15 March 2016

Scripture: Romans 5:1-11

Observations:

So, Paul begins at the tail end of yesterday: because we have been justified by our faith, we have peace with God and have access into his grace. Having access to his grace, we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. (vv 1-2)

Here comes one of Paul's trickier, loaded statements: we rejoice in our sufferings

• Sufferings --> endurance
• Endurance --> character
• Character --> hope (vv 3-4)

Hope, Paul writes, does not put us to shame. Why? Because God's love has been poured into our hearts via the Holy Spirit (v 5)

Paul then breaks down the idea of God's love.

• When Christ died for us sinners, we were still weak, unable to save ourselves (v 6)
• While we humans may consider dying for the sake of another who is exceptionally good or righteous, Christ died for us while we were still living in sin, distant from him in disobedience. (vv 7-8)

Christ did for us, his then enemies, what we could not do for ourselves. In doing so, he modeled what love looks like - sacrificial and unconditional.

The effect of Christ's sacrifice, offering justification on our behalf, is that we are saved from God's wrath and judgment. (v 9) Paul presents it interestingly. If we are considered to have been reconciled to God by Christ's death, then we are saved (Gk: σώζω - saved [from death, peril], delivered, protected, healed) by his life. (v 10) Some scholars assert that this means that because Christ lives, we are eternally saved. So, we are justified by his death (that is, freed from all consequences of past and present sin) and secured by his resurrection (that is, no future sin will affect our standing before God), is what Paul seems to be saying.

Paul wraps up this segment with rejoicing. He began by speaking of rejoicing in suffering and the hope of the glory of God and he ends by speaking of rejoicing in God in gratitude for our reconciliation. (v 11) In between the "bread slices" of rejoicing, we have the filling of our literary sandwich - the reason for rejoicing in suffering, the magnitude of God's love in dying for sinners, and the reconciling and saving effects of Jesus' death and resurrection.

Application:

I'll be honest. This passage is one I have difficulty seeing how to apply. The only thing I can think of is gratitude to God for acting in such mercy. He didn't have to, but because he loved us so much, he did.

14 March 2016

Scripture: Romans 4:13-25

Observations:

Paul begins this segment following after the previous passage (remember, Paul didn't divide his epistles into handy chapters and verses, that was a later development)

So, we have the idea that Abraham's faith being counted as righteousness before the covenant of circumcision leading to Abraham being the father of both the faithful circumcised and the righteous uncircumcised, which is where Paul picks up.

Paul makes a bold statement that Abraham's promise came by faith, not by the law. He then contrasts it, that if it came from the law, faith would be null and void. It would no longer be a promise upon faith, to trust in, but a wage that is earned. To my mind, it acts almost as a filter, as any person, righteous or not, can follow a set of laws. Well, in the case of God's all-encompassing laws and high requirements, not so - no-one can follow that set of laws perfectly except Christ. Hence the promise is void, as no one would ever manage to receive it.

Then Paul makes this statement: "For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression." (v 15)

True. The law defines sin. There is now a codified set of ethics. Where before conduct could be quibbled over and considered fluid (much as in today's society), after the writing of the law there was no denying that certain acts were unacceptable, subject to trial by a supernatural, all-perfect judge.

So, the law serves to provide awareness of unrighteousness.

Instead, the promise rests on grace - it is dependent on God's action, not man's and serves as surety that all of Abraham's descendants, circumcised or not, are subject to the promise.

Paul then elaborates on the faith of Abraham in the promises of God given to him, unwavering in his belief that God could make good on his promise.

It is for that reason his faith was credited to him as righteousness.

Similarly, for us, our faith in the resurrection of Jesus and his deliverance of us from our sins, which led to our justification, will be attributed to us as righteousness