Romans 5

In this chapter we’ll find out that there are benefits to trusting Christ in the here and now, not just in the future.

There are eight benefits: Peace; Access; Hope; Patience; Love of God; Holy Spirit; Deliverance from the Great Tribulation; Joy

The Verses

1. By one act of faith, we have peace with God through Christ. 1) World Peace – never happens; 2) Peace known as "tranquility of soul." John 14:27; 3) Philippians 4 the peace that passes understanding…peace with God – the peace that comes to a soul when he’s trusted Christ as savior and now has a God who is for him.

2. "Access" means we have access to God in prayer by faith. Our hope is "of the glory of God." That is the hope of eternity with God. I don’t know what Heaven will be like, but it will be eternally satisfying and joyful. Bernard Shaw pinned his hope on atheism. He said, when he was near death, "You’re looking at an atheist who has lost his faith."

3. Rejoice in troubles (sufferings). Suffering teaches us to keep on keeping on. We must learn to trust God in our suffering. Joy, hope and patience are associated with trouble. We need, by faith, to understand that God uses our troubles to work for good.

4. Perseverance builds character. There is no character in inconsistency, not giving our all, or not finishing a task. Character is built when we exercise our faith by keeping on going and not giving up.

5. This is the first time the Holy Spirit is mentioned in Romans. Notice he does not say that God WILL give us the Holy Spirit, but that He HAS given Him to us. After verse 8 the Holy Spirit is mentioned over 20 times.

6. Christ died for the ungodly. If we were not ungodly when we came to Christ, we never came to Christ. God does not save us by love. God is more than love…He is Holy and Righteous and can’t release sin just because He loves us. He saves us by His GRACE (Ephesians 2:8).

7. There have been so-called martyrs who have died for what they concluded were good causes and for good people, but it is rare. But nobody willingly gives up his life for a cause he knows is not a good one.

8. God revealed His love in Christ’s death, burial and resurrection. We were not "good little boys and girls" when Christ died for us…we were sinners. And while we were STILL sinners Christ died for us. We do not "clean up" to come to Christ, we come just as we are or He won’t take us. If there is "cleaning up" needed, he’ll do the cleaning AFTER He does the saving.

9. Christ did not die for Godly people, He died for the ungodly. We are saved from wrath through Him. Zephaniah 1:14. "Rock of Ages," says, "save from wrath and make me pure." We’re save by grace; we live by His grace and ten million years from today we’ll be in heaven with Him.

10. He died down here to save us. He lives up there to keep us saved.

11. We need to learn to "joy" in God. Have faith that God is who He is; that He has provided salvation for us. "Reconciliation" is a bookkeeping term. In bookkeeping, the debit columns and the credit columns of accounts payable and accounts receivable must be reconciled; that is: balanced.

Every credit must be posted and every debit must be entered and the books have to be reconciled.

Your eternal books were reconciled when Christ gave His blood for the remission of your sins.

Not only are we reconciled to Christ, we have been given the ministry of reconciliation (II Corinthians 5:18-21).

Romans 4:1-25

We’ve just studied the doctrine of JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH.

Here we have JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH illustrated by Abraham-before the Law and David – under the Law.

This section will deal with the idea that all, from the beginning of mankind, are saved by faith in Christ.

The Verses:

1. The "then" ("therefore in the KVJ) refers to the previous chapters. This reveals to us that the nation of Israel began with Abraham and that Abraham understood something about God’s salvation.

2. If Abraham had been justified by works, he would have some things to boast about. Yet Romans 3:27 teaches that we have nothing to boast about in our salvation, especially when ultimately standing before God. (Ephesians 2:5-10) Abraham’s good works were not the ground for his salvation. (James 2:21 – Abraham’s willingness to offer Isaac was proof of his faith, God’s preventing him from doing so was a picture of God’s grace.

3. See Genesis 15:6 and Hebrews 11:8-12.

4. We do not work for nothing. We work for wages. When you complete a day’s work you have earned and are owed a day’s pay.

5. The man who does not think of his salvation as a result of work but of faith is credited with God’s righteousness.

6. David, who was under the Law, was not justified by the Law, but by his faith.

7. This is quoting Psalm 32:1-2.

8. This is quoting Psalm 102:12. Also see II Corinthians 5:19.

9. Reiterates his teaching that salvation is not for Jews only.

10.He reasons that God’s grace belonged to the Jews even before they were circumcised.

11. God’s grace extends to gentiles.

12. Abraham’s faith was exhibited before he was circumcised.

13.Righteousness comes not by adherence to the Law, but by faith.

14.If we have to depend on our adherence to the Law, then our faith is useless and meaningless.

15. Without the Law, you would never know you had sinned.

16. "The Promise" is Christ (not the "Promised Land" or some ethereal promise)

17. This verse has been erroneously used by the "name-it-and-claim-it" crowd.

18. Abraham’s hope was in spite of the physical evidence of age, etc. Hebrews 6:19

19. Abraham and Sarah’s bodies told them that childbirth was impossible.

20. God want us to keep on keeping on in the faith

21.We must have no reservations about Christ’s ability to keep us as He promised.

22. Reference back to verse 3.

23. "It was credited to him…" is for us as well.

24. God will credit righteousness to ANYONE who trusts in and only in the finished work of Christ at Calvary.

25. Jesus was delivered to death…why?…not to be a martyr, but for our sins. His resurrection PROVED that we are therefore justified.

Romans 3:21-31

GOD’S WONDERFUL SALVATION

JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH

RIGHTEOUSNESS FOR A GUILTY AND SICK WORLD IS AVAILABLE

The Verses:

21. This not a reference to the attribute of God, it is the righteousness that He provides for us. I Corinthians 1:30; II Corinthians 5:21. You and I cannot work out our righteousness. God demands it and provides it. God can’t save you by the Law because you and I can’t keep the Law. God can’t accept imperfection, and you and I can’t provide perfection. The Old Testament witnessed to it. At the center of the Mosaic system was the Tabernacle, where a bloody sacrifice was offered. That bloody sacrifice pointed to Jesus Christ. The prophets witnessed to it. Remember Isaiah?

22. We are absolutely saved in Christ and in no other; we’re completely lost out of Christ; there is no middle ground. You are either a saint or an ain’t. Now, to be righteous means to be fundamentally right with God, and that on His terms: Under Law He requires righteousness from man; under grace He gives righteousness to man. The righteousness of God is that righteousness which God’s righteousness requires Him to require. This righteousness is secured by faith and not by works. Christ’s righteousness in imputed to all who believe: THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE: Between the Jew and the Gentile in this point:

23. (This is continuation of the previous thought). ALL HAVE SINNED (Jew & Gentile), and come short of God’s glory. What does "short of God’s glory mean?" Check out Romans 8:30; 9:4; II Corinthians 4:17; Colossians 1:27. This is a glory imputed to men. Then look at Matthew 25:31 (who is "his?") Romans 8:18; I Corinthians 10:31;

24. (This is the second part of the thought in verse 23) JUSTIFIED = Just as if you had never sinned; FREELY = there is no cost (except God’s cost); GRACE = God’s riches at Christ’s expense; REDEMPTION = claiming something that has already been paid for; Christ Jesus is the vehicle that brought us salvationl

25. ATONEMENT = "At One Ment"…being made one with Christ; FAITH = the essence of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen; FAITH IN WHAT? FAITH in the finished work of Christ at Calvary…where He shed His blood for us. He has DEMONSTRATED true justice (I John 1:9), past, present and future.

26. It boils down to the person of our faith: Jesus.

27. There is nothing over which we can give any credit of any kind to ourselves. We are not justified by observance of the Law, but on the principle of our faith.

28. Man is justified by faith apart from the Law (How many times does Paul have to make this point before we’ll adopt it as our own point?)

29. God is God is God of both Jew and Gentile. He is God and no one else is.

30. People in the Old Testament were justified by faith. People of the New Testament are justified by faith. The circumcised are justified by faith. The un-circumcised are justified by faith. The object of that faith always has been, is now, and always will be none other than Jesus.

31. When we exercise faith in Christ, we do not nullify the Law. The Law is upheld, not by what we do, but by who we trust. If you want to be saved by perfectly upholding God’s moral Law, you can only do it by faith in Christ. It is by our faith that the Law is upheld.
　

ROMANS PART 4

Romans 3: 1-20

1. If Jew and gentile are on the same footing before God, what is the value of circumcision? Rites and rituals have no meaning. After salvation, God will lead to church and baptism. Doesn’t my creed, my church membership, my baptism help toward salvation? NO.

2. Paul’s answer: The Jew should have had an advantage and a responsibility. God gave to Israel His oracles and gave them the responsibility of propagating the Word of God. God has a future for Israel. Israel was not a shadow of the church, but the base on which the church rests.

3. A man’s unbelief does not cancel the faithfulness of God. Our faith’s weakness does not negate God’s faithfulness. His promises to me do not depend on MY faith or faithlessness.

4. The unbeliever is a liar, because the faithfulness of God cannot be changed. I John 5:10.

5. Some argue that since Israel’s unbelief does nothing more than put in contrast the faithfulness of God with the faithlessness of man. Is God unjust to visit these people with wrath? NO. This is sometimes used as an excuse for sinning. Paul presents this question from the human point of view.

6. Here Paul states emphatically states that God would have no standing if He were at any point unjust. God defines "justice," not us.

7. If I can make God more just by my sin, since He can then forgive me more, then He would be unjust to judge me.

8. Paul drives his argument to its logical conclusion - argumentum ad absurdum.

9. Here starts the accusation of guilt against mankind. Christians are in no way better than non-Christians. Man is a sinner by both behavior and nature. Man does not become a sinner by sinning. Man sins because he is a sinner. Bad things happen in this world because it is a fallen world…period.

10. Too many equate being "righteous" with DOING right things. The only righteousness we have is that which has been imputed to us by Christ. That is to be right with God. God’s salvation is take-it-or-leave-it. Moral relativism says, "What’s good for you might not be good for me." God says, "I’ll decide what’s right and what’s wrong.

11. Paul asserts that there are none who seeks after God. Fact is, it is God who has sought after us. Christ’s death, burial and resurrection is evidence of the transcendent nature of God’s love for us.

12. Psalm 14:1; Psalm 53:1-3; Ecclesiastes 7:20.

13. When you visit the doctor, he looks at your throat. He can tell a lot about your health by looking at your throat. An infected throat gives off a foul odor. The fact of sin gives off a foul spiritual odor.

14. Cursing here is more than just bad language…it is an attitude toward God. James 3:5-6.

15. Man does not do well at trying to live in peace. Mankind tends to move toward war.

16. In war, the point is to kill people and break things.

17. Men don’t understand the meaning of "peace." They think it is the absence of war. But real peace belongs to God, and He will share it with you. John 14:27; Philippians 4:7.

18. Proverbs 9:10. Men do not fear God. Instead they openly and stubbornly defy Him. They live as though God does not exist.

19. If you are under the Law, the Law will condemn you. Get out from under the Law and get under Jesus.

20. You can not be justified by the Law…not by obedience to it nor by even observing it. Justification is by faith and by faith only. Galatians 3:23.

ROMANS PART 3

Romans 2: 17-29

The relationship of Jews (and us) to the Law.

The person who claims not to be a legalist, but who thinks adherence to the Law gives him some sort of favor with God, is a legalist.

The verses:

17. Jews reveled in their knowledge of and following of the Law. They thought (think) that following the Law proves their relationship with God.

18. Here begins the three essences of hypocrisy. You think you are better than anybody else because you have been instructed by the Law.

19. You think you can instruct other in righteousness because of your knowledge of the Law.

20. You think you have some corner on truth because you know the Law.

21. Teachers are not held to a higher standard, but to the highest standard (as we all are), which standard is not comparison with others, but comparison to Jesus. I John 1:10 tells us that we cannot claim to have no sin without making God out to be a liar.

22. Anyone who thinks he is righteous because he does not commit adultery needs to read Matthew 5:27-28. Sin is not a matter of behavior, but of an inward attitude toward the righteousness of God.

23. You may say, "Well, I live by the Ten Commandments and try to keep the Law." So look at James 2:10.

24. When you claim to be righteous when you are not, you give a false witness (the breaking of one of the Ten Commandments, by the way), and cause the name of Christ to be looked down upon.

25. The fleshly observance of ritual only has value in the life of someone who is perfect in his own behavior. Since we are all Law breakers, the rituals have no meaning.

26. Sometimes pagans do a better job of "living the Christian life" – as far as keeping the Law is concerned –than Christians do. That is even more reason not to claim to be "closer to God" than another.

27. The world will recognize our hypocrisy a lot quicker than they will recognize our good deeds.

28. To be a Jew was supposed to mean to be a specially chosen one of God and in a special relationship with Him. But the real test is what’s on the inside…and no Jew (or anyone else, for that matter) can claim closeness with God by ritual and other outward "evidences."

29. By the standard of verse 19, the Christian is a real Jew, because he lives by the Spirit, not by the Law. The righteous do not do acts of righteousness in order to be seen by men or patted on the back by others, but to know the acceptance and even the PRAISE of God. By what means do we get that praise? Not by anything we do, but by accepting what He has already done for us at the cross of Calvary.