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STUDIES IN ROMANS
by
H. BOYCE TAYLOR, SR., M. A., Th. M., D. D.
Author of "Why Be A Baptist," "Bible Briefs Against Hurtful Heresies," "Studies in Genesis, " "Acts of the Apostles," "Studies In The Parables," "Womens work in Baptist Churches"
Edited by
ROY 0. BEAMAN A. B., Pastor Calvary Baptist Church, Tampa, Florida
PUBLISHER'S NOTE
The Bryan Station Baptist Church at Lexington, Kentucky is publishing the writings of the late Boyce Taylor. This volume was published by Roy O. Berman along with the "Studies in Genesis. " Upon receiving permission from Boyce Taylor Jr. and Mrs. Barney Watson, a daughter, for which we are grateful, we are undertaking this task so that the truth once preached and loved by real Baptists will be available to the Baptists of today. In this day of compromise and departing from the faith we pray that God will use these books to help strengthen His people in the faith.
The Bryan Station Baptist Church was organized in 1786. The church has contended for the faith once delivered unto the Saints since that time. If you are interested in future publications of Bro. Taylor's they are in our church paper "The Pioneer Baptist" which will be sent to you free of charge if you will send your name, address, and zip code. Also we are printing the writings of Bro. Claude Duval Cole. Since his death we have permission to publish all of his writings. Eight books are available at this time. They are great doctrinal books and are being used in colleges, Sunday Schools and churches.
May the Lord revive His work in these latter days.
Alfred M. Gormley
Pastor Bryan Station Baptist Church
EDITOR'S NOTE
I have strived to be faithful to the penned notes of the Author and to the typed notes taken from his class lectures. He preached a series of expository messages in his pulpit in Murray, Kentucky, and later taught them until his death in May 1932, to classes in the West Kentucky Bible School, Murray, Kentucky.
The questions at the close of each chapter are similar to those used by the Author, but are those of the Editor used in five years of teaching Romans by means of these notes. All other additions by the Editor are marked off by brackets [ ].
STUDIES IN GENESIS, published in 1937, is a companion volume to this one.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. Introduction, 1:1-17 ............................................................. 1
II. Righteousness Needed. 1:18-3:20........................................18
III. Righteousness Provided. 3:21-26 ..................................... 31
IV. Righteousness Received. 3:27-4:25 ................................... 42
V. Righteousness Experienced 5:1-8:17 .................................55
VI. Righteousness Guaranteed Permanent 8:17-39 ..................83
VII. Righteousness Rejected by the Jews chapters. 9-11 ...........93
VIII. Righteousness Manifested in the Life, chapters 12-16 ................................................................................105
CHAPTER I
Introduction
Paul addressed the epistle to the church at Rome, the present seat of the Roman Catholic Church, which has been the worst enemy that Baptist Churches, the true churches of Christ, have ever had.
"It is written" occurs sixteen times in Romans, and in the Old Testament is quoted sixty one times.
We give several outlines for your study:
1. Condemnation-Sin, 1:1-3:20.
2. Justification--Salvation, 3:21-5:21.
3. Sanctification-Separation, 6-8.
4. Dispensation-Sovereignty, 9-11.
5. Glorification-Service, 12-16. (Norman Harrison).
1. Doctrinal, 1-8.
2. Dispensational, 9-11.
3. Practical, 12-16. (Kirk).
1. Doctrines, 1-8.
2. Dispensation, 9-11.
3. Duty, 12-16. (Griffith Thomas).
1. Sin, 1:16-3:20.
2. Salvation, 3:21-5:11.
3. Sanctification, 5:12-8:39.
4. Sovereignty, 9-11.
5. Service, 12-16. (Blanchard).
[1. Doctrinal, 1-11. 2. Practical, 12-16.]
My own outline is as follows:
Introduction, 1:1-17.
Theme--The Righteousness of God.
Text- 1:16-17.
I. Righteousness Needed, 1:18-3:20.
II. Righteousness Provided, 3:21-26.
III. Righteousness Received, 3:27-4:25.
IV. Righteousness Experienced, 5:1-8:17.
V. Righteousness Guaranteed Permanent, 8:18-39.
VI. Righteousness Rejected, 9-11.
VII. Righteousness Manifested in Life, 12-16.
I give a secondary outline: 1. Righteousness Needed, 1:18-3:20. 2. Righteousness Provided, 3:21-26. 3. Objections To a By-faith Righteousness and Paul's Answers Thereto, 3:27-11:36. 4. Fruits of By-Faith Righteousness, 12-16.
ARGUMENTS AND DETAILS IN EXPOSITION OF ROMANS
We now take up the INTRODUCTION, 1:1-15.
I. PAUL: Things Paul Said of Himself, 1:1.
1. A bondservant of Jesus Christ, not simply His ally, subject, or friend. Galations 6:17 shows he bore the brand of the Lord Jesus; that is the picture of a slave bought and branded. In the Old Testament a Slave had a hole bored through his ears. Jesus had bought Paul (I Corinthians 6:20) and therefore Paul was His slave and yet Christ's freeman because Christ had given him liberty. "Freedom in the Lord" is like the liberty of my arm in my body. Its liberty is limited by the will of my body, but that liberty is larger than if my arm was severed from my body. It is a liberty limited by law and life; if my arm were severed from my body, it would be no liberty at all but death. So we have no liberty independent of Christ, I Corinthians 9:21. A bond slave owns nothing; he himself is the property of another. So with us.
2. His Calling. He was an apostle by calling ("to be" is not in the original). That is, the work of an apostle was his calling, and he was that by the will of God, not of his own choosing. I Corinthians 12:6. This calling was for life. The word "apostleship" really means missionary. So being a missionary was his life's program.
3. Separated--set apart--unto the gospel of God from all other calling. He was to give himself wholly to the ministry. God has many ways of separating men to the gospel ministry. Sometimes this is by the call of the Holy Spirit; sometimes by a providential opening; sometimes by sore chastening; sometimes by separating them from all earthly ties and possessions. The preacher is a separated man from all earthly vocations unto prayer and ministry of the Word.
II. THE GOSPEL OF GOD, 1:1-6.
1. The Gospel Defined. The gospel means good news, not good advice, Luke 2:10. [It means glad tidings, not sad tidings.] Neither gospel nor law are good advice: one is authoritative, to be obeyed; the other is an offer of grace, to be accepted. The gospel is good news of what Christ did for us in dying for our sins and in being raised for our justification. There is much difference between good news and good advice; the gospel is good news of something done for us while good advice is something for us to do. Alas, most preachers give good advice rather than preach good news of grace! The gospel is good news "from God, its source, v. 1; through the prophets, its channel, v. 1; concerning His Son, its content, vs. 3-4; for all nations, its objects, vs. 5-6; to all saints, its subjects, v. 7" (N. B. H.)
2. The Gospel of God. (1) It is good news from God, the offended Sovereign of the universe, concerning amnesty and grace, pardon and mercy offered to all through Christ. (2) It is good news about God, that He is propitious and gracious and that He took the initiative in bringing about reconciliation between Himself and the sinner. Illustration: Two men are at outs; each wants the other to begin. God did the beginning in salvation. (3) It is good news which God has determined to have announced to every creature. God is the Author; Christ is the Theme; the Holy Spirit is the Executor or Revealer, Galations 1:12.
3. The Gospel of God Defined, 1:2-7.
(1) It was promised in Old Testament Scriptures, 1:2. Study Genesis 3:15; 15:6; Galations 3:8 with Genesis 12:1-3; Acts 10:43; II Timothy 3:15. This gospel foretold in the Old Testament was concerning salvation received through faith in Christ, Isaiah 28:16; Jonah 2:8; Habakkuk 2:4; Jeremiah 23:6; Daniel 9:24.
(2) The theme of the gospel is Jesus Christ our Lord, 1:3-7.
a. His humanity, 1:3. Genesis 3:15- seed of woman; Genesis 12:3 seed of Abraham; Psalm 89:36; Isaiah 11:10- seed of David. He was born in Bethlehem, the city of David.
b. His Deity. He became man (John 1:14) and the seed of David (Romans 1:3), but Scripture does not say He was made or became God, John 1:1. He was always God, Isaiah 9:6. He was God from all eternity, John 1:1. The word "declared" means defined, evinced, ordained, set forth, demonstrated, manifested, proven. [It does not mean to make or become.] Russellites and Rutherfordites teach that Jesus became God after His resurrection. John says He was God from the beginning or eternally, John 1:1-4. "A Savior not quite God would be a broken bridge on the farther side" (Moule). Jacob's ladder rested on earth and reached into heaven. So Jesus, the Man, one with earth, must be Christ the God, one with God in heaven or He could not have bridged the deep chasm between earth and heaven so that men could pass over Him from earth to heaven. I Peter 3:18; John 14:6.
c. Seven Aspects of His Person and Work. His Deity--God's Son. His official title--Jesus Christ: Jesus means Savior, Matthew 1:21; Christ means the Anointed of the Father. His Lordship--our Lord, Head over all things to His churches. Lord of lords and King of kings, to Whom every knee will bow and all His enemies will be made His footstool. His incarnation--Virgin born. His resurrection--unto power; this is so because He could not be held by death. His authority-- with power; Matthew 28:18-20; Ephesians 1:19-23; Hebrews 2:8-9. His holiness--like the sunbeam, He could touch the most unclean and not be contaminated nor defiled. The gospel of God is how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, was buried, and rose again according to the Scriptures. In other words the gospel of God includes, magnifies, and sums up the Person and Work of Christ.
d. In this gospel God gives and we receive, v. 5, and all through Christ and on the basis of grace. (a) Received grace and apostleship. Both are gifts; received, not bought nor worked for. That excludes doing anything except receiving as a condition of getting. The word "received" has a double idea--given and taken--He gives; we take or receive. The word "called" in verse 6 has, too, a double idea-- invited and accepted. (b) Both, the reception and the calling, are on the basis of grace; there is no place for merit nor works. (c) All is by and through Jesus Christ. Ephesians 4:8; Romans 12:3-6. That means it is wholly of grace.
e. This gospel of grace when received, is to be passed on, 1:5. Note the words, "Unto obedience of faith to all nations." (a) We are saved to obey, not obey to be saved. Ephesians 2:8-10. (b) We are saved to obedience of faith, which means obedience to or of the letter of the Scripture. [The genetive, of "faith," may be either subjective or objective. Why not get the full meaning that it is obedience springing from faith and obedience to the system of faith? If one has to choose, I prefer the first.] It means believe and do what God says just because God has spoken. If men believe Him and His word, they cannot avoid being missionary. A work of faith tracks the Bible, does impossible works, and honors Christ's gospel, Mark 8:25; 10:28. (c) Among all nations, world-wide. (d) For His names sake. III John 7.
CONCLUSION, 1:7. The apostolic benediction on God's beloved and called. [Grace always comes first in these situations. Grace is the source, peace is the blessing. His pronouncing grace and peace jointly from the Father and the Son proves the Deity of Christ. "Called to the saints;" that is, saints by calling. "To be" is not in the Greek. Saints means holy ones.]
III. PAUL'S INTEREST IN THEM. 1:8-15. To ingratiate himself into the favor of the church at Rome and insure acceptance of his message, he expresses his deep personal interest in them. This is an
example of God-given tact; he was tactful in soul winning and letter writing.
1. His Thanksgiving, 1:8. The first thing Paul did was to thank God. Note "I" and "my''. Luther said, "Christianity is a religion of personal pronouns." Only a devout believer can say my God. He thanks God for them all. Do you know any church today of which you could say this and tell the truth? I can come nearer saying it of Murray than of any I know. [This was said while he was pastor years ago.] The thing for which he thanked God was their faith. Their faith so manifested itself in missions and soul winning that it was talked about or "carried as tidings" throughout the whole world. Everywhere Paul went, he saw somebody who told him about this church.
2. His Prayer for Them, 1:9. (1) Paul reached more by his praying than he did by his preaching. Preaching is a rare gift; prayer is a rarer one. Preaching, like a sword, is for closer quarters; prayer like a breech-loader, is for long range and more effective (Henham). (2) He prayed without ceasing for a church he had never seen. (3) His making mention of them shows it was personal praying. It was personal remembrance; cf. Romans 16. Do you pray for anyone by name? (4) He appeals to God as his witness as to two things: a. His sincerity-- "Serve in my spirit." b. His service--"Serve in the gospel;" i. e., in its propagation.
3. He Made His Coming to Them a Matter of Prayer, 1:10, 13. (1) His purposes were limited "by the will of God." Man proposes; God disposes. He was an apostle by the will of God; he was going to Rome by the will of God. Wherever he went, he tried to find the will of God before he went. Across the resolutions, plans, and purposes of Paul, he wrote, "If the Lord will," James 4:13-15. In His will is our peace (Dante). (2) His making request indicates his submission to God's will. The phrase "making request" means a submissive request, not a demand. Prayer makes much difference in our feelings toward others, and makes a difference in their feelings toward us if they know we are praying for them (Gore). (3) His prayer was answered, but oh how differently from the way Paul planned! (4) Through God's will he was hindered in going to Rome at this time, and we have the Book of Romans because he was hindered. (5) He prayed for a prosperous journey, which comes from God alone.
4. He Longed for or Was "Homesick" to See Them, 1:11. Why was he homesick? Some he knew; some he did not know. Prayer made him homesick for them.
5. His Purpose in Longing to See them Was That They Might
Be Mutually Helpful to Each Other, 1:11-12. (1) This was a master stroke of Divine Tact. But it was truth too. The youngest can be helpful to the oldest, and vice versa. Paul, the mature theologian, could be helped by the faith of a babe in Christ. Paul, the aged, wanted the fellowship of young Timothy. (2) He wanted to impart spiritual gifts to them and receive sympathy and help from them.
6. He Wanted to Have Some Fruit in Them. 1:13. He was looking for an opportunity for fruit-bearing in the souls won and in saints trained. His passion for souls made him anxious to enter new fields for the gospel.
7. Paul Put Missions as a Debt and Was Eager to Pay It. 1:14-15.
[I don't believe I have ever heard a greater sermon on missions than one the author preached on "THE MISSION DEBT" from these verses in 1925. I here combined the notes I took that day and the notes he used in school.]
(1) Missions Is Not a Matter of Charity But of Debt. On what ground do I say it is a debt? a. Redemption through Christ, I Corinthians 6:20. We do not belong to ourselves but to Jesus. Hence it is ours to be fully yielded to Him as His property. The precious blood is the ground of indebtedness. b. Entrustment from Christ, I Thessalonians 2:4. Jesus Christ put Paul in trust with the gospel. How we need to acknowledge the claims of Christ! We may owe our fellowman and get by with it, but not so with Jesus. If you spend more for gas than for missions, then you are not faithful with the truth Jesus gave you.
(2) We Are Debtors to Everybody. Paul sought to preach to the masses and classes, to the rich and poor. The Greeks were the cultured or educated. The Barbarians were the ignorant or the tribes away from the centers of culture and civilization. When an evolutionist eats animal meat, according to his own logic, he eats his own kinsfolk. Logically, he is as bad as the cannibals. The wise were the literati, men of letters. The unwise were the unthinking masses.
(3) Our Debt Is to Give Them the Gospel. We owe it both to Christ and a lost world. The mission debt is a Baptist debt. Two reasons: The Great Commission was given to Baptists; the world field is a Baptist opportunity. Illustration: Baptists have done more in seven years in Chile than Protestants in seventy years. A Baptist preacher went to a new field and read the New Testament to twenty Presbyterians and won them all to New Testament Baptism. The Presbyterian Missionary was quite irritated and said, "An ignorant Baptist preacher came here and undid in a week what I have been trying to build up for twenty years."
(4) How Can We Pay This Debt? a. Pray, Matthew 9:38. It costs to pray. We need to count the cost; we do not want to pray blindly. It takes time to pray. One of my deacons said that he did not see the need of an hour of prayer; he could do all the praying he could think in five minutes. But it costs not to pray. God "thrusts" workers out in answer to prayer. A preacher prayed, "Lord, thrash out workers." The brother's error teaches us a lesson; God has to thrash some workers before He can get them out. The balance of the missionary enterprise will take care of itself if we have intercessors. Praying may cost you yourself. Do you say that you are too old? Christ did not call many young men with whom to start His work. All the twelve were married. A man in Murray said that he was afraid to pray about missions for God might ask him to give more than he wanted to give in money or might ask for a boy or girl. Our mission debt continues because we are not praying, Isaiah 59:16. It took only one sleepy-headed devil to guard the church, but it took many at the widow's house where they were praying. People that are doing things are constantly praying. It takes a lot of knee work to pay this debt. b. Take a good look, John 4:35. The facts about mission fields need to be gotten before the people. Read missionary books. c. Go. Go wherever God calls you. There is no paying the debt without much going. d. Help go--send, Romans 10:15.
(5) How Much to Pay. Paul said, "As much as in me is." He meant that he would go his full length. Too many give miserly and niggardly. They are like the engine on the sidetrack; it makes much noise but gets nowhere. A church that is not doing more for missions than for home expenses needs to get on the main line; it is still playing at the job. What are you doing with the gospel entrusted to you? Are we going our length for him? "As much as in me is" means time, service, and money. Paul was eager and ready. We may call him a spiritual and theological "Rough and Ready." They complained, "You are a long time in coming." His answer, "I am eager." An ox between the plow and the altar represents a Christian. Paul was ready for either service or sacrifice, II Timothy 4:6. Lord Clyde, at the outbreak of the Indian Mutiny, when asked how long it would take him to get ready to start to India, said: "I am ready now." Are you?
IV. THE GOSPEL, 1:16-17. The gospel is the theme of the epistle. These two verses contain practically all the leading thoughts of the entire Book.
Garvie gives this alliterative outline of 1:16. Its character-- power of God. Its content--righteousness of God. Its claim--received by faith. Its comprehensiveness--Jew and Gentile. Its consequence-- salvation and life. Its confirmation in the Scriptures--even as it is written.
1. Paul Was Not Ashamed of the Gospel. Who are ashamed and why are they ashamed of the gospel?
(1) The Jews were ashamed of it because Jesus, the theme of this gospel, died the ignominous death of the cross, being crucified by the Roman law as a common malefactor.
(2) The Romans were ashamed of it because Jesus was an obscure, backwoods, and crucified Jew.
(3) The intellectual, high-brows, Literati, then and now, are ashamed of the gospel because it is too simple for them. There is no show of wisdom in the gospel; no chance to display philosophy and education. The gospel is just as foolish now to the cultured, except such as belong to the elect, as it was in Rome and other centers of culture and power in the day of Paul. They seek wisdom, and to them the gospel is foolishness, I Corinthians 1:22-23; Colossians 2:18-23.
(4) The social or elite are ashamed of the gospel or look with contempt upon it because of the insignificant position of the followers of Christ. It has always been thus. Jesus was the despised Nazarene, I Corinthians 1:26-27; John 7:48. The Presbyterians and Episcopalians especially want the elite and boast of them in their churches. The gospel, however, moves upward from the lowest strata of society. Even many Baptist Churches today want a "man of parts," a man of persuasible
words, and funny jokes. They seek an imposing ritual, enriched services, etc. All such are ashamed of the gospel of Christ.
(5) Moralists, ritualists, and legalists are all ashamed of the gospel because the cross is an offence to them. To them, Christ is a stone of stumbling and rock of offence. A gospel that saves men all the way from earth to heaven without their own help, works, or obedience, or that of any other man, is an offence to man's pride and self-righteousness. They declare that the gospel is a "dangerous doctrine" and that if they believed such, they would "take their fill of sin." They want to embellish the gospel with man's additions, works, ritual, fol-de-rol, show, and all sorts of improvements and up-to-date methods. But the gospel, though it may be ugly and unattractive as a stick of dynamite or an ugly copper wire charged with electricity, has power, is power, and will blow up things when it is given a chance. [It is a powerful gospel men need rather than a beautiful gospel.]
(6) Unionists call the gospel narrow and unpopular and are ashamed of it, Matthew 7:13-14.
2. The Gospel Is God's Power unto Salvation to Every Believer. The gospel is dynamic, not ethic nor ideal (Thomas). The gospel is God's power both to save and to keep men. [This does not define the gospel in its content but in its energy, its working power. This verse tells what the gospel does; I Corinthians 15:3-4 tells what it is. Saying that dynamite is a high explosive tells what it does; to tell its chemical content is to define dynamite.]
(1) Power Needed. Power is the first consideration of any great task. a. Romans 1:18-3:21 shows that the salvation of the sinner is a task of stupendous magnitude. The trouble with too many churches every where is that they are powerless. b. Is there sufficient power to accomplish it? That is the question asked by men everywhere. Will the gospel hold out? False religions have not failed for lack of effort but for lack of power. "Without strength" is man's lament, Romans 5:6. The gospel is all-powerful; it is a miracle. It saves all the way from earth to glory.
(2) Power Illustrated. When we think of power, two things come to mind--dynamite and electricity. The gospel is God's dynamite to blow sin, error, legalism, unbelief, an unforgiving spirit, all kinds of excuses, and hard-heartedness hell ward. Calvary cuts deeper than Sinai (Joshua Gravett). Man's way is to reform, quit sin, uproot an unforgiving spirit, destroy bad habits by man's strength, get all these things out of the heart, and then you are ready to be saved. All who try that are sure to fail. Dependence on the strength and efforts of men for salvation is sure to fail. God's way is to put the gospel into the heart of sinners and, like dynamite under stumps and rocks, the gospel will tear up by the roots everything that is contrary to the Bible when God's dynamite is touched off by the gospel. The curse of this age is emotionalism, telling funny jokes, pathetic stories and death bed scenes to stir the emotions of sinners, but the great underlying stony heart is not touched. The stony ground and thorny ground hearers had only a shallow work of grace and brought forth no fruit.
(3) The Definite End and Purpose of God's Power Is unto Salvation. The gospel has power because it has life. Salvation is a great inclusive word: It includes deliverance, safety, preservation, healing, soundness of mind and spirit (C. I. Scofield). Salvation includes deliverance and equipment and implies safety to the fullest possible extent; it includes justification, sanctification, and glorification; it is threefold in its relation to the past, present, and future (Griffith Thomas). The past is deliverance from the penalty of sin; the present is deliverance from the power of sin; the future is deliverance from the presence of sin. The object of the gospel is salvation-the salvation of men; their deliverance from the state of degradation, danger, and misery into which sin has brought them; their deliverance from the guilt of condemnation, from ignorance and error, from depravity and suffering in all their forms--complete everlasting deliverance from all of these (Brown's Analytical Commentary (Page 7). The gospel is God's power to do all this. [The Hardshell theory that salvation here means merely being delivered from errors and being brought to know a salvation we already possess contradicts Paul's primary thesis of salvation from the guilt of sin.]
Electricity furnishes an electric car with heat and light to make the passengers comfortable, but this is secondary: the main purpose is power to propel the car or move the machinery to its destination. The house where the electricity is generated is called the power house, not lighting nor heating house. Exactly so with the gospel. It gives light, warmth, and comfort to the passengers on the gospel car. But these are incidental. The main thing about the gospel is that it has power to move or carry believers up the "steep ascents of heaven." There is power to move the car all the way to the terminus without the help of the passengers. Thank God for an all-the-way salvation! No matter how heavily loaded, how steep the grade, nor how long the journey, God's gospel is God's power all the way and is sufficient to land every believer in glory without any help from the passengers. The old stage coach had first, second, and third class passengers: mens cars have only second and third class passengers: God's gospel car has only first class passengers. "She has landed many thousands," etc., may apply to the gospel. The fare on the gospel car is paid clean through to the terminus. A free ride all the way, all invited, plenty of room, no accidents, never failed to make a trip through, never lost a passenger in six thousands years, John 17:12. There are two cars up Lookout Mountain from Chattanooga; the gospel car is the only one that takes to heaven. Hebrews 7:25. Some cars are all right on the level, power sometimes gives out on a steep grade, and the passengers have to get out and push. The power of God's gospel car holds out to the end. Man's gospel car pictures man's pushing qualities as holding out faithful to the end. On which car are you? One depends on God's power to hold out while the other depends on your own.
(4) To Every Believer. That includes harlots, drunkards, thugs, dying robbers, dying gypsy boys. The gospel car picks up many of this kind. Man's car stops at the valley of the shadow of death; it cannot cross nor ford the river of death, Matthew 7:22. The gospel car comes along; in their helplessness men look to Jesus and cry for help. None ever look to Him in vain, John 6:37, Romans 10:13. Jesus always stops His car, steps down, and takes the helpless victim on board.
3. The Gospel Is a Revelation or Unveiling of the Righteousness of God. The righteousness of God includes the sinless life of Christ, His perfect obedience to God's law, and His substitutionary death to pay in full the penalty of our sins. His resurrection is God's receipt that the sin-debt is paid in full for all those who trust Him. The righteousness of God is that consistency with His own revealed character whereby He receives sinful man on the ground of the work of Christ (W. H. G. Thomas). It is the acceptance accorded by the Holy Judge to sinful man (Moule). It is the divine method of justification (Brown). It is the best robe with which the believing sinner is clothed upon (Mauro). [To define the righteousness of God in Romans as a righteousness which God requires man to produce and live is to mistake the chief thesis of the entire epistle. It is rather a righteousness which God provides and gives
to man. The epistle defines this genitive as subjective, a righteousness that proceeds from God. In a word, it is the finished atonement of Christ on the cross. See 3:21-27.] The Jew first indicates precedence, not preference (W. H. G. Thomas).
4. Faith To Faith. cf., Psalms 84:7; II Corinthians 2:16; 3:18. That is faith unto faith. Faith means personal reliance. Faith is trust. The faith of Jesus and the Apostles is trust. Christ is all and in all. Faith is man's acceptance of Him as such. Faith to faith is reliance first, last, midst, and without end, on Christ and His word (Moule). Out of faith to faith (Mauro). It means from little faith to large faith. It means from natural faith to supernatural faith, Galations 4:28; Ephesians 1:19. It means from man's faith to Christ's faith. Romans 3:22; Galations 2:20. The faith of Christ means the faith of which He is the Author, object, end, and finisher, Hebrews 12:2. [1. Salvation begins with or at faith, Luke 7:50. 2. Salvation is supported by faith. After we are saved by faith, the principle is not changed to faith and works nor to works; it remains faith alone. 3. Salvation is finished by faith. Nothing is added to faith to complete it. To add baptism, church membership, or holding out faithful as a condition of salvation is to change from faith to something else. The expression is literally, "Out of faith into faith."]
SUMMARY OUTLINE OF ROMANS
I. RIGHTEOUSNESS NEEDED, 1:18-3:20.
1.The Heathen Are Not Righteous, 1:18-32.
(1) Unrighteous in holding down the truth, 1:18-20.
(2) Unthankful and irreverent, 1:21-23.
(3) Unclean and reprobate in life, 1:24-31.
(4) Therefore they are justly condemned, 1:32.
2. The Jews Are Not Righteous, 2:1-3:8.
(1) The Jew condemns himself in condemning the heathen because he is guilty of the same things, 2:1.
(2) The four principles of judgment, 2:2-16.
a. According to truth and therefore impartial, 2:2-5.
b. According to absolute justice, 2:6-10.
c. God has no favorites in judgment, 2:11-15.
d. According to Paul's gospel and by Jesus Christ, 2:16.
(3) Application to the Jews, 2:17-24.
(4) The externals of religion do not protect anyone from wrath, 2:25-29.
(5) Objections answered, 3:1-8.
3. The Verdict of the Scriptures, 3:9-20.
II. RIGHTEOUSNESS PROVIDED, 3:21-26.
III. RIGHTEOUSNESS RECEIVED, 3:27-4:25.
1. God's Righteousness Excludes Boasting, 3:27-28.
2. The Oneness or Unity of God Proves That There Is But One Way of Justifying Sinners, 3:29-30.
3. A Righteousness Received by Faith Establishes the Law, 3:31.
4. By-faith Righteousness Illustrated by Two Old Testament Examples, Ch. 4.
(1) Abraham and David were justified wholly without works, 4:1-8.
(2) Abraham was justified by faith before his circumcision, 4:9-12.
(3) Abraham became heir of the world by faith, 4:13-18.
(4) Abraham is the pattern to all believers, 4:19-25.
IV. RIGHTEOUSNESS EXPERIENCED 5:1-8:17.
1. Will a By faith Righteousness Last to the End? 5:1-19.
(1) Affliction will not destroy but rather strengthen it, 5:1-4.
(2) This is a hope of future glory and never makes
ashamed or disappointed. 5:5-11.
(3) The analogy between Adam and Christ, 5:12-21.
2. Where does the Law Come in and What Good Is It? 5:20-21.
3. A By-faith "Righteousness Will Not Lead Men to Take Their Fill of Sin, 6:1-8:17a.
V. RIGHTEOUSNESS GUARANTEED PERMANENT, 8:18-39.
VI. RIGHTEOUSNESS REJECTED BY THE JEWS, Chs. 9-11.
1. God Has Not Mistreated the Jews, 9:6-10:4.
2. A By-faith Righteousness and a By-law Righteousness Contrasted, 10:5-21.
3. Israel's Rejection by God, 11:1-36.
VII. RIGHTEOUSNESS MANIFESTED IN THE LIFE, Chs. 12-16.
1. Religious Duties, Chapter 12.
2. Civic Duties, Chapter 13.
3. Fraternal Duties, 14:11-15:13.
Conclusion, 15:14-16:27.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Be sure to memorize the Author's seven-point outline.
2. What is the Editor's two-point outline?
3. What does the word "gospel" mean?
4. What three things does "the gospel of God" denote?
5. What does "declare" in 1:4 signify?
6. Mention two evidences of Paul's tact in Chapter one.
7. What is the twofold idea in both "called" and "received?"
8. Is missions a debt or mere charity?
9. What is the theme and the text of the epistle?
10. In what sense does 1:16 define the gospel?
11. Contrast man's way and God's way of salvation?
12. What are the two illustrations of power?
13. What does the term salvation mean?
14. What is meant by the righteousness of God?
15. What does "from faith to faith" signify?
16. Master the summary outline of the epistle.
CHAPTER II
Righteousness Needed
1:18-3:20
Introductory: The gospel is God's power unto salvation because therein is revealed the righteousness of God. Paul's argument begins with verse 18. Why is righteousness necessary? Because we have none of our own. Paul's aim in 1:18-3:20 is to prove there are none good... none righteous, all sinned, all guilty, no difference. Salvation must mean that we become righteous for God's wrath is against all unrighteousness. So Paul sets out to prove: 1. That all are unrighteous--none righteous. 2. That God provides a perfect righteousness through Christ. 3. That the gospel is God's revelation of God's righteousness. God's gospel reveals God's righteousness because God's law reveals God's wrath. [If the gospel reveals a righteousness which we must produce, the gospel is useless for it is the province of the law to reveal the righteousness that God requires from man. The gospel reveals a righteousness to fulfill man's need because man failed to produce the righteousness which the law demands.] That is why the heathen have to have the gospel preached to them. Before man will want salvation he must feel the need of it. The question immediately arises, Salvation from what? From God's wrath, 1:18. Another asks, What is the reason for God's wrath? Because no man is righteous. Another question arises, Wherein is man not righteous? 1:18-32 is God's answer to the Gentiles. 2:1-3:8 is God's answer to the Jews. 3:9-20 proves from Old Testament Scriptures that all are unrighteous.
GOD'S EIGHTEEN REASONS WHY THE HEATHEN ARE LOST
[This outline was often reprinted by request in NEWS AND TRUTHS. People not grounded in the fact that the heathen are lost without the gospel will not do much to give them the gospel.]
1. They hold down or hold back the truth, 1:18.
2. They do this in unrighteousness to cover up their sin, 1:18.
3. Truth held back by the heathen was truth as to God's power and Godhood, revealed in creation. 1:19-20.
4. They have two witnesses against them--one on the inside, conscience, and one on the outside, creation. The phrase "unto them" has reference to creation.
5. These two witnesses testify of God's power and deity or Godhood. Instead of believing that truth, they hold down the truth and that without excuse.
6. They do not glorify God, 1:21.
7. They are ingrates, 1:21.
8. They follow reason rather than conscience and the testimony of God's created works, 1:21.
9. Their foolish hearts were darkened by their own reasonings, and they were to blame. 1:21.
10. God calls them fools though they claim to be wise, 1:22. (This is against Modernists.)
11. Their folly is seen in that they worship images and beasts instead of worshipping the Creator, 1:23.
12. Because of the uncleanness of their hearts God gave them over to uncleanness and unmentionable sins, 1:24.
13. They lied on God, by refusing to worship Him, 1:25.
14. They became the vilest of sinners, 1:26-27.
15. Their minds became reprobate, 1:28. .
16. Full of all injustice and unrighteousness, 1:29, 31.
17. They do these things with their eyes open knowing they are worthy of death, 1:32.
18. Their wickedness is seen in that they love to do them and have pleasure in them, 1:32.
Conclusion:
They know that they are sinners and deserve death.
They cannot be saved except by the righteousness of God.
That righteousness is revealed in the gospel.
Therefore the heathen cannot be saved without the gospel.
I. THE HEATHEN OR GENTILES ARE NOT RIGHTEOUS, 1:18-32. Paul immediately proceeds to give the proof. 1. They Are Unrighteous in Holding Down the Truth, 1:18-20. But how or wherein do they hold down the truth? The first truth they hold down is God's existence. This is proven in two ways. It is proven to them and in them. (1.) It is manifest in them in their consciences. Conscience tells every man that he is a sinner, vs. 1:18-19. (2) God's creative works prove to them that there is a God, v. 20. Three things are proven by creation: A. The Eternal Power of God. B. His Godhead and Godhood. Cf. Psalm 19. C. The Proof is so Clear that whether in Christian or heathen lands, they are without excuse. The Agnostic (ignoramus), Infidel, Atheist, Deist, New Thought, Modernist, Higher Critic, and Heathen all have two witnesses that there is a God, conscience and creation. Though they know the truth, yet instead of worshipping the true God, they bow down to stocks, stones, and all kinds of images and deny the existence of God. Because they worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator, therefore they are without excuse.
2. They are Unthankful and Irreverent, vs. 21-23. This is true in spite of their knowing the truth. Instead of living up to the light they had and worshipping God, they turned to worshipping images of men, birds, four footed beasts, and creeping things. In spite of their claim for wisdom, God calls them fools and gives these reasons why they are fools: (1) They do not glorify God, v. 21. (2) They are base ingrates in not thanking God for food, clothing, and the things of life. (3) They became vain in their reasonings, vs. 21b-22. A. The word "vain" means fallacious, erroneous, against the truth. The word translated "imaginations" means reasonings. Pure reason, unaided by the Holy Spirit and untaught by revelation, is always against truth. B. Their stupid hearts became darkened. They tell a lie until they believe it. They say there is no God and worship a false god until, because of their darkened mind, they believe what they say. C. They made themselves fools. Dr. T. T. Eaton said that the biggest fool was a psychological fool. Modernists today, in the eyes of God, are as foolish as the men of Paul's day. God calls educated people who do not believe the Bible fools. D. Reason leads men to deny God. (4) They worship idols, v. 23. Aristotle, Socrates, Demosthenes, Homer, and many other Greek scholars were among the world's greatest thinkers, yet Greece was idolatrous. Athens, though the seat of culture, was idolatrous, Acts 17. Though Rome had her Cicero, Tacitus, Vergil, and Livy, yet she was notoriously idolatrous. Their idolatry proves that they were fools. Though men are not idolaters, man's wisdom without God always and logically leads to idolatry. In this sense who are idolaters today? Evolutionists, Higher Critics, New Thought Devotees, just as Catholics and other ignorant classes who reject the Bible are idolaters. Theosophy, Spiritualism, Christian Science, and other heathen cults and modern heresies are making their converts from the educated ranks. God's wrath is against all such because they hold down the truth in unrighteousness.
3. They are Unclean and Reprobate in Life, vs. 24-31. Because of their uncleanliness God gave them up to three things: (1) Sexual vice and immorality, vs. 24-25. (2) Vile or shameful passions, vs. 26-27. (3) Reprobate minds, vs. 28-31. That means minds that cannot stand the test,
4. Therefore They Are Justly Condemned, v. 32. They do things worthy of death and revel in their filth. They are not ignorant but impudent. They are both condemned and without excuse.
Justly condemned--without excuse, vs. 32, 20. 1. They know the truth or know right from wrong. 2. They are worthy of death or know wrong justly deserves God's judgment and wrath. 3. Yet knowing the wrong and knowing its just penalty, they deliberately do the wrong. 4. They not only do the wrong but actually take plea sure in doing the wrong, though they know its penalty. 5. So they are not only justly condemned but are without excuse.
II. THE JEWS ARE NOT RIGHTEOUS, 2:1-3:8.
Whoever sins incurs the judgment of God, 2:1-16. The heathen taught by nature and conscience (1:18-32) and the Jews under the Mosaic Law (2:17-3:8) have sinned by falling short of their respective standards of righteousness. Paul is trying to show the certainty and justice of God's wrath on sinners by proving that all are guilty.
1. Paul now takes up the self-righteous, be he Jew or Gentile, 2:1-16. This has special application to the Jews. [Paul tactfully says, "0 man, whosoever thou art." Had he named the self-righteous Jew openly in this verse many of them would not have read further when they found their name.] In chapter one they are charged with holding down the truth in unrighteousness; in 2:1-16 they are charged with proclaiming the truth in unrighteousness by judging.
(1) He condemns himself in condemning the heathen for he is guilty of the same sin, 2:1. The self-righteous man assents to Gentile condemnation, thereby condemning himself. Jesus said, "...Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee..." Luke 19:22. The indicted man incriminates himself by his own judgment and testimony. In John Jesus condemns the Jew on this very ground. They had caught a woman in the act of adultery and they bring her to Him for Him to pass judgment on her. The law said, "Stone her"; " So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her" (John 8:7). Card playing church members condemn themselves when they condemn horse racing, gambling, and shooting craps. Those who play cards for prizes are guilty, just as the gambler. The bootlegger and all of the lawless liquor crowd are no worse in God's sight than the man who drinks it and those who patronize them or the men who furnish the money for them to conduct their business or the men who justify it. All are guilty.
(2) God's four principles of judgment, 2:2-16.
A. God's judgment is according to truth and therefore impartial, vs. 2-5. (A) There is no escape, v. 3. (B) God's goodness or kindness leads to repentance, v. 4. [The present tense "leadeth" does not here speak of what God accomplishes, but of the tendency of God's goodness. Theologians raise the question as to whether God's love ever inclines a man toward repentance without full accomplishment in bringing him to repentance. Paul strongly implies in verse 5 that some are potentially led to repentance who go to hell. The elect resist the grace of God to a certain point; then their hearts are tenderly yet irresistibly drawn to repentance; the finally impenitent, often called the non-elect, resist His goodness to their eternal undoing.] (C) This means piled up wrath later, v. 5. [The figure of treasuring up wrath strongly implies degrees of punishment in hell.]
Joshua Gravett suggests FOUR WAYS OF ESCAPE: 1. One might not be found out, but God says, "...Be sure your sin will find you out" (Numbers 32:23). 2. One might get beyond God's jurisdiction, but God is everywhere "If I ascend," etc., Psalms 139. 3. One might fail to be convicted in trial, but "every transgression" will receive "a just recompeirce of reward" (Hebrews 2:2). 4. One might get out of the pen and hide, but there is an impassable gulf (Luke 16) and nothing is hid from God's eye (Hebrews 4:13).
B. God's judgment is according to absolute justice, vs. 6-10. (A) According to deeds, v. 6. [This proves degrees of punishment in hell.] (B) God will always do right, v. 7. If anyone continues patiently in well doing, he will be saved by works. God will do right. If any man obeys God's law perfectly, he will get eternal life. But do any do that? Romams 3:20 is the verdict of Scripture that no one does. Galations 3:10 and James 2:10 prove that no one perfectly obeys the law, and therefore all are condemned. If he disobeys in one point, he is a convicted transgressor. [Some have entirely missed the message of Romans by thinking that Paul here teaches salvation for us through our obedience. One must look to the context. Paul is not discussing how God saves sinners, but telling what would take place if a man did not sin at all.] (C) Wrath for the disobedient, vs. 8-9a. (D) Whether Jew or Gentile, there is exact justice for them, 9b-10.
C. God has no favorites in judgment, vs. 11-15. (A) He is a Just God; He considers no man's person in judgment, v. 11. [It is twisting the context to use this statement against the doctrine of election when Paul applies it only to judgment.] (B) They will be judged by known and God-given standards, v. 12. God's absolute justice forbids His sending to hell the heathen for violating a law about which he did not know and letting the Jew go to heaven when he had violated his own law about which he knew. The standard of judgment for the Jew is the law of Moses; for the heathen it is the law of conscience. God, therefore, has no favorite; every man will be tried, by the law he is under and about which he knows. (C) Obedience is the test, vs. 13-14. (D) God's witnesses, v. 15. Note the double work of conscience.
D. God's judgment will be according to Paul's gospel and by Jesus Christ, v. 16. That is, every man will be tested by God's righteousness. Cf. 3:23. The final test will be one's relationship to Jesus Christ.
2. Application to the Jews, 2:17-24.
(1) The Jews boast of superior knowledge, vs. 17-20. Paul now openly names the man of verse 1 a Jew. A. Their five privileges that God gave them will not help them escape, vs. 17-18. These privileges are: They are called Jews; they rest in the law; they boast that God is the God of the Jews; they know His will; they approve things that are right. B. Their five claims to superiority over others will not prevent their condemnation, vs. 19-20. These are: A guide of the blind; a light to those in darkness; an instructor of the foolish; a teacher of babes; a possessor of the Word of God.
(2) They do not live up to their law; therefore they are justly condemned, vs. 21-23. This was an argument "ad hominem." Paul takes the Jew on his own ground and shows that he defeats himself.
(3) The Jews are worse than the heathen; they are stumbling blocks, v. 24. They cause the heathen to blaspheme God. God said it as well as Paul, "As it is written" (Isaiah 52:5). The Book is against them and condemns them for teaching the law and not living up to it.
(4) The externals of religion do not protect anyone from wrath, 2:25-29. The outward in religion is worthless if you are not right on the inside. It is as the seal on a can if there is nothing on the inside. It is as the seal on a document if there is only blank paper within. Note Simon Magus. If there is no Holy Spirit on the inside, baptism on the outside is worthless, Acts 19:2. A. The law is God's standard of judgment, not circumcision, v. 25. B. The Gentiles obey the law better than the lawless Jews, vs. 26-27. C. God judges the inside, not the outside, vs. 28-29. [Spiritual circumcision is the same as the new birth. "Whose praise is not of men but of God." Paul here plays on the meaning of the word Jew, a corruption of Judah, which means "praise." Genesis 29:35.]
3. OBJECTIONS ANSWERED, 3:1-8. When Paul shows the hollow sham and greater sinfulness of the Jew, he immediately runs up against objections
(1) "What is the advantage in being a Jew?", 3:1-2. Paul's answer- Much every way, but chiefly because they have the Bible (II Timothy 3:15). Many of its promises are to the Jews and are yet un fulfilled. So far as sin and salvation are concerned, there is no profit. The Jew and the Gentile are judged, condemned, or saved the same, 2:16. God is not going to be partial to the Jew and let him escape God's wrath and his sin go unpunished when the Jew has greater advantage over other nations in having the Scriptures to tell them how to escape the wrath of God.
(2) Objection two-- "What, advantage is there in leaving the Bible if some do not believe it?" 3:3-4. That is, Will their unbelief make void God's faithfulness? Will disbelief hinder God from faithfully keeping His covenant of circumcision? ["The faith of God"; better, "the faithfulness of God" (R. V.).] Paul's answer--God forbid: God is true anyhow; God will be true if He thereby proves every man a liar. God's Word is true even though it condemns the Jew as well as the heathen. They are responsible for their own belief, and it will not prevent God from visiting His wrath upon them but on the contrary will aggravate their sin because they make God a liar in their unbelief of the Bible. God's Word will stand even though it makes every man a liar. God's Word will stand against every man's in the world. This is a good place to drive down a peg-- the Old Book stands. Like the blacksmith's anvil which has worn out many hammers, but His Word stands and will stand forever. The Modernist, Unionist, and Worldling in our day who try to excuse their sins by saying they do not believe the Bible, instead of excusing themselves they are bringing on themselves greater punishment by giving the lie to God's Word. Man's sins will only cause God's faithfulness to stand out in bolder relief. Note that unbelief is lying because it makes God's Word unworthy of trust, cf. I John 5:10.
(3) Objection three-- "If that is so and God is righteous in condemning my sin," says the Jew, "how can He justly punish me?" 3:5-6 Cf. Acts 4:27-28. That is, How can God justly punish me, the Jew, if my sin proves Him righteous in fulfilling His Word? Paul's answer--If that were so, then He could not punish sin in the heathen. Then He could not punish it in anybody, Jew or Gentile, because He makes all things glorify Him. There would be no judgment then. God forbid: away with the thought! Their argument proves too much. If God cannot punish any sin that He overrules, then He would not punish any at all, for He overrules all sin to His glory. The wrath of man praises Him. The Jew would not stand for that for he believed in a judgment, especially for the Gentile. If men are saved, God is glorified by their sin in the praise He gets from their salvation. If men are not saved, God's righteousness and justice are glorified in their damnation. The dilemma in which Paul puts the Jew is: You say He is just in punishing the Gentile, He must as justly punish you. God must judge you Jews justly and impartially and without favoritism or not judge at all.
(4) Objection four-- A concrete case, 3:7-8. "Why not do evil that good may come if God is glorified by sin?" Cf. women voting. Paul's answer-- A. That is a slander. B. The condemnation of the man who said it is just. This is Paul's only answer.
III. THE VERDICT OF THE SCRIPTURES, 3:9-20.
Scripture, not reason, is the final authority. In 1:18-3:8 Paul reasoned with them. He then clinches all he had said by an appeal to Old Testament passages. His arguments however reasonable were worthless if he could not back them up with a "thus saith the Lord." The "thus saith the Lord" settles everything with all Baptists and all others who love the Lord. Buttress your arguments with Scripture. Do not be afraid to quote the Old Testament. Paul was not. He either quoted or referred to twelve Old Testament passages of Scripture. He had proved that none were righteous; the Scripture said it.
ANALYSIS OF 3:9-20: 1. Charge, v. 9. 2. Proof. A. Scriptures final authority. B. Twelve Old Testament Passages. 3. What he proved. A. Character bad, vs. 10-12. True of all. a. Negative, v. 10f. b. Positive, v. 12. B. Conduct bad, vs. 13-17. a. Speech all bad, vs. 13-14. b. Acts all bad, vs. 15-17. C. Reason or cause, v. 18. 4. Conclusion, vs. 19-20. A. Whole world guilty, v. 19. B. No defense, v. 19. C. Law shows it, v. 20. 5. Therefore, all need God's righteousness, v. 20.
1. None better, v. 9. The Jew is not better than the Gentile; the educated are not better than the unlearned; nor one nation better than another. None better: all are on a level. No difference in rotten apples. Isaiah. 1:4-5. The trouble with this world is that every nation thinks that it is better than any other nation.
2. None righteous, vs. 10-18. (1) None righteous in character, vs. 10-12. (2) None righteous in conduct, vs. 15-18. Their conduct is corrupt, deceitful, deadly; they are blasphemers, murderers, destructive and lawless.
3. No defense, v. 19. Every mouth is stopped, all are guilty in the sight of a holy God, and so guilty that they have no comeback, no answer to God.
4. No exceptions to this rule, v. 20. There are no exceptions in the whole human race as to the guilt of man when they stand in His presence. God searched in vain for one good man. Mr. Brown shows that the necessity of God's free grace and righteousness is seen: (1) In the disorder of man's whole nature. (2) In the universality of human guilt. (3) In condemnation of the whole world. (4) In that none can be justified by obedience to law.
None better! None righteous! None good! No difference! All guilty! This is Paul's summary.
NO DIFFERENCE, 3:22-23
The conclusion to the whole matter, vs. 22-23. There is no difference between the Jew and the Gentile. The differences between men are all external, superficial, non-essential. No difference as to
sin, sorrow, sickness, sadness, suffering, heartache. The great experiences of life are all universal. In the great facts of life there is no distinction--Birth, growth, trouble, loss, tears, sunshine, shadows, love, marriage, home, old age, death come to all alike in all nations. All distinctions between men are incidental and trivial, external and superficial. The Bible is full of illustrations of these facts. Death, three corpses--one dead for years, one four days, one an hour--no difference as to life, decay, death. Lepers in Bible days were all put out of camp. Cf. small-pox, yellow fever. Debt--two creditors who had nothing to pay--all on same footing, hopeless bankrupts, Luke 7. God says, "All sinners look alike to Me." In the army a standard must be met--one who lacks little is told to stand aside just as the one who lacks much--they come short of the standard. The flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, the Egyptian bondage all show that there was no difference. God says all are guilty, and the mouths of all are shut. There is no difference as to sin. That is what he proved in 1:18-3:23. There is no difference as to salvation, Romans 10:12; Acts 15:9; Revelation 5:9; 7:14. "Only a sinner saved by grace."
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What three things does Paul set out to prove?
2. Why are the heathen lost without the gospel?
3. What is the three-point outline of 1:18-3:20?
4. What are God's two witnesses to every man?
5. What two truths about God do the heathen know?
6. How does Paul show tact in showing the Jew's condemnation?
7. What are God's four principles of judgment?
8. Explain the last part of 2:4.
9. What two Scripture statements here show there will be degrees of punishment in hell?
10. What is meant by "respect of persons?"
11. Wherein do they err who claim that Paul teaches salvation by man's obedience in 2:7-10?
12. What are the two witnesses against the heathen and the three witnesses against the Jews?
13. What are the respective standards by which God will judge both Jew and Gentile?
14. What does Paul say of external religion only?
15. Summarize the four objections and four answers in 3:1-8.
16. What is meant by "the faith of God" in 3:3?
17. In what dilemma does Paul put the Jew?
18. By what two methods did Paul show the guilt of all?
19. What is the relation of arguments and Revelation?
20. Explain "no difference."
CHAPTER III
Righteousness Provided
3:21-26
We adapt this analysis from Stifler: 1. Source of righteousness - God. 2. Relation to law. A. Apart from law. B. Witnessed by law. 3. Chief characteristic of righteousness--by-faith righteousness. 4. Beneficiaries--all believers. 5. Extent-unto all and upon all that believe. 6. Reason for by-faith righteousness-- no difference in sinners. 7. Its bestowment. A. How? a. Freely; that is, without any cause in us-- manner. b. By grace--cause. c. Through redemption--means. B. Why by blood? That He might be just and the justifier of them that believe in Christ Jesus, 3:21.
In studying Righteousness Provided we go back to 1:17, where God's gospel reveals or unveils God's righteousness. In 1:18-3:20 he proved that men have no righteousness of their own so as to show the need and necessity of God's providing a righteousness for men. In that Scripture is painted the dark background of man's total and universal depravity and guilt in order to show forth God's righteousness. In that discussion Paul proves five things-- None better, none righteous, none good, all guilty, no distinction. He then turns to unveil God's righteousness. "No white can stand against God's white."
Four times in 3:21-26 is God's righteousness mentioned. [The entire epistle may be divided into three sections: 1. The need of righteousness, 1:1-3:20. 2. The exposition of righteousness, 3:21-26. 3. The application of righteousness, 3:27-16:27. Thus 3:21-26, though it is comparatively short, is the heart and center of the epistle. All before it looks toward it, and all after it, grows from it. These few words are a complete exposition of the righteousness of God.]
1. GOD'S RIGHTEOUSNESS IS APART FROM ALL LAW, ANY LAW, v. 21. The law principle is Do and Live, Galations 3:12. The doing has to be perfect, however; if it is not perfect, no man can be saved by it, Galations 3:10. In Deuteronomy 6:25 Moses says that our obedience is our own righteousness and Paul says we are not saved by our own righteousness but by God's righteousness, and God's righteousness is a by-faith righteousness. That is, righteousness not by law nor by obedience nor any other kind of righteousness of men, Titus 3:5. [Deuteronomy 6:25 gives the clearest definition of our righteousness found in all the Bible. All explanations of Romans that confuse our righteousness, what we do, and God's righteousness, what Christ did on the cross, misconstrue the whole epistle. It has been made manifest (perfect tense); it is not yet to be done by man.] Exodus 24:7 shows that any man who teaches obedience as a condition of salvation teaches the law. The law cannot justify the guilty, but the innocent. Since all men are guilty, therefore all men have to be justified apart from law. The gospel is a revelation of God's righteousness; God's righteousness is apart from law; therefore God's gospel is apart from law; and the man who preaches "do and live" or "obey and live" does not preach God's gospel.
2. GOD'S RIGHTEOUSNESS IS WITNESSED BY THE LAW AND THE PROPHET'S, v. 21. "Law" is the Pentateuch, more particularly the ten commandments. "Prophets" includes the rest of the
Old Testament. They bear witness to two great principles respecting the righteousness of God. (1) That every man under law is under condemnation because he has not kept it all. (2) That every man needs the perfect righteousness of Christ as the only. ground of His acceptance before God. The ground of justification is not the sinner's own doing or suffering, but the doing and suffering of another; and the means of justification is not working but believing, Acts 10:43. Where do they witness? Every bleeding sacrifice testifies to forgiveness by the suffer ings of another. Genesis 15:6 shows that believing is the means. Isaiah 28:16. ["Being witnessed," a present participle.; the Old Testament is not out of date. "By the law and the prophets;" a single "by" emphasizes one harmonious testimony for Christ.]
3. GOD'S RIGHTEOUSNESS IS A BY-FAITH RIGHTEOUS NESS, v. 22. We get the benefits of God's righteousness through ac ceptance of Him who is God's righteousness; God's righteousness is a person. That person is the Lord Jesus, I Corinthians 1:30; II Corinthians 5:21; Galations 3:13-14; 2:16. God's righteousness is offered to all men as sinners, and as sinners they must accept it. Man has no righteousness of his own, and God must provide a righteousness for him if he is ever righteous. No man can be righteous by law because all break the law and are therefore condemned. ["By faith" in verse 22 and "through faith" in verse 25 translate the same Greek expression. It is always through faith ("dia" with the genitive) and never on account of faith ("dia" with the accusative). Faith has no justifying power; it is merely the channel through which righteousness comes to us.
4. GOD'S RIGHTEOUSNESS IS MANIFESTED TO AND TAKES EFFECT ON ALL THAT BELIEVE, v. 22; Acts 13:39. It cannot take effect on an unbeliever, nor can it fail to take effect on a believer because: (1) There is no distinction as to sin, v. 23. (2) There
is no distinction as to guilt, v. 19. (3) There is no distinction as to law,
v. 20. (4) There is no distinction as to righteousness, v. 10. (5) There is no distinction as to profitableness, v. 12. This means literally that they are as soured meat or milk, fit only for the slop-bucket. (6) There
is no distinction as to intellectuality, v. 11. (7) There is no distinction
as to God's glory, v. 22. The word "glory" here means approval, or praise, John 12:43. Men fight the idea that God's righteousness takes effect on all believers harder than nearly anything in the gospel; that is why they fight a by-faith righteousness. They want a little credit to themselves. They want to add something to faith. All are treated alike regardless of race, color, condition, nationality, or their previous lives, John 3-4. He cannot do otherwise since sin has brought all to one common level. All need it; all equally need it.
5. THIS RIGHTEOUSNESS IS BESTOWED AS A GIFT UPON ALL WHO ACCEPT IT WITHOUT ANY DISTINCTIONS, vs. 22-23.
6. GOD'S RIGHTEOUSNESS IS BESTOWED FREELY, v. 24. God's gospel reveals God's righteousness as bestowed-
(1) Freely, that is gift-wise without any cause in us. As men hated Jesus, John 15:25. There is nothing in Jesus to make sinners hate Him as they do. Even so this passage says we are justified freely by His grace. That means without any cause in us, Isaiah 55:1.
(2) It also means without any merit in us. Man deserves wrath and hell; justice demands death; the law with drawn sword says, "Slay the guilty culprit;" grace steps up and offers to provide a substitute.
(3) We are not only justified freely by His grace but through, the redemption that is in Jesus Christ, Romans 8:32. He is the Judge's Son. Redemption means a release purchased by a ransom. "He paid the debt and made me free." He was the ransom price for our redemption. We are delivered by receiving Him. [Modernists try to confuse the meaning of the word "ransom" by referring to the ransom paid to kidnapers. They press the point that the kidnaper has no rightful claim. But the Bible use of the word "ransom" pertains to release from debt, a just debt. The ransom is paid to God whose justice has been outraged by our sins.] He was the ransom that paid the price of the unlocking of the fetters of guilt and our deliverance from the curse of the law. God offers, not amnesty or pardon, but justification based on full payment and complete satisfaction of divine justice and outraged law. [One may be pardoned at the expense of justice, but justification always implies perfect satisfaction to justice.]
(4) Jesus is the mercy-seat. v. 25. He is not only our ransom but the mercy-seat on which the blood of ransom is sprinkled. [ The Greek for "propitiation" is mercy-seat.] An altar of prayer or mourner's bench is no mercy seat, Exodus. 25:22. Christ is the place where God and the sinner meet. Hebrews 9:5, 7; John 14:6. He is the blood-sprinkled mercy seat. The blood with which the mercy-seat is sprinkled is between God and the broken law so we can draw near in full assurance of faith, Hebrews 10:19-20. The blood is not only between God and the broken law but between the sinner and the broken law, Leviticus 16:14-15. The mercy seat was not revealed to men until the veil was rent from top to bottom by divine hands, Hebrews 10:20. Thus God set forth Christ as the mercy-seat only by rending the veil of Christ's humanity and making His soul an offering for sin, Isaiah 53:10-12. Now since the mercy-seat has been sprinkled with the blood of the sin offering and God has dealt with Christ about our sins, we may come boldly to God through faith in that blood-sprinkled mercy-seat. Are you trusting in the merits of that precious blood?
(5) Showing forth His righteousness, v. 25-26. The righteousness which is the heart of the gospel is declared or revealed in two ways-
A. In passing over the sins of Old Testament saints. The blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sin. The sins of Old Testament believers were passed over, but not really dealt with, remitted, or taken away until God dealt with them on Calvary through Christ. That is why Old Testament saints were kept in Paradise, John 3:13; Hebrews. 9:8; 11:13, 39; Ephesians 4:8-9. After the death and resurrection of Christ, certifying that the sin debt had been paid when Christ finally ascended, He took all the Old Testament saints on to heaven with Him.
B. God's righteousness was not only shown in His passing over the sins of Old Testament saints until atonement was made and finished and God had certified by the resurrection of Christ that the sin debt was paid in full, but God's righteousness is declared in justifying every be liever once for all the moment he believes, Psalms 85:10. All this is done that God might be just and the justifier of the believing sinner and be just in doing it. "The problem is not how to get men to God, but how to get God to men" (Stifler). How a just God can pronounce a guilty sinner just before God is exactly what justification is. Justification is God's declaring a guilty man not guilty; and telling the truth when He declares it, through faith in the blood of Christ. [The modern conten tion that there was only a supposed obstacle in the way throws overboard this whole paragraph. Paul certainly believed that God's justice was outraged by man's sin and had to be satisfied. Paul declares that justification apart from Christ's propitiatory sacrifice would make God unjust. Christ's death was propitiatory-- it satisfied God; Christ's death was expiratory–it removed man's sin; Christ's death was substitutionary --it did for the sinner what he could not do for himself.]
7. GOD'S RIGHTEOUSNESS IS PROVIDED BY GRACE, v. 24. Grace is always humbling to man. Grace always excludes man's efforts, merits, or worth.
8. GOD'S RIGHTEOUSNESS IS OFFERED FREELY AND BY GRACE BECAUSE CHRIST RANSOMED US BY HIS OWN PRECIOUS BLOOD, v. 24.
9. GOD'S RIGHTEOUSNESS WAS WROUGHT OUT AND REVEALED ON CALVARY, vs. 25-26.
(1) Calvary reveals Christ as the mercy seat where sinful man and holy God meet in peace over the shed blood of Jesus. Blood satisfies God and reconciles man.
. (2) Calvary exhibits God's justice in passing over the sins of Old Testament saints because in the fulness of the time they were to be expiated by God's Lamb in fulfillment of all Old Testament types.
(3) Calvary makes it possible for every believer to be justified forever the moment he receives Christ because his sin debt has been paid off and cancelled by Christ's blood.
(4) Calvary indicates and exhibits God's justice in turning loose the violator of His law because all the claims and demands of that law have been met and satisfied by Jesus.
RESUME OF GOD'S RIGHTEOUSNESS, 3:21-26
God's gospel reveals God's righteousness to guilty man who has no righteousness of his own.
1. Apart from law. He cannot get it by doing. "It is apart from any human obedience as a condition of its attairment" (W. H. G. Thomas).
2. Witnessed by law and prophets.
3. Bestowed through faith.
4. Unto and upon all them that believe.
5. Without distinction, for all are on a common level, v. 22.
6. Freely or gift-wise, v. 24. The cause of justification is not in us but outside of us; it is through the imputed righteousness of Christ.
7. By the grace of God. It is not merited by the obedience of men.
8. Through a ransom paid by Jesus Christ's purchasing our release from God's broken law. 9. The blood sprinkled mercy-seat is the place where God's righteousness is revealed in passing over the sins of Old Testament saints and in the present justification of every believer because it shows God's righteousness as consistent with His justice in not forgiving his sins or admitting him to heaven until the penalty was paid and the justice of God fully satisfied by the merits of Christ. God's gospel reveals Jesus Christ as God's mercy seat where through faith in the sprinkled blood the sinner may meet a sin avenging God in peace. Moule says, "Grace shuts out the foul inflation of a righteous boast." Ruskin says, "I believe that the root of every schism and heresy from which the Christian church has ever suffered has been the effort of men to earn rather than receive salvation."
10. The results of setting forth of God's righteousness are-
(1) The shutting out of man's boasting, vs. 27-31. (2) This Includes Jew and Gentile in one universal plan of salvation. The Jew said, there is only one God, Jehovah. Therefore it is impossible for God to have two different ways of justifying sinners. Saving the Jew by works and the Gentiles by faith would require two Gods and two different Saviors. The same God cannot save two equally guilty men by opposing methods. A righteous judge cannot render contradictory judgment where all are alike guilty.
A SECONDARY OUTLINE OF THE REST OF THE EPISTLE
I. RIGHTEOUSNESS NEEDED, 1:18-3:20.
II. RIGHTEOUSNESS PROVIDED, 3:21-26.
III. OBJECTIONS TO A BY-FAITH RIGHTEOUSNESS AND PAUL'S ANSWERS THERETO, 3:27-11:36.
(I) Objections to the Doctrine Itself, 3:27-8:39.
1. "Where then is boasting?" 3:27-30. Answer--It is excluded; a by- faith righteousness leaves no ground for the Jews to boast.
2. "It makes void the law," 3:31-4:25. Answer--It establishes the law, for both Abraham and David were saved by a by-faith righte ousness.
3. "Is a by-faith righteousness safe? Will it last?" 5:1-19. Answer --Afflictions and persecutions will not destroy, but strengthen it.
4. "What was the law for then?" 5:20-21. Answer--To make the trespass abound and grace more abound.
5. "Why not take one's fill of sin?" 6:1-14. Answer-- The saved are dead to sin and cannot live therein.
6. "If he is dead with Christ and not under law and therefore not subject to condemnation, why not sin as much as you please?" 6:15 8:17a. Answer (1) Sin is no longer your master, 6:15-23. (2) Dead to the law, 7:1-24. (3) Now under grace, therefore, no condemnation, 7:25-8:4. (4) Indwelt by the Holy Spirit, 8:5-13. (5) Sons and heirs with Christ, 8:14-17a.
7. By-faith righteousness is a sure guarantee of eternal security to and of all who receive it, 8:17b-39.
(II) Objections to a By-faith Righteousness as Applied to the Jews,
Introduction--I am not the enemy of the Jew, 9:1-5.
1. "God mistreated the Jews," 9:6-10:14. Answer--(1) God has not gone back on His Word, 9:6-13. (2) God is just to the Jews, 9:14-10:4.
2. "A by-faith righteousness is something new," 10:5-21. Answer -By-faith righteousness is foretold and described by Moses and the prophets, 10:5-21. (1) Defined, 10:5-11. (2) For all, 10:12-18. (3) Jew has no excuse--he rejected it, 10:19-21.
3. "Israel is cast off," 11:1-36. Answer-- (1) Not total-- none of the elect have been cast off, 11:1-10. (2) Not final-- all will be saved when Christ returns,11:11-36.
IV. FRUITS OF BY-FAITH RIGHTEOUSNESS, 12-16.
1. Consecration of life, 12. (1) Consecration voluntary and complete, 12:1-2. (2) Fruits of consecration, 12:3-21. A. Humility, 12:3-8. B. Brotherly love, 12:9-13. C. Universal love, 12:14-21.
2. Believer's relation to government, 13.
(1) Duties to the state, 13:1-7.
(2) Duties to citizens, 13:8-10.
(3) Christian motives enforcing these motives, 13:11-14.
3. Fraternal duties in matters of conscience, 14:1-15:13. (1) Conscience toward weak, 14:1-12. (2) Right use of liberty by strong, 14:13-23. (3) Christian forbearance the will of God, 15:1-13.
4. Conclusion, 15:14-16:27. (1) Paul's rule in choosing his field, 15:14-32. (2) A chapter from the book of life, 16.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What is the second division of Romans? 2. Give the points of this discussion.
3. To what point in the discussion does 3:21 return? 4. What is the relation of 3:21-26 to the entire epistle?
5. What passage best defines our righteousness? Memorize it. 6. What is meant by "the law and the prophets?"
7. To what two great principles of righteousness does the Old Testament testify?
8. What does "through faith" signify? 9. What does "glory" mean in 3:22? 10. What does "freely" mean?
11. Explain the word "redemption."
12. What is the difference between pardon and justification? 13. Define the word "ransom."
14. What does "propitiation" mean?
15. Discuss or define the meaning of the mercy-seat. 16. What did the vail of the temple typify?
17. In what two ways did the cross declare God's righteousness? 18. Define "justification."
19. What was the greatest problem in man's redemption? 20. Calvary reveals what four things?
21. Give the four-point outline of Romans.
22. What two classes of objections are urged by the Jews?
CHAPTER IV
Righteousness Received
3:27--4:25
[The question of the reception and application of righteousness is now discussed in detail. The text of the Epistle emphasizes righteousness as a by-faith righteousness. "Everyone that believeth," "from faith to faith," 1:16,17. It was again stated in the last section; see verses 22, 25, 26. Now it is developed fully. This illustrates a necessary principle of interpretation, often seen in this epistle, that what is merely mentioned in another discussion may be made the theme later of a full discussion.]
1. GOD'S RIGHTEOUSNESS EXCLUDES BOASTING, 3:27-28.
Poor Jew! No righteousness, mouth shut, the only righteousness is apart from law and by faith. In despair he cries, "Where is boasting therefore?" There is no place for it nor the boaster. Paul gives the glory to God, not to man. In 3:19 we see that man's mouth was shut by Paul's proving him guilty before God. Man's mouth being shut, God has a chance to talk. Paul sets forth God's righteousness in contradistinction to man's sin and man's righteousness. When God's righteousness is revealed to depraved man and he accepts it, the braggart's mouth is shut forever, I Corinthians 15:10; Psalms 51:14-15; Philipians 3:4-9; Revelation 5:9.
How excluded? By works? Nay, verily. But by faith. Works occasion boasting; faith magnifies God's righteousness and thereby excludes boasting and everything that occasions boasting. A Campbellite preacher said that he would claim an entrance to heaven because he obeyed the gospel, Matthew 7:22. There is no credit for believing, Ephesians 1:19. Paul's, conclusion, v. 28.
[Here is a peculiar designation for faith, "the law of faith." The word "law" is here equivalent to our word principle. Righteousness be comes ours on the principle of faith. Another peculiar designation for faith is found in John 6:29, "This is the work of God that ye believe." That is, the act (of the soul) that God requires is faith. Faith is both a principle and an act.]
II. THE ONENESS OR UNITY OF GOD PR0VES THERE IS BUT ONE WAY OF JUSTIFYING SI NNERS, 3:29-30.
The Jew said that there was only one God, Jehovah. It is impossible for Him to have two different ways of saving mankind. In its universality and sameness it is consistent with and flows from the unity of God. "There can be no step-children in God's family" (Denny). There can be no half-brothers, no brothers-in-law; all are full children in God's family. Even Christian Jews thought that Christian Gentiles while uncircumcised ought not have the same rights and privileges of the Jew. If not, they are step-children, not full children. Catholics feel the same way about those who are outside "the church." Campbellites and other legalists and ritualists feel this about the unbaptized. They plus faith in Christ by good works as a condition of final salvation. No, one thousand times no, all believers are equally sons, joint-heirs. There are no degrees in sonship or salvation. Galations 3:26 and Romans 8:15-17 teach clearly that there are no degrees in sonship, that all believers are sons, heirs, and joint-heirs through Jesus Christ. Joint-heirs means equal-heirs.
God justifies "by" (Greek "ek) faith the Jew; that is, from the starting point of faith. He justifies the Gentile "'through" (Greek "dia") faith ; that is, through the instrumentality of faith. The Jew is not justified by his lack of faith; the Gentile not through circumcision or becoming a Jew, but through his faith.
III. A RIGHTEOUSNESS RECEIVED BY FAITH ESTABLISHES THE LAW, 3:31.
Men claim that by-faith righteousness cancels law, opens the door to immorality, and makes one take his fill of sin. Paul's answer: Nay, we establish it by saying that
1. Man cannot be saved except by perfect obedience to the law in his own person or in the person o f a substitute, Rom. 5:19. The law demands perfect obedience as a condition of salvation by law, and man can't furnish it. The admission that the law is holy, and just and good and that we are unholy and unjust and bad establishes the law. Christ magnified the law by meeting perfectly the law's demands.
2. Christ paid the penalty in full by His death on the cross, Gal. 3:13. He not only obeyed, the law in His life, but bore in His death the curse that rested on man because of disobedience. A by-faith righteousness admits the claims o f the law and satisfies them ia Christ's death. 3. A by-faith righteousness gives a new motive power for obedience. Love is the fulfilling of the law.
IV. BY-FAITH RIGHTEOUSNESS ILLUSTRATED BY TWO OLD TESTAMENT EXAMPLES, Chapter 4.
Chapter four gives the proof that faith establishes the law. Romans four is Paul's tract on faith. The theme of this chapter is justification by faith alone. 1. Abraham was justified by faith, vs. 1-5. 2. Abraham was justified by faith before he was circumcised, vs. 9-12. 3. Abraham became heir of the world by faith, vs. 13-17a. 4. The faith demanded by the gospel is the same as Abraham's faith, vs. 17b-25.
Abraham and David were the two men most revered by the Jews. Go to the Old Testament for illustrations. Paul did.
In the argument Paul goes back to 3:21. He takes up two cases to show that faith not only does not void the law but is witnessed by the law and the prophets. Their two most talked of fathers are mentioned and made to testify against them. Reason is followed by Paul here, but the final appeal is to the Book. Note Paul's argument: 1. Wholly without works, vs. 2-8. 2. Without circumcision, vs. 9-12. 3. Apart from law, vs. 13-16. 4. Patterned after Abraham, vs. 17-25.
1. Abraham and David were justified wholly without works. vs. 1-8.
. (1) Abraham, vs. 1-5. "If boasting is cut off, what therefore about Abraham?" What did he find according to the flesh? What did he acquire by religious works? What did he get unassisted by grace, v.1? Answer: Nothing at all, certainly not justification. If he were justified by works, he had an occasion for boasting, but not towards God. vs.1. If he did it himself, no praise is due God for his salvation. He could not boast of what God did but what he himself did.
What do the Scriptures say? Verse 3; Genesis 15:6. "Justify" means to declare or treat as righteous, not to make righteous. The verdict of the jury does not make a man innocent, it only declares it. Justification clears or frees from the penalty of sin.
There is no grace in saving a man if he works for it. It is a debt, a wage, an earning, his right. Man has a legal right to what he earns. Grace means unearned, unmerited, a favor to the undeserving, a gift, unmerited favor to the ill-deserving. Naaman had the idea that he could merit or pay for God's blessing. To try to get good enough is works. Quit your meanness and join the church is works. Pay your debts and give to the poor is works. Some say God sells on the credit, that He lets men have salvation on condition that they work for Him the rest of their lives or hold out faithful to the end. Jacob got Rachel that way.
Salvation is to the man who is not working for it but believes. "To him that worketh not but believeth," v. 5. "Trust is man's answer to God's truth" (W. H. G. Thomas). It is not faith in God's goodness, existence, almightiness, sovereignty, etc., that saves. The Jews had all of these but they were unsaved. It is not a faith perfected by our own obedience. The faith that saves is faith in God's Son and His death for our sins and His resurrection for our justification.
Three facts about Abraham's justification, v. 5.
A. The man God saves is the man who does not work for it. [The Mormons change this to read, "That worketh AND believeth." Many people so believe. What Paul said was, "To him that worketh NOT BUT believeth." Working for salvation and believing for salvation are opposites; you cannot do both at once] .
B. God justifies the ungodly, I Timothy 1:15. Abraham was ungodly in that he was an idolater. Joshua 24:2. God does not justify good people but bad ones. The bad are not working for salvation. Man justifies the innocent; God the guilty.
C. God's method of justification is to account the ungodly righteous through faith in Christ's righteousness. If Abraham was counted righteous then he was not naturally righteous; but had a righteousness not his own put to his account by faith. Christ was counted a sinner, though not one, because He took my place, II Corinthians 5:21. So am I counted righteous though ungodly.
Philemon 18,19 shows clearly what the Bible means by imputa tion. The expression "put that on mine account" is the same Greek word as is in v. 8 translated "impute." That means that our future sins, no sin after we are once justified is charged to us or put to our account. II Timothy 4:1 translates the same word "laid to (their) charge."
[The word "impute" (Greek "logidzomai") is very important in this Chapter. It occurs eleven times and is translated three different ways, twice by "count," vs. 3, 5; thrice by "reckon," vs. 4, 9, 10; and six times by "impute," vs. 6, 8, 11, 22, 23, 24. This familiar term in Greek business would signify a transfer and record of debit or credit, payment or charging. Compute, calculate, count over, pass to one's account, lay to one's charge, put down to the account of these express the idea conveyed. The instance in verse 4 means just this. In verse 8 we are assured that sins committed after justification will not be charged to the believer. The imputing of sin to Christ is not positively discussed here; that was discussed in 3:21-26. II Corinthians 5:21; Galations 3:13; I Peter 2:24, and Isaiah 53:6 amply prove imputation of sin to Christ. Christ's righteousness is imputed to us, and our sins are imputed to Him. There is a double imputation. In verses 3, 5, 9, 10, 22, 23, 24 faith is said to be counted "for righteousness." The expression "for righteousness" occurs in four of these instances and is implied in the other three. A few superficial students have taken "for" here to mean "instead of." The meaning of "for" (Greek "eis") forbids such a meaning. That would make faith the ground of justification whereas it is only the means or instrument. The contention would negative the whole section on Righteousness Provided, wherein what Christ did on the cross is defined as the righteousness we need and that God accepts. Haldane well says, "Rather unto righteousness . . . The expression unto righteousness' is elliptical and signifies unto the receiving of righteousness." The two other instances (vs. 6, 11) show that righteousness is what is actually imputed "God imputeth righteouness" (v. 6), "that righteousness might be imputed (v. 11). Hodge remarks, "It is laying anything to one's charge and treating him accordingly. It produces no change in the individual to whom the imputation is made; it simply alters his relation to the law." It satisfies the law.]
(2) David, vs. 6-8. What says the Scripture? Psalms 32:1-2. Daviel also was blessed by God apart from works. The blessed man is not the man who never sinned, nor the man who made atonement for his own sin, nor the man who is forgiven because he obeyed. But he is: A. The one to Whom God imputes righteousness. The sinner has none of his own. B. The one whose sins were forgiven are covered by blood. C. The one to whom no more sin will be imputed. The blessedness here described is threefold: a.. Past--Our sins are forgiven and covered. b. Present--we are saved and justified. c. Future--No sin to be charged or imputed to us. Justification is once for all and covers the past, the present, and the future. The word translated "blessed'' means happy. Therefore this means, "Happy are the freely- justified.".
2. Justification apart from circumcision, vs. 9-12. Abraham was justified by faith before his circumcision. This was a knock-out blow to the Jewish claim of salvation apart from circumcision. He was justified fourteen years before he was circumcised.
Paul here answers the question of 3:1 as to the profit of circumcision. It was a seal or sign, an attestation or bearing witness that Abraham's justification came before his circumcision. A seal is worthless unless there is something on the inside to seal or to attest. The Jew tore off the seal and therefore the act of circumcising was a worthless form, 2:27-29. How may we know one is a Jew? The Jew claims "Because I have been circumcised." "No," says Paul, "you are no Jew at all." We cannot know we are Christians because we have been to the mourner's bench or have been baptized; we know we are Christians if we have Christ in us the hope of glory. A seal is worthless unless there is something to seal; a sign is worthless unless there is something to signify. Neither a seal nor sign adds anything to the terms or conditions of the thing sealed; hence cannot add to justification. No bodily act has anything to do with the sinner's justification. Baptism like circumcision is a sign of something already done, not a condition of its being done.
Justification before circumcision or to the Gentiles without cir cumcision was that Abraham might be the father of all believers irrespective of nationality. There is no salvation to the descendants of Abraham except those who belong to the faith clan, v.12. Not that the Gentiles must come to the Jew's circumcision for salvation, but the Jew must come to the Gentile's faith if he would be saved (Stifler). Faith saves; circumcision is a pledge of nationality. God never promised salvation except to faith; he never promised perpetual nationality except to circumcised men. Abraham is the father of both.
The Campbellites make much of the "steps of faith," v. 12. The steps of faith are these: hearing the word, John 5:24; believing that Christ is able to save, Romans 4:20-21; committing the soul to Christ, II Timothy 1:12. In Romans 4:5 and 11:6 works are specifically excluded from having part in salvation. The steps of salvation are steps of faith, not steps of works. ["Steps of faith," that is steps that belong to faith, that make up faith. 1. Belief that Christ is able to save, Hebrews 7:25. 2. Belief that Christ is willing to save. I Timothy 2:4. 3. Committal to Christ to save, II Timothy 1:12.]
3. Abraham became heir of the world by faith, vs. 13-17a. The promise to Abraham was not through law but through faiths righteousness. ["The righteousness of faith." v. 13. cf. v. 11. That is righteousness that belongs to faith that comes at or by means of faith. "Righteousness which is obtained by faith" (Hodge). "The righteousness of faith is an elliptical expression, meaning the righteousness which is received by faith" (Haldane).] If men are heirs through law; as the Jews claimed, faith is vain, false, void, empty, and the promises are annulled, that is, if God promises to give me a thing and I believe His promise and don't get it unless I work for it, or earn or merit it, my faith is void in that it did me no good and God's promises are worthless. No promise made under law is effective unless the law is perfectly kept. And it is never perfectly obeyed by anyone. Therefore all promises under law are of none effect and all men under law are under a curse, Galations 3:10.
The law works wrath but never works justifications. v.15. Where there is no law, there is no transgression and therefore no wrath: and where there is no wrath, there is no law. 4:8. Salvation, justification, and heirship are based on God's unconditional promises that cannot be forfeited by those who believe His promise. For law-works, faith-works, or any other kind of works had nothing to do with our justification, 4:5. What man did not procure by obedience to law he cannot forfeit by dis obedience to law. If one is under law, he is under wrath: if one is justi fied by faith, he is not under law and never can be under condemnation, 10:4.
Faith is trust in a person. Abraham believed God and he was justified apart from either law or circumcision.
(1) That justification, salvation, and inheritance might be by grace. 4:16. None of these are by merit, obedience, or works. ["There fore it is of faith, that it might be by grace" (4:16.) No other principle but faith, in receiving righteousness, is consistent with grace. If it is not faith alone or if faith is plussed by obedience or human merit, it cannot be by grace. This one statement kills all arguments for salvation by works, either in part or wholly. Also, it kills the Hardshell contention that our making faith a means or instrument of salvation contradicts grace. Paul says it is of faith (literally, "out of faith") that it might be by grace (Greek, "according to grace," consistent with grace).]
(2) That the promise might be sure to all the seed, v. 16. These would not be sure to any of the seed if there were an if in the promise, but they are sure to all of the seed because all are received by faith in God's bare word of promise. Psalm. 89:27-34. The believer is never again counted a transgressor, Romans 4:8. How many seed are sure? All seed. What kind? Jew or Gentile, 4:16b-18.
(3) Promise of what? Heirship as well as justification, sanctification, and salvation. Heirship of what? All the world, universal dominion. The promise of Psalm 2:8 was to Christ, but Romans 8:14-17 shows that we are joint-heirs with Him of all that is included in His inheritance. By faith Abraham is the father of all believers, and all our hopes of world supremacy through Christ are conditioned on just one thing, our faith in Christ. Psalms 89:27-34 tells how God deals with the disobedient, but the believer never loses his inheritance.
4. Abraham is the pattern to all believers; his faith is the same as ours, 4:19-25. ["Us also," v. 24, draws the parallel between Abraham and us. Moses wrote for us as well as for people of his day.] This faith of Abraham which is the faith by which the sinner, is justified includes three things: (1) Christ died for our sins, or His substitutionary death. (2) By the death and resurrection of Christ our sin debt was cancelled. (3) The sin account settled forever--past, present, and future.
His faith was not simply historical believing in the existence and power of God, but it was believing in the resurrection of Christ. Paul says in verse 17 that Abraham believed God Who quickens the dead. This is the kind of faith all the promised seed have. Isaac who is a type of all believers was not a child of nature but of faith, Galations 4:28. His birth was possible only by the quickening of the dead womb of Sarah, v. 19. The impossibility of the birth of Isaac did not cause the faith of Abraham to waver.
So we are just as dead and hopeless, and what God promised is just as impossible with us without a miracle as the birth of a child was with Abraham and Sarah. God saves us, and our spiritual birth is just as miraculous as the birth of Isaac. God gave both Abraham and Sarah strength to conceive; so He gives all the elect faith to believe, Ephesians 1:19. God's bare word of promise is all that Abraham had. His bare word is all that we have. But Abraham believed God; he did not stagger; so with all the elect. Faith in God's promise justified Abraham, and faith in the promise of God will justify every believing sinner, vs. 22-25.
Justification was so sure that Christ was raised on account of our justification, v. 25; that means, it is because of it and accomplishes it. All men naturally are in sin, dead, lost, and would continue so eternally if it were not for the resurrection of Christ. But all believers are justified from sin once for all and forever because of the resurrection of Christ once for all. "Jesus Paid It All." W. H. Griffith Thomas well said, "The resurrection of Christ is God's full receipt of the full discharge of the debt." That is why no future sin can be charged to the believer. That is why our once-for all salvation covers past, present, and future. When a man is jailed for a debt, his being or getting out is not have came out of God's prison and been raised from the dead, Matt. proof that his debt is paid. If Christ had not paid our debt, He could 18:34: 5:26; Romans 8:32; Acts 2:31, 24.
[Jesus our Lord "was delivered for our offences and was raised again for our justification," 4:25. Because this verse contains the two great truths of the gospel, Christ's death and resurrection, it resembles I Corinthians 15:3-4 more closely perhaps than any other New Testament passage. The Greek word for "for" is in each instance "dia" (on account of, because of) with the accusative. The first statement means "on account of their guilt, which is expiated by the propitiation" (Shedd). "On account of them and for their expiation" (Hodge). "On account of our offences. This shows the need of Christ's death. It was not for an example, or for a witness merely; but for our offences" (Haldane).
[Just what does the second statement mean? "Because of our justification which was accomplished by His death" (Godet). "Our justification attested as complete" (Forbes). The expression naturally indicates a causal relation between His resurrection and our justification. Moule pointedly remarks, "Because our acceptance had been won, by His deliverance up. Such is the simplest explanation of the grammar and of the import. The Lord's Resurrection appears as, so to speak, the mighty sequel, and also the demonstration, warrant, proclamation, of His acceptance as the Propitiation, and therefore of our acceptance in Him. For indeed it was our Justification, when He paid our penalty. True, the acceptance does not accrue to the individual till he believes and so receives." We summarize Stifler's arguments: It is easy to misunderstand the preposition "for" because the mind unconsciously gives a different meaning to the two instances of the same word. The parallel between the two clauses will not allow different meanings. The word means in both instances "because of." The difficulty arises from confusing the time of the cause of the believer's justification and the moment he is actually Justified at faith. Chalmers says that we are set free because the debt was paid. His resurrection was thus a public vindication of Christ's atonement and a sign of God's acceptance thereof. Faith sees in His death the only atonement for sin and receives in His resurrection the crowning proof of that finished atonement.]
Faith that saves is not faith in the fact or act of the resurrection but in its import (Stifler). He who believes in the import of the resur rection believes that his gui1t is cancelled forever. "To believe in the resurrection of Jesus, then is to accept the two prime articles in the Christian creed, sin and grace: sin that slew Jesus and grace that ac cepts Him as our justification" (Stifler).
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Give the four points under Righteousness Received.
2. What does "the law of faith" mean?
3. What argument does Paul draw from the unity of God?
4. What is the difference between by "faith" and "through faith" in 3:30?
5. In what three ways does a by-faith righteousness establish the law?
6. What connection is there between Chapter four and 3:31?
7. What is the popular name for Romans four?
8. What two men from the Old Testament are used as illustrations? Why?
9. In 4:1 Paul's argument goes back to what verse?
10. What is the four point outline of Chapter four?
11. Define the word "justify."
12. Define the word "grace."
13. What is meant by the faith that saves?
14. Name the three facts about Abraham's justification.
15. Define the word "impute."
16. Discuss imputed righteousness and imputed sin.
17. What is a good illustration of imputation?
18. Discuss the threefold blessing on David.
19. What are the three steps of faith?
20. What is meant by "the righteousness of faith?"
21. Explain "raised for our justification."
22. What does it mean to believe in the resurrection of Christ?
CHAPTER V
Righteousness Experienced
5:1-8:17
[Chapter four may be looked upon as a digression to prove the harmony of a by-faith righteousness with the Old Testament. In 5:1 Paul goes back to 3:21 and discusses the consequences of justification by faith.]
Paul having proven in 1:18-3:21 that men are without righteousness, having proven that the righteousness of God is received by faith, without works, without circumcision, without law; then having proven the great doctrine of justification that covers past, present, and future once for all; he goes on now to show that this by faith righteousness lasts forever. For convenience sake and in order to answer various objections to it in the next two divisions of our argument (5:1- 8:17 and 8:18-39) we submit the following:
I. WILL A BY- FAITH RIGHTEOUSNESS LAST TO THE END? IS THE BY- FAITH METHOD SAFE? 5:1-19.
1. Affliction Will Not Destroy But Rather Strengthen It, vs. 1-4. We are justified from past sins when we believe, but what about our future sins is the constant question of those who do not believe in a by-faith righteousness. Paul's answer (1) We have peace with God through Jesus Christ the moment we believe, 5:1. This peace is a present possession. This is peace of conscience as to past sins because our sins are forgiven and covered. This is also a peace of mind as to the present because we are not under law; if not under law, then there is no transgression and if no transgression, no condemnation. Also, this is peace of heart, as to future safety and glory; no fear for the future, 4:8. We have internal peace because through Jesus Christ we have external peace with God. God is appeased by Jesus Christ Whose blood has been sprinkled on the mercy seat for us, and God's receipt has been given to us by the resurrection of Jesus. This peace has been made once for all through the blood of Christ on the cross.
[Distinction between peace with and of God:
[ 1. Peace with God. (1) Procured at the cross, Colosians 1:20. A. Enmity existed between man and God because man sinned. Man consequently has turmoil of soul, Isaiah 57:20-21. B. Justice draws the sword to slay guilty man. C. Jesus, the Go-Between or Mediator, paid the debt and satisfied enraged justice. (2) Proclaimed in the gospel, Acts 10:36. (3) Possessed by the believing soul, Romans 5:1. Some argue for the Revised Version margin, "Let us have peace." Scrivener well says, "Inference not exhortation is the apostle's purpose." Sanday and Headlam admit, "Inference and exhortation are really combined. The declaration of not guilty, which the sinner comes under by a heart felt embracing of Christianity, at once does away with the state of hostility in which he had stood to God and substitutes for it a state of peace which he has only to realize."
[2. Peace of God, Philippians 4:6-7. (1) What? It means the calmness, serenity, and peacefulness with which God faces difficulties. He never gets ruffled or disturbed. (2) How? Its conditions are freedom from worry, trustful prayer, constant thanksgiving. (3) The reward or result, Philipians 4:7. A. The degree--it passes understanding. B. Its value "keep." This is a military term and means guard or garrison. C. Its extent--"hearts and minds"--emotions and thoughts.
[3. Differences between them. Illustration: If I am at outs with a man, I need things set right so that I may be at peace with him. However, all trouble may be settled and leave me unhappy and worried while he is content and full of joy. My second need is the peace that he has. Note seven contrasts between peace with and of God: Based on the cross vs. based on service; indestructible vs. easily disturbed; unchangeable vs. changeful; standing vs. state; perfect vs. imperfect; eternal vs. temporal; external vs. internal.]
(2) Access (free admission) into the very presence of God through Jesus Christ, 5:2. This is by faith into His grace, not by works, law, or obedience. We have no access to our president or to any other of the dignitaries or kings of this earth because they are surrounded by guards. But we have constant access to God through Christ. This is the same as Hebrews 4:16. It is the basis of prayer.
(3) We have standing with God in this grace, 5:2. As sinners we stood or fell in disgrace, but in grace we have standing by grace. Most of us do not have much standing in the business, social, or educational world, nor with the officialdom of our own denomination. Our standing is not on personal merit but in the merits of Christ. Our standing cannot fail because Christ's merits cannot change.
(4) We not only have these present possessions but we can boast, exult, and glory in the hope of our future, 5:2-3. Hope of what? The glory of God with all it includes. Some boast of being saved up to date. Paul boasts of the future glory which includes every true believer through all eternity. Future glory was so sure with Paul that he put it in the past tense in 8:30. In 4:16 Paul says that the promise is sure to all the seed. Suppose we have tribulations, Paul says, "I boast of them too because they work perseverance," 5:4. We do not simply bear but glory in them because it matters not how hard the thing we go up against, it makes our future glory more sure. It works endurance, patience, continuance. This is the difference between the saved and the professor. Test makes the professor quit, but the saved endure. Experience works hope. ["Experience"; the Revised Version gives "approvedness." The Greek word means the quality of one who has stood the test.] The man that has this hope is never ashamed of it nor disappointed in it.
2. This Hope Has a Sure Basis in God's Love, 5:5-11. This hope is apart from works, circumcision, law, or obedience. This is a hope of future glory and never makes ashamed or disappointed at any future time after faith because the love of God is poured forth into our hearts like a torrent. This love is so poured out on the believer that he is never put to shame in the future. Paul gives a five fold argument on security.
(1) God's love to us makes it safe, v.5-8. This is the love of God to us, not our love to Him. If God so loved me when I was an enemy, a weak ungodly sinner, how much more is He going to keep on loving me when I am reconciled to Him through Jesus? He Who gave His Son cannot refuse us heaven. When we are justified by blood, we are safe from wrath. This much more is based not only on our reconciliation and justification by His blood, but also on His life of intercession at the right hand of G |