The epistle of Paul the apostle to the Romans
Romans 1:19-20
“Because what can be known of God is clear to their inner
moral sense; for in this way God Himself has shown it to them. For ever since
the creation of the world, His invisible characteristics – have been made
intelligible and clearly visible by His works. So they are without excuse . . .
(Williams’s translation) . . . yet He didn’t fail to give evidence of Himself
by doing good, giving you rains from heaven and crops in their seasons filling
you with food and happiness. (Beck)
Psalm 106:20, “They exchanged their glorious god for the
image of a bull which eats grass. They
forgot the God who saved them.”
If we compare the
sixteenth chapter to the narrative in the nineteenth and twentieth chapters of
Acts, we find that Paul was staying with Gaius in whose house the church of
Corinth met. Paul also mentions Eratus,
the commissioner of public works at Corinth.
(Dummelow, 1936) Eratus and Timothy
preceded Paul into Macedonia right before the riot in Ephesus. Paul includes a recommendation for Phoebe who
was from the Corinth area. The records
in Acts and the internal evidence indicate that the letter was written in
Corinth. The writing of this epistle
demonstrates a familiarity with all parts of the Old Testament and assumes the
same of the audience.
This epistle has
an unusual salutation. It is much longer
than most. Paul gives extra attention to
describing Jesus and the gospel in the opening paragraph. He explains that this gospel was predicted
long ago in the Old Testament. The
salutation to this epistle is not characteristic, like the epistle to the
Colossians; Paul is writing to people that he has not yet met. Unlike the Colossians, where Paul had sent
Epaphras to bring the gospel to Colossae,
Paul did not control the message that was preached. So Paul includes a mini-creed in the opening
along with an announcement of his calling.
Paul describes the gospel that he is called to preach as being foretold
in the Hebrew Scriptures.
Next, he describes
the subject of that gospel, namely the person and work of Christ. Wasting no time, Paul dives right in with a
description of the dual natures of Christ, Christ’s human nature as having been
descended from King David. Christ’s
divine nature was declared to be by the Holy Spirit in His resurrection from
the dead to be the powerful Son of God.
Paul claims that his obligation to preach this gospel of the union of
God and man in Christ, by the grace of Christ.
The purpose of Paul’s commission is to bring about the obedience to
faith of all the nations. This obedience
will bring about conditions so that people will glorify God. Paul makes a prayer of thanksgiving for the
scope of the Christian testimony of the Romans. And he prays that God would allow Paul to
travel to Rome. In this matter, Paul
prays constantly because he wants to bring them a spiritual gift that will
strengthen them and as he tells the Romans that they will encourage each
other’s faith. And anticipates that he might
enjoy the results of doing gospel work amongst them. Paul feels obligation to the Gentiles, since
he enjoys the blessings of the gospel, he must share it with those who are
without. Because the gospel contains the
method whereby people can achieve right standing before God, it is of the greatest
import to people with a need to address God.
This method reveals the way of faith that leads to greater faith
Habakkuk 2:5 reveals God’s righteousness as being both by and for faith. “See the enemy is puffed up; his desires are
not upright, but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness.” NIV
Another way to look at this verse is by faith you will be righteous, and
live. The wrath of God comes down from
Heaven against godlessness and wickedness because God is a God of truth, and in
being wicked, people hide God’s truth under a cover of unrighteousness. As is said in the Q’uran, in Al-Baqarah:
“And if ye are in
doubt as to what we have revealed from time to time to our servant, then
produce a surah like there and call your witnesses (if there are any) besides
Allah, if your doubts are true certainly . . .” (4:14) and again “and cover not
the truth when ye know what it is.” (5:42).
Paul explains the reason for this wrath. It is because people naturally know that
because there is a creation, there must be a creator. The power and nature of that Creator can be
inferred both from that creation and from its nature. Since the evidence of creation is readily
apparent, ignorance is no excuse.
Therefore, the
ancients, who had reason to know God, did not honor God with gratitude for
life, but turned aside to senseless speculations and exchanged the glory of God
for representations of what God had made, and exchanged the natural God-given
wisdom for the foolish notion that the God of creation was a bird, or a
crocodile or a cow. Trading in the
reality of God for the lie of worshipping the creation instead of the creator,
they disapproved of acknowledging God; God gave up on them. God allowed their minds to become depraved;
they had become fools with senseless speculations, so God allowed their foolish
hearts to become darkened; their thoughts turned to worthless things and they
turned to every sort of depravity and wickedness that their degrading passions
would lead them.
In the second
chapter, Paul lays the foundation for the universality of sin by exposing the
hypocritical nature of human judgment and the disparity between human and
Divine judgment. The perfection of
Divine judgment brings both condemnation and approval. This Divine judgment transcends the
distinction of the possession of the Law of Moses. In verse 11, “for there is no partiality with
God.” NIV. There is sin and righteousness both within
and apart from the law. It is the inward
nature of the person that makes the distinction; the circumcision of the heart.
Chapter 2: hypocrisy
is bad. M’kay. Don’t do hypocrisy. Psalm
62:11-12 “One thing God has spoken. Two
things I have heard: Power belongs to you God and with you Lord, is unfailing
Love; and you reward everyone according to what they have done.” NIV Proverbs
24:11-12 “rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering
toward slaughter. If you say but we know
nothing about this, does not He who weighs your heart perceive it? Does He who guards your life know it? Will He not repay everyone according to what
they have done?” (Israel’s
righteous among the nations) The benefits of circumcision extend only to those
who keep the Law of Moses in every respect.
The value in having been a Jew was possession of the word of God, but
the benefit of circumcision is for spiritual circumcision only. If the Jews violated the covenant, does that
mean that God breaks the contract too when He does not honor its provisions for
those who break it? No, because a broken
contract is no longer mutually enforceable.
If a Landlord fails to maintain a residence in livable conditions, the
tenant has the right to withhold the rent until such time as the landlord
abides by the contract. If a tenant
fails to pay rent, the landlord has the right to declare the contract null and
void and evict. The righteousness of God
is not highlighted by contrast with the wrong doing of humankind. The kind of righteousness of which Paul
writes is a metaphor from legal terminology.
It refers to standing to wit: a
hypocrite trying to enforce a contract that they themselves have broken has no
standing. A landlord who sues for
eviction for non-payment of rent on a residence that the landlord failed to
maintain in livable conditions such as no provision for heat, lack of access,
or a leaky roof is either going to have their case dismissed or be ruled
against summarily. (Likely the judge
will explain to that landlord that it is to their advantage to withdraw their
suit and forfeit their court costs.) In
order to have standing in a tort case, one must demonstrate damages. Standing, in this instance is a legal term
indicating having an interest in the issue before the court, having a right to
be in the court as an officer or as a friend called from the Latin amicus
curiae of the court, or having the right to pursue an issue before the court. The next theory of sin is sin as a broken
fellowship with God and redemption as atonement, not the repayment of a
debt. Paul again indicates the origin of
sin through Adam but gives no modus for the transmission from Adam to
everyone. That death came to everyone
due to the fact of universal sin. Paul
then contrasts sin with grace.
In the third
chapter, Paul declares the universality of sin as fact. He does not attempt to prove or explain
it. He expects this to be
self-evident. Does this contribute an
argument for the theory of sin as privation?
There are those who argue that without a doctrine of a sin nature, the
universality of sin is indemonstrable, but I say that a fallen nature of sin
removes free will and therefore accountability.
If we are incapable of righteousness because Adam sinned then sin is not
sin and there is no such thing as moral agency.
If there is no such thing as free choice, no possibility of human
righteousness, then Friedrich Nietzsche was correct when he said,” there are no
moral phenomena at all, only moral interpretation of phenomena.” The argument that as potential souls in the
semen of Adam, we agreed in Adam to sin is just too silly for a response. If sin is an inborn trait, it is not a
choice. Furthermore if sin is an
acquired characteristic, then our greatest argument against evolution is
exploded. If acquired characteristics can be inherited, then Natural Selection
is true. And Levi did not pay tithes to
Melchezidek either Hebrews 7:9 is merely a statement of the primacy of Abraham
over Levi as his ancestor. The doctrine
of original sin is not necessary to account for the universality of sin because
the universality of sin is fact. Indeed,
since moral agency is dependent upon free will, the Divine foreknowledge of sin
is not the foreordination of sin, else sin is not sin and Christ died in
vain. There must be the possibility of
human righteousness in order for sin to be imputed. Yet the fact remains in verse 23, “all fall
short of the glory of God.” Which of
course, is true because if we did not fall short, we would be God and not
human.
The word for sin
in the Koine Greek is harmartia which is missing the mark. Everyone has diverted energy from going the
distance to selfish pursuits. Charles
Grandison Finney taught that all sin is some form of selfishness. If there is an inborn sin nature it is our
helplessness as infants which programs our minds to think of self first. The fact simply is that when the time comes
to break the pattern, no one does, except our Lord Jesus Christ. Since righteousness is Divine righteousness,
that is, perfection, anyone not limitless, not perfect, not divine is not
righteous and in need of imputed righteousness by faith through grace.
In chapter four,
the faith of Abraham was credited to his account as righteousness Here we
encounter a different theory of sin, that sin creates a debt that must be
repaid; a fiduciary theory of sin. But
still the concept of privation remains.
This debt concept introduces the concept of earning the means to repay
or justification by works. To which Paul
responds that wages are not a gift and that Abraham was given a gift of
justification by pointing out that righteousness was credited to his account
before he was circumcised. Again sin is
described in financial terms. But what
was the faith for which Abraham was credited?
James says that Abraham believed God when he took Isaac up to Mount
Moriah to be sacrificed. Was that not an
act? A work? Abraham’s faith counted for
righteousness. In the matter of the
sacrifice of Isaac on Mt. Moriah, God was testing Abraham, God foreknew the
outcome. Abraham was testing God. Abraham’s faith was evident when he said to
Isaac, “God will provide the sacrifice.”
Abraham’s righteousness was not part of the covenant; it preceded it and
was the foundation for the covenant.
Since we have been
given standing before God, we are happy when we suffer, because suffering leads
to endurance. The one who has endurance
will develop a character that is tested and proven. Endurance brings strength with it. Because we are strong we have hope for a
positive outcome to the application of our strength. In our experience, strength brings
accomplishment. This hope that is built
upon accomplishment, proven strength, tested character, patience, perseverance
and tribulation does not disappoint. We
are not disappointed in our hope because it has this solid foundation and is
not built on empty air, but on propitiation by faith.
In the fifth
chapter, Paul cites Adam’s sin as the beginning of death in the world; and
Christ’s act of righteousness in the crucifixion as the source of God’s grace
coming into the world. In contrast, Paul
compares how much greater is grace and life for many people than sin and death
for all. In verse 9 of the fifth
chapter, we are justified by the blood of Christ; we are reconciled to God by
his death. When we come into the court
we have a right to be there as an amicus curiae (friend of the court) our standing
allows us to achieve a ruling that we are not subject to the wrath of God. In verse 13, where there is no law sin is not
counted. Paul contrasts Adam and
Christ. Paul proclaims that Adam was an
antitype of Jesus, they both stand at the head of their race; they both stand
at tipping points in history; Adam as the source of sin, death, and separation
from God, and Jesus as the source of grace.
Here we see the judicial theory of sin in that judgment came upon the
human race as Adam was representing all of us when he became our sin on the
cross.
In chapter six, no
one should say that we should sin all the more so that grace might
increase. Because when we become one
with Jesus, immersed into His spirit, we are also on the cross with Him in
death. In His death, our propensity
toward sin as habitual behavior died with Him.
We have, in His death, an escape from the habitual practice of sin. In His resurrection from death, we are baptized
into His life, resurrected into a rebirth, into a propensity toward righteousness,
and the capacity to practice righteousness to a habitual behavior. Perhaps it was a confusion of the baptism
into Jesus in His death and resurrection that induced the early church into
postponing their baptism until later in life so that an inadvertent sin might
not spoil their post-baptismal life in Christ.
This is where Paul begins His argument that without the resurrection,
the crucifixion is meaningless. It is the
resurrection that demonstrates God’s acceptance of the propitiatory sacrifice
of the crucifixion. Without the
resurrection Jesus does not take His own blood to the celestial temple to put
on the horns of the altar. That with the
sign and seal of God’s approval, hope in Christ is signified. Furthermore, it was Christ’s claim to have
the power both to lay down His life AND to pick it back up
again that is His unequivocal claim to full Divinity. It is the resurrection therefore that He is
fully God and thus an efficacious sacrifice.
Paul uses the institution of slavery as a metaphor for the dedication of
the individual to a life style; a lifestyle of sin or a lifestyle of
righteousness.
In the seventh
chapter, Paul’s next metaphor is that of a widow. The death of the husband releases the widow
from commitment and frees her from any condemnation in a second marriage. Just as we died to sin in Jesus, so also we
died to the law and because of that death we may forsake sin and the law and
proceed in a relationship; a relationship with Jesus the one whose death in
which we participate gave us the freedom from marriage to sin.
The law was a
signpost to sin both for good and for ill.
The law pointed out sin that it may be avoided, but it also called
attention to sin – Paul describes the human condition in the rest of the
seventh chapter and that the limitation of that condition creates the sinful
nature, but again Paul needs no traduction of sin from Adam to us nor any
agreement in Adam’s sin by our potential souls in Adam’s body to account for
the universality of sin. It simply
is. Furthermore this doctrine that the
soul of the child is in the male gamete is an insult to the humanity of
women. Isn’t it bad enough that Adam
blames his sin on Eve, that the consequences of sin only fall on humankind
through the sin of Adam but in addition to that in order to explain sin and
exonerate ourselves we must also tell women that they have no part in the
generation of the immaterial nature, the higher nature of the child that she
nourishes and carries in her own body with her own person. Remember, man was the prototype, woman, the
finished product. The 46th
chromosome in man is incomplete, but perfected in woman. God’s work in creation is praised for its
mathematical precision and elegance. The
geometry of man is cylindrical; it is a product of p.
The geometry of woman involves conic sections, a higher order of
math. The formulae of conic sections
involve square products. Conic sections
also describe trajectories. The geometry
of women is also the geometry of a body in motion; a body that is interacting
with its environment.
Woman was not
created from man’s foot for man to exalt themselves upon the backs of womankind
is wrong. Woman was created from man’s
rib, so that they may stand side by side in mutual embrace. A suitable helpmeet means a worthy
partner. In the book of genesis, after
creating man, God creates all the animals and brings them to Adam for naming,
but none of them were found to be a suitable partner for man, God, in
acknowledgement of man’s need for partnership, created eve custom made to be
the partner whose partnership brings God’s perfection to mankind. God could have chosen to become human with a
body created by spontaneous generation.
But God chose to honor women by being born of a woman; the ultimate
praise. Jesus, at the garden of
Gethsemane, did not want to be crucified, but He was obedient to the death of a
slave on our behalf. At the wedding at
Cana, Jesus did not want to change water into wine, because the time was not right. It was not part of the plan of salvation. Unlike healing the sick, opening the eyes of
the blind, healing the crippled to walk, changing water to wine was not
foretold by scripture. So why did Jesus
do it? In obedience to His mother, He
needed no other reason than His mother’s wish.
He changed the water to wine to honor His mother. How dare we disrespect that which God honors;
womankind?
Chapter seven
concludes with Paul’s declaration of the mind as the arena for the struggle for
dedication to God’s law. On this
occasion, Paul is perhaps not speaking of propitiation, but the fulfillment of
the law; because the power of the Spirit frees us from sin and death which the
law does not do. Nope! Next verse speaks
of Christ’s sacrifice for sin that frees us from the law. Through Christ, we have died to both sin and
the law so that we might live in the Spirit.
Paul speaks of full adoption into son and heirship in Christ through
future glorification and redemption of our bodies.
The eighth chapter
begins with the statement that the union with Christ removes the possibility of
condemnation. This is because Christ’s
sacrifice met the righteous requirements of the law. Paul makes quotes Psalms
44:2 indicating that we suffer for the sake of God, but God gives us
overwhelming victory and through His love. He indicates that this is our hope
since justification we have already have for as in verse 24, “who hopes for
what they already have?” NIV Paul also indicates that life in the Spirit
involves God’s perfect knowledge of our minds and hearts and a communion in
prayer between our spirits, God’s Spirit and God. And that this intercession includes Christ in
His official capacity as Glory at the right hand of God and that the
resurrection frees us from condemnation. I Corinthians 2:10-12 “For God
unveiled them to us through His Spirit for the Spirit by searching discoveries
everything, even the deepest truths about God, for what man can understand his
own inner thoughts except by his own spirit within him? Just so no one but the
Spirit of God can understand the thoughts of God. Now we have not received the Spirit that
belongs to the world, but the spirit that comes from God. That we might get an insight into the
blessings in our weakness, because we don’t know how we should pray, but the
Spirit Himself pleads with unspeakable yearnings, and He who searches our
hearts knows what the spirit thinks, for He pleads for His people in accordance
with God’s will.”
In verse 25,
through the rest of the chapter, Paul describes the loving-kindness with which
God cares for us; How God’s serendipity takes situations and makes the best of
them. In this, God has chosen us to be
made like Jesus. Since the ways of the
flesh, that is the way of the natural man – the person without Christ is
against the ways of the Holy Spirit. We
do not hanker after the things of the world, but the things of the spirit. We are in the realm of the Spirit, we live in
the Spirit, and we follow the Spirit who makes His home within us with
Jesus. Having died both to sin and the
Law, we live according to the Spirit. Paul
speaks of the full adoption into the heirship in Christ. Since we are adopted as the heirs of God, God
grants us anything because He has given us everything in Jesus, God stands for
us. With God for us, no one can oppose
us; no one can condemn us; no one and nothing can separate us from God’s
love. Some say that we ourselves can do
so. But what does Romans 8:35-39
actually say? I think that if we separate ourselves from fellowship with God,
we have still not separated ourselves form the love of God. Our heirship with Jesus extends to our
eventual glorification and redemption of our mortal bodies. Paul also indicates that life in the Spirit
involves God’s perfect gifts to us are freedom from condemnation.
The ninth chapter
is a theodicy, which is a defense of the sovereignty of God. The occasion of this defense is Paul’s sorrow
that his fellow Jews do not receive the sonship and blessings of God because
they reject Jesus. But in this rejection
by some Jews, God’s promise has not failed.
Because God chose Isaac, not Ishmael and God chose Jacob not Esau. God has chosen Jacob while the twins were yet
unborn. God tells Moses that God will
dispense mercy and pity according to His own choice. And God chose to inspire resistance in
Pharaoh to further His own purposes. Is
God unfair in the choices He makes? We
cannot say, God is the potter, we are the clay.
God does not choose arbitrarily.
In verse 11 Paul states that God is accomplishing a purpose in His
choices. From the perspective of the
clay, with limited perception, sensation, and cognition, how can we measure the
choices and decisions that God makes from a perspective that is limitless in
scope, perception, sensation, cognition, discernment, and so on? Paul describes the knowledge and choices of
God as not being from the limited nature of material existence.
Chapter 10 Paul
indicates his sympathy and empathy for the Jews. Verse 4 Jesus is the culmination and end of
the Law in order that righteousness by faith becomes available. Jesus is right here with us, we have no need
for someone to travel long distances in order to bring Jesus to us, and Jesus
and His word are in our hearts and on our lips.
In verse 9, Paul separates justification from salvation and continues
the image of heart and lips saying with the mouth confess to receive salvation
and with the heart believe to justification.
Paul ascribes justification to belief in the heart and salvation to the
work of confessing with the mouth.
In chapter 11 Paul
continues to explain the role of the Jews in the new covenant and uses a
metaphor of pruning and grafting a cultivated olive tree and in verse 29 he
declares that the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Paul explains the like the time of Elijah,
God has not abandoned Israel, no Israel entirely abandoned God. So the gentile Christians have no reason to boast
or become puffed up with pride because
the Jews were removed from the promise in order to make room for them
since that removal resulted in blessing, the return of the Jews will bring
about even more blessing.
The section of the
twelfth through fourteenth chapters show the convergence between the values of
Paul and Christ. The 12th
chapter begins with a description of true and proper worship which
is the service to God in our everyday lives: eating healthy and exercising to
enhance the temple of the Holy Spirit, making every step when we walk a moving
prayer; making every moment a gift to God according to God’s grace; and
according to His gifts to us. Our
individual gifts fit together to complete God’s church according to God’s plan,
some serve, teach, encourage, manage, share, and help the needy. Together all these people doing all these
activities in cheer and enthusiasm to complete God’s work. Paul encourages the Romans to support each
other in respect and love; to be happy with each other, to be patient with each
other. The kindness shown to strangers
and enemies will lead to the conquest of evil because revenge is the Lord’s
business not ours.
The thirteenth
chapter of Romans begins with Paul’s defense of the civilian government and its
place in the hierarchy of the Divine Moral Government of the universe. Verse 4, a sword is not normally used to
administer a spanking. Paul exhorts the
Romans to be only under the obligation to love; he echoes the words of Jesus
that in loving one’s neighbor as oneself, that one will naturally follow the
law because love offers no harm. Paul
says that the time is short and we should act as if our behavior was under the
scrutiny of the light of day.
Chapter 14: The details of your walk with Jesus do not matter
as long as your focus is on Jesus, if you are focusing on someone else’s walk,
whether you judge or criticize, your focus is no longer on Jesus. Furthermore, Paul in verse seven foretells
Donne’s dictum, “No man is an island”.
And as Christ is the lord of all of us, the living and the dead we
should not judge each other because Christ will judge us all. In the things that we do we are in
interaction with Jesus whether we live or die, it is in Jesus. In view of this, we should help and not
hinder each other in living for the Lord.
There is no moral agency, praiseworthiness, or blameworthiness in things
as in the things that we eat. The good
or evil in things is what we do with them; do we eat to the glory of God? Do we eat to the glory of self? Do we eat in excess or deficiency? Either of these is not eating to the glory of
God. Neither is eating something that
will cause another to stumble in their walk with the Lord. We no longer have the issue of meat offered
to idols, but the principle remains the same.
Be certain of your principles without doubt and follow them before the
Lord. If your practices without
misgivings then they are lawful, if they do not arise from faith, then they are
sin. In some manuscripts, the closing
doxology appears here.
In the fifteenth
chapter, Paul continues this theme of enjoining the Christians who are strong
enough to bear with those who are weak to help them in their Christian
walk. Toward this end, the scriptures
were written so that we might use them to learn. Not only that, but in the scriptures, we will
come to a place where we can value our spiritual hope all the more. And part of helping each other grow, is
having accepted each other into harmonious association. Jesus had become the proof of God’s truthfulness
by being the servant of Israel to the fulfillment of the promises that God gave
to the patriarchs. As well as the
gentiles enter into the promise, they become both praise to God, and the
occasion for God to be praised and the people praising God, and Jesus becomes
the hope of the gentiles. Jesus, this
God of hope, Paul prays will fill the Roman Christians with happiness and peace
by and through their having continuing faith and belief that trusts God, so that
the Holy Spirit in power will give more hope than they can contain. Paul then expresses his confidence that the
Romans can teach each other by their goodness and knowledge, so he only adds a
few minor points with boldness. He does
this because of his special mission to bring the gospel to the gentiles. This mission and the details of its history
are his glory, his offering to God and the glory of God by signs and
wonders. Paul expresses his desire to
push back the frontier of the gospel and not reiterate someone else’s work so
he wants to come to Rome on his way to Spain after having delivered the Greek
relief fund to the hungry of Judea from a famine (and incipient
communism). Paul begs for the support of
their prayer in this endeavor. Some
manuscripts place the closing doxology here.
The sixteenth
chapter contains personal greetings and a long list of personal
introductions. Finally, Paul warns to
avoid people who with smooth talk and flattery deceive people and cause
hindrances that oppose the gospel that they already possess. Paul then concludes with glory to God who
makes us strong by the gospel which is the revelation of ancient mysteries that
were prophesied of old in scriptures that brings gentiles into obedience by
faith. The 20th verse of this
chapter sounds like an ending it is the third such false ending. Part of this is natural variance between
manscripts. Since this letter was
dictated to secretary, (v22) preachers the use of the phrase “and in conclusion”
is absolutely meaningless.
Bibliography
Holy
Bible, 1979
The Church
of Latter Day Saints
Intellectual
Reserve Inc.
Salt Lake
City, UT
The Four
Translations New Testament 1966
World
Wide Publications
Minneapolis
Minnesota
The Holy
Bible New International Version, 2001
Colorado
Springs, Co.
The Holy
Qu’ran 2000
Wordsworth
Ed.
Herfordshire,
UK
Dummelow, J.R. Reverend, M.A. 1936
The One Volume Bible Commentary
Macmillian Publishing Co.
New York
