Most Important Notes from BIBL 425 {3,781 words}
I. Lesson 1 - The Book of Romans - The Who, What, and Why of the Case
A. This is probably the most important Book in the Bible theologically. The Apostle Paul wrote this Book, and he was probably the most important person in the Bible. He was from Tarsus, which is in Turkey and Asia Minor. He learned from Gamaliel. He was a Pharisee. He was a blasphemer before becoming a Christian, plus he tried to destroy the church. He was involved with Stephen's death, and he made havoc for the church. For three years in Damascus, he probably re-studied the Bible, but no one knows for sure. Barnabas sought out Paul and convinced him to go to Antioch. From there, they were called to the mission field. He was arrested twice and finally marytred in Rome.
B. Paul was a chosen vessel and a vessel of honor. Paul was a missionary to the Gentiles (3 trips), arrested, a fourth trip, and then arrested again. Peter was a missionary to the Jews. He was a very prolofic writer and a mighty prayer warrior. He prayed everywhere - in prison, on a sinking ship, on a deserted island, and back in prison again. He was a miracle worker. He blinded a man, and he healed a crippled man at Lystra. He healed a man that fell dead during one of his services. According to the Greek, the man past out because he was sick, not bored. Paul was stern but very tactful, particularly at Mars Hill. He tried to get two women back together in Philippians 4:1-2. Paul was very well liked, often called a beloved brother. He embraced John Mark in the end, too. He was a consistent example. At least five times, he told others to follow him as he followed Christ. All Christian workers should be able to say that. Paul was a compassionate soul winner. One of the last things that he asked for on this earth was his copy of the Old Testament scrolls.
C. There are two separations - (1) from the world and (2) to the Lord.
D. The Apostle Paul probably suffered for the cause of Christ more than any other person. He even had to do back-breaking labor (making tents). He preached for tree. He was often unpopular, he was illegally imprisoned, he was in at least four terrible ocean storms, he was beaten, and he endured many other things. Yet, he testified that he witnessed to everyone. He said that he did not have anyone's blood on him.
E. To whom the Book was written. They were a group of dynamic believers, but no one knows who started them. Peter almost certainly did not start that church because Paul would not have built upon another apostle's foundation (Romans 15:20). The church was probably started by converts from Pentecost. The congregation was mostly Gentiles.
F. The church had three key situations for which the writing might have occurred. (1)They shared their faith (Romans 1:8). (2) Some were guilty of judging others (Romans 14:10). (3) Some Christians were causing division and looking down on others (Romans 16:17).
G. Four divisions: (1) the courthouse of law (Romans 1-5), (2) the powerhouse of Grace (Romans 6-8), (3) a synagogue (Israel) (Romans 9-11), and (4) the Temple of God (Romans 12-16).
H. Romans is about righteousness: (1) God is righteous, (2) God demands righteousness, and (3) God provides righteousness.
I. In Romans, Chapter Nine, God accepted Israel in the past. In Romans, Chapter Ten, He rejects them in the present. In Romans, Chapter Eleven, He restores them. We will spend a whole lesson on Romans 8:28. The key words of salvation are spelled out in detail in Romans. The Book has five endings (benedictions). Romans 1:17 was the verse that motivated Martin Luther.
II. Lesson 2 - The Book of Romans (Chapter 1) - The Court Recorder
A. In Romans 1:1, Paul said that he was a "duolos" - a bondslave of Christ. He was a "called" apostle. He was declared an apostle, not called to be. Based on Acts 1, he had to have seen Jesus. He saw Him on at least seven occasions (Damascus road, Troas, to go to Damascus, Corinth, Jerusalem, a ship, Rome, and II Corinthians 12 (into the third heaven)). His call came from God on the road to Damascus (based on John 15:16). Paul would have preached even if he had not been ordained. God calls men, not other men. He was a separated saint (before his birth (Galatians 1:15), on the Damascus Road (Acts 9:15), and in Acts 13:2 in Antioch). A great verse about separation is Esther 4:14 when Mortecai suggested that she might have been separated for the very time that she was living. God wants to separate everyone to do His good works.
B. In Romans 1:2, the gospel was not new. It had been promised by the holy prophets in the holy scriptures (the Old Testament). Paul and Abraham and each person is saved by the same gospel. Jesus did not come to preach the Gospel. He came to make the Gospel to be preached.
C. Romans 1:3 might be making a reference to the virgin birth. In Romans 1:4 shows the hypostatic union (one hundred percent God, one hundred percent man, one hundred percent of the time). The two verses together show His divinity and His humanity.
D. Romans 1:5 - the program of the Gospel. Grace comes first, and then comes apostleship. One must come to Jesus before he or she can go for Him. In Romans 1:7, God never calls someone to be a saint. He declares those that come to Him to be saints, and He wants them to live like saints. But He does not call them to be saints. Paul always writes "grace and peace to you" in that order because the grace of God must always come before the peace of God.
E. Romans 1:9 shows that Paul was a prayer warrior. In Romans 1:10, he asked for a prosperous trip to Rome. He had a successful trip to Rome, but it was not a prosperous trip.
F. Romans 1:14 says that Christians are debtors. They owe people the Gospel. Paul said that he was not ashamed.
G. Romans 1:17 - God's righteousness means "right clothes." Unsaved people cannot attend heaven because they do not have anything to wear. Religion is anything you do to cover or hide your sins from God apart from His righteousness. This is a picture of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:7. In that verse, the just shall live by faith. We will study many salvation words.
H. Romans 1:1-18 teaches the word justification.
III. Lesson 3 - The Book of Romans (Chapter 1:18-32 - The Trial of the Ages, Part 1)
A. Romans, chapter one through five pertain to legal matters and are about a trial. Jesus will be the judge because the Father does not judge any man (Acts 17:31). The charge will be high treason. Romans 1:18 talks about those that held the truth in low esteem. In Isaiah 53:10, Jesus bore our griefs, and we esteemed Him not. Jesus was killed by the Father (Isaiah 53:6, Isaiah 53:10, and I Peter 3:18). The moral man, the religious man, and the pagan man are on trial, and they are all on trial for high treason. Furthermore, they are all guilty.
B. The first indictment is ingratitude (Romans 1:21). The worst sin in the Bible was the first sin in the Bible, and that was the sin of pride and self-will. Through self-will, Lucifer became the devil, and Adam fell because of their self-will nature. The cure for humility is being thanksful, and in Romans 1:21, they were not thankful. Unthankfulness is the beginning of apostasy. The first three chapters in the Bible talk about two of the great works of God (Creation and redemption). In Revelation 4:11 and Revelation 5:9 after the Rapture, people will sings songs to God thanking Him for Creation and redemption.
C. The second indictment was influence (Romans 1:22). Professing to be wise, they became fools (Psalm 14:1). The beginning of human, ungodly philosophy. Human philosophy is the science of knowing more and more about less and less until you know everything about nothing. Most philosophers do not have a great love for the Bible. Some evolutionists believe that, twenty billion years ago, all the whole universe was compressed into a mass smaller than the period at the end of a sentence (the big bang theory).
D. The third indictment was idolatry (Romans 1:23). Man is incurably religious, but he does not usually worship God.
E. The fourth indictment is immorality (Romans 1:24-27). Immorality is one of the last steps of an immoral society. God gave four institutions - the family, the government, Israel, and the church, and the devil attacks all four. In I Corinthians 6:9-11, Paul lists sins that people leave behind when they get saved, and homosexualism is one of them.
F. The fifth indictment is a reprobate mind (Romans 1:28-32). Homosexuality, drugs, and all those types of things are unnatural and "not convenient." Romans 1:29-31 lists a lot of acts that come from a reprobate mind. Of the list, murder is the only one that cannot be forgiven by the victim. Devil means to slander. In Genesis 3:1-4, Satan "slandered" God by his questioning of Eve. Disobedience to parents will lead to disobedience to others as the person ages. Being without understanding means to be alienated from the light of God (Ephesians 4:17-19). Without natural affection is not having a mother's love (a gravitational love) for her baby. This expression also appears in II Timothy 3:3. Abortion is an example of being without natural affection. Implacable means to be unsatisfied, either for not getting or even for getting what one wants. Implacable can work both ways.
G. Everyone is either moral, pagan, or religious, and all are guilty. Romans 1:18-32 are the words that God says about each of us. These words may be good as a witness to the religious.
IV. Lesson 4 - The Book of Romans (Chapter 2 - The Trial of the Ages, Part 2)
A. The trial of the ages (part 2) because man is on trial in the opening five chapters. The jury consists of our (the conscience of man (Romans 2:15), the deeds of man (Romans 2:6), the works of God (Romans 1:20), and the law of God (Romans 2:12)).
B. The soul is made up of (1) intellect (tells me whether a given issue is right or wrong), (2) sensibility (what I want to do about it), (3) conscience (what I should do about it), and (4) will (what I shall do about it). A believer out of the will of God can really suffer while an unsaved person does not have that problem. The believer cannot get away from God. A guilty conscience will make the Christian very miserable. In I Corinthians 8:7-12, there is a weak conscience. Paul said that eating meat is a non-issue. Acts 23:1 says that Paul had a good conscience. I Timothy 1:5 and I Timothy 1:19 says that we should try to have a good conscience. I Timothy 4:2, talks about a seared conscience. The first jury member is conscience.
C. The second member of the jury is the deeds of man. In II Corinthians 11:15, deeds of ministers will be judged by their deeds. Matthew 12:34-37 says that our words will be judged. Revelation 20:12-13 says that the dead will be judged by their works.
D. The third jury member will be the works of God. Romans 1:20 shows that creation will hold humanity accountable. An agnostic says that he will not believe in God (II Peter 3:5).
E. The fourth member of the jury will be the law of God (Romans 2:12-14).
F. The defense will be different for each of the three defendants but pointless for all three. The pagan man will claim ignorance, but his plea will be refuted because of the witnesses of conscience and nature. Conscience and nature are enough to get someone lost but not enough to them saved. Dr. Wilmington thinks that the individual that lives up to the witnesses of conscience and nature will get a missionary and have the opportunity to be saved. The moral man will claim to not be as bad as the pagan but his plea will refuted because Romans 2:1-5 says that the judge of others will not be held guiltless. He does the same thing but not in the same way. Romans 2:5 says that the moral man is storing up wrath for the day of God's wrath. Self-righteous moral people unestimate the awesomeness of God's holiness, and they totally underestimate the seriousness of their sins. The moral person forgets that one cannot escape God's wrath because the guilty often escape wrath on earth. The religious man (Jews) claims to know the law of God and to even be a teacher, but their plea will be rejected because they did not practice what they preached and taught. They slandered each other, they stole, they murdered, and they did not practice their own messages. Three conclusions: (1) The Jews had a national advantage but no spiritual advantage. (2) Israel rejected Christ, but God's promises will not fail. (3) Israel's righteousness showed God's righteousness. The Jew's law could not save him even if he had kept it. His circumcision could not save him. Circumcision was the seal of Abraham's faith, but it was not the source of his faith.
G. All three defendants are guilty, so man's only hope is to settle out of court. Hebrews 2:3 asks how we will escape if we neglect so great salvation.
V. Lesson 5 - The Book of Romans (Romans 3 - The Trial of the Ages, Part 3)
A. This lesson will be the verdict, the sentence, and the miracle. The verdict is Romans 3:10-11,23. Luke 1:47 shows that Mary called Jesus her Savior. Even Mary needed to be saved. The Greek word for sin in Romans 3:23 was hamartano, and it means to "miss a mark." Even when man does his best, he still misses the mark. The Bible is a record of God searching after man, not man searching after God. The jury says that man's character is sinful (Romans 3:12), and all in that verse means "all." Revelation 5:1-5 shows the book with the seven judgmental seals. Who can open that book and usher in the Millennium? The only person in earth and heaven worthy is Jesus. The jury says that his conversation is guilty (Romans 3:13-14). The two analogies are the sting of a vicious, deadly viper and the horrible stench coming out of a tomb. Their mouths are full of cursings and bitterness. Man's conduct is also guilty (Romans 3:18). Man murders his brother, and he mocks His God.
B. The sentence is "for the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). Death is first mentioned in Genesis 2:17, and it means separation. There is a physical separation from the earth and spiritual separation from God. There are two deaths and two births in the Bible. The greatest crime imaginable must be punished by the greatest death imaginable.
C. The miracle is that the just Judge died for the three guilty defendants. That is justification, and it is why He will not and cannot tolerate any excuse. The miracle of justification is the gift of life through Jesus, and some of the features of the miracle are:
1. Romans 3:24 - the nature - justified freely by His grace without a cause. There is nothing that man can do.
2. Romans 3:25 - the person is God.
3. Romans 3:24 and Romans 3:28 - the source of the miracle is grace.
4. Romans 3:23 - the scope is unlimited
5. Romans 3:22 and Romans 3:26 - the bestowal is limited. The non-repentant cannot be saved, but Jesus came to save bad people.
6. Romans 3:21 - the witnesses are the prophets and the Law (Hebrews 11:39).
7. Romans 3:30 - the legal accomplishment of the miracle is through Jesus. He bridged the gap between God and man. In Romans 3:25, propitiation meant satisfying, and it was a picture of the Old Testament mercy seat. The Ark of the Covenant contained the mercy seat and the two stones of the Law. Right over the Ark was the shikina glory cloud of the Lord. The priest would put the sacrificed blood on between the mercy seat and the glory cloud, and that blood was what brought the two together. God saw Israel through the blood of the lamb.
8. Romans 3:31 - the harmony seen in the miracle is that the Law is established. Christians have satisfied the Law because they are in Christ, and He satisfied the Law.
VI. Lesson 6 - The Book of Romans (Romans 4 - The Two Spokesman (David and Abraham))
A. Abraham had a personal relationship with God before he was circumcised (Genesis 17:1-22). God established His covenant with Abraham and Isaac. He promised to make Ishmael a great nation. But Abraham had demonstrated his faith and was justified with God before he was circumcised. Circumcision was a sign of the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 17:11). It was not the covenant itself. In Romans 4:11, Paul wrote that Abraham had had faith and a relationship with God prior to the circumcision.
B. Old Testament Covenants were made in one of three ways - by exchanging shoes, by salt, and by blood sacrifices. Two rows of four animal sacrifices were laid parallel to each other. Both people walked between the two rows to signify their agreement. They were saying that the same should happen to them as to the animals if they did not keep their covenant. When God and Abraham made their covenant, God caused a deep sleep to fall on Abraham so that God alone walked between the sacrifices (Genesis 15:9-21). God knew that Abraham would quickly break their agreement in Genesis 16:1-16 with Hagar.
VII. Lesson 7 - The Book of Romans (Romans 4 - The Two Spokesman (David and Abraham))
A. The ten most mentioned people in the Bible are: (1) David (1,118), (2) Moses (740), (3) Saul (388), (4) Aaron (339), (5) Abraham (306), (6) Solomon (295), (7) Jacob (270), (8) Joseph (208), (9) Joshua (197), and (10) the Apostle Paul (185).
B. Paul wanted to show the Jews that knew the Bible that Abraham was justified without circumcision and that David was justified apart from the Law of Moses.
C. David's life can be summarized by nine alliterated words: (1) Shepherd, (2) Singer, (3) Soldier, (4) Sought (by Saul), (5) Sovereign, (6) Sinner (with Bathsheba), (7) Saved (apart from the Law of Moses), (8) Sanctified, and (9) Sincere. Saul might have been demon-possessed and probably was not saved (Worthington's opinion). Goliath was fully protected by armor from head to toe except for a small opening at his forehead, and that is where David struck him. David was anointed by Samuel at age seventeen, but he was the "sought" until age thirty. The means never justifies the end, and David got a high priest and eighty-five other priests were killed because of it.
D. David gave up on God just before he would have had the victory. He went into Philistia, and it took a miracle from God to get him out of there. It's always too soon to quit. When he became king over two tribes, he was thirty. It was not until he turned thirty-seven that he became king over all twelve tribes.
E. In Romans 4:6-8, Paul deals with David's sin. Uriah had been a loyal friend and soldier to David in his army before he became king, so David's actions were even more despicable. David always repented when he did wrong. That's why he was called a man after God's own heart. Psalm 32 and Psalm 51 both relate to David's sin and murder. Psalm 32 was David's experiences during the year after his unconfessed sin, and he expressed his terrible misery. God does not hear the prayers of those that regard iniquity in their heart (Psalm 66:18). In Psalm 51:11, David asks for God to not remove His Holy Spirit from him. In the Old Testament, that could happen without the person losing their salvation. In the New Testament, the Spirit does not leave the believer. Psalm 51:16-17 show that David was justified apart from the Law of Moses. According to Levitical Law, there was not a sacrifice available for the sin of adultery, so David bypassed the Law of Moses and was forgiven.
VIII. Lesson 8 - The Book of Romans (Romans 5:1-11 - (A Summary of the Five Blessings of Justification))
A. Peace with God from the former war that existed (Romans 5:1 - this is different than Philippians 4:8-9 which is the peace of God).
B. Access to God (Romans 5:2).
C. Assurance from God (Romans 5:3-4 - suffering gives more experience, and more experience allows to help others more (see II Corinthians 1:3-5)). Hope must involve the future. An earthly hope must involve something good in the future, and it must be possible. Our reasonable hope is in Jesus' return. God creates all circumstances, He keeps people in His love, He makes trials a blessing and a lesson, and He will deliver in His time. The will of God will never leave me where the grace of God cannot sustain me. In everything give thanks.
D. Indwelled by God (Romans 5:5). We are baptized into one body in Christ, and we cannot be removed. This is another form of eternal salvation. Believers are sealed and filled. We get unconditional love (Romans 5:6-8) from the Lord. Only saved people can love with the pure love of God.
E. Preserved by God because of the Lord's past work on the cross and His current work in heaven at God's right hand. Thus, He lives to keep me saved by making intercession for me. If God did all these things for us while we are sinners, then how much more now that we are His.
Tom of Bethany "He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." (I John 5:12)
Index to Selected Essays And Book Reviews
BIBL 425 - The Book of Romans (Lessons 9-16)
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