2 Timothy 4:1-4

I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; ² Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. ³ For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; ⁴ And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

Last week, we learned the external reason why people reject the gospel. When the gospel is rejected, it is rejected because “the god of this world [the devil] has blinded the minds of them who do not believe [the gospel]” (2 Cor. 4:4). Tonight, we will look at the internal cause of the rejection of the gospel. Why people reject the gospel when it is the greatest news for their dying souls?

Ever since the birth of the New Testament church, the church has struggled with lots of problems. Trevin Way, director of Bibles and References at LifeWay Christian Resources, articulates on the four big challenges facing the church in the west today: individualism, pragmatism, immorality, and divisions (isolation, fragmentation, and polarization).¹ Of course, the list of the problems we deal with in the church can go on and on. Yet, though we can expand the list endlessly, all these problems can be boiled down to one category: sin. It is simply a sin problem. The church consists of sinners saved by grace and, at times, it is inevitable to deal with problems in the church. A church without problems is a church without people. Yet, the problem the apostle Paul is dealing with in the tonight’s text is not just one of many church problems. This is the worst kind of problems that the church can ever face. It is the problem of having unsaved people as members of the church. These are the people who have deceived themselves. They confessed their faith in the Lord at a certain moment of their lives and got baptized. Their names are written in the church membership roll, and they are the ones who make decisions for the church. Here, we must raise a very important question. How do we know who they are? What are the marks of the people who have never received the pure gospel into their hearts and yet think there are genuine Christians?

False Believers Will Not Endure the “Sound Doctrine”

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine (v. 3a)

The future tense Paul is using in this sentence does not imply that false believers have never been in the church of Ephesus before. It is just to warn Timothy of what he should expect so that he would not be off guard. “The time” that will come could be tomorrow or even tonight for Timothy. They can reveal themselves anytime in the church and, when they come, Timothy will be able to know who they are because they would not be able to put up with the “sound doctrine.” The term “sound (or healthy) doctrine” is synonymous with the gospel in the Pastoral Letters:

If there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine; ¹¹ According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust (1 Tim. 1:10b-11).

While rejecting the sound doctrine according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, these false believers embrace false doctrines.

False Believers Will Rather Cling to Manmade Myths

but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables (3b-4).

Rather than the healthy gospel, they want false teachings to tickle their ears. In other words, they don’t want to listen to the fundamental doctrines of pure Christianity, but only to hear what they want to hear! They will turn their ears away from the truth of the gospel and turn to fables or myths. These myths are not originated from the divine mind. They are rather from flawed human brains to satisfy the sinful desires of the human heart. They would say,

• “We humans cannot be so sinful to the point that we cannot contribute to our salvation. Find something good in you and bring it out in your life. God will be pleased with it!” [Pelagianism/works-righteousness]
• “Why bother with a holy life? Haven’t you heard ‘Once saved, always saved?’ No matter what I do I am getting to heaven!” [antinomianism/licentiousness]

“Jesus did not die on behalf of humanity. He was just a great teacher and example for humanity. He just wanted to teach us by His teaching and death that we need to live a noble life like his.” [moral influence theory of atonement]

“Believing in Jesus’ blood? How cruel it is to say that God can only be satisfied by His own Son’s blood and death? That is too primitive, offensive and hideous. Don’t you say that a loving God would ever do that.” [classic liberal view of atonement]

“Was Jesus bodily resurrected? Nope. He was just spiritually seen by His followers. What’s important is not its historicity, but its spiritual meaning. All scientific facts assure us that he did not physically come back to life. Nevertheless, He lives in my heart, so does He in your heart regardless of your religion.” [a form of liberal view on Jesus’ resurrection/a form of universalism]

“Waiting for Jesus’ return? No way! What He wants us to do is to make the world better now on the earth. He is not physically coming back. Just do your best to make your life and society better! That is what Jesus taught!” [classic liberal eschatology]

“There is no hell! How could a good God create such a horrible place? In the end, everybody will be saved.” [a form of universalism]

How could people who call themselves Christians cling to such erroneous teachings? What is the root cause of their rejection of the true gospel?

They Are Driven by Their Own Lusts

No matter how different their symptoms are, their problem is one. The light of the true gospel cannot penetrate their hearts because they are darkened by their own lusts: but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers (v. 3b). From the beginning, they did not have the desire to listen to God’s word and obey it. The reason they came to church was not their hunger for God. They became “Christians” because they wanted something that benefits themselves. All they care about is their own interests and pleasures. That is the reason they can bring teachers into the church, who teach what they want to hear. What they care is not how true the teachers are to the gospel. As long as they tickle their ears or satisfy their curiosity, they are good Bible teachers. Commentator Mounce remarks on the meaning of “tickling the itching ears”: “The imagery is that their itching ears are tickled by the false teachers who teach whatever is sensational or novel but in the end what conforms to their evil lusts, specifically the myths of the Ephesian heresy, which people can always study but never gain in knowledge (3:7).”² The problem is not that they never come to church or never study the Bible. They might even seem avid learners of Christianity. Yet, though they always study, they can never embrace the truth of the gospel (3:7) because their pursuit is not God but their own lusts.

How about you? What do you believe about the gospel? Why do you believe what you believe about the gospel? Why do you come to church? Is your understanding of the gospel based on God’s revealed word or your own idea? Is your pursuit of learning the Bible based on your love for God or your own curiosity for knowledge? Do you follow Christ to give yourself to Him or to fulfill your own desires?

Discipleship Questions:

1. What is the gospel? Where is the reference that defines the gospel?
2. What are the two marks of false believers?
3. Why do fake Christians reject the gospel?
4. Why do you come to church or why do you follow Jesus Christ? What do you want to fulfill in your pursuit of Christianity?
5. What is the only remedy for self-deceived people? Read 2 Timothy 3:14-17 and 4:2.

1^ https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/trevin-wax/4-big-challenges-facing-church-west-today/

2^William D. Mounce, Pastoral Epistles, WBC, 575.

2 Timothy 2:16-19

¹⁶ But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness. ¹⁷ And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; ¹⁸ Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some. ¹⁹ Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

Do you know the 2^nd law of thermodynamics? This is the law in nature that when energy changes from one form to another form, or matter moves freely, entropy (disorder) in a closed system increases. In a simpler language, things fall apart unless you make some effort to keep them together. This phenomenon happens not only in our nature but sadly in many churches. The Lord Jesus Christ left the pure gospel with the apostle Paul, and the apostle faithfully proclaimed the untainted gospel. Numerous people responded to his preaching and lots of churches were established. The church in Ephesus was one of them. Yet, like things in nature fall apart when they are left alone, some people in the church of Ephesus have corrupted the gospel truth and made shipwreck of their faith. In his letter to Timothy, pastor of the Ephesian church, the dear apostle explains how the gospel is corrupted and its effect on the church.

The Corruption of the Gospel Begins in a Small Scale

The dispute over the gospel truth begins in an insignificant way. Paul commands Timothy to charge the Ephesian church “before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers” (v. 14). In other words, Paul is saying, “Don’t allow your people wrangle over small words and terms. There is no benefit in such arguments, and some will buy false teachings and ruin their faith.” When small disputes over orthodox doctrines are left unchecked, they become “profane and vain babblings” (v. 16). They are worldly chatters that are “distant from and foreign to God” (Phillip H. Towner). The characteristic of the false teachers in Ephesus was that they subtly attack the truth of the gospel. This corruption of the gospel in the church always begins in a very small scale. A conservative Christian does not become a liberal one over the night. But when we allow slightly corrupted talks and opinions over core doctrines in the church, they will grow more and more.

A Corrupted Doctrine Is Infectious and Destructive

Paul compares the false teachers’ teaching as a “Canker” (v. 17a). Commentator Bernard says that in the ancient world, this word was “used of flesh-eating sores. It is a common medical term used as early as Hippocrates. It is used here figuratively, emphasizing the heresy’s ability both to spread and to destroy.” The small corruption in a core doctrine of Christianity does not stay there. Just like a malignant tumor quickly spreads to other parts of the body, the corrupt doctrine allowed in the church can quickly corrupt other doctrines, even the truth of the gospel.

Paul names two false teachers—“Hymenaeus and Philetus” (v. 17b). Paul already mentioned Hymenaeus (paired with Alexander) in the previous letter: “Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck: Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.” (1 Tim 1:19-20). Because the name Hymenaeus was not a common name, it seems like Paul is dealing with the same person. This indicates that it is not easy to get rid of false teachers once they gain popularity among people.

Many Christians naively think that they are free from the danger of false teachers. Yet, false teachers are not far from us. In Acts 20, the apostle Paul gives encourages and warns a group of Ephesian elders as he is headed to Jerusalem. In verses 29-30, we find the apostle’s very interesting warning about false teachers.

²⁹ For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. ³⁰ Also of [or from] your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.

From where false teachers arise? From the Ephesian elders themselves, the apostle says. Hymenaeus and Philetus were not strangers to the church of Ephesus. They were most likely teachers or pastors in the church.

What did they teach? The fundamental attack of these false teachers was on the doctrine of the resurrection: “the resurrection of believers has already occurred.” (v. 18). Most likely, they promoted an over-realized eschatology. Paul had taught that Christians are presently raised with Christ (Rom. 6:1-11; Eph 2:6; 5:14; Col. 2:12-13; 3:1-4). Probably, some teachers, including Hymenaeus and Philetus, distorted and overemphasized this truth to the point that the promise of the resurrection of the believers is already fully realized in a spiritual sense. This teaching would lead people to conclude that the future bodily resurrection of believers is unnecessary. This was a serious attack on the gospel which guarantees the bodily resurrection of all believers according to the bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15:12, 13, 21, 42). When the foundation of the gospel is rejected, the end result is destructive.

The Corruption of the Gospel Results in a Moral Failure

The result of such teaching is that they “overthrow the faith of some” who are spiritually unstable and doctrinally immature (v. 18b). Biblical scholar Knight remarks on the effect of the false teaching in the church of Ephesus: “This error can affect how one regards Jesus’ resurrection and its significance for one’s future standing and hope for eternity, and thus also how one thinks of the Christian’s present relationship to Christ and one’s perspective on the body and conduct in this life and attitude to material creation. Therefore, Paul regards it as striking at the heart of Christianity and thus as a departure from the truth.”

The corruption of the gospel brings not only a spiritual shipwreck but also a moral failure. We don’t know exactly why, but the teaching that believers are spiritually fully resurrected caused its followers to live immorally. When a person begins to follow a different gospel, it is inevitable that he or she will live in an immoral lifestyle. It is because false doctrines will cause them to “increase unto more ungodliness” (v. 16b). A corrupted gospel always leads to immoral behavior.

In contrast, those who are identified with Jesus Chris by their faith in the genuine gospel would stand on the firm foundation of God and depart from iniquity or unrighteousness (v. 19). What is the firm foundation of God then? The pure gospel (vv. 8-9, 11-13). This is the reason why we need to be vigilant in keeping the pure gospel. In order to keep our gospel free from corruption, we must do our best to present ourselves to God as diligent workers who accurately handle the word of truth (v. 15). Paul gives the same command to the group of Ephesian elders who are exposed to the danger of false teachers (Acts 20:31-32):

Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears [by preaching “the gospel of the grace of God” (v. 24), “the kingdom of God” (v. 25), and “the whole counsel of God” (v. 27)]. ³² And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.

Discipleship Questions:

1. What is the gospel?
2. How is the gospel corrupted, in a small scale or a large scale? What can a small doctrinal corruption do to a soul?
3. How is a one’s belief in a corrupt gospel manifested in his/her life?
4. Read Acts 20:28-32. Paul is warning Ephesian elders about false teachers who will emerge after he is gone. Where are they coming from? (esp. v. 30)
5. What is the cure for false teachers/teaching? See 2 Tim. 2:15 and Acts. 20:31-32.

Romans 6:1-4

¹ What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? ² God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? ³ Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? ⁴ Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

How does the gospel get cheapened? There are two major ways: legalism and antinomianism. While legalists seek to earn God’s favor for their salvation by keeping the law, those who hold to antinomianism try to convince themselves and others that Christians can live in a sinful lifestyle (or disregard God’s law) because God has already forgiven them of their sins. In other words, they believe that the divine grace opposes the divine law. Thus, they are called anti (from Greek anti, “against”) + nomianism (from nomos, “law”). In today’s text, the apostle Paul specifically refutes the people who embrace and promote such an idea.

Antinomianism Defined: “Let’s continue to sin because God’s grace is greater than our sin!”

Paul’s teaching that, where sin abounds (through Adam), grace much more abounds (through Jesus Christ) (Rom. 5:20) has led some to wrongly conclude that it is okay, or even good, for believers to sin. They reason that, when they sin abundantly, God’s grace would be manifest much more abundantly. What do you think? Of course, you know that kind of reasoning is wrong. Can you then explain why? Before we look at Paul’s answer to the question, we must first understand the proper relationship between the gospel and the law.

The Gospel Grace Functions to Uphold the Law

Yes, we “are not under the law, but under grace” (Rom. 6:14b). But does it mean that we can reject the law or the rules that God has set for us to live accordingly? What does Paul say in Romans 3:31 after he proclaims that we are justified by faith apart from keeping the law?: “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law!” In other words, the law is not antithetical to the gospel. But the gospel functions to uphold the law. When Paul said that we are not under the law and under grace, he never meant that the law is unnecessary or problematic for the Christian life. Romans 7 clearly presents Paul’s understanding of the law. For the apostle, God’s law is not the problem (v. 7). Rather, “the law is holy, and the commandment holy, just, and good” (v. 12). Then what is the problem? He says, “for we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.” (v. 14). The problem is not the law, but our sin or our sinful nature.

Moreover, Jesus Christ died in order that “the righteousness [or righteous requirement] of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Rom. 8:4). As a matter of fact, in the New Covenant, the law is internalized in believers’ hearts: “For this is the [new] covenant… I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts” (Heb. 8:10; cf. Jer. 31:33). This is the power of the gospel and the wonder of the New Covenant, which was inaugurated by the blood of Jesus Christ (Luke 22:20).

Some people falsely reason this way: “Since God accepts me the way I am, I should not get straitjacketed by the law of God. God wants me to be myself!” This is to say, “God is gracious, and he accepts me as I am, and therefore I will remain as I am!” What is the fundamental problem of their reasoning? They fail to understand how the grace of God in the gospel works!

The Antidote to Antinomianism—Union with Christ

Let us come back to today’s text. What is Paul’s answer to the false idea that we should sin more so that God’s grace would abound more?

How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life (vv. 2-4).

Why is there no condemnation for us under the law? Because we are united with Christ through faith in the gospel. But that same faith-union leads us to fulfill the requirements of the law in us through the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:4). We must understand God’s grace correctly. Of course, His love for us is not based on our qualification or preparation. But it is wrong to say that God accepts us the way we are. Rather, He accepts us despite the way we are. In spite of our sinfulness, He receives us only in Christ and for His sake. God never leaves us the way He found us but transforms us in the likeness of His Son so that we would “walk in newness of life.” This transformation does not happen to some Christians but to all. The root problem of antinomianism is that people separate “God’s law from His person, and grace from the union with Christ in which the law is written in the heart.”¹ Therefore, according to Paul, God’s grace in our union with Christ is the antidote to antinomianism. When we understand our relationship with Christ, and what God has done through Christ in us, we will correctly understand the relationship between God’s grace and His law and live our lives accordingly. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10).

Discipleship Questions:

1. What is the gospel?
2. What is the definition of antinomianism? How does it cheapen the gospel?
3. How does the gospel grace uphold the law?
4. What is the purpose of Jesus death? (Rom 8:4) What does the fulfilment of the New Covenant do to your heart? (Heb 8:10)
5. How does your union with Christ encourage you to reject a sinful lifestyle and embrace a holy life?

1 Corinthians 2:1-5

¹ And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. ² For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. ³ And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. ⁴ And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: ⁵ That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

We know that as Christians we must evangelize the world (Matt 28:19-20). The problem is not that we do not know it but that most of us fail to do it. Why? While there may be lots of reasons, what we will deal with tonight is the fear of inadequacy. We say to ourselves: “I am not an eloquent speaker,” “Though I know what the gospel is, I feel so inadequate to articulate it to people,” or “What if people ask me a question I cannot answer?” If you’ve ever felt this way, don’t worry about it because you are not alone. Even Paul, the great apostle, felt inadequate to do the work of evangelism. In today’s text, he says to the Corinthians, “I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling” (v. 3). How could Paul overcome feelings of inadequacy and succeed in evangelizing Corinth and establishing churches in that city? Let’s look at the secret of the apostle’s way of evangelism.

The Work of Evangelism Does Not Depend on Our Eloquence but on Christ Crucified

Greeks were enamored with all sorts of philosophical wisdom and rhetorical traditions. Thus, said Herodotus, ancient Greek historian (b. 485 B.C.), “All Greeks were zealous of every kind of learning.” The city of Corinth was not an exception. It is evident, even after their conversion, some of the Corinthian Christians pursued human wisdom and rhetorical eloquence, and this tendency even divided the church (cf. 1:5, 12; 3:4). To correct such mistake, Paul elaborates on the manner and attitude he had when he first came to the city to preach the gospel among the Corinthians.

Paul knew well that to the Jews, the message of the gospel was “a stumbling block” (1:23) because for them Messiah meant power, splendor, triumph while crucifixion meant weakness, humiliation, defeat. He also knew that to the Gentiles, the message of the gospel was a foolish superstition (1:23). In 112 A.D., in his letter to the emperor Trajan, Pliny the Younger, governor of Bithynia, describes the message of the cross as “a perverse, extravagant superstition.”

Nevertheless, the apostle came to the city “to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words” (1:17a). If he had tried to preach the gospel with human wisdom and eloquence, the cross of Christ would have been “made of none effect” (1:17b). The apostle and his colleagues preached “Christ crucified” although the crucifixion of the Messiah was a scandalous message to the ears of both Jews and Greeks (1:23). It was because the message of the cross is not like human wisdom. It is the message about Christ who is “the power of God, and the wisdom of God” (1:24). The message of the cross could not be invented by human wisdom, but only by divine wisdom. Therefore, Paul did not come to Corinth “with excellency of speech or of wisdom” (2:1a). He simply proclaimed the message of the cross, which was executed and revealed by God (“testimony of God” 2:1b). Though Paul considered himself as a weakling¹ who was overwhelmed by the task of evangelism in fear and trembling (2:3), he determined to know nothing but “Jesus Christ and him crucified” (2:2). He could do it because he knew that it is not human wisdom or eloquence that saves souls but Christ who was crucified for sinners.

The Result of Evangelism Does Not Depend on Our Ability but on the Spirit’s Power

What is the result of human wisdom and eloquence? Nothing except for a short-lived applause! A preacher’s knowledge and eloquence may impress people, yet it bears no permanent fruit.

Little more than a century ago, a group of American pastors decided to travel to London to hear and learn from some of the great English pastors of the day. One the first Sunday, they went to hear one of the most famous preachers whose church had about 3,000-4,000 members. As they were leaving the church they marveled and spoke to each other, “What a great preacher! What a great preacher!” Then, the next Sunday the group attended the Metropolitan Tabernacle where the famous Charles Spurgeon was pastoring. They listened to him, and as they were leaving the church they marveled again, but this time they shouted, “What a great Savior! Hallelujah! What a great Savior!”

How could Paul accomplish what he accomplished in the city of Corinth? It was because he simply and plainly proclaimed the Savior who died on a cross for sinners. The apostle says, “My speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom…” (2:4a). It is not Paul’s fake humility. He really did not try to impress people with an eloquent speech. That is the reason some of the Corinthians ridiculed him by saying, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account” (2 Cor 10:10). Such contempt on his simple preaching of the cross, however, could not alter the apostle’s manner of preaching. The beloved apostle understood that it was not his ability but the Spirit that powerfully applies the message of the gospel into the heart of the hearers. So, Paul says that his preaching was “in demonstration of the Spirit and of power” (2:4b). Hence, our faith “should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God” (2:5). To have your faith rest on God’s power is “to believe the cross to be the way of salvation, being convinced by the work of the Spirit in your own and other believers’ lives, and to shun any trust in self and human wisdom as a way to God…. To receive God’s wisdom and experience His power it is necessary to relinquish your own wisdom and power.”²

Therefore, in actuality, it is not wrong for us to feel that we are inadequate for evangelizing the world. Besides Paul, Moses claimed lack of eloquence (Ex 4:10), Isaiah had unclean lips (Isa 6:5), and Jeremiah did “not know how to speak well enough” because he was “too young” (NET Jer 1:6). These men’s speaking generated no applause. Their goal was not persuasion by skillful arguments and eloquent speech but the manifestation of God’s power in people’s lives. Especially for Paul, it was through the simple presentation of Christ crucified. That is all the apostle needed, and that is all we need as well. When we do not focus on ourselves and present Christ and Him alone to the world, the Holy Spirit will transform some people’s hearts (remember not all but certainly some) by the message of the cross.

Let’s remember, dear brothers and sisters, that evangelism is not about how eloquent and able we are but how great and powerful our Savior is through the power of the Holy Spirit!

Discipleship Questions:

1. What is the gospel?
2. What is the greatest fear you have when you share the gospel? Other fears?
3. Explain how the preacher/person who led you to Christ. How eloquent was he or she?
4. Read 1 Corinthians 2:3 and Acts 18:1, 5-11. Why do you think the Lord appeared to Paul for encouragement in Corinth? What did Paul need to keep on doing? (v. 9). How did the Lord encourage him? (v. 10).
5. Read Zechariah 4:6 where an angel speaks of the way God’s work is done. How is the gospel to be preached?

Romans 1:16-17

¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. ¹⁷ For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

Why is Paul not ashamed of the gospel? It is because the gospel is God’s power that saves everyone, whether Jews or Gentiles, who believe it (v. 16). Then why is the gospel God’s saving power? It is because God’s righteousness is unveiled in the gospel to anyone who believes (v. 17). What does Paul mean by “the righteousness of God”? A proper understanding of this short phrase will determine how we understand Paul’s doctrine of Justification. Despite the tendency in NT scholarship to understand “the righteousness of God” as “God’s saving power” and to regard “righteousness” as “God’s covenant faithfulness,” the phrase ought to be understood as the believer’s right status before God.

Righteousness Is a Gift from God

Martin Luther describes how he first understood the phrase “the righteousness of God” as a Roman Catholic monk (“Preface to the Complete Edition of Luther’s Latin Works” [1545]):

I had conceived a burning desire to understand what Paul meant in his Letter to the Romans, but thus far there had stood in my way, not the cold blood around my heart, but that one word which is in chapter one: “The justice of God is revealed in it.” I hated that word, “justice of God” (iustitia Dei), which, by the use and custom of all my teachers, I had been taught to understand philosophically as referring to formal or active justice, as they call it, i.e., that justice by which God is just and by which he punishes sinners and the unjust. But I, blameless monk that I was, felt that before God I was a sinner with an extremely troubled conscience. I couldn’t be sure that God was appeased by my satisfaction. I did not love, no, rather I hated the just God who punishes sinners. In silence, if I did not blaspheme, then certainly I grumbled vehemently and got angry at God.

The more Luther thought about God as the righteous judge who condemns sinners, the more he was compelled to run away from this just, wrathful God. Yet, he kept trying to understand the phrase in its context:

I meditated night and day on those words until at last, by the mercy of God, I paid attention to their context: “The justice of God is revealed in it, as it is written: ‘The just person lives by faith.’” I began to understand that in this verse the justice of God is that by which the just person lives by a gift of God, that is by faith. I began to understand that this verse means that the justice of God is revealed through the Gospel, but it is a passive justice, i.e. that by which the merciful God justifies us by faith, as it is written: “The just person lives by faith.” All at once I felt that I had been born again and entered into paradise itself through open gates. Immediately I saw the whole of Scripture in a different light.

Luther realized that “the righteousness of God” is a gift from God that renders sinners acceptable in God’s sight. The phrase does not refer to God’s distributive justice by which He judges people according to their works. Nor does it mean that the divine righteousness is infused into sinners so that they are internally transformed as righteous people. Rather, by faith in the gospel, God declares sinners righteous in His sight. This declaration is not a legal fiction but a real verdict.

Stephen Westerholm (Perspectives Old and New on Paul, 353) identifies this act of God as an extraordinary meaning of righteousness. In an ordinary law court, the doer of the law will be declared righteous, and the violator of the law will be declared guilty (cf. Rom. 2:13). In Paul, however, God declares the latter to be in the right if he believes in the gospel. Such a verdict is extraordinary because it violates the normal and just procedure of judgment. In Paul’s logic, of course, God does not violate any standard of justice. Jesus Christ, the perfect substitution, became a “propitiation” and a “curse” for sinners (Rom. 3:21–26; Gal. 3:10–14; cf. 2 Cor. 5:21). Through this procedure, God does not only justify sinners but he himself is proved to be righteous (Rom. 3:26).

In the Cross of Christ, God’s Saving and Judging Righteousness Meet

Paul elucidates the meaning of today’s text in Romans 3:21-26, and verses 25-26 is especially relevant to our study:

Whom [Jesus Christ] God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

Un until verses 25-26, Paul has reasoned that all people, Jews or Gentiles, are sinners and they can only obtain God’s righteousness by faith in the gospel apart from works. In verse 25, Paul argues that God offered Jesus Christ as an atoning sacrifice to satisfy His wrath and to wipe away sin. Why? God wanted to demonstrate His judging righteousness which was called into question because He had passed over former sins without dealing with them. Through the death of Jesus, God demonstrates that His goodness and holy standard for sin have not been compromised. In the cross of Christ, God’s saving and judging righteousness met. God’s holy and righteous punishment for sin was executed at the cross. The divine justice is fully satisfied in that the death of His Son pays fully for human sin. Therefore, those who have faith in Christ’s substitutionary death can now have and enjoy the righteous standing before God. In this scheme, no one can question God’s justice in His saving and forgiving sinners through the gospel of His Son Jesus Christ.

In sum, the gospel reveals God’s righteousness in two major ways. First, those who believe in the gospel receive God’s righteousness or the right status before God so that they can now have and enjoy the right relationship with God (cf. Rom 5:1). God’s righteousness is given to us as a gift. Second, God demonstrates His own righteousness by the death of His Son who took the place of condemnation for sinners who believe in the gospel. Through the message of the gospel, God does not only declare us righteous but also prove Himself to be righteous before the world.

Discipleship Questions:

1. What is the gospel?
2. Why is the gospel God’s saving power? (see the intro)
3. Explain how God gives His righteousness to us as a gift. Discuss whether we are made righteous or declared righteous (consult 1-b/c).
4. Explain how God’s saving and judging righteousness meet at the cross (consult 2-d/e). I.e. what aspect of the cross demonstrates that God is righteous in justifying and saving us who deserve hell?
5. Read Romans 5:1-5. What are the results of our justification?

Romans 1:14-16

James Montgomery Boice pastored Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia for about 32 years. During that time he preached through Paul’s epistle Romans and later reported that it was this sermon series that had the greatest and most dramatic impact on his ministry. He later published an edited version of the sermons in a multivolume set. The first volume covers Romans 1-4 and is about 500 pages long. In that book, he has a sermon on this particular passage that he titles The Whole Gospel for the Whole World. Before consulting Boice’s book I labeled this section myself “The Universal Gospel.” What I mean by that is this. The gospel is for everyone. There is no class of people to whom the gospel means more or offers more than it does to anyone and everyone. The gospel is for all people for all time. Like Boice wrote, it is the whole gospel for the whole world. It is a universal gospel.

The gospel message is for everyone

The apostle Paul considered himself in debt to others because of the gospel. He states “I am debtor:” v. 14. He owed as it were the gospel to other people. In this case, the debt is explained in greater detail in v. 15. He writes: “so, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.” He believed he had a divine obligation to share the good news about Jesus with everyone.

He specifically delimited the audience of the gospel message. It was not just to the house of Israel, the Jews. It was for the whole world. In fact, he does not even mention Israel at all as part of his audience, at least not at first. He refers to Greek-speaking people and non-Greek-speaking people. Greek-speaking people is probably reference to the Hellenistic culture. One result of Alexander the Great’s conquests is that it spread Greek culture throughout what we call “the known world.” His empire covered parts of Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and even into India, the Asia sub-continent. Greek culture covered a large part of the earth by the time of Alexander’s death. Non-Greek-speaking people were considered barbarous. They were not educated in the same sense as the Greeks. The word barbarians is a reference to their language. It was considered rough or crude. The culture of these people was considered to be tribal and uncivilized. Paul owed them the gospel too.

If the difference between Greek and non-Greek culture was not enough, Paul also delimited his audience to those who were educated (the wise) and those who were not. Just because someone grew up within the confines of a Greek-speaking culture did not automatically mean that he was educated. Many slaves, and there were many of those, were uneducated people. Paul states that he was in a gospel debt to the educated, but also the uneducated. Many of his converts were slaves. Onesimus, the famous runaway slave from Philemon, is a good example of Paul’s evangelistic work among the “unwise.”

Paul did not limit his gospel message to those who were just like himself. He felt burdened to share the gospel with everyone. He owed it to them.

The gospel message can save anyone

Not only does Paul feel indebted to preach the gospel to the whole world, but he explains that it is able (power—dunamis) to save anyone who believes regardless of their cultural or ethnic heritage. This is because the power of the gospel flows from the gospel to the one who receives it by faith. He states in v. 16 that the power is in Jesus’ gospel. The truth that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and rose again from the dead (1 Cor. 15:1-4) has the God-given ability to save sinners. Belief in the gospel makes it operational. This is why faith is so important in receiving the gospel. This faith, a right response to what God has revealed, is a mental agreement with the gospel facts, an emotional reception of the gospel message, and a will to follow the gospel Giver (Jesus Christ). The faith itself does not have the power. The gospel has the power. It is God’s almighty power to save anyone who believes from the power, penalty, and one day, the presence of sin.

It is universally effective. The gospel saves everyone who believes. Paul uses the little word “all” meaning everyone. Anyone who accepts the gospel receives its power to save from sin. This has always been the case. Paul states that the gospel was first given to the Jews. He is thinking back to the Old Testament and how the gospel was given to God’s people. The children of Israel received a “gospel” message to turn from sin and believe in God. They learned of a promised Messiah who would come and save people from sin. This gospel was, historically, first received by the Jews. Later, the gospel message was expanded to the Greek (non-Jews). This is what Jesus was teaching in Matthew 28:19-20. Jesus wanted His followers to spread the gospel globally. The command is to preach the gospel to the nations. This was always God’s intent. Isaiah 45:22: “Look unto me and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth, for I am God and there is none else.” The gospel is for everyone. God has given us a whole gospel for the whole world.

Discussion Questions:

1. What is the gospel?
2. What does it mean that the gospel has “power?” It is the power to do what?
3. How is the gospel received? What is the key word? What does this word mean?
4. Do you think any ethnic, racial, economic, or cultural group is more deserving of salvation than another? If not, why not?
5. Is anyone incapable of being saved? If you say yes, please explain. If you say no, please explain your reason for your answer.

Oh, why am I here in this place of unrest When others have entered the land of the blest? God’s way of salvation was preached unto men; I heard it and heard it, again and again.

Why did I not listen and turn from my sin And open my heart and let Jesus come in? For vain earthly pleasures my soul did I sell The way I had chosen has brought me to hell.

I wish I were dreaming, but ah, it is true. The way to be saved I had heard and I knew; My time on the earth, oh, so quickly fled by, How little I thought of the day I would die.

When God’s Holy Spirit was pleading with me, I hardened my heart and I turned from His plea. The way that was sinful, the path that was wide, I chose and I walked till the time that I died.

Eternally now, I must dwell in this place. If I from my memory could but erase The thoughts of my past which are haunting me so. Oh, where is a refuge to which I can go?

This torture and suff’ring, how long can I stand? For Satan and demons this only was planned. God’s refuge is Jesus, the One that I spurned; He offered salvation, but from Him I turned.

My brothers and sisters I wish I could warn. Far better ‘twould be if I had not been born. The price I must pay is too horrid to tell My life without God led directly to Hell.

Oh, soul without Christ, will these words be your cry? God’s Word so declares it that all men must die. From hell and its terrors, Oh, flee while you may! So, come to the Saviour; He’ll save you today!

By faith I unseen Being see,
Forth lower beings call,
And say to nothing, Let it be;
And nothing hatches all.

By faith I know the worlds were made
By God’s great word of might;
How soon, Let there be light, he said,
That moment there was light.

By faith I soar and force my flight
Through all the clouds of sense;
I see the glories out of sight,
With brightest evidence.

By faith I mount the azure sky,
And from the lofty sphere,
The earth a little mote espy,
Unworthy of my care.

By faith I see the unseen things
Hid from all mortal eyes;
Proud reason stretching all its wings,
Beneath me flutt’ring lies.

By faith I build my lasting hope
On righteousness divine;
Nor can I sink with such a prop,
Whatever storms combine.

By faith my works, my righteousness,
And duties all I own
But loss and dung; and lay my stress
On what my Lord has done.

By faith I overcome the world,
And all its hurtful charms;
I’m in the heav’nly chariot hurl’d
Through all opposing harms.

By faith I have a conqu’ring pow’r
To tread upon my foes,
To triumph in a dying hour,
And banish all my woes.

By faith in midst of wrongs I’m right,
In sad decays I thrive:
In weakness I am strong in might,
In death I am alive.

By faith I stand when deep I fall,
In darkness I have light;
Nor dare I doubt and question all
When all is out of sight.

By faith I trust a pardon free,
Which puzzles flesh and blood;
To think that God can justify,
Where yet he sees no good.

By faith I keep my Lord’s commands,
To verify my trust;
I purify my heart and hands,
And mortify my lust.

By faith my melting soul repents,
When pierced Christ appears;
My heart in grateful praises vents,
Mine eyes in joyful tears.

By faith I can the mountains vast
Of sin and guilt remove;
And them into the ocean cast
The sea of blood and love.

By faith I see Jehovah high,
Upon a throne of grace;
I see him lay his vengeance by,
And smile in Jesus’face.

By faith I hope to see the Sun,
The light of grace that lent:
His everlasting circles run
In glory’s firmament.

By faith I’m more than conqueror,
Ev’n though I nothing can;
Because I set Jehovah’s pow’r
Before me in the van.

By faith I counterplot my foes,
Nor need their ambush fear;
Because my life-guard also goes
Behind me in the rear.

By faith I walk, I run, I fly,
By faith I suffer thrall;
By faith I’m fit to live and die,
By faith I can do all.

Take up thy cross, the Saviour said,
If thou wouldst My disciple be;
Deny thyself, the world forsake,
And humbly follow after Me.

Take up thy cross; let not its weight
Fill thy weak soul with vain alarm;
His strength shall bear thy spirit up,
And brace thy heart, and nerve thine arm.

Take up thy cross, nor heed the shame,
Nor let thy foolish pride rebel;
The Lord for thee the cross endured
To save thy soul from death and hell.

Take up thy cross, then, in His strength,
And calmly every danger brave;
‘Twill guide thee to a better home,
And lead to victory o’er the grave.

Take up thy cross, and follow Christ,
Nor think till death to lay it down;
For only he who bears the cross
May hope to wear the glorious crown.

In evil long I took delight,
Unawed by shame or fear,
Till a new object struck my sight,
And stopped my wild career.

I saw One hanging on a tree,
In agonies and blood;
He fixed His languid eyes on me,
As near His cross I stood.

Sure never till my latest breath,
Shall I forget that look!
It seemed to charge me with His death,
Though not a word He spoke.

A second look He gave, which said,
“I freely all forgive;
This blood is for thy ransom paid;
I die that thou mayest live.”

Thus while His death my sin displays
In all its blackest hue,
Such is the mystery of grace,
It seals my pardon too!