Read Romans Chapters 5-7
It may be time for a reminder. I am not a theologian. I’ve studied theology and philosophy, but these only interest me as intellectual stimulation. You can, if you like, get lost in the labyrinth of parsing every Greek word searching for all manner of hidden meanings and theology. I prefer to read this (and the rest of the New Testament) as a guide to spiritual and personal development. Writing this lesson brought out one of Paul’s examples. My imagination took over the mental controls. I thought of many questions the example raised not answered in this letter. I thought further how unsettling this could be to those who choose to pursue through the rabbit warren.
Paul has taken us on a journey preparatory to his major theme. He has slowly taken us through sin and how all of us are full of sin. The goal is awareness of our capacity to sin and our history of sin. He addresses his Jewish brethren and how their law did not and will not put them into a right relationship with God. They have found it is impossible to live completely obeying the law. 90% on the exam is still failure.
Then we examined faith. We found that Abraham had faith in his God, our God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. This was before the law was given. Therefore, righteousness with God was available long before the law existed.
Now, Paul introduces us to Jesus. He tries out a couple of examples and then gets himself tangled up in logic trying to explain his (our) relationship to sin.
We continue in a growing awareness of my self, my falling short, and then my recognition of a better way.
Paul begins this passage, “Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand.”
[Note: Paul’s basic premise is God from whom all things, and Jesus, the Lord, through whom all things.]
Paul tries out this analogy—that of Adam, the first human in the Genesis account.
Adam lived in paradise. He was alone, so God also created a woman called Eve, to form the first family. All went well living in this land of plenty in peace and prosperity until Adam ate of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. (OK, folklore talks about an apple, but the apple was symbolic of much more than just a tasty delight.)
Adam’s one act of rebellion against God brought sin into the world.
Therefore, one man’s act of obedience will bring grace into the world. That man was Jesus.
The Atlanta-area megachurch preacher Andy Stanley likes to say, “If a man can predict his own death and resurrection and pull it off, I’ve got to believe him.”
Now Paul needs another example of what death and resurrection mean. He draws an analogy from marriage. While married and with her husband, a wife is bound by law to the husband. When he dies, the law is now null. She is now freed from the law and can, if circumstances warrant, marry again.
Just so, when Jesus died, he ended the law as the instrument of righteousness, and all of us are now freed from its bonds.
But we still have sin all around us. We have sin in us. We still do stupid and willful things that separate us from God.
Or, as Paul puts it perhaps a little confusingly, “For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold into slavery under sin. I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. But in fact it is no longer I who do it but sin that dwells within me.”
I wish Paul could have practiced a writing style with a bit more simplicity. But we have what we have. Basically, he just told us that sin continues to pervade us and everything around us. But because of Jesus’ act of obedience, he broke that power.
We can experience God’s grace.
Justifying Grace – This is the grace through which God pardons sin and declares the believer righteous. It’s received through faith and represents the moment of conversion or being “born again.” This grace removes the guilt and penalty of sin.
Gary Mintchell
Faith Venture 