| Romans! |
 |
| |
 |
| Chapter Three |
Paul asks, in the light of what he has been discussing, What
advantage or greater excellence do the Jews have? In other
words, what is the profit or usefulness of the Jewish nation?
1 What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of
circumcision?
A great excellence and usefulness, advantage and profit come
from the Jews. The main excellence was the utterances of God
that were entrusted to them. Look in the Torah written by
Moses and you will constantly see references that begin with
"And God said...” These were the oracles of God. Without
the Torah, which was entrusted to and kept by the Jews, we
would be at a lost as to how to live our lives, as God intended.
This endeavor became their religion.
Paul was telling the Romans that the law that they must keep
in the spirit, as expounded by the Messiah in the New
Testament, was of the utmost importance. The Romans could
build on that foundation while the Jews who had the foundation
and had rejected the Chief Corner Stone, Joshua, the Messiah
- would not build on it.
2 Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the
oracles of God.
Paul continues, Will the fact that the Jews, who for a time, did
not believe the promise of God (concerning the Messiah) make
God unfaithful? Impossible! God is true to His promises even
if every man is unfaithful. The word <some> can be translated
as <some time>. It is obvious that the majority of the Jews did
not believe in the promises, for the majority of the nation
rejected the Messiah. So, the translation seems better that for
a period of time they have not believed. They will ultimately
believe and be brought to salvation. The unfaithfulness of the
Jews in this matter of accepting the means of faith made
available by God though the Messiah did not cause God to
reject His plan of salvation for mankind.
At this point, Paul uses Ps 51:4 which explains that our sin is
against God and He is justified in His pronouncements of our
judgment (specifically the Jews' judgment – in context) and
right to make His pronouncements on them (or us). The KJV
words the phrase, "when thou art judged" as though a man is
being referred to. The words "art judged" come from one
Greek word, which has many ways of being translated. When
we go back to the scripture that Paul takes this from, we can
see that God is the One who is referred to with this “saying”.
This fits better with the statement, "Let God be true, but
every man a liar." The "as it is written," phrase is given to
prove Paul's point.
God's decisive action of sending His Son into the world for
man's justification was not based on what the Jews had done or
not done in relationship to the law, which they had been given.
Nor was it because of their non-belief of the promise of the
Messiah, rather, it was because God was keeping His promise
made from the foundation of the world. The experiment in the
wilderness was not being improved upon because a flaw had
been found. Rather, that experiment was done - knowing the
end results in advance, for our admonition upon whom the ends
of the world have come, that we might understand that it has
already been shown that man cannot keep the law on his own.
That we might understand that the best possible system that
could be devised in a physical form, as was the temple worship,
was of no avail without the blood of the Messiah. Therefore,
God was right in this decision regardless of man's actions.
Ps 51:4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy
sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear
when thou judgest.
3 For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith
of God without effect?
4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is
written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest
overcome when thou art judged. [or, “when you judge”, referring to
God’s judgment]
But, if our unrighteousness (not accepting the Messiah), as
Jews, establishes the righteousness of God - by faith in the
justification made possible by the Messiah, would we then say
that God is unrighteous by taking vengeance on the Jews?
(This is a rhetorical question that could be put forth by man, for
God can do no wrong).
In other words, if the faith of God was made possible because
the Jews rejected the Messiah, Is God right in casting away
the Jews and opening the way of salvation to the Gentiles -
seeing that salvation came because of their unrighteousness of
rejection? This is a rhetorical question made from a fictitious
non-believing Jew in a rhetorical debate created by Paul here
for the purpose of explaining possible questions that might be
brought up by the Romans.
5 But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what
shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a
man)
Never! If God is unjust to the Jews, He would be unfit to
judge the Gentiles. The word <world> is a synonym for those
on the outside of the Jewish religion, in this case, the Gentile
Romans to whom Paul is writing.
6 God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world?
For, if the faithfulness of God (to His promises) has been made
possible because of my unfaithfulness (in not believing those
promises and rejecting the Messiah) - why am I still judged as a
sinner?
This is another rhetorical question used to explain the situation
of the Jew who has been the result of salvation being made
possible to the Gentile and yet finding himself in a worse
position for having done so! It just doesn't seem right to this
fictitious Jew, whom Paul is projecting, that having been the
means whereby salvation is made possible that he should be the
recipient of the status of an outsider.
Of course, the Jews could care less. Paul is explaining this for
the benefit of the Gentiles of Rome as a means of explaining
how the Jew could be left behind for the time being, while they
are brought to the front of the line so far as the acceptance of
the favor of God was concerned.
The question from the Gentile side would be, If we are to obey
the law given to the Jews, and we are to believe in the Messiah
who came through the Jews: How do you explain the situation
where the Jews do not believe in the Messiah? Why are they
not receiving salvation even though they are promoting the law
of God and were the means by which the Son of God came into
the world, and the means, which made him the Savior of the
world? These must have been very serious questions for the
Romans. How did they explain to their fellow Romans that
they should keep the law and believe in the Messiah of the
Jews when the Jews did a poor job of keeping those laws and
definitely did not believe in the Messiah? Paul is giving them
information that would have equipped them to spread the
gospel with boldness.
7 For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his
glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner?
Paul says, This is like saying, "Let us do evil, that good may
come!" Whose damnation is just. James Moffatt translates
this last statement as, "Such arguments are rightly
condemned."
In other words, Paul is using the structure of an argument
between a Jew who did not believe, and himself. Paul is
forming both sides of the argument and answering the
rhetorical questions of the non-believing Jew. The non-
believing Jew in verse 7 wanted to know why he was being
framed as an outsider if so much good had come from his
rejection of the Messiah. Paul is saying in verse 8 That this is
like saying, “Let us do evil that good may come!” He says
further, such questions have their answer within them. One
should never do evil to bring about good. The justification
made possible by the Messiah and through the Jews was not to
promote evil! The opposite is the case. Justification is
rendered in order to promote a son of God who is living in
accordance with the law of God to the best of his ability. Of
course, he is living the law with the help of the holy spirit, given
to strengthen him. And the holy spirit makes possible
understanding the law as well as keeping it.
Now, Paul further states that he has been accused of teaching
that one should follow just such a principle as suggested by this
rhetorical question. What Paul is saying here is that he is not
teaching a grace-without-law doctrine of salvation! Paul did
not teach that the more we sin the better it would be because
that gave God a chance to show His grace toward us. Here we
have from the lips of Paul, himself, that salvation is not by
grace alone.
8 And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm
that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation is
just.
Are we Jews better than the Gentiles are because of our
advantages? Not at all: for as we have already proved, both
the Jews and the Gentiles are <all> under or <of> sin. Paul is
not contradicting himself in connection with the advantage of
the Jew based on the entrustment of the law - for their keeping
of it and passing it on to the world. However, here he is saying
so far as salvation is concerned all are sinners and must be
justified by the blood of the Messiah through His intercession
as our High Priest.
Now that the Gentiles had the Torah, they could go on to
perfection without the Jew. In many cases, the structure of the
Jewish religion was a stumbling block to even the Jews. In 70
AD, God allowed the temple to be destroyed and the Jews
scattered in order to show that their structure was useless and
void in God's sight.
If the Jews could have accepted the Messiah and made the
proper transition from faith in justification based on animal
sacrifices to faith in justification based on the sacrifice of the
Messiah, they would have had the best of both worlds. For
then a whole nation would have been worshipping God, as they
should. But the system was counter-productive to the
transition and had to be destroyed. At the time of the writing
of Romans, the system was still alive in Judah.
This verse ends the "argument" created by Paul to explain the
difference in the relationship of the Jew and the Gentile to
God. Paul now continues to prove his point that all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God and are in need of
justification through the Messiah by using various scriptures of
the Jews.
9 What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have
before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;
In the verse below, Paul is referring to Ps 14:1-3 No one is
righteous before God without His justification. No one can
correctly understand or seek after God without His drawing
and holy spirit. Man's way is to stray from the path of
righteousness. Man's ways lead to vanity for they have no
value apart from God. None who follows man's ways does
good, not even one!
Ps 14:1 <<To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.>> The fool hath
said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done
abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Ps 14:2 The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men,
to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.
Ps 14:3 They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy:
there is none that doeth good, no, not one. {filthy: Heb. stinking}
10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after
God.
12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become
unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Parts of the following verse seems to have been taken from Ps
5:9 and Ps 140:3. Mankind's throat is an open grave, ready to
swallow up those who get in his way. Mankind uses his tongue
to spread deceit through his flattery. Mankind is ready to kill
with the poison of his tongue.
Ps 140:3 They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adders'
poison is under their lips. Selah.
Ps 5:9 For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is
very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with
their tongue. {faithfulness: or, stedfastness} {their mouth: Heb. his
mouth, that is, the mouth of any of them} {very...: Heb. wickednesses}
13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used
deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
Verse 14 must have been taken from Ps 10:7. Paul is painting
a picture of what man really is made of, based on the scriptures
of the Jews.
Ps 10:7 His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his
tongue is mischief and vanity. {deceit: Heb. deceits} {vanity: or,
iniquity}
14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:
Pr 1:16 For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.
15 Their feet are swift to shed blood:
Isa 59:7 Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent
blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction
are in their paths. {destruction: Heb. breaking}
16 Destruction and misery are in their ways:
Isa 59:8 The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in
their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth
therein shall not know peace. {judgment: or, right}
17 And the way of peace have they not known:
1 <<To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David the servant of the LORD.
>> The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is
no fear of God before his eyes.
18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.
The Jews were in an advantageous position so far as the
knowledge of God's law, but they could not take advantage of
this position because their structure was so polarized with the
type, that they could not believe in the Reality, so far as the
justification of sins was concerned. Their polarization made
possible the Messiah for all of humanity, but at the same time it
made it impossible for them to accept Him. The irony of this
situation was that those who made salvation possible could not
themselves partake of that salvation, - for the time being.
Paul is bantering this argument back and forth to make clear to
the Romans why salvation is of the Jews and yet the Jews were
not themselves partakers of salvation at that time.
The conclusion was that although the Jews had the advantage
of having the knowledge of the law, yet they were no better
than the Romans for all have sinned and come short of the
glory of God. And, sin is not justified because one has
knowledge of the law. The Romans, to whom Paul was writing,
had accepted the only means of justification from sin available
while the Jews had rejected it.
Paul referred to several of the Old Testament Scriptures of the
Jews to show that all have sinned and God alone is perfect.
Therefore, justification is of the utmost importance and cannot
be ignored.
As you can see, the scholars can easily corrupt Romans
because of its depth and nature of rhetorical debate carried on
by one person, as in this part of the book. On the other hand,
the common man gets lost easily because of the need to think
deeply about what is being said. And the scholars, whom he
relies on to be truthful, mislead him.
Paul begins verse 19 by showing that what the law says, it says
to those who are under that law. And in the case of God's law,
the whole world is under that law. Therefore, the entire world
is subject to the judgment of God, based on His law.
19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them
who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the
world may become guilty before God. {guilty...: or, subject to the
judgment of God}
Paul further shows that no one is justified because he keeps the
law, for that is not the purpose of the law. The law is given for
the purpose of giving man the knowledge of what sin is. Once
man has incurred the penalty of the law there must be another
means of bringing him back into right standing with God, and
that process is called justification - a totally separate act of
God. For as the law was given by God as the standard by
which man must live in order to be happy, so God gave a means
of justification to bring man back into His loving kindness when
man goes astray from that law.
20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in
his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
This justification, which makes possible a return to God's
righteousness is without or separate from the law and has been
made known by the life, death, and resurrection of the
Messiah. And this was witnessed, or foretold by the
ceremonies or sacrifices of the law and the prophecies of the
prophets.
Paul is in no way saying here that God has annulled His own
law and is giving us righteousness so we can ignore the law of
God in the future of our lives. Rather, God has established a
separate way of bringing us back into His own righteousness
when we stray from the law, so we can renew our efforts to
live righteously with confidence because our sins have been
wiped away. And this righteousness that we continue to live by
is according to the law of God! The law is still our standard.
The standard has not and will not be changed. There is nothing
wrong with the standard! The problem is with man who tends
to stray from the standard. Therefore, he must be justified or
brought back into line with the standard.
21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested,
being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
The means by which God made possible justification was by
faith in Joshua, the Messiah. We can read of how this all came
about in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Through the Messiah's blood, we are brought back to the
righteousness of God based on His standard, which is the law.
This justification is for everyone both Jew and Greek, as there
is no difference in them as far as sin is concerned - seeing that
all have sinned and come short of the glory or perfection of
God.
The phrase, "by faith <of> Jesus" as translated by the KJV is
misleading. The NKJV corrects that to, "by faith <in> Jesus."
In other words, we have to believe that Joshua, the Messiah
died to wipe away our sins of transgressing the law. Then we
are justified, or brought back into a proper relationship with
the law, which in turn brings us back into a proper relationship
with God. For when we are out of sync with God's law, we are
out of sync with God.
22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto
all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
This justification is given freely as there is nothing we can
offer that will suffice. Breaking the law demands our life.
Therefore, we have nothing short of death that will compensate
for our sins. This would result in the loss of all mankind, as all
have sinned. God brought man into the world for creating
sons; therefore, He will not allow this to happen. So, God has
made a way of escape from the penalty of sin. That way is by
being redeemed, delivered, liberated (a payment of ransom)
through the kindness of God by sending His only begotten Son
into the world that we might be saved or rescued from the
result of our sins – eternal death. God's Son was the Messiah,
who was called Yahshua (Joshua). He died for our sins and was
resurrected to sit as the High Priest and mediator between the
Father and us.
24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in
Christ Jesus:
Now, this Yahshua (Joshua) was set forth to be the propitiation
or the One who made possible peace between God and man.
The setting forth was done on the afternoon of the 14th of
Nisan, 30 AD when the Messiah was hung on the tree. We had
gone astray from the demands of the law, thereby creating an
unacceptable condition between God and us. We were in
rebellion to God's standard. There was nothing we could offer
in exchange for our sins, short of our very lives. We were cut
off from God and without hope, for God will not compromise
with His law. But, when we have faith in the blood of God's
Son, we have made peace with God and are no longer alienated
from Him. Our past sins are wiped away and we are now in
good standing with God.
For, the righteousness of the Messiah is accepted for the
remission or disregarding or passing over of <sins that are
past>. This is made possible because God is willing to refrain
from exacting a penalty once the blood of Yahshua (Joshua)
covers the sin. This is of course, based on God's own decision
from the foundation of the world. Knowing that man would
probably sin after his creation, God devised a way that would
make possible reconciliation in order to make His creation of
man profitable. Therefore, as God is true to His word, the
sacrifice of the Messiah is totally acceptable to Him as a
redemptive price for man's sins - if we believe in that sacrifice
and go to God and ask forgiveness in the name of His Son.
There is something we should notice here that is very
important. The remission of sins is for those sins that are past.
God does not forgive us individually for future sins before they
are committed. A sin is not a sin until it is accomplished. The
blood of the Messiah is not <administered> for future sins. We
can't go to God and pray, "Father, I know that I am going to
sin for the rest of my life, therefore, I want you to go ahead
and cover my sins with the blood of your Son's sacrifice so I
don't have to come and ask for this forgiveness every day."
No way! The sacrifice of the Messiah was made to cover the
sins of the world as they occurred, but the application in the life
of an individual is based on past sins, not future sins.
In the prayer outline that the Messiah gave to His disciples, He
shows that we are to pray to God <daily>. Give us <this day>
our daily bread. And forgive us <this day - (implied)> our debts
of sin, as we forgive others who have sinned against us. A debt
is not a debt until it is incurred. One does not go to the grocer
and ask how much he owes for groceries he has not yet
purchased! Daily we ask for forgiveness of our sins that are
past. And we are forgiven if we ask for this forgiveness in the
name of Joshua, the Messiah because God recognizes His
blood as a peace offering given, on behalf of man. (See the
article on Sacrifices and Offerings for a fuller explanation).
Mat 6:11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his
blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are
past, through the forbearance of God; {set forth: or, foreordained}
So, God had demonstrated, declared, and proven, His own
righteousness, through the gift of His Son, at this particular
time in history: that He might be righteous, and at the same
time make possible the righteousness of those who believe in
His Son, Joshua as well.
As we see, the time had come when the Reality of justification
was to be sent into the world. God would not sacrifice His own
righteousness, but through the Reality of justification, God
would bring man back into a righteous state. This was made
possible by God's gift to mankind of the Messiah, Who was
willing to empty Himself and become a man and die on the tree
that we might live forever, through a continual and abiding
faith in Him.
26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be
just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
So, it is not valid on our part to be proud. Here Paul is
speaking of the Jews who were proud of their heritage. Such
pride is not to be involved. By what law does this justification
come? By what works does this justification come? It does
not. For justification is by the law of faith. Once we have
sinned, the law is of no more help. We have met our
Waterloo! The only remedy is the blood of the Messiah.
Paul is showing here that neither the law of God given to the
Jews, Nor the <works> of justification given to the Jews (their
temple worship), were adequate to justify them. There is only
one remedy - once we have sinned.
27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works?
Nay: but by the law of faith.
The conclusion that Paul came to and that everyone must come
to is that we can be justified or brought back into a right
relationship with God only by faith in the sacrifice of the
Messiah. The works of the law, or the justification means of
the Old Covenant are not adequate. The word <deeds> here is
the same word used in the previous verse and translated as
<works>. However, even the keeping of the law which is a
different thing to the "works of the law" will not justify a man
once he has strayed from the righteousness of the standard of
God's law.
28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the
deeds of the law.
Is God only the God of the Jews, or is He not also the God of
the Gentiles? God created all men, both Jew and Gentile.
God wants all to eventually come to repentance and be saved.
Therefore, God is also the God of the Gentiles.
29 Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes,
of the Gentiles also:
God is the same God of both the Jew and the Gentile, Who
justifies the Jew by faith and Who justifies the Gentile through
faith. Both the Jew and the Gentile must be reconciled back to
God by and through the means of faith in the Messiah. There
is only one God! There is only one law! There is only one
standard! There is only one justification! There is only one
Messiah! There is neither Jew nor Greek so far as the
justification of God is concerned. The process is the same for
either.
30 Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith,
and uncircumcision through faith.
Realizing that some may have gotten the wrong understanding
about this subject of justification in relationship to the law,
Paul concludes this section with a strong statement to show
that justification does not cancel out the law. Indeed, if we
have been paying attention to what Paul has been saying, we
will have seen that justification was made necessary because
God will not compromise with His law or with any man who sins
and thereby "breaks" His law.
This is such an important point that I have copied below the
definition of the word <void> and <establish> so we can see the
full intent and meaning of what Paul is saying.
The law is the <standard> that God has laid down for man.
Because God would not compromise with that standard for
man, it was absolutely necessary that some means of
justification be made to bring man back into a right standing
with God when man deviated from that standard. The means
of that justification was faith in the sacrifice of the Messiah.
So Paul concludes that the very reason for the life, death,
resurrection and sitting as High Priest of the Messiah for us is
in order to establish the law! This word <establish> should also
be studied to see the full impact of what Paul is saying here.
To establish the law is to cause the law to become a fixed
standard; to uphold or sustain the authority or force of the law;
justification was to bring a balance between man and the law so
the law could continue as the sound standard between God and
man.
31 Do we then make void (2673) the law through faith? God forbid:
yea, we establish (2476) the law.
*****************************************************
2673 katargew katargeo kat-arg-eh'-o
from 2596 and 691; TDNT - 1:452,76; v
AV - destroy 5, do away 3, abolish 3, cumber 1, loose 1, cease
1, fall 1, deliver 1, misc 11; 27
1) to render idle, unemployed, inactivate, inoperative
1a) to cause a person or thing to have no further efficiency
1b) to deprive of force, influence, power
2) to cause to cease, put an end to, do away with, annul, abolish
2a) to cease, to pass away, be done away
2b) to be severed from, separated from, discharged from,
loosed from any one
2c) to terminate all intercourse with one
*****************************************************
2476 isthmi histemi his'-tay-mee
a prolonged form of a primary staw stao stah'-o (of the same
meaning, and used for it in certain tenses); TDNT-7:638,1082; v
AV-stand 116, set 11, establish 5, stand still 4, stand by 3, misc
17, vr stand 2; 158
1) to cause or make to stand, to place, put, set
1a) to bid to stand by, [set up]
1a1) in the presence of others, in the midst, before judges,
before members of the Sanhedrin;
1a2) to place
1b) to make firm, fix establish
1b1) to cause a person or a thing to keep his or its place
1b2) to stand, be kept intact (of family, a kingdom), to escape
in safety
1b3) to establish a thing, cause it to stand 1b31) to uphold or
sustain the authority or force of anything
1c) to set or place in a balance
1c1) to weigh: money to one (because in very early times
before the introduction of coinage, the metals used to be
weighed)
2) to stand
2a) to stand by or near
2a1) to stop, stand still, to stand immovable, stand firm
2a1a) of the foundation of a building
2b) to stand
2b1) continue safe and sound, stand unharmed, to stand ready
or prepared
2b2) to be of a steadfast mind
2b3) of quality, one who does not hesitate, does not waiver
*****************************************************
Paul taught that the law was God's standard for man and that
God would not compromise with that standard. In order to
bring man back into a righteous standing with God when man
deviated from that law, the Messiah was sent into the world to
become the sacrifice for man. After this justification for man's
past sins, there could be a positive relationship with God once
again as man continued to work toward keeping the standard
which God had set up for him.
The whole purpose for man to be on the earth is to learn to live
according to the standard of God. Without that purpose, man
is futile, worthless, of no good to God. So, Paul taught that the
very purpose of justification being made possible was so that
the law could be established as the standard for man that it was
meant to be from the beginning. Once broken, the rest of
man's life was worthless. There needed to be a way so the
process could be repeated over and over to give man a chance
to get better on his side of the equation.
Think what would happen if one had only one chance at weight
lifting in order to improve his muscles. Once he failed to lift
the bar, he would have to live the rest of his life realizing that
if he had not made that one mistake, he could have gone on to
greater and greater heights. So, it was with the law of God.
Because of the unique relationship between God and man,
there was no second chance to do better. Justification through
the Son was a way to give man a repeated chance to do better.
Man can therefore become a product useable by God as a
result, whereas he could not before.
God is the Potter, we are the clay. God has chosen to make
possible this continual ebb and flow so that man will become
what God has purposed for him.
Through exercising our senses to do good according to the
standard, we constantly come closer to the perfection that God
expects of us. Of course, the holy spirit is a part of that
equation that has to be included for success.
To see the whole picture, we must have justification on the one
hand, as made possible by the Messiah. However, the other
part of the picture is the covenant of God made with man. The
covenant says that man must live by the standard of God, the
law; and that God will give us His holy spirit, to help us do this.
Our part is to work toward keeping the standard - God's law.
The holy spirit, which is essence of God's mind, is given as
God's part to help us to want to keep that standard and to help
us to keep that standard. If we lived that standard with God's
help, we would be given eternal life as a son of God as our
reward for keeping the standard.
But, there still had to be a way to renew the covenant with man
once he had broken covenant with God. Remember that man's
part was to live by the standard that God had set for man.
Once we break that standard, we have broken the covenant
between God and us. That is why God sent His Son into the
world to die for us. Through the Messiah we can be reconciled
to God and the covenant is no longer in contention,
controversy, or debate.
When we sin, the covenant has become embroiled in jeopardy.
We are at that point ready to be hauled before the court and
charged for having broken our promises to God. We must go
before God and make amends by asking that the blood of the
Messiah be applied. Then the proceedings are stopped against
us. This is done on a daily basis when we come into the holy of
holies and ask forgiveness for our sins in the name of the One,
who made justification possible.
Mt 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven
is perfect.
Mt 5:25 Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way
with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and
the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.
As the Messiah said, we are to become perfect as our Father
who is in heaven. If we stumble and fall in this endeavor, we
are to agree with God quickly. For when we sin against the
law, which is God's standard, God becomes our Adversary, and
our Judge. He will not compromise with His standards, so we
must seek reconciliation through our Justification, which is the
Messiah.
Home
Commentaries
Chapters:
One
Two
Three
Four
Four Continued
Five
Six
Seven
Seven Continued
Eight
Eight Continued
advantage or greater excellence do the Jews have? In other
words, what is the profit or usefulness of the Jewish nation?
1 What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of
circumcision?
A great excellence and usefulness, advantage and profit come
from the Jews. The main excellence was the utterances of God
that were entrusted to them. Look in the Torah written by
Moses and you will constantly see references that begin with
"And God said...” These were the oracles of God. Without
the Torah, which was entrusted to and kept by the Jews, we
would be at a lost as to how to live our lives, as God intended.
This endeavor became their religion.
Paul was telling the Romans that the law that they must keep
in the spirit, as expounded by the Messiah in the New
Testament, was of the utmost importance. The Romans could
build on that foundation while the Jews who had the foundation
and had rejected the Chief Corner Stone, Joshua, the Messiah
- would not build on it.
2 Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the
oracles of God.
Paul continues, Will the fact that the Jews, who for a time, did
not believe the promise of God (concerning the Messiah) make
God unfaithful? Impossible! God is true to His promises even
if every man is unfaithful. The word <some> can be translated
as <some time>. It is obvious that the majority of the Jews did
not believe in the promises, for the majority of the nation
rejected the Messiah. So, the translation seems better that for
a period of time they have not believed. They will ultimately
believe and be brought to salvation. The unfaithfulness of the
Jews in this matter of accepting the means of faith made
available by God though the Messiah did not cause God to
reject His plan of salvation for mankind.
At this point, Paul uses Ps 51:4 which explains that our sin is
against God and He is justified in His pronouncements of our
judgment (specifically the Jews' judgment – in context) and
right to make His pronouncements on them (or us). The KJV
words the phrase, "when thou art judged" as though a man is
being referred to. The words "art judged" come from one
Greek word, which has many ways of being translated. When
we go back to the scripture that Paul takes this from, we can
see that God is the One who is referred to with this “saying”.
This fits better with the statement, "Let God be true, but
every man a liar." The "as it is written," phrase is given to
prove Paul's point.
God's decisive action of sending His Son into the world for
man's justification was not based on what the Jews had done or
not done in relationship to the law, which they had been given.
Nor was it because of their non-belief of the promise of the
Messiah, rather, it was because God was keeping His promise
made from the foundation of the world. The experiment in the
wilderness was not being improved upon because a flaw had
been found. Rather, that experiment was done - knowing the
end results in advance, for our admonition upon whom the ends
of the world have come, that we might understand that it has
already been shown that man cannot keep the law on his own.
That we might understand that the best possible system that
could be devised in a physical form, as was the temple worship,
was of no avail without the blood of the Messiah. Therefore,
God was right in this decision regardless of man's actions.
Ps 51:4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy
sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear
when thou judgest.
3 For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith
of God without effect?
4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is
written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest
overcome when thou art judged. [or, “when you judge”, referring to
God’s judgment]
But, if our unrighteousness (not accepting the Messiah), as
Jews, establishes the righteousness of God - by faith in the
justification made possible by the Messiah, would we then say
that God is unrighteous by taking vengeance on the Jews?
(This is a rhetorical question that could be put forth by man, for
God can do no wrong).
In other words, if the faith of God was made possible because
the Jews rejected the Messiah, Is God right in casting away
the Jews and opening the way of salvation to the Gentiles -
seeing that salvation came because of their unrighteousness of
rejection? This is a rhetorical question made from a fictitious
non-believing Jew in a rhetorical debate created by Paul here
for the purpose of explaining possible questions that might be
brought up by the Romans.
5 But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what
shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a
man)
Never! If God is unjust to the Jews, He would be unfit to
judge the Gentiles. The word <world> is a synonym for those
on the outside of the Jewish religion, in this case, the Gentile
Romans to whom Paul is writing.
6 God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world?
For, if the faithfulness of God (to His promises) has been made
possible because of my unfaithfulness (in not believing those
promises and rejecting the Messiah) - why am I still judged as a
sinner?
This is another rhetorical question used to explain the situation
of the Jew who has been the result of salvation being made
possible to the Gentile and yet finding himself in a worse
position for having done so! It just doesn't seem right to this
fictitious Jew, whom Paul is projecting, that having been the
means whereby salvation is made possible that he should be the
recipient of the status of an outsider.
Of course, the Jews could care less. Paul is explaining this for
the benefit of the Gentiles of Rome as a means of explaining
how the Jew could be left behind for the time being, while they
are brought to the front of the line so far as the acceptance of
the favor of God was concerned.
The question from the Gentile side would be, If we are to obey
the law given to the Jews, and we are to believe in the Messiah
who came through the Jews: How do you explain the situation
where the Jews do not believe in the Messiah? Why are they
not receiving salvation even though they are promoting the law
of God and were the means by which the Son of God came into
the world, and the means, which made him the Savior of the
world? These must have been very serious questions for the
Romans. How did they explain to their fellow Romans that
they should keep the law and believe in the Messiah of the
Jews when the Jews did a poor job of keeping those laws and
definitely did not believe in the Messiah? Paul is giving them
information that would have equipped them to spread the
gospel with boldness.
7 For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his
glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner?
Paul says, This is like saying, "Let us do evil, that good may
come!" Whose damnation is just. James Moffatt translates
this last statement as, "Such arguments are rightly
condemned."
In other words, Paul is using the structure of an argument
between a Jew who did not believe, and himself. Paul is
forming both sides of the argument and answering the
rhetorical questions of the non-believing Jew. The non-
believing Jew in verse 7 wanted to know why he was being
framed as an outsider if so much good had come from his
rejection of the Messiah. Paul is saying in verse 8 That this is
like saying, “Let us do evil that good may come!” He says
further, such questions have their answer within them. One
should never do evil to bring about good. The justification
made possible by the Messiah and through the Jews was not to
promote evil! The opposite is the case. Justification is
rendered in order to promote a son of God who is living in
accordance with the law of God to the best of his ability. Of
course, he is living the law with the help of the holy spirit, given
to strengthen him. And the holy spirit makes possible
understanding the law as well as keeping it.
Now, Paul further states that he has been accused of teaching
that one should follow just such a principle as suggested by this
rhetorical question. What Paul is saying here is that he is not
teaching a grace-without-law doctrine of salvation! Paul did
not teach that the more we sin the better it would be because
that gave God a chance to show His grace toward us. Here we
have from the lips of Paul, himself, that salvation is not by
grace alone.
8 And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm
that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation is
just.
Are we Jews better than the Gentiles are because of our
advantages? Not at all: for as we have already proved, both
the Jews and the Gentiles are <all> under or <of> sin. Paul is
not contradicting himself in connection with the advantage of
the Jew based on the entrustment of the law - for their keeping
of it and passing it on to the world. However, here he is saying
so far as salvation is concerned all are sinners and must be
justified by the blood of the Messiah through His intercession
as our High Priest.
Now that the Gentiles had the Torah, they could go on to
perfection without the Jew. In many cases, the structure of the
Jewish religion was a stumbling block to even the Jews. In 70
AD, God allowed the temple to be destroyed and the Jews
scattered in order to show that their structure was useless and
void in God's sight.
If the Jews could have accepted the Messiah and made the
proper transition from faith in justification based on animal
sacrifices to faith in justification based on the sacrifice of the
Messiah, they would have had the best of both worlds. For
then a whole nation would have been worshipping God, as they
should. But the system was counter-productive to the
transition and had to be destroyed. At the time of the writing
of Romans, the system was still alive in Judah.
This verse ends the "argument" created by Paul to explain the
difference in the relationship of the Jew and the Gentile to
God. Paul now continues to prove his point that all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God and are in need of
justification through the Messiah by using various scriptures of
the Jews.
9 What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have
before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;
In the verse below, Paul is referring to Ps 14:1-3 No one is
righteous before God without His justification. No one can
correctly understand or seek after God without His drawing
and holy spirit. Man's way is to stray from the path of
righteousness. Man's ways lead to vanity for they have no
value apart from God. None who follows man's ways does
good, not even one!
Ps 14:1 <<To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.>> The fool hath
said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done
abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Ps 14:2 The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men,
to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.
Ps 14:3 They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy:
there is none that doeth good, no, not one. {filthy: Heb. stinking}
10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after
God.
12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become
unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Parts of the following verse seems to have been taken from Ps
5:9 and Ps 140:3. Mankind's throat is an open grave, ready to
swallow up those who get in his way. Mankind uses his tongue
to spread deceit through his flattery. Mankind is ready to kill
with the poison of his tongue.
Ps 140:3 They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adders'
poison is under their lips. Selah.
Ps 5:9 For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is
very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with
their tongue. {faithfulness: or, stedfastness} {their mouth: Heb. his
mouth, that is, the mouth of any of them} {very...: Heb. wickednesses}
13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used
deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
Verse 14 must have been taken from Ps 10:7. Paul is painting
a picture of what man really is made of, based on the scriptures
of the Jews.
Ps 10:7 His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his
tongue is mischief and vanity. {deceit: Heb. deceits} {vanity: or,
iniquity}
14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:
Pr 1:16 For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.
15 Their feet are swift to shed blood:
Isa 59:7 Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent
blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction
are in their paths. {destruction: Heb. breaking}
16 Destruction and misery are in their ways:
Isa 59:8 The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in
their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth
therein shall not know peace. {judgment: or, right}
17 And the way of peace have they not known:
1 <<To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David the servant of the LORD.
>> The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is
no fear of God before his eyes.
18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.
The Jews were in an advantageous position so far as the
knowledge of God's law, but they could not take advantage of
this position because their structure was so polarized with the
type, that they could not believe in the Reality, so far as the
justification of sins was concerned. Their polarization made
possible the Messiah for all of humanity, but at the same time it
made it impossible for them to accept Him. The irony of this
situation was that those who made salvation possible could not
themselves partake of that salvation, - for the time being.
Paul is bantering this argument back and forth to make clear to
the Romans why salvation is of the Jews and yet the Jews were
not themselves partakers of salvation at that time.
The conclusion was that although the Jews had the advantage
of having the knowledge of the law, yet they were no better
than the Romans for all have sinned and come short of the
glory of God. And, sin is not justified because one has
knowledge of the law. The Romans, to whom Paul was writing,
had accepted the only means of justification from sin available
while the Jews had rejected it.
Paul referred to several of the Old Testament Scriptures of the
Jews to show that all have sinned and God alone is perfect.
Therefore, justification is of the utmost importance and cannot
be ignored.
As you can see, the scholars can easily corrupt Romans
because of its depth and nature of rhetorical debate carried on
by one person, as in this part of the book. On the other hand,
the common man gets lost easily because of the need to think
deeply about what is being said. And the scholars, whom he
relies on to be truthful, mislead him.
Paul begins verse 19 by showing that what the law says, it says
to those who are under that law. And in the case of God's law,
the whole world is under that law. Therefore, the entire world
is subject to the judgment of God, based on His law.
19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them
who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the
world may become guilty before God. {guilty...: or, subject to the
judgment of God}
Paul further shows that no one is justified because he keeps the
law, for that is not the purpose of the law. The law is given for
the purpose of giving man the knowledge of what sin is. Once
man has incurred the penalty of the law there must be another
means of bringing him back into right standing with God, and
that process is called justification - a totally separate act of
God. For as the law was given by God as the standard by
which man must live in order to be happy, so God gave a means
of justification to bring man back into His loving kindness when
man goes astray from that law.
20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in
his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
This justification, which makes possible a return to God's
righteousness is without or separate from the law and has been
made known by the life, death, and resurrection of the
Messiah. And this was witnessed, or foretold by the
ceremonies or sacrifices of the law and the prophecies of the
prophets.
Paul is in no way saying here that God has annulled His own
law and is giving us righteousness so we can ignore the law of
God in the future of our lives. Rather, God has established a
separate way of bringing us back into His own righteousness
when we stray from the law, so we can renew our efforts to
live righteously with confidence because our sins have been
wiped away. And this righteousness that we continue to live by
is according to the law of God! The law is still our standard.
The standard has not and will not be changed. There is nothing
wrong with the standard! The problem is with man who tends
to stray from the standard. Therefore, he must be justified or
brought back into line with the standard.
21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested,
being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
The means by which God made possible justification was by
faith in Joshua, the Messiah. We can read of how this all came
about in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Through the Messiah's blood, we are brought back to the
righteousness of God based on His standard, which is the law.
This justification is for everyone both Jew and Greek, as there
is no difference in them as far as sin is concerned - seeing that
all have sinned and come short of the glory or perfection of
God.
The phrase, "by faith <of> Jesus" as translated by the KJV is
misleading. The NKJV corrects that to, "by faith <in> Jesus."
In other words, we have to believe that Joshua, the Messiah
died to wipe away our sins of transgressing the law. Then we
are justified, or brought back into a proper relationship with
the law, which in turn brings us back into a proper relationship
with God. For when we are out of sync with God's law, we are
out of sync with God.
22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto
all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
This justification is given freely as there is nothing we can
offer that will suffice. Breaking the law demands our life.
Therefore, we have nothing short of death that will compensate
for our sins. This would result in the loss of all mankind, as all
have sinned. God brought man into the world for creating
sons; therefore, He will not allow this to happen. So, God has
made a way of escape from the penalty of sin. That way is by
being redeemed, delivered, liberated (a payment of ransom)
through the kindness of God by sending His only begotten Son
into the world that we might be saved or rescued from the
result of our sins – eternal death. God's Son was the Messiah,
who was called Yahshua (Joshua). He died for our sins and was
resurrected to sit as the High Priest and mediator between the
Father and us.
24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in
Christ Jesus:
Now, this Yahshua (Joshua) was set forth to be the propitiation
or the One who made possible peace between God and man.
The setting forth was done on the afternoon of the 14th of
Nisan, 30 AD when the Messiah was hung on the tree. We had
gone astray from the demands of the law, thereby creating an
unacceptable condition between God and us. We were in
rebellion to God's standard. There was nothing we could offer
in exchange for our sins, short of our very lives. We were cut
off from God and without hope, for God will not compromise
with His law. But, when we have faith in the blood of God's
Son, we have made peace with God and are no longer alienated
from Him. Our past sins are wiped away and we are now in
good standing with God.
For, the righteousness of the Messiah is accepted for the
remission or disregarding or passing over of <sins that are
past>. This is made possible because God is willing to refrain
from exacting a penalty once the blood of Yahshua (Joshua)
covers the sin. This is of course, based on God's own decision
from the foundation of the world. Knowing that man would
probably sin after his creation, God devised a way that would
make possible reconciliation in order to make His creation of
man profitable. Therefore, as God is true to His word, the
sacrifice of the Messiah is totally acceptable to Him as a
redemptive price for man's sins - if we believe in that sacrifice
and go to God and ask forgiveness in the name of His Son.
There is something we should notice here that is very
important. The remission of sins is for those sins that are past.
God does not forgive us individually for future sins before they
are committed. A sin is not a sin until it is accomplished. The
blood of the Messiah is not <administered> for future sins. We
can't go to God and pray, "Father, I know that I am going to
sin for the rest of my life, therefore, I want you to go ahead
and cover my sins with the blood of your Son's sacrifice so I
don't have to come and ask for this forgiveness every day."
No way! The sacrifice of the Messiah was made to cover the
sins of the world as they occurred, but the application in the life
of an individual is based on past sins, not future sins.
In the prayer outline that the Messiah gave to His disciples, He
shows that we are to pray to God <daily>. Give us <this day>
our daily bread. And forgive us <this day - (implied)> our debts
of sin, as we forgive others who have sinned against us. A debt
is not a debt until it is incurred. One does not go to the grocer
and ask how much he owes for groceries he has not yet
purchased! Daily we ask for forgiveness of our sins that are
past. And we are forgiven if we ask for this forgiveness in the
name of Joshua, the Messiah because God recognizes His
blood as a peace offering given, on behalf of man. (See the
article on Sacrifices and Offerings for a fuller explanation).
Mat 6:11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his
blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are
past, through the forbearance of God; {set forth: or, foreordained}
So, God had demonstrated, declared, and proven, His own
righteousness, through the gift of His Son, at this particular
time in history: that He might be righteous, and at the same
time make possible the righteousness of those who believe in
His Son, Joshua as well.
As we see, the time had come when the Reality of justification
was to be sent into the world. God would not sacrifice His own
righteousness, but through the Reality of justification, God
would bring man back into a righteous state. This was made
possible by God's gift to mankind of the Messiah, Who was
willing to empty Himself and become a man and die on the tree
that we might live forever, through a continual and abiding
faith in Him.
26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be
just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
So, it is not valid on our part to be proud. Here Paul is
speaking of the Jews who were proud of their heritage. Such
pride is not to be involved. By what law does this justification
come? By what works does this justification come? It does
not. For justification is by the law of faith. Once we have
sinned, the law is of no more help. We have met our
Waterloo! The only remedy is the blood of the Messiah.
Paul is showing here that neither the law of God given to the
Jews, Nor the <works> of justification given to the Jews (their
temple worship), were adequate to justify them. There is only
one remedy - once we have sinned.
27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works?
Nay: but by the law of faith.
The conclusion that Paul came to and that everyone must come
to is that we can be justified or brought back into a right
relationship with God only by faith in the sacrifice of the
Messiah. The works of the law, or the justification means of
the Old Covenant are not adequate. The word <deeds> here is
the same word used in the previous verse and translated as
<works>. However, even the keeping of the law which is a
different thing to the "works of the law" will not justify a man
once he has strayed from the righteousness of the standard of
God's law.
28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the
deeds of the law.
Is God only the God of the Jews, or is He not also the God of
the Gentiles? God created all men, both Jew and Gentile.
God wants all to eventually come to repentance and be saved.
Therefore, God is also the God of the Gentiles.
29 Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes,
of the Gentiles also:
God is the same God of both the Jew and the Gentile, Who
justifies the Jew by faith and Who justifies the Gentile through
faith. Both the Jew and the Gentile must be reconciled back to
God by and through the means of faith in the Messiah. There
is only one God! There is only one law! There is only one
standard! There is only one justification! There is only one
Messiah! There is neither Jew nor Greek so far as the
justification of God is concerned. The process is the same for
either.
30 Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith,
and uncircumcision through faith.
Realizing that some may have gotten the wrong understanding
about this subject of justification in relationship to the law,
Paul concludes this section with a strong statement to show
that justification does not cancel out the law. Indeed, if we
have been paying attention to what Paul has been saying, we
will have seen that justification was made necessary because
God will not compromise with His law or with any man who sins
and thereby "breaks" His law.
This is such an important point that I have copied below the
definition of the word <void> and <establish> so we can see the
full intent and meaning of what Paul is saying.
The law is the <standard> that God has laid down for man.
Because God would not compromise with that standard for
man, it was absolutely necessary that some means of
justification be made to bring man back into a right standing
with God when man deviated from that standard. The means
of that justification was faith in the sacrifice of the Messiah.
So Paul concludes that the very reason for the life, death,
resurrection and sitting as High Priest of the Messiah for us is
in order to establish the law! This word <establish> should also
be studied to see the full impact of what Paul is saying here.
To establish the law is to cause the law to become a fixed
standard; to uphold or sustain the authority or force of the law;
justification was to bring a balance between man and the law so
the law could continue as the sound standard between God and
man.
31 Do we then make void (2673) the law through faith? God forbid:
yea, we establish (2476) the law.
*****************************************************
2673 katargew katargeo kat-arg-eh'-o
from 2596 and 691; TDNT - 1:452,76; v
AV - destroy 5, do away 3, abolish 3, cumber 1, loose 1, cease
1, fall 1, deliver 1, misc 11; 27
1) to render idle, unemployed, inactivate, inoperative
1a) to cause a person or thing to have no further efficiency
1b) to deprive of force, influence, power
2) to cause to cease, put an end to, do away with, annul, abolish
2a) to cease, to pass away, be done away
2b) to be severed from, separated from, discharged from,
loosed from any one
2c) to terminate all intercourse with one
*****************************************************
2476 isthmi histemi his'-tay-mee
a prolonged form of a primary staw stao stah'-o (of the same
meaning, and used for it in certain tenses); TDNT-7:638,1082; v
AV-stand 116, set 11, establish 5, stand still 4, stand by 3, misc
17, vr stand 2; 158
1) to cause or make to stand, to place, put, set
1a) to bid to stand by, [set up]
1a1) in the presence of others, in the midst, before judges,
before members of the Sanhedrin;
1a2) to place
1b) to make firm, fix establish
1b1) to cause a person or a thing to keep his or its place
1b2) to stand, be kept intact (of family, a kingdom), to escape
in safety
1b3) to establish a thing, cause it to stand 1b31) to uphold or
sustain the authority or force of anything
1c) to set or place in a balance
1c1) to weigh: money to one (because in very early times
before the introduction of coinage, the metals used to be
weighed)
2) to stand
2a) to stand by or near
2a1) to stop, stand still, to stand immovable, stand firm
2a1a) of the foundation of a building
2b) to stand
2b1) continue safe and sound, stand unharmed, to stand ready
or prepared
2b2) to be of a steadfast mind
2b3) of quality, one who does not hesitate, does not waiver
*****************************************************
Paul taught that the law was God's standard for man and that
God would not compromise with that standard. In order to
bring man back into a righteous standing with God when man
deviated from that law, the Messiah was sent into the world to
become the sacrifice for man. After this justification for man's
past sins, there could be a positive relationship with God once
again as man continued to work toward keeping the standard
which God had set up for him.
The whole purpose for man to be on the earth is to learn to live
according to the standard of God. Without that purpose, man
is futile, worthless, of no good to God. So, Paul taught that the
very purpose of justification being made possible was so that
the law could be established as the standard for man that it was
meant to be from the beginning. Once broken, the rest of
man's life was worthless. There needed to be a way so the
process could be repeated over and over to give man a chance
to get better on his side of the equation.
Think what would happen if one had only one chance at weight
lifting in order to improve his muscles. Once he failed to lift
the bar, he would have to live the rest of his life realizing that
if he had not made that one mistake, he could have gone on to
greater and greater heights. So, it was with the law of God.
Because of the unique relationship between God and man,
there was no second chance to do better. Justification through
the Son was a way to give man a repeated chance to do better.
Man can therefore become a product useable by God as a
result, whereas he could not before.
God is the Potter, we are the clay. God has chosen to make
possible this continual ebb and flow so that man will become
what God has purposed for him.
Through exercising our senses to do good according to the
standard, we constantly come closer to the perfection that God
expects of us. Of course, the holy spirit is a part of that
equation that has to be included for success.
To see the whole picture, we must have justification on the one
hand, as made possible by the Messiah. However, the other
part of the picture is the covenant of God made with man. The
covenant says that man must live by the standard of God, the
law; and that God will give us His holy spirit, to help us do this.
Our part is to work toward keeping the standard - God's law.
The holy spirit, which is essence of God's mind, is given as
God's part to help us to want to keep that standard and to help
us to keep that standard. If we lived that standard with God's
help, we would be given eternal life as a son of God as our
reward for keeping the standard.
But, there still had to be a way to renew the covenant with man
once he had broken covenant with God. Remember that man's
part was to live by the standard that God had set for man.
Once we break that standard, we have broken the covenant
between God and us. That is why God sent His Son into the
world to die for us. Through the Messiah we can be reconciled
to God and the covenant is no longer in contention,
controversy, or debate.
When we sin, the covenant has become embroiled in jeopardy.
We are at that point ready to be hauled before the court and
charged for having broken our promises to God. We must go
before God and make amends by asking that the blood of the
Messiah be applied. Then the proceedings are stopped against
us. This is done on a daily basis when we come into the holy of
holies and ask forgiveness for our sins in the name of the One,
who made justification possible.
Mt 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven
is perfect.
Mt 5:25 Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way
with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and
the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.
As the Messiah said, we are to become perfect as our Father
who is in heaven. If we stumble and fall in this endeavor, we
are to agree with God quickly. For when we sin against the
law, which is God's standard, God becomes our Adversary, and
our Judge. He will not compromise with His standards, so we
must seek reconciliation through our Justification, which is the
Messiah.
Home
Commentaries
Chapters:
One
Two
Three
Four
Four Continued
Five
Six
Seven
Seven Continued
Eight
Eight Continued