“ Great Sermon but a slight correction. ”
Around timemark 15:03, you say that the book of Romans (I assume) as a whole (and I assume you mean in Rom 7) is to teach us how men are justified before God. While that may be true in some respects, As I read Romans, I don't think it is entirely accurate. Rom 7 is not addressing the issue of justification, that is, our standing in right relationship with God, but it is discussing the results of justification, that is, the enduement of power in the Spirit over sin. Paul here has already discussed divine grace as justifying, and now passes into the aspect of grace as empowering. Having explained the objective aspect of grace primarily on God's part to justify the sinner, now he discusses in Rom 7 the subjective or experiential aspect of grace providing power over sin; that is the whole essence of the Gospel - salvation from and over sin - and to suggest that justification is part and parcel of the message of Romans, as important as that may be, is to somehow miss the mark of all that Paul is actually teaching in Romans: for the Gospel is the "power of God for salvation" (1:16), to which the apostle inexorably leads us. The Gospel is divine power in grace:
- over guilt (1-5)
- over sin (6-8)
- for all (9-11)
- for service (12-14)
- in community (15-16) |
