The Book of Romans pt 13

It is at this point that Paul starts to expound true and false religion. From chapters 4-8, Paul seems to only have one thing in mind: separate the precious from the vile. We've looked upon how all are under sin, whether Jew or otherwise, and thus all are in need of salvation. Toward the end of Romans 3, Paul has stated the mechanism by which salvation is obtained - namely, the blood of Jesus Christ. Through faith in Him, we have received our eternal reward.

If salvation is obtained by faith, then what does faith look like? And so we pick up in Romans 4 as Paul starts to expound the great man of faith: Abraham.

What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? 2 If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. 3 What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

4 Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. 5 However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. 6 David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

7 “Blessed are those
    whose transgressions are forgiven,
    whose sins are covered.
8 Blessed is the one
    whose sin the Lord will never count against them.”

Note that the main point that Paul presses right from the get-go is that righteousness and faith are intertwined. Why is this so?

Lets first consider our faith in God. Then we'll move to God's righteousness. Then we'll talk about the consequence this has for community.

Our righteousness is not constituted by our deeds. It is solely constituted upon one thing: our faith in Christ. We'll discuss what this faith looks like as we continue through Romans 4 and 5. At this moment, we'll focus upon why our righteousness is only constituted upon faith in Christ.

To put faith in something is not to simply trust it. I can trust that the chair I am sitting in has enough strength to hold me up. But that doesn't necessarily mean I have faith in the chair. Faith constitutes a change in the individual. The person moves from unrighteous to righteous, and thus faith cannot be mere trust. I can trust that God will provide, but that does not mean that I have faith. I can know the principles and subscribe the to truth that God provides without ever coming to full acceptance and being changed by the belief that God provides.

Faith takes more than belief. It takes more than trust. It is only faith when the inner most fabric of our being fully subscribes to it. To have faith in Christ is to have complete and utter surrender to the character of God. It is more than trusting God that you will make it to heaven. You have complete trust that every experience that comes is from the hand of God. He is sovereign, even through the free-will of men. Nothing comes apart from God. This statement is made by Paul, who suffered lashes at the hands of the Jews 5 times, 3 times he was beaten with rods, once pelted with stones, shipwrecked 3 times, spent a day and a night in the open sea, had been constantly on the move, had been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from his fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles, in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea, in danger from false believers, had gone without sleep, had known hunger and thirst - often going without food, and has been cold and naked.

This man who has suffered more than anyone else that I know - save Christ - was able to then stand on Mars Hill and tell them about the "God who gives all things."

Does your faith look like that? Do you have that kind of faith in God that you can bear such a suffering and still not attack the character of God?

Righteousness is indeed constituted upon faith. We forfeit our glory for the glory of another. We lay down our lives for the life of another. Our comfort and convenience doesn't matter. What matters is the glory of God forever. Anything that we say, do, think, or teach that is separate from the glory of God is brought under question and immediately repented of. We all have blind spots and we have all temptation. It is how ruthless we are to be converted to the image of God and how desperate we are to display the glory of God that speaks louder than our failures.

In this sense, I can understand why it would be that righteousness and faith are intertwined. But how is God righteous? Does God have faith in Himself?

Don't forget that God is 3 persons.

Jesus was always about glorifying the Father and proclaimed that His words were Spirit. He never did anything that He hadn't seen His Father do, and never spoke anything that the Spirit didn't first give utterance. In this way, He laid aside His own glory for the glory of the other two persons in the Godhead. He cast Himself aside for the sake of His Father and the Holy Spirit.

God the Father was about glorifying the Son. The way that He spoke to Jesus and the way He speaks to us is through the Holy Spirit. He does nothing of His own, but continues to display Himself through His Son and through the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit does not speak anything to us that has not been spoken by the Father. The Holy Spirit doesn't have its own words, but is only the messenger from the Father to us. In this way, the Spirit has denied herself (the Hebrew word ruach is feminine) in order to promote the Father. But the Spirit also has the passion to glorify the Son. She speaks concerning Him and leads us into all truth.

Thus because God defers to the other two parts of the Godhead, He both places faith in the other two by giving them all glory and honor and is credited as righteous for it. One of the most challenging aspects to understand is that in deferring glory to the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Father gains a greater glory. So it is with the Son and the Holy Spirit as well. In forfeiting our glory to glorify God, we find that we are all the more glorious.

Don't think that I am speaking of humanity as being gods. Any glory that we receive can only be a reflection of God's glory; for apart from God there is no glory. Apart from God there is no righteousness. We can only truly understand righteousness in the context of God's righteousness.

And how does this pertain to community?

When we are willing to give up our names and reputations for the sake of promoting our brothers and sisters, then we have obtained to righteousness beyond the conventional dimensions. It is amazing to me how unwilling many are to give up their own names and honor. They have worked so hard for so long, why would they allow all their toil to be in vain?

It is such a worldly way of perceiving. The heavenly perception reasons that in honestly giving up our names and reputations for the sake of others - and not in hope of regaining that reputation and honor - that we find deeper manifestations of honor and glory. If there is any other reason for our humility than to honor and promote and respect those brothers and sisters around - out of our love for them - then we are the greatest deceivers. It is manipulation and deception - which are both of the devil - to try and use people so that we might gain honor and respect.

God knows our secret hearts. I haven't yet obtained to this calling. It is something altogether more pure than I have become. By God's grace, I pray that I might be able to match this one day - maybe even today - but for now I continue to fall short.

I think we ought to all be humiliated and cut to the quick whenever we read the book of Acts. Our Christianity is utterly anemic and does not even bear comparison. These men - fishermen and louts - turned the world upside down. Our Christianity doesn't come close. And I think it all comes down to this one point that Paul is making: our faith is not a faith unto righteousness.

We might be able to put faith in God, but to put faith in another believer that we only see once a week is absurd. We have not been made on as He is one, and the result is that we officially have been made into a Christian culture instead of a Church. We have a Sunday Club. Some places around the world there are people that are required to meet more than Sunday and a midweek Bible Study. In those communities, God has wrought a likeness that our Western Culture cannot comprehend.

What is it that would cause such men - as unlearned as they were - to be so equipped by God to even debate against the most pristine that religion has to offer? The Holy Spirit had its own logic and law. The law of Grace compelled them to love one another. That love was not cheap. It cost everything. It cost honor and reputation for the sake of a higher one's honor and reputation; namely, the honor and reputation of God, but secondly the honor and reputation of those believers that you are with daily.

This is what we're called to.

Do you have faith for that?

The Book of Romans pt 12

21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.


I have heard people say that this passage is possibly the most important passage of all Scripture. I happen to disagree, but not because I think there are other more important passages. I believe that unless we have the context of the whole Bible story, this passage doesn't make sense. The freedom we have in Christ isn't an issue that we find strictly in the New Testament. From the very beginning God stirred the creation into more and more manifestation of order and light.

It is from the foundations of the Earth that we find a God who is not content to simply speak over the creation in order to bring it into fullness. He gets down into the nitty-gritty. He isn't satisfied with being afar off; God comes into the darkness and chaos. So it is in the sinner. God isn't content to speak over the sinful heart, "Be clean." God comes into that unclean heart to purify and to make new. Jesus had a similar experience with a leper. The leper approached our Lord and said, "You can heal me if you are willing..." Jesus wasn't going to allow that mentality to last another minute. He didn't only say, "I am willing." Jesus actually reached out His hand and touched the unclean thing.

The Gospel isn't so much about the cross and resurrection as it is what these things symbolize. The Gospel is the proclamation of a God who came into His creation to rescue it from the darkness and death that binds it. The cross and resurrection are the medium by which God brings deliverance. It is not a one time moment in history, but an epoch of all God's moments in history. This is the crux of God's character. He has always been one who suffers for the betterment of His creation. It is not sufficient to say that God died upon the cross and that is it. He is the Lamb slain from the foundations of the Earth, and indeed God's character is and always has been to live in the reality of the cross and resurrection with His people.

It is by this that we are justified freely by grace. It is all about the blood of Jesus, and it is not limited to the one time event. Jesus' blood is eternal. From the beginning, all the saints have pleaded upon the mercy of God. God could only have justified them by the blood of Christ that had not yet come. It was through their faith in the character of God that saved them. Jesus hadn't died for forgiveness to come to David after he sinned. How can God forgive him?

So please understand that I don't mean to diminish the cross and it's importance. On quite the contrary, I'm trying to establish the importance. It is in the context of understanding that God is and always has been the Lamb slain before the foundations of the world that we can fully embrace the cross of Jesus and plead His blood for the redemption and remission of sins. God's plan of salvation has been established from the very first.

I think this is why Jesus rebuked the two saints on the road  to Emmaus. It has always been the character and pattern of God to suffer before the glory. The cross was laid out in the prophets, but also in the stories of the Torah and historical books. It has always been God's character to embrace suffering and not reject it. God isn't a coward to flee from suffering. He embraces it.

And so we can approach the cross of calvary as an event that effects all of history because it is a culmination of all of God's events in history. Every time God interacts with humanity is a cross and resurrection. His character is displayed through every word, action, reaction, judgment, and mercy.

Thus we conclude that it is upon that cross that God was able to be both just and the justifier of the wicked. But why is this a problem?

How can God forgive the wicked and appease justice?

Those who break the law demand the punishment required. This is the set up for the next few chapters. We'll dive into further detail, but for now let us consider a general overview to chew on.

When we ask God to forgive us of sin, we are asking that He would break the law. The law demands punishment. How can God both exact punishment and give grace to the repentant heart? God took upon Himself that punishment of death. He took upon Himself the full wrath and punishment that deserved to go to we that call upon Christ Jesus' name. It is by grace that we have salvation, and of works lest any man should boast.

But the requirement of repentance is not simply a prayer of forgiveness. Repentance requires that we have a change in mindset and heart. It takes a death. Jesus is our sacrifice of atonement, but the wages of sin is still death. There must be a death in the believer in order for there to be freedom from sin. Anyone who has tasted of death and come out victorious by the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is now free from sin (examine Romans 6). Christ is our atonement, and we willingly go to death with Him that we might also be raised with Him to life eternal.

This is how God is able to be both just and the justifier of the wicked. All wickedness is put to death so that resurrection life might come to wholeness within the believer. Little wonder, then, as to why the next statement out of Paul is about the Law and how there is no boasting:

27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith. 28 For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, 30 since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. 31 Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.

We are freed from the Law in the same sense that the married man is free from the law that tells us to remain obstinate. While I were single, it would be sin for me to have sexual intercourse. But now that I am married, this no longer applies. It is still sin, however, to commit adultery. So the Law hasn't been abolished, but has been transformed. It is all the more imperative now that we have been made new. Law hasn't been nullified nor made an object of ridicule. Law is now inescapable - for the law has been written on our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

So then we conclude that all who are free from Law are free from death and sin. There can be no death nor sin where there is no Law. But this statement doesn't mean that we no longer have to hold up to a moral standard as some in the hypergrace movement have claimed. Should we continue in sin now that we are free from it? No - if you have died to sin, then how can you live in it any longer? Our very conduct has changed to that of us no longer desiring sin. If we no longer desire to perform wickedness, then why bind ourselves to unnatural habits?

As we continue through Romans, we'll continue to deepen this mentality of freedom and faith and how to walk it out. And we'll also start to look at some practical implications this has as we get into some of the later chapters in Romans.

The Book of Romans pt 11

9 What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. 10 As it is written:

“There is no one righteous, not even one;
11     there is no one who understands;
    there is no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away,
    they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
    not even one.”
13 “Their throats are open graves;
    their tongues practice deceit.”
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”
14     “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16     ruin and misery mark their ways,
17 and the way of peace they do not know.”
18     “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20 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.

One of the things that I like about verse 9 here is how it refers to sin as a power. It would seem as though many times when speaking with others, sin is thought of as an act. In the same way that viewing Christ's death as "for me" is correct, but not the whole picture, so too is this view of sin. 

I'm not against the idea of calling sin something that we do. If I were to murder someone, then I would have sinned. Yet, the problem with this ideology still lies in that we don't look deep enough. There is still a sin behind the obvious. What is it that would prompt me to kill someone? There is a deception in me somewhere if I do such a thing. Jesus points out that the sin isn't murdering - the sin is hatred. Anyone who is unjustly angry with their brother or sister will suffer judgment (Matthew 5:22). 

So my main point here is that sin runs deeper than our actions. Yes, our actions can be transgressions and "sin." It is a sin to steal. It is a sin to lie. It is a sin to beat someone without cause. It is a sin to commit adultery. But realize that what is behind all of these actions is the root sin. I think most all iniquity can be taken back to pride. If we truly believed that God was in charge and there would be a day where He would judge the world, then we would be a lot more cautious of our actions. That isn't to say that God desires us to always live in fear of judgment. Perfect love casts out fear - why be afraid when we have been saved?

I like to define sin as a power. It is more than the actions we do. It gets into the mindsets and inner parts of who we are. Sin is by nature deceptive. We know that all lies and deception come from the devil. He is the father of all lies and the accuser of the brethren. So when we're trying to understand what it means that we are all sinners - all under the power of sin - we can't take the spirituality out of it. We can't say that sin is strictly carnal. There must be some form of perception that sin is more than carnal addictions and "bad habits." It gets down into the root of our being and perverts the very foundation of who we are.

I'll take lust as an example.

This one is easy because it is so blatant throughout Scripture and also in our culture today.

We can even make it more specific: a pornography/masturbation addiction. What is the sin? If we say that the sin is looking up dirty pictures and masturbating, we have missed the mark. Jesus tells us that adultery starts with untamed eyes. If we even look at another with lust, then we have already committed adultery in our hearts. So the sin goes deeper than just the physique. 

Lets expand it a bit more.

In the Old Testament, one of the gods that the Israelites worshipped was Ba'al. Ba'al had a mistress named Asherah. Asherah was the fertility goddess. Her image was the shape of a pole, and the way to worship her was to grab the closest person you can find - male or female - and have intercourse with them. While the priests and prostitutes and all the people are having an orgy, the sight pleases the goddess Asherah and she blesses the worship.

When we look at a pornography addiction, we have to take into account that we are dealing with the same old gods as those ancient Israelites were dealing with. What do you think a stripper pole is? It is a monument to Asherah. Sex parties and orgies go back to this pagan worship. There is an actual spirit that attaches to the person. It isn't sufficient to say that they are addicted to the physical adrenaline and endorphins. This is true, but it isn't the whole truth. There is a spirit that is also latching on and causing for an addiction. The person who suffers a pornography addiction is attached to both the physical and the spiritual aspects.

This is why I say that sin is a power.

In the Hebrew mindset, the soul is the whole person. The animals were made and they were called "living creatures." The same Hebrew word is translated in Genesis 2 for man as a living soul. The idea is that it is the whole of you. When you corrupt your flesh - whether by lust, anger, drugs, or anything else - you are also tapping into a spiritual conflict. These addictions and sins are not only physical - they are also spiritual. So in following the corruptions of the flesh, we also corrupt our spirits. Thus, the whole of us is corrupted and skewed. The lives we live are on shaky ground.

I think this is what Paul was meaning when talking in 2 Corinthians about being saved, but only as one who escapes the fire. If we build on the foundation of Christ, then we are saved. It doesn't matter what we build with, if we're building on the sure foundation, then we are assuredly getting to heaven. But if our foundation is not Christ, then there is no hope - even if we pursue godliness and live devout and holy lives. This is why no one is righteous. How can we be apart from Christ?

But if we build on that foundation with hay, wood, and stubble - materials that symbolize the things of this world - then we are going to find a lot of what we have worked toward being burned up and consumed. It isn't that God will condemn you to Hell for smoking cigarettes if you are a Christian. What is happening here is that Paul is telling us to not let anything bind us or hinder us. Cast off all things that hinder. If there are mindsets that we live by that don't line up with the Word of God (like that we need to be provided for by the government in various areas), then we are building our lives with the culture around us instead of with God. Imagine how different we would appear if we refuse to use any material that is given to us by culture, media, government, etc and continue to press forward to only build with the things of God (peace, patience, love, humility, grace, faith, hope, etc).

It isn't sin to have health insurance. Actually, it is illegal to not have it now. It isn't sin to be on welfare. It isn't sin to have cable television. It isn't sin to use the internet. But these are things that we need to carefully consider. They are luxuries. They aren't necessities. In our modern age, we might not see cable, smart phones, or internet as luxuries. But I can remember a time in my life when these things weren't so common. I can remember when internet actually caused you to not be able to use the phone.

This all pertains to the same topic, though. The question isn't whether it is right or wrong to own multiple cars. The question is whether these luxuries have tainted us. Can you do without them? Would you be content to not have internet? Would you be content to only have one car that you share with your wife? Would you be content to not have cable? Would you be content to live in a smaller space?

None of these things are directly sin. I will call it sin if the answer to any of those questions is "no." If these things are now necessity instead of luxury and you cannot live without them, then you have made an idol. You are no longer worshiping the God who provides, but now worshiping the television that entertains. This is the root of sin.

It all goes back to the spirits of the Old Testament, doesn't it?

God said that we shall have no other gods before Him. I can think of a few who are really pushing that command. You are free to spend your time and money however you please. I just want to offer a challenge and ask whether that spending of your time and money brings you closer to God or does it put God on the back burner? This question itself can be profound or it can be cliche. It will either be eye opening and liberating or it will be another banality and truism. 

It is refreshing, even for myself, to rethink through the concept of sin. It opens up a new dimension on how to determine what to follow and what voices to listen to.

I know that I am skipping quite a bit of what Paul had said from verses 10-20. Instead of going in depth, I figured a quick summary of thought might suffice. Actually, I am skipping verses 19 and 20. 

The Law brings awareness of sin. Without law there is no sin. I heard it recently said that, "We have been freed from the Law in that we have the Holy Spirit within us and speaking to us. He directs us and guides us. The reason I don't necessarily follow the Law is because God has taken the Law and written it upon the tablets of my heart by the Holy Spirit. By that same Spirit He convicts me when I have disobeyed the Law."

The Book of Romans pt 10

What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? 2 Much in every way! First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God.

3 What if some were unfaithful? Will their unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness? 4 Not at all! Let God be true,and every human being a liar. As it is written:

“So that you may be proved right when you speak
    and prevail when you judge.”

5 But if our unrighteousness brings out God’s righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing his wrath on us? (I am using a human argument.) 6 Certainly not! If that were so, how could God judge the world? 7 Someone might argue, “If my falsehood enhances God’s truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?” 8 Why not say—as some slanderously claim that we say—“Let us do evil that good may result”? Their condemnation is just!

I believe that this argument gets repeated later on in chapter 6. In Romans 6, the question is raised, "Shall we continue in sin so that grace may abound?" Paul answers the same way as here: certainly not. Now, this argument of God's faithfulness and His glory is actually the whole point of the Gospel. This is the nub that everything rests upon. It is to Him be glory forever.

Once again, we read later in Romans chapter 9 that it is to Israel that the promises and the Scriptures were given. This isn't an isolated topic in Romans. It gets addressed multiple times. In modern church-ianity that we have in America, I think that this point is extremely crucial. It might be as crucial now as it was to those Romans. Has God rejected Israel? No. There is a scheme - a plan/purpose.

So lets actually take the time to go through this. I'm appalled at the fact that many people don't understand the argument, nor do they know how to respond.

The argument being made here is that God is shown righteous by our wickedness.

I think that it was Augustine (but I could easily be wrong here...) that made the same argument. Why did Adam sin? God made Adam perfect and sinless. Did God create Adam to sin (not just with the free choice of sinning)? If so, then what kind of God is that? We couldn't call Him good, or could we?

Augustine (once again, I might be wrong about the reference) said that the reason that God would allow Adam to sin was so that we could see His righteousness. We wouldn't know the stars existed without the dark black background of the night sky. In the same way, we wouldn't know righteousness, love, compassion, grace, or mercy if it weren't for the dark black background of human sin and depravity. It is because of sin that we understand God as being these things.

But is that really true?

Does our lack of righteousness display God as being righteous?
Does our lack of mercy help portray God's mercy?
Does God's grace toward us as sinners show us grace that we wouldn't have understood otherwise?

I think that these attributes are found in God whether we are sinners or not. If Adam never sinned, would God then be less righteous? If Adam never sinned, would we have no means to understand His love? If Adam never sinned, would God have nothing to use to show us His compassion?

These are stupid arguments.

We can't say that God is shown to be more righteous simply because we are less righteous. It is the argument that we wouldn't be as thankful for the summer if we didn't have 7 months of winter here in Ohio. It might have some truth to it. I agree that the first time it gets to be about 70 degrees (Fahrenheit, about 21 Celsius for our not-American-friends) after being below freezing for so long it feels wonderful. There is a bit of rationality and truth in that statement.

But the rationality and truth fall apart when we talk about God.

Is there ever a time when God is not infinitely more merciful than the created beings? Can we love infinitely as God loves? Can we be just as God is just?

There are certain ways that we can say yes to that. But there are other ways in which we cannot say yes to that. We would not know love if God had not shown us. Even in sinless perfection, love, kindness, grace, faithfulness - these are gifts of the Spirit.

I'll use an illustration about light.

The speed of light is a constant when moving through a vacuum. If I were to be running at a speed of 10 km/min, and a car is driving the same direction at 25 km/min, how fast does the car pass me? It moves at 25 km/min with respect to a stopped object, but it passes me at 15 km/min. Not so with light. Light moves 299,792.458 km/sec. If I somehow figured out a way to sprint 1000 km/sec, light would still pass me at 299,792.458 km/sec. It wouldn't shave off 1000 km/sec.

In the same way, even if we were in sinless perfection, God's love would be infinitely more loving than ours. God's glory would still be infinite. We're not going to be able to see kindness and compassion in those around us and say that God's kindness and compassion is like the others. Any true kindness or compassion or love or grace or justice is a reflection of God's attributes, and not the other way around.

So when Paul asks about Israel and how they have rejected their Messiah, is he making the point that God's more just for sending judgment? Is Paul saying that because God has opened up salvation to the Gentiles that God is now more faithful than when it was exclusively Israel as His chosen people? No. Paul is actually making the same point that I just made. It isn't about Israel, nor is it about the Gentiles. God is glorious. He is love. He is mercy. He is justice.

There is nothing that can display more of Him than anything else. When God is displayed, He is displayed fully. This is a stepping stone in a larger story that is being played out. And so Paul is getting the Romans (and we who are studying centuries later) into the mindset that it really isn't about trying to show God to be more loving or kind or glorious. He already is these things. This redemption plan and story is not for His benefit - it is for our profit.

So while we continue to search through Romans we'll continue to search out this redemption plan. We'll also see what Paul is trying to convey while speaking of the benefit it is to be born a Jew and be of the circumcision. But we'll keep in mind that God has the glory of all, while we have the delectation of all.

The Book of Romans pt 9

17 Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God; 18 if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; 19 if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— 21 you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? 24 As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”

25 Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised. 26 So then, if those who are not circumcised keep the law’s requirements, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised? 27 The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker.

28 A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. 29 No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.

I heard someone recently say that they don't believe the Bible is literally true. They say it is authentically true. What they mean by this (because the wording didn't allow me to understand what they were saying) is that the Bible is true when you read it in authenticity. You have to know the culture. You have to know the original language. You have to know hermeneutics. You have to know systematic theology and all the history surrounding the Bible. Unless you know everything that is happening culturally, symbolically, historically, within the language, etc, you don't really know what the Bible says.

I had a problem with that.

This is saying that the only way we can truly know what the Bible says and what it means is if we have doctorates that teach us original languages, culture, and archaeology. If we don't go through years and years of study, then we don't understand the Bible. Let me put it a little more blunt: I know the Bible because I'm smart and educated, and you don't know the Bible because you're too unlearned and stupid to know God.

It sounds to me like we have reached full circle in many sects of Christianity to where Paul was in his day. You have these Jews that teach the only way to know what the Bible says is to go through the years of discipline and be taught by the big shot rabbi or Pharisee. The more prestigious the name you study under, the more respect and honor your word goes. There are even places in the Talmud that tell us to take the rabbinical translation of the text more seriously than the text itself. If the rabbi or sage tells us that this verse is lying to us, and we should break the Law, then we are to follow the teaching of the rabbi or sage.

In modern Christianity we have the same thing. There are people who actually get up and teach their congregations things like Adam didn't really live to be over 900 years old. There wasn't a world-wide flood. There was death before sin. There is no heaven or hell. God created woman in Her image, and man comes second. It is okay to live in obvious immorality as long as you tithe. Modern archaeology has proven that David never existed, nor did the Exodus ever happen. There are no such things as miracles (like the resurrection). The list goes on.

Does anyone else get chafed in their spirit when reading these things?

There are famous preachers who are teaching absolute absurdity.

You who teach others - do you not teach yourself? Do you tell married couples that it is wrong to get divorced while you go out and have sex with the secretary? Do you counsel people who are going through depression while you are taking drugs to settle your own nerves? Do you talk to people about resurrection power while being addicted to pornography? Do you tell people that the power is in the blood while having a compulsive spending habit? Do you tell people that it is wrong to judge while you are judging your congregation because "80% of the tithes come from 20% of the people?"

I have actually talked to pastors who complain because their congregation doesn't tithe enough. So what? Do you know their paycheck size? Do you know how much they are or are not giving? Does God condemn them to Hell because you live in a 3 story house with a 4 car garage and a television in every room 5 bedrooms that aren't even being used and they aren't paying you enough? Is God angry at them for this? (I speak of one man in particular at this point, but I know it is a reflection of many other pastors across this country). I call this greed.

My wife and I are trying to donate clothes to people that need them. There is a problem. As soon as we desire to donate clothes to people that need them (instead of donating to the local thrift store that has an overabundance and uses clothes to make profit), we're hit with a ton of charities and missionary groups that only want money. After searching and searching, we cannot find one organization that seems legit for donating clothing. I'll take this time to mention that we have found a couple for shoes and for knick-knacks and for dresses and for dress clothes - but when we want to donate to poverty stricken countries, we find that they want new clothes instead of our used clothes.

Our clothes aren't good enough. We have the wrong sizes. After all, I do wear a medium shirt and have a 32 waist. They want large or extra-large shirts and larger waists. They have enough mediums. They have enough average sizes. There aren't enough people to give these things to.

Why do I bring this up?

There comes a time when an organization is no longer seeking to bring glory to God and is now only concerned with maintaining the structure. When we hit this point, we have forfeited all hope. We no longer have any voice. We no longer have any anointing. We have now given over to the demonic forces that rule over this world. Because we have not exercised another wisdom that would say, "To God be glory," and we have given over to the wisdom of this world that says, "Anything to keep this ministry going."

What is the problem? I don't only speak of the clothes. This is all encompassing. This goes back to the people who teach absolute heresy. The problem is that many people have stopped (if they had ever began) following the Holy Spirit and thus have given over to being ruled by another power than the power of God. Why does Paul say that not all Jews are Jews? Why does Paul drive so hard against those who would teach one thing and live another? Why does Paul get so upset with those who are of the circumcision and condemning those who are not? It all goes back to the same thing.

There are people who are treating different diseases as medical problems. I'll be frank. Schizophrenia is a demon possession. Drug addiction is sin. It isn't "chemical dependancy." It isn't a mental disease. We're not dealing with psychology. We're dealing with spirits. There is a spirit that is blinding these people and completely overpowering them. They can't fight. They can't overcome. A boy with Turrets is not a boy with a mental disease. He is haunted by demons.

While we have given over ground to the world who does not believe in the spiritual realm to define these things and tell us that ADHD and sex addictions are simply physical things, they have taken more than just that inch. We have given them the inch and they have taken the mile. We have been willing to listen and consider that maybe I am just a bunch of chemicals and the way to deal with a headache is to take an aspirin. The lack of an aspirin didn't cause my headache. What caused my headache was nutrient deficiency.

Because we have not been willing to stand up for that which is True, we have been slumped into a powerless gospel that might give enough motivation to remain in church, but does not have power to set free. This, of course, is not the case for every single ministry. By and large, the reason that so many youth leave after high school and never come back is because there is no demonstration/conviction of truth being revealed in the home.

How much do we truly believe here? Do we really believe that demons are at work today? Do we really believe that demon possession is possible after the cross? I mean, lets get serious... Jesus casted out demons left and right, but the book of Acts doesn't have that many demon possessions in it...

Do we really believe this?

Do we really believe that God has power?

Do we really believe that all Scripture is inspired?

If we are not willing to wrestle with these things and ask the difficult questions of how far does the power of Satan go, then we will never be able to recognize it and we're going to continue to sacrifice minister after minister after minister. Pastors are leaving the ministry left and right. Laymen are leaving church. People of God are no longer praying. People who have testimonies of being freed from drugs, alcohol, severe immorality, and other demonic strongholds, are becoming gray-haired Eli priests. This has to stop. We never were only sacrificing our own lives and testimonies. We are sacrificing the testimony of God. We are sacrificing our children.

Church will not last another 2 generations. Are we willing to step up to the plate and take everything the Bible says, or is it time to back down and admit that maybe the Bible is only a good moral teaching? As the Day draws near, we are heading very quickly into apostolicity or apostasy. You have the choice (as much as I have the choice) to go to one camp or the other. Either we will be apostolic, or we will be apostate. I don't know that there is a third option.

This is why it is so serious.

This is why Paul gets so vehement.

If we are not willing to stand up and believe the Bible for what it says (and I'm willing to admit that there are some Scriptures that don't make a whole lot of sense until you add original language or culture, but that doesn't mean that we throw out the rest of Scripture until we understand the one passage), then we are heading into the antichrist spirit. It will be the same religious ministers who are now speaking on behalf of God that it is okay to drink, smoke, and curse that will one day slay the saints of God and claim they are doing God's will. The one leads right into the other. If you are not vigilant, then you will become dull.

So I'll end on a happy note.

Anyone who reads this and rejoices is a saint. You rejoice because Christ is in you. You read the truth for what it is. I'm willing to hear that maybe I'm off in a few areas here. I don't think so, but I'm willing to hear it out. But to the person that reads this post and gets offended, your offense is a sign that you are not truly in the way. Only a fool despises reproof. God's people are not foolish.

Anyone who reads this and delights in these words should rejoice because Christ is in them. You are God's. He indeed dwells within you. We'll continue to go through Paul's letter to the Romans with chapter 3 next time.

The Book of Romans pt 8

You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. 2 Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3 So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

In the beginning of chapter 2, we have one of my favorite points that Paul makes. It isn't my place to judge another person. I am to judge the angels. However, it does bring into question of what judgment is. There is a judgment that is holy, which Jesus tells us to do (Matthew 7:1-5). Then there is this kind of judgment, which is an abomination.

What is the difference between the two?

One of the obvious differences would be that Jesus was talking about lovingly keeping a brother accountable. Paul is talking about those who would condemn someone because they have erred. There is a vast difference between the two. Another point to consider is that Paul is still speaking to those who are not godly. Jesus was talking to His disciples, which (I have to assume) had already been circumcised of heart. 

With that, I want to bring the focus. In chapter 1, Paul concludes with those who are godless and how their wickedness only compounds until they display obvious immorality. Now we reach chapter 2, and Paul is still talking from the same thought. This isn't a moment where Paul switches gears. In conclusion to the fact that these people not only do that which is abominable, but even teach others to do so, you must make sure not to pass judgment upon them. Don't think that you are more pious than they. Don't think that David's sin with Bathsheba was something you would never do. Don't think that you would have never killed the prophets. Don't act like if you were in the times of Christ you would have believed on Him while those wicked Pharisees crucified Him. 

You have the same wicked heart that every other human being has. There is no one righteous, no not one. I have performed my fair share of abominable practices. It isn't by my merit or my good deeds that I am saved. It is quite the contrary. We must remember this above all else. If the attitude ever comes in that we are better than or more holy than another, it is only proof that we are still the wicked sinners and have not been fully converted. True conversion leads to a heart that claims, "I am the chief of all sinners." There have been many times that my wife and I have discussed how we question whether we are even Christians... There are times where we feel lower than others. This is a death that God has us pass through for sanctification. That does not, however, give us the authority to blaspheme or question God as though we have not the Holy Spirit as a seal and proof that God is righteous and judge.

But what shall we say of these verses? Truly all men are condemned before God apart from Christ. We have no hope. Our sin is a condition that cannot be cured. Just as the lepers would be lepers for their entire lives, we too are sinners for our whole existence apart from a miracle. There are some who believe that we will never truly be free from sin until we die. Others believe differently. I believe differently. I won't go into it here and now, seeing as we'll have plenty of time to discourse on this later in Romans. I'll warn you that I probably won't list arguments, but only give my opinion.

Back to the point I made about conversion. Paul even makes this statement in verse 5-11: 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. 6 God “will repay each person according to what they have done.” 7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9 There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; 10 but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.11 For God does not show favoritism.

This is the exact thing said in Ezekiel. It is said twice: he who is wicked and dies in his wickedness will suffer judgment, but if he turns from his wickedness and becomes righteous he will receive paradise; he who does righteousness and dies righteous will receive paradise, but he who turns from his righteousness to pursue wickedness will be judged. It isn't about whether you do right or you do wrong. All who are humble before God and He has circumcised their hearts (term from Jeremiah), they shall receive the reward of their righteousness. But the wicked will go away to everlasting punishment. 

It also find it interesting that here again Paul says, "to the Jew first..." This can be translated as to the religious first, and then to the secular. Or it can be translated as we read it - to the Jew first. Paul later tells us who are Israel. He mentions that anyone who is in Christ has been grafted in. So this isn't simply to the Jewish people, but to anyone who is under that Head. Anyone who calls upon the one true God - the Jews currently in their unbelief, Church in its belief - is a part of this indictment. It is in this way that I see both of these interpretations to be true. It is to those who claim to see because of their religion first, because they are the Jews (whether by birth or by faith). 

It is for this reason that Paul then discourses by what means are we claimed righteous or wicked? Those people who ask the question, "Will the pygmies in Australia go to Hell because they didn't know Jesus?" are given the answer right here in the following verses: 12 All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. 14 (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.) 16 This will take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.

Why is it that Paul is able to say this? They didn't receive the Law. They don't know what the Law states. How are they supposed to live according to the Law?

It all goes back to Romans chapter 1 that God is clearly seen and His righteousness is clearly observable in the natural world around us. We can observe that the animals do not treat one another maliciously. They do not murder for revenge. They do not seek to be honored above all. They do not perform mass genocide. They do not practice homosexuality (anyone who thinks they do are severely miseducated - it is a dominance thing). There is an order of authority in the pack that the others submit to. Anyone who is able to view this is able to at least view these laws. If the animals submit to authority, then how much more should we? And how much more should we submit to the authority of God? It does require of us to seek Him in truth to know His will and desires, but do we serve a God who would not answer that honest prayer?

Thus we conclude this blog post. In the next post, we'll get more specific into what the religious leaders (which even the Church as a whole is supposed to be this to the world) are to live according to.

The Book of Romans pt 7

Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.


In the last post I spoke a bit about how the nations themselves are guilty of sin. It isn't just that people are wicked, but even entire nations fall prone to this. We are in the midst of a generation that has been given over to this perverse spirit. This doesn't mean that all is lost. I was a part of that perverse generation. It was through God's mercy by His Spirit that I am now able to say that I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.

But what are we to do with this last bit of the first chapter of Romans? I think it speaks for itself. There really isn't a whole lot to comment on.

I think that when we reach a statement like this, the best thing to do is to just take it in. Lets not try to overcoat it with "that's how I used to be..." or "not everyone is that extreme..." I find that many people are willing to accept that "people" can get to such an extreme as Hitler, Pol Pot, or Stalin. We're willing to accept that something like murder or rape is at anyone's grasp. However, to then turn it back toward self is something else entirely.

How many of us have truly read this verse and put self in each line? Take out the "they" and put "I." Just as I did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave me over to a depraved mind... In many ways this isn't true for we who believe. In other aspects it is true. This is why we need to "renew our minds." Our minds can be subtly condemning us.

In many I have noticed how action and word do not line up. Whether it comes from the Calvinist or whether it comes from the Armenian, both seem to say one thing and act another. The one claims God is sovereign, and then their lives seem to say they believe that God really doesn't care what you do. If God is sovereign, then why do so many Calvinists have mixed feelings about subtle issues like the amount of goods is acceptable for a Christian to accumulate, the size of home to buy, the amount of money to tithe, etc? If God is sovereign, then wouldn't He have an opinion on such things? And shouldn't we who believe that God is sovereign treat Him and act like we truly believe that?

Many times my wife and I are flabbergasted at the amount of disbelief many Christians have. They seek after worldly wealth. They live their lives according to the wisdom of the world. Heaven forbid that God would call you out of your job because it supports the wrong kind of system. How am I to make a living? And in the very question it displays that we don't truly believe that God is sovereign. Is God not able to sustain you? What if you don't work at all? Is God not able to support you?

Maybe at this point I should admit that I haven't worked in about 6 months. God has sustained my wife and I in our little apartment. But many times the question isn't about whether God can sustain us. The question that my wife and I find ourselves asking is whether God is willing to sustain us. There is a big difference in the question. If God has not called us out of our jobs as we have believed, and He has not told us to continue in being steadfast and believing that He will provide (don't move until He does provide), then the money will run out. We'll be found begging.

In the story of Elisha, there is a woman who goes to him and tells him that she is suffering from famine. Elisha tells her to go to her neighbors and borrow as many jars as she can. Then take the oil that she has and pour it out into the jars. The oil never stopped pouring. It wasn't until the son said, "There are no more jars" that the oil stopped. I look at the story and wonder if a jar would have popped into existence from somewhere if the son would have simply believed that God was providing. I don't know. We'll never know.

The other side of the spectrum (Armenians) also have their moments. I've heard Armenians who would go as far as saying that it is God who brings suffering. They call it a test. "God is testing you." That isn't what Job says. The book of Job clearly shows that the devil is the accuser and persecutor. God wasn't testing Job. God gave credence to satan to torment him, but that doesn't mean that God brought the devastation.

While I'm here on Job, I want to also point out that the book doesn't have a "happy" ending. I've heard people who would talk about how Job suffered greater than any man. But it all worked out in the end. So it was okay. They turn the story of Job into a cheap cliche because they are unwilling to be taken up by what is happening. The man lost his children. His servants died. His herds died. Don't tell me that Job wouldn't have looked back and remembered his children. Just because God restored Job's wealth doesn't mean that there wasn't still sorrow in his heart when he thought of his sons and daughters.

It is in our inadequate view of God that we find these sins emerging. We have been all too willing to treat God as if He is just "a god." This is the sin of Israel. They received judgment and exile over it. If God judged His people Israel, what makes you so sure He won't judge the Church? If we are only playing games and going through the motions and calling our fun-fest "church," then we will receive the greatest judgment. Because we claim to see, our guilt remains.

It is from these wrong mindsets and attitudes toward God that we find sin emerge. When we want to call Him sovereign and then live in complete control of our lives, our sin will find us out. There will be something somewhere that is lacking. When we want to say that God is so sovereign that He is the one who brings about death, suffering, and devastation in our lives, then we have another problem Scripturally. God is not the god of violence. He isn't in the business of tormenting. If we want to use phrases like, "God is testing you," then we better be sure of what that means and incorporates. If we wrongly depict the work of the Holy Spirit and call something that is satanic as "testing," then we have the same sin as the Pharisees who said, "It is by the power of Beelzebub that Jesus casts out demons."

A wrong foundation brings about cracks and fractures. The building will either break or crumble. A wrong foundation cannot be built upon without some damage in the future. It might hold for a while. But when the moment of extremity comes, will this house stand?

With this I end by quoting Jesus. I believe that these words were marked for all time, but especially for the end times: "Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash." It isn't a question of whether we'll face adversity. We will face it. It will be extreme enough to cause our lives to crumble. The only hope is building upon a sure foundation and using the gold, silver, and precious stones to build up the Kingdom of God instead of our own lives, futures, families, legacies, and reputations.