Bible, NT-22, Romans
Part 1
LESSON 22
ROMANS
Part 1
By Rev. G. Evan Newmyer
INTRODUCTION TO LESSON 22
After going through the history, the warfare lesson, then metaphors and allegories, we wonder if we will ever see the Glory, or if we can be Justified before God. Most assuredly we can, it’s what Grace is all about. It’s a matter of Understanding the Process, rather than waiting for it to happen, or assuming it has happened. The greatest element of Grace is the Relationship, based on “Follow Me”; no matter what anyone else does, we as individuals can make it. There are various forms of being justified, one can be justified before the Law of Moses, but it doesn’t mean they are justified before God. They can be justified before mankind, but it doesn’t mean they are justified by God. They can even be justified in their own eyes, but it doesn’t mean they are either justified by God. The Romans made an error, one anyone can make; they confused the declaration of Justification with the performance, assuming they were justified, yet ended judging others. Their situation tells us much, they were in the Body, like the Corinthians they had the Spirit, but they were judging people, in the process they became judged. If Justification is being innocent, how then can Paul say “therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whosoever you are who judges, for wherein you judge another you condemn yourself, for you do the same things” (Rom 2:1). Clearly if they are innocent, they could not be condemned, unless they confused the Declaration with the Performance.
Romans is not the first letter written by Paul, yet the Holy Ghost wanted it first in the process of learning; therefore, it must contain information regarding our Foundation. The Book of Romans is going to be our first look at the check and balance system of God. Let us get into Romans, in order to find what the Lord has for us.
LESSON 22 – BOOK OF ROMANSTHE CROSS – REAL OR FICTION – OVERVIEW:
This area will be an introduction to the concept of Apologetics, yet we’re not apologizing, rather it’s a matter of defending the faith, without debating. Paul tells us debate is a sin: a debate is an argument based on what each person thinks are the facts concerning their viewpoint. Far different from presenting Truth, although the natural mind considers their opinion truth, we find Truth is found in Jesus, not opinion. Paul’s Letter to the Romans is a typical example of an Apologist format as he was defending the faith. Strange, or perhaps sad is how we find Paul defending the Faith to those who were already in the Body.
Rome was an area full of idols and mystery religions, from there came some unsound remarks concerning the Cross of Jesus. Over the years we know there are those who desire to be more special than the rest of the Body of Christ, they pick up winds of doctrine, or make their own making them feel superior, yet if the elevate themselves, they have actually lower themselves. In some cases we find someone who is termed a scholar, yet becomes so centered on a subject they tend to go completely the other way, falling into error in their fight against heresy. We can also find a scholar, who wants to force their view to the point they remove, or ignore Scriptures. Theology is a study, it is not suppose to be unyielding, rather it has to yield, even if it means rewriting everything we’ve written. Only the Holy Ghost can interpret the Bible, yet the Bible will define itself, thus all mysteries are defined for us in the Bible, thus all mysteries point to Jesus, since the Bible testifies of Him.
Things are things, the thing is neither good or evil, rather it’s what man does with them. A pencil can be a tool to help us in our communication, but if we worship it, it becomes a idol, is it the fault of the pencil? No, of course not, it’s the fault of the person misusing it. Even if we remove the pencil, they will find something else to worship. The problem is within the person, not the thing, thus we are being cleaned by the Word in us. Paul said the idol is nothing, thus it’s not the idol, or even the social evils, it’s what people make of them. Some of the attacks against the Cross are based in misunderstandings of the Cross. The Cross in and of itself never saved anyone, it’s He who was on the Cross becoming the issue, thus Jesus on the Cross made the Cross a doorway, or place of separation. It was Jesus on the Cross sanctifying the Cross, not the other way around. However, there are elements of the Old Covenant nailed to the Cross, there they must stay, yet we know Jesus isn’t on the Cross now, He sits at the Right hand side of Majesty.
The same is true with the Cup, it was the Blood of Jesus giving the cup importance, not the other way around. At times man misses the point, ending exalting things far above measure.
Alexander Hislop’s book Two Babylons attempts to depict what he considered the misuse of the word Crucifix by saying it was connected to the idol Tammuz, or other pagan rites; his purpose was to point out how anyone can do as the children in the Old Testament did with the Brass Serpent, end giving worship to something God used as a tool. The Cross is the object upon which Jesus was raised, the Crucifix is likeness of Jesus on the Cross, yet giving worship to either is error.
There is always a danger in giving worship to the things of God, one can worship the anointing, the office, the person who is anointed, rather than Jesus. Winds of doctrine make much to do about things meaning little, but the type of Cross Jesus was on is important. It had to represent a Door, a place of separation between Life and Death. Unless it held the symbols to identify the purpose it failed in the process, thus knowing the type is important, but to worship it would be error.
There are some who attack the shape of the Cross, some point to the “T” shape as a symbol going back to the time of the idol Tammuz (Ezek 8:14), like any idol, in and of itself it was nothing, it was the evil in the heart of man making it something (I Cor 8:4). Years ago we were told television was the “mark of the beast”, then those who said it were all of a sudden on television. They said credit cards were the mark of the beast, later they began to take credit card donations. Then it was the computers, but then they used computers in their ministry. Then it was the World Wide Web, yet they obtained Web Sites. Were those things evil? No, they were things, nothing more, nothing less. James says everyman is drawn away by his own lust (James 1:14), thus it was the lust in the person causing the evil, not the thing. In Acts the people burned their own books, but those books were manuals instructing them in the black arts, much different from “books” in general (Acts 19:19). Clarity is always the Pureness of God’s Wisdom, it keeps us from destroying the Wheat thinking we are killing Tares.
Tammuz has a history, it was picked up by the Greeks and renamed Thaumas; mythology said he was the father of Iris and the Harpys. The Harpys were the idol counterfeit of the Trinity named Okypete, Aello and Podarge. Should we then reject the Trinity because the pagans copied it? The sign of Tammuz was not a Cross, but a plus sign; the name Tammuz means Sprout of Life, the priests of Tammuz had plus signs along the rims of their headgear to identify them with the idol. The same sign was picked up by the Romans, thus some misguided Christians assumed the plus sign inside a circle inscribed on the coins of Julius Caesar in 100-44 BC became the Tammuz symbol; however, there are many things to consider with the premise. The worship of Tammuz was done many years before Rome was Rome. Next, Jesus commanded Peter to obtain a fish, in the mouth of the fish would be a silver coin, which Peter was to use to pay taxes with. The taxes collected by Rome from the Jews were used to build temples for idols. Didn’t Jesus know it? Yes, but what someone does with the product in hand, is no reflection on the one who gave it. The heart of the giver is the issue, what the receiver does, the receiver is responsible for.
Long before Caesar was in power, far back to the third dynasty of Ur we find the Tammuz symbol, thus it was not invented by Caesar. All this shows the item is not evil, just as the love of money is the root of all evil, not the money. If we are obsessed with money, then the obsession is evil, not the money. The circle on Caesar’s coins is reported by historians to represent eternity, as found in the Delphic temple; therefore, if we take it to its extreme we end tossing out Proverbs 3:18, 11:30, 13:12, 15:4 and Revelation 22:2. This in no way condones idol worship, but in our haste to toss out the idol, we may toss out the good with the bad. The same is true in dealing with any lust, we can mistakenly toss out some picture, or icon, thinking we are free, yet we haven’t dealt with the lust. In Romans Paul is going to deal with many misconceptions, lusts, and problems any Babe in Christ can fall into. So, if we toss out the Book of Romans, do we also remove the conviction? No, neither does tossing out the icon free us of the lust, we must turn our backs on the passions of the world.
Jesus was not afraid of idols, neither was Paul. We know Paul preached to Mars’ Hill, looked right at an idol marked “for the unknown god”, then used the symbol to preach Jesus. Was the man crazy? How could he use an idol to preach Jesus? Today some in the Body would not only condemn Paul, but toss him to the wolves, others would say he left his “eye gate open”. When in fact he had awareness of what an idol was, nothing, a thing without power, or authority. It’s not what goes into a person defiling them, it’s what comes out of their mouths, corrupt words from a corrupt tree, make the person corrupt.
All this still has to do the lust to worship things, or elevate them above what God has. Jesus was on the Cross, He was in the Grave, but are we to worship either the Cross or the Grave? Of course not, we know all things are under the feet of Jesus. We are suppose to be Christ Minded, yet if we become paranoid, or fearful regarding the things of darkness, we are no longer above them, but in them. The fourth month of the Jewish religious year, which is also the tenth month of the civil year is Tammuz, which means First Grapes in Hebrew. The Jews still observe the 17th of Tammuz when the breach of the walls of Jerusalem took place (Fast Of Tishah Be-Av). The Jewish use of the term Tammuz doesn’t mean they worship Tammuz, they merely have a month by the name. We also have a month by the name of August, named after a Roman emperor, should we shut ourselves up in a cave during August so we don’t become “evil”? Not hardly, we know it’s a month, it doesn’t have life, it can neither offend, nor edify.
One should never confuse veneration with respect, we must determine what is exalting Above measure, as compared to exalting within measure. We respect the people of God, there are people God has exalted, yet we are warned not to exalt them above the measure. Icons, images, and the such are not people, God doesn’t exalt “things”, thus there is no measure. God exalts His Word, but His Word is Jesus. The word Image means a Likeness, thus we are to be the Image of God’s Son, yet man can make an Image of an animal then worship it.
The word Icon means a Representation, picture or religious image used for veneration, thus veneration becomes the problem, not the thing. Pictures of Jesus are Icons, since no one past 130 AD knows what Jesus looked like. Statues of little angels are a likeness of the Greek god Eros, thus they are Icons. Some of the most used pictures of Jesus are not likenesses of Jesus, but likenesses of models used by the artists. Does it mean we should run in fear, or destroy the pictures of Jesus? Not at all, it’s the veneration of icons becoming the problem, not the icon. We pray to the Lord, not to a picture.
Some think Jesus would never allow a T shaped Cross because of the association made between the Cross and Tammuz, but to assume Jesus would be afraid of the T shaped element rejects faith, it also removes the purpose of the Cross. Jesus defeated the devil by death, yet God is the God of living. Could Jesus be placed on a symbol of Life, to defeat death? No, Hebrews tells us it was Through death Jesus destroyed (made ineffective) him who had the power of death, that is the devil (Heb 2:14).
The shape of the Cross was important, to assume the T shaped Cross would not be used because of Tammuz, would also denote the I type couldn’t be used either, since at the same time the Romans were worshipping Tammus, they were also worshipping Isis. The temple of Isis became the cause of the Jewish rebellion, which caused the destruction of the temple in 70AD. The “I” was used in the court of Caesar, it was also found in many temples of idol worship. The seven mountains surrounding Athens were used for idol worship during the earthly ministry of Jesus and beyond; does it mean we should reject the number Seven? Of course not, there is a freedom in understanding it’s not the things, but the lust in the person making the things evil.
Counterfeits are around, even in Paul’s day there were counterfeits. Paul was faced with the counterfeit of spiritual matters when talking to the Corinthians, he warned them about attempting to use carnal means to arrive at spiritual conclusions. The Corinthians had their treasury in Delphi, a city across the bay from Corinth, which also happen to be a center of divination. This would be the same location where the “damsel” in Acts 16 would have obtained her training (Acts 16:16-18). The Delphic priestess chewed on a laurel leaf, then drank water until her speech was incoherent, then she would answer questions from the priest, thus the priest Interpreted the tongue. Does it mean we should reject all manifestations of the Spirit? Of course not, the enemy displays counterfeits to scare us away from the real (Steven Rossiter, Greece; London: Ernest Benn, Ltd, p 400).
It’s true the devil has symbols of power, but those symbols have no power. Crystals are a prime example, the Book of Revelation shows the Crystal as a metaphor for the Bride of Christ (Rev 4:6 & 21:11), is it therefore any wonder why the devil would counterfeit the purpose of the Crystal? Should we then deny being the Bride because the devil uses some Crystal? Should we burn our Bibles because some Satan worshiper owns one? On the same note should we make our Bible a god? No, there is a spiritual attitude wherein we keep things in Order.
What then gives these elements power? Our fear of them, thus as faith has a power, so does fear. The New Age is not new, our fear of it may be. What would the enemy desire? For a Christian to fear his counterfeits, but why? Authority, once we fear the enemy, or his doings, we are giving him authority over us. Once we determine “things are things”, as all things are under the feet of Jesus, we can then retain our faith, refusing to give place to the enemy.
Cult systems are motivated by the lust of being the special among the special, a hidden book, a special revelation, a certain act of self-righteousness, all pride based, but they center on placing fear on people, they want us to fear the world, fear icons, fear most anything, even the shape of the Cross, once we allow fear to reign, our faith is set aside, or we become susceptible to their deception. From there they will introduce us to another Cross, one where the Law, or the curse is not nailed, one where pride and deception rule. This is clearer when we find Rome used three types of stakes (crosses), the I, which was originally used for all violations of Roman Law; however, the method was binding the victim, not nailing them, it was termed the Pole, not the Stake. The method was to hang a sign on the person denoting the violation, then placing them just outside the city, to warn others of the punishment for violating the law. Needless to say it was more of a deterrent than a posted speed limit sign. This type of cross was used upon clear evidence of a violation of civil law, thus it had nothing to do with religion, Jesus or Moses, thereby showing it would not hold victory for us, rather if we accepted this type of cross it would be the wrong cross, for the wrong reasons. If this type was used it would show there was evidence to prove Jesus was a malefactor, which we know is not the case at all.
The next shape was X shaped, later to be known as Saint Andrew’s Cross, the victim would hang upside down on the cross for days until death came as the blood rushing downward burst in the brain. The Catacombs in Rome show many various shapes of crosses, most of which were not used to crucify people, rather they were used for identification. They included the Pope Cross, the Alpha and Omega and many others. They represented different things, but not the Roman elements of bringing death.
Why does the devil want us to run from one type of cross, or use another? The lustful desire to be the special of the special, or greater than the brethren. The lust to be superior is based in pride, the mother of all cult systems. In most cases we tend to attack the cultist person, but clarity points us the cause. Therein is the place of ministry, the manifestation of the Spirit will bring the cultist to a place of decision.
However, our subject is the Cross, and why it had to be T shaped. The Cross being the very Door of Passover, the place of division between the world and the kingdom seems to come under attack, yet we can retort by making the Cross an icon, and be none the better. The devil’s purpose in any counterfeit is many fold, first he preys on the lust in the person, next he wants us who accepted the Cross to make some mockery out of it by exalting it above measure. Even wanting the “the correct name for God” has been an issue used by cults, but it too is based in the same lustful desire to be greater than the rest of the Body. Often we go through all these Names of God to determine what we should call God, but God has told us the Name for us to use during our Season. It’s one thing to tell God what name we will call Him, another when He tells us which Name He wants us to use. The same is true with the Cross, the Cross without Jesus is big piece of wood, but the second we introduce Jesus into the equation, the Cross takes on importance. Therefore, the shape or type of Cross without Jesus, really doesn’t matter, but when we find Jesus and His disciples speaking of the type, then it does matter.
The same is true with the Name of God, the word Name means Authority, thus it depends on the Authority used to determine which Name is used. God doesn’t need a Passport to identify Himself, thus He told Moses, “I Am That I Am”. When God walks into a room He doesn’t have to say, “Hi, I’m God who are you?”. We know who He is, surely He knows who we are. In our Season the Authority of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost are in the one Name (Authority) of Jesus. We are in the Body of Christ, not the Body of El or Jehovah. The Head of the Body is Jesus, thus we could use the title “Jehovah”, but in so doing we would be using the wrong Authority for our Season. When Jesus told us to go in His Name, it’s what He desired. The winds of doctrine are areas drawing us away from the Truth of Grace, usually pulling us into areas of self-righteousness. When we engage in acts of self-righteousness we blind ourselves to the Righteousness of God.
Both the X and I types of crosses were Phoenician in nature; however, the Phoenicians didn’t worship Tammuz, nor were they subject to the promises of God. The Phoenicians were in the location we know as Tyre, coming from the people noted in the Hebrew as Arvad (Gen 10:18 & Ezek 27:8-11). They didn’t call themselves Phoenician, they called themselves Canaanites, they worshipped many gods and goddesses, including their god named El, but not the same El (God) as the Hebrews. The Phoenician El was supposed to be married to Asherah the goddess of the sea. Does it mean the El the Hebrews worshipped was an idol? No, of course not, keeping things in order keeps us from becoming fearful over things which matter little.
The shapes of the crosses give us symbols, the Romans had no idea of the importance of the symbol, but God did. When we take the I or X shaped pole, over the T shaped we are missing the Passover by miles. Both the I and X were used regarding civil matters, not religious. The Passover is religious in nature, thus the Cross had to have some significant connection to the Passover. What could it be? The Blood on the door, it was in three places, the top and both sides about two thirds up, giving us the perfect sign of the Cross. Jesus is our Passover, He went to the Cross on the Passover, thus the shape of the Cross had to correspond to the Door of the Passover.
The Holy Place had the furniture arranged to match the same figure, with the Menorah to the left, the Shewbread to the right, and the Golden Altar of Incense at the top just before the entrance into the Holy of Holies. If God saw the sign of the Cross when Moses held the first Passover, surely He knew the type of Cross to be used. If it was an X, then Moses would have placed the blood at the top left, top right, bottom left, bottom right; if it was the I shaped then the blood would have been at the very top, and very bottom, but Moses followed the instructions of God, indicating the Cross was seen in Passover.
Simply because some idol worshiper or witch uses a symbol of God, it doesn’t make the symbol evil. We as Christians must discern between good and evil, or we will fall into the evil thinking we are doing good, when all we’re doing is working for the enemy. Allowing a carnal theology of fear to run to its extreme would cause one to remove the use of the name of God (El) based on the Phoenicians use, then we find the Phoenician god El was seen on many Roman coins at the time of Christ; especially the silver ones. When Peter took the money out of the mouth of the fish it was Roman money, paid to the Romans. Jesus told us to render to Caesar the things of Caesar, and to God the things of God, separation and division, yet still rendering.
The Romans took from many sources, including the Phoenician. The Phoenician language was mixed with Egyptian, found in Cuneiform or wedge shaped letters and figures. Astarte was the main Phoenician goddess, and Nimrud (Nimrod) the main god, both were seen throughout history. We know Nimrod was related to Noah, so do we say Noah was a witchdoctor? No, God saved Noah and Noah’s family, knowing full well Nimrod would begin Babel. If God knows all things, then He knows all things. It doesn’t mean He ordains, or causes them, but it does mean He has full knowledge of them.
The T shaped Cross used by the Romans came from the Chaldees, during the third dynasty of Ur in the Chaldees the worship of Tammuz was common, so common it’s believed by Jewish scholars Terah, the natural father of Abram may have been engaged in the making of Tammuz figures. Joshua 24:2 shows Terah did worship idols, some Jewish historians show Terah was also an idol maker. Abram left his father’s house of idol worship, yet as Abraham he was the first person God imputed righteousness to. The history of Abram didn’t stop God from making Covenant with the man, yet we also know God loved Jacob, but hated Esau. If God knows all things why even allow Esau to be born? God intervenes, He doesn’t interfere.
The T shaped cross used by the Romans could always be determined by how the victim had to carry the cross piece, which had a weight near one hundred pounds, rather than the upright Pole which had a weight near seven hundred pounds. A hundred pounds would be a chore for any person to drag, but to think they were able to pull seven hundred pounds is out of the question. The use of Nails (plural) on the Victim removed the concept of the I shaped, but left the X and T shaped. The T shaped called for Three Nails to be used, one in each wrist, with one through the feet. There are historical notes showing the victim was more than likely bound with leather straps to the X shaped, eliminating the use of nails. The T shape used bindings to lift the victim, but they were then removed leaving the victim nailed to the cross piece by their carpals, then the upright piece held the feet one over the other with a nail through the top of the feet.
Thomas said, “Except I shall see in His Hands the print of the NAILS, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe” (Jn 20:25). This verse was quoted by Polycarp, who was a disciple of John the Apostle, thus it’s correct in language and tense. With this we know “blessed is he who doesn’t see, yet believes”. We find some must see before they believe, interesting how man proves the point, those who believe, believe, those who don’t, don’t.
The standard or upright stake was always in place before the victim arrived with the cross piece. Usually there was a hole in the ground, thus the upright piece was placed in the hole, indicating Jesus carried His Cross, or better He carried the Cross Piece. The victim would be tied to the Cross Piece after nailing their wrists at the carpal joints to the cross piece; however, the palms of their hands would be turned and placed against the wood, rather than pointing outwardly. We get our English word Carpal from the Greek word Karpos which refers to the location where the wrist meets the base of the hand. To the translators, and early Greeks the word “hand” included the carpal joints to the point where the lower arm joined. We know the palm of the hand couldn’t support the body weight, but carpal area could. We can become a legalist on the issue, missing the importance of the Cross. Making an issue of the “hand” or “wrist” is no different than making an issue out of the type of wood the Cross was made of, rather than what it represented.
The victim and cross piece would be raised by ropes going over the top of the cross, then tied to the cross piece behind the neck of the victim. The cross piece would be lifted until it was about two-thirds or higher up from the ground, but not at the top, since it couldn’t be tied off if it was too high. The cross piece was not nailed to the upright pole, rather ropes held it in place. Then the legs were slightly bent, with one foot placed over the other, with the bottom of the feet against the upright pole. Than the final nail would be driven through the top of the feet into the pole, this nail was often referred to as the “sure nail”, or the securing nail keeping the victim on the upright piece. This nail would keep the victim from twisting and turning, causing the ropes to lose grip.
With the palms of the hands turned and placed against the cross piece the victim’s shoulder’s would begin to come out of the sockets, the victim would push up with their legs to relieve the pressure, but as they did the nail through the feet would begin to break the many bones in the feet. The pain would cause them to relax their legs, but in so doing the shoulder’s would again begin to disjoint. When the shoulder’s did disjoint the bones would slam together in the neck area causing the victim to choke to death. The T shaped Cross was the only one wherein the victims legs would be broke. It did no good to break their legs on the X, or the I shaped. As horrid as this type of death was, God saw it before the Romans used it.
David the king and prophet wrote “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint, my heart is like wax, it is melted in the midst of my bowels” (Ps 22:14). The Septuagint shows Psalm 22 reading, “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are loosened; my heart in the midst of my belly is become like a melting wax” and “they pierced my hands and feet”. This is important since the Septuagint is not a Christian document, rather it’s Jewish. Psalm 22 shows the dislocation of the bones, thus if we claim the Cross was “I” shaped, the prophetic Psalm would show we were in error.
John said he saw both blood and water flow from the side of Jesus. There is a sack covering the heart of a person, in the sack is a fluid like water, when the spear entered the heart of Jesus, both water (mercy) and blood (grace) came out, showing He was physically dead, but hardly soul dead. When a person is under pressure to the point their heart bursts, the sack around their heart also breaks, but John saw the water and blood flow from the wound, indicating the spear passed between the third and fourth rib, then punctured the heart. However we also find both Mercy and Grace were in Jesus, they flowed out making the Water and Blood two elements of the Witness, the Spirit as a result of being Born Again the third element to the Witness (I Jn 5:7-8). The Record in Heaven consists of Father, Word and Holy Ghost, the Witness connects the Water for the Mercy of the Father, the Blood for the New Covenant of the Word, then the Spirit as the Gift of the Holy Ghost. The Report sees things complete, thus it makes Declarations, but the Witness carries out the Declarations. Therefore, God can say something is complete as far as the Report is concerned, but the performance of the matter must be completed by the Witness to bring them into Unity.
It all begins at the Cross, the Law and Commandments which were against are nailed to the Cross, so it might be important to know which one we should claim. The T shaped cross being the only one of the three wherein the victims legs were broke gives us an undisputed clue to the type of cross Jesus was on (Jn 19:32-33). Adding the comments of Thomas, it becomes clear, it was a T shaped Cross.
Like Mark 16:16-18 we have choice before us, the evidence shows the verses are proper and needed as presented in the various Manuscripts (codex) and supportive materials, including other verses, thus we can believe, or find reasons not to. There are 2,800 different manuscripts, all dated prior to 1500 AD, excluding the Wycliff, Bishops and other texts. We can search the Scriptures in order to support our thinking, or search the Scriptures to have our thinking conform to the Word, or we can search and find some reason not to believe, all avenues have some support, but only the Believer who is in the Body can claim “shall be saved” if they continue to believe. We can use the words of man to override the Bible, or allow the Bible to define the Bible. Both use the words with the scholarly endeavors of man, both use the Bible, but only one of those allows the Bible to reign supreme over the words of man. When we elevate the intellect of man above the Bible we have made an idol of flesh and blood. If we have to trust in the intellect of man, we are in sad shape. The Teacher who teaches the teachers is still the Holy Ghost, He still teaches by comparing spiritual to spiritual (Jn 14:26 & I Cor 2:13-14).
All cult systems have three pillars, self-righteousness, corrupt end time thinking, and something they assume elevates them above the rest of the Body. The attempt to make the Cross of Jesus something it wasn’t is a prime example. If we hold to the I type of cross, we are saying Jesus failed at the Cross, thus we are yet lost. History does help in this matter, we find Constantine was a heathen Roman, who had a vision, which was so moving he converted to the faith. Some tell us Constantine used the sign of the T shaped Cross on his armor, but history shows he used the Greek CHI or X as a sign of Christ, rather than the sign of the Cross, thus giving us X for Christ, explaining the phrase “XMAS”, or Mass for Christ. Before Constantine converted he was a sun worshipper, so does it mean we should never use the name of Christ, since a sun worshiper like Constantine used the symbol of Christ? Jesus told us to follow Him, not men, thus following the concerns, or religious fears of man, is still following men.
There is the argument the Greek word used for Cross means an Upright stake, which it does, but it was part of the Cross. Jesus wasn’t hanging in mid air, the upright piece was there. The sign hung on the Cross was written in Hebrew, Greek and Latin, giving us the authority to use the Latin. The early church used the Latin word for the word Cross, the six panels of forty seven translators of the King James used several texts, including Jerome’s Latin Vulgate, the Latin word for Cross denotes two pieces of wood, not one. Jerome used Polycarp and others as witnesses, as well as his own personal evidence of the Persecution. The scriptures show Jesus hung on the Cross from the ninth hour until sunset, thereby providing more Scriptural evidence regarding the type of Cross.
The Wood can be one piece, as a tree with branches is one piece, thus it doesn’t mean one upright piece, but a connection of the pieces to form One Cross, and the Cross piece represents the Branches of the Tree.
Some tend to use Acts 19:19 as a support to denounce the T shaped Cross as some symbol of witchcraft; however, Acts 19:19 shows the items were Books of Curious Arts. The wording Curious Arts means books used to practice something, does it mean all our books used to gain the knowledge of God must be burned? Hardly, the books noted in Acts 19:19 had to do with the actual practice of witchcraft, including formulas and chants, thus they were working witchcraft manuals. The people burned their own books based on their own will, they were not ordered to. If Paul would have told these people to burn their books, he would have entered legalism. We can’t force our congregation to burn books, or tear down icons, it has to be the desire of the person to do what is right. Knowledge is the key, once knowledge is introduced, choice follows, but knowledge never allows us to force someone to do something. Liberty means Free, yet we have the choice to do what is right, or not, the choice is ours, the result in God’s hand.
Two sins of the Body from 300 AD to 1500 AD are noted as the worship of Icons and Simony, both came from Simon Magus (Acts 8). Simon Magus was noted by John and others in the early church as the father of all heretics. Although he was rejected from obtaining the baptism with the Holy Ghost, the man did believe the signs, he was baptized in water, thus he was a member of the Body. He remained natural, walking away from the Faith, but he was nonetheless water baptized. Is water baptism then evil? Of course not, is the baptism with the Holy Ghost evil? No, although Simon wanted to buy the power of the Holy Ghost, we know he was baptized in water, so do we now reject water baptism? The heart of Simon was not right before God, thus water baptism didn’t change his heart, it’s not suppose to. The New Man changes our character and nature based on being our New Heart. Simon Magus is an example of someone who believed the signs, engaged in water baptism, yet failed to look at his own heart, then attempted to get other people to do his prayer of repentance for him.
Now we allow brother Paul to put the finishing touches on this. The Greek word for Wood is Xulon meaning Fuel, but the Greek has many words for the English word Tree, depending on the type of tree. One of those is the Greek Dendron used in Revelation 7:1, then another for the Fig Tree, another compound word for Olive Tree, with two separate words denoting which type of Olive Tree. One meaning a Wild Olive Tree, the other meaning a Good Olive Tree, all words used by Paul. The Hebrew helps explain the types; Josephus uses the Hebrew Ets translated as Cross, telling there were many Jews crucified before Jesus came. Josephus records how the type of element for religious death was a Tree with Branches, or the sign of Tammuz. The Hebrew word Ets means Tree or Timber, but it’s always a plural, or more than the trunk itself. It comes from the Hebrew Atsah meaning to fasten, it was used in Deut 21:22-23 in the phrase, “Cursed is anyone who is hung on a tree”; therefore, in order to complete this Scripture the Tree has to be more than a trunk, it had to have at least one branch. The Vine without the Branches is not a Vine. This takes us to Galatians 3:13 where Paul used the Greek word Xulon for Tree, explaining Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. This connects to Deuteronomy 21:22, showing the concept of the Cross Paul knew had a “branch”. Why did Paul use the word Xulon rather than Stauros? The Greek word for Cross is often Stauros, which comes from the Greek Stao meaning to Stand, from which we get the Greek Stauroo for Crucify. Again we know Jesus was on an upright piece, but his arms were held by the cross piece, thus Paul used a word conducive to the Scriptures, as Josephus concurred.
The word Cross then denotes the method of being Crucified, not the actual element upon which one is crucified. Paul’s use of Xulon shows it had to be more than one piece of wood in order to fit the Scripture. Taking us back to the Hebrew Ets, then to the Hebrew word Paraq (Crossway), as the intersecting of two things. The Cross represented the placement of the Street, the element joining two things. The kingdom of heaven is based in Mercy, metaphorically seen as water. The kingdom of heaven was operational before the Cross, but not the Kingdom of God, thus the Kingdom of God is based in the Blood of Jesus. As the Son of man Jesus introduced the direct Mercy of the Father, as the Son of God He granted us Grace, both Water and Blood. Therefore, if it was not a Tree with braches we are still under the curse of the Law, without hope.
The Jews related Ets with Paraq, thus the Cross also represented the Crossway, or the Street joining us to heaven. The root word for Paraq means to deliver, but in Daniel 9:24-25 it’s Rechowb meaning an Avenue, the concept is the same. The Street is a place between places, linking places, in this case it shows how the Cross of Jesus is not only able to deliver both Jew and Gentile from the snare of the enemy, but deliver them from the second death as well. The Cross of Jesus is the place where the Mercy of the Father meets the repentant heart of man, bringing mankind into the place of safety, where they can be sprinkled by the Blood of Jesus as they are saved by Grace through Faith.
Granted after 300 AD the Body began many traditions, and held many things not Christ in nature, even changing some traditions into doctrine, but prior to 300 AD the sign of the Cross was common, even among the Apostles, as well as the three forms of Baptism, Water (Mercy), Holy Ghost (Grace, Spirit), and Fire. In the First Century a noted saint and church leader known as Tertullian found it necessary to defend the Christians against the heathen charge of worshipping the Cross. This false charge came about when John the Apostle, the disciple whom Jesus loved was seen with a wooden cross. John did not have a Crucifix, but a cross. However, John used it as a teaching tool, he was never seen worshipping it. Tertullian explained how the Christian didn’t worship the Cross, rather they respected it; thereby giving us the difference between respect and worship.
In the First Century it was common to use olive oil on a subject by making the sign of the Cross on their forehead; however, in all this the Cross or the Oil were not subjects of worship, but symbols. Records show the making of the sign of the cross was done by many in the first century (Apol. c. 16 et al); the same records show the “sign of the cross” was used when anointing someone with olive oil on the forehead in the shape of a T. This act was done at water baptism after the person made their declaration of belief in the Cross, Death and Resurrection of Jesus.
The Crucifix was not introduced until much later, becoming an Icon, since it has a likeness of Jesus on it; however, it only becomes an Icon when it’s worshiped, prayed to, or used it as a source of power. The early church held small wooden Crosses with a cross piece near the top. Later they added the A for Alpha, then a W or O for Omega, an X or P for Christ, as well as introducing the Pope Cross which had three cross pieces. The three pieces of the Pope Cross referred to Father, Son and Holy Ghost. In Justin’s Dialogue With Trypho (110-165 AD) the description of Jesus on the Cross is compared with Moses holding his hands out to the side in the battle with Amalek. Justin notes how it took both Hur and Aaron to hold the hands of Moses out to the side during the battle, rather than holding them together in an upright position, thus Justin in the First Century equates the position of the arms of Jesus on the Cross as out stretched.
If all things were created by Jesus, then we should look to Him, not the item created. All those who have had experiences with symbols of Satanism, tell us there is one key to witchcraft; it’s the “worship of the symbol” not the mere possession (World Harvest School Of Continuous Learning, pp 60-64). If we can’t discern these things, we will form our own heresy attempting to avoid what we presume is heresy. We don’t need magic water, or an icon we have the Name of Jesus. Making things a god is a direct violation of Faith; we can even worship our theology, or knowledge, forgetting if God had not made Himself known to us, we would never know there was a God. Our theology can be more god than God, causing us to make our own translation to support our theology, rather than change our theology to fit God.
All this brings us down to the point, the Cross is the place of the imputed death of the flesh, as we are commanded to pick up our cross. It may sound like a small thing, after all if someone wants to change the type of Cross, so what? If we can alter the type of Cross Jesus was on, we can also alter our cross; ending in a self-crucified state, missing the purpose. We must submit to the Cross, not make up fables about its type. Rather than a Cross, we can use a tooth pick, or a pencil, then make ourselves special among the special. Rather than deny the self, we end exalting it. The issue is really accepting the conditions of the Cross, rather than change the Cross to fit our religious opinions. The Cross can be one piece, or fifty, if we haven’t accepted it fully by imputing the flesh dead, we have missed “deny yourself and pick up your cross”. We can see how the Romans missed the point, because they confused one element for another. In Romans Paul is going to instruct them what “being justified” consists of, as well as why we shouldn’t attempt to mix the Law of Moses into the Law of the Spirit. The importance of never imputing sins on people, or judging them, rather than discerning. We should not judge the cultist, the cult yes, not the cultist. We present the cultist choice, just the same as we do anyone. What they do with it is up to them, but at least they will have the Truth, and not a fable.
BOOK OF ROMANS WRITTEN 58 AD
The Book of Romans was written after 58 AD, also after Paul wrote First Corinthians, like Matthew and Mark, we find the Holy Ghost wanted Romans first, although it was not the first written. Paul calls the Romans “true Jews”, yet he also says they are Gentiles; therefore, there has to be a difference between a “Jew”, and someone of “Israel”. Israel is a nation, one could make a vague point pointing to the Kingdom of God is “spiritual Israel”, except the term, or the suggestion of “spiritual Israel” never appears in the Bible, rather it’s a nation and a land. The general term “Jews” appears in the Bible, yet the term “Jew” has become a generic term referring to anyone associated with the religious order of Israel, but the term only appears ten times in the Old Testament, eight of those in Esther. The first time the term Jews is used it refers to them being driven out of Elath, but as a person (Jew) Esther seems to be the predominate source. If the term Jew is supposed to relate to someone in the land of Israel, then calling both Esther and Mordecai “Jews” would be improper since both were under the hand of Ahasuerus the king of the Persian Empire.
Strangely enough the Book of Esther almost didn’t make it into the Bible, it’s the only Book in the Bible wherein we don’t find the name of God, but the Holy Ghost saw something else, since He is the Author it became included in the Canon of Scripture. Esther defines the festival of Purim, more important it assists us with understanding the term Jew. From Esther we find the term “Jew” does not mean one who lives in Israel, rather it denotes someone who is assigned to a Covenant of God. The mark of the Abrahamic Covenant is circumcision of the flesh, yet Paul will say the mark of the “true Jew” is circumcision of the heart, thus pointing to a Token defining Jew to a Covenant, rather than a nation. In the case of the flesh it was granted to a male child when they were eight days old, but for us it’s when we are baptized with the Holy Ghost to receive the Token as the Seal of the Holy Spirit granting us the right to enter the New Covenant.
An Israeli is someone who lives in Israel, but not all Jews live in Israel, thus a Jew who lives in another country is not an Israeli, so the term “true Israel” can only pertain to a physical nation on earth, not a person. The division will help us in this letter, the division between the circumcision of the flesh, and the circumcision of the heart divides many things for us, including Justification, as well as telling us to what, and by whom one is Justified. Romans gives us the division between one who holds the Token to enter the Abrahamic Covenant, and one who has the Token to enter the New Covenant. Since the male child is eight days old when they are circumcised of the flesh, how can they receive the Covenant? They can’t, but the Token grants them a right to receive the Covenant, it doesn’t automatically mean they have the Covenant. We find we are sealed by the Holy Spirit, but we can also grieve the Holy Spirit by Whom we are sealed (Eph 1:13 & 4:30).
The Romans were circumcised of heart, they felt they were better off than they had been, they were right. However, they used people they felt were below them to make the determination, thus the method was wrong. Any of us can search around until we find someone in the Body who has more problems than we, allowing us to feel superior based on their hardships, or struggles. It’s too close to, “I thank you God, I’m not a sinner like this man”, far too close. If we’re being conformed into the Image of God’s Son, then it’s a Process of molding, in the molding process there are those times of “rest”, but it’s not all Rest. Keeping a day is not The Rest, just as doing acts to make us feel better doesn’t mean we have God’s Righteousness. It’s not to say we have to do works making us miserable, it does mean we don’t trust in feelings to determine Righteousness, Holiness or Justification.
The Romans were “true Jews”, but since they were Gentiles they were outcasts from the Promise until Jesus opened the Door. The Romans didn’t open the door, the Law of Moses didn’t, the Ten Commandments didn’t, neither did Israel. The Romans forgot they were selected by God, it wasn’t based on their goodness, or greatness, rather it was because they responded to the Truth. However, without God presenting the Truth, they would have had noting to respond to. Self-righteousness is the product of doing something based on something we can take credit for, but it only lasts for the moment. If we do a deed from the Law of Moses we have right standing with the Law, but it doesn’t mean we have Right standing before God. We could be justified before the Law by an act of self-righteousness but it doesn’t mean we are justified before, or by God. The justification in the Law was momentary, as soon as it was granted, it was lost, meaning the effort had to begin all over again. The biggest problem with self-righteousness is having to use the flesh to obtain, which means the effort ends in pride, causing the Commandment Thou shall not covet to condemn the doer, meaning the person has to begin all over again. Even keeping a day is an act of the flesh; if we do no labor, what then is resting? The flesh, yet in our case the flesh is imputed dead. Of course chapter seven refers to a person who has yet to receive the Cross, or the Christ nature. Paul tells us in Colossians 2:14-16 the Cross of Jesus blotted out the Commandments and Law against us, yet in Chapter 7 he says the Commandment falls on us, thus chapter 7 is Saul before the Cross, Chapter 8 is Paul the Born Again saint.
On the same note, there would be no deed of the Law, if God hadn’t given the Law. Their would be no tithes paid, if God hadn’t supplied the Seed to sow. There would no good deed, if God hadn’t granted the goodness to do the deed. Self-righteousness seems to separate the deed from the ability to do the deed, then takes pride in the doing. We will find anything not done in faith is sin, but what is the basic tenet of faith? To please God, yet self-righteousness is always more concerned about being pleased, then it is in pleasing God. The act makes the person “feel better”, but feeling better about ourselves doesn’t mean we pleased God. This is the same premise of keeping the day unto the Lord, if we want to keep the day, fine, but we keep it unto the Lord. If we don’t keep it, fine, but it’s also unto the Lord. We never make it doctrine, cause others to keep it, or not keep it, neither do we expect some special favoritism from God for keeping it, or not keeping it. There is no Commandment in the Law of the Spirit for us to keep a day, nor is there one telling us not to, there is of course a strong caution regarding keeping the Law of Moses as Covenant. However, if keeping the day has placed us in bondage, then we are subject to the day, if not keeping the day has placed us in bondage, then we are still subject to the day, only in reverse. The Law of Moses was designed to bind the flesh, it was never designed to loose the person.
The Romans fell into trap, they were doing the same things as those they were judging. When we judge people, we fall into religious conceit, ending doing exactly what we are judging others of doing. The point Paul makes is the difference between Laws, the Law of Moses is designed to judge, the Law of the Spirit is designed to set us at Liberty. Our actions govern which Law we place ourselves under, if we judge others we have accepted the Law of Moses as our judge, but we also cause the Commandment to fall on us. Therefore, we judge things, not people. Discerning the words of a person is not the same as judging the person. Paul will judge the words of the Corinthians and Romans, but it doesn’t mean he is judging them or reading their minds. Unbelief is displayed in the words of the unbeliever, even if they say they are a Believer. However, there has to be a cause or a lust making one judge another person, if there is a lust, then the person is not “completely Innocent”, thus we are being Justified. If we make the mistake of thinking we are completely justified, then we slip we will end condemning ourselves, or thinking we were never saved from the world. Not so, we are saved from the world to enter Grace to reach the salvation of our souls through the Justification process.
The Report in heaven has many areas where God has made the declaration as if it’s done, but it’s the Witness on earth bringing it to pass. The Romans made an error, they knew the Report said they were Justified, they presumed it was complete, thus they stopped in the Process, in so doing they used their supposed position to judge others. By their actions they were moving from the Justification; when we judge people, we are judged, if we’re judged we’re hardly innocent.
Even before the Jews were dispersed among the Gentiles the Jewish people treated the Gentiles as outcasts, as soon as the Roman Gentiles entered the Body they couldn’t wait to Judge the Jew who failed to enter. What they hated, they became; it wasn’t the purpose for their entry into the Body.
We were either Gentile or Jew before we came to Jesus, in today’s world there really isn’t much difference, but back in the days when this Letter was written every Gentile was looked down upon by the religious Jews. The Gentiles had their temples of idols, but the Jew would remind them how the Jew held to the One living God. The Gentiles were called, “Goy”, or “unchosen” by those who held the circumcised of the flesh. However, then came the Cross with the phrase, “neither Jew of Gentile”. With the Gospel came the privilege to be justified by God, something not available to mankind prior to Jesus.
The word Justified means Innocent of all charges, but it carries with it the result, which is Remission of sin, meaning there is no evidence to bring an accusation. The first time Paul uses the word will be in Romans 3:4 in the phrase, “shall be justified”, showing a process to reach the goal. Then we find we are Being justified freely by God’s Grace (Rom 3:24), pointing to Process. Then we read, “being justified by faith” (Rom 3:28), but what faith? Galatians 2:16 tells us we are justified by the Faith of Christ, but Galatians 2:17 tells us, “to be justified by Christ”, again a process by Christ in us. First Timothy 3:16 says we are justified in the Spirit, but First Corinthians 6:11 says it’s in the Name of Jesus, yet Romans 5:9 says we are justified in the Blood of Jesus, all these connect in the New Birth. First John 1:9 says the Blood of Jesus is cleaning us from all unrighteousness, then we find all unrighteousness is sin (I Jn 5:17). If sin finds us guilty, yet the Blood is cleaning us from all unrighteousness, it’s a process. The mistake the Romans made was forgetting it was a process, they equated the work done, which left them using the old nature as a guide. The result was seeking out sin in others so they could feel Justified, but if we are Justified we don’t seek sin in others. The moment we seek error, we admit we are not justified, but a judge of people. The Romans weren’t doing the Law of Moses, but since they sought out sin, they placed themselves in the same position as the Law of Moses, they were in danger of falling from Grace, yet it was Grace justifying them.
If we follow the Law of the Spirit we look for Jesus, the Father, the Good, the Precious, the Holy Ghost, the Spirit, the Blood, Mercy, but we don’t impute sins on others; however, if we use the premise of the Law of Moses we will look for sin, or error, as we pronounce people guilty, then worthy of death. The problem is of course the Law of Moses is not of faith, yet we are justified by faith.
Theologically the definition would depend on ones denominational setting, generally the Greek word used is Dikaioo from the Greek Dikaios meaning Just, Righteous, or To Justify. Verbs which end in “oo” usually mean bringing out something a person desires, or has in them, in the case of being Justified by God it would be the New Man bringing the manifested state of the Righteousness and Holiness to the soul, as the soul turns from the flesh to being Spiritual. The false would be using the flesh to give the appearance of being justified, when they are not. In the classic sense it would mean a person would bear for himself his condemnation, judgment or punishment, but in our case we know Jesus did it for us. For us to be justified before God we must have an innocent character and nature, which can only come by being Born Again. Paul will show the only means open to be a “son of God” is to have the Spirit, then mind the things of the Spirit. In essence the theological premise would be, by Grace the divine activity in justification by our faith in the ability of God to justify us, thus we find the ungodly can be justified by God (Rom 4:5 & II Cor 5:19): it is not by works of the flesh, or by any natural ability (Rom 3:20 & Gal 3:11), or even by the law written in the heart of man (Rom 2:15), it is for the Remission of sins (Rom 3:25), to hold a Peace and Rest with God, to have access by the Faith of Jesus, to hold the hope (to be glorified – Rom 8:18, 5:1-2 & Eph 3:20); based on the Righteousness of God in us by the New Birth (Rom 3:22, 4:22, 5:17, II Cor 5:21, Eph 4:24 & Ph’l 3:9), which means we are justified as a result of being Born Again through the Faith of Christ (Gal 2:16), the purpose is for all men Jew or Gentile Unto justification (Rom 5:18), by the Spirit in us (Rom 5:5, 8:2-11 & Eph 2:18). To break it down, the New Man is forming us into sons of God, which process brings us into the Remission of sin, which finds us Innocent, Holy and Righteous before God. Our faith is important in this, but it is not the cause of Justification, it’s our confidence in God’s ability to complete the process as He promised. If we are not Justified, we can’t be glorified, our hope is to be glorified by the power of the Resurrection of Jesus. To make it real simple, when we entered the Body we were declared Just, yet the just live by faith, but faith is based on a future hope, thus we are being established in the Church by the Spirit in us, where only the Innocent sons of God dwell. There is a difference between we in Jesus, and Jesus in us.
Rom 1:1-4
In the very beginning of this letter Paul uses three prime words, Servant, Called and Separated. The word “separated” is the Greek Aphorizo, one might say, “so what?”, but it’s the same word used to describe a Pharisee, which Paul used to be. The intent shows the Romans were Gentiles but God separated them unto Himself, all they did was agree to the separation based on information God gave them. The word Called is the Greek Kletos meaning Invited, thus the two words show we were all Invited, then we accepted, then we were separated, but we could never have accepted, if we were not invited, it was still based on information God gave us.
Did the Romans make the Truth? Or accept it? If they accepted it, who presented it? What was in them causing them to accept it? God gave them the measure of faith, thus God presented, they merely accepted the call by a gift God gave them. Once they accepted the Truth the move was made, they were no longer under the hand of darkness, but delivered into the Light of Christ, as members of One Body. Once they entered the Body they held certain rights and obligations (v. 1). It was the obligations they forgot about, as do some of us from time to time. We all love to hear of our Rights in Christ, but in order to remain Equal we must also know our obligations.
Were they “masters”, or “servants”? We seem to think being a “king” in the kingdom makes us master of all. It makes us master of the rules granted in our kingdom, but we still have to answer to the King of kings. If we refuse mercy into our kingdom, it remains out. If we refuse the spirituals into our kingdom, they remain out. If we change the “faith of Christ” to “my faith” it’s a rule we will us to presume we are justified. We will comfortable, since the purpose of a kingdom is to carry out the will of the king; however, if it’s the case then we either refused to give up our will, or we lied to the Lord when we said we did. Our kingdom rules and principles must match those of the King of kings, or we are rebels. The Romans made their vow, they were in the Body, they had certain procedures they said they would follow, Mercy is one, not judging people another, not imputing sins on people another, the goal was to be formed into the Church.
Perhaps one of most perplexing and troublesome things befalling us is how anyone can hold a false Dogma, yet feel “comfortable” with it. They are kings, what they allow in to their kingdom, they allow, what they reject they reject. We are given the Keys, but even the key holder has responsibilities. The Bible is the rule book, if we fail to believe the rule book, we will make up our own rules. We can even say the rule book is correct, but written to a different people. The New Testament is written to saints, those in the Body of Christ. The Romans felt comfortable in judging others, they were using a Godly principle, but in an ungodly manner. We are to Judge, only in our case it’s to discern things, such as words and ways, not people. The Law of Moses was designed to judge people, it would use the Ten Commandments as a tally board, the momentary escape were the various sacrifices, but as soon as the sacrifice was given, the person was found guilty again. If we judge people guilty of sin, we are using the Law of Moses, but if we refuse to impute sin on people, we are using the Ministry of Reconciliation, which is the basis of, “to wit, God was in Jesus, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and has committed unto us the Word of Reconciliation, now then we are ambassadors for Christ” (II Cor 5:17-21). Whatever Law we use, we become subject to, it will become Paul’s point. The moment we apply the principles of the Law of Moses on someone, we become subject to the same Law. If we apply the Law of the Spirit, it’s the Law we become subject to.
The word Servant in verse 1 is the Greek Doulos meaning a bond-slave, or one who gives their self for service to another. In this case Paul knew he was a king, but he desired more to be a slave. If we remain king without being a slave we still dictate what rules we allow into our kingdom, but as a slave we will be using the same rules as the Master. However, if we are kings, who then are our subjects? Surely not people, since each of us are kings. Things are our subjects, if we allow unbelief to be a prince, it will set up a principality in our kingdom, or we can band it from our realm. We can allow discouragement to be a prince, or we can band it from our realm. We can even make the spirit of the world a prince, or we can band it from our realm. The same is true with anger, manipulation, deception, or the other rulers of darkness, we can give them place in our realm, yet they are masters of deception, we will soon find we are subject to them. It’s just as true we can give residence to Mercy, Grace, Love, Hope, Truth, finding our kingdom in order. The Kingdom of God is the New Man, we’re not going to rule in His Kingdom, but we do have souls, since this is for us, we find we can receive, or reject.
Verse 2 does not point to Paul being an apostle, it points to the Gospel. Long before Paul or the Romans were born God promised the Gospel of Peace by His prophets in the “Holy Scriptures” (v. 2). Here is our second lesson, the Bible does not interpret the Bible, rather the Bible says the Holy Ghost interprets the Scriptures (II Pet 2:20-21). The Bible defines itself, in so doing it defines itself as the Scriptures, then defines the “Word Of God” as Jesus. We call the Bible the Word of God, it’s not wrong, but if we limit it to the Only Word of God it becomes dogma, making it wrong. The Word in us is able to save our souls, the same Word is Christ in us (James 1:21 & Heb 4:12). If we presume all we have to do is read the Bible to be saved, we would be making the same error as the Pharisees (Jn 5:39).
In verses 3 and 4 we find the positions of Jesus as the Son of man and the Son of God, as well as which Token declared Him to which position. Concerning Jesus as the Son of man, we find He was made of the seed of David, if Made, He was not a “created being”. Jesus as the Word took on flesh, it wasn’t the other way around. As the Seed of David, Jesus had certain positional rights, one is the association to the kingly line to Israel. During the earthly ministry Jesus operated as the Son of man, although He made references to being the Son of God. However, the same Jesus was Declared the Son of God with Power, according to the Spirit of Holiness by the Resurrection from the dead. The word Declared is the Greek Horizo meaning To appoint or Determine, so wasn’t Jesus the Son of God before? Yes, but the Position became Evident by the Resurrection. This is vital when we read, “you must believe in your heart God raised Jesus from the dead”, with “the Spirit (of God) bears witness to our Spirit (that is of God) we are sons of God”. Simply being in the kingdom of heaven doesn’t make one a son of God, they can be a son of man via Mercy, but to be a son of God one must have the same Spirit in them who declared Jesus as the Son of God.
This is another area introducing us to the Comforter, and Another Comforter. The Holy Ghost deals with masses through us, appoints people to the Offices on behalf of Jesus, and deals with the world by reproving. The Holy Ghost can fill us more than once to deal with the masses as The Comforter. The Holy Ghost brings the Seed of God, which becomes the Spirit in us. The process leads to that Born of the Spirit is Spirit; if we look at our hand we can say, “that born of the flesh is flesh”, but if we are Born Again we know we our souls are becoming spiritual by the Spirit. Different contexts, the Spirit in us is forming our souls into Spirit so we can be Spiritual in nature continually. However, the phrase “Spirit bears witness” goes back to Corinthians, the Spirit of God, meaning the essence of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost bears witness with the New Man, thus the only way we are going to be children of God is to have the Same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead, thus no one was Born Again until the Resurrection.
Rom 1:5-7
This will be our first taste of the “We” and “They” positional order Paul uses, but we also find a paradox. It would seem as Paul on one hand is rebuking the Romans for judging, yet on the other it appears he is judging the Romans for judging; further judging others with the We and They divisional classifications. There is a difference, if we make a determination about someone, just so we can be exalted by their difficulties, or their position, or lack thereof, we have judged them “under” us. If we make a determination by the Spirit bringing clarity, or presenting Truth so the person can be bettered, or place us in a position to minister to them in a Godly manner, it’s discernment, not judging. The word “Hypocrisy” is a compound word meaning Under (Hypo), Judge (Crisy), thus we judge someone under us so we can feel exalted, making us hypocrites. The lust to be superior over people is defeated with we recall Jesus told us, “what do you care, you follow Me”.
The only reason we judge people lower than us is so we can feel superior, it’s the same lust driving cult systems, they want to be the special of the special, to have the special book, word, rite, act, something making them superior over the rest of the Body. We are One Body, made up from individuals, God will deal with us as individuals, but it doesn’t mean we impress Him, or He loves us more than the rest of the Body. Faith pleases God, it doesn’t impress Him (Heb 11:6).
What if we make the determination, then set out to force the person to fit our thinking? It would be control, yet control and discipleship are different, just because someone tells us something to do, it doesn’t mean they are controlling. A controlling person attempts to force people and events into their line of thinking for their self benefit: Discipleship is to better the disciple, allowing the person to make mistakes in order to learn. Some of us hate to be told anything, when someone does say something we say, “they are so controlling”. No, we are, because we are attempting to control everything concerning us. This is Paul’s point in verse 5, “we” have received Grace and Apostleship, who is the “we”? In Romans 16:22 we find, “I Tertius. Who wrote this epistle, salute you in the Lord”. Wow, we thought this was from Paul? Tertius penned the work as Paul spoke, but was Tertius one of the “we”? No, Paul is showing Leadership Unity, thus he as a human was as imperfect as any of us, but Paul as the Apostle was not. If we limit Paul to the human side, we will miss the spiritual content of the writings, but if we exalt him above measure, we will make a idol out of him, keep him in the position of honor, but not an idol.
The Holy Ghost moved Paul to speak the words, thus Paul is a scribe, not the Author, yet he used another scribe. Nonetheless one of the functions of the Apostle is to deliver Commandments to the body, it’s what Paul is doing here. His authority not only granted him the position, it demanded it. Like a prophet, they are not to make up things to say, but neither are they to hold back the Word.
This is clearer by the phrase in verse 5, “according to the Spirit of Holiness”, wait didn’t we just see that? Yes, back up in verse 4, the same Spirit who Raised Jesus was in Paul, just as you and I. The Holy Ghost speaks to the New Man, the New Man to Paul’s soul. The Office of Paul was speaking, yet no man makes Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors or Teachers, they are placed in the Offices by the Lord through the Holy Ghost, man merely confirms the calling (Acts 13:1-3). Paul is presenting his qualifications, showing the Romans had no position to judge anyone, except to judge their own selves.
Verse 5 continues with “for the obedience to the Faith”, which could also read, “to the obedience of the Faith”, both are correct. This is not obedience by faith, or obedience through faith this is Obedience To the faith, pointing to the Faith of Jesus. When we study the Faith of Jesus we find God’s Wisdom was a working element of His Faith (James 2:1-4). If we are obedient to the Faith we follow the Faith of Jesus in like manner.
Obedience is a quality, but we can be obedient to our religious conceit, and still not obedient to the Faith. We can be obedient to the Law of Moses, but disobedient to the Faith, or obedient to our points of carnal theology, yet be disobedient to the Faith. We can have a theology filled with unbelief, is it “of the faith”? No, Paul will address this very issue, by making a division we must all keep in mind. We are neither to judge others, but neither are we to be judged. Does it mean no one will judge us? Not hardly, the carnal minded judge people all the time, it means they have no authority to judge us, we are judged of the Lord. Does it mean we can’t teach about the Wicked? Not at all, it means we don’t pick a person, judge them inferior, so we can feel exalted.
The Faith of Jesus gives us boldness and access, simply because it’s competed the course. The same Faith saw past the Cross and Resurrection to the time when we would be with the Lord in heaven. The Faith of Jesus is proven, secure, and far better than our measure of faith. So, what good is the measure of faith? Without it we haven’t a chance, it’s by the measure the New Man is guiding us along the paved path the Faith of Jesus. Without the Faith of Jesus we would attempt to blaze our own path, finding ourselves without focus, guidance or awareness of why we are Born Again.
In the famed Faith chapter in Hebrews we read all about the attributes of the measure of faith, but we also see all those attributes were on the earth, they gained a good report, but still their faith was not enough to gain the Promise (Heb 11:39); however, the Faith of Jesus not only gained the Promise, it has left a path for us to follow by faith. Works of the Law can’t find the path or street, much less follow it, self-righteousness will attempt to make its own street, but our faith joined to the Faith, as faith to Faith allows the New Man to guide us on the Path of Justification to the place where we shall be Glorified.
Later Paul will talk about a falling away from The Faith, which is not a falling from the measure of faith, it’s falling from The Faith of Jesus. What is the difference? Our measure can be placed in most anything, but it should be in God allowing us to follow Jesus by faith. If we begin to change verses from “His Faith” or “faith of Christ”, to “our faith”, we remove the Path, thus we may do things in a religious tone, but they will all be earth related, binding ourselves to the earth. It’s the path the Romans were taking, they left the Process of Justification, as then were entering the Process of Judgmental thinking, binding themselves to the wrong Law.
Then at the end of verse 5 we find “for His Name”, not for Paul’s name, fame or popularity, but for the sake of the Authority of Jesus, the same Authority is instilled in the Body of Christ. This letter is for the entire Body, if the majority of the Body sits in unbelief, it causes the rest of the Body to suffer. The biggest sin any of us can fall into is unbelief, it keeps us from the Rest of God, it keeps us from knowing the things of God, really it keeps us from truly loving the Lord.
After all Paul narrows it down to, “whom are you also the called of Jesus Christ”. The word Called is the same word used in verse 1, although the Romans felt superior for being called, Paul shows they weren’t the only ones called. It wasn’t because of some holiness God saw in them, it was because the Faith of Jesus saw Jew and Gentile in the kingdom, then sent Paul to tell them about it.
Verse 7 then relates as we find, “called to be saints”, were they not saints? Wait, didn’t Paul also say, “called to be an Apostle” (v. 1)? Different Greek word? No, same one, yet this is well after Acts 13:1-3, perhaps Paul got fired? Or laid off, a work shortage? No, he is showing Process, although he had the position, his training in the position continued. We are Called, yet it’s not the end of the race, or the end of the training.
Rom 1:8-12
Paul is about to correct the Romans, but his motive is also to advise them how they have what it takes to correct the error. Correction without showing the method of recovery ends in judgmental condemnation. Here Paul shows how God is his witness, he prayed for the Romans, longed to be with them, not to condemn them, but to impart some Charisma so they may be established. Then he defines established as “may be comforted together”, which is the one Greek word Sumparakaleo meaning to Exhort at the same time together. This Charisma is also found in Romans 12 among the Charisma of Charis, or the Signs of Grace (Rom 12:8). This “spiritual gift” is not some mystic spoon bending, it refers to edifying one another in the Faith of Christ by the Spirit, rather than judging those on the outside by judging them (v. 11-12).
Verse 13 is not self-justification on Paul’s part, rather he shows how he personally desired to come to them, but the “calling” of the Office took him to other Gentiles. It should be good news to the Romans, there were problems far greater than those facing them requiring the Apostle’s office. This area shows Paul is not coming against them, he is not ashamed of them, they need some help and clarity. He knows once clarity comes, so will the correction unto perfection. When a lust is exposed, or God allows a lust to be exposed, guilt is the last thing we want. James says count it all a joy when we fall, but the reasoning is to free of the lust which caused us to fall. The Roman’s were playing with the lust of religious conceit, they felt the race was run, yet they haven’t even begun. Guilt leads to repentance, repentance to correction, correction to being free of the lust, but if we remain in guilt repentance never comes, neither does correction.
Rom 1:14-17
The word Debtor means one who is in service, obligated, or owes a debt. All of us are debtors, but we are not debtors to the Law of Moses, since the Law of Moses didn’t save us. If we are Debtors to Jesus, how does Paul say he is a debtor to both the Greek and Barbarian? Especially when a Jew considers the Greeks and Barbarians one in the same? Is there a difference, is Paul making a division? Yes, the Jew looked at the division of the Jew and Greek as two completely separate classes. To them anyone who was a Greek was a Barbarian, according to the Jew the Greeks were not of God, could not be, never would be. Paul makes a division in the division, not for “class” sake, but to show there are Greeks who seek God, and Barbarians who don’t, just as their are those of Israel who seek God, and those who call themselves of Israel, who are not. This then pertains to the “called”, many are called, thus if we’re called there is a plan set for us to finish the race, but it doesn’t mean God will beat us stupid to keep us in the plan. Does God know who will accept, and who will reject? Yes, but it doesn’t stop Him from presentation.
This area doesn’t mean Paul is a debtor to the Gentile, because the Gentile saved him, rather he shows his calling to the Gentiles is based on his debt to Jesus. Do we have a debt? Yes, the saying, “owe no man anything, but to love him” is a debt. However, is it a debt to man or God? Ahh, the debt is unto God, the service or being a debtor is unto man. If we confuse the issue, we will find ourselves making covenants with man. Our Covenant is with God, the service of the Covenant is first unto God, then unto man. Our First Love is always toward God, our Second toward man. If we confuse the two, we stand in danger, not faith.
The phrase Not Ashamed in verse 16 comes from the Greek word Epaischunomai, meaning To be sorry, To withdraw, or To be sad. The Gospel exposes the nature of man, it’s suppose to, but it also points to Salvation, showing how futile self-righteousness is. He also points out the Gospel isn’t Salvation, rather it’s the Power “unto” Salvation; however, it is only effective for those who Believe. The Gospel can’t save us, but it is a Power (Dunamis), how can it be? The Law of Moses has a power, it can bless or curse, thus when God implants His words into something the something gains authority and power to the limits of it’s intent. The Gospel is Power based on the Information it provides, as it displays the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus. In First Thessalonians 1:5 Paul said, “For our Gospel came not unto you in word (Logos) only, but also in Power (Dunamis) and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance”. There were elements promoting the Gospel in order for it to bring the Truth to the ear of hearer.
Verse 17 confirms this, for in us the Righteousness of God is revealed, “from faith to faith”, as it is written, “the Just shall live by faith” (v. 17). Where is it written? Here for one, plus two other places in the New Testament (Gal 3:1 & Heb 10:38), but Paul wasn’t talking about the New Testament, he was referring to the Old, which became a Revealed truth. Habakkuk 2:4 is the only Old Testament verse coming close, which says, “the Just shall live by His faith”. It doesn’t say, “the just shall live by faith”, but Paul notes, “from faith to faith”, giving us the revelation of who this “His” is. From our measure of faith to The Faith of Jesus, which Paul already spoke of (vs. 1:5 & 1:12).
The phrase “faith to faith” is not Paul using the Jewish form of superlative adjectives, as we find in the phrase “vanity of vanities”, rather it’s more akin to the term “holy of holies”. We know the Tabernacle had various holy places, but there was one place holier than the others. It’s his point here, we have our measure of faith, but there is the greater Faith of Jesus. Our measure of faith is natural, it’s based on earthly matters, but the Faith of Jesus is earthly and heavenly, thus by His Faith, not our measure of faith we are justified. Justified in a practical sense means something complete, yet we see the various wording showing a process, thus the Faith of Jesus has accomplished the task, our faith reaches to the result by the Spirit. We are not going to make our measure of faith greater than the measure, nor are we going to make the Faith of Jesus less, rather knowledge increases our awareness of how much faith holds for us.
Our Separation came because the Gospel made it clear, we believed based on the measure of faith, which is nonetheless a gift. Without God’s intervention and gifts we would never have made the choice, so why judge someone who has not yet heard, or has not yet made the decision?
The revelation of the “righteousness of God”, is a mystery to some, later in Romans 10:3 we find anyone who engages in self-righteousness is blind to the Righteousness of God. If we seek our own righteousness, not only does pride build, but we are involved in dead works. Paul tells Timothy how the Scriptures instruct us in Righteousness, but here it’s the Gospel, thus the Gospel begins with the basic premise, seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness. Without seeking the Kingdom of God within, we have no basis for seeking the Righteousness of God. The context of Righteousness is the issue, granting us the position to be Justified, thus Paul is moving along the path of Process.
We found different aspects of holy, then two types of faith, surely there is more than one type of Righteousness. Self-righteousness is based on the mind of man determining some act on his part wherein he assumes the act grants him right standing. Unfortunately man uses his flesh to accomplish the goal, yet his mind takes the credit, which leads to pride in the effort, usually producing religious conceit. There are various types of self-righteousness as well, man can gain a standing before man, before the various positions of man in the world, but it doesn’t mean they have standing with God. Even right standing before the Law of Moses doesn’t mean one has right standing before God.
Self-righteousness will thank God, but it will steal the glory as well. Glory and “credit” relate, if we take the credit, we have taken the Glory, if we give man the credit, we have given man the glory. The old man is a thief, thus he will use wording to insert man’s supposed greatness, or the person’s supposed holiness and greatness into the act to steal the credit, whether it’s, “by my faith”, or “by my doing”, or the wonders of man, it’s still taking credit for the act, which is self-righteousness. When we view self-righteousness we must ask, Who obtained the glory? The person, not God. God becomes the tool, thus self-righteousness elevates the person. They use some deed God provided, but they insert something, supposing the act motivated God, thus they end elevating their own self far above measure. The minute we demand credit for our efforts, we have entered self-righteousness.
The real problem comes when we find the Righteousness of Christ is the Scepter to the Kingdom (Heb 1:8). Holding self-righteousness negates us from entering the Kingdom. A sad note, but if we accept the Cross, give our Token of water baptism, then run to self-righteousness we have negated everything the Gospel promises. It becomes clear when Paul shows how the Spirit bears witness to our Spirit, then he says we can be cut off because of unbelief. However, being cut-off doesn’t mean we are separated from the Love of Christ, it means our unbelief has separated us from the Tree. In order to be in the Love of Christ, one must be in Christ, thus no outside influence can separate us form the Love which is in Christ. This is a Covenant, God will provide all it takes and more, but it still depends on us doing our part without stealing the glory, or involving ourselves in acts of self-righteousness.
There is also Imputed righteousness, an area Paul will cover shortly, giving man right standing to enter Covenant with God based on something the person has. Abraham was the first to have imputed righteousness, but was he seeking to be righteous? No, he didn’t even know what it was, rather he believed God, then God imputed righteousness to him based on the continual belief, so it could be by faith. The phrase alone must show us how we begin with Belief, so it might be by Faith, rather than the other way around.
When we came to the Cross we were looking for the forgiveness of our sins, as well as being restored. God imputed a righteousness on us so we could enter, but we didn’t dance up to the Cross telling God we had right standing. Rather we came to the Cross because we knew we didn’t. It’s the problem with self-righteousness, the person doing an act based on something of the flesh, but the flesh is corrupt, timed and limited. Whatever the act was, it’s only for the moment, it has no long lasting effects, yet the Righteousness of God is always Alpha and Omega, without end.
Since the flesh is involved in self-righteousness, it also means the old nature is involved, indicating self-righteousness had to use the spirit lusting to envy, making the effort covetousness, causing the Commandment, Thou shall not covet to fall on the person, which in turn causes the act to be dead. It’s a vicious circle, do something to gain position for our self, but the effort is self based, ending in sin, we are then condemned by the same Law we sought standing before. What to do?
Submit to a Righteousness not ours but given to us, which leads us to the next type of righteousness. Imparted Righteousness or God’s Righteousness obtained from God, which belongs to God, yet it’s granted on the understanding we can’t earn it, rather we receive it. This form of Righteousness is something granted in the New Birth alone, as one of the elements of the New Man (Eph 4:24). This Righteousness must be in the Seed of God in order for us to have it, thus it grants us absolute standing based on the efforts of Jesus.
Rom 1:18-25
Here is a switch in the middle of the road, from “the power unto Salvation” to “the wrath of God”. Go figure? If this was a sermon most of us would be wondering if we fell asleep. “What happened?”, “What happened to the Gospel?”, “Who was the masked man, and what is his horse doing here?”.
The “we” and the “they”, and why it’s useless to put our focus on things not able to secure us in God’s Righteousness. The Corinthians were concerned about baptism, but for the wrong reasons. They weren’t concerned what it stood for, but whose was better. “I was baptized by this one”, “Oh, well, you know brother so-and-so baptized me”. It’s the same mess we get into over “name”, “which name?”, “the Name”, whether it’s the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, or “the Name” of Jesus, it’s the same Authority. What is the result? Do you know you are of the Body? Then the water baptism worked. Do you know God forgave your sins? Then the asking worked. If it’s the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, wouldn’t it stand the Son is Jesus? The Name of Jesus incorporates the Authority into the Body, but the Holy Ghost still brings the Power. We don’t need the authority of Jehovah, nor do we have to use the Greek or Hebrew pronunciation, it’s not whether we can pronounce the Name, it’s whether or not we are in the Name.
What are the elements we find here, “ungodliness”, okay, “unrighteousness”, oops, we just read about God’s Righteousness being revealed. The word unrighteousness is the Greek Adikia meaning Unrighteousness, Iniquity, or Unjust. When Paul, or any of the New Testament writers speak of Unjust, or Unrighteous it refers to a person who has the ability to be Just or Righteous, but they Un-do it by refusing to walk in what is available. It’s different from someone who either doesn’t know about it, or is incapable of doing it. This goes back to the “just shall live by faith”, but if one is Unjust are they also “not-just”? Sounds like it, yet by using the prefix “Un” it shows they had the opportunity to be Just by living by faith, but they made the choice to change the procedure, in so doing made their Just – Unjust. When we Undo something, we take what was established and reverse it. The Unjust do the same, Unjust is also found as one of the definitions of Iniquity. What would be the Iniquity? Failure to become among the Just when the ability to do is in hand. Iniquity leads to sin, thus in not doing something, we will end doing something we’re not suppose to. It’s the same context we find in Hebrews 10:38-39, the Just who believe unto the saving of the soul, then the unjust who draw back to perdition. If they draw back, it means they were in a position higher than what they drew back to, as a result of reversing the Just into Unjust. Which would we focus on? We have the knowledge of the Unjust, but do we focus on them? Or do we focus on “the saving of our souls”? If we get this wrong, we end judging people, meaning we become what we judge.
The Greek word for revealed is the same one in both verses (1:17 & 1:18), it’s the Greek Apokalupto meaning to uncover or disclose. It’s the same context as Jesus being revealed on the Last Day, the “revelation given to Jesus”, is not some information given to Jesus, it’s Jesus revealed to those who pierced Him, and those who wail because of Him (Rev 1:7). The word Revelation in the phrase “the Revelation of Jesus Christ” (Rev 1:1) is the Greek Apokalusis meaning Appearing, or Disclosure of Truth. Paul shows either we see the Revelation of God’s Righteousness, or face the Revealing of Jesus at the time of God’s wrath.
What is the main concept in verse 18 referring to the “unrighteousness”? Holding “the truth in unrighteousness”. How? Knowing the Gospel, but seeking their own self-righteousness, which would be unbalanced, or unequal. The Greek word for Hold is Katecho meaning to Resist, or hold back, thus by using self-righteousness they hinder the Righteousness of God in their own lives. It’s a far cry from someone who has never heard the Gospel, or someone who has never sought the Kingdom.
Verse 19 gives us the “Because”, in the wording “which may be known”, which is the Greek word Gnostos meaning information received and understood. This is not something manifest around them, over them, next to them, behind them, it’s “in them”, meaning in their minds, thus it was presented and accepted. The Seed was planted, what they did from there determines the outcome. So, why go into this? Judging others is not only a waste of time, it invokes self-righteousness, or comparing others to what we think we are. The Law of the Spirit tells us to judge ourselves and things, not people.
Generally if we judge people, it’s because we are insecure, thus rather than Judge, Paul is going to tell us to put our mind on the Spirit. Judging others is a sure sign we are seeking validation, we want to be better than others, we want God to accept us above all others, to give us some special “name”, something validating us above others. Leading us to self-justification by judging others below us to feel superior, of course we feel better about ourselves, yet it’s an illusion. Jesus in us makes us acceptable, we have the Righteousness of God; however, it’s like the love of God, we don’t earn it, we accept it.
God’s creations are found in many areas, the flower budding, yet how does it know to bud? The caterpillar turns into a butterfly, how does it know? Nature itself is an awareness of the Divinity. God placed laws into nature, even nature doesn’t attempt to change the law over it, thus God has shown if we follow the law assigned to us, we hold victory. It doesn’t mean God is a flower, it means God designed nature so everything produces after it’s own kind. If we are Born Again we know the premise is for the Spirit to form our souls into a Spiritual nature, making the two one. The one question man cannot answer without inserting the Power of God, “how does an apple tree know to be an apple tree?”. By design, we were designed to seek God, become Born Again, then walk with the Spirit. The old nature was designed to lead us into the second death by keeping us bound to the flesh. Man studies monkeys, but the monkeys don’t study man, it has to tell mankind something.
The New Birth is the revealing of Truth bringing Light, to produce Clarity. The New Man takes verses, applies them to Life by breathing the Truth of Christ into the words to make them applicable to us. Each time we gain a step, we become closer to the saving or our souls. When the revelation of that Born of the Spirit is Spirit begins to take shape, we will enter the change in natures with gladness. Our thinking begins to change from the carnal to the spiritual, from the natural intellect to the knowledge of God. We begin to gain clarity, seeing things as they are, division, separation, the Word being engrafted are all signs of Christ in us, the hope of glory. The change in nature is perhaps the biggest sign, we are no longer deceptive or manipulative; we no longer do many of the things we used to do. Not because we have forced ourselves not to do them, rather it’s because we simply don’t want to. The change from Saul the Christian hunter, to Paul the Apostle of Grace was not by will power, it was by God’s power.
Rom 1:20-25
The Manifest (v. 19) implies seeing things invisible in signs of Creation being made known by the Gospel. The Truth revels the differences between the Day and Night, we know there is a Gospel, because Jesus spoke the Truth, thus we saw it as truth. We found we were is sin, yet we also found there is a way out of sin. Those things were hidden, yet now revealed; notwithstanding the proof of Nature itself. If those things are past tense, they relate to our belief. There is no reason not to believe, the evidence is before us. This is even clearer in verse 20 where we find the word Godhead, meaning Divinity, or the obvious evidence showing there is a God. God made Himself known so we could have the foundation to believe, without belief we have no foundation. We walk by faith, but faith must have a stepping off place, it’s not saying belief is the unseen producing faith, rather it’s the foundation to support faith; therefore, faith without Godly knowledge and belief to guide it soon becomes self-based witchcraft.
Verse 21 begins with another “Because”, linking to “they are without excuse”. However we again see Paul speaking about the “them”, so why go through this? The Romans looked at “them” but glorified the “us”; Paul is leading to a point, giving us an example of judging righteously. Yes the wrath of God is coming, Yes there is Salvation for those of the Day, but is there a danger for those of the Day who judge the “them”?
Verse 21 shows the Because is based on they “knew God”, or had an awareness of God, but they didn’t glorify Him as God, neither were they Thankful, but became vain (proud) in their Imaginations, as their Foolish heart was Darkened. This “them” are the very ones the Romans were judging, so is Paul also judging? No, he is showing what happens when we judge people. The them judged the us, but if we judge the them we will become like “them”. The word Knew is the Greek Ginsoko meaning to Perceive or Understand, whether by knowledge or experience. It’s easy to look at someone who is a sinner, then boast in our Justification, but if we do, we are not justified, but under the wrong Law.
The wording “were thankful” is the Greek Eucharisteo meaning To feel thankful, or to Give thanks regarding their position. It’s the same Greek word found in the phrase, “Giving Thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph 5:20). Jude shows there are complainers, murmurers who walk after their own lusts, yet they also, “feast with you, feeding themselves without fear” (Jude 16 & 12). They have no fear of God, they confuse faith as a means to get what they want, when they want it. They are “self-based”, yet they had the same opportunity as the Spirit filled saint who rests in the Joy of the Lord. They didn’t want to do it God’s way, they formed their own agenda and rules, they held to their unbelief, they were cut off from the Tree, but they had the opportunity and ability to remain as a righteous branch.
As the heart believes, so goes a man; their foolish heart caused them to become fools (v. 22). However, we will find we must believe in our heart Jesus is raised from the dead. Two different premises, but the “heart” is involved in each. Two things will be required, information from which to believe, with a mind void of unbelief. The information is contained in the Bible, none of us were around in those days, none of us saw the grave clothes, really only a hand full of witnesses did, but those witnesses also had changed lives to prove their statements. Since we are a people of faith, it stands the “test of faith” is seen in the many manuscripts. We have the opportunity to believe, yet there are those who question the evidence, the choice is before us, do we make the choice to believe? Or not to? Which choice we make determines who we are.
The heart issue is a different story, Jesus said from the heart comes no good thing (Matt 15:18), Isaiah saw the people had transgressed and committed iniquities, conceiving and uttering falsehoods from their hearts (Isa 59:13). Ezekiel gave a prophecy for our time, as God said we would have a New Heart, as God would make us Pure with Clean Water, giving us a New Spirit (Ezek 36:25-27). Then the Palmist said, create in me a Clean heart oh God, and renew a right spirit within me (Ps 51:10). God did it in the New Birth, He gave us His Spirit, thus God is Spirit. We’re not God, but we have God in us of a truth forming our souls into a spiritual nature. In the New Birth we obtained a New heart, from the new heart we are able to Believe Jesus is raised from the dead, as the same Spirit who raised Jesus will raise us. If it’s the case and it is, then the Spirit in us is the “Spirit of Holiness” or Holy Spirit, something so New it took a New Covenant to bring it to pass. The premise is still the Resurrection, no one can have the Holy Spirit, neither the declaration until they first die. How? By imputing the flesh dead on the Cross of Jesus, then we travel to the grave to have the Power of the Resurrection as the Seal of the Holy Spirit is our assurance of the imputing taking effect. Now the problem, our souls were flesh related, they need a change in viewpoint, from a dead soul, to a living soul, to a becoming a quickening spirit. We cannot retain the same old heart, we must submit to the circumcision of the heart in order to be sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. Paul is about to show the failure of natural man attempting to conduct spiritual matters. The second we brag in our natural intellect, discipleship, ability, talent or give man the glory we have coveted what belongs to God, causing the Commandment to fall on us, thus a New Heart gives us a fresh start, as it also grants us a viewpoint absent of the flesh.
Verse 23 is a warning about idol worship, but it also defines some interesting areas. God is Incorruptible, which means completely void of death, or decay. The “glory” refers to recognition, or who gets the honor or credit. Man does something, then man gives himself the recognition. However belief and faith know if it was Good, it came from God.
Mentor worship falls within this scope, our favorite person of God all of sudden is our “idol”. Of course we don’t say Idol, we say Hero, but if we exalt them above measure, we have made them an idol. Giving honor to the laborers of God is vital, making them idols is not.
Paul covered both Jew and Gentile, the Jew tended to elevate Moses to an equal to God, or elevated the Law of Moses above God. The Gentile took birds, and such and made them idols. An idol is an idol: whenever we take a creation, regardless of the creation then exalt it above measure, or form an idol by our hands, it’s all foolishness (v. 23). We can also see how the veneration of things was going on in Paul’s day, it wasn’t the item, but the worshiping of it causing the problem.
Giving man the glory is always dangerous, if man continues making man his god, he will soon fall for other lusts. Dishonoring their bodies, or changing the “Truth” of God into a lie, they worship and Serve the creature “more than the Creator”. This is not being void of God, it’s when they elevate things or people above what God has. Whether it’s the glory, the Law, the Body, the anointing, our worship, or some other item, we must keep all things in Order, since all things are under the Feet of Jesus.
Any of us can find ourselves chasing something of God, rather than diligently seeking God. Leaders can make the mistake of putting the ministry above God, yet the ministry is merely a tool used to display God. Paul wasn’t going to put the Gospel above God, rather he kept it in its rightful place. It has power, but where did the Power come from. The Gospel? Or God?
Rom 1:26-32
The term “vile affections” in verse 26 draws our interest, giving us a clue to the attitude and character causing the Truth to be held in unrighteousness; also displaying why Paul will rebuke the Romans so strongly over their “judgmental” attitude. The wording Vile Affections comes from two Greek words, the word Vile is the Greek Atimia meaning Without honor, or Dishonor, it’s the root used for a “vessel of dishonor”, which element Paul will speak on. The word Affections is the Greek Pathos meaning To suffer, or Hurt, it relates to a “diseased soul”, which shows the soul has rejected the Just position, becoming diseased.
An evil lust is based in some envy, the spirit lusting to envy not only produces them, it seeks them out. A lust will surface any way it can, it has a power as well, the power of darkness, but nonetheless a power. If not, it couldn’t control the fallen nature of man. The manifested evil from the lust may or may not be the actual lust, it will merely take advantage of the moment and opportunity. A lust for control could surface as a lust based in greed, or some other lustful area. Only the Spirit can discern, but Paul will show how idol worship stems from other lusts, judging others is merely making ourselves the idol, as the creation worships the creation by belittling others. All this would seem strange in light of James telling us to rejoice when we fall into divers temptations, but James points to recognition of the lust, Paul points to ignoring it.
If we presume the final result of all this Vile thinking is physical homosexuality we miss the point. Joining to members of our own sex to avoid joining to our mate is homosexuality, thus one can join to the things of the old nature, while refusing to become of the Body, thus becoming homosexual. The term “homosexual” means of the Same sex, if we remain natural we remain of the “same sex”, thus there is more to this than the physical aspect. Will the physical actual happen? Perhaps, the lust will surface, but we can’t limit it to one area, or the other. The manifestation does not necessarily identify the type of lust, we can knock all the apples off the tree, feeling better for the moment, but we have failed to removed the tree. The same fruit grows back, what we thought was under the Blood all of sudden reappears. The apples were removed, but the tree remained, because we took it upon ourselves to remove the lust. It takes the Spirit in us to discern, remove, and free us from the lust. Whether we call them “spirits” or “lusts” or “evils”, or “devils” doesn’t matter, if we don’t deal with the rulers of darkness by the Spirit we will find ourselves continually battling the same old evils time and again.
God allows the lust to surface so it can be dwelt with, not so we can play with it. The example is Peter, as Jesus allowed Satan to sift Peter, because the result would better Peter. Jesus never told Peter it was “sin”, because God was working with Peter. If we confuse the exposure as some demon working in us we miss the point. God didn’t produce the evil, He didn’t produce the lust, the lust is something twisted in the darkness to activate the flesh. God allows it to surface as a temptation, so it can be dwelt with, thus we rejoice, as James says. However, if we play with the lust, allow it to conceive, work it with to become sin, then continue to use it, we have rejected the exposure, allowing the lust to be our king. We have not because we want to consume the product on a lust.
The lust to be superior, the lust of acceptance, the lust of control are all deceptive elements; because they use deception to manifest. We attack the manifestation, but fail to deal with the source. This is not devil possession, it’s the lust of the flesh or eye; the lust seeks “pleasure”, or the feeling through unsaved emotions, even being a victim can be lust based, the lust of wanting to be the suffering martyr. Judging others is a lust manifested, the Romans were suffering from the lust of superiority by judging people inferior so they could feel superior. Cult leaders suffer from the same lust, they use the lust in them to seek others with the same lust, rather than deal with it, they exploit it. Paul is taking a teachers walk to the problem, as well as what the problem will develop into when we fail to deal with it.
How would this relate to the Wicked? They are called to be the “Bride”, but they are found in the bed of adultery with the Woman, same sex. They are termed “males” on the earth, yet they are found with the Beast of the Sea, another male, same sex. They may be diametrically opposed to physical homosexual acts, even to the point of giving long and serious sermons on the subject, but they are nonetheless sleeping in the wrong bed.
Whatever the teaching or sermon, there must be an escape. Judgmental attitudes leave no room for repentance, or escape, they paint people into a corner, find them guilty, then condemn them to death. Paul will present the Door to freedom before this is over.
The wording “Gave Up” in verse 26 means delivered over, the term “natural use” is the Greek phrase “Phusikos (yielding only to base instincts as a wild beast) Chresis (the act of using)”, showing the physical ways of sexual relationships, generally referring to husband and wife, but here we find a direct reference to homosexuality. What happen to choice? It’s there, God doesn’t turn them over because their name is on the “not to be saved” list. He turns them over because of the choices they make. God’s plan is for all to come to the saving knowledge of the Gospel, so none will be lost, but God will not force Salvation on us. If He did, surely all would be saved. If God’s desire is for none to be lost, then God has a plan for all to make it, but do all? If so why did Jesus tell the workers of Iniquity, “depart from me”? The Report takes the Witness to bring the Report to pass.
So then, was Paul judging? Did he fail to be Tolerant? The world confuses compromise with tolerance, as we can confuse judging the activity with judging the person. Paul does say “them”, but he also says God is the one who turns them over to vile affections, or better God simply gave them over to what they sought after. It began by the “them” holding the truth in unrighteousness when the opportunity to hold the truth in righteousness was in hand, thus their iniquity did lead them to sin. Clearly if they held the Truth, they were aware of the Truth. This is not pointing to the world, but to those who held the Truth in unrighteousness.
Paul told us Nature gives us signs of God, thus we can view the animals to determine which is proper, same sex, or male with female? God had a set plan, He isn’t going to change in mid-stream just to appease the lusts of man. It becomes the point, they attempted to change the plan of God, rather than “being justified” they make themselves justified in their own eyes. Rather than accepting the Righteousness of God, they use self-righteousness, yet call it holy. Rather than be Born Again, they use the he in the world, yet call themselves Christian. Therefore, we find this is not against the homosexual, it’s against the person who attempts to twist, or upset the Natural Order of God in reference to the Truth of the Gospel. The Natural way of God is not Natural as in soulish, rather it’s the plan of God; thus the lustful nature of man attempts to disrupt the Way of God. Those who worship the creation are in the process of disrupting the Ways of God.
People are offended when we preach on a “thing” when they have attached themselves to the “thing”. Whether it’s unbelief, forgiveness, or something else opposed to the Ways of God. There are differences between “you” and “it”, there is a difference between condemnation, and providing a means of escape.
If they are called, then accepted the conditions of being in the Body, yet desire to continue to hold the truth in unrighteousness, they become the “they”. Of course the next step would be the lust becoming their lord and guide, causing them to regress to following the spirit lusting to envy (old man), thus separating themselves from the Spirit, but they are still loved by Jesus. Jesus loved the rich man, yet watched him walk away.
The Bible speaks specifically against same sex marriages, or same sex sexual arrangements, whatever one desires to call them. Not only does this refer to the sexual activities, but it also refers to “social” activities as well. The Greek word “Pusikos” has a root word of Phusis meaning nature, or the natural condition, referring to the natural order of things, thus when someone says, “I was born this way”, they’re right, all of us were. We are born into the sin nature, no one escaped the dark cloud, but it doesn’t mean we have to stay there. None are righteous, no not one, but it doesn’t mean they can’t be. The escape is finding the manner in which they turned the Truth into unrighteousness, then correct the problem.
The lust of the flesh seems to surface in some sexual manner, it may include addiction to pornography, sexual behavior not conducive to “bone of my bone”, or other lusts physical in nature, including abusive behavior toward a mate, whether physical or verbal; however, it also shows the source of the lust may not be sexual, it may in be the person has accepted the Truth, but holds it in unrighteousness.
Hiding the tree isn’t going to help either, we first have to accept the premise, “every one is drawn away by their own lust”, we have to remove the thoughts of “it was the person”, or “the thing”, or “the way I am”, we can’t all of a sudden disown the lust which caused us to fall, as if it was in someone else. Next we have to recognize the manifested act may, or may not the cause. Then we have to allow the Spirit in us to clean us, bringing us to a point of freedom. Paul’s shows what happens when anyone attempts to change the Plan of God to fit their own agenda, ending in a lust being activated. The case here is how they were judging, it had to be based on a lust, if a lust then they were not as innocent as they thought. God will deliver someone over to their own “vile affections” when they change the Truth into a lie. Ahh, this doesn’t refer to mankind in general, but to those who held the Truth in unrighteousness.
The comparison to love the Lord, or to love idols is often the same, idol worship takes on many forms, we can make an idol out of our intellect, or out of a lust, or out of a person. The act of worship means we are submitting to what we worship, we can worship the Lord in church, yet worship the old nature the rest of the week. Praise is giving thanks, but any form of worship is a form of surrender to what we worship.
This separation is by God, but based on what man does, thus it’s based on the Them failing to conform to the Truth, rather they conformed to the world. The “them” are called, thus this connects to God forming the vessels of dishonor, showing He does so based on the choices made by the vessel. Clearly God delivers them over, thus they were in God’s order, and loved of the Lord. They said they wanted to serve, but really they wanted to be served. They cursed the lusts in others, but used their own lusts to do so. This is clearer by the use of the wording “the error which was meet” (v. 1:27). The word Meet is correct, it’s not “meant” or “mate”, it’s the Greek Dei meaning The course of nature, or the necessity brought on by circumstances. The word Reprobate means worthless, thus we don’t call them Raca, God does. The indication is how they treated God’ s Truth and Righteousness, is how God is treating them.
Paul listed many items, some we know by the mere word, some need a deeper understanding. Each of these areas show God delivered the person, because their ways left Him no choice. They had no fear of God, thus Paul is showing a righteous fear of God keeps us in the Plan. God is Just, the deliverance placed us in the position to be Just, yet to make the Just, Unjust is not the purpose of the Truth. The word Wickedness means Iniquity, it has the same context as spiritual wickedness. Spiritual wickedness is not a matter of doing some wicked spiritual, it’s a matter of failing to be spiritual when one has the ability, thus showing an Unequal position; it’s the same as having the Spirit, yet refusing to be spiritual.
After telling us the women gave up their natural affections, and the men did likewise, Paul then lists several things which don’t appear to us to be acts of homosexuality, they are nonetheless the results of holding the Truth in unrighteousness. The “natural” method of God’s Order is the point, homosexuality is the rebellious attack against the order. God said “it shall be this way”, the spirit lusting to envy captured someone by a lust then said, “on it won’t”. The person’s soul is the prize in all this, the person is the tool used of the enemy to attack God. The person usually hasn’t a clue, they seek the pleasure, or the feeling, but both the pleasure and feeling are flesh based, generated by a lust ruling the person. It’s the lust the enemy uses to destroy, the temptation is the means to activate the lust; however, the test is the way God will expose the lust, in order to get us to a point to be clean.
The word Debate is coupled with the term malicious, indicating one who uses debate as a method to exhibit a malicious manner, their point is not to win a person over, but to cause them harm, or make them look foolish. The intent of Persuasion is to win someone over, it may be harsh, or austere, but the purpose is still to save a soul.
Debate is opinion motivated, or pride based, an opinion is something we think to be true, but lack solid evidence to prove it so. One can debate for hours, yet without a Scripture to prove their point clearly, it’s still an opinion. Debate is centered on the reasoning of man, in order to make one feel superior over another. The harm is to prove another wrong, by belittling them, which is usually evident in many, if not all debates. Debate is the perversion of Persuasion, it’s a personal attack against the person, which is another form of judging them.
The word Whisperers means one who is a slanderer; which is based on the intent to cause harm to someone, or their reputation. Whether the information is factual or not doesn’t matter, the intent does. A Whisperer is not out to help someone, they are running around telling tales about someone. This is not the same as Libel, since Libel is based on an outright lie. From this we see how two people can say the same thing, one with the intent to restore, the other with the intent to do harm, the former is spiritual in nature, the latter is not. Whispering is a perversion of “speaking the truth in love”, rather it seeks to destroy, in order for the one doing the whispering to be exalted.
Jesus didn’t slander the Pharisees when He told them they were of their father the devil, rather He exposed their condition, yet allowed them the choice to change. Whereas, the Pharisees slandered Jesus based on their envy. They didn’t want Jesus to change for the “Good”, they wanted Him to stop doing Good based their own selfish self-interests.
A God hater is one who has made themselves destitute of God, they would be Ungodly or Raca. It doesn’t mean they don’t use the Name of Jesus, nor does it mean they won’t preach, rather it means they have rejected the purpose of Salvation, thus their rebellion placed them against the purposed order of God. Using the old man to replace the Spirit is also hating God, thus anything done Anti (opposed) to God falls into this realm.
Insolent means a persecutor of others, which includes coming against others, yet God calls for Mercy and restoration, insolent leads to being rude and disrespectful toward the people of God, or God’s plan.
Inventors of evil things, doesn’t mean creator of evil, it means “to make believe”, or devise fables, such as doctrines of men, or doctrines of devils. The doctrines of men seek to ignore the Commandment, the doctrines of devils are teachings based in unbelief. The doctrine, regardless of the doctrine has to fit the Doctrine of Christ. However, doctrines of men can come from well learned people, but it’s still their opinion on what they think is meant by the concept, but still desiring to ignore the Commandment. We must have plain Scripture, as we allow the Bible to define the Bible. Using the unbelief of a scholar still doesn’t excuse our unbelief, but we do find one person’s unbelief enticed another’s.
Implacable means to cause a state of war, connecting it to the term Slanderer. There are those who go about causing war, even their prayer life is causing war among the brethren (James 4:1-4). They also pray their will into the life of another, which is witchcraft. They cause wars among others, so they can be the great peacemaker. They make the war happen, then move in as the great counselor, to heal the wounded, then take the glory. One can disrupt peace without causing a state of war, thus they can simply bring discourse by asking questions challenging the Truth. One can also disrupt the peace in the Body, causing a state of war between denominations, which falls under Implacable.
We often look at the context of Romans 1:32 as pertaining to those who take pleasure in the acts of others; however, there is a type of pleasure we tend to overlook, it’s really the context of the Scripture. Paul just listed a bunch of things, all based in the fall nature, the Romans are going “yeah, amen”, but they were taking pleasure in the things they found in others. When we take pleasure in the evils of others, we are no better than “they”. Rejoicing in iniquity is still void of God’s love. Here we find they took pleasure in the failures of others, in order to exalt their own selves.
Rom 2:1-3
Reading this, then reading I Corinthians 2:15 it would appear as a contradiction of terms, or at least a contradiction of teaching; however, the context of both shows a connection, as the Greek words used give us the contextual connection. Here it appears judging is a sin regardless, but then in I Corinthians Paul says those who are spiritual judge things. If it’s a sin to judge, yet the spiritual do it, does it mean the spiritual are sinners? What happened? Did he change theology? Perhaps it’s different doctrines for different folks, or perhaps he is just saying what needs to be said to whatever group he is talking to? It can’t be right, it would be deception, no there is an answer, one connecting the two. Here the context is judging people for the purpose of exalting ourselves; in Corinthians it’s judging things, not people. There is a vast difference between the two. Judging flesh and blood, makes us flesh minded, but judging the “things” is seeking clarity in order to deal with the things in a Godly manner. Judging the words of a person tells us much about them, Jesus said from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, plus by our words we are either justified or condemned. The Romans were judging people, the Corinthians failed to judge their own selves. The teaching is still don’t judge people, judge things so you can help people.
The Roman’s were once Gentiles, but now they were seeking to be true Jews, but mixed the words Jew and Israel in the same box, ending giving honor to the wrong Law. To understand the term Jew, we must separate the term from its use today. In Paul’s day the tribes were still in order, thus he knew he was from the tribe of Benjamin; however, today the term Jew has become a generic term including all the Jewish people. The term Israel means the nation, an Israeli is someone who lives, or is from Israel. The term Jewish refers to the religion, the religion of the Jewish people refers to the Covenant of the Law of Moses, with the Abrahamic Covenant. If the Jewish people were forbidden from keeping the sabbath by some government, they still had circumcision of the flesh to show they were assigned to the Abrahamic Covenant. A Jewish person can be from any country in the world, but an Israeli is from Israel. It becomes an important division, since Paul will talk about circumcision as one being a true Jew, or one who is attached to the True Covenant. If we change the title to “true Israel” we error, rather than talk about a person, we change it to a nation. Later Paul will make the distinction clear when he talks about the “Israelites” who are born of the flesh into a nation (v. 9:4). We find any “true Israel” concept means one is still of the flesh. Hardly the position we seek. Amen?
This helps us understand why Paul tells the Galatians there is One Seed, which is Seed is Christ, yet here in Romans he tells us the seed of Abraham is many. Two different seeds, one natural, one spiritual. Although Abraham knew of the natural, he didn’t know of the spiritual. The actions of Abraham were laying out the course to the Cross, but God never told him the course. Abraham was looking for a son from he and Sara, with a land promised to his generations to follow. The inheritance to Abraham’s seed as many was the land, to Abraham it was the promised son. The inheritance to those of Christ is a Kingdom not of this earth.
Let’s look at how the Holy Ghost used all this, it began by Paul defining his position, then the We who serve by the Spirit, then the They who hold the Truth in unrighteousness, now it’s “You”. Verse 2:1 connects to 1:20 with the phrase “they are without excuse”, the connection shows the Romans are also without excuse, but why? They weren’t doing those things, they were judging them. They were taking pleasure in finding fault to exalt themselves, so they could feel superior, yet they were in the Body because of God, not their goodness. Paul wants to know if they judge these people inferior, why don’t they cast the net? Rather than spit in the water?
Without excuse means No defense, nothing can be said to justify the act. If the Romans are in the Body and Justified, how then can they be “without excuse”? Being Justified is a process, they stopped short to exalt their own selves, rather than grasp the concept of “being Justified”. They made the error of thinking the Report was the Witness, entering the illusion of their superiority over the masses.
The word Hypocrite is a compound word meaning to “under judge”, the word Hypo is known to us in the word Hypodermic needle. The suffix “dermic” refers to the skin (epidermis), thus a hypodermic needle is one going under the skin. Here we find it’s judging someone inferior, but by judging someone inferior, they became what they judged (v.1). In order to judge someone we must have a law allowing it, the only law allowing anyone to judge people is the Law of Moses, yet it’s the Law judging, not man. By their acts they moved themselves from the Law of the Spirit to the Law of Moses, yet in the process they found themselves guilty.
From judging others, to the Judgment of God, which is according to Truth. The Romans had no position to judge, they didn’t have the authority to allow it, they didn’t know what God had in store for the “them”. Judge the ways of a person, not their acts, or their personality. The steps from Justice to Mercy to Grace will be the route of recovery. Justice is getting what we deserve, Mercy is not getting what we deserve, and Grace is getting something we don’t deserve. The Romans had slipped into judgmental thinking, they needed to be restored back to the Process, by knowing it was a Process.
Verse 3 begins our path of Imputing, really the Romans were imputing, but in an ungodly manner. They considered others inferior, based on their own assumptions. The word Think is the Greek word Logizomai meaning Having the like force and effect of something, or To pass to ones account, in God’s case it’s looking at someone as if they have something based on some Truth He knows of. The word Belief is a good illustration, Abraham believed God, then God accounted or Imputed Righteousness to him. The Belief allowed God to make a connection to some Truth God was aware of, even if Abraham was not. We enter by Belief, Abraham was accounted something by his belief, which allowed God to impute righteousness, so it could be by faith. Faith is a now confidence in a future hope, to Abraham his hope was dependent on a Covenant, but his belief was based in what God said.
The imputed procedure is how God operates, we say we will forgive, God imputes His Mercy to us based on Jesus saying, “Father forgive them”. When we impute mercy on others, whether we feel like it, or not we enter the process to obtain the imparted Mercy of God. When we received the Spirit the imparted Mercy of God came to us in the Holiness found in the New Man as a living part of our New nature.
In one form or another Paul will use Logizomai in some 18 verses, it is an important concept, one we can easily misuse, as did the Romans. Paul will show how God imputes in a Godly manner, yet Paul will also show how the Romans imputed in an ungodly manner. The ministry of Reconciliation begins when we refuse to impute sins on people (II Cor 5:18-20), but the Romans were imputing sins on people, then judging them. They changed the natural order of Reconciliation to Condemnation.
It begins here in verse 3, the Romans imputed (think) by judging, if we Impute such things on the world, it’s because we have something in us still connected to the world. The old man imputes sin, fault, error on others, but our call is not to impute sin on others, thus there are things we impute, yet things we don’t impute. Paul is going to show the Romans how to deal with the issue, then set them free of their judgmental attitude, which in turn should place their minds on the Spirit and the Precious.
Rom 2:4-16
We begin to see the “we”, and the “they” are among the called, the Romans were standing at the gap between being a “we”, or a “they”. From all this we can see the difference between Paul judging the things of the Romans, then producing the means of escape, whereas the Romans were judging others, failing to provide a means of escape. If our words are laced with unbelief, yet someone judges our words, we may assume they are judging us, because we are connected to the unbelief, but in truth our words have exposed us. If we fail to discern, we will consider the exposure a personal attack, when in truth it’s exposure to bring us to the awareness of the source of our words, so we can be free of the sin which so easily besets us. On the same note, if we spoke as an oracle of God, yet they reacted to the words in a hostile manner as did the Pharisees, we nonetheless did our job. Not everyone is going to say, “Oh my God, you are right, I see it, thanks”; however, we must know we presented the Word as God intended. Paul is reaching out to the Romans, so they can enter the process again.
The key word in verse 4 is Goodness, which is the Greek Chrestotes in the first usage, a slight change in the second usage to Chrestos: Chrestotes means Integrity, whereas Chrestos means Mild, Kind, Pleasant or Benevolent, pointing more to the Character of God. The first usage points to the Riches of God’s goodness, the second to the actual goodness of God. Purpose is the real issue, the Romans have no idea what God is doing, or allowing, or ordaining, they are just looking at the now then making a self-determination. Do we do the same? Some do, but none of us should.
Paul is still on the “You”, showing how judging will either make our heart hard, or our judging is a sign of our lack of confidence in our position in the Body, in either case we if we judge people, it places us under the wrong Law. The word Impenitent is the Greek Ametanoetos meaning Unrepentant, another key to the source of their thinking. Some of us repent, but we only repent for things we are sure are sins, we fail to repent for our entire sinful past. Areas we felt were either not sin, or not important are still wiles of the darkness. Our past must be dead in Christ, the memories no, it’s silly, it would take a frontal lobe removal, but anything we did under the prince of the power of the air was sin based in some regard, thus we impute the old nature dead on the Cross, so we can become New in Christ.
The second step, perhaps just as important is to repent unto the Kingdom. We can repent from sin, yet fail to turn from the deeds of old man. The completeness of repentance is to turn and receive the Kingdom (New Man) in fullness to be clean through and through. Some of us go through the same things over and over, we repent for the moment, turn part way, then turn right back to using the ways of the old man to get what we want. We keep knocking the apples off the tree, but the tree remains. The New Man continues to correct us, yet all did was attack the fruit, rather than allow the tree to be uprooted. We go around and around the same old tree time and time again, because we have put so many religious masks on we can’t see the tree for the apples. Exposure is clarity, we must accept the exposure, it’s what Paul is doing here, granting exposure, then the means of escape, then the means of being restored to the process.
Verse 5 also defines the “Book of Revelation” as the Revealed Jesus, rather than some knowledge given to Jesus by the Father. When Jesus took the Cup in the Garden the Judgment was set, thus the Judgment is when Jesus is Revealed to all the souls on earth on the last day. It’s clearer in verse 6, “who will render to every man according to his deeds”; who then is the Judge? Jesus, we judge ourselves and things, not people, so we won’t be condemned ( judged) with the world.
The term “every man” doesn’t mean the Bride as well, since she is seen as New Jerusalem descending with Jesus, rather it means each and every one who stands before Him, whether Jew or Gentile. This is the same concept Paul will speak of in Corinthians, since they were carnal, he told them to pray their works get them through. It was really a sound rebuke, just as this is to the Romans.
If some hold the Truth in Unrighteousness, yet Jesus judges based in Righteous, then it’s clear holding the Truth in Unrighteousness is not a good thing. The only place we find the Greek word for “righteous judgment” is here in Romans 2:5. If they keep judging people as “sinners”, they are no better, since the Law they are using judges all people as sinners. Those in the world are not our enemies, the enemies of a man are of his own household. The Book of Romans being first in order is for good reason, it gives us a basis for the “judge thyself”. There is a fine line between judging and discerning, if we’re not sure where the line is, best not do either.
Now “to them” or those opposite of those seen in verses 5 and 6, these are those who are “patient continually in well doing”, which expands Repentance to more than a one time effort. The word Continually means to put oneself forward, to seek what is before them, connecting it to faith. If we walk by faith, then our feet are shod with the preparation for the Gospel of Peace, what would the metaphor Shod stand for? Continual repentance, and Belief? Yes, yet not a day goes by we don’t do something based on the goodness in us, for the most part we have no idea we did it. Some of us think what “good works” should be, then set to do them, others do good works by Nature, the latter is by the Spirit.
In Matthew there were some people who faced Jesus on the last day, they are told how they gave Him water, and the such, then they said, “When Lord?”. They never knew they did the works of mercy, although they did it to the least, they were nonetheless the acts by the measure of faith. Since Jesus judges as the Son of man, it stands He will judge acts of Mercy, not Grace. Therefore, we find the workers of iniquity lacked Mercy, when they had the ability, opportunity, and commandment to apply mercy. Their Acts were based on the Name of Jesus, the Authority of Jesus is designed to do Acts for anyone in the Body, but Mercy takes a choice on our part to freely give, what God has given us. Did Judas fail at Mercy? Or Grace? Had to be Mercy, Grace was not yet granted.
Any of us can use some wile of the old man, but it doesn’t mean we drew back to Perdition. We said something from anger, or did something, or used some manipulation, or something flesh based, we were convicted, repented, then continued on. However, if we allow the old man his way, we will think one of two things, either we’re lost and can never be restored, or our lust is some “gift of God”. We slipped, temptation came, the button was pushed, exposure was there. Rejoice, it’s time for a button removal experience. It’s what we’re seeing here, Paul is first bringing clarity, often clarity comes as a hammer to the stronghold. Almost an overkill to make the point, in order for them to see themselves as God does. Once it happens they have the choice to remain a “they”, or become a “we”.
Faith has an attribute we seldom consider, but one Paul used many times. Anticipation of the result, however, if we misplace the anticipation, we will fall into fear, or anger, rather than faith. Paul taught and prayed with the anticipation of a result to benefit God and the person. Clarity helps us keep the anticipation in the right area, just as we have to keep trust and faith in the right areas. On the other hand we can anticipate what we think God should do, when God doesn’t perform to our agenda, we get mad. God never told us the outcome, but faith doesn’t need to know the outcome, but it does need to accept it. At times we won’t do anything, unless we know there is a benefit just for us, in Paul’s case the anticipation was for the benefit of the other person.
The Holy Ghost is using Paul to make divisions, the Word is dividing and separating for clarity, from the clarity will come repentance, then restoration, then victory. Verse 8 goes back to the “they” again, “but unto Them who are contentious, and do not obey the Truth, but obey Unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation, and anguish, upon every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile”. Clear enough, but it also shows us the Judgment, just as we find in Revelation 20:11-15, which also explains the “every man” isn’t everybody, it’s Jew and Gentile the two classes of earthly people God recognizes. If we are neither Jew or Gentile we do not fit the two categories Paul just listed. Perhaps it’s the point, if they continue to Judge they are taking the place of the Law of Moses, making themselves subject to the Judgment. This is clearer in Revelation 20:12 where we find the Books opened, which Daniel defined as the Law, thus the Jew is first. After they are compared to the Law, they still must find their name in the Book of Life. Then comes Gentile (sea), they are judged according to their works (Rev 20:13). However, well before all this begins, and before the 1,000 years there is the finish of the First Resurrection which is the Rapture. Paul merely confirms John, as John confirms Paul, as the Holy Ghost guided them both.
Now those who pass the Books or hear “if you done it to the least”, glory, honor, and peace to every man who works good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile”. Indicating there are people who walk in Mercy, perhaps they were robbed of being baptized in the Holy Ghost, but they did operate in the Mercy granted them, they would be those who Sleep in Jesus through the Night. However, for those who know the Truth, there is no excuse, they submit to the baptism of the Holy Ghost, receive the Spirit as the Kingdom of God within, mind the Spirit, enter the Process to be partakers of the First Resurrection.
God separated Abraham from the Sea so there could be a Sand of the Sea (Amos 3:2). The Gentiles have “families” within, but they are still one group, no matter how many sub-class nations man applies to the group. Now we can see why the concept of Eternal Judgment is a foundational element to the Doctrine of Christ, if there is Eternal Judgment there must be Eternal Salvation. Next if there is Eternal Judgment, there is a Judgment, meaning Salvation must be first. God is not going to bring Judgment out of time, this is the Day, the dispensation of Grace, the time of recovery. The Romans were applying a Night time endeavor out of order.
There is no respect of persons with God, we must keep the saying in context with these words (v. 10). Here Paul shows whether Jew or Gentile, all will be judged according to their ways (deeds of mercy). Just as Jew or Gentile all have the opportunity to escape the Judgment. If they are Jew or Gentile, if they have done good (mercy), then glory and honor, if they are Jew or Gentile and have done evil then tribulation and anguish, is not God equal?
The phrase “no Respect of persons” doesn’t mean what God did for someone else, He must do for us. There is an attribute of the Wisdom of God which assists us in defining this phrase. The Wisdom of God has many attributes, among them is, “without partiality, and without hypocrisy” (James 4:17). The Faith of Jesus showed us many things, among them was, “have not the Faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons….for if there come unto you assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; and you have respect to him who wears the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit you here in a good place, and say to the poor, Stand you there, or sit here under my footstool: are you not then Partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts”: “but if you have respect of persons, you commit sin” (James 2:1-4 & 2:9). God is not partial, all have a opportunity, whether they take it or not; however, the Romans were being partial, thus in their judging they sinned. The Law of the Spirit is not sin based, the Law of Moses seeks out sin, thus if we seek out sin we placed ourselves under the wrong Law. The danger of course is what Paul just mentioned, the Judgment. Jesus will not judge by the Law of the Spirit, rather those who do the Law of Moses (books) shall be judged by the Law.
So what is Partial? Didn’t Jesus have His three of the twelve? Didn’t He deal with the Pharisees in a different manner than He did His disciples? Was He partial? No, Partial is giving favor based on the good it does us. God gave Paul special power, but not to Peter, yet Peter’s shadow healed people, but John didn’t have the healing shadow ministry, or the special power, so was John evil? No, of course not, but some of us think if God allowed Paul to have special power, He must give it to us. However, Paul gained the power just before his indoor prison ministry.
Giving someone special favor because they can do us some good, or judging someone because it makes us feel better about who we are is wrong. Even taking joy in having power over devils isn’t good, rather rejoice for our names are written in heaven (Luke 10:17-20). Iniquity is being unbalanced or unequal, but God is always equal (Ezek 18:25-27), if a wicked man changes by becoming righteousness, God will treat him as righteous, but if a righteous man changes by becoming wicked, then God will treat him as wicked, is God not equal? Being Equal isn’t the same as “You did it for them, You must do it for me”. It simply means God is balanced, He doesn’t neglect one thing for another, or does He do one thing to avoid another. Faith pleases God, it doesn’t impress Him.
We know many evil things are removed from us, but how? By God bringing good things into us. The Light dissipates darkness; however, we still have the keys in this, we can stop at the Cross, refuse the grave, or accept the grave yet refuse the power of the Resurrection. We can accept the Report, yet refuse the Witness, or we can accept the Report and the Witness to complete the Report in our lives by the Spirit.
On the same note, if a Gentile holds the Truth in unrighteousness they can be cut from the olive tree, just as the Jew, is God equal? Yes, it keeps our fear of God in the right perspective. In reference to this Paul shows “as many as have sinned without the law shall also perish”, which shows the “many” as Gentile, but then he adds, “as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law”, showing the judging by the “books”, thus giving us the context of the phrase, “for there is no respect of persons with God”.
Verse 13 could be misconstrued to mean if they do the Law of Moses, they are Just, but it’s not the context. Those who have sinned without the Law, also have the opposite, those who have done good without the Law. Who would they be? Those who walk in Mercy, which Jesus termed the least Commandments He gave on the Mount of Olives. Acts of Mercy are like Belief, they are open to anyone, Jew or Gentile, Grace is only for those who have the Kingdom of God within.
Verse 14 shows how the Gentile (not the Barbarian) who are not under the Law of Moses, have a Law unto themselves. The word standing out is “nature”, what are the elements of the Law? By nature they keep the sabbath day? No, they operate in the measure of faith, which is given to all men. Paul will show the measure of faith is a gift, if a gift from God then it was designed to do good. The Law of Faith is operating in Mercy, thus they keep the things of nature in their proper order, they don’t make birds idols, they don’t change the course of things to fit a self-desire, they apply Mercy, even if they lack the knowledge of the Gospel. They still have to stand before Jesus, Mercy doesn’t avoid the premise; however, we find there are those who do the Law of faith, without knowing it. Neither does it mean they can reject the Gospel, then apply Mercy, since it would be holding the Truth in unrighteousness. The context here points to those who have no knowledge of the Law, yet do by nature the heart of the Law.
This has to be taken into context with other verses in this same letter, “by the deeds of the Law there shall no flesh be justified” (v. 3:20). “Where is boasting them? It is excluded. By what Law? Of works? Nay, but by the law of faith” (v. 3:27). The Law of Faith pertains to the measure of Faith: the Law of the Spirit pertains to Grace. The only place we find the phrase, “law of faith” is here in Romans 3:27, as it pertains to those who operate in the measure of faith as intended. The Doer of the Word is someone who is subject to the Law of the Spirit, but the measure of faith has attributes from God as well. Only two groups have vacated the measure of faith, the Wicked who have twisted it into mind power, and the unreasonable who are the unteachable.
Giving someone a glass of water is a good thing, but it doesn’t mean the person is a Doer of the Word. The word Doer is the same one James uses in the phrase “doer of the Word” (James 1:22), James shows the Word (Logos) is in us (James 1:21), thus showing it’s by Nature, or by the Engrafted Word. The Greek word for Doer is Poietes meaning a Poet, it was translated as Doer 5 times and Poet once. Which really doesn’t help until we find a Poet in classical ancient Greece means One with beautiful thoughts, or one who has a beauty of expression; we would term it one who seeks the Precious. Our word Poet comes from the Greek Poietes, originally it was applied to a former of words, or composer, in the classic sense their works centered on “one who demonstrates beauty of expression which is pleasing to the viewer”. A Doer of the Word is one who by nature does the things of Christ by the Engrafted Word in them, which things are Beautiful in the sight of God. The doer of the measure of faith by the law of faith has ways of mercy, as they help others without regard for personal glory. However, we must divide the Doer by Nature, from the Doer of the Word, or we will get lost.
The term Gentile has to be taken into context with the term “Barbarian”, prior Paul separated the two, a Barbarian is a Gentile who has not accepted the Truth. Place the Doer by Nature, with “their conscience also bearing witness”, we can define the group who does the Law of faith without knowing the Law (v. 15). Paul is showing the Romans even those who listen to the measure of faith have the ability to apply mercy, why then can’t these Romans who are of the Body? Why Judge people? Only Jesus can judge mankind, also the Law of Moses judges the Doer. The Romans presumed if they had Christ in them, they could judge; but Peter felt he could protect the Lord as well, both were wrong.
Verse 16 again defines the Revealed Jesus as the Revelation Of Jesus, the time of judgment when those who pierced Him, and those who wail because of Him look upon Him as He is Revealed to them; linking all this together, judge things, not people. It’s not an easy task, at times we can move from judging the things to judging the person, but we must repent immediately correcting the error in our own minds. The key to this is still separating the Doers by Nature referring to the measure of faith, from those who are the Doers of the Word based on the Word in them.
Rom 2:17-29
Now Paul turns from the Gentile to the Jew, or is it a Gentile turned Jew, or a Jew turned Gentile? Ahh, a Jew, prior Paul talked about the Gentiles, now he is still talking to the Romans, who are Gentiles. How can this be? This is still the area of, “for there is no respect of persons with God”. Paul told us in verse 1:13 how the Romans were Gentiles, now he says they call themselves Jew, what gives? This refers to those who have place to enter Covenant, they are Gentiles, but the correct usage of the term Jew shows a person has right to enter Covenant. Have these Romans really left the Barbarian mind? Have they also trusted in self-righteousness, or become as unbelieving as the unsaved Jews they judge?
This area keeps us from judging the world, or judging members in the Body. The Romans were once Barbarians, they are now Jews in the sense of receiving a Covenant presented by God. However, unbelief takes on many forms, one is thinking God can’t call anyone into the Body unless we allow it. “Oh they can’t be Christian”, why not? We are. The temptation to separate someone from the Body, just so we can judge them is still self-based. To discern their ways in order to deal with them in a Godly manner, is not the same as judging. If we judged them inferior, so we can feel superior, it’s much different from discerning.
What are these attributes in verses 18-20, Know the Will of God, Know the things of Christ are More excellent, confident in being a light, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of Babes; however, we find “you therefore which teach another, teach not yourself?”. Ouch! What adultery? We didn’t do anything like that. Wait, the Jew is called to the Cross, the same as the Gentile, this is the Season of Opportunity, not the Season of Judgment. Today the Jew or Gentile we judge, could be Christian tomorrow. Adultery is committed by a person who is married, or espoused to be married, yet they continue to use the old man as their guide after they have committed themselves to the Marriage of the Lamb. Fornication is an act by someone who is either not married, or who has rejected their vows regarding marriage (meaning they consider themselves single).
The word sacrilege means robbing the temple, but what sacrilege is this talking about? Using the old nature to judge the foolish, or babe, so we can feel exalted in our temple. The Law of Moses had two sides, blessing and cursing, the Romans were considering themselves Blessed, others they Cursed, thus they boasted in the Law, but were found wanton by the same Law (vs. 22-23).
Now he speaks of the Authority or Name of God (v. 24), for it is written, “for circumcision profits, if one keeps the Law, but if they are a breaker of the Law, then their circumcision becomes un-circumcision”. Apply this to being Righteous, if we keep the Law of the Spirit then the Righteousness avails us in the process of justification, but if we refuse the Law of the Spirit then our righteousness, becomes unrighteousness, we end holding the Truth in unrighteousness (vs. 26-27). Ahh, hold it, he said it was blasphemed among the Gentiles, what gives? The classes, the Gentiles were not given the Law, thus the Jews looked down on the Gentiles, but in retaliation after the Gentiles were accepted by God they attacked the Jews. Both groups were acting under the fall nature, but the Romans were acting like Jews circumcised of the flesh, by looking down on others, it would generate those being judged inferior to blaspheme the Name of God, is it why God saved the Romans? Or was it for them to present the Gospel to save the world?
Verse 28 defines the term Jew, the outwardly would be circumcision of the flesh, the inward circumcision of the heart, placing this in context with the prior verses. If we are Jews circumcised of the heart, we keep the Law of the Spirit, but if we refuse to keep the Law of the Spirit, our circumcision then becomes un-circumcision, as we grieve the Holy Spirit by whom we are sealed (v. 29 & Eph 4:30).
Verse 26 is another place where we find “Imputed”, only it’s translated “be counted”, thus if our circumcision of the heart can become un-circumcision, surely this is a Process. They missed the concept of imputed, thinking it was imparted when they accepted the Cross. God imputed Justification on us based on the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus, but imputed and imparted are different. Mixing the two is error, imparted is the finished result, yet the Spirit was still working with them. The Babe needs to be instructed, but if we are still judging people we need to be taught again the rudiments of Christ (Heb 6:1-2).
This can be seen as Paul applying the mirror of God as well, what the Romans judged evil in others; the Romans themselves were doing. They were in a better position, but they were taking pride in the position, rather than appreciating it.
Rom 3:1-18
Paul didn’t wake up some morning and decide to correct the Romans, he is coming against a stronghold fortified, it will take Truth after Truth after Truth, all presented in love: Truth is still a hammer to the stronghold. This is discernment at work, not a judgmental attitude. The Holy Ghost is exposing, so correction can take place, allowing Restoration to happen, allowing them to continue in the Growth.
The path had a they, a we and a you, it also shows all men are given the measure of faith, the measure if given has a law God applied when He gave it. Regardless of the gift from God, there is a law applied. A rose cannot become an apple tree, it is under a law defined by “everything produces after its own kind”. The measure of faith was given in the created soul to reach the New Birth to complete the prophecy, “let us make man in our image”. Paul shows us while we were in the world, whether Jew or Gentile God gave us the measure of faith, God is no respecter of persons.
The Romans have entered a self-deceived position, their religious conceit has entered a false thinking on predestination (Rom 8:29-30). It’s interesting the first letter of correction exposes religious conceit; thereby showing our first battle will be against the stronghold of religious conceit. Religious conceit forms a false illusion of “confidence” making it over confident and prideful, rather than a confidence in God. Religious conceit tends to look at the people in the world as enemies, but the people in the world are the “fish”, thus Jesus made us Fishers of men. Don’t curse the net or the catch, it’s was used to bring us into the kingdom. Don’t confuse the Report with the Witness either, one does produce the other, but they are different (I Jn 5:7-8).
Instead of denying the self, they entered self denial. They looked to the flesh as an indicator of being moral, yet they were circumcised of heart, not the flesh. It’s not to say the flesh shouldn’t be healed, rather we desire to place the focus on the Spirit, have our souls saved, then we can prosper as our souls prosper. Using the flesh as an indicator of holiness is an illusion forming a false image, producing confidence in the wrong area. One can be morally correct, but hold a corrupt soul, or heart.
Paul uses a road map of the self to expose the self-nature of the Romans. He started by saying they are called to be saints, rather than calling them saints. Then he explained how the measure of faith was a gift, which they had while they were yet the un-circumcised of heart. The premise shows God did the calling, thus if God called He had a plan in hand for their justification, if they are justified, they will be glorified. The problem was they were forming their own agenda, or formulating their own standards. God expects us to submit to the Witness as we follow the Process.
If faith has a law, then it has components; Jesus said, “have faith in God”, thus faith also means we trust in who we put our measure of faith in. It also means we understand how Mercy was a component used by the disciples and others before the Cross, adding how many times Jesus said, “your faith has healed you”, yet it was the granted Mercy by Jesus forgiving the person. Therefore, whether Jesus said, “raise up and walk”, or “your sins are forgiven”, Mercy was applied, but the measure of faith had to accept the Word spoken.
This also shows the Wicked are formed into vessels of dishonor only because they lack giving Mercy, meaning they also lacked faith in God (Rom 9:21-23). They may desire God to perform for them, they may pray to get their own way, but when events don’t turn out the way they desire, their lack of faith is evident.
The Romans were judging others as sinners, rather than applying Mercy. Those who do the Law of faith without knowing it, are those who apply mercy by nature. Paul approaches the various laws, there is the law of faith (measure of faith) before the Law of Moses, as Abel and Noah prove, then the Law of Moses before the Law of the Spirit. The Law of Moses is a result of God’s Mercy, but if came because Moses asked God to have Mercy on the people. Clearly the children in the wilderness lacked faith, since they also lacked belief, yet they had both faith and belief when they crossed the Red Sea. Paul keeps using the word “law”, but many times we don’t know which Law he is talking about, to some it would seem he is saying the Law of Moses will justify us, yet he also says it can’t. This is merely the Holy Ghost’s way to show, because we say “Law” it doesn’t define the Law, rather the Law will define itself. The Romans could not make entry unless there was something in them to draw them to the Cross, the something was the gift of the measure of faith. They didn’t create the measure of faith, they didn’t dream it up, it was given by God so they could make entry: what then gives them the right to judge anyone?
Chapter three will show the Law of faith, and the Law of Moses, both are from God, both granted to natural people. Romans chapter 3 spins around Romans 1:32, did the Law of Moses expose sin by the transgression alone? Or did it expose sin because there was a doer of the Law? If one did the Law of Moses, they admitted sin, if not, why do the Law? If the entire nation of Israel didn’t do the deeds of the Law, or keep the sabbath day, they were considered unholy by the Law; however, by keeping the sabbath day with doing the deeds they were considered a sinner by the same Law. Holiness based in the Law, and holiness before God are much different. Just as being justified before the Law, is different than being justified by God. The illusion in the mind of man felt by doing a deed they eradicated sin, when all they did was kill something innocent to balance their sin for the moment, not do away with it.
We saw the “we”, and the “them”, so if someone says they don’t believe in God, does it mean there is no God? Not hardly, for if some didn’t believe, it didn’t disturb God’s Faith, but it did remove the unbeliever from the Faith. This division shows God not only has Faith, but the law of faith is generated from God. God gave the Law to Moses, then Moses gave it to the people based on the unbelief of the people. The evidence of the wilderness proved it, they gained the Law of Moses based on their unbelief, not their holiness. The Law of Moses looks for a violation of the Ten Commandments, if the person gives the offering, the violation is paid, for the moment, if they don’t then the curse is applied as punishment. The Law of Moses defines sin, it can’t do away with it.
In the wilderness, even with the unbelief of the children the promise to Abraham went on, even if no one joined it, thus there are some who don’t believe, does it mean God failed? Hardly, God can’t fail, thus the law of faith goes on, even if no one enters in.
When God called Jeremiah, it was Jeremiah who felt God had made an error, but God knew Jeremiah would take the call to complete the course. It was Jeremiah who didn’t know, and at times doubted. When God presents a vision, the call, the plan or a prophecy it’s complete in heaven, it’s on the earth where the battle takes place. “Well gee I don’t feel called”, feeling has nothing to do with it, it’s obedience to the call. Jeremiah didn’t feel called, Moses didn’t feel called, but they obeyed finding they were called.
Verse 3 is another area where Paul equates Jesus as God the Son, it was The Faith, which is also the Faith of Jesus, yet there is the measure of Faith, but there is also One Faith. Oh my, what to do? Our measure of faith can do many things, but in order for it to be Godly, it must be in God. The Faith of Jesus is the pathway to the Throne, thus it’s still One Faith with one purpose all in all. This also supports the concept of many being One, the measure of faith plus the Faith of Jesus is still One in purpose.
Unbelief is the position God is not able to begin, but doubt is the position God is not able to finish what He has begun. Verses 3 and 4 tie belief to faith, showing the danger of unbelief. If some don’t think God is able to begin, does it mean those who have believed cannot enter? No, not at all. The Romans were looking at unbelievers, but what about the faith of the Romans? Did they have faith in God? If so they wouldn’t judge, since God knows the events of tomorrow, the Romans do not.
As it is written, “that you might be justified in your saying, and might overcome when you are judged” (v. 4). The quote comes from Psalm 51, indicating repentance is the key, yet the Just live by faith (Rom 1:17). If the Just live, they live by the Life of Christ, thus they are the Just, being Justified. So what law are they under? Here the change is taking place to “Grace” pointing to the Law of the Spirit. Back in 3:27 it was the Law of faith, all these “might” areas show the Process, “might be justified” is the key, this area helps us see the difference between belief and faith. We believed then made entry, but faith must take over, thus if faith is looking to a future hope, then this is a process (v. 4).
Righteousness is now connected to the belief issue, if we fail to believe what does it do to the imputed righteousness? Would holding the Truth in unrighteousness negate the Righteousness of God? No, neither does it mean God is unrighteous. Because we twist the Righteousness of God into some self-serving lust doesn’t mean God is unrighteous.
This is leading to Grace, to the Jew the only justification was before the Law, although it was for the moment, showing they were not really justified at all. The only righteousness one had in doing the Law of Moses was self-righteousness, which is negated by the self. Paul admits some have judged him by saying even, “slanderously” he preached Grace as some sort of “let us do evil, that good many come”. However, it was not what he is saying at all, rather it’s allowing the Good of God to reign in us by the Spirit to remove the evil.
There is no way Jesus as the Son of man can judge the world if He lacks the Righteousness to do so. There is no way He can judge lacking Truth, for years the Jew held themselves out as the chosen ones, but Paul shows God is no Respecter of Persons, the Jew shall come out of the Law by faith, the Gentile around the Law by faith, but faith is still the key for both.
Was doing the Law of Moses able to remove one from being a sinner? No, it pointed out they were sinners. Was the Law of Faith pointing out sin? No, it was focused on Mercy, making Mercy the ability to enter the kingdom. What then? Are we the better? No, in no wise, for without Jesus, His Cross, His Blood, His Faith, His Righteousness, His Grace, the Father’s Mercy, the Holy Ghost bringing us the Seed and the Power, with all the things connected therein we fall within, “there is none righteous, no not one” (vs. 10-11). The Truth says we are better, but it also says we are better by Christ in us, not by some personal goodness we presume we hold.
Verses 9 through 12 again show God is no Respecter, all have come short whether Jew or Gentile, whether one does the Law of Moses or not. There is none righteous, not one, all have gone out of the way. From the heart the mouth speaks, all have fallen short, all are under the fall nature, thus all speak in fear of death, from the foundation of death (sepulcher), there is none who understands the Righteousness or the Grace of God. They have no idea what the Spirit of God is doing, so they seek the Law of Moses or social endeavors to feel good about themselves (vs. 3:14 & 3:9). Not good, what to do? There must be some example for us, some hope.
Wait, if there is none righteous, how then could God view Abraham as righteous? It becomes the point, Abraham the man wasn’t, but God saw something about the man, which allowed God to impute righteousness on the something, yet the man received. Abraham believed what God said; however, his belief was not for a day, not just in the good times, it was continual over a long span of time. Since Abraham believed God was able, it allowed God to “view” the belief of Abraham as having right standing, thus the man received the imputed righteousness, although the man himself lacked righteousness. The same premise became the action behind the Law of Moses, the person did a deed, the deed was looking upon as righteous, not the person. The person kept the day, meaning the day was holy, but the person was a non-entity.
Imputing means to give credit to a person based on something, to the natural mind it is one of the most difficult concepts of God to grasp. The natural mind confuses imputed as imparted, presuming it has something when it doesn’t. Imputed has many areas, one can impute sin on someone, based on the nature of the person, or then can impute favor based on the calling of God. All have come short, all have failed, so we could impute sin on everyone, but at the same time there is an escape by faith, thus we can also refuse to impute sin on people based on the possible escape set before all mankind. In Abraham’s case Paul was right, all have come short, but the belief of Abraham earned the imputed righteousness, so it could be by faith.
However, if God said nothing, Abraham would never come close to the imputed righteousness. Did Abraham work on his belief to impress God? No, did he work on his belief to gain right standing? No, God spoke, Abraham believed. From the belief Abraham gained imputed righteousness, so he could enter Covenant, so it might be by faith. Then the man held his hope, knowing whatever God promised, God was fully able to bring to pass. The hope was unseen, no evidence to prove it, other than the Word of the Lord. The belief of the man was the platform for his faith, the unseen hope based on the Word of the Lord was the producer of his faith. Unless he believed what God said, he was not going to enter faith in God. Belief become the Rhema ear, yet belief and faith are different, but connected in the Now, we need one to reach the other.
When one seeks after their own self-righteousness, whether it’s deeds of the Law, or some other attribute given them by God, or simply doing something to gain favor before man or God, they are motivated by ego and pride, not faith (v. 11). As soon as they begin to brag on their goodness, or their endeavor the Commandment falls and they are imputed dead.
The phrase “gone out of the way” is the one Greek word Ekklino meaning To move from the progressive right course. This shows how self-righteousness blinds us to the Righteousness of God. Self-righteousness is an outward act, to gain an inward feeling, God’s Righteousness is granted in the New Birth, thus by the New Man we have the Righteousness of God. Therefore, rather than earn it, we submit to it. The same is true with God’s Love, if we are Born Again we have it, thus rather than earn it, we receive it.
Verses 13 through 18 are somewhat revealing, “their throat is an open sepulcher”, a sepulcher is a grave, or something pertaining to death. Their tongues have “used deceit”, the poison of asps (serpents) are on their lips; whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness, whose feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and misery are in their ways, the way of Peace they have not known, there is no fear of God before their eyes. Yuck. Wait, isn’t he judging? No, it’s at the line, but not over it. Rather Paul is showing they were called to be the Oracles of God, they did the Law of Moses, they were separated from the Gentiles, yet look at them; did the Law of Moses make them any better? No, their own minds formed an illusion, there was no change in the person’s nature, they were still using the fallen nature in a religious endeavor. They were religious, but they were also nasty, backbiting and unbelieving. Just because we entered the kingdom of heaven, doesn’t mean the race if over, there is still a work to be done by the New Man.
This is the key to predestination, God knew what they would do, they didn’t. If we miss the point we will assume God will force us to accept, or make us reject the call; which would be against the nature the God, and completely against the Purpose of Jesus: “But as many as received Him, to them gave He Power to become the sons of God” (Jn 1:12). Clearly anyone has the opportunity to Receive Him is given the Power. Predestination is the acceptance of the Plan by having the Witness completing the effort. Predestination is a hope, if we are called, the plan for us is complete, all we need do is have the Witness to finish it.
Now we know, we are no longer ignorant, the things the Law says, it says to them under it who still use the nature of fallen man, they are those ruled by the spirit lusting to envy, since the Law of Moses was designed for the fallen nature. However, if one has the Nature of Christ, they are no longer subject to the Law of Moses, they have died on the Cross to live by Christ. Therefore, the Law of Moses nailed to the Cross, there it must remain: it served its purpose, it judged us as sinners, called us guilty and condemned us to death, so we agreed by accepting the Cross of Jesus to receive the death. Are we dead? Imputed, therefore we must understand the principle of imputing.
“These six things does the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto Him: A proud look, a lying tongue, hands shedding innocent blood, a heart devising wicked imaginations, feet swift in running to mischief, a false witness speaking lies, he who sows discord among the brethren” (Prov 6:16-17). These things are attached to people, but does God hate the person, or what the person does? These are ways, thus if the person is connected to the ways, we find God judges the ways, not people, so why would we judge people? The true Judgment of God is a matter of division, those who attach to certain ways fall into a group defined by the ways, those who attach to mercy in another group. God is no Respecter of persons, since He judges ways.
The obvious conclusion, “we have all sinned, and there is none righteous, no not one” (excluding Jesus), which also defines how both those of Israel, and the Gentile failed at the Righteousness of God, whether they did the Law of Moses or not (v. 3:10).
Rom 3:19-31
Verses 19 and 20 lay out a premise, the Law speaks to those under the Law, regardless of the Law. The Law of Moses spelled out the law of sin and death, pointing to all sin, pronouncing those to whom the sin was attached guilty. There is no excuse, the Law has spoken, thus the Law of Moses is Justice, as such it cannot truly justify. No Law designed to find someone guilty, can also find them innocent. The term Justification is really a legal term, meaning to remove guilt, remission means to remove what caused the guilt. Justification is an act, thus the New Man is not created after God’s Justification, rather we find the New Man is after God’s True Holiness and Righteousness, the Righteousness gives us standing to be Justified, the Holiness the method used.
Once Justification is Declared there is no condemnation, in order for it to by faith, but it’s predicated on one walking in the Spirit, not after the flesh (Rom 8:1). It begins with the Righteousness of Jesus being imputed, which is an act of Mercy, but if we are Born Again we have God’s Righteousness within, or imparted. From within is where the work takes place to find our souls innocent, since we imputed the flesh dead. The soul was not the problem, it was created by God, rather it accepted the problem, becoming associated to the problem (flesh).
The Righteousness of God was not created when God gave the Law to Moses, rather God’s Righteousness was displayed before the very beginning then manifested when God involved Himself in the affairs of man, confirmed in the manner in which He dwelt with the children, recorded in the Law and Prophets for anyone to see and study (v. 22). The Righteousness of God is seen over and over again, He knows exactly how to deal with people in a manner void of hypocrisy or partially.
The Righteousness of God, which comes to us by the faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon (imputed) who believe, for there is no difference between Jew and Gentile (v. 23). This connects to, “But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become sons of God, even to them who believe on His Name: which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (Jn 1:12-13). It begins with the imputing Upon, rather than in, the New Birth imparts within, rather than upon. If the New Man is created after the Righteousness of God, and if the Righteousness of Jesus is the Scepter to the Kingdom, then it’s not a matter of earning the Righteousness, but a matter of receiving it in the New Birth (v. 21-23).
The Glory is the result of being Glorified, how can one become glorified, unless they are first justified, but they can’t be justified while the sin nature or the Law of Moses is condemning them guilty (v. 23). The declaration of Justification finds the price is paid by imputing death on the Cross, but the real work begins afterward to remove the tares and deeds relating to the old man.
In verse 24 we move to Grace, as it’s based in the Spirit and New Covenant. From the Law of faith pointing to entry, to sustaining in the Faith by the Law of the Spirit. The Law of faith was not part of the Law of Moses, since the Law of Moses was based on the unbelief of the children, having nothing to do with faith. The Abrahamic Covenant became part of the Law of Moses, as did the tithe of Jacob. The Law of faith is based in the measure of faith, but the measure of faith was unable to obtain the promise (Heb 11:39). It was reaching, but didn’t know what it was reaching to. It’s evident in the disciples, they heard Jesus speak of the Cross and Resurrection, but before they were Born Again they had no idea what they pertained to (Mark 9:32). Even after we have the Spirit there is a work, as the letters to the Corinthians show.
The key to verse 24 is the wording “being justified freely”, the word Being shows the Process, the activity is the Justification, freely also explains it ‘s by Grace. The word Freely is the Greek Dorean one of the many words used for Gift, it is not Charis (Grace), but how the gift of Charis is given, Dorean means freely given to the person without cause by the person, with a purpose benefiting the receiver. There was no cause, or reason within us for God to give us Charis, except for what Jesus did, therein lays the Cause.
Verse 25 isn’t talking about us, rather Jesus is the propitiation, it’s His Blood producing the process. With the New Man we are able to declare His Righteousness for the Remission of sins. The sins are past, thus we are forgiven, the Justification brings us to a place where the sin conscientiousness is of the past, there will be no remembrance of sin when we are Glorified. This connects us to the Blood of Jesus cleaning us from all unrighteousness, the Blood is the New Covenant, the New Covenant is Grace. Pointing to Remission, or the concept of placing us in a position where sin is not at issue, or a consideration. We know the Gloried position is Salvation, even the Salvation of our souls complete. This verse also gives us direction, if it’s by faith, then it’s a now confidence on a future hope. The Declaration is made, the process is on going.
The word Redemption is the Greek Apolutrosis meaning A releasing effected by a payment of a ransom, or the liberation effected by the paying of a ransom. A ransom is a release of property or a person in exchange for a payment, theologically it has been defined as a payment for the release of each and every person on the earth since the fall to the end of time from sin and it’s consequences by the Blood of Jesus. This connects to Hebrews 10:38-39 where the word “saved” is the Greek Peripoiesis meaning to obtain a purchased possession. When we received Jesus we accepted the premise of being bought with a price, the process of Grace is the means Jesus uses to purify the purchased possession (Eph 5:26-27).
The word Propitiation is the Greek Hilasterion meaning the Mercy Seat, it was used in reference to the cover of the ark of the covenant in the Holy of Holies, which was sprinkled with the blood of the expiatory victim on the annual day of atonement (this rite signifying the life of the people, the loss of which they had merited by their sins, was offered to God in the blood as the life of the victim, and the Law by this ceremony was appeased). Jesus as the Son of man is the place of Mercy unto Grace, as the Son of God by His faithfulness gains us access. To accomplish this we obtained the New Man (Spirit of Truth) as our Passport, which is Grace provided through the Blood of Jesus, thus Grace is the only means one has to do the things of Grace.
We declare His Righteousness, by the work of the Righteousness in us. This is leading to having the Spirit; without the Righteousness of God, there is no justification. By the New Birth we have the Understanding of how the Just live by faith. All this so we might be the Just, yet the Justifier is Jesus in us, based on our belief in what He said, and our faith in what He will do. The Process is not a mind game, it’s real, we believe the Report, our faith is squarely in God to do complete what He promised (v. 26).
Having seen this is all God, and God alone, where can we boast? What issue can we say, “by my faith”? Where can we puff out our chest and march up and down telling everyone how we were able to obtain? By what goodness on our part? None, there is none righteous, no not one.
We are justified by the faith of Christ, our faith is in the ability of Jesus to justify us. The premise is based on what Jesus did, thus the Faith of Christ overcame death, hell and the grave, presenting us the victory in the New Birth.
The Jews came out of the Law by faith, the Gentile around the Law through faith, but the point is centered on faith, showing the measure of faith is given to all men, Jew or Gentile (v. 29-30).
The Law proved itself, it pointed at all mankind as it identified the sin nature, showing how man’s self-righteousness ended as a mind game, yet God’s Righteousness is holy. There is no way man’s self-righteousness is going to justify them before God, what form of Righteousness is God going to call equal to His? His, the same Righteousness we have in the New Birth.
When we saw the Law of Moses for it’s purpose, we agreed, we picked up our cross imputing the flesh dead on the Cross. Therein ends the Law of Moses for us, it is nailed to the Cross with the Ten Commandments, those writings were against us.
All this ties together, showing how much Jesus did for us. If He took on the sins of times past, times present and times future, don’t we think He can handle ours? If He died for all mankind, won’t His Faithfulness, Righteousness, Justification, Redemption, Propitiation and Blood be more than enough to get us through this? However, we need something, we need the evidence of the Faithfulness, Faith, Righteousness, Justified Position, Redeeming ability, Mercy, and Blood in a Covenant. The New Man or Holy Spirit is the seal to the Covenant as our confidence, we know this is real by the signs of the spiritual activity in our lives. However, any of us can reach back and obtain some wile from the old man, or retain some wile. The cleaning process is in effect, but we must join it for it to be effective in our lives. The process is changing our souls from flesh centered to Spirit centered, in the process there are times when we pick up something we should not, the Holy Spirit will quicken or convict us, getting us back in the process.
Rom 4:1-5Abraham believed God, based on the belief, God was able to make Covenant with him, but what was the basis of belief? Something Abraham made up? No, he heard, then believed God. Verse 2 also shows Abraham was justified, so was he innocent? No, how then could he be justified? He believed, it began the Process to reach the promise presented; therefore, Abraham was considered Just based his continual belief. God called something a not to Abraham as a were to God, so God could enter Covenant with Abraham, thus pointing to a future event completely Holy to bring Justification to mankind, it’s what the Romans forgot.
This is Abraham pertaining to the flesh, thus the righteousness and justification work together, since Paul equates justified and right standing with the belief of Abraham, it shows these are not efforts of the flesh, but things within the person, something Paul will address in chapter 7. This also shows Abraham was justified to enter Covenant, it didn’t mean he was Justified in the same manner as we. The wording “were justified” in verse 2 is the Greek Dikaioo which means to have, or to be considered to have a right standing, or position. The justification for Abraham was based on the imputed righteousness to grant him a position to make Covenant with God relating to earth and mankind. The heavenly purpose was not known to Abraham, since he was earthly in nature. The justification Abraham received was imputed as was the righteousness, yet it was a preview or shadow of the Justification we go through, but not the same.
The Gospel was presented to us, we believed based on the information provided, but the source of our belief was still information provided by God, the purpose is to establish a foundation so it could be by faith. We have nothing to brag in, neither did Abraham. If Abraham would have given sacrifice without God telling him, or circumcise himself without God telling him, he would have something to brag in, but not in God.
The one who brings the Covenant lays out the duties of the Covenant, God brought Covenant to Abraham, the man believed as he accepted the terms, he didn’t attempt to change the nature of God to fit his thinking, he didn’t insert his agenda into the Covenant.
Verse 4 again brings in the Imputed Doctrine, the word Reckoned means Imputed, thus the Reward is not Imputed by works, but by Grace. Here again we find Grace is the issue, the Blood of Jesus allows the Imputing by God upon us. We imputed the flesh with the old nature dead on the Cross, then God imputed us Justified by our belief and faith in the Blood of Jesus to clean us from all unrighteousness.
It begins with God making the decision to impute Righteousness on us because we believed the presented Truth. The ability for us to impute the old nature dead is based on what Jesus did, we do not impute ourselves justified, God does, we receive it. When we received what the Father told us, He then made another decision based on the words of Jesus, “Father forgive them”, we became blessed because our iniquities were forgiven, and our sins covered; however, it doesn’t mean they are Remitted, we are forgiven and covered so we could make entry. This Mercy requirement is based on the Cross, we are to forgive as we are forgiven. Seems like a work, but in truth it’s not. We are not forgiving based on our works, we are forgiving based on being forgiven.
God made the choice not to “impute sin” on us; so, did God play a big mind game? No, it’s based on what Jesus did for us, our acceptance placed us in a different position, it’s still nothing to brag in. The information, Cross, measure of faith, knowledge and truth were all supplied by God. The Law of Faith brought us to the Cross, then the Process began, but God called those things which were not to us, as finished to Him. We agreed, but it didn’t mean they were finished, rather it granted us a faith position to reach to. Paul also connects belief to faith, Abraham believed, God imputed the righteousness, then faith became the issue (v. 5).
This all connects back to 3:24, we are being justified freely by God’s Grace, not our works, but through the Redemption In Jesus Christ, thus we must be in Jesus, as He is in us by Grace. Verse 3:26 points to the Righteousness of God, not man’s self-righteousness, yet the only way to obtain the Righteousness is to be Born Again (Eph 4:24). A person is then Justified by faith, without the deeds of the Law of Moses (v. 3:28). Then we find God is not a Respecter, since both Jew and Gentile have the ability to come to the Lord. Verse 3:30 shows the Jew of the circumcision is justified by faith, showing they came out of the Law, but the Gentile or un-circumcised through faith, or around the Law of Moses by faith.
From the prior verses one might wrongfully conclude God hated all those in the Shadow, since they all lacked His Righteousness, but it’s not the case at all. They could not obtain the Righteousness of God, which is different from someone who uses self-righteousness rather than the provided Righteousness of God.
Chapter 4 could be entitled the “Imputed Chapter”, the Greek word will show up several times as the English “imputed”, “counted”, or “reckoned”, laying out the premise of being able to say “we’re Justified” when we’re still in the Process. Faith often looks to the result, as it speaks of the result of the Hope as being fact. It’s not wrong, or out of character, God not only allowed Abram to call himself Abraham, God ordained it, yet the man didn’t live up to either name (Abram – exalted father, or father of many, Abraham – father of many nations, or multitude). How could this be? Did God allow a lie? No, Faith to the Hope, is the promise. If we said, “I’m going to the store and buy some milk”, would it be prophetic or faith? Really neither, but it does show the principle. Our hope is there is a store when we get there, adding we hope the store has milk, plus we hope the milk is good. It’s not faith since it’s predicated on knowledge and performance, but it does show we have many areas giving us the lessons of faith. The same is true with the light switch, the performance is for the light switch to work, it’s not faith, but knowledge regarding performance. Faith is the evidence of something not seen, if we have seen a light switch work, we then have a working knowledge of its past performance, indicating it’s based on belief, not faith, if it were faith the light would go on every time, yet we know they burn out.
Our Knowledge regarding the Holy Ghost tells us this is a vital area, from the words of Paul we gain the knowledge of imputing, we must believe the Cross was real, the Resurrection did happen, plus believing all the circumstances as reported. If we allow one area of unbelief to enter, it will work its way into the vital “organ” of our belief, soon we will form other areas of unbelief. Our imputed action calls for continual belief in something we have not seen, yet we know happened. The day wherein we believe it didn’t work, is the day we believe in unbelief, the old man will resuscitate himself based on our unbelief. The voice of the stranger says, “it didn’t work”, faith must respond with, “it is working”. Abraham knew the promise was firm, but he also knew he had to join to it, or miss it, thus he knew it was a process, the test of his faith proved it.
Abraham is the father of circumcision, the father of multitudes, or many nations, but he is not the “father of faith”. The metaphor “father” means one who starts something, or is head over it, surely Abraham didn’t begin faith. Abraham is not the father of the measure of faith either, but nonetheless he is a vital lesson regarding belief connected to faith. Let’s not make the mistake in the process of our learning of elevating the man above what God has. Abraham was a human being, just like the rest of us, the man was not Born Again, but he did have the same measure of faith we do, thus if he obtained, so can we. James looks at the test of Abraham after he obtained the Promise: same Abraham two different lessons. Here in Romans 4 we view how God imputed something to Abraham, and how it applies to the ability for both Jew and Gentile to enter in.
If Abraham obtained his status with God through works, then the man had a position in which he could brag, but not before God (v. 2). Our Justification is by God, any justification one obtained before the Law was earthly, feeble and momentary.
It was God who made the Covenant with Abraham, then it was God who did the imputing. God presented the means by which Abraham could believe, thus Abraham believed the word spoken. If God never talked to Abraham, never gave the man evidence of God’s existence, then Abram would still be looking at those dumb idols. However, Abraham knew idols were mute and void of action, but God promised, it was all the man needed. The belief of Abraham had roots, Noah for one; nonetheless Noah’s experience and God promising Abraham were much different. Noah had to build the Ark, God didn’t make Noah’s arms water-wings. With Abraham it appeared impossible, yet God said it was possible. The Covenant with Noah required a token on God’s part, not Noah’s. Noah was obedient, thus God gave the Token, but with Abraham, God had Abraham provide the token. Both indicate the Doctrine of baptisms, we give a token, so does the Holy Ghost.
Abraham’s “justification” is far different from ours, in his case it was granting him a position form where he could enter Covenant regarding the offspring of a nation, for us it’s because we have entered a Covenant no human has a the ability to obtain on their own. Nonetheless, the foundation was the same, Belief unto Faith. The issue is the very focus of Mark 16:16-18, it wasn’t the signs, but the continual Belief. The same is true with John’s account in the Gospel, so we might Believe, the foundation connects to our faith to keep us stable and sure looking to the Hope God has set before us.
Okay, how did we get from “Abraham believed God, to it was counted unto him as righteousness” to “justification”? Three words of interest, Righteousness, Justification, and Sanctification, they are interconnected, but mean different things. Righteousness we know means someone who has observed the Laws regarding a higher authority to the point they have a Right to stand in the presence of the higher authority. Self-righteousness under the Law of Moses, gained a person the right to stand before the Law, but not before God (Gal 3:11). Justification is being found, or imputed as innocent of the accusation, or better declared not guilty, whether they did it or not. This is the concept behind the phrase, “innocent until proven guilty”, regardless of the facts in the accusation. Sanctified is holy, or being separated by God in order for God to deal with us as children. There is no way any of us could receive the Spirit of Christ while we are accused, found guilty, and under the condemnation of sin. There is no way we could obtain the Spirit while the Law of Moses still pronounced us guilty, thus the Cross became the place where it begins. The Law of Moses and the Ten Commandments are nailed to the Cross (Col 2:14-16). We impute our flesh, old nature, old man, as the person we were dead on the Cross by what Jesus did for us. Making the Cross a place of death, which is our side of the Covenant. God is the God of the Living, He will not impute us dead, but He will give us the authority and ability to impute ourselves dead by the Cross of Jesus. Then we obtain a new body in Christ, opening the door for our Justification, we are then proclaimed not guilty by Jesus through the Resurrection, but the result of Justification connects to Remission (Rom 3:25), yet Remission is the declaration of complete innocence, so much so the concept of sin is removed from the equation, yet it’s still by association to what Jesus did for us.
Paul is explaining how it can happen, John confirmed it. The Record in heaven is the written account of all things in a past tense medium, the Record consists of the Father, Word and Holy Ghost (I Jn 5:7). The Witness is different, it’s the means by which the Record is being carried out, the Water relates to the Mercy of the Father, the Blood to the Grace of the Word, the Spirit in us is the gift of the Holy Ghost. God has “declared” us justified, righteous, innocent, free of guilt, free of accusations and glorified when we believed in Jesus. If it were not the case, then God could not grant us the Spirit, but since God considers us dead to be free of the Law, then we can obtain the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead. Therefore, if God will not impute sin on us, our sins are covered, meaning we cannot impute sin on others, but it’s still not Remission.
Abraham didn’t know a thing about the Cross, but he believed God was able to do something, God imputed righteousness toward the man’s belief, thus Paul was correct when he said there is none righteous, no not one, thus God imputed righteousness to an ”it” or something the man did, not the man (vs. 3). The same is true with us, our belief is an “it”, God accepts our imputed death on the Cross based on the “it”. Giving God the ability to apply His Mercy, we in turn forgive, causing the Mercy to be imparted as part of our nature. From there we move to the grave, then the Power of His Resurrection, yet we live, but the life we live is by the Faith of the Son of God.
Once we are dead on the Cross (so to speak), then we can receive the Seed of God. The Spirit is a product of the Seed, by the Mercy, Grace and Spirit the Report is being carried out in the Process until we reach the Hope of being Glorified.
This takes us back to Romans 3:22, “the Righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them who believe”. The Righteousness of God is by the Faith of Jesus; however it’s “upon” and “unto”, not “In”, indicating Imputed. When we believe the Righteousness of God is upon us, then comes the New Birth which imparts God’s Righteousness in us.
Belief is the first step, after we obtain the Spirit then we walk by faith as the Spirit leads us in the footsteps of Jesus. Those footsteps are pure Righteousness and Holiness based on the Faith of Jesus, thus the New Man is created after God’s True Holiness and Righteousness. Our faith in God allows us to Follow Jesus by the Spirit to reach the same Place Jesus waits for us.
The declaration and the granting are different, God makes the declaration based on our belief, but the impartation comes based on faith. When we believed in the Cross God didn’t look at us and say, “Oh my, I have never seen such great belief, oh I am so impressed”; rather He saw, “Father forgive them, they know now what they do”, coupled with our belief allowing God to impute Mercy on us. We then entered the process and made a decision to forgive as we are forgiven, then God’s mercy was imparted to complete the decision. We then asked for the Spirit, wherein God imputed the seal of the Holy Spirit by the Holy Ghost giving us the Seed, which moved from our faith in God would, to our belief we have received. The Seed then took root, and grew until we were Born Again. The New Man became our guide and means to bring the justification and righteousness into reality. All this still fits to you are saved by Grace through Faith, not of your own, it is The Gift of God. It’s our belief in God bringing the foundation to have Faith in God, to bring the result of the hope set before us, thus the Gift is having the Spirit.
Did we work to earn the favor? No, for those who work the reward is Not imputed (reckoned) of Grace, but of debt. We think God owes us because we did something, putting us in bondage, not Grace. The Law of Moses was of debt, one did an act, the Law owed them. To those who work not, but Believe, on them God moves to Justify them by the Spirit based on faith. What is all this, more important where? The Law of Moses called for works of the flesh, but once the flesh was used, sin was again declared, making their self-righteousness unrighteous. We believed inside, we imputed ourselves dead by an act of our souls (inside), our measure of faith is inside, the Seed unto the Spirit is inside, the work is inside, nothing is by the flesh, thus we are free of the condemnation as long as we know the work is internal producing an external result, not the other way around. Once Jesus displayed the Righteousness of God, all other forms of righteousness became unrighteousness, therefore they became sin (I Jn 5:17).
Without the imputing, there is no way an Impartation can take place in our lives. We would remain flesh until death took hold, but at the time it would be our own death, making us debtors without hope. We simply agree with the Law of Moses, allow the death of Jesus to be our death, moving on with the Spirit to become partakers of the First Resurrection.
There is even a process to the process, first we receive the Revelation, apply our belief to the information, God imputes, we act on the imputing by forgiving (an internal endeavor), then Mercy is imparted. We ask to be baptized with the Holy Ghost, we believe we receive by watering the Seed with the imparted Mercy, still an internal act manifested. The New Birth is a promise, our faith receives the promise to the end of the Process, even the salvation of our souls. All this is found in the saying, “the Just shall live by faith, but if any man fall back My soul shall have no pleasure in him, but we are not of them who draw back to perdition, but of them who believe unto the saving of the soul”.
Rom 4:6-12
Paul points to David as a prophet, moving from the Law testifying of Jesus, to Abraham’s faith, to the Prophets testifying of Jesus, thereby bringing the hammer to the stronghold by the Truth of Scripture. David was king and prophet, thus he becomes a voice regarding God’s views pointing to the Forgiveness of sins, not the Remission. We know the Righteousness of Jesus is found in the New Man (Eph 4:24), this has to pertain to God Imputing righteousness upon us giving us permission and standing to enter the New Covenant until the time we reach the New Birth.
Abraham is the example of Imputing, but we one might be prone to say, “yeah, well it’s all a big mind game, saying someone has something when the they don’t”. It would be true except for some facts, God made sure the Promise was of faith when He called the man Abraham, thus it wasn’t what God saw in the man, it was what God saw for the man. The same is true based with our belief, God doesn’t grant a thing regarding Mercy or Grace based on what He sees in us, it’s based on what He sees for us in Jesus.
Imputing on our part is based on granted permission promised by God for us, based on what Jesus did. David couldn’t impute himself dead, the Cross was not a fact for him, it was still prophetic in nature. No one is going to be Resurrected until they die first, it was the Resurrection declaring Jesus as the Son of God (Rom 1:3-4). How then can we say we are sons of God, if we don’t have the same Spirit who raised Jesus? We can’t, but the impossible has been made possible by the Godly act of Imputing. The concept is based on the declaration of God, then the performance of God to bring the declaration into being. This is the same premise as “let there be light”, was there? No, but because of the declaration the light manifested. Our belief is no different, we believe in what God said, He looks at the belief (not us), then operates based on our belief. Then our faith declares God is fully able to produce in us what He said He could.
Before we are Born Again God saw us as if we were Born Again, if not He could never grant us the Spirit. The imputing action of each of us taking the Cross of Jesus is both a belief and faith issue. The Cross is past tense, becoming an issue of belief, yet it might be by faith, projecting the death to the Life found in Christ, thus Paul tells us we must believe Jesus is raised from the dead. The evidence is when we accept the death of Jesus in our place, faith then moves to the Resurrection and the declaration. Then we receive the Spirit based on the Power of the Resurrection, then the declaration is being completed by the Witness proclaiming us as sons of God.
The clarity will show self-righteousness is something someone continually works to obtain, the second they have it, it’s lost, then they have to begin all over again. Jesus never worked to obtain righteousness, He operated from it. It will be the central thrust here, we don’t work to obtain, we do things because we have obtained.
Verses 7 begins with “Blessed are they”, not “blessed are we”, so the prophecy is not limited to the Jew alone, but to any who fit the “they”. Then the key, “whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not Impute sin” (v. 7-8). Both Iniquities and Sins are seen here, but the sins are not forgiven, they are covered. What gives? The Greek means to Cover over, which is what our belief does when we believe God has forgiven us. Until we pass the Cross and enter the Remission process of Justification we are still sinners, sold under sin, thus God has to view us in a way granting us permission to accept the Cross and the Spirit. The permission is the “it”, by our belief in Jesus, the Father can invoke the words “Father forgive them” on us which is a covering, or unction. Then we move into the Cross, impute the old nature dead, along with the old man, his deeds, and the flesh. Once we are dead, we then live by the Mercy of the Father, to reach the place to obtain the Spirit to have Life more abundantly. Rather than being a soul joined to the flesh, we are a soul being saved by the Spirit to be Spirit, since the flesh is imputed dead. We have Faith in the Blood of Jesus to clean us, bringing us into the fullness of the New Covenant. Once we believe, the Father views the Blood and Water as a covering on us until we move from imputed to imparted. Very complex, very impossible for man, but not for God. The premise is still our souls being regenerated by the Spirit to become Spiritual in nature. The soul is a creation of God, God is Spirit, the purpose is to bring the soul back to its Spiritual roots, bringing to pass the saying, “make man in our image”.
We find, “for we say faith was reckoned (imputed) to Abraham for righteousness” (v. 9). Hello Paul, how can faith be imputed? Wasn’t it the belief of Abraham causing the imputed righteousness? Ahh, the man’s belief enabled God to impute the righteousness, once it happened then it could be by faith, yet it started with the man’s belief, thus the Covenant gave the man evidenced hope, which involved faith. The same is true with us, we believe, God imputes His Righteousness on us, then faith can be added toward the hope. Yet, without a Covenant secured in God we have no hope, thus belief is the door for entry, so it can be by faith. This is the importance of continual belief, once belief slips, faith will soon follow.
Without the Imputing process we have nothing, we would not be able to impute death based on the Cross of Jesus, God would not be able to impute righteousness on us, nor Mercy, or the Seed, there would be no one in the New Covenant.
Imputing is a vital procedure to the New Covenant, but it must be kept within the confines of its intended purpose. Do we have anything to brag in? Well we did believe, but God gave the information for us to believe. All this is based on the Plan, God has the Design for each of us defined in the Report in heaven, the Witness is carrying out the plan in us.
Now we look at Abraham, when was the righteousness reckoned (imputed), after he was circumcised, or before? Before, the Token of the covenant came after, thus when God imputed righteousness to Abraham, the man was still among the uncircumcised. How about Noah, when did God produce the Token, before or after the flood? After, so what about our water baptism, is it before or after the Death and Resurrection of Jesus? After, thus we believe, when we entered the water we accepted the Mercy of God, which means we allowed God to impute Mercy on us. Our token was the acceptance of the procedure of loosing God’s Mercy. The same is true with circumcision of the flesh, it’s a token allowing the person to accept the conditions of the Covenant.
Paul isn’t saying Abraham was righteous, rather he shows by an act based on information from God causing the man to believe, thus it was the belief allowing God to impute something to the belief, yet he man gained. What about the children in the wilderness? The complete opposite, God had to give them a law to keep from looking at them.
Noah was saved to preserve the future, yet among the people of the time Noah was the best available. Among the people of Abraham’s day God found one who had a need, who was willing to believe God was able to fill the need.
The circumcision of Abraham didn’t impute righteousness on him, neither did it bring the belief or faith, it was a token after the fact for those of the future to know the process which brought Abraham into the covenant (V. 11). The same is true for us, the token of water baptism doesn’t mean we produced the Mercy of the Father, it means we accepted it. The token of being baptized with the Holy Ghost doesn’t mean we caused the Holy Ghost to bring the Seed, it means we believe we received.
Here in verse 11 is the reason we don’t call Abraham the father of faith, the reason for the token is so he could be the father of them who believe, though they are not circumcised, the righteousness might be imputed on them also. So, who would the they be? The Gentiles, this points to those who are not circumcised, showing when we believed God imputed Righteousness to them as well, so it could be by faith to reach the impartation. It’s still a belief issue, so it might be by faith. Circumcision regarding a Covenant began with Abraham; this is clear in verse 12 telling us Abraham is the “father of circumcision”, regardless of how many other nations or people use circumcision, the only person who did it as a Token regarding a Covenant with God was Abraham. By the belief and imputed righteousness we can view the belief of Abraham, showing how it might be by faith, to the end of the promise, which Abraham showed us before he was circumcised. This pertains to us, the circumcision of the heart is after we are granted entry into the Body.
Rom 4:13-25This is interesting since it shows the Promise was not to Abraham, since it involved the world, including both Jew and Gentile, but it might be “through the Righteousness of faith”, this doesn’t say the righteousness by faith, rather this points to the Faith of Jesus, as He obtained the position for us so the Father could impute Righteousness upon us.
For if the Promise was only to those under the Law, then it wasn’t to the world, thus it couldn’t be by faith, yet it was not to them of the Law, because the Law works the wrath of God, but Faith seeks the Grace of God (vs. 14-16).
Paul’s point is valid, we can see why God gave us this letter to the Romans as our first book of Order and Establishment. In verse 16 we find this is a Process, “to the end the promise might be sure”, then we see the “faith of Abraham”, which also gives us process. It was his belief, then the imputed righteousness, so it might be by faith. This still doesn’t say he is the father of faith, only he was the first person to whom righteousness was imputed, as he became the “father of us all”. If it’s the case, what about God? This is the beginning of the process; we believe, God imputes, we move to faith, it’s possible thorough God.
Verse 17 shows the meaning of the name Abraham, although the Hebrew shows it’s “father of a multitude”, God said, “I have made thee a father of many nations”, which would include Jew and Gentile. If we leave it, “father of a multitude” it would only mean the Jews, who define it so, but if we listen to God, we can see it includes the Gentiles, which is Paul’s point.
All this shows when we came into this, the groundwork was done, the preview set, the efforts done, all we did was allow the given measure of faith to work. If we did nothing but allow what God gave us to do what God said it would, why then do we brag? It’s God who quickened the dead, we are the dead who imputed death by the Cross of Jesus, whom God has quickened by the Spirit.
Here in verse 17 we find the imputed theory, God calls what we can be, done, which is reflected in the Report. Does it mean it’s done? No, it’s the mistake of the Romans, assuming they were Justified by the Declaration, while avoiding the procedure.
Abraham was faced with facts, so are we. How can anyone be dead, yet live? How can anyone be Born Again? The same dilemma Nicodemus faced. We have to be dead to be Resurrected, but if we are going to be Resurrected as Jesus, we must have the same Spirit of Holiness, but how? We have all come short, how can this be? By God calling something which is not to us, as a were to Him based on what He sees for us in Jesus. We then believe what God said, regardless of the evidence at hand or the facts. This doesn’t mean we do the talking, it means we do the receiving of what God said.
There was no hope for Abraham, other than the hope God gave him. Abraham believed in hope, leading to his faith. Without belief, our faith has no foundation for the unseen, we will toss our faith around like a bucket of water. The unseen hope produced a target for faith, but the information produced the belief, it was the belief producing the imputed righteousness. The wording of God to the man Abraham was, “so shall thy seed be”, it was not “if things turn out okay, maybe your seed”, or “who how’s what the future holds, maybe”, it was “shall”, just as Jesus told us if we continue to believe, the phrase, “shall be saved” applies (v. 18).
Now from belief to faith, the process of faith reaches to the hope, being not weak in faith, considering the facts of this own body, with the evidence of those facts, he staggered not at the promise thorough unbelief (questioning the promise given), but was strong in faith (reaching to the hope), as he gave God the glory (vs. 19-20). Coupling belief and faith, the two elements in the Now keeping us on the path of Righteousness. The main Hope is to be glorified, but Abraham gained the promise while still in the flesh, thus showing we have many hopes within the hope.
Being fully persuaded in what God said as well as what God was able to complete is the key to all this. We imputed the old nature dead, but is it? We said so, do we believe the Cross is able? We asked for the Spirit to get us through this, but did we believe it? Our faith will show if we did or not. We work on faith, but we must also work on belief.
The wording Being fully persuaded is the Greek word Plerophoreo meaning he held to the conclusion of the promise, not the things between. Adding, “Therefore it was imputed to him for Righteousness”, it wasn’t what God saw then, it was what God saw in the future, thus when Abraham believed, God saw the man being fully persuaded, holding tight to the words spoken, “so shall thy seed be”, until the Promise was in hand (v. 22).
Was it just for the man alone? No, it was written for us, so we may have the same opportunity to know what Imputed means, how it works, and why it works (v. 22-23). If we believe on Him who raised Jesus from the dead, if we believe Jesus was delivered for our offenses, and was raised Again (ascended) for our Justification, then we enter the Process knowing God is fully able to bring the Report to pass in our lives.
Later Paul will talk more about this showing belief is a heart issue, not intellectual. We need a New Heart, one with established capability to grant us the Belief to couple with the Faith to reach the end of the Promise, even the salvation of our souls.
The lesson of Abraham is vital, his faith was able to override the facts, thus faith and fact are different, the world looks at facts to make a guess at Truth, or determines Faith as someone’s religious connection. Something can be a Fact, but not Truth, mind power is never of faith. A counterfeit fifty dollar bill is a fact, but it’s a lie since it’s an unlawful copy of the original, thus it lacks Truth. The counterfeit can be seen, in some cases used, but it’s also evidence against the offender. The enemy comes against us with Facts, not Truths. We were sinners, a fact, but truth says blessed are those to whom God will not impute sin.
Abraham had points to his stand, 1) he staggered not at the Promise through unbelief, 2) he was strong in faith, by giving glory to God, and 3) he was fully persuaded what God promised, God was able to perform. Belief is the first step, then came the imputed righteousness, then faith reaching to the hope. Remove the belief, you remove the imputed righteousness, removing “it might be through faith”. However, remove the promise, and you have to remove everything. We have a promise presented by the Father, secured by the Son, enforced by the Holy Ghost.
When adversity came Abraham didn’t run off looking for another promise, or run about seeking another word. Some of the acts of the man proved his love for God, without him having to go around telling everyone. Before righteousness was imputed he had to venture into Egypt, face his fears, make decisions to end strife, rescue Lot, faced the king of Sodom, found Melchizedek the priest of the most High, all before righteousness was imputed, yet we just found the imputed righteousness was based on what the man would do, not what he did do. However, the experiences all benefited his belief.
The Romans forgot this was a process, they removed the word “being” from the phrase “being justified”, thinking their faith was so powerful and wonderful they were completely innocent, ye they judged others, which is evidence showing they weren’t innocent. The innocent never impute sin on people, they treat people in the same manner as God treats them, innocent.
Rom 5:1-21In the concept of predestination we find Justification, Paul now talks about the Justification of God, a process no one can enter without faith in God, yet no one can finish without the New Birth. The “Therefore” continues the thought of being delivered by the Cross, yet it’s the Justification is by the Power of the Resurrection. The phrase “being justified’ declares a process, yet God has imputed us Justified. Based on what? The potential of the New Man to get us to the promised goal. The Word in us is separating and dividing, it’s fully able to save ours souls, allowing us to stand before God (Heb 4:12-13 & James 1:21). Our Peace with God is a sign of the Process, but Peace with God, without a fear of God leads to a false confidence, rather than a true confidence. (v. 1).
Verses 1 and 2 would make it seem as if we have access by our faith, but in Ephesians we find we have access by the one Spirit unto the Father (Eph 2:18), and we have access and boldness with confidence by the Faith of Jesus (Eph 3:12). Here it’s “into this Grace” wherein we stand, thus our measure of faith brought us to the place to enter Grace, to be justified by God’s Grace.
Tribulations work patience, patience gains the experience, the experience leads to the hope, surely we can see this is a Process (vs. 4-5). It’s the Hope making us not ashamed, but hope seen is not hope at all. The Hope is before us, faith then reaches to the Hope, thus the path of training and experience builds our faith. Our hope is sustained in us by the New Man, for the Love of God is shed abroad in our hearts, by the Holy Ghost, which indicates the New Birth (circumcised heart). The word Abroad means Poured out, much like the prophecy of Joel.
Verse 6 points to the Cross, showing how Jesus died for the ungodly, which would include both Jew and Gentile. The allegory shows people die for causes, but Jesus died for people. Verse 7 shows it was by God’s love, not our good works, or even our potential good works causing Jesus to die on the Cross, for we were ungodly sinners, found guilty by the Law of sin and death, then condemned to death, yet Jesus redeemed us from death by paying the price for us.
Verse 9 says we are being Justified by His Blood, which joins to His Faith. The Blood is the New Covenant, thus in the New Covenant of Grace we are saved from the wrath of God, insuring us Peace with God. It’s not our blood, it atones for nothing, but the precious Blood of Jesus grants us the power of the Resurrection.
Once we were freed from the snare of the devil, God began a process unto the salvation of our souls. The best evidence of Grace at work is exposure, when the old roots, the wiles of strongman, strongholds, and the other self-traits binding us to the earth are made manifest we can be assured the Word is in us dividing and separating, cleaning and bringing us to the process of being Justified by Christ in us, the hope of glory.
This exposure is within, the deception of unbelief, the illusion of the deeds of the old man keep us blinded, but praise the Lord, the New Man is not blinded. Often we can see faults in others, long before we even suspect we have any faults. The New Man knows our faults, He is searching out the Leaven on a daily basis, not to be belittle us, or accuse us, but to set us free.
The concept of working for our justification, or allowing the Spirit to work through us unto justification is made clear in the letter to the Galatians. We can’t be justified before God by the works of the Law, or the works of the flesh, even if those works are religious in nature. We have believed in Jesus, to be justified by the Faith of Christ, not by the works of the Law (Gal 2:16-17). Our belief isn’t going to justify us, but our belief and faith in God brings us into the process.
Grace is the Ability, Salvation the goal, thus God saw the goal, gave us the Ability, when we accepted the Covenant. It all began when God saw the potential of Christ in us, then imputed us as righteous based on the Christ potential. It’s not Automatic, we must make the decision to enter. Therefore, it’s what Jesus has done, what the Father has done, what the Spirit is doing. Now we find why we are called the Body of Christ, the old body id dead, the New is Christ. Yet, the minute we attempt to reach our own justification we are enter self-righteousness, which is unrighteousness, placing ourselves back under the Law of Moses (Gal 2:17-18).
“Wow, we just sit around and do nothing?”. Hardly, we Hear, we Do, there are some things God shouldn’t have to tell us. Mercy is one, we hold Mercy in all events. Love is another, we Love regardless. Faith is another, we are expected to walk by faith. Belief is yet another, we have more than enough evidence to Believe. These are areas Expected of us, if God has to tell us to “Give them Mercy”, it’s a sure sign we’re out of Mercy. Mercy and Grace are aspects of the New nature, the Process brings us into the nature, where we do good works by nature.
Verse 10 speaks of being Reconciled with God, in Second Corinthians Paul defined the term for us, it fits here. “To wit, God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and has committed unto us the word of Reconciliation” (II Cor 5:19). God did not impute sin on us, we are not to impute sin on others, so what were the Romans doing? Imputing sin, fault and error on others, which is the context of judging others.
We “shall be saved” by the Life of Christ, which Life is in us by the New Birth (v. 10), thus from Death to the Resurrection, the very Token of our water baptism. Water baptism didn’t grant us the Spirit, rather water baptism is our Token accepting the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus, with all they entail. Our Joy and Peace are found in Jesus, not our works, in Him is “atonement”. The word Atonement is the Greek Katallage which is another legal term, meaning Reconciliation. If we are going to be Reconciled to God it must be by the New Birth, found in the New Covenant based on the Blood of Jesus.
Verses 12 shows why the fall took place in the manner it did, Adam male and Adam female were one, as they acted as one, thus by one man sin entered the world, thus before the time there was no sin in the world. Adam was given the attribute of choice, it takes choice to sin, or not to. This answers many questions for us, death as a result of sin, yet a flower dying are much different. There was no death by sin before Adam, yet there had to be death since God called the seeds forth from the ground (Gen 1:11). Death by sin was introduced to man by the fallen angel, accepted by man, yet man had the power and authority to resist, but did not. The death was a cloud passed onto all men through the reproduction of the flesh, thus all of us were flesh minded, as our souls joined to the flesh to accomplish what the soul desired, yet it developed into sin. The Law of Moses proves man is more prone to sin, then do good. The Law of the Spirit forms us into a nature which is free of the flesh making us prone to do good.
Verse 12 shows the Law defined sin, as well as the law of imputing. Without a basis there is no imputing, any attempt to impute anything without a basis is a mind game. The first thing we find is the Law imputed sin on us, because the nature of man was sinful. Although the Law defined sin, although sin could not be imputed until the Law, we find death as the result of sin reigned from Adam to Moses, even over all those with the nature (vs. 12-13). The death was a figure of who was to come, not saying Jesus is death, rather Jesus died so we might have life (Heb 2:14).
Verse 15 shows the offense was by one man, yet all men suffer, thus God’s plan was for one Jesus to save all mankind. If the Plan called for each of us to begin in the Garden, then we would all need a separate Jesus. However, it’s not in the Plan, there is only one Cross, one Jesus, one Way to the Father. Grace grants much more than Adam lost, Adam was earthly, a living soul, not a quickening spirit. Grace grants us something so New, it was never before. Back in verse 5 we found the Love of God is shed, here in verse 15 we find the Grace of God by the Gift of Grace (New Man) comes by one man Jesus Christ. Grace has abounded unto many, both Jew and Gentile, because God is no Respecter of persons. The wording “has abounded” is the Greek Perisseuo meaning Abundantly, or More than required, or To exceed in excellence. Grace then becomes Life more Abundantly, making Mercy Life. The word Gift in the phrase “the free gift” in verse 15 is the Greek Charisma, the action of Grace, which Paul will define for us in chapter 12. The word Gift in the phrase “the gift of Grace” is the Greek Dorea, meaning a free gift with the emphasis on its gratuitous character. The gift of Grace is the Gift the Holy Ghost brings us, thus the Justification is based on being Born Again through the Spirit of Truth.
On the same note the Judgment is based on the same principle, by one man sin entered, the debt of sin is death, the result of death is the Judgment. Therefore, if there is a condemnation (the guilty found guilty), there must also be a Justification to remove the guilt, is God not Equal? (v. 16).
From 4:17 to 5:17 is a parenthetical phrase explaining “that it might be by Grace” (v. 4:16). If we removed the phrase it would read, “it might be by Grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not only which is of the law, but to all which are of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all (4:16). By the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the Righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto Justification of life” (5:18). Without the parenthetical phrase we would think Abraham was the one who brought us justification, or faith. Abraham believed, God imputed righteousness, so it could be by faith. If God had not imputed righteousness, there would be no Covenant, meaning no hope, meaning no where for faith. The belief of a natural man, who was under the sin nature brought about by Adam was able to receive the imputed righteousness, how much more can we have by the Cross of Jesus?
The misnomer of Abraham being the “father of faith” is derived from these verses, but we find Abraham the father of “us all”, but we also see “the faith of Abraham”, it doesn’t say Abraham invented faith, or started it, rather it was by faith based on his belief.
The Judgment came on all men by the offence of one, thus the Justification is also by the Righteousness of God the free Gift upon All Men Unto Justification of life, after they receive the Gift (v. 19). The Plan has room for all mankind, the reality of the Plan knows who will receive and who won’t. The twisted concept of Predestination says God picks who will receive and who won’t, here we find God presented it to all, but God “knows” who will receive and who won’t. The twisted view becomes an excuse, “well God didn’t pick me”, not so, we find the Grace of God for the Justification is “upon all men” (v. 18).
From the offense to the disobedience, indicating it was the disobedience bringing the offense. In Ephesians Paul shows all mankind are under the fall nature as the “children of disobedience”, over them is the prince of the power (authority) of the air (Eph 2:2). Yet over all things is Jesus, in Whom we are (Eph 1:20-23). Because all mankind is under disobedience they are also children of disobedience, but we also find upon all is the hope to have the Righteousness of God by the New Birth. The Romans felt they were special, they were, but they felt the specialness was something they alone could have, which is the twisted concept of predestination (v. 19).
Verse 20 shows the Law entered because of the offense, thus the Law defined sin, projecting it to all mankind. Mankind accepted the premise by forming natural laws based on the punishment of man’s sin against man. Although the Law of Moses was for the Jews, the defined sin abounded to all mankind. But where sin did abound, much more the Grace of God to Jew or Gentile (v. 20). If sin reigns unto death, and it does, then Grace reigns Through Righteousness unto eternal Life by Jesus Christ our Lord (v. 21).
Paul didn’t just show the opposites of Adam and Jesus, he showed us the Plan was in effect before the Beginning.
By Rev. G. E. Newmyer – s.b.i.les22rev7/ © 2003
