Rom 1

Date: 7 February 2009

Events:

Slept in (still on leave), read, wrote, played with Sadie and by the time I had finished, Marla was home and we watched a great show on the History Channel called Bible Battles. In Bible Battles, the commentators are all military historians and they follow Israel from the Joshua through the Judges and into Saul’s reign discussing the tactic’s Israel used in each significant battle. The show had great graphic depictions of the battles, knowledgeable commentary and a good bit of theatrics during the battles. It gave a good impression of how bloody war was back then. The Military historians, of course, interpret all campaigns strictly from a tactical standpoint, often butchering the theology but it was a very good show overall and I would highly recommend it. Marla and I went out to a Brazilian Steakhouse last night with some great friends and it was amazing!

Bible:

ROMANS

Greeting

1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which

he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,

7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Longing to Go to Rome

8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you 10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— 12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine. 13 I want you to know, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

The Righteous Shall Live by Faith

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith."

God's Wrath on Unrighteousness

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

Bible Thoughts:

1. By way of an introduction to Romans, let me first say this is my favorite book in the bible. Romans was written to Christians in Rome that Paul had never met. Therefore, instead of dealing with specific issues as we will see in most of his other epistles, Paul moves systematically through the doctrines of the faith. My love for this book, however is far deeper than simply as a great doctrinal work as this book was instrumental in my final conversion to Christianity. Though for years, I had gone to Church and considered myself a Christian, in the summer of 1999 I went off to ROTC Advanced Camp in Fort Lewis Washington. My battle buddy for the 8 weeks was a solid Christian guy and though we never discussed theology he would often sing or hum as we trekked through the woods. It was at Advanced Camp that I felt an inner change occur that I was unable to describe until years later. Barely aware of the change at the time, I never mentioned it and probably wrote it off as sleep deprivation. When I returned to Fort Worth, however, the change was more evident. I no longer wanted to hang out with my girlfriend of 3 years and had a great urge to read a bible. I finally stopped one day, randomly opened the bible to a book and started reading. And what book did I randomly open to but Romans. I had likely seen or at least heard some verses from Romans prior to this experience but for the first time, I understood what I was reading. Through sort of a Never Ending Story experience, as I moved through Paul’s exposition of the universality of sin, the fall of man, the origin of my faith and my necessary response, I found myself and my faith in the text. In my opinion, my heart was regenerated, “reborn” (not by my own will/desire) that summer at Advanced Camp and I repented and believed that August back in Fort Worth. God may correct me when I get to heaven but that’s my testimony. The Lord must hold Romans in high esteem as He used it to awaken not only my soul, but Luther’s as well (comment 11).

2. “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle” If asked, I feel that Paul would echo my own experience of contributing nothing to salvation. Instead of an actor’s/effectors our conversions we were, instead, acted upon. Far from weighing the cost/benefit of the gospel and deciding to internally muster a belief, quite the contrary, one day a belief was given to us by external, irresistible force. Paul’s conversion experience in which was called to apostleship and became a servant of Christ was, however, a bit more dramatic than my own. As a Jewish Pharisee from birth, Paul (Saul at that point) had spent his life zealously studying the scriptures. Paul was passionate for his Jewish faith as demonstrated by how aggressively he persecuted the Christians even condoning the killing of our first martyr Stephen (Acts 7). This, however, changed in an instant (and quite contrary to his will I might add) when Christ appeared to Paul and irresistibly drew him to apostleship. The story is awesome and classic please enjoy it again:

Acts 9:1-19

9 But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" 5 And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do." 7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. 8 Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

10 Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." And he said, "Here I am, Lord." 11 And the Lord said to him, "Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, 12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight." 13 But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. 14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name." 15 But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name." 17 So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." 18 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; 19 and taking food, he was strengthened.
From this point onward Saul’s (Paul) life was irresistibly altered. There would be no more sleeping in a comfortable bed, no more life with his immediate family, no more standing in a place of honor as a Pharisee. Instead Paul was conscripted to become, in my opinion, the most influential of all the apostles. Paul left his life of comfort and accolade to become a missionary to the gentiles, despised by his own people. The life Paul found in Christ, however, was more full of love, grace, peace and contentment than any he could of dreamt of as a Pharisee (see the last chapter of any of his epistles or Philippians). His eternal reward was secured, Paul embarked on his exciting and eternally fulfilling journey.

3. …gospel of God… And, why was Paul willing to forsake all becoming a slave to Christ and apostle to the Gentiles? The Gospel, the “good news” to the world that whereas the Law that Paul knew so well promised only condemnation and death, Christ, living a perfect life earned for us all of the reward of heaven and in his death paid the final sentence due the law. Now through belief (honoring) Christ’s historic person and work we can be imputed (given) his merit unto heaven and his death can be our paid debt.

4. …promised beforehand through his prophets… who was descended from David… Why had Paul and the other Pharisee’s not recognized Jesus as the promised messiah? They had misinterpreted the Old Testament prophesies. The Jews were looking for a king in the worldly sense who would save them from their worldly oppressors forever. The Jews expected the messiah to be a militant king like David who would lead them in conquering the world. Thus, when Christ died there hope was lost. As grand as their expectations for the prophesied messiah were, they were none-the-less far too small. Far greater than rescuing the Jews to a worldly comfort and security, in Christ’s death, He has rescued them to an eternal comfort and security; and, far greater than a militant conquer of the gentiles, he has conquered without weapons but with an offered assimilation into the promises of the Jews. The Prophesy concerning the messiah is extensive and all points accurately to the life and work of Jesus Christ.

5. …declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead… As discussed yesterday in Matthew 28, our best evidence that Christ truly was the son of God, lived without sin, and paid our debt was death’s inability to hold him. Likewise, our hope rests solidly in the fact that as Christ conquered death, through his completed work, so shall we.

6. 6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, Paul could mean one of two things here, if Paul speaks to the “general call” (as this is prior to addressing the saints) then it is true, the whole world is called to belong to Christ, some of course will not heed this call. On the other hand Paul may be speaking of the "effectual call" meaning that if people are reading his letter and professing to be believers we can make the safe’ish assumption that they have been effectively called (given faith). The point worth making is that Human’s are free to follow their will, their will however is never neutral. Without Gods supernatural intervention (effectual call) people will invariably follow their own selfish desires not submitting to Christ’s lordship. It is only through God’s regeneration of the person that they are then able to respond affirmatively to the gospel and submit to Christ’s lordship.

7. 7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Always important to recognize who the letter is addressing many a theological argument can be resolved by simply determining who the author is talking to. For instance, I would discuss different issues in different ways with my wife, vs. my Christian friends, vs. my non-Christian friends. I might write a love letter to my wife, addressed to my wife, that taken out of context and applied to my friend Joel would look quite inappropriate

8. 8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. My question to the Arminean (free-willer’s) is… if faith is entirely something that you internally drum up and you are not influenced by God in any external way, so as to impede your freedom, then why does Paul thank God for the disciple’s faith at the beginning of every one of his letters??? Paul does not thank God for simply opening the way to salvation but for their faith. If God has nothing to do in influencing or giving with your “freely” self-created faith then why thank God? Further, why would we pray for an unbeliever’s faith if we did not believe God to work in regeneration prior to the unbeliever’s repentance. It is horribly inconsistent to fight so hard for Free-will and then all of a sudden turn around and pray that God would give your mother faith. In the end which is more important that the almighty free-will is not encroached upon or that your mother is saved? What God would you rather serve, a deity that stays at a distance so as not to disrupt free-will, throwing the flotation devise but waiting for you to swim to it or a God that performs CPR on your dead soul, who is responsible for your salvation from beginning to end? Which God deserves more Glory? Which God is more powerful? Forget all those questions and ask yourself the only important one, which God is described in the bible?

9. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. As I said earlier, Jesus is techniquley the Jewish Messiah. Romans 11 is a beautiful commentary as to how we gentiles, out of love, have been incorporated into God’s plan for the Redemption of True Israel.

10. "The righteous shall live by faith." It was Luther’s intense study of Romans, Galatians and in particular this verse that sparked the reformation. Luther, a monk in the Catholic Church in the 16th century was deeply troubled by this verse as he witnessed righteousness being promised not by faith but by pious acts, rituals and at its worst being sold. Luther’s intent was never to split the Church but to reform the church, to take the Church back to what it had been just a few years earlier. Luther, having studied church history and as a student of Saint Augustus came to realize that the bible (and Catholic Church up until the 15th century) promises righteousness as based on internal faith not on external action. A righteousness based on the finished work of Christ, not the continued “righteous” activity of the individual. The bible promises an imputed (external) righteousness (Christ’s) that through faith is gifted to the believer completely separate from good works. The bible further says that attempts to achieve salvation based on this self-righteousness is insulting to Christ and makes void his sacrifice (Galatians 2). Luther noticed the gross deviation of his Church from this concept that had occurred during his life; righteousness was not earned by Christ’s work on the Cross but sold at a cost. Righteousness in the catholic church of the 16th century was granted by endless rituals, long journeys to the holy land and at its worst actually sold. If the individual 16th century catholic was deemed righteous by these pious activities and did not need any further “indulgence” then they could always make a financial or action-based donation toward their dead relatives righteousness. Understand that there were many in the Church that also attempted to stop these abuses, these debates culminated in the Council of Trent where the opposition (not just from Luther) from within the Catholic Church was quenched and the doctrines that defined the 16th Century Church were institutionalized. There were then and continue to be amazing believers in the catholic church but this new 16th Century Catholic Church’s refusal to rely on the tenets of the Reformation (what had been the tenets of their own church) led to the split. Do not be deceived, it is the Church that changed not the reformers. As their name implies, the reformers tried to bring the Church back to the doctrine it was founded upon, Righteous based on Faith alone in Christ alone given by Grace alone for the Glory of God alone as described in the only authoritative text, the Bible.

11. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. Here we see the concept of “General Revelation.” The world around us testifies to a creator. People have recognized the presence of a creator based on the world around them since the beginning. Modern man’s denial of a creator is in no way a more sophisticated or intellectual opinion than the caveman’s acceptance of a creator; in-fact, quite the contrary, it cry’s of the ignorance of modern man as to the true purpose of science. Science merely describes the world around us it has never created anything. The fact that we can now explain how things work through science in no way voids the need for a creator as we have never and will never, threw science uncover history. We may see how things mechanically work but we cannot understand what put them together, nor can we understand why they were put together. Far from contradicting each other, science and religion complement each other as each seeks to answer a completely different question. As we let the bible answer questions it address, let’s confine science to the questions it address, the mechanisms not the creation or the why’s.

12. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, It seems to me that people have lost their amazement for the general revelation as described above, instead they seem content to believe that somewhere there is some scientist standing in a long white coat that can explain the existence of a universe without the need for a God. As one who wears a long white coat and studies the human body let me be the first to say that we cannot explain even the most basic functions of the human body; a body that we can touch and experiment on let alone the mysteries of a vast universe that we have only scraped the surface of. There are molecules (not cells, molecules…strings of carbon) in your body that do more complex tasks than any human could dream of accomplishing. Tirelessly these molecules check each of the 3 billion different proteins created in the nucleus of a cell to ensure each of its thousand constituent amino acids is in exactly the right place so that the protein will function as intended, one mistake could cost not just the cell but your life. There is no human with a brain, hands, feet and a library of knowledge that could accomplish this task and are we so silly as to believe that science can apart from a God created the universe and bank our eternal life on it? Talk about futile.

13. 24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator You may be tempted to think only of the Golden Calf, but I feel that many people are worshiping a “God” and “Christ” that I submit are actually creatures and not the ultimate Creators. I went out to lunch recently with an interesting man that new a great deal of church history and on the surface said all the right things but under the surface denied the need for nearly all creeds. Therein is a huge problem, without creeds (definitions) my Christ and the true biblical Christ may be entirely different entities. I may worship with name “Christ” but if I mean Raingod, then I am worshiping an idol. Granted the difference is not generally this great, just an example. Many of us however, worship God as our teddy bear in the sky, a god that is all love and devoid of any of his other characteristics such as Justice, Holiness etc… I would again submit that far from worshiping the Biblical God they are worshiping an Idol god as their God does not approximate the God of the Bible. 22 On that day many will say to me (Christ), 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' 23 And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.' Matt 7:22-23. This is why Creeds and Doctrine are essential, without them we have nothing to define the God that Rules, we have no common language or understanding and are at constant risk of worshiping an Idol.

14. ...men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. This begs, can a homosexual be a Christian...to which I would answer, Yes. With the reservation that a person that is actively participating in homosexuality (like any sin) without any remorse, without any felt need for repentance is not demonstrating the “fruit” that would say they are a Christian. Homosexual guys are some of the coolest and nicest that I know. Like me, they have sin in their life. By definition however, a Christian is no longer slave to such sin but desires righteousness. Thus, I would say that the sin in their life is no worse than the sin in my life and as long as we both desire true, godly repentance (not living in and loving sin) then there is hope for both of our souls. If, however, I am talking with a homosexual who feels no remorse and no need for repentance but gladly touts his life as ok and the bibles teachings as outdated, then I would have to assume him not to be a Christian. The beauty of the Gospel is that while we are all sinners, Christ’s blood is able to cover that sin, whatever it is. And, the Holy Spirit is promised to pull us out of our sin.

15. 32 Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. This speaks past “General Revelation” displayed to all by the creation, to a “Special Revelation” given through the Bible. Paul implies a deeper knowledge of the consequence of sin but a willing desire to continue unrepentantly in this sin. As above, the one who feels no remorse/repentance for whatever the sin is likely not a Christian.

Sun Tzu:

“Those who are near the army sell at high prices. Because of high prices, the wealth of the common people is exhausted.”

“Also because there are extraordinary levies, those with something to sell demand the highest prices they can get.”

Sun Tzu Thoughts:

Economics from the military stratigest! Sun Tzu describes something lost on the American people today, that businesses don’t pay taxes. Businesses simply pass the tax on to the consumer as increased price or go out of business these days with such a low profit margin. Thus, a tax cut for business is a tax cut for the people.

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

Instruments and Ensembles: Not including the human voice, there are five categories of musical instrument: 1) Strings (plucked or played with a bow), 2) Winds (played by blowing air), 3) Percussion (played with stick), 4) Keyboards, and 5) Electronic instruments

In 1750, the Baroque orchestra was established with a wind section, percussion, continuo (keyboard) and a string section. The Violin was the dominant voice of the baroque period.
With the advent of the Classical Period, the winds were increasingly used. Franz Joseph Haydn and Mozart are good examples.

In the 19th and 20th centuries composers such as Richard Wagner, Gustav Mahler and Arnold Schoenberg have written pieces for very large orchestras and incorporated instruments from popular culture such as saxophones, synthesizers and other electronic devices.