:: In.a.Mirror.Dimly ::

Another meditation in my series on the book of Romans…

If Jesus died to conquer sin while all were still sinners, then Paul reasons Jesus will continue to save those who have been reconciled through his death. The Romans church can boast of Christ’s sacrifice that not only cancelled their debt with God, but also includes them among God’s saved people.

This chapter particularly focuses on the the significance of God’s saving work through Christ that brings us peace with God. The gift of salvation is more generous and powerful than any offense that could separate us from God.

A key illustration involves the sin that Adam brought to the world. Through sin death began to reign, as everyone who followed Adam, also followed into sin and thus into death. However, if one sin brought death, then Christ’s gift of life through his one righteous act conquered sin and death. In this way, Christ is supreme as the one who not only rights past wrongs, but also offers a new way to live.

Unlike God’s gracious gift through Christ, the law was not given to make us right with God, but rather to point out sin. Thus rules and regulations have value within their role sorting right from wrong, but only in the work of Christ on the cross can sin be defeated. Therefore, Christ has both kept and fulfilled the law, making himself superior to sin, death, and the law. Christ has made God both just and the one who justifies.

Therefore, Christ brings us peace with God, and offers us a chance to live free from sin’s power. The details of living new lives apart from sin will be spelled out in chapter six.

Continuing my meditations on the book of Romans…

The true badge of God’s people is faith. Though the Jews in Paul’s audience may have thought that circumcision took on this identifying mark, Paul tells the story of Abraham and his faith to drive home God’s inclusion of all people on the basis of faith. Because of his faith Abraham was declared righteous before circumcision even entered the picture.

In one swift exegetical swoop, Paul has removed a major barrier between Jew and Gentile. However, in creating a common ground in faith, the law is not discarded. In fact, by trusting in the death and resurrection of Christ, Paul’s readers are able to uphold the law through God’s power.

God emerges from this as both just and upholding the law, but also as a merciful savior who saves us on the basis of faith. From start to finish, God receives the glory for our salvation and subsequent holiness. There is no room for boasting to be sure.

Even when facing the odds against God’s promise for offspring, Abraham’s faith became stronger and he gave glory to God. He trusted that a larger obstacle meant a greater miracle and greater acclaim from God. It is important to note here that Abraham trusted in a promise of God, rather than simply trusting God would do something Abraham wanted.

Hearing God’s promise is the first step. Trusting in it is the second, even if circumstances stack up against us.

In the case of salvation we have promises throughout scripture that God can and will save us on the basis of our faith in his redeeming acts. We may face our sin daily, but so long as we trust in a God who can raise the dead and call life into being, we can trust in his power to save us and to make us part of his family.

When we live by faith we bring glory to God. 

This continues my series of meditations on the book of Romans. Today we have chapter three…

Paul has been building an argument for the equality of Jews and Gentiles under sin, but by the end of chapter three he extends this equality into the realm of salvation. For starters though, the Jews and Gentiles are mired sin and separated from God.

In spite of sin that alienates people from God, God is faithful to offer salvation as a gift through Christ. Nevertheless, God’s patient and redemptive acts do not give anyone an excuse to continue sinning. God will fulfill his promise and bring salvation to Jew and Gentile alike, but there is a stern warning that judgment will come to those who persist in sin. Therefore, Paul tells his readers to use the law to become conscious of sin, but to have faith in God for their salvation.

Therefore, whether or not someone has the law, the verdict is the same, but so is the way out. God’s salvation is not dependent on the law or whether or not someone has any kind of religious or ethnic credentials. I’m particularly taken with the thought that God is not only just, but also the one who justifies. God is essentially clearing the path for whoever wants to believe in him rather than setting up standards to be met.

The hard part of the argument for Paul’s listeners must have been  upholding the law by faith and not by observing it. It would seem that the only way to God and the path to obedience is by recognizing one’s complete and utter dependence on God for salvation. However, living by faith does not mean anyone can ignore the law. In fact, faith is the only path to truly obeying it.

That strikes me as an easy lesson to twist. God will judge those who ignore his patience and salvation by continuing to sin, but the way to be made right with God depends on believing in the saving work of Christ and living by faith. One would expect Paul to hammer on obeying the law, but he doesn’t. I can see how some would twist Paul’s arguments into a kind of antinomian Christianity where more sins only draw on more unlimited mercy.

Paul is no doubt challenging this sin-challenged church to be obedient and faithful to God. However, the only lasting way to be made right with God and to remain faithful is through faith in the life-changing work of Christ.

It is this work of Christ that fills up the following chapters in Romans where Paul explains how saving faith need not result in indulgent sinfulness.

I’m continuing my reflections on the book of Romans with chapter two today…

The second chapter of Romans continues to build the case for equality among the Gentiles and Jews in the Roman church, but at this point Paul is making a negative association that will continue into chapter three. The Jews and Gentiles are equally in trouble when it comes to sin and whether or not they consider themselves God’s chosen people, God recognizes those who are obedient, avoiding both sin and judgment of others.

This passage contains some pretty harsh words for folks who are supposedly saved by faith and secure in their salvation. They have the same sin problems as those who are not believers. They judge others. They are storing up wrath and judgment for themselves. They have stubborn and unrepentant hearts.

And the blow to the jugular? God will one day uncover all of the sin they’re hiding away in their hearts.

None of this is sounding all that pleasant.

I have a feeling that Jews in attendance may have felt a tad smug still after all that Paul said. Perhaps they still thought they had an edge on others because of circumcision: the mark of the covenant. Whatever the case may be, Paul drops a bomb on them by saying that circumcision doesn’t mean a thing if it isn’t paired with faithful obedience.

And if invalidating the mark of Judaism, one of the most hallowed rituals for the past 2,000 years with deep biblical roots, isn’t enough, he goes on to completely redefine circumcision as a spiritual act that the Holy Spirit performs on the heart. It would seem that sin has rendered the old system useless.

However, in the midst of this seeming biblical revisionism and verse after verse of bad news, there is hope that God can save and reform us.

The trouble is that his audience needs to let go of their deeply implanted sins, open themselves to the message of the Lord for them in their current day, and even let go of good, biblical practices in favor of the new things God is doing. We should marvel at the radical nature of Paul’s statement about circumcision. This is a deepening of that ritual to the core of what God intended: an obedient people who were holy as he is holy.

This is a goal for our lives: holiness. When we get that right, we are free to have fellowship with God. And when we have fellowship with God, we have tapped into the very thing we were made for.

Lately I’ve been realizing that I’m not comfortable describing myself as a “conservative” evangelical. Nevertheless, I’m still pretty committed to the Bible and even have many conservative traits in my reading of scripture. So while I have departed from the conservative end of evangelicals in part, I find myself trying to figure out what it means to have a high view of scripture from the evangelical left or center.

If I want to sound trendy or at least charitable, I’d describe myself as a “progressive”. Now doesn’t that sound catchy. I mean, who wouldn’t want to be progressive?

Here’s the thing: I’m cool with there being a broad range of evangelicals. Whether right, left, or center, our movement has thrived by focusing on the Gospel message of cross and resurrection, Christian activism (I’m going with David Bebbington’s word here for Christian service and volunteerism in ministry), conversion, and the Bible. Therefore, as an evangelical who sees himself somewhere in the middle to left of this movement, I’d like establish solid credibility for my end of things.

I’ve been trying to think of the most evangelical thing I could do—something that would demonstrate my commitment to scripture in particular. How could I show that one need not cling to the right of this movement to be a Bible-loving evangelical? The folks on the left and center still take the Bible seriously—generally adhering to the accepted evangelical methods of historical-cultural interpretations that deal with the complexity of scripture, while not disregarding biblical revelation.

What’s an evangelical to do?

The answer: Study the book of Romans!

When all else fails evangelicals traditionally dig into the good ole’ book of Romans for spiritual sustenance. If I only had a denarius for all of the Bible studies that have started with the hefty book of Romans.

And so that is exactly what I’m going to do. I’ve been reading through Romans and hope to post a series of meditations on the book. I promise an especially exciting exegetical and hermeneutical adventure for the part about homosexuality in chapter one.

Seriously, when was the last time the words exegetical and hermeneutical were linked with “adventure”? Epic this will be. And with such promises of exegetical excellence, let’s jump in…

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