Summary: Exposition of the book of Romans

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BACKGROUND INFORMATION

I. Origin of the Church at Rome

A. Neither Paul, Peter nor any other apostolic figure started it (despite what tradition says)

B. It appears from Scripture that Peter was in Jerusalem at the time of the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15; 49 or

50 AD)

1. Up until that point Peter had ministered in and around Jerusalem

2. The church at Rome had already been started in 50 AD

C. Paul stated in Romans that he had never visited the church at Rome, but that he wanted to see them (Morris,

Romans, 3-4)

1. Near the end of his 3rd missionary journey, Paul wrote to the church at Rome

2. There is a thriving faith community at the church at Rome by the end of Paul’s third missionary

journey

a. Romans 1:8, "First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken

of throughout the whole world."

D. Acts 2:10 states that the Jews of the Diaspora were in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost

1. There were visitors from Rome--Jews and proselytes

2. They could have been among the 3000 saved

3. They could have gone back to Rome and started a church

E. Acts 18:2-3, "Jews were expelled from Rome by Claudius"

1. Among this group was Aquilla and Priscilla

2. They meet and join with Paul (they are of the same trade--leather)

3. They were Jewish Christians (they instructed Apollo in the faith)

a. Donald Guthrie, Introduction to the New Testament, 394

4. If Aquilla and Priscilla were Christians, this means that the church at Rome existed before 49 AD

(becuase the expulsion of the Jews occurred in 49 AD)

5. Suetonias, Roman historian, wrote a history of Claudius

a. Said that Clauidius expelled the Jews from Rome because they were rioting because one

by the name of "Chrestus" incited them to riot

b. It is theorized that he misspelled Christos

F. If the church was established by Jewish Pentecostal Christians, how can Paul address 26 people by name

in Romans 16:1-ff---since he never was there

1. One theory is that it is part of Ephesians that broke off and was pasted on Romans

a. A textual critic is one who examines manuscripts to determine the original

b. There are different endings--Romans 16:25-27 (the Doxology) appears as the ending at the

end of Romans 14, 15 & 16

c. See Guthrie, 400

2. Another theory--many of Paul’s converts were mobile, perhaps man moved to Rome

II. Authorship

A. Pauline authorship is not seriously questioned by any prominent theologian

1. Cranfield, Romans, ix

B. Internal Evidence

1. Romans 1:1, "Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel

of God" -- Paul states that he is the author

2. The vocabulary is Pauline -- dikaioo, salvation by faith

3. The writing style -- logical, structured

C. External Evidence

1. All church fathers don’t question Paul’s authorship

III. Date

A. Acts 20:2-3 sets the boundaries for when the epistle could have been written

"And when he had gone over those parts, and had given them much exhortation, he came into Greece, And

there abode three months. And when the Jews laid wait for him, as he was about to sail into Syria, he

purposed to return through Macedonia."

1. Paul had just left Corinth (at the end of his 3rd missionary journey)

2. He was probably at Corinth near the end of his 3rd missionary journey

3. He leaves Corinth as a free person and wants to go further westward toward Spain

4. Romans 16:1 mentions Phoebe -- Paul sends greetings to Phoebe a Corinthian

5. Romans 16:23 Paul send greetings from Gaius who was Paul’s host in Corinth

B. Acts 19:21, "After these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through

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Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome."

1. It looks like he wrote Romans from Corinth during the early months of AD 55 (the shipping season

began in March)

2. The purpose for going to Jerusalem was to deliver a collection to the poor saints

IV. Occasion -- Why did Paul write the epistle to the Romans?

A. Morris, page 7, talks about the controversy over this

B. It was part of Paul’s missionary strategy

1. Paul had gone about as far west as he could go and still have his headquarters in the East (Antioch)

2. Paul wants to go on to Spain and to be endorsed by and financially supported by the church at Rome

3. Romans 15:22-29, "For which cause also I have been much hindered from coming to you. But now

having no more place in these parts, and having a great desire these many years to come unto you;

Whensoever I take my journey into Spain, I will come to you: for I trust to see you in my journey, and

to be brought on my way thitherward by you, if first I be somewhat filled with your company. But now

I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints. For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia

to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem. It hath pleased them

verily; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual

things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things. When therefore I have performed

this, and have sealed to them this fruit, I will come by you into Spain. And I am sure that, when I

come unto you, I shall come in the fulness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ."

a. Paul wanted to be helped on his way to Spain by the church at Rome

C. In order to present a compendium (a thorough-going collection) of Christian doctrine

1. This is the traditional view of the church

2. Why did he do this for the Romans?

3. However, there are some major Christian doctrines left out

a. The Lord’s Supper, nature of the church, the Second coming, etc.

D. Paul is at a transitional phase and realizes that he will not be around forever, so he better write down his

central beliefs

1. "I have finished this phase of ministry and now I am moving on to Spain"

E. Paul wrote to meet the immediate needs of this church (His motivation is pastoral)

1. Romans 16:17-18 -- Paul knows that there is false doctrine in the church

2. Paul addresses Jewish criticism

a. Romans 2:17

b. Romans 3:1-31

c. Romans 9:31-32

3. Romans 6:1, 15 -- Paul addresses the libertinism/antinomianism abuse of grace

4. Romans 11:13-ff -- Paul addresses the Gentiles’ arrogance over the Jews

5. Romans 14:1--15:13 -- Paul addresses the tension between the weak and the strong in the faith

a. What is permitted and what is holiness?

6. Paul gained information on the problems and addressed them

7. However, so little space is devoted to these

F. Paul’s primary reason is missionary strategy

1. To show that he knows them and they know him (though he hasn’t met them)

2. If he wants them to sponsor him, they need to now what he believes

3. He outlines his theology -- "Theological Resume"

V. Composition of this church (Racial make-up) -- Jewish, Gentile, or mixed?

A. More than likely a mixed church, but which group is dominant?

B. F. C. Baur (1800s) suggested while lecturing in Tubingen that there was a tension between Petrine and

Pauline Christianity

1. Peter represented Jewish Christianity which focused on the law

2. Paul represented Gentile Christianity which focused on grace

3. Baur concluded that in Romans, Paul is defending his law free gospel

4. Baur said that the Church in Rome is Jewish with some Gentiles and Paul is defending his gospel

to them

a. That’s why in Romans 9, 10, 11 Paul explains the role of the Jews and also gives Jewish

examples like Abraham and David

5. F. C. Baur was influenced by G. W. Hegel ( Hegelian Dialectic: Thesis vs. Antithesis = synthesis)

a. The thesis was Petrine Christianity; the antithesis was Pauline Christianity

b. The synthesis was early Catholicism

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C. Baur says that the church at Rome was predominantly Jewish Christians to whom Paul defended his law free

gospel

D. Textual Contradictions of Baur’s theory

1. Romans 1:5, "Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith

among all nations for his name,"

a. Nations -- ethnesen -- is the common word for Gentiles

2. Romans 1:12-14, "just as among the other Gentiles"

3. Romans 11:13, "I speak to you Gentiles"

4. Romans 15:16, "Minister of Christ to the Gentiles"

E. The evidence is toward a mixed community where Gentiles are the predominant group yet with a sizeable

Jewish minority

CENTRAL THEME OF THE LETTER: THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH, 1:16-17

I. Romans 1:16, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who

believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek."

A. What does Paul mean when he says "I am not ashamed?"

1. There were many in the first century who were ashamed of a crucified Messiah

2. I Corinthians 1:23 ff

a. To the Greeks the crucified Christ was moria -- illogical

b. To the Jews the cross was a skandalon -- stumbling block (a displaced paving stone in a

good path

3. Paul is not ashamed because:

a. Pragmatism: it is the power of God that effectuates regeneration

b. It is universally efficacious: to the Jew first, then to the Gentiles

4. To the Jew first then to the Gentiles: Heilsgeschichte-- salvation history (unfolding of history)

a. Historie--facts (space/time continuum)

b. Geschichte--human response to the facts; the human story/experience may not be

empirically definable

B. What stylistic devices does he use to communicate this central doctrine?

1. Paul is using a common stylistic device, "litotes" -- making a positive point through a negative idea

a. He says I am not ashamed rather than I am proud

C. What two major doctrines are presented in Paul’s discussion of faith? In Romans 1:16 Paul sets forth 2

central doctrines that he will never leave for the entire epistle:

1. Salvation is on the basis of faith (not works)

2. Salvation is universally applicable (to the Jews and Gentiles)

a. Compare Galatians 2:16

II. Romans 1:17, "For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ’The just shall live

by faith.’"

A. What does Paul mean by the phrase "the righteousness of God?"

1. The existential climate of the truly redeemed is thankfulness

2. Revealed -- righteousness of God is a revelation, not a discovery

3. Dikaiosune theou -- Genitive objective or subjective?

a. Genitive subjective -- God serves as the subject of the verbal idea of righteousness --

revelation is how God grants the righteousness

b. Genitive objective -- God is the object of the verbal idea of righteousness, it is a description

of God’s character -- the character of the the righteous God is revealed

1) The righteous character of God is revealed in that he saves people

2) Boultmann, "the human being is always in a state of decision; the believer is

moment by moment casting himself on God"

B. What does Paul have to say about a continued development of faith?

1. "faith to faith"

a. From one level of faith to a higher level -- progression

b. The Alpha and Omega of salvation -- you start and end with it

C. How has Paul "modified" Habakkuk 2:4 -- "The just shall live by faith"?

1. Pivotal statement of Paul

2. Morris note 178 page 71, It is not certain exactly what text Paul had. The Hebrew means "the

righteous will live because of his faith (or faithfulness)" and appears to signify that the servant of

God must await God’s time for deliverance. Till then his trust in God must sustain him. In our text

of LXX mou is attached to pisteos, which might mean (with God as the speaker) "because of my

faithfulness" or "because of faith in me". Paul lacks the mou bother here and in Galatians 3:11. It

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is not clear whether he had a different text or whether he understood the passage in a different way.

3. In the Hebrew (Masoretic) text, Habakkuk 2:4 indicates the righteous living Jew shall live by God’s

faithfulness

4. In the LXX, the translator puts mou pisteos -- the righteous shall live because of his faith in me

5. F.F. Bruce states "the terms of Habakkuk’s oracle are general enough for Paul’s application of them

without doing violence to Habakkuk’s intention but rather expresses abiding validity of the prophet’s

message."

a. What it means to be justified is to trust in the salvific intervention of the Almighty

6. Nygren notes that for the first 4 chapters of Romans, the words "faith" or "believe" occur 25 times

and the words "live" or "life" occur only 2 times. However, in chapters 5-8, live or life occur 25 times

and faith or believe occur only 2 times

a. Faith and believing is first and foremost in Paul’s theological model and after that is

discussed, Paul moves on to discuss living and life.

7. Paul doesn’t speak about facts or events but modes of existing -- the just’s whole existence is

characterized by faith

8. The just shall live by faith relates to foreknowledge and predestination -- "to everyone who believes"

is square one

a. Cranfield takes pain to note that believing is a gift from God (he is uncomfortable with this

phrase); Morris (page 69) agrees with Cranfield

1) If belief were not a gift then it would be a condition that we have to meet and thus

a meritorious work

9. Is belief a meritorious work?

a. It is not a work because it is not an Aristotlean intellectual activity

b. Paul is coming from a Hebraic understanding of reality -- a personal experience

c. Paul is talking about submission to God -- permission to allow God to work

d. Cranfield and Morris are being less than theologically sincere when they point to Romans

12:3, "For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to

think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God

hath dealt to every man the measure of faith."

HUMANKIND’S CONDITION: UNDER THE JUDGMENT OF GOD

*To see the need for salvation, you must see that everybody is lost

I. The Gentiles are condemned (Romans 1:18-25)

A. Romans 1:18, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness

of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness."

1. How does Paul use the stylistic device of "antithetic parallelism" to put forth the doctrine of the

universality of sin?

a. Antithetic Parallelism: (1:17) the righteousness of God is revealed leading to salvation vs.

(1:18) the wrath of God is revealed against all ungodliness leading to condemnation

2. How is the "wrath of God" revealed?

a. The righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel

b. The wrath of God is revealed in the unrighteous works of people

c. The wrath of God is the divine reaction against sin (when God’s righteousness comes into

contact with sin)

d. The wrath of God’s manifestation can promote salvation -- i.e., Christ’s crucifixion

3. What did the German poet Schiller have to say about the judgment of God?

a. "The history of the world is the judgment of the world"

b. The consequences of sin serve as a punishment of sin (i.e., AIDS)

4. Does Paul view ignorance of sin as an excuse for sin?

a. asebeia (alpha privative + sebeia, like God, == ungodlike) not just ungodly

b. Ungodlike -- it is not just their behavior that is unlike God but their very essence is unlike

God

c. They suppress the truth of God

1) Suppress [katecho -- (kata-intensify, + echo-have, = suppress, grasp, hold on, hold

down or suppress something that is trying to surface)]

2) They are deliberately holding down God’s revelation (God’s response to this is

wrath)

d. Sin is not a matter of ignorance but depravity

e. These evil people are not satanists, but everyone outside fo Christ

B. Romans 1:19, "Because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them."

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1. Why does Paul emphasize the concept of "revelation" here?

a. Paul points to General revelation -- the revelation of God in nature (not verbal but

conceptual)

2. For what ways has God revealed Himself?

a. Every person gets this revelation, although it is not salvific

b. It manifests the wrath of God because they suppress the revelation because they are

asebeia (ungodlike)

c. General Revelation is A dn the cross is Z. If you reject A then you are ungodlike and there

is no need for you to go to B

d. No one has embraced A

e. Don’t despair that so few are saved, but rejoice that some are saved

C. Romans 1:20, "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood

by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse."

1. What role does creation play in the revelation of the "invisible things of God?"

a. God’s power and His goodness are revealed in creation to the extent that they are without

excuse

2. What is the etymological significance of the words "without excuse"?

a. Anapologetos = without excuse (alpha privative + "apologetics" -- used in Greek law courts

for a legal defense in the face of charges)

b. On judgment day we will be without excuse, speechless before God

D. Romans 1:21, "Because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but

became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened."

1. Do the heathens of the world really possess a knowledge of God?

a. Because when they knew God. . .

b. They had external and internal knowledge of God but did not respond to it

c. The human problem is not conduct but is ungodlikeness (ratness)

2. What causes humans to be idolatrous?

a. Idolatry doesn’t result from ignorance but comes from our depravity

b. Their twisted hearts didn’t want to worship the true God so they turned to idolatry

c. The school or religion says that monotheism has evolved from polytheism (the reverse is

true)

d. Paul is fond of logical progression -- cause and effect

1) Paul begins in 1:21 a sequential series that starts with suppressing the truth of God

2) Suppressing knowledge > Unthankful > Vain Imaginations > Darkened Hearts

e. Kosmos -- adornment

f. Effect: the soul is affected, they didn’t worship God -- didn’t glorify or give thanks to God

3. What does it mean for a person’s "heart" to be "darkened"?

a. Their thinking became futile (asunetos = alpha privative + sensible, rational)

b. Senseless thinking (animal level)

4. What are the awful consequences of such "darkening"?

a. Worshipless >> senseless >> darkened heart (kardia)

soul/spirit >> thinking/mind >> affections, feelings, emotions

b. End effect: heart is darkened

c. This all comes from katecho (suppressing) the knowledge of God

d. Dialogismos -- dialogue, reasoning

e. Metaioo -- became perverted (their logic became perverted because of idolatry) -- perverted

is positively wicked (whereas vain means weak)

E. Romans 1:22, "Professing to be wise, they became fools."

1. How does Paul interrelate idolatry here with false wisdom?

a. The self-made philosophies and religions of humankind are viewed as the products of

human wisdom

2. What are some of the spiritual dynamics of such an interrelationship?

a. The tenses of the Greek verbs indicate that the more and more they claimed wisdom, the

more foolish they became

F. Romans 1:23, "And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man --

and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things."

1. Did the Gentile pagans "change" or "exchange" something for the glory of God?

a. Allaso -- exchanged, the idea of exchanged indicates that you know what you are

exchanging

b. It is not because of a lack of perception

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c. They are not changing the knowledge of God into something else, but are exchanging it for

something else

2. How does Paul use antithetic parallelism here to bring his point of view across?

a. Glory (Heb.-Shekinah) of God (divine attributes) vs. Likeness of man (idols)

b. Incorruptible God vs. Corruptible man

c. Habakkuk 2:18-20

G. Romans 1:24, "Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their

bodies among themselves."

1. What does it mean for God to "deliver one over" in this context?

a. Begins with Dio -- "therefore" -- Paul is pointing to the logical conclusion opf the previous

progression

b. Paradidomi -- to deliver, hand over. Used for:

1) The passing on of traditional religous beliefs and sayings

2) To deliver one over to captive (prison). i.e. Christ’s betrayal

c. God delivers them over to themselves (to their own lusts and uncleanness)

d. To deliver one over -- God removes His restraining grace and lets them reap the

consequences of their sins by their having their way.

2. Has God contradicted the freedom of the human will here?

a. God did not contradict their will but delivered them over to their own will

b. Thus God does not contradict but rather affirms human will

H. Romans 1:25, "Who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather

than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen."

1. How and why does Paul describe idolatry as "lying"?

a. Jeremiah 13:25, 16:19

b. Idolatry is the ultimate self-deception; you replace the ultimate reality with an image

c. Idolatry is the author of all deception and the source of all confusion

d. Antithetic Parallelism: Truth vs. Lie; Creature vs. Creator

2. Does human idolatry have any effect upon the divine nature?

a. The nature of God is immutable (no matter what image man crreates)

I. The sum total of what has been said so far: The Gentiles are condemned

II. The Jews are condemned (Romans 2:1-3; 17-24)

A. Romans 2:1-ff -- there is a controversy as to who Paul is addressing here: some think that it is moral

Gentiles, while Cranfield (page 41) and Morris (page 107) feel that it is Jews

1. Paul doesn’t say Jews here but he is addressing them:

a. The major point in chapter 2 is the universal sinfulness of humankind

b. Paul’s point is that we are all involved in the solidarity of sin which embraces the entire

human race

c. Paul’s argument addresses all who practice (prasso -- relates to lifestyle, behavioral pattern)

d. Morris says that the Jews are not exempt from judgment because of practice

2. Because of the Jews’ place in the economy of God (to the Jew first), they are more acutely

accountable to God

3. Unfortunately, many Jews had a false superiority in the face of the Gentiles and hence did not feel

that they were they objects of judgment

4. Paul attacks & destroys this false elitism (that salvation is racially determined)

5. 2 Esdras 3:34-35, "What nation has kept your commandments as well as we"

6. Sanhedrin 0:1, "All Israelites have a share in the world to come"

a. Salvation is racially determined

7. Paul’s method here is diatribe ("drive through") -- he has an imaginary opponent, a self-righteous

Jew, whom he argues with to destroy these notions

8. Just as the Gentiles are, the Jews are also condemned

B. Romans 2:1, "Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge

another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things."

1. How do we know that Paul is actually addressing Jews here?

a. The Jews are being addressed here, cf. Romans 2:17, "Indeed you are called a Jew"

2. On what basis did the Jew seek a secure relationship with God?

a. The Jews believed their relationship and acceptance with God was secure because they

were descendants of Abraham

b. Grounds of their elitism: (1) descendants of Abraham, (2) heir of the covenant, (3) they were

given the law, (4) rite of circumcision

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c. To the Jews, the word Gentile was synonymous with sinner

d. These false premises of elitism were compounded with their condemnation of others

3. For what way did the Jew also become guilty of idolatry?

4. Why did the Jews become guilty of hypocrisy?

a. Judging others is condemning self

b. They usurped the Divine prerogative (only the Judge can judge)

c. Hypocrisy (hupo-under, + krisis-cry, speak out)-- they practiced what they condemned -- a

term from the Greek theater than denoted incongruity between what in on the inside and

what is on the outside

d. There is an incongruity between the Jews’ moralizing toward the Gentiles, and their own

immorality

e. Paul starts arguing by using the premise of his opponents

f. Their premise: we are not judged individually, but as part of the covenant community

1. Paul argues: the community has to be flawless (which it isn’t), so you are

condemned

C. Romans 2:2, "But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such

things."

1. Were the Jews expecting to be judged on the basis of their personal behavior?

a. God’s judgment is not based on any of your premises for elitism

1) The jews weren’t expecting judgment based on personal behavior

b. Rather God’s judgment is based on the objective, unadulterated truth

c. Paul has pointed to a common denominator that both the Jews and the Gentiles are

accountable to -- the truth

2. What does it mean that God "is no respecter of persons"?

a. God is no respecter of persons -- your identity has nothing to do with God’s judgment

b. Romans 2:11, "prosopolempsia" (face + receive) -- God does not receive the face of man

c. Personal identity is irrelevant to God

D. Romans 2:3, "And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same,

that you will escape the judgement of God?"

1. What is the significance of the word "practices" in 2:1,2,3?

a. The general principle of verse 2 becomes more specific in verse 3

b. Prassontes (practices) -- is a habitual lifestyle, not a one time occurrence

1) Paul is talking about a spiritual attitude

2. How does Paul use a rhetorical question here?

a. Paul’s rhetorical question is a part of his diatribe

b. This rhetorical question leads to a negative answer

c. Do you think? is in the middle voice and has a reflexive quality -- "Do you think with regard

to yourself. . ."

E. Romans 2:17, "Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God,"

1. How can the word "Jew" be understood as a title of honor?

a. Jew is from Judah which means "praise" -- thus a title of honor

2. What did the possession of the law mean to many of the Jews?

a. Rabbi said, "the mere hearing of the law brings salvation"

b. The Jews bragged about their relationship to God -- "God is our peculiar possession" and

not the Gentiles

c. We must remember that God has us, we do not have Him

F. Romans 2:18, "And know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law."

1. What advantage was there in possessing God’s special revelation?

a. The Jews could distinguish between right and wrong with accuracy

1) Leviticus 10:11; Deuteronomy 24:8

2. Is "knowing" and "doing" the same thing?

a. Knowing and doing are not the same thing; Perception doesn’t = performance

b. Paul agrees with the premises of the people he argues against

c. Increased knowing mandates increased responsibility for doing

G. Romans 2:19, "And are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in

darkness."

1. Were the Jews really superior in this regard?

a. The Jews viewed themselves as a guide to the blind

b. They had a spiritual arrogance that was not a part of the original blessing

2. How did the Jews understand their role in "enlightening" the Gentiles?

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a. The Jews were very denegrading and condescending to the Gentiles in allowing them to

come to God

H. Romans 2:20, "An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in

the law."

1. How did the Jews understand themselves as "tutors"?

a. They were spiritual tutors--superiors leading about inferiors

2. What is the special word for instruction here?

a. Teacher -- Paideuo -- to lead children, a hired tutor to drill children in grammar school

b. The Paideuo used negative, oppressive approach to elementary learning

c. This is how the Jews viewed themselves

I. Romans 2:21-22, "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 abhors idols, do you rob temples?

1. Did the Jew actually practice what he professed?

a. They didn’t practice the law as a people that they professed as a nation

2. But didn’t the Jew thoroughly practice the Ten Commandments?

a. Paul condemns their breaking the Ten Commandments, not some minor part of the law

3. In what way did they rob temples?

a. Robbing temples (hierosuleis) -- some of the self-righteous Jews would execute raids on

pagan temples and keep the gold and silver from these temple raids

b. Acts 19:37

c. The Gentiles blaspheme God because of your breaking the law

J. Romans 2:23, "You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law?"

1. What is the special meaning of the word "transgress" here?

a. Transgress (parabaino -- move beyond, go along) -- to go beyond a clearly defined

demarcation line

2. How does the nature of God relate to His law?

a. The relationship between God and the law is so close that to infract one is to do so to the

other

K. Romans 2:24, "For ’the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,’ as it is written."

1. How did the testimony of the Jews effect the Gentiles?

a. Isaiah 52:5 & Ezekiel 36:20-23 -- "you are to be a light to the Gentiles"

b. God is blasphemed among the Gentiles by the Jews’ being captive, and because of their

poor morality

c. Blasphemeo -- slander, question the character of someone, insult

2. Is this a recent phenomenon?

a. The Jews’ sin caused the Gentiles to question the character of God

III. All persons are condemned before God and need to be justified freely by His grace (3:23, 3:21-26)

A. Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

1. What is the theological significance of the verb tense here?

a. All have sinned -- the capstone to the argument on the universality of sin

b. God is no respecter of persons because there is no difference-- all have sinned

c. Sinned -- hemarton (aorist-punctiliar) -- the sin problem is a historical fact of the past which

involves all of humankind (the fall)

2. How may this relate to the sin of Adam?

a. Paul will drop in a theme that he will develop in much more detail later on -- the fall of man

in the sin of Adam

B. Romans 3:21, "But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law

and the Prophets."

1. How does 3:21 serve as a "pivotal point" in Paul’s argument?

a. Paul has argued that all the Gentiles are depraved by nature and that the Jews do not have

a solidarity in keeping the law

b. He has reached the bottom of the apex of the human condition and now he starts the

upward road on how to be justified.

2. How may the phrase "righteousness of God" be interpreted?

a. The Righteousness of God is a Subjective Genitive -- God communicates/ imputes

righteousness

3. What is the theological significance of the phrase "apart from"?

a. Choris (apart from) -- it has no basis in the law, has nothing to do w/ the law

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b. Obedience to the law isn’t taken into consideration for this righteousness

c. Revealed -- pephanerotai (Perfect Tense) -- describes a past event whose effect abides

until the present

d. The revelation began at the cross and its impact abides until the present

C. Romans 3:22, "Even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe.

For there is no difference;"

1. What is the importance of the prepositions here?

a. This verse is a further explanation of 3:21

b. The righteousness of God comes (dia -- through, by means of, agency) faith

2. What is the meaning of the phrase the "faith of Jesus Christ"?

a. Some translate it, "faith like Jesus had"

b. Some translate it, "because of Jesus’ faith we receive righteousness"

c. The faith of Jesus Christ is a Genitive Objective -- faith with Christ as its object; believing

in Christ

d. Upon all who believe -- believing is the sine qua non of salvation

e. There is no difference -- everyone is in the same boat -- we are all sinful and must have

faith to be saved

D. Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

1. Why is there no difference of persons with regard to faith?

a. God is no respecter of persons because there is no difference-- all have sinned

2. How may the "sin" here relate to Paul’s argument in Romans 5?

a. All have sinned -- the capstone to the argument on the universality of sin

b. Sinned -- hemarton (aorist-punctiliar) -- the sin problem is a historical fact of the past which

involves all of humankind (the fall)

c. Paul will drop in a theme that he will develop in much more detail later on -- the fall of man

in the sin of Adam

d. And are presently falling short of God’s requirements (Paul shifts from the fall of man to the

present)

E. Romans 3:24, "Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."

1. What vocabulary does Paul use to describe God’s wonderful gift of salvation?

a. Paul may be quoting a creedal formula that was in existence already in the church (it is not

typical Pauline vocabulary)

b. If people can’t merit justification, there is only one option -- it must be a gift

c. Paul accentuates the giftedness (free nature) of justification by using:

1) dorean (gift)

2) Charis (grace, unmerited favor)

d. It is a gift of grace, unmerited. It is not a reward, affirmation, or honorarium

e. There is a difference between thankfulness and obligation

2. How does Paul use the imagery of the slave market to get his point across here?

a. Apolutrosis -- redemption, used in the slave trade of the price paid to either own or release

a slave

1) There was a ceremony that you could set a person free to serve a god

2) We are redeemed from a harsh taskmaster of sin and the flesh

b. Christ paid for our redemption

F. Romans 3:25, "Whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His

righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed."

1. How does Paul use the imagery of the ’mercy seat’ to describe the sacrifice of Christ?

a. Paul has already set forth the sin of man and the wrath of God toward sin

b. Something must take care of God’s wrath toward sin

c. Hilasterion -- propitiate, satisfy (used only here and in Hebrews 9:5)

d. The cross of Christ was inserted between the world and the God (the cross took on God’s

wrath)

e. The mercy seat was the lid on the Ark of the Covenant

f. On Yom Kippur (Covering), the high priest sacrificed on the mercy seat

g. This atoned for the sins of the people

h. Hilasterion is used in the LXX for the mercy seat

i. Paul uses hilasterion to refer to Christ

j. There had to be justice so there had to be a mercy seat (sin cannot be pardoned, it must be

destroyed)

2. How does Christ’s sacrifice differ from that of the mercy seat in the Old Testament?

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a. Like must atone for like

b. The blood of bulls doesn’t take away sin

3. Why did Jesus have to become incarnate to take away our sins?

a. There must be a divine and eternal dimension to the sacrifice

b. It must be infinitely pure and have an eternal effect

c. Thus only the God man could atone for sin

4. Were sins of old simply forgiven by God prior to the cross of Christ?

a. Paresis (only time in Paul) not remission or forgiveness but to pass over, let go unpunished

b. Prior to the cross, the full justice of God (the full manifestation of sin) had not been revealed

G. Romans 3:26, "To demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier

of the one who has faith in Jesus."

1. How did the cross of Christ declare God to be just?

a. The first part of this verse reemphasizes 3:25

b. God did not do away with the demands of the law (pardon)

c. But the demands of the law are met through the substitution of Christ

d. The law is not moral; it is legal

e. God’s judgment against sin fell on Christ

2. How can God declare sinners to be righteous?

a. Christ’s substitutionary death allowed God to declare sinners righteous

b. The righteousness of Christ is imputed to sinners and the sin of sinners is imputed to Christ

c. This exchange allowed God to declare sinners righteous

d. Paul’s imagery regarding the cross:

1) Law court -- justify

2) Slavery -- redemption

3) Temple -- mercy seat

H. Romans 1 & 2 state that the Gentiles and Jews are lost

I. Romans 3 shows how the problem is solved--the vicarious sacrifice of Christ-Great Exchange

2 PRIMARY EXAMPLES OF BEING JUSTIFIED BY FAITH (ROMANS 4) ABRAHAM & DAVID

I. Abraham 4:1-3, 9-12

A. Romans 4:1, "What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh?"

1. In what two ways may this verse be translated?

a. "What can we say then that Abraham our forefather according to the flesh has found?" --

genealogical

b. "What can we say then that Abraham our forefather has found according to the flesh?" --

theological

1) Flesh (sarx) -- flesh, human effort

2. What is Paul’s central purpose here?

a. Paul has just shown that works and human lineage are irrelevant

b. The second (theological) translation fits better -- what role does the law have

c. Paul’s central task is to show that justification doesn’t come by human effort (compare 4:2,

"justification according to works?")

d. 4:1 is a rhetorical question; the answer is that Abraham found that you can’t be justified by

works

B. Romans 4:2, "For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God."

1. Is Paul saying that Abraham could have been justified by works?

a. NO. Paul is presenting a hypothetical situation (Condition contrary to fact)

b. Abraham was not and could not have been justified by works

2. If Abraham could have boasted in his own achievements, would he have gained favor with God?

a. If it were possible, Abraham wouldn’t have been affirmed by God -- God doesn’t affirm

human works

C. Romans 4:3, "For what does the Scripture say? ’Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for

righteousness.’"

1. How does Paul interpret Genesis 15:6 in this context?

a. Paul cites Genesis 15:6 to demonstrate that Abraham was not justified by works but he

believed (the operative factor -- not law or works) God

2. What is the special meaning of the word "imputed" here and in 4:9, 10, 22, 23 ?

a. Imputed/Reckoned -- (logizomai) -- 4:3, 9, 10, 22, 23 & Galatians 3:6

b. Bookkeeping/accounting term -- to credit, to transfer to one’s account

c. Abraham made a deposit of faith and God credited his account with righteousness -- just as

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if you were morally obedient

d. Galatians points out that this happened 430 years before the Law and 14 years before

circumcision

3. Is the moral condition of the individual actually changed here?

a. This belief doesn’t produce a moral change in the individual

b. It just puts you into a right relationship with God

c. Regeneration and sanctification produce a moral change

d. Justification must be for sinners

D. Romans 4:9-10, "Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised

also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. How then was it accounted?

While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised."

1. What is the meaning of "circumcision" in this context?

a. Being uncircumcised, Abraham didn’t represent the Jews at this time, but the Gentiles

b. Abraham was an unjustified, Gentile pagan when God justified him

c. Genesis 15:6, "Abraham believed God"

d. Genesis 17:10-14, 23-24, "Abraham was circumcised" (14 years later)

e. Neither the law nor circumcision has anything to do with justification

2. Was Abraham justified while circumcised?

a. Abraham was justified while uncircumcised

E. Romans 4:11-12, "And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which

he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are

uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also, and the father of circumcision to those

who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham

had while still uncircumcised."

1. What does Paul see as the true significance of circumcision in this context?

a. Paul sees the meaning of circumcision not as creating the covenant but as a sign/seal of

the covenant made by faith

b. The covenant was a transfer of righteousness based on Abraham’s faith (14 years earlier

than circumcision)

2. Is Abraham the "father" of the circumcision only?

a. NO. Abraham is the father of everyone who believes.

b. Abraham is the father of the circumcision, but not only of the circumcision, but also the

father of the uncircumcision, those who have faith like Abraham had.

II. David (Romans 4:5-8)

A. Romans 4:5, "But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is

accounted for righteousness."

1. What is the only "logical" conclusion at this point?

a. No person can merit righteousness, so justification must come on the basis of grace

b. If no one can be godly, then justification must come to the ungodly-- to the person who

trusts that God will justify the ungodly, God credits him with righteousness

c. The kind of faith that Abraham had to have a child is the saving faith that we must also have

2. What may "god-less" mean here?

a. Asebe--ungodly, "ungodlike"

b. That God justifies the ungodlike came to Paul on Damascus Road (he realized his

ungodlikeness)

c. Luke 18:9-ff, the story of the Pharisee and the publican

1) The publican went to his house justified

2) The only use of justification in the gospels

B. Romans 4:6, "Just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness

apart from works:"

1. How does David’s experience relate to Abraham’s?

a. Paul quotes here Psalms 32:1-2

b. David’s experience is theologically the same (essentially equivalent) as Abraham’s -- "Even

as David also. . . "

c. 4:8, double negative in Greek, "will in no wise impute"

2. What claim does man have on the righteousness of God?

a. No man has a claim on the righteousness of God because it is apart from works

C. Romans 4:7-8, "Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; Blessed

is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin."

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1. How did the Old Testament define ’blessedness’ according to Psalms 32:1,2 ?

a. Rabbis would question "what is the highest state of blessedness?"

b. David said the highest state of blessedness is when the Lord will not impute sin

1) Although the person is a sinner, he is regarded as righteous

2. Is being rewarded for works the most to your state/before God?

GOD JUSTIFIES THE UNGODLY (ROMANS 5:6-8)

I. Romans 5:6, "For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly."

A. How do we know that the love of God is reliable and consistent?

1. When we were spiritually weak, God made the ultimate sacrifice for us

2. In due time (chairon -- the right conditions; Galatians 4:4, "fullness of time") -- not chronos -- a

chronological time

3. The right condition is when we were morally weak and ungodlike; while we were yet sinners; when

we were in the worst possible state that we could be in, God gave His best for us then

4. Thus His love will always be reliable

B. Does God really love the ungodly?

1. The conduct of the child does not undermine the love of the father (cf. I John 4:10)

C. The immediate context of Romans 4 is Old Testament figures and their spiritual experiences -- Abraham and

David (not the cross/atonement)

D. Anita Kolenkow, in discussing Genesis 18:23-25 "Sodom and Gomorrah" says that Abraham pleads with

God, believing that many will be justified on the faith of few

1. This is Paul’s atonement theology-- for the sake of the righteous one, God spares us

II. Romans 5:7-8, "For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare

to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

A. How is God’s love "superhuman"?

1. Demonstrates (endeizein) -- explicitly points out, clearly represents

a. God’s love is most clearly pointed out in that God dies for the ungodly

2. Ernst Kasemann notes that Paul is careful to communicate that God sent His Son not for people

ready and willing to receive Him, but to those who are morally weak

3. Theobald-- the justice of God is evidenced in His identification with the ungodly

a. Abraham is an ungodlike Gentile when he is justified by the Lord

B. How do the words "weak" and "sinner" relate here?

THE ADAM/CHRIST PARALLEL (5:12-15, 18, 19) --Building on 3:23 "historical fall"

I. Romans 5:12, "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and thus death

spread to all men, because all sinned -- "

A. What two "archtypal" persons are being compared here?

1. Adam and Christ are the two archtypal person represented here

2. Archtypal = first, foremost + to strike

3. Adam is the first imprint of humanity; Christ is the first imprint of humanity

4. If justification comes through one person (Christ), conversely, condemnation comes through one

person (Adam)

5. Adam represent fallen humanity; Christ represents redeemed humanity

6. Paul begins a parallelism in 5:12 by bringing up Adam and then picks up the second half of the

parallelism in 5:18

a. Having given this monumental statement regarding Adam, Paul feels the need to clarify and

contextualize what he is saying

7. Sin entered -- aorist punctiliar (historical fact caused by Adam)

B. How does Paul view the events of Genesis 3?

1. Paul views the events of Genesis 3 as historical (isn’t giving a hypothetical parallelism)

2. Genesis 3 is just as historical as the life o f Christ

3. Paul views Adam as a flesh and blood human being

4. Paul sees a definite causal connection between sin in the world, and the sin of Adam

5. Kosmos (not the physical universe, but the world of humankind) -- sin entered into the world;

however, it existed prior to the sin of Adam

6. Sin is personified in 5:12; Paul is speaking anthropomorphically

7. Sin is an alien invading force; it is atypical for the world and the human condition

C. What are the 3 major interpretations proposed for the explanation of the imputation of sin?

1. Pelagian View -- sin is not imputed, we are all born sinless, sin is a learned behavior,

a. Adam is a bad example; does not believe in original sin

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b. The image of God is not automatically marred

2. Biological View -- the spiritual principle of disobeying God is in some way genetically inherited and

transmitted

a. DNA arrangement makes you disobey God

b. Significance of Virgin Birth -- no Father can communicate sin

c. However, the sinlessness of Christ is not affected by His body but His Divine Person

d. The biological view makes sin a sickness

3. Federal Representation -- Adam was the representative of the entire human race -- when he sinned,

humanity sinned

a. On the basis of Adam, God judged humans as sinners which led to the degeneration of the

mind, body, and spirit

b. In the Pristine state -- when there is an incongruity between the spirit and its source, it

breeches fellowship with God and produces sin

c. Adam was the cause of Sin; Christ was the cause of righteousness --- for the two humanities

d. Sin is not reduced to behavioral terms (it is not just the misuse of the will in conduct, but

rather an essential principle which determines the status of our existence)

e. The spiritual principle of disobedience entered the race through Adam

D. What are the three scriptural uses of the word "death"?

1. Physical

2. Spiritual -- Ephesians 4:22

3. Eternal (Mark 9:43-48) -- unending separation from God in torment

4. 5:14 is referring to physical death

5. This verse is referring first to physical death but also includes spiritual death

a. All died because all have sinned

6. When there is no law, there is no transgression

7. Something must contribute to death other than personal infraction of the law -- it is the sin principle

a. Death comes from being an Adamite; Life comes from being a Christian

b. Neither comes from personal acts and their consequences

E. What is the "Pelagian" interpretation here?

F. What is the significance of the verb tense in the phrase "all have sinned" in Psalms 5:12?

G. How is the concept of "solidarity" used here?

1. Paul is drawing on a principle of solidarity -- an intimate identification with someone or something

2. Adam declared war on God and all who are in Adam are thus at war with God

II. Romans 5:13, 14, "(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."

A. How may the principle of "Federal Headship" help in our understanding of these verses?

1. The penalty of death is passed on all people whether or not they transgress the law -- it is based on

their connection with Adam

2. Where there is no law there is not transgression (in a legal sense) -- when there is no law, you can’t

be convicted

3. From Adam to Moses there were no legal sins (biblical transgressions), just the principle of sin

B. What is the etymological and theological significance of "type" in verse 14?

1. Adam was a pattern (tupos) of Christ -- Adam being the Federal Head of his race is like Christ’s

being the Federal Head of His race

III. Romans 5:15, "But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by one man’s offense many died, much more the grace

of God and the gift by the grace the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many."

A. Is there a perfect comparison between Adam and Christ here?

1. The analogy is not a perfect parallelism

B. How do the principles of quantity and quality relate here?

1. Quantity -- the sacrifice will give life to more people than the sin of Adam condemned

a. Calvin said, "Christ is much more powerful to save people than Adam was to condemn"

2. Qualitative -- Adam’s sin brought judgment on all. The grace of God in Christ doesn’t just negate

the condemnation of Adam, but it imputes thee positive righteousness of Christ and commutes the

eternal life in the presence of the Lord

a. Murray holds the Qualitative view

b. Charles Hodge adds an additional aspect to the qualitative view -- assurance

C. What are some technical observations concerning the use of the phrase "the many" in these verses?

1. A perfect parallelism would be universalism

2. Many be dead >>> The many died --- Adamites (died -simple aorist tense)

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3. Overflowed to the many -- must be taken in the entire context of Romans

a. The cardinal principle here is faith

b. To be the many who receive grace, you must believe

c. Whereas to die, you just have to be born in the lineage of Adam

IV. Romans 5:18, "Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even

so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life."

A. How does that verse encaptulate Paul’s entire argument which started with 5:12?

1. Paul begins the second half the parallelism began in 5:12

2. He also summarizes the argument began in 5:12

3. One act of righteousness -- the cross

B. How do the words "all men" relate to the concept of the "two races"?

1. All men (two categories/species) -- Adam & Christ

V. Romans 5:19, "For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many

will be made righteous."

A. Did the sin of Adam actually "make" us or "change" us into sinners?

1. Sin draws us back to Romans 3:23

2. We see the solidarity and Federal Representation again

3. Kathistemi ("made sinners") -- to put down, as in a ledger book; regarded as

a. It does not mean to make or change into but to regard as

b. Adam’s disobedience was sufficient ground to regard us all as sinners

B. What is Paul referring to when he speaks of the obedience of Christ?

1. In the same way, the obedience and righteousness ofChrist is sufficient ground for us to be regarded

as righteous

2. 2 Corinthians 5:21

The Pauline Indicative: Union with Christ prohibits the abuse of Grace (6:1-7)

I. 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?

A. How did ungodly persons twist or pervert Paul’s doctrine of grace?

1. Romans 5:20 -- 21, "Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin

abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace

reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord." -- is the crowning statement

of Paul’s argument (Adam/Christ Parallel)

a. This could be misconstrued as a license to sin

2. Pauline Indicative -- Paul’s pattern of representing theological truths, "Being in Christ", positional,

objective aspect of Pauline theology. It is a status unrelated to our subjective experience. It is just

our being in Christ (what we have experienced in Him).-- salvation

3. As opposed to the Pauline Imperative -- addresses the subjective, experiential facet of the Christian

life. It commands us to be who we are in Christ, to actualize who we are in space and time. --

Sanctification

4. Paul anticipated that ungodly persons would pervert and misuse grace into a type of antinomianism

(against law, "lawlessness", licentiousness) -- grace is a license to a sinful lifestyle

B. How does Paul use an "imaginary opponent" to attack the heresy of "antinomianism"?

1. In order to undermine that misrepresentation, Paul resorts to diatribe -- he constructs an imaginary

opponent whom he argues vigorously with

2. Morris, 245, "Paul is thinking of sinners staying where they are, declining to budge from their habitual

sinful life"

3. Paul begins with tiv (interrogative pronoun), asking a questing. The placement of tiv sets an

argumentative tone.

C. How is the subjunctive mood of "to remain" used here?

1. epimeno--(intensify + remain = abiding, residing) -- is in the present subjunctive -- the idea of

continuation or repeatability

2. There is an article with hamartia that indicates a state (realm) of sin rather than some isolated sinful

conduct

D. How does Paul use rhetorical questions to get the desired answer?

1. The way Paul frames the question implies the answer -- NO

II. 6:2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?

A. How is the indefinite relative pronoun used here?

1. This verse shows the impossibility of 6:1 -- how can we who are dead to sin simultaneously live in

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sin (these are two mutually exclusive states)

2. hoitine" -- the indefinite relative pronoun -- Baur, Arndt, and Gingrich translate hoitine" to mean, "of

what nature", "of what sort", "of what kind"

3. Thus it means, "how can people like us who are dead tosin, live any longer in it"

4. Morris, 245 note 7, "Paul uses the relative quality (of people) -- we who in our essential nature are

dead to sin -- it is the end of the reign of sin and the beginning of the reign of grace; these are

mutually exclusive"

B. What does the aorist (past, punctiliar) tense of "die" indicate here?

1. Paul uses the aorist tense of apoqnhskw -- crisis experience of the past --conversion

C. What is the "logical impossibility" set forth in this verse?

1. Theological oxymoron -- you can’t live in these 2 modes of existence (sin & grace) simultaneously

2. Paul is now addressing sanctification (not justification)

3. Paul never calls us sinners saved by grace, but "saints"

III. 6:3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?

A. What does "dead to sin" mean?

1. This verse explains how we are dead to sin -- it happened in a spiritual sense in Christian baptism

2. Paul brings in again the principle of solidarity

3. The faith union of the believer with Christ is so powerful that the spiritual experiences of Christ’s

become those of the believer -- these are bound to us by faith -- thus we have a solidarity with Christ

4. Just as Christ died to the realm of sin, those who are in Christ are in a judicial sense dead to sin in

Christ

5. Baptism is an outward manifestation of an inward grace

B. What are the three symbolic meanings of baptism in this verse?

1. Morris, 246-247, the rhetorical question "Don’t you know that. . . " -- Paul takes as a given that the

Romans know the meaning of baptism

2. Baptize contains an element of violence that Paul is being faithful to (it is used for people being

drowned, ships sinking, the invading hordes of Romans taking Jerusalem)

3. When baptism is applied to Christian initiation, it doesn’t gentleness and inspiration, but death as

a new way of life

4. Three Symbolic Meanings of Baptism

a. Indicatively -- Judged by the Father as dead to sin in Christ

b. Imperatively -- Commanded to crucify the flesh

c. Eschatologically -- Baptism represents the personal, physical resurrection in the future. It

is prophetic, "I will be raised from the dead"

IV. 6:4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead

by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

A. How does "burial" relate to baptism?

1. If we died with Christ, there must be a corresponding burial

2. Burial is the seal of physical death and in the same way baptism is the seal of the believers death

to sin

3. Just as a dead person is cut off from the affairs of this world, in the same way the believer is cut off

from any obligation to sin

4. Baptism is the seal of dying to the realm of sin

B. What is the importance of the "hina" clause?

1. Baptism is related to the idea of planting a seed -- it has a purpose ( &ina -- in order that)

2. The purpose: that you may be joined with Christ in the resurrection (raised in the newness of life)

3. Kainoth" -- qualitatively new; newness that comes from a dramatic change

a. Lazarus wasn’t raised qualitatively new

b. The life of the believer and the future resurrection is changed by a glorious power

C. How is the Pauline "two-age motif" experienced in this verse? (Already -- Not Yet)

1. Baptism: Body -- physical resurrection from the dead (in the future)

2. Baptism: Spirit -- a qualitative change in the Spirit (now)

3. The transformation in baptism is proleptic of the future resurrection

4. Healing is a proleptic (in advance) realization of the kingdom

5. 6:1-4 -- True justification is inseparable from authentic sanctification

V. 6:5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be [in the likeness]

of [His] resurrection

A. How does Paul use an agricultural motif to explain our union with Christ?

1. Sumfutoi -- "If we have been united with Christ"; == united, planted together -- the image of 2 seeds

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planted so close together that when they germinate they fuse into one plant -- we have been

ingrafted into the experiences of Christ

2. The relationship of the Christian to Christ is so close that what happens to one, happens to the other

(We experience death and resurrection with Christ)

B. What is the significance of the "perfect tense" here?

1. Gegonamen -- "we have been" -- the perfect tense communicates action that takes place in the past

but the results of that action impact the present -- we have been planted and continue to be

2. If . . . then construction implies a conditional situation -- if you meet the condition of being planted

with Christ, then you will be raised

VI. 6:6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with [Him,] that the body of sin might be done away with, that

we should no longer be slaves of sin.

A. How does Jesus’ "victory over sin" bear upon the sin nature of the believer?

1. These spiritual experiences in Christ impact our present reality -- our union with Christ by faith has

a real impact on our life

2. Christ (our Federal Head) triumphed over sin and death. This triumph over the effects of Adam’s

sin (in the spiritual realm) has a real effect on the sin nature of the believer

B. What is the verbal significance of the phrase "crucified with"?

1. Susstaurow (1-1) "together + crucify" == we coexperience Christ’s crucifixion -- in the Aorist Passive

-- We experienced this at some point in the past (and we were crucified, we didn’t do the crucifying)

C. Is our sin nature completely eradicated?

1. Katargeqe -- Aorist Passive of katargeo -- can be rendered two ways

a. Destroyed, eradicated, gone

b. Rendered inoperative, ineffective; dealt a serious blow; no longer capable of functioning the

way it did prior to salvation; it is no longer the dominant function in our lives

2. The image of crucifixion reflects this (it is not an instant decapitation); but the sin nature lives while

not having power -- there are some who have survived crucifixion

3. This is reflected in chapter 7, Paul is desiring to do what God wants us to do, but not doing it

4. Dying with Christ has had an effect on our spiritual nature; the sin nature has been dealt a serious

blow, though it has not been destroyed

5. "That we might not serve sin" -- the idea of serving sin as a slave. However, sin is not dominating.

Paul doesn’t say that the sin nature doesn’t exist any longer.

6. You have been effectually transformed in your spirit

7. The faith union creates an intimate connection with Christ which causes us to share Christ’s

experience which has real effects for our subjective present existence

8. "Newness of Life" -- qualitatively new existence

9. From henceforth we should no longer be a slave to sin

VII. 6:7 For he who has died has been freed from sin.

A. What is the significance of the perfect tense of "freed" here?

1. Dedikaiwtai -- "freed" in the perfect tense -- this is an abiding deliverance, a continuing liberty in

Christ

B. Can "dead men" sin? -- NO

6:8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,

6:9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him.

6:10 For [the death] that He died, He died to sin once for all; but [the life] that He lives, He lives to God.

The Pauline Imperative: Union with Christ requires on to be holy (6:11-14)

I. 6:11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

A. What is meant by the phrase "the Pauline Indicative and Imperative"?

1. Pauline Indicative states who we are and what has happened to us in Christ; found in the first half

of chapter 6

2. Pauline Imperative commands, deals with the subjective component of sanctification -- realization

in personal experience; incarnating your relationship with God

B. How do these terms relate to the doctrine of sanctification?

1. Pauline Imperative commands, deals with the subjective component of sanctification -- realization

in personal experience; incarnating your relationship with God

II. 6:12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.

A. In what ways is the power of sin "personified" in this verse?

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1. Paul personifies sin as an evil king (basileuo -- "to reign as an evil king") -- Do not let sin reign as

an evil dictator over your body/life

2. Hupakouein -- obey (under + hear) == subservient reception of signals; obey what you hear -- "Stop

yielding your members to obey sin"

B. What unique grammatical construction is present here and what is the theological significance of this

construction?

1. Me + Present Imperative -- Prohibits the continuance of an action already in progress (not prohibiting

starting something) but commands interruption -- Stop letting sin reign. . .

2. Paul knows about antinomianism in this church; some are letting sin reign

3. Paul believes you can stop the reign of sin

III. 6:13 And do not present your members [as] instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God

as being alive from the dead, and your members [as] instruments of righteousness to God.

A. How do the verb tenses and the "military analogy" help to reveal Paul’s meaning here?

1. Paul uses a series of military images

2. "Offer up parts of your body" -- don’t let the ship’s equipment be used by sin, but by God

3. Boultmann, "Body doesn’t refer to a physical body (soma) only, but it encompasses the totality of

human being"

a. Paul always represents the body as a state of decision -- in and of itself it is neutral. It

depends on what you decide to yield to.

4. Military -- the tackle and equipment of a ship

5. The analogy has changed from an evil king to a military superior; "members" = "weapons"

6. Dynamic interplay between indicative and imperative -- The objective relationship with Christ is

interdependent on the subjective relationship (sanctification)

B. How does Paul use the stylistic device of contrast to drive his point home?

1. This verse opens up with a negative + Imperative (STOP. . .) and is followed by a command

2. Antithetic parallelism -- commands to stop serving sin vs. submit your totality to God

IV. 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

A. How has the power of the "wicked dictator" of sin been broken?

1. Paul personifies sin

2. Sin is not the dominant force in the life of the believer

3. The grace of God in Christ is more powerful than the principle of sin and has greater effect (thus the

power of sin is broken)

B. In what way does the law "energize" sin?

1. Paul brings in the principle of law -- "where the law increased, sin increased"

2. Paul brings in the principle of condemnation -- the law gives sin the power to condemn

C. How does the grace of God "neutralize" the power of sin?

1. God’s grace breaks the vicious cycle of sin (transgression>condemnation)

2. Our salvation is not dependent on our observing the law point by point, but we are under grace

3. The presence of the law >>> condemnation

4. The presence of grace >>>> justification

The Nature and Function of the Law for the Believer

I. The Law is holy, just, and good -- 7:12

7:12 Therefore the law [is] holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.

A. If the law "energizes" sin, then is the law evil?

1. The law increases sin by increasing the possibility of infraction

2. Paul knows that some would thus feel that the law is sin

3. In 7:12, Paul responds to his imaginary opponent who feels this way

4. Though the law energizes sin to condemn, it is still holy, just, and good

B. In what three ways does the law reflect the nature of its Maker?

1. Like God, the law is holy, just and good

2. Holy -- reflects the nature of its Maker by being distinct from evil and sin. It is absolutely pure

3. Just -- reflects the just requirements of God; it extracts the requirements of the Almighty

4. Good -- it is intended for the welfare of man I love my dooheydoo

5. Bruce on the law is holy, "Paul is making a distinction -- the law is the law in its entirety of God’s

revelation, but the commandments are the individual precepts

II. The law increases one’s consciousness of sin -- 5:20; 7:7, 13

A. 5:20 Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded

much more.

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1. How did the law increase sin?

a. The law entered so that sin might increase (not to restrain sin)

b. It manifested that we are sinners; it pointed out failure in our lives

c. It increases one’s consciousness of his sinfulness

d. It demonstrated the absolute need for grace

e. The corruption of the human heart actually desires to do that which it is forbidden to do

f. 7:8 -- the law incited me to do that which is forbidden

g. 7:9 -- sin killed me after the law

h. 7:19 -- we can’t actualize the good

2. What does it mean that the "law came in along side of"?

a. The law was added, "parercomai" -- came beside (alongside of); merged in; the law was

merged in with grace

b. The grace of God was already in place; the law was merged in with the already existing plan

3. How does Paul use the superlative degree here?

a. Huperperisseuo -- "exceeding + abound (already in superlative)" == grace superabounded

B. 7:7 What shall we say then? [Is] the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin

except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, "You

shall not covet."

1. What then is the value of the law?

a. The law brings bondage, gives power to sin

b. The law doesn’t cause the sin, it manifests and accentuates sin for what it is

c. The law is the only source which can unequivocally w/ clarity commute knowledge of sin

d. Compare Romans 3:20

2. How does the law "manifest" sin?

a. F. F. Bruce, 141, "The function of the law is propuedeutic (to teach introductory material,

"instruct before") by revealing to mean their sinfulness it also reveals their inability and

consequently their need for deliverance which can only come by grace

C. 7:13 Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was

producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become

exceedingly sinful.

1. Did the law "slay" Paul?

a. Why did the commandment bring death?

b. It is not the law that killed Paul, but sin used the righteous standard of the law to kill Paul --

to condemn him to hell

c. The law reveals the moral failure of the individual

d. Sin used something good to hurt us

e. The law manifests sin (shows what sin is -- you don’t know darkness until you’ve seen the

light) -- even a little presence of law in the midst of moral darkness reveals a lot

2. How did sin use the law?

a. The Righteous standard of the law reveals sin

b. The presence of the law incites sin (curiosity)

c. Sin is evidenced to be exceedingly sinful in that it can accomplish evil and death in the life

of the morally sensitive person

d. Conclusion: because of the power of sin, law inevitably brings condemnation every time

e. In describing the effects of the law, it could be misconstrued that the law is evil

f. Law demonstrates that something is wrong

g. Sin can use the law to condemn and destroy people

III. Sin uses the law to condemn -- 7:8-11

A. 7:8 But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all [manner of evil] desire. For

apart from the law sin [was] dead.

1. What does Paul mean when he says that "sin was dead"?

a. Question on chapter 7, "Who is Paul talking about and at what point in their life?"

b. Paul uses 1ppp -- he means himself (affirm literal interpretation when possible)

c. Alternative interpretation -- he is using a rhetorical I to refer to all people in general

d. He is reflecting his experience which is indicative of the spiritual condition of people in

general

e. Some say the redeemed person could never have a struggle Paul shares in chapter 7.

Therefore it is referring to an unregenerate person

f. Grammatical Answer -- The tense in all major verbs in 7:7-13 is Aorist -- thus reflecting on

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a past experience; 7:14-25 is in the present tense which indicates a time shift. Thus: 7:7-13

(Paul the Jew) and 7:14-25 (Paul the Christian)

i. Paul the Jew is divided into two categories: 1) Paul the child; and 2) Paul the adult

(post Bar Mitzvah) -- moral accountability

ii. Paul the Christian -- is a novice Christian whose mode of existence is still law and

will

iii. In Chapter 8 the Mode of existence is in the Spirit

g. Bruce, 143, "There is an inward tension here which was completely absent fromt he earlier

discussion. In 7:7-13, sin attacks the person (victim) in question, yet even in this section

(7:14-25) Paul notes a counterattack from the person against sin."

h. When Paul lived under the law, before his Damascus Road experience, he didn’t recognize

this moral struggle -- "concerning the law, blameless". This must be the Christian Paul in

7:14-25 because he recognizes the moral struggle. The experience of the Christian

struggling against sin is too much to dismiss the notion.

i. M. Goguel, "Paul is reflecting on his experience right after conversion."

j. Bruce, "There is something in humanity which rejects God and is His enemy. Paul calls this

the flesh."

k. "Sin Was Dead" -- the principle of sin was inactive in the conscience of Paul, but when the

commandment entered, sin revived (was resurrected).

l. At one time, sin waas inactive in Paul’s consciousness.

2. What type of "revival" is in view here?

a. Sin was no longer dormant -- the presence of the commandment energized the sin principle.

B. 7:9 I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died.

1. In what sense was Paul "alive"? -- metaphorically used

a. Alive -- sense of security, well-being, self-righteous (everything is okay), lack of

condemnation and guilt, no battle with sin

2. What does it mean "to die" in this context? -- metaphorically used

a. Die -- convicted, condemned, knowledge of a day of reckoning

C. 7:10 And the commandment, which [was] to [bring] life, I found to [bring] death.

1. Why couldn’t the law change man’s condition?

a. The law was designed for the welfare of man but the sinful environment caused the opposite

to occur

b. Because of sin, the law was powerless to regenerate

c. The law made the morally sensitive person fearful and wretched before God

2. How is the word "knowledge" used here?

a. "Know Sin" -- used Hebraically -- Paul didn’t experience the full effects of sin until he

experienced the law

D. 7:11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed [me.]

1. Why did God’s law lead to death?

a. The law itself didn’t kill, but that was its consequence in a sinful environment

b. The commandment intended to give life, but sin took advantage of the righteous demands

of God’s law

c. The moral weakness of humans + the inexhaustible moral strength of God’s law ==

continual sense of condemnation to those who are morally sincere

2. How was Paul deceived?

a. Paul expected that the more he embraced the law, the more he would become godly --

instead it caused more death

b. The Law didn’t lead to holiness but showed his own moral corruption

3. What type of "word-picture" does Paul use in this verse?

a. Exapatao (deceived) -- "hood wink" --describes persons lured into a dangerous environment

under false pretenses; luring one off the main road

b. Sin deceived him -- the main road of law led to condemnation and not to God

IV. Human will and the law are powerless to deliver from the power of sin -- 7:14-20

A. 7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.

1. What does "carnal" mean in this context?

a. The Law is spiritual -- it has the same nature and character as it Maker -- it reflects God

essentially

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b. Carnal (sarkino") is diametrically opposed to spiritual (pneumatiko")

c. Carnal == Fallen human nature -- inherited and inherent tendency to disobey God

2. How can a "born-again" believer be "carnal"?

a. I Corinthians 3:1,3 -- Paul call the Corinthian brethren carnal

b. 7:14 says we are sold under sin yet 6:14 says we are not slaves to sin

c. Egw ... eimi -- my identity is carnal, under sin (in myself and of myself ; apart from God)

d. Paul has 2 selves -- one carnal apart from God; and one spiritual enlightened self (which

knows but doesn’t have the ability to do)

3. How did sin take advantage of Paul’s human nature?

a. Paul doesn’t want to serve sin (like a sinner who doesn’t care) -- it is against his will

b. But like sin took advantage of the law, it takes advantage of Paul’s will also

c. Paul’s knowing didn’t give him the ability to do

B. 7:15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate,

that I do.

1. What is the meaning of "I allow not"?

a. Ou ginosko -- I allow not -- not making a conscious decision to do wrong, but simply by

nature it happens

b. Paul is doing something without approving it -- he hates what he is doing

2. What is the nature of the problem at hand?

a. Paul is powerless to change. It is a matter of nature, not knowledge, will, desire, etc.

C. 7:16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that [it is] good.

1. Can one’s behavior and desire be in conflict?

2. How does "self-condemnation" affirm the validity of the law?

D. 7:17 But now, [it is] no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.

1. Is Paul’s "true-self" in control here?

2. Is Paul "excused" from sin in this regard?

3. Where can one find deliverance from such a viscious cycle?

E. 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but

[how] to perform what is good I do not find.

7:19 For the good that I will [to do,] I do not do; but the evil I will not [to do,] that I practice.

1. What is the meaning of "in my flesh"?

2. Did Paul personally possess the power to overcome sin?

F. 7:20 Now if I do what I will not [to do,] it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.

1. How does this verse relate to 7:17?

2. Is Paul acting out of his heart and will?

G. 7:24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

1. Form of execution where the body of the person murdered would be strapped to you until its decay

destroyed you

I. THE ROLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT (ROMANS 8:1-27)

A. The Holy Spirit delivers from the old nature producing righteousness (8:1-4)

B. Conflict between the Spirit and the old nature (8:5-13)

C. The Spirit bears witness to our adoption and inheritance (8:14-17)

D. The Spirit yearns within us for our glorification (8:18-25)

E. The Spirit intercedes for us according to the will of God (8:26-27)

II. GOD’S ETERNAL UNFAILING PURPOSE OF REDEMPTION (8:28-39)

A. Ordo Salutis (Order of Salvation)

1. Foreknowledge (8:29)

2. Predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son (8:29)

3. Called (8:30)

4. Justified (8:30)

5. Sanctified

6. Glorified (8:30)

B. Effectiveness of Grace and security of the believer (8:31-39)

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III. GOD’S PURPOSE FOR ISRAEL (9:1-11:36)

A. Paul’s prayer for Israel (9:1-3)

B. Blessings of Israelites (9:4-5)

C. Distinction of spiritual seed of Israel against fleshly Israel (9:6-13)

D. Sovereign exercise of God’s mercy (9:14-24)

1. Example of Pharaoh (9:17-18)

E. Prophets foretold mercy to Gentiles and Israel’s stumbling (9:25-33)

F. Seeking righteousness by law kept them from seeing God’s righteousness by faith (10:1-12)

G. How salvation comes to man (10:13-15)

1. Men are sent to preach the gospel (10:15)

2. Men hear the gospel through a preacher (10:14)

3. Men believe on Christ (10:14)

4. Men call upon the name of the Lord (10:13)

5. Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved (10:13)

H. Faith is produced by hearing God’s Word (10:17)

I. Israel has heard the gospel (10:18-21)

J. God still has a remnant in Israel who believe (11:1-6)

1. God never cast away those whom He foreknew (11:2, compare 8:29)

2. Example of Elijah (11:2-6)

K. National Israel is temporarily in darkness but not permanently discarded (11:7-12)

L. Example of grafting in a wild branch into the olive tree (11:13-25)

M. Prophecy of revival among Israel when all Israel will be saved (11:26-33)

N. Praise of the wisdom of God’s plan (11:33-36)

IV. LIFE APPLICATION OF THE GOSPEL (12:1-15:33)

A. Because of glorious gospel we have received, Paul exhorts us to present our bodies as worship to God (12:1)

B. Conformed vs. Transformed — God’s way of producing change (12:2)

C. Service through Gifts of Spirit (12:3-8)

D. Exhortations to holiness in relationships and work (12:9-16)

E. Show love to those outside God’s family (12:17-21)

F. Christian’s relationship to the government (13:1-7)

G. Love— the fulfillment of the law (13:8-10)

H. Exhortation to holiness because of eschatological timing (13:11-14)

1. Put on Christ / armor of light

2. Make no provision for the flesh

I. The Weak & The Strong (14:1-15:3)

1. Weak are those whose consciences are easily offended

2. Strong are those who understand their liberty in Christ

3. The weak should not judge their brother for Christ has justified him

4. The strong should love their brother enough to give up liberties that would offend

5. The strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak and not please ourselves (15:1)

J. Jewish & Gentile believers are one in salvation (15:4-13)

K. Paul’s testimony of the ministry of the gospel entrusted to him (15:14-19)

L. Paul’s ministry mission statement “I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should

build upon another man’s foundation:” (15:20)

M. Paul’s desire to come to Rome (15:21-29)

N. Paul’s request for the church to pray that he come to Rome (15:30-33)

O. Greetings to friends at Rome (16:1-16)

P. Mark those who cause divisions (16:17-18)

Q. Spiritual victory is imminent (16:19-20)

R. More greetings to friends at Rome (16:21-23)

S. Glorious praise to God as the benediction (16:24-27)