The Book of Romans - Jeremiah's Vow

Romans Series (Pt. 5) – Romans 2:1-11

God’s Reason in Being Patient (2:1-5)

After telling us in the second half of chapter one the depth of sin and its potential expression, Paul lets us know that because of this sinful inclination God’s judgment “rightly fall” [v.2] on us. The hypocrisy that we at times perform is only a small demonstration of our depravity. This hypocritical tendency should serve as a reminder of why God should and ultimately will judge the sinner. But Paul is not simply concerned with God’s judgment of sin.

Sometimes reading Paul can be difficult and we miss the little nuggets that are hidden in the letters. Here, even in the midst of laying the foundation of the Gospel, the grace of God is revealed. The Gospel at every turn and in every instance sheds the light of God’s grace in the midst of the darkness of our shortcomings. That is what is saying here. Paul says that “God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance” [v. 4]. This is unbelievable.

God does not hit the reset button and unleashes his angelic hosts because He desires for sinners to repent! The sad reality that Paul throws back at the reader is that the reason some do not head the Gospel summons is because of their “hard and impenitent” [v. 5] hearts. And it is this persistent condition that is “storing up wrath” [v. 5] for us when God finally returns.

God’s Demonstration of Integrity (2:6-11)

The major thrust of this entire section is that God shows no favoritism to the sinner or the believer in His dispensation of justice. All are sinners and are worthy and even deserving of eternal punishment, but God has overshadowed the sins of those that have believed and confessed in Christ. God will reckon what is rightfully due to each one “according to his works” [v. 6].

The irony in this statement is that those that believe in Christ have no work by which we are to be judged! The work of Salvation is the work of God in us. So the reward that we receive at the time of judgment rightfully belongs to God! We are the beneficiaries of God’s love and grace in spite of our sins. Look at what Paul says in Ephesians 2:4-10.

⁴ But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— ⁶ and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷ so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not a result of works, so that no one may boast. ¹⁰ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. [ESV, Emphasis Added]

Paul outlines how God will deal with all humanity. To those who live rightly and obey God’s commands and does good there will be reward and “glory and honor and peace” [v. 10]. But to those that chose their own way and chose “unrighteousness” [v. 8] and “does evil” there will be “tribulation and distress” [v. 9].

There is no partiality with God because he will not be swayed by sentimentality devoid of reason. God sees clearly and will dispense the just reward or penalty to all who will stand and kneel before His throne.

Romans Series (Pt. 4) – Romans 1:18-32

God is Righteous (1:18-20)

The Roman listener and reader would not have had the same reference point as the Jewish believer. So Paul begins with his own version of the creation story from Genesis 1 [vv. 19-20]. Paul speaks to the creation and all that is in it to demonstrate that God is good, but more importantly that God is righteous. The word righteous tells us something about the way that God lives out his existence. Everything we need to know about God is made knowable by virtue of God’s creation. What we see is the evidence that points to and illustrates for us who God is. And God is righteous and therefore stands up against all “ungodliness and unrighteousness of men” [v. 18].

God is Denied (1:21-25)

Paul then makes a move toward describing the state of those that forget to look at God, or more specifically, that intentionally turn away from looking at God. This is where Paul begins to lay the foundation that he will expand in Romans 5:12. What is important here is to understand what Paul is describing. God will suffer the reproach of man only for a time. But the longer we persist in denying God, Paul tells us that God will eventually give us up.

So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. [Romans 1:24-25, NLT]

Whenever we lose sight of God, when we forget to honor God for who and what he is we tempt God and become subject to God’s judgment. What we have to consider is this: Is there any greater judgment than to be left to oneself?

God is NOT Mocked (1:26-32)

Then Paul closes by illustrating the manifestation of Sin in the practice of sins. I don’t believe that Paul is saying that all will perform these sins. I think this is where many people begin to dismiss the doctrine of Total Depravity. We have to see that Total Depravity is not about the depth of sin, but rather about the culpability of sin and capability of sinning. We all, as sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, have become partakers in Sin. We are born in Sin [Psalm 51:5] and we are guilty of our own transgressions [Romans 3:23]. What I hear Paul saying is that once the path of selfishness and idolatry is chosen there is no means of predicting the depths to which one can fall. I find this to be the major thrust of this section and starting block for what is to come in the following chapters.

Romans Series (Pt. 3) – Romans 1:16-17

Paul’s Confession (1:16-17)

In these two verses we find one of the greatest confessions of what the Gospel is and what it is designed to do. This is not an overstatement of the Gospels intended purpose. Nor is it an exaggeration that Paul wanted the Romans to understand that the Gospel, by design, was intended to be the means through which people are regenerated and the gospel is the seed from which the germ of eternal life will emerge in the life of all who believe. It is this seed that will mature into the tree that the psalmist alludes to in the opening psalm of the psalter.

³ He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. [Psalm 1:3, ESV]

But it doesn’t end here. Even Jesus himself said,

³⁸ Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him. [John 1:3, ESV]

Here in lies the heart of what Paul is speaking to. The Gospel’s power breaks the dam of sin in our lives which is keeping us from having a right relationship with the Father. And it releases unto us the power of God to make us his children and the Gospel gives us the right to claim for ourselves the righteousness that rightfully belongs to Jesus. The challenge to anyone who agrees with Paul is that we have to receive this truth and grace in faith. For it is only from faith that we can receive it and it is only by faith that we can live it.

Romans Series (Pt. 2) – Romans 1:1-15

Introduction (1:1-7)

One of the main characteristics of Paul’s letters is the introduction. Paul follows the common pattern of the time for letters and identifies himself and gives a formal greeting to the people or person that he is writing to. Another characteristic of Paul’s letters is the connection that he draws between hos apostleship and the God’s activity in his life. Paul is intentional about speaking to the fact that God plays an integral role in all that He does as an apostle.

Paul’s Desire (1:8-15)

Paul then shares his desire to be with them there Rome. The church in Rome did not start because of Paul’s direct presence. Rather, it was through the evangelism and mission work by those converted that the faith made it to Rome. This was a great source of joy for Paul, but it brought with it a desire to be among them. Paul tells them that he had previously plan to go to Rome, but was kept from going for some reason.

This sets the stage for the rest of the letter. We will look at the heart of Paul’s message in our next post.

Romans Series (Pt. 1) – Who is Paul the Apostle?

Paul provides for us a mini biography of himself in Philippians 3:5-6. Paul says that if there is anyone who has reason to show pride it is him because of his lineage. Most of what Paul describes doesn’t mean much to us today, but Paul was a special individual. He was born at the crossroads of history. God selected Paul because in Paul were all the qualities required to take the message of Jesus Christ from the Jewish outpost of Jerusalem into the metropolis’ of the Roman world. Ravi Zacharias provides a wonderful summary of Paul’s unique place in the fulfillment of God’s purpose. Dr. Zacharias is looking at 2 Corinthians 4:6 as the evidence of Paul’s ability to bridge the gap between the three major groups during his lifetime:

The apostle Paul was born a Hebrew, raised as a Roman citizen in a Greek city. The Romans gave to us our legal ideals. The Greeks gave to us our philosophical ideals. The Hebrews gave to us our moral ideals.

The Hebrew’s pursuit was symbolized by light. “This is the light that lighteth every man that comes into the world.” “The people that sat in the darkness have seen a great light.” “The LORD is my light and my salvation.”

The pursuit of the Greeks was knowledge. “These things are written that we might know that we have eternal life.” The Academy was a Greek invention.

The pursuit of the Romans was glory – the glory of Rome, the glory of the Caesars, the glory of the eternal city, that wasn’t built in a day.

Paul, who was born a Hebrew, a citizen of Rome, in a Greek city, says this in Second Corinthians 4:6: “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6 ESV).((Dr. Zacharias has used this example on several occasions. One example is from a message given at the Urbana Conference in 1993.))

It is not mere coincidence that in Christ God seeks to embody all of the pursuits and ideals of man. And it is Paul, because of his unique place in history, who has the insight to demonstrate how Christ is the Redeemer of the world.