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Introduction:
“The most
significant theological letter ever written.
Augustine of Hippo (A.D. 354-430), the most
influential of the church fathers, was
converted upon reading Romans 13:13-14.
Martin Luther, the father of the Protestant
Reformation, was studying Romans when he
concluded that faith alone justifies a
person before God. John Wesley, the founder
of Methodism, was converted on May 24, 1738,
upon reading Luther’s introduction to
Romans.” [Holman Bible Dictionary].
Paul was called to bring the
Gentiles to faith in Jesus Christ!
Romans 1:1-5, “Paul, a servant of Christ
Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart
for the gospel of God, 2 which he promised
beforehand through his prophets in the holy
Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, who was
descended from David according to the flesh
4 and was declared to be the Son of God in
power according to the Spirit of holiness by
his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ
our Lord, 5 through whom we have received
grace and apostleship to bring about the
obedience of faith for the sake of his name
among all the nations,”
Note:
“Paul’s mission is to all people groups. His
goal is to bring about the obedience of
faith (cf. Romans 16:26). Obedience is
required, but it is an obedience that flows
from saving faith and is always connected to
ongoing faith. Although Paul can speak of
people’s initial response as obeying the
gospel (Romans 10:16), it is unlikely that
“obedience of faith” here refers only to
initial saving faith, because the purpose of
Paul’s apostleship was not merely to bring
people to conversion but also to bring about
transformed lives that were consistently
obedient to God. Paul’s ultimate goal in
preaching to the Gentiles is for the sake of
his name, that is, that Jesus Christ will be
glorified.” [ESV Study Bible: Romans 1:5].
The righteous shall live by
faith!
Romans 1:16-17, “For I am
not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the
power of God for salvation to everyone who
believes, to the Jew first and also to the
Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God
is revealed from faith for faith, as it is
written, “The righteous shall live by
faith.”
God is impartial and
judges everyone according to their works.
Romans 2:6-8, “He will render
to each one according to his works: to those
who by patience in well-doing seek for glory
and honor and immortality, he will give
eternal life; but for those who are
self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but
obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath
and fury.”
We are judged
according to the knowledge we have.
Romans 2:12-13, “For all who have sinned
without the law will also perish without the
law, and all who have sinned under the law
will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not
the hearers of the law who are righteous
before God, but the doers of the law who
will be justified.”
Those who
boast in keeping the law dishonor God.
Romans 2:23-24, “You who boast in the law
dishonor God by breaking the law. 24 For, as
it is written, “The name of God is
blasphemed among the Gentiles because of
you.”
Our obedience is the
result of the Holy Spirit’s regenerating
work.
Romans 2:26-29, “So, if a
man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts
of the law, will not his uncircumcision be
regarded as circumcision? 27 Then he who is
physically uncircumcised but keeps the law
will condemn you who have the written code
and circumcision but break the law. 28 For
no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly,
nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29
But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision
is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not
by the letter. His praise is not from man
but from God.”
No one is
righteous in God’s eyes.
Romans 3:10-12, “as it is written: “None is
righteous, no, not one; 11 no one
understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All
have turned aside; together they have become
worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
The Law reveals our sinfulness
but cannot fix it. Our justification is
through an act of God’s grace alone.
Romans 3:20, “For by works of the law no
human being will be justified in his sight,
since through the law comes knowledge of
sin.”
We are justified by faith
in Jesus Christ alone.
Romans 3:21-22,
“But now the righteousness of God has been
manifested apart from the law, although the
Law and the Prophets bear witness to it — 22 the righteousness of God through
faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.
For there is no distinction:”
We have all sinned and deserve death.
Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall
short of the glory of God,”
Our justification and redemption are freely given.
Romans 3:24-25, “and are
justified by his grace as a gift, through
the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25
whom God put forward as a propitiation by
his blood, to be received by faith. This was
to show God’s righteousness, because in his
divine forbearance he had passed over former
sins.”
We are justified
apart from doing what the law requires.
Romans 3:28, “For we hold that one is justified by
faith apart from works of the law.”
Note: God judges us
according to our deeds (Acts 10:34-35;
Romans 14:12; 1 Corinthians 3:13; Colossians 3:25; James 2:18-26; Revelation 2:23), but
redeems those who put their faith in Christ
alone (Romans 3:28; 5:1). When Christians
stand before the judgment seat of Christ, it
is to receive their rewards, not to
determine their salvation (Romans 14:10;
2 Corinthians 5:9-10).
We
uphold the law when we put our faith in
Jesus Christ.
Romans 3:31, “Do
we then overthrow the law by this faith? By
no means! On the contrary, we uphold the
law.”
Righteousness comes by
believing, not by working for our salvation.
Romans 4:3-5, “For what does the Scripture
say? “Abraham believed God, and it was
counted to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to
the one who works, his wages are not counted
as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one
who does not work but believes in him who
justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted
as righteousness,”
If the Law
could save us then faith would be
irrelevant.
Romans 4:13-15, “For
the promise to Abraham and his offspring
that he would be heir of the world did not
come through the law but through the
righteousness of faith. 14 For if it is the
adherents of the law who are to be the
heirs, faith is null and the promise is
void. 15 For the law brings wrath, but where
there is no law there is no transgression.”
Sin was in the world before the
law was given to Israel.
Romans 5:13-14 says, “for sin indeed was in the
world before the law was given, but sin is
not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet
death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over
those whose sinning was not like the
transgression of Adam, who was a type of the
one who was to come.”
Note:
Sin was not imputed until the Law of Moses
was given. Imputed means “to charge to one’s
account,” as by an entry made in a ledger.
In other words, sin was present in the world
from Adam to Moses, but God did not keep an
account of sins before the giving of the Law
because there was no Law to obey or disobey.
Paul was not saying that people were
guiltless without the law, because he had
already said that those without the written
law are still judged by God (Romans 2:12).
Since people still died they were still
guilty as a consequence of Adam’s sin. They
had transgressed the universal moral
principles written on their consciences
before the Mosaic law was given (see Romans 2).
The law was given to
increase sin.
Romans 5:20, “Now
the law came in to increase the trespass,
but where sin increased, grace abounded all
the more,”
Christians are not
under the law but under grace.
Romans 6:14-15, “For sin will have no
dominion over you, since you are not under
law but under grace. 15 What then? Are we to
sin because we are not under law but under
grace? By no means!”
Note:
The law is not sinful; its purpose is to
convince everyone that they are spiritually
dead in their sin apart from faith in Christ
(see Romans 7:7-13).
When we
are in Christ, we have to die to the Old Covenant
law to live in Christ.
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.”
The Law arouses our sinful
passions and produces fruit leading to
death.
Romans 7:5, “For while we
were living in the flesh, our sinful
passions, aroused by the law, were at work
in our members to bear fruit for death.”
We have been released from the
law.
Romans 7:6, “But now we are
released from the law, having died to that
which held us captive, so that we serve in
the new way of the Spirit and not in the old
way of the written code.”
The
demands of the Law were not evil, but had
the effect of pointing out the sin in human
beings. The Law in question was the law of
the Ten Commandments.
Romans 7:7,
“What then shall we say? That the law
is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been
for the law, I would not have known sin. For
I would not have known what it is to covet
if the law had not said, “You shall not
covet.”
Note: The
Mosaic Law, or the Old Covenant was given
specifically to the nation of Israel (Exodus 19;
Leviticus 26:46; Romans 9:4). Christians
live under the New Covenant and are not
under any of the laws of the Old Covenant
(2 Corinthians 3; Hebrews 8]. The Old and the
New Covenants are separate and distinct
covenants given to different people groups
in God’s redemptive history.
The Law increases sin
which produces death.
Romans 7:8, “But sin, seizing an opportunity
through the commandment, produced in me all
kinds of covetousness. For apart from the
law, sin lies dead.”
We die
when we truly understand the requirements of
God’s moral law.
Romans 7:9, “I
was once alive apart from the law, but when
the commandment came, sin came alive and I
died.”
The law makes you
understand that your sinfulness is beyond
measure.
Romans 7:12-20, “So the
law is holy, and the commandment is holy and
righteous and good. 13 Did that which is
good, then, bring death to me? By no means!
It was sin, producing death in me through
what is good, in order that sin might be
shown to be sin, and through the commandment
might become sinful beyond measure. 14 For
we know that the law is spiritual, but I am
of the flesh, sold under sin. 15 For I do
not understand my own actions. For I do not
do what I want, but I do the very thing I
hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I
agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So
now it is no longer I who do it, but sin
that dwells within me. 18 For I know that
nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my
flesh. For I have the desire to do what is
right, but not the ability to carry it out.
19 For I do not do the good I want, but the
evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.
20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no
longer I who do it, but sin that dwells
within me.”
Christians are no
longer condemned by the law.
Romans 8:1, “There is therefore now no
condemnation for those who are in Christ
Jesus.”
The Old Covenant Law
was a covenant of death.
Romans 8:2, “For the law of the Spirit of life has
set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of
sin and death.”
Note:
“The word “for” introduces the reason there
is no condemnation for the believer; the
Spirit has replaced the law that produced
only sin and death (Romans 7:5, 13) with a
new, simple law that produces life: the law
of faith (Romans 3:27), or the message of
the gospel.” [The MacArthur Study Bible:
Romans 8:2].
We must live by
the Spirit and not by the law weakened by
the flesh.
Romans 8:3-4, “God
has done what the law, weakened by the
flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son
in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,
he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order
that the righteous requirement of the law
might be fulfilled in us, who walk not
according to the flesh but according to the
Spirit.”
The Holy Spirit
indwells all of God’s children.
Romans 8:9, “You, however, are not in the
flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the
Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does
not have the Spirit of Christ does not
belong to him.”
The presence
of the Holy Spirit within believers
testifies to the new life they enjoy because
of the righteousness of Christ that is now
theirs.
Romans 8:10-11, “But if
Christ is in you, although the body is dead
because of sin, the Spirit is life because
of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him
who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in
you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the
dead will also give life to your mortal
bodies through his Spirit who dwells in
you.”
Christians are no
longer slaves to sin but are adopted as sons
and daughters into God’s family.
Romans 8:12-17, “So then, brothers, we are
debtors, not to the flesh, to live according
to the flesh. 13 For if you live according
to the flesh you will die, but if by the
Spirit you put to death the deeds of the
body, you will live. 14 For all who are led
by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For
you did not receive the spirit of slavery to
fall back into fear, but you have received
the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we
cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself
bears witness with our spirit that we are
children of God, 17 and if children, then
heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with
Christ, provided we suffer with him in order
that we may also be glorified with him.”
All circumstances will work
together in cooperation for the believer’s
good.
Romans 8:28, “And we know
that for those who love God all things work
together for good, for those who are called
according to his purpose.”
Nothing can separate us from God’s love.
Romans 8:31-35; 8:37-39, “What then shall we
say to these things? If God is for us, who
can be against us? 32 He who did not spare
his own Son but gave him up for us all, how
will he not also with him graciously give us
all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge
against God’s elect? It is God who
justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ
Jesus is the one who died—more than that,
who was raised—who is at the right hand of
God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35
Who shall separate us from the love of
Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or
persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or
danger, or sword? . . . 37 No, in all these
things we are more than conquerors through
him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that
neither death nor life, nor angels nor
rulers, nor things present nor things to
come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth,
nor anything else in all creation, will be
able to separate us from the love of God in
Christ Jesus our Lord.”
The Law has come to
an end.
Romans 10:4, “For Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness to
everyone who believes.”
Righteousness based on obedience to the law
requires perfect conformity in every detail.
Romans 10:5, “For Moses writes
about the righteousness that is based on the
law, that the person who does the
commandments shall live by them.” (see also:
Deuteronomy 27:26; Galatians 3:10-13; James 2:8-10).
The Old
Covenant separated the Jews from Gentiles.
There are no status distinctions among the
New Covenant people of God.
Romans 10:12, “For there is no distinction
between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is
Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who
call on him.” (see also: Galatians 3:28; 5:6;
Colossians 3:9-11; Romans 10:12; 1 Corinthians 12:13).
The Holy Spirit renews and
transforms our minds when we surrender our
live to Christ on a moment-by-moment basis.
Romans 12:1-2, “Therefore, I urge you,
brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer
your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and
pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act
of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to
the pattern of this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Then you will be able to test and approve
what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and
perfect will.” (NIV)
Note:
“As our Christian life progresses, we should
gradually notice that our thought life is
being changed from Christlessness to
Christlikeness. Transformation does not
happen overnight. Our regeneration is
instantaneous, but our transformation is
continuous. We are conformed to Christ’s
image gradually as we spend time in intimate
fellowship with Him (see 2 Cor. 3:18).”
[Nelson’s NKJV Study Bible].
Love
fulfills the purpose of the Law.
Romans 13:8-10, “Owe no one anything, except
to love each other, for the one who loves
another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the
commandments, “You shall not commit
adultery, You shall not murder, You shall
not steal, You shall not covet,” and any
other commandment, are summed up in this
word: “You shall love your neighbor as
yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a
neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling
of the law.”
No one is
required to keep any of the holy days or
dietary laws from the Old Covenant, including
the weekly Sabbath.
Romans 14:5-6, “One person esteems one day as
better than another, while another esteems
all days alike. Each one should be fully
convinced in his own mind. 6 The one who
observes the day, observes it in honor of
the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of
the Lord, since he gives thanks to God,
while the one who abstains, abstains in
honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.”
Note: The New Testament explicitly
teaches that Sabbath-keeping along with all
of the other ceremonial requirements of the
Old Covenant Law are not required for
Christians who live under the New Covenant
(Matthew 11:28-30; 12:1-8; Acts 15:1-28;
Colossians 2:14-17; Galatians 4:10-11;
Romans 14:5-12; Ephesians 2:11-18;
2 Corinthians 3:3-11; Hebrews 3:7-4:13; 8:6-9:4; 10:23-25).
We have no right to judge anyone
on how, or if, they keep any of the Old
Covenant laws.
Romans 14:10-12,
“Why do you pass judgment on your brother?
Or you, why do you despise your brother? For
we will all stand before the judgment seat
of God; 11 for it is written, “As I live,
says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
and every tongue shall confess to God.” 12
So then each of us will give an account of
himself to God.”
Note: Both Romans 14:10 and
2 Corinthians 5:9-10 speak of the “judgment
seat” of Christ. This is a translation of
the Greek word, “bema” which was the
tribunal bench in the Roman courtroom where
the governor sat while rendering judicial
verdicts. Metaphorically it refers to the
place where the Lord will sit to evaluate
believers’ lives for the purpose of giving
them eternal rewards.
The law is
not of faith, and whatever is not of faith
is sin.
Romans 14:23, “But
whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats,
because the eating is not from faith. For
whatever does not proceed from faith is
sin.” (also: Galatians 3:12)
The main theme of Romans is the revelation
of God’s judging and saving righteousness in
the gospel of Jesus Christ. In the cross of
Christ, God judges’ sin and at the same time
manifests his saving mercy.
The Law was powerless to produce
righteousness in us (Romans 3:20-21), and
could not deliver us from the penalty of
death (Romans 7:12-20; cf. Galatians 3:10;
Acts 13:38, 39). Only faith in Jesus Christ
as Lord and Savior can do that (Romans 10:9-13).
When someone says you have
to keep the Old Covenant law they are
preaching the false gospel of
works-righteousness that Paul warned the
Romans and the Galatians about. We have been
set free from “the law of sin and death” to
live by God’s Spirit (Romans 8:1-4).
As a Christ-follower, we can only experience
freedom from the law’s curse when we trust
that it is Christ alone who justifies us. It
is Christ, not the law, that gives us
freedom from the power of sin and death by
giving us a new nature.
Remember who you are in Christ Jesus.
Romans 8:5-6 says, “For
those who live according to the flesh set
their minds on the things of the flesh, but
those who live according to the Spirit set
their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6
For to set the mind on the flesh is death,
but to set the mind on the Spirit is life
and peace.”
When we are
justified by Christ we are empowered to
serve God and our fellow man through the
power of the Holy Spirit indwelling us. It
is Christ’s death on the cross that
justifies us. His crucifixion dealt with the
problem of human sin forever. Because of
what Christ has done for us, we can have
complete assurance that our sins have been
forgiven, past, present, and future! When we
trust in Jesus Christ alone for our
salvation, we become his new creations,
“created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand, that we
should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10).
Accepting the false gospel
of legalism can only lead you to death.
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