Sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace (Romans 6:140.
Commentary and explanation. The Apostle makes a very ample affirmation here, when he says that we are not under law but under grace. Let us see what these words meant for the Jews of his time, and for us at the present time.
a) What life under the law was for a Jew. Paul's words, you are not under law but under grace, had a very strong meaning for the Jews of his time. For more than 1,400 years the people of Israel had lived under the law given by God through Moses.
The law was something sacred for any Jew. In Deuteronomy was written: You shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates (Deuteronomy 11;18-20). This gives us an idea about the respect and veneration that every good Israelite had for the law. Jewish people lived in function of the law, and we can see this very clearly through the narratives of the gospel.
The obedience to the law was also a requisite or condition to attain the promises made by God. According to the covenant between God and Moses, all God's blessings were conditioned: If you will indeed obey My voice and keep my covenant... (Exodus 19:5). There was also a threat of condemnation, because the law said: Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them (Galatians 3:10; Deuteronomy 27:26).
This was the status of the law for a Jew, when Paul appears suddenly and says to them: You are not any longer under the law but under grace. What happened? How are we going to be saved if it is not by obedience to the law?
b) What life under grace is for a Christian. What Paul announces here is a panorama and perspective completely different from the Jewish vision. According to the Jewish perspective, the law was the center of the Jewish religion, and its observance was the hope for salvation. Paul presents an approach completely new, where the law is displaced by grace: You are not any longer under the law but under grace.
Paul does not intend to say that believers are not subject to the moral law; all his letters constantly emphasize ethics and Christian behavior. What Paul teaches here is that justification can not be obtained by the deeds of the law, but that it is a present or gift from God: it is by grace.
This is new order; the Old Testament is left behind; the law —he says,— is unable to justify: by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight (Romans 3:20). Besides this, salvation is no longer a conditional promise, but a firm and certain gift to whoever believes. The only thing that is required now is to believe, faith in Jesus Christ: we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law (Romans 3:28).
We are now under a new covenant; we call it New Testament. This is a covenant of grace, where justification is obtained, not by deeds, but by faith in Jesus Christ. This is the age we are living now; this is the new age which will last up to the return of the Lord.
There are Christians yet that have an Old Testament mentality and still expect salvation by their good works and the observance of the law. Those Christians, what a pity! haven't been completely evangelized, nor have converted entirely to Christ as their Savior. We could tell them with Paul: You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace (Galatians 5:4). Let us pray for them, and help them to discover that salvation is by grace, by faith in Jesus Christ.
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By grace you have been saved, through faith, and not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works (Ephesians 2: 8-10).
Commentary and explanation. The Apostle once again teaches us that salvation is by grace, through faith. This means that the whole work of salvation is by grace and not by works. Salvation is gift, is a present of God for the believer, who obtains it through faith.
Man can not then attribute to himself any action by which he could deserve or could obtain salvation, because it is not of works, lest anyone should boast. The whole work of salvation is in the hands of God; it is such a gift of God that nobody can merit it. God wants to be the only author of salvation. Men can receive and accept that gift; that is why it is called grace, that means free.
There is no human action through which we could deserve or obtain salvation. Salvation is a completely divine action; it is an action from God alone and only by His grace. Even faith, through which the believer attains salvation, is grace or gift of God.
When Paul says then that by grace we are saved, through faith, he is teaching us that faith enables us to make ours the salvation that is in Jesus Christ; that is why he adds: that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God (v. 8).
It is also important to notice that this quotation puts together two things that come with salvation: one, that we are saved by grace, not of works, lest anyone should boast (v. 9); and two, that once we are saved and made His own creation, His own workmanship, by grace, then we should abound in good works. Paul says: created in Christ Jesus for good works (Ephesians 2:10). These two things do not exclude each other but they complement each other.
Therefore, salvation on one hand can't ever be obtained by good works done by a person, and, on the other hand, whoever is saved should abound in good deeds as an expression of his/her faith. Good works are a fruit or consequence of salvation.
Authentic faith always comes together with good works; and we say, "comes together", because good works do not cause salvation, or God does not give salvation as a prize or reward for good deeds; but instead good works should follow salvation as a sign, signal or expression that we are saved.
The synthesis of this is then that nobody can merit or "buy" salvation with good works, as great as they might be; but, whoever is saved or made new creature, should abound in good works.
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He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace (Ephesians 1: 4-7)
Commentary and explanation. This is a very condensed text which, in a few sentences, says many important things regarding our Christian vocation; and it is a little difficult to understand. Reading this text one realizes how deep was Paul's knowledge about the mystery of Christ, as he said later in the same letter: When you read this, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ (Ephesians 3:4).
Let us try then to understand this mystery of Christ, that the Apostle shares with us at the beginning of his letter to the Ephesians. There are four main subjects mentioned here by the Apostle, which are closely related to one another. These subjects are: election or predestination, grace, the aim of the election, and the fruits of the election. Let us see, in summary, these four things.
1. The election or predestination. God chose us or, as the Apostle says, predestined us. This choice or predestination by God, was done before the creation of the world, and it was made in Jesus Christ. The corresponding parts of the text that refer to the election and predestination, are:
2. Grace. The election made by God is by grace, that is, free; it is a gift of God that we can not earn. That is why it is said that all this was made by pure love, and for the good pleasure of His will. The corresponding verses that affirm this, are the following:
3. The aim of the election. We may distinguish here the immediate aims of the election, namely: a) to make us holy and clean before Him, and b) to make us His adopted sons by Jesus Christ; and also the definitive and final goal of that election which is the glory of His holy grace.
The texts which are related to the aims of the election are:
4. The fruits of the election. Besides the fruits already mentioned in the aim of the election, redemption and forgiveness of sins are mentioned here. The corresponding texts that refer to the fruits of the election, are:
The divine election. After having seen the synthesis or summary of these three verses, let us try to understand a little more in detail the divine election. Verse 4 says: He chose us; and verse 5 says: having predestined us. From a practical point of view there is no big difference between election and predestination, because we may say that God chose us and made us His sons, by election or by predestination; the result is the same: God adopted us to Himself to be His sons.
In Step 42, about Romans 8:28-30, we will see in more detail what predestination means. For the time being, let us understand that God thought about each of us before the foundation of the world, which means, from eternity, before creation, and since then, He chose us to be His adopted children, through Jesus Christ.
Let us reflect then that the will of God to make us His children goes back to eternity; and it was something that God thought and decided very carefully, so to say; or, as the text states, in love, according to the good pleasure of His will, with no merit from our side. Everything there was grace, love, gift of God, with no merit from man.
We won't be able to understand here on earth how it was possible that God wanted to make us His sons. We can say: we are children of God, but only in heaven will we be able to understand what that means. Undoubtedly God, with all His power, could not do anything greater for mankind than to make us His sons. And that was what God did: made us His children. We are sons of God! What a privilege for humans to be children of God!
The only explanation for this generous and benevolent attitude of God, is what the text teaches us: by Jesus Christ. This means that, by the merits of Jesus Christ, God elected us to be His adopted sons, together with His natural Son, Jesus Christ.
For the same reason God wanted that we should be holy and without blame before Him, which means that we are set apart for Him, chosen to be His, and to be clean of sin, according to the riches of His grace, as verse 7 says.
And this divine election is oriented to the praise of the glory of His grace. Our adoption as sons of God is, in itself, a constant praise and glory of His marvelous grace. This is the glory of His grace: that men are, together with His Son, His adopted children.
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We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified (Romans 8:28-30).
Commentary and explanation. These three verses of Romans 8:28-30, tell us about the purpose of God with mankind. As we can infer from its reading, the process of our salvation —the history of salvation,— includes five "steps" up to glorification, as follows: :
The first three steps of the process of salvation, are: He foreknew us, He predestined us and He called us. God does not act as human beings do; therefore, it is as a matter of fact that these three steps are not God' steps, but they have been stated in Scripture for us.
Human beings do one thing after the other; God does not. For God everything is present, and everything is done by only one and the most simple act of His power; this act transcends all time. It is for our understanding that it was written: For whom He foreknew, He also predestined; and for whom He predestined, these He also called.
This quotation is like a human narrative of something that God does in His own divine way. The essence of all this is that the process of human salvation is carried through, by the will and knowledge of God, with no intervention of human merits. In other words, God forknows, predestines and calls, without any merit from men. The divine call and election are by grace, by the free will of God.
The problem of predestination. The word predestination could confuse us somehow, and —to tell the truth,— nobody knows with certainty how God does and works, except God Himself. The word predestination includes two concepts: one, the prefix pre, which means before; and the other one, destination, which in this case means something like decision or election. When we put together the two concepts, predestination means the fact by which God before time, from the beginning of eternity, knows everything that is going to happen in time, and it will happen.
We do not know exactly how God makes this election; there are only opinions and interpretations. What we know for sure is that God knew all of us before we came into existence, and that God has a purpose with every one of us, up to our glorification. This is what we call the purpose of grace.
The problem with predestination is this: if God knew, infallibly, what was going to happen in the future, then it doesn't matter what one does or chooses, his/her destiny is already determined. This is a human way of seeing the divine actions, and we could be wrong entirely; predestination does not mean predetermination. As a matter of fact, man does not act impelled or pressured to do anything, but acts freely; and the same Bible that teaches us that God knew everything before it happens, the same Bible teaches that human beings are free, and that their destiny is in their own hands, according to their free will.
The fact is that God knows everything, including those free decisions to be made by men. He works all things according to the counsel of His will, we read in Ephesians 1:11; and in Philippians it is said: work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:12-13).
Two things are going together here: one, man is free and should work out his own salvation with fear and trembling, as if everything would depend upon him; and two, God is sovereign, and He is the one Who works in us both to will and to do. We can be sure, nevertheless, that God will never deny His grace, because He says: for His good pleasure, that is, God kindly regards all men and women.
Paul talks about this, again in Romans, chapter 9, as we'll see in Step 43. Predestination will be always a mystery for human beings, but clearly the grace and mercy of God will never fail.
God predestined us to be His children. The final aim of God's call is to make us conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. God gives us a resemblance with His Son, and as a consequence recognizes us as His children, together with His Son, who is the firstborn. And all this is by grace, because a human being never would have been a child of God, if God himself had not called him.
We know that, for those who are elected, all things work together for good. As we saw in the quotation for this Step, from the very beginning of this process of salvation, the Apostle affirms that, to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose, all things work together for good. This is a consoling teaching: if you are called, you can be sure that everything will be good for you. It does not say that everything will be as you'd like or think, but that everything will be for good. The words, we know, at the beginning of the text, means just that: that we can be sure!
The last two steps of this process of salvation are justification and glorification; these two are grace of God too. The last two steps of the process of salvation which the Apostle mentions in his quotation are: justification and glorification. These are pure grace and gift of God.
We have seen in the previous Steps that the whole work of justification is by grace, without taking in account deeds or merits of the person. We can say the same about glorification, which is the final step of salvation.
Nobody can justify himself by his own deeds: being justified freely, by His grace, by faith, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, we read in Romans 3:24. Neither can anybody deserve the glory that God has prepared in heaven for those He adopted as His children.
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For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion." So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy... Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? (Romans 9:15-16;21-24).
Commentary and explanation. Let us see once again that the call and election of God are by grace, just for love, according to the good pleasure of His will (Ephesians 1:5). That is why we have said that salvation is by grace, because it is something that God gives us, without intervention of any merit or right from us.
The quotation we are studying now tells us about the sovereign dominion of God over us and over the whole creation. Here are the principal points:
a) God will have compassion on whomever He will have compassion. In this chapter 9 Paul is telling us how God chose Jacob, the younger son of Isaac, instead of Esau who was the senior, to be the heir of the promises made by God to Abraham. Verse 11 says that God chose him (Jacob) not yet being born, to be clear that he was chosen not for having done any good or evil, but by His will.
What shall we say then? Paul questions. Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion." (verses 14 and 15). The message is clear: He has compassion on whomever He wants; we must accept this. The following verses explain a little why. The reason is clear: He has a sovereign power over all His creatures.
b) It is not of him who wills, but of God. The Apostle wants that we do not have any doubts about the absolute dominion of God, and says: So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy... (verse 16). Once again he shows us that our works are worth nothing to deserve the mercy of God; it does not depend on him who will, nor on him who runs; it depends on Him who has mercy on us.
If in one hand it is terrible that we can't do anything to be chosen, on the other hand it is comforting and encouraging to know that we can turn to God, and put Jesus Christ our Savior as our Mediator, Whom God set forth to be propitiation by His blood, through faith (Romans 3:25). With Jesus as intermediary, God is always propitious, favorable to our side.
c) As the potter has power to do what he wants, so God may do what He wishes with us. The Apostle explains to us, with a simple example, the total dominion of God over us and over our destiny. In the same way as the potter has power to do what he wants with his clay, without any right of the clay to ask: Why have you made me like this? (Romans 9:20), thus God might show mercy on some, and no mercy on others.
d) God made known His love and riches of His glory on us, having called us. This is the most comforting thing of all this. It doesn't matter how God does the election; what is certain is that God did choose us, and that we are vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, and we are not the vessels of wrath for destruction (verses 22,23).
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At this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work...For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable (Romans 11:5-6,29).
Commentary and explanation. Paul illustrates once again this doctrine concerning the election of God, referring to the Jewish people in particular, which is Israel; and he says that its election is by grace and not by works. It was important for Paul to mention this in particular, because Jesus was a Jew, and because He came to save the Jewish people in the first place, since they had been the depositories of the promises of God in the Old Testament. The whole chapter 11 of this letter to Romans is devoted to this theme. The principal points, are:
a) There is a portion, or remnant of Israel, that has been elected. Paul says in verse 7: Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were hardened. Who is this remnant or elected Jews? The apostles in the first place, Paul included, the Lord's disciples, and all those who were converted by the preaching of the apostles, and those who will be converted in the course of history.
These were the elected, who obtained the promises; the rest were hardened. Why? This is a mystery; through their fall (of Israel), salvation has come to the Gentiles, verse 11 says. The Jews didn't receive the good news of the gospel, in order that the non-Jews or "Gentiles" (that is us) would receive it.
b) The election of this remnant was by grace, not by works. Why were they called? Their election was by grace, not by works, because if it is of works, it is no longer grace (v. 6).
We should not be surprised that Paul insists and repeats so many times that salvation is by grace, through faith, because this is the essence of the gospel. We are saved, not by works that we can do, but by grace, through the free call of God, without our merit, by the merits of Jesus Christ. Faith gives us access to this grace.
c) The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Paul nevertheless does not finish this theme with a condemnation of Israel but with a message of hope: The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Israel is not damned; God keeps His promises; Israel will come and convert itself to Jesus. Paul explains thus.
Israel is the natural olive; the non-Jews or Gentiles are the wild olive, which has been grafted in among them (verse 17). Now Paul says this: if the wild tree —which is fed from the roots of the natural olive,— is so beautiful, what is going to happen when the natural branches would be grafted into their own olive tree? (v. 24). Because, if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness! (verse 12).
And Paul says later: All Israel will be saved (v. 26). And this salvation of Israel will also be grace.
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Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become His counselor? (Romans 11:33-34).
Commentary and explanation. When Paul has finished with the subject that the gospel does not destroy the covenant of God with Israel, and that the call and election of God for salvation are grace, not by works, then the Apostle concludes with an exclamation, saying: Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!
What else can be said after all that we have seen in the previous Steps? The election of God is a mystery. Why are some called, and some are not? There is no human answer to this question. This belongs to the wisdom and knowledge of God.
With Paul let us say ourselves: For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become His counselor? For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen (Romans 11:33-34-35).
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You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus; for as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ (Galatians 3:26).
Commentary and explanation. Paul tries to explain the grace of God toward us, and affirms two things:
a) The believer is son of God by adoption. The greatest privilege that comes from the grace of God is this: when we believe, we are made adopted children of God. Our place in creation is not just that of intelligent creatures but sons of God.
The divine filiation, by which we are made sons of God, is a gift of grace received by the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, namely, that he paid all the debt from our sins and earned for us this privilege.
God loves us as He loves His Son, because we are His children; Jesus said: You (Father) have loved them as You have loved Me (John 17:23); we carry on the image of His Son (Romans 8:29). And because we are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!" Therefore you are no longer slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ (Galatians 4:6-7). And if children, then heirs; heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17). Nevertheless God corrects us, rebukes and chastens us as children, as we read in Hebrews 12:5,6.
b) Christians have put on Christ. The Christian, who carries on the image of the Son of God (Romans 8:29), should manifest the life of Christ who is in himself. Christian life is the external manifestation of Christ living in the believer. This presence of Christ in the believer made Paul exclaim: It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me (Galatians 2:20).
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