Romans 3:21 - Righteousness of God

"But now .." This can be taken either as the next logical step, or as the next temporal step. Ie either the next step in the argument, or the next step in time. In fact, both might be true, for Christ certainly did come after the Law, and it is the events around the cross that provided the basis for all that Paul was saying. Of course, it is also the next step in the argument as well. 

"Righteousness of God " is a crucial term, and also one about which there is debate. Again, the two main ways of looking at the term may both be valid. People are always complaining that God is not fair. Atheists do it all the time, though how someone who supposedly does not exist can be guilty of all the crimes they accuse God of remains a mystery. Probably you and I have done it on occasion. There are certainly times when God does not seem to be acting justly. Up until this point, it did not seem that God's plans were getting very far. Adam and Eve had sinned, then Israel had repeatedly rejected and disobeyed God. Things were not looking good. The Jews thought the Law was the way that God's plans would be fulfilled, but this was not to be the case. They would be fulfilled in another way.

The other way of taking the term is in how we get into a position of righteousness. How do we gain right standing with God? Or, perhaps, how do we stay in right standing with God. The Law was a way of life, it was how they were to live in the kingdom, but if failed, or rather they failed. So now a means of attaining right standing with God was revealed in Christ that did not depend upon the Law.

Moreover, this way was testified to by the Law and the Prophets. Ie it was not new in that sense, it was not contrary to all that the Old Testament had been saying, rather it was the fulfilment of it. The Law and the Prophets were always pointing towards Christ and towards faith being the way.

Romans 3:9-20- All have sinned

So if the Jews had many privileges, were the Jews at an advantage when it came to judgement? The answer is no. For all have sinned, Jews and Gentiles. Peter says that judgement begins with the house of God (1 Peter 4:17), so we too should never become complacent. Boasting that we are baptised, that we are filled with the Spirit, that we go to such and such a church, is of no value whatsoever unless we are penitent, trusting, and being transformed.

Paul then introduces a whole series of quotations from the Old Testament depicting the sinfulness of man. All have sinned. Their mouths speak deceit. Blood is on their hands. The do not know the way of peace and they do not fear God.

It is the law that says this, and what the law says it says to those under the law, so it applies to the Jews. It is a very human trait to think that some rule or law applies to everyone else except me. So all this applies to the Jews. Why then does Paul go on to say it applies to the whole world as well, for the world is not under the law? It is because the salvation of God goes out to the whole world.The plan was that all people's would be blessed through Abraham. The starting point for the message of salvation is accepting our sinfulness. Everyone needs to accept this, Jew or Gentile.

Justified, or declared righteous, refers to a legal decision in our favour. On the basis of the law no one is going to get a favourable verdict, for all have been declared guilty.

Romans 3:1-8 - God is Faithful

The Jewish nation and the rite of circumcision were clearly of value in the Old Testament, so did what Paul was saying mean that he thought they now had no value? Paul certainly did not think this was the case, to put it mildly. The first thing is that the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God. So all that we read about in the New Testament is entirely consistent the Old Testament. It builds upon it, and fulfills it.

What happened was that Israel was unfaithful to God. They did not trust in Him, they did not keep His laws, they did not exercise justice and mercy. But the unfaithfulness of the Jews does not nullify God's faithfulness. Paul then quotes from Psalm 51:4, the Psalm that David wrote after he had repented of his sin of adultery and murder. 

Paul then considers some possible objections. We hear similar objections today, and they illustrate the futility of man's thinking that Paul talked about in chapter 1. First there is the argument that if our sin brings out God's righteousness more clearly, then God is unjust in sending His wrath, and should actually be rather pleased with us for sinning!Such an argument is pure nonsense. 

At the root of these sorts of arguments is a failure to realise that the basic problem is my sin. I need to be saved. I need to be forgiven and I need to be transformed. 

Paul's verdict on the people that produce such arguments is that they will fully deserve the condemnation that they will receive in the future.
There is a clear warning here. People think that they can get round the "God problem" with a clever argument. Such people are deluded. It is not a matter of winning an argument, it is a matter of answering to the living God. The question everyone needs to ask themselves is "how will you stand before the living God?". 

Romans 2:17-29 - True Circumcision

Paul now imagines himself addressing a Jew. Now the Jews were very proud of their heritage and would react to what Paul was had been saying. They would react to him equating them with Gentiles, and would react to being told that they were not righteous. They saw themselves as superior to the rest of the world, indeed as a light to the world. They had the truth from God, they knew how to live, and the rest of the world needed to learn from them. This was the mindset of the self-righteous Jew. So Paul asks such a person the pointed question, "why do you not teach yourself?". Whenever we judge others we should take a close look at ourselves first. Jesus taught this very point when He told the parable of taking specks and logs out of our eyes. The picture conjured up by this is ridiculous, but so are we when we get judgemental, for it always ends up highlighting the shortcomings in our own lives.

The Jews were reviled by the rest of the world. Indeed, God's name was blasphemed because of them, and their own Scriptures said this (Isaiah 52:5; Ezek 36:20,22). 

They boasted about circumcision. Now note that Paul does not condemn circumcision outright, but says that it is of no value unless they kept the law. The quality of their lives was what mattered. This was not a new concept, for Deuteronomy speaks of the circumcision of the heart (Deut 10:16, 30:6). Then he points out that if those who are uncircumcised physically obey the Law, will they not be counted as circumcised (ie counted as part of God's people).

The chapter finishes with the conclusion that having the Law and trappings of the Law was of no value. What matters is the life a person lives. Circumcision of the heart by the Holy Spirit is what matters.

So where does all this lead us? The very clear message of the chapter is that what we do with our lives matters. Now Paul emphatically is not saying that we can earn salvation. What he is saying is that how we live does matter, and any "religious system" that is any good has to result in transformed lives. Right at the end he says that this can happen only through the Spirit, but more of that later.

Romans 2:12-16 - Doing what is right

There are several key "all" phrases in Romans, and here is the first. All who sin will perish, it does not matter if you are under the law or not, ie it does not matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile. People often raise the argument  against the gospel "what about those who have not heard". This makes a mistake. No one will perish because they have not heard the good news, they will perish because of their sin.

Paul here is addressing Jewish pride. Having the Law on its own did not matter, it was doing the Law that mattered. 

NIV puts verses 14-15 in brackets, but it is better to see them as part of the main argument, rather than an aside. The original does not have any brackets anywhere, and has the word "for", indicating it helps to explain what has just been said. This partly addresses the "what if they have not heard" argument. All human beings have some sense of right and wrong, and the good actions of a Gentile put the Gentile in a better position than the bad actions of a Jew, even though the Jew has the Law. 

So the emphasis is on what someone does. Note that Paul states quite clearly that part of the gospel is the fact that everyone will be judged on the last day through Christ.

Now is all this hypothetical, since no one will be found innocent on their own merits? I would say yes and no. It is absolutely true that no one can stand on their own merits, all of us are guilty. However, the gospel also brings change, and the Holy Spirit is producing a people who will live for God. A repeated refrain in the Old Testament is "they will be my people and I will be their God" (eg Jeremiah 32:38). In Revelation it says the bride (the church) has made herself ready and speaks of the righteous acts of the saints (Rev 19:6-8). Now transformation takes place as a process in our lives, but also at the last day we will be transformed in the twinkling of an eye (1 Cor 15:52). So God will have a people who are truly His, who are what we were always meant to be.

Romans 2:5-11 - Judgement

Verse 5 applies to all who refuse to repent and turn to Christ. There will come a day when God's righteous judgement is revealed. The full consummation of this will happen when Christ returns, but "mini judgements" happen at various points in history. Things happen that bring to light the sin of man, of organisations, of companies, of nations, even of churches, and judgement is executed. Every single person on this planet is ultimately answerable to God. We also need to remember that we too will have to answer for our actions. Even though we are forgiven in Christ, the New Testament is also clear, including Paul, that we will have to answer for what we have done in life (eg 1 Cor 3:10-15).

Then in verse 7 we get the statement that those who are persistent in doing good will receive eternal life. Is this teaching salvation by works? No, but it does mean what it says. If someone says they believe in Christ but there is no hint of this in their life, then they are a liar or are deceived. Our salvation includes both forgiveness of sins, and being reborn. Repentance means turning from our own way of life to Christ. If someone is self-seeking he will receive God's wrath.

God's judgement is based on truth. So those who do evil, whether Jew or Gentile, will receive trouble and distress, but those who do good will receive glory, honour and peace. There is no favouritism. This passage does give support to the notion that the passage is aimed primarily at the Jews, for they thought they had a privileged position. However, it fits equally well with the idea that the passage is describing how things work in general. For any "model" of how God works that neglects the special place of the Jews is in error.

Romans 2:2-4 - Repent

As mentioned in the previous post, this passage has caused difficulty. Some see it as addressed to the Pagan moralists, others as addressed to Jews. Both make some sense. I will look at the passage form the perspective that it is written that it is describing and explaining how God works, in particular how justice, righteousness and salvation work, and we are to look at ourselves in the light of this.

The first point about God's judgement is that it is based on truth, ie it is completely reliable, and completely right in every respect. People who argue against God are very fond of saying things like "how can a God of love send people to hell", or such and such a judgement would be unfair. We can be completely sure that every judgement made will be absolutely correct and fair.

Now our natural human tendency is to judge others but excuse ourselves. In Paul's day there were Pagan moralists, like Seneca, who expressed high ideals, but whose own lifestyle was very questionable to say the least. The Jews were very proud of their heritage (as we shall see later in the chapter). Today a common pattern is for a politician or political party to get on their high horse about some issue, then some time later they too are found to be guilty of similar things. The truth is that we may be able to fool others, even ourselves, for a time, but we cannot fool God. We will all face judgement and there will be no clever tricks to enable us to escape.

There is only one route out, and that is the route of repentance. So often we seek to excuse or justify ourselves. In doing this we are showing contempt for God's kindness and patience. Man thinks "I have got away with it", so he carries on in his own no so sweet way. Instead we should realise that God's patience is designed to give us the chance to repent. Peter makes a similar point in 2 Peter 3:9. God's goal is to lead men to repent.

Romans 2:1 - Judgment

This chapter is sometimes treated as something of an embarrassment, as it talks about judgement of works, and so at a superficial level seems to go contrary to salvation by grace and faith. As such many evangelical commentators have treated it as being aimed at the "moral pagan". NT Wright (and others) take a "new perspective" on the chapter. The new perspective focuses on Romans being about how God's plan of salvation is fulfilled, whereas the more normal evangelical approach is to focus on salvation of the individual. Here I think Wright's approach is very helpful, and complementary to the Salvation of the individual. 

We also need to focus on what salvation is. Salvation is not a "ticket to heaven". Nor is it just about forgiveness. There are two key aspects to salvation (there are of course many aspects to salvation, but we will stick with the two most important here): one is the forgiveness of sins, and the other is the sanctification of the person. You cannot have one without the other. The Bible knows nothing about someone "making a decision" and then carrying on living as before and being saved. Now it is possible for someone to be saved on their deathbed, for the criminal on the cross next to Jesus was saved, but in the Bible salvation involves forgiveness for what we have done, and transformation of what we are.

This is yet another example where it is useful to "ignore the chapters". I know I go on about this a bit, but it is important. Chapter 2 follows on directly from Chapter 1 and is a natural progression of the argument. So the preceding section has described a pretty depraved state. Now there can be various reactions to this. One is just to scoff and ignore it, that is not what Paul is dealing with here. Another is to think "well I am not like that" and "those people are terrible and deserve all they get". Paul is addressing such a response, and warns such a man or woman that they are in no better position. For in judging others we bring judgement upon ourselves for we are just as guilty. 

Now understand here that the warnings here and from Jesus on judging others does NOT mean we should not use discernment about what is right and wrong. The problem is not with saying that people who do the things outlined in chapter 1 are wrong, the problem lies in saying that they are worthy of judgement and we are not.
Now someone might object that "I might not be perfect, but I am not as bad as that." But remember that Jesus said in the sermon on the mount that if we look at someone lustfully we are guilty of adultery, or if we hate someone we are guilty of murder. At the same time consider this carefully. Clearly I would much rather you had a hateful thought towards me than actually murdered me! And one person in a couple would rather the other just looked at someone else than actually slept with them. So why did Jesus say this? It is because the goal is that we become just like Him, without a single wrong thought or motive inside us. When we look at it like this it it becomes much clearer why having wrong thoughts is so serious when the goal is perfection.

Romans 1:28-32 - A depraved mind

Now we move from sexual sins to various ones related to hatred.  Again this is a result of men rejecting the knowledge of God, so God gives them over to what they have chosen. Now in reading this section and preceding verses we need to realise that Paul is not saying everyone is like this all the time. He is not saying all of man's thinking is always futile, he is not saying that debauched sexual acts are all the man does, and nor is he saying slander, deceit murder etc are all that we do. He is highlighting the dark side of humanity. We were all created in the image of God, and we have all sinned. So in every person you find a mixture of remnants of the image of God and the results of sin, with the precise balance varying from one person to the next. But if we look at the world we see many of these things a lot of the time.

Moreover, not being content with just doing these things, men approve of those who do them. See how "clever" it is considered to tell lies, or to gain unfair advantage over others. Yet at the same time we know that such things are wrong. Again, we find a mixture in society. Society will lurch from being censorious one minute, to licentious the next. Yet at heart, all people have a sense of what is right and what is wrong.

Romans 1:26,27 - Homosexuality and the Bible

Paul then condemns homosexual acts. Today this is a very contentious issue, indeed it seems that at times society is loathe for the issue to be even discussed. So let's look at what the Bible says and why it says it. First, the Bible clearly states that homosexual acts are sinful, it says this in the Old Testament and in the New. Secondly homosexual acts are not a recent invention, but they have been prevalent throughout history. So any attempt to try and make out that the Bible does not really condemn homosexual acts  does not have much to be said for it.

When Jesus was questioned about divorce what He did was to take his questioners back to Genesis 2 when God instituted marriage. The God given plan of marriage is between one man and one woman and sexual intercourse is part of this, and anything that contravenes this goes against Biblical teaching. That is why all other sexual acts are condemned by the Bible. So sex before marriage is wrong, sex outside marriage is wrong, homosexual acts are wrong, pornography is wrong.

As we know, various Western societies have introduced, or are considering introducing, "gay marriage". If they decide to do this they need to understand that what they are introducing is contrary to Biblical teaching. What they are doing is continuing the rebellion started in the garden of Eden and choosing human wisdom over God's wisdom.

I believe we are far wiser to stick to the Biblical pattern. Why do I believe this? Ultimately it is because I trust God's wisdom over man's wisdom.

Romans 1:24,25 - Given over to sexual impurity

Man rejected God, so God rejected man. Man decided he wanted to set his own standards, to live his own way, so that is precisely what God gave to us. So God gave man over to sexual impurity, and sexual impurity was rife in the Greek and Roman world. Man lives under God's protection, even the most ardent atheists actually lives under God's protection. But from time to time God removes that protection and lets man receive the consequences of his choices, and the results are horrific.

Man exchanged the truth for a lie. So why are sexual sins so prevalent in what Paul says here? One is no doubt the prevalence of them in Paul's day, but there is more to it than that. Sexual sins are different from other sins. In 1 Cor 6:12-19 Paul says they are different, because they affect our innermost being. When the church talks about sexual morality the worlds gets on its high horse asking why the church is not concerning itself about world poverty instead of worrying about what people do with their bodies? This is the most stupid of arguments, and is stupid on two levels. First, the church does not say we need to focus on sexual sin at the expense of helping the poor, it is not saying it won't bother feeding the poor because it is going to have a debate on sexuality. Secondly, ask yourself this. How much unhappiness and pain is caused by relationships going wrong, by people being exploited for sex, by people being unfaithful in sex, by people taking advantage of each others in sex? What we "do with our bodies" does matter.

Romans 1:19-23 - Futile thinking

Now we see how ungodliness suppresses the truth. "For what can be known about God is plain to them". Is this so? Yes. Look at the world, the most natural and obvious conclusion is that it is created, that someone put it together. Note that I am saying nothing about how this was done, whether it took 6 days or billions of years in our time perspective, just that an obvious conclusion is that it is created.

As an aside, while I fully accept that the Bible is not a scientific textbook, and to treat it as such is a mistake, consider this. The Bible teaches that there is a beginning, that the universe had a beginning. Until about 50 years ago the general scientific view was that the universe had just always been. But the scientific evidence was increasingly showing that the universe must have had a beginning, and we now have the big bang as the most widely accepted theory. So here science eventually caught up with the Bible! Indeed there was great reluctance to accept the big bang theory because of the implications that if there was a beginning, then that implied there was a creator.

So today many scientists are so committed to evolution because they are determined that there should not be a God who had anything to do with creation. This does not apply to all scientists and it is not to say that evolution is complete nonsense, but there are those who have an irrational reaction to anything that questions neo-Darwinian evolution as a sufficient theory. Similarly in the field of cosmology there are those who subscribe to the multi-verse theory. Now this may or may not be true, but behind it is again the desire to avoid the need for God. Rejection of God leads to bad science and irrational thinking. In fact in both these areas even if neo-Darwinian evolution is true  and even if the multiverse theory is true, the objective to do away with God is not achieved. It is not impossible that God used evolution as part of the creation process. If there are indeed multi-verses we are still left with the question why?

"Claiming to be wise they became fools." When men reject God they inevitably end up attributing God like properties to created beings, even supposedly wise and sophisticated western minds. Watching a very good programme some time ago on the universe, the presenter seemed to be taking what was essentially a pantheistic view.

Romans 1:18 - The Wrath of God

The main exposition now begins. "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth". There is an awful lot can be said about this.

First we need to look at the word wrath. We have a tendency to associate wrath with uncontrolled anger, or with malice. This is not what we are talking about here. It is the considered, rational, response of God to man's sin. It is based on evidence, and the consequences of what we have done. 

It is directed against all our unrighteousness and ungodliness. At this point many will get angry, objecting about why they should have to do what God says. But that is the root of sin, the root of rebellion, the root of our problem. We need to make God our foundation stone. This is what Jesus taught in the parable of building upon the rock. It is what Proverbs says when it tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. 

We do not need to apologise to the world for any of this. At the final judgement the justice of all that God does will be evident to all.

And godlessness and unrighteousness suppress the truth. See what happens when sin abounds. Lies and deception always abound as well. Even within ourselves, have you noticed that when your motives or thoughts are not godly how difficult it is to see the truth, to work out what is right?

There is good news, and that is that God's wrath was revealed against Jesus on the cross. The cross says that this is the judgement that we deserve, but more of that later. For the time being Paul will be painting a picture of our sin. Unless a man comes to terms with his sin, he will never find the road to salvation.

Romans 1:17 - Righteousness of God

This, together with the previous verse, are the linchpins of the whole book. The gospel is the power of God for salvation, as we saw yesterday. The reason it is the power for salvation is that in the gospel the "righteousness of God is revealed".

What does it mean to when it talks about the "righteousness of God"? Well, there are two ways in which this phrase can be taken. The first is that it reveals how God is righteous. God had made promises to Abraham, but an honest appraisal of how things were going prior to the birth of Christ would have to be"not very well". All nations were definitely not being blessed, even Israel was not receiving much in the way of blessing. Were God's plans failing? Why was sin being allowed to go unpunished and to reign in the world? Today, people still make a charge against God. Just listen to arguments from atheists. 

The gospel is the way that God's plans come to fruition, and His righteousness is revealed through it.

The second way is that the gospel reveals how individuals can become righteous, how they can be in right standing with God. We do not have to chose between these two alternatives, for both are relevant, and Romans deals with both of them. It shows how God's plans work out, and how we get right with God.

Righteousness is a "forensic" term, a term applying to the courtroom, rather than a moral term. It refers to be declared in the right with God. 

So why does Paul say "for in the gospel..."? It is because sin was the barrier to God's power working in our lives. The problem was not with any lack of power on God's part. Rather it was with our sin which had made us enemies of God. Our sin meant we were under judgement. Something had to be done about this if His saving power was to work in our lives. 

This righteousness is obtained by faith. "From first to last", it is all about faith. Faith is the primary means of communicating with God. Paul quotes from Habbakuk 2:4, "the righteous will live by faith". 

So the scene is set for the magnificent exposition that Paul is about to embark on. He will tell us how God's plan will work out, how the problem of sin is dealt with, and how the power of salvation comes into our lives and works in it.

Romans 1:14-16 - The Power of God

Verse 14 actually says "Greeks and Barbarians..." Paul was called to preach to all the Gentiles about the good news. He seems to be assuring the Romans that he in no way considers them less important. Paul was called by God to take the gospel to everyone. So he was eager to preach in Rome as well. In the end he did get to Rome, where he was held under house arrest, but was allowed to preach and teach for a time. Eventually he was killed, probably during the time of Nero and his persecution of the church.

"I am not ashamed of the gospel." Rome was the capital of the empire. The Jews did not like the gospel, the Greeks did not like it. The Romans probably did not like it either. Yet Paul kept spreading the good news, and it kept on growing in all parts of Europe. Today we live in a world that is increasingly hostile to the gospel. Atheists disparage it as unscientific (a point on which they actually talking nonsense, but that is another story), secularists completely abhor Christian morality. In the midst of the society we should still be proud of the gospel. Why? Because it is the power of God that brings salvation. It is God's chosen method of bringing salvation to people. Individuals and societies need the power of God to bring the changes that they need, human solutions are doomed to fail, as we see again and again. So we should proclaim the gospel, for it is truly good news. Anyone who believes will start to find the power of God working in their lives.

Romans 1:11-13 - Spiritual Blessings

Paul wanted to see them in order to give them a spiritual gift. Now "spiritual gift" is often used to refer to tongues, prophecy, healing etc, but it can also be used in a much wider sense, and that is its use here. There is no reason to believe that the Roman Christians could not speak in tongues, or did not have the gift of prophecy. But Paul wished to strengthen them.  As Christians we are not to walk just in our natural strength and abilities. The Holy Spirit enables us to do much more than that. He brings new abilities, such as those listed in 1 Corinthians 12, He enables us to have special effectiveness in the "natural" things that we do. Jesus told His disciples that the Holy Spirit would bear witness to Him, but that the disciples also must testify about Jesus. When we preach or teach the Spirit also witnesses to people, and that is what makes it effective. The Holy Spirit can bring understanding in our hearts that totally transforms how we see a situation, and how we cope and react within a particular set of circumstances. When we meet with each other in Christ we impart spiritual understanding to each other.

As well as blessing the Romans, Paul expected to receive encouragement from them as well. We too should have this mutual expectation of bringing blessing to others, and them bringing blessing to us.

Paul stresses that the fact that he had not yet been to Rome was not through any lack of desire. He was in no way neglecting the Romans.

Romans 1:8-10 - Serving in the spirit

Having introduced himself, Paul now greets his hearers and does the groundwork before embarking on his exposition of the gospel.

Thankfulness is a feature of Paul's letters, he always thanks God for his readers. He thanks God through Christ. Christ is the only reason that we can thank God or give anything to Him. We come to God through Christ. Paul had not had personal dealings with the church in Rome at this point, unlike other places such as Ephesus and Corinth, but he had heard of their faith. Faith is not just an intellectual assent, nor an emotional response, it affects our whole life, and this effect in the Romans Christians was being reported elsewhere.

Paul's whole life was devoted to serving God. He did this "in his spirit". When we are saved we are made spiritually alive. The man without Christ is a man whose whole direction in life is dictated by circumstances, by the flesh. The man in Christ is a man whose life is energised and directed by the Spirit, and whose own spirit is now alive to the Holy Spirit. Our lives receive their energy and their direction from God. Serving God is not a matter of serving in our own strength, but living by the Spirit. This will involve us committing great energy and effort to God's work, but the source of all this is the Spirit. We need to learn to live by our spirit listening to and following the Spirit.

This service showed itself most supremely in Paul's preaching of the gospel. This was what God had called Paul to, and what he devoted his life to doing.

Paul prayed for the Roman Christians. Prayer was a major aspect of Paul's life, and is a key reason for his success and effectiveness. We need to pray more.

Romans 1:6,7 - Grace and Peace

Verse 6 tells Paul's readers who they are, what their status is. They are among the Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. You and I are part of God's plan. Jesus said, "you did not choose me, but I chose you". The root of sin was the rebellion against God, it revolves around saying we can live without God. And we still see this today. Just consider any argument you hear whether it is debating evolution, morality or anything that involves God. The root of what the atheists say is that we do not need God, and this is what leads to all our problems. 

When we come to Christ we are returning home, just like the prodigal son. We are back where we belong. And Christ is Lord, and He is the source. Everything does not depend upon you, you are not the maker of your own destiny. Rather we find our destiny in Christ. 

We are loved by God. We need to meditate on that simple fact often. There are times when the circumstances of our lives seem to say the exact opposite, but it is not true. God does love us. And we are called to be His holy people. We are called to be different, to live life a different way than the rest of the world, to see life and to see others in a different way.

God and Christ send their grace and peace to us. Today, tomorrow, grace and peace are heritage. We do not receive what we deserve, we will be more effective and successful than we have any right to be, and we can find peace in any situation. Now this is difficult, for there are times when the circumstances shout the exact opposite at us, but it is also in these times that we can find the truth and power of God's peace.

Romans 1:5 - A Call to All

"Through Him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles". There are a number of things to note here. First Christ is the source of everything. The church is not here to decide what it thinks about Jesus, rather we are here to carry out the work that Jesus gives us to do. As Paul says elsewhere, Christ is the head of the church. We are up a gum tree whenever we forget this, as churches frequently do, in all sorts of ways.

Next there is grace. We too often think of grace as a passive thing, ie by grace our sins are forgiven. Now this is true, but it is only part of the picture. Grace is also active, it enables us to do things and to achieve things. Paul succeeded as an apostle not because he was supremely talented, but because God gave him the grace to succeed.

Then there is apostleship. This was a God given task, a God given commission. They were given authority. Note also the "we", which implies that apostleship applied to more than just Paul.

Finally there is "call all the Gentiles". It is God's command that all people be called to faith. It does not matter that some do not think that this is a good idea, that some think that it goes against respect for other faiths. God wants all people to be saved, so the good news goes to all people.

And everyone is called to faith and obedience to the name of Christ. Believing is not an option, it is a matter of obedience. Our culture, including the church, is inculcated with the idea that it is a matter of personal choice whether or not someone believes. Now this is true in the sense that we can chose to believe or not, but it is a choice of whether to obey or not. I can choose to like a particular style of music or not, and whatever choice I make is perfectly valid. You can choose to believe in Christ or not, but all choices are not equally valid.

Romans 1:1-4 - An Apostle of Christ

As always, Paul starts his letters declaring who and what he is. Above all, he is a servant of Jesus Christ. This, by the way, is tacit evidence of the centrality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul could not be a servant of a dead person, only of the living Lord. 

Paul was called to be an apostle, and was set apart by God. Who was he called by? Christ Himself, as we see in Acts 9 when it tells us about the Damascus road conversion. Apostles are called by God, not by the church, though the church can recognise people as apostles. 

Some may think of Paul as being rather boastful here, but nothing is further from the truth, especially when we see the way the term apostle is sometimes used rather loosely in some parts of the church today. For Paul being an apostle meant being persecuted, beaten, falsely accused, in short he shared in Christ's sufferings. 1 and 2 Corinthians tells us most clearly about this side of things. Paul was set apart to spread the good news of Jesus Christ.

This is the good news foretold by the Old Testament prophets. Jesus is the fulfilment of the Old Testament, not a replacement for it. Humanly speaking Jesus was a descendant of David.

The NIV  says Jesus was "appointed" as Son of God. This does not mean that He became the Son of God, meaning before this He was not the Son of God. NASB and ESV in some ways give the sense better when they say He was "declared" to be the Son of God. The resurrection was the definitive proof that Jesus is the Son of God. The resurrection makes the declaration that Jesus is the way of salvation that has been chosen by God. However, it is useful to look at more of the phrase in NIV, "He was appointed the Son of God in power  ..", the key element being "in power". On the cross it looked as though Jesus had been defeated, but the resurrection proved that this was in no way true. Even death could not defeat Him.

Romans - Introduction

When I started this blog, back in October 2008, I was part way through Romans, so began in chapter 6 of Romans. I will now do the first part of Romans to make up this gap. Actually the real reason is that Romans is such a magnificent book, and I may well go over some of the chapters I have already blogged on again.

There is no doubt whatsoever that Paul wrote Romans, and it is the fullest exposition of the theology of the gospel that there is. He probably wrote it in about AD 57 while on his way to Jerusalem. The fact that Paul was on his way to Jerusalem maybe why chapters 9-11 focus on the way that the Jews fit into God's plan. Paul had discovered the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ, yet most of his countrymen were hostile to the good news. This must have exercised him greatly.

The central theme of the book is the righteousness of God. The book relates how God's grand plan works out in Christ. The book has in view the overall scheme of salvation and God's plan, and how it works out in an individuals life, and we need to keep both in view.

The following is a list of books I have read which are relevant to Romans, and will no doubt have influenced my thinking:

1. Leon Morris - The Epistle to the Romans (1995)
2. F F Bruce - Epistle of Paul to the Romans (Tyndale Commentary) (1986)
3. Tom Wright - Justification: God's Plan and Paul's Vision (2009)
4. N.T. Wright - Paul: Fresh Perspectives (2005)
5. J Piper - The Future of Justification: A response to NT Wright (2008)
6. D.A. Carson - Scandalous, chapter 2 (2010)

Wright emphasises the overall plan of God, whereas the typical evangelical approach is to emphasise the forgiveness of sins. In Romans we find both the overall plan, and the application to the individual (see especially chapter 7), and I will try and bring both perspectives together.

Isaiah 66:15-24 - Final Judgement

Salvation and judgement go hand in hand. Isaiah has been all about salvation, but it is also all about judgement, and it closes with severe judgement. Exactly the same is true of Jesus. He brought salvation, but also spoke a  lot about judgement and about hell. When He returns it will bring salvation to those who believe, but judgement on those who have rejected Him.
Verse 17 is referring to various pagan rituals. We talk a lot today about respecting other religions and practices, but what if those religions are false? There is truth, and it matters. The choices we make in life have eternal consequences. 
One day all peoples will come and see the Lord's glory. In Philippians Paul says that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Christ is Lord. In Revelation all the nations are gathered to Armageddon where they are defeated.
So in the Bible it talks about people from all nations being saved, and about people from all nations being judged. Every single person on this planet has a choice, to believe in Christ or not.
Isaiah ends on a very sombre note. There will be an eternal end to all rebellion against God. There is a lot of argument about hell and what it means. One thing we need to remember is that eternity does not mean things just going on and on. Rather, it means we are outside of time. Everything will be completely different and we cannot imagine exactly what it will be like. So there is a limit to any analogy that is used to describe heaven or hell. However, if the best way to imagine hell from our current perspective is to imagine being burned forever, only that can convey the awfulness of hell.
There are many times when in history when we see the awful consequences of some action, whether on a large or small scale, and we say "never again". Yet a few years later and we have forgotten and the same sort of horrors reoccur. After the final judgement it truly will be "never again". We will see the true awfulness of sin and its consequences, and we will never sin again.

Isaiah 66:7-14 - Salvation for Jerusalem

How will all this happen? It will  happen suddenly. Things can change very quickly. On that first Easter everything changed over a weekend. When Christ returns we will be transformed in the twinkling of an eye. 

There is an assurance here that God will bring His plans to fruition, using the analogy of a woman giving birth. Everything is leading up to the fulfillment of the Lord's plans.

"Rejoice with Jerusalem". All peoples are called to pray for Jerusalem and to rejoice with her in the day of her salvation. Now this most definitely does not mean that we should condone everything that Israel does. Indeed all her efforts are ultimately futile until she turns to Christ. However, there is absolutely no Scriptural warrant for any notion that Israel is no longer part of God's plan. One day she will turn to Christ, recognising who He is, and recognising her own need of Christ. We should long for that day.

Isaiah here says that this is essential to receiving the full blessings of the Lord. How is this? Well only if we understand how God can and will save Israel can we fully understand how our own salvation works. The salvation of Israel will be the culmination of Christ's work, and it will happen.

Isaiah 66:1-6 - Humble and contrite

Verse 1 is a challenge to our thinking. So often we think we can do God's work for Him. We think we can build temples where God can live, whether we are talking about physical structures or organisations and schemes. Yet who made the whole world? Who called everything into being? 
Then we get the answer, we get the attitude we are meant to have. "These are the ones I look on with favour, those who are humble and contrite in spirit and who tremble at my word". Jesus said "blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3). This is the attitude we should have. We need to recognise God for who He is, we need to repent of our sins, and we need to tremble at God's word, to know that His word is all powerful.
Verses 3 and 4 are quite amazing, for they are, at least at face value, a rejection of the whole sacrificial system. And note that these words were written several hundred years before Jesus came. In the New Testament, of course, we know that the old sacrificial system was done away with, now that Jesus is the once for all sacrifice.
Those who follow God were persecuted. This seems to have happened in Isaiah's day, and it certainly happened in the days of the early church. Those who were doing the persecuting thought they were serving God, but God assures His people that they will be vindicated.

Isaiah 65:8-25 - New heaven and a new earth

So what is the Lord's response to the disobedience spoken of in verses 1-7?  Salvation. "I will do this for my servant's sake". We now know that this is referring to Jesus. Verse 7 has said that judgement had to be made, but this judgement was placed on Jesus in our place. Yes there is still judgement and distinction. Death is the destiny of all who forsake the Lord, who neglect His salvation. A way of salvation is offered to all In Christ, but we have to accept it, or accept the consequences.

There is a stark distinction between those who believe and those who do not. One shall live, the other die. Verses 13-16 set out this clear choice. Choose Christ and receive life, or continue in your own way and receive death. 

Isaiah covers the times of Assyrian and Babylonian dominance, it points towards Christ, and looks forward also to the very end. There will be a new heaven and a new earth. "The former things will be remembered no more". There will be complete change. The new heaven and new earth will have a new Jerusalem, a place filled with gladness and joy. There will be no more weeping or distress. These words are so clearly echoed in Revelation 21. Current existence is often characterised by futility, this will not be so in the new kingdom. 

Isaiah 65:1-7 - Israel's failure

Isaiah 64 and 65 are like a conversation between Isaiah and God. In chapter 64 Isaiah has asked how can God allow things to go on the way they are. Will He not come down and do something about it? Now we get the answer.

God's answer is that He would reveal Himself to a people who did not seek Him, nor call on His name. Paul sees the gospel going to the Gentiles as the fulfilment of this. Jesus came to the Jews, to His own people, but they did not receive Him, so He went to the rest of the world. Paul says that ultimately this will result in Israel becoming jealous and finally turning to God, recognising Jesus for who He is.

Israel, who should have been His faithful people, walked in the opposite of God's ways. He had continually told them what the right way to live was, but they ignored God's ways. They provoked Him, even told Him to go away.

Israel would pay for her sins. This happened with the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. Indeed, throughout history the Jews have suffered much. If only they had followed God's ways they could have avoided all this.

Isaiah 64:1-12 - The only source of hope

Isaiah continues his appeal to God to act and bring about transformation. There is an inevitable tension in the Christian hope. We have a glorious hope, we know God can do it, we know God will do it eventually, but He seems awfully slow in doing so, He seems to allow terrible situations to develop or persist, and for no good reason. Many of the Bible writers, both in the old and new testaments, have expressed or considered this matter.

God is faithful and God is mighty. Verse 5 expresses the root of the problem, "when we continued to sin, you were angry. How then can we be saved?". Isaiah knows where the problem lies, and it is not with God, it is with us. It is the sin within us that is the problem. It is our sin that has separated us from God.

Yet Isaiah does not give up hope. He knows that God is our Father and He is still the One who created us. He appeals to God's mercy and to the terrible plight that Israel was enduring, and so calls on God to act.

So many today seem so eager to "prove" that there is no God, that we came about just by random chance, and with no purpose. Yet our only hope lies in the God who created us.

Isaiah 63:1-19 - Winepress and Faith in Difficulties

The nation had seen many rulers come marching through the land boasting of their strength. Assyria was the current proud nation, Babylon would soon become the next one. They claimed to march in the "greatness of their strength", but the One who would finally come in strength is the Lord. 

The wine press can be taken in two ways. On the one hand it refers to Jesus on the cross, and taking upon Himself the judgment of God upon our sin. But it also refers to God exercising judgement against the nations. There will come a time when God executes judgment upon the nations that defy Him. We need to have a clear world view, and it is that God has the last word.
This tells of the whole problem of Israel and of mankind, but through the eyes of a man of faith, Isaiah.
Isaiah's starting point is that the Lord is faithful and kind. He had carried out many good deeds for Israel. His intention was to create a people who would be true to Him, so he became their saviour. He rescued them from captivity in Egypt and instructed them. He saw their distress, heard their cries, and rescued them. Yet Israel rebelled against God, against His Holy Spirit. Note that this shows the activity of the Spirit in the Old Testament times. Also remember that in Ephesians Paul warns against grieving the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30). So God became their enemy.
Isaiah then remembers the work of God and reminds the Lord of this. He calls on God to rescue the people again. See that Isaiah is fully aware of the present situation. He is not blind to the facts, but the facts do not cause him to lose faith, but to call upon the Lord instead. When we are faced with situations which seem to go against God's promises we should react in the same way.

Isaiah 62:6-12 - Work to be done, success guaranteed

The Christian hope manifestly does not mean we should do nothing while we sit around waiting for these things to happen. Rather it is a call to action and a motivation for action. Here in verse 6 we are called upon to be proclaiming these things and incessantly calling on the Lord in prayer. We are to give the Lord no rest until He has done these things. In this sense it is like predestination. There is an incredible amount of  nonsense spoken about pre-destination, but if you look at the places where Paul speaks of pre-destination it is always as a spur to action, as a motivator for us to live a life worthy of our calling. 

If God is going to do these things, if His zeal is going to accomplish it why does it matter that we pray to Him? Why does He need us to ask Him to do these things? Why does He need us to remind Him? There are two answers to this.

The first is this. God has told us to call upon Him, so we should do it whether we fully understand why we are doing it or not. We should do it as a simple act of trust and obedience.

Secondly, God involves us in all of His plans and work. We see this throughout the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. So we are involved in God's work of establishing His kingdom. We should rejoice in this and get on with it.

The salvation of the Lord is coming, so we should commit ourselves wholeheartedly to the work.

Isaiah 62:1-5 - A crown of splendour

Remember the state of the nation when Isaiah gave this prophecy. They had just survived the Assyrian onslaught by the skin of their teeth. The northern kingdom had been conquered, and the south had been ravished. Moreover, the Babylonian conquest was going to happen with the temple being destroyed and many going into exile. Into the midst of this situation Isaiah proclaims God's salvation for Israel. Salvation will come.

Nations which despised Israel will see her vindication and her glory. The Lord will give her a new name. The same applies to us as individuals. Israel is God's chosen nation, we are His chosen creation. Sin has had a devastating effect on us, both individually and as a people, but eventually God will overturn the work of sin, and will replace it with a crown of splendour. Indeed we will be a crown of splendour in the hand of God.

Days of despair and desolation will be gone. Instead the Lord will delight in us. Beulah means "married", and Revelation talks of the bride of Christ making herself ready. The work of sin will be completely undone, and we will be a people fit for the Lord.

We should dwell on these verses, and they show why hope is such a key Christian characteristic. We have a hope and a future.