Romans 4-8

The flesh on the bones of Romans 3:21-31

In my last essay on Romans 1-3 we learned that there is no righteousness without faith, because faith in Messiah Yeshua is what He sees as righteousness. Rom 3:21-22

Romans 4-8 expands on the logical supposition made by Paul in Romans 3.

Chapter 4

Paul uses the biblical example of Abraham to prove that the concept of faith was entrenched in YAH’s Kingdom well before the Law was given through Moses after the Exodus from Egyptian captivity.

Genesis 15:5-7 TLV  He took him outside and said, “Look up now, at the sky, and count the stars—if you are able to count them.” Then He said to him, “So shall your seed be.”  (6)  Then he believed in Adonai and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.  (7)  Then He said to him, “I am Adonai who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans, in order to give you this land to inherit it.”

Paul points out emphatically that the Abrahamic covenant did not come through the Law but through the righteousness of faith.

Romans 4:13 TLV  For the promise to Abraham or to his seed—to become heir of the world—was not through law, but through the righteousness based on trust.

Paul completed Chapter 4 with the exhortation that his faith was not for Abraham alone but also us. Our faith in the life, death, and resurrection of Yeshua is also credited to us as righteousness. We are justified before YAH by faith in this one selfless sacrifice for all mankind.

Romans 4:23-25 ESV  But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone,  (24)  but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord,  (25)  who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Chapter 5

Paul argues that while we are dead in our sin (our natural disposition from birth) YAH showed His unending love for us by sending His only Son Yeshua to die in our place as once for all time atonement for the sin of Adam. This righteousness through Christ is a free gift from YAH and it cannot be earned by personal effort.

Romans 5:17-21 ESV  For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.  (18)  Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.  (19)  For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.  (20)  Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,  (21)  so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Chapters 6 and 7

We will learn in Chapters 6 and 7 a major doctrine of what it is to be a Christian. Quite frankly, this is the most poorly taught doctrine within our modern form of Churchianity in Laodicea. Our churches are so consumed with the business of Christianity that they ignore anything that will challenge the congregation to a higher standard. Christianity is a multi-billion-dollar industry with every Christian home library filled with books, tapes, CDs, and any other medium available to help people feel better about themselves. We will NEVER make it to sanctification without first dying to ourselves and all the man-made goals that Satan places in our way to distract us from the grace and righteousness freely given to us by YAH. I will address this further when I get to Romans 12-13.

Paul first addresses in Chapter 6 the perfection of spirit that lies within us when we accept Yeshua as our Lord and Savior. The righteousness of Christ is imputed to us at that time, providing us with an unstained past from YAH's perspective.

Why is it that we so frequently feel we are not good enough for the gift we are freely given?

Chapter 7 explains that it is the sinful nature that is everpresent and alive in the body that we are born into. The body is sinful beyond imagination and will die eventually, but it is the perfection in the spirit that provides us with eternal life with YAH.

These two chapters of Romans are masterfully logical in presentation and it is a shame that Chapter markers separate them. They are one in nature, and we are spiritually perfected by the indwelling spirit of Christ, through our faith in Christ, but constantly harrassed by the sin that consumes our mortal bodies.

Sanctification is the process of turning up the perfection of our spotless spirit, not turning down our sinful flesh. The turning down of sin is the natural by-product of increasing our sinless perfection through Christ. We cannot earn it, it is ours to grasp by earnest focus on things of the spirit.

Romans 7:24-25 ESV  Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?  (25)  Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

Paul concludes with the stunning confession that his sinful flesh is everpresent, but his mind is focused on the things of YAH. This spiritual battle between flesh and spirit is expanded in Ephesians:

Ephesians 6:12 ESV  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Our fleshly body is dominated by the unseen realm, as has been the case for all mankind since the fall of Adam. We cannot escape it, but we can live FROM the victory of the indwelling Christ by turning up our spirit. Our perfected spirit dominates sin if we let it.

And so we move to Chapter 8….

If you are led to memorize scripture, start by memorizing Chapter 8 of Romans. It is simply wonderful in its structural perfection of argument for the assurance of salvation afforded by the indwelling Christ. It sweeps you through a beautiful journey of literary genius that is Paul. This chapter caps all that has been said from chapters 1-7 and places the full stop on justification through faith alone.

Paul commences the chapter with one of the most stunning statements in the Bible:

Romans 8:1 ESV  There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

How many of us fall into the satanic trap of looking over our shoulder to who we once were condemning ourselves to our unworthiness?

This is NOT from YAH, but a deception of the enemy to prevent us from attaining the fullness of our existential reality that we are IN CHRIST and a new creation of YAH. All that has been before the day you received Christ as your savior is no longer in the memory of YAH, but you are now clothed in white garments and washed in the righteousness of Christ.

If any of my readers are feeling in any way unworthy of the glory of Christ’s indwelling spirit, remember this:

Romans 3:23-26 ESV  for ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,  (24)  and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,  (25)  whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.  (26)  It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

You are not alone.

ALL have sinned, all before you and all after you are sinners by nature.

But praise YAH, there is now no condemnation for anyone that is indwelt by the living spirit of Christ.

Romans 8:9-11 ESV  You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.  (10)  But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.  (11)  If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

Paul contends that there is no life without the indwelling spirit. The flesh is death, but it is the spirit of Christ that gives life.

But what about suffering?

The result of the fall of Adam was a curse to the woman of pain in childbirth. This curse is symbolic of the life we live in the flesh before our glorification at the end of the age. The pain of childbirth is representative of the pain of living in the fallen world. The glory of the wonder of the maturing child to adulthood represents the day of our promotion to Heaven, a day when the pain of life in the flesh is replaced by the wonder of our new eternal position in YAH.

Let us look at the curse on Adam:

Genesis 3:17-18 ESV  And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;  (18)  thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.

Thorns and thistles represent the struggles of the fleshly life outside of the protection of YAH. This protection was a state of being of Adam before his rebellion, but by listening to Eve and not YAH, that protection was revoked permanently.

Today, we suffer in life in the flesh. Creation is not the way it was supposed to be. In our current Laodicean lifestyle, this suffering is minimized by worldly pleasures. But there are many outside of our insular Western wealth that suffer tremendously every minute of every day.

Let us look at a parable in Luke 16 that presents the eternal perspective on suffering in the flesh as against the victory of eternal salvation:

Luke 16:19-25 ESV  “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.  (20)  And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores,  (21)  who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores.  (22)  The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried,  (23)  and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.  (24)  And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’  (25)  But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.

The remarkable point here is that the rich man received his blessing in the fleshly life, but had no lasting eternal blessings. This point alone in V25 kills “stone dead” the prosperity gospel assertion that YAH wants earthly blessings for His people.

His will for us is for all of us in Christ to conform to the mind of Christ with our eyes fixed on the invisible of the Kingdom, and not the things of the Earth.

This leads to Paul’s crescendo statement:

Romans 8:28-30 ESV  And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.  (29)  For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.  (30)  And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Look at this chain of events carefully……

Whether in suffering or comfort, all work together for those called to His purposes. Paul makes the astounding assertion that YAH has foreknown us, as the One who knows the end from the beginning (Isa 46:10). The next link in the chain is that YAH pre-determined that we would be “conformed to the image of His Son” so that we would become “firstborn among many brothers”. These brothers are not our Earthly flesh and blood brothers, but rather our spiritual brothers that we help towards holiness. Those that YAH had pre-determined to conform to Christ, He called specifically, and as one that answers the call, to be justified and glorified.

There is no break in the chain here….

If you are foreknown by YAH, you will also be glorified with Christ to Him. It is the sovereign right of YAH to decide who comes to glory and who does not.

For those in the “God is love” fraternity who believe that all will be saved, think again. God chooses those He wishes for divine purpose, whether for evil or for good.

How does this apply today?

Let us look at the Middle East as proof of this eternal truth….

Israel between the “it is finished” and the “not yet” is an apostate nation outside of the divine protection of YAH, however, the Abrahamic covenant stands. YAH is not finished with Israel yet as we see in Revelation 6-19. The sons of Ishmael are gathering in war against Israel, committed to their total destruction. We see in the Battle of Armageddon that YAH sovereignly intervenes to destroy their enemies.

This segways perfectly into my next teaching on Romans 9-11, “What about
Israel”. Paul knew that this question was now front and center in the minds of his Jewish audience in Rome.

Your indwelt spiritual slave to Yeshua (Gal 2:20 KJV)