PAUL: “GOD FORBID”
Romans 6:1-10
“So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (6:11 NRSV)
Introduction
A rabbi said to a precocious six-year-old boy, “So your mother says your prayer for you each night? That’s very commendable. What does she say?” The little boy replied, “Thank God he’s in bed.”
A contrary-to-intention answer! Our text presupposes such a contrary-to-intention answer to the apostle’s declaration of God’s amazing, abounding grace in Romans 5:1-21: “What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound?” (6:1)
As you can see, we start today’s text with another “therefore” (oun), only now it is translated as a “then”: “What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound?” (6:1) THEREFORE, we cannot understand this great chapter about sin and grace without its foundation in chapter 5, “one of the key passages in Romans.” In Romans 5:12-21 Herb Prince presented us last lesson with Adam and Christ--introduced (vv12-14), contrasted (vv 15-17), and compared (vv 18-21).
In chapter five Adam and Christ are “the heads of two humanities” or “orders of human existence. The old—initiated by Adam’s disobedience—is an order in which sin reigns in death (see Rom 7). The new—initiated by Christ’s obedience—is an order where grace reigns through righteousness to eternal life (see Rom chs 6 and 8).” In the midst of his comparison of Adam and Christ (vv 18-21), Paul sets us up for our passage with a great summary line about two contrasting personified powers: “where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (v 20). So the question, “What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound?” (6:1).
But first your memory work!
I. Letter Prescript: Romans 1:1-15 II. The Gospel of God's Righteousness (1:16—15:13) The Thesis of the Letter (1:16-17) 16For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, “The one who is righteous will live by faith.”
A. God's Righteousness Needed (1:18—3:20) 10-11as it is written: “There is no one who is righteous, not even one; there is no one who has understanding, there is no one who seeks God.”
B. God's Righteousness Provided (3:21—8:39) The Gospel of Justification (3:21—4:25)
21But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, . . .in Christ Jesus, 25whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement [?] by his blood, effective through faith. . . . 3For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” . . . 23Now the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone, 24but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.
2. The Hope of the Gospel (5:1—8:39)
Justification (5:1-21)
5,1Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. . . . 20But law came in, with the result that the trespass multiplied; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21so that, just as sin exercised dominion in death, so grace might also exercise dominion through justification leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Sanctification and Glory (6:1—8:39)
Sanctification Through Death to Sin (6:1-23)
As they prepare to interpret this marvelous chapter, Greathouse and Lyons tell what is going on:
Because of what Christ has done for us, we are no longer helpless slaves to sin. In fact, the enslaving power of sin in our lives is broken. Sin no longer reigns as our master. Through the liberating power of Christ’s saving death we are free not to sin. For the first time in our lives we can say no to sin. We no longer live in Adam but in Christ. Thus our past does not determine our future.
We can picture the logic of this chapter as follows by calling attention to Paul’s “Therefore”s (oun):
Therefore (oun), should we keep on sinning in order to magnify grace? “God forbid”! Because We are dead vv 1-3 We are dead to sin vv4-7 Therefore (oun) we are . . . We are alive, vv 8-11 Therefore (oun) We choose not to sin vv 12-14 Therefore (oun) We are servants of righteousness vv 15-23
Note that the chapter is divided by a two-fold “By no means!” in verses 1 and 15. We have chosen, however, to end our present study at verse 11. Verse 12 as we have noticed opens with a “therefore” (oun) indicating that verses 12-14 serve both as a practical conclusion to verses 1-11 and as a transition to verse 15-23.
A New Life Under the Sovereignty of Grace (6:1-14)
We are dead
6.1What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? 2By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? 3Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
We are dead to sin
4Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 5For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might n
We are alive
8But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus (6:1-11).
We open our minds and hearts to reflection verse by verse on 6:1-11:
6.1What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound?
We hear an objection to what has been said in 5:12-21 (see 3:3-5), for Paul’s logic could easily be misunderstood by those unsympathetic or hostile to his presentation of grace:
It is always a good sign when such objections arise – especially when people are offended – because it means that the gospel has really been proclaimed. The heart, as Luther observed, is naturally legalistic. It cannot tolerate the idea that grace is gratuitous. It cannot bear the thought that sinners might not get what they deserve. Nor can it bear the thought that sin cannot be overcome, and grace merited by our earnest striving.
When John Wesley discovered the grace of Christ and the assurance that that grace brings to the heart (“my heart was strangely warmed”), the semi-Pelagian Anglican clergy of his day were scandalized, and soon closed their pulpits to him.
Paul has proposed an answer to those who possible misinterpret him to mean, “viel Sünde – viel Gnade, also: mehr Sünde – mehr Gnade, also schliesslich: je mehr Sünde – um so mehr Gnade.” [much sin – much grace, therefore: more sin – more grace, therefore finally: the more sin – so the more grace].
2By no means! How can we (“people such as we” hoitines) who died to sin go on living in it?
Paul’s answer begins with the “implicit question, ‘Who are we anyway?’”
3Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
“Those who are ignorant of this fact are ignorant of the gospel.”
4Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
There is a finality beyond the finality of death. Beyond the terror of abandonment, affliction, and loss, beyond the just condemnation of the law, is the glory of God the Father. Hidden in the depths of the cross, this glory is disclosed in Christ’s resurrection. The glory too pure to condone sin is the same glory too merciful to be satisfied by sin’s mere destruction. The hidden glory in which Christ was sent to die is also that by which he was raised from the dead.
5For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
“Participation in Christ’s death and resurrection through baptism is something real, hidden and yet to come.”
The Greek, tēs anastaseōs esometha, could be translated as “we will share in his resurrection”: “The future tense is not merely logical; it is eschatological, referring to the final resurrection.”
6We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin.
Notes from a long ago textual study: “Compatible or Incompatible?
V. 6 states three interrelated facts that together indicate that sin and the Christian are utterly incompatible. The first and foremost basic fact is
I. A FACT FROM THE PAST: WE HAVE BEEN CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST (6a). We were put to death with Christ: “crucified with Him” The verb tenses in “crucified with” (v 6), “died” (v 2) “baptized” (v 3), “buried” (v 4), and “united” (v 5) are a capsule summary, all indicating that the reference is to the once-for-all effect union of the Christian with Christ in His death, which becomes decisive for the Christian at his conversion. This is an unavoidable and irrevocable fact of his Christian existence, for as a result
The person we once were is now dead: “our old man” An out of date human being: “The ‘old man’ is Adam—or rather, ourselves in union with Adam, and . . . the ‘new man’ is Christ—or rather ourselves in union with Christ.” The face that we are no longer “in Adam” but “in Christ” makes possible a second fact:
II. A FACT IN THE PRESENT: OUR BODY OF SIN MUST BE DESTROYED (6b). A new situation is possible for us: “that . . . might be done away with” The intended result or purpose of the crucifixion with Christ is the abolishing of a prior situation or condition which means that Our former relation to sin can now be done away with: “our body of sin” Soma, “body,” is used here as often in Paul of “the living body” as the organ of man’s activity.” . . . In Rom. 12:1, our somata is the place where our “spiritual service of worship” to God takes place. In these and similar uses (7:24; I Cor. 6:12-20; Phil. 1:20) man is referred to in his entirety, but never as an isolated individual. Soma is man in his relation to God, to sin, to his fellowman, for Paul’s main interest is in the activity of the body and what happens with it. Harmartias, “sin,” is thought of by Paul in almost human terms as a ruling power. This is especially evident in the context of Rom. 5:12—7:25, where harmartia is used at least 31 times. . . . For Paul sin is a “malignant personal power which has man in its grasp.” Further as seen in 7:17ff. this hold of sin over man “is not merely an external power which exercises sway over a man; it has got into the very fibre and centre and heart of his being until it occupies him, as an enemy occupies an occupied country.” In the phrase to soma tēs harmatias, “body of sin,” the grammatical relation of the two nouns (objective genitive) indicates that the action is from a relationship “sin” to “body,” that is, a relationship, a state of existence, “the body as sin’s tool,” the “body insofar as it is the organ (Werkzeug) of sin” that is to be destroyed in a moment of faith. The practical result is then
III. A FACT FOR THE FUTURE: WE CANNOT GO ON LIVING AS SLAVES TO SIN (6c). A. Sin no longer dominates our living: “we might no longer be enslaved” This third clause in the verse contains the purpose or intended result of the first two clauses for one’s moral and religious life. B. Life is now lived on a new plane: “no longer . . . to sin” This new plane of life released from “the tyranny of sin over us” (Phillips) has been described as a walk (peripatēsōmen) in newness of life (v. 4), because we have become united with Christ in the likeness of his resurrection.
CONCLUSION Paul’s final word on the whole matter of the suggested compatibility of sin with the Christian life is the declaration in v 7, “For he who has died I freed from sin.” “He who has died” describes the Christian as one who has been put to death with Christ in the significance of His crucifixion. “Freed from” (dedikaiotai apo . . . cf. Acts 2:38) declares that sin has lost all its claim on the life of man. Man is legally dead as far as the mastery [of] sin is concerned. The language is forensic and gathers up all that Paul has said about justification (3:21—4:25). The reality is that of the sanctification or transformation of life which Paul began to make obvious in 5:1 and will discuss until 8:39. Out of death came a new life—a resurrection of life with Christ (v. 8) and thus to God (v. 10). With this life sin is completely incompatible (v. 2)!
7For whoever has died is freed from sin.
Greathouse and Lyons translate verse 6-7 as follows: “We know that the old person we once were [. . .] was co-crucified [. . .] with Christ, in order that [. . .] our career as sinners [. . .] might end completely [. . .], in order that we might no long owe any allegiance to Sin [. . .]. For the dead have been set free from Sin [. . .].” 8But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
“Here as in Rom 6:5, the future tense . . . also has an exchatological dimension.”
9We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.
“Piece by piece Paul is building a christocentric definition of past and future in order to clarify the community’s present.”
10The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
11So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Christians, once dead in their sins, “are to consider themselves in the present as already determined by the future.”
“The verb logizesthe, consider or count, is the same accounting term used of God’s crediting righteousness to Abraham’s account in 4:3, 5, 6, and 8 (. . . ), To count ourselves dead to sin but alive to God is . . . ‘a deliberate and sober judgment on the basis of the gospel, in that it accepts as its norm what God has done in Christ . . .by faith” (Cranfield 1975, 1:315).”
Conclusion
We are to be what we already are in Christ (Godet); You are set at liberty, then now be free! (Schlatter): “Paul expects his readers to take the truth of the gospel as a fact, the indicative basis for the gospel imperative:”
So next time in Romans Paul declares:
Therefore (oun) We choose not to sin vv 12-14 Therefore (oun) We are servants of righteousness vv 15-23
With Karl Barth, “God forbid that we could honour and welcome sin as a cause of grace, as though they stood in a mutual relation of cause and effect.”
(b) Sanctification: A New Kind of Slavery (6:15-23) Sanctification Through Death to the Law (7:1-25) (3) Sanctification Through Christ (8:1-39)
C. God's Righteousness in History (9:1—11:36)
III. Conclusion: Romans 15:14—16:27
(2) The Two Ages: Adam and Christ (5:12-21)
b. Sanctification and Glory (6:1—8:39)
11So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. . . . 22But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life.
6But now we are discharged from the law, dead to that which held us captive, so that we are slaves not under the old written code but in the new life of the Spirit. 8There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. . . . 4so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. . . . 16it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, . . . 28We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. . . . 31What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else?
C. God's Righteousness in History (9:1—11:36)
III. Conclusion: Romans 15:14—16:27 25Now to God who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages 26but is now disclosed, and through the prophetic writings is made known to all the Gentiles, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— 27to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever! Amen. Conclusion
For our conclusion we quote from Greathouse’s Introduction on “The Importance of Romans”:
Of Romans, Martin Luther wrote: "This letter is the principal part of the new Testament and the purest gospel, which surely deserves the honor that a Christian man should not merely know it by heart word for word, but that he should be occupied with it daily as the daily bread of his soul. For it can never be read too often or too well. And the more it is used the more delicious it becomes and the better it tastes."
Throughout the centuries this Epistle has in a peculiar way been able to furnish an impulse for spiritual renewal. When the Church had drifted away from the gospel, a deep study of Romans has repeatedly been the means by which the loss has been recovered. Who can estimate the far-reaching effects upon the Church and the world of the conversion of Augustine through the prayers of his godly mother Monica, Bishop Ambrose of Milan, and his reading of Rom 13:11-14.
In November, 1515, Martin Luther, Augustinian monk and doctor of sacred theology at the University of Wittenberg, began his expositions of Romans. As he prepared his lectures he came to see more clearly the meaning of Paul's gospel of justification by faith. The phrase the "righteousness of God," he had once hated as demanding what he could not deliver. Now in his study he came to see righteousness as a gift of God by which a person came to live, by faith. And he felt himself reborn. The consequence of this new insight the world knows. The Protestant Reformation had been born.
Under the date of May 24, 1738, John Wesley noted in his Journal:
In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther's preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation: And an assurance was given me, that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death (1979, 1:103).
In that moment the Evangelical Revival of the eighteenth century was born.
In August, 1918, Karl Barth, pastor of Safenwil in Canton Aargau, Switzerland, published an exposition of the Epistle to the Romans. "The reader," he said in the preface,
will detect for himself that it has been written with a joyful sense of discovery. The mighty voice of Paul was new to me: and if to me, no doubt to many others also. And yet, now that my work is finished, I perceive that much remains which I have not yet heard. (1933, 2).
But what Barth heard he wrote down—and that first edition of his Romerbrief fell "like a bombshell on the theologians' playground." That "bombshell" exploded the liberal humanistic theology that prevailed in the early twentieth century and gave birth to the Evangelical movement that has subsequently revolutionized Protestantism (Collins 2005).
What happened to Augustine, Luther, Wesley, and Barth has turned the tide of Western civilization and culture. On a smaller scale similar things happen to us as we let the words of this Epistle come alive to our minds and hearts in the power of the Holy Spirit.
I mean, there is something very bizarre about the rich arguing about sex while the poor are clamoring for justice.
ROBERT JEWETT
INCLUDEPICTURE "http://www.theologie.uni-hd.de/wts/lampe/dai_bob.jpg" \* MERGEFORMATINET Visiting Professor of New Testament, University of Heidelberg, WTS, Kisselgasse 1, D-69117 Heidelberg; Office phone: 49-06221-54-3320; Fax: 54-3509; Study phone in Rothenberg: 49-06275-919-660; Fax: 919-666; E-Mail: Robert.Jewett@urz.uni-heidelberg.de or Jewett_Rothenberg@yahoo.com
EDUCATION l960-64 Doctor of Theology, University of Tübingen l955-58 Bachelor of Divinity, University of Chicago (C.T.S.) l95l-55 Bachelor of Arts, Nebraska Wesleyan University EMPLOYMENT EXPERIENCE 2000 Guest Professor of New Testament, Wissenschaftlich-Theologisches Seminar, the University of Heidelberg l980 to 2000 Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary, Professor of New Testament Interpretation; appointed as the Harry R. Kendall Professor since 1987; Senior Professor after 1996; Emeritus after 2000
I. Letter Prescript: Romans 1:1-15
A. The Apostolic Greeting (1:1-7) B. Paul's Interest in the Roman Church (1:8-15) 1. Paul's Prayer (1:8-12) 2. Paul’s Plans (1:13-15)
II. The Gospel of God's Righteousness (1:16—15:13)
The Thesis of the Letter (1:16-17) 16For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, “The one who is righteous will live by faith.”
A. God's Righteousness Needed (1:18—3:20) 1. The Human Predicament (1:18-32)
18For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of those who by their wickedness suppress the truth.
2. God's Righteous Judgment (2:1-16)
11For God shows no partiality. 12All who have sinned apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.
3. The Challenge to Jews (2:17-29) 28For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is true circumcision something external and physical. 29Rather, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart—it is spiritual and not literal. Such a person receives praise not from others but from God. 4. The Advantage of the Jews (3:1-8)
3Then what advantage has the Jew? . . . 2Much, in every way. For in the first place the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God.
5. No One Is Righteous (3:9-20) 10as it is written: “There is no one who is righteous, not even one; B. God's Righteousness Provided (3:21—8:39) 1. The Gospel of Justification (3:21—4:25)
21But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, 22the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, 23since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; 24they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. . . . 4What then are we to say was gained by Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh? 2For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” . . . 23Now the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone, 24but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification. 2. The Hope of the Gospel (5:1—8:39)
Romans 5-8 is bound together . . . (150) Great chapters, course with Hans Dieter Betz.
Justification (5:1-21)
The opening statements of Rom 5 . . . (150)
The Sure Hope of Full and final Salvation Springing from Justification (5:1-11)
5Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. . . . 5and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. . . . 20But law came in, with the result that the trespass multiplied; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21so that, just as sin exercised dominion in death, so grace might also exercise dominion through justification leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (2) The Two Ages: Adam and Christ (5:12-21)
b. Sanctification and Glory (6:1—8:39)
Sanctification Through Death to Sin (6:1-23)
11So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. . . . 22But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life.
(2) Sanctification Through Death to the Law (7:1-25) 6But now we are discharged from the law, dead to that which held us captive, so that we are slaves not under the old written code but in the new life of the Spirit. (3)Sanctification Through Christ (8:1-39) 8There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. . . . 4so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. . . . 16it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, . . . 28We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. . . . 31What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else?
C. God's Righteousness in History (9:1—11:36)
1. The Problem of Israel's Unbelief (9:1-5)
9I am not lying; my conscience confirms it by the Holy Spirit— 2I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own people, my kindred according to the flesh.
2. The First Answer: God's Promises Are Only to Believers (9:6-29)
11Even before they had been born or had done anything good or bad (so that God’s purpose of election might continue, . . . 18So then he has mercy on whomever he chooses, and he hardens the heart of whomever he chooses.
3. The Second Answer: Israel Rejected for Unbelief (9:30—10:21)
Israel's "Stumbling" over Christ (9:30—10:4)
30What then are we to say? Gentiles, who did not strive for righteousness, have attained it, that is, righteousness through faith; 31but Israel, who did strive for the righteousness that is based on the law, did not succeed in fulfilling that law. 32Why not? Because they did not strive for it on the basis of faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone,
b. Scripture's Witness to Righteousness by Faith (10:5-13) 8But what does it say? “The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. 11The scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.” c. Israel's Unbelief Is Inexcusable (10:14-21) 16But not all have obeyed the good news; for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” 17So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ. . . . . 21But of Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.” 4. The Third Answer: Israel's Rejection Not Final (11:1-32)
a. A Remnant of Israel Is Already in the Church (11:1-10)
5So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. 6But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
Israel's Fall and the Gentiles' Salvation (11:11-24)
11So I ask, have they stumbled so as to fall? By no means! But through their stumbling salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous.
c. The Mystery of Salvation (11:25-27)
25So that you may not claim to be wiser than you are, brothers and sisters, I want you to understand this mystery: a hardening has come upon part of Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. 26And so all Israel will be saved; as it is written, “Out of Zion will come the Deliverer; he will banish ungodliness from Jacob.” 27“And this is my covenant with them, when I take away their sins.”
d. Mercy for All (11:28-32)
32For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all.
5. Concluding Doxology (11:33-36) 33O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
D. God's Righteousness in Practice (12:1—15:13) 1. The Basis of Christian Ethics (12:1-2)
12I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.
2. Love Expresses the Righteousness of God (12:3—13:10)
a. Humility and Mutual Service (12:3-8)
4For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, 5so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.
b. Christian Love in Practice (12:9—13:10)
8Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
3. An Ethic of the Dawn (13:11-14) 11Besides this, you know what time it is, . . . 12the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. . . . 14put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. 4. Love Expresses the Acceptance of Christ in Community Life (14:1—15:13)
The Strong and the Weak (14:1-12)
7We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves.
b. Walking in Love Despite Community Differences (14:13-23)
19Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.
Accepting One Another as Christ Accepted Us (15:1-13)
7Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
III. Conclusion: Romans 15:14—16:27 A. Paul's Travel Plans (15:14-33) 1. To Rome and to Spain (15:14-22)
20Thus I make it my ambition to proclaim the good news, not where Christ has already been named, so that I do not build on someone else’s foundation,
2. But First to Jerusalem (15:23-33) 23But now, with no further place for me in these regions, I desire, as I have for many years, to come to you 24when I go to Spain. For I do hope to see you on my journey and to be sent on by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a little while. 25At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem in a ministry to the saints;
B. Paul's Recommendation of Phoebe (16:1-2) 16I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church at Cenchreae, 2so that you may welcome her in the Lord as is fitting for the saints, and help her in whatever she may require from you, for she has been a benefactor of many and of myself as well.
C. Paul's Greetings to Acquaintances 16:3-16)
16Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.
D. Paul's Warnings About False Teachers (16:17-20)
17I urge you, brothers and sisters, to keep an eye on those who cause dissensions and offenses, in opposition to the teaching that you have learned; avoid them. 18For such people do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the simple-minded.
E. Greeting from Paul's Companions (16:21-24)
21Timothy, my co-worker, greets you; . . .
F. Doxology (16:25-27) 25Now to God who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages 26but is now disclosed, and through the prophetic writings is made known to all the Gentiles, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— 27to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever! Amen. Conclusion
For our conclusion we quote from Greathouse’s Introduction on “The Importance of Romans”:
Of Romans, Martin Luther wrote: "This letter is the principal part of the new Testament and the purest gospel, which surely deserves the honor that a Christian man should not merely know it by heart word for word, but that he should be occupied with it daily as the daily bread of his soul. For it can never be read too often or too well. And the more it is used the more delicious it becomes and the better it tastes."
Romans 6:2 KJV. This expression, mē yenoito, translated in NRSV as “By no means! “ and in NASB by “May it never be!” is found ten times in Romans (3:4, 6, 31; 6:2, 15; 7:7, 13; 9:14; 11:1, 11) and three times elsewhere in Paul’s writings (1 Corinthians 6:15; Galatans 2:17; 3:21). Paul J. Achtemeier, Romans, Interpretation: A Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1985), 99. Herb Prince, “Faith Subjected to Thought But More: Part XIII,” Come and Go Class, August 10, 2008. The quotation is from William Greathouse and George Lyons, Romans 1-8, New Beacon Bible Commentary (Beacon Hill Press, 2008), 172. Greathouse and Lyons, Romans, 174-175. Italics are mine. Again, we are looking only at verses 1-11 for this lesson. George Hunsinger in The Lectionary Commentary: Theological Exegesis for Sunday’s Texts, vol. 2, The Second Readings” Acts and Epistles. Ed. Roger E. Van Harn. (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 2001), 51. Otto Kuss, Der Römerbrief: übersetzt und erklärt von Otto Kuss, Erste Lieferung (Röm 1, 1 bis 6,11) (Regensburg: Verlag Friedrich Pustet, 1963), 295. Greathouse and Lyons, Romans, 179: “We must be careful here not to drag into Paul’s teaching notions of magical or automatic sacramental grace, which he has already repudiated in principle in his treatment of circumcision (see 4:9-11). . . . Paul could take for granted that his Roman readers were baptized believers (v 3). Such was every NT congregation.” Hunsinger, The Lectionary Commentary, 51. Ibid., 52. Ibid., 53 Greathouse and Lyons, Romans, 182. Frank G. Carver, “Toward Expository Preaching: Compatible or Incompatible?” The Nazarene Preacher (November 1969), 37-39. It is partially quoted and partially paraphrased with much omitted. Those seeing the color version note that the black is quoted and the blue is paraphrase. We will keep with the NASB used in that study. From C. K. Barrett, Romans (1957), 125. William Barclay, A New Testament Wordbook (London: SCM Press, 1955), 48. Ibid., 49. From William Greathouse in Romans (BBC, 1968), 134. From Paul Althaus, Romer (1966), 62. Greathouse and Lyons, Romans, 182. Ibid., 183. Hunsinger, The Lectionary Commentary, 55. Ibid. Greathouse and Lyons, Romans, 184. Karl Barth, The Epistle to the Romans, tran. Edwyn C. Hoskyns (New York: Oxford University Press, 1933), 190. One summer day in the year AD 386 the brilliant but licentious Augustine of Hippo in North Africa, professor of rhetoric at Milan, sat weeping in the garden of his friend Alypius. Having fled the prayers of his godly mother, Monica, he had, in answer to those prayers, come under the influence of Bishop Ambrose' preaching in Milan. As he sat that day in the garden, almost persuaded to break with his old life of sin, he heard the voice of a child chanting in an adjoining garden. He thought he caught the Latin words, Tolle lege! Tolle lege!—"Pick it up, read it; pick it up, read it." Receiving this as a voice from God, he took up a Bible, and his eyes first lit on the words of Rom 13:13-14: ". . . not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh." "I wanted to read no further, nor did I need to. For instantly, as the sentence ended, there was infused in my heart something like the light of full certainty and all the gloom of doubt vanished away" (1955, 8.13). Who can estimate the far-reaching effects upon the Church and the world of this illumination of Augustine's heart and mind?
Catholic theologian Karl Adam, in Das Hochland, June 1926, as quoted in J. McConnachie. 1926-27. "The Teaching of Karl Barth." Hibbert Journal 25:385. N. T. Wright, Anglican Bishop of Durham, as quoted by Lisa Miller, “Everything Old is New Again,” Newsweek (May 5, 2008), 20, responding to a question about the agenda of the coming Anglican Lambeth meeting. Wright is an evangelical New Testament scholar of international reputation. Robert Jewett, Romans: A Commentary, ed. Eldon Jay Epp (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2007), 180. a. The Meaning of Justification (3:21-26) b. Three Conclusions from God's Justifying Act (3:27-31) c. Scriptural Witness to Righteousness by Faith (4:1-25)
(1) Sincere Love (12:9-13) (2) Love Under Pressure (12:14-16) (3) Love Expressed in the World (12:17-21) (4) Love Applied to Government (13:1-7) (5) Love Fulfills the Law (13:8-10)
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