God’s Way of Making People Right, 3:21-31.
All men have been locked up in guilt by their sins. How can they be made free? In this section, Paul shows a revelation from God as to how He has chosen to save men from their sins, to unlock them from their guilt. All have known the pain of ruining a relationship by doing wrong to someone. Maybe it is a husband who wrongs his wife, and she becomes his enemy. Or a child wrongs his parent and becomes the enemy. Or a servant wrongs his master and becomes his enemy. That always brings pain when men are cut off by wrongdoing.
How can it be made right? Does the wrongdoer set the terms of making it right? Or are the terms set by the one who has suffered the wrong? It is always the person who has been wronged who must decide what it will take to make it right again. So, since men have sinned against God, mankind has no right to say what he will do to make it right with God again. Only God can say this. This important section shows how God has decided to make people right who have been broken off from Him by their sin.
[21-24] Now God has a way to make people right with Himself. But it is not through the law. It has been accomplished without demanding that men keep the law by perfect obedience. They have already shown that they cannot keep the law. But God has made a plan to make them right, anyway, without the law. Men could not have made such a plan, for all were the offenders. But God has done it and now reveals to men how they may be one with Him again. Therefore Paul tells good news because he is telling how we can regain life, glory, and honour after we had lost it all through sin.
Here is the way. Jesus Christ was sent into the world by God to bear men’s sins and to take away their punishment. He accepted the guilt of our sin and died on the cross in payment for the death we should have died. And now, with our sins taken off our hearts, with death having been overcome by One who took our place, we can be made right if we accept Jesus’ gift to us by believing in Him. Because we show faith in Jesus, God will count us as righteous men, and we are made right with Him. How important that word faith becomes to us. What does it mean? Sometimes it is called believing. Sometimes we say it is to commit oneself to Him. Sometimes we say it is to give spiritual allegiance to Him. Because our eternal life, our final judgement, and our heavenly home all depend on faith, we must be sure we understand it. The reader should carefully consider how the word faith is described and defined. One should study the examples of faith in the entire New Testament. Chapter eleven of Hebrews especially is filled with examples of how men of faith demonstrated that faith in their dealings with God and men. Biblical faith always begins with the knowledge of content and person (God, Jesus), heart conviction (repentance of self-will, and humble obedience.
Romans 3:25-31
25 God offered Christ as a sacrifice. When Christ died, this became the way that sins are taken away – if we believe. This showed God’s justice, too. God passed over sins which had been committed before this time. 26 God was tolerant, but now, at this present time, to show His justice, He makes a person right who trusts in Jesus, and He is still fair. 27 “So, what room is left for bragging?” It is shut out! “How? Through some kind of law? Through deeds?” No! But through the principle of faith! 28 Because we conclude that a person is made right with God by faith – without following the law of Moses. 29 Is God only a God for the Jews? Isn’t He a God for non-Jews? “Yes, He is a God for non-Jewish people, too.” 30 Since there is only one God, He will make a Jew right from faith and make a non-Jew right through faith. 31 “Well then, do we cancel the law through faith?” Certainly not! On the contrary, we uphold the law.
[25-26] God gave Jesus as a means of forgiving people’s sins through faith. God does this by the blood (the death) of Jesus. This showed that God always does what is right and fair. God was right in the past when He was patient and did not punish people for their sins. And God gave Jesus to show that God always does what is right. God did this so that He could judge rightly and also could make right any person who has faith in Jesus.
[27-31] If we have been made right with God again, can we boast about this accomplishment? Not at all. The way of faith (Jesus’ dying for us so that we might live) rules out all boasting. We did not succeed in being good, nor in keeping the law; so we cannot boast. We are made right with God by faith, not by following the law of Moses. Our God is one God, both of the Jews and the non-Jews, and He saves us (puts us right again) through the sacrifice of Jesus (like the sacrificial lamb of Isaiah 53:1-12) for our sins.
Does this mean that the law was destroyed? Certainly not. It means that faith causes us to be what the law truly wanted us to be; and in that way, faith upholds the law.
Romans 4:1-15
4 1 “Then what should we say about Abraham, our ancestor? What did he gain from his human experience? 2 If Abraham was made righteous by human effort, then he would have something to boast about.” – but not with God! 3 What does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and so God declared him a righteous man.” Genesis 15:6 4 Pay does not come to a worker as a favor – he earns it! 5 But suppose a person doesn’t work for it? Instead, he believes in God who makes an ungodly man righteous. Then, his faith is regarded as righteousness. 6 David talks about the happiness of a man whom God regards as righteous (without human effort): 7 “Sinners who are forgiven are happy. Their sins have been covered. 8 If the Lord God does not count a man’s sin, then that man is happy.” Psalm 32:1-2 9 Therefore, this happiness is for Jews and non-Jews, because we are saying that Abraham’s faith was regarded as righteousness. 10 How was it accepted? Did this happen while Abraham was circumcised or when he was uncircumcised? It was during the time when he was not circumcised! 11 When Abraham received the mark of circumcision, it was a seal to prove that the faith he had (while he was not circumcised) was considered as righteousness by God. So, Abraham is an ancestor to all people who are declared righteous, even though they are not circumcised. 12 Abraham is an ancestor of Jews, the circumcised. Not only of them, he is also an ancestor to people who follow the example of the faith which Abraham, our ancestor, had while he was not circumcised. 13 God’s promise to Abraham and his descendants (that Abraham would inherit the world) did not come through the law. Instead, it came through the righteousness which comes by faith. 14 If we are truly heirs because of the law, faith means nothing and God’s promise is worthless, 15 because the law brings punishment from God. Where no law exists, there can be no sin.
Example: Abraham and His Faith in God, 4:1-12.
Who was this man Abraham who is referred to in this chapter? He was the most respected ancestor of the Jews. He lived about nineteen hundred years before Jesus came to earth. His story is in Genesis 11:27-25:11. Every Jew hoped to see Abraham (see Luke 16:19-31). The Jews thought of Abraham so highly that they thought of death as passing from life into the comforting arms of Abraham, their ancestor (see Luke 16:22). Even the wicked Jews felt that they could call on their ancestor Abraham for mercy (see Luke 16:24).
[1-2] Since Abraham was so important to the Jews and to their religion, what about Abraham and faith? What did he learn about faith in God? Since Abraham was such a great man, how did he become great? God said He would make him to be a great nation, give him a great name, and bless all the nations through him. God even said that if any man blessed Abraham, God would bless him, and if any man cursed Abraham, God would curse him (Genesis 12:1-3). Surely Abraham had great privilege with God. Abraham had much to boast about, for surely he was great! But Abraham could not boast before God. He had these great blessings, not because he earned them, but because God gave them to him. If Abraham made himself great, then he could boast. But if God made him great, he could not boast. Look closely then. How was Abraham made great?
[3] Abraham believed God, and God counted his faith as though it were righteousness! To prove this point, Paul quotes from Genesis 15:6 in the life history of Abraham. The passage says, “Abraham believed God, and so God declared him a righteous man.” He was made right with God because he believed God.
[4-5] Now if Abraham worked to earn his blessing, he deserved it. But if Abraham did not work to earn the blessing, then it was a gift from God, an unearned blessing. And so Paul explained that our faith in Jesus is counted as though it were righteousness. If we believe in Jesus, we are accepted as though we had never sinned. In God’s eyes, faith is the same thing as righteousness.
[6] Now Paul proves his statement by quoting from a Psalm of David (Psalm 32:1-2). David was the most famous king of the Jewish nation. He lived almost a thousand years after Abraham. He lived about a thousand years before Jesus came. He is so important that Jesus was called “a descendant of David” (Romans 1:3). David’s life story begins in 1 Samuel 16, continues through 2 Samuel, and ends in 1 Kings 2.
[7-8] In the quotation, three terms are used for man’s being right with God: He is forgiven, his sin is covered, and the Lord does not count his sin. Such a man is surely blessed by God if God hides His eyes and will not count the man’s sin against him. The wicked man may read this from both the Old and New Testaments and say, “Then if God does not see my sin or count it against me, I will believe and then sin all I want to.” This foolish conclusion is answered at length in chapter six.
[9-10] This very great blessing of being right with God is not only for Jews, but also for Gentiles. It is not only for the circumcised ones, but also for the uncircumcised ones. How do we know this? Because in Genesis 15:6, where it is said that Abraham believed, his faith was counted for righteousness. But when did this happen? When Abraham was circumcised or when he was uncircumcised? God did not give Abraham the covenant of circumcision until Genesis 17:24. So it was while Abraham was uncircumcised that his faith was counted to him for righteousness. Then later, the sign of circumcision was given to show that God had accepted him for his faith. The acceptance with God was before circumcision.
[11-12] Therefore, Abraham is counted to be the ancestor of all men who believe, not just those who are circumcised. The Jews (circumcised people) were very confident that no blessings from Abraham or from God could come on those who were uncircumcised. But Paul says that people who believe and who follow the example of Abraham and his faith will not only be considered descendants of Abraham but will also have acceptance with God as men made righteous.
God’s Promises Are Received Through Faith, 4:13-25.
[13-15] In the agreement God made with Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3), God promised that if Abraham followed His directions He would make of him a great nation and bless all nations through him. Now Paul calls this group of blessings as so precious that he calls them “the world.” Truly, if one believes and follows God, the whole world is his inheritance (see Matthew 6:33). Paul now says that all this “whole world inheritance” did not come to Abraham by the law. It came by Abraham’s believing God. If it had come by keeping the moral law of righteousness, then faith was not important. But earlier in the Book of Romans, Paul pointed out that the law cannot produce righteousness. It can describe what righteousness is, but it cannot make men strong enough to live righteously. In fact, when the law has told what is good and what is bad, its work is finished. If one then does what is bad, the curse and punishment of the law come upon him, and the law becomes a curse instead of a blessing.
Romans 4:16-25
16 This is why it is by faith, so that it will be a favor – to confirm the promise that God made to every descendant, not only for the Jew but also for the non-Jew who has the same kind of faith that Abraham had. Abraham is the ancestor of us all. 17 This is written: “I have made you to be an ancestor of many nations.” Genesis 17:5 In the presence of God, Abraham believed that God could make dead people come back to life, that God could call for things that did not exist, as though they existed. 18 When there was no hope, Abraham believed with hope that he would become an ancestor of many nations, just as God said: “Your descendants will be like this.” Genesis 15:5 19 He understood that his body was practically dead (He was about 100 years old.) and that Sarah couldn’t have children, either. But Abraham’s faith didn’t weaken. 20 He did not doubt God’s promise. He believed. His faith made him even stronger. He gave glory to God. 21 He was convinced that God was able to do what He had promised. 22 So, because of this faith, “God declared Abraham a righteous man.” Genesis 15:6 23 This verse about Abraham’s acceptance was written not only for Abraham; 24 it was also written for us. We are going to be accepted, too. We believe in the One who raised our Lord Jesus from death. 25 Jesus was handed over to die for our sins. He was raised from death to make us right with God.
[16-17] Since the law cannot save, then when God counts men to be righteous, He does so as an unearned favour. Even though one does not deserve the blessing of God or His promises, God still gives His free gift to those people who believe in Him. And all of Abraham’s children can have that promise. This means all of Abraham’s children who believe in God as he did. It does not mean all of Abraham’s fleshly descendants, or even all those who were circumcised as he was. Here Paul is really saying the same thing about the Jews in three ways: They descended in fleshly parentage from Abraham; they were circumcised like Abraham; and they were guided by the law of Moses. Exodus 19-40 gives the story of God’s giving the Jews the law through Moses. As Abraham was considered the father of the Jewish race, and as David was considered the greatest king of the Jews, so Moses was considered the lawgiver of the Jews. Even though these three men are the great men of the political nation of the Jews, Paul has shown that there are many outside the political nation that are in reality a part of the spiritual family (or nation) of Abraham. Paul shows that God had this in mind all the time, even back in Genesis 17:5 when He said to Abraham, “I have made you to be an ancestor of many nations.” But for one to be part of that very old family of Abraham, he must believe as Abraham did.
[18-22] As an example of how God can speak of nonexistent things as though they existed, think of how He spoke with Abraham about a child. Abraham and Sarah had been married for a long, long time. They had never had any children, although they wanted children very much. Since Abraham was about one hundred years old and since Sarah was almost that old, they had no hope of having children. But when God told Abraham that he would have children, Abraham believed and began to hope that such would happen. He believed not only that he would have a child, but that he would also become the ancestor of many nations, as God had promised (Genesis 15:5). Even though he was growing older each year, Abraham did not lose faith in God’s promise nor in his hope for a child. He gave glory to God as though it had already happened. And it was because of this very strong faith – confidence in God – that “God declared Abraham a righteous man” (Genesis 15:6).
[23-25] Not only did God give Abraham this blessing and accept him as one made right by faith, but He also had this written down centuries ago in the Book of Genesis so that we could read it and understand how God deals with His people. Abraham is not the only one who receives such an undeserved blessing from God. We do also. When we believe that God raised up Jesus from the dead after His death for our sins, then God will make us right with Himself, just as He did with Abraham and all His people in ancient times
Romans 5:1-14
5 1 Since we have been made right with God by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through Jesus, we have access by faith into this favor where we now stand. We feel good, because now we can hope for the glory of God. 3 Not only that, we can feel good about our troubles, because we know that suffering develops endurance. 4 Endurance develops character. Character develops hope. 5 And, hope never disappoints us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. 6 While we were still helpless and ungodly, Christ died for us – at exactly the right time. 7 Almost no one would die for another person – even a good person. However, someone might dare to die for a good man. 8 But God reassures us of His love for us in this way: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us! 9 Since Christ’s blood has made us right with God, even more we will be saved from God’s punishment through Christ. 10 We were God’s enemies, but the death of His Son was used to make us God’s friends. Now that we have become friends of God, we will be saved even more by Christ’s life. 11 Not only that, we feel good about being in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We now have friendship with God through Christ. 12 Sin came into the world through one man. And, death came into the world through sin. In this way, death spread to all men, because all sinned. 13 Sin was in the world before the law of Moses came, but because the law had not yet come, sin was not thought of as sin. 14 But, from Adam’s time to the time of Moses, death ruled over people who did not sin in the same way that Adam did. Adam was a picture of what was going to happen.
Peace (Friendship) With God, 5:1-11.
[1-2] When men sin against God and His law, they become His enemies. When men break the laws of a king, the king becomes their enemy and works to punish them. God is much greater than a king. Paul has shown that God has made it possible for Jesus to become God’s enemy by exchanging places with us. He bore our disobedience and sin and gave us His goodness and sinlessness. When we believe that He did this for us (“God loved the people of the world so much that he gave up His only Son. Every person who commits himself to Jesus will not be destroyed. Instead, that person will have eternal life” – John 3:16), then our enmity with God is ended. We are made right with Him, and we have peace with Him because of what Jesus did. Paul called Jesus by three names: (1) Jesus is the name given the baby by His family on earth. (2) Lord is the name He wears because He is the owner or ruler of men. (3) Christ means that God has “anointed” the Son to be the Judge and the one to conquer Satan and to overthrow the kingdom of evil. So we have been made right with God: We have peace with God; we stand before God with blessing and honour, and not with punishment and shame; we hope for the glory of God yet to come. The Book of Revelation reveals the final victory of God over Satan and over all evil. As those who believe in Him, we shall be saved in glory and honour from the terrible defeat of God’s enemies. We are now sons, not enemies, of God. We shall share in His glory and majesty.
[3-5] We have great rank and privilege as sons at peace with our Father. (Compare with the return of the prodigal son in Luke 15.) But even in addition to that rich blessing, we have another. Even when troubles come to us, we can feel good about them. How can anyone possibly feel good about his troubles? Because of what God can make happen when trouble happens to us (see James 1:2-4).
Here is how it happens. Trouble comes and causes suffering. It may be sickness, poverty, hunger, jail, persecution, hard work, or other troubles. But when we have such troubles, we remember that we are still God’s dearly loved children, even when Satan brings hardship. Remember how Job suffered, even though he served God. Remembering how God loves us, then, helps to endure the hard times. We can learn to be patient. When we have suffered with patience, we become strong in heart. We prove that we have good character. And since we have good character, we know that God will eventually give us victory over our troubles. So we hope for the end of trouble and for better days.
[6-11] But what if we never get better days? Does this mean God has failed? Never. Whatever Satan may do to us, we know God will not fail us nor desert us. God has proved His love to us by giving His Son to die for us. We are never alone or separated from Him. He will not disappoint us nor cause our hope to be destroyed. We continue to hope in the most difficult trouble, knowing that God will bring the victory either before death or after death. No demon nor power of hell can quench that hope.
Death Through Adam – Life Through Jesus, 5:12-21.
This part of chapter five says that Jesus was like Adam. Adam was the first man created by God. As the father of all men to be born later, he is our father. But Adam disobeyed God and sinned against God’s word. By Adam’s action, sin became part of our world. Because of that sin, Adam died, and all men who sinned afterward have died also.
But Jesus was the new Adam. He is the first father of a new kind of mankind. He is the father of redeemed men made righteous by Him. Jesus obeyed God perfectly and taught all mankind how to obey and to be God’s children again.
[12] Adam and Eve were the first people on earth (see Genesis 1-2). But when they disobeyed God and obeyed Satan, they were driven out of the Garden of Eden (see Genesis 3 for the history of their fall). Death is separation from God. So when Adam and Eve sinned, they were separated from God and sent away from God’s beautiful garden. When their children and descendants were born, they learned sin from Adam, their father. Because of Adam, all men learned to sin and have chosen to sin. Death spread to all men, and all men became sinners. Being created in the image of God, we have free-will and are individually responsible for our sins. We did not inherit guilt from our ancestors nor are children guilty of parental sin. But our environment and our experiences are certainly impacted by their sinful choices. We do not “have to sin” because of an inherited nature or guilt. We, unfortunately, choose to sin – just like Adam. We are guilty. And so, we need Jesus.
[13] All Adam’s children and descendants up until the time of Moses sinned and disobeyed God’s law of life (Gen. 26:5; Rom. 8:1-2). Even though they had no law in the form of the “law of Moses” (a legal, punitive law designed to condemn – Gal. 3:19-29), they still suffered the punishment of sin which is death. Nothing is condemning about the law of life. However, if we do not know about it or do not obey it, we can make some costly errors, even deadly errors. If you do not know about the law of gravity, you can throw a brick above your head and suffer costly consequences. But the law of gravity does not condemn you, so to speak. Similarly, sin was not imputed or “sentenced in condemnation” from Adam to Moses. Nevertheless, the people made costly errors. They violated the law of life, and spiritual death was the result.
[14] In some ways, then, Adam was like the Great One (Jesus) who would come later to give back to mankind what Adam had ruined for mankind by his sin. Here is how they were alike:
Adam sinned. Adam showed other people how to sin. Sin ruled over all men (see verse 17). All men died because of the sin of Adam.
Romans 5:15-21
15 But the gift of God was not like the sin of Adam; many people died because of one man’s sin. No, God’s gracious love and the free gift that comes through one man, Jesus Christ, overflowed even more to many people. 16 Also, the gift of God is not like that which came through one man’s sin. Following the sin of one man came the verdict of “guilty,” but the free gift of God followed many sins and made people right with God. 17 Death used one man’s sin to rule through one man. Those who receive the overflow of God’s gracious love and the gift of righteousness will rule even more in life through one man, Jesus Christ!18 So, when one man sinned, all mankind became condemned. But, in the same way, through one man came an act of righteousness. It could bring life and make all men right with God. 19 Many people were made sinners through the disobedience of one man. But, through the obedience of one man, many people will be made righteous. 20 The law came in to increase sin. But where sin increased. God’s gracious love overflowed much more. 21 Sin used death to rule. In the same way, God’s gracious love rules through righteousness through our Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life.
[15-16] Jesus obeyed perfectly before God and lived without sin. Jesus showed all men how to live pleasingly before God. Grace and love rule over all men, even more than sin did. Jesus, by God’s free gift of love, brings life to all men by showing them how they can, by faith, be made right with God.
[17] So death used one man (Adam) to rule sinners. God used one man (Jesus) to rule over all men with even more power.
[18] One man sinned, and when all men followed his sin, all were condemned to die. One man acted righteously and died for others, and so all have the opportunity to be made right with God by Him.
[19] Adam disobeyed, and many became sinners. Jesus obeyed, and many will be made righteous.
[20] The law of Moses gave more knowledge of sin, and sin increased among men. God gave more kindness, even when men did not deserve it, and sin was defeated and Satan destroyed.
[21] Sin used death through Adam to rule over men by fear, as a wicked king rules his people by keeping them afraid. God ruled and continues to rule over us by kindness, love, and righteousness because we see all of these qualities in the life of Jesus and in His death and resurrection.
Summary: Everything mankind lost in Adam (who sinned), we have been given back in Jesus (who died for us). Adam taught men to sin; Jesus taught men to obey. When we sin as Adam did, we die; when we obey as Jesus did, we live. But what if we fail to obey perfectly like Jesus? Even then (as He did with Abraham) God still counts our faith in Jesus as though we had never sinned. We are saved by faith in Jesus, the new Father of redeemed mankind, by the grace and mercy of God.
Romans 6:1-14
6 1 What should our answer be? Should we continue living in sin, so that God’s gracious love will increase? 2 Never! How could we live in sin anymore? We died to it! 3 You know that all of us were immersed into Christ Jesus. Don’t you know that we were immersed into his death? 4 So, through immersion, we were buried with him into death. Christ was raised from death through the glory of the Father. In the same way, we will live a new life. 5 Because if we have been planted with Christ, dying as he died, we will also be raised to life with him. 6 You know that our sinful selves were nailed to the cross with Christ, so that the body of sin would lose its power, so that sin will no longer be used to make us slaves. 7 A person who dies has been set free from sin. 8 Since we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 You know that Christ was raised from death, never to die again – death does not rule over him anymore! 10 This was the type of death he died: He died for sin, once for all time, but the kind of life that he now lives is for God. 11 In the same way, think of yourselves as being dead to sin, but alive to God by Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore, don’t let sin rule over your dying bodies. Don’t obey the desires of your bodies. 13 Don’t allow the members of your body to be used as evil tools for sin. Instead, give yourselves to God as people who have come back to life from death. Use the members of your body as righteous tools for God. 14 Sin shall not rule over you, because you are not under the law – you are under God’s gracious love!
Dead to Adam, but Alive to Christ, 6:1-14.
The man struggling with the old Adam of sin and the new Jesus of righteousness asks the question: “Shall we go on and sin? If so, then God will not count it, and sin is all right. In fact, if we sin, then God’s forgiveness is more abundant, and His grace will increase because we have sinned.”
[1-2] The answer to that question is NO. Never. By believing in Christ, we have died to Adam. By living in obedience and rightness with God, we have put to death the other part of us that enjoys sin learned from Adam. Adam (or our sinful self-willed life) in us is dead. Christ in us is alive. If Adam in us is dead, we cannot go on living in sin.
[3-5] Here we find baptism providing understanding to the answer of this question. You know all of us became Christians at the moment of our baptism. What does that mean? It means that we became one with Christ when we were baptized. How is this? Remember the two fathers in us all. One is Adam of sin; the other is Jesus of righteousness. Jesus died on the cross, substituting His death for the death we deserved because of sin. Jesus did not deserve to die. We did. But He was willing to die on the cross in our place. But God showed how much He loved Jesus by raising Him from the grave on the third day after He died. Then forty days later God took Jesus up into heaven with him where He sat down on God’s throne with Him. Because we believe this, we accept the teaching of baptism for the forgiveness of our sins (Acts 2:38), and we take obedient action. This is the culminating point of Biblical faith receiving Jesus’ grace gift of salvation. We go into the water, are dipped under the water (like burial in a grave), and are raised out of the water (as Jesus was raised out of the grave). By sharing in the reenactment of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus (in Christian baptism), we are renouncing the Adamic (sin) part of our hearts. It is the dead Adam, the old man, that we bury in baptism, and the new man, Jesus, that is raised out of the water. Therefore, in immersion God has killed the old man of sin, and we are raised to a new life of obedience and righteousness in Christ. Adam is dead and buried. Jesus Christ is alive; He was raised from the dead and is living in us. So we are part of Him, part of Jesus. The same power of God that raised Jesus from the grave has killed the old man of sin in us and has given us new life from the dead.
[6-14] Since this old part of us has died, it, therefore, has no power over us. We do not have to obey what sin wants us to do, because we are free from the dead Adam in us. If we have died with Jesus, we shall live with Him. If He died and was raised alive, He cannot die again, because He broke the power of death. His death and resurrection have destroyed the power of death for all time. Once and for all time, death is dead and cannot harm Jesus. And since we are now a part of Jesus, death cannot harm us, and we have no fear of death. We know we shall be raised from the dead when Jesus comes back for us. Since you are dead to the power of sin, do not let sin control your life. You are alive with Christ for God’s work, and sin (and the old Adam) are dead and buried in baptism. Therefore, your body must not be allowed to serve evil, as though evil were still your master. Your body, instead, is at God’s service to do what God wants done. Jesus reigns at the right hand of God, and you are part of His reigning there. So God is your Master. Jesus is your Lord. It is impossible for you to continue in sin that grace may abound. Grace abounds in you for righteousness, for you are one with Christ Jesus your Lord.
Serving God Frees You From Your Old Master, 6:15-23.
15 What does this mean? Should we sin because we are not under the law, but under God’s gracious love? Never! 16 Surely you know that you are slaves to whomever you offer yourselves to obey? The one you obey is your master. You could obey sin which leads to death or you could obey God. This leads to being righteous. 17 But thank God that, even though you were slaves of sin, you obeyed from your hearts that pattern of teaching which you were given. 18 And, after you were set free from sin, you became slaves to righteousness. 19 Because of your human weakness, I am speaking as a man: You once gave the members of your body to be slaves to moral impurity, and to more and more sin. Now, in the same way, give the parts of your body to be slaves to righteousness for being holy. 20 When you were slaves of sin, you were people who were free from the control of righteousness. 21 So, what good do you have from that time? You are ashamed of those things now! Those things will end up in death, 22 but now that you have been set free from sin, you are slaves to God. You get something good for being holy – the goal is eternal life! 23 The pay you get for sinning is death, but God’s gift is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
[15] The same question is asked the second time. Since we are not under law, are we free to sin? The answer given in verses one and two is never. And then Paul explains again the reason the answer is no. In Roman times, slavery was common. Whether in those times or now, the argument is true. Whether a people have slavery or not, the same relationship of obedience is true for servants with their masters, or employees with their employers, or even citizens with their kings or chiefs. If one does the will of his superior, he is subject to him. If by obedience one has committed himself to his master, then he is free of any other master. The argument here is that if we have committed ourselves to serve Jesus in baptism, then we have broken the service-promise to the man of sin that lives in us, and he is dead. We have buried him in baptism so that Christ is the new Master or Lord.
[16-18] In the old life before Christ, you obeyed your master, Satan, by sinning as he encouraged. Death follows that sin. But now, following God in Jesus, life follows that obedience. By learning of Him and by obeying His teaching (see verses 4-7), you committed yourself to Christ as Master. Since He is your Master, you no longer pay attention to your old master. No man can serve two masters (Matthew 6:24). You are now a servant (or slave) of righteousness, of God, of Jesus, and the old power no longer can control you.
[19-20] Under the old master, Satan, sin, and death, you served by giving your body and its parts to moral impurity. The longer you served his commands, the worse your sin became. But now your members in your body no longer serve the works of the flesh (see Galatians 5:19-21). Now they serve love and joy and peace, the fruit of the Spirit of God, and the result is righteousness and holiness.
[21-22] When you served the old master, what good came from that? Now you are ashamed of what you once did openly. That always ended in death. Now it is different. Now you are serving God with your body, and it yields good works and eternal life.
[23] When Satan, demons, and traditional gods are your masters, they seem to reward you. But what you receive is not wealth or good. They reward you with death. You have earned by evil doing what sin always pays.
But when you serve Jesus Christ as Master, His free gift to you is not just what you have earned, but much more. He gives you a free gift of eternal life in Christ, far more than you expected to receive.
Romans 7:1-6
7 1 Brothers, surely you know (because I’m talking to those who understand the law) that the law only rules over a person for as long as he lives. 2 A married woman is bound to her husband by the law for as long as he lives, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. 3 Therefore, if she were married to a different man while her real husband is still alive, God would call her an adulteress. However, if her husband dies, she is free from the law of marriage. She would not be an adulteress if she got married to a different man later. 4 So, my brothers, you also died to the law through Christ’s body. You can marry someone else – the one who was raised from death, so that you can produce fruit for God. 5 When we were controlled by our human nature, the sinful desires which came through the law were working in our bodies. We produced fruit for death. 6 But now we have been released from the law. We died to what bound us before, so that we can serve with a new spirit, not by following a strict code.
Released From Law: An Example From Marriage, 7:1-13.
[1-3] When a woman is married to a man, the law says she is not allowed to go to be wife to another man. If she does, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, then she is no longer under the law of marriage. She is free to marry another man.
[4-6] So Paul says that through the death of Christ we have died to the law of Moses. The law is no longer our “husband,” and we are free to be joined to Christ as our “new husband.” Now we can bear fruit like children to God. Under the old husband (the law), we produced fruit for death. But now we are no longer obligated to the old law. We do not follow Moses’ strict code of written laws, but we do serve Christ with a new spirit, knowing the will of God and loving to do what He wants us to do. To fall back into sin after this or go back under Moses’ law would be a tragic mistake. (See Galatians.)
Romans 7:7-25
7 What should our answer be? Is the law the same thing as sin? Never! Only through the law could I have learned what sin was. Without the law, one could not know what evil desire is. It said: “You must not want things which don’t belong to you.” Exodus 20:17 8 Sin took the chance to use the command to make me want all kinds of things which didn’t belong to me, because without the law, sin is dead. 9 I used to be living without the law, but when the command came in, sin came to life. 10 Then I died. I found that the same command which was supposed to bring life brought death instead! 11 Sin took the chance to use the command to take hold of me and kill me with the command. 12 For this reason the law is holy. The commands are holy, fair and good. 13 Did what was for my good become death for me? Never! But, so that sin would look like sin, sin worked through what was for my good to bring death! Sin would become very, very sinful through the command. 14 We know that the law is spiritual, but I am not. I’m human – sold under sin! 15 I don’t understand what is happening to me: I don’t always do what I really want to do. Instead, I am always doing what I actually hate. 16 Since I am doing what I don’t want to do, I am agreeing with the law, that the law is right. 17 But now, I am not the one who is doing this anymore. No, it is sin which is living in me. 18 I know that good does not live in me. (I mean, in my human nature.) I am ready and willing to do good, but I can’t do it. 19 I am not doing the good that I actually want to do. Instead, I continue doing something evil that I really don’t want to do. 20 Since I am doing what I really don’t want to do, it is not me doing it anymore – it is the sin which is living in me that is doing it! 21 So, I find this principle: When I want to do something good, evil is controlling me. 22 My inner self happily agrees with the law of God. 23 However, I see a different law in my body, making war with the law of my mind. It is making me a prisoner to the sinful law which is in my body. 24 I am a miserable man. Who will help me escape this body of death? 25 Thank God, I can escape through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Therefore, I serve God’s law with my mind, but I serve the sinful law of my body with my human nature.
[7-13] Does this mean, then, that the law is sinful and that, therefore, we must be dead to it? Again, the strong “never”. Sin works in human beings, but when we do not know what it is, we obey it blindly. The law comes to us with a description of sin, and then we recognize what is killing us. The law is not bad. Sin is bad. The law was good because it made Paul realize that sin is bad and tells what sin is. Did the good law bring death to Paul? Not at all. Sin brought death, and the law was what taught Paul to know that he had sinned.
The Conflict in Me, 7:14-25.
In this part of the chapter, Paul seems to be talking about himself and describing the struggle within man as his own personal struggle.
[14-16] God’s law is godlike or godly. But I (Paul) am not. I serve and obey sin, as though I had been sold a slave to sin as my master. Strange things are happening to me. I do not understand it. Like this: When I make up my mind and want to do something good, I fail to actually do the good. There are certain evil things that I never want to do because I know they are evil, but in the end I do them anyway. That is the strange thing: I act in ways I do not want to act. So it sounds like two different parts of me pulling in different directions. It is not the real me who is doing it, but something inside me acting differently from what I really want.
[17-23] Who then is this inside me rebelling against the real me? Paul’s answer is that it is sin living in me. Sin, hidden down inside me, keeps me from doing what I want to do. Sin keeps me doing evil when I do not want to. The real me agrees with the law of God about what is good and what is evil. But this other me which lives inside my body makes me a prisoner – a slave – who does what he wants me to do, not what the real me wants to do.
[24] This is a bad condition. It is as though I have two souls in my one body. They are fighting against each other, and my body is the field of battle. How can I ever escape such a war which is going on inside me?
Most human beings have gone through struggles like this, and they cry out in desperation for help for the conflict. But there is good news.
[25] By Jesus’ death for my sin, the Lord has killed the old man of sin. He has made provision to resolve the struggle within me. He has risen from the dead proving His power. He has given me the Holy Spirit (as described in the next chapter) to help work out all the problems of the victory of good over evil inside of me. The praise of thanksgiving bursts from the hearts of believers: “Thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Romans 8:1-11
8 1 So, there is no condemnation now for those people who are in Christ Jesus. 2 The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death. 3 The law was weak through human nature. God did what the law couldn’t do: He sent His own Son as an offering for sin. He came with a nature like man’s sinful human nature. And concerning sin, this is how God used human nature to condemn sin. 4 He wanted to completely satisfy in us what the law says is right. We are living by following the Spirit, not by following human nature. 5 People who follow human nature are thinking about the evil things which human nature wants. People who follow the Spirit are thinking about the things that the Spirit wants. 6 The way human nature thinks is death, but the way the Spirit thinks is life and peace. 7 The way human nature thinks is hatred for God. It doesn’t want to put itself under the law of God. It can’t! 8 People controlled by human nature cannot please God. 9 However, you are not being controlled by human nature; you are being controlled by the Spirit – if God’s Spirit lives in you. If anyone does not have Christ’s Spirit, this person does not belong to Christ. 10 But since Christ is in you, even though your body is dying (because of sin), your spirit is alive (because you have been made right with God). 11 And, if the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from death lives in you, then the One who raised Christ from death will make your dead bodies live, using His Spirit who is living in you.
The Way Out of the Problem: New Life in Christ, 8:1-8.
This chapter answers the question, “How can I live with this conflict inside me and still serve God, be saved, and have eternal life?” How can God be my friend if I am really two conflicting persons in my heart?
The answer is, I am in Christ; Christ is in me; we are one together.
In chapter eight Paul explains how this works to make our Christian life acceptable to God and to really allow one to become a mature, good man.
[1-2] People who are one with Christ are not judged by God to be guilty. My struggle may be going on between my sinful nature and my life in Christ, but God accepts me as I struggle. He can accept me and call me righteous because Jesus has paid my punishment for sin with His death, and He has given me His sinless goodness. God knows that the good will win in the battle with evil within us. In fact, God already counts us as the winners of good over evil. In verses twenty-eight through thirty, He even said that the victory is so sure that He can say, “We have been glorified in heaven, although we are still on earth and still fighting.” What complete confidence God has in His power in us and our victory over sin by His power! The law of the Spirit of life is now effective in my life as I grow into maturity as I am no longer shackled by sin and death. My new environment for growth is grace. Life principles flourish in this environment provided by Jesus.
[3-4] Because of our weak tendencies, the law is too weak to be able to save us. Consider a father and his small son as an example. The father commands his son to do everything right. He gives him rules to follow in every part of his life. But the child cannot do them. He is small. He is weak. He is immature. He does not think like a grown, strong man. He is but a small, weak child. His failure is not the fault of his father’s rules. They are good rules. Obedience to them will make a good child. But the child is weak, not the rules.
In this way, God gave us rules – laws – to show how to be good. They were good rules, but we were weak people. God knew that we were weak. God was not surprised when we could not obey His laws. He had planned to save us another way. That way was in Jesus.
[5] The old sinful part of man sees and thinks only of today and what it wants now. The new righteous part of man thinks and sees the long view of eternity and what God wants. Our secret for victory is to remember the two parts that struggle and to make choices in life the way God and the Spirit want us to make them, not the way the sinful self wants to make them.
[6] It will help us to always make the right choice if we remember the results of the two ways. The old way (when our thinking is controlled by sinful self) always leads to death through hatred, lust, evil ways, wicked thoughts – the ways of death (see Galatians 5:17-21).
But the new way (when our thinking is controlled by the Holy Spirit) always leads us to life and peace, joy, patience, kindness (see Galatians 5:22-23) – the ways of eternal life and heaven.
[7-8] The sinful man, controlled by self, is against God. He cannot follow God’s rules for good living. Because self is the master (and Satan is behind self), he cannot let God be the master. Such a man cannot possibly please God.
What It Means To Be “In Christ,” 8:9-17.
[9-13] The whole answer to the “inner conflict” of chapter seven is to be “in Christ.” But just what does this mean? Study this comparison in this paragraph:
| Out of Christ | In Christ |
| – Man is carnal, fleshly | – Man is spiritual |
| – Natural instincts rule | – Holy Spirit lives within and rules man |
| – Impossible to do good when spirit of self moves to evil | – Impossible to be a Christian without the Holy Spirit living within |
| – Spirit of Satan kills every impulse to do good | – Holy Spirit within kills the sinful nature with stronger impulses for good |
| – All guests and companions are influences for evil and wrong | – Holy Spirit living within brings in all influences for goodness and holiness |
| – Where sin is welcomed, the increase of evil and wickedness is certain | – Sin cannot live in the same place where the Holy Spirit is (as darkness cannot be where light is) |
| – Without divine power there is no resistance to evil nor power to be raised from death to life | – Power which raised Jesus will give strength and vigor, as well as resurrection |
The best way to understand the above comparison between one in Christ and one out of Christ is to imagine the human heart as a home where the owner invites either God as a guest or Satan as a guest. When a home owner invites evil men, he is welcoming sexual sin, impurity, worshipping false gods, witchcraft, hatred, trouble, jealousy, anger, selfishness, divisions, envy, drunkenness, and such behaviour (see Galatians 5:19-21). His invited guest will encourage such behaviour in the host, his wife, his children – in all the life of the household. Satan, encouraging the sinful self, multiplies this kind of conduct.
On the other hand, when the Holy Spirit is invited into the heart (or house), His influence brings in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (see Galatians 5:22-26). There is no reason at all for one to feel gratitude for his own sensual, selfish nature. This part of the man will lead to certain evil and death. There is no reason to live on the level of the body’s impulses or instincts. That is what happens when we just “do what is natural.” It is always easier to walk down the hill than up the hill. Down to death is always easier than up to life.
When I obey the Gospel, Jesus’ blood washes away my sin. The Holy Spirit of God now wants to have fellowship with me and is given to dwell in me (Acts 2:38). I willingly follow His lead as he instructs in His Word. With His help, I can put to death the deeds of the body.
Romans 8:12-27
12 Therefore, brothers, we shouldn’t live by following our human nature. 13 If you do, you will die. If you use the Spirit to kill the evil deeds of the body, you will live. 14 All people who are being led by God’s Spirit are sons of God. 15 God did not give you a spirit to make you slaves, to be afraid again. Instead, you received the Spirit who makes you sons. Through the Spirit, we cry out, “Father, dear Father!” 16 This same Spirit agrees with our spirits, that we are God’s children. 17 Since we are children, we are also heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. If we suffer together, we will share glory together. 18 I consider the sufferings of the present time not worth comparing with the future glory which will be revealed to us. 19 Creation waits eagerly for the time when the sons of God will be revealed. 20 Creation was tied to worthlessness. That was not what it wanted, but God wanted it that way. So, He bound it. However, there is hope! 21 Creation itself will be set free from the slavery of decay and be brought into the glorious freedom of God’s children. 22 We know, even now, that all creation is groaning with pain. It feels pain, like a woman who will soon give birth. 23 Not only that, but we, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, groan with pain also. We are waiting to become true sons – when our bodies will be set free! 24 We were saved with this hope. A hope which is seen is not hope. Who hopes for something he can see? 25 But, since we are hoping for something we cannot yet see, we patiently wait for it. 26 We don’t know how we should pray, but the Spirit helps our weakness. He personally talks to God for us with feelings which our language cannot express. 27 God searches all men’s hearts. He knows what the Spirit is thinking. The Spirit talks to God in behalf of holy people, using the manner which pleases God.
[14-16] If one follows the leading of Satan (in the sinful self), he will be led to death. Those who follow the leading of God’s Spirit are called the sons of God. This way of life, to follow God’s leading, is not the life of a fearful slave who crouches in terror at his master’s feet. Instead He leads us to be His obedient sons and daughters. He teaches us that we may call Him “dear Father,” since we are in the family of God.
[17] Another blessing of being sons of God is that we have an inheritance. God’s riches and possessions are without limit. He owns heaven and earth, everything He created. And we shall be heirs of all this. But this happens only because we are “in Christ,” one with Him. This means, then, that whatever happens to Him happens to us. If He suffers, we suffer. If He is despised, we are despised. If He has glory, we shall have glory. If He inherits, we inherit. If He is raised from the dead, we are raised from the dead. This is what it means to be “in Christ.” (Note also how often this phrase occurs in Ephesians 1:3-11.)
Our Present Troubles Are Short and Small, 8:18-25.
Just after Paul wrote about victory because we are in Christ, he mentioned suffering (see verse 17). Why is there suffering in victory? What about these hard times? What kinds of hard times? Watch us human beings. See our poverty, our sickness, our hunger, our wars, our famines, our droughts. They are hard, and we have tears, pain, sorrows, death. Life is hard.
[18] But, Paul says, these times of suffering are not worth comparing to what is coming for God’s people. There is a mighty and great future planned for the children of God, the redeemed of Christ. When we shall receive all God has waiting for us in heaven, all the troubles of this life will seem to be as nothing.
[19-21] Destruction, change, and decay are not from God. God creates the beautiful and the good. God creates blessings. It is Satan who destroys. His name is Apollyon (which means “destroyer” – Revelation 9:7-12). The whole created world is under the curse of Satan. When man obeyed Satan rather than God, he invited into the Creator’s world the father of destruction, and the curse of that destruction is upon both man and the created world until now. But it will not be always. A better day is coming when creation will be without decay. All things will be restored as God created them. Both nature and man will again have the glorious freedom of life with a loving God and Father.
[22] But for now, we are under the curse. All of creation — sun, moon, stars, winds, waves, land, and sea – are groaning under the curse of Satan as a woman groans when she is giving birth. It is not only the natural world, but we ourselves also suffer unjustly because of the curse of sin, the Destroyer. But it will not always be like this.
[23] We wait in hope for a time when we shall receive the full inheritance of the true sons of God. We shall have our full rights as God’s heirs without Satan’s harm. In that day, we shall know life with God as He intended it to be. The old, ugly man of the flesh, selfish sin, will be totally dead and gone out of our bodies and houses. We shall be seen in the full beauty of God our Father in whose image we were created. He will then have finished making us His completely beautiful children. Our bodies of pain and disease will be laid down. We shall have new, resurrected bodies. In them there will be no tears, no sorrow, no death. We will be immortal sons of the immortal God.
[24-25] Hoping for this glorious day, then, we keep on living “in Christ.” We are saved from our troubles by this hope. If we can see what we hope for, it is not really hope at all. So then, now, we patiently hope for what we cannot yet see. And we bear our troubles and realize that they are brief and small.
The Holy Spirit Helps Us While God Works Out His Plan, 8:26-30.
While all these troubles are going on, God’s children naturally talk to Him about their sorrows. After all, He is our Father in heaven. But sometimes we are so deeply troubled that we do not know what to ask for. Like little babies in pain, we cannot even tell our Heavenly Parent what we want Him to do.
[26-27] This is where the Holy Spirit helps us. When we do not know what to ask for, the Spirit does. He personally talks to God about our woes in language which we cannot express. Of course, God knows our hearts, even when we cannot say what is in them. But, in addition, the Spirit (who lives inside us and knows all that is there) speaks to God to tell Him what is wrong. So we have the assurance of both God and the Holy Spirit that in the sufferings of a ruined world, He knows what we suffer and is helping us through it all.
Romans 8:28-39
28 We know that all things work together for good for people who love God. They are called for God’s purpose. 29 The people whom God knew about long ago were made a part of God’s plan long ago. God wanted them to become just like His Son. This is the way Christ would be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 God made them a part of His plan long ago. These are the people whom He called. The people whom God called are the people He made right. Those whom God made right are the same ones who received glory from God. 31 What should we think about all these things? Since God is for us, who can be against us? 32 God did not keep His own Son. Instead, God gave him up for all of us. Therefore, wouldn’t God give us everything? 33 Who could accuse God’s chosen people? God is the One who declares people to be righteous! 34 Who will condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died and was raised from death. And, he is at God’s right side, talking to God for us. 35 Who can separate us from Christ’s love? Will trouble, pain, persecution, having no food or clothes, danger, or violence separate us? 36 This is written: “All day long we are in danger of dying for You. We are treated like sheep which will soon be killed.” Psalm 44:22 37 But, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through the one who loved us. 38-39 I am sure that nothing will be able to separate us from God’s love which is found in Christ Jesus, our Lord. None of these things: Death, Life, Angels, Rulers, The present time, The future, Powers, Heights, Depth
[28-30] Here is one of the special blessings for those “in Christ.” When we love God, everything that happens to us – even the bad as well as the good – works together for good for us. Even the troubles can be taken by God’s powerful hands and turned into blessings. Nothing Satan can send to us can cause more than temporary trouble or sorrow. God will take his cruelest evil and make it work out for our good. We mortal men cannot understand how such a thing can be. But God knows more than we can know. We cannot see how God could take dust of the earth and create man from it, but He did. And He can take suffering and turn it into a blessing.
We in Christ Cannot Be Overcome, 8:31-39.
[31-32] What about all this, then? Despite our weakness and sin, God is still for us. He is on our side and has promised the victory. Can anything happen to overthrow this plan and to turn Him against us? Can police, or governors, or kings, or sorcerers, or evil spirits, or Satan himself? Never!
[33-34] Is there anyone who can find out about our sins or our secrets and accuse us before God to turn Him against us? God knows all these and still has said that, because we believe in Jesus, we are listed with the righteous. Our sins are not counted against us. Can anyone stand up to condemn us before our Judge? Even if someone should try, Jesus stands beside the Judge, pleading for us to be accepted. And remember that the Judge is His Father.
[35-36] Who, then, can be able to separate us who are “in Christ” from our God and from our inheritance? Can any terrifying events do it? No, for they have all been dealt with earlier in the chapter. In fact, even in the ancient days when the Psalms were written, it is revealed that it has always been this way with the people of God (Psalm 44:22).
[37-39] With all God’s power working for us, then, we are not only winners, triumphant, and victorious, but we are also more than that – more than conquerors in Jesus Christ. In God we cannot be conquered, and there is nothing that can turn God against us. When we are together in Christ Jesus, it is beyond the power of earth, under the earth, or of hell itself to pull us away from our salvation in Christ!
Romans 9:1-7
9 1 I am telling the truth in Christ; I’m not lying. My conscience agrees with the Holy Spirit. 2 I feel great sorrow and constant pain in my heart. 3 I could wish that I were condemned – cut off from Christ – for the sake of my Jewish brothers, my human relatives. 4 They are the people of Israel. God’s sonship, glory, agreements, law, worship, and promises belong to them. 5 They have the family roots. Christ, in the human sense, came from them. However, God is over everyone. Praise Him forever. Amen. 6 God’s message certainly did not fail. Not all the people from Israel are truly people of Israel. 7 Not all the people who descended from Abraham are children of Abraham, either. No, “Your true descendants will come through Isaac.” Genesis 21:12