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Commentary on the Epistle of Paul to the Romans

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Commentary on the Epistle of Paul to the Romans COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE ROMANS by CORNELIUS R. STAM President, BEREAN BIBLE SOCIETY Editor, BEREAN SEARCHLIGHT Radio Teacher, BIBLE TIME BEREAN BIBLE SOCIETY N112 W17761 Mequon Rd. Germantown, WI 53022 2 Copyright, 1984 BEREAN LITERATURE FOUNDATION 7609 W. Belmont Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60635 PRINTED IN USA Second Printing WORZALLA PUBLISHING CO. STEVENS POINT, WISCONSIN 3 IN GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT Heartfelt thanks are due the many friends who helped in the preparation of this volume. Virginia (Mrs. A. S.) Bengtson transcribed all the basic copy from 69 magnetic tapes containing my radio messages on Romans - a difficult and painstaking task most carefully done. From this manuscript I then proceeded to make additions and corrections so as to provide more complete and refined copy for Pastor Ricky Kurth and Brother Chuck Milkevitch, who typeset the entire book by Linocomp. Pastor Richard Jordan offered many valuable suggestions and he, Pastor Kurth and Brother Milkevitch joined me in numerous proofreadings. Pastor Russell Miller also read much of the copy and offered many excellent suggestions. Ruth Stam, my dear wife, spent many hours listening as I read passage after passage to her aloud. She caught many a "slip in the type" and her criticisms and suggestions were most valuable. The frontispiece is from a watercolor by Bernadette (Mrs. Russell) Miller. We are grateful indeed for this contribution by a truly gifted artist. Preoccupied as I was with the writing of this volume, the members of the Berean Bible Society staff also did much to encourage and help by relieving me of many responsibilities. The heavy load of daily correspondence devolved largely upon Pastor Jordan and his secretary, Rosemary (Mrs. W.) Cummings. Sincere thanks go also to many Searchlight readers who sent books, booklets and personal suggestions to help me in this undertaking. It has been heartwarming indeed to find so many friends concerned about our work on this great epistle. And those from whom I requested technical information responded most graciously and helpfully. Also, we are deeply grateful to those who helped supply the financial needs involved. Most of all, we are profoundly grateful to God for supplying needed mental and physical strength (Eccl. 12:12), along with some degree of insight into the profound truths contained in the Epistle to the Romans. Finally, while we thank God for each person who had any part in the completion of this volume, it must not be assumed from the above acknowledgments that all of those mentioned concur in all the author's conclusions. 4 CONTENTS PAGE Preface 10 Introduction: The Importance of the Romans Epistle - The Author - The Church at Rome - Time of Writing - Basic Outline 12 CHAPTER I – Romans 1:1-17 Paul and the Believers at Rome His Apostleship and Message - Paul’s Apostleship - Paul’s Message - A Prophesied Gospel? - Faithful and Beloved Saints - Beloved of God - Saints by Calling - Grace and Peace - Thanksgiving and Prayer - Paul’s Defense of His Gentile Apostleship - “The Jew First” - Is the Jew First Today? - No Difference - The Righteousness of God - The Paradox of Grace - The Power of Gospel - Something to be Proud Of - From Faith to Faith - Conclusion 18 CHAPTER II – Romans 1:18-32 The Wrath of God and the Guilt of Man God’s Wrath Revealed Against the Suppression of Truth - The Guilt of Man - How the heathen Got That Way - Pagan Idolatry Reveals the Depths of Man’s Philosophical Stupidity - The Gentiles Given Up - An Abandoned Race - The World No Better Today - The Fool! 37 CHAPTER III – Romans 2:1 – 3:20 Jew and Gentile Pronounced Guilty Before God Moralizers No Better - God No Respecter of Persons - Jew and Gentile Both Under the Judgment of God - An Argument From Logic - The Justice of the Judgment to Come - God Will Judge the Secrets of Men - God Will Judge the Secrets of Men According to the Gospel Committed to Paul - The Jew and the Law of Moses - The Jew Condemned By the Law - Circumcision and the Law - “What Advantage, Then, Hath the Jew?” - Advantage Turned Into Disadvantage - Does Sin Glorify God? - All Under Sin - Every Mouth Stopped - All the World Guilty Before God – No Justification By the Works of the Law 51 5 CHAPTER IV – Romans 3:21 – 5:5 But Now! – Righteousness Through Christ The Righteousness of God Without the Law - Justification by Faith Establishes the Law - Two Examples From Jewish History - The Case of Abraham - The Case of David - A Contradiction? - Righteousness Imputed Entirely Apart From Circumcision - “That It Might Be By Grace” - The Father of Us All - The Mother of Us All - Genuine Faith vs. Intellectual Assent - If We Believe - The Direct Results of the Death of Christ For Us and of Justification By Faith - In the Believer’s Personal Experience - Peace With God - Access to God - Rejoicing In Hope of the Glory of God - Rejoicing In Tribulations Also - The Love of God Shed Abroad In Our Hearts 74 CHAPTER V – Romans 5:6-21 Christ’s Death For Us Dispensationally Considered The Answer to Man’s Helplessness, His Sinfulness and His Willfulness - The Personal Aspect - The Historical Perspective - From Adam to Moses - The Reign of Death Through Adam - From Moses to Christ - The Reign of Sin Through the Law - The Present Dispensation - The Reign of Grace Through Christ - The Unpardonable Sin 108 CHAPTER VI – Romans 6:1-23 Shall We Continue to Sin? Crucified, Buried and Raised with Christ - A Pivotal Passage - Crucified with Christ - Buried and Raised with Christ - Bury That Corpse! - Alive From the Dead - Whose Slave Am I? 121 CHAPTER VII – Romans 7:1 – 8:4 Another Husband Correspondent Death - Who Is the Husband? - Double Death - The Law and Sin - Paul’s Struggle With the Old Self - Out of Romans 7 Into Romans 8? - Five Important Laws - The Moral Law of God - The Law of Indwelling Sin - The Law of the Renewed Mind - The Law of Sin and Death - The law of Sons from Romans 7:14-25 - No Condemnation to Those Who Are in Christ Jesus - Romans 8:1 and the Authorized Version 138 6 CHAPTER VIII – Romans 8:5-39 Life in the Spirit The Christian Walk - Sonship - A Position as Grown Sons - Present Suffering and the Glory to Come - The Spirit’s Help - The Called According to His Purpose - Who Can Be Against Us? - Who Shall Separate Us? 162 CHAPTER IX – Romans 9:1-33 The Opening of the Dispensational Section of Romans Paul’s Sorrow Over His Unbelieving Kinsmen - Israel’s Place of Privilege - The Basic Theme of Chapters 9-11 - A Theological Battleground - They Are Not All Israel Which Are Of Israel - Is There Unrighteousness With God? - The Potter and the Clay - The Future Jewish Remnant - God’s Present Work Among the Gentiles 189 CHAPTER X – Romans 10:1-21 Israel’s Failure Under the Law Her Unbelief and Resistance to Grace - Zealously Religious, But Lost – Christ the End of the Law for Righteousness - The Righteousness of the Law vs. the Righteousness of Faith - By Works After All? - Two Twosomes - There Is No Difference - There Is No Difference For All Have Sinned and Come Short of the Glory of God - There Is No Difference For the Same Lord Over all Is Rich Unto All That Call Upon Him - Whosoever Shall Call - The Quotation By Peter - The Quotation By Paul - God’s Patience With Israel 207 CHAPTER XI – Romans 11:1-36 Israel and the Gentiles in the Program of God Israel’s Present Condition - Not Completely Abandoned - An Introductory Word - The Believing Remnant - Unbelieving Israel Judicially Blinded - Israel’s Fall and Recovery - The Diminishing of Them - The Blessing of the Gentiles Today - The Olive Tree, The Root, and The Branches - Be Not Highminded - Prophecy and the Mystery - The Scriptural Motive for Jewish Missionary Work 226 7 CHAPTER XII – Romans 12:1-21 The Opening of the Practical Section of Romans Your Reasonable Service - The One Body and the Functions of Its Members - The Christian’s Responsibility With Regard to Himself and Others 252 CHAPTER XIII – Romans 13:1-14 The Christian and His Government, His Neighbor and His Lord Subjection to the Powers That Be - Should a Christian Go To War? - One Exception - The Christian, His Neighbor and His Lord - The Christian and His Neighbor - Time To Wake Up - Our Night and Day - Let Us Not Sleep - High Time to Awaken - Awake and Arise 267 CHAPTER XIV – Romans 14:1 – 15:7 The Christian and Matters of Conscience Diets and Days - Each One to Give an Account of Himself to God - Walking In Love - Closing Appeal 280 CHAPTER XV – Romans 15:8-33 Paul’s Ministry To the Gentiles and To the Jews Two “Ministers” - The Ministry of Christ To Israel and the Ministry of Paul To the Gentiles - Paul’s Apostolic Objectives - The Poor Saints At Jerusalem 292 CHAPTER XVI – Romans 16:1-27 The Three Postscripts Affectionate Greetings - The Holy Kiss and Divisive Brethren - More Greetings! From the Corinthian Saints - The Final Postscript - The Distinctiveness of Paul’s Message - The Unity of Paul’s Message - Finis 305 Appendix I: A Consideration of Romans 8:1b As Found In the Authorized Version 320 8 Appendix II: A Brief Consideration of Divine Election and Human Responsibility The Lord Jesus Christ - The Bible - Personal Salvation - The Doctrine of Election - Election and Foreknowledge - The Question of Limited Redemption - Human Responsibility – Conclusion 323 9 PREFACE Imperfectly indeed does this volume convey the profound message of the Epistle of Paul to the Romans. Yet we make no apology for publishing it, for we are sure that it contains many precious and enlightening truths not found in the great majority of commentaries, simply because most commentators, great men of God among them, do not, or did not, understand the "mystery" revealed through Paul.
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