Bible Study on Romans 5, verses 1 to 5, peace with God

 

Romans 5:1 ¶  Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2  By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3  And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 4  And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5  And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

 

Verse 1 is a very important point. We can have peace with God, who created all things, only by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Here in Ephesians is a statement on having peace with God.

 

Ephesians 2:11 ¶  Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;

12  That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

13  But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

14 ¶  For he is our peace, who hath made both one [Jew and Gentile], and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; 15  Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; 16  And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: 17  And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. 18  For through him we both [Jew and Gentile] have access by one Spirit unto the Father. 19  Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; 20  And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; 21  In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: 22  In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

 

We have access to God by faith because of Christ.

 

John 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

 

Ephesians 2:18  For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

 

Tribulations are adversities, troubles, anguish, and distress involving problems of living and persecution and temptations to renounce by thought and deed Christ Himself, problems that arise from being a follower of Christ. When we face such things with faith we find patience grows within us.

 

Matthew 5:10  Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11  Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12  Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

 

Acts 5:41  And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.

 

2Corinthians 12:9  And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

 

James 1:1 ¶  James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting. 2 ¶  My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3  Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4  But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

 

Patience is built and we are promised this.

 

1Corinthians 10:13  There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

 

With patience comes experience. We’ve “been there, done that, got the t-shirt.” We learn by experience and gain wisdom and understanding. Trouble teaches us more about life than ease of living does and we learn to trust in God’s mercy and comfort.

 

Genesis 30:27  And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine eyes, tarry: for I have learned by experience that the LORD hath blessed me for thy sake.

 

Ecclesiastes 1:16  I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.

 

And with experience comes hope. The majority of times salvation or saved is used in the Bible it means from some temporal danger or crisis, something in this life, not in the next. We can learn from experience and have hope of God’s immediate deliverance and trusting in His promises of eternal life.

 

Enduring tribulation in faith works and strengthens patience and gives birth to experience  which  enlightens us with hope because of God’s promises and His deliverance on those promises in our lifetime. Christians don’t have hope because of simply words written in an old book. We have hope because of God’s delivering on promises written in a living Book that He has given us from down through the ages. His Spirit , which indwells us, comforts, strengthens, advises, and never forsakes us in our time of need if we believe in faith expecting Him to lift us up in our adversity.

 

If we live in faith and suffer adversity in faith we see God’s deliverance and our faith in eternal life with Him is strengthened and made sure, established. There are two types of Christians in this regard. There is one who simply believes what they were told to believe and sees no power of God in their life because they live by a need to submit to others and the comfort of group belief and identification with a group for whatever reason. The other sees God’s hand in their daily life and that life is a continuous miracle to them. They believe God’s promises not because of some charismatic preacher who influences them but because they see God as real and involved with them.

 

One believes because they trust a person while the other believes because they trust God and have seen His power in their lives. They’ve had their own escape from Egypt, their own Red Sea crossing, their own wilderness wandering, and have seen their own Promised Land as they hope for eternal life and have no reason to not believe God because He is faithful.

 

We are not ashamed or bashful, as the word also meant at the time that this Bible was translated, and not inhibited to proclaim the gospel of Christ because it is in us swelling to come out of us. God’s love is shed abroad in our hearts because of the Holy Spirit. If you don’t have a hunger to tell others about your faith or to even show it to others and you insist that faith is a private matter that no one else should know about perhaps you need to examine your relationship with Christ more closely.

 

Of course, there are different ways to witness from standing unflinchingly on the principles that Christ has laid down for us to witnessing with words. For some it is in their manner of living that makes people know to whom they belong. I had a manager at a pizza place I worked at thirty years ago who said he knew I was a Christian by the way I talked. He wasn’t. Unbelievers seem to know more of what to expect from a Christian than we often do. Then, there were others who knew my faith by my words, strangers by my passing out gospel tracts, or acquaintances by my offering of the gospel to them after I had been saved. Both ways have plusses and minuses though. The plusses are obvious but in the first example my manager should not have had to guess my faith based on my behavior but it should be been declared in some way. In the second example I am sure I’ve been a total nuisance and a sanctimonious boor as well who drove some people away from the Cross rather than drawing them toward it. Being a Christian takes some maturity, some compassion, and some awareness of the limitations of a situation yet all the while being responsive to the Holy Spirit’s leading.

Bible Study on Exodus 33, verses 1 to 6, Unto a land flowing with milk and honey

 

Exodus 33:1 ¶  And the LORD said unto Moses, Depart, and go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it: 2  And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite: 3  Unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way. 4  And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned: and no man did put on him his ornaments. 5  For the LORD had said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiffnecked people: I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee. 6  And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the mount Horeb.

 

Remember what God said to Abraham.

 

Genesis 15:12 ¶  And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. 13  And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; 14  And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. 15  And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. 16  But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

 

Apparently, God has now had just about enough of the Canaanites nonsense with their idolatry, sexual perversion as a facet of religious expression, and all sorts of other garbage. When will He have had enough of your country’s excesses? He judged the countries of Europe on World War One’s battlefields and in the great influenza epidemic afterwards that killed more people than in all of the battles of what they called at the time, “The Great War.”

A land flowing with milk and honey is a reference to the fertility and produce of Canaan. We do not think of the land that Israel occupies now as being fertile and lush. Israel may have once been covered with great forests that were cut down for iron production. And although there is a diverse meteorology and ecology in Israel from the snows of Mount Hermon in the Golan Heights to the reforestation after the Ottoman Empire cut down most of the remaining forests to make railways in the 19^th century it is believed that the climate was much milder in the tenth century BC. We know, as only those who believe the Bible can know, that the earth has been drying out since the great Flood of Noah’s time. We would expect it to be a more fertile place then than now.

Numbers 13:23  And they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two upon a staff; and they brought of the pomegranates, and of the figs.

 

God is going to drive out the Canaanites from before the Hebrews. Here is one of those great and sad turning points in the Bible, where God, who already knew what would happen announces something He is going to do other than what He truly desires to do.

In Genesis we had man and woman over creation, as stewards, a royal family with dominion over the works of God’s hand.

Genesis 1:26  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

 

But, we know how that turned out.

 

Genesis 3:24  So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

 

Later, with God showing that it was His perfect will to rule over the Israelites as their king it was His permissive will which was expressed due to their wicked stubbornness. Kings, royalty, aristocracy, and, in fact, all human government without God, over His people was the result.

1Samuel 8:7  And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.

 

Now, here, while God’s perfect will would have been to walk among the Israelites, to dwell with them, to go in and go out of their camp and go with them to their wars against the child-sacrificing, temple-prostitute patronizing, Canaanites He expresses a change of plan. He will drive out the Canaanites before them by His angel. But, the benefit of having God in the camp, outside of the tabernacle, they will not know.

Matthew Henry, in his commentary on this passage in Exodus, noted, “God would have brought them under the yoke of his law, and into the bond of his covenant, but their necks were too stiff to bow to them. God would have cured them of their corrupt and crooked dispositions, and have set them straight; but they were wilful and obstinate, and hated to be reformed, and would not have God to reign over them.” 

What He promises later was something they could have had but their stubborn willfulness rejected.

Jeremiah 31:31  Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 32  Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: 33  But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

 

This will only be accomplished now when God comes to live as a man, pays the price for our sin, and then rises from the dead for our justification. The immense blessing that was offered and available to the Israelites is rejected by their own behavior. Man cannot save himself. He can’t even allow himself to be saved. It is God who does the work. But, here, the Israelites have lost a great blessing. God knew this would happen but that doesn’t make it any less a sad catastrophe.

As an application God wants to walk with the Christian. God speaking to you through His word and you speaking to Him in prayer, waiting on Him and obeying Him, as He guides you every day and directs your path, is God’s perfect will. But so many who call themselves Christians prefer to push God into a ritual they observe on a certain day, memorized prayers they make at mealtime and bedtime, joyful hope at a wedding or birth of a baby, or tearful hope at a funeral. But, they would rather not have God walk with them in their midst. Their stubborn willfulness will not permit it.

The Israelites, as commanded, put off the jewelry that they had used in their pagan worship. This is an act of repentance. As John the Baptist demanded of the Jews of his day, and I am quoting these two verses to make a side note about how the Bible defines words by substituting them for the words that define them in different quotes;

 

Matthew 3:8  Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:

 

Luke 3:8a  Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance,…

 

See how meet is worthy. Hopefully, that will help you understand this verse better.

 

Genesis 2:18  And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

 

But, back to the passage. The Israelites have obeyed, for now.

Bible Study on Romans 4, verses 17 to 25, He stagged not at the promise of God

 

Romans 4:17 ¶  (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. 18  Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. 19  And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara’s womb: 20  He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; 21  And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. 22  And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.

 

Again, I want to quote the verse to which Paul is referring.

 

Genesis 17:4 ¶  As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.

 

Here also are two important statements about God’s sovereignty over life and creation. God can make alive anyone or anything who is dead physically. Quickeneth means to make alive.

 

In addition, God has created all things out of nothing. Every thing that exists began with the Spirit of God, His mind, and was spoken into existence by His Word. It did not exist in the physical world before He spoke it into existence. All of the reality we know is a production of God although suffering from the taint of judgment for mankind’s rebellion. This must be sorted out.

 

Abraham believed, trusting God to be true, even though what He had promised Abraham did not seem to be in the realm of the possible. Although we know from his behavior that his belief and hope were imperfect, like ours, it was still there and God honored it. Even our little faith is recognized by God.

 

One of the characteristics of the Holy Spirit speaking about the saints of God in the Old Testament is His glowing report of their faith, as weak and imperfect as it might have been. We will see this again in Hebrews, chapter 11. Notice the background from Genesis of what actually happened…

Genesis 17:15 ¶  And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. 16  And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her. 17  Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? 18  And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee! 19  And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. 20  And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. 21  But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year. 22  And he left off talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.

For those of us who lament our weak and imperfect faith consider how the Holy Spirit extolls and lifts up the faith of His saints in Hebrews 11 whose shortcomings are illustrated in the text of the Bible.

 

Romans 4:23 ¶  Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; 24  But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; 25  Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

 

Paul makes note later why things were recorded, for our learning and edification.

 

Romans 15:4  For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

 

Not imputing sin to someone who believes God through Jesus Christ is a promise that we all receive when we accept Christ as our Saviour and Lord. Here Paul promises that if we believe that Jesus rose from the dead sin is not imputed to us. This remarkable statement is fundamental to our salvation.

 

The Holy Spirit has laid out for us what it means to believe in and on Christ to be saved. Jesus said…

 

John 6:28 ¶  Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?

29  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

 

John 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. 7  If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.8  Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. 9  Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

 

Belief in Jesus’ divinity, His being God in the flesh, in His sacrifice for our sins against Him, and believing in the resurrection of Jesus Christ justifies us legally before God and removes the taint of sin from us as we are made righteous in God’s eyes. Paul underscores here the gospel as he does elsewhere, what is required for salvation.

 

1Corinthians 15:1 ¶  Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2  By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3  For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4  And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

 

Romans 10:9  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

 

Remember this promise in the Old Testament?

 

Psalm 103:8  The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.

9  He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. 10  He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. 11  For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. 12  As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

 

We have this promise from the Old Testament as well which shows that salvation under the New Testament is available to the Jews.

 

Jeremiah 31:33  But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

 

And this continuing promise to both Gentile and Jew who become the church from the New.

 

1John 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

 

We are also promised that the things that beset us that pull us away from God’s standards and expectations do not have to overwhelm us.

 

1Corinthians 10:13  There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

 

Indeed, whatever we suffer does not have to overcome us, even hunger and lack.

 

Philippians 4: 11  Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. 12  I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

 

None of these things are able to, on their own, or have to separate us from God’s love through Christ. Nothing and no one can condemn or accuse us before God.

 

Romans 8:33  Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.

34  Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. 35  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36  As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

In these verses it is clear that it is God who works on the sinner from the inside through His Spirit and by virtue of the sinner’s acceptance of Christ. All other efforts to deal with sin are mere self-help platitudes tossed out by supposed gurus with a money-making agenda.

 

We are justified by Christ and we are not condemned by God. Because of that no one else or nothing else can condemn us.

Bible Study on Exodus 32, verses 30 to 35, mine Angel shall go before thee

 

Exodus 32:30 ¶  And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the LORD; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin. 31  And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. 32  Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin — ; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written. 33 And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. 34  Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, mine Angel shall go before thee: nevertheless in the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them. 35  And the LORD plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.

 

Moses tells the people that he will make an atonement for their sin of idolatry. The word peradventure has to do with perhaps or possibly, that type of meaning in context, the word being connected with a sort of, “who knows?” type of sentiment.

Moses, to make his argument before God, offers to be damned in their place. Look at this verse from Revelation;

Revelation 3:5  He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

Christ promises not to blot a person’s name out of the Book of Life. Either the following verses mean the people referred to can lose their salvation as God knows who will choose Him by His foreknowledge as noted in 1Peter 1:2 since the foundation of the world as per Ephesians 1:4;

Philippians 4:3 And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life.

Revelation 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Revelation 17:8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

Revelation 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works…15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Revelation 21:27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Revelation 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

…or all human beings’ names are in the book when their soul was created, based on God’s foreknowledge and if we reject Him our name is removed. The latter seems more likely to me as when we are saved we are said to be sealed and the Holy Spirit is given to us as a deposit, earnest money, so to speak.

2Corinthians 1:22 Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

Ephesians 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

Ephesians 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

So, it would be more consistent to believe that God’s Book of Life contains all human beings’ names and when we die physically the name is either left there or taken out based on what we have done regarding Christ…

Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

With regard to eternal life God deals with us as individuals.

 

He then refers to His Angel, His presence, His physical appearance.

 

Isaiah 63:9  In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.

 

Judges 2:1 ¶  And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you.

 

Acts 27:23  For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve,

 

Galatians 4:14  And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.

 

It is Christ who leads them, the visible image of the invisible God. Remember, that God the Father, the soul and seat of self-identity and will of the Godhead, is a spirit being who is not visible to us.

John 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

 

And no man has seen Him.

 

John 1:18  No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

 

1Timothy 6:16  Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.

 

But, Christ is His visible image.

 

An image means looks like, the appearance of, the physical aspect that can be seen.

 

Genesis 1:26  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:

 

Deuteronomy 4:16  Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

 

And Christ is that of God, He is the body of the Godhead.

 

Hebrews 1:3  Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person,

 

John 1:14  And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

 

John 14:9  Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

 

2Corinthians 4:6  For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

 

2Corinthians 4:4  In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

 

Colossians 1:15  Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

Bible Study on Romans 4, verses 9 to 16, faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness

 

Romans 4:9 ¶  Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. 10  How was it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. 11  And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also: 12  And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised. 13  For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. 14  For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect: 15  Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression. 16  Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,

 

The possibility of redemption is not just for the Jews. The Jews are not the only receivers of God’s forgiveness. Circumcision was the Jew following in obedience to God’s command through Abraham. Faith was what God wanted and that was what would guarantee the Jew his earthly inheritance.

 

The Christian follows in obedience by being baptized. We follow Christ in baptism for righteousness sake and as a type of His death, burial, and resurrection.

 

Matthew 3:13 ¶  Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. 14  But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? 15  And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.

 

Romans 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

 

Colossians 2:12  Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.

 

The difference between the dispensations, the Testaments, is made clear in this. The Jew would be circumcised as a baby and, of course, women could not be circumcised but were still Jews. The Hebrew, Israelite, the Jew received a physical kingdom in a physical world and were commanded to obey God to draw all men without distinction to them to learn of God.

 

The Christian must believe and then be baptized. It is unbelief, not not being baptized, that condemns people.

 

Mark 16:16  He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

 

A baby cannot believe. A parent’s decision that their child will be raised as a Christian does not save them from an eternity of agony if the child themselves at an appropriate age doesn’t receive Christ as their Saviour. Infants and children are not in danger of that suffering whether they are children of non-believers today or in Moses’ time.

 

In any case, Abraham was justified by God by his faith not by his circumcision, although it was commanded. We are not justified by our baptism but by our faith in Christ’s resurrection.

 

God who gave us a sign, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, His Spirit, as our guide and teacher. Both Jew under the Law and Jew and Gentile under grace required faith and our salvation is predicated upon our faith in God and Christ.

 

Circumcision was performed after Abraham believed. He was justified before he responded in obedience but that was the token of his commitment and faith.

 

Genesis 17:10  This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.

 

We are saved by God as a response to our faith and sealed by the Spirit which is given to us as a token, a deposit on our salvation from God.

 

Ephesians 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

 

John 14:23  Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

 

Romans 8:9  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

 

2Corinthians 1:22  Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

 

Ephesians 1:13  In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14  Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

 

Ephesians 4:30  And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

 

We are baptized as type of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection and in our faith Christ separates the sins of our flesh from the guilt of our soul so that the sins of our flesh can no longer condemn us even though we are called to good works. The result of our faith in His resurrection is that spiritual circumcision made not with human hands but by the operation of God.

 

Colossians 2:11  In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: 12  Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. 13 ¶  And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

 

Paul’s argument here in opposition to any controversy made by Judaizers is that Abraham was saved when he was uncircumcised. We are saved when we are unbaptized. This fact allows faith to be extended to all without circumcision being an issue.

 

Judaizers, as we saw in Acts, wanted new Christians to be circumcised and follow the Law given to Moses. Paul will argue his point further in the letter to the Galatians which you should read.

 

In verse 13 Paul opens up what Christ had already suggested as He said there were others in His kingdom not of the children of Israel. These would be those such as us who came not by the command of the Law but by faith in Christ to God.

 

Matthew 8:5 ¶  And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, 6  And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. 7  And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. 8  The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. 9  For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. 10  When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. 11  And I

say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. 12  But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 13  And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.

 

John 10:16  And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

 

Paul states that the promises to Abraham were not through the Law but through the righteousness of faith. What was the promise to Abraham about inheriting the world? Paul here is referring to;

 

Genesis 17:4 ¶  As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.

 

We will see that Christ inherits the world through Abraham’s faith and belief in Galatians but that is a different reference for a different verse in Genesis, a different promise.

 

The Law convicts of sin. The Law is wrath and judgment. Faith by grace is forgiveness, salvation, and the assurance of our entry into eternal life, our eternal inheritance in Christ. This is not only for the believing Jew but for the Gentile who comes to Christ. Once again, then, it is emphasized that salvation is open to all men and women, not just the Chosen People. Such is a denial of the Jews’ self-righteousness exclusion of all but them to God’s favor and even a denial of Calvinism which in its strictest form makes salvation available only to those who were created for the purpose of being saved.

 

Paul has carried his argument to a place that defies the Judaizer’s claim that without circumcision we cannot be justified before God. For Abraham was justified before he was subjected to circumcision. It is faith that saves, God’s response to it, and no physical action of our own, neither circumcision for the Jew or baptism for the Christian; Jew or Gentile.