Commentary on "The Election of Grace"

MARK MARTIN

 

Day 3: Monday, September 13, 2010 - Thinking of Oneself

 

 Overview

“We have talked a great deal this quarter about the perpetuity of God’s moral law and have stressed again and again that Paul’s message in the book of Rams is not one that teaches the Ten Commandments are done away with or somehow made void by faith.”

 

Observations

The author writes, “We have talked a great deal this quarter about the perpetuity of God’s moral law and have stressed again and again that Paul’s message in the book of Romans is not one that teaches the Ten Commandments are done away with or somehow made void by faith.”

At this point the author has missed the mark. It is clear that the book of Romans does not teach that the moral law of God is abrogated, but it does make clear that the Covenant that delivered the moral law is.

The purpose of the Law was to point out sin.

Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. Romans 3:19-20 ESV

Having done its job of condemning sinners, they must have a change in relationship to the Law or they must be eternally separated from God.

The Law demands perfect righteousness and the only way that righteousness could be legally imputed to a sinner is if that sinner’s transgressions are fully paid for. The apostle Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, writes:

But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.

Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.” Romans 3:21-28 NLT

The Law demands a sinner’s death. That is the only relation we can have with the Law unless we die, then the Law would not have a claim on us, though we would spend eternity apart from Christ as punishment for our sins. The entire focus of chapters 3-7 is that we have died to the Law in order that it may no longer have a claim on us.

A BELIEVER IS NO LONGER BOUND TO THE LAW.

As shocking as this may sound, we must allow the Scripture to speak. Remember, what we are about to read is the declaration of the apostle.  Read carefully Romans 7:1-6:

Or do you not know, brothers —for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? Thus a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.

Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve not under the old written code but in the new life of the Spirit. ESV

We have died to the Law, we are no longer married to the Law, and are now joined with Christ.  Because we have died to the Law, it no longer has any claim on us and we live new lives in the power of the Holy Spirit.

 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (Romans 8:2-5 NASU).

Jesus satisfied the just requirement of the law for us.

Of course this doesn’t mean that we can go out and live anyway that we want. Jesus gives us the power of the Holy Spirit to live new lives.

This portion of Romans seven is difficult for Adventists to accept because it would undermine the argument for keeping the Sabbath. Ultimately in these passages that speak so clearly about the Law, the Sabbath becomes the interpreter of the text, rather than allowing the text to speak clearly and finally.

 

For further study, read the following:

• 2 Corinthians 3:6-4:6
• Hebrews 3 and 4
• Hebrews 8:7-13
• Galatians 3 & 4

 

Summary

1. God’s eternal morality is never obsolete, but the covenant that delivered His moral principles as law IS obsolete.
2. The law pointed out our sin.
3. When we discover our sin, we must change our relationship to the law, or we will die.
4. Romans 3 through 7 explains that in Christ, we have died to the law in order that it no longer has a claim on us.
5. We are now married to Christ, and He is our Husband and Head.
6. Now we listen to Him and live by the conviction of His Spirit.
7. Jesus satisfied the requirement of the law for us.
8. Adventists struggle with the first part of Romans 7 because it undermines the argument for keeping Sabbath.
9. For Adventists, the Sabbath becomes the interpreter of Romans 7 instead of the text speaking clearly and finally.
10. The plain words of Scripture mean what they say. In Christ, we have died to the law. It no longer has any power or claim over us.

 

GO TO DAY 4

 

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