Health, Food and Life

Finding Hope in Romans

Des describes Romans 3 as “the greatest court case in the world”, as Paul’s letter to the Romans is laid out like a lawyer’s brief. The whole world is arraigned, and Paul is the counsel for the prosecution.
So, spelling out the key accusations under consideration:

  • Consider all the people who hate the idea of God: they’re lost. [Romans 1]
  • Consider all those who claim to belong to God, but whose claim is hypocrisy: they’re lost. [Romans 2]
  • The world in general: none that do good, none that seek after God. They’re lost. [Romans 3]
  • We’re worse than we think. We’re all lost. None of us obey the law of God. The law only serves to make it clear to us we are sinners.
  • But Now…

Run, John, run, the law commands
But gives us neither feet nor hands,

Far better news the gospel brings:
It bids us fly and gives us wings
.

Point to remember: We are far worse than we ever suspected, but God is far more loving than we dared hope. Our salvation is God’s New Covenant through the Gospel: God will acquit us, declare us not guilty if we trust in Jesus.

At thirteen minutes into the talk, Des defines Roman 3:22 onwards as the most important verses of the Bible (the “acropolis of the Christian faith”), because they are about the meaning of the cross. If you understand the cross, you understand Christ… and you understand the Bible. If you don’t understand the cross, you don’t understand Christ… and you don’t understand the Scriptures.

It’s about righteousness, without which none of us can be saved. And no matter how hard we try, we can only at best achieve a partial, apparent righteousness, which is never going to be good enough: it has to be 100%, perfect righteousness. Nothing else will do. Paul said:
“For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.” Galatians 2:19-21
Paul gave up the Law as a method… not as a standard. The Law is just, be we can never keep it: it will constantly point out our sinfulness, our impure nature.

As I listened to these words, over time I found everything in life has changed. Accepting the Gospel changes everything. It changes prayer, it changes priorities, it eliminates fear of the future, changes perspective on hope and aspirations… everything. Mostly, it offers hope, hope I never had. Because, it’s not in some nebulous, uncertain future that all this plays out: no, it is NOW. Right this very minute, the relationship changes with “Our Father Who Is In Heaven”.

There is much more to say… MUCH more. The whole concept of God the Father as some stern, unyielding tyrant is gone: God Is Love now means just that. God wants to save us infinitely more than we want to be saved. He willingly washes our tiny spark of filthy sinfulness in His ocean of Love and Forgiveness when we fix our eyes and our hearts on the Man on the Cross. This imputed righteousness God gives us is, as Paul says in Romans 5, a FREE GIFT from God. Well, gifts are usually free, aren’t they? but God knows we’re blind and stupid, and so He makes the point abundantly, redundantly clear.