ROMANS ROAD
to RIGHTEOUSNESS |
Romans
1:18-3:20
|
Romans
3:21-5:21 |
Romans
6:1-8:39 |
Romans
9:1-11:36 |
Romans
12:1-16:27 |
|
SIN
|
SALVATION
|
SANCTIFICATION |
SOVEREIGNTY |
SERVICE |
NEED
FOR
SALVATION |
WAY
OF
SALVATION |
LIFE
OF
SALVATION |
SCOPE
OF
SALVATION |
SERVICE
OF
SALVATION |
God's Holiness
In
Condemning
Sin |
God's Grace
In
Justifying
Sinners |
God's Power
In
Sanctifying
Believers |
God's Sovereignty
In
Saving
Jew and Gentile |
Gods Glory
The
Object of
Service |
Deadliness
of Sin |
Design
of Grace |
Demonstration of
Salvation |
|
Power Given
|
Promises Fulfilled |
Paths Pursued |
Righteousness
Needed |
Righteousness
Credited |
Righteousness
Demonstrated |
Righteousness
Restored to Israel |
Righteousness
Applied |
God's Righteousness
IN LAW |
God's Righteousness
IMPUTED |
God's Righteousness
OBEYED |
God's Righteousness
IN ELECTION |
God's Righteousness
DISPLAYED |
|
Slaves to Sin |
Slaves to God |
Slaves Serving God |
|
Doctrine |
Duty |
|
Life by Faith |
Service by Faith |
|
Modified from Irving
L. Jensen's excellent work "Jensen's
Survey of the NT" |
AND, ALTHOUGH
THEY KNOW THE ORDINANCE OF GOD: hoitines to
dikaioma tou theou epignontes (AAPMPN):
(18,21;
2:1-5,21-23)
"Know"
(1921)
(epiginosko from epí = upon, gives force of “fully” +
ginosko = to know) means to know fully, to become thoroughly
acquainted with or to know thoroughly. Epiginosko means to
possess more or less definite information about, and can imply a degree
of thoroughness or competence and so to know definitely about.
Epiginosko denotes the clear discernment which men had of God's
regulations of "right and wrong".
Why did they know "beyond a shadow of
a doubt"? Paul explained...
that which is known about
God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them...so
that they are without excuse...they knew God, they did not honor
Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their
speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. (see exposition of
Romans 1:21ff)
For when Gentiles who do not
have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having
the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the
Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness, and
their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, (Romans
2:14-15)
Aorist tense
indicates that they had been effectively made aware of
God's "ordinance."
These men have
a full experiential knowledge not only that the things they practice are
wrong but also that they themselves are deserving of death. They know
this is God’s verdict, however much they seek to rationalize or legalize
these sins. But this does not deter them from indulging in these forms
of ungodliness. In fact they unite with others to promote them, and feel
a sense of camaraderie with their partners-in-sin.
John Piper notes that...
This is an astonishing
affirmation about human nature. Everybody has knowledge of God and the
moral law of God, whether they have seen a Bible or not, or whether they
live in America or in an undiscovered people group of Irian Jaya...The
second observation is that this knowledge means people are without
excuse before God not only because of the way they treat God, but also
because of the way they treat each other. (Romans
1:28-32
Doing and Endorsing Evil)
Haldane writes that...
This the heathens knew, from the
work of the law written in their hearts. Although they had almost
entirely stifled in themselves the dictates of conscience, it did not
cease, in some measure, to remonstrate against the unworthiness of their
conduct, and to threaten the wrath of God, which their sins deserved.
They recognized it by some remains they had of right notions of the
Godhead (Editorial note: One example is the worldwide existence of the
remnants of covenant - see H Clay Trumbull's fascinating work "The Blood
Covenant" the second edition published in 1885) and by which they still
understood that God was judge of the world; and this was confirmed to
them by examples of Divine vengeance which sometimes passed before their
eyes. They knew it even by the false ideas of the superstition in which
they were plunged, which required them to seek for expiations. That they
knew it in a measure is evident by their laws, which awarded punishments
to some of those vices of which they were guilty. (Haldane, R. An
Exposition of Romans.)
Albert Barnes writing about their knowledge of God's ordinance
says that this is substantiated by the secular writings...
Livy says of the age of
Augustus, in some respects the brightest period of the Roman history,
"Rome has increased by her virtues until now, when we can neither bear
our vices nor their remedy." (Preface to his History.) Seneca, one of
the purest moralists of Rome, who died A. D. 65, says of his own time,
"All is full of criminality and vice; indeed much more of these
is committed than can be remedied by force. A monstrous contest of
abandoned wickedness is carried on. The lust of sin increases daily; and
shame is daily more and more extinguished. Discarding respect for all
that is good and sacred, lust rushes on wherever it will. Vice no longer
hides itself. It stalks forth before all eyes. So public has abandoned
wickedness become, and so openly does it flame up in the minds of all,
that innocence is no longer seldom, but has wholly ceased to exist,"
Seneca de Ira, ii. 8. Further authorities of this kind could be easily
given, but these will show that the apostle Paul did not speak at random
when he charged them with these enormous crimes. (Romans
1)
Ordinance
(1345)
(dikaioma from dikaióo = to justify <> díkaios =
just, righteous <> dike = right) refers to what God has declared to be right
and here referring to His decree of
retribution which has the force of law. Dikaioma is used elsewhere in this Epistle
with its other meaning of
“righteousness” (see table below). Strictly speaking
dikaioma is what God establishes as just.
Dikaioma is found 10 times in
the NT (Luke;
Romans 5x;
Hebrews 2x;
Revelation 2x)
and is translated as -
act of righteousness, 1; justification, 1; ordinance, 1; regulations, 2;
requirement, 1; requirements, 2; righteous acts, 2 (NASB)
In simple terms, as used here by Paul
dikaioma is God’s declaration about what is right and just.
Kenneth Wuest writes that
dikaioma is
Primarily that which is deemed right,
so as to have the force of law; hence an ordinance.
(Wuest,
K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Eerdmans
or
Logos)
Paul's point in this verse is that
these men with depraved minds were aware of God's regulations for right
living and had an innate knowledge that the things they were doing
were wrong and deserving of His retribution. Simply put they knew they
were doing wrong and justly deserving of punishment but they simply
don't care!
Godet writes that because of
God's workings men had ..
"moral light...produced in them as
well as religious light (see Romans 1:21). The words following indicate
the contents of that sentence which God had taken care to engrave on
their heart. What appeals to God's justice do we not find in the
writings of Gentile historians and philosophers! What a description in
their poets of the punishment inflicted on malefactors in Tartarus!"
(Godet, F: The Epistle of St Paul to the Romans)
Vine writes that dikaioma
refers to...
what God has declared to be right
(dikaioma), here referring to His decree of retribution. The relative
pronoun “who,” as in verse 25, suggests that what is now to be stated
concerning the sinners mentioned is the cause of the evils just
enumerated. The evils are the effect of the refusal to accept and follow
what they know to be right. Man’s conscience and experience tell him of
the evil character and effects of impurity and cruelty, and their Divine
condemnation. (Vine,
W. Collected writings of W. E. Vine. Nashville: Thomas Nelson
or
Logos)
Dikaioma has 3 basic meanings
in the NT:
(1) Dikaioma most often refers
to a regulation relating to a just or right action, especially in
reference to God's requirements, ordinances or regulations. In other
words, dikaioma is used to refer to an act which is in accordance
with what God requires. It is an appointment of God having the force of
law.
And they [Zacharias and Elizabeth,
parents of John the Baptist] were both righteous in the sight of God,
walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements
(dikaioma) of the Lord." Luke 1.6
If therefore the uncircumcised man
keeps the requirements (dikaioma) of the Law, will not his
uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? Romans 2:16
For what the Law could not do, weak
as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the
likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in
the flesh, 4 in order that the requirement (dikaioma) of the Law
might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but
according to the Spirit. Romans 8:3-4
Now even the first covenant had
regulations (dikaioma) of divine worship and the earthly sanctuary.
Hebrews 9:1
since they (Jewish gifts and
sacrifices called for under the Old Covenant) relate only to food and
drink and various washings, regulations (dikaioma) for the body
imposed until a time of reformation.
(2) Dikaioma can refer to the
fulfillment of a legal requirement, a righteous deed or an act of
justice, by Christ (Ro 5.18), by God (Rev 15.4) or by saints (Rev 19.8).
So then as through one transgression
there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of
righteousness (dikaioma - here a reference to the Death of Christ,
an act accomplished and consistent with God's character) there resulted
justification of life to all men." Romans 5:18 Here the a righteous act
is that of our Lord Jesus Christ in satisfying the demands of the law
which mankind broke.
"Who will not fear, O Lord, and
glorify Thy name? For Thou alone art holy; For ALL THE NATIONS WILL COME
AND WORSHIP BEFORE THEE, For Thy righteous acts have been
revealed." Rev 15.4
And it was given to her to clothe
herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the
righteous acts of the saints.
(3) Dikaioma is used once to
signify the clearing of someone of a violation as an act of
justification. In this use it equates with the removal of guilt or
granting of an acquittal.
And the gift is not like that which
came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose
from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand
the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in
justification (dikaioma = here refers to a "declaration of
righteousness"). Romans 5.16
THAT THOSE WHO
PRACTICE SUCH THINGS: hoti oi ta toiauta prassontes (PAPMPN):
Practice (4238)
(prasso) means to practice but is distinguished from
poieo which means "to do", because prasso
expresses a course of conduct, whereas the present tense of poieo
expresses a series of repeated acts.
The old adage "practice makes
perfect" gives an ironic twist to this verse. Their practice makes them
perfectly fit for God's righteous judgment!
Prasso is in the
present tense
indicating this is their habitual practice.
ARE WORTHY OF
DEATH: axioi thanatou eisin (3PPAI):
Worthy (514)
(axios)
means weighing as much as, of like
value, worth as much. It means having the weight of another thing and so
being of like value or worth as much. In other words axios has
the root meaning of balancing the scales—what is on one side of the
scale should be equal in weight to what is on the other side. In the
present context these depraved men and women are fully aware of the fact
that when their unrighteous deeds are weighed in the balance, they
warrant only one thing...death, not simply the natural termination of
life, but the execution of the divine penalty upon sin.
Death (2288)
(thanatos from thnesko = to die) refers to physical or
spiritual death. In either event thanatos in the NT is treated
not as a natural process but always as a destroying power related to sin
and its consequences.
In a parallel passage Paul repeats
this thought asking...
Therefore what benefit were you
then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the
outcome of those things is death (see exposition of
Romans 6:21)
Godet comments that
Death...here
denotes death as God only can inflict it, the pains of Hades, which the
Gentiles also recognized, and which Paul, designating things from his
own point of view, calls death. (ibid)
Hodge explains that
death...
"here, as is
frequently the case, means punishment, in the general meaning of that
word. It expresses the penalty of the law and includes all evil
inflicted for the satisfaction of justice. Paul therefore teaches that
the heathen knew they deserved punishment for their crimes, or in other
words, that they were justly exposed to God’s wrath, which was revealed
against all human ungodliness and unrighteousness. In verse 15 of the
following chapter (see exposition of
Romans 2:15) Paul explains the
source of this knowledge. It was a knowledge written in their hearts, as
part of their nature, and it was implied in their being moral agents. As
Paul had already shown that the godlessness of the heathen had no
excuse, since they knew about the true God, so here he shows that their
immorality had no excuse, since they did not sin in ignorance of the
nature or consequences of their sin. This passage also shows that God’s
judicial giving up of mankind does not destroy man’s freedom of choice
or his responsibility. Men give themselves over to do evil, and yet know
that they deserve death for what they do. The stream which carries them
away is not outside but within them. It is their own corrupt nature. It
is themselves." (Hodge, C.: Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans,
1835)
Those who either practice or
approve of these things are worthy of death; they are the worth objects
of the wrath of God. Not simply the natural termination of life, but the
execution of the divine penalty upon sin. This statement is explanatory
of “the ordinance of God.” That ordinance is next stated. It is that
those who do such deeds are worthy of death. The heathen moralists
admitted this. Yet in spite of this knowledge they not only continued in
their vile sins, but took pleasure in them. No deeper degree of
depravity can be found than when men call evil good, and cherish it. The
conclusion, from these facts, is that all such guilty persons are under
condemnation.
THEY NOT ONLY
DO THE SAME: ou monon auta poiousin (3PPAI):
Do (4160)
(poieo) expresses action which is continued and not yet completed
as emphasized by the
present tense.
The same (846)
(monon) means only or alone and with the negative (ou) as in this case
means "not only".
What a description
of this world of sinners, this race alienated from the life of God, —at
enmity with Him, and at strife with one another! But all in a hellish
unity of evil!
Romans 1 gives
ample proof that the heathen are lost. Dan Crawford, British missionary
to Africa, said:
“The heathen are sinning against a flood of light.”
There is a desperate need for us to carry the Gospel to all men, for
this is the only way they can be saved.
BUT ALSO GIVE
HEARTY APPROVAL TO THOSE WHO PRACTICE THEM: alla kai
suneudokousin (3PPAI) tois prassousin (PAPMPD):
(Psalms
50:18;
Hosea 7:3;
Mark 14:10,11)
Give
hearty approval (4909)
(suneudokeo from
sun = together with +
eu = good +
dokéo = think ) literally means to "think well
with", and so to consent or to give hearty approval to something (cf Lu11:48).
It means to join in approval, agree with, approve of, consent to or
sympathize with.
Suneudokeo is used 6 times
in the NT and is translated -- approve, 1; approving, 1; consents,
2; give hearty approval, 1; hearty agreement, 1 (NAS) as shown in the
following verses:
Luke 11:48
"Consequently, you are witnesses and approve the deeds of your
fathers; because it was they who killed them, and you build their tombs.
Acts 8:1
And Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death. And
on that day a great persecution arose against the church in Jerusalem;
and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria,
except the apostles.
Acts 22:20
'And when the blood of Thy witness Stephen was being shed, I also was
standing by approving, and watching out for the cloaks of those
who were slaying him.'
Romans 1:32
and, although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice
such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also
give hearty approval to those who practice them.
1 Corinthians 7:12
But to the rest I say, not the Lord, that if any brother has a wife who
is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, let him not
send her away. 13 And a woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he
consents to live with her, let her not send her husband away.
The idea is that these men and women continually (present
tense)
express a hearty approval of those who continually (present
tense)
practice these nefarious deeds and even take pleasure with them! Such is
the mind given over to depravity & self. Not
only is the voice of a reasonable conscience stifled, but the mind has become
absolutely hardened & callous regarding the moral degradation and ruin of others,
and so naturally takes "wicked" pleasure in their sinfulness.
So their sins are not sins of ignorance, but of blatant rebellion. Where does
all this
violence, immorality, cruelty and degradation come from? Men have
abandoned the true knowledge of God, and the state of society is a
reflection of God's judgment upon them for this In summary in this
section we are confronted with three terrible realities: (1) Men have
complete inner knowledge from God that their ways deserve
and must have Divine condemnation and judgment; (2) they persist in
their practices despite the clear witness of their conscience and (3) they are in a
fellowship of evil with other evil-doers! Paul has painted a picture of
man in desperate, dire straits morally speaking and only the gospel of Jesus
Christ can set men free from the ensnaring bonds of such evil.
The premier example of evil men
giving hearty approval is found in the betrayal of Jesus where we
read that...
Judas Iscariot, who was one of the
twelve, went off to the chief priests, in order to betray Him to them.
And they were glad when they heard this, and promised to give him
money. And he began seeking how to betray Him at an opportune time.
Mark 14:10,11
The psalmist has a similar
accusation writing that...
"When you see a thief, you are
pleased with him (you join with him, you help him), and you
associate with adulterers." Psalms
50:18
Godet has an interesting
comment writing that...
The "not only", "but even" (NAS =
"but also"), rightly assumes that there is more guilt in approving in
cold blood of the evil committed by others, than in committing it
oneself under the force and blindness of passion. Such a mode of acting
is therefore the last stage in the corruption of the moral sense. (Ibid)
John Piper refers to this
section as
Committing Spiritual Suicide and
Taking Others Along... In other words, the end-point of depravity is not
just the suicidal love affair with sin, but the desire to bring others
with you to destruction. It's not just that people choose death for
themselves in the passion of sin, but that they become Dr. Kevorkians (a
medical doctor who advocated "euthanasia") at the spiritual level, and
assist others in eternal self-destruction by approving their sin."!
(Romans
1:28-32
Doing and Endorsing Evil)
Pastor Ray Stedman writes
that...
Knowing that harm is coming from
their wickedness, nevertheless they attempt to spread it more fully.
They invade the field of education; they dominate the media; they seek
legal status for their wickedness and defy all attempts at control. As
you can well recognize, this is what is going on today. (Romans
1:24-32 The Deepening Darkness)
Newell exclaims...
What a description of this world of
sinners, this race alienated from the life of God, at enmity with Him,
and at strife with one another! But all in a hellish unity of evil! (Romans
1)
Haldane explains that their
giving "hearty approval"...
is added to mark the depth of their
corruption. For when men are not entirely abandoned to sin, although
they allow of it in their own circumstances and practice, yet they
condemn it in their general notions, and in the practice of others,
because then it is not connected with their own interest and self–love.
But when human corruption has arrived at its height, men not only
commit sins, but approve of them in those who commit them. While this
was strictly applicable to the whole body of the people, it was
chargeable in the highest degree on the leaders and philosophers, who,
having more light than the others, treated in their schools some of
those things as crimes of which they were not only guilty themselves,
but the commission of which they encouraged by their connivance,
especially in the abominable rites practiced in the worship of their
gods."
And so "By these conclusive proofs
Paul substantiates his charge, in Romans 1:18, against the whole
Gentile world, first of ungodliness, and then of
unrighteousness as its consequence, against which the wrath of God
is revealed.
It is impossible to add anything to
the view here given of the reign of corruption among the heathens; even
the most celebrated and civilized, which is fully attested by their own
historians. Nothing can be more horrible than this representation of
their state; and as the picture is drawn by the Spirit of God, who is
acquainted not only with the outward actions, but with the secret
motives of men, no Christian can suppose that it is exaggerated. The
Apostle, then, had good reason to conclude in the sequel, that
justification by works is impossible, and that in no other way can it be
obtained but by grace. From the whole, we see how terrible to his
posterity have been the consequences of the sin of the first man; and,
on the other hand, how glorious in the plan of redemption is the grace
of God by His Son. (Ibid) (Bolding added)
George Bernard Shaw although not a
believer made the interesting comment (albeit still an aberration of
truth) that...
“No nation has ever survived the loss of its gods (Editorial
correction: The One True Living God!).”
In Romans chapter 1 Paul in fact
has given us a terrible picture of what happens when men deliberately
banish the only true and living God from their reckoning. In due time,
Rome perished. Disaster and degeneracy went hand in hand as they always,
inevitably do when men or women place God far from their minds and
replace Him with so-called "gods" of their own making.
John MacArthur presents an
interesting illustration of man apart from God writing that...
A certain species of ants in Africa
builds its nests in deep subterranean tunnels, where its young and its
queen live. Although they may be great distances from the nest foraging
for food, worker ants of that species are able to sense when the queen
is being molested and they become extremely nervous and uncoordinated.
If she is killed, they become frantic and rush around aimlessly until
they die. What better illustration could there be of fallen man. Even in
his sinful rejection and rebellion, he cannot function properly apart
from God and is destined only for death. (MacArthur, J. Romans. Chicago:
Moody Press)
Pastor Ray Pritchard
(see his entire sermon entitled
"When
God Gives Up")
graphically and poignantly summarizes this section of Paul's
introductory statements writing that...
"We
have now reached the bottom, and it is not a nice place to be. The
bottom is where you are when evil becomes good and good becomes evil. (cf
Isa5:20)
The bottom is where you are when the wrongdoers are publicly praised
while defenders of morality are reviled. The bottom is where you are
when truth is on the scaffold and wrong is on the throne.
The Living
Bible has a striking translation of the first part of this verse:
"They
were fully aware of God’s death penalty for these crimes, yet they went
right ahead and did them anyway."
That, my friends, is the
bottom—when evil is celebrated publicly! At this point you have the
total reversal of values in society. I do not think it unfair to say
that we have essentially reached this point in America. The wrongdoers
have nearly taken control of two key areas of modern society—education
and the media. Now they seek legal status for their iniquity. And they
defy all attempts at control. When a major magazine argues that
homosexuality is "normal" and when a public figure is chastised for
speaking out against it, when the churches are ordaining homosexuals and
those who object are mercilessly vilified, when Baptist ministers rally
in support of a boxing champion convicted of rape, when all those things
are true, what you have is the final loss of public morality. No one
knows the difference between right and wrong because the values of
society have been turned upside down." (Read the 5 uses of the
phrase "right
in his own eyes"!) ...
Let us understand something at this
point. God’s judgment on sin is generally not of the fire and brimstone
variety. That rarely happens. When God wants to judge a community or a
nation, he simply lets sin take its natural course. If we insist on
destroying ourselves, God says,
"OK, go ahead and destroy yourselves.
I won’t stop you."
He simply lets us go our merry way.
The true judgment on the human race is that man has turned away from God
and does not realize it. What is the judgment of God when men turn away
from him? God "gives them up" to their own devices. He lets them follow
their own desires. He doesn’t try to stop their meteoric descent into
the abyss.
God "abandons" the human race by
letting men reap what they sow. Nothing more terrible could ever be
contemplated. When men "abandon" God in their thinking, God "abandons"
them. Why? Because God is a perfect gentleman. He respects the freedom
of the human will. If a man or a woman decides to live without Him, he
says,
"Fine. You can live without me. In
the end, you’ll be sorry. But if that’s your decision, I’ll respect it."
On the evening news, a
commentator’s brief description of Mardi Gras in New Orleans summed up
the spirit of our age. Quoting one young person he said:
“It is sin and degradation, and we love it!”
Hearty approval even though they
know God's ordinances!
Hughes writes that...