Rom 3

Date: 10 February 2009, D – 11 days

Events:

No, I didn’t go wakeboarding (that was back in october) but thought a lot about it. Kinda, "California Dreaming on such a winter day." I’m in fact not doing much these days, just studying medicine (to stay sharp), writing and working out. That’s about it for yesterday. Deployment did get changed again to 20 Feb.

Bible:

Rom 3

God's Righteousness Upheld
3 Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? 2 Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. 3 What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? 4 By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written,
"That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged."
5 But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? ( I speak in a human way.) 6 By no means! For then how could God judge the world? 7 But if through my lie God's truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? 8 And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.
No One Is Righteous
9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written:
"None is righteous, no, not one;11 no one understands;no one seeks for God.12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good,not even one."13 "Their throat is an open grave;they use their tongues to deceive." "The venom of asps is under their lips."14 "Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness."15 "Their feet are swift to shed blood;16 in their paths are ruin and misery,17 and the way of peace they have not known."18 "There is no fear of God before their eyes."
19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
The Righteousness of God Through Faith
21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since God is one. He will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

Bible Thoughts:

1. “3 Then what advantage has the Jew?... Much in every way…” As we discussed yesterday, the Jews who were given the full Old Testament law, tradition and Prophets had a great advantage over the Gentile who had not such privilege. The advantage was limited though to what should have been an easier recognition and belief in the coming Messiah. The Old Testament Law, tradition and Prophets conferred no benefit without Christ, as faith in God’s “Right Hand” for redemption is the heart of the Old Testament and Jewish faith.

2. 3 What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? 4 By no means! Paul pre-empts the Jews argument that God is not faithful to his covenant if the entire people is not saved. Again, the Jews misunderstood then and misunderstand now their salvation to be secondary to their inheritance (DNA). The Jews were a proud people who thought that they were saved by the DNA and Law of their Father Abraham apart from the Faith from their Father Abraham. Paul will later make the point that all “True Israel” will be, not may be, but will be saved (Romans 11). Thus, God has been faithful to his covenant as savior of “True Israel.” The difficulty then was much the same as the difficulty today, as a majority of church-goers are not true Christians. God who looks upon the “circumcision of the heart” (see yesterday) knows those who were and are relying on him (not themselves) for their salvation. These few represent the true Israel/Christians.

3. 5 But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? Just as the police and courts are praised today for bringing criminals to justice, so too is God magnified when those who sin against him and trash his name are punished. Though our blackness makes his purity shine all the more, this in no justification or excuse for lawlessness. The vary argument shows the futility of human reason as we attempt to justify our sins apart from the blood of Christ.

4. And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just. A wise man once said, “if you are not occasionally charged with antinomianism, you are not sharing the gospel enough.” Paul faced the same slander in his day. Antinomianism is a heresy that the Christian is no longer obligated to follow the law. It is true that the Christian is no longer under the punishment of the law but this in no way excused the Christian from doing the right thing. Finally understanding the full wrath and eternal consequence that our sin’s brought in the punishment of our Loving King Jesus Christ how can we go on sinning? I have said it before but it bears reiteration, though the punishment of our sins has been dealt and we are no longer under the condemnation our sins deserve, the offense of our sins to our heavenly Father is no less. Further, when we, God’s adopted children sin against our Father, how much greater is God’s pain than when a stranger commits the same sin?

5. 9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. While the Jews who knew the whole law, tradition and prophets had a distinct advantage, without faith in Christ (the direct object of the law, tradition and prophets), they were indeed no better off. Mere knowledge of the law does not save; mere knowledge of the prophets confers no blessing without their direct object that is Christ.

6. … all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin… Though the law, as a gift of God was good, what the law demonstrated… the sin of man was not. Here, Paul brings the charge of Sinner against all mankind, by Jew Paul means those with the law, by Greek he means those without the law. Regardless both, indeed “all,” are sinners. The Apostle John later says…"8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” 1 John 1:8-10. Fundamental to our acceptance of the Gospel is our understanding of our own sinfulness. Without owning our sin, we will never realize our need for the gospel. The world can attempt to deny man’s innate sinfulness all they want, saying…”you’re good enough, you deserve this.” But there is something inside every man that screams the contrary. If not, why the amazing market for worldly self-help books that continue to propagate the lies? No, truth and peace are not found in the denial of our sin but in the acceptance of our sin and the acceptance of an adequate atonement for that sin. Marla can testify that I freak out every time I see a depressed/anxious person reading a secular self-help book. Reason being, the majority of these books are written from a false perspective (human goodness) that does not recognize the reality of the human state (sinful), what can they possibly teach us? If anything, they drive us further into a denial of the reality that exists inside of us and cause a greater and greater inner tension between our “ID”, “ego” and “superego,” resulting in the full spectrum of physiatric pathology from depression to anxiety.

7. "None is righteous, no, not one… Romans 3 is one of the best commentaries on man’s “radical/total depravity.” The doctrine of “Total Depravity” states that Man, as inheriting the original sin passed on from Adam is born unable to follow or choose God, instead every inclination is towards the self and world. As Paul later says in 1 Cor 2:14-15, “14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” Christ himself declares in John 6:44, “44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.” Sin’s systemic effect has rendered natural humans dead to the gospel, “Eph 2:1-5. 2 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— too often, our salvation is made analogous to a man drowning in the ocean who has but to swim to God’s “life preserver” in order to be saved. This analogy is far from biblical and steals the credit God deserves in order to preserve man’s autonomy. The bible does not refer to unsaved man as drowning but as dead. How is a dead man to save himself? A more biblical analogy is a child who falls into a frozen lake; EMS pulls the child, now dead and stiff, out of the water after a 2 hour submersion. The child is then transported to my ER where I (not the child) take the pulseless, apnic, blue, dead child in my arms place him on a bypass machine to warm him then shock the cold dead heart back to life. You see in this example, the responsibility and thus the glory goes to the rescuer and not the rescued. Though all men are “free” to follow their will, their will is never “free.” Thus, men may “freely” choose to follow God but only after God acts first to shock their cold, dead heart back to life. Like it or not, this is a biblical view of salvation. If you do not like it, I challenge you to get to the root of why you don’t like it. Could it be that you want for Man’s glory, autonomy and freedom over God’s glory, autonomy and freedom? The question, I guess is irrelevant, as we are still forced to make a choice between knowing and following the Biblical God that exists or creating for ourselves an Idol God that we wish existed.

8. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. What may have been unclear in Romans 2 becomes crystal clear in Romans 3. The Old Testament Law and regulations were never meant to Justify anyone. Righteousness was never meant to be earned through the law; rather, the law was meant to point to it’s direct object…Jesus Christ. The Law is to be used much as I use a CT Scan, to diagnose an illness that needs treatment. The CT never cured anyone but through diagnosis, I am now able to target a disease and prescribe a treatment. God’s CT machine (the law) reveals a disease within all of us that we are unable to treat by our own strength. Instead, we need Christ’s external, given treatment.

9. Intro to vs. 21-31: In his first 3 chapters or Romans, Paul has declared the entire world both responsible and accountable for denying the creator and breaking the law. This condemnation culminates in Chapter 3 which may be better titled, “surrender hope all, ye who enter” whereby the reader is so battered as to surrender nearly all hope of atoning for so great a fall, what follows thought is one of the most comprehensive and precise presentations of the Gospel in the entire bible. If you ever need a quick reference, a “Gospel for dummies,” flip to Romans 3 and read and own it.

10. …righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law... “righteousness of God” i.e. Christ’s righteousness, not my self-righteousness as earned my obedience to the law but a foreign righteousness earned by Christ by his perfect obedience to the law.

11. the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. This is an Imputed, infused, external, and foreign righteousness, not inherent, earned, self righteousness. This was perhaps the greatest debate of the reformation, and a debate worth separating over as it is fundamental to our view of salvation. The question posed was…are we saved by our own righteousness as achieved with Christ’s assistance enabling us to pay our own debt through pious activity? OR, Are we graciously given Christ’s righteousness once and for all through faith? This verse (and the rest of the bible for that matter) supports the reformers and first 1000 years of Church history that maintain we are forensically (as if in court) declared righteous through Christ’s infused work the moment we truly believe.

12. all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, As above, the use of “all” demonstrates the universality of need. Not Paul, not Peter, not John, not Mary, and not Mother Teresa in all their greatness, in all their good works were able to cosmically right all their sins. They were unable canceled their own debt or earn their own salvation apart from Christ. I feel they would be rightly infuriated if they heard of such lies. Thus, there is no “treasury of merit,” as when Paul and John (arguably the best Christians to ever live) evaluated their own lives, they realized they too were likewise condemned by the law with nothing to offer for their own salvation, nor the salvation of others, but a bunch of “dirty rags”.

13. Justified Christians (like the military and doctors) have many terms we throw around and expect people to understand. So that we are all on the same page, the definition of justification is made righteousness…declared innocent. Justification is used in a “forensic” sense, meaning-- as if in a court of law. To be justified means to be once and for all declared Righteous before God. It is true the Justified may still sin but this never takes us out of a saving relationship as salvation is not granted or withdrawn based on my daily works/sins but is granted by my faith (which itself is a gift) in Christ’s completed work on the Cross.

14. Justified by his grace as a gift…(ESV) other translations “Justified, freely” (NKJV, NIV). I included the most common English translation “freely” as it more clearly demonstrates the point. We were not given salvation because we swam to God’s “life preserver.” We were not given salvation because we were wise enough to chose God or because we were righteousness enough in our works to deserve God. But we were justified “freely.” Our “no free lunch” culture makes it difficult for us to understand such a gift. We are accustomed to earning our way, never asking for help, “you get yours and I’m gonna get mine.” In this culture, it has become difficult to humble ourselves to admit that salvation is not something that we can achieve on our own “will or effort” (Romans 9:16); but humble ourselves we must, or there is no salvation.

15. through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Note what is not included, charity, trips, going to church, taking communion, having children etc. Christ alone give redemption from sin. Don’t get me wrong, all of the above activities are good but they effect sanctification (spiritual maturity) not salvation. Salvation is based on Solo Christos (Christ’s work alone).

16. whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, Note, propitiation not the softer expiation. Propitiation depicts not only the expiation-payment, but also a turning or satisfaction of God’s wrath.

17. propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. Again, note what is not included, charity, trips, going to church, taking communion, having children, not drinking/dancing and all the other thousand things Christians imply are necessary for salvation. Again, if we’re talking maturity fine but please never confuse sanctification with justification or you will quickly lose both your joy and thankfulness. Justification is base on Solo Fide (faith alone). Everything we choose to “do” past justification is merely as a grateful response to our ransom being paid.

18. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. And why was humanity saved and God’s wrath satisfied in such a draumatic mannor as the crusifiction of Christ and ensuing eclipse, earthquakes and miraculous resurrections? Sole Deo Gloria (For the glory of God alone). Just as the Karate Kid was glorified when he finally crane kicked that bully in the head, so too is God to be glorified for conquering death and rescuing his children from their sin. It is for God’s glory that we have been saved and not our own. It is that we may praise God all the louder that he dragged our will kicking and screaming from sin to righteousness.

19. that he might be just and the justifier God is entirely responsible for our salvation from first to last. Let me illustrate this with an Old Testament passage that I hope to do justice. 7 And he (God) said to him (Abraham), "I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess." 8 But Abraham said, "O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?" 9 He said to him, "Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon." 10 And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other..17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. Gen 15:7-10,17,18 What is depicted here is an Old Testament Covenant making ceremony. There are two parties, Abraham and God. Animals are cut up into bloody messes separated one half from the other leaving narrow, bloody pathway between them. Abraham would have recognized ceremony in which both parties would be expected to make promises to each other and then walk in between the animals signifying that if they did not fulfill their commitment, then like the animals they too would be cut into pieces. But, instead of each party committing some good or service, we see an entirely one sided covenant (hardly could be called a covenant) as God promises to bless Abraham and his descendents with the promise land but all Abraham bring to the equation is faithlessness and adultery then in an amazing twist, God walks between the animals. God says to Abraham, If I do not fulfill my promise to you and your offspring then like these animals I will be cut to pieces. In true dramatic irony, God did indeed fulfill his promise but the fulfillment itself required God’s own blood, In Christ’s bloody death. God is in the habit of one-sided covenants (as what could we bring that God needs?). Our covenant with Christ too is entirely one sided, he has been crucified for our transgression; all we bring to the equation is faithlessness and adultery (forsaking our first love and following Idols). In this way God get’s all the glory for the rescue of his Children. He is truly both the just and justifier. God instituted a covenant of works and then fulfilled its requirements with his own blood.

20. 27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. If we did swim to the Life Vest or were smart enough to choose God on our own accord then we would deserve the lion’s share of the credit for our own salvation as we would then be the responsible party, the effective element driving the equation. If our salvation were dependent on our “free choice” then Christ did not actually accomplish anything on the Cross. Christ’s blood would have only opened the door for our salvation but we were the ones who walked through it. I prefer to believe (and the bible supports) that God cares more for me eternal salvation than for my autonomy. Please look very, very closely at Eph 2:8-10: “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. In this verse we see the interplay of faith, grace and works. Notice we are saved by Grace- the gift not only of Christ’s life and blood but also of our faith. Notice how Paul qualifies “faith. And this is not of your own doing.” Our faith is not something we can drum up or create on our own (remember the discussion of Total Depravity) No, the very faith that secures our Justification is also the gift of God. And why? That no one may boast. God is entirely responsible for our salvation and far from robots, we praise God as those helpless dead, frozen children made alive only by the very breath of God.

21. He will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law. This is occasionally referred to as the “new covenant,” I prefer to instead call it the “full revelation of the Old Covenant,” as even Old Testament Jews were ultimately saved by Christ’s blood through a primitive faith that God in his mercy would somehow atone for their law breaking. Thus, in Christ’s sacrifice, the law is upheld like never before because the Justice of God has finally (after 2000 yrs of prophesy) been finally (once and for all) satisfied.


Sun Tzu:

“Therefore a wise general strives to feed off the enemy. Each Pound of food taken from the enemy is equivalent to twenty pounds you provide by yourself.”

“Transportation of provision itself consumes twenty times the amount transported.”

The Intellectual Devotion (Kidder, D. & Oppenheim N. The Intellectual Devotion, Rodale. NY, NY 2006):

Sarah. Sarah was the wife of Abraham and matriarch of the Jewish people. Sarah was so beautiful that when she and Abraham fled to Egypt during a famine, her beauty caused Abraham to fear for their safety. Concerned that Pharaoh would take Sarah and kill him, Abraham pretended that Sarah was his sister. Pharaoh did take Sarah, but God punished Pharaoh, allowing Sarah and Abraham to escape to Egypt together. Sarah was infertile for the majority of her life. Thus, as was the custom, she gave her handmaiden, Hagar to Abraham so that he could continue his lineage. Hagar gave birth to Ishmael (Muslim’s claim him as their patriarch). After Ishmael’s birth, Sarah became jealous and Abraham banished Hagar and Ishmael. When Sarah was 99 years old, through divine intervention, she bore Isaac the father of Jacob (Israel). Sarah died at 127 and was buried in the Hebron Valley where, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are also buried.