Romans Paul and the Law.

Romans 1:3-6 Paul introducRomans 1:1-2 Paul introduces himself with all humility as a servant called by Jesus.
es Jesus first as a son of David to show that Jesus is a human just like us. Paul then introduces Jesus for a second time as the Son of God and in him we receive grace and salvation. Paul shows that the purpose of the gospel is obedience and the goal of the gospel is to honour the name of Jesus.

Romans 1:7-1 Paul praises the believers of the church of Rome, showing them his devotion to God and his prayerful longing to see them again to impart spiritual gifts and strengthen the church. Once more Paul demonstrates his humility and willingness to be encouraged by the church as well as to encourage them.

Romans 1:13-17 Paul reveals to the Roman church that he is not ashamed of the gospel, he will go to all nations and cross all boundaries of prejudice.

Philip Esler shows that Paul wrote to the first century Roman church to speak to them concerning the ethnic tension and conflict among them. Esler shows that the conflict between the Jew and Greek, or the “foreigner” and “heathen” is that they had no collective identity or collective memory. The collective memory “encompasses events and people such as treasured ancestors”, it also involves oral history, artifacts, motifs, and beliefs. He states that Paul’s motive for writing Romans was to break down the barriers that these groups had built between each other to create two subgroups within one group.  Esler thinks that Paul had enough understanding of the relationship between ethnic identity and self esteem to successfully link them, and he did this by showing that he had mutual respect for each group.p1-35

 Romans 2:17-29. Paul talks directly to the Jews and questions their self confidence, namely, the confidence they placed in their God given ‘privileges’; covenant, circumcision and law. According to J. Stott, Paul wanted to make clear to the Jewish leaders that because of a new covenant (God has made with the whole world), they could no longer consider themselves immune from judgement because they do not practice what they preach. In particular Paul wanted to attack those who were teachers of the law but were self righteous and condemned sinners, when they themselves were likely to be engaged in; stealing, adultery and idolatry.

John Stott says  some commentators think that Paul did not literally mean that Jewish leaders were committing these sins but that he used them as an example to convey his message. However, Stott does not hesitate to point out that when one understands sin with the perspective of God ‘there is no man who is not guilty of all three’. Rom:2, 19-22.p91

When one considers the treatment of Jesus in the hands of Jewish leaders (not to mention those he healed), one can only assume that the Jewish leaders where guilty of all that Paul accused them of. They had become so proud of themselves and the gift that God had given them that they forgot their mission. They had become blinded by power and pride and so lacked the humility and wisdom needed to be true spiritual leaders.

It seems likely in these times that the Jewish leaders had few critics, probably fewer still from their own ranks. Paul had first hand knowledge of their practices and beliefs and he had the boldness and courage to stand up to their hypocrisy just as Jesus had done. Without doubt Paul was testing them to see if they had the spirit of God, for any believer who instructs others in the word of God would be crushed by Paul’s words in Rom 2:17-24 and the futility and pride-fullness of judging others before having a sober judgement of oneself. 

Romans 3:21-26. Paul states according to God everyone who he has created has sinned, no-one is good and everyone is in need of redemption. Stott says that God has done what is unthinkable, all throughout the Old Testament God has stated that the wicked must be punished and the unjust condemned, but Paul has revealed a deeper level of our spiritual need, that is not about morality or ethics, it’s about who we are and whose we are. We are guilty because of where we come from not because of what we have done, every inclination of the heart of man is evil not one is good. It is also interesting to note how Stott comments that God did not have to compromise his righteousness to justify man as righteous even though man is inherently evil. God justified mankind without corrupting his righteousness by sending us the lamb of atonement, his son. God in his grace gave his son freely so that we could be rescued from his condemnation. ‘Associated with the cross, therefore, there is a redemption of sinners, a propitiation of God’s wrath and  a demonstration of his justice’. p111-113

Redemption: Not so long ago you could buy fizzy orange in a bottle,  if you didn’t keep the bottle you got ten cents when you took it back (a lot of money for a kid). God gave us our lives to enjoy, but he wants us back and that part is up to us, we have to give up the life he gave us and give it back to him, he is willing to buy us back and the price has already been paid. God could only do this by having an agreement with man, he sent his son to die on the cross with a message, that our lives can only be redeemed, that we can only go back to God through his son.  It’s like the choice we make, we don’t have to take the bottle back, we could just throw it away and say “its not worth anything to me”, just as with life.

Propitiation: There is some argument about the meaning of this word, however, Stott tends to lean towards the understanding that it means atonement, cleansing, or nullifying of sin. There is also a suggestion that it means to calm the anger of God who wants to vent his rage at the wickedness of man. Stott believes that this argument is justified because he says, ‘there is nothing unprincipled, unpredictable or uncontrolled about God’s anger; it is aroused by evil alone’ (p115).  Another interpretation is ‘mercy-seat’ (the golden lid of the ark within the temple’s inner sanctuary), and that Jesus is the ‘mercy-seat’ where God and sinners are reconciled. Stott thinks this is unlikely to be what Paul was describing, rather the issue is the sin of man that caused the wrath of God and not the wrath of God itself. Ultimately it is the infinite mercy in the nature of God, that he did not punish man for his sin, and instead to prevent himself from becoming unjust by not carrying out his judgment for evil acts (and lest men called him unjust for not doing so), he cast his wrath upon himself by allowing his son to die on the cross. As Paul has tried to show there is no doubt that God is very angry at our lack of love for his commands, but his character did not allow him to show that anger even though he promised it(p115-117). What is clear from this is that the anger of God is righteous anger or justified anger, but it is still anger and it needs to be appeased or propitiated. God showed his love and restrained his anger by allowing his son to die for man.

Demonstration: Here Paul explains that God had actively gone out of his way to save man in anyway he could without corrupting his own purpose and profound sense of justice. Stott shows that God had left the sins of the forefathers unpunished to show his restraint, not condoning evil, but to prove to all that he ‘could be just, he could demonstrate justice and he be the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus’ (p116).

 Just to sum up, God has redeemed his people by buying them back with the blood of Jesus. He has resisted showing his anger to man and set man free from judgment by proving or demonstrating his justice.

Romans 4:1-25. Without question it would appear that Paul was addressing the Jewish people in this chapter, Abraham was their patriarch who found favour with God. Because of Abraham many Jews believed they were justified in the same way that he was by ‘works’. However in this chapter Paul’s makes a huge effort to explain to the Jews that Abraham believed God and had faith in him, and he was considered righteous by God because of his faith and not by what he did (Rom 4:1-3). Stott thinks it is a mistake to suppose that this chapter was written only for Jewish Christians, because by using examples of Abraham and David, Paul tries to show that in both Old and New Testament ‘justification by faith is God’s one and only way to salvation’ (p122).

Paul always took the time to point out that no man is good enough to be justified, and especially not by what he does or  by works, because any effort to buy the the forgiveness of God by what you do is futile. Paul exposes how the promises of God can only be given to those who believe in him, it is the believer who has his sins and transgressions covered by the grace of God, and not the one following the law. As far as Paul was concerned it was important for the Jews and the Gentiles to understand that Abraham was justified by God before his circumcision v 9-12(a sign of Gods covenant with his people), to show both groups that justification is not in the circumcision either.

In conclusion, neither Abraham or David were justified by God because of what they did; by keeping the law of Moses, by circumcision, or by how good they were, Paul summarises by saying that it was because of the true faith of Abraham and because of the confidence that he had in God that he was justified v22.

Romans 5: 12-21. Paul makes a great effort to show that all are born in sin because of the sin of Adam in the Garden of Eden. He describes how even before the law of Moses was given sin existed, but at that time there was no punishment for sin because there was no law. Prior to the time of Adam’s sin there was no death, but after Adam’s sin, by breaking the commands of God, death entered the world, and it is death that signifies the sin of Adam, therefore because all men die all men are born full of sin or with sin in their hearts. Stott says; ‘As Adam is the door through which sin entered and sin is the door through which death entered (p150).’ There is a similarity in the symbolism of Adams sin and that of Jesus’ crucifixion. Adam’s sin brought sin, judgment and death into the world, but the death of Jesus brought salvation and redemption to all mankind.

Stott explains that it is not clear whether mankind is sinful and dies because of the sin of Adam and therefore man inherits the sin of Adam, or whether Adam brought sin into the world and therefore all mankind is destined to sin in the same way that Adam did. Needless to say all men are the descendants of Adam and are given an inheritance, therefore, it is more likely that man inherited the sins of Adam.

Lesson Plan for Romans 7: 7-25

Introduction: Students should have an understanding of the Romans in the New Testament and its historical background, who wrote it, why and to whom was it sent. They will also have a working knowledge of the commentary by of Romans by John Stott (The Message of Romans) which the lesson will also refer to. Because Romans 7: 7-25 presents some complicated doctrines this lesson is best taught as a power point presentation. Students will be asked to read the scripture from Romans before the presentation begins.

Teaching Activities: The lesson should commence with three opening questions which will be the first page of the presentation. Students will be encouraged to interact with each other and openly discuss the meaning and the answer to the following questions that Paul tries to answer in this passage.

1. According to Paul does grace encourage sin?

2. Is the law sin, does it create sin and death, and is the law original sin on earth?

3. How can the law be the holy and righteous will of God but it cannot save sinners?

Following this brief discussion the teacher will use the examples provided by John Stott in his commentary to further explain these questions. The following notes provide some answers to these questions.

1. Should we go on sinning so that grace may increase, shall we sin because we are under grace. Stott argues that Roman 6 says grace does not encourage sin it renders sin inadmissible and inconceivable.

2. Romans 7 argues that the law does not create sin and death, it is our fallen human nature which is to blame for them. Stott says that sin is hostile to Gods laws. Paul argues that the law does not provoke sin it reveals or uncovers sin in our hearts, convicts a person of sin and condemns sin. Apart from the law sin is dead, according to verse 13 sin exploited the law and caused his death. The law gives life and sin inflicts death. The law exposes, provokes and condemns sin.

3.Paul is ambivalent about the law, seeing it neither positive or negative. On one side it is the law of God, his revelation and will, it is holy righteous and good and spiritual. But it is unable to save sinners because it has lost its power. The law cannot save because the law cannot be kept or observed because of indwelling sin. The law is good but it is also weak, it cannot make man holy. Those who are under the law are right to look to the law for moral guidance but wrong to look to it for saving power.

Romans 7:14-20. The next section of the lesson is the discussion Paul has about a person who is under the law but has not power to change his sinful behaviour. Paul highlights that the struggle within can only be resolved by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

1. I do not do what I want to do. Stott says that this person wants to follow the law but lacks power, the desire to sin has greater power than knowledge of the law.

2. What I hate I do. Paul shows that the person under the law understands the difference between good and is convicted when he does bad.

3.The evil I do not want to do – this is what I keep doing. Stott shows that the person who is under law knows he is divided, the will is there but the ability is not. It is not the law that is bad, but the law and will are weak.

4. Romans 7:21-25. Stott describes two more laws at work, the law of sin and the law that is a delight in the law of God and a desire to do good.

5. In the final part of the session students enter into a discussion based on the information presented in the lesson. The teacher should ask some leading questions related to Romans 7: 21-25 Paul describes himself as a slave to sin and death. What did Paul say could redeem him from the law of sin and death and why?

Objectives: Students will understand the interpretation of the scripture with greater depth.