Romans 4:13-25

It is hard to follow Paul’s argument, but I will try to highlight some items:

1. Abraham believed (had faith) and he was reckoned by God as righteous.
2. Abraham did not have the Law. That came hundreds of years later with Moses.
3. Abraham was circumcised, but 13 or more years after he was reckoned by God as righteous.
4. Abraham is the father of “many nations”, not just the Jews only but the Gentiles also.
5. The Jews have the Law and circumcision; the Gentiles have neither.
6. Obeying the Law (our works?) cannot make us righteous; the Law only shows us how sinful we are.
7. Lacking both that Law and circumcision, Gentiles can also be reckoned as righteous by faith – as was their father of “many nations”, Abraham.

All of that to highlight and possibly clarify verse 16: That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all His offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all…

Slava Bohu!

Romans 4:1-12

For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” (v.3) Paul makes a strong case that Abraham was found righteous by faith (Genesis 15:6, quoted above) while he was still uncircumcised. In the next chapter, Genesis 16:16 puts Abraham at age 86 when Ishmael was born; he was 99 years old when he was circumcised (Genesis 17:10-11). Paul is arguing that Abraham did nothing (works) to earn God’s granting righteousness to him, only that he believed.

It is worth repeating the last two verses in today’s reading: He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, and to make him the father of the circumcised … who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. (vv. 11-12, only slightly edited) Circumcision (at age 99) was a sign of the faith (and righteousness) that Abraham already had in his 80s. So Paul is making the case for Abraham’s being the father of both the Jews (the circumcised) and the Gentiles (the uncircumcised).

Yes, this gets confusing. It is so helpful to read these epistles in short spurts and to tie Paul’s words in today’s reading back to Genesis.

Slava Bohu!

Romans 3:21-31

An aside: …for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (v. 23). I currently use this verse citation as a password for one of my computer apps. The application requires passwords to contain an upper-case letter, a lower-case letter, a number and a special character. Using Bible verses supports these requirements well!!

Righteousness. If you were to ask me, off the top of my head, I would have a hard time defining “righteousness”, as to exactly what it means to be “righteous”. Frankly, the closest that I can come to understanding righteousness is not by definition, but by contrast. I can best understand what it means to be righteous by contrast with what it means to be “self-righteous”. Unfortunately, I know all too well what self-righteousness is, in that I see it all too often in myself. I see my self-righteousness in one sense as my deserving of honor for who I am or what I have done. I also see it in another sense as my being blameless – as in “It wasn’t my fault!” or “I am correct, not the other person.”

While we see self-righteousness in ourselves as a major fault, in fact those two concepts that I laid out – deserving of honor and blameless – truly do apply to God. “Deserving of honor” is not hard to understand – God is to be honored, above all else in our lives. Blameless, however, needs more context. Truly, God is blameless. We cannot blame Him for anything, especially in the sense that blame carries a negative connotation and God is all goodness, completely lacking evil. But blameless applied to God also suggests His holiness, again a complete lack of evil within His character – infinitely holy!

So, righteousness defined: deserving of honor, blameless. Done.

Slava Bohu!

Romans 3:9-20

What then? Are we better than they? Not at all… (v. 9a, NASB) This verse strikes me in a number of ways. Debbie commented on yesterday’s reading as to our “levels of sin”, comparing our sins to others’ sins. I’m not a murderer, I’m not a rapist…, etc.! But what we are, every one of us, is prideful! Yes, sometimes, even in our humility…! So we compare our “bads” with other peoples’ “bads”. But we also do that with our “goods”. We compare salaries and wealth. We compare educational levels. We compare houses and cars. We compare our kids with other peoples’ kids. We compare our good deeds with others’ good deeds. But all of our “goods” are never enough to cover even one of our “bads” – not when we compare ourselves to an infinitely Holy, Righteous God. Only Jesus’ sacrificial death can cover that one bad, that second bad, that hundredth bad, that millionth bad, that eternity-ridden bad for all mankind for all time. We are all sinners. Period!

Slava Bohu!

Romans 3:1-8

Verse 7 is somewhat confusing: But if through my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? First, let’s take it out of the first-person tense. That is, I don’t think Paul is singling himself out. I think he could just as well have said, “…why are we still being condemned as sinners?” That will clarify the verse somewhat. However, to further understand verse 7, it helps to back up to a selected portion of verse 5: …our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God… I don’t think I am doing Scripture wrong by picking out only that selected part of verse 5. In this portion of verse 5, Paul is repeating what he has already said in verses 3 and 4. So, put it together and here’s a sinner’s (my) restatement of verse 7: “If my wrongdoing makes God look better, then don’t call me a sinner – I’m making God look better!” Enough for today; I’m in over my head!!

Slava Bohu!

Romans 2:17-29

A fairly easy read today… If it’s not an easy read, maybe you need another translation!

Paul is talking to Jews in today’s reading, even though most of the people in Rome who will receive this letter are Gentiles. He is comparing Jews and Gentiles, by focusing on what he knows as an educated Jew – well trained as a rabbi before meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus. For me, today’s key verse is 27: Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. The Jews had received from the Lord both the sign (circumcision) and the word (the Law). The Gentiles had nothing except their idols and temples to the Greek and Roman gods. But Paul is saying that these Gentiles (who may even worship strange gods) could put the Jews to shame by their behavior: So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? (v. 26) Not knowing the Law, these Gentile unbelievers keep the spirit of the Law. And in that sense, the Gentiles are better off than the Jews who behave self-righteously. It’s a lesson we all need to keep in mind.

Slava Bohu!

Romans 2:1-16

Archbishop Beach has a daily devotional, “A Word from the Lord” (https://awftl.podbean.com/). In today’s devotional he quotes from our reading today! It’s worth reading, but I’m not going to repeat it here. I’d rather you read it yourself! However, one point that he does make… “You can become cocky and arrogant in your spiritual life – “I am a Christian; God has done this for me.” You can rest on your perceived laurels; but these perceptions, of personal goodness and righteousness, can lead you quickly to a need for your penitence”. David has mentioned “divine echoes” a few times – when you hear “a word” a few times within a couple of hours. Maybe…??!!

Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. (v. 1) All too often I have been far too judgmental in my life. An incident… It was a Sunday morning sermon back in Texas. Our pastor had just said that our worst trait is our best trait taken to the wrong extreme. I immediately thought, “I’m a teacher and I’m very critical of others.” Then he said, “For example, if you are a teacher you are probably critical of others.” WHAM!! He then explained what he meant and why it was so. He got my attention and I’ve been careful since that day in trying not to be too critical or judgmental. Let’s all be careful in what we say, folks.

Slava Bohu!

Romans 1:16-32

I’m sure many of you have heard of Josh McDowell, a Christian author (Evidence That Demands a Verdict; More Than a Carpenter, etc.) and popular speaker. Years ago (1976, I believe), in my early born-again years I had the pleasure of serving as his driver when he visited the University of Illinois campus. Back then very few students had cars, but I was older and lived off campus, so it fell very nicely to me. I got to know him better than most and bought ETDAV and asked him to sign it. His signature was “Josh McDowell, Romans 1:16”. I remember that every time I read this verse! Sweet!

Therefore God gave them up… (v. 24a); For this reason God gave them up… (v. 26a); And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up… (v. 28a). Three times within five verses Paul mentions “God gave them up”! Note that Paul does not say that God gave up on them, only that He was letting these Gentiles deal with the results of their own passions. Their choices, their outcomes! How different it is when we give ourselves up to His control, His guidance, His outcomes!!

I’ve always been impressed with Paul’s logic in these “natural world” verses: For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. (vv. 19-20) How can someone look at our natural world and not believe in God? Can all this creation just be happenstance? Evolution? Random?? I look at our 6-week-old granddaughter across the driveway; I’m stunned at the perfection that she is. Glory, GLORY!!

Slava Bohu!

Romans 1:1-15

A brief interlude from my Chronological Bible; I include here three verses that we will see later in our readings: After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and departed for Macedonia. When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece. There he spent three months, and when a plot was made against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. (Acts 20:1-3) We already had Paul traveling to Macedonia (Philippi, etc.), having departed Ephesus when Demetrius and his friends started a near-riot. He wrote I Corinthians from Ephesus and II Corinthians from Macedonia. These few verses tell us that he spent some time in Macedonia (…through those regions…) and moved on to Greece (Athens, Corinth). He spent three months in Greece, likely Corinth, and it is from Corinth that many (most?) Biblical scholars believe that he wrote Romans, which we begin reading today. After his time in Greece, he went back through Macedonia on his way to Jerusalem to deliver the funds he had collected for the Jews in need.

So now we begin Paul’s Epistle to the Romans. The first thing that I notice from today’s reading is that the more we read Acts and the Epistles, the more we can connect these historical events. Consider the following verse: I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented) … (v. 13a) You may recall back in Acts 17 that Paul and Silas were run out of Thessalonica and headed south to Berea, then Athens and Corinth. Back than I argued that Paul had intended to continue west along the Egnatian Way, a major thoroughfare that ran from Rome to the eastern coast of Italy, then across the Adriatic Sea, through Macedonia and all the way to modern day Istanbul. I maintained back then that Paul was possibly headed to Rome, but was diverted south instead of continuing west – that the Jews who had hounded him along the Egnatian Way from Philippi to Thessalonica would continue to pursue him west, so Paul headed south instead. So, connections between I and II Corinthians and Acts and Romans. It’s good to tie these things together!

For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you — that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. (vv. 11-12) I like that Paul takes the position that his visit to Rome would have been mutually beneficial. I learned early in my 40 years of classroom teaching that although I was the educator and they were the students, I could learn from them while they were learning from me. The same is true in the spiritual realm – both the teacher and the student benefit. But Paul is saying something more than that here. He is saying that there is also mutual encouragement, that both he and the Romans would be encouraged by his visit. And that’s a recognition that’s doubly important with “spiritual teaching”. As I am doing what I can to guide this RTB group through Acts and the Epistles, I hear from some of you that my comments are helpful – even challenging sometimes – and clearly appreciated. And that fills my heart! So, ideally, hopefully, we are doubly blessed in our RTB relationship! Again, Paul is “right on”!!

Slava Bohu! 

II Corinthians 13:1-14

Paul finishes II Corinthians on a loving note, with a benediction that we have used for years in the Christian Church: The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (v. 14) But I think we say “…our Lord Jesus Christ…” instead of “…the…”. More personal!! Also, surprisingly, I just loaded today’s worship service video – today is Trinity Sunday!! How timely is that!! GLORY!!

Paul gives us some good advice: Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? (v. 5) Examine ourselves. Test ourselves. It’s a good exercise, to ask ourselves where we are in the Lord. Not only where we are, but also where we are headed… Those of us reading this are an older crowd. It would be easy to ask ourselves, “Is this it?” Are we content being where we are in life? Or should we be asking, “What’s next?” Where would you have us go, Lord? What would you have us do? We’ve all got years ahead of us. Let’s use them for His glory!!

Finally, after nearly two months we have finished Paul’s Corinthian letters. I would encourage us to go back through both epistles, just reading the subtitles and headings in our Bibles, reminding ourselves how much we have covered in these two letters – how many topics Paul has touched on, how much advice he has given us, and how much theology he has presented. No doubt we know Corinth better that we ever have from our prior readings. Now on to do the same for Romans…!!

Slava Bohu!