Paul’s Epistle to the Romans
May 2, 2021
Opening Prayer
Psalm 119
97 Oh how I love your law!
It
is my meditation all the day.
98 Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,
for
it is ever with me.
99 I have more understanding than all my teachers,
for your
testimonies are my meditation.
100 I understand more than the aged,[a]
for
I keep your precepts.
101 I hold back my feet from every evil way,
in
order to keep your word.
102 I do not turn aside from your rules,
for
you have taught me.
103 How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter
than honey to my mouth!
104 Through your precepts I get understanding;
therefore I
hate every false way.
Prolegomena
Romans 1:1-15 – Getting started and saying hello.
Romans 1:16-17 – I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith (sola fide), as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
Romans 1:18-3:20 – Exposing ways people try to prove themselves to be righteous.
-
This is also revealing the human condition and
the human inability to achieve righteousness in God’s economy. (Righteousness
in a human economy is achievable, but is not the same or sufficient for God’s
righteousness.)
Romans 3:21-31 – The righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law.
-
This righteousness comes through faith in Jesus.
-
It is rooted in his blood which was a
propitiation – the place where God meets us in mercy to forgive us.
-
This righteousness is received by faith.
-
God is both just and justifier.
«This changes our relationship to the law and provides us with the attitude reflected in Psalm 119.
Romans 4:1-3
What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our
forefather according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham
was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before
God. 3 For what does the Scripture
say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”
Abram/Abraham – Genesis 12-25
-
Highlights of his life?
-
What are his good works?
o
Boasting material? Humanly speaking - yes and
no.
o
Boasting material? Before God – no.
§
Luke 17:10 – “So you also, when you have done
all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we
have only done what was our duty.’”
Genesis 15:6 – Abram believed (amen-ed) in YHWH (and
therefore in His promise) and He reckoned it (Abram’s belief) to him
righteousness.
-
Believed – this is the root word for “Amen” –
it’s forms can mean actively supporting, proving oneself reliable/faithful, and
in a causative sense – viewing something/someone as reliable, putting one’s
trust in something/someone or to believe/have faith.
o
Why do we use this word to end our prayers?
-
Reckoned – valued, esteemed, thought Abram’s
faith to be righteousness, took Abram’s faith for righteousness.
-
Here and in 4:4-8 this word is translated counted
in the ESV. Other translations translate it as credited, reckoned
or accounted. (The KJV goes back and forth between counted and reckoned
… because that isn’t confusing.)
o
The word has the sense of thinking, evaluation, and
forming a judgement.
Romans 4:4-8
4 Now to the one who works, his
wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And
to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the
ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6 just
as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts
righteousness apart from works:
7 “Blessed are those whose lawless
deeds are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered;
8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will
not count his sin.”
-
Work, wages, and gift – an economic example
o
We might say that a person’s work is worth more
or less than they get paid, but if they worked it is not seen as a gift.
-
Blessed
o
Two words
§
God’s favor and protection – barak, eulogeo
§
A state of joy that flows from sharing in God’s
salvation and grace in the kingdom of God – ashre, makarios –
this is the concept in Matthew 5 in the Beatitudes, also here in Romans 4
o
Psalm 32
o
Psalm 1
-
Being blessed and being righteous go hand in hand.
They are connected to experiencing and knowing God’s judgement in the Law and receiving
God’s grace and forgiveness in the Gospel.
Romans 4:9-12
Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also
for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as
righteousness. 10 How then was it counted to him?
Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he
was circumcised. 11 He received the sign of
circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was
still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who
believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to
them as well, 12 and to make him the father of the
circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps
of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
- This lays out an argument for the reception of God’s blessing apart from being Jewish (and, therefore, apart from circumcision) by looking at the life of Abraham.
o
Genesis 12:2-3 - And I will make of you a
great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will
be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you,
and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the
earth shall be blessed.”
o
Genesis 13:14-15 - The Lord said
to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes and look from
the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and
westward, 15 for all the land that you see I will
give to you and to your offspring forever. 16 I
will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the
dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted. 17 Arise,
walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to
you.”
o
Genesis 15:4-6 - And behold, the word of
the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your
very own son shall be your heir.” 5 And he
brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars,
if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your
offspring be.” 6 And he believed the Lord,
and he counted it to him as righteousness.
o
Genesis 15 is the record of God’s
covenant with Abram. (v.13-14 are a prophecy of slavery in Egypt)
o
Genesis 16 – an attempt to fulfill God’s
promise for Him. The account of Hagar and Ishmael.
o
Genesis 17 – The Covenant of Circumcision
-
Father Abraham – the Father of those who believe
God and are credited as righteous.
Comments