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Romans 1:1-7

Romans 1:1-Paul’s Three-Fold Identification of Himself

In Romans 1:1, the apostle Paul gives a three-fold identification of himself to his readers. Romans 1:1, “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ , called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God.” “Paul ” is the proper name Paulos (Pau=lo$ ), which means, “little” and was used in Romans 1:1 by Paul rather than his Jewish name Saul since the Lord Jesus Christ authorized him to be the apostle to the Gentiles (See :15; 22:21; :13; 15:16; Galatians 1:15-16; 2:2, 7-9). In Romans 1:1, Paul gives a three-fold identification of himself for his readers: (1) “ A bond-servant of Christ ”: Identifies his Master (2) “ Called as an apostle ”: Identifies his spiritual gift or office (3) “Set apart for the gospel of God ”: Identifies his work or purpose in life. “Bond-servant ” is the noun doulos ( dou~lo$ ), which in Greek thought referred to someone who belonged by nature to someone else and not himself and had his will bound up in the will of another who has power over him. The Greeks valued and prized their personal freedom and viewed slavery as a debasing condition for their personal dignity was bound up in their freedom. The writers of the Greek elevated the term doulos since it was considered a great honor to be a doulos of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul’s use of the noun doulos in identifying himself is significant since it was a word used with reference to slavery, which in the first century of the Roman Empire was a major institution. Slavery was a major institution in the Roman Empire since from the third Century B.C. onward slaves flooded into from all quarters as a result of their victories in wars. For example, there were 75,000 enslaved prisoners from the first Punic War and in the second Punic War, 150,000 were enslaved from Epirus in 167 B.C. Almost the same number arrived from Marius’s victory over the Germans in 102-101 B.C. and nearly, half a million slaves arrived into Rome from Caesar’s Gallic Wars. Great slave markets such as Capua and Delos were set up to handle the tremendous influx of slaves into the Roman Empire and it was not unusual for 10,000 slaves to be auctioned off at Delos in a single day. Every week slave dealers brought their human “merchandise” in from areas such as Africa, Spain, Gaul, Germany, the Danube, Russia, and Asia and Greece to the ports of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Some slaves became professional men such as

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Ministries 1 philosophers, teachers, artists and architects whereas criminals and the unfortunate were employed in the gladiatorial schools and some worked the mines and quarries. There was a great distinction in Roman society between slaves and freeman since the Roman law of persons states that all men are either free or slaves. The cruelty towards slaves is greatly exaggerated in our society today where slavery by and large is not practiced at all since domestic slaves were often treated as members of the family. Will Durant relates that some epitaphs show “the most affectionate relations between masters and slaves” (Caesar and Christ, Chapter 15, page 334). It was not unusual for slaves to risk their lives to protect their masters and many voluntarily accompanied their masters into exile and several gave their lives for their masters. Many owners freed their slaves and proceeded to marry them and some treated them as friends such as Seneca who ate with his. The largest slave owners in the Empire were the Emperors of Rome since the households of the Emperors were being continually replenished with slaves, as was the case with their bureaucracies. There may have been as many as two million or more in the reign of Augustus and they may have formed nearly one-quarter to one-third of the total population estimates the historian Michael Grant. At Rome, a quarter of the inhabitants were slaves and the average price of a slave was $400 and the dress of slaves in Rome was no different than the freeman and this was for public security since the percentage of slaves far exceeded freeman in the Empire. The Word of God does “not” condemn slavery since the nation of Israel was permitted by the Lord God to make slaves of those whom they conquered in battle (Lev. 25:44-46; Num. 31:26-28; Ecc. 2:7) and the apostles never condemned slavery and neither did our Lord. The Word of God never commands slaves to seek their freedom or leave their masters or rebel against them but slaves who had the opportunity to gain their freedom by legal means were not condemned for doing so, but were encouraged (1 Cor. 7:21). Paul taught Christian slaves that they were in reality slaves of the Lord and therefore, were in reality serving Him since He purchased them out of the slave market of sin with His spiritual death on the cross (See 1 Corinthians 7:20-24). In the days of the patriarchs and ancient Israel, slavery was the accepted way of bailing out the destitute and under a compassionate master was a comfortable existence (See Exodus 21:5-6; Deuteronomy 15:12-17). Paul was “not” a slave of Christ Jesus since he was not compelled to serve the Lord against his will but rather he was a “willing servant” of the Lord.

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 2 Romans 1:1, “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God.” “Christ ” is proper name Christos ( xristov$ ), which in classical Greek identifies that which has been thus smeared or anointed. In the Greek New Testament, it is used only as a noun, either as an appellative (“the Anointed One, the Christ”) or a personal name (“Jesus Christ” or “Christ”). Because it is Aramaic equivalent ( meshicha ), it corresponds to the Hebrew mashiach and denotes someone who has been ceremonially anointed for an office. In the , three office bearers are expressly described as mashiach i.e. as anointed with oil: (1) Prophet (2) High priest (3) King. Therefore, the noun Christos signifies the three-fold offices held by our Lord: (1) Prophet (2) Priest (3) King. The anointing of oil on the individual assigned by God to one of these offices signified that he was empowered by the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament, oil signified the presence and power of God the Holy Spirit, thus the Messiah or Christ was One Who was totally and completely guided and empowered by God the Holy Spirit. The Messiah is characterized by permanent possession of the Spirit, which enables or empowers Him as the Messianic Ruler to reign with integrity and wisdom. Christos is a technical word in the Scriptures for the Messiahship and uniqueness of the humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ as the Spirit-filled, God-Man and designates Him as the One Who provides salvation for all mankind. The word designates the humanity of our Lord as the promised Savior for all mankind and signifies that He is unique as the incarnate Son of God and totally and completely guided and empowered by the Spirit as the Servant of the Father. The noun Christos is a “possessive” genitive denoting ownership meaning that the Lord Jesus Christ owns Paul. Therefore, when Paul states that he is a servant of Christ Jesus he is acknowledging the fact that he has been redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ from the slave market of sin and is now possessed by Him. Redemption is that aspect of the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross whereby all of humanity has been purchased out from the slave market of sin in which they were born spiritually dead and delivered to the freedom of grace (See 1 Corinthians 6:23). The humanity of Christ purchased the entire human race out from the slave market of sin by means of His voluntary substitutionary spiritual death on the Cross. 1 Peter 1:18-19, “knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 3 All believers have left the slave market of sin and become slaves of Christ through personal faith in Jesus Christ. By identifying himself as a doulos , “ a servant ” of Christ Jesus, Paul is putting himself on the same plane as his readers indicating that he seeks to serve them in some way and not lord his authority as an apostle over them. Paul displays his humility by inserting the word doulos , which emphasizes the fact that we have all been bought with a price including Paul, the greatest of all believers (1 Cor. 6:23; 7:20). The purpose for which the believer has been purchased out of the slave market of sin is to serve the Lord and other members of His body and not self. The Lord Jesus Christ served us by redeeming us and by redeeming us, we as His purchased possession, have been given the opportunity and the privilege of serving Him who is now our Master (See Deuteronomy 10:12). Christian service is directed toward both God and man with the former (serving God) acting as the motivation for the latter (serving man) (Eph. 6:5-9). Galatians 5:13, “For all of you were elected to freedom, brothers, only do not exploit this freedom for indulging the sin nature, but rather through divine-love be serving one another.” 1 Peter 4:10, “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” Christian service is based upon the principle of reciprocal love, meaning that Christian service is the response by the believer to God self-sacrificially loving him in the manner in which He did at the Cross and reciprocating by self- sacrificially loving God in return in the same manner (See John 12:25-26). The Servant of the Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ is the perfect example of servanthood and the believer is to imitate His example of self-sacrifice in order to serve God. One must be properly motivated in order to perform Christian service that is acceptable to God. Motivation is that which prompts a person to act in a certain way, the goal of one’s actions. Christian service if it is to be acceptable to God must be motivated by our love for who and what God is, what He has done for us and the manner in which He loved us at the Cross. In Romans 1:1, “Jesus ” is the proper name Iesou ( )Ihsou ), which is the Greek spelling of the Hebrew word Jehoshua , “Jehovah saves,” and refers to the perfect human nature of our Lord. The phrase “ a slave owned by Christ Jesus ” expresses the following: (1) Paul was carrying out his duties as a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. (2) Paul was experiencing a relationship with his Master, the Lord Jesus Christ, by serving Him. (3) Paul had a servant’s mentality. (4) Paul is acknowledging the fact that the Lord has power over him. (5) Paul is honored to be a servant of the Lord. (6) Paul by

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 4 nature belonged to the Lord and not to himself. (7) Paul as a servant of the Lord was occupied with the will of his Master. Romans 1:1, “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God.” “Called ” is the adjective kletos ( klhtov$ ), which means, “to be set apart to a particular office and function by someone,” thus, the word denotes that Paul is identifying himself as someone who was selected by the Lord Jesus Christ for the office of apostle, which is recorded in Acts 9. This word indicates that Paul did “not” choose his position as an apostle for himself but that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself chose him for the position. “Apostle ” is the noun apostolos ( a)povstolo$ ), which refers to the temporary spiritual gift of apostleship that held maximum authority in the church. Our word “apostle” is a transliteration of the Greek noun apostolos (ajpovstolo$ ), which is an Attic Greek word that was used extensively in Athens in the 5th century B.C., literally means “one who is sent.” It was used for admiral or general officer chosen by the consul to command a fleet or to command an army in a military expedition (generally against Sparta in the Peloponnesian Wars). It was also used for a very unusual person who is chosen to command a band of Greek colonists in order to establish a settlement in some other part of the world (Corsica, Italy, Sicily, Western Turkey, Black Sea). In the Greek New Testament, the noun apostolos has a four-fold usage denoting the following: (1) “Office” of apostle (Mt. 10:2; Rm. 1:1; 11:13; 16:7). (2) “Spiritual gift of pastor-teacher” (14:4, 14; 2 Cor. 8:23; Phlp. 2:25; 1 Th. 2:6; Rev. 2:2). (3) “Christ’s office of prophet” (Heb. 3:1). (4) “Colonial apostles” used for pioneer missionaries before the canon of Scripture was completed that were sent by one of the twelve apostles as a missionary to some place ( [:14; Gal. 2:9]; James [1 Cor. 15:7; Gal. 1:19]; Apollos [1 Cor. 4:5-9]; Silvanus [1 Thess. 1:1; 2:6]; Timothy [1 Thess. 1:1; 2:6]; Titus [2 Cor. 8:23]; Epaphroditus [Phil. 2:23]; Andronicus and Junias [Rom. 16:7]). The spiritual gift of apostleship was given to only twelve men and existed exclusively during the pre-canon period of the church age and is no longer existent today since all twelve men have died and went home to be with the Lord (See Matthew 10:2-4). The twelve men who were selected by the Lord Jesus Christ to the office of apostle were Simon Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, Simon the Canaanite, James, the son of Alphaeus, not the lesser, Thaddaeus, also called Jude, and Saul of Tarsus, also known as Paul. In :26, Matthias was selected to be an apostle by lot to replace Judas Iscariot, however, this selection was not honored by God since he was not

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 5 personally selected by the resurrected Christ as the other eleven men were, nor did he demonstrate any sign gifts. One of the requirements for holding the “office” of apostle was experiencing seeing the resurrected Christ as Paul had when defending his ministry in 1 Corinthians 9:1-2. Another requirement for holding the “office” of apostle was that of possessing the “sign gifts” such as healing, which Paul demonstrated he had many times during the course of his ministry (Acts 14:10; 16:18; 19:11; 20:10; 28:8) or “tongues,” which Paul also demonstrated he possessed (1 Corinthians 14:18). Apostleship is the unique and temporary spiritual gift, which held maximum authority in the Church and was sovereignly delegated by the Lord Jesus Christ. The office and spiritual gift of apostleship was not appointed until after the resurrection and ascension and session of the Lord Jesus Christ (See Ephesians 4:1-16) Distribution of spiritual gifts was authorized by the Lord Jesus Christ as a result of His death, resurrection, ascension and session, however, the actual appointment of the spiritual gift of apostleship was made by God the Holy Spirit according 1 Corinthians 12:11. The spiritual gift of apostleship functioned under two categories: (1) Writers of the NT (2) Establishment of local churches: (a) The clarification of mystery doctrine (b) The maintenance of a true systematic theology with dispensational emphasis (c) The training of pastors (3) Establishment of local church policy. Paul was personally commissioned by the resurrected Christ to be the apostle to the Gentiles (See Acts 9:15; 22:21; Romans 11:13; 15:16; Galatians 1:15-16; 2:2, 7-9; Ephesians 3:1; 1 Timothy 2:7). Romans 1:1, “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God.” “Set apart ” is the verb aphorizo ( a)forivzw ), which means, “to appoint a person for a particular task,” thus Paul was appointed by the Lord Jesus Christ to communicate the gospel of God. Galatians 1:15-16a, “But when He (God the Father) who had appointed me out from my mother’s womb, and called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me, that I might proclaim Him (the Lord Jesus Christ) among the Gentiles .” “Gospel ” is the noun euangelion ( eu)aggevlion ), which means, “good news, victorious proclamation.” In the ancient world, the noun euangelion became a general term for the triumphant message from the battlefield, and it was used for joyous political proclamations or for personal messages of good news.

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 6 In relation to the unbeliever, the noun euangelion is God’s victorious proclamation that He has delivered the entire human race from sin, Satan, his cosmic system and eternal condemnation and has reconciled them to Himself through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This reconciliation with God and deliverance and victory over sin, Satan and the cosmic system that God accomplished through His Son’s crucifixion, burial, death, resurrection and session is received as a gift and appropriated through faith in Christ (John 3:16-18; :31; -4). In relation to the believer, the Gospel message is God’s victorious proclamation regarding the believer’s deliverance and victory positionally from the power of Satan, the old sin nature and the cosmic system of Satan (See -7). By positionally, I mean that God views the believer as crucified, died, buried, raised and seated with Christ since at the moment of salvation, the Holy Spirit placed the believer in union with Christ, identifying him with Christ’s crucifixion (:6; Galatians 2:20), His death (Romans 6:2, 7-8; :20; 3:3), His burial (Romans 6:4; Colossians 2:12), His resurrection (Romans 6:5; Ephesians 2:6; Philippians 3:10-11; Colossians 2:12; 3:1) and His session (Ephesians 2:6; Colossians 3:1). The believer can experience this victory and deliverance by appropriating by faith the teaching of the Word of God that he has been crucified, died, buried, raised and seated with Christ (Romans 6:11-23; 8:1-17; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:5-17). Romans 1:1, “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God.” “God ” is the noun theos (qeov$ ), which is a genitive of source indicating that Paul’s message to the Gentiles of eternal salvation through faith in Christ “originated” from God and was “not” of human origin. Galatians 1:11-12, “For I would have you know, brethren that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.”

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 7

Romans 1:2-The Gospel is the Fulfillment of Prophetic Expectation in the Old Testament

In Romans 1:2, Paul further defines the gospel that he proclaimed as the fulfillment of prophetic expectation in the Old Testament. Romans 1:1-2, “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures.” “Gospel ” is the noun euangelion ( eu)aggevlion ), which means, “good news, victorious proclamation.” In the ancient world, the noun euangelion became a general term for the triumphant message from the battlefield, and it was used for joyous political proclamations or for personal messages of good news. In relation to the unbeliever, the noun euangelion is God’s victorious proclamation that He has delivered the entire human race from sin, Satan, his cosmic system and eternal condemnation and has reconciled them to Himself through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This reconciliation with God and deliverance and victory over sin, Satan and the cosmic system that God accomplished through His Son’s crucifixion, burial, death, resurrection and session is received as a gift and appropriated through faith in Christ (John 3:16-18; Acts 16:31; Romans 3-4). In relation to the believer, the Gospel message is God’s victorious proclamation regarding the believer’s deliverance and victory positionally from the power of Satan, the old sin nature and the cosmic system of Satan (See Romans 5-7). By positionally, I mean that God views the believer as crucified, died, buried, raised and seated with Christ since at the moment of salvation, the Holy Spirit placed the believer in union with Christ, identifying him with Christ’s crucifixion (Romans 6:6; Galatians 2:20), His death (Romans 6:2, 7-8; Colossians 2:20; 3:3), His burial (Romans 6:4; Colossians 2:12), His resurrection (Romans 6:5; Ephesians 2:6; Philippians 3:10-11; Colossians 2:12; 3:1) and His session (Ephesians 2:6; Colossians 3:1). The believer can experience this victory and deliverance by appropriating by faith the teaching of the Word of God that he has been crucified, died, buried, raised and seated with Christ (Romans 6:11-23; 8:1-17; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:5-17). In Romans 1:14-17, Paul informs his readers that the theme of his letter is that the gospel reveals the of God to all mankind and is the power of God for salvation, which is appropriated by faith in Jesus Christ.

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 8 Romans 1:14, “I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.” Romans 1:15, “So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.” Romans 1:16-17, “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 for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.’” In Romans 1:1, “God ” is the noun theos (qeov$ ), which is a genitive of source indicating that Paul’s message to the Gentiles of eternal salvation through faith in Christ “originated” from God and was “not” of human origin. Galatians 1:11-12, “For I would have you know, brethren that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.” Romans 1:1-2, “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures.” In Romans 1:2, the relative pronoun hos ( o^$ ), “ which ” refers to its antecedent euangelion , “ gospel ” and introduces a relative clause that further defines the gospel. In Romans 1:1, Paul defines the gospel as originating with God as denoted by the phrase “ the gospel of God ” indicating that his message was “theocentric” in the sense that the gospel originated with God rather than “anthropocentric” originating with man. His message was “Christocentric” in the sense that the historical manifestation of the truth of God was demonstrated in the words and actions of Jesus Christ. The Gospel message expresses God’s love for the entire human race. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” The Gospel expresses God’s desire that all men be saved, both Jew and Gentile. 1 Timothy 2:4, “God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (Bible Doctrine, the mind of Christ).” In Romans 1:2, the relative clause contained further defines the gospel as the fulfillment of God’s promises through His prophets whose writings are contained in the Old Testament Scriptures. By stating this fact, Paul is refuting his critics, the Judaizers that his message was “new” and was subverting the Old Testament Scriptures. He was frequently accused by the Judaizers of teaching against the Mosaic Law and proclaiming a message that was unheard of in Judaism.

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 9 The Judaizers were composed of both regenerate and unregenerate Jews who taught strict adherence to the 613 mandates found in the Mosaic Law as well as the oral traditions of the Rabbis, which are now, documented in the Mishna and the Talmud as well. The Lord Jesus Christ condemned the oral traditions of the rabbis in Mark 7, which spoke very little or nothing about the good news of salvation for all men through faith in the Messiah. Therefore, we can see that Paul’s opponents were the ones whose message did not originate with God. Paul denounces the teaching of the Judaizers in the book of Galatians since they taught a “ different gospel ” according to Galatians 1:6 and “ distorted the gospel of Christ ” (Gal. 1:7). The phrase “ He (God) promised beforehand ” is the aorist (deponent) middle indicative form of the verb proepangellomai ( proepaggevllomai ), which is a compound word composed of the preposition pro ( prov), “before” and the verb epangellomai ( e)paggevllomai ), “to promise.” The prefix pro , “ before ” emphasizes that the promise was made in the past. Therefore, the compound verb proepangellomai , “ He promised beforehand ” emphasizes that Paul’s gospel message was a fulfillment of prophetic expectation in the Old Testament. Thus, in Romans 1:1-2, Paul is declaring to his readers that the gospel was not a new message but one declared throughout the Old Testament. Genesis 3:15, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.” The prophecy of Genesis 3:15 is the “seed plot” of the Virgin Birth and Incarnation of the Son of God (Isa. 7:14; Mt. 1:23; John 1:14; 1 Tim. 3:16). It is also the “seed plot” of the Redemption and Salvation of mankind as well as the defeat of Satan, which is developed in further detail in the rest of the Bible (Gal. 3:13; Eph. 1:7; Col. 2:14; Heb. 2:14-15; 1 Jn. 3:8). From this point on in Genesis the chain of promises and prophecies concerning the “Seed or Descendant of the woman” grows until it culminates in the birth of Christ who not only was the “Seed or Descendant of the woman” but also “the Seed or Descendant of ” and the “Seed or Descendant of .” Genesis 22:18, “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” Deuteronomy 18:18, “I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.” 9:6, “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 10 Jeremiah 23:5, “Behold, the days are coming," declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch ( figure for Jesus Christ ); And He (Jesus Christ ) will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land.” Micah 5:2, “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.” Romans 1:1-2, “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures.” “Prophet ” is the noun phophetes ( profhvth$ ), which is a reference to the writings of the Old Testament prophets who were authorized spokesman for God and proclaimed His will, purpose and plan (See Hebrews 1:1-2). The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ was foretold by the prophets in the Old Testament Scriptures (See 1 Corinthians 15:3-4). There were a number of activities that the prophets of God were involved in such as communicating doctrine, issuing judgments, communicating future events, serving in the Temple, performing miracles, proclaiming Messianic prophecies, and interceding through prayer for the people (Hab. 3). The Old Testament was divided into three sections: (1) The Torah (2) The Prophets (3) The Writings. The first section is called the “Torah” meaning “the Law” and contained: (1) Genesis (2) Exodus (3) Leviticus (4) Numbers (5) Deuteronomy. The second section was the Prophets which were divided into two sections: (1) The “Former” Prophets (2) The “Latter” Prophets. The “Former” prophets: (1) Joshua (2) Judges (3) Samuel (4) Kings. The “Latter” Prophets were divided into two categories: (1) Major (2) Minor. The “Major” Prophets: (1) Isaiah (2) Jeremiah (3) Ezekiel. The “Minor” Prophets were also called the Twelve because they were all contained in one book: (1) (2) Joel (3) Amos (4) Obadiah (5) Jonah (6) Micah (7) Nahum (8) Habakkuk (9) Zephaniah (10) Haggai (11) Zechariah (12) Malachi. The third and final section was called the “Writings”: (1) The Poetical Books: Psalms, Proverbs and Job (2) The Five Rolls ( Megilloth ): Song of Solomon, Ruth, Ecclesiastes, Esther and Lamentations (3) The Historical Books: Daniel, Ezra and Nehemiah (1 book) and Chronicles. An inspired prophet could be identified using the tests for prophets in Deut. 13:1-5; 18:14-22. Deuteronomy 18:22, “When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the LORD

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 11 has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.” wrote the Pentateuch (Ex. 17:14; 24:4-7; 34:27; Deut. 31:9,22,24; Ezra 7:6; Ps. 103:7; Josh. 8:31, 23:6; I Kings 2:3). Some prophets clearly state that they were ordered to write (Jer. 30:2; Ezek. 43:11; Is. 8:1) and each of the 12 Minor Prophets call themselves prophets. The historical books were written by prophets (I Chron. 29:29; II Chron. 9:29; 12:15; 13:22; 20:34; 32:32; 33:19). Daniel accepted the book of Jeremiah as scripture (Dan. 9:2) and Joshua received Moses’ writing as Scripture (Josh. 1:26) and Isaiah and Micah accepted each other's writings as scripture contemporaneously (Is. 2:2-4; Micah 4:1-4). Solomon, Samuel, Daniel, Isaiah and Ezekiel all had dreams and visions, which squares with God’s description of a prophet (Deut. 13:1; Num. 12:6-8). The New Testament quotes the Old Testament over six hundred times (all of the Old Testament books are quoted except Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon and :30 and Matthew 24:15 identify David and Daniel as prophets). Not only did the apostles learn from the Old Testament Scriptures and quote them extensively in their writings but also our Lord in His human nature did as well. After His resurrection from the dead, the Lord Jesus Christ employed the Old Testament Scriptures to instruct His disciples that the Messiah had to die and rise again from the dead (See Luke 24:44-47). In Romans 1:2, “ through ” is the preposition dia ( diaV), which denotes that the prophets were the intermediate agency, which God employed to communicate His plan of salvation through faith in the Messiah. This prepositional phrase “ through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures ” along with the expression “ the Gospel of God ” expresses the principle of “inspiration” of the Scriptures. 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is God-breathed ( theopneustos ) and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” 2 Peter 1:20-21, “But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made an act of human will, but men moved ( phero ) by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” The doctrine of inspiration contends that, God the Holy Spirit so supernaturally directed the human authors of Scripture that without destroying their individuality, their literary style, their personal interests, or their vocabulary, God’s complete and connected thought towards man was recorded with perfect accuracy in the original languages of Scripture. Therefore, the Bible in its original languages is the exact

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 12 record, the mind and will of God and contain the very words of God, and therefore, bear the “authority” of divine authorship. “Holy ” is the adjective hagios ( a^gio$ ), which describes a “person or thing that has been set apart as sacred or consecrated to God or by God.” The adjective describes the writings of the Old Testament prophets as being set apart by God in order to reveal His will, purpose, and plan for mankind and to reveal who and what man is and who and what God is and what He has done for us through His Son Jesus Christ. Therefore, the adjective emphasizes that the writings of the Old Testament prophets were divine in quality and character and in origin.

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 13

Romans 1:3-4-The Subject of the Epistle, Jesus Christ

In Romans 1:3-4, Paul identifies to his readers the subject of the epistle, who is the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 1:1-3, “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh.” In Romans 1:3, the apostle Paul further defines the gospel of God, which he first mentioned in Romans 1:1 and identifies that the content of the gospel concerns the Lord Jesus Christ and so the gospel centers upon His unique Person. The phrase “ His (God’s) Son ” emphasizes the deity of our Lord whereas the phrase “ who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh ” emphasizes the human nature of Jesus Christ, which descended from King David. Together, these two phrases express the uniqueness of Jesus Christ as the God- Man, which theologians define as the “hypostatic union” of Jesus Christ. “Who was born ” is the verb ginomai ( givnomai ), which means, “to enter into a new condition or state, to become something you weren’t before,” thus the word is used of God the Son entering into the human condition through the virgin birth. This entrance into the human race refers to the “incarnation” of the Son of God, which in the context of Christian theology refers to the fact that the eternal Son of God became a man two thousand years ago in Bethlehem. The virgin birth or virgin pregnancy was “the means” by which God accomplished the incarnation of the Son of God. The incarnation produced the “hypostatic union,” which is a technical theological term describing the fact that Jesus Christ is undiminished deity and true sinless humanity in one Person forever or in other words, He is 100% deity and 100% perfect sinless humanity. The term “hypostatic” comes from the Greek word hupostasis , which refers to the “nature of something” and so therefore, the “hypostatic union” teaches that the divine nature of Lord and His human nature are permanently united (See :3; Colossians 2:9; 1 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 2:14-15; 1 John 1:1-3). John 1:14, “And the Word ( Son of God ) became flesh ( a Man ), and dwelt (“tabernacled, pitched His tent” ) among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only uniquely born One from the Father, full of grace and truth.” The phrase “ a descendant of David according to the flesh ” is a reference to the fact that Jesus Christ in His human nature descended from David. “According to ” is the preposition kata ( katav), which in context denotes the relationship between the human nature of Christ to His unique Person and means, “with respect to.” Therefore, the expression “ a descendant of David according to

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 14 the flesh ” could be translated “ a descendant of David with respect to his human nature .” Revelation 22:16, “I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” This is why He is identified in the Gospels as the “ the Son of David ” (Matt. 1:1; 20:30; Mark 10:47-48; Luke 1:32; 2 Tim. 2:8; Rev. 3:7; 5:5; 22:16), which is a royal title referring to the fact that He is the Ruler of Israel (Matt. 1:1; 20:30; Mark 10:47-48; Luke 1:32; 2 Tim. 2:8; Rev. 3:7; 5:5; 22:16). The expression “ a descendant of David according to the flesh ” also is a reference to the “Davidic” covenant, which deals with the dynasty that will rule the nation of Israel and refers to God’s promise to David that a descendant of his would sit on his throne forever, which will be literally fulfilled by Jesus Christ during His millennial reign. (See 2 Samuel 7:16; Psalm 89:34-37). During our Lord’s First Advent it is important to understand how the human and divine nature of Christ functioned in relation to each other and the Father’s plan for His life. The Lord Jesus Christ voluntarily denied Himself of the independent function of His divine attributes in order to execute the Father’s plan of salvation, which is called in theology, the “kenosis” of Christ. Philippians 2:5-8, “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” “He existed in the form of God ” means that Jesus Christ has a divine nature and is therefore equal to God the Father and God the Holy Spirit, which is denoted by the phrase “ equality with God .” “Emptied ” is the verb kenoo ( kenovw ), which does “not” mean that our Lord emptied Himself of His deity since Paul says that the expression of His deity was a fact after His incarnation, implying that our Lord has a divine nature. Rather, the verb kenoo means that our Lord voluntary “denied Himself of the independent function of His divine attributes” in order to execute the Father’s will (See Matthew 4:1-11). Corrected translation of Philippians 2:5-8: “Everyone continue thinking this (according to humility) within yourselves, which was also in (the mind of) Christ Jesus, Who although existing from eternity past in the essence of God, He never regarded existing equally in essence with God an exploitable asset. On the contrary, He denied Himself of the independent function of His divine attributes by having assumed the essence of a servant when He was born in the likeness of men. In fact, although He was discovered in outward

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 15 appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by having entered into obedience to the point of spiritual death even death on a Cross .” Romans 1:4, “who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord.” Corrected translation of Romans 1:4: “The One demonstrated as the Son of God by means of divine power with respect to a nature characterized by holiness because of the resurrection from the dead ones, Jesus Christ, our Lord. “Who was declared ” is the definite article tou ( tou~) and the masculine singular aorist passive participle form of the verb horizo ( o(rivzw ), which means, “to set forth distinctly, to demonstrate, to make evident.” Marvin Vincent commenting on this word, writes, “As respected His divine essence, He was declared. The idea is that of Christ's "instatement or establishment" in the rank and dignity of His divine sonship with a view to the conviction of men. This was required by His previous humiliation, and was accomplished by His resurrection, which not only ‘manifested or demonstrated’ what He was, but wrought a real transformation in His mode of being. (Vincent’s Word Studies of the New Testament, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft) Therefore, the resurrection “demonstrated” that Jesus of Nazareth was who He claimed to be all along, namely the eternal Son of God. The verb horizo implies the preexistence of Jesus Christ and expresses the fact that Jesus was unique among men in that His birth did not mark His origin, but only His appearance as a man on the stage of time. John 1:1, “In eternity past the Word has always existed and the Word has always existed face to face with the God (the Father) and the Word has always existed as God.” The Lord Jesus Christ did not become God’s Son at the incarnation or when He rose from the dead but rather the resurrection demonstrated that He was the eternal Son of God who has no beginning. The phrase “ the Son of God ” refers to the fact that Jesus Christ is the second member of the Trinity and is co-equal, co-infinite and co-eternal with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit and denotes that inherent in Him are all the attributes that composed the character and nature of both the Father and the Spirit. “With ” is the preposition en ( e)n ), which functions as a marker of means indicating that the omnipotence of God was “the means by which” Jesus Christ was demonstrated to be the Son of God. “Power ” is the noun dunamis ( duvnami$ ), which refers to the exertion of the inherent power in all three members of the Trinity called “omnipotence.”

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 16 The omnipotence of all three members of the Trinity was exercised at the resurrection of Jesus Christ since the human nature of our Lord was trichotomous meaning He had a body, soul and spirit and thus His physical death was unique as well because of this: (1) His physical body went to the grave (Luke 23:50-53). (2) His human spirit went to heaven (Luke 23:46; John 19:30). (3) His human soul went into Paradise a compartment of Hades (Luke 23:43; Acts 2:27; 2:31; Eph. 4:9). The Lord was brought back from the dead by three categories of divine omnipotence: (1) Omnipotence of God the Father sent back our Lord’s human spirit to the body in the grave (Acts 2:24; Rom. 6:4; Eph. 1:20; Col. 2:12; 1 Thess. 1:10; 1 Pet. 1:21). (2) Omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit sent back our Lord’s human soul to the body in the grave (Rom. 8:11; 1 Pet. 3:18). (3) Omnipotence of God the Son raised His physical body from the grave (John 2:20; 6:39-40, 54 10:17-18). The phrase “ according to the Spirit of holiness ” is composed of the preposition kata ( kataV), “ according to ” and the noun pneuma ( pneu~ma ), “ Spirit ” and the noun hagiosune ( a(giwsuvnh ), “ holiness .” The phrase “ according to the Spirit of holiness ” does “not” refer to the Holy Spirit since if Paul meant the third member of the Trinity, he could have simply used the genitive expression pneumatos hagiou ( pneuvmato$ a(givou ), “ Holy Spirit ,” which he employs in Romans 5:5, 9:1, 14:17, 15:13, 16. Or, he simply could have just used the noun pneuma , “ Spirit ” to refer to the Holy Spirit, which he uses in Romans 8:1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 23, 26, 27, 15:19, 30. In Romans 1:4, the expression kata pneuma hagiosunes , “ according to the spirit of holiness ” parallels the expression kata sarka in Romans 1:3, “ according to the flesh ,” which refers to the human nature of Jesus Christ. Therefore, the noun pneuma refers to the “divine nature” of Jesus Christ in contrast with His impeccable human nature. The Lord Jesus Christ speaking to the woman at the well declared to her that concerning the nature of God, He is spirit (Jn. 4:24). John 4:23-27, “But an hour is coming and now is when the true worshippers, will worship the Father spiritually, yes, by means of truth. In fact, the Father intensely desires such worshippers of Himself. God, as to His nature, is spirit and those worshipping Him must worship spiritually, yes, by means of truth.’ Paul describes the pneuma , “ divine nature ” of Jesus Christ with the noun hagiosune , which means, “ holiness .” Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary defines “holiness” as “the quality or state of being holy; sanctity” and they define “sanctity” as, “sacred or hallowed character.”

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 17 One of the definitions that Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary gives for the adjective “holy” is, “entitled to worship or profound religious reverence because of divine character or origin or connection with God or divinity.” One of the definitions for the noun “character” that Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary provides that applies to the context of our passage is the following: “the aggregate of features and traits that form the apparent individual nature of some person or thing.” If we paraphrase these definitions, we would say that the term hagiosune , “holiness ” emphasizes “the aggregate (i.e. sum total) of perfect features and traits that form the divine nature of the Lord Jesus Christ.” Therefore, the term hagiosune , “ holiness ” refers to the absolute perfection of the character of the Son of God, expressing His purity of His character or moral perfection and excellence. Thus making Him totally separate from sin and sinners and this refers to His “impeccability,” which is the state or condition of being free from fault or blame, to be flawless. The Lord Jesus Christ was impeccable because as God, He is “not able to sin” since it is impossible for deity to sin since sin is contrary to His character and nature (James 1:13). In relation to His human nature, Jesus Christ was impeccable because He did not have a human father to pass down the sin nature (See Romans 5:12-19) and He was “able not to sin” because He always obeyed the Father’s will and which obedience was motivated by His love for the Father. 1 John 3:5, “And you know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin.” The noun hagiosune , “ holiness ” is the object of the preposition kata ( katav), “according to ,” which in context denotes the relationship between the divine nature of Christ to His unique Person and means, “with respect to.” The noun hagiosune , “ holiness ” is a “genitive of description” describing the noun pneuma , “ spirit ,” thus the expression pneuma hagiosune , “ according to the spirit of holiness ” should be translated “ with respect to a nature characterized by holiness .” The phrase “ resurrection from the dead ” should be translated “ because of the resurrection out from the dead ones ” since the expression is composed of the preposition ek ( e)k ), “because of” and the noun anastasis ( a)navstasi$ ), “resurrection” and the plural form of the noun nekros ( nekrov$ ), “dead ones.” The preposition ek is a marker of cause or reason indicating that Jesus Christ was demonstrated to be the Son of God “because of” His resurrection from the dead. He was “not” the Son of God because of the resurrection but rather the resurrection demonstrated who He claimed to be all along, namely, the Son of God.

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 18 The plural form of the noun nekros , “ dead ones ” refers to members of the human race who have died physically. The expression “ the resurrection out from the dead ones ” implies that Jesus Christ is different from members of the human race in that He is the first one to be raised from the dead (See 1 Corinthians 15:20- 23; Colossians 1:18). The foundation of is built upon the resurrection of Christ since the integrity of our Lord is at issue and as attested by many witnesses He did rise from the dead as He said He would (Acts 1:22; 4:2, 33; 17:18; 23:6; 1 Cor. 15:14). The Lord Jesus predicted several times that He would rise from the dead on the 3rd day in fulfillment of the Scriptures (Matt. 16:21; 17:9, 23; 20:19; 26:32; 27:63f. 28:6f; Mark 14:28; Luke 9:22; Mark 8:31; 9:9, 31; 10:34; Luke 18:33; 24:7, 46) and openly declared that He was the resurrection (See John 11:25-26). C.S. Lewis wrote, “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic-on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg-or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse.” (Mere Christianity, page 41; New York: Macmillan) The resurrection of Christ was a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy (See Psalm 16:10). It is also the greatest attested fact in all of human history and is mentioned by secular historians as well (Tacitus, Annals, XV, 44; Josephus, Antiquities, Book 18, chapter 3). The resurrection of Christ is an historical fact of history that can be verified by eyewitnesses: (1) Disciples of Christ (Lk. 24:9-11; Acts 1:1-3; 21-22; 2:23-24; 31- 32; 3:14-15; 10:39-41; 13:29-39) (2) Roman Guard Protecting the Tomb of Jesus (Mt. 27:62-66; 28:11-15) (3) Enemies of Christ (Mt. 28:11-15; Acts 2). The resurrection of Christ can be verified by evidence: (1) The Empty Tomb (Jn. 20:2-9) (2) The Stone (Mt. 28:1-4; Mk. 16:1-4; Lk. 24:2) (3) Seal (Mt. 27:62- 66). (4) The Grave Clothes (Jn. 20:2-9) (5) The Roman Guard (Mt. 27:57-60; 28:11-15; Mk. 15:42-45; Lk. 23:50-52; Jn. 19:38). (6) The Silence of the Enemies of Christ at (Acts 2) (7) The Transformed Lives of the Disciples of Jesus (8) The Existence of the Christian Church (9) The Observance of the First Day of the Week (Sunday) as the Lord’s Day (10) Christ Appearances (500 on more than one occasion: 1 Cor. 15:1-8; Peter 1 Cor. 15:5; 2 on the way to Emmaus Lk. 24:13- 15; 11 apostles Jn. 20:24-28; Paul Acts 9). Luke alludes to this preponderance of incontrovertible evidence and eyewitnesses in Acts 1:1-3. The proclamation of the resurrection of Jesus could have not been maintained in for a single day, for a single hour, if the emptiness of the tomb had not been established as a fact for all concerned.

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 19 The burden of proof rests not upon those who proclaim the resurrection as a historical fact but rather the burden of proof rests upon those who either deny that the tomb was found empty, or attempt to explain the absence of the Lord’s body by some other rationale. Remember the enemies of Christ went to extraordinary lengths to ensure the fact that the body of Jesus would not leave the tomb on the 3 rd day. The fact that the body of Jesus was not in the tomb despite the extreme security measures by our Lord’s enemies was indisputable evidence that He had risen. The last thing the enemies of Christ wanted was to have His body leave that tomb and yet it did! Neither the Romans nor the Jews could produce the body of our Lord to disclaim what the apostles were proclaiming to the world. It was in the interests of these two groups to put an end to such talk by simply producing the body which they could not since He had in fact risen from the dead. The resurrection body is composed of flesh, bone and spirit (See Luke 24:39) and every church age believer will receive a resurrection body at the Rapture of the Church (1 John 3:2), which was a mystery, not known to Old Testament prophets (1 Cor. 15:51-53). Church age believers will have a resurrection body like our Lord’s (1 John 3:2) since the same power that raised the humanity of Christ from the dead will raise every church age believer from the dead at the Rapture (Rom. 8:11). “Christ ” is proper name Christos ( xristov$ ), which is a technical word designating the humanity of our Lord as the promised Savior for all mankind and signifies that He is unique as the incarnate Son of God and totally and completely guided and empowered by the Spirit as the Servant of the Father. “Jesus ” is the proper noun Iesou ( )Ihsou ), which is the Greek spelling of the Hebrew word Jehoshua meaning, “Jehovah saves,” and refers to the perfect human nature of our Lord. “Lord ” is the noun kurios ( kuvrio$ ), which indicates the following: (1) Jesus of Nazareth’s equality with the Father and the Spirit. (2) His joint-rulership with the Father over the entire cosmos. (3) His highest ranking position as Chief Administrator in the divine government. (4) His absolute sovereign authority as Ruler over all creation and every creature. (5) His strategic victory over Satan and the kingdom of darkness in the angelic conflict. In His deity, Jesus Christ is “ Lord ” (See Luke 20:42), however in His human nature He received this title as a result of His obedience to the Father’s will, which called for Him to suffer spiritual death on the cross as a substitute for every member of the human race-past, present and future (See Philippians 2:5-11).

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 20

Romans 1:5a-Paul Received from the Lord the Spiritual Gift of Apostleship

In Romans 1:5a, Paul communicates to the believers in Rome that through the Lord Jesus Christ, he has received grace and apostleship in order to minister to the Gentiles. Romans 1:1-5, “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake.” “Through whom ” is the preposition dia ( diav) (dee-ah) means, “ through,” which expresses intermediate agency that is denoted by the masculine singular genitive form of the relative pronoun hos ( o^$ ) (hos), “ whom ,” which refers to the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, this prepositional phrase expresses the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is the intermediate agency by which Paul received grace and apostleship in order to present the gospel to the Gentiles. Paul employs the first person plural form of the verb lambano ( lambavnw ) (lam- ban-o), which “ we have received ” even though he has already identified himself as the sole author of the epistle in Romans 1:1, thus rendering the plural here as an “epistolary” or “editorial” we. The editorial “we” (also known as the epistolary plural) is the use of the first person plural by an author when he is in reality referring only to himself. Paul is “not” referring to the other apostles with the first plural “we” since he alone of all the apostles was the apostle to the Gentiles. The prepositional phrase that immediately follows the first person plural form of the verb lambano and expresses the purpose of his apostleship indicates this, eis hupakoen pisteos en pasin tois ethnesin (eij" uJpakohVn pivstew" ejn pa'sin toi'" e[qnesin ), “ for the obedience of the faith among all the Gentiles.” “Grace ” is the noun charis ( xavri$ ) (khar-ece), which refers to the unmerited blessing, gift, commission and office that Paul received at the moment of his salvation, which he identifies as his office as an apostle. Grace is all that God is free to do in imparting unmerited blessings to those who trust in Jesus Christ as Savior based upon the merits of Christ and His death on the Cross. Trench states “ charis implied a favor that was freely done without claim or expectation of return.” (Synonyms of the New Testament, page 181 and 182).

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 21 The Greeks used the word in reference to a favor done by one Greek to another out of sheer generosity and with no expectation of payment in return or no expectation of reward and referred to giving with no strings attached. In the Hellenistic period, charis was a term for demonstrations of a ruler's favor. The word was mainly used in the plural for “gifts” and in Hellenism, to show charis to people came to suggest favoritism and it was also used for the showing of grace in court. In the Greek New Testament usage charis denotes the grace of the worthy to the unworthy, of the holy to the sinful. The concept of charis in the Greek New Testament is consistently defined in terms of God’s gracious act of redemption that is found in the Person and Finished Work of Christ on the Cross. Incorporated into the meaning of charis in the Greek New Testament is that the believer is beneficiary of the love of each member of the Trinity. They are the beneficiaries of the love of God before salvation in that the Trinity loved the entire human race self-sacrificially. The believer after salvation is the object of the love of God since they possess the life and righteousness of God through imputation at the moment of salvation. Grace is God treating us in a manner that we don’t deserve and excludes any human works in order to acquire eternal salvation or blessing from God. It means that God saved us and blessed us despite ourselves and not according to anything that we do but rather saved us and blessed us because of the merits of Christ and His work on the Cross. Grace excludes any human merit in salvation and blessing (Eph. 2:8-9; Titus 3:5) and gives the Creator all the credit and the creature none. By means of faith, we accept the grace of God, which is a non-meritorious system of perception, which is in total accord with the grace of God. Grace and faith are totally compatible with each other and inseparable (1 Tim. 1:14) and complement one another (Rom. 4:16; Eph. 2:8). Grace, faith and salvation are all the gift of God and totally exclude all human works and ability (Eph. 2:8-9). Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” The unique Person of the Lord Jesus Christ and His finished work on the Cross- is the source of grace (2 Cor. 8:9) and He is a gift from the Father (2 Cor. 9:15). 2 Corinthians 8:9, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.” 2 Corinthians 9:15, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” Jesus Christ was full of “ grace and truth ” (John 1:17).

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 22 John 1:17, “For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.” The believer receives the grace of God through Him (John 1:16). John 1:16, “For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.” It is by the grace of God that Jesus Christ died a substitutionary spiritual death for all mankind (Heb. 2:9); therefore, the throne in which Christ sits is a " throne of grace " (Heb. 4:16). Hebrews 2:10, “But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.” Hebrews 4:14-16, “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” The grace of God has been extended to every member of the human race because of the act of love and justice on the Cross when the Father imputed the sins of every person in history-past, present and future to the impeccable humanity of Christ in hypostatic union on the Cross and judged Him as a substitute for the entire human race (Titus 2:11). Titus 2:11, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men.” The message of God's saving act in Christ is described as the “gospel of the grace of God” (:24), and the “word of His grace” (Acts 20:32; cf. 14:3). By His grace, God justifies the undeserving and unworthy through faith in His Son Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:24). Romans 3:23-24, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.” Grace is an absolute and is no longer grace if we are saved on the basis of human works (Rom. 11:6). Romans 11:6, “But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.” A Christian is someone who is a “ partaker” of the grace of God (Phil. 1:7) and he is to live by the same principle of grace after salvation (Col. 2:6; Rom. 6:4) and is the Christian's sphere of existence (Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:3; Col. 1:2).

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 23 The believer who rejects this principle is said to have “fallen from grace ,” (Gal. 5:1-5). God in His grace and love disciplines the believer in order to get them back in fellowship with Himself (Heb. 12:5-12). God in His grace also trains the believer through undeserved suffering in order to achieve spiritual growth (2 Cor. 12:7-11). 2 Corinthians 12:9, “And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.” The believer experiences the grace of God while in fellowship with God, which is accomplished by obedience to the Word of God. The Word of God, which is the mind of Christ, manifests the grace of God and the application of it will reproduce the beautiful, virtuous character of Christ in the believer. Therefore, since God has dealt graciously with the believer, the believer is in turn commanded to be gracious with all members of the human race, both believers and unbelievers (Eph. 4:32; Col. 3:13; 4:6; 1 Thess. 3:12). Colossians 3:12-13, “So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.” The believer is commanded to “ grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ ” (2 Pet. 3:18). Therefore, in Romans 1:5, the term charis , “ grace ” refers to the unmerited blessing, gift, commission and office that Paul received at the moment of his salvation, which he identifies as his office as an apostle. Romans 1:5, “through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake.” “Apostleship ” is the noun apostole ( a)postolhv) (ap-os-to-lay), which refers to the unique and temporary spiritual gift and office, which held maximum authority in the Church and was sovereignly delegated by the Lord Jesus Christ. The spiritual gift of apostleship was given to only twelve men and existed exclusively during the pre-canon period of the church age and is no longer existent today since all twelve men have died and went home to be with the Lord (See Matthew 10:2-4). The twelve men who were selected by the Lord Jesus Christ to the office of apostle were Simon Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, Simon the Canaanite, James, the son of Alphaeus, not the lesser, Thaddaeus, also called Jude, and Saul of Tarsus, also known as Paul. In Acts 1:26, Matthias was selected to be an apostle by lot to replace Judas Iscariot, however, this selection was not honored by God since he was not

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 24 personally selected by the resurrected Christ as the other eleven men were, nor did he demonstrate any sign gifts. One of the requirements for holding the “office” of apostle was experiencing seeing the resurrected Christ as Paul had when defending his ministry in 1 Corinthians 9:1-2. Another requirement for holding the “office” of apostle was that of possessing the “sign gifts” such as healing, which Paul demonstrated he had many times during the course of his ministry (Acts 14:10; 16:18; 19:11; 20:10; 28:8) or “tongues,” which Paul also demonstrated he possessed (1 Corinthians 14:18). The office and spiritual gift of apostleship was not appointed until after the resurrection and ascension and session of the Lord Jesus Christ (See Ephesians 4:1-16) Ephesian 4:1-3, “Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Ephesians 4:4-6, “There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.” Ephesians 4:7, “But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift.” Ephesians 4:8, “Therefore it says, ‘WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES, AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN.’” Ephesians 4:9, “(Now this expression, ‘He ascended,’ what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth?” Ephesians 4:10, “He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.)” Ephesians 4:11-13, “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors-teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 12:28 parallels Paul’s statement in Ephesians 4:11. 1 Corinthians 12:28, “And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues.” Ephesians 4:14-16, “As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 25 trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.” Distribution of spiritual gifts was authorized by the Lord Jesus Christ as a result of His death, resurrection, ascension and session, however, the actual appointment of the spiritual gift of apostleship was made by God the Holy Spirit according 1 Corinthians 12:11. 1 Corinthians 12:11, “But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.” The spiritual gift of apostleship functioned under two categories: (1) Writers of the Greek New Testament (2) Establishment of local churches: (a) The clarification of mystery doctrine (b) The maintenance of a true systematic theology with dispensational emphasis (c) The training of pastors (3) Establishment of local church policy. Paul was personally commissioned by the resurrected Christ to be the apostle to the Gentiles (See Acts 9:15; 22:21; Romans 11:13; 15:16; Galatians 1:15-16; 2:2, 7-9; Ephesians 3:1; 1 Timothy 2:7). 1 Timothy 2:5-7, “For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time. For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying) as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.” Romans 1:5, “through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake.” The expression charin kai apostolen , “ grace and apostleship ” contains the figure of “hendiadys.” This figure takes place when two nouns are used to express one idea or concept and it literally means “one by means of two” and takes place when the author uses two words but only one idea is intended. The two words are of the same parts of speech, i.e., two nouns, and are always joined together by the conjunction “and” and are also always in the same case. One of the two words expresses the thing, and the other intensifies it by being changed (if a noun) into an adjective of the superlative degree, which is, by this means, made especially emphatic. In Romans 1:5, we have two nouns charin , “ grace ” and apostolen , “apostleship ” and they are separated by the conjunction kai , “ and .” The noun apostolen , “ apostleship ” modifies and intensifies the meaning of the noun charin , “grace .” Therefore, the figure of “hendiadys” indicates that these two expressions

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 26 “grace and apostleship ” do “not” refer to two separate things but rather refer to one thing. The figure of “hendiadys” indicates that Paul is speaking of his office of apostleship as an unmerited spiritual gift that he received at the moment of salvation. Therefore, we could translate this expression charin kai apostolen , “ the gift of apostleship. ”

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Romans 1:5b-The Purpose of Apostleship and the Gospel

In Romans 1:5b, the apostle Paul teaches that the purpose for which the Lord gave him the spiritual gift of apostleship was to bring about among the Gentiles the faith, which produces obedience to God. Romans 1:1-5, “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake.” “To bring about ” is the preposition eis ( ei)$ ) (ice), which expresses the Lord Jesus Christ’s “purpose” for graciously bestowing upon Paul the unmerited spiritual gift and office of apostle and that is the purpose of the Gospel as well. “The obedience of faith ” is composed of the accusative feminine singular form of the noun hupakoe ( u(pakohv) (hoop-ak-o-ay), “ obedience ” and the genitive feminine singular form of the noun pistis ( pivsti$ ) (pis-tis), “ faith .” The noun hupakoe is a compound word composed of the preposition hupo (u(pov) (hoop-o), “below, under” and the noun akoe ( a)kohv) (ak-o-ay), “to hear.” This noun refers to the appropriate submissive obedience to an authority beyond oneself, whether human or divine. In Romans 1:5, the word denotes obedience to the Father’s will, which is communicated by the Holy Spirit through the communication of the Word of God. In “common grace”, God the Holy Spirit reveals the Father’s will to the unbeliever through the communication of the gospel by an evangelist, which is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ in order to receive the forgiveness of sins and eternal salvation (See John 3:1-7; 16:7-11; Acts 16:31). After salvation, God the Holy Spirit reveals the Father’s will to the believer through the communication of the Word of God by the man with the spiritual gift of pastor teacher in order that the believer might grow spiritually to greater Christ- likeness or spiritual maturity. (See Romans 8:29; Ephesians 4:11-16). Fellowship with God demands obedience to His commands and prohibitions and is sharing and experiencing eternal life with the Lord, which is accomplished through obedience to the voice of the Spirit whose voice is heard through the communication of the Word of God. 1 John 2:5, “But, whoever, at any time does observe conscientiously His Word, indeed, in this one, the love for the one and only God is accomplished.

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 28 By means of this we can confirm that we are at this particular moment in fellowship with Him.” For a believer, obedience is the supreme test of his love for the Lord. John 14:15, “If you love Me, you will observe conscientiously My commandments.” The one who obeys the Lord’s command to love one another is a friend of the Lord. John 15:14, “You are My friends if you do what I command you.” The believer’s obedience is the proper, appropriate, obedient and obligatory response by him to God’s revelation of Himself since the believer has been created and redeemed by God for His purpose and good pleasure. Obedience demonstrates the believer’s faith and is the positive response to God’s commands and acting upon those directions. In Romans 1:5, the noun pistis means, “trust, confidence, faith in the active sense, believing, faith, trust, confidence in God.” True Biblical faith is confident obedience to God’s Word in spite of circumstances and consequences and operates quite simply: God speaks and we hear His Word. Faith means we trust His Word and act on it no matter what the circumstances are or what the consequences may be. The circumstances may be impossible, and the consequences frightening and unknown but we obey God’s Word just the same and believe Him to do what is right and what is best. Faith is the positive response and obedience to God’s commands and prohibitions and acting upon those directions whereas unbelief on the other hand is disobedient and is the negative response to God’s commands and as a result the failure to act upon God’s commands. Hebrews 11:1-3 gives a definition of faith and also a description of the nature of faith or in other words, what faith does and how it works. Hebrews 11:1-3, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.” A Christian’s faith is based upon trusting in the authority of the Scriptures in order to govern his life and is a non-meritorious system of perception. The object of the Christian’s faith at the moment of salvation is the Lord Jesus Christ and the object of his faith after salvation is the written Word of God. In order for the Christian to please God and gain His approval he must trust in the authority of the Scriptures to govern his life (See Hebrews 11:6). Hebrews 11:6, “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 29 Just as the Christian received the Lord Jesus as his Savior by exercising faith in Him for eternal salvation, so after salvation he is to live by the same principle of faith (Compare Ephesians 2:8-9 with Colossians 2:5-7). Fellowship with God is based upon a moment-by-moment walk of faith in the Lord. Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the {life} which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” Faith in the Word of God is the way to victory over the enemy, Satan. 1 John 5:4, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world -- our faith.” In fact, the believer is commanded to take up for himself the shield of faith. Ephesians 6:16, “In addition to everything, I solemnly charge all of you to take up for yourselves your shield, which is your faith because that will enable all of you to extinguish all the flaming arrows originating from the evil one .” The believer acquires faith through hearing the communication of the Word of Christ. :17, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” The noun pistis functions grammatically as a “genitive of production” meaning that the genitive noun pistis is “producing” the action of the noun hupakoe , “obedience .” Therefore, the expression eis hupakoen pisteos , “ to bring about the obedience of faith ” refers to “faith that produces obedience to God.” Also, the genitive noun pistis could be interpreted as a “genitive of source” meaning that obedience “originates” or “comes from” faith. The Lord bestowed upon Paul the spiritual gift of apostleship for two reasons: (1) In relation to the unbeliever, that they might obey the gospel message and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for eternal salvation. (2) In relation to the believer, that they might obey the gospel after salvation and express faith in the Word of God and grow to spiritual maturity or greater Christ-likeness while at the same time being delivered experientially from the sin nature, Satan and his cosmic system. Noah demonstrated his faith in the Lord by his obedience to the Lord’s command to build the ark and so did Abraham when he obeyed the Lord’s command to leave Ur of the Chaldeans and go to a place that the Lord would show him in due time. Hebrews 11:7, “By means of faith, Noah, after having received a divine warning concerning the things which at the time were not yet seen, and having responding reverentially built an ark for the deliverance of his household through which (faith) he rendered the wickedness of the world more evident

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 30 and censurable and as a result he became a possessor of divine righteousness because of his faith.” Hebrews 11:8, “By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.” In the epistle of James, James teaches his readers who were believers that Abraham demonstrated his faith by performing works and when he speaks of works, he is referring to actions that are produced by obedience to God’s commands. James 2:14-24 is addressed to believers challenging them to operated in faith “after” salvation and which faith is demonstrated by obedience to God resulting in good works that are approved by God. James 2:14, “What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?” In the Bible, the term “ brethren ” is always used as a designation for believers and never unbelievers, thus James is addressing his readers as fellow believers in relation to their walk with God “after” salvation since they are already saved. Therefore, the term “ save ” is “not” a reference to eternal salvation but rather the believer’s “deliverance” after salvation from his sin nature, the devil and the cosmic system by obeying the Word of God. The term “ works ” is “not” a reference to working for one’s eternal salvation but rather it is a designation for obedience to God resulting in actions that benefit one’s fellow believer. James 2:15-16, “If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,’ and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?” James 2:17, “Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.” In James 2:15-17, James teaches his readers that if they do not help their fellow believer who is destitute and in need of the essentials of life, then they are not operating in faith meaning they are disobeying God who commanded them to love one another as themselves (Mark 12:28-31). James 2:18, “But someone may well say, ‘You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.’” James teaches that a believer’s faith is demonstrated by his works and when he speaks of works, he is referring to his actions that benefit his fellow believer, and which actions are produced by obedience to God’s Word. James 2:19, “You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.”

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 31 James teaches his readers that the demons believe that God is one but they do not produce actions that are the result of obedience to God. James 2:20, “But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?” James 2:21, “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son on the altar?” James teaches that Abraham was justified by his works and identifies what those works were, namely, the offering of Isaac his son on the altar, which was in obedience to God. Therefore, we can see that when James uses the term “ works ” in this passage he is referring to a believer’s actions that are the result of obedience to God’s Word. When James uses the term “ justified,” he is “not” referring to justification in relation to eternal salvation but rather justification in the sense of “approval” by God for one’s obedience to Him. James 2:22, “You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected.” James teaches that Abraham’s faith produced actions that were in obedience to God and which actions, he calls “ works .” When James uses the term “ perfected ” he means perfected in the sense of being accomplished. Therefore, James is teaching that as a result of Abraham’s actions in sacrificing Isaac, and which actions were in obedience to God, the goal of faith was accomplished. The goal of faith is obedience to God, which is what Paul is referring to in Romans 1:5 with the phrase “ through whom we have received the gift of apostleship in order to bring about the obedience , which is produced by faith .” James 2:23, “and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS,’ and he was called the friend of God.” James is quoting Genesis 15:6 and as we noted when we studied Genesis 15:6, although, the New Testament writers employ Genesis 15:6 to teach that justification is through faith alone in Christ alone, it does “not” mean that Genesis 15:6 records the moment when Abraham first got saved. The reason for this is that first of all, Abraham had already obeyed the Lord’s call to leave Ur and Haran (:2-5; Gen. 12:1-5) and secondly, the Lord had entered into a covenant agreement with him as recorded in Genesis 12:1-3 and 15:4-5, which is something the Lord would never do with an unbeliever. James 2:24, “You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.” When James uses the term “ justified by works ” he means that a believer is justified before God in the sense that he is “approved” by God when he produces

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 32 actions that are in obedience to God. This obedience demonstrates his faith in God and does “not” refer to justification in relation to eternal salvation. Abraham was a tremendous example for James’ readers to follow in that Abraham was approved by God because his attempted sacrifice of his beloved son Isaac was in obedience to God’s commands and which obedience demonstrated his faith. James is not attempting to describe for his readers how they can identify a so- called “genuine” believer but rather he is simply challenging his readers to obey God, which demonstrates their faith and benefits their fellow believer. Romans 1:5, “through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake.” The prepositional phrase en pasin tois ethnesin ( e)n pa~sin toi~$ e*qnesin ), “among all the Gentiles ” refers to those who are “not” of Jewish racial descent. The apostle Paul was called as an apostle to the Gentiles by the Lord Himself and not the other apostles (See Acts 9:15; 22:21; Romans 11:13; 15:16; Galatians 1:15-16; 2:2, 7-9; Ephesians 3:1; 1 Timothy 2:7). The Lord Jesus Christ commanded His disciples to present the gospel to all the nations, both Israel and the Gentile nations (See Matthew 24:14; 28:19) since He came to save both Israel and the Gentiles (Luke 2:32). In Ephesians 3:1-13, Paul teaches that it was a mystery that the Gentiles through faith in Christ would become fellow heirs with Jewish believers, fellow members of the body of Christ and fellow partakers of the four unconditional covenants of promise to Israel. The mystery is not that the Gentiles would be saved since this was prophesied in the Old Testament (Isa. 11:10; 60:3) but rather, it refers to the fact that they would become fellow heirs with Jewish believers, fellow members with Jewish believers in the body of Christ and fellow partakers of the covenant promises to Israel. The prepositional phrase “ for His name’s sake ” is composed of the preposition huper ( u(peVr ) (hoop-er), “on behalf of” and the articular neuter singular genitive (of advantage) form of the noun onoma ( o*noma ) (on-om-ah), “name” and the genitive singular intensive personal pronoun autos ( au)tov$ ) (ow-tos), “His.” The preposition huper with the genitive noun onoma is a marker of a participant who is benefited by an event or on whose behalf an event takes place. Therefore, the word marks the apostle Paul’s Master, the Lord Jesus Christ who is benefited by the Gentile nations obeying the gospel message and should be translated “ on behalf of .” The noun onoma , “ Name ” has a five-fold sense. First of all, it refers to the “Person” of the Lord Jesus Christ who is undiminished deity and true humanity in Person forever and thus the unique theanthropic Person of history and creation.

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 33 Secondly, the word refers to the “character” of the Lord Jesus Christ meaning the aggregate features and traits of the Lord Jesus Christ’s divine and human nature. It also refers to the Lord Jesus Christ’s life’s work during His 1st Advent, which He accomplished through His substitutionary spiritual death on the Cross. This death fulfilled the righteous requirements of the Mosaic Law, destroyed the works of the devil, redeemed the entire human race from the slave market of sin, propitiated the Father’s righteous demands that every sin in history be judged, reconciled the entire human race to God. The word also alludes to His resurrection, ascension and session at the right hand of the Father (See Ephesians 1:21; Philippians 2:5-11; Hebrews 1:4) since it refers to His reputation before mankind as the Savior of the world and Redeemer of all mankind and Sovereign ruler of history. Lastly, onoma refers to the Lord Jesus Christ’s standing before the Father as righteous and holy and as His beloved Son. The noun onoma refers to the impeccable Person of the humanity of Christ in hypostatic union whose is the only Person who has merit before God the Father who is holy. The Lord Jesus Christ is honored when the Gentiles express faith in Him and demonstrate that faith by obeying His commands and prohibitions.

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Romans 1:6-The Recipients of the Epistle, the Called Ones, Owned by Christ Jesus

Romans 1:6 Paul identifies the recipients of this epistle as the called ones who are owned by Jesus Christ. Romans 1:1-7, “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” The prepositional phrase “ among whom ” is composed of the preposition en (e)n ), “among” and the locative neuter plural form of the relative pronoun hos ( o^$ ) (hos), “ whom ,” which refers to the “Gentiles,” who are mentioned in Romans 1:5. The preposition en is used in a distributive sense with respect to persons and means “ among ” whereas the relative pronoun hos is a locative of sphere denoting the “sphere” of individuals in which the Roman believers were called out from. Therefore, this prepositional phrase “ among whom ” indicates quite clearly that the people to whom Paul was addressing in this epistle were predominately Gentile racially rather than Jewish. “Called ” is the nominative masculine plural form of the adjective kletos (klhtov$ ), which means, “called ones” and describes the Christian as one who is called to the privilege, responsibilities and blessings of obtaining salvation as well as an eternal relationship and fellowship with the Trinity and service to the Father through faith in Jesus Christ. The believer has been called to according to the Father’s purpose to be conformed to the image of Christ. Romans 8:28, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:29-30. “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 35 The believer has also been called into fellowship with God. :9, “God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” The believer has been called into the body of Christ. Colossians 3:15, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.” The believer has been called to peace (See 1 Corinthians 7:15) and is commanded to walk in a manner worthy of his calling (See Ephesians 4:1-3). Ephesians 4:1-3, “Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” The believer has been called to sanctification. 1 Thessalonians 4:7, “For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification.” The believer has also been called to eternal life. 1 Timothy 6:12, “Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” He has also been called to underserved suffering (See 1 Peter 2:18-21). The believer has been called to serve his fellow believer. Galatians 5:13, “For all of you were elected to freedom, brothers, only do not exploit this freedom for indulging the sin nature, but rather through divine-love be serving one another.” These individuals have responded in obedience to the Father’s invitation to obtain salvation and an eternal relationship and fellowship and service for Him, which is communicated by the Holy Spirit in common grace through the gospel message. “Common grace” is grace that the entire human race receives when God the Holy Spirit makes the Gospel message, which is a spiritual language, understandable to the spiritually dead unbeliever in order that they can make a decision to believe in Christ or reject Him for salvation. God wants everyone to be saved. 1 Timothy 2:4, “God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (Bible Doctrine, the mind of Christ).” Not everyone will be saved because God in His perfect integrity has provided everyone with a free will or volition and thus some will choose to reject God’s invitation to salvation through faith in Christ while others will accept it.

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 36 The “call of God” is simply God the Father’s offer or invitation of salvation through faith in Christ (See 1 Thessalonians 2:12; 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14; :8-11; 1 Peter 5:10; 1 John 3:1). John 6:44, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.” The Father draws a human being to Himself through the Person and work of Christ. He attracts men to Himself through the love that He and the Son demonstrated at the cross. The Lord drew Old Testament Israel to Himself with His love. Jeremiah 31:2-3, “Thus says the LORD, ‘the people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness -- Israel, when it went to find its rest.’ The LORD appeared to him from afar, saying, ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness.’” Some men are attracted to Christ and His cross whereas others stumble over Christ and His cross and others consider it ridiculous. 1 Corinthians 1:23-24, “but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” The Father presents this offer or invitation through the presentation of the Gospel. The Gospel is the good news that Jesus Christ died for every sin ever committed in the human race-past, present and future and that by believing in Him you can have eternal life. The Gospel message at the point of salvation is God’s victorious proclamation of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection, which delivers the believer positionally from the power of the old sin nature and the cosmic system of Satan and eternal condemnation. Romans 1:16-17, “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 for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.’” The Gospel is the good news to the human race that God has made a peace treaty with the entire human race and the terms of that peace treaty is accepting the Gospel message through faith alone in Christ alone. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His uniquely born Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:17, “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world (Christ would die in their place), but that the world should be saved through Him (faith alone in Christ alone).”

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 37 John 3:18, “He who believes in Him (the Lord Jesus Christ) is not judged. He who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the uniquely born Son of God.” John 3:36, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life, but he who does not obey the Son shall not see eternal life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” When the unbeliever hears the gospel message of salvation through faith alone in Christ alone, the Holy Spirit convicts them of three things, namely, the sin of not believing in Christ, the righteousness of Christ and the judgment of Satan. John 16:7, “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.” The “ Helper ” is a reference to God the Holy Spirit according to John 14:26. John 16:8-11, “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment, concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.” The statement “ concerning sin because they do not believe in Me ” refers to the rejection of Jesus Christ as Savior. The statement “ concerning righteousness because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me ” refers to the righteousness of Christ who is the only sinless Person in all of creation that can approach the Father on His own merits. The statement “ concerning judgment because the ruler of this world has been judged ” is a reference to the fact that the Christ’s death on the Cross judged Satan. The moment a person believes in Jesus Christ as their Savior, the Holy Spirit makes their faith “effective” for salvation, which is called in theology, “efficacious grace.” 2 Corinthians 6:1-2, “And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain-for He says, ‘At the acceptable time I listened to you, and on the day of salvation (the day that you believed in Christ) I (God the Holy Spirit) helped you,’ behold, now is 'the acceptable time,’ behold, now is ‘the day of salvation.’” Romans 1:6, “among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ.” “Of Jesus Christ ” is composed of the genitive masculine singular form of the proper noun Iesou ( )Ihsou ), “ Jesus ” and the genitive masculine singular form of the noun Christos ( xristov$ ), “ Christ .” “Jesus ” is the proper noun Iesou ( )Ihsou ), which is the Greek spelling of the Hebrew word Jehoshua meaning, “Jehovah saves,” and refers to the perfect human nature of our Lord.

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 38 “Christ ” is proper name Christos ( xristov$ ), which is a technical word designating the humanity of our Lord as the promised Savior for all mankind and signifies that He is unique as the incarnate Son of God and totally and completely guided and empowered by the Spirit as the Servant of the Father. The proper noun Christos , “ Christ ” functions grammatically as a genitive of simple apposition meaning it is “clarifying” for Paul’s readers, which Jesus Paul is speaking of and should be translated, “ who is the Christ .” The proper noun Iesou , “ Jesus ” is a “genitive of possession” meaning that the Lord Jesus “possesses” or “owns” Paul’s readers who are believers in the Lord Jesus and like Paul have been purchased by Him out of the slave market of sin and the devil’s world through His substitutionary spiritual death on the Cross. Redemption is that aspect of the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross whereby all of humanity has been purchased out from the slave market of sin in which they were born spiritually dead and delivered to the freedom of grace (See 1 Corinthians 6:23). The humanity of Christ purchased the entire human race out from the slave market of sin by means of His voluntary substitutionary spiritual death on the Cross. Colossians 1:14, “in whom (Christ) we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” All believers have left the slave market of sin and become slaves of Christ through personal faith in Jesus Christ. The purpose for which the believer has been purchased out of the slave market sin is to serve the Lord and other members of His body and not self. The Lord Jesus Christ served us by redeeming us and by redeeming us, we as His purchased possession, have been given the opportunity and the privilege of serving Him who is now our Master (See Deuteronomy 10:12). Christian service is directed toward both God and man with the former (serving God) acting as the motivation for the latter (serving man) (Eph. 6:5-9). 1 Peter 4:10, “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” Christian service is based upon the principle of reciprocal love, meaning that Christian service is the response by the believer to God self-sacrificially loving him in the manner in which He did at the Cross and reciprocating by self- sacrificially loving God and his fellow man in return in the same manner (See John 12:25-26). The Servant of the Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ is the perfect example of servanthood and the believer is to imitate His example of self-sacrifice in order to serve God (Isaiah 53). One must be properly motivated in order to perform Christian service that is acceptable to God. Motivation is that which prompts a person to act in a certain way, the goal of one’s actions. Christian service if it is to be acceptable to God

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 39 must be motivated by our love for who and what God is, what He has done for us and the manner in which He loved us at the Cross. Colossians 3:23-24, “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.”

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 40

Romans 1:7a-The Recipients of the Epistle-The Beloved of God and Called Saints

In Romans 1:7a, Paul further identifies the recipients of this epistle as the beloved of God and called saints. Romans 1:1-7, “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” “To all ” is the dative (of recipient) plural form of the adjective pas ( pa~$ ), which is pasin ( pa=sin ). The adjective pasin is a dative of recipient indicating the intended recipients of this letter from Paul and refers to all individual believers residing in Rome as indicated by the prepositional phrase en Rhome ( e)n ‘Rwvmh|), “in Rome.” Pasin is a subtle reminder to the believers in Rome that they are all on the same footing with each other because of their common relationship and union with Christ. They all have equal privilege and equal opportunity to execute the plan of God because they are all sons of God through faith alone in Christ alone (Gal. 3:26). Pasin reminds the Roman believers that there are no distinctions among them because of their union with Christ (Gal. 3:28; Col. 3:11). They are all in union with Christ through the Baptism of the Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 4:4-6) and are all individual members of the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:12, 27; Eph. 5:30). This one word pasin is designed to destroy any petty divisions or factions that might be developing or festering among the Roman believers, which left unchecked, will destroy their momentum and their spiritual growth as well as their corporate witness to the unbelievers in their community. “Who are ” is the dative (of recipient) masculine plural definite article tois (toi~$ ) plus the dative (of recipient) masculine plural present active (independent substantival) participle form of the verb eimi ( ei)miv), which is ousin ( ou@sin ).

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 41 The articular participle tois ousin is also called by grammarians a restrictive participle expressing the fact that Paul is addressing a specific group of believers, in a specific geographical location, which is the city of Rome. “In Rome ” is composed of the preposition en ( e)n ), “ in ” and the locative (of place) feminine singular form of the proper name Rhome ( (Rwvmh ), “ Rome ” indicating that Paul is writing to believers located in the city of Rome. This is a descriptive present of the verb eimi used to indicate, that which is “now going on,” therefore it means that these believers are “presently” located in Rome and the active voice states that these believers in Rome are producing the action of the verb. Therefore, we can translate this articular independent substantival participle tois ousin , “ to those who are presently. ” “Beloved of God ” is composed of the adjective agapetos ( a)gaphtov$ ) (ag-ap- ay-tos), “ beloved ” and the genitive masculine singular form of the noun theos (qeov$ ) (theh-os), “ of God .” The noun theos refers to all three members of the Trinity who are God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit and functions grammatically as a “genitive of agency” meaning that the Trinity are the agents who accomplished the action denoted by the adjective agapetos , “ beloved .” The adjective agapetos is a reminder to the Roman believers that before salvation they were the objects of God’s “impersonal” love but now after salvation, they are the objects of God’s personal and affectionate love. As to His nature, God is love, which is an attribute of His. 1 John 4:7-8, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” Before salvation, the believer was the object of God’s “impersonal” love meaning that he was obnoxious and unattractive to God since he was enslaved to the cosmic system of Satan and his old Adamic sin nature and under real spiritual death. Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Even though the believer was dead in his sins and transgressions and as a result an enemy of God who is holy, at the moment of salvation, through the baptism of the Spirit, he was raised and seated with Christ at the Father’s right hand because of the Father’s great love. Ephesians 2:4-6, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved) and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 42 At salvation, the believer became the object of God’s “personal” love meaning that the believer is attractive to God since God imputed His righteousness to the believer at the moment he exercised faith alone in Christ alone and is now a child of God and a partaker of the divine nature. 1 John 3:1, “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.” The expression agapetois theou , “ beloved by God ” serves as a reminder to the Roman believers that they are the beneficiaries and objects of the Father’s love, the Son’s and the Spirit’s. The divine-love of God the Father expressed itself in eternity past when He designed the Incarnation Plan for the Son to execute in order to provide salvation for all mankind (John 3:16-18; Ephesians 1:3-14). The divine-love of God the Son expressed itself in eternity past when He volunteered His services to execute the Incarnation Plan of God the Father (:5-9). The divine-love of the Lord Jesus expressed itself when He voluntarily denied Himself the independent function of His divine attributes in order to die a spiritual death on the cross as a substitute for all mankind (Philippians 2:5-11). The divine-love of the Holy Spirit expressed itself when He made the gospel understandable at the point of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:1-2) and when He performed seven ministries for the believer at the moment of salvation and after salvation through His various post-salvation functions to reproduce the character of Christ in the believer. The divine-love of the Trinity expressed itself in providing for the believer three categories of grace provision: (1) “Antecedent” grace: Election, Predestination, and Eternal inheritance (2) “Living” grace: The spiritual life of the believer. (3) “Eschatological” grace: Resurrection body and rewards for faithfulness. The Father expressed His love through: (1) Election: He elected the believer to the privilege of an eternal relationship and fellowship with the Trinity (Ephesians 1:3-14). (2) Predestination: He predestinated the believer to be conformed into the image of Christ (Romans 8:29; Ephesians 1:5). (3) Eternal inheritance and rewards: He will bestow an eternal inheritance and rewards if the believer does His will (1 Corinthians 9:25; Ephesians 1:11; James 1:12; Revelation 2:10). God the Son expressed His love through: (1) Redemption: He redeemed the believer through His spiritual death on the Cross (Ephesians 1:7). (2) Propitiation: He propitiated or satisfied the Father’s holiness, which demanded that sin be judged (1 John 2:2; 4:10). (3) Reconciliation: He reconciled the believer to the Father through His death (Colossians 1:22).

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 43 The Holy Spirit expressed His love through: (1) Efficacious grace: He made the believer’s faith in Christ effective for salvation (2 Cor. 6:1-2). (2) Regeneration: He regenerated the believer by giving him a spirit and eternal life (John 3:1-7; Titus 3:5). (3) Baptism: He placed the believer in union with Christ and identified him with Christ in His death, burial, resurrection and session (1 Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 4:5). (4) Indwelling: He permanently indwells the believer (Romans 8:11; 1 Corinthians 3:16). (5) Filling: He influences the believer who is obedient to the Word of God (Ephesians 5:18). (6) Sealing: He puts His stamp on the believer guaranteeing his salvation (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13). (7) Spiritual gifts: He gives the believer a spiritual gift to serve God (1 Corinthians 12:4-11). (8) Mentorship: He functions as the believer’s mentor and teacher (John 14:26; 1 John 2:20). (9) Fruit bearing: He reproduces the character of Christ in the believer who is obedient to the Word of God (Galatians 5:21-22). (10) Convicts of sin: He convicts the believer of sin (Romans 8:4-11; Ephesians 4:30). The adjective agapetos would serve to remind the Roman believers that they are beneficiaries of God’s divine-love before salvation and objects of His personal love after salvation. It would also serve to encourage them in the midst of the undeserved suffering and persecution and would challenge them to advance to maturity and execute the plan of God. Romans 1:7, “to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” “Called ” is the nominative masculine plural form of the adjective kletos (klhtov$ ), which means, “called ones.” This word describes the Christian as one who is “elected” to the privilege, responsibilities and blessings of obtaining salvation as well as an eternal relationship and fellowship with the Trinity and service to the Father through faith in Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1:3, “Worthy of praise and glorification is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the One who has blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in the Person of Christ.” Ephesians 1:4, “When He elected us to privilege in Him before the foundation of the world for the purpose of being holy and blameless before Him.” God elected the believer before the foundation of the world in the sense that God, in His foreknowledge, which is based upon His omniscience, knew before anything was ever created, that we would believe in His Son in time. God elected the believer before the foundation of the world since He knew beforehand that the believer would accept Jesus Christ as Savior in time and therefore elected the believer to privilege.

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 44 Election means that God has a plan for your life, which is to be conformed to the image of Christ. Romans 8:28-30, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.” Election is related to believers only and unbelievers are not elected to condemnation since God desires all men to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9). Romans 1:7, “to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” “Saints ” is the dative (of recipient) plural form of the adjective hagios ( a^gio$ ), which is hagiois ( a(givoi$ ) and refers to “a person or thing that has been set apart as sacred or consecrated or dedicated to God.” It was one of five words used by the Greeks to describe their concept of holiness and is the only word used in the Bible to describe the biblical concept of holiness. Hagios functions here in Romans 1:7 as a technical term describing all the members of the royal family of God in Rome who have been set apart through the Baptism of the Spirit at the moment of salvation in order to order serve God. The church age believer has been “set apart” for God’s purpose and plan through the baptism of the Spirit and has acquired the principle of God’s integrity through the imputation of divine righteousness at the moment of salvation (See ). The “baptism of the Spirit” takes place exclusively during the dispensation of the church age and is accomplished at the moment of salvation when the omnipotence of the Spirit places the believer in a eternal union with Christ, thus identifying the believer positionally with Christ in His death, resurrection and session. 1 Corinthians 12:13, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.” “Baptized ” is the verb baptizo ( baptivzw ), “to cause the believer to be identified with the Lord Jesus Christ.” At the moment of salvation, the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit causes the believer to become identical and united with the Lord Jesus Christ and also ascribes to the believer the qualities and characteristics of the Lord Jesus Christ.

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 45 Hagios , “ saints ” is a reference to the doctrine of “sanctification,” which is a technical theological term for the believer who has been set apart through the baptism of the Spirit at the moment of salvation in order to serve God exclusively. “Sanctification” is accomplished by God in three stages: (1) Positional (2) Experiential (3) Ultimate. “Positional sanctification” is the believer’s “entrance” into the plan of God for the church age resulting in eternal security as well as two categories of positional truth (1 Cor. 1:2, 30; 1 Pet. 1:2; 1 Thess. 5:23; Eph. 5:26-27; Heb. 2:11; 10:10; Acts 20:32; 26:18; Rom. 6:3, 8; 2 Thess. 2:13). “Retroactive” positional truth is the church age believer’s identification with Christ in His death and burial (Romans 6:3-11; Colossians 2:12). Romans 6:4, “Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” “Current” positional truth is the church age believer’s identification with Christ in His resurrection, ascension and session (See Ephesians 2:4-6; Colossians 3:1-4). Colossians 3:1, “Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” “Positional sanctification”: (1) What God has done for the church age believer. (2) His viewpoint of the church age believer. (3) Sets up the potential to experience sanctification in time. (4) Provides the believer with the guarantee of receiving a resurrection body. “Experiential sanctification” is the function of the church age believer’s spiritual life in time through obedience to the Father’s will, which is revealed by the Spirit through the communication of the Word of God (John 17:17; Rom. 6:19, 22; 2 Tim. 2:21; 1 Pet. 3:15; 1 Thess. 4:3-4, 7; 1 Tim. 2:15). 2 Thessalonians 2:13, “But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.” “Experiential sanctification” is the post-salvation experience of the church age believer who is in fellowship with God by confessing any known sin to the Father when necessary followed by obedience to the Father’s will, which is revealed by the Spirit through the Word of God. 1 John 1:9, “If any of us does at any time confess our sins, then, He (God the Father) is faithful and just with the result that He forgives us our sins and purifies us from each and every wrongdoing.” 1 John 2:5, “But, whoever, at any time does observe conscientiously His Word, indeed, in this one, the love for the one and only God is accomplished.

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 46 By means of this we can confirm that we are at this particular moment in fellowship with Him.” This obedience constitutes obeying the commands to be filled with the Spirit and letting the Word of Christ richly dwell in your soul. Ephesians 5:18: “And do not permit yourselves to get into the habit of being drunk with wine because that is non-sensical behavior, but rather permit yourselves on a habitual basis to be influenced by means of the Spirit.” Colossians 3:16, “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” This obedience enables the Spirit to reproduce the character of Christ in the believer. Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Experiential sanctification is only a potential since it is contingent upon the church age believer responding to what God has done for him at the moment of salvation, therefore, only believers who are obedient to the Word of God will experience sanctification in time. The believer who experiences sanctification is walking in “ newness of life ” and he does this by obeying the teaching of the Word of God, which states that the believer has been crucified, died, buried, raised and seated with Christ and which teaching is inspired by the Holy Spirit (See Romans 6). “Ultimate sanctification” is the perfection of the church age believer’s spiritual life at the Rapture, i.e. resurrection of the church, which is the completion of the plan of God for the church age believer (1 Cor. 15:53-54; Gal. 6:8; 1 Pet. 5:10; John 6:40). It is the guarantee of a resurrection body and will be experienced by every believer regardless of their response in time to what God has done for them at salvation. 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, “Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.” Sanctification is experiencing the holiness or in other words manifesting the character of God through one’s thoughts, words and actions. 1 Peter 1:14-16, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, ‘YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.’”

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 47

Romans 1:7b-The Salutation of the Epistle, Grace and Peace

Next, we will study Romans 1:7b, which contains the salutation. Romans 1:1-7, “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” “Grace to you and peace ” is composed of the following: (1) The nominative (absolute) feminine singular noun charis ( xavri$ ), “ grace .” (2) The 2 nd person plural dative (of recipient) form of the personal pronoun humin ( u(mi~n ), which is from humeis ( u(mei~$ ), “ to you .” (3) The connective use of the conjunction kai (kaiV), “ and .” (4) The nominative (absolute) feminine singular noun eirene (ei)rhvnh ), “ peace .” Both the nouns charis , “ grace ” and eirene , “ peace ” are nominative absolutes, which is a nominative that does not appear in a sentence but only in salutations, titles and other introductory phrases. In Romans 1:7, both the nouns charis , “ grace ” and eirene , “ peace ” are nominative absolutes since they do not function in a sentence but rather in a salutation. The personal pronoun humin , “ to you ” is a dative of recipient, which is a dative that appears in verbless constructions such as salutations and titles and here in Romans 1:7, the personal pronoun humin , “ to you ” is in the dative case and appears in a salutation, which is a verbless construction. Humin refers to the individuals mentioned in Romans 1:7, “ to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints.” We have the 2 nd person plural form of humeis and should be translated “to all of you ,” and not simply “ to you .” “Grace ” is the noun charis ( xavri$ ) (khar-ece), which is all that God is free to do in imparting unmerited blessings to those who trust in Jesus Christ as Savior based upon the merits of Christ and His death on the Cross. Grace is God treating us in a manner that we don’t deserve and excludes any human works in order to acquire eternal salvation or blessing from God. Grace

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 48 means that God saved us and blessed us despite ourselves and not according to anything that we do but rather saved us and blessed us because of the merits of Christ and His work on the Cross. Grace excludes any human merit in salvation and blessing (Eph. 2:8-9; Titus 3:5) and gives the Creator all the credit and the creature none. By means of faith, we accept the grace of God, which is a non-meritorious system of perception, which is in total accord with the grace of God. Grace and faith are totally compatible with each other and inseparable (1 Tim. 1:14) and complement one another (Rom. 4:16; Eph. 2:8). Grace, faith and salvation are all the gift of God and totally exclude all human works and ability (Eph. 2:8-9). Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” The unique Person of the Lord Jesus Christ and His finished work on the Cross- is the source of grace (2 Cor. 8:9) and He is a gift from the Father (2 Cor. 9:15). Jesus Christ was full of “ grace and truth ” (John 1:17) and the believer receives the grace of God through Him (John 1:16). It is by the grace of God that Jesus Christ died a substitutionary spiritual death for all mankind (Heb. 2:9); therefore, the throne in which Christ sits is a " throne of grace " (Heb. 4:16). The grace of God has been extended to every member of the human race because of the act of love and justice on the Cross when the Father imputed the sins of every person in history-past, present and future to the impeccable humanity of Christ in hypostatic union on the Cross and judged Him as a substitute for the entire human race (Titus 2:11). The message of God's saving act in Christ is described as the “ gospel of the grace of God ” (Acts 20:24), and the “ word of His grace ” (Acts 20:32; cf. 14:3). By His grace, God justifies the undeserving and unworthy through faith in His Son Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:24). Grace is an absolute and is no longer grace if we are saved on the basis of human works (Rom. 11:6). A Christian is someone who is a “ partaker ” of the grace of God (Phil. 1:7) and he is to live by the same principle of grace after salvation (Col. 2:6; Rom. 6:4) and is the Christian's sphere of existence (Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:3; Col. 1:2). The believer who rejects this principle is said to have “ fallen from grace ,” (Gal. 5:1-5). God in His grace and love disciplines the believer in order to get them back in fellowship with Himself (Heb. 12:5-12) and also trains the believer through undeserved suffering in order to achieve spiritual growth (2 Cor. 12:7-11). The Word of God, which is the mind of Christ, manifests the grace of God and the application of it will reproduce the beautiful, virtuous character of Christ in the

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 49 believer. Therefore, since God has dealt graciously with the believer, the believer is in turn commanded to be gracious with all members of the human race, both believers and unbelievers (Eph. 4:32; Col. 3:13; 4:6; 1 Thess. 3:12). The believer is commanded to “ grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ ” (2 Pet. 3:18). The believer experiences the grace of God while in fellowship with God, which is accomplished by obedience to the Word of God. In Romans 1:7, the word charis , “ grace ” is a revelation of the blessings and benefits given to the believer at the moment of salvation, and which blessings and benefits are imparted by the Holy Spirit through the communication of the Word of God, which is the mind of Christ. These blessings and benefits would include the revelation of the following: (1) character of God and the Lord Jesus Christ; (2) blessings effected by the work of the Trinity; (3) will of the Father; (4) provisions to perform the Father’s will, (5) rewards for executing the Father’s will. The impartation of these blessings to the believer pivots off his obedience to the will of the Father. Romans 1:7b, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” “Peace ” is the noun eirene ( ei)rhvnh ) (i-ray-nay), which in classical Greek meant the state of peace in contrast to war, state of rest, contentment, inner peace and tranquility of soul, peace of mind. Eirene to the Greeks did not primarily denote a relationship between people or an attitude, but a state, such as a “time of peace” or a “state of peace.” It was originally conceived as an interlude in the everlasting state or condition of war and denoted the state or condition of peace in contrast to war. The Greeks considered peace as the absence of war and as the foundation for national and personal welfare and prosperity. In the Greek mind, eirene denotes the concept of the state of rest and also denoted the opposite of disturbance such as laughing. The LXX (Greek translation of Hebrew Old Testament) translators used eirene to translate shalom ( swlv ), “peace as the antithesis to war, health prosperity, soul prosperity, overt prosperity, a state of well-being, contentment of soul.” In the Old Testament, “peace ” was a state of well-being and was always viewed in relation to God. In the Greek New Testament eirene has a two-fold meaning, “soul prosperity, and overt prosperity” and is used of both the relationship of peace with God and men. Eirene is used of God as the author of peace (Rm. 15:33; 16:20; 1 Th. 5:23) since God as to His divine nature and essence is peace. Eirene is used in relation to the reconciliation between unregenerate man and God through faith alone in Christ alone (:36; Rm. 5:1; Eph. 2:14, 15, 17).

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 50 Romans 5:1, “Therefore having been justified by faith (in Christ), we have peace with God the Father through our Lord Jesus Christ.” The word is used to describe the content of the Gospel message in Romans 10:15 and Ephesians 6:15, which when accepted by means of faith alone in Christ alone results in peace with God. In relation to the believer it denotes the condition or state of the believer’s soul who is in fellowship with God and is one of the objectives of God the Holy Spirit in the process of experiential sanctification and is thus produced by Him (Galatians 5:22-23). Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” True peace is having a relationship with God, which can only be acquired by an unregenerate human being through faith alone in Christ alone. The believer is eternally united with the Lord Jesus Christ at the moment of salvation through the Baptism of the Spirit (:26-28) and has peace positionally at the moment of salvation and by positionally, I mean that God views Himself as reconciled to the believer. Peace for the believer is having fellowship with God and is trusting in the promise that God is for you and not against you (Romans 8:31-39) and which promise is based upon the fact Christ has died as the believer’s substitute in order that the believer might have fellowship with God. Eirene is the tranquil or serene state or condition of the soul of the believer who obeys the Father’s will, which is revealed by the Spirit through the communication of the Word of God. Romans 8:6, “For the mind set on the flesh ( old sin nature ) is death (temporal spiritual death, out of fellowship with God ), but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.” Eirene is also the serene state or condition of the soul of the believer who goes to the Father in prayer in order to worship and adore Him and to present his needs and concerns in life. God the Holy Spirit produces this tranquility of soul when the believer obeys His voice, which is heard through the communication of the Word of God. Philippians 4:6-7, “At this very moment, all of you stop continuing to be anxious about absolutely anything, but rather, concerning anything at all by means of reverential prayer in the presence of the Father and by means of petition accompanied by the giving of thanks, let your specific detailed requests be repeatedly made known in the presence of the Father and as a result the peace produced by God the Holy Spirit, which is always superior to any and every human conception, will as a dogmatic statement of fact cause

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 51 your hearts to be protected and as a result your thoughts by means of the doctrine of Christ Jesus.” :13, “Now may the God of confidence fill you with all contentment and inner peace in believing, that you may abound in confidence by means of the power of the Holy Spirit.” This peace is synonymous with the Sabbath Rest in Hebrews 4:1-16, which the believer is urged to be diligent in applying the promises of God so that they might have peace in their souls. Eirene is used often in relation to the experiential sanctification of the believer and is a direct result of being in fellowship with God, which is accomplished by obedience to the Word of God (Jn. 14:27; 16:33; Rm. 8:6; 14:17; 2 Co. 13; 11; Phlp. 4:7; Col. 3:15; 1 Th. 5:23; 2 Th. 3:16; 2 Tm. 2:22; Heb. 13:20; Jam. 3:18). Colossians 3:15, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.” The believer is commanded to pursue this soul prosperity, which originates from God (1 Pet. 3:11) and is also instructed to be diligent to remain in fellowship with God (2 Pet. 3:14). The believer’s peace is being content with what one has in life, and living life in view of eternity and is equating time with eternity, which brings contentment (Phil. 1:21; 4:10-13). Eirene is the contentment one has as a result of knowing that one has peace with God through faith in Christ and is a soul prosperity that the world can’t give but what only what Bible Doctrine can give when applied in the soul under pressure. John 16:33, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world (cosmic system) you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world (cosmic system).” Eirene is used in the salutations of Paul with the noun charis to denote the daily peace the believer receives from fellowship with God (Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:3; 2 Cor. 1:2; Eph. 1:2; Col. 1:2; 1 Thess. 1:1; 2 Thess. 1:2; 1 Tim. 1:2; 2 Tim. 1:2; Titus 1:4; Phlm. 1:3). In Romans 1:7, the phrase “ grace to all of you and peace ” contains a figure of speech called metonymy of the cause where we have the grace of God put for the revelation of the benefits and blessings of knowing the: (1) character of God; (2) Blessings effected by the work of the Trinity; (3) will of the Father; (4) provisions to perform the Father’s will, (5) rewards for executing the Father’s will. Philippians 4:23, “May the grace which originates from the Lord Jesus Christ be communicated to your human spirit. Amen.” Notice the word order, “grace ” precedes “peace ,” which is significant since we cannot experience peace until we accept by faith and appropriate grace that is extended to every believer through the Lord Jesus Christ.

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 52 The believer appropriates the grace of God by being obedient to the revelation of the Father’s will that is made known by the Holy Spirit to the believer through the communication of the Word of God by the believer’s divinely ordained pastor- teacher. The believer’s obedience to the revelation of the Father’s will by the Holy Spirit through the communication of the Word of God will result in the believer experiencing the peace of God in his life. When Paul says to the Romans “ grace to all of you ” he is referring to the fact that what he is writing to them under the inspiration of God the Holy Spirit is a revelation of the Father’s will and if this revelation of the Father’s will is obeyed, it will impart blessing to all of them and produce peace in theirs souls. Romans 1:7b, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” “From God our Father ”: (1) Preposition apo ( a)poV), “ from .” (2) Genitive ablative (of source) masculine singular form of the noun theos ( qeov$ ), which is theou ( qeou~), “ God .” (3) Genitive (of possession) 1st person plural form of the personal pronoun hemeis ( h(mei~$ ), which is hemon ( h(mw~n ), “ our .” (4) Genitive (of simple apposition) masculine singular form of the noun pater ( pathVr ), which is patros ( patroV$ ), “ Father .” The preposition apo , “ from ” with the ablative of source theou , “ God ” indicates that grace and peace “originates from” God the Father. The preposition apo , “from ” with the ablative of source kuriou , “ Lord ” indicates that grace and peace “originates” not only “from” God the Father but also “from” the Lord Jesus Christ. God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ are the source of grace and peace, which extend from both of them to every church age believer without exception. Grace and peace originated from not only God the Father but the Lord Jesus Christ as well since all blessings flow to the believer because of the merits of Jesus Christ and His Finished Work on the Cross as well as the believer’s eternal union with Christ. The preposition apo in its basic meaning means, “separation from,” and in Romans 1:7 it denotes the fact that grace and peace “originates” and “extends from” God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ to all of the Roman believers. God the Father and the Lord Jesus are the “source” of grace and peace, which “extend from” God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ to every church age believer. In Romans 1:7, the personal pronoun hemeis indicates possession expressing the “eternal relationship” that every church age believer “possesses” with God the Father. The noun patros , “ Father ” functions as a genitive of simple apposition specifying the member of the Trinity from which grace and peace originate.

2007 William E. Wenstrom, Jr. Bible Ministries 53 “Jesus ” is the proper noun Iesou ( )Ihsou ), which refers to the perfect human nature of our Lord. “Christ ” is proper name Christos ( xristov$ ), which is a technical word designating the humanity of our Lord as the promised Savior for all mankind and signifies that He is unique as the incarnate Son of God and totally and completely guided and empowered by the Spirit as the Servant of the Father. “Lord ” is the noun kurios ( kuvrio$ ), which indicates the following: (1) Jesus of Nazareth’s equality with the Father and the Spirit. (2) His joint-rulership with the Father over the entire cosmos. (3) His highest ranking position as Chief Administrator in the divine government. (4) His absolute sovereign authority as Ruler over all creation and every creature. (5) His strategic victory over Satan and the kingdom of darkness in the angelic conflict. The omission of God the Holy Spirit is not a result of inferiority since He is Lord and God also and is co-equal, co-infinite and co-eternal with the other members of the Trinity. God the Holy Spirit is to glorify the Son in this dispensation (John 16:12-15), thus He is not mentioned in Romans 1:7, however, He will be glorified in the Millennium (Joel 2:28-29).

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