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This week we will be wrapping up our study of Sola Fide, or Faith Alone – justification through faith alone. Next week we will begin to look at Sola Gratia – Grace Alone.

To recap, the Five Solas of the Reformation – again, we don’t know that the Reformers themselves actually used these terms, but the terms do summarize the teaching of the Reformers. The Reformers stated that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone to the glory of God alone, which includes four of the Solas or the “Alones,” with the fifth sola being Sola Scriptura, or Scripture Alone.

Last week we looked at what Jesus said about salvation through faith alone when we looked at multiple passages where Jesus taught this and then we looked at Paul’s teaching of faith alone in the book of Romans and this week we will look at what Paul had to say (and God, Him being the Inspirer of Paul’s words) in Paul’s letter to the Galatians, so please open your bibles to the letter to the Galatians and as we get there, let me tell you we will also look today at a couple other issues – what about James and James chapter 2? The biblical response would be, “What about James and James chapter 2?” W will look briefly at James chapter 2 and we will also look at the source of saving faith which will lead us into next week as we begin a study of Sola Gratia.

The best way to understand Paul’s treatment of salvation by faith alone is to merely read the text. Again, keep in mind this was a letter to be read to the church at Galatia in its entirety. We won’t read the entire letter but we will read large sections to see how Paul lays out his case. To set up the situation, Paul is writing to the church at Galatia. He knows that they are falling under the teaching of the Judaizers, people who profess Jesus as the Messiah but also state that one must become a Jew by observing the law to be saved. Paul had encountered this at Antioch and he mentions an encounter he had with Peter while at Antioch. What may seem to us to be a small thing – Peter switching seats at meals – for Paul endangered the very Gospel of grace that he had taught the Galatians.

Let’s start reading at chapter 1, verse 6:

“6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. 10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

At this point Paul hasn’t said what the problem is, but he certainly has said there IS a problem and that problem is worthy of damnation in Paul’s eyes. There is only one Gospel and Paul is going to be very particular in defining that Gospel and as we will see, it is a Gospel of salvation through faith alone.

So what’s the issue here in Galatians? Paul is coming down on those who teach that in order to be saved, one must be circumcised. We see this explicitly in 5:2, where Paul says “if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law.” If circumcision were necessary for salvation that brings up the question “how is a woman saved?’” Just asking – food for thought, isn’t it?

If we go to chapter 2, we see Paul giving an account of an encounter he had with Peter while they were in Antioch, beginning in verse 11. We read that Paul confronted Peter to his face because he used to dine with the Gentiles but once the Judaizers showed up he ate with them instead. Paul calls Peter out for living like a gentile – though he himself was a Jew – and also requiring gentiles to live like Jews. Please note that Peter wasn’t preaching circumcision – all Peter did was buddy up to those who were. Paul considered that action as endorsing another Gospel. People say in our age that doctrine doesn’t matter. You don’t have to be particular on matters, even matters of preaching the Gospel. Paul’s words here – inspired – breathed-out – by the Spirit of the living God, state otherwise.

Verse 15 is where Paul defines what he means. Let’s read:

“Gal 2:15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; Gal 2:16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

Paul narrows his focus here and talks about a certain group of people within the family of faith in verse 15 – “we” being those who are Jews by birth and this is the same ”we” of verse 16 – just like in Romans, when we discussed personal pronouns, personal pronouns make a difference. In verse 16, Paul says even those who are Jews by birth know that a person is NOT justified y works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. Look at verse 16 and verse 17 carefully. Note that what Paul says in verse 16, he reverses in verse 17. (Draw on board)

It is clear here that Paul says justification is through faith alone. We go to verses 20 and 21:

“Gal 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Gal 2:21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

Paul says he lives now by faith in the son of God and that if righteousness were by the law, then there was no purpose in the death of Christ. Think about that one – if any obedience to the law is the basis for justification, then Christ’s death was meaningless. Then Paul starts chapter 3 by calling the Galatians “foolish.” I have another translation that calls the Galatians “unthinking.” Paul fires off a series of rhetorical questions – questions designed to provoke thinking from these unthinking people and he again calls them foolish in verse 3 right after he asks them if they received the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith, bringing to mind Paul’s words in Romans 10 when he said faith comes by hearing, right? Verse 5, Paul asks another question – “Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith – and Paul again brings up the Hebrew Scriptures to make his pint – a salient point given that Jews and their insistence upon circumcision was the issue here – Paul, as he did in Romans 4, quotes Genesis 15:6, where Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. As he does in Romans 2, Paul, in verse 6, then states that it is those of faith who are sons of Abraham.

All I want us to do now is read verses 7 through 14:

“Gal 3:7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.

Gal 3:8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.”

Gal 3:9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

Gal 3:10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.”

Gal 3:11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Gal 3:12 But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.”

Gal 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us-for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”-

Gal 3:14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

Then to verse 23:

Gal 3:23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed.

Gal 3:24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.

Gal 3:25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian,

Gal 3:26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.

Gal 3:27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

Gal 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Gal 3:29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

All we have to do is read the text and it’s clear – Paul can’t make it any clearer – justification is through faith alone and not by any works of the law.

One more passage – turn to chapter 5, the first four verses. There are two points to make here, one with regard to circumcision and one with regard to the assurance of salvation. Let’s read:

“Gal 5:1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

Gal 5:2 Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you.

Gal 5:3 I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law.

Gal 5:4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.

First, let’s discuss the assurance of salvation. Once someone finds out you believe in the assurance of salvation – that a person can’t lose his salvation – that someone may very well say to you, “Well, you know, Paul says you can fall from grace.” Remember the response I told you about when someone throws “judge not lest ye be judged” in your face? You’re supposed to say in response, what? “Twist not Scripture lest ye be like Satan.” Anyone who says Galatians 5:4 says you can lose your salvation is twisting Scripture. What is Paul saying here – does he say a person can fall from grace? Yes, he does. Does that mean a person can lose their salvation based on this statement? No. Look at what Paul is saying here – in verse 2 he says that, as he did back in chapter 2, verse 21, that if you accept circumcision, then Christ is of no use to you. He then reiterates (“I testify again”) that every man who accepts circumcision is obligated to keep the whole law – and his conclusion if that’s the case? Verse 4 – you are severed from Christ – cut off from Christ – you people who would seek to be justified by keeping the law – even if only one part of the law and if you try to be justified in that manner, you have what? Fallen from grace. Those who fall from grace were never justified in the first place, were they? No, they weren’t, so they couldn’t lose their salvation because it’s something they never had.

Remember last week I wrote on the board “faith” and then started putting check marks, signifying works needed for salvation if one believes in faith plus anything? Which work then justifies you? You never know. Once you start that slippery slope, where does it end? Paul makes that same point if we go farther in chapter 12 with a rather shocking statement in verse 12 – “I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!” If circumcision is necessary for salvation, Paul says, somewhat sarcastically, the why stop there? Keep cutting!

I also told you we’d look at James. On the audio we heard two weeks ago, one of the pastors interviewed said to let “Paul and James duke it out,” as if they disagreed on the issue of justification through faith alone. Turn to James chapter 2. As we’re getting there, those who wish to say James believed in justification by works would have to then admit that James contradicted himself. We won’t turn there but if we were to go to Acts chapter 15, we’d see that the council at Jerusalem addressed the very same issue Paul dealt with in Galatians – those who wished to say that circumcision was necessary for salvation. Who was one of the leaders of that council which spoke out against keeping the law as a requirement for justification? James. Read Acts 15.

Let’s start James 2 at verse 8:

“Jas 2:8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.

Jas 2:9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

Jas 2:10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.

Jas 2:11 For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.

Jas 2:12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty.

Jas 2:13 For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Jas 2:14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?

Jas 2:15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food,

Jas 2:16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?

Jas 2:17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

Jas 2:18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

Jas 2:19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe-and shudder!

Jas 2:20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?

Jas 2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?

Jas 2:22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works;

Jas 2:23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”-and he was called a friend of God.

Jas 2:24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.

Jas 2:25 And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?

Jas 2:26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

If we were to start at verse 10-whoever keeps the whole law but fails at one point has become accountable for all of it – who does that sound like? Paul. Galatians 5, verse 3.

Verse 14 is key here – what if someone has faith but not works? James is talking about someone who is already proclaiming themselves to be a Christian – not one who is seeking to be one. Can that faith save him? Verses 15 and 16 give us examples of faithless acts – not faithful actions – and James then asks, “What good is that? He says in verse 17 that faith – by itself – that does not express itself through works – is dead. As we start verse 18, what is behind James’ point here is another one of our big words and that word is antinomianism. This means “against the law.” This is the same issue Paul dealt with in Romans 6 after having explained the Gospel of God’s grace – that all one has to do is “believe” – accept something as true – and then do nothing else in obedience to the commands of God afterward. No one would believe that, would they? Sure they would. Many people who belong to a movement called “free Grace” would. I’ll give you another one – Charles Stanley. Do we have Stanley’s book “Eternal Security” in the library? We shouldn’t.  Here’s what Stanley believes and this is from his book (read excerpts):

The demons know who Jesus is, right? Not only here in James but in Acts 19 and the account of the sons of Sceva – they were attempting an exorcism and the evil spirit said what? “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” In James 2:20, James asks one of those rhetorical questions to a foolish person – as if this should be basic knowledge – that faith apart from works is useless?

If we take verses out of context, this is a classic passage where we can run into trouble – verse 21 talks about Abraham being justified by works, right? Verse 24 says that a person is justified by works, right? Verse 23 says that Abraham was counted as righteous and declared to be a friend of God by works, right? No, verse 23 says he was counted righteous by faith. Does James contradict himself here – again? No. Justified in this sense is an affirmation or a confirmation. The works here are not grounds for a man’s justification but a confirmation of the justification he has been given through his faith as James himself says in verse 23. This is nothing more than an affirmation of what Paul said in Ephesians 2 – we tend to focus on verses 8 and 9 but forget about verse 10:

Eph 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

Eph 2:9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

We cannot leave verse 10 out of this because it is a completion of the thought here because it starts with “For.”

Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Saving faith necessarily results in works – we are saved in order that we can be obedient to God’s commands where we could not be obedient before.

Where does this faith come from? Does everyone have faith? Is it just a matter of exercising something that is buried deep down inside every man? Remember I read from our statement of faith a few weeks ago, which says that man is dead in trespasses and sins and is by nature a child of wrath and the Fall has destroyed his desire and ability to say yes to God’s commands? Remember Romans 12:3? God has assigned to each a measure of faith? Remember 2 Thessalonians 3; 2 – not everyone has faith? Which is right? They both are – Romans is referring to believers only while 2 Thessalonians is referring to mankind as a whole. So how does anyone believe if they can’t believe? That’s what we’ll cover in the next three weeks, but as an introduction – it’s a gift. Now, is the gift given to everyone? No, it isn’t. Is that fair? Who are you, O man, to answer back to God, using Paul’s words in Romans 9.

That quote from Ephesians 2 says that it is the gift of God – I’ll let the scholars argue about whether “it” refers to faith or grace or being saved – I would say, “Yes.” The gift really goes back to Ephesians 1 where Paul says that the Ephesians were chosen before the foundation of the world – that’s the gift. God, according to verse 4 of Ephesians 2, is rich in mercy and made them alive in Christ – that’s the gift. Paul, in Philippians 1:29, gives us another answer to this question along with the answer to the question that Dr. Rapa posed during the sermon last week – why do we suffer? We suffer because it’s a gift from God – Philippians 1:29. (cf. Hebrews 12:1-2, 1 Cor. 4:7, 2 Peter 2:1, 1 Tim. 1:14) We have faith because it’s a gift from God.

We will cover the issue of the source of our faith in much more detail as we review Sola Gratia – Grace Alone – beginning next week.

Just some food for thought as we get started. I posted a question on my blog a week or two ago. The question was, “According to Rome, which person is saved?”

1)  The Baptist/Lutheran/Methodist/Pentecostal/nondenom/whatever who:

a) Placed his faith in the work of Jesus Christ (His perfect obedience to the Law and His substitutionary sacrifice on the cross) – see John 3:16, Rom. 5:1, Eph. 2:8-9, etc.

b) Strives for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord – see Heb. 12:14

c) Works out his salvation with fear and trembling – see Phil. 2:13.

d) Loves the Lord with all his heart, mind, soul and strength – see Mark 12:30.

e) Loves his neighbor as himself – see Mark 12:33.

f) Examines himself and tests himself to see whether or not Jesus Christ is in himself – see 2 Cor. 13;5.

g) Confesses and submits to Jesus as Lord – see Romans 10:9-10.

h) Confesses his sins, resulting in forgiveness of sins and cleansing from all unrighteousness – see 1 John 1:9.

i) Supplements his faith with virtue, virtue with knowledge,  knowledge with self-control, self-control with steadfastness,  steadfastness with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love – see 2 Peter 1.

j) Is poor in spirit, mourns, is meek, hungers and thirsts for righteousness, is merciful, is pure in heart, is a peacemaker. is persecuted for righteousness’ sake and is reviled by others and persecuted and has all kinds of evil uttered against him on account of Jesus – see Matt. 5.

k) Denies one and only one of any of the teachings on faith and morals set forth definitively by the Magisterium of the [Roman Catholic] Church.

Or,

2) Is a pagan who has never heard of Jesus and who in his paganism worships his own form of Baal in his quest for spirituality apart from the God of the Scriptures.

The answer, according to Rome?

#2 is saved.

#1 cannot be saved because of the statements of Rome including those made in  The Code of Canon Law.  #1′s denial of any single truth, per The Code of Canon Law, sets him outside the Roman Catholic Church and thus outside the realm of the saved.

#2 is saved, according to Rome, because of this statement in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1994 edition):

1260 “Since Christ died for all, and since all men are in fact called to one and the same destiny, which is divine, we must hold that the Holy Spirit offers to all the possibility of being made partakers, in a way known to God, of the Paschal mystery.”63 Every man who is ignorant of the Gospel of Christ and of his Church, but seeks the truth and does the will of God in accordance with his understanding of it, can be saved. It may be supposed that such persons would have desired Baptism explicitly if they had known its necessity.

63 GS 22 § 5; cf. LG 16; AG 7.

Is that what Paul taught?  What John taught?  Peter?  Jesus? How does Rome justify its answer? We’ll find out when we get to Sola Scriptura.

I also told you last week we’d read from the Heidelberg catechism. This was a document prepared in the sixteenth century by the church in a German province and affirmed at Heidelberg and hence the name. I’ll read Questions 60 and 61 and the corresponding responses:

Q. How are you right with God?

A. Only by true faith in Jesus Christ.¹

Even though my conscience accuses me of having grievously sinned against all God’s commandments and of never having kept any of them,² and even though I am still inclined toward all evil,³ nevertheless, without my deserving it at all,⁴ out of sheer grace,⁵ God grants and credits to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ,⁶ as if I had never sinned nor been a sinner, as if I had been as perfectly obedient as Christ was obedient for me.⁷

All I need to do is to accept this gift of God with a believing heart.⁸

Q & A 61

Q. Why do you say that by faith alone you are right with God?

A. It is not because of any value my faith has that God is pleased with me. Only Christ’s satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness make me right with God.⁹ And I can receive this righteousness and make it mine in no other way than by faith alone.¹⁰

People were expected to know that 400 years ago. Elders and deacons were to teach a section of the Catechism each week because us people in the pews didn’t know it and we’re supposed to know it.

Now, let’s get to the Scripture – we’re going to look at examples of how we arrive at this doctrine of faith alone and we’ll also look at the source of our faith briefly but the next two weeks will do a better job in explaining the source of our faith when we look at Sola Gratia – grace alone, and you’ll see why as we work through that.

OK – who was the first great theologian of salvation through faith alone in the New Testament? Of course, it was……..Jesus. You thought I was going to say Paul, right?  We’ll get to Paul but Jesus is clear as crystal that salvation is through faith alone. Let’s start at Luke chapter 18 and we’ll look at a parable – the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. Keep in mind who his audience is here because verse 9 tells us:

“Luke 18:9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt:

Luke 18:10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

Luke 18:11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.

Luke 18:12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’

Luke 18:13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’

Luke 18:14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Who were among his listeners? People who believed in their own righteousness and we know from Isaiah, which these very people should know, that man’s righteousness is as filthy rags – bloody menstrual cloths. That right there should give us a pretty good start that salvation is not about works, but let’s read on. What does the Pharisee do? He works. He fasts. He tithes. He has a high opinion of himself because of what he does – and what people he is not like. The tax collector? Blessed are the poor in spirit, as Jesus would say in Matthew 5. Meek, as Jesus would say in Matthew. The tax collector has no high opinion of himself or of his works – all he does is cry out in faith. What does Jesus say? That man went down to his house in what state? Justified. Justified. When he went home from the temple, he arrived there already having been justified. Did Jesus say the tax collector had to be baptized to be justified? No. Participate in the Mass? No. Commit acts of penance? No. Feed the hungry? No. He went home justified because of his faith and his faith alone.

Back up to Luke chapter 7, starting at verse 36, which we won’t read, but it’s the story of Jesus being a guest in a Pharisee’s house and woman enters and cries on Jesus’ feet and wipes them and then anoints his feet and the Pharisee. The Pharisee grumbles to himself and Jesus begins to speak and let’s look at what Jesus says starting in verse 46:

“Luke 7:46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.

Luke 7:47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven-for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”

Luke 7:48 And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

Luke 7:49 Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?”

Luke 7:50 And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Did the anointing save her? No – her faith produced the anointing. Her faith saved her – and note it is past tense – it’s something that has already happened, based on her faith.

John 3. Verse 13.

John 3:13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.

John 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

John 3:15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

John 3:18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

It’s black and white here according to Jesus – if you believe, you have eternal life. If you don’t believe, you don’t have eternal life.

John 5, verse 24:

John 5:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

The one who believes has eternal life. And John 6, verse 44 – the people who had their stomachs filled and had followed Jesus in hopes of more food and He gave them spiritual food instead:

“John 6:44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.

John 6:45 It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me- John 6:46 not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. John 6:47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.

I think it would not be out of line to draw the same conclusion where perhaps Jesus isn’t explicit in saying the word “faith,” but He used other words to describe the same thing, which really mean “faith” or ‘believing.”

When He says, “Come to me, all who are heavy laden and I will give you rest,” that is a statement of faith – coming to Jesus is really synonymous with believing in Him. In John 6 Jesus said that all the Father gave to Him would come to Him and whoever came to him would never be cast out (v. 37). That certainly is an example of salvation by faith alone – there were no works there – no circumcision, no sacraments, no church dogma lesson. A couple verses later Jesus said that whoever looks on the Son and believes in Him should have everlasting life and he will raise him up on the last day. (v. 40) Then in verse 47 He says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.”

One more – how about the thief on the cross? “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom (Luke 23:42).” Jesus’ response? “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” No works – just faith alone.

We don’t have time to look at it but Jesus also makes reference to an Old Testament passage with regard to this and it’s not Habakkuk 2:4, it’s Hosea 6:6. In Hosea 6:6, the Lord says,

“Hos 6:6 ​​​​​​​​For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”

Jesus made reference to that verse at least twice – in Matthew 9:13 and in Matthew 12:7

There are more but we’ll move on to Paul and let’s turn to Romans chapter 1. Of course, we begin with the verse that fueled the Reformation – Luther’s understanding of Romans 1:17, which is a quotation of Habakkuk 2:4. What was happening in Habakkuk? The prophet was lamenting to the Lord about injustice at the hands of the Babylonians and the Lord answers by telling Habakkuk that He was going to make it worse before things got better and that through it all, the righteous shall live by faith. Paul cites that in 1:17 then in 1:18 through 3:20 gives reason why man is condemned through his suppression of the natural revelation God has given him in his unrighteousness, through the testimony of his conscience and through the fact that he has the works of the law written on heart but he still doesn’t abide by them and in 3:20 Paul explicitly says that no human being will be justified by the works of the law. Then in verse 21 Paul gets into detail – through verse 25:

“Rom 3:21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it-

Rom 3:22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:

Rom 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Rom 3:24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

Rom 3:25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

We could spend several weeks just on this passage. How is the righteousness of God manifested? Through faith in Jesus Christ. Verse 24 discusses grace and we will do so starting next week but suffice it to say for now, that grace here actually accomplishes redemption – it doesn’t merely make it available. Verse 25 tells us how we receive the propitiation made through the blood of Christ – we receive it by faith. Not faith plus baptism. Not faith plus circumcision. Not faith plus anything. By faith. Verse 26 goes on to say that God is not only just, He is the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Faith. Not faith plus anything. Paul repeats himself in verse 28 when he says we are justified apart from works of the law and in verse 30 Paul says God will justify BOTH the circumcised and the uncircumcised by faith. If we keep going into chapter 4, Paul now brings Abraham into the mix and says if Abraham was justified by works he would have grounds for boasting and Paul asks one of his rhetorical questions – what does the Scripture say? Paul uses the Old Testament to prove his doctrine of justification through faith alone with his quotation of Genesis 15:6: “Abraham believed the Lord and it was counted to him as righteousness.” All we have to do is read the text and Paul gives us the plain meaning – I don’t know how it can be any clearer (read chapter 3:20-4:24 verbatim)

Paul’s conclusion based upon chapter 3;20-4:24? Verse 1, chapter 5: Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore. Therefore.

If we move ahead to chapter 10, in verses 5-13, Paul gives us another discourse on justification through faith alone:

Rom 10:5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them.

Rom 10:6 But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down)

Rom 10:7 or “‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).

Rom 10:8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim);

Rom 10:9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Rom 10:10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

Rom 10:11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”

Rom 10:12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.

Rom 10:13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

It is difficult to see how one can state that one is justified by faith plus anything in Paul’s letter to the church at Rome. It certainly seems clear that Jesus taught that same message. Next week we’ll look at what Paul said to the church at Galatia and we’ll also look at the source of faith – whether or not faith is a gift and whether this gift is given to every single human being.

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1. Rom. 3:21-28; Gal. 2:16; Eph. 2:8-9; Phil 3:8-11

2. Rom. 3:9-10

3. Rom. 7:23

4. Tit. 3:4-5

5. Rom. 3:24; Eph. 2:8

6. Rom. 4:3-5 (Gen. 15:6); 2 Cor. 5:17-19; 1 John 2:1-2

7. Rom. 4:24-25; 2 Cor. 5:21

8. John 3:18; Acts 16:30-31

9. 1 Cor. 1:30-31

10. Rom. 10:10; 1 John 5:10-12

Let me ask you a question:  Why aren’t you at the Mass over at the Shrine (note for blog/Facebook readers: about a mile and a half from IRBC – until a few years ago, home of the largest crucifix in the world) right now?  Why are you here instead of there? (responses/discuss)

It’s difficult to know where to start with a series like this, but where I have chosen is with the sola named Sola Fide.

To give some background, what we know as the Five Solas were most likely not ever referred to as such by the Reformers.  I’ve done some research and haven’t been able to find a definitive source that says the term began to be used at such-and-such a time or place.  It as though, become part of our vocabulary – what the Five Solas do is summarize the teachings of the Reformation.  It is in a sense equivalent to what is known in theology as the Five Points of Calvinism.  Can anybody here tell me when John Calvin wrote the points of Calvinism?  That’s right.  He didn’t.

The Five Points were first formulated in the system we know today by the Synod of Dort in the Canons of Dort written in 1619, in response to the five points of the Remonstrance, which were written in 1610.  Calvin died almost 60 years before what we know as the five points of Calvinism were systematized.  So it is with the Five Solas – we attribute what is contained within the Five Solas to the Reformers such as Luther and Calvin, but they appear to have not used the terms as we do.  Before I forget, the Five Solas are:

1) Sola Gratia – Grace Alone

2) Sola Fide – Faith Alone

3) Solus Christus – Christ Alone

4) Soli Deo Gloria – Glory to God Alone

5) Sola Scriptura – Scripture Alone

Most of us know that Luther’s understanding of – ‘the righteous shall live by faith,’ which is merely Paul’s quotation of from the Old Testament, is what fueled the Reformation.  We must also keep in mind a couple things: 1)  Luther’s ideas were not new.  He was not the first to believe in these things.  Men before him had believed in them and in some cases had been killed for them.  Luther and Calvin, in many instances, were doing nothing more than restating many things that had been written by Augustine over a thousand years prior.  By the way, in a couple weeks we will be addressing Augustine in more detail with regard to his debate with a man named Pelagius.  2)  Luther did not set out to separate from the Roman Catholic church but, indeed, to reform it.

This may seem elementary to you but it isn’t for much of contemporary Christianity.  The sola we are discussing today and next week is Sola Fide – by faith alone.  It comes from the phrase that includes three of the other four Solas – we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone.  As I said, it may seem to be a no-brainer that we are saved by faith alone and that only Roman Catholics would add some form of works to faith in order to be saved.  Not so.

I don’t remember if I played this clip last year or not, but if I did, it’s a good review.  There is a weekly radio program called The White Horse Inn hosted by four men – one is a professor at Westminster Seminary in California, one is a professor at a Missouri Synod Lutheran seminary, one is a pastor at a United Reformed church in California and one is a pastor of a Baptist church in Florida.  A few years ago they worked through the book of Romans and they addressed this issue of salvation being through faith alone.  Paul also addresses this in Galatians and we will look at that as well next week.  What this program did, though, was send their producer to a national pastor’s convention held in Southern California and asked pastors some questions.  Over the next few weeks I’ll play a few more responses pastors gave to some questions.  Keep in mind these are pastors……

What’s wrong with what you heard?  Multiple things, including the fact that pastorettes, as I would refer to them, responded.    I wonder how many of the churches shepherded by these people believe what their shepherd just said.  How many statements of faith say that a man is justified by faith and works?  Probably not very many, if you really get down to it.  However, what is being taught from those pulpits would be reflective of what we just heard.

What does Indian River Baptist Church believe?  Our Constitution says we affirm a  number of historic and contemporary documents, including the Cambridge Declaration, written in 1996 and which you can read yourself – its statement on salvation by grace alone through alone is very clear -  if you pick up one of the booklets in the display out there in the back on the literature table.

What does our own Statement of Faith say?  Here it is:

We believe that from all eternity¹ God determined in grace to save² a great multitude of guilty sinners³ from every tribe and language and people and nation⁴, whom he foreknew and predestined⁵.  We believe that God justifies and sanctifies those who by grace (sola gratia) have faith (sola fide) in Jesus (solus Christus), and that one day He will one day glorify them and judge the wicked – all to the praise of His glory⁶ (soli deo Gloria).

That’s what we believe.  How can we summarize it biblically?  How about :

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (ESV)

It is really very simple, isn’t it?  Paul knew some thought it would be too simple because he wrote to address a natural objection to his teaching on justification by faith alone as he made it to what we know as Romans chapter 6.

What is Rome’s problem with this? (handout chart – available here at David MacDonald’s Roman Catholic site)

What you are receiving now is a document you can download from a Roman Catholic website.  It is a chart on how salvation is worked out through the dogmas of the Roman church.  I’m serious.  This is a Catholic document.  Compare that to “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,” as Paul says in Romans 5:1.

We’re not going to take time to work through the chart because you can do it at home and if we did it here your head would be spinning before we finished.  We look at that chart and say, How can anyone come up with that from the Bible?”  The answer is twofold – first, no one came up with that from the Bible and second, when you deny one of the other Solas – Sola Scriptura, it’s very easy to come up with something like this.

In looking at the chart, though, and how Rome arrives at salvation, we have to be careful in what we say.  We can’t say Rome doesn’t believe one is saved by faith.  They would affirm that.  They would deny that one is saved by faith alone.  It’s the “Alones” – the “Solas” – that Rome disagrees with.  Rome’s opinion on anyone who says a man is saved by faith alone?  We quote from the Council of Trent, which met in the mid 1500’s as a response to the Reformation and which is still binding upon Roman Catholics today.

The Sixth Session of The Council of Trent, CANON IX:

If any one saith, that by faith alone the impious is justified; in such wise as to mean, that nothing else is required to co-operate in order to the obtaining the grace of Justification, and that it is not in any way necessary, that he be prepared and disposed by the movement of his own will; let him be anathema.

Rome says anyone who believes that justification is by faith alone is to be anathema.  Paul used anathema in and we’ll cover next week – this is a review for you, class – what does anathema mean?  Accursed.  Damned.  In the Council of Trent anathema meant a form of excommunication and since in Catholicism there is no salvation outside the Roman Catholic church, this meant one was hellbound.  In the 1980’s The Code of Canon Law removed the anathemas from the decree of Trent, but the doctrine of Rome contained within still remains – with Rome, you cannot deny any part of the teaching  and be saved. (see Question and Answer Catechism)

I’ve said we are justified by grace alone through faith alone. Rome believes differently and according to the audio we heard a few minutes ago, so do many “evangelical” pastors and pastorettes. I would maintain the issue here is that neither Rome nor these pastors who said “faith and works” understand what justification really means, so we need to look at what that big word means.

We won’t take a lot of time in discussing the need for justification because we’ll look at the consequences of Adam’s sin in a couple weeks when we look at Sola Gratia – Grace Alone, but suffice it to say for the sake of today’s argument that Adam’s sin rendered man separated from God, dead in his sins and trespasses and is an enemy of God.  Justification is what is necessary to restore man’s relationship with God.

Martin Luther called this doctrine of justification, ‘The doctrine by which the church stands or falls.’  John Calvin called it the hinge of the Reformation.

Before we discuss this, we have a couple audio clips.  The White Horse Inn producer this time went to the National Religious Broadcasters Convention and to the Christian Booksellers Conevntions and asked people at those conventions – people who are religious broadcasters, book authors and booksellers – what Paul meant when he referred to the doctrine of justification and here’s what he heard:

In the weeks to come we will look more closely at justification – we’ll be looking at man’s condition and his need for justification and what exactly was involved in Christ’s work and how it is applied to us through faith, so how we address this today may not seem satisfactory, but by the end of the series it will hopefully be so.

So what is justification?  In his book, “18 Words,” J.I. Packer says this:

To ‘justify’ in the Bible  means to ‘declare righteous’: to declare, that is, of a man on trial, that he is not liable to any penalty, but is entitled to all the privileges of those who have kept the law.  Justifying is the act of a judge  pronouncing the opposite sentence to condemnation – that of acquittal and legal immunity.⁷

How does that differ from Rome?  Let’s make clear that our own doctrine of justification – the doctrine of the Reformation is this: that God declares a man righteous.  This declaration is a one-time declaration or pronouncement.  Note again – Paul says to the saints at Rome, ‘Therefore, having been justified by faith…”  Paul says their justification was something that was in their past and it was in their past because when they believed, God declared them justified.  This wasn’t even new with Paul, as we know from the study of Romans we just completed.  Paul, in proving his point on justification by faith, uses the Old Testament example of Abraham from verse 6, where Abraham believed the Lord and he counted it to him as righteousness.  We maintain Abraham was not made righteous himself, but the Lord declared him to be righteous because of his faith.

Here’s where we differ with Rome.  Look at the chart I gave you.  At what point on that chart is a man justified?  Not until the very end and when does that happen?  Nobody knows because there is no fixed time any one spends in purgatory.  It might be two years or it might be two million years.  For Rome, justification is a process that the believer undergoes as long as he lives and even after he dies.  What do we call the process that a believer undergoes while he is alive after he is justified?  Sanctification.  Rome makes no inherent distinction between justification and sanctification.  We say a man is not made righteous but declared righteous by his faith.  Rome says at baptism a man is infused with righteousness and the process you see on the chart begins.  In a few weeks we’ll address the doctrine of imputation when we look at Solus Christus – Christ Alone.  If you recall Romans, we discussed that as well – that a man is not made righteous but declared or counted or reckoned or credited as being righteous when he himself is not.

We might say that’s only a Catholic doctrine but think back to the responses you heard from those pastors on that clip a while ago – if they believe a man is saved by faith and works, he is confusing justification and sanctification just like Rome does.

Another Latin phrase from the Reformation applies to this issue – a man being declared righteous while he himself is not righteous – remember what it is, Mr. Griffin?   At the same time just and sinner?  Simul iustus et peccator.  Our sinful nature has yet to be totally eradicated but through faith in Christ, God declares us righteous.  At the same time just and sinner.

The Heidelberg Catechism from the 16th Century gives us a good explanation – children were taught this (not in English, of course) in questions 60 and 61:

Q. How are you right with God?

A. Only by true faith in Jesus Christ.

Even though my conscience accuses me of having grievously sinned against all God’s commandments and of never having kept any of them, and even though I am still inclined toward all evil, nevertheless, without my deserving it at all, out of sheer grace, God grants and credits to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ, as if I had never sinned nor been a sinner, as if I had been as perfectly obedient as Christ was obedient for me.

All I need to do is to accept this gift of God with a believing heart.

Q. Why do you say that by faith alone you are right with God?

A. It is not because of any value my faith has that God is pleased with me.
Only Christ’s satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness make me right with God.
And I can receive this righteousness and make it mine in no other way than by faith alone.

Next week we will look more at the biblical basis for faith alone and also at what difference it makes in our lives as Christians.  Let’s pray.

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1.  2 Tim 1:9 “who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,”

2.  2 Tim 1:9 “who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,”; 1 Thess 5:9 “For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,”

3.  Eph 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

4.  Rev 5:9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,

5.  2 Tim 1:9 “who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,”; Eph 3:11 “This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord,”; Eph 1:4 “even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.”; Rom 8:29-30 “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”

6.  Prov 16:4 ​​”​​​​​​The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.”; Rom 11:36 “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.”

7.  J.I. Packer, ‘18 Words; The Most Important Words You Will Ever Know,’ (Christian Focus: Scotland, 2008) p. 135.

Rom 16:1 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae,

Rom 16:2 that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well.

We start chapter 16 seeing that Paul, as he does in many of his letters, places personal greetings and messages here. This chapter may seem rather innocuous, but it is the cause of what I would consider much bad doctrine – how? And where? In the very first verse. Before we get to the doctrinal issue, let’s look at what Paul says and what we can draw from it.

Paul says, “I commend to you” – who is the “you” here? The church at Rome. Paul also says that “you” are to welcome her and to help her, so we can surmise here that Phoebe is coming to Rome and we can also draw the conclusion that she may even be the courier delivering Paul’s letter. Now, can we make a definitive judgment as to that statement? No, we can’t, but it is a reasonable conclusion to draw but since it’s not definitive, we wouldn’t want to base any dogma or doctrine on it. Why do I say that? Because of what we will discuss next on this verse and for Mr. Griffin’s sake, we will define two words that pertain to the study of Scripture. Those two words (write on whiteboard) are: 1) exegesis, and 2) eisegesis. We have covered these two words before, if memory serves, but since I can’t even remember if we have, it’s good to do it again.

Exegesis is a word that means “to lead out of.” For our purpose, in interpreting the Bible, it means to draw out of the text the meaning of that text. We are trying to find the author’s original meaning and intent in what the text says. At its root, a text means the same thing today that it did when it was written. The challenge for us is to extract that meaning from the text. The other word, “eisegesis,” means pretty much the opposite of exegesis – eisegesis means “to lead into.” For us, it means reading a meaning into the text that isn’t there. It’s bringing something into the text that was never meant to be there. It’s always a challenge for the student of the Bible to engage in exegesis and not eisegesis. You might say we’d never engage in eisegesis. It’s easier than you may think. It’s not easy for us to lay aside our contemporary views and culture in interpreting the biblical text. We don’t think like a Jew of 2,000 years ago or like a Greek did back then or how people coming from the pagan cultures of that day thought. Paul, and the other New Testament authors, though, had all those factors in mind when they wrote what they wrote, inspired by the Spirit of God. We aren’t supposed to interpret these Scriptures using today’s news headlines or today’s political or economic or cultural climate – think about it – was our political and economic and cultural climate different 50 years ago? Is our culture different than that of the Sudan? South Korea? Germany 500 years ago? 100 years ago? 200 years ago? So does Romans 16 or John 6 or whichever passage you pick have a zillion different meanings – one for each era? No, they don’t.

Let’s look at an example. John 3:16. First, I want to read something from this booklet (hold up IRBC Constitution). Anybody seen this? It’s our church’s Constitution. Anybody read it? I sure hope so. You should read it. Let me read from this and tell you what we believe happened as a result of the fall of Adam: (read statement on total depravity). This statement says the Fall rendered Adam and all his descendants -which includes you and I – totally incapable of saying “yes” to God and we have no natural desire or want to say “Yes.”

One time I was leading a Sunday School class like this and we had all agreed on this same point – man’s natural inability to say “Yes” to the Gospel or to obey God in any way. Until one man rasied his hand and sai, “What about John 3:16?” I responded, What about John 3:16.” He said that John 3:16 said that everybody had the ability to say “Yes.” I said, “OK, let’s read John 3:16 and that’s what we’ll do now.” So now, someone here hopefully can recite John 3:16…..

I had this gentleman read John 3:16 aloud to the class and he said, “See. There it is.” I said, “There what is?” “Whosoever believes.” “OK. ‘Whosoever believes’ says what about who CAN or CANNOT believe? Read it again, out loud. What does the verse say about anyone’s ability to believe?” “Well, it doesn’t say anything.” “Exactly. It doesn’t say anything one way or the other. It says nothing about anyone’s ability to believe.”

My point is that this gentleman was reading something into the passage that just was not there – John 3:16 says whoever does something – believes – recives a reward – eternal life. That’s all it says – nothing about man’s natural ability or inability to believe. Thinking it dioes say something is eisegesis – reading something into the verse that just isn’t there.

I’ve said all that to say this as we work through verse 1. Paul says something here that I maintain has resulted in much bad doctrine and teaching throughout the church and it has to do with Phoebe. Paul speaks very highly of Phoebe, does he not? And the manner in which he speaks highly of her causes some people to draw what erroneous doctrinal conclusion? That women are to be pastors. Anytime the discussion comes up concerning female pastors, one of the first verses cited to support this is Romans 16:1? “Well, what about Phoebe?” Well, what about Phoebe? Paul commends her for being a servant to the church Cenchreae. The word translated as “servant” in my English Standard and in your NIV and in your King James and in your New King James and in your New American Standard is the same word – diakonos – that is also translated elsewhere in the New Testament as what word? Deacon. Just as new information, if you use the NIV, the NIV has been revised with a new version called the NIV-2010. My son-in-law, whom you’ve seen here with my daughter, works for Zondervan and all Zondervan employees were allowed to send one electronic copy of the new NIV to someone and after his first option declined, I accepted, because after all, there’s no book like a free book, right? All I have to say about this new version is that if you like the old NIV, you may well not like the new NIV but you can make your own judgment if you choose to upgrade down the road. The new NIV translates verse 1 not with “servant,” but with “deacon.”

In looking at what some theologians say about this issue, there is no unanimity. There is however a consensus among the more conservative scholars. When you read the following on this verse – to name a few – John Calvin[i], John Gill[ii], Frederick Godet[iii], Matthew Poole[iv], Matthew Henry[v], John Murray[vi], Leon Morris[vii], C.E.B. Cranfield[viii], Everett Harrison[ix], William Hendrickson[x]. Most of those men would say there is nothing compelling the use of “deacon” in this passage. Even those who do say it should be translated “deacon,” for example, such as Cranfield, who says it is “the most natural reading,” would not maintain it holds the weight assigned to it by many who wish to empower women for pastoral ministry. Even if the word is translated “deacon,” there is nothing mandating its use in this passage as an office within the church equivalent to the office of male deacon. Now, as Douglas Wilson, theologian in Idaho, would hold – we do not determine truth by counting scholarly noses, so we don’t vote on truth based upon how many scholars hold a particular position. Having said that, we cannot deny the overwhelming evidence of conservative scholarship that states that verse 1 does not give any weight to the “women are to be pastors” argument. I would hold that to draw such a conclusion is engaging in eisegesis in instead of exegesis.

Elsewhere in the New Testament, there are examples of this word being used that do not compel us to state that its use requires the mention of an office within the church that ministers to all within the church of either gender. We can go to a passage such as 1 Tim. 3, where Paul lays out some requirements for deacons:

“1Tim 3:8 Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain.

1Tim 3:9 They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.

1Tim 3:10 And let them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless.

1Tim 3:11 Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things.

1Tim 3:12 Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well.

1Tim 3:13 For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.

Those who would maintain that this passage does not rule out female deacons are using what is called the argument from silence to state such. This means nothing is said about a topic, so because it isn’t prohibited, it must be permitted. Just because the Scripture is silent in one passage on a topic does not mean it does not speak elsewhere and we should not be using an argument from silence to establish doctrinal standards. I would equate this to what I learned from a prison chaplain a few years ago – he had a prisoner come in and request a certain thing for his particular faith system and the chaplain denied him. The prisoner said, “Policy doesn’t say I can’t do it, so I should be able to.” The chaplain’s response was, “Policy does not say you CAN do it and you can only do what policy says, not what it does not say you cannot do.”

I am aware this is a very emotional issue and can cause division within churches. I am not minimizing either Phoebe’s – or females in general – gifts and abilities and her service within the church. One time during the prison study this issue came up and one of the prisoner church leaders was furious at my point that there are certain roles ordained for women in the Scripture and certain ones which the Scripture prohibits them. This man accused me of being bigoted and demeaning toward women and he said I was saying that women were lesser people than men. I responded by stating that I was saying nothing of the sort – that the Spirit assigns gifts to women as He does men but He also, in His Word, assigns parameters for the usage of those gifts. The Scripture gives us parameters on how and where Phoebe’s – and any womans’s – gifts are to be used and verse one of chapter 16 certainly does not give license to the position that women are to be pastors or even that they are to be deacons on the same level serving the same people within the church that male deacons serve. Yes, it is about service, but is about service within the guidelines of Scripture. Scripture does not give us freedom to interpret texts based upon popular opinion, emotions or experience. We are not to read into the Scripture what is not there. We are to interpret Scripture with Scripture, not with culture. Church history seems to show us that women of Phoebe’s time and the immediate time after her served women and if they served men, they served within the guidelines set by Scripture – and served them sacrificially. They did not, however, serve in roles that the Scripture limits to males. For example, Pliny the younger, about A. D. 104, appears to refer to them in his letter to Trajan, in which he speaks of the torture of two maids who were called minestrae (female ministers). The office seems to have been confined mainly to widows, though virgins were not absolutely excluded. Their duties were to take care of the sick and poor, to minister to martyrs and confessors in prison, to instruct catechumens, to assist at the baptism of women, and to exercise a general supervision over the female church members.[xi]

To sum up verses one and two – Paul seems to be sending Phoebe – a reliable servant of the church – to Rome with this letter n her hand and the church at Rome was to extend hospitality to her and assist her as she had done for Paul and others in the past. Verses one and two do not permit us to extend the office of overseer or teaching elder for a congregation to females – doing so violates the meaning of this and other texts.

[i]. Commentary on Romans 16:1-16, Christian Classics Ethereal Library, http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/calcom38.xx.i.html

[ii]. Exposition of the Entire Bible, FreeGrace.net, http://www.freegrace.net/gill/

[iii]. Commentary on St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, pp.487-488

[iv]. Annotations Upon The Holy Bible, pp. 534-535

[v]. Commentary on the Whole Bible, Christian Classics Ethereal Library, http://www.ccel.org/ccel/henry/mhc6.Rom.xvii.html

[vi]. The Epistle to the Romans, Volume II, pp. 226-227

[vii]. The Epistle to the Romans, The Pillar New Testament Commentary, pp. 527-529

[viii]. Romans: A Shorter Commentary, pp. 374-375

[ix]. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 10, pp. 160-161

[x]. New Testament Commentary: Exposition of Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, pp. 498-501

[xi]. Vincent’s Word Studies, Godrules.net, http://www.godrules.net/library/vincent/vincentrom16.htm

Rom 11:2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel?

Rom 11:3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.”

Rom 11:4 But what is God’s reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”

Rom 11:5 So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.

Rom 11:6 But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

Rom 11:7 What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened,

Rom 11:8 as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.”

Rom 11:9 And David says, “Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them;

Rom 11:10 ​​​​​​​​let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and bend their backs forever.”

Paul starts off chapter 11 with a familiar issue – has God rejected the Jews?  Where have we seen this before?  In chapter 9, where Paul discusses whether or not the word of God has failed because not every ethnic Jew is saved, and we can go back further to chapter 2 where Paul said a true Jew is one whose heart is circumcised, not his flesh.  The question here in verse 1, “Has God rejected His people?” is a follow up to what he wrote late in chapter 10, where he said in verse 21 concerning Israel, ““All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”

Now, does this mean that God has totally rejected Israel?  Remember, Israel was God’s “firstborn son,” according to Exodus 4:22; they were a kingdom of priests and a holy nation according to Exodus 19:6; they were the Lord’s “treasured possession” according to Deuteronomy 14:2 and 26:18;  Isaiah 43:20 calls Israel His chosen people and in Hosea 11, verse 1, God says He loved Israel when it was a child.  By the way, Hosea 11:1 is a verse that can be used to show that God does indeed have a love for the on-elect.  I know some in the Reformed community would say that God only loves the elect and only hates the non-elect.  I really appreciate, for instance, the writer A.W. Pink.  Pink has written some wonderful material and I think his book “The Sovereignty of God” is a book everyone should read and you can go online and read it for free – Pink died in 1952 so his writings are written in an English that we can understand.  In that book, though, Pink maintains that God only loves the elect – that He has no love at all for the non-elect and he uses the story of the rich young ruler to make his point.  What happened at the end of that story?  The man’s face fell and he walked away from Jesus.  Pink maintains because the Scripture says prior to that “Jesus loved him,” the man was necessarily among the elect and was saved at some later date.  I think that’s forcing a meaning on the text that does violence to the text but that’s what happens when we make assumptions that are not in line with the Scriptures.

We have seen from what Paul has said so far in Romans that not every ethnic Jew – a Jew by birth or by the cutting of the flesh – will be saved.  We also saw that in the Old Testament.  Remember a couple weeks ago I told you to keep in mind the concept of the righteous remnant?  Chapter 11 here will discuss that issue and it is in perfect harmony with what Hosea writes in his chapter 11 – God loved all Israel, but that does not mean every individual Israelite was saved then and it does not mean so as Paul has been trying to make that point throughout Romans and he is also trying to show us the fact that just because not every single Jew will be saved that the word of God has not failed or is not in contradiction with itself.

So, again, here’s the issue: has God rejected His people?  Paul’s response?  Should be familiar to us by now – “By no means!” or “Absolutely not!”  Paul – in the strongest sense of the word – wants his audience to know that God has not rejected His people, but what is the real issue here?  Just who ARE His people?  There’s an interesting verse that answers Paul’s question in Matthew chapter 1 – remember, Paul’s question here is, “Has God rejected His people?”  Turn to Matthew 1.  Let’s look at verse 21.  Joseph has an encounter with an angel and the angel says this to him concerning Mary: “Matt 1:21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

“He will save His people from their sins.”  Now just what does that verse mean?  It means the exact same thing that Paul is trying to say in Romans 9, 10 and 11.  The Word of God, according to Paul, has not failed and we know that the Word of God will not return void, right?  When the angel tells Joseph that this baby will save His people from their sins, how many of His people will not be saved?  None.  They will all be saved.  That’s why we need to be careful in our interpretation and what we say about who are really God’s people.  Turn to John 6 and we’ll start at verse 35.  By the way, what we are doing here is using Scripture to interpret Scripture.  Scripture is its own best interpreter and this is referred to as “the analogy of faith.”  The fact that Scripture never contradicts itself and can be used to explain itself is called the analogy of faith.

John chapter 6 is where Jesus has been very seeker sensitive and has drawn to Himself a huge following by giving them literal bread and then the people follow Him for a short trip and then Jesus starts to teach in verse 35.  As we look at this, keep in mind the fact that many believe God gave every single person to Jesus for Him to save.  Jesus Himself discusses just who “His people” –the phrasing of Matthew 1:21 AND Romans 11:1 are in this passage.

John 6:35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

John 6:36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.

John 6:37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.

John 6:38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.

John 6:39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.

John 6:40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

In verse 35, does Jesus define who His people are?  Not yet.  All He says there is that those who come to Him will not hunger or thirst.  Verse 36, He says these people have seen Him and don’t believe.  Do we know who His people are at this point?  No.

Verse 37, however, gets to the heart of the matter – all that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.  What are the steps in that verse – first the Father gives a group of people to the Son – “All that the Father gives me.”  Second, what does that group do?  They come to the Son.  How many come to the Son?  All of them.  And out of those who come, how many will be cast out?  None.  None.  Those are “His people.”  The “His people” of Matthew 1 and Romans 11.

Verse 38 is where Jesus says He came to do the will of Him who sent Him and we can look back at chapter 4 in John where Jesus said His food was to do the will of the Father and here he tells us just what that will of the Father is.  Verse 39 – Jesus goes on – this is the will of the Father – that out of all the people that were given to Him, how many will He lose?  None.  If were to go to chapter 10 in John, we would see that how many people who are in the hands of the Father and Son can be snatched out of those hands?  None.  None.  And, verse 39 continues, that on the last day that group of people will be raised up with Him.  Verse 40 – the will of the Father again – everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life and will be raised up with Him on the last day.  That’s whom Paul is talking about in Romans 11, so let’s go back there.

Now, just because Paul has said that Israel has been a “disobedient and contrary people” at the end of chapter 10, does that means every single Israelite has been “disobedient and contrary?”  No, and Paul uses himself to prove that point when he states his own heritage as an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham and a member of the tribe of Benjamin – and he is saved, so one could not object and say that God has rejected every single Jew and he is living proof.

Then he – without explicitly quoting it – uses  what he said back in chapter 8 to make his point – that God has not rejected the people he foreknew, because what did he say back in chapter 8?  Those whom He foreknew, he predestined, those whom he predestined, he called, those whom he called, he justified and those whom he justified he glorified.  In 1 Samuel 12:22 the Scripture says the Lord will not forsake His people and indeed He hasn’t and indeed He won’t.

Then Paul goes to the example of Elijah to prove his point and keep in mind the concept of the righteous remnant.  Right after Elijah has seen the Lord perform a mighty work as He proved Himself against the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18, then Elijah forgets a little when he gets a message from Jezebel as chapter 19 begins saying that as the other prophets have been killed, so will you be by this time tomorrow.  Elijah, just having experienced the power and glory of God before his very eyes, does what?  He runs.  Several weeks later Elijah is in a cave and the Lord speaks to Him, asking why he’s in the cave.  Elijah says, 1Kings 19:10 He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.”

Then the Lord passes by and there’s a wind, an earthquake, a fire and a whisper.  Then God asks Elijah again what he’s doing there.  The Lord then says what to Elijah?  Get up and go do what I tell you and by the way, there are seven thousand more who have not bowed the knee to Baal.  Elijah’s response?  He went.  There’s the concept of the righteous remnant.  We saw it with Noah and his family.  We saw it with Lot leaving Sodom and Gomorrah.  We saw it with the Exodus.  We saw it with Joshua and Caleb entering the Promised Land.  This concept is not just an Old Testament concept as Paul states for us in verse 5 of chapter 10.

“So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.”  At the present time, when Paul was writing this letter, a few decades after the ministry of Christ.  As it was then, Paul says, so it is now.  As it was in Elijah’s time, so it is now, in Paul’s time.  In Isaiah chapter 7, Shear-Jashub, a son if Isaiah is mentioned and his name means “a remnant shall return.”

Paul then goes on to defend salvation as  a matter of grace through faith and not by works, once again.

Verse 7.  Paul now says, “Well, now what?”  Israel didn’t get what it was looking for but another group did – and why?  And how?  Make sure we see the contrast here between two groups – “Israel” and the “elect.”  Make sure we also don’t get confused and forget that the elect includes some FROM Israel, as Paul pointed out a few verses ago.  The elect have obtained what?  Salvation.  Who didn’t?  “The rest.”  All those who were not among the elect.  The elect includes Jews and Gentiles, as Paul has been careful to point out, hasn’t he?  As he has done earlier, Paul cites the Old Testament to make his point. He goes back to Deuteronomy chapter 29 verse 4, which says,

“Deut 29:4 But to this day the LORD has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear.

Even in Moses’ time, there was a hardening going on “to this day.”  We can also look at Isaiah 6, 9 and 10, which say,

“Isa 6:9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’

Isa 6:10 Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

Keep in mind that Jesus quoted this passage from Isaiah in Matthew 13 in explaining why some people don’t understand the parables and why some do – because God has not opened their eyes and ears.

Paul also cites David from Psalm 69 to make his case.

So what does this mean?  Keep in mind the concept of the righteous remnant – not only in the Scriptures, but today.  The living God will save His people.  Jesus came to save a group of people given to Him by the Father and every single one of them will be saved, whether Jew or Gentile.  We have to be careful in our application of these verses which discuss hardening, though.  It is not up to us to decide who has been hardened beyond repentance.  It is up us to do what Paul said back in chapter 10 – proclaim the word by which faith comes – the word of Christ.

Rom 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Rom 8:32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

Rom 8:33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.

Rom 8:34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died-more than that, who was raised-who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

Rom 8:36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

Rom 8:37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

Rom 8:38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,

Rom 8:39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Rom 9:1 I am speaking the truth in Christ-I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit-

Rom 9:2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.

Rom 9:3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.

Rom 9:4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises.

Rom 9:5 To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

Rom 9:6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel,

Rom 9:7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”

Rom 9:8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.

Rom 9:9 For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.”

Rom 9:10 And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac,

Rom 9:11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad-in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls-

Rom 9:12 she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”

Rom 9:13 As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

Last week we ended by looking at verses 28-30, which describe God’s sovereign plan for salvation in eternity and there are five actions of God in those verses that are referred to as the “Golden Chain of Salvation.” It’s a chain with five links – those whom he foreknew – or set his special love upon, those whom he predestined, those whom he called, those whom he justified and those whom he glorified. If a person is not in this class of people, that person will not be saved. Now, after class, the always sharp as a tack Mr. Griffin came up to me and said that we still have to believe and he’s absolutely correct. Paul addresses belief in chapter 10 – here all he is doing is describing the eternal decree of God in salvation. If we look at the chain as it happens in history – in time and space, is a man saved when God foreknew him? No. Is he saved when God predestines him? No. Is he saved when he is called? No. Is he saved when he is justified? Yes. Paul says we are justified by what action we do? We believe – remember he started chapter 5 by saying, “Therefore, have been justified by faith.” In chapter one he said “The righteous shall live by faith.” So even though the salvation of the elect has been decreed from eternity, the decree is not applied until God, in His providence, gives us the faith with which we believe. So let’s make sure we don’t forget that until we believe and are justified, we are under the wrath of God as John the Baptist says in John 3:36 – all who do not believe are under the wrath – even the elect – until such time as they do believe.

Why do we talk about this theology and spend time on things like the Golden Chain? Because in understanding tem we can then draw conclusions as Paul does in verse 31. Here Paul asks a question – is it the same type of question he has asked before in Romans? No. Before he’s been addressing questions that may come up as objections to his teaching. Here he raises a question to make a point – a conclusion based upon what he has said. He not only asks one question, he asks four questions. The second, third and fourth questions are his own responses to the first question. “What shall we say about these things?” What are “these things?” He’s referring most likely back to verses 28-30, but also to the preceding verses in chapter 8 and actually, to all of the letter as it concerns God’s work in salvation going back to chapter 1, verse 17. What’s the unspoken answer to the second question – “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Nobody. Now, of course, many people and evil spirits will indeed “come against us,” but how many will triumph? None. None, if God is on our side. None, if we have our mind set on His Spirit – one the “these things” Paul described for us back in chapter 8. In verse 32, Paul cites some Old Testament Scripture for us – you know where? Genesis 22, verse 12. He cites it from the Septuagint, though, not the Hebrew. What is the Septuagint? It’s the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures that Paul and the people of his day read – it was translated a couple hundred years before Christ. That’s why it may not quite match what our Bibles may say. Keep that in mind when you are reading the New Testament – quite often it is the Septuagint that is being quoted, which may differ somewhat from what our English translations read. Paul is referencing Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son of the promise, Isaac. What that was doing was pointing forward to the willingness of the Father to sacrifice his only Son, Jesus.

Verse 33 – “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect?” Paul says it is God who justifies and what did verses 29 and 30 say about those who are justified – justified how? – by faith – that they were foreknown, predestined, called justified and glorified in the mind of God in His eternal; decree. That being the case, who can bring anything against God’s elect because it is He who justifies based upon His word.

Paul also told us back in verses 26 and 27 about the Spirit interceding for these people and now here in verse 34 he says Jesus is also at the right hand of the Father, interceding for “us.” Remember, personal pronouns make a difference – who is the “us” here? God’s elect from verse 33. It’s the same “us” as in verse 32 and verse 33 and it is the same group as the “us all” in verse 33. It’ll be the same group as we work through the end of the chapter – “us” is going to refer to the people of God only.

He asks another question in verse 35 – in fact two questions. He begins his answer by addressing the second question and does so by quoting from Psalm 44:22. His answer to the second question of verse 35 is that these things will happen, but will they separate us from the love of Christ? Verse 37. No, they won’t. He says in all these things – what are “all these things” – are they the same things as in verse 31? No. Here, “all these things” refers to the issues in his second question of verse 35. He says, “NO,” but our conquering is only through him who loved us – remember, He loved us first – He set His love upon His people in eternity. 1 John 4:19 says we love because He first loved us.

Paul then draws a conclusion with a passage that gets quoted over and over in the church as well it should. The problem is that many in the church don’t really believe this and I’ll show you how in a minute. He starts verse 38 with our word, “For,” so he is drawing a conclusion or expanding upon what he has previously written and says he is sure of what? That neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate ourselves from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

What can separate the people of God – the people whom He foreknew, whom he predestined, whom he called, whom he justified, whom he glorified – Gods’ elect – from His love? Nothing. No thing. What does “nothing” mean? Nothing. What can separate – who can separate the people of God from His love? Nothing and nobody.

Except….what?

I’ll tell you what gets taught. There is one thing, some say, that can separate us from the love of God. Even though verses 38 and 39 say nothing, many believe there is an exception. What’s the exception? What can separate?

Ourselves. Ourselves. Is that what the passage says? No. Is that what he has been teaching since verse 28? Those who have been foreknown, predestined, called, justified and glorified – can those people separate themselves from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord? NO! The work He began in us He will see to that it is completed. Philippians 1:6 is where Paul describes that – Paul says there that “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” IF our salvation is something that He has done – from beginning to end – it will indeed be brought to completion.

NOTHING can separate us. Nothing. But again – who is “us?” The elect. Don’t apply this passage to the unbelievers because it’s not meant to be applied to them. I’m not saying that God does not have any form of love for the pagans – he does, but it is not His love IN CHRIST Jesus, which is what Paul is discussing here.

We now move to chapter nine. Romans chapter nine is a chapter that is hotly debated within the Christian Church. Sometimes it is completely ignored because it teaches some things that are discomforting to some who hold certain preconceived notions. A proper understanding of this very chapter, though, will help us understand the entirety of the Bible much more clearly, at least in my opinion, and one reason, again, in opinion, that many people don’t like Romans 9 is that it clearly establishes the absolute sovereignty of God in salvation. If totally demolishes any view that man’s will takes sway over God’s will with regard to the salvation of sinners.

Paul ahs just finished a clear statement on the sovereign decree of God with regard to salvation in Romans 8:28-30 and finished chapter eight with a statement saying nothing can separate His people from His love. Now, if we remember back in chapter two, Paul had defined who a true Jew was, right? He said in 2:28 that a Jew is not one who is outwardly a Jew but Jewishness is a matter of the heart. He then goes on to say in chapter 3 that the Jews had every advantage but that some were unfaithful. Bringing us back to chapter 8, we can look at Paul’s statement on predestination as determining who is saved and he now knows that someone will say, “What about the Jews? What about God’s promises and His covenant?” Paul gets personal as he describes his anguish over the fact that not every ethnic Israelite will be saved. He goes so far as to say that he could wish that he himself were damned for the sake of his brothers according to the flesh – his fellow ethnic Jews. Just like in chapter three, he runs down the advantages the Israelites had in verse 4 and verse 5 and he makes a statement that is very important in two ways in verse 5. Christ Himself is from which ethnic group – the Jews. Jesus was one of them. Here’s one that gets missed – verse 5 says Jesus is….who? God over all. Some may say the bible never says Jesus is God. Well, it says it in many places¹ and here’s another one.

Verse 6 – here’s the question – has the word of God failed if not every ethnic Jew is saved? Paul says no. Are all the children of Abraham children of the promise? Let’s look at the promise. Genesis 17, verses 7 and 8:

Gen 17:7 I will confirm my covenant as a perpetual covenant between me and you. It will extend to your descendants after you throughout their generations. I will be your God and the God of your descendants after you.

Gen 17:8 I will give the whole land of Canaan – the land where you are now residing – to you and your descendants after you as a permanent possession. I will be their God.”

Now, let’s look at Abraham’s children. Was Ishmael the child of the promise? No. Why? Because Abraham was disobedient. Was Esau the child of the promise? No. Why? We’ll get there. Was Isaac the child of the promise? Yes. Now how about Isaac’s children? Was there a struggle in the womb between the twins? Yes, according to Genesis 25. The Lord told Rebekah that two nations would be divided – and that the older would serve the younger. Now, let’s look at Jacob. Let’s compare him to say, Joseph. Were they both of the same high character? No. Isaac was sneaky and more than once pulled shenanigans. Was God just a mere psychic looking ahead in time when He said what He said to Rebekah about the older serving the younger? No. It was to happen because of God sovereign decree. We see that throughout the Scripture so far until this point in Genesis that God had been showing Himself to be sovereign over and over again. Here we have another example and Paul refers to it to make his point about the word of God not having failed. Paul’s point is that not all Abraham’s descendants are his children. We can go back to John 8 again and let’s do that. Verse 37. Jesus is talking with…Jews and of course, Jesus knows this and in fact, affirms their Jewishness as we start:

John 8:37 I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you.

John 8:38 I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”

John 8:39 They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did,

John 8:40 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did.

John 8:41 You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father-even God.”

John 8:42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me.

John 8:43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word.

John 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

John 8:45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.

Verse 39 – IF you were Abraham’s children. Verse 44 – you are of your father..who? The devil. Remember back in Romans chapter 4 – Paul had said, “Rom 4:13 For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.

Paul also says in Galatians chapter 3 verses 5-7, “Gal 3:5 Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith-

Gal 3:6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?

Gal 3:7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.

Paul goes on in Galatians 3 verse 29 to say, “Gal 3:29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

IF you are the Christ’s. IF you belong to Christ, you are Abraham’s offspring and heirs according to the promise of Genesis 17.

Remember back in Romans 8 Paul had said, “Rom 8:9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

If the Spirit of God dwells in you, you belong to Christ and you are an offspring of Abraham, a child of the promise of Genesis 17.

Paul then goes on to describe how this worked out with the birth of Isaac and then the conception of the twins. She was told the older will serve the younger – that’s down in verse 12. But verse 11 is the hard one. Upon what basis did God do what He told Rebekah in verse 12? Paul says 1) it was not because they had been born, which should be obvious, but the next phrase is key – they had done nothing good or bad. Many times some will try to say that God chose Jacob because of what He foresaw him to do once he was born. What does the passage say? It explicitly REFUTES that train of thought. It was NOT because of what He foresaw Jacob doing.

“In order that God’s purpose of election might continue” had God elected before this in the Scripture? Sure. He chose Abraham, didn’t He? He chose Noah and his family, didn’t He? So His purpose of election was something that existed before Jacob and Esau. That’s how it could continue – it had already been in place and Paul says this purpose might continue how? Not because of works but because of his call. Whose call? God’s. What call? The call of Romans 8, verse 29-30. Paul clearly says here that God does NOT choose based upon what people do or will do or have done. He chooses because of His purpose of election. Yes, this is a hard teaching. But all Paul is doing is explaining what he has already said prior to this and he is making it clear that the word of God – and God Himself – have not failed.

Verse 13. Paul quotes Scripture. “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.” Malachi 1:2-3. What does this mean? Well, we could spend an hour, if not more, discussing the definition of the word “hate” here. “Hate” in the Scriptures could mean “loved less,” it could mean “rejected” or it could mean “hate.” We have to be careful here in trying to compare divine hatred with human hatred. This passage is talking about divine hatred and my personal take is that that it means here “hate.” God hated Esau. Now, was there a sense in which God loved Him? Sure. Is it impossible for God to love and hate the same person? No. I think that’s the case here. I think a plain reading of the word “hate” – especially when we see the context of Malachi, from which it comes, would show that and we could look throughout the Old Testament to look at clear instances of the Scripture describing God’s hatred of people as not “loving them less.” This does not deny the goodness of God or His justice or righteousness but in fact helps to establish it. Now even if you wish to disagree and say it means “loved less” or “rejected” here,” it doesn’t change the point, which is that God chose Jacob and didn’t choose Esau. And He chose Jacob in His own sovereign pleasure. Often the question comes up, why did God hate Esau? That’s the wrong question – the right question is, especially based upon what Paul said about human nature in chapter 1:18-3:20, is this: “How could God love Jacob?” Think about it. How could God love Jacob. Or me. Or you.

The point Paul is making here is that God is absolutely, completely, independently free in His choice of whom he saves. For God to choose someone such as Jacob. Or Shawn. Or my friend Chuck here. And not choose someone else like Pharaoh or Stalin or Hitler – if we understand it in that manner – that only the people of the Golden Chain of chapter 8 – those whom he foreknew, predestined, called, justified and glorified, will be saved and the rest will be passed over, what is the natural human response to that?

That’s not fair!!!

Exactly right and Paul knows it. I would maintain if your exegesis of this passage doesn’t arrive at that being the natural objection, then it is wrong and Paul knows it to be wrong as well. The human response to election is that God is being unfair, in that God must be an equal opportunity God. Paul doesn’t say that and he knows people are going to object. Paul’s response? We’ll cover that next week.

1. e.g., Is. 6:14 (cf. John 12:41); Is. 9:6; John 1:1; John 8:58; John 10:30; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:8-13; 1 John 5:20

For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,

and if children, then heirs-heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.

For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope

that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.

And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?

But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Last week we didn’t really get to verse 9-11 but they lead us into verse 12, so let’s read that:

You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

That leads into verse 12 and look at this passage and see how many times Paul uses “For” in beginning a sentence. In the ESV, he does it in verses 13, 14, 15, 18, 19, 20, 22, 24 and 29. Also, verses 23, 27, 28 and 30 all begin with “And.” If that’s the case, taking one verse out of this passage to define something may well be pretty dangerous because this whole passage certainly appears to one continuous thought.

In verse 12 Paul says those people whose mind is set on the Spirit from the prior passages – those people who have the Spirit of Christ in them – those people who belong to Jesus – are not debtors to the flesh. A debtor is what? Someone who owes something to another. These people – Christians – sons of God – do not owe anything to their flesh any longer and are not to live according to their flesh because if they do live according to the flesh, what will happen? They will die.

Verse 13 talks about putting to death the deeds of the flesh, but I prefer the way the King James puts it – the King James says to mortify the deeds of the body. How? Through the Spirit. Mortify means to do what? Kill. Through the Spirit, we can kill sin in our lives. In Paul talks about this work of the Spirit in verse 13 when he says to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who works in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure. We are to work out what the Spirit is working IN us.

Verse 14 shows us that all who are led by the Spirit become…sons of God and how does that happen? Verse 15 – we receive the Spirit of adoption. Please note it does not say we accept the Spirit of adoption, but it is something we receive. It’s a passive action on our part – not an active one – another performs the acts and we receive it. God gives us the Spirit of adoption and we receive it.

We are sort of zipping through a good part of this passage because I want to make sure we get to the end, because verses 28-30 need some time and verses 12-27 are pretty straightforward, plus Shawn covered verses 26 and 27 in last week’s message.

Verses 18-24 address the redemption of creation that will come one day – and the thing here is to look at just what Paul means by creation. Creation here does not include Satan and the fallen angels because they would not be longing for the revealing of the sons of God and they would not be “in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God..”

Verse 23 separates creation from we who have the firstfruits of the Spirit so creation in this sense does not include the children of God. Creation in this passage refers to the inanimate creation – it will be redeemed one day as well as gives a clue:

“ Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.

And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Now we move to verses 28 through 30. Verse 28 is one of those verses that begins with “And.” And we know…what? That for those who love God all things work together for good, for those are called according to his purpose. Remember, this is right after Paul has made the point that the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. Paul then says, “And,” and we need to make sure we quote verse 28 rightly in the right context. It can get quoted “God works all things together for good” and it gets left there. One can try to apply this verse universally across mankind to every single person but that’s not what Paul says here. Paul says that all things work together for good for whom? A specific group of people – those who love God – those who are called according to his purpose. We need to be careful here as well and not say that all things themselves are good – evil is still evil but God uses evil as part of the “all things” of this passage. We also then need to be careful and not say that God DOES evil. God does not do evil. Everything God does is by definition good – He never does evil but He can and does decree that evil occur. Let’s look at some passages. Genesis chapter 45. Joseph and his brothers. Joseph’s brothers get mad and sell him to the Midianites and Joseph ends up in Egypt and ends up running into a woman who is not so virtuous and Joseph ends up in prison but eventually Joseph works his way up o what position? The equivalent of prime minister of Egypt. Now, were the actions of Joseph’s brothers evil? Yes. They knew what they were doing was evil. It was sinful. What does Joseph say, though, in chapter 45, verses 4-8?

“ So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt.

And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.

For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest.

And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors.

So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.”

God sent Joseph to Egypt through the evil actions of his brothers for what purpose? To preserve life. Joseph’s good management skills had provided food in reparation for a famine right? God used the sinful actions of his brothers to, in the end, work things for good for his people.

Job chapter 2. Turn there. Job loses his property, he loses his livestock, he loses his children and he loses his health. What does he have left? Not much besides Mrs. Job, who does not seem very happy that he has maintained his integrity when she says in chapter 2, verse 9, “ Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.” Job’s response? “ But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.” Job knew where the ultimate source of his adversity was – was it for his good? Yes, we see at the end of the book that it was and we also see this statement in chapter 42, verses 10 and 11:” And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in his house. And they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him. And each of them gave him a piece of money and a ring of gold.”

Job and his brothers and sisters knew that the evil that had come was from the Lord but the Lord did not do evil – who did do evil? Satan did.

Acts chapter 2 and Acts chapter 4. The single most evil act in human history – the crucifixion of Christ. , verses 22 and 23:

“ “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know-

this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.”

Then chapter 4, verses 23 – 28:

“ When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them.

And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them,

who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain?

The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’-

for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.”

This was God’s plan all along and we can go to the Old Testament to see this in where we read of the prophecy of the crucifixion where it says,

“ Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.

He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.”

Smitten by who? By God. But the New Testament says men killed Jesus. Which is right? They both are. God was working together all things for the good of those who love him, who are called according to his purpose.

Yes, this can be difficult to wrap our hands around. It gets harder in verses 29 and 30. Now, I don’t think it’s hard. Now, anyway. For a long time it was. But a plain reading of what Paul says is the right one here.

“ For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”

The key word to start with is “foreknew.” The phrase says, “Those whom he foreknew.” Now, is this a knowledge of people in general? Is there anyone whom God doesn’t know? No. Not if he is omniscient, knowing all things. Does it say he knew what people would do? No. It says he whom he foreknew. These are people – not what these people would do, as some may claim. This word here is “proginosko” – to know beforehand. God knew PEOPLE beforehand. Knowledge of people here has to do with relationship or favor – we can look at a passage such as where it says, “ “You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.” Now, does that passage mean that the Lord didn’t know who all the other families of the earth aside from Israel were? Of course not. But he had set his favor – his love upon Israel in a way he hadn’t with other nations.

Remember our chart from last week? The two contrasts between the saved and the unsaved? We can add another line from this passage when we compare it to Matthew chapter 7 verses 21-23:

“ “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’

And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

There are people whom Jesus has never “known” – never known in the sense of his favor being set on them in a special relationship. Our passage in concerns a people he has foreknown and for how long has he foreknown them? Eternally.

So those whom he foreknew he predestined – so foreknowledge and predestination are two different things and predestined to what? To be conformed to the image of his Son. When will this happen in its fullness? Upon glorification. Then what? In order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. Let’s not confuse our “he’s” in this passage. Verse 29 – For those whom God foreknew God also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that His Son might be the firstborn among many brothers. Then follow verse 30 – substitute the right word for “he” – And those whom God predestined God also called, and those whom God called He also justified, and those whom God justified He also glorified.

Now is Paul referring to the same group of people throughout verses 29 and 30? Yes. He does not mix in the elect and the non-elect here. Is there any doubt that this group of people Paul refers to here will be saved? Absolutely NO doubt. This is talking about an action that happened in the past – in eternity – and it is a done deal. Are we glorified yet? No. If the Lord tarries, are there people who have yet to be justified? Yes. There are people who have yet to be born who will be justified if He tarries. Those whom He has predestined, though – is there any doubt they will be saved? No. Can we know if we are in this group? Yes. Paul keeps trying to tell us this.

I have friends who tell me they don’t believe in predestination. Why? I don’t know. You have to do something with passages like this one if you believe the Bible. This passage is clear in stating that God has chosen a people for salvation and when we get into Paul will tell us it is just not a generic group of people, he will tell us it is specific individuals whom have been chosen by God to be saved.

I know this is a delicate subject. Some say this infringes upon the goodness and justice of God. It doesn’t. Is not God within his rights as God to choose? Hasn’t he done that throughout the Scriptures? This can be a hard passage but I believe it isn’t. This passage does not contradict any other passage in the Bible, including . It is in perfect harmony with it. Praise God.

Rom 5:2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Rom 5:3 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,

Rom 5:4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,

Rom 5:5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Rom 5:6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

Rom 5:7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person-though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die-

Rom 5:8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Rom 5:9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

Rom 5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

Rom 5:11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

As we start chapter five, Paul now moves on to the next division of his letter – in chapter 1 he started discussing the nature of man’s spiritual problems beginning in verse 18 and went through chapter 3 verse 20 explaining how every man is under condemnation, whether it’s because of his suppression of his inherent knowledge of God that he receives through what he sees and knows of Creation – a knowledge he suppresses in his unrighteousness, or he is condemned because he knows the work of the law and thus fails to do what the law requires or he has been given the law as the Jews were and fails to do what it also requires and he is also condemned by the testimony of his conscience. Then starting in chapter three, verse 21, he began to describe the wonderful fact that in spite of all that, man can still be right before God and he can be right solely on the basis of faith in the work of Jesus Christ and not by keeping a law or any laws. Paul works through the balance of chapter three and all the way through chapter four in doing this, going back to Abraham and David as examples of how a person can be just before God on the basis of faith – just upon the basis of a righteousness that is not his own, but credited or reckoned, or to use the theological term from the King James – a word starts with “I” – “imputed” – to his account through faith. Paul isn’t describing some brand new theological concept or doctrine ion that passage – all he is doing is quoting Scripture to make his point – he quotes Genesis 15:6 concerning Abraham’s faith being credited to him as righteousness and David from Psalm 32 about a person being blessed as they are forgiven and their sins are covered and not having the Lord count their sins against them.

This is where Paul established the doctrine – in the clearest terms of justification by faith alone. Of faith in Christ resulting in the sinner being reckoned or credited as just in the sight of God even though the sinner himself is still not righteous himself. That the righteousness of another – the righteousness of Christ – is applied to the account of the sinner. Paul also teaches here that justification is a one-time declaration – not an ongoing process. Does anyone know what the Roman Catholic Church says concerning anyone who believes in righteousness being credited to the sinner even though the sinner himself is not righteous and the sinner being declared just in this manner? The Council of Trent from the 16th Century says to that person – let him be anathema. Anathema means what? Damned. Paul used that term in Galatians 1 when he condemns those who preach another Gospel. But this is the heart of Paul’s message here – sinners are declared just by exercising faith in the work of Christ and it is that faith alone in Christ alone which saves sinners.

So Paul starts chapter 5 by affirming that very thing and from here through the end of chapter 8 Paul will be describing the effects and the fruit of this salvation. Paul starts off chapter five with our word..what? “Therefore.” He again is drawing a conclusion based upon what he has said in the prior passages. Therefore, since what happened? We have been justified by faith. Please note that for Paul and his audience of fellow believers, this is something that is in the past tense. It has already occurred. This is something that is never described in the Scriptures as happening more than once. Justification is a one-time declaration. Don’t confuse justification with sanctification. Justification is not a process. Sanctification is a process.

About seven or eight years ago at the prison bible study this happened. We do the study in a classroom and there were about 25 prisoners in this room along with me and a couple other volunteers. I’m leading the study and I don’t remember what we were talking about but this guy sitting in the row right in front of me raises his hand and I all on him and he starts off by saying this: “The first time I was saved…,” and I cut him off. His name was Anthony and I said, “Wait a minute, Anthony. What do you mean ‘the first time I got saved?’ Where in the Bible do you ever see it saying that anyone got saved more than once?” Anthony says, “Well…it doesn’t.” I said, “Could it be that those other times meant you weren’t really saved at all?” “Well, yeah.” “I think you need to make sure you’re saved NOW, don’t you, Anthony?” “Yeah.”

So here Paul talks about something that happens once in the life of a true Christian – the person who has exercised a faith that truly saves them – Paul says “we” have been justified by faith. That “we” is going to be important as we work through chapter five, so let’s make clear who “we” is referring to here: believers. Believers. We’ve talked before about personal pronouns and their importance. The usage of “we” and “our” and “us” and “you” and “your” and the like. Here Paul says “we” – believers – have been –past tense – justified by faith and it then results in what? Peace with God. Peace with God.

I have a question for you: what is it like having peace with God and do you remember what it was like when you weren’t at peace with God? (responses)

Remember back in chapter one Paul said that one of the results of man’s sin was the fact that he was a hater of God. So just what does it mean to be at peace with God? Biblical peace in this sense is twofold: 1) It is a state we are in – it is the state we now hold in that we have been reconciled to God and 2) It is a condition – it is something inside of us knowing that because we have been reconciled to God that everything is going to be alright. The “peace that surpasses all understanding,” to use the biblical terminology from Philippians 4:7. Actually, we can get a very good and proper definition of this peace if we just go a little farther into our passage and move to verses 10 and 11: “Rom 5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.  Rom 5:11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”

When two parties are reconciled, this necessarily implies that there was a relationship at some point in the past. If a husband and wife, for instance, are reconciled, that means that they had a relationship at some point. Same with friends. That applies here as well. At one point man and God had a good relationship without any hostility, didn’t they? Where and when? In the Garden before the Fall. Ever since then, God has been on a rescue mission, hasn’t He? God has been pursuing His people to reconcile that broken relationship that has turned man into an enemy of God. Paul, in verse 10, says that who were enemies of God? “We.” Who is “we” referring to? His believing audience. How were these people reconciled? How was the relationship restored? By the death of His Son and then to complete the thought, we are saved by His life and His life there is referring to His resurrection, ascension and ongoing mediation and intervention for those who have been reconciled. Paul then says what? Even more than that, we rejoice in God through the Son, who was the means through which we received that reconciliation. Please note the similarity in verse one and verse 11 – how is this peace with God – this reconciliation received? Same means in both verses – through our Lord Jesus Christ. It’s only through Jesus that this happens. It does not happen through our work or our works or through receiving a sacrament or through indulgences or baptism or any other means – it is through Jesus and through Jesus alone.

Looking at verse 2 and reading through verse 4, a word is used more than once and that word is hope. Just what is biblical hope? (responses)

When you tell people you’re involved in prison ministry, more often than not, at some point this question gets asked? Have you seen The Shawshank Redemption? Well, for a lot of years my answer was, “No.” Not because I have a philosophical or biblical objection to movies – I just don’t watch them. Well, I broke down and watched it. There’s a line in there about hope and I heard it quoted twice before I ever watched the movie. A prisoner quoted it in our bible study once and then I heard Joni Eareckson-Tada quote it in a message she gave on “Suffering and the Sovereignty of God.” It’s in a letter that Andy wrote to Red and it says this: “Hope is a good thing..maybe the best of things…and no good thing ever dies.” Now, of course, that’s not from the Bible but it certainly can be applied to our discussion of biblical hope here. Biblical hope does not die. But how many Christians don’t know this? Or don’t believe it? Or don’t know that Christian hope is not like buying a lottery ticket, “hoping” you’re going to win the big one? That Christian hope is not without a foundation or that Christian hope is not just a mere dream or a wish of rubbing a genie’s lamp?

In 1859 John Angell James wrote this about Christian Hope:

“Why is it, that so few professors of true religion, and even true Christians, enjoy and exhibit so little of that joy and peace in believing, which the New Testament declares to be their privilege, and which, it might be supposed, their state and condition warrant and demand? That the great mass of professors do appear destitute of this spiritual delight is too notorious to be denied. In affliction are they not as disconsolate as other men? Do not their troubles put out the lights of their comfort, and cause them to walk in darkness? In prosperity, how little of their happiness is derived from spiritual sources. The springs of their felicity lie in earthly, rather than in heavenly things. How rare is the case of one whose countenance is generally illuminated with a smile, and that smile the reflection of the beams of the Sun of Righteousness. How is this? Why is it that we do not let the light of our joy, as well as of our holiness, shine before men, and thus let our personal history stand as the index that points to the fountain of bliss? Why?

Because so many professing Christians, to allude to Bunyan’s immortal allegory, are imprisoned in “Doubting Castle.” How few are there who, if the question were proposed to them, “Are you assured you are a child of God?” would answer even in this modest language, “I believe I am, and am happy in this delightful persuasion.” The greater number would hesitate, and tell you plainly and at once, that they have their doubts and fears about this matter, and cannot really persuade themselves that this is their state. Ought this to be so? Ought a real Christian to be in constant, serious doubt whether he is a Christian? The change produced by the converting grace of God might be supposed, from its nature and greatness, to be its own evidence. It is a change in a man’s whole moral nature, if indeed, it really exists. It is a change so accurately described in the Word of God, that any one who will deal honestly with himself, look into his own heart, consult his own consciousness, and compare himself with the Word of God, might know his state.”

The Psalmist wrote about this hope elsewhere when he said this in Psalm 16:9-11:

“Ps 16:9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.

Ps 16:10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.

Ps 16:11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Christian hope is an assurance – a knowledge of what will happen. Paul then says in verse three that this hope produces what? Rejoicing in sufferings. We have to be careful in defining sufferings here. Paul is referring to sufferings that are a result of this hope that he is discussing – not suffering that we might incur because of our own sin or bad decisions. He works through a list of things – suffering producing character, character producing endurance and endurance producing what? Hope. So ultimately, suffering produces hope. Suffering as a Christian.

Suffering as a Christian producing hope. Producing assurance. So often the prosperity preachers proclaim that faith produces LACK of suffering – usually they are referring to temporal, worldly issues, but they also apply it to the life if a Christian – that if you have faith, you WON’T have persecution or suffering. Paul certainly appears to be teaching something different here – that suffering for your faith will result in a hope that does not put us to shame.

This passage – verses 1-11, just re-emphasize the importance of “Never Reading A Bible Verse” as we have discussed before. Look through it and see how often Paul is tying thoughts together with “For” or “therefore” or “more than that.” Verses 6-11 are another perfect example of this and another perfect example of the importance of those personal pronouns. In verses 6 through 11, every verse except Paul’s parenthetic comment in verse seven uses the word “we.” Paul is continuing a train of thought here, of course, so he does not switch his intended audience or application at any point. Who is the “we” of this passage? Believers. Believers. Do not apply “we” to anyone else except whom Paul has intended here. Let’s read verses 6 and 8.

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Paul is not changing his audience at any point here. Who is “we?” Who is “us?” His believing audience. He says the same thing in verse 8 that he says in verse 6. Christ died for these believers while they were still sinners or ungodly. Verse 6 is used by some to say that Christ died for every single person – and I know this is hard – but that is not what Paul is saying here. Same people in verse 8 and in verse 6. Paul then says in verse nine there’s more – since “we” have been declared righteous – again “declared” – not “made” or “are turned into” or “have become” – “declared” righteous and declared how? By the blood of Jesus –“we” are saved how? Through Him from what? God’s wrath. It is all about Jesus and what He did – that’s the Good News – that’s the Gospel that Paul said he wanted to come to these people and preach back in chapter 1.

We already covered verses 10 and 11, but again – how does all this happen? Through Jesus. Verse 10 – through the death of His Son. Saved by His life. Through Jesus we receive reconciliation.

When we look at this passage, how much or what do we as believers do? Believe. That’s it. We believe. How much has been done by Jesus? Everything else. Up to this point, Paul hasn’t old us the nuts and bolts of how get from being haters of God to people who believe, which he will do down the road in Romans.

It all sounds so…easy, doesn’t it? Paul knows it and he knows people are going to object and he’s going to cover that objection in a couple weeks when we get to chapter six, so keep that in mind as we keep building to that point. He started back in chapter three and through chapters four and five as he explains the Gospel of grace, he knows people are going to have a problem with it. Some still do.

Questions/comments?

NEXT WEEK: Rom 4:3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”

Rom 3:9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin,

Rom 3:10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;

Rom 3:11 no one understands; no one seeks for God.

Rom 3:12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

Rom 3:13 “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.”

Rom 3:14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”

Rom 3:15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;

Rom 3:16 in their paths are ruin and misery,

Rom 3:17 and the way of peace they have not known.”

Rom 3:18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Rom 3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.

Rom 3:20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Rom 3:21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it-

Rom 3:22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:

Rom 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Rom 3:24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

Rom 3:25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

If you remember last week, we closed with a couple audio clips where an interviewer had asked people about man being basically good and all the people being asked had said in one form or another that man was basically good by nature and then the interviewer followed up by asking them, “What about Romans 3 where Paul says, ‘None is righteous, no, not one. No one understands, no one seeks for God.” You’ll remember how surprised many of these people – Christian authors – seemed to be SURPRISED that the Bible could say such a thing. Well, after class I had two people come up to me and point out another passage in the Bible where the same point was made. The two who came up are forbidden from responding right away – where do you think it says the same thing – that no one is good? Matthew 19, Mark 10 or Luke 18 and the story of the rich young man – how does Jesus respond to the man’s initial question?

“No one is good except God alone.” Jesus wasn’t denying that HE was good – but was in fact affirming that no mere man was good.

So as we get to our passage today, we see Paul again using the rhetorical question – “What then?” He knows the next question is what the natural response will be from some people – “Are we Jews any better off?” Now I have a question for you – go back to verse one – Paul asked a question there – what was that question? “What advantage has the Jew?” Paul’s response? “Much in every way.” Paul says there was much that the Jew had to his advantage. He asks a question in verse 9 – “Are we Jews any better off?” In essence, the same question. Paul’s response? “No, not at all.” The same question and two totally different responses – is Paul contradicting himself here?

No. He’s asking the same question but it’s really addressing two different issues. The question in verse one is directed toward what the Jews had been given – the oracles of God. The question in verse 9 is addressing the state that the Jew is in compared to the Gentile – they are both, as Paul says, “under sin,” by saying “we have already charged” this – Paul has already said it in the prior passage going back to chapter 1, verse 18 and now Paul closes his discourse on man’s spiritual state by quoting Scripture to make his point by saying “It is written.” Where is it written? Turn to Psalm 14:

Ps 14:1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none who does good.

Ps 14:2 The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.

Ps 14:3 They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.

If we looked at Psalm 53 we would see the same statement being made. Paul could also be incorporating Ecclesiastes 7:20, which says, “Eccl 7:20 Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.”

Verses 10-12 address man’s character – his person – and it’s not pretty. Paul grabs humanity and holds them up to the light and what is revealed is that man is in a sorry state. NONE is righteous and he restates it by making sure we get his point – NO, NOT ONE. No one understands, no one seeks God, they have all turned aside and then Paul says they are all worthless and NO ONE does good, NO, NOT ONE. NO, not one.

Think back to the clips from last week. Several people said they’d have to hear Romans 3 in context because they weren’t familiar with it. In context, Paul is rather clear – no, not one. No, not one.

Verses 13-14 address what aspect of man? His mouth and the wicked things it is capable of. Paul quotes from Psalm 5 and psalm 140 and Psalm 10 here.

Did not Jesus address the mouth and what can come from it? James does, as well, in chapter 3 where he says,

“Jas 3:1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

Jas 3:2 For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.

Jas 3:3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well.

Jas 3:4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.

Jas 3:5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!

Jas 3:6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.

Jas 3:7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind,

Jas 3:8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.”

Then Paul moves to the actions of men – and the violence man is capable of and all we need do is look at human history before Paul wrote this and since he wrote this for proof positive as to the truthfulness of his statement. He goes this time to Isaiah 59 – where verses 7 and 8 say,

Isa 59:7 Their feet run to evil, and they are swift to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; desolation and destruction are in their highways.

Isa 59:8 The way of peace they do not know, and there is no justice in their paths; they have made their roads crooked; no one who treads on them knows peace. “

He then quotes Psalm 36 and says “there is no fear of God before their eyes.” In verse 19 he says that every mouth may be stopped, which means what? To be rendered quiet or mute. Resulting in what? The whole world is accountable to God. Everyone is accountable. EVERYONE. And everyone is guilty. EVERYONE. Verse 20 gives us a phrase we’ve seen before, in chapter 2, verse 15 – “the works of the law.” Remember? “The works of the law” is what the law requires and Paul said in chapter 2 that every man had the works of the law written on his heart, remember? Here Paul says “the works of the law” will justify how many people? NO ONE. NO ONE.

Paul is now finished with his statements on the state of man. That state? Every person is guilty – Jew and Gentile alike. No one escapes condemnation. No one is justified by what they do in trying to keep the law. Everyone is guilty. EVERYONE. Which brings me to an article that was sent to me by a Roman Catholic friend of mine whom I’ve mentioned in the past. I have challenged him on the statement in the catechism of the Catholic Church that says that Muslims worship the one true God, which is says in paragraph 841, and I quote, “ The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims; these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind’s judge on the last day.” He sent me an article on this but I think the article really addresses how Rome gets this passage we’ve just finished wrong. Let me read this to you…..

(article)

‘All men are judged according to the graces they are given.” My friend uses that statement and variations on it all the time. What graces does Paul say men have been given in Romans 1:18-3:20? Everything they need for salvation and to know God, right? Creation, the works of the law, the law given to the Jews, the testimony of their conscience and so on and man has done what with all that? All those just serve to condemn man. The priest who wrote that article is just being a good Roman catholic in his response – he is affirming this statement made in the Catechism about baptism, but see how it applies to salvation in general: 1260 “Since Christ died for all, and since all men are in fact called to one and the same destiny, which is divine, we must hold that the Holy Spirit offers to all the possibility of being made partakers, in a way known to God, of the Paschal mystery.”63 Every man who is ignorant of the Gospel of Christ and of his Church, but seeks the truth and does the will of God in accordance with his understanding of it, can be saved. It may be supposed that such persons would have desired Baptism explicitly if they had known its necessity.” “Every man who is ignorant of the Gospel of Christ and of his Church, but seeks the truth and does the will of God in accordance with his understanding of it, can be saved.” That is an explicit denial of what Paul has just written.

Many non-Catholics agree with this statement made by Rome, though – that those who are ignorant of the Gospel can be saved based upon how they have handled the revelation they have received through nature and there’s one famous evangelical who I will leave unnamed who believes this and it’s just plain shocking and I’ve listened to him say it and I just shake my head. What people are saying when they say this is that faith in Jesus is the only way except when it isn’t. If men can be saved through their knowledge of God given in what they see about Creation, then why send missionaries? We’d only be INCREASING their condemnation if we give them the whole story, right? It just doesn’t make sense.

Paul just gave the bad news and now he starts the good news and this good news runs through chapter five, which will then result in Paul addressing an objection he knows will come as a result of his presentation of the wonderful grace of God.

In verse 21 when Paul says “the Law and the Prophets bear witness,” what is he referring to? Right – the Old Testament. Jesus used that phrase – “the Law and the Prophets” in referring to the Hebrew Scriptures in Matt. 7:12, Matt. 22:40, Luke 16:16 and Luke 24:44. They bear witness to what? “the righteousness of God d through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.” It’s in the Old Testament. There was a group of people who took time to test this out in the book of Acts in chapter 17 and who were those people? The Bereans. They tested the inspired Apostle Paul in verse 11: Acts 17:11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.”

Didn’t Jesus say the Old Testament was about Him?

This righteousness of God through faith is for who? All who believe. All. Here’s where Paul starts the simple message of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. He says this is for all – Jew or gentile because there is NO distinction between the two – and keep in mind as we read this that our verses 21-25 are all one long sentence. Verse 23 pronounces condemnation because all have sinned and verse 24 pronounces justification for all who believe and verse 24 says all who are justified are justified by what means? A gift. By His grace as a gift. We know Ephesians 2 addresses this issue but we usually don’t read the whole passage – let’s do that now.

Verse 1 starts with what? “And,” so it’s following up on chapter 1, so if we were to do justice to chapter 2, we’d read chapter 1, right?

Eph 2:1 And you (who is the “you” here? Believers. The church at Ephesus) were dead in the trespasses and sins

Eph 2:2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-

Eph 2:3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

Eph 2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,

Eph 2:5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved-

Eph 2:6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

Eph 2:7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Eph 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

Eph 2:9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Who wrote that? Paul. Paul also wrote this to Titus:

Titus 3:3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.

Titus 3:4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared,

Titus 3:5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

Titus 3:6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

Titus 3:7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

We’ll stop here for today and I know we haven’t gotten through verse 25 but verse 25 gives us another one of those big bible words that we need to examine in depth and that word is “propitiation.” We also need to look at just what Paul means by the word “justified” as he uses it here and elsewhere so we‘ll do that next week as we get through chapter 3 and into chapter 4.

Rom 3:10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;

Rom 3:11 no one understands; no one seeks for God.

NEXT WEEK: Rom 3:28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

PASSAGE: Rom 2:17 But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God

Rom 2:18 and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law;

Rom 2:19 and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness,

Rom 2:20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth-

Rom 2:21 you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal?

Rom 2:22 You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?

Rom 2:23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law.

Rom 2:24 For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”

Rom 2:25 For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision.

Rom 2:26 So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?

Rom 2:27 Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law.

Rom 2:28 For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical.

Rom 2:29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.

Rom 3:1 Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision?

Rom 3:2 Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God.

Rom 3:3 What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God?

Rom 3:4 By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.”

Rom 3:5 But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.)

Rom 3:6 By no means! For then how could God judge the world?

Rom 3:7 But if through my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner?

Rom 3:8 And why not do evil that good may come?-as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.

Rom 3:9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin,

Rom 3:10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;

Rom 3:11 no one understands; no one seeks for God.

Rom 3:12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

Rom 3:13 “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.”

Rom 3:14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”

Rom 3:15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;

Rom 3:16 in their paths are ruin and misery,

Rom 3:17 and the way of peace they have not known.”

Rom 3:18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Rom 3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.

Rom 3:20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Remember last week, I told you that Paul was in the process of setting some people up in verses 1-16 of chapter 2? Well, now Paul drops the hammer starting in verse 17. When we read beginning in chapter 2, it looks like Paul’s emphasis is on the Jews but his statement in verse 1 where he says, “you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges” can be applied to all men – Jew or Gentile – who judge. But in verse 17 Paul gets specific with his “you.” “But if you call yourself a Jew…” and Paul goes on, at least in the ESV, with one long sentence that continues through verse 21. Paul lays out things he says a Jew could do – rely on the law, boast in God, know his will, approve hat is excellent, guide the blind, give light to those in darkness, instruct the foolish, teach children, have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth and teach others – Paul then starts asking those rhetorical questions we talked about last week? Do they teach themselves? Do they steal while preaching against stealing? Do they commit adultery while preaching against adultery? Do they rob temples while hating idolatry? The implied answer is – yes, they are doing all these things. Paul is telling them that, in essence, they just didn’t get it.

These were people who were proud that they were Jews. They knew God had a chosen people and they knew they were it. They took great pride in their Jewishness and this pride caused some problems Jesus had an encounter with some Jews that Wayne mentioned a couple weeks ago in his message from John 8. These Jews heard Jesus tell them if they were to abide in the words of Jesus they would know the truth and that truth would set them free. Their response? “We have never been in bondage.” Think about this – about how, if we just look at this on a political level, how wild that statement was. At that very TIME were they in bondage? Sure they were. They were in bondage to Rome. They weren’t free. Over their history, which they all knew very well, had they ever been in bondage? Only in Egypt for 430 years, only to the Assyrians and to the Babylonians. Now, Jesus was talking spiritual bondage in what He said, but even if leave spiritual bondage out of the equation, for the Jews in John 8 to say they have never been in bondage was rather ridiculous. How many times in the Old Testament is a prophet trying to the people’s attention and bring them back into the proper relationship with the Lord? Are those prophetic efforts done by telling them to sacrifice more oxen or repeat the shema from Deuteronomy 6 over and over? No – the prophets had to keep calling the people to repent – to obey the Lord in their heart. And here Paul says the ultimate fallout from the Jewish people’s disobedience in NOT obeying the law they claim to love and serve? That God’s name is blasphemed among the gentiles.

One point to make here – the robbing of temples Paul refers to in verse 22 is most likely not the robbing of the Jewish temple but f pagan temples. The Jewish historian of that day, Josephus, made mention of the practice of Jews robbing pagan temples and plundering the idols in them and keeping them for themselves. So Paul quotes Isaiah 52:5 when he says – because note verse 24 says, “as it is written,” which starts though, with what? “For.” “For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” So turn to Isaiah 52:5 and see what is says and someone please read Isaiah 52:5:…………………..

Sounds different doesn’t it? How can Paul be quoting it when it reads so differently? Paul was quoting from the Septuagint, which was what? The Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures that Paul and the people of his day used. Ezekiel addressed this issue in chapter 36, verses 17-20, where he wrote the Lord’s words:

Ezek 36:17 “Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it by their ways and their deeds. Their ways before me were like the uncleanness of a woman in her menstrual impurity.

Ezek 36:18 So I poured out my wrath upon them for the blood that they had shed in the land, for the idols with which they had defiled it.

Ezek 36:19 I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries. In accordance with their ways and their deeds I judged them.

Ezek 36:20 But when they came to the nations, wherever they came, they profaned my holy name, in that people said of them, ‘These are the people of the Lord, and yet they had to go out of his land.’

I think it’s not unfair to draw the conclusion from this that the disobedience of the Christians in our day gives rise to this same statement – if Christians are disobedient and don’t practice what they preach and the unbelievers know it and see it, then the Lord’s name is blasphemed among the non-believers of our day.

Starting in verse 25 Paul goes farther with his statements regarding Jews, keeping in mind that Paul himself was a Jew. Paul takes on circumcision and what it actually means and what it actually accomplishes. We can relate to his statements in this way – some people think because they were born into a Christian family and were raised in a Christian church and because they now attend a Christian church and because they are raising their children by taking them to a Christian church that they are Christians just because their life has taken that pattern. That’s the parallel here. Just because Jews were circumcised did not mean they were a Jew. Think about what kind of bomb Paul just dropped. He says circumcision doesn’t matter if you don’t keep the law and if you aren’t circumcised and DO keep the law it matters greatly. Verse 28 – “For.” Paul’s conclusion is then that Jewishness – true Jewishness – has nothing to do with outward appearances or physical issues or birthright. Nothing. He just told a lot of Jews they weren’t Jews. He then follows that with verse 29, starting with “But,” which means there is some form of contrast coming and Paul says circumcision is not something man does physically – not because of what the letter says – what the law says – but true circumcision is something the Spirit does in one’s heart.

After dropping that bomb, Paul knows what the natural reaction of his audience will be and he uses the rhetorical question again to state it in verse 1 of chapter 3: He knows people are going to say, “Then what advantage is there to being a Jew – a Jew by birth? What value is there in Jews undergoing physical circumcision? Does Paul say that the Jews have no advantage? That their Jewishness is worth nothing? No. Paul says they have much in every way. First, they have “the oracles of God.’ They were given the direct revelation from God that no other people received. Paul says that was a blessing, not a curse. And Paul says, “So what if some Jews were unfaithful – that didn’t mean God was unfaithful, did it?” as he asks two more rhetorical questions in verse 3. His response – one we’ll see again later in Romans – “By no means.” “No way!” Paul proclaims God’s faithfulness with his “Let God be true” statement and then says something not so favorable about man when he says “though every one were a liar” and he quotes Psalm 51:4 to make his point about God’s just judgment.

Verse 5 is interesting in that Paul does something he does again in chapter 9, just like he did in verse 3 that we’ll see again in chapter 9. Paul knows there is an objection coming and it comes again in chapter 9. The objection? “That’s not fair!” “God would be unjust to inflict his wrath on us if he is the one responsible for the circumcision of our hearts!!!” Paul then gives us a quite interesting parenthetic note about his objector’s statement in verse 5: “I speak in a human way.” I speak in a human way. The implication is that the objector is not speaking in a Godly way when he says, “That’s not fair!” Paul’s response to the allegations of unfairness and injustice? BY NO MEANS! If God couldn’t hold people accountable, how could He judge ANYBODY?”

Paul sees that his objector is now going to say, in verses 7 and 8, that Paul is saying that the sin of people glorifies God and if that’s the case, why not sin some more to bring more glory to God? Where are we going to hear that again in Romans? Chapter 6. Shall we go on sinning that grace may abound, right? Paul’s response in chapter 6 – “BY NO MEANS!” His response here? He calls that slander. And those who state such are justly condemned.

I went through chapter 2 verse 17 to chapter 3 verse 8 pretty quickly because I wanted to spend 15-20 minutes on verses 9-20. Verses 9-20 sum up what Paul has been saying from chapter 1 verse 18 until here.

Now we’ll play a couple audio clips from a radio show named The White Horse Inn.  Several years ago this show worked through the book of Romans and what you are about to hear was used in their discussion of Romans chapter 3.  They sent their produced to the Christian Booksellers Association annual convention and asked the authors who were displaying their wares two questions: 1) Is man’s heart basically good? and, since 100% of the respondents answered, “Yes, it is,” then this was asked in followup, 2) “What about Romans 3 where Paul says there is no one who is good, no one who seeks after God?”  The responses are, well, you’ll see/hear for yourself.

(Introduce, play and discuss the following audio clips)