Romans 8:3-4 -- "The Son and the Spirit"

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Romans 7:21-8:2 -- "Rescued - And Free"

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Romans 7:7-25 -- "The Real Problem With Me"

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Church Life: A Focus on Direction

It seems to go along with my other post today on "Foolish Expectations" -- how does a church define and set expectations based on the Headship of Christ rather than the world.

My church is starting that process over the next eight weeks - the introductory message is here. The core passage (there has to be one of those) was:

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Romans 7:1-6 -- "Free From Law to Live By the Spirit"

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Romans 6:15-23 -- "Free - and a Slave"

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Romans 6:12-14 "Sin Shall Not Be Your Master"

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Romans 5:21-6:14 "A New Identity "

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Romans 6:8-11 "Identity: What Paul and Clark Kent Have to Say"

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Romans 6:5-7 "No Longer Slaves to Sin"

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Romans 6:1-4 "A New Life"

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Romans 5:12-21 "The Reign of Grace"

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Romans 5:6-11 "We Rejoice in God"

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Romans 5:3-5 "Loving and Longsuffering "

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Romans 5:1-2 "We Have Peace with God "

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Romans 4:18-25 "Abraham's Faith - and Ours"

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(NET) Romans 4:18 Against hope Abraham³¹ believed³² in hope with the result that he became the father of many nations³³ according to the pronouncement,³⁴ “so will your descendants be.”³⁵ 19 Without being weak in faith, he considered³⁶ his own body as dead³⁷ (because he was about one hundred years old) and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20 He³⁸ did not waver in unbelief about the promise of God but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God. 21 He was³⁹ fully convinced that what God⁴⁰ promised he was also able to do. 22 So indeed it was credited to Abraham⁴¹ as righteousness. 23 But the statement it was credited to him⁴² was not written only for Abraham’s⁴³ sake, 24 but also for our sake, to whom it will be credited, those who believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He⁴⁴ was given over⁴⁵ because of our transgressions and was raised for the sake of⁴⁶ our justification.⁴⁷

Notes:
³¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³² tn Grk “who against hope believed,” referring to Abraham. The relative pronoun was converted to a personal pronoun and, because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

³³ sn A quotation from Gen 17:5.
³⁴ tn Grk “according to that which had been spoken.”
³⁵ sn A quotation from Gen 15:5.

³⁶ tc Most mss (D F G Ψ 33 1881 M it) read “he did not consider” by including the negative particle (οὐ, ou), but others (א A B C 6 81 365 1506 1739 pc co) lack οὐ. The reading which includes the negative particle probably represents a scribal attempt to exalt the faith of Abraham by making it appear that his faith was so strong that he did not even consider the physical facts. But “here Paul does not wish to imply that faith means closing one’s eyes to reality, but that Abraham was so strong in faith as to be undaunted by every consideration” (TCGNT 451). Both on external and internal grounds, the reading without the negative particle is preferred.

³⁷ tc ‡ Most witnesses (א A C D Ψ 33 M bo) have ἤδη (ēdē, “already”) at this point in v. 19. But B F G 630 1739 1881 pc lat sa lack it. Since it appears to heighten the style of the narrative and since there is no easy accounting for an accidental omission, it is best to regard the shorter text as original. NA27 includes the word in brackets, indicating doubt as to its authenticity.

³⁸ tn Grk “And he.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, δέ (de) has not been translated here.

³⁹ tn Grk “and being.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

⁴⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
⁴¹ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
⁴² tn A quotation from Gen 15:6.
⁴³ tn Grk “his”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴⁴ tn Grk “who,” referring to Jesus. The relative pronoun was converted to a personal pronoun and, because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

⁴⁵ tn Or “handed over.”

sn The verb translated given over (παραδίδωμι, paradidōmi) is also used in Rom 1:24, 26, 28 to describe God giving people over to sin. But it is also used frequently in the gospels to describe Jesus being handed over (or delivered up, betrayed) by sinful men for crucifixion (cf., e.g., Matt 26:21; 27:4; Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:33; 15:15; Luke 20:20; 22:24; 24:7). It is probable that Paul has both ideas in mind: Jesus was handed over by sinners, but even this betrayal was directed by the Father for our sake (because of our transgressions).

⁴⁶ tn Grk “because of.” However, in light of the unsatisfactory sense that a causal nuance would here suggest, it has been argued that the second διά (dia) is prospective rather than retrospective (D. Moo, Romans [NICNT], 288–89). The difficulty of this interpretation is the structural balance that both διά phrases provide (“given over because of our transgressions…raised because of our justification”). However the poetic structure of this verse strengthens the likelihood that the clauses each have a different force.

⁴⁷ sn Many scholars regard Rom 4:25 to be poetic or hymnic. These terms are used broadly to refer to the genre of writing, not to the content. There are two broad criteria for determining if a passage is poetic or hymnic: “(a) stylistic: a certain rhythmical lilt when the passages are read aloud, the presence of parallelismus membrorum (i.e., an arrangement into couplets), the semblance of some metre, and the presence of rhetorical devices such as alliteration, chiasmus, and antithesis; and (b) linguistic: an unusual vocabulary, particularly the presence of theological terms, which is different from the surrounding context” (P. T. O’Brien, Philippians [NIGTC], 188–89). Classifying a passage as hymnic or poetic is important because understanding this genre can provide keys to interpretation. However, not all scholars agree that the above criteria are present in this passage.

Biblical Studies Press. (2006; 2006). The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible. Biblical Studies Press.

From the Notesheet:

• Sermon Notes: As Carl promised, this is a practical lesson in having and strengthening faith -- using the example of Abraham.
  
  
  • So, what did Abraham do?
    1. He faced the facts (without weakening in his faith).
    2. He did not waver through unbelief.
    3. He grew stronger in his faith.
    4. He gave glory to God.
    5. He was persuaded God could do what he promised to do.
  
  
  • Carl drew these practical lessons for us:
    • And we also must not allow circumstances and appearances to determine what we will believe… hope… trust… live out…
    • We must know what God has promised to us, and be confident in His power to do what He promised
    • We must choose to hope in God – when there is no hope in the world.
    • God calls each of us to a growing experience of life—of focusing on God, believing God, loving God, honoring God, worshiping God, relying on God, serving God, etc…


• Going Deeper into the Word:
  1. How can we have “hope” -- when situations appear “hopeless”?
  2. How can we grow in not being controlled by circumstances?
  3. How are you “strengthened in faith”?
  4. Are we “fully persuaded” God will do what He promised to do?
  5. What is “justification”?

Next: 5:1-2 -- "We Have Peace With God"

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Romans 4:16-17 "The Promise Comes by Faith"

[Crossposted to Street Prophets. The index for the series is here.]

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Romans 4:9-15 "Only By Faith"

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Romans 4:1-8 "God's Economy - Everyone on Well-fare"

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Romans 3:27-31 "One God, One Faith, One People"

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(NET) Romans 3:27 Where, then, is boasting?⁴¹ It is excluded! By what principle?⁴² Of works? No, but by the principle of faith! 28 For we consider that a person⁴³ is declared righteous by faith apart from the works of the law.⁴⁴ 29 Or is God the God of the Jews only? Is he not the God of the Gentiles too? Yes, of the Gentiles too! 30 Since God is one,⁴⁵ he will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then nullify⁴⁶ the law through faith? Absolutely not! Instead⁴⁷ we uphold the law.

Notes:

⁴¹ tn Although a number of interpreters understand the “boasting” here to refer to Jewish boasting, others (e.g. C. E. B. Cranfield, “‘The Works of the Law’ in the Epistle to the Romans,” JSNT 43 [1991]: 96) take the phrase to refer to all human boasting before God.

⁴² tn Grk “By what sort of law?”

⁴³ tn Here ἄνθρωπον (anthrōpon) is used in an indefinite and general sense (BDAG 81 s.v. ἄνθρωπος 4.a.γ).

⁴⁴ tn See the note on the phrase “works of the law” in Rom 3:20.

⁴5 tn Grk “but if indeed God is one.”

⁴⁶ tn Grk “render inoperative.”

⁴⁷ tn Grk “but” (Greek ἀλλά, alla).

Biblical Studies Press. (2006; 2006). The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible. Biblical Studies Press.

My Comments: A discussion I have had a few times recently is over the denotative and connotative meanings of "faith". One common thread of any number of pastors of mine has been that it is meaningless to discuss faith without discussing the object of that faith - and there are many possible objects. Folks will talk about faith in their boss, faith in the government (Ok, well, not so many there), faith in their own skills and abilities, or faith in the skills or abilities of others. Indeed:

. . . faith is being sure of what we hope ["confident expection"] for, being convinced of what we do not see.

This applies to many things. Imagine that Joe Blow has decided to drive across town to visit his mom. He has made this trip hundreds of times, and he knows he will easily be there in time to take his mom to dinner. He calls her and tells her he will be there in 45 minutes, asks where she would like to eat, and tells her he will take her to dinner. What Joe doesn't know is that a semi is going to jack-knife and roll on the freeway - stopping all traffic for 4 hours. This is going to happen right after he gets on the freeway and has no way off. His confident expectation is derailed by an unseen, and unseeable, event. In fact, the results of his trip were never seeable - but that didn't stop him from having faith in its outcome. His mom's faith in her son's timeliness is going to leave her hungry (and worried if he doesn't have a cell phone).

It is faith in Christ or in God that Paul is talking about in this passage - and most of the time when people throw the word "faith" around it has some religious meaning. Even that is insufficient, there are folks with all sorts of different objects of their religious faith than Christ or His Father.

When Paul talks here about "one God, one faith, one people" he is not saying that everyone in the world shares the same religious faith - he is saying that gentile and Jewish believers in Christ share "one God" and "one faith" and are "one people" because of that shared faith in Christ.

Of course, I believe there is one God (and one God only) and wherever his "invisible attributes – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen" it is that God, recognized by the viewer or not, that has been seen. Like that famous elephant, we may all see different pieces but it is still just one elephant. Equally, I think followers of Christ do not have a complete view of God; but they see His Son - and His Son has proved His "creds" by His resurrection.

Next: 4:1-8 -- "God's Economy - Everyone on Well-fare"

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