Is Faith Black and White?

But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. -Romans 14:10

There is a severe problem in the church today and it concerns all Christians. There is an idea that we must meet the Gospel where it is. In youth ministries today the kids are shown a model of who they should be. They are given a model of how their lives should look. The Gospel to these kids is painted in black and white. 

The Gospel is not given with such dichotomy with the Pauline message. The Gospel, rather, meets you where you are. There is no set way to receive the Gospel, that would make it received on the basis of works. No, the Gospel comes to you, where you are, so there is no boasting. This is Paul's theology!

People come into churches today and try to change the way they are living their lives. The church gives them a model, a pattern of what they should look like. When the person makes a mistake (which is bound to happen) they walk away from church and from Christ. This is so important with youth today. We are trying to pull them to a certain way of life. When they fail to meet the standards then the only option is something else other that the church. 

This is tragic!

Paul's Gospel meets people where they are. In 1 Corinthians, Philemon, Timothy, Titus, Ephesians, and Colossians we see Paul painting the Gospel to the unique challenges faced in their lives. Can the same be done in the lives of young people and those that need a fresh way of seeing their faith today?

Does this mean that we overlook sin? May is never be! But is means that people will not all look the way we think they should. We need flexible ministries and ministers that will allow people to own their faith in a way that moves them to action. There is too much dichotomy of the way you must look if you are in church or out of church. Most people in churches are doing things we only think people outside of churches are doing anyway. 

What does that make the church? Failing people hide behind successful ministries and judge others. Stop trying to do ministry this way! It is causing a chasm that cannot be crossed. Kids are losing their faith because they think it cannot look any different than the way we say it will. We must do the hard work of meeting people where they are, even if it makes our worship services sloppy and hard to explain.

In short, too often do we ask people to put on church. We must allow the Gospel to compel them to put on Christ.

Too lofty a goal?

Paul did not think so! 

Wake Up!

Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

-Romans 13:11-12

Paul will turn his discussion of proper response to the argument that he has laid out in chapters 1-8 and supported in chapters 9-11. For the Roman audience, their government did not have the same service or forgiveness (chapter 12) toward people, so they would be in certain conflict with specific issues (especially in dealing with social justice). Paul makes it very clear that the church is to operate within the borders of that existing government, effecting change from within instead of from outside.

In a letter from Pliny (a Roman governor) to Trajan (a Roman Emperor) from around the 2nd century there is a plea for help with the pesky Christians. They will not worship the Roman gods and thereby contribute to the economy by buying sacrifices and souvenirs associated with temple worship. He goes on to say that they meet in the morning before light and worship together by singing a hymn and committing to one another to remain innocent from sin (a list much like the one found in verse 13:13). The governor was perplexed and needed help in ridding the empire of this nuisance. From within this oppressive government, Christianity became the favored religion within two-hundred years.

Christ has called his people to be the change within the government. Not by so much passing laws, as by being the example of what the ethic of those laws are intended to accomplish. People and governments do not change because of the laws that are passed, they change because they see an example of what they want to become and they work to become that. This should bring new meaning of what a Christian government should look like. A group of people that are what they want their government to be. But even if they are not, even if it is as bad as it could possibly be, hold fast!

We are nearer now than we were.

We need to wake up and walk in the darkness with a light of social justice.

We are not called to politics but to action (We should know by now that those are not the same). 

The End of Evil?

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. -Romans 12:2

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. -Romans 12:21  

Chapter 12 is the conclusion to the delivery and victory through Christ, for individuals and the whole of creation described in chapter 8. Because of the Jewish audience, a pause was required for Paul to explain how these "age to come" events were possible through the cross. Paul then turns to describe how the New heavens and New earth that will be a part of the "age to come" will change the responsibility and the identity of those that are a part of the kingdom here and now. 

I will pause here for a comment on the Gospel. One of the most tragic things that could be done to the Gospel involves the book of Romans. It specifically involves verses 10:8-10. In view of the progress of the argument of the book of Romans as a whole we have already seen that chapters 9-10 is an excursion to Paul's primary objective. 

Also, chapter 10 is addressed to a Jewish audience (10:1-4). Yet the Gospel is regularly presented by churches and pastors using these verses as if Paul is saying all you need is to believe "Jesus lived, died, and lived again." I guess this would be true if you are presenting the Gospel to a Jewish audience, but if you are not, then the better presentation of the Gospel is found in chapters 8&12. Paul, in these chapters presents a message of hope and of peace. Not just for us as individuals but as a creation. God will make his creation good once again and he will start with you, will you join him in his efforts?

This is the culmination of Paul's larger argument. God is just! He will bring justice to the earth. God will make things that were at one time good, good once again. Not only will he do this in the future but he will begin here and now, giving a small glimpse of what that is to look like. I could enter an excursion of how the church has often and unfortunately missed this important point. We have spiritualized heaven to the point that many of our partitioners and pastors have created  a "new Gnosticism." But I do not have the space for that.

So, how do we answer the question? What is the end of evil? The answer is forgiveness. I can hear the sighs of, "I thought there was an answer." It doesn't fit our view of justice. We want payback. We want punishment. Forgiveness is the answer, both now and for the age to come. This is where these verses are so key. In 12:2, Paul is bringing his earlier argument full circle. It is a changing of our minds from the way we would want evil to be dealt with. The cross demands that we change the way we deal with evil. This is an act of sacrifice (12:1), forgiveness always is. A sacrifice of both parties involved. If you want punishment and payback then you must accept it for yourself, as well. God has provided forgiveness for us and we can do the same for others. The second verse, 12:21, states that by forgiving others we can change their minds (the meaning of the cryptic, heap burning coals) and overcome evil. In light of recent world events, of which, some are still ongoing, it makes me wonder, are we responding properly to attacks against us? Could a more Christian response been more effective, even of confronting the wrongs? We must find and give forgiveness if we want to see an end to evil.

Payback does not overcome evil, it only continues the impact of that evil on others.

The call for punishment only reveals my own arrogance and pride (not to mention hypocrisy).

My charge, my call, is to forgive. Only then will peace come.

This is the closest thing to heaven on earth that we can see.

Not all Israel is Israel

But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; nor are they all children because they are Abraham's descendants, but: "Through Isaac your Descendants will be named." That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants. -Romans 9:6-8

Chapters 9-11 of Romans are possibly the most difficult to deal with in the letter. I will not pretend to dispel all of the issues in this simple blog (even if I could). But there are some observations in light of our previous discussions that lend themselves to comment.

Paul has just finished a discussion on the new heavens and the new earth. In Jewish terms, Paul is talking about the new age or the "age to come." From the Jewish point of view this discussion is problematic because if Jesus the Messiah has come and Israel has not been included then what does this mean for the Old covenant? Paul must pause his discussion at the end of chapter 8 and pick it up again in chapter 12. He pauses to answer these (anticipated) concerns of the Jewish audience of the Gospel.

It is important to say here that in the eyes of the Jewish audience the Messiah would usher in the new age. This would mean a bringing of justice to the earth, a response to the nations, and a judgement on those found lacking. Basically, the stuff Paul talked about in chapter 8. The problem is that these promises were made to the Jews (Israel). So Paul lays out two points about the "age to come."

The first is that the Jews saw the "age to come" as the coming of Messiah. Basically, time is split in half. There is the present age, then the Messiah comes, and then the new age begins. Paul presents another point on the time line, that of the cross. For Paul, this is the mystery of God. It was not revealed for the sake of the nations. The period between the cross and the new age is where we are now (and where Paul and his audience were then). This means the promise has been fulfilled partially but not completely. There will be a second coming of the Messiah.

The second point answers the concern of the Jewish audience's inclusion in this age. They would have felt duped by the "change of plans." This is where Paul addresses "Israel." Paul's point is that there was always a remnant (a few that were faithful, ie. Daniel, Joshua, Caleb, Josiah, Mordecai, Jeremiah, see esp. 1 Kings 19:9-18) within Israel. This did not have to do with blood relation but with faith in the covenant with God. Paul gives hope that the remnant has remained faithful by pointing to himself as an example, "I too am an Israelite." (Rom. 11:1)

God's word has not failed!

Israel was always a nation built on promise.

Israel was never a matter of geography, and God's intentions were always to go "to the ends of the earth." (Isaiah 45:22; 48:20; 52:10; Acts 1:8)

In short, the age to come has yet to come!

New Heavens and New Earth

For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. - Romans 8:20-22

Paul is continuing and connecting his argument about the children of God being not just children but heirs because they are in Christ (chapter 6) therefore, a part of the solution. This solution is not just true for the children of God in and of themselves but the Spirit is given as a deposit (8:1-11) to what will be fully done for the whole of creation (8:18-25).

There is an idea that fills the church and even those that are looking at the church that salvation is an escape to heaven to live forever in the presence of God and that the only people that will enjoy this eternal bliss mansions of gold and pearls and floating along on clouds while they play their little harps and stroke their new tiny wings are Christians (those that have accepted Christ, more often than not in a short prayer that has little if any impact on the way they live). Their presentation of what they believe is the gospel (where would you go if you died today?) is that who wouldn't want this kind of eternal bliss? This concept of salvation is foreign to a fair reading of the Scriptures and to the Apostle Paul himself.

God is a God that makes "good" things (Genesis 1 and 2). The fall (Genesis 3) included man, woman, and creation (the serpent). The curse was put upon Adam (The Hebrew word for man or mankind) and Adamah (The Hebrew word for earth). Because of this God began a plan to work through man to set right the curse on both man and on the creation (the rest of the Bible).

So what does that mean for us? Well that means that the gospel is much more than a little prayer then a lifetime of doing nothing. It means that those who are in Christ have a part in bringing justice to this earth. They have a responsibility to share the message of what God will do for the creation with others. This also means that those that accept this plan to make things right (the Church) will commit themselves to begin to be identified with Christ here and now (the Body of Christ). There will be a resurrection of the body (1 Thessalonians 4) and a recreation of the earth (Revelation 21-22). 

Heaven then is a place where we wait and long for the day when heaven comes to earth (Genesis 1-2 and Revelation 21-22), when things are made right, and when we wage a war on evil and cast it from the earth. In this way "all things work together for good to those that love God and are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28, in its proper context).

People need to know the mission of God to make things right!

They need to be challenged to be a part of the making of things right!

This is the Gospel; we have been saved, we are being saved, and we will be saved one day! (1 Corinthians 15:1-2)

Privilege, Responsibility, and Identity

The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. -Romans 8:16-17

Chapter 8 of Romans is my favorite chapter in all of Scripture. In the first half of the chapter Paul will talk about the incredible gift of the Holy Spirit, one of the ways God loves us (the other is Jesus Christ). In the second half of the chapter, Paul will show us why that matters (or, at least, why it should matter). This second half of chapter 8 will take up two posts, one on verses 12-17 and the other on verses 18-39 (especially 18-25).

The first discussion Paul will have on the Holy Spirit's impact on us is the Spirit making us children of God. This is familiar to all of those that prayed a prayer to receive Christ. You have received the Spirit of Christ. In Paul's view, this makes you an adopted son of the promise. If you are a son of the promise then you are an heir.

Not all sons are heirs to a king. If a king had 15 sons then only one would be the heir. That heir would not have done anything in particular to make himself an heir. He was just born first. Therefore, it is a privilege to be an heir. The same is true for me. I did nothing (and I mean nothing) to deserve to be called a son of God, much less to be called an heir. It is that I am in Christ (see post below) that makes me an heir. I am met with grace and that makes me feel a deep sense of privilege.

However, privilege only lasts so long. If an heir to the king only feels privilege then he becomes spoiled and lazy (sound like any church you know). If we remain here then we miss the responsibility that we have to the king's people. Part of being an heir is privilege but that privilege should lead us to see and feel a deep sense of responsibility for the people of the one we are privileged to be adopted by. This responsibility would mean clothing, feeding, and caring for the people (sound familiar).

The more and more we meet the responsibility that follows a deep sense of privilege, the more and more we will look and act like a king. The more we see ourselves behaving like the king we are adopted by the more we care for the people he cares for. We soon begin to identify with the king we serve and the people begin to identify us with the king. Christ is already identified with the Father and we aim to identify with the one that makes us an heir, God's Son, Jesus Christ.

One day he will return to claim his kingdom as the king of kings (get it?) and we will be completely privileged, completely responsible, and completely identified.

This is good stuff!

Right Between the "I"s

For that which I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. Romans 7:15

In chapter 7 Paul will begin a process of placing us right in the middle of two powers. This is a continuation, or a fleshing out, of his argument about those is Adam and those in Christ. These are application rich verses (esp. 14-25) that put justification up for examination.

What does justification look like? Will I stop sinning when I become a believer of Jesus Christ?

The answer to these questions (and those like them) have been asked by the church and of the church for years. 

Today, we have unfortunately traded these important issues for simple, glib, and lacking answers that leave everyday Christians confused about what their faith is supposed to look like and the outside world looking suspect at the church while labeling followers of Christ "hypocrites."

We have some things to learn from Paul's dealing with the flesh (not the NIV's "Sinful Nature") and the law. First, the life of following Christ is a fight (verse 15) and if we are going to progress in the faith then it is a fight in which we must be engaged. Most often, I notice Christians taking this fight to others. Maybe because that is what they hear from the pulpit. But the truth is, the fight is right here in me. I must fight the things I want to do, even if I put up a fight against myself. This is Paul's logic (verses 15-20) and it is powerful! I could read these words again and again. They bring me such hope for veracity toward my own sin.

Second, this battle is one of the mind (more on this later). We do not do what we do not believe. We may not always do what we believe. When I seek my own sinful desires, I do it because I believe (as twisted as my mind can be) that I will benefit from it. The truth is, I am wrong (a lot) and I end up harming myself more often than not. I love Paul's words in verse 24, "Wretched man am I." This is Paul! This is the guy that is supposed to have it all together! But his mind leads him down the same road my mind leads me. I am torn between myself. There are two "I"s. The "I" that I am and the "I" that I want to be (the one that I am created to be).

This is why God's Word (and a full, driven, and passionate knowledge of it) is absolutely necessary for us to grow and for us to help others grow. Keep your "practical" advice on how to live my life, pastors, just give me the Word to line my life up to (which seems to be what is cut out of sermons in the name of being "practical"). The Word is practical, in and of itself! It reveals us and it comforts us (even those hard passages that no pastor will preach, like Romans 7:14-25), it gives me strength to fight the good fight!

The fight is not only in me, it is also with me!

In Christ

For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is free from sin. -Romans 6:5-7

I was watching a pastor on TV last night (don't worry she was a good one) and this very issue of works and faith was raised. She mistakingly and unfortunately made the assumption that anyone who may call to the carpet wrongdoing (drinking, smoking, chew; or going with the girls that do) was judgmental and therefore repulsive. She even showed (in 9 verses of Galatians) how Paul was against works and how it is faith in God alone that defines the Christian life. I will respond through the text of Romans 6 to not just this pastor (I really do like her) but to the view that works are in direct opposition to faith.

First of all I want to remind us that in Chapter 3 (see below) that we were declared justified through faith. The key here is that this is how we come to be justified. This faith is in direct opposition to the law as a method of earning this declaration. So, in chapters 4-5 (see below) Paul makes an extended argument that through our being justified we are able to live righteously (within the covenant). That brings us to chapter 6.

Right away, we must pay attention to verse 1! "Should we go on sinning? Certainly not!" That should rest the case, but Paul continues to lay out why this should not be the approach of any believer to think that because we are depraved that this should be license to live in our depravity as if there were no power present on this earth to change it. 

The only true and real escape from sin is death! Dead people do not sin any longer. In this way, death becomes our ultimate escape from the flesh, or sinful flesh. In chapter 6 Paul will show how this faith in Christ is an identification (not water baptism) with his crucifixion (see Mark 10:35-40). The argument here is that if we are identified through faith with his crucifixion then we are dead to sin, just not completely. It is not that I have a power over sin, but rather that sin has no power over me.

Paul's next point is crucial. If you have become identified through faith with Christ's crucifixion then you will live in his resurrection. In other words, if you have identified in his death (through faith, not water) then you will identify with his life. The question for us (and Paul) is "What does that look like?" Paul will answer this in 6:8-23.

His answer, you are different! You are alive! You have been crucified to sin so that you may live!

Live like it! Love like it! Wake up and change the world!

Living the Christian life must, and I mean must, look like something.  

Peace with God

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. -Romans 5:1-2

One of the two most richly laid out passages in Scripture (in my opinion) is Romans chapter 5 (The other is Romans chapter 8). There are moments where the verses being laid out by Paul are thick with meaning and passion (esp. verses 1-11) and there are moments that still captivate and confound us to this day (esp. verses 12-17). It is a tragedy that most Christians (even pastors) that I know do not wrestle or dig into these truth rich passages. A trip through these two chapters alone would last for months and months without coming up for air!

Anyway, on to the passage itself. In the post below we discovered that Paul has laid us bare before God in chapters 1-3. He has also discussed our justification through faith in chapter 4. In chapter 5 Paul begins by showing us what these two truths combined look like. Amazingly, the view is much different than we are often presented.

First of all, if you come face to face with God you will die! Why? Because God is just (if not you have a new set of problems) and you have fallen short of his standard. God must then meet that action with wrath. The wrath of God is prevalent in the Old Testament (the flood of Noah, Sodom and Gomorra, Jerusalem in the reign of David) and it is not pretty! So the question remains, just how are we justified through faith? Is it because I have faith that I am justified? No! It is who you have faith in that ensures your justification (this has huge ramifications for other "religions"). Jesus stands before God in your place (more on this later) and you are justified by your identification with him.

Secondly, but connected, the name Christ is not Jesus' last name. As if he were born to Joseph and Mary Christ (thank you, Mallick). The name Christ is the Greek representation of the Jewish "Messiah". God sent his "Messiah" into the world to make the world right. The religious of the day were waiting on a warrior or a "Caesar" like figure to bring justice to the earth. We can understand the logic since God is just! But instead God brought justification to the earth. In chapter 8 we will look at what that means for the earth.

Rest assured, we will not be flying away to play harps and sit on clouds!

Justified by Faith

For this reason it is by faith, that it might be in accordance with grace, in order that the promise may be certain to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all -Romans 4:16

As we now move into Paul's next argument in 3:21-5:21 we find Paul focused on the issue of justification. As we discussed in earlier posts, if we have a just God then we are deserving of his wrath. But we are not left there in Paul's theology. We have another aspect of God to pursue. We must look at the provision made for all mankind by God that we might be justified in his eyes, in other words, that we may stand before him and not receive his wrath.

In chapter 4 Paul will base his argument on the example of Abraham. Without going into too much detail, Abraham believed the promise of God that he would make a great nation of Abraham and make his name known among the nations. Abraham believed in the covenant with God (the promise) before he was circumcised (the sign of the covenant). In the same vein Paul will say that you and I are justified through our faith in the covenant with him, which is in the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ (the promise). We are justified through our faith, by grace, before we begin to show works of God in our lives (the sign of the covenant).

There is great discussion about what faith is. What it takes to be saved (escape the wrath of a just God). The great divide is the idea of works. The truth is that works are a part of faith! The key is that works come after justification, or more rightly said, because of justification. Because you have faith in Jesus Christ you are able to live within the covenant of God. It is only through faith in him that you may live righteously. 

For a wretch like me, this is good news!

No One is Righteous

"There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one." -Romans 3:10-11 from Psalm 14

There is a concept that we must understand to fully understand the Gospel of God. This concept has guided Paul's argument from Romans 1:18 and will see it through until 3:20. The concept I am referring to is a concept of who we are before God. Paul has taken his time in showing that we are all without excuse. God has made himself knowable through creation and everyone is accountable for pursuing truth. He has shown that the unbeliever is guilty as well as, the Jewish people for not seeking God. He will in this final passage of his first argument turn to show that the legalist and moralist are also guilty and therefore without excuse.

Everyone that does not seek after truth but rather pursues their own selfish end is deserving of God's justice. That justice comes in the form of a word that western culture has no palette for; judgement. Whether we are fond of the concept or not, Paul is clear that judgment will come and when it does we will all be deserving of God's wrath. 

We are all the same at this moment we are all:

Morally evil: Genesis 8:21; Luke 11:11-13; John 3:19

Spiritually sick: Matthew 9:12

Slaves to sin: John 8:34; Romans 6:16&20; 2 Timothy 2:26

Blinded to truth: 1 Corinthians 2:14; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 4:18; Matthew 5:8

Lovers of darkness: Ephesians 5:8; John 3:20

Children of wrath: James 4:4; Romans 5:10; Ephesians 2:12

Spiritually, Physically, and Eternally dead: Ephesians 5:14; Romans 5:12; Romans 6:23

This is not the way that contemporary culture would say that God sees us. That is precisely the point Paul has so painstakingly made. Most church members would not describe their relationship with God in such ways. The truth is that in Romans 1:18-3:20 and in the testimony of Scripture as a whole if you come face to face with God then you will die! 

This begs the question, "What about Jesus Christ?" 

I am glad you asked. Paul will turn to the work of Jesus and explain justification in 3:21-5:21.

Look up, hope is here!

The Idolatry of God's Word

Therefore, you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgement, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.

-Romans 2:1

The next section of Romans is one where Paul will turn his attention on the Jews. He has already concluded that the Gentiles are without excuse for the depravity of their thinking and therefore cannot stand before a true and just God (see below). He will now show that Jews will be unable to stand before this God because of their depravity. Ironically, the law that was sent to set them apart from all humankind, set them apart from God. There are many lessons we, as Christians, can take from the response of the Jews toward their God.

So much of Jewish identity is their tradition and their ancestry. The key person that they connect themselves with is Abraham. They also connect themselves with the law (esp. the Pentateuch, or the first five books of the Bible) that was given to Moses. In Paul's view, the law was given as a guide or a tutor to show the lack of humanness in them and their need for God to make them fully human (see Galatians 3:15-29). The law and the God who gave it were never supposed to be equal and they were never supposed to be separated.

Unfortunately, this is not what the Jewish people did with the law. Instead, they made the law the only pathway to God and even made the law constrain what God could (or would) or could not do. They were unable to see God do something new. The law became their identity. They began to place their entire trust in the law. They began to praise and lift up the men that committed their lives to interpreting (or at least giving their opinion on) what the law said and what it meant for them. The law became an idol. It became a false or physical representation of God. It is not! The Holy Spirit gave God's Word, the Holy Spirit communicates through God's Word, but God's Word is not your God!

The Jews used God's Word to abuse people. They became a testimony against God.  They placed the burden of following its requirements on all others while they themselves broke the very laws they were judging others by (see above and the rest of Romans 2). They believed that because they had the law that they were upholding the law. In other words, the possession and provisions of God's Word made them righteous. The idolatry of God's Word was the precipice of their idolatry (see the Prophets esp. Jeremiah), this was not their first offense. Paul says, they are without excuse (Rom. 2:1). God will judge them according to the law that they have made into an idol. 

Ironically, by that law no one can stand before God. 

No one.

Created, Designed, and Purposed

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what was made, so that they are without excuse. - Romans 1:20

Paul's argument 1:18-32 has the peculiar absence of something that we, as Christians would consider absolutely necessary. Paul argues for the righteousness of God without the Bible. This is not the first time we see this. He is also recorded by Luke in the Book of Acts as defending the existence of God without the Bible in Athens (17:16-34). Unbelievers (of the one true God) are guilty and deserving of wrath because they have turned from the creator and worshiped instead the creature.

 Paul does not give a full treatment of where God has revealed Himself here in Romans, so we will look at the passage in Acts to find his thought pattern. We cannot impose them on the argument of Romans but it may give us some insight as to his way of thinking.

First, Paul sees us as created (17:24). There is a famous argument that says, "Everything that begins must be caused." If something has a beginning then it has a cause. Physicists, in their work and theories support this claim. As a matter of fact, the most famous physicist of our time, Stephen Hawking has now claimed that the universe must be created (designed). He can make this claim because of the strong belief in the Big Bang theory. If the universe has a beginning (Big Bang) then it must have cause. If it has a cause then the next step is to say that it must have a causer (creator).

Second, Paul sees us as designed (17:26). The argument here is like a man walking down a beach and unknowingly he kicks up out of the sand a wristwatch. After investigating the wristwatch for a moment he makes the declaration that the elements and time had produced a wristwatch from nothing. He has discovered that a wristwatch formed right there on the beach. What would you say to such a claim? You would certainly resist such thinking. Because the complexity and intentionality of a wristwatch testifies to a maker, a designer. Are we not complex? Are we not testifying to a maker?

Finally, Paul will see us as purposed (17:27-28). Our purpose, if we are created and designed is to seek the creator, the designer. Our planet is perfectly positioned as a platform. One where not only life is present but where we are intended to seek something beyond ourselves. Our location in the galaxy, the distance from the sun, the size of our moon are all factors that contribute to our ability and desire to look into the universe. It just so happens, that when Copernicus and Galileo first began to look at the stars and question the universe it was in the desire to discover their God.

The truth for us today is that God has revealed Himself in His creation. You are the evidence of God. Everything around you points you to His existence. If we do not seek Him, not only are we among all men a failure, but we are without excuse.  

One True and Just God

They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served something created rather than the Creator- Romans 1:25

God is one and God is just. The justice of God also brings into the picture the wrath of God (1:18 see below). In 1:18-32 Paul will discuss those who are "without excuse" and must face God for the wickedness of being less than human.

Humans were created for compassion and kindness, for justice and good, but mankind sought after their own desires rather than those they were created for. We were created to have a heart like God's ("in His image" see Genesis 1-3), to love the things he loves, to care for the things he cares for. We know we were not created for selfish pursuits and we do not need religion to tell us this, our conscious testifies against us. When we seek after our own human desires we are being less than human because we were created to seek after God and his desires.

God, being just handed us over to our sinful desires and choices. The wrath of God could be felt in the consequences of our sins (6:23). None of us can stand before God, not even one (3:10, more on this later). Even pagans sought to make God in their own image instead of recognizing that we are made in his. Our only hope is to surrender to God (12:1-2).

If God is just and we surrender to him then doesn't that mean that we will endure his wrath. We would if we were the ones standing before God. But it is Jesus Christ that stands before God in our stead (more on this later). This is why any religion that leads you to a god without the intercession of Christ (God in flesh, more later), leads you to either a god that is going to subject you to wrath, or one that is not just. Either way, if you are not standing before a just God being represented and covered by his Son, Jesus Christ then good luck!

You are going to need it! 

The Gospel of God

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God-

Romans 1:1

There have been many that have begun to preach through the book of Romans that have been said to spend multiple sermons on this one verse. It is full of truth and insights. I will not exhaust multiple entries on the many observations present here but I will allow, as is proper, this verse to set the tone for the rest of the study of the letter to the Romans.

I will assume that we know who Paul is and at least some of his history. I will take a moment to talk about Paul's approach to the gospel. Paul had three stances. Each of these were taken at the same time. It has been said that he had a foot in three countries at once (if he had three feet). One foot is in Judaism. Paul was a Pharisee, and by his own account, a good one (see chapter 11). Paul was deeply concerned with the Jews in each city he visited as he spread the gospel (see the book of Acts). Paul also had a concern that the gospel of God was not something new but something foretold by the prophets and in the Scriptures (see verse 1:2). It can be safely said that in Paul's eyes, the Christian movement was a Jewish movement.

His other foot was in the Hellenistic world. Paul was called to the Greek and Hellenistic societies. He was concerned with the freedom of these new communities to stand apart from the Torah (the Jewish law). Paul defended the rights of these churches in Jerusalem (Acts 15) and in front of Peter (Galatians). Paul primarily focused on the physical attributes of the Torah, like circumcision or dietary restrictions, but he also talked about the Gentiles as a fulfillment of God's promises to Abraham (see Galatians 4).

Paul's third foot (if he had one) is in the world of Roman government. Paul uses terms for Jesus that were normally reserved and used of Caesar. It was a way of Paul recasting allegiance to the true King, instead of the faux king of Rome. All three of these distinctions are prevalent in the letter to the Romans and we will highlight them as we have occasion. 

The gospel is a much bigger concept than a prayer involving the ABC's. The gospel is bigger than a decision that has been made or a pre-baptism ritual. For Paul, the gospel involved the efforts of God to make the world right again. God is a God of justice and that means that God will bring justice to creation. This has powerful ramifications for all of us (more on that later). The gospel involves us because God is involving us in his efforts to make the world right. If God is going to make the world right, then it is something that must come from his efforts. The gospel is God's way to save the world from itself (see 1:16).

In 1:18-3:20 we will explore Paul's expression of this truth.