- Righteousness
by Faith
- Articles on Romans
- By E. J. Waggoner
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- Article 1
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The Salutation Romans 1:1-17
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- 1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called
to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God 2 (which he
had promised afore, by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures),
3 concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of
the seed of David according to the flesh; 4 and declared to be
the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness,
by the resurrection from the dead; 5 by whom we have received
grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations,
for his name; 6 among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ:
7 to all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints:
Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ.
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- A Bond Servant. "Paul, a servant
of Jesus." It is thus that the apostle introduces himself
to the Romans. In several other epistles the same expression
is used. Some people would be ashamed to acknowledge themselves
servants; the apostles were not.
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- It makes a vast difference whom one serves.
The servant derives his importance from the dignity of the one
served. Paul served the Lord Jesus Christ. Everybody may serve
the same Master. "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves
servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey?"
Rom. 6:16. Even the ordinary house servant who yields to the
Lord is the servant of the Lord, and not of man. "Servants,
obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with
eyeservice, as men-pleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing
God; and whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and
not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward
of the inheritance; for ye serve the Lord Jesus Christ."
Col. 3:22-24. Such a consideration as this can not fail to glorify
the most menial drudgery.
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- Our version does not give us the full
force of the term which the apostle uses when he calls himself
a servant. It is really "bond servant." He used the
ordinary Greek word for slave. If we are really the Lord's servants,
we are servants bound to him for life. It is a bondage that is
itself freedom, "for he that is called in the Lord, being
a servant, is the Lord's freeman; likewise also he that is called,
being free, is Christ's servant." 1 Cor. 7:22.
- Separated. The apostle Paul was "separated
unto the gospel." So is every one who is really the servant
of the Lord. "No man can serve two masters; for either he
will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to
the one, and despise the other. Ye can not serve God and mammon."
Matt. 6:24. No man can serve the Lord and have other service
besides that.
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- "Do you mean to say that a merchant
or other business man can not be a Christian?" By no means.
What I said was that a man can not serve the Lord and at the
same time have other service. "And whatsoever ye do in word
or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks
to God and the Father by him." Col. 3:17. If the man is
not serving the Lord in his business, then he is not serving
the Lord at all. The true servant of Christ is truly separated.
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- But this does not mean that he separates
himself from personal contact with the world. The Bible gives
no countenance to monkery. The most hopeless sinner is he who
thinks himself too good to associate with sinners. How then are
we to be separated unto the gospel? By the presence of God in
the heart. Moses said to the Lord: "If thy presence go not
with me, carry us not up thence. For wherein shall it be known
here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? Is
it not in that thou goest with us? so shall we be separated,
I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face
of the earth." Ex. 33:15,16.
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- But the one who is separated to the public
ministry of the gospel as the apostle Paul was, is separated
in a special sense in that he may not engage in any other business
for personal gain. "No man that warreth entangleth himself
with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath
chosen him to be a soldier." 2 Tim. 2:4. He can not take
any position, however high under earthly governments. To do so
is to dishonor his Master, and to belittle his service. The minister
of the gospel is the ambassador of Christ, and there is no other
position that can approach it in honor.
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- The Gospel of God. The apostle declared
that he was "separated unto the gospel of God." It
is the gospel of God "concerning his Son Jesus Christ."
Christ is God and therefore the gospel of God, of which the apostle
speaks in the first verse of the chapter, is identical with "the
gospel of Christ" of which he speaks in the sixteenth verse.
- Too many people separate the Father and
the Son in the work of the gospel. Many do so unconsciously.
God, the Father, as well as the Son, is our Saviour. "God
so loved the world, that He gave his only-begotten son."
John 3:16. "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto
himself." 2 Cor. 5:19. "The council of peace"
is "between them both." Zech. 6:13. Christ came to
the earth only as the representative of the Father. Whoever saw
Christ, saw the Father also. John 14:9. The works which Christ
did, were the works of the Father, who dwelt in him. Vs. 10.
- Even the words which he spoke, were the
words of the Father. Vs. 24. When we hear Christ saying, "Come
unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest," we are listening to the gracious invitation of
God the Father. When we see Christ taking the little children
up in his arms, and blessing them, we are witnessing the tenderness
of the Father. When we see Christ receiving sinners, mingling
with them, and eating with them, forgiving their sins, and cleansing
the hideous lepers with a touch, we are looking upon the condescension
and compassion of the Father. Even when we see our Lord upon
the cross, with the blood streaming from his side, that blood
by which we are reconciled to God, we must not forget that "God
was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself," so that
the apostle Paul said, "the church of God, which he hath
purchased with his own blood." Acts 20:28.
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- The Gospel in the Old Testament. The gospel
of God to which the apostle Paul declared himself to be separated,
was the gospel "which he had promised afore by his prophets
in the Holy Scriptures" (Rom. 1:2); literally, the gospel
which he had before announced or preached. This shows us that
the Old Testament contains the gospel, and also that the gospel
in the Old Testament is the same gospel that is in the New. It
is the only gospel that the apostle preached. That being the
case, it should not be thought strange for people to believe
the Old Testament, and to refer to it as of equal authority with
the New Testament.
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- We read that God "preached before
the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be
blessed." Gal. 3:8. The gospel preached to the people when
Paul lived was the same gospel that was preached unto the ancient
Israelites. See Hebrews 4:2. Moses wrote of Christ, and so much
of the gospel is to be found in his writings that a man who does
not believe what Moses wrote, can not believe in Christ. John
5:46, 47. "To him give all the prophets witness, that through
his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of
sins." Acts 10:43.
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- Paul had only the Old Testament when he
went to Thessalonica, "and three sabbath days reasoned with
them out of the Scriptures, opening and alleging, that Christ
must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead."
Acts 17:2, 3.
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- Timothy had nothing in his childhood and
youth but the Old Testament writings, and the apostle wrote to
him: "Continue thou in the things which thou hast learned
and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;
and that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which
are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which
is in Christ Jesus." 2 Tim. 3:14, 15.
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- Then go to the Old Testament with the
expectation of finding Christ and his righteousness there, and
you will be made wiser unto salvation. Do not discriminate between
Moses and Paul, between David and Peter, between Jeremiah and
James, between Isaiah and John.
- The Seed of David. The gospel of God is
"concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made
of the seed of David according to the flesh." Rom. 1:3.
Read the history of David, and of the kings who descended from
him, and who became the ancestors of Jesus, and you will see
that on the human side the Lord was handicapped by his ancestry
as badly as anybody can ever be. Many of them were licentious
and cruel idolaters. Although Jesus was thus compassed with infirmity,
he "did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth."
1 Pet. 2:22. This is to give courage to men in the lowest condition
of life. It is to show that the power of the gospel of the grace
of God can triumph over heredity.
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- The fact that Jesus was made of the seed
of David means that he is heir to the throne of David. Of David's
throne the Lord said, "Thine house and thy kingdom shall
be established forever before thee; thy throne shall be established
forever." 2 Sam. 7:16. David's kingdom is therefore coextensive
with the inheritance promised to Abraham, which is the whole
world. See Romans 4:13.
- The angel said of Jesus, "The Lord
God shall give unto him the throne of his father David; and he
shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom
there shall be no end." Luke 1:32, 33. But all this involved
his bearing the curse of the inheritance, and suffering death.
"For the joy that was set before him" He "endured
the cross, despising the shame." Heb. 12:2. "Wherefore
God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which
is above every name." Phil. 2:9.
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- As with Christ, so with us; it is through
much tribulation that we enter the kingdom. He who fears reproach,
or who makes his lowly birth, or his inherited traits, an excuse
for his shortcomings, will fail of the kingdom of heaven. Jesus
Christ went to the lowest depths of humiliation in order that
all who are in those depths might, if they would, ascend with
him to the utmost heights of exaltation.
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- Power by the Resurrection. Although Jesus
Christ was of lowly birth, he was "declared to be the Son
of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the
resurrection from the dead." Rom. 1:4. Was he not the Son
of God before the resurrection? and was he not so declared to
be? Certainly; and the power of the resurrection was manifested
in all his life. To speak of nothing else, the power of the resurrection
was shown in his raising the dead, which he did by the power
dwelling in him. But it was the resurrection from the dead that
settled the matter beyond all doubt for men.
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- After his resurrection he met the disciples,
and said unto them, "All power is given unto me in heaven
and in earth." Matt. 28:18. The death of Christ shattered
all the hopes that they had centered in him; but when he "showed
himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being
seen of them forty days" (Acts 1:3), they had ample proof
of his power.
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- Their sole work thenceforth was to be
witnesses of his resurrection and of its power. The power of
the resurrection is according to the Spirit of holiness, for
it was by the Spirit that he was raised. The power given to make
men holy is the power that raised Jesus from the dead. "His
divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain to life
and godliness."
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- The Obedience of Faith. Paul said that
through Christ he had received grace and apostleship for the
obedience of faith among all nations. True faith is obedience.
"This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom He
hath sent." John 6:29. Christ said, "Why call ye me,
Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" Luke 6:46.
That is, a profession of faith in Christ which is not accompanied
by obedience, is worthless. "Faith, if it hath not works,
is dead." James 2:17. "For as the body without the
spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." Vs.
26.
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- A man does not breathe in order to show
that he lives, but because he is alive. He lives by breathing.
His breath is his life. So a man can not do good works in order
to demonstrate that he has faith, but he does good works because
the works are the necessary result of faith. Even Abraham was
justified by works, because "faith wrought with his works,
and by works was faith made perfect. And the scripture was fulfilled
which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him
for righteousness."
- "Beloved of God." That was a
most comforting assurance that was given "to all that are
in Rome." How many people have wished that they could hear
an angel direct from glory say to them what Gabriel said to Daniel,
"Thou art greatly beloved"! The apostle Paul wrote
by direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and so the message
of love came as directly from heaven to the Romans as it did
to Daniel. The Lord did not single out a few favorites by name,
but declared that all in Rome were beloved of God.
- Well, there is no respect of persons with
God, and that message of love to the Romans is ours as well.
They were "beloved of God" simply because "God
so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life." John 3:16. "The Lord hath appeared of old unto
me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love;
therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee." Jer.
31:3. And this everlasting love to men is not shaken, although
they forget it; for to those who have turned away, and fallen
by their iniquity, he says, "I will heal their backsliding,
I will love them freely." Hosea 14:43. "If we believe
not, yet He abideth faithful; He can not deny Himself."
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- "Called Saints." The reader
will notice that the words "to be" in Romans 1:7 are
indicated as supplied, so that instead of "called to be
saints," we may read literally, "called saints."
God calls all men to be saints, but all those who accept him
he calls saints. That is their title. When God calls people saints,
they are saints.
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- These words were addressed to the church
in Rome, and not to the Church of Rome. The Church of Rome has
always been apostate and pagan. It has abused the word "saint"
until in its calendar it is almost a term of reproach. No greater
sin has ever been committed by Rome than the distinction it has
made between "saints" and ordinary Christians, making
practically two standards of goodness. It has led people to think
that laboring men and housewives were not and could not be saints,
and has thus discounted true, everyday piety, and has put a premium
on pious laziness and self-righteous deeds.
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- But God has not two standards of piety,
and all the faithful people in Rome, poor and unknown as many
of them were, he called saints. It is the same to-day with God,
although men may reckon differently.
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- The first seven verses of the first chapter
of Romans are the salutation. No uninspired letter ever embraced
so much in its greeting as this one. The apostle was so overflowing
with the love of God that he could not write a letter without
covering almost the whole gospel in the salutation. The next
eight verses may well be summarized in the words "debtor
to all," for they show the completeness of the apostle's
devotedness to others. Let us read them carefully, and not be
content with one reading:
- 8 First, I thank my God through Jesus
Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the
whole world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit
in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention
of you always in my prayers; 10 making request, if by any means
now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of
God to come unto you. 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart
unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established;
12 that is, that I may be comforted together with you by the
mutual faith both of you and me. 13 Now I would not have you
ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you,
(but was let [hindered] hitherto,) that I might have some fruit
among you also, even as among other Gentiles. 14 I am debtor
both to the Greeks, and to the barbarians; both to the wise,
and to the unwise. 15 So, as much as in me is, I am ready to
preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.
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- A Great Contrast. -In the days of the
apostle Paul the faith of the church in Rome was spoken of throughout
all the world. Faith means obedience; for faith is counted for
righteousness, and God never counts a thing so unless it is so.
Faith "worketh by love." Gal. 5:6. And this work is
a "work of faith." 1 Thess. 1:3. Faith also means humility,
as is shown by the words of the prophet, "Behold, his soul
which is lifted up is not upright in him; but the just shall
live by his faith." Hab. 2:4. The upright man is the just
man; the man whose soul is lifted up is not upright or just;
but the just man is such because of his faith; therefore only
the man whose soul is not lifted up has faith. The Roman brethren,
therefore, in the days of Paul, were humble.
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- But it is far different now. An instance
is given by the Catholic Times of June 15, 1894. The pope had
said, "We gave authority to the bishops of the Syrian rite
to meet in synod at Mossul," and had commended the "very
faithful submission" of those bishops and had ratified the
election of the patriarch by "Our Apostolic authority."
An Anglican paper had expressed surprise, saying, "Is this
a free union of equal churches, or is it submission to one supreme
and monarchical head?" To which the Catholic Times replies:
"It is not a free union of equal churches, but it is submission
to one supreme and monarchical head. . . . To our Anglican pleader
we say, You are not really surprised. You know well what Rome
claims and always will claim, obedience. That claim is now, if
it ever was, before the world."
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- But that claim was not before the world
in the days of Paul. In those days it was the church in Rome;
now it is the Church of Rome. The church in Rome was famous for
its humility, and its obedience to God. The Church of Rome is
famous for its haughty assumption of the power of God, and for
its demand for obedience to itself.
- Praying without Ceasing. -The apostle
exhorted the Thessalonians to "pray without ceasing."
1 Thess. 5:17. He did not exhort others to do that which he did
not do himself, for he told the Romans that without ceasing he
made mention of them always in his prayers. It is not to be supposed
that the apostle had the brethren at Rome on his mind every waking
hour of the day, for in that case he could not have thought of
anything else. No man can be consciously in prayer every moment,
but all can continue "instant in prayer," or, as Young
translates it, "in the prayer persevering." Rom. 12:12.
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- This is in harmony with what the Saviour
said, that "men ought always to pray, and not to faint,"
or grow weary. Luke 18:1. In the parable that follows, the unjust
judge complains of the "continual coming" of the poor
widow. That is an illustration of praying without ceasing. It
is not that we are to be every moment in conscious prayer, for
then important duties would be neglected, but it is that we should
not grow weary of praying.
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- A Man of Prayer. This is what Paul was.
He made mention of the Romans in all his prayers. To the Corinthians
he wrote, "I thank my God always on your behalf." 1
Cor. 1:4. To the Colossians, "We give thanks to God and
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you."
Col. 1:3. Still more emphatically he wrote to the Philippians,
"I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in
every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy."
Phil. 1:3, 4. Again to the Thessalonians, "We give thanks
to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers;
remembering without ceasing your work of faith," etc., 1
Thess. 1:2, 3. And further, "Night and day praying exceedingly
that we might see your face, and might perfect that which is
lacking in your faith." 1 Thess. 3:10. To his beloved son
in the faith he wrote, "I thank God, whom I serve from my
forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have
remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day." 2 Tim.
1:3.
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- "Rejoice Evermore." The secret
of this is to "pray without ceasing." See 1 Thessalonians
5:16, 17. The apostle Paul prayed for others so much that he
had no time to worry about himself. He had never seen the Romans,
yet he prayed for them as earnestly as for the churches that
he had raised up. Recounting his labors and sufferings, he adds
that they are "beside those things that are without, that
which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches."
2 Cor. 11:28.
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- "As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing."
He fulfilled the law of Christ by bearing the burdens of others.
Thus it was that he was able to glory in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Christ suffered on the cross for others, but it
was "for the joy that was set before him." They who
are wholly devoted to others, share the joy of their Lord, and
can rejoice in him.
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- "A Prosperous Journey." -Paul
prayed earnestly that he might have a prosperous journey by the
will of God to visit Rome. Read the twenty-seventh chapter of
Acts, and you will learn just what kind of journey he had. Most
people would say that it was not a prosperous journey. Yet we
do not hear any complaint from Paul; and who can say that he
did not have a prosperous trip? "All things work together
for good to them that love God," Therefore it must have
been prosperous. It is well for us to consider these things.
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- We are apt to look at matters from a wrong
side. When we learn to look at them as God looks at them, we
shall find that things that we regard as disastrous are prosperous.
How much mourning we might save if we always remembered that
God knows much better than we do how our prayers should be answered!
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- Spiritual Gifts. When Christ "ascended
up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men."
Eph. 4:8. These gifts were the gifts of the Spirit, for he said,
"It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not
away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart,
I will send him unto you." John 16:7. And Peter said on
the day of Pentecost: "This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof
we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God
exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the
Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear."
Acts 2:32.
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- These gifts are thus described: "Now
there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there
are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there
are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh
all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every
man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word
of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
to another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of
healing by the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles;
to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another
divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues;
but all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing
to every man severally as he will." 1 Cor. 12:4-11.
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- Established by Spiritual Gifts. "But
the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit
withal." What is the profit? "For the perfecting of
the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of
the body of Christ; till we all come in the unity of the faith,
and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto
the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." Eph.
4:12, 13.
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- The gifts of the Spirit must accompany
the Spirit. As soon as the early disciples received the Spirit
in accordance with the promise, they received the gifts. One
of the gifts, speaking with new tongues, was manifested that
very day. It follows, therefore, that the absence of the gifts
of the Spirit in any marked degree in the church, is evidence
of the absence of the Spirit, not entirely, of course, but to
the extent that God has promised it.
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- The Spirit was to abide with the disciples
forever, and therefore the gifts of the Spirit must be manifest
in the true church until the second coming of the Lord. As before
stated, the absence of any very marked manifestation of the gifts
of the Spirit is evidence of the absence of the fullness of the
Spirit; and that is the secret of the weakness of the church,
and the great divisions that exist. Spiritual gifts establish
the church; therefore the church that does not have those gifts
can not be established.
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- Who May Have the Spirit? Whoever asks
for it with earnest desire. See Luke 11:13. The Spirit has already
been poured out, and God has never withdrawn the gift; it only
needs that Christians should ask and accept.
- "I Am Debtor." That was the
keynote of Paul's life, and it was the secret of his success.
Nowadays we hear of men saying, "The world owes me a living."
But Paul considered that he owed himself to the world. And yet
he received nothing from the world but stripes and abuse. Even
that which he had received before Christ found him was a total
loss. But Christ had found him, and given himself to him, so
that he could say, "I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless
I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which
I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God,
who loved me, and gave himself for me." Gal. 2:20.
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- As Christ's life was his life, and Christ
gave himself for the world, Paul necessarily became a debtor
to the whole world. This has been the case of every man who has
been a servant of the Lord. "David, after he had served
his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep." Acts
13:36. "Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your
minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your
servant; even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto,
but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many."
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- Personal Labor. There is a foolish notion
prevalent that ordinary labor is degrading, especially to a minister
of the gospel. It is not all the fault of the ministers themselves,
but largely the fault of the foolish people about them. They
think that a minister must always be faultlessly attired, and
that he must never soil his hands with ordinary manual labor.
Such ideas were never gained from the Bible. Christ himself was
a carpenter, yet many professed followers of him would be shocked
if they should see their minister sawing and planing boards,
or digging in the ground, or carrying parcels.
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- There is a false dignity altogether too
prevalent, which is utterly opposed to the spirit of the gospel.
Paul was not ashamed nor afraid to labor. And this he did not
merely occasionally, but day after day while he was engaged in
preaching. See Acts 18:3, 4. He said, "These hands have
ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me."
Acts 20:34. He was speaking to the leaders of the church when
he said, "I have showed you all things, how that so laboring
ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the
Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive."
Vs. 35.
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- Slandering Paul. At the second international
convention of the Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions,
the main address for one evening was on the subject of "Paul,
the Great Missionary." The speaker said that "Paul
had a faculty for dividing up the work so that he undertook very
little of it himself." It was a foolish and wicked idea
to present before young volunteers for missionary service, because
it was an utter falsehood, and it was anything but a compliment
to the apostle.
- In addition to what has been cited above,
read the
- following: "Neither did we eat any
man's bread for naught; but wrought with labor and travail night
and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you."
2 Thess. 3:8. "I will very gladly spend and be spent for
you." 2 Cor. 12:15. "Are they ministers of Christ?
(I speak as a fool) I am more; in labors more abundant, in stripes
above measure, in prisons more frequent." 2 Cor. 11:23.
"But by the grace of God I am what I am; and his grace which
was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly
than they all; yet not I, but the grace of God which was with
me." 1 Cor. 15:10.
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- The grace of God is manifest in service
for others. The grace of Christ led him to give himself for us,
and to take upon himself the form and condition of a servant.
Therefore he who has the most of the grace of Christ will labor
the most. He will not shun work, even though it be the most menial
service. Christ went to the lowest depths for the sake of man;
therefore he who thinks that any service is beneath him, is altogether
too high for association with Christ.
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- Gospel Liberty. Gospel liberty is the
liberty that God gives men through the gospel. It expresses His
idea of freedom. It is the freedom seen in nature and in all
the works of His hands. It is the freedom of the winds, blowing
where they list; it is the freedom of the flowers, scattered
everywhere through wood and meadow; it is the freedom of the
birds, soaring unrestrained through the heavens; the freedom
of the sunbeam, shooting from its parent orb and playing on cloud
and mountain top; the freedom of the celestial orbs, sweeping
ceaselessly on through infinite space. This is the freedom which
flows out from the great Creator through all his works.
- Tasting Freedom Now. It is sin that has
produced what is narrow and contracted and circumscribed, that
has erected boundary lines, and made men stingy and niggardly.
But sin is to be removed, and then perfect liberty will be realized
once more in every part of creation. Even now this freedom may
be tasted, by having sin removed from the heart. To enjoy this
freedom through eternity is the glorious privilege now offered
in the gospel to all men. Who that claims to love liberty can
let this opportunity pass unimproved?
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- We have covered the introduction to the
main body of the epistle. The first seven verses are the salutation;
the next eight treat of personal matters concerning the apostle
and the brethren in Rome, the fifteenth verse being the link
which unites the introduction to the directly doctrinal portion
of the epistle.
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- Let the reader note carefully the verses
referred to, and he will readily see that this is not an arbitrary
division, but that it plainly appears. If in reading any chapter,
one will note the different topics touched upon, and the change
from one subject to another, he will be surprised to find how
much easier it is to grasp the contents of the chapter, and to
hold them in mind. The reason why so many people find it difficult
to recall what they read in the Bible, is that they try to remember
it in bulk, without giving special thought to the details.
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- In expressing his desire to meet with
the Roman brethren, the apostle declared himself to be debtor
to both Greeks and barbarians, both to the wise and to the unwise,
and therefore ready to preach the gospel even in Rome, the capital
of the world. The fifteenth verse, and the expression, "preach
the gospel," give the keynote to the whole of the epistle,
for the apostle glides from this naturally into his theme. Accordingly,
we have next
- The Gospel Defined Romans 1:16,17 16 For
I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power
of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew
first, and also to the Greek. 17 For therein is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, The just
shall live by faith.
"Not Ashamed." There is no reason
why any man should be ashamed of the gospel; nevertheless, many
men have been and are ashamed of it. Many people are so ashamed
of it that they could not think of lowering themselves so much
as to make a profession of it; and many who do make a profession
of it are ashamed to let it be known. What is the cause of all
this shame? It is that they do not know what the gospel is. No
man who really knows what the gospel is. No man who really knows
what the gospel is, will be ashamed of it, or of any part of
it.
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- Desire for Power. There is nothing that
men desire so much as power. It is a desire that God himself
has planted in man. Unfortunately, the devil has deceived the
most of mankind, so that they seek for power in the wrong way.
They think that it can be found in the possession of wealth or
political position, and so they rush to secure those things.
But these do not supply the power for which God has created the
desire. This is shown by the fact that they do not satisfy.
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- No man was ever yet satisfied with the
power that he obtained by wealth or position. However much they
have, they desire more. No man finds in them just what he thought
he would; and so he grasps after more, thinking that he will
find his heart's desire farther on; but all in vain. Christ is
"the desire of all nations" (Hag. 2:7), the only Source
of complete satisfaction, because he is the embodiment of all
the real power there is in the universe the power of God "Christ
the power of God" (l Cor. 1:24).
- Power and Knowledge. It is commonly said
that knowledge is power. That depends. If we take the statement
of the poet, that "the proper study of mankind is man,"
then certainly knowledge is anything but power. Man is nothing
but weakness and sin. All men know that they are sinners, that
they do things that are not right, but that knowledge gives them
no power to change their course. You may tell a man all his faults,
and if you tell him nothing more, you have weakened rather that
strengthened him.
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- But he who with the apostle Paul determines
to know nothing "save Jesus Christ and him crucified,"
has knowledge that is power. "And this is life eternal,
that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ,
whom thou hast sent." John 17:3. To know Christ is to know
the power of his endless life. It is for lack of this knowledge
that men are destroyed. Hosea 4:6. But since Christ is the power
of God, it is quite correct to say that power is the one thing
that men need; and the only real power, the power of God, is
revealed in the gospel.
- The Glory of Power. All men honor power.
Wherever power is manifested, there will always be found men
to admire. There is no one who does not admire and applaud power
in some form. Powerful muscles are admired and boasted of, whether
they be those of man or of beast. A mighty engine that moves
vast weights with ease always attracts attention, and men honor
the one who constructed it. The man of wealth, whose money can
command the service of thousands, always has admirers, no matter
how his money is obtained. The man of noble birth and position,
or the monarch of a great nation, has multitudes of followers
who applaud his power. Men desire to be connected with such an
one, because they derive a certain dignity from the connection,
although the power is not transferable.
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- But all the power of earth is frail and
but for a moment, while the power of God is eternal. The gospel
is the power, and if men would but recognize it for what it is,
there would not be any who would be ashamed of it. Paul said,
"God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ." Gal. 6:14. The reason for this was that
the cross is the power of God. 1 Cor. 1:18. The power of God,
in whatever form manifested, is glory, and not for shame.
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- Christ not Ashamed. Concerning Christ
we read, "For both he that sanctifieth and they who are
sanctified are all of one; for which cause he is not ashamed
to call them brethren." Heb. 2:11. "God is not ashamed
to be called their God; for he hath prepared for them a city."
Heb. 11:16. Surely if the Lord is not ashamed to be called the
brother of poor, weak, sinful mortals, man has no reason to be
ashamed of him. "Behold, what manner of love the Father
hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God."
1 John 3:1. Ashamed of the gospel of Christ! Could there possibly
be a worse case of the exaltation of self above God? For to be
ashamed of the gospel of Christ, which is the power of God, is
an evidence that the man who feels thus ashamed really thinks
himself superior to God, and that it is a lowering of his dignity
to be associated with the Lord.
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- "Ashamed of Jesus! sooner far
Let evening blush to own a star;
He sheds the beams of light divine
O'er this benighted soul of mine.
"Ashamed of Jesus! just as soon
Let midnight be ashamed of noon;
'Twas midnight with my soul till he,
Bright Morning Star, bade darkness flee."
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Saved by Faith. The gospel is the power of
God unto salvation to every one that believes. "By grace
are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is
the gift of God." Eph. 2:8. "He that believeth and
is baptized shall be saved." Mark 16:16. "As many as
received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God,
even to them that believe on his name." John 1:12. "With
the heart man believeth unto righteousness." Rom. 10:10.
"This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he
hath sent." John 6:29. Faith works.
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- Time would fail to tell of those "who
through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained
promises, . . . out of weakness were made strong," etc.
Heb. 11:33, 34. Men may say, "I can not see how it is possible
for one to be made righteous simply by believing." It makes
no difference what you can see; you are not saved by sight, but
by faith. You do not need to see how it is done, because it is
the Lord who does the work of saving. Christ dwells in the heart
by faith (Eph. 3:17), and because he is our righteousness, "he
also is become my salvation" (Isa. 12:2). We shall have
salvation by faith illustrated more fully as we proceed in our
study, because the book of Romans is devoted wholly to this one
thing.
- "To the Jew First." When Peter,
at the request of Cornelius, the Roman centurion, and the command
of the Lord, went to Caesarea to preach the gospel to the Gentiles,
his first words when he heard the story of Cornelius were, "Of
a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons; but in
every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness,
is accepted with him." Acts 10:34, 35.
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- This was the first time that Peter had
ever perceived that truth, but it was not the first time that
that thing was true. It had been a truth as long as God had existed.
God never chose anybody to the exclusion of anybody else. The
wisdom that comes from above is "without partiality."
James 3:17. It is true that the Jews as a nation were wonderfully
favored by the Lord: but they lost all their privileges simply
because they assumed that God loved them better than he did anybody
else, and were exclusive. All through their history God was trying
to make them see that what he offered them was for the whole
world, and that they were to pass on to others the light and
privileges which they shared.
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- The cases of Naaman, the Syrian, and of
the Ninevites to whom Jonah was sent, are among the many instances
by which God sought to show the Jews that he was no respecter
of persons.
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- Then why was the gospel preached "to
the Jew first"? Simply because the Jews were nearest. Christ
was crucified at Jerusalem. It was from there that he commissioned
his disciples to preach the gospel. At his ascension he said,
"Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in
all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the
earth." Acts 1:8. It was most natural that they should begin
to preach the gospel in the place and to the people nearest them.
This is the secret of all missionary work. He who does not labor
in the gospel in his home, will not do any gospel work although
he goes to a foreign country.
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- The Righteousness of God. The Lord says:
"Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth
beneath; for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the
earth shall wax old like a garment; and they that dwell therein
shall die in like manner; but my salvation shall be forever and
my righteousness shall not be abolished. Hearken unto me, ye
that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law."
Isa. 51:6, 7. "My tongue shall speak of thy work; for all
thy commandments are righteousness." Ps. 119:172.
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- The righteousness of God, therefore, is
his law. Let this not be forgotten. The term "the righteousness
of God" occurs frequently in the book of Romans, and much
confusion has resulted from giving it arbitrary and varying definitions.
If we accept the definition given in the Bible, and do not abandon
it in any instance, it will simplify matters very much. The righteousness
of God is his perfect law.
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- Righteousness and Life. But the ten commandments,
whether engraved on tables of stone or written in a book, are
only the statement of the righteousness of God. Righteousness
means right doing. It is active. The righteousness of God is
God's right doing, his way. And since all his ways are right,
it follows that the righteousness of God is nothing less than
the life of God. The written law is not action, but is only a
description of the action, but is only a description of the action.
It is a picture of the character of God.
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- The very life and character of God are
seen in Jesus Christ, in whose heart was the law of God. There
can be no righteousness without action. And as there is none
good but God, it follows that there is no righteousness except
in the life of God. Righteousness and the life of God are one
and the same thing.
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- Righteousness in the Gospel. "For
therein is the righteousness of God revealed." Wherein?
In the gospel. Bear in mind that the righteousness of God is
his perfect law, a statement of which is found in the Ten Commandments.
There is no such thing as a conflict between the law and the
gospel. Indeed, there are not in reality two such things as the
law and the gospel. The true law of God is the gospel; for the
law is the life of God, and we are "saved by his life."
The gospel reveals the righteous law of God, because the gospel
has the law in itself. There can be no gospel without law. Whoever
ignores or rejects the law of God, has no knowledge whatever
of the gospel.
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- The First View. Jesus said that the Holy
Spirit should convince the world of sin and of righteousness.
John 16:8. This is the revelation of the righteousness of God
in the gospel. "Where no law is, there is no transgression."
Rom. 4:15. Sin can not be known except by the law. Rom. 7:7.
Therefore it follows that the Spirit convicts of sin by making
known the law of God. The first view of the righteousness of
God has the effect of making a man feel his sinfulness, just
as we feel our littleness when gazing upon a lofty mountain.
And as the grandeur of the great mountains grows upon us, so
God's righteousness which is "like the great mountains"
(Ps. 36:6) appears greater the more we look at it. Therefore
he who looks continually at the righteousness of God, must continually
acknowledge his own sinfulness.
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- The Second, Deeper View. Jesus Christ
is the righteousness of God. And "God sent not his Son into
the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him
might be saved." John 3:17. God does not reveal his righteousness
in the gospel in order to cause us to cower before him because
of our unrighteousness, but that we may take it and live by it.
We are unrighteous, and God wishes us to realize it, in order
that we may be willing to receive his perfect righteousness.
It is a revelation of love; for his righteousness is his law,
and his law is love. 1 John 5:3.
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- So "if we confess our sins, he is
faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse
us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9. If when the preaching
of the gospel reveals to us the law of God, we reject it and
find fault with it because it condemns our course, we are simply
saying that we do not desire that God should put his own righteousness
upon us.
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- Living by Faith. "As it is written,
The just shall live by faith." Christ is "our life."
Col. 3:4. We are "saved by his life." Rom. 5:10. It
is by faith that we receive Christ Jesus, for he dwells in our
hearts by faith. Eph. 3:17. Dwelling in our hearts, he is life,
for out of the heart are the issues of life. Prov. 4:23.
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- Now the word comes, "As ye have therefore
received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him; rooted and
built up in him, and stablished in the faith." Col. 2:6,7.
As we receive him by faith, and we walk in him as we have received
him, we shall "walk by faith, and not by sight."
- "From Faith to Faith." This
seemingly difficult expression, which has been the subject of
so much controversy, is very simple when we allow the Scripture
to explain itself. In the gospel "the righteousness of God"
is "revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, The
just shall live by faith." Note that "from faith to
faith" is said to be parallel with "the just shall
live by faith." Just means righteous.
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- The reader has noticed that some versions
have "righteous" in 1 John 1:9 where the KJV has "just."
Both are the same. God's life is righteousness; he desires that
our lives shall be righteousness also, and therefore he offers
to us his own life. This life becomes ours by faith. That is,
just as we live naturally by breathing, so we are to live spiritually
by faith, and our whole life is to be spiritual. Faith is the
breath of life to the Christian. So just as we naturally live
from breath to breath, we are to live spiritually from faith
to faith.
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- We can live but one breath at a time;
so we can not live spiritually except by present faith. If we
live a life of conscious dependence upon God, his righteousness
will be ours, for we shall breathe it in continually. Faith gives
us strength, for those who have exercised it "out of weakness
were made strong." Heb. 11:34.
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