“Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” -Romans 5:2 Through him: him being Jesus Christ, who was mentioned in the previous verse. Everything about our salvation depends on Jesus Christ. By signifying clearly to his readers […]
Therefore, We Have Peace With God
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” -Romans 5:1 Whenever we see a wherefore or a therefore in Scripture, it’s a clue for us to go back and see what it’s there for. In our case, we have been following very closely with the […]
For Our Sake Also
“But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.” -Romans 4:23–25 Finally, Paul applies his […]
Kind vs. Degree
“He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave […]
The Arms Best Adapted to Old Age
For the philosopher himself could not find old age easy to bear in the depths of poverty, nor the fool feel it anything but a burden though he were a millionaire. You may be sure…that the arms best adapted to old age are culture and the active exercise of the virtues. For if they have […]
Believing Against Hope
“In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.”” -Romans 4:18 And here Paul highlights Abraham’s robust faith. Abraham believed God’s promise when all things material were contrary to human reason. He was himself 100 years old and Sarah, […]
Less Slick and More Real
Seth Godin knows that “When you get an email from a faceless corporation speaking in the second person, someone is hiding.” He suggests, “it’s slick but it’s not real.” I love that line—it’s slick but it’s not real—because entrepreneurship and free enterprise are hallmarks of a free people and a flourishing society. But when capitalism […]
The God Who Gives Life
“That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, as it is written, “I have made […]
We’re Late
W. H. Auden is considered by most to be one of the 20th Century’s finest English and American poets. Younger than T.S. Eliot, and greatly influenced by him, Auden fits squarely in the camp of the modernists poets exemplified by Eliot and Ezra Pound. In his poem, We’re Late, he highlights the hurry, scurry, fret, […]
That the Promise May Rest on Grace
“That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,” -Romans 4:16 Paul is wrapping up his […]
The Law Brings Wrath
“For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.” -Romans 4:15 Paul is here confirming what he was previously explaining (verses13-14), but now in terms of the contrary effect the law has on fallen man. The ultimate end of the law for fallen man is wrath, not grace. When […]
On Friendship, Classics, and Christianity
I was a youth director once upon a lifetime ago. Most of the young people I worked with are now parents with their own high school and college-aged children. In hindsight, I was too young, too spiritually immature—just too immature, period—for the work I was doing then, but I was “on fire,” as we used […]
Null and Void
“For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.” -Romans 4:14 Raising a hypothetical situation in order to show its ineffectiveness, Paul will conclude that faith is dead that rests in keeping the law instead of the goodness of God. And, […]
Heir of the World
“For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.” -Romans 4:13 Paul finally puts the two—law and faith—in direct opposition. The promise of heirship was not made to Abraham because he earned favor with God by […]
Washing Giants’ Feet
One good way to learn is to sit at the feet of a good teacher. But a better way to learn is to wash the feet of those teachers with the greatest minds, the intellectual giants of the Western Tradition. When it comes to education, Plato’s Socrates considered dialogue to be the best vehicle for […]
The Footsteps of Faith
“He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, and to make him the father of the […]
Embrace the Change To Change the World
In 1963, Bob Dylan prophesied that “The Times They Are A-Changin’.” The opening lyrics sing, Come gather ’round people Wherever you roam And admit that the waters Around you have grown And accept it that soon You’ll be drenched to the bone If your time to you is worth savin’ Then you better start swimmin’ […]
The Father of All Who Believe
“How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father […]
The Problem With Story-Matching (And How to Overcome It)
The art of small talk is not easy for some personality types. For other personality types, it’s the long conversations that are difficult. But one of the patterns of conversation that almost all of us can relate with, or fall into, is story-matching. When we listen to someone else’s story (the storyteller) and then share […]
A Blessing for the Uncircumcised Also
“Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness.” -Romans 4:9 For the Jew, circumcision was the first work of the law toward righteousness beginning with Abraham. All other works needed to be established by that work first. But Paul […]
On Film: Plus My Personal 20 Favorites
Almost everyone enjoys film (watching movies) for entertainment, but the wise know how important it is to do so discerningly. In many ways, film is a lot like literature in that it mirrors life, making its soul-shaping, storytelling power surprisingly prodigious. Like books, we don’t have the time to watch every film that is produced. […]
The Privileged Recipient of Divine Favor
“just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”” -Romans 4:6–8 Paul introduces another testimony from Scripture and another […]
Not Work But Belief
“Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,” -Romans 4:4–5 It’s a good time to remember that Paul is not talking here about […]
Independence Day and Blind Patriotism
Happy Independence Day! But can we maybe rethink the blind patriotism? It’s 4th of July, that time when American flags are flying high, patriotic songs are filling the airwaves, and fireworks are popping off all around town. That means this is usually the post in which I’m supposed to join the flag-waving while singing Lee […]
Counted as Righteousness
“For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”” -Romans 4:2–3 In verse 2, Paul offers an enthymeme—an argument with an implied (because it should be obvious to all) premise—to […]
An Inheritance in Abraham
“What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh?” -Romans 4:1 Paul now moves from cogent arguments in chapters 1-3 to “confirmation by example” in chapter 4. This is also a good time to recall that the chapters and verses we use today were helpfully added later in church […]
What is Art?
Tolstoy once asked, “What is Art?” Then he wrote a whole book trying to answer the question. And so did myriads of other people. As a matter of fact, people have been trying to answer the question for at least 3000 years or more. That means I’ll not even come close to answering the question […]
The Law is Holy!
“Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.” -Romans 3:31 It is the same old story, the same accusations made against Christ–that he was trying to abolish the law. Jesus said to the Jews, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the […]
The Right Kind of Education
Education is not job training. It is the cultivation of wisdom and the preparation of the individual to be virtuous through the long task of transferring the knowledge, traditions, and mores of one generation to the next. This is important to recognize for at least three reasons. Humanely Skilled First is the obvious reason that […]
One God, One Justification
“Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.” -Romans 3:29–30 The person of Christ was the plan of God for the whole world from the beginning of time. […]
Tolle Lege
“An easily manipulated population that cares mostly for its own amusement may be more ready for tyranny (which can keep the masses happy with “bread and circuses”) than for the arduous responsibilities of self-government” -Gene Veith. Now, more than ever, Christians need to read. We are people of the Word, and therefore need to immerse […]
Justified By Faith That Works
“For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” -Romans 3:28 This is the Apostle’s main proposition clearly and concisely stated. His conclusion is incontrovertible, indisputable, irrefutable, incontestable, undeniable. There are no two ways about it, Paul is saying. This is our position: one is justified (before God) by […]
Law of Faith
“Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith.” -Romans 3:27 Paul has already proven in verses 17-24 that because the Jews disobeyed the Law and thus dishonored God causing his name to be blasphemed among the Gentiles, […]
Just and Justifier
“It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” -Romans 3:26 “At the present time” should be understood in relation to “passed over former sins” in the previous verse. It now being established by Paul’s argument that […]
The Efficacy of God’s Righteousness
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance […]
For All Have Sinned
“…For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” -Romans 3:22–23 Here Paul reiterates in the form of a maxim what he has been arguing thus far. It is necessary for all men—Jew and Gentile alike—to seek by faith the righteousness of God which is in Christ […]
Faith Alone (Sola Fide)
“But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:” -Romans 3:21–22 Since the law requires perfect and absolute obedience, and not one has […]
Apart From The Law
“But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—” -Romans 3:21 So now that it has been established that the the works of the law can justify no one—Jew or Gentile—and it can only reveal our sin to us, we are […]
The Law Condemns
“Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge […]
No Better Off
“What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one […]
In Bold Relief
“But if through my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.” -Romans 3:7–8 While Paul might seem to be unnecessarily repeating his previous argument in verses […]
Emphatic Repudiation
But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) By no means! For then how could God judge the world? -Romans 3:5–6 Paul, speaking on behalf of his interlocutor, raises the objection that if […]
God Alone Is True
“What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.”” -Romans 3:3–4 Paul anticipates the likely response of his imagined interlocutor […]
The Advantage of the Jew
“Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God.” -Romans 3:1–2 Since Paul has now sufficiently proved that circumcision did not make the Jews superior to the Gentiles, he must address the natural implications of […]
Inward Not Outward
“For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.” -Romans 2:28–29 Physical circumcision is the cutting off […]
Uncircumcised But Law Abiding
“Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law.” -Romans 2:27 What then becomes of these two comparative cases if laid out before the courts of Heaven? The Gentile who actually keeps the Law will be a testimony against the […]
Superior to Circumcision
“So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?” -Romans 2:26 In this and the following verses, Paul unpacks the logic for his case. We should not suppose there is a particular occasion Paul has in mind but a theoretical case in which […]
The Real Value of Circumcision
“For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision.” -Romans 2:25 The Jews gloried in circumcision and regarded it as being most important. They believed it unthinkable that anyone who possessed this physical sign could lose his salvation. But Paul dashes this erroneous […]
The Name of God is Blasphemed
“For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”” -Romans 2:24 Paul seems to have paraphrased this concluding statement about his Jewish interlocutor’s hypocrisy from either Ezekiel 36:20 or Isaiah 52:5. Both have merit to their arguments. In either case, both highlight the fact that because of […]
The Whitewashed Tombs
“But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an […]