Messages

At one time, we were all married to the law. Meaning we were obligated to serve it. And marriage is a sacrament that binds two people together as long as they both are alive. But thanks be to God, through Christ’s death, we died. And now we are no longer married to the law but free to marry another and serve him.

You are a slave to whatever you obey. Everyone is a slave to something. In this text, Paul gives us the option, become a slave to sin or a slave to righteousness. There isn’t an option to not be a slave, you will be a slave to something. You can be a slave to that which pays off in death, or that which brings the gift of eternal life.

Baptism is not a symbol, it is a sacrament. Meaning, it has spiritual ramifications in the heavenly realm. When we are baptized, Paul says we are baptized into Christ's death, burial and resurrection. And because we died with Christ, we are also raised victorious with Him. And just as sin has no mastery over Jesus, it no longer has mastery over us. Just as Jesus is free to live fully to God, we too are now free to live fully to God.

In this text, Paul unpacks how we got to where we are. All were once in Adam, and thus all sinned when he sinned. Sin isn’t just something we do, it is part of who we are. But just as we were once in Adam and his sin infected us all, we have been invited to be born again in Christ and thus be infected with his righteousness. In Adam we all experienced death, in Christ we experience eternal life.

Because of the love of God, Jesus died for the unworthy not the worthy. God did not wait for us to get it together, He died for us while we were still His enemies. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus we are transformed from enemies of God into children of God. And through His death, Jesus reconciled our relationship with God.

Through faith in Jesus, we get to experience peace with God instead of the wrath of God. Through the hope of Jesus, we glory in our sufferings not just in our victories. And because of God’s love for us, he has gifted us his spirit.

Paul continues to use Abraham as an example of what it means to live by faith. Many of us grew up singing the song “Father Abraham” without knowing what it really meant. In this text, Paul lets us know. Abraham is the father of all who have faith in Christ. The righteousness that was credited to Abraham can also be credited to us by faith in God who raised Jesus from the dead.

There are three world religions that trace their beginnings back to Abraham. Two of them use his life a picture of what it means to follow the Law of God. And one, Christianity as described by Paul, uses Abraham as an example of what it means to live by faith. Righteousness was not a wage that Abraham earned, it was a credit he received by faith. It wasn’t something he received because he followed the law, but before.

We are all powerless to be righteous on our own. We can’t obey our way into the kingdom. That can leave us all a bit hopeless. Which is what makes the Gospel Good news. There is now a righteousness available that doesn’t come through the law, but comes by faith to ALL who believe. Those who had Fatih before Christ and those of us who have faith after christ can ALL be made righteous through the blood of Jesus. And because it isn’t something we have done, but what he has done, we don’t take the credit, instead we give him our lives.

Paul has argued that all will be judged based on what they do. If you keep the law, you are righteous. (2:13) if you do not, you are condemned as a law breaker. (2:25-27). So our best hope is being better at law keeping, right? Wrong. There is no one righteous, not even you. The law wasn’t given to make people righteous, it was given to prove they aren’t righteous.