ROMANS UNWRAPPED

                                    

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I was privileged to hear the ministry of Mr ANDREW BORLAND M.A., former rector of Irvine Academy and now with the Lord; in his own inimitable way, he summarised the Roman epistle as follows, and I think this is as good as it gets.

"FOR PAUL CHRISTIANITY HAD VERIFIABLE HISTORICAL FACTS UPON WHICH TO BUILD.    THE DOCTRINES HE ADVANCED, WERE NO THIN SPUN PHILOSOPHICAL IDEAS, BUT SOUND APPLICATIONS OF EVENTS, ABOUT WHOSE ACTUALITY HE HAD NOT THE SLIGHTEST DOUBT.   THESE EVENTS PIVOTED ON THE WORK OF JESUS CHRIST, WHOM HE HAD COME TO RECOGNISE AS THE FINAL, AND FULLEST REVELATION OF GOD, AND, BEFORE WHOM HE BOWED AS LORD.

HOWEVER, IT IS NOT ONLY AN HISTORICAL FAITH, IT IS ALSO A LOGICAL ONE.   ITS CLAIMS DO NOT VIOLATE REASON, ALTHOUGH SOMETIMES THEY TRANSCEND IT.   THERE ARE, IN ITS TEACHINGS, DEMANDS WHICH ARE ALWAYS LEGITIMATE, BECAUSE THEY ARE THE LOGICAL OUTCOME OF CERTAIN PREMISES.  

ROMANS CH. 8 IS THE CLIMAX OF THE MOST ARRESTING PIECE OF LOGIC IN THE BIBLE.   PAUL, SLOWLY, BUT CAREFULLY, BUILDS UP HIS ARGUMENT WITH AN INEXORABLE REASONING, SCARCELY MATCHED IN ANY OTHER WRITING.  

MOREOVER, AS SO MUCH OF THE NEW TESTAMENT ENFORCES, THE CHRISTIAN FAITH IS ETHICAL.   IT LAYS DOWN THE RULES OF CONDUCT WHICH ARE ON A PLAIN HIGHER THAN IN ANY OTHER TEACHING;   BUT THAT FAITH DIFFERS FROM RELIGIONS EMANATING FROM THE HUMAN SEARCH FOR TRUTH AND REALITY, IT IS DYNAMICAL.   IT NOT ONLY LAYS DOWN THE RULES OF CONDUCT, WHICH SEEM TO BE BEYOND HUMAN ATTAINMENT, IT ALSO SUPPLIES THE POWER BY WHICH THESE SAME RULES MAY BE OBSERVED; AND THAT IS BECAUSE THE CHRISTIAN FAITH IS IN ESSENCE SPIRITUAL.  ITS' DYNAMIC DERIVES FROM THE POWER OF GOD BECOMING RESIDENT IN THE BELIEVER, BECAUSE HE HAS PASSED THROUGH AN EXPERIENCE KNOWN AS THE NEW BIRTH, BY WHICH, HE BECOMES PARTAKER OFA NEW NATURE COMMUNICATED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD.   CONSEQUENTLY CONDUCT IS NOT ACCORDING TO HUMAN STANDARDS,  BUT ACCORDING TO DIVINE REQUIREMENTS."

OVERVIEW

The key words in Romans are:-

          DIKAIOSYNE   -   translated righteous/righteousness
          DIKAIOO           -   translated just/justify.

Both are from the same root, and, occur 42 times in Romans, out of a total of 140 times in the N.T.

RIGHTEOUSNESS  is the state of moral perfection required by God for entry into heaven.   This word is best understood by the phrase in Romans Ch. 3 v 23 "all have sinned and come short of the glory of |God."

The glory of God is the moral perfection and excellence of God, and is the standard required, and all of us come short.   In essence, apart from external help, the human race is doomed.   We may match up to the best of human standards, but none of us can rise to the demands of divine righteousness.   The word righteousness is taken from the reeds of the Mesopotamian rivers, which were so tall and straight, they were used in the construction industry to build walls and gates etc.

DIKAIOSYNE & DIKAIOO  just mean STRAIGHT, in this case, morally straight, right with God, measuring up to God's standard.   God is straight beyond our comprehension and He requires all who will dwell with Him to be the same.   None of us are, so we need help.   This is the story of how God is making human beings RIGHT, STRAIGHT, with Himself.

Using 7,114 words the Roman epistle is a treasure trove of divine truth portraying God's righteousness, God's way of salvation for everyone who is prepared to believe.

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