Romans Series (Pt. 25) – Romans 5:18-21

Bible Study Series

Christ’s Obedience Brings Righteousness (5:18-21)
Paul returns to the thought that he began in verse 12 about the source of humanity’s sinful nature. Let’s look at the complete thought here.

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—…Therefore as by the offence 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. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom 5:12, 18-21, KJV)

Here is Paul’s full theological statement about the relationship between Adam and Jesus, between sin and redemption. In Adam all were found guilty of falling short of God perfect standard, God’s glory (Romans 3:23).  It cannot be stated too often, that the nature of sin’s offense must be measured against the perfect nature of God’s character.  Paul then gives us the opposite reality found in Christ. In Jesus, all who believe will be restored into right relationship with God.  God will no longer require payment for the offense of sin, but will rather count the righteousness of Christ to the account of all who place their trust in Jesus. What we often fail to realize is that what Adam did in the Garden was to place his faith in himself. This is the ultimate reality.  Pride is the springhead of all sin. When Adam and Eve ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they withdrew their trust from God and placed it on their own understanding and wisdom.  Did the devil play a role in this?  Absolutely.  But the responsibility for falling into sin rested at the feet of Adam and Eve who committed the sin. The devil has his own sins to answer for, but the fall is not one of them.

In Jesus God is reestablishing the proper object of faith. This is why faith is the required means for salvation. When we do not believe in God we are believe in something else to be the source of our lives, and this is the sin that cast humanity from the Garden of Eden. When we come to grips with the fact that the universe is guided by the principle of faith we will understand why Adam’s sin affected all of his descendants. Verses 20 and 21 help us to make sense of the parenthetical statement found in verses 13-17. The law came to let all know why God was upset with our actions.  The law is what provides man with accountability to God.  Culpability is found in the act of sin.  We sin because we are sinners.  And it is also true that we are sinners because of sin. Just look at what happens in Genesis, specifically the generation of Noah and during the time of the building of the tower of Babel (Genesis 6, 11).

This is why Paul says that where sin abounds, grace abounds much more (v.20). When we understand the terrible offense of our sin (through the law’s revelation); we can see why grace is so much more powerful and wonderful. When sin looks as if it has had its final victory, grace comes and reveals the true weakness and impotence of sin. God loves to show that He can lift us up from the most desperate of places if we would jut trust in Him. But the power of God’s salvific work in found in the work and person of Jesus Christ (v. 21).  To turn to any other place is to place our faith in the wrong object, i.e., ourselves.

Chrysalis Journey #15 | The Power of Patient Persistence (Pt. 2)

In this second part we will look further into who are those that do the will of the Father.  Jesus himself identified these as his family.  We should follow Jesus’ example and associate with those who have an earnest desire to obey the Word of God.  To spend too much time with those that are not pushing forward in not just doing God’s will, but setting their minds to accomplishing that will have to be encouraged to return to what Jesus has said we must be about if we are to be obedient disciples.

¹⁹Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. ²⁰And he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you.” ²¹But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.” Luke 8:19-21 (ESV)

Who are members of the family of Christ?  Who are the ones that do the will of God?  It is those who hear the word of God and put it into practice.  This is the key that has unlocked God’s will for my life.  God’s will is not something specific in the sense that I will have one job rather than another.  Or that I will marry one person rather than another.  God’s will in not in the specifics of my individual life, but in the specifics of God’s purposes being worked out in my particular life.  Will God provide direction and insight for the circumstances of my life? Yes, He will.  What I must not do is expect God to provide the answer to every situation that comes up in life.  That is not God’s desire.  Faith is a “now” reality.  To expect, and in some instances, demand that God provide this kind of direction is to make God our servant rather than remain His servant.  The word of God provides for us the parameters by which we should live and the expectations for anyone that calls themselves a follower of Jesus.  If we aren’t doing what it says, God is not under any obligation to provide further insight.  Paul said as much to Timothy:

“¹⁶All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ¹⁷that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17, ESV).

Proximity does not automatically guarantee provision.  This is the heart of what Jesus said to his flesh-and-blood family.  If we are not capable of complying with God’s word how ca we be trusted to obey anything else God would give for us to do?

¹⁶Rejoice always, ¹⁷pray without ceasing, ¹⁸give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (ESV)

Here were begin to understand what it is that God desires for us to do.  In this verse we find a three-fold description of what God desires for us to do.  We are to rejoice always.  The reality of what God has done should put the worries of the world into perspective.  Paul makes some incredible statements in his letters, but the one that leaves the mind and heart wondering is found in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians.  Paul details the treasure that God has placed in “earthen vessels” in 1 Corinthians 4:7-16.  But after outlining the real troubles that will come he ends by saying that these “light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (4:17-18, ESV).  Then in Romans 8:18 Paul tells us that “for I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (ESV).  Not only this, but we are to pray without ceasing.  The necessity of constant connection with our heavenly Father should provide motivation to commune with God.  We cannot build or strengthen our relationship with God if we do not spend time with Him.  This is the challenge and the reward of prayer.  If we desire to have relationship, then we must take the time and devote it to God.  Finally, we must give thanks at all times.  We are don’t have to give thanks for everything, but in everything.  God doesn’t desire evil or wrong to happen to His children, but it does.  Life is not fair, but God is just and He “will work for good” even the events of life that are contrary to God’s purposes (Romans 8:28).

¹⁴And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. ¹⁵And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. 1 John 5:14-15 (ESV)

This is one of the most astounding truths in the bible.  God not only desires for us to communicate with Him, but God also tells us that He wants to give us what we ask for!  But here is the catch, what we ask for has to be in line with what God wants for us to be doing.  When we are obedient to God’s will, as it is revealed in the Word of God, we are given boldness to ask and not just wish we received it.  John says that we will have a renewed confidence in God’s ability to provide what we ask for.  The answer will be as good as given because what we have asked for is not only something we desire, but it is something that pleases God.  At its most fundamental level these are the prayers that God answers: those that please Him.  I have heard it said that God responds to prayer in three ways:  Yes, No and Wait.  I think two of these are not right.  God desires to answer, “Yes,” to everything we ask for.  But not everything we ask for is worthy of a “Yes.”  But that doesn’t mean that God has answered “no” or “wait.”  It just means that God is the one waiting for us to get in line with His program.  God is not telling us no or wait, He is the one waiting for us to catch up to His will as it is written down in His word.  Look at what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 1:20:

For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory. (NLT)

If we are to take this verse for what it says then we have to change our theology of prayer and make it conform to God’s.  God has all the time in the world.  So he is not telling us wait. That would imply that what we are asking for is something God would desire to say yes to.  This may not be true.  And if God answers “no” then we have a problem because then God is going against His word that He will hear and that we will have whatever we ask.  The key here is how well do our prayers conform to God’s will. That is what will determine if we hear God’s resounding “Yes!”

³⁴A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. ³⁵By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35 (ESV)

These are probably the most damning couple of verses in the New Testament.  The evidence that we are doing the will of God; the proof that the fruit of the Spirit are being reproduced in us; the sign that the new life that Jesus has purchased for us has been deposited in good soil is given here.  My love for my brother in Christ, which is the person doing the will of God (Luke 8:19-21), is the greatest demonstration that God has broken through the stony exterior of my sinner’s heart and has remade it into a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26).  When I look at the world and I wonder why it doesn’t take the church seriously I only have to remember these words and know the answer.  I can’t say that I love God when I don’t have a rich and abiding love for my brother, whom I can see (1 John 4:20).  So much strife and division in the church has tarnished the witness of the church to the world.  I am not saying that there shouldn’t be denominations.  What I am saying is that this should not be enough reason to not love one another.

Taken together all of these verse help to solidify the foundation of what God is looking for in His children here on earth.  Any deviation from this is to miss the point that our brothers, sisters, father and mothers are those that have surrendered their everything to God purposes.

Two Parts:
The Power of Patient Persistence (Pt. 1)
The Power of Patient Persistence (Pt. 2)

Update for the Blog

I have been inactive on my blog for a variety of reasons, some which will become the subject of future posts.  The close of 2010 and the beginning of 2011 has been an interesting and difficult time.  We suffered the pre-mature death of my brother-in-law which has caused me to take a fresh look at many of the things that I said I believed.  I will going into more about what I mean by this in future posts.

As I have looked at my faith in light of his death I have come out on the other side with a greater resolve to dig deeper into God and into what He would have for me into my life.  I will be striving to live out the the emphasis of this blog: The Christian Way: A Disciple’s Life.  I will be exploring where and if I am living into and up to what it means to give myself over to Christ in every area of my life.  I know there are some that have not been fully surrendered to Him.  What I want is to do is find out why and then prayer more diligently for God to bring about the changes that I have failed to accomplish and achieve on my own, in my strength.

I probably have more questions than answers, but what I do have more of is clarity regarding God desires for me in my faith life (which by the way is my life!).  We will see where this goes.

Chrysalis Journey #15 | The Power of Patient Persistence (Pt. 1)

It would almost seem contradictory to talk of patient persistence, but this is exactly what prayer is.  One of the most amazing aspects of Chrysalis is the amount of prayer that goes into the preparation of these weekends and the amount of prayer that happens during the weekend.  I almost say this to my shame, but prayer is not as powerful a reality in my life as it should be.  I don’t know why I don’t pray more often, more consistently, more intentionally.  I think that part of it is that I don’t know if what I am saying is me wanting my will to be done or God’s.  This is the struggle that I face.

Over the last couple of months I have discovered several scriptures that have helped me to focus in on what praying in God’s will actually is.  I know that I have tended to pray hoping that what I was praying for was what God wanted me to be praying for.  What I have discovered is that God’s will more readily available than we think.  God has put His will within the Scriptures so that we can have a place to begin with.  The age old question of what God’s will is for each of our lives has become such a distraction to what God has actually said that we fail to live out what God has already said, and we fail to live into the fullness that God has purposed for His children.  Let’s just look at a few of these scriptures.

³For this is the will of God, your sanctification… 1 Thessalonians 4:3 (ESV)

Paul writes to the Thessalonians and tells them that one of God’s purposes for them is that they grow in sanctification, or holiness.  What this means is that God is interested in the transformation of the heart and our lifestyles.  Sanctification begins on the inside, but inevitable manifests itself in daily living.  This is unavoidable.  Therefore a sign of our compliance with and submission to God’s will should be seen in our increased sanctification.  Are you different?  Have you changed in the time that you have come to know Jesus?

¹⁵For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 1 Peter 2:15 (ESV)

Peter provides for us the reason that our sanctification is so important to God.  God desires that our lives serve as proof that there are no other gods except Him.  Only the true God could change a life so that it reflects the love, grace and power of God.  God desires that all men come the realization that there is no other being in the created universe worthy of worship.  But the only way to do this is through the effect of the love of God as it is experienced and passed on through the believer.

For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” John 6:40 (ESV)

Jesus leaves no doubt in the mind of those that were listening to him when he says this.  God’s will is that whoever looks, i.e., believes in, Jesus will have eternal life.  Not only that, but Jesus makes a promise to those that do believe in him.  Jesus promises to also raise them from the dead in the last day.

And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. 1 John 2:17 (ESV)

The will of the Father is waiting to be done!  The world is wasting away because it has failed to see and do what it is that God desires.  But for those that find it, there is the promise of abiding forever with Jesus.  This verse does raise the question: What is will of God?  If we are supposed to be doing this will how to we find it so that we can do it?

In the second part of this post we will look a little closer at who are the ones that we should connect with.  It is important that we associate and fellowship with those that are in agreement with the Word of God.  If our desire is to pray in God’s will we must remain connected to others that have the same desire.

Two Parts:
The Power of Patient Persistence (Pt. 1)
The Power of Patient Persistence (Pt. 2)