Bible Study Series – Romans Chapter 7

 

Recap of Chapter 6

 
We read in the final verse of Chapter 6 that there is a payment for sin, much like when we all go to work and we get paid our daily wages in money, when we work the works of sin we also must get paid, and that payment is death, and not just any death.

The death this that is being spoken of here is found in Revelation:

 

Revelation 21:8 "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death."

 
There are certain religions out there that teach that Hell is not a literal place, they call it a place of darkness (Outer Darkness) where it is a separation from God. 

This is absolutely false, Jesus himself gave powerful sermons to warn us that Hell, or what would be the final destination, "the lake of fire" which is located in outer darkness, but a literal place of fire and brimstone.

The above verse gives us the literal definition of what the lake of fire is: which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

 

Romans Chapter 7

 

Romans 7:1 "Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?"

 
Apostle Paul starts off this chapter by addressing the brethren that are familiar with the Law; he says did you not know, that so long as the man lives, the Law shall have dominion over him?

The Law is in effect until the day you die.

 

Romans 7:2 "For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband."

 
Paul is using an illustration of marriage between a wife and her husband to expound on verse 1.

 
When a man and a woman get married, they are bound by a legal agreement, the couple will remain together married until either dies.

The vowel "till death do us part" is in the legal binding contract between the couple.

 

Romans 7:3 "So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man."

 
There are many scriptures in the bible which teach that divorce is a sin, what God has joined together, let no man pull it apart. 

Jesus taught that if a married couple file for divorce, and either remarry at any time, that that person is committing adultery so long as the other still lives.

I don't want to go deep into this subject, as this would be truly a full-fledged article within itself; Marriage is death till you part.

 

Romans 7:4 "Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God."

 
Because Jesus is sinless, he was able to offer his body as the ultimate perfect sacrifice resulting in a substitutionary process effectively trading his own life for all of mankind (of course this does not mean all of mankind will be saved, as salvation is given on one condition), as Jesus offered his body on the cross for all, he also effectively loosed us from the bonds of the law, hence the phrase "free in Christ".

The Law was there to serve as the schoolmaster, to show us that we are all sinners for before the Law was given, the earth was an exceeding violent place. 

So now that we are dead to the Law (this does not mean that the Law has been abolished, it is still in effect), we who are saved are free in Christ, we are now married to Christ.

And now that we are married to Christ Jesus, we should bring forth fruit to God.

The Word of God teaches us that no man can serve two masters, the Apostle James writes in his epistle that such men are unstable in all their ways.

 

Romans 7:5 "For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death."

 
The term "we were in the flesh" meaning before we got saved, overcame, got born again; the motions of sin, the acting out of sin, which were by the law, this does not mean that the Law was responsible for us acting out sin, remember the Law made us aware that we have sin. The instruments or members of our body working that sin would bring forth fruit unto death.

 

Romans 7:6 "But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter."

 
The Lord Jesus Christ delivered us from the Law, which is the bondage effect that the Law would have on us. 

"That being dead" meaning that the Law condemned us in the flesh, we were creatures of the flesh before; but now, Jesus has quickened our spirit he made us alive, born again we can now serve and worship the Father in the newness of our spirit, instead of the oldness of the written Law.

 

Romans 7:7 "What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet."

 
As I mentioned earlier, The Law is Holy and Paul asks the question, is the Law sin? Absolutely NOT! Paul says if it weren't for the Law, he would not have known sin.

Paul said that he would not have known lust, except that the Law had said you shall not covet. Notice how the Law is used like a self-evaluation questionnaire?

Try it with the 10 Commandments and begin each commandment with the words, "Am I doing this" or "do I do this" questions and see if you answer a yes or a no to each of the commandments.

Remember James wrote in his epistle in chapter 2:10 that if you offend in one point, you are guilty of all.

If this questionnaire went out to all mankind and the results came in there shall be no man standing. Not one of us would be standing perfect before the Law, God's Law is perfect.

You say, no way! Surely there be some of us standing, well 1 John 1:8 says  If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

That's right, those people are lying to themselves.

 

Romans 7:8 "But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead."

 
Paul says here, that by reason of the commandment, Sin made or shaped in him all manner of concupiscence, this word means Lust or strong sexual desires, because without the Law, sin was dead or made not known is the intended meaning.

 

Romans 7:9 "For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died."

 
Continuing on from the train of thought in verse 8 the Apostle Paul describes in his own case how men are pretentious toward the law before it enters as a condemning judgment into their own hearts, hence the phrase "for I was alive without the law once".

The law was hanging over him as a condemnation, as a minister of death, but he felt it not. 

He went about life not caring, or feeling, or fearing, whether the law was his friend or enemy. In fact, like most people, Paul had viewed it as his friend, for he was using it as a friendly help to build up his own righteousness.

Isn't this what we see today in all the false religions that are out there now?

Many seek their own righteousness and even go as far as to add to the righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ as though our Lord's righteousness was not enough to get into heaven; such blasphemy.

Paul knew its letter, but not its spirit; its outward commands, but not its inward demands.

When the commandment came, when it sunk into his conscience, and when you think about it, that 10^th commandment of "thou shalt not covet", sin revived, that inward lust from within the heart awoke, and stung him like a scorpion and thus Paul says "he died".

 

Romans 7:10 "And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death."

 
The Law had brought him death instead of life.

 

Romans 7:11 "For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me."

 
Paul goes onto explain that because of sin, taking occasion by the commandment, or by reason of the commandment, deceived him, why?

Because the first thing that happens when sin is present is that it blinds you to the fact, that you have sin. The first step to fighting sin is to acknowledge, that you have sin; and the Law was never meant to be there to assist any man to establish his own righteousness.

The Apostle then says "and by it slew me", any honest person trying to keep the law would constantly be slain by the commandments, only a liar would boldly say they have kept all the commandments and have not ever offended in one point, the rich young ruler anyone?

 

Romans 7:12 "Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good."

 
As a result of which the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good. We should not be trying to use the Law as a standard in which man must keep to enter into heaven, the Law is holy, and it reflects God's holy character. 

The words at the end "and just, and good." Tells us this: God is Just and righteous, God is good; remember the rich young ruler calls Jesus "good master" and Jesus responds with "why do you call me good, there is none good but one, and that is God."

The Law and the commandment is God.

 

Romans 7:13 "Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful."

 
Is that which is good became death to me is the question, Paul responds with the absolute no way!

But sin, that it might appear sin or in other words for sin to be recognised as sin, using that which is good to bring about his death; that sin by the commandment might become exceedingly sinful, or the ultimate realisation that one has sins.

 

Romans 7:14 "For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin."

 
The Law is spiritual: but Paul says he is carnal, the word carnal means something relating to the physical, especially sexual, needs and activities.

This is what man is, a creature of carnal desires, sold under sin in bondage to it; we are prisoners of sin.

 

Romans 7:15 "For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I."

 
I once listened to a preacher named Paul Washer on you tube, he quite the popular preacher, he is no doubt in my mind that he is a Lordship Salvationist which my readers know that I do not agree with.

Anyway I was listening to one of his sermons and in it he said the following, "there is no such thing as a carnal Christian" I gasped as I read Romans 7:14 where the Apostle Paul says, "I am carnal" now who is wrong here?

Apostle Paul says he is carnal and just look at verse 15, he says he does the things he hates, and the right things that he would do, he does not!

There are those who think the Apostle Paul was a goody two shoes, but here he is claiming that he is just as guilty of being carnal and sinful as everyone else.

 

Romans 7:16 "If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good."

 
Paul says if then he does that which he would not do, then he consents or agrees that the law is good. The law has made him aware.

 

Romans 7:17 "Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me."

 
Paul declares that as a saved, born again Christian it is no longer him that does what he would not, but sin that dwells in his physical body, the flesh.

 

Romans 7:18 "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not."

 
Paul says he knows that nothing good dwells in his flesh, our physical bodies are heavily stained in sin. 

Paul says to will is present with me, meaning his spirit is willing, but how to go about performing that good thing, he can't find it.

 

Romans 7:19 "For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do."

 
Paul is reemphasising what has just stated earlier, that for the good that he would do, he does it not, and the evil that he would not do, the sin that he would not do in the spirit, he does.

 

Romans 7:20 "Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me."

 
So when we as born again believers commit a sin, it is not ourselves in our born again state that commits the sin, it is our flesh where sin still resides that commits sin. 

There is a false doctrine out there that people teach and live by called "repenting of your sins".

No one has turned from their sins!

 

Romans 7:21 "I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me."

 
We find that what our spirit wants to do, we do it not, but we do what our flesh desires; when we do that which is good, evil is always present with us, Paul talks about there being a law and we will find out what that law is in the next verses.

 

Romans 7:22 "For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:"

 
Paul says he delights in the law of God after the inward man, the reborn spirit.

 

Romans 7:23 "But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members."

 
So the law of God working in the inward man, the spirit, but there is another law which wars in his members, his carnal body, and he is saying that this law in his members is at war with the law of his mind; bringing him into captivity or bondage to the law of sin in the flesh.

 

Romans 7:24 "O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"

 
Paul proclaims that he is a wretched man, and asks the question of who shall deliver him from his body of death; this goes for all of us; that who shall deliver us?

 

Romans 7:25 "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin."

 
And here Paul gives the answer to his question by thanking God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

So with the mind we serve the law of God; but with flesh we serve the law of sin.

Bible Study Series – Romans Chapter 6

 

Romans 6:1 "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?"

 
And here we have it, the apostle Paul here is addressing people who ridicule easy believism, they ridicule the true biblical teaching of today as they did then in Paul's time.

Here we have these false teachers creeping in saying stuff like, if Salvation is a free gift from God, given to us by his grace, does that mean we can continue to sin as much as we want?

Can we then go ahead and live our lives anyway we like?

Let me answer that for you, the answer is, it's your choice but be prepared to reap what you sow.
I have explained this time and time again using the bible, so I'll keep it short here. 

When a person gets saved, they do not immediately change their outward appearance or attitudes, this becomes a process, called sanctification.

Our bodies did not change, this will happen when the Lord Jesus Christ returns, only our spirit has been quickened (made alive), we become born again of the spirit, our flesh (body) still wars against our spirit and through sanctification, we need to bring our bodies under subjection of the spirit.

Now we have a choice to live righteously, which is what the epistle to the Romans teaches, and we should serve the Lord to further the kingdom of God, we can take up our cross, forsake our father, mother, brother, sister, children, literally give up everything we have and be a disciple of the Lord, known as discipleship or, go on living like the world and face divine discipline.

The truth is, not everyone who gets saved will go on to produce fruit (another saved person), look at the apostles, they saved thousands of souls, did they (the saved) all go on producing more saved people?

No, in fact if they did, the world wouldn't be like the way it is now, full of hypocrisy and false religious institutions.

But if we do continue in sin, grace does abound, do you understand that you cannot lose your salvation you are completely covered by the blood?

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Galatians the following:

 

Galatians 5:17 "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would."

 
The flesh is at war with our born again spirit, think about it like this, our flesh is older or matured than our spirit (which is a babe) when we are born again, guess which one is going to win more often or have a stronger influence over what decision you are going to make in our spiritual infancy?

 
You can never reach a state of sinless perfection, Paul the Apostle says he dies daily, everyday he has to bring his body under subjection of the spirit. Have ye not read in the scriptures that they who say they have no sin deceives themselves and are a liar?

 

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Romans 6:2 "God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?"

 
God Forbid! One of the strongest statements one can make to deny or reject something or a statement. Notice this is a question that Paul is asking, we must be careful not to base a doctrine on a question, but only by clear statements should we derive doctrine from.

So Paul here is asking a question, he is asking that as we are dead to sin, how shall we live any longer in sin?

The next verse is also a question:

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Romans 6:3 "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?"

 
Paul is asking a question here again, he is asking us if we knew that when we got baptised in Jesus Christ, we got baptised into his death as well.

Baptise means to immerse or submerge, it implies being "all in".

When we are baptised by the Holy Spirit, we are being immersed or put in Christ, completely covered in him. This is the baptism you receive when you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a supernatural event and takes place spiritually, as you become born again.

Then after this (Salvation) happens, one should make the decision to get baptised in water, to get saved? To stay saved? No!

Being immersed in water does not save, FAITH ONLY in the Lord Jesus Christ as your saviour saves!

But water baptism is a public profession of your faith to man that you believe, it is to show the world that you are a believer in Jesus Christ!

So is baptism salvation?

The answer should be no, Salvation is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.

Baptism by immersion in water is a picture of Salvation, not literal salvation. It is a picture of you going into the water dying and when you come up out of the water picturing the resurrection.
Noah on the Ark is a picture of Salvation not literal Salvation.

I'll say it again, literal Salvation is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved!

Here's another question for you baptismal regeneration believers (must be baptised to go to heaven), if you have to be water baptised like what John the Baptist did, was he baptising the people in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit?

He couldn't have baptised in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; why?

Because the Godhead was not yet made known, so how could John the Baptist baptise people in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit if the Godhead were not yet revealed?

As a matter of fact, the Godhead was not revealed until Jesus himself came to be baptised:

 

Matthew 3:16-17 "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: ¹⁷ and lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

 
In verse 16 we read that the Spirit of God (Holy Spirit) descending on Jesus like a dove, and lighting upon him (Jesus being anointed with the Oil of Gladness): and then verse 17 tells us that a voice (The Father) from heaven can also be heard. 

This was all done as a testimony or witness to show that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ. The beginning of the Lords earthly ministry!

 

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Romans 6:4 "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."

 
For this reason we are buried with Jesus by baptism into death, the old man, the carnal man; sin had died: and just like Christ was raised up by the glory of the Father, even so we should walk in newness of life. This is saying as the old you had been buried in the likeness of his death by baptism, we now emerge as the new man, the born again spirit child of God whom should walk in the spirit; the new life.

When Jesus entered Samaria he came to a well and spoke to a Samaritan woman by Jacob's well. 

This woman says to Jesus, that the Samaritans worshipped in the mountain; but you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place you ought to worship, let's see what Jesus answers the Samaritan woman.

 

John 4:21-24 "Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. ²² Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.²³ But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. ²⁴ God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."

 

In context, the woman is asking Jesus where they should be worshipping God, she is asking should they be worshipping in the mountain (most likely Mount Gerizim) or in Jerusalem (Solomon built temple).

Jesus says to her that the hour cometh (his death by crucifixion) when man will worship the Father neither in the mountains or Jerusalem.

Jesus says you don't know what you worship: but we Jews know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews, what does this mean?

Salvation is come by the way of the root and offspring of King David, of the tribe of Judah; Jesus is of the tribe of Judah, and Jesus is salvation, of the tribe of Judah; also known as the Jews of the southern kingdom of Israel.

Jesus says true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth: for that reason the Father seeks such to worship him.

Verse 24 is rather a smack in the face to Mormons who believe the Father is of flesh and bones like man, to deny this scripture is to call Jesus a liar.

From the mouth of Jesus himself, he says God is a Spirit: and they that worship him MUST worship him in spirit (born again) and in truth!

My friends, here is the answer to the question of how do we worship God?

Not in building made with hands, it is not the building or place of worship that matters, it is believers coming together and worshiping the Father in spirit and truth and the start of walking in newness of life!

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Romans 6:5 "For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:"

 
Seeing as we have been planted together in the likeness, notice the word likeness it doesn't mean literally, in the likeness of his death, we shall also be raised up in the likeness of his resurrection, meaning we shall also receive a new body at the second coming of the Lord, glorified the same manner in how Jesus Christ's body was glorified at his resurrection.

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Romans 6:6 "knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin."

 
Knowing that we shall be like him at the resurrection (2^nd coming) that our old man (The flesh) is crucified with him (Jesus) that the body of sin (flesh, the spirit cannot sin because it is of God) might be destroyed, that henceforth, the word henceforth means "from this time on" or "that time on" we should not serve sin. 

Notice it doesn't say "must not" it says we "should not" serve sin, as man, we are still prone to sin, whether it be wilfully or in ignorance, we will still sin.

 

Colossians 3:1-4 "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. ² Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. ³ For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.⁴ When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory."

 
As believers we should set our affections or cares on things above (Heavenly), and not of things on the earth; John says it beautifully in his 1^st epistle.

 

1 John 2:15-17 "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. ¹⁷ And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever."

 
Just beautiful!

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Romans 6:7 "For he that is dead is freed from sin."

 
When the body dies, as a believer we are free in Christ, free from sin, free from bondage to sin; the Apostle Paul says the following to the Corinthians:

 

2 Corinthians 5:8 "we are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord."

 
Paul says he is rather willing to be absent from the body, so that he could be present with the Lord. 

This scripture also punches in the face of false doctrine that teaches when you die you go to a sort of spirit prison to await the 2^nd coming and judgement, and then there's the soul sleep crowd where when you die, you stay asleep in the grave to await the 2^nd coming of the Lord Jesus Christ; these are false teachings because when we die (in Christ of course), we leave our bodies and go to be present with the Lord, and where is the Lord presently?

The Lord Jesus Christ is presently in heaven sitting at the right hand of his Father!

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Romans 6:8 "Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:"

 
This verse can be taken two ways, an earthly interpretation of dying physically we believe that we will go to heaven to live with him as explained above.

And the spiritual interpretation of this verse would be because the old man has been crucified with the Lord, or the old man, the carnal man has been buried in baptism with him, then we are risen with him, as a new man of the spirit with him living in us also.

Our new life is in Christ, not in the flesh.

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Romans 6:9 "knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him."

 
Jesus was risen from the dead, he will no longer die; death itself has no dominion over him. If we die with Christ (believers) we are promised eternal life through faith in him, to never die ever again.

 

2 Timothy 1:9-10 "who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, ¹⁰ but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:"

 
And we read in 1^st Corinthians the following:

 

1 Corinthians 15:54 " So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory."

 
And Jesus says the following in Revelation:

 

Revelation 1:18 "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death."

 
Jesus has the keys of hell and of death, they have no dominion over him.

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Romans 6:10 "For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God."

 
Baptism is a picture of our old man, our old self put to death, and when risen, our new self now lives for God, we should walk in the spirit and do those things that are pleasing to God.

 

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Romans 6:11 "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord."

 
Notice how Paul hammers the same thing over and over again?

He is saying here likewise meaning in the same manner reckon that you yourselves be dead to sin, but alive to God by Jesus Christ our Lord, our saviour; by his precious blood is it made possible to live unto eternal life.

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Romans 6:12 "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof."

 
Because we are now living unto God, we should not let sin reign in our mortal body, our flesh, if we let sin reign in our mortal body then we are going to more than likely obey it according to our lusts. 

James Chapter one illustrates this perfectly when we allow our lusts of the flesh reign in our bodies.

 

James 1:15 "Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death."

 
What is lust? Our desires, a sense of longing for something, ultimate what the bible calls covetousness, when we desire to have something that does not belong to us.

That beautiful beach mansion, your neighbours wife or husband, heck wishing your husband or wife was more like so and so is covetous, you get the idea.

And God here is saying that when lust has conceived, when we desire something that does not belong to us in our hearts it will eventually outwardly manifest itself in the form of sin: and when sin is finished, it brings forth death.

We should walk in the spirit so that we are not tempted to walk in the lusts of the flesh.

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Romans 6:13 "Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God."

 
God is saying here don't let sin be the master of you, don't let it control the various members or body parts that you have, don't let them be under the control of sin; rather yield or give over your members, yourself to God, as those that are alive whom are no longer dead, yield your members as instruments or tools of righteousness to God.

It is in our own power or freedom of choice to decide whether we want to yield ourselves to sin or to God, either your master is sin or the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Romans 6:14 "For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace."

 
If we yield our members over to God, sin will no longer have dominion over us: for we are NOT under the law, but under grace.

The law was never meant to save us, man could not keep the law it was impossible under the Old Testament, the law itself was holy and righteous, therefore the law cannot be broken as in James chapter 2 it says that whosoever offends in one point of the law, has offended in all. For man it was impossible and it became a curse for man.

Since it cannot help anyone to keep God's moral standard; it can only show the standard, and thus rebuke, convict and condemn those who fail to keep it.

We are under grace, by grace we are saved through faith, and it is not of our works lest any man should boast. It is by God's grace we have been saved through faith, by the goodness and righteousness of God, salvation is a free gift, it is not earned by any man. Even though we do not deserve it, God has freely given it to those who believe on his Son.

We have been clothed in the righteousness of Christ, it is Jesus' blood that washed away our sins and inequities, and he will remember them no more.

By grace when establish the law, and begin the process of sanctification.

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Romans 6:15 "What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid."

 
Paul continues on in his train of thought about us being under grace and not the law, and asks the question, because we are not under the law but under grace shall we continue in sin?

Paul says God forbid!

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Romans 6:16 "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?"

 
Again Paul is repeating what was said before, his question he is asking is do you not know to whom you yield yourselves to obey, is your master sin which is unto death or of obedience unto righteousness?

As a believer, after salvation, if you are living for sin, in the flesh you will face divine discipline, God will scourge and punish EVERY son he receives.

And just because you sin, and nothing happens immediately don't think that recompense isn't coming.
Think not that God has not killed people and taken them home (Heaven) because they consistently refused to obey, and live according to God's will.

So chose your master, sin or God?

For believers, this can mean being removed sooner from this earthly life or living a long fruitful life in serving the Lord to further the kingdom of God.

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Romans 6:17 "But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you."

 
BUT GOD BE THANKED! PRAISE THE LORD!

We believers used to be servants of sin, we read in Romans chapter 5 that all men have sinned.  

Thank God we do not have to remain in sin.  

We who believe in Christ have taken on the righteousness of Jesus Christ and no longer serve sin.

We obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine, Faith on the Lord Jesus Christ who imputes his righteousness to you, a sinner who is now clothed in the righteousness of the Lord.

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Romans 6:18 "Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness."

 
We are made free of sin by the blood of the Lamb, our Lord Jesus Christ who died for all our inequities, if it were not for the selfless sacrifice the Lord had done for us, we would all still be in bondage to sin, and we will all be appointed wrath; for there is none righteous, no not one.

But now we have been freed from our bonds, we have now become the servants of righteousness, since Christ has clothed us in his righteousness we are able to become his servant.

The Corinthian's are told the following:

 

2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

 
On Salvation, the believers has become a new man in Christ, a new creature!

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Romans 6:19 "I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness."

 
Paul is speaking after the manner of men or in human terms, most found it difficult in grasping divine truth so Paul would use this master/slave analogy to try to convey what he is saying with more clarity.

Our members was explained in verse 13, our different body parts that we have in our physical bodies, and that before we yielded these body parts as a slave to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity: in other words like a vicious animal when you feed it, the appetite to sin only grows when it is being fed.

Even now we should give our members over to be servants of righteousness and from righteousness to holiness.

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Romans 6:20 "For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness."

 
Notice how Paul just keeps on hammering this down hoping it hits home with everyone? 

When we were servants of sin, before Salvation we were in bondage to sin, free from righteousness. We were living in the flesh.

 

1 John 2:16 "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world."

Galatians 5:17 "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would."

James 4:4 "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."

If we are living in the flesh, we are living in the world, and James states that if any therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

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Romans 6:21 "What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death."

 
The life you lived before in sin, what fruit did you have, that fruit that you are ashamed of? 

Living in sin and iniquity only leads to death. James put it well:

 

James 1:15 "Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death."

 
Sin begins with the thoughts of our hearts, our desires and when it has conceived in the heart it will manifest out in the form of sin, and when you follow through with that sin, it will bring forth death.

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Romans 6:22 "But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life."

 
A servant obeys his master, obedience is better than sacrifice. God wants our loyalty and our love, and the very reason for creating us, for fellowship with him.

 

1 Samuel 15:22 "And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams."

 
We see here the problem is not the offerings but the disobedience of God's commands and the desire for approval of people rather than the approval of God.

We are servants of God, and our fruit unto holiness, we should be soul winners, a soul winners fruit is another soul won to the Lord. At the end everlasting life.

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Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

 
Great soul winning verse to explain after telling someone that we all fall short of the glory of God, and that there is none righteous, no not one, they have all gone out the way.

And the wages or payment for sin is death, not any death as we might know it, but the second death; but the GIFT of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Salvation is a FREE gift, Amen.

Bible Study Series – Romans Chapter 5

 

Recap of Chapter 4

 
In the last chapter we learnt about Abraham, and we read how he was imputed righteousness by God through Faith, by calling upon the name of the Lord!

We are justified by faith, not works, as works cancels out grace, let's now dive into chapter 5 and see what we can learn from this chapter!

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Romans 5:1 "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:"

 
We are justified in God's sight by faith, and we can have peace with God, knowing that we are not subject to his wrath and fierce anger through our Lord Jesus Christ.

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Romans 5:2 "by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God."

 
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, this grace, was made accessible by him. Wherein we stand, means we now stand in grace, not of our works but inside the Father's grace, this is our position that we must stand in when we come to the Father for Salvation, we must leave our works at the door and stand within God's grace, and because of this grace we are able to rejoice in hope of the glory of God!

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Romans 5:3-4 "And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; ⁴ and patience, experience; and experience, hope:"

 
Not only do we as believers rejoice in hope, but as believers we too must glory in tribulations as well!

 
What is Tribulation?

 
Tribulation means persecution, or a state of great suffering or trouble.

We glory in tribulation also is because tribulation builds character, and saints need to go through such things in order to sanctify ourselves, knowing that tribulation works patience, and through patience, experience, and from experience, hope. 

To get a really good understanding of this saying, reading through the book of Job is a perfect example of Job going through tribulation, and through his patience was experience enhanced and through experience, his hope on the Lord strengthened. Job did not renounce the Lord once, even his wife told him to curse God and die!

Jesus also taught that believers will also endure tribulation for his sake, he also explained that whilst we go through these things, that we need to remember that peace is found through him as we are going through such ordeals.

 

John 16:33 "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."

 
In 2 Corinthians Chapter 1 we read that tribulation can come to anyone, it comes to all, however believers in Christ have Jesus Christ to rely upon in times of tribulation.

 

2 Corinthians 1:4 "who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God."

 
We must also distinguish between divine punishment and unmerited tribulation, however regardless of what kind of tribulation you are going through, I believe whatever form of tribulation you are going through, we should receive it in all meekness and give praise and all glory to God, we go through this to make us stronger in God.

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Romans 5:5 "and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us."

 
And this hope we have, we ought not to be ashamed of; because we know that God poured his love out to all the believers hearts, which we know is by the Holy Spirit, whom is living in us.

Remember what the Apostle Paul said in Romans Chapter 1?

 

Romans 1:16 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek."

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Romans 5:6 "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly."

 
When we were yet without strength, meaning man being dead in sins, incapable of saving himself, in due time, meaning at the appointed time as prophesied in the bible, that Christ would die for us, sinners as written in Romans 3:10 "as it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:".

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Romans 5:7 "For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die."

 
For scarcely meaning very rarely would someone would die for a righteous man: yet for a good man, by chance, some would even dare to die.

For a good man?

Remember Jesus said, there is one that is good and that is God. Jesus is good, he is God.

Now let's stop and think about this statement, wouldn't it have made more sense or made us feel better, that Jesus died for us because we are righteous?

Compare Old Testament sacrifice, when sin was committed it had to be atoned by a blood animal sacrifice; and even then it was only a temporary covering for the sins committed. 

We had to keep doing this to satisfy God's demand for payment of sin by offering sacrifices continually.

But here is the beauty of the New Testament, sacrifice is no longer required. Jesus himself offered his own body as the perfect sacrifice, covering our sins forever!

The mystery, is that God showed us his love that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall have everlasting life. Jesus died for us, even though we were sinners and are undeserving of such a thing.

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Romans 5:8 "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

 
As stated previously, that while we were yet sinners every single one of us, Jesus died for us; that is how much God loved us, he commended his love toward us even though we did not deserve it, Jesus died for us even while we were yet in rebellion against God.

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Romans 5:9 "Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him."

 
Because believers have been justified or made righteous by his blood, by whose blood?

 
Our Lord Jesus Christ's blood of course!

 
Because of the Lord spilt his blood for us, we have now been saved from the wrath of God, believers are not appointed to wrath, but to Salvation.

 

1 Thessalonians 5:9 "For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,"

 
And because of his blood, his precious blood is what saved us from the wrath of God.

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Romans 5:10 "For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life."

 
For when we were enemies of God, sinners who were bound by sin have been reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life, you see; Jesus did it all, he made it possible for us to be reconciled to God, to him we owe everything!

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Romans 5:11 "And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement."

 
Not only have we been reconciled to God by our Lord Jesus Christ, but we also joy in God through him, that word "joy" reminds of what he said in the parable of the talents (Matthew 25). Through Jesus Christ we have now received the atonement.

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Romans 5:12 "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:"

 
This part of the scriptures is now talking about how death came through one man, Adam and now life has come through one man, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Sin entered the world through one man, and the penalty for sin is death (Romans 6:23); and so death is passed upon all mankind, for that all have sinned (Romans 3:23).

The sin nature of man has to do with the flesh man. The flesh man is controlled by the desires of the flesh. Man is a spirit who lives in a body of flesh. Man has a free will to do with his life on earth as he wishes.

Because all humanity existed in the loins of Adam, and have through procreation inherited his fallen nature and corruption, it can be said that all sinned in him. Therefore, humans are not sinners because they sin, but rather they sin because they are sinners.

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Romans 5:13 "(for until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law."

 
Notice the next few verses are in parenthesis, the purposes of parenthesis is to de-emphasis something or to reduce the importance or prominence of something. So these next verses are contained inside the parenthesis!

Paul here is saying that sin was in the world even before the law was given to Moses. He then expounds by saying that sin is not imputed when there is no law.

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Romans 5:14 "Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come."

 
Sin is not imputed when there is no law, however or in spite of that, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the same manner or similarity of Adam's transgressions or offences.

Instead of man possessing life, man is instead, facing death. Adam had brought death into the scene, God could not allow man to live forever in sickness, agony, and through deterioration of the body and mind.

So God has provided a way out of this terrible mess that man has gotten himself into, by sending the second Adam, i.e. Who is the like figure or a shadow of him that is to come, the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Romans 5:15 "But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many."

 
For the offence many have died, through Adam many have died, but much more is the grace of God, the gift by grace through one man, the Lord Jesus Christ has proliferated or abound unto many who believe.

By one man's transgression sin entered. Jesus Christ actually took the sin of the whole world upon His body and sin for the Christians died on the cross. Peter says the following:

 

1 Peter 2:24 "who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed."

 
Jesus provides our righteousness. He made us righteous. We can't make ourselves righteous in God's sight. Jesus made us righteous in God's sight!

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Romans 5:16 "And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification."

 
Adam brought upon all men condemnation by only one offense, his wilful act of disobedience. 

Jesus, however delivers the believers from the condemnation of many offenses unto righteousness, justification through his wilful act of obedience to the Father.

Paul tells the Corinthians this:

 

1 Corinthians 15:50 "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption."

 
Jesus did not die for only certain sins which some erroneously teach, he died for all.

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Romans 5:17 "For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)"

 
This is pretty much a repeat of what has been said, through one man's offence death reigned, but those whom are declared righteous by grace shall reign in life by the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Romans 5:18 "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."

 
Now that we are out of the parenthesis let's continue on from verse 12!

Because all have sinned, for that reason as the offence by one, Adam's transgression, judgement came upon all men to condemnation. 

Because of Adam's transgression we have all come to condemnation, I have heard people say that we are not punished for the transgressions of Adam, but our own, but doesn't this scripture prove otherwise?

 
Through the righteousness of one man, Jesus Christ, the free gift (Salvation) came upon all men unto justification of life.

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Romans 5:19 "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous."

 
Through one man and his act of disobedience resulted in the entire human race becoming sinners, so by the act of obedience of one, many shall be made righteous. 

Straightforward scripture there…

You see it is not our obedience that saves us, it is the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ that saved us, and Salvation is not of ourselves lest any man boast!

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Romans 5:20 "Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound"

 
When the law entered, the offense abounded more, meaning as man became aware of the law, and many became convicted of their sins, made aware of them. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more!

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Romans 5:21 "that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord."

 
Sin reigned until Jesus Christ shed his precious blood on the cross and nailed sin to it. 

God's grace (unmerited favour) has provided eternal life, we did not earn it, and it is a free gift.

We can have life eternal, if we will only believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Bible Study Series - Romans Chapter 4

Romans 4

Authorized (King James) Version

 

 

Romans 4:1 "What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?"

 
As you recall, chapter 3 ended with a call to establish the Law by or through faith, Jesus did not come to abolish the Law and the prophets, he came to fulfil. 

The Law is still in effect and by no means gone. Paul said for us to "establish" by faith the Law, the word "establish" means to set up on a firm or permanent basis or foundation, and who is that foundation?

That foundation is no other person than the Lord Jesus Christ of course!

 

1 Corinthians 3:11 "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ."

 
In the book of the prophet Isaiah we read the following:

 

Isaiah 28:16 "therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste."

 
This scripture is quoted in many other books of the bible, one of them being recorded by Matthew chapter 21 in the words of Jesus himself:

 

Matthew 21:42 "Jesus saith unto them, did ye never read in the scriptures, the stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?"

 
The Lord Jesus Christ is the rock, the foundation, he is the head or chief of the corner stone where the church must build its foundation upon.

 
Now Paul starts Chapter 4 using the patriarch Abraham, whom God promised his seed would be a father of all nations as example to explain faith.

"As pertaining to the flesh, has found?" near the end of Chapter 3 the context was about boasting, Paul asks the question where is boasting then? 

So what works of the flesh did Abraham have to boast with?

The scriptural answer would be none, before God for the scriptures says, there is none righteous, and they have all gone out the way. As the next verse explicitly tells us.

 

Romans 4:2 "For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God."

 
This scripture concludes that "IF" notice conditional proceeds Abraham's justification by works, so if Abraham were justified by his works, what works does he to glory in?

Well, Abraham had the works of circumcision, and the notable event of when he proceeded to offer up his son Isaac to the Lord. But the scriptures says, these works he had to glory in, but not before God. If not before God, then who?

 
Abraham would glory in works before man, NOT God.

 
You know, I've had people challenge me on the whole Works Vs Grace issue and say to me, that this event with Abraham which is also mentioned in James chapter 2, was him being justified by his works, and use this to prove that we have to have good works to get into heaven.

They'll say nobody else was around when Abraham offered up Isaac, which is correct; but the event was written down so that man may read of how great of the faith of Abraham must have been in the Lord to do such a thing. Not many of us could do such a thing with our own child.

When we read this event, we can conclude to ourselves that this man, Abraham had such great faith in the Lord by his WORKS.

 

James 2:23 "And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God."

 
Who is calling him the friend of God?

 
Man is calling him the friend of God. If you interpret this scripture some other way, you create a contradiction, and there is no contradiction in light of other scripture because James is talking to his fellow man, to the saved.

The scriptures tell us that Abraham was justified before God long before he got circumcised, Abraham got circumcised around the age of 99 recorded in Genesis 17:24 but we read earlier of the account when he was imputed righteousness by God in Genesis 15:6 which is referred to in the next verse.

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Romans 4:3 "For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness."

 

 
So we can see here that Abraham was counted to righteousness before God, because he BELIEVED.
The word counted has many synonyms in the bible and are used interchangeably such as, imputed, and all convey the meaning of crediting to an account, or chalk up, or accredit.

According to scripture we see no reason why Abraham was justified in the sight of God, but to the fact that he believed, this scripture references Genesis 15:6.

In fact, some people will say that the Old Testament you had to follow the Law and in the New Testament it is all about grace, this is not true as the bible teaches from the beginning of the cover to the end of the cover that it has always been by grace that man is justified in the sight of God.

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Romans 4:4 "Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt."

 
To those who work, or try to justify themselves before God for Salvation by their own deeds, believe that it is because we feel we owe God something, a debt; this is NOT grace. 

Salvation is a free gift from God, by his grace he will impute righteousness to anyone who believes, even to those who are dead in sin.

 
Regardless of what we have done, by God's grace, salvation is obtain through faith, and it is not of our own works, lest any man boasts.

The Apostle Paul put's it perfectly in the epistle to the Ephesians in chapter 2:

 

Ephesians 2:8-9 "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹ not of works, lest any man should boast."

 

Mockers will call this cheap grace, what a heresy! Grace is unmerited favour and not achieved by any man's deeds, no man can boast of his own works to obtain salvation, it is given freely by God's grace to those whom do believe on him.

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Romans 4:5 "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness."

 
I love this verse, it's straight to the point, and every time someone decides to defend their works based beliefs and they say, show me where in the bible does it say that you don't have to do works to be saved?

And I put on a big smile and say turn to Romans 4:5 and boom! It says plain as day, to him that worketh NOT, but believe on him, who?

God, who justifies the ungodly, who is the ungodly?

Mankind…of course, unless you think you're godly enough to come to God on your own good works?

 
Sinners, all of mankind, if you believe on him who justifies the ungodly, YOUR FAITH IS COUNTED FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS!
Love that verse!

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Romans 4:6 "Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,"

 
Even King David, a man who is said to be a man after God's own heart back in the Old Testament who too was dead in sins, was saved by faith. 

Remember, David committed adultery with Bathsheba the wife of Uriah and had him murdered to cover up his sin with Bathsheba, whom God punished for that act of sin for a season.

The doctrine of Imputation is described as being given, inherited or accounted something by another source, or person because you satisfy a condition.

David describes this in the book of Psalms Chapter 32:

 

Psalm 32:1-2 "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. ² Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile."

 
Interesting that this verse recorded in Psalm at the end says to those whose spirit has no guile, if you ever give the gospel to someone or when you're out soul winning, you can come across people who pretend to get saved, or don't really believe it even when they say they do (generally just to get you off their backs) but they really don't believe at all.

Or you come across people in other religions and you're trying to evangelise them, especially religions based on works salvation who just won't let go of their religion, these people will not get saved until they do this, it's Faith Alone.

Ever tried evangelising to the cults? It's very difficult to get past their indoctrination of their institution of manmade (Or satanic) fables.

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Romans 4:7 "saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered."

 
Upon belief, God has forgiven all iniquities committed by the sinner, and whose sins are covered, meaning any future sin you are going to commit will also be covered. 

When you get saved, you don't automatically stop sinning, you will continue to sin in the flesh.

This scripture reinforces the doctrine of eternal security, you cannot lose your salvation.

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Romans 4:8"
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin."

 
Again, the scripture states how blessed is the man whom the Lord will not IMPUTE sin, which emphasises the fact that all believers will still sin, God knows this until the day of redemption, the Lord's Day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns; known as his second coming.

Knowing this, God will not impute or account any sin to the believer that they will commit in the future, but you say, you can't just keep on sinning, and the cheap grace promoters will say you can't just live anyway you want to when you get saved!

What these works based Salvationist heretics don't understand is what the bible teaches true believers is what is called the doctrine of Divine Discipline.

I will cover this in another post at another time.

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Romans 4:9 "Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? For we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness."

 
If we say that Abraham was made righteous by his faith, was it then only given to the circumcised only or upon the uncircumcised as well?

Could you only be justified by God's grace ONLY if you got circumcised?

We'll find out the answers to these questions in the following scriptures.

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Romans 4:10 "How was it then reckoned? When he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision."

 
The word "reckoned" means to "count", "add up", "and establish calculation", "figure", or it's synonyms are "believe", "think", "be of the opinion", "be of the view", "be convinced".

So here in this scripture, it is written, that Abraham was imputed righteousness when he was uncircumcised and NOT before; also referring back to Genesis 15:6.

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Romans 4:11 "And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also:"

 
Abraham received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness of his faith when he was still uncircumcised. When Abraham got circumcised, God made a covenant or a promise with him that he would be father to all people that believe, from all nations, kindred's and tongues.

The false teachers we're running around trying to pervert the Gospel and undermine Paul by saying to the people that they had to get circumcised or they couldn't be saved, that they had to follow the laws and ordinances to be acceptable to God.

But the truth is, God is not a respecter of persons, it doesn't matter what colour you are, what nationality you are or whether you are circumcised or not, if you believe on him, that is good enough!

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Romans 4:12 "and the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised."

 
Abraham was made a promise of God that he would be a father to all as discussed in the previous verse, be it of the circumcision or uncircumcision it doesn't matter, those who walk in the same steps of faith as according to Abraham when he was made righteous before he received the sign of circumcision, and that Faith, is to believe on the Lord God, whom we now know his name to be Jesus.

 

Romans 4:13 "For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith."

 

For the promise, what promise?

The promise that he should inherit the world, was NOT made to Abraham and his seed, note the word "seed" is singular not plural, this seed is the Lord Jesus Christ, that the promise was not made through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith, notice how it wasn't worded as just faith?

The promise was made through the righteousness of faith, does that not mean that to have faith is to have righteousness?

Bingo!

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Romans 4:14 "For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:"

 
Now read this carefully, those who think keeping and doing the law will get them into heaven, and gives them the right to be heirs are sorely wrong, you couldn't be more wrong than wrong, look at what it says next, FAITH IS MADE VOID, and the promise is made of none effect, that right, the promise is cancelled out.

If you try to approach the Holy God by your works of righteousness, this act in itself cancels out Faith, it means you have no faith at all, and you are not under the promise, because the promise was given by the righteousness of faith.

If you trust in your own works to get you into heaven, then you don't have faith in God, and there would have been no reason for him to come in the form of man to sacrifice himself would there?

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Romans 4:15 "because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression."

 
The Law works wrath, this is God's wrath, and those who trust in their own works will meet in the end with God's wrath, not something I'd be looking forward to…

For where there is no law, there is no transgression. What does that mean? Does that mean that if you have never heard of the law, you cannot sin?

God forbid! The answer to this verse is actually found in Romans Chapter 2!

 

Romans 2:12-16 "For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; ¹³ (for not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. ¹⁴ For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: ¹⁵ which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) ¹⁶ in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel."

 
So here Paul is contrasting those who had the law, the Jews and those who didn't have the law, the Gentiles. We read that the law is written in the hearts of the gentiles, so there is no excuse.

Chapter 4 verse 15 is stating that there is no transgression if there is no law; but if we know that the law has been written in our hearts then there is transgression, because God wrote those laws into our hearts, and our conscience either convicts us or allows us to make excuses for our transgressions towards God.

This internal law by the way I believe is our moral compass, our boundary that we would normally not step over, and in the case with reprobates: those people who constantly rejects God's calling, God removes this moral compass and gives them over to their own lusts.

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Romans 4:16 "Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,"

 
For that reason, it is of faith, and by grace through faith, the promise which was made with Abraham can also be given to all the seed. 

So it is not only given to the Jews, but it is given to all who believe, because Abraham was imputed righteousness by faith, and so are all who come to the Lord by faith because he is the father of us all.

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Romans 4:17 "(as it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were."

 
As it is written in Genesis 17:5 where Abram gets his name changed to Abraham by God because he has been made a father of many nations!

What's interesting about the last part of the verse, "even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were."

God whom quickens the dead, the word quicken means "to make alive", but the most interesting part of this verse is what comes next, where it is said that God calls all those things which be not as though they were; this means that God speaks and tells us of these as if though they had already happened, even though it actually hasn't happened yet, this is true of biblical prophecy and that we can know, that the Holy bible is God's word because there is no other book in the world that accurately predicts, and is proven to be true with the prophecies written within this holy book.

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Romans 4:18 "Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations; according to that which was spoken, so shall thy seed be."

 
Against hope believed in hope, this is faith:

 

Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

 
Abraham believed on the Lord God and was given the promise that he shall be father of many nations, and that same promise is given to his seed, that seed being the Lord Jesus Christ, our Lord and God.

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Romans 4:19 "And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb:"

 
Being not weak in faith, to a works based Salvationist heretic a person with weak faith would be someone who had very little works, this would be their point of view, however, Salvation is not by works, it is by faith, and to say in a biblical truth one who has weak faith is someone who trusts in their own works, rather than completely trusting in the Lord.

Trusting in only the Lord is strong faith, we place our trust and hope in something that is not seen, yet hoped for, and it is described in Hebrews chapter 11 as a substance, not nothing.

Even at his age of an hundred years old consider he himself not dead, along with his wife's womb to be dead (She was about 90 years old) especially when the angel of the Lord came to tell him and Sarah would born a child at such an old age; this event is recorded in Genesis 18:10.

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Romans 4:20 "he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;"

 

 
The last few verses expound more on verse 19, he staggered not, meaning he was not shocked or amazed at the promise given to him by God because of unbelief; but was strong in faith, what we talked about before, his strength of his faith by placing it all on the Lord God, and giving him all the glory!

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Romans 4:21 "and being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform."

 
Abraham being fully persuaded, it is his faith that he is able to be fully persuaded, and Abraham knowing that God cannot lie, will keep his promise enabling Abraham to perform, or to do God's will.

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Romans 4:22 "And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness."

 
And for that reason, what reason? His Faith of course, he was imputed righteousness. By faith we have been justified by our Lord God's grace.

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Romans 4:23 "Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;"

 
It was not just written for Abraham's sake alone, that it was accredited to him, this is the doctrine of Imputation. We have inherited by faith, righteousness, not ours, but God's righteousness.

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Romans 4:24 "but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;"

 
So not just for Abraham's sake, but for us also, for those who believe, whom have faith in He that raised up our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. 

This passage reflects on how I got saved, I was in the Old Testament and I believed on Him that raised up our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus said I and the Father are one, and also if you have the Son, you have the Father. Jesus is God manifest in the flesh, he is the God of the Old and New Testament.

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Romans 4:25 "who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification."

 
Jesus Christ died for our sins, and the sins of the whole world, and God the Father raised him to life so that we all might be justified in his sight.

 
Amen.