By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2010 by P. G. Mathew

From the inside of the big fish, the prophet Jonah prayed, “Salvation is of the Lord” (Jonah 2:9). Man cannot save himself. He is a helpless, ungodly sinner. He is dead in sins. More than that, he is an enemy of God. Only God in his mercy can save him.

God has purposed to save sinners. In Romans 8:28 Paul declared, “In all things, God works for our good to those who are called according to his purpose.” There is no contingency in God’s eternal purpose. Man cannot fulfill what he purposes. He cannot do so because his situation changes, or he may even die. But what God purposes, he is able to do. What he begins, he completes. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.

Romans 8:29-30 explains God’s purpose that Paul referred to in Romans 8:28. Here God is revealed as the ultimate ground of the promise of Romans 8:28. He is the supreme guarantee of our full and final salvation. Here Paul discloses in five verbs how God works for our glory. What he is emphasizing is not man’s response of faith, but God’s actions in our election, predestination, effectual calling, justification, and glorification.

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2010 by P. G. Mathew

And we know that to those who love God, in all things God works for good, to those according to purpose are called (Rom. 8:28, author’s translation).

God guarantees our good. What is our good? Our eternal happiness, salvation, and glory. Like Psalm 23 and John 3:16, Romans 8:28 is one of the most well-known verses of the Bible. It speaks of the absolute certainty of the final salvation of a true believer in Jesus Christ. The proposition regarding our assurance made in this verse is explained further in Romans 8:29–30. If you are a child of God, you may derive great comfort from this scripture. God is speaking to all his suffering children. Dr. John Stott says of Romans 8:28: “It has been likened to a pillow to rest our weary heads.”1

Why do God’s children suffer afflictions? Why doesn’t God eliminate all sufferings in answer to our prayers? If the Holy Spirit intercedes with God the Father in behalf of us according to God’s will, why do God’s people still suffer? Why do bad things happen to God’s good people?

Paul assures us that afflictions are salutary and profitable. God makes them work for our ultimate good. God directs all things, good and bad, to bring about God’s ultimate purpose of our lives—our glory for God’s glory. Let us then consider seven things from this proposition of Romans 8:28.

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2010 by P. G. Mathew

As people of God, we all need help, because this age is one of sufferings. Paul told us to wait for the life of the age to come with endurance (Rom. 8:25). So we are waiting in hope of the glory of God—waiting for our resurrection bodies and for the new heaven and new earth, the home of righteousness.

But not only does this hope sustain us in our present sufferings, Paul tells us the Holy Spirit himself also helps us in all our weaknesses. God never leaves us nor forsakes us: “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear” (Psalm 46:1-2). Paul declares, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31). Then he states, “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Rom. 8:37). Nothing can separate us from the love of God, not even death, because God has given us the Holy Spirit.

In our previous studies of Romans 8 we learned a few things about the Holy Spirit: The law of the Spirit of life regenerated us and set us free from the law of sin and death so that we now live according to the rule of the Holy Spirit – kata pneuma. As children of God, we delight in what the Holy Spirit desires; we are now controlled, not by our old sin nature, but by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of Christ who dwells in us guarantees that he will raise us up on the last day, and even now by the power of the Spirit of God we can daily put sin to death. The Holy Spirit guides us in the way of righteousness. This Spirit is the Spirit of our adoption as sons of God and by him we boldly cry, “Abba, Father.” The Holy Spirit witnesses to our spirits that we are children of God, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ. The Holy Spirit is the firstfruits pointing us to the harvest of our full and final salvation.

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2010 by P. G. Mathew

Romans 8:23-25 teaches us about waiting with endurance, or waiting patiently. Most of us today do not know how to wait with endurance because we do not experience sufferings. We are loaded with money and comforts. We cannot even tolerate a little headache without grabbing medicine. We do not know hunger pains because we eat before we hunger.

But our God does not spoil his children. He will teach us endurance through God-ordained troubles and trials, whether we like it or not. If we are complaining and murmuring about our problems, we must learn what it means to wait with endurance. That is what Paul is telling us in Romans 8:25: “But if we are hoping for that which we do not see, we wait for it patiently.”

In paradise, Adam was warned that he must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, “for when you eat of it, you will surely die” (Gen. 2:17). But he ate from it and he died, groaning. Furthermore, all his descendants also die groaning. The second law of thermodynamics attests to the fact that the creation itself is dying. God himself subjected it to futility, slavery, and decay to punish man the sinner. But God subjected creation and the elect children of God in hope of deliverance. William Hendriksen says that temporal suffering is the result of sin, but eternal glory is the result of God’s grace.1 The proto-euangelion found in Genesis 3:15 gives hope to creation and the children of God: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2010 by P. G. Mathew

As we study this next passage in Romans 8, let us keep in mind that we are coming together to reason, consider, understand, and exercise our minds in the word of God. Possibly the greatest biblical expositor of the last century, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, said this about churchgoing people: “And they come to the church; all they want is a ministry of comfort, a pleasing, soothing atmosphere. They want a bright service, a spice of entertainment, something to help them, something to soothe and comfort them. Suddenly, they are confronted by a man standing in a pulpit who preaches about a holy God who hates sin and who is full of wrath against sin. And they say; ‘Things were bad enough already; this is but making it worse. I wanted some comfort.’ But that is the answer of the gospel; there is no comfort except to those who are in Christ Jesus. There is no comfort except to those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that He died to make atonement for our sins, that He was buried, that He literally rose triumphant o’er the grave, having conquered the last enemy, and that He has ascended through the heavens. If you do not believe that, this passage has nothing to say to you.”1

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2010 by P. G. Mathew

In this world, all of us experience all kinds of troubles—financial problems, physical sickness, work difficulties, or marriage and family troubles. In Romans 8:18 Paul reminds us about the hope of glory that Christians have in the midst of their problems: “For I reason that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (author’s translation). The glory that will be revealed in us is incomparable. That is, our present sufferings cannot be in any way compared with the great and grand future God has planned for us from all eternity.

For God’s children, sufferings mark the way to glory. Sufferings prove that we are children of God. As Paul stated in the previous verse, we are heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ, if indeed we suffer with him in order that we may be glorified together.

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2010 by P. G. Mathew

Christians are the light of this dark pagan world because we believe in the resurrection of Jesus of history. Only bright people believe that Jesus Christ, the crucified One, was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father. People like Richard Dawkins, who refer to themselves as Brights, cannot believe in the resurrection of Christ. Since their minds are darkened and closed, they exclude any consideration of God Almighty, who is the greatest reality. They also exclude any consideration of creation, fall, and redemption; of angels, Satan, demons, sin, souls, miracles, heaven, and hell; and of God’s revelation in the Bible. “The god of this [world] has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ” (2 Cor. 4:4). But God made his Son the light of the world “to shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6).

We are the true Brights of the world. Jesus is the light of the world; in him, those who confess him as Lord are also the light of the world. Paul said we are “children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which [we] shine as stars in the universe” (Phil. 2:15).

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2010 by P. G. Mathew

And if children, and heirs, heirs of God, joint-heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him in order that [or for the purpose that] we may be glorified together with him. — Romans 8:17, author’s translation

On Palm Sunday, Jesus entered Jerusalem on his way to suffer and die on the cross. He did so to accomplish our redemption. The way of the cross is also the way of our life. Why are God’s children enrolled in the school of suffering? The answer is so they can graduate to glory. Cross now, crown later. That is the order.

We have been considering the proofs of sonship in Romans 8:14-17. Sons of God are, first, those who are being led by the Spirit of God; second, those who give witness to that fact by crying out, “Abba, Father,” by the help of the Holy Spirit; and third, those to whom the Holy Spirit himself gives testimony that they are children of God. Now we want to study the fourth proof, that the children of God are called to suffer now in this world so that they may be glorified in the age to come.

God ordains suffering for the good of his children. So suffering is not a surprise for the people of God. I recently heard the testimony of a Roman Catholic priest who was sent from Texas to Spain to do his doctoral studies in the theology of the cross. This man had long suffered from migraine headaches. Once in a while they would go away. When that happened, he could work hard and excel in his studies. But this time, he became overwhelmed. Not only did he not feel good, but also his classes were in Spanish, not English. So he called his superior and said he could not continue. His wise superior answered, “What are you researching?” This priest replied, “The theology of the cross.” “Well, do it, then.”

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2010 by P. G. Mathew

How can we know that we are saved from the wrath of God? How can we have certainty that we will go to paradise when we die? How can we know that we who were slaves of sin have become saints and sons of God? Can we truly sing, “Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine”?

Romans 8 speaks about assurance of salvation. Some teach that a Christian ought always to be in fear of condemnation and doubt the love of God. But Charles Hodge comments, “A spirit of fear, so far from being an evidence of piety, is an evidence of the contrary.”1 Yet it is also not enough to self-certify that we are saved. Anyone can claim to be a Christian without the saving work of the Spirit in his life. Romans 8:14-17 teaches that sons of God truly know that they are sons of God and therefore are guaranteed of eternal life.

From Romans 8:14 we learned that the first proof of sonship is that the sons of God are those who are being led by the Spirit of God, and that the Holy Spirit leads us into the Scriptures. A true son of God is like Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who always obeyed his Father. If you are a child of God, it will be your nature to obey God.

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2010 by P. G. Mathew

“For those who are being led by the Spirit of God, these alone are the sons of God.”

(Romans 8:14, author’s translation)

Romans 8:14 speaks about proving the sonship of the sons of God. About two billion people in the world call themselves Christians. Many do so because they are on the rolls of various Christian denominations or were born in “Christian” countries. Many do so because they frequently attend worship services and are baptized. But does God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ acknowledge them as his sons? Are they true believers in Christ?

On the last day, our mere church certification or self-attestation cannot prove that we are Christians. Jesus warns, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 7:21). To enter the kingdom of heaven, we must be a true son or daughter of God, born from above by the Holy Spirit. Proof of our sonship is godliness, being led by the Holy Spirit in accordance with the word of God.

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2010 by P. G. Mathew

“Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. 13For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.”

— Rom. 8:12–13

Romans 8:12–13 teaches about the progressive sanctification of a believer in Christ. There is another type of sanctification, called definitive sanctification, which John Murray speaks about.1 Definitive sanctification means we are sanctified once for all when we put our trust in Christ. In his death, Jesus died to sin; therefore, in his death we have also died to sin and are raised with Christ to live for God (1 Cor. 1:2; 6:11; Rom. 6:2, 4). While definitive sanctification is a once-for-all event, the progressive sanctification of a Christian continues until he dies. In definitive sanctification we are passive. But in progressive sanctification we are active in defeating sin by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Progressive sanctification teaches us how to put to death the sin that still dwells in us. According to Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, “these two verses are perhaps the most important statement with regard to the practical aspect of the New Testament doctrine of sanctification in the whole of Scripture.”2 Paul here tells how a believer can experience holiness and defeat sin.

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2010 by P. G. Mathew

Romans 8:11 speaks about a key doctrine of Christianity: the resurrection of the body. The ancient Apostles’ Creed ends like this: “I believe . . . in the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.” The more recent fourth-century Nicene Creed makes a similar declaration: “We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.”

Salvation comes in installments. Now we are saved in our spirits, and our eyes are opened. We love and serve God. We delight in his word and in praying to God. But we do not yet have salvation in its fullness. There will be a time when we receive fullness of salvation accomplished by Christ through his death on the cross. The resurrection of the dead is our future salvation.

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2010 by P. G. Mathew

Romans 8 speaks about our full assurance of our final salvation. In Romans 8:9-11 Paul shows us the radical difference between believers and unbelievers, the saved and the lost, those who are children of God and those whose father is the devil, those who live kata pneuma (according to the Spirit) and those who life kata sarka (according to the flesh).

What is this radical difference? It is the Holy Spirit. The saints of God are “in the Spirit,” and the Spirit of God dwells in them. The Spirit is our home, and we are the home of God. We cannot fathom this mystery, but we enjoy its great reality.

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2010 by P. G. Mathew

Our New Year’s resolution is to rise from our complacency and build God’s house. We find encouragement to do this from the small book of Haggai.

The name Haggai means “happy,” implying that perhaps this man was born on a feast day. Haggai began to prophesy in 520 BC to the Jewish exiles who had failed to rebuild the temple since their return in 538 BC under the leadership of Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the high priest. Because of their failure to honor God, these people experienced divine discipline for sixteen years. They were affected especially economically, as we are today. Our dollar has been shrinking in value daily. There is ever-rising unemployment and underemployment. We are facing a huge budget deficit, a towering national debt, the flight of manufacturing jobs, a failure of our educational system, a high tax rate that is killing businesses, high personal debt, and coming higher inflation and interest rates.

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2009 by P. G. Mathew

Luke 1 spoke about the miraculous virginal conception of the peace-child. This miracle brought about, in due time, the virgin birth of Jesus Christ, the King of the world. Luke writes about this birth in Luke 2. We want to examine seven points from this passage, especially verses 8 through 20.

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2009 by P. G. Mathew

Luke 1:26-38 speaks of the virginal conception and birth of the Prince of peace, our Lord Jesus Christ. No one can be a Christian without faith in this cardinal doctrine as taught in this text (see also Matthew 1:18-25). The miracle in this situation is the virginal conception of Christ by the activity of the Holy Spirit on the virgin Mary, not the emergence of Jesus from Mary’s womb.

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2009 by P. G. Mathew

Gratitude is in short supply today. It seems that thanksgiving is in inverse proportion to mercy and favors received. We do not like it when people do not thank us for favors done for them. How much more is God angry with unthankful people who exist because of his grace!

Ingratitude chokes off future favors. In some cultures, thanksgiving is a foreign idea. For some, it is considered a shame to thank someone. Such unthankfulness is also seen more frequently in Western cultures today.

Second Chronicles 24 tells us that King Joash murdered his cousin Zechariah, a priest and prophet who was sent to the king to speak the word of God. Zechariah’s father, Jehoiada, and mother, Jehosheba, saved Joash’s life when he was an infant. In due time, Jehoiada made Joash king in Judah. Yet when Zechariah came to speak the word of grace and salvation to Joash, he stoned him to death. Jesus Christ himself went about doing good, healing the sick, raising the dead, casting out demons, and teaching the way of salvation. For this, the people crucified him.

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2009 by P. G. Mathew

Romans 8 speaks about the absolute certainty of the final salvation of those in whom the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled (i.e., those who live according to the Holy Spirit, not according to the flesh). This assurance of salvation belongs only to God’s holy people. Only they shall see God.

In The Great Divorce C. S. Lewis says, “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’”1 People either do the will of God gladly in response to God’s great salvation, or they do their own will and go to hell. There is no other choice.

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2009 by P. G. Mathew

We have heard of pop culture, which means popular culture. Many churches in this country are “pop churches” that reflect popular culture. They teach that the purpose of our redemption is to promote an antinomian and unholy Christianity and a love that does not distinguish between truth and lie or righteousness and wickedness, but embraces all things. But consider the words of Jesus Christ about pop culture: “What is popular among men is an abomination in the sight of God” (Luke 16:15, author’s translation).

What then is the purpose of redemption? What was the goal of the incarnation and atonement of Jesus Christ, which Paul spoke about in Romans 8:3? God’s eternal purpose is to make us holy, and he will achieve it.

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2009 by P. G. Mathew

In Romans 8:3 Paul deals with the center of Christianity, which is the person of Christ, God’s incarnate Son, and his work of atonement, the death on the cross for our sins. Without this verse we have no hope. It is the necessary foundation for the blessings found in verses 1 and 2, that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, and instead we have great liberation through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

This verse deals with our sin problem. No other religion can remedy the human problem of sin because no other religion has a savior who saves his people from their sins. The cross of Christ is the center of Christianity. Paul states, “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2). Elsewhere he declares, “Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified” (Gal. 3:1). Jesus himself declared concerning his atoning work, “Just at Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of man will be lifted up so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life” (John 3:14-15).

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2009 by P. G. Mathew

“Because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.” — Romans 8:2

Who is a Christian? Some people think a Christian is one who was born in a so-called Christian land or someone born in a church. But these things do not make a person a Christian, according to the Bible. We need to think seriously about who a true Christian is.

In our last study we learned that a Christian is one who is united to Jesus Christ. Because we are in Christ, his life flows into us and we live in his life. A Christian is one concerning whom it can be said, “There is therefore now no condemnation” (Rom. 8:1). In the second verse of Romans 8, we find a second blessing associated with being a Christian. A Christian is one who is liberated: “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death” (author’s translation). These two characteristics describe a Christian: there is no longer any condemnation for him, and he has been liberated from all evil.

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2009 by P. G. Mathew

“There is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” — Rom. 8:1

The theme of Romans 8 is God-guaranteed eternal security. A guarantee means nothing without knowing who is making the guarantee. In this chapter, God Triune is guaranteeing the ultimate salvation of his people. In this study we want to treat verse 1, which declares: “There is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

The eighth chapter of Romans is described in many ways. Some people look at it as the highest peak in a range of mountains. Others say it is the most sparkling diamond in a ring of diamonds. Others call it “the holy of holies” of the Christian faith.

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Good news! Pastor Mathew's latest book, The Wisdom of Jesus: A Life Application of the Sermon on the Mount, is published and available. It contains 319 pages of informative and challenging teaching regarding this often misunderstood passage of Scripture.

As we did with Pastor's earlier books, we have initially put together packets of five books that you can use to distribute to friends, relatives, pastors, libraries, etc. We are asking for a donation of $100 per packet of five, or $150 for two packets of books (ten books).

At this point in time, we are not offering single copies of the book.

You can send your order to gvcc@gracevalley.org. Please be sure to include your current address, just in case. We are not sure of shipping costs yet, but will let you know.

We appreciate your help in distributing these. We think you and those you give the books to will be blessed by Pastor's treatment of our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount.

We also appreciate your help in spreading the word about these books. If you know of others who might be interested, please direct them to the website.

In Christ,
Gerrit Buddingh’
Senior Associate Pastor
Grace Valley Christian Center

By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2009 by P. G. Mathew

God never makes anyone his saint unless he cries out, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” In this exposition of Romans 7, we are in general agreement with the majority of the church fathers in the first three centuries of the Christian era and with modern scholars like Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Douglas Moo, and a number of others.

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2009 by P. G. Mathew

“There is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” — Rom. 8:1

The theme of Romans 8 is God-guaranteed eternal security. A guarantee means nothing without knowing who is making the guarantee. In this chapter, God Triune is guaranteeing the ultimate salvation of his people. In this study we want to treat verse 1, which declares: “There is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

The eighth chapter of Romans is described in many ways. Some people look at it as the highest peak in a range of mountains. Others say it is the most sparkling diamond in a ring of diamonds. Others call it “the holy of holies” of the Christian faith.

(Continues... Click here for more.)

By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2009 by P. G. Mathew

God never makes anyone his saint unless he cries out, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” In this exposition of Romans 7, we are in general agreement with the majority of the church fathers in the first three centuries of the Christian era and with modern scholars like Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Douglas Moo, and a number of others.

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2009 by P. G. Mathew

What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! — Romans 7:7

Have you ever noticed that all sinners are happy as long as the Holy Spirit is not convicting them through God’s law? If you ask such people how they are doing, they will say they are doing just fine. Their marriages are working out splendidly. Their children are studying at top universities. They are doing well at their jobs and their retirement funds are growing. They have no health problems and expect to live long and happy lives. But the truth is, such people are dead men walking. They have no concern about their standing before a holy God.

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2009 by P. G. Mathew

“For when we were in the flesh, the passions of sins which through the law were powerfully and effectually working in our members to bring forth fruit to death. But now we have been discharged, set free, released from the law, having died in that which were holding us under as prisoners, we serve God in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the written code.” Romans 7:5-6 (author’s translation)

The subject of these verses is a Christian’s life in the Spirit. Verse 5 speaks about our past life in the flesh; verse 6 speaks of our present life in the Holy Spirit.

In one sense, those who are unregenerate live by the spirit, as we read in Ephesians 2:1-3. But it is the evil spirit, and they live in complete obedience to it. Unbelievers are called sons of disobedience, but in reality they live in complete obedience to the evil spirit.

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2009 by P. G. Mathew

It is a good idea to ask ourselves the following questions: Do we believe in the real Jesus or a different Jesus, a Jesus of our own creation? Do we believe the real gospel or the gospel of our own creation? Are we filled with the Holy Spirit or a different spirit, the evil spirit?

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2009 by P. G. Mathew

“For when we were in the flesh, the passions of sins which through the law were powerfully and effectually working in our members to bring forth fruit to death. But now we have been discharged, set free, released from the law, having died in that which were holding us under as prisoners, we serve God in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the written code.” Romans 7:5-6 (author’s translation)

The subject of these verses is a Christian’s life in the Spirit. Verse 5 speaks about our past life in the flesh; verse 6 speaks of our present life in the Holy Spirit.

In one sense, those who are unregenerate live by the spirit, as we read in Ephesians 2:1-3. But it is the evil spirit, and they live in complete obedience to it. Unbelievers are called sons of disobedience, but in reality they live in complete obedience to the evil spirit.

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2009 by P. G. Mathew

In the opening verses of Romans 7, Paul uses the illustration of marriage to describe a believer’s relationship to Christ. The purpose of this marriage is to bring forth fruit to God, the fruit of holiness.

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2009 by P. G. Mathew

As Christians, we need discipline. A godly brother recently approached me to tell me that he was sad because I had said that I was not rebuking anyone anymore. He said that he and his wife had been greatly blessed by a rebuke I once gave them because it set them on the way to the city of God, the straight and narrow way to everlasting life. My defense was that people do not appreciate discipline, correction, or rebuke, so why should I rebuke anyone? But I realized my brother was rebuking and correcting me. As a pastor, it is my God-given solemn charge to rebuke. Paul wrote to Timothy, “In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage” (2 Tim. 4:1–2). It is the charge of every minister of the gospel; therefore, we must not shirk from it.

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2009 by P. G. Mathew

The end of all things is near, the Bible says (1 Pet. 4:7). This world will pass away, and we also will pass away. All descendants of Adam must die because the wages of sin is death. Ezekiel tells us, “The soul who sins is the one who will die” (Ezek. 18:4). Though Methuselah lived 969 years, he too died (Gen. 5:27). Moses said, “The length of our days is seventy years or eighty, if we have strength. Yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass away and we fly away” (Psalm 90:10).

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2009 by P. G. Mathew

Have you heard the story of a poor Scottish fisherman named John? He had a wife and many children, but the family lived in extreme poverty because John spent all their money getting drunk. Then one day Jesus found John, and he transformed this miserable bad tree into a good tree. Old John became new John. He stopped drinking and gave all the money he earned to his wife. There was now enough for food and even new clothing. John’s wife said, “If you are going to behave like this, let’s move into a better apartment.”

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2009 by P. G. Mathew

A few years ago a man in Los Angeles wore a sandwich board sign that read on the front: “I am a slave of Jesus Christ.” On the back it asked: “Whose slave are you?” Theologian Anders Nygren stated, “The idea that man could be free, in the sense that he can be lord of his own life, is nothing but a chimera,”1 a monstrosity.

According to Romans 6, everyone is a slave. No one is a self-determining, independent being. At the end of one’s life, no one can say, “I did it my way.” It is an illusion to think we can live our way. We are either slaves of sin and Satan or slaves of Jesus Christ. Either way, we all offer strict obedience to the lord we serve.

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2009 by P. G. Mathew

From Romans 6:13-14, we will consider the third and fourth steps to holiness. These divine imperatives are based on the indicative of our vital union with Christ in our faith baptism (Rom. 6:3-4).

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2009 by P. G. Mathew

Too many Christians today consider Christian antinomianism to be normal and that sanctification is not mandatory but optional. They deem justification by grace through faith all that is necessary to get to heaven. But what does the Bible say?

Paul states, “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified” (1 Thess. 4:3). And he exhorts Timothy, “Train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come” (1 Tim. 4:7–8). The writer to the Hebrews tells us, “Without holiness no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14). John says, “Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure” (1 John 3:3). Jesus Christ declares in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matt. 5:8).

Holiness, which is obedience to God, is mandatory for every true believer. The man who lives in sin is not saved at all, for the grace that saves is at the same time opposed to sin. He who sins habitually will hear from the Lord on that day, “Depart from me, you who practice anomia, lawlessness.”

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2009 by P. G. Mathew

There are more verses in the Bible calling us to live holy lives in this world than there are teaching the foundational doctrine of justification. This shows the importance of holiness in the life of a Christian. In Romans 6, Paul speaks about why believers should live holy lives and how they can do so in Christ. Holiness is the key to happiness.

The only basis of our salvation is the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, the great event that took place in the midpoint of time. Our union with Adam brought us sin, condemnation, and death. Our union by faith with Jesus Christ canceled all that and brought us righteousness, justification, and eternal life.

When Paul said, “Where sin abounded, grace superabounded” (Rom. 5:20), he knew this doctrine of abounding grace could be misinterpreted, and it was. Throughout the history of Christianity, this misinterpretation has produced antinomianism, a perversion that is, sadly, prominent in many churches today. The slogan of an antinomian is, “Only believe, and live as you please. Sin all you want, because more sin means more grace, which means more forgiveness and more glory to God.” Paul opposed this Christian heresy, as did Jude in his epistle and Peter in his second letter.

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2009 by P. G. Mathew

On Easter Sunday morning, the resurrection angel declared, “Fear not! He is not here; he is risen.” Jesus Christ our risen Lord also proclaims, “Fear not! I am risen, and I am King! I have received all authority in heaven and on earth, and I hold the keys of death and Hades. The devil has been cast down, and death is conquered!” Let us examine the reasons we need not fear.

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2009 by P. G. Mathew

What can a huge elephant do to save itself if it falls into a fifty-foot deep pit? The answer is absolutely nothing. It cannot save itself, and eventually it will die because of its fall. When Adam committed his first sin of disobeying God by eating of the fruit of the forbidden tree, he fell into hell itself, and with him all his descendants. God says that we all sinned in that one sin of Adam and were condemned to spiritual, physical, and eternal death.

Just as the fallen elephant cannot save itself, even so fallen man cannot save himself. Man must die unless God in grace chooses to save him.

No fallen devil or man can defeat the purposes of the sovereign God. He alone triumphs by his grace and by his wrath. God triumphs by the outpouring of his wrath upon wicked sinners who refuse to receive the abounding grace and the free gift of righteousness.

Nothing can defeat God, whether man’s sin or death or the devil or the unbelieving, God-hating world. Our God is a warrior who fights and wins. He is stronger than all devils. Jesus himself said that he binds the strong one, the devil, and sets free his elect sinners.

By both his grace and wrath our God fights and wins. Paul declares, “For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness by faith from first to last, just as it is written, ‘The righteous will live by faith [or “the righteous by faith shall live”].’ The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness” (Rom. 1:17–18).

We cannot win if we are against God. Adam was the first to learn this truth: “And the LORD God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat it, you will surely die’” (Gen. 2:16–17). There is no escape from God.

Yet even now we have an opportunity to surrender our lives to Jesus Christ and be saved. In Romans 5:18-21 Paul summarizes his argument and celebrates the triumph of grace. Paul completes here what he did not finish earlier in this chapter. According to John Murray, had Paul completed verse 12, it would have read: “Therefore as through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, and so death passed on to all men, in that all sinned, even so through one man righteousness entered into the world and life through righteousness, and so life passed on to all men, in that all men in that all were accounted righteous.”1 This “as/even so” balance is now found in verses 18, 19, and 21.

What Adam did affected all his descendants and created a huge, cosmic problem. But, thank God, through Jesus Christ, the problem is solved.

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2009 by P. G. Mathew

Romans 5:15–17 speaks about God’s abounding grace to miserable sinners. Infinite grace came to the hell of God’s enemies, lifted them up, and transported them to the heavenly realms and seated them with Jesus Christ. About this passage Karl Barth said, “Though the sentence of death was not pronounced at any moment in time, yet, like the sword of Damocles, it is suspended over our heads at every moment.”1 I disagree with two aspects of this famous theologian’s statement. First, the sentence of death was pronounced in time: “And the LORD God commanded [Adam], ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die’” (Gen. 2:16–27). Second, although it is true that the sentence of physical death hangs over each of Adam’s descendant, Adam also died spiritually the moment he ate the forbidden fruit. So Adam experienced separation from life with God long before he physically died 930 years later.

In Romans 5:12-21, Paul speaks of the history of humanity under the headship of two men—Adam and Jesus Christ. Paul calls them the first man and the second man. When we compare the person and work of Adam with that of Jesus Christ we see, first, that both were men, though Jesus Christ was God-man, and both were appointed by God to be heads of a humanity. Both were to keep a covenant before God, and what each did affected all whom they represented. Because of the one sin of the one man Adam, all his descendants became sinners and so were condemned to death. Because of the obedience of Jesus Christ, all who belong to him are forgiven of all their sins, justified forever, and given the gift of righteousness and eternal life. So Adam brought to the world sin, condemnation, and death, but this text tells us that God is not defeated by Adam’s sin, condemnation, and death. God’s action in Jesus Christ reversed these deadly effects of Adam’s work and achieved for God’s people the infinitely greater blessings of grace.

Through his one sin, Adam became a mass murderer, bringing death to all his descendants. But Jesus Christ, who is eternal life, makes alive all who are his. That was why he came from heaven into this world. Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. . . . I give them eternal life and they shall never perish (John 10:10; 28).

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2009 by P. G. Mathew

John 14:13-14; 15:7-8, 16; 16:23-24; 1 John 3:21-22; 5:14-15

We want to look at the theology of effectual prayer according to the apostle John. Effectual prayer is not the same as ceremonial, superficial, non-substantial prayer. Effectual prayer is prayer that God the Father and God the Son hear and answer. For example, I promised my grandson several days ago that I would take him to lunch on Saturday. Sure enough, on Saturday morning I received a call from him, reminding me of my promise. Although I had much to do, I took him to lunch, as I had promised. His prayer was effectual because it was according to my will, my purpose, and my promise.

We are taught six times in John 14, 15, 16, and 1 John 3 and 5 to pray for “whatever” we desire. It seems the sky is the limit; we can pray for anything we desire and we will receive it. But if we read carefully, we notice that “whatever” is limited by a number of considerations. I would like to place four of these limits before you.

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2009 by P. G. Mathew

Romans 5:12-14 speaks about the reign of sin and therefore the reign of death, because death is punishment for sin. In other words, this section of Scripture describes the universality of sin and death.

Why are there wars, plagues, and times of economic chaos? Why do people murder, abort, steal, commit adultery, and rape? In this passage, Paul gives us the key to unlock the meaning of human history and to understand the human problem.

In Romans 5:12–21, all human history is described in terms of the history of two men: Adam and Jesus Christ. All peoples of the world are represented by one or the other. The problems of sin, condemnation, and death came through the first Adam, the first man; the solution of righteousness, justification, and eternal life came through the last Adam, also called the second man, Jesus Christ.

Swedish theologian Anders Nygren refers to Romans 5:12–21 as the highpoint and key of the epistle to the Romans. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones agrees, saying that he considers it undoubtedly to be the most important section, in a sense, in the whole of this wonderful epistle.1 I would say this section is the key to interpreting all Scripture and all human history. If you want to know why people are bad and do bad things, or why a sinner cannot save himself, read this passage. If you want to understand that human salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone, read this passage. If you want to comprehend the doctrine of union with Christ and be fully assured of your ultimate salvation, then read this passage.

In this study we will consider Romans 5:12-14, which deals with the universal reign of sin and therefore the universal reign of death. Verse 12 begins by saying “Therefore.” Paul is citing all he said prior to Romans 5:11 as a reason for his next point. His “therefore” is especially linked to Romans 5:10-11 concerning our ultimate salvation: “For if when we were God’s enemies we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved in his life” (v. 10). It is crucial to grasp Paul’s reasoning if we want to enjoy full assurance of our ultimate salvation, both now and in the hour of our death.

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2009 by P. G. Mathew

All of us are going to die one day unless Christ comes back first. But how can we be certain that we will be raised up with a glorious body to dwell with God forever after we die? How can we be sure that God will not pour out his wrath upon us on the day of judgment? Is it possible for us to face death with complete assurance of our final salvation? Romans 5:9-10 answers these questions.

Romans 5:1-11 speaks of God the Father’s love for us, a love that guarantees not only our present salvation, but also our future glorification. Salvation (sôzô) is used in three tenses: we have been saved (justified), we are being saved (sanctified), and we will be saved (glorified). This usage speaks about salvation from the penalty of sin, the power of indwelling sin, and the presence of sin. In justification the penalty of sin has been dealt with once and for all. In sanctification, the power of sin is dealt with, and we are free to overcome sin. As Christians, we do not need to give in to our sinful urges. We can say no to sin and yes to Jesus Christ. And in glorification, the very presence of sin will be removed from our life.

From all eternity God planned a complete salvation for his people. God declares, “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (Jer. 31:3). That speaks of eternal love. God has loved us from all eternity with an everlasting love to achieve for us an everlasting salvation (Isa. 45:7). He has accomplished for us eternal redemption (Heb. 9:12) and appointed us to eternal life (Acts 13:48). Paul writes, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in [or through] Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:23). This eternal life is for our eternal joy (Isa. 35:10). That is why the mark of a Christian is joy. True Christians rejoice always, even in tribulations, because they enjoy the eternal security of their ultimate salvation.

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2008 by P. G. Mathew

In the journals of the modern Academy we may read, “In the beginning were the Chemicals, and the Chemicals were with God, for the Chemicals were God. And after billions and billions of years, the Chemicals became fish, birds, dinosaurs, and man. And man said, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.’”

That is not what John is saying in John 1, where he deals with the question: Who can explain God to us? Many centuries ago Rabbi Ben-Sirah asked this question, but he could not provide an answer. Philosopher Plato also thought about it, telling his students that perhaps someday a word (logos) would come from God to explain all mysteries and make everything plain. John the Evangelist identifies the Word as Jesus Christ (John 1:17), who came into the world from the bosom of the Father to exegete the Father’s love to us miserable sinners.

John, therefore, begins his gospel: “In the beginning was the Word.” He does not say, “In the beginning were the dinosaurs.” He does not say, “In the beginning was man,” or “In the beginning was matter” or “In the beginning was creation.” No, he says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God” (John 1:1). Then he says, “The Word became flesh” (John 1:14). The shortest account of the virgin birth is given to us by John: “kai ho logos sarx egeneto.”

The gospel of John stands apart from the synoptic gospels. It was written for unbelievers that they may come to confess Jesus Christ as the Son of God and that by believing in him they may have eternal life (John 20:31).

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2008 by P. G. Mathew

People are always making promises. A young man may promise a young woman that he loves her and wants to marry her, but if she has any sense, she may say, “Prove that you love me.”

I have heard many promises, agreements, and confessions that later proved to be meaningless. But Romans 5:6-8 declares that God the Father is not just making a promise when he says he loves us; he has proved his love for us beyond disputation. Paul writes, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8).

Definition of God’s Love

There are four words for love in the Greek language. Storgê speaks of affection within the family between parents and children. Philia means love between friends. Eros refers to sexual love. Agapê describes the highest form of love. It is very rarely used in classical Greek but commonly found in the New Testament. Agapê speaks especially of the holy, gracious, sovereign, everlasting, sacrificial love of God to sinful man. It is the type of love Paul is speaking about in Romans 5. Elsewhere he states, “Christ loved the church and gave himself for her” (Eph. 5:25); “The Son of God . . . loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). John also speaks about it: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son” (John 3:16).

Agapê love gives, serves, sacrifices, and dies for another. It is the type of love Jacob demonstrated when he worked seven years as a shepherd for Laban to gain Rachel as a wife (Gen. 29:30). Othniel similarly proved his love for Achsah by conquering Debir (Judges 1:12-13). David proved his love for Michal, King Saul’s daughter, by killing two hundred Philistines (1 Sam. 18:20-27). But the greatest demonstration of agapê love is that of God the Father, who showed his love by not sparing his only Son but giving him up to die on the cross to secure our salvation. Christ’s death on the cross is the proof of God’s everlasting, unchanging love, a love so great that it is beyond human comprehension, a love that is better than life here, a love that even our death cannot destroy. It is this love of the Father that has enabled saints of God throughout history to suffer cruel persecution and death at the hands of their enemies.

Have you experienced this love of God the Father? Paul states this love of God is poured out in abundance in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given to us (Rom. 5:5). Every true Christian can experience it. When we do, we will know it with our minds, feel it with our emotions, and be motivated to love God and obey his commands with joy. This love motivates us to share this good news with others with confidence and causes us to rejoice in tribulations also. Let us, then, consider three proofs of the love of the Father from this passage.

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2008 by P. G. Mathew

Why do true believers in Jesus Christ suffer afflictions and persecutions? Are they not exempt from all sufferings because of their salvation? Such questions have perplexed believers throughout the ages. The entire book of Job also wrestled with these questions. Romans 5:3-5 gives us the answers.

Romans 5-8 teaches about the full assurance of our ultimate salvation, which is our glorification, that is, the redemption of our bodies. It is absolutely certain that the justified will be glorified. This is our sure hope. So Paul writes in Romans 5 that having been justified by faith, we have peace with God, we are in God’s presence, and we triumphantly praise God. We now can rejoice in hope of the glory of God. This hope of our glorification is the dominant theme in Romans 5:1-11.

Rejoicing Greatly in Suffering

“And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings” (v. 3). As believers, we rejoice in God, who creates out of nothing and raises the dead; God, with whom nothing is impossible; God, who cannot lie but who keeps every one of his promises. Paul writes, “And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified” (Rom. 8:30). It is certain that the justified shall be glorified; therefore, we can rejoice in the hope of our coming glory, even in the midst of any tribulations we experience in this life.

The mission of God’s Son is to bring many sons to glory. God has chosen us in Christ before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. God’s election was not intended to make us rich, healthy, politically connected, and famous in this life, as some fraudulent ministers assert. Rather, in this life we are sure to suffer.

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By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2008 by P. G. Mathew

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. And we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

— Romans 5:1-2

As we have discussed previously, this passage teaches that because of justification, we experience three blessings: peace with God and the peace of God; access to God’s presence; and the ability to rejoice in all things. In this study we want to examine the third blessing of triumphant praise, looking first at what it means to rejoice; second, what it means to rejoice in hope; and, third, what it means to rejoice in the glory of God.

Only Christians can rejoice always, regardless of circumstances. When Paul was in chains in a Roman prison for the sake of the gospel, he exhorted the Philippians, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Phil. 4:4). It is the grace of God that enables us to rejoice always.

The joys of this world will eventually end. John tells us, “For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes, and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires will pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:15-17). The joy of salvation will never end. Therefore, despite any trials we experience in this world, we can rejoice.

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Romans 5:1-2 | Sunday, October 19, 2008

By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2008 by P. G. Mathew

Justification dealt with our sin problem once and for all. Romans 5:1-2 speaks about three blessings that result from our having been justified: peace with God, presence of God, and triumphant praise. We have already spoken about having peace with God and therefore experiencing the peace of God that passes all human understanding. In this study we want to consider the second blessing: enjoying God’s presence. If we learn to enjoy God’s presence, we will have no problems, because the joy of God’s presence will take care of all our troubles.

Justification necessarily brings us into the presence of God, that we may enjoy fellowship with God. The ultimate goal of our salvation is to bring us home to our heavenly Father. This acceptance by the Father is an implicate of justification by faith.1 John tells us, “We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3). Peter says, “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring us to God” (1 Pet. 3:18). Jesus leads all his elect, wandering sheep home and introduces them to the Father.

The Hebrews writer speaks of this ultimate purpose of our redemption: “In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering” (Heb. 2:10). Jesus brings us who have sinned and have no glory to God. We can go from shame to glory because Jesus dealt with our sin problem. Now we are without sin, as far as God is concerned, and fit to be in this presence. So we read, “Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we stand” (Rom. 5:1-2).

Saints of God, realize this great truth. It does not matter who forsakes you in this world. You are in God’s presence and he will never leave you. Through Jesus we have been admitted forever to the most exclusive club in heaven and on earth. To the praying thief Jesus said from the cross, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” We also have been brought to paradise to enjoy God’s glorious presence forever.

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Romans 5:1-2 | Sunday morning, October 12, 2008

By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2008 by P. G. Mathew

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we stand” (Rom. 5:1).

We are living in a world of great economic, political, and natural turmoil. In times like these, we need an intellectual apprehension of the gospel. Otherwise, we will not stand. Those who are simply emotional will have no foundation on which to stand.

In Romans 1:18-4:25, Paul gave us an exposition of the doctrine of justification by faith. How can a sinner be right with God? How can a sinner under the wrath of God be declared righteous? How can his sins be forgiven forever? Now, in Romans 5-8, Paul teaches us concerning the complete certainty of our ultimate and final salvation. The justified shall surely be glorified.

Look at the beginning of Romans 5:1: “Therefore, having been justified by faith.” “Therefore” points to logic. The Christian faith is logical and reasonable. “Therefore” means in the light of what Paul has told us in the previous section. “Therefore” means on the basis of justification by faith, in the light of a past action of justification by faith, not by our own merit, but in the light of a once-for-all action of justification by God. “Therefore” refers to our justification by grace through faith in the blood of Christ. By this divine action, our final salvation will surely come to pass. In other words, as we read in Romans 8:30, the justified are glorified. Martin Luther says that “the Apostle [Paul] speaks as one who is extremely happy and full of joy.”1 That is the way we ought to behave also. It is like seeing Canaan from Mount Pisgah. From here we see heaven and soon will experience glorification and be with God forever. We can be certain of it because God has declared us righteous.

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Romans 4:18-22 | Sunday morning and evening, September 21, 2008

By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2008 by P. G. Mathew

Romans 4:18-22 speaks about the faith of Abraham. Our faith in God is identical to that faith by which Abraham believed God and was justified. Many atheists think that belief in the Holy Scriptures is dangerously irrational. But studies show that atheists are more superstitious and irrational than Bible-believing Christians, and that true Christian belief is antithetical to pseudo-science, occultism, superstition, paranormal phenomena, and irrationalism. They confirm what G. K. Chesterton said, that all atheists, secularists, and rationalists are susceptible to superstition. The first effect of not believing in God is losing one’s common sense and not seeing things as they are.

It is most rational to believe in the infinite, personal God of the Scriptures, who created the universe out of nothing. It is utter irrationalism to believe that the universe evolved by itself out of nothing. Abraham believed the God of glory, and it was credited to him as righteousness. Because Abraham was justified by faith alone and is the father of all believers, we want to look at the nature of his saving faith.

Saving faith is not based on mathematical probability, as Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones says,1 nor is it natural faith. It is Spirit-created, supernatural faith that believes in the word of God. Saving faith believes in what is humanly impossible, but possible to the infinite, personal God.

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Romans 4:13-17 | Sunday morning, September 14, 2008

By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2008 by P. G. Mathew

“It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith” (Rom. 4:13).

Romans 4:13-17 speaks of God’s promise that we are heirs of the world. Paul is saying in this passage, “Rejoice, you saints of God. You are rich. You are heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ.” Every believer in Christ owns all the riches that Jesus, the Seed of Abraham, possesses. We are blessed with all spiritual and material blessings in Christ forever.

Context

Paul previously established the truth that we are justified not by works but by faith in Jesus Christ, refuting the arguments of the unbelieving Jews. Then he sets forth another argument of the Jews: “Was not Abraham justified by circumcision?” Paul disproves this by the historical argument that Abraham was justified fourteen years before he was circumcised and, therefore, his circumcision had nothing to do with his justification. The application to us is that we are not saved by any sacraments such as baptism. The saved are baptized, but the baptized are not saved merely because they are baptized.

Then Paul anticipates another argument of the unbelieving Jews: “What about the Mosaic law that tells us how to live and makes demands upon our conduct?” Unbelief is always coming up with yet another argument why we should not believe in Jesus Christ. Unbelief is like a child who, when told to do something by the father, does not want to obey the father because he wants to play. So the child comes up with many arguments designed to delay, deny, or entirely alter what the father said.

Here Paul answers the anticipated argument about the Mosaic law. We want to look at four points: the law, the promise, grace and faith, and the character of the God of promise.

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Romans 4:9-12 | Sunday morning, August 31, 2008

By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2008 by P. G. Mathew

“[Abraham] is the father of all who believe.” — Romans 4:11

The Jews placed great value on circumcision as a sign of their covenant relationship with God. Yet the gospel knows no discrimination between those who are circumcised and those who are not. In this passage, Paul asserts that everyone who believes in Jesus, the son of David, the son of Abraham, whether Jew or Gentile, whether circumcised or uncircumcised, is a true child of God and a son of Abraham.

We want to examine three points from this passage: that circumcision, which stands for any sacrament, does not save anyone; the true meaning of circumcision; and the divine purpose of circumcision, which God decreed to Abraham.

Circumcision Does Not Save

The Jews maintained that Abraham was only their father and not the father of the Gentiles. In fact, this was a point of great pride for the Jews. Therefore, Paul’s statement in this passage that Abraham was the father of all believers, Jew or Gentile, was startling to them. Earlier in this epistle Paul said, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile” (Rom. 1:16). Paul now argues that the blessedness of David and Abraham that he spoke about—forgiveness of sins, justification by faith, and the gift of a righteous status—is not only for the circumcised Jews but also for the uncircumcised Gentile believers. This gospel of universal salvation that Paul preached was aimed at destroying Jewish pride and superiority.

Christianity knows no discrimination. Man tries to create differences all the time, in every society and nation. Such differences enable groups or individuals to look down upon others. “There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). God levels everyone by this statement of the universality of sin. God in Jesus Christ saves all who truly believe.

Before God, one people group is not superior to another. The gospel destroys all sinful human pride in such distinctions. God is one, there is one people of God, and there is only one way of salvation. Earlier Paul argued and established the truth that justification is by faith in Jesus Christ apart from works of the law. Now he anticipates another argument of Jewish unbelief. When we argue one point successfully, then unbelief comes in another way. Paul raises the question: What about the God-ordained rite of circumcision? What relevance does circumcision have with reference to this salvation Paul was speaking about? The Jews were asking, “Can we not say that salvation is by faith plus circumcision?” Here Paul tells them no. Circumcision has no material or essential bearing on one’s salvation.

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Romans 3:21 | Sunday morning and evening, August 24, 2008. Audio mp3.

By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2008 by P. G. Mathew

The Blessed Man

Who is a blessed man? Is it the man who is the world’s greatest athlete, or the world’s most wealthy man, or the man holding the most political power? Is it the healthiest man, or the wisest man, or the most-admired man? Not according to the Bible. The most blessed man is the man who is right with God, who has been acquitted in God’s court and declared righteous, the man whose sins have been forgiven, the man to whom God imputes God’s own righteousness and does not put into his account his sins. The blessed man is the man who is justified on the basis of Christ’s redemption and propitiatory sacrifice and is declared righteous through his faith in Christ. Such a man has no boasting in himself, but praises God all his life and gives God all the glory. He is the blessed man in the biblical sense.

The Testimony of Abraham (Romans 4:1-2)

Judaism boasted that Abraham, the progenitor of Israel, was justified by his own works and not by faith. The Book of Jubilees states that Abraham was perfect in all his deeds with the Lord and well-pleasing in righteousness all the days of his life. Rabbis cited Genesis 15:6 as proof that Abraham was justified by his works and not by faith and stated, “No one has been found like Abraham in glory. Abraham had obeyed the law perfectly even before it had been given” (Sirach 44:19). But concerning the righteousness of God, Paul states, “Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded” (Rom. 3:27). The Jews were saying, “Paul, you are wrong. Our father Abraham was justified by his works.” But according to Scripture, Abraham was not justified by his works. So Paul says, “What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter? If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God” (Rom. 4:1-2). To Paul, Abraham was no exception to the doctrine of justification by grace through faith alone.

The proud Pharisee of Luke 18 represents the Jews of Paul’s day. According to them, Abraham worked for his salvation and God owed him his justification. But as Paul said, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Abraham was an ungodly sinner like everyone else. Joshua said Abraham was an idol worshiper before the God of glory called him (Josh. 24:2).

No one can be saved by his works. From eternity there has been only one God and one way of salvation: salvation by grace through faith. All the people of God, from Genesis through Revelation, are saved by grace. We cannot earn salvation; we receive it as a free gift. Noah found grace in the sight of God (Gen. 6:8), as did Abraham, and as does every true, elect child of God.

Abraham believed in the promised Messiah and was saved by grace alone. Jesus spoke of this to the Jews: “‘Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.” This puzzled the Jews, who exclaimed, “You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham!” He replied, “Before Abraham was born, I am!” (John 8:56-58). Jesus was declaring to them, “I am the Messiah, I am God, I am the Lord. Abraham saw me and was saved by his faith.”

Paul writes, “The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: ‘All nations will be blessed through you,’” (Gal. 3:8). This was speaking about Abraham’s offspring, Jesus Christ. He continues, “For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise” (Gal. 3:18). So Paul is telling his Jewish adversaries who believed in salvation by good works that they were wrong; Abraham was saved by grace through faith. Abraham was no exception to the principle of justification by faith that Paul articulated. Abraham had nothing to boast about before God.

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2 Samuel 11-19 | Sunday morning and evening, August 17, 2008. Audio mp3

By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2008 by P. G. Mathew

Someone once said, “Man is mind. When the mind is gone, man is gone.” In this study we want to examine what a depraved mind is, what a sound mind is, and then give some illustrations of both from the Bible.

A Depraved Mind

What is a good mind? It is a mind that thinks God’s thoughts after him and interprets reality correctly. A man with a good mind will worship and serve God as Creator of all. He will think God’s thoughts, will God’s will, hate evil and love good. A man with a good mind will live in God’s presence and enjoy all spiritual blessings.

God created man with a good mind, and it remained good until he sinned. Adam and Eve sought independence from God and so lost their sound minds through unbelief and disobedience (Gen. 3:4-7). Now every man by nature has a depraved, twisted mind that influences everything he thinks and does. Genesis 6:5 tells us the Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. Elsewhere we read, “The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart, ‘Never again will I curse the ground because of man even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood’” (Gen. 8:21).

Adam and Eve’s fall from perfection brought man a depraved, twisted mind. Paul writes about this extensively in the book of Romans: “Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity; they are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless” (Rom. 1:28-31). This depravity is pervasive throughout man’s sinful mind. Paul explains, “There is no one righteous, not even one. There is no one who understands” (Rom. 3:11). Sinful man is wrong when he interprets both God and creation. He cannot understand reality truly. That is why idolatry and false religions abound throughout the world.

Because natural man cannot understand God correctly, he hates God. Paul speaks about a time “when we were God’s enemies” (Rom. 5:10), and this enmity is first manifested in our minds. He also states, “The sinful mind is hostile to God” (Rom. 8:7). Natural man hates the infinite, personal, triune God and his word. Jesus Christ tells us, “What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’ For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly” (Mark. 7:20-22). Every kind of evil is mentioned, but it all begins with our thoughts.

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Romans 3:27-31 | Sunday morning, August 10, 2008

By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2008 by P. G. Mathew

In the previous section (Romans 3:21-26), Paul speaks about God’s plan of salvation through faith in Christ alone. Now he makes the logical connection: If salvation for sinners is by grace alone (sola gratia) through faith in Christ alone (sola fide), then the saved sinner must give glory to God alone (soli Deo gloria). A poor, dying beggar who was given a feast by a gracious king cannot boast and say, “I deserved this feast from the king.” He must give all the glory to the king. In the same way, the saved saints of God shall praise God forever, saying: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb” (Rev. 7:10).

God in his mercy saved us through his Son, who redeemed us from all slavery and propitiated the wrath of God that was against us by his shed blood on the cross. Because Christ died for our sins and was raised for our justification, God the Father justified us forever, pardoning all our sins.

Consider who we were when we met Jesus Christ. First, we were impotent, without strength to save ourselves. No man can save himself, even though all other religions except the religion of the Bible speak in terms of self-salvation. Second, we were sinners who transgressed all God’s holy laws and thus dishonored him. Third, we were ungodly and therefore unrighteous fools who said in our hearts that there is no God. Fourth, we were enemies of God, for sin, in its essence, is enmity toward God. Yet we were loved by God the Father, who sent his Son who died for us. Away with all human pride! Instead, let us praise God now and forevermore in all humility.

The Danger of Pride

Pride is the sin that made Lucifer the devil. In Isaiah we read, “How you have fallen, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High’” (Isa. 14:12-14). The essence of human arrogance is for man to dethrone God and establish himself as God. But God has something to say to such arrogant people: “’I will rise up against them,’ declares the Lord Almighty. ‘I will cut off from Babylon her name and survivors, her offspring and descendants,’ declares the Lord. ‘I will turn her into a place for owls and into swampland; I will sweep her with the broom of destruction,’ declares the Lord Almighty” (Isa. 14:22-23). The Lord will not tolerate human arrogance.

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Romans 3:21-31 | Sunday morning, July 27, 2008. Audio mp3.

By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2008 by P. G. Mathew

In Romans Paul argues that all have sinned and are under the wrath of God. He states that the wages of sin is death and all must therefore die. Yet God has in his grace accomplished salvation for sinners through the substitutionary death of God’s Son, Jesus Christ. In our previous studies we discovered that in Jesus Christ there is righteousness, redemption, propitiation, and reconciliation for us. In him we have salvation accomplished by his own self-offering. But how can we receive this salvation, full and free? We can do nothing to merit it, for we are dying sinners, wilting under God’s wrath. There is total moral inability in us. How, then, can we be saved?

The answer is that we are saved by faith alone without any works of our own. That is what sola fide means.

What Is Faith?

The word “faith” (Gk., pistis) appears eight times in this passage and the verb “believe” (Gk., pisteuô) appears once (Rom. 3:22). For the first time in this epistle, Paul is telling us in whom we must trust. Romans 3:22 says we must have faith “in Jesus Christ.” John speaks of believing “into Jesus Christ.” So faith speaks of moving out of ourselves and laying hold of the object of our faith, Jesus Christ. To this purpose John wrote his gospel: “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31).

Faith is self-renouncing and Jesus-trusting. When the Bible says Abraham believed God, it means Abraham put the entire weight of his life—his past, present, and future—upon a firm foundation that will never crumble or give way. Abraham believed in God’s promises because God is truth and cannot lie. He trusted in the One who raises the dead and calls into existence things that do not exist.

The words for “believe” in the Old Testament speak of stability, security, and taking refuge in God from all our troubles. We can be secure in God even in the face of death itself. The God we trust in is not life and death, light and darkness, but life and light. The Bible, therefore, speaks about faith that knows truth, believes truth, and obeys truth. Such faith rests in God’s promises, thanks God for his grace, and works for God’s glory. Faith is trust.

Faith can also mean the body of truth that we must believe in (see Jude 3; Gal. 1:23, 1 Tim. 4:1-6). We believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God who became incarnate and lived a sinless life. We believe that this One who created the universe died for our sins and was raised for our justification. We believe that Jesus Christ alone is Lord, that he makes intercession for us as our great sympathizing high priest, and that he is coming again to make everything new and judge the living and the dead. We believe the gospel as articulated by Paul (1 Cor. 15:3-4).

Our faith rests on the gospel, not on a self-authenticating, mystical experience or dream. God can give us dreams to guide us, but they will not save us. We either receive God’s testimony concerning his Son, or we reject it by unbelief. John writes, “The man who has accepted [the testimony of God] has certified that God is truthful” (John 3:33). When we believe the gospel, we are certifying the truthful nature of God. But what happens when we reject the gospel? “Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son” (1 John 5:10).

The fundamental ingredient of saving faith is orthodoxy; we must believe the gospel. Therefore, churches that do not preach the gospel are not true churches, but entertainment centers, or clubs that entertain people into damnation. They are, in reality, synagogues of Satan, and what they preach cannot save anyone. The gospel alone points to the person and work of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. The object of our faith is Jesus, God’s eternal Son whom the Father delivered over to death to save his people from their sins; Jesus, who is the way and the truth and the life; Jesus, in whom alone the salvation of the whole world is found; Jesus, in whom is the redemption (Rom. 3:24).

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Romans 3:21-26 | Sunday morning and evening, July 28, 2008. Audio mp3 Part One.  Audio mp3 Part Two

By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2008 by P. G. Mathew

God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.

— Romans 3:25

In Romans 3:21-26, salvation is seen from three perspectives: justification, redemption, and propitiation. The last doctrine, propitiation, speaks about the Christ of the cross. It is a forgotten doctrine, a doctrine greatly detested especially by theological liberals, meaning those who do not accept the authority of the Bible, who do not believe in the deity of Christ or heaven and hell, who do not believe in miracles, sin, in God’s creating the world out of nothing, or the fall of man. This distinction becomes important when you are looking at words like “propitiation.” Liberal translations like the Revised Standard Version and the New English Bible translate the Greek word hilasterion (Rom. 3:25) as “expiation” instead of “propitiation,” which is the word used correctly by the King James Version, the English Standard Version, and the New American Standard Version. First, then, we must explore the meaning of this word propitiation.

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Romans 3:21-26 | Sunday morning and evening, July 13, 2008. Audio mp3 Part 1.  Audio mp3 Part 2

By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2008 by P. G. Mathew

Salvation can be described in three theological terms: justification, redemption, and propitiation. These are three sides of the triangle of salvation. In Romans 3:24 Paul says, “being justified freely by his grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.” In this study we want to examine the second aspect of salvation, which is redemption.

The Vocabulary of Redemption

When we study the words associated with redemption (redeem, redeemer, ransom), we find that many of them are constructed on the Greek verbal stem lu, which means “to loose, to set free, to liberate, to deliver from bondage to freedom.” Thus we have apoluô, which means “to set free.” Simeon used this word in reference to himself in Luke 2:29: “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace” (italics added). The word lutroô means “to set at liberty upon payment of a ransom.” Lutron means “a ransom, the payment one makes to set someone free.” Lutrôsis means “redemption” (see Luke 1:68). Apolutrôsis, which appears in Romans 3:24, means “to set a slave free upon payment of ransom, away from his former wretched condition and situation to a new situation, to a new owner, to new freedom.” Lutrôtês, used in reference to Moses in Acts 7:35, means “deliverer, redeemer.”

Other words speak about redemption from the Greek marketplace, the agora. So we have agorazô, which means “to buy someone or something for oneself from the marketplace” (see 1 Cor. 6:19-20) and exagorazô, which means “to buy out of the marketplace, never to return to the former condition again” (see Gal. 3:13).

Slaves, prisoners of war, and captives condemned to death can be set free by another paying a ransom for them. Redemption, therefore, is releasing someone from the bondage of an alien power by paying a ransom. This ransom has to be paid by another because the captive is powerless to secure his own liberty. Captives condemned to die will surely die unless they are redeemed by another through a ransom payment.

The Scripture says we are redeemed by Jesus Christ from the alien power of Satan, from captivity to sin, from the curse of the law, from the guilt and power of sin, and from death eternal. We are redeemed to belong to our Redeemer, Jesus Christ, never again to return to our former owner and miserable situation.

Christ’s redemption of us is not temporal but eternal. Speaking of the excellency and beauty of these words “redeemer” and “redemption,” Everett F. Harrison says, “No word in the Christian vocabulary deserves to be held more precious than Redeemer, for even more than Saviour it reminds the child of God that his salvation has been purchased at a great and personal cost, for the Lord has given himself for our sins in order to deliver us from them.”1 The late professor B. B. Warfield of Princeton, professor of polemic theology, says that Redeemer “is the name specifically of the Christ of the cross. Whenever we pronounce it, the cross is placarded before our eyes and our hearts are filled with loving remembrance not only that Christ has given us salvation but that he paid a mighty price for it.”2 Jesus himself said, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28).

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Romans 3:21-26 | Sunday morning, July 6, 2008.  Audio mp3.

By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2008 by P. G. Mathew

But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.

— Romans 3:21

Leon Morris said Romans 3:21-26 is possibly the most important single paragraph ever written.1 Luther called it the chief point of the whole Bible. This passage speaks about three aspects of salvation: justification, redemption, and propitiation. In this study we will speak about justification by grace.

Recently the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life surveyed 36,000 adults about the idea that many religions can lead to eternal life. Of the Hindus surveyed, 89% agreed with the idea that there are many ways to attain eternal life. This view was shared by 72% of Orthodox Christians, 79% of Catholic Christians, and 83% of liberal Protestants. Surprisingly, 57% of self-identified Bible-believing people also said there are many ways to eternal life.

This diversity in religion contradicts the biblical view that salvation is found in Jesus Christ alone. Jesus himself said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). The apostles also declared, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). About Christianity Dr. Stott says, “No other system, ideology or religion proclaims a free forgiveness and a new life to those who have done nothing to deserve it but a lot to deserve judgment instead.”2 Let us examine this great passage that opens for us knowledge of the way of eternal salvation.

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Romans 3:3-20 | Sunday morning, May 25, 2008

By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2008 by P. G. Mathew

A man in Scotland was taking a walk one Sunday afternoon. He had a small leather bag with him. A couple of teenagers thought he had a camera in his bag and so asked him to take a picture of them. The man said he already had a picture of them. He then took his Bible from the leather bag and began reading to them Romans 3, which spoke about their sinful condition and the need of a Savior.

The Bible is a mirror that reveals our sinful nature. It also reveals our need for Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. The chief advantage of the Jews was that they were entrusted with the very words of God in the Old Testament. But many of them failed to believe in God’s covenant promises; therefore, they failed to believe in the promised Messiah in the person of Jesus Christ.

In Romans 3:3-20 we are given a divine diagnosis of the sinful heart of every man, both Jew and Gentile. From this passage we want to speak about our sinful condition, our sinful conduct, the cause of this conduct, and the conclusion.

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I have gone in for these screenings every few months ever since I was diagnosed and treated for cancer several years ago. Every time, I have to ask myself if I am prepared for whatever the Lord will bring my way. This time my husband and I barely made it home from the hospital when I was immediately called in for further testing. We soon learned that the cancer had spread and I am now receiving what the doctors call supportive care. They are no longer able to treat the cancer or remove it by surgery, as we have done in the past.

Having faced this enemy of cancer for over four years, I am struck by the way cancer is to the body as sin is to the soul. Without medical technology, I would not even be aware that the cancer is spreading. Neither I nor the doctors can feel or see it, but it is there, waiting to take my life. So also sin, when unchecked, quietly grows, desiring to bring about the final destruction of our souls. We do not feel it nor do we give any thought to it until the light of God’s word comes in and reveals its presence.

When the doctor said to me a few years ago, “You have cancer; the only hope is to surgically remove it,” I did not say, “You are lying. Please just take a part of it. Leave a bit.” No, I said, “Remove it completely. I do not care about the pain. Let me live. And thank you so much for helping me.” Yet how strange it is that when a pastor or a parent or a boss says, “I see a problem in your life,” whether it is laziness or stubbornness or arrogance or some other sin, we accuse that person of lying.

My favorite book in the Bible is the book of Ephesians. Chapter 2 told me the truth about my condition: “As for you, you were dead in your transgression and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the desires of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath” (Eph. 2:1-3). For twenty-six years I was an object of wrath. And I would still be one but for God’s word, which came to me through Pastor Mathew thirty years ago. He did not lie to me or tell me that I was okay. He told me that I needed to repent and trust in Jesus Christ.

When we refuse the truth, not the truth that we might die, but that we are dead—dead in our sin (a condition that is so clear in God’s word), we also reject the cure. We reject the following verses in Ephesians that say, “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions. It is by grace you have been saved. . . . For it is by grace you have been saved through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Eph. 3:4-5, 8-9).

What about you? Have you received this gift of God that alone can bring your dead soul to life? Or are you refusing the truth of God’s word even as you hear it every time you come to church? Young people, do you obey your parents? Do you enjoy the word of God? Or is it drudgery to come to church? If this is true of you, the cancer of sin is growing in you, even though you do not know it.

The burden of my heart is for the young people in this church. You have the opportunity to live for Christ and enjoy great blessing—not a promise of health, wealth, and prosperity, but the promise that God will be ever-near you, so that on the day you hear dreadful news, whatever form it comes in, or face whatever hardship or trouble that comes your way, you will be able to say with confidence, “The Lord has been good to me.”

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Romans 3:1-2 | Sunday morning, May 11, 2008

By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2008 by P. G. Mathew

What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God.

— Romans 3:1-2

What is the most precious gift God has given us? It is nothing less than his word, which reveals Jesus Christ, the author of our eternal salvation. Romans 3:1-2 speaks about the rich Jewish-Christian heritage we have in the sacred Scriptures. In this study we want to consider three things: unbelieving covenant man’s question; the gracious answer of his covenant Lord; and, our response to the Lord’s answer.

The Question of Unbelieving Covenant Man

In Romans 2 Paul made several provocative statements about the unbelieving Jews. He told them, “Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised” (Rom. 2:25). In other words, he was saying they were just like the Gentiles. He also said, “A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical” (Rom. 2:28). Paul was saying that mere possession of the law and being circumcised do not save a Jew from the wrath of God that is being revealed against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress God’s truth in unrighteousness.

In response to Paul’s statements, we find a question in Romans 3:1. Notice, this is not the question of a Gentile, but of an unbelieving covenant man: “What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision?” In other words, what is the Jewish advantage over a Gentile if both Jew and Gentile stand before God in judgment? We can ask similar questions of ourselves: What is the advantage of being brought up as a Christian? What is the profit of being baptized? What does it benefit to be born in a “Christian” country or to have Christian parents? What is the advantage of attending Sunday school and church services weekly? These are the questions we must ask. Paul answers this question – I say, God answers this question. To be born as a Jew has great advantage. To be a member of the covenant community is not without profit.

God Answers the Question

Paul answers the question in verse 2, and it is God who is really speaking: “Much in every way!” To be born as a Jew has great advantage. To be a member of the covenant community is not without profit. Then he cites the most important advantage that a covenant, unbelieving Jew, as well as a covenant, unbelieving Christian, has: “First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God.”

The Jews were the custodians of the living oracles, the very words of God (ta logia tou theou). Paul speaks more about this in Romans 9:4-5, where he lists eight advantages:

1. The adoption as sons. No other nation was chosen and adopted by a sovereign God.

2. The divine glory. The Jews possessed the divine glory of God’s presence that appeared in Mount Sinai and in the Holy of Holies. God’s presence was with his people.

3. The covenants. God graciously entered into covenants with Abraham, Moses, and David.

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Romans 2:17-29 | Sunday morning, April 27, 2008

By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2008 by P. G. Mathew

      A hypocrite is an actor. He practices the opposite of what he preaches and his outward appearance does not match his inward condition. History is replete with famous hypocrites—politicians who prosecute people, only to be caught in the same crimes; ministers who preach vigorously against certain sins, only to be secretly indulging in such sins themselves; or leaders who claim to stand with and for the poor, even though they themselves live in exclusive neighborhoods and enjoy lavish lifestyles.

      Fallen man is a sinner and a hypocrite. We all have varying degrees of hypocrisy in us. This sin of hypocrisy is particularly a problem for leaders—for politicians, judges, parents, and pastors. James warns, “Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly” (Jas. 3:1). The self-righteous accusers of the woman caught in the act of adultery could not stone her to death because they were convicted by Jesus Christ of committing sin themselves (John 8:3-11). Paul declares, “You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things” (Rom. 2:1). Jesus Christ alone was righteous and without hypocrisy. He even challenged his enemies, saying, “Can any of you prove me guilty of sin?” (John 8:46).

      In Romans 2:17-29 Paul destroys the false confidence of the Jews by exposing their hypocrisy. Jesus did the same, telling his disciples, “You must obey the teachers of the law and Pharisees who sit in the seat of Moses, and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.” The entire chapter of Matthew 23 is an exposé and denunciation of the hypocrisy of the Jewish leaders. For example, Jesus exclaims, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness” (Matt. 23:27-28).

      The situation is the same today. In fact, when we read Romans 2, every time we see “Jew,” we can substitute the word “Christian,” because Paul’s words apply to us. In this television age, perception is all that matters. Therefore, may God’s Holy Spirit expose our Christian hypocrisy that we may dispose of it by the blood of Jesus Christ. From this passage we want to examine the image, the contradiction, and the reality.

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Romans 2:1-16 | Sunday morning and evening, April 20, 2008. Audio mp3

By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2008 by P. G. Mathew

This will take place on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.

— Romans 2:16

The final, eternal judgment of God is the theme of Romans 2:1-16. Paul says judgment is part of his gospel (v. 16), and it is the last in the list of essential Christian doctrines in Hebrews 6:1-2. The word “judgment” or “judge” appears ten times in this passage, and “God” appears seven times. God the Judge shall surely judge, both in history and beyond history.

Paul already wrote about temporal judgment, saying that God will abandon people to uncleanness, perversion, and a depraved, reprobate mind to do things that are unfit and immoral (Rom. 1:18-32). But there is also a final, eternal judgment that will occur after the resurrection of the dead, at Christ’s second coming. God created all people as moral beings who are accountable to him.

In Romans 1 Paul dealt primarily with God’s judgment of the Gentiles. Now Paul is addressing God’s judgment of the Jews. The Jewish people readily agreed with Paul’s treatment of the Gentiles, concurring that the Gentiles had committed the vile sins Paul mentions and should be judged. But the Jews were startled when Paul began to speak about their own judgment. They might even have said, “We can understand God judging the Gentiles because they are unclean ‘dogs.’ But we Jews are God’s chosen people, Abraham’s circumcised children, possessors of the law, and in covenant with God.” But God does not have a double standard—one for Gentiles and a different one for Jews. The holy God cannot overlook the sins of the Jews. As Paul wrote earlier, “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness” (Rom. 1:18, italics added). No one is immune to divine judgment.

We must also ask: If God judges the Gentiles and Jews, what about Christians? God will also judge every false Christian, those who profess Christ but do not obey him. God’s judgment is based on the degree of revelation received by every human being. Let us, then, consider the nature of God’s final, eternal judgment.

1. God Is the Judge

Several verses in this passage clearly declare that the Judge is God (vv. 2, 3, 4, 5, 11, 13, 16). Understanding this, Abraham rhetorically asked God in reference to the destruction of Sodom, “Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Gen. 18:25). Paul says the judgments that man makes are unrighteous (Rom. 2:1-3). Man sees the speck in another’s eye, but fails to see the plank in his own (Matt. 7:3-5). The Jewish leaders judged Jesus to be the greatest sinner and handed him over to be crucified. This treating of the holy Son of God as a blasphemer was the most unrighteous judgment in the history of mankind.

Paul says the Jews are self-condemned because, while they condemn others, they engage in the same sins (Rom. 2:1). There can be no perfect justice in a world where fallen people are the judges. When the Supreme Court says killing babies in the womb is perfectly acceptable, we know how bad human judges can be.

Not only does man sin and judge others while engaging in the same sins, but he also thinks he can escape God’s judgment. Such people know they will die, but question what God can do to them and wonder if there even is a God. Let me assure you, there is a God, and he is so great that he will raise up every sinner who died in his sins and will mete out to them the final judgment of eternal, conscious existence in hell, far from all forms of God’s grace.

Every sinner experiences God’s grace now. But in hell there is no grace. Man will be without any excuse at the final judgment and there will be no escape from the omniscient, omnipresent, almighty God. Jesus said, “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?” (Matt. 23:33). God says, “These things you have done and I kept silent; you thought I was altogether like you. But I will rebuke you and accuse you to your face. Consider this, you who forget God, or I will tear you to pieces, with none to rescue” (Ps. 50:21-22). Neither atheists nor unbelieving Jews nor pagans nor false Christians can escape God’s final, eternal judgment.

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Romans 1:18-32 | Sunday morning and evening, April 13, 2008. Audio mp3

By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2008 by P. G. Mathew

Romans 1:18-32 describes man’s giant slide down. Elsewhere we read, “In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them” (Deut. 32:35). All arrogant, stubborn people who refuse to believe in the true God and his revelation of truth will experience a giant slide down to hell.

When man closes his eyes to the light of God’s truth and rejects the God of creation who gave us a conscience, then God rejects man. If we reject him, he will reject us, and we will slide downward into hell itself. We will be like Jonah, who refused to obey God. Instead, he went down to Joppa, down into the ship, down inside the ship, and down into the ocean where he was swallowed up by a great fish. We will be like the rich man who, having rejected God’s revelation in the Law and Prophets, went down to hell.

Adam rejected the God of truth and experienced the big slide, what we call the Fall. Since Adam’s fall, every person who exchanges God’s truth for a lie is on a giant slide down to hell. Is there any hope for those who are on this downward slide? Yes. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes. We cannot lift ourselves up, but Jesus Christ came from heaven to rescue us from our hell.

It is not that man has no knowledge of God. God has revealed himself and his invisible attributes both in creation and conscience. But man deliberately closes his eyes to truth and continually suppresses the truth. He knows the true God, yet he refuses to glorify him by worshiping and obeying him. He refuses to thank him for all his gracious provisions (Rom. 1:21). So he becomes vain and worthless in his reasonings. He is incompetent to reason correctly because he reasons without God. He is like the ten spies who came back after forty days of inspecting Canaan. Not considering God in their reasoning, they spoke about defeat and destruction of God’s people. Only Joshua and Caleb reasoned and spoke correctly because they had God in their minds.

A man who rejects God is unable to understand truth because his heart is darkened. Since the Fall, man has been in spiritual darkness. Man thinks he is enlightened; in fact, we generally speak positively about the Enlightenment period. But the heart of the Enlightenment was the rejection of the God of the Scriptures; therefore, we could also call that time the Endarkenment. Man’s heart is darkened, yet he knows truth. He knows God but exchanges the glory of God for idolatry (Rom. 1:23). He exchanges the truth of God for the lie of worshiping and serving creation. He prides himself on being wise, yet bows down in worship to creeping things, such as snakes. He exchanges the natural use of sexuality for the unnatural. Though he knows full well that those who do evil will go to hell, he keeps on sinning and celebrates others who do so also.

Man’s problem, therefore, is not ignorance of God, for God has revealed truth to man and in man. Because of this revelation, man is accountable to live for the glory of God. Yet he refuses to do so and slides down to hell itself as he sins more and more.

How does God react to man’s rejection of him and his word? God judges him. Paul writes, “Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity. . . . Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. . . . Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind” (Rom. 1:24, 26, 28). The wrath of God is revealed daily against all the godlessness and wickedness of men (Rom. 1:18). He is justly angry at sinners every day (Ps. 7:11). In judgment, therefore, God hands men over to the power of their sinful passions, to shame and uncleanness, to dishonor and abuse their bodies. He hands them over to the control of unnatural burning passions, including lesbianism and sodomy. He hands them over to a depraved and twisted mind that can never interpret reality correctly. God hands unbelieving haters of truth to the power of a worthless mind, one that is incapable of thinking straight, one that delights in delusions. This is God’s active, judicial action against all who reject their knowledge of him. Such men become, first, fools; then filthy; and, finally, fighters against God and others.

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Romans 1:18-20 | Sunday morning, March 30, 2008. Audio mp3

By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2008 by P. G. Mathew

One wonderful thing about preaching through the Bible is that we cannot pick and choose: we must eat all that God has given us. Romans 1:18-20 speaks about the holy wrath of God, which many people would prefer not to think about. Yet if we do not like the idea of God’s wrath, then we cannot appreciate God’s salvation.

In our modern scientific, cultured, multicultural, and multi-religious times, who believes in the wrath of God? In fact, such disbelief is not new. Douglas Moo says, “Since the time of certain Greek philosophers the idea that God would inflict wrath on people has been rejected as incompatible with an enlightened understanding of the deity.”1 Moo adds that the old heretic Marcion in the second century AD omitted “of God” from the phrase “the wrath of God” in Romans 1:18. This dislike of the wrath of God is an ancient problem.

According to D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, the idea of a wrathful God is unthinkable to modern sophisticated Western man. To such people, God is a God of love, and a wrathful God is simply a projection of the idea of a stern Victorian father, or the relic of the cruel tribal God of the Old Testament, that bloodthirsty Jehovah God, and certainly not the God of sweet Jesus. Evangelicals, on the other hand, affirm the wrath of God in theory, but they refuse to preach it for fear of alienating cultured people who may come to church. Instead, they preach, “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. Come to our church, where you will hear only great music and soothing messages.”2 In fact, many twenty-first century preachers take polls to see what their people want to hear. People say they want to hear pastors to preach about their felt needs: how to be happy; how to be not anxious; how to get rid of bad habits; how to lose weight by eating; how to deal with loneliness, sexual frustrations, marital discord, co-dependency, and addictions to drugs, alcohol, sex, pornography, and credit card abuse. No one says he wants to hear about the wrath of God, the sinfulness of man, the atonement of Christ, the cross, repentance, saving faith, the fear of God, obedience to God’s word, Satan, eternal judgment, or hell. They just want to be told that God loves them and will bless them, no matter what they do. They want a psychological cure for their problems.

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Romans 1:16-17 | Sunday evening, March 23, 2008.  Audio mp3

By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2008 by P. G. Mathew

For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”             — Romans 1:17

The next point we want to speak about from Romans 1:16-17 is the role of faith in our salvation. Paul says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes,” that is, who continually believes. Elsewhere Paul writes that faith remains, even in heaven: “And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love” (1 Cor. 13:13). We are people of faith, not just when we trusted in Christ at our point of conversion, but we live by faith. Paul continues, “first to the Jew, then to the Greek. For in the gospel a righteousness of God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith’” (Rom. 1:16-17). Paul quotes from Habakkuk 2:4 to prove that this righteousness of God and life by faith is not a new idea, but the way all believers of the Old Testament lived.

Salvation is by faith alone (sola fide). In other words, the gift of the righteousness of God is to be received by faith only—faith from first to last, faith from beginning to end. This gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes.

A Christian lives by faith throughout his life. The faith that receives the gift of right standing with God is not the temporal faith of the second and third soil in the parable of the sower (Matt. 13:1-23). Such rootless and fruitless believers fall away and do not persevere. Their faith is like that of King Saul, Judas, and Demas. Such people exercise mere temporal faith, only wanting to get something from Jesus—health, wealth, power, and fame. But God demands saving faith, a faith that issues in obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not the devil’s faith, which is faith unaccompanied by an obedient life.

This idea that faith is mere mental assent to certain Christian facts is rampant throughout today’s evangelical world. But such faith is dead faith. It is a faith that says yes to justification and no to sanctification. Those who have such faith are eager to come forward and be justified, but they are also eager to walk away and continue living in sin. But Paul received grace and apostleship to call the Gentiles to the obedience of faith (Rom. 1:5; 16:26). His apostolic mission was to call the Gentiles to faith that results in obedience to Christ.

Paul is speaking about faith as trust in Christ—fides est fiducia—a faith that issues in delightful obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones argues that the faith God requires is not the ordinary faith exercised by people when they fly on airplanes or invest money. We exercise such ordinary faith based on mathematical probabilities. So we take trains, drive cars, eat food, and even marry our spouses by faith. But that is not supernatural faith; it is ordinary faith. Faith that receives the righteousness from God is supernatural. It is a gift from God. It is nothing less than a divine faith.

In Ephesians 2 Paul speaks about the role of faith in our spiritual resurrection, which is the application of redemption by the Holy Spirit. When the Spirit of God raises us from our spiritual death, he opens our eyes and ears so that we can love God and believe the gospel: “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions.” If we are dead in transgressions, how much work can we do to be saved? None. It is all God’s of initiation and mighty resurrection power. Paul continues, “It is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Eph. 2:4-9). This is supernatural faith, not faith based on mathematical probability.

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Romans 8:11 | Easter Sunday morning, March 23, 2008

By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2008 by P. G. Mathew

And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

                                                                                                                                    Romans 8:11

This is the day we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. God sent his Son so that he, as God-man, may live under God’s law fully and die for our sins, making perfect atonement for us on the cross. Jesus accomplished redemption for us and the Holy Spirit applies that redemption into the heart of every elect sinner. Jesus Christ is risen indeed from the dead! He lived for us, he died for us, he now lives for us, and because he lives, we will live also. He said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die” (John 11:25-26).

Jesus himself prophesied about his violent death. He also spoke about his miraculous resurrection, that took place on the third day according to the Scriptures. Many people make predictions that do not come true. Such people are false prophets. But all of Jesus’ predictions came true. The Jews handed him over to the Romans and Pilate handed him over to be crucified. Yet these events occurred, as Peter tells us, by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge so that Jesus could make atonement for our sins (Acts 2:23).

The Romans crucified Jesus, he died, and his friends buried him in a new tomb. The soldiers made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting a guard. But it was to no avail: the Father raised Jesus on the third day through the mighty power of the Holy Spirit. The angel said to the women: “He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him’” (Matt. 28:6-7). Then the risen Jesus himself met them and said, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me” (Matt. 28:10).

Jesus “was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification” (Rom. 4:25). The resurrection of Jesus proves that the Son of God was sinless in his being and actions, and that his sacrificial atonement for our sins has been accepted by the Father, so that everyone who believes in him will be saved forever.

Saul of Tarsus was an enemy of Jesus and his disciples, persecuting and even murdering some of them. But the risen Jesus appeared to him, forgave all his sins, and commissioned him to be his apostle. This Saul, later known as Paul, believed in the incredible truth that Stephen and others declared, that Jesus Christ lived, died, was buried, rose from the dead, and reigns supreme.

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]]> Rev. P. G. Mathew, gvccadm@gracevalley.org Tue, 10 Jun 2008 14:17:37 -0700 jesus-lives-for-us http://www.gracevalley.org/sermon_trans/2008/Glory_of_Gospel_2.html The Glory of the Gospel, Part Two

Romans 1:16-17 | Sunday morning and evening, March 16, 2008. Audio mp3

By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2008 by P. G. Mathew

We want to consider again the gospel of our salvation from Romans 1:16-17. Previously Paul said he was a debtor to the whole world, meaning he owed the world the gospel (v. 14). Then he said, “That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome” (v. 15). Now he declares, “I am not ashamed of the gospel,” and gives reasons in these two verses.

We have already considered four of these reasons. The first reason Paul was not ashamed was because he had experienced what the gospel promises. It was not a theory for him; he himself was saved by the gospel. Second, the gospel is good news. In the midst of all the bad news of the world, there is good news found in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Third, the gospel saves us from God’s wrath. Fourth, it is God’s salvation, not a manmade salvation that promises but does not perform. All religions except Christianity speak of a manmade salvation that cannot save anyone. God’s salvation is revealed only in the gospel. God promises to save us and unleashes his power toward us that it may save us. The gospel is not just making salvation possible; it saves sinners.

There are other reasons why we should not be ashamed of the gospel. Paul says he is not ashamed of the gospel because “it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (v. 16). So the fifth point is that the gospel is “the power of God.” Then Paul says that the gospel is “for the salvation of everyone who believes.” The sixth point is that this powerful gospel does not discriminate: it is for “everyone.” Then Paul says, “For in it a righteousness from God is revealed” (v. 17). The gospel is not the result of man’s research and discovery. It is God’s gracious revelation to us miserable sinners that we may be saved. In the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed. When we unpack the gospel, we discover the righteousness of God and from God, a right standing that God alone can give us. We need this righteousness, for we are all unrighteousness. The gospel alone contains what we need to stand before God and enjoy his presence forevermore.

If we are ashamed of the gospel and not giving witness to Jesus Christ, either we are not saved by him or we consider the gospel inferior to what the world can give us, that is, we respect the fallen world and its glory more than the glory of the fullness of the blessing eternal of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. May we ever be proud of the gospel because of what it truly is!

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]]> Rev. P. G. Mathew, gvccadm@gracevalley.org Tue, 03 Jun 2008 17:02:26 -0700 the-glory-of-the-gospel-part-ii http://www.gracevalley.org/sermon_trans/2008/Glory_of_Gospel.html The Glory of the Gospel

Romans 1:16-17 | Sunday morning, March 9, 2008.  Audio mp3

By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2008 by P. G. Mathew

 

 

          I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”                                            — Romans 1:16-17

 

 

      The moment we are saved by the gospel of Jesus Christ, we become indebted to all the peoples of the world to preach the gospel to them. Paul declared himself such a debtor and said that was why he was so eager to preach the gospel in the mighty city of Rome (Rom. 1:14-15). Now he gives the reason he is so eager: “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile” (Rom. 1:16).

 

The Offense of the Gospel

      Paul probably had been tempted to be ashamed of the gospel at some point, for the gospel is “a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to Gentiles” (1 Cor. 1:23).  Sinful man minimizes his sin and maximizes his own ability to save himself by his own righteousness. He glories in his homemade salvation—his philosophy, religion, materialism, science, asceticism, hedonism, morality, and social action. He hates to cry out, “Have mercy upon me, a sinner!” He refuses to confess that he is born a sinner and so can only sin. He will not admit that he can do nothing before God to save himself and that he must be saved from God’s wrath by God himself. God plans, accomplishes, and applies salvation effectually to every elect sinner.

      Sinners hate and mock the gospel because it declares there is none righteous, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. The gospel declares that every sinner is born under the wrath of God and remains the object of his wrath. The wages of sin is eternal death, and man is dead in trespasses and sins (Rom. 6:23; Eph. 2:1). He cannot save himself because of his moral inability. He must repent of his sins and believe in God’s plan of salvation by trusting in God’s Son, who died on the cross for our sins. But sinful man resists this because he is offended by this gospel that first and foremost declares that he is born a sinner, practices sin, and is an enemy of God. Anyone who proclaims the gospel will experience persecution from such men.

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)]]> Rev. P. G. Mathew, gvccadm@gracevalley.org Tue, 03 Jun 2008 17:01:09 -0700 the-glory-of-the-gospel-part-i http://www.gracevalley.org/sermon_trans/2008/Blessing_of_Christian_Fellowship.html The Blessing of Christian Fellowship

Romans 1:8-15 | Sunday morning, January 27, 2008

By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2008 by P. G. Mathew

In Romans 1:8-15 Paul speaks about the blessings of Christian fellowship. In this passage Paul reveals his intense love for the saints in Rome. If we are Christians through the miracle of regeneration and have repented truly of our sins and savingly trusted in Christ through hearing the gospel of God’s Son, then we belong to the family of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. As members of God’s family, we have fellowship with the Father and the Son and with all the true people of God throughout the world.

All true believers are our brothers and sisters; therefore, we are obliged to love them, suffer with them, rejoice with them, and pray for them. We are part of the one great family of God, the international body of Christ that knows no racial, gender, or ethnic discrimination. In this text we see Paul’s intense love for the Roman Christians. Though he did not know most of them personally, he was in fellowship with them. The gospel of God concerning Jesus Christ our Lord creates a worldwide Christian community.

The word “fellowship” appears first in Acts 2:42: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship.” Where there is doctrine, there is necessarily a fellowship. Where there is the preaching of the gospel, there is God’s church. Such Christian fellowship results in great blessings.

Paul’s Thanksgiving

“I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you” (v. 8). Paul first gives thanks for these Roman Christians. Although Paul did not found this church, he praises God for calling it into existence in the capital city of the empire. He is not thanking the believers themselves, but God for them, specifically for their faith.

Notice, he says, “I thank my God.” He is thanking the God with whom he enjoys intimate relationship. He says elsewhere, “My God will meet all your needs” (Phil. 4:19, italics added). David spoke often of his similar relationship with God: “I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. . . . The Lord is my shepherd” (Ps. 18:1-2; 23:1). If we cannot say, “I thank my God,” our profession of faith is empty and we are not born of God. We should have such a personal relationship with God that we are able to say, “My Father and my God” with an infinitely greater intensity of meaning than we have when we refer to “my wife” or “my children.”

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]]> Rev. P. G. Mathew, gvccadm@gracevalley.org Tue, 27 May 2008 16:04:34 -0700 the-blessing-of-christian-fellowship http://www.gracevalley.org/sermon_trans/2008/Gospel_of_God.html The Gospel of God

Romans 1:1-17 | Sunday morning, January 6, 2008

By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.

Copyright © 2008 by P. G. Mathew

1Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— 2the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, 4and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. 5Through him and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. 6And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

7To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 1:1-7

The Epistle to the Romans is Paul’s longest letter, written around 57 A.D. from Corinth to the believers in Rome. Luther called this book “the chief part of the New Testament, the purest gospel.”

God has used this epistle throughout church history in mighty ways. In the fourth century, Augustine of Hippo, a teacher of literature and rhetoric, was led by the Holy Spirit to read Romans 13:13-14: “Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissention and in jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” As a result, Augustine found grace, peace, and eternal salvation. In the early sixteenth century, while the Augustinian monk Martin Luther was teaching the Bible at Wittenberg University, he found salvation through the righteousness of God that justifies the ungodly, as set forth in this letter. Luther’s discovery sparked the Protestant Reformation. In 1738 John Wesley found the joy of salvation as he heard someone reading Luther’s preface to his commentary on Romans. Wesley said, “I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.” Günther Bornkamm calls Romans “the last will and testament” of the apostle Paul.1

Born a Roman citizen, Saul of Tarsus was a highborn, highly educated, high achiever. Tradition describes him as “an ugly little [man] with beetle brows, bandy legs, a bald pate, a hooked nose, bad eyesight and no great rhetorical gifts.”2 But he was God’s apostle, a great genius who gave us this amazing theology revealed in this longest of his letters, the Epistle to the Romans. Paul introduces himself in this letter to the Roman Christians and sets forth his apostolic understanding of the gospel. He discloses his plan to evangelize Spain after visiting Rome and being refreshed by the believers there. The theme of Romans is the gospel of God: God’s good news to a sinful world under God’s wrath. This letter was written down by Paul’s secretary Tertius (Rom. 16:22).

The Author

“Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God” (Rom. 1:1). Paul introduces himself as a slave of Christ Jesus, just as Moses, Joshua, and David were slaves of God before him. Though Paul was a rich, famous, and brilliant Roman citizen, this highly educated super-achiever glories in the fact that he is a slave of Christ Jesus.

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]]> Rev. P. G. Mathew, gvccadm@gracevalley.org Tue, 27 May 2008 16:02:57 -0700 the-gospel-of-god