EXPOSITION: Chapter 5:1-21 5:1-11—From Justification to Salvation 1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice [boast] in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice [boast] in our sufferings, … [Read more...]
Romans: The Jews & the Judgement of God, Part 4a
EXPOSITION: Chapter 2:1-29 2:1-5—The Jews & the Judgement of God Keeping in mind the direction of Paul's argument throughout the larger passage (1:18-3:20) – that is, to establish the universality of sin and judgement without exception – from 2:1 he focuses on the Jew, confronting their attitude of exceptionalism. Allied with this was their abstraction of the law from … [Read more...]
Romans: Judgement & Justification—Justice Promised, Part 4
EXPOSITION: Chapter 2:1-4:25 We concluded Part 3 (1:18-32) with the assertion that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against man as a covenant-breaker. And that he has therefore come under the retributive justice of God, worthy of the judicial penalty of death. Man is dislocated from God, the cosmos is broken, and all must now be set-to-rights. The next … [Read more...]
The Incarnation: Renovation of the Cosmos
Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a … [Read more...]
The World of the Resurrection
For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. Romans 8:19 The resurrection of Christ signals the transformation of the cosmos – this physical world – in time and space, in history. From chapter 1 of his epistle to the Romans Paul progressively explicates the Gospel as God's solution to the disruption of the cosmos caused by human rebellion, … [Read more...]
