Confirming the validity of the faith of Gentile believers
1:1 Paul's calling and ordination were of God (Acts 13:2). His doctrine was neither a philosophy nor was it of any human intelligence (Gal.1:11-12; 2Cor.12:1-5).
Paul was separated to God from his mother's womb (Gal.1:15), even though he spent much time in ignorance of that truth, doing things that were contrary to the gospel. He was God's from before the time that he was born. God could have said to Paul as He did to Jeremiah, "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee, and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee a prophet unto the nations" (Jer.1:5).
"I am not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God," wrote Paul, "But by the grace of God I am what I am" (1Cor.15:9-10).
1:2 Some teach that the word prophecy refers only to "speaking forth the word", not foretelling the future. This verse, and hundreds of others like it, show that there is such a thing as foretelling, and that when referring to this miracle, prophecy is the Biblical word used.
1:3-4 The resurrection declared Jesus to be God's Son (Ps.2:7; Acts 13:33). Jesus did say, "They which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage. Neither can they die any more; for they are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection" (Lk.20:36).
And on the basis of such verses, some have taught (Herbert Armstrong's World-wide Church of God, for example) that to be "born again" means to be resurrected from the grave. But consider this: Paul called Jesus the "first born from the dead", and John called him the "first begotten of the dead" (Col.1:18 and Rev.1:5), and exactly the same Greek phrase is used in both those Scriptures. Then, begotten is a synonym for born. Now, Jesus is referred to as having been begotten of God before his death and resurrection (Jn.3:16). The Corinthian believers also had been "begotten" by God while they still lived (1Cor.4:15), as well as Onesimus (Philemon 10), James and others (Jas.1:18), Peter and the churches of Asia Minor (1Pet.1:3), and the churches to whom John wrote (1Jn.5:1,18). So, there is both a being "born again" now, and there is also a kind of "birth" at the resurrection. But to teach that no one is born of the Spirit until the resurrection is wrong.
1:5-8 (13) These to whom Paul is writing are believing Gentiles, who possessed great faith.
1:11-12 A spiritual gift can establish a person in the faith!
1:13 Paul was prevented on other occasions from going places he intended to go (Acts 16:6; 1Thess.2:17-18).
1:16
The gospel is in power, not in word (1Cor.4:20; 2:4-5; 1Thess.1:5).
Salvation is for believers, not sinners.
The gospel was first preached to the Jews. For several years after Pentecost, there were no Samaritans nor Gentiles whose sins were washed away by the blood of Christ (Lk.24:46-47; Acts 13:4-5, 14, 44-46)
1:17 Where there is no gospel with power, there is no righteousness of God revealed. When it is revealed, only by faith is it recognized (1Cor.2:14).
1:18-32 Those who "hold" the truth means those who suppress the truth. Paul is talking here of those who possessed the knowledge of the truth of God ("for God hath showed it to them"), yet refused to confess it. That is, Paul is speaking of God's own people, the Jews.
The wrath of God is revealed by the spiritual condition of the Jews, who rejected their Messiah and were glad of it. Without faith, though, it is impossible to perceive the wrath which befell the Jews (1Thess.2:14-16; Lam.3:64-66). This wrath was prophesied to come upon the Jews for their rejection of Christ (Isa.6:5-10), and it is prophesied to fall upon some of God's children for rejecting the truth of the gospel near the end of this age (2Thess.2:8-12).
Evidence that these verses (1:18-32) do refer to the Jews:
v.18: To be able to suppress the truth, one would have to be in possession of it.
v.19: God at some point revealed the truth to them.
v.20: One thing the Jews made was the tabernacle.
v.21: They once knew God, and at some point were not vain or foolish-hearted.
v.22: They boasted of their connection with God.
v.23: They were in possession of the glory of God, but turned to idolatry.
v.24: God turned them over to homosexuality because of unfaithfulness.
v.25: They perverted the truth which they possessed.
vv.:26-27 God turned them over to homosexuality because of unfaithfulness. (Please note: homosexuality is not merely a sin for which there will be a judgment; it is rather the judgment of God itself. A nation turned over to that filthy spirit has already been condemned and cursed by God.
v.28: They had the knowledge of God, but because they did not love it God turned them over to "a reprobate mind". The list of evils that follows shows that the power to live a godly life is a gift from God. Such a wicked lifestyle as is described here indicates great wrath from God has come upon these people.
vv.29-32: They knew the judgments of God, but the reprobate mind which God gave them caused them not only be ungodly but to approve of ungodly behavior in others. This condition is not hypocrisy. A hypocrite condemns others of what he himself does; he does not justify them. The people to whom Paul refers in these verses invented doctrines which cleverly justified sin, and to those intent on sinning, made sin appear to be grudgingly acceptable with God.
Satan deceived the Jews into believing that because they belonged to God it was acceptable for them (1) to sin and (2) to condemn Gentiles whether they transgressed the commandments of God or not. They justified themselves for who they were, not how they lived, and they condemned the Gentiles for who they were, not how they lived. According to their doctrine, a Jew who lived an immoral life was acceptable with God, while a Gentile who walked uprightly was not. In other words, many of the Jews believed the equivalent to the widespread Christian doctrine often called by the name "eternal security", which doctrine Paul deals with in Chapter Two.
CHAPTER TWO:
Paul's condemnation of the doctrine now known as "eternal security"
2:1-3 Paul questions the integrity of Jewish teachers who excuse themselves for doing the very things which they condemn Gentiles for doing. Paul's position: If a deed is evil, then it is evil for anyone to do it. Disobedience to the will of God is reckoned as sin to anyone who is guilty, Jew or Gentile. Indeed, is it especially reckoned as sin to the Jews, to whom God gave the Law and the prophets. Paul asks, "Do you think that God is so pleased with your condemnation of Gentiles who sin that He grants you divine license to do the same thing?"
This foolish confidence was condemned by the OT prophets as well. "Ye have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet ye say, `Wherein have we wearied Him?" When ye say, `Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord.' or, `Where is the God of judgment?'" (Mal.2:17). Consider also Jeremiah 7:8-16.
2:4 Paul warns against misunderstanding God's patience and blessings (Ps.50:18-23). 2:5-16 God will judge every man according to his deeds in this life. Rather than think that being circumcised will justify them in spite of their deeds, the Jews should understand that they, being circumcised, will be condemned by the Law itself if they fail to obey it (Rom.2:12).
"Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying, You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities." (Amos 3:1-2).
"Not every one that sayeth unto me, `Lord, Lord', shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." (Jesus, in Mt.7:21)
2:17-24 The result of the "eternal security" teaching among the Jews was that the moral integrity of the nation was undermined to such an extent that the name of the God of the Jews was blasphemed among the Gentiles. The Gentiles felt contempt for God because the Jews lived lives that were "worse than the heathen" (2Chron.33:9). The audacious immorality of the Jews could even embarrass the heathen (Ezek.16:27b)!
2:25-27 The importance of circumcision can hardly be over-emphasized. Remember this: circumcision = Jews and uncircumcision = Gentiles.
Circumcision [conversion] is worthwhile only if the circumcised man obeys God. Otherwise, that man will receive the condemnation of an unbeliever (Lk.12:42-46). In fact, his punishment will be harsher than that of an unconverted man (2Pet.2:20-21).
2:28-29 These two verses reach the heart of Paul's new doctrine, for which he was persecuted and misunderstood by many fellow Jewish believers. After Christ completed his sacrificial work, outward circumstance (Jew/Gentile, rich/poor, slave/master, etc.) became irrelevant, as far as communion with God and one's hope of salvation is concerned. In God's sight now, (the only "sight" that counts), a Jew is one who is circumcised in the heart by the holy Ghost from all earthly entanglements, one whose heart is now bent by God's Spirit toward heavenly values and interests. "For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." (Phip.3:3).
CHAPTER THREE:
The need of both Jews and Gentiles for Jesus
3:1-4 If all men will be judged on the basis of their deeds, what's the point in repentance and becoming a part of God's family on earth? Paul's answer: the value lies in the preciousness of the calling of God and in the blessing of being entrusted with the riches and wisdom of the gospel. And those to whom heavenly riches are entrusted must be faithful (1Cor.4:1-2). How precious it is to be chosen by God! The evil doing of some who are called does not make God's blessing any less precious. Even by unfaithfulness of some saints God is proved to be righteous. Translation of verse 4: "That You might be proved righteous in Your sayings, and that You might prevail when You are judged (brought into question, or condemned)."
3:5-8 Some asked, "If our disobedience merely shows that God is all the more righteous, why then would He not bless us for disobedience?" Paul's answer: "That is a foolish question". By the way, there is such a thing as a foolish question (2Tim.2:23). 3:9 (Connected with the closing thought of verse 4) Old Covenant Scriptures prove that, in God's sight, Jews are sinners. Paul knows that there is no difference in the unsanctified Jewish spirit and the unsanctified Gentile spirit. All are in sin, and all are in need of the Savior.
3:10-18 OT Scriptures are quoted.
3:19 Paul's surprise ending: These verses were not written to the Gentiles nor were they written about Gentiles! Then concerning whom were these awful written?
3:20-22 If those preceding verses are true, then by the ceremonial works of the Law no one can be justified. The Law revealed the knowledge of sin to Israel; it did not change the carnal nature of man. Besides this, the law and the prophets spoke very clearly of a righteousness which was not of the Law of Moses, a righteousness of simple faith in Jesus.
"The Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel." If Paul were the type to be led by the Bible, he would never dreamed of contradicting its words; but, Paul was being led by the Spirit of God, by the living word of God. Wasn't he the one who told us, "The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life" (2Cor.3:6)?
He knew that because in the days when Paul as a young man was being led by the Bible - as he understood it - he found himself fighting against the very God he was trying to serve. You cannot possibly ever come to the knowledge of God trying to be led by the Bible. It wasn't given to us for that reason. Jesus did not say, "I'm going to have a Bible written that will guide you into all truth." What he said was, "When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth" (Jn.16:13). After that Spirit of Truth delivered Paul of his opinions of God, Paul began to teach that "As many as are led by the Spirit, they are the sons of God" (Rom.8:14).
The Jews needed the Spirit of God, but they would never receive it unless they ceased being so proud of their knowledge of the Scriptures.
3:23 Paul's famous phrase, "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God" meant that both Jews (despite what they thought) and Gentiles were in need of deliverance from sin. It does not mean that we all are continually sinning. That is not true, and it is not Paul's point here, even if it were true.
3:24 The only righteousness which is exalted in God's sight is His own. Only He makes a man righteous. Works of the Law did not do it for them who performed them.
How did Paul know that those works of the Law failed to make one righteous? Because he knew he always observed those commandments and found himself helping to kill the saints of God! And since only God makes a man righteous, only He is to be feared or worshipped.
3:25-26 "Past sins" are those under the Law that were confessed and turned from, and for which the proper sacrifices had been made (Heb.9:15). Everything depended on Jesus. This is why, as Jesus said, Abraham rejoiced to see the day when Jesus came. Abraham knew that his sins, which he had mourned for, which he had repented of, which he had made sacrifice for, were finally going to be blotted out. There was no such thing as "washing away sins", or of "putting away sins" in the OT. There was forgiveness in the OT, there was pardon and mercy.
But every sin that was confessed and turned from was forgiven only on the condition that Jesus was coming, and that he would hang on the cross of Calvary, that he would rise again the third day and ascend to the Father to offer himself as sacrifice for our sins. Only the blood of Jesus provided for the blotting out of sins listed in God's book.
Ps.51:1-2: When David pleaded with God to "blot out his transgressions" to wash me" to "cleanse me from sin", he was praying for Jesus to come. Ps.51:10 When he besought God to "create a clean heart" within him, he was pleading for an experience which was not yet available because Jesus had not yet come to purchase it for us by his suffering and death.
In these verses David was prophesying even as he pleaded for help. He was demonstrating faith that God could somehow find a way to heal the desperately wicked heart of man, that God could change the nature of man so that holiness came natural to him instead of ungodliness. David hated sin. Moses hated sin. Joshua hated sin. Elijah hated sin. Jesus's disciples hated sin. But they were trapped by it, and they - and all who loved God - desperately wanted out! And God heard the cry of his people! Through Jeremiah (31:33) He promised, "I will put my laws in their inward parts, and will write it in their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people."
Through Ezekiel (11:19) He comforted the hearts of those who loved Him by saying, "I will put a new Spirit within you. And I will take the stony heart out of their flesh and will give them an heart of flesh, that they will walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them, and they shall be my people, and I will be their God."
What God was saying was, "Hold on. I'm coming to the rescue! I have what you want and Jesus is bringing it." No wonder Paul would say (Rom.8:9), after God had taken away his stony heart and given him a new one, after God had created a right spirit in him, after God had written in Paul's heart the Law he had tried so hard to keep in the flesh, that if any man did not have the holy Ghost, he didn't belong to God. He knew the futility and the vanity of trying to serve God without it.
3:27-28 Seeing that the best of the OT saints were desperate for deliverance from sin, what then did any Jew have to boast of, except it be what God has done for him? The only difference which ever did exist between Jews and Gentiles was what God did. In every other respect, Jews and Gentiles were and are alike (cp. Ezek.16:3). Jacob was described by God as a homeless, wandering Syrian (Dt.26:5). And God reminds Israel that he has done for other nations some of the same things he has done for them, such as removing them from one placeto another (Amos 9:7). As Paul in verse 29 will ask, "Is He the God of the Jews only? Is he not also the God of the Gentiles?"
By the time Jesus came, the Jews had been taught to have such contempt for Gentiles that when Jesus, in his first sermon, reminded them of stories from the OT wherein God blessed some Gentiles instead of Jews, they attempted to kill him (LK.4:25-30)! Jesus lived no more in Nazareth after this. From then on his residence was in the city of Capernaum.
Paul's whole message here is that obedience in faith toward God is what always distinguishes the righteous from the unrighteous, not the receiving of commandments from God, nor any other external condition. Paul wanted both the Gentile and Jewish believers in Rome to understand that it was not God's giving the Law to Israel which would save them from the wrath to come; it was obedience to that Law which He gave.
3:29-30 God is God over the whole earth and over every being in it, and He justifies all men by the same means: faith in Jesus Christ.
3:31 Faith in Christ does not negate the Law; it confirms it, because the Law, rightly understood, glorifies only the God who gave it, not those to whom it was given. The Law pointed the way to the Savior; therefore, those who come to the Savior by their actions affirm that the Law pointed the right way.
