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Romans 1:2-6
The next five verses in Romans have been named by
scholars as the Introduction section. The ground work is
presented here, telling us the subject matter the book will
be dealing with on a whole. We learn about the writer his
approach and motivation. We learn he was separated unto the
gospel of God. It is this gospel that the remainder of the
book continues to reveal in writing in Paul”s time both Jew
and gentile had the privilege of him teach orally . This same gospel is
reveled in living today by each individual instructed in
these truths.
Romans 1:1-3
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;
The promise there was more good news to be delivered to
mankind was spoken of by Gods chosen prophets, many times
preceding life of Paul. A section of this foretelling can be
found in the book of Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 31:31-34
31 "The time is coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them, " declares the LORD. 33 "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the LORD. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."
Jeremiah 32:38-41
38 And they shall be my people, and I will be their God: 39 And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them: 40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good ; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. 41 Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good , and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul
Jeremiah 33:3
3 Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things , which thou knowest not.
Note that at the time the book of Jeremiah was penned Gods will concerning and about the house of Israel and the house of Judah was not yet fully revealed. There were Prophets yet to come, Like Paul. More spiritual truth to
be made known. This Paul did as recorded in Romans.
In these Old Testament quotes the prophet is speaking to
"the house of Israel and the house of Judah" people who
were the descendants of Abraham. These were the individuals
making up the race called Jews at the time Romans was
written.
It is important to understand how the races of earth are
referred to according to biblical use.
In the New Testament the major classes are simple and
number only three. To illustrate:
1 Cor 10:31,32
31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32 Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God,
This covers everybody. All people are seen as belonging
to one of these three classes, Jew, Gentile, Church of God.
Jeremiah spoke of the new covenant God would establish with
the Jews. A new gospel for the Jews, but what about the rest
of the people ?
Isaiah 42:1-7
"Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. 2 He will not cry out, nor raise His voice, Nor cause His voice to be heard in the street. 3 A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth. 4 He will not fail nor be discouraged, Till He has established justice in the earth; And the coastlands shall wait for His law." 5 Thus says God the Lord, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, Who gives breath to the people on it, And spirit to those who walk on it: 6 "I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness, And will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the Gentiles, 7 To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the prison, Those who sit in darkness from the prison house.
The servant spoken of here is Jesus Christ. After the earthy ministry of Jesus Christ the new covenant was spoken by the apostles God sent to the Jews and
the Gentiles. Among the Jews and Gentiles some choose to
believe the words spoken, the good news, the gospel, these
people become what is called in the New Testament the
Church of God. This was a new event. This group did not
exist until after the arrival and subsequent ascension of
Jesus Christ. The new body was formed from the descendants of
Israel the Jews and the other descendants of Adam making up
the other nations. This new body started in Pauls time is one
in the same as the body of Christ as it is seen in Gods eyes
today. The same rules still apply that made a person a
Christian under the teaching of Paul right up to our present
day and will continue to apply until the next coming of Jesus
Christ.
Romans 1:16 contains a phrase confusing to many people.
Romans 1:16
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
The difficult part is "to the Jew first" This on the
surface does not harmonize with statements found other places
in the bible. Just a Chapter over in Romans we read "there is
no respect of persons with God" this truth is repeated again
in the book of Ephesians and made a third time in Colossians.
How does this line up ? How can God not be a respecter of
persons yet the gospel the power of God, the message of
salvation is to the Jew first ?
As best I understand this textual difficulty, the gospel is
first "to the Jews" in two ways.
One, historically. They were the first to hear the good
news being revealed on the day of Pentecost chronicled in
Acts chapter 2. This was the birthday of the new body and it
was to the Jews assembled for the yearly Pentecost
celebration that Peter first declared this great promise to:
Acts 2:38.39
38 Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call."
The Jews were first in time to hear the gospel. It was
first spoken to them then as time move forward the truth of
the new covenant moved out from Jerusalem to the other
nations.
Secondly, in comprehension. Major portions of the Old
Testament teachings foretold of the coming Messiah. Many
parts of the Old Testament ritual were designed as images
supporting the coming of the Messiah, the redeemer, the
Christ. With this background the true believers of Israel
were to be expecting the good news and were lettered in the
basic need for a Savior to come, live the sinless life, and
be the final passover sacrifice. To the Jews the new covenant
was to be an extension of traditions they were raised around.
The Gentiles had to start afresh. Therefore comprehension
concerning the work of the redeemer would come to them second
to a Jewish body exposed to the same teaching, simply as a
result of how the learning process behaves.
Both Groups as they grew to accept the gospel would
by nature do what Paul did as mentioned in Romans 1:1
They became separated unto the gospel of God then they made
up the members of the church of God. In this separation they
share equal and complete salvation. Thus God is no respecter
of persons. The scriptures always harmonize when rightly
divided and correctly understood.
Isaiah 62:1-3
1 For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace , and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest , until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth . 2 And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name , which the mouth of the LORD shall name. 3 Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God
Gods view, His vision for his great creation has yet to
be realized on earth.
Why ? Too many people are doing too many things wrong.
To set us straight God sent His prophets, His son, and His
Apostles, and His written word. In the short 16 Chapters of
the book of Romans we are told what to do so that we all are
on the proper course. Romans is written for people who have
hearts As did the prophet David.
Psalm 16:
1 Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust . 2 O my soul, thou hast said unto the LORD, Thou art my Lord: my goodness extendeth not to thee; 3 But to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight. 4 Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer , nor take up their names into my lips. 5 The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot. 6 The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage. 7 I will bless the LORD, who hath given me counsel : my reins also instruct me in the night seasons. 8 I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved . 9 Therefore my heart is glad , and my glory rejoiceth : my flesh also shall rest in hope. 10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. 11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
In Romans 1:3 Paul a man once rooted in tradition, a
scholar confidant in his positions who spoke of and expounded
the meanings and relevance within the Old Testament is
inspired by God, and the apostle tells of us the most
vital subject to centralize upon.
Romans 1:3
3 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;
Why is Jesus Christ the focal point ? Read verse 4
Romans 1:4
4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:
Now we are down to the hard part for a lot of people
and rightly so. Resurrection from the dead ? Where is your
proof and so on.
There is concrete proof of the resurrection of Jesus
Christ. It is shown by the power that is in the gospel to
change lives. When people act on the word of God situations
change for the better as promised in the word of God. Such
events can only take place as a result of the resurrection of
Gods son from the dead. When the church began to grow the
many of the original members of that body gave wittiness to the
resurrection of Christ by the lives they lived. There was
something different about them. Something better that the
unbelieving community could see and then desired to have. The
committed church members walked in love.
They had uplifted hearts full of hope.
They had answers to fill the needs of the spiritually hungry.
They had the ability to change lives.
People saw and still see the power to change the world
that comes from the influence of the believers who know
of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
If you doubt that the resurrection of Jesus took place
take a look around. The evidence of Jesus Christ having been
raised from the dead is readily found. Talk to the people who
know it has happened. They are your friends. Let each of them
explain to you why they believe it happened. The words of any
living soul who believes in the resurrection will provide a
better testimony than any that I could write.
Verses 5 and 6 continue to explain what the called
believers have received as a result of Gods loving
workmanship completed by the free will and faith of His son
Jesus Christ.
Romans 1:5,6
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:
A teacher of the Word of God is never responsible for what students done with what he teaches, his liability is limited to teach what he knows, the best that he knows. All who were in The Way We are responsible for that we learned there, we cannot make responsible to Dr. Wierwille, Martindale or Rivenbark. We are bless to see that many Ex Way, continue moving with God, putting into practice what they have learned, we are saddened also to see others who do nothing, have not broken the past anchors. Bitterness hurts and does more damage to the vessel that contains that to the cause of bitterness. God told us that where two or more gathered in His name there is Him. Is so easy to be a Christian: you met in your house with your husband or wife, your children, share the doctrine of the Apostles, have communion, share the bread and pray together, if you invite a neighbor, you are a Minister of reconciliation and an Ambassador for Christ, you can give good account of your stewardship. When Christ returns, we will ask for account of our Ministry and our Embassy, are you going to say that we were not Ministers or ambassadors because Dr. Wierwille died?, or Martindale or Rivenbark treated us badly do, or not treated us as I expected?, or because I'm tired and old, with grandchildren? You know that these are not the answers. We love you, The Cabrera’s, Venezuela.
Our recent community garage sale sent me to my attic to ask myself again "Why do I still have that?" I have always used garage sales to purge stuff I no longer need.
This year I saw something in the corner of my attic that I put together some 30 years ago. It was my Mal-Pak survival kit. Around 1982 we were led to believe the end of our country was near. There was going to be an inevitable collapse of everything. The best plan was to head to the wilderness and live off the land when (not if) things collapsed. This was before the internet and cell phones. The advice was to become expert at survival techniques, move out to some remote area and fend for yourself if not defend yourself. What's not shown in the picture are my gun and bullets.
It was a scary time, not because of the condition of our country. It was scary because of what we were being told was coming.
The months and years rolled by and so did everyday life. Nothing happened. In fact our country experienced great prosperity and economic growth unlike we have seen since. Meanwhile my Mal Pak collected dust in the attic.
Turns out the best advice would have been to invest in America and buy stocks of little known or smaller companies at the time like Wal Mart, McDonalds, Apple and Microsoft among dozens of others. (Glad I did later.) The more conspiratorial among us could have even hoarded gold and not done too bad.
I feel we are at another turning point in this great country and that good times are ahead. Though some may disagree and say to "head for the hills", I am looking forward to seeing what God will do for us in the next 30 years.
