Transcript Slide 1

Studies in Romans
Presentation 09
Summary of Contents
OPENING REMARKS: 1:1-17
BAD NEWS: Universality of sin and its condemnation 1:18 - 3:20
GOOD NEWS : A gospel that changes our relationship to God 3:21- 5:21
HOW TO GROW AS A CHRISTIAN : 6:1- 8-39
Sanctification 6:1-23
The Place of the Law 7:1-25
Life in the Spirit 8:1-39
A SHORT DETOUR : Questions concerning Israel 9:1-11:36
HOW A CHRISTIAN OUGHT TO LIVE : 12:1-15:13
In our various relationships 12:1-13:14
Dealing with the ‘weak’ and the ‘strong’ 14:1-15:13
PAUL’S GENTILE MINISTRY, POLICY AND PLANS : 15:14-33
GREETINGS AND CLOSING DOXOLOGY : 16:1-27
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Studies in Romans
A Gospel that Changes our
Relationship to God
Chap.3v21- 5v21
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A Gospel that Changes… 3:21ff
Justification
Introduction
Biblical doctrine needs not only to be made understandable, but a
platform needs to be constructed to demonstrate their relevance. This
construction, part of the apostolic task, is undertaken by Paul in the
remainder of this section as he assembles such a platform.
Martin Luther called the doctrine of justification
the 'rising and falling doctrine of the church'
because he, like Paul, saw it to be of
fundamental importance.
Paul begins by providing his readers with
a case study.
Presentation 09
Studies in Romans
Abraham:
A Justified Man Part 1
Chap. 4v1-25
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A Gospel that Changes…
Abraham: A Justified Man 4.1-25
Paul’s construction method involves demonstrating that ‘justification by
faith’ was the means God used to bring Abraham into a right relationship with himself. The wisdom of this choice will become apparent.
The opening verses reinforces his earlier teaching in
1.2, 17 and 3.21 that his gospel was not a new idea.
Paul’s opponents would have set Abraham and the
O.T. Over against Paul’s ‘new teaching’.
But Paul Argues:
‘I stand on the same ground as Abraham.
The way of salvation that I proclaim is precisely
the way in which Abraham entered into salvation’.
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A Gospel that Changes…
Abraham: A Justified Man 4.1-25
1. Continuity in God’s way in dealing with men.
Paul’s argument is that God deals with people throughout history in
essentially the same way. In other words all men enter into a right
relationship with God by grace through faith. Paul did not teach that
Jesus provided a ‘new’ way for God to deal with men.
Paul’s Jewish opponents claimed he did and further taught that it was
through law-keeping that a right relationship with God was established.
Some today wrongly believe that before the coming
of Jesus, salvation was earned by law keeping
but after Jesus it was freely given.
The issue is one of Continuity v Discontinuity
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A Gospel that changes our relationship to God 3:21ff
Continuity v Discontinuity
Before Christ
After Christ
Continuity:
A right
A right
Grace
Grace
relationship
relationship
Faith
Faith
Paul’s argument is that God is deals with people
throughout history in essentially the same way.
Grace
Faith
A right
relationship
A right
A right
Law
Law
Grace
relationship
relationship
Works
Works
Faith
Paul’s opponents argued that he taught that God deals
with people in a quite different way
A right
relationship
Discontinuity:
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A Gospel that Changes…
Abraham: A Justified Man 4.1-25
Abraham believed in God’s way of redemption.
The Jews held Abraham, the father of their race, in high esteem. Paul
asks them, "How did Abraham come to be so favoured by God?"
If it was through human accomplishments, personal goodness and
godliness of life, then Abraham, and all who emulate him, would
have much to boast about. But - and this is precisely Paul's
point - Abraham's right standing before God did not
come in this way. Rather, it became his by faith
cf. v3 'Abraham believed God and it was credited
to him as righteousness'. Paul quotes Gen 15:6,
which records the first time the doctrine of
justification by faith appears in the Bible.
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A Gospel that Changes…
Abraham: A Justified Man 4.1-25
God made a covenant with Abraham that contained important
promises of redemption. These promises focused on the coming of
Christ the Saviour of the world. Did Abraham understand these
promises in this way ? Yes cf Jn 8:56 'Your father Abraham rejoiced
at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad!' [cf. also Acts
3.25; Gal 3:8]. And so when we read that ‘Abraham believed God’,
we need to pour into those words this meaning, ‘Abraham
believed in God's way of redemption 2000 years before it
became a concrete reality’.
And so Abraham was justified by faith in precisely the same
way as N.T. believers. Justification has its roots in the O.T.
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A Gospel that Changes…
Abraham: A Justified Man 4.1-25
Salvation is not a wage earned but a gift given.
The doctrine of justification is of such fundamental importance that
Paul wants his readers to be absolutely clear as to its meaning and so in
v4-5 he appeals to human logic.
If you work for someone you expect them to pay you. When your
employer gives you your wage he is not acting out of generosity.
He is giving you what he owes you. Your work has
placed him in your debt, your wage is the
payment of that debt. When you receive it,
you do not throw yourself at his feet and shed
tears of gratitude; you take what you have
earned and politely say ‘thank you!’.
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A Gospel that Changes…
Abraham: A Justified Man 4.1-25
Salvation is not a wage earned but a gift given.
However, the relationship between God and man is not that of
employer and employee but that of benefactor and beneficiary.
We have no claim upon God. Salvation is not a wage that is earned but
a gift that is given. The word translated 'gift' here has the same Greek
root as the word 'grace'. Paul’s language makes it clear that the gift of
salvation is the product of God's unmerited grace.
Seeing this, opening our hearts and mind to this, is
one of the most important things we can ever do.
Abraham owed his right standing before God to
grace alone. This is the starting point of blessing
in the Christian life.
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A Gospel that Changes…
Abraham: A Justified Man 4.1-25
Trust contrasted with effort.
Paul contrasts ‘faith’ and ‘works’ in v5. He is saying, ‘here are two
approaches to God’. Either, man comes with his hands full of his good
deeds and says to God, 'See what I have done’, or he will say, 'I have
nothing to commend myself. I know that I cannot earn your favour and
so I abandon myself to what you have done for me
in Christ. I am trusting in the
provision that you have made for
my salvation.'
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A Gospel that Changes…
Abraham: A Justified Man 4.1-25
God justifies the wicked v5 , 6-8
The man who is justified is not only the man who comes to God with
empty hands, but also with an ungodly heart. God who
'justifies the wicked‘ v5. To whom is Paul referring?
Initially to Abraham! Although he was a good man, a
religious man, a generous man, and a courageous
man, he was also like the rest of mankind. He was by
nature a sinful man. Paul’s point is that God justifies
such people, and so he establishes beyond dispute,
that this work of justification must be all of God's
grace, and is in no way based on human merit.
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A Gospel that Changes…
Abraham: A Justified Man 4.1-25
Positive aspect of justification
The expression, in v5, 'his faith is credited to him
as righteousness' brings out another important
point. The doctrine of justification by faith
does not say that because God believes a man
to be righteous he therefore regards him as such.
God cannot call black white, or evil good, or unrighteousness
righteousness. What justification does is to credit the believer with
Christ's righteousness. God writes that to his account, and only
because he has done that he regards him as righteous.
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A Gospel that Changes…
Abraham: A Justified Man 4.1-25
Negative aspect of justification
The other side of justification is that our sin is
not counted against us . Paul’s argument is
reinforced by turning our attention to David,
in whose life the doctrine of justification was at work.
Paul quotes Ps 32 and although he introduces
these verses as pointing to the blessedness of the man to whom
God credits righteousness apart from works, they in fact speak of the
blessedness of the man to whom God does not impute sin. Thus
revealing the other side of justification by faith. God no longer counts
the sinners’ sin against him cf. v7-8.
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A Gospel that Changes…
Abraham: A Justified Man 4.1-25
Does God engage in Creative Accounting?
Are our sins conveniently lost in the
system so that God’s people have no
case to answer? No! God took the
Sin
believer’s sins, and instead of
crediting them to his account,
he put them into Jesus’ account.
He punished the believer’s sins in Christ. Through his incarnation, Jesus
opened an account in the bank of humanity. In dying he transferred the
assets of his righteousness to his people. He made them spiritual
millionaires, and accepted the transfer of their debts to his account. He
agreed to pay the price of their sin and spiritual bankruptcy cf. Isa. 53.4.
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A Gospel that Changes…
Abraham: A Justified Man 4.1-25
Objections raised to justification: v9-17
1. Surely God’s promise of blessing and salvation, made to
Abraham, are tied into a religious rite – circumcision?
How does Paul deal with this objection? First, he appeals to history.
He reminds us that Abraham was justified, ‘declared to be in
a right relationship with God’, before he was circumcised
[some fourteen years beforehand]. Therefore, to argue
that justification flows from circumcision, is
historical nonsense.
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A Gospel that Changes…
Abraham: A Justified Man 4.1-25
Objections raised to justification: v9-17
Paul asks, ‘Why circumcision given?’ In v11 he describes it as a ‘seal’.
The purpose of a seal is to authenticate the genuineness of something.
Suppose someone were to receive a letter that made certain promises.
How could the writer persuade his readers that the promises were
genuine and not a forgery written by someone pretending to be him?
Quite simply, the writer would pour hot wax on the
document and onto the hot wax he would place his
seal. The seal made clear the identify of the writer.
Such a document could excite great expectation.
This is the way in which the word 'seal' is used in v11.
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A Gospel that Changes…
Abraham: A Justified Man 4.1-25
Objections raised to justification: v9-17
Paul makes a further important point about Abraham's circumcision.
The fact that it followed justification means that Abraham can rightly
be called 'the father of all them that believe'. The non-Jew, who is not
circumcised but who by faith has entered into a right relationship with
God, is as much an heir to the promises of blessing that God made
Abraham as is the circumcised Jew who shares Abraham's faith in a
God who justifies. The implications of
v11-12 must not be lost on us. It is faith
in the God who justifies that is the vital
matter, and it is this alone that binds
the people of God together.
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A Gospel that Changes…
Abraham: A Justified Man 4.1-25
Objections raised to justification: v9-17
2. Surely God’s promise of salvation are made ours through
law-works [v13-16]? Answer No. 1
The Jews believed that the blessings of God came through the law, and
therefore the promises that God made to Abraham could only become
theirs by law-keeping. Paul makes a historical observation: Abraham
received the promise of God's blessings long before
[430 years] the law was given to Moses. When
God made his promise to Abraham there were
no conditions attached. God did not say,
'If you are obedient enough then I will...'.
God acted out of sheer grace.
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A Gospel that Changes…
Abraham: A Justified Man 4.1-25
Objections raised to justification: v9-17
Grace a hard concept to take in, because many of our relationships
have a conditional element built into them. Promises
often have strings attached. Think of the parent who
says, 'I promise to teach you to drive the car, if you
promise to put petrol in it'.
We are not used to getting something for nothing.
Indeed, it goes against the grain of human nature to take
something we have not earned. But, Paul says, the
promises God gave Abraham have no strings attached,
they are not conditional upon law-keeping because
they were made before the law was given.
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A Gospel that Changes…
Abraham: A Justified Man 4.1-25
Objections raised to justification: v9-17
2. Surely God’s promise of salvation are made ours through
law-works [v13-16]? Answer No. 2
It is clear from v14-15 that the law is incapable of providing a bridge
across which God's promise can march. First, if the promise was made
through the law, which is primarily concerned with deeds then the
construction materials are those of human performance.
And you have introduced works, when you do
that, you banish faith.
The building materials of faith and works
are incompatible, one excludes the other.
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A Gospel that Changes…
Abraham: A Justified Man 4.1-25
Objections raised to justification: v9-17
2. Surely God’s promise of salvation are made ours
through law-works [v13-16]?
Either you build a bridge of works or a bridge of faith. You cannot build a
‘faith-works’ bridge.
Works-Faith x
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Faith
A Gospel that Changes…
Abraham: A Justified Man 4.1-25
Objections raised to justification: v9-17
2. Surely God’s promise of salvation are made ours through
law-works [v13-16]? Answer No. 2
Secondly, it is useless to try to build a bridge from the material of lawworks. Why? Paul has already shown that man is incapable of keeping
the law. Had God said to Abraham, 'I promise you some wonderful
blessings provided you keep the law. When you construct such a bridge
the blessings will march across it', then God's promise becomes a piece
of fiction. ‘God would be taking
back with his left hand what he had
given with his right’.
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A Gospel that Changes…
Abraham: A Justified Man 4.1-25
Objections raised to justification: v9-17
2. Surely God’s promise of salvation are made ours through
law-works [v13-16]? Answer No. 3
The law brings wrath and condemnation, first by exposing the ugliness
of sin. Illustration: a man lives in a house with subdued lighting. He is
happy, he thinks is a clean home. One day, a visitor arrives and pulls
back the curtains. For the first time brilliant
sunlight pours in. The house owner is alarmed
to sees dirt and dust that he did not believe
was there. Similarly, the law makes us feel
uncomfortable in the light of God's holiness.
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A Gospel that Changes…
Abraham: A Justified Man 4.1-25
Objections raised to justification: v9-17
Secondly, the law leads to wrath by aggravating sin. When the law tells
me not to do a thing, it brings out the rebel in me. When a child reads a
sign that says, ‘Keep off the grass', what does he do? He walks on the
grass. The sign in the pond says 'Do not feed the ducks.'
What does he do? He looks in his
school bag for last week’s uneaten
sandwich, and throws it into the
pond. The law in itself is good, but
it stirs our fallen natures to do the
opposite, leading not to blessing
but to wrath.
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A Gospel that Changes…
Abraham: A Justified Man 4.1-25
Objections raised to justification: v9-17
Paul concludes his case against the law by arguing that 'where
there is no law there is no transgression'. Paul is not saying
that where there is no law there is no sin or failure. Sin and
failure existed before God gave the law through Moses.
But what the law does is it defines our failure. It makes
our transgression apparent, it brings it into sharper
focus.
The law therefore always condemns. It brings a
knowledge of sin and reveals the hopelessness of the
human condition.
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