In Adam or In Christ

Paul’s letter to the Romans is a theological masterpiece. It declares the good news that people who are separated from God by sin may be considered righteous in God’s sight and reconciled to him in peace.

A key word in the book of Romans is “justified.” It means to be legally cleared and declared “not guilty,” because of God’s grace. This grace is completely undeserved. It is based, not on anything we might do, but entirely upon what Christ Jesus has done on our behalf.

In the opening chapters of the book, Paul demonstrated that all people everywhere are guilty of sin and subject to sin’s penalty, death. In chapter five, Paul delves deeper into his theme and proves that the death penalty was because of the sin of the first man, Adam. Death was in the world ever after the sin of Adam and its presence is proof that it originated with him. As the head of the human race he transmitted the tendency to sin to all of his descendants. Death is the result.

“Therefore, just as sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12). If you read Romans 5:12-21 you will see that all people are either “in” Adam, who disobeyed God and brought death into the world, or they are “in” Christ, who obeyed God and brought eternal life. Those who are in Adam are constituted as sinners. Those who are in Christ are declared righteous and given legal standing before God.

Zane Hodges explained it this way: (Jesus) is “the supreme model of obedience to God in a world where the disobedience of the first man wrought the calamitous tragedies of sin and death.” The fact is, because God judged all of the human race because of one man’s (Adam’s) disobedience, he is able to save the human race because of the righteous obedience of one Man (Jesus Christ).

Romans 5:12-21 compare and contrast Jesus and Adam. They represent two humanities, two communities. Those who by natural birth, are in Adam, are justly declared to be sinners by nature. Those who are in Christ by faith are graciously declared to be right with God and accepted. Human solidarity with Adam leads to death. Human solidarity with Christ leads to life, according to Paul.

But read on. To be in Christ is to be justified before God. The first half of Romans five gives us seven extravagant benefits of justification. The first is peace with God. “Therefore since we have been justified through faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (v.1). Peace is the absence of conflict, friendship, acceptance.

The second blessing in Paul’s list is access, or a place to stand before God’s throne of grace. “We have access by faith into this grace in which we now stand” (v.2). The third is hope. This is the confident expectation that God’s glory will be revealed to us and in us (v.2). The ability to rejoice in spite of hardship is another fruit of justification. This is the development of Christian character through a mature response to trials (vv. 3-4).

The fifth benefit of justification is the love of God poured into our hearts by his Holy Spirit. The present inward ministry of the Spirit is one proof of God’s love (v. 5) Another is the death of Christ for our sins (vv.6-8). “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (v.8).

A sixth benefit of justification is salvation from the future judgment of God. The book of Revelation describes how the wrath of God will come upon the world because of its rebellion against God and rejection of his Son.  No true believer will have to suffer the ultimate judgment of God. Our sins were judged and paid for on the cross! “Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath though him” (v. 9).

The seventh blessing of justification is reconciliation with God. We who once were far from God, separated from him by our sin, are now able to be brought into close fellowship with him through Christ. “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 so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have now received reconciliation” (vv. 10-11).

Are you in Christ or in Adam? To be in Christ is to be justified by faith in him. The benefits of justification enumerated here are offered as a free gift. Open your heart in faith to believe the good news that you too may be “justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24).

Pastor Randy Faulkner

The Most Important Paragraph

You may have noticed that when you are reading the Bible, sometimes a chapter division seems arbitrary or out of place. Perhaps you have felt that it interrupts the flow of the discussion. Well, you may be right. It is good to remember that the chapter and verse divisions were not part of the original inspired text of scripture. They were added in the 13th-16th centuries by editors for the convenience of Bible readers.

Most of the time chapter and verse divisions are helpful to us in locating and remembering Bible passages. We rely upon them to help us find our way around in the Bible. Sometimes, however, we wonder why an editor put the chapter division where he put it. It feels awkward in relation to the context.

Romans chapters two and three are such a context. In chapter two, Paul has been arguing forcefully that the religious person, no matter how pious, is no better off than the untaught pagan. In chapter three the discussion continues: in the eyes of God all people are morally guilty and in need of God’s gift of righteousness. The chapter division might lead someone to think that Paul is changing the subject. He is not. The argument flows from chapter two right on into chapter three.

In Romans 3:1-8, Paul imagines a verbal opponent who wants to claim that his teaching on universal human guilt undermines God’s justice. “If we are all guilty and our sin magnifies God’s righteousness, wouldn’t he be unjust to punish us?” His imaginary debate partner might go on to say something like, “We might as well go on sinning because God looks good when he forgives us!” “No way!” Paul answers. Human sin never brings glory to God.

Paul rejects these distortions of his teaching. He calls them slanderous. He wants his readers to understand that God is both just (in judging sin) and merciful (in providing a remedy). His doctrine of universal human guilt is reasonable and consistent with scripture (Romans 3:9-20). Paul here quotes seven Old Testament scriptures to support this point. We are all sinners and guilty before a holy God.

To be sure, the apostle is not teaching that every person is a bad as he or she could possibly be. What he is saying is that sin affects us all, in every part of our being. There are no exceptions. God’s law pronounces us guilty. The law cannot deliver us. It cannot forgive us. It cannot redeem us. That is not the law’s purpose. The law upholds God’s standard of righteousness and shows us how far short if it we have fallen. “Through the law we become conscious of our sin” (Romans 3:20).

What Paul says next is the best news the world has ever heard. It has been suggested that Romans 3:21-26 may be the single most important paragraph ever written! It states the central theme of the book of Romans: that although we are all sinners and deserving of God’s judgment, it is possible to be declared righteous though faith in Jesus Christ.

I invite you to read these verses, to believe their truth, and to receive the free gift they offer. The gift is justification. What is that? It means to be declared righteous by the grace of God. It is more than forgiveness. It is positive acceptance, freedom from guilt, a new status credited to you freely, at no cost to you (Romans 3:24).

How is that possible? It is because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. “God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood”(Romans 3:25). Paul refers to this as “redemption,” a term taken from the Roman slave market. It is obtaining a release by the payment of a ransom. By his death, Jesus paid the ransom to set us free from sin’s ultimate penalty. His death satisfied the demands of God’s justice on our behalf.

The only way to receive the gift of justification is through faith in what Christ has done. Paul repeats this several times (verses 22, 25, 26 and 28). “For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law” (Romans 3:28). Someone has said that faith is simply the hand of a beggar reaching out to accept a gift from a king.

The awkward chapter division between Romans two and three was not in Paul’s original letter. It is important to understand the entire scope and range of his argument taken together. In Romans one the Gentile pagan world is guilty before God. In chapters two and three the religious Jews are also said to be guilty before God. The only solution to this universal human predicament is the good news found in Romans 3:21-31.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

Did Justification Originate with Paul or Jesus?

Did Justification Originate with Paul or Jesus?

There are skeptics who believe the apostle Paul invented Christianity. They claim that Paul shaped the early Christian message so that he, “not Jesus, was the primary innovator of many things we think of as ‘Christian'”  (“Did Paul Invent Christianity?” Kindle Afresh, The Blog and Website of Kenneth Berding).

Rudolf Bultmann has been quoted as saying that “the teaching of the historical Jesus plays no role or practically none in Paul.” This contradicts what Paul said when he claimed to “have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16). That he was a messenger of Jesus is plain from his “according to the Lord’s own word, we tell you…”( 1 Thessalonians 4:15). I believe Paul, not Rudolf. Here’s why.

Let’s take the doctrine of justification by faith as an example. Paul’s detractors say he came up with it on his own. One scholar wrote, “Jesus did not preach justification; Paul did.” But if we read the acts and words of Jesus in the gospels, we can tell they are infused with grace, the favor of God toward the undeserving. It is not hard to see how these truths form the basis for Paul’s elaboration on the theme of justification.

Look at Jesus healing a leper in Mark 1:40-45. In the gracious act of touching the diseased man, Jesus pictured the essence of the gospel message of forgiveness and full acceptance. In our Lord’s parables, we may see grace applied in the same way, to those who are willing to receive it.

The parable of the vineyard workers in Matthew 20:1-16 illustrates this beautifully. The ones hired at the end of the workday received the same pay as those hired to work early in the day. Jesus illustrates the generous love of God who is free to be gracious to whom he will.

In the parable of the two debtors in Luke 7:41-42, one owed a lot and the other less. Neither had the money to pay back what he owed. So the gracious creditor, (Jesus is teaching us about God!) canceled both men’s debts.

In the familiar parable of the lost son in Luke 15:11-32, the boy slunk home in disgrace after squandering his father’s money in wild living. The father in the story interrupts his sorrowful boy as he tries to bargain his way back as a hired worker. The father will have none of it! He embraces him, kisses him, dresses him as a family member, and throws a big barbecue to celebrate his return. This is pure grace. Jesus is teaching us about ourselves and about God.

The first mention in the New Testament of justification is from the lips of Jesus, not Paul. In Luke 18:9-14 we see the familiar contrast between the self-righteous, religious person who tries to impress God with his respectability and the repentant sinner who has nothing to offer to God but faith. In this parable, Jesus made clear the terms of approach to God. Only the one who humbly prayed for mercy “went home justified,” Jesus said.

Jesus, not Paul, was the first to designate a sinner who believes as justified in the sight of God. Paul received this doctrine from Jesus and built upon it. His letter to the Romans is an exposition on this theme. It is an invitation to all people to be “justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24).

This is for you, too, if you will receive it. It is offered “freely” (without cost). To be justified is to be declared right with God. This gift of grace was purchased through the redemptive sacrifice of Jesus when he died on the cross. After his resurrection, Jesus authorized his apostles, including Paul, to make this message plain to all people, including you.

Kenneth Berding (cited above) wrote, “The things Paul sought, the thoughts he thought  and the words he taught were in agreement with and sometimes directly dependent upon the teaching of Jesus.” Paul taught and wrote what Jesus told him to say.


    –  Pastor Randy Faulkner Randy 2019-spring

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