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SECTION G – Doctrine: Justification,
Individual (3:21 –
4:25)
Balanced
by SECTION g – Doctrine: Justification, National (9:30
– 10:21)
Romans Three - verses 24 to 31
24. Being justified gratuitously in His grace,
through the deliverance which is in
Christ Jesus
They
hated Him without a cause—gratuitously. Such is the meaning of
this precious word. Justification on any other ground than the free and
unforced favor of God is impossible, for none deserve it. But now Christ
Jesus has effected a deliverance from all judgment, which is absolutely
free to all who believe.
Concordant Commentary
‘…being justified gratuitously in His
grace…’
‘Gratuitously’, is from the Greek dörean’, literally GIVE-GUSHed,
freely, without a cause, neither in reciprocation nor in response to some
worthiness on the part of the recipient. The welfare of His creatures is
paramount in God’s operations. He has planned
for their well-being, and justification is integral to it.
Rom.11:34-36 For, who knew the mind of the
Lord?
or, who became His adviser?
35 or, who gives to Him first, and it will be repaid him?
36 seeing that out of Him and through
Him and for Him is all:
‘Grace’ is from char’is,
literally JOY, something to produce happiness, a benefit
bestowed on one who deserves the
opposite. What level of joy could there be had we not been first
brought hopelessly low through the experience of the evil in our lives to
appreciate our unworthiness? If
we can but grasp what God is doing for us, this grace of God, we would be
in a constant state of rejoicing.
Rom.11:33 O, the
depth of the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God!
How inscrutable are His judgments, and
untraceable His ways!
Rom.11:34-36 For, who knew the mind of the Lord? or, who became His adviser?
35 or, who gives to Him first, and it will
be repaid him?
36 seeing that out of Him and through Him
and for Him is all:
to Him be the glory for the eons! Amen!
1Cor.2:16 For who knew the mind of the Lord?
Who will be deducing from Him? Yet we have the mind of Christ.
Phil.4:4 Be rejoicing in the Lord always!
Again, I will declare, be
rejoicing!
Pardon is given to those
who are guilty and may be revoked for various reasons
(a good example of this is the parable of the Unforgiving Servant in
Mt.18:23-35).
What we are graced with, however, is something better, something
untainted by any residue of guilt - Justification.
To be justified, in Scripture, is to be declared 'Not Guilty'! To be acquitted
of the charge brought up! And Justification is irrevocable (Rom.8:28-39)! Nothing can now interfere with our
relationship with God and with His Christ.
We are not justified
because we deserve to be, but simply because of God’s choice to have it so.
If there were other alternatives of becoming righteous, even through
diligent observance of the law which God
gave, then Christ need not have died for us. There would have been no
reason to. He would have died for nothing. But, there is no alternative to
the course God set right from the very beginning. Christ prayed to the
Father to remove from Him, if at all possible, the impending suffering and
death. If it were at all possible, surely God would not have given up His
Beloved Son.
Gal.2:21 I am not repudiating the grace of God,
for if
righteousness is through law, consequently
Christ died gratuitously.
Isa.53:9,10 And He is given His tomb with the
wicked,
a cave from the rich, in His death.
For He does no wrong, and no deceit is in His mouth,
10 yet
Yahweh desires to crush Him, and He causes Him to be wounded….
Act.2:23 This One,
given up in
the specific counsel and foreknowledge of God,
you, gibbeting by the hand of the lawless,
assassinate,
Act.4:27,28 For of a truth, in this city
were gathered against Thy holy Boy Jesus, Whom
Thou dost anoint,
both Herod and Pontius Pilate, together with the
nations and the peoples of Israel,
28 to do whatever Thy hand and Thy counsel designates beforehand to occur.
1Cor.2:7,8 but we are speaking God's wisdom in a secret,
wisdom
which has been concealed, which God designates before--…..
8 which not one of the chief men of this eon knows,
for if
they know, they would not crucify the Lord of glory.
A righteousness of God is manifest for all. Not just for some
or even for most, but for all. It must be that all of humanity will be made righteous, that all will be justified. The ‘being justified’ denotes that the
program to effect this is already running. We, whether we are out of Israel
or out of the nations, who believe the evangel of the Uncircumcision, are
those already being justified.
The rest, at a time determined by God, will receive justification, too.
Rom.8:30 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.
Rom.5:9 being now justified in His blood,
we shall be saved from indignation, through Him.
1Cor.6:11 …but you are bathed off, but you are hallowed,
but you were justified
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ
and by the spirit of our God.
Tit.3:7 that, being justified in that One's grace,
we may be
becoming enjoyers, in expectation, of the allotment of life eonian.
Gal.2:16 having perceived that a man
is not being justified by works of law,
except alone
through the faith of Christ
Jesus,
we also believe in Christ Jesus
that we may be justified by the faith of Christ and not by works of law,
seeing that by works of law shall no flesh at all be justified.
Act.13:38,39 Let it then be known to you, men, brethren
that through this One is being announced to you
the pardon of sins,
39 and from all from which you could not be justified in the law of
Moses,
in this One everyone who is believing is being justified.
‘…through the deliverance which is in Christ Jesus…’
Spiritually speaking,
because believers are in Christ, we have been crucified with Him, we died and were buried with Him, we have been resurrected and are
seated at God’s right hand with Him. In Him we have the deliverance.
Col.2:10-13 And you are complete in Him,
Who is the Head of every sovereignty and
authority,
11 in Whom you were circumcised also
with a circumcision not made by hands,
in the stripping off of the body of flesh in the circumcision of Christ.
12 Being
entombed together with Him in baptism,
in Whom you
were roused together also
through faith in the operation of God,
13 Who rouses Him from among the dead,
you also being dead to the offenses and the
uncircumcision of your flesh,
He
vivifies us together jointly with Him,
dealing graciously with all our offenses,
Eph.2:4-7 yet God, being rich in mercy,
because of His vast love with which He loves
us
5 (we also being dead to the offenses and the
lusts),
vivifies
us together in Christ (in grace are you saved!)
6 and
rouses us together
and seats
us together among the celestials, in Christ Jesus,
Rom.6:5-7 if we have become planted together in the likeness of His
death,
nevertheless
we shall be of the resurrection also,
6 knowing this, that our old humanity was
crucified together with Him,
that the body of Sin may be nullified,
for us by no means to be still slaving for
Sin,
7 for one who dies has been justified from Sin.
2Cor.5:17 So that, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation:
the primitive passed by. Lo! there has come new!
Rom.8:1-3 Nothing,
consequently, is now condemnation to
those in Christ Jesus.
Not according to flesh are they walking, but
according to spirit,
2 for the spirit's law of life in Christ Jesus
frees you
from the law of sin and death.
3 For what was impossible to the law, in which it
was infirm through the flesh,
did God, sending His own Son in the likeness of
sin's flesh
and concerning sin, He condemns sin in the flesh,
2Cor.5:21 For the One not knowing sin, He
makes to be sin for our sakes
that we
may be becoming God's righteousness in
Him.
Eph.1:7 in Whom we are having the deliverance through
His blood,
the forgiveness of offenses in accord with the
riches of His grace,
This ‘deliverance’
extricates us from the thrall of slavery to sin and out of the control of
the spirit now operating among the sons of stubbornness. It delivers us
‘out of the jurisdiction of Darkness’, and places us in the kingdom of
God’s Son.
Gal.1:3,4 …the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 Who gives Himself for our sins,
so that He might extricate us out of the
present wicked eon,
according to the will of our God and Father,
Col.1:13,14 Who rescues us out of the jurisdiction of Darkness,
and transports
us into the kingdom of the Son of
His love,
14 in Whom we are having deliverance, the pardon of sins,
2Cor.5:21 For the One not knowing sin,
He makes to be sin for our
sakes
that we
may be becoming God's righteousness in Him.
Rom.8:15 For you did not get
slavery's spirit to fear again,
but you got the spirit of sonship,…
Gal.5:1 For freedom Christ frees us! Stand firm, then,
and be not again enthralled with the yoke of slavery.
Heb.2:14,15 Since, then,
the little children have participated in blood
and flesh,
He also was very nigh by partaking of the same, that,
through death,
He should be discarding
him who has the might of death,
that is, the Adversary, 15 and should be clearing those whoever,
in fear of
death,
were through their entire life liable
to slavery.
We need to keep in mind
that not one of humanity is saved for that one’s own sake, merely. All were
brought into being for God’s Own sake, and all will be saved for God’s Own
sake, too.
Rom.11:36 seeing that out of Him and through
Him and for Him is all:
to Him
be the glory for the eons! Amen!
2Cor.5:14 For the love of Christ
is constraining us, judging this,
that, if One died for the sake of all, consequently all died.
Rom.8:21,22 …the creation itself, also,
shall be freed from the slavery of corruption
into the
glorious freedom of the children of God.
22 For we are aware that the entire creation
is groaning and travailing together until now.
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 salvation of believers
is a special case in the salvation of all.
When our work here is completed, we will still have work to do, work that
has been reserved for us to participate in – among those to whom the
evangel of reconciliation has not
been preached yet.
1Tim.4:9-11 Faithful is the saying and worthy of all
welcome
10 (for for this are we toiling and being
reproached),
that we rely on the living God,
Who is the
Saviour of all mankind,
11 especially
of believers.
These things be charging and teaching.
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.
1Cor.6:3 Are you not aware that we shall be judging messengers,…
Eph.1:9-12 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.
Through Adam’s disobedience
all have come under condemnation.
We are all dying creatures and
have all been constituted sinners. We are
powerless to change the situation. But, God, Who operates all in accord
with the counsel of His will, can. We all need to come to this humbling
realization that we cannot, but God can – and with neither a
trace of help nor taint of hindrance from us. And He is doing just that. He
has determined that through Christ’s obedience, even to a death entailing
such excruciating suffering and shame, all
will be delivered from this condemnation and all will be constituted just. All will be delivered from this dying condition and all will be made alive, vivified,
immortal, beyond the reach of death. All have been ransomed, paid for, through the blood of Christ.
Therefore, all will have the
deliverance.
Rom.5:18,19 Consequently, then,
as it was through one offense
for all mankind
for condemnation,
thus also it is
through one just award for all mankind for life's
justifying.
19 For even as, through the disobedience of the one man, the many were constituted sinners,
thus also, through the
obedience of the One,
the many shall be constituted just.
1Tim.2:5,6 For there is one God, and one Mediator of God
and mankind,
a Man, Christ Jesus,
6 Who is giving Himself a correspondent Ransom for all
(the testimony in its own eras),
1Cor.15:22 For even as, in Adam, all are dying,
thus also, in Christ, shall all
be vivified.
Some contend that the two
‘all’s in this last verse do not refer to the same ones, and suggest that
the second part should read ‘..all in
Christ shall be made alive’. But, as the Greek does not allow this,
almost all versions avoid such a rendering.
Many feel that we have been
saved because we were intelligent enough to see the choice before us, and
righteous enough to have deliberately chosen salvation in the name of Jesus
Christ. We may willingly admit that we are sinners in need of God’s mercy,
but are sure that others are even greater sinners than we are, those who
are simply too sinful and incorrigible for God to even want to save. We tend to look down in condemnation on such,
convinced that they deserve to
suffer God’s indignation through an eternity in hell.
How easily we forget that
we, too, were once sons of stubbornness deserving only of indignation, and
that only because of God’s mercy and grace we find ourselves saved. The
evangel manifests God’s righteousness
in turning Paul, a rabid enemy, the foremost sinner, into a fervent agent
for dispensing His good news to mankind.
We believe because God gives us that belief. We do not save
ourselves by choice, out of our own volition. Rather, as with Paul, the overwhelming grace of God wipes us,
tsunami-like, off our pedestal of self-righteousness.
Tit.3:3-7 For we also were once foolish, stubborn,
deceived,
slaves of various desires and gratifications,
leading a life in malice and envy, detestable,
hating one another.
4 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.
Eph.2:1-6 And you, being dead to your offenses and sins,
2 in which once you walked, in accord with the eon of this world,
in accord with the chief of the jurisdiction of
the air,
the spirit now operating in the sons of
stubbornness
3 (among whom we also all behaved ourselves once
in the lusts of our flesh,
doing the will of the flesh and of the
comprehension,
and were, in our nature, children of
indignation, even as the rest),
4 yet God,
being rich in mercy,
because of His vast love with which He loves
us
5 (we also being dead to the offenses and the
lusts),
vivifies us together in Christ (in grace are you
saved!)
6 and rouses us together
and seats us together among the celestials, in
Christ Jesus,
1Tim.1:14-16 Yet the grace of our Lord overwhelms, with faith and love in
Christ Jesus.
15 Faithful is the saying, and worthy of
all welcome, that
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, foremost of
whom am I.
16 But therefore
was I shown mercy,
that in me, the foremost, Jesus Christ should be displaying all His
patience,
for a pattern
of those who are about to be believing on Him for life eonian.
Eph.2:8-10 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.
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.
1Cor.15:10 Yet, in the grace of God I am what I am,
and His grace, which is in me, did not come to
be for naught,
but more exceedingly than all of them toil I--yet not I,
but the
grace of God which is with me.
We are saved before the
rest of mankind are, not so that we can sit back and admire our laurels,
but to be the examples to the rest of what God’s grace can do as part of
our involvement in the operation for the reconciliation of all to God.
1Thes.5:9,10 for God did not appoint us to indignation,
but to the procuring of salvation through our
Lord Jesus Christ,
10 Who died for our sakes,…
Tit.2:14 Who gives Himself for us,
that He should be redeeming us from all
lawlessness
and be cleansing for Himself a people to be about Him,
zealous
for ideal acts.
2Cor.5:1-5 Yet all is of God, Who conciliates us to Himself through
Christ,
and is
giving us the dispensation of the conciliation,
19 how that God was in Christ, conciliating
the world to Himself,
not reckoning their offenses to them,
and
placing in us the word of the conciliation.
20 For
Christ, then, are we ambassadors,
as of God entreating through us.
We are beseeching for Christ's sake, "Be conciliated to God!"
Phil.3:20,21 …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.
Eph.2:7 that, in the oncoming eons,
He should be displaying
the
transcendent riches of His grace in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
25. (Whom God purposed for
a Propitiatory shelter,
through faith in His blood,
for a display of His righteousness
because of the passing over of the
penalties of sins
which occurred before in the forbearance of
God),
The
important point in this passage, however, is not our justification, but
God's, for it is His righteousness which we receive. In Israel He had made
provision for atonement, or a shelter from sins. This was not strictly
just, for the penalty of these sins was still due. The answer to this, as
well as the answer to His present work is found in the blood of Christ.
That settles for sins, past, present and future. That vindicates God's
justice and makes it possible for Him to be the Justifier of all who are of
the faith of Jesus. Concordant Commentary
‘…Whom God purposed for a Propitiatory
shelter, through faith in His blood…’
This is a parenthetic verse
to reveal the means through which this deliverance is effected. Without it
we would read ‘…through the
deliverance which is in Christ Jesus….. toward the display of His
righteousness in the current era…’
Paul pauses here to draw a
parallel, with regard to ‘the deliverance which is in Christ Jesus’,
especially for the benefit of believers with
a Jewish background. He refers to things familiar to them, the Temple
worship rituals, that of the ‘Mercy Seat’ in particular.
To propitiate is to cause
‘to be favourably inclined on the basis of a sacrifice’. In the religious
system given to Israel, the blood
of bulls and goats was used as a propitiation to ‘cover’ the sins of the
people. The blood was a reminder to the people that some life had been given up to this end.
Something had had to be put to death,
to be executed, so that the
people could be cleared of the penalty
due to their sins. Though it could not actually clear the guilt and remove
the penalties, this ritual pre-figured Christ, the real Propitiatory.
Heb.9:22 And
almost all is being cleansed in blood
according to the law,
and apart
from bloodshedding is coming no pardon.
Heb.10:1 For the law, having a shadow of the impending good
things,
not the selfsame image of
the matters,
they, with their same sacrifices which they are
offering year by year,
are never
able to perfect to a finality
those approaching.
Heb.10:4 for it is impossible
for the blood of bulls and of he-goats to be eliminating sins.
Heb.9:12-14 not even through the blood of
he-goats and calves,
but through
His own blood,
entered once for all time into the holy places,
finding eonian redemption.
13 For if the blood of he-goats and of
bulls, and the ashes of a heifer
sprinkling the contaminated, is hallowing to the
cleanness of the flesh,
14 how much rather shall the blood of Christ,
Who, through the eonian spirit offers Himself
flawless to God,
be
cleansing your conscience from dead works
to be
offering divine service to the living and true God?
Heb.10:19,20 Having then, brethren,
boldness for the entrance of the holy places by the blood of Jesus,
20 by a recently slain and living way which
He dedicates for us,
through the curtain, that is, His flesh,
1Jn.2:2 And He is the propitiatory shelter concerned
with our sins,
yet not concerned with ours only, but concerned
with the whole world also.
1Jn.4:10 In this is love, not that we
love God, but that He loves us,
and dispatches His son, a propitiatory shelter concerned with our sins.
1Pet.1:18,19
… not with corruptible things, with silver or
gold, were you ransomed
from your vain behavior, handed down by
tradition from the fathers,
19 but with
the precious blood of Christ, as of a flawless and unspotted lamb,
‘…for a display of His righteousness…’
The blood of bulls and
goats used in the rituals of the Temple system could not provide the needed
deliverance, and only hinted at the real operation. God’s righteousness was
now being displayed in His provision of the worthy Sacrifice, the true and effective Propitiatory shelter under which Israel had been
protected from God’s just indignation.
Heb.10:14 For by one approach present
He has
perfected to a finality those who are hallowed.
Heb.10:19,20 Having then, brethren,
boldness for the entrance of the holy places by
the blood of Jesus,
20 by a recently slain and living way which
He dedicates for us,
through the curtain, that is, His flesh,
‘…because of the passing over of the
penalties of sins which occurred before
in the forbearance of God…’
This speaks of ‘the passing
over of the penalties of sins’, that were committed by the people of Israel, through
the sacrifices at the Temple during the time before Christ’s suffering and death. It was no subterfuge on
God’s part, using the blood of bulls and goats at one time, and the blood
of Christ at another. Though propitiation through the blood of bulls and
goats was not possible, it looked
forward to the reality, the blood of Christ. It was because of this then coming reality that God
could ‘pass over’ the penalties of sins committed by Israel.
Once Christ had come,
however, only faith in His blood
counted. The ‘looking forward to’ function of the blood of bulls and goats
became totally inefficacious and, therefore, redundant in that respect.
Christ became the cornerstone of the faith of the true people of God. From
then on, those who did not have faith in Christ were reckoned as outcasts
from the true Israel of God.
Act.3:22,23 Moses, indeed, said that:
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.
Act.4:11,12 This is the Stone that is being
scorned by you builders,
which is becoming the head of the corner.
12 And there is no salvation in any other
one,
for neither is there any other name, given under heaven among men,
in which
we must be saved.
Act.13:38,39 Let it then be known to you,
men, brethren
that through
this One is being announced to you the pardon of sins,
39 and from all from which you could not be justified in
the law of Moses,
in this One everyone
who is believing is being justified.
26. toward the display of His righteousness
in the current era,
for Him to be just and a Justifier of the one who is of the faith of Jesus.
‘…toward the display of His righteousness
in the current era…’
Paul continues from
‘..through the deliverance which is in Christ Jesus..’ of verse 24. This
justification in the deliverance that is through Christ is for all of humanity, not just for the
people of Israel.
Thus God preserves His
integrity. Where it may have seemed,
from preceding stages of revelation, that God cared only for Israel, it now becomes clear to us that He has had the welfare of
every being in creation in His
mind all the time. His intention
had been kept secret until the time was ripe for this phase of His plan to be put into effect.
Phil.3:9 … not having my righteousness,
which is of law,
but that which is through the faith of Christ,
the righteousness which is from God for faith:
Col.1:25-27 …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--
Eph.1:4-6 according as He chooses us in Him before the disruption of the world,
we to be holy and flawless in His sight,
5 in love designating us beforehand
for the place of a son for Him through Christ
Jesus;
in accord
with the delight of His will,
6 for the laud of the glory of His grace, which graces us in the
Beloved:
1Cor.2:7 we are speaking God's
wisdom in a secret,
wisdom which has been concealed,
which God designates before--before the eons, for our glory,
2Tim.1:9 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,
Rom.3:30 Yes, of the nations also, if so be
that God is One,
Who will be justifying the Circumcision out of
faith
and the Uncircumcision through faith.
Rom.4:5,6 Yet to him who is not working,
yet is believing
on Him Who is justifying the
irreverent,
his faith is reckoned
for righteousness.
6 Even as David also is telling of the happiness
of the man
to whom God is reckoning righteousness apart from acts:
Rom.8:33,34 Who will be indicting God's chosen
ones? God, the Justifier?
34 Who is the Condemner?
Christ Jesus, the One dying, yet rather being
roused,
Who is also at God's right hand, Who is pleading
also for our sakes?
Scripture does not use the parallel of the
‘Propitiatory shelter’ where those of
the nations are concerned, for they were ‘outsiders’ to the Temple
system of Israel. Such a reference would hold no meaning to them. For
these, Christ is the Firstborn of
every creature, the Representative of all creation, who died for the sake of all, so that all will be made alive, vivified, beyond
the taint of death. He is not merely the Messiah of a chosen people in
possession of a righteous system of God-given laws, but the Son of God, the
Saviour of sinners – and since all have sinned, the Saviour of all mankind.
The penalties for sins
committed by all – even by those
who had died before Christ did,
and who had no knowledge of Him at all – are taken care of in His death.
Scripture declares that because Christ died for the sake of all, all are
reckoned to have died – even
those who have not yet been born. Because Christ now lives, all will be made alive on schedule.
1Tim.1:15 Faithful is the saying, and
worthy of all welcome,
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,…
Rom.3:22,23 …for there is no distinction,
23 for all
sinned and are wanting of the glory of God.
2Cor.5:14 For the love of Christ is
constraining us, judging this, that,
if One died for
the sake of all, consequently all
died.
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.
And, rather than speaking
of the pardon or the forgiveness of sins, as in the case
for Israel, Scripture declares that we are justified in His blood. This consideration, as mentioned
earlier, belongs to a much higher application and appreciation of the work of
Christ.
Rom.5:9 Much rather, then, being now justified in His blood,
we shall be saved from indignation, through Him.
With Israel, the
propitiatory shelter took upon itself the penalty meant for those it
covers. There is no idea of those covered having died with the sacrifice. Under our evangel, however, believers are
looked on as having died with
Christ, as having a part in
undergoing the penalty. As such they have been justified.
Gal.2:20 With Christ have I been crucified,
yet I am living; no longer I, but living in me
is Christ….
Rom.6:7,8 for one who dies has been justified from Sin.
8 Now if we died together with
Christ,
we believe that we shall be living together with
Him also,
Rom.6:11 Thus you also, be reckoning yourselves
to be dead,
indeed, to Sin, yet living to God in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
2Cor.5:17 So that, if anyone is in
Christ, there is a new
creation:
the primitive passed by. Lo! there has come new!
When Scripture declares that
not one is righteous, it includes Abraham, who could in no way qualify to
believe God. He could not produce the faith to believe God. There was no
precedent for him to believe that the One Who spoke to him was God and
worthy of belief and trust. What if it had been an evil spirit that enticed
him? Not having had any previous experience of God, how would Abraham have
verified the fact? Abraham's
belief was the result of God's
choice of him to be a believer!
Abraham was declared
righteous because of his faith - he believed
what God said to him! But we must realise that this ability to believe God
is itself God's gift - not something which we work up through our own volition; not something which we deserve to receive because of our qualifications through good
works, but in spite of such.
If Abraham, of himself,
could have generated a saving faith, then Christ did not die for him, at
least, and that would mean that Christ is not really the Ransom for all!
That would make Scripture unreliable for truth in its declarations!
‘…for Him to be just…’
That God is just is no mere platitude.
It is a fact made evident by His provision of justification for all through
the giving up of His most beloved Son. Having Himself consigned all, who did not even disobey as Adam did, to
death and sinning, from which they could not dissociate themselves, He extricates them from that doom.
Rom.5:13,14 for until law sin was
in the world,
yet sin is
not being taken into account when there is no law;
14 nevertheless death reigns from Adam unto Moses,
over those
also who do not sin in the likeness of the transgression of Adam,
who is a type of Him Who is about to be.
He does not hide what He does, but keeps it secret
until an appointed time. He is just, but He intends that His creatures come
to realize and accept the fact. He creates evil and brings on death and
destruction. But these, all, are to serve His purpose and will be abolished
when their purpose is met.
Isa.45:7 Former of light and Creator
of darkness,
Maker of good and Creator of evil.
I, Yahweh Elohim, made all of these things.
1Cor.15:26 The last enemy is being abolished: death.
No one has had a choice of
whether to be born or not. Yet, because of the passed-through penalty of
being dying creatures, each and
every one is a sinner, made to be
such, constituted so. Though
there are those who would attempt to attain freedom from this mortality
through the ‘miracles of science’, none can remove death and the consequent
sinning.
Rom.5:12 death passed through into all
mankind, on which all
sinned
Rom.5:19 the
many were constituted sinners
1Cor.15:56 Sin is the sting of Death!
Rom.5:21 Sin
reigns in Death!
Rom.6:23 Sin's
ration is Death!
‘…and a Justifier of one who is of the
faith of Jesus…’
Justification, rather than
being an arbitrary ignoring of the facts, is costly. We are justified at no
cost or labour to ourselves - but it did cost God and His obedient Son
great anguish and pain.
Isa.53:2-6 And He is coming up as a
layer-plant before Him,
and as a root sprout from earth that is arid.
No shape has He nor honor when we shall see Him,
and no appearance nor loveliness that we will
covet Him.
3 Despised is He, and shunned by men, a man of
pains and knowing illness.
And, as One concealing His face from us,
despised is He, and we judge Him of no
account.
4 Surely our illnesses has He borne,
and our pains--He was burdened with them.
Yet we account Him touched, smitten by the
Elohim and humbled.
5 Yet He was wounded because of our
transgressions,
and crushed because of our depravities.
The discipline for our welfare was on Him,
and by His welts there is healing for us.
6 All of us, as a flockling, have strayed; each
man to his own way, we face,
yet Yahweh, in
Him, intercedes because of all our
depravity.
Isa.53:10 yet Yahweh desires to crush Him,
and He
causes Him to be wounded.
Isa.52:14 As many are desolated over you—
so ruined
more than man is His appearance,
and His shape than the sons of Adam.
For three hours (from the
sixth to the ninth) God reckoned Christ to be Sin and turned away from Him;
for those three hours Christ was estranged from the God and Father Whom He
adored and obeyed, and this wrenched from His heart that forlorn cry 'My
God! My God! Why hast THOU forsaken Me?" (Mt.27:45,46)! We cannot even
begin to think of how God must have felt for His most beloved Son Who had to be sacrificed for the sake of
all.
Christ, in obedience to His
Father's purpose and plan to save us, represented us before His God, Who in
His righteousness exacted the full penalty for sin - death! (We realise, of course, that that
penalty, Death, cannot mean
annihilation, cultish claims to the contrary - for that would mean that
Christ is not in existence now! And it cannot
mean an eternity in hell, popular sacred traditions notwithstanding - for that would mean that Christ is
still in the tortures of 'hell' and will have to remain there for all
eternity!)
The blood of Christ
protects us from the effects of God's indignation, for that righteous anger
was vented on Christ as our representative! In figure Christ became Sin -
and Sin was destroyed on the cross! But the application of the efficacy of
Christ's death is not apportioned to all at the same time. It is applied
only according to God's predetermined plan and purpose, on whomever He has pre-designated for it,
and at the scheduled time for each.
1Tim.2:5,6 For there is one
God, and one Mediator of God and
mankind,
a Man, Christ Jesus,
6 Who is giving Himself a correspondent Ransom for
all (the testimony in its own
eras),
1Cor.15:22-26 For even as, in Adam,
all are dying,
thus also, in
Christ, shall all be vivified.
23 Yet each in his own class:
the
Firstfruit,
Christ;
thereupon those who are Christ's
in His presence;
24 thereafter
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.
Something ‘inside’ prompts
men that there is some glorious future for them to be a part of and, though
they are ignorant of the details, this is what they long for. But it also
prompts them that, because of their evil deeds, they are not worthy of the
enjoyment of it. They turn to religion for answers to their dilemma. But
religion only provides guesswork rather than certainties.
Rom.8:20-22 For to vanity was the creation subjected,
not voluntarily, but because of Him Who subjects it, in expectation
21 that the
creation itself, also, shall be freed
from the slavery of corruption
into the glorious freedom of the children of
God.
22 For we are aware
that the
entire creation is groaning and travailing together until now.
So, not knowing God and of the
righteousness He wants to bestow on them, men come up with ways and means
of meeting some standard of righteousness they think a deity would have
set. This seems to be the intent of most religious systems.
Human wisdom emphasizes
self-confidence and self-achievement in the things of the flesh and carries
these over into the realm of spirit. So, men are coaxed and encouraged to
strive to attain whatever standards required by religion for only then,
supposedly, can they become worthy enough of ‘eternal’ life in utopian
surroundings. They are required to repent and to make up for the wrongs
already committed. So they go through the religious rites and rituals set
up ‘to wipe the slate clean’.
Eph.4:17,18 This, then, I am saying and
attesting in the Lord:
By no means are you still to be walking
according as those of the nations also are
walking,
in the
vanity of their mind,
18 their comprehension being darkened,
being
estranged from the life of God
because of the
ignorance that is in them,
because of the
callousness of their hearts,
Most who call themselves ‘Christians’, too, have
adapted such devices into their theology. They participate in pilgrimages
and self-inflicted sufferings, undergo rigorous discipline, and sacrifice
their time and effort in commendable human relief projects, so that somehow
the merit gained by these efforts will counter-balance their sins. Roman
Catholics, perhaps even more pagan in theology than the rest, think they
can purchase their freedom through an accumulation of ‘indulgences’ gained
by performance of certain rites and rituals.
According to the revealed
wisdom of God, however, we cannot even come anywhere near the perfection
God expects. Not even one can ever be worthy of deliverance from death and
sin.
Without exception, ‘all
sinned and are wanting of the glory of God’. Sin deserves death - which is
its ration. As mentioned, earlier, God cannot close an eye to sin at any
time - sweeping such unrighteousness under the carpet, and arbitrarily
declaring sinners righteous. That subterfuge would make Him unrighteous.
In His wisdom, however, He designed it such that One, eminently qualified to represent
all of humanity, whether past,
present or future, should take on these penalties on their behalf, so that the righteous indignation of God which
they fully deserve for their sins
is fully dissipated on Him. God ordained
that this ‘Firstborn of all creation’ represents all, each and every one, of creation. However, it becomes
effective for each one only when they are given faith in Him as
their Representative.
27. Where, then, is boasting? It is debarred!
Through what law? Of works? No! But
through faith's law.
Such
a deliverance, entirely on the ground of grace, bars all boasting, unless it
be in Christ and in His God, Who has become our Justifier.
Concordant Commentary
‘…where then is boasting? It is
debarred!...’
Since the just penalty
prescribed for sin has been executed on Christ, the Justice aspect of God's
character is not marred when He justifies us who have the same type of
faith as Christ displayed! Therefore, God remains just when he justifies us
through faith apart from any works of law.
And, since we contribute
nothing to this justification, there is absolutely no place for boasting in
ourselves for our having been justified. To accept this fact is to reject
all our ‘natural pride in achievement’, and to glory in God’s grace in His
choice of us.
1Cor.1:26-29 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.
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.
Rom.9:11 not as yet being born,
nor putting into practice anything good or bad,
that the purpose of God may be remaining as a choice,
not out of acts, but of Him Who is calling,
Rom.9:30-32 What, then, shall we be
declaring?
That the nations who are not pursuing
righteousness overtook righteousness,
yet a righteousness which is out of faith.
31 Yet Israel, pursuing a law of
righteousness,
into a law of righteousness does not
outstrip.
32 Wherefore? Seeing that it is not out of
faith, but as out of law works,
they stumble on the stumbling stone,
1Cor.3:19-21 for the wisdom of this world is
stupidity with God.
For it is written, "He is clutching the
wise in their craftiness."
20 And again, The Lord knows the reasonings
of the wise, that they are vain.
21 So that, let no one be boasting in men,…
1Cor.4:7 … Now what have you
which you did not obtain?
Now if you obtained it also, why are you boasting as though not
obtaining?
Jas.4:16 Yet now you are vaunting in your
ostentations.
All such
boasting is wicked.
1Cor.1:31 that, according as it is
written,
He who is boasting, in the Lord let him be boasting.
‘…Through what law? Of works? No! But
through faith's law….’
We are ‘justified gratuitously’ in God’s grace ‘through the deliverance which is in Christ Jesus’. All that had to be done has been done already – by God through
Christ. We are God-appointed recipients of His gracious bestowal of
justification. We have it, not by
earning it in some way or other, but by
God’s gratuitous opening of our minds to believe Him, by His gift of faith to us.
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.
This gift of faith bestows
on us the belief in God’s declarations to us. We believe God, and we expect, rather than merely hope for,
the fulfillment of His words.
Heb.11:1 Now faith is an assumption of what is being
expected,
a
conviction
concerning matters which are not
being observed;
Rom.4:20-22 yet the promise of God was not
doubted in unbelief,
but he was invigorated by faith, giving glory to God,
21 being fully assured also,
that, what He
has promised, He is able to do
also.
22 Wherefore, also, it is reckoned to him
for righteousness.
Rom.4:23-25 Now it was not written because of
him only,
that it is reckoned to him,
24 but because of us also, to whom it is about to be reckoned,
who are believing on Him Who rouses Jesus our
Lord from among the dead.
25 Who was given up because of our offenses,
and was roused because of our justifying.
Gal.3:8,9 Now the scripture,
perceiving before that God is justifying the
nations by faith,
brings before an evangel to Abraham,
that In you shall all the nations be
blessed.
9 So that those of faith are being blessed together with believing Abraham.
Gal.3:14 that the blessing of
Abraham
may be coming to the nations in Christ Jesus,
that we may be obtaining the promise of the
spirit through faith.
28. For we are reckoning
a man to be justified by faith apart from works of law.
‘…justified by faith apart from works of
law…’
The evangel which Paul brings
to the nations declares that justification is through faith only. It is all on God’s side, a gratuitous gift in grace rather than an
earned reward through works. It is a gift,
requiring no contribution of work of any sort on the part of the recipient.
As works of law are dispensed
with, this justification is open to all
humanity, those of Israel and those of the nations alike.
Rom.4:3-5 "Abraham believes God,
and it is reckoned to him for righteousness."
4 Now to the worker, the wage is not reckoned as a favor, but as a debt.
5 Yet to him who is not working,
yet is believing
on Him Who is justifying the irreverent,
his faith
is reckoned for righteousness.
Rom.4:13-16 For not through law is the
promise to Abraham,
or to his Seed, for him to be enjoyer of the
allotment of the world,
but through
faith's righteousness.
14 For if those of law are enjoyers of the
allotment,
faith has been made void and the promise has
been nullified,
15 for the law is producing indignation.
Now where no law is, neither is there
transgression.
16 Therefore it is of faith that it may accord with grace,
for the promise to be confirmed to the entire
seed,
not to those of the law only, but to those also
of the faith of Abraham, …
Gal.2:16 having perceived that a man is not
being justified by works of law,
except alone through the faith of Christ Jesus,
we also believe in Christ Jesus
that we may be justified by the faith of Christ and not by works of law,
seeing that by works of law shall no flesh at
all be justified.
Phil.3:9 and may be found in Him,
not having my righteousness, which is of law,
but that which is through the faith of Christ,
the righteousness which is from God for faith:
Act.13:38,39 Let it then be known to you, men,
brethren
that through this One is being announced to you
the pardon of sins,
39 and from all from which you could not be
justified in the law of Moses,
in this One everyone
who is believing is being justified.
Gal.3:8,9 Now the scripture,
perceiving
before
that God is justifying the nations by
faith,
brings before
an evangel to Abraham,
that In you shall all the nations be
blessed.
9 so that those of faith are being blessed together with believing
Abraham.
Gal.3:14 that the blessing of Abraham
may be coming to the nations in Christ Jesus,
that we may be obtaining the promise of the
spirit through faith.
This, however, is not the message that belongs to the
Circumcision. Correctly cutting the word of truth becomes imperative here.
Jas.2:14 What is the benefit, my brethren,
if anyone should be saying he has faith, yet may
have no works?
That faith can
not save him.
Jas.2:17 Thus, also, is faith, if it should
not have works: it is dead by
itself.
Jas.2:20-22 Now are you wanting to know, O
empty man,
that faith apart from works is dead? 21 Abraham, our father,
was he not justified by works when offering up
his son Isaac on the altar?
22 You are observing that faith worked together with his works,
and by works
was faith perfected.
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.
James, the brother of the
Lord, writes ‘to the twelve tribes
in the dispersion’. The message belongs to the evangel of the Circumcision
where circumcision and observance of the law are still of great importance.
Careless handling of the word, through mixing what James writes with what
Paul was commissioned to, ends up with a severely distorted message which
is not an evangel from God to the
Circumcision or to the Uncircumcision, either. This was the problem that
evoked very sharp criticism from Paul to the Galatians.
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!
Gal.3:1-3 O foolish Galatians! Who bewitches
you,
before whose eyes Jesus Christ was graphically
crucified?
2 This only I want to learn from you:
Did you get the spirit by works of law or by
hearing of faith?
3 So foolish are you?
Undertaking in spirit, are you now being
completed in flesh?…
5 He, then, Who is supplying you with the spirit,
and operating works of power among you—
did you get the spirit by works of law or by
the hearing of faith,
* Verses 24 to 28 speak of justification for all – and that comes
only through the deliverance that
is in Christ Jesus and not contingent upon the observance of law for the
dispensation of righteousness.
29. Or is He the god of the Jews
only? Is He not of the nations also?
Though the Hebrew writings
identified God as ‘the Holy One of Israel, and emphasized the special place
of Israel as the Chosen People of God and of the coming kingdom, it did
speak of blessings and of some of the glory in store for the nations.
Rom.15:9-12 Yet the nations are to glorify God for His mercy,
according as it is written,
"Therefore I shall be acclaiming Thee among the nations,"
"And to Thy name shall I be playing
music."
10 And again he is saying, "Be merry, ye nations, with His people!"
11 And again he is saying, "Praise the Lord, all the nations,"
And "let all the peoples laud Him."
12 And again Isaiah is saying, there will
be "the root of Jesse,
And He Who is rising to Chief of the nations: On Him will the nations rely."
Isa.54:5 For your Possessor is your
Maker. Yahweh of hosts is His name.
And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
The Elohim of
the entire earth shall He be called.
Isa.19:24,25 In that day Israel shall
become third to Egypt and to Assyria.
They shall be a blessing within the earth,
25 who are blessed by Yahweh of hosts, who
says,
"Blessed be My people, Egypt,
and the making of My hands, Assyria,
and My allotment, Israel."
Mt.28:19,20 Going, then, disciple all the nations, baptizing
them
into the name of the Father and of the Son and
of the holy spirit,
20 teaching them to be keeping all, whatever I
direct you
Mk.16:15 And He said to them, "Go
into all the world;
herald the evangel to the entire creation.
Lk.24:47 there is to be heralded in
His name
repentance for the pardon of sins, to all the nations,
beginning from Jerusalem.
Zech.8:22,23 And many peoples and staunch
nations will come
to seek
Yahweh of hosts in Jerusalem, and to beseech
the face of Yahweh.
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.
Eph.3:9 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,
Rom.11:36 seeing that out of Him and through Him and for Him is all:
to Him be the glory for the eons! Amen!
30. Yes, of the nations also,
if so be that God is One,
Who will be justifying the Circumcision
out of faith
and the Uncircumcision through faith.
The
Circumcision who have believed before and have received a pardon, receive
this greater boon because of the faith they have. The Uncircumcision use
faith as the channel in receiving it.
Concordant Commentary
‘…of the nations also, if so be that God
is One…’
There is nothing outside of
God. He creates all, every being
and every thing, out of Himself -
and not out of nothing, as is commonly assumed. And these same beings and
things He creates for Himself, to love them and to be loved by them, thus to fulfill
His very being. So, the nations,
just as much as the people of Israel, have been created by the same God, to
be loved by Him and, in His good time, to love Him in return.
1Jn.4:8,16 …for God is love…. God is love,…
1Jn.4:19 We are loving God, for He
first loves us.
Jn.3:16,17 For thus God loves the world,
so that He gives His only-begotten Son,
that everyone
who is believing in Him
should not be perishing, but may be having life
eonian.
17 For God does not dispatch His Son into
the world
that He should be judging the world,
but that
the world may be saved through Him.
1Tim.2:3,4 … our Saviour, God,
4 Who wills that all mankind be saved and come into a realization of the truth.
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.
God’s righteousness, meant
for all of humanity has now made
its appearance in the evangel given through Paul. However, though this
righteousness is for all, it will be bestowed in accord with a set
schedule. For the present, as a start, His righteousness is being bestowed
on believers in the ecclesia which is the body of Christ. This initiation
of the dispensation signals that the operation will continue until God’s
gift of His righteousness has been bestowed on all.
1Tim.1:15 Faithful is the saying, and
worthy of all welcome,
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,…
Rom.5:8 yet God is commending this
love of His to us,
seeing that, while we are still sinners, Christ died for
our sakes.
2Cor.5:21 For the One not knowing sin,
He makes to be Sin for our sakes
that we
may be becoming God's righteousness in Him.
1Tim.2:6 Who is giving Himself a
correspondent Ransom for all
(the testimony in its own eras),
1Tim.4:9-11 Faithful is the saying
and worthy of all welcome
10 (for for this are we toiling and being
reproached),
that we rely on the living God, Who is the Saviour of all mankind,
11 especially
of believers. These things be
charging and teaching.
It is the same one and only God Who determined a high purpose for all of mankind in
His operations, whether they are of Israel or of the nations. It is only
that He works with these two groups in different ways towards the same end.
To Israel He gave the law - and works with them and blesses them through
it. To the nations no law was
given – and He works with them and blesses them without its severity.
The fact of Scripture is
that Justification is found only
in the deliverance that is in Christ Jesus. It is His faith that brings justification
to anyone. There are no exceptions to this principle.
Gal.2:16 having perceived that a man
is not being justified by works
of law,
except alone through the faith of Christ Jesus,
we also believe in Christ Jesus
that we may be justified by the faith of Christ and not by works of law,
seeing
that by works of law shall no flesh at all be
justified.
Rom.3:20 …by works of law, no flesh at all
shall be justified in His sight,
for through law is the recognition of sin.
These verses do not make an
exception for Israel. Rather, they make it a point to mark them for
inclusion, they being the only ones who could have ‘works of law’. It is emphatic that no flesh at all can be justified through works of law.
‘…justifying the Circumcision out of
faith…’
For Israel, God introduced
the Temple system with its propitiatory shelter with regard to sin at the core of worship. The real, the
actual Propitiatory was Christ, but He was not revealed to them then. Their faith for redemption from sin
in the blood of bulls and goats was placed, vicariously, on the blood of
Christ that was to be shed for this purpose. They are justified in the
blood of Christ out of
their faith in the system given them by God.
Heb.11:6 Now apart from faith it is impossible
to be well pleasing,
for he who is coming to God must believe that He is,
and is becoming a Rewarder of those who are
seeking Him out.
[There is an indication of an
ellipsis here. It is obvious that no one would come to God if they did not believe that He exists. They come to Him because
they believe that He is [GOD], able to dispense what they need.]
The rest of the system
given to Israel included the observance of the laws and regulations. But these,
as the faithful of Israel came to realize, were peripheral to the
fundamental worship. Circumcision simply ‘qualified’ them for this worship
of God for, without it, they could not be considered as being in the
special covenant relationship with God as His people.
Heb.7:19 the law perfects nothing,
yet it is the superinduction of a better expectation,
through
which
we are drawing near to God.
Heb.9:28 thus Christ also,
being
offered once for the bearing of the sins of many,
will be seen a second time, by those awaiting
Him, apart from sin,
for salvation, through faith.
Heb.10:21,22 and a great Priest over the house
of God,
22 we may be approaching with a true heart,
in the assurance of faith,
with
hearts sprinkled from a wicked conscience,
and a body bathed in clean water.
Heb.11:7 By
faith Noah,
being apprized concerning that which is not as yet being observed,
being pious, constructs an ark for the salvation
of his house,
through which he condemns the world, and became
an enjoyer of the allotment of the righteousness
which accords with faith.
1Pet.1:4,5 …the enjoyment of an
allotment
incorruptible and undefiled and unfading, kept
in the heavens for you,
5 who are garrisoned
by the power of God, through faith,
for salvation ready to be revealed in the last era,
Since the law was given as
a whole, the faithful had no right to edit what was essential from what was
not. They were required to observe all
of it.
Gal.5:3 Now I am attesting again to every man who is circumcising,
that he is
a debtor to do the whole law.
Jas.2:10 For anyone who should be keeping the whole law,
yet should be tripping in one thing, has become liable
for all.
‘…and the Uncircumcision through faith…’
The nations, however, had
no relationship with God at all. They worshipped what they imagined one who
is God should be like. That did
not mean that God had no interest in them but that their time in God’s operation had not yet come.
However, with the
introduction of the evangel through Paul, the apostle of the nations, God
began a relationship with people who were not privileged with it before. In
fact, this is a more intimate relationship wherein God reveals secrets hitherto hidden from the
questing eyes of His creation. This was not
in accord with race, as it was
with Israel, but in accord with God’s choice of individuals called out
of the mass of humanity. There are no conditions set, neither by race nor
by law, for one to be called to be a believer.
Rom.10:12,13 For there is no distinction between Jew and
Greek,
for the same One is Lord of all, being rich for
all who are invoking Him.
13 For everyone, whoever should be invoking the name of the Lord,
shall be saved.
Col.3:11 wherein there is no Greek and
Jew,
Circumcision and Uncircumcision, barbarian,
Scythian, slave, freeman,
but all and
in all is Christ.
Gal.5:6 For in Christ Jesus
neither circumcision is availing anything, nor
uncircumcision,
but faith, operating through
love.
Gal.6:15 For in Christ Jesus
neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is
anything,
but a new
creation.
Eph.2:4-10 God, being rich in mercy,
because of
His vast love with which He loves us
5 (we also being dead to the offenses and the
lusts),
vivifies us together in Christ (in grace are you
saved!)
6 and rouses us together
and seats us together among the celestials, in
Christ Jesus,
7 that, in the oncoming eons, He should be displaying
the transcendent riches of His grace in His
kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
8 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.
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.
God bestows His
righteousness on these out-called
ones (Greek ek = out, and klêsia = called), the ecclesia which
is the body of Christ, in grace. There is no system of laws to be observed,
no requirements to be met, no qualifications to be attained, in this
God-given scheme of things. Even the faith in God, that these have the
privilege of having, is actually the
faith of Christ given to them so that they do believe.
There seems to be a very
interesting point to notice in this comparison. It would seem that, in the
law and Temple system given to Israel, the
people come to God through ‘smoothing the way’ with their offering of
an ‘approach present’. For the bestowal of righteousness in this system
announced through Paul, however, God
approaches the called-out ones with His
approach-present – the gift of the
faith of Christ so that they will believe Him concerning the work of
His Son, especially!
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.
Rom.15:16 for me to be the minister of
Christ Jesus for the nations,
acting as a priest of the evangel of God,
that the
approach present of the nations
may be becoming well received,
having been hallowed by holy spirit.
This righteousness
‘package’ that is bestowed includes the
gift of holy spirit to seal
them for deliverance at a time pre-determined by God. Without the enabling
of the spirit of God, none can believe in Jesus as Lord.
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!
1Cor.12:3 Wherefore I am making known to you
that no
one, speaking by God's spirit,
is saying, "Anathema is Jesus."
And no one
is able to say "Lord is Jesus" except by holy spirit.
Rom.10:9 if ever you should be avowing
with your mouth
the declaration that Jesus is Lord,
and should be believing in your heart
that God
rouses Him from among the dead, you shall be saved.
Rom.4:11,12 And he obtained the sign of
circumcision,
a seal of the righteousness of the faith which
was in uncircumcision,
for him to be the father of all those who are
believing through uncircumcision,
for righteousness to be reckoned to them,
12 and the father of the Circumcision, not
to those of the Circumcision only,
but to those also who are observing the elements of the faith
in the footprints of our father Abraham, in uncircumcision.
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.2:11 in Whom you were circumcised also
with a circumcision not made by hands,
in the stripping off of the body of flesh in the circumcision of Christ.
The ritual of circumcision,
so necessary for the faithful of Israel, has got nothing to do with this operation of God. In fact, it
is distinctly warned against.
Gal.5:2-4 if you should be circumcising, Christ will benefit you nothing.
3 Now I am attesting again to every man who is circumcising,
that he is a
debtor to do the whole law.
4 Exempted
from Christ were you who are being justified in law.
You fall out
of grace.
31. Are we, then, nullifying law through
faith? May it not be coming to that!
Nay, we are sustaining law.
God is the God of the
nations just as much as He is the God of the Jews. He is the same God. He
justifies the Circumcision on the grounds of faith - for works alone cannot
save them, both works and faith are
required (Jas.2:8-26). And He justifies the Uncircumcision on the grounds
of faith also - but through faith ONLY!
There is nothing wrong with
the law. Its intended function and focus, for those it was intended to
apply to, was to specify and determine what sin is, to show how much it
offends God, to set up God's standard for behaviour for a people called
after His name.
Rom.3:20 … for through law is the recognition of sin.
Rom.7:7 … But sin I knew not except through law….
Rom.5:20 Yet law came in by the way, that the offense should be increasing.
Rom.5:13 … sin is not being taken into account when there is no law;
Gal.3:19 What, then, is the law? On behalf of transgressions was it
added,
Rom.4:15 the law is producing indignation.
Now where
no law is, neither is there transgression.
1Cor.15:56 … yet the power of sin is the law.
Rom.7:8 … For apart from law Sin is dead.
And the law, far from being
nullified by such a reckoning, is really sustained by it! It fulfills its intended function
and its presence is completely justified!
Rom.7:12 So that the law, indeed, is holy,
and the
precept holy and just and good.
In a very practical way God
demonstrates, through Israel’s inefficacious
attempts at attaining righteousness through observance of the law, the
weakness, the utter inability, of the flesh to attain righteousness by its
own efforts in spite of having a manual, the whole law, that specifies what
unrighteousness is.
Rom.8:3 For what was impossible to the law,
in which it was infirm through the flesh,…
It was never designed to empower its adherents to
keep it, and it was never meant
to vivify anyone even if they observed it as meticulously as possible!
Gal.2:21 …if righteousness is through law,
consequently Christ died gratuitously.
Gal.3:21 …if a law were given that is able to vivify,
really,
righteousness were out of law.
The fact is that the Temple
system, with circumcision and the law, will even be an integral part in the
operations under the New Covenant.
Mt.5:17,18 You should not infer that I came to
demolish the law or the prophets.
I came not to demolish, but to fulfill.
18 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.
Ezek.44:9 Thus said the Lord Yahweh:
No son of a stranger, uncircumcised of heart, and uncircumcised
of flesh,
comes in unto My sanctuary,
even any son of a stranger, who [is] in the
midst of the sons of Israel,
Heb.10:16,17 `This is the covenant
which I shall be covenanting with them after those days,' the Lord is
saying,
`imparting
My laws to their hearts,
I shall be inscribing
them on their comprehension
also,
17 and of their sins and their
lawlessnesses
shall I under no circumstances still be
reminded.
Jer.31:33,34 For this [is] the
covenant that I make,
With the house of Israel, after those days, An
affirmation of Yahweh,
I have given My
law in their inward part, And on
their heart I do write it,
And I have been to them for Elohim, And they are
to me for a people.
34 And they do not teach any more each his
neighbor, and each his brother, Saying, Know you Yahweh,
For they all know Me, from their least unto
their greatest,
An affirmation of Yahweh;
For I pardon their iniquity, And of their sin I
make mention no more.
Ezek.11:19,20 And I have given to them one heart,
And a new
spirit I do give in your midst,
And I have turned the heart of stone out of
their flesh,
And I have given to them a heart of flesh.
20 So that in My statutes they walk,
And My
judgments they keep, and have done them,
And they have been to me for a people, And I am to
them for Elohim.
Ezek.36:26-28 And I have given to you a new heart,
And a new
spirit I give in your midst,
And I have turned aside the heart of stone out
of your flesh,
And I have given to you a heart of flesh.
27 And My
Spirit I give in your midst,
And I have done this, so that in My statutes
you walk,
And My
judgments you keep, and have done them.
28 And you have dwelt in the land that I
have given to your fathers,
And you have been to Me for a people, And I--I
am to you for Elohim.
Ezek.39:28,29 And I have gathered them unto their
land,
And I leave none of them any more there.
29 And I hide not any more My face from
them,
In that I
have poured out My spirit on the house of Israel,
An affirmation of the Lord Yahweh!'
* Verses 29 to 31 speak of God’s righteous operation in bestowing
righteousness on the Circumcision, who have the law, as well as on the
Uncircumcision, who do not have any law.
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Index of Articles - Romans
January 2007
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