Paul’s Epistle to the Romans
April 25, 2021
Opening Prayer
Psalm 119 - Lamedh
89 Forever, O Lord, your word
is firmly fixed in the heavens.
90 Your faithfulness
endures to all generations;
you have established the earth, and
it stands fast.
91 By
your appointment they stand this day,
for all things are your servants.
92 If
your law had not been my delight,
I would have perished in my affliction.
93 I
will never forget your precepts,
for by them you have given me life.
94 I
am yours; save me,
for I have sought your precepts.
95 The
wicked lie in wait to destroy me,
but I consider your testimonies.
96 I
have seen a limit to all perfection,
but your commandment is exceedingly broad.
Prolegomena
The righteousness of God comes from outside of us (the
theological term is extra nos) as a free gift by faith. This is a
challenging idea to many.
We do well to remember that God’s law – the law that condemns our sin and that we seek to keep as proof of our righteousness – also comes from outside of us (it is extra nos). This, too, is an offensive idea.
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We often turn inward to determine what is right
and wrong.
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The law of God stands outside as an objective
standard.
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The advice to look within, search our feelings,
do what is in our hearts, etc. – is, in essence, a rebellion or usurpation of
God’s Law.
Both ideas – finding our righteousness apart from the righteousness that comes by faith and finding our law apart from the revealed law of God – puts us above God and rejects his Word as authoritative. It places us in the seat of authority over the Word.
Romans 3:25b-26
This was to show God's righteousness, because in his
divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 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.
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The word righteousness (dikaiosunes), just
(dikaion), and justifier (dikaiounta) are all from the same word family.
o
Righteous – we are “right with God.”
o
Just – God does what is right.
o
Justifier – God makes us righteous.
o
The word has a sense of moving in the right
direction.
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God’s forbearance is seen in that he punished
the sin of all humanity in one moment at the cross.
o
Matthew 27:46 - And about the ninth hour
Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema
sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
o
2 Corinthians 5:21 - For our sake he (God) made
him to be sin who knew no sin (Jesus), so that in him we might
become the righteousness of God.
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God is just
o
He does not tolerate sin.
o
He judges it, kills it, and damns is.
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God is the justifier
o
God the Son bears our sin like a scapegoat (Lev.
16!), dies as a sacrifice, and provides the blood that atones for our sins in
the presence of God.
o
He “justifies” – his blood covers over/removes
the sin that separates us from God and disqualifies us from being in his
presence.
How do we view Jesus?
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Many want to see him as cosmic and focus on the
resurrected Jesus.
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Paul presents Jesus as the crucified Christ.
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How should we depict Jesus?
o
Crucified, risen, glorious?
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Have you ever been in a church with a crucifix
at the altar? An empty cross? A risen Christ? What are the strengths and
weaknesses of each of those depictions?
Romans 3:27-31
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—who 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.
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There is no room for boasting because all the
real action in God’s righteousness is God’s action. (Our righteous actions
apart from Jesus are only imagined to be righteous in God’s presence.)
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A Law of Works?
o
Luther: Although the works of man always seem
attractive and good, they are nevertheless likely to be mortal sins. (Heidelberg
Disputation, Thesis 3)
o
A deadly sin is more likely a work whose
apparent goodness is such that it seduces us into trusting in it and our own
doing of it. … The symptoms of such deadly sins are present when grace is
ridiculed for being "too cheap," or when permissiveness, moral
laxity, and so forth are present. – Forde, On Being a Theologian of the Cross, p.
33, fn. 6
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The Law of Faith
o
Luther: Although the works of God are always
unattractive and appear evil, they are nevertheless really eternal merits. (Heidelberg
Disputation, Thesis 4)
o
The Law of Faith is both:
§
Passive
§
Receptive
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V. 28 – this is an extremely radical and
offensive idea in our world!
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Luther: The works of the righteous would be
mortal sins if they would not be feared as mortal sins by the righteous
themselves out of pious fear of God. (Heidelberg Disputation, Thesis 7)
o
In the end it is only faith (sola fide)
that justifies (dikaioô)
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God is one –
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Deuteronomy 6:4 – The Shema
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Isaiah 45:12 – I made the earth and created man
on it; it was my hands that stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all
their host.
o
Isaiah 45:20 – And there is no other god besides
me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me. (Isa. 45:21 ESV)
o
There is only one God who rescues all and his
plan of salvation worked through the Jews to bring justification to all who
have faith in Jesus’s blood.
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We uphold the law
o
But not as a means of our salvation.
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Luther: The law of God, the most salutary
doctrine of life, cannot advance humans on their way to righteousness, but
rather hinders them. (Heidelberg Disputation, Thesis 1)
o
So why uphold the law?
§
It is true.
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It is good.
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It is what love acts like.
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It is God’s will and way.
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It is wisdom.
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It is needed by our neighbors.
Homework
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Find the crosses or crucifixes in your house – or
do a Google search – and consider the significance of how this artistic
expression communicates the message of God’s salvation.
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