All posts by Luella Campbell

ROMANS…THE PROMISE – 10

Bible Study, ,

“So, the promise is received by faith. It is given as a free gift. And we are all certain to receive it, whether or not we live according to the law of Moses, if we have faith like Abraham’s. For Abraham is the father of all who believe.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭4‬:‭16‬ ‭NLT‬‬

If Abraham’s faith rested on God’s promise of a son and descendants, what is the promise that God had made to us that changes our status from guilty to righteous?

“Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭5‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NLT‬‬

This is a loaded statement! 

In the midst of humanity’s puny efforts to reach God, which failed every time, God did something monumental…momentous…outrageous…unthinkable! He came here Himself…in person…in human form…just like us. He lived the exact life He wanted us to live…and then we killed Him for being who He was… the God-man, the Son of God, but…His death wasn’t an assassination…a crime, or a mistake. It was a sacrifice, an offering given willingly for us. It was an exchange…His death for our life…our sin for His righteousness!

“For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭5‬:‭21‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The promise is therefore that…

“If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭10‬:‭9‬-‭10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Two words in this promise, correctly understood, are the key to this exchange…”Lord” and “faith”, and the two are closely intertwined. If we confess that Jesus is Lord and declare our faith in Him, we are trading all our self-sufficiencies, our independence from God and all the ramifications of that independence…for utter reliance on Jesus as our supreme authority. We give back to Him what rightfully belongs to Him…our bodies as His temple, our self will for His will, and our lives for His purposes. 

Faith is more than assent to a Biblical truth. Faith is our anchor to the one who did everything for us…our trust in and obedience to our Master who bought us with His blood. This faith is the key that unlocks the door to everything inside the covenant that God cut with Abraham. 

“I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭12‬:‭3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

When Jesus died, we died in Him. When He rose from the dead, we rose in Him to a new life in a new realm. Our old lives of selfish independence and the consequences ceased to exist. 

“For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.”

‭‭Colossians‬ ‭1‬:‭13‬-‭14‬ ‭NLT‬‬

We have an obligation to a new master, to live in and for Him because He paid for our release from sin’s bondage. This new status has major benefits which we shall continue to explore. 

To be continued

ROMANS…PAUL’S ARGUMENT – 9

Bible Study,

Abraham was, humanly speaking, the founder of our Jewish nation. What did he discover about being made right with God? If his good deeds had made him acceptable to God, he would have had something to boast about. But that was not God’s way. For the Scriptures tell us, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith. When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned. But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭4‬:‭1‬-‭5‬ NLT

Paul begins to explore the deeper meaning of Scripture. He didn’t thumbsuck to help his readers get into the nitty gritty of righteousness by faith. Despite the rules and rituals of the Old Covenant which seem to dominate, the way to gain acceptance with God by faith is buried deep in the pages of the Old Testament. 

He begins with Abraham, the father of the nation. How did Abraham step into the realm of God’s favour? Did he work for it? No, he trusted something that God had said. 

 Works and faith…what’s the difference?  

Works…doing what God requires…earns wages. One gets paid for what one does.  Unfortunately, as Paul concluded…all our that works earn, no matter how hard we try to do the right thing, is death. 

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭6‬:‭23‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Faith, on the other hand, dumps self-effort as futile because, even if one could live perfectly from this moment, one’s past is always there to accuse and condemn. 

God has made another way, a way that rests on Him, not on us. He asks us to trust Him because of what He has done. He promised that Abraham, despite being old and childless, would be the father of a great nation. “Look up at the stars, Abraham. Can you count them? Your descendants will be like that, as numberless as the stars!” 

The Scripture concludes…

“For the Scriptures tell us, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭4‬:‭3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

What God had promised Abraham was something he could never work for or earn. He had to believe what God had said and stake his life on it. That step of utter commitment to God’s word catapulted him into a new standing with God.  He was declared righteous. From then on, Abraham’s obedience didn’t earn God’s favour. It flowed from God’s favour. 

Only after his new status did God instruct Abraham to circumcise himself and later his descendants. This act did not make him righteous. This act was a sign that he and his descendants were already in covenant with God. A sign…not a reason. 

“Circumcision was a sign that Abraham already had faith and that God had already accepted him and declared him to be righteous—even before he was circumcised. So Abraham is the spiritual father of those who have faith but have not been circumcised. They are counted as righteous because of their faith. And Abraham is also the spiritual father of those who have been circumcised, but only if they have the same kind of faith Abraham had before he was circumcised.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭4‬:‭11‬-‭12‬ ‭NLT‬‬

So, Paul’s argument from Abraham’s experience lays the foundation for us to understand the nature of God’s righteousness…what it is and what it does. 

To be continued

ROMANS …PAUL’S SOLUTION -8

Bible Study, ,

8“God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.”

What a bombshell! In the middle of the chaos humans have made…God stepped in and did something so outrageous that it needs careful unpacking for humans to understand. 

First, God did not come down on every sinner in wrath and judgment as He had the right to do. He waited! He had a plan! He had a heart of compassion for His broken and ruined world. He started from the beginning…slowly…over many centuries…one step at a time…He prepared His world for the one He would send to fix the mess. 

God chose a man, Abraham. Through him, He built a family, a nation, a covenant people to belong to Him…to live by His holy standards…and to show the nations the real God. They failed but…they had the law…

The Jews thought that they had the upper hand. They had the law…even though they didn’t obey it. The law they cherished and clung to as a passport to God was only the beginning of God’s plan. The law was never intended to deal with their sin because they could not obey it. The law could only show them how holy God is and how unholy they were. They were helpless to obey it even though they had the law. 

The law had another function. The very fact that they could not obey it perfectly even if they tried, pointed them to something more. God would step in with His master plan to send someone without sin to keep the law for them and then to die as a law breaker to pay their debt for breaking the law. 

For the Jews, boasting about having God’s law was futile. What did it help them to have God’s law if all it did was show them how bad they were? The only thing the law could do was to drive them to God for mercy…and that demanded faith. Only God could do something about their helpless condition. Both Jew and Gentile were in the same condition…guilty before God. 

“Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith. For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭3‬:‭25‬-‭31‬ ‭NIV‬‬

God didn’t abolish the law. He did something else. He made a promise that He would write it on human hearts. He would take what was written on stone and engrave it inside everyone who believes in the one He sent, Jesus,  to pay the debt and atone for sin by dying in the place of sinners. 

So…Faith in Jesus is the key to the world’s dilemma…but how does this plan demonstrate God’s righteousness? Let’s follow to the process.

Paul said that God is just. This means that God must be true to His word. He must treat every sinner justly. Justice demands that sin be punished. However, since everyone has sinned, and death is the penalty for sin, everyone must pay their own debt. 

So, God made a plan. He would come to earth as a human, live a  human life without sin…and then die as though He had sinned. His death would then pay the debt for every sinner. Was this just? Was this fair? Was this the right thing to do? 

Since there was no other way to rescue the human race from the punishment for sin…by dying in our place Jesus, who is God, became a man and died. He paid for our sin and then rose from the dead to prove that He was God and that death has no power over Him because He was sinless. 

Was God just? Yes! He punished a human for sin. Can He justify humans…declare them not guilty? Yes! Sin’s debt has been paid! 

“God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭3‬:‭25‬-‭26‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The only way to experience the forgiveness God has made possible through Jesus and to participate in the eternal life He offers is to turn back to God, to receive His forgiveness for sin,  and to turn one’s life over to Jesus…to live in union with Him and under His control. 

“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭10‬:‭9‬-‭10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

To be continued

ROMANS…PAUL’S BOMBSHELL – 7

Bible Study, ,

If Paul’s theme was the righteousness of God, I wonder why he began the content of his letter on such a depressing note. The Gentiles were a wicked lot. Not only was their behaviour atrocious but also their hearts…their attitudes and motives, the entire direction of their lives was anti God. They had rebelled against Him to the extent that they had turned everything He stood for on its head. 

Paul’s use of “they” shows us that he was not particularly addressing his readers but rather exposing the hearts and attitudes of pagans in general. The world around them was on a downward trajectory towards eternal judgement, and rightly so because of their determined rebellion against God, their Creator. 

However, his readers, and particularly the Jewish people, were not exempt from Paul’s exposure. 

What is worse? Doing the things the pagans did with the attitude they had towards God or judging the pagans for what they did but also doing the same things despite knowing God’s law? 

Jesus opted for the latter! He came down harder on the Pharisees for their hypocrisy than He ever did on sinners. 

So, the Jews didn’t escape Paul’s scathing criticism. 

“You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭2‬:‭2‬-‭5‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Turns out, according to Paul, that Jew and Gentile alike are under God’s wrath. No one will escape because everyone is guilty of failing to live up to God’s standards. 

“There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile…All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭2‬:‭9‬, ‭12‬-‭13‬ ‭NIV‬‬

What a sobering conclusion! Why are all people guilty and under God’s wrath? Paul’s gives two reasons…

First, God has revealed Himself in creation so clearly that no one has the excuse not to recognise His presence in the world. 

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭1‬:‭20‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Try to argue that one away!

Second, God has written His moral law in the conscience of every baby born into this world. Every young child knows the difference between right and wrong. 

“All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.)”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭2‬:‭12‬, ‭14‬-‭15‬

Why did Paul paint such a dark picture of the people of the world of Jews and Gentiles? Was it to show up the real meaning of God’s righteousness? Look at his conclusion. Gentiles…wicked to the core. Jews…also wicked in their behaviour but deluded because they thought they were righteous because they had God’s law. 

Paul’s conclusion is sobering. 

First, Paul brushed aside with contempt the foolish argument that people’s wickedness enhances God’s righteousness!

“But if our unrighteousness brings out God’s righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing his wrath on us? (I am using a human argument.) Certainly not! If that were so, how could God judge the world? Someone might argue, “If my falsehood enhances God’s truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?” Why not say—as some slanderously claim that we say—“Let us do evil that good may result”? Their condemnation is just!”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭3‬:‭5‬-‭8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Second, Jew and Gentile alike are guilty, under God’s wrath, and condemned. 

“…There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭3‬:‭22‬-‭23‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Why was it important for Paul to prove the guilt of everyone, both Jew and Gentile? 

If all are guilty, then all alike are eligible to receive what God has done to deal with their guilt…

…and so, by painting a dark picture of the hopeless, helpless condition of everyone on earth, Paul has cleared the ground for his introduction to God’s magnificent righteousness in Christ. 

To be continued

ROMANS…PAUL’S EXPLANATION – 6

Bible Study, ,

To understand the need for and the impact of the gospel, Paul had first to explain the condition of the human heart.

Why is God angry with people?

Paul launched into a comprehensive explanation of the root cause of the sin in his world…and ours…because people are still the same today. 

First, the basic problem in the human heart is not just that people don’t know God. Why? They love their sin. They don’t WANT to know God. God is their enemy. They hate Him and do every possible thing to deny,  defy and rebel against Him. 

“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭1‬:‭18‬-‭20‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Denying that God exists is first, inexcusable because God’s presence is everywhere in creation and, second, has a downward trajectory that starts with, rather than ends with wickedness. People suppress the truth…they push it down, move it out the way, get rid of it, by their sin. 

“In the Bible, “suppress” generally means to actively hold down, stifle, or restrain something. It is most prominently used in the context of humanity willfully ignoring the reality of God…” ( Source: Google AI)

Human rebellion begins with denial. Even if they deny that there is a God or that they are accountable to Him, they still need something bigger than themselves to lean on.  So, people must substitute the real God with gods of their own making. 

“For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭1‬:‭21‬ ‭NIV‬‬

If one denies that God exists, or that He is real, anything  goes. One can invent one’s own god…and one can make him be or do anything in one’s imagination…but the outcome is horrible. Darkness! Futility! 

What is darkness?

”In the Bible, darkness generally symbolizes the absence of God’s presence. It primarily represents sin, ignorance, spiritual blindness, and divine judgment.“ (Source: Google AI)

Futility…the outcome of darkness…

“In the Bible, futility describes the emptiness, purposelessness, and frustration of human endeavors apart from God. It refers to the fleeting, transient nature of worldly pursuits—like chasing the wind—and highlights that life’s true meaning can only be found in a relationship with the Creator.”

(Source: Google AI)

Darkness and futility exactly describes the condition of Paul’s world and ours but…the downward spiral gets worse…

“Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭1‬:‭22‬-‭23‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Out of their wickedness, people have made a conscious and deliberate exchange…the true God for gods made like creatures…the worst of humans or animals…the result of their futile thinking and perverse “wisdom”. 

Look around you at the way people are living out this pattern. The mess people’s lives are in…the consequences of their behaviour…makes no sense unless it starts with the notion that they can do as they like and get away with it. 

Not with God! Consequences are inevitable and follow what people do. 

Paul reaches a startling conclusion… the outcome of bad choices and the behaviour is not just a consequence…it’s God’s judgment…and He judges in an unexpected way. 

“…Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭1‬:‭25‬-‭27‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Perverse sexual behaviour and everything connected with it is not “sexual orientation” or the result of a rogue gene over which no one has control. Homosexuality is not a feeling or an urge. It’s a consequence! It’s God’s judgment on people who refuse to acknowledge God and deliberately submit themselves to substitutes and…

…Gods’s judgment is perfectly just. He gives them what they want! This is scary because they have no idea where their choices will take them. They do not understand that their persistence and justification for turning God’s righteous way upside down will lead to a “perverse” mind.

“In the Bible, “perverse” means to deliberately turn away from God’s moral standards to do what is wrong. Rather than just making a mistake, it describes a willful, stubborn attitude of twisting what is good into evil.” (Source: Google AI)

The Greek word, ”adokimos”, has the meaning of unapproved…that is “unacceptable”, translated “reprobate”, “depraved”, or “perverted”. The idea is that what was good is regarded as evil and what is evil has become acceptable as good. 

Wicked behaviour had deliberately pushed God and His instructions to do what is right down and out of the way. People  did such bad things that they could no longer think what was right and good…and God confirmed their choices by giving them what they wanted.

 Paul’s description of his world mirrors our world perfectly.  Reading what Paul has to say is like reading today’s newspaper or listening to today’s news. 

“They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭1‬:‭29‬-‭31‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Paul’s caps his description of society with his diagnosis…

“Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭1‬:‭32‬ ‭NIV‬‬

That’s who they are, and that’s what they have become…and that’s what they deserve. 

To be continued