Book Of Romans
Category: Bible Studies
Chapter One: God's Grace and Wrath
1:1 Paul's introduction: He is Christ's servant; called to apostleship and set apart to preach the Gospel.
1:2 This Gospel was promised through the Old Testament prophets. Christ was flesh, a descendant of David; yet, He is God the Son as declared by the Spirit through His resurrection from the dead. Through Him we receive grace (and apostleship) to call people from all nations (Gentiles) “to the obedience that comes from faith.”[1] And you are among those who are called (by this same grace) to belong to Jesus Christ.
1:7 Paul's salutation. He thanks God for all of them (at Rome) and remembers them constantly in prayer. He wants to come see them to encourage them in the faith. He is eager to preach the Gospel; he is not ashamed because it is the power of God for mans' salvation. For through the Gospel, “a righteousness from God is revealed.” This is the righteousness that is by faith in Jesus Christ.[2]
Key Verse: Rom 1:16-17 “I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
1:18 God's wrath is revealed against all who have rejected His grace. By their wickedness, they suppress the truth. God made the truth plain to them, for even all creation shouts the invisible qualities of God; His eternal power and divine nature are easily discerned from what He has made. So all men are without excuse. For though they knew God, they refused to give Him the glory He deserved. In explaining Him away, they support foolish talk and became even more hardened in their hearts. They claim to be wise and have knowledge but they are fools. They exchange the glory of God for idols and material things that remind them of man, birds, beasts and snakes. Because they traded the truth of God for a lie and worshipped created things instead of the Creator, Who is worthy to receive all glory, God handed them over to their shameful desires. He let them burn in their lusts and degrade themselves with impurity and homosexuality and receive in their bodies the penalty for their perversion. Additionally, since their refused to retain God in their knowledge, He gave them over to depravity. They are filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of jealousy, murder, dissension, deceit, meanness, gossip, arrogance, slander, God-hating, disrespect and boasting. They invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless and ruthless. Even though they know God's law demands those who do such things have earned death, they not only continue but also encourage others to practice evil.
Chapter Two: Man is Powerless to Judge
2:1 You know this, so you have no excuse. If, however, you judge others because you have the Law, you judge yourself because you break the same law. God's kindness leads to repentance. Wrath is stored up for those who are unrepentant. Trouble and distress for those who do evil; glory, honor and peace for those who do good.
2:12 Those who sin apart from the law, perish apart from the law. Those who sin under the law, will be judged by the law. For it is not those who hear the law but those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. This bears witness by the Gentiles who do not have the law but instinctively practice the requirements of the law. They show that the law is written on their hearts.
Key Verse: Rom 2:12-13 “All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.”
2:17 If you think you are spiritually greater because you understand the law, or as a Jew, have the law, beware. If you live by the law, do you keep the whole law? The law has value, and circumcision has value if you keep the law. But if you break the law, circumcision has no value. The religious requirements that set the Jew apart, and set the legalist apart, have no value if you sin. Or, the law that was highly valued, as if it contained life, is worthless and condemns the one who sins. Therefore, a man is not a Jew because of the law he keeps, his outward acts. He is a Jew if his heart is set upon God and lives not by law but by Spirit. True circumcision is in the heart not upon the body.
Key Verse: Rom 2:29 “No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God.”
Chapter Three through Four: All have sinned; Righteousness is only by Faith
3:1 What advantage is there to being a Jew and what is the value of circumcision. For one thing, the Jews were entrusted with “the very words of God.”
3:3 If some Jews did not have faith, will that invalidate God's faithfulness? “Not at all! Let God be true and every man a liar.” When we sin, God is proven true. The law condemns, no man is able to keep the whole law. God is proven righteous when man demonstrates his sinful nature.
3:5 Can we make the case that God is unjust to bring His wrath upon us, when it is our unrighteousness that makes His righteousness more clear? If we could then God could not judge the world. Those who argue “Let us do evil that good may result,” deserve the condemnation they will get.
3:9 Are we any better then the Jew, or is the Jew any better than the Gentile? The Jew and Gentile are all under sin. As Isaiah says in chapter sixty-four: No one is righteous and no one is seeking after God. Sorry-there are no seekers. We cannot justify ourselves because we “chose” the right way, because no one seeks after God! “Therefore, no one will be declared righteous in His sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.” Or, none of us have the power to choose the right way. The purpose of the law is to expose our sin!
3:21 Now, God has made available to man a righteousness that is apart from the law. This righteousness “comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.” The Law and the Prophets testify to this. There is no difference because all have sinned. We all fall short of God's glory. The Jew cannot stand on the law, because the law condemns him for his sin. The Gentile cannot plead ignorance of the law because he is judged apart from the law. [Similarly, the legalist cannot stand upon keeping the Scripture to the letter because he is unable and will judge himself by his own failure. The one who believes he will not be judged because of grace will discover that Christ still calls us to obedience.] But just as all are sinful and fall short of God's glory, through His grace, we are “justified freely” through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. He is the sacrifice for our atonement if we have faith in His blood.
Key Verse: Rom 3:20 Therefore, no one will be declared righteous in His sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.
Key Verse: Rom 3:23-24 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”
3:25 God did this to demonstrate His justice. In His patience God left the sins committed before this righteousness was revealed unpunished. He demonstrates His justice at the present time by justifying those who have faith in Jesus. In other words, God fulfilled the law for us through the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ. We have a new legal status before God through the blood of Jesus Christ.
3:27 We have nothing to boast about. We cannot keep the law so we cannot be saved by observing the law (works we practice), but only on faith (trusting in God's completed work). Man is justified by faith, apart from works. God is the God of Jew and Gentile because the circumcised are saved by faith and the uncircumcised are saved by the same faith. Or, whether you do or whether you don't you are only saved by your faith in what God does!
3:31 Is the law made void by our faith. No the law is not voided, but we uphold the law because of our faith.[3]
Key Verse: Rom 3:28, 31 “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law. . . Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.”
4:1 Not even Abraham can boast. He was not justified because he was a great man; it was not of works. As Gen 15:6 declares, “Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Even Abraham was saved by faith, alone.
4:4 When a man works, his wages are not a gift but an obligation. The man who does not trust in works but trusts that God justifies the sinful, his faith is credited as righteousness. The righteousness that justifies us before God is faith. Paul quotes David from Psa 32:1-2: “Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven... whose sin the Lord will never count against him.” To be justified is to have our sins forgiven and forgotten.
4:9 Is this blessedness, or this grace, only for the Jew (circumcised) or Gentile (uncircumcised)? Let's look at Abraham again. We just understood that his faith was credited for righteousness. Was that before, or after he was circumcised. It was before! Circumcision was a sign, a covenant, to seal the righteousness that he had by faith before he was circumcised. So he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised that righteousness might be credited to them. He is the father of all who are circumcised who also “walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.”
4:13 Abraham and his progeny received the promise “through the righteousness that comes by faith.” The promise did not come through the law. If it had, the promise would be worthless because the law brings wrath. Faith also would have no value because, “For if those who live by the law are heirs, faith has no value.” If we live by faith, we are counted as righteous (“And where there is no law there is no transgression”). So it is established, “the promise comes by faith.” It is by grace and it is guaranteed to the Jew, who is of the law and the Gentile, who is of the faith. Abraham is the father of all who come by faith, Jew and Gentile. That is why it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations.” Abraham is our father in God's sight. He believed in “the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.”[4]
4:18 Abraham put his hope in God when it was hopeless. That is why he is the “father of many nations.” God promised a son and though he was old and weak and his wife's womb was dead, he took God at His word. He did not “waver through unbelief” but was “fully persuaded that God had the power to do what He had promised. This faith is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” These words are for us as well. God credits righteousness to us who believe “in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. Christ died for our sins and raised to life for our justification.
Chapter Five: Justification through Faith
5:1 We are now justified through faith and we have peace with God. That is, we are no longer at odds with God; we do not contend against Him because we are no longer in rebellion. We have a new status through Jesus Christ and through Him we have access to God's grace. Grace is our new standing before God. So, we know we will someday see the glory of God and we rejoice![5]
Key Verse: Rom 5:1 “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
5:3 Not only do we rejoice in our new hope but we rejoice in our sufferings as well. For we know that suffering produces perseverance. Perseverance produces character. Character produces hope and hope does not disappoint. We will not be ashamed, because God has broadcast His love in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us. We rejoice in hope; we rejoice in suffering because suffering produces ... hope.
5:6 When we were powerless, Christ died for the ungodly-at just the right time. We would hardly die for a pious man, maybe for a good man, possibly. But God put His love into action, He went beyond words; while we were still sinners, neither good nor pious, Christ died for us.
5:9 We are now saved, or justified by Christ's blood. We have even more assurance that we will be saved from God's wrath through Him. For if Christ reconciled us to God by His death while we were yet enemies of God, we are even more reconciled and saved by His resurrection. Now “we rejoice in God through Jesus Christ, through Whom we have now received reconciliation.”
5:12 Sin entered the world through one man. Death entered the world through sin. Thus, death came to all men because all have sinned. Sin was in the world before the law. However, sin is not charged against a man when there is no law. So even though the law was not around to condemn man, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command like Adam did. Adam was a pattern of the One who was to come. Even though a pattern, they are not alike for “the gift is not like the trespass.” For if many died because of the sin of one man, how much more did God's grace overflow to the many through the gift of life by one man, Jesus Christ! Once again, they are not alike because the judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation to all but the gift of life followed many sins and brought justification.
5:17 If death reigned by the sin of one man, how much more will those who receive God's grace and righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. The result of one sin was condemnation for all men. The result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life to all men. For, just as many were made sinners because one man disobeyed. So, many are made righteous because one man obeyed.
5:20 The law was added to this reign of death that man's offence might be exposed. This exposing of sin brought more sin in the respect that man now had knowledge that most of what he did was sinful. “But where sin increased, grace increased all the more.” So just as sin reigned in death, grace reigns in righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ.[6]
Chapter Six: The Law of Grace
6:1 A) Shall we go on sinning that grace may increase? “By no means!” We died to sin, we cannot live in it. When we were baptized in Christ, we were baptized in His death. We were buried with Him in baptism, so that, just as Christ was raised from death, we too, might live a new life. For if we were united with Him in death we will be united with Him in His resurrection. For our old self was crucified with Christ “so that the body of sin might be done away with.” We should no longer be slaves to sin because anyone who has died is freed from the grip of sin. If we died with Christ we will live with Him. Since He was raised from the dead He cannot die again. Death has no rule over Him. He died to sin, once forever. Now that He lives, He lives to God. Just like Christ, consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God through Jesus Christ. Do not let sin reign in your flesh so that you obey its evil desires. Do not surrender your members as instruments of evil but offer yourselves to God as one who has been redeemed from death to life and offer your members as instruments of righteousness. “For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.”
Key Verse: Rom 6:14 “For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.”
6:15 B) Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? “By no means!” You are a slave to the one you obey. Slavery to sin leads to death. Slavery to obedience leads to righteousness. Thanks to God, though you were once slaves to sin, you obeyed the teaching of the Gospel. So you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of righteousness. You used to offer the members of your body to impurity and evil. Now, offer your members to righteousness, which leads to holiness. When you were free from the control of righteousness, what benefit did you receive from those things that are shameful and result in death? Now you have been set free from sin and are slaves to God. The benefit you reap is holiness and the result is eternal life. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Key Verse: Rom 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Chapter Seven: The Conflict Between the Flesh and Spirit
7:1 The law has authority over a man only as long as he lives. “For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage.” She is an adulteress if she marries another while her husband is still alive but if he dies, she is released from that law. In the same way, you died to the law through the body, or death, of Christ, “that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.” When we were controlled by the sinful nature, the law aroused our sinful passions so that we bore fruit for death. Now we have died to what bound us, we are released from the law so that we may serve in the new way of the Spirit and not the old way of the written code.
7:7 Are we saying that the law is sin? Absolutely not! We are saying that we would not have known sin except through the law. “I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, 'Do not covet.'” Without the law, sin is dormant, or dead. Before I knew the law, I was alive. When I learned the law, sin sprang to life and I died. “I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death.” So sin deceived me, rather than save me through the law, it put me to death.
7:12 Even still, the law is holy, righteous and good. Did the law become death? Absolutely not! But in order to identify sin and that it produces death through what is good, that is the law, so that through the law, or commandment, we no longer sin in ignorance but we can see we have utterly missed the mark. We know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, or carnal and sold as a slave to sin.
7:15 This is my dichotomy: “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” My flesh attests that the law is good by being drawn to sin, even against my will. Because it is no longer I, the justified, who is drawn to sin but it is the sin resident in my flesh. Nothing good lives in my flesh. I want to do what is good, to obey the law, but I cannot carry it out. The flesh is stronger than my will but when I sin, it is no longer I, the justified, who sins, it is the sin living in my flesh.
Key Verse: Rom 7:15 “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.”
7:21 So here is a law at work: Evil is resident in my flesh even when I want to do good. For I delight in God's law in my mind but my flesh lives by a different law, waging war against my mind, or the part of me that wants to obey God, trying to bring my mind into the same prison, or law, that controls my flesh. What a miserable man I am! How can I be rescued from this body of death? Thanks be to God! He has saved me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So, I now serve the law of God in my mind, even though my flesh remains a captive to the law of sin.
Chapter Eight: Freedom From Decay
8:1 Because Christ has rescued us from this body of death, so that even though our flesh is prone to sin, we do not live in obedience to sin but in our minds we follow the Spirit, there is now no condemnation. The law of the Spirit set me free from the law of sin and death. The law was powerless to give life because it was weakened by the sinful nature. But what the law was powerless to do, God accomplished through His Son, Who was in the likeness of sinful man, was the sacrifice for sin and so condemned sin in sinful man, or the flesh. Now, the righteous requirements of the law are fully met in us who do not walk after the flesh and its nature but follow the Spirit. In other words, we live in obedience to God even though our flesh is prone to sin.
8:5 If you live in the flesh, your mind will be fixed upon natural desires. If you live in the Spirit, your mind will be fixed upon what the Spirit desires. The mind controlled by the flesh is death but the mind controlled by the Spirit has life and peace. Furthermore, the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God. It is in rebellion to God by nature. So, if you are controlled by your sinful nature, you cannot please God.
8:9 Here is the test; if the Spirit of God lives in you, you are controlled by the Spirit. If you don't have the Spirit of Christ, you don't belong to Christ. If Christ is in you, “your body is dead because of sin” but “your spirit is alive because of righteousness.” This same Spirit Who raised Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies, if He lives in you.
8:12 Because of this, we have an obligation to live in obedience-but not to the sinful nature. If you live in obedience to the sinful nature, you will die. If, by the Spirit, you put to death your fleshly desires, you will live. If you are controlled by the Spirit, you are a son of God; for you received the Spirit of adoption, not a spirit of slavery to the flesh. By the Spirit we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are children of God. Because we are children, we are heirs-heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ if we suffer with Him, so that we can share in His glory.
8:18 We must persevere in our sufferings because the glory that will be revealed in us is far greater than the affliction. In fact, the whole creation waits eagerly for the sons of God to be revealed. The creation did not choose to be subjected to decay. This was by the will of God because He had a plan to liberate what He had made (which was originally “very good”) and bring it into “the glorious freedom of the children of God.”[7]
8:22 We know that creation has been groaning in pain, as if ready to give birth, even to the present time. So too, we who have the firstfruits, or live according to the Spirit, groan in our spirits as we wait eagerly for our adoption to be revealed, that is, the redemption of our bodies from bondage to sin and decay.
8:24 It was in this hope of redemption that we were saved. Hope that is seen is not hope. You don't hope for what you already have. But if we hope for what we do not have, we with for it patiently.[8]
8:26 Just as we were saved in hope, or by faith, the Spirit helps us overcome our weakness. For we don't even know how to pray but the Spirit intercedes with groans that we cannot understand nor do we have the words for. God, Who searches our hearts, knows the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for His people according to God's will.
8:28 We have confidence that God works everything for the good of those who love Him and have been called according to His purpose. God foreknew and predestined the elect, those who would be conformed to the likeness of Christ. Thus, Christ is the firstborn among many brothers. Who did He call? Those He predestined. Who did He justify? Those He called. Who will be glorified? Those who are justified.
Key Verse: Rom 8:28-29 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”
8:31 If we have this great confidence that God chose us, that He knew in advance those He would call to be justified, what can we say in response? “If God is for us, who can be against us?” If He spared not His own Son on our account, will He not freely give us all things? Nobody can bring a charge against us because it is God, the One who chose us, Who justifies us! Furthermore, the One Who has the power to condemn, Jesus Christ Who died and was raised to life, is at God's right hand interceding for us. Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger or sword? Even if, as the prophet declared that we continually face death and are considered as sheep for the slaughter, we are consumed by suffering? No! Even in all these trials and suffering “we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” Nothing, not even life or death, angels or demons, present or future or any powers, height or depth or anything in all creation, can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord!
Chapters Nine through Eleven: Predestination Explained
9:1 I have great sorrow and grief for my brothers, those of my race, the people of the nation of Israel. I am willing to be cursed and cut off from Christ if it could mean that the whole nation would be saved. God chose them, He revealed His glory to them, He gave them the covenants, the law, the temple worship and the promises. He gave them the patriarchs, from whom can be traced the ancestry of Christ, Who is God over all! But it is not as though God's Word has failed, for it is not one's physical heritage that makes them of Israel. Even as not all the sons of Abraham were chosen. It was Isaac, the child of the promise who was considered to be Abraham's true son. “In other words, it is not the natural children who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring.” Even though Rebekah's children had the same father, Isaac, only one was chosen. One was chosen even before they were born, even before either one had sinned, “in order that God's purpose in election might stand.” To demonstrate it is not by works but by Him who calls. God told her, “The older will serve the younger.” Just as the Scriptures say, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I hated.”
9:14 Is God unjust to chose some and reject others? Not at all! For He told Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” Salvation them, or membership in the true Israel, God's kingdom, is not dependant upon works or even our desire but on God's mercy alone. For the Scriptures tell us that God raised Pharaoh up for rebellion that He might display His power and that His name might be proclaimed throughout the earth. So God has mercy on Whom He chooses and He hardens those He chooses.
Key Verse: Rom 9:15-16 “For He says to Moses, 'I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.' It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy.”
9:19 Some might argue that if we are predestined, for good or evil, and follow our calling we are not resisting God's will. If so, how can He blame us? Who are we to talk back to God? What is created cannot question the Creator; just as a potter has the right to make from the same batch of clay, some vessels for noble use and others for common. What if God, in order to display His wrath and power chose to bear with great patience the objects of His wrath, those created for destruction? What if He did this so those created for glory would understand the riches of His glory?
9:24 He did this for us, whom He called to be sons; not only of the Jews who were of the chosen nation of Israel but also of the Gentiles who were originally rejected. As He says in Hosea, “I will call them 'My people' who are not My people. . .” Isaiah prophesied not all Israel would be saved, “Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved.” So, Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have taken hold of it. While Israelites, who pursued the law they were given, have lost hold of it. Why? They pursued the law by works, they did not take hold of the law by faith, understanding the law pointed to Christ. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. As Isaiah declared, “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a stone that causes men to stumble. . . the one who trusts in Him will never be put to shame.”
10:1 My heart's desire and prayer is that Israel will still be saved. I tell you, they are zealous for God but they lack knowledge. They did not know the righteousness that comes from God. So they tried to establish their own righteousness and did not submit to God's. The whole law pointed to Christ and now He has fulfilled it so that righteousness is imputed to all who believe.
Key Verse: Rom 10:4 “Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.”
10:5 Moses proclaimed that the man who obeyed the law would have life by the law. But the righteousness that is by faith understands the truth is not far away, and our good works will not help Christ accomplish our salvation, nor can our good works take the place Christ. The Scriptures tell us the truth is near us, it is in our mouth and our heart. That if our speech is a confession of Christ and, in our hearts, we believe that God raised Him from the dead: we will be saved. “For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” Again, the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in Him will never be put to shame.” There is no difference between the Jew and the Gentile, the same God is Lord of all and saves everyone who calls on the name of the Lord.
Key Verse: Rom 10:9-10 “That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.”
10:14 How can they call if they have not believed? How can they believe if they have not heard? How can they hear without someone preaching? How can they preach unless they are sent? “As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!'” However, even Israel, who had the revealed law, to whom Christ was sent and physically present, did not all accept the Gospel. Even Isaiah complained, “Lord, who has believed our message.” So, faith comes by hearing the message, which is heard through the word of Christ. But didn't Israel hear? Absolutely. Didn't they understand? First, Moses warned God would provoke Israel to jealousy by bringing salvation to the foolish (Gentiles). Second, Isaiah prophesied that the Gospel would be revealed to and found by those would did not look for it (Gentiles). Concerning Israel, whom God chose to reveal His plan of salvation to and through, God complains, “All day long I have held out My hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.”
11:1 Are we saying God rejected His people, Israel? Absolutely not! I (Paul) am an Israelite, descended from Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected His people that He foreknew, or predestined. Remember when Elijah complained to God all Israel had turned against Him, killed His prophets and he was the only one left (and they were trying to kill him, too!). God told Elijah He had reserved seven thousand who had not bowed their knee to Baal. So, the point is this, just as there was then, so there is now a remnant chosen by grace. If we are chosen by grace, salvation is no longer by works, or anything we do or desire. Otherwise, grace would no longer be grace. Our example is the Israelites who sought to be saved so earnestly (by their works), yet they did not obtain it, only the elect did. The rest of the Israelites were hardened, as the Scriptures declared, God hardened them with a spirit of stupor so they could not see or hear with their eyes and ears. So it is to this day, (those who try to be saved by works but miss the mark; those who don't want to be saved because they have been hardened; and, those who are chosen by God to be saved by His grace).
11:11 Has Israel fallen beyond recovery? No. God has used their falling away to bring salvation to the Gentiles, so, as it were, to make Israel jealous. Now if the falling away of Israel brought riches to the world, in that, the Gospel is now preached throughout the whole world, how much greater will the blessing be when Israel returns to God? I am writing to you, who are Gentiles and I make a big deal of my ministry to the Gentiles because I hope to arouse some of my brother Israelites to jealousy with the aim to save some. For if Israel's rejection leads to the reconciliation of the world, their receiving is no less than life from the dead.
11:16 If the firstfruit is holy, so is the rest of the dough. If the root is holy, so are the branches. You see, some of the Israelites, who were branches, have been broken off, and you Gentiles, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in and now taste the blessing from the root. Do not boast; you do not support the root, which is the covenant given to Israel, but the root supports you. You might argue, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” Maybe so, but remember, it was because of their unbelief that they were broken off. You stand only by faith; so do not be overconfident and self-important but fear God Who through His grace gave you faith. If God did not spare the natural branches (Israel), He doesn't have to spare you either.
11:22 Consider how kind, yet stern God is. Stern toward those who fell (Israel) but kind toward you (Gentiles), provided that you receive it-otherwise you also (Gentiles) will be cut off. For God is able to graft Israel back in, if they do not persist in unbelief. After all, you Gentiles were cut out of a wild olive tree, and contrary to your nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree. How much easier is it to graft the natural branches back into their own tree!
11:25 I want you to understand this so you won't be conceited: Israel has been hardened until God's predetermined number of Gentiles are saved. Then Israel will turn to the Lord and be saved! Isaiah and Jeremiah prophesied God would turn them from godlessness and take away their sins. They are enemies on our account, in regards to the Gospel. However, on the patriarchs' account, they are loved in regards to election. God's gifts and calling are not revocable.[9] Just as the Gentile was once in disobedience and received mercy, now Israel is disobedient so they may receive mercy. “For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.” How deep is the wisdom of God and unsearchable His judgments!
Chapters Twelve to Fifteen: If law is void, why is Paul expounding all these rules?
12:1 In view of God's mercy, be a living sacrifice. That is, die to the flesh and be holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual act of worship.[10] Don't conform to the pattern of the world, which is self-seeking but be transformed, having a new mind through obedience, testing and proving God's will.
Key Verse: Rom 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. 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.”
12:3 Do not think more highly of yourself than you ought. Just as our bodies have many members and not all have the same function, we all have different gifts from God. Use the gift God has given you.
12:9 Be sincere in love:
- Hate evil, cling to good.
- Be devoted to each other. Esteem your brothers above yourself.
- Be diligent. Don't lose zeal for serving the Lord.
- Be joyful in hope.
- Be patient in trials and oppressions.
- Be faithful in prayer.
- Be hospitable and share with your needy brothers.
- Bless your tormentors and do not curse.
- Rejoice with the joyful and mourn with the sorrowful.
- Live in accord with your brothers.
- Don't be proud but be willing to associate with the less popular.
- Don't be vain and arrogant.
- Always do what is right and never repay evil with evil.
- As much as possible, live in peace with all people.
- Do not take revenge, that is God's domain. Instead, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him drink.
- Don't be conquered by evil but overcome evil with good!
13:1 Submit to the governing authorities. No authority exists except what God establishes. Therefore, lawless rebellion is rebellion to God. For lawful rulers do not bring terror upon the lawful but only on the lawless. If you want to be free from fear of authority, do what is right, for he is God's agent to do good and commend good. If you are lawless, then fear, for he is God's agent to bring wrath on the evildoer. This is why it is necessary to submit to authority, not only for fear of punishment but also for conscience, to know you have done the right thing.
13:6 Pay your taxes and treat your civil leaders with honor and respect.
13:8 Leave no debt unpaid except the debt of love. For he who loves has fulfilled the law. For all the law can be summed up in one rule: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love never harms another, therefore, love fulfills the law.
13:11 Put aside the deeds of the flesh and put on the armor of light. Wake up, understand the times, for our salvation is near. Walk honestly and not be self-seeking. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, as putting on your clothes, and don't even think about how to gratify the flesh.
14:1 Accept those weak in the faith without argument over debatable subjects. One man may eat anything, while the one who is weak in faith may be a vegetarian. The one who believes he is at liberty must not look down on the one constrained. The constrained must not condemn the liberal. Don't judge another's servant, for it is to his master that he stands or falls. God is able to make all His servants stand. Another debatable matter is whether one day is more sacred than the others or whether all days are alike. Whatever you think about disputable things, whether days or eating, be fully convinced in your mind and do whatever you do as unto the Lord. For we do not live to satisfy ourselves, we live to Lord. If we die, we die to Him. Dead or alive, we belong to the Lord! This is why Christ died and rose again, so He might be Lord of the living and the dead. So why judge your brother in petty matters? Or why look down on your brother because he doesn't have the same view on all matters? We will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. It is before Him that we will bow and each one will give an account of himself to God. So put an end to these petty judgments and make up your mind not to be a stumbling block to your brother. I am in the Lord and am convinced that God allows liberality in these matters. But for the one who is constricted and convinced these things are wrong or unclean-to him it is unclean. So if your brother is distressed by your actions, you are not acting in love. Don't destroy your brother for whom Christ died and don't allow what you consider to be good to be condemned. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of, or the promotion of eating and drinking but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. If we serve Christ by promoting righteousness, peace and joy, we please God and are accepted by men. So let us do everything that promotes peace and edifies our brothers. Don't destroy the work of God for the sake of food, or whatever you view as your freedom in Christ. All food is clean but it is wrong to eat publicly what causes another to stumble. It is better to forgo your liberty than to cause your brother to stumble. Whatever you believe about disputable issues, keep that between yourself and God. You are blessed if your beliefs do not condemn you to others. But, as I said already, be fully convinced about your liberties because if you doubt, you condemn yourself. Whatever is not of faith is sin.
15:1 Bear the failings of the weak, and not for our own pleasure or noteworthiness but to encourage and build up the brothers. For even Christ did not come to please Himself but to bear the insults of those opposed to God. The Old Testament and the Gospels were written to teach us, so that through perseverance and comfort of the Scriptures we might have hope. May God, who imparts this perseverance and comfort, give a spirit of unity among you as you follow Christ, that with one heart and one voice you may glorify God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Key Verse: Rom 15:4 “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”
15:7 Accept one another as Christ accepted you. For Christ became a servant to the ceremonial laws, to affirm God's truth and to confirm, or fulfill, the covenant made to the patriarchs; and for the Gentiles to glorify God for His mercy. For it was written that Gentiles would come into the fold and that God would be praised among the Gentiles.
Benediction #1 - Romans 15:13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
15:14 to 16:16 (Paul's encouragement to the brothers in Rome and personal greetings).
Chapter Sixteen: Personal greetings and final exhortations.
16:17 Watch out for those who cause divisions and put stumbling blocks in the way of sound doctrine. They deceive the immature with smooth talk and flattery. Keep away from them.
16:19 You have a reputation for obedience. Now, be wise about what is good and innocent of evil. Stand firm, soon God will crush Satan under your feet. May God's grace be with you.
16:21 to 24 (More personal greetings).
Benediction #2 - Romans 16:25-27 “Now to Him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey Him--to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.”
ENDNOTES:
[1]Eph 2:10 “For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
[2]When Paul says, “a righteousness that is by faith from first to last,” he means this righteousness is no longer by observing the law (first) but trusting in Him who fulfilled the law (last). Furthermore, he says this righteousness “is revealed” through the Gospel. It is not new, rather it is clarified, but from the “first to last” has been the same and that is by faith. As it is written in the Old Testament (Hab 2:4), “The righteous will live by faith.”
[3]Mat 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” 1Co 9:21 “I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law.”
[4]4:15: “And where there is no law there is no transgression.” The meaning of this verse is not that those without the law have not sinned. Paul refutes that argument in 2:12-16. In light of the context, the promise and the worthlessness of the law to bring the promise, the meaning is clear: If we live by faith we are counted as righteous. Our transgressions are not counted against us, just as it was with Abraham.
[5]5:1: Justification is being declared “not guilty” for our sin. To be restored to God, to be seen as righteous by God, to have new legal standing through the blood of Jesus Christ.
[6]5:12-21: 1) Sin brought death. 2) Law brought condemnation. 3) Grace brings life. Before the law, death reigned because of sin. Then the law revealed sin and condemned man. Now, grace reigns through righteousness. Nevertheless, from the beginning salvation has been through faith.
[7]8:18: What are “our present sufferings” that Paul is considering? Paul spent time in prison; he was beaten on several occasions, shipwrecked and mocked. But he was writing to Roman Christians who had not yet suffered as severely. The suffering he speaks of is two-fold: First, and most obvious, is the rejection we face in the world as we bear witness in our lives and our speech to the reality of God's Word and His plan of salvation; Second, and less pondered, is the daily taking up of the cross to follow Christ; or the battle to live in the Spirit and not allow the flesh to take control.
[8]8:24: Hope is not a wish. Hope requires perseverance. We are not yet free from the bondage of our flesh to sin. But we live in obedience to God, working out our salvation in fear and trembling (Php 2:12) knowing that Christ is our righteousness until such time that God reveals our adoption and presents us with our new bodies.
[9]This means God has not abandoned the nation of Israel. Paul argues, in previous passages, that a true Israelite is not one of physical heritage but of spiritual. I agree. Once we are saved, whether Jew or Gentile, we become a part of the true Israel, the kingdom of God. However, some have used that foundation to argue that God has abandoned the nation of Israel and that all the promises for Israel are now vested in the Church. I disagree. God is not finished with the nation of Israel and Paul, here, warns us Gentiles not to be conceited because just as it is now our time, soon it will be Israel's time, once again.
[10]True worship is obedience to God. Without obedience, everything else is noise (Amo 5:21-24; Jer 7:2-11; Isa 29:13-16; Mat 15:3-11; Joh 4:23). Christ's example: Heb 10:5-7.
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