True Hope

Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

13 Ὁ δὲ θεὸς τῆς ἐλπίδος πληρώσαι ὑμᾶς πάσης χαρᾶς καὶ εἰρήνης ἐν τῷ πιστεύειν, εἰς τὸ περισσεύειν ὑμᾶς ἐν τῇ ἐλπίδι ἐν δυνάμει πνεύματος ἁγίου.

This is part of Paul's closing. I tend to gloss over verses like this because they don't seem to pack a whole lot in them. They are just part of how he ends his letters, so why bother reading them closely? But as I looked for a verse to write on this morning this one kind of stood out. There is no exegetical nuance to draw out as far as I can tell at first glance, but there is some great stuff in here for the Christian life.


The most important question we must ask is about the nature of God. Tozer says that what a man thinks of God is the most important thing about the man. What does Paul think of God? This verse does not encapsulate all of Paul's theology, but we can learn something here. Paul refers to God as "the God of hope." He also finishes this verse with a mention of hope that we can have through the power of the Holy Spirit.


I am not going to get into all of Paul's argument, though one could preach a sermon on this and get into soteriology. The point is that God is the God of hope. The Holy Spirit has the power to fill us with hope. What is this hope all about? It comes from Christ. Because of Christ we have hope in this age and in the age to come. We have the promise of His provision in our lives. That does not mean we will be healthy or wealthy, but it does mean that God will provide what we need.  We must accept that it is possible that we need to physically die as part of God's plan.


How do we come to grips with that? We have hope in the age to come. We know that because of Christ we will ultimately spend eternity in fellowship with God. Frankly, that is all the reward we need. 


What does the Holy Spirit have to do with this? The Holy Spirit is the one who transforms us from being dead in our sins to alive in Christ. He also sustains us as we live as followers of Christ. The Holy Spirit is vital in our pursuit of God.


So as I look at this "throwaway verse" I join Paul in this prayer for both myself and for anyone who may be reading this. May we have true hope that only comes from God.

The Weaker Brother

Romans 14:13 Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.

13 Μηκέτι οὖν ἀλλήλους κρίνωμεν· ἀλλὰ τοῦτο κρίνατε μᾶλλον, τὸ μὴ τιθέναι πρόσκομμα τῷ ἀδελφῷ ἢ σκάνδαλον.

Here in the South, many folks think that you're a Christian if you attend church, don't drink, and don't swear. There is a culture of abstinence here, particularly in the more Baptist circles. There are some pretty strange exegetical gymnastics used in some arguments. For example, I have talked with someone who says that the wine Jesus made was just grape juice and that the wine Paul told Timothy to drink was as well; however, he also says that when we are warned against becoming drunk from much wine that refers to wine with alcohol. That of course is patently ridiculous and a great example of just trying to defend one's doctrine no matter what the text reads.


This verse is probably part of the best argument for abstinence. More reasonable exegetes understand that the Bible does not prohibit the use of alcohol and in fact encourages it in moderation (it makes the heart glad). But there is always the "weaker brother" argument. We are encouraged not to partake in some of our freedoms lest we cause someone to stumble.


This argument certainly has merit if we have specific examples. If I am with someone who has struggled with alcohol I am not going to drink a pint of beer. That much is obvious. However, if we're going to be consistent then we need to think even more deeply about this. If I'm with someone who has struggled with covetousness and poor stewardship then I am not going to browse in Best Buy with him. If I'm with someone who has struggled with gluttony then it would be unwise to dine at the Golden Corral (for both of us and for various reasons). The key is to think outside of our American box of "respectable sins" as Jerry Bridges calls them and think of sin in general.


However, I think that it is unreasonable to expect a Christian to think of the hypothetical "weaker brother" everyone he goes. If that were true, then perhaps we should all be Franciscan monks. But even then someone who has a bent toward religion would struggle because it would be easy to find pride in asceticism. It is logically impossible to avoid hindering every possible person around you. Of course, we should be reasonable and prudent, but we don't need to avoid every potential stumbling block for every potential person. Romans 14 speaks to knowledge of a brother who is stumbling because of some freedom. Respect that if you know about it, but don't shut down your life for someone hypothetical.

Submitting to Authorities

Romans 13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.

1 Πᾶσα ψυχὴ ἐξουσίαις ὑπερεχούσαις ὑποτασσέσθω. οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν ἐξουσία εἰ μὴ ὑπὸ θεοῦ, αἱ δὲ οὖσαι ὑπὸ θεοῦ τεταγμέναι εἰσίν.

This is one of those verses that many of us choke on. After all, here in America we can point to all kinds of corruption in the government. Everyone has that and everyone can find governing authorities that clearly have beliefs that are antagonistic to the Christian. For example, a wildly pro-choice elected official should cause problems of conscience to the sincere believer. Can't we just ignore a President who holds beliefs that are clearly contrary to Scripture?


But we have to deal with this verse. I find the phrase αἱ δὲ οὖσαι interesting. This is a participle that is broken up by the weak adversitive δὲ. Basically, what this reads is "those that are." In other words, anyone who is in power is there because God put him there.


A lot of American Christians have problems with Barack Obama, and legitimately so. I have my issues with his politics. Yet he was instituted by God. Taking this further, Nero was instituted by God. Stalin and Hitler were instituted by God. Their positions were established by Him and they were put there by Him for His purposes. To think less would be to grossly understate His sovereignty. 


I realize that this philosophically borders on theodicy in a way, but we cannot ignore this verse. When we reach a tension like this we have two choices. We can say that God must fit the way we think things should be, which is what a lot of people do. Or, we can change our view of God based on Scripture. That is the way we should do it. That's easy to write, but difficult to do.

Living in Peace

Romans 12:18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

18 εἰ δυνατὸν τὸ ἐξ ὑμῶν, μετὰ πάντων ἀνθρώπων εἰρηνεύοντες·

We've turned the corner from theology to praxis. This happens in all of Paul's letters. At some point he stops describing who God is and then explains what we should do with this knowledge. Not coincidentally, that's also how a good sermon should go. It's important to get this straight lest we slip into legalism. If one were to preach anything in Romans 12-16 without first addressing the material in Romans 1-11 then he may as well be a self-help guru rather than a preacher. The glib seminary explanation for this is that you must preach the indicatives before the imperatives.


This verse is one that has intrigued me for a while and now that I look at it in Greek it intrigues me a bit more. There are no verbs in this verse. The first phrase εἰ δυνατὸν τὸ ἐξ ὑμῶν could be very woodenly translated something like, "If power from you," which should be smoothed out to, "If there is power from you." The ESV translation above captures this well, but it is still interesting to see what they had to work with. The second half has the participle εἰρηνεύοντες.This is a present active nominative participle. Basically, it means "living in a state of peace." According to Wallace, this imperatival use of the participle is quite rare and most of the occurrences are in Romans 12 and 1 Peter. It is important that the participle have no connection to a finite verb, which is the case here.


This explains how we get our English translation. But what to do with it? I have found that this verse can be quite burdensome or liberating depending on how we look at it. It is burdensome in that we are expected to do what we can to make peace. We are to do everything in our power to live in peace with everyone.


However, it is liberating in that once we do what we can then the rest is between that person and the Lord. This means that we cannot force someone to forgive us and live peaceably us. We cannot force the contentious person to treat us well no matter how nice we are. This is vitally important as we can get caught up in our own efforts. We need to do our part and then trust God in His sovereignty. 

Saving All Israel

Romans 11:26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, "The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob";

26 καὶ οὕτως πᾶς Ἰσραὴλ σωθήσεται, καθὼς γέγραπται· ἥξει ἐκ Σιὼν ὁ ῥυόμενος, ἀποστρέψει ἀσεβείας ἀπὸ Ἰακώβ.

I have found that this is one of the favorite proof-texts for Dispensationalists. One cannot escape the construction in Greek. It clearly reads that  πᾶς Ἰσραὴλ σωθήσεται. The verb is a future passive indicative. The phrase means all Israel. There is no other exegesis than to read this to mean that everyone who is part of Israel will be saved. This is further emphasized by the construction at the end where Ἰακώβ is used as a metaphor for Israel. Does this mean that everyone who has a genetic tie to Jacob and is circumcised will be saved?


This is why one must study hermeneutics and not stop with exegesis. Exegesis is vitally important to understand what a text reads, but it doesn't tell anyone what it means. There is a distinction.


Here we need to look back at the rest of Paul's argument. He established earlier that not all Israel is true Israel. In fact, earlier in this chapter he establishes that there is a remnant of ethnic Israel, but the existence of this point demonstrates that there is a distinction between natural ethnic Israel and spiritual Israel.


So who is Israel? In the greater context of Pauline theology, it is clear that believing Gentiles can be thought of as Israel to some degree. We can create a false distinction if we want, but the language in this chapter, Galatians 3, and Ephesians 2 is pretty stark. Christ created "one new man in place of the two," as we see in Ephesians 2:15. Galatians 3:7 tells us that "it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham," and this theme is repeated throughout the chapter. Therefore, we cannot take this verse in isolation, but as we read it in context with the rest of Paul we see that the term "Israel" goes beyond simply those with a genetic tie to Jacob.


But what does this mean for us? It means that God has expanded His salvation program. In the Old Testament it focused primarily on the Jews, though there were some believing Gentiles (i.e. Melchizedek). Now the focus is primarily on Gentiles since God hardened the hearts of the Jews. 


I do need to point out that there will clearly be an influx of believing Jews just before Christ returns. To deny that would be to deny the clear language of this chapter. God is not done with ethnic Israel.


All of this fits into the grand narrative of God saving a people to Himself. And just as the Jews were found like an abandoned baby in its blood, so also we are completely dependent on His grace for our salvation. Let us give thanks to Him as we consider that this Lord's Day.

End of the Law

Romans 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

4 τέλος γὰρ νόμου Χριστὸς εἰς δικαιοσύνην παντὶ τῷ πιστεύοντι.

Paul is continuing his address to the Jews as he explains the importance of Christ. A quick look at commentaries shows that translating and understanding this verse has had some debate over the years. The word  τέλος has a sense of "end" but it can also have a sense of "fulfillment." Apparently few see it that way today, though Barth did. If we see it as "end," what does that mean? It means that this speaks to Matthew 5:18 where Jesus says, For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 


So if Christ is the end of the Law then it would seem that there is some tension with Matthew 5:18. Heaven and earth have not passed away, so clearly something has happened apart from that. I think that we get our answer from the phrase εἰς δικαιοσύνην. I'm not sure why that is translated "for righteousness" rather than "into righteousness," and I don't have time to mine the whole entry in BDAG right now.


The point is that in Christ's active obedience He fulfilled the requirements of the Law. As you read through the Pentateuch you see a lot of rules that people had to follow to atone for sin. Yet we know that the Law was unable to truly save. In contrast, Jesus is able to truly save. He lived a perfect life of obedience to fulfill the Law. so as we read the Pentateuch we see all of the requirements of the Law fulfilled in Christ. 


This seems so simple, doesn't it? Fundamentally, it really is. Believe in Him and His righteousness will be credited to you by God. However, believing in Him will also change your life forever. This is not a matter of punching a ticket to heaven, but giving your life to Him. I am here to tell you that I would not have it any other way.

The True Offspring

Romans 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.

8 τοῦτ᾽ ἔστιν, οὐ τὰ τέκνα τῆς σαρκὸς ταῦτα τέκνα τοῦ θεοῦ ἀλλὰ τὰ τέκνα τῆς ἐπαγγελίας λογίζεται εἰς σπέρμα.

Romans 9-11 gives us a lot of insight as to the current nature of "Israel" and how that term relates to God's covenant people today. Does it refer to people who have a genetic tie to Abraham or to those who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ?


This verse implies the latter. Who are τὰ τέκνα τῆς ἐπαγγελίας? Paul uses this chapter to show that although Ishmael was a child of Abraham, he was not part of the promise. The promise was through Isaac. In other words, having a genetic tie to Abraham was not enough.


What about Isaac? Could having a genetic tie to him be enough? Paul goes on to explain that before either one did anything outside the womb he loved Jacob, but hated Esau. To us this may seem arbitrary, but it's part of God's plan for saving His people.


So maybe it's about having a genetic tie to Jacob. In one sense that is true as the twelve tribes come from him, though two are indirect as they come from his beloved son Joseph. But we know from passages such as Numbers 24 that the ruler was to come from Judah. We see that later in 2 Samuel 7 as God makes His covenant with David. 


So does this mean that you need a tie to Judah? To David? To Solomon? To...Josiah? Who are the σπέρμα of Abraham?


The good news is that we have Christ, so we can see how this all works out. True Israel today is not associated simply with being able to trace genes to any of these men. It comes from being a new creation in Christ. To be sure, God is not done with those who have a genetic tie to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But as things stand right now we who are in Christ are part of Israel. Let's enjoy the blessings that come from being added to God's covenant people. We are just as deserving as Jacob was--meaning that we don't deserve it one bit. But we can still rejoice in being chosen by grace.

On Our Side

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

31 Τί οὖν ἐροῦμεν πρὸς ταῦτα; εἰ ὁ θεὸς ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν, τίς καθ᾽ ἡμῶν;

This is one of those very simple verses that packs a great punch. This comes after Paul describes what theologians call the ordo salutis, which refers to the order of events by which man is saved. I've heard the previous verses described as a "golden chain" as God links things together for our salvation and His glory. Paul then writes this verse immediately afterward.


The key phrase does not even have a verb in it. εἰ ὁ θεὸς ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν, τίς καθ᾽ ἡμῶν; This is a first-class condition. As we read this, we should assume that God is indeed for us. We have to supply the verbs as it literally reads, "If God for us, who against us?" Really that says it all, doesn't it?


If we really believe this and really submit to His will then there is no room for anxiety. The command of Philippians 4:16 is hardly burdensome if we truly believe this verse. How can we be anxious? God is for us. That means that no matter what happens it is ultimately for our good and for His glory.


Now I would probably not lead with that to someone in Joplin, MO whose neighborhood was just devastated by a tornado. But I would try to get there. Most people know Romans 8:28 about how God works all things together for the good of those who love Him. This verse is a corollary to that. If we are children of God then God is for us. Therefore, no matter what happens is ultimately part of His will for our lives.


What we then have to decide is whether or not God is worthy of our trust. How we react to trials will give us the answer to that pretty quickly. Do we trust Him or don't we? He is for us. What can possibly stand against Him? Satan can resist Him, but we know how it will all work out in the end.

The Ongoing Battle

Romans 7:23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.

23 βλέπω δὲ ἕτερον νόμον ἐν τοῖς μέλεσίν μου ἀντιστρατευόμενον τῷ νόμῳ τοῦ νοός μου καὶ αἰχμαλωτίζοντά με ἐν τῷ νόμῳ τῆς ἁμαρτίας τῷ ὄντι ἐν τοῖς μέλεσίν μου.

This comes at the end of a chapter that is somewhat debated. Is Paul speaking of himself in his redeemed or unredeemed state? I don't see any reason from the context to think that he has had a flashback to his unredeemed state. No, I think that he is speaking to his current life as a believer who has to constantly fight his flesh.


I wanted to focus on this verse because of the struggles I've had with this in the past. The most egregious was when I used this whole passage to justify my life of ongoing sin. After all, I could look at the Apostle Paul and his struggles. If he struggled with sin then why couldn't I? Besides, he also had a thorn in his flesh, right?


That's a fairly obvious one to debunk. But I think there is something more subtle here as well. I kind of slipped into gnosticism with this verse. In fact, I would say that the language I used while with Setting Captives Free was more or less gnostic. I started to equate the flesh with evil. That is certainly a fair inference from what Paul writes if we take this passage in isolation.


However, that's not the overall sense of biblical revelation. Solomon spoke of the joys of physical pleasure and even wrote a whole book about sex. Paul addresses eating in 1 Corinthians. He puts it in its proper place by telling us to sacrifice our freedoms for the sake of the consciences of others, but he also seems to imply that we can eat with gladness. In other words, we do not need to be ascetics.


The point is that we need to take a reformed view of the body. God made our bodies for our good and His glory, just like everything else. All things were created for Him (Colossians 1:16). I do not think that Scripture calls us to asceticism, but to discipline. We are to discipline our bodies and make them our slaves, but we do not need to run in fear of our bodies. We do need to subdue them to the will of God, but we should also enjoy the good things He created out of common grace like food, the beach, sunsets, the mountains, sex, etc.


Maybe you've not had this problem. However, if you've had any experience in Independent Baptist Fundamentalism I suspect you have. Enjoy God's common graces!

How We Must Live

Romans 6:22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.

22 νυνὶ δὲ ἐλευθερωθέντες ἀπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας δουλωθέντες δὲ τῷ θεῷ ἔχετε τὸν καρπὸν ὑμῶν εἰς ἁγιασμόν, τὸ δὲ τέλος ζωὴν αἰώνιον.

This is the chapter that begins with the rhetorical question as to whether we should go on sinning so that grace may abound. Paul responds with the emphatic  μὴ γένοιτο, which is translated "by no means" in the ESV. I think a stronger translation is something like, "may it never happen!" or "let it never be so!" though of course neither of those flow as nicely in English. 


The point is that Paul uses this chapter to explain what it means to be a child of God. The key phrase here is νυνὶ δὲ ἐλευθερωθέντες ἀπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας δουλωθέντες δὲ τῷ θεῷ. The words ἐλευθερωθέντες and δουλωθέντες are both aorist passive participles. They get a verbal sense to them with the pronoun νυνὶ. What he is saying is just what the text says in the ESV. He is saying that two things happened when we were saved. First, we were set free from sin. Second, we became slaves of God.


The reason I want to emphasize this is because Americans in particular tend to minimize the idea of slavery in the New Testament. We might go on and on about what slavery meant in that culture as we try to explain Colossians 3:22 or Ephesians 6:5. No matter how we slice it, a slave was bound to his master. Therefore, he had to do his master's will.


If we are truly saved then we are slaves of God. Now of course slaves disobey from time to time. We will deal with that tomorrow. The point is that we need to be in the mindset of total devotion to the Lord. To think less is to minimize what happened on the cross.


Where are you? Are you a slave of God or of sin? It's going to be one or the other.

Still Paying

Romans 5:17 For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

17 εἰ γὰρ τῷ τοῦ ἑνὸς παραπτώματι ὁ θάνατος ἐβασίλευσεν διὰ τοῦ ἑνός, πολλῷ μᾶλλον οἱ τὴν περισσείαν τῆς χάριτος καὶ τῆς δωρεᾶς τῆς δικαιοσύνης λαμβάνοντες ἐν ζωῇ βασιλεύσουσιν διὰ τοῦ ἑνὸς Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ.

Paul continues his argument explaining the problem of sin and the need for justification. Here he uses a first-class conditional sentence, as seen by his use of  εἰ followed by the verb ἐβασίλευσεν in the indicative. According to Wallace, a first-class condition assumes truth for the sake of argument. Here Paul assumes that death reigned through Adam because of his sin. We of course know this to be true because we have the record of Genesis to tell us this.


This verse is one of those verses that pretty much encapsulates the gospel. All of humanity has a problem because of Adam. We are born with a sin nature, which means that we are sinners by nature and by choice. In other words, we come into the world with an inclination to sin and that is just what we do. We are free to choose, but because our nature is bent toward sin we choose sin. This alienates us from God.


But the the second half of this verse is pregnant with hope, isn't it? Here we see that despite our sin problem God gave us a solution in Christ. It is a gift that God offers everyone. The question is whether or not we will take it.


I realize that this would be a fine place to split hairs about election and God's sovereignty. The problem is that I don't know who the elect are. Spurgeon famously said that if God put a yellow stripe on the back of all the elect then he would be in the business of lifting men's shirt tails. But since God didn't do that he had to preach with the assumption that the elect would hear and believe the gospel. That's what I'm trying to do here. My prayer is that those who read this would accept the free gift of grace that God offers. 

Who are the Heirs?

Romans 4:14 For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.

14 εἰ γὰρ οἱ ἐκ νόμου κληρονόμοι, κεκένωται ἡ πίστις καὶ κατήργηται ἡ ἐπαγγελία·

We continue walking through Paul's argument here. Basically, what Paul has told us is that circumcision is not what saves anyone. Works cannot save. It is through faith and faith alone that we are saved.


What does this mean? As a Gentile, I am thrilled that God would open up His kingdom to me. Frankly, I deserve nothing better than the Moabites got, for example. I would be, as David put it in 1 Samuel 17, an uncircumcised Philistine. Or at least I may as well be because I am not a Jew.


Yet in His grace God chose to save Gentiles as well as Jews. It is not those who adhere to the law, but those who have faith that are saved. The personal application is that we must know Christ. We'll keep building on this as we go through Romans.


On a more global scale, this tells us that we need to be careful about mixing up the current nation-state of Israel with the Israel spoken of in Scripture. Yes, God still has a plan for these people and they will be gathered in at the end of the age. But we don't have to get all worked up over the President's plea for them to retreat to their 1967 borders. I don't want to get too political on this blog, but I do ask that you think through the implications of this combining of Jew and Gentile as it pertains to politics. Things are not quite as simple as some would make them seem.

The God of Everyone

Romans 3:29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, ³⁰ since God is one--who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.

29 ἢ Ἰουδαίων ὁ θεὸς μόνον; οὐχὶ καὶ ἐθνῶν; ναὶ καὶ ἐθνῶν, ³⁰  εἴπερ εἷς ὁ θεὸς ὃς δικαιώσει περιτομὴν ἐκ πίστεως καὶ ἀκροβυστίαν διὰ τῆς πίστεως.

This is how Paul ends a pretty lengthy and difficult argument. Frankly, I don't get a ton out of this when I read it in Greek because it is difficult to follow his arguments. But a quick read in English clears things up.


Paul begins chapter 3 by asking if there is any advantage to being a Jew. It seems that they do have an advantage in that God chose them to speak His Word. We call that the Old Testament. He also used the Jews to bring the Savior of the world in Jesus. In that sense there is a huge significance to being an ethnic Jew.


However, he ends the argument with these rhetorical questions. When he uses the construction οὐχὶ καὶ ἐθνῶν he is basically saying, "isn't that so?" That's what the particle οὐχὶ does. It's sort of like the French phrase "n'est-ce pas" that is tacked on to the end of a sentence when you expect a positive answer.


The point is that Paul is leveling the playing field between Jews and Gentiles. When Paul refers to the "circumcised" or the "uncircumcised" he is referring to Jew and Gentile. Basically, he is dividing the world into two classes of people - Jews and non-Jews. That includes everyone. And he says that God will justify everyone by faith. 


In other words, genetics will not save anyone. Removal of foreskin on the 8th day will not save anyone. Only faith will save people. That faith needs to be in Christ. If you are reading this and are Jewish I entreat you along with Paul to trust in Christ as Messiah. If you are reading this and are not Jewish I entreat you along with Paul to trust in Christ as the one will justify you before the Lord. In other words, I don't care who you are -- you need Christ. Will you trust Him?

Being a Jew

Romans 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.

29 ἀλλ᾽ ὁ ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ Ἰουδαῖος, καὶ περιτομὴ καρδίας ἐν πνεύματι οὐ γράμματι, οὗ ὁ ἔπαινος οὐκ ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἀλλ᾽ ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ.

This is the end of a long argument that Paul makes about what it means to be a Jew. He uses the word τῷ κρυπτῷ to describe what it means to truly be a Jew. This word means "hidden," which certainly stands in start contrast with the sign of circumcision. His point is that one's ancestry is not the important thing here. Even the sign of circumcision is not the important thing. It is a matter of the heart.


I won't go so far as to say that God has finished with ethnic Israel. We will see more about that as we go through this book. But what is undeniable is that somehow Israel and the Church are combined right now. We will definitely see more of that as we go through Romans. If we know Christ then we are sons of Abraham. But we're not just any sons of Abraham. Ishmael was a son of Abraham too, but we see that his descendants build mosques and a few of them crash airplanes into buildings. 


We are Abraham's covenant children if we are in Christ. We will see more of this in Colossians 2 as well. Of course, this is all fascinating in its own way, but what difference does this make to us? It means that as Gentiles we should be completely cut off from the blessings of God. But as sons of Abraham we get to enjoy salvation and blessing.


I just finished going to school with some people who make a huge deal about the Jew. We should make a big deal out of them because the Bible does. We need to make sure that we realize how Christ is at the center of all of this. It is not about the nation of physical descendants of Abraham anymore, but about the spiritual descendants. Those are the true Jews. So, in a manner of speaking, I am more Jewish than Jerry Seinfeld.

Avoiding Divisions

 Romans 16:17 I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them.

17 Παρακαλῶ δὲ ὑμᾶς, ἀδελφοί, σκοπεῖν τοὺς τὰς διχοστασίας καὶ τὰ σκάνδαλα παρὰ τὴν διδαχὴν ἣν ὑμεῖς ἐμάθετε ποιοῦντας, καὶ ἐκκλίνετε ἀπ᾽ αὐτῶν·

Romans 16 is a very happy chapter as Paul speaks so well of so many people and sends them his greetings.  It's always had a special place for me just because I can see my name in the Bible.  That's nice and all, but hardly very deep.

This verse stands out rather starkly in the middle of the chapter.  Paul takes time out to Παρακαλῶ.  This word has the sense of exhorting or asking earnestly.  In other words, Paul isn't just making a suggestion here.  He wants them to consider this.  But what does he ask them to consider?  They need to be careful about those who are causing problems relative to the doctrine that these folks have been taught.  Anyone concerned about orthodoxy can give a hearty "amen" to this, right?

However, I can also see how this verse can be twisted if we're not careful.  This would be a great verse to use to maintain control over a congregation.  Let's say that someone was at a very fundamentalist, KJV-only country Baptist church and the pastor was teaching something that seemed biblical with a verse out of context, but was wrong when examined either systematically or biblically.  Now let's say that one or two congregants are reading their Bibles faithfully and they begin to see the problem with the pastor's theology.  They bring this up in Sunday school.  What is likely to happen?

I bet you dollars to doughnuts that this verse gets used.  These two faithful men would likely get corrected or outright ousted because they are causing division.  Heaven forbid someone goes to seminary and starts to question the text behind the KJV.  Talk about creating a stumbling block!

I am not trying to make a caricature of all churches like this.  I simply give this as an example.  The same thing can happen at big urban churches as well.  It can happen in parachurch organizations, as I know from my own experience.  We certainly need to guard our doctrine, but we also don't want to have a cult-like mentality that we are right and the rest of the world is full of wolves out to get us.

I'm not quite sure how to balance all of this out though.  Any ideas?

Gateway to Legalism

Romans 14:13 Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.

13 Μηκέτι οὖν ἀλλήλους κρίνωμεν· ἀλλὰ τοῦτο κρίνατε μᾶλλον, τὸ μὴ τιθέναι πρόσκομμα τῷ ἀδελφῷ ἢ σκάνδαλον.

Romans 14 may be the favorite chapter of those who are very conservative in their practice, but generally only after their culture.  For example, go into a reasonable Baptist church and you will likely not find anyone drinking wine at their dinner parties.  The Baptist culture is such that they typically abstain from alcohol.  If they are reasonable in their bible reading, they will admit that they do not see any biblical mandate forbidding the consumption of alcohol, but they suggest that we suspend this Christian liberty for the sake of any weaker brothers.  

I am certainly in favor of that.  I would have a hard time with someone watching various shows around me because I am certainly a weaker brother when it comes to lust.  I would never drink around someone who once struggled with alcohol.  It just would not be nice.  However, I would like to see this verse applied uniformly.

Let's not drink coffee around someone who once struggled with caffeine addiction.  Let's not provide dessert to someone who struggles with gluttony.  Let's not have any corporate singing around someone who struggles with the desire for the praise of man and has a good voice.  And so on.

As my examples show, this quickly runs off to absurdity.  I think we should be careful when we know that someone around us struggles with some temptation.  I would expect the same courtesy.  Paul writes this chapter to those who are aware of another's struggle.  He tells them not to be a hindrance to those who struggle.  That is a very loving attitude.  

My theory is that the application of this verse is really a way of justifying a culture of certain rules.  I hate to call it legalism because by definition legalism is trying to earn your salvation.  However, it does tend to set up a two-class system where the sincere believers do things one way while the immature do them another.  Let's not fall into that trap, but let's enjoy the good gifts God gave us in moderation while producing the fruit of self-control.

Who's In Charge?

 Romans 13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.

1 Πᾶσα ψυχὴ ἐξουσίαις ὑπερεχούσαις ὑποτασσέσθω. οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν ἐξουσία εἰ μὴ ὑπὸ θεοῦ, αἱ δὲ οὖσαι ὑπὸ θεοῦ τεταγμέναι εἰσίν.

This is one of those passages that some of us wish we didn't have to read.  But it's in there and we have to deal with it.  Our country elected one of the most pro-abortion candidates in history.  He also had no executive experience coming into the office.  He is a product of the Chicago political machine, which is notoriously corrupt.  Since taking office he has expanded the US government and shot us deeper into debt like a rocket.  I find very little redeeming in what he has done so far.

And yet we have this verse.  He is in power because God put him in power.  Perhaps it's a form of judgment on our country.  Perhaps her is going to do something great that we conservatives cannot foresee.  I don't claim to know why God put him in power, but there he is.  And we have to deal with Romans 13.

Keep in mind that Paul wrote this during the reign of Nero.  Most people have heard of Nero supposedly setting the fire in Rome and then fiddling while Rome burned.  Did you know that he liked to use Christians as tiki torches in his garden?  He was an unspeakably cruel man.  Despite that, Paul wrote this verse.

No matter how bad our President and Congress become they will likely never hold a candle to Nero.  We must be subject to them.  The only time we can disobey them is if they try to force us to do something antibiblical.  For example, if I were forbidden from reading my Bible or talking about it I would have to disobey.  But being forced to get health insurance is not antibiblical, as far as I can tell.  Ultimately we must remember that οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν ἐξουσία εἰ μὴ ὑπὸ θεοῦ.  It all comes from Him.

God's Will

Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

2 καὶ μὴ συσχηματίζεσθε τῷ αἰῶνι τούτῳ, ἀλλὰ μεταμορφοῦσθε τῇ ἀνακαινώσει τοῦ νοὸς εἰς τὸ δοκιμάζειν ὑμᾶς τί τὸ θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ, τὸ ἀγαθὸν καὶ εὐάρεστον καὶ τέλειον.

We're getting to the didactic part of Romans now.  Paul has built his case about who Jesus is and why it is important to know Him.  Now he is getting to instruction for the believer.  As I often hear on one of my favorite podcasts, we need the indicative before the imperative. Here Paul give us an imperative that sheds great light on one of the common mysteries of the Christian walk.  How do we know God's will?

We sometimes get stuck when we think that there is a trick to discerning God's will.  We wonder if there is some kind of Christian equivalent of a Ouija board or reading tea leaves.  Do we hear a voice?  Do we open the Bible up to some random section and read what it has to say?  What do we do?

Paul makes it clear that it is both simpler and much more difficult.  Discerning God's will is not something that comes from outside of ourselves.  It comes from personal transformation.  We do this by sitting under biblical preaching, reading our Bibles, and doing what the Spirit tells us through the means God appointed for our instruction.

For example, if I'm a young man having sex with my girlfriend and am having trouble discerning God's will for my life, I need to start by cutting off the fornication.  God's will for the believer starts with sanctification. We need to "get our minds right," to quote the warden in "Cool Hand Luke."  This is where knowing God's will begins.  Then as our minds our transformed we find that we want what He wants.  It's a package deal.

Where are you with this?  Are you being transformed by the Word of God or are you conforming to the world?  We see here that τὸ θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ can be described as being τὸ ἀγαθὸν καὶ εὐάρεστον καὶ τέλειον.  How can we ever know what is "good and acceptable and perfect" if we don't have transformed minds?

Receiving Gifts

Romans 11:35 "Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?" 36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

35 ἢ τίς προέδωκεν αὐτῷ, καὶ ἀνταποδοθήσεται αὐτῷ; 36  ὅτι ἐξ αὐτοῦ καὶ δι᾽ αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰς αὐτὸν τὰ πάντα· αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας, ἀμήν.

I am finding that blogging through Romans a chapter at a time is nearly impossible.  Therefore, I find myself focusing on the final verse in some chapters.  This is one of them.  Chapter 11 has been about how there is a native root and vine (Israel) into which wild branches (Gentiles) have been grafted.  Basically, Paul is telling the Jews how salvation in Christ works.  While this chapter is addressed primarily to Jews, as a Gentile it fills me with awe.

Look back at the Old Testament and you will see why I react this way.  The Old Testament tells the sad story of God's unfaithful people.  He set them apart to be His and put them in situations where it was clearly only by His grace that they survived and thrived.  Yet they missed Messiah when He came to earth the first time and now Paul is explaining their need for Him.  Meanwhile, as a Gentile who has come to know Messiah as my Lord, I am amazed that God would look to someone such as me for salvation.  This would have been pretty much unthinkable in first-century Palestine because everyone knew that the Jews were the people of God and the Gentiles were uncircumcised heathens.

This is why I focus on these two verses.  If you know Christ you have been given a gift that you can never repay.  Some focus on works as a way of paying God back.  You can't do that so don't try.  We do works out of gratitude for our salvation, not as a means of recompense.  It is a gift.  It is a gift that even a first-semester Greek student should be able to understand: ὅτι ἐξ αὐτοῦ καὶ δι᾽ αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰς αὐτὸν τὰ πάντα.  Everything is from Him.  What is the proper response?  αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας.  He deserves all the glory.

Where are you?  Are you a wild branch rejoicing at being grafted onto the true Vine?  Or are you a wild branch still on your own tree?  Are you cut off from the true Vine?  Come to the Vinedresser and He will take care of you.

Confess!

Romans 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); 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. 

8 ἀλλὰ τί λέγει; ἐγγύς σου τὸ ῥῆμά ἐστιν ἐν τῷ στόματί σου καὶ ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ σου, τοῦτ᾽ ἔστιν τὸ ῥῆμα τῆς πίστεως ὃ κηρύσσομεν. 9  ὅτι ἐὰν ὁμολογήσῃς ἐν τῷ στόματί σου κύριον Ἰησοῦν καὶ πιστεύσῃς ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ σου ὅτι ὁ θεὸς αὐτὸν ἤγειρεν ἐκ νεκρῶν, σωθήσῃ·

Paul is making a case for the Jews here.  In this chapter he explains how they need Jesus just as much as the Gentiles.  Being the offspring of Abraham does not get them into heaven.  They need to acknowledge Messiah, who is Jesus.  The Jews believed neither of the conditions in verse 9.  The construct ἐὰν ὁμολογήσῃς is a third-class condition which means basically what we have in English.  Confessing Jesus as Lord and believing in His resurrection will lead to salvation.

Sadly, some have twisted this verse to propose a salvation with no change on the part of the hearer.  This can be seen in the kind of revivalist preaching of someone like a Charles Finney.  Let's just get people to make a confession of faith and then we'll move on.  But if we look at this more closely we see that this is a lot more than simply praying a prayer.  Fundamentally, it is true that a single prayer can lead to salvation.  But what must the prayer be?  It is confessing (not asking) Jesus as Lord.  That means that His commandments become binding on us.  This cannot be a true confession if we simply go on living as if nothing ever happened.

Where are you?  Have you made this confession of faith?  If so, how has it changed your life?  If you can't point to any difference at all then what does "Jesus as Lord" really mean to you?  Probably nothing.  If that is the case then I urge you to reexamine your heart today.