The Book of Romans

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  • August 7, 2013 at 6:23 AM#7417
    genny
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    My kids and I are following the read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year plan.  (I have read the Bible through before but this is their first time.  It's fun to hear them interrupt their own reading to exclaim "I know this story.  Here's where it's from!" or "I know that verse!"  Anyway…)

    It's really interesting to read verses the wmscog uses, but seeing them in context of a whole book shows very well their interpretation errors.

    We are currently halfway through the book of Romans, and I've been noticing how strongly Paul talks about how we are saved by grace through faith, and not by any effort of our own, how the old law has passed away and it's been replaced by the new law of grace–not a new law of a list of regulations as the wmscog would have us believe.

    Here are a few of the verses regarding justification by faith:

    Romans 3:22-24 "This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.  There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."

    Romans 3:27-30 "Where, then, is boasting?  It is excluded.  Because of what law?  The law that requires works?  No, because of the law that requires faith. For we maintain that a person is justifies by faith apart from the works of the law.  Or is God the God of Jews only?  Is he not the God of Gentiles too?  Yes, of Gentiles too, since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith."

    And in chapter 4, Paul talks about Abraham being justified by faith.  The wmscog will point out that Abraham demonstrated his faith in action when he was willing to sacrifice Isaac, but Romans 4 points out that Abraham was justified by faith before that, even before he demonstrated his faith in circumcision.  Abraham's faith was "credited to him as righteousness" way back in Gen. 15:6.

    Romans 4:25 "He [Jesus] was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification."  — There is no mention of the Passover bread and wine here.  The bread and wine are symbols of what Jesus did for us in dying on the cross.  It's Jesus death and resurrection that brought us salvation, not our physical eating of the bread and wine.  Notice Paul did not say, "Jesus gave us the bread and cup of the Passover for our sins and our justification."

    Romans 5:9-11 "Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!  For if, while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!  Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconcilliation." — We are reconcilled through the death of Jesus, not through the physical eating of the Passover.  And we have now received reconcilliation, not we will be reconciled if we do everything right.

    Chapter 6 should put to rest any fears that salvation by faith means Christians can live anyway they want without thought to how God would want them to live.  Such as in Romans 6:15 "What then?  Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace?  By no means!"

    And chapter 7 should check anyone who thinks that it's possible to obey God perfectly 100% of the time.  Romans 7:21-25 "So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.  For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 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.  What a wretched man I am!  Who will rescue me from this boy that is subject to death?  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."

     

    I just wanted to encourage everyone (and especially wmscog members!) to sit down and read the book of Romans sometime.  Read it straight through (not a verse here and a verse there).  It's only 16 chapters.  It's even possible to read it in a day.  If you do, I'd love to know what you observe as you read.  Post your observations here!

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