(Romans 4)- The OT Saint were justified through faith

vs. 2, 4: Works is only rewarded because of necessity (debt). i.e. Someone is paid because they worked, that employer owes him money. These two verses are foundational for the proof of the necessity of grace that Paul speaks about in the next two chapters

(cf – 6.23).

vs. 5: Proof and commentary of vs. 3. (and vs. 6-8 are his cross reference)

vs. 9: “reckoned” logizomai is the same word for “impute” (vs. 8, 11). Faith was given.

vs. 11: Abraham was not just father of the Jews, but of those of ‘the faith’ (see also Gal. 3)

vs. 13, 16-18: The true ‘children’ of Abraham are those of the righteousness of faith

(Galatians 3)- The Gospel according to Abraham

cf – Romans 9.6, “…they are not all Israel which are of Israel.”

vs. 1-5: (cf- 5.7) These Christian Jews were like most people, they thought they had the monopoly on truth. Actually, they had in their lives what many missionaries face on the field today: a power struggle. For instance, a missionary will go to the field and seemingly “convert” a tribe. They look like new Christians, they talk like new Christians, but when a crisis arrives, they go back to their pagan ceremonies (like sacrificing a cow in order to appease an evil spirit). Why don’t they trust God? Because they were so used to seeing ‘evil spirits’ appeased by their own rituals and they had yet to see Jesus do that. This is called the “Foreign Jesus” problem by missiologists. The Galatian church was in much of the same problem, though it wasn’t about appeasing evil spirits, it was about thinking too high of their already dead rituals (Judaism). It was a power struggle for who gets glory: man or God (cf – Ro 4.2-4)

vs. 7: And yet again, the exciting truth that those who have faith in what God has said, are the children of Abraham. This chapter is probably the best answer for, “How did the OT saints get saved.”

vs. 8: The Abrahamic Covenant is the gospel just placed in the OT! “In thee shall all nations be blessed.” This is the good news!

vs. 14-16: That Abrahamic covenant is not just for the Jews but for all. The Gentiles were blessed through the Abrahamic covenant because of Jesus Christ. This is why all nations would be blessed through Abraham’s seed. (cf – Is 54.3) This covenant is the basis for missions and is why Jesus Christ said, “Go ye…” It wasn’t something new that He instituted, it was His plan from the start.

(Romans 7) - Comparison between the ‘oldness of the letter’ and ‘newness of spirit’

vs. 4-5: There are those who bring forth “fruit unto God” or “fruit unto death”. That is, fruit “in the flesh” or fruit “in Christ”.

vs. 18: “In me (that is in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing…” Oh to realize the filth of human life! How can I do good when in me is no good thing? How would I know how to do good without Jesus Christ? I wouldn’t know. This is a key verse that unlocks much of the next chapter.

(Romans 8)

vs. 1: “…therefore…” That is, everything based upon chapter 5-7: the flesh is weak, the law inadequate, sin has dominion in both, we are condemned in sin, Jesus Christ is the answer for sin, etc.

“There is…no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus…” After establishing that all men are sinners and will always move contrary to God and righteousness, Paul determines to prove to the Jew that the law does not make one righteous, it never has. Romans 2:29 “But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.” And upon establishing that the law only brings sin”…I had not known sin but by the law…” Paul has systematically left only one answer left for cleansing sin: Jesus Christ. Sin brought condemnation, the law points out the condemned, and in Jesus Christ there is no condemnation.

vs. 2: The law is bondage (7.1) but the law of Christ is freedom!

vs. 4: The “righteousness of the law” is fulfilled in Christians

vs. 7: Note that it is IMPOSSIBLE for a carnally minded man to be subject by the laws of God. This completely answers the fallacies of the cultural morality of Focus on the Family and the Christian Coalition. It is not the job of the Christian to make a “better America” then try to get people saved. They CANNOT please God (vs. 8). Also note that if they cannot obey the laws of God because of carnality, something supernatural must take place in their lives in order for them to obey the laws of God. This is so important to understand in Salvation. A sinner cannot be saved until first the Spirit of God intervene; they cannot come to Him first.

(Genesis 20)

Abimelech’s action to take Sarah as a wife was certainly a sin but he didn’t know. Notice what the Lord said to him in a dream, “Yea I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her.” What wonderful grace God gives to us, that even in our ignorance He withholds us from doing evil. I wonder how often I have ‘jumped the gun’ and blindly accused someone of wrong when really they thought that they were doing right. It is wonderful to know God’s omniscience is an omniscience with grace.