Romans 1:4-6
by:
Dan Hill, PhD
Pastor
Southwood Bible Church
7655 South Sheridan Avenue
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74113
E-Mail: hill918@aol.com
Romans 1:4
"And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit
of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead;
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The emphasis here is on Christ's deity. While the word "born"
(or became) in verse 3 shows us how the eternal son of God entered into
His humiliation, the word "declare" in verse 4 shows us how He
entered into His exaltation.
Topic: DEITY OF CHRIST
The word "declared" is ORIZW, from the same root used for "set
apart" in verse 1.
It means "to mark off". Jesus Christ rose from the dead, never
to die again. This marked off His humiliation from His exhalation.
This marking off did not make him the Son of God but "declared"
Him to be what He eternally was already, the Son of God, the second person
of the Trinity.
The term "with power" describes the SON OF GOD, not the declaration
or marking off. This further looks at the uniqueness of His resurrection,
it gave Him power as the God-man forever in heaven and on earth. He continues
in His uniqueness even now; and that quality of unique existence is with
power.
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POWER is the word DUNAMIS which is a noun indicating it was received by
the Lord from the Father. In the New Testament, DUNAMIS always refers to
a supernatural power.
In Philippians 3:10, this power is also made available to the believer in
Christ
"That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the
fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death."
It is simple to say we serve a risen Savior. But the significance of
that is as complex as it is powerful. The Cross demonstrated the Love of
God for us, and the resurrection demonstrates that the power of God that
is also for us.
The power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is revealed in what happened
after Christ was seated at the right hand of God - the Holy Spirit came
to indwell every believer.
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"according to the Spirit of holiness"
This is a Semitic title for the Holy Spirit who was at work in the humanity
of Christ incarnate and in the resurrection.
Topic: THE HOLY SPIRIT
Christ's full title is: Jesus Christ our Lord.
Paul uses this full title ten times in Romans:
Jesus: Recognition of his humanity and historical beginning (v
3)
Christ: Recognition of his deity and His mission as the Messiah.
Our Lord: Recognition of his sovereign Lordship over us.
In verse 3 Paul dealt with His humanity. In verse 4 he dealt with His deity.
And in verse 5 Paul examines His Lordship over us.
Romans 1:5
"Through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about
the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles, for His name's sake."
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The words "through Him" describe man's only link with God and
introduce the ministry of Christ as our mediator with God.
The pronoun "we" refers to Paul and the other apostles. So Paul,
in describing the sovereign lordship of Christ uses himself as a personal
example. He establishes this principle from the Scriptures (verse 2) and
from what he knows to be true in his Christian experience. As he develops
this epistle he will expand this concept to all believers.
The verb "received" is a Greek verb in the aorist tense, indicating
that God has given grace in a point in time.
Application:
- Now what God gives cannot be taken away, for he is immutable, never
changing.
- GRACE is given to man based upon what Jesus Christ has done. Ephesians
4.
- We cannot earn it nor do we deserve it, we can only employ it, tap
into it so to speak.
- Too often we get into a rut of thinking that we have to earn more
grace, even if the earning is by some supposed non-meritorious means. But
that is not the character of Grace - grace is given in full, it is ours,
we need only put it to use.
- God chose to deal with mankind in grace, that never changes. The problem
of living by grace is our problem, not God's.
- In James 4:6, which is the only passage that seems to indicate a sliding
scale of grace, He gives more grace. The contrast is to the indwelling of
the Holy Spirit and we have even more grace than that. "God resists
the arrogant but gives grace to the humble." The verb "gives"
is present tense, not to show increase but the consistency of God's plan
- Therefore, grace is yours, use it.
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As Paul illustrates this he mentions both grace, God's policy towards man,
and Apostleship, God's gift and appointment to Paul and the other apostles.
ANYONE OF US COULD make the same statement by replacing the word apostleship
with the spiritual gifts God has given us and the positions of service to
which we have been appointed.
So while the illustration is personal, the application is universal to all
believers.
Now, what is it that allows us to tap into GRACE?
Paul mentions it next in verse 5, not by way of a mechanical process; that
will come later, but by way of illustration.
"To bring about the obedience of faith among the Gentiles for His
(Jesus Christ our Lord's) name's sake."
These two words "obedience" and "faith" are in apposition
to each other. Paul is looking at obedience as that which BELIEVES something,
not that which DOES something.
The major theme of Ecclesiastes is, enjoy what God has given you today.
HOW? By obedience to the Word of God: Eccl 12:13, "Fear God and keep
His commandments, because this applies to every person."
SOUNDS GOOD BUT HOW? By faith, not by doing something but by believing something.
Principles:
- Faith is a volitional decision to trust God
- That decision is made in relationship to other things and systems
we could trust in: self, others, government, a human leader, a spouse, a
job, an education, health, wealth.
- We make a decision that we will trust God instead of trusting in other
things.
- We make that decision once, then it is tested over and over again.
- Daily we have opportunity to trust God instead of other things, and
when we continue in that resolve of faith-trust, we can enjoy life that
day.
- At times we will put our trust in a specific promise we know from
the Word. At other times our trust is placed in a person we know, God.
- That is how to be obedient, when we start trying to be obedient by
what we do we end up trying to earn grace, which is impossible.
Paul then mentions the Gentiles because the large majority of his readers
are Gentiles rather than Jews:
Acts 18:6 Paul states "From now on I shall go to the Gentiles."
In this we see that Paul understood his ministry and destiny in life
and was pursuing what God wanted him to do. See Romans 1:14,15.
The motivation for this ministry is described in the phrase: "For His
name sake."
Principle: Our highest motive is the person of Christ and His Grace.
The word "name" means much more than just what a person is called,
it means their reputation, their character, their accomplishments, the sum
total of who and what they are.
We can see this is the little phrase often said by believers but not really
understood - for Christ's Sake.
Matthew 16:25, "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it:
and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it."
Matthew 19:29, "And every one that hath forsaken houses, or
brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands,
for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting
life."
Here is a contrast to proper motive:
John 12:9, "Much people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there:
and they came not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might see Lazarus
also, whom he had raised from the dead."
Here was fascination over the miracles of Christ
II Corinthians 12:10, "Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities,
in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's
sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong."
Principle: When we do what we do motivated by the person of Christ we
are motivated by grace and that is the more excellent way for you as a believer.
Romans 1:6
"Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ."
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Now Paul is ready to shift his attention to the recipients of this letter.
In using himself as an illustration he does not want to make himself and
the other apostles exclusive; these Gentile believers in Rome have also
been called of Jesus Christ.
These believers belong to the Lord Jesus Christ who has called them unto
salvation.
As we saw at verse 1, this word looks at both an invitation and the discharging
of a duty. The duty is the decisions of faith-trust we put in God and His
Word.
These believers in Rome belong to Jesus Christ just as much as Paul or any
of the apostles do and we do too.
Warren Doud [ Grace Notes]
1705 Aggie Lane, Austin, Texas 78757
Phone: 512-458-8923
E-Mail: wdoud@bga.com
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