Christ in Romans -- Our Righteousness

The book of Romans is the first of the many epistles, or letters, contained in the Bible.  Paul wrote this letter to the members of the church in Rome, most probably in the spring of 57 A.D. while Paul was on his third missionary journey.  He may have still been in the city of Corinth, or he may have just left there on his way to Jerusalem to take offerings he had received for the poverty-stricken church members there.  The recipients of this letter were predominantly Gentile, but there were also some Jewish members of the Roman church, just as Paul was a Jewish convert to Christianity.  The membership consisted of many people who were converts from paganism, some free, and some slaves. There were several churches in Rome, and Paul’s letter was circulated among those many churches.  Most of the churches met in homes, and some were led by women.  This letter was entrusted to a woman, Pheobe, who carried it to Rome and helped to circulate it there.  (Read the last chapter, 16, for a list of individuals that Paul and his cleric, Tertius, greeted and commended personally.)

 
Unlike many of the other churches to whom Paul wrote, the church in Rome seems to have been thriving.  Paul had very few issues or controversies that he needed to address, so his letter to the Romans was more a study in doctrine than a letter of reproof or correction.  In my study, preparing for this (hopefully) short overview, I found many different themes that stand out in the book of Romans:  righteousness from God, justification by faith, the gospel of Christ, daily living, and many others.  So in my attempt to keep this short, I will focus on the theme of righteousness, but I will encourage you to study the book in depth, digging deeper, finding for yourself the wealth of riches that God has placed here for our spiritual growth and maturity.
 

So what is righteousness, and why is it so important?  Merriam-Webster.com defines it as follows:

1    :  acting in accord with divine or moral law :  free from guilt or sin
2 a :  morally right or justifiable

   b :  arising from an outraged sense of justice or morality

God is righteous.  He reveals His righteousness in the Gospel.  We can receive righteousness by faith.

For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith” (Romans 1:17).

When we reject God, when we stubbornly ignore what He has plainly and clearly made evident to us, we deserve His wrath and punishment.  We have no excuse:

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse (Romans 1:18-20).

But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed (Romans 2:5).

Even the “best” of us has sinned.  No one is perfectly righteous.  We may try hard to always do the right thing, but none of us has ever been able to live a perfect life, no one except Jesus Christ has ever escaped the trap of sin:

As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one” (Romans 3:10-12)

Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin. (Romans 3:20)

But God made a provision for us.  Because He knows that we are unable to be righteous by trying to live a good live, He provides us righteousness through faith in Jesus! 

 

But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus (Romans 3:21-24).

We deserve God’s wrath because of our sinfulness, but through faith in Jesus Christ, we receive His righteousness.  The righteousness that is given to us through faith in Jesus Christ gives us peace with God – it satisfies His wrath:

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, (Romans 5:1).

Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! (Romans 5:9-10).

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23).

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:1-2).

Since He has made us righteous, we can now have fellowship with Him!  He wants to have an intimate relationship with each of us!  Through Jesus Christ, we have become children of God.  We can call to Him, and He will answer.  The word “Abba” is a term of intimate endearment, something like “Daddy.”

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:14-17a).

God does not tell us that life will be rosy when we become His children, when we are made righteous.  We will continue to sin, but we can rely on His promise that all our sins -- past, present, and future sins – have been forgiven.  He knows we are weak, and He sends to us His Holy Spirit who prays for us when we don’t even know what we need or how to pray:

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God (Romans 8:26-27).

Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us (Romans 8:33-34).

Once we have been adopted into God’s family, nothing can ever separate us from Him and His love:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? . . . No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  (Romans 8:35a, 37-38).

So, what about you?  Have you been made righteous by grace through faith in Jesus Christ?  If not, you can be made righteous in the eyes of God right now:

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved (Romans 10:9-10).

For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13).

If you have called on Him now, for the very first time, I would encourage you to continue to grow in your knowledge of Him by reading His Word daily, and by joining a Bible-believing, Bible-teaching church, where you can be taught all that He has for you.  Although it is not necessary for your salvation, I would also encourage you to be obedient by following Him in believer’s baptism.  Even if you were baptized when you were a baby, He teaches that you should be obedient to Him in this outward declaration of your acceptance of His death on your behalf, a picture of your death and burial to a sinful life and your resurrection to a life obedient to Him.

My prayer for you and for me this week is from Romans 12:13.

May the God of hope fill (us) with all joy and peace as (we) trust in him, so that (we) may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

All scripture references are from the New International Version.

 

Christ in Acts -- The Cornerstone

A cornerstone, also called a foundation stone, was once the first stone placed in the construction of a building.  It was important because it determined the placement of all the other stones that would follow.  It had to be strong, securely placed, and aligned properly in order for the rest of the building to be constructed correctly.  A cornerstone was mentioned in the Old Testament book of Job, which may have been written as early as 1440 B.C.

“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?  Tell me, if you understand.  Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!  Who stretched a measuring line across it?  On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone—while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy? (Job 38:4-7)

Nowadays it is a very common practice, when a large or important building is constructed, that a large stone will be placed near the foundation but in clear view of anyone who takes the time to look.  This stone is inscribed with the name of the building, the date of the construction, and usually the name of the builder or architect or perhaps the political body that ordered the construction of the building.  Sometimes it will contain a time capsule, intended to be opened at a much later date.

So when Dr. Luke wrote the book of Acts about the early growth of the church, it was significant that he included Peter’s reference to Jesus as the Cornerstone.

Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”  (Acts 4:11-12)

When Peter said this to the rulers, the elders, and the teachers (including the High Priest), he was quoting from a passage in the Old Testament that would have been very familiar to them:

The Lord is my strength and my defense; He has become my salvation . . . Open for me the gates of the righteous; I will enter and give thanks to the Lord.  This is the gate of the Lord through which the righteous may enter.  I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation. The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; (Psalm 118:14, 19-22)

I am sure that when Peter spoke these words, he remembered the time that Jesus asked His disciples about what people were saying about Him, about who He was.  Peter boldly declared that He was the Messiah:

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”  Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”  Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.  (Matthew 16:15-18)

Some people believe that when Jesus said, “on this rock I will build my church,” He was referring to Peter, since the name Jesus gave him, Peter, means “rock” in Greek, one of the languages spoken at that time and in that part of the world.  But I do not believe that was what Jesus meant, and furthermore, I don’t believe that Peter thought that, either.  Peter was a mere, mortal man, and he knew it.  He died a martyr’s death at the hands of those who were persecuting the early church.  Although he lives in eternity in Heaven with Jesus and all believers, his life on this earth was not strong enough to withstand the powers of Hades.  Jesus would never have built His church on a mere mortal human being.  Others might say that, no, it was not on Peter himself, but it was on his faith that Christ would establish His church.  Yes, Peter exemplified great faith when he declared that Jesus was the Messiah, but his faith (at least at this point in his life) was very weak.  If you continue reading the passage in Matthew, you will see just four verses later, after Jesus told his disciples about His coming death and resurrection, Peter rebukes Jesus.  By what he says we can see that his faith, although very real, was also very shallow.  It was soon after Peter’s bold declaration of faith that his faith failed him, and he denied Jesus three times before the crucifixion.  Jesus would never have built His church on a faith that might be shaken at the first sign of adversity.  Therefore, I believe the “rock” that Jesus was referring to was Himself; the solid, strong fact that Peter had declared when he said that Jesus was the Messiah.  That declaration by Peter was, in fact, what the psalmist had declared so many years before – the fact that was taught to all young Jewish men when they studied the psalms.  Jesus is the only Rock that can withstand all the powers and assaults of Hades.  And it is on this Rock that Jesus built His church.

The book of Acts, or The Acts of The Apostles, was written in the early 60’s A.D., around 30 years after the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, but before the execution of Paul in 63 A.D.  It was the second book written by Luke and reads almost like a second installment in a book series.  The Gospel of Luke ends with the ascension of Christ to Heaven, and the first ten verses of Acts recap the 40 days between His resurrection and His ascension, as if to create a bridge between the two books.  There are several threads that run throughout the book of Acts:  The history of the early church; a handbook for salvation as well as church structure and governance; the unity within the church between Jew and Gentile believers as well as the equality between men and women; the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit; and the devotion of Christians to Jesus.  But I think the overriding theme of this book is summed up by the statement Jesus made just before His ascension and His command that we are to be witnesses, beginning at home and also throughout all the world:

He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.  But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

As the book of Acts traces the growth of the early church from its beginnings in Jerusalem (Acts 1:1-8:3), to Judea and Samaria (Acts 8:4-11:18), and to the ends of the earth (11:19-28:31), we read about persecution beyond imagination that is matched by faith and devotion beyond imagination.  As I read this week about the new-found boldness of Peter before the court of the Sanhedrin (Acts 4:1-21), the persecution of the apostles (Acts 5:17-42), the stoning of Stephen (Acts 6:8-7:60), and all the hardships of this new Way (as the church was called), I was even more strongly convinced that the church (the universal fellowship of believers in Jesus Christ) must be firmly established on Him who is our Cornerstone, our Rock.  Because, here we are today, almost 2,000 years later, and not much has changed.  Oh, of course, our traditions have changed, our names have become many, and for some of us we are able to worship Jesus freely and openly without persecution.  But in many parts of the world we are seeing persecution much like that of the early church.  Almost every day we hear about faithful believers who are killed because they will not forsake the name of Jesus.  In much of the world, the church meets in secret, fearing imprisonment if they are discovered.  In some countries, Bibles are smuggled to believers who are thankful if they can own just one page of the Holy Scripture.  And even where we are free to worship as we please, we are warned that we must be “politically correct,” or we are ridiculed and marginalized – a minor inconvenience in light of what others must bear.  But we have the promise that Jesus gave us, “The gates of Hades shall not prevail against it (the church).”

My prayer for the church, including you (if you are a believer) and for myself, is based upon the prayer recorded in Acts 4:24-30.  It is the prayer of Peter, John, and all the believers, members of the early church in Jerusalem.  I hope this will be your prayer also, and that we will be bold and faithful servants, witnesses of all that Jesus Christ has done for us:

Sovereign Lord . . . you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David:  ‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed one.’ . . .  Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.

All scripture references are from the New International Version.

Christ in John -- The Word

The fourth of the gospel books is John, written sometime between 80 and 90 A.D., and it was written by the man who was probably the closest, most intimate friend and apostle of Jesus.  He referred to himself as “the one whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23, 19:26, 21:7).  John’s story of the Good News, the life of Christ, is different from the first three, referred to as the synoptic gospels.  (Synoptic means “to see together.”) The first three Gospel books cover pretty much the same material, but from different points of view.  But John’s gospel, although he does cover some of the same material, focuses more on who Jesus is, rather than what He did.  Each event John chronicled points to who Jesus is, not to the event itself.  Because his book was written so much later, some might say that John had forgotten a lot of the events that the other writers included in their books.  But I don’t believe that for a minute.  John had not been silent for all those years after the resurrection of Jesus.  He had been preaching and teaching about all he had seen and heard while he walked with Jesus.  Those events had a profound influence on him, and nothing could have erased any shred of detail from John’s memory. His book was intended to serve a different purpose than those of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.  And John begins in the very first verse of his book to achieve that purpose – to put into words all that he knew about who Jesus was, has always been, is, and always will be:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:1-5)

Here John referred to Jesus as the Word.  The word John used was the Greek word, Logos.  It means the same today as it did then.  When we speak, and when we write we use words to express what is in our minds.  That is the only way anyone can know what we are thinking.  And what we think defines who we are.  John is telling us in his book that Jesus came as the Word of God to tell us and to show us who God is and what God thinks.

John goes on to say that the Word was God.  Jesus also told us that He was God:

“I and the Father are One” (John 10:30).

So God came to us, in the flesh of a human Man so that we can know Him.  What is more, John tells us that Jesus was with God “in the beginning” before creation began.  So when we read the creation account, we can know that it was the Word, Jesus, who spoke the universe into existence:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light (Genesis 1:1-2, emphasis added).

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness” (Genesis 1:26a, emphasis added).

John elaborates on the fact that Jesus was with God in creation when he tells us that through Him all things were made.  In fact, he says if anything was created, He created it.  And when we see the creation of man in Genesis 1:26, we see the plural word “our” which removes any doubt that Jesus was an active participant in creation, as was the Holy Spirit.  We were created in the image of God, with an eternal spirit, just as God is eternal and is spirit, just as Jesus is eternal and shares the Spirit of God. We were created in His image.  Wow!  I don’t know about you, but that makes me stand in awe, humbled to think of all the possibilities God has given to us.  But it also makes me realize just how small I am, and yet He knows me inside out, better than I know myself, because He created me and gave me a spirit that is capable of communicating with Him.

John goes on to say that in Jesus there is life.  We are alive in our bodies for awhile, but the life that Jesus gives us is eternal, either with Him or separated from Him:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

And John tells us that the life that Jesus lived brought light to the world.  Light exposes things.  Have you ever tried to read a book in the dark?  That would be silly.  We need light to expose the words to us.  And that is just what Jesus did.  He came as Light to the world, so that we can see who God is.  He exposes the good things, but He also exposes evil.  Evil does not want to be exposed, so the world tried to extinguish the Light that God sent.  But there is something about light – dark cannot extinguish light, but light extinguishes darkness!  And Jesus could not be extinguished – not 2000 years ago, and not today!  His Light still shines brightly, exposing all the evil of sinful man.  No matter what we call evil, even if we call evil “my right,” or “normal,” or “politically correct,” evil is still evil. The Light we call Jesus exposes all evil:

This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God (John 3:19-21).

If we see so much of who Jesus is and who God is in these first four verses of John’s gospel, just think how much more we will learn as we read the rest of this marvelous book!  My time and space is limited, so I pray that you will study the entire book for yourself.  Begin by studying the seven “I am” statements that Jesus made about Himself:

1.  “I am the Bread of Life” (John 6:35-51)
2.  “I am the Light of the world” (John 8:12, 9:5)
3.  “I am the Door” (John 10:7-10)
4.  “I am the Good Shepherd” (John 10:11-18)
5.  “I am the Resurrection and the Life” (John 11:25-26)
6.  “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (John 14:6-7)
7.  “I am the True Vine” (John 15:1-8)

Then you might want to study the miracles that John recorded in his book.  Each of these miracles reveals to us at least one attribute of God:

1.  Changing the water to wine (John 2:1-11) reveals His blessing, His sufficiency, His superior provision
2.  Healing the son of a royal official (John 4:46-53) reveals His power over illness, that He is trustworthy
3.  Healing the paralyzed man (John 5:2-8) reveals His compassion, His enabling power
4.  Feeding of the five thousand (John 6:1-15) reveals His bountiful provision, His involvement of men in achieving His plan
5.  Walking on water and calming the storm (John 6:16-21) reveals His comfort, His power over nature and the laws of physics
6.  Healing the blind man (John 9:1-41) reveals His power over blindness, both physical and spiritual, His sinlessness, His judgment
7.  Raising Lazarus from the dead (John 11:1-44) reveals His power over death, His compassion, the fact that He works in His own timing, not ours

John tells us himself why he wrote his book:

Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name (John 20:30-31).

And that is my prayer for you this week – that you believe and have life in His name. 

 

All scripture references are from the New International Version.