Calvary Hot Springs

Exalting Christ Through the Ministry of the Word

Isaac Stanley

Isaac is one of our pastors at Calvary whose primary role is teaching God's Word in our adult studies. Read this and other articles from Isaac at his Revelation Over Reason

Your Works Matter to God, Romans 2

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“Romans Chapter-By-Chapter Series”

“He will render to each one according to his works.” – Roman 2:6

Your works matter to God. By this I mean that they matter to God with absolute objectivity and eternal consequence. We usually don’t evaluate behavior that way. We expect our children to behave, but we understand that they won’t all the time. Or we like our friends for their positive qualities but understand that they have some character flaws too. Or we overlook our own flaws but don’t consider them to be detrimental. “Everyone’s got some quirks,” we might say, “nobody’s perfect, not even me.”

God is not that way. He’s never overlooked anything. He has no quirks. He is, in fact, perfect.

Romans 2:5 predicts a future time when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. On that day “He will render to each one according to his works” (2:6). As judge, God will rule with perfect justice and with perfect knowledge. Even our words are recorded and will be brought as evidence (Matthew 12:36).

Let’s bring this truth closer. Note today’s date, the day you are reading this article. You have performed works, good and evil, TODAY that will appear before God on the day of his judgment. Nothing will slip by.

Paul’s purpose in Romans 2 is to expound the reality that God’s judgment will be impartial. There are no “privileged” people in God’s court. None who have bribed the judge. None with any blackmail leverage. None who run in His social circles. Verse 11 says, “God shows no partiality.”

The Jews of Paul’s day often thought that they were privileged. They stood in arrogant judgment against the Gentile people who lived around and among them. Their self-identity was wrapped up in their Jewish heritage. They relied on the law and boasted in God (2:17). They considered themselves to be “a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, and instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children” (2:19-20). Observe how these phrases set their perception of themselves up against their perception of others. Jews: guides, light, instructors, teacher – God’s chosen people. Gentiles: blind, darkness, foolish, children – stupid pagans.

The Jews had one, little problem: God shows no partiality.

True, the Jews were God’s chosen people, but Abraham’s DNA got them exactly NOWHERE before God. They had a good heritage, but their works damned them! God has never been bamboozled by ethnicity. He has no favorites. He’s never winked His eye at the sin of his friends. “You have no excuse, O man,” Paul says to those exalted Jews, “For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things” (2:1).

God doesn’t prioritize your ETHNICITY! For that matter, He isn’t impressed by your RELIGION either! While the Jews boasted in their heritage and in their religious behavior, they dishonored God and damaged His reputation because of their terrible behavior (2:23-24). The sign of their covenant was circumcision. Their bodies were literally different than the nations around them, but their hearts – and the behavior that came out of those hearts – were no different.

God, through Paul’s pen, exposes the problem before displaying the solution. True “circumcision” happens at the heart level (2:28-29). Outward religion and outward identity cannot save anyone from God’s wrath against sin. Cutting off a bit of skin is no substitute for carving the rottenness right out of the heart. Our works will condemn us is the day of God’s judgment unless something changes on the inside.

How is this to happen? Who can perform this spiritual heart surgery? Who can save us from God’s wrath against our works?

Let me assure you that you can’t do it yourself. Rambo may be able to sew his own stitches, but he can’t do heart surgery on himself. All sinners need inner transformation and verse 29 tells us “circumcision is a matter of the heart, BY THE SPIRIT.” God is the rescuer.

This is stunning! The beginning of Romans 2 taught us that our problem is God’s wrath against our works. We need to be saved from God. By the end of chapter 2, God Himself is the rescuer!

Suggested Book of the Month, August

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Reviewed by Isaac Stanley…

Let me just say right away, I HIGHLY recommend this book. I am confident in saying that it is the best, most encouraging, most effective literature that I have read on the subject of prayer.

Enjoy Your Prayer Life by Michael Reeves is simply a booklet, but its 46 pages contain powerful meditations on prayer. It is not Reeves’ purpose to teach how to pray as much as to proclaim soul-nourishing truths about the nature of prayer. Books on prayer sometimes have a discouraging effect; they set forth standards for abundant prayer that seem unattainable to many Christians who may struggle to pray. Reeves addresses that issue right away. Leaning on Calvin’s statement that “Prayer is the chief exercise of faith” Reeves responds, “My first reaction to this is to think: O my Lord, how faithless am I!”

The remainder of the book wisely and graciously avoids making prayer a heavy yoke. Instead it points Christians to wonderful truths that add oxygen to the fire of prayer. Reeves roots prayer in the doctrine of the trinity and in the reality that God is for us when it comes to prayer. Far from hanging their head in shame because of a poor prayer life, believers can run into the open arms of Jesus knowing that He loves them as He does His Son! The Son enjoys fellowship with the Father and “Prayer is learning to enjoy what Jesus has always enjoyed.” Son and Spirit intercede on the believer’s behalf! Prayer is not a burden but a relationship that God has initiated.

The chapters of this book are short, many are only 2-3 pages, and I found it to be a great blessing to read one chapter in the morning during devotions and meditate on prayer throughout the day. This is a great little book!

Wrath of God is Revealed, Romans 1:17-32

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“Romans Chapter-By-Chapter” Series

“The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who my their unrighteousness suppress the truth” Romans 1:18

There’s an old adage about evangelism that says, “You have to get a person lost before you can get them saved.” The point is not that the person is NOT lost but that they don’t KNOW they are lost. Therefore, the Good News of the gospel must be preceded by the Bad News that we are sinners and need to be saved. This exposure of our sin, as revealed in the Bible, is much worse than we might casually think. Most people have a general sense that they are imperfect. Many will even admit that those imperfections are sins. However, ask your average person who is not born again, and they will likely grade their own sin on a sliding scale. “Sure,” they may nod, “I’ve messed up. Made some mistakes. Everyone does! That’s just human. But I’m a generally good person overall.”  

But is a “generally good” person actually a good person? Not according to God! The problem is that this person’s standard is himself and the people around him and that is a slippery, subjective standard. Even convicted criminals in federal prisons have a “code” for those offenses that even they won’t tolerate in others. 

God’s Word is NOT a subjective standard. It demonstrates the true offensiveness of sin. The first three chapters of Romans build a case that mankind is far worse off than they think. In fact, I believe that even Christians can open their Bibles, read God’s righteous standards, be exposed to the true nature of their hearts, and end up with a better understanding of their pre-Christ hearts then they did when they were in that state personally. 

Paul intends to deal with Jews and Gentiles alike in exposing their sins. And he begins with broad principles that apply to all of humanity. Romans 1 argues that God’s wrath is already against humanity because of their unrighteousness. “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth” (1:18). There are two questions arising from this verse, and the rest of chapter 1, that I want to address. WHY is God’s wrath revealed against humanity? And, HOW is God’s wrath revealed? 

The answer to the “Why” question is that mankind has rebelled against God in every way. It is important to recognize that our sin against God is intertwined with our entire nature. Sin is not a disease that attacks us like a virus or a parasite. It is not something that we are tangled up in, like a miry bog or a spiderweb, and really wish we could avoid. Rather, it is part of our very nature. It is internal, not external. Our minds, wills, and emotions are set against God and our deeds are carried out in keeping with our sinful desires. 

In other words, as sinners, our problem is not ignorance but REBELLION! Verse 18 describes men as those who “suppress the truth.” Suppression of the truth implies knowledge of truth but then that truth is actively held at arm’s length and rejected. According to this chapter, there is no one who is innocent and wholly without information about God. Instead, God has revealed truth about Himself in the created order. Everyone in the world intuitively understands God’s “eternal power and divine nature” leaving them “without excuse” (1:20). And everyone understands that their sin deserves the judgment of God, yet they continue to practice and celebrate those sins (1:32). They know, but they suppress. 

Now to the “How” question. How is God’s wrath revealed? We will see later in chapter 2 that God will judge sin in “the day of wrath” (2:5) in the future. This is the wrath of God that most of us are familiar with. There is coming a day of judgment. Chapter 1, however, discusses a different manifestation of God’s wrath. It is marked out with the repeated phrase, “God gave them up.” This phrase appears three times in Romans chapter 1 (24, 26, 28). In verse 24, “God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity.” Then in verse 26, “God gave them up to dishonorable passions.” Finally, in verse 28, “God gave them up to a debased mind.”  

The sobering truth is that God surrenders people to the natural consequences and nasty fallout of their sin. This action (or lack of action while we plunge ahead into sin ourselves) is a present manifestation of the wrath of God. God’s wrath against sinners is seen as they literally bring their own injury on themselves. Sin may look like it’s enjoyable, but to be left to your own passions is actually a horrible state. Every person and every society slides into this terrible state. There is no human advancement that can stop the horrible grip of sin, and the tendency is to give free reign to it. 

Romans chapter one is a breathtaking chapter. It indicts all of humanity in the strongest terms and leaves no wiggle room. It shows us to be worse sinners than we thought before. It shows that our sin is more than our behavior, it is our nature! The dilemma, again, is that our problem is not ignorance, but rebellion! We are desperately in need of some good news, that does more than just appeal to us as good news but changes our good-news-rejecting hearts so that we love the good news!

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is so powerful (1:16), because it is JUST THAT SORT OF GOOD NEWS!

God powerfully uses the preached Gospel of Jesus Christ, not just to add a little more evidence and tip someone over the teeter-totter of belief, but to transform their sinful, rebellious heart!! 

The Power of God unto Salvation, Romans 1:16

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“Romans Chapter-By Chapter” Series

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” – Romans 1:16

Have you ever heard of the “Romans Road”? It’s a method of using a series of verses from the book of Romans to communicate the gospel to an unbeliever. The Romans Road is a useful evangelism tool. I remember as a teenager having the trail of verses linked together in my Bible and teaching others how to use the tool. It’s a valid and valuable way to explain the basics of salvation. However, Paul did not write the book of Romans primarily to address and persuade unbelievers. Rather, he wrote it to encourage and strengthen those who already believed. Which brings up a powerful point: The gospel is for believers! Yes, it’s for unbelievers, but no one ever outgrows their need to hear the gospel. The good news of the gospel provides eternal life and it also powers godly living. 

In the introduction of Romans, chapter 1:1-17, Paul writes, “to all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints” (Romans 1:7). The Bible teaches us that every person who has been born again is a “saint” and saints were Paul’s target audience. The verses continue on to commend the church in Rome for their godly testimony and express Paul’s heartfelt desire to be physically present with the saints and “be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine” (Romans 1:12). This love for the faithful, roman saints, combined with Paul’s lifetime passion to preach to people of all nations causes him to express, “I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome” (Romans 1:15). Paul could not be clearer that even those who are already saved, and even faithfully walking with God, need to continue to hear the gospel. 

Why? Why is the gospel so important beyond salvation? Why does someone who is already saved need to hear the gospel? Why would Paul write the greatest epistle on the gospel to saved people? 

These are trick questions. Notice I used words like “salvation” and “saved” in the questions above. Nobody who is breathing is “beyond salvation.” Most of the time in Christianity when we say someone is “saved” we are looking backward to the moment when they initially trusted in Jesus and became a Christian. We see salvation as something in the past for Christians. However, in the Bible there are many uses of “saved” or “salvation.” There are three “tenses” of salvation from sin. Salvation has past, present, and future uses. Look at Ephesians 2:8, “For by grave you HAVE BEEN SAVED through faith.” This verse refers to what we commonly think of as “getting saved.” This salvation is associated with justification. It’s the salvation that takes a sinner who is an enemy of God and, in a moment, transforms him into a friend of God. Justification pardons a sinner and makes him righteous in God’s eyes. This is the past tense (for believers) of salvation. 

In addition to the past, there is a present tense of salvation. “I would remind you,” Paul says to the Christian brothers in 1 Corinthians 15:1-2, “of the gospel I preached to you, which you have received, in which you stand, and by which you ARE BEING SAVED.” I don’t know about you, but I am not perfect. God has saved me from my sin, but I still sin daily. However, God has provided salvation from that sin as well. Sanctification is the lifelong work of God making His saints more holy in their day-to-day lives. In fact, sanctification, saints, and holy are all related words in the Bible. So, we could restate the underlined sentence with a made-up word, Holy-fication is the lifelong work of God making His holy people more holy in their day-to-day lives. This sanctification happens by God’s power through His word. “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17). This is the present tense of salvation. 

There is yet one more tense, and that is the future tense of salvation. Observe Romans 5:9, “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more SHALL WE BE SAVED by him from the wrath of God.” Believers in Christ will never face the wrath of God. They will be saved from it! Instead of wrath, they will enter eternal life with God (Romans 2:7). Heavenly salvation is yet to come and is often called glorification. Romans 8:30 guarantees that everyone who is justified is also glorified! When we are glorified in heaven (in the future), our behavior (our present sanctification) will match our righteous standing before God (past justification). This is the future tense of salvation. In these three ways, all saints are saved, being saved, and will be saved. 

Back to Romans 1:16. Paul explains that the gospel is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” The gospel does not simply punch our ticket to heaven and leave us to our own devices. Rather, the gospel is what powers the Christian life from the point of conversion all the way to glory!  

We face eternity in our future. Eternity is often ignored, but it’s a BIG DEAL! Think about it: this life is short compared to eternity. Scripture calls it a vapor (James 4:14). We all know how long vapor lasts but eternity is forever. Eternity would be a frightening concept if it were unknown. But Scripture does not leave us blind to eternity. If you believe, you can be 100% confident that God’s power, through the gospel of Jesus Christ, will take you all the way to glory because the GOSPEL is the power of God unto salvation!

*Note: In case you’re curious about the Romans Road, the series is: Romans 3:23, 6:23, 5:8, 10:9, 10:13, 5:1, 8:38-39. You might find it useful to use this tool by simply writing the next reference in the chain before each verse (i.e. Mark Romans 3:23 as “Romans Road” and then write “6:23” to begin the trail to the next verse.

Introduction to Romans

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“Romans Chapter-By-Chapter” Series

If you were stranded on an island with only one book of the Bible, which book would you choose? 

This question is intentionally difficult because Christians have been given a book wherein ALL of it is said to be necessary and profitable (2 Tim. 3:15-16), however many Christians, if they HAD to choose, would pick the Epistle of Paul to the Romans. Why? Because the book of Romans is unsurpassed in explaining the gospel of Jesus Christ. It expands on critical doctrines like justification by faith, the righteousness of God, and grace vs. works in more detail than any other book of the Bible.

This article begins a series that I am planning to write that will cover Romans chapter-by-chapter. This series serves a different purpose than verse-by-verse teaching. Verse-by-verse study is vital for mining the riches of God’s Word, but this “Romans Chapter-By-Chapter” series is intended to get snapshots of key truths throughout the book. I will attempt to find the key verse that best summarizes each chapter (sometimes I might cheat a little and do two posts covering two verses) and briefly explain the argument that is being made.

So, if a summary is the goal, then what about the whole book? What does a snapshot of the entire book of Romans look like?

Romans is an epistle (letter) so we have to notice the author, audience, and purpose of the letter. Instead of imagining our snapshot of Romans, let’s let God’s Word tell us what it is!

The author is given in the first word of the book, “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God” (Romans 1:1). This is the same Paul (formerly Saul) who as a zealous, religious Jew had persecuted and murdered Christians (Acts 9:1) until Christ dramatically intervened, changed him, and gave him a mission “to carry my [Jesus’] name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel” (Acts 9:15). Before he was saved, Paul was extensively educated in the Old Testament law (Acts 22:3). When he realized that Jesus was the Messiah that the Old Testament promised (Acts 9:22) his eyes were opened to the riches of the Old Testament. The book of Romans is filled with quotes and illusions to the Old Testament that Paul uses to build and substantiate his writing. God took a violent, educated man who was steeped in false religion and turned him into the greatest missionary for Christ that the world has ever seen.

The audience is recorded as “All those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints” (Romans 1:7). Clearly these folks were Roman believers who made up the Church in the imperial capitol city. Paul had never been to Rome (Romans 1:13) but he loved those saints and was passionate about visiting them and preaching the gospel to them (Romans 1:15). It is God who calls a person to be a Christian and each one is loved by God! If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, then Romans is for you! And, by the way, it is for you to share.

The purpose of the letter is given in two places using parallel sentences, Romans 1:5 and Romans 16:26-27. Romans 1:5 combines the purpose for the book with Paul’s own life purpose as an apostle, “To bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations.” Romans 16:26-27 closes the book with echoes of chapter 1, “[The mystery] has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith – to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ.” Notice three things about these statements. First, the emphasis on “all nations.”  Before Christ, God had worked primarily with the Jewish people, however, Jesus came with the mission of redeeming people from every nation and ethnicity in the entire world (John 10:16, John 11:51-52, Revelation 5:9). His “Great Commission” to the disciples, and by extension all believers, was to “Make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). Among the Apostles, Peter primarily ministered to Jews while Paul aggressively expanded his mission to reach gentiles from all over the map (Acts 13:47, Romans 15:18-19). This theme of God throwing open the gates of the gospel to all nations is a vital theme to notice throughout the book of Romans. Many of the theological arguments that Paul makes are intertwined with the discussion about Jews and Gentiles and how they relate to God.

Second, notice the phrase “obedience of faith” in both verses. In that phrase we get a glimpse that the operating principle in Romans is “faith.” Faith, in contrast to law and works, is the principle by which God saves sinners. However, Paul writes with the intention to “bring about the obedience of faith.” Remember, he is primarily writing to people who are already believers, so he has the goal of bringing about further maturity in the faith and the obedience to God that corresponds to faith. He wants believers to obey God more and more. This purpose is intertwined with Jesus’ Great Commission mentioned above. God’s people are not only to proclaim good news throughout the world as they make disciples, but the discipleship process moves forward “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:20). The gospel of Jesus Christ is the critical message by which people are saved, but it is also the message that empowers, motivates, and strengthens believers to obey and glorify God.

Third, both passages refer to to the glory of God as the ultimate purpose for spreading the gospel and obeying God. Romans 1:5 uses the phrase, “for the sake of his name” and Romans 16:27 says, “to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ.” This theme is the most important theme in the universe! It means that the reason why Paul wrote and taught, or why any Christian preaches truth and walks in obedience, is not for moral self-improvement, societal gain, or even for escape from eternal fire. God saves and changes people for the exaltation of His own glory and fame. Jesus Christ is God and deserves to be praised! “All things were created through him and for him” (Colossians 1:16). The manner in which God saves people, the character and love that He displays, and the manner in which he frees people from sin is all designed for His great glory. 

Romans is a book about the saving gospel of Jesus Christ.

     It is about that gospel going to all nations.

         It is about that gospel going to all nations to make them obedient through faith.

            It is about that gospel going to all nations to make them obedient through faith for God’s glory!

I hope you’ll follow along on our journey through this great book. God still uses it to change lives, and I believe He can use it to transform you!