Saturday 5 December 2020

Romans Chapter 5

 


Welcome back to our overview of Romans. So, far in the first 2 chapters, after his initial greeting, Paul spells out why everyone, without exception is falling under God’s wrath—his righteous anger against sin. Then in Chapter 3 he explains the faithfulness of God, that he doesn’t write people off, and that in Jesus Christ, be made a way for people to be cleansed of their sin. Key verses in Rom 3 are 23 and 24:

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.

Paul introduces the idea of God’s grace, is free, undeserved favour.

In Chapter 4 he talks about Abraham being made right—justified—with God by his faith, and that that is the same for everyone. Living well before God is only ever achieved by faith.

In Chapter 5, Paul clearly spells out how God’s grace and our faith work to bring salvation.



We said at the beginning of this study that the key verse in the whole of Paul’s letter to the Romans is Romans 1: 16

For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile.

Having talked at length about God’s righteous anger against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness (1: 18), and the importance of Faith as opposed to Law. He now gets to the central message of the letter.

So far, Paul has talked about how we respond to God. Now he speaks of what God has done. The key verse in Chapter 5 is verse 2:

Romans 5: 2

Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.

Verses 1, 2 (NKJV)

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

The New King James uses four key teaching words in verses 1 and 2:
  • justified,
  • faith,
  • grace, and
  • hope.

While the NLT puts it in simpler English.
  • Put these verses into your own words, as if you were explaining it to a non-Christian friend.

You might have something like this:

"Because our sinfulness cut us off, God has reunited us with himself by believing in Jesus Christ. So, now we live in the generous kindness of God, and are filled with hope for the future."

Verses 3-5

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

Paul gives an immediate practical application. We can rejoice when we run into problems and trials… (v.3). The truth of verses 1 and 2 gives us a framework for facing life’s difficulties.

Let’s think about this for a moment.

Mostly, we want an easy life—but, as we’ve already seen, Paul isn’t about this. He wants us to live holy lives that are effective in serving God. That is our goal.

So, in that case, when we face difficulties, which we always do, these provide an opportunity to test our faith and to prove God’s faithfulness. So:

- Problems and trials, he says, help us develop endurance
- endurance develops strength of character, and
- character strengthens our hope of salvation

That’s our part, becoming stronger through the hardship, but also:

- hope will not disappoint us, because it reminds us, once again, of how much God loves us because we have his Holy Spirit, empowering us.

So:
  • Why should we ‘rejoice’ when we have problems?
  • Do you do this?

Verses 6-11

When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7 Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. 10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.

More good stuff. These are among the most important verses in the Christian faith!

God came to where we were and saved us.

We were utterly helpless (v.6)… We were lost in our sin and separated from God, and in the middle of our mess, when we least deserved it, Jesus came and saved us (we are reminded of this continually in our ‘hardships’) … but now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God (v.11).

Some things to think about here:

- When we were utterly helpless, Christ came…

- He will certainly save us from condemnation. He has already paid the highest possible price—so nothing and no-one is unreachable to God.

- We are made right with God through Jesus’ blood.

- So… rejoice!

Some things to discuss:

  • How do we know that this is true?
  • So, who can be saved?

Verses 12-17

When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. 13 Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break. 14 Still, everyone died—from the time of Adam to the time of Moses—even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come. 15 But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. 16 And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 17 For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.

As we’ve said, Adam sinned by choosing the knowledge of good and evil instead of life in the presence of God. It turns out that what he was actually choosing was a system of ‘law’, and to be constantly judging and testing (“I know I’ll never be good enough”).

(vv.13, 14) Before the law was actually written down by Moses, it was hard to tell what was ‘sin’ and what it wasn’t; people mostly got away with things until they died. And everyone—all the ‘sons of Adam—die, condemned for sins they don’t really understand.

In this way, everyone falls under condemnation and death because they all fall short. This is a terrible situation, but Jesus reverses it.

Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins (v.16).

But (vv.15-17) Jesus Christ is greater than Adam. Adam brought death, condemnation and separation from God, but Jesus brings God’s free gift of forgiveness and righteousness, and all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.

Adam was a kind of prototype of Christ. In effect, Jesus’ cross is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It represents:

  • Jewish Law (which is also the knowledge of good and evil);
  • Roman (or non-Jewish) law – and the natural sense of right and wrong that we all have, and
  • The way both these systems became corrupted.

In dying there, without sin, Jesus breaks the power of the Law to condemn us and gives us access to the righteousness of God.
  • Think about that for a moment.

Verses 18, 19

The next short section clarifies this: Adam’s sin brought condemnation; Jesus’ obedience brings salvation.

Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. 19 Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.

That doesn’t need any explanation; Paul is summarising what he’s already said.

Verses 20, 21

God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant. 21 So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

In verse 20 Paul seems to say something a bit controversial. As people’s sin increased, God’s grace also increased.
  • How is this true?

  • What have you found helpful or significant in the study of Romans so far?

Romans Chapter 4

 


At the end of Chapter 3, Paul was saying that by believing in Jesus Christ, we are saved from God’s righteous anger against sinfulness. He picks this discussion up again very powerfully in Chapter 5. In the meantime, he wants us to learn a lesson from Abraham.

The Jews knew very well who Abraham was. They regarded him as the ‘father of the Jewish nation’ and believed that they were his direct descendants—see for example the conversation that Jesus has with the Pharisees in John 8: 31-59. (The non-Jews may have wondered why Abraham was relevant at all.)

Paul talks about the Jewish ‘Law’. And as he pointed out in Chapter 2, everyone has a ‘law’ of some kind.

Verses 1-3 
Abraham was, humanly speaking, the founder of our Jewish nation. What did he discover about being made right with God? 2 If his good deeds had made him acceptable to God, he would have had something to boast about. But that was not God’s way. 3 For the Scriptures tell us, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” 
The Book of Genesis, especially after Chapter 12, tells the story of Abraham and his family, and of God’s promises to them. These promises are repeated several times in the form of a ‘covenant’ and are: 

Genesis 17: 5-8 
You will be the father of many nations. 6 I will make you extremely fruitful. Your descendants will become many nations, and kings will be among them! 

7 “I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you, from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 And I will give the entire land of Canaan, where you now live as a foreigner, to you and your descendants. It will be their possession forever, and I will be their God.” 
Genesis tells the story of how this is worked out in the lives of his children and grandchildren, and the rest of the Old Testament—the Jewish Scriptures—show how these promises were worked out in the nation of Israel over the following 1800 or so years. 

So, to Jews, Abraham was a big deal: the founder of their nation. He wasn’t made ‘right with God’ by doing good things—in fact, he messed up badly from time to time, but:

Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith. (see also Genesis 15: 6)

So, let’s talk about this for a couple of minutes:
  • What is God looking for in people?

Verses 4-8 
When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned. 5 But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners. 6 David also spoke of this when he described the happiness of those who are declared righteous without working for it: 

7 “Oh, what joy for those
whose disobedience is forgiven,
whose sins are put out of sight.
8 Yes, what joy for those
whose record the Lord has cleared of sin.” 
Most people think that they can get to heaven by ‘serving’ God, or by ‘doing good things’. By obeying rules. It’s basic, but it’s ‘the knowledge of good and evil’. That won’t get us anywhere. If it did, we wouldn’t need faith to be right with God, we would just follow the instructions. 

(v.5) But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners.

This is the key. Paul explains how it worked with Abraham…

Verses 9-12 
Now, is this blessing only for the Jews, or is it also for uncircumcised Gentiles? Well, we have been saying that Abraham was counted as righteous by God because of his faith. 10 But how did this happen? Was he counted as righteous only after he was circumcised, or was it before he was circumcised? Clearly, God accepted Abraham before he was circumcised! 

11 Circumcision was a sign that Abraham already had faith and that God had already accepted him and declared him to be righteous—even before he was circumcised. So Abraham is the spiritual father of those who have faith but have not been circumcised. They are counted as righteous because of their faith. 12 And Abraham is also the spiritual father of those who have been circumcised, but only if they have the same kind of faith Abraham had before he was circumcised. 
If you’re anything like me, all this talk of circumcision is a bit squirmy. It’s pretty uncomfortable. 

But here’s the relief!

God told Abraham to circumcise the males in his family as a sign of his obedience. (We might think a gold star or a badge might be nicer, but hey… It was a sign that all Abraham’s descendants had that symbolised his obedience. Being Jewish meant—and still means—'I belong to Abraham, who walked with God by faith.’)

Abraham’s circumcision was a sign of his righteousness, but…
  • How did Abraham get to be righteous in the first place?

Verses 13-19 
Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith. 14 If God’s promise is only for those who obey the law, then faith is not necessary and the promise is pointless. 15 For the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it. (The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break!) 

16 So the promise is received by faith. It is given as a free gift. And we are all certain to receive it, whether or not we live according to the law of Moses, if we have faith like Abraham’s. For Abraham is the father of all who believe. 17 That is what the Scriptures mean when God told him, “I have made you the father of many nations.” This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing. 

18 Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping—believing that he would become the father of many nations. For God had said to him, “That’s how many descendants you will have!” 19 And Abraham’s faith did not weaken, even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead—and so was Sarah’s womb. 
God made massive promises to Abraham and to his descendants. But far from having ‘descendants’, at the age of 100, he didn’t even have one child. 

Verse 17:

Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing.

We could say, ‘What choice did he have?’

He had several choices.

  • He could have taken another wife, one who was more fertile than Sarah.
  • He could have promised his inheritance to one of his relatives—Lot, maybe.
  • Or, maybe to Eleazar of Damascus, who was his chief servant.
  • He could have had sex with a slave (he tried that).

But in the end, he always came back, sometimes a bit grumpily or reluctantly, to believing God. And God kept on repeating the promise.
  • What choices must we make to live by faith?

Verses 20-25 
Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. 21 He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises. 22 And because of Abraham’s faith, God counted him as righteous. 23 And when God counted him as righteous, it wasn’t just for Abraham’s benefit. It was recorded 24 for our benefit, too, assuring us that God will also count us as righteous if we believe in him, the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God. 
Abraham is there as an example of faith for everyone, Jews and non-Jews alike. Verse 21: 

[Abraham] was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises.

Finally, Paul brings it back to the Good News about Christ. The gospel. God’s promises to Abraham were hard for him to understand – based on having a child in old-age and investing in a future that he couldn’t see, but we are right with God when we believe in Jesus.

We need rules, obviously; society would not work without them, but Paul says very clearly that this isn’t enough to make us righteous before God.
  • What is the problem with having a religious Law?

In these chapters, Paul describes faith like Abraham’s as the opposite of Law. It can make us right with God, where keeping a law never can.
  • What can we learn from Abraham’s faith?



Ephesians Study 3: 1-13

 

Summary of last week’s discussion:

  • Addressing the Gentiles particularly, Paul reminds them that at one time they were separated from Christ, and from the benefits of being part of God’s covenant, but now, through Jesus’ blood, they are brought near.
  • The strong wall around the holy places of the temple has been broken down by Jesus’ death. There is now no division between Jews and Gentiles. The Law of Moses has effectively been dissolved. He speaks of ‘one new man’ who now stands instead of both Jews and Gentiles.
  • 2:19 is a key verse: So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.
  • Having previously described God’s people as a ‘body’, he now calls them a temple—the true Temple—a dwelling place for God, built on the testimony of the apostles and prophets, and of Jesus Christ himself.
Paul continues to describe how the gospel—the good news of Jesus—is sent to the Gentiles.

It’s worth reflecting before we dig into this, how global and multi-ethnic the church has become. In pretty much every community in the world, there are Christ-followers. And whereas some other religions will expect followers to adopt their cultural clothes, Jesus doesn’t do that.

God’s Temple is not a Jewish thing. Nor is it a Roman thing, or a white Anglo-Saxon thing. The largest single congregation in the world right now is in Nigeria (previously, it was in South Korea), and the fastest-growing church in the world is in Iran.

Billions of people around the world right now are looking to Jesus for salvation. None of these cultures ‘own’ the church; but God works in and through them all—and against them all, because ‘God’s kingdom is not of this world’, nor of any particular culture. 
Jesus is the Messiah for all people in all places at all times. He is the saviour of all nations. 

Tim Mackie 

How did the gospel get from Nazareth, a small village in the Galilee, to be this vast multi-cultural, multi-ethnic movement?

Ephesians 3: 1-13 

For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— 2 assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you, 3 how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. 4 When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. 6 This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. 

7 Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power. 8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, 10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realised in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. 13 So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory. 
vv. 1-3 
For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— 2 assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you, 3 how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. 
Following on from the previous chapter, Paul describes himself as a prisoner of Christ Jesus
  • What does it mean to be a prisoner of Christ Jesus? 

Objectively, he was a prisoner of the Romans. But they don’t count because Jesus is Lord, not Caesar. Paul could have construed himself as a victim of Roman oppression, or of Jewish persecution, but he doesn’t. He embraces suffering because it gives a platform to the gospel. 
When we are undergoing hardship, unpopularity, material loss for the sake of Christian principles we may either regard ourselves as the victims of men or as the champions of Christ. Paul is our example; he regarded himself, not as the prisoner of Nero, but as the prisoner of Christ
William Barclay

vv.3-6 
3 …how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. 4 When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. 6 This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. 
Paul has already mentioned this ‘mystery’ (1:9, 10), which is God’s plan to unite all things in Christ. A mystery, as we said, is something that has been hidden, but is now revealed: a ‘revelation’, in fact. In Chapter 3, it is mentioned four times more. 
  • How does the power of the Holy Spirit enable us to do things that are well beyond our own abilities, and transcend social norms? 

This is not something that Paul has figured out in his study or through his cleverness, and definitely not something that he learned from someone else. This is what God has shown him as part of his commission to take the message of Christ to the Gentiles, that they—i.e. everybody—can get to share in the promises and blessings that God promises to his people. 

As we’ll see in a moment, this isn’t a ‘new teaching’, it has been implied in the Scriptures right from Genesis, but up to this point, it hadn’t been clearly or widely understood. God hadn’t unlocked it.

And it isn’t just Paul, this is revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit (v.5). Jesus’ commission to his disciples was Go therefore and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28: 19) and Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation (Mark 16: 15). We understand from tradition that Thomas travelled to India, and that Matthew went to Ethiopia, for example, and that Thaddeus went to Armenia. John-Mark is associated both with the Copts in Egypt and with St. Mark’s basilica in Venice and Mary Magdalene is linked to southern France.

We know, however, that at Pentecost, Peter’s message was miraculously translated into multiple languages; and it was Peter who obeyed the call of Cornelius the centurion. A watershed moment.

It is significant that early in both Matthew’s Gospel and the Acts, Roman soldiers come seeking salvation.

It transgresses a strong taboo. The Jews and the Gentiles regarded each other with suspicion, if not outright hostility, and no one seriously thought that:

the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel (v.6)

vv.7-9 
7 Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power. 8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things… 
Paul contemplates how amazing God’s grace is. Who is he, after all? 

  • God could have given this ministry to one of Jesus’ original 12 who were with him at the beginning, but he didn’t. He selected one who came in later, after persecuting the church and trying to eradicate it.
  • He could have opened this mystery to countless Jewish scholars through the centuries, through their diligent preservation of the scriptures. But he didn’t, he revealed it to Paul, on the road to Damascus, when he was up to no good, and reversed the course of his life. 
This is the nature of grace. Paul calls himself the very least of all the saints (v.8), and he means it.

Just to reiterate: Paul is made a minister (or a ‘servant’) of the gospel according to the gift of God's grace (v.7).

In spite of Paul being self-conscious of his frailties and inadequacies, by the working of his power, God has given him the task to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things…

People like conspiracy theories. This is God’s conspiracy with himself; his ‘mystery’, hidden for ages (v.9), but it was hidden in the Scriptures—in plain sight, to be fair:

Genesis 12: 3 (as we’ve already seen). God said to Abram, in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

Families and nations and people-groups who were not yet born.

Isaiah 2: 2

It shall come to pass in the latter days
that the mountain of the house of the Lord
shall be established as the highest of the mountains …
and all the nations shall flow to it,

Psalm 22: 27

All the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations.

Psalm 86: 9

All the nations you have made shall come
and worship before you, O Lord,
and shall glorify your name.

So, the idea of God’s grace being available to people other than the Jews was not new. It had been there all along. 

v.10 
so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

Paul reiterates what he has said in Chapter 1: 22, 23: 

And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fulness of him who fills all in all.

and chapter 2: 6

[God] raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

God raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand, above all powers and authorities and names, and he has given us life too, and raised us up and seated us with Christ in the heavenly places.

All these spiritual powers and authorities, and all earthly rulers are brought under the total dominion of Christ, and this authority is invested in the church—in God’s holy people on earth.

That is, in us.
  • This is why he calls us his Temple (2: 21).
  • This is why Jesus places his Great Commission to his disciples in the context of his supreme authority:
Matthew 28: 18, 19 
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore… 
And when Jesus teaches his disciples to pray (Matthew 6: 10): 
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven. 
He gives them his own authority to make this happen. 
  • What do the ‘rulers and authorities’ learn from the Church?
These Ephesian Christians were to serve him and establish this bridgehead of his kingdom in the middle of a world that was dominated by the evil powers. They were to put aside their differences, however profound and important they seemed, and stand together as his body, God’s temple on earth. They are the holy place.

The dividing wall has been demolished, not only between the Jews and the non-Jews, but between all the people. There is no hindrance to anyone who seeks God and desires him. There is no obscure Law to keep; no initiation rituals; no secret words.

And, as we read last time in Galatians 3: 28:

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.

Tim Mackie describes this as a ‘new humanity’—a new race of people, who, as Peter says, have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God (1 Peter 1: 23).

We are here to transform the world around us.
  • To what extent has the world we live in been transformed?

[True, there is much wrong with our world. Sin is clearly evident, but think of all the ways the teaching of Christ and Paul has been embraced:

  • The abolition of legal slavery
  • Cultural norms (and government policies) that support and protect the poor and the vulnerable
  • The idea of the rule of law (rather than of some Caesar)
  • Not least, the widespread freedom to worship God

There are many other things.]

These things are partial and imperfect. We have not yet seen the full potential of the church, not only to make space for the worship of God, but to establish righteousness and justice in the world.
  • In what ways has the world we live in yet to be transformed?
It will ultimately be transformed when Jesus returns, but until then we are to ‘do business till he comes’.

The spiritual powers of the world will try to introduce divisions among us, but, as Paul will go on to say (in 4: 27), we should give no opportunity to the devil. When we are offended, we must not harbour bitterness and resentment but forgive quickly.
The sign of a healthy church is not the absence of anger and conflict, but the presence of a commitment to work it out, to move towards the person, to forgive and reconcile. 

Tim Mackie
Just another footnote on v.10. Paul says:

that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known

That word ‘manifold’ is πολυποίκιλος, meaning ‘multi-multi-coloured.’ The wisdom of God is ultra-diverse and many-faceted. This implies that:

  • It is beautiful.
  • It is ubiquitous. It can answer any complication or opposition the world or its dominating powers choose to throw at it.

  • How have you encountered God’s richly diverse wisdom?

And finally…

vv. 11-13 
This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realised in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. 13 So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory. 
  • Why is it that some believers lack the confidence that God would like them to have?
It is our privilege to be ‘in on the secret’, so to speak, and to be part of this amazing, exciting plan, this mystery.

Through Jesus Christ, we have unlimited access to the Father. Jesus said (John 16: 27)

The Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.

Paul is in chains on behalf of these Ephesian believers, but before long they would also face persecution (see the messages in Rev 2 and 3). Paul writes to encourage them.

And us.

A final thought, to return to the idea of the global, multi-ethnic “πολυποίκιλος” church that we started with. This gathering of all people in Christ—Jews and Gentiles—was always part of God’s plan, not God’s afterthought when the Jews rejected Christ.

In you, God said to Abram, back in Genesis 12, shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

Ephesians Study 2: 11-22


Ephesians 2: 11-22 
Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
  • Does anything jump out to you?

Before we launch into the text, a bit of background

Paul has in mind a particular incident that some of them will have remembered, which he also refers to in the following section (3: 1), I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles.

At the end of Acts 20, Paul travelled from Ephesus; he arrived in Jerusalem in Acts 21 and in vv.18, 19 he greeted the ‘apostles and elders’ and gave them a glowing report of what God was doing among the Gentiles.

They glorified God about this, but immediately followed it with a ‘word in love, brother.’ Lots of Jews who believed in Jesus were zealous for the Law. Clearly ‘the Elders’ approve of this; they are concerned that ‘you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or walk according to our customs (v.21)’.

So, they advise Paul to be super-Jewish while he was in Jerusalem. He accompanied some Jews to the temple as they completed a vow, showing that he was not really against the Law of Moses (v.26).

When this process was almost completed, some Jews from the region of Ephesus recognised him, caused an uproar, and this led to him being arrested by the Romans. The excuse was that they had seen him with an Ephesian Christian called Trophimus, and assumed that he must have taken him into the Temple (v.29).

The actual precinct of the Temple was surrounded by a wall that separated it from a wide courtyard that was open to Gentiles. This is the wall that Paul is referring to in v.14—the dividing wall of hostility.

The ethnic and spiritual division between the Jews and the non-Jews is perfectly visualised by an actual wall around the sanctuary of the Temple.

What happened to Trophimus? We don’t know much. At some point, Paul left him self-isolating in Miletus (2 Tim 4: 20), but I picture him sitting in the church in Ephesus feeling awkward while this section was read out.

The Catholics venerate him as a martyr, but that’s probably not why.


Ephesians 2: 11, 12 
Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 
  • The Jews were defined by male circumcision. What was its significance?
The Jews treated Gentiles with contempt. In the opinion of most Jews of the time, according to Barclay, the purpose of Gentiles was to ‘fuel the fires of hell’ and that God only loved the Jews out of all the nations he had made. (This is not a close reading of the OT, by the way.)

If a Jew were to marry a Gentile, a funeral would be carried out—such contact with a Gentile was the equivalent of death; even to go into a Gentile house rendered a Jew unclean. The wall around the sanctuary of the Temple was deeply significant for the Jews

v.12 separated from Christ. It’s not just that, as Gentiles, they had no Messianic promises, but they were without anointing (without christ), there was no presence of God, no message of salvation and therefore no hope.

vv.12, 13 
you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 

But Jesus has made a critical difference to them. At one time they were outside, but now they are inside. They have been brought near by the blood of Christ, brought near to God.
That is what Christ does. He is our peace. It is in a common love of him that people come to love each other. That peace is won at the price of his blood, for the great awakener of love is the Cross. The sight of that Cross awakens in the hearts of men of all nations love for Christ, and only when they all love Christ will they love each other. It is not in treaties and leagues to produce peace. There can be peace only in Jesus Christ.

William Barclay
James 4: 8
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you
  • How can we ‘draw near’?
vv.14-16 
For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 

So, there is this idea of two races of people: the Jews and the Gentiles that are both in the church, eyeing one another with mutual suspicion.

We have already seen that God’s plan, this hidden mystery, is to unite all things in Christ (1: 10), and here it begins. The Jews, the Chosen Few, ordained and selected by God, recipients of covenants, laws and promises, and the Gentiles, everyone else, the great uncultured and unwashed.

But Paul has just told them (v.3) that they are all, Jews and Gentiles, children of wrath; however special the Jews thought themselves, they weren’t that special.

[Christ] himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility…

Jesus, being the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, is a type of the Temple. He represented it. He was where heaven touched earth, and when he died, it’s as if he was letting the Holy Spirit loose into the world. The wall that physically separated the Gentiles from proximity with God was torn down … and so it was, not long after this was written.

[He abolished] the law of commandments expressed in ordinances; that is, the Torah and the Jewish religion—you can see why the devout Jews had a problem with Paul!

But Jesus did that, not Paul.

In Christ Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, both Jews and Gentiles are united into a new creation.

2 Corinthians 5: 17 
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 
And he goes on there to describe a ministry of reconciliation. 

Killing the hostility is a strong phrase—almost oxymoronic—but this is what Christ has accomplished.

Notice, it isn’t that God has dissolved Israel and nullified their covenants, but he has opened these up, accessed by faith, to the Gentiles, so that Paul can appeal to the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 5: 20) be reconciled to God.

As we are reconciled to him, we are reconciled to one another; the hostility is ended.

Metaphorically, now anyone is able to enter the holiest places of the Temple, by the blood of Christ:

Hebrews 10: 19-22 
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh … 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. 
vv.17-19 
And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God… 
He came and preached peace… 

We get a hint of this in the Gospels, in the Roman Centurion, the Samaritan Woman and the Woman of Tyre. Jesus focuses his ministry to the Jews—his lost sheep—but this is never exclusive.

Through Jesus, as we saw last week (John 14: 6), we have access to the Father, both Jews and Gentiles.

v.19 is one of the most brilliant verses in Ephesians (well, along with all the other brilliant verses).

… You are no longer strangers and aliens, but … fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God…

Remember God’s original promise to Abram:

Genesis 12: 1-3 
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonours you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
We could camp out on this, but we don’t really have time, but just think:

  • A royal priesthood and a holy nation
  • A kingdom of priests to God
  • Reigning with Christ

We are the joint inheritors of all the promises God makes to his people.

This chapter finishes with a parallel passage to the end of chapter 1 (22, 23):

vv.20-22 
…built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. 
Elsewhere Paul describes Christ as the foundation (1 Corinthians 3: 11).

  • In what respect is the church built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets?

I think there are two aspects to this.

  1. Apostles and prophets are both ministry gifts that Paul recognised in the early church (Ephesians 4: 11).
Jesus clearly appointed apostles, whom he sent out with his message; the church itself appears to have recognised and commissioned others, though this is rather less clear-cut. An ‘apostle’, at the end of the day, is someone ‘sent’ with a message, an emissary or a missionary. An ambassador, indeed (to quote that passage from 2 Corinthians 5 again).

The NT church had prophets; some are mentioned by name (Acts 13: 1 lists Barnabas and Saul; someone called Agabus is mentioned a couple of times; Philip’s daughters, and all the teaching in 1 Corinthians)
  1. Apostles and prophets here are cognate to the Law and the Prophets:
Matthew 7: 12: 
So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets
I.e., the Hebrew Bible. In this case the prophets are the OT prophets, and the Law is represented by the Apostles of Christ, who received his word and declared it.

So, there is a sense that apostles and prophets in Scripture carry great authority, defining the essence of what Christian teaching is, but there is also a sense of an ongoing conversation with God in the real world, in response to dynamic situations.

We must be cautious if someone is identified with an apostolic or prophetic gift in the church. We are not putting them on a level with Paul or Peter in terms of their authority to define doctrine, but on the other hand, we need to hear from God in our generation.

Christ Jesus … the cornerstone, that is defining the levels and dimensions of this holy building (on this rock, I will build my church).

Jesus Christ, through the agency of the apostles and prophets, and all the other ministry gifts among God’s people, defines the levels and verticals of the building, which is his temple

Jesus was the dwelling place of God in the world—and so are we. Paul will develop this idea in Chapter 4.

So where does this leave us, today?

We might find it odd, that in the great ethnic diversity of the Roan empire, the only division that Paul sees is that between the Jews and the Gentiles.
  • What are the things that divide us?

The obvious ethnic differences, but deeper than that are cultural divisions. Different ways of seeing the world, of understanding truth.

Conservative v. progressive

Men v. women

Left v. right

Religious differences; differences in Christian expression

Rich v Poor

Difference between any ‘identity’; tribalism

And then…

Us v. them

Me v. You

Galatians 3: 26-29 
in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptised into Christ have put on Christ. 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. 29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise. 

"The problem of fences has grown to be one of the most acute that the world must face. Today there are all sorts of zig-zag and criss-crossing separating fences running through the races and people of the world. Modern progress has made the world a neighbourhood: God has given us the task of making it a brotherhood."

Sir Philip Gibbs, The Cross of Peace

Friday 4 December 2020

Romans Chapter 3

 


In Chapters 1 and 2, Paul sets out why everybody—the entire human race—is under God’s condemnation, non-Jews because they suppress the truth by their wickedness (1: 17) and the Jews because they possess God’s law but don’t obey it (2: 27).

In Chapter 3, Paul concludes the case for the prosecution, so to speak, and begins the case for the defence.

He continues…

3: 1-4

Then what’s the advantage of being a Jew? Is there any value in the ceremony of circumcision? 2 Yes, there are great benefits! First of all, the Jews were entrusted with the whole revelation of God.

3 True, some of them were unfaithful; but just because they were unfaithful, does that mean God will be unfaithful? 4 Of course not! Even if everyone else is a liar, God is true. As the Scriptures say about him,

“You will be proved right in what you say,
and you will win your case in court.”
So, if the Jews with their Law and their direct line to God and the gentiles, with their natural conscience, both get the same deal with God, then what’s the point of having the Law? This is where Paul begins Chapter 3: Then what’s the advantage of being a Jew? (v.1)
  • How does Paul answer this?

The Jews have the ‘whole revelation of God’, which is a seriously big deal. Verses 3 and 4 need unpacking a bit.

Paul is still answering the question. He says this:

  • Just because some of the Jews were unfaithful, God is still true, and his word is also true. In a chaotic world where most people are powerless, that is an important thing to know. There is something solid to stand on.

  • Then he quotes Psalm 51—that is, David’s confession—which says:
Against you, and you alone, have I sinned;
I have done what is evil in your sight.
You will be proved right in what you say,
and your judgment against me is just.

(or, in the version Paul quotes, ‘You will win your day in court’.)

Even if you’re the one being proved guilty, at least you know what the truth is. You’re not being judged against some made-up standard.

Notice that Paul is only interested in proving God to be true—even at his own expense. He isn’t interested in people looking for a way to justify their behaviour. As far as he’s concerned, Chapters 1 and 2 cover that—people suppress the truth in wickedness and end up under condemnation.

Verses 5-8 pose an important question about the righteousness of God.
“But,” some might say, “our sinfulness serves a good purpose, for it helps people see how righteous God is. Isn’t it unfair, then, for him to punish us?” (This is merely a human point of view.) 6 Of course not! If God were not entirely fair, how would he be qualified to judge the world? 7 “But,” someone might still argue, “how can God condemn me as a sinner if my dishonesty highlights his truthfulness and brings him more glory?” 8 And some people even slander us by claiming that we say, “The more we sin, the better it is!” Those who say such things deserve to be condemned.
Probably some of us have struggled with questions like this, and some teachings about God’s grace can sound a bit like this. The more I sin, the more righteous God appears. Paul will develop the point in later chapters.

Paul dismisses the argument (v.8), and he’s right for two reasons:
  • God’s righteousness isn’t defined against our sin. He is righteous anyway because he’s God. Even our very best deeds are tainted.
  • Since I am unrighteous, I cannot presume to judge God, anyway.
  • What do you think about this?

Verses 9-20

In this section, Paul uses quotations from the Psalms and Isaiah to underline the fact that all people, Jews and non-Jews, are under the power of sin. The Jews are not ‘better’ than the others in this, but they ought to have better information.

Well then, should we conclude that we Jews are better than others? No, not at all, for we have already shown that all people, whether Jews or Gentiles, are under the power of sin. 10 As the Scriptures say,

“No one is righteous—
not even one.
11 No one is truly wise;
no one is seeking God.
12 All have turned away;
all have become useless.
No one does good,
not a single one.”
13 “Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave.
Their tongues are filled with lies.”
“Snake venom drips from their lips.”
14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
15 “They rush to commit murder.
16 Destruction and misery always follow them.
17 They don’t know where to find peace.”
18 “They have no fear of God at all.”

19 Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. 20 For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.

Paul has previously made the point that the Jews have the Law of Moses and everyone has the ‘natural law’ that God has written into the creation.

One way of looking at this ‘natural law’ is that everyone has certain moral standards that they live by.
  • What are these moral standards?
  • Do we succeed?
Paul draws from several Old Testament places (Psalms 14; 53; 5, 140, 36 and 10, and Isaiah 59) to show that everyone is a sinner and deserves condemnation, their talk is foul, he says, and their hearts are full of murder and destruction.

Of course, only the Jews have the Law, but it spells out for them what should be clear to everyone, that people don’t know where to find peace and they have no fear of God at all.

In fact, Paul concludes, that The law simply shows us how sinful we are.

For people serious about being godly, this is a great advantage.

That really concludes Paul’s case for the prosecution.

Everyone is a sinner, not that they have merely messed up once or twice, but their whole orientation is away from God.

  • The Jews are no better than the Gentiles, but they have the great advantage of having God’s law ‘spelled out’ for them in the scriptures.
  • No-one has any excuse before God, but especially not the Jews.

This is the Bad News—now he goes on to present the case for the Defence—the Good News.


Verses 21-31
But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. 22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, 26 for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.

27 Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. 28 So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.

29 After all, is God the God of the Jews only? Isn’t he also the God of the Gentiles? Of course he is. 30 There is only one God, and he makes people right with himself only by faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles. 31 Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfil the law.
In the final section of the chapter (21-31), Paul comes to the point he’s been building up to. God has made a way for us to be righteous without having to keep the law.
v.22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.
This is the solution to everyone’s basic problem.

It isn’t sufficient to say that God is righteous, so he condemns the whole human race to destruction. God can do that: but it doesn’t benefit him. He made us to glorify him in life, not in death.

Also, at some level, everyone wants to be right with God (or the Universe, or whatever). We are always trying to find ways to excuse ourselves—to justify our bad behaviour, even when we really know this is pointless.

Who are we kidding?

The more we try to make ourselves feel better, the more we condemn ourselves.

But it’s okay. We don’t have to live under condemnation. And we don’t have to go around comparing ourselves with other people.
v.23, 24 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.
  • Do you agree with Paul that ‘everyone has sinned’?
  • How do we sin?

(Sin isn’t really about doing bad stuff – that’s a symptom of sin – it’s really about making our own stuff more important than God.)

A lot of people don’t understand why Jesus needed to die. They don’t get the sacrifice thing – it is quite foreign to our way of thinking.

But sin—disobedience to God—requires death. Something has to die. In the Law of Moses, an animal died as a representative, a substitute.

And Jesus is the perfect substitute, the perfect sacrifice … as John the Baptist cried out
Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
(John 1: 29)
Some people struggle to believe that Jesus died as the punishment for our sins—but it is a central part of the Good News message.

v.24
God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins
Despite our sin, God makes us right—he justifies us—through Jesus’ death.

Jesus is the only person who never deserved to die—the only person who wasn’t a sinner, yet: 
God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
(2 Corinthians 5: 21) 
God made the world perfect, ‘very good’ (Genesis 1: 31) and that included the people. As part of this perfection, God gave Adam and Eve free choice; he gave them an instruction not to eat the fruit of a certain tree because If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die (Genesis 2: 17). 

They chose to do it – and so death came into the world – also lies, shame and deceptions.

In choosing to ‘eat the fruit’, they chose to become judges in their own right, always choosing between good and evil, rather than simply enjoying God.

The result of this is death. Physical death: most obviously, the murder of Abel (Genesis 4: 8, and that everybody dies), also spiritual death: the whole human race became separated from God.

Outside of God, we are judged by our ‘knowledge of good and evil’. We know right from wrong. Of course, we are found guilty and we die, separated from God.

Think about this.
  • Do you believe that you are guilty before God?
  • Do you believe that everyone, even ‘good’ people, are guilty before God?

We know right from wrong – yet we choose wrong, sometimes, at least.

Nevertheless, God loves us. He loves every person born into the world with the same intensity with which he loves his own Son, Jesus. He is not prepared to see us all die in unbelief.

So, Jesus came. v.25:
For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood.
When we accept by faith that Jesus died in our place, we are ‘saved’. As the old King James Bible puts it (1 Peter 3:18):
For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.
In Romans 3, Paul gives us two key ideas:
  • Grace: the idea that God acts to save us purely out of his generosity and love, and not because of anything we could do to deserve it, and
  • Faith, which is how we get access to God’s grace.
He also gives us the key teaching, that Jesus died as a sacrifice for sin in our place. He died instead of me.

And that’s huge!

Romans Chapter 2


Welcome back to our study of Paul’s letter to the Roman Christians.

As before, I’m going to drop a series of discussion questions. Some of these will have very straightforward answers that you can find in the text. Some of them will be less clear-cut, but it’s important to talk about and explore these things together as we grow in our knowledge and understanding of Jesus Christ.

There are two mistakes (at least) that we can make as we read this chapter.
  • We can look at it with our ‘Christian’ understanding of God’s grace, and misunderstand what Paul is saying.
Paul is developing his teaching about grace, but he doesn’t really get to the point until Chapter 5—so, have patience! At this point he’s explaining why we need grace.

  • We can easily misunderstand what Paul means by ‘Law’. This is a bit confusing because he seems to mean two things.
On the one hand, he means the Law of Moses, the Torah – the Ten Commandments etc. This is a very specific body of teaching the Jews had but the Gentiles didn’t.

On the other hand, he is talking about the ‘natural law’ of God, that everyone has because it is evident in the Creation (Chapter 1: 18-20). This is our basic sense of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ that we mentioned last time.

Paul makes little distinction between these, for example in Chapter 2: 14, 15.

The Case for the Prosecution Continues …

Verses 1-4 

Paul carries on from the previous chapter. Remember, Paul has been talking about people who know the truth about God but reject it, so God has ‘abandoned them’ to do whatever badness they have in mind. Now, he’s talking mainly to people with a Jewish background.

You may think you can condemn such people, but you are just as bad, and you have no excuse! When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself, for you who judge others do these very same things. 2 And we know that God, in his justice, will punish anyone who does such things. 3 Since you judge others for doing these things, why do you think you can avoid God’s judgment when you do the same things? 4 Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?

People from a Jewish background—much more than anyone else—with their knowledge of the Law of Moses and God’s promises, have no excuse when they do bad things.

Let’s just take two things in Paul’s list in chapter 1 verse 29 (Paul does like a good list!): quarrelling and deception.

In the Jewish law, people didn’t have to like one another, but if they had a dispute, they were supposed to take it to a judge for a decision. They weren’t supposed to get into personal disputes.

And deception is in the 10 commandment where it says (Exodus 20: 16) that they should give false testimony—and of course, that is about the intention to deceive.

  • Why does Paul say that the Roman Christians deserve God’s judgement?

Moving on… 

Verses 5-11 
But because you are stubborn and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself. For a day of anger is coming, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed 6 He will judge everyone according to what they have done. 7 He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honour and immortality that God offers. 8 But he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness. 9 There will be trouble and calamity for everyone who keeps on doing what is evil—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile. 10 But there will be glory and honour and peace from God for all who do good—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile. 11 For God does not show favouritism.

You see, it’s not really anything to do with religion. God doesn’t really care what you call yourself, but He’s all about people who will reflect his glory and love in the world. So, it matters how you live; what decisions you make from day to day. It matters how you treat each other and how you regard Him.

(It’s easy to jump ahead here and say that it’s all ‘by faith’. Paul will make that point, but the basic thing is that he wants us to live in a way that pleases him.)
  • (5-11) According to Paul, how does God judge people?

Verses 12-16
When the Gentiles sin, they will be destroyed, even though they never had God’s written law. And the Jews, who do have God’s law, will be judged by that law when they fail to obey it. 13 For merely listening to the law doesn’t make us right with God. It is obeying the law that makes us right in his sight. 14 Even Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law, show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it. 15 They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right. 16 And this is the message I proclaim—that the day is coming when God, through Christ Jesus, will judge everyone’s secret life.
Wow, verse 12 seems pretty hard!

But Paul has already established that ‘they are without excuse’ in the last chapter—and here he goes on to say (vv.14 and 15) that if they do what they know to be right, they won’t be condemned. Verse 16 is the point: the day is coming when God … will judge everyone’s secret life. And this is why Jesus’ teaching is different from the Jewish Law. That was all about what you do; Jesus is all about who you are.

Paul talks a lot in verses 12-16 about ‘keeping the law’. Again, this appears to go against what we know of the Gospel, and what Paul himself goes on to explain in the next couple of chapters. But remember what Jesus said about being angry and committing adultery in Matthew 5: 21-30. It’s what’s in your heart that matters. This is what he is saying in verses 14-16.

Verses 17-20
You who call yourselves Jews are relying on God’s law, and you boast about your special relationship with him. 18 You know what he wants; you know what is right because you have been taught his law. 19 You are convinced that you are a guide for the blind and a light for people who are lost in darkness. 20 You think you can instruct the ignorant and teach children the ways of God. For you are certain that God’s law gives you complete knowledge and truth.
  • What was the role God intended the Jews to have?

Verses 21-24
Well then, if you teach others, why don’t you teach yourself? You tell others not to steal, but do you steal? 22 You say it is wrong to commit adultery, but do you commit adultery? You condemn idolatry, but do you use items stolen from pagan temples? 23 You are so proud of knowing the law, but you dishonour God by breaking it. 24 No wonder the Scriptures say, “The Gentiles blaspheme the name of God because of you.”
So, the Jews were supposed to be guides for the blind and lights for people who are lost in darkness (v.19), but Paul says—just as he did at the very beginning of the chapter—'you say it’s wrong to do these things, but you do them anyway.’

It’s great to have a high moral code, but it’s useless if you don’t keep it.

The Jews had a law about marriage and adultery (not so much the Gentiles, adultery is basically sleeping with someone else’s wife). It’s a gross betrayal of trust.

So, knowing this, if you marry someone, and promise to be faithful to them forever (or until one of you dies), and then you later go and marry someone else, you have betrayed her. Have you not? 
  • What is Paul’s particular message to the Jews (verses 19 and 20)?

Verses 25-27
The Jewish ceremony of circumcision has value only if you obey God’s law. But if you don’t obey God’s law, you are no better off than an uncircumcised Gentile. 26 And if the Gentiles obey God’s law, won’t God declare them to be his own people? 27 In fact, uncircumcised Gentiles who keep God’s law will condemn you Jews who are circumcised and possess God’s law but don’t obey it.
The Jews have a very strong sense that they are special—God’s chosen people—and the Christian Jews had this idea too. But Paul is making the point that having all this knowledge of God is only any good if it’s actually put to use in a person’s life.

  • What does this mean: (v.27) … Gentiles who keep God’s law will condemn you Jews who … possess God’s law but don’t obey it?

Verses 28 and 29
For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision. 29 No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by the Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.
This is the point that Paul has been developing through this chapter. God isn’t interested in your religious label or affiliation, or whether you were born into a particular tribe. True, Jewishness was a great privilege because it brought the Law of Moses and all the promises that went along with it; it provided an opportunity to know God—but if the Jews haven’t used these advantages, then their Jewishness actually becomes a hindrance and brings a greater judgement.

  • (28, 29) Paul takes the Jewish Law very seriously, as he points out in Chapter 11. He is proud of his Jewish heritage, however, how does he define Jewishness in these verses? 
  • Looking back through chapters 1 and 2, which verses stand out particularly? Why?