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? 2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? 3 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? 4 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.
