Featured The church was the intended audience...

An little expose' of Romans 5....



Romans 5:1-5....

Paul has already laid the groundwork how we have access to the Father, which is 'by grace through faith', as he wrote to the church of Ephesus(2:9). He even stated we are justified by 'faith in His blood'(Rom. 3:25). This is why it's so important to understand that faith is a gift of God. If it was inherent within man to exercise whenever he chooses to, then he has justified himself, seeing that God has chosen to justify the heathen(nations) by faith (Gal. 3:8). Then you can read the pronouns such as we, us, and our, which addresses the believers at Rome and subsequently us, all the redeemed.


Romans 5:6-11....

Again, notice the pronouns we, us, our, &c. By Christ dying for the ungodly, it wasn't everyone He tasted death for. It was the church, which Eph. 5:25 plainly states as biblical fact. Christ died to atone for the sins of the church, His bride, His chosen, His sheep, and He was resurrected for them as well. The church is the intended audience.


Romans 5:12-14....

Paul is showing that by the deed of one, all were made sinners, Adam, the first Adam, being their representative. He then tells how that even though from Adam to Moses there was no Law, but yet, death still reigned. How is that possible, if there is no sin/trangression where there is no Law?(Rom. 4:15) For the wages of sin is death(Rom. 6:23), so then how could they have tasted death if there was no Law given Adam-------->Moses? This shows that Adam's sins made us sinners, too. Read of David and Bathsheba's son that died. What sin did he commit to deserve death if he hadn't already sinned in Adam? God told Nathan to tell David that his son would die for what David did. That's federal headship right there. For those who lived from Adam------->Moses and died, Adam's sins had to be imputed unto them.


Romans 5:15-21....

Here some may think Paul presented a conundrum of sorts. Not so! This is where careful study truly needs to take place. Paul is showing the two Adams, Adam and Jesus Christ, as representatives of their people. Adam, the first Adam, is the federal head of all living, and Christ is the Federal Head of all the church(Eph, 1:22 & 5:23 & Col. 1:18). All were accounted as sinners by the deeds of the first Adam. All the church is considered righteous by the deeds of the last Adam, Jesus Christ. Pay careful notice to 'even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life'. So if 'all men' referred to everybody who was ever conceived, then in this instance, everybody would be saved. Seeing that it was God who resurrected Christ from the grave for our justification(Rom. 4:25). Paul didn't present any conundrum whatsoever, he was contrasting the works, the deeds, of the two Adams, Adam and Jesus Christ. Again, the church was the intended audience....

 

An expose' of Romans 9....

Having done an expose' of Romans 5, I want to jump to chapter 9....

Paul addressed what was necessary in chapters 6-8 such as Law vs. Grace in chapter 6, and how we now live under Grace and not the Law. Then in chapter 7, he addressed how we serve the law of sin via the flesh and the Law of God with the mind and the warfare that we fight against sin in our lives. Then in chapter 8, he addresses who it is that has access to the Father, those chosen from the foundation of the world. All of this leads up to chapter 9 and how he shows that the chosen, the sheep, the elect, the church, isn't solely from Israel, but both Israel(Jew) and Greek/Gentile....


Romans 9:1-5.....

Paul was struggling with the unbelief of his brethern in the flesh, the Jews. He lamented much like Moses did when Moses said to blot out his name and place them in that Book. He was showing that the Jews had been given the Law, the promises contained in them, adoption, service to God, etc. Yet, the Law was not sufficient. They could have kept Law...I say this hypothetically...and still die(d) lost.Why? If they kept it, they did it themselves, and that is not of Grace, but rather, works. Jesus told the 'rich, young ruler' he lacked one thing, and when He exposed that fault to him...he loved his wealth over anything else, he walked away sorrowful.


Romans 9:6-10....

Here Paul is separating true Israel, the church in the wilderness(Acts 7:38), from the nation of Israel. Abraham was the father of many nations, yet it was his seed, Isaac, that had the promise. In Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, you can see them as 'types' of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. It wasn't the seed of Abraham, because Abraham also had a son, Ishmael, with Hagar, but the seed of Isaac that had the promises. We got the promises of Christ when He atoned our sins for us. True Isarel in the OT days received these promises of Isaac in the same way the NT church, get the promises of God through Christ.


Romans 9:11-18......

Here is the quintessential example of election at work in the hands of the Almighty. Even before Jacob and Esau had done anything whatsoever, He chose Jacob. Through nothing meritous on Jacob's behalf, He chose Jacob and left Esau in his already fallen state. Paul then delves into the book of Exodus and God's dealings with Pharoah. Pharoah, an already fallen creature, was raised up to his exalted status so that His power would be shown in him. As Paul stated, God has mercy and hardens others as He so pleases. Oh, how thankful I am to have that mercy of His. It is God that has mercy and nothing that man brings to the table that garners man's salvation.

Romans 9:19-21....

Here Paul is telling the Roman church, and subsequently us, that we have no right to question His motives...Romans 8:28 should suffice us in this matter. If God saves 1, 1,000, 1,000,000, 1,000,000,000,000, or ZERO, He is still Holy, Just, Good, Love, Glory, Majesty and anyother adjective that displays Him in His Goodness. God was not obligated to call any of us before He created this universe, yet in His mercy, grace and love, He chose a # that NO MAN can #!! Talk about a merciful God we serve!!


Romans 9:22-26....

Here Paul is expanding God's election in that it also included the Gentiles, too. The Gentiles were considered dogs, and the Jews had a distain for us, the Gentiles. Even David referred to Goliath as an 'uncircumiced Philistine', and not in a positive fashion, either. But in Christ, there is no more male nor female, Jew nor Greek...Gal. 3:28 & Col. 3:11, but both are one in Christ Jesus, their Shepherd....


Romans 9:26-29....

Here Paul is showing the purpose of God's elect throughout all time...to keep the world from turning completely and utterly wicked. It is the remnant, the elect of God, that keeps this world from people completely and utterly wicked, ruthless, violent, turbulent, &c. If not for the believers this world would not be able to sustain itself, imo. The remnant, the elect, are here to worship and glorify God and to be a witness to the lost...

Romans 9:30-33....

The Jews though that by being born a Jew, they were already part of the Covenant that God made with Abraham, who was their father. They wanted nothing to do with Jesus whatsoever. He came as to establish the Grace Covenant, a Covenant of Grace. In this Grace Covenant, there is no place for works. In the Law, they worked. They had to keep/observe it, or else suffer dire consequences. Not so with the Covenant of Grace that Christ established upon His works of the cross.

So, in all of this, the church is the intended audience...