Romans 2,3,4,5

Romans 2:17-29

Romans 2:17–29 NKJV

Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God, and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law. You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” as it is written. For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, judge you who, even with your written code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law? For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.

I want to begin with Chapter Two to lay a foundation for one of the Bible's most important Doctirines “Justifiaction by Faith”

There is a danger to becoming self-righteous.

In Romans 2 Paul addresses the responsability of the Jews in relation to their greater light and privilege.

Having been given God’s law, they lived on a higher moral plane than did the Gentiles. Nevertheless, they became more guilty, because they had fallen short of God’s standard of holiness as revealed in His law (Romans 7:7-23).

They had sinned against light and privilege.

They measured themselves by heathens rather than by God’s law and sinned by boasting of their holiness over the Gentiles.

Tey would judge others while being guilty of doing the ame, if not careful we can end up doing the same, calling someone carnal and also partaking of carnallity in other aspects of our Christian walk.

They considered Gentiles as dogs in comparison of themselves.

Paul told the Jews they were inexcusable for judging in this manner. In condemning the Gentiles, they condemned themselves, for they also sinned.

They Boasted because of their privilege:

Rested (relied) upon the Law;

Glorified God.

Knew His will

Apporved of all things that are excellent

Being instructed out of the Law

They also claimed superiorority

A guide to the blind

A light to them that are in darkness

A corrector of the foolish

A Teacher of Babes

Having in the Law the form of knowledge of the Truth.

All are Nobel endeavors and pursuits but just because we process them does not give us a right to be self righteous, nasty or haughty in any way.

We must be careful when were being revealed things by God and become haughty because other have not received that understanding.

It is not the hearers, but only the doers of the Law are justified before God (Romans 2:1-16).

There is no respect of persons with God (verse 11). His standard of righteousness has always been the same for all people. The Jews who had been given the law of Moses were judged by the Law.

Nevertheless, since they were never able to obtain total obedience, they were required to offer sin offerings, and the high priest made atonement for them each year.

God accepted this on the merits of their faith, looking ahead to the coming of Christ who should make the perfect sacrifice for them (Hebrews 10:1-22; 11:32-40).

They looked ahead for the promise of the coming of Christ, while we look back by faith to the finished work of Calvary.

It is important to understand the status of the Old Testament saints living under the law of Moses as compared with the New Testament saints in the new and living way of the Holy Ghost, which was brought to all nations through the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In Old Testament times, Gentiles were almost wholly idolaters. However, some came to believe in Israel’s God and became proselytes to the Jews’ religion by accepting their covenant sign of circumcision.

Then they too were judged by the law of Moses. Of course, since the coming of Christ, all—both Jews and Gentiles—are saved by faith and obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Acts 2:38 and Romans 6:3-4 explain how one obeys the gospel of Jesus Christ.

People of all nations who continue in unrighteousness, refusing to repent, will be judged by the same righteous laws and standards of God.

The Jews had never been able to perfectly keep the law of Moses (James 2:10-11). Nevertheless, in verses 14-15, Paul showed that both Jews and Gentiles who come to Jesus and are made new creatures in Christ by the Holy Ghost are enabled to keep the righteousness of the law.

This shows the power of God’s law of liberty (James 1:25; 2:12), the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:2-4) written in their hearts (Jeremiah 31:31-34).”

In verses 17-29 Paul condemned the Jews, especially their religious leaders, for their hypocrisy in outward religion but inner corruption.

They professed to obey the Law and required of the people meticulous obedience to the ceremonial law of Moses and traditions of the elders (Matthew 15:1-3).

By their hypocrisy in failing to live up to their profession, they brought reproach on the name of God among the Gentiles (verse 24). Romans 2:24 “For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” as it is written.”

Jesus told His disciples to obey the words (of the Law) of the scribes and Pharisees who sat in Moses’ seat (rulers) but not to follow their works, “For they say, and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers” (Matthew 23:3-4). This is the dangers of legalism. We practice holiness ecause we are saved not to be saved.

When we profess to be Christian and we dont possess Christian Chracter we can hinder rather than be an assset.

The Mosaic covenant required all male Jewish children to be circumcised. God gave the covenant sign of circumcision to Abraham (Genesis 17:9-13) to set him and his descendants—those who came, through Isaac and Jacob—apart from the idolatrous nations. God intended it to signify true and sincere faith in Jehovah and adherence and obedience to the law

Deuteronomy 10:12–20 NKJV

“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good? Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the Lord your God, also the earth with all that is in it. The Lord delighted only in your fathers, to love them; and He chose their descendants after them, you above all peoples, as it is this day. Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer. For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe. He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. Therefore love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. You shall fear the Lord your God; you shall serve Him, and to Him you shall hold fast, and take oaths in His name.

“This sign belonged only to God’s Old Testament agreement with the nation of Israel.

It was not a commandment of the new covenant of grace in Jesus Christ.

The Jews taught that no Gentile could have a part with God without accepting the Mosaic covenant of circumcision.

This agreement became void when Jesus came to offer the whole world salvation by the new covenant, which is His law written in the heart by the Holy Ghost (Hebrews 7:18-19; 8:6-13).

Paul revealed that the institution of water baptism in the name of Jesus Christ took the place of the Old Testament sign of circumcision (Philippians 3:1-3; Colossians 2:8-13).

It was necessary for the Lord to reveal to the saints of the New Testament church that circumcision was no longer required for salvation (Acts 10:19-48; 11:1-18).

In the new covenant of grace by Jesus Christ, God’s people are not reckoned by race but by faith unto obedience of His gospel (verses 28-29).”

We no longer have to become a Jew in order to be part of the covenantial family of God.

Romans 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

SCRIPTURE LESSON

LESSON OUTLINE

I. DEFINITION OF JUSTIFICATION

A. Faith, the Means of Justification

B. Blood Atonement, the Price of glorify the name of God. Justification

C. The Spirit, the Power for Justification

D. The Name, the Authority for Justification

III. THE RESULTS OF JUSTIFICATION

why we need justification. The need for justification arose because of our parents'

sin. They challenged the sovereignty of God by disobeying His direct command. When

they did this, God could have destroyed them, but He did not. He must have had some reason for offering the remedy of "the seed of the woman that would bruise the serpent's head." Whatever reason He had lay within Himself alone. Adam and Eve did nothing to deserve forgiveness. If we consider the one hundred and sixth Psalm, we might have some idea of God's treatment of mankind. In this Psalm, the psalmist emphasized that God saved Israel from the bondage of Egypt, not because the people deserved deliverance, but because of His name's sake. Even though they did not understand and therefore provoked Him, He nevertheless saved them. Why?

For Hisname's sake.

God has His name involved in our salvation. He cannot let His name be defamed by our failure.

He saves us for His name sake. This is the reason Paul gives for justification by faith rather than works.

(Ephesians 2:9).

If Adam and Eve could not keep God's commandments in their original perfect

creation, can we, their fallen progeny, do any better in our attempts to satisfy God's

stringent standards of perfection?

person righteous does not change the past. It remains whatever it was.

An example of this is the trial of an accused man. A man may be tried in the court of law for a certain offense.

The jury may consider the evidence and find that they consider him not guilty. They may render a decision of not guilty before the court.

The judge announces that the defendent is aquitted by the court.

The man leaves the court "justified." The government may not punish him for the

alleged offenses.

He is legally not guilty. Only the man himself is aware of the real truth as to whether he had indeed committed the crime. However, before the law of the land it really makes no difference in his standing.

For once he is declared innocent by the court every policeman and peace officer must treat him as such. He walks away from that court as if he did not commit the crime. When a person is justified, he walks away as if he had never sinned.

Someone has described the word justified as just if I'd never sinned.

When a court of law justifies a man, they do so by an act of judgment; that is, they

have to make a judgment on the basis of the evidence. They are never really certain

that their verdict is correct. However, when God looks at a sinner, there is never any

question that the sinner is guilty.

The Bible declares that "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).

Indeed, the only way that a person may approach God for justification is to admit that he is a guilty sinner. The parable of the Pharisee and the Publican was given to show that those who "trusted in themselves that they were righteous" were not justified Luke 18:9-14 “Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.””

Most people react to the conviction that they have sinned by denying what they have done is sin.

II. Basis For Justification

A. Faith, the means of Justification.

It is very clearly truth in the word of God that our justification is appropriated to our selves by the means of faith.

It is important to note that it is impossible to justify ourselves by any work that we would do.

The definition tells us that we are declared to be righteous.

How could a murderer do anything different to be something other than a murderer? If He could restore life to a man, perhaps he could be conside red something else. But since it is impossible to do so, the Noh remedy is to be accepted or declared righteous in regard to that crime.

The Bible teaches that living righteously is as much as impossibility as the murdered restoring life to his victim.

Jesus taught this truth in a parable Matthew 18:22-35 “Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. “But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till…”

The King in this parable had a subject that owed him an amount of money estimated today in the millions, moved by compassion since he knew it was impossible for him to pay him back He simply forgave him.

Abraham is given as an example saving, justifying faith. Lets consider the promises God made to Abraham in Genesis 12:2-3 “I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

What could Abraham do to fulfill theses promises? How could He make himself a great nation? His wife was barren and in her youth she did not have a son.

How could he or she accomplish this now their old age? How could Abraham make His name great? How could He make Hiself a blessing to others? What could he do to make all the families of the earth be blessed in Him? There was nothing Abraham could do to fulfill these promises of God.

It would of taken centuries for Him to fulfill this. Most of the would have to be fulfilled after Abraham’s death.

Fortunatly for Abraham and for us, God told Abraham, God told Him “I will” not “you will”

So Abraham did the only thing He could do is believe the words of Gods Promise.

When the Bible declared that Abraham believed God, it did not mean that Abraham believed there was a God but that he believed what God promised to him.

Justification is given to all men the same way that Abraham received the fulfillment of His promises, by believing God.

Faith, however, is not simply believing in the sense of giving passive mental assent to some idea or concept. Faith, true faith, is active. It is moving in the direction of God's promises.

"Abraham believed God"(Romans 4:3) and as a result like an

earlier patriarch, Noah, "moved with fear"(Hebrews 11:7) and "staggered not at the

promise of God" (Romans 4:20). Abraham was called out to go to another country,

and by faith, he went. "For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness" (Romans 4:3).

Romans 4:6 “just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:”

Imputation is defined as the "awarding or ascribing of righteousness (or evil) to one party by virtue of the deserving acts of another."

When the blood of Jesus Christ is applied to our lives God sees not our deeds or misdeeds, but rather we are accounted righteousness due to the merits of Jesus Christ.

This is the essential meaning of the grace of God. Abraham could have responded another way.

He could have responded by unbelief. If he had responded in unbelief, we would never have read the words in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews citing the deeds of this hero of faith; "By faith Abraham when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed."

There is a story in the seventh chapter of the Second Book of Kings that tells of a response of unbelief. Samaria was under the siege of her enemy. There was a terrible famine within the city. Elisha the prophet stood in the gates of the city with the an-

shekel, in the gates of Samaria."

One of the nobles who was with the king answered, "If the Lord would make windows in heaven might these things be?" The prophet replied "Behold, thou shall see it with thine eyes but thou shalt not eat of it." The last verse of the chapter tells the gruesome fulfillment of this prophecy; the man is trampled by the mob going out to buy the food the prophet had promised. THis mane had question the ability of God. Hhe questioned the word of His prophet. He did not honor God by a trusting faith. Blood

Had Abraham questioned God's ability to perform His promises He would have dishonored God.

But we read of him: Romans 4:20-21 “He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.”

Let it not be forgotten that Abraham glorified God by believing Him. We too glorify

God when we trust in His promises. It is the grossest insult to God to have unbelief in His ability to justify, redeem, and sanctify us.

B. Blood Atonement, the Price

In Hebrews 9:22, the writer tells us that without the shedding of blood there is no

remission. Throughout the Bible it is very clearly evident that the blood is necessary

the blood that maketh an atone for the soul (Leviticus17:11).

There are threestatements in this scripture that will help explain the necessity of blood atonement.

The Life of the flesh is in the Blood

Before Adam and Eve sinned, God told them not to eat of the fruit of the forbidden tree, for it would surely bring death (Genesis 2:17). Adam and Eve brought death into the world by their disobedience. The penalty of their sin was death. God could do nothing but keep His word. They had to die. But then God told them that the seed of the woman would bruise the serpent's head.

There would be a way to be reconciled to God. Sacrifices were instituted by God to typify the one sacrifice that was to be offered for the sins of the world. Because the life of the flesh was in the blood, the blood was used on the altar and throughout the tabernacle and temple to show that the wages of sin had to be paid.

God showed that there would be a righteous substitute who would die in our place.

"For if by one man's offence

death reigned by one; much more

they which receive abundance of

grace and of the gift of righteous-

ness shall reign in life by one,

Jesus Christ. For as by one man's

disobedience many were made sin-

ners, so by the obedience of one

shall many be made righteous"

(Romans 5:17, 19).

It was the taking of the judgment of sin upon Himself that made it possible for God to justify a sinner and accept him as righteous. As Jesus took on Himself the iniquity of us all, so we take on ourselves His righteousness.

Ok, so when we speak of blood atonement, we speak of the giving of life as an atonement for the sins of mankind. For since the life was in the blood, the blood represented the life given.

It was an innocent animal without sin that suffered for the Israelites' sin. It was the sinless One who suffered for the sins of the world. God's Word was kept; yet because of the blood of Jesus, more precious than silver or gold, we who died in Adam are made alive in Jesus Christ.

2. God has given the blood. It was God who decided how reconciliation would be

brought about.

Men have long argued against the shedding of blood as the basis of remission of sin. They have pronounced us merely butcher shop Christianity theology, but the Word of God still stands:

without the shedding of blood there is no

remission.

It is God whom we have offended and it is God to whom we must be reconciled.

Therefore it is God who must speak the word of reconciliation and give us the basis of salvation.

It matters not what men say. It matters not what platitudes come from the imagination of man. The law cannot justify. We are morally bankrupt. There is none righteous, no not one.

We have offended a Holy God, and we must willingly follow whatever course of action He commands.

3. Blood makes an atonement. There are many new religions emerging as well as old heresies being revived that teach that it is possible to come to God without the shedding of blood.

Not only do they talk about coming to God but they would also confer godhood upon people who would believe them.

Meditation and other oriental thought teach a self salvation that is foreign to Christianity. The teachers disregard making an atonement. They act as if no atonement is needed. These people would dare to enter the Holy of Holies without the blood.

To reject the blood of Jesus Christ is to reject the only hope of forgiveness for sins.

Without the blood, we would be sentencedto suffer for the sins we have committed; that is, we would be cast into the lake of fire to suffer the second death.

How sacred should the blood of Jesus be to us! While we were sinners, He died to wash our sins away. Life instead of death now flows in us.

C. The Spirit, the Power for Justification

We have considered several things in relation to the basis of justification. Jesus'

blood has provided the atonement. Faith has caused us to claim His death as our own that we might appropriate its benefits for ourselves.

We have done it all in the name of Jesus, who provides us with the authority to enter into the Holiest Place with boldness. But the discussion of justification would not be complete without mentioning the work of the Holy Spirit.

We are taught by the Scripture that it is the Spirit that convicts us of sin. It is the Spirit that draws us to the Lord. By nature we are the children of wrath. There is none righteous; none are seeking after God. It is the Spirit that begins to convict and cause us to seek a remedy.

It is the Spirit that shows the truth of baptism in Jesus' name. After the Spirit has done the work of preparation, He comes in to dwell in a temple made pure by the blood of the Lamb.

There are two different facets to salvation, internally and externally. On the day of Pentecost, Peter admonished all to repent and to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and God would fill the individual with the Holy Ghost.

Peter was commanding these people to do certain things, but in order for these things to be effectual, the Lord had to be working within.

Every time that the Lord commands us to do an outward act, He is doing something on the inside.

While the inward work is the supernatural work, it is still necessary for us to do the outward work.

It is while we are submitting to God and obeying Him in the outward work that He can effect the inward work.

Therefore it is imperative that we obey the gospel in all of its demands. In picking and choosing those things that appeal to us we may well miss God's work in us.

We dont need to understand the inner workings of repentance, baptism in Jesus' name, or the baptism of the Holy Ghost to receive their benefits. In I Corinthians 6:11, we are told by the Apostle Paul: "...but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."

The Spirit iS working in us to bring about inward changes as we are participating in an outward obedience.

Some claim a faith with so little commitment to the Lord that there is nothing in them the Spirit can work on. They end up back in the world either at the first temptation or the slightest persecution.

The Holy Spirit is in our life to justify and sanctify our life to God in service. Only by complete cooperation with the Spirit can we be molded into the likeness of Jesus Christ.

D. The Name, the Authority for Justification

When the lame man, who spent years sitting at the gate Beautiful, was healed, the

elders and scribes questioned the disciples: "By what power or what name have ye done this?" Such a miracle could not be done without supernatural help.

The scribes and elders were well aware of this. They also were aware of the fact that authority comes in a name.

In challenging the prophets of Baal, Elijah told them to call on the name of their gods and he would call on the name of the Lord.

The name is the most intimate, personal thing of a person that can be used by another person.

The name identifies a person. It is no wonder that God has laid such importance on the name of Jesus.

He has said there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

In seeking justification, we must have authority to do so. That authority, according to scripture, is in the name of Jesus.

As His name identifies the Lord Jesus Christ so taking on His name in baptism identifies us with Him.

When a woman marries, she takes on her husband's name. After this, wherever she goes, even where her husband is not present with her, she is identified by his name.

When justification is discussed, much is said about faith because it is the means by which we appropriate it unto ourselves. Of course, this vital element in our justification should seem very important.

However that does not mean that there is not more involved.

In I Corinthians 6:11, we read: "...but ye are justified in the name of the Lord

Jesus."

While we receive the benefits of Calvary by faith, we must ask for them in the name of Jesus. If it is for His namesake that God is saving and healing us, it makes it all the more important to remember the name whenever we come to God.

If thename of Jesus was important in the healing of the lame man at the gate Beautiful, and his healing only touched his body, how much more should that name be used in dealing with an eternal soul?

people who are aware All around us are that the authority to heal comes only in the name of Jesus.

Yet, when asked about the name to be used in the authority for bapTim's, they would give an explanation for not using the name.

And certainly some evplanation is needed since the Lord has said there is no salvation in any other name, Baptism in Jesus name identifies a person positively with Jesus.

It is strange that those who believe in Jesus should ever reject his name since the early church struggle against persecution for using the name of Jesus.

For when the elders released Peter and John they commanded them not to teach or speak in the name of Jesus.

III. RESULTS OF JUSTIFICATION.

Partakers of the divine nature! That is

how Peter phrased it! (II Peter 1:4).

The results of justification is a life so different that your friends think you are strange (I

Peter 4:4).

If those around a newborn Christian do not question his new way of life, he had better question his new birth!

Justification by faith does not destroy the necessity of a life of holiness; it makes it possible.

A good case in point is the example of the Pharisees versus Zacchaeus. After hearing the words of Jesus, Zacchaeus exclaimed

"Half of my goods I will give to

the poor and whatever I have obtained

falsely I will restore fourfold."

Upon this confession of Zacchaeus, Jesus proclaimed that salvation had come to his house. Zacchaeus had done something totally out of his character and Jesus explained it as salvation.

The Pharisees, who were indignant by Jesus eating with sinners, should have taken a close look at what had happened to Zacchaeus.

Nothing like this had happened to them. In the twenty-third chapter of the

book of Matthew Jesus denounced the Pharisees. He called them whited sepulchres full of dead men's bones.

What He said was that they cleaned the outward acts to conform to what was considered righteousness, but in reality they did not have a change of heart.

He further revealed that their acts were just as sinful as the publican's they also robbed widows' houses.

However, the greatest sin was in their attitude of self righteousness. Because of their attitude, they rejected faith in Christ as the means of their justification, and therefore they were never justified before God.

Jesus also told them that they rejected Him because they first rejected the Word of God.

Just because we are saved by grace through faith does not give us a license to

sin.

Paul asks the question: "Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?"

He quickly answers it in the following verse:

"God forbid. How shall we, that are

dead to sin, live any longer therein?" (Ro-

mans 6:1-2).

We were once alive to sin. It was the thing that motivated us and the thing we desired. Now we are dead to sin and alive to God. But this does not mean that the old nature is eradicated.

There is still a struggle between the flesh and the spirit. We who were partakers of Adam's nature now are made partakers of the divine nature. If we sow to the flesh we will of the flesh reap corruption, but if we sow to the spirit we will reap everlasting life.

It is the very grace that some people use as an excuse for a worldly, ungodly life that teaches us holiness. (See Titus 2:11-12.)

"As the body without the spirit

is dead, so faith without works is dead also" (James 2:26).

A person who has found justification will love the people of God. He will obey his

parents or anyone else God has put in authority over him. He will bring joy to those who formerly experienced misery at his presence.

SUMMARY

Do-it-yourself remedies for common ailments abound. Honey and tea was an age old remedy for the common cold. Today it might be replaced with gallons of orange juice or megadoses of vitamin C.

But the question as to whether these remedies worked or whether the cold would have run its course is hard to determine.

One doctor told a patient that he could give her a remedy that would have her cured of her cold in one week; without his remedy it would take seven days.

However, when it comes to a cancer that is eating out the vital organs of a body, do-it -yourself remedies handed down from relatives and friends will not do.

The seriousness of the affliction determines whether one will pursue a home cure or seek professional help and intense treatment The view a person takes of sin will determine whether he must work out his own remedy or turn to someone outside himself.

Jeremiah described the sins of Judah as being written upon their hearts with a pen of iron and a point of a diamond.

Such a description shows that sin affects a person very deeply. As deep as the sin is engraven in the heart, so deep must the surgeon's scalpel cut it out.

"He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?" (Galatians 3:5).

Most folks accept the fact that miracles come by faith. Jesus demanded faith in those He healed. According to your faith be it done unto thee.

Obviously miracles are wrought only by faith in God; the same faith that brings outward miracles also dEclares a sinner to be righteous and ready for heaven.

Jesus was once criticized for telling a man sick of the palsy, "Thy sins be forgiven thee."

The scribes accused Him of blasphemy. They rightly believed that forgiveness of sins belonged to God.

Jesus informed them that to say "thy sins be forgiven thee" or rise and walk were both equally possible since He had power both to heal and to forgive sin. Therefore the forgiveness of sins like the healing of the body takes a miracle of Calvary appropriated by faith.

Our eternal destiny depends on our justification. If it succeeds, we will be eternally

saved. If it fails, we will be eternally lost.

“In verses 1-8 Paul answered two objections the Jews were”

Recap:

Romans 4:9-12 show that justification cannot be obtained by religious rites and observances. Again, Paul cited the faith of Abraham as an example of this. Abraham was justified by faith (Genesis 15:6) at least fourteen years before he received the rite of circumcision (Genesis 17:10). Paul also used this to show that justification by faith was not just for Jews, but also for all people of the world. Abraham was not only the father of the Jews, but also of many nations, and is called the father of all of the faithful ”

“Verses 13-24 show that justification was not obtained through the law of Moses. A third time Paul used the experience of Abraham to substantiate this truth. Abraham was justified by faith and given the promise of the Seed (Messiah), the Savior of the world, more than four hundred years before the Mosaic law was given (Galatians 3:16-17). Because Abraham staggered not at the promise of God but was strong in faith, he was given the promise that through his Seed (Christ), who should bruise Satan’s head, all families of the earth should be blessed (Genesis 22:15-18). All people of the world are heirs of this promise if they will believe and obey.

On the occasion of Abraham’s obedience in offering Isaac as a sacrifice, God repeated His promise made to Abraham before the birth of Isaac (Genesis 12:1-3) and confirmed it with an oath (Genesis 22:1-18). After the coming of Christ, He inspired the writer of Hebrews to reveal the importance of this promise to all its heirs.

Hebrews 6:17-20 “Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”

“Romans 5:12-21 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—(For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jes

These explain that sin, and as a result, death, came on humanity through the fall of Adam. Verses 13-14 show that the law of Moses was given primarily to make the people conscious of their sins and of the dire results. They were already condemned and under the sentence of death, but the Law was necessary to reveal to them the extent of sin, to warn them of its “penalty, and to show them God’s requirement of righteousness. Paul showed the penalty of death did not depend on how much or how little one sinned, but that all have been born with a nature that leads them into sin. Only the saving power of Christ can deliver them from this condition. In John 3:16-21 Jesus taught this same truth. He showed that men now are condemned for their unbelief and unwillingness to come to the light of the gospel, the only remedy for sin. They are willingly ignorant of God’s truth because they do not want to obey it.

Verse 17 shows that righteousness, without which it is impossible to be justified before God, is the gift of God. Jeremiah said, “O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps” (Jeremiah 10:23). Again, he said, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). We know that society categories the degrees of sin. Many unsaved people live good moral lives, but they still cannot measure up to God’s requirement of holiness. Only those filled with His Spirit can be justified. He imparts His own righteousness to us in the Holy Ghost. However, we are all still mortal so long as we are in this world and so must contend with the carnal nature. We must continue to seek God and keep filled with His Spirit to have victory over it. Only then will we do those things that are pleasing to Him (I John 3:22). Nevertheless, where sin abounded, grace does much more abound (Romans 5:20-21).