Canonical Reading Plan for Nov 25, Rom 4-7

Today's readings are Rom 4-7.

We see, in Rom 4:1-12, that faith was always God's method of making His children righteous. God declared Abraham righteous (justified) by faith, not by works or the law. The promise that faith carries with it is that those who believe will be joint-heirs of the kingdom (Rom 4:13-25).

Rom 5 tells us this justification by faith reconciles us to God. This is made possible by Jesus taking on flesh and undoing the work done by Adam. Adam was an imperfect representative of mankind. Through him, death came. Jesus is the second Adam. This time, unlike Adam who failed, He is the perfect representative for mankind. Not only is He perfect and sinless, He takes the punishment for our sin, allowing God to declare us righteous. In this, life comes in and through Him. God gave us the law to expose our sin. He then gave His Son to pay for it. Those who recognize this and repent can be thankful for the law, seeing it as an act of grace. Without the law revealing our sin, Christ paying for it and our repenting of it, we would die in our sin.

Believers have a new life in Christ. Rom 6 teaches we are still slaves but now to righteousness instead of sin. Because of Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross, we are able to die to sin. We should understand, though, that this occurs because we are now united with Christ, joined with Him. While our union with Him is a guarantee of eternal life, as we will soon see, our earthly life can still be a struggle. Our death to sin calls for us to be resolute in avoiding it. "Some participation is required" (Rom 6:12-14).

The need for some participation becomes clear in Rom 7 where we see that avoiding sin is a battle. Our hearts long to be sin-free but our flesh continually draws us into it. Paul describes his own struggle with sin, repeatedly confessing that he does what he doesn't want to do. Rom 7 is a remarkable parallel to Rom 6. 6 tells us we are dead to sin while 7 details the ongoing struggle with sin. In Rom 7:17-20, "Paul is not trying to escape responsibility for his sin, but rather putting his finger on the real culprit - indwelling sin" as The Expositor's Bible Commentary says. 

"Paul claims Full responsibility for his sin subsequent to salvation in Rom 7:24-25, confessing his inability to maintain his righteousness on his own." 

He needs help, as we will see in the next chapter.

Rom 6-7, taken together as they must be, become a picture of the process of sanctification. God sees us as righteous and just (sanctified), even as we are being made so, day by day. He sees the completed work of Christ in us because we are spiritually united to Him even though we are not yet perfected in our flesh. This union is the assurance of our eternal destiny that God would "count us as saved" even as He is saving and perfecting us. This guarantee of salvation even as salvation is being worked out in us is a beautiful and comforting example of the “already and not yet.”