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Romans 4-7

Romans
4:1-25 -  Salvation is not a ‘reward’ to be ‘earned’. It is God’s ‘gift’ (4-5). Salvation comes from the Lord. ‘God so loved the world that He gave His only Son’ (John 3:16): Without the love of God, the gift of God, the Son of God, there can be no salvation. The way of salvation does not begin with the word ‘I’. Jesus Christ is the Way. He is the Saviour. Salvation is in Him (John 14:6; Matthew 1:21; Acts 4:12). Looking to ‘Jesus our Lord’, crucified and raised for our salvation, we are saved and we give ‘glory to God’ (20-25). We rejoice in ‘God our Saviour’ – ‘He saved us, not because of deeds done by us in righteousness, but in virtue of His own mercy…’(Titus 3:4-7). Looking away from ourselves to Christ, we learn the truth of God’s Word: ‘it is on the basis of faith that it may rest on grace’ (16). This is Good News!
5:1-21 -  God has great things in store for His people! (a) ‘Much more’ (9-10): ‘Justified by Christ’s blood’, ‘reconciled to God’, ‘We shall be saved by Christ from the wrath of God’, ‘saved by His life’. (b) ‘Much more’ (15,17): ‘The grace of God’ has ‘abounded for many’. In Christ, we have ‘received the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness’. Through Him, we shall ‘reign in life’. (c) ‘More than that’ (3): Our pathway to eternal glory will not be easy. There will be ‘suffering’. God has given us a glimpse of our eternal destiny: ‘grace reigning through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord’ (21). ‘We rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God’ (2). Having caught sight of the heavenly and eternal glory, we see our ‘suffering’ in a new light, the light of ‘God’s love’ (3-5).
6:1-23 -  (a) ‘We know that our old self was crucified’ (6) – What a great thing God has done! He has made you ‘a new creation in Christ’ (2 Corinthians 5:17). (b) ‘Consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus’ (11) – Believe it . This is what the Lord has done: ‘you are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit… the Spirit of God dwells in you… Christ is in you… the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you… His Spirit dwells in you’ (8:9-11). (c) ‘Yield yourselves to God as men who have been brought from death to life’ (13) – Act upon it’. ‘Walk in newness of life’ (4). Live as those whom God has made new. We are ‘not under law but under grace’ (14). Keep your eyes fixed on the Saviour and your obedience will be Gospel obedience and not merely legal obedience.
7:1-25 -  God’s purpose is not easily fulfilled in us. Our battle with sin is extremely intense. There is a great conflict going on within us. ‘The Spirit’ and ‘the flesh’ are at war with each other (Galatians 5:17). God has given us His Spirit – ‘we serve… in the new life of the Spirit’ (6). We are still sinners – ‘I am carnal, a slave to sin’ (14). These are two sides of the one coin. The Spirit is within us yet we remain sinners. Honestly confessing our sin, we say, ‘Wretched man that I am!’. Gladly rejoicing in our Saviour, we say, ‘Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!’ (24-25). Despite our many defeats, we say, ‘Nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (8:39). Wait for ‘the final result’: ‘God gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ’ (1 Corinthians 15:57).
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