The context of Romans 1:18 begins in Romans 1:14 where the apostle Paul stated that he was “under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So for [his] part, [he was] eager to preach the gospel to [those also who were] in Rome” (Romans 1:14-15). Paul then went on to state the truth that he would preach to them nothing but the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified for it and it alone is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes. The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ reveals the righteousness of God and the righteousness that is from God on the basis of faith (Romans 1:16-17). The gospel of God which concerns His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead (Romans 1:1-4), is the only remedy for sinners who are rightly under the wrath of God for their unrighteousness and ungodliness.
Don’t forget that Romans is the Holy Spirit inspired explanation of the Gospel. After establishing both the content and the intent of the Gospel which he preached, Paul went on to explain the gospel and why he preached it. From Romans 1:18 through Romans 3:20, the apostle established the truth that all men are sinners – the Gentile and the Jew. Because all men are sinners all men are rightly under God’s wrath and are in need of rescue from the wrath to come. So in the Holy Spirit inspired explanation of the Gospel, the Holy Spirit speaking through the apostle Paul began with the wrath of God against sinners.
Now let me ask you: doesn’t the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ reveal God’s wrath against sin? Doesn’t the crucifixion of the sinless Son of God for our sins demonstrate first and foremost God’s wrath against sinners? When we look at the crucifixion of Jesus Christ we should immediately comprehend and see God’s wrath against sin – He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf; He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him and by His scourging we are healed. This is called Penal Substitution and is the only way that a holy God can forgive sinners and still be holy and just.
The wrath of God is the starting place of the Gospel. Men must know the danger that they are in before they will seek a remedy. Just as men don’t seek out cancer treatments without knowing that they have cancer so men do not seek refuge in Jesus Christ without knowing that they are sinners who rightly deserve the wrath of God. Jesus said that it is not the well who need a physician but the sick and so men must know of their sin-sick condition and its inevitable outcome before they will seek help from the Savior. The fact of a man’s guilt must be established before he can be a recipient of God’s grace or else you no longer have grace but what is earned. Much of today’s evangelism is the offering of grace without guilt which is not really grace and then you end up with response without repentance and no one will live who doesn’t repent.
Beware of preachers who claim that they are not called to preach God’s wrath but are only called to preach God’s love. They are not preaching the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ if the wrath of God and the love of God are not balanced in the proclamation. The apostle Paul mentioned the goodness of God which leads to repentance right in the middle of this section dealing with the wrath of God and he mentioned both side by side (Romans 2:4-5). Paul didn’t get to the Gospel being a demonstration of the love of God until Romans 5:8. So the starting point of the gospel is the wrath of God against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men establishing their guilt before God’s grace and love are offered. It is against the backdrop of the just wrath of God against sin that the brilliance and magnificence of the grace and love of God are magnified.
To avoid offering a magic-genie Christ or a utilitarian Christ we must accurately proclaim the Holy Spirit inspired gospel. Preaching only the grace and love of God apart from His wrath against sin is to misunderstand and misapply the purpose of the death of Christ which leaves people in their sins while giving them a false sense of assurance of salvation. When we are not balanced in our proclamation of the Gospel we will be in danger of either turning the grace of God into licentiousness by focusing primarily on God’s grace and love and thereby offering grace without guilt which leads people to believe that they can be saved from the wrath to come without actually being saved from their sins or we will be in danger of denying God’s grace by focusing primarily on the wrath of God and thereby leading men into legalism where they are motivated by fear of punishment and attempt to establish a righteousness of their own derived from keeping the law. Only proclaiming the whole gospel and keeping the truth balanced will help people to understand and properly apply the death of Christ on their behalf so that they are neither licentious nor legalistic but actually loyal to God because of His love for them as shown against the backdrop of His wrath.
While many may desire to downplay or deny the truth that God is a God of wrath it doesn’t nullify the truth that He is. Our text says, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” So we see here that men suppress the truth about God, especially the truth about His wrath, even though God reveals and demonstrates His wrath from heaven. Most people like to believe that God is not and cannot be a God of wrath, especially when it concerns them. Just as in Jeremiah’s day so it is in our day when men believe and false prophets preach that God isn’t that way – “They have lied about the Lord and said, ‘Not He; misfortune will not come on us, and we will not see sword or famine.’ The prophets are as wind, and the word is not in them, thus it will be done to them’” (Jeremiah 5:12-13).
Let’s look at some major ways that God has revealed His wrath and the certainty of His wrath from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men:
One - God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment (2 Peter 2:4)
Two - God did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly (2 Peter 2:5)
Three - God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter (2 Peter 2:6) – “made them an example” means that God exposed them openly to public view the same as a corpse lying in state.
Four - God, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe (Jude 5).
Five - God did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all (Romans 8:32).
The greatest revelation of the wrath of God from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men was demonstrated at the crucifixion of the sinless Son of God in the place of ungodly and unrighteous men – “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God…” (1 Peter 3:18).
So why preach the gospel? Because the gospel of God which concerns His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead (Romans 1:1-4), is the only remedy for sinners who are rightly under the wrath of God for their unrighteousness and ungodliness.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Penal Substitution: Flatly Unbiblical?
This is a response to Nick at http://catholicdefense.googlepages.com/PenSub.htm who left a comment on my blog about The Purpose of the Death of Christ and stated that he was having a debate on Penal Substitution because he believes that it is flatly unbiblical. His article entitled Problems with Penal Substitution is evidently supposed to expose Penal Substitution as contrary to Scripture, blasphemous, and heretical. However, as we reason from the Scriptures we will see that Penal Substitution is neither contrary to Scripture, nor blasphemous, nor heretical but is indeed the heart of the Gospel and sound biblical doctrine.
Note to Nick: Nick, this is in no way an attack on you but is a defense in gentleness and reverence using both Scripture and logic to destroy the speculations that you have raised against the knowledge of God. I pray that you will be able to see and comprehend that Penal Substitution is the only way that God can justify the ungodly while He remains just.
I am going to take three quotes from Nick’s article to show that he fails to expose Penal Substitution as contrary to Scripture, blasphemous, and heretical:
The view would fail morally and rationally if an innocent individual received a punishment in the place of the guilty if that innocent individual was unwilling to receive that punishment as a means of releasing the guilty from the punishment he rightly deserves. However, there would be no moral or rational failure if an innocent individual was willing to receive a punishment in the place of the guilty and ANY judge would be just to transfer the guilt of the law-breaker to the innocent law-keeper and to transfer the innocence of the law-keeper to the guilty law-breaker. No one forced Jesus Christ to receive the punishment of the guilty in order to release them from their punishment but He willingly laid down His life for His sheep – “No one has taken it [His life] away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative” (John 10:18).
You said, “A just judge can rule that a guilty individual either be pardoned or punished, but the guilt can never be transferred.” Actually a just judge who is sworn to uphold the law cannot rule that a guilty individual be pardoned and that judge remain just. An unjust judge could rule that the guilty be pardoned but not a just judge. A just judge could only rule that the guilty be punished. God is a just Judge and will not arbitrarily pardon the guilty – if He did then He would be unjust! So in actuality in your scheme of things God would not be just if He justified or pardoned the guilty without upholding His own law against those who offend Him. Also if all that God has to do in order to remain just in justifying the guilty is to exercise His option to pardon then Christ died needlessly. Penal Substitution is the only way that God can justify the guilty because it is the only way that His law is upheld and He remains just.
Let’s take this quote in two sections: “What God reveals as unacceptable behavior for men is likewise unacceptable behavior for God. Man should not tell lies, God does not tell lies.” Precisely the point and reason God does not have the option to pardon apart from His sentence of condemnation being fulfilled either against the sinner or against a substitute on the sinner’s behalf. Even the Old Testament saints were pardoned based their faith that their sins would be paid for by another – the whole sacrificial system and the Word of God witnessed to this truth (see Romans 3:21-26).
Next you said, “Man should not murder or punish an innocent person, God cannot and would not murder or punish an innocent person.” There is no law against an innocent substitute willingly paying the debt or the penalty of another. As long as there is an agreement between the judge and the willing substitute that the debt or penalty incurred by the substitute will completely satisfy the demands of the law and the court against the guilty party then the judge remains just and has upheld the law while the guilty goes free. Even if the penalty paid by the willing innocent substitute is capital punishment then the substitute has freely given his life as a ransom and has not been murdered.
Also the law of non-contradiction applies here – if the option to pardon or punish is entirely God’s then God also has the option of punishing a willing and able substitute in the place of others. If God does not have the option to punish the innocent then neither does He have the option to pardon the guilty.
Actually those passages and others do clearly teach Penal Substitution and a careful reading of Isaiah 53 establishes the absolute fact of Penal Substitution – Jesus did suffer Divine wrath – “But the Lord was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief” (Isaiah 53:10).
The New Testament is also abundantly clear that not only was the cross an act by wicked men but that it was also an act of a holy God – “This Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to the cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death” (Acts 2:23). What men intended for evil, God intended for good.
And here is the beauty and grandeur of the wisdom, ways, and power of God – not only was God right to punish a willing innocent man in the place of the guilty, He was also right to raise that Man from the dead because the punishment and death He endured was not for sins that He committed but was as a substitute for those whose lawless deeds would be forgiven on the basis of faith in Christ and not by works of the Law. “But God raised Him up again putting and end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power” (Acts 2:24).
Now what do you think would be the response of a guilty person who deserved the death penalty be to a willing substitute who took his deserved punishment and then that substitute was raised from the dead because he was in fact innocent? Would not the proper response be that the guilty man would no longer live for himself but for him who loved him and gave himself up for him? – see 2 Corinthians 5:15.
Penal Substitution is God's plan of salvation and it is God's Gospel - 1 Corinthians 15:3!
Note to Nick: Nick, this is in no way an attack on you but is a defense in gentleness and reverence using both Scripture and logic to destroy the speculations that you have raised against the knowledge of God. I pray that you will be able to see and comprehend that Penal Substitution is the only way that God can justify the ungodly while He remains just.
I am going to take three quotes from Nick’s article to show that he fails to expose Penal Substitution as contrary to Scripture, blasphemous, and heretical:
Morally and rationally, the view fails because it entails an innocent
individual, Jesus, receiving a punishment. Punishment, especially one coming
from a just God, cannot be inflicted on the innocent, nor can a punishment be
transferred. A just judge can rule that a guilty individual either be pardoned
or punished, but the guilt can never be transferred. Because sin is first and
foremost a personal offense to God, the option to pardon or punish is entirely
His.
The view would fail morally and rationally if an innocent individual received a punishment in the place of the guilty if that innocent individual was unwilling to receive that punishment as a means of releasing the guilty from the punishment he rightly deserves. However, there would be no moral or rational failure if an innocent individual was willing to receive a punishment in the place of the guilty and ANY judge would be just to transfer the guilt of the law-breaker to the innocent law-keeper and to transfer the innocence of the law-keeper to the guilty law-breaker. No one forced Jesus Christ to receive the punishment of the guilty in order to release them from their punishment but He willingly laid down His life for His sheep – “No one has taken it [His life] away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative” (John 10:18).
You said, “A just judge can rule that a guilty individual either be pardoned or punished, but the guilt can never be transferred.” Actually a just judge who is sworn to uphold the law cannot rule that a guilty individual be pardoned and that judge remain just. An unjust judge could rule that the guilty be pardoned but not a just judge. A just judge could only rule that the guilty be punished. God is a just Judge and will not arbitrarily pardon the guilty – if He did then He would be unjust! So in actuality in your scheme of things God would not be just if He justified or pardoned the guilty without upholding His own law against those who offend Him. Also if all that God has to do in order to remain just in justifying the guilty is to exercise His option to pardon then Christ died needlessly. Penal Substitution is the only way that God can justify the guilty because it is the only way that His law is upheld and He remains just.
What God reveals as unacceptable behavior for men is likewise unacceptable
behavior for God. Man should not tell lies, God does not tell lies. Man should
not murder or punish an innocent person, God cannot and would not murder or
punish an innocent person.
Let’s take this quote in two sections: “What God reveals as unacceptable behavior for men is likewise unacceptable behavior for God. Man should not tell lies, God does not tell lies.” Precisely the point and reason God does not have the option to pardon apart from His sentence of condemnation being fulfilled either against the sinner or against a substitute on the sinner’s behalf. Even the Old Testament saints were pardoned based their faith that their sins would be paid for by another – the whole sacrificial system and the Word of God witnessed to this truth (see Romans 3:21-26).
Next you said, “Man should not murder or punish an innocent person, God cannot and would not murder or punish an innocent person.” There is no law against an innocent substitute willingly paying the debt or the penalty of another. As long as there is an agreement between the judge and the willing substitute that the debt or penalty incurred by the substitute will completely satisfy the demands of the law and the court against the guilty party then the judge remains just and has upheld the law while the guilty goes free. Even if the penalty paid by the willing innocent substitute is capital punishment then the substitute has freely given his life as a ransom and has not been murdered.
Also the law of non-contradiction applies here – if the option to pardon or punish is entirely God’s then God also has the option of punishing a willing and able substitute in the place of others. If God does not have the option to punish the innocent then neither does He have the option to pardon the guilty.
Also, those passages do not clearly teach penal substitution: 2
Cor 5:15 and 1
Pt 3:18 are some very weak attempts to garner credibility, they don’t come
close. Isaiah
53 is the closest to such a notion, but when read carefully does not result
in Penal-Substitution either, especially considering the few direct NT
references to Is 53 (53:4,
Mat 8:14-17; 53:5-6, 9, 1 Pt 2:18-25; 53:7-8, Acts 8:30-35; 53:12, Lk 22:37, Mk
15:27-29*) don’t teach Penal Substitution at all, quite the opposite in
fact. The NT is abundantly clear the cross was an act by wicked men, NEVER is it
said to be a point where Jesus suffered Divine Wrath.
Actually those passages and others do clearly teach Penal Substitution and a careful reading of Isaiah 53 establishes the absolute fact of Penal Substitution – Jesus did suffer Divine wrath – “But the Lord was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief” (Isaiah 53:10).
The New Testament is also abundantly clear that not only was the cross an act by wicked men but that it was also an act of a holy God – “This Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to the cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death” (Acts 2:23). What men intended for evil, God intended for good.
And here is the beauty and grandeur of the wisdom, ways, and power of God – not only was God right to punish a willing innocent man in the place of the guilty, He was also right to raise that Man from the dead because the punishment and death He endured was not for sins that He committed but was as a substitute for those whose lawless deeds would be forgiven on the basis of faith in Christ and not by works of the Law. “But God raised Him up again putting and end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power” (Acts 2:24).
Now what do you think would be the response of a guilty person who deserved the death penalty be to a willing substitute who took his deserved punishment and then that substitute was raised from the dead because he was in fact innocent? Would not the proper response be that the guilty man would no longer live for himself but for him who loved him and gave himself up for him? – see 2 Corinthians 5:15.
Penal Substitution is God's plan of salvation and it is God's Gospel - 1 Corinthians 15:3!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
The Purpose of the Resurrection
The purpose of the incarnation was to make penal substitution a possibility through the sinless life of the Son of God. The purpose of the baptism of Christ was to show that He would accomplish His sinless life in His humanity without relying upon His deity through trusting His Father with all His heart and leaning not on His own understanding and power. The purpose of the death of Christ was to make penal substitution an actuality through giving His sinless life in the place of sinners, the just dying for the unjust. But that isn’t the whole gospel and it doesn’t end there. God raised Jesus Christ from the dead and He did it for several reasons.
It is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead that makes the story of His sinless life, death and burial, good news. There would be no gospel, no good news, if Jesus Christ had not been resurrected (see 1 Corinthians 15). We will look at three major purposes of the resurrection and see that without the resurrection there is no good news.
First, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead served to justify or vindicate Jesus as the sinless Son of God – that the purpose of His death was not for the crimes with which He was charged but that He was sinless, innocent, pure, and undefiled and yet died in the place of others – the just died for the unjust. “[The gospel of God, concerns His Son], who was born of a descendent of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 1:1-4). The resurrection of Jesus from the dead also served to establish His Lordship – “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET. Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ – this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:32-36).
Second, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead served to justify or vindicate God as the righteous Judge of all the earth who does what is right. God would not have been right to allow a Man who had never sinned to die and remain dead. What kind of God would allow His own Son to die for crimes (sins) that He didn’t commit and then allow Him to remain dead? Would God cast His own Son out of heaven forever to make room for you and me? May it never be! This highlights the love of God all the more – that He would even allow His sinless Son, His only Son whom He loves, to die for our sins so that we can be made right with God – “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all…” (Romans 8:32). God was also justified or vindicated as righteous through raising Jesus from the dead so that through Jesus, He could justify sinners and yet be just Himself – “Being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:24-26).
Third, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead serves to justify the one who has faith in Jesus. There is no other way for men to be justified than through faith in Jesus because it is the only way in which God Himself can justify and be just at the same time. It is through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus that God can credit the righteousness of Jesus to our account. Our belief in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead shows our belief in the goodness, righteousness, and power of God – that He will only do that which is right and that He has the ability to perform what He has promised. Speaking of the faith of Abraham the Bible says, “Yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform. Therefore IT WAS ALSO CREDITED TO HIM FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Now not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him, but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification” (Romans 4:20-25).
Without the resurrection of Jesus from the dead we wouldn’t be able to have faith in God and His ability to perform His promises. Without the resurrection of Jesus from the dead we wouldn’t be able to ask the one who died for us to forgive us. Without the resurrection of Jesus from the dead we of all men would be most to be pitied – knowing that our sins put to death the Son of God, we would have to tremble at the gloomy prospect of facing God, if indeed Jesus wasn’t raised from the dead.
But Jesus has been raised from the dead and we read, “That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation….For WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED” (Romans 10:9-10, 13).
It is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead that makes the story of His sinless life, death and burial, good news. There would be no gospel, no good news, if Jesus Christ had not been resurrected (see 1 Corinthians 15). We will look at three major purposes of the resurrection and see that without the resurrection there is no good news.
First, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead served to justify or vindicate Jesus as the sinless Son of God – that the purpose of His death was not for the crimes with which He was charged but that He was sinless, innocent, pure, and undefiled and yet died in the place of others – the just died for the unjust. “[The gospel of God, concerns His Son], who was born of a descendent of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 1:1-4). The resurrection of Jesus from the dead also served to establish His Lordship – “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET. Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ – this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:32-36).
Second, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead served to justify or vindicate God as the righteous Judge of all the earth who does what is right. God would not have been right to allow a Man who had never sinned to die and remain dead. What kind of God would allow His own Son to die for crimes (sins) that He didn’t commit and then allow Him to remain dead? Would God cast His own Son out of heaven forever to make room for you and me? May it never be! This highlights the love of God all the more – that He would even allow His sinless Son, His only Son whom He loves, to die for our sins so that we can be made right with God – “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all…” (Romans 8:32). God was also justified or vindicated as righteous through raising Jesus from the dead so that through Jesus, He could justify sinners and yet be just Himself – “Being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:24-26).
Third, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead serves to justify the one who has faith in Jesus. There is no other way for men to be justified than through faith in Jesus because it is the only way in which God Himself can justify and be just at the same time. It is through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus that God can credit the righteousness of Jesus to our account. Our belief in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead shows our belief in the goodness, righteousness, and power of God – that He will only do that which is right and that He has the ability to perform what He has promised. Speaking of the faith of Abraham the Bible says, “Yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform. Therefore IT WAS ALSO CREDITED TO HIM FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Now not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him, but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification” (Romans 4:20-25).
Without the resurrection of Jesus from the dead we wouldn’t be able to have faith in God and His ability to perform His promises. Without the resurrection of Jesus from the dead we wouldn’t be able to ask the one who died for us to forgive us. Without the resurrection of Jesus from the dead we of all men would be most to be pitied – knowing that our sins put to death the Son of God, we would have to tremble at the gloomy prospect of facing God, if indeed Jesus wasn’t raised from the dead.
But Jesus has been raised from the dead and we read, “That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation….For WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED” (Romans 10:9-10, 13).
Monday, April 6, 2009
The Righteousness of God Revealed
Romans 1:17 is the key verse of the letter and it announces Paul’s theme – the righteousness of God. The word “righteousness” is used in one way or another over sixty times in this letter (righteous, just, and justified). God’s righteousness is revealed in the gospel; for in the death of Christ, God revealed His righteousness by punishing sin; in the resurrection of Christ, God revealed His righteousness by raising from the dead a man who never sinned and therefore should have never died but did die as a substitute for sinners; and in the salvation of everyone who believes in Christ, God revealed His righteousness by pardoning sinners based on penal substitution. The problem “How can a holy God ever forgive sinners and still be holy?” is answered in the gospel. Through the death and resurrection of Christ, God is seen to be both just (righteous) and the justifier (the One who makes righteous) of the one who has faith in Jesus (Romans 3:26).
The gospel reveals the righteousness from God that is by faith indicating that He imparts His own righteousness to those who believe. God’s righteousness, the righteousness that is from God, is thereby not only revealed but reckoned to those who believe in Christ – “But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness” (Romans 4:5).
So the righteousness which is from God and is revealed in the gospel is a righteousness based on faith and not a righteousness based on works. When men attempt to be forgiven by God based on their own ability to keep God’s Law they do not arrive at the righteousness which is from God but fall miserably short of God’s righteousness and are therefore still rightly under God’s wrath 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).
When men pursue righteousness as though it is based on works and as though they are good enough to obey all things written in God’s Law, they are seeking to establish a righteousness of their own and will not be justified because they cannot and will not keep God’s Law. Some may think and say that they can and have kept God’s Law but it quickly become evident that they haven’t – just put the Ten Commandments before any man and see if he has kept them perfectly without ever violating not only the letter but the spirit of the Law. You see, the Lord Jesus said that men commit murder in their hearts just by being angry with their brothers; Jesus said that men commit adultery in their hearts just by looking at women with lust for them; and who has ever always perfectly loved the Lord his God with all his heart, mind, soul, and strength? The only One who has ever completely obeyed and kept all things written in God’s Law and never sinned is Jesus Christ.
So which do you want; a righteousness of your own derived from the Law or the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith? “Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, ‘the righteous man shall live by faith.’ However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, ‘He who practices them shall live by them’” (Galatians 3:11-12). But we have already seen that any who seek to be justified by his or her ability to obey God’s Law are under the curse of the Law for the Law itself says that anyone who does not abide by all things written in it are under a curse and no man can abide by all things written in the Law.
So again I ask which do you want; a righteousness of your own derived from the Law or the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith? Do you want to trust your own ability to keep God’s Law and please God or do you want to trust Christ who kept God’s Law and pleased God on your behalf? “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” was spoken by God of Jesus and not any other man.
The Apostle Paul once trusted in his own righteousness and thought that he was pleasing to God until he was encountered by the risen Lord Jesus Christ and shown his wretched estate. Then and only then did Paul understand that the righteousness that God requires comes from God on the basis of faith. And as soon as Paul understood this wonderful good news he abandoned all confidence in the flesh and trusted Christ alone as his source of righteousness – “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith” (Philippians 3:7-9).
The righteousness that God requires (complete and total obedience to His Law) is given to us from God on the basis of faith and not on the basis of works of the Law. No one can be saved by works of the Law. Justification is by faith! “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law” (Romans 3:28). “For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would have indeed been based on law. But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe” (Galatians 3:21-22). The reason that no law could be given which was able to impart life is because there was no law that man could be completely and totally obedient to. And not only that, “if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly” (Galatians 2:21).
But Christ did die and it was not needlessly but needed. In Christ my obedience is complete and total because His obedience was complete and total. Christ took my sin and gave me His righteousness – “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). The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ the sinless Son of God is the only way that God can righteously give me the gift of righteousness – “being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24). So if anyone wants to be justified in the sight of God then he must believe God concerning His gift of righteousness to us in and through Christ Jesus.
Believing God concerning being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus means that we believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead and our faith is credited (imputed) as righteousness – “But the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man whom God credits [imputes] righteousness apart from works: ‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account’” (Romans 4:4-8).
Do you want a righteousness of your own derived from your ability to obey and please God or do you want the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith; on the basis of believing Him concerning His Son - “He who was delivered because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification” (Romans 4:25)?
Is this head knowledge to you and not heart knowledge? Do you believe in your heart that Jesus died for your sins; that He was delivered because of your transgressions? Do you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead because He committed no sin and so that God could save you; that He was raised because of your justification?
Have you kept all that is written in God’s Law? If not then you need the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith in Jesus Christ!
The gospel reveals the righteousness from God that is by faith indicating that He imparts His own righteousness to those who believe. God’s righteousness, the righteousness that is from God, is thereby not only revealed but reckoned to those who believe in Christ – “But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness” (Romans 4:5).
So the righteousness which is from God and is revealed in the gospel is a righteousness based on faith and not a righteousness based on works. When men attempt to be forgiven by God based on their own ability to keep God’s Law they do not arrive at the righteousness which is from God but fall miserably short of God’s righteousness and are therefore still rightly under God’s wrath 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).
When men pursue righteousness as though it is based on works and as though they are good enough to obey all things written in God’s Law, they are seeking to establish a righteousness of their own and will not be justified because they cannot and will not keep God’s Law. Some may think and say that they can and have kept God’s Law but it quickly become evident that they haven’t – just put the Ten Commandments before any man and see if he has kept them perfectly without ever violating not only the letter but the spirit of the Law. You see, the Lord Jesus said that men commit murder in their hearts just by being angry with their brothers; Jesus said that men commit adultery in their hearts just by looking at women with lust for them; and who has ever always perfectly loved the Lord his God with all his heart, mind, soul, and strength? The only One who has ever completely obeyed and kept all things written in God’s Law and never sinned is Jesus Christ.
So which do you want; a righteousness of your own derived from the Law or the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith? “Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, ‘the righteous man shall live by faith.’ However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, ‘He who practices them shall live by them’” (Galatians 3:11-12). But we have already seen that any who seek to be justified by his or her ability to obey God’s Law are under the curse of the Law for the Law itself says that anyone who does not abide by all things written in it are under a curse and no man can abide by all things written in the Law.
So again I ask which do you want; a righteousness of your own derived from the Law or the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith? Do you want to trust your own ability to keep God’s Law and please God or do you want to trust Christ who kept God’s Law and pleased God on your behalf? “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” was spoken by God of Jesus and not any other man.
The Apostle Paul once trusted in his own righteousness and thought that he was pleasing to God until he was encountered by the risen Lord Jesus Christ and shown his wretched estate. Then and only then did Paul understand that the righteousness that God requires comes from God on the basis of faith. And as soon as Paul understood this wonderful good news he abandoned all confidence in the flesh and trusted Christ alone as his source of righteousness – “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith” (Philippians 3:7-9).
The righteousness that God requires (complete and total obedience to His Law) is given to us from God on the basis of faith and not on the basis of works of the Law. No one can be saved by works of the Law. Justification is by faith! “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law” (Romans 3:28). “For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would have indeed been based on law. But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe” (Galatians 3:21-22). The reason that no law could be given which was able to impart life is because there was no law that man could be completely and totally obedient to. And not only that, “if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly” (Galatians 2:21).
But Christ did die and it was not needlessly but needed. In Christ my obedience is complete and total because His obedience was complete and total. Christ took my sin and gave me His righteousness – “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). The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ the sinless Son of God is the only way that God can righteously give me the gift of righteousness – “being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24). So if anyone wants to be justified in the sight of God then he must believe God concerning His gift of righteousness to us in and through Christ Jesus.
Believing God concerning being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus means that we believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead and our faith is credited (imputed) as righteousness – “But the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man whom God credits [imputes] righteousness apart from works: ‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account’” (Romans 4:4-8).
Do you want a righteousness of your own derived from your ability to obey and please God or do you want the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith; on the basis of believing Him concerning His Son - “He who was delivered because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification” (Romans 4:25)?
Is this head knowledge to you and not heart knowledge? Do you believe in your heart that Jesus died for your sins; that He was delivered because of your transgressions? Do you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead because He committed no sin and so that God could save you; that He was raised because of your justification?
Have you kept all that is written in God’s Law? If not then you need the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith in Jesus Christ!
Monday, March 30, 2009
The Gospel: God's Power to Save
Being ashamed of the gospel and altering both its content and intent substitutes the impotence and wisdom of man for the power and wisdom of God for salvation. A gospel that is void of the content and intent of the gospel and therefore void of the offense of the cross is also void of the power of God for salvation.
Geoffrey Wilson wrote, “The unpopularity of a crucified Christ has prompted many to present a message which is more palatable to the unbeliever, but the removal of the offense of the cross always renders the message ineffective. An inoffensive gospel is also an inoperative gospel” (Romans; A Digest of Reformed Comment [Carlisle, Pa.: Banner of Truth, 1976], p.24).
A distorted gospel which is void of the offense of the cross is no gospel at all and does not have the power to transform undeserving, disobedient rebels into loving, loyal and obedient children of God. All that a distorted gospel can do is cause men to have a form of godliness void of the power of God for actual transformation.
The Apostle Paul warned Pastor Timothy about the many unconverted preachers and unconverted church members of the last days who would have a form of godliness void of the power of God for actual transformation. These unconverted preachers and church members would be the victims of a distorted gospel – “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; avoid such men as these” (2 Timothy 3:1-5).
These are people who do not love the truth and do not want the truth. They are willing to accept a gospel where God is man-centered and making much of them and their worth but are in fierce opposition to a gospel that witnesses to man’s wretchedness and therefore witnesses to God’s worth. Most people in our day deny the depravity of man and his inability to please God in their flesh.
Most people seem to want to view the cross of Christ as a witness to their worth rather than own up to the truth that the cross of Christ proves their sinfulness but magnifies God’s goodness. This leads to pride rather than humility and engenders self-love and self-worth and self-esteem rather than genuine love for God and hatred of their own sinful nature. We are not to use the gospel as a means to view our own splendor or self-worth but we are to use the gospel as a means to view God’s splendor and His worth.
There is no power in a distorted and misused gospel. Men only go deeper into sin and deeper into deception when the offense of the gospel is replaced with an inoffensive gospel. If men are going to be ashamed of a gospel they ought to be ashamed of an inoffensive gospel which is an inoperative gospel. But men should never be ashamed of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
“For it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (1:16).
As we look at this portion of Scripture I want us to notice two aspects of the gospel that is God’s power for salvation – its exclusiveness and its inclusiveness.
Its exclusiveness – for it is the power of God for salvation.... The gospel of Jesus Christ and it alone is the power of God for salvation. There is no other way that God saves sinners. Sinners are either saved through the gospel of Jesus Christ or they are not saved at all. God is not saving people apart from faith in Jesus Christ and He will not save people apart from Jesus Christ.
“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation….Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved. How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Romans 10:9-10, 13-15, 17).
“And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
The gospel is God’s gospel and it is the only means through which God gives the power for us to be saved. The word “power” is from dunamis which we get our words dynamite and dynamic. The gospel carries with it the omnipotence of God, whose power alone is sufficient to save men from sin and give them eternal life. Therefore the gospel gives glory to God alone.
The gospel is also exclusive because it is the only way that God can forgive sinners while He Himself remains just – “so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:26). If anyone believes that God will save some other way other than through the gospel of His Son then he or she doesn’t understand the holiness and righteousness of God and that He will not violate His own justness.
Its inclusiveness – “to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” The gospel includes everyone who believes. The word “believe” carries the basic idea of trusting in, relying on, having faith in. When used in the New Testament of salvation it is usually in the continuous form, which could be translated “is believing and keeps on believing.” This type of believing is not a type of belief that resides in man and can be worked up or produced by man – this type of belief is a supernatural belief, produced by God as a gift from God.
The type of belief that is saving belief is “faith” that is generated by God in the heart of man through the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ – “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ (literally the word about Christ)".
To the person who has been granted the gift of salvation which includes the gift of faith, the gospel becomes both the power of God and the wisdom of God. As the eyes of our hearts are enlightened we know and understand that this gospel is the only one that has the power of God for salvation and contains the wisdom of God for salvation. We see that the gospel is both exclusive – there is no other way – and we see that the gospel is inclusive – for all who believe by being enabled to believe through the word about Christ.
Therefore we are not ashamed of the gospel and we do not distort it – we proclaim it as it is and leave the results to God.
Geoffrey Wilson wrote, “The unpopularity of a crucified Christ has prompted many to present a message which is more palatable to the unbeliever, but the removal of the offense of the cross always renders the message ineffective. An inoffensive gospel is also an inoperative gospel” (Romans; A Digest of Reformed Comment [Carlisle, Pa.: Banner of Truth, 1976], p.24).
A distorted gospel which is void of the offense of the cross is no gospel at all and does not have the power to transform undeserving, disobedient rebels into loving, loyal and obedient children of God. All that a distorted gospel can do is cause men to have a form of godliness void of the power of God for actual transformation.
The Apostle Paul warned Pastor Timothy about the many unconverted preachers and unconverted church members of the last days who would have a form of godliness void of the power of God for actual transformation. These unconverted preachers and church members would be the victims of a distorted gospel – “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; avoid such men as these” (2 Timothy 3:1-5).
These are people who do not love the truth and do not want the truth. They are willing to accept a gospel where God is man-centered and making much of them and their worth but are in fierce opposition to a gospel that witnesses to man’s wretchedness and therefore witnesses to God’s worth. Most people in our day deny the depravity of man and his inability to please God in their flesh.
Most people seem to want to view the cross of Christ as a witness to their worth rather than own up to the truth that the cross of Christ proves their sinfulness but magnifies God’s goodness. This leads to pride rather than humility and engenders self-love and self-worth and self-esteem rather than genuine love for God and hatred of their own sinful nature. We are not to use the gospel as a means to view our own splendor or self-worth but we are to use the gospel as a means to view God’s splendor and His worth.
There is no power in a distorted and misused gospel. Men only go deeper into sin and deeper into deception when the offense of the gospel is replaced with an inoffensive gospel. If men are going to be ashamed of a gospel they ought to be ashamed of an inoffensive gospel which is an inoperative gospel. But men should never be ashamed of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
“For it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (1:16).
As we look at this portion of Scripture I want us to notice two aspects of the gospel that is God’s power for salvation – its exclusiveness and its inclusiveness.
Its exclusiveness – for it is the power of God for salvation.... The gospel of Jesus Christ and it alone is the power of God for salvation. There is no other way that God saves sinners. Sinners are either saved through the gospel of Jesus Christ or they are not saved at all. God is not saving people apart from faith in Jesus Christ and He will not save people apart from Jesus Christ.
“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation….Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved. How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Romans 10:9-10, 13-15, 17).
“And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
The gospel is God’s gospel and it is the only means through which God gives the power for us to be saved. The word “power” is from dunamis which we get our words dynamite and dynamic. The gospel carries with it the omnipotence of God, whose power alone is sufficient to save men from sin and give them eternal life. Therefore the gospel gives glory to God alone.
The gospel is also exclusive because it is the only way that God can forgive sinners while He Himself remains just – “so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:26). If anyone believes that God will save some other way other than through the gospel of His Son then he or she doesn’t understand the holiness and righteousness of God and that He will not violate His own justness.
Its inclusiveness – “to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” The gospel includes everyone who believes. The word “believe” carries the basic idea of trusting in, relying on, having faith in. When used in the New Testament of salvation it is usually in the continuous form, which could be translated “is believing and keeps on believing.” This type of believing is not a type of belief that resides in man and can be worked up or produced by man – this type of belief is a supernatural belief, produced by God as a gift from God.
The type of belief that is saving belief is “faith” that is generated by God in the heart of man through the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ – “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ (literally the word about Christ)".
To the person who has been granted the gift of salvation which includes the gift of faith, the gospel becomes both the power of God and the wisdom of God. As the eyes of our hearts are enlightened we know and understand that this gospel is the only one that has the power of God for salvation and contains the wisdom of God for salvation. We see that the gospel is both exclusive – there is no other way – and we see that the gospel is inclusive – for all who believe by being enabled to believe through the word about Christ.
Therefore we are not ashamed of the gospel and we do not distort it – we proclaim it as it is and leave the results to God.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Not Ashamed of the Gospel
These two verses are the Apostle Paul’s thesis of the book of Romans. Here Paul summarized the gospel of Jesus Christ before he proceeded to explain it through the rest of the book. The book of Romans is the Holy Spirit inspired exposition of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel (1:16a).
What is it about the gospel that would cause men to be ashamed of it? For one thing, to those who are perishing it is moronic. “For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness…” (1 Corinthians 1:18). “Foolishness” is from the Greek word “moria” from which we get moron. The gospel is moronic and absolute nonsense to unbelievers who rely on their own reason and rationality. In the reasoning and wisdom of those who are perishing, most men really aren’t all that bad and there must be something that they can do in order to earn God’s favor. Therefore those who would dare proclaim the gospel as it is without adding to it or taking from it are considered fools by those who are perishing because the gospel proclaims man’s utter wretched estate and inability to save himself or aid in any way in his salvation. That message is despised, hated, and foolish to most men who think that there is at least some island of innate goodness somewhere in their being. This would cause some to be ashamed of the gospel because they value what others think of them and they do not want to be considered as morons.
Not only is the gospel foolishness to those who are perishing, the gospel is also offensive to both Jews and Gentiles that are perishing. To the Jews the gospel is a stumbling block and to the Gentiles the gospel is foolishness – “But we preach Christ crucified, to Jews and stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness” (1 Corinthians 1:23).
The Jews had a hard time accepting a suffering and crucified Messiah. Also the Jews had a hard time accepting that the Gentiles didn’t have to observe Jewish customs. So those who were ashamed of the gospel but pretending to be preachers of the gospel preached circumcision as a necessary condition for Gentiles to be saved. But the apostle Paul wasn’t ashamed of the gospel and he refused to remove the offense of the gospel – “But I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been abolished” (Galatians 5:11). “Those who desire to make a good showing in the flesh try to compel you to be circumcised, simply so that they will not be persecuted for the cross of Christ” (Galatians 6:12).
Tampering with the gospel in order to make it non-offensive so that all can embrace it distorts the gospel and then it isn’t the gospel at all. We must remember that those of whom Paul wrote about to the Galatians who were attempting to abolish the stumbling block of the cross by adding circumcision to the gospel were not genuine preachers of the gospel but false preachers who were ashamed of the real gospel. “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him [God] who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed” (Galatians 1:6-8).
Many in our day “want to distort the gospel of Christ” so that they can remove the stumbling block and foolishness of the cross of Christ. This is in order that they can be liked and spoken well of by all men simply so that they will not be persecuted for the cross of Christ or considered foolish by the world for preaching the gospel. However, God’s word says, “For since in the wisdom of the world the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe” (1 Corinthians 1:21). You cannot preach what the world considers a foolish message and not be considered foolish yourself. So the only way around that dilemma is to alter the message so that it does not offend the masses.
Altering the message so that it does not offend the masses is easily spiritualized as “becoming all things to all men so that we may by all means save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22). However, altering the message so that it does not offend the masses is not spiritual and it is the equivalent of opening a wide gate that leads to destruction. No text of Scripture other than Matthew 7:1 has been more twisted and distorted than 1 Corinthians 9:22. The same apostle Paul who wrote Romans 1:16 is the same apostle Paul who wrote 1 Corinthians 9:22 and it is evident and plain that Paul never altered the message to remove its offense but he did do what was necessary to keep himself from being offensive. Paul had Timothy whose mother was a Jew circumcised so that Timothy would not be an offense to the Jews (Acts 16:1-3). Paul refused to have Titus who was a Greek circumcised so that Titus would not be an offense to the Greeks (Galatians 2:3-6). Paul never altered the message because he was not ashamed of the gospel.
Those who are ashamed of the gospel seek to remove the offense of the gospel so that they will not have to be ashamed of it anymore. The gospel is made non-offensive by altering its content and intent. No one is offended by a “smile, God loves you” type of gospel. No one is offended by a “God wants you to have your best life now” gospel. No one is offended by a “God has a wonderful purpose and plan for your life” gospel. No one is offended by a “you’re so valuable to God that He wants you to live with Him in heaven” gospel. No one is offended by a “God wants to make you healthy, wealthy, and prosperous” gospel. But men are offended by a “you’re so wicked that the only way God could save you was to crucify His only Son as a sinless substitute, have Him buried, and raise Him from the dead so that He could be both just and the justifier of whoever has faith in His Son” gospel.
Making the gospel relevant is nothing short of removing the offense of the gospel in an attempt to make it palatable to all men because of being ashamed of the gospel. This is done by offering the world what it wants – happiness instead of holiness, pleasure instead of purity, luxury instead of Lordship, comfort instead of character, and man’s glory instead of God’s glory. When this happens then both the content and the intent of the gospel has been changed and you now have another gospel which is non-offensive but which is not the gospel of Jesus Christ.
So in an attempt to make the gospel more palatable and less offensive to unbelievers, those who are ashamed of the gospel distort the gospel and change both its content and intent.
We have already seen that the content of the gospel is the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ dealing with His divinity and humanity (the incarnation) for the purpose of penal substitution “for Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit” (1 Peter 3:18) and His resurrection for the purpose of our justification – “He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification” (Romans 4:25). So the content of the gospel is the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ (His divinity and humanity) for the purpose of penal substitution (the just would pay the penalty of the unjust) so that we could be justified and brought to God through His resurrection (Romans 1:1-4).
We have also already seen that the intent of the gospel is the glory of God in the salvation of self-centered, self-ruled, and self-loving sinners which transforms them into God-centered, God-ruled, and God-loving saints (Romans 1:5). So the intent of the gospel is the glory of God in the transformation of undeserving, disobedient rebels into loving, loyal, and obedient children! The Gospel brings us to God as His children who love and adore Him and find the satisfaction of our souls in Him.
However, when men are ashamed of this gospel they begin to distort the content of the gospel, the incarnation and resurrection, and misapply the intent of the gospel. I’ll give two examples although there are numerous other examples:
Probably the most famous (should be infamous) for his misinterpretation of the incarnation and atonement would be Charles Finney. Concerning Christ and the atonement Finney said, “He can not plead as our Advocate that He has paid our debt, in such a sense that He can demand our discharge on the ground of justice. He has not paid our debt in such a sense that we do not still owe it. He has not atoned for our sins in such a sense that we might not still be justly punished for them. Indeed, such a thing is impossible and absurd. One being can not suffer for another in such a sense as to remove the guilt of that other. He may suffer for another's guilt in such a sense that it will be safe to forgive the sinner, for whom the suffering has been endured; but the suffering of the substitute can never, in the least degree, diminish the intrinsic guilt of the criminal. Our Advocate may urge that He has borne such suffering for us to honor the law that we had dishonored, that now it is safe to extend mercy to us; but He never can demand our discharge on the ground that we do not deserve to be punished. The fact of our intrinsic guilt remains, and must forever remain; and our forgiveness is just as much an act of sovereign mercy, as if Christ had never died for us” (Charles Finney, Christ Our Advocate, VI. What His plea in behalf of sinners is, Number 7). So according to Finney man could have been forgiven based on the mercy of God alone and apart from the incarnation – “Our forgiveness is just as much an act of sovereign mercy, as if Christ had never died for us.”
Another example of misinterpreting and trivializing the incarnation is seen in writings of many in the postmodern movements of our day, such as Ron Martoia in his book Morph. Seeking to justify being like the world to win the world (cultural relevance), the incarnation is grossly misinterpreted by Martoia as God’s desire to be culturally relevant. He says, “The quintessential example of genius intersection is, of course, the incarnation: God’s presence, voice, and message piercing and penetrating 1C culture. As we simply observe the potency of the incarnation, several things come to mind. God sent Jesus as a person. God could have sent the message packaged any number of ways. He didn’t choose a CD player to herald the good news, a Web page that automatically pops up every time someone logs on, or an MP3 download into our ear canal. The fact that he sent a person bespeaks God’s desire to be relevant, understandable, approachable, and relational (Ron Martoia, Morph, Group Publishing, 2003, pg. 17). Could God have redeemed any other way? According to Martoia, “God could have sent the message packaged any number of ways.” Did God send Jesus for the purpose of cultural relevance? According to Martoia, “The fact that he sent a person bespeaks God’s desire to be relevant, understandable, approachable, and relational.” But according to God’s Word God could not have redeemed any other way, “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendents of Abraham. Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted” (Hebrews 2:14-18). Penal substitution is the only way God can forgive and remain just. “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 the incarnation was necessary for the realization of penal substitution and that is the primary biblical interpretation for the incarnation. If God could have redeemed any other way, surely He would have done it! But because there was no other way – what a demonstration of the love of God in penal substitution – “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
A distorted gospel which is void of the offense of the cross is no gospel at all and does not have the power to transform undeserving, disobedient rebels into loving, loyal and obedient children of God. All that a distorted gospel can do is cause men to have a form of godliness void of the power of God for actual transformation.
Geoffrey Wilson wrote, “The unpopularity of a crucified Christ has prompted many to present a message which is more palatable to the unbeliever, but the removal of the offense of the cross always renders the message ineffective. An inoffensive gospel is also an inoperative gospel” (Romans; A Digest of Reformed Comment [Carlisle, Pa.: Banner of Truth, 1976], p.24).
For I am not ashamed of the gospel (1:16a).
What is it about the gospel that would cause men to be ashamed of it? For one thing, to those who are perishing it is moronic. “For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness…” (1 Corinthians 1:18). “Foolishness” is from the Greek word “moria” from which we get moron. The gospel is moronic and absolute nonsense to unbelievers who rely on their own reason and rationality. In the reasoning and wisdom of those who are perishing, most men really aren’t all that bad and there must be something that they can do in order to earn God’s favor. Therefore those who would dare proclaim the gospel as it is without adding to it or taking from it are considered fools by those who are perishing because the gospel proclaims man’s utter wretched estate and inability to save himself or aid in any way in his salvation. That message is despised, hated, and foolish to most men who think that there is at least some island of innate goodness somewhere in their being. This would cause some to be ashamed of the gospel because they value what others think of them and they do not want to be considered as morons.
Not only is the gospel foolishness to those who are perishing, the gospel is also offensive to both Jews and Gentiles that are perishing. To the Jews the gospel is a stumbling block and to the Gentiles the gospel is foolishness – “But we preach Christ crucified, to Jews and stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness” (1 Corinthians 1:23).
The Jews had a hard time accepting a suffering and crucified Messiah. Also the Jews had a hard time accepting that the Gentiles didn’t have to observe Jewish customs. So those who were ashamed of the gospel but pretending to be preachers of the gospel preached circumcision as a necessary condition for Gentiles to be saved. But the apostle Paul wasn’t ashamed of the gospel and he refused to remove the offense of the gospel – “But I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been abolished” (Galatians 5:11). “Those who desire to make a good showing in the flesh try to compel you to be circumcised, simply so that they will not be persecuted for the cross of Christ” (Galatians 6:12).
Tampering with the gospel in order to make it non-offensive so that all can embrace it distorts the gospel and then it isn’t the gospel at all. We must remember that those of whom Paul wrote about to the Galatians who were attempting to abolish the stumbling block of the cross by adding circumcision to the gospel were not genuine preachers of the gospel but false preachers who were ashamed of the real gospel. “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him [God] who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed” (Galatians 1:6-8).
Many in our day “want to distort the gospel of Christ” so that they can remove the stumbling block and foolishness of the cross of Christ. This is in order that they can be liked and spoken well of by all men simply so that they will not be persecuted for the cross of Christ or considered foolish by the world for preaching the gospel. However, God’s word says, “For since in the wisdom of the world the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe” (1 Corinthians 1:21). You cannot preach what the world considers a foolish message and not be considered foolish yourself. So the only way around that dilemma is to alter the message so that it does not offend the masses.
Altering the message so that it does not offend the masses is easily spiritualized as “becoming all things to all men so that we may by all means save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22). However, altering the message so that it does not offend the masses is not spiritual and it is the equivalent of opening a wide gate that leads to destruction. No text of Scripture other than Matthew 7:1 has been more twisted and distorted than 1 Corinthians 9:22. The same apostle Paul who wrote Romans 1:16 is the same apostle Paul who wrote 1 Corinthians 9:22 and it is evident and plain that Paul never altered the message to remove its offense but he did do what was necessary to keep himself from being offensive. Paul had Timothy whose mother was a Jew circumcised so that Timothy would not be an offense to the Jews (Acts 16:1-3). Paul refused to have Titus who was a Greek circumcised so that Titus would not be an offense to the Greeks (Galatians 2:3-6). Paul never altered the message because he was not ashamed of the gospel.
Those who are ashamed of the gospel seek to remove the offense of the gospel so that they will not have to be ashamed of it anymore. The gospel is made non-offensive by altering its content and intent. No one is offended by a “smile, God loves you” type of gospel. No one is offended by a “God wants you to have your best life now” gospel. No one is offended by a “God has a wonderful purpose and plan for your life” gospel. No one is offended by a “you’re so valuable to God that He wants you to live with Him in heaven” gospel. No one is offended by a “God wants to make you healthy, wealthy, and prosperous” gospel. But men are offended by a “you’re so wicked that the only way God could save you was to crucify His only Son as a sinless substitute, have Him buried, and raise Him from the dead so that He could be both just and the justifier of whoever has faith in His Son” gospel.
Making the gospel relevant is nothing short of removing the offense of the gospel in an attempt to make it palatable to all men because of being ashamed of the gospel. This is done by offering the world what it wants – happiness instead of holiness, pleasure instead of purity, luxury instead of Lordship, comfort instead of character, and man’s glory instead of God’s glory. When this happens then both the content and the intent of the gospel has been changed and you now have another gospel which is non-offensive but which is not the gospel of Jesus Christ.
So in an attempt to make the gospel more palatable and less offensive to unbelievers, those who are ashamed of the gospel distort the gospel and change both its content and intent.
We have already seen that the content of the gospel is the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ dealing with His divinity and humanity (the incarnation) for the purpose of penal substitution “for Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit” (1 Peter 3:18) and His resurrection for the purpose of our justification – “He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification” (Romans 4:25). So the content of the gospel is the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ (His divinity and humanity) for the purpose of penal substitution (the just would pay the penalty of the unjust) so that we could be justified and brought to God through His resurrection (Romans 1:1-4).
We have also already seen that the intent of the gospel is the glory of God in the salvation of self-centered, self-ruled, and self-loving sinners which transforms them into God-centered, God-ruled, and God-loving saints (Romans 1:5). So the intent of the gospel is the glory of God in the transformation of undeserving, disobedient rebels into loving, loyal, and obedient children! The Gospel brings us to God as His children who love and adore Him and find the satisfaction of our souls in Him.
However, when men are ashamed of this gospel they begin to distort the content of the gospel, the incarnation and resurrection, and misapply the intent of the gospel. I’ll give two examples although there are numerous other examples:
Probably the most famous (should be infamous) for his misinterpretation of the incarnation and atonement would be Charles Finney. Concerning Christ and the atonement Finney said, “He can not plead as our Advocate that He has paid our debt, in such a sense that He can demand our discharge on the ground of justice. He has not paid our debt in such a sense that we do not still owe it. He has not atoned for our sins in such a sense that we might not still be justly punished for them. Indeed, such a thing is impossible and absurd. One being can not suffer for another in such a sense as to remove the guilt of that other. He may suffer for another's guilt in such a sense that it will be safe to forgive the sinner, for whom the suffering has been endured; but the suffering of the substitute can never, in the least degree, diminish the intrinsic guilt of the criminal. Our Advocate may urge that He has borne such suffering for us to honor the law that we had dishonored, that now it is safe to extend mercy to us; but He never can demand our discharge on the ground that we do not deserve to be punished. The fact of our intrinsic guilt remains, and must forever remain; and our forgiveness is just as much an act of sovereign mercy, as if Christ had never died for us” (Charles Finney, Christ Our Advocate, VI. What His plea in behalf of sinners is, Number 7). So according to Finney man could have been forgiven based on the mercy of God alone and apart from the incarnation – “Our forgiveness is just as much an act of sovereign mercy, as if Christ had never died for us.”
Another example of misinterpreting and trivializing the incarnation is seen in writings of many in the postmodern movements of our day, such as Ron Martoia in his book Morph. Seeking to justify being like the world to win the world (cultural relevance), the incarnation is grossly misinterpreted by Martoia as God’s desire to be culturally relevant. He says, “The quintessential example of genius intersection is, of course, the incarnation: God’s presence, voice, and message piercing and penetrating 1C culture. As we simply observe the potency of the incarnation, several things come to mind. God sent Jesus as a person. God could have sent the message packaged any number of ways. He didn’t choose a CD player to herald the good news, a Web page that automatically pops up every time someone logs on, or an MP3 download into our ear canal. The fact that he sent a person bespeaks God’s desire to be relevant, understandable, approachable, and relational (Ron Martoia, Morph, Group Publishing, 2003, pg. 17). Could God have redeemed any other way? According to Martoia, “God could have sent the message packaged any number of ways.” Did God send Jesus for the purpose of cultural relevance? According to Martoia, “The fact that he sent a person bespeaks God’s desire to be relevant, understandable, approachable, and relational.” But according to God’s Word God could not have redeemed any other way, “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendents of Abraham. Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted” (Hebrews 2:14-18). Penal substitution is the only way God can forgive and remain just. “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 the incarnation was necessary for the realization of penal substitution and that is the primary biblical interpretation for the incarnation. If God could have redeemed any other way, surely He would have done it! But because there was no other way – what a demonstration of the love of God in penal substitution – “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
A distorted gospel which is void of the offense of the cross is no gospel at all and does not have the power to transform undeserving, disobedient rebels into loving, loyal and obedient children of God. All that a distorted gospel can do is cause men to have a form of godliness void of the power of God for actual transformation.
Geoffrey Wilson wrote, “The unpopularity of a crucified Christ has prompted many to present a message which is more palatable to the unbeliever, but the removal of the offense of the cross always renders the message ineffective. An inoffensive gospel is also an inoperative gospel” (Romans; A Digest of Reformed Comment [Carlisle, Pa.: Banner of Truth, 1976], p.24).
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
A Church Praised for its Faith (part 2)
In Romans 1:1-7, Paul shared with the saints at Rome his call which involved his credentials as an apostle and the content of his message. In Romans 1:8-15, Paul shared with the saints at Rome his concern. Paul was doing all this in essence to show the saints at Rome who he was before he showed them his theology. As we study this section dealing with Paul’s concern for the saints at Rome we will see four aspects of that concern.
We have already considered the first aspect of Paul’s concern for the saints at Rome which was Paul praised the saints at Rome (1:8). Now we turn our attention to the other three aspects of Paul’s concern for the saints at Rome:
Next, Paul prayed for the saints at Rome (1:9-10). The saints at Rome did not know about Paul’s prayer support for them but the Lord knew about it and honored it. One of the burdens of Paul’s prayer was that God would allow him to visit Rome and minister to the churches there. He would have visited them sooner but his ministry work and God’s will kept him busy (Romans 15:15-33).
Paul wrote the letter to the Romans while he was in Corinth. Paul was about to leave Corinth for Jerusalem to deliver the special offering received from the Gentile churches for the poor Jewish saints. He hoped that he would be able to travel from Jerusalem to Rome, and then on to Spain; and he was hoping for a prosperous journey. However, we know that Paul had a very perilous journey and that he went to Rome as a prisoner after being arrested in the temple based on false accusations from the Jewish authorities. Paul eventually had to appeal to Caesar in order to not be handed over to the Jews who wanted to kill him. On his way to Rome as a prisoner, Paul was even shipwrecked. Some three years after writing to the Romans and wanting to visit them, Paul finally arrived – in chains.
Paul had total and unreserved commitment to be used by God however it pleased God – “For God, whom I serve in my spirit.” True service is worship in which believers present their bodies to God as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is their spiritual service of worship (Romans 12:1). True worship is service to God in the Spirit of God and putting no confidence in the flesh (Philippians 3:3). It is this that caused the apostle to pray unceasingly for the saints in Rome.
Paul’s primary service to God was the preaching of the gospel of His Son. But he went on to explain that service to God included deep, personal concern for everyone who believed the gospel, whether they heard it from him or someone else. Paul was not concerned for the saints in Rome because they were his converts, but because they were his brothers and sisters who had the same spiritual Father through trusting in the same Lord and Savior that had saved both him and them.
Perhaps because most of the saints in Rome did not personally know Paul, so he called the Lord as a witness to his sincere love and concern for them. He knew that God who knows the motive and sincerity of each heart would testify as to how unceasingly he made mention of them always in his prayers. Paul was concerned for the spiritual well-being of the saints in Rome and the glory of God through the churches there. As we read Paul’s letters to the churches we always see his prayers for the saints in each place. Witnessing, serving, and praying go hand in hand. We dare not attempt to witness and serve without also praying. Knowing the difficulties that Christians must endure for their faith we must always be praying for all the saints everywhere. Also, knowing the danger that unbelievers are under the wrath of God we are to pray for all men (1 Timothy 2:1).
Paul not only prayed for the spiritual well-being of the saints at Rome, he also prayed that he could be an instrument in the hands of God to go to them and strengthen them in their faith. As we pray for God to reach and strengthen others, we must be willing to be the answer to that prayer.
Paul had been making request for a long time that he could visit the saints at Rome and minister to them and be ministered to by them. Paul’s eagerness to serve God was always directed by his willingness to obey God and be in His will. Paul sought the advancement of God’s glory and kingdom through God’s own will, not his own.
Next we see Paul’s passion for the saints at Rome (1:11-12). Paul wanted to visit the saints at Rome in order to serve them lovingly in God’s name. He did not want to go as a tourist and visit the wonders of Rome – he wanted to go to give himself in the Lord’s service to the people; not to entertain and indulge himself. Paul was concerned for the spiritual well-being of the Christians in Rome and therefore he wanted to go and impart some spiritual gift to them. He wasn’t speaking of giving them a spiritual gift that only the Holy Spirit can do – but he was speaking of exercising his gifts so that they might be established.
Paul made it clear though that they would not be the only beneficiaries of his faith but that he also would be encouraged and would benefit from their faith. The great apostle knew that he would be strengthened and encouraged from inexperienced beginners. After all, every genuine convert has been gifted by the Holy Spirit and can contribute in some way to the spiritual progress of others. Pity the person who cannot learn from others because he no longer has a teachable and humble spirit.
Finally we see Paul’s plan for the saints at Rome (1:13-15). Paul wanted to make it clear to the Roman Christians that he had often planned to come to them (but had been prevented so far). As far as his own plans were concerned he would have come to them much sooner and would not have been prevented. However, God is sovereign and all-knowing and Paul was submitted to God’s will and not his own. Sometimes Paul was hindered because of the work of Satan – “But we brethren, having been taken away from you for a short while – in person, not in spirit – were all the more eager with great desire to see your face. For we wanted to come to you – I, Paul, more than once – and yet Satan hindered us” (1 Thessalonians 2:17-18). But in this case it was Paul’s work for the Lord and the work of the Lord that kept him from coming as soon as he would have liked (Romans 15:15-33).
Paul planned to obtain some fruit while in Rome visiting the saints there. Paul wanted both the fruit that comes from maturing those who already saved and the fruit that comes from leading others to Christ. Paul wanted to be used to help the Roman church grow through new converts and to grow in sanctification.
Paul had an obligation to minister in Rome as the apostle to the Gentiles. He was under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians. The Greeks considered every non-Greek a barbarian. The Greeks considered themselves wise because they were steeped in centuries of philosophy and they considered everyone else foolish. But Paul felt an obligation to all men, just as we need to feel a burden for the whole world.
Paul was eager to visit Rome that he might minister to the believers there and evangelize the lost there. It was not the eagerness of a sightseer, but the eagerness of a soul-winner. Paul was eager to preach the gospel in Rome. He knew that Rome was a dangerous place and that Christians there had already experienced persecution. He knew that the false apostles would be spreading their destructive heresies there. He knew that the capitol city of the empire was steeped in immorality and paganism, including emperor worship. He knew that he would be despised by many and that they would probably seek to harm him. Yet he was boldly eager to go there for His Lord’s sake and for the sake of the Lord’s people.
We have already considered the first aspect of Paul’s concern for the saints at Rome which was Paul praised the saints at Rome (1:8). Now we turn our attention to the other three aspects of Paul’s concern for the saints at Rome:
Next, Paul prayed for the saints at Rome (1:9-10). The saints at Rome did not know about Paul’s prayer support for them but the Lord knew about it and honored it. One of the burdens of Paul’s prayer was that God would allow him to visit Rome and minister to the churches there. He would have visited them sooner but his ministry work and God’s will kept him busy (Romans 15:15-33).
Paul wrote the letter to the Romans while he was in Corinth. Paul was about to leave Corinth for Jerusalem to deliver the special offering received from the Gentile churches for the poor Jewish saints. He hoped that he would be able to travel from Jerusalem to Rome, and then on to Spain; and he was hoping for a prosperous journey. However, we know that Paul had a very perilous journey and that he went to Rome as a prisoner after being arrested in the temple based on false accusations from the Jewish authorities. Paul eventually had to appeal to Caesar in order to not be handed over to the Jews who wanted to kill him. On his way to Rome as a prisoner, Paul was even shipwrecked. Some three years after writing to the Romans and wanting to visit them, Paul finally arrived – in chains.
Paul had total and unreserved commitment to be used by God however it pleased God – “For God, whom I serve in my spirit.” True service is worship in which believers present their bodies to God as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is their spiritual service of worship (Romans 12:1). True worship is service to God in the Spirit of God and putting no confidence in the flesh (Philippians 3:3). It is this that caused the apostle to pray unceasingly for the saints in Rome.
Paul’s primary service to God was the preaching of the gospel of His Son. But he went on to explain that service to God included deep, personal concern for everyone who believed the gospel, whether they heard it from him or someone else. Paul was not concerned for the saints in Rome because they were his converts, but because they were his brothers and sisters who had the same spiritual Father through trusting in the same Lord and Savior that had saved both him and them.
Perhaps because most of the saints in Rome did not personally know Paul, so he called the Lord as a witness to his sincere love and concern for them. He knew that God who knows the motive and sincerity of each heart would testify as to how unceasingly he made mention of them always in his prayers. Paul was concerned for the spiritual well-being of the saints in Rome and the glory of God through the churches there. As we read Paul’s letters to the churches we always see his prayers for the saints in each place. Witnessing, serving, and praying go hand in hand. We dare not attempt to witness and serve without also praying. Knowing the difficulties that Christians must endure for their faith we must always be praying for all the saints everywhere. Also, knowing the danger that unbelievers are under the wrath of God we are to pray for all men (1 Timothy 2:1).
Paul not only prayed for the spiritual well-being of the saints at Rome, he also prayed that he could be an instrument in the hands of God to go to them and strengthen them in their faith. As we pray for God to reach and strengthen others, we must be willing to be the answer to that prayer.
Paul had been making request for a long time that he could visit the saints at Rome and minister to them and be ministered to by them. Paul’s eagerness to serve God was always directed by his willingness to obey God and be in His will. Paul sought the advancement of God’s glory and kingdom through God’s own will, not his own.
Next we see Paul’s passion for the saints at Rome (1:11-12). Paul wanted to visit the saints at Rome in order to serve them lovingly in God’s name. He did not want to go as a tourist and visit the wonders of Rome – he wanted to go to give himself in the Lord’s service to the people; not to entertain and indulge himself. Paul was concerned for the spiritual well-being of the Christians in Rome and therefore he wanted to go and impart some spiritual gift to them. He wasn’t speaking of giving them a spiritual gift that only the Holy Spirit can do – but he was speaking of exercising his gifts so that they might be established.
Paul made it clear though that they would not be the only beneficiaries of his faith but that he also would be encouraged and would benefit from their faith. The great apostle knew that he would be strengthened and encouraged from inexperienced beginners. After all, every genuine convert has been gifted by the Holy Spirit and can contribute in some way to the spiritual progress of others. Pity the person who cannot learn from others because he no longer has a teachable and humble spirit.
Finally we see Paul’s plan for the saints at Rome (1:13-15). Paul wanted to make it clear to the Roman Christians that he had often planned to come to them (but had been prevented so far). As far as his own plans were concerned he would have come to them much sooner and would not have been prevented. However, God is sovereign and all-knowing and Paul was submitted to God’s will and not his own. Sometimes Paul was hindered because of the work of Satan – “But we brethren, having been taken away from you for a short while – in person, not in spirit – were all the more eager with great desire to see your face. For we wanted to come to you – I, Paul, more than once – and yet Satan hindered us” (1 Thessalonians 2:17-18). But in this case it was Paul’s work for the Lord and the work of the Lord that kept him from coming as soon as he would have liked (Romans 15:15-33).
Paul planned to obtain some fruit while in Rome visiting the saints there. Paul wanted both the fruit that comes from maturing those who already saved and the fruit that comes from leading others to Christ. Paul wanted to be used to help the Roman church grow through new converts and to grow in sanctification.
Paul had an obligation to minister in Rome as the apostle to the Gentiles. He was under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians. The Greeks considered every non-Greek a barbarian. The Greeks considered themselves wise because they were steeped in centuries of philosophy and they considered everyone else foolish. But Paul felt an obligation to all men, just as we need to feel a burden for the whole world.
Paul was eager to visit Rome that he might minister to the believers there and evangelize the lost there. It was not the eagerness of a sightseer, but the eagerness of a soul-winner. Paul was eager to preach the gospel in Rome. He knew that Rome was a dangerous place and that Christians there had already experienced persecution. He knew that the false apostles would be spreading their destructive heresies there. He knew that the capitol city of the empire was steeped in immorality and paganism, including emperor worship. He knew that he would be despised by many and that they would probably seek to harm him. Yet he was boldly eager to go there for His Lord’s sake and for the sake of the Lord’s people.
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