While yesterday's notes gave a brief overview of
Chapters 1-3, they did not really outline Paul's train of thought. So, by way of introduction to chapters 4-6,
let me give a quick recap of what Paul has been saying… You can of course just jump down to the notes
on chapter 4…
From Romans 1:18
through to 3:20 Paul has been describing the human condition in stark,
devastating, unbridled terms. Rather than living contentedly as creatures made,
loved and cared for by the Creator, we'd far rather be God ourselves (v25);
making our own rules, determining what's right and wrong (1:23-25,32). To live with our consciences, we supress our
awareness of God by living as if He wasn’t there, or as if what He says about
the reality of life doesn't matter (v18-20:
in other words, Paul argues - there are no true atheists). And because
some insist on living their lives their own way, God "gives them
over" (v 24, 26, 28) to what they want, what their hearts desire, to live
as they please (in other words, when people behave
"unnaturally"(v26-27, this is a sign of God's ongoing judgement
against them, v18). This is why
"God's wrath" (v18), His holy hostility to evil, is a mark of His
righteousness. But all of us, in some measure, resist and rebel against God's
authority over us, and so we are all subject to His wrath and judgement.
And while the Jews
had a special place in God's heart and a special role in His plan for
salvation, God's blessing of them gave them greater responsibility to obey and
glorify Him (2:4-11), which, down through their history, they repeatedly failed
to do. Their possession and understanding of God's Law (v12-24), knowing what
God expected of them, only made their guilt before God so much greater. While their outward lifestyle was very
different from their pagan neighbours, their inward hearts were just as full of
theft, adultery and idolatry (v21-22).
Thus the whole world
- Gentiles and Jews - is guilty before God (3:9-20) and worthy of His
judgement. In fact, every aspect of everyone's life is controlled by sin
(v10-18). Therefore, everyone needs
salvation. Jesus as the perfect sacrifice, has absorbed all of God's righteous
judgement and wrath focussed against our sin.
To all who trust or humbly accept this salvation provided by God's
undeserved grace and mercy, God wipes their slate clean: they have no judgement hanging over them
since Christ has paid the penalty in full.
God considers such believers as 'justified': that is, just-as-if-we'd-never-sinned, and
just-as-if-we'd-done-everything-right;
that is God sees us and loves us just-like-Jesus. (3:21-30).
Chapter 4: now, to emphasise that the salvation that the Gospel offers is to be accepted by faith and is not achieved by good works, Paul reminds his readers of Abraham (4:1-8), from whom all natural Jews are physically descended. Paul upholds Abraham as the "father of all who believe" (4:11), meaning all who have trusted Christ. He recalls that Abraham was not justified by God by his good works but by his faith in God (Genesis 15:6). Furthermore, he was justified not because he kept the Law but through God's grace (v9-17, he fulfilled the Law requiring circumcision some 17 years after God declared him righteous). And, he was justified by Christ's resurrection power, not by his own effort or by anything that he could achieve (v17, explained by v18-25).
Chapter 5: in verses
1-11, Paul outlines immediate blessings of being justified by faith. These are worth meditating over
sometime. Because of the Gospel, we, who
were once the focus of God's deserved wrath, now have: peace with God (v1); access to God (v2a);
glorious hope (v2b); the growth of Christian character (v3-4); the assurance of
God's love (v5-8); salvation from God's wrath (v9-10); and total reconciliation
with God (v11).
5:12-21 is an
important, but somewhat complicated aspect of the Gospel. Briefly, Paul is answering the question: how does *Jesus'* death atone for *my* sin? In essence, Paul is comparing Adam (in
Genesis 1-3) with Christ. As sin entered
the world and corrupted every human being through one man's single act of
disobedience, so by the lifetime of obedience of Jesus and his obedient death
on the Christ, all those - from whatever race, from whatever place, from
whatever time - who trust in Him are declared righteous. Christian believers are no longer 'in Adam'
but 'in Christ'.
Chapter 6. This passage answers the thorny but so relevant question: if then we are saved by faith in Jesus and not by anything we do, does not this open the door to further sin, since what we do doesn't appear to matter? In fact, should we not sin all the more that God's grace may be all the more displayed towards sinners? (6:1) Paul responds: By no means!! Why? Because when someone is converted they become a different person with a brand new life (6:1-14). They are no longer defined by their practice of sin, in fact they are 'dead' to sin. Just as Jesus died for sin, so in trusting Him we died to sin. And as He was raised to life, so believers are raised from spiritual death to live a new life under the control of the Holy Spirit. Added to that, we have a new Lord (v15-23): we are no longer slaves to sin (as Christians, we have the power to say 'no' when tempted, sin is no inevitable in our lives), but devoted slaves to our loving Father God. We no longer live to please ourselves, but Him who loved us.
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