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Bible passages deserve our very best efforts to understand them! They deserve this because of their ultimate Author, the Lord God Almighty. How much effort should we put into understanding the Bible merely because of who wrote it? How much effort should we put into understanding the Bible due to the impact that it can have on our eternal destiny? These questions serve to focus our attention on the awesome gravity of Bible study.

As an interpreter, it is our obligation to attempt to listen to the biblical authors with the ears of the audiences to whom they wrote. By this I mean that we should listen to hear the ancient message and then make modern application. Every scripture in every book of the Bible means exactly the same thing it did the day it was written and our duty is to discover that meaning. Somehow we have gotten our mission a bit topsy-turvy when it comes to studying the Bible. Gos must speak first before our words can possibly have any meaning. Only after we have heard His voice by means of His written word do we really have anything of eternal import to say. Hence, comes the admonition to listen to the ancient message and then make the modern application!

Now to the text which has been the focus of our attention for the last three days: “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8.1-2). When Paul penned this passage, it is highly doubtful that he gave any thought to the theological differences that give rise to much discussion today. I don't think Paul considered the controversy about the security of the believer, nor did he have the slightest inclination to allude to the erroneous concept that the Spirit of God effectively coerces us to obey His will.

Rather, Paul's emphasis is clear; it started in chapter one of the book of Romans and marched logically toward the crescendo of Romans 8! There is therefore NO CONDEMNATION to those who are in Christ Jesus! Judaism declared that condemnation was all there was In Jesus; Paul declared there was no condemnation in Him! The contrast of doctrines could not have been greater. Paul declared his thesis at Romans 1.16 by writing, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” The religion that had captivated the heart, mind, and soul of Paul at an earlier time was at the time he penned the book of Romans, a system that paled in comparison to the gospel. In fact, he openly opined the fact that the religion of the Jews was a religion in which there was no justification! That, dear reader, is the backdrop of Romans 8.1-2.

I am convinced that if Paul had bold type, he would have used it when he wrote there is therefore now no condemnation in Christ Jesus! After hundreds of years of sin's blight, the remedy could now be declared. But besides being a remedy for sin in the case of the Jews, it (the gospel of Jesus Christ) was a universal and timeless remedy. Whether Jew, Gentile, pagan, male, female, freeman, bondman or whatever, the result was the same; all could be made free! It was news fit to be shouted from the housetops and heralded in every clime! The thrust of Romans 8.1-2 is just what common sense and the context would indicate, the greatest news ever to be told.

Questions:

1. Why should we give our best efforts to understand the Bible?

2. Does the Bible teach anything today that it did not teach at the time it was written?

3. Why was it such good news that all men could be saved by the gospel?

4. According to Paul, who could not be saved by the gospel of Jesus Christ?

"Inspiration For You" from Randy Mitchell

Watching Your Dollars Fly Away