Romans 5-6 The Problem of Pain, and the non-sequitur of grace

Romans 5

Romans 5:2 & 11 Paul boasts in God’s provision of redemption in Christ, and in the glory of His grace. Boasting is generally considered an unattractive behavior, but Paul is not boasting of anything he did, but of what God has done.  Praise of God for His nature and character is part of our worship, glorying in who and what He is. Paul joins in this worship.

Romans 5:3-4 This is glory - sufferings that produce perseverance that results in character which then gives hope in God’s love. It is hard for us to understand how suffering can lead to love, but this is the mystery of redemption. We imitate and grow to be like Christ by persevering as God builds character in us, to ultimately experience God’s love tangibly. Here we have the Biblical explanation of the so-called problem of pain. Why does a good God allow innocent people to suffer? Because He is building in them perseverance and character, so that they can ultimately experience the glory of God’s love, both receiving it and sharing it with others. This can only become part of proven character through the testing that comes from suffering. Our decision to love as God loves will therefore be implemented by Him in this way. 

Romans 5:6-8 Our only value is what God invests in us, if we receive it. We bring nothing of value on our own. The right time for Christ to die for us was while we were sinners, not waiting for us to get our act together. We could never have earned Christ’s redemption of us. 

Romans 5:14 Adam had one command, and he broke it. (Genesis 2:17, 3:6) Hence, death was ceded dominion over humankind, even though the law of Moses came later.  But Adam was warned. It wasn’t just a ‘thou shalt not’. God told Adam the consequences of that forbidden act.

Romans 5:15-17 The extravagance of the gift is the overflowing of grace, justification, righteousness, and reigning in life. Even with all of the above - suffering, sin, lack of intrinsic virtue - God doesn’t grudgingly rescue us, but extravagantly gives to us.

Romans 5:18 The condemnation for all people was explicitly identified in their continual sin and wickedness in the time of Noah. (Genesis 6:5) But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. (Genesis 6:8) Noah was blameless (not sinless!) in the eyes of the Lord, and walked with Him faithfully. (Genesis 6:9) This did not result in justification for the human race, but did save us from total extinction. Only Jesus could bring justification to humanity as a whole. Eventually Noah died. (Genesis 9:29) 

Romans 5:21 A contrast in reigning. Sin’s reign results in death.  Grace’s reign through righteousness brings eternal life through Christ. 

Romans 6

Romans 6:1-4 In this chapter, Paul explores the basic non-sequitur of the idea that since we are not under the law, but under grace, we can continue to sin because death has been defeated. (6:14-15) Jesus didn’t die on the cross, rise from the dead, and bring us the grace of forgiven sin so we can live in the flesh and revel in sin, but instead so that we can enjoy the glory of the Father. After our decision and deliverance comes discipleship (6:11-13)

Romans 6:13-14 There is a daily, or hourly, or minute-by-minute process of commitment, obedience, and action. Every part of ourselves is included in this process - body, soul, spirit, family, earthly possessions, and anything else that is part of our life.

Romans 6:15 The non-sequitur is this. If grace frees us from the law and sin is no longer our master, it does not follow to use this freedom to return to sin. It makes no sense to go back to an evil master after Someone has paid for you to no longer be a slave. 

Romans 6:20 & 22 There are two types or flavors of slavery. Enslavement by compulsion, external force, which describes slavery to sin. Its wages are death. Alternatively, there is slavery by choice, submitting to a Master we love and trust, and gives us the gift of eternity with Him.

Romans 6:21 The reason to reprogram ourselves to make sin not a normal part of life (which takes decision and effort to follow through) is to avoid returning to jail or enslavement leading to death.

Romans 6:22 it is important to understand that holiness is not the same as Pharisitical legalism. Holiness is not defined by rules-following. Holiness is setting ourselves apart for the good and just and righteous deeds. We joyously do the things Jesus calls us to do, with our whole heart. These things are unique and different for each person, but Jesus demonstrates them and talks about them in the gospels. And then He calls us each individually to certain specifics. Holiness is doing what He calls us to.

Romans 6:23 The bottom line is life or death. We each individually choose.

Romans 3-4

 Romans 3

Romans 3:1 Jews carry a privileged responsibility. Having God’s direct revelation is something they should share with the world, but also implies a duty to live in accordance with it. And when they did, they were blessed in all the dimensions of life that they obeyed His word in. But the ultimate test, when they wanted to do their own thing, was that there were both natural and spiritual consequences. God gave them the whole gamut of truth. 

Romans 3:4-8 opens with a quote of Psalm 51:4, David’s song of repentance after he had been outed for his adultery with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah. David acknowledged that he had sinned against God, who was justified in judging him for his sins. This leads Paul into a brief tangent (3:5-8) about the idea that if sin was an occasion for God to reveal His righteousness through mercy, then we should sin to create opportunities for Him to do so. Paul agreed that this is an absurd idea.

Romans 3:10-18 The theme of all these quotes is that we have to go beyond saying we are sinful to truly believing it, so that we can truly repent. Repeating the words “I have sinned”    is superficial if our heart isn’t engaged. Paul was acquainted with this, having been at the stoning of Stephen, and approving it by guarding the cloaks of those who threw stones.

• 3:10 quotes Psalm 14:1, talking about the vile deeds of moral fools.
• 3:11 quotes Psalm 14:2, to the effect that no one understands this enough to seek God.
• 3:12 quotes Psalm 14:3, (and Ecclesiastes 7:20), emphasizing the universality of sin, leading up to Romans 3:23. (Most likely Solomon quoted David to support his rumination on the meaninglessness of life.)
• 3:13 quotes Psalms 5:9 & 140:3 Throats, tongues, and lips all participate in vile sin, from David’s day to our own. Whether it is deceit, poison, or verbal assassination.
• 3:14 quotes Psalm 10:7, continuing the assessment of the mouth.
• 3:15-17 quote Isaiah 59:7-8, slightly rearranged, on the utter depravity of humans, that God yet promises to redeem those who will be (Isaiah 59:16-21).
• 3:18 quotes Psalm 36:1, in which David contrasts the wickedness of evil men to the love of God.

Romans 3:21-22 If God were not holy, existence would be hideous, because evil would rule the roost. But God revealed righteousness in Jesus, and the new life He gives to those who believe. 

Romans 3:23-24 is just a statement of fact, not a condemnation. He already fully explained the universality of sin. The fact is, we can’t save ourselves. Does the word ‘all’ in verse 24 imply that ultimately everybody will be saved? Paul later explains that this means he is talking about all those who are justified by faith. (3:28)

Romans 3:25-26 God sacrificed Jesus to demonstrate His love for us. His righteousness is love. Justice becomes justification when God’s love takes action, as it did in Christ. 

Romans 3:27-31 returns to the question posed in 3:1. Jews having received God’s revelation cannot thereby boast being the chosen of God, His favorites, because it is faith that justifies. Faith in Jesus, although it justifies apart from works, nevertheless upholds the law, as he will explain.

Romans 4 Abraham’s faith

Romans 4:1-3 In Genesis 12:1, God took the initiative and Abraham responded in faith. We are told later in the Genesis account that his belief was credited to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:6)  As Hebrews 11:8-12 explains, Abraham journeyed by faith to a land he did not know, to live as an alien, before Isaac was born, but it was of the same fabric of faith.

Romans 4:4-8 God blesses us with faith in us, enabling us to respond in faith. Paul quotes Psalm 32:1-2 about the blessedness of being forgiven. This is the beginning of David’s psalm of  reflection, probably after the Bathsheba affair (see Psalm 51). In the subsequent verses of Psalm 32 David reflects on guilt, repentance, forgiveness, and God’s instruction. (Psalm 32:3-11).

Romans 4:9-11 Paul points out that Abraham’s circumcision came after his faith was reckoned to Him as righteousness. (Genesis 17:24) Hence, circumcision was an act of obedience, not a condition of God’s favor. This sign was a seal of the righteousness he already had by virtue of faith, and was passed on to his heirs in faith.

Romans 4:13-15 Righteousness that comes through faith, if perfected, needs no law because it is manifested as love. (13:10) Legalists completely miss the point because if they try to earn rewards by following the law, they will fail; and they miss out on the promises of faith.

Romans 4:16-21 It seems like Abraham sets a very high bar for faith. But in making him the father of nations, God’s obvious intention was for them to imitate him. (Genesis 17:5), so that these nations understand that they came about through Abraham’s faith, and that faith was credited to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:5-6) Paul is very explicit that bringing life from the dead, in referring to Abraham’s body and Sarah’s womb, is the focus of this faith. Paul will later explain about spiritual life.

Romans 4:22-23 Paul parallels Abraham’s fathering a child at age 99 and Sarah’s conceiving and giving birth at age 90 to Jesus’ death and resurrection. (He does not refer here to Abraham’s offering of Isaac - see Hebrews 11:17) Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead for our justification, in a fulfillment in greater power of the restoring of Abraham’s and Sarah’s reproductive capacity. Perhaps Paul was echoing in a slightly different perspective Jesus’ words that we must be born from above. (John 3:3-8)

Romans 1-2

Romans 1

Romans 1:2 The good news was promised in Isaiah 53, among other places.

Romans 1:3-4 Jesus as the Son of David was announced in Matthew 1:1 according to the flesh (genealogically), as the Son of God by the Holy Spirit (Psalm 2:7, Matthew 3:17, 17:5), and a rather mixed genealogy by Luke (Luke 3:23-37). Luke draws out the seemingly bizarre mixed divine and human ancestry, which would have been anathema to Jews, whose exposure to such resulted in giants like Goliath and the mongrel races like the Nephilim, Rephaim and Anakim  that inhabited Palestine before God told them to exterminate the demon seed. (Genesis 6:4) But that was because human understanding of war in the heavenlies was (and still is) limited. God was determined to rescue humanity from Satan and from sin, and to pay a very high price to do so. Jesus was further anointed the Son of God in power by the Holy Spirit through resurrection from the dead. (Luke 24:46-48)

Romans 1:5 Paul’s call to preach to the gentiles was first revealed to Ananias.  (Acts 9:15).

Romans 1:7 Paul opens  by pronouncing a blessing of charis and shalom on his readers in Rome, from both the Father and from the Son. Grace brings God’s unmerited favor to bear. This includes peace with Him, as well as peace with each other, one of the fruits of the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22)

Romans 1:8 Paul starts by thanking God for these Roman believers (whom he had not met) and their reputation.

Romans 1:12 Mutual encouragement in faith is the basis of Christian community, e.g., the church.

Romans 1:14-15 Did Paul view the Romans as wise or foolish? Clearly, those who received the gospel were not foolish in God’s eyes. (1 Corinthians 1:25)

Romans 1:17 In quoting Habakkuk 2:4, Paul clearly states that faith is the basis of righteousness, both for conversion and through life, to the last. Living by faith is making our daily actions line up with the One we trust. This is righteousness.

Romans 1:18-23 Everyone knows right and wrong, some just don’t want to act on it. Sin is rooted in deliberate unbelief, rejection of God. 1:18 presents clear alternatives - either receive grace or experience justice. In 1:20-21, God reveals Himself both directly through knowing Him, and through His works. God’s creation reveals both His power and His nature and character. 1:21 echoes Genesis 8:21, that human hearts after the fall were and are continually bent towards sin. 1:22 echoes Proverbs 1:7; fools despise knowledge and instruction. God’s detestation of worship of images of humans and animals is clear. (Deuteronomy 4:16-18)

Romans 1:25 The worship of created things is well documented. (Exodus 32:1-6; 1 Kings 12:28-30; 2 Kings 18:4)

Romans 1:26-27 The consequence of homosexuality is recorded in Genesis 19:24-25 in burning sulfur that destroyed not only cities, but also vegetation. Why does God so detest homosexuality? We fallible humans are likely to allow each person to do their own thing - to each his own. This is just speculation, but perhaps God hates it because it perverts the picture of Christ and His bride, the church, that He intends in the marriage of a man and a woman. But if that is the case, why does God ‘give them over’ to this if they worship the creature rather than the creator? Speculation again, but perhaps this is a fundamental confusion about existence. We are the contingent beings, He is the non-contingent, uncreated, first cause of everything else. We reproduce through male-female participation in an act (granted, not always of love). He is the only one who is able to produce life in any other way, e.g., to create man from dirt. Even in in vitro fertilization, the components come from a man and a woman. To worship the creature and not the creator violates His paradigm for existence and He makes it known unmistakably.

Romans 1:28-32 The loss of spirituality was the loss of humanity, since God created man to walk in fellowship with Him. (Genesis 3:8) They did not live as God intended humans to live. 1:29-31 enumerates the kinds of wickedness that follow from a depraved mind. Vices crowd out virtues. 1:32 As a capstone, wicked people encourage each other in practices that result in death, the opposite of encouraging each other in faith that is highlighted in 1:12.

Romans 2 attempts to clarify the difference between legalism and doing what is right.

Romans 2:1-5 What is the sense in judging others for what we ourselves do? Even without God, we are really judging ourselves. Is it some psychological search for justification in our own eyes, or a cathartic release of guilt? But in contrast,  God shows kindness to those who do these things, to lead us to repentance. What we really need is not catharsis, but a change in our actions, not just release from guilt.

Romans 2:5-8 echoes an Old Testament theme. God will reward each person according to what he or she has done. Cause and effect on a spiritual plane.  (Psalm 62:12; Proverbs 24:12)

Romans 2:9-11 God does not use categories like Jew or gentile (or Catholic or Mormon or Muslim) in  judgment. He judges individuals. He does not show bias or favoritism. When we talk about trouble and distress, some draw a distinction between punishment and discipline. But at the bottom line, is there a difference? If the point is that experiencing consequences causes us the not repeat the causal behavior, they are essentially the same. 

Romans 2:12-16 The difference between legalism and doing what s right: whether people know the law or not, it is what they do that matters. 2:15 repeats 1:18-20, that everyone has right and wrong written on their conscience. Their own conscience will accuse or defend them on the day of judgment.

Romans 2:24 quotes directly from Ezekiel 36:20-22 and Isaiah 52:5, after a lengthy exhortation about legalistic hypocrisy. Ezekiel refers to the exile, and the reputation that the Jews had because God expelled them from their land because of their sin. God’s name was profaned among the nations because He judged them thusly.   In Isaiah, God says that His people were oppressed without cause and the oppressors howled (with victory or laughter) that God’s people were in exile, His name was profaned, and He will redeem them. Isaiah 52:5 is a lead up to the announcement of the coming Messiah (Isaiah 52:13-53:12).

Romans 2:25-29 Circumcision is used three different ways in the Old Testament. In Genesis 17:9-14 it is a sign of the covenant He made with Abraham. In Leviticus 12:3 it is part of the law. In Deuteronomy 30:6 He speaks of circumcision of the heart, which Paul references here. In Deuteronomy, Moses is speaking of Jews who have returned from exile, having been banished because of disbelief and sin, then repent and return to faith. When that happens, He promises to change their hearts by cutting away the carnal, fleshly desires of the heart so that they can purely desire and love God. So Paul here extends this to believers, Jew and gentile, who genuinely turn to Christ.

Proverbs 30-31

Proverbs 30

Proverbs 30:4 asks several questions that refer to other passages.

• It asks about going up to heaven, presumably seeing the wonders therein, then descending to earth to tell of it. See Job 38:33.
• It goes on to ask about gathering up the wind and wrapping up the waters. See Job 38:8-11.
• Establishing the ends of the earth? Job 38:4
• What is His name and His Son’s name?

• YHWH - the uncreated, eternal God who simply is that He is, the immovable first mover. (Exodus 3:13-14)
• Yeshua HaMashiach - the Savior and anointed one. (Matthew 1:21, Luke 1:31)

Proverbs 30:8 was echoed in Matthew 6:11 when Jesus taught His listeners to pray for daily bread. A reference back to manna in the wilderness that daily fed the Israelites for forty years. A balance between abundance that tempts us to forget God (a modern risk), and poverty and asceticism that cause us to think we earn God’s favor by physical starvation and suffering. God is with us in both circumstances, but the request is simply to trust in God and receive what He provides as sufficient.

Proverbs 30:12 was paraphrased by Jesus when He pronounced woe on the Pharisees as being like whitened sepulchers full of dead men’s bones. (Matthew 23:27)  There is a temptation to think that position with a religious organization, or theological prowess in all the details free us from the need to walk daily in God’s grace and practice purity of heart. As long as we exist, in this life or the next, we need to hear His voice, learn to recognize His hand at work, and obey Him.

Proverbs 30:14 was also repeated by Jesus as a warning to the crowd about teachers of the law who devour widow’s houses.  (Mark 12:40) 

Proverbs 30:15-16, 18-19, 21-23, and 29-31 all have a three-four poetic construction. How does this emphasize and call attention to the difference in quality of the fourth item?

Proverbs 30:15-16 Jesus talked about the fire of hell that is never quenched, which is worse than all earthly trials and woes. (Mark 9:44-48)

Proverbs 30:18-19 Animals in the wild and ships at sea are amazing, but none is as subtle and rewarding as the relationship of Christ and the church, as Jesus woos His people to draw closer to Him.  (Ephesians 5:22-24

Proverbs 30:20 repeats the unflattering description of an adulterous woman who has no sense of right and wrong. (3:5-8)

Proverbs 30:21-23 Most likely, the emphasis of the fourth element is based on the story of Hagar (Genesis 16:4), and the family dynamics that ensued. This was far from the only case for a practice that was likely common in the times of Solomon, who had 700 wives (2 Kings 11:3). The Bible is honest about the impact of polygamy on people’s lives.

Proverbs 30:24-28 Different types of small creatures exhibiting unexpected life skills should tell us something. Storing up food for winter. Making themselves homes in barren rocks. Organizing themselves without a designated leader. Ubiquity in places they are not welcomed.  What does the uncontrollable ubiquity of vermin indicate? What do vermin symbolize? Temptations? Sin? Angels & demons? When we are part of God’s kingdom, we still have to deal with a proliferation of small stuff.

Proverbs 3:29-31 Animals can strut but they are only animals. Their pride may be presumptuous or may be an act. A king with his army behind him is stately, reflecting the support he has to protect his people from attackers. Even more so, the King of kings with His church. 

Proverbs 31

Proverbs 31:3 The end of Solomon’s reign, and the splintering of Rehoboam’s kingdom may be what Lemuel had in mind about spending manly vigor on women who ruin men. (1 Kings 11:1-9) It also stands in sharp contrast to the wife of noble character. (31:10)

Proverbs 31:6 Wine ultimately represents the blood of Christ in the Lord’s supper. (1 Corinthians 11:25-27) 

Proverbs 31:8-9 Rulers of all types (not just kings) should speak up for and defend the rights of the destitute and needy.

Proverbs 31:10-31 In an extended metaphor for the church, the bride of Christ, the wife of the lamb, Solomon gives many examples of the ministries of the church in the world we live in. In this passage he does not allude to issues covered in 1 Corinthians 7 or Ephesians 5.

Proverbs 31:10 To be noble at home is a higher value than worldly wealth. Revelation 21:9-11 shows the wife of the lamb shining with glory, like a precious jewel.

Proverbs 31:11 Paul writes that he wants to present his readers as a pure virgin to Christ, as a husband. (2 Corinthians 11:2) 

Proverbs 31:17 Her arms are strong for the task because the Father strengthens her through the Holy Spirit in her inner being. (Ephesians 3:16-17)

Proverbs 31:19 & 24 The church clothes herself and her family with righteousness and royalty and it overflows. (See below, 31:21-23)

Proverbs 31:20 Paul gave instructions for adding widows to the charity list, that including that she had earlier assisted those in distress. (1 Timothy 5:9-10)

Proverbs 30:21 The church clothes her members with the blood of the Lamb.  (Revelation 7:14)

Proverbs 31:22-23 The church is clothed in the glory of God, and has gates and foundation stones reflecting the sons of Jacob and the apostles. (Revelation 21:9-14)

Proverbs 31:26 The church speaks with wisdom, some of which is found in this book. (Proverbs 8)

Proverbs 31:27 Paul gave instructions that if anyone did not work, they were not to be fed. (2 Thessalonians 3:10)

Proverbs 31:31 Once again, the gates of the New Jerusalem are mentioned (Revelation 21:12 & 21).

The bottom line on Solomon’s praise of the virtuous wife should not overlook that he was primarily writing to his own contemporaries on her incredible value. The wife who is faithful to her husband, and works diligently to operate her household taking care of feeding and clothing them and maintaining the property, who has an excess of fruit so that it can be sold at a profit, such a woman is a far better wife than one who may be attractive and sexy but lacks these traits.  Young men would do well to keep this in mind when they consider marriage.