Update from Europe #2

I am writing from near Piteshti, Romania. The weather is still great.

Monday, we had a meeting with the Heartcry team in Cahul, Moldova. We spent several hours discussing evangelism methodology. It was good to stimulate them to think differently about some areas. Dad was trying to impress on them the need to think more in terms of permeating the activities and groups that are already existent, rather than creating attractions (shows, sports, etc.) to bring people in. This is a very different way of thinking than is common anywhere. But it seems Biblical. I.e. It seems to be what the apostles did. These kinds of discussions are one of the biggest benefits for the people we meet overseas.

On Tuesday, we traveled 6-7 hours back into Romania. We ended up at a youth camp in the mountains. It was the night of a big soccer game between Romania and Netherlands in the European tournament. They projected it on a big sheet, hung on the side of a building. These people are crazy about soccer. Actually, Sorin is pretty good himself.

Wednesday, another day of travel, got us to where we are now. We drove through the beautiful Carpathian mountains. It was a lot like Switzerland. That night we preached in a church of about 30 people. Believe it or not, this was the first time I preached from one of Paul’s letters! I talked about justification from Romans 9. Here is the interesting things though: the Romanian translation is messed up on that word. They use a word that doesn’t have the connotation of legal declaration. Sorin says that it is a huge problem. Nobody understands Paul in Romania. He said that, until a few years ago, almost all the Christians here would have had no idea that there is such a thing as justification. They also do not have a word in their language for “righteousness.” Amazing. That night, I had people smiling and scratching their heads. But they got it in the end. As you can imagine, I am facing some challenges in preaching. But I think this kind of teaching is needed.

Tonight we preach and sing again. Pray a lot.

Bryan

Update from Europe

I am writing from Maldova. The weather is beautiful. Be envious.

After about 24 hours of travel (by plane and van) we arrived in a city called, ”Salt Lake City” Romania. There are around 50 thousand people in that city. There is one baptist church and one pentecostal church. That’s it. We preached in the baptist church. They have around 10-15 members. In all, there are less than 50 believers (and really, only about 15 solid baptist believers) in this whole city. You can see how great the needs are here. 

Because there are so few, evangelical Christians are considered a dangerous sect. The Orthodox priests teach the people to think this way. Christians face amazing challenges in evangelism.

We are now across the border in Maldova. We preached and sang in church this morning and we will do the same in another church tonight. The people listen well. They don’t have as much of the “nominal Christianity” that we do. It’s not particularly cool to be a Christian. Things are getting better, but in the communist days, it was really not cool. Sorin talks about being expelled from school for attending an underground church when he was a teenager.

Sorin is great! I love him and his work already. He is 33 and unmarried. And all he does is travel around Eastern Europe as a missionary. He has no home. Just a van. He is really doing a great work in this part of the world. He is coming to take another semester at Southern this fall. So I will get to be around him more.

Pray for our preaching. It’s tough to get translated. Pray that solid content will change lives. Both dad and I teach every meeting. Also pray for Eastern Europe. Pray for revival. They need it like few places.

Love you all! I think I will get some sleep. I can’t quite figure out what time it is.

Bryan     

CF Bible Study, Romans 10:1-4: Unsubjected to the Righteousness of God

Kolb’s Basement, June 4, 2008

1 Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation.
2 For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge.
3 For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.
4 For Christ is the end [goal] of the Law for [with the result that there is] righteousness to everyone who believes.
Romans 10:1-4

Zeal without Knowledge

Before dealing with the text on a 1st Century level, I want to make an application that directly concerns us even in the 21st Century. In verse 3, Paul says that the Jews had a zeal for God that was not in accordance with knowledge. In other words, the Jews pursued God with a lot of passion and heart, but that zeal was not balanced out by their brain. It was misdirected and worthless. And so Paul is praying for their salvation (v. 1).

I have an opportunity to talk regularly about religious issues in an open discussion with a group outside of my church. Within that group, there is one woman who strives very hard to make everyone who has any sort of sincere zeal for God soteriologically okay. She would maintain that Muslims, Hindus, and even Jews, if they are sincerely zealous for God, will be given salvation.

What should we think about that in light of this passage? We must say that zeal not balanced by knowledge is worthless and even deadly. I can have a lot of desire to fly an airplane, but that airplane is going down when I get behind the controls. Zeal without knowledge is not only worthless, it will kill me. The same is true in the religious realm. Muslims and Hindus and Jews (I am amazed at what people say about Jews while at the same time staring at what Paul said about Jews) are not okay. Their lack of knowledge (willful ignorance) is damning. In fact, because their lack of knowledge misdirects their zeal, their zeal is damning as well.

This is one the most important implication of this passage of Scripture.

“Not Knowing about the Righteousness of God . . .”

Now let’s deal with the text on a 1st Century level. After explaining that the Jews’ zeal for God was not balanced by knowledge, Paul pinpoints exactly what it was that they missed. Verse 3: “For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.”

The Jews did not know about the “righteousness of God.” Obviously, Paul did not mean that the Jews did not know God was righteous. The righteousness of God seems to be one of the attributes that they understood, or at least thought about, the most. So this must have to do with a particular aspect of His righteousness and a particular way it was revealed.

I think it makes the most sense to think of this in the same way we have thought of “the righteousness of God” in the past–in terms of God’s blameless faithfulness to His people. The Old Testament demonstrated and predicted this righteousness. God was always faithful to redeem, deliver, and justify the Israelites. And, in a full and final way (in connection with the Messiah), He would do it again. (For more on this, see What Is “the Righteousness of God” in Romans?)

The Jews expected it. They yearned and strove for it. But when it came, they missed it and continued to stumble zealously down a path leading nowhere. Jesus Christ was the ultimate fulfillment and revelation of the righteousness of God in relationship to His people. Through His blood, Christ brought a true redemption, deliverance, and justification. And it was not for the ethnic Jewish people. They were a shadow. This was for the real Israel, elected by God and believing in Jesus.

That was what the Jews did not understand. They did understand that God was righteous and would justify His people. But they did not understand (they ignored) the way it was happening–through faith in Christ for all those who believe.

“. . . And Seeking to Establish their Own, They Did not Subject Themselves to the Righteousness of God.”

The righteousness of God and the righteousness of the people of God are connected in an interesting way. On one side, God must deliver and justify His people. If He does not, He is not righteous. When He does, it is a magnificent display of His righteousness. On the other side, God’s people must be righteous to be justified. A just judge never justifies the unrighteous.

The Jews saw this as well. They knew that they must be righteous in order for God to display His righteousness in their justification. But, as we saw last week, their method of establishing this righteousness was wrong-out of sync with the real way God was bringing justification. They were seeking to establish righteousness through the works of the Law when the blood of Jesus was the only true means of attaining righteousness. They were not subjecting themselves by faith to God’s way of revealing His salvation.

“Christ is the Goal of the Law”

The Jewish Law was never meant to bring righteousness. Paul called it a ministry of death and condemnation that could never bring life (1 Corinthians 3:7-18, Galatians 3:21). It was part of a temporary covenant that did not nullify or add conditions to the Abrahamic covenant (Galatians 3:15-19), which was the main covenant based on promise and faith.

So we must ask the question: What was the Law’s function? Why did God give it? Paul addressed this question directly in Galatians 319: “Why the Law then? It was added because of [to produce and reveal] transgressions until the Seed [Christ, the Seed of Abraham] should come.”

That was the Law’s purpose: to produce (Romans 5:20) and reveal (Romans 3:20) sin. And what was God’s purpose in increasing and revealing sin? Again, Paul answers. “The Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith” (Galatians 3:25).

So, in the end, God gave the Old Covenant Law to shut up the Jews and the watching world under sin, so that they would seek a true righteousness through faith and through Christ.

But the Jews still missed it, and kept seeking to establish their righteousness through that which could never give life. They refused to be lead to Christ as the “goal of the Law” and the means of “righteousness for everyone who believes” (v. 4). They did not subject themselves to the God’s way of justifying and delivering His people.

Bryan Elliff © 2008 www.bryanelliff.wordpress.com

 

Paul and the Old Covenant Law

Here are some conclusions I came to about the Jewish Law after comprehensively studying what Paul had to say about it.

The Law’s Function before Christ

The Old Covenant was a “ministry of death” and “condemnation” (2 Cor 3:7-18). It was an unbearable yoke of bondage (Act 15:10) that could not bring justification and life (Acts 13:39, Gal 3:21). The Law was also not of faith; “He who practices them shall live by them” (Gal 3:12, Rom 10:5).

The Law was temporarily added to produce transgressions until Christ came, and it did not invalidate or change God’s covenant with Abraham (Gal 3:15-19). It was not contrary to God’s promises to Abraham because it was not a new way of attaining life (Gal 3:21). Its only purpose was to shut every one up under sin and lead them to Christ so that they would be justified by faith (Gal 3:22, 3:24, Rom 10:4).

The Law’s Function after Christ

In His death, Christ abolished the Law/Old Covenant (Eph 2:15) and established a new covenant (which is, in a way, a fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant) founded upon faith and the regenerating power of the Spirit (Gal 4:21-31, 6:15). Now that this has happened we are no longer under the tutorship of the Law (Gal 3:23-25) and should not subject ourselves again to a yoke of slavery (Gal 5:1).

There is also a sense in which the application of this took place in an individual way for Jews even after Christ. They considered themselves under the Law (and were in bondage). But then the Holy Spirit would take that Law, bring conviction of sin, and lead them to Christ. They were then released from the Law and began to serve in the Spirit and not the letter. Paul is an example of this (Romans 7). “Through the Law comes the knowledge of sin” (Rom 3:20).

Conclusion

For Paul, the Law had a temporary function that ended with Christ. In his mind, if you are a believing Jew after Christ, the Law may have played some role in bringing you to salvation, but now you are freed from it to serve the law of Christ. And if you are Gentile, don’t even think about the Law!

Bryan Elliff © 2008 www.bryanelliff.wordpress.com

CF Bible Study, Romans 9:30-33: The Justification of Gentiles

30 What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith;
31 but Israel, pursuing a Law of righteousness, did not arrive at that Law.
32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone,
33 just as it is written, “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, and he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.”
Romans 9:30-33

Justification: A Declaration of Righteousness

The idea of justification is all over Romans. Paul makes much of the true nature and means of justification as support for his statements about Jews, Gentiles, and salvation. So before actually dealing with the passage tonight, we need to spend some time clearly and precisely defining justification. We need to ask the question, “What did Paul really mean when he wrote the word, ‘justify?’ Not “What do systematic theologians say about it. But “What did Paul think about it.” If we cannot correctly define justification, we cannot correctly comprehend this passage or the apostle Paul.

Maybe the best place to go in our mission to think like Paul is the Old Testament. Because it was the Bible of the early Church and also the Jewish Holy Book, it probably molded Paul’s thinking more than anything else. We would do well then to let it mold our thinking about justification as well. Here are three particularly eye-opening texts from the Pentateuch.

“Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent or the righteous, for I will not acquit the guilty [LXX renders this, ‘justify the ungodly'].” Exodus 23:7

“So Judah said, ‘What can we say to my Lord? What can we speak? And how can we justify ourselves?’” Gen 44:16

“If there is a dispute between men and they go to court, and the judges decide there case, and they justify the righteous and condemn the wicked . . .” Deuteronomy 25:1

Considering these OT uses, my definition of justification is this: a declaration or recognition that some one who is righteous is righteous.

Take into account this example. A man brings into court a charge of ox stealing against another man. The evidence is brought before the judge and it is obvious that the defendant has not stolen the ox as has been accused. Concerning this situation, the defendant is righteous. The judge then publicly proclaims and recognizes the righteousness of the man.

That is justification. The judge looks at the defendant, who has not stolen an ox, and says, “You have not stolen an ox.” It is a proclamation that the man who is righteous is righteous. He is justified. He is vindicated.

I believe that justification is exactly the same in Paul’s mind. All men are brought before God the Judge, both now and in the future. God looks at those who are wicked and condemns them and looks at those who are righteous and says, “You are righteous”–He accepts them and recognizes them as what they are. That is justification.

This is a slight shift in understanding for me. Whereas before, I saw justification as a more creative term (describing how we are made righteous), I now see it as a more declarative term (describing how we are proclaimed to be righteous). There is no change in the substance of what I believe (we are unrighteous by nature and must be forensically made righteous in Christ to ever be declared righteous or “justified”). I am only defining more precisely the terms we use.

We are now in a position to comprehend Romans 9:30-33.

Where and How Do You Get Righteousness?

Even though it does not use the word, this passage is all about justification. And ultimately it is a back up and summary of what Paul has said about Jews and Gentiles–that somehow many Gentiles (who were previously excluded from the covenants of promise) are being justified and many Jews (who are the people of God and seem as though they should be) are not.

The question that Paul answers to back up and sum up what he says about Jews and Gentiles is this: Where and how do you get righteousness? We have already established that you must have righteousness to have justification. No just judge ever justifies an unrighteous person. So the pressing and revealing question is: where does true righteousness come from?

There are two answers to this question. We will start with the one Paul mentions second.

The Jewish Answer
“Israel, pursuing a Law of righteousness, did not arrive at that Law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works.” (31-32)

Israel recognized the need for justification and God’s Old Covenant promises that pointed toward it. But they had two foundational problems.

First, the Jews thought that justification would be something only for Jews and would happen in a national way. It would be a temporal deliverance and vindication before the world. The reason for this kind of thinking is found the Old Testament. Over and over again, God would deliver His people, the ethnic Jews, call the nations to gather around in a sort of law-court scene, and point to His people and say, “They are righteous.” The Jews of the 1st Century thought that their full and final deliverance and justification would be the same. That was their first problem. Paul grasped that the final justification and deliverance promised the people of God is not so much outward (justification before the word and deliverance from Roman oppression), but inward–justification before God Himself and deliverance from sin and its consequences.

The second, deeper problem was that the Jews thought the righteousness that would be the ground of their justification would come through meticulous pursuit of the Law. They knew they must have righteousness to be justified, and so they set about to attain that righteousness by circumcision and Sabbath keeping and every other work of the Law. One day, they thought, God would look at them and justify them because of their righteousness.

But Paul said that what Israel pursued it did not obtain. Why? Because they pursued it “as though it were by works.” True righteousness could never be attained by Law keeping because no human could ever keep the Law. And so, they pursued an impossible righteousness through the Law and stumbled over the object that the Law was leading to (Christ and faith).

The Gentile Answer
“What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith . . .” (9:30)

Even though they did not pursue it or expect it, many Gentiles obtained the justification and deliverance that the Jews could not because God revealed to them the true answer the question, “Where and how do you get righteousness.”

Paul says that they attained the “righteousness which is by faith.” What is this righteousness? Look carefully at Romans 4:5-8. It explains where and how we can have a righteousness that will bring justification.

“But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works . . .”

So somehow God credits righteousness through faith. Now notice what this righteousness is in Paul’s quotation of David.

“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account.”

The righteousness that God’s credits to us through faith has to do with forgiveness of sins. And of course, forgiveness of sins comes through Jesus’ crucifixion. This is the “righteousness which is by faith” that the Gentiles found and it is the only righteousness that brings about justification.

Conclusion

As I mentioned earlier, Paul is saying all of this to sum up and back up what he has said all through Romans about the all nations nature of salvation–many Gentiles are receiving justification and deliverance and many Jews are not. The reason is that the Gentiles have been shown the righteousness that will justify. It is the righteousness that comes through Jesus’ death and is taken hold of by faith.

This has been more didactic than normal tonight. And we have not had time make any applications. But it very important to clearly grip these issues and to me it is very exciting.

Bryan Elliff © 2008 www.bryanelliff.wordpress.com