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A Living Sacrifice: Studies in Romans (3:21-26)

2009-07-08T12:30:00.002-05:00

Romans 3:21-26

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Justice and Justification

Paul has taught us so far that no man can be declared righteous (vindicated by acquittal before the law-court of God) by the law of God. The law of God does not dismiss the charges; it presses them. And the law finds all men guilty before God's divine tribunal. And, more to the point, this is exactly what the law has done to Israel: Israel is found guilty before God. But, if this is so, then how shall the promises of God come to pass? How shall God "bless all nations" through Abraham if the seed of Abraham lives under the curse of exile because they broke the law? If "salvation is from the Jews" (John 4:22), and the Jews are proved by the law to be as guilty as the rest of mankind—indeed, more so—then how can God's promises come to pass? Is Israel's failure God's failure? This is the question that Paul must address.

So, address it he does. Paul declares that God has demonstrated His righteousness "apart from the law." However, Paul is quick to add that this "righteousness-apart-from the-law" does not mean that God has done an end run around the law, for "the law and the prophets bear witness" to this "righteousness-apart-from the-law." The law and prophets bear witness to what? The law and the prophets bear witness to the covenant faithfulness of God, that God shall keep His promises to Abraham in spite of the failure of Abraham's children to keep their promises to God. Moreover, Paul will argue that the law and the prophets themselves bear witness, not only to the fact that God will be faithful, but that His faithfulness will be realized apart from circumcision and law keeping, which were the marks of Israel's election. This means, as the argument develops, that the righteousness of God transcends the limits of particular election and manifests the grace of God to all nations.

Paul will show that the law and the prophets expect that the salvation of the world must come apart from the faithfulness of Israel. In fact, the law and prophets boldly proclaim that God Himself will save His people though His people are unfaithful. All of this comes into clearer focus as Paul unfolds his argument throughout Romans. The vindication of God through the resurrection of Jesus apart from the law was not a frantic stopgap measure by which God patched up His badly broken purpose with a desperate Plan B. God's manifest "righteousness-apart-from-the-law" proves exactly what God intended to prove from the beginning: The just shall live by faith, and this faith shall be manifest in and imputed by the faithfulness of God.

This "bearing witness of the law and the prophets" is very important to Paul's theology. He is very careful to show that his teaching is not at odds with the Old Testament scriptures. Paul is very much aware that his opponents accuse him of breaking the Scriptures, and he is determined to prove them wrong. Paul will argue forcefully and at length throughout the rest of Romans that the fulfillment of the law and the prophets in Christ through the Holy Spirit is indicated within the law and the prophets. God is fulfilling His purpose in the New Covenant through the death and resurrection of Christ and through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. This should not surprise us—at least, it should not surprise us if we read the law and the prophets with a Christ-centered, Spirit-led understanding. The law and the prophets foretold this day.

After Paul makes clear that the law and the prophets bear witness to this "righteousness-apart-from-the-law" idea, he sets out to describe what this righteousness apart from the law looks like. The righteousness of God that has been manifest apart from the law is "the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe." Or, as the KJV renders it, "The righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ." Many scholars argue that this is the better rendering, which has Paul saying that the righteousness of God is manifest by the faith of Jesus Christ rather than faith in Jesus Christ. Of course, no one doubts that we must have faith in Jesus Christ to be saved, but that is not what Paul is saying here. He means to say that the righteousness of God—or, God's covenant faithfulness—is manifest through the faith of Jesus Christ.

Moreover, the faith of Jesus Christ here entails the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. This means that the righteousness of God is manifest through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ, the fact that Jesus was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross (Philippians 2:8). Though Israel was unfaithful, God demonstrated His covenant faithfulness through the obedience of Jesus Christ. Where Israel failed, Jesus succeeded.

Jesus' faithfulness is the manifest faithfulness of God Himself. Because Jesus is the very embodiment of Yahweh, the faithfulness of Jesus is the incarnated faithfulness of God. So, God is vindicated in the obedience of Christ. God proves He is faithful by living out His faithfulness in the faithfulness of Christ. And this faith of Jesus Christ has been manifested "for all who believe." This means that God has given us access to the righteousness of God in Christ when we believe the gospel, the good news, about what God has done in Christ. It all comes back to believing the promises of God. God declared that He would bless all nations through the children of Abraham, and the ultimate child of Abraham is Jesus Christ. Therefore, those who believe in the righteousness of God revealed in the ministry and mission of Christ become partakers of that righteousness.

So, this is how the righteousness of God is manifested apart from the law: God's faithfulness is manifest through the faithful obedience of Jesus, and the faithful obedience of Jesus is imputed and imparted to those who are faithfully obedient (faith entails faithfulness). The faithfulness of God is manifest through the faithfulness of Jesus, which is manifest through the faithfulness of those who believe. Now, as we shall see, we cannot construe this to say that we are saved by our own faithfulness, as if we can be faithful in the flesh, for that is the very point that Paul has taken such pains to refute. No flesh can be faithful before God, which is why the righteousness of God must be manifest apart from the law. Fallen man cannot be faithful.

So then, follow this closely: if the faithfulness of God is manifest through the faithfulness of Jesus to all who are faithful—to "all who believe"—and if no man can be faithful—no man can truly believe in a saving way—then how in the world will all this work its way to a happy conclusion? How then can we be saved? It sounds like an impasse! Paul is very well aware of the difficulty, which is exactly why wrote this epic epistle. However, Paul is not worried about the happy ending. He knows that God has made a way to save His people from their sins and redeem all creation. As Paul will lay out in the remainder of Romans, God has overcome the impasse and guaranteed the happy ending by sending the Spirit to impart the indwelling righteousness of God in Christ to those who believe. In other words, as we shall see, God has sent forth the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, so that the necessary faithfulness that fallen man cannot muster will be imparted to him by the Spirit as a free gift. The Spirit of Christ descends to dwell within us, and we are filled with the Spirit of Christ so that the faith of Christ wells up within us like a spring of living water and provides to our faithless heart the faithful obedience of Christ Himself. To put it plainly, God is raising up a faithful people by indwelling them with His own faithful Spirit. The just shall live by faith.

Then, Paul brings the question of justification back to the matter of Jew-Gentile distinction. "For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith." There is no distinction between Jews and Gentiles, for the righteousness of God is not restricted to those who have been given the law. It has been manifest apart from the law. Both Jews and Gentiles have been unfaithful to the law of God and have fallen short of God's glory; thus, both are equally condemned. However, in Christ, the righteousness of God is freely manifest to all. This means that both Jews and Gentiles can be saved by faith in Christ. Both Jews and Gentiles are acquitted before the judgment of God. Both are found guilty under the law, and both are declared righteous by grace as a free gift in Christ.

Therefore, God is found to be righteous. His promise of universal salvation is found to be true. God keeps His Word. In spite of Israel's failure, God is vindicated through the free gift of redemption in Christ. The death of Jesus serves as the propitiation for sins to all who receive it by faith. Salvation by grace through faith shows "God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus." By presenting Jesus as the propitiation for sins, God is able to declare His righteousness in spite of His forbearance and tolerance of sins in the past. How can a holy God be just while justifying the ungodly? Through the perfect faithfulness of Jesus lived out on our behalf and imputed to us by grace through faith. This is the power of God to salvation to all who believe, to the Jews first and also to the Greeks.

A Living Sacrifice: Studies in Romans (3:9-20)

2009-05-05T10:44:00.003-05:00

Romans 3:9-20

What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." "Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive." "The venom of asps is under their lips." "Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness." "Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.", "There is no fear of God before their eyes." Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

There is No One Righteous

So, what now? The Jews were given a tremendous advantage over all other nations when God entrusted her with the oracles of God. Does this mean, then, that Israel is "better off" than other nations (in the sense of "justified")? "No, not at all." Paul knows very well that Israel was chosen freely by the grace of God apart from any merit, as the Lord made abundantly clear. For example, consider Deuteronomy 7:6-8:

For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

Consider also Deuteronomy 9:3-7:

Know therefore today that he who goes over before you as a consuming fire is the LORD your God. He will destroy them and subdue them before you. So you shall drive them out and make them perish quickly, as the LORD has promised you. Do not say in your heart, after the LORD your God has thrust them out before you, "It is because of my righteousness that the LORD has brought me in to possess this land," whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is driving them out before you. Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the LORD your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm the word that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. Know, therefore, that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people. Remember and do not forget how you provoked the LORD your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the LORD.

The Lord makes it clear here that the only reason He is still keeping His Word to Israel is because He, the Lord, is faithful—not because Israel is faithful. God is righteous, and God will vindicate His own Word. These passages must have been banging around in Paul's mind as he carefully arranges his thoughts and presents his theology of the "righteousness of God" to the Romans.

Paul knows very well that Israel has no right to boast of moral superiority over Gentiles, and he knows this from the oracles that were entrusted to Israel. Israel's scriptures plainly show from the beginning that the Jews were not "better off" than the Gentiles. Israel's scriptures preserved the record of her own sins. Indeed, Israel's stewardship of the oracles meant that she carried her indictment in her own bosom. Israel's condemnation flowed out of her advantage. To whom much is given much is required. This means that Israel actually stood more condemned that the Gentiles because knowing to do good and failing to do it is a sin in itself. The fact that Israel was given the Law at Sinai only intensified her condemnation. So, are the Jews better off because of their advantage? In the final analysis, "No, not at all!"

Of course, we must observe that Paul's comments about the condemnation of Israel are not a matter of "us vs. them." Rather, Paul includes himself with the Jews (seeing that he is a Jew!) in his comments on Israel and her guilt: "What then? Are we Jews any better off?" Paul may see himself as Nathan the prophet in one sense, standing boldly in the face of hypocritical Israel when they call for judgment upon the Gentiles; but in another sense Paul clearly stands and falls with Israel in her sin.

In the next few verses Paul brings his argument in chapters 1-3 to a crescendo. He reminds us that he has already "charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin." The principal point to be made here is that all humanity stands condemned under the law. No one will be justified by the works of the law. As Paul brings this point into closer focus, he recites a catena of scripture passages to support his argument. As a faithful Jew, Paul believed that his doctrine must be biblical if it is to be considered at all. So, he quotes:

"None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." "Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive." "The venom of asps is under their lips." "Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness." "Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.", "There is no fear of God before their eyes."

"These are the things that the Law said, not me!" Paul seems to be saying. And "whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law," which would be the Jews, the same Jews that are attempting to disqualify Paul's Gentile converts from full inclusion in the New Covenant community because they—the Gentiles—do not keep the law. What an irony! The very ones who have set themselves up as the gatekeepers to the house of God are themselves more condemned by the law than anyone else. If the Gentiles are refused admittance to the house of God because they do not keep the law, then what should be said about the Jews who have broken the law more than anyone? It should be said that they are no "better off," that they have no more right to the promises of God than anyone else. If legitimate claim to the promises of God can only be made by faithful law-keepers, then no one can make that claim. No one has kept—no can keep—the law! But this is where grace comes in. Paul will show us how God has justified both Jews and Gentiles by grace through faith in the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ.

This means, then, that Israel—indeed, all humanity—has no right to boast. As Paul says, "Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped." Boasting figures prominently in Paul's thought, here and elsewhere. In fact, it is striking how much scripture addresses the idea of man's boasting. It seems that boasting is one particular sin for which God has little tolerance. The boasts of the wicked provoke God to quick anger.

Here, the boasting Paul condemns is the boasting of Israel that they are "Jews," that they "rely on the law and boast in God" (2:17; see also 2:23; 3:27). It is somewhat ironic that those who are called by the name of "praise" (the name "Jew" is derived from "Judah," which means "praise") are condemned as boasters. They, who should be praising God for His salvation to the ends of the world, are occupied rather with idle boasts about their exclusive privilege and doing everything in their power to preserve it. The Jews were called to manifest the praises of God to the world so that the entire world might believe and be saved, but Israel had forsaken this calling and was occupied rather with hopes that the pagan nations would be destroyed. Israel's exile had hardened her heart toward the nations so that her mission was compromised through pride and unbelief. Israel no longer understood her mission and destiny within the universal purpose of God. Thus, the people who should have been lifting praises to the glory of God were heaving up pretentious boasts.

Think about this. Let's say you rise early on a Saturday morning and prepare to leave the house for several hours to run a few errands. You wake your eldest son and give him instructions about watching his younger siblings while you are gone. You give him a crisp, new twenty-dollar bill and tell him to use this money to purchase lunch for himself and the rest of the children. You return home later in the afternoon, and hear a ruckus going on in the back room. You pause at the door to hear what is being said, and you are amazed to hear your eldest bragging to the other children about how he was given twenty dollars for lunch, and no one else was given anything. He laughs and pokes fun at the other kids who are hungry and starting to get rather cranky by now. He boasts that he is favored by the father, the rest of the kids are despised and rejected, and the money is his to use as he pleases. There is no doubt that you, too, would become somewhat cranky. In fact, your wrath would probably be revealed from the doorway against the unrighteousness of eldest sons who hold twenty dollar bills in unrighteousness!

This is a crude illustration of what had happened to Israel. They had been given a mission to the world, and they had been given circumcision and the Law of Moses to set them apart for this task. The entire point of the law was to separate Israel out for her specific mission. Her food laws, her unique calendar, her Sabbaths, etc, were all given to set Israel apart from the world so Israel might minister to the world. (This is why Paul asserts that these Jewish distinctive are no longer useful in the New Covenant age when the gospel is preached to all nations.) And now, she is using the very thing she was given to serve the nations—circumcision and the Law of Moses—to boast about her exclusive rights to the glory of God. Israel's boasting became a mockery of her mission.

The law declares the guilt of all men so that boasting may be stopped and that "the whole world may be held accountable to God." The law is the formal indictment of all mankind. Israel bears the weight of this indictment as the priestly representative of all nations before God, but the whole world shares in Israel's condemnation. As we shall see later, God has placed the entire world under condemnation so that He may place the condemnation of the world upon Christ as the atonement for the world. God condemned the whole world that He might save the whole world.

Finally, Paul declares, "For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin." The law given to Israel is the indictment upon every "human being." In the reading of the law, the charges against man are unsealed and read in an open court. The law brings knowledge of sin. The law reveals man's weakness. However, the law of itself cannot save, which is the point that Paul has already introduced and will develop more fully later on. Therefore, if the law cannot justify us before God, then how shall we be vindicated—acquitted of all charges—before God? That is what we shall find out.

A Living Sacrifice: Studies in Romans (3:1-8)

2009-04-20T18:55:00.002-05:00

Romans 3:1-8

Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though everyone were a liar, as it is written, "That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged." But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) By no means! For then how could God judge the world? But if through my lie God's truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? And why not do evil that good may come?--as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.

The Advantage of Israel

So, then. If faithful Gentiles are as justified as faithful Jews and if law-breaking Jews are no better than Gentiles, then what is the value of being God's chosen people? If the New Covenant wipes out the distinction between Jews and Gentiles, then what is the point of all the history contained in the pages of the Old Testament? This really is the heart of the matter in Romans: Does the Christian faith invalidate the promises of God to Israel? Can the Gentiles be included in the New Covenant apart from circumcision and law-keeping without canceling the exclusive destiny of Israel? Can Gentiles share in the promises God made to Israel without becoming Jews? This is the nettle to be grasped, as some like to say.

So, Paul grasps it. He does so by asking two questions: (1) What advantage has the Jew? and (2) what is the value of circumcision? There is no doubt that God entered into a law-treaty covenant with Israel at Sinai and gave them circumcision as the sign of this covenant as He had done with Abraham. There is also no doubt that the Old Testament is filled to its bindings with statements about Israel's exclusive destiny before God in and for the world. Israel was called to be God's chosen people. Paul cannot—and would not—deny the advantage of being Israel or the value of circumcision. Indeed, he is determined to refute this charge before it is leveled by his opponents. No, Paul will not deny the advantage of Israel or the value of circumcision. Rather, he simply intends to show that the advantage of Israel and the value of circumcision are fulfilled in Christ.

Paul answers the two questions with one statement, "Much in every way." There is much advantage in being a Jew and much value in circumcision—yes, much in every way. Then, Paul gives only one very important reason—you might say the reason—for the advantage of Israel and the value of circumcision: Israel was entrusted with the oracles of God, the words that God spoke to His people to stand as a witness to and for the nations. The oracles of God are preserved as the Old Testament Scriptures, the Law and the Prophets and all the writings bound together with them. Israel was expected to preserve the oracles of God and transfer them to future generations. Israel did this faithfully, and we now have a faithful record of God's words to His people.

However, when Paul speaks of Israel being entrusted with the oracles of God, he means much more than merely preserving and propagating the words of God to future generations. To Paul, the oracles of God are God's plan for the redemption of the world, and Israel was called to be the means of this redemption, the agent and executor of the plan. To be entrusted with the oracles of God is like a messenger being trusted with a top secret dispatch that must be delivered through enemy lines to a beleaguered garrison. The messenger must do more than merely hold on to the message and keep its contents safe. He must preserve the contents of the message, deliver it safely to its intended recipient and interpret the message to those who cannot read its words. Israel was called to all of this when she was "entrusted with the oracles of God."

Israel was called to be a light to nations by being "the people of the Book," the people that possessed the greatest law ever given. God expected Israel to hear the law and take it into her heart. Israel was called to live out the implications of the law and manifest the holiness of God to the world. Israel was commanded to internalize the law and become living expressions of its righteous commands. Israel was called to become "Word made flesh" in a sense. Of course, Israel could not do this because of the weakness of the flesh, as Paul will discuss in chapters 6-8. Incarnational living was not fully possible until the incarnation of God in Christ and the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost. But just because Israel could not did not mean that Israel should not. Ponder that for a moment.

However, Paul cannot speak about Israel being entrusted with the oracles of God without immediately recalling Israel's failure to keep this trust. "What if some were unfaithful?" Paul remembers Israel's perennial backsliding, her repeated prostration before pagan idols during the time of the judges and kings. Paul remembers the Exile when God judged Israel and cast her out into the earth under the oppressive rule of Gentile principalities and powers. Paul remembers Israel's continued faithlessness after the remnant returned from Babylon to rebuild Jerusalem, the shame of Ezra as he beheld the corruption of Israel through intermarriage with the pagan nations around them. Paul remembers the four hundred "silent years" between Malachi and John the Baptist, and most of all, he remembers the continuing Jewish rejection of Jesus as Israel's Lord and Christ. Paul's recollection cannot help but stagger beneath the overwhelming weight of Israel's unbelief. "What if some were unfaithful?" Some certainly were!

And yet, Paul refuses to believe that Israel's story is over. He cannot fathom the idea that Israel's unfaithfulness will induce God to betray His own Word. Paul believes, and the rest of Romans will bring this quiet note of faith to a resounding crescendo, that God will be true to His Word in spite of—indeed, because of—Israel's unbelief. In Romans 9-11 Paul will present the astounding claim that Israel's backsliding was a part of God's plan all along to demonstrate man's inability to save himself apart from the indwelling life of God. God will save Israel, and God will save the world! Moreover, Paul will show that Israel's "falling away" has occurred so the sins of all nations could be gathered together and piled in a heap upon Israel as a priestly nation representing the world and thus narrowed and focused in atonement upon Israel's scapegoat, Jesus Christ. Israel was called to be a living sacrifice for the life of the world.

Paul refuses to believe that Israel's story is over because Paul trusts in the faithfulness of God. "Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though everyone were a liar." God is faithful no matter how much the people of God are not. Israel may have lived a lie and violated the terms of the covenant, but God cannot lie. He will do what He said He would do. His promises to Abraham, Isaac and Israel will surely come to pass—not because Israel is faithful, but because God is faithful. And this faithfulness, the trustworthiness of God, is the basis of salvation by grace. God will freely save whom He will because He is faithful, not because those whom He saves are. God will keep His promises and vindicate His Word for the sake of His own glory.

As noted above, the righteousness of God speaks of the "rightness" of God, the fact that God cannot lie, that His Word is right. It is God's own faithfulness and righteousness that is vindicated, or justified, in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. This is the justification of God. The justification of God may seem like odd language to our ears, but Paul is very concerned to show that his gospel does not make a liar out of God. Paul does not propose some sort of "replacement theology" where Israel forfeits her promises through unbelief and is replaced in the salvific economy of God by some sort of Hellenized Christian church. Not at all. Paul strongly believes that the ultimate salvation of Israel will be the salvation of the world.

In order to drive the point home, Paul quotes from Psalm 51. Consider the quote in its context: "What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though everyone were a liar, as it is written, 'That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.'" Paul is referring to the unfaithfulness of Israel. What if some within Israel were unfaithful? Does the faithlessness of Israel nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though everyone within Israel were liars. Then the quote: "That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged."

David wrote these words after he was confronted by Nathan the prophet over his sin with Bathsheba. David had committed adultery with Bathsheba and then murdered her husband, Uriah the Hittite, to hide Bathsheba's pregnancy and conceal their sin. Nathan exposed David's sin in the dramatic telling of the story of stolen ewe lamb. David, missing the point of the story, was indignant against the man who stole his poor neighbor's sheep only to discover in dismay that he was the man Nathan had in mind! David fell on his face in repentance, but God refused to defer His anger against David's sin, and the illegitimate infant died in just a few days.

However, the story does not end there. "Then David comforted his wife, Bathsheba, and went in to her and lay with her, and she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. And the LORD loved him." (II Samuel 12:24) The Lord loved Solomon and later chose him to be David's heir. Moreover, God anointed Solomon to build His temple, one of the great wonders of the ancient world, and gave to the young king unprecedented wisdom to lead the people of God. As a further example of amazing grace, this son of Bathsheba the adulteress wrote much of the Wisdom literature we have in our Bible. What an incredible story of redemption! (We could also speak of how the temple site was selected as a result of another of David's spectacular sins, but space does not permit us to draw in this additional example of redemptive grace.)

Paul sees the story of David's unfaithfulness as a model of Israel's larger unfaithfulness. David sins. He conceals his sin with an even greater sin. He lives for at least nine months as if he had done nothing wrong, worshipping God with his lips but not his heart. Nathan the prophet confronts his sin in a parable, but David cannot see himself in the story. He indignantly pronounces the sentence of death upon the perpetrator, quick to judge evil in others, not realizing that he was pronouncing judgment upon himself. David repents, and God forgives his iniquity but refuses to defer judgment. The child dies. Then, God blesses David and Bathsheba with a another child, Solomon, and God loves the child, raises him up to be king, builder of the House of the Lord and writer of wise sayings and countless songs. This, in short form, is the larger story of Israel.

The central feature of this story is God's promise to David that He would build his dynasty and there would never fail to be a son of David upon the throne of Israel. This great promise, described as "the sure mercies of David" (Isaiah 55:3; see also Acts 13:4 where Paul quotes this statement from Isaiah) is ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ, which Paul referred to in Romans 1:3. This is why Paul insists that the faithlessness of Israel cannot overthrow the faithfulness of God. God is "justified" in His words and "prevails" when He is judged. God is right when He judges David for his sin, but God is also right when He chooses out of His own grace to redeem David from his sins and keep covenant with him forever. All that God has done in David He will do in Israel. This is the message of Romans.

This leads us to consider an amazing idea: "Our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God." God displays His own holiness against the ever-darkening backdrop of man's sin. God permits man's unfaithfulness so that the faithfulness of God made be clearer in contrast. As stated later, where sin abounds, grace abounds even more. Paul frames this idea within a question rather than a positive statement, so he must assume that our train of thought is running on his track.

Of course, this leads to the question: "What shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us?" If God permits unrighteousness in order to highlight His righteousness, then how can God justify His wrath upon us? More specifically, if God has allowed Israel's faithlessness in order to demonstrate His own faithfulness to the world, then how in the world can God judge Israel for her unfaithfulness? If Israel is only playing a part in the drama that God wrote, then why should she be judged for playing that part particularly well? Paul is keenly aware of the impending wrath that is about to crash down upon Israel. He knows that Jesus prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem within a generation. As Paul says elsewhere, the wrath of God has come upon Israel "to the uttermost" (I Thessalonians 2:16). All of this forces Paul consider the divine rationale behind it all. Paul will consider all of this in breathtaking detail in Romans 9-11. But the idea begins bubbling up to the surface now like the first sputtering bursts of an erupting geyser.

If Israel's unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous to inflict wrath on Israel? We must admire Paul's willingness to address the hard questions head on. We should learn from his example. But even in his willingness to address the hard questions, he quickly makes clear that he intends no irreverence toward God: "I speak in a human way." This humility is striking. Is God unrighteous? Paul asks. "By no means!" comes the swift reply. "For then how could God judge the world?" It is not only Israel that faces the wrath of God for her sins so that "the righteousness of God [may be] revealed from faith to faith" and that "the wrath of God [may be] revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men" (Romans 1:17, 18); the entire world faces the righteous judgment of God. In other words, God is not being unjust to Israel when He judges her for her sins. He will judge the entire world by the same standard: the law of God. All shall stand condemned before that great tribunal. All shall find that their unrighteousness shows the righteousness of God. This, too, is the message of Romans. Paul will develop this further momentarily.

Then Paul frames the same question in a more personal way. Again, Paul is surely thinking of David. David's lie ultimately ended up demonstrating the truthfulness of God in the wrath that fell upon him and his house and the mercy that extended to him and his family forever. God was demonstrated to be faithful in contrast to the faithlessness of man so that God alone would receive glory. So, Paul wonders aloud, "But if through my lie God's truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner?" Why should I be condemned for lying to the glory of God? That is quite a question! Moreover, "And why not do evil that good may come?" If sin reveals the holiness of God, then let us sin as much as we can so God may appear that much more holy! It is obvious that Paul does not think this way, for he refers rather angrily to those who level this slanderous charge against him. But he is willing to confront the question. He does not think this way, but he realizes that some may—indeed, some have—misunderstood his argument in just this way. So, he raises the question to knock it down again.

One final comment. Israel was entrusted with the oracles of God. In Paul's world, pagan oracles were often consulted to learn about the future. Certainly Paul is no fortune teller and the Scriptures are not tea leaves, but Paul does firmly believe that the destiny of Israel is written in the pages of the Word of God. The "fortunes" of Israel were written in the divine dispatch carried within her own scrolls, if only we can crack the code with the cipher of the Spirit. Paul will show that the surprising twist of destiny that Israel encountered in Christ is not really a surprise at all when the oracles of God are understood in light of Christ revealed by the Spirit.

The oracles of God predict Israel's failure and redemption, and the Gentiles' conversion to faith in the one true God. In other words, Paul insists that Israel was entrusted with preserving and presenting a story that contains the plot he is now rehearsing. Paul will show, by quoting the oracles of God, that Israel's unbelief is not surprising to those who read the text of the Old Testament with a Spirit-led understanding. The story of Israel is all about the vindication of God in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. God is faithful and His Word is true.

A Living Sacrifice: Studies in Romans (2:25-29)

2009-03-25T09:51:00.003-05:00

Romans 2:25-29

For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.

Many Jewish Christians of Paul's day insisted that Gentile converts must be circumcised and keep the law in order to enjoy full fellowship within the Christian church. It is Paul's task in Romans to debunk this idea. The unity of believers in Christ is Paul's main agenda. Paul insists that his Gentile converts have as much right to full fellowship in the church as Jewish Christians. There are two barriers that the Judaizers have erected between Jewish and Gentile Christians: circumcision and law-keeping. Paul is getting ready to knock both of them down.

Here is Paul's argument: Circumcision is worth something if you keep the law. In other words, the Judaizers are right in asserting that circumcision and law-keeping go together. But they have missed the startling implications of this fact: their circumcision is meaningless because they have not kept the law. If a Jew breaks the law, Paul says, he is no different than a Gentile. In fact, he is worse than a Gentile because he knows the truth and suppresses it. Moreover—and this is where it gets really controversial—if a Gentile keeps the law he is no different from a Jew. He should be regarded as circumcised. This is because circumcision is "a matter of the heart" (v. 29). And, as we shall see, Paul understands "keeping the law" in terms of fulfilling the law in the Spirit by grace through faith. In this sense, the Gentile Christians are keeping the law while the Jewish Christians are breaking it by refusing to see its fulfillment in Christ.

So, those who break the law should be considered uncircumcised even if they are circumcised physically, and those who fulfill the law should be considered circumcised even if they are not circumcised physically. In one deft stroke Paul has turned Jews into Gentiles and Gentiles into Jews! This must have left their heads spinning. Paul yanked the rug of superiority from under their feet and left the Jewish Christians no basis for their proud condescension toward Gentile Christians. Indeed, Paul insists that the faithfulness of the Gentiles in Christ will condemn the faithlessness of Israel. Even though Israel has the gramma of the law, the "written code," only those who fulfill "the Spirit of the law" truly keep the law.

Paul's radical theology is built upon a simple idea: "For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter" (v. 28, 29). However, this simple idea is not original with Paul. Moses made it clear that circumcision of the heart is the reality that physical circumcision signifies (Deuteronomy 10:16; 30:6). The prophets echoed this theme, particularly Jeremiah (Jeremiah 4:4; 9:26). Paul is simply extrapolating what Scripture says in light of the new reality inaugurated in the death and resurrection of Christ. This is Paul's theology of the Spirit that undergirds everything he will say throughout the rest of Romans.

A Living Sacrifice: Studies in Romans (2:17-24)

2009-01-28T14:34:00.002-06:00

Romans 2:17-24

But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth—you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. For, as it is written, "The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you."

Now Paul pulls out his trusty sharpened stick of sarcasm to puncture the pride of the Judaizers. You call yourself a Jew. You rely on the law. You boast in God and claim to know His will. You, the judge of all that is right and wrong, approve what is excellent and claim you are qualified to disqualify others because you are instructed from the law. You are quite sure that you are a benevolent guide to those poor, poor blind folks, "a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth." This is strong stuff! Paul knows this sort of pride so well because he once lived it to its fullest. He was the epitome of this proud persona. And now, he is using his familiarity with it to ridicule its rank hypocrisy.

Paul goes on: "You then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?" One wonders if Paul had specific names and instances in mind. Inquiring minds would like to know! Regardless, he seems to know very well that those who preach the law the hardest are usually trying desperately to conceal the fact that they measure up to it the least. Remember, Paul himself was "blameless" in law-keeping—at least, he thought so until he found out on the road to Damascus that he was the chiefest of sinners. He knows this self-righteous crew very well, and he will not tolerate for a moment their blatant attempt to sequester the gospel and shut the Gentiles out. No, not for a moment!

Furthermore, Paul does not merely use his own personal experience to drive home the point. He quotes Scripture: "The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you." It is not enough to remind the Judaizers that he personally knows of their perfidy, but Paul is careful to show that their condemnation is from the Judge of all living and dead. Paul quotes loosely from the Septuagint's rendering of Isaiah 52:5 (and possibly with Ezekiel 36:20-23 in mind), but he also seems to have in mind the story of David's sin with Bathsheba and his murder of Uriah the Hittite. This will come into clearer focus in Romans 3 when Paul quotes directly from Psalm 51, David's famous prayer of repentance. But even now we can hear echoes of Nathan's rebuke to David: "Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die" (II Samuel 12:14 KJV). Moreover, we cannot escape the comparison of Paul to Nathan, the Judaizers to David, and Paul's Gentile converts standing in a direct line with righteous Uriah, the Hittite, a Gentile, who was more righteous than the Jew who had him killed. What a powerful parallel!

A Living Sacrifice: Studies in Romans (2:12-16)

2009-01-28T13:39:00.002-06:00

Romans 2:12-16

For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

God is impartial in His judgment. He holds everyone to the same standard: if you keep the law, you will be justified; if you break the law, you will be condemned. Simple as that. Except it is not that simple. If it was that simple, Romans would be a very short book. But Paul goes on to show that everyone, Jew and Gentile, breaks the law, and that the only way to keep the law is by grace through faith in the perfect obedience of Jesus Christ. This is fulfilling the law by the Spirit and not by the works of the flesh. Of course, this anticipates Paul's argument a bit, but it is certainly where the argument is going.

Those who sin without the law are the Gentiles. The Gentiles were not given the written code of the law, so they are "without law." Those who sin "under the law" are the Jews. They were given the law written upon tables of stone. The law was to be read in its entirety every seven years and portions read by Levites each Sabbath in the villages and cities of Israel at their local holy convocation, which was the forerunner of the synagogue. Israel was given many opportunities to hear the law. However, Paul reminds his audience that simply hearing the law was never enough. Israel was commanded to do the law. James addresses this same idea in his epistle: "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves" (James 1:22). Both Paul and James are alluding to Moses' warning to Israel that they must keep the law by doing what is commanded (Deuteronomy 4:1; 5:1; 6:3; 30:12-14; cf. also Ezekiel 20:11). And both Paul and James quote Moses' warning that if a man breaks one point of the law he is guilty of the entire law (Galatians 3:10; James 2:10; alluding to Deuteronomy 27:26).

Moses emphasized that the man who keeps the law by doing the commandments shall live in it. Of course, this is exactly the point that Paul makes. Only those who keep the law perfectly can live by the law. And here is the catch: no one can keep the law! Thus, no one can live by the law. All who attempt to keep the law in the flesh will die. Paul will show us later that this is why God gave the law to Israel "according to the flesh." God gave them the law to demonstrate that fallen man cannot keep the law without the indwelling power of the Spirit, and no man can be righteous apart from the righteousness of Christ.

Yet, the larger point that Paul is making here is that Gentile Christians are keeping the law, in the sense that they are fulfilling the law by faith through the Spirit. Paul argues that his Gentile converts "who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires" and "they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law." Further, "they show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness." The deep irony of this passage is that Israel, who was given the written code of the law, failed to keep the law, while the Gentiles, who were not given the written code of the law, were now fulfilling it! And they were doing so without circumcision and the ceremonial observance of temple rituals. Paul contrasts the hearers (Israel) with the doers (Gentiles).

Paul turns the argument of the Judaizers on its head. He uses the momentum of their argument against them. The Judaizers seek to disqualify the Gentiles from the New Covenant because they are not circumcised and do not keep the law. But Paul will show that those who are truly circumcised and really keep the law are the Gentiles. He will reverse the argument here and show that the Judaizers are the ones who are disqualified because they are uncircumcised in heart and do not truly fulfill the law by the Spirit. This is theological jujitsu at its best!

A Living Sacrifice: Studies in Romans (2:1-11)

2009-01-27T00:51:00.002-06:00

Romans 2:1-11

Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who do such things. Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.

He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.

The Impartial Judgment of God

It is important as we get started with chapter two to recall the overall message of Romans. This will help us keep our interpretation centered properly as we navigate this difficult terrain. Paul is convinced that God is fulfilling His promises to Israel in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Further, Paul believes that this gospel is now preached to all nations, and the Gentiles are included freely in the new covenant of promise. Paul believes that this one body of Christ—made up of both Jews and Gentiles gathered together by the Holy Spirit through one baptism—is the means of salvation to the whole world, indeed, to all creation. Moreover, Paul insists that Gentiles are included in the church by grace through faith apart from circumcision and keeping the Law of Moses. No one can be saved by what Paul calls "the works of the flesh." Salvation is in Christ alone.

However, there is a certain contingent of the church—the Jewish-Christian contingent—that disagrees vehemently. They believe that the Gentiles should not be allowed full access to the Christian faith unless they become converts to Judaism through circumcision and law-keeping. Otherwise, the Jewish element of the church will be disqualified by Gentile association from worshipping at the Temple in Jerusalem, and this is unacceptable to them. This group believes that Christ came to purify the worship of the Old Covenant, not to end it. Paul knows very well that Jesus did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it (cf. Romans 3:31; also Matthew 5:17), and yet, Paul sees this fulfillment as qualifying the Gentiles to enjoy full table fellowship with Jews in the New Covenant. There is strident disagreement here.

The heart of the controversy beats with a simple idea: the Jewish members of the church think they are more righteous than the Gentiles because they are circumcised and keep the Law of Moses. And, if the Gentiles want to join in this righteousness, they must submit to circumcision and pledge to keep the law as given to Israel by Moses. However, Paul zeroes in on the fatal flaw in their argument: Israel never kept the law. Furthermore, physical circumcision is not really circumcision at all. It never was! Physical circumcision has always been merely the outward sign of true circumcision, which is circumcision of the heart. Moses taught this, and the prophets shouted it over and over from the housetops. This is what Paul will begin to show in Romans chapter two and develop more fully as he goes along. Paul intends to puncture the pride of Jewish-Christian exclusivism and show the Judaizers that, rather than being more justified than Gentiles, they are more condemned than Gentiles because they knew to do good and did not do it, thus multiplying their condemnation.

In refusing to allow the Gentles full fellowship in the church, the Judaizers were judging the Gentiles as unworthy and condemning them to remain outside the New Covenant. This judgment/condemnation motif gets a lot of play in Romans. But now, in a surprising twist, Paul whirls around and points his long, bony finger at the judges themselves: "Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things."

Hold it for a moment. This just became a little strange. The judge is practicing these things? The judge is guilty of the deadly sins just listed? Where did that come from? Surely the judge is not guilty of the very things for which he is passing sentence on others. And yet, that is exactly the point that Paul makes. Israel is guilty of the sins for which she despises the nations. Israel cannot disqualify Gentiles for being uncircumcised and breaking the law when she is more guilty of this than them.

Now, run the train of thought back down the track again. The gospel is the power of God to salvation for all who believe, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. The righteousness, or the faithfulness, of God is revealed in the gospel from faith to faith as the faith of Jesus Christ spreads from Israel abroad unto the nations, and the righteous shall live by this faith. Then, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all who know the truth but willfully suppress it and turn to idols. Those who give themselves to idols are themselves given over by God to the idols they serve to be totally dehumanized and reshaped into the image of the beasts that they worship. The wrath of God that is revealed from heaven against this crew decrees that they are worthy of death, along with those who approve of their debauched way of life.

Of course, to the self-righteous, law-abiding Judaizer there is no doubt to whom Paul refers here. He simply must be describing those animalistic Gentiles, those lawless pagans, those filthy and uncircumcised dogs. And, of course, he is. There were Gentiles all over the world that fit Paul's vivid description of the unrighteous. And yet, Paul is about to show us that Israel has out-Gentiled the Gentiles, out-paganed the pagans. We first noted where Paul was headed when he quoted from Psalm 106, the story of Israel's sins against her Maker: "They made a calf in Horeb and worshiped a metal image. They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass. They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt, wondrous works in the land of Ham, and awesome deeds by the Red Sea. Therefore he said he would destroy them—had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him, to turn away his wrath from destroying them" (Psalm 106:19-23). Israel, while standing in the shadow of Sinai with the glory-cloud of God's presence resting upon the mountain, turned to idols. Furthermore, they never stopped turning to idols until God finally scattered them throughout the nations just as Moses said that He would (cf. Deuteronomy 28-32).

Then, after Israel had returned from exile into Babylon, they still did not turn to the Lord with their whole heart, but developed an empty form of religion that practiced empty piety and replaced truth with tradition. This form of religion was the Judaism that Jesus railed against so vehemently. It was the form of religion that elevated the traditions of man over the commandments of God. It was the form of religion that dragged an adulterous woman before the crowds to embarrass Jesus only to slink away in disgrace when invited to cast the first stone as a public declaration of blameless perfection. It was the form of religion that refused to recognize Messiah when He came and, finally, nailed Him to a Cross. This was the same form of religion that now sought to disqualify Gentiles from the Christian faith. This was the form of religion that wanted to play judge. Paul is having none of it.

Paul will have none of it because he knows all about it. He has been there, done that, as folks like to say. Paul knows all about this because, before converting to the Christian faith, he was a model Judaizer. He says, "I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers" (Galatians 1:14). Paul knows very well about judging others only to discover that he, the judge, was guilty of the very crimes for which he was prosecuting others. Paul testifies elsewhere that he was "circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness, under the law blameless" (Philippians 3:5, 6), and yet, he was struck down on the road to Damascus with the revelation he was not the blameless law-keeper he had imagined himself to be. Rather, he was a murderer! That must have been quite a shock. So, Paul knows a thing or two about "passing judgment on another" while "you, the judge, practice the very same things." Paul knows about Israel's hypocrisy here because he had lived it. He had embodied it.

And speaking of embodiment, there is another character in the background here that will come into closer focus in chapter three. When Paul whirls on the judge and shouts that he is the one that is truly condemned, there are rising echoes of Nathan the prophet confronting David over his adultery with Bathsheba and his murder of her husband, Uriah the Hittite. This subtle allusion will become a direct comparison when we get to chapter three and Paul starts quoting Psalm 51. There is no doubt that this narrative casts Paul in the character of Nathan with the Judaizers sitting in judgment like another David perched self-righteously on his throne. More on that anon.

Israel, Paul says, you have no excuse. You have condemned the Gentiles for idolatry while bowing before the very same idols. You disqualify pagans for their uncircumcision and law-breaking while you, too, are uncircumcised in heart and shatter the commandments with persistent disobedience. You know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who do such things, and yet, you keep on doing them. Do you now think that you will escape the wrath of God, the wrath that is revealed from heaven against the unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness? Your judgment on others is presumptuous. God's kindness is intended to bring you to repentance, but instead, as His wrath is delayed, you waste your time pointing fingers at others. And now, the time is coming when both Jew and Gentile will be judged for their sins. Do not think that Jerusalem shall escape the fate you wish upon Rome. Both shall be destroyed on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment shall be revealed. Everyone will get exactly what is coming to them. The Jews and the Gentiles that do evil will receive wrath and fury. The Jews and the Gentiles that do good will receive eternal life. For God shows no partiality.

A Living Sacrifice: Studies in Romans (1:24-32)

2009-01-26T16:14:00.002-06:00

Romans 1:24-32

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

God Gave Them Up

Three different times in this passage Paul states that God "gave them up." Because sinful men chose futility over faith, lies over truth, God gave them over to the tendencies latent within the human heart. And their heart, of course, was the problem. Their heart could not be right, and therefore they could not do right. This is the problem that Paul will pound like a drum throughout Romans: fallen man cannot be righteous in the flesh because his heart is inherently corrupt. Flesh that is cut off from the life of God will immediately begin to decay. Man must be given a new heart before he can be holy, a new heart that is filled with the indwelling, empowering presence of God in Christ through the Holy Spirit.

Notice also how the impurity of the heart will always work its way out to the body. The lusts of their heart caused them to dishonor their bodies among themselves. The corruption of the heart never stays put. It always finds its way out. Paul will spend a great deal of time later on talking about the sin that works within our "members," the parts of the body, and he will show us how this sin flows out of the corruption within our hearts. We need a new heart!

Romans 1 is a vivid description of the dehumanization that occurs when man turns to idols. The human race falls apart when Christ no longer holds everything together at the center of life. When man turns from God to idols, everything in his world shatters into fragments. He descends into the chaos of sexual disorientation. He forsakes fruitfulness and purpose for futility and pleasure. He falls from the lofty heights of sharing dominion with God to the lowest gutter of reptilian shame. All of this is the inevitable consequence of forsaking the true and living God.

Man cannot be what he was created to be apart from true worship. Man was created to bear the image and share the glory of God. Thus, to do anything else or to be anything less is to be something else and something less than truly human. This is the deep and tragic irony of secular humanism: humanism is inhuman! And because it is inhuman, it becomes inhumane. The radical humanists of the twentieth century made that clear in the death camps of Nazi Germany, Soviet Siberia and Maoist China (among many others of the same ilk). Man cannot know what it is to be truly human apart from relationship with God. Because man was made in the image of God, God defines what it means for man to be human. Remove God, and you lose humanness. Remove God, and man becomes bestial.

As we shall see, Romans is about the re-humanization of de-humanized man. Paul shows us how God in Christ through the Holy Spirit indwelling the church is forming a new humanity as a new creation that is conformed to the image of Christ. This new creation is offered up to God as a "living sacrifice" (Romans 12:1), and this living sacrifice is one unified whole made up of many members joined together by baptism into one holy community of faith. When we as individual humans are baptized into this new creation in Christ, we no longer conform to the world, the present evil age, but we are transformed according to the perfect will of God by the renewing of our mind. The resulting relationship with God and our fellow man brings a renewal of the original humanity and restores us to the glory that God intended for Adam. The shaping of these new relationships and the realization of the potential and purpose latent within the heart of baptized, Spirit-filled man re-humanizes us and allows us to become the people God made us to be.

So, Paul concludes that God gave fallen man up to impurity to dishonor their bodies among themselves; to dishonorable passions that led to sexual disorientation; and a debased mind that produced "all manner of unrighteousness." And Paul goes on to list in remorseless detail the unrighteousness that their debased minds produced. Not a pretty picture. Furthermore, Paul concludes that both those who practice such things and those that approve when others practice these things are worthy of death according to the law of God. This is a powerful point and entirely correct, but, as we shall see, Paul will use this point in an unexpected way. He will turn this point around and show that we all—including the so-called "righteous"—are worthy of death and cannot be saved apart from the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. Paul will show that each one of us can find ourselves somewhere in this list of shameful acts. That is the point we shall encounter with almost terrifying force in Romans 2.

A Living Sacrifice: Studies in Romans (1:18-23)

2009-01-22T18:08:00.003-06:00

Romans 1:18-23

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

The Wrath of God Revealed From Heaven

Paul cannot speak about living by faith without thinking immediately about the wrath of God. That may seem odd, but as noted above, this was the issue that Habakkuk dealt with, and it is the central issue of Romans: God promised to save the world through Israel, and Israel, because of unbelief, is under the wrath of God. How do we square this with the promises of God? By faith. Faith trusts the faithfulness of God in spite of the faithlessness of Israel.

Paul shows us that the wrath of God is an integral part of the faithfulness of God. God's wrath is not a matter of God giving up in frustration. Rather, the wrath of God has a redemptive purpose; it is the chastening of the Lord. We understand by faith that God is working out His purpose in the earth in and through the chastening of His people. God will save the world by His grace freely given in Christ. This is the astounding idea that Paul will develop more fully in chapters 9-11. God is bringing about the resurrection of all things through the death of all things in Christ.

Furthermore—and this is where is gets really astounding—Israel even in her rebellion embodies the death and resurrection of Christ in a redemptive manner. Paul will show that Christ has borne the wrath of God upon Israel in such a way that the chastisement of Israel is transformed from mere punishment to redemptive suffering that brings salvation to the world. The "casting away of Israel" inaugurates the ingathering of the nations, and the ingathering of the nations will precipitate the restoration of Israel. That is truly astounding!

The wrath of God is a major theme in the book of Romans. Paul will speak at length about "condemnation" as God's judgment upon the lawless, which includes everyone, both Jew and Gentile. Paul will show how the wrath of God is focused upon Christ as a substitute and sacrifice, and that "there is no condemnation" to those who are in Christ. But the theme of God's wrath will come to its crescendo in Romans 9-11. There Paul speaks about the first-century situation of Israel in light of her apostasy and the wrath to come. The wrath to come, at least in the immediate future, is the impending judgment upon Jerusalem and its temple in AD70, which Paul characterizes as the "breaking away" of branches from an olive tree.

Paul declares here that the wrath of God is "revealed from heaven." Paul speaks as one thoroughly steeped in Old Testament language and imagery. The judgment of God upon Israel and the nations is always characterized in the Law, the Psalms and the Prophets as coming from heaven upon the earth. God rushes upon the cities of the earth with His mighty host of heavenly armies to destroy those who resist His will. Of course, God's heavenly action is always manifested in the visible realm as earthly armies drafted by God to be the agents of His divine retribution. This is how God can speak of using Assyria as a "hired razor" (Isaiah 7:20). When God judges His people, He uses the armies of the earth to do His bidding. The kings of the world become His "hired gun," as we might say. And then, ironically, God judges the kings that He used to chasten His people. God drafts pagan kings to spank His people, and then God spanks the pagan king for spanking His people using another pagan king that will himself be spanked! Seems like a whole lot of spanking going on.

The wrath of God is directed "against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth." God focuses His wrath upon ungodly and unrighteous men who "suppress the truth" about God through unrighteous living. These men lie about the nature of God. They lie about the faithfulness of God. They know the truth about God, "for what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them," but they deliberately lie about God and misrepresent Him. They do so through idolatry.

These idolaters have no excuse for their lying, for God's "invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made." Creation was formed by God to bear His image and manifest His glory. However, even though fallen man knows the truth about God, he refuses to "honor him as God or give thanks to him." And this is the bottom line: rebellious humanity cannot abide the idea of giving thanks to God. Thanksgiving acknowledges an obligation. Thanksgiving requires genuine humility, and the fallen pride of man cannot submit to such humiliation. So, they turn to idols.

Paul says that idolatrous men start down the path toward idolatry by becoming "futile in their thinking." Futility is vanity or emptiness, worthless and fruitless behavior. The prophets described idols as worthless vanities, and Paul borrows the description. Idolatry is vain worship because there is nothing there. Idol worshippers pray to gods that do not exist. However, Paul traces the vanity of idolatry back to its roots in the mind. Vain worship begins with vain thinking.

These idolaters claimed to be wise, but they became fools. And in their folly, they "exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles." Man was created in the image and likeness of God, and this image and likeness would grow into perfect glory as man beheld the face of the Lord in daily worship and communion. In other words, man was created to become like God as he beheld the glory of God. The divine likeness is communicated by revelation and reflection. Man becomes what he worships. But now, man, in his folly, turned his face away from the one true God and bowed before images of his own design, images that reflected man, birds, animals and reptiles.

However, the basic idea that man becomes what he worships did not change. So, when man began to worship other men, birds, animals and reptiles, he began to take on the nature of these things. Fallen man began to reflect other fallen men so that the corruption of man was compounded. Man began to take on the nature of birds, animals and reptiles. Furthermore, notice the degenerative nature of idolatry: fallen man first worships other men; then, he worships birds; next, animals; and, finally, he bows before reptiles to worship them. Idolatry leads man further and further down into the gutter until he more closely resembles the serpent than God. How are the mighty fallen!

It may seem at first that Paul's discourse here is a generic diatribe against idolatry in general. However, a closer look reveals that Paul is already marshalling his arguments against Israel and her attempt to be righteous "in the flesh." When Paul speaks about those who "exchanged the glory of the immortal God," he has a specific sin of idolatry in mind—Israel's sin at the Golden Calf. We see this when we trace Paul's quote in verse 23 to Psalm 106:20, which speaks about Israel "exchanging the glory of God" at the Golden Calf. Israel's worship of idols, while in the very shadow of Sinai, is the perfect illustration of the impossibility of attaining righteousness through the law. This will echo throughout Romans.

Remember, the Book of Romans is written to explain the role of Israel and the nations in the salvation of the world, and how all creation is made new through the mediated work of God in Christ through the Spirit. Paul will show that this salvation cannot come through the physical lineage of Israel, the act of physical circumcision and the deeds of the Law. Paul summarizes all of this as the works of the flesh. Paul will show that salvation cannot come through the flesh, and he begins here by showing that Israel, who had the proper genealogy, the covenant of circumcision and the Law of Moses, could not be righteous in the flesh. They turned away from the One enthroned upon the mountain and bowed down to worship the works of their own hands. We do the same when we seek to be righteous through the works of the flesh. To exchange the glory is to lose it altogether.

By His Stripes We Were Healed

2008-12-20T14:03:00.003-06:00

We often quote the statement "by His stripes we were healed" to speak of how the Cross heals us from physical sickness. However, there is much more here than just relief from illness and disease. The healing here encompasses healing of body, soul and spirit through the Cross. Moreover, Peter is speaking of healing as it relates to Christian suffering, and how we are healed from our sins as we imitate the Cross and take the stripes of others. It is only when we are willing to surrender ourselves to suffer innocently that we can truly unleash the power of the Cross. The weakness of the Cross is stronger than all of the power of sin and death.

Look at the text in I Peter. Peter speaks first to servants, then to women. He addresses two groups that were routinely oppressed in the ancient world. He tells them that they can reenact the power of the Cross if they will submit themselves to suffering for the name of Jesus. In other words, they will have a resurrection morning when God will raise them up and vindicate them before their enemies if only they will share in the sufferings of Christ with humility and patience. This is how we must respond to difficult situations today when we feel that we are being treated unfairly. We must bear the Cross.

Something happens to our wounds when we bear them patiently in the name of Jesus to the glory of God. Peter says that it is a "gracious thing" (ESV) when we are mindful of God and suffer injustice humbly. There is grace in the suffering. When we suffer gracefully, the power of Christ rests upon us. This means that our wounds become redemptive. Our wounds become one with the wounds of Jesus Christ as His power rests upon us. This means that our wounds bring healing as the wounds of Christ bring life to us. It also means—and this is astounding!—that our wounds become redemptive for others as the love and mercy of Christ is extended to others through our patient suffering. We are healed, and we heal others. But the grace of healing only comes when we suffer injustice humbly and patiently, following the pattern of Christ and experiencing the power of the Cross.

Peter speaks here of Christian servants that are beaten unjustly by cruel masters. He teaches them to take a beating with Christian grace. And by teaching them this principle, Peter highlights the most radical idea in the world: weakness defeats power. This is the very center of the Christian faith, and Peter applies it here in a way that turns the world upside down. Jesus came preaching this counter-revolutionary idea. The Zealots thought they could overthrow Rome through the power of the flesh, but Jesus showed them that they that live by the sword die by the sword. This is the central idea of Christianity: we must die to live, and we must suffer to heal.

True Humanity

2008-12-20T02:23:00.002-06:00

Romans 1 shows us the de-humanization of mankind. Romans 12 shows us the re-humanization of mankind. This re-humanization of mankind occurs in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God called Abraham out of Adam's race in order to redeem the sons of Adam. God determined to accomplish this redemption by sanctifying to Himself a holy nation who would bear vicariously the sins of mankind. Israel was created by God to offer atonement for the nations. They were disobedient to this vision and failed to offer themselves selflessly in love for the nations, as the story of Jonah so profoundly illustrates. So, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to fulfill in perfect obedience, the task that Israel failed to accomplish. Israel, because of her disobedience, could not redeem the nations, but Jesus, through His perfect obedience, became the substitute for Israel, and thus, for the entire world. God narrowed the sins of humanity from Adam to Abraham, and from Abraham to Israel, and from Israel to David, and from David to Christ. The vocation of Israel was to offer herself as a burnt offering for the salvation of the world, but she failed in this vocation. Jesus took this vocation upon Him and fulfilled it in perfect faith, hope and love.

Compare Jesus to Adam (as Paul does in Romans 5, I Corinthians 15 and Philippians 2): Adam sought divinity and lost his humanity; Jesus surrendered His divinity and gained true humanity. What is interesting here is that this idea of full humanity, which Paul calls "the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ," is what God planned for Adam from the start. God intended that the human race should be bear His image and share in His glory. It was the will of God from the beginning that the human race should be filled with the fullness of God. God intended for Adam to be exalted and rule over all creation as regent Lord of all. Of course, the plan of redemption included the fall of man, but image and glory was still God's original plan. Moreover, God has not changed His mind. He still intends to glorify humankind. Jesus has accomplished what Adam was supposed to do. The original plan for humanity was and is deification. Of course, I mean this in a biblical sense of sharing in the glory of God, not in the idolatrous sense of possessing independent, innate divinity. This false sense of deification, that man could be like God apart from the indwelling presence of God, was the lie that caused Adam to sin. The only way to be fully human—and that means to share in the divine—is to be filled with the life of God.

And that is the point I am trying to get at: to be fully human is to share in the divine. This is why the idolaters of Romans 1 are so pathetic. Romans 1 shows how far humanity can fall when man decides to seek his own glory in self-deification. Man's glory is a fading glory. Indeed, man's glory becomes shame. Man's glory degenerates into the twisted extremes of self-love and self-loathing. Furthermore, when an individual man exalts himself as god and enthrones himself upon his own will, then the ultimate casualty is community. The human race begins to fragment and disintegrate. (Integration means to relate parts into a whole; to disintegrate means to scatter the whole back into disparate parts that then decay because they can only live when joined together.) The idea of community and heavenly society shaping earthly society is everywhere in Scripture. This is God's primary and ultimate purpose. God is forming and shaping His redeemed people into a Spirit-filled society of faith, hope and love.

Paul has Israel in mind throughout all of Romans. Paul has Israel's sin at the Golden Calf in view in chapter one, and he sees the Christian church in Christ as the new Israel born and again and filled with the Spirit in the remainder of the book. God called Israel out of Egypt and gathered them together at the foot of Sinai so they could be reformed and shaped into His new humanity, the new community of faith, hope and love that would show the light of God to all nations. Israel had been slaves in the land of Egypt, and they were pitifully dehumanized in the process. But now, God was gathering them into a re-humanizing project that would form them and shape them into an image-bearing and glory-sharing community. The wisdom of God was the blueprint by which this community would be designed. As the wisdom of God was manifest in Israel, the people of God would reveal the image and glory of God to the world. Israel was called to be kings and priests on behalf of all nations.

This is what Paul shows us in Romans chapters 1 and 12. He shows us how Israel, who was dehumanized by sin and slavery and acted instinctively from their dehumanized nature at the Golden Calf, was being re-humanized in the New Covenant by the freedom of the Spirit. Israel was born again in the New Covenant and experienced a new Exodus in the waters of baptism into the name of Jesus. As the first Christians were baptized into Christ, they were called to come through the waters of baptism out of the old slavery to sin into the new freedom of the resurrection. This is why Paul was so adamant that the Gentiles were full members of the new community. Converted Gentiles were baptized in Christ and growing by the Spirit into Christ. This new community of faith, hope and love was created to be a community based on the person and work of Jesus Christ, nothing more.

This is really what compels me to this topic. In order to be fully and truly human, we must be perfectly related to one another. Humans were made to share in the image and glory of God corporately, in relationship to one another. This means that the community of faith, hope and love, the church, is a heavenly society that is developed by the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. This is what the New Testament is all about. God is forming for Himself a new humanity, a new human race born again in Christ. God is creating for Himself a new community of faith, hope and love, the heavenly city, the New Jerusalem. And the entire point of this is that God is forming and shaping each faithful household and each local church into a microcosm of this future reality. The members of the church are being shaped by God into full humans, people who attain the full potential of all that God wants them to be. Of course, we cannot be all that God wants us to be without being properly related to our fellow Christians. We are all members of one body. We have been called into vertical and horizontal relationship with Christ and the church. We cannot think that we are saved as mere individuals. We are saved as members of the body. This means that we must learn how to relate to one another by the Spirit.

This is the difficult part. It is easy to talk about forming community in theory, but when we are called to live out what we theorize, to walk the talk, then we are faced with the difficulty of actually working with real people and helping them to see how they must be related to one another. We must think in terms of family, or even, of a team. We must think in terms of accepting one another regardless of the difficulties. We must not reject one another and withdraw from one another. We must work out our differences. We must learn how to get along. Why? Because this is what reveals the image and glory of God to the world. "By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another." And we cannot demand love; we must give love. Love is not a feeling (though it produces a feeling). Love is an action. Indeed, love is community service, to borrow a phrase. (Hopefully, though we can come to see that love is not punishment.) This is where we are as a church, and this is the point that the Holy Ghost is compelling us to consider. The church is called to function as a community of believers. We must understand what God is doing. He is forming His church into a fellowship, a koinonia, a society of believers, the heavenly city where spiritual cooperation and interchange of service is necessary for life, liberty and happiness.

In the church, God has given us a glimpse of the world to come. We are compelled by the Spirit to look in faith toward the heavenly society that God is forming for His everlasting kingdom. He is relating us all together by the Spirit. He has gifted each of us in unique ways so that we may all contribute to the common good. We should each one pray that God will help us to develop our personal gifts for the good of the church. We should understand that God has given to every man a measure of faith according to grace. We have been called to exercise these gifts to the glory of God and the edifying of the church. The church is built up in the earth as each member finds his or her place. This is the process God is using to get the job done. We must understand it.

The idea of a new human community is central to all of Paul's teaching, indeed, the entire New Testament. This was God's plan from the beginning. From the start it was "not good that man should be alone." No man lives to himself or dies to himself. God created us as communal creatures. We cannot avoid this reality. To avoid communion is to be dehumanized. To withdraw into permanent seclusion is not natural. God did not call us to be hermits. God called us to be members of His one body. He has called us and gifted us to contribute to His people and purpose. This is the plan of God. God is building for Himself a habitation through the Spirit. This is the only way His image and glory can be revealed. It takes a universe to reveal the glory of God.

Integrity

2008-12-20T01:35:00.004-06:00

We need to consider for a moment the matter of integrity. Integrity, as I understand it, is to do the right thing when no one is looking. Integrity means that your heart is not duplicitous and multi-layered, but it is simple and uncomplicated. Integrity means that you are what you say you are and what you portray yourself to be to others. Integrity means that you are honest with yourself and with God, which makes you honest with all men. Integrity means you are true.

A lack of integrity always begins with the self-deception of the lying human heart. The fall of the human heart into self-deception began in the Garden of Eden. The "father of lies" deceived the woman, and the woman fed the man. Both the man and the woman fell into the grip of sin and death when the man sinned. Then, their eyes were opened, and they saw immediately that they were naked. There is no doubt that they saw the "truth" about their condition, but the truth they saw became distorted because it was a self-referential truth, a subjective truth that flowed out of their own perception of themselves rather than the pure truth about them that can only be seen by God, who sees all things perfectly. They were immature and unable to see in any objective way the truth about themselves. They could not make true judgments because of their limited knowledge. They were not wise. They received knowledge of good and evil without the wisdom to understand the implications of such knowledge. Thus, their knowledge became deception.

The very first thing that Adam and Eve did once they knew they were naked is to become self-conscious before one another. They felt the need to cover themselves in front of each other. Thus, they made aprons of fig leaves to hide their nakedness from one another. Their self-deception flowing out of their foolish immaturity forced them to try and deceive one another. They could not afford to be honest and open with each other any longer. So, self-deception led them into "other-deception." This is what Paul talks about when he says that fools seek to measure themselves by others, which is not wise. When Adam sinned, he was doomed to a life of trying to measure up to others because he forsook the only true measure of righteousness: Jesus Christ. And finally, when God came into the garden to confront their sin, they attempted "God-deception." Of course, that did not work very well, for God cannot be deceived, but they tried it. "Self-deception" leads to "other-deception" to "God-deception" (which never succeeds). Man lies first to himself; then, he lies to others; and, finally, he lies to God.

After the fall of man and his expulsion from the Garden, the heart of man began to develop layers of self-deception producing more other-deception and attempting more God-deception. God responded to man's lies by giving him over to his lies. Because fallen man "received not a love for the truth, God sent them a strong delusion that they should believe a lie and be damned." However, God did not abandon man forever in the grip of his lies. The father of lies had enslaved man in a web of deception, but Jesus, the way, the truth, and the life, came to confront Satan's lies and preach the truth to man. This truth is brought into contact with the lying the human heart by the power of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, who breaks the power of the lie and causes men to believe the truth of the gospel. When men believe the truth, the power of the lie is broken and deliverance begins to come to the lying human heart.

Of course, the truth does not deliver us completely from self-deception all at once. The conquest of any land given over to idols takes years. God does not give us victory all at once. We gain victory by degrees. This causes a tremendous battle between the father of lies and the Spirit of truth for the deceitful hearts of men. Certainly the battle was won at Calvary, but now that victory must be applied in our lives every day. We must confront daily the lying nature of our heart and submit ourselves to the Spirit of truth. And there is only one way to do this: we must submit our heart each day to the Spirit of truth to be measured against "The Truth," Jesus Christ. Our self-deception, like Adam's, comes when we take to ourselves the task of determining what is right and wrong rather than learning this in relationship with God. The only way we can become true again is to be filled with the Spirit of truth that goes all the way down into the deceitful heart of man and confronts our lies at their root in our heart. Only by measuring ourselves against the Truth, Jesus Christ, can we be set free from the prison of self-analysis and self-comparison that is based on fear of men rather than love of God. And this truth must get to the heart of the matter and become truth in the inward parts.

This is the point we must grasp. We must get to the matter of being true in our hearts, of being true within ourselves because we are filled with the Spirit of truth. This sort of truth can only be achieved as we allow the Spirit to confront our little daily self-deceptions and make us honest with ourselves and with others and with God. The only way this can happen is for God to reveal our own heart to us. It is only in the presence of God that we can be truly laid bare before Him, to become naked before Him and allow Him to reveal the true nature and motives of our own heart. This is why we need deep, spiritual self-examination. Now, I do not mean that we need morbid self-introspection. Rather, we need the Holy Ghost to take us by the hand and show us our nakedness rather than seeking out our own follies by ourselves. That is merely repeating the error of Adam and Eve when seek to know ourselves apart from relationship with God. We must allow the Spirit to speak to us in preaching, prayer and praise and truly reveal our nakedness in His way and in His time so that He may clothe us in garments of glory in His time and in His way.

The bottom line is this: we must be honest with ourselves if we ever want to be honest with others and with God. We must be willing to confront who we really are and fall before God in humble repentance. This is entirely different from self-condemnation. Condemnation flows from self-introspection, and it is a lying introspection because it is our own lying heart trying to tell what we are all about. We need the Word and Spirit to stand as the true measure of who we are. We must allow God to search us out and correctly identify the truth about us. He will speak the truth in love. He will tell us what we need to hear as we need to hear it. And He will not berate us or upbraid us. He will love us into change and not browbeat us into condemnation. His truth will produce integrity.

Healing and Priesthood

2008-12-20T01:09:00.002-06:00

In the Old Covenant, those who were sick, infirmed, diseased, lame, crippled, blind, halt, lame, etc. could not enter into the temple to worship or to serve as priests. When Jesus came healing the sick, He was doing more than just improving their quality of life. He was healing them for service in the temple. Jesus was forming around Himself a new temple of worshippers made up of living stones, but these worshippers could not enter to stand in the presence of God until they were healed. When Jesus healed the multitudes, He brought shalom, peace and wholeness. When Jesus said, "Peace be unto you," He was saying, "May you be blessed and made whole." Jesus often commanded the sick to be made whole, or complete.

This is what we are facing today. We are surrounded by a world that needs healing and wholeness. The world needs the shalom of God to be spoken to them in the gospel of peace, the gospel of reconciliation and wholeness. It is God's desire and determination to make men and women whole. However, He is not just improving our quality of life. He is bringing us into His temple that we might serve Him as a nation of priests that minister before Him as priests for the world. Jesus is still healing the sick so that they can enter into the temple and serve the Lord. This is the still the mission of the church and the kingdom.

The Lord intends to heal us spiritually, emotionally, physically, financially, relationally, etc. He makes us complete. What does it mean to be whole, complete? It means, I think, at least, to be developed in all of the potential God has sown into the soil of our heart. It means to become all that God wants us to be. But again, this is not just to improve our quality of life. It is to bring us into the temple for His service.

The story of the lame man at the Beautiful Gate (Acts 3) has profound implications here. The lame man was placed outside the gate of the temple, and he could not enter into the court of the worshippers. He was excluded because of His disabilities. But now, in the coming of the kingdom, the church was announcing the same message that Jesus preached: "If I by the finger of God do cast out devils, then the kingdom of God has come upon you." Peter and John healed the lame man as a sign that God was overthrowing the power of the curse and restoring all creation to wholeness. In the resurrection, Christ makes all things new. And now the lame man can rise up and enter into the temple to serve in his proper capacity. Moreover, when this man is healed and brought to fullness, the temple itself is brought to fullness. As each living stone of the temple is brought into healing and restoration, then the ministry of the temple itself will grow into the shalom, the peace and wholeness, for the whole world that God envisioned for His eternal purpose. God heals His people so they may serve him with gladness. This is what it means to be whole.

The Faith of Abraham

2008-12-18T23:19:00.003-06:00

Paul speaks in Romans 4 about Abraham believing God. The amazing thing is not just that he believed, but what he believed. God promised Abraham, an obscure, little-known, nomadic Hebrew shepherd, that he would inherit the world (Romans 4:13), and Abraham believed it. That is amazing!

God later told Israel that they would be heirs to the promise made to Abraham beginning with the land of Canaan. They refused to believe it. God loathed them for their unbelief and killed them in the wilderness (Psalm 95:10 ESV). Israel never did fully believe the promises of God. However, Paul teaches us that the promise made to Abraham has come to fruition in Christ, and the church shares in the promises made to Abraham (Galatians 3:14). Thus, Paul sees the Gentile mission in the New Covenant era as the fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham. Again, Israel, this time as first-century Jewish Christians, did not believe God and rejected the Gentiles' inclusion in the church. Paul makes it clear that Israel's failure to accept the Gentiles is an indication that, again, they did not believe the promise made by God to Abraham that all nations will be blessed in Abraham. It was simply a matter of faith vs. unbelief.

So, how about the church today? Do we believe God? Do we believe that all nations belong to Him? Do we believe that the kingdom is coming upon the earth, and that all of the enemies of Christ shall be defeated as He rules in heaven, seated upon the throne of God? Do we believe that Jesus is defeating all of His enemies now through the evangelistic endeavor of the church? It is very important that we believe, but it is also very important what we believe. If we are to be the children of Abraham, then we must believe what Abraham believed. We must believe that the church is called to be the heir of the world. And we must see this as the motive and impulse of evangelism. Our evangelistic efforts must be built upon this faith. God has promised us the world: do we believe it?

Evangelism: Ministry vs. Marketing

2008-12-18T22:28:00.002-06:00

There are two competing models of evangelism. One is the marketing model, and the other is the ministry model. They are antithetical to each other. The marketing model treats the church as a business, with people as customers. People are the necessary component of their success. If church marketers want to grow their "business" (their church), they must attract more customers. So, they offer up a "product" that fits the desires of the customer. The customer is always right. The customer wants personal happiness, and so personal happiness must be offered up in a way that pleases the customers. We must keep 'em coming back for more. Fundamentally, this model of evangelism does not do evangelism for the benefit and good of the people, just like Wal-Mart does not offer low prices as a matter of selfless philanthropy. The marketing model promotes evangelism in pursuit of success in business. It is essentially selfish evangelism, evangelism as the necessary means for personal success. It is sanctified Amway, soap-peddling, hard-sell, close-the-deal sort of evangelism.

The ministry model of evangelism is completely different. This model promotes evangelism because the gospel is "good news" for those in need. The goal of ministry evangelism is to love people as Christ loved them. This means, then, that ministry evangelism will compel some and repel others. Love always tells people the truth because it is best for them, even if they do not want to hear it. Here, the customer is hardly ever right. Here unbelievers are challenged and confronted on every level of their life, and they called to become a part of this ministry to others, to lay down their life, take up their cross and follow Jesus. This sort of gospel requires that "the customer" surrender his temporary happiness in the pursuit of lasting joy. And the catch is that lasting joy only comes as a result of deep suffering. Your average, pursuit-of-happiness customer usually does not like that sort of thing, and the crowds walk slowly away.

Ministry model evangelism loves people and helps people with no strings attached. It feeds the hungry, clothes the naked, delivers the captive, visits the prisoner, prays for the sick, all while asking for nothing in return—not even a visit to church. There are no demands placed on this kind of evangelism. It simply meets the needs of people. Then, it preaches the gospel to those who will hear it, baptizes those who believe, and disciples those who continue in the faith. Certainly there will always be those who love only the fishes and the loaves, and Jesus soundly rebukes them for it. However, He does not stop healing their sick and feeding their hungry. He continues offering "no-strings attached evangelism." No doubt His preaching drives the crowds away, but still He ministers to them and says, "Suffer the little children to come." This is true ministry model evangelism, and we must imitate it.

Prayer as Declaration

2008-12-18T21:58:00.002-06:00

One of the things that has been dancing around the edge of my mind for a while is the role that prayer plays in the advance of the kingdom of God. It seems to me that prayer is as important as preaching. Preaching declares the will of God to sinners and saints and breaks forth the will of God into the unbelieving world around us. But it seems that prayer is also a form of declaring the will of God, though we declare it to the invisible world of the heavenlies and directly to God Himself. And yet, I think prayer is more like preaching than we think. God declares His will through preaching. God uses preaching as the conduit to proclaim His purpose in the earth. It seems to me, then, that prayer is very similar. It seems that God has chosen to use human speech as the medium for His will to be "prayed through" and "prayed into existence."

In what way does prayer speak forth the will of God into the earth? I tend to think that God has chosen to use believers as incarnational vessels to pour His will into the world, as human conduits to stream heaven into earth. God has poured out His Spirit into the world via the indwelling Spirit of Christ that enters into the heart of believers when we receive the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is distributed into the earth through the church, through the individual members of the body of Christ that are joined together incarnationally into one ecclesial body by the perichoretic indwelling of God in Christ in the church in all creation (John 17). In other words, the Spirit of God is present to the world through the church, and when we pray, God prays His will into existence through us. This means that, just as preaching releases the will of God into the earth by declaration, so prayer releases the will of God into the earth by declaration. And further, just as the will of God cannot be done apart from preaching, the will of God cannot be done apart from prayer, and this is all by God's sovereign design. If we do not preach, then the truth is not proclaimed, and the victory will not come. This is true as well of prayer. If we do not pray, then the declaration of the will of God is silent in the earth, and this declaration is the only means by which the will of God can come to pass. God has designed it so. We must speak the Word of God through preaching and the will of God through prayer. If we do not pray, then the purpose of God is not expressed and poured into the earth.

Often, our problem is that we do not see the immediate results of prayer, so we do not pray. This is also true with preaching: we expect visible, immediate results, and if we do not see this we believe that our preaching has failed. We have learned to judge the success of preaching (falsely) through audience response. The applause of the crowd and the tears shed at the altar often are how we judge the success of a message, when long experience should tell us that immediate response is often fleeting. We must judge preaching by the long term results that come through the Word of God. Prayer is the same. We must judge our prayers in terms of long term results, not by immediate answers.

Do we believe in the power of preaching? We do. So then, we must believe in the power of prayer. We must believe that we are declaring the will of God whether or not we see immediate results. We must believe that something very real is happening when we pray. The purpose of God depends upon our prayers. We must pray the will of God into existence.

A Living Sacrifice: Studies in Romans (1:16-17)

2008-12-12T19:24:00.004-06:00

Romans 1:16, 17

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith."

The Righteous Shall Live By Faith

Paul's oft-quoted statement in verses 16 and 17 is a summary introduction, an outline of sorts, to the entire book of Romans. First of all Paul is "not ashamed of the gospel." As we shall see, there were many who attacked Paul for preaching the gospel of grace, but he refused to bow his head and mumble incoherently with hesitant voice. He was bold and unashamed in the face of his religious critics. He was unashamed in the face of unbelieving skeptics. And, most of all, he was unashamed in the face of Caesar himself, before whom Paul later testified. This attitude of boldness characterizes Paul's presentation of the letter from the beginning to the end.

The boldness of Paul flowed from his confidence in the power of God. Paul had seen the risen Lord, Jesus the Messiah, and he had no qualms about declaring Christ's authority in all the earth. As Paul says in Ephesians, the same power that raised Christ from the dead now works in us (Ephesians 1:19, 20). The power of the gospel lies in what God did in the resurrection of Christ. And what God did in the resurrection of Christ is realized in us when the gospel is preached to us and we believe with obedient faith. Then, what God did in Christ becomes what God does in us, and the gospel reveals the power of God unto salvation. Such power makes men bold.

The gospel was more than theory to Paul, more than abstract doctrine to be discussed and dissected for intellectual stimulation. The gospel itself was the medium of God's power to save. The power of God to save men from their sins and all creation from the bondage of the curse was contained in the declaration of what God had done in Christ. God saves through preaching. Through the preaching of the gospel, the death, burial and resurrection of Christ are lived out in the life of the believer. The power of God that raised Christ from the dead raises us from the dead in the preaching of the gospel. There is no power on earth greater than this.

And yet, we must be careful to see that salvation means more to Paul than just a personal deliverance from the power of sin and death. No doubt salvation can never be seen as less than that, but it must be seen as much more than that. For Paul, the gospel is the fulfillment of the salvation promised to Israel and, by extension, to the entire world. As Romans unfolds we shall see that, for Paul, salvation includes much more than merely "going to heaven when I die." We shall see that salvation encompasses the full scope of universal redemption promised to Israel by the prophets. This includes the redemption and reconciliation of all creation through the resurrection at the last day. The gospel promises a new heaven and new earth where righteousness dwells. That is good news indeed.

Paul's most fundamental reason for writing Romans is to defend the idea that salvation is given freely "to everyone who believes." The good news of what God has done in Christ is preached to all nations beginning at Jerusalem. The prophetic vision of the Old Testament that all nations would come to worship the one true God was now coming to pass in the evangelistic ministry and mission of the church. True, the gospel is preached "to the Jew first"—there is no doubt that salvation is offered initially to Israel. Yet, we must not stop short of the full vision of the gospel: the gospel is preached "also to the Greek." The gospel is the power of God to save everyone that believes.

The gospel reveals the "righteousness of God." The gospel shows us that God is righteous, that God is faithful, that God is right. In other words, the "righteousness of God" here concerns the fact that God keeps His Word. His promises have not failed. This will be an important theme throughout Romans. The gospel preached by the Christian faith is the realization of God's Old Covenant promises to Israel. Though critics and mockers may deride Paul's gospel as making a liar out of God, Paul will vehemently defend his message with countless Scripture quotations as being the fulfillment of what the prophets foresaw. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the vindication of God, of Christ, and of the body of Christ, the church. The gospel Paul's preaches needs no other endorsement. The resurrection and exaltation of Christ is enough.

The righteousness—the rightness of God—is revealed in the preaching of the gospel, in the account of how God is fulfilling His promises to Israel in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. This gospel is preached first to Israel and, then, to all nations. This seems to be what Paul has in mind when he says, "The righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith," which is literally "from faith unto faith." The righteousness of God is revealed in the outworking of faith from the faithful remnant of Israel to the faith that is now spreading abroad throughout the world (cf. 1:8). This is a sort of "faith-momentum" that builds in the earth until the consummation of all things by faith at the end. This is the same idea that the writer of Hebrews employs when he speaks of Jesus being "the author and finisher of our faith." The faith that Jesus set in motion in the faith of the elders, beginning with Abel (Hebrews 11:4), will continue until the last of God's elect is brought into the faith. God's righteousness is revealed from faith unto faith.

This process of salvation "from faith unto faith" means that the fulfillment of the promise will not be immediate. Therefore, the faithful must patiently wait on God until the realization of the promise comes. This leads Paul to quote from Habakkuk 2:4: "The righteous shall live by faith." Paul quotes from Habakkuk because both Habakkuk and Paul are concerned with the same issue: how the faithfulness of God is worked out in the face of the faithlessness of Israel. Like Habakkuk, Paul has wrestled with the question of Israel's persistent unbelief. Like Habakkuk, Paul sees impending judgment upon Israel, this time by the Romans in AD70. He, too, wonders how God's promises can stand in the face of this seeming failure, with Israel rejecting her Messiah and her city and temple being destroyed, and the word comes to Paul as it came to prophet so long before him, "The righteous shall live by faith." Paul has come to see in his Gentile mission the ultimate outworking of the purpose of God, as he will argue so eloquently and passionately in Romans 9-11. We shall hear the echoes of this word throughout Romans: The righteous shall live by faith.

God shall be vindicated. His promises are sure. The faithful must simply believe that. Moreover, those who believe shall share in the vindication of God. The righteous shall be vindicated at the last day in the resurrection of the dead. The righteous shall live by faith. However, this final vindication is anticipated in the resurrection of Christ, which we share through baptism into Christ. Those who believe the gospel, are baptized into Christ and receive the fullness of the Spirit are vindicated already awaiting the final display of their vindication before the world at the last day. The righteous shall live by faith.

A Living Sacrifice: Studies In Romans (1:8-15)

2008-11-29T02:48:00.003-06:00

Romans 1:8-15

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine. I want you to know, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

Paul's Desire to Come to Rome

Paul gives thanks to God through Christ for the faith of the believers at Rome because it is "proclaimed in all the world." The testimony of the church at Rome was renowned. Surely the fledgling church that was spreading into every corner of the world beginning at Jerusalem must have felt gratified that they had now reached as far as Rome itself. This was quite an accomplishment for a church somewhere around twenty-five years old. There is no sure evidence concerning who founded the church at Rome, but by now they had grown enough to establish a good reputation in the world.

Though Paul had never visited Rome, he prayed for them daily "asking that somehow by God's will" he might "at last succeed in coming" there. Apparently, Paul had tried before without success to visit Rome. However, Paul trusted all things to the will of God knowing that God directs our steps according to His will. Paul's desire is that he "may impart" to them a strengthening spiritual gift and find mutual encouragement in their faith. There is no doubt that the incredible spiritual insight that follows in the epistle to Rome demonstrates that Paul had plenty to impart.

A Living Sacrifice: Studies in Romans (1:1-7)

2008-11-29T02:41:00.003-06:00

Romans 1:1-7

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,

To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Greeting

Paul's greeting establishes several themes that shall echo throughout the letter. First, the gospel that Paul preaches is the good news that God "promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures." This opening salvo introduces the premise Paul shall work from as he explains his revelation of God's plan for redemption. Paul refuses to countenance for a moment that the message he preaches is anything other than what the prophets foretold concerning the salvation of Israel and the world. This is of the highest importance to Paul because of his critics, who snipe that Paul's doctrine overthrows the law and voids the promises of God to Israel. Paul will show that, contrary to his critics' claims, his doctrine teaches that the law and the prophets are fulfilled in Christ.

Paul insists that his teaching is according to the Scriptures. Because this is such a major sticking point with Paul, he will carefully weave numerous quotations and allusions to Scripture into the fabric of the epistle. He is careful to show that his doctrine is based upon the Word of God. The scriptural content of Romans is simply amazing. Even when Paul is not quoting Old Testament passages directly, Scripture informs and shapes every word he writes.

The promises of God made to Israel through the prophets "are concerning his Son," Jesus Christ. This is the controlling idea for Paul. Everything is about Jesus. Jesus is the center of every promise in the law and prophets. He fulfills them all. Jesus, as the Son of God, is "descended from David according to the flesh" and is the long-awaited Messiah, the king and priest who would arise to deliver Israel from her enemies and from her sins. According to the flesh Jesus descended from David, but according to the power of the Holy Spirit—the "spirit of holiness"—He is "the Son of God in power." The resurrection demonstrated both the divine origin of Christ and the power of God to raise the dead, which, as we shall see, is the hope of Israel. In the resurrection of Christ, God keeps His promise and demonstrates His power to make all things new. Both God and Christ are vindicated (justified) in the resurrection. Moreover, the people of God share in this vindication, which is an idea Paul will develop as he goes along.

Paul confesses the fundamental Christian creed that "Jesus Christ [is] our Lord." This is the earliest formal expression of the Christian faith. The confession, "Jesus is Lord," was a direct challenge to the Romans loyalty oath, "Caesar is Lord." Christians today have largely reduced the lordship of Jesus to merely an internal relationship with Jesus as "Lord of my heart." The early church had no such idea or option. Indeed, they would have recoiled at the modern pietistic idea that isolates the reign of Christ as a personal, mystical experience with God that has no bearing on everyday life in the real world. To the early church "Jesus is Lord" meant something very real, very practical. It meant that kingdom of God had come into the world through the incarnation, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ and that the entire world must be told.

The early church meant to say, and they said it, that Jesus is Lord over all the rulers of the world. They believed so fervently that "Jesus is Lord" that they died for it. If they had meant to say that Jesus was only the Lord of their heart, they could have saved their lives and pledged allegiance to Rome. Caesar had no problem with lords in the heart. But when those lords suddenly reared up and claimed to rule the world, and when these lords refused to bow before the august, imperial "son of God," then Caesar had a problem. For Caesar and the rest of the first century world there was no separation of church and state. Religion and politics were intertwined in those days. In fact, it was not long after Paul penned these words that the first worldwide persecution of the church broke out under Nero. For the next three centuries, the church died for their confession, their faith, that "Jesus is Lord." Thus, when Paul writes to the church at Rome—at Rome, no less!—that Jesus is the only true Son of God and that He is Lord of all, it was a direct challenge to Caesar's pretentious authority.

Paul's experience on the road to Damascus formed the matrix for his enduring conviction that Christ rules over all creation as Lord of all. From that moment, Paul's understanding of the law and prophets was dramatically reoriented. From that moment, Paul understood the promise of Israel's restoration and the redemption of all creation in terms of Christ exaltation to the right hand of the Father. The rule of Christ had begun, and now the Lord Jesus Christ was at work subduing all His enemies under His feet through the power of the indwelling Spirit within the church. This conquest of the earth and the defeat of hostile principalities and powers is the done through the evangelistic ministry and mission of the church. Jesus is Lord!

The lordship of Christ stands in towering majesty over Paul's teaching in Romans, and it is the lordship of Jesus that commissions Paul with "grace and apostleship." The mission of the church flows directly out of the universal authority of Jesus over all things. If Jesus is not presently Lord of all, then the church has no mandate for mission.

Further, the mission of the church is "to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations." This particular form of the Christian mandate falls into three parts: First, the Christian mission preaches "the obedience of faith." The gospel of Jesus Christ is the story of how God is redeeming the world and saving man from his sins through Christ's death, burial and resurrection. Those who hear and believe by the grace of God are brought to obedience to the faith by the power of the Holy Spirit. This obedience is worked out after the pattern of the Great Commission as converts are baptized and discipled according to the commandments of the Lord (Matthew 28:18-20).

Second, the mission of the church is "for the sake of His name." This is another way of saying that the conversion of all nations is to the glory of God, that His name may be honored among the Gentiles. Christian converts are saved when they call on the name of the Lord (Acts 2:21; 22:16) and the name of the Lord is called upon them (James 2:7). "For the sake of His name" also refers to the authority that His name represents. Those who are baptized in His name publicly bow their knee before Him and confess that "Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:9-11). The mission of the church is for the sake of His glory and dominion throughout all creation.

Third, the mission of the church is accomplished "among all nations." Paul opens with the declaration that he shall be careful to prove in the body of the letter, that the gospel preached to Abraham and his seed is now being preached to all nations. The gospel is no longer limited to Israel and preached to Gentiles only in a secondary and derivative sense. The gospel is for "all nations."

Moreover, the church at Rome knows very well that the gospel is being preached to all nations because it has reached to "you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ." The believers at Rome are living witnesses to the truth of Paul's message. Those in Rome are "loved by God and called to be saints." This is a powerful statement for one who had been indoctrinated from birth that pagans were dogs and worthy only of death unless they converted to Judaism. Paul declares that God loves the Gentiles and has called them to be saints, or holy ones. This means that Paul is deliberately placing Gentile believers in the category with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, with David and the rest of the Old Testament believers. God has made the believers at Rome saints. There is no higher honor than this, to be called the saints of God.

A Living Sacrifice: Studies in Romans (Introduction)

2008-11-29T02:26:00.003-06:00

Introduction

The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans is considered by many to be Paul's finest work. It is doubtless the most closely reasoned presentation of Paul's theology. Indeed, even when Romans is considered apart from its spiritual and theological value, it still stands as one of the greatest literary masterpieces of all time. Its impact has been felt throughout history like no other particular work. Because of its great significance, the world is overflowing with books and commentaries on Romans. It has been written about and preached about probably more than any other book in our Bible. And yet, it is quite impossible to exhaust the riches of spiritual insight contained here. We could—and should—study Romans for a lifetime and never close the book on the subject. It remains just as fresh and alive today as it was two-thousand years ago.

This study will approach Romans as more of a survey than a deep, detailed exposition. We will emphasize the themes of Romans and learn how Paul weaves these themes into a sort of grand-theme—the scheme—of God's plan of salvation for the world. It is my goal to present the central message of Romans as a sort of interpretive grid that we may place over and draw out the finer points of Paul's theology here and elsewhere. If we can get the big picture, the smaller pieces of the puzzle will slip into place.

Of course, it is very important to make theology more than a theoretical, academic exercise. We must allow the Word of God to break in upon our lives and transform our ministry and mission. So, we shall also spend some time applying the message of Romans to our present situation and, hopefully, showing that Paul's vision of God's everlasting purpose is just as relevant today as it ever was.

Paul's theology of salvation in Romans falls into the following broad outlines: First of all, both Jews and Gentiles are saved by grace through faith apart from physical circumcision and the deeds of the Law. Second, God is fulfilling the promises declared by the prophets to Israel through an extended scheme of hardening Israel in temporary unbelief and extending mercy to the Gentiles until they reach universal fullness thereby provoking Israel to jealousy and precipitating Israel's return and restoration. Third, faithful Gentiles are being formed together with faithful Israel into a living sacrifice that must be presented "holy and acceptable unto God." This task belongs to Paul as a sort of "priest" to God on behalf of the Gentiles. Finally, this justification of both Jews and Gentiles by the grace of God permits—indeed, requires—full table-fellowship between Jews and Gentiles in communion and community.

It will probably help us to understand Romans better if we consider the book as a whole and then pay closer attention to the details of the text as we move through each section, chapter and verse. As noted above, Paul weaves many themes into Romans. This can make the book difficult to understand and easy to misread. Even the apostle Peter commented on this! We cannot untangle all the knots. Now and then we must simply step back and marvel at the big picture that Paul weaves so carefully into a breathtaking tapestry. Those pesky knots hold the threads together. This book is beautiful, and very moving, when rightly understood.

Romans is written to Gentiles. Paul makes that clear almost immediately. It is written to instruct Gentile believers in the basic tenets of their faith and to show them in vivid prose God's overall scheme of redemptive history. God plans to redeem the world through His sovereign, predestined plan of salvation "to the Jew first and also to the Greek" (Romans 1:16). In doing this, God is forming one holy nation made up of Jews and Gentiles united together to be the catalyst of redemption and resurrection in the world. However, there is a considerable obstacle to this plan. The Jewish and Gentile contingents within the church are almost hopelessly divided. Certain Jewish Christians are insisting that the Gentile converts must be circumcised and keep the Law to obtain full and "perfect" status as Christians, and this is understandably resented by the Gentiles. Division is the inevitable result.

This is particularly true in Rome where there was a certain degree of hostility to Jews anyway. The Jews had only recently returned to Rome after being expelled by Caesar. So, the Gentile believers, who formed the majority of the church in Rome, would have rightly resented the "older brother" condescension of the returning Jewish believers. Paul sensed this and sought to defuse it. While Paul strongly reinforced the Gentiles' persuasion that they were saved by grace through faith apart from circumcision and law-keeping, yet he also took great pains to warn the Gentiles against developing their own brand of arrogance that would try and turn the tables on the Jewish believers and exclude them from table-fellowship in a tit-for-tat reprisal. Paul is passionate that this sort of division must be prevented. Indeed, Paul sees the eschatological unity of Jews and Gentiles in the church as the precondition of full and final redemption.

Old Covenant Judaism had developed a two-tiered system to allow God-fearing Gentiles close to the covenant without full inclusion. Devout Gentiles could approach the temple as far as the Court of the Gentiles, but if they trespassed further into the temple, they were at risk of death. Gentiles could not come all the way into the presence of God unless they became full converts to Judaism through circumcision and law-keeping. Paul flatly refused to preserve this distinction and division. He insisted that the Gentiles were fully accepted with the saints as heirs of the promise made to Abraham that he should inherit the world. Furthermore, Paul insisted that the acceptance of Gentile Christians could never be based upon adherence to Old Covenant norms. Their acceptance rests in the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. Christ alone has perfectly kept the Law. For Paul, Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the law, and all who are baptized into Christ fulfill the law in Christ by the Spirit.

Romans cannot be understood without understanding this ever-darkening backdrop of Jewish-Gentile controversy within the early Christian church. This controversy underlies every book of the New Testament. Indeed, the point of the New Testament is the New Testament, the New Covenant fulfilled in Christ. The question of how the New Covenant included Gentiles was the great burning issue of the day. A good portion of this story is told in Acts and Galatians, but the problem is everywhere you turn for the church in the first-century. The problem really revolved around the temple at Jerusalem. As long as the temple was standing the controversy could not be fully resolved because observant Jewish Christians were concerned about ceremonial ritual purity and thus could not contaminate themselves with Gentile Christian fellowship. The Law of Moses and the traditions of their fathers simply would not permit it. The argument was so fierce that even Peter was drawn unwillingly into its hypocrisy in Antioch, an embarrassing lapse that made Paul nearly apoplectic with indignation. Paul's recounting of this story with clear voice and rising tones in Galatians 2 makes it rather obvious that the incident still rankled.

Within the context of this controversy, we encounter another major theme of the book, which is the priesthood of believers and, more specifically, the priesthood of Paul himself. Paul does not spend a great deal of time explaining this, but he very plainly describes his ministry as a priestly ministry. Paul tells us that he serves as a priest presenting the Gentiles to God as an acceptable sacrifice, and thus, he will not permit his offering to be disqualified by self-appointed Judaizers. These Judaizers seem to view themselves as New Testament gate-keepers standing guard at the entrance of the church just as the Levites guarded the gates of the temple. Paul will not abide their impertinence, no, not for a moment. We hear his impassioned cry, "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God elect? It is God that justifies!" (Romans 8:33). One wonders if he had a name or two in mind.

Another prominent theme is the vindication (justification) of God. Paul's critics leveled the charge that his gospel made God a liar. Most Jews insisted that the promises of God were made to ethnic Israel for her return from exile and restoration to the perfect worship of the one true God in the temple according to the Law of Moses, and though, certainly, the prophets foretold that the Gentile nations would be blessed by Israel's return and restoration and come to worship the one true God, their blessing would be secondary and derivative. The Judaizers did not agree with Paul that the Gentiles should be fully included in the covenant by faith in Christ alone. This was heresy! However, Paul insisted that a Spirit-interpreted reading of the Law and Prophets was now necessary because of the radical and unexpected work of God in the resurrection of Christ. The resurrection of Christ made all things new and called for a radically new understanding of the Law and Prophets. This was the "mystery" that Paul spoke about so often, "that the Gentiles should be fellow
heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel" (Ephesians 3:6). For Paul, Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law and Prophets to all who believe, and the New Testament church, made up of both Jews and Gentiles together in one body, is the true Israel born again by the Spirit. Thus, God is vindicated in the resurrection of Jesus and His promises are sure.

This point of view requires Paul to explain what is going on with Israel's unbelief and rejection of Christ as Messiah. He spends considerable time doing so. Indeed, chapters 9-11 are really the heart of the epistle. Paul insists that the Gentile believers understand the mystery so their confidence in the sovereignty of God will be strengthened and they will come to see the central role they play in the full and final realization of God's redemptive plan.

Moreover, the theme of God's vindication leads Paul to assert that believers also are vindicated (justified) in Christ. We are lifted up into the Holy of Holies to serve as holy priests in the presence of God in Christ. God, Who is just, has become the justifier of those who believe. We are acquitted in the law-court of divine judgment. We are made righteous in Christ. The Law could never produce such righteousness because of the weakness of the flesh. Only through confidence in the faithfulness of God in Christ can we access such perfect righteousness. All of this will come into clearer focus as we go along.

As we trace our way through the themes of the book we come to the question of communion and community. Table fellowship is an underlying motif throughout Romans. Inevitably, Paul is a practical man. He is never interested in theology for theology's sake. It is always how theology is lived out in everyday life, how the Word becomes flesh, that is uppermost in Paul's mind. This is certainly the case in Romans where the driving force of his theology leads inexorably to the very practical matter of how Jewish and Gentiles Christians can and must eat together. The church is united or divided around this question, the question of how to join together in koinonia.

Paul's theology is a theology of unity through diversity. Paul examines this point explicitly in Romans 14. Paul understood that the church could never be formed into one harmonious whole until the question of ritual purity and dietary exclusivity was resolved. Paul is concerned with the practical implications of the new, Spirit-filled community formed from justified Jews and Gentiles together in Christ. This immediate proximity of Jews and Gentiles in Christian fellowship created temporary difficulties while the church remained in its immaturity awaiting the removal of the Temple and its obsolete rituals. This is the concern of the final chapters, as he seeks to teach the church how to be a unified community while still divided by convictions and culture.

Romans is written in three basic sections. Chapters 1-8 are an extended discussion of justification by grace through faith. Chapters 9-11 are an extended discussion of God's predestined plan of salvation for Israel and the Gentiles. Chapters 12-16 discuss the Gentiles as an acceptable, corporate sacrifice unto God and the practical implications of living as such. The central text of the book is Romans 12:1, 2: "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." Paul is concerned that the Gentiles be offered up by his ministry as an acceptable sacrifice unto God. This is the primary motif and the subject title of our study: A Living Sacrifice.

This overall message of the book must be understood in order to understand its component parts. We have often lacked in our understanding of the book because we have not grasped the central message. We cannot "spot-read" and "proof-text" passages and accurately present Paul's doctrine of salvation. Many errors have arisen because of this tendency. As we consider Romans verse-by-verse, let us keep the overall theme in mind. Paul writes to persuade us that the church is gathered together out of every nation into one body in Christ. And because Christ is our spotless sacrifice, we are accepted as a living sacrifice in the presence of God. This gracious acceptance of free justification in Christ is the basis of our communion with God and must be the basis of our communion with one another.

A Living Sacrifice: Studies in Romans (Promo Post)

2008-11-29T02:13:00.003-06:00

It may be apparent to the few who stumble by this blog on occasion that I have not kept the content current. I hope to remedy this unacceptable state of affairs by presenting a series of articles on the Book of Romans. I have high hopes for this series. I plan to organize the material into a book on Romans to be published, God willing, next year (2009). This material follows the same outline as the podcasts on Romans, for both simply follow the text, but this series will be a unique presentation of the material. I hope this will be a blessing, and I look forward to getting your feedback!

I Corinthians 2: Part 2

2008-05-23T15:05:00.002-05:00

In the middle of chapter 2 Paul abruptly veered into one of the most profound statements on preaching contained in Scripture, and it is hither I have been hastening, for this is the point I really want to get at. After asserting that he determined to know nothing "save Christ and Him crucified" (2:2), Paul refuted the idea that his simple preaching lacked wisdom. Paul insisted that his preaching imparted wisdom, but only the mature understood it (v. 6). This wisdom is neither the wisdom of the world nor of the rulers of this world, but rather, this wisdom is a secret wisdom that is hidden in the counsels of God, a wisdom that God sovereignly decreed before the creation of the world, the wisdom that is the Logos, the everlasting Word of God. The wisdom of the Greeks was the transient wisdom of a dying age. But the wisdom of the Cross is the eternal wisdom that predates the world. Indeed, this wisdom not only predates the world, this is the wisdom that called the world into being. The world flowed out of this wisdom. One could say that this wisdom is not in the world, but the world is in this wisdom, for all things are held together by the eternal purpose and plan of God (v.7).

This mysterious and hidden wisdom could not be understood by the rulers of this age, for if they could have seen the purpose of God, they would not have fulfilled it (v.8). The wise of the world have not seen it with their eye, heard it with their ear, nor even imagined it in their heart. However—and this is where the drums should roll and the trumpets blare—God has revealed His secret wisdom to us! Furthermore, God has revealed it to us by His Spirit, thus the wisdom of God cannot be known by the mind of man. To try and present God's wisdom with human wisdom is futile. This is why Greek rhetoric could not do the job in the first century, and this is why post-modern, gobbledygook preaching will not get the job done today. You may grow a crowd, but you cannot build a church apart from the enlightenment of the Spirit. True converts come into the church through the wisdom of the Cross, and the wisdom of the Cross can only be seen by the revelation of the Spirit. When we have succeeded in making the gospel acceptable to the unregenerate man, we have just succeeded in damning him to hell. That sort of saccharine, sophistical preaching only inoculates unbelievers against the truth. The Spirit must reveal the wisdom of God or it will remain forever folly to those who are perishing (1:18).

Now, back to my text. God has revealed His secret wisdom to us by His Spirit. But notice what Paul said next. This is something I have often overlooked: "For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God" (v.10). Or as the ESV renders it: "For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God." He then says, "For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God" (v.11). Or, again, the ESV: "For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God." Quite literally Paul was saying that the Spirit of God within us searches out the secret counsels of God and reveals them to us. Not only is this a powerful statement about the oneness of God, for the communion of the Holy Spirit with God is explained as how a man might commune with His own spirit (and yet he is still just one man), this is also an amazing statement about the intercession of the Spirit of Christ for us and how God has placed His Spirit within us to interpret the mind and will of God to us.

The Spirit of God within us "translates" God's Word in a way we can understand. This is called revelation. The Spirit of God does not alter the content of God's Word, but the Spirit within us—which is the Spirit of the Mediator, the man, Christ Jesus—opens our understanding so we may grasp by degrees the secret wisdom of God. This is why human wisdom cannot explain God to skeptics: God must "explain" Himself! If we do not have the Spirit within us interpreting the voice of God to us, we cannot understand the Word. This is why it is so foolish to think that we can convert unbelievers to faith by the force of our "relevant" preaching. If God does not open their heart by the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, our feeble words are in vain.

Of course, I do not mean to say that God imparts revelation in a subjective and personal way apart from preaching. Not at all. Preaching is the vehicle of God's revelation. For Paul went on the say, "Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual." (v.13). And again, ESV: "And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual."In other words, Paul said that he learned the truth of God's wisdom as the Spirit of God revealed it to him, and then he declared that truth in words that were taught to him by the Spirit of Christ. Then he concluded that this wisdom can only be conveyed to those who are themselves "spiritual."

In this one verse Paul showed a three-fold process of prophetic impartation—or to put it plainly, how preaching must work on three levels if it is to work at all. First of all, the Spirit must reveal the wisdom of God to the man of God, the preacher. These are the "which things also we speak." Then, the Spirit must give the preacher words "which the Holy Ghost teacheth" so that the man of God may say it right. He cannot speak with words taught to him by human wisdom. He must speak as the Spirit leads him to speak. This is what we call "the anointing." The anointing first rests upon the man of God in his study during the preparation of the Word and then in the pulpit during the presentation of the Word. The preacher is anointed by the Spirit "to find out acceptable words" (Ecclesiastes 12:10) and to present them in a spiritually persuasive manner. And this manner will not be in conformance to the silly methods of the worldly-wise.

But there is one final level to effective preaching, and this level must not be overlooked: we compare "spiritual things with spiritual." Or, we interpret spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. And right here is where most pastors could just sit right down and cry. Every pastor has faced the frustration of trying to communicate spiritual wisdom to carnal people. It simply cannot be done. They will just sit and stare blankly, as my dad might say, like a mule looking at a new gate. It is not necessarily that they do not want to hear the Word, but they cannot hear the Word unless the Spirit within them interprets it for them.

This is why the congregation needs preparation for the hearing of the Word just as the preacher needs preparation for the preaching of the Word. And it is our job as preachers to promote this sort of preparation. How do we do this? We do so first of all by explaining to the church their desperate need to be filled with the Spirit. The Spirit of Christ within them interprets to them what God is saying through the preaching. If we do not teach them this, our people will fall into the Corinthian trap of thinking that the natural man is able to grasp the spiritual things of God, and they will come to church as carnal as ducks. I am just as smart as the next man, they will say, and miss the point altogether that the smartest man in the room cannot understand the hidden wisdom of God if God does not reveal it to him. Preaching is pointless unless God makes the point.

Second, we prepare people to hear the Word by promoting prayer before service. When the people are taught to seek the Lord that He might reveal His Word to them, an amazing thing happens: God answers prayer! He gives bread to the hungry. If we shall ask, we shall receive. We cannot overemphasize the importance of preparation for preaching in prayer. Third, if we are one of those rare preachers that actually preaches from the Bible, we should push our people very firmly to read the Bible! The vocabulary of the Spirit is Scripture, which is why so many people rarely hear God speak. If we would encourage Bible reading, especially public reading of Scripture—and I mean lengthy selections that actually get people familiar with their Bible—then we would encounter more than blank, eyes-glazed-over-are-you-done-yet? sort of response to preaching.

The bottom line is this: preaching cannot be effective unless it is Spirit empowered from the moment the Holy Ghost gives a word to the preacher, to the moment he steps to the pulpit to deliver that word, until the moment the congregation sitting in the pews feels the gentle urging of the Spirit to "consider what [he says] and the Lord give thee understanding in all things" (II Timothy 2:7). It is all of the Spirit. If our preaching is dull, we do not need to look to the world around us to see how to liven it up with better, more relevant methods. If we desire to build a ministry that lasts, a church that endures the storm, then we must call on God to "[send] forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts crying, Abba, Father" (Galatians 4:6)! Preachers today are facing a crisis of confidence, the ultimate test of our faith. Do we believe the gospel works? Do we trust in the Spirit of God to open the hearts of those whom He has called and chosen? Must we turn to the methods of the world in order to have effective preaching? Must we outsource the building of the church to the experts of the world? I think not. Jesus is still the only builder of the church, and we must be his wise master builders. But that leads us into chapter 3.

I Corinthians 2: Part 1

2008-05-23T14:56:00.003-05:00

The church at Corinth had a problem with preaching. I do not mean to say that they did not like preaching. No, indeed. They liked preaching a lot. In fact it was one their favorite forms of entertainment. And this, of course, was the problem. Preaching had become a show. It had become an amusement, a diversion to be appraised and applauded as just another form of sophisticated Greek rhetoric. The Greeks of Paul's day prized skilled oratory above all other forms of public entertainment. The most celebrated personalities of their day were the sophists and rhetoricians. Accomplished public speakers were the rock stars and movie stars of that day. This attitude bled over into the church at Corinth, and preaching was being corrupted into just another form of public speaking.

Paul highlighted this problem in I Corinthians 1-4 while addressing the more obvious problem of division within the church. The church at Corinth was divided into several factions, and these factions were formed around the names of certain prominent preachers. Some said they were of Paul, some of Apollos, some of Cephas, and others said they were of Christ. These new disciples organized themselves around certain preachers as if they were founders of different schools of philosophy. The Greeks had been reared on the various schools of thought within Greek academic culture, and it seemed very natural to do the same within the church. Of course, the true motive of such posturing was self-promotion and aggrandizement, but pride always wears better under a cloak of piety.

Paul rebuked this division sharply, but then he dug deeper than just surface fissures in the congregation. Paul perceived that there was something more at work there than just a natural human tendency to form parties and organize factions. The division at Corinth arose from a fundamental misunderstanding about the nature of preaching and how the gospel is effectively communicated. Corinth was divided around preachers because Corinth misunderstood preaching. This is how Paul's opening rebuke on division quickly became an extended discourse on the message and methods of preaching.

Just after Paul reminded the Corinthians that they were one in Christ because of their one baptism in His name, he launched into his sermon on the preaching of the Cross. He said, "For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect" (1:17). It becomes evident from this point on that Paul was exposing their pretensions to wisdom that so powerfully dominated the way they viewed preaching and preachers. He asserted that their view of preaching—that the gospel can be effectively presented in "the wisdom of words"—missed the point and the power of the Cross. Men could not be truly converted through the force of Greek rhetoric. They cannot be brought to genuine faith in Christ by human performance.

To think so is to think that men are saved by how we preach rather than what we preach, more by method than by message. And most importantly, to think so is to think that men are saved by the power of man, by the effect of human persuasion. This is intolerable to God, for He insists "that no flesh should glory in his presence" (1:29). God has deliberately determined that His saving gospel cannot be presented in any way that allows preening flesh to take credit for its success. The wisdom of man negates the power of the Cross. Paul said it makes the Cross "of none effect" (1:17). This means human-powered preaching cannot communicate the gospel. The preaching of the gospel only works when it is empowered by the Spirit of God. For the Corinthians this meant that the gospel could not be presented in the popular forms of Greek oratory. Wonder what it means for us today? Could it have any bearing on our current post-modern craze for "relevant" preaching?

Paul insisted that the world in its wisdom would not acknowledge God, so God determined to confound their wisdom with the folly of the Cross and the foolishness of Cross-preaching. To the Jews, it is a scandal: no true Messiah would suffer a cursed hanging upon the Cross. To the Gentiles, it is pure folly: no true sage would establish his philosophy on the basis of death and defeat. The world despises everything the Cross represents. This is by divine design. God planned it this way. Thus, to attempt to borrow the world's wisdom to preach such apparent folly is senseless. We cannot persuade the world to accept the premise of the Cross if we present it in a culture-relevant way. Even foolish pagans are smart enough to know when we try to put the message of the Cross over on them under the guise of sophisticated arguments. They recognize very quickly that the preaching of the Cross offends their intellectual sensibilities, and they walk away in utter contempt. Paul made it clear that there is no way to "pretty up" the Cross. Its power lies in its stark, brutal reality. God has saved the world through the means of a hideous murder.

Think about this. The universal symbol of Christianity is the Cross. People wear it around their neck. Churches hang it on the wall. Drivers plaster it to the bumper of their car. And yet, the Cross is a symbol of execution. We see it so often it has lost its power to shock and offend. But what would we do if we beheld a man walking quietly down the street with a miniature, silver electric chair hanging from a chain around his neck? Or a hangman's noose? A guillotine? And yet, this is exactly what the symbol of the Cross is meant to convey. It is not meant to convey an exciting new philosophy of life. It conveys the sentence of death upon sin, the judgment of God upon the wicked, and the hope of eternal life for those who are baptized into the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And it is only when the Cross is understood in this way that it has the power to save. A culturally neutral, ambiguously relevant Cross is pure nonsense. The only way the Cross makes sense is when the Cross is boldly proclaimed in all its harsh reality as the sign of God's terrifying hatred for sin and His astounding love toward sinners. To present the gospel in a way that entertains pagans only ensures their damnation, for the only thing that saves—the gospel of the Cross—is "made of none effect" when presented in the words of man's wisdom. This must have been very sobering for the Corinthians. I wonder how this should make us feel?

In chapter 2, Paul reminded the Corinthians of his method of preaching when he first came to Corinth. He determined that he would stay intently focused on the message of Christ and His Cross. He overcame the temptation to present the gospel in a manner palatable to intellectuals and deliberately avoided "enticing words of man's wisdom." Of course, this does not mean that Paul used coarse language or that his speech was uneducated. It means simply that he refused to use the rhetorical methods of the Greeks to persuade unbelievers that the gospel was true. Paul understood that the only true persuasion of the gospel was the persuasion of the Spirit converting the heart of the hearer. If the Spirit did not persuade men, all of Paul's fancy tricks of oratory would never do it.

The Corinthians considered Paul too simple. Paul responded that his preaching was too difficult. They thought his message was beneath them; Paul said it went over their heads. Paul's simple preaching imparted the most profound form of wisdom ever revealed, the mysterious and hidden wisdom that God ordained to our glory before the world began (2:6,7). Yet, the sophisticated and urbane Corinthians failed to recognize Paul's preaching as the highest form of wisdom because their sophistication was of the wrong sort—the worldly sort. They were carnal and walked as men (3:1-3). Because Paul did not use words of wisdom to present the gospel, the Corinthians concluded that Paul's preaching was shallow and simplistic. They could not have been more wrong. They thought his preaching was beneath them because they were unusually wise. In reality, Paul's preaching was beyond them because they were unusually carnal.

They were too fleshly, too spiritually immature, to recognize true wisdom when they heard it. Paul underscored this fact throughout the rest of his discourse, especially in chapter 4, where his subtle irony broke down into outright sarcasm. The Corinthians were so wise that they had become fools.

Our Reasonable Service

2008-04-03T17:28:00.003-05:00

Paul tells us in Romans 12:1 to present our "bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God which is our reasonable service." This phrase "reasonable service" means "rational/spiritual worship." It is important to note that the word translated "reasonable" in the KJV holds both meanings, rational and spiritual. This is important because Paul is not saying, as we often think, that our service to God is not excessive or unfair, that God is only requiring of us what is reasonable. Rather, he is saying that our worship is spiritual in contrast to the carnal sacrifices of the Old Covenant, and it is rational in the sense that the forms and order of worship come as the Spirit directs our mind to understand the revelation of New Covenant worship. This flows directly out of his teaching in Romans 8 (see 8:5-8 in particular) about fulfilling the righteousness of the Law by receiving a spiritual mind in Christ. We worship according to a new way of thinking. Our worship is not "conformed to this world"—the old order—but it is "transformed by the renewing of our mind." This is worship according to the "good, acceptable, and perfect will of God."

This means, then, that New Covenant worship must have a balance of rationality and spirituality. Now, I do not mean to impose our current concerns upon the text and assume that Paul was facing then exactly what we face today. But I do believe that Scripture has a timeless way of speaking to every generation and the problems we face in worship today. Certainly we are not dealing with Judaizers exactly as Paul was then, and Paul was not dealing with the high church vs. free church problem exactly as we are today. However, the principle still applies. Worship must be carefully balanced between the tendency toward hyper-rationality and hyper-spirituality. We must blend both aspects of divine/human interaction as we worship. We must worship rationally with the intellectual mind, and we must worship spiritually with the emotional heart. This seems only reasonable.

The Works of the Flesh Are Manifest

2008-03-27T02:27:00.003-05:00

In Galatians 5, Paul tells us that "the works of the flesh are manifest." In other words, the works of the flesh will become obvious over time. The works of the flesh are contrasted directly with the fruit of the Spirit. Just as the Spirit bears fruit, the flesh bears fruit—or, produces works. The apples of the apple tree are manifest. You know a tree is an apple tree because it bears apples. And amazingly, this sort of blatant manifestation is also true of orange trees. You know a tree by its fruit. Seems simple enough.

Just so, we can know what is of the flesh because it will produce the works of the flesh. And the works that the flesh will produce is a rather wicked collection of evil works. The flesh will produce adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, hatred, wrath, strife, sedition, heresies, and so on and so forth. That is quite a list. No doubt.

But here is where it gets interesting. When we think of the flesh and its works, we immediately think of unrighteousness of every type. And we do so because of the aforementioned list of distastefuls. But Paul tells us that these works are the result of seeking righteousness in the flesh, not unrighteousness. In other words, when Paul warns the Galatian believers about the risk of producing adultery and fornication, he is pointing to their desire to be righteous in the flesh. Think about it. Paul is in full battle array against the Judaizers, a bunch of first-century Jewish-Christians that demanded circumcision and law-keeping of Paul's fledgling Gentile congregations. The Judaizers have almost persuaded the Galatians that they cannot attain righteousness before God apart from circumcision and law-keeping. Paul sees this as seeking righteousness "in the flesh." And Paul insists that this sort of self-righteousness will produce exactly the opposite of what the Judaizers promise. They promise love, joy and peace, but they will produce adultery and fornication.

Of course, the Judaizers were not trying to produce adultery and fornication. They were trying to produce holiness. Problem was, they were teaching the Galatians that they could not really be holy unless they were circumcised and kept the law. Both Paul and the Judaizers were working toward the same goal: both wanted the Gentiles to be holy. But Paul insists that true holiness cannot come from the flesh. It must come from the Spirit. He asks, "Having begun in the Spirit are you now made perfect in the flesh?" He understands by revelation what the Judaizers have missed: to seek righteousness in the flesh is to guarantee unrighteousness. When we set out to be holy in the flesh, we invariably end up with the very behavior we are trying to avoid. Seeking righteousness in the flesh will always produce the works of the flesh. That is a profound irony.

This goes all the way back to our original sin in the Garden. Satan did not tempt Adam and Eve to commit adultery (though that may have been difficult right at first, anyway). He tempted them to discern good from evil, to become like God, to seek God-likeness—or, godliness. Did we get that? The devil tempted Eve to godliness. However, their attempt at godliness produced ungodliness. Why? Because they sought godliness apart from God.

When Paul speaks of "the flesh" in Romans and elsewhere, he is speaking of the righteousness of the flesh, the attempt of the flesh to do right apart from faith in God. When we read references to "the flesh" in Paul's writings we automatically think of adultery, fornication and other forms of human mischief. But when Paul speaks of "the flesh," he is thinking of prayer, giving, worship, church attendance, and other forms of human mischief—at least, it becomes mischief when these good things are done in the flesh apart from the life of the Spirit. In other words, Paul understands that the attempt to serve the Lord in the power of human effort rather than by the power of the Holy Spirit is serving God "in the flesh," and it will always lead to the very ungodliness we are trying to avoid. The works of the flesh are manifest.