Romans Verse by Verse Lesson 10

The righteousness of faith defined!

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Romans 10:1  Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved.  2  For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.  3  For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.

Israel had a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.  Imagine to be filled with zeal for God and miss the purpose, intent, and the heart of God.  Divine order is so important; Israel missed the message the just shall live by faith.

Romans 10:4  For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.  5  For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, "The man who does those things shall live by them."

The dominion of the law can only be ended when the object of one’s faith is in Jesus Christ alone. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes!  There is the righteousness of the law which has its focus upon the performance of man.  Righteousness derived from the performance of man will leave man deficient of God’s righteousness.

Romans 10:6  But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?' " (that is, to bring Christ down from above)  7  or, " 'Who will descend into the abyss?' " (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).  8  But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith which we preach):

However there is the righteousness of faith.  Notice faith speaks; put it in your mouth.  The word of faith is the word that needs preached.  It is not in man ascending to the heights or descending to the depths; it is the object of ones faith being exclusively in Jesus Christ.

Romans 10:9  that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Some have stressed the confession and have set up a whole new system of legalism.  They preach the doctrine of confession all by itself.  This is unbalanced.  Some have only stressed believe in your heart.  However, what is in your heart will come from your mouth.  Altar services centered around men making a confession of faith without a the heart believing in Jesus, is meaningless. There is the finished work of the cross!

Romans 10:10  For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11  For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame."

When the heart believes in the finished work of the cross there will be a confession unto salvation.  Whoever believes on Him…  Salvation is God doing a work in the heart.  Without a change of the heart there is no salvation.  If any man be in Christ he is a new creation the old things are passed away and behold all thing become new.

Romans 10:12  For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.13  For "whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved."

God’s divine influence took out any racial divide; the Lord is rich to all who call upon Him.  It not mere words of men, the living word of God declares “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  Salvation is exclusively in Jesus Christ alone!

Romans 10:14  How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?

God chose preachers to declare the good news of the gospel.  Jesus Christ needs preached; His loving kindness is better than life!  Hearing the Word preached is part of God’s divine order for our lives.

Romans 10:15  And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!"

Preach the gospel of peace; preach the glad tidings of the good things.  Preaching outside the gospel of peace is to be like the opening verses of Romans 10.  Preaching with a zeal for God but not according to knowledge results in men trusting in their own performance.  It will have men trusting in their doings instead of a steadfast confidence in Jesus Christ’ obedient act.

Romans 10:16  But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our report?"  17  So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Here is one of the God defined ways to have your faith strengthened.  It is come by the hearing of the word of God.  It is time for the church to turn to the preacher who is under the divine order of preaching the good news of the gospel

Not all will respond to this gospel; who will believe the report of the Lord?

Romans 10:18  But I say, have they not heard? Yes indeed: "Their sound has gone out to all the earth, And their words to the ends of the world."  19  But I say, did Israel not know? First Moses says: "I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation, I will move you to anger by a foolish nation."

Those who had no God became the people of God; those who had God became estranged from God, being ignorant of the righteousness that comes through faith.

Romans 10:20  But Isaiah is very bold and says: "I was found by those who did not seek Me; I was made manifest to those who did not ask for Me."  21  But to Israel he says:

"All day long I have stretched out My hands To a disobedient and contrary people."

It is the day of grace so we can know the favor of God.  God reached out and called us by name and blessed us.  He took us in with the Spirit of adoption; abba Father is our cry.  The Father made us accepted in the beloved.  Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called the children of God.  The Father Himself has qualified us through the blood of His Son.  Even now by the blood of the everlasting covenant, He is doing a perfecting work in us.  He allows the voice of the blood of Jesus to speak contrary to our judgment and bring us peace.  In the blood of His Son we are brought near to God; all hostility being put to death at the cross.  God the Father is seeking you to worship Him.  Jesus says COME!

Romans Verse by Verse lesson 9

The promise came through the seed of Abraham; it has to be by faith in Jesus Christ!

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Romans 9:1  I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit,  2  that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. 

Paul is bearing his heart and is about to share his love for Jewish people who still had not come to accept Jesus as their Messiah.  The measure of what weighed his heart down tells us a story of what his pursuit and desires were. Likewise, our heart is a reflection of our pursuits.

Romans 9:3  For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh,  4  who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises;  5  of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.

Paul had allowed his heartbeat to be defined by the Spirit of God Himself.  There is no hint of self centeredness in Paul.  The will of God was in the driver’s seat of Paul’s life.  The Jews had so many advantages being the nation who had relationship with the one true God, the God of promise, who brought Jesus the  only begotten Son.  Yet they rejected the true Messiah and missed their day of visitation;  Paul said if himself being cut off from God would bring their salvation he would do it.

Romans 9:6  But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel,  7  nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, "In Isaac your seed shall be called."

The promise came through the seed of Abraham, but indeed more specifically in Isaac your seed shall be called.  It is time for the true children of God to awaken to the God given destiny and calling of God.

Romans 9:8  That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed.  9  For this is the word of promise: "At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son." 

God’s plan was worked the children of the promise are counted as the seed!  This only excites those who have the revelation that they are the children of promise!  That indeed is what all of Romans 8 was trying to accomplish.

Romans 9:10  And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac  11  (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls),  12  it was said to her, "The older shall serve the younger."

Some get caught up in a misunderstanding of predestination and election.  Understanding the building blocks of Romans is very important so you are not lost in false doctrine.   Remember Romans 8 declares predestination is according to foreknowledge.

1 Peter 1:2  elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.

Elect according to foreknowledge!  God did not say this one is going to hell and this one will be saved.  It is not God’s will that any should perish, but all should come to repentance.  So see the next verses with God’s foreknowledge in view. 

Romans 9:13  As it is written, "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated."  14  What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not!  15  For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion."

God is truly a whosoever God; it is His true desire for all to know Him.  Why did God hate Esau.  Remember God called us to hate father, sister, and love God first.  In this same way God used a vessel of disobedience to show the depth of mercy towards the object of His love.

Romans 9:16  So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.  17  For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth."

Pharaoh hardened his heart and God helped Pharaoh along in that hardening.

Romans 9:18  Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.  19  You will say to me then, "Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?"  20  But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, "Why have you made me like this?"

Remember the question of Romans 6?  Shall we go on in sin that grace may abound?  Like God helping along the hardening of Pharaoh's heart; yet God had sent the man of God Moses to warn Pharaoh.

Romans 9:21  Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?  22  What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,  23  and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory,

If the clay marred and resist the work of the potter’s desires, the potter may well reshape the lump of clay to become a lesser vessel.  God is God, and will always be God.

Romans 9:24  even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?  25  As He says also in Hosea: "I will call them My people, who were not My people, And her beloved, who was not beloved." 26  "And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, 'You are not My people,' There they shall be called sons of the living God."

Paul is getting ready to make his point and so many miss it.  Hear carefully!  “I will call them my people, who were not My people, And her beloved who was not beloved.”  Who are these ones?  And God’s declaration is “There they shall be called sons of the living God.”  Remember the Spirit of adoption?  Remember the Holy Spirit’s intercession and the Son’s intercession, along with the Father freely giving us all things?

Romans 9:27  Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel: "Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, The remnant will be saved.  28  For He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness, Because the LORD will make a short work upon the earth."  29  And as Isaiah said before: "Unless the LORD of Sabaoth had left us a seed, We would have become like Sodom, And we would have been made like Gomorrah."

God has not forgotten the children of Israel!  He indeed will do work in them.  It will be a finished work and a short work.  God has not separated from them forever.  However …

Romans 9:30  What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith;  31  but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness.  32  Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone.  33  As it is written: "Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame."

Who are those who have the Spirit?  Those who have come to the righteousness of faith.  God has always responded to men of faith.  Now God has built an entire covenant based upon righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ!  The stumbling stone has been revealed; yes He is still a rock of offense to those who want to come outside God prescribed order of victory.  Whoever believes on Jesus will not be put to shame!

Romans Verse by Verse lesson 8

The covenant that Jesus brought is truly the no condemnation covenant. Faith in Jesus calls us to live in the greater law; the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. We can walk free from sin with the liberty of living as a slave of righteousness. Yes, we can walk in the new creation that Christ has made us. Christ in me the hope of glory!

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Romans 8:1  There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

Right now there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.  Verse 9 of this chapter defines those who walk according to the flesh.  You are not in the flesh…

Romans 8:2  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

From chapter 1 to this present verse there has been a comparing and contrasting of the law of Moses and the law of faith.  The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus sets the believer free from the law of sin and death. If the Son has set you free you are free indeed.  Believers entangled in sin have not applied the building blocks of their freedom found in Romans chapters 4-7.

Righteousness established by faith in Jesus Christ alone, not plus any work.  Resting in that righteousness results in no sin being imputed to the believer.  It is solely the obedient act of the one Man Jesus Christ that gives us righteousness.  His atoning work is so great that where sin abounds grace does much more abound.  Like Christ we died to sin once for all and now present our bodies as instruments of righteousness.  As the new creation God has made us we have become slaves to righteousness.  We died to the law in order to be joined to Jesus Christ; if we go back to trying to serve what we died to, we will find two laws active in us.  Both the law of sin and death and the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.  This will bring terrible turmoil in the believers life.  Until one comes and submits to the greater law the victory will be short lived and illusive. 

Romans 8:3  For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,

Jesus completely and fully fulfilled the law.  His fulfillment made way for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.  Jesus condemned sin in the flesh; for the believer the body of sin has been done away with.

Romans 8:4  that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.  5  For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.

Because we are alive unto God we cannot walk in the flesh; however, it is possible to walk in the carnal mind and if allowed to continue it will have a finishing work of death.

Romans 8:6  For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.  7  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.  8  So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Paul’s testimony in Romans 7 spoke of being alive without the law of sin and death.  When the commandment came sin revived in Paul life.  He was walking with a carnal mind trusting in his own doing under the performance of the law.  Now Paul speak of the ultimate freedom living under the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.  He found his freedom from serving between the two laws.  The law of faith wins in the believer. 

Romans 8:9  But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.  10  And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

If the Spirit of God dwells in you, you are not in the flesh.  That is why there is no condemnation to the believer.  If Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin;  but the Spirit is life because of righteousness

Romans 8:11  But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. 12  Therefore, brethren, we are debtors; not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.

Because of what Christ has done we are not debtors to the flesh; free indeed.

Romans 8:13  For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.  14  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

Those who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God. Those who live according to the flesh do not have Christ.

Romans 8:15  For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father."  16  The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,  17  and if children, then heirs; heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

“Abba Father” is the cry of every true believer. Have you heard the witness of the Spirit?  Heirs: indeed joint heirs, if indeed you suffer with Him you will be glorified together.

Romans 8:18  For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.  19  For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.  20  For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope;

Glory will be revealed in the believer; the suffering pales in comparison to the greatness of the glory.  Creation is longing for the revealing of the sons of God..

Romans 8:21  because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.  22  For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.  23  Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.

Have you ever groaned within your heart “come Lord Jesus.”?  It is a God birthed longing.  The mortal shall put on immortality; we shall be like Jesus!

Romans 8:24  For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees?  25  But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.

Looking for the city whose builder and maker is God; living with eternal perspective.

Romans 8:26  Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.  27  Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

This salvation is so great.  The Father chose us, the Son shared the inheritance, the Spirit seals us and makes intercession for us.

Romans 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.  29  For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30  Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

God is working it out: all things…  Predestination is according to the foreknowledge of God.  This principle of grace can help clear up misunderstanding of the word.  You are predestined, called, justified, and glorified.

Romans 8:31  What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?  32  He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

God is on your side; God freely gives us all thing!

Romans 8:33  Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies.  34  Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.

No one has a right to bring a charge against you.  Jesus Christ is making intercession!

Romans 8:35  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  36  As it is written: "For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter."

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

Romans 8:37  Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.  38  For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39  nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

More than conquerors; nothing can separate us from the love of God!

Romans Verse by Verse lesson 7

Connected to Jesus; freed from the law of sin and death once for all! Freedom can reign!

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Romans 7:1  Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives?

The law has dominion over a man as long as he lives!  It is what makes all men stand guilty before our holy God.

Romans 7:2  For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband.  3  So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man.

These verses are not put in this passage to teach about marriage between man and woman.  It is an allegory being used to teach the relationship between God and man and how connection to God is restored. However, God’s heart about marriage is revealed.  From Genesis forward, God’s idea has always been 1 man with 1 woman for life.  However if the husband dies the woman is free to marry another; there is practical application to find freedom from the dominion of the law in this teaching.

Romans 7:4  Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another; to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.

Like it takes a death to end the union of a husband and wife it will take a death to end the dominion with the law.  The law remains… it is man that must die to self and the law so there is freedom to come under the dominion of another.  At faith in Jesus Christ you have become dead to the law.  Your connection to Christ is like the connection to the bride to her groom.  This connection is so great that will bear fruit unto God.

Romans 7:5  For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death.  6  But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.

When the law had dominion in our lives, sinful passions were aroused by the law; it worked in us and caused us to bear fruit unto death.  However, now that we are in union with Christ there is the newness of the Spirit we can serve God by.  The dominion now belongs to our God.  We died to what we were help by so we are free to follow the leading of the Spirit of God.

Romans 7:7  What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, "You shall not covet."  8  But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead.

Paul begins his testimony of how he found complete victory over sin.  Apart from law sin was dead.  When the law come it identified sin and made guilt be assigned.  Sin taking opportunity, by the commandment of the law, stirred up all manner of evil desires  The law is holy and the law is not sin; however the law gives sin strength.

Romans 7:9  I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died.  10  And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death.  11  For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me.

Paul was alive without the law; but when the commandment came, sin revived and Paul died.  While the law can not bring the sin nature back to life in can give the actions of sin strength.

Romans 7:12  Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.  13  Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful.

The law is holy, it is just, and it is good.  It was not a problem with the law.  The problem is man had a sin nature and the law gives sin strength.  Sin through the commandment becomes exceedingly sinful.

Romans 7:14  For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.  15  For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.

When Paul came back under the law he seen himself as carnal and found himself sold under sin.  Striving to do what was right he ended up doing what he did not want to do and not doing what he wanted.

Romans 7:16  If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good.  17  But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.  18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.

The law is holy and good but it has no redeeming power in and of itself.  If I come back under the law I find myself living in a carnal manner and not having the wherewithal to perform what I will to do.  Have I died to sin once for all? Yes, but there is no reckoning myself dead indeed to sin and the law.

Romans 7:19  For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.  20  Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.

Paul begins to find the answers.  He understands it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.  That which I died to I have given it credence to.  There is a perfect work God has done a completed work in our spirit and a progressive work God continues to do in our soul.  However there is a waiting for the final redemption of our body.

Romans 7:21  I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.  22  For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. 23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

There is two laws.  Remember Romans 3:27 comparing the law of Moses and the law of faith.  When we come back to looking at our performance to make us right with God we have left the law of faith.  The struggle is on; can the struggle come to an end?  Yes, indeed it can!

Romans 7:24  O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?  25  I thank God; through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.

Paul came to the end of himself… O wretched man that I am!  We can’t do it but Jesus Christ can and did do if for us.  Praise God with the soul Paul was learning to serve the law of faith (God).  However with his flesh (carnality) the law of sin (law of Moses).

Romans 8:1  There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

Right now there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus!

Romans 8:2  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

The great news, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death!  Praise the Lord being a slave of righteousness trumps the law of sin and death.  The struggle can cease because of the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus reigns.

Romans Verse by Verse lesson 6

It is not freedom to sin; it is freedom from sin! He who the Son sets free is free indeed!

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Romans 6:1  What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?  2  Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?

The power and fullness of the grace message was presented.  It begs a question, what about sin?  When Paul preached grace some accused him of preaching go ahead and sin all you want so that grace might abound.  However, Paul addresses that in these verses.   God forbid that we should go on sinning after we have been set free from it’s bondage.  We made a trade with God.  He took our sin and we were given His righteousness.  The next 3 chapters of Romans is dedicated to show the believer can live with victory over sin for the rest of their life.  If we died to sin how shall we live in sin any longer; sin will not be ruling in the believer’s life if we submit to the righteousness found in grace.

Romans 6:3  Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?  4  Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

To put faith in Jesus Christ is to be immersed in the truth that Jesus is the one true Messiah.  Faith in Jesus is the baptism into Christ Jesus.  The work of the cross was to take your sin away.  This scripture is speaking specifically to the inward work done at faith in Jesus Christ.

Galatians 3:26  For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27  For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

There are three baptisms, baptism into Christ, baptism into water, and the baptism of the Holy Ghost.  Hebrews 6:1-3 talks about the doctrine of baptisms.  With that said the Apostle Paul said in Ephesians 4:5 there is one baptism.  Do these verses contradict one another?  No, there is one baptism that brings salvation and that is baptism into Christ.  The other baptisms are subsequent to the one baptism into Jesus Christ.

1 John 5:1  Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him.

When one puts the object of their faith into Jesus Christ they are born of God!

Romans 6:5  For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,  6  knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.  7  For he who has died has been freed from sin.

When we came to surrender to Jesus our old man was crucified with Him.  This is how the body of sin is done away with!  No more servitude to sin.  He who has died has been freed from sin.

Romans 6:8  Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,  9  knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him.  10  For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.

We believe we shall live with Him!  Christ dies no more; death no longer has dominion over Him!  Jesus died to sin once for all!  Now the life that He lives, He lives to God.

Romans 6:11  Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

LIKEWISE… reckon yourself dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus!

Romans 6:12  Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.  13  And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

Because He lives I live also; sin no longer has to reign in my life!  Now I can present myself to God as being alive from the dead.  Not me coming as a sinner!  I now can come as alive from the dead because Jesus lives!  This is a faith issue!

Romans 6:14  For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.  15  What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!

Sin shall not have dominion over you!  You are not under law but under grace.

Romans 4:15  because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression.

Romans 5:13  (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.

We are the blessed men to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.  We have died to the sin nature and have become a new creation in Christ Jesus.

Romans 6:16  Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?

The salvation must be genuine!  If you say you are born again and walk in a lifestyle of sin you are still a slave of sin.  However if you are a new creation in Christ there is slavery to the new nature of righteousness in you.  The perfection is Christ’s but imputed to you!

Romans 6:17  But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.  18  And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

God be thanked!  You were slaves of sin, but heard the gospel of truth that has the power of God unto salvation.  Faith in Jesus changes us from being slaves of sin into slaves of righteousness.

Romans 6:19  I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.

Brothers and sisters you are in Christ; so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness!

Romans 6:20  For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.  21  What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.

When you were the slave of sin, and the devil was your father, you were free in regard to righteousness.  Shall you continue in sin that grace might abound?  No, when you died to the sin nature you are now free not to bear the fruits thereof.

Romans 6:22  But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.  23  For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God; yes we have the fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.  Being sins slave is certain death.  Being a slave of righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ is eternal life indeed!

Romans Verse by Verse lesson 5

We have access into grace exclusively by faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God. Faith exclusively in Jesus Christ brings us the "how much the more" benefits.

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Romans 5:1  Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,  2  through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Therefore… because of the truths revealed up to now therefore.  The foundational building blocks have been put into place.  Faith alone is counted for righteousness.  Our efforts must not ever be the object of our faith for righteousness (right standing) and justification (just as if we never sinned).  We can walk with a confident assurance we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ!  Peace derived from any other source is a false sense of peace.

We have access!!  We have access into the divine influence of God by our faith being centered in our Lord Jesus Christ.  We have an audience with the King!

Romans 5:3  And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance;  4  and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5  Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Glory in tribulations is a kingdom principle; complaint in tribulations is an earthly mentality.  This is a word of maturity.  To glory in the tribulation is to praise God for the peace and worship Him for the access in spite of the storm.  It is considering the greatness of your God in spite of the circumstance.  If we will keep our eyes on Jesus a process of the sanctification of the soul begins.  Perseverance is birthed and builds character.  Character lays hold of the hope that is a confident expectation in God.  This kingdom hope will not disappoint.  This hope is founded in the love of God which was poured out in our heart by the Holy Spirit!  It is the process of living by faith!  A complaint in our mouth has the power to short circuit the whole process.

Romans 5:6  For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.  7  For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.  8  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

How do you measure the love God has for us; He spent the treasure in heaven on our behalf.  He did not wait for us to become clean; while we were sinners Christ died for us.  Under the law when the unclean touched the holy the holy became unclean.  Jesus came and when He touches the unholy the unholy becomes clean.

Romans 5:9  Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.  10  For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11  And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

See the “much more” truth!  The believer is saved from wrath through Jesus!  The believer is saved by His life!  We have right now received the reconciliation!

Romans 5:12  Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned; 

The sin nature came into being because of the 1^st Adam’s sin!  All men are born into sin and shaped in iniquity.

Romans 5:13  (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.  14  Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.

Remember Romans 4:15?  because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression.

Sin is not imputed where there is no law.  From Adam to Moses sin was not imputed.  When the law came sin was imputed indeed.  Even when the sin was not imputed death reigned and over man.  We needed the second Adam the Man Christ Jesus.

Romans 5:15  But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man's offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.

If sin allowed death to reign by the first Adam, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man Jesus Christ, abounded much more!  The greatness of the sacrifice of second Adam is greater than the offense of the fallen 1^st Adam.

Romans  5:16  And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification.

The first Adam’s offense resulted in condemnation.  The second Adam’s free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification!

Romans 5:17  For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)

See the much more!  Those who receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.  Abundant life is God’s intention for you!

Romans 5:18  Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.

Through Jesus Christ's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.

Romans 5:19  For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous.

The first Adam’s disobedience made many sinners, so also by one the Second Adam’s obedience many will be made righteous.  Whose obedience are you relying on?

Romans 5:20  Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more,  21  so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Where sin abounded grace superseded and abounded much more.  Just as sin reigned in death, even so grace can now reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ!  God is calling us to live in the much more provided by His divine influence.

Roman Verse by Verse lesson 4

The faith of Abraham was God's demonstration of taking wishful thinking hope or earthly hope and changing it into a confident expectation based upon the character of God hope. Changing the impossible into the certain expectation that all things are possible with God. Justified exclusively by faith in Jesus Christ.

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Romans 4:1  What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh?  2  For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.  3  For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness."

The truth of grace is what separates us from all other religions.  All false religions have man being made right before God based upon the doing of the man or you could say man’s works.  However, true salvation is being justified by faith in the atoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross.  Abraham was not justified by works.  Remember last week we defined justified as “just as if we never sinned”.  Innocence restored.  If it is by works we have gone back to live by the tree of “the knowledge of good and evil”.  God’s desire is for us to live from the tree of life.  That life is found exclusively in Jesus Christ alone.  Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.  Accounted is a interesting word.  Abraham believed the word of God and then there was an accounting.  God seen Abraham’s faith toward the word and God counted him as righteous.  When the object of your faith is the word of God it will be counted to you!

Romans 4:4  Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.  5  But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,  6  just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:

If you work for it the wages are not grace but of debt.  If you believe for it through divine influence it is not of work but grace.  The scripture is so clear here.  Righteousness of God comes to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly.  His faith is accounted for righteousness.  God imputes righteousness apart from works and there is no other righteousness that takes away the sin.  All righteousness derived from works or human effort cannot impute righteousness from God.  The man who is working for it loses the ability to receive God’s defined righteousness.

Romans 4:7  "Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered;  8  Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin."

This faith journey is awesome.  It was prophetically spoken by the prophets of old.  The covenant brought by the blood of Jesus is the covenant where sin are not imputed; those who come into covenant by faith in Jesus Christ are the blessed ones to whom the LORD is not imputing sin.

Romans 4:9  Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. 10  How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised.

Circumcision was the physical mark made upon the foreskin of every male in Israel saying they belonged to God.  Even under the law it was not a trumpet blown, saying I belong to God.  It was a personal reminder to the individual that they belonged to God. So today it is the inward work of God made in the heart of man; faith in Jesus’ atoning work allows one to confess “I now belong to God”.  It is truly a circumcision of the heart by placing faith in Jesus Christ the Messiah; look what God has done.  The blessedness of the promise was made before Abraham was ever circumcised.  Righteousness must be exclusively found in faith toward Jesus Christ!

Romans 4:11  And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also, 12  and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised.

It is the walk of faith that imputes righteousness to the believer.  It is of the covenant of the blood of the Lamb where men can be made justified.  The circumcision came after faith had already come.

Romans 4:13  For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. 

The promise that God made to Abraham was not through the law; the promise to Abraham that he would be the heir of the world was exclusively through the righteousness of faith.  The just shall live by faith and there is no other way to live in victory.

Romans 4:14  For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, 15  because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression.

The law and faith cannot be mixed.  If it is of law then faith is made void and the promise made of no effect.  Hear the words of covenant.  It can’t be of law because law brings about wrath; where there is no law there is no transgression.

Romans 4:16  Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all

The Holy Spirit does not want us to miss it!  Being made right with God is exclusively through faith and there is no other way.  If it is of law then many are excluded.  If it is of faith all who will call upon Jesus can be justified before God.  It is to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.

Romans 4:17  (as it is written, "I have made you a father of many nations") in the presence of Him whom he believed; God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; 18  who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, "So shall your descendants be."

This promise is based upon the greatness of who God is.  God is the one who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did.  Although earthy hope had no chance the hope coming from the word of God brought hope to believe the impossible.

Romans 4:19  And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah's womb.  20  He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God,  21  and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.

When receiving the promise of God there are things to consider and, just as important, things not to consider.  Abraham did not consider the deadness of his own body nor that of Sarah womb.  He did not waver at the promise.  He kept the promise in the forefront considering what God has spoken was true and God could and would perform His word to him.  To consider the weakness of his or his wife’ body would be the faith killer.  However, he considered the promise of God and was strengthened in faith.  Abraham gave glory to God, and being fully convince that what He had promised He was able to perform.  Abraham was giving the glory to God before the manifestation of the promise. 

Romans 4:22  And therefore "it was accounted to him for righteousness."  23  Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him,  24  but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead,  25  who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.

Abraham’s life of faith is written down for us! There can be an accounting of righteousness for you!  Only by faith in the living word of God.  It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead.  Jesus was delivered up because of our offenses,30?0000000000000000000……..our justification!  FAITH ALONE!