When to Submit to the Governing Authorities

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In Romans 13, Paul famously tells the Roman Church to “submit to the governing authorities.”

Why does he say that? What does that mean? Does that mean civil disobedience isn’t compatible with the gospel? What about when the government is wicked?

 
 
 

Today’s Reading: Romans 13

13:1 Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. 4 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.

6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

Love Fulfills the Law

8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

The Day Is Near

11 And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already comefor you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.

 
 

As background to why Paul felt he needed to talk to the Romans about submitting to the governing authorities, this paragraph from Douglas Moo was helpful to me:

His purpose may be to stifle the kind of extremism that would pervert his emphasis on the coming of a new era and on the “new creation” into a rejection of every human and societal convention—including the government. Paul has had to respond to such extremism before…. (see 1 Corinthians). One can well imagine Christians arguing: “The old age has passed away; we are a ‘new creation in Christ’ and belong to the transcendent, spiritual realm. Surely we, who are now reigning with Christ in his kingdom, need pay no attention to the secular authorities of this defunct age”…. As a manifestation of his common grace, God has established in this world certain institutions, such as marriage and government, that have a positive role to play even after the inauguration of the new age.

In other words, some Christians were taking Paul’s teachings too far and rejecting every form of civilization and convention. Paul needed to nip that in the bud.

But, does that mean Christians must submit to a wicked law? Does Paul really mean that?

No, and it has to do with what Paul actually writes.

As Douglas Moo goes on to helpfully put it:

Paul calls on believers to “submit” to governing authorities rather than to “obey” them; and Paul’s choice of words may be important to our interpretation and application of Paul’s exhortation. To submit is to recognize one’s subordinate place in a hierarchy, to acknowledge as a general rule that certain people or institutions have authority over us…. It is this general posture toward government that Paul demands here of Christians. And such a posture will usually demand that we obey what the governing authorities tell us to do. But perhaps our submission to government is compatible with disobedience to government in certain exceptional circumstances. For heading the hierarchy of relations in which Christians find themselves is God; and all subordinate “submissions” must always be measured in relationship to our all-embracing submission to him.

 
 

So, we need to obey the law, unless the law itself breaks God’s Law. Whenever possible, submit to the authorities over you, but never forget that God is the ultimate authority.

“Render to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

Practical Advice for Living Well

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Paul has been talking throughout the letter to both Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians; in today’s reading, he gives practical advice on how to live well with other people, even if they are different from you. Pick a line and try it today!

 

Today’s Reading: Romans 12:9-21

9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.20 On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
    if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Don't Conform; Be Transformed

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Today’s Scripture: Romans 12:1-8

 
 

12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

“Therefore” means that Paul is following up from his beautiful doxology in the last chapter. “In light of what I just said, therefore….” Because God is so good, worship is the proper response.

 

2 Do not conform 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.

What’s fascinating to me about this verse is that Paul says we can know God’s will after we are committed to transformation. It is by eschewing conformity and then having a “renewed mind” that we will be able to discern God’s will for our lives.

 

3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

This passage comes after Paul’s long discussion about Israel and his remarks to Jewish and Gentile Christians in the previous 11 chapters. Now, he says, “You are all important, and no one is more important or necessary than anyone else.”

A good reminder for each of us today!

"All Israel Will Be Saved"

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Today, Paul wraps up the section in his letter devoted to the question of God’s commitment to his chosen people, Israel.

Today’s Reading: Romans 11:25-36

 
 

25 I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, 26 and in this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written:

“The deliverer will come from Zion;
    he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.
27 And this is my covenant with them
    when I take away their sins.”

Paul is here directly speaking to Gentile Christians in the Roman Church, and he says that the reason why relatively so few Jews have become Christians is because God is temporarily pivoting away from Israel to reach out and include the Gentiles. But, supporting his point from the Old Testament, he makes the startling claim that “all Israel will be saved.” How or when this will happen, he doesn’t say.

 

28 As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, 29 for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable. 30 Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, 31 so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God’s mercy to you. 32 For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.

Paul uses strong language to make the point that God is using the Jews to provoke the Gentiles to faith, and will then use the Gentiles to provoke the Jews to faith, because he is committed to the Jews as his chosen people, and because God uses bad things for good.

 

33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
34 “Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?”
35 “Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay them?”
36 For from him and through him and for him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.

Paul wraps up the end of this section of the letter with a doxology—”word of glory”.

What a good way to wrap up today’s post!

"Don't Think You're Better!"

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Today’s Reading: Romans 11:11-24

 

11 Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all!Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. 12 But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring!

13 I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry 14 in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. 15 For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? 16 If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.

17 If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, 18 do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” 20 Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble.21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.

22 Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. 23 And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24 After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!

 

Paul here is directly addressing the Gentile Romans Christians, and he tells them not to get puffed up and think they are any better than the unbelieving Jews, just because God has graciously grafted them into his covenant people. And if God can graft in “wild” branches, who knows what he might do with the “natural branches”, i.e., with unbelieving Jews at some point in the future.

The Remnant

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Paul explains in Romans 11 that God is not through with Israel yet, despite the fact that so few Jews have accepted the gospel.

Today’s Scripture: Romans 11:1-10

 
 

11:1 I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel: 3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me”? 4 And what was God’s answer to him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” 5 So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.6 And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.

Paul makes the point that it’s not that no Jews have accepted Christ, and he puts himself forward as a prime example to prove his point! He references the Old Testament story of Elijah to state that God always has a remnant of the faithful. (I find this point very encouraging.)

 

7 What then? What the people of Israel sought so earnestly they did not obtain. The elect among them did, but the others were hardened, 8 as it is written:

“God gave them a spirit of stupor,
    eyes that could not see
    and ears that could not hear,
to this very day.”

9 And David says:

“May their table become a snare and a trap,
    a stumbling block and a retribution for them.
10 May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see,
    and their backs be bent forever.”

Paul cites Old Testament verses to make the point that although the elect have responded in faith to Messiah Jesus, the rest have been blind and unable to see what’s right in front of them.

Why Didn't Israel Recognize Jesus as Messiah?

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Today’s Reading: Romans Chapter 10

ATTN: I’m teaching a churchwide Bible study tonight at Munger, 6-7 PM.

 
 

10:1 Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. 2 For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. 3 Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

Israel’s problem is that they missed the forest for the trees—they were “zealous” but not for the right cause. (Just like the Pharisees.) Jesus fulfilled the law perfectly, and now all it takes to be included in God’s people is faith. What does saving faith look like? Paul explains next.

 

5 Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: “The person who does these things will live by them.” 6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Paul makes the point that saving faith isn’t complicated—that God in his mercy has brought salvation “near” to us: you just have to trust that Jesus is who he says he is.

 

14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

16 But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” 17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. 18 But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did:

“Their voice has gone out into all the earth,
    their words to the ends of the world.”

19 Again I ask: Did Israel not understand? First, Moses says,

“I will make you envious by those who are not a nation;
    I will make you angry by a nation that has no understanding.”

20 And Isaiah boldly says,

“I was found by those who did not seek me;
    I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me.”

21 But concerning Israel he says,

“All day long I have held out my hands
    to a disobedient and obstinate people.”

Paul’s point here is that Israel did know about God’s gracious acts, but has refused to submit to them. He’s going to have more to say about that in the next chapter.

In the mean time, the lesson for us is clear: we must be the ones sharing the Good News in our day and time.

Will Unbelieving Jews Be Saved?

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Today we’re looking at Romans Chapter 9, which is Paul’s attempt to answer this question:

If unbelieving Jews won’t be saved, does that make God’s promises to Israel in the Old Testament null and void? Is the Lord a liar?

Paul’s answer? It was always about faith, and never about simple ethnicity.

 
 

9:1 I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit— 2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, 4 the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. 5 Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.

Paul begins by sharing the pain that he has experienced because so few of the Jews have accepted Jesus as Messiah, despite the fact that they have the amazing heritage of God’s chosen people.

 

6 It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. 7 Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” 8 In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring. 9 For this was how the promise was stated: “At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.”

10 Not only that, but Rebekah’s children were conceived at the same time by our father Isaac. 11 Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: 12 not by works but by him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” 13 Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

14 What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! 15 For he says to Moses,

“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
    and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

16 It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. 17 For Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18 Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.

Is God unfaithful to his promises? Paul says, “No!”

Paul points out that there were always two “Israels”—the people literally descended from Abraham, and then the ones God chose as his people. So, Ishmael is descended from Abraham, but God chose Isaac; Esau is descended from Abraham, but God chose Jacob.

Think of it like the church: there are folks who are church members in name but not in spirit, but then there are those who have actually put their trust in Jesus. It’s not possible for us to see into human hearts and know the truth about people, but God can. There is the true church and the false church. Paul says it is exactly the same for Israel—it is the people of faith who are truly the chosen people, not just the ones descended from Abraham by blood.

There is an Israel within Israel.

 

19 One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?” 20 But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” 21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?

22 What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? 23 What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory— 24 even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?25 As he says in Hosea:

“I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people;
    and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,”

26 and,

“In the very place where it was said to them,
    ‘You are not my people,’
    there they will be called ‘children of the living God.’”

27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel:

“Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea,
    only the remnant will be saved.
28 For the Lord will carry out
    his sentence on earth with speed and finality.”

29 It is just as Isaiah said previously:

“Unless the Lord Almighty
    had left us descendants,
we would have become like Sodom,
    we would have been like Gomorrah.”

Paul knows that people will object and say that it’s unfair that not everyone in Israel will be saved. Here, he’s not talking about faith or personal response—just the fact that God only saves those who have faith in him. And Paul’s point is that it’s not unfair at all—God can do whatever he wants.

 

30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. 32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. 33 As it is written:

“See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble
    and a rock that makes them fall,
    and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame.”

So, how is it that the Gentiles ended up turning in faith to God while the Jews, who had previously received the Law, did not? Paul says it’s because they forgot that the whole thing (starting with Abraham) was always about faith.

"If God Is For Us"

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Today we reach the crescendo of Romans 8, and if ever there were scripture verses worth knowing by heart, it would be these.

Today’s Reading: Romans 8:31-39

 
 

31 What, then, shall we say in response 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, along with him, graciously give us all things?

This is the heart of the gospel, and the reason for Christians to be confident:

God so loved the world that he gave his only son. If God is like that, what won’t he do on our behalf?

 
 

33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

Who will condemn us if Christ won’t? Answer: no one.

 
 

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;
    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

Paul quotes Psalm 44 to make the point that Christians face very real threats and sufferings. Nevertheless:

 
 

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Amen.

(Learn those words by heart.)

Why Do God's Beloved Children Suffer?

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Paul has been writing about the Lord’s great love for us. The obvious question then is, “Why do God’s beloved children still suffer?” This is the question Paul sets out to address in today’s passage. Let’s go through verse by verse.

Today’s Reading: Romans 8:18-30

 
 

18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

All you need to know: what God has planned not just for us but even in us will be SO MUCH BETTER than anything we currently suffer.

19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

Even the subhuman creation is currently suffering, waiting for the future time when God’s people will be perfected in glory and take their rightful place as stewards of creation. Remember, the purpose of humanity is to rule in God’s place over all of creation, but our sin has made that currently impossible and has had consequences in the subhuman creation. But it will not be like this forever.

22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

Paul uses the arresting image of childbirth and explains that it is as if the entire creation is in pain, waiting for the Kingdom to come. In the same way, we are also waiting for God to bring us through and into glory. We wait for that day with hope.

26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

But we are not alone! The Father has given us the Spirit, who comforts us and even helps us pray with words deeper than words.

28 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.

One of the greatest verses in the entire scripture: God is taking EVERYTHING and turning it to the good of his beloved children, even their sufferings.

29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

Paul tells us that God has been actually working out this plan from before The Beginning. There is a good thing coming!

I’ll give Douglas Moo the last word on this passage:

“God’s intention, Paul emphasizes, is to bring to glory every person who has been justified [made right, declared innocent—AF] by faith in Jesus Christ. Our assurance of ultimate victory rests on this promise of God to us. But Paul, ever the realist, knows that that ultimate victory may lie many years ahead—years that might be filled with pain, anxiety, distress, and injustice. Thus he also encourages us by reminding us that God sends his Spirit into the heart of everyone he justifies. The Spirit brings power and comfort to the believer in the midst of suffering and he brings assurance in the midst of doubt. Christians who are unduly anxious about their relationship to the Lord are failing to let the Spirit exercise that ministry. It is by committing ourselves anew to the life of devotion—prayer, Scripture reading, Christian fellowship—that we enable the Spirit to have this ministry of assurance in our hearts”

Adopted As Heirs

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Today’s Reading: Romans 8:12-17

 
 

12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

Paul makes it clear that it is the death of Jesus that saves us and that we must respond in obedience. If you continue in sin, that kind of unrepentant behavior will lead you to eternal death. Obedient faith is saving faith.

 
 

14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

One of the gifts of the Spirit to us is that he makes us feel like we are God’s beloved children, i.e., he offers assurance. Because we are God’s heirs, our inheritance will be to share in God’s glory.

This Week We Read the Greatest Chapter in the Bible

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Romans Chapter 8 has been called “the inner sanctuary within the cathedral of Christian faith; the tree of life in the midst of the Garden of Eden; the highest peak in a range of mountains.”

It’s a jewel in the crown, the crescendo of Paul’s great letter. And we get to read it together this week!

Today’s Reading: Romans 8:1-11

 
 

8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Let me quote extensively from Douglas Moo, whose commentary has been helpful to me:

“The central theme of vv. 1-11 is…. ‘life.’ The ‘no condemnation’ that heads this paragraph is grounded in the reality of the believer’s transfer from death to life. In vv. 2-4, this transfer emanates from ‘the Spirit of life,’ who applies to the believer the benefits won by Christ on the cross, thereby enabling the fulfillment of the law’s just demand.”

This is such a powerful idea: God himself fulfilled the law’s demands by sending his own Son. God pulled sin into one place and nailed it to the cross, thereby defeating it. As a result, we who now live by the Spirit are actually enabled to live faithfully.

 
 

5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you,then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

More Moo:

“Verses 5-9 teach that the flesh is necessarily in opposition to God, turning every person into a rebel against God and his law and reaping death in consequence. This explains why it is only by ‘being in the Spirit’ (v. 9) and ‘walking according to the Spirit’ (v. 4b) that life and peace can be had. And the life that the Spirit gives is by no means ended by the grave, for the presence of the Spirit guarantees that the bodies of believers will be raised from physical death (vv. 10-11).”

"I Do What I Do Not Want to Do"

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Today’s Reading: Romans 7:7-25

 
 

7 What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead. 9 Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. 10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me,and through the commandment put me to death. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.

13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good to bring about my death, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.

14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

 
 

This is one of the most famous passages in the Bible, and it has generated no end of opinions. Who is the “I” Paul is writing about?

Here’s what I think is the most persuasive interpretation:

In Romans 7, Paul is talking about his life as a Jew before coming to Christ, and by extension he is speaking about the experience of Israel before the coming of the Messiah. Though they had the Mosaic Law, it in itself was not enough to change their hearts.

Paul is explaining that, from personal experience, it’s not possible to be righteous on your own—you need the Spirit of God to change you, which is what he will start talking about in Romans 8.

Released From the Law, Bound to Christ

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Today’s Reading: Romans 7:1-6

 
 

7:1 Do you not know, brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? 2 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 that binds her to him. 3 So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.

4 So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. 5 For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. 6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

Paul’s point is that a person is only bound by the law while he or she lives. If you are married and your spouse is living, then you are still under the law of marriage; but if your spouse has died, you are no longer under the law of marriage. He uses that little metaphor to explain that a Christian is someone whose old self has died and so we are no longer under the law; now, rather, we live by the Spirit. The old has gone and the new has come.

Does Grace Create Moral Hazard?

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Does grace create moral hazard? That is, if people know they can be forgiven for their sins, does that knowledge encourage them to sin even more, knowing that they can just ask for forgiveness later? This is the question Paul addresses in today’s reading.

Paul’s answer will surprise you.

 

Today’s Reading: Romans 6:15-23

 
 

15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means!

Paul has previously made the point that Christians are no longer under (Old Testament) law, but are now under grace. Does that mean that they can sin as much as they want?

NO. And he goes on to explain why.

 
 

6 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

Paul’s point is NOT that Christians are now free from control, but that they are now controlled by Christ. Christians are still slaves, but now they are “slaves to righteousness.” Because they are slaves to righteousness, it makes no sense that they would continue to serve sin.

You gotta serve somebody.

 
 

As Douglas Moo puts it:

Those who are joined to Christ by faith live in the new age where grace, not the law of Moses, reigns. This being the case, believers’ conduct is not directly regulated by the law. Under Jewish premises, such a “law-less” situation would be assumed to foster sin….But Paul sees in God’s grace not only a liberating power but a constraining one as well: the constraint of a willing obedience that comes from a renewed heart and mind and, ultimately… the impulse and leading of God’s Spirit.

 
 

19 I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. 20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul admits that the slavery metaphor isn’t perfect, but he’s trying to make his point in language they understand. He goes on to ask what good came from their slavery to sin, compared with their current slavery to Christ. Sin leads to death, but Christ gives life.

For Paul—and for us!—the point is clear: you gotta serve somebody, and it’s better to serve the one who gives life than the power that leads to death.

Why Do Christians Still Sin?

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Why is it that Christians still sin after baptism? This is the question Paul asks in today’s passage.

 
 

Today’s Scripture: Romans 6:1-12

Don’t forget I’m going to be teaching an in-person Bible study on Romans TOMORROW: Wednesday, October 20, 6-7 PM. More info here.

 
 

6:1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?

Paul has hit this question previously in Romans. If God’s grace shows up wherever sin is present, and if the greater the sin means the greater the grace, then why don’t we just sin more so there is more grace?

 
 

2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptizedinto Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sinonce for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

Paul emphatically answers the question from the previous verse: NO WAY. We don’t sin to “increase” God’s grace because that would imply we are still under the slavery of sin. But, in fact, in a mystical way, we have been united with Christ through faith, and our old sinful self has been crucified with Christ. What this means is that there is no reason whatsoever that Christians must continue to sin. It’s like we’ve been let out of prison—there is no reason to walk back inside the prison walls.

 
 

11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master,because you are not under the law, but under grace.

I find this passage really encouraging and convicting: there is no reason for me to be tolerant of sin in my life, because Christ has set me free from sin. This means there is nothing inevitable about my sin—through the work of the Holy Spirit, I can shut the door on past practices and live as a new man.

What do you need to walk away from today?

Adam vs. Jesus

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Today’s Scripture: Romans 5:12-21

Don’t forget I’m going to be teaching an in-person Bible study on Romans this Wednesday, October 20, 6-7 PM. Hope you can join me.

 
 

12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—

13 To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.

15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16 Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, deathreigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in lifethrough the one man, Jesus Christ!

18 Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

20 The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal lifethrough Jesus Christ our Lord.

 
 

This is a complicated passage, and I found something in one of my commentaries that has been helpful to me. I’ve included it below.

 
 

Paul paints with broad brush strokes a bird’s-eye picture of the history of redemption. His canvas is human history, and the scope is universal. We hear nothing in this paragraph of Jew and Gentile; both are subsumed under the larger category “human being.” The perspective is corporate rather than individual. All people, Paul teaches, stand in relationship to one of two men, whose actions determine the eternal destiny of all who belong to them. Either one belongs to Adam and is under sentence of death because of his sin, or disobedience, one one belongs to Christ and is assured of eternal life because of his righteous act, or obedience. The actions of Adam and Christ, then, are similar in having epochal significance. But they are not equal in power, for Christ’s act is able completely to overcome the effects of Adam’s. Anyone who “receives the gift” that God offers in Christ finds security and joy in knowing that the reign of death has been completely and finally overcome by the reign of grace, righteousness, and eternal life (vv. 17, 21).

from The Letter to the Romans, by Douglas Moo