Explaining God - as Father

If the human race is going to gain any knowledge about who God is and what He wants us to do, it must come from God Himself. Left to themselves, people produce concepts of God based on themselves. Their gods are images of themselves.

John 1:14 – Trinity and Incarnation belong together. The doctrine of the Trinity declares that the man Jesus is truly divine; that of the Incarnation declares that the divine Jesus is truly human. Together they proclaim the full reality of the Savior whom the New Testament sets forth, the Son who came from the Father’s side at the Father’s will to become the sinner’s substitute on the cross. God sent His Son to save us and the fact that His Son is co-eternal and co-equal (see John 1:1-2), not a created being, shows the great length God will run to throw His forgiving arms around you.

John 1:15 – John the Baptist used a riddle, as it were, to get people to think. John's riddle is, "He who came after me actually came before me." People wondered what he meant by that.

I believe the apostle includes this quotation because that is how he first discovered who Jesus was. Here John the Apostle is telling us that he saw for the first time who Jesus was when he heard John the Baptist (whose disciple he was for awhile), say, "This one who came after me is the one who was before me." Putting that all together, John caught on to the fact that this Jesus of Nazareth, this Stranger of Galilee, was a human tent in which was hidden a remarkable glory, a glory full of grace and truth.

John 1:16 – Jesus is full of glory, full of grace, full of truth, full of deity. That means we have available an unending daily supply of grace. Grace is the generosity of love reaching out toward us, giving itself to us. To those who come to Christ, God's promise is that every day we can take a new supply of his love. We can know that we are loved. We know we are cherished, protected, and blessed. We are strengthened, kept, and supported by his love; grace upon grace, day after day. The experience of grace should be continuous and progressive in the life of God’s people.

John 1:17 - Notice the reappearance in Verse 17 of the words "grace and truth," and the contrast which John draws between them and the Law and Moses. The Law makes demands. It is hard, cold, unyielding, without mercy.

John says that the Law was given by Moses. Moses did not originate it, but he gave it. Moses may disappear, but the Law remains -- cold, unyielding, demanding, without mercy.

But, John says, "Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." Take away Jesus and you take away grace and truth; he is the channel of them. What John is saying in this section is that law is demand, but grace and truth are supply. Grace and truth are given to meet that demand.

Many people think that law and grace are contradictory, that they are opposing principles. But in the sense in which they were originally intended they are not. Law and grace supplement one another. Law makes its demands, rightfully and justly, and no one can meet them, but grace and truth is given in order to meet that demand. In Exodus 20 there is the remarkable account of the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai; the Law, which came with smoke, thunder, earthquake, fire, fear and trembling. But in the very next section we read the detailed plans for the building of the tabernacle -- God's provision to meet the demands of the Law. That tabernacle is a picture of Jesus, the meeting place where God's demands are fully met in terms of the sacrifice of blood, of a life poured out. Thus John saw in the coming of Jesus the fulfillment of that tabernacle.

John 1:18 – Jesus has revealed, explained (exegeted) God. The only begotten God who dwells at the heart of reality (who lives in the bosom of the Father), has made God known. (The verb is "exegeted" him.) Jesus has explained him and made known that the heart of God is a Father's heart. God is a Father. In John 14:9, Jesus told Philip, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father?’”

When we come to God through Jesus Christ we discover a loving Father; around us are a Father's forgiving arms; a Father's wisdom guides our way; a Father's power protects us and guards us.

Are you living in the fullness of God’s grace and truth today? What is the basis of your knowledge about God? What is the basis of your relationship with God? 

Love Fulfills the Law (Romans 13:8-10)

At the root of all sin is an unloving attitude of the heart that may or may not express itself outwardly. Regardless of whether or not an unloving attitude is expressed outwardly, it is still sin (Matthew 5:27-29). The Law of God is actually an expression of love. It is designed to reveal just how unloving we sinners are. For instance, murder is a capital crime because it is a violation of the obligation to love one's fellow man or men. At the root of murder is an unloving attitude that turns into an unloving act. This expresses the truth that the violation of any of God's Laws is a violation of the moral obligation to love. Love therefore fulfills the Law. This is what Romans 13:8-10 is all about.

The debt of love (Romans 13:8)
Owe nothing to anyone – Paul has just been speaking of paying taxes so the focus is still on the Christian’s financial obligation. However, neither the Old nor New Testament categorically forbids borrowing money. There are verses throughout the Bible that deal with lending and borrowing. But the principle set forth in Scripture is that the borrower is a slave to the lender and that the debt must be repaid as agreed upon both promptly and fully. The Scripture does not justify borrowing for the purpose of purchasing unnecessary things, especially luxuries that cannot be afforded. The ideal however would to be completely out of debt and live within your means. So the financial principle here is to pay what you owe to whomever you owe so that you do not owe.

Except to love one another – is a constant obligation. It is a debt we are constantly paying and constantly owing. We are to pay this debt everyday and forever owe it because of the love given to us by God through Jesus Christ. Our love for God because of His love for us is to motivate our love for others whether they are brothers or sisters in Christ or unbelievers or government workers or enemies. Our ability to love one another only comes through our presenting ourselves to God as living sacrifices because of His love for us. We can give ourselves to every humanitarian and social cause and still not love one another (see 1 Corinthians 13:3). To fulfill Romans 13:8 we must fulfill Romans 12:1-2. Stanza four of At the Cross says, “But drops of grief can ne’er repay the debt of love I owe. Here, Lord, I give myself away, ‘tis all that I can do” (157).

For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law – will be further developed in the next two verses. Just before we move into these next two verses let me say that when we practice love, there is no need for any other laws. As believers, we do not live under the Law; we live under grace. Our motive for obeying God and helping others is the love of Christ in our hearts. As we love others because we love God we fulfill the law.

The discharge of love (Romans 13:9)
Love is discharged not only by what we do for others but also by what we don’t do. Love is discharged when we don’t commit adultery (this includes looking on another person with lust). Love is discharged when we don’t commit murder (this includes being angry with your brother). Love is discharged when you don’t steal (this includes not paying taxes or debts and being a free-loader). Love is discharged when you don’t covet. Love is discharged when we love our neighbor as ourselves.

There are many other ways to demonstrate godly love. Of supreme importance is to teach and live God’s truth (1 John 5:2). Godly love never turns its freedom into an opportunity for the flesh (Galatians 5:13). Love never rejoices in anything that is false or unrighteous (1 Corinthians 13:6). Love refuses to do anything, even things that are not sinful in themselves, that might offend a brother’s conscience and cause him to stumble (Romans 14:21). Love is kind and forgiving (Ephesians 4:32). Love is patient, kind, not jealous, does not brag, is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly, does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, rejoices with the truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, and never fails (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).

The definition of love (Romans 13:10)
Love does not wrong to a neighbor and therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. When Jesus was asked by a lawyer (one skilled in the interpretation of God’ Law) what commandment was the foremost of all He answered, “The foremost is Hear O Israel! The Lord Our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:28-31).

The first and greatest law is to love God.

Christ: The End of Trying (Romans 10:4)

Since man cannot meet the righteous requirement of a holy God through works of the Law and cannot by the labor of his hands fulfill the Law’s demands, his only hope is found in Jesus Christ who did perfectly fulfill the Law in order to redeem him. People that believe they can serve God and please God in the flesh are ignorant about the righteous requirements of an absolutely righteous God and their own sinfulness (Romans 10:3).

The most difficult people on the face of the earth to reach with the gospel of salvation by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ are those who have been taught that they are pretty good people and therefore God owes them salvation. The absolute need for any person to be saved is that he or she sees his or her inability to please God in the power of the flesh through works of the Law. The self-righteous are excluded from salvation because salvation is by mercy and not by merit. So the first duty of the faithful witness is to exalt the absolute righteousness of God and thereby show man his absolute inability to measure up. Men must be convinced of their sin if they are going to be convinced of their need for a Savior. As long as we allow men to remain in their self-righteousness by not exposing their sinfulness then we play right into the hands of the enemy of souls and join him in excluding them from salvation.

Many redefine sin in order to remove its offensiveness. Redefining sin as something other than what God has defined it in the Bible and telling men that they are not really as bad as God says they are is a hindrance to men coming to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Sad to say, but this is much of what characterizes today’s evangelism. Sin and repentance are either overlooked or toned down so that men aren’t offended or hurt by the stinging truth of their real condition before a holy and righteous God. The end result is men are offered grace without guilt, healing without hurting, and response without repentance. So these poor souls end up with a false assurance of salvation and will either be legalistic or licentious – not knowing about God’s righteousness!

Since man cannot achieve the righteousness of God – it must be achieved for him through a Substitute and received as a gift on the basis of faith. That being true, then all effort by man to please God in the flesh is an exercise in futility and ends in destruction. However, since the Lord Jesus Christ did achieve the righteousness of God as a Substitute for men who would believe, for them He is the end of attempting to please God in the flesh (Romans 10:4).

For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes (Romans 10:4). Those who come to believe are those who come to see and know God’s righteousness and their inability to achieve it. They come to know themselves as sinners in the need of mercy! These are the ones that can see that they need a Savior and are no longer blinded by their self-righteousness or their zeal without knowledge. They come to know and understand – not the labors of my hands, can fulfill they law’s demands; could my zeal no respite know, could my tears forever flow, all for sin could not atone; Thou must save, and thou alone (Baptist Hymnal, Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me, second stanza, Hymn 163). For everyone who believes, Christ is the end of the law for righteousness! Christ is the end of trying!

Salvation isn’t achieved by our trying to live a good life – we can’t; salvation is achieved by our trusting in the finished work of Christ. We become the recipients of the righteousness of God through faith not through the flesh. This is why it written, “The righteous man shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17). Believers experience the great transaction – “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Therefore, “[we] no longer live for [ourselves], but for Him who died and rose again on [our] behalf” (2 Corinthians 5:15). We no longer live by the flesh and for the flesh but we live by faith in the Son of God who loved us and gave Himself up for us (Galatians 2:20).

I want you to notice three aspects about this verse:

“For Christ” - Salvation is exclusive - it is in Christ alone – He is the exclusive Savior and Liberator for there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).

“Is the end of the law for righteousness” – Salvation is liberative – it sets men free from trying and gives them rest through trusting.

“To everyone who believes” – Salvation is inclusive – it is for everyone, Jew or Gentile, who comes to know God’s righteousness; his inability to achieve it; and that God has provided it through the finished work of Christ.

No Condemnation - Exempted Living (Romans 8:1-4) Part 2

The Law cannot claim you (Romans 8:3-4)

Since the Law cannot condemn you it also cannot claim you. Why is this so? Because Christ has already set you free from the Law’s condemnation by suffering and paying for the Law’s just claim over you on the cross. The “law of double jeopardy” states that a man cannot be tried twice for the same crime. God would not be just to condemn you when He has already condemned Jesus Christ in your place as though He was you. Since Jesus Christ paid the penalty for your sins and since you are in Christ, God will not condemn you.

The only safe place from the just wrath of God is in Christ Jesus. This is true because the Lord Jesus Christ is the only one who could and did suffer the wrath of God in our place so that we wouldn’t have to.

The Law cannot save a sinner from the wrath of God – it can only condemn the sinner and guarantee that he will indeed be the recipient of God’s wrath. Through the Law comes the knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20) and because of this the Law brings about wrath (Romans 4:15).

In Romans 8:1-2 we saw the twin truths of justification and sanctification and their relationship to one another. Romans 8:1 is a declaration of justification through no condemnation. Romans 8:2 is a declaration of sanctification because of no condemnation. We saw that justification is the cause of sanctification and that sanctification is not and cannot be the cause of justification. So this means that God’s legally declaring us righteous in Christ is the foundation and cause of our actually becoming righteous by loving Jesus and living for Jesus.

Romans 8:3-4 declares these twin truths of justification and sanctification once again. The Holy Spirit of God wants us to understand the God ordained order of our salvation. Justification always precedes and causes sanctification. Where there is no sanctification, justification has not taken place – not because sanctification causes justification but because justification always causes sanctification. These twin truths are devastating to the heresy of easy-believism and firmly establish the Biblical truth of Lordship salvation.

But not only are these twin truths devastating to libertinism they are also devastating to legalism. Paul has been laboring to show both the intent and the inability of the Law so that men would see their need to be justified and sanctified by faith and not by the Law. In other words the apostle has been laboring to show that the Law cannot justify and that it cannot sanctify. This is the perfect antidote against legalism.

So in Romans 8:3 we read about what the Law could not do but what God could and did do. “For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh.” Here we see four statements in this verse: (1) The Law cannot condemn sin in the flesh and therefore it cannot justify or sanctify, (2) the Law cannot justify or sanctify because of the weakness of our flesh, (3) what the Law could not do God did, and (4) God condemned sin in the flesh by sending His own Son and therefore we can be justified and sanctified by faith in Christ.

The Law cannot condemn sin in the flesh and therefore it cannot justify or sanctify. This doesn’t mean that the Law cannot criticize sin or show it to be worthy of death – this is precisely what the Law does. In the sense of passing the sentence of death on the sinner and guaranteeing that it must take place, the Law is perfectly capable. But this is not what our text is speaking of. Our text is speaking of having the ability to set us free from the law of sin and death not by condemning sin in the flesh by criticizing it but by actually condemning sin in the flesh by carrying out sin’s penalty through capitol punishment on a willing and able Substitute. This the Law cannot do! The Law cannot justify the sinner; it cannot exempt him but can only demand his execution. The Law cannot sanctify the sinner; it cannot change him but can only charge him with his crimes.

The Law cannot justify or sanctify because of the weakness of the flesh. “For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh….” This portion of verse 3 tells us why the Law cannot justify or sanctify – the weakness or wickedness of our flesh. The problem with the Law is not that its commandments are evil (Romans 7:12) but that we are evil and sold into bondage to sin (Romans 7:14). The word flesh means our old fallen nature – what we are by nature because of our connection to Adam. We are by nature sinners! Therefore it is our nature to rebel against God and His Law and therefore we are rightfully under condemnation. This means that we need to be delivered from the just condemnation that belongs to us and we need a new nature. We need justification and sanctification.

How will we be delivered from condemnation? Not by keeping the Law – we can’t! How will we get a new nature? Not by keeping the Law – we can’t! How then? By trusting not trying! The sooner we see our sickness the sooner we can seek the Savior! Our flesh cannot be empowered by the Law for the Law does not arrest sin in us but arouses it!

What the Law could not do, God did! The Law could not exempt us it could only guarantee our execution; the Law could not justify us. The Law could not change us it could only charge us with our crimes; the Law could not sanctify us! What the Law could not do, God did! God exempted us and justified us and He changed us and sanctified us. How did God do this?

God condemned sin in the flesh by sending His own Son. Here is the high and holy doctrine of Penal-Substitution. God executed the just penalty for sin in the flesh of His sinless Son as an offering or substitute for my sin and your sin. There was no sin in Christ to condemn so the condemnation that He received was not His own but as a substitute for others. This is clearly seen in 2 Corinthians 5:21 – “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

My sin was punished fully and in its finality in the body of Christ. And if my sin was punished there finally and fully, then I will not be punished for it again – “My sin O the bliss of this glorious thought; my sin not in part but the whole; is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more, praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!” (Horatio G. Spafford, It Is Well With My Soul, 1873).

But what was the purpose of God justifying us by condemning our sin in the flesh of His sinless Son? Was it just so that we would be justified and have a fire insurance policy guaranteeing that we wouldn’t go to hell? Did God intend to justify us and not change us? What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the condemnation of the Law but under grace? May it never be!

God justified us so that we would love Him and serve Him and thereby be sanctified. This is what verse 4 declares – “So that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

The love of God rescued us from the wrath of God so that we would love God and serve Him in newness of life. Our justification causes our sanctification. We love Him because He first loved us. Another way of saying this wonderful truth is that we are sanctified because He first loved us and justified us. Our obedience is a result of love not Law.

The believer lives a righteous life, not in the power of the Law, but in the power of the Holy Spirit. The believer lives a righteous life, not by trying, but by trusting. This is what Paul meant when he said all the way back in Romans 1:17 that the righteous man shall live by faith.

The righteousness that God demands in His Law is fulfilled in us through the Holy Spirit’s power. Our sanctification – fulfilling the requirement of the Law – is based on our justification – Christ’s fulfilling the requirement of the Law on our behalf.

The Law cannot condemn us and it cannot claim us because of what God has done for us in Christ Jesus our Lord. We now have no condemnation and experience exempted living.

No Condemnation - Exempted Living (Romans 8:1-4)

The Law cannot condemn you (1-2)

“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). The apostle is here speaking of justification. For those who are in Christ Jesus their penalty for violating the Law has been paid by Jesus Christ. All who are under the Law are under the Law’s condemnation and curse. The Law condemns those who are not in Christ and it demands their execution for their violation of the Law. Romans 3:20 shows the “therefore” of condemnation because of the Law’s conclusion that by works of the Law no flesh shall be justified in God’s sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.

Romans 8:1 shows the “therefore” of no condemnation on the basis of being in Christ under grace and not in Adam under the Law. For all who are in Adam and have not been transferred into Christ through faith in Christ, have not been justified; the Law’s condemnation on their lives has not been eradicated; and their penalty or condemnation must be paid by them just as the Law demands.

For those who are in Christ, the requirements of the Law have been fully satisfied on the basis of the sinless life, sacrificial death, and supernatural resurrection of Christ, so that the Law no longer has jurisdiction over the believer and it cannot condemn the believer. By faith in Christ and being in Christ we have died to the Law and been released from its condemnation of us.

What does “no condemnation” mean for those who are in Christ in this fallen sin-sick world? What is Paul saying in Romans 8:1 when he says, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”?

Paul was saying that all of God’s just and righteous wrath and holy opposition toward us has been absorbed by another on our behalf. In other words, the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty has been turned away from us by being poured out on Jesus Christ so that what God’s holy nature and Law required for our sin was fulfilled in Christ our Substitute so that God can justify us and remain just in the process. This means that in Christ, God is for us and not against us. Paul comes to the glorious climax of this truth in Romans 8:31 – “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?”

But now on the other hand, those who are not in Christ Jesus, those who have a profession of faith but no possession of faith, and those who make no claim of faith whatsoever will find the terrible truth that the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty has not been turned away and that God is against them and not for them.

This truth is easily seen in 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 – “…when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His might angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.”

So Romans 8:1 is the wonderful good news of no condemnation for those who have been justified by faith in Christ and are indeed in Christ. But how does one begin to know for sure that he has been justified and is indeed in Christ?

Well for starters as we answer that question let me state the obvious truth and then we will proceed to prove it – genuine and biblical justification always precedes and empowers sanctification. Without sanctification following justification there has been no justification. This is what James was writing about in his letter. A faith that does not work cannot be saving faith. In other words a justification that does not produce sanctification cannot be biblical justification.

Notice Romans 8:2 – “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.” Here we don’t see justification, we see sanctification. The declaration of our justification is in verse 1 – “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” – that’s justification. But here in verse 2 we see a description of practical sanctification. Sanctification proves justification but does not cause it. Justification causes sanctification and if there is no sanctification then justification hasn’t taken place. This is the truth the apostle Paul was teaching in 2 Corinthians 5:17 – “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

The basis for the truth and assurance that there is therefore now no condemnation is the phrase “in Christ Jesus.” In Adam all die – in Adam we were all condemned. In Christ there is no condemnation because in Christ all shall be made alive – so in Christ all are justified.

But we also see the wonderful truth that all who are in Christ are also in the process of being sanctified because we have been set free from the law of sin and death through the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. Paul went on to say in his letter to the Corinthians – “But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, ‘Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord’” (1 Corinthians 1:30-31).

We have died to the Law and its penalty in Christ and have been given a new life principle by the Spirit of life so that the Law cannot condemn us. We are new creatures who are no longer under condemnation. Our penalty has been paid by our Substitute who loved us and gave Himself up for us so that we no longer live for ourselves but for Him who died and rose again on our behalf. Because this is true we are in the process of being sanctified because we are now living for Jesus. This is exempted living – from the Law.

The Inability of the Law (Romans 7:14-25)

Paul has been laboring in the book of Romans to prove that the gospel of justification by faith in no way nullifies the Law of God and by no means is a message that means that the Law of God is bad. Paul has already declared that the Law itself testifies that the righteousness of God does not come through the Law but is by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 3:21-22). Paul has also declared that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ does not nullify the Law but actually establishes the Law (Romans 3:31).

The reason that Paul would have been accused of preaching against the Law as he preached the good news of justification by faith in Christ was because too many misunderstood the purpose or intent of the Law. The Law was not given to show man’s goodness but his badness by showing God’s goodness and man’s violation of that which is good. This is why Paul said, “The Law came in so that the transgression would increase” (Romans 5:20). Although this may seem to be a bad thing it is really a good thing because it is only through seeing our badness that we will see our need for a Savior.

So the intent of the Law is to announce sin (Romans 7:7), arouse sin (Romans 7:8-9), authorize sin (Romans 7:10-11), and amplify sin (Romans 7:12-13). By the Law being the perfect standard of that which is good it gives an accurate and totally true evaluation of that which is not good. So the Law is that which is holy and righteous and good (Romans 7:12) and sin is that which is unholy and unrighteous and bad – and we are sinners – a truth to which the Law testifies without fail. Since we are sinners and are unable to do good then both our justification and our sanctification are by faith in Christ.

Now this is the context of what we are studying in the book of Romans. If we will keep in mind that Paul is showing that justification by faith in Christ is what the Law is pointing to as our only hope and that sanctification by faith in Christ is what the Law is pointing to as our only help we will be able to better understand what Paul is talking about in the rest of chapter 7.

Having explained what the Law is supposed to do – its intent – Paul now explains what the Law cannot do – its inability. That brings us to this tremendous truth – the Law can show us our badness but it cannot provide us with any goodness. This means that the righteousness of God that I need to be acceptable to God is out of my reach through the Law so I need someone who has completely fulfilled God’s Law to give me His righteousness on the basis of His love and grace apart from anything that I have done.

Once these two inseparable ministries of the Law (its intent and inability) are properly understood then the sinner is left standing before God stripped of any false notions of self-righteousness so that he can throw himself on God’s mercy in Jesus Christ and receive God’s grace through receiving Jesus Christ. Having been justified by faith and not the Law the believer can then also live by faith and not the Law – the righteous man shall live by faith (Romans 1:17).

In Romans 7:14-25, Paul explained the inability of the Law and gave three necessities that the Law cannot give:

The Law can educate about sin’s control but cannot empower you to change (Romans 7:14-17).

Not only is there no justification through the Law neither can one be sanctified through it. In his attempts to keep the Law and live a sanctified life Paul was agreeing that the Law was good but he was finding out that it couldn’t change him. The Law had “come” to Paul fulfilling its intent showing him that it was spiritual and dealt with the inner man and not just the outer man. Outwardly one can appear to be righteous but inwardly full of wickedness – this is what the Law taught Paul.

Human nature is carnal (fleshly); but the Law’s nature is spiritual. This explains why the old nature responds as it does to the Law. It has well been said, “The old nature knows no Law, the new nature needs no Law.”

It was through Paul’s attempts to keep the Law that he also was educated by it about his true condition – he was of the flesh, sold into bondage to sin. Every time Paul attempted to do what the Law wanted him to do he couldn’t and every time Paul attempted not to do what the Law prohibited – inwardly he couldn’t. Through this experience Paul was agreeing with and confessing that the Law was good – but that he wasn’t.

Have you ever made a resolution and didn’t keep it? What did you learn in the process? Did you learn that you wanted to do good but couldn’t? Did you learn that you were controlled by a force greater than you? (Romans 7:17)

The Law cannot empower the old nature to change; it can only educate how sinful that old nature is.

The Law can enlighten about sin’s corruption but cannot enable you to do good (Romans 7:18-21).

After attempting to do what the Law requires and failing, Paul was enlightened about his true condition – “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me (in my mind), but the doing of good is not (in my flesh). Paul found out that the Law can enlighten about sin’s corruption but cannot enable you to do good.

Paul was saying that in and of himself he could not obey God’s Law; and that even when he did evil was still present with him. So the Law was powerless to enable Paul to do good just as it still is today with any man. The Law can enlighten about sin’s corruption but it cannot enable you to do good.

Even after a man is saved the Law does not enable him to do good. His sanctification cannot be attained through the Law. The Law cannot enable you to do good – it can only enlighten you about sin’s corruption.

The Law can elucidate about sin’s captivity but cannot emancipate you (Romans 7:22-25).

Elucidate means to make clear or explain – to give explanation. Emancipate means to free from bondage. The Law elucidates the reality of sin’s captivity of our old natures – it makes clear and explains our imprisonment to the law of sin in our bodies.

After having been justified by faith apart from works of the Law, many wrongly conclude that they now have the ability to be sanctified by keeping the Law. This is not true and would mean that having begun by the Spirit we are now being perfected by the flesh (Galatians 3:3). However, anyone who has ever tried his best and made resolutions and even “rededications” has discovered that painful reality that though he wants to do good he cannot free himself for his old nature – not even through trying to keep God’s Law.

The Law cannot free us from the bondage of sin in the old nature. The inward man may delight in the Law of God, but the old nature delights in breaking the Law of God. People who wrongly believe that they must live the Christian life in the power of the flesh under the Law will say things like, “Living the Christian life is hard!” Actually, living the Christian life in the power of the flesh under the Law isn’t hard – it’s an impossibility!

The only proper response of any person attempting to live the Christian life by keeping the Law is to exclaim what he has discovered – “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?”

Is there any deliverance? Sure there is! “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Because the believer is united to Christ, he is dead to the Law and no longer under its authority. But he is alive to God and able to be led by the Holy Spirit. The explanation of this victory is in Romans 8.

The final sentence (Romans 7:25) does not teach that the believer lives a divided life but that there is a struggle within him between the flesh and the Spirit. The believer does not obey the flesh and the Spirit at the same time. He either obeys the flesh and his old nature and sins or he obeys the Spirit and his new nature and is sanctified.

The Bible has nothing good to say about the flesh – nothing good dwells in it (Romans 7:8); the flesh is hostile toward God (Romans 8:7); does not subject itself to the Law of God (Romans 8:7); those who are in the flesh cannot please God (Romans 8:8); those who are living according to the flesh must die (Romans 8:13); and so on it goes.

The Law cannot emancipate you – it can only elucidate about sin’s captivity. If we are to be set free and sanctified we must yield to the Holy Spirit and not attempt to serve God in the flesh!

Is the Law Sin? (Romans 7:7-13)

Paul was accused constantly of preaching against the Jews and their Law. We see the reality of this truth as it came to a head in Acts 21:27-28 – “When the seven days were almost over, the Jews from Asia, upon seeing him in the temple, began to stir up all the crowd and laid hands on him, crying out, ‘Men of Israel, come to our aid! This is the man who preaches to all men everywhere against our people and the Law and this place….’”

Paul wrote his letter to the Romans years ahead of his arrest in Jerusalem. However, Paul was constantly running into the arguments and accusations that if the Gospel that he preached was true then he was indeed preaching against the Jews and the Law. This is evident all over the place in the book of Romans.

Don’t forget that Romans is the Holy Spirit inspired explanation of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and in it the Spirit of God using the apostle Paul as a weapon of righteousness demolishes and destroys the false accusations raised up against the truth of the Gospel. This is what we are seeing as we move through this letter. At every turn we are seeing the speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God’s Gospel and every wrong thought about the Gospel being destroyed and taken captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).

Follow that trail with me for just a few moments: In Romans 2:17, Paul began to demolish the false assurance of the Jews who relied upon their lineage and their Law. This would seem to the Jews that Paul was preaching against the people and against the Law. However, he was only establishing the truth that salvation always had been and always would be by faith apart from works of the Law for anyone who believes – whether Jew or Greek. So in Romans 3:21-30 the apostle preached the truth of justification by faith in Jesus Christ as the only means by which God could and would forgive a sinner and remain just in the process.

The truth of justification by faith in Christ alone apart from works of the Law would have brought out the false accusation that if the Gospel is true that it nullifies the Law. So we read, “Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law” (Romans 3:31). The Gospel doesn’t nullify the Law it establishes the Law. We looked at that truth and saw that through faith the Law is established because the perfect obedience to the precepts of the Law were fulfilled in the sinless life of Christ; the penalty for violating the Law was fulfilled in the sacrificial death of Christ; the probity (integrity or rightness) of the Person of the Law was fulfilled in the supernatural resurrection of Christ; and the potential for our fulfilling the Law is made possible through our loving and living for Jesus (Romans 8:4). So the Gospel doesn’t nullify the Law it establishes it!

Then in Romans 5:20-21 Paul went on to show one of the purposes of the Law – “The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” This truth would prompt the faulty reasoning and false accusation that the Gospel is that which gives a license to sin – “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?” (Romans 6:1-3).

So in Romans 6 the apostle showed how the believer has died to sin and is alive to God through identification and union with the death of Christ and the resurrection of Christ. It was here that Paul was proving that sin’s mastery over us was broken and Christ’s mastery over us was born. Paul had already stated that the Law cannot break the mastery of sin but instead increases it (Romans 5:20). This being true then it is of necessity that a person be released from the dominion of the Law if he is to be released from the mastery of sin. This is precisely what Paul is teaching – “For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace” (Romans 6:14).

For the life of him, the legalist cannot see how not being under the law but under grace does not lead to a life of more sin and more lawlessness. And I want to add that for the life of him, the libertine cannot see how not being under the law but under grace does lead to a life that fulfills the Law. The truth that those who have been saved are not under law but under grace would prompt the faulty reasoning and false accusation that a person can sin all they want – “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be!” (Romans 6:15). It is this accusation that Paul destroys in Romans 7.

The legalist believes that the Law is that which arrests sin when in truth it is that which arouses sin (Romans 7:5). The purpose of the Law was not to remove sin but to reveal sin (Romans 7:7). Since the Law arouses sin and does not arrest sin and the Law reveals sin but does not remove sin, then we must be released from the Law’s dominion and the only way that is possible is for us to die to the Law through the body of Christ so that we might be joined to the Lord and not the Law (Romans 7:4). This now means that we are not under law but under grace – we are not under law but under love – we are not under law but under the Lord – we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter (Romans 7:6).

But now to the heart of the problem: Paul has been speaking the truth about the intent of the Law which was in contradiction to what the Jews believed to be its intent. Paul said that the duty of the Law was to condemn not justify (Romans 3:20); that the Law was to witness to God’s righteousness through faith not work it in us through the flesh (Romans 3:21-31); that the Law had never been and never would be God’s means of justification (Romans 4:1-25); that the Law was given to increase transgression so that grace could prove to be greater (Romans 5:20-21); that we have to be released from the Law’s dominion if we are to be released from sin’s mastery over us (Romans 6:14 – 7:4); and that the Law arouses sin and does not arrest sin (Romans 7:5). All of these truths about the Law bring us to this faulty reasoning and false accusation that the Law is sin – What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? (Romans 7:7a).

Here’s how that faulty reasoning would work to bring about a false conclusion and result in a false accusation:
1. The Law arouses sinful passions (Romans 7:5)
2. Sin is bad
3. Therefore the Law is bad
So the charge is laid that Paul is preaching that the Law is bad and therefore the Law is sin.

Paul answers his would be critics – May it never be! Perish the thought! Don’t even think about it! On the contrary, he says, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law. He has already stated this truth in Romans 3:20 – For through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. Paul wasn’t teaching that the Law causes sin but that sin is already there and that the Law reveals it – it arouses it. You cannot arouse what isn’t there but you can arouse what is. You can’t reveal what isn’t there but you can reveal what is.

This is the duty or intent of the Law. It is to reveal or reflect what is there. The Law serves the purpose of a mirror or standard by which to accurately measure or evaluate ourselves. We look into the Law and we do not see our baldness but our badness; we don’t see our sweetness but our sourness; we don’t see our outer features but our inner filth.

What shall we say then? Is the mirror bad? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know my badness except through the mirror; for I would not have known that desiring was ugly if the mirror had not said, “You shall not desire” (7:7). For without the mirror my ugliness was dead. For I was handsome in my own estimation without the mirror once; but when the mirror came, my ugliness was revealed and revived and I saw how ugly I really am (7:8b-9).

Is the Law sin? Are God’s commandments evil? No! The Law is an expression of the holy character and nature of God. Sin is a violation of God’s holy character and nature. The Law reveals our wickedness but is not responsible for it!

The Intent of the Law (Romans 7:7-13)

Contrary to what many of the Jews believed about the Law, its intent was never to be a means of attaining to the righteousness of God but its intent was to define transgressions and show the total inability of man to attain to God's righteousness. The Law would therefore be that which condemned and brought about wrath but not that which gave sinful men a means of becoming righteous. So let's look at what God intended the Law to accomplish.

The Law announces sin (Romans 7:7) – it shows what sin is by saying what sin is. This means that the Law reflects what sin is by reciting what sin is. Paul declared that he would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for he would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “You shall not covet”. Paul was saying that the Law announced sin by showing him what it was through saying what it is.

Notice that it was not the first nine commandments that gave Paul problems – it was the tenth – You shall not covet. The word “covet” means to “desire” or used in the more negative sense – “to lust.” It is this commandment, that when you believe that you are a pretty good person because you haven’t killed anyone or committed adultery with anyone or stole anything, that comes along and shows you just how wicked you really are because it doesn’t deal with the outer man but the inner man. It is here that you see that breaking the spirit of the Law is equal to breaking the letter of the Law. How? Notice how Jesus used this in Matthew 5:21-27. So the Law announces sin.

The Law arouses sin (Romans 7:8-9) – it stimulates sin but is not the source of sin. This means that the Law revives sin but is not responsible for sin. Here is how it works: Sin takes that which is good – the commandment/Law – and uses it as a base of operations by which to launch an attack and produce all sorts of bad or evil. Sin will take that which is good (God’s Law) and use it to produce that which is bad (violation of the Law). Sin takes that which is good and uses it as an opportunity to stimulate hatefulness and hurtfulness toward that which is good. However where there is no Law sin is dead (7:8). This does not mean that sin doesn’t exist where there is no Law but that it is dormant not having the opportunity to violate that which is good. Paul has already stated this truth – “For the Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, there also is no violation” (Romans 4:15). “For until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed where there is no law” (Romans 5:13). “The Law came in so that the transgression would increase…” (Romans 5:20). Sin needs a law to violate in order to be stimulated and revived.

Maybe this little example will help us to understand: A speed limit sign that says that the limit is 55 stimulates me to believe that I can get away with 65. A 65 mph limit sign stimulates me to believe that I can get away with 75. So the speed limit sign stimulates my lawbreaking but is not the source of it – it revives my lawbreaking but is not responsible for it.

Paul goes on to say in Romans 7:9 that there was a time in his life that he didn’t see himself as a sinner because he didn’t see himself as a lawbreaker. The reason for this is because Paul was looking at the outward letter of the Law and not the inner spirit of the Law. Paul had the Fonz complex at one time in his life – he would take a glance into the mirror of God’s Law and say, “Heyyyyyyy!” Paul would think, “I’ve never murdered, I’ve never committed adultery, I’ve never stole, etc.” But one day the Law came to him – he truly understood what the Law means when it says, “You shall not covet.” It came to him – it was illuminated to him and for the first time he saw what it really meant. When this happened Paul saw how wretched he was because the commandment, “You shall not covet” – you shall not desire – showed him and stimulated in him all sorts of desiring. It would be like traveling 55 mph in a 55mph speed zone with a sign that says do not desire to travel over 55mph and a trooper clocks you with his radar gun which is also an x-ray gun and pulls you over because your desire was to be traveling 75 mph. As soon as this happens you would realize that you had never obeyed the Law though at one time you thought you had. This is what Paul describes in Philippians 3:3-9. The Law announces sin and the Law arouses sin

The Law authorizes sin (Romans 7:10-11) – it strengthens sin (1 Corinthians 15:56) by sentencing the sinner or sanctioning sin’s penalty. This means that it reinforces sin by requiring sin’s penalty to be paid to the sinner. “You shall not covet/desire” along with the other nine commandments were the perfect expression of what is necessary for a man to do if he is to obtain life by keeping the Law. The Law of God, which is what He requires us to keep perfectly if we are to earn life, proves to result in death for us (7:10). Why does that which is supposed to result in life instead result in death? Because of sin! This is precisely why there is no law that can be given which can impart life – we are sinners and sin will use the law to effect our deaths. The Law can only give life to those who never sin but it must give death to all who do sin.

Sin promises us that disobeying the Law is our real source of life and liberty, it deceives us, and we violate the Law incurring the penalty of death rather than the blessing of life (7:11). So sin deceives us so that it can use that which is good to kill us. Sin takes opportunity through the Law to deceive us about the Law and to kill us through the Law. The Law then reinforces sin by requiring sin’s wages to be paid to sinners. So the Law announces sin, the Law arouses sin, and the Law authorizes sin.

The Law amplifies sin (Romans 7:12-13) – it shames sin by swelling its sinfulness. This means that it reveals sin by raising its sinfulness. The Law is holy and righteous and good (7:12). So here we must ask ourselves: are God’s commandments evil? No! If everyone in the world at every moment in time obeyed the Laws of God from the heart then it would be heaven on earth. Anyone who believes that the commandments of God are evil or the source of evil has already been deceived by sin about the Law.

Since the Law is holy and righteous and good – did that which is good become a cause of death for me, asked Paul? May it never be! The trouble is not in the Law but in sin, and the use that sin has made of that which is good. By sin using that which is good (the Law) for evil purposes causes the Law to amplify sin and show it for what it really is (7:13). This is the intent or duty of the Law (Romans 3:20) – it announces, arouses, authorizes, and amplifies sin so that we will see our need for the Savior.

Released from the Law (Romans 7:1-6)

In Romans 5 the apostle Paul brought out the truth that the Law came in so that transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more (5:20).

Based on this truth the apostle anticipated being misunderstood and misinterpreted so in chapter 6 he raised the question that would have been asked by those who misunderstood – “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? (6:1). Then he answered that question – “May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? (6:2). Then he goes on to show that we have died to sin and are alive to God proving that the outcome of justification by faith does not issue in a lawless life but in a sanctified life. However, the apostle wanted his readers to know that their sanctification had absolutely nothing at all to do with works of the Law no more than their justification did – “For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under Law but under grace” (6:14).

Once again Paul had to anticipate opposition and misinterpretation of what he was teaching for surely there would be some who would continue to argue that Paul was teaching against the Law and that he was giving license for a lawless life, so Paul asked the question that would have been on the lips of his opponents – “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under Law but under grace?” (6:15).

Paul's response to this objection is No! People who are justified by faith alone will not continue in sin. All of Romans 6, 7, and 8 are an explanation for why that is.

Now in Romans 7, Paul is still dealing with the very same question. He is still answering the objection of Romans 6:15, "Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace?" Why doesn't freedom from the law result in lawless people? Why don't justified people sin more and not less?

Here in Romans 7 we will see both the intent of the Law (Romans 7:1-13) and the inability of the Law (Romans 7:14-25). Under the heading the intent of the Law (Romans 7:1-13) we will see two major points: (1) the dominion of the Law (Romans 7:1-6), and (2) the duty of the Law (Romans 7:7-13).

For now we will deal with the dominion of the Law and our removal from under its dominion so that we are not under Law but under grace (Romans 7:1-6).

To show the Law’s dominion over us and how we are removed from under its dominion so that we are not under Law but under grace, the apostle Paul used an illustration in order to make application.

The illustration (Romans 7:1-3) – the illustration is the law of marriage which carries with it self-evident truth that is known by all who know the laws of marriage. The law has dominion over a person as long as he lives – “Or do you not know, brethren (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives?” (7:1).

According to the Law of God the marriage cannot be dissolved except by death or immorality of one of the spouses. Jesus taught this truth to some Pharisees who questioned Him concerning whether or not it was lawful to divorce for any reason at all. The Lord replied that what God has joined together, let no man separate. To which the Pharisees asked, “Why then did Moses command to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?” Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery” (Matthew 19:3-9).

Since legally the marriage cannot be dissolved except by death or immorality then those who are married are bound by the law to their spouses as long as they both are living. The Law has dominion over them and they are under the law with an obligation to fulfill it – “For the married woman is bound by the law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband” (7:2).

In this illustration, once the husband dies then the woman is released from the dominion of the law concerning the husband. But as long as the husband is alive she is under the dominion of the law and cannot break it without becoming a transgressor.

“So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress…” (7:3a). The law has something to say about this situation because the marriage covenant between the husband and wife has been broken and the one who broke it is either an adulterer or an adulteress. So if the husband is alive and has not committed immorality then the wife cannot be joined to another man without violating the law. She is under its dominion and must obey it or else become a transgressor of it and be rightly defined by it as an adulteress.

“But if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man” (7:3b). The law has nothing to say about this situation because the marriage covenant between the husband and wife has not been broken but indeed has been fulfilled – “until death do us part.” So now the law has been fulfilled – it has been established – so that she is free from the law and it has nothing to say about her marrying another man.

The Application (Romans 7:4-6) – Paul’s application in Romans 7:4-6 clinches the argument of how we are not under the dominion Law but under grace through our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

We died to the Law (7:4-5) – when we were unsaved and in the flesh (Romans 7:5) we were under the dominion of God’s Law. We were condemned by that Law. When we trusted Christ and were united to Him, we died to the Law just as we died to the flesh (Romans 6:1-10). The Law did not die; we died!

In Paul’s illustration the husband died and the wife remarried. However in his application we are the wife and the Law is the husband. The Law will not and cannot die because it is moral and eternal (Matthew 5:18). So the wife must die and be raised from the dead if she is to be freed from her union with the Law and be united to another. This is the apostle’s point in the application of the marriage illustration.

Christ’s sinless life and sacrificial death, and supernatural resurrection fulfilled the Law. When we trusted Christ we died with Him and His death became our death and likewise just as He was raised from the dead we too were raised to walk in newness of life as those dead to sin but alive to God. So when we died with Christ we died to the Law and arose from the dead in order that we could be under the dominion of the Lord and no longer under the dominion of the Law.

Notice that the wife does not kill herself – she is made to die to the Law through the body of Christ – this is a divine act of God in response to faith in Christ. Just as by His doing we are in Christ Jesus, by His doing we have been made to die to the Law.

It is by our union with Christ that we are set free from the dominion of the Law and are now enabled to bear fruit for God. As we live under loving loyalty to the Lordship of Christ our obedience to Him leads us into obedience to God – “so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:4).

Why is it that we must be set free from the dominion of the Law in order to be enabled to bear fruit for God? Wouldn’t the Law be that which enables us to bear fruit for God? Can’t we be sanctified by keeping the Law? No! The Law arouses our sinful passions because of our badness and in the end we bear fruit for death - “For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death” (Romans 7:5).

It's because until we are united to Christ in his death, and rise with him to newness of life, we don't have the Spirit of God and are merely "flesh." That is, we have only a fallen, sinful human nature without the transforming work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We must die to the Law if we are going to bear fruit for God.

We are delivered from the Law (7:6) – this is the logical conclusion: the Law cannot exercise dominion over a dead person. Death means deliverance from the dominion of the Law but our being raised to walk in newness of life is so that we might serve our Lord in love.

The word serve is from the Greek word “doulous” (doo-los). It does not describe the voluntary work of a hired worker but that of a bondslave whose sole purpose is to obey the will of his master. We are God’s bondslaves because of love. We love Him and serve Him because He first loved us by giving His Son for our redemption.

We were delivered from the Law that we might serve Christ. This truth refutes the false accusation that Paul taught lawlessness.

What is different about Christian service as opposed to our old life of sin? We are now energized by the Spirit of God through our love for the Lord. Under the Law there was no enablement, but we have been delivered from the Law’s dominion and placed under the Lord’s enabling love.

People who are not under Law but under grace will not sin more but will in fact sin less!

Lordship: The Death Blow to Legalism and Antinomianism

The apostle Paul was often misunderstood and falsely accused of evil for preaching the good news of justification by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He was especially misunderstood and mistreated by the legalistic Jews who thought that the good news of Jesus Christ was a message against the people and against the Law. “When the seven days were almost over, the Jews from Asia, upon seeing him in the temple, began to stir up all the crowd and laid hands on him, crying out, ‘Men of Israel, come to our aid! This is the man who preaches to all men everywhere against our people and the Law and this place…” (Acts 21:27-28).

Paul was perceived as being anti-Semitic (against the Jews) and antinomian (against the Law) because of his preaching of the gospel. The root word for Law is nomous. If we say that someone is autonomous we are saying that he is self-ruled or self-governed. Auto means self and nomous means law. So to say that someone is antinomian is to say that he is against the Law – he is against being ruled or governed. This was the accusation brought against the apostle Paul from the legalistic Jews. They accused Paul of antinomianism – being against the Law and preaching against the Law. For the legalist, the true gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is seen as antinomianism. The legalist perceives the gospel to be that which nullifies the Law and therefore that which gives a license to sin.

However, the apostle Paul proved that the good news of justification by grace through faith in Jesus Christ was that which actually established the law and not that which nullified it (Romans 3:31). Listen! Even the Lord Jesus Christ said that He didn’t come to abolish the Law – He said, “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but fulfill” (Matthew 5:17).

The Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled the Law completely. He upheld the Law in principle through His sinless life; He upheld the Law in penalty through His sacrificial death; and He upheld the Law in probity through His supernatural resurrection. Probity means integrity or uprightness. The supernatural resurrection showed the Law to be that which is good and it showed the Person of the Law, God the Father, to be just, good, and right in all His dealings. Therefore when we exercise faith in the Lord Jesus Christ we do not nullify the Law but establish the Law by trusting in the One who completely and perfectly upheld the Law through His life, death, and resurrection.

But for the life of him, the legalist cannot comprehend that faith establishes the Law. The legalist cannot see how grace isn’t the same as antinomianism. So after establishing the truth of imputed righteousness through the grace of Jesus Christ who upheld the Law on our behalf, whose grace is greater than multiplied sins, the apostle Paul anticipated the false accusation of antinomianism – “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may increase” (Romans 6:1)?

You see, the legalist would attempt to carry Paul’s message of justification by grace through faith to what he believed to be its final conclusion and would inevitably come up with the charge of antinomianism. The legalist would reason: if justification is by grace through faith then the Law has been nullified and men have a license to sin.

The legalist believes that the only remedy against sinning is the Law. The legalist also believes that God cannot be pleased apart from works of the Law. So the legalist adds Law to justification in violation of the plain and clear teaching of the Scripture. So the legalist, being under the Law, has not died to sin because the power of sin is the law (1 Corinthians 15:56), and so there is no deliverance from sin through the Law.

However, the legalist has no real understanding of the working of the gospel so he sticks with his faulty logic rather than looking into how the gospel actually is not that which gives men a license to sin. What the legalist needs is an explanation of the wonder working power of the gospel.

So Paul answered the question that would be raised from the legalist – “May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it” (Romans 6:2)? God in His wisdom and power has designed salvation in such a way that those who are justified by grace through faith in Jesus Christ have died to sin so that there is no way that the gospel of grace promotes sin or gives a license to sin.

“May it never be” is a strong and forceful way of saying that the gospel is not that which promotes or perpetuates sin. So the legalist is immediately confronted with the truth that his understanding of the gospel is wrong. If he would examine the gospel closely and see how faith in Jesus establishes the Law, puts one to death in Christ, and raises him with a new life principle under loving and loyal obedience to Jesus as Lord, the legalist would understand how the gospel doesn’t promote sin. Jesus said, “If you love Me you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15).

Any man under the principle of being ruled by the Law is doomed because by the Law comes the knowledge of sin and no flesh shall be justified in God’s sight through the works of the Law. However, any man under the principle of being ruled by the Lord because of his love for the Lord is blessed and justified because we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law and that we are justified without any cause in us by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. We love Him because He first loved us.

Can’t you see how loving loyalty to Jesus as Lord because He loved us and gave Himself up for us doesn’t make one lawless? This is how it works: while unsaved we all lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest (Ephesians 2:3). Our life principle was under the lordship of sin and the principle of Law cannot give life to a sinner but actually gives power to sin. “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)” (Ephesians 2:4-5).

You see, God put us to death with Jesus our Lord who did fulfill the principle of the Law and died on our behalf so that he could put to death the lordship of sin in our lives and raise us up with Jesus to walk with a new life principle – loving loyal obedience to Jesus as Lord.

Salvation restores that which was lost – obedience to God through obedience to Jesus and is what the Bible calls the obedience of faith. Salvation is a Lordship issue! Lordship is the death-blow to legalism showing it to be the lie that it is.

Faith not Law!

In Romans 4:1-25, Paul proved four aspects about justification by faith from the life of Abraham in the Old Testament: (1) how the Old Testament proved that justification is by faith and not works (Romans 4:1-8); (2) how the Old Testament proved that justification is by faith and not by circumcision (Romans 4:9-12); (3) how the Old Testament proved that justification is by faith and not the Law (Romans 4:13-17); and (4) how the Old Testament proved that justification is by faith in God (Romans 4:17-25).

We have already considered the first two aspects about justification that Paul proved from the life of Abraham. First, justification is by faith and not of works. Abraham was a pagan idolater who had done nothing and could do nothing to earn his justification. Second, justification is by faith and not circumcision. Abraham was justified at least fourteen years before he was circumcised. The conclusion is more than obvious: Abraham’s circumcision had absolutely nothing to do with causing his justification.

Now we come to the third aspect about justification that Paul proved from the life of Abraham – justification is by faith and not the Law (Romans 4:13-17).

Here in these verses, promise, grace, and faith are contrasted to Law so that we can see clearly that there are two opposing ideas about justification. One is justification as a gift by grace through faith in God’s promise. The other is justification as a wage by works through the Law.

Now which was it with Abraham? Was Abraham’s justification a gift by grace through faith in God’s promise? Or was Abraham’s justification earned as a wage by works through keeping the Law?

Abraham was not justified by keeping the Law (Romans 4:13-15).

God’s promise didn’t come through keeping the Law (Romans 4:13) – the Law was 430 years later. God’s promise came through faith. In other words God’s promise of justification through faith in His testimony concerning His Son isn’t given to those who insist on earning it through works, or circumcision, or keeping the Law – it is only given to those who will freely receive it.

God’s promise couldn’t come through keeping the Law (Romans 4:14-15). Through the Law faith would be made void – “For if those who are of the Law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise is nullified” – justification would then be earnable; men could please God in their flesh; faith would be unnecessary; and Christ would have died needlessly.

Also through the Law the promise would be nullified – “For if those who are of the Law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise is nullified.” God’s promise to Abraham and his descendants was an unconditional promise. The covenant or promise that God entered into with Abraham was based solely on what God would do and on nothing that Abraham would do. Abraham didn’t work for the promise; he wasn’t circumcised in order to receive the promise; and he didn’t keep God’s Law in order to receive the promise. If Abraham had the ability to bring about his justification then there was no need for God to make the promise that he would bring it about and therefore the promise would be nullified.

Through the Law justification is impossible (Romans 4:15). The Law brings about wrath not justification because men are sinners and the penalty for violating God’s Law is God’s wrath and the death of the sinner. The Law wasn’t given to save men but to show men that they need to be saved. The Law which brings about wrath shows men their great need for grace and mercy so that they will flee to God’s promise of justification through His Son and come to Jesus who said, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

Abraham was justified by faith (Romans 4:16-17)

Abraham was justified by God as a gift (Romans 4:16). The promise cannot and will not be received by works through the Law – it is only by faith in accordance with grace – and this way the promise is guaranteed. Think about it – if the promise of eternal life was through works of the Law it could not be guaranteed because the Law can be broken and because we are all sinners no one could ever reach it or attain to it. But the promise is guaranteed because it cannot be broken (God keeps His promises) because it is in accordance with grace and not by Law. Also this way the promise is guaranteed not only for those who are of the Law – the Jews – but also for those who are not of the Law – the Gentiles. And in both cases, for the Jews and for the Gentiles, the promise is guaranteed by grace through faith. Therefore only those who are of the faith of Abraham receive the promise.

Abraham was justified by grace through faith (Romans 4:17). Faith isn’t just believing in God (the demons believe in God); faith is believing God. Believing God gives God glory for in doing so one believes the trustworthiness and ability of God. Abraham believed God! Abraham believed God concerning God’s promise. Abraham believed God concerning the Christ and His resurrection from the dead. Any man who will be saved will believe God concerning His testimony about His Son – “The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son” (1 John 5:10).

Adding works of any kind to the gift of justification by grace through faith is to not believe in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son. It is unbelief and makes God into a liar.

Faith not Works!

As Paul preached the gospel of the finished work of Christ and established the doctrine of justification by faith alone in Christ alone, he would have been accused by many of the Jews of preaching against the people and against the Law. This is exactly what happened to him in Jerusalem when Paul was seized in the temple. “When the seven days were almost over, the Jews from Asia, upon seeing him in the temple, began to stir up all the crowd and laid hands upon him, crying out, ‘Men of Israel, come to our aid! This is the man who preached to all men everywhere against our people and the Law and this place…’” (Acts 21:27-28).

That the gospel would have been viewed by many of the Jews as a message against the people and against the Law is self-evident in the book of Romans. Paul has already dealt with the guilt and condemnation of the Jew by the Law and answered the question that would have naturally arisen in the mind of the Jews – “Then what advantage has the Jew” (Romans 3:1). Then Paul went on to establish the truth that through works of the Law no flesh would be justified in God’s sight ; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20). This most certainly would appear that Paul was preaching against the Law. However, Paul went on to establish the truth that the righteousness of God comes to sinners on the basis of faith in the only One who ever fulfilled the Law, not for His own sake but for ours (Romans 3:21-29). It is on this basis that faith does not nullify the Law but actually establishes the Law so that there is no contradiction between the gospel of the finished work of Christ and the Law that must be fulfilled for justification (Romans 3:31).

The doctrine of justification by faith apart from works of the Law is a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Greeks who are perishing (1 Corinthians 1:18-24). To the Jews the gospel is a stumbling block because they think that their justification is a matter of being Jewish and relying upon their ability to keep the Law (Romans 2:17). To the Greeks the gospel is foolishness because they think that their justification is not a legal matter and therefore the obedience of Christ to the Law has no significance as far as their forgiveness is concerned. However, the apostle Paul taught that justification is a matter of faith in Christ and His works and not a matter of works or lack of works of the individual. This proves both legalism and libertinism to be false doctrines concerning justification.

To prove his point, the apostle Paul appealed to the Old Testament and showed that it taught the exact same thing that he was teaching – “But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets” (Romans 3:21).

In Romans 4:1-25, Paul proved four aspects about justification by faith from the life of Abraham in the Old Testament, the Law and the Prophets: (1) how the Old Testament proved that justification is by faith and not works (Romans 4:1-8); (2) how the Old Testament proved that justification is by faith and not circumcision (Romans 4:9-12); (3) how the Old Testament proved that justification is by faith and not the Law (Romans 4:13-16); and (4) how the Old Testament proved that justification is by faith in God (Romans 4:17-25).

Justification by faith apart from works proven in the Law and the Prophets (Romans 4:1-8)

First, the truth that justification is by faith and not by works is proven by the Law (Romans 4:1-5; Genesis 15:6).

Paul stated the truth that Abraham wasn’t justified by works (Romans 4:1-2). Abraham is given in the Bible as the prototype of saving faith (Romans 4:16) and the apostle Paul pointed to the justification of Abraham to show that the gospel he was preaching was not in violation of the teachings of the Law and the Prophets. Abraham, before he was justified, was an idolater (Joshua 24:1-3) and therefore wasn’t justified on the basis of works. Since this was true of Abraham then even Abraham had nothing to boast about in his justification (Romans 4:2) because his justification wasn’t based on what he did but on what Someone else did (John 8:56).

Abraham was justified by faith and not works (Romans 4:3). The word “credited” or “counted” or “reckoned” or “imputed”, however it is translated, comes from a Greek word that means, “to put to ones account.” It is a banking term and it is used eleven times in this chapter. Since Abraham did not earn his justification through works but instead it was credited to him, Abraham’s justification was a gift and was not earned (Romans 4:4-5). Wages are earned. Wages are what are due for work done (Romans 4:4). The last thing Abraham would have wanted was for God to give him what was due him for the work of his idolatry and sin. Credit is unearned; it is a gift of grace (Romans 4:5). Abraham received what he didn’t deserve and didn’t receive what he did deserve because of faith in God concerning His testimony about His Son (1 John 5:10).

Second, the truth that justification is by faith and not works is proven by the Prophets (Romans 4:6-8; Psalm 32:1-2).

God credits righteousness to man apart from any of his own works and based solely on the work of Another – if anyone works God pays the wages that is due (Romans 4:6). One can either trust the finished work of Christ or his own work. He can receive justification as a gift or he can receive condemnation as a wage because of failing to live perfectly in the light of God’s Law.

It is not on the basis of works that any man will be justified because God justifies lawless, ungodly sinners (Romans 4:7). What work can a lawless, ungodly sinner do to be justified? Justification by the Law is out of reach for any born in Adam. Justification is only brought near and in reach through faith in Jesus Christ the second Adam (Romans 10:8-13). For the one who has faith in the finished work of Christ – His upholding the precepts of the Law through His sinless life; His upholding the penalty of the Law through His sacrificial death; and His uphold the Person of the Law through His supernatural resurrection – God removes the sinners record and replaces it with Christ’s record (Romans 4:8). In this there is a double imputation. Our sin was imputed to Christ and His righteousness was imputed to us (2 Corinthians 5:21).

How great is our God!

Faith Establishes the Law

The principle of faith through gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ isn’t contradictory to the Law but actually is that which establishes the Law. Just as in the days of Paul when many of his Jewish kinsmen believed that the message of justification by grace through faith nullified the Law, so it is for many in our day who believe that justification by grace through faith contradicts God’s Law and holy living. However, it is justification by grace through faith that actually establishes and fulfills the Law and all other ways are doomed to failure and condemnation – based on the Law itself.

Justification by grace through faith establishes the Law in at least five ways: (1) the principles or precepts of the Law were fulfilled in the sinless life of Christ, (2) the penalty for violating the Law was fulfilled in the sacrificial death of Christ, (3) the probity of the Person of the Law was fulfilled in the supernatural resurrection of Christ, (4) the purpose for giving the Law was fulfilled in driving men to faith in Christ, and (5) the potential for fulfilling the Law is possible in loving and living for Christ – the One who loved us and gave Himself up for us.

First, the principles or precepts of the Law were fulfilled in the sinless life of Christ. The entire Law can be summed up in two commandments – Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind; and, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. This is what the Lord Jesus Christ did perfectly. He never sinned against God and He never sinned against man. The entire Law was completely and perfectly fulfilled in His sinless life – a feat that no other man has or can perform. Faith in Christ establishes that Christ fulfilled the principles and precepts of the Law and that we are incapable of doing it ourselves.

Second, the penalty for violating the Law was fulfilled in the sacrificial death of Christ. The penalty for violating the Law is death and condemnation. “For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the Law, to perform them’” (Galatians 3:10). Since we all have failed to abide by all things written in the book of the Law we are under a curse and the death penalty. However, since Jesus Christ fulfilled the principles and precepts of the Law and did not deserve to die – He had no sin – His death was sacrificial as a substitute. Christ paid the penalty that the Law requires for being violated. Faith in Christ establishes that Christ fulfilled the penalty for violating the Law although He never violated the Law.

Third, the probity of the Person of the Law was fulfilled in the supernatural resurrection of Christ. First let me define probity. Probity means integrity or uprightness. God the Father is the Person of the Law and is right or just in all that He does. This means that the resurrection of Christ proved His innocence and established the justness of God in not allowing a sinless Man to die for crimes that He didn’t commit and remain dead. This proved the death of Christ to be sacrificial and God to be just in all His dealings. Faith in Christ establishes that Christ fulfilled the probity of the Person of the Law.

Fourth, the purpose for giving the Law was fulfilled in driving men to faith in Christ. The Law was given in order that transgressions would be defined (Galatians 3:19) and men would see for sure that they are sinners in need of a Savior (Galatians 3:24). Therefore the Law and the promises (Gospel) are not contrary (Galatians 3:21-22). The Law witnesses to the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ and that no man can be saved by the Law (Romans 3:21-22, 28). Faith in Christ establishes that the purpose for giving the Law has been fulfilled in driving men to faith in Christ.

Fifth, the potential for fulfilling the Law is possible in loving and living for Christ. As we walk according to the Spirit and not according to flesh because of our love for Christ and union with Him the requirement of the Law will be fulfilled in us (Romans 8:4) because He will not lead us into rebellion but obedience. Our faith in Christ causes us to become obedient from the heart (Romans 6:17-19), to exhibit the obedience of faith (Romans 1:5), and to obey Christ because we love Him (John 14:15). Faith in Christ establishes the potential for fulfilling the Law through loving and living for Christ.

Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law (Romans 3:31).