Paul's Passing Thoughts

Paul’s Gospel Treatise to the Roman’s: Divine Anthropology; Romans 1:19-2:8

The first major part of Paul’s gospel treatise is about man. This is information about mankind that will equip us to preach the gospel. This first part speaks to unregenerate man. This is a model for preaching to mankind about the gospel—what they need to know about themselves in the appeal to obey the gospel. This is training in regard to what Christians need to know about unregenerate mankind and what they need to be told. This is gospel psychology 101.

This part is from 1:19 through 3:20 overall. Paul addresses the general populous of unregenerate mankind from 1:19 through 2:8. And then from 2:9 to 3:20, Paul teaches important facts about the Jews, Gentiles, and their relationship to God and His gospel. Paul then moves on to the next segment of his gospel starting in 3:21.

As aside, it should be noted that this part of Romans dispels a popular myth in our day—the whole idea that Romans 1:15 is a proof text for the following: Paul was eager to preach the gospel to the Romans because we are sanctified by the same gospel that saved us. In essence, the gospel is about the works of Christ only which is the sum and substance of the Bible. All spiritual growth comes passively through a deeper and deeper knowledge of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. Only problem is, though the letter is written to the Romans who were Gentiles, Paul addresses unregenerate man and the Jews independently (note 2:1,17 among many examples). It is clear that the full orbed gospel has different applications for different people groups. Hence, the message and application for life is clearly different according to the specific need which is not the same for the unregenerate and the saved. Many of the Reformed tradition that propagate this taking away from God’s word and adding to it would do well to heed the fearful biblical warnings concerning those who teach such things. A prime example is Michael Horton, who wrote the following on page 62 of Christless Christianity:

Where we land on these issues is perhaps the most significant factor in how we approach our own faith and practice and communicate it to the world. If not only the unregenerate but the regenerate are always dependent at every moment on the free grace of God disclosed in the gospel, then nothing can raise those who are spiritually dead or continually give life to Christ’s flock but the Spirit working through the gospel. When this happens (not just once, but every time we encounter the gospel afresh), the Spirit progressively transforms us into Christ’s image. Start with Christ (that is, the gospel) and you get sanctification in the bargain; begin with Christ and move on to something else, and you lose both.

We noted a very important truth in 1:18. There are only two ways—the unregenerate way and the regenerate way. The unsaved way actively suppresses the truth whether wittingly or unwittingly. There is no neutral ground, and there is no such thing as an agnostic. It’s interesting: it seems Paul begins by refuting the idea that there is any such person as an agnostic, and then moves on to refute the idea that there is any such person as an atheist. How valuable it is to know that these labels are red herrings lest we fail to share the gospel in a way that it needs to be heard. Not knowing and pleading ignorance still suppresses the truth that God expects to be obeyed.

Paul speaks clearly to the supposed idea of the atheist:

Romans 1:19 – For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

Aside from the fact that creation should be proof of God in and of itself, God takes a further step; Paul states that, “God has shown it to them.” They will not be able to stand before the one who showed it to them and claim that they didn’t know. As we progress, problems with a strict dichotomy between God’s sovereignty and man’s free will be seen. It’s true God must show man certain things in order for him to see it, but it is interesting that He has shown all men that He is the Creator God. They are without excuse.

Paul continues:

1:21 – For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

This is in the past tense, and it is significant. Paul seems to mention the invisible attributes of God first, and then, “they knew God.” Presently, He shows His invisible attributes to them through creation which is constantly before them and often preaching (Psalm 19:1). But there was a time when God revealed Himself through more than creation—He manifested Himself to man through direct acts on earth. In other words, they suppressed God to His face and often at the foot of His very throne. Paul seems to be smashing all of the popular presuppositions; let’s add another one, “Seeing is believing.” They saw, they knew, and rejected God to His face.

There are myriads of examples of this in Scripture. One is the tower of Babel. Many Bible historians think God’s disapproval of its tower project, resulting in the confusion of languages, occurred within 100 years of the flood. For certain, the huge ark resting atop a mountain was a gargantuan monument to the judgment of God. Other scholars note that the tower was built from water resistant materials. Therefore, the following is suggested: the builders thought they could overcome God’s expected judgment, and God’s promise to not flood the earth again was not believed as well (see endnote #1 for sources).

So, they refused to do two things: they refused to “honor” God, and they refused to be “thankful” unto Him. One would do well to note that Paul summarizes the crux of rebellion against God with two primary categories: recognizing God with the honor He deserves, and being thankful to Him. In this willful suppression of truth, darkness within their own souls deepened. People are always moving in two directions: further away from God and into deeper darkness because they are suppressing His truth, or into greater light because they are upholding truth and honoring God at the same time:

but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools,

This is the danger of secular philosophy and anything that is deliberately suppressing God’s truth: foolish darkness, though lofty sounding, is filling the void. Worse yet, it replaces God with His own goodness and creation:

and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

The image, or idol, is an ancient art of replacing God’s wisdom with dark foolishness. It focuses on a narrow concept that can be interpreted many different ways by many different people; ie, they can make its meaning anything they want it to be. A good example is the infamous “Butterball Jesus” in Monroe, Ohio. It is a giant 60ft. image of Christ that stands in front of a large Charismatic church visible from the I-75 interstate highway that runs by it. Testimonies concerning how the image “speaks” to many of those passing by, including salvation experiences, abound. The diverse ways in which the image “speaks” to detractors varies as well:

“It’s cartoonish,” “It’s the most retarded thing I have ever seen in my life,” “It makes Christians look foolish,” It’s racist,” “It’s a freak show,” “Couldn’t the money have been used for something more worthy?” (see endnote #2 for sources).

Idol worship is the meditation on a narrow concept that is a gateway to unlimited (or “eternal”) knowledge that is found within. Bottom line: idols can be interpreted according to a truth of our own desire. Various images are merely symbolic of the narrow concept or gateway. It can also be a concept that rejects images according to its own philosophy, but it almost always involves the deep knowledge being found within. The knowledge found within is unlimited because meditation on the narrow concept usually results in a uniting with the invisible which then relays the information to the inner being. It is a uniting of the invisible spirit world (the location of higher knowledge or vision of the good versus evil) with the material world. The many faceted ideas come from deep inner darkness and often appear to be profound.

Click on to enlarge.

This resulted in God removing certain forms of grace and mercy. God has always restrained certain kind of evils in the world according to His mercies. Again, this is a past event, a past judgment that is ongoing. In response to man seeking wisdom that suppresses God’s wisdom, God removed certain restraints as judgment:

Romans 1:24 – Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

Apparently, at one time in human history, this sin was off limits according to God’s mercy. Man is restrained from reaching the total depth of darkness that he would find in his endeavor to suppress God’s wisdom. As a judgment, God removed this restraining mercy. This hearkens back to the revealing of God’s wrath for the deliberate suppression of His truth:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth (1:18).

As history unfolds, God will continue to reveal His wrath by removing His restraining mercies. In our day, His written word is the primary way in which He communicates His wisdom for life and godliness. Before this fact is used to illustrate the next point, let it be established:

Luke 16:19 – “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ 27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”

This is because mankind rejects God just as readily in light of His mighty works on earth in times of old as He does the written word in our day. Despite the many dire warnings against taking away from God’s word (gospel) or adding to it, man will persist in doing so. Therefore, in his darkened state of undiscernment due to a lack of trembling before holy writ, God will further his misery and fall by not restraining “strong delusions.” A natural descent of “anomia” (anti-word) is lack of love towards others which will take its toll in the last days (Matthew 24: 12), but God will further compound the misery by not restraining supernatural delusions by Satan:

For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect (Matthew 24:24).

We get an idea of what some of these strong delusions will be in the book of Revelation. Apparently, images will come alive and begin speaking. Surely, the undiscerning masses that have long abandoned the sufficiency of the Scriptures will be helpless against such delusions. And therefore doomed to eternal destruction:

2Thessalonians 2:9 – The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, 10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, 12 in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Three times in the passage at hand, the Bible states, “’Therefore,’ ‘For this reason,’ ‘Since they did not…’ ‘God gave them up to…’” Throughout history, and in individual lives, God will continue to remove His mercies and grace for those who suppress His truth. He restrains His mercies in two general areas: passions and ability to reason, or think. The first ranges from all kinds of sex addictions and cravings to the unnatural act of same sex. The second is in regard to reasoning. So, the following laundry list presented by Paul is indicative of an inability to reason:

Romans 1:28 – And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.

God gave them up to an adokimos mind, or a “worthless” mind. A mind that does not uphold God’s wisdom and seek to know it more is WORTHLESS, and more and more is given over to deeper and deeper worthlessness leading to more and of what Paul describes as the result. In verse 32, Paul again reiterates that mankind “know[s]” the righteous decree, and deliberately defies God regardless of knowing that death is the final result. Moreover, they commend those that partake; eg, in our day much humor and entertainment abounds that glorifies such behavior. We must beware that we are not beguiled accordingly:

Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

Paul concludes this part of God’s divine anthropology with another surprising proof that mankind is well aware of what God’s truth is, and in effect, His righteous standards as well. He presents it as proof that Man is “without excuse” accordingly. And what is this proof? Unregenerate man indicts other men for the same behavior that they partake in! Paul states it this way:

Romans 2:1 – Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. 2 We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. 3 Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God?

Agnostics and atheists are quick to judge others according to wrongdoing. This proves they really know the truth, but deliberately reject it. By the same token, they are given over to their own worthless minds and can’t help but to practice the immorality that defies a standard that they deny, but expect others to live by. Moreover, they constantly judge and accuse God of winking at the same sin that they partake in, and note that God is silent. In other words, their worthless minds not only misinterpret reality in general, but misinterpret the mercy of God:

Romans 2:4 – Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

Hence, God’s mercy is unthankfully trampled upon. Paul concluded this part by again reminding us that there are only two ways:

Romans2:6 – He will render to each one according to his works: 7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.

There is obedience to righteousness or obedience to unrighteousness. Both ways compound their own essence of what they are paved by: righteousness, or unrighteousness. These are the only two ways, whether one is a Jew, or a Gentile. There is no difference regardless of the Jewish heritage that posited Israel as the vanguards of God’s law.

Paul addresses this, and their relationship to the law in the next part.

Endnotes:

1. http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/cm/v22/n1/peleg

http://www.enduringword.com/commentaries/0111.htm

http://www.noahs-ark.tv/the-true-bible-story-of-noahs-ark.htm

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_of_Kings_(statue)

https://paulspassingthoughts.com/2010/06/23/darlene-bishop-and-the-king/

https://paulspassingthoughts.com/2010/06/18/when-god-adds-an-exclamation-point-to-life/

Paul’s Gospel Treatise to the Roman’s: Divine Anthropology; Romans 1:16-18

Let’s read Roman’s 1:16-18 together:

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

Anthropology is the study of mankind. One definition is: Anthropology is the study of humans, past and present. To understand the full sweep and complexity of cultures across all of human history, anthropology draws and builds upon knowledge from the social and biological sciences as well as the humanities and physical sciences. A central concern of anthropologists is the application of knowledge to the solution of human problems.

As we noted in our previous studies, the apostle Paul’s letter to the Roman’s is the full-orbed gospel. This is not only the gospel of “first importance” (1Coronthians 15:3), but the principles of what man needs to be reconciled to God, why he needs to be reconciled, what his greatest needs are, and how that need is obtained. The gospel solves the problem that is the root of all human problems, and supplies the wisdom for the continued resolution of those problems. The gospel is problem-centered. It was immediately instituted by God to solve the fall in the garden by Adam and Eve that has an incomprehensible depth. It solves the paramount problem of mankind being unreconciled to God, and then continues to solve the myriad of problems associated with the fall, or the fallout thereof. The gospel is “the truth” that resolves the fall, and the fallout in our lives. The gospel not only solves the fall, but the fallout as well.

That is why Paul states that he is not ashamed of the gospel (Romans 1:16). Even in the face of that upper crust Roman society, he knew that he had The Truth of Divine anthropology. Science can put a Band-Aid on human problems, but it cannot solve its eternal problem and its greatest present needs. The gospel can. The truth can. This is good news.

John 17:17

Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

This is news that we are compelled to share if we fully understand what it offers. Paul’s purpose is to give the Romans a deeper understanding of God’s divine anthropology. The more we understand it, the more compelled we will be to share it and to glorify God with our righteous lives.

In Romans 1:16-18, the beginning of Paul’s introduction to his gospel treatise, he describes seven key elements of Divine anthropology: shame; belief; Jew; and Gentile; righteousness, unrighteousness; truth.

To know the full-orbed gospel is to know its power which leads to a shameless resolve. We are saved by belief, and we have examined that this not only includes that efficacious  confirmation of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection which made a way for our reconciliation to God, but an obedient acclamation to God’s truthful word. Saving faith not only accepts the cross as true, but the specific body of truth revealed by God that we live by. The revealing of this true faith, “righteousness,” is revealed from saint to saint as we “live faithfully” (Habakkuk 2:4).

God’s righteousness is revealed through us as we faithfully apply it to our lives and are empowered by it. This salvation is for all who believe whether Jew or Gentile. Paul didn’t want the Romans to be concerned that the church had a Jewish conception (it may have been as long as 14 years before Acts chapter 10 occurs). He wanted them to know that this merely followed God’s established pattern because the Jews were the stewards of His gospel. The Jews were first (John 4:22, Matthew 15:24), but both are saved and blessed equally by the gospel. Paul explains this in-depth as we progress further in his explanation of the gospel.

Therefore, in contrast (v.18), God’s wrath is revealed against all men who do not live by The Truth, which results in “ungodliness” and “unrighteousness.”  There is no partiality in regard to this wrath as well. Because the Jews were God’s chosen people and the vanguards of the gospel does not mean that any of them will get a pass on God’s wrath for unrighteousness:

Romans 2: 9 – There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For God shows no partiality.

And what is the reason for their “unrightousness”? They suppress “the truth.” Paul is only presenting two ways to live here. Two contrasts. But this is key: there is no neutral ground. To not accept the gospel or The Truth, and make a conscience intentional effort to apply and exhibit it with intentionality is SUPPRESSING the truth. In effect, merely living by some golden rule and being an everyday “good” person is suppressing the righteousness of God’s truth. EVERY living person in the world able to make choices are either revealing God’s righteousness or suppressing it. EVERY person is either revealing truth or suppressing it. Revealing the righteousness of God by learning the truth and applying it to our lives is living faithfully, and anything less is the suppression of that righteousness, AND God continually reveals His wrath (stated in the present tense) against those who do not reveal His righteousness. When was the last time you heard that concept in a presentation of the gospel? Here is where the gospel that Moses preached comes together with the apostles. There is either salvation with its accompanied blessings, or cursing now or later, or both:

Deuteronomy 11:26

See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: 27 the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, 28 and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way that I am commanding you today, to go after other gods that you have not known.

Galatians 6:

7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. 9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. 10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

Matthew 5:

13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that[b] they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 7:

24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

James 1:

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

Matthew 28:

18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Furthermore, when Christians believe that God winks at applying the full gospel to our lives (resulting in a suppression of the truth), how much power will our gospel have? Moreover, when we assimilate and integrate the impure milk (1Peter 2:2) into our lives, we not only stunt spiritual growth, but further suppress God’s truth/righteousness. A laxness in applying God’s truth in our lives will ultimately result in a lack of discernment leading to a compounding of lives lived through the human philosophies that fill the void. This is why teachings that lack practical life application and integrate a variety of unbiblical ideas as well are detrimental. This is usually a slow death. The apostle Paul stated in other letters that false doctrine is therefore like “gangrene” which eats away body tissue with little ado. By the time you realize amputation is needed to save the rest of your body—it’s too late to save the limb.

No wonder then that Christ said: “Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” This truth reveals the insanity of “take off the shelf what is good and leave the rest on the shelf,” and the supposed obligation to note whatever might have merit in sermons that have no practical application. This is a suppression of truth that invites the revealing of God’s wrath. It is a simple case of reaping and sowing. A road of life and a road of death. Most counselees come to us because their problems are the results of bad sowing due to partial-gospel-living; hearing and doing the sanctifying truth of God’s word is where the blessings are presently and eternally (James 1:25. “In” is a preposition).

Paul makes TRUTH synonymous with gospel. Paul also states that there are only two kinds of people in the world: those who apply God’s specific truth with intentionality, and those who don’t. Now, in regard to introducing the gospel to mankind, Paul wants us to be experts on Divine anthropology. He wants us to know what makes mankind tick. That will be the subject of next week’s message in Romans 1:19-2:11.

“To separate law and gospel is to separate our ability as believers to love the Lord. Any gospel that separates law and gospel is a gospel written by the scribes of hell.”

This is our fourth study in the book of Romans, and we now begin to delve into what Paul stated he was eager to do: preach the gospel to those in Rome. Note 1:14,

I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

Paul then launches into the gospel in the next verse:

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

It’s amazing in our day; I constantly find myself in conversations with others discussing whether or not the gospel is “more than the death, burial, and resurrection.” Is the gospel all about the cross, or does it include a wider body of God’s truth? How amazing it is to consider the confusion in our day regarding this fundamental question. Two thousand years later, most Christians are not sure what the gospel is. No wonder evangelism is lacking.

In regard to this question, you be the judge: Paul’s gospel treatise spans from Romans 1:16 – 15:21, and obviously includes many issues other than the cross. This treatise is a major centerpiece of God’s world view. In sharing this treatise with the Romans by letter, Paul becomes overwhelmed by its wisdom and states:

Romans 11:33

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

Yes, let us take careful note as we proceed. This is where we will learn God’s “riches,” “wisdom,” “knowledge,” “judgments,” and “ways” that are essential for living.  Why, and how God brings things about are certainly beyond knowing in many cases, but what we learn about Him and His ways attests to the greatness behind it. Amazement always has an element of definitive understanding. Sometimes, even humans do things that provokes a, “How did you do that?!” Or, “How did you come up with such a great idea?” With God, these are often mysteries that belong to Him alone.

Funny, Christians wonder why the world is not wowed by the simplistic. Sure, we all like to push the easy button, but people usually have enough common sense to know that deep problems are not solved by clichés, truisms, and mantras. New Christians persevere for a time with the blank-stare response to canned gospel presentations, but eventually stop bringing it up. The fact is, we share what we are excited about, and for some reason we aren’t excited about getting people saved. Why is that? Simple: the gospel hasn’t exactly created any fireworks in our own life.

Furthermore, it hasn’t changed our own life to the point where it would make us feel guilty in not sharing it. Case in point:

2 Kings 7:3 – Now there were four men who were lepers at the entrance to the gate. And they said to one another, “Why are we sitting here until we die? 4 If we say, ‘Let us enter the city,’ the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we die also. So now come, let us go over to the camp of the Syrians. If they spare our lives we shall live, and if they kill us we shall but die.”

5 So they arose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians. But when they came to the edge of the camp of the Syrians, behold, there was no one there. 6 For the Lord had made the army of the Syrians hear the sound of chariots and of horses, the sound of a great army, so that they said to one another, “Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to come against us.”

7 So they fled away in the twilight and abandoned their tents, their horses, and their donkeys, leaving the camp as it was, and fled for their lives. 8 And when these lepers came to the edge of the camp, they went into a tent and ate and drank, and they carried off silver and gold and clothing and went and hid them. Then they came back and entered another tent and carried off things from it and went and hid them.

9 Then they said to one another, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news. If we are silent and wait until the morning light, punishment will overtake us. Now therefore come; let us go and tell the king’s household.” 10 So they came and called to the gatekeepers of the city and told them, “We came to the camp of the Syrians, and behold, there was no one to be seen or heard there, nothing but the horses tied and the donkeys tied and the tents as they were.” 11 Then the gatekeepers called out, and it was told within the king’s household.

The find by the lepers, notably called “good news,” had such a positive impact on their lives that they were compelled to share it with those who were perishing, even to the point of fearing retribution by God for depraved indifference. Do contemporary Christians view their silence in regard to the good news as depraved indifference?

Well, yes. In fact, we are taught in our day that the saved are still totally depraved. One would assume that being ok with depraved indifference would be part and parcel with that.  The idea that we can have “life, and have it more abundantly” is even deemed as “more bad news” because we have to “know more, do more, and try harder.” Apparently, our own supposed total depravity is good news.

Paul was not ashamed of the gospel. Why? Because he experienced the power of it. Where is the power of it in our day? Never in the history of the church has the cross been lifted higher via John Piper’s gospel in one sentence, CJ Mahaney’s five-word gospel, and Paul Washer’s gospel in five minutes. Where’s the revival? Does Paul begin here to share the knowledge that energized his soul to be zealous for the gospel? Yes, I think that is the case.

From my preparation for this series, I have concluded that most Christians, including myself, hold to a dumbed-down gospel. Paul begins his gospel treatise by stating that the gospel is the power of God to everyone who “believes.”  As we saw in our previous studies, “believe” in biblical terms is absolutely synonymous with obedience. A call to salvation is a call to “obey the gospel,” “obey the truth,” “love the truth,” and “obey the word.”

In one way or the other, this is given lip service, and even if we do present the gospel, belief in the works of Christ is presented as a mere mental ascent to the facts of the gospel. Others exclude repentance and obedience believing that the mental ascent will naturally lead to obedience, and the recipient of the gospel is the last to know that since Jesus is going to be obeying for them anyways. Supposedly.

It’s not that we are saved by obeying, but we are saved by believing which carries the idea of repentance. Repentance is a change of mind and a determined decision to take one’s life in a different direction. In fact, the first century church was known as “the Way”:

Acts 9:2

and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

Acts 19:9

But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus.

Acts 19:23

About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way.

Acts 22:4

I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women,

Acts 24:14

But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets,

Acts 24:22

But Felix, having a rather accurate knowledge of the Way, put them off, saying, “When Lysias the tribune comes down, I will decide your case.”

It’s not the perfection; it’s the direction, though of course perfection is the goal. All house framers, lost or saved, know that the houses they frame are not going to be perfect by virtue of the fact that no 2×4 piece of lumber is perfect to begin with. But is perfection the goal? I hope so. An attitude that strives for perfection is a prerequisite to getting the contract. Christ’s indictment of the Pharisees in the Sermon on the Mount was a “relaxing of the least of one of these commandments.”

Many, many in our day teach that Christ’s call to be perfect in that sermon is a standard of justification that must be retained in order to keep our just standing before God, and gee whiz, since we can’t be perfect, Jesus must have been calling us to a gospel where He actively maintains the law for us until we get to heaven. This can do no other than result in what Christ warned against in the same context: a relaxing of the law. Christ created us and certainly knows how to communicate with us. Why would He play word games on this most urgent question? If the maintaining of salvation requires Him to obey for us, why wouldn’t  He simply say so?

No, our role in salvation is a decision to take our life in a different “Way”—a decision to obey Christ when He said, “follow me.” And this is the way it has always been. Old Testament saints were not saved any differently. This goes hand in hand with the fact that believers prior to the cross were empowered to live faithfully through the new birth. Before Christ went to the cross, he told Nicodemus: “You must be born again.” In Romans 1:17, Paul quotes the obscure book of Habakkuk as an authority for his point: “The righteous shall live by faith” (2:4), but this doesn’t mean that we live by faith alone—the whole theme of the book of James was written to refute that idea.

Works don’t save us; it is just simply what faith has determined to do from the beginning. It is an exercise of the will that God has given us. Just because God has given us the will does not mean that we have no striving in the new Way. Habakkuk used the word emunah translated “faith” in the English. It means “faithfully.” Even in the Old Testament, saints were declared righteous and lived “faithfully.” The word also has the idea of “truth” and moral fidelity. This is what Paul had in mind when he cited Hab. 2:4. The gospel is the power of God for a new Way.

But is God’s power demonstrated through a misrepresentation of what faith is? I think not.

And just as it has always been, faith is a decision to obey the gospel (2Thess. 1:8). It is a decision to obey truth. The saved heart has been infused with a love for the truth (2Thess. 2:10). It is a continuous striving to “obey the gospel” because the gospel is a body of truth that includes the cross, but is not the summation thereof. When the cross is the summation of all gospel, we have the contemporary gospel of “intelligent repentance.” I will address the difference in the conclusion.

The Hebrew writer notes the same gospel that was preached to the Israelites during the exodus is now preached to us (Hebrews 4:2). This is an astounding text, and its sting is removed in many English translations by removing the definitive “the” gospel and replacing it with, “For good news came to us just as it did them.” And in the same context, the following verse is absolutely stunning:

Heb. 3:16 – For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? 17 And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19 So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.

Again, we see the correlation between obedience and belief as illustrated by the Hebrew writer via the antithesis. But what is it that they did not obey?

Heb. 4:1 – Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. 2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.

“Therefore” is a conjunction that takes us back to the previous point in 3:16-19. We enter the rest by obeying the gospel. We enter the rest by agreeing to follow the whole counsel of God’s truth. A different Way. The Way. The truth, and the life, and life more abundant.

But when did Moses preach the gospel to the Israelites that he led out of Egypt? The apostle Peter alludes to it in:

1 Peter 1:2

according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

What sprinkling of blood is Peter talking about? This is a truth that decimates a massive body of theology that would separate law and gospel. Peter is speaking to the issuing of the law on Mount Sinai. In response to the people committing to obey, Moses sprinkled them with the blood:

Exodus 24:3 – Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.” 4 And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. 6 And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar.

7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” 8 And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

Peter attributes that same commitment at Mount Sinai to the same gospel of our day. There is no difference. Neither did the Israelites assume their commitment would result in perfect obedience. If we love Christ, we will strive to keep His commandments. Our own efforts and help from the Spirit is our God given ability to show our love to the Lord. Christ does not love Himself for us, it is our own love toward Him. It most certainly is not our love if it isn’t our own effort. Those who warn against a gospel that obeys the Lord in “our own efforts” deny that we love the Lord with our own sincere obedience—His empowerment notwithstanding, but enabling and encouraging with all blessings.

Much will be learned in our study, Lord willing, about the relationship of law and gospel. There is a very important difference in the relationship of the law in regard to the lost verses the saved. The lost cannot love the Lord by keeping the law, but the saved most certainly can, and not only that, such defines the very reality of their true salvation—it is a new WAY. Even regarding the saints of old, a commitment to the law resulted in the sprinkling of the righteous blood of Christ. It answered God’s call to:

Deuteronomy 11:1

You shall therefore love the Lord your God and keep his charge, his statutes, his rules, and his commandments always.

To separate law and gospel is to separate our ability as believers to love the Lord. Any gospel that separates law and gospel is a gospel written by the scribes of hell. It beckons mankind to ignore a call to paint the doorpost and header with the blood of the lamb that the death angel would pass by. Obedience and Christ’s saving blood  cannot be separated.

Obedience to the gospel justified us, and the same obedience to the gospel sanctifies us, but justification and sanctification are not the same.

Evangelism in our day has no power because it doesn’t even understand what biblical believing is, and moreover, doesn’t understand the difference between justification and sanctification. The power of the gospel is revealed “faith to faith” and exhibited by the righteousness of God in us.

But it must be a faith based on the truth. This is our opportunity to be taught that truth by the apostle Paul. His words speak from the grave. Let us come and see as free Bereans.

We will learn more about the differences between justification and sanctification as we progress. Also, the relationship of law and gospel will be articulated by the apostle. But how valuable is our understanding of mankind in regard to presenting the gospel? Is an in-depth knowledge of mankind invaluable to our gospel presentation? One would think. Is our gospel presentations without power because of an ineffective view and understanding of mankind?

Paul addresses this issue next. The truth about what believing faith is, the gospel’s relationship to the law, and the difference between justification and sanctification are just a few of the critical issues regarding the gospel that we will be learning about.