Romans 3:5-24   

We saw last week that Paul describes the chapter 1 people as obviously immoral and openly rejecting God as their God. They worshiped idols and lived an increasingly depraved lifestyle. The chapter 2 people looked pretty good on the outside but their reliance on the law rather than Christ was akin to idolatry. They didn't reject the true God and worship idols like the Gentiles did, but they rejected the Son of God and clung to the law-- a law they did not keep. They were not only immoral but also hypocrites.

3:5-8 Paul now addresses an argument he'd probably heard many times. Some people thought that God should not be angry with sinners because the more people sin the more righteous God looks. They went so far as to say that doing evil actually brings about something good. Paul has no patience with this ridiculous line of reasoning and says of them, "their condemnation is deserved."

v. 9-18 No one is righteous, humanity "has become worthless" because it has not fulfilled the purpose for which God created it-- glorifying Him. Their mouths are supposed to praise God but instead they are filled with cursing and deception. People don't hesitate to shed blood, they don't know how to have peace, and they don't even fear God. They don't know enough to be afraid of God's wrath. However, this is a willful ignorance because they really do have some knowledge of God.

v. 19-20 The purpose of the law was not to make them righteous in God's sight but to make them conscious of sin. So now Paul has shown that Gentiles are under the wrath of God because of their rejection of Him and Jews are under God's wrath because the Law of Moses condemns them when they break it (and they've all broken it). This levels the playing field between Jews and Gentiles and shows both of them their need for a savior.

v. 21 Finally the good news! Now (in the 1^st century) a righteousness from God which is apart from the Law of Moses has been made known. The Law and the OT prophets are witnesses testifying that this is righteousness and that this righteousness is from God.

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This righteousness comes to all (whether Jew or Gentile) who have faith in Christ. Be careful of the word "all." Paul cannot mean every individual person because he qualifies the "all" by saying "all who believe." There are many people who do not believe, therefore the "all" refers to all nations. In other words, Jews who believe and Gentiles who believe are all justified by faith in Christ. 

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*** Schedule change: No class on May 5 and 26 *** 

Romans 14:1-16:27   

14:1 "Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters." This verse offers some key principles for Christian living:

1) Faith is a continuum from weak to strong. Not every person of faith has the same strength of faith.

2) Some matters are disputable, which implies that there are other matters that are indisputable. Disputable matters could also be called non-essentials of the faith. That is, Christians can have differing views on disputable matters (non-essentials) and still be Christian. But there are also indisputable matters (essentials) like Jesus is God, Jesus rose from the dead, etc. that one must believe in order to be a Christian.

3) A person of faith might have weak faith in some matters and strong faith in other matters.

In class we talked about how religious cults view nearly everything as essential: what to wear, what to eat, how to worship, etc. Cults require conformity on matters that Paul would have called disputable. We discussed the difference between unity and conformity. It's possible to have conformity (everyone doing the same things) without unity. And it's possible to have unity (Paul's metaphor of the body) without conformity. Paul consistently teaches unity without conformity.

v. 2  A man with weak faith eats only vegetables but a man with strong faith eats everything. The first man is not simply a vegetarian but rather this is a matter of his faith. He believes that eating meat would be a sin. Perhaps this is a Jewish man who has always abstained from unclean meat or a man who is concerned about meat that has been sacrificed to idols. In any case, he believes it is wrong to eat this. The man of strong faith is able to eat anything with a clear conscience.

v. 3-4 Notice how Paul tells the man of strong faith not to look down on his brother and he tells the man of weak faith not to condemn (judge) his brother. It seems that the strong one feels superior to the weak one and the weak brother thinks the strong one is sinning. But God "has accepted" both men and both "will stand" because the Lord is able to make them stand.  

v. 5-13 It's not only food but also sacred days that Paul is calling a disputable matter. The bottom line is that each man is to live to the Lord and when he dies he dies to the Lord. Jesus is Lord of both the living and the dead because He died and rose again. Therefore, believers must not judge each other. God is the judge of all men. Instead of judging each other they are to be careful not to hinder one another.

v. 14-23 Paul makes a surprising statement here considering that he's a former Pharisee. He says no food is unclean. This is not what the Jews of his day believed or practiced. Then he goes on to say that if someone regards a food as unclean then for him it is unclean and should not be eaten. So this is a matter of conscience. If someone thinks it's a sin to eat a certain food then he actually sins if he eats it. Paul takes it further and tells them if their eating distresses their brother then they are not acting in love. The kingdom of God is not about eating and drinking so they are to do what leads to peace and mutual encouragement. Again Paul says all food is clean but the strong should not do anything to cause the weak to sin. "Whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God." Everything that does not come from faith is sin.

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