Reading through Romans-Faith=Righteousness

"Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,"

Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace: The idea of grace stands opposite to the principle of works; grace has to do with receiving the freely given gift of God, works has to do with earning our merit before God.

b. Not counted as grace but as debt: A system of works seeks to put God in debt to us, to have God owe us His favor because of our good behavior. In works-thinking, God owes us salvation or blessing because of our good works.

But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness: Righteousness can never be accounted to the one who approaches God on the principle of works. Instead it is given to the one who believes on Him who justifies the ungodly.

What a loving Holy God!  Thank you for counting me righteous because of my faith and not my works.  I praise your Holy Name!

Reading through Romans-Righteous through faith

"What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness."

What then shall we say: In building on the thought begun in Romans 3:31 Paul asks the question, "Does the idea of justification through faith, apart from the works of the law, make what God did in the Old Testament irrelevant?"

For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about: If anyone could be justified by works, they would have something to boast about. Nevertheless such boasting is nothing before God (but not before God).

This boasting is nothing before God because even if works could justify a man he would still, in some way, fall short of the glory of God.(Romans 3:23)

This boasting is nothing because before God, every pretense is stripped away and it is evident that no one can really be justified by works.

For what does the Scripture say? The Old Testament does not say Abraham was declared righteous because of his works. Instead, Genesis 15:6 says that Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness.

Paul makes it clear: Abraham's righteousness did not come from his performance of good works, but from his belief in God. It was a righteousness obtained through faith.

The Apostle Paul does not say that Abraham was made righteous in all of his doings, but God accounted Abraham as righteous. Our justification is not God making us perfectly righteous, but counting us as perfectly righteous. After we are counted righteous, then God begins making us truly righteous, culminating in our resurrection.

Dear Holy God, I stand in awe at your Holy righteousness!  Thank you for counting me righteousness because of my faith in Jesus Christ.  Help me to remember that every time I feel tempted to boast that I have nothing to boast of but my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

Reading through Romans-Voiding the Law?

"Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law."

Do we then make void the law through faith? We can see how someone might ask this. "If the law doesn't make us righteous, what good is it? Paul, you have just made the law void. You are going against the law of God."

Certainly not! Of course, Paul does not make void the law. As the Apostle will demonstrate in Romans 4, the law anticipated the coming gospel of justification by faith, apart from the deeds of the law. Therefore, the gospel establishes the law, fulfilling its own predictions.

Oh Dear Lord, thank you for establishing the gospel through your perfect law.  "Your decrees are very trustworthy; holiness befits your house, O LORD, forevermore."  Praise be to you! 

Reading through Romans-Apart from the law

By Faith

"Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law."

Justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law: It isn't that we are justified by faith plus whatever deeds of the law we can do. We are justified by faith alone, apart from the deeds of the law.

"Since all works of law are barred out, faith alone is left. Luther so translated, and since his time Sola Fide has become a slogan." (Lenski)

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXB8ihepUpE[/embed]

Apart from the deeds of the law: Doesn't James contradict this in passages like James 2:14-26? How can we say that it is faith alone that saves, apart from the deeds of the law?

It is true faith alone saves, but true faith, saving faith, has a distinct character. It is not just agreeing with certain facts, but it is a directing of the mind and will in agreement with God. The whole purpose of the book of James is to describe the character of this saving faith.

Calvin explains: "What James says, that man is not justified by faith alone, but also by works, does not at all militate against the preceding view [of justification by faith alone]. The reconciling of the two views depends chiefly on the drift of the argument pursued by James. For the question with him is not, how men attain righteousness before God, but how they prove it to others that they are justified; for his object was to confute hypocrites, who vainly boasted that they had faith … James meant no more than that man is not made or proved to be just by a feigned or dead faith, and that he must prove his righteousness by his works."

Oh Dear Lord, THANK YOU for saving me through faith in your works!  Praise be to you alone!

Reading through Romans-Nothing for me to boast about

"Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith."

Where is boasting then? It shouldn't be anywhere. Because we are justified freely by His grace, there is no room for self-congratulation or credit.

By what law? Boasting and pride isn't excluded because there is some specific passage in the law against it. Instead, pride is excluded because it is completely incompatible with the salvation that is freely ours though faith. Boasting is excluded by the law of faith.

No room for boasting! This, of course, is why the natural man hates being justified freely by His grace; it absolutely refuses to recognize his (imagined) merits and gives no place to his pride whatsoever.

Dear God, thank you for freely saving me through faith and not the law.  And thank you for insisting that there is no room for credit for anything I can do...help me to boast in your works on my behalf instead!

Reading through Romans-Propitiation

"Whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus."

Whom God set forth as a propitiation: Jesus, by His death (by His blood) was a propitiation (substitute sacrifice) for us. As He was judged in our place, the Father could demonstrate His righteousness in judgment against sin, while sparing those who deserved the judgment.

Wuest on propitiation: "The word in its classical form was used of the act of appeasing the Greek gods by a sacrifice … in other words, the sacrifice was offered to buy off the anger of the god."

d. Whom God set forth as a propitiation: This shows that Jesus somehow appeased a reluctant, unwilling Father to hold back His wrath. Instead, it was God the Father who initiated the propitiation: whom God set forth.

e. God, in His forbearance, had passed over the sins of those Old Testament saints who trusted in the coming Messiah. At the cross, those sins were no longer passed over, they were paid for.

The work of Jesus on the cross freed God from the charge that He passed over sin committed before the cross lightly. They were passed over for a time, but they were finally paid for.

That He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus: At the cross, God demonstrated His righteousness by offering man justification (a legal verdict of "not guilty"), while remaining completely just(because the righteous penalty of sin had been paid at the cross).

It's easy to see how God could only be just - simply send every guilty sinner to hell, as a just Judge. It's easy to see how God could only be the justifier - simply tell every guilty sinner, "I declare a pardon. You are all declared 'not guilty.'" But only God could find a way to be both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

"Here we learn that God designed to give the most evident displays of both his justice and mercy. Of his justice, in requiring a sacrifice, and absolutely refusing to give salvation to a lost world in any other way; and of his mercy, in providing THE sacrifice which his justice required." (Clarke)

Oh, Dear God, I pray this day in gratitude for both your justice and mercy.  I am grateful beyond words for your complete knowledge of me, even in my sin, and your complete love for me as well.  Thank you for demonstrating both for me on the cross.

Last night's hotel :)