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After a considerable break, let’s get back to Romans. Shall we?

Sin entered the world through one man, and death followed by necessity. Sin continues by everyone, you and me, and we continue to die.
The people who lived before Moses (giver of the law) were not accountable for breaking the law, as it had not yet been given. According to vs 13, their sin was “not taken into account.” Yet they died, right? What am I missing?

Vs 14 refers to Adam as “a pattern of the one to come.” Adam’s one sin introduced sin-and-death to all mankind. Just as Jesus, by one righteous act, brought universal blessing to all people. The grace offered by Jesus is much greater than the devastation that came through Adam. The judgment followed Adam’s one sin; the gift of Jesus was large enough to provide justification for every infraction for all time!

Many were made sinners by the act of one. Many are made righteous by the tremendous act of one. And so we get to decide… am I ‘only human’, a descendent of Adam? Or is my identity ‘in Christ’, and therefore righteous?

Our being ‘justified’, just-as-if-I’d-never-sinned, by the blood of Christ has several benefits: 

1. We’re declared “not guilty.”  This falls into the too-good-to-be-true category for me.  Although it’s true, it doesn’t fit with my sense of justice.  In my way of thinking, people get what they deserve. (Do I believe in karma?!?)  In grace, we get WAY better than we deserve.
2. We’re saved from God’s wrath on sinners.  Our status changed when we were justified, so we are no longer considered sinners.  The fact that we still sin does not alter this amazing fact.  Our status is clean.  (When we live in sin, we are out of alignment with our new nature and this doesn’t work well.  Therefore we’re miserable.) 
3. We are no longer God’s enemies, living to please ourselves.  We were reconciled to Him through the Son.  The hostility is removed by the God-Man, Jesus, whose innocent death brought the Holy and the fallen together.  God took the initiative in providing this reconciliation.  Again, this seems too good to be true. 
4. We rejoice!  We live in the reality of justified reconciliation -even if we know for sure we didn’t deserve it.

“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die are a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Love always results in action. God loves us so he died. I love my kids so I fix supper. The cooking example may seem a bit lame in light of God’s sacrifice, but it’s motivated by love (not my great desire to cook). What does love motivate you to do?

God demonstrated his love my sacrificing Himself for unworthy us.

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We rejoice in suffering. I don’t know about you, but this strikes me as a 100% God thing to do. Notice it doesn’t say we rejoice “because of suffering” but “in suffering.” This one is not easy for me. This passage offers a welcome reminder that our suffering is never meaningless or random.

Suffering, although unpleasant at the time, has a great purpose in the life of the believer. It produces perseverance, which is the ability to be steadfast despite difficulty; to stubbornly continue. When we suffer, (and we will) we have an opportunity to develop a greater ability to successfully navigate difficulty. If we never have the opportunity to stretch during adversity, we never grow.

Perseverance, once obtained through suffering, goes to work for us too. It produces character. Can you think of any person who has great character who has not had significant hardship to refine him/her?

Character is great, but it’s not the final outcome in this process. Character ultimately produces hope. Hope grown from these elements does not resemble unfounded optimism. It is an assurance of a future in God’s love. It is an attitude that says, “Given what God has brought me through, I trust Him with my future.”

Have you experienced growth through suffering? What were the circumstances?

Is what we gain from suffering worth it?

“Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.”

Now, that’s good news!

• I have been justified - ‘just-as-if-I’d-never sinned’. It’s as if the things I’m ashamed of never happened. I can move on, because God is no longer interested in them.
• I have peace with God. He knows it all and He isn’t shocked or mad at me.
• I stand in grace. I don’t stand in my past failures, but in my current position of grace.

“And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.”

With such an enormous gift, we certainly have reason to rejoice!

If righteousness hinges exclusively on the power of the resurrected Christ, then what about God’s people before the resurrection? Abraham, the patriarch of the Jewish nation, was the example of justification by works in Jewish thought. Paul presents a new perspective on Abraham’s justification, holding him up as a shining example of righteousness by faith. Abraham’s faith was ‘credited to him as righteousness.’

Neither circumcision, faithfulness to the law, or any other factor resulted in righteousness for Abraham. Circumcision was an external sign, or a seal. The law reveals sin, thereby exposing the need for righteousness. Although these became the measuring stick for righteousness for those who followed Abraham, he did not find righteousness in either of them.

Abraham is the example to all. He believed God’s promise, and did not waver. He gave glory to God, remaining convinced that God would fulfill His promise.

“The words, ‘it was credited to him’ were not written for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness - for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” vs23-24

Abraham believed God would do exactly what He said, though it seemed impossible. We are asked to believe we are righteous because of Jesus alone. Do you find this hard to believe? Do you think you’re worthy?

Today’s Christianity does not trust in circumcision or the law. But the temptation to trust in externals is still present, and trying to be good enough (our version of trusting the law) is still a temptation.

When have you, or someone you know, fallen into the temptation to trust in one of these for your righteousness?

Jews, Gentiles, you and me… we all need help. We are absolutely guilty as sin and will stand before God in our shame.

However, “all have sinned… and are justified freely.” Justified means to be declared not guilty.

So, we’re guilty, unless we trust Jesus, in which case we’re not.

“God presented HIM as a sacrifice of atonement…” Christ died to pay the penalty for our sin and lived a life of perfect righteousness that can in turn be attributed to us. Whether we deserve it or not. And we don’t.

So, the central truth of this passage appears to be:

1. On my own, I’m in big trouble!
2. Jesus provides an escape from the penalty for my sin.
3. Because of Jesus, I am righteous.

It’s easy for me to see that I’m a sinner (#1). I joyfully accept Jesus’ payment for my sin! It’s a debt I could not pay!(#2) I wonder, however, if I take the next step of living in his righteousness? (#3)
“This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to ALL who believe.”

If I believe in Jesus, I am declared righteous. This is not self-righteousness or arrogance. It is an acceptance of what scripture says is true of the believer. If I have faith in Jesus, then I am righteous.

When I believe I am righteous:

• I recognize I don’t have to be trapped in any sin.
• I don’t allow myself to expect/predict my own failure.
• I don’t need to compare myself to anyone else.
• I am uncomfortable with my own sin.
• I am compelled to act when I see injustice.
• ..
• ….
• ……….
• ……………..

Please add to the list. How does person who believes he/she is righteous live?

Given the self-righteous hypocrisy of the Jews, Paul asks if there is any benefit to being Jewish? Indeed, there is. They have been entrusted with the WORDS of God. The Jews, with or without faith, do not nullify God’s words or His faithfulness.
Some seemed to think that the unrighteousness of the people made God appear more righteous by contrast, however, this argument does not hold up.

So, are the Jews any better than the Gentiles? Nope. We are all alike under sin. Every one of us are accountable to God for our sin.

I’m not OK. You’re not OK. Sinners every one….

**We’ve made is through the rough part. Coming up next, THE CURE!!!

Paul now directs his comments to the hipocracy of the Jews.

“If you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth - you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? As it is written: ‘God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.’ “

Paul then confronts the Jew’s belief that circumcision, a sign of the covenant God made with Israel (Lev 12:3), was a guarantee of God’s favor. Many relied on this external sign as their security, thinking they were not required to obediently submit to God.

Paul informs the readers that the terms of the covenant have changed. The agreement has shifted from external to internal; from physical circumcision to ‘circumcision of the heart’. This applies to everyone, regardless of religious background, gender, age or preference. In order to be His, we all are required to have this heart surgery.

“The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.” Deuteronomy 30:6

If we, the American church, are guilty of hipocracy … if we choose the dark over the light… if we choose foolishness over hard truth… if we refuse to deal with our own ’stuff’… our stealing… adultery… our idols… if we refuse Him our hearts… then we too dishonor God’s name and withhold His presence from those around us.

LORD God have mercy on us.

We’ve seen that God reveals Himself to everyone. If anyone chooses to ignore Him, there is a spiritual responsibility for that choice, with or without knowledge of scripture.

We now move to principles involved in judgment:

• We have no basis for judging others who do the same things we do. When we judge others this way, we set ourselves up to be judged by God for our hypocrisy. (1, 3)
• God’s judgment is based on truth. (2)
• God’s kindness leads us toward repentance. If we think we need to blast someone to get them to straighten up, we may be missing something. God extends mercy, tolerance and patience to us so we may see our error and change it. (4)
• God’s judgment is based on one’s deeds. These verses, if taken in isolation, might point to a works-based salvation. IF anyone could persistently do good, God would give this person eternal life. But, no one can. So, we’re all headed for judgment based on our own deeds. (6-11) (I’m SOOO glad this isn’t the end!)
• God’s judgment is according to the light one has. Gentiles who are ‘apart from the law’ will be judged according to their moral failure as defined by their own consciences. The moral nature of Gentiles, functions for them as the law functions for the Jews. Jews who are ‘under the law’ will also be judged by their failure to keep the law. (12-15)

As a student of scripture for a number of years, I think I will consider myself as ‘under the law’. If you are also, perhaps these words bear consideration: “it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey.” Knowing about Jesus is not enough to change my status as one who is guilty as sin. This knowledge may point me in the right direction, but it won’t fix the problem.

These principles of God’s judgment lay the groundwork for the next section - a discussion regarding the Jews and the law.

**We’ll be in the diagnosis stage for a little while longer, but we’ll make it to the cure! Hang in there! How are you doing with this text? What questions are you grappling with? What are you thinking? Are you out there? Do I sound pitiful?