Tuesday, April 08, 2014

Pilgrim reads the signs through Romans

A picture comes to my mind as I read Romans, resurrecting the character “Pilgrim” from Pilgrim’s Progress. As he goes through the path of Romans, Pilgrim notices and reads a number of helpful signs, some of which are so small as to be barely noticeable; these signs, continually appearing through the Book of Romans, are vital indicators, though, because they emphasize transitions that draw attention and illuminate and direct the reader to the correct conclusion.

Road signs:

"Therefore": Because of what was just written—because of the indicative, an imperative is likely ahead of you.

Romans 1:18-25:
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

"For": The stuff that was just written, a conclusive thought, possibly an imperative, was based at least in part on this thought, an indicative.

Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. 25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator,who is blessed forever. Amen.

"For this reason": What was just written led to the following theological reality.

Romans 1:24-27:
Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator,who is blessed forever. Amen.
For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.

"But": What was said before might leave you swimming in a half-truth. There is another aspect that will complete the thought and rescue you.

Romans 2:1-11:
Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each person according to his deeds: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God.

"What then?" Or, "What shall we say, then?" A question indicating a person might go one of two divergent directions based on the previous thought. The writer then brings up the worst predictable and natural conclusion, and negate it with further explanation of why it doesn’t work; because that wrong conclusion could really trip up your walk.

Romans 3:1-4:
Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God. What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it? May it never be! Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found a liar, as it is written,
That You may be justified in Your words,
And prevail when You are judged.”

"Now": Probably a thought that will bring the previous thought up a notch; the next step up on the ladder, or the next hill to climb to see things more clearly.

Romans 3:9-20:
What then?
 Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; as it is written,
There is none righteous, not even one;
There is none who understands,
There is none who seeks for God;
All have turned aside, together they have become useless;
There is none who does good,
There is not even one.”
Their throat is an open grave,
With their tongues they keep deceiving,”
The poison of asps is under their lips”;
Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”;
Their feet are swift to shed blood,
Destruction and misery are in their paths,
And the path of peace they have not known.”
There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.

"But now," or "So then": Here’s a conclusion based on the previous thought, pretty much like therefore; it might well be new to you, so read it carefully and consider the changes that need to take place because of it.

Romans 3:19-25:
Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.
But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. 

Romans 5:17-18:
For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.
So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. 

"Even so": This one problem happened and as a counter to our desperate need, God brought this solution about. As you can see in this passage, it’s sort of an “On the other hand, in spite of what was just said, keep these things also in mind” thought; don’t despair when things seem beyond hope; God is in control and makes things as they should be, giving us a way out. It seems to follow the phrase “as [this bad thing happened],”

Romans 5:18-21:
So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous. The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

"Or do you not know": If you don’t believe what was just said, here’s another basic bit of theology that I thought would already have made this clear to you—another indicative.

Romans 6:1-3:
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?

"May it never be!" I saved my personal favorite for last. This statement, occurring 10 times in Romans, is Paul’s strong, passionate warning, an indicator that the previous statement or question is a faulty conclusion that the reader might assume. This statement is something like the railroad crossing road block, complete with bells ringing and flashing red lights – so you don’t get in the train wreck of disastrous theology. Read on in the passage, and you will find reasoning why this doesn’t work, and/or an explanation of what does work instead.

Romans 3:3-4:What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it? May it never be! Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found a liar, as it is written,That You may be justified in Your words,And prevail when You are judged.”

Disclaimer: I am not a theologian, but I play one on my blog. Be like the believers in Acts 17:10-11: The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.
All passages of Scripture are quoted from New American Standard Bible (NASB)and the emphasis upon the words in italicized bold print, or underlined, is mine.
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