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Paul discusses the law in 7:1-6.  He says that Christians are set free from the law, and as the bride of Christ they live controlled by Christ’s love and grace.  When Paul says this it sounds like the law is bad.  In today’s passage by Paul asking, “Is the law sinful?” (7) he explains the relationship of the law and sin.

              The law is God’s commandments. When used narrowly it refers to the 10 commandments of Moses written in Exodus 20.  When used broadly it refers to the whole Old Testament.  In other words it is the laws that tell us what we should and should not do.  It is extremely important how Christians look at this law.  That’s because if we don’t properly understand this the Gospel will become warped.  Thus we will fall into being a legalistic.  On the other hand, if we think the law isn’t necessary, then we will not be teaching the Gospel correctly.  Therefore, today let’s look at 3 aspects of the law.

I.                By the law we know sin (vs. 7)

First let’s look at the fact that the law was given so that we would know sin.  Please look at verse 7.

After talking from verse 1, Paul is asked, “What shall we say, then?  Is the law sinful?” (7) Paul answers, “Certainly not!”  As he says in verse 12, “the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.”  God gave the law so that we would know sin.  Without the law, we would not know sin.   If the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” (7, Exodus 20:17) then we would not have known about coveting.  Paul mentions this commandment because it is different than all the other 10 commandments.  The other 9 commandments can be seen if it is broken.  However, this commandment is only in the heart so it can not be seen if it is broken or not.  This sin is hidden in our hearts.       

Paul thought before he believed in Christ that as a devout Pharisee that he was following the law faithfully.  However, when he received this law, “You shall not covet.” (Exodus 20:17) it broke down his understanding of sin. He realized that he was a sinner. He didn’t expect that that what he thought in his heart would be seen.  If a light was shown there, there is no one who could say that they were righteous.  Everyone until they receive God’s commandments think that sin is breaking the law, and if you follow the law then you are a righteous person.   We were the same.  To follow the rules of society, to have a kind and warm heart, to think of others is a good person   Recently on T.V. there is a commercial that says, “You can’t see a person’s thoughts, but you can see thoughtfulness”.  When you are riding on a train and an elderly person comes and you give that person your seat, then you feel like a good person.  When your helpfulness is seen, you think about how great a person you are.  However, the problem is your thoughts that can’t be seen.  If our thoughts were shown by a projector, we would be so shameful that we could never raise our heads.  The law projects our thoughts and shows us how deep a sinner we are.

In reality, this is the reason why the law was given.  Jesus in Matt. 5:21-28 taught this.  Usually the Jews taught that the command “Do not kill” meant to actually physically kill a person.  However, Jesus said that not just that was murder, but to be angry with your brother and call him “stupid” was committing murder too.  Also adultery is the same.  Not just being in an adulterous act, but to think lustfully about a girl is also adultery.  In other words, Jesus was talking about the law and the problem of it originating in the heart.  When you consider from that side, there is no one who hasn’t sinned.  All man are lost and worthless.  The law was given so that we would know that.

That is because salvation begins by recognizing your sin. Without a person correctly recognizing his sin, he can’t be saved.  The law causes us to want to be saved by making us regret our sin, and making us anxious to not stay in our sin.

II.              Sin that uses the law (vs. 8)

Therefore, the problem is not the law, but the sin that within us.  Look at verse 8.

“Seizing the opportunity” means sin is always looking for a chance to shoot and kill us. The law itself is wonderful, “righteous and good”. (12). The sin that is within us uses the law to shoot and kill us.  The law not only reveals sin; it also stimulates it.  The natural human tendency is to desire the forbidden thing. For example, the law “You shall not covet” not only revealed this sin, but it “produced in me every kind of coveting.” (8)

When you look at the world today it is like Sodom and Gomorrah. “Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.” (Ephesians 4:17) That is because the sin that we had from birth uses the commandments and produces “every kind of coveting”. (8) No matter how much morals you teach, nor how much you try in your own strength to follow the law, it just produces more and more of “every kind of coveting”. (8)  The power of sin is that strong.  From that stand point, teaching morals, commands, and the law have no power to change us.

Therefore, God doesn’t demand that we sinners follow the law in order to be saved.  That’s because we can’t.  We need only to believe in the salvation of God.  God by his huge mercy, sent his only son Jesus Christ into this world to save us who are powerless and can’t follow the law.  Jesus was put on the cross and atoned for our sin, and prepared the way for salvation from our sin.  We need to only realize our sin, repent, and believe in Jesus Christ as our Savor from sin.  If we do, God’s perfect righteousness will come upon us, we will be saved from all sin, and we will be set free from sin’s control.   “The law was added so that the trespass might increase.  But where sin increased, grace increased all the more.” (5:20) When we go to the foot of the cross, for the first time we will understand this meaning.

III.            The law that leads to death (vs. 9-11)

The law itself “is holy, righteous, and good.” (12)  However, by the giving of the law, sin used it and caused us to sin all the more, and as a result mankind dies.  God’s commands were supposed to lead us to life, but instead led us to death.  Paul was very zealous towards following the law of God.  He was righteous in the law so he could not be accused. However, that was just because he didn’t understand the real meaning of what the law was really trying to say.  When he understood the real meaning, he realized how deep a sinner he really was.  His eyes were opened.

Today there are so many people who until they were converted that were like Paul.  They think that they are good people, and are proud of their own righteousness and judge other people.  Especially this is true about those who live by morals.  This like the Pharisee who went to the temple to pray.  He stood up and prayed in his heart, “God I thank you that I am not like other men-robbers, evildoers, adulterers-or even like this tax collector.  I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.” (Luke 18:11-12)

This is what person who doesn’t understand sin is like.  If he doesn’t really know that he is deep in sin, then he talks about other people complaining about this and that.  A person that really understands sin, is like the tax collector.  He wasn’t able to look towards heaven, and beat his breast praying, “”God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” (13) Jesus said that this man went home justified before God, but the Pharisee did not.  “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:14)

The law has been given to us so that we would realize how weak, and how deeply sinful we are. It is to announce to us that before God’s judgment we are doomed. That is what is meant by “death”. (9,10,11)  Only those who have died can live by Christ’s Gospel.  While you are thinking that by your own strength, you don’t know Christ’s grace.  We have nothing by sin.  We are dead.  Only those who know this are saved by Christ, are given God’s life, eternal life and can have a bright life. This is the Gospel.  

What Japan needs now is the Gospel.  It is like a house built upon a rock.  When the rains and winds come, the house does not fall. That is because it is built on the rock.  It is built on a solid foundation.  God wants to give us a really bright life like this.

Last Sunday was Easter.  The day before on Sat. I read Luke 23:39-43. In that passage Jesus was put on the cross with 2 criminals.  These 2 criminals made completely different last choices.  One criminal spoke negatively about Jesus and cursed and complained about him. However the other criminal believed that Jesus was the Son of God.  He knew that it right that he was a sinner that he should die, but Jesus was without sin, and had an unjust trial.  In the midst of this he asked if a sinner like him could be saved.  Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43) In the end he was able to receive eternal life and enter paradise.  The important thing is to repent and believe in Jesus Christ.

It is important to follow the law.  However, by following the law you will not be saved.  The more we follow the law, the more we will have guilt feelings for our sin.  There is death.   

Romans 3:21-23

We can not destroy the power of sin without the Cross of Christ.  No matter how strong our will is, no matter how high our morals are, no matter how strong a law we have, the power of sin was destroyed by Jesus Christ being nailed and dieing on the cross.  The cross of Jesus Christ is the only way to save us from sin and death. By believing in Jesus we are made righteous.  This is the new hope that we are given.

No matter how much you want to move a ship that is on land, even if you have lots of men it is almost impossible to move it.  However, if the tide comes in and the boat begins to float then even if a little child touches it, the ship will move. That is the work of God.  Don’t try in your own strength to follow the law, but believe in Jesus Christ who perfectly followed the law, and atoned for our sin. Put all your burdens on him, and even though you don’t have enough strength you will be able to move the ship, and it will unfold into a surprisingly and marvelous life. 

In chapter 6 Paul told us what a Christian is.  A Christian is united with Christ.  In order to explain that so it could be easily understood, he used the example of a slave and his master.  In other words Christians have been set free from being a slave of sin and have become slaves of God.  In today’s passage Paul uses marriage as an example.  In other words, Christians are united with Christ, are wedded to Christ, and are the bride of Christ.  Until now they had been united with their husband, the law.  This old husband, the law has died so they have been united with their new husband, Christ. They are living for Him.  Today let’s look at three aspects of this marriage with Christ.

I.                The old husband, the law (vs. 1-3)

First let’s look at the old husband.  Let’s look at verses 1 to 3. 

Chapter 7 of Romans is an explanation of 6:14. 6:14 is a short verse but Paul uses all of chapter 7 and the example of marriage to explain this verse. The point is that  a marriage relationship is legal only when the person is alive.  If that person dies, then you are free legally.  In other words, after that you are free to marry whoever you want.

Until now we have been married to the law. Under the law we are a sinner.  That’s because the law is used only for those who commit crimes.   For example if a burglar steals then the law determines how he will be punished.

Before the law we are sinners.  The 10 commandments command us to have no other gods than God. This is God’s command. Is there anyone that has never broken this command? 

Col. 3:5

We have all broken this command. The 10 commandments also command us not to kill. However, Jesus said that whoever calls someone “Stupid” has already killed that person in his heart.  If that is so, there is no one who hasn’t killed someone in their heart. Also the 10 commandments teach not to commit adultery.  However, Jesus taught that anyone who looks at a girl with lust in his heart then he has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  Before the law, we are sinners. Therefore, Paul said in 3:10-11 “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.“

We are all sinners under the law.

              Paul is explaining this through the relationship of a husband and wife. In verse 1 it says, “Do you not know, brothers…that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives?” And in verse 2 says, “by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive.”  Before we like this wife, were bound to our husband, the law.  He was like a tyrannical husband.  If things don’t go as he wants them to, then he is in a bad mood. He fights with his wife and is abusive.  If someone turns their back even a little from the rules he decided upon, then there are bad consequences.  If the wife over sleeps, he hits her. If the rice is burnt, a stick goes flying.  If he has to even listen to her for a few minutes, he closes the door and hides. To live with such a husband is physically impossible. However, if she runs away, he will follow her and catch her so she can’t get away from him.   She can’t get away from him and is bound to him.  Now people think easily about divorce, but in the time of Paul it was unheard of for a woman to request a divorce from her end.   

              However, in the Bible there is only one way that the wife can flee from being bound to her husband.  That was by death.  A married woman if her husband died, then the marriage relationship was dissolved. She is set free from her husband and is free.  Even if she marries another man then there is no problem.  With death all relationships end.  Then how does the law end?  Matt. 5:18 says, “I tell  you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” The law is the rule or norm of God so it never ends or changes.  In marriage when the husband dies the relationship is dissolved.  However, with the law it doesn’t work like that. You have to die yourself. If the husband is the law, and the wife is yourself, the way to break off the relationship is by dieing yourself.  Therefore in 6:4 it says, “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death.” The confidence of the Gospel begins with us dieing.

Gal. 2:20

              In order that by Christ we can receive a new life, and be set free from the yoke of the law we must die. If we die then we are set free is the Gospel.  Without the cross we can not experience the joy of freedom.  In every aspect of our life, it is by dieing once that we are set free from all the binds us.  When we confess that we died then from then on we will live.  The opposite way of saying it is if we want to live, we must die.

              A person who died has nothing to say. He has no glory.  A dead person has lost his self centeredness. He is left with only a heart of faithfulness.  From this point we need to carefully consider this large earthquake disaster. What is the meaning of this large earthquake disaster?  It is that we have died, isn’t it?   It is that we would spiritually be enlightened to the fact that before the rage of nature we have no skills or no strength, and realize that we need to throw ourselves on the mercy of the Lord who made the heaven and earth, the real God.  However, we don’t realize that and we are still say, “I’ll do it” or “Japan is strong”, etc.  We haven’t really used the lesson of the earthquake to our advantage. The disaster of the accident at the nuclear plant is the representative of this. It was spoken proudly that no matter what disasters came   Japan’s nuclear plant’s power supply was definitely o.k.  However, only by one tsunami everything quit running.  Indeed now is the time we should die.  We have pride and think that we can do everything.  We shouldn’t be like that but must give God the glory and realize that it was by the grace of God.

              I Cor. 1:25

              It is true that “the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom.” (I Cor. 1:25) What is necessary for us mankind is to die to ourselves.  We need to walk humbly before God who made heaven and earth. 

              On the other hand we should not have the feeling that we are no good.  We become depressed when even something small does not go well.  We fell that we have  no possibilities.  However we feel that way because we think we have done it.  If we have died, that type of feeling would never arise.  Pride is sinful.   Those who have died to self centeredness are not prideful.  Intrinsically, God’s servants do not brag, and are not depressed.  They are only faithful. They do only what they have to do a step at a time, and faithfully do what they need to do. They leave their lives in God’s hands, and follow the Lord’s will in each step of the way.  This is a life of a servant, the life of a person that is nailed to the cross.

II.              A new husband, Christ (vs. 4)

Next let’s look at our new husband.  Look at verse 4

Here Paul says that we have “died to the law through the body of Christ”.(4)

We have died through the death of Christ.  As a result the marriage relationship with our husband, the law, has been dissolved.  Therefore, we can be united with another person.  That is Jesus.  We are united with Christ and produce fruit for God.  Jesus is the husband and we are the wife, the bride.  That means that the law does not control us.  Our new husband, Jesus, controls us. Of course that doesn’t mean to take lightly our real husband. If Jesus controls us we will want to serve our real husband more and more.  Here what it is saying is that just as when a person dies, the marriage relationship is dissolved so in the same way our marriage relationship with the law is dissolved.  We are set free from its control. We are living under the control of our new husband.

              We are controlled by love.  Paul said about the relationship between Christians and Christ, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” (Ephesians 5:25)

              Here Paul is telling the husbands to love their wives, “just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.”  (Ephesians 5:25)  Jesus loved us so much that he gave his life up for us.   

              The Christian life is this kind of life.  We sin or even if we fall, our husband full of Grace, Jesus, forgive us, and hugs us.  Not only that but He shows us a new road, and leads us on that road. He does not come like a devil with a led stick and beat us because we have not done the cleaning.  He is not an abusive husband.  He is full of love and grace.  Therefore, we have made a clean break with our old husband, the law and have been united with our new husband so it is not necessary to be like the Gentiles and worry about what to eat and drink, and about what we are going to wear. Our Father in heaven, Jesus who is full of grace, already knows what we need, and in addition to these things, will give us everything.

III.            Living in grace (vs. 5,6)

The third point is let’s live in grace.  Look at verses 5 and 6.

This says, “But now” (6)  Christians have made a clear break with their old life and have entered into a completely new life.  That is a life united with Christ, as Christ’s bride, a life abundantly full of the grace and love of Christ. We shouldn’t live in the old way of the written code” (6)being concerned about our outward faith, but through the leading of the Holy Spirit have a balanced life abundantly full of love and grace.  If we are being led to that kind of life, wherever we go, we want to walk in our life feeling grace, not by the law. When we are controlled by grace there are abundant blessings flowing and works of life occur.  Many people will come flooding into the church.

In the home too, we should not be judging each other, but we should desire that God’s word will be used in the midst of grace.  We shouldn’t use the Word of God to tell others what to do.  When the law controls the family there is no peace.  When grace controls the family blessings are overflowing.  The Word of God can be used as a law and it can be used for grace. Let’s use it for grace. When we apply the Word of God to ourselves, it becomes grace.  When we apply it to others, it becomes a law to convict others.

Child rearing is the same.  In homes that are controlled by the law there are many cases where the children turn and go the wrong way.  In homes that are controlled by grace, the children grow up healthy.

A lifestyle of accepting others with an open heart and pouring out grace is the type of person that God blesses and pours out lots of grace upon. As a bride of Christ the blessings that we experience in this world come from the grace of God.

              Today I’d like to talk about living as a slave of God.  Verse 23 says, “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God.” Before we were slaves of sin, but now we are slaves of God. We are to live as slaves to God.  In the present world the word “slave” makes us feel uncomfortable. This is because we think that a slave as no freedom and is a person who is in a condition of being restrained.          .

              However, when we look at the Bible we can see that Paul had an inexpressible joy, thankfulness, and pride towards being a slave of God and living as slave. Compared with other people he left the largest number of books in the Bible, but when he had to emphasize that he was an apostle, he clearly wrote, “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ”, but at other times, when he talked about himself, he said, “a slave of Christ”. When he didn’t need to emphasize that he was an apostle, he always wrote “Paul, a slave of Christ”.

              This wasn’t just Paul.  Peter and James were the same.  For example, Peter was set free of sin by Jesus Christ and as a person who was set free he said, “live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover up for evil; live as servants of God.” (I Peter 2:16)  Peter had a personality where he always thought that he was number one among the disciples.  He intruded with “I” “I”.  This Peter was joyful, honored, thankful and proud that he was a servant of Christ.

              Paul was the same.  He said that he was thankful that he was a slave of sin, but now is a slave of righteousness. This is not just Paul, but all Christians have been set free from sin. Today let’s look at 3 aspects of living as a slave of God.

I.                From a slave of sin to a slave of righteousness (vs. 15-18)

First let’s look at the point that Christians have been set free from sin and have become slaves of righteousness. First let’s look at verse 15.

Paul from 6:1 talks about the thinking that if as sin increases grace increases then shouldn’t we continue in sin.  He says that “By no means.” (2)  We have died to sin so there is no way that we can continue to live that way.  We have been united with Christ so we are no longer under sin, but we are under grace. Then “Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace?” (15) No. The reasons are given in verses 15 to 18.  That is because Christians have been set free from sin, and have become slaves of righteousness.

Here we are shown what kind of person a Christian is. A Christian is set free from sin and is a slave of God.　A Christian was originally a slave of sin, but he “wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching”.(17) This “form of teaching” is the Gospel. By the Gospel we are set “free from sin, and become slaves of righteousness”.(18)  A “slave of righteousness”(18) is a “slave of God”. (22) All men are born as slaves of sin. There is no one that is born as a slave of God. Also there is no one born that is in the middle, neither a slave of sin nor a slave of God. Everyone is a sinner, a slave of sin.  A slave of sin is brought before God by the redemption of God’s son, Jesus Christ on the cross.

Ephesians 2:1-5

I Cor. 6:20

We were bought by the price of Jesus on the cross.  Those who believe in Jesus Christ are God’s, they belong to God.

In this age people are not accepting of the word, slave.  A slave goes against his will, and even if he doesn’t want to is used to do anything. He is sold and bought.  To be set free from sin and to become a slave of God sounds like you are being restrained     by God with no freedom at all. At the time this letter was written there were 6,000,000 slaves in the Roman empire.  There were some who loved their masters and lived an abundant life, but a large portion of the slaves were used like working animals, and like working animals were marketed.   Especially those who worked at the bottom of the ship oaring all throughout the year had a very difficult time.  When they were tired and wanted to take a little break, they were whipped.  They didn’t have time to rest until the next shift took over and so they just had to keep oaring.  They always had to live in the dark bottom part of the ship.

However, what Paul is calling a “slave of God” is definitely not this kind of slave.  He is referring to a person who really lives in freedom.  That is because real freedom is in God.  Solomon who was arrayed with glory said, “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” ”What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun.” (Eccl. 1:2,3) Without God, for example, learning, pleasures, business, skills, everything is meaningless. These types of things give us a temporary joy, feeling of contentment, a feeling of blessedness, but it is nothing more than the empty joy of sin. Therefore, in this age there is no contentment. We work to have a life that is better. In that busyness we seek to have enjoyment through sake and movies and T.V., but we are not able to have real rest.  People seek after fads. They think they are living in the present and are content, but our hearts never find contentment in such things.  We will never find real freedom and peace, joy and contentment if we are separated from God and living a life separated from Christ. In Jesus Christ there is real rest. In Jesus Christ there is real freedom.

That is the freedom of being forgiven of sin, being set free from sin. Sin does not own us at all.   Who can accuse us?  Who can make us guilty of sin?  No one. God’s son, Jesus Christ, died for us.  He rose and now sits at the right hand of God and makes intercession for us. Through Christ we are set free from the penalty of sin and  the judgment of sin.  By the redemption of Christ on the cross all of our sin is gone.  And it is all forgotten. All of our sin has been washed away and we are cleansed by the blood of Jesus. It is just as if we had never sinned. That is what it means to be made righteous. There is nothing more agonizing than to be condemning yourself for your sins. Lots of people are struggling with a guilty conscious.  However, Jesus sets us free from the judgment of sin, our wounds of sins, from our guilty conscious of sin. But that’s not all.  We are also set free from the power of sin.

The Gospel has power.

Romans 1:16

We have been made God’s slave so we have been set free from the control of sin, and from being a slave in sin and have real freedom and peace, joy and contentment and live by God’s power and control.  At any time we can go before God, and freely pray and our prayer will be heard. When comfort in needed, comfort is given. When encouragement is need, encouragement is given.  When forgiveness is needed, forgiveness and cleansing is given, when leading is needed, we are led.  When endurance is needed, endurance is given.  When love is needed, we are given love. When wisdom is needed, we are given wisdom. Everything is given to us.  This is a wonderful privilege.

Exodus 21:5,6

The Israelites had a custom that after six years as a slave, the slave was to be set free. There were some slaves who felt the love of their master and chose not to be set free.  They were allowed to continue as a slave.  In that case they were brought to the door and had their ears pierced.  This was a sign that the slave had decided that he would be the master’s slave for life. The slave wanted to be a slave that much.  To be God’s slave is to be changed into such a wonderful position that we desire to be a slave to Him.

Galatians 6:17

“The marks” are the brand of your owner.  Paul was branded, “Jesus”. He is confessing that he was Jesus’.  He was owned by Jesus. We are the same.  We have been set free from sin, and are God’s slave.  By the cross of Jesus we have been atoned and redeemed and become a slave of righteousness.

II.              Living as a slave of God.

The second point is that we have been bought by God and are a slave of God so let’s live as a slave of God. Let’s look at verse 19.

Here Paul is saying that since we have been set free from being a slave of sin and have become a slave of righteousness, then we should use our body parts for God as His slave and live in holiness.

Here Paul uses the phrase “weak in your natural selves”.(19) This refers to people  who believe in Christ and are already saved, but their Spiritual understanding is weak.

Hebrews 5:12

This is the meaning of weak.  In other words, even though a person is a Christian, because he hasn’t matured spiritually, he has an inability to have spiritual understanding.  Therefore, Paul used the example of slaves that Christians are set free from sin, and are slaves to righteousness so that they could understand.  No one wants to be a slave. Even if the meaning of slave is different, we are set free from sin and are made righteous which is the same thing as being completely a slave of God.  Therefore as a slave of righteousness, as a slave of God, we need to live holy lives. “Parts of your body”(19) refers to all your heart and body. We need to give our all to God who loves us and gave his son Jesus Christ to die on the cross to redeem us. ”Leading to holiness”(19)  means the same. This does not mean that we don’t sin. It means sanctification. It means making holiness your goal and live striving to be holy.  A person who knows the Gospel does not want to live in sin. Even a person that sins over and over again, even so he wants to live a life that is pleasing to God and live in holiness.  He continues on the road “leading to holiness” (19)

II Cor. 5:14,15

Christ’s love surrounds us.  Christ died for all men “that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who dies for them and was raised again.” (II Cor. 5:15) When we realize this love of Christ we want to give our all and live for Him. It is only natural.

III.            Death or eternal life (vs.20-23)

The third point is the result. Let’s look at verses 20 to 23.

These verses record the fate of two kinds of people: those who don’t have faith and those who have faith and live as God’s slave. Generally, the people in this world do not know the big difference between the fate of these two types of people.  It is more important than the differences in nationalities or differences in gender, or any other of the societal differences. By it our eternity is decided.  Those who are in sin, who die in sin will go to eternal death. This isn’t just a physical death, but a spiritual death.  In Revelations it is called “the second death” (20:14)  They are eternally separated from the source of blessings, God.

The slaves of God receive “eternal life”.  Eternally they continue in the blessings of God. Our life isn’t just on this earth.  Even though our physical body perishes, our soul lives on eternally.  Where are you going to spend your second life? With God and with God’s blessings or separated from God under His curse?

Vs. 23

Even if you search every where in this world, there is no eternal life to be found. Eternal life is to be found only in Jesus Christ.  There is no other name by which we can be saved. After such a huge earthquake disaster and the problems at the nuclear plant, many people in this country are full of uncertainties and confusion, but the hope of life is in Jesus Christ.

II Cor. 6:2

We need to make Jesus’ heart our heart and Jesus’ thoughts our thoughts and so that Christ’s name is spread throughout the country, preach the Gospel.  We need to give our whole life to the Lord.  This is how we should respond to Christ who loves us and died for us and rose again.  Our life as God’s slave is really full of fruit. When we go to heaven full of joy and strength and rewards we will receive a wonderful crown from God.

             In chapter 1-5 Paul talked about becoming righteous by a faith that believes in Jesus Christ.  In other words, all people are sinners and fall short of the glory of God.  It is only by the grace of God, by a faith that believes in Jesus Christ, that we are made righteous.  However, from today on we begin a new theme.  It is how those who by faith have been made righteous should live.  In other words, it is about sanctification. Today let’s look at three aspects of this.

I.                Should we go on sinning so that grace may increase? (vs.1,2)

The last half of Romans 5 Paul talked about how God’s grace is so much greater than sin. In today’s passage Paul introduces a big misunderstanding.  That is if when sin increases, then grace overflows, shouldn’t we continue sinning? That came from a misunderstanding of what Paul said in 5:20. In 5:20 Paul said, “The law was added so that the trespass might increase.  But where sin increased, grace increased all the more.” There were some people who thought that so grace would overflow, that they should go on sinning.  This is a terrible misunderstanding.  This isn’t what Paul wanted to say.  He wanted to say that there was no sin that was too great that grace could not be victorious over it.  Grace is greater than the power of sin.  No matter how great our sin or how deeply we are rooted in it, and even if others break their relationship with us because of it, the grace of God is bigger than that.  There is no sin that God’s grace can’t forgive us of because of the atonement of the cross.  For example, even if we killed someone, or something that humanly would be considered unforgivable, God can forgive us.  God’s grace is that huge.  The grace of the cross is larger than any sin. No matter how huge a sin that we are being controlled by, the river of God’s grace pushes it out, and everything will change easily.

Even so, the people twisted what Paul said.  They interpreted what he said to their own benefit.  Even today there are people like them who misunderstand and use the Word of God wrongly. They use the Gospel, the grace of God as a seed for argument.  They say ridiculous things like verse 1 “Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?”   When there is a lot of sin, grace increases so in order to have a lot of grace, let’s do a lot of bad things.　That was a big misunderstanding. This misunderstanding came from missing the main points of what the Bible is saying.

This was the problem of the people who insisted that they should go on sinning so that grace would increase.  They didn’t understand at all what Paul was saying about the greatness of God’s grace.  They used the Word of God wrongly for their own benefit. Against these people’s assertion Paul answered, “By no means!” (2) This is a definite no. It is strange to think that in order to increase God’s grace, we should continue sinning.  This is wrong.

II.              Christians have by united with Christ (vs.2-11)

Next let’s look why that way of thinking is wrong.  Let’s look at verse 2.

“We died to sin” in verse 2 is explained in verses 3 and 4. These verses explain when and how Christians died to sin. As we fell into sin and became subject to death in father Adam, so we have now died and been raised again with Christ.  This is what baptism symbolizes. 

Here it says, “Or don’t you know?” (3)  This means this is something they should know, something that is common sense for all Christians.  To say that to increase God’s grace, we should continue sinning means that they didn’t understand the common knowledge of Christians. The common knowledge is what a Christian is.  In other words it’s a problem of Christian identity.  Then what Paul is saying is a Christian is a person that is united with Christ.  Christians are one with Christ.  They have the same way of thinking, walk the same path, and live by the same principles as Jesus. This is what is meant by “into Christ” (3) “with him” (4,6,8) “united with him” (5). These phrases are repeated 6 times in verses 3 to 8.   Another way of saying it is that we are a little Christ.  We are united with Christ and are one with Him and therefore are the same as Him. We will experience the same things. We too experience the cross and resurrection. Let’s look at verses 6 and 7.

“We died to sin.” (2) means that we have been united with Christ  and like Christ experience the death of the cross.  Jesus said, “if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Matt. 16:24)  “our old self was crucified with him” (6) Our old self has been put to death. Our old self had been made powerless so that it can no longer enslave us to sin.  The believer’s death with Christ is a death to sin’s ruling power.  We are “freed from sin.” (7) This does not mean that we are sinless, but that we are set free from sin’s power. Therefore, “we should no longer be slaves to sin.” (6) because “we have been united with him like this in his death.” (5)   Not only that but we have been resurrected with Christ and we live with him.  This is because we have been united with Christ.  Let’s look at verses 8 to 10.

If we have died with Christ, we will live with Christ.  As the resurrection followed death in the experience of Christ, so the believer who dies with Christ is raised to a new quality of life here and now.  If we live by the power of Christ, then sin can not control us. Christ broke the power of death and had victory over it. The grace He pours out is greater than our sin. In our own power we can not have victory over sin.　Even if we try to stop, and try to stop, we can’t. The power of sin is that strong.

However, Christ who rose from death, can have complete victory over the power of sin.  Now, Christians have been given that power through the Holy Spirit.

Acts 1:8

Before Jesus was put on the cross, Jesus prayed for his disciples. “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-the Spirit of truth.  The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows.  But you know him, for he lives in you and will be in you.”  (John14-16)

This “Counselor” is the Holy Spirit.  Through the Holy Spirit, Christ is always with us and helps us.  Therefore, Christians that know that the Holy Spirit is within them, even if they fall to temptation, they always can be victorious.  The Holy Spirit is more powerful than sin. Even those who are struggling because they want to stop a sin in their life, they don’t want to do what they are doing will be set free.

II Cor. 5:17

We are made new in Christ.  Our new creation is not our old self which is bound in sin, but is united in Christ, one with Christ and is a new person that lives by the power of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit.  The old self no longer controls him.  By the Holy Spirit we can live a victorious life.

III.            Alive to God in Christ (11-14)

The third point is to be alive to God in Christ.  Let’s look at verses 11-14.

              In Romans this is the first time that there is an application.  Up until now Paul continued to talk about the doctrine of being saved by faith.  Here a concrete, practical application is given.  That is “Count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ.” (11)  The important thing is “Count yourselves” This is the first step toward victory over sin in the life of believers.   It means to be strongly conscious. That is because there is Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection.  We are united to Christ. Therefore, we should be strongly conscious of the fact that we are dead to sin and alive to God.  This is not based upon our thoughts or emotions.  It doesn’t matter what we think or our emotions are. What is important is that the Bible promises so.  We have to follow it.  This is faith. This is what it means to be strongly conscious. We need to be strongly conscious that we were dead to sin, but now we aren’t.  Now we are with Christ.

Col. 1:13

We are no longer under the law. Sin and death do no longer control us.  We are set free from the fear of death.

            When we realize that we are really free then sin will not make us slaves again.  But being united with Christ, we are now under the control of Christ. This is what is meant by “Count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ.” (11)

              This does not mean that Christians never sin again.  We are weak in the flesh so we sin.  However, we should “not let sin reign.” (12)  This is a call for Christians to become in practice what they already are in their status before God-dead to sin and alive to God.  The second step toward victory over sin is refusal to let sin reign in one’s life.  When we sin, we need to daily repent, and start out a new walk with Christ.

              We need to understand this well, and by the grace of God we need to live with Christ.  Here is says, “Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.” (13) 

              The third step is to have victory over sin is to offer ourselves to God.  Each of us to the best we know how, need to be separated from sin, and give our all to God by desiring a life of purity in our actions, attitudes and habits of faith. We should never make a mistake and think that so that grace will abound, that we should go on sinning.  Even if we live as a wonderful Christian within the church, when we go home, we have no love, we don’t think of others, are self centered, we think only of ourselves and live only for ourselves. Aren’t we living such a life? However, because we are dead to sin and alive to God, we are by faith to live in the light of this truth.

Ga. 5:24

Let’s live as a person who has nailed his self-centered old self on the cross and is walking in a new life.  Then we will have the fruit listed in the previous verse, verse 23. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.” Gal. 5:23 In this time of uncertainty and confusion brought by the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear plant, we need to live with Christ.

              Paul tells us in Romans that “all men have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” (3:23) It is only by God’s grace, by a faith of believing in Jesus Christ, that we are accepted as righteous.  In chapter 5 we are told what happens after a person is saved from his sins.  In other words, “since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1) Not only that but we will be able to “rejoice in our sufferings.” (3)  That’s because “suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.  And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” (5)

              Today’s passage is a summary of all that Paul has said up until now.  Verse 12 starts out with “Therefore” which means that what Paul has said up until now on is based upon what he has already said about man being born in sin, and that man is to be destroyed because of the wrath of God upon man’s sins.  However, by the abundant grace of God, He prepared a way of salvation by His Son, Jesus Christ.  By believing in His Son, we are made righteous.  Today’s passage tells us how great God’s grace is.  Today let’s look at three aspects of God’s grace.

I.                By one man death came to all men. (vs. 12-14)

First let’s look at the greatness of Adam’s sin.  Let’s look at verses 12-14.

This tells us about the great effect Adam’s sin had on all mankind.  By the sin of one man, Adam, sin came into the world, and because of the sin, “death came to all men.” (12)  It became a problem for all mankind.  Adam is a representative of all mankind.  Because Adam sinned, we, all mankind, sin.  This is the original sin.  The Bible teaches over and over again that because Adam sinned, sin came into the entire world, and it spread to all men.  This is expressed five times in verses 15-19 as “many died by the trespass of the one man.” (15)  Adam’s sin is related to each of our individual’s sin.  Another way of saying it is because of Adam, all men sin.  The Bible says that we have sinned from the time we are in our mother’s womb.

A large part of our situation or environment has nothing to do with our will, but was given to us.  For example, we aren’t Japanese because we wanted to be, but from the time we were born we are Japanese.  We aren’t born in a rich family or a poor family because we chose to be, it is just where we were born.  Such situations or environment was not decided by us.  It just happened that way.  In the same way, we didn’t choose to be born with sin. We were just born that way. This is the meaning of verse 12.  When the first man Adam sinned by not obeying God, all of man became fallen and sin entered all men.  All of men have the same fate as Adam.

If Japan won the world cup, we’d all be yelling, “We won!” even though we didn’t play in the games.  That is because the eleven men who played represent Japan.  Their victory is all of Japan’s victory.  In the same way Adam represents all of mankind.  His sin is all of our sin.

In the spiritual realm it is important to understand this concept of represenativeness. On one side of the coin is that by one man’s sin all men die.  On the other side is that by one man’s obedience, all men can be saved.  Therefore, the representative of man is very important.  When we look at Israel’s history, Israel was blessed the most when she had outstanding leaders.  In other words, when leaders like David who honored God and followed God were kings, then the condition of the country became good.  However, when the King didn’t follow God’s will, the condition of the country became bad.

This can be said about all of history too.  This can be said about the family too.  When the head of the family stands on the Word of God, prays, and spiritually stands straight, then that family is full of God’s grace, but when the leader is not, the family tends to fall apart.  The Church is the same.  When the Pastor stands up straight in front of God, prays, follows God’s word, and faithfully serves the Church, and then the church is blessed.  But if not the church is not blessed.  The key is the Pastor.  This is true of the leaders in a company, leaders in the community, leaders of the nation, and leaders of all institutions of society.  The leader determines whether something stands or falls.  Therefore, we need to pray for our leaders.  Please pray for me.

The first man, Adam, was the representative of all mankind.  Adam sinned so “sin entered the world”. (12) There is no exception. We all have the original sin within us, so even if we are not committing some huge sin, we are all sinners and should die.

II.              How much more is God’s grace than sin (vs.14-21)

God had mercy on such man.  This is the grace of Jesus Christ.  Let’s look at verse 14.  Here it says, “Adam, who is a pattern of one to come.” “One to come” (14) refers to Jesus Christ.  Here Paul is explaining the greatness of God’s grace by using the image of Christ as the second Adam and comparing Christ and Adam.  In other words, just as through the sin of Adam all mankind fell into sin, through Jesus Christ salvation was made possible to all mankind.  Through the second Adam, Jesus Christ, all that believe in Him are saved.

However, there is a huge difference between the first and second Adam. The difference is that the grace of the second Adam, Jesus Christ is overflowing.  Look at verses 15 to 17.

Here Paul stresses that the grace of Jesus Christ is overflowing.

Vs. 15    “How much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many.”  

Vs. 17 “How much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift righteousness.”

Vs. 20    “grace increased all the more”

                            This shows that compared with Adam, God’s grace is so much bigger.  That can be seen in the words, “How much more”. (15, 17)

                            “Many died” (15) by the sin of Adam, but “How much more did God’s grace and gift that came by the grace of one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to many.” (17) Also “if by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.  It is like light.  When light shines, the dark is set free.  No matter how much control death has, if you believe in Jesus Christ, the darkness will disappear.  That is because after 3 days Jesus rose from the grave and now lives.  “How much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.” (17)  “How much more” is used when describing the greatness of salvation.  It was used in verses 8 and 10 too.  Isn’t this wonderful!  By our sins we were enemies with God, but by the blood of Jesus we have been made righteous.  “We were reconciled to him” (10) and saved through his life and can boldly come before God.  God’s grace is greater than this.  Also here it tells us that the first man, Adam, committed only “one sin and brought condemnation” (16) to all men.  But God’s Son, Jesus Christ, by the work of the cross, washed and purified not only Adam’s sin or the original sin, but all the daily sins that we commit, and saves us from all our sins.  How huge a grace!  All of our sins are put on the cross of Jesus.  Christ died in our place.  He was our atonement.  As a result not only our past sins, but our present sins and the future sins that we may commit are forgiven.  This is the difference between “one sin” and “many trespasses” in verse 16.  God’s grace is that huge!  “How much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many.” (15)  Overflowing is one characteristic of God’s grace.

              Ephesians 1:7

              Ephesians 3:20

              God’s grace is bigger than we can ever imagine!

              Psalms 23:5, 6

                            In John 2 at the marriage feast at Cana, Jesus turned about 100 liters of water into wine.  It was not just wine, but the best tasting wine.

                            Also in John 6 Jesus fed a crowd of 5,000 men plus women and children with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish until they were full.  There were even 12 baskets of leftovers.  This is God’s grace.  God’s grace is huge.  It’s overflowing.

III.            The gift that came by the grace of Jesus Christ (vs. 15-21)

The third point is to believe in Jesus Christ.  Look at verses 15 to 21 one more time.  Here Paul is comparing the second Adam, Jesus, with the first Adam.  He tells us about the greatness of God’s grace and at the same time how we can receive this grace.  That is by believing in Jesus Christ.  In the case of Adam, because Adam sinned, sin entered all humans automatically.  God’s gift of grace through Jesus Christ is not automatic.  God’s grace is for al people, but is not automatic like Adam’s.  We have to receive it.  It’s by faith.  That’s what is meant by “gift”. (15)  It is a gift from God.  No matter how wonderful a present there is we have to receive it in order to have it as our own.  God’s gift of grace is the same.  It is for all people, but to make it your own, you have to receive it.  In other words, Adam was our representative so his sin automatically became a part of all mankind.  However, the gift from Jesus is received by believing in Him.

John 1:12

Those who accept and believe in Christ become the children of God.  A person can be saved only by the cross.  There is no other way.  It is by the grace of God, a gift from God.  All we have to do is believe.  Those who believe are saved.  However, those who do not believe are condemned as sinners.  That is because they did not believe in or accept God’s present.

When the Israelites were in the desert, they were bit by poisonous snakes.  God told Moses to make a snake and put it on a pole.  Those who were bitten were to look at the snake on the pole and they were saved.  That was a very easy thing to do.  All they had to do was to look up.  There was nothing difficult to do, just look at the snake and they were saved.

Also God told Noah to make an ark and go into the ark. To go inside the ark was an easy thing.  There was nothing difficult about it.

Even so a lot of people don’t do such easy things.  Man thinks that you can’t be saved so easily and makes it more difficult.  Therefore, people tend to choose religions that make salvation a difficult thing to obtain.  However, salvation is not difficult.  You only need to accept the gift of God’s grace.

Can you make Jesus Christ the Lord of your life? Do you believe that Jesus Christ can lead you to heaven?  Neither our affluence, success, nor possessions can lead us to heaven.  There is nothing we can do to be saved.  We can only believe.  It is only by believing in Jesus Christ who died on the cross for our sins and three day later rose again and completed the work of salvation that we can be saved.  There is nothing less.  There is nothing more.  We can enter heaven only by the grace of God.

John 3:16

Please believe in and receive Jesus Christ, God’s gift of grace.  Then you will be able to say too, “My cup overflows.  The grace that God pours out upon me is so huge!”

Paul’s theme is that man is made righteous by faith.  In other words, man is set free from sin and evil by believing in the blood of Jesus Christ.  This is the theme of the whole book of Romans.  Today’s theme is what happens after a person believes in Jesus Christ and is saved.

I.                Peace with God (vs. 1,2)

First let’s look at verses 1 and 2.  Until now Paul has said that man is made righteous by faith.  In chapter 5 Paul tells us what the result of man becoming righteous by faith, in our life what fruit it will bear.  Here it says, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1)  By believing in Jesus Christ we are able to have peace which we didn’t have at all up until the time we believed.  Another way of saying it is like verse 10,  “We were God’s enemies.”  However, God’s only son, Christ, to pray the price for our sins died on the cross so that he removed the enmity between God and us and reconciled us to God.

What happens if we continue in a relationship as enemies?  If you think about it on a human level it is easy to understand.  For example, when there is a crack in the relationship of a couple, both of them irritant and there is no peace and it leads to divorce. When there is no peace in the family it is like hell. That’s because the home is supposed to be a place where you can experience refuge and peace, but that peace has disappeared.  If there is no peace within the relationships of the national government, then war occurs and causes confusion throughout the world.  In the work place, the greatest problem that occurs is not the amount of salary, but troubles in human relationships. This is a very difficult situation.   It takes a lot of endurance to have to work everyday with a person who you can’t stand to see his face. The same is in the church.  When there is no peace in the church then grace and strength disappears, and conflict is never ending.  Peace is the most important ingredient needed for man to live. It is God who gives peace.   Peace with God is the base of all relationships of society and from it peace is born.  Peace with God comes from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Up until man’s relationship with God was as it says in verse 10 was a relationship as “enemies”. There was no peace between ourselves and God.  In other words, it was an attitude of antagonism toward God.   If such a person came before God, he would have to die. That’s why in the Old Testament, there was a high priest because man couldn’t go before God.  The only way that a person could come close to God was once a year when the high priest would go into the Holy of Holies and sprinkle the blood of an unblemished lamb upon the ark of the covenant.    By pouring out the blood of the lamb the wrath of the Lord was appeased.  When the High priest did this, he wore two things when he went into the Holy of Holies.  One thing was a rope that was tied to his waist and the second were bells handing from the hem of his clothes. They did this because the High priest that entered into the Holy of Holies could not go before Holy God and there were some people who died.  To go before Holy God was to put your life on the line. Therefore, if the people could not hear the bell, then they would know that the High priest had died. No one could go inside so they could pull on the rope and pull him out. This rope and bell was a symbol of how fearful it is for sinful man who is antagonistic towards God to go before God. 

However, by the blood of Jesus Christ, we are given peace with God.  We can boldly come before God.

Hebrews 10:19

By Jesus dyeing on the cross, we are set free from this type of fear and can go boldly before God.  We can see this in by the fact that when Jesus was put on the cross, the curtain of the temple was torn in half.

Matt. 27:51

Up until now the wall that was between God and us was completely removed  By the blood of Jesus we can boldly enter the Holy of Holies and go before God.

Paul says about this event, “Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.  And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” (1,2)  “This grace in which we now stand” means that we can without fear boldly go before God.  God who up until now was only an object of fear, is now our Father whom we can run to be with and can boldly come before.  “Gained access” means to go near.  It also means to be led and introduced.  It means that Jesus takes the hand of us who as a result of our sins, our relationship with the Holy God was broken and leads and introduces us and brings us near to our God, the Father. The way that this is done is by us believing in our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ that he died for us on the cross.

Such amazing grace!  By Jesus, “we have gained access by faith into this grace.” (2)  It is not because of something that we have done.  There is nothing that we have done, it is only by faith that this way was opened. As a result we now can boldly by the name of Jesus Christ go before God and pray.

II.              Rejoice in our sufferings (vs. 3-5)

Not only did it become possible for us to have peace with God, but we can also rejoice in our sufferings.  Let’s look at verses 3 to 5.

A big difference between Christianity and other religions, between new religions that are considered to be self profit religions is that in general other religions see sufferings and troubles as evil and look for ways of escape from them.  However, in Christianity this is not necessarily so.  In Christianity suffering and troubles are not necessarily seen as evil.  They are seen as things that should be welcomed.  Here we are told to “rejoice in our sufferings”. (3)  The reason is “that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us” (3-5) The believer’s hope is the blessed assurance of our future destiny.  Heaven in promised to those who believe in Jesus Christ.  

This hope is brought about by suffering.  “Suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us.” (3-5) Therefore we can rejoice in suffering.  If we can we want to avoid trouble.  However if troubles cause us to grow and lead us to heaven, then we should rejoice.  Therefore, James said, “Consider it pure joy, my brother, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:2-4)

“Character” means “Finished the test”. It is like when a factory makes a knife.  It is put through fire and hammered and put in fire and stretched. This is repeated over and over again.  Through sufferings God produces character within us.

In the Bible there are many saints that experienced sufferings. One of such people was Jacob in the Old Testament. When he was born he was grasping his brother’s heel. During his lifetime he deceived many people for his own profit. God caused him to suffer over and over.   He deceived his father and brother and had to leave his home.  He worked for his uncle and next his uncle deceived him.  He suffered over and over.  As a result of such troubles in his life, he searched for God, and spiritually was made into good character.  On his way back from Laban he wrestled with God for a whole night and God put out his hip.  Through such an experience he was made into Israel, in other words, he realized that victory is in God.

Jacob suffered and persevered. For Jacob Rachel’s, whom he dearly loved, death was a very knocking down experience, but he continued to have hope.  This is what a person who has experienced God working in his life is like.

Psalm 119:71

The Gospel is strength.  Man’s real strength comes from the Gospel, from the Word of God.   The ability to rejoice in our sufferings is the real strength.  Those who believe in Christ have been given this strength.

III.            God has poured out his love (vs. 5-11)

The third point is the reason that hope does not disappoint us.  That is “because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” (5)   This verse tells us how we can control our emotions when we are suffering.  It is “because God has poured out his love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit” (5) that we are able to have joy in the midst of suffering. When “God has poured out his love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit” (5) we are able to be full of peace and joy and hope.  No matter what king of suffering comes our way, we are able to rejoice. 

Vs.6-8

Here Paul is telling us about the greatness of God’s love which can be seen in that God poured his love out on those who weren’t worthy. Paul uses 3 words to describe those who aren’t worthy. One is “when we were still powerless”(6).  Another is “ungodly”. (6) Another one is “sinners”. (8)  “powerless” (6) means not having power.  In other words it is the condition of having no spiritual strength. For example, Paul said to the Ephesians, “You were dead in your transgressions and sins.” (Ephesians 2:1) They were powerless in this way.  They were powerless spiritually.  They tried to cover it by putting up a front.

“Ungodly” (6) refers to those who do not worship God.  When God made man, God made him in God’s image. However when man sinned he lost this spiritual side.  As we saw in chapter 1, man didn’t worship God as God, they weren’t thankful, and “their foolish hearts were darkened.” (1:21)   The “ungodly” are like this.

  ”Sinners” originally meant those who miss the mark. Man missed the mark of what God made him to be and did what he was not to do.  He began living the way he wanted to.  This is what a sinner is like.

“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men.” (1:18) but Jesus died for such men and thus showed his love for man.  God hates sin, but at the same time he loves sinners.  No matter how deep a sinner, God loves him.  This can be seen in the fact that God gave his only son. “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (6-8) 

Man respects righteous people.  However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that someone is willing to die for such a person, but someone might be willing to die for an outstanding person. However, it is unlikely that someone would die for an unrighteous, sinner. But there was someone, God’s son, Jesus Christ. Christ’s love never changes.  This unchanging love is now being poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.  God’s love never changes.  Therefore, Paul said, “Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!  For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!  Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” (9-11) 

We who have already been made righteous by Jesus Christ, “how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! “. (9)  We who were the enemies with God, by the death of the Son we have been reconciled with God, “how much more having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” (10) That is “because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.” (5)  That is how much we are loved.  We can rejoice in the Lord.

Sometimes we get discouraged, but in reality we have a huge power.  We who have already been made righteous by Jesus Christ have been reconciled to God, “Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (11) This is “because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.” (5) This love gives us life.

This love is the most necessary thing that is needed for this country as it moves to recovery after this huge earthquake.  “And hope does not disappoint us.” (5)  May we take this hope and one step at a time and rebuild this country.  

Today let’s look at Abraham’s faith.  Up until now Paul has talked about the sin of the Gentiles and of the Jews and that all people are sinners before God and “fall short of the glory of God.” (3:23) before God there is no one who can be proud.  People try all sorts of things to save themselves, but nothing is able to solve the problem of sin。 By the strength of man you are never able to come before God. As a result mankind is left with only discouragement and depression.  However, God by His abundant grace prepared a way for man to be saved. “But now a righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.” (3:21)       God promised that by believing in the cross of Jesus Christ that man can be saved.

              To be made righteous by faith is called justification by faith.  In other words, by faith a person is made righteous, and he is saved.  However, mankind says that they can’t understand that and doesn’t seem to be able to believe.  It seems like it isn’t right for a person to be saved for free. Man isn’t used to things being for free.  Man feels more comfortable working hard for something.

              However, the Bible teaches that it is only by the grace of God, only by faith that a person is saved.  An example of this is Abraham.  When Paul said that “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (23, 24) some of the Jews said that he was wrong and that Abraham was justified by his works.  Therefore, Paul gives the example of Abraham and shows that salvation is just by 1 means, in other words, it is only by faith in Jesus Christ. Today let’s look at 3 aspects of this.

I.             Abraham who believed in God (vs. 1-16)

First of all, Abraham was considered righteous because he believed in God, not because of works. First let’s look at the first 3 verses. 

Here Paul is telling us about how our forefather, Abraham was.   That is because Abraham was considered to be the originator of the Jewish people.  The question is when was Abraham considered to be righteous.  That is because “If in fact, Abraham was justified in works, he has something to boast about.”(2)  However, that is not so. The Bible says,” “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” (3)  These words are recorded in Genesis 15:6.  At this time Abraham had lived in Canaan for 15 years are was 90 years old, but he still had no children.  God had promised in 12:3 “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”  But still he had no children.  His wife Sarah had already turned 80 so he must have wondered what that promise meant.   One night when Abraham was discouraged, God took him outside and said, “Look up at the heavens and count the starts…so shall your offspring be.” (Genesis 15:5)   No matter how you think about it, humanly speaking that was impossible.  Even so Abraham believed these words.  “Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6)   In other words, Abraham’s faith moved God’s heart, and by that faith, Abraham was considered by God to be righteous. 

The Jews when they heard that salvation was by faith became very objective.  That was because they thought that Abraham was considered to be righteous because of his works.  When God said to be circumcised, he was circumcised.  When God said to take Isaac to Mt. Moab and sacrifice him, Abraham seriously was going to slaughter him. Therefore, the Jews thought that since he did these things, God considered him as righteous.  They believed that Abraham was considered righteous because of his obedience.  Towards such thinking, Paul says, “But what does the Scripture say?” (3)  Paul said to look at the order in the Bible.  Abraham was circumcised in Genesis chapter 17 and sacrificed Isaac in chapter 22.  In other words, this was after he was credited as righteous. “Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6) The proof of this is that he was circumcised and that he sacrificed Isaac.  Therefore, Abraham was not saved by works, but was saved by faith.  As a result the works of faith were born.  This order is very important.  In both the Old Testament and the New Testament, the basis of salvation is the same. That is that you are saved by faith.

The example of David you can say the same thing.  Let’s look at verses 6 to 8.  “David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: ‘Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.’” (6, 7) King David was representative of the Old Testament, who it was prophesized would be the ancestor of the Messiah so he was an extremely important figure.  This David here is confessing the blessedness of having his sin forgiven.   This is referring to the sin that he committed with Bathsheba that he struggled with and he realized that he could not hide his sin from God.    This passage shares what he experienced when he confessed his sin before God. His sin was forgiven not because he did something good or did something in compensation for what he had done wrong, but because he realized and confessed his sin before God. Then God forgave his sin, and considered him righteous.   Just repent, and depend on the grace of God.  In other words, David also “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” (3)

The conclusion is verse 16. “Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring-not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham.  He is the father of us all.” In other words, it is guaranteed for not only those who are under the law, but for those who have faith like Abraham. “As it is written: ‘I have made you a father of many nations.’” (17) Abraham is the father of all. Therefore, we are his offspring by faith.  This is by faith that is guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring. 

We need to only believe and we will be saved.  That is because salvation is from the one way grace of God.  Any one can receive it. When Israel was in the desert they complained.  God became angry and sent poisonous snakes that bit them.  Many people were bitten by the snakes and died.  God told them to only put up a snake on a pole. They need to look only at the snake and they are healed.  This was something that anyone can do. And whoever has faith and looks at the snake was saved. This is faith. It is by this faith people are recognized as righteous.  Only believe in God.  There is no other way.

II.           The faith of Abraham (vs.17-22)

Next let’s look at what kind of faith Abram had.  Here Abraham’s faith is described. The God that Abraham believed in “gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.” (17)  Abraham believed that God can do anything, that He is all powerful.

Our faith depends upon what we believe about God.  Those who believe in a dead god, their faith is also dead.  Those who believe in a living God, see the work of the living God.  If you believe that God can do anything, then you have no reason to be depressed.  If God is with you, then anything is possible.  We tend to make God smaller than He is.  We put God into our little boxes of thinking.  This comes from not recognizing God as all powerful.

Sometimes we think that something this too difficult for God. However, nothing is impossible for God. 

Col. 1:16

There is nothing that Christ can’t do.

Therefore, we need to believe that there is nothing that God can’t do.  It is necessary that we always boldly move forward.  We need to believe in the all powerful God and move forward. In verse 18 it says, “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed.” He was 100 years old and “his body was as good as dead” (19) and “Sarah’s womb was also dead.”(19), but his faith was not weakened.  “Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” (20, 21)

In Luke 5 Peter who had fished all night and hadn’t caught even one fish, was told by Jesus to go out into deeper waters and put down his nets.  Jesus’ words didn’t make sense by human common sense. First of all this wasn’t time for putting out the nets.  Secondly, that was the wrong place to put out the nets.  Fish were usually in the shallow water not the deep.  Thirdly, this is the time that they should be putting away their nets.  Fourthly he was not in the position to take advice from Jesus.  Peter was a professional fisherman.  Why should he take advice from a carpenter like Jesus? However, Peter did what Jesus said, and the nets became so full that they started to break.

This is faith. “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1)  It is to believe that what God says will surely happen.  Abraham believed. He believed with certainty that what God promised would happen.  Even when it did not agree with his emotions or thinking, he still believed.  Even though he had become 100 years old and “his body was as good as dead” (19) and “Sarah’s womb was also dead.”(19), but his faith wasn’t weakened. This kind of faith is necessary. Abraham “did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” (20, 21)

We need to just believe and follow. Even if it doesn’t agree with our thinking or not we should follow. We need to a people that believe in God and follow Him.  Abraham had such a faith.

III.         A faith that believes in Jesus Christ.  (vs. 23-25)

Thirdly, Abraham’s faith was a faith that believes in Jesus Christ.  Let’s look at verses 23 to 25.  Abraham’s faith was a faith that God would fulfill what he promised.  At the same time it was a faith that believed in the promises of Jesus Christ.  “The words “it was credited to him as righteousness” were written not for him alone but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness.”(23,24)  We are saved by having a faith that believes in God in “the God who gives life to the dead.” (17). In other words he believed in Christ, the risen Lord. A faith in the cross and resurrection.  This means to be considered as righteous, we need such a consistent faith.

I Cor. 15:1-5

The Gospel by which we are saved is the cross and resurrection.  With out the cross and resurrection, it would be impossible to be saved.  We are saved through the Gospel.  There is no other way.  That is because Christ died on the cross for our sins; Abraham had this kind of faith.  Abraham was before Jesus was born. Therefore the teaching that we are saved by Christ, existed from the beginning when man fell into sin. It became clear when Jesus was born.

Romans 3:23, 24

Jesus Christ is salvation.  There is no other name by which we can be saved. We believe that God raised Jesus from the dead.  By believing in him, we are saved.  And we are designated as righteous.  This is Abraham’s faith. This is Paul’s faith. This is the faith that we need to be saved.  We need to believe in Jesus Christ who loves us and saves and by the grace of God live in faithfulness and thankfulness. You are saved by grace, by faith. 

              One problem that humans must face when dealing with eternal life is how man can be saved.  In this case when we say saved, we don’t mean saved from poverty, or sickness, or troubles in human relationships, but the root of all of these problems, salvation from sin.  Ever since the first man, Adam sinned, humans have been under sin, controlled by the power of sin.  In the Bible, sin isn’t just an abstract noun. It is considered to be a power. Paul says in Romans 7:23 that he is a prisoner of sin. He is chained to sin and pulled like slave. We are the same.  How can we be set free from the power of sin?  Today let’s look at three aspects of the way of salvation from sin. 

I.                All people are sinners (vs. 9-20)

First let’s look at the fact that all people are sinners.  First please look at verse 9. From chapter 3 verse 1 Paul talks about the advantages of being a Jew. The Jews and the Greeks will both be judged for their actions. However, being is Jew is an advantage because “they have been entrusted with the very words of God.” (2)  There is no other people on the earth like this.  Only the Jews “have been entrusted with the very words of God.” (2) That is the greatest of all blessings on this earth.  Therefore, the Jews have a great advantage above all other peoples. However, they didn’t understand the purpose for which they were given the Word of God.  They had been entrusted with the very words of God” (2) so that they could live by the Word of God and so that they could spread it.  Instead they were proud of their position and they developed a superiority complex.  Therefore, Paul asks, “What shall we conclude then?  Are we any better?” (9) He disagrees and states, “Not at all!” (9) He then states his conclusions to all that he has said from 1:18 about the Gentile’s sin and the Jew’s sin.  In other words, “that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin.” (9)   There is no one who is without exception.  Of all the people who have lived on this earth the only person who has never committed sin is Jesus Christ.   Christ who through the power of the Holy Spirit was born as “the Son of God” (Luke 1:35) so He never ever sinned.  However, except for Jesus Christ all people, both the Greeks and the Jews all are under the power of sin.  Paul points this out from the Old Testament in verses 10-18.

“There is no one righteous, not even one;” (10)

“There is no one who understands,” (11)

“All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (12)

When they open their mouth they say things that are like “the poison of vipers” (13) and it kills the other person. 

They are full of “deceit” (13) , “cursing and bitterness.” (14)  This is what man is like. The reason why man does and says such terrible things is because man has sin. Because man sinned, he became a sinner.  He is a sinner and so he sins.  David said, “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” (Psalm 51:5)

David says that he was sinful from the time his mother conceived him, and he was born a sinner, so he lived a life of sin.  We sometimes wonder why a person became like he is, but in reality that person is no exception.  We too have the possibility of becoming like that person because “there is no one righteous, not even one;” (10) “All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (12)

There are some people who complain that they don’t want to go to church because the church is always talking about sin.  They have a strong feeling of resistance towards the word “sin”. That is probably because when they thing of sinners, they think of “criminals”.  They think if that they are not such bad people.  However, if those who do not follow the rules of society are considered “sinners”, then how much more so should mankind who does not follow the law of God be considered so.

The word “sin” in Greek originally meant missing the mark. Man who was made by God to worship God and to live for the Glory of God, became separated from God and began living selfishly. It’s the very same thing as missing the mark.  “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (3:23)   Salvation in the Bible does not mean just living by moving forward and thinking positively about our sin.  Salvation of sin by being set free from sin gives us joy and peace in our hearts.

II.              Righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ  (vs. 21-26)

Our hope is Jesus Christ.  By the law, no one is righteous before God. “But now a righteousness apart from the law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.” (21) This is Jesus Christ.  Please look at verses 21 to 24.

Here it says, “a righteousness apart from the law,” (21)  This does not mean that the Old Testament was a different salvation .  It means apart from keeping the law.  This is why is says that both “the Law and the Prophets testify.” (21) This is the salvation that is testified throughout the Old Testament.  “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.” (22)   As you know in the Old Testament Jesus Christ hasn’t appeared yet. Jesus Christ wasn’t born yet, but the prophets continued to prophesize about Jesus’ birth, and that believing in Him that you would be saved.

For example, in Genesis 3:15 it says, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring, and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” These are the words that God spoke to Satan after the snake, Satan, tempted first man, Adam.  Here God is saying that the snake will crawl on his belly and the offspring of the woman would eventually crush the snake’s head.  In other words the offspring would crush Satan into pieces and have victory over him.  This promise was fulfilled in Christ by him dieing on the cross and rising 3 days later.  These words symbolize the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Also Exodus 12 tells us about Israel leaving Egypt.  At that time God gave a strange command.  It is written in verses 5 to 7 of chapter 12. They are to slay a year old lamb and take is blood and paint it on the doorposts of the Israelite houses.  This was to be a sign.  This was a sacrifice to the Lord for the Passover.  When God saw this symbol, he passed over the house and did not judge and destroy the occupants of the house.   This points to Jesus Christ who died on the cross.  Just as God’s judgment passed over the houses that were painted with the blood of the lamb, those who believe in Jesus Christ’s blood will be passed over and not destroyed.

In Old Testament times Christ had not be born yet, but He was prophesized about.  There are at least 350 prophecies about Him and if you include the indirect prophecies there are at least 450 passages.  The Old Testament and New Testament aren’t two separate things, but are tied together. “Now a righteousness apart from the law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.” (21)  That’s why it says in verses 23 and 24: “for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

If the blood of Jesus Christ has no power, then we would never be able to cut away our sins.  We can’t do that by our will or strength.  Ever since man committed sin, we live as a slave of sin.  The wages of sin is experiencing death and man became a being that will perish.  There is nothing but despair.  We have to realize this.  However, this is one way where the power of sin can be broken and hopeless man can be saved from despair and darkness.  That is salvation by believing in Jesus Christ. God opened up the way totally by His grace and on His own. The only way to salvation is by believing in Jesus Christ who was hung on the cross and broke into pieces the power of sin.

Acts 4:12

John 14:6

The root of all problems of man, sin’s salvation is by the grace of God, in the gift of Jesus Christ. This is the only way.

III.            Boasting in the cross (vs.27-31)

The conclusion is that we need to boast only in the cross of Jesus Christ.  Let’s look at verses 27 and 28.

We have nothing to boast in because our righteous is not by the law, but by faith.  No one is saved by doing good, by their good personality, by their good brain, by their family or position or level in society or by their possessions.  We are also not saved by doing good or being merciful.  It is only by the grace of God, by the redemption of Jesus Christ that we are made righteous.  This is main truth of faith.  We can be saved only by believing in Jesus Christ.  There is no other way.  Our salvation, our job, our present situation, the things that we have accomplished, everything, is by the grace of God.  We have nothing to boast in.

Ephesians 2:8,9

Therefore, we have nothing to boast in, but the cross of Jesus Christ.  Christ is the power of God, the wisdom of God.  Our faith is boasting only in the cross of Christ, depending only on the cross, having a faith of only living in the cross. 

Salvation is only in Jesus. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (23,24)

Isaiah 45:22

Therefore, let’s live bragging in the cross of Christ and keep our eyes on God

              Up until now Paul has talked about the sin of the Gentiles and the sin of the Jews.  The Gentiles who knew God not only didn’t they worship God as God, but also they weren’t thankful, and more than that they thought all was in vain, and as the result of their ignorant hearts, they began to do things that they weren’t supposed to do.  The Jews judged the Gentiles. The Jews felt that they were the chosen people of God. Paul tells them clearly that Jews are not Jews by outside appearance. They are not Jews by circumcision.  It is not by circumcision or outside things that makes a Jew a Jew.  It is by circumcision of the heart by the Holy Spirit that a Jew is really a Jew.  This is true circumcision.  Therefore, Paul is saying that both Gentiles and Jews are both sinners.  After this Paul explains what man has to do to become righteous. In other words, how man can be saved.  However, first before doing so, in today’s passage Paul while dealing with several questions about the value of the Jews, Paul tells us that God is truly faithful.  Today let’s look at 3 aspects of God’s faithfulness.

I.                The advantage of the Jews (vs. 1,2)

In chapter 2 Paul says that both Jews and Gentiles commit sin.  In the case of the Jews, even though they know the law, they broke it. That is worst than the Gentiles who didn’t know the law and sinned.  Paul is telling us what the advantages of being a Jew are and what the meaning of circumcision is.  There may not have been such a question, but Paul may have heard such things being said so he deals with these issues.  Here Paul uses the form of speech where he asks himself a question and then answers it.         It was used a lot in Jewish doctrinal dialogue.   

First Paul asks a question about the advantages of being a Jew, God’s chosen people and the value of circumcision. Paul answers, “Much in every way!” (2)  That is because “they have been entrusted with the very words of God.” (2)  This means that God personally spoke to Israel.  This refers to the event on Mt. Sinai.

Deut. 4:12

God spoke personally to Israel. There are no other people like this.  For Israel, this was the greatest advantage. Israel was given the Promised Land, Canaan. Also in Solomon’s age; Israel was abundantly rich and was the most glorious country at that time. They built the most beautiful buildings at that time.  However, for Israel their greatest advantage and blessing was not this, but that “they have been entrusted with the very words of God.” (2)

In verse 2 when it says “First of all,” doesn’t mean that there is a “Second of all”.  It means this is the greatest thing.  Other nations have not been entrusted with the Word of God. Other nations have to hear the word of God through Israel.  Israel has the advantage of being a priest, a bridge between God and man.  This is an advantage because only a priest can come near to God.  God gave the priests, Israel, His word.  They didn’t become a great empire like Babylon, an empire like Persia nor did they have an army like Rome. Israel’s greatest advantage was God’s Word.  Maybe there were some people who thought they would have liked to have received the glory of Solomon.  However, to receive the Word of God is a greater blessing.  Before God said to Solomon, “Ask whatever you want me to give you.” (II Chron. 1:7)  Solomon answered, “Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?” (II Chron. 1:10)  He thought that in order to lead the people of God, he needed the wisdom of God.  Because Solomon did not request riches, wealth, or honor, or for a long life for himself, but requested knowledge and wisdom so that he could lead the people of God, God not only have him wisdom and knowledge, but also riches, wealth and honor.  These were blessings given by the Word of God.  In Israel’s long history, if you were to summarize all of Israel’s blessings into one word, it would be the country that received the word of God.  There is no greater blessing than knowing the real eternal God so there is no other country that has been as greatly blessed as Israel.  If the knowledge of God is a brighter and enlightening truth, then Israel has a greater treasure than the Greek philosophers or the Roman law, the wisdom of the Chinese politicians.  Israel has been put up above all other countries.  There are no other people who have had such a great advantage and blessings.

We too have been given the Word of God.  The Bible is the Word of God.  150 or 200 years ago the Japanese didn’t have the Word of God.  When the Gospel first entered Japan there was no Japanese Bible.  To read the Bible you had to read it in English or Latin.  Now we can read the Bible freely in Japanese.  That is a real blessing.

Until 1450 there was no printing machine.  Books were extremely valuable.  The church had Bibles, but the believers couldn’t freely have their own.  The Bibles were huge and were written by hand.  They were chained so they could not be stolen. The Church used to chain the Bible so it wouldn’t be stolen.  Now the church passes out the Bible saying, “Please read the Bible” and there are some who receive the Bible and throw it into the garbage.

The only time the Christians could read the Word of God was usually during the Sunday Worship.  Therefore, the Pastor read long passages.  Therefore, when you go to traditional churches, they often read a passage from both the Old Testament and the New Testament.  Since the members had no Bible or chance to hear the Word of God, long passages of the Bible had to be read on Sunday.  This is how the believers could hear the Word of God.  That’s how valuable the Word of God was.  When it was read, everyone stood.  Worship was 2 or 3 hours and during that time everyone was standing. There was no place to sit.  The churches were made out of stone so winters were very cold.  When there were no Bibles, the believers really desired to hear the Word of God.

              We have the Bible all the time.  We can read it anytime we want.  Most people have more than one Bible.  It’s been translated into many languages.  There has never been an age where the Bible was as readily available as now.  However, now there is no great desire for the Bible.  However, the fact that we have been given the Bible is a greater blessing than it was for the Jews.  We may look into our wallet and think we’re poor, but we have enough to live on.  Also we have a greater blessing than any other age in human history; we have the Word of God.  The advantage of the Jews was they were given the Word of God.

II.              God is faithful (vs. 3,4)

The advantage of the Jews was that they were given the Word of God.  However, if the Jews didn’t follow it, “will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness?” (3) Paul answers, ”Not at all.” (4)  That is because even though all Jews are unfaithful, God is faithful.  Behind the words “faithful” and “unfaithful are the promises of God and the covenantal relationship.  God gave the promised Word of God and promised if they followed the Word of God, they would be God’s treasured people.

Exodus 19:5,6

However, Israel didn’t follow the Word of God.  They continued to break the promise.  Then did the covenant have no meaning?  “Not at all!” (4)  That is because even though they were unfaithful, God is faithful.  Among human relationships when we break promises that’s the end of the relationship, but with God this is not so.  No matter what happens, God never breaks his promise.  God is faithful to his covenant. This is a promise of a one way blessing of God.  Our lack of faith or lack of truth does not bring an end to the covenant.

Mat.. 24:35

Isaiah 46:3,4 

Romans 11:29

God will never leave you.  Even if you are unfaithful, the Lord is faithful. Therefore, never give up or be discouraged.

III.            Responding to God’s faithfulness  (vs. 5-8)

We need to respond to God’s faithfulness.  When Paul said this, there was someone who responded, “But if our unrighteousness brings out God’s righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? That God is unjust in bring his wrath on us?”(5) then shouldn’t we sin all the more?  Paul disagreed and said, “Certainly not!” This type of thinking is trying to bring God down to a human level. Such thinking comes from not realizing that God is absolute, and the Lord of judgment. Our God not only made this world, but moves this world.  And in the end is the Lord that will judge this world.  Before such a Lord of judgment, there is no way that this argument will stand.  Not only that but in this human society too, it will never stand.  For example, we have police because there are thieves. By this thinking the police shouldn’t arrest thieves, by this thinking we should be thankful to the thieves, but this argument would never stand.   This is the same. If we are saved by the one way grace of God, by God’s faithfulness, then we should live a life that responds to God’s faithfulness and God’s grace. If we think that it doesn’t matter what kind of life we live, that it’s o.k. to continue living a life of sin, then Gods grace will not be there.  It is only natural for people that argue that way to be ordained as a sinner. If we really understood the faithfulness and grace of God towards us, we could never live such a life.

Romans 5:15

The grace of God overflows to many people.  God’s grace is more abundant than we could ever imagine or expect.  David describes this is Psalms 23:5 as “My cup overflows.”   Peter when he had fished all night and hadn’t caught even one fish, was told by Jesus to go out into deeper waters and put his nets out.  When he did so the nets became so full that they “began to break”. (Luke 5:6)  At the wedding in Cana Jesus didn’t just turn a couple of pitchers of water into wine. He turned six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from 20 to 30 gallons” (John 2:7) into wine. Jesus took 5 loaves of bread and 4 fish and fed over 5,000 people until they were full.  Not only that, but there were 12 baskets of leftovers.  This is the grace of God.  Those who believe in Jesus Christ and who are in that grace, no matter where they go, their cups are overflowing. If the grace of God is that large, we shouldn’t take the attitude of “Then, let’s sin”, but fear God and respond to God’s faithfulness.

Psalm 150:6

Psalm 63:3

Isaiah 46:3,4

Psalm 71:18

Psalm 48:14

My friend once encouraged me by saying, “For the rest of your life continue to stand in the battlefront.” May we keep our eyes on the Lord’s faithfulness and love.  This is a life of responding to the faithfulness of God.  The grace of God is overflowing.  Before God’s faithfulness, the rest of our lives let’s serve Him with faith and love and faithfulness.  This is what God desires of us.

              From the middle of chapter 1 Paul has been talking about the sins of mankind.  That is that they know God, but not only don’t they worship God as not God, but they aren’t thankful, and to make matters worse they are disappointed.  Their ignorant hearts became darkened.  “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men” (1:18)

              On the other hand, the Jews looked down on such Gentiles and judged them, but in reality while they were judging them, them were doing the same things. They thought it was good that they were God’s chosen people, and because of their special relationship to God and grace they thought that God would overlook their problems and sins.  Paul is saying towards these Jews that this is not so, “For God does not show favoritism.”  He said that in the last day they will be judged for all that they have done.

              Today’s passage is the continuation of this, but here the sins of the Jews are revealed. Up until now Paul talks about the Jew’s sins, but he didn’t clearly write “The Jews are…”, but used “you who pass judgment on someone else…” (2:1) or “first for the Jew, then for the Gentile…” (2:9)  However, from now on we can see clearly that Paul is talking about the Jews.  He calls them by name and points out their sin, and shows us the points that the Jews were wrong at.  In other words, they thought that they were God’s chosen Jews, but they were not really Jews.  Then what is a real Jew?  Today let’s look at three aspects of what Paul is saying.

I.                The bragging of the Jews (vs. 17-20)

First let’s look at the bragging Jews.  Let’s look at verses 17 to 20.  Here is tells about the Jews.   They had many assets to brag about.

1.                                  They had the law. God gave them the Word of God, and were given the commission to witness to the will of God to all peoples.

2.                                  According to verse 18, they were taught by the law so they knew the will of God, and what they should do. Not only were they given the Word of God, but by the Word of God they were taught.  From the time they were little they were brought up in the Word of God.  By the time they became adult at age 12, they had memorized the first five books of Moses. They were taught by the Word of God, they learned to make decisions by the Word of God from the time they were small.  23% of all Nobel recipients are Jews, but this is a blessing that comes from being trained by the Word of God from the time they are a child.  To be trained by the Word of God from the time we are small is actually a wonderful thing.  The Jews were brought up in the Word of God so they know what the will of God is and what they should do and as a result they thought that they were a guide to the spiritually blind, a light in the dark, and a guide to the foolish and a teacher to children.

     Probably among all people in this world, the Jews have the most pride of all.  They think that they are a special people chosen by God, always in the center of world history.  They thought they were a special people, a chosen people so they looked down on the Gentiles. 

              Every person has some kind of pride.  There is no one that doesn’t have pride.  Having healthy pride is necessary for our life.  Such pride at times gives us confidence, and a feeling of belonging.  I’m a probation officer. I have a badge and a card of proof, but I have never used either one.  The reason that we are given such things is because it gives us a feeling of belonging.  It causes us to realize that we’re probation officers and causes us to fulfill our responsibilities as probation officers. That’s why companies put their emblem on their uniforms. There are times like this when pride has a positive effect on our lives.  However, sometimes pride goes beyond its purpose and ruins our future.

              For example, if we have too much pride in our education and work experience, then at work we take it out on the others below us and show off as being superior.  When we talk about others that are succeeding, we put them down. 

              Such pride is vanity and it isn’t an advantage to our lives, and instead it kills us.  When pride becomes too strong then we fall into unhealthy bragging. Such pride does not help us, but ruins us.  The Jewish pride was in vain and rotten. Let’s next look at in what ways it was rotten.        

II.              The problem of the Jews (vs. 21-24)

Here it says, “you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal?  You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery?  You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?  You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?  As it is written: ‘God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.’” (21-24)

Their problem was that God had given them the law and they knew what they should do, but they didn’t do it. They taught not to steal, but they stole.  They said not to commit adultery, but they committed adultery.  They said they hated idols, but they robbed temples.  They prided in the law, but they didn’t follow it.

This is also a problem among Christians who have believed in Jesus for a long time.  There are even some people who have never made a personal decision for Christ, but just base their faith on the pride that their parents were dedicated Christians.  No matter how great a faith the parents had, it is only by faith in the blood of Jesus Christ that a person can be saved.

The Jews had great pride in the fact that they were the sons of Abraham, but Jesus said in Luke 3:8, “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.  And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.”

This means not to believe in your blood line, believe in God from your heart.  It is important that we don’t put our faith in our parent’s faith, but that we individually believe in Jesus.

John 1:13

Until a person is born of God through the Holy Spirit he can never be saved.   Salvation is not the result of natural birth or a parent’s faith. The Jews taught not to steal, but they stole.  They said not to commit adultery, but they committed adultery.  They said they hated idols, but they robbed temples. This was because there was no meat in their faith.  Their faith was just an outer performance.

One day a father said to his son who never studied, “Why don’t you study a little more?  When Lincoln was your age he studied by himself and became a lawyer.”  The son answered, “Dad, When Lincoln was your age he was already president.”  The father was trying to teach his son, but the son answered that way.  The problem was the father’s life, itself had no meat.  He just says things without being serious about his own life. Therefore, his own words had no power.   That’s true not only of parents, but school teachers or anyone who is in the position of leading others.  You can tell children a hundred times that the word of God is important, but if you aren’t living by the Word of God then your words will have no power.  Children see through their parents.  For example, when the child tells his parents that he was number one in the Sunday school quiz, there was little reaction.  However when he brings home an A on a test from school, the parents are overjoyed and they have a huge party.  Therefore, the son thinks that more important in knowing the Bible is getting a good grade in school so he begins to put all his effort into studying and looses interest in the Bible and spiritual things.   Not what we say, but what we are in our daily lives influences our children.

What is important is not how much of the Bible we know.  What is important is how much we are following the Bible.  It is the way we live.  The Jews were given the law, they knew what the will of God was, and what they should do.  They taught the Bible to others, but they themselves did not follow it.  This was their problem.  Therefore, it became like it is written about the Jews in verse 24 “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”      

III.            What a real Jew is like  (vs. 25-29)

Here Paul is talking about the problem of circumcision.  Circumcision was the symbol the being a Jew and of being saved. The Jewish rabbis taught that those who are uncircumcised will go to hell.  Circumcision was that important to the Jews.  However, Paul says here that whether you are circumcised or not is not important.  What is important is whether you are following the law or not.  In other words, it is not important that you look like a Jew on the outsides, that you have been circumcised on the outside. “No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code.” (29) The true sign of belonging to God is not an outward mark on the physical body, but the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit within which is what Paul mean by “circumcision of the heart”.  When our faith declines, it becomes outward, and ritualistic. However, what is needed in our faith is inward, by the Holy Spirit we need to believe in God from our heart and live a life of following God.

However, this isn’t just Jews. We also are apt to be in danger off falling in the same direction as the Jews.  For example, thinking that if you are baptized them you will be saved. Being baptized is important because that is the will of God.  However, just because you are baptized isn’t insurance that you will be saved.   “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:16)  Believing is important.  It is necessary that we continue to believe.  No matter what happens we need to abide in Christ.  We need to make a decision to follow Christ no matter what.   In other words faith is an inner thing. We need to stand before God who can see through to the center of our hearts and humble ourselves before God, and have a heart that seeks to live doing the will of God  Then we will not be praised by men, “but from God.” (29)

II Cor. 5:17

“If anyone is in Christ” means united with Christ through faith in him and commitment to him.  In other words, even is you are a Christian, if you aren’t united with Christ through faith, or you have forgotten to depend on him you can’t be a new creation. To be a “new Creation” you need to believe in Jesus Christ who was crucified, and be born again as a child of God and by the Holy Spirit be united personally with God.  No matter how much of the Bible you know and how much you have memorized it has no meaning unless you believe in Christ, follow the Holy Spirit and humbly follow  Christ.

What is important is being a new creation.  This is a real Israelite.  We need to throw away our own knowledge, experience, and abilities, and such outside pride, and believe in Christ.  Through the Holy Spirit, daily follow God.  Then God will work in unbelievable ways.  This type of person is God’s Israel, the real Jew.  God is seeking for such people.