Note: The numbers on these essays are in sequence and have nothing to do with the chapter being discussed. For example, #17
was not on any chapter but a lesson in Biblical interpretation. #18 deals with ideas in chapters 4 & 5.
The History and Purpose of it All
Quoting from David in the thirty-second Psalm, Paul says, "Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him." In I John 1:7, the writer says "...the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, (continually) purifies us from every sin...". In the last chapter, Paul said we are all sinners, and fall short of God's glory. In the light of that, this promise is the only hope we have. As I come to the close of every day, and realize the mistakes I have made...the sins my human nature has led me to commit...the hopeless realization that tomorrow will be the same...my only hope lies in these beautiful words: "Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him."
However, to fully appreciate the wonder of this, one has to face the reality of sin, and the grip it has on the human race. Throughout the fourth chapter, Paul argues powerfully that man is incapable of always doing the righteous thing. Thus it is impossible for us to be justified by keeping the law, any law, not just the Law of Moses. God made us creatures of choice, for one cannot have a love relationship (which is what God wants) if he has no choice. However, being fallible and imperfect in knowledge and
self-control, it is inevitable that we will often fail in our choices. Therefore, no law could be drafted which would make it possible for us to live a righteous life, and be free from guilt. The alternative was for God to make a way for us to be forgiven, without removing the opprobrium against sin. Sin could not be ignored, or heaven would not be a perfect state. So God made the sacrifice, and asked us only to trust Him...to accept His offer of love...to place our complete faith in Him and the sacrifice of His Son, and He could forgive our sins continually, as we remained walking by faith in Him. What a promise! The magnitude of it is beyond the human mind to grasp, but, thankfully, He doesn't require us to understand it...only to accept it and place our faith in it. That we can do, if we choose to do so.
Those who argue that one must obey certain laws in order to be saved, just do not understand the fourth and fifth chapters of Romans. I once heard a preacher say, "We have to climb up as far as we can, and God will then supply the rest." He was trying to explain "saved by grace". But here in chapter five, Paul begins by saying, "Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God...". In verse twelve, he says that, because we are all sinners, we are dead in sin. In verse eight, he says, "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us". I remind you that dead men do not climb ladders. Of course, I believe that there are things God wants us to do, and rules to follow. However, just as with Abraham, it is not the doing of these things that saves us from sin, but the faith in God, which causes us to respond to His every desire, which brings us justification, and a close relationship with Him.
Now let us look at the history of all of this. As we said in our last paper, none of this makes sense, unless you understand the history. In the beginning, Adam had a perfect loving relationship with God. Then Adam chose to be his own god. Bad choice! It is God's world, created to fulfill His purposes. We only can be happy and successful, and the world can run only if God shows the way. This is my Father's world. Any other way upsets the balance and perfection of the world, and this is called sin. It is like putting metal grindings in the engine of your car. They will destroy it. So the perfection of Eden was destroyed, and man went into a world of sorrow and misery, which he had chosen.
One man upset the perfection of the God/man relationship. However, all who were born into this flawed world stumbled over its temptations, and were confounded by its mysteries. So, even without written laws, men continued to make wrong decisions about life. Finally, to point the way to righteousness, God gave them a written law through Moses. But, because they were still fallible, and still lived in a terribly flawed world, they could not keep the law. So God had to offer a solution, for man could not achieve it.
Paul says, one man started it all, but everyone participated by sinning. Then Jesus came and offered the sacrifice for sin. Again one man did it, but those who responded could not imitate Him, as the followers of Adam imitated him in sin. Jesus offered righteousness, but man could not also be righteous. Thus, those who followed Him had to depend on their faith in His righteousness to justify them. (This is an attempt to say in a few words, what Paul said with many words, in chapter five.)
Knowing this history, helps us to understand the urgent desire God had to restore the relationship with His creature, man, which was lost in the Garden. It causes us to realize how much God loves us, but also how much sin must be destroyed for God's world to run the way He created it. Sin, which is often ignored in the "feel-good-and-be-rich" preaching of today, is more than just doing bad things. It is the rupturing of our relationship with the Father, and the barrier to His world functioning as He created it to do. I can't fix it, for I am weak and helpless as a human caught up in a world of sin. But knowing its history, I can place my hand in His, and in faith in His power and love, let him give me a blanket for my sins, and draw me back into the kind of love relationship with Him which He wanted from the beginning.
