Midrash on Adam
5: 12-21

This midrash, a commentary on the Hebrew scriptures, deals with the past aspect of our present salvation; we have been once-and-for-all justified.

This is one of the great theological passages in the Scriptures because upon it, believers have built the doctrine of original sin. But for unsaved Jewish people, one of the most problematic. Pivotal in Chapters 1-8 of Romans, it looks back to 3:21-5:11, where God’s means of considering people righteous (1:17) through Yeshua is proclaimed; and it looks forward to 6:1-8:39, where Paul elaborates on the consequences for the individual believer of what Messiah has accomplished.

Praise you Gracious Heavenly Father! You are the Almighty King of kings and Lord of lords, and yet You were willing to humble Yourself to become a human and die to take our penalty. I bow in worship of You! Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross! Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Yeshua every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Yeshua Messiah is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:6-14).

Now You are at the right hand of the Father in heaven. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven (Hebrews 1:3c). You will return for Your bride, the church (Ephesians 5:25; John 1:1-3). How wonderful the thought of living with You forever and praising Your holy name throughout all eternity! I love You and desire to please You in all I do, say and think. In the holy name of Yeshua and thru His power of resurrection. Amen

The purpose of these ten verses in their context is not to teach about the origin of human sin, but to give assurance that Messiah has truly redeemed humanity from bondage to sin by paying its full penalty on our behalf. Paul makes his case by developing the parallel between the consequences on mankind of Adam and Yeshua (verses 12, 14 18-19, and 21), while stressing that what Yeshua accomplished by His obedience to God was far greater and better than what Adam wrecked by his disobedience (verses 15-17), and simultaneously dispelling any suspicion that focusing on these two men minimizes the importance of Torah (13-14a, and 20). But the whole argument is built on a premise which Paul assumes can be taken for granted as being obvious, namely, that it was the one man, Adam, who brought sin and death upon all humanity.¹²⁵ As for the role of Eve see the commentary on Genesis, to see link click Lv – I Do Not Permit a Woman to Teach or Have Authority Over a Man, She Must Be Silent.

In this midrash Rabbi Sha’ul will draw a total of six contrasts:

1. Adam and Messiah

2. Disobedience and Obedience

3. Sin and Righteousness

4. Condemnation and Justification

5. Death and Life

6. Torah and Grace

Also, in this section Paul talks about four kings:

1. Death reigns as king

2. Sin reigns as king

3. Grace reigns as king

4. We shall reign as kings

The word “one” appears 12 times

One man: Sometimes the man is Adam vs 12 and 14, sometimes Messiah v 14

One act: disobedience vs 12, 16, 17, 18, 19; sometimes obedience v 18

One result: condemnation for all vs 15, 16, 18, 19; sometimes justification for all vs 17, 18, 19

The Universal Analogies
5:12 to 7:13

Four universal applications are made:

The first universal analogy is a midrash (a commentary on the Hebrew scriptures) on Adam (to see link click Bl – Midrash on Adam), contrasting and comparing the consequences of Adam’s sin to the consequences of Messiah’s justification.

Then comes the Messianic Mikveh (see Bp – The Messianic Mikveh) in which Paul explores the meaning of dying with Messiah, and being raised to new life in Him.

The third universal application is the concept of human enslavement to sin (see Bt – Slaves to God), and then being slaves to God after salvation.

Lastly, in relating these ideas to the Torah, Paul introduces a new analogy, marriage (see Bx – Marriage), and its application to believers in Yeshua.

The Restoration of Justification
5: 6-11

The restoration of justification DIG: What words, in verses 6, 8, and 10, describe what we once were in God’s eyes. Why was the Passover the “right time” for Messiah to die? How does Messiah’s death change all of this? How does Paul use rabbinic logic, proving the easier by the harder? If He has done the harder, how could He fail to do the easier?

REFLECT: Yeshua was not sent only for the religious, but also for the rebellious. What three words best describe your life before you were a believer? How about now? Why the change? How do you know God loves you? Why is it important to realize that we have eternal life? Can you count the reasons you have to rejoice in God right now? Do you have a joyful heart?

God shows His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Messiah died on our behalf.

Knowing that his readers would want to know more about the quality and character of the divine love that filled them (to see link click Bi – The Perfecting of Justification), Paul reminds them of the greatest expression of God’s love in all history. The most overwhelming truth of the Good News is that God loved sinful, fallen, rebellious mankind so much that He gave His one-and-only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:16). And as the apostle proclaims in verse 9 below, if God loved us with great love before we were saved, when we were still His enemies, how much more does He love us now.¹¹⁷

Dear Loving Heavenly Father God, How great is Your love and how extremely deceitful sin is! People are smart enough that something looks or smells bad, then they stay away from it; but if the bad thing looks attractive, then discernment is turned off and enticement to come close is turned on. When You are driving down a narrow, mountain road with a steep drop-off to the side, you know to go slow and to stay far away from the edge; but if there is heavy rain, or low hanging clouds obscuring your view, you will not be able to see where the drop-off begins. Your discernment will not work, for you will be blinded by the situation, even though your eyes can see. Sin works that way. May You open our eyes to see sin in our lives that we may turn from sin towards Your love. May we read Your Word often and meditate on it so that we will have a discerning heart.

How wonderful is Your gift of justification that restores us to fellowship with God! The relationship with You is so special. You can always be depended on, God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). You are all wise, knowing all (Psalms 139) and have all power to move mountains to help Your children. How thankful I am to have the relationship with You restored!

May You open the eyes of the hearts of our family and friends to see the wonderful hope of heaven and joy of an eternal relationship with You, when they turn from sin and wisely follow Your love as our Lord and Savior. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what is the richness of His glorious inheritance in the kedoshim, and what is His exceedingly great power toward us who keep trusting Him—in keeping with the working of His mighty strength (Ephesians 1:18-19). In the Holy name of Your Son and His power of resurrection. Amen

For while we were still helpless, spiritually dead, as if drowned at the bottom of a lake (see Ae – My Position on TULIP or Calvinism: Irresistible Grace), at the right time, during the Passover (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ix – The Examination of the Lamb), Messiah died on behalf of ungodly people (5:6). While we were utterly helpless to bring ourselves to God, He sent His one-and-only Son, Yeshua Messiah, to die for us, even though we were completely unworthy of His love. While we were powerless to escape from our sin, powerless to escape death, powerless to resist the Adversary, and powerless to please Him in any way, amazingly, YHVH sent His Son to die on our behalf.

Natural human love is almost always based on the attractiveness of the object of love, and we are inclined to love people who love us. As a result, we tend to attribute that same kind of love to ADONAI. We think that His love for us is dependent on how good we are, or how much we love Him. But as Yeshua pointed out: Even the tax-collectors do that (Matthew 5:46)! But if God loved us because we loved Him, He would love us only as long as we love Him, and then our salvation would depend on the constancy of our treacherous hearts. However, when God loves us sinners, as Messiah did for the ungodly, once we come to Him in faith, our salvation doesn’t depend on us, but on the constancy of the love of ADONAI.

Using the illustration from human experience, Paul says: Now it is a rare event when someone gives up His life even for the sake of somebody righteous, although possibly for a truly good person one might have the courage to die (5:7). Paul is not contrasting somebody righteous with a truly good person, but simply using those terms synonymously. His point is that it is uncommon for a person to sacrifice his own life in order to save someone of high character. Still fewer people would give their lives to save a person they know to be wicked. But that’s exactly what ADONAI did, and that’s our eternal security and assurance. Saved, we can never be as sinful as we were before salvation – and He loved us totally then!¹¹⁸

How do you know God loves you? He gives you many evidences: God says He loves you (Psalm 145:9); You’re never out of His sight (Psalm 139:2-3); He cares about every detail of your life (Matthew 10:30); He gave you the capacity to enjoy all kinds of pleasure (First Timothy 6:17b); He has good plans for your life (Jeremiah 29:11); He forgives you (Psalm 86:5); and He is lovingly patient with you (Psalm 145:8). ADONAI loves you infinitely more than you can imagine.

But the greatest expression of His love is the sacrifice of His Son for you. God shows His own love for us in that the Messiah died on our behalf while we were still sinners (5:8). If you want to know how much you matter to God, look at Messiah with His arms outstretched on the cross, saying, “I love you this much! I’d rather die than live without you.”¹¹⁹ This sort of selfless, undeserved love is completely beyond human comprehension. The God who hates every sinful thought and every sinful deed, nevertheless, loves the sinners who think and do those things, even while they are hopelessly enmeshed in their sin. Even when people openly hate YHVH and do not have the least desire to give up their sin, they are still the objects of His redeeming love as long as they live. Only at death does an unbeliever cease to be loved by Ha’Shem. After that, he is eternally beyond the reach of God’s love and destined to eternal wrath. In Messiah, however, we are eternally linked to ADONAI by His love.¹²⁰

YHVH is not a cruel slave driver, or a bully who uses brute force to coerce us into submission. He doesn’t try to break our will, but woos us to Himself so that we might offer ourselves freely to Him. God is a lover and a liberator, and surrendering to Him brings freedom, not bondage. When we completely surrender ourselves to Yeshua, we discover that He is not a tyrant, but a Savior; not a boss, but a brother; not a dictator, but a friend.¹²¹

Then Paul uses rabbinic logic, proving the easier by the harder; if Messiah has done the harder, how could He fail to do the easier?¹²² Therefore, since we have now come to be considered righteous by means of his bloody sacrificial death (the harder thing to do), how much more will we be delivered through Him from the anger of God’s judgment (5:9)! Since reconciliation was accomplished by Yeshua’s death, He is certainly able to save completely those who come to God through Him (see the commentary on Hebrews Bk – The New Priesthood Lasts Forever). Since we are now identified with Messiah, and are adopted as children of ADONAI through Him, we are no longer headed for God’s wrath, just like everyone else (Ephesians 2:3c).

Paul’s next thought is closely related to the previous one above, and is the central message of this passage. For if we were reconciled with God through His Son’s death when we were enemies (the harder thing to do), how much more will we be delivered by His life, now that we are reconciled (Romans 5:10; Second Corinthians 5:18-19)! Since God had the power and the will to redeem us in the first place, how much more, does He have the power and the will to keep us redeemed. In other words, if God brought us to Himself through the death of His Son when we were His enemies, how much more, now that we are His reconciled children, will He keep us saved by the life of His Son? If the dying Savior reconciled us to God, surely the living Savior can, and will, keep us reconciled.¹²³

There are five promises in the previous two files, and here. The fifth promise is that we will be delivered through Messiah. And not only will we be delivered in the future, but we are rejoicing about God right now, because He has acted through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, through whom we have already received that reconciliation (5:11). This may not be the most important or the most profound evidence of our security in Messiah (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ms – The Eternal Security of the Believer), but it is perhaps the most beautiful. And although this divine promise is subjective, it is none-the-less real.

We can rejoice in God right now! I think this is one of the most wonderful statements we have in Scripture. It means that right now, wherever you are, whatever your problems are, my friend, you can have joy, and rejoice in God. Just think of it! You can rejoice that He lives and that He is who He is. You can rejoice because He has provided a salvation for us, and is willing to keep us saved. To the One who is able to keep you from stumbling and set you without defect and full of joy in the presence of His Sh’khinah glory (Jude 24). He has worked out a plan to save us because of His love for us. Isn’t that enough to make you rejoice? We don’t have to go around smiling all the time, but we should have a joyful heart.¹²⁴

These five promises are true of us because we have been once-and-for-all justified; therefore, we can rejoice. John declared: What we have seen and heard, we are proclaiming to you; so that you too may have fellowship with us. Our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Yeshua the Messiah. We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete (First John 1:3-4). Far too many believers are trying to appease an angry God to avoid punishment, when they should be pursuing a loving God whose justice has been satisfied by the sacrifice of His holy Son. We have been justified, therefore we have, right now, the joy of peace with God.

The Perfecting of Justification
5: 3-5

The perfecting of justification DIG: In what way are we to “boast in our troubles?” What can our troubles in this life produce if we look at them in the right way? How do our trials compare to a piece of metal in a refiner’s fire? How are our troubles, hope, and God’s love interrelated? What is the proof, the down payment, of our final redemption?

REFLECT: Are you troubled today? Do you feel discouraged? Do you feel like all is lost? It is important to know that even our trials have a purpose in Messiah. When have you come out of a trial to see a blessing from the Lord? What do unbelievers turn to when trials come their way? When have you experienced God’s love being “poured out?” Who can you help?

Troubles produce endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and this hope does not let us down.

Believers can enjoy peace with ADONAI (to see link click Bh – The Blessing of Justification) that has already been achieved, and the glorious future in God’s presence that awaits us. But how should we react to the troubles and tribulations of this life? James said it this way: Regard it all as joy, my brothers, when you face various kinds of trials; for you know that the testing of your trust produces perseverance (James 1:2-3). This is more than a mere Stoic endurance of our troubles. Paul adds another benefit here that may seem strange when we first hear of it. We are to boast in our troubles (5:3a). Notice that he does not say we are to boast at our troubles. We don’t like troubles, and we shouldn’t. What Paul is saying, however, is that now our troubles have meaning and purpose. Our troubles are leading us somewhere.¹¹³

Dear Loving Heavenly Father, You are the perfect Father! You graciously planned not only to rescue and save all who will come to You in love, but You also plan for the eternal joy of rewards for Your children (First Corinthians 3:12-14). As the sports coach gives his players hard exercises to strengthen them so that they win the game – so you plan circumstances that will strengthen Your children’s faith and bring them eternal rewards. Strength building exercises are hard and may bring tears and pains, but eternal joy from everlasting rewards for a godly attitude make it worth it. The short lived earthly trials will soon be over, but eternal joys go on forever and ever. For I consider the sufferings of this present time not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18).

Encouragement to face tomorrow is from the absolutely sure hope of heaven thru our faith in Messiah’s gracious gift of the righteousness of God to those who love Him (Second Corinthians 5:21). As we fix our eyes on God, we are blessed by both a future hope in heaven and we are filled with comfort of God’s love that He has poured out in our hearts. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So, we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal (Second Corinthians 4:17-18). God’s love is always there (Hebrews 13:5). Praise You for being so wonderful! In your holy Son Yeshua’s name and power of His resurrection. Amen

There are five promises, in the previous, this, and the next file. The fourth, is that troubles produce endurance. Every problem is a character-building opportunity, and the more difficult it is, the greater potential for building spiritual muscle and moral fiber. Paul declared: We know that trouble produces endurance and endurance produces character (5:3b-4a). Endurance is the ability to continue onward in the face of trouble. We don’t give up. We push forward. The English word for trouble, or tribulation, comes from the Latin word tribulum. In Paul’s day, a tribulum was drawn over the grain to separate the wheat from the chaff. As we go through trouble and tribulations in our lives, we need to depend on God’s grace. The tribulations merely purify us, and help us to get rid of the chaff.¹¹⁴ Only a believer who has faced troubles can develop godly character. What happens outwardly in your life is not as important as what happens inside you. Your circumstances are temporary, but your godly character will last forever.

The Bible often compares trials to a piece of metal in a refiner’s fire that burns away impurities. Peter said: These troubles come to prove that your faith is pure. This purity of faith is worth more than gold (First Peter 1:7a NCV). A silversmith was asked, “How do you know when the silver is pure?” He replied, “When I see my reflection in it.” When you’ve been refined by trials, people can see Yeshua’s reflection in you. James said it this way: Under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors (James 1:3 The Message). What do people see when they look at you?

When we are in the middle of a trial, we are so preoccupied with our pain that sometimes it can be difficult to see any purpose in our troubles. Often it is not until afterwards that we can look back and see that ADONAI had a reason for our suffering. He was pushing us to a higher level. He was conforming us, molding us, into the image of His Son (Romans 8:29b). We will not reach perfection before we die, but YHVH means to bring us along as far as He can. We can reduce the pain we experience if, while suffering, we can somehow remember that our suffering has a purpose.¹¹⁵

Since ADONAI intends to make you just like Yeshua, He will take you through the same experiences Yeshua went through. That includes loneliness, temptation, stress, criticism, rejection, and many other problems. The Bible says that Yeshua learned obedience through His sufferings . . . and was made perfect through suffering (Hebrews 5:8 and 2:10 NIV). Why would YHVH exempt us from what He allowed His own Son to experience? Paul said later: We go through exactly what Christ went through. If we go through the hard times with Him, then we’re certainly going to go through to good times with Him (Romans 8:17b The Message).¹¹⁶

Coming full circle, as it were, Paul says that godly character produces godly hope (5:4). Are your disappointments too heavy? Read the story of the Emmaus-bound disciples. The Savior they thought was dead was walking beside them. He entered their house and sat at their table. And something happened in their hearts. It felt like a fire burning in us when Yeshua talked to us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us (Luke 24:32). Next time you’re troubled, don’t panic. Don’t give up. Just be patient and let God remind you He’s still in control. In ain’t over till it’s over. Let us continue holding fast to the hope we acknowledge, without wavering; for the One who made the promise is trustworthy (Hebrews 10:23).

And this hope does not let us down (Greek: kataischunei, literally make us ashamed, disappointed, or disgraced, compare with Psalms 22:5 and 25:20) as if we would be if we had a false hope. And hope delayed makes the heart sick (Proverbs 13:12a). But as we wait for this hope to be fulfilled, God’s love for us has already been poured out in our hearts through the Ruach Ha’Kodesh who has already been given to us (5:5). For the first time in Romans, Paul speaks of God’s love, and stresses His love for us is active. The reality of God’s love in your heart can give you the promise of glory that is not misplaced and will not fail. This ministry of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh is related to His presence in your life. He has stamped you as His property until the day of final redemption (Ephesians 4:30b), and as the down payment of your inheritance, put His seal on you, and given you His Spirit in your heart as a guarantee of the future (Second Corinthians 1:22). Therefore, ADONAI guarantees that He will also keep His present promise to resurrect us (see Cm – The Certainty of Redemption).

The Blessing of Justification
5: 1-2

The blessing of justification DIG: What does the unsaved person think about his relationship with God? What are the first three of five promises that ADONAI makes in Chapter Five? What is their common misconception? Paraphrase what it means to be “justified by faith.” Why is it important to know that you are eternally secure in Yeshua Messiah?

REFLECT: Do you fear the prospect of facing an angry God, knowing that He is holy and you are sinful? The enemy wants to keep you in bondage. You don’t need to feel that way. Once you are saved, you have already been justified, perfect in the sight of God. What is your spiritual battle? How can you overcome it, knowing that you are secure, and have eternal peace with God?

You have peace with God, access to His grace, and the sure hope of your coming glory.

Most unsaved people do not think of themselves as enemies of YHVH. Because they have no conscious feelings of hatred for Him and do not actively oppose His work, or contradict His Word, they consider themselves, at worst, to be “neutral” concerning ADONAI. But no such neutrality is possible. The mind of every unsaved person is “at peace” only with the things of the flesh.¹⁰⁷ For the mind controlled by the old nature is hostile to God, because it does not submit itself to God’s Torah – indeed, it cannot (8:7). More than that, whoever chooses to be the world’s friend makes himself God’s enemy (James 4:4).

There are five promises, in this and the next several files. They are definite statements of fact, and are highly doctrinal in nature. These promises have to do with our positional standing before YHVH. Not our experience. Being justified means that we have shalom with God, His anger (1:18) is no longer a threat. This was not a change in our feelings, but in God’s relationship with us. The first, is that we have peace with God. The word therefore reaches back to the contents of Chapter Four – therefore being justified, not by works (4:1-8), not by circumcision (4:9-17), and not by legalism (4:18-25), but by faith, we have peace with God.

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You for being such a loving Father to offer Yeshua as the Lamb of God (John 1:29), the Jewish Messiah for the world, and thereby offering peace to both Jews and Gentiles. But now in Messiah Yeshua, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of the Messiah. For He is our shalom, the One who made the two into one and broke down the middle wall of separation (Ephesians 2:13-14b). We love and thank You greatly for all that You were willing to suffer – the shame and pain so that we could be justified by Your paying our sin’s penalty of death.

Praise you that You did not leave us as orphans but You promised: I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper so He may be with you forever – the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him. You know Him, because He abides with you and will be in you (John 14:16-17). How wonderful that You live within those who love You. Yeshua answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him (John 14:23). Someday soon I will be with You in heaven, where I will eternally praise You for being so loving and awesome! In the name of Your Holy Son Yeshua and the power of His resurrection. Amen

There is a difference between having shalom with God and having the Shalom of God in the heart. The Shalom with God has to do with justification and every believer has that peace which is the result of a static legal standing that never fluctuates. This is what Paul is talking about here in Romans 5. The shalom of God has to do with sanctification that changes from hour to hour as the Ruach Ha’Kodesh works to purify each believer. Paul will discuss the subject of sanctification later (to see link click Bl – Midrash on Adam).

The final aspect of the Romans Road to salvation is the results of salvation. Romans 5:1 has this wonderful message, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Yeshua Messiah.” Through Messiah alone we can have a relationship of peace with God. Romans 8:1 teaches us: Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Messiah Yeshua. Because of Yeshua’s death on our behalf, we will never be condemned for our sins. Finally, we have this precious promise of God from Romans 8:38-39: “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Messiah Yeshua our Lord.”

Would you like to follow the Romans Road to salvation? If so, here is a simple prayer you can pray to God. Saying this prayer is a way to declare to God that you are relying on Yeshua Messiah for your salvation. The words themselves will not save you. Only faith in Messiah can provide salvation! “God, I know that I have sinned against you and am deserving of punishment. But Yeshua took the punishment that I deserve so that through faith in Him I could be forgiven. With your help, I place my trust in You for salvation. Thank You for Your wonderful grace and forgiveness – the gift of eternal life! Amen!”

Therefore, since we have come to be considered righteous, once-and-for-all justified by God because of our faith/trust/belief, let us continue to have shalom with God through our Lord, Yeshua the Messiah (5:1). The Greek word for shalom is eirene. The verb is eiro, meaning to bind together that which has been separated. Our Lord made peace through the blood of the cross, “For it pleased God to have His full being live in His Son, and through His Son to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace through Him, through having His Son shed His blood by being executed on a stake” (Colossians 1:20). In that sense Messiah, through His atonement, binds together again those, who by reason of their standing in the First Adam had been separated from God, and who now, through faith in Him, are bound again to YHVH with their new standing in the Last Adam. This is justification. The Greek word with is pros, meaning facing. That is, a justified sinner has peace facing God. He stands in the presence of Ha’Shem, guiltless, uncondemned, and righteous in a righteousness which ADONAI accepts, the Lord Yeshua Messiah.¹⁰⁸

The shalom that the believer has in the knowledge that he is secure forever in Messiah (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ms – The Eternal Security of the Believer), not only strengthens his faith, but it also strengthens his service. The knowledge that we are eternally at peace with ADONAI prepares us to wage effective spiritual warfare on Messiah’s behalf and in His power. When engaged in battle, the Roman soldier wore boots with spikes on the bottom to give him a firm footing while fighting. Because we, as believers, wear on our feet the readiness that comes from the Good News of shalom (Ephesians 6:15), we have the confidence to stand firm for Messiah without spiritual slipping or emotional sliding that uncertainty about our salvation would inevitably bring, knowing God is on our side!¹⁰⁹

The second, is that we have access to God’s grace. Also, through Him and on the ground of our trust, we have gained permanent access to this grace in which we stand (5:2a). The word stand carries the idea of permanence, of standing firm and immovable. Although faith is necessary for salvation, it is God’s grace, not the believer’s faith, that has the power to save and keep the believer saved. We are not saved by divine grace and then preserved by human effort. That would be a mockery of God’s grace, meaning what God begins in us He is either unwilling or unable to sustain and complete. Paul unequivocally declared to the Philippian believers: I am sure of this, that the One who began a good work among you will keep it growing until it is completed on the Day of the Messiah Yeshua (Philippians 1:6). Emphasizing the same inspiring truth, Jude speaks of our Lord as Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy (Jude 24 NASB). We do not begin in the Spirit only to be perfected in the flesh (Galatians 3:3).

Believers will often fall into sin, but their sin is not more powerful than God’s grace. They are the very sins for which Yeshua paid the penalty. If no sin a person commits before salvation is too great for Messiah’s atoning death to cover, surely no sin he commits after his salvation is too great to be covered. Later, in this same chapter, Paul declares: For if we were reconciled with God through His Son’s death when we were His enemies (James 4:4), how much more will we be delivered by His life, now that we are reconciled (5:10)! If a dying Savior could bring us to God’s grace, surely a living Savior can keep us in His grace. Still later in this chapter, Paul affirms this truth again: The Torah was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant (5:20 NLT). Standing in grace, we are in the sphere of constant forgiveness.¹¹⁰

The third, is that we have the sure hope of our coming glory. So, let us boast about the hope of experiencing God’s glory (Romans 5:2b; Isaiah 54:17). Since every aspect of our justification is accomplished solely by YHVH (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Bw – What God Does for Us at the Moment of Faith), salvation cannot possibly be lost. And in the end, every believer is glorified in Yeshua Messiah. Those whom God foreknew, He also determined in advance would be conformed to the pattern of His Son, so that He might be the firstborn among many brothers; and those whom He thus determined in advance, He also called; and those whom He called, He also caused to be considered righteous, and those whom He caused to be considered righteous, He also glorified (Romans 8:29-30).

Paul has already established that salvation is anchored in the past because Messiah has made peace with God for all those who trust in Him (5:1). It is anchored in the present because, by Messiah’s continual intercession (Hebrews 7:5), every believer stands secure in Messiah’s grace (5:2a). Next, he proclaims that salvation is also anchored in the future, because ADONAI gives every one of His children the unchangeable promise that one day we will be clothed with the glory of His own Son.¹¹¹

And since we are children, then we are also heirs, heirs of God and joint-heirs with the Messiah (8:17a). The moment you were spiritually born into God’s family, you were given some astounding gifts: the family name, the family likeness, family privileges, family intimate access, and the family inheritance. The Bible says: Since you are His child, everything He has belongs to you (8:17 NLT). The B’rit Chadashah gives great emphasis on our rich inheritance. It tells us: God will fill every need of yours according to His glorious wealth, in union with the Messiah Yeshua (Philippians 4:19). As children of God, we get to share in the family fortune. Here on earth, we are given the riches . . . glory . . . wisdom . . . power . . . and mercy (Romans 2:4, 9:23, 11:33; Ephesians 1:7, 2:4, 3:16). Paul said: I want you to realize what a rich and glorious inheritance has been given to His people (Ephesians 1:18b NLT).

What exactly does that inheritance include? First, we will be with ADONAI forever: Then we who are left still alive will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and thus, we will always be with the Lord (First Thessalonians 4:17). Second, we will be completely, changed to be like Messiah, “So all of us, with faces unveiled, see as in a mirror the glory of the Lord; and we are being changed into His very image, a new creation, from one degree of glory to the next, by ADONAI the Spirit (Second Corinthians 3:18, 5:17). Third, we will be freed from all pain, death, and suffering: God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will no longer be any death; and there will no longer be any mourning, crying or pain; because the old order has passed away (Revelation 21:4). Fourth, we will be rewarded and reassigned positions of service: Excellent! You are a good and trustworthy servant. You have been faithful with a small amount, so I will put you in charge of a large amount. Come and join in your Master’s happiness (Matthew 25:23). And fifth, we will get to share in God’s glory, provided we are suffering with Him in order also to be glorified with Him (8:17b). What an inheritance! You are far richer than you realize.¹¹²

The Fruits of Justification
5: 1-11

As we come to the fifth chapter of Romans, we find Paul answering one of the questions that would naturally arise in the minds of those who read his letter up to this point. He has told us that we have been saved by the redemption that we have in Yeshua Messiah, and describes the righteousness that has been purchased on our behalf on the cross. Our justification has delivered us from the guilt of sin so that the sin question has been settled. Negatively, it means that we will not have to come before Yeshua at the final judgment (see the commentary on Revelation, to see link click Fo – The Great White Throne Judgment); and positively, it means that we have an eternal home waiting for us in heaven (see the commentary on Revelation Fu – The New Jerusalem had a Great, High Wall with Twelve Gates). Now the question Paul will answer is this, “What about the here and now?”

Paul is going to show that there are certain benefits that accumulate to the believer right here and now when we trust Messiah (also see the commentary on The Life of Christ Bw – What God does for Us at the Moment of Faith). These are benefits that the world is very concerned with and would like to have. Today many unbelievers are spending a lot of money trying to attain the things that believers already have. That doesn’t mean that all believers are enjoying them; however, God has put them on the table for you, and all you have to do is to reach across and take them: Praise be ADONAI, Father of our Lord Yeshua Messiah, who in Messiah has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heaven (Ephesians 1:3).¹⁰⁶

The Means of Justification
4: 18-25

The means of justification DIG: Abraham’s life may have been filled with love for God, good works, and obedience to religious rules. But none of those things made him acceptable to God. What did? How did Abraham receive God’s promise? How can others receive it? What obstacles did Abraham overcome to believe God’s promise? What does it mean to have strong faith? How has God credited you with righteousness? How have you responded?

REFLECT: How does Abraham’s example inspire you to have deeper faith in ADONAI? What are some of the ways that your faith could influence others? What was the last time someone else’s faith made a difference in your life? Explain. What are some things that can keep your faith from growing? What do you usually do when you experience doubts? What can you learn from Abraham about dealing with obstacles to your faith?

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8 NIV).

Almost everyone in Abraham’s day, as in our own day, had faith of one kind or another. Some of them believed in idols, others trusted in luck or fate, and many simply had faith in themselves. Abraham’s faith, however, had a divine object. He had faith in YHVH, and he acted on it. The faith people witness in our lives may not automatically communicate the object of our trust. They will see the effects of our faith. If they ask, we must be ready to tell them that our faith rests in Yeshua Messiah. We have faith because we believe in Him.¹⁰⁰

Trusting in Yeshua Messiah: For he was past hope, yet in hope he trusted that he would indeed become a father to many nations, in keeping with what he had been told, “So many will your seed be” (Romans 4:18; Genesis 15:5). What was his hope? To have a son. He had no human grounds for hope, but he had divine grounds for hope because God made a promise.

Abraham believed in spite of circumstances: Figuratively, so far as fathering a child and fulfillment of God’s promise of descendents was concerned, Abraham’s trust did not waver when he considered his own body – which was as good as dead, since he was about a hundred years old ( ninety-nine to be exact) – or when he considered that Sarah’s womb was dead too (she was about ninety). The door was absolutely and forever closed so far as having descendents was concerned. However, his faith was not weak even though his body was weak. He did not, by lack of trust, decide against God’s promises. On the contrary, by trust he was given power as he gave glory to God (4:19-20), for he was fully convinced, despite their obvious obstacles of being so old, that what God had promised He could also accomplish (4:21). The thought is not that Abraham’s faith was strengthened so that his physical powers again became able to bring children into the world. No. Isaac was the result of a biological miracle performed by God in answer to Abraham’s faith. The glory would thus be to God.¹⁰¹

It is a profound lesson to learn that God’s promises can only be fulfilled by God’s power, and human efforts to affect His will, no matter how sincere or clever those efforts might be, are doomed to failure, and dishonor God rather than bring Him glory. In warning the Galatian believers against the legalistic Judaizers (see the commentary on Galatians, to see link click Ag – Who Were the Judaizers), Paul said: Tell me, you who want to be in submission to the system that results from perverting the Torah into legalism, don’t you hear what the Torah itself says? It says that Avraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and one by the free woman. The one by the slave woman was born through the miracle-working power of God fulfilling His promise (Galatians 4:21-23). Ishmael illustrates the product of legalistic human self-effort, whereas Isaac represents the product of God’s sovereign and gracious provision. Paul reminded the Galatian believers that, because of their trust in Yeshua Messiah, they were: like Isaac, children of promise (Galatians 4:28 NASB). They were God’s children by the working of His divine grace, not by the work of their own human efforts.¹⁰²

Dear Heavenly Father, How awesome You are! Praise You that our salvation is not based on any good works we do. Our faith is the key to salvation. True faith springs from a heart of love and will work itself out in good works, but it is the loving faith that is the key. Praise You that Yeshua willingly laid down His life (John 10:15) as the Lamb of God. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean.  How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! (Hebrews 9:12-14 NIV).

We praise You for such love you showed in being our sacrifice so we could receive the righteousness of God. He made the One who knew no sin to become a sin offering on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (Second Corinthians 5:21). We lift our eyes from the trials and problems of life. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (Second Corinthians 4:17-18 NIV). We choose to focus on how awesome and wonderful You are and we look forward to praising you eternally in heaven! We love You! In the holy name of Your Son Yeshua and the power of His resurrection. Amen

The relevance to salvation is clear. ADONAI must wait until the unbeliever is dead and unable to save himself before He can release His saving power. As long as the unbeliever thinks he is strong enough to do anything to please God, he cannot be saved by grace. It was when Abraham admitted that he was dead, that the power of Ha’Shem performed a miracle. It is when the lost sinner confesses that he is spiritually dead and unable to help himself that the LORD can save him.¹⁰³

Paul concluded his illustration about Abraham by saying, for him, faith was trusting in YHVH. This is why it was credited to his spiritual bank account as righteousness (Romans 4:22; Genesis 15:6, 17:17 and 21-27, 18:14, 21:2). In his own sinful flesh, Avraham was totally unable to meet God’s standard of perfect righteousness. But the gospel of salvation, the Good News of God (Romans 1:1), is that the Lord will take the faith that He Himself has enabled a person to possess, and count that faith as divine righteousness on the believing sinner’s behalf. For you have been delivered by grace through trusting, and even this is not your accomplishment – but God’s gift (Ephesians 2:8-9).

The application of Abraham’s faith: But Avraham also had a literal resurrection faith. It was necessary for what Judaism regards as his greatest “work.” His willingness to sacrifice his only son Isaac, through whom Ha’Shem had said the promise would be fulfilled (Genesis 17:21 and 22:1-9). This act is referred to throughout the High Holy Day services, and Genesis 22 is one of the regular Torah readings on Rosh ha’Shanah, a feast on which the shofar is blown one hundred times, and the shofar is associated with the resurrection of the dead (Matthew 24:31; First Corinthians 15:52; First Thessalonians 4:16, and Revelation 8:2). Abraham’s willingness to offer up Isaac as a sacrifice is mentioned twice in the B’rit Chadashah as an example of great faith (Hebrews 11:17 and James 2:21). Here, it establishes the background for the conclusion of our study into Abraham’s faith, which says that we, who have become believers in Yeshua, have the same kind of resurrection faith that Abraham did.¹⁰⁴

But the words, “it was credited to his spiritual bank account . . . ,” were not written for him only. They were written also for us, who will certainly have our account credited too, because we have trusted in him who raised Yeshua our Lord from the dead (4:23-24). This is a radical statement, for it says that Abraham was not special. Whereas Jewish midrashim attribute unique ability, holiness and power to him, enabling him to have trust far beyond what ordinary people can attain to, Paul insists that such trust is available to everyone. This is the Good News, that through faith in Yeshua Messiah anyone can have the same close, personal relationship with El Shaddai that Avraham had! Apart from salvation, indeed, many believers have received promises from ADONAI, just as Abraham did, and have seen God fulfill them.

The content of our hope (verse 18) is that because we have fully identified with Yeshua, who was delivered over to death because of our offences and raised to life in order to make us righteous, we too will be resurrected to sinless, eternal life with ADONAI (Romans 4:25; Isaiah 53:4 and 12). He was delivered up on account of our offences – to make atonement for them; and He was raised to life on account of our justification – that it might become an established fact. The next chapter elaborates on this theme.¹⁰⁵

The Sign of Justification
4: 9-17

The sign of justification DIG: How is circumcision a sign for all believers? Paul goes to some lengths to demonstrate that Abraham was justified in the sight of God long before he was ever circumcised. Why was this an important argument for him to make to his audience in Rome? How is Paul’s assertion that Abraham was justified by grace supported by Scripture?

REFLECT: What does it matter to you – practically or emotionally – whether being justified is “a gift to be received,” or “a prize to be earned?” Since this right relationship is a gift, how would you use Abraham’s example to argue against a presumptuous attitude toward ADONAI? Where are you being stretched in your ability to trust God’s promises?

Circumcision is a sign, and a seal, of the Abrahamic Covenant.

Paul has finished destroying the argument that physical circumcision is the Jews’ big advantage (to see link click Av – The Religious Jew’s Lack of the Spirit). He consistently maintains that the advantage of Jews is spiritual (3:1-2, 9:4-5, and most explicitly at 15:27). At the same time, he shows that the righteousness that comes from trust in YHVH is available equally to Jews and Gentiles, not merely because it predates the Torah, but because it predates even the Abrahamic Covenant, when circumcision was given as a sign of Abraham’s already demonstrated faith and as a seal guaranteeing God’s promises, but not as something to boast about.⁹⁶

Abraham was not justified by circumcision. Paul now shows the connection between circumcision and justification. Because one might say, “Didn’t Avraham perform the work of circumcision? And circumcision is most definitely a work. Now is this blessing for the circumcised only? Or is it also for the uncircumcised? For we say that Avraham’s trust was credited to his account as righteousness (4:9); but what state was he in when it was so credited — circumcision or uncircumcision? Then Paul answers his own question, saying: Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision (4:10)!

Paul could speak to this from personal experience because as a Pharisee, he was taught that anyone who was circumcised would be guaranteed salvation. And other Pharisees would say, although Abraham lived before the Torah was given and could not have been saved by the deeds of the Torah; nevertheless, he would have been justified by circumcision.

It is an interesting progression that Paul is building on. The Abrahamic Covenant started in Genesis 12 (see the commentary on Genesis Dt – I Will Bless Those Who Bless You and Whoever Curses You I Will Curse), it wasn’t until Genesis 17 that he was circumcised (see the commentary on Genesis En – For Generations to Come Every Male Who is Eight Days Old Must be Circumcised), but he was declared righteous in Genesis 15 (see the commentary on Genesis Ef – Abram Believed the LORD and He Credited It to Him as Righteousness). In fact, fourteen years passed between his being declared righteous (justified) and being circumcised. So, circumcision had nothing to do with his salvation.⁹⁷

Dear Heavenly Father, It is wonderful that our salvation is all about Your righteousness. There is no amount of good deeds we could do that would be enough to enter Your holy heaven, for heaven’s entrance is not based on the amount of good deeds – but entrance is only for those who have perfect holiness. It is with deep gratitude of heart and an immense sense of love that I thank You for Your offer of righteousness to those who choose to love and to follow You as their Lord. He made the One who knew no sin to become a sin offering on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (Second Corinthians 5:21).

How wonderful that Yeshua rose from death and now lives forever so he lives forever to intercede as High Priest – the One who does remain forever has a permanent priesthood.  Therefore, He is also able to save completely those who draw near to God through Him, always living to make intercession for them (Hebrews 7:24b-25). Praise You that Yeshua was willing to come to earth to suffer shame and pain so that He may rescue and redeem sinners. I choose to live my life with my heart set on heaven and pleasing my Savior. Let us run with endurance the race set before us, focusing on Yeshua, the initiator and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame; and He has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:1c-2). Only through the holiness of Yeshua will anyone enter holy heaven. For such a Kohen Gadol was fitting for us: holy, guiltless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens (Hebrews 7:26). How wonderful that Yeshua is now in heaven, interceding for those He gave His life to save (John 10:15). I love You Father, Son and Ruach Ha’Kodesh! In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection! Amen

So, what was circumcision to Abraham? It was two things: a sign and a seal. In fact, he received circumcision as a sign, and a seal, or outward evidence, of the righteousness he had been credited with on the ground of the trust he had while he was still uncircumcised. Just as immersion is the outward evidence of trust, not the cause of it.

Then, Paul answers the next logical question. “Why did God choose to justify Avraham when he was not circumcised?” This happened so that he could be the father of every uncircumcised person (a Gentile) who trusts and thus has righteousness credited to him, and at the same time be the father of every circumcised person who not only has had a b’rit-milah, but also follows in the footsteps of the trust which Avraham avinu had when he was still uncircumcised (4:11-12). So, ADONAI had already anticipated the time when salvation would go out to uncircumcised Gentiles. He deliberately declared Abraham justified when he was uncircumcised, and his righteousness was maintained when he was circumcised. In this sense, Avraham was the father of all who believed. We are justified by walking in the steps of Abraham, by exercising Abraham’s faith.

Abraham was not justified by the Torah: For the promise to Avraham and his seed that he would inherit the world (Greek: kosmos, meaning the inhabited world) did not come through legalism but through the righteousness that trust produces (4:13). In the present context Paul uses the word seed in its ordinary figurative sense to mean Abraham’s descendants – not only his physical seed, but also his spiritual seed. So, Abraham was not going to obtain the promises of God through legalism; he was going to obtain the promises of God the same way he was justified. And that was by means of faith/trust/belief. Therefore, not only are good works worthless for salvation, they are also worthless to obtain the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant. For if the heirs are produced by legalism, then trust is pointless and the promise worthless because the Torah was never meant as a means to salvation, but as our blueprint for living (4:14).

Then to prove his point, Paul says: For what Torah brings is punishment. But where there is no Torah, there is also no violation because mankind is born with a sin nature (4:15). Paul points out that before Torah, sin was already present in the world. Therefore, even though a person might be sinning, there is no mitzvah prohibiting his sin. But once the Torah was given, he had something to violate. So, when the Torah said: Do not . . . the flesh said, “Oh, yes I will.” In fact, one of the purposes of the Torah was to make people sin more (see the commentary on Exodus Ay – Moshe and the Torah).

Abraham was justified by God’s grace: The reason the promise is based on trusting is so that it may come as God’s free gift because obtaining them by deeds is impossible. However, salvation by faith is a promise that can be relied on by all the seed, Jews and Gentiles alike, not only those who live within the framework of the Torah, but also those with the kind of trust Avraham had – Avraham avinu for all of us (4:16). Thus, Avraham avinu, or “Abraham, our father,” is a common phrase in rabbinic writing. In today’s Siddur “our father” is not only to Jews but also to faithful, trusting Gentiles as well (also see Galatians 3:6-18).

The following , condensed from the medieval philosopher Maimonides’ (the Rambam) well-known “Letter to Ovadyah the Proselyte,” is quoted at length because the sentiments are so precisely appropriate, provided one imagines it as written to a Gentile follower of Yeshua instead of a convert to Judaism.

You ask me if you are permitted to say in the prayers, “God of our fathers,” and “You who worked miracles for our fathers.” Yes; you may say your blessing and prayer in the same way as every born Jew. This is because Avraham avinu revealed the true faith and the unity of God, rejected idol-worship, and brought many children under the wings of the Sh’khinah (Genesis 18:19). Ever since then whoever adopts Judaism and confesses the unity of the Divine Name, as written in the Torah, is counted among the disciples of Avraham avinu, peace unto Him. In the same way as Avraham converted his contemporaries through his words and teaching, he converts later generations through the testament he left his children and household after him. Thus, Avraham avinu is the father of his pious posterity who keeps his ways, and the father of his disciples and of all proselytes who adopt Judaism.

Know that our fathers, when they came out of Egypt, were mostly idolaters; they had mingled with the pagans in Egypt and imitated their way of life, until the Holy One, blessed be He, sent Moshe Rabbenu [Moses our teacher], who separated us from the nations, brought us under the wings of the Sh’khinah, us and all proselytes, and gave all of us one Torah. Therefore, do not consider your origin inferior. While we are the descendants of Avraham, Yitzchak [Isaac] and Ya’akov [Jacob], you derive from Him through whose word the world was created. As Isaiah writes, “One will say, ‘I belong to ADONAI.” Another will be called by the name of Ya’akov’ (Isaiah 44:5a).”⁹⁸

Paul then supports his conclusion in verse 16 with scriptural authority. This is consistent with the TaNaKh, where it says, “I have appointed you to be a father to many nations” (see the commentary on Genesis Em – Your Name Will Be Abraham, For I Have Made You a Father of Many Nations) Avraham is our father in God’s sight because he trusted God as the one who gives life to the dead and calls nonexistent things into existence (4:17). 

The Pharisees believed in the resurrection, but the Sadducees did not (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ja – Whose Wife Will She Be at the Resurrection?). Today, it distinguishes Orthodox Judaism (who believe in the resurrection) from liberal elements in other branches of Judaism (who don’t). Abraham’s resurrection was both literal and figurative (see Bf – The Means of Justification), and both senses can be seen in Chapter 4.

That God raises the dead is a major tenet of Judaism. The Rambam includes it as one of his 13 principles of the Jewish faith, and the Oral Law (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ei – The Oral Law) states that those who don’t believe in the resurrection, “have no share in the world to come” (Sanhedrin 10:1). The second benediction of the Amidah, the prayer recited three times every day in the synagogue, reads, “You are mighty forever, ADONAI. You cause the dead to live, You are great to save. With loving-kindness You sustain the living; with great mercy You cause the dead to live, supporting the falling, heal the sick, free the bound and keep faith with those who sleep in the dust. Who is like You, Master of mighty deeds? Who resembles You, O King? You cause death, You cause life, and You cause salvation to sprout forth, so You can be trusted to cause the dead to live. Blessed are You, ADONAI, Who cause the dead to live.”⁹⁹

Nevertheless, many Jews today have never believed in the resurrection. Yet, the Talmud says faith in resurrection is one of the three core ideas of Judaism. Look at Chapter 37 of the book of Ezeki’el. In it the prophet Ezeki’el envisions a valley full of dry bones. He speaks to the bones. He tells them God will breathe life into them. They will have skin and flesh and become a great army. The bones symbolize the people of Isra’el, who will rise again and return to their Promised Land. The text is not purely a symbolic vision of rebirth. It is physical, with the spirit giving life to the bones of the dead. The text is traditionally read during the week of Passover. Passover was the time when the Jewish people expected the Messiah to arrive. (For believers, the Passover is fulfilled by the death of Yeshua Messiah).

Intriguingly, God constantly refers to Ezeki’el as Son of Man, a phrase connected to the arrival of the Messiah. Ezeki’el is predicting the rebirth of the Jewish people after their defeat, and exile by the Babylonians (see the commentary on Jeremiah Gu – Seventy Years of Imperial Babylonian Rule). Their rebirth heralds the arrival of the Messiah. (The rebirth of the state of Isra’el in 1948 also led many traditional Jews to foresee the arrival of the Messiah. A reference to this belief includes the official prayer for the state of Isra’el).

Why did many modern Jews give up belief in resurrection? Because it isn’t “rational.” Nobody can prove that our bodies and souls will be reunited. And science proves our bodies simply decompose. Resurrection is one of the parts of religion resting purely on faith. However, resurrection is not a form of self-delusion or magical thinking, as some writers and critics have called it. Rather, it is a way of lifting ourselves above our physical selves and recognizing we are something much larger and more enduring. It’s to believe our bodies are more than a collection of chemicals limited by nature. Yes, we are part of the natural world, but also part of eternity. We are justified by trusting in Yeshua Messiah. Or, as the Psalmist puts it more poetically: We are little lower than angels (Psalm 8:5).

Justification in the TaNaKh
4: 1-8

Justification in the TaNaKh DIG: How does Abraham’s faith illustrate justification? What’s the problem with trying to do things in order to earn favor with God? Why is it never enough? What does justification mean? How were the righteous of the TaNaKh justified? How are B’rit Chadashah believers justified today?

REFLECT: Why should it be a comfort to you that you are not justified by your good works? How are you displaying your faith by the way you live your life? What is the blessing that you will receive for your faith/trust/belief in Yeshua Messiah? How will our “good works” benefit us when we appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ?

Abraham was not justified by good works, but by faith, which brings blessing.

Paul had just talked about pagans who were lost, “good” people who were lost, and even Jews who were lost. So, bringing up Abraham is a logical first example of what it means to be righteous. Were the righteous of the TaNaKh justified by works or faith/trust/belief?

Abraham was not justified by good works: Having just offered reassurance to his hypothetical Jewish questionnaire that the gospel’s focus on faithful trusting does not abolish Torah but confirms (3:31), Paul anticipates a second objection: Then what should we say Abraham, our forefather, obtained [righteousness] by his own efforts (4:1)? In other words, what about the Hebrew concept of z’khut-avot, meaning the merits of the fathers (11:28-29)? There can be no doubt that in First Century Judaism, the doctrine was widespread that descendants can benefit, and even claim salvation on the grounds of their ancestor’s righteousness. Yeshua’s opponents made exactly that claim by saying: We are the seed of Abraham (John 8:33). Paul’s own opponents were obviously making use of the same idea in Second Corinthians 11:22, and John the Immerser rebuked his investigators before they had a chance to say, “Abraham is our father” (Matthew 3:9).

However, there was a kernel of truth to their confusion. Moshe had said: Because He loved your fathers, He chose their descendants after them (Deuteronomy 4:37). The rabbis took this one verse and built a whole doctrine out of it. Then again, there is a perfectly biblical response to their faulty theology. The answer lies not in the rights of individual Jews, but to the nation as a whole (see the commentary on Deuteronomy, to see link click Bf – God’s Chosen People).

Rabbinic literature does well in pointing out Abraham’s faithful and trusting attitude toward God. For example, the Midrash Rabbah says, “In the ‘olam haba [world to come] Isra’el will sing a new song, as it is said: Sing a new song to ADONAI, because He has done wonders (Psalm 98:1). By whose z’khut [merit] will they do so? By the merit of Abraham, because he trusted in the Holy One, blessed be He, as Genesis 15:6 says: And he trusted in ADONAI (Exodus Rabbah 23:5).⁹⁰

For if Abraham came to be considered, or declared, righteous by God because of legalistic observances, then he has something to boast about. But not before God (4:2)! Hypothetically, if Abraham were justified by legalistic observances, or good works, he might be able to boast in himself, but not before God. It was assumed that Abraham had good works that counted before God. But they had nothing to do with his salvation, because his salvation was the result of being justified by faith.

You see, Paul and James did not contradict each other when James said: Wasn’t Abraham our father declared righteous because of his actions (works) when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar. The works that James described are not the legalistic observances under the Torah, because the Torah had not been given yet. They were works of faith. James declared: You see that his faith worked with his actions, and by his actions, his faith was made complete (James 2:21-22). But then, James quoted the same verse that Paul did: Abraham put his trust in God, and it was credited to his account as righteousness (Genesis 15:6; Romans 4:3; James 2:23). The difference is that James pointed to a much later time in Abraham’s life when he offered up Isaac. And even at that time, Abraham stood on the same ground as the weakest sinner stands. Granted that he did have many good works in which to boast, but he could never boast before God, because God doesn’t accept the works of the flesh for salvation. Good works cannot stand before the holiness of YHVH, not even Abraham’s good works. Paul then explains this, “not before God,” by citing the TaNaKh.⁹¹

Abraham was justified by his faith: For what does the TaNaKh say? “Avraham put his trust in God, and it was credited to his account as righteousness” (4:3). The Greek word for credited, logizomai, was used in early secular documents, meaning to put down to one’s account, or let one’s revenues be placed on deposit in a storehouse. Thus, ADONAI put to Abraham’s account, placed on deposit for him, or credited to him, righteousness. The actual payment had not been made; the actual transfer of righteousness had not been completed, because Messiah had not yet paid the penalty of mankind’s sin, and had not yet been raised from the dead. Abraham possessed righteousness in the same way as a person would possess a million dollars transferred to his account in a bank. Since the resurrection, the righteous of the TaNaKh share with B’rit Chadashah believers the possession of Yeshua Messiah as the righteousness in which they stand, guiltless, and righteous, for all eternity.⁹²

Paul quotes the same verse as cited in the Midrash Rabbah above. The one “deed” that “earned” Abraham being declared righteous by YHVH was not a “deed” at all, but the heart attitude of trusting the LORD. That is very interesting because ADONAI announced the Abrahamic Covenant in Genesis 12 (see the commentary on Genesis Dt – I Will Bless Those Who Bless You and Whoever Curses You I Will Curse), but it’s not until Genesis 15 that YHVH brought him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars – if you can count them! Your descendants will be that many. He believed in ADONAI, and his trusting was credited to him as righteousness (see the commentary on Genesis Ef – Abram Believed the LORD and He Credited It to Him as Righteousness).⁹³ Thus, Abraham was chosen by God before he was declared righteous, excluding any possibility of being justified on the basis of works.

Using another analogy or working for wages, Paul again confronts the potential deceptions in this matter of godly faith. If a man works for a certain wage and at the end of the day or week goes to his employer to get his paycheck, is it a gift or a wage? Obviously, he is receiving what’s due to him. A paycheck is not a gift. Now, the account of someone who is working is credited not on the ground of grace but on the ground of what is owed him. In other words, if Abraham became righteous by his own work, then he merely received what was owed to him. The very dependence of work, excludes grace. They are mutually exclusive. However, in the case of one who is not working but rather is trusting in him who makes ungodly people righteous, his trust is credited to him as righteousness (4:4-5). There is only one work that we can count on, and that is the work of Yeshua Messiah on the cross. What saves is faith in Him.⁹⁴

Justification brings blessing: Of course, one could say, “But Abraham lived before the Torah was given, so it would be different for him.” They would say, “It’s not really valid to use him as an example because the Torah was not in existence in His day.” So, Paul uses David as an example, because he lived in the Dispensation of Torah. In the same way, the blessing which David pronounces is on those whom God credits with righteousness apart from legalistic observances. The person of genuine faith is blessed, David proclaims, because of God’s grace. Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven; whose sins are covered over by grace (4:6-7). We have been delivered by grace through trusting, and even this is not our accomplishment – but God’s gift to us (Ephesians 2:8). Abraham was justified only by faith; David was justified only by faith, and every believer before and after them has been, and will be, justified only by faith. A sinner’s faith is graciously accepted by YHVH and reckoned (Greek: logizomai, meaning to count or credit) as righteousness for Messiah’s sake.

Blessed is the man whose sin ADONAI will not reckon against his account (Romans 4:8; Psalm 32:1-2). In other words, once we are justified, our record is wiped clean because Messiah’s perfect righteousness can never be associated with our sins. Believers do sin, and our sins need to be forgiven if we are to have fellowship with YHVH (First John 1:5-7), but our sins are not held against us. Is that Good News or what! But ADONAI does keep a record of our good works so that He can reward us when we stand before Yeshua face to face (see the commentary on Revelation Cc – We Must All Appear Before the Judgment Seat of Christ). But He does not keep a record of our sins.⁹⁵

Dear Heavenly Father, How gracious You are to pay the price of sacrificial death for our sin’s penalty (Leviticus 1:4, Second Corinthians 5:21). You mercifully allow our faith to be the key to unlock the door of entrance to Your holy heaven.  For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not from yourselves – it is the gift of God. It is not based on deeds, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9). Real faith, like Abrahams, is way beyond head knowledge of who You are. It is a solid and forever trust in You. Faith means F=Forsaking A=All I=I T=Trust H=Him.

Real faith trusts and rests in Your love– despite all the wrong that is happening in this world. You are still our loving Father who is Sovereign of the World and nothing can separate us from Your love.  But in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,  nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Messiah Yeshua our Lord (Romans 8:37-39).

Praise and thank You dear abba daddy (Matthew 6:9) that You are such a wonderful Father! You have all in the world in Your control (Dani’el 7). Troubles and trials will come, but soon they will be over. For I consider the sufferings of this present time not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18). Those who have faith like Abraham will spend eternity with you in Your holy heaven. I look forward to worshiping and praising Your great name forever! I love You! In the holy name of Yeshua and His power of resurrection. Amen

The Example of Justification
4: 1-25

The entire fourth chapter of Romans is devoted to Abraham, whom Paul uses as an example of the central biblical truth that mankind can be justified only by faith in response to His grace, and never by good works. We can assume several reasons for this. First, Abraham lived about 2,000 years before Paul wrote his letter to the believers in Rome, demonstrating that the principle of salvation by faith rather than by good works was not new in Judaism. Abraham was the first and foremost Hebrew patriarch. He lived more than six hundred years before the TaNaKh was established through Moshe. Therefore, long before the Torah was given, and obviously could not have been saved by obedience to it.

Second, Paul used Abraham as an example of salvation by faith simply because he was a human being. Until this point in Romans, Paul had been speaking primarily about theological truths in the abstract. In Abraham, however, he gives a flesh-and-blood example of justification by faith.

The third, and doubles most important, reason Paul used Abraham as the example of justification by faith was that, although rabbinical teaching and popular Jewish belief were contrary to Scripture, as far as the basis of Abraham’s righteousness was concerned, they agreed that Abraham was the supreme example of a godly, righteous man in the TaNaKh, who was acceptable to God. He was, and is, the biblical model of genuine faith.

By using Abraham as the supreme scriptural example of justification, or salvation by faith alone, Paul was attacking the very foundation of Rabbinic Judaism that had perverted the message of the Torah into works righteousness. If Abraham was not, and could not have been justified by good works, then no one could be! Conversely, if Abraham was justified solely on the basis of his faith in YHVH, then everyone else must be justified in the same way since Abraham was, and is, the biblical standard of a righteous man.⁸⁹

The Response to Justification
3: 27-31

The response to justification DIG: How are people justified before YHVH? What is required? How does God’s plan demonstrate His fairness toward all humanity? Why does Paul argue that when it comes to one’s standing before God, no one has the right to boast or be filled with religious pride? How is God both merciful and just at the same time? What spiritual fruit should we see in a genuine believer? How does the cross confirm the Torah?

REFLECT: When did you first realize that salvation is a free gift provided by the Messiah? Who or what helped you reach that realization? In what different ways do people try to earn salvation? How does the cross confirm the Torah? How would your life be different today without Yeshua? What has His gift meant to you? What has been your response?

There’s no room for bragging in our response to our justification, only gratitude, which produces growth and good spiritual fruit.

What is priceless can’t be bought or earned. Eternal life is just such a treasure. We receive it free or not at all. We could never afford it. We could never deserve it. It’s God’s gift to us, or we don’t have it. But it would be a huge mistake to conclude in this case that what is free is cheap. It cost YHVH a great deal, including His Son’s life, to provide this gift for us. There’s no room for bragging in our response, but only gratitude.⁸⁴

The cross leaves no room for boasting: As we will see so many times in Romans, Paul starts his teaching with a question? So what room is left for boasting? Again, answering his own question, he declares: None at all! What kind of Torah excludes it? One that has to do with legalistic observance of rules? Once again, legalism is not the answer. No, rather, a Torah that has to do with trusting (Greek: pisteos, meaning faith, trust, belief). Not even Abraham, the father of God’s chosen people, was justified by works (Romans 4:2). For you have been delivered by grace through trusting, and even this is not your accomplishment but God’s gift. You were not delivered by your own actions; therefore, no one should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9). The greatest lie in the world, and the lie common to all false-religions and cults, is that, by certain works of their own doing, mankind is able to make themselves acceptable to God. Paul completely undercuts their works righteousness by declaring: We hold the view that a person comes to be considered righteous by God on the ground of trusting, which has nothing to do with the corrupted legalistic observance of Torah commands (3:27-28). But what should we see after trusting?

What are some reliable proofs of saving faith? How do we know if someone is saved? We are not to judge other people, but we are to look for spiritual fruit in the life of a professing believer. ADONAI does not leave His children uncertain about their relationship with Him.

The first reliable evidence of saving faith is love for God. The mind controlled by the old nature is hostile to God, because it does not submit itself to God’s Torah – indeed, it cannot (8:7). The unsaved person cannot love god and has no desire to do so. The true child of God, however, despite often failing YHVH, will have a life characterized by a delight in ADONAI and His Word (Psalm 1:1-3, also see Psalms 42:1-2 and 73:25; Matthew 10:37).

Dear Wonderful Heavenly Father, The more I know about You, the more I love and worship you! You do all things in complete love. Even when You must discipline, it is done in love. “My son, do not take lightly the discipline of ADONAI or lose heart when you are corrected by Him, because ADONAI disciplines the one He loves and punishes every son He accepts” (Hebrews 12:5b-6). You, God, our loving Father, are acting as a wise potter to mold Your child into a beautiful vessel of righteousness. “Now all discipline seems painful at the moment – not joyful. But later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:13).

Your love is wonderful for You are completely faithful and can always be trusted. I will say of ADONAI, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust . . . He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge. His faithfulness is body armor and shield (Psalms 91:2 and 4). What a joy that God Himself has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you,” (Hebrews 13:5c).

Your love graciously looks to how long eternity is, and allows trials in our lives to mold us to shine for Your glory and honor. These trials are so that the true metal of your faith (far more valuable than gold, which perishes though refined by fire) may come to light in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Messiah Yeshua ( First Peter 1:7).

How wonderful that as we love Yeshua as our Lord and Savior, He comes to live right in us! Yeshua answered Thaddaeus, one of the twelve apostles, and said to him: If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him (John 14:23), so that Messiah may dwell in your hearts through faith (Ephesians 3:17a). What wonderful love that is always with us. Your love, ADONAI, is in the heavens, Your faithfulness up to the skies (Psalms 36:5). As we turn our focus off what is around us and look at how great Your love is for Your children, we are filled with eternal peace. And I pray that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to grasp with all the kedoshim what is the width and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Messiah which surpasses knowledge, so you may be filled up with all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:17b-19). I love You! In the holy name of Yeshua and the power of His resurrection. Amen

A second reliable evidence of saving faith is repentance from sin and the hatred of it that always accompanies true repentance. This second mark of saving faith is the reverse side of the first. The person who loves God has a built-in hatred of sin. It is impossible to love two things that are contradictory to one another. No one can be a slave to two masters; for he will either hate the first and love the second, or scorn the second and be loyal to the first (Matthew 6:24). To love a holy and righteous God is, almost by definition, to hate sin.

When confronted by Nathan concerning his sins of adultery with Bathsheba, and the murder of her husband Uriah, David’s repentance was genuine, as reflected in Psalm 51:1-4a. God, in your grace, have mercy on me; in your great compassion, blot out my crimes, he prayed. Wash me completely from my guilt, and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my crimes, my sin confronts me all the time. Against You, only You, have I sinned and done what is evil from Your perspective. The believer will have no peace of conscience until he repents of it.

True repentance is more than simply being sorry for getting caught. Judas became bitterly sorry for his sin in betraying Yeshua, to the extreme of committing suicide (see the commentary on The Life of Christ, to see link click Lm – Judas Hangs Himself). But he did not repent and ask Yeshua for forgiveness. Paul commended the Corinthian believers, “I rejoice not because you were pained, but because the pain led you to turn back to God. For you handled the pain in God’s way” – repentance (Second Corinthians 7:9).

No believer becomes completely sinless until he goes to meet the Lord. If we claim not to have sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we acknowledge our sins, then, since He is trustworthy and just, he will forgive them and purify us from all wrongdoing (First John 1:8-9). If a person’s sin does not bother him and increasingly put him under conviction about it, that person’s salvation is questionable. The test of true repentance is not merely sorrow for bearing the consequences of one’s sin, but sorrow for the sin’s offense against a holy God, which above all else leads a believer to implore ADONAI’s forgiveness.

A third reliable mark of saving faith is genuine humility. A person cannot be saved as long as he trusts in and exalts himself. Salvation begins by confessing one’s poverty of spirit (Matthew 5:3), and the willingness to deny oneself and take up the cross (Matthew 16:24). Like the prodigal son (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Hu – The Parable of the Lost Son and His Jealous Brother), the true believer who sins will eventually come to his senses, his spiritual senses that convict of sin. He will then, again like the prodigal, go to his heavenly Father and humbly confess his sin and his unworthiness for forgiveness, while pleading for it on the basis of his Father’s grace.

A fourth reliable evidence of true faith is prayer. Now because you are God’s children, He has sent forth into our hearts the Spirit of His Son, the Spirit who cries out, “Abba!” (that is, “Dear Father!”). The heart of a genuine believer cannot help calling out to God, who is his heavenly Father and whose Spirit is within him to generate that desire. Every genuine believer will freely admit that he does not pray as often or as earnestly as he should. But in his innermost being, communion with his heavenly Father is the desire of his heart.

A fifth mark of saving faith is selfless love, not only for God, but for others, especially fellow believers. Anyone who claims to be in the light while hating his brother is still in the dark. The person who keeps loving his brother remains in the light, and there is nothing in him that could make him trip (1 John 2:9-10). Later in his letter, John said: We, for our part, know that we have passed from death to life because we keep on loving the brothers. The person who fails to keep on loving is still under the power of death (1 Jn 3:14). The person who does not sincerely care for the welfare of true believers is himself not a true believer, but is still under the power of death. Again, in his letter, John declares: Beloved friends, let us love one another; because love is from God; and everyone who loves has God as his Father and knows God. Those who do not love, do not know God; because God is love (1 John 4:7-8).

A sixth mark of saving faith is separation from the world. Believers are called to be in the world but not of it. They are in the world to testify to Messiah, a central testimony of which is not to reflect the world’s standards and ways (John 17:15-17). So, on the one hand, John says: Do not love the world or the things of the world. If someone loves the world, then the love of the Father is not in him; because all the things of the world – the desires of the old nature, the desires of the eyes, and the boastings of what he has and does – are not from the Father, but from the world (First John 2:15-16). But on the other hand, he declares: Everyone that has God as their Father overcomes the world. And this is what victoriously overcomes the world: our trust/faith/belief. Who does overcome the world if not the person who believes that Yeshua is the Son of God (First John 5:4-5)? The person who has saving faith has not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit of God (First Corinthians 2:12).

A seventh reliable evidence of true faith is spiritual growth. The central truth of the parable of the soils (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Et – The Parable of the Soils), is that true believers will always grow spiritually to varying degrees, because by trusting, they have genuinely received the seed of the Good News. This is what the Kingdom of God is like. A farmer scatters seed on the ground, Yeshua said on another occasion; Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain – first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head (Mark 4:26-28 NIV). Like the farmer and his crops, the believer does not understand how he grows spiritually, but he knows that because he has spiritual life within him, he will grow (Ephesians 4:13; Philippians 1:6).

The eighth and final mark of saving faith is obedient living. The way we can be sure we know him is if we are obeying His commands. Anyone who says, “I know Him,” but isn’t obeying His commands is a liar and the truth is not in him. Here is how one can distinguish clearly between God’s children and those of the Adversary; everyone who does not continue doing what is right is not from God (1 Jn 2:3-5 and 3:10). Although no one is saved by good works, those who are truly saved produce good works (Ja 2:18). Those who are truly saved will produce good works because we are God’s making, created in union with the Messiah Yeshua for a life of good actions already prepared by God for us to do (Ephesians 2:10).

The cross reveals God’s universal grace: More questions. Or is God the God of the Jews only? Isn’t He also the God of the Gentiles? Paul takes one of the most basic of Jewish beliefs, monotheism, and turns it against the works righteousness of Pharisaic Judaism. If justification is by the Torah, then God does belong to the Jews. But if justification is by trusting, then He is the God of both the Jews and the Gentiles. Follow this logic. If the Jew persisted in this position, then there must be two Gods – one for the Jews and one for the Gentiles. But the Jew would not allow for that. Yes, he is indeed the God of the Gentiles (3:29), because, as you will admit, God is one (see the commentary on Deuteronomy Bw – Sh’ma Isra’el). Paul makes clear that the Torah is no longer the middle wall of separation between Jews and Gentiles (Ephesians 2:14).

Trusting is the condition of receiving salvation on the part of Jew and Gentile alike. Neither has any advantage over the other. Therefore, He will consider righteous the circumcised on the ground of trusting and the uncircumcised through that same trusting (3:30). The content of what one can trust in will vary from Dispensation to Dispensation (see the commentary on Hebrews Bp – The Dispensation of Grace), but means of becoming righteous has always been the same . . . by trusting (see the commentary on Galatians Bc – We are Not Justified by Deeds of the Torah). God is one, so He justifies everyone the same way. Only one God, only one way of salvation.⁸⁵ Trusting is not in any way inconsistent with the Torah, but rather, is thoroughly in agreement with it, and is therefore confirmed by it.

The cross fulfills God’s Torah: Paul follows the rabbinic method, found throughout the Talmud, of anticipating a hypothetical question – and not so hypothetical, if one reads the literature of Jewish attitudes towards Christianity: Does it follow that we abolish Torah by this trusting in Yeshua Messiah? And Paul answers his own question by saying: Heaven forbid (Hebrew: chalilah, meaning that’s a contradiction, it makes no sense)! On the contrary, we appreciate the Torah even more because the cross confirms it (3:31). How so? Because trusting YHVH is the very basis, foundation and essence of Torah. In saying so, Paul does not exhaust the subject. It is his literary style, however, to introduce a topic briefly, allowing the reader to be filled with questions, and then return to it later. That is what he does here; he returns to the matter of how faith and Torah fit together in Chapters 7 and 9-11.⁸⁶

Secondly, the Torah refers to the entire TaNaKh, and the feasts point to Messiah’s First and Second Coming. Of the seven major feasts on the Jewish calendar, the first four feasts were fulfilled by the program of the First Coming of Messiah and occur within fifty days of each other. Passover was fulfilled by the death of Messiah on the cross; Unleavened Bread was fulfilled by the sinlessness of His sacrifice; First Fruits was fulfilled by Yeshua’s resurrection to life, and Shavu’ot was fulfilled by the birth of the Church.

Between the first four feasts and the last three feasts, there is a four-month interval mentioned in passing. When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am ADONAI Your God (Leviticus 23:22). During the pause between the two sets of festivals, life is to continue as normal. This interval is pictured as a summertime of labor in the fields in preparation for the final harvest of the summer and before the fall harvest. This verse is not related to any feast. Unless one understands what is really happening, it almost seems like an unnecessary interruption. However, it is the pause between the festivals that fulfilled the program of the First Coming as opposed to the festivals to be fulfilled by the program of the Second Coming. This internal of four months does have a messianic implication.

The messianic implication is the insertion of the Dispensation of Grace, interrupting the program of the feasts of Isra’el. Indeed, the gleanings for the poor and the foreigner residing among you is a very good picture of the mission of the Church itself in gospel evangelism. For example, Jesus states: Look to the fields! They are ripe for harvest (John 4:35)! Thus, it becomes a fitting symbol of the obligation of the Church to do the work of gospel evangelism. Leviticus 23:22, being a parenthetical verse interrupting the discussion of the feasts of Isra’el, is significant in that it symbolizes the present age in which we now live and in which the program of the feasts of Israel has been temporarily interrupted.

The last three festivals in the second cycle of festivals also come close together, even closer than those of the first cycle of feasts. In fact, they all come within two weeks of each other. The last three feasts of the second cycle are to be fulfilled by the program of the Second Coming. Rosh ha-Shanah will be fulfilled by the Rapture of the Church; Yom Kippur will be fulfilled by the future affliction of the Jews in the Great Tribulation, and Sukkot will be fulfilled by the thousand-year Messianic Kingdom.⁸⁷

Today, my friend, when you and I will take the position that we are sinners and come to God and trust Messiah as our Savior – regardless of who we are, where we are, and how we are or when we are – God will save us. For YHVH today has put salvation on one basis and one basis alone. His question is this, “What will you do with My Son who died for you on the cross?⁸⁸

The Picture of Justification
3: 24-26

The picture of justification DIG: How are people made right with God? How did God demonstrate His righteousness in not just “dismissing” people’s sin? What is the significance of the definite article coming before the word grace? What is THE gift? Where is the picture of atonement, and hence, justification, seen in the B’rit Chadashah?

REFLECT: How would your life be different today without Yeshua? What has His gift meant to you? Some say that salvation by faith is “cheap grace.” Do you think so? What has your salvation “cost” you? How can you respond to God for being both merciful and just? Some have defined grace as love in action. How would you define grace? Redemption? Kapparah?

Messiah’s death on the cross is the picture of justification.

Justification is given freely through grace: By God’s grace, without earning it, all are granted the status of being considered righteous (Greek: dikaioumenoi, meaning justified, or have been declared righteous by God) before Him. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is THE gift of God, not of works, so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV). The definite article appears before the word grace, referring the reader back to Ephesians 2:5, “it is by grace you have been saved.” Grace is the fountain from which flows the living waters of ADONAI. Yeshua declared that whoever believes in Me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them (John 7:37b-38). Therefore, THE gift of God is our salvation, our justification before the Father, that is, being considered righteous in His sight.

Justification is accomplished by redemption: Because of man’s utter sinfulness and inability to bring himself up to the standard of God’s righteousness, the redemption of a sinner can only come through Yeshua Messiah. Only the sinless Savior could pay the price to redeem, or to buy back, sinful mankind. Through the act redeeming us from our enslavement to sin that was accomplished by the Messiah Yeshua (Romans 3:24; Isaiah 53:10-12). Drawing upon the Exodus motif, where ADONAI liberated His people from slavery to Pharaoh (Exodus 6:6-8), God now redeems His people from slavery to sin through Yeshua Messiah, the “second Moses.” A midrash concerning Isaiah 52:13 states that the miracles Moshe performed were done to ensure that only one nation (Isra’el) would serve ADONAI; but when Messiah comes, He will cause all people to serve Him (Romans 6; Philippians 2:10-11).⁸⁰

Justification was paid by an atoning sacrifice: The gift of salvation is free, but it is not cheap. God put Yeshua forward as our propitiation for sin through His faithfulness in respect to his bloody sacrificial death (Romans 2:25a; 5:10; Second Corinthians 5:19 and 21). Propitiation is the averting of Ha’Shem’s wrath by means of the vicarious (substitutionary) and efficacious (producing the desired effect) sacrifice (death) of Yeshua Messiah (the atonement). It is the work of Messiah which satisfies every claim of God’s holiness and justice so that He is free to act on behalf of sinners. The kapparah, or propitiation, has a special reference to the Mercy Seat (see the commentary on Exodus, to see link click Fs – The Mercy Seat in the Most Holy Place: Christ at the Throne of Grace) on Yom-Kippur (see the commentary on Leviticus Ef – Yom-Kippur). The Greek word for propitiation is hilasterion, meaning mercy seat. Therefore, Yeshua is the final kapparah.

Dear Heavenly Father, Your love is so fantastic! Praise You for allowing the sin of a person to be transferred away from them to the Lamb that died paying the penalty for their sin. He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, so that it will be accepted for him to make atonement on his behalf (Leviticus 1:4). You sacrificed Yeshua as the Lamb of God (John 1:29) for the sins of all who would choose to love and to follow Him as their Lord. He made the One who knew no sin to become a sin offering on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (Second Corinthians 5:21).

Words cannot express the deep gratitude for such suffering and shame that You went through on my behalf. I choose to love You in all I do while on this earth – all my thoughts, actions, and desires are focused on pleasing You. I have no complaints for the trials I have now; though hard and painful- they will be over soon.  For I consider the sufferings of this present time not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18). Praise You forever for dying in my place, bearing my punishment for sins. I love You! In Your holy Son’s name and power of His resurrection. Amen

Since the theme of atonement is so central to the message of the B’rit Chadashah, it should not be surprising to discover other references to Yom-Kippur, the Day of Atonement, within it. Luke 4:16-22 records that Yeshua was called to the Torah in His local synagogue in Nazareth. After reading the powerful passage from Isaiah 61, He delivered a simple, yet strong message, claiming to be the Messiah, the Anointed One, who would set the captives free. Some of the classical rabbis believed this passage in Isaiah 61 would be words the Messiah would speak to Isra’el when He came. The fact that this passage speaks of the Messiah as the liberator of the Jewish people has led other rabbis to speculate that Messiah would appear on a very special Yom-Kippur in the Year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25:10).⁸¹

Messiah’s death on the cross is the picture of justification: The theme of the book of Romans, and thus the heart of the gospel message, is the doctrine of justification by faith alone in response to the grace of ADONAI. It is a doctrine that has been lost and found again and again throughout the history of the Church. It has suffered from understatement, from overstatement, and perhaps most often, simply from neglect. It was the central message of the early Church, and the central message of the Protestant Reformation, under the godly leadership of people such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Olympia Morata of Italy (1526-1555). It is still today the central message of every faithful church that is faithful to God’s Word. Only when the Church understands and proclaims justification by faith, can it truly present the gospel of the atoning death of Yeshua Messiah on the cross.

The cross affects those who trust in Yeshua by giving them eternal life. Through His death and resurrection, Yeshua rescues us from the impending fury of God’s judgment (First Thessalonians 1:10). As Paul testifies later in Romans, “God demonstrates His own love for us in that the Messiah died on our behalf while we were still sinners. Therefore, since we have now come to be considered [justified] by means of his bloody sacrificial death, how much more will we be delivered through Him from the anger of God’s judgment (Romans 5:8-9; Second Corinthians 5:18; Titus 2:14).

The cross affected the Adversary by breaking his power and dominion over the earth. The writer to the Messianic Hebrews declares that through His death, Yeshua Messiah rendered ineffective the one who had power over death, that is, the Adversary (Hebrews 2:14). In doing so, Yeshua rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of His dear Son, in whom we have redemption, that is, our sins have been forgiven (Colossians 1:13-14).

And the cross obviously affected Yeshua Messiah Himself. In obedience to His Father’s will, He suffered the agony of taking the sin of the world, all the way back to Adam, upon Himself, paying its death penalty, and separation from the godhead (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Lv – The Second Three Hours on the Cross: The Wrath of God). He was resurrected, however, in order that He might return to the never-again-to-be-broken presence of His heavenly Father and the Ruach Ha’Kodesh.⁸²

Then, Paul gives two reasons for why God chose the cross to deal with our sin. First, YHVH demonstrated His righteousness in the past. Messiah’s substitutionary death on the cross vindicated God’s righteousness; because, in His forbearance, He had passed over [with neither punishment nor remission] the sins people had committed in the past, before Messiah died (3:25b). In the Dispensation of Torah, sins were not done-away-with, but merely covered until the individual felt the burden of sin again, and would have to continually offer sacrifices over-and-over-and-over again. Therefore, when Messiah died, He not only paid for the sins committed after He died, but also for the sins before He died.

The second reason was to demonstrate His righteousness in the present age. And what Messiah did on the cross vindicates his righteousness in the present age by showing that He is righteous Himself and is also the One who makes people righteous on the basis of Yeshua’s faithfulness (3:26). The final purpose is that ADONAI might prove Himself to be righteous. If God does not send us to hell because of our sins as believers, it doesn’t prove that He is not righteous; it doesn’t prove that He doesn’t punish sin. The very fact of our salvation proves that He did punish sin. But He punished our sins on the cross, where Messiah suffered the full wrath of our sins.⁸³

The Need for Justification
3: 21-23

The need for justification DIG: What was the purpose of the Levitical sacrifices in the Torah? Why do we no longer need them? How does God’s plan demonstrate fairness to all humanity? What does the TaNaKh say about sinning? Does everyone miss the mark? Can believers miss the mark? If we miss the mark, then what can we do (First John 1:9)?

REFLECT: How do people try to earn their salvation? What is the link between believing and behaving? How does this affect how you act on a daily, hourly, and minute-by-minute basis? When did you first realize salvation was a free gift provided by ADONAI? Does the fact that salvation is apart from works and comes only through faith bother you? Why? Why not?

We all have the need for justification because “All have sinned” at some level, “and come short of earning the glory of God’s praise.”

Job asked the most important question that’s possible to ask: How can man be justified before God (Job 9:2)? Because YHVH is the kind of God He is, Job wondered how a person could ever hope to approach Him, much less become righteous and acceptable before Him. Can a mere human being have a right relationship with a God who is holy, infinite and mighty?⁷⁴ Paul answers that question here in Romans 3:21-23.

Justification is apart from the Torah: But now, quite apart from Torah. What this phrase means is that God’s righteousness has nothing to do with our obeying the Torah and its 613 mitzvot, but goes back to the underlying truth of obedience by faith. God’s way of making people righteous in His sight has been made clear (3:21a). It is by faith alone, not works. It is unthinkable that YHVH instructed the Jewish people to perfectly obey 613 mitzvot that were impossible to keep, and for which the penalty of violation was death. The God of love does not play cruel games!

It is true that when the Jewish people fell short of keeping the Torah they sinned. But the Torah itself includes a procedure for dealing with sins, provided they were not committed with a high hand, that is, rebellion (see the commentary on Jude, to see link click Aq – They Have Taken the Way of Cain, Rushed into Balaam’s Error, and have been Destroyed by Korah’s Rebellion). The procedure was the Levitical sacrificial system, and in fact the greater part of the Five Books of Moses is devoted to it. The system offered forgiveness to a repentant person who brought the required sacrifice in faith (see the commentary on Hebrews Bu – A Better Sacrifice). Thus, at the time the Messiah died, the Torah provided a framework within which each person might be saved (see the commentary on Hebrew Cj – Faith in Action), provided he trusted ADONAI in everything and in no way relied on his own self-righteousness.⁷⁵

Dear Heavenly Father, You are perfectly righteous and also perfectly loving. Your wisdom in balancing both is amazing! You planned and set the pattern for sins to be forgiven by the offerings thru which the person’s sin was transferred to the animal that died in the sinner’s place.  He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, so that it will be accepted for him to make atonement on his behalf (Leviticus 1:4). Since You are perfectly holy, You cannot tolerate any sin, and so He made the One who knew no sin to become a sin offering on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (Second Corinthians 5:21).

Praise Your love that was willing to be the Lamb of God (John 1:29) to die in the place of all. How wonderful Your sacrifice! How sad that many will not receive Your gift of love. They know about You in a mentally approving way, but not in a heart commitment of love to follow You. They think that mere knowledge is enough to save them – but knowledge alone is not enough. Heart-filled love is what You have always desired. As Yeshua puts it: You shall love ADONAI your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment (Matthew 22:37-38). I love you dear Father. In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen

It is important to understand that the Torah did not set an impossible standard. Moses declared at Mount Sinai: For this mitzvah that I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you to understand, nor is it beyond your reach. The mitzvah that ADONAI was commanding Bnei Isra’el to follow was not in the heavens, that they should say: Who will go up for us to the heavens and get it for us, and have us hear it so we may do it? Nor is it across the sea, that you should say: Who will cross over for us to the other side of the sea and get it for us, and have us hear it so we may do it? No, the word is very near to you – you can speak it because it is in your mouth and you know it because it is in your heart to do it (Deuteronomy 30:11-14; Romans 10:6-8). Rather, the Torah sets a standard of faith, trusting in God, and of following its system of repentance and sacrifice for obtaining forgiveness from YHVH and restoring a condition of being considered righteous in His sight.

Justification is built on revelation: Although the Torah and the Prophets give their witness to it as well (3:21b). Throughout the Torah, ADONAI’s holiness and moral integrity are proclaimed, as also is the truth that humans cannot attain God’s standard of righteousness by striving for it. As Isaiah 64:5 puts it: All our righteousness, those whose we achieve by mere human effort without genuine reliance on and trust in YHVH are filthy rags.

Moreover, not only do the Scriptures attest to God’s way of making people righteous, but non-Messianic Judaism is aware of it also. The eleventh-century Midrash to Psalm 44:1 says, “When the children of Isra’el went out from Egypt, they could not offer any works of their hands whereby they might be redeemed. And so, it was not because of the works of their fathers, nor was it because of their own works, that the sea was divided before them; rather, it was only so that God might make a name for Himself in the world.”

The Siddur, the Jewish prayer book, quotes Dani’el 9:18 in the preliminary morning prayers, “Sovereign of all worlds! Not because of our righteous acts do we lay our supplications before You, but because of Your abundant mercies.” And then continues by describing this verse in the spirit of Ecclesiastes, “What are we? What is our life? What is our piety? Our righteousness? Our helpfulness? Our strength? Our might? What shall we say before you, ADONAI, our God and God of our fathers? Are not all the mighty men as nothing before you, the men of fame as though they had never existed, the wise as if without knowledge, and those with understanding as if without discernment? For most of their works are void, and the days of their lives are vanity before You, and the preeminence of man over beast is nothing for all is vanity.”

So, like Paul, even the rabbis have recognized human inability to meet God’s standard for righteousness, even with the guidance of the Torah that YHVH gave.⁷⁶

Justification is acquired by faith: And it is an imputed righteousness that comes from God. Imputation means to reckon or charge to another’s account. Therefore, all of Messiah’s righteousness is transferred to your spiritual bank account at the moment of faith (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Bw – What God Does for Us at the Moment of Faith). At that time, what is true of Messiah is true of you, minus His deity. The result is positional righteousness; in other words, you are justified. This imputed righteousness is obtained through the faithfulness of Yeshua the Messiah (3:22a).

But the faithfulness in Yeshua Messiah that the B’rit Chadashah teaches is much more than a simple affirmation of certain truths about Him. Even the demons acknowledge many facts about Him. One of the demons who possessed a man in Gerasenes’ territory, seeing Yeshua from a distance, ran and fell on his knees in front of Him and screamed at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Yeshua, Son of God Ha’Elyon (Mark 5:6-7)? The demon who gave the slave girl the power of divination followed behind Sha’ul and the rest of his friends and kept screaming, “These men are servants of God Ha’Elyon. They are telling you how to be saved” (Acts 16:17)! Therefore, saving faith is placing oneself totally in submission to the Lord Yeshua Messiah, and it has certain essential elements that the B’rit Chadashah clearly teaches.

Saving faith in Yeshua Messiah involves the exercise of the will. Paul told the believers in Rome: By God’s grace, you, who were once slaves to sin, obeyed from your heart the pattern of teaching to which you were exposed (6:17). From a human standpoint, salvation begins with a person’s willful obedience in turning from sin to follow the Lord Yeshua Messiah.

Saving faith in Yeshua Messiah involves the emotions, because, as in the verse just mentioned above, it must come from the heart as well as from the mind. On the one hand, a person cannot be saved by good feelings about Messiah, and many people throughout the ages and in our own day have substituted good feelings about Yeshua for saving faith through Him. But on the other hand, a person whose life is transformed by Messiah will be affected by his emotions in the deepest possible way.

Saving faith in Yeshua Messiah involves the intellect. No one can think his way into the Kingdom of God, but neither can he receive Yeshua Messiah as Lord and Savior without some comprehension of the truth of the gospel. So, trust comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through a word proclaimed about the Messiah (10:17).

Justification is provided for all: The provision of salvation and the justification it brings is granted to all who continue trusting. Anyone will be saved who believes in Yeshua Messiah as Lord and Savior. For it makes no difference whether one is a Jew or a Gentile (3:22b). For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two, one, and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility (see the commentary on Acts Cn – Paul’s Advice from Jacob and the Elders at Jerusalem). Just as everyone apart from Messiah is equally sinful and rejected by YHVH, everyone who is in Messiah is equally justified and accepted by Him.⁷⁷

There is no distinction among those who are saved, because there is no distinction among those who are lost, since all have sinned (the Greek word hamartano corresponds to the Hebrew word chet, meaning missing the mark, like an archer who shoots off-target) at some level, and come short of earning the glory of God’s praise (3:23). The Greek phrase, have sinned is constative aorist, presenting a panoramic view of the human race as doing nothing except committing sin. In Judaism, the Yetzer Hara (or evil inclination) can be loosely correlated to this concept of the sin nature or old self. This principle, that everyone is a sinner, is taught in the TaNaKh.

This is the start of the Romans Road to salvation: This is a way of explaining the Good News of salvation using verses from the book of Romans. It is a simple yet powerful method of explaining why we need salvation, how God provided salvation, how we can receive salvation, and what are the results of salvation. We start by saying: For all have sinned and come short of earning the glory of God’s praise (3:23).

That includes you and me, doesn’t it? Most people feel that being good gets you into heaven and being bad keeps you out. That simply is not true; for all have sinned. What would you say sin is? I think we can agree that we are both sinners; now let’s define sin. Some have said, “I’m not perfect,” or “I have made some mistakes.” But what do you think the Bible means by sin? Well, the Bible says that everyone who keeps sinning is violating Torah . . . indeed, sin is violation of Torah (First John 3:4). Have you ever disobeyed your parents? Have you ever misused the name of God? Have you ever told a lie? This is what sin is. It’s breaking God’s Torah.

There is no one who doesn’t sin (First Kings 8:46a).

For there isn’t a righteous person on earth who does [only] good and never sins (Ecclesiastes 7:20).

ADONAI’s arm is not too short to save, nor is His ear too dull to hear. Rather, it is your own crimes that separate you from your God; your sins have hidden His face from you , so that He doesn’t come near (Isaiah 59:1-2).

All of us are like someone unclean, all our righteous deeds are like menstrual rags (Isaiah 64:5a).⁷⁸ This applies equally to pagans who have never heard anything of God (see Ak – The Pagan Gentile), to good, moral people (see Ao – The “Good” Person), and to the religious Jew (see At – The Religious Jew).

The question of why this is true, and how it comes about, that everyone sins (in other words, original sin) is discussed by Paul later in his letter (see Bm – The Consequences of Adam). But the truth of this verse, which epitomizes Bad News (see Aj – The Universal Need of Mankind), is basic to understanding the sinful nature of mankind, and the Good News that God offers the only solution to the problem through the faithfulness of Yeshua the Messiah.

Ponder the achievement of ADONAI. He doesn’t condone our sin, nor does He compromise His standard. He doesn’t ignore our rebellion, nor does He relax His demands. Rather than dismiss our sin, He assumes our sin and, incredibly, sentences Himself. God’s holiness is honored. Our sin is punished. And we are justified in His sight. YHVH is still YHVH. The wages of sin is still death (6:23). And we are made perfect.⁷⁹

The Definition of Justification
3: 21-31

Definition: Justification is the act of God whereby, negatively, He forgives the sins of believers and, positively, He declares them righteous by transferring all the obedience and righteousness of Messiah to them through faith (see the commentary on The Life of Christ, to see link click Bw – What God Does for Us at the Moment of Faith).

What it is not: Justification is not a reward for anything good we may have done; it is not something that we cooperate with ADONAI in doing (which is sanctification); it is not infused righteousness on the basis of works (Catholic justification); it is not accomplished apart from the satisfaction of God’s justice (it satisfies every claim of God’s holiness).

What it is: Justification is an utterly undeserved free gift of the mercy of YHVH (Romans 3:24; Titus 3:7); it is entirely accomplished by God the Father at salvation, and it results in sanctification; it is apart from any works we take, but the fact that we are justified is demonstrated by our works (James 2:21, 24-26). It is not that Ha’Shem overlooks our sin and guilt, but that the full and entire righteousness of Messiah be transferred to our spiritual bank account by faith. What is true of Him is true of us, minus His deity; you have already passed the final exam in God’s universe with an A-plus.

Scriptural proof: Genesis 15:6; Psalm 32:2; Isaiah 54:17; Jeremiah 23:6; Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 3:28 to 4:6, 5:1 and 9, 9:30 to 10:4; First Corinthians 6:11; Galatians 2:16, 3:8-9, 21 and 24.

Relation to the Trinity: Who justifies?

God the Father                 Jeremiah 23:6; Second Corinthians 5:19

God the Son                        Romans 5:9, 10:4; Second Corinthians 5:19 and 21

God the Spirit                    First Corinthians 6:11; Hebrews 9:14 (indirect); Galatians 5:5

God                                           Romans 4:6 and 9:33

Proof of eternal security: Nothing can alter the fact that you are eternally secure. Justification is a divine gift that is perfect and cannot be taken back. Since we can do no works to gain our justification, we can do no works to lose our justification (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ms – The Eternal Security of the Believer).

The Universal Solution: Justification
3:21 to 5:11

Romans 1:18 to 3:20 (to see link click Aj – The Universal Need of Mankind), while important in its own right, is nevertheless preliminary to the main point that Paul wants to establish in this part of his letter: the availability of the righteousness of ADONAI to all who respond in faith. The Good News, announced in 1:17 is now elaborated on. The essential points are packed into 3:21-16, a passage Martin Luther called, “The chief point, and the very central place of the letter, and the whole Bible.” The remainder of Chapter 3 develops one major element of this extraordinary rich passage: faith is the only basis for justification.⁷¹

In Chapter 4, Paul shifts gears and demonstrates that God alone can provide that righteousness. To illustrate this truth, Paul devotes the entire chapter to Abraham (see Bc – The Example of Justification). This man, who is at the forefront of the righteous of the TaNaKh in the Scriptures, is a shining example of the central biblical truth that a person can become justified only by faith in response to the grace of ADONAI, never by works.⁷²

Up to this point, Paul has proved that the whole world is guilty before YHVH, and that no one can be saved by works. He has explained that God’s way of salvation has always been by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9), and he has used Abraham as his illustration. If the reader stopped at this point, he would know that he needed to be saved and could be saved. But there is much more the sinner needs to know about justification by faith. Is his salvation eternal or merely temporary? How is it possible for Ha’Shem to save a sinner through the death of Messiah on the cross? In Chapter 5, Paul reveals the fruits of our justification, and the basis for our justification.⁷³

Paul teaches about our salvation in three phases: the past, or justification, here; the present, or sanctification (see Ca – The Spiritual Battle); and the future, or glorification (see Cj – The Completed Redemption).

The Religious Jew’s Lack of Understanding
3: 1-20

The religious Jew’s lack of understanding DIG: Is the Torah the problem here? Why doesn’t the religious Jew understand that he is just as sinful as the pagan Gentile or the “good person?” What does, “There is no one righteous, not even one,” mean to you when you see someone who seems to be a “good person” doing good deeds? Why would Paul say that?

REFLECT: What “advantages” do you have as a believer? Have you put those “advantages” to work? Or are they on the “back burner?” If that’s the case, what can you do to change that? How does the sinfulness of mankind affect you personally? Who does your heart ache for because of their lost state and their ultimate destiny in hell?

The religious Jew is in no better condition than the “good person,” or the pagan Gentile, despite the advantages that they might have had.

In 3:1-8 Paul dealt with the promise to the Jews because he already foresees a possible first objection that might be prompted because of what he had just said that all distinctions between Jews and Gentiles have been erased in 2:17-29. And if a sinful Jew is on the same level as a sinful Gentile as far as the wrath of God is concerned, then what advantage has the Jew? What is the value of being circumcised (3:1)? Why even bother! Looking at the rather tragic history of the Jewish people, one is not inclined to think there has been any advantage in being a Jew. In spite of the reality that they are such a noble strain of humanity chosen by God, their history has been a saga of slavery, hardship, warfare, persecution, slander, captivity, dispersion, and humiliation.⁶⁵ Paul will give a very brief answer here in Chapter 3, and a very extensive answer in Chapters 9, 10, and 11.

Paul answers his own question: Much in every way! Although it did not bring salvation, it bestowed many privileges that Gentiles did not have. Later in his letter, Paul tells his readers: I could wish myself actually under God’s curse and separated from the Messiah, if it would help my brothers, my own flesh and blood, the people of Isra’el! They were made God’s children, the Sh’khinah has been with them, the covenants are theirs, likewise the giving of the Torah, the Temple service and the promises; the Patriarchs are theirs; and from them, as far as his physical descent is concerned, came the Messiah, who is over all. Praise be ADONAI forever! Amen (9:3-5). But they did have God’s Word. In the first place, the Jews, including Luke, were entrusted with the very words of God (3:2). This includes Luke because He was a Hellenistic Jew, having traveled with Paul (see Acts, to see link click Bx – Paul’s Vision of the Man of Macedonia).⁶⁶ Every writer, in both the TaNaKh and the B’rit Chadashah, was Jewish.

Then, anticipating a second objection that is raised, even until today, Paul asks rhetorically: If some of them were unfaithful, so what? Does their faithlessness cancel God’s faithfulness? In other words, doesn’t Jewish unbelief cancel out the promises made to Isra’el in the TaNaKh? After all. Even though there are a minority of Jews who believe, the majority are unbelievers! Unfortunately, this is the thinking of Covenant, or Replacement Theology, and the Hebrew Roots movement today (see the commentary on Galatians Ak – The Hebrew Roots Movement: A Different Gospel). But Paul answers emphatically: Heaven forbid (Hebrew: chalilah, meaning that’s a contradiction, it makes no sense)! In fact, if anything, the unfaithfulness of Isra’el is going to prove even greater the faithfulness of YHVH. He has every intention of fulfilling the promises that He has made to her. He is the Promise Keeper in spite of Isra’el’s response! God would be true even if everyone were a liar! – as the TaNaKh says: so that you, God, may be proved right in Your words and win the verdict when You are put on trial” (Romans 3:3-4; Psalm 51:4).

Dear Faithful Father God, How awesome You are – always thru all eternity a loving and faithful God! Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the skies (Psalms 36:5). Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before You (Psalms 89:14). He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart (Psalms 91:4). For the LORD is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations (Psalms 100:5).

For great is Your love, higher than the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the skies (Psalms 108:4). I bow in worship and adoration at how loving and faithful You are! You have promised an eternal joy for those who love You (Revelation 21:4). I consider the sufferings of this present time not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18). I trust Your faithful promise that those who choose to trust you, become your children. But whoever did receive Him, those trusting in His name, to these He gave the right to become children of God. (John 1:12). How wonderful the thought of living with You dear Father God in your holy home in heaven for all eternity.  Earthly trials will be over soon, so I live for You now by pleasing you in all I do, say and think. I lovingly serve You. In Your holy Son Yeshua’s name and power of His resurrection. Amen

Paul has just said that Isra’el’s unfaithfulness will essentially prove the faithfulness of God. But if that is true, then a third objection could be raised. Now if our unrighteousness highlights God’s righteousness, what should we say? Why should God ever want to judge sin? That God is unrighteous to inflict His anger on us? Again, lest his readers conclude that he was expressing his own thinking, Paul immediately adds the parenthetical explanation: I am speaking here the way people commonly do, that is according to human logic. To intensify the disclaimer, Paul again says: Heaven forbid! Else, how could God judge the world? God cannot allow sin to go unpunished under any circumstances. Paul counters this baseless argument to an absurd extreme. “But,” you say, “if, through my lie, God’s truth is enhanced and brings him greater glory, why am I still judged merely for being a sinner?”  Indeed! If carried out to its logical conclusion, no one would ever be judged by God. Why not say, as some unbelievers slander us by gossiping and claiming we say, “Let us do evil, so that good may come of it”? They falsely accused Paul of teaching, in effect, “Let’s prove God’s faithfulness by our unfaithfulness!” He concludes: Against them the judgment is a just one (3:5-8)!

Universal guilt: So, are we Jews better off? His conclusion is: Not entirely; for I have already made the charge that all people, Jewish “good person” (see Ao – The “Good Person”) and pagan Gentiles alike (see Ak – The Pagan Gentile), are controlled by sin (3:9). As far as salvation is concerned, and as far as God’s wrath is concerned, the religious Jew is in no better condition than the pagan Gentile despite the advantages that they might have had. As a result, Paul sets out to prove that all of humanity, Jews and Gentiles alike, are sinful. To prove his case, he issues an indictment with eight passages from the TaNaKh.

The character of the accused (3:10:12): Paul now reinforces the inclusiveness of the indictment by reiterating the fact that all of fallen humanity is under sin. Quoting from Psalm 14:1, Paul declares: As the TaNaKh puts it, “There is no one righteous.” Righteousness is a major theme in Romans, appearing in one form or another more than thirty times. Other terms from the same Greek root are usually translated justified, justification, or the like. Together they are used more than sixty times in Romans. So, it’s not surprising that the first charge Paul makes in his indictment is that of mankind’s unrighteousness. And to prevent someone from thinking that there might be exceptions, Paul adds, not even one (3:10a)!

The quoting from Psalm 14:2, Paul states that not only is mankind universally evil, but also spiritually ignorant. “No one understands” (3:10b). Mankind has no innate ability to fully comprehend God’s truth or His standard of righteousness. Apart from the ability to see general revelation of His power and majesty, mankind has no spiritual capacity to know or understand YHVH because the natural man does not receive the things from the Spirit of God – to him they are nonsense! Moreover, he is unable to grasp them, because they are evaluated through the Spirit (First Corinthians 2:14).

Alluding again from Psalm 14:2, Paul declares that in addition to being universally evil and spiritually ignorant, fallen mankind is rebellious. “No one seeks God “(3:11). Man-made religions are demon-inspired efforts to escape from God, not to find Him. Every person who comes to Yeshua Messiah for salvation has been sent to Him through the divine initiative of God the Father: Everyone the Father gives Me will come to Me, and whoever comes to Me I will certainly not turn away . . . no one can come to Me unless the Father – the One who sent Me – draws him (John 6:37 and 44a). ADONAI always takes the first step in the salvation process. The only person, therefore, who seeks God is the person who has responded positively to God’s seeking him.

Now Paul charges that mankind is naturally stiff-necked. Quoting from Psalm 53:3, he declares that “all have turned away.” The person who is naturally evil, naturally ignorant of God’s truth, and naturally rebellious against Him, will inevitably naturally live apart from His will. Isaiah put it this way: We all like sheep, went astray; we turned, each one, to our own way (Isaiah 53:6). Paul continues: “And at the same time become useless; there is no one who shows kindness, not a single one” (Romans 3:12; Psalm 14:1-3 and 53:1-3)! Apart from the saving relationship with Messiah Yeshua, a person is a spiritually dead branch, totally unable to produce any fruit. As such, it is lifeless and useless. Unless a person remains united with Me, he is thrown away like a branch and dries up. Such branches are gathered and thrown into the fire, where they are burned up (John 15:6).⁶⁷

The conversation of the accused (3:13-14): A person’s character will inevitably reveal itself in his conversation. Yeshua declared that the mouth speaks what overflows from the heart. The good person brings forth good things from his store of good, and the evil person brings forth evil things from his store of evil (Matthew 12:34-35). The writer of Proverbs said: The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but the perverse tongue will be cut off. The lips of the righteous know what is wanted, but the mouth of the wicked [knows] deceit (Proverbs 10:31-32).

Continuing to quote from the Psalms, Paul minces no words when he says, “Their throats are open graves, they use their tongues to deceive” (Psalm 5:9). A spiritually dead heart can produce only spiritually dead words. Psalm 5:9 describes flatters, whose words of praise are really a means of serving themselves rather than the one they are praising. And because praise appeals to human nature, it also leads the flattered person into pride and false self-confidence. A flatterer, therefore, both uses and abuses others.

Quoting from part of Psalm 140:3, Paul says that the lost have “vipers’ venom is under their lips” (Romans 3:13; Psalm 140:3). Because of the spiritually damning false doctrines and the deceitful character of most of the religious leaders of Pharisaic Judaism in Yeshua’s day, both He and John the Immerser described them as broods of vipers (Matthew 3:7, 12:34).

Their mouths are full of curses and bitterness (Romans 3:14; Psalm 10:7). David described cursing, bitter persons as those who have sharpened their tongue like a sword . . . aimed bitter speech as their arrow, to shoot from concealment at the blameless; suddenly they shoot him, and do not fear (Psalm 64:3-4 NASB). Every age of mankind, our own certainly included, has been characterized by people who use their tongues as vicious weapons. Their attacks not only are against those they know well enough to hate but sometimes, as David seems to suggest, even against strangers, simply for the wicked pleasure of venting their anger and hatred.⁶⁸

The conduct of the accused (3:15-17): Whether in peace or in war, man kills man. Quoting Isaiah 59:7, Paul says, “Their feet rush to shed blood” (3:15). Obviously, most people are far from possessing such extreme brutality. Scripture, however, makes it clear that the seed of murder is one of the many evil seeds that are universally found in the human heart and that, to some degree, inevitably grow and bear fruit. “In their ways are ruin and misery” as is obvious from current world affairs (3:16).

Paul continues quoting from Isaiah 59:8, by declaring, “And the way of shalom they do not know (Romans 3:17; Isaiah 59:7-8). The apostle is not talking about the lack of inner peace – although that is certainly a characteristic of the ungodly person – but of mankind’s essential inclination away from shalom. Shalom has never been more sought after than in our day. But few would argue that shalom actually characterizes our times. Nevertheless, as in Jeremiah’s day, many modern leaders are trying to heal the brokenness of their people by superficially crying out, “Shalom, shalom,” when obviously, there is no shalom (Jeremiah 6:14). God’s Word gives us much advice on what makes for peace, and those people and societies who have chosen His blueprint for living have experienced relative times of shalom. But Scripture makes it clear that peace will never come until the Prince of Peace returns to establish His Kingdom (see the commentary on Isaiah Cn – He Will Be Called Wonderful Counselor).

The motive of man’s sinfulness is his built-in godlessness. The basic sinful condition of mankind and of their spiritual deadness is seen in the fact that, for the lost, “There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:18; Psalm 36:1). Because the ears of mankind are attuned to the lies of the Adversary rather than the truth of God, they have an inadequate concern about, and no fear of, God.

Fearing God has both positive and negative elements. In a positive way, every true believer has a reverential fear of God – an awesome awareness of His power, His holiness, and His glory. Proper worship always includes that kind of fear of the Lord. Reverential fear of YHVH is the beginning of spiritual wisdom (Proverbs 9:10). That kind of fear is a necessary element in one’s being led to salvation, as with Cornelius (Acts 10:2), and motivates new believers in their spiritual growth.

The negative aspect of the fear of God had to do with dread and terror. Even believers should have a measure of that kind of fear, which acts as a protection against sinning. The writer of Proverbs observed that people turn from evil through fear of ADONAI (Proverbs 16:6). For this very reason they are God’s children, who are subject to His discipline (see the commentary on Hebrews Cz – God Disciplines His Children). Unbelievers, however, should have a fear of God in its most intense and terrifying sense. The TaNaKh is full of stories about Ha’Shem wreaking destruction and death as punishment of sins of all kinds. He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because of their indescribable immorality; YHVH destroyed the whole human race through the Flood, saving only eight people; and the LORD ordered Moshe to have the Levites slay some three thousand Israelite men who had erected and worshiped a golden calf while he was on Mount Sinai receiving the Ten Words (see the commentary on Exodus Gv – And All the Levites Rallied to Moses).⁶⁹

The verdict: The final verdict, then, is that unredeemed mankind has no defense whatsoever and is guilty of all charges. Moreover, we know that whatever the whole Torah says, it says to those living within the framework of the Torah, that is, to Jews, in order that every self-justifying mouth may be stopped and the whole world be shown, proven by God’s own words to deserve God’s adverse judgment. If the Jews, who have the Torah to guide them, turn out to be guilty before YHVH, how much more will the Gentiles, who do not have this guidance, also prove worthy of punishment. Jewish privileges do not, and cannot, save from sin. There will be no exceptions. For in His sight no one alive will be considered righteous (Psalm 143:2) on the ground of legalistic observance of Torah commands, because what Torah really does is show people how sinful they are (3:19-20). The Torah isn’t the problem; the Torah shows us our problem – sin (the Greek word amartia corresponds to the Hebrew word chet, meaning missing the mark, like an archer who shoots off-target)! This is, of course, not the Torah’s only task – it also offers positive guidance toward right behavior (see the commentary on Exodus Dh – Moses and the Torah). In theory, a Jew with the Torah to direct him, might possibly be able to aim nearer the target than a Gentile without it. Nevertheless, his achievement will always fall short of the goal; and unless he realizes this, he will surely not be saved. This subject is analyzed at length in Chapter 7.⁷⁰

The Religious Jew’s Lack of the Spirit
2: 25-29

The religious Jew’s lack of the Spirit DIG: What is circumcision symbolic of? Does this passage teach that if you circumcise your heart then you are a spiritual Jew? If that were true, how would this passage lead to replacement theology and destroy the unique bond that God has with Isra’el? Who’s a real Jew? Where does this leave Jewish women?

REFLECT: Instead of special treatment, what did the blessings of ADONAI actually give to the Jews? How might this be true of God’s blessings to you? When you call yourself a believer, you are an ambassador of the Messiah; in effect, God is making His appeal through you, “Be reconciled to God” (Second Corinthians 5:20). How is your ambassadorship going?

A real Jew has both external (physical circumcision), and internal (circumcision of the heart) circumcision; therefore, without faith in Yeshua Messiah, the reality behind the symbol of circumcision becomes meaningless.

YHVH had instituted circumcision as the great sign of the covenant with Abraham and his descendants, declaring that every male among you who is eight days old is to be circumcised (Genesis 17:10-12). Centuries later, when Moshe failed to circumcise one of his sons, his wife, Zipporah, performed the rite herself, thereby protecting Moses from divine wrath (see the commentary on Exodus, to see link click Az – Surely You are a Bridegroom of Blood to Me). No doubt this surgery was symbolic of the sinfulness of man that was passed from one generation to another. The very procreative organ needed to be cleansed of a covering. Therefore, man, at the very center of his nature, is sinful and needs cleansing of the heart. This graphic symbol of the need for removing sin became the sign of being a Jew. But as important as circumcision is as an act of obedience to ADONAI, and as a reminder to Jews of their covenant relationship with Him, the rite, in and of itself, has no spiritual power.⁶¹

On the one hand, for the Jew, Paul says that circumcision is indeed of value if you do what Torah says and circumcise your heart. But, if you are Jewish, and a transgressor of Torah, your circumcision has become uncircumcision (2:25)! Because he would have thrown away everything that his Jewishness stands for. By despising YHVH and His Torah he would have cut himself off from the promises of Abraham and from his people, spiritually, even though biological and cultural attachments remain. The reality behind the symbol of circumcision would have departed.

Dear Heavenly Father, A real and loving relationship with God – the King of kings and Sovereign over all the universe – how wonderful! Yet the reality of the relationship is not merely a legal arrangement. A loving heart is at the essence of our relationship with You, dear God. As Yeshua said, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Torah?” And He said to him: You shall love ADONAI your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment (Matthew 22:36-38).

You presented the gift of relationship to all who choose to love and follow You. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not from yourselves – it is the gift of God.  It is not based on deeds, so that no one may boast (Ephesians 2:8-9). How we praise You that You are our sure hope (Ephesians 1:12) and You allow us to love You back by serving and praising You. For we are His workmanship – created in Messiah Yeshua for good deeds, which God prepared beforehand so we might walk in them (Ephesians 2:10). It is a joy to serve You. In Holy Yeshua’s name and His power of resurrection. Amen

If the Jew claimed exemption on the basis of being circumcised, then the logical conclusion would be that no Jew would ever be condemned. In essence some rabbis concluded that. A famous line in the Oral Law (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ei – The Oral Law) says, “all Isra’el will have a share in the world to come (Sanhedrin 11:1)” For a while rabbis taught that anyone who was a Jew will never go to hell no matter what they have done. But they changed their teaching because of the Messianic Jews. They didn’t want Messianic Jews, who were also circumcised, to end up in heaven merely because they were Jews, so they changed their teaching. They now say that when a Messianic Jew dies, an angel comes and puts the foreskin back on, therefore the Messianic Jew becomes uncircumcised and goes to hell.

But the prophets had made it clear that mere physical circumcision had no spiritual power or benefit. The days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh – Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the wilderness in distant places (apparently these nations practiced circumcision). Though physically circumcised, they are spiritually uncircumcised, their hearts being closed to the understanding and love of God and His teachings. For all the Gentile nations are really uncircumcised, and even the whole house of Isra’el is uncircumcised in heart (9:25-26). While all those Gentile nations at some point practiced physical circumcision, nevertheless, they had remained uncircumcised at heart. Unfortunately, so did Judah. This emphasized again that Judah had deteriorated to the same level as the Gentiles and were no more circumcised spiritually than they were. Disobedience to God put the circumcised Israelites in the same category of judgment as the uncircumcised Gentiles. As a result, this was a near historical future prophecy about the fall of Jerusalem (see the commentary on Jeremiah Gb – The Destruction of Solomon’s Temple on Tisha B’Av in 586 BC).

So, despite the fact that in Genesis 17 God gave the Jews the sign of the Abrahamic Covenant, in Deuteronomy 30:1-10 ADONAI also talks about having a circumcised heart (see the commentary on Deuteronomy Fp – Restoration After Repentance). All the customs of Judaism, as we know, point to a greater spiritual truth. And that is what Paul is trying to get the Jews in Rome to see here is that they needed to have the circumcised spirit. Today we would call them Messianic Jews.

But on the other hand, Paul continues, if an uncircumcised man, a Gentile, keeps the righteous requirements of the Torah, won’t his physical uncircumcision be counted as spiritual circumcision, or circumcision of the heart (2:26). He will then become heir to the promises of the covenant with Abraham because he would be grafted in (11:17).⁶²

Indeed, the man who is physically uncircumcised, that is, a Gentile, but obeys the Torah, and circumcises his heart (Deuteronomy 30:6), then ADONAI will look on him just as favorably as He looks at a circumcised Jew – counting the believing Gentile’s uncircumcision as if it were true circumcision. Paul’s next devastating blow to the Jew who had false trust in his Jewish privileges, was the declaration that the obedient Gentile, who is physically uncircumcised but has a circumcised heart, not only pleases YHVH, but will stand as a judgment on Jews with uncircumcised hearts who have had a b’rit-milah (a circumcision ceremony), and have Torah written out – but violate it (2:27)! It is not that such Gentiles will perform the actual judgment, which is Yeshua’s right alone (John 5:22), but rather that their faithful obedience will stand as a rebuke to the faithless disobedience of the hypocritical Jews.

Who is a Jew? As Rabbi Barry Rubin states in the Complete Jewish Study Bible, in traditional Judaism, one is either a Jew by birth or by choice. For a Jew by birth, there are two basic positions: matrilineal (that is, a person is Jewish if born from a Jewish mother) and patrilineal (born of a Jewish father). Orthodox and Conservative Judaism hold to a matrilineal position. In Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism, a bi-lineal approach is used, acknowledging both matrilineal and patrilineal descent. Messianic Judaism also uses the bi-lineal approach. A Jew by choice is a person not born a Jew who freely chooses to become a Jew through conversion (a proselyte). This person is called a ger (convert).

Generally, all of Judaism traces its origin to Abraham, who was called a Hebrew (Genesis 14:13). The etymology of the word Jew goes back to the word Y’hudah (Judah), one of the twelve sons of Jacob, or the twelve tribes of Isra’el. The root Hebrew meaning of the word Jew (Y’hudah) means to praise. At first, the term Jew came to mean anyone from the tribe of Y’hudah. Eventually, however, it was extended to refer to Israelites of all tribes, not just the descendants of Y’hudah.

But what about Romans 2:28-29? Was Paul redefining the term Jew to mean only spiritually, and thereby rejecting the physical? On the surface it seems so, but when the text is considered with other related verses, it is clear that his purpose was to remind those who were Jews not to rely upon the physical signs of circumcision, their Jewishness, to be justified before ADONAI, but to rely upon the circumcision of the heart which leads to true praise.⁶³

Therefore, because the name Jew comes from Y’hudah, which means to praise, Paul is basically saying, “Live up to your name!” Such a one is not a God-praiser in any sense and will exclude him from the promises He made to the Jewish people (Chapters 9-11). However, if he repents, gives up his pride, circumcises his heart, and comes to acknowledge Yeshua as his Savior, Lord and Messiah, then he will be grafted back into his own olive tree (11:24). But in his present state, he is merely a branch cut off from the tree, hence not a Jew (11:23-24).

Now Paul wraps up his discussion of Torah and circumcision. For the real Jew, contrary to Pharisaic theology, is not merely Jewish outwardly: true circumcision is not only external and physical. On the contrary, the real Jew (one who praises ADONAI) is one inwardly, and true circumcision is of the heart, spiritual, not merely physical (2:28).

Paul will answer the question, “Has the gospel nullified God’s promises to Isra’el,” in Chapters 9, 10 and 11.

So that his praise (meaning his Judaism) comes not from other people but from God (2:29). Therefore, the praise is reciprocal; ADONAI praises such a Jew with a circumcised heart. This is why some Jews like to call themselves “completed Jews,” because they have received both types of circumcision, outward and inward. Where the outward circumcision identifies their Jewishness, it is their inward circumcision that saves them.

This verse does not teach that everyone who becomes a believer becomes a spiritual Jew, because the context here is with Jews, not Gentiles. Jews who believe are spiritual Jews, and Gentiles who believe are spiritual Gentiles.

Where does this leave the Jewish women? Some people interpret this as the Bible being anti-women. But does that lack of a sign for women mean that God views them to be less valuable than the men in His eyes? Absolutely not! Throughout the entire Bible, YHVH does nothing but elevate that status of women. In fact, Judaism teaches that the men are more accountable than the women. This is echoed in the relationship between husbands and wives in the B’rit Chadashah (see the commentary on Genesis Lv – I Do Not Permit a Woman to Teach or Have Authority Over a Man, She Must Be Silent).⁶⁴

The Religious Jew’s Lack of Obedience
2: 17-24

The religious Jew’s lack of obedience DIG: How did rabbinic Judaism and the Oral Law, distort God’s original intent of the Torah? What did they learn? In what four areas does the religious Jew consider himself to be a spiritually superior teacher? What three areas revealed their spiritual and moral hypocrisy? Instead of special treatment, what did God’s blessings actually give to the Jews?

REFLECT: Instead of special treatment, what have God’s blessings actually given to you? Without having to be perfect, how do you view your obedience to ADONAI? What needs to change? Anything gets between you and God, He wants out of the way. Do you put anything before God? Your family? Your job? Your spouse? Yourself? Why?

Jewish privileges brought on certain responsibilities; however, these privileges do not prove the Jews righteousness. Only faith in Yeshua brings righteousness.

The religious Jew boasted in the Torah. He was different from the Gentile pagan who worshiped idols (to see link click Ak – The Pagan Gentile), or the “good person” (see Ao – The “Good Person”). Paul made it clear that it was not the possession of the Torah that counted, but the obedience to the Torah that mattered. Religious Jews looked upon the pagan Gentiles and the “good person” as blind, in darkness, foolish, immature, and ignorant. But if YHVH found the Gentile pagan and the “good person” guilty, how much more guilty were the “privileged” Jews? Paul is making the same point as Moshe: Circumcise your heart (see the commentary on Deuteronomy Cn – Circumcise Your Hearts).

1. What they learned: But since you call yourself a Jew and rely on Torah and boast about God and know His will and give your approval to what is right, because you have been instructed from the Torah, nevertheless, you cannot claim any superiority on this basis (2:17-18). Because rabbinic Judaism had corrupted the Torah to an outward observance, and hence the futile attempt to keep all 613 mitzvot, some rabbis began teaching that merely learning the mitzvot was sufficient to please YHVH. Weakening the purpose even further, some taught that the mere possession of it, in the form of written scrolls, was adequate. Still others believed the Jews were safe from God’s judgment simply because, as a people, they were the special recipients and custodians of the Torah.

Dear Loving Heavenly Father, Praise You that Your love for us is not merely an outward observance, but a real and genuine, deep and forever love! You ask the same of us. And He said to him, “‘You shall love ADONAI your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ (Matthew 22:39, Mark 12:30, Luke 10:27). Thank You that entrance into your Heavenly Kingdom will not be by words nor by actions that people do. Not everyone who says to Me, ‘”Lord, Lord!” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, “Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, and drive out demons in Your name, and perform many miracles in Your name?” Then I will declare to them, “I never knew you. Get away from Me, you workers of lawlessness” (Matthew 7:21-23)!

Entrance to your eternal kingdom of love and peace is for all who move beyond just saying they believe, and also have a heart full of love for you that prompts them to do actions to show their love of Yeshua as their Lord and Savior. For if you confess with your mouth that Yeshua is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart it is believed for righteousness, and with the mouth it is confessed for salvation (Romans 10:9-10). “True love from the Heart” is the key to heaven! In your holy Son’s name and power of His resurrection. Amen

The TaNaKh makes its purpose quite clear, however, and it repeatedly warns against placing any trust in outward ceremonies and objects, even those such as the Levitical sacrifices and the Temple itself, which Ha’Shem had ordained (see the commentary on Jeremiah Cc – False Religion is Worthless). Self-righteous and presumptuous, rabbinic Judaism became satisfied to simply know the will of ADONAI, without obeying it. They learned what YHVH required and what He forbade, what He commanded and what He prohibited, what He rewarded and what He punished. But rather than saving them, that knowledge became a judgment against them, because they refused to live by it and refused to accept the remedy for such failure.⁵⁵

2. What they taught: Jews not only felt secure in what they knew, but also in what they taught. Considering themselves the most religiously wise, they naturally thought themselves to be the most competent teachers of the spiritually unaware, namely, the Gentiles, who did not have the benefit of the Torah. But, Isra’el’s continued unfaithfulness to God and disobedience of His Word disqualified her as an example and teacher to them. And even when the Jews made an occasional convert to Judaism, they made the Gentile convert worse off than he was before. Woe to you hypocritical Torah-teachers and Pharisees, Yeshua said. You go about over land and sea to make one proselyte, and when you succeed, you make him twice as fit for Gei-Hinnom as you are (Matthew 23:15)! Instead of leading Gentiles to trust the One true God and become obedient to His will, the Jewish leaders indoctrinated converts into the Oral Law (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ei – The Oral Law). Paul then mentions four areas in which religious Jews considered themselves spiritually superior teachers.

First, Paul said: You have persuaded yourself that you are a guide to the blind (2:19a). The religious Jew considered himself to be a superior mentor of the community in spiritual and moral matters. He saw himself as a religious guide, to the unlearned Jew, but especially to the blind Gentile pagans. Because of their arrogant pride and blatant hypocrisy, Messiah charged them with being blind guides (Matthew 23:24-28). Far from being qualified to guide others, they were themselves in desperate need of guidance.

Second, Paul notes that the religious Jew considered himself to be a light to the Gentiles who were in the darkness (2:19b). Ironically, that was the role that YHVH had intended for Isra’el. Moses had pointed to the fact that all the families of the earth will be blessed by her (Genesis 12:3b). Then Isaiah elaborated even further when he said: I, ADONAI, called you righteously, I took hold of you by the hand, I shaped you and made you a covenant of the people, to be a light to the Gentiles (Isaiah 42:6). But the Jews fell far short of their lofty responsibility.

Yeshua declares us to be the light of the world and charges us to put our light on a lampstand, where it can be seen and will do some good. Let your light shine before people, so that they may see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:14-16). That has always been Ha’Shem’s intention for His people. He gives us light not only for our own spiritual benefit, but also for the benefit of the rest of the world, before whom we are His witnesses.

Third, the religious Jew prided himself as being an instructor for the spiritually unaware (2:20a). Once again, the primary focus was the spiritually unaware Gentiles, even the wisest of whom were considered to be foolish in the area of the Torah and the Oral Law.

Fourth, the religious Jew thought of himself as a teacher of children in the faith, or in the context here, Gentile proselytes to Judaism, who needed special instruction (2:20b). They needed to learn Torah, but they also needed to rid themselves of many of the pagan ideas and practices in which they had been brought up.⁵⁶ Since the Jews did have the Torah, they actually did have the embodiment of divine knowledge and truth (2:20c). However, their understanding, teaching, and modeling it had become so overshadowed by the Oral Law, what Yeshua called the traditions of the elders (Mark 7:3), that the true benefit of the Torah as God’s blueprint for living (see the commentary on Exodus Dh – Moses and the Torah), was largely unknown and disregarded.

3. What they did: Paul’s contention here is that even when the religious Jew taught the truth, they taught it hypocritically. Just as the Adversary sometimes disguises himself as an angel of light (Second Corinthians 11:14), false teachers sometimes teach the truth for their own selfish ends. Then, you who teach others, don’t you teach yourself (2:21a)? Paul mentions three areas of their spiritual and moral hypocrisy: stealing, adultery, and idolatrous acts.

Stealing: By asking a series of questions, Paul showed that the religious Jew, who had the Torah, totally failed to comprehend the responsibilities that came with possessing it. He taught others, but he failed to teach himself. Preaching, “Thou shalt not steal” (see the commentary on Deuteronomy Bs – Do Not Steal), do you steal (2:21b)? Despite the clear mitzvot against stealing, it was very common in ancient Isra’el. Isaiah rebuked those who turn to their own way, each one intent on his own gain (Isaiah 56:11). Ezeki’el denounced those who take bribes to shed blood . . . demand and accept interest on loans, and in greed you make profits off your neighbors by extorting them (Ezeki’el 22:12). Amos wrote of those who stole by making the bushel smaller and the shekel bigger with dishonest scales (Amos 8:5 NASB). Malachi even accused some of his fellow Jews of robbing from YHVH by withholding some of the tithes and offerings owed Him (Malachi 3:8-9).

When Yeshua cleansed the Temple during the last week of His earthly ministry, He accused the sons of Annus the high priest of making His Father’s house a den of robbers (Matthew 21:13). On another occasion Messiah was cutting in His condemnation of the Torah-teachers and Pharisees – the self-appointed authorities on righteousness – for swallowing up widow’s houses while making a show of praying at great length (Matthew 23:14).

Adultery: Saying, “Thou shalt not commit adultery” (see the commentary on Deuteronomy Br – Do Not Commit Adultery), do you commit adultery (2:22a)? As with stealing, the clear implication is that they practiced the very evil they condemned in others. Many religious Jews tried to get around the Torah’s mitzvah against adultery by divorcing their wives and marrying another woman whom they were attracted to. But Yeshua declared that divorce and remarriage on any grounds other than adultery and desertion resulted in adultery, just as surely as if no divorce had occurred (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ij – Is It Lawful for a Man to Divorce His Wife?). Adultery can even be committed without the physical act: A man who even looks at a woman with the purpose of lusting after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart (Matthew 5:28).⁵⁷

Do you think Paul was being too harsh on the Jews? Consider this: in the first century the rabbis had decided that the prohibition against adultery and the sentence of stoning for adulterers should be disregarded because there were so many adulteries. There was so much adultery going around, that the rabbis decided they couldn’t do anything about it!⁵⁸

Idolatrous acts: The third area of hypocrisy related to committing idolatrous acts. Detesting idols (see the commentary on Deuteronomy Bm – Do Not Make Idols), do you commit idolatrous acts by stealing money, whether by themselves or by others, from the pagan temples (2:22b)? With pointed contrast to the hatred of idols on which the religious Jew prided himself, this is certainly the last offense of which we should have expected that he would be guilty of, knowing the care with which he shunned all contact with idolatry. He may, however, have thought the plunder from pagan temples as fair game. At any rate, it is clear that this charge was commonly brought against the Jews. In Acts 19:37, the city clerk of Ephesus acquitted Paul and his companions, by saying: You have brought these men here who have neither robbed the temple nor insulted your goddesses. Josephus also (Antiquities 1v. 8 and 10) quotes as a principle of the Torah, “Let no one blaspheme those gods which other cities esteem such; nor may any one steal what belongs to strange temples; nor take away the gifts that are dedicated to any god.”⁵⁹

4. What they caused: You who take such pride in Torah, do you, by disobeying the Torah, dishonor God (2:23)? The result of Jewish lack of obedience to the Torah described here is that, far from being a light to the Gentiles (Isaiah 42:6 and 49:6), as they are supposed to be, they plunge the Gentiles further into darkness, causing them to harden their hearts: As it says in the TaNaKh, “For it is because of you that God’s name is blasphemed by the Goyim” (Romans 24:24; Isaiah 52:5; Ezeki’el 36:20). The Gentiles had daily contact with the Jews in business and other activities, and they were not fooled by the Jew’s lack of obedience to the Torah. The very Torah that the Jews claimed to obey only indicted them! One may add that the same accusation can be made of some who call themselves Christians, but lead lives that shame God, they cause Jewish people to despise their Messiah and distance themselves even further from the saving power of the gospel. Fortunately, God’s truth does not depend on them, and there are others whose lives are a better testimony.⁶⁰

The Religious Jew
2:17 to 3:20

Paul has already talked about the universal need of mankind for Yeshua Messiah as Lord and Savior (to see link click Aj – The Universal Need of Mankind). Here, he shows that the religious Jew is just as guilty as the pagan Gentile (see Ak – The Pagan Gentile) or the “good person” (see Ao – The “Good Person”).

Paul’s Gospel
2: 16

As Paul began his letter to the Galatians, he contrasted the gospel he preached to what he called man’s gospel. On the day when God judges the secrets of mankind according to my gospel through Messiah Yeshua (Romans 2:16), my Good News (Romans 16:25). After Paul was saved on the Damascus road, he had a brief period of ministry in that city (Acts 9:20-23), then he went to Arabia for three years (see below), and sat at the feet of Messiah. Just as Yeshua was awakened morning by morning by God the Father, awakening His ear to listen like a disciple (Isaiah 50:4); Paul was awakened morning by morning by Yeshua, opening his understanding to the mind of Messiah and the apostle to the Gentiles.

There, isolated from all human contact, Paul had another look at the TaNaKh, not with the Oral Law (see the commentary on The Life of Christ, to see link click Ei – The Oral Law) corrupting his thinking, but, led by the Ruach Ha’Kodesh, focusing on the cross of our Lord Yeshua Messiah. Alone with ADONAI, he began putting together his revolutionary version of the gospel – revolutionary in that for the first time a Scriptural and theological basis was given for presenting the gospel to Gentiles without their having first to become Jews. Out of all his meditations emerged the doctrine written in the book of Romans.

It must have taken him considerable time for Messiah and the Ruach to disciple Paul about the various specific issues – the nature of atonement and forgiveness, the authority of the Torah, the meaning of the Messianic prophecies, the role and future of the Jewish people, the preeminent requirement of faith and the shedding of Messiah’s blood for salvation, the role of ethics, and other essential theological matters – to formulate and refine his views to what they were when he wrote his letters to the various churches. As soon as he experienced the call of ADONAI to be an apostle to the Gentiles, he must have realized that his need was not to be taught the Good News as it had been presented to the Jews by Jeremiah (see the commentary on Jeremiah Eo – The Days are Coming, declares the LORD, When I Will Make a New Covenant with the People of Isra’el), but to think about and meditate privately on its implications for Gentiles. There was no one to guide him on this, save Yeshua and the Spirit, for he would be pioneering; but his training as a Jewish scholar under Gamaliel, uniquely equipped him to investigate those matters above in a fundamental way.⁵²

In a way, what we see happening today in the emerging Messianic movement is similar to what Paul had to go through during the three-year sabbatical after his conversion of faith (Galatians 1:18), and prior to his First Missionary Journey. The real work for Paul was understanding the implications of communicating this Jewish truth to the non-Jewish world. Paul had to be prepared for God’s intention for the Good News of His Son to reach the Gentiles. The gospel needed to maintain the integrity of its Jewish origins, yet, also adapt to new situations and circumstances.

While today as believers we are all recipients of knowing that the Savior has come, the development of the Messianic movement indicates that new situations and circumstances are standing at our doorstep. Originally, Messianic Judaism began as a group of Jewish believers in Yeshua wanting to evangelize and reach out to their fellow Jews. But as an unforeseen consequence of this, the Messianic community also attracted a great number of Gentile believers wanting to know about their Jewish roots. Therefore, today, issues are being asked about Jewish and Gentile believers being one in Messiah (Ephesians 2:14), and how they should live in diligent obedience to ADONAI. In Paul’s day, the question was, “Can these Gentiles be believers?” Today, however, the question seems to be, “Can these Jews be believers?” Perhaps the current season in which we find ourselves – refining our theology and understanding of varied issues – is preparing us to reach out to the world at large, much as Paul was prepared during the three-years after he encountered the Living Yeshua on the Damascus Road.⁵³

In writing to the Galatians, Paul said: I did not receive it from any human, nor was I taught it, but it came through special revelation of Yeshua the Messiah (Galatians 1:12; First Corinthians 15:22). The word revelation is from the Greek word apokalupto, meaning an uncovering of a subjective revelation to an individual. Yeshua Messiah is best understood as the object of that very revelation. In other words, God the Father would reveal God the Son through Paul to others. This revelation was the act of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh uncovering truth incapable of being discovered by the natural mind of mankind.

Paul’s gospel made no distinction between Jew or Gentile (Ephesians 2:14). All are counted in unbelief as sinners, and are judged by God without respect of persons whether given the Torah or not. And just as through Isra’el all the families of the earth [Gentiles] would be blessed (Genesis 12:3), and just as Yeshua was to be a light for the Gentiles (Isaiah 49:6b), Paul would be the apostle to the Gentiles (Acts 9:15). The heart of Paul’s teaching “his gospel” – is that it represents not a man-made artifact but a divinely-authored and supernaturally-conveyed “mystery.” In the words which he later employs with the Ephesians, “the mystery of Messiah, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations, as it has now been revealed by the Ruach to His holy emissaries and prophets. This mystery is that the Gentiles are joint heirs and fellow members of the same body and co-sharers of the promise in Messiah Yeshua through the gospel. I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s favor given to me through the exercise of His power” (Ephesians 3:4-7).

A specific midrash (a rabbinical commentary on the Torah) anticipates that the Messiah will discover new meanings and interpretations of the Torah, and links this task with the giving of these new meanings and interpretations to the Gentiles. The rabbis teach that the Scripture: Binding his foal to the vine, his donkey’s colt to the choice vine (Genesis 49:11a), implies, when He will come of whom it is written: He is lowly, riding on a donkey – on a colt, the foal of a donkey (Zechariah 9:9). He washes His garments in wine (Genesis 49:11b) suggests that the Messiah will compose for the Gentiles words of the Torah. And the blood of grapes on his robe (Genesis 49:11c), intimates that He will point out their misconceptions. Rabbi Hanin said, “Isra’el will not require the teaching of the royal Messiah in the future, for it says: The [Gentile] nations will go after Him (Isaiah 11:10), but not Isra’el. If so, for what purpose will the royal Messiah come, and what will He do? He will come to assemble the exiles of Isra’el and give the Gentiles thirty pieces, as it says: Then I said to them, ‘If it seems good to you, pay me my wages, but if not, don’t bother!’ So, they weighed out my wages – thirty pieces of silver” (Zechariah 11:12) (Gen.R. 98:9; Tanh.Vaychi 10; Urbach, Sages 310-14).⁵⁴

However, over the centuries, in her pride, Isra’el had generally come to exclude Gentiles from the Kingdom. The Jews viewed Gentiles as dogs, not worthy of being by the side of Abraham (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Hx – The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus). Yet, after he was saved, after spending three years in Arabia sitting under the Master and the Ruach, before Peter went to the house of Cornelius, before Peter’s report to the elders at the Messianic congregation in Jerusalem, and before the council at Jerusalem, Paul taught that salvation in Messiah was available for both Jews and Gentiles before Peter or any of the other twelve Jewish apostles. They also included Gentiles, but they expected that once a Gentile received the gospel about the King of the Jews, he or she would become Jewish. After all, it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs (Matthew 15:26; Mark 7:27). But Paul’s gospel was not just Good News for Isra’el, but for everyone. Before anyone else, Paul taught that Gentiles didn’t have to become Jewish to be saved – a radical idea for his day.

It is both ironic, and tragic, that today far too many churches believe that once Jews receive the gospel about the King of the Jews, they are expected to become Gentiles and join the church, rather than respecting the legitimate need for and support of Messianic synagogues. Far too many Gentiles seem to have forgotten who is grafted into whom. But if some of the branches were broken off and you – being a wild olive – were grafted in among them and became a partaker of the root of the olive tree with its richness, do not boast against the branches (11:118a). It seems to me that when Gentiles make Jews act like Gentiles, assuming that they should ignore their own heritage and culture, that Gentiles are, in fact, boasting against the branches.

34 AD (see the commentary on Acts Bc – Sha’ul Turns from Murderer to Messiah).

34-36 AD Three years in Arabia (see the commentary on Galatians An – Arabia during the Time of Paul)

37 AD (see the commentary on Acts Bg – Peter Goes to the House of Cornelius)

42 AD (see the commentary on Acts Bh – Peter’s Report to Jerusalem)

48 AD (see the commentary on Acts Bs – The Council at Jerusalem)

48 AD Galatians written from Antioch

57 AD Romans written from Corinth

Three times, Paul refers to his gospel message as “my gospel.”

On the day when God judges the secrets of mankind according to “my gospel” through Messiah Yeshua (Romans 2:16).

Now to the One who is able to strengthen you according to “my gospel” and the proclamation of Yeshua the Messiah, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages (Romans 2:25).

Remember Yeshua the Messiah raised from the dead, from the seed of David – according to “my gospel” (Second Timothy 2:8).

Paul preached the resurrection of Messiah as the means of salvation and sanctification for all humanity as part of a new creature, the universal Church, the Body of Messiah (First Corinthians 12:27). Paul’s gospel message was salvation equals faith, plus nothing, and so Paul stands alone in calling it the gospel of Messiah (First Corinthians 9:12), but the fact that he also calls it “my gospel” can only be explained by understanding that Messiah gave it first to Paul exclusively, that’s why he could say “my gospel.”

Dear Righteous Heavenly Father, How loving and wise You are! Praise You that “salvation equals faith, plus nothing”! No amount of good works can be enough to save us – for you require perfection to enter your holy heaven. Only those who have Yeshua’s perfect holiness, can enter God’s perfect heaven. Thank You for graciously giving Yeshua’s righteousness to all who love and follow Him as their Lord and Savior. We beg you on behalf of Messiah, be reconciled to God. He made the One who knew no sin to become a sin offering on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (Second Corinthians 5:21).

Messiah Yeshua, Who, though existing in the form of God, did not consider being equal to God a thing to be grasped. But He emptied Himself – taking on the form of a slave, becoming the likeness of men and being found in appearance as a man. He humbled Himself – becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason, God highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Yeshua every knee should bow, in heaven and on the earth and under the earth, and every tongue profess that Yeshua the Messiah is Lord – to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:5c-11). We bow in worship and adoration of such great love! We look forward to praising You thru out all eternity! In the holy name of Your Son and His power of resurrection. Amen