ROMANS ROAD
to RIGHTEOUSNESS |
Romans
1:18-3:20
|
Romans
3:21-5:21 |
Romans
6:1-8:39 |
Romans
9:1-11:36 |
Romans
12:1-16:27 |
|
SIN
|
SALVATION
|
SANCTIFICATION |
SOVEREIGNTY |
SERVICE |
NEED
FOR
SALVATION |
WAY
OF
SALVATION |
LIFE
OF
SALVATION |
SCOPE
OF
SALVATION |
SERVICE
OF
SALVATION |
God's Holiness
In
Condemning
Sin |
God's Grace
In
Justifying
Sinners |
God's Power
In
Sanctifying
Believers |
God's Sovereignty
In
Saving
Jew and Gentile |
Gods Glory
The
Object of
Service |
Deadliness
of Sin |
Design
of Grace |
Demonstration of
Salvation |
|
Power Given
|
Promises Fulfilled |
Paths Pursued |
Righteousness
Needed |
Righteousness
Credited |
Righteousness
Demonstrated |
Righteousness
Restored to Israel |
Righteousness
Applied |
God's Righteousness
IN LAW |
God's Righteousness
IMPUTED |
God's Righteousness
OBEYED |
God's Righteousness
IN ELECTION |
God's Righteousness
DISPLAYED |
|
Slaves to Sin |
Slaves to God |
Slaves Serving God |
|
Doctrine |
Duty |
|
Life by Faith |
Service by Faith |
|
Modified from Irving
L. Jensen's excellent work
Jensen's
Survey of the NT |
WHO IS THE ONE WHO CONDEMNS?
CHRIST JESUS IS HE WHO DIED, YES, RATHER WHO WAS RAISED: tis o katakrinon (FAPMSN)
Christos
(Iesous) o apothanon (AAPMSN) mallon de egertheis (APPMSN):
(Romans
8:1;
14:13;
Job 34:29;
Psalms 37:33;
109:31;
Jer 50:20)
(Ro
4:25;
5:6-10;
14:9;
Job 33:24;
Matthew 20:28;
John 14:19;
Galatians
3:13,14;
Hebrews 1:3;
9:10-14;
10:10-14,19-22;
12:2;
1 Peter 3:18;
Revelation 1:18)
Who is he that
condemns? - The only One Who can condemn is the Judge and the Judge,
Who is not going to do this for as Paul has already declared...
There is therefore now no
(Greek = absolutely no) condemnation (katakrima [from katakrino -
see below] is the result of judgment and relates to the sentencing for a
crime, the focus being not so much on the verdict as on the penalty the
verdict demands) for those who are in Christ Jesus. (See note
Romans 8:1)
Condemns (2632)
(katakrino
from kata = down, against + krino = to assess, then to
separate or distinguish, then to give an opinion upon, judge, then to
decide or determine and finally to judge (to judge one down [kata
= down]), pronounce judgment or to condemn) means to give
judgment against, pass sentence upon, pass judgment against and hence to condemn, this latter
action implying there has been a crime. It means to pronounce sentence
against or to adjudge guilty and always denotes an adverse sentence (to
sentence to punishment).
Condemn = Old French
condemner, from Latin condemnāre from con-
(expressing intensive force) + damnare = to condemn, to inflict
loss upon from damnum = loss, damage.
Katakrino in secular Greek was a legal technical term for
pronouncing a sentence after reaching a verdict or decision against
someone. To declare an evildoer guilty.
In our modern parlance, the word condemn is often used with a
"lighter" meaning such as to censure, to express strong disapproval, to
denounce, etc. Most Biblical uses of katakrino are not "light" as
evidenced by repeated use of this verb to describe Jesus being
condemned to death. Similarly all who disbelieve will be
condemned, which is not simply censured, etc, but sentenced to
eternal separation from God (but see note on
Romans 14:23
which describes condemnation by one's
own conscience, not eternal condemnation or condemnation to death).
The Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia
writes that katakrino...
is to be distinguished from the
previously mentioned words (krino) in that it refers either to the
sentence or to the punishment following the sentence rather than to the
simple act of deciding in judgment. Only the context can determine the
precise nature of the sentence. (Pfeiffer,
C, H. F. Vos & J. Rea, Ed The Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia. 1975.
Moody Press)
Nelson's New Illustrated Bible
Dictionary writes that...
Condemn and condemnation
are judicial terms, the opposite of Justify and Justification
(Mt 12:37; Ro 5:16, 18). God alone is the Judge of people; in His demand
for righteousness, sin leads invariably to condemnation and death. (Youngblood,
R. F., Bruce, F. F., Harrison, R. K., & Thomas Nelson Publishers.
Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Dictionary)
The Evangelical Dictionary of
Biblical Theology adds that...
From the standpoint of semantics,
condemnation is part of legal terminology. When it is discovered that a
crime has been committed, that the law has been broken, the process of
investigation may lead to formal charges being levied against a
defendant. The process of litigation leads to the outcome, a verdict of
acquittal or guilt. The verdict indicates that the defendant is either
free from or accountable to the law’s penalty for that crime. Thus the
result is either vindication or condemnation. Condemnation can refer
either to the legal status of liability to punishment or to the actual
infliction of that punishment. At times the word is also used in a
broader context to refer to negative evaluations of a person by peers or
by one’s own conscience. This legal process is to some extent the
background for biblical language about judgment and condemnation. (Click
here for full article that
goes into much greater detail) (Elwell,
W. A., & Elwell, W. A. The Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology .
Baker Book House)
Here are the 24 uses of katakrino in
the NT (only 2 uses in Lxx = Est 2:1, Da 4:1)...
Matthew 12:41 "The men of
Nineveh shall stand up with this generation at the judgment, and shall
condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and
behold, something greater than Jonah is here. 42 "The Queen of the South
shall rise up with this generation at the judgment and shall condemn
it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of
Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
Comment: In the passages above
(and Lu 11:31,32,
Hebrews 11:7
- see below) the idea is that by one's good example another's
wickedness is rendered all the more evident and censurable. In other
words the good conduct of the men of Nineveh, Queen of the South and
Noah, when compared to the conduct of others would show that the latter
to be guilty of misconduct and to therefore deserve condemnation.
Matthew 20:18 "Behold, we are
going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief
priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death,
Matthew 27:3 Then when Judas,
who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt
remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests
and elders,
Mark 10:33 saying, "Behold, we
are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the
chief priests and the scribes; and they will condemn Him to
death, and will deliver Him to the Gentiles.
Mark 14:64 "You have heard the
blasphemy; how does it seem to you?" And they all condemned Him
to be deserving of death.
Mark 16:16 "He who has
believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has
disbelieved shall be condemned.
Luke 11:31 "The Queen of the
South shall rise up with the men of this generation at the judgment and
condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear
the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is
here. 32 "The men of Nineveh shall stand up with this generation
at the judgment and condemn it, because they repented at the
preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.
John 8:10 And straightening
up, Jesus said to her, "Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn
you?" 11 And she said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I
condemn you; go your way. From now on sin no more."
Romans 2:1 (note)
Therefore you are without excuse, every man of you who passes judgment,
for in that you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who
judge practice the same things.
Romans 8:3 (note)
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,
Romans 8:34 (note)
who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes,
rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also
intercedes for us.
Romans 14:23 (note)
But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is
not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin.
Comment:
As far as the weak brother is
concerned, it is wrong for him to eat anything about which he has
conscientious scruples. His eating is not an act of faith; that is, he
has a bad conscience about it. And it is a sin to violate one’s
conscience.
1 Corinthians 11:32 But when
we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord in order that we may not
be condemned along with the world.
Hebrews 11:7 (note)
By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in
reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which
he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is
according to faith.
2 Peter 2:6 (note)
and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by
reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would
live ungodly thereafter
Spurgeon
comments...
What, die for them, and then condemn
them? Nobody can condemn them but the Judge; and if he is unable to
condemn them, in consequence of what he has already done for them, then
none can. But this is not all. Will he blow hot and mild, and first
intercede for them, and then condemn them? It cannot be.
The only one who has the right to condemn is the Judge of all men,
Jesus Christ (see note
2 Timothy 4:1) -- and Jesus died for us
and condemned
sin in the flesh (see note
Romans 8:3).
And more than that, He was raised to life for us, He is now at the right
hand of God in power for us, and He is also interceding for us (see note
Hebrews 7:25).
And we are now identified and in union with Him (see notes
Romans 6:2;
6:3;6:4;
6:5;
6:6;,
see also
In Christ) so
it is unreasonable to think that He is then going to condemn us.
And so Paul alludes to the power that we possess to lay hold afresh of the life
of Jesus. Not only is our guilt set aside, but we have His power imparted to
us -- His life in us, His risen life made available to us now. So we can
rise up and say "No!" to the temptations that surround us and the habits
that drag us down. We can be a victor over them. That is not mere
dogma, for believers are in union with a living Person who dies, yes,
rather who was raised. That is the glory of
Christianity. The unique distinction of Christians is that we have
Jesus.
Died (599)
(apothnesko from apo = separation from that which one was previously
united, from, away from + thnesko = to die) means to die off from and
pictures death as not an annihilation but a separation, the separation
being of the soul from the body. In spiritual death, apothnesko pictures
separation (eg, from the power of sin in
Romans 6:2 [note],
from the Law
Romans 7:6 [note],
the elementary principles of the world
Colossians 2:20 [note],
etc).
Bengel comments that...
Our faith should rest on Christ’s
death, but it should rather also so far progress as to lean on His
resurrection,
dominion, and second coming
Farrar adds that...
From the representations of the
dead Christ the early believers
shrank as from an impiety. To them He was the living, not the dead
Christ — the triumphant, the glorified, the infinite, — not the agonized
Christ in that one brief hour and power of darkness which was but the
spasm of an eternal glorification
Raised (1453)
(egeiro)
means to waken, rouse from sleep, from sitting or lying, from disease,
from death, from inactivity, from ruins. It means to lift up, raise up,
arise again, stand up. Metaphorically, egeiro is used in the NT
to describe to awaken from sluggishness or lethargy (see note
Romans 13:11).
It also refers as in the present use to be awakened up from death and so
to be raised from the dead.
The resurrection was confirmation of the Father’s acceptance of
the Son’s substitutionary death (cf. 1Cor 15). It is worth noting that
all three persons of the Trinity were active in Christ’s resurrection:
the Father—Acts 2:24; 3:15; 4:10; 5:30; 10:40; 13:30, 33, 34, 37; 17:31;
the Spirit—Romans
8:11 (note) and the
Son—John 2:19-22; 10:17-18.
Resurrection of Christ Jesus is the
grand proof of His Divine Sonship and thus Paul writes that Jesus
was established
(openly designated, marked out, declared) with (literally "in") power
(in a striking, triumphant and miraculous manner) as the Son of God by
the resurrection from the dead according to the Spirit of holiness. (see
note
Romans 1:4)
The Resurrection was the guarantee of God’s power to carry out
the rescue of those who are His and to judge those who are not, for as
Luke recorded in Acts...
He has fixed a day in which He will
judge the world in righteousness through a Man Whom He has
appointed,
having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead. (Acts
17:31) (Note:
The Scriptures generally attribute the resurrection of Jesus to the
activity of the Father -
Acts 2:24;
3:15;
4:10;
5:30,31;
10:40,41)
Another challenge
rings out! Is there anyone here to condemn? No one, because Christ has
died for the defendant, has been raised from the dead, is now at the
right hand of God interceding for him. If the Lord Jesus, to whom all
judgment has been committed, does not pass sentence on the defendant but
rather prays for him, then there is no one else who could have a valid
reason for condemning him.
WHO IS
(continually)
AT THE
RIGHT HAND OF GOD WHO ALSO
(continually)
INTERCEDES FOR US: os kai estin
(3SPAI) en dexia tou theou os kai entugchanei (3SPAI) huper hemon: (Mark
16:19;
Acts 7:56-60;
Colossians 3:1;
Hebrews 8:1,2;
12:1;
1 Peter 3:22) (Romans
8:27;
Isaiah 53:12;
John
16:23,26,27;
17:20-24;
Hebrews
4:14,15;
7:25;
9:24;
1 John 2:1,2)
He it is to Whom all judgment is committed (Jn 5:22, 27 see note
2 Timothy 4:1).
The mention of His position at God's right hand of authority serves to
stress the efficacy of His intercession and our security.
Denny
explains that...
This is Paul's final security-- the
last ground of his triumphant assurance: Jesus Christ, at God's right
hand, with the virtue of His atoning death in Him, pleads His people's
cause. Cf Heb 9:24, 7:25, 1John 2:1ff) (Nicoll, W Robertson, Editor:
Expositors Greek Testament: 5 Volumes. Out of print. Search Google)
Intercedes
(1793)
(entugchano
from en = in + tugcháno = to reach a mark, to get, to
obtain) according to Vine means "primarily “to fall in with, meet
with in order to converse”; then, “to make petition,” especially “to
make intercession, plead with a person,” either for or against others".
Entugchano
was sometimes used of bringing a petition before a king on behalf of
another.
Vincent
writes that the verb entugchano...
means to light upon or fall in with;
to go to meet for consultation, conversation, or supplication.
The idea of
entugchano is first to
meet up with or to encounter, then to meet with for the purposes of
conversation or an interview, and then to approach someone with a
petition. Entugchano thus means to make an earnest request
through contact with the one approached. To entreat (in favor or
against), to make intercession, to bring a petition to a king on behalf
of someone, to ask for something with urgency and intensity, to plead,
beg, appeal to or to petition.
Our Great High Priest speaks to His
Father on our behalf and He is engaged in this gracious work continually
(present
tense)
He is continuously interceding on
behalf of His brethren.
Wiersbe
writes that...
It has well been said that Christ’s
life in heaven is His prayer for us. It is what He is that determines
what He does. In reviewing the reasoning found in this long section
(Heb 7:11-25), we are impressed with the logic of the writer. Jesus
Christ’s priesthood after the order of Melchizedek is superior to that
of Aaron and has replaced it. Both the historical argument and the
doctrinal argument are sound. But the writer adds a third argument. (Wiersbe,
W: Bible Exposition Commentary. 1989. Victor
or
Logos)
In classic Greek
entugchano was used to refer to bringing a petition before a king
on behalf of another person, a perfect picture of what our great High
Priest daily does for us. No act in the ritual of the Day of Atonement
prefigured this. The Aaronic high priest offered no prayer of
intercession while in the holy of holies.
Jameison
writes that...
There was but the one offering on
earth once for all. But the intercession for us in the heavens (see note
Hebrews 7:26)
is ever continuing, whence the result follows, that we can never be
separated from the love of God in Christ. He intercedes only for those
who come unto God through Him, not for the unbelieving world (Jn 17:9).
As samples of His intercession, compare the prophetical descriptions in
the Old Testament.
“By an humble omnipotency (for it was
by His humiliation that He obtained all power), or omnipotent humility,
appearing in the presence, and presenting His postulations at the throne
of God” [Bishop Pearson].
He was not only the offering, but the
priest who offered it. Therefore, He has become not only a sacrifice,
but an intercessor; His intercession being founded on His voluntary
offering of Himself without spot to God. We are not only then in virtue
of His sacrifice forgiven, but in virtue of the intercession admitted to
favor and grace [Archbishop Magee]. (Hebrews
7)
Wuest
writes that Messiah's current intercession...
includes every form of Messiah’s
identifying Himself with humanity, and includes the idea of
intercession. The writer speaks here of the present intercession of
Messiah on behalf of believers, which is based upon and follows His
once-for-all offering of Himself as the sacrifice for sin. (Wuest,
K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Eerdmans
or
Logos)
Vincent
feels that in Hebrews 7:25 that the idea of entugchano...
is not intercession, but
intervention. It includes every form of Christ’s identifying Himself
with human interests. The attempt has been made to trace this idea to
Philo, who alludes to the suppliant Logos, and the the advocate-Logos.
But the Logos is not treated by Philo as a divine-human personality
intervening for men, but as a poetical personification allegorically
considered (Ed note: Just another fact that should cause the
judicious reader to be wary when reading men like Philo and instead to
stick very close to the pure milk of the Word!). (Comment:
Moffatt wrote that "His intercession has red blood in it, unlike
Philo’s conception”)
Dr John Walvoord notes that the verb entugchano is used
twice to refer to Christ's intercession and adds that there are...
two other instances where a noun form enteuxis is used, (1Ti 2:1,
1Ti 4:5), in which instances the word is translated intercession
and prayer respectively, being used for the prayers of men to
God. It is significant that the same word, which is used of Christ’s
intercession in its verb form (entugchano), is used of the prayer of men
in its noun form. This would imply a close resemblance and would justify
the conclusion that the intercession of Christ in some sense is similar
to that of human prayer and, therefore, more than mere presence in
heaven.
This conclusion is confirmed by the reference in the Scriptures to the
intercession of the Holy Spirit in
Romans 8:26;
8:27 (note). The
intercession of the Spirit is prompted by the fact that believers do not
know how to pray as they should and the Holy Spirit therefore presents
their petitions. If it may be concluded from this that the Holy Spirit
is engaged in real intercession, it would imply that the intercession of
Christ is equally real...
Accordingly, it may be concluded that while intercession may not
necessarily take the form of words and may not carry out all the forms
of human expression used on earth, the fact that similar words for
intercession are used both for the intercession of Christ and the
prayers of men implies that the reality of intercession is more than the
presence of Christ in heaven.
Intercession, therefore, may be considered an act not merely an
inevitability due to the nature of His person and circumstances, but an
active presentation in some form of the needs of believers on earth.
While the nature of communication between two glorified omniscient
beings, such as the Father and the Son, is beyond human powers to
understand, the fact that this is inscrutable and beyond our
comprehension is not necessarily an argument against its reality.
The conclusion therefore is that the intercession of Christ is (1) real;
(2) more than mere presence of the life of the glorified Man; (3) may be
vocal, but not necessarily; (4) involves active communication between
the Son and the Father.
The results of the intercession of Christ. For those prepared to
enter into its wonderful truth, the fact that Christ intercedes for His
own in heaven is another guarantee of the security of the believer.
While the hope of the believer for eternal salvation rests essentially
on his possession of eternal life and the finished character of the
death of Christ, it is undoubtedly strengthened by the fact of the
intercession of Christ. In His intercession in heaven Christ sustains
the believer and keeps him from many of the spiritual dangers of life.
Such intercession pleads the fact that the believer is in Christ and a
partaker of His righteousness. The work of Christ in intercession also
pledges the ultimate sanctification of the believer and all that is
necessary to effect this end. The doctrine of intercession taken as a
whole makes clear that salvation is progressive. While the ultimate
purpose of God is sure from the beginning in all of its time factors,
salvation is a work of God for man through Christ which once begun is
carried on triumphantly to its conclusion in eternity.
The intercession of Christ is also most significant as providing the
secret for keeping the believer from the sin of the world. The nature of
Christ’s intercession is indicated in His prayer in John 17:11, 15 in
which He prays that believers might be kept from evil. Undoubtedly many
a spiritual triumph and many a godly life are explainable not by human
factors, but by the faithfulness of the Son of God as He intercedes for
His own.
The intercession of Christ is also vitally related to the matter of the
believer’s fellowship with God. By preventing sin, a basis for continued
fellowship is provided. When a believer does sin, Christ in His advocacy
provides a way for restoration. On the divine side, adjustment is always
made immediately when the believers sin. God is never out of adjustment
in His part of His relationship to the believer. On the experiential
side, however, that is, the human side, fellowship is conditioned on the
believer’s response to the pleadings of God, his confession of his sin,
and his resulting restoration through the sanctifying blood of Christ.
Accordingly, the continued fellowship of the believer according to 1John
1:5 - 1John 2:2 is based on the blood of Christ and conditioned on
confession of known sin.
The doctrine of intercession emphasizes the great truth that Christ
never ceases to intercede for His own. While human prayers on earth are
limited in both extent and power, the intercession of Christ knows no
limits within the will of God. As an infinite person Christ is able to
concentrate His intercession wholly on each individual believer without
any diminution or detraction from the needs of any other. In effect, the
believer is assured of the intercession of Christ in such a manner as
would be true if Christ centered all His love and all His intercession
on that one believer. Whatever may be the limitation of human prayers,
the believer is assured that there is One who never ceases to pray to
him and his needs and that this Intercessor has all power and favor with
the Father and, accordingly, “is able to do exceeding abundantly above
all that we ask or think” (see note
Ephesians 3:20). (Bibliotheca
Sacra: Volume 122, page 105)
There are 5 uses of entugchano in the NT...
Acts
25:24 And Festus said, "King Agrippa, and all you gentlemen here
present with us, you behold this man about whom all the people of the
Jews appealed to me, both at Jerusalem and here, loudly declaring
that he ought not to live any longer.
Romans 8:27 (note)
and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is,
because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of
God.
Romans 8:34 (note)
who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather
who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes
for us.
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