Fear No Fear

(All scripture from Lexham English Bible, Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software)

“What then? Do we have an advantage? Not at all. For we have already charged both Jews and Greeks are all under sin, just as it is written, “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned aside together; they have become worthless; There is no one who practices kindness; there is not even one” (Romans 3:9-12)

In chapter three, we start with a summation of what was just said. Paul rounds it up so that no one can misunderstand. NONE of us are righteous. There is no moral difference between Jew and Gentile. We are all guilty. We have all failed in something. We’ve become willfully ignorant about something. We all are selfish. We have all turned out backs to the truth deliberately. We have all dishonoured God instead of glorifying Him. We have all failed to follow after that which is good. It is because of the corruption within that we had (sinful nature). Lying and deception characterizes humanity – a poison injected into humanity by the devil (and he consistently gives us booster shots). We’re full of bitterness and cursing. We continually give in to hatred. We have forgotten God is the source of life and blessing. We have deliberately chosen the ways of death (anything and everything that is against God’s moral character, which is life). And there is NO true wisdom in human thinking – no matter how great, complex, inventive, and interesting our thinking gets. This is the basic standard of human experience and nature from birth. If God doesn’t have a righteousness of His own to provide for us, we are sunk.

Seeking to earn salvation is the only sin that will prevent you from being saved, because in trying to earn your own salvation, you are refusing to trust in Jesus (John 3:16-18). We will NEVER be declared righteous because of ANYTHING we have done (Titus 3:5). This has ALWAYS been God’s position: “I bring my righteousness near; it is not far. And my salvation will not delay; and I will put salvation in Zion, for Israel my glory” (Isaiah 46:13). It is a righteousness completely separate from any obedience to God’s moral code. It is a righteousness NOT dependent on human merit or attainment. That’s what was required because humanity cannot justify themselves. The scripture is full of humanity crying out for justification and God promising to bring it to pass for them (Psalm 31:1, 51:7; Isaiah 53:5, 61:10; Jeremiah 23:6, 36:29; Daniel 9:24). The gospel message is one of ATONEMENT. God doesn’t impute sin to the believer in Jesus, instead He imputes righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Chapter four continues this line of thought, showing that the blessing we walk in under grace is demonstrated by our baptism after salvation. The baptism is an outward symbol of the inward reality, much in the same way circumcision was. Circumcision didn’t bring justification before God and neither did baptism. They were outward symbols of accepting God’s grace and mercy and by TRUSTING entering into His Kingdom (salvation). That’s how Abraham was justified. He was justified by his trust in God YEARS before he was given the sign of circumcision. God’s unconditional promise of grace to those who trust in Him was the basis of Abraham’s justification and it remains ours. When the Law was given, it was given to show how we could not justify ourselves. It could NEVER be the means of earning salvation. It intensified sin, it didn’t release us from sin. When Jesus died, He PAID for Sin and then was resurrected to life as PROOF that God was SATISFIED. Divine justice had been appeased. The Law had been established in Jesus. Therefore, when we believe in Jesus and trust Him, we are also declared justified from sin. This is the basis of the peace we have in our salvation. It is not a state of mind, but the condition of our hearts. Sin created a breach between God and humanity that humanity could not repair. The breach was filled with Jesus’ blood. There is no longer a barrier between God and humanity. God made it a settled thing. God founded it. We have peace between us (Luke 2:14). When we believe it, we have peace with God. That peace is how we know we can come boldly to the throne of God to receive any and all help that we need (Hebrews 4:16).

In chapter five, Paul starts to expound on the patient endurance that peace enables us to have. It is out of patient endurance (patience being trust in Jesus over a period of time) that our experience in Jesus springs forth. The experience of trusting in Jesus and learning how He can sustain us in every circumstance. The experience creates hope (eager anticipation of the results) as we wean OURSELVES from the things of Earth and instead occupy ourselves with the things of the Kingdom (Romans 12:2). Tribulations and afflictions aren’t FROM God. They arise from other sources, but God allows them because it gives us an opportunity found nowhere else to prove to ourselves the abundant promises of God about Him being MORE THAN ENOUGH for everything we encounter or that seeks to come upon us. We are saved by what Jesus did for us and Holy Spirit seals us when we believe the gospel message (Ephesians 1:13). At the same time, He comes to dwell inside us (1 Corinthians 3:16), bringing with Him the love of God which He pours out into our heart. Our knowledge of that love is what determines what level of experiential power we will see manifest in our lives (Ephesians 3:14-21).

We can take comfort in this truth because we understand the root of our justification through grace by trusting in Jesus. The first Adam rebelled and all those who descended from him (the human race) shared his fallen DNA (Genesis 5:3). Because of the Sin that was in our very nature, we sinned and learned the patterns of selfishness inherent in that nature. Even those like infants had sin and we see that because death is common to us all, regardless of age and mental competency. Death is a result of Sin (1 Corinthians 15:22). But in Jesus, we get a NEW nature. Now we do NOT have Sin and therefore we are not subject to Sin or death which comes from sin. We have a NEW head. The last Adam (Jesus) is the head which restores to us relationship with God and enables us to live in Him and thereby be counted righteous since we share HIS righteousness right down to our DNA. By physical birth, we all got Sin and were fallen. By spiritual birth, we all get Jesus’ righteousness. It is by believing and trusting in Jesus that we access the mercy of God by grace and regain life unending (John 17:3).

Summary

Key Players: God, Jesus, Paul

Key Verse(s): Romans 3:9-18; 4:13-25; 5:15-21