Sunday School Lesson
Introduction: Every so often we notice a high watermark in the Bible. After all, the Bible is not flat. Certain passages of Scripture are quite telling and microcosms of the whole story of the Bible. Some examples might include Abraham’s test of faith in Genesis 22, the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15, or the golden text of the Bible in John 3:16-21. In the writings of the apostle Paul, those telling passages include 2 Corinthians 5:11-21, Ephesians 2:1-10, and our text today. In recent years Pauline scholarship (The New Perspective on Paul research) has resurrected an old debate about God setting the world right by the faithfulness of Jesus or faith in Jesus. Which of those prepositional phrases is theologically correct? The debate does matter in helping us articulate how to tell someone the plan of salvation. But at the end of day God set the world right by both. God acted on our behalf by faithfully fulfilling his promise through Christ. But we must appropriate that gift of salvation by our faith in Christ. It is both/and; not either/or. Our study of Romans has brought us to the point of conviction. The world is guilty of high treason against its Creator. How can things be set right? What is God’s role in setting those things right?
God's Righteousness
Romans 3:21-24KJV
21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
God presented Christ. He sent Jesus to be the expression of his faithfulness to Israel. Jesus faithfully fulfilled his saving mission. In fact, this new way of having things set right was actually anticipated in the Old Testament—the Law and the Prophets testified to how God would make things right. The contrast with the old way is captured in the phrase, But now. This is similar to “But . . . God” (Ephesians 2:4) and “But now” (v. 13). God’s righteousness (his standard or justice) was given to the world through the faithfulness of Jesus. It is appropriated by faith. Both Jews and Gentiles can appropriate it because both groups need it. For all have sinned and fall short (are continuing to lack) the glory of God. Paul went to his thesaurus to try to describe what happened the day that Jesus died on Calvary. He pushed language to the breaking point to describe God’s faithfulness in Christ. Paul went to the courtroom and picked up a legal term (justified), to the marketplace and picked up an economic term (redemption), and to the temple and picked up a sacrificial term (sacrifice of atonement or propitiation). All of these words paint pictures and make analogies to describe the faithfulness of Jesus Jews and Gentiles were in a dilemma due to sin, but God was also in a dilemma. How could God stay true to his character (sin demands punishment) and yet come to the aid of his creation? He had been patient in working his plan because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished. The dilemma was solved by Jesus offering himself. Sin could be punished with its due penalty—death. But due to Jesus’ faithfulness to God’s mission and taking on that punishment, the sinner is set free (justified, redeemed, and propitiated).
God's Justification
Romans 3:25-26KJV
25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
Do humans cast a vote in salvation? Most assuredly. We cannot save ourselves, but we must appropriate this great Christ event by faith. We accept the testimony of those who witnessed these events. We respond to God by receiving Jesus for who he said he was—the Son of God. We commit to Christ and begin to obey everything he taught. This is not viewed as a work on our part (John 6:29). It is trust in the person of Christ and in the work that he did on Calvary.
God of Both Jews and Gentiles
Romans 3:27-31KJV
27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.
28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
29 Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:
30 Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.
31 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.
Paul circled back to the tension in the church between Jew and Gentile and said some strange things about the law and faith. If this getting the world back through sacrifice is God’s business, can Jew or Gentile boast? Obviously no! But does this mean that the law (or the principle of faith) played no role for the Jew or Gentile in salvation? Obviously no! Jews and Gentiles are not saved by works of the law. Faith cannot leapfrog the law, but by placing faith in Christ and in his faithful work, all people can realize the fulfillment of the law in Jesus—much like an apple blossom fulfills itself in an apple. This sets things right.
Saturday, July 16, 2016
Saturday, July 9, 2016
Struggling Under Sin’s Power
Sunday School Lesson
Introduction: Someone said, “When you are young you make faces in the mirror. When you are old, the mirror gets back at you.” A mirror does not lie about physical appearance. But a mirror is a reflection of our reality; it is not the reality itself. Our reality goes deeper than the skin. Sin distorts our ability to see ourselves accurately. We need a sanity check on sin because, “Sin is an equal opportunity destroyer,” said Dr. Barry Black, United States Senate Chaplain. Paul was concluding his first major movement of his letter to the Romans (Romans 1:18–3:20). He had confronted head-on the Gentile sin problem (1:18-32; 2:12-16) and the Jewish sin problem (2:1-11; 2:17–3:8). Now he wiped out any chance of human self-justification. All people, no matter what ethnicity, struggle under sin’s power. All people have to own their depravity factor.
Sin Is Universal
Romans 3:9-18KJV
9 What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;
10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:
15 Their feet are swift to shed blood:
16 Destruction and misery are in their ways:
17 And the way of peace have they not known:
18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.
The text begins with a question, What shall we conclude then? Paul was following up on the question raised in Romans 3:1: “What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew?” Actually Paul answered his own question—twice. Does a Jew have any advantage? Yes, the Jews have the Scriptures. But no, the Jews have not kept the Scriptures.Paul charged (accused) both Jews and Gentiles of being under the power of sin. The phrase power of does not occur in the Greek text. It says, “To be under sin.” That is it. People have an amazing ability to dupe themselves and others because they are under sin. Paul located sin in people with metaphors and from the Scriptures. There is some comfort in saying, “God hates the sin but loves the sinner.” But God does not locate sin abstractly. He locates it in people who sin. Listen to Bob Russell’s sermon entitled, “I Have a Dark Side I Must Understand.” The sin is in the sinner. Paul strung together another series of Old Testament texts to draw upon Psalms 5, 140, 10, 36, and Isaiah 59. Once again Paul was adopting phrases from those Old Testament passages. While there is value in noting the individual contexts from which they come, the force of Paul’s argument comes in the cluster. The difference in verses 13-18 is in the high use of metaphor. Throats, tongues, lips, mouths all help emphasize deception, harm, and corruption. We know from the New Testament that the mouth only speaks what is in the heart (Matthew 12:34-37). Paul also used the metaphor of feet. Feet do not technically shed blood, but they take people places where they will shed blood (Proverbs 1:11). Sin is labeled as having lost the way of peace and having lost fear (reverent respect) for God.
Guilt Is Universal
Romans 3:19-20KJV
19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
These verses frame up Paul’s big conclusion from this first major section in Romans. Since he was still speaking of the Jewish person, Paul wrote these two verses from the standpoint of the law. As good as the law was (Romans 7:12), it basically shut people up. They had no defense. The law could not fix the problem. It could only show the problem. Kenny Boles, former Ozark Christian College professor, likened this to using a flashlight on a night when the car breaks down—the flashlight can show the problem, but it cannot fix the problem. Every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. No one can be declared righteous (justified—put right in God’s sight) by the law. The law simply helps us become conscious (know intimately) of our sin.
Introduction: Someone said, “When you are young you make faces in the mirror. When you are old, the mirror gets back at you.” A mirror does not lie about physical appearance. But a mirror is a reflection of our reality; it is not the reality itself. Our reality goes deeper than the skin. Sin distorts our ability to see ourselves accurately. We need a sanity check on sin because, “Sin is an equal opportunity destroyer,” said Dr. Barry Black, United States Senate Chaplain. Paul was concluding his first major movement of his letter to the Romans (Romans 1:18–3:20). He had confronted head-on the Gentile sin problem (1:18-32; 2:12-16) and the Jewish sin problem (2:1-11; 2:17–3:8). Now he wiped out any chance of human self-justification. All people, no matter what ethnicity, struggle under sin’s power. All people have to own their depravity factor.
Sin Is Universal
Romans 3:9-18KJV
9 What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;
10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:
15 Their feet are swift to shed blood:
16 Destruction and misery are in their ways:
17 And the way of peace have they not known:
18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.
The text begins with a question, What shall we conclude then? Paul was following up on the question raised in Romans 3:1: “What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew?” Actually Paul answered his own question—twice. Does a Jew have any advantage? Yes, the Jews have the Scriptures. But no, the Jews have not kept the Scriptures.Paul charged (accused) both Jews and Gentiles of being under the power of sin. The phrase power of does not occur in the Greek text. It says, “To be under sin.” That is it. People have an amazing ability to dupe themselves and others because they are under sin. Paul located sin in people with metaphors and from the Scriptures. There is some comfort in saying, “God hates the sin but loves the sinner.” But God does not locate sin abstractly. He locates it in people who sin. Listen to Bob Russell’s sermon entitled, “I Have a Dark Side I Must Understand.” The sin is in the sinner. Paul strung together another series of Old Testament texts to draw upon Psalms 5, 140, 10, 36, and Isaiah 59. Once again Paul was adopting phrases from those Old Testament passages. While there is value in noting the individual contexts from which they come, the force of Paul’s argument comes in the cluster. The difference in verses 13-18 is in the high use of metaphor. Throats, tongues, lips, mouths all help emphasize deception, harm, and corruption. We know from the New Testament that the mouth only speaks what is in the heart (Matthew 12:34-37). Paul also used the metaphor of feet. Feet do not technically shed blood, but they take people places where they will shed blood (Proverbs 1:11). Sin is labeled as having lost the way of peace and having lost fear (reverent respect) for God.
Guilt Is Universal
Romans 3:19-20KJV
19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
These verses frame up Paul’s big conclusion from this first major section in Romans. Since he was still speaking of the Jewish person, Paul wrote these two verses from the standpoint of the law. As good as the law was (Romans 7:12), it basically shut people up. They had no defense. The law could not fix the problem. It could only show the problem. Kenny Boles, former Ozark Christian College professor, likened this to using a flashlight on a night when the car breaks down—the flashlight can show the problem, but it cannot fix the problem. Every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. No one can be declared righteous (justified—put right in God’s sight) by the law. The law simply helps us become conscious (know intimately) of our sin.
Saturday, July 2, 2016
Ignoring God's Truth within Us
Sunday School Lesson
Lesson Focus: Who you are and what you do does not save you.
Introduction: American Express had a commercial: “Membership has its privileges.” But if a member refuses to pay the balance, those privileges are revoked. With privilege comes responsibility. This is the thinking at this point in Romans. To help people appreciate the power of the gospel (Romans 1:16, 17), Paul first had to convince everyone how much they needed the gospel (vv. 18–3:20). The Gentiles needed the gospel because they had suppressed the truth (1:18-32). The Jews thought they could escape, but Paul was quick to point out that God’s judgment would come home to roost on them (2:1-11). Even though the Jews had privileges (their calling and the law), they had forgotten their responsibilities. In fact, some Gentiles who did not have the Jewish privileges actually did God’s will, and some Jews who had the law did not live by it (vv. 12-16). The Jews in the church in Rome needed more than law. They needed genuine faith and obedient hearts.
Violating the Law of Moses
Romans 2:17-24
17 Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God,
18 And knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law;
19 And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness,
20 An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law.
21 Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?
22 Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?
23 Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?
24 For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.
To be grateful for privileges is one thing. To boast about those privileges is something else. For the Jew, the law was the embodiment of knowledge and truth. But Paul cautioned the Jews not to rely on the law and boast in God. In other words, be careful of pretense. Paul used six phrases to drive that point home (vv. 17-20): The pretentious self-perception included relying on the law, being instructed by the law, guiding the spiritually blind, being a light for those who are in the dark, being an instructor of the foolish, and being a teacher of little children. Paul said, “Knowledge puffs up” (1 Corinthians 8:1). It is not pretense but obedience that matters. A few secular proverbs unpack the content of Paul’s next five phrases (vv. 21-23): “Look in the mirror.” “Walk your talk.” “Practice what you preach.” Three of Paul’s five phrases are part of the Ten Commandments (stealing, adultery, and idol worship). The first and last are about teaching and obeying God’s law. Good intentions are never enough. Performance matters.
Coming to Terms with Circumcision
Romans 2:25-29
25 For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision.
26 Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision?
27 And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law?
28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
But it is not just performance that matters. Both the Old and New Testament stress the importance of having the right heart to match right actions (Joel 2:13; Mark 7:14-23). God looks at the inward—not just the outward (1 Samuel 16:7). Circumcision (“cut around”) is the sign of the Old Testament Mosaic covenant (though it goes back farther than Moses). Obviously it was an outward sign. When the sign of the covenant matches a heart committed to keeping the covenant, God is pleased and his people have integrity. When only circumcision is in place, but the heart for obeying God’s law is not, then circumcision is of little value. The inverse is also true. If people who are not circumcised (Gentiles) keep God’s law, then they will be viewed as God’s people even though they do not have the sign of the covenant. The backdrop behind Paul’s remarks is the tension in the church in Rome between Jew and Gentile. If the Gentiles were feeling poorly after Romans 1:18-32, their self-esteem should have recovered in 2:25-27. Though the Jews might have felt like they had all the privileges, the Gentiles might have had a leg up on the Jews if they obeyed God (see also Acts 15:1-35). Next Paul took circumcision to another level. He actually matched what the Old Testament already taught. Circumcision also dealt with the heart (Deuteronomy 10:16; 30:6; Jeremiah 4:4; 9:25). Christians are to be circumcised in Christ (Colossians 2:11; 3:11; Galatians 5:6). Otherwise circumcision amounts to nothing (1 Corinthians 7:19). When we understand how the outward goes with the inward, we are the true circumcision (Philippians 3:3). Maybe the middle verse of the text is the climax: God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you. It would be terrible indeed to have all the privileges of God and compromise them to the point of hindering people from coming to God. Perhaps the best way to receive the “nod of God” is to unite obedience with heart—that takes us beyond the law.
Lesson Focus: Who you are and what you do does not save you.
Introduction: American Express had a commercial: “Membership has its privileges.” But if a member refuses to pay the balance, those privileges are revoked. With privilege comes responsibility. This is the thinking at this point in Romans. To help people appreciate the power of the gospel (Romans 1:16, 17), Paul first had to convince everyone how much they needed the gospel (vv. 18–3:20). The Gentiles needed the gospel because they had suppressed the truth (1:18-32). The Jews thought they could escape, but Paul was quick to point out that God’s judgment would come home to roost on them (2:1-11). Even though the Jews had privileges (their calling and the law), they had forgotten their responsibilities. In fact, some Gentiles who did not have the Jewish privileges actually did God’s will, and some Jews who had the law did not live by it (vv. 12-16). The Jews in the church in Rome needed more than law. They needed genuine faith and obedient hearts.
Violating the Law of Moses
Romans 2:17-24
17 Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God,
18 And knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law;
19 And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness,
20 An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law.
21 Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?
22 Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?
23 Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?
24 For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.
To be grateful for privileges is one thing. To boast about those privileges is something else. For the Jew, the law was the embodiment of knowledge and truth. But Paul cautioned the Jews not to rely on the law and boast in God. In other words, be careful of pretense. Paul used six phrases to drive that point home (vv. 17-20): The pretentious self-perception included relying on the law, being instructed by the law, guiding the spiritually blind, being a light for those who are in the dark, being an instructor of the foolish, and being a teacher of little children. Paul said, “Knowledge puffs up” (1 Corinthians 8:1). It is not pretense but obedience that matters. A few secular proverbs unpack the content of Paul’s next five phrases (vv. 21-23): “Look in the mirror.” “Walk your talk.” “Practice what you preach.” Three of Paul’s five phrases are part of the Ten Commandments (stealing, adultery, and idol worship). The first and last are about teaching and obeying God’s law. Good intentions are never enough. Performance matters.
Coming to Terms with Circumcision
Romans 2:25-29
25 For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision.
26 Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision?
27 And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law?
28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
But it is not just performance that matters. Both the Old and New Testament stress the importance of having the right heart to match right actions (Joel 2:13; Mark 7:14-23). God looks at the inward—not just the outward (1 Samuel 16:7). Circumcision (“cut around”) is the sign of the Old Testament Mosaic covenant (though it goes back farther than Moses). Obviously it was an outward sign. When the sign of the covenant matches a heart committed to keeping the covenant, God is pleased and his people have integrity. When only circumcision is in place, but the heart for obeying God’s law is not, then circumcision is of little value. The inverse is also true. If people who are not circumcised (Gentiles) keep God’s law, then they will be viewed as God’s people even though they do not have the sign of the covenant. The backdrop behind Paul’s remarks is the tension in the church in Rome between Jew and Gentile. If the Gentiles were feeling poorly after Romans 1:18-32, their self-esteem should have recovered in 2:25-27. Though the Jews might have felt like they had all the privileges, the Gentiles might have had a leg up on the Jews if they obeyed God (see also Acts 15:1-35). Next Paul took circumcision to another level. He actually matched what the Old Testament already taught. Circumcision also dealt with the heart (Deuteronomy 10:16; 30:6; Jeremiah 4:4; 9:25). Christians are to be circumcised in Christ (Colossians 2:11; 3:11; Galatians 5:6). Otherwise circumcision amounts to nothing (1 Corinthians 7:19). When we understand how the outward goes with the inward, we are the true circumcision (Philippians 3:3). Maybe the middle verse of the text is the climax: God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you. It would be terrible indeed to have all the privileges of God and compromise them to the point of hindering people from coming to God. Perhaps the best way to receive the “nod of God” is to unite obedience with heart—that takes us beyond the law.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)