematic diagram in the mind of God. Everything that happens is an interlocking piece of a vast puzzle. All the events in our lives, and the lives of people all around us, are moving toward a desired end, a grand and glorious conclusion.

God's purpose, as we saw in Romans 8:14, is to have many sons who will be led by the Spirit and who will love Him with all their hearts. That is why Jesus reminds us of God's greatest commandment: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment" (see Matthew 22:37-38).

To accomplish this purpose, God called the entire universe  time and space into existence. He spun the world in its orbit. He populated the world with human beings and permitted them to be tempted, we to sin, and to fall.  He sent His own beloved Son into this sin-ridden world. He accomplished the sacrifice of His Son on the cross, then effected the resurrection of the Son. Now Paul says, God is intricately working all things together for the good those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.

That is what life is all about. That is what the universe is all about. That is the meaning of it all. God's purpose is to have a race of people, His own children, who will love Him. Love is the aim of life.

Now, in the next verses, Paul looks back over the first eight chapters of his letter to the Romans, and he sums up in five brief steps the process that God takes:

For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. (Romans 8:29-30)

Here are the five steps that God has taken in millions of lives, stretching from eternity to eternity: (1) He foreknew; (2) He pre-destined; (3) He called; (4) He justified; and (5) He glorified.

At this point, it is important to note that Paul is not addressing the question of why some people believe and some do not. That is the problem of the doctrine of election, which we will examine in Romans 9. In that chapter, Paul clearly states everything that can possibly be understood about God's election of the believer. But that is not what Paul is talking about in Romans 8:29-30. He is simply describing the process God uses to bring people to a place of belief. Let's look at these five steps in detail:

First step: God foreknew us. Some people take this to mean that God foreknew that we would believe in Christ, so He chose its to be part of His elect. But as I previously noted, this verse does not deal with the doctrine of election. Paul says, "those God foreknew," which is a reference to people, not events. In other words, this verse does not refer to God foreknowing what would happen in the future; it refers to God knowing that a great number of individual human beings would one day be born. Before the foundation of the earth, God foreknew that you and I and millions of other believers would one day conic into existence.

Second step: God predestined us. "Ah," you may say, "I know what that means! God looked over all of humanity and said, "That one, that one, and that one will go to hell, and this one, this one, and that one will go to heaven." That is not a biblical view of predestination. In God's Word, predestination has nothing to do with who is going to hell, predestination is concerned only with believers, not unbelievers. It simply tells us that God made a decision ahead of time about the goal toward which He will move everyone who believes in Jesus Christ. That goal is clearly stated in Romans 8:29: conformity to the character of Christ. Paul writes: "Those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son." Everything that happens in our lives is focused on that one supreme purpose.

God's primary concern is for the shaping and molding of our character. He knows that we can never develop the character He wants without times of trial and suffering. That is why suffering is an inevitable part of the picture. It helps us to remember that God's primary objective is not that we be happy all the time, but that we will he molded and shaped into the likeness--the character--of His Son, Jesus. He is designing our lives in such a way that we will be more loving, gracious, gentle, bold, courageous, and obedient, just as Jesus was. In the glorious future that awaits us, there will be many sons of God, many believers who reflect the qualities of Jesus Christ. And the firstborn among them will be Jesus Himself.

Third step: God called us. God drew us to Himself. Jesus said, "No one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him" (see John 6:65). We may think that we choose God, but the reality is that we only respond to the call of the Spirit of God. This is not to say that we have no choice in the matter; we certainly do. But it is also true that before we chose God, He drew us in ways that we do not even recognize.

Some, like the apostle Paul himself, are called by God in brilliant, dramatic, ground-shaking ways. Paul was a hardened, Christian-hating Pharisee named Saul when he heard the call of God. He was traveling on the road to Damascus on a mission to persecute Christians when the glory of the Lord shone upon him, more brilliant than the sun itself. He heard a loud voice say, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads" (see Acts 26:14). That last statement meant that Saul/Paul was fighting and struggling against God's will, which was goading him like a cattle prod, trying to move the stubborn Pharisee toward a relationship with Jesus Christ. When God called Paul, He did so with a shout and a light from heaven.

In most cases, however, the call of God is quiet and imperceptible, made up of hundreds, even thousands of seemingly insignificant events and unnoticed turning points. Dr. Harry Ironside used to tell about a young man who gave his testimony at an evangelistic meeting. This young man spoke about how God sought him and called him, loved him and delivered him, cleansed him and saved him--a tremendous testimony to the glory of God. After the meeting, an older man came up to the young man with a criticism.

"You know," the older man said, "I appreciate everything you said about what God did for you, but you didn't say anything about your part in it. Salvation is really part us and part God, and you should have mentioned your part."

"Oh," the younger man said, "You're right. I should have said what my part in my salvation was. You see, my part was to run away from God as hard as I could. His part was chasing after me, calling to me, until He finally caught me."

So it is with all who come to Christ. Can any of us truly say that we chose God without receiving any nudging, prodding, or calling from Him? Of course not. Those God foreknew, He also predestined; and those He predestined, He also called.

Fourth step: God justified us. Throughout the book of Romans, we have been exploring the meaning of justification. We know that justification is God's gift of righteousness and worth. Those who are justified are valuable in his sight. They are forgiven, cleansed, loved, and accepted in the sight of God. Justification is something we could never do ourselves; only Jesus could justify us through His sacrifice upon the cross.

Had God given us His righteousness apart from the atoning sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, He could have been accused of simply excusing and indulging sin. But the cross freed God to give us the gift of His righteousness while satisfying the debt of our sin.

Fifth step: God glorified us. Paul writes this in the past tense, as if our glorification has already taken place. And it is true: our glorification has already begun. Glorification is what Paul refers to as the revelation of the sons of God (see Romans 8:19). All of creation anticipates the moment when God suddenly pulls back the curtain on what He has been doing through the human race. The glorification is going on now, behind the scenes of history; on that day, the process will be complete, and the sons of God will stand out in glory.

Theologians call this process of glorification by another name: sanctification. This is the process by which the inner worth that God imparts to us gradually changes our attitudes, habits, speech, and conduct. As we become sanctified in Christ, people around us notice that we are changing, becoming more Christlike. The process of sanctification and glorification is inevitable in the life of an authentic believer. God has begun the process, and He is going to carry it through to completion at the day of the revelation of the sons of God.

No one is ever lost in the process. Those whom God foreknew before the foundation of the world, He also predestined to be changed into the likeness and character of His Son. Those He predestined, He called; those He called, He justified those He justified, He glorified and sanctified. No one could ever be lost in that process, because God alone is responsible for it--and God does not make mistakes. For you and me, that process will involve pain and toil, sorrow and loss, stumbling and failure, falling and forgiveness, and even death--but incredible glory waits at the end of that road.

More Than Conquerors!

Next, Paul poses a series of questions:

What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? (Romans

8:31-32)

These questions summon forth a response of love. That is what God truly wants from us: our unforced, unfeigned love. He wants to know that, whatever problems and heartaches we go through, we will love Him and we will receive His love. After all, God loved us so much that He did not spare His own son, but gave up His Son for us all. What can we do in response to such a great love but love Him endlessly in return?

If you truly grasp what God has done for you, your first response of love is to say, "If God is for me, who can be against me?" When we truly love God, our fear is removed. Yes, we will have sorrows to endure, problems to solve, enemies to face. But if God is for us, can any sorrow destroy us, any problem defeat us, any enemy conquer us? No, we are fearless! Even death holds no sting for us. If God is for us, victory is inevitable, glory is assured.

The psalmist understood this truth. "The LORD is my light and my salvation," he wrote. "Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life--of whom shall I be afraid?" (Psalm 27:1). That is our message of comfort and courage whenever trouble or opposition come our way. "God loves me, and I love God. If God is for me, who can be against me?" So the first sign that we love God is that our fear is removed.

Next, Paul asks:

Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? 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. (Romans 8:33-34)

The second sign that we love God is that we are secure in God's completed work of salvation. God has justified us; who now condemns us? Justification means that no charge can be leveled against us, and no one can accuse us before God.

The devil, of course, is the accuser of the brethren. He will accuse us and make us feel condemned and unworthy. But Paul is saying to us, "Don't listen to the voice of the accuser. It is God who justifies you--so no one has any right to accuse you. Jesus Christ has already borne our guilt. So confess your sin to God, accept His forgiveness, and move on."

Paul's next question brings into focus the third sign that we love God:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? (Romans 8:35)

Can any person, any being, any force, any power come between you and Jesus? Here, Paul confronts a question many Christians ask: "Is there any way I can lose my salvation? Once I come to Christ, is there anything that can remove me from Him?" So Paul poses this question, then says, in effect, "Let's look at all the possibilities." He writes:

Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." (Romans 8:35-35)

Here, Paul considers the worst events that life can throw at us--the most gruesome horrors that anyone can face, from natural disasters to the persecution of oppressors to the bloody sword of war and terrorism. Even in the face of such frightening events, Paul's answer is:

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. (Romans 8:37)

These things cannot separate us from the love of Christ. Even amid the worst this world can do to us, Paul says, we are super-conquerors Why? Because instead of dividing us from Christ, these forces actually move us closer to Him, they make us more dependent upon Him. The closer we cling to Jesus, the more victorious we shall be.

Next, Paul addresses the possibility of supernatural forces--angels, demons, powers and events that we can't even imagine. He writes:

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 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. (Romans 8:38-39)

Paul has left nothing out of that list. He has accounted for everything: demons and dark powers, black magic and angels, truth and error, death and life. He has even accounted for terrors that might come from some science-fictional alternate dimension. For when he writes, "nor anything else in all creation," his original wording is actually "nor anything even in a different creation!"

Paul wanted to be sure that he omitted nothing. He has listed every conceivable (and inconceivable!) danger to our souls--and he firmly concludes that nothing, nothing, nothing can separate us from the love of God.

If that doesn't convince us, what will? More to the point, as Paul asked inverse 31, what, then, shall we say in response to this? How can we respond other than to love Him with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength?

Christian poet and author Ruth Harms Calkin has expressed the grateful, loving heart of a believer who has truly grasped the truth of Romans 8. "Nothing can separate me from Your measure-less love," she writes. "Pain can't, disappointment can't, anguish can't. Yesterday, today, tomorrow can't. The loss of my dearest love can't. Death can't. Life can't. Riots, war, insanity, unidentity, hunger, neurosis, disease--none of these things nor all of them heaped together can budge the fact that I am dearly loved, completely forgiven, and forever free through Jesus Christ Your beloved Son." May that be our grateful prayer as we stand awestruck before God, amazed by His love.

CHAPTER 11

LET GOD BE GOD

Romans 9

A man once said to his friend, "I hear you fired your pastor. Why were you unhappy with him?"

"Well" said the other man, "he kept telling us we were going to hell."

'What does your new pastor say?"

"Our new pastor says we're going to hell, too. But we like him."

"Really? If your new pastor tells you you're going to hell, just like the old one, why do you like him?"

"Because," the man said, "when our old pastor said it, he sounded glad of it. When our new pastor says it, he sounds like it's breaking his heart."

In Romans 9, Paul talks about his Jewish brothers and their eternal fate. And when Paul speaks, we know that his heart is breaking.

At this point in our journey through Romans, we have arrived at a major division in the book. This division separates Roman 1-8 from Romans 9-11. The first eight chapters of Romans form a brilliantly logical explanation of God's plan of grace and redemption. The next three chapters deal with the same themes, but take the form of a vivid depiction of those themes, as dramatized in the story of the nation of Israel. Paul's purpose in Romans 9-11 is to make these themes more vividly real in our minds. At the same time, we should remember that Paul is about to tackle some of the deepest and most difficult questions ever contemplated by the human mind. I'm reminded of a story in the Old Testament, in which the prophet Jeremiah comes to God with a complaint about some false brethren who are plotting against him.

Jeremiah expects God to give him a word of comfort; instead, the Lord tells Jeremiah,

"If you have raced with men on foot

and they have worn you out,

how ran you compete with horses?

If you stumble in safe country,

how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?"

(Jeremiah 12:5)

In Romans 1-8, we have been racing with men on foot. We have been in a safe country. Now, as we enter Romans 9, we are about to run with horses. We are entering the thicket of Paul's discussion of God's plan of grace and redemption. In Romans 9, Paul squarely confronts all of the bitter and hostile accusations that people level against God.

One of the most perplexing issues of all is the apparent paradox involving human free will and God's election or predestination. In Romans 1-8, Paul clearly stated that we human beings are helpless and powerless to save ourselves. True, we are free to choose God or reject Him, and we must make a choice--yet Paul says that God also chose us! Our limited intellects can't grasp how those two concepts interlock--our freedom and God's sovereign election. So Paul turns the spotlight on Israel to demonstrate how it all works.

This is one of the most fascinating chapters in all of Scripture. If we grasp what Paul wrote in Romans 9, we will gain a profound insight into the mind of God.

Paul's Broken Heart

In this chapter, Paul lays out a sad and sobering story of the nation of Israel. The people of Israel viewed themselves as having an inside track with God, in view of their standing as God's chosen people. Truly Israel enjoyed spiritual advantages that no other nation had.

Yet Paul begins this section by describing Israel as a nation that is far from God. He doesn't state this fact with accusation or anger, but with anguish. His opening words are painful to read:

I speak the truth in Christ--I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit--I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel. (Romans 9:1-4)

To the Jews of his day Paul undoubtedly seemed like an enemy, because of his teaching and preaching of Jesus as the promised Messiah. Paul's ministry stirred the antagonism of the Jews wherever he went. But Paul makes it clear that he is not an enemy of the Jewish people. He is a Jew himself, and he dearly loves his people.

Paul does not come to the Jewish people shedding "crocodile tears," as people often do. You've probably heard someone say to you, "It hurts me to tell you this, and I only say it because I love you--and then that person proceeds to shred you with glee! No, Paul's anguished sincerity is plain in every word, particularly when he says, "I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers"

Few experiences in life are more painful than to watch helplessly as someone you love drifts down a path of self-destruction. Paul's love for his people is so great that he would be willing to take their place in hell if it would bring them to Christ. Such a deep love for others is rare in all humanity.

Paul's love for his countrymen reminds us of the account of Moses in Exodus 32. After meeting with God on the mountain, Moses came down and found the people engaged in idolatry, dancing around a golden calf. Though he was angry with his people, Moses loved them, so he prayed to God, "Please forgive their sin--but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written" (see Exodus 32:32).

I am moved by the prayers of Paul and Moses. I have loved ones for whom I would gladly die if it would help them find eternal life in Jesus Christ--but it is hard to imagine wishing myself condemned in hell for the sake of another soul. Yet Paul and Moses would willingly place their own eternal souls on the altar for the people they love. Though Paul knows that such a thing is impossible, he sincerely would if he could.

So Romans 9 begins with a revelation of Paul's anguished heart for his people. What a lesson this is to us. As we approach others with the gospel, we must not approach them with denunciations and accusations. Instead, we must approach them as Paul approached his Jewish brothers--with a heart that is broken for the lost.

Eight Jewish Advantages

The reason for Paul's anguish comes into focus as he continues.

Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs and from them is raced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen. (Romans 9:4-5)

Here Paul lists advantages that the nation of Israel possessed. First, the people of Israel were chosen by God to be His special people. "Theirs," writes Paul, "is the adoption as sons." God separated this nation from all the other nations. The people of Israel were the descendants of Abraham and the twelve sons of Jacob. God Himself said of them, "Israel is my firstborn son" (see Exodus 4:22). Gentiles have not always understood the special place Israel has in the mind and heart of God. Perhaps some non-Jewish people resent that special relationship. But there can be no question that God truly did choose the people of Israel. To this day their position in history is different from that of any other nation in the world.

Second, God gave His glory to the Jews. "Theirs," Paul writes, is "the divine glory" which is a reference to the Shekinah, the bright cloud that followed Israel through the wilderness and which later entered the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle. The Shekinah glory marked the presence of God Himself among His people. Centuries later, when King Solomon built the first Temple in Jerusalem, the cloud of glory filled the Holy of Holies and the people knew that God had come to live among them.

Third, the Jews also had the covenants, the remarkable agreements that God made with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and David. In the covenants, God committed Himself to do certain things for the nation of Israel, and He has never gone back on those covenants.

Fourth, the Jews had the Law. This was their dearest and greatest treasure, and it still is. In his novel In the Beginning, Chaim Potok describes how even contemporary orthodox Jews love the Torah, the scrolls of the Law. They have a service set aside in which the men of the congregation take the scrolls of the Law and dance with them. Afterwards, one of the young men of the congregation asks himself, "I wonder if the Goyim [the Gentiles, the non-Jews] ever feel this way about the Word of God?" God gave the Law to Moses, and to this day the Jews treasure and revere the Law.

Fifth, the Jews had the Temple worship. God told the Jewish people how they should conduct themselves when worshiping in Temple. He told them the kinds of offerings to bring and the rituals to perform. The Jews had the Temple itself, one of the most beautiful structures ever built by men. The Temple was the glory of Israel. The Temple of Herod (successor to the Temple of Solomon) still stood in all its splendor at the time Paul wrote the letter to the Romans.

Sixth, the Jews had the promises. Those promises are still found in the pages of the Old Testament--promises of a time when the Jews would lead the nations of the world, promises of a coming Messiah who would reign as the King over all the world, promises that Jerusalem would he the center of the earth. The government of God would flow from the city of Jerusalem, and extend across the entire planet. Those promises will one day be fulfilled by God.

Seventh, the Jews had the patriarchs--fathers of the nation, great leaders such as Abraham, Moses, Jacob, and David.

Eighth, the Jews had the Messiah. The ancestry of Jesus Christ is traced through the Jews. Though Jesus the Messiah belongs to the entire world, He came from the house of Israel.

Even though the Jews possessed these eight advantages, they opposed the early Christian movement. They could not see that Jesus was the Messiah that their own Scriptures had promised. That is why Paul says, "I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart for...the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel." Even at this early stage in the life of the first century church, Paul could see an approaching crisis between the Jews and their Roman oppressors that would result in the destruction of Jerusalem as a judgment against the nation.

Paul was well acquainted with the dire predictions Jesus had made about the coming destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and the terrible events that would fall upon the people of Israel (see Mark 13:1-2; Matthew 24:1-2; Luke 19:41-44; 21:5-6). Paul's sorrowing words suggest that he was aware that the Jewish people would soon be scattered among the nations of the world, and they would remain dispersed for centuries to come. Paul wrote the letter to the Romans in AD 62, and events were already moving to bring about a final confrontation. That confrontation would occur in AD 70, when the armies of Rome under General Titus would lay siege to Jerusalem, breaking through the city walls, level the Temple to the ground, take the Jewish people captive and disperse them among the nations--all fulfilling Jesus' prophecy.

Despite the tremendous advantages the Jewish people possessed, the nation of Israel had proved faithless and had overwhelmingly rejected the promised Messiah. Because of this, Paul's heart was broken for his fellow Jews.

Is God Unfair?

Having expressed his broken heart for his brother Jews, having listed eight advantages that the Jewish people possessed, Paul raises a question that goes to the heart of his theme in Romans 9: Did the failure and faithlessness of Israel mean that God had failed? Was God faithless? Did Israel's failure result from God's inability to save His people? Paul writes:

It is not as though God's word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham's children. (Romans 9:6-7)

Some people had probably suggested that it was God's fault that Israel had largely rejected the Messiah. If God had called the Jewish people, why didn't they respond? Paul answered this question with a strong statement of the faithfulness of God. His statement however, is written in terms that cause many to struggle with his message.

I might as well warn you right now that you are probably going to question Paul's argument all the way through Romans 9. The concepts in this chapter trouble our thinking because, as God once said to the prophet Isaiah, "'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the LORD" (Isaiah 55:8). At times God acts in ways that we don't understand and don't agree with, and many of the truths of Romans 9 fall into this category.

Here Paul introduces three principles regarding how God carries out His plan in history The first principle: The special privileges God grants to nations or individuals do not imply that those people will be saved. Salvation is never based on natural advantages or privileges.

Paul mentions two patriarchs in this passage, Jacob (Israel) and Abraham. (Israel is the name God gave Jacob after Jacob wrestled with His angel; Israel means "a prince with God.") When Paul writes, "For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel," he is saying that not all physical descendants of Jacob are spiritual descendants. So we must conclude that salvation is not based on natural advantages; salvation cannot be inherited like one's eye color or family name.

 The second principle: God's salvation is always based on a divine promise. Paul writes:

On the contrary, "it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." In other words, it is not the natural children who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring. For this was how the promise was stated: "At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son." (Romans 9:7-9)

Here Paul refers to Genesis 18, in which God said to Abraham and Sarah, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son" (Genesis 18:10). Sarah was well past the age of child-bearing, so to fulfill that promise, God had to act in a supernatural way Abraham already had another son, Ishmael, who was born to Hagar, Sarah's Egyptian servant. Sarah had urged Abraham to impregnate her servant as a means of hurrying God's promise along. When Ishmael was born, Abraham took the boy to God and said, in effect, "Here is my son. Will you fulfill your promises through him?" God's answer: "No, I won't. This is not the son I promised you. The promise must be fulfilled by the son I send you." This story illustrates futility of trying to force God into acting according to our timetable.

This is a biblical principle that never goes out of date. We often think we know better than God exactly how and when our prayers should be answered. We cannot force God's hand. He is faithful to His promises and to His own timetable.

The third principle is perhaps the most difficult of all for us to accept. Paul writes:

Not only that, but Rebekah's children had one and the same father, our father Isaac. Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad--in order that God's purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls--she was told, "The older will serve the younger." Just as it is written: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated." (Romans 9:10-13)

The third principle is that salvation never takes any notice of whether we are "good" people or "bad" people. This may seem shocking, but it is true. It could be argued that Esau was a "better" person than his twin brother Jacob, yet God chose Jacob and passed over Esau.

The quotation "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated" comes from Malachi 1:2-3. Many people struggle with these harsh-sounding words. All Paul is saying in quoting those words is that ancestry does not make a person righteous before God. The twin sons of Isaac and Rebekah had the same father, the same mother, and they were born minutes apart. Yet one is accepted by God and the other is not. Why? Because the choices they made were totally different. Paul is saying that their choices--not their parentage--were the deciding factor in God's view of them, One of these twins, Jacob, was granted a place of honor in human history; the other, Esau, was not.

Why would God say "Esau I hated"? Is God harsh, cruel, and arbitrary? In reality, the more difficult statement to understand is, "Jacob I loved"! Jacob was a conniving, scheming man of weak character for most of his life. His brother Esau was a rugged individualist and seemingly the more admirable of the two. Looking over the course of their lives, it was Jacob who was brought to faith in God while Esau was not. Thus Jacob became a symbol of how God works in human lives.

It is important to realize that the word hated here is not as strong in the original language. It is our best attempt to capture a sense of the original Hebrew word that simply means "I love less." God is not saying that He despised Esau. Rather, God had chosen to make Jacob the father of the great nation which would bring forth the Messiah, the Redeemer of the world. Even so, God clearly had a regard for Esau, because He blessed Esau and made a great nation of Esau's descendants. It may surprise you to learn that the final confrontation between Jacob and Esau took place in the New Testament, when Jesus stood before Herod the king, just hours before the crucifixion. Herod was an Idumean, or Edomite, a descendant of Esau. Jesus was a descendant of Jacob through King David. There, standing face-to-face, were Jacob and Esau! Herod had nothing but contempt for the King of the Jews, and Jesus would not open His mouth in the presence of Herod. This is God's strange and mysterious way of dealing with humanity. His ways are not our ways.

Paul is teaching that God has a sovereign, elective prerogative that He exercises on His own terms: (1) Salvation is never based on natural advantages. (2) Salvation is always based on God's promise. (3) Salvation is never based on whether we are "good" or "bad." How do you react to those three terms of God's sovereign election? Perhaps something within you wants to cry out, "That's unfair!"

If that is your reaction, you are not alone. When I have preached sermons on this passage, I have seen people walk out in disgust. It is normal to feel that God is unfair when we look at this passage. His ways are not our ways.

At the same time, we know that God never acts in a way that is inconsistent with His character. And what is God's character like? As we have already seen, the God of the Bible is a God who did not spare His own son, but gave Jesus over as a sacrifice for our sin. Our God is a God of love. So how can we reconcile the love of God with the apparent unfairness of God that we have seen so far in Romans 9? Let's continue our journey through the thicket of this chapter and see if we can make sense of these strange and mysterious actions of God.

No Checks or Balances

There was a time when almost everyone on earth believed that the earth was flat. It was a comfortable, safe theory--but believing it did not make it true. As evidence began to accumulate that the earth was round, not flat, people got very upset--and religions people were the most upset of all! They believed that the Bible taught that the earth was flat. They could even quote Scripture passages that seemed to substantiate this "fact." It took many years and much conflict for religious people to realize that the earth was round and the Scriptures, in fact, affirm this to be true.

I think many people have a similar problem with Romans 9. They have grown up with a "flat," two-dimensional view of God. It is comfortable and safe to view God in a certain way, to fit God into a neat little theological box. But Paul, in Romans 9, comes along and kicks the sides out of our box. He tells us that God is infinitely greater than our theological categories. If we want to understand the reality of God, we must set aside our preconceived notions.

The central question of Romans is this: "What is the basis of God's election of the believer?" We know that God does not choose us on the basis of our good works or natural advantages. So what is the basis of God's election? Paul's answer may shock you: The basis of God's election is simply His sovereign right to choose. That's it: God has a right to choose. Paul writes:

What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. (Romans 9:14-18)

That statement could not be more clear: God chooses whom He chooses. This may well be the one truth about God that people dislike the most. We rebel at the notion of God as a completely sovereign being. We do not like it that He is not accountable to anyone for His actions. He is sovereign, and His sovereignty seems tantamount to tyranny. We don't trust anyone with absolute power. That is why we have checks and balances in the U.S. Constitution--and it offends us that there are no checks and balances on God.

In order to understand God and trust His love for us, we must do something that is very hard for us to do: We must rid ourselves of the idea that God's sovereignty is a threat to us. We must accept the fact that God can be trusted with absolute sovereignty. In fact, the sovereignty of God is our only hope!

Paul reminds us that God declares His own sovereignty. As God told Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion' (Exodus 33:19). Moses is an excellent example of God's sovereign right to choose. Who was Moses that God should bless him and use him? Moses was a murderer; on one occasion, in a fit of temper, he had killed a man. He fled to the desert, a fugitive from justice for forty years. But God in His sovereignty selected Moses to be His messenger. God made Moses famous throughout history and gave  him supernatural authority over the king of Egypt.

Why did God choose Moses? Because He had the sovereign right to do so. That is the only explanation we are given. God also demonstrated His sovereignty in regard to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. God took a man who was no better than Moses and gave him power over all of Egypt. God often places power in the hands of the most base and evil men. Why? Because He chooses to do so. Moreover, God allowed Pharaoh to do what all men do by nature--resist God. Pharaoh hardened his heart so that God might demonstrate His power and authority before the world.

That aspect of God bothers many people. It almost seems as if God is a braggart and feels compelled to show the world how great He is. When we see such tendencies in the people around us, we are repelled.

The problem is that we think of God as no more than a human being on a grand scale. We attribute human motives and human frailties to God. We fail to account for the fact that His ways are not our ways, nor are His thoughts our thoughts. We forget that God is above all a God of love, and everything He does is necessary to the welfare of His beloved creatures. The more we understand His goodness and greatness, the richer our lives will be.

God's Sovereignty--Our Only Hope

Having concluded that God is sovereign, Paul anticipates our objection:

One of you will say to me: "Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?" (Romans 9:19)

That brief statement encompasses all the bitter accusations that people bring against God: "God is responsible for all human evil. If God is sovereign, then He is ultimately to blame, not us!" This accusation has taken many forms through history, but it all boils down to this: Humanity always seeks to shift the blame for human evil to God.

People frame the argument this way: "God uses human beings any way He chooses, and human beings cannot resist Him. God used Pharaoh, and Pharaoh was like a marionette in the hands of God. So God uses people to do evil acts, then He turns around and blames them for the evil He made them do! It's not right to make someone do something evil, then punish them for it! God is unjust!"

How do you answer such a charge? Paul responds with a four-point reply, beginning with point number one:

But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, "Why did you make me like this?" (Romans 9:20)

Paul's first point is this: "Man is a finite and limited creature: God is the infinite and limitless Creator. Man is frail, short-lived, and error-prone; God is all-powerful, eternal, and faultless. How does a mere man dare to challenge the wisdom and judgment of the infinite God? Our reasoning and logic are hopelessly inadequate, because there are mysteries to God and His creation that we can't begin to understand." Paul continues:

Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use? (Romans 9:21)

Paul's second point is this: Even human beings exercise sovereignty over their own creations. Nobody blames the potter for making sovereign choices with regard to a lump of clay. Nobody says, "What an unfair potter! He divides the lump of clay and makes a beautiful ornamental vase with one lump and a lowly chamber pot with the other! What about the rights of the clay?" The question is utterly absurd.

You might say, "That's a bad analogy! Human beings are not clay!" But we could extend the analogy to living things, to plants and animals. We could replace the potter with a gardener who sovereignly selects and places plants, uproots weeds, slaughters bugs with pesticides, and so forth. Or we could replace the potter with a poultry farmer who raises chickens or turkeys, who slaughters birds without any concern for their rights and feelings, converting living creatures into a plastic-wrapped commodity in a supermarket. The fact remains: Human beings exercise this kind of sovereignty all the time. If we feel entitled to do so as human beings how can we deny the sovereignty of the One who created the universe?

But Paul is not finished. He continues his argument:

What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath--prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory--even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?

As he says in Hosea:

"I will call them 'my people' who are not my people; and I will call her 'my loved one' who is not my loved one," and, "It will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' they will be called  'sons of the living God."

Isaiah cries out concerning Israel:

"Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved. For the LORD will carry out his sentence on earth with speed and finality" (Romans 9:22-28)

Paul's third point is this: God may have purposes and objectives that we cannot see. And doesn't He have the right to keep His own counsel regarding His plans? What if one of His objectives is not only to display His power and wrath by allowing human beings to oppose Him, but also to display His patience? God has listened to all the slander that people speak against Him, and He patiently puts up with humanity. Perhaps His patience is designed to make the riches of His mercy known so that the fairness and righteousness of His wrath will be made evident.

Paul suggests that without the display of God's wrath, no Gentiles would ever be saved, only an elect remnant of Israel. Because God's wrath has been demonstrated, many Gentiles have turned to God through Jesus Christ, fulfilling the prophecy of Hosea that those to whom God says, "You are not my people," will be called "sons of the living God."

To put it bluntly, for some to be saved, others must be lost. This is a mystery, and I don't claim to understand it. Someday in eternity, I'm sure it will all make sense, but for now, it remains a mystery that must be accepted by faith alone.

Next, Paul makes his final argument:

It is just as Isaiah said previously: "Unless the Lord Almighty had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah." (Romans 9:29)

Paul's fourth point is this: If God had not chosen to call us to Himself by an elective decree, none of us would have been saved. The problem is that we look at the whole issue of election from a faulty premise. We begin with the false assumption that all human beings come from a neutral position. From this neutral position, we choose either good or evil--but that is not the case. The truth is, we were born lost. Our starting position was never neutral. We were lost in Adam before we drew our first breath We start life in a state of rebellion against God. We do not have the slightest hope of salvation unless God makes a sovereign decision to call us. If God is sovereign, then we are lost indeed--as lost as Sodom and Gomorrah.

Having once visited where Sodom and Gomorrah once stood, I can tell you that this it the perfect metaphor to describe what utter destruction is like. In that region, nothing lives, nothing grows. Only by the sovereign will of God have you and I escaped such a fate!

As Paul told us earlier in Romans, "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God." Now perhaps, it becomes clear that God is in no way guilty of shutting anyone out without a chance. His sovereign grace is necessary to our salvation. Without His grace, no one would ever be saved. The entire human race would be lost.

Salvation is God's sovereign choice-and that is where we must leave the matter. Our limited understanding can penetrate no further than this into the Mystery--at least for now.

Jesus, the Stumbling Stone

In the final verses of Romans 9, Paul anticipates one last question that is on our minds: If God is sovereign and chooses

whomever He will, how can we tell if we are chosen or not? Here is Paul's reply:

What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the "stumbling stone." As it is written:

"See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame." (Romans 9:30-33)

How can you tell if you are chose or not? The answer is astonishingly simple: You can tell by what you do with Jesus. God has placed a stone on the midst of human history. The name of that stone is Jesus. When you encounter that stone, you are confronted with a choice: You can stumble on it--or you can stand on it. There is no other alternative. What will you do with Jesus?

If you stumble over Jesus, then clearly you have not been chosen. But if you stand on Jesus, you are among the elect of God. When you choose Jesus, then you prove that God has chosen you.

Jesus is the crisis of humanity. What will you do with Him? Jesus Himself put it this way: "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6:44). He also said, "All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away" (John 6:37).

If you want to make sure that God has called and elected you, then all you have to do is simply respond to Jesus, place your trust in Him, and receive Him into your life. As you do so, give thanks to God the Father who called you and rescued you by His sovereign love and mercy.

CHAPTER 12

HOW TO BE SAVED

Romans 10

I once sat in a crowded movie theater, waiting for the picture to begin. A stranger stood in the aisle, pointing to the empty seat next to me. "Excuse me," he said, "is that seat saved?"

"No" I replied cheerily, "but I am."

He gulped, then departed to find a seat on the other side of the aisle.

There is something about the word saved that threatens and upsets people. Yet, when you open the Scriptures, you find that this word is simply unavoidable. The reason Christians have to talk about being saved is that so many people in the human race are lost. The Bible clearly teaches that the human race is a lost race, and the only hope for lost people is that they be saved.

"I am the gate," Jesus said. "Whoever enters through me will be saved" (John 10:9, italics added). His disciple, Peter, agrees. "Salvation is found in no one else," Peter said, "for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12, italics added). To which Paul adds, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18, italics added).

We can do nothing to save ourselves. Salvation is 100 percent grace, zero percent human effort. As Paul wrote, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). The grace of God reaches down and lifts us out of our lostness. Christ did not die to improve us or fix us or make us better people; He died to save us. No word better describes what God has done for us through His Son, Jesus Christ.

As we come to Romans 10, Paul confronts the most fundamental and essential question of the Christian faith: How can we be saved?

Christ Is the End of the Law

In Romans 10, Paul again uses Israel as a model for understanding how God's plan works. Paul begins by addressing the question of why some people who have little knowledge of God are saved. Part of the answer is found in Romans 9, in which Paul delved into the mystery of God's sovereign choice to elect whomever He will. God has the sovereign right to choose some and not choose others.

Now, in chapter 10, Paul looks at this same issue from the other side. He turns from God's sovereignty to human responsibility. While it is true that God chooses and calls people to Himself, it is also true that no one comes to God unless he or she responds to God's call.

To the finite human mind, this seems like a contradiction. We cannot resolve this mystery because our level of understanding is too limited. We cannot grasp even a fraction of the workings and purposes of God. So even though God's sovereignty seems to contradict human free will from our perspective from God's perspective there is no contradiction. God calls human beings by an elective decree that is irresistible--yet human beings respond to His call by a decision of their own free will.

Here is how Paul introduces us to this fascinating profound mystery:

Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. (Romans 10:1-3)

It is important to note that, despite Paul's profound conviction that God saves whomever He will according to His sovereign elective choice, Paul still prays and yearns over his fellow Jews. The fact that God makes sovereign choices does not cancel out the need for prayer and evangelism. We should never use the sovereignty of God as an excuse for inaction, as if to say, "God will choose whom He will, so there's no point in praying or witnessing." God sovereignly calls whomever He will--but He usually issues that call through the preaching, witnessing, and prayers of Christians.

In this passage, Paul also takes note of the zeal of the Jewish people. "I can testify about them," he says, "that they are zealous for God." Indeed they are. Orthodox Jews take God seriously. The Jewish way of life is built around God. Gentiles--non-Jewish people--certainly have religious experiences and religious thoughts, but most Gentiles keep God on the periphery of life. To most non-Jewish people, God is confined to one small category of life labeled "religion." But for the serious Jew, God is the center of everything.

Yet, as Paul goes on to note, the Jews, in spite of all their zeal, fail to find peace and forgiveness. They are zealous for God, Paul says, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. They do not know the righteousness that comes from God-that is, the atoning sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. So they have attempted to establish their own righteousness, based on religion, rituals, and works. In the process, they have missed the free gift of God, which is of faith, not of works.

The problem with the Jews, Paul says, is that they try to obey the Law of Moses. They try to be "good enough" to please God, which is humanly impossible. There are many people today, both Jews and Gentiles, who live in such a way. Such zeal, no matter how well-intentioned, is ultimately futile. Anyone who seeks to come before God on the basis of good works and religious effort is doomed to failure.

Paul goes on to say:

Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. (Romans 10:4)

Christ is the end of the Law--but that does not mean that Christ has abolished the Law. The purpose of the Law is to make us aware of our shortcomings. If we didn't have a standard to live up to, we would not realize how lost we are. The Law makes us aware of the sin that is destroying us, and that awareness drives us to Christ.

But once we have turned to Christ and have received the righteousness from God, what good is the Law? It can do nothing more for us. That is why Christ is the