A Look at “The Gospel: How The Church Portrays the Beauty of Christ” by Ray Ortlund

How does rich gospel doctrine translate into rich gospel culture within the local church? What does that look like? In The Gospel: How the Church Portrays the Beauty of Christ, Ray Ortlund seeks to answer this question. This book is part of the 9Marks series of books that aims to serve the local church by providing “theological” and “practical” books on a variety of local church-related topics.[1] The hope of the series is to “combine careful biblical examination, theological reflection, cultural consideration, corporate application, and even a bit of individual exhortation” (11). Ortlund’s contribution delivers on these very hopes. Here I offer a brief overview of (1) the purpose of the book and (2) its first three chapters.

 

Ortlund’s Purpose

Ortlund’s purpose for the book is explicit both in the title and the introduction. That is, Ortlund aims “to show how Christ puts his beauty into our churches” (19). He does this by digging deeply into the concept of “how the gospel can shape the life and culture of our churches so that they portray Christ as he really is, according to his gospel” (19). Ortlund’s book is helpful because it addresses a very real issue for local churches — translating gospel doctrine into gospel culture.

First, Ortlund orders priorities. That is, before a local church can ever have a rich gospel culture, it must first fully embrace rich gospel doctrine. This is because gospel culture is downstream from gospel doctrine. Gospel culture springs from gospel doctrine. Thus, if rich gospel doctrine is lacking, gospel culture will be lacking as well. Sure, the culture may be welcoming but ultimately, without gospel truth and right understanding, the culture will be, as Ortlund says, “sentimental and cowardly” (22). Such a church culture cannot stand against the winds of sinful, worldly culture. Rather, the secular cultural winds of the world will sweep up the gospel-doctrineless church culture so that, in the resulting swirl, church culture and secular culture become virtually indistinguishable. In other words, the church will look like the world. Ortlund sums it up simply: “Without the doctrine, the culture will be weak” (21). But the gospel is countercultural to our world. This is what makes it salty and illuminating. It is different. And as much as the world may tout acceptance and tolerance, it actually does not do ‘different’ or ‘countercultural’ very well. Indeed, it can be hard for a church to hold on to rich gospel doctrine in an increasingly hostile worldly culture. But it is vital. Our very faith depends on it. And, as hard as holding fast to gospel doctrine can be, as Ortlund points out, “it’s even harder to create a gospel culture” (22).

That’s right. It is possible to be a church that embraces orthodox gospel doctrine, but still have a culture that is decidedly gospel lite. In such cases, the culture actually reduces the gospel to merely an impersonal, intellectually stimulating pursuit. Such an approach that embraces only the knowledge of the head transmutes the gospel from the person of Jesus to mere propositions and definitions, effectively bankrupting it. Instead of treasuring the person of the gospel, Jesus Christ, we treasure only the assertions, propositions, concepts, etc. of the gospel. So, while the articulation of gospel doctrine might be on point, a church culture can end up wielding that doctrine like a sledgehammer, which is not ideal for building but excellent at demolition work. But the gospel does both. It tears down to build up. It wounds to heal. It is truth with love. Ortlund notes, “Truth without grace is harsh and ugly” (21). Such a culture is cold, weak, hypocritical and unloving. Therefore, Ortlund notes “Without the culture, the doctrine will seem pointless” (21). However, when rich gospel doctrine gives rise to rich gospel culture and the two work in concert, the church thrives: “When the doctrine is clear and the culture is beautiful that church will be powerful” (21).

 

Overview of Ortlund’s First Three Chapters

Ortlund unpacks the gospel in three spheres: what the gospel means for you personally (“The Gospel for You”, Chapter 1), what the gospel means for the Church corporately (“The Gospel for the Church”, Chapter 2), and what the gospel means for all creation (“The Gospel for Everything”, Chapter 3). At the end of these first three chapters, Ortlund points out how each of these facets of the gospel informs cultural formation. First, he highlights the personal reality of the gospel.

Gospel Doctrine: “The Gospel for You”

In Chapter 1, Ortlund details the personal reality of rich gospel doctrine. God in his infinite love saves individuals through his Son Jesus. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16) (21). This is how God saves his people. This is how God saves you. Ortlund notes, “The massive love of God calls for more and creates more than mild agreement…Real belief takes us into Jesus Christ…we find in him our all…We gladly lose ourselves in who he is for desperate sinners” (33). Therefore, Ortlund writes, “When I believe into Christ, I stop hiding and resisting. I surrender my autonomy” (33). This personal reality of the gospel naturally gives rise to a corporate reality of the gospel, and therefore, a cultural reality.

Gospel Culture

The gospel doctrine of our individual salvation creates a gospel culture in the local church of sacrificial love and brotherly affection. Ortlund notes, “Now here is the beautiful church culture called for by that doctrine: ‘Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another’ (1 John 4:11)” (36). This means a gospel culture in a local church will be marked by the loving pursuit of and care for our brothers and sisters in the body. But it also means a gospel culture will be marked by the willful surrender of ourselves to the pursuit and care of our brothers and sisters in the body. Gospel culture is not one of isolation. God saves individuals for covenant community in the local church. Therefore, we give ourselves to the ministry of loving our brothers and sisters as Christ loved us, and we give ourselves to the ministry of our brothers and sisters who seek to love us with the love of Christ. As Ortlund notes, “we give up our aloofness and come together to care for one another in real ways, even as God wonderfully cares for us” (37).

Gospel Doctrine: “The Gospel for the Church”

In Chapter 2, Ortlund highlights the corporate reality of rich gospel doctrine by pointing to two miraculous gospel realities: unity and purity.

Unity

First, through the gospel, Jesus creates a people, the church. By virtue of our individual union with Christ, we are united with all Christians across the centuries. However, we express, participate in, and even build upon that unity by literally gathering as and being members of local churches. Ortlund notes, “the unity of the church becomes our actual experience in the unity of a church” (40), and “It is only in a church that we are members of Christ and of one another, moving forward together like a well-coordinated body (1 Cor. 12:12–27)” (40).

Gospel Culture

A local church’s gospel culture is marked by beautiful unity (I’ve adapted this language of “beautiful” from Ortlund’s language regarding a church culture marked by holiness quoted below). From the outside looking in, the world hopefully sees in the gathering of the local church diverse peoples that have no earthly reason to be together. But we gather and commit lovingly to one another as the local church in order to participate in, display, and build upon the reality of our union with one another by virtue of our union with Christ. And as this unity endures over time through blessings and trials or through joys and suffering, it only grows in beauty. This gospel culture of unity, then, becomes a profound gospel witness to the world.

Purity

Secondly, through the gospel, Jesus purifies his people, the church. Certainly, as the church we continue to struggle with and fight sin. But the promise of the gospel is that we are and will be holy. Ortlund hits on this by noting several passages. We are at once washed clean, sanctified, and justified before God (1 Corinthians 6:11). Simultaneously we are called to ever-increasing holiness: “but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy’” (1 Peter 1:15–16). We are to be more and more fitting to the gospel call on our lives (2 Thessalonians 1:11–12). And the gospel promise it that God will sanctify the church, his bride, completely (Ephesians 5:26; 1 Thessalonians 5:23–24).

Gospel Culture

A local church shimmers with holiness. That is, gospel culture in the local church should be “marked,” as Ortlund asserts, “by a beautiful holiness” (48). A rich gospel doctrine fully recognizes and fully embraces our perfectly righteous standing before God because of Jesus. Simultaneously, a rich gospel culture recognizes our perpetual weakness and sinfulness in this life. But rather than permitting us to go on sinning that grace may abound (Romans 6:1), a rich gospel culture, as Ortlund notes, “teaches us to think: ‘I’m no good at this. I do fail and fail and fail. Therefore, the promise of Christ is what matters, He will make me holy as he is holy, for his own glory. I will believe the gospel and I will put my trust in the mighty love of Christ” (48). And, I would add, we act upon that promise. In other words, a gospel rich culture promotes and cultivates the continual pursuit of greater purity in our lives through confessing and repenting of sin in light of Christ. We “lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely” and we “run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:1).

It is in this type of honest, transparent, Christ-clinging culture, beautiful unity and beautiful purity, shine forth through present and former weaknesses. And the world takes notice (49).

Gospel Doctrine: The Gospel for Everything

In Chapter 3, Ortlund describes the full scope of a rich gospel doctrine as it relates to all creation. He reminds us that creation as we know it has a trajectory — “The Bible’s story starts here: ‘In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth’ (Gen 1:1). It ends here: ‘Then I saw a new heave and a new earth’ (Rev. 21:1)” (51). Through the gospel, God is making and will make all things new. That is, as Ortlund points out, “this universe, this present heaven and earth, will be renewed. God will restore this creation that he made, owns, and loves—this creation where we ourselves feel at home” (56). Therefore, God will fix all broken things and right all wrongs—“Who will put an end to war? Who will defeat Satan? Who will bring justice to the nations? Who will repair the damage and wreckage from all our sins? He will—our King, who reigns even now from his throne of grace, to whom be glory forever” (61–62).

Gospel Culture

This rich gospel doctrine gives rise to a gospel culture in the local church of resilient sturdiness amidst the trials and tribulations of life. This type of gospel culture recognizes that we are but exiles on this earth who are looking for a heavenly country, a city whose designer and builder is God, the city that is to come (Hebrews 11:10, 13, 16; 13:14). Therefore, gospel culture is marked by robust hope in future, real, tangible promises even in the midst of suffering now. As Ortlund says, “It creates churches of bright, resilient, rugged hope. It creates churches that face life as it is and are not defeated” (62). A gospel culture can truly rejoice always with prayerful, thankful hearts in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:16–18).

 

Parting Thoughts

I’m thankful for Ortlund’s labors here and the wisdom he offers in this book. Let us be exhorted to this end—DGCC, let us be a local church that ever finds our footing on and clings lovingly to rich gospel doctrine, and let us be a local church that shines and shimmers with beautiful gospel culture.

 

[1] Ray Ortlund, The Gospel: How the Church Portrays the Beauty of Christ (Crossway, 2014).

The Lies of Satan and the Word of God

Our Lord Jesus tells us:

[The devil] was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him.  When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar, and the father of lies. (John 8:44)

What lies does Satan tell you?

Here are seventeen that he has used against me over the years – and responses to each from God’s Word. I encourage you to make your own list, adding additional lies, and developing a list of Scriptures to use in our battle against the enemy.

(1) THE LIE: There is no such thing as Satan

THE WORD: Satan tempts (Matthew 4:10-11), can be rebuked (Zechariah 3:2) and resisted (James 4:7), fell from heaven (Luke 10:18), asks to be able to accomplish his purposes (Luke 22:31-32); our battle is neither against flesh and blood nor against an abstract force, but against rulers and authorities (Ephesians 6:12).

(2) THE LIE: “You’re so bad, you might as well never try to be good.  God will never forgive you for all that you’ve done.”

THE WORD: “Don’t you know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God?  Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.  And that is what some of you were.  But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (emphasis added)

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

(3) (Satan doesn’t aim to be consistent: Note that this third lie is virtually the opposite of the second, but he uses both against the same person, sometimes within minutes):

THE LIE: “Aren’t you becoming a wonderful Christian now!  Look at all the things you do for God!  Isn’t it too bad that all those other Christians aren’t doing so well.  And all those unbelievers . . .  Well!”

THE WORD: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3)

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith– and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– 9  not by works, so that no one can boast. 10  For we are God’s workmanship.” Ephesians 2:8-10a

(4) THE LIE: “Don’t even try to resist this temptation — you can’t do it!”

THE WORD: “God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.  But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”  1 Corinthians 10:13

(5) THE LIE: “Shouldn’t a great mind like yours take an academic interest in Christianity?“

THE WORD: “Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.  But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.  He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things– and the things that are not– to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.  It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God– that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: ‘Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.’”  1 Corinthians 1:26-31

(6) THE LIE: “This is more important right now!  You can (read the Bible, pray, serve others) tomorrow.”

THE WORD: “We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.”  Hebrews 6:12

(7) THE LIE: “God’s way is no fun; you will miss out on life if you follow him!  My way is the way to life!”

THE WORD: “When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness.  What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of?  Those things result in death!  But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.  For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Romans 6:20-23

“. . . the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace . . .” Galations 5:22

(8) THE LIE: “You’ve been good for quite a while now – come on, you deserve a little fun.”

THE WORD: “If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!”  1 Corinthians 10:12

(9) THE LIE: “This sin really doesn’t matter . . . It’s only a little one.”

THE WORD: “Be perfect, therefore, as your father in heaven is perfect.” Matthew  5:48

(10) THE LIE: “Everyone else is doing it, so it must be ok!”

THE WORD: “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2

(11) THE LIE: “Just this once. Come on, just this once!  See what it’s like!  No harm can come from this one time!”

THE WORD: “Each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he  is dragged away and enticed.  Then, after desire has conceived it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death.”  James 1:14-15

“This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.”  1 John 2:5-6

(12) THE LIE: “No one will ever know!”

THE WORD:  “There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.” Luke 12:2

(13) THE LIE: “You’ve already blown it — you might as well give in the rest of the way and ask God to forgive you later.”

THE WORD: “What shall we say, then?  Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?  By no means!  We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?”  Romans 6:1-2

(14) THE LIE: “You’ve given plenty to God — keep this for yourself.  He can’t expect you to give him everything!”

THE WORD: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters — yes, even his own life — he cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:26 (emphasis added)

(15) THE LIE: “God doesn’t love you!” 

THE WORD: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

“I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39

(16) THE LIE: “God couldn’t possibly intend for you to do that!  Here’s an easier way to accomplish the same thing!”

THE WORD: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways…. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”  Isaiah 55:8-9

(17) THE LIE: “If anything looks good to you, go after it!”

THE WORD: “Do not love the world or anything in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For everything in the world — the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and his pride in his possessions — comes not from the Father but from the world.  The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.”  1 John 2:15-17

Thoughts on a Snowy Day

Snow and sleet cover the ground this morning. All is white. Clean. Pure. And brilliant, should the sun ever poke through the clouds.

So I turned this morning to Scripture, to see how the biblical authors refer to snow.

Only in one incident in the Bible is snow referred to in a weather report – Benaiah kills a lion in a pit on a snowy day (2 Samuel 23:20, 1 Chronicles 11:22). The other occurrences speak of characteristics of snow, or use snow figuratively. Six ways of speaking of snow stand out:

First, as we would expect, the biblical authors use snow as an image of purity. So God, Jesus, and an angel are pictured as having hair or clothing as white as snow (Daniel 7:9, Revelation 1:14, Matthew 28:3). And after David’s adultery and murder, he cries out to God, “Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” (Psalm 51:7). Similarly, God calls to His people through the prophet Isaiah, telling them their rebellion against Him is stupid and foolish:

Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; . . . learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.  Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.  If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken. (Isaiah 1:16-20)

So in this sense, God’s people should be like Him, white as snow. We should be pure, spotless, undefiled. Like the new-fallen snow around us this morning, there should be no speck of dirt, no hint of rebellion in us.

But, secondly, Scripture also uses the image of snow in a negative sense. Three times leprosy is pictured as “like snow” (Exodus 4:6, Numbers 12:10, 2 Kings 5:27). And leprosy ironically is an image of deep-seated sinfulness in us. So we are to be white, pure as snow; yet skin which shouldn’t be pure white becoming pure white indicates our rebellious, fallen nature.

Third, snow can be dangerous. We are all conscious of that today as we stay at home and avoid the roads. For the ancient Israelites, the danger was especially from exposure to cold. But the excellent wife of Proverbs 31 is not fearful of the snow; she has clothed her family not only with practical warmth but also with beautiful adornment (Proverbs 31:21).

Fourth: Isaiah 55 speaks of snow as the source of fruitfulness. Snow, like rain, is the necessary source of water for nourishing crops and forests. God’s Word similarly produces fruitfulness:

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:10-11)

Fifth: Two passages refer to snow having its place; we humans similarly should have our place:

Like snow in summer or rain in harvest, so honor is not fitting for a fool. (Proverbs 26:1)

Does the snow of Lebanon leave the crags of Sirion? Do the mountain waters run dry, the cold flowing streams?  But my people have forgotten me; they make offerings to false gods; they made them stumble in their ways, in the ancient roads, and to walk into side roads, not the highway. (Jeremiah 18:14-15)

In these verses, the authors say: Snow belongs in winter, especially in deep fissures in mountains. Snow doesn’t belong in summer, and just so honor does not belong with fools. The people of God, on the other hand, have a purpose and a place: They are to love God, honor Him, and walk in His paths. But God’s people in Jeremiah’s day were rebelling against the purpose for which God had chosen them.

Finally, God’s control of the snow is evidence of His majesty, His authority, His awesome power (Job 37:6, Psalm 147:16). When Job raises questions about God, the Almighty turns the table and questions him: “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail? (Job 38:22). Indeed, the psalmist calls on the snow (together with fire, hail, mist, and stormy winds) to praise the Lord! (Psalm 147:8).

So look out on this weekend’s snow and reflect on these truths. You are born with a leprosy-like disease, deep within you, disfiguring you, making white what should not be white; but through the blood of our Savior and the power of the Spirit, you can be properly white as snow. There are dangers around us – but God grants us wisdom and resources to protect ourselves from those dangers. And as the snow itself will melt and be God’s provision for forest and field, just so His Word will nourish us and build us up to become what He intends us to be. In this way we can find our rightful place, we can fulfill His plans, delighting in the place and function He grants us.

And then as you look at the snow falling and hear of the blizzards further up the coast, stand in awe: Our God controls it all. The power of the storm is one minuscule part of His majesty. There is no power that can stand against Him. May the snow praise the Lord!

 

Beginning Romans

We begin this Sunday a new series of sermons on the book of Romans, The Power of God Unto Salvation to Everyone Who Believes.

Throughout church history, God has used this letter time and again to bring many to faith and to restore His church to Gospel truths. Read the biographies or the writings of Augustine, of Luther, of Bunyan, of Wesley, and you will see the great influence of the book of Romans.

The title of our series is taken from Romans 1:16, which reads in part, “the gospel . . .  is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.”

Note three key truths in this brief sentence:

  1. The Gospel is not only Good News. It is not only an offer or invitation. It is a power. It is a power granted to people. And it is a power that is effective, that produces a result: salvation.
  2. And what can we say about this salvation? The Gospel not only saves us from God’s just wrath – His righteous punishment, from hell itself – which all men deserve (Romans 1:18, 3:23). Nor does the Gospel save us only from our self-destructive passions and desires (Romans 1:24-27). That is, the Gospel is not simply a get-out-of-hell-free card. Rather, the Gospel saves us unto being Christlike (Romans 8:29). The Gospel transforms us from the inside out (12:2). It is indeed the power of God unto salvation, unto becoming what God created us to be.
  3. This Gospel, this power unto salvation, is to everyone who believes. It is not to all Jews because they are descended from Abraham; it is not to those who have the Scriptures because they have the Scriptures; it is not to those who prove themselves worthy or who look righteous in the eyes of others. Rather, this power unto salvation is for all who look away from themselves and look to the power of God unto salvation, who look away from their own efforts and look to Jesus who has already made the effort.

So this Gospel, this power – this Spirit-wrought ability to be conformed to Christlikeness – is yours now as a gift, if you believe, if you trust, if you depend on Christ alone. As the Apostle says to those who have received this power, “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires” (Romans 13:14).

And that present, in-this-world salvation from slavery to sin culminates in the eternal, joyful state – when we, as “heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ” are glorified with Him (Romans 8:17) and revealed as the sons of God (Romans 8:19).

That’s the glorious theme of the letter to the Romans.

So I encourage you: Read the book in its entirety, noting the way Paul weaves this theme throughout. Let this letter begin to dwell in you richly – and pray with me that God would use this great epistle for His glory in the life of DGCC as He has used it so often in His people over the centuries.

But how are we to approach this letter? How should we go about interpreting it?

Consider these three guidelines:

  1. Look at the context. Many of you have heard me quote D.A. Carson: “A text without a context is just a pretext for a proof text.” We must look at the context, then look at the context, then keep looking at the context. How we interpret any one verse must make sense in the flow of thought in the surrounding paragraph, in the chapter, in the letter, in the New Testament as a whole, in the story of the Bible as a whole. While this exhortation holds for the interpretation of all Scripture, the near context is especially important when interpreting Romans. Paul is always a logical thinker who advances his argument systematically, but in Romans – unlike, say, his second longest letter, 1 Corinthians, where he addresses a series of somewhat separate issues in the Corinthian church – he sustains his argument over most all of the book.
  2. Ask the right question. If you don’t ask the right question you cannot get the right answer. And if the question you ask seems to have no good answer, perhaps you are asking the wrong question. As a possible example, consider Paul’s account of his struggle with sin: “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate” (Romans 7:15). Many interpreters ask the question: Is Paul talking about his pre-Christian life, or his life as a believer? The question itself presupposes that he is talking about one or the other. And in the history of interpretation of Romans 7, scholars have marshaled strong arguments for one answer to that question or the other. But what if both non-Christians and Christians can experience such a struggle – and yet neither all non-Christians nor all Christians have that struggle? In that case, we would have asked the wrong question, and the question itself would have diverted us from properly understanding the passage. We have to ask the right questions.
  3. Know the Old Testament. We cannot understand the book of Romans without an understanding of the Old Testament. Paul quotes the Old Testament about fifty times in this letter – an average of almost four times a page in my Bible. He draws time and again on Old Testament stories: Adam, Abraham, Jacob and Esau, Pharaoh and Moses, David. He speaks of Old Testament ideas and uses Old Testament categories: Law, circumcision, remnant, sacrifice. We must dig into the Old Testament if we are to dig into and profit from Romans.

So join me in eagerly anticipating what God will do through our time in this great book. May these truths dwell in us richly, so that we may become what God intends us to be individually and corporately, and therefore we might play our role in bringing about “the obedience of faith for the sake of His Name among all the nations” (Romans 1:5).