There were some difficulties with the recording (due primarily to the operator!). They are marked Parts 1 and 2. Most of the audio is there. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Paul’s Epistle to the Romans
October 10, 2021
Opening Prayer
Lord, our God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, You alone
are God, and You alone are to be worshiped. You dwell in eternity; Your power
is without bonds, and Your mercy reaches to the clouds. Thank you for keeping
us safe in the past night, and for preserving our lives to this morning; the
first day after the Sabbath, the morning on which Your Son Jesus Christ early
rose from the dead. Let this morning always remind our souls of this Your
greatest and most wonderful deed, by which You declared Yourself reconciled to
a world lost in sin, and became our gracious and merciful Father, for when You
had made Your Son an offering for our sins, You raised Him up again for our
justification. Therefore we will praise You for Your goodness, and for Your
wonderful works to the children of men. Your praise shall continually be in our
lips, and we will say: Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me
bless His holy name; for He forgives your iniquities and heals your diseases.
Grant us Your Spirit to guide and govern us today. Preserve us from spending
this day of worship in idleness and sin, or engaging in such things which
distract the mind by drawing it unto earthly things or worldly pleasures. Fill
our hearts with the love of Your Word that we may eagerly hear and diligently
learn it, and that we may meditate on Your precepts. Grant us peace of
conscience through the faith of Christ that we may enjoy the true Sabbath-rest,
that rest of the soul in Christ to which He invites all poor sinners. Teach us
to keep our foot in going to the house of worship, and make the word of Your
grace to find room in our hearts, and to bring fruit which will remain unto
eternal life. Grant our prayer through Jesus Christ. Amen.[1]
Romans 7:1-3
Or do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to those who
know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he
lives? 2 For a married woman is bound by law
to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the
law of marriage. 3 Accordingly, she will be
called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive.
But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another
man she is not an adulteress.
v. 3
The word we translate “adulteress” is rooted in a verb that
means, “to commit adultery” and carries a sense of “being unfaithful.”
-
This was a common metaphor for idolatry in the
O.T. see Jeremiah 2-5
She will be called an adulteress … not the widow, but a wife
whose husband has not died and she “lives with another man.”
-
Mark 10:1-12
-
Divorce and remarriage – a sensitive topic.
o
Matthew 5:31-32 - “It was also said, ‘Whoever
divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But
I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of
sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a
divorced woman commits adultery.”
-
Can we not sin?
-
1 Corinthians 7:9
Biblical sexuality is different than the world’s sexuality.
-
There is a lot of confusion on this topic.
-
The Bible is not prudish – but it recognizes
sexuality as:
o
A gift from God.
o
Connected to pro-creation.
o
As a lifelong commitment.
o
For husband and wife.
o
Often violated.
-
The Bible is consistent from beginning to end on
this.
o
It is also realistic and recognizes that people
do not live up to the sexual standards God gives.
-
The Sixth Commandment: You shall not
commit adultery. What does this mean? We should fear and love God
so that we lead a sexually pure and decent life in what we say and do, and
husband and wife love and honor each other.
o
Do you notice anything about the formulation of
the explanation of the Sixth Commandment as compared to the others?
-
Sometimes people say that Jesus was not very
vocal on this issue. He didn’t need to be. The standard was agreed upon among
his listeners.
What is the image Paul is presenting here regarding us and
the law?
-
In ch. 6:3 – we die in baptism and are set free.
-
In ch. 6:5-7 – we are set free from slavery to
sin by that death.
-
Now it is as if we were wed to sin, but Jesus’
death puts sin to death setting us free.
o
2 Corinthians 5:21 – For our sake [God] made him
to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of
God.
o
Colossians 2:13-14 - And you, who were dead in
your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive
together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the
record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside,
nailing it to the cross.
o
Matthew 16:24-26 - Then Jesus told his
disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take
up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever
would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake
will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man
if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man
give in return for his soul?
Romans 7:4
Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the
law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him
who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for
God.
Is this a bit of a mixed metaphor?
-
Widow – survives husband’s death and is freed.
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We have died to the law through Christ.
Jesus’ death is substitutionary. He dies in our place –
therefore you died (passive verb).
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Romans 6 – Baptism
-
A new identity … like Mad Men’s Don Draper?
(Only a lot more wholesome!)
Having died in Christ, we live a new life.
We belong to another
-
The word belong means “be, become” it has the
sense of coming into a different state of being.
o
We become to/for another – belong to another
-
The previous state of being was enslaved and
bound to sin and death.
-
The new state of being is freed and alive in
Christ – “him who has been raised from the dead.”
o
The resurrection is the key reason the Apostles
present to believe Jesus is God’s promised Savior.
In order that we might bear fruit for God.
-
What fruit?
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Galatians 5:22-23 - But the fruit of the
Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against
such things there is no law.
-
How hard does a fruit tree think about bearing
fruit?
o
Do we understand this as a statement of the Law?
o
Or do we understand this fruit as a gift of the
Gospel?
[1]
Prayer for Sunday Morning from Book of Devotion: The Psalms, by Rev. F. Kuegele,
1895. Kuegele (1846-1916) was born in Columbiana, OH, and was (I think) the
first president of the English Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri.
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