In the last lesson we began our brief look at Paul’s letter to the Romans. I mentioned there are four major themes here: the unrighteousness of man, the righteousness of Christ imparted to men by faith, the place of Israel in God’s plan and instruction in righteous living. We’ve looked at the first, now we’ll move on to the second.
This is a rather long passage to start with, but it expresses so well the issue at hand,
“But now a righteousness from God has been revealed altogether apart from the Law, although both the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it. This righteousness from God comes by believing with a personal trust in Jesus Christ, and is available to all who trust in Him. Because there is no distinction, since all are falling short of Who God really is (that is, His character and nature), and all are made in right standing with God freely by His grace, through the redemption that is provided in Christ Jesus, Whom God put forward as a mercy seat through faith in His blood. This was to demonstrate His justice, because in His forbearance He had passed over former sins without punishment (until the time when Christ would come). And this was to prove that at this present time He Himself is righteous and that He accepts as righteous all those who have true faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3:21-26)
Now, you probably noticed that I underlined several key words in this passage and I want to clarify their meaning. The first is “righteousness” translated from dikaiosune. This word when applied to God refers to His supreme authority and perfect character (Who He is) and nature (what He does). God is the ultimate and only standard for everything that is right and good. When applied to man, righteousness is the right standing with God that comes only from believing in the redemption provided by God through the sacrifice of His Son, a redemption that effectively erases those shortcomings mentioned above.
I underlined “blood” to emphasize that haima, when referring to the blood of Christ does not mean the red liquid flowing in his physical body. In the Old Testament animal blood sacrifices represented the future sacrifice of Christ on the cross. In the New Testament the word “blood” when referring to Christ is meant to connect the Old Covenant to the New. However, there is a distinct difference. In the New Testament the “blood of Christ” represents the atoning sacrifice of Christ on the cross. In the Old Testament the blood was literal, but the sacrifice was symbolic; in the New Testament the blood was symbolic, but the sacrifice was literal.
Then I wanted to explain “forbearance”. This is from anoche, and means, to bear with, used here to illustrate God’s temporary tolerance towards sin. In the Old Testament God allowed the people’s sin to go unpunished when they observed the animal sacrifices that depicted the future sacrifice of Christ. They were declared righteous (again, in right standing with God) because they looked forward to Christ, in the same way we look back. This was Paul’s way of expressing the fact that righteousness came in the Old Testament the same way it did in the New – through believing in the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.
Because of his extensive training and knowledge of the Old Testament, Paul was fond of using Abraham as an example of an Old Testament character being credited with the righteousness of God because of his faith. It’s first found in Genesis 15:6. Paul used it in Galatians 3:6, then uses it extensively in Hebrews and Jesus’ half-brother James even uses it in James 2:23.
We see it here in Romans 4:3, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” Here, “reckoned” is from logizomai, for some strange reason the KJV translates this same word “accounted” in Galatians, “counted” here in Romans and “imputed” in James. The NIV translates it “credited”. However, the English word “reckoned” (to be regarded as) is probably the most suitable translation according to some Greek lexicons.
Abraham was regarded to be in right standing with God, because he believed God. It doesn’t really matter what word you use (accounted, counted, imputed, credited, reckoned, regarded, even considered), they all point to the same undeniable fact: righteousness is something no man can naturally possess on his own. He cannot earn it; he does not deserve it. It can only be received as a result of man trusting in God’s plan of redemption as it was fulfilled in His Son, Jesus Christ.
In fact, this would be a good time to remind us of this one, undeniable fact: every part of God’s plan of redemption involves Him giving us what is necessary to completely fulfill that plan and comes solely to us as a result of His love and care for us. Our only responsibility is to believe in Him, everything else is predetermined. There are seven clearly identifiable points in God’s plan. I’ll give you just a very short explanation here (there’s a very complete and detailed explanation of this on the website in the article “Grace and Faith and the Plan of God”).
As Paul continues through chapters 3 through 8, he talks about several different aspects of the believer’s life and how having God’s own righteousness imparted to it impacts that life. We’ll not wade through all that; but there is one passage I want to look at, as it is generally misused or, at least, misunderstood.
This is is Romans 6:3-5, “Don’t you know that as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with Him by (the principle of) baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, we too might live a new kind of life. For if we have become one with Him by sharing a death like His, we will also be one with Him by sharing in His resurrection by a new life lived for God.”
If you have ever submitted to what is commonly called “believer’s baptism”, then you should be familiar with at least part of this passage. Some form of verse 4 (underlined above) is usually what is quoted during ritual water baptism. However, this passage in Romans 6 has absolutely nothing to do with being baptized in water; verse 3 clearly says we are “baptized into Christ.”
In religion the words “baptism” (baptisma) and “baptize” (baptizo) are usually related to ritual water baptism and their meaning is assumed to be “immersion” and “immerse”. So, anytime these words appear in Scripture, people think they’re automatically referring to ritual water baptism. The true meaning of baptisma and baptizo has less to do with the act of immersion and more to do with the principle illustrated by it.
Let me explain by giving one of the common uses of baptizo in classic Greek. An empty cup is dipped into a pitcher of wine and comes out full. The act of dipping changes the cup from empty to full. Now, is the true meaning of baptizo “to dip or immerse”, or is it “to be identified with something different in order to indicate a real change”. The difference is whether or not you put the emphasis on the ritual or the principle behind it. In the example I just used the emphasis is on change (from empty to full), not how the change was accomplished.
It is my firm conviction that the principle is always more important than the ritual. Paul explains the principle in verse 5 above when he says, “For if we have become one with Him”. That’s what I mean when I say baptism means “to make an identification”. When you identify with something, you become closely associated with it, you share in it, there’s a connection. Paul says when you identify with Christ, “you become one with Him” (verse 5 quoted above). It’s the same thing.
But what’s the principle? When we, as believers, identify ourselves with Christ, His death and resurrection, we’re launched into a new kind of life, a new quality of life; it’s a resurrection life different from the old life. It’s a life free from the tyranny of sin, alive to God, committed to His purpose (Romans 6:11). It’s a life that illustrates a real change. This is the principle of resurrection. The end result of resurrection is always an improvement over what existed before that resurrection took place. A resurrection life or new life is one that is becoming more and more like Christ, a vast improvement over the old life dominated by the flesh, unwilling to submit to Him.