In this next part of the letter to the Romans, Paul, whose background was Jewish, presents some questions which the Jews might ask. Then he answers them. His answers are hard for us to understand because we don’t have the same mindset as the Jews. His conclusion however is clearer …. “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin..”  There is only one way to God and that is beautifully explained in the last part of this chapter.

The early church in Rome was made up of believers from two very different backgrounds. Some had been brought up as Jews …… others had not. There were tensions between the two groups and so the apostle Paul wrote a pastoral letter to the church. In this letter he explains what they have in common, which is the essential thing ie. both groups of believers have been made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ.

This would have raised a question for those with a Jewish background. What about God’s Law (summarized in the Ten Commandments)? They had been trained to obey this Law. The non-Jews had not. Paul uses two illustrations by way of an answer. The first one is from marriage. It shows that people must be released from trying to be made right with God by how well they keep the Law (the first husband). They must only rely on what Jesus (the second husband) has accomplished for them. This is received by faith, not anything a person does or does not do.

The second illustration is about a very troubled person. This further shows that trying to obey the Law cannot make someone right with God. This is even though the Law is good and alerts people to those things in them which are wrong. They must only trust in Jesus otherwise there will be divided loyalties.

Scripture Reference

There are many misconceptions people have about the Church. Some forget or don’t realize that Christians are sinners like everyone else. The difference is that all those who are trusting in what Jesus has done for them, through His death and resurrection, are forgiven by God. There is a bumper sticker which is sometimes seen on cars and puts it well ……..’Christians are not perfect, just forgiven’.

With this background it also becomes clear that Christians, who make up the Church, should be growing in their faith which, in turn, will have an effect on their lives. In this passage (click on the link above ‘Scripture Reference’) we can see that the Church’s greatest need is to know God better in their relationship with Jesus Christ. There are 2 parts to this. In the first part of the passage it’s that God’s people need to know Him better through prayer. In the second part it’s that God’s people need to know that Jesus Christ rules for His Church.

Scripture Reference

The Israelites were weeping because they feared having to surrender to the Ammonites who had besieged their city. King Saul heard about their situation. He came to fight against the Ammonites and won a great victory over them which freed the city.

The key to understanding this story is in the last 2 verses. The prophet Samuel takes the people to the city of Gilgal to ‘renew the kingdom’. We are then told that they offered sacrifices to the Lord and rejoiced. This is a reminder of the victory that Jesus has won for His people over the enemy called ‘sin’ ……  the wrong things that we think, say and do. These things cause much trouble and suffering in our lives. Jesus won the victory over sin through the sacrifice of Himself on the cross as a substitute. Turning back to God and trusting in what Jesus has done for us removes our guilt , setting us free.

This is a very valid question to ask for someone who has been thinking about the gospel (‘good news’) but not understanding the Christian life. Most Christians can identify with a person who may be considering this question, ‘how do I get faith’, because there was a time in their life when they didn’t believe either. There was a time when they had some knowledge of God and the gospel but it didn’t make sense to them.

The simple answer to the question is that ‘faith comes by hearing’ …… i.e. reading the Scriptures (the gospels are a good place to start) and especially listening to the preaching of the gospel. One of the Links from this site goes to a church website for listening to sermons on line.

It should also be said that believing in Jesus should not be separated from having a sense of need. The prodigal son in the well-known parable returned to the father out of a sense of need. Jesus name means ‘saviour’. He came to save people from their sins. This is another reason to read the Scriptures or listen to sermons because in them we begin to see that we are very needy people.

God’s choice (see passage) ….. His choosing of people to believe in Jesus ….. is not something which, from our perspective, excludes anyone. Both God’s choosing and man’s responsibility to believe are taught in the Bible. We are to hold the 2 truths together like two parallel railway lines which meet on the horizon. If you haven’t yet come to faith in Jesus Christ you are to keep seeking Him earnestly.

Remember that well known passage in John 3:16 ….. ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.’ Faith is the key …. trusting in what Jesus has accomplished for us at the cross and not anything in us to merit His favour. This way the blessings which we have received are all to His glory not our own …….  a free gift

The people of  the prophet Samuel’s time (see Scripture passage) did wrong in asking for a king to rule over them. This was a rejection of God’s rule as they had forgotten His grace in saving them. They did not remember how He had brought them out of bondage to the Egyptians, through the Red Sea, the wilderness and into the promised land. They wanted a visible king.

This is a reminder to people today not to turn away from the grace which He has shown in sending Jesus Christ. Jesus is the perfect King whose rule has been displayed for us through the cross …….. providing forgiveness for all who trust in Him.

Chapter 2 of Paul’s letter to the Romans can be hard to follow unless we understand he is showing that all mankind “have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” This means that because God is holy people can’t come to Him in and of themselves or they would die in their sins. But because of Jesus horrific and agonizing death on the cross people can now stand before God just as if they hadn’t sinned (justified), by faith. Faith ‘clothes’ us in Jesus’ perfect right-ness.

The people at the time of Paul’s writing were broadly classified as either Jew or Gentile. The Jews had a much higher standard of morality than what we read about at the end of Chapter 1 but Chapter 2 shows that they were in no position to judge the Gentiles because they were guilty of very serious sin as well. Whilst the Jews may have prided themselves on having God’s Law and circumcision they did not keep the Law properly and relying upon their religious heritage was of no use to them. God is impartial in His judgment.

The ‘what’ of the Christian message is familiar to most people. The ‘why’ and the ‘how’ however are much less well known. (see Scripture passage)

In Romans, Paul begins by putting his name to the letter and then briefly telling about  the ‘what’ before he goes on to the ‘why’ and the ‘how’. We find that the gospel (good news) was promised in the Old Testament Scriptures, it is about God’s Son, descended from David (in one sense) and resurrected from the dead.

We also catch a glimpse of Paul’s heart, addressing the believers in Rome as ‘beloved’ …… showing his care and concern for them and hope to visit them.

This first part of Chapter 1 finishes with Paul giving a glimpse of the ‘why’. He says he is not ashamed of the gospel, the momentous truths about Jesus dying on the cross and rising again from death, because it is God’s way of saving people and we now get a glimpse of the ‘how’ …..  it is by faith. Faith is simply ‘confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see’.

Verse 17 is the key …….. it contains a quote from the Old Testament “the righteous man shall live by faith”. Another way of saying this is ‘the one who through faith is righteous shall live’. Its not about what we have accomplished but our participation, by faith, in what has been accomplished for us by Jesus Christ on the cross.

The story of Ruth after much hardship ended happily. Ruth also contains a wonderful picture of the gospel, God’s ‘good news’. Ruth’s husband, Boaz, redeemed her by paying a monetary price and she became his wife (see Scripture passage). God has also redeemed a people for Himself, by paying the great price for their wrongdoing in the person of Jesus Christ on the cross.