For in the gospel a righteousness from 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

When Paul made this bold statement that now, after the death and resurrection of Jesus, a righteousness from God had been revealed, he didn’t mean that it was revealed through his ideas or thoughts. Paul did not make the gospel up! It’s true that he received a divine revelation of Christ, but then, with the knowledge of Christ that came through the Spirit, it enabled him to finally see the truth in the Scriptures – for now he could see Jesus, and to Paul’s amazement, he realised he could find the testimony of the life and accomplishments of Jesus in every Scripture.

The good news of God’s grace, the new covenant and a righteousness by faith had always been testified to, but, without the revelation of Jesus and the full reality of what his death and resurrection accomplished for us, it had always remained a mystery. As Paul said in his letter to the Corinthians:

Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 2 Corinthians 3:12-16

Without the light of Christ, we all continue to read the Old Testament as if it were veiled of it’s true meaning and intention, but now that we are in Christ, that veil has been removed and we can clearly see the story of Jesus and the message of God’s righteousness that is given as a gift, and not earned by our own obedience to a written code, but rather through our acceptance of God’s Son.

When Paul made this bold statement about a righteousness by faith, he backed up his statement by quoting a scripture from the Old Testament; because when Paul looked at the Old Testament he saw the story of Jesus all through it. Jesus himself helped two of his disciples understand this Scriptural reality as he walked along the road to Emmaus with them. Luke records how Jesus opened up their eyes to see him in all the scriptures, starting with Moses and going through all the prophets.

He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. Luke 24:25-27

The truth is that whole bible testifies about Jesus and the grace that comes to us through him. The Scriptures were never given to help mankind understand how to live before God, but rather to reveal, and testify to, the life story of Jesus, his suffering and the grace that would be given to us through his resurrection.

How wonderful to know that God’s intention for the bible was not to give us a rule book, or a life-application-manual, but rather his desire was to give us a testimony to the Life in us, that is Christ in us, our hope of glory! Now, if the testimony is true, and Christ did everything the bible testifies to, and he now lives in us, then we can rest assured that God’s righteousness that comes by faith is already radically alive and active in us. We can rest in the truth of God’s good news, and be assured that God is working powerfully in and through us at the same time. Amen.

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Written by Mick Mooney

For in the gospel a righteousness from 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

When Paul made this bold statement, that now ‘a righteousness from God is revealed’, he didn’t mean that it was revealed through his ideas or thoughts, but rather that it was revealed to us in the Scriptures. It was always there, but mankind could not understand it. God’s good news of ‘a righteousness by faith’ had always been testified to, but, without the revelation of Jesus and the understanding of what his death and resurrection accomplished for us, mankind was always unable to interpret the words of God in light of this way, and so it remained a mystery.

Now, through the light of Christ, we can finally see! As Paul says in his letter to the Corinthians:

Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 2 Corinthians 3:12-16

Without the light of Christ, mankind continues to read the Old Testament as if it were veiled of it’s true meaning and intention, but now that we are in Christ that veil has been removed, and we, who allow the revelation of Jesus to be our guide, can clearly see the story of Jesus and the message of God’s grace throughout all the scriptures.

When Paul made this bold statement about a righteousness by faith, he backed up his statement by quoting a scripture from the Old Testament, because when Paul looked at the Old Testament he saw the story of Jesus all through it. Jesus himself helped two of his disciples understand this scriptural reality as he walked along the road to Emmaus with them. Luke records how Jesus opened up their eyes to see him in all the scriptures, starting with Moses and going through all the prophets.

And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. Luke 24:27

The truth is that whole bible testifies about Jesus and the grace that came to us through him. The Scriptures were never given to help mankind understand how to live before God, but rather to reveal, and testify to, the life story of Jesus, his suffering and the grace that would be given to us through his resurrection.

It is in this gospel that Paul testifies a righteousness from God is revealed; a righteousness by faith. Paul is leading up to explain to the church that righteousness is not revealed in the law (as in, follow these commands and rules and you will be a righteous person), but rather righteousness is revealed in the good news of Jesus Christ, that the law and the prophets all testify to.

Most of the church members in Rome were still holding onto their religious, traditional mindset that the law was God’s revelation of righteousness to mankind; but now Paul was walking them through the understanding of God’s true definition of righteousness.

It is a journey that not only the Roman church needed to take, but all of us need to walk through in order to truly become comfortable with this profound and glorious reality: Following a written code from God does not make one righteous, but rather it is by following the Son of God that makes one righteous! That can only be done by faith, so walk with faith today as you follow Jesus and rejoice that you have been made righteous in him.

It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.1 Corinthians 1:30

Paul expresses in his opening remarks how he was passionate to preach the gospel and see people established in the reality of Christ. He explained that he felt obligated to everyone; whoever was willing to listen to him declare the good news. This was the very thing he desired to do in Rome. Within these opening remarks, Paul makes the following statement regarding the gospel he had spent his life preaching:

I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. Romans 1:16

This is an amazing statement for him to make when you consider that this letter to the Romans was written after a life time of ministry that included the very public Corinthian debaucheries and the Galatians churches rejection of him and his gospel. He went through his whole life preaching Christ and the good news of the new covenant reality; the good news of God’s grace apart from law. He continually served people; humbling himself and coming down under people to where they were at in the hope that they would take hold of this wonderful reality. Paul was not standing proud and pressuring people to accept his theology. To Paul, the gospel was a reality that was outlived in his life as well as his preaching.

It was well known that other preachers felt it their duty to slander the ministry of Paul during these times through pointing out, as evidence of his illegitimacy as an apostle, the churches he founded and the mess they were in.

Perhaps they went about publicly slandering and humiliating Paul with the hope of pressuring him to change his message to include not only the finished work of Jesus, but also the unfinished work of the law. Their slander attempted to expose that his message was wrong; he was wrong, his churches were wrong and he should have been preaching the law to the churches he founded; telling them that they were sinners and they needed to clean up their act!

Yet Paul never buckled to such preachers, rather his attitude was that if anyone had accepted Christ then they were a new creation, the old had gone and the new had come and all this was to the glory of God! Paul refused to preach to the believer’s ‘old self.’ Paul maintained that the old self died with Christ in his death, and every believer had been raised with Christ in his resurrection and made a new creation. In Christ we are all new, and Paul was committed to maintaining this was indeed every Christians reality and preaching from that perspective.

Paul was steadfast in his belief that the new man could not be broken like the old man; believing that Christ in the believer was strong enough to walk out the ‘God life’ in their life, they only needed to put their confidence in him and in the reality that was rightly theirs in him. What broke the old man could not break the new man; the need for the believer wasn’t to hear about their old self, but to hear of the reality of their new self and given confidence to live in it.

Paul’s ministry was discredited. Some simply dismissed him as a fool, some took offence at him, others slandered him as a false teacher. Everything that he did was continually discredited, and yet even at the point of writing his letter to the Romans, even after all the set backs, the failures and the misunderstandings that took place in the churches he founded, he still was preaching the good news of God’s grace apart from law.

It was after all this that he wrote within his letter to the Romans this bold statement that he was not ashamed of the gospel, because Paul knew it was the reality of God. Paul didn’t care how discredited he got, and how many people called him a fool, pointing out his failings or how he wasn’t a trained speaker and often stumbled upon his words. Paul maintained he was not ashamed, because despite his lack, weakness and failings, the gospel message he preached was nonetheless the power of God!

Paul wasn’t ashamed of the gospel, and today we too join Paul as a community of people who are not ashamed of the gospel, because the gospel of God’s grace, apart from law is the power of God! It is the power of God for obedience, righteousness, holiness, wisdom, salvation. What ever you need to be saved from, this gospel is the power that brings that salvation into your life.

It is the gospel that lifts up Jesus and boasts in the glory of who he is, and boasts in the incomparable riches of his grace, and rejoices in him; in his glory, his power and his person. It is the good news that reveals his finished work; that he is powerful enough to fulfil the old covenant, and powerful enough to establish a new covenant. It is the message that testifies to the truth that his sacrifice on the cross and the spilling of his blood was powerful enough to cleanse us perfectly. It is the good news that declares that Jesus is powerful enough to make us new and perfect and whole in him.

Paul was preaching the same message his whole life; the gospel that is truly glorious and gives all credit to God, and when believed upon, caused the ‘Christ life’ to be lived out victoriously in the lives of the believers. Paul didn’t look to his own ministries fruit, or what other people were saying to decide what truth was; he looked to the gospel that God gave him and declared that it was simply the truth, and that is why he preached it.

That too is why we preach it today!

In Paul’s introduction, he both thanked God for the Roman church and comments on how their church was known around the world for their faith. They were evidently a passionate church, but they were clearly still lacking the foundational understanding of living in the grace of God apart from Law. In addressing this issue, it’s worth taking note that Paul didn’t talk anywhere near as harshly to them as he did to the Galatians church.

It is clear that the Roman church misunderstood the fullness of the gospel, but Paul took a very different approach with them than he did with the Galatians church. When Paul talked to the Galatians church, he was much more emotional, he seemed to take their rejection of his gospel much more personally; he was shocked how they had turned from the gospel foundation that he had preached to them and established them in and had turned to another gospel.

The difference between the two churches was that Paul never laid the foundation in Rome; he never taught them the foundational teaching of the good news of God’s grace apart from law. Because of this, Paul didn’t rebuke the church for believing ‘a different’ gospel as he did with the Galatians.

I believe this is an important point to consider for preachers today. We can not be overly critical of other church communities that don’t understand the reality of God’s grace apart from law if they have never been taught it to begin with. If we have not been personally involved in laying the foundation of the gospel in their community, then we can not take offence at their lack of understanding, but rather we can offer our gift as communicators of God’s grace to build the church up and help them see the greater reality of the gospel that is rightly theirs in Christ.

If it is our own church community; the ones that we have been personally involved in preaching the foundational truths in, and we know that they clearly did understand it and embrace it but are now turning away from it to embrace another gospel, then there is a place to be very firm in our approach and correction. However, if it is another local church community, one that we have not laid the foundations in, then we need to encourage them through love, to serve them with a spirit of love and grace to help them embrace the greater reality that is rightly theirs in Christ.

Paul wanted to first acknowledge that the Roman church’s faith had a great reputation and that they were full of faith, but he also wanted to take them on a journey. It is possible that the reason Paul was writing this letter because although the church was full of faith and loved Christ, they still couldn’t grasp how it is possible that they can now be in a new covenant that is completely apart from the law. That, I believe, was their greatest difficulty.

As we discussed earlier, Paul evidently had some personal relationships with some of the leaders within the Roman church community. It was one of these friends who most likely had contacted Paul and explained that many in the church were still clinging to the idea that law the means to be righteous, and that it was the law, and not Christ in them, that caused them to have knowledge and understand truth.

Before Paul jumped into talking about this very topic, he first expressed his heart to the church; he wanted the church to know that he loved them and that he cared deeply for them. Paul explained to them how he not only serves God with all his heart, but he was also constantly thinking about the church in Rome and praying for them; explaining to them that one of his hearts desires was that God would bless him by making the way possible for him to visit them. It’s good to know that God did answer Paul’s prayer, as Paul did end up not only visiting, but staying in Rome for about two years, as we read in the end of the Acts account.

Paul also encouraged the church with his motives for wanting to visit them. He said that he desired to impart a spiritual gift to the church. He went on to explain what that meant to him; he told the church the way he could impart a spiritual gift to them was through being encouraged by their mutual faith. Paul was explaining that when he would come to see them and they would see his faith and that he was living in God’s grace and the hope he had in Jesus, they would be encouraged by that and it would stir their faith and bless them.

Paul was also explaining that it worked both ways; it was a double blessing. What he meant by that was that when he came and saw their faith in Christ, and that they were living in the liberty of Christ and allowing his life in them to be walked out, that is what would encourage Paul in his faith. It is a beautiful reality that encourages all of us when we see one another letting  Christ in us live his life and overflow his grace through our lives. When we see each other letting that be our reality, it encourages us in our spirits greatly!

Paul’s letter to the church in Rome is just as relevant to us as the church today, and we too need to open our hearts to hear what God is saying to us through this letter. When we don’t cling to religious ideas and religious traditions that we have been taught and indoctrinated into, but we lay them aside and open our hearts to listen to what Paul has to say to us regarding our inheritance and new creation life in Christ, then we too can be greatly encouraged.

God certainly wants to speak to us through this letter, just as he originally spoke to the Roman church through it, and help us to accept and live in the fullness of God’s abundant grace and truth.

More to come…

To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 1:7

Paul makes the statement in his opening remarks that the church in Rome was indeed a church community who was loved by God and called to be saints. This, in essence, really is the first experience that happens to all of us when we first unite ourselves with Jesus; we experience this new reality where the Spirit indwells us and we have this newly created spiritual understanding, “I am loved by God.”

In Christ, God also calls us saints because the truth is that anyone who is in Christ is a saint. God not only calls us saints, but he also encourages us that we will outlive the life of a saint. A saint in Christ is not defined in the same manner as the world defines a saint. A saint in the world is someone who excludes themselves from anything they deem to be unholy or indulgent. God’s definition of a saint has nothing to do with what one excludes themselves from and everything to do with whom they have been included in!

A saint to God is simply someone who is in Christ Jesus and allows Christ to live his life through them. You are a saint because you have accepted God’s invitation into the good news and now allow Christ to live his life through you. Not only that, but you also receive the blessedness to actively partake in that life with Christ, for you are one with Jesus! It’s not that Christ now lives in us and we have no active part; not at all, we are very much an active part, it’s just that we realise that the power is coming out of the Christ in us!

The truth is that we united ourselves with Jesus and we became one with him in his death, and we remained united with him in his resurrection. We are now walking and living this life united with Christ. We walk with a revelation that we are one with Jesus and that is why God calls us saints; we are saints of grace! The true mark of saint is one who has an overflow of grace for others, because that is the very heart and nature of God himself.

We benefit from a grace empowered life that shines God’s love and nature, and we can rest knowing that it’s not our power that outworks this life, rather it is Christ’s power; it is Christ in us who lives and that is why we are assured that as we walk, we are walking in a way that is pleasing to God.

Jesus came to give us rest. Jesus gives us the blessedness to rest in God’s presence without fear that we will be judged or condemned for our weaknesses or failings. In Christ, his perfect sacrifice upon the cross was enough to completely cleanse us and make us holy and acceptable to God; it is this wonderful rest that we receive through the grace of Jesus that empowers us to truly live in the obedience and the good news of God.

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:16

It’s also interesting to note that the first statement Paul makes to the Roman church after his brief introduction is the same statement he makes to all the churches he wrote to: that God’s grace and peace is for the church. It seems Paul lived out of a revelation that, as a preacher and a leader in God’s community, he needed to establish the church in their inheritance. That inheritance is that God’s grace and God’s peace is for them.

It does not matter how far wrong you might have gone; God’s grace is for your life. If you are in Christ the old has gone and the new has come and all of this is to the glory of God. When we rest in this reality it gives us the empowerment to actually lives in a way that is pleasing to God, for the way that is pleasing to God is to live with a revelation of the Christ who is in you, and let that grace and that goodness flow out of you.

Living with the revelation of the Christ in us allows us to not be judgemental to others because of their weakness, but rather we can be full of grace for people; we can have grace for them in their weaknesses, just as God has had grace for us. We know that just as grace transformed our lives, when we let that grace flow out of us it can transform the lives of other too!

…more to come…

It’s interesting to note that God actually told Paul at the start of his ministry that preaching the message of God’s grace was going to be a tough task. It seems that Paul was thankful for the privilege of being able to preach it anyway.

Regardless if people rejected the message, and called it foolish, and discredited it, Paul still found that the greatest blessing on his life was simply in the fact that we was given the honour to preach it, live it, and see the results of God’s grace active in his life and the lives of those in the church who also accepted it.

Paul’s problems were not just with the unbelievers; he had as many problems with people in the church as he did with those outside the church. Most likely he didn’t get physically attacked by those inside the church, but his character got attacked and he was constantly discredited. In other letters he recalls to the church how he was often treated like an imposter; a faker. Paul told the church that although other preachers discredited him by saying he’s wasn’t competent to preach about the things of God; he rejoiced anyway, remarking that it’s ok if he doesn’t have the qualifications in the eyes of the world, because God credits him as competent.

Paul lived out of a revelation that he was not competent because he was someone special, or because other preachers commended him, but rather because God made him competent to be a minister of the new covenant by the working of his grace.

Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. 2 Corinthians 3:5-7

Paul received this apostleship; that is the apostleship to preach the gospel as it should be preached; the good news of God’s grace. He also talks about obedience that comes from faith. This is another major point that Paul addresses in this letter. Paul helped the church in Rome understand, and he helps us today to understand, that obedience to God does not come from the law, but it comes from faith; faith in our new creation reality that we have received through the perfect work of Christ.  It is living in this reality that produces obedience to God.

It is a divine revelation, and it is glorious, but in order to accept and understand it, we are first required to put aside our religious ideas and religious mindset and simply allow the Spirt, speaking through Paul’s letter,  to take us on a journey to understand the good news, and the empowerment of God that we have inherited in the gospel.

Most, if not all of us, have had religious tradition handed down to us and have been taught false, religiously minded ideas about the law; teaching that actually encourages us to embrace the law as a useful guide for good Christian living! What could be further from the truth? When these false beliefs regarding the law are left unchallenged, or even worse actually encouraged, the result is what the apostle Paul refers to as spiritual slavery.

This matter arose because some false brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might remain with you. Galatians 2:4-5

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1

Just like the early Church Paul was talking to, when we are challenged with the possibility that we have believed the wrong thing about both the law and God’s ways, we can easily become offended and find ourselves trying to defend the law. This does us no favours; in fact we can find ourselves only defending a theology of slavery!

Paul himself had to accept he had been terribly wrong about God’s law and God’s ways on the road to Damascus. He had spent his entire life zealous for the law as a means of work’s righteousness. On the road to Damascus he too had to listen to the voice of the Spirit and change his understanding completely in order for his understanding of the law and it’s purpose to fall into line with the reality of Jesus.

It does us good to remember that Paul’s point of view on this issue comes directly from Jesus. Jesus gave Paul the grace to explain to us this glorious revelation, something that does not come natural to the religious mind, but if we are willing to  open our hearts to hear what Paul has to say, and what the Spirit has to say through Paul’s letter, I believe we will be greatly blessed by what he has to explain to us.

Through his journey, when we come to the end, I believe we will be more liberated in the good news and freer in our spirits. It is, after all, for freedom that Jesus came, and it is for freedom that Jesus set us free. So let’s understand how to be truly free; free from sin, free from the wrong understanding of the law, and free to live an empowered life to God!

…More to come…

“The gospel God promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 1:2-5

Paul makes the statement in his introductory remarks that within the scriptures Jesus is testified to in two ways; according to his human nature and his divine nature. Jesus was fully God, but in order to redeem mankind, became fully human. This in and of itself is an amazing testimony of God’s grace; that he would give up all that he was in the heavens and make himself like us on earth. It was in order to reveal just how gracious God is that Jesus became like us in our humanity, so that through him we could become like him in his divinity.

Paul was helping his reader to understand how now, through the revelation of Christ, the Scriptures themselves found their fulfilment. For before the coming of Christ it remained a mystery as to just who exactly the saviour would be; would it be a man, or would it be God himself? Scripture seemed to say both, but without the revelation of Christ, this had always been a striking contradiction.

Without the light of Christ, it seemed to the reader of the Old Testament that there were two very different saviours. Sometimes God was talking about a servant who would clearly be an earthly man. He would be the one who would suffer for the sake of all the people and he will be pieced for their transgressions. This earthly saviour was prophesied to be born through the line of David. There was clearly going to be this human saviour, and he was going to be God’s chosen man to save Israel. This was the testimony of the human saviour.

However, God also testified in other places within scripture that there was no man, not even one who was righteous, and that because there was no one capable of intervening to bring about salvation, God himself would intervene and save Israel; that no one but God alone was their Saviour. This was the testimony of the divine saviour.

So there seemed to be a continual pattern of two saviours prophesied in the Old Testament; one a man, the other God. It was a paradox that had no clear explanation; no apparent way to reconcile this obvious contradiction. That is, until the reality of Jesus was revealed to all mankind.

It is through the cross and through the revelation of Christ we see this profound reality that explodes in our hearts and fills us with joy as it reveals the heavenly revelation of God’s salvation. What no mind could have ever imagined was the very thing God had planned; that the two saviours, both the human and the divine, were actually the same saviour; our saviour Jesus Christ!

He was both the one who humbled himself and although equal with God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but humbled himself and came to earth, born of a woman, born under law to redeem those under law. The perfect Son of God who was one with God and is God and has always been with God; he came down to earth so that he could fulfil the scriptures that talked about the human saviour, according to the line of David. But he is also the divine saviour, who, when no one else could be found, worked salvation on mankind’s behalf.

So now we see in the scriptures, through the light of Christ, the reality of God’s eternal salvation plan. As we now look back into the Holy Scriptures, we can see the very person of Jesus all through the Old Testament. We can see the story of his grace; that he is both, according to the human nature, a descendant of David, and, through the spirit of holiness, the Son of God and one with God; the divine God himself. The revelation of how to human saviour and the divine Saviour can co-exist is revealed in the life of Jesus Christ. It is this reality that is testified all through the entire Old Testament.

As I stated earlier, the apostle Paul was often charged with ignoring the law and the prophets in order to preach his version of the gospel. Here, at the very beginning of his letter, he counters this charge as completely false, because, as Paul testified in the opening remarks in his letter, his whole gospel is preached through the law and the prophets. Not just in one or two places, but rather all the way through it!

As we journey through the letter to the Romans we will witness Paul taking the church on a journey all the way through the scriptures in order to see the reality of Jesus. To Paul, everything in the Scriptures was there to testify about the life of Jesus. This is in fact the very same thing that Jesus said to the Pharisees in John’s gospel:

You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. John 5:39-40

The truth is if we want to understand the Scriptures and we want them to impart life to us, we have to see Jesus in them. As the Church, we are now led by the Spirit and we are spiritual people. We operate and connect with God in the new way of the Spirit. God has given us the Spirit of his grace to empower us and work in us. It is for this reason that we can live a life that is obedient to God, because Christ is living in us and for us, and we are no longer trying to do it all in our own strength by attempting to obey rules and regulations in the form of a written code.

If we look into the scriptures looking for rules, or tips, or guidelines for Godly living, then the Scriptures have no value in terms of it imparting life to us. But if we look into the scriptures to see Jesus, his person, the story of his life, his sufferings, and the glories that came to us through his sufferings, then the scriptures impart life to us!
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Part 1
Paul starts his letter by explaining his commission from God; that he was called and set apart to preach the gospel of God. Before we go any further on our journey, it’s worth asking the question; what is the gospel of God?

In the scriptures we read the gospel mentioned by Jesus, Paul, Peter, John and the other authors with many different titles attached to its ending. It’s called the gospel of peace, the gospel of salvation, the gospel of the kingdom, the eternal gospel, gospel of God and the gospel of God’s son. Does this mean that these are all different gospels? Are there many gospels? Well, not according to the Apostle Paul; he assures us in his letter to the Galatians that there is in fact only one gospel:

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel — which is really no gospel at all. Galatians 1:6-7

With this in mind, we can read Paul’s declaration to the Ephesian elders recorded in the end of the book of Acts to understand the very essence of the gospel; that the one, all encompassing characteristic of the gospel is God’s grace :

However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace. Acts 20:24

Paul’s divine commission was to be set apart to preach and testify about the gospel of God’s grace. That is the gospel; the only gospel. When, as Christians, we think that Jesus’ ‘gospel of the kingdom’ was somehow different to Paul’s ‘gospel of God’s grace’ we end up not only confusing ourselves but also our listeners. The truth is that God’s kingdom is God’s grace. God’s entire kingdom is founded upon his grace. God sits on a throne of grace. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of grace. Jesus came full of grace!

Jesus entered into a religious world that threw the term ‘kingdom’ around all the time as a way of judging the world and coercing others to get involved with their religious program. Jesus took that same term, but presented the ‘kingdom’ not as a physical place on earth, but rather as it truly is, an internal reality.

The revelation of the kingdom is not about morals; it’s about his grace; for out of his grace all good things can come to pass. The message of the kingdom is the message that God is the God of all grace; that is the message Jesus preached, and through Jesus that ‘grace reality’ is freely available for all who believe. God’s kingdom is not something external that we need to work to establish for him; it is something internal that he has already established in us.

Grace is the very nature of God. It is God’s nature that had always been misunderstood and rejected by mankind, but now revealed, and finally embraced, through the life of Christ. It is only through seeing the fullness of what Jesus did on our behalf, and understanding that this was actually God, that we can embrace the reality of God himself. The full truth of God is that grace is his nature; God’s Spirit is a Spirit of grace. Grace is what has been placed into every believer to empower them in life. We now have grace, which is the empowering nature of God, living in us.

Jesus revealed the gospel of God’s grace through his life, his teaching and ultimately his sacrifice upon the cross. It was Paul’s task to then reveal that same gospel in words that we, the church, could grasp and understand. Jesus lived in the reality of God’s grace, giving us the example of what a person’s life looks like that knows without a doubt that they are loved by their heavenly Father; that they are one with him and that he is pleased with them.

Jesus ultimately went on to establish the opportunity for all of us to also live in this glorious reality through his sacrifice and resurrection. After the resurrection, Jesus set Paul apart, a man who could have only become an apostle by grace, to make clear to the church this incredible good news. Paul also testifies to this in his final remarks to the church in Rome:

Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him— to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen. Romans 16:25-27

The gospel Paul was given to preach, although glorious and liberating, was one that challenged a lot of people who heard it. It not only challenged those outside the body of Christ, but also many who were part of the body of Christ too. Paul was accused by many leaders within the church of the day as attempting to simply wipe way the Old Testament and the legal requirements attached to it. He was charged with creating his own idea of God’s gospel by purposely ignoring the whole history of God in the Old Testament. Many claimed he was simply seeking to proclaim his own message, an ‘easy believing’ message, at the expense of ignoring the law and the prophets.

Of course Paul didn’t think this way at all. On the contrary, Paul embraced the Old Testament; not with a false understanding of it, but as he saw God’s true intentions within it. He never saw it as a written code describing how to obtain righteousness by works, but rather he saw the message of Jesus within it and how through Jesus the glory prophesied in the Old Testament was now available for the church; established for us through the perfect redeeming work of Jesus. The truth is that everything Paul preached can be found in the Old Testament.

The Apostle Peter also had this understanding when he looked into the Old Testament, he didn’t see the prophets preaching rules and regulation, but rather he saw that they were testifying to and prophesying about the coming of an era of grace for all.

Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. 1 Peter 1:10-11

In all Paul’s letters, we find him first looking into the Old Testament and finding the reality of Christ in the scriptures, with the help of the Spirit to make clear to him the mystery, and then sharing with the church the reality of Christ. He doesn’t act like an academic and reference everything he is quoting or referring to, he just speaks it like it is, but if you want to look, you’ll find the whole message Paul preaches is found in the Old Testament.

This is the point Paul makes in the introduction. He explains that this gospel he has spent his life proclaiming was in fact promised before hand through the prophets in the Holy Scriptures. Paul was making the point that his message was in no way simply a new idea; rather it is God’s eternal idea coming to fulfilment.

That certainly is good news for us today, because we can be assured that the gospel that we are grounded in and we rejoice in is not just a new idea, but rather it’s always been God’s idea. It has always been God’s eternal message to mankind, yet it had been misunderstood and had been a mystery until the death and resurrection of Jesus. It is now, in the light of Christ that it is being made plain to all of mankind.

Paul was declaring that now, through the power of the cross to establish it, and through grace God poured out upon Paul to present it plainly, we as the church have entered into the eternal reality of God. Now, as we look into the scriptures, we see this reality; we see the grace of God, the spirit of Christ and the story of Jesus everywhere!

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Paul’s letter was, as the title suggests, written to the church in Rome. Unlike Paul’s letters to the other churches, this church was not personally founded by him, however it was most likely founded by someone he personally knew and trusted. He obviously had a personal relationship with many in the church, evident from his personal greetings to many in the church at the end of his letter.

Although we can only really hazard a guess, I would suggest that it was likely the church in Rome was founded by Aquila and Pricilla. They are mentioned in the end of the letter as being based in Rome; we know that they were also companions with Paul in earlier times and also had a strong foundation of the gospel. In any case the point of who founded the church does not effect the meaning or understanding of the letter, so let us just say that although Paul did not personally start the church, nor had he visited them beforehand, he still had permission to speak into the life of the church and help them grasp, in a greater way, the reality of the gospel.

Paul was writing to them to clearly present the gospel of God’s grace and also to address some misunderstands many in the church had regarding the interpretation and purpose of the law. Paul was writing to encourage the church and ultimately to help them understand the foundational truth that had been given to the church through the gospel. That foundation is that there is not only forgiveness of sins through Jesus, but the gift of all things Godly; including righteousness, obedience, a fruitful life, good works, and freedom from sin; love, holiness and anything else that comes from the heart of God. All things in Christ are assured to the believer because they are a gift that comes through the grace of God.

Paul’s intention in writing this letter was to both encourage the church in this wonderful reality, and also clarify some of their misunderstandings of the purpose of the law. To many in the church it seemed only natural to assume that the way to be righteous as a Christian was to obey the Law that God had given the Israelites in the old covenant. After all, the God of the new covenant was the same God of the old covenant, and everyone knows that God does not change. Paul agreed with this point of view, but his challenge to his readers was to understand God, and his righteousness, looking through the light of the new covenant and not by looking through the shadow of the old covenant.

Paul makes the bold assumption that that it was only now, through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus that God’s reality of righteousness is revealed to all mankind. It had always been testified to in the Old Testament; it had indeed been promised, but it was only through Jesus that it was fully revealed and brought to light. It was a beautiful reality that nobody was able to fully see or fully grasp in the Old Testament, but had nonetheless always been there. Paul also testifies to this in the climax of his introduction in this letter:

For in the gospel a righteousness from 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

Paul was helping the church to understand a profound reality. He was proclaiming the blessedness given to all who are in Christ; that we are now living in a new covenant in which we receive God’s righteousness as a gift of his grace, and not as an obligation based on obeying a written code of righteousness.

This was very difficult aspect of God’s divine truth for many of the members of the church to grasp, especially those who had a Jewish roots and heritage, because it was a massive paradigm shift in how to interpret what God had been doing throughout the Old Testament. It was also difficult for the gentiles in the church who had a religious bent to their personality and liked the idea of the Jewish God of law and also wanted to embrace this history as their own. Paul, of course, was not against the Jews; he had a Jewish heritage as well. What he wanted to do was help his fellow brothers who shared the same heritage as he did to step fully into the new covenant and embrace the reality of Christ, even though it meant letting go of their false understanding that the law was a useful and effective tool for teaching Christians to live a righteous life.

Paul was speaking to a church that was not going the wrong way in their faith, they were actually commented as being a church community full of faith, but they also had not yet grasped in their minds the fullness of their inheritance in the new covenant. Paul was ultimately trying to help them understand in their minds the reality of God’s grace apart from law in order that their spirits could fully rest in it.

I believe that the almighty power of God’s grace apart from man’s willpower and determination is something that every Christian inherently understands in their new creation spirit. However, when we can not reconcile this with the religious assumption that we are also required to live up to the written code of God’s righteous ideal, it weakens our own foundations in our faith because we mix our own failed works into the reality of Christ’s finished work done on our behalf. The divine foundation, in Christ, is one of pure grace; it’s a radical thought, but completely heavenly in truth.

Paul’s task, through writing this letter, was to explain in a way that the church could grasp how God in fact never defined righteousness as something that could be obtained by following a written code of rules and regulations. God wasn’t suddenly, and drastically, changing his mind on the whole topic of righteousness. Rather Paul makes the claim that it was Israel who misunderstood God’s reason for giving them the law in the first place. They failed to recognise God’s true intention for the law, and so in their minds set up their own purpose for the law, and their own definition of righteousness; one that comes through obeying a written code, even though this was never God’s intention.

Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. Romans 10:1-4

The truth that Paul revels to the church is that God never intended the law to be a written code that man could follow to obtain a standing of righteousness in God’s eyes, but rather that the law was given to lead people to the one and only person who could impart righteousness to them as an pure act of grace on his part; the man Jesus Christ!

What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. Galatians 3:19

So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law. Galatians 3:24-25

Misunderstanding God’s true intentions for the law leads a Christian to take upon themselves the religious yoke of a work’s righteousness. This often results in the compulsion to defend the old covenant law as a continual necessity for Christian living. This doesn’t come out of an impure motive, but rather a misplaced mindset.

When Christians do not understand in their minds that they are not obligated to the law, they are hindered from fully embracing their divine union with the grace of God. This false understanding of the law’s purpose in their life causes a conflict within them and hinders them from fully embracing the full freedom and blessedness of being a new creation in Christ. Paul was a spiritual man, he wanted the church to live by the spirit and not by their rational minds, but he also understood the stronghold that was in their minds. It was this stronghold Paul endeavoured to free the church in Rome from.

That was Paul’s heart for the church in Rome, and ultimately it’s God’s heart for the church universally in Christ. God’s desire is that we too would be able to understand in our minds that we really are living in a gospel of grace apart from law. Paul goes through this letter explaining somewhat systematically God’s history and the history of God’s walk with people, with both Israel and with Pagans, in order to make even clearer this divine and eternal reality.

Paul’s desire was to show the fullness and the reality of Christ to his brothers and sisters in Rome and reveal the true purpose of the law; that it was in fact never given as a means of righteousness. Although to the religious mind it seems right to cling to the law, Paul was as pointing out that it is a misplaced belief for a Christian to have, and it will only cause us to neglect the true power unto righteousness: that is the gift of God’s grace.

Paul shows through his letter to the Romans that we are all need to let go of the religious mindset that exalts the law, and in it’s place embrace the mind of Christ that exalts the working of his grace in us.

Everyone who has been made new in Christ has been given the mind of Christ, and Christ’s mind is a mind that is full of the reality of the grace of God. Jesus came full of grace and truth; his mind is full of grace and truth and that is the mind we have inherited through him! Let us embrace the mind of Christ and the fullness of his grace as we take this journey through the letter to the Romans.

“For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:16 (Continue Reading)

Paul’s letter to the Romans is, in a nutshell, a testimony of the good news of God’s grace; the gospel of God. As we read through the book of Romans we can’t help but find ourselves excited at just how good God is, and amazed at how the whole story of God has been leading up to the place we are now. The letter to the Romans was written by the Apostle Paul, who was given the revelation of this good news directly into his spirit by God. Paul himself testifies about his letter to the Galatians:

I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. Galatians 1:11-12

If Paul received this message of good news that he so passionately preached directly from God, then it’s certainly a good idea to look at the gospel that Paul preached and embrace it, love it and live in it. This is in fact the very reason Paul was given such an amazing revelation of the gospel; it was for the benefit of the rest of the body of Christ. The reason Paul preached the gospel so passionately, even in the face of such strong opposition, is so Christ’s body would be blessed and find their rest in it.  It was Paul’s mandate to preach this wonderful good news, as we read him testifying to towards the end of the book of Acts:

However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace. Acts 20:24

Everything Paul did was in one way or another connected to this one goal; to testify to the gospel of God’s grace. We see Paul doing this in all his letters, but nowhere does he lay out the nuts and bolts of gospel of God’s grace as systematically as in his letter to the Romans. Why did Paul do such a thing? Was it to prove to the world that he was a wise and learned theologian? Hardly likely; I don’t think anyone would judge Paul’s motives as self gratifying; it seems self evident that Paul, although he certainly could have, wouldn’t have considered himself a theologian.

Paul doesn’t give us the impression, through his life and letters to the early church, that he was interested in theories of God; to Paul, the gospel wasn’t a theory. He lived his life out of a revelation of Christ. He lived with a foundational belief that the good news of God’s grace was a profound and living reality in his life; and it was so glorious that it made everything else pale by comparison. Paul didn’t get caught up side issues; he fought passionately to keep the focus of our faith exactly that. That focus was the glorious reality of the person of Jesus and the new creation life that was given through his death and resurrection.

He lived to proclaim the greatness of Christ and the power of his perfect finished work on the cross. He lived to keep the church focused on Jesus, and he knew the only way that would function was when the church was founded in the good news of God’s grace. This is the same task we endeavour to do today; to keep our hearts focused on Jesus and our spirits founded in his grace. We too can live understanding that God’s grace is not a theory or a doctrine; it’s a profound and glorious reality. It’s good to know that our lives are based on a reality and not on a theory.  Our belief is not based on theology; it’s based on Jesus; on his person and on his reality.

Paul life shows us that understanding God’s ways has no correlation with having the ability to use the biggest theological words possible. Other preachers of the day purposely slandered Paul because he refused to use big words. Paul didn’t find this an insult, but rather he was pleased that his message could be presented to all people, regardless of their education. Paul, through the help of the Spirit, managed to share the most profound revelation in all of eternity in a way that his listeners could understand.

Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God. We have done so not according to worldly wisdom but according to God’s grace. For we do not write you anything you cannot read or understand.2 Corinthians 1:1213

Like Paul, we can also be encouraged that we don’t need to get caught up in using big theological words and relentlessly referencing every point we make. We don’t have to quote other scholars and authors in order to accurately portray God; rather we simply point to Jesus and say ‘he is my reality’ and our message comes out of knowing and believing in his reality. It is indeed a foolish message to the world’s ears, but it is our message nonetheless, and we believe that it is in fact the power of God unto salvation.

The creator of the universe; the King of kings and the Lord of lords; the one whom created all things and through whom all things hold together; he is real and he is graceful. The eternal purpose of everything in the heart of God is found and finished in the life of Jesus, the sacrifice he made on the cross and the result of new life that comes out of that sacrifice.

This is our reality; this is the gospel. This is the good news that could only ever be given through a pure act of God’s grace, for how could man ever earn such a blessing? It is for this reason we don’t try to prove we have earned such a wonderful reality, but we rejoice in the gift of this precious good news. It is our inheritance in Christ; the good news of God’s grace!

Paul’s letter to Roman church helped them, and the church today, to understand just how God’s grace is more than enough bring about God’s righteousness, obedience, and the Christ empowered life to every believer who has joyfully received it.

I look forward to taking this journey together through the letter to the Romans with the goal of being encouraged and refreshed in the good news we mutually share in. (Continue reading)