Southern
Christian University
A
Study on Romans #1
Please
read all of the references. They will help you to get a fuller understanding.
Paul’s
Epistle to the Romans has been regarded by many Bible scholars as one of the
greatest, if not the greatest, epistle of the New Testament. It has also been
reckoned by many as the most difficult to understand of all of the epistles.
The apostle Peter said of Paul’s epistles, “according
to the wisdom given to him, (by the Holy Spirit) wrote unto you; as also in all his epistles, speaking in them
of these things; wherein are some things hard to be understood, which
the ignorant and unstedfast wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto
their own destruction (II Pet. 3:15-16).”
So there are passages, which require much study and thought in order to
understand.
I
am hoping that each one of you will put forth real effort in the study of this
epistle, and that you will have good understanding of the book when we complete
the study of it.
Let
us begin our study of Romans by asking the question, how was the church at Rome
established? There is no indication from the book itself that Paul or any other
apostle had ever been to Rome. But we know that the church was a great
church, for their, “faith had been
proclaimed throughout the whole world (1:8).”
The church at Rome had been in
existence a number of years when Paul wrote this letter to them, for he had
longed to see them for many years. (15:23).
So
how was the church at Rome
established? There are several
possibilities. First in Acts 2, we read
on that first Pentecost, when that first gospel sermon was preached, there were
present Jews and proselytes from Rome. Some of them could have received the gospel
and carried the gospel back home and thus the beginning of the church in Rome. In Acts the eighth chapter we read, as for
Saul he made havoc of the church committing both men and women to prison. “They
therefore that were scattered abroad, went about preaching the word”. Now, Rome
was far from Jerusalem, and it
would be a little doubtful as to whether any went to Rome
as a result of that persecution, but once people start moving, sometimes they
do go to far away places. There is at
least a slight possibility, but I think a better possibility, would be that
many Christians went to Rome
because of the importance of the city of Rome.
It was surely a very important city in the days of Paul. In Romans 16:3-16
Paul salutes, I think, twenty-one people that he had known somewhere else, but
they were in Rome. And,
of course, the church could have been at least strengthened in a great way by
those Christians that Paul had known from other places. Of course, it could be
a combination of two or more of these ways that the church was
established.
But
Paul had longed for many years to go to Rome
and had not had an opportunity to go, and he still wanted to go. He gives two reasons here in chapter 1 as to
why he wanted to go. One reason he
wanted to impart unto them some spiritual gift to the end that they might be
established. The apostles by the laying
on of their hands could bestow those miraculous gifts, and, evidently, Paul
knew that they needed miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit as listed in I
Corinthians 12:4-11. And that is one reason why he wanted to go. Another reason given here in chapter one is,
he wanted to have some fruit among them even as he had had among the other
Gentiles, and that indicates that the church at Rome
was made up primarily of Gentile people.
And then in the fifteenth chapter of the book, we read that he was
expecting them to bring him on his journey when he went on to Italy to do
evangelistic work, which means that he was expecting them to have a part in
supporting him in that plan of evangelistic work in Italy.
But
we are pushed for time, so we better just start reading the epistle. "Paul,
a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel
of God." In the Galatian
letter he said that God “separated
me even from my mother's womb”.
(Gal. 1:15) Now he is separated for
what purpose, “unto the gospel of
God”. So Christ called him to be
an apostle, an apostle to give the gospel of God. What about the gospel? He first promised it through the Old
Testament scriptures. "Which he promised afore through his
prophets in the Holy Scriptures.
(the Old Testament) concerning his Son, who was born of the seed
of David according to the flesh." Some have been ready to contend that Christ
was not a son of David. Well, many Old
Testament passages speak of how that God was going to raise up into David a
righteous branch. Isaiah 9:6-8 reads, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a
son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall
be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of
Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end,
upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to establish it, and to
uphold it with justice and with righteousness from henceforth even for ever!
The zeal of Jehovah of hosts will perform this.” Zechariah 6:
12-13 reads, “Behold, the man whose
name is the Branch: and he shall grow up out of his place;
and he shall build the temple of Jehovah; and he shall bear the glory, and
shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon
his throne (Hebrews 7:25) and the counsel of peace shall be
between them both (God and Christ).” Jeremiah said, “Behold the days come, saith Jehovah, that
I will raise up unto David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and
deal wisely, and --- This is the name whereby he shall be called: Jehovah our righteousness”
(Jer.23: 5-6). Prior to Jeremiah’s prophecy
Amos had said, “In that day will I
raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, --- and I will build it as in
days of old” (Amos 9:11; Acts 15:13-16). And here Paul plainly states that
Christ is born of the seed of David according to the flesh. So whether we understand all the details or
not, the lineage of Christ is traced through David. "Who was
declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness,
by the resurrection from the dead, even Jesus Christ our Lord." Now, Jesus was declared to be the Son of God
by a voice from heaven when he was baptized, Matthew three, and again when he was
transfigured before Peter, James, and John.
And when Peter said, “Lord it
is good for us to be here, Matthew 17, let
us build three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for
Elijah. The voice from heaven said, this
is my beloved son in whom I am pleased, hear ye him.” But Paul here says, “Who was declared to be the Son of God with power, according
to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead.” Why? The resurrection of Christ from the dead
is the crowning miracle of all miracles, because it gives assurance that all
are going to be raised from the dead.
When Paul was speaking to the Athenians on Mars Hill, he said God hath
appointed a day in which he will judge the world by the man whom he hath
ordained, and that man is Christ. "Whereof he hath given assurance unto
all men, in that he has raised him from the dead." Acts 17:
31. And so the resurrection
of Christ from the dead is the crowning miracle of all miracles.
"Through whom we received grace and
apostleship, unto thee obedience of faith among all the nations, for his
namesake." If you highlight,
I think you ought to highlight “unto
obedience of faith”. You know the
Roman letter is the primary letter that men have come with idea of salvation by
faith only. And here in the very
beginning, Paul tells us that his apostleship was unto the obedience of faith
among all nations. Unless there is an
obedient faith, it is not worth anything.
Saving faith has always been active faith, and it always will be active
faith. And while we are at it, you might
say the book begins and closes with emphasis on the obedience of faith. In chapter fifteen in verse eighteen, he
says, "For I will not dare to
speak of any of things save those things which Christ hath wrought through me,
for the obedience of the Gentiles, by word and deed," and again in
chapter sixteen, verse nineteen, "For
your obedience is come abroad unto all men." The obedience of the Romans had been made
known to others. And then in verse
twenty-six, "But now is manifested,
by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal
God, is made known unto all the nations unto obedience of faith." It does looks like that these quotations
ought to put all of us on notice that it takes an obedient faith to bring
salvation.
Christ
had called Paul to be an apostle especially to the Gentiles, and the purpose
was, “unto the obedience of faith
among all the nations for his namesake”.
Verses 6-8, “Among whom are
ye also called to be Jesus Christ. To
all that are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus
Christ. First, I thank my God through
Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole
world." So the church at Rome
was a great church. Their faith had been
proclaimed throughout the whole world. "For God is my witness, whom I serve in
my spirit in the gospel of his Son, how unceasingly I make mention of you
always in my prayer; making request if by any means now at length I may be
prospered by the will of God to come unto you.
For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift,
to the end that ye may be established."
We have already referred back to Acts chapter eight about how it
was necessary for Peter and John to go down to Samaria
and lay their hands on those people in order that they might receive a
miraculous measure of the spirit. And in
II Timothy 1:6, Paul told Timothy to “stir up the gift of God which is in thee,
which is given thee by the laying on of my hands”. And so Paul wanted to go to Rome
to impart unto them miraculous gifts (I Corinthians 12:4-7).
Now,
if Peter had been at Rome, as the
Catholics and others contend, he could have done that. This is strong indication that Peter had
never been to Rome, and certain
evidence that he was not there when Paul wrote this book. Why would they be
short on spiritual gifts if he had ever been there? "For
I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end
that ye may be established; that is, that I with you may be comforted in you
each of us by the others faith both yours and mine." Anytime brethren meet from one location to
another, they ought to be mutually edified by the others faith, and that is
what Paul is talking about here, “be
comforted in you, each of us by the others faith, both yours and mine, and I would not have you ignorant,
brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you." And in chapter fifteen, he talks about
how that for many years he had longed to see them. Oftentimes he purposed, but he had been
hindered, but he does not give us the details of how he had been hindered.
Verse twelve, "That I might have some
fruit among you also, even as the rest of the Gentiles." So another reason why he wanted to go was
that he wanted to have fruit among them as he had fruit among the other Gentile
churches. "I am debtor both to Greeks, and to
barbarians." The terminology
just means that I am indebted to all men.
"Both to the wise and to
the foolish." Why is he
indebted? Christ had mercy upon him and
had called him to be an apostle, and he was in debt to do a good job of
preaching the gospel to all. "For as much as in me is, I am ready to
preach the gospel to you also that are in Rome.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of God:
For it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth;
to the Jew first, and also to the Greek."
I believe, we can say that verse sixteen is pretty well
announcing what this book is about. The
gospel of Christ is God's power to save.
There is no salvation by the Old Testament religion. The only way of salvation is through the way
of the gospel, through Jesus Christ.
Verse
seventeen, "For therein is
revealed a righteousness of God from faith unto faith: As
it is written, but the righteous shall live by faith." Again, he is quoting Habakkuk 2:14. As I have already stated, if we had plenty of
time, I would like for us to get the setting for that statement, but anyway,
God's righteousness is revealed from faith unto faith. In the first place, the process of living the
Christian life is that matter of growing in faith, from faith unto more faith,
like Peter said, “But grow in the
grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.” (II Peter 3:18) He also said, “but
sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord and be ready always to give an answer to
every man that asketh you reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and
fear.” So it is from faith unto
faith anyway you look at it. A child of God moves from faith unto faith, his
faith is getting stronger. And as his
faith gets stronger, he teaches others and again it is faith unto faith. And also the law was a tutor or school master
to lead men to Christ (Galatians 3:23-25).
Beginning
with verse eighteen, he talks about how that God had given the Gentile people
up because they hindered the truth in unrighteousness, and three times in the
rest of the chapter, he talks about how that God gave them up. Verse twenty-four, "God gave them up in the lust of their hearts unto
uncleanness." (verse
twenty-six) "For this cause God
gave them up unto vile passions." (verse
twenty-eight) "And even as they
refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate
mind." So he is talking
about the Gentile people, that they became so sinful that God gave them
up. The meaning of that is that God let
them go in the sense that he did not try to restrain them as he had in former
days.
Verse
eighteen, "For the wrath of God
is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who
hinder the truth in unrighteousness."
One of the primary ways in which the wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against all unrighteousness is through his law of sowing and
reaping (Galatians 6:7-8)
but there are other ways in which God reveals his wrath against those who
hinder the truth in unrighteousness. "Because that which is known of God is
manifest in them; for God manifested it unto them." They had had the knowledge of God, but they
were ready to hinder the truth in unrighteousness. "For
the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen,
being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting
power and divinity, that they may be without excuse." How can any person consider all of the works
of God's creation, the millions of plants and animals, and the order of all of
God's creation, and get the idea that all of this came by the process of
evolution or a “big bang” is ridiculous.
Just think of the peculiar instincts in regard to the migration of many
bird species, of salmons, of sea turtles, and of many animals. And so Paul is
saying even God's creation declares, should declare to every accountable
person, that there is an eternal God. All
creation shows His everlasting power and divinity that they may be without
excuse. Now, there were other ways that God had revealed himself to the Gentile
people. But notice, "because that, knowing God, they
glorified him not as God; neither gave thanks." Those two things are always closely
related. When people are not thankful,
they do not glorify God. Those who
glorify God are those that are thankful.
So they had known God, but they did not glorify him as God, neither gave
thanks, “but became vain in their
reasoning and their senseless heart was darkened.”
"Professing themselves to be wise,
they became fools." Well,
there are a lot of people in the world today that profess themselves to be
wise, but according to this reading, they are fools. They can talk about this animal has been
around a one hundred-twenty million years and others they affirm have been
around three hundred millions years, and they just act as though they know
exactly how everything occurred. It
looks like one of the reasons for the space program is to find out when and how
the “big bang” took place, how creation came into being. "Professing
themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the
incorruptible God." Now,
that shows how wise they were, doesn't it?
They turned from the worship of the incorruptible God for
the likeness of the image of the corruptible man and of birds and of
four-footed beasts and creeping things. They
worshiped the creatures that God had created rather than worshiping God. They were so wise and their breed is still
around! "Wherefore." Remember wherefore and therefore are words
that are referring back to what has been said.
Because they did this, they did not glorify God as God, and they did not
give thanks. They professed themselves
to be wise and became fools. And because
of this, "Wherefore God gave
them up in the lust of their hearts unto uncleanness." There is that word uncleanness again
in the context of sexual immoralities. "That their bodies should be dishonored
among themselves." Why? "For
they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the
creature rather than the creator, who is blessed forever. Amen." When men are ready to exchange the truth of
God for a lie, God is ready to let them go in their rebellious way as shown by
this passage and II Thessalonians 2:10-12. "For
this cause God gave them up to vile passions."
Think
of how many people there are in our society today who speaks of homosexuality
as just another lifestyle, but God gave them unto “vile passions”.
And remember, the Old Testament scriptures make it very plain that
homosexuality is an abomination to the Lord.
Leviticus 18:22 reads “You shall not lie with a male as with a
woman; it is an abomination” and 20:13
reads, “And if a man, lie with
mankind, as with womankind, both of them have committed abomination.: They shall surely be put to death; their
blood shall be upon them.” In Genesis nineteen we read that God
destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah
for they “gave themselves over to
fornication and went after strange flesh.” (Jude seven). As recorded in
Judges chapters 19-21, the eleven tribes of Israel
almost destroyed the tribe of Benjamin, and that by God's approval, because
they would not give up the homosexuals in Gibeah of Benjamin to be put to
death. They destroyed all the men,
except six hundred. And people talk
about it as just another lifestyle! But
this passage says, God gave them up unto vile passions. "For their
women changed the natural use into that which is against nature: (Lesbians) and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the
woman. (Homosexuality)
Leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another;
men with men working unseemliness, and receiving in themselves that recompense
of their error which was due." Do
you suppose they had HIV or AIDS disease back there? They had something on that order, according
to the reading. "And receiving in themselves that recompense of their
error which was due.” Just think
of all the people that have died because of that lifestyle, and most of the
gays are not willing to turn from their sins, but are putting forth much effort
to get others to follow them in their ungodly life style, and some of them are
putting forth much effort to ensnare our young people. Some in high offices of
our government are doing things that encourage such unnatural sexual
immoralities. Let us pray that there
will be some good changes by the Bush-Cheney administration.
Verse twenty-eight, “And even as they
refused to have God in their knowledge."
People are in a terrible condition when they refuse to have God
in their knowledge. Our government, now
for a number of years has moved more and more in the direction of trying to
refuse opportunities for the American people to have God in their knowledge,
rather than encouraging the American people to have God in their
knowledge. Many today are contending
that The Constitution requires separation of church and state, but this
is not the case! The first Amendment reads, “Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right
of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress
of grievances.”
It
is strange that some who are ready to insist on ridiculous unlimits for freedom
of speech and press are leading contenders for complete separation of
church and state. Some of the liberals in Congress are now saying in substance
that those who hold strong religious beliefs, like John Ashcroft, should not be
appointed to Cabinet Positions in our government! What was the problem that
they were dealing with in that clause, “Congress shall make no law respecting
an establishment of religion”? In the Colonial period they had the problem of
“established religions” and people were taxed for the support of those
established churches like the Anglican Church or the Dutch
Reform Church
even if they were not members of those churches. At the end of colonial period,
the Anglican Church was established by law in several states.
Please
notice the rest of the religious clause, “ or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof.” For several decades our Federal Court System has handed
down a number of decisions contrary to this clause. That first amendment was
never intended as a complete separation of church and state, but actually our
government is now prohibiting the free exercise of the Christian religion.
Think of the contradictions. There were two prayers at the Presidential
Inauguration and the chief justice of the Supreme Court, administered the oath
of office with the last words, “so help me God”. Such is illegal in our public
schools and at ball games and other school events! Don’t you think that those
who cry, separation of church and state should bring a case against all of
those unlawful things done at the inauguration! It showed how ridiculous some
rulings of the Federal Court System have been.
The
Constitutional Convention ratified the Constitution in 1787, and soon after it
was ratified by the states. The first ten Amendments were ratified December 15, 1791. For more than two
hundred and fifty years our government gave strong encouragement to “in God we
trust”.
Think
how proper moral standards, and respect for human life have degenerated, and
how crime has increased since this cut off of “In God we trust”. Let us do
everything that we can do to stop this wrong leadership in our government!
"God gave them up unto a reprobate
mind, (totally bad; corrupt, depraved, dammed) to do those things which are not fitting;
being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness,
maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil
things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant breakers,
without natural affection." Think
of the many cases in our society in recent years where the treatment of parents
to their children and children to their parents is just absolutely
unnatural. Think of the animal kingdom
and how they look out for their young -- nearly all of them take good care
of their offspring. Cows, bears, and
tigers have more affection for their off springs than some do for their
children today. "Without natural affection, unmerciful,
who knowing the ordinance of God."
They knew what was right and willfully went contrary to what is
right. "That
they that practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but
also consent with them that practice them." In every way they could, they encouraged that
way of wrongdoing, doing all of those things that pertain to a reprobate
mind. Many in our society are doing the
same thing, and oh how dangerous, how dangerous!
Chapter
Two
Now,
we have been reading about how God gave up the Gentiles, and you can imagine
the Jews were saying, yes, that is what God did. They were so sinful that God gave them up,
and rightly so! But then in chapters two
and three, he turns and talks to the Jewish people. If there is any doubt that he is talking to
the Jews, look at verse seventeen beginning, "But
if thou bearest the name of the Jew and resteth upon the law and gloriest in
God." Then in chapter three,
he puts together a number of quotations to show that the law said that they
were sinners. "And whatsoever the law saith it speaketh to them that
are under the law." So in
chapters two and three, he is reproving the Jewish people. They were ready to condemn the Gentile people,
but turned around and practiced some of the things that they did.
"Wherefore thou art without excuse, O man, whosoever thou art that
judgest:
for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that
judgest dost practice the same thing." I believe that we can all see the reality of
that. A man is without excuse if he
judges another man for doing something, then he turns around and does the same
thing. "And we know that the judgment of God is
according to truth against them that practice such things. And reckon thou this, O man, who judgest them
that practice such things, and doest the same, that thou shall escape the
judgment of God?" Is he just
going to pass judgment on those Gentile people who do those things or is he not
going to pass judgment upon all Jews and Gentiles alike?
Verse four, "Or despisest thou the
riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the
goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?" Verse four is emphasizing the fact that God is
longsuffering, that He is a God of forbearance because he wants men to be
saved. II Peter 3:9,
"God is not slack concerning
his promises, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not
willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." I Timothy 2:3-4
says that God, “ would have all man
to be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth.” The purpose of
God’s longsuffering is to encourage repentance, but many reject God's
longsuffering and goodness because of the hardness of hearts they refuse to
repent. Verse five, "But after thy hardness and
impenitent heart treasurest up for thyself wrath in the day of wrath and
revelation of the righteous judgment of God." If a man does not receive, in the proper way
that forbearance and longsuffering of God and it does not lead him to
repentance, then what is he doing? He is
storing up for himself wrath in the day of wrath. That, of course, is when Christ comes, when
he will judge all men. And how is he
going to judge them?
Verse
six, "Who will render to every
man according to his works." And again if there wasn't another verse in the
Bible, we ought to know that works have some part in our salvation. God is going to judge “every man according to his works”. No man is going to do works in such a way
that he will merit salvation on the basis of his work as taught very plainly in
chapter four of this book, but works still have a part in our justification.
"To them that by patience and well doing seek for glory and honour
and incorruption, eternal life." And so according to the choice of man, those
who have patience in well doing, they are seeking for glory and honor and
incorruption, eternal life. "But unto them that are factious, and
obey not the truth, but obey unrighteousness, shall be wrath and indignation,
tribulation and anguish, upon every man soul of man that worketh evil, of the
Jew first, and also of the Greek; but glory, and honour, and peace, to every
man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek:
Verse
eleven, For there is no respect of
persons with God." More than
one time God is set forth as being a God who is no respecter of persons. Remember that Peter when he went to the
household of Cornelius said, “that
God is no respecter of persons but in every nation he that feareth God and
worketh righteous is acceptable with him”. Does this not distinguish God from man? Is it
not true that all of us have some of the weaknesses of being respecters of
persons, but the Bible says that, “God
is no respecter of persons!” All of us need to put forth more effort in
this direction of not being respecters of persons, and let us always be on
guard against wrong peer pressure! "There is no respecter of persons with
God. For as many as have sinned without
the law (the Gentiles) shall also perish without the law:
And as many as have sinned under the law (the Jewish people) Shall be judged by the law; for not the hearers of the law
are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified." Again that is active, obedient faith. God has never pronounced a blessing to those
who just hear, but his blessing is pronounced upon those who hear and do.
Verse
fourteen, “For when Gentiles that
have not the law, do by nature the things of the law." They realized that certain things were wrong;
therefore they did not do them. "These not having the law, are the
law unto themselves, in that they show the work of the law written in their
hearts, their conscience bearing witness, therewith and their thoughts one with
another accusing or else excusing them: In
the day when God shall judge the secrets of men according to my gospel by Jesus
Christ." Think of the latter
part of verse sixteen, Paul refers to the gospel of Christ as my gospel. He surely did not mean that the gospel came
from him, but as a partaker of the gospel, the blessings of the gospel, in that
sense it was his gospel. Of course, God
had made him sufficient as a minister of the New Testament covenant. "According
to my gospel by Jesus Christ. But if thou bearest the name of a Jew and restest upon the law, and gloriest in
God, and knowest His will, and approvest the things that are excellent, being
instructed out of the law, and are confident that thyself are the guide of the
blind, a light to them that are in darkness." Here Paul really gets
around to rebuking the Jewish Christians.
He has already said, if you accuse the other man, and then you practice
the same thing, you are without excuse.
And here he emphasizes thou that preachest to others or thou that
teachest another, teachest not thou thyself. The Jewish people with the law were
ready to reason, we have the light of God's word, and we are a light to them
that are in darkness, especially to the Gentile people.
Verse
twenty, "A corrector of the
foolish, a teacher of babes, having in the law the form of knowledge and of the
truth. Thou, therefore, that teachest
another, teachest thou not thyself. Thou
that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? Thou that saith a man should not commit
adultery dost thou commit adultery? Thou
that abhor idols, dost thou rob temples?
Thou who gloriest in the law, through thy transgression of the law,
dishonorest thou God? For the name of
God is blasphemed among The
Gentiles because of you, even as it is written." This still holds true today, there are those
who profess to be Christians and then live as men of the flesh, and they help
to cause others to blaspheme the name of God.
Verse
twenty-five "For circumcision indeed profiteth if thou be a doer
of the law; but if thou be a transgressor of the law, thy circumcision has
become uncircumcision. If therefore, the
uncircumcision keep the ordinances of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be
reckoned for circumcision? And shall not
the uncircumcision, which is by nature if it fulfill the law."
That would be the Gentile people, if they would do by nature the things
of the law. "Judge
ye the Jew who, with the letter and circumcision, are a transgressor of the
law?" Now, notice carefully this, here is the new
Israel of God. "For he is
not a Jew who is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward
in the flesh: But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and
circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter; whose
praise is not from men but of God."
Philippians 3:3 reads, “for
we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and have no
confidence in the flesh.” Please read again these references in Isaiah about the new Israel of
God (Isaiah 49:5-6, 49:19-21, 52:13-15, 54:1-3, 56:4-5; I Timothy 3:14-15; Isaiah 57:19, 66:2; Acts 11:26; Isaiah 65:15). So verses twenty-eight and
twenty-nine are saying that every child of God is a Jew in a spiritual sense,
but you can ask a lot of brethren, are you a
Jew? And they may quickly reply, “No
sir, no sir, I am not a Jew”. But this
passage says, if you are a Christian, you are a Jew, you are a part of the new
Israel of God, you are a chosen generation or an elect race of people (I Peter
2:9).
And remember again, that Gabriel said to Mary that God would give Jesus
the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob
forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end. The house of Jacob today is made up of Jews
and Gentiles who have obeyed the gospel of Christ. They make up “The house of Jacob” which is the church (I Tim. 3:14-15).