justification – Simply True

Life is all about God and his Son (Rom. 1:1-17)

I’d like to spend some time thinking with you about the book of Romans. In my Bible, this occupies 21 pages. It started out as a letter written to a group of Christians in Rome, but they have gone on to have a profound effect on people ever since.

I plan to simply highlight the main points from each major section of the letter. Getting an overview like this can help with a more detailed read later on. So, here’s an appetizer, and I trust, an encouragement to know and be changed by the gospel it explains.

Understandably, Paul begins by introducing himself to the Church in Rome, and explaining his desire to visit them[i]. But this simple beginning tells us why we need to know this whole letter well. He is eager that the church has a real gospel—with God and his Son as the main actors.

When we consider churches, we may be thinking about their numbers, their age group, their music or their influence. Not Paul. He wants churches to love God and listen to him. He wants Christ and his gospel to be centre-stage.

God has broken into the comfortable arrangements we make for ourselves. He has things to tell us that we would never imagine and certainly couldn’t perform, but things that we desperately need.

As we read through this opening section, notice how God is the main actor in all that is happening.

It’s God’s gospel, or good news, that we need[ii]. He’s sent his Son to establish it[iii]. It’s his grace and peace we are needing[iv]. It’s him we need to thank[v], and his will we need to be doing[vi]. And especially, it’s God’s power that is going to change things[vii], and him that gets things right—in fact, gets us right[viii].

And then, God presents us with his Son. He’s put him in charge of everything[ix]. Everything God has said and done before has been leading to this. And he’s raised his Son from the terrible death we inflicted on him.

Through this powerful Son, people like Paul have received grace! He’s now happy to be the slave of Jesus—ready to carry out his every wish. And he’s been commissioned to take the message of this amazing kindness to the ends of the earth. God is on a mission to have people belonging to Jesus and to share in all he has accomplished.

Is this what your church is about—God’s good news, and the Son who makes it all work? Is this what we are about?

Saying ‘Yes’ to these questions is not a likely or natural answer. It happens because we’ve been called by God to belong to Jesus Christ[x]. We are hungry for God and for what he can do. And we know our life must be full of Christ to be in the flow of God’s grace and peace. That’s why knowing what is in this letter is important.

There’s no politics here! No wishful thinking. No doubt. Just God, his Son, and Paul, the man he has chosen to receive and to proclaim God’s grace.

But now, what about his desire to go to Rome?[xi] Or, we could ask, what about the expectation that this man may have something to say to ourselves, or to our church? Can we trust him? Should we believe him?

Here’s what he offers to encourage the Romans to receive his letter, and later, himself.

He knows about them already and he’s grateful for their witness in the Roman capital. He prays for them constantly. He wants to come because he knows he can help. He’s been commissioned by Jesus himself to do just this. He expects they will encourage him as he encourages them.

Notice how different this is from the unconverted Paul—or Saul of Tarsus as he was known. He had obtained letters from leaders in Jerusalem to travel to Syria and arrest Christians there and bring them back for trial. He was angry, ambitious and uncaring.

All that has changed. God is in his rightful place in Paul’s life. This has made him humble, warm and obedient. He’s believable. I hope you find him the same!

And lastly, Paul tells us his central message—or rather, God’s message.

It’s not just an attempt to be kind and helpful. It’s powerful, and saves us from perishing. How can this be so?

It’s because God is ready to pronounce as righteous anyone who trusts his good news about Jesus.

This changes everything. When we know God accepts us, the need to be special, or good, or right, or approved, fades away. We don’t have to parade our virtues or accomplishments. We can simply serve others. This is God’s power being let loose among us. I’m hoping you will join me in looking at this part of our Bible again. And I’m hoping our hearts will be set singing!

[i] Rom. 1:1-15

[ii] v. 1

[iii] v. 3

[iv] v. 7

[v] v. 8

[vi] v. 10

[vii] v. 16

[viii] v. 17

[ix] v. 3-5

[x] v. 6

[xi] Rom. 1:8-15

Dead to sin, alive to God (Rom. 6:1-14)

Paul has told us that God’s kindness has dwarfed the whole sorry business that started with Adam sinning.

And now, in the light of this abundant grace, he shows how we may live to his glory.

In fact, Paul must respond to some who doubt, or scorn, the good news he has announced because they cannot believe or do not want to rely on God’s amazing grace.

And he does so by answering two questions.

Here’s the first of them. Shall we just let loose and do as we please, given that God is so kind (vv. 1-14)?

Some are actually arguing that Paul is teaching this[i]. If all the goodness belongs to God—and it does—why not let God take all the glory. There’s no point in our trying to be good.

I’ve included references in the following text to make it easier to locate where Paul makes each point.

We’ve heard that Jesus dies for our sins and rises for our justification. This continues to be the starting point for all that we think and do. But we also need to know the goal God has in doing this for us.

There are three purpose statements in this passage. First, God’s kindness to us is not so we can go on sinning (v. 1). Second, it’s so we can live a new life (v. 4). And third, it’s so our old life can be disabled (v. 6).

But first, everything here depends on what happens to Jesus.

Far from merely looking at Christ as a spectacle, or perhaps appreciating him as a benefactor, we have been included in his dying and rising, and in what those events have accomplished. When we say we believe in Christ, usually expressed in baptism, we’re accepting that our new life doesn’t start with us. It starts with what happens to him—and happens to us who are in him.

But Paul is now telling us how this death and resurrection with Christ impacts on our daily living. Jesus doesn’t just die for our sins. He dies to sin (v. 10). We need to know what this means.

Obviously, Jesus doesn’t die to sinning because he never sinned. But when he dies, he so fully exhausts what sin and condemnation and death can do to sinners, that he’s died to anything more it can do to him. He’s died to the dominion of sin.

Think about this a little more. Jesus said before his death, and concerning those who came to arrest him, ‘But this is your hour, and the power of darkness’.[ii] Jesus is engaging, not only sin’s penalty but it’s power to enslave and to kill. And when he says ‘It is finished’[iii], all of this is included in what is finished.

This is important for us because we’ve been united with Christ in ‘a death like his’ (v. 5). Sin can’t do anything more to him. So, it follows that it can’t do anything more to us either! But how can this be? Sin—as we see what it offers, and feel its tug, still seems to have plenty of influence on us.

It certainly doesn’t mean we have no temptations, no inner tendencies to do wrong, no failures. But God’s purpose is to disable our propensity to sinning (v. 6). Paul calls it ‘our body of sin…being brought to nothing’. We’ve been joined to Christ’s crucifixion specifically to bring this slavery to an end[iv].

This almost seems to be too ambitious! But Paul explains how this happens. Someone who’s died is ‘set free from sin’.[v] This should actually read ‘is justified’ from sin’.[vi] The freedom comes because God calls us righteous. We are clean. We are not being condemned anymore. This is the freedom Paul speaks about.

It helps if we think about the opposite of this. Consider the effect that personal failures have on our will to please God. Satan accuses us continually. He knows the effectiveness of guilt to keep us from doing good. Think of the sapping of energy when our conscience tells us we are compromised and contaminated. What can we do to lift our game?

But then, if Christ has stood, or hung, where we compromised and soiled sinners belong, and been raised from the dead, he can rightly call us righteous. And if we, united with him, have been through death and resurrection, we, with him, can live with a clear conscience.[vii] And someone who has been cleansed like this wants to stay that way and please his or her wonderful Benefactor. We don’t work towards getting a clear conscience. We start with one. And while we look to Christ and not to ourselves, we remain with one.

And so, with King David, we may have felt God’s heavy hand on us as sinners,[viii] and longed to know the joy of his salvation. But God forgives our sin, and upholds us with a willing spirit.[ix] Or, like Isaiah when God cleansed him, we can say, ‘Here am I Lord. Send me!’[x] Or, like the forgiven Peter, we can say, ‘You know that I love you’.[xi]

Paul also says that we are united with Christ in his resurrection (v. 4). Jesus now has a human life (not his eternal relationship to the Father) that is renewed—after bearing our sins.

He rises to live to God. Of course, he has always lived to God, but we couldn’t share in that—as though we could merely copy his example. He’s living to God now after bearing our sins. He’s been where we were before God—condemned and under sin’s dominion. And now he’s alive to God. Death has lost its power over him.

And we’ve been raised up too. We can act and choose and think in the Father’s presence, as Jesus did in his life among us, and particularly, as he does now. We’ve been equipped to live as the righteous people he created us to be!

And we can be sure that if we are included in what he has done by dying for us, we will most certainly ~~will~~ share in being physically raised from the dead as he was (v. 5).

So much for death being in charge of history! Sin, and condemnation, and the threat of death crippled our living (as Paul has shown in his previous section[xii]). But not now! We’re ready to live.

Paul tells us to do three things so that we don’t waste these privileges. They belong together and help us live in the blessing we’ve just considered. Here they are.

We must regard our life the way God is regarding it. We must breathe this new air deeply. We should notice what is controlling our thinking. We should give up our introspection, or living by our own piety, and start with ourselves where God has placed us—in Christ.

We must say no—over and over again— to temptations we used to give way to. Problems don’t go away by meditating, or just knowing things. Sometimes we just have to say ‘No!’ We should tell sin that it’s not in charge. There’s no negotiation here. No hesitation. We might be surprised how powerful our ‘No’ is! It’s backed by all that Christ has won for us.

And we must say ‘Yes’ to God and his will—over and over again—to exercise the new freedom we’ve received. We’re not meant to be overfed consumers. This new life is built for action. We used to be the living dead! But we’re alive to God now.

And just in case we’ve forgotten, we’re not under law’s condemnation, or congratulations! Everything is under the reign of God’s grace. And our humble beginnings are a delight to our heavenly Father.

A sceptics question has yielded a rich feast. Next time, we’ll look at a second objection people have raised about the reign of God’s grace. And we’ll learn how to live as God’s joyful slaves!

[i] Rom. 3:8

[ii] Luke 22:53

[iii] John 19:30

[iv] Jesus has said that whoever sins becomes a slave of his sin (John 8:34).

[v] V. 7

[vi] Every other time Paul uses this word, this is what he means.

[vii] Heb. 9:14

[viii] Psa. 32:4

[ix] Psa. 51:12

[x] Isa. 6:7-8

[xi] John 21:17

[xii] Rom. 5:17, 21

God’s Happy Slaves (Romans 6:15-24)

We’re discovering what it means to live in the amazingly generous life that God provides for us in his Son. For some, this raises questions. In particular, how seriously does a Christian need to regard sin in his or her life?[i]

In the previous section, Paul showed us that God has placed us wholly in Christ and in what he has accomplished[ii]. And he does this so we are able to live an entirely new life, and so our sinful propensities may be disabled.[iii]

And now, Paul asks the question again. ‘Are we free to sin?’

He has just said we’re not ruled by law. God’s law is no longer in a position to condemn us. Does this mean we can sin without consequences? If there’s no road rules, can we just do whatever we like?

As with the first question, Paul responds with some horror. ‘May this never be!’ Such a thought would cancel belief in a good God, or human responsibility or a moral universe. Unfortunately, much of the world embraces these ideas. And the results are clear. Total chaos.

Rather, we are shown what it means to be under the control of grace! This is what Paul knows personally, and he’s seen it work out in the lives of many new believers.

And every converted person knows it too. ‘Don’t you know…’ Paul says. Sin had enslaved us. Now, righteousness—that is, justification—rules us. We have a new master.

Is this the truth we know? Not just forgiveness—a life wiped clean of every impurity, but righteousness—God’s final judgement revealed in advance. If we understand this, we can’t live without it. We are ‘slaves’ to this new identity.

Paul knows that slavery isn’t really what Christian faith is like, but it’s like it in the ways he describes. And he’s happy to identify himself as Christ’s slave at the beginning of his letter.

And here’s what undergirds this. When the gospel is preached, we become obedient from the heart to what we are hearing.

We don’t just give assent to an idea. To believe it is to obey it. That’s why Paul talks about ‘the obedience of faith’ later on.[iv] The gospel itself brings about this obedient faith.

Paul uses an unusual phrase to describe how the gospel comes to us. It’s a ‘standard of teaching’. It’s not just another lesson to learn. It’s God, speaking—to us. The word suggest that it’s imprinted on us. God knows how to speak to those he calls. When he forgives our sins, he writes his law on our hearts. He gives us a new heart.[v]

And we are ‘entrusted to’ it. In other words, God doesn’t trust us to believe his gospel. He entrusts us to his gospel and the gospel does the job he wants it to.

This gospel teaching leads us to righteousness. And in this context, righteousness is God’s gift[vi]. We are justified. But, as anyone who is justified knows, it’s liberating to be clean and at peace with God. Righteousness is a good way to be. We want righteousness.

Here’s Paul’s opportunity to show that the news of God’s goodness is precisely the way he brings us to living well—to be his happy slaves.[vii] He’s led us out of sin, not freed us up to enjoy it.

So now, we need to choose which master we will serve—sin or righteousness. There’s no real freedom that isn’t related to an authority. We make this decision when we believe in Christ, but it’s a decision affirmed with each new day—to present ourselves to God for his service. This is what Jesus did as God’s suffering Servant.[viii]

In one sense, knowing what to do when sin is pressing for attention is simple. Run from it! Joseph is a good example.[ix] But we’ve got more resources than just running. We have powerful reasons for our choices. And there’s a wonderful reward.

Sin, contrary to entertainment promotions, is not nice! It comes with an agenda of its own—and we are its victims. We used to give ourselves to thoughts and deeds that God says are wrong. Paul gave us a list of them earlier in his letter.[x]

We had an illusion of freedom because we felt free of any external demand. But sin has a destination in view. It wants us dead. Or, more accurately, he—Satan, wants us dead.

And sin pays wages. In other words, we get what we deserve.

Now, contrast this with being obedient. We give ourselves to Christ who loves us. We trust him and are pronounced righteous. And righteousness becomes the desire of our whole being. Jesus teaches us that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled—filled with righteousness.[xi]

So—and here is the only command in this passage—give all you’ve got to this ‘standard of teaching’![xii] It will lead you on to sanctification—that is, actually living as one devoted to God. You’ll increasingly want and be doing God’s will on earth, just as it is in heaven.

And then, you won’t get what you deserve! Who would want to live with this hanging over their head? Rather, you will receive a gift. Eternal life—in Jesus Christ our Lord.

So, living under the reign of God’s grace is not a free ride into irresponsibility. Neither is it an impossible journey of committing and recommitting ourselves to obey an unrelenting law. It’s trusting and enjoying and living in the amazingly generous decision of God to receive us as his righteous people. We’re happy to be his slaves. It’s here that we’ve found freedom.

[i] Rom. 6:1, 15

[ii] Rom. 6:1-14

[iii] Rom. 6:4, 6

[iv] Rom. 16:26

[v] Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:25-28

[vi] V. 16

[vii] Being Christ’s slave is the way Paul introduces himself in this letter.

[viii] Isa. 50:4

[ix] Gen. 39:6-12

[x] Rom. 1:22-32

[xi] Matt. 5:6

[xii] V. 19

God gets it right

When something hideous happens these days, we are accustomed to reactions of outrage or pity. But neither of these reactions suit what happens to Jesus.

His death on a cross hardly seems right. But everything that takes place here is what God wants to happen (Acts 2:23).

It’s by announcing the news of Christ’s death and resurrection that God is revealing his righteousness. It’s how he is exerting his power (Romans 1:16).

If you’re asking the question, ‘What is God doing about all the evil in the world?’ here’s the answer. He’s looked at it, summed it up and dealt with it. All of it. Including what you and I have done.

Let’s have a look at this. First, the clues Jesus gives us about what happens to him. And then, what the apostles tell us after the event.

When Jesus is born, an announcement is made that he will save his people from their sins (Matt. 1:21). This must mean more than him just teaching us better ways to live. There’s a weight we carry that needs to be lifted from us.

Jesus does teach many things, but everything leads up to his great work—what he has come to do. He talks about going to Jerusalem and being killed there. His life will be a ‘ransom for many’—that is, he will pay a price to save others (Mark 10:33-34, 45). He is claiming to do what a Psalmist said is impossible—redeem the soul of another person (Psa. 49:7-9).

In fact, Jesus says if we don’t let him pay what we owe, we’ll die (Mark 8:37-38). The stakes are high. If he doesn’t die for us, we will. Offending God is not a light weight offence. Who can stand if his anger is roused (Psa. 76:7; Nahum 1:6)?

What Jesus says is very much what God has already promised to do through his suffering Servant: ‘the Lord makes his life a guilt offering’ (Isa. 53:10). Jesus knows he is this Servant. He is bearing the griefs of others (Matt. 8:16-17). He will be numbered with transgressors (Luke 22:37).

The day comes for all this to happen. Jesus asks his Father to be spared drinking ‘this cup’ (Luke 22:42-44). This term describes judgements from God on sin (Psa. 75:8). Jesus knows this, and the terror of it makes him sweat blood. He asks if there is another way. He doesn’t flinch from his task but reveals the horror of what is going to happen.

Then, when Jesus is being led out to be crucified, he says, ‘Don’t weep for me. Weep for yourselves…’ (Luke 23:28-31). This is an astonishing statement in the circumstances. He has in mind how awful it is going to be for anyone who doesn’t believe in what he is doing for the world.

And then, from his cross, Jesus cries, ‘Why have you forsaken me?’ He is bearing our sin and what ought to happen to us. ‘The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all’, and he is ‘wounded for our transgressions’ (Isa. 53:4-6).

As he dies, Jesus says, ‘It is finished’ (John 19:30)! God has done to sin and sinners what sinners deserve. Jesus is no victim. He has done what he was given to do, what he wanted to do, and what we need. Through him, God has done what is right—for him, and for us.

Now, Paul shows us what is meant by God’s righteousness, or being right—particularly in his letter to the Romans.

For a start, God judges what is wrong (2:2). He wouldn’t be God if he didn’t! And he certainly wouldn’t be right. But this is just the beginning.

God’s made a world and still loves it. He has plans for it, and importantly, loves it. So, he’s made promises about what he will do. And he’s keeping them. He’s not a legalist who’s only interested in him being right.

So, he reveals his rightness by doing something for us. If we trust his Son, he judges us to be righteous (1:16-17; 4:1-25; 5:17; 8:4).

This is why the death of Jesus is so important. God can’t call black white, or bad good. But his Son has owned us as his own. Our wrong has become his. All of it.

And when God made him to be sin—someone who’d never thought of doing wrong—God poured out all the rightful distain and condemnation and rejection on him. All of it.

God hasn’t swept anything under the carpet but sent his Son to bear it in our place—and its penalty. That’s what we call propitiation. Christ averts wrath from us by bearing it himself.

If you’re wondering about all the things God lets us get away with, Paul says that, up until Jesus died, he had ‘passed over’ earlier sins. But not now. What sin deserves, it gets.

And God approves and accepts what Jesus does and raises him from the dead. He’s the beginning of something entirely new—a new creation. If we acknowledge we can’t justify ourselves, and trust in Christ’s offering for us, we are credited with the rightness Jesus showed in his life and in his death. All of it.

There’s nothing as exhilarating as this (Romans 5:1-5). It’s then we realise how unconvincing our self-justification has been.

And now, there’s another way God reveals his rightness. We who are grateful recipients of God’s gift in Christ, are eager to do what is right because we have been made right with God (6:16-18).

People who don’t have this gift of righteousness are hobbled and can’t live truly. They remain self-focused and self-justifying. They call right whatever the life-style is that they have chosen.

But God shows he can get things right by pointing us to what his Son does on the cross. Here’s something that’s true, and works. It comes straight from God. It takes us to God. And it sends us out into life with delight, and with an eye for what others need from us.