My son’s blue eyes sparkled with excitement as he showed me a paper he had brought home from school. It was a math test, marked with a red star and a grade of 100 percent. As we looked at the exam, he said he had three questions left to answer when the teacher said time was up. Puzzled, I asked how he could have received a perfect score. He replied, “My teacher gave me grace. She let me finish the test although I had run out of time.”
As my son and I discussed the meaning of grace, I pointed out that God has given us more than we deserve through Christ. We deserve death because of our sin (Rom. 3:23). Yet, “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (5:8). We were unworthy, yet Jesus—sinless and holy—gave up His life so we could escape the penalty for our sin and one day live forever in heaven.
Eternal life is a gift from God. It’s not something we earn by working for it. We are saved by God’s grace, through faith in Christ (Eph. 2:8–9).
Dear God, Your undeserved favor has made it possible for us to be saved from our sin. You have shown us amazing grace. Thank You for
the gift You gave. Use me to tell others about You and what You have done.
Grace and mercy are unearned blessings.
A key word in Romans 5 is through. It is used seventeen times in this brief chapter. In today’s passage, we read that through Christ we have been saved from wrath (v. 9), been reconciled to God (vv. 10–11), and have reason to boast in God (v. 11). Christ is the mediator of our salvation (1 Tim. 2:5).
doctorperspective on September 6, 2016 at 3:25 am
PART 2 of 2:
But in verse 17, Paul declares, “For since by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, it is much more certain that those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!”
For the first time in this passage, there appears to be a qualifier to “the many”. It appears to be only “those who receive”, which means “the many” here is different from “the many” on Adam’s side.
But then the interpretation of verse 17 is shattered in verses 18 & 19 where “the many” again appear on both parallel tracks, and is clearly interpreted in verse 18 to be “all people” without the qualifier.
One of the challenges of Biblical exegesis is that you must exhaust all efforts to allow the passage to interpret itself before resorting to other Bible passages for assistance; reluctantly, if unavoidable, to external sources; but never to personal preconceived positions. However as far as Romans 5 is concerned, the Apostle has either over-illustrated his signature message of Grace, or has left the door open for inroads of Universalism. According to the Christian Universalist Association, “We believe in the full and final triumph of the grace of God over the powers of sin and death: that the mercy and forgiveness of God are victorious; that this victory of redemption is revealed in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus; and that, therefore, no human being will be condemned or allowed to suffer pain and separation forever.” I suggest that Paul is guilty of the former… unless…
Paul uses the word “gift” five times in verses 15-18. Clearly in its essential nature, a gift has to be accepted and is not worked for. The opposite parallel is “wages”. Wages are never refused and must be worked for. When the work is sin, the wages is death. But then, the introduction of acceptance as a condition, injures the value of the parallel since acceptance of the consequences of Adam’s sin is not an option. It is thrust upon us. There would have been room to “wiggle”, had he not emphasized that it is the inherent sin nature that condemns man, even in the absence of the law that identifies an offence (verses 13-14).
Of course, Paul does say in verse 15, that “the gift is not like the trespass”. But strict rules of exegesis requires me to rely on the explanations that Paul gives in verses 15-17, none of which point to the requirement of acceptance as a distinction between the gift and the trespass. However, although he does not specifically say so, it appears reasonable to extract from what he does say that the gift, with its benefits, is bestowed on the undeserving. The offence and its consequence is bequeathed to the deserving. In both instances, we are the subject.
Fortunately, neither Romans 5 nor any other Scriptural passage exists in isolation from the rest of the revealed Word of God. There is no ambiguity in the Biblical doctrine of salvation by grace as the only path back to God for every sinner. Paul is clear that salvation must be accepted and received, and even requested (Romans 10:9-13). He is equally clear that the first approach has to be made by God in order to penetrate the death-grip that Sin and Satan has over us from birth (Romans 8:28-30) In fact, Paul agrees with Jesus who says, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.” (John 6:44)
doctorperspective on September 6, 2016 at 3:23 am
PART 1 of 2:
Serious study of the Word of God can be very challenging. Few Scriptures are more challenging than Chapter 5 in Paul’s Theological masterpiece, the Book of Romans.
When we go to study God’s Word, we must go to listen and learn, not to talk and teach. I literally, quite often audibly, declare to myself and to God that the Bible is His Word; and nobody understands His Word better than He does; and I am beseeching Him to guide me to an accurate understanding of His Word. And even after all of that, we must accept that we will never fully understand and be able to reconcile everything in God’s Word on this side of eternity. With this attitude let us take a bite into some challenges in Romans 5:6-15 (NIV) and surrounding verses.
Paul repeatedly uses a subjunctive literary device introduced by “if”, which really means “since”. A fact is then stated. For example, in verse 10, it is, “while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son”. The next part of the device uses the words, “how much more”, and is followed by a statement disguised as part of the question. In this case it is, “having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” As a rule of thumb, it is safe to replace “how much more”, with “it is much more”. If the statement in the first part of the device is a “likelihood”, then the translation would be “it is much more likely”. If the first part is a fact and a certainty, then the translation would be, “it is much more certain”.
Verse 10, with the literary device removed now reads, ”For since, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, it is much more certain, that having been reconciled, we shall be saved through his life!”
Similarly, verse 9 would read, “Since we have now been justified by His blood, it is much more certain that we shall be saved from God’s wrath through him!” This is Paul’s way of emphasizing and doubling-down on the second half of his proposition, based on the reality that the first part is an established fact.
But not even removing the literary device can diffuse the interpretation and reconciliation challenges that arise in verse 15.
“But the gift is not like the trespass. For since the many died by the trespass of the one man, it is much more certain that God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflowed to the many!”
Beginning in verse 12, Paul draws a parallel of opposites between Adam and his trespass and its consequences on the one hand, and Jesus and His atonement and its consequence, on the other hand. But there is a problem with the repeated use of “the many” as it relates to both sides of the parallel. It is a fact that on Adam’s side, “the many”, refers to every human that was ever born after Adam. We were all born in sin. But on Jesus’ side, “the many” cannot refer to every human that was ever born, since we know that many shall spend eternity in hell which was prepared for the Devil and his angels. And a basic principle in Biblical interpretation is that the same word, in the same context, must be given the same meaning.
CONTINUED in PART 2
lostandfound1989 on September 6, 2016 at 1:58 am
Saved by grace and not by our own doing. The scriptures point out that there is no free will, its God’s will every time something good or bad occurs in this universe. We are all habitual sinners and there is no remedy other than getting a pure Godly soul when we die. With the things that are currently taking place in the world I know that Jesus is going to come soon. The notion of getting rid of sin does not hold true by this odb lesson as we all are under the same bar of sin. All sins are equal and damaging. We sin from the day we are born and till we die because our hearts are evil.
jjw2855 on September 6, 2016 at 1:48 am
Thank you ODB and Jennifer Benson Schuldt for today’s devotion. Thank you Jesus for the gift of grace. What a blessing and a graceful gift it is that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Blessings to all.
anoteinGodschoir on September 5, 2016 at 9:47 pm
This is also dedicated to mother who passed away Sept 15 1989. She was blind and now through the grace of our Lord, she is in heaven seeing all of the splender with new eyes.
.AMAZING GRACE
♫ Amazing grace how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now I’m found.
Was blind but now I see.
‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved.
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.
When we’ve been there ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Then when we first begun.
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now I’m found.
Was blind, but now I see♫
psalm234 on September 6, 2016 at 12:34 am
Thank you AnoteinGodschoir for sharing your story and the significance this beautiful hymn means to you in remembrance of your mother. There is no other hymn I can think of that is more fitting for today’s devotion. This precious hymn is a personal favourite of mine and, to this day, speaks volumes of God’s amazing grace for all of us to receive when we acknowledge Him as our personal Saviour. Recently, I came across an in depth story about John Newton writing this hymn in which there are, in fact, three more verses that are seldom printed in most hymnals that I thought for our ODB family forum might be of interest:
1) The Lord has promised good to me, His Word my hope secures; He will my shield and portion be as long as life endures.
2) Yes, when this heart and flesh shall fail, and mortal life shall cease, I shall possess within the veil, a life of joy and peace.
3) The earth shall soon dissolve like snow, the sun forbear to shine; But God, who called me here below, will be forever mine.
Bonita
jjw2855 on September 6, 2016 at 1:42 am
Amen! “..How precious did that grace appear The hour I first believed…”
We sang this hymn yesterday at my mother-in-law’s funeral. This hymn was her favourite. Psalm 61 – her favourite Psalm was read too. This hymn is also my husband’s favourite. Thank you anoteinGodschoir’ .
And thank you ‘psalm234’ for the rest of the verses of the hymn. “…Yes, when this heart and flesh shall fail, and mortal life shall cease, I shall possess within the veil, a life of joy and peace…” That is what mum used to say. I thank God for a kind Christian mother-in-law I had.