Romans 5: Reconciled and Reborn!

Chapters 5 of Paul's epistle to the Romans provided by Bible Gateway

    So, this will be interesting because I intend to keep this blog pretty short. I'm trying to achieve what I originally intended for this blog, and to do so I have some catching up to do. That being said, I'm not going to go into detail on the text right now, but rather to a bit of a drive through and point to things for you guys (whomever you may be) to ponder over as you read these chapters on your own. For the sake of context, the thing I want to reiterate regarding Romans 1-4 is that Paul goes to great lengths to show the Roman church that man, in his fallen state, is either ignorant (at best) or unwilling (at worst) to pursue God through holiness. The prevailing notion, then, was to take on good deeds as a means of pleasing God. For his argument, Paul built a straw man using the case of Abraham. Abraham being understood has having received justification(imputed righteousness) from God. He then tears the straw man down by pointing out when, and in what way that justification was applied to him. Simply put, Abraham was credited with righteousness through his belief in God's covenant with him prior to his circumcision. The conclusion aptly drawn that that episode is that justification before God is not to be achieved by human effort or endeavor. Right....deep breath, and on to Romans 5.
   Being justified as we are before God (through faith), we are also reconciled to him; enjoying the full benefits of a restored relationship. No longer being objects of wrath, we can dare to hope towards Glory. For the Christian, then, even the things that ought to bring death to our souls (suffering and the like) paradoxically do the opposite [5:3-5]. Rather than our suffering bearing fruit to death, it bears fruit to life for the believer.  Pay close attention to v.5. The very fact that we can gain Godly character through suffering ought to produce extreme hope for glory in our hearts. And, as Paul says can not disappoint us because it is a hope in salvation according to the counsel, and will of our Omnipotent eternal God. Overwhelmed yet? Because there's more.
     The proof that his hope does not fail us lies in the very conditions under which we receive it. Look at vv. 6-11. Jesus did not become incarnate for our sake once we had ordered our lives better. The very opposite is true. When Jesus took on flesh he arrived in an Israel at the height of it's whorish-ness. There were two lovers present to Israel in the time of Jesus. The first being Rome; and the second being their own righteousness. Here's what I mean by that...in order to survive as a nation Israel had to subject it's leadership under the puppet work of Caesar and the empire. There probably wasn't a very clean division between Roman and Jewish culture. Moreover, the popular religious notion at the time was Pharisaical. To put it bluntly: the Jews loved the law more than they loved God who gave it to them. They thought that, if they were righteous enough God would restore their national Sovereignty. A lot like how a little kid will kiss up to get candy from their parents.  Under those socio-religious condition God became incarnate to his covenant people, and allowed them to murder him.....for their own salvation. Not only that, but his sacrifice was not applied only to those present, the son of God being an eternal member of the trinity died with the burden of all man's sin for all time. Not only were his contemporaries atoned for, but also those who preceded him, and followed after him. For all of us, it's as if we were standing right there. If Jesus Christ can willing, and ably bear that burden for us; is there any sin from which he is unable or unwilling to redeem? Paul's answer is no.
     But how exactly does this work? We still dwell in the world, we still [even after the elaborate display of Christ's life, ministry, death and resurrection] sin in our minds, and actions. To sum up the rest of chapter five we are forced to look at the truth of God's Covenantal relationship to us. That being said, Paul takes on our lives as sons of Adam. Up until the moment of our salvation in Christ, we stood condemned with the imputed sin of Adam on our account. The fact that you and I sin today is the fruit of Adam's transgression. Being our progenitor (First man, or representative) his decision in the garden was effected for all of us. Sin filled the gap in between us and God after Adam ate the fruit. That is why the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus and John 3 is so important. Salvation is not attainable by doing the right thing, at the right time, in the right way. Because, altruistic though we may very well be, we still bore Adam's unrighteousness on our shoulders. Which is only proven by the fact that you and I sin, and by the fact that in several years all of us will die. The reality of the penalty proves the reality of the problem.
     Praise God though! In his life and ministry, and in his death and resurrection Christ became our progenitor. He became our Adam. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is referred to as his "passive obedience". Meaning he received the penalty of our sin during his crucifixion. His life and ministry is referred to as "active obedience" because during his ministry Christ actively restored righteousness for our sake. Hence the baptism at the hands of John, and the temptation in the wilderness. Everything that Jesus went through on Earth, we went through so that it would be attributed to us by the Holy Spirit through his (Christ's) death and resurrection. Simply put, we have the heart of Jesus Christ imputed to us.
 

Yet Another Update

Hey All,
   Sorry for the period of silence that has lapsed since my last post....I'm actually considering creating a header that perpetually apologizes for how rarely I update the wall. It seems like it enters my mind to post, and then the schedule of the day hi-jacks my attention. I suppose it's better to put off internet posting to meet with people, than putting off meetings for the sake of writing a blog. T he downside of that is that for the past month I've gone home feeling as if I had forgotten to do something.....
  In any case, I just wanted to drop in and say hello, and correct some information from my last posting. Unfortunately Becky's sinus surgery has been postponed for awhile so we are a ways off from being able to remedy that situation. I'll post more concrete news on here, as soon as I have it.
In the arena of good news, it seems like God has smiled on our desire for a new car......our little Honda has done us pretty good since we bought it two years ago. But we've been wanting to get a 4-door just in case we need to give people rides to things like RCF and such...and it seems like we're about to get a newer 4dr VW Golf. Which is uber-awesome (that's a technical German term to describe our exact sentiments).... Anywho, we are both thankful for your prayers and encouragements. Please keep praying for Becky's sinuses to correct themselves, that the car offer works out, and for God to grant RCF favor on the University of Oregon campus.

Thanks for reading my sporadic, rambling posting.
Matt,
 Reformed Campus Fellowship.