"to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."
This verse wraps up the introduction to his letter. He explained who he was and what his authority in the first verse because the church in Rome possibly only knew by reputation and as far as they knew he was still one of the most fervent persecutors; in the same way, after Saul (who was latter called Paul) became a Christian and started preaching the Lord Jesus Christ in the synagogues, "All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, 'Is this not he who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name [Jesus Christ] and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?'...When he came to Jerusalem, he was trying to associate with the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple." (Acts 9:21, 26). This is a mighty testimony to the transformative power of God to so thoroughly change a person and to use someone who was, in earlier times, the worst enemies of Christians. Paul also points out that the gospel of Jesus Christ is not so dramatically new and different than what was written in the Law, the Prophets, and the writings (what we call the Old Testament) but rather that it was all leading up to, is, and will be fulfilled in Jesus Christ. He briefly touches on the the basics of the gospel in the next few verses in the person of Jesus (verses 3, 4) and the nature of his ministry (verses 5, 6), and now we come to the "to whom" of the introduction.
"To all," Paul is referring to all confessing Christians in Rome. Whether Jew or Gentile (non-Jew), rich or poor, slave or free, educated or uneducated, they all met and fellowshipped together in their mutual Lord and savior, Jesus Christ; for we are all parts of the same of the same body, in which Christ is the head and all are just as much in need of God's grace.
Well that is all the time we have this week. I apologize for the brief posting as I did not budget my time properly this past week. Tune in next week for the continuing adventure into this amazing letter.
Not to us, O Lord, not to us,
But to Your Name give glory
Because of Your lovingkindness,
Because of Your truth.
Friday, January 25, 2013
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Romans 1:5c-6 (the introduction)
"among all the Gentiles for His names sake, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;"
The first part of this posting, "among all the Gentiles" touches upon the command that the Lord Jesus gives frequently both before and after his resurrection to wit Matthew 28:19, Mark 16:15f, Acts 1:8, Luke 24:47 and the sum of all of those verses (and elsewhere I am sure) is that we are to proclaim the gospel (which comes from the Greek work euaggelion) which is to say "the good news" everywhere and to every one; as Paul writes, "For I delivered to you as of fist importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to thee Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures." (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). That is the best news anyone could ever have. Whether a person believes unto salvation is not really our business for we are not commanded anywhere to save people from their sins; only Jesus Christ can do that through His Holy Spirit. That is not to say that we should not pray fervently for the salvation of those to whom we witness.
Paul was commissioned especially to reach the Gentiles. In Acts 9:15, the Lord Jesus is explaining to His slave Ananias, "But the Lord said to him, 'Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel;'". All these first six verses of this chapter have been Paul presenting his credentials because, if you remember from earlier posts, he did not found the fellowship of believes by planting a church in Rome. Also he was not only looking to visit the brethren there to share blessings but also he was looking to spring-board from there to Spain so that he might preach the gospel and establish churches in heretofore unreached territory. It was always Paul's custom to never go to a place where the gospel had already been preached, "And thus I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, so that I would not build on another mans foundation; but as it is written, [in Isaiah 52:15]"They who had no news of Him shall see, and they who have not heard shall understand."
The last part of verse 5, "for His name's sake," which in its most basic form is to say that it is for the magnification of God's glory and greatly expressive of His joy; for it is written, "In the same way there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."(Luke 15:10) This verse comes right after the parable of the lost sheep and the lost coin in which the common element is "Rejoice with me, for I have found that which I had lost!" Anyone who thinks it is dull in Heaven is dead wrong: there is a constant party going with God almighty cheering the loudest each and every time one sinner repents and it saved. Can you imagine? There is one party after another and no one every gets bored with partying. It is just like being around someone who is so happy, it cannot help but spread; even more than that this is God we are talking about. His rejoicing is infinitely greater than we can imagine and it is always new and fresh. However, everything God does is to bring Himself glory for His own sake. God glorifies Himself in everything He does for it is right an proper that He should do so. To God along belongs all of the glory.
Verse six is a short little thought, "among whom you are the called of Jesus Christ;" The first part that bears notice is, "the called", the word called comes from the Greek kletos (klay-tos) which you may remember is exactly the same word that Paul uses to describe his office "Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus called as an apostle set apart for the gospel of God,". In that context the word is used to indicate a divine selection and appointment. Just like when Paul wrote in his letter to the Ephesian church, "For it is by grace you have been save through faith; so that it is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works , so that no one may boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9) "Wait," you might say, "but I prayed to accept the salvation of Jesus Christ. Is that not worth anything?" Consider Jesus words in John 3:3, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again [or from above] he cannot see the kingdom of God." That is to say no one is able to be saved until he or she is born again (I prefer born from above as I think it is clearer). Also Ephesians 2:1 (c.f. 2:5, Col 2:13), "And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,"(emphasis mine) I think that speaks to the spiritual deadness that we inherited from Adam as it is written, "but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die." After Adam ate the forbidden fruit he did not physically die (although he deserved to), instead shame and terror of God was brought into the world. So Adam and Eve tried to hide form God (smart I know). Of course, because of sin Adam died later but the immediate effect was that he died spiritually. Whereas Adam once walked with God in close fellowship, now he is at enmity with God. With that in mind, can you imagine a corpse willing himself to live? How then can someone who is spiritually dead chose to become spiritually alive through salvation?
Finally to wrap it all up Jesus Christ is the first and the last the beginning and the end and the only hope for our justification before a holy and righteous God. What Jesus did makes it so God can be both just and the justifier of him who has faith in Christ Jesus. That is what separates Christianity from every other religion. God can have mercy upon sinners without sacrificing His justice, grace without setting aside righteousness.
Not to us, O LORD, not to us,
But to Your name give glory
Because of your lovingkindness,
Because of your truth.
The first part of this posting, "among all the Gentiles" touches upon the command that the Lord Jesus gives frequently both before and after his resurrection to wit Matthew 28:19, Mark 16:15f, Acts 1:8, Luke 24:47 and the sum of all of those verses (and elsewhere I am sure) is that we are to proclaim the gospel (which comes from the Greek work euaggelion) which is to say "the good news" everywhere and to every one; as Paul writes, "For I delivered to you as of fist importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to thee Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures." (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). That is the best news anyone could ever have. Whether a person believes unto salvation is not really our business for we are not commanded anywhere to save people from their sins; only Jesus Christ can do that through His Holy Spirit. That is not to say that we should not pray fervently for the salvation of those to whom we witness.
Paul was commissioned especially to reach the Gentiles. In Acts 9:15, the Lord Jesus is explaining to His slave Ananias, "But the Lord said to him, 'Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel;'". All these first six verses of this chapter have been Paul presenting his credentials because, if you remember from earlier posts, he did not found the fellowship of believes by planting a church in Rome. Also he was not only looking to visit the brethren there to share blessings but also he was looking to spring-board from there to Spain so that he might preach the gospel and establish churches in heretofore unreached territory. It was always Paul's custom to never go to a place where the gospel had already been preached, "And thus I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, so that I would not build on another mans foundation; but as it is written, [in Isaiah 52:15]"They who had no news of Him shall see, and they who have not heard shall understand."
The last part of verse 5, "for His name's sake," which in its most basic form is to say that it is for the magnification of God's glory and greatly expressive of His joy; for it is written, "In the same way there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."(Luke 15:10) This verse comes right after the parable of the lost sheep and the lost coin in which the common element is "Rejoice with me, for I have found that which I had lost!" Anyone who thinks it is dull in Heaven is dead wrong: there is a constant party going with God almighty cheering the loudest each and every time one sinner repents and it saved. Can you imagine? There is one party after another and no one every gets bored with partying. It is just like being around someone who is so happy, it cannot help but spread; even more than that this is God we are talking about. His rejoicing is infinitely greater than we can imagine and it is always new and fresh. However, everything God does is to bring Himself glory for His own sake. God glorifies Himself in everything He does for it is right an proper that He should do so. To God along belongs all of the glory.
Verse six is a short little thought, "among whom you are the called of Jesus Christ;" The first part that bears notice is, "the called", the word called comes from the Greek kletos (klay-tos) which you may remember is exactly the same word that Paul uses to describe his office "Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus called as an apostle set apart for the gospel of God,". In that context the word is used to indicate a divine selection and appointment. Just like when Paul wrote in his letter to the Ephesian church, "For it is by grace you have been save through faith; so that it is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works , so that no one may boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9) "Wait," you might say, "but I prayed to accept the salvation of Jesus Christ. Is that not worth anything?" Consider Jesus words in John 3:3, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again [or from above] he cannot see the kingdom of God." That is to say no one is able to be saved until he or she is born again (I prefer born from above as I think it is clearer). Also Ephesians 2:1 (c.f. 2:5, Col 2:13), "And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,"(emphasis mine) I think that speaks to the spiritual deadness that we inherited from Adam as it is written, "but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die." After Adam ate the forbidden fruit he did not physically die (although he deserved to), instead shame and terror of God was brought into the world. So Adam and Eve tried to hide form God (smart I know). Of course, because of sin Adam died later but the immediate effect was that he died spiritually. Whereas Adam once walked with God in close fellowship, now he is at enmity with God. With that in mind, can you imagine a corpse willing himself to live? How then can someone who is spiritually dead chose to become spiritually alive through salvation?
Finally to wrap it all up Jesus Christ is the first and the last the beginning and the end and the only hope for our justification before a holy and righteous God. What Jesus did makes it so God can be both just and the justifier of him who has faith in Christ Jesus. That is what separates Christianity from every other religion. God can have mercy upon sinners without sacrificing His justice, grace without setting aside righteousness.
Not to us, O LORD, not to us,
But to Your name give glory
Because of your lovingkindness,
Because of your truth.
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Romans 1:5 (the introduction) Part 3
"through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake,"
Now I think we need to cover the most unpopular word in the verse: obedience. It is one thing to stay in the hypothetical but obedience is where the rubber meets the road. James tells us, "What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?" (James 2:14) That does seem to contradict Ephesians 2:8-9, "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; no as a result of works, so that no one may boast." That is until you look closer. Many say that they believe in God; many say that the believe in Jesus; many say that Jesus is their savior. However, even if you confess Jesus Christ as your lord and savior by faith and continue in sinful behavior there is a good chance that your faith is worthless. Just to be clear, faith + obedience does not equal salvation; rather the equation should be grace + faith = salvation and obedience. What that means is if you have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, it should manifest in obedience to His commands and good works. After all, "If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,' and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?" We as Christians are guilty of that very frequently. We say, "I will be praying for you," and don't lift a finger to help; we often even forget to pray (I know that I frequently do). Now prayer is a wonderful thing and we should absolutely pray for our brothers and sisters in need but we shouldn't stop there; God has given us all spiritual gifts to glorify Him and to serve others. If you find someone in need even the smallest actions can be a dramatic blessing. Even talking to them can help immensely. It is a matter of living sacrificially for your neighbor.
This is also a question of the Lordship of Jesus. Romans 10:9 tells us, "that (or because) if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;" The Greek word for lord is kurios (koo-ree-os) and it means chiefly he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master, lord. Since that is a central part of salvation we should do what He says and wants don't you think? Jesus has more than earned that right (not as though He needed to do so but He did anyway). He suffered and died to pay for our sins; something no one else could ever do. Any mortal man could conceivably go through the physical torments that Jesus experienced: pray so hard that you weep tears of blood; get betrayed by one of your closest friends; get beaten; spend the night in a cold jail cell; get questioned in a kangaroo-court; then questioned by a political weenie; then scourged until the skin on you back is hanging of in ribbons; then have a crown of thorns pressed on your head; then be forced to carry a 300 lb. block of wood across town with guards wiping you every time you stumble with exhaustion (which Jesus did a few times); and then have someone nail your to the cross in your wrists and feet so you hang there. Of course that was just a warm-up for Jesus, the worst was yet to come. When Jesus cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Some Theologians believe that is when Jesus was experiencing the full wrath of God for the sins of those who would believe in Him. There is no way any of us could survive the full wrath of an almighty, infinitely holy, and infinitely just God. Without Jesus, a person will spend eternity paying for their own sins and will never come anywhere close to satisfying the whole debt of their own sin. Now imagine paying for the sins of untold trillions of people. All that was accomplished by Jesus. God the Father greatly exalted Jesus Christ as it is written, "Being found in appearance as a man, He [Jesus] humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:8-11). There is one last sobering consideration in Jesus' own words, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but those who do the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.'" (Matthew 7:21-23). Note that these people were claiming all the showy flashy works to try to earn their entrance into Christ's Kingdom; all those things that are crowd drawing and self-glorifying and yet their lives were measured demonstrations of sinful behavior. Any person who claims Jesus as Lord and yet carries on in a sinful lifestyle is like someone who is building his house on sand which will eventually wash away and leave him with out God and without hope.
That is all the time we have; tune in next week for the eventual conclusion of this loaded verse.
Not to us, O LORD, not to us,
But to Your name give glory
Because of Your lovingkindness,
Because of Your truth.
Now I think we need to cover the most unpopular word in the verse: obedience. It is one thing to stay in the hypothetical but obedience is where the rubber meets the road. James tells us, "What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?" (James 2:14) That does seem to contradict Ephesians 2:8-9, "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; no as a result of works, so that no one may boast." That is until you look closer. Many say that they believe in God; many say that the believe in Jesus; many say that Jesus is their savior. However, even if you confess Jesus Christ as your lord and savior by faith and continue in sinful behavior there is a good chance that your faith is worthless. Just to be clear, faith + obedience does not equal salvation; rather the equation should be grace + faith = salvation and obedience. What that means is if you have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, it should manifest in obedience to His commands and good works. After all, "If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,' and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?" We as Christians are guilty of that very frequently. We say, "I will be praying for you," and don't lift a finger to help; we often even forget to pray (I know that I frequently do). Now prayer is a wonderful thing and we should absolutely pray for our brothers and sisters in need but we shouldn't stop there; God has given us all spiritual gifts to glorify Him and to serve others. If you find someone in need even the smallest actions can be a dramatic blessing. Even talking to them can help immensely. It is a matter of living sacrificially for your neighbor.
This is also a question of the Lordship of Jesus. Romans 10:9 tells us, "that (or because) if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;" The Greek word for lord is kurios (koo-ree-os) and it means chiefly he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master, lord. Since that is a central part of salvation we should do what He says and wants don't you think? Jesus has more than earned that right (not as though He needed to do so but He did anyway). He suffered and died to pay for our sins; something no one else could ever do. Any mortal man could conceivably go through the physical torments that Jesus experienced: pray so hard that you weep tears of blood; get betrayed by one of your closest friends; get beaten; spend the night in a cold jail cell; get questioned in a kangaroo-court; then questioned by a political weenie; then scourged until the skin on you back is hanging of in ribbons; then have a crown of thorns pressed on your head; then be forced to carry a 300 lb. block of wood across town with guards wiping you every time you stumble with exhaustion (which Jesus did a few times); and then have someone nail your to the cross in your wrists and feet so you hang there. Of course that was just a warm-up for Jesus, the worst was yet to come. When Jesus cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Some Theologians believe that is when Jesus was experiencing the full wrath of God for the sins of those who would believe in Him. There is no way any of us could survive the full wrath of an almighty, infinitely holy, and infinitely just God. Without Jesus, a person will spend eternity paying for their own sins and will never come anywhere close to satisfying the whole debt of their own sin. Now imagine paying for the sins of untold trillions of people. All that was accomplished by Jesus. God the Father greatly exalted Jesus Christ as it is written, "Being found in appearance as a man, He [Jesus] humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:8-11). There is one last sobering consideration in Jesus' own words, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but those who do the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.'" (Matthew 7:21-23). Note that these people were claiming all the showy flashy works to try to earn their entrance into Christ's Kingdom; all those things that are crowd drawing and self-glorifying and yet their lives were measured demonstrations of sinful behavior. Any person who claims Jesus as Lord and yet carries on in a sinful lifestyle is like someone who is building his house on sand which will eventually wash away and leave him with out God and without hope.
That is all the time we have; tune in next week for the eventual conclusion of this loaded verse.
Not to us, O LORD, not to us,
But to Your name give glory
Because of Your lovingkindness,
Because of Your truth.
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Romans 1:5 (the introduction) part 2
"through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake,"
What does Paul mean by "...to bring about the obedience of faith"? There are two ways of looking at this passage. The first covers the response to the gift of faith the Holy Spirit grants upon regeneration. Refer to the classic passage of John 3 starting in verse 3, "Jesus answered and said to him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again (or from above) he cannot see the kingdom of God.'" A lot of people contend that this happens upon salvation however it is my belief that regeneration by the Spirit of holiness precedes salvation. Consider Ephesians 2:1, "And you were (or being) dead in your trespasses and sins," preaching salvation through Jesus Christ to people who are dead in their spirit would be just as useful as going to a grave yard and telling the corpses to rise. Fortunately Ephesians goes on to say in verses 4 and 5, "But God being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in (or by reason of) our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)," and again in Romans 5:8, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Or as the great Puritan Preacher John Owen tells us:
Unfortunately that is all the time we have. Tune in next week for more exciting adventures in Romans!
Not to us, O LORD, not to us,
But to Your name give glory,
Because of Your lovingkindness,
Because of Your truth.
What does Paul mean by "...to bring about the obedience of faith"? There are two ways of looking at this passage. The first covers the response to the gift of faith the Holy Spirit grants upon regeneration. Refer to the classic passage of John 3 starting in verse 3, "Jesus answered and said to him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again (or from above) he cannot see the kingdom of God.'" A lot of people contend that this happens upon salvation however it is my belief that regeneration by the Spirit of holiness precedes salvation. Consider Ephesians 2:1, "And you were (or being) dead in your trespasses and sins," preaching salvation through Jesus Christ to people who are dead in their spirit would be just as useful as going to a grave yard and telling the corpses to rise. Fortunately Ephesians goes on to say in verses 4 and 5, "But God being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in (or by reason of) our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)," and again in Romans 5:8, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Or as the great Puritan Preacher John Owen tells us:
I apologize for making the quote so long but it is hard to anything out. I would highly recommend reading the whole article http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/onsite/owenoverthrow.html So, in regenerating us the Holy Spirit grants unto us faith by which we are able so see the glories of Christ; we can perceive our sinful nature and desperate need of salvation. Thus in accepting Jesus' death and resurrection as a personal atonement you are showing the obedience of faith.Outward darkness is when men do not have that light by which they are enabled to see. So outward spiritual darkness is upon men when there is nothing to enlighten them about God and spiritual things (Matt 4:16; Psa 119:105; Psa. 19:1-4,8; 2 Pet 1:19; Rom 10:15, 18). It is the work of the Holy Spirit to remove this darkness by sending the light of the gospel (Acts 13:2, 4; 16:6-10; Psa. 147:19,20).Inward darkness, on the other hand, arises from the natural depravity and corruption of the minds of men concerning spiritual things. Man’s mind is depraved and corrupted in things which are natural, civil, political, and moral, as well as in things which are spiritual, heavenly and evangelical. This depravity is often held back from having its full effects by the common grace of the Holy Spirit. So, man’s mind being darkened, he is unable to see, receive, understand or believe to the saving of his soul. Spiritual things, or the mysteries of the gospel, without the Holy Spirit first creating within the soul a new light by which they can see and receive those things, cannot bring salvation.However brilliant the mind may be, and however brilliant the preaching and presentation of the gospel might be, yet without the Holy Spirit first creating this light in them, they cannot receive, understand and agree with the truths preached, and so will not be led to salvation (Eph 4:17, 18).So the unregenerate ‘walk in the futility of their mind’ (Eph 4:17). The natural inclination of the unregenerate mind is to seek those things that cannot satisfy (Gen 6:5). It is an unstable mind (Prov. 7:11-12). The unregenerate understanding is darkened and cannot judge things properly (Jhn 1:5). The unregenerate heart is blind. In Scripture the heart includes the will also. Light is received by the mind, applied by the understanding and used by the heart. ‘But if the light within is darkness,’ said Jesus, ‘how great is that darkness.’...Even though the unconverted mind is highly educated and talented, yet it is utterly unable to receive and understand spiritually those things needful for its eternal salvation. It will not respond to the preaching of the gospel until renewed, enlightened and enabled to do so by the Holy Spirit: “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned’ (1 Cor 2:14). The subject of this verse is the natural man. The natural man is quite opposite of the spiritual man (1 Cor 15:44; Jude 19).
Unfortunately that is all the time we have. Tune in next week for more exciting adventures in Romans!
Not to us, O LORD, not to us,
But to Your name give glory,
Because of Your lovingkindness,
Because of Your truth.
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Romans 1:5 (the introduction) Part 1
"through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake,"
This verse shows the fruit of the gospel: that trough the manifestation of Christ (His life, death, and resurrection) we who are in Him are justified which is to say found not guilty before a just and holy God. That is what God's grace is: His unmerited favor to those who absolutely do not deserve it. The emphasis on God's grace in our salvation should remind us that we can never be good enough to be justified (be found not guilty) before a righteous and holy God. Unfortunately, the common thought is that if I do enough good deeds that will outweigh my bad deeds. I am pretty sure that is the view of every other religion and anti-Christian cult. The problem they and we run into is that God demands perfection and as it is written, "There is none righteous (without guilt), not even one;" (Psalm 14:1;53:1; Romans 3:10) and again, "for all have sinned and fall short of the gory of God," (Romans 3:23). The closest I can think to being good enough is like going to the world's greatest long-jumper and asking him to jump from San Diego to Beijing. It is impossible! The good news is that God mercifully put the guilt of the sins of those who would believe upon His Son, Jesus Christ; so that in Him we are completely forgiven.
The next part it a bit more tricky. There could be two ways of looking at it if we allow that the office of apostle ended with the twelve and Paul (which I personally believe)"...we have received grace and apostleship": the first carries the idea that the "we" that Paul is using refers to just the Apostles and him (and one commentator posits that God did them a favor by giving them their office); the second could use the word apostle more loosely insomuch that all Christian are commanded to preach the gospel to everyone, "Go therefore and make disciples of of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-19). That, of course, is the great commission in which you could say that in a sense we are all sent ones (apostles) to share the good news (gospel) to all the world. Of course the original apostles were granted sign-gifts which is to say that they could heal miraculously, cast out demons, and on on occasion raise someone from the dead. This functioned in the same way God worked in the prophets of the Old Testament. As an example of what people expected of a prophet in Jesus day consider, "Jesus answered and said to them, 'This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent'. So they said to Him, 'What then do you do for a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform?"(John 6:30) It is interesting that they would say that after Jesus had just finished feeding the five-thousand with five barley loaves and two fish (although the total amount of people could have been closer to seventy-five hundred to ten-thousand to account for women and children) a little while ago but I digress.
This verse shows the fruit of the gospel: that trough the manifestation of Christ (His life, death, and resurrection) we who are in Him are justified which is to say found not guilty before a just and holy God. That is what God's grace is: His unmerited favor to those who absolutely do not deserve it. The emphasis on God's grace in our salvation should remind us that we can never be good enough to be justified (be found not guilty) before a righteous and holy God. Unfortunately, the common thought is that if I do enough good deeds that will outweigh my bad deeds. I am pretty sure that is the view of every other religion and anti-Christian cult. The problem they and we run into is that God demands perfection and as it is written, "There is none righteous (without guilt), not even one;" (Psalm 14:1;53:1; Romans 3:10) and again, "for all have sinned and fall short of the gory of God," (Romans 3:23). The closest I can think to being good enough is like going to the world's greatest long-jumper and asking him to jump from San Diego to Beijing. It is impossible! The good news is that God mercifully put the guilt of the sins of those who would believe upon His Son, Jesus Christ; so that in Him we are completely forgiven.
The next part it a bit more tricky. There could be two ways of looking at it if we allow that the office of apostle ended with the twelve and Paul (which I personally believe)"...we have received grace and apostleship": the first carries the idea that the "we" that Paul is using refers to just the Apostles and him (and one commentator posits that God did them a favor by giving them their office); the second could use the word apostle more loosely insomuch that all Christian are commanded to preach the gospel to everyone, "Go therefore and make disciples of of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-19). That, of course, is the great commission in which you could say that in a sense we are all sent ones (apostles) to share the good news (gospel) to all the world. Of course the original apostles were granted sign-gifts which is to say that they could heal miraculously, cast out demons, and on on occasion raise someone from the dead. This functioned in the same way God worked in the prophets of the Old Testament. As an example of what people expected of a prophet in Jesus day consider, "Jesus answered and said to them, 'This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent'. So they said to Him, 'What then do you do for a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform?"(John 6:30) It is interesting that they would say that after Jesus had just finished feeding the five-thousand with five barley loaves and two fish (although the total amount of people could have been closer to seventy-five hundred to ten-thousand to account for women and children) a little while ago but I digress.
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Romans 1:4 (the introduction) Part 2
who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,
I apologize for finishing the posting last week. I will do my best to get caught-up.
The term "Son of God" in this instance refers to the willful subjugation of God the Son to the Father's will in all things. One of the Messianic titles that Jesus has is one that I will bet you have not heard of: the Slave of YHWH. Isaiah 52:13-14 and 53:11 both use the Hebrew word `ebed (eh bed) to refer to this slave who was both suffering and exalted. One of the problems that arises is that nearly all Bible translators wimped out and put servant instead; in like manner the Greek word doulos (doo los). We all know how much baggage the word slave carries in American culture, however in the days of the Bible it was possibly even more so. Unfortunately, I can only speculate as my attempts thus far to garner clarification on the world-wide-web have been mostly unsuccessful. It is too bad that I got rid of a book called Slave by John MacArthur that could have shed some light on the issue. Philippians 2:6-8 further expands on the submission of the Son to the Father's will, "who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped (or asserted), but emptied (i.e. laid aside His privileges) Himself, taking the form of a slave, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." It is interesting that Paul make the distinction of pointed death on a cross specifically. At that time prominent orators like Cicero described crucifixion as, "a most cruel and disgusting punishment," and suggested that "the very mention of the cross should be far removed not only from a Roman citizen’s body, but from his mind, his eyes, his ears." It was not even allowed in polite conversation among Roman citizens. It is also possible that Deuteronomy 21:23 (quoted by Paul in Galatians 3:13, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us-- for is written, 'Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree [or cross]--') could be referring to the infamy of that form of execution in the Jewish mind. If Paul were not a Roman citizen, you can bet that is the how Nero would have killed him.
The next part, "...with power by the resurrection from the dead," is an engaging thing to consider. The Greek word for power is dunamis (doo-nam-is) which is where we get our word dynamite. The resurrection is quite possibly one of the most important things that we as Christians often overlook. We often like to say that Jesus died for our sins (and He did) but we commonly do not include He was raised again on the third day. The thing is that if Jesus did not rise again then our sins are not forgiven. Paul tells us in 1st Corinthians 15:12-17, "Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain. Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins." (emphasis mine).
"according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord." Now to wrap up this amazing verse. The Holy Spirit may be one of the most important parts of Christianity that we almost never mention. Without Him we would have no Bible, we would have no spiritual gifts, no indwelling spirit to convict us, and finally no salvation without the regeneration of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit did mighty works in Jesus during His incarnation when He walked among us and rose Him from the dead. Here is what it is all about: Jesus Christ our Lord. When you take apart the last bit of the verse: Jesus means Jehovah is salvation; Christ means anointed and is the Greek word of the Jewish Messiah; and Lord comes from the Greek word kurios (koo-ree-os) which speaks to His supremacy over all things even as it is written in Philippians 2:9-11, "For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
Not to us, O LORD, not to us,
But to Your name give glory
Because of Your lovingkindness,
Because of your truth.
I apologize for finishing the posting last week. I will do my best to get caught-up.
The term "Son of God" in this instance refers to the willful subjugation of God the Son to the Father's will in all things. One of the Messianic titles that Jesus has is one that I will bet you have not heard of: the Slave of YHWH. Isaiah 52:13-14 and 53:11 both use the Hebrew word `ebed (eh bed) to refer to this slave who was both suffering and exalted. One of the problems that arises is that nearly all Bible translators wimped out and put servant instead; in like manner the Greek word doulos (doo los). We all know how much baggage the word slave carries in American culture, however in the days of the Bible it was possibly even more so. Unfortunately, I can only speculate as my attempts thus far to garner clarification on the world-wide-web have been mostly unsuccessful. It is too bad that I got rid of a book called Slave by John MacArthur that could have shed some light on the issue. Philippians 2:6-8 further expands on the submission of the Son to the Father's will, "who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped (or asserted), but emptied (i.e. laid aside His privileges) Himself, taking the form of a slave, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." It is interesting that Paul make the distinction of pointed death on a cross specifically. At that time prominent orators like Cicero described crucifixion as, "a most cruel and disgusting punishment," and suggested that "the very mention of the cross should be far removed not only from a Roman citizen’s body, but from his mind, his eyes, his ears." It was not even allowed in polite conversation among Roman citizens. It is also possible that Deuteronomy 21:23 (quoted by Paul in Galatians 3:13, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us-- for is written, 'Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree [or cross]--') could be referring to the infamy of that form of execution in the Jewish mind. If Paul were not a Roman citizen, you can bet that is the how Nero would have killed him.
The next part, "...with power by the resurrection from the dead," is an engaging thing to consider. The Greek word for power is dunamis (doo-nam-is) which is where we get our word dynamite. The resurrection is quite possibly one of the most important things that we as Christians often overlook. We often like to say that Jesus died for our sins (and He did) but we commonly do not include He was raised again on the third day. The thing is that if Jesus did not rise again then our sins are not forgiven. Paul tells us in 1st Corinthians 15:12-17, "Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain. Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins." (emphasis mine).
"according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord." Now to wrap up this amazing verse. The Holy Spirit may be one of the most important parts of Christianity that we almost never mention. Without Him we would have no Bible, we would have no spiritual gifts, no indwelling spirit to convict us, and finally no salvation without the regeneration of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit did mighty works in Jesus during His incarnation when He walked among us and rose Him from the dead. Here is what it is all about: Jesus Christ our Lord. When you take apart the last bit of the verse: Jesus means Jehovah is salvation; Christ means anointed and is the Greek word of the Jewish Messiah; and Lord comes from the Greek word kurios (koo-ree-os) which speaks to His supremacy over all things even as it is written in Philippians 2:9-11, "For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
Not to us, O LORD, not to us,
But to Your name give glory
Because of Your lovingkindness,
Because of your truth.
Friday, November 23, 2012
Romans 1:4 (the introduction) Part 1
"who was declared the Son of God with power by (or as a result of) the resurrection from the dead according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,"
Have you noticed that a lot of people have good things to say about Jesus? The Muslims believe that He was the greatest prophet of allah (yes I chose to not capitalize on purpose because he is not God) next to Muhammad (who they consider the greatest of their prophets). Of course they do not believe that He is coequal with God the Father (or is even God the Son); they also do not even believe that He died on the cross. It is written in Quran 4:157, "...They said, 'We killed the Messiah Jesus, son of Mary, the messenger of God.' They did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, but the likeness of him was put on another man (and they killed that man)..." Apparently, the Hindus believe in Jesus too. They believe that a Southeast Asia, learning yogic traditions and returning home to be a guru to the Jews. To Hindus, Jesus' proclamation "The Father and I are one" confirmed the Hindu idea that everyone, through rigorous spiritual practice, can realize his own universal "god-consciousness." Buddhists believe that Jesus was a "great man" and some consider Him to be a "great master and follower of God" (how that fits into Buddhism as there is no "god" in their religion). Many other people consider Jesus to be a "great moral teacher (leader, prophet, revolutionary, etc., etc.,). The best way I know to respond to that line of thought is to quote C.S. Lewis.
The first part of the verse, "who was declared the Son of God..." lets try and take it apart bit by bit. The Greek word for declared is horizo (pronounced hor-id-zo) means to ordain, determine, appoint, or proved. It is also important to stress the fact that Jesus is the unique Son of God. In other parts of the Old Testament the word son was used to refer to angels (Genesis 6:1-2; Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7; Psalms 29:1; 89:6) of to the Nation of Israel (by relationship of Covenant) (Exodus 4:22; Deuteronomy 14:1; Hosea 1:10; 11:1) and God's anointed king (Psalm 2:7; 89:27; 2 Samuel 7:14) In the New Testament, the second Person of the Godhead took on flesh as I alluded to in Psalm 2:7, "You are My Son today I have begotten You." (granted there is more in the verse but I will leave that for you to look up). It is written in the Gospel according to John, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God...And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:1-2, 14 emphasis mine). The Greek word for only begotten is monogenes means single of its kind, only.
Have you noticed that a lot of people have good things to say about Jesus? The Muslims believe that He was the greatest prophet of allah (yes I chose to not capitalize on purpose because he is not God) next to Muhammad (who they consider the greatest of their prophets). Of course they do not believe that He is coequal with God the Father (or is even God the Son); they also do not even believe that He died on the cross. It is written in Quran 4:157, "...They said, 'We killed the Messiah Jesus, son of Mary, the messenger of God.' They did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, but the likeness of him was put on another man (and they killed that man)..." Apparently, the Hindus believe in Jesus too. They believe that a Southeast Asia, learning yogic traditions and returning home to be a guru to the Jews. To Hindus, Jesus' proclamation "The Father and I are one" confirmed the Hindu idea that everyone, through rigorous spiritual practice, can realize his own universal "god-consciousness." Buddhists believe that Jesus was a "great man" and some consider Him to be a "great master and follower of God" (how that fits into Buddhism as there is no "god" in their religion). Many other people consider Jesus to be a "great moral teacher (leader, prophet, revolutionary, etc., etc.,). The best way I know to respond to that line of thought is to quote C.S. Lewis.
I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” –Mere Christianity, C.S. LewisNow let us unpack the verse. Jesus was, is, and always will be the second Person of the Holy Trinity so it is not like He just showed up for the first time when He was born in Bethlehem some two-thousand years ago. The pre-incarnate Christ made appearances all through the Old Testament; one interesting thing to consider all the time the Angel of the Lord is written, some theologians (and I personally) believe those are and example of Jesus poking in. One thing we must keep in mind is that God exists outside the space-time continuum. I know that sounds like a sci-fi thing to say, but it makes sense. God is infinite and omnipresent. That means that even thought God existed an infinite amount of time before He created the Universe, the beginning of creation and the final fulfillment of it is the exact same moment for Him; also He is simultaneously present with us and at the farthest reaches of the Universe at the same time. However that is enough Ontology (the philosophy [love of wisdom] of being or existence) because this is a blog about the Bible. The important thing to take away is that God does not get surprised by our actions.
The first part of the verse, "who was declared the Son of God..." lets try and take it apart bit by bit. The Greek word for declared is horizo (pronounced hor-id-zo) means to ordain, determine, appoint, or proved. It is also important to stress the fact that Jesus is the unique Son of God. In other parts of the Old Testament the word son was used to refer to angels (Genesis 6:1-2; Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7; Psalms 29:1; 89:6) of to the Nation of Israel (by relationship of Covenant) (Exodus 4:22; Deuteronomy 14:1; Hosea 1:10; 11:1) and God's anointed king (Psalm 2:7; 89:27; 2 Samuel 7:14) In the New Testament, the second Person of the Godhead took on flesh as I alluded to in Psalm 2:7, "You are My Son today I have begotten You." (granted there is more in the verse but I will leave that for you to look up). It is written in the Gospel according to John, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God...And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:1-2, 14 emphasis mine). The Greek word for only begotten is monogenes means single of its kind, only.
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