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SECTION F – The Conduct of
Mankind (1:18 -
3:20)
Balanced
by SECTION f - The Conduct of The Saints (12:01
- 15:07)
Romans Two - verses 11 to 16
11. For there is no
partiality with God,
Law
does not exempt from judgment: it only fixes the standard of judgment.
Knowledge of the law only incriminates more deeply those who break it. Concordant Commentary
In aspects such as this, it
is true that God is impartial.
His judgment is fair. He repays according to each one’s work.
Deut.10:17 For Yahweh your Elohim,
He is the Elohim of elohim and the Lord of
lords,
the El, the great, the masterful and the
fear-inspiring One,
Who neither lifts up faces in partiality nor takes a bribe,
2Chr.19:7 and now, let fear of Yahweh
be upon you, observe and do,
for there is not with Yahweh our Elohim
perverseness,
and
acceptance of faces, and taking of a bribe
Act.10:34,35 Now Peter, opening his mouth,
said,
"Of a truth I am grasping that God is not partial,
35 but in every nation he who is fearing
Him and acting righteously is acceptable to Him.
Gal.2:6 Now from those reputed to be
somewhat--
what kind they once were is of no consequence to
me
(God is
not taking up the human aspect)
Eph.6:9 And, masters, be doing the
same toward them,
being lax in threatening,
being aware that their Master as well as yours
is in the heavens,
and there
is no partiality with Him.
1Pet.1:17 And if you are invoking the
Father,
Who is judging impartially according to each one's work,
you may behave, for the time of your sojourn,
with fear,
Deut.16:19 You shall not turn aside the
judgment;
you shall neither recognize faces in
partiality nor take a bribe,
for the bribe blinds the eyes of the wise
and subverts the words of the righteous.
Even in the ultimate aspect
of salvation, He is impartial. All fall short of the glory of God.
Yet, through the faith of Christ, He graciously dispenses His righteousness for this very all,
without exception, thereby providing what they, each and every one of them,
lack.
Rom.3:21-23 Yet now, apart from law, a
righteousness of God is manifest…
22 yet a righteousness of God through Jesus
Christ's faith, for all, …
23 for
all sinned and are wanting of the glory of God.
When a choice is made,
however, one thing is preferred
over others. When God designated us beforehand to be members of the body of
Christ, He chose us out of the rest
of humanity, preferring us
over all others.
1Cor.1:26-29 For you are observing
your calling, brethren,
that there are not many wise according to the flesh;
not many powerful, not many noble,
27 but the stupidity of the world God chooses,
that He may be disgracing the wise,
and the weakness of the world God chooses,
that He may be disgracing the strong,
28 and the ignoble and the contemptible
things of the world God chooses,
and that which is not, that He may be discarding
that which is,
29 so that no flesh at all should be
boasting in God's sight.
2Thes.2:13,14 Now we ought to be thanking God
always concerning you,
brethren, beloved by the Lord,
seeing that God prefers you from the beginning for salvation,
in holiness of the spirit and faith in the
truth,
14 into which He also calls us through our
evangel,
for the procuring of the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
Rom.8:29,30 whom He foreknew, He designates
beforehand, also,
to be conformed to the image of His Son,
for Him to be Firstborn among many
brethren.
30 Now whom He designates beforehand, these He calls also,
and whom He calls, these He justifies also;
now whom He justifies, these He glorifies also.
What is impartial in this
is that He chooses without our deserving it, through no inherent quality of
our own, and not in response to any ‘good works’ of ours.
2Tim.1:9-11 Who saves us and calls
us with a holy calling,
not in accord with our acts, but in accord with His own purpose
and the grace
which is given to us in Christ Jesus before
times eonian,
10 yet now is being manifested through the
advent of our Saviour,
Christ Jesus, Who, indeed, abolishes death,
yet illuminates life and incorruption through
the evangel
11 of
which I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher of the nations.
Tit.3:4-7 Yet when the kindness and fondness
for humanity
of our Saviour, God, made its advent,
5 not
for works which are wrought in righteousness which we do,
but according
to His mercy, He saves us,
through the bath of renascence and renewal of
holy spirit,
6 which He pours out on us richly through Jesus
Christ, our Saviour,
7 that, being justified in that One's grace,
we may be becoming enjoyers, in expectation, of
the allotment of life eonian
12. for whoever sinned without the law,
without law also shall perish,
and whoever sinned in law, through law
will be judged.
‘...sinned without the law…’
Those who have no law given
to them still perish. This is because of the death that passed through into
all mankind. Because of this element of dying inherent in all men, they sin
in their own turn. Man does not
deserve life! Death is all he can
earn.
Rom.5:12 … through one man sin entered
into the world,
and through sin death,
and thus death
passed through into all mankind, on which all sinned—
Rom.5:13 for until law sin was in the world,
yet sin is not
being taken into account when there
is no law;
Rom.5:14 nevertheless death reigns from Adam unto Moses,
over those also who do not sin in the likeness of the transgression of Adam,
Rom.6:23 For the ration of Sin
is death,…
‘…sinned in law…’
Those who have the law, and
only Israel was given it, are
unable to keep it in all its ramifications. The law is looked on as a whole
unit, and the breaking of even one of its integral parts counts as the
breaking of all. Breaking the law escalates the level of wrongdoing to
transgression, and this incurs a penalty.
1Cor.15:56 Now the sting of Death is sin, yet the power of sin is the law.
Rom.4:15 …Now where no law is, neither is there transgression.
Gal.3:19 What, then, is the law? On behalf of transgressions was it
added,..
Rom.5:20 ..law came in by the way,
that the offense should be increasing…
Rom.4:15 for the law is producing indignation….
Rom.8:3 For what was impossible to the law,
in which it was infirm through the flesh, ….
Jas.2:10 For anyone who should be keeping the whole
law,
yet should be tripping in one thing, has become liable for all.
Heb.7:18,19 …there is coming to be a
repudiation of the preceding precept
because it is weak and without benefit; 19 for the law perfects nothing,
yet it is the superinduction of a better expectation,
through which we are drawing near to God
Ex.20:4-6 You shall not make for yourself a
carving
nor any representation of that in the heavens
above
or that on the earth beneath, or that in the
waters beneath the earth.
5You shall not bow yourself down to them,
nor be made to serve them,
for I, Yahweh your Elohim, am a jealous El,
visiting
the depravity of the fathers
on the
sons, on the third and on the fourth generation, to those hating Me,
6yet doing kindness to thousands,
to those loving Me and observing My
instructions.
Ezek.18:1-4 And there is a word of
Yahweh unto me, saying:
2 `What--to you, you--using this simile Concerning
the ground of Israel, saying: Fathers do eat unripe fruit, And the sons'
teeth are blunted?
3 I live--an affirmation of the Lord Yahweh,
You have no
more the use of this simile in Israel. 4 Lo, all the souls are Mine,
As the soul of the father, So also the soul of
the son--they are Mine,
The soul
that is sinning--it does die.
Ezek.18:20 The soul that does sin--it does die.
A son does not bear of the iniquity of the
father,
And a father does not bear of the iniquity of
the son,
The righteousness of the righteous is on him,
And the wickedness of the wicked is on him.
13. For not the listeners to law are just with God,
but the doers of law shall be justified.
Here, we must keep in mind
that ‘… whatever the law is saying, it is speaking to those under the law,…’, and not to those it has not been given
to. Having the law and acknowledging that it is good and perfect, and
putting his faith on it, does not bring justification for the Jew. He has
to live by it; he has to work at
it all the time. For him
justification requires both faith
and works.
Jas.2:24 You see that
by works a man is being
justified, and not by faith only.
Jas.2:26 For even as the body
apart from spirit is dead,
thus also faith apart from works is dead.
Deut.30:12-14 It is neither in the heavens
for you to say:
Who shall ascend to the heavens for us
and take it for us and announce it to us that we
may obey it?
13 Nor is it across the sea for you to say:
Who shall cross across the sea for us
and take it for us and announce it to us that we
may obey it?
14 For the
word is exceedingly near to you, in your mouth and in your heart,
to obey it.
Ezek.20:11 And I give to them My statutes,
And my judgments I caused them to know,
Which the man who does--lives by them.
Jas.1:22-25 … become doers of the word,
and not only listeners, beguiling
yourselves.
23 For if anyone is a listener to the word and not
a doer,
this one simulates a man considering the face he
inherited in a mirror;
24 for he considers himself and has come
away,
and immediately forgot what kind he was.
25 Now he who peers into the perfect law,
that of freedom,
and abides, not becoming a forgetful listener,
but a doer of the work,
this one will be happy in his doing.
Lk.8:21 Now He, answering, said to them,
"My mother and My brethren
are these who are hearing the word of God and doing it."
Mt.5:18,19 For verily, I am saying to
you,
Till heaven and earth should be passing by,
one iota or one serif may by no means be passing
by from the law
till all
should be occurring.
19 "Whosoever, then, should be
annulling one of the least of these precepts,
and should be teaching men thus,
the least in the kingdom of the heavens shall he
be called.
Yet whoever should be doing and teaching them,
he shall be called great in the kingdom of the
heavens.
14. For whenever they of the
nations that have no law,
by nature may be doing that which the law demands,
these, having no law, are a law to
themselves,
Human
nature, or instinct, is not
corrupt. It is in line with God's law and conscience (2:27). It is against sin (1:26). The heart of humanity is corrupt. By
following their nature it was quite possible for men to do by instinct what
was later inscribed in the written code. Men's acts are unnatural.
Concordant Commentary
‘…that have no law…’
Because of the extant
Christian theology to the contrary, we must keep in mind that the law was
given to the nation of Israel, exclusively.
God has not given the nations any
law, let alone the covenantal law of Sinai, so that what that law says does not apply to them
at all.
Deut.4:8 And what great nation is there which has statutes and judgments
so righteous as all this law that I am putting
before you today?
Deut.5:1,2 Moses called to all Israel and said to them: Hear,
Israel,
the statutes and the judgments that I am
speaking in your ears today,
that you learn them and observe to obey
them.
2 Yahweh our Elohim, He contracted a covenant with us at Horeb.
‘…by nature…’
It is because of their not
recognizing God as the Supreme that He has given men over ‘to the uncleanness of dishonouring their
bodies, to dishonourable passions, to a disqualified mind’. It has become
that ‘crooked is the heart above all
things, and it is incurable’
(Jer.17:9). Men have been consigned to seeking the satisfaction of the
desires of the flesh, to doing that which is against nature, that which is not natural.
Rom.1:24,25 Wherefore God gives them over,
in the lusts of their hearts,
to the
uncleanness of dishonoring their bodies among themselves,
25 those who alter the truth of God into
the lie, and are venerated,
and offer divine service to the creature rather
than the Creator,…
Rom.1:26.27 Therefore God gives them
over to dishonorable passions.
For their females, besides, alter the natural use
into that which is beside nature.
27 Likewise also the males, besides,
leaving the natural use of the
female,
were inflamed in their craving for one another,
males with males
effecting indecency, and getting back in
themselves
the retribution of their deception which must
be.
Rom.1:28 …according as they do not
test God, to have Him in recognition,
God gives them over to a disqualified mind, to do that
which is not befitting,
Rom.8:5 For those who are in accord with flesh
are disposed to that which is of the flesh,…
Gal.5:19-21 Now apparent are the works of the flesh, which are
adultery, prostitution, uncleanness,
wantonness,
20 idolatry, enchantment, enmities, strife,
jealousies, furies, factions, dissensions, sects,
21 envies, murders, drunkennesses,
revelries, and the like of these,…
Rom.8:6-8 For the disposition of the flesh is
death, …
7 because the disposition of the flesh is enmity to God,
for it is not
subject to the law of God, for neither
is it able.
8 Now those who are in flesh are not
able to please God.
But, man also has a
life-imparting spirit that is at
odds with the flesh. Its disposition is to do that which is natural and virtuous. We do see examples of this influence even among the
unconverted. By nature, then, man
should have been capable of ‘good
works’. Under the sentence of God’s indignation, however, the disposition
of the flesh overrides this disposition of the spirit – and man prefers the
unnatural.
Gal.5:17 For the flesh is
lusting against the spirit,
yet the spirit against the flesh. Now these are opposing one another,
lest you should be doing whatever you may want.
Rom.8:6 … yet the disposition of the spirit is life and peace,
Gal.5:22,23 Now the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 meekness, self-control: against such
things there is no law.
‘…doing that which the law demands…’
The law is based on the
principle of love, and not the other way around as some understand it. The
law is inhibitive and rigid in its demands, but love is flexible enough to
be adequate for any situation.
Mt.22:36-40 "Teacher, what is the great
precept in the law?"
37 Now He averred to him,
"You shall be loving the Lord your God with
your whole heart,
and with your whole soul, and with your whole
comprehension.
38 This is the great and foremost
precept.
39 Yet the second is like it: `You shall be
loving your associate as yourself.'
40 On
these two precepts is hanging the
whole law and the prophets."
Gal.5:14 For the entire law is fulfilled in one
word, in this:
"You shall love your associate as
yourself."
Who are these, then, who by nature are doing ‘that which the
law demands’? We find Scripture declaring that the disposition of the flesh
is enmity with God, a wholly unnatural state of affairs. It also
says that those who are in flesh
are not able to please
God. It should follow that those who are in spirit are able. It
also declares that those who are ‘in Christ Jesus’ walk according to
spirit, rather than according to flesh. These have God’s spirit ‘making its
home in’ them. These are members of the body of Christ, believers in the
evangel of the Uncircumcision.
Rom.2:27 And the Uncircumcision who,
by nature, are discharging the law's demands, shall be judging
you,
who through letter and circumcision, are a
transgressor of law.
Rom.13:8 To no one owe anything, except
to be loving one another,
for he who is loving another has fulfilled law.
Rom.13:10 Love is not working evil to an
associate.
The complement,
then, of law, is love.
Love extends beyond the
scope of the law, embodying in it positive elements that overwhelms selfishness.
Rom.14:19 Consequently… we are
pursuing that which makes for peace
and that which is for edification of one another.
Rom.15:1,2 Now we, the able,
ought to be bearing
the infirmities of the impotent,
and not to be pleasing ourselves.
2 Let each of us please his associate, for his good, toward his edification.
Gal.6:2 Bear one another's burdens,
and thus fill up the law of Christ.
1Cor.10:23,24 All is allowed me, but not all is expedient.
All is allowed me, but not all is edifying.
24 Let no one be seeking the welfare of
himself, but that of another.
Phil.2:1-4 If, then, there is any consolation
in Christ, if any comfort of love,
if any communion of spirit, if any compassion
and pity,
2 fill my joy full, that you may be mutually
disposed, having mutual love,
joined in soul, being disposed to one
thing--
3 nothing according with faction, nor yet
according with vainglory—
but with humility, deeming one another superior to one's self,
4 not each noting that which is his own, but each
that of others also.
15. who are displaying the action of the law written in their hearts,
their conscience testifying together
and their reckonings between one another,
accusing or defending them,
Acting through love, our
scope of activity goes far beyond the specifications of law. We do not even
have to know the law to be able to please God in our actions. The
motivation is from our inner being, as if the essence of the law was
written in our hearts. Our consciences become more sensitive to what is
right and what is not. The
experiences we are being put through prepare us for the role we will have
at our deliverance.
1Cor.6:2,3 Or are you not aware that the
saints shall judge the world?
And if the world is being judged by you,
are you unworthy
of the least tribunals?
3 Are you not aware that we shall be judging messengers,
not to mention life's affairs?
Eph.1:7-12 in Whom we are having
the deliverance through His blood,
the forgiveness of offenses in accord with the riches
of His grace,
8 which He lavishes on us; in all wisdom and
prudence
9 making known to us the secret of His will
(in accord with His delight, which He purposed
in Him)
10 to have an administration of the complement of the eras,
to head up all
in the Christ--both that in the heavens and that on the earth--
11 in Him in Whom our lot was cast also,
being designated
beforehand according to the purpose
of the One Who is operating all in accord with
the counsel of His will,
12 that we
should be for the laud of His glory,
who are pre-expectant in the Christ.
This, however, does not
mean that we are already perfect and qualified to judge ones who are under
the law. We are being created in
Christ Jesus to carry out good works that God prepares beforehand.
Meanwhile, much as we are aware of it, we still do the things we ought not
to, and we do not put into effect what we should.
Eph.2:10 For His achievement are
we,
being created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God
makes ready beforehand, that we
should be walking in them.
Rom.7:18 For I am aware that good is not making its home in me
(that is, in
my flesh),
for to
will is lying beside me, yet to
be effecting the ideal is not.
Rom.7:15 For what I am effecting I
know not,
for not
what I will, this I am putting into practice,
but what I
am hating, this I am doing.
Rom.7:19 For it is not the good that I will that I am
doing,
but the
evil that I am not willing, this I am putting into practice.
We are being taught an
invaluable lesson in realizing this weakness and inadequacy of ours. Lest
we become lifted in mind by what is in store for us, we are being reminded
that the dying element is still with us just as it is with others.
2Cor.1:9 But we have the rescript of death in ourselves,
that we may be having no confidence in ourselves, but in God,…
Phil.3:3 for we are the circumcision
who are offering divine service in the spirit of
God,
and are glorying in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in flesh.
Col.1:12 at the same time giving thanks to
the Father,
Who makes
you competent for a part of the allotment of the saints, in light,
2Cor.3:4-6 …such is the confidence
we have through Christ toward God
5 (not that we are competent of ourselves,
to reckon anything as of ourselves, but our competency is of God),
6Who also makes us competent dispensers of a new covenant,
not of the letter, but of the spirit,
for the letter is killing, yet the spirit is
vivifying.
Phil.2:13 for it is God Who is operating in you
to will as well as to work for the sake of His
delight.
2Cor.12:9,10 "Sufficient for you is
My grace,
for My power in
infirmity is being perfected."
With the greatest relish, then, will I rather be
glorying in my infirmities,
that the
power of Christ should be tabernacling over me.
10 Wherefore I delight in infirmities, in outrages, in necessities,
in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake,
for, whenever
I may be weak, then I am
powerful.
Though the Jew prefers to
imagine that the cutting off of the flesh in circumcision marks him as
superior to the rest of mankind, the rite actually symbolizes the inadequacy of the flesh in its
efforts to attain God’s promises. What he does not realize is that true circumcision has to do with
spirit, a matter of the heart rather than a mere observance in the flesh,
and that this only God can dispense.
Rom.2:28,29 For not that which is apparent is
the Jew,
nor yet that which is apparent in flesh is circumcision;
29 but that which is hidden is the Jew,
and circumcision is of the heart, in spirit, not in letter,
whose applause is not of men, but of God.
Deut.30:6 Yahweh
your Elohim
will circumcise your heart and the heart of your seed
so as to love Yahweh your
Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul,…
16. in the day when God will be judging the
hidden things of humanity,
according to my evangel, through Jesus Christ.
Much
of the judgment which obtains among men is unjust and oppressive because of
their inability to uncover the real truth: But in the divine judgment the
hidden things will be revealed and a just sentence will be based on all the
facts. Doubtless the motives will be laid bare as well as the acts
themselves and thus the quality of each action will receive due
recognition. Concordant Commentary
‘…the hidden things…’
Men may hide their ulterior
motives and dishonourable actions as well as their weaknesses and illicit
desires from others around them, even from their most intimate associates,
but, nothing can be hidden from
God.
Jer.17:10 I, Yahweh, do search the heart, try the reins,
Even to give to each according to his way,
According to the fruit of his doings.
1Sam.16:7 `Look not unto his appearance,
and unto the height of his stature, for I have
rejected him;
for [it
is] not as man sees—
for man looks at the eyes, and Yahweh looks at the heart
Heb.4:13 And there is not a creature which is not apparent
in its sight.
Now all is naked and bare to the eyes of Him to Whom we are accountable.
Eph.5:9-12 As children of light be
walking
(for the fruit of the light is in all goodness
and righteousness and truth),
10 testing what is well pleasing to the
Lord.
11 And be not joint participants in the
unfruitful acts of darkness,
yet rather be exposing them also,
12 for it is a shame even to speak of the hidden things occurring, done by
them.
2Cor.4:2 But we spurn the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness,
nor yet adulterating the word of God, but, by
manifestation of the truth,
commending ourselves to every man's conscience
in God's sight.
1Cor.14:24,25 Now
if all should be prophesying,
yet some unbeliever or plain person be entering,
he is being exposed by all, he is being examined
by all.
25The hidden
things of his heart are becoming apparent,
and thus, falling on his face, he will be
worshiping God,
reporting that God really is among you.
‘…in the day when God will be judging…through Jesus Christ…’
God will be judging all
mankind through Christ to Whom this high honour and privilege has been
delegated.
Jn.5:22,23 For neither is the Father judging anyone,
but has
given all judging to the Son,
23 that all may be
honoring the Son, according as
they are honoring the Father.
Act.10:42 And He charges us to herald
to the people
and to certify that this One is He
Who is specified
by God to be Judge of the living and the dead.
Jn.5:25-29 Verily, verily, I am saying
to you that coming is an hour,
and now is, when the dead shall be hearing the
voice of the Son of God,
and those who hear shall be living.
26 For even as the Father has life in
Himself,
thus to the Son also He gives to have life in
Himself.
27 "And He gives Him authority to do judging,
seeing that He is a son of mankind.
28 Marvel not at this, for coming is the
hour
in which all who are in the tombs shall hear His
voice,
29 and those who do good shall go out into
a resurrection of life,
yet those who commit bad things, into a
resurrection of judging.
There are, however, a number of occasions when such
judging is exercised. But, we need to keep in mind what judgment is and
what it is not.
‘To judge’ comes from krinö,
meaning to set right, to lay out the facts and circumstances so as to come
to a correct conclusion. It is to distinguish right from wrong, to set
things right, even to withhold an award, or to compensate a loss or a lack.
‘To condemn’ comes from katakrinö,
literally DOWN-JUDGE, to judge adversely. It is to go beyond
establishing guilt, to pass a sentence that brings on a reprimand or a
penalty for wrongdoing.
The Dais of Christ: For Believers of the Uncircumcision
Counting from now, the
first judgment to take place will be when the Lord Jesus Christ comes to
snatch the members of his body, who have been sealed with holy spirit for
that very day of deliverance.
Eph.1:13,14 In Whom you also—
on hearing the word of truth, the evangel of
your salvation—
in Whom on believing also, you are sealed with the holy spirit of promise
14 (which is an earnest of the enjoyment of our allotment,
to the
deliverance of that which has been procured) for the laud of His
glory!
Rom.8:11 Now if the spirit of Him Who rouses Jesus from among the dead
is making
its home in you,
He Who rouses Christ Jesus from among the dead
will also be vivifying your mortal bodies
because of
His spirit making its home in you.
1Thes.4:13-18 Now we do not want you
to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are reposing, lest you may
sorrow according as the rest, also, who have no expectation.
14 For, if we are believing that Jesus died
and rose,
thus also, those who are put to repose,
will God, through Jesus, lead forth together
with Him.
15 For this we are saying to you by the
word of the Lord,
that we, the
living, who are surviving to the presence of the Lord,
should by no means outstrip those who are put to repose,
16 for the Lord Himself will be descending
from heaven
with a shout of command, with the voice of the
Chief Messenger,
and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ shall be rising
first,
17 Thereupon we, the living who are surviving,
shall at
the same time be snatched away together with them in clouds,
to meet the Lord in the air.
And thus shall we always be together with the
Lord.
18 So that, console one another with these
words.
Phil.3:20,21 For our realm is inherent
in the heavens,
out of which we are awaiting a Saviour also, the
Lord, Jesus Christ,
21 Who
will transfigure the body of our humiliation,
to conform
it to the body of His glory, in accord with the operation
which enables Him even to subject all to
Himself.
Members of the body of
Christ, having been designated beforehand and called, have been justified
also. Being in Christ, and
because of the perfect faith of their
Head, Christ Jesus, there is no possibility of condemnation for them.
They have not been appointed to
God’s indignation. They have God’s assurance, His very holy spirit as guarantee, of deliverance and
glorification independent of their works. Though their good
practices as well as their good ones are laid bare here, these are to
demonstrate God’s just judging in
dispensing a reward or forfeiting it.
Rom.8:29,30 whom He foreknew, He designates
beforehand, also,
to be conformed to the image of His Son,
for Him to be Firstborn among many
brethren.
30 Now whom He designates beforehand, these He calls also,
and whom He calls, these He justifies also;
now whom He justifies, these He glorifies also.
2Cor.5:10 For all of us must be
manifested in front of the dais of
Christ,
that each should be requited for that
which he
puts into practice through the body, whether good or bad.
1Cor.4:5 be not judging anything before the
season,
till the Lord should be coming,
Who will also illuminate the hidden things of darkness
and manifest the counsels of the hearts.
And then applause will be coming to each one
from God
Eph.6:6-8 … but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God
from the soul,
7 with good humor slaving as to
the Lord and not to men,
8 being aware that, whatsoever
good each one should be doing,
for this
he will be requited by the Lord, whether slave or free
1Cor.3:10-15 According to the grace of God
which is being granted to me,
as a wise foreman I lay a foundation, yet
another is building on it.
Yet let each one beware how he is building on it.
11 For other foundation can no one lay
beside that which is laid,
which is Jesus Christ.
12 Now if anyone is building on this
foundation gold and silver,
precious stones, wood, grass, straw,
13 each one's work will become apparent,
for the day will make it evident, for it is
being revealed by fire.
And the fire, it will be testing each one's work--what kind it is.
14 If anyone's work will be remaining which
he builds on it, he will get wages.
15 If anyone's work shall be burned up, he will forfeit it,
yet he shall be saved, yet thus, as through
fire.
1Cor.6:3 …are you not aware that the
saints shall judge the world?
And if the world is being judged by you,
are you unworthy
of the least tribunals?
3 Are you not aware that we shall be judging messengers,
not to mention life's affairs?
Just Before The Great Affliction:
For Circumcision believers of that time
After the last of those of
the nations have taken their places in the body of Christ, the ‘snatching
away’ will occur. This will signal the resumption of God’s operation for
the salvation of Israel, they having been set aside since the close of the
book of Acts. It will also signal the emergence to power of the Antichrist
and his system.
Act.28:25-28 …Paul making one
declaration, that,
"Ideally the holy spirit speaks through
Isaiah the prophet, to your fathers,
26 saying, `Go to this people and say,
"In hearing, you will be hearing, and may
by no means be understanding,
And observing, you will be observing, and may by
no means be perceiving,"
27 For stoutened is the heart of this
people,
And with their ears heavily they hear, and with
their eyes they squint,
Lest at some time they may be perceiving with
their eyes,
And with their ears should be hearing,
And with their heart may be understanding,
And should be turning about, and I shall be
healing them.'
28 Let it be known to you, then, that
to the
nations was
dispatched this salvation of God, and
they will hear."
Rom.11:25 …I am not willing for you to be
ignorant of this secret, brethren,
lest you may be passing for prudent among
yourselves,
that callousness, in part, on Israel has come,
until the
complement of the nations may be entering.
26 And thus all Israel shall be saved,…
2Thes.2:6-8 And now you are aware
what is detaining, for him to be unveiled in his
own era.
7 For the secret of lawlessness is already
operating.
Only when the
present detainer may be coming to be out of the midst,
8 then
will be unveiled the lawless one…
When God resumes His
operations with Israel, there will be a distinction within the ranks of the
people:
a A majority secular faction,
who are not even interested in the kingdom to be set up by a purported
Messiah – they will trust in their own abilities to set up their own
political entity. Mercenary, they will ally themselves with anyone to their
advantage.
b An orthodox religious
faction, who trust in the strict observance of the Mosaic ceremonies and
rituals to earn an elite place in the rule of their Messiah. They will
support anyone who was able to promote Judaism, especially to the
resumption of the Temple system and its daily sacrifices.
c A bible-believing minority
faction, who believe in the Mosaic system and who also recognise Jesus as
their promised Messiah. Not recognizing the claims of the Antichrist, and
not being subservient to His system, they will become the ‘enemies of the
state’ to be sought out and destroyed.
For not accepting Jesus as
the Messiah, the first two groups are judged to be not part of the people of Israel.
Act.3:22,23 …A
Prophet will the Lord your God, be raising up to you
from among your brethren, as me. Him you shall
hear,
according
to all, whatsoever He should be speaking to you.
23 Yet it shall be
that every soul whatsoever which should not hear that Prophet
shall be
utterly exterminated from among the people.
At the time when the
Antichrist officially begins his rule
of the world, a judgment is made
on those in the last group who are in
Israel at that time.
Mt.24:15 Whenever, then,
you may be perceiving the abomination of desolation,
which is declared through Daniel the prophet,
standing in the holy place
(let him who is reading apprehend!);
2Thes.2:3,4 No one should be deluding you by any method,
for, should not the apostasy be coming first
and the
man of lawlessness be unveiled, the son of destruction,
4 who is opposing and lifting himself up
over everyone termed a god or an object of
veneration,
so that he is seated in the temple of God,
demonstrating that he himself is God?
Mt.24:16-22 then let those in Judea flee into the mountains.
17 Let him who is on the housetop
not descend to take away the things out of his
house.
18 And let him who is in the field
not turn back behind him to pick up his
cloak.
19 "Now woe to those who are pregnant
and those suckling in those days!
20 Now be praying that your flight may not
be occurring in winter,
nor yet on a sabbath,
21 for then shall be great affliction,
such as
has not occurred from the beginning of the world till now;
neither
under any circumstances may be occurring.
22 And, except those days were discounted, no flesh at all would be saved.
Yet, because of the chosen, those days shall be discounted.
Dan.12:1 In that era shall stand up Michael,
the great chief, standing over the sons of your
people.
Then comes to be an era of distress
such as
has not occurred since there came to be a nation on the earth,
till that
era.
Now in that era
your people shall escape--all those found written in the scroll.
Half of their number, those
who are actively participating in the works of the law, will be chosen to
be part of ‘the woman’ to be
taken to safety from the troubles that will take place. Out of this half, an elite of 144,000
(12,000 celibates each from 12 tribes) will become ‘a son, a male’ to be protected within the Temple precincts.
Mt.24:40-42 Then two shall be in the field; one
is taken along and one left:
41 two
grinding at the millstone; one
is taken along and one left.
42 Be
watching, then, for you are not aware on what day your Lord is coming.
Rev.12:1,2 And a great sign was seen in
heaven:
a woman clothed with the sun,
and the moon underneath her feet,
and on her head a wreath of twelve stars.
2 And being pregnant, she is crying, travailing
and tormented
to be bringing forth.
Rev.12:4-6 … And the dragon stands before the
woman
who is about to be bringing forth,
that it may be devouring her child whenever she
may be bringing forth.
5 And she brought forth a son, a male,
who is about to be shepherding all the nations
with an iron club.
And her
child is snatched away to God and to
His throne.
6 And the
woman fled into the wilderness,
there where she has a place made ready by God,
that there they may be nourishing her a thousand
two hundred sixty days.
Rev.14:1 And I perceived, and lo! the
Lambkin standing on mount Zion,
and with It a
hundred forty-four thousand,
having Its name and Its Father's name written on
their foreheads.
Rev.14:3-5 … the hundred forty-four thousand,
who have been bought from the earth.
4 These are they who were not polluted with
women, for they are celibates.
These are those who are following the Lambkin
wherever It should be going.
These are bought from mankind, a firstfruit to God and the
Lambkin.
5 And in their mouth falsehood was not found, for
they are flawless.
Rev.12:12-14 … Woe to the land and the sea,
for the Adversary descended to you having great
fury,
being aware that brief is the season that he
has."
13 And when the dragon perceived that it
was cast into the earth,
it persecutes the woman who brought forth the
male.
14 And given to the woman were the two
wings of a large vulture,
that she may be flying into the wilderness into
her place,
here where she is nourished a season, and
seasons, and half a season,
from the
face of the serpent.
The other half (who are as
careless about the works of the law and as unprepared as five of the ten
virgins with their oil – see
Mt.25:1-13), together with all Jewish believers in Christ throughout
the world where they have been scattered (and where they cannot fulfill the
requirements of the law concerning the Temple rituals), will be ‘the rest
of her seed’ who will have to face the unleashed fury of Satan and his
Antichrist.
Rev.12:17 And the dragon is angry with the
woman,
and came away to do battle with the rest of her seed,
who are
keeping the precepts of God and who have
the testimony of Jesus.
Mt.24:9-13 Then shall they be giving you up to
affliction,
and they shall be killing you,
and you shall be hated by all of the nations because of My name.
10 And then many shall be snared,
and they shall be giving one another up and
hating one another.
11 And many false prophets shall be roused,
and shall be deceiving many.
12 And, because of the multiplication of
lawlessness,
the love of many shall be cooling.
13 Yet he who endures to the consummation, he shall be saved.
By the time the Antichrist
attains the zenith of his power, the whole
world, except for the faithful of Israel, will be under his authority
and control. Antichrist is from
the Greek antichristos, INSTEAD-ANOINTED, and speaks of one who acts
instead of Christ rather than against (the Latin usage of anti-). He is the archetype false
Christ. For forty two months he will rule the world instead of Christ – and the world, taken in by the signs and
miracles worked through the false prophet, will accord him awe and
reverence.
2Thes.2:8-12 then will be unveiled the lawless one…
9 whose presence is in accord with the operation
of Satan,
with all power and signs and false miracles
10 and with every seduction of injustice
among those who are perishing,
because
they do not receive the love of the truth for their salvation.
11 And therefore God will be sending them an
operation of deception,
for them to
believe the falsehood,
12 that all
may be judged who do not believe the truth, but delight in injustice.
Rev.13:3-8 …and the whole earth marvels after the wild beast.
4 And they worship the dragon, seeing that
it gives authority to the wild beast.
And they worship the wild beast, saying,
"Who is like the wild beast?" and
"Who is able to battle with it?"
5 And to it was given a mouth speaking
great things and blasphemies.
And to it was given authority to do what it
wills forty-two months.
6 And it opens its mouth in blasphemies
toward God, to blaspheme His name
and His tabernacle, and those tabernacling in
heaven.
7 And to it was given to do battle with the
saints and to conquer them.
And authority was given to it
over every
tribe and people and language and nation.
8 And all
who are dwelling on the earth will be worshiping it,
everyone whose name is not written in the scroll of life
of the Lambkin …
It is such a hostile and
oppressive environment that ‘the rest of her seed’ will have to live in and
hope to endure till the end.
The Judgment of the Kingdom: For Believers of the Circumcision
Christ, the Messiah of
Israel, will come down to earth (on the mount of Olives) at the very climax
of the great affliction to establish the rule of God and set up the
long-awaited kingdom. The Antichrist and the false prophet are apprehended
and cast into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. Satan is
apprehended, judged, and sentenced to incarceration in the submerged chaos
for a thousand years. When the necessary preliminaries and preparations are
complete, the faithful dead of Israel will be resurrected to take their
places in the kingdom together with the faithful who have survived the
pogroms of the Antichrist. They will then be assigned their respective
places in the administration, in accord with the quality of their good
works.
Act.1:9-12 And saying these things, while they
are looking,
He was lifted up, and a cloud took Him up from
their eyes.
10 And as they were looking intently into
heaven at His going,
lo ! two men stand beside them in white
attire,
11 who say also, "Men! Galileans! Why
do you stand, looking into heaven?
his Jesus Who is being taken up from you into
heaven
shall come
thus, in the manner in which you gaze at Him going into
heaven."
12 Then they return into Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet,
which is near Jerusalem a sabbath's journey.
Zech.14:4 And His feet shall stand in that
day on the mount of Olives,
which is adjoining Jerusalem on the east.
And the mount of Olives is rent in half;…
For the Twelve
Even while Christ was on
this earth, He had promised a special status for His twelve apostles.
Though Christ is to rule until the Consummation, when all rule is abolished,
Scripture limits the rule of the apostles to a thousand years.
Mt.19:28,29 … "Verily, I am
saying to you,
that you who follow Me, in the renascence
whenever the Son of Mankind should be seated on the throne of His glory,
you also shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Lk.22:28-30 "Now you are those
who have continued with Me in My trials.
29 And I am
covenanting a covenant with you,
according as My Father covenanted a kingdom to
Me,
30 that you may be eating and drinking at My table in My kingdom.
And you will be seated on thrones, judging the twelve
tribes of Israel."
1Cor.15:24-26 …the consummation,
whenever He may be giving up the kingdom to His God and Father,
whenever He should be nullifying all sovereignty and all authority and power.
25 For He must be reigning until He should be placing all His enemies under His feet.
26 The last enemy is being abolished: death.
For Others of the Circumcision
Others of the faithful of
Israel will also reign with Christ, but their
rule, too, is limited to a thousand years. All those of the nations during
that Millenium will have to use the intermediary offices of these faithful
of Israel, the true Jews.
Rev.3:21 "The one who is conquering,
to him will I be granting to be seated with Me on My throne
as I, also, conquer, and am seated with My
Father on His throne.
Rev.20:4-6 And I perceived thrones,
and they are seated on them, and judgment was granted to them.
And the souls of those executed because of the
testimony of Jesus
and because of the word of God,
and those who do not worship the wild beast or
its image,
and did not get the emblem on their forehead and
on their hand--
they also live
and reign with Christ a thousand
years.
5 (The rest of the dead do not live
until the thousand years should be finished.)
This is the former resurrection.
6
Happy
and holy is he who is having part in the former resurrection!
Over these the second death has no jurisdiction,
but they will be priests of God and of Christ,
and they will be reigning with Him the
thousand years.
Zech.8:23 Thus says Yahweh of
hosts:
In those days ten mortals, from all the languages of the nations,
will take fast hold. And they will take fast
hold of the hem of a man, a Jew,
saying, We
will go with you, for we hear that Elohim is with you.
The Judgments of the Nations
With victory sealed, Christ
will assemble for judgment those nations
that have come through the time of the ‘Great Affliction’. These nations
will be blessed or cursed in accord with the way each nation treated His
people, ‘the rest of her seed’, during their time of trouble under the
persecutions of the Antichrist.
Mt.25:31-46 …whenever the Son of Mankind may be
coming in His glory,
and all the holy messengers with Him,
then shall He be seated on the throne of His
glory,
32 and in front of Him shall be gathered all the nations.
And He shall be severing them from one another
even as a shepherd is severing the sheep from
the kids.
33 And He shall be standing the sheep,
indeed, at His right,
yet the kids at the left.
34 "Then shall the King be declaring
to those at His right,
`Hither, blessed of My Father! Enjoy the allotment
of the kingdom
made ready
for you from the disruption of the world.
35 For I hunger and you give Me to eat; I
thirst and you give Me drink;
a stranger was I and you took Me in;
36 naked and you clothed Me; infirm am I
and you visit Me; in jail was I and you come to Me.'
37 "Then the just will be answering
Him, saying, `Lord,
when did we perceive Thee hungering and nourish
Thee,
or thirsting and we give Thee drink?
38 Now when did we perceive Thee a stranger
and took Thee in, or naked and we clothed Thee?
39 Now when did we perceive Thee infirm, or
in jail, and we came to Thee?'
40 "And, answering, the King shall be
declaring to them,
`Verily, I
am saying to you, In as much as you do it to one of these,
the least
of My brethren, you do it to Me.'
41 "Then shall He be declaring to
those also at His left,
`Go from Me, you cursed, into the fire eonian,
made ready
for the Adversary and his messengers.
42 For I hunger and you do not give Me to
eat;
I thirst and you do not give Me drink;
43 a stranger was I and you did not take Me
in;
naked and you did not clothe Me; infirm and in
jail and you did not visit Me.'
44 "Then shall they also be answering,
saying,
`Lord, when did we perceive you hungering or
thirsting, or a stranger,
or naked, or infirm, or in jail, and we did not
serve you?'
45 "Then shall He be answering them,
saying, `Verily, I am saying to you,
In as much as you do it not to one of these, the least, neither do you it to Me.'
46 And these shall be coming away into chastening eonian,
yet the just into life eonian."
The Judgment Before The Great White Throne: For Unbelievers
At the end of the thousand
years, Satan is let loose from his prison and will immediately rouse a
rebellion against the holy city. God will destroy these rebel hordes with
fire from heaven. Satan will be cast into the lake of fire where his two
lackeys (the false Christ and the false prophet) are.
Scripture then speaks of a
Great White Throne before which all who have died without having been saved
are resurrected and assembled. They are given life for a limited period
during which they are judged by their faithful observance of a given code
of conduct. Failing to observe its dictates because their names were not
already written in the scroll of life,
and therefore holy spirit is not
dispensed to them at that time, they are brought to the sobering
realization that they cannot earn
their salvation but must await God’s gift
of it. Judged to be unfit for a place in the new earth that will be brought into being soon after that, they
are sentenced to oblivion in the lake of fire which is, to them, the Second
Death.
Rev.20:11-15 And I perceived a great white throne,
and Him Who is sitting upon it, from Whose face
earth and heaven fled,
and no place was found for them.
12 And I perceived the dead, the great and
the small,
standing before the throne. And the scrolls were
opened.
And another scroll was opened which is the
scroll of life.
And the
dead were judged
by that which is written in the scrolls in accord with their acts.
13 And the sea gives up the dead in it, and
death
and the unseen give up the dead in them.
And they were condemned, each in accord with their acts.
14 And death and the unseen were cast into
the lake of fire.
This is the second death--the lake of fire.
15 And if anyone was not found written in the scroll of life,
he
was cast into the lake of fire.
Isa.65:20 RSV No more shall there be in
it
an infant that lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not fill out his
days,
for the child shall die a hundred years old,
and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.
Rev.21:8 Yet the timid, and unbelievers, and
the abominable,
and murderers, and paramours, and enchanters,
and idolaters,
and all the false--their part is in the lake burning with fire and sulphur,
which is the second death.
Rev.21:27 and under no circumstances may anything contaminating,
or one who is making an abomination and a lie
be entering into it, except those written in the Lambkin's scroll of life.
The Dais of God: For All
Only those judged by God to
be righteous will have a place in
the new heavens (members of the body
of Christ) and new earth (members of the bride of the Lamb). All the rest of humanity (except Satan,
the Antichrist, and the false prophet, who continue to be tormented in the
lake of fire), will be destroyed in the lake of fire and be oblivious to what happens throughout
the period of the new heavens and new earth. Death is not yet abolished
and, though it does not occur
during that whole eon, these people, judged unrighteous, are still held in its grasping talons.
Scripture indicates that
the duration of the Fourth Eon is
a little over a thousand years. But, just as we are not told how long the First Eon was (from creation – Gen.1:1, through
chaos and to re-creation –
Gen.1:2), there is no indication of the time between the creation of ‘the
new heavens and the new earth’ and the close of that Fifth Eon, the Consummation. The end of that eon is also the
culmination of all the eons, and marks the fulfillment of God’s purpose for having created the eons
through Christ.
Isa.45:23 By Myself I swear.
From My mouth fares forth righteousness, and My
word shall not be recalled.
For to Me shall bow every knee, and every
tongue shall acclaim to Elohim
Rom.14:10-12 For all of us shall be presented at
the dais of God,
11 for it is written: Living am I, the Lord
is saying, For to Me shall bow every knee,
And every tongue shall be acclaiming God!
12 Consequently, then, each of us shall be giving account concerning
himself to God.
Phil.2:9-11 Wherefore, also, God highly exalts Him, and
graces Him
with the name that is above every name,
10 that in the name of Jesus
every knee
should be bowing, celestial and terrestrial and subterranean,
11 and every
tongue should be acclaiming that Jesus Christ is Lord,
for the glory of God, the Father.
The whole of God’s creation
will appear before Him for judgment. Here, every case will be open for
inspection by all, nothing will remain hidden. It will be the demonstration
of God’s just judging. No voices of dissent or dissatisfaction will be
heard, only paeans of joyful praise, for His creation will appreciate Him for Who and What He
is and will judge Him just in all His operations.
Rom.3:4 …"That so Thou shouldst be justified in Thy sayings,
And shalt be conquering when Thou art being judged."
God is love, and out of
this inherent trait He determined to bring His creation into being, for Him
to love and for it to respond appreciatively to that love. To initiate the
operation to achieve this goal, He brought into being ‘the Firstborn of all
creation’. Through Him God marked out a portion in time in which to attain
His purpose. This portion of time was further divided into five parts, each
of unequal duration, during each of which a specific part, or stage, or
phase, of the operation was scheduled for completion. Scripture calls this
five-stage span of time ‘the eons’.
The Consummation marks the
completion of God’s ‘project’, the fulfillment of His purpose. Success ends
every condition of enmity so that death, the last enemy, is abolished.
There will no more be the need for rule and power and authority. When this
is achieved, God will be All in all.
Eph.3:8-11 To me, less than the least of all
saints, was granted this grace:
to bring the evangel of the untraceable riches
of Christ to the nations,
9 and to enlighten all as to what is the administration of the secret,
which has
been concealed from the eons in God, Who creates all,
10 that now
may be made known
to the sovereignties and the authorities among
the celestials,
through the ecclesia, the multifarious wisdom of
God,
11 in accord with the purpose of the eons,
which He makes in Christ Jesus, our Lord;
Col.1:15-17 Firstborn of every
creature,
16 for in
Him is all created,
that in the heavens and that on the earth, the
visible and the invisible,
whether thrones, or lordships, or sovereignties,
or authorities,
all is created through Him and for Him,
17 and He is before all, and all
has its cohesion in Him.
Heb.1:2 in the last of these days
speaks to us in a Son,
Whom He appoints enjoyer of the allotment of
all,
through
Whom He
also makes the eons;
Col.1:20 and through Him to reconcile all to Him
(making peace through the blood of His cross),
through Him, whether those on the earth or those
in the heavens.
1Cor.15:25-28 For He must be reigning
until He should be placing all His enemies under
His feet.
26 The last
enemy is being abolished: death.
27 For He subjects all under His feet.
Now whenever He may be saying that all is
subject,
it is evident that it is outside of Him Who
subjects all to Him.
28 Now, whenever all may be subjected to
Him,
then the Son Himself also shall be subjected to
Him Who subjects all to Him,
that God
may be All in all.
‘…my evangel…’
Before Paul’s writings came
to be, there was never a need to note any marked distinction in God’s
revelation – they were all meant for
the nation of Israel, its people and its religion. The nations are
addressed only in their political and military relationship to Israel.
There is no indication that there is salvation of the nations outside the
intermediary offices of Israel.
As ‘the apostle of the nations’, conveying God’s
special message to them, Paul’s
evangel held a different context
and had a different scope.
Scripture has a number of
evangels within its pages rather than just one as is commonly taught to be. Of these, two are spoken of in contradistinction to each other
though, sad to say, this distinction is not
made in theological circles.
When Paul speaks of which group of believers each evangel
belongs, he refers to the Uncircumcision
(to whom he was commissioned) as distinct from the Circumcision (to whom the other Greek scriptures were
addressed).
Gal.2:7-9 But, on the contrary,
perceiving
that I have
been entrusted with the evangel of
the Uncircumcision,
8 according as Peter of the Circumcision
(for He Who operates in Peter for the
apostleship of the Circumcision
operates in me also for the nations),
9 and, knowing the grace which is being given to
me,
James and Cephas and John, who are supposed to
be pillars,
give to me and Barnabas the right hand of
fellowship,
that we, indeed, are to be for the nations, yet they for
the Circumcision--
Scripture takes a serious
view of, and gives a dire warning against, a careless handling of the word
of truth. Those who have not correctly cut it have fallen into the trap of
a confused theology, because of which they have not been able to grasp the
truth about God. Mixing the message given through Paul with that given
through the others results is an adulteration and distortion of both the evangels, producing
concoctions that are not from God
to either the Circumcision or the Uncircumcision.
2Tim.2:15 Endeavor
to present yourself to God qualified,
an unashamed worker, correctly cutting the word of truth.
Gal.1:6-9 I am marveling that
thus, swiftly, you are transferred
from that which calls you in the grace of Christ, to a
different evangel,
7 which is not
another, except it be that some who are disturbing you
want also to
distort the evangel of Christ.
8 But if ever we also, or a messenger out
of heaven,
should be bringing an evangel to you beside that which we bring to you,
let him be anathema!
9 As we have declared before and at present I am
saying again,
if anyone is bringing you an evangel beside that which you accepted,
let him be anathema!
Through Paul, under the
evangel of the Uncircumcision, those of the nations are told:
Eph.2:8,9 For in grace, through faith,
are you saved,
and this is not
out of you; it is God's approach present,
9 not of works, lest
anyone should be boasting.
Eph.1:13,14 In Whom you also—
on hearing the word of truth, the
evangel of your salvation—
in Whom on
believing also,
you are sealed
with the holy spirit of promise
14 (which is an earnest of the enjoyment of our allotment,
to the
deliverance of that which has been procured) for the laud of His
glory!
Rom.3:28 …we are reckoning a man to be justified by faith
apart from
works of law.
On the other hand, the
evangel of the Circumcision boldly declares that:
Jas.2:24 You see that by works a man is being justified,
and not
by faith only.
Act.15:1,2 And some, coming down from
Judea, taught the brethren that,
"If you should not be circumcised after the
custom of Moses,
you can
not be saved." 2 … Paul and Barnabas
come to have no slight commotion and questioning with them,…
Act.15:5 …some from the sect of the
Pharisees who have believed rise up,
saying that they must be circumcised,
besides charging them to keep the law of Moses.
It is futile to try to make
it appear that what God says about salvation through Paul is the same as what He says through James
and the others. Because the basis of his evangel is different from that of
the others, Paul even presents a distinctive
definition of ‘grace’ as used in his.
Rom.11:6 Now if it is in grace, it is no longer out of works,
else the grace is coming to be no longer grace.
Now, if it is out of works, it is no longer grace,
else the work is no longer work.
To assert the fact that he
was specifically commissioned to carry to the nations the message that belongs to them, the evangel of the Uncircumcision, he calls it his evangel.
Rom.16:25,26 Now to Him Who is able to establish
you
in accord
with my evangel, and the heralding of Christ Jesus
in accord with the revelation of a secret hushed
in times eonian,
26 yet manifested now and through prophetic
scriptures,
according to the injunction of the eonian God
being made known to all nations for faith-obedience--
2Tim.2:8 Remember Jesus Christ,
Who has been roused from among the dead,
is of the seed of David, according to my
evangel,
Col.1:24-29 I am now rejoicing in my
sufferings for you,
and am filling up in my flesh, in His stead,
the deficiencies of the afflictions of Christ,
for His body, which is the ecclesia
25 of which I
became a dispenser,
in accord with the administration of God, which
is granted to me for you,
to
complete the word of God-- 26 the secret which has
been concealed
from the eons and from the generations,
yet now
was made manifest to His saints,
27 to whom God wills to make known
what are the glorious riches of this secret among the nations, which
is:
Christ
among you,
the expectation of glory--
28 Whom we are announcing, admonishing
every man and teaching every man in all wisdom,
that we should be presenting every man mature in
Christ Jesus;
29 for which I am toiling also, struggling
in accord with His operation,
which is operating in me with power.
Rom.3:1-12 On this behalf I, Paul,
the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you, the nations--
2 since you surely hear of the administration of
the grace of God
that is given to me for you,
3 for by revelation the secret is made known to me
(according as I write before, in brief,
4 by which you who are reading
are able to apprehend my understanding in the
secret of the Christ,
5 which, in other generations, is not made
known to the sons of humanity
as it was now revealed to His holy apostles and
prophets): in spirit
6 the nations are to be joint enjoyers of an allotment,
and a joint
body, and joint partakers of the
promise in Christ Jesus, through the
evangel
7 of which I
became the dispenser,
in accord with the gratuity of the grace of God,
which is granted to me in accord with His powerful operation.
8 To me, less than the least of all saints, was
granted this grace:
to bring the evangel of the untraceable riches
of Christ to the nations,
9 and to enlighten all as to what is the
administration of the secret,
which has been concealed from the eons in God,
Who creates all,
10 that now may be made known
to the sovereignties and the authorities among
the celestials,
through
the ecclesia, the multifarious wisdom of God,
11 in accord with the purpose of the eons,
which He makes in Christ Jesus, our Lord;
12 in Whom we have boldness and access with
confidence,
through His faith.--
'..our evangel..'
When Paul includes himself
under the umbrella of the evangel he brings, he terms it ‘our’ evangel.
2Cor.4:3 Now, if our evangel is covered, also,
it is covered in those who are perishing,
2Thes.2:14 …He also calls us through our evangel,
for the procuring of the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
Here, in this passage
(verses 14 to 16), Paul notes that when those of the nations (who were not given the law) behave according
to the principles on which the law is based, they display a deeper motivation
than an obligation to observing laws, and appear in a better light than
those who have the law but do not observe it as they should.
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Index of Articles - Romans
Apr 2006
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