March 1, 2013

Romans - lesson 3


Text


4. Righteousness needed by all 3:1-20

a. The profit of the Jew 3:1-8
Chapter 3
  1. They were entrusted with the oracles of God vss 1-2

1 Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision?
2 Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God.

  1. The perveristy and corruption of the Jew

Vss. 3-8


  1. Question: Jewish unfaithfulness and God’s faithfulness vs 3

3 What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it? Psa 89:30-37
4 May it never be! Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found a liar, as it is written,
"That Thou mightest be justified in Thy words, And mightest prevail when Thou art judged." 1

b.) Question: Being a sinner justifies God? Vs 5-6

  1. But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He? (I am speaking in human terms.)2
6 May it never be! For otherwise how will God judge the world?

c.) Question: If sin abounds the righteousness of God and if I sin by proclaiming the Gospel, Why do you condemn me ?? vss 7-8

7 But if through my lie the truth of God abounded to His glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner? 3
8 And why not say (as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say), "Let us do evil that good may come"? Their condemnation is just. 4

b. The proof from scripture 3:9-18

d.) Question: Are we better than they? (That is, Are Jews better than Gentiles?)

9 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin;
10 as it is written,5
"There is none righteous, not even one;
11 There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God;
12 All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one. "
13 "Their throat is an open grave, With their tongues they keep deceiving," "The poison of asps is under their lips";
14 "Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness";
15 "Their feet are swift to shed blood,
16 Destruction and misery are in their paths,
17 And the path of peace have they not known. "
18 "There is no fear of God before their eyes."

c. The place of the law 3:19-20

19 Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, that every mouth may be closed, and all the world may become accountable to God;
20 because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.
B. The righteousness of God presented: Being justified freely by his grace” 3:21-5:21

1. Righteousness provided in Christ 3:21-31
a. Righteousness of God 3:21-26

1.) Righteousness manifested vs. 21a
2.) Righteousness witnessed vs. 21b

21 But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,

3.) Righteousness attained vs.22

22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction;

4.) Righteousness needed vs. 23

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

5.) Righteousness provided vs. 24

24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;

6.) Righteousness declared vs. 25

25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood6 through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;

7.) Righteousness satisfied vs. 26

26 for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

b. Righteousness of God excludes boasting 3:27-31

1.) Allow boasting…. No! vs. 27

27 Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.

2.) Any advantage in “race” for justification? Vs 28ff.

28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.
  1. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,

3.) All are justified by God on the basis of Faith because viable law is faith vs. 30f.

  1. since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one.
  2. Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law7.

Thought questions for chapter 3

  1. If you were stranded on an island with two total strangers, what would you want them to be like?
Someone easy to get along with, an uncontensious person.
  1. What do verses 10-18 tell us about human nature?
The universality of sin. The extent to which we all fail to be pure “in the flesh”. The power of the Holy Spirit to allow the scriptures to be collected together in such a form by Paul for explanation.
  1. From what we have seen so far in Romans, how are Jews and Gentiles alike, and how are they different?
They both come to God by faith. They are different in their method of reaching the righteousness of God.
  1. Who are the worst sinners --- Jews or Gentiles?
Jews, because they were given the commandments of God and should have realized that true righteousness was by faith.
  1. How is the message of 1:16 revealed in this chapter?
Through verses 21-31. The blood of Jesus is the power to cleanse from sin and lead us to salvation.
  1. What is said about righteousness in vs. 21-26?
The righteousness of god is apart from the law and is revealed in Jesus Christ. It is given to all, because all have sinned. This righteousness is a gift through Christ, who makes us right with God.
For Further thought
What does the term justified mean? See verse 24. How are we justified?
To be made just-as-if-I’d-never-sinned. By being bought back by the blood of Jesus.

Why do we need righteousness?
We need righteousness because of verses 10-18, and also 20, 23.

What are the benefits of being Jewish vs. 1 to 2 See 9:4-5
The very word of God was given to them. Also, the temple and its worship, as well as Christ in the flesh.

In verses 1-8 the apostle answers four objections which he found that men raised to the Gospel (See vs. 1,3,5, 7,8a). the answers are given in vs. 2,4,6 and 8b.
Advantages are great (number) – oracles of God
Unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God because God is true
Those that practice the unrighteousness of man will be judged by the righteousness of God.
Evil does not produce good, so their judgment is just.

What does God (through the scriptures) say:
  1. About the general trend of human beings? See 10-12 and Isa 53:6a
No one does good, we do what we like to do.
  1. About man’s speech vs. 13, 14
It is full of evil.
3. About his conduct and attitude toward God 15-18
They cause death and do not fear God!

What is the glory of God mentioned in verse 23?
In this context, it is the purity of God’s righteousness.

What does it mean to be redeemed? Verse 24
To have God pay the price for our sins that we should have had to pay.


Using verses 21-26, summarize how Jesus takes away the guilt of our sins.
Jesus takes away the guilt of our sins because Jesus’ blood redeems us and makes us right with God. Jesus took away law righteousness and replaced it with faith righteousness. So, where there is no law, neither is there any violation.


Verses 21-30 How do you think Paul would define “faith”
Forsaking - all (the law) - I - Take - him (Jesus)

What do you think were Paul’s reasons for saying what he does in verse 31?
Because the law is good (if a man uses it lawfully). If we do the goodness of the law – we are good. The law was from God and therefore perfect.



Sin in the book of Romans

1. All who have sinned without the Law will perish 2:12
2. All who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law 2:12
3. One who sins is a sinner 3:7
4. All under sin 3:9
5. The knowledge of sin through the Law 3:20
6. All have sinned and fall short 3:23
7. God passes over sins via the blood of Jesus 3:25
8. Blessed are those whose sins have been covered 4:7
9. Blessed are those whose sin the Lord will not take into account 4:8
10. Loved while yet sinners 5:8
11. All have sinned 5:12
12. Sin not imputed where there is no law 5:13
13. Death reigned over those who had not sinned like Adam 5:14
14. One man’s disobedience- all sinners 5:19
15. Sin increases, grace abounded 5:20
16. Sin reigned in death 5:21
17. Continue in sin? No. 6:1, 2
18. For Christians, our body of sin done away with 6:6
19. He who has died is freed from sin 6:7
20. Jesus’ death to sin is once for all 6:10
21. Dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 6:11
22. Do not let sin reign 6:12
23. Do not present your members of your body to sin 6:13
24. Sin shall not be master over you 6:14
25. Shall we sin? No 6:15
26. A slave of sin results in death 6:16
27. Were slaves of sin 6:17, 20
28. Freed from sin 6:18
29. Wages of sin is death 6:23
30. The Law arouses sinful passions 7:5
31. Is the Law sin? No. 7:7
32. Sin produced coveting 7:8
33. When sin is alive, I die 7:9
34. Sin deceives 7:11
35. Sin causes death 7:13
36. Sin is bondage 7:14
37. Sin is indwelling 7:17
38. Sin causes one to do things they do not want to do. 7:20
39. law of sin 7:23
40. Flesh serves the law of sin. 7:25
41. law of sin and of death 8:2
42. Sin condemned by Jesus 8:3
43. Body dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive 8:10
44. Sins taken away in the (new) covenant 11:27
45. Not from faith is sin. 14:23

Paul discusses sin from the Hebrew bible
1. The character of sin 9-12
Job 14:4; 15:14; 15:16; 25:4; Psa 14:1-3

2. The conduct of sin 13-17
a. In word 13-14
b. In works 15-17

3. The contemptuousness of sin 18


Verses 19-20 What the Law can and can not do
  1. What it can’t do
  1. Pardon or save
  2. Justify or make righteous
  3. Provide merit for man, or give him salvation
  4. Not heal and provide a remedy for sin
  5. Not justify because of its nature

  1. What it can do
  1. Stop the mouths of unrighteous, sinful men.
  2. Bring all the world under condemnation
  3. Reveal the knowledge of sin (cf. Gal 3:19) Rom 7:7,13
  4. Reveal the need for a savior (Rom 10:4; Gal 3:10)

Note: Man is not justified by deeds of the law
Job 25:4; Psa 130:3; 143:2; Acts 13:39; Gal 2:16; 3:11; 5:4; Eph 2:8f; Tit 3:5; Jas 2:10

Righteousness reckoned through faith Isa 51:2; Matt 3:9; Jn 8:33f; 2 Cor 11:22
Outlined
How 1-8
Who 9-12
Why 13-17a
When 17b-25

By way of illustration


The best way to understand the doctrine of the wrath of God is to consider the alternatives. The alternative is not love; since rightly considered love and wrath are only the obverse and reverse of the same thing ... the alternative to wrath is neutrality-neutrality in the conflict of the world ... to live in such a world would be a nightmare. It is only the doctrine of the wrath of God, of his irreconcilable hostility to all evil, which makes human life tolerable in such a world as ours.
Stephen Neill

One notable Bible expositor explained the Wrath of God like this:
Surely this phrase: "The Wrath of God" is greatly misunderstood. Many think invariably of some sort of peeved deity -- a kind of cosmic-terrible tempered Mr. Bang who indulges in violent uncontrolled displays of temper when human beings do not do what they ought to do. But such a concept only reveals the limitations of our understanding.
The Bible never deals with the Wrath of God that way. According to the scriptures, the Wrath of God is God's moral integrity. When man refuses to yield himself to God, he creates certain conditions not only for himself but for others as well which God has ordained for harm. It is God who makes evil result in sorrow, heartache, injustice and despair. It is God's way of saying to man, "Look, you must face the truth: You were made for Me. If you decide that you don't want Me, then you will have to bear the consequences." The absence of God is destructive to human life. That absence is God's Wrath and God cannot withhold it. In His moral integrity, He insists that these things should occur as a result of our disobedience. He sets man's sin and His Wrath in the same frame.

Justification means "just-as-if-I-never-sinned."

To say that God justifies the ungodly means quite simply that God in his amazing love treats the sinner as if he was a good man. Again, to put it very simply, God loves us, not for anything that we are, but for what he is.
William Barclay (1907-1978)


Always do right. This will gratify most people, and astonish the rest.
Mark Twain

Sin in Romans

Sin’s knowledge


1. Through the Law 3:20; 7:7
2. Reveals the extent of sin 7:13
3. Through the flesh, not the mind 7:25

Sin’s Scope: ALL 3:9; 3:23; 5:12f.

Sin’s Cause


1. Disobedience 5:19
2. Aroused by the Law 7:5
3. Not of Faith 14:23

Sin’s choice


1. Do not let sin reign 6:12
2. Do not present yourself to sin 6:13
3. Sin because of grace? 6:15

Sin’s result


1. W/O Law – perish 2:12
2. With Law – Judgment 2:12
3. Judgment 3:7
4. Slavery 6:17
5. Death 5:21; 6:16; 6:23; 7:9
6. Coveting 7:8
7. Deception 7:11
8. Bondage 7:14
9. Dead body 8:10

Sin’s defeat


1. Sin is not your master 6:14
2. Through the law of the Spirit of life 8:2
3. God takes away sin 11:27
4. Alive to God 6:1-2; 6:11
5. Blessedness 4:7-8
6. Body of sin done away with 6:6
7. Freedom from sin 6:7, 18
8. through one payment 6:10
9. Demonstrated love 5:8
Righteousness

God


1. Is Righteous Psa 11:7; 116:5; 145:17; Ezra
9:15a; Psa 119:142
2. Loves righteousness Psa 33:5
3. Does Righteousness Gen 18:25
4. Is the standard for.. Isa 28:17

Christ


1. Our righteousness 1 Cor 1:30; Rom 3:22
2. We become the …. 2 Cor 5:21
3. Is Righteous 1 Jn 2:1

Our Righteousness


1. By our standard Dt 12:8; Judges 17:6; 21:25
2. Jesus’ parable Lk 16:15; 18:9
3. Can we be righteous? Job 4:17; 9:2; 15:14; 25:4-6
4. Jews – by works Rom 10:3; 9:30-32
5. Must exceed Pharisees Matt 5:20
6. Not of the Law Phil 3:9

From Rom 3:21-26


a. Manifested v21a Rom1:16-17; Rom5: 19,21; 16:25-
26; 2Tim 1:8-10

b. Witnessed v21b Gen 15:6; Isa 45:20-25

c. Attained v22 1Cor 1:30; Phil 3:9; 2Pet 1:1;
Ro2:10-13; Ac 10:34f

d. Needed v23 1Jn 1:8-10; Rom 3:9-19; Gal 3:21f.;
Eccl 7:20

e. Provided v24 Rom 8:28-30; Titus 3:5-7; 2:11-14;
1Cor 1:30

f. Declared v25 1Pet 1:18f.; 2Tim 1:9; Acts 20:28;
1Pet 1:2; Jn1:29; Heb 9:11-17

g. Satisfied v26 1Jn 1:9; Zech 9:9; Rev15:3; Rom
8:23; Isa 53:5
1 Wrongdoing reveals God… Why does God judge?


2 God must judge… because HE is just
See Gal 3:15; Rom 6:19; 1 Cor 9:8


3 The more one sins, the more God is glorified????

4 Antinominism

5 Verses 10-18 are a gnome, a chara, a “string of perarls” See 9:28; psa 139:1-4; Isa 59:7-8; psa 35:21 LXX

6 See also Lev 17:11; Dt 12:23; Heb 9:11-14; Eph 1:7-8; Acts 20:28; 1 Pet 1:18-19

7 The Law
  1. The Law of Moses (Pentateuch) --- Jesus fulfilled
  2. All the Old testament --- Promises fulfilled
  3. The moral law --- Fulfilled in xs (via H.S.)

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)