Classic Christianity – Book of Romans P35 (01-28-19)
Synopsis
So often when people grow up in a church background, error is being taught. There are those teachings that keep us bound under law, by the mixing of law and grace, preventing people from walking freely in the new life God has given to those who have believed. Then there are those teachings that are serious doctrinal error. Many a person has walked down an aisle to receive forgiveness of sins, for that is what they have been taught. So the doctrine of salvation is taught in error.
Salvation is not getting your sins forgiven and that is it. Romans 5:10 and Ephesians 1:7 are key verses that, understood in context, explain this more clearly what Jesus accomplished for us, in what salvation is. When you were His enemies, lost, you were reconciled. How? By his death on a cross. How was what provided for then, at the cross, received? In Him. In Him, you have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Salvation is the receiving the life of Christ Jesus. The cross without the resurrection is meaningless, for the apostle Paul spoke to the Corinthians, that without the resurrection you are to be pitied of all men, and are still dead in your sins (1 Corinthians 15:17-20). If Jesus did not come to shed his blood on the cross, then the cause of our death, which is sin, would not have been taken away. And if sin is not taken away, and a law could have been given to impart life, then the next time you sinned, you would die again. Furthermore, if a law could have been given to impart life, then Jesus came for nothing (Galatians 3:21).
That is why the death of Christ Jesus was a necessary preparation for life to be given. Jesus, being God in the flesh, having eternal life in his name (John 17:3), is the only one who has life to give to fallen mankind (Acts 4:12). He is the only one who had a life to lay down, and the only one who had no sin of his own, so he could be raised again in order for the life that raised him from the dead would raise you and me from the dead. It is not how bad you are, but how dead you are. If you are dead, you need one thing, and that is life. Forgiveness does not bring life. Life brings life.
There is a teaching among Reformed theology, this teaching of Calvinism, and none dare call it heresy. But that is what it is. The reason this teaching came about is because people thought salvation is getting sins forgiven. When you know Jesus died for the sins of the entire world, two conclusions can be drawn based on this false premise. Either you believe in universal salvation, that everyone is saved, including Hitler and Stalin, or you come up with an explanation of how some people are saved and others are not. So by incorrectly believing that salvation is getting sins forgiven, people have come up with the idea that God chose some people, before you were born, to be of the elect, those predetermined to be saved, and those who are destined for hell. In both cases, universal salvation or this Reformed theology, both are heretical teaching.
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In Romans 8 is where Paul uses the word “election”. By studying scripture in its context, Paul is addressing the Jew and the Gentile, both predetermined in the heart of God to be saved the same way, by faith in the one who has now come, Jesus, and who did what he did. By looking also into Ephesians, this is more fully understood what Paul was saying. The word “also” as in also justified, is referring to the Gentile also being justified. How are people justified? By faith in the one who justifies the ungodly. As we have studied already, in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed – a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” (Romans 1:17)
Transcript
Let us turn now to the book of Romans in chapter 8. We come to an interesting place in the book of Romans, that also ties into the book of Ephesians, as it deals with choosing, predestination, and election, and all those things that have been perverted in regard to the true meaning of the word of God.
Let us back up a moment. God only made three types of people from His vantage point, the Jew, the Gentile, and the Ekklesia, called the church, which is made up of the born again Jews and the born again Gentiles. Those are the only three types of people. We need to keep that in mind. It is not about all the different races. From God’s vantage point, you are either a Jew or a Gentile, or you have become a part of this marvelous church He called Ekklesia. That is not the Baptist, the Methodist or Catholic. That is the born again people. That is Jesus church, born again people. In this congregation, those who are born again are His church. If you are not born again, and we had pews, you would be a pew sitter.
I was a pew sitter for 36 years. I was not a part of the body of Christ. I did not become a part of the body of Christ until the day I was indwelt by the Holy Spirit, placed into his body, baptized by the Holy Spirit into His body. The same is true with you, when you came to the point in your life where you came to accept the provision of God for you, when you recognized you were a sinner, that those sins had been forgiven, taken away, in order for eternal life to be given to you, and that this life is in His Son.
Romans 5:10
10 For if, while 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!
That is why Paul said that without the resurrection, we are to be pitied of all men, and are still in our sins, knowing full well there was a cross, and that cross has no meaning to it apart from the resurrection.
1 Corinthians 15:18-20
18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
The cross is the divine action to bring life to the dead. It is not how bad you are, but how dead you are. If you are dead, you need one thing, and that is life. Forgiveness does not bring life. Life brings life.
Colossians 1:20 (TLB)
20 It was through what his Son did that God cleared a path for everything to come to him – all things in heaven and on earth – for Christ’s death on the cross has made peace with God for all by his blood.
Forgiveness cleared the deck so you could have eternal life. The only thing that could cause you to lose your life is sin.
Romans 5:12
12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned
The reason that this is an impossibility, to die again from sin, is because he took sin away eternally, the cause of spiritual death. That is why you have life eternal (1 John 5:12). That is why we know he will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). That is why you have eternal life that could never be lost (Hebrews 10:17). It is all of Him and none of us (Acts 4:12).
Hebrews 13:5
God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
Hebrews 10:17
17 Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.”
1 John 5:12
12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
Acts 4:12
12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
Now, we pick up in verse 28.
Romans 8:28-30
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
People will get the wrong idea on this. They think that all things will just work together for good. He cannot make good out of bad. What is bad is bad and what is good is good. But He will cause all things to work together for your good, for those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose. That is why you can go through, many times, terrible trials and tribulations for periods of life in despair, but if you keep trusting Jesus, He has promised something. I will cause that to work together for your good.
How does it cause that to work together for good? Because you learned something.
Romans 5:3-5
3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
When you go through trials and tribulations of life, where there is nothing you can count on except Him, then that is where you need to be. Dr. Criswell said to me once, “Whenever you find yourself flat on your face with no place to look, that is the most blessed place you will ever find in your life”. Many times that is exactly true because we have only one place to look and that is to Christ Jesus.
2 Corinthians 12:9-10
9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
That is why the apostle Paul said to rejoice in your weakness. Often people say, “be strong for Jesus”. No, rejoice in your weakness. No one is strong for Jesus. We just think we are. Why would you rejoice in your weakness? When you recognize how totally weak you are, that is what keeps you totally dependent on the strong. That is why you rejoice in your weakness instead of thinking how strong you are, thinking of how big the faith you have. I do not have big faith. I have a big God.
Matthew 17:20
20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Have you moved any one of those mountains recently? You cannot even move an ant hill. It shows us we do not have big faith. We just have a big God. People keep talking about how much big faith we have. When Jesus said if you had a faith the size of a mustard seed, you can move a mountain. Should that tell us something? We do not have big faith. We have a big God.
Now, He says He will cause all things to work together for good. He may not do that overnight. We live in a day of instant coffee and instant results. God is saying, in essence, “No, in my timing, I will cause all things to work together for your good. I do no care what you have done or what you have been through, I will cause it to happen for your good.”
We get thousands of letters from prisoners who have listened to our radio program behind bars. The radio program is not stopped by the bars. The people will write. Ed Hecht, our ministry counselor, will answer those letters. “I came into prison lost and now I am alive in Jesus.” “Now I am more free behind bars than most people outside bars.” “I found out what it means to be free in Christ Jesus.” He will cause that experience to work together for your good if you let Him. The good that is worked out is getting close to Jesus. Anything that draws us close to the heart of God turns out to be the greatest experience we will ever have. He says that is a promise. “I will cause all things to work together for good of those who love Me, who have been called according to My purpose.”
Who are called according to His purpose? The Jews called themselves God’s chosen people. We will delve into that in later chapters. Paul answered the question, of why are you chosen?
Romans 9:1-5
1 I speak the truth in Christ – I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit – 2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, 4 the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. 5 Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.
You were the chosen bloodline, where Messiah comes through David. You were chosen to receive the laws. You were the only people on the face of the earth that were presenting the one true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as known by the Jews. If you go to Corinth, you will find the Bema seat. Now they excavated and found the star of David. That means the temple was right there next to the Bema seat, as the only voice on the face of the earth that was proclaiming the one true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to the Jew, that was later on identified by Jesus, as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. They did not know who God was. To them who do you believe, it is “I believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob”. Jesus came to explain who that God is, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, the Triune God known today.
So we see those chosen people were the Jews through whom the Messiah was going to come. A lot of times people stop there. Those were the chosen people through whom the Messiah was going to come. But who are His chosen people, for Paul said, “not all from Israel are Israel”.
Romans 9:6-7
6 It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. 7 Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”
God’s chosen people are those who come to Him by faith.
Romans 1:17
17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed – a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
They are the ones who come to the point in life saying “I can’t but He can”, and turned to Him for salvation through faith. Those are God’s chosen people. And of those He chose, He predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ Jesus.
Romans 8:29
29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
Each and ever one of us who are in Christ Jesus will be conformed to the image of Christ. The final act of being conformed to the image of Christ will occur when you die. So do not be too anxious for that to happen. When it will happen is the day we will see Him as He is and become like Him. That is our destiny. That is something we know is going to take place.
1 John 3:1-3
1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
Now, in verse 29, that we might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. What is he talking about?
Romans 8:30
30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
Now folks, is this just an addition? Here is where people have gone off. We look at that and say, “yes, they were predestined to be conformed and they were also called, and they were also”, as if being added on top of that.
If you go to Romans 5, it does not say we also have peace with God.
Romans 5:1
1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Romans 5:9-10
9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God”s wrath through him! 10 For if, while 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!
It does not say how much more we will also be saved from God’s wrath. It does not say you have this and then you also have this. So what is he talking about here? He is talking about the Jew and the Gentile. When saying, “For those God foreknew”, who did he foreknow? The Gentile. He foreknew that the Jew was going to come to Christ by faith, and in his election, he also knew that the Gentiles were to come to Christ by faith.
Again, we have this huge doctrine that is out there in Reform theology, because they do not understand. I have to say that they do not understand that salvation is by his resurrection, not his cross. They know that God was in Christ reconciling the whole world unto himself not counting their sins against them.
2 Corinthians 5:19
19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.
There are only two things you can do with that. You can conclude, “Everyone is going to be saved” and there are people into that now. That everyone is going to be saved, Hitler and Sodom is utter nonsense. Even the Reformed say that cannot be. The Reformed, therefore, conclude “It also cannot be that all people’s sins are going to be forgiven. If that is the case, then that is universal salvation”. So then, they came to conclude that He must have justified to save the elect. That is how that theology came up. In that theology, it is like saying, “He chose you, Penny, but He did not choose you.”
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So now we have a God who has condemned, by His own choice, people to hell, and is therefore also blessed somebody to heaven. What love is that? That is the kind of God they have. I do not want a God like that! Why did they do that? Because of a misunderstanding of what salvation is. If you look at salvation as the cross, then you have to conclude that is universal salvation. He not only died for our sins but the sins of the whole world. If that is what salvation is, getting sins forgiven, then how can you conclude anything except he died for the sins of the whole world and everyone is saved. But that is not salvation, getting sins forgiven.
Romans 5:10
10 For if, while 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!
That happened for the whole world. Saved by his what? His life.
Ephesians 1:7
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace
In Him, you have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Where is this forgiveness, that was provided for the whole world, received? In Him. If someone came to you, and said, “I put a million bucks in the bank account and if you spend it, it will be replenished.” “You are kidding me.” “No, it is there.” “Where do I go get it?” “In the bank.” “I do not like the bank. I like Seven Eleven.” “Sorry, the money is not in the Seven Eleven, and there are no ATMs. The money is in the bank.” “Well, I do not want to go to the bank.” “Then you will die a pauper.”
What is provided for, you are not going to where it is received. So you will die a pauper. If I do not go to the bank, I will die a pauper. Why? Because I am too stupid to go to the bank. He said the money is in the bank.
Salvation is in Jesus. It is not in Mohammad or Buddha. Salvation is in Jesus. It is in His resurrected life. He came that you might have life. What do you need life for? Because you are dead.
John 10:10
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
John 11:24-26
24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life”. What do you need life for? Because you are dead.
1 John 5:10-12
10 Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. 11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
What does it mean when you do not have life? You are dead. Why do we not understand this? So many church leaders are streaming people down aisles to get forgiveness. You were already forgiven before you were even born. But that forgiveness is only received in Him. That is why He says, “come to me for life”.
Matthew 11:28
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
“I will give you what? Me, Jesus.” We ignore that. We have gotten to the point we ignored it so long that we accept it as okay theology of “Come to Jesus and get your sins forgiven”. That is not salvation. You cannot get salvation by coming to Jesus only for forgiveness. You come to Jesus to get life, and in that life you have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Where did you get redeemed, by coming to Jesus for redemption? No, you came to Jesus. When you come to Jesus, what did you get? Redemption. What else did you get? Forgiveness of sins. How did you get it? By going to the bank. And we are sending people to Seven Eleven and saying “you can get Jesus over there.”
This is not a minor issue. Nor was it a minor issue to the apostle Paul, for the apostle Paul to make the statement like he did.
1 Corinthians 15:17
17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.
Without the resurrection, we are to be pitied of all people and are still in our sins. He is telling you exactly where salvation is to be found, and that is in Him, in His resurrected life. That life that raised him from the dead came to raise you and me from the dead. I was born dead. When I came to Jesus, I came alive. When I came alive, I received what he came to give me, redemption and the forgiveness of sins. That is the good news of gospel. It is not how bad you are but how dead you are.
Yet, so many people are pointing fingers at other people, saying that if you keep on sinning you will go to hell, and that is a lie. You will go to hell when you refuse the life of Jesus. When you refuse the life of Jesus, you will remain dead. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me though he were dead yet shall he live and whosoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
So he is talking about the Jew and the Gentile.
Romans 8:29
29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son
Who is he talking about? The Gentile. The Jews have been predestined for this. The Gentile too have been predestined. This book was written to the Romans, the Gentiles, who were considerd second rate by the Jews. Now, we got the gospel and the Gentiles got so proud in that they got the gospel. Paul deals with that in the next chapter.
Romans 8:29
that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
He will be firstborn among many brothers, Jewish and Gentile brothers, the whole group.
Romans 8:30
30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
Who did he also justify? The Gentiles. Are we together? We are not adding to what he did. The Jew was justified. You too, Gentile, were also justified. The Jews were called. You too were called. The Jew had been glorified. You too also are glorified.
Now, before we go further, let us go back to the book of Ephesians.
Ephesians 1:4
4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.
Who did he choose? Anyone who came to him by faith has been chosen to be holy and blameless in his sight.
Hebrews 10:14
14 For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
You have been made holy by the blood of Christ. That was in His mind, predestined before the foundation of the world, that all who come to him, would be made holy and blameless in his sight.
1 Peter 1:18-21
18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.
Ephesians 1:5-9
1 In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will – 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he made known to us
Here again, he had to make known to the Jew this mystery, a Mysterion. I am not talking about Perry Mason (a popular television series, 1957 – 1966, solving a crime mystery). This is a mystery held in the heart of God, unknown to man, and revealed to man when God chose to reveal it. So he made known to us, the Jews, this mystery.
Ephesians 1:9-10
the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment – to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.
The Jew and the Gentile both are under one head, Christ.
Ephesians 1:11
11 In him we were also chosen,
Who is the also chosen? The Gentiles.
Ephesians 1:11
having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,
He is telling them that he is bringing both of them, Jew and Gentile, together. For what purpose?
Ephesians 1:12
12 in order that we, who were the first [Jew] to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13 And you also [Gentile] were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of his glory.
Is that good news? So he goes ahead.
Ephesians 2:11-13
11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands) – 12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now
Who is he walking to here? The Gentile.
Ephesians 2:11-13
in Christ Jesus you who once were far away [Gentile] have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Ephesians 2:14
14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups [Jew and Gentile] one [Ekklesia]
2 Corinthians 5:17
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
Ephesians 2:14
and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility,
What is the dividing wall of hostility? He is going to tell us.
Ephesians 2:15
15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations.
What does he call the law, with its rules and regulations? The wall of hostility. The Jews said we have the law. The Gentiles were never given the law. We just went over to the Jew and stole the law. The Gentile says, “You did not do very well obeying the law. So just watch my smoke”. God never gave the law to the Gentile. There was a wall of hostility. He abolished the law by nailing it to a cross. The law has been fulfilled, where God says to us, “You can’t and I did“. In so doing, what was his purpose?
Ephesians 2:15-16
His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them [Jew and Gentile] to God through the cross,
So what was accomplished through the cross? Reconciliation. What does God no longer count against Him? Sins.
2 Corinthians 5:19
19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.
Ephesians 2:16-22
by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away [Gentile] and peace to those who were near [Jew]. 18 For through him we both [Jew and Gentile] have access to the Father by one Spirit.19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
Is this good news?
