Daily Archives: August 7, 2017

Two Heads, One Destiny

Romans 5:11-21 (p. 1753)                                                           August 6, 2017    

For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners,
so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
Romans 5:19

The good news

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith,
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ . . . .
Romans 5:1

1. Peace gives me a new  RELATIONSHIP = RECONCILIATION  (see 5:9-11)
2. Hope gives me a new  PERSPECTIVE
3. Love is how I know Jesus died  FOR ME

Adam’s demise has been greatly exaggerated

 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin,
and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned . . . .
Romans 5:12

1. Without Adam, I have an incomplete picture of  MY SIN  (see the Belgic Confession, Article XV)
2. Without Adam, I have an incomplete picture of  THE IMAGE OF GOD
3. Without Adam, I don’t get  THE HEADSHIP OF CHRIST

The foundation for sanctification (or, how do I get a head transplant?)

 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to Christ Jesus.
Therefore, do not let sin reign . . . .
Romans 7:11

1. Baptism:  DEATH  and   RESURRECTION
   Romans 6:1-14
2. Slaves: a  NEW (AND SO MUCH BETTER!)  master
   Romans 6:15-23
3. Marriage: freed to  SERVE ANOTHER
   Romans 7:1-6
4. Sin nature: in need of RESCUE
   Romans 7:7-25

 

More study resources for Romans 5-7

Bob Deffinbaugh’s  sermon on Romans 5, “Curse to Cure” at https://bible.org/series/romans-righteousness-god

Ligon Duncan’s messages at http://www.fpcjackson.org/resource-library/sermons/greetings-from-an-apostle

John Murray’s Redemption Accomplished and Applied (Eerdmans, 1955).

Kim Riddlebarger’s “Through the Obedience of One” sermon at http://kimriddlebarger.squarespace.com/sermons-on-pauls-epistle-to-th/

Sinclair Ferguson’s “The Great Exchanges of Romans” at http://www.ligonier.org/blog/great-exchanges-romans/

F.F. Bruce’s paraphrase of Romans at https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/eq/1958-2_bruce.pdf  or Paternoster Press (1965); Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free (Eerdmans, 1977); and The Epistle of Paul to the Romans (Eerdmans, 1963).

James Boice’s Romans, Volume 2  (Baker Books, 1991).

Earl Palmer’s Romans series notes “The Greatest Book”, Winter 2002, University Presbyterian Church.

Dennis R. Venema and Scot McKnight, Adam and the Genome (Brazos Press, 2017).  This is the most recent critique of the traditional understanding of Adam’s federal headship.  See also John Walton’s The Lost World of Adam and Eve (IVP Academic, 2015).

Abner Chou (and the Master’s College faculty), ed.  What Happened in the Garden (Kregel, 2016).  This is a good place to start in responding to Venema and McKnight.  See especially Todd Wood’s “Genetics of Adam”, pg. 75.

Hans Medueme’s blog “Rumors of Adam’s Demise” at https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/book-review-adams-genome.

There is a wonderful collection of resources at https://www.monergism.com/topics/federal-headship

Reading this week: Getting ready for the Spirit

Monday: Romans 5:1-11, Rejoicing!
Paul wants us to get excited about our justification.  Which of the big three – peace, hope, love – are you celebrating today?  How have you experienced the “on behalf of us” nature of Jesus death and life?

Tuesday: Romans 5:12-21, Adam and Christ
In this passage Paul compares the headship of Adam with that of Christ.  What evidence of the Federal Headship of Adam have you seen?  How did you escape Adam’s headship?   How are you assured that Jesus’ obedience has been credited to you?

Wednesday: Romans 6:1-14, Baptism and dying to sin
How does your baptism reflect your connection to Jesus’ death?  to Jesus’ resurrection?  What specific sin is struggling to be our master (see 6:14)?  How has the image of offering and sacrifice helped you master that sin?

Thursday: Romans 6:15-23, A slave gets his wages
Grace means not only that I don’t have to earn my salvation, but also that I don’t get what I have earned – death.  How do these “wages of sin” (see 6:23) show up in your life?  What have been the benefits in your life of being a slave to God?

Friday: Romans 7:1-6, A tough lesson from marriage
Paul isn’t anti-marriage, but he is realistic about what happens when a spouse dies.  A wife is free of the bonds of marriage when her husband dies (but see 1 Corinthians 7:39).  In a similar way, my death to sin has freed me from its power.  How has this new freedom been reflected in your life?  How ready are you for the “new way of the Spirit”?

Saturday: Romans 7:7-25, Paul’s story is my story
This is Paul’s “wretched man” autobiography.  How does this story differ from his testimony in Acts 26?  How is Paul able to be both victorious Apostle and the one who does “what I do not want to do”?  How do you celebrate your rescue from the “body of death”?