Romans 8:26,27 - The Spirit who prays for us

This hoping for something more and sharing Christ's sufferings is difficult, for it highlights a weaknesses. In fact if we had no weaknesses then we wouldn't find anything difficult! But we do, and we do. So further work of the Holy Spirit is to help us in our weakness, and note that the key way He does this is through prayer. He intercedes for us, and does so with groanings too deep for words. Now this does not mean, or at least is certainly not restricted to, praying in tongues. The work of the Holy Spirit goes beyond our understanding (and of course praying in tongues is beyond understanding (1 Cor 14:14)). There is a key lesson here. We are to use our intellect, to use our minds, but our minds will only take us so far. We so easily fall into one of two traps. On the one hand some people despise the mind. If you do that then you are a fool, and an unbiblical one at that. Who created your mind? Who gave you your mind? And as we will read later, who renews the mind? But on the other hand our minds can only take us so far. It was never intended to take us all the way. We need to remember this in the area of apologetics.  Intellectual defence and explanation of the gospel is important, but it cannot get us, or anyone else, all the way.

Particularly in difficult situations we often do not know what to pray for, or how to pray. You know what? It doesn't matter. The Holy Spirit knows what to pray, and He prays according to the will of God (for He is God), and God knows the mind of the Spirit. In any and every situation we need to learn to rest in Christ, knowing that the Holy Spirit is praying for us perfectly. Now this does not mean we do nothing, it does not mean we pray nothing, but we need to find a peace that trusts and rests in Christ even when we do not know what to do. 

Romans 8:22-25 - Realisation

The Bible, especially the OT prophets (eg Jer 12:4), draw a close connection between the state of nature and man's sin. Conversely, the prophets said that when Israel turned to God creation would flourish. 

Verse 23 is a typical example of the "now, but not yet" nature of our salvation. We have been forgiven, we have received the Holy Spirit, we have been redeemed, we have been adopted as sons of God (v15). Yet at the same time we long for these things. We need more of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we need more redemption, we need to be more sons of God. For much of the old still remains, and there is a longing within us for more, and a recognition that we far from being all that we should be.

Here Paul says we wait for our adoption, but in v15 he says our adoption has already happened. So what does this mean? We are the children of God now, but there is so much more to this than we already experience. This shows us that being sons of God is not just a state, but a reality that has real effect in our lives and shows itself by transformation in our lives, and the outcome of our lives. Right at the start of Romans (1:4) Paul says that through the resurrection Jesus was declared to be the Son of God. This does not mean Jesus was not the Son of God before then (He was so from all eternity), but that the significance, the full implications of it, were realised, made evident, when He was raised from the dead. So it is with us. There is much more to happen in our lives than has happened already. We can sometimes look ahead in life with fear. We should not do so, instead we should look ahead with hope. For there is more transformation to come in our lives, God is going to do more work in and through our lives, He is going to demonstrate to the world who we are.

"For in this hope we were saved". Hope is an essential element of life, and we hope for what we do not yet have, and we wait for it patiently.

Romans 8:18-21 - All of Creation

What Paul says here follows on from what he has just said about sharing in Christ's sufferings. This does not sound like good news. I like the idea of sharing in His glory, I don't like the idea of sharing in His sufferings. So how does this work?

What Paul says is that the level of suffering is as nothing compared to the level of glory. Note also that glory does not just include splendour, but also includes moral excellence and significance. In Chapter 5 Paul spoke about sufferings producing character etc. It is also true that it is those who are prepared to suffer who have a real impact on the world.

And this is not just about us, but is about the whole of creation. All of creation is waiting for the God's plans to come fruition, for the sons of God to be revealed. Ie for us to become what we were always meant to be. In Genesis 1 God told man to subdue the earth. Since we sinned against God we have failed to do this. In a sense creation is incomplete because of our sin. The whole plan of creation depended upon mankind living in trust, obedience and fellowship with God. Creation is dependent upon man. 

Romans 8:16,17 - Heirs with Christ, suffering with Christ

The Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are sons of God. So this being sons of God is not a theological nicety, but something that we actually know in our innermost being, in our heart of hearts. The Holy Spirit is not a force, but is the person of God. He communicates to us our relationship with God. 

We are heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ. We have an amazing inheritance. We were created to share in all that God has. See what God said right back in Genesis 1. He gave us dominion over the earth, we were to subdue the earth and fill it. 

Why are God's standards so strict (at least as some see it)? It is because of the high calling there is on our lives. If you are going to play for the top sports team you expect a strict training regime and for the coach to insist that you play your best. If you are going to get a top job you expect to need the best qualifications and to perform to the highest level. So it is with God. We are being groomed for the top!

Then Paul adds "provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him". This really knocks a lot of the so-called prosperity gospel nonsense on the head. Christ is the example and the pioneer of our faith. He is the way, the truth and the life, and that way included going to the cross. We are called to share in the work of Christ here on earth.

Romans 8:14,15 - Abba Father

What is this new life based upon? There are three essential tenets here in Romans:

1. Through the sacrificial death of Jesus we are justified, the slate is clean.
2. We live by walking in step with the Spirit, who renews our lives.
3. We live in relationship with God as sons of the living God.

Paul now introduces this third element. We are children of God. Literally the Greek says sons of God. In using the word sons Paul is not being sexist. for elsewhere he says there is neither male nor female in Christ. What he means is that we are all first class children of God. It was the sons who received the inheritance.

Living by Law and out of our own strength makes us slaves and means we live out of fear. We live out of fear of getting things wrong, knowing that we could fail at any moment. We were not saved so that we could be slaves to fear. It is a tragedy that the church has so often ended up making people slaves to fear. If a teaching or a way of life is making you a slave to fear, then that is cause to question that teaching or way of living. 

The Holy Spirit is the spirit of sonship. We have been adopted into God's family. Jesus spoke a lot about His Father and our Father. He referred to Himself as a Son. He did this not just because it was who He was, but also because it was what we would become. Sonship is to be a defining characteristic of our relationship with God.

We cry "Abba Father". We need to remember that these are the words Jesus used when praying to His Father in Gethsemane, so we should dispel any notion of sonship and fatherhood that is limited to a "nice" relationship with our "heavenly dad". Such a concept of sonship is far too shallow. The sonship the Bible talks about enables us to cope with the darkest times of life, and enables us to do the most difficult things that God call us to do.

Romans 8:12,13 - An Obligation

"We have an obligation .." What is this obligation and how does it work? Well it can work in two ways.

First, the Jews would have had a deeply ingrained sense of obligation to the Law. We all can have a similar sense of obligation to a set of rules, or feel we have to live out of our own strength in order to achieve a good goal. This way seems good. It is trying to achieve a good goal. For the Jew wanting to follow the Law was not a wrong desire. For the Christian wanting to do good is clearly not a bad thing! But the principle of law and self-effort does not work, it leads only to death. It does this because the source of power is our sinful nature, our flesh. Our nature is deeply corrupted by sin, and it will leads us only to death, even when our motives are good.

Secondly the "lusts of the flesh" often make demands upon us, demanding to be satisfied. This is not just the overtly sinful desires like sexual lust or greed, but fear and anxiety as well. The anxiety within you demands that you find some security, and we usually look for it in the wrong places. We look for security in circumstances. Circumstances will never gives us security, for circumstances can change in an instant. Now this is not saying that circumstances do not matter, they do, but we often have the order wrong. We think: if the circumstances were only such and such a way we would be happy and at peace. This is ultimately futile, for even if the circumstances go the way we like for a while, they will not stay that way forever. Moreover, seeking this way can lead us to trust in the wrong things, and to do wrong things. The right way is to look to God and trust in Him. Then we find true peace, and we also will often find that circumstances then start to come into line. But most importantly our trust is then in God, where it belongs, and our peace, our life, is not blown off course by a change of circumstances.

So we need to live by the Spirit, not by the flesh. When we live by the Spirit little by little our flesh comes under authority. Wrong desires, both of the sinful (eg lust) and natural (eg anxiety) type, start to die.

Romans 8:9-11 - Life in the Spirit

We are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. We are different. When we come to Christ we change, that is why elsewhere Paul says we are a new creation, and why Jesus talks of us as being born again. We become people who live not by the flesh, but by the Spirit. Someone who lives by the flesh is a person whose life is directed, or even dictated, by what they feel, by circumstances. This can be someone who is directed by lust and greed, but it can also be someone who is directed by fear and anxiety. If our lives are dictated by anxiety and fear then we are living "in the flesh". A person whose life is directed by the Spirit is someone whose life is directed by God. This is the way we are meant to be. When we live by the flesh circumstances dictate our lives. When we live by the Spirit we have authority over the circumstances.

Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him. We can take this as a judgement, or as a positive statement that if we do belong to Christ then we will have the Spirit.

Now we are all aware of the reality that we do not always live by the Spirit, there are times when we do live out of the flesh. We live in an inbetween time. Our body is dead because of sin, we still have the consequences of our fallen nature. But at the same time the Spirit is life. It is a fact that we have a fallen nature, it is equally a fact that Christ's blood has justified us. Then Paul goes immediately to the resurrection. The death and resurrection of Christ go together. Christ died for our sins, and was raised to life. So in the same way the Holy Spirit gives life to our bodies. The Holy Spirit works in us to change us, to transform us.

Our new way of living depends upon the death of Christ, the resurrection of Christ and the Holy Spirit of Christ.

Romans 8:5-8 - Flesh or Spirit?

This is where the NIV's use of the term "sinful nature" is unhelpful, and old term "flesh" is better. In fact the Good News does a good job with "human nature". For Paul is not saying here that if we indulge in sinful activities such as adultery, lying, stealing etc we cannot please God. It is certainly true that these things do not please God, and they merit the judgement of God, but that is not the point here.

Paul is showing us how to live. The Law was a way of life for the Jews, it was how they were to live in the Promised Land, but it lead nowhere. For the root of the problem is our very nature. Our very nature is sinful, so if we live out of our own strength, out of the flesh, we will fail to please God.

If we live by the flesh, ie by our own strength, our minds will be set on what the flesh wants. And that will lead to disaster. If instead we live by the Spirit our minds will be set on what the Spirit wants, and that will lead to life.

The mind set on the flesh is death, the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace. Now a mind set on the flesh is concerned with its own protection, its own security. We seek to save our own lives, and Jesus said that if we seek to save our own lives we will lose it. Walking in the Spirit requires trusting God, building our lives on the fact that He is our ultimate provider, making ourselves vulnerable. These are all things that our flesh does not like doing! But if we do this we will actually find a peace far greater and more reliable than anything we can give ourselves. 

If we don't then our mind is hostile to God and cannot submit to Him. For every path that God chooses is a path of faith, a path that at some point will only work if He provides, if His power is going to work in our lives. We have to live by faith if we want to please God.

Romans 8:1-4 - A new and living way

"There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ." Let us look at this verse more closely. First, why is there condemnation in the first place? There is condemnation because of what we have done, and the guilt incurred because of this. Then there is condemnation because we know what is right, but we find ourselves unable to do what is right, and we end up doing what is wrong. 

So how do we gain freedom from this condemnation? Well, it is not through the law of sin and death, it is not through living by the principle of Law, ie knowing what is right, and then trying to meet these requirements in our own strength. This just brings sin and death. The Law was powerless to bring life because our sinful nature made it impossible for us to meet the requirements. We could not do away with our already accumulated guilt, nor could we start to live the right way.

So God sent His own Son. He became a sin offering, taking away our guilt. Note then that Paul goes on to say "the righteous requirements of the Law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh, but according to the spirit". So it is not just a matter of our guilt being paid for, but we start to become able to live lives pleasing to God. Justification and sanctification go together. They are part of the package of salvation.

Romans 7:14-25 - The inner conflict

"The Law is spiritual but I am unspiritual". The NIV actually gives a poor translation here when it uses the term "unspiritual", the ESV is better when it says "I am of the flesh". What he is saying is that the Law is indeed inspired by the Holy Spirit, but I am not, I am dependent upon human resources. 

Now there is a lot of debate about whether or not Paul is talking about his unregenerate or regenerate state, ie before or after his conversion. In a sense this misses the point. Paul's emphasis here is not on his own personal experience as the end in itself, but on the place of the Law, and his own experience is used to illustrate how this works. 

This still does leave the question as to whether it refers to before or after. I suspect after, but we need to understand what does and does not happen when we come to faith. We are saved, we are born again, we become a new creation, but the fullness of all this is not realised all at once. My flesh is not completely dead, I do not live 100% by the Spirit. I am not fully sanctified yet! So I see both the old and the new. This is highly relevant. The Galatian church started off well, but then was being tempted to live by Law and not by the Spirit. When we get saved we become concerned about how well or otherwise we are serving and pleasing the Lord, for it is what we want to do. Yet we find times when we do not do it, indeed we find ourselves doing the things we do not want to do, as Paul describes here. This battle is normal. What we are experiencing is the reality of the battle between flesh and spirit within ourselves. We need to know that resorting to "law and self" methods to seek to win the battle will not work.

So are we wretched creatures, condemned to a life of frustration? For we need to be rescued, and we have been rescued through the Lord Jesus Christ.

I want to do good, yet my flesh works against this. So how do we win the battle? How do we overcome? The answers comes in the next chapter.

Romans 7:9-13 - Laws highlight sin

Verses 9-12 describe how sin works, and the truth about the Law. The Law brings light, showing what is right and what is wrong. So the Law is good. It is holy and its commandments are holy. The problem is that we are not holy, but sinful. So when the Law shows up what is right and what is wrong sin takes the opportunity to do wrong. So looking to Law to bring salvation is futile, for because of sin it will bring only judgement. 

So was the Law a mistake? It is to be avoided? No. Instead we need to recognise its true purpose. It is there to show up sin for what it is. It can show us what the problem is, and the extent of the problem, but it cannot of itself solve the problem. So more generally, we can have rules and guidelines and procedures, and these can serve a useful but limited purpose. They cannot tackle the heart of the problem. They cannot bring life to a church.

Romans 7:7,8 - Law and Sin

So we are not to serve in the old way of the written code (v6). This applied to the Jews, it applies as a general principle to all Churches. If you think that by adopting a system, a methodology, a structure, you or your church will then manage to serve God better you are deluded. 

So what does this mean? Does it mean the Law was bad? Does it mean we should never have systems or structure? Certainly not! The Law was good, the problem was people. Systems and structures can be good, but the problem is people (which includes you and includes me, just in case you think that "people" excludes you and means everyone else is to blame). We need systems and structures, we can no doubt improve on systems and structures we have, but we need to be fully aware of where the root of the problem lies. If the root is not tackled we are wasting our time.

The Law showed Paul what was wrong, but it had a perverse effect as well. It enabled sin to to produce evil desires as well. See here the root and awfulness of sin. Now remember that Paul had been a Pharisee. He would have been highly respected and considered to be a godly man, yet he knew full well that sin was alive in him. Sin is rebellion against God. The Law taught what was good and pleasing to God. So the converse is that if you do the opposite you do what is displeasing to God. We need to be aware how deeply rooted sin is in our lives. That is why we need the radical surgery of the cross and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 7:1-6 - Free from the Law

Paul addresses those who know the law. When someone dies all sorts of legal obligations change. A husband and wife have legal obligations to each other, in particular they cannot marry someone else. However, when one of them dies these obligations no longer apply. The surviving partner is free to marry someone else. If the person did this before the death of the partner such a person would be guilty of adultery, but after the death of the partner they are not guilty.

So it is with the Law. The Jews had an obligation under the law, it was ingrained in their heritage. But Christ died to the Law. He suffered the full consequences of the penalty of the law. So the Law no longer has any demands on anyone. So we are free to belong to another. The Jew could commit himself to someone else, namely Christ, and so bear fruit for God.

Now this is strange, for the Law was good, it had good commands in it. So why does being free from the Law suddenly enable someone to bear fruit for God? The reason is that while we lived under the Law we also lived by the flesh, we lived out of human strength. So the Law, rather than producing good, produced evil. Suppose you give money to a drug addict. What will they do? They will spend the money on drugs. So the money does evil, not because the money is evil, but because the person is evil. So it was with the Law. Because the people were evil, the law produced evil. 

We now serve in a new way, the way of the Spirit, not the old way of the written code. Paul will expand on how this works in Chapter 8, but first he expands on how and why the old way fails. For it is counter intuitive, it goes against all that we have known.

Romans 7 - Introduction

Let's just summarise where we have got to. Paul has established that all have sinned. By faith in Christ we are justified by His death and resurrection. So we are set free from the power of sin and death, and now have both an obligation and the freedom to live for Christ. This raises two questions: (i) what is the role of the Law; and (ii) what about the battle we have with ourselves? Paul deals with both of these in this chapter.

Without Christ how do we seek to do the right thing? This is not an unusual thing to want to do. Plenty of people want to do good, at least in some part of their lives. We are always trying diets, or keep fit regimes. Society tries to put things right, tries to deal with problems in society. There are basically two features to the way man without Christ goes about trying to put things right. The first is to make laws, and second is to use our own strength to try and do things better. With diets and keep-fit we see the second of these principles in operation. Whenever there is a tragedy, such as a social work failure, or a train disaster, what happens? There is an inquiry. It finds all sorts of things that went wrong, and then makes a whole series of recommendations. This usually involves new rules and regulations. Likewise governments are always introducing laws. 

These are the ways we know about, and they don't work. Diets are notorious for failing. Keep-fit clubs are over-crowded in January, empty by February. There will be another social work tragedy. Worse, the laws and regulations as well as failing to stop disasters often hinder good actions as well. These methods do not work. If they did then we would not have a problem. But they are the only ways that natural man knows. We need a better way. In this chapter and the next Paul will help us to unlearn our failed ways and point us to a better way.

Romans 6:15-23 - Living for Christ

Paul introduces another variant of the common objection to the gospel that if we are forgiven you can do what you like. The cross is not about being "let off". The question here is "if are under grace not law shall we sin?". The answer Paul gives is that we were slaves of sin and the cross sets us free from this slavery.

Sin is not good for you, it is not fun (at least in the long run), it does not give you freedom. On the contrary, sin enslaves you. You lose control of yourself and your life. We have a choice, be a slave to sin or to righteousness. Being a slave to sin results in death. 

The command that John the Baptist, Jesus, and Peter on the day of Pentecost issued was "repent and believe". We need to believe, and we need to turn from sin and to Christ. 

If all you do is say "I believe in Jesus but I will continue living as I always have done" then you are not saved, you are still heading for hell.

When we chose to follow Christ we give our lives to Him, we dedicate our lives to live as He wants us to live. This has nothing to do with "earning" salvation, for you cannot earn salvation. We can do nothing to pay for our past sins, and we cannot set ourselves free from sin. But we are called to follow Christ. As we do this we become progressively sanctified because of the work of Christ on the cross and of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

The wages of sin are death, the free gift of God is life. We should choose life. Anyone who has any notion that the cross means we can live how we like and get away with anything has not got a brain cell, or at least has not used it! We need to be forgiven, we need to be transformed. Through the death and resurrection of Christ we are forgiven and we are set free.

Romans 6:5-14 - Dead to sin

The death and resurrection of Jesus go together. We share in His death, we share also in His new life. Jesus died on the cross, and our old self was crucified with Him so that the power of sin might be broken. Sin is not freedom, but slavery. Jesus said that whoever sins is a slave to sin (John 8:34). Choosing to sin is like choosing to take an addictive drug. It has consequences beyond what you imagine and you lose control. 

So what is all this stuff about being crucified with Christ? Is it just a matter of counting ourselves dead to sin (v 11) or is it something more? The truth is that it is something more than that, though we do need to count ourselves dead to sin. We want to look at things in purely rational or materialistic terms. Now it is perfectly right and proper to look at things in rational terms, but it is inadequate to look a things in purely rational terms. When Adam sinned it affected all future generations. How did it do that? I don't know, but the evidence that it did is there for all to see. There was a spiritual effect of Adam's sin. In the same way, Christ's death on the cross broke the power of sin in our lives. Now we need to understand that this is not magic. We have a part to play. The spiritual and the rational go together. 

When someone dies sin no longer has power over their lives. A dead man does not sin! But when Christ died He was raised to new life. Sin died, but He lived, so death no longer has dominion over Him. So Christ died to sin, once for all, and the life He lives He lives for God. 

So we are to consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ. As I said a moment or two ago, this is not magic. Sitting around doing nothing will achieve nothing. Biblical faith is active and leads to action. So we choose to live for God, and because of what Christ has done we will find that it works!

So we need to make a choice. This is the choice not to obey sinful passions, but to do God's will. Now without Christ this is futile. There is a sense of hopelessness, a sad inevitability about our eventual failure, but in Christ success is possible. Sin shall not have dominion over us because we are under grace not law. Under law a man knows what is right, but it is entirely up to the man to do what is right, and so he fails because of sin. We are under grace, so we can succeed.

Romans 6:1-4 - Died to sin

We are now at the point where I started this blog. However, I will continue, at least for a time in Romans because it is such a fantastic book. You can read the old blogs here if you wish and see if I have changed my mind or developed at all!

Paul has just said that where sin abounded grace abounded all the more and God's grace is wonderful. So here he deals with the imagined objection/question "should we go on sinning so that grace will abound all the more". We get this response again and again today, and it is partly our fault, for the church often pedals the "ticket to heaven" mentality. Forgiveness and transformation are the "gifts" of the gospel, not a ticket to heaven.

"We have died to sin". Here we get the symbolism and what it represents situation again. Circumcision was of value only if someone was circumcised in their heart. Ie if something fundamental had taken place in their being that made them committed to God. Likewise baptism is of no value whatsoever as a mere "rite". We were baptized into Christ's death. When we were baptized we said that we recognised that Christ died for our sins, His death was what we deserved. We were also saying that we wanted rid of the old sinful self, and wanted to be raised to new life. That is the package, the deal. "I want to be forgiven, but don't want to be changed" is no part of the gospel. If this is what you think it is then you have not really heard the good news. The cross is not about being "let off".

Romans 5:16-21 - Reigning in life

Adam's sin led to all sinning and dying. The gift of God's grace is even greater in its effect. Adam's sin brought condemnation, all were brought under judgement. The gift of grace followed many trespasses and brought justification.

We all know that death is inevitable, no one in their right mind doubts it. The effects of God's grace are even more certain. We receive an abundance of grace, not just a little bit. We receive the free gift of righteousness, we are justified. And so we reign in life. See that it is not just a matter of being forgiven, and it is certainly not a matter of a "ticket to heaven". Some have said that it would be enough if God had just forgiven us. This is actually not true. God's goal is that we reign in life.

All the trouble stemmed from the act of one man, likewise all the glory stems from the act of one man. Now we need to appreciate that this is not just a matter of an automatic thing. It is Adam's sin that brought death and condemnation into the world, but we know that we have all sinned are fully deserving of the judgement in our own right. So, with Christ we all need to believe, and to live the life. 

Grace reigns through righteousness and leads to eternal life through Christ. Our being forgiven is the essential starting point of reigning in life, but it is only the starting point. It is the starting point of a new life.

Romans 5:12-15 - Sin and Death

Sin and death came to all through Adam's sin. The whole human race ever since was affected by Adam's sin. This is the fact that Paul has been establishing, and the fact that every human being needs to face up to. All have sinned, and all are subject to death. There are several possible interpretations of this verse, and it is all tied in with the doctrine of original sin. One way or another Adam's sin affected the whole of humanity. This is incontrovertible, we can see the evidence wherever we look, including at ourselves. 

At the end of verse 12 Paul breaks off his line of thought, not to resume it until verse 18. He breaks off to focus more on sin and how it works. The Law did not invent sin, rather it made it highlighted it. Sin existed from that fateful day in the Garden of Eden onwards. Now why does Paul start talking about the Law not been around for a time? Perhaps he is showing that sin had its effects without the Law. Death clearly reigned from the time that Adam sinned. Death did not come in with Moses and the Law. So in the same way as death ruled quite effectively without the need of any help from the Law, so through Christ life will reign without the need for any help from the Law. Indeed, at the end of verse 14 he says that what happened through Adam is a pattern of what will happen through Christ.

Romans 5:7-11 - Reconciled

To give your life up for someone else is a momentous thing to do, and normally there needs to be some merit in the person, the someone else, in order for that action to take place. However, God gave His Son up for us while we were still sinners. When there was no merit in us, nothing to earn God's love, He showed His love for us in the most profound way.

We really need to get hold of the idea that we contributed nothing to God loving us and sending Christ to die for us. It was an act motivated purely by God's love. There are times in our lives when we can think "how can God love me", times when we become aware of some terrible aspect of our character, some weakness in ourselves, or some sin we have committed. God has already loved us in those circumstances.

"Since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through Him!". Now this seems strange, for surely if we are justified by His blood, why do we need to be saved from His wrath? Indeed in Rom 3:25 Paul speaks of Christ turning away God's wrath. So what is he on about? Perhaps the clue is in the next verse. The effects of the cross do not end with forgiveness. We shared in Christ's death, we also share in His life. His blood paid for our sins, His resurrection gives us new life. We are being transformed.

We are also reconciled with God. Once we were enemies of God, but no longer. The foundations of life have completely changed. We are justified, forgiven and reconciled. This is the foundation for a new life.

Romans 5:6 - Christ died for the ungodly

"You see, at just the right time ...". Paul has just said that God's love has been poured into our hearts. Now he is going to explain how this is. When we speak of heart we think primarily of our emotions, but in the Bible our heart is not restricted to our emotions, but includes both the rational and emotional. So when Paul says the God's love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit he is not just talking about feelings, but also about our understanding the depths of God's love for us (see Ephesians 3:18,19).
So now Paul explains God's love, and we should expect the Holy Spirit to open our minds and hearts to the truth of this love. Christ died for us at just the right time, while we were still powerless. He died for the ungodly. Why was it the right time? Well it was the right time in God's plan. We cannot fully understand why it was at exactly this point in history, but we can see some evidence that it was the right time. The Roman empire was such that there was a common language among much of Europe, namely Greek. Moreover, there was a good transport network, and the Roman empire meant there was relative order in the world. So the conditions were ripe for the good news to spread far and wide. 
"While we were still powerless". We did nothing to earn salvation. The only thing we contributed were the sins that nailed Jesus to the cross. But note that it implies that we are powerless no longer. God died for the powerless, but it is not His intention that we remain powerless. 
Christ died for the ungodly. We need to remind ourselves of this constantly. When we despair of our failings we should not think that are beyond the reach of God's love. Conversely, when we make progress and see His power at work in and through us we should be under any delusion that we somehow merit salvation.

Romans 5:3-5 - In the midst of difficulties

So, we are in right standing with God and we have the hope of glory. How does this work out in practice? Well the glory of God in our lives becomes a reality through suffering, through testing times. So we are to rejoice in the hope of glory, and to rejoice in our sufferings. 

Now we do not rejoice in our sufferings for the sake of it, but because of what suffering produces. First it produces endurance. One of the features of life is people giving up. We need to become people who do not give up. How does suffering do this? We see the truth of God's promises, the truth of His word. We see that His word is more powerful, more lasting than any circumstance or opposition. 

Suffering produces character and hope. A man or woman of character is one who knows how to get through difficult times, how to continue to be fruitful and faithful in the face of opposition and trials. We learn that God's plans actually do work out in the end, so we have hope. We have seen some things work out already, and the things that we have not yet seen, we are confident that God will complete this work as well in His time.

This hope does not put us to shame. If we say we are hoping for something, that we believe it will happen, and it never happens then we are put to shame. We look like fools. But hope in God will not disappoint us. 

How can we know this? God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. Now suffering does not automatically produce all this stuff. It does so because we are justified, because we believe, and because we have the Holy Spirit, and so know the love of God. 

If we are in the midst of difficulties we need to focus our minds on the following:

• Through Christ we have been made right with God. 
• We have a glorious hope, our destiny is to become like Jesus.
• The Holy Spirit will work in our lives by revealing the love of God to us, and through us to other people.

Romans 5:1,2 - Hope of glory

Paul has spent a lot of time establishing the problem of our sin, and how we are justified through faith in Christ. Now he will move on to the implications of this for our life, and how it affects the second key aspect of salvation, namely our transformation. Remember we have two basic needs: we need to be forgiven and we need to be transformed.

"We have peace with God". Justification, being declared right with God, is essential. If we had no peace with God then all our efforts would be futile. Instead it means we can approach every aspect of life with hope. When tackling problems it is easy to be filled with despair. We think we have got things too wrong, or have failed too many times, or that we have got too much "baggage". In Christ that is no longer true. We have been justified, we are in right standing with God. 

Because of this we have gained access into grace. We stand in a place of grace. We are not under judgement, we are not under a curse, we are not at the mercy of random events. We stand in the grace of God, we have the favour of God on our lives.

We boast in the hope of glory. What does this mean? When we talk of the glory of God we tend to think of God's glory shining all around. That is part of it, but it also includes moral excellence and significance. I have said this before, and have said it again, because it is so important. We were created in God's image, we were meant to be wonderful, but sin ruined everything. In Christ the way is open for us to become all that we were meant to be, all that God intends us to be.

There should be hope and expectation in our lives that we will become what God wants us to be.

Romans 4:20-25 - Abraham's faith

"No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God". Now we need to be careful in understanding this verse, for at first glance it seems that Abraham just floated through life happily trusting the Lord. If we look at the account in Genesis we see that this was most definitely not the case. Twice he told lies about his wife being his sister. Even more importantly, he really struggled to believe the promise of God that he would have many descendants. So in that sense he was just like you and me in that there were times he found it hard to believe God. Yet despite that he continued to follow God, and so he grew strong in faith. The culmination of that was his willingness to obey when told to sacrifice Isaac. This time his reaction is markedly different from his earlier hesitancy. He obeys quickly, without argument, and knows that God will somehow or other save Isaac. So we need to follow Abraham's example. We need to keep on taking the next step, even when we cannot see where it is going, or how God is going to fulfill His promises.

Faith is the key. Faith is the key to our relationship with God. Christ died for our sins, and was raised for our justification. If Christ had remained in the tomb it would have meant that His sacrifice had not paid the penalty for our sin. But He was raised, and so we know beyond doubt that we are counted as righteous by God, our sins have been fully paid for.

Romans 4:16-19 Saving faith

The promise of God rests on grace and is guaranteed to all who believe. The Law failed because of man's sin (Jer 31:32), and it also brought division between Jews and Gentiles. Here Paul's motivation is the universal nature of salvation and promises made to Abraham.

God gives life to the dead and calls into being things that do not exist. He is a creator God. The whole universe was created out of nothing. He created a nation out of nothing. When God saves us He is doing a creative work.

So how did this faith operate in Abraham? This faith that Paul tells us we all need. First, he believed against all hope. God had told him something would happen, namely that he would become the father of many nations. This was impossible for Sarah and Abraham could not have children. This is why it says that he hoped against hope. Now this is not a licence for believing anything you like and thinking that God will therefore do it because you have faith! Such notions are unscriptural nonsense. Rather he believed what God had told him, he believed the promise that God gave to him. God's word is more dependable than the circumstances, it is a more reliable guide to the outcome than an assessment of the situation.

Abraham was not blind to the circumstances. He knew his own body was as good as dead, and that Sarah was barren, but he decided to put more credence on God's word than on the circumstances. 

Romans 4:13-15 - Faith nor Law

There are two key points in verse 13. The first is that Abraham received the promise through faith, not the Law. The second is that the promise had worldwide consequences. All nations would be blessed through him. The Jews had become inward looking, thinking they were blessed and everyone else was outside the blessing. It is easy for us to make the same mistake. We see others clearly going against God's ways, showing no interest in God, so we focus on ourselves. But the promise is for the world, the gospel will break through into every people group, every sector of society. Abraham received the promise through the righteousness that comes by faith.

In could not be that those who depend upon the Law are heirs of the promise. This is so for two reasons. One no one could manage this anyway, and secondly it would mean that the Gentiles were excluded.  The Law brings wrath, ie it brings God's righteous judgement upon us.

Transgression means to step over a line. So if there is no law there is no transgression, for the line has not been specified. Now this does not mean there is not sin. We see this principle even in our own society. As technology advances and society changes new laws are introduced to try and stop certain things. These actions were still wrong before the new law came in. The reason Paul introduces this point is to show them the purpose of the Law. It was there to show them their sin.

Romans 4:4-12 - Faith is what counts

Our being counted righteous is a gift from God, an act of grace. There is no way in which we have earned it, God is under no obligation to forgive us. When we trust God our faith is "credited as righteousness". The fundamental point that Paul is trying to get across here is that we can do nothing to earn forgiveness, the only way is to trust in God. We trust that what Jesus did on the cross had earned our forgiveness.
Paul then cites David as another "witness" for his case, quoting from Psalm 32. The state of blessedness is having ones sins forgiven. 
Paul then reverts back to Abraham, and to circumcision. We find it difficult to appreciate why circumcision was such a big deal, but in Paul's day the Jews were very proud of being circumcised. Paul wants to make it abundantly clear that circumcision has nothing to do with qualifying one for righteousness. If we ever think anything over than faith in Christ makes us righteous we need to correct our thinking very quickly. 
Now the rite of circumcision came in under Abraham (Genesis 17), but it came in after God had declared Abraham righteous because of his faith (Gen 15:6). Abraham was righteous before he was circumcised, circumcision was a sign of what had happened. 
So Abraham is the father of all who believe. Circumcision or non-circumcision is no barrier nor gateway to righteousness. Walking in faith is what counts.

Romans 4:1-3 - Abraham

Abraham is a key figure in the whole Bible. Back in Genesis 12 God chose Abraham and promised to make him the father of many people and that the whole world would be blessed through him. Israel saw Abraham as their father. In Isaiah 51 God urges them to look to Abraham and Sarah to understand how He works in their lives. In the New Testament, especially with Paul, he is seen as a key figure. Abraham is an example of how to live by faith, but he is more than that. God's rescue plan works through Abraham, and we inherit the promises given to Abraham (Gal 3:29).

All the Jews saw Abraham as their father, so how God worked with Abraham is crucial. Abraham was told to be circumcised, and the Jews saw this as proof that you needed to be circumcised in order to be saved, in order to truly be part of God's family. Paul spends a large part of Galatians refuting this.  They saw Abraham as justified by works, ie he was in right standing with God because he was circumcised. In answer to this view Paul quotes Genesis 15:6, "Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness". It was Abraham's faith that was the reason that God counted him "in".

Note that Abraham's faith was active. We have a tendency to think that "believing in Christ" is some sort of vague mental ascent, or some emotional response. This is not the case, it is a living and active trust in God. Abraham had obeyed God's call to leave his homeland and follow Him, not knowing where he was going. See how similar this is to the call Jesus made to the disciples? "Follow me." When Jesus met people He was looking for active faith.

Romans 3:27-31 - No boasting

"Where then is the boasting?" Why does Paul suddenly introduce the matter of boasting? Maybe it is because man's natural inclination is to seek to have "earned" salvation. We go back again to the root of sin, rebellion against God and seeking to live life independent of Him, choosing our own standards. So even when we apparently turn to God we are still seeking to take some of the credit. The Jews were very proud of their heritage, considering themselves better than others. There were no grounds for this and Paul knew that they needed to jettison all such notions. Non-believers often accuse Christians of considering themselves better than others. There are in fact no grounds for this in the gospel. Similarly they often attack the gospel on the grounds of fairness. Such attacks are out of order, totally missing the point. Our part is to have faith in what God has done.

Justification is by faith alone. Observing the Law plays no part in our justification. Paul here is making the point that the good news is for all, salvation is for all. All nations were to be blessed through Abraham (Genesis 12:3). Throughout the Old Testament we see a God who is God of the whole earth. If you have been following my earlier blogs on Isaiah you will have seen how it is shot through with the notion of God's salvation going out to all nations. This global nature of God's salvation was the reason why Paul objected so strongly to Peter's actions reported in Galatians 2. God is God of the Jews and the Gentiles.

Both the circumcised and uncircumcised are justified by the same faith. Circumcision was a sign of the covenant, it was not the covenant itself. We humans have a terrible habit of attributing salvation to the wrong thing. Likewise we are not saved by baptism, rather it is a symbol of what God has done. Circumcision divided the world into Jews and non-Jews. Faith unites.

So is the Law rejected or nullifed? "Not at all!". Rather, it is fulfilled. As Paul had shown earlier, the Law made it quite clear that no man was going to be justified on the basis of the Law. 

Romans 3:24-26 - Propitiation

We are justified by the redemption that Christ bought for us with His blood. That means we are counted as in the right with God, because of the work of Christ in the cross and resurrection. This justification comes as a free gift, it is a gift of grace. We did nothing to earn it. 

Through Christ we have been redeemed, and God put Christ forward as a "propitiation". Now in some versions you won't find this word, you might find "atonement" or "expiation". However, "propitiation" is the best translation. It is worth looking at both "redemption" and "propitiation" in a little more detail, for they are not words in common use today. In the society of the day slaves could be redeemed. What happened was that an amount of money was paid, and the person became the slave of a "god". This meant in effect that the person was now free. Remembering this will help us to appreciate why later on Paul refers to us as slaves of Christ.

When they went on a journey people would make some sacrifice or offering to a "god" hoping that the god would be propitious towards them on the journey, ie would look upon them with favour. Without Christ we are enemies of God because of our sin. Our sin demands judgement. As Paul says elsewhere, we are by nature objects of wrath (Eph 2:3). The blood of Christ has paid for our sins, so we are no longer under a sentence of death, we are no longer objects of wrath. So we now live under the favour of God.

Now understand that this does not mean that God did not love us before Christ died, but our sin demanded judgement. Indeed, God so loved us that He sent His Son to take away our sin (John 3:16).

"This was to show God's righteousness". People often object that it is unfair that someone can do something terrible and be forgiven by God, and without the cross it would indeed be unfair. But the cross is God's act of righteousness, our sin is fully paid for.

And we appropriate all this through faith.

Romans 3:22,23 - Fallen short of the glory of God

The righteousness of God comes through faith in Christ to all who believe.  This righteousness applies to all who believe, and is acquired through faith in Christ. So the universal salvation plan of God is put into effect. It does not matter who you are, faith in Christ is the way to get this salvation. 

"For all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God". This is an amazing statement. We tend to focus on the "all have sinned" part, and this is true enough and important enough, but let's for a moment look at the other part: "fallen short of the glory of God". The implication of this is that we were meant to share in the glory of God, we were meant to attain to the level of His glory. Now God's glory is not just a matter of brilliant light, as was seen on the mount of transfiguration. Glory also includes "significance" and "moral excellence". Man was given the job of subduing the earth and having dominion over it. We were created in His image, we are meant to be perfect as He is perfect. God has a very high expectation of mankind, yet if you look at the world's arguments you will see that it actually has a very low view of man. Prevailing morality paints us as creatures who have no self-control. Evolution says we are just the products of random chance, we came about with no meaning and no purpose.