The Four Cornerstones of Romans (Part 3: Positional Grace)

Start this post series from the beginning, here.

The Four Cornerstones of Romans (Part 3: Positional Grace)

Before we get into ‘grace’, it is worth reminding you that righteousness and grace illuminate each other. So, to really appreciate what we will learn regarding God’s grace, it is important to keep in mind that God is absolutely righteous, and that men are guilty sinners, far off the mark of earning or achieving a righteousness that meets His standards. Our only hope of salvation is by the grace of God because His righteousness demanded a price that was beyond our means to pay.

God’s grace exists because of a sacrifice that was nailed to a cross to appease His righteousness. It is this one act that allowed God to preserve His justness, but also enable Him to justify the ungodly. The cross is arguably the greatest paradox as it showcases God’s grace for us but reveals the wrath of God for the sins that were placed upon Christ. God shows His love towards us, which contradicts with the hatred for our rebellion, displayed in the cross. The cross contrasts God’s forgiveness to us by punishing His Son. Through the cross, we have life because Christ died, and by the cross we are saved, because Christ was sacrificed to purchase that grace.

The Four Cornerstones of Romans (Part 2: An Overview of Grace)

Start this post series from the beginning, here.

The Four Cornerstones of Romans (Part 2: An Overview of Grace)

The letter to the Romans is the foundation of the Christian faith. The letter contains four key cornerstones that stabilize and secure the faith of a believer. When all four of these cornerstones are set in place, the believer will be grounded in the faith and able to grow up in Christ, know God’s will and do it, walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, and be fruitful in every good work.

The first cornerstone, in Romans chapters 1-3, instructs of God’s righteousness. Paul outlines the reality of man’s utter depravity and guilt before God, and the fact that we are all hopelessly lost and doomed to hell. Understanding the righteousness of God and the fact that men cannot earn or achieve justification, sets us up to fully appreciate the second cornerstone, God’s grace, which Paul writes about in Romans 5-8.

In this post I will outline how Paul develops a three-levelled understanding of God’s grace, and how it is of critical importance to understand grace in its totality, so that you do not skew the true meaning and power of this free gift and it’s liberating truth. I will expound on each level of grace in posts to come.

So, what are the three levels of grace that we learn about in Romans chapters 5-8?

God’s LOVE and HATE in one incredible act

 God’s LOVE and HATE in one incredible act

Rom 3:26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be JUST, and the JUSTIFIER of him which believeth in Jesus. 27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.

The bolded statement of Paul above, found in his letter to the Romans, is a paradox. It reveals that God is absolutely just. God is the personification of righteousness and rightness. However, in the same statement Paul tells us that God justifies persons who believe in Jesus. Now, just that you are fully clear on this paradox, look what Paul tells us in Romans 4:5,

Rom 4:5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. 

Do you see the paradox? How can God, who is just, and does what is right, justify the ungodly? Surely this would contravene God’s justness? Well, the key to unravelling this paradox is to understand that this applies to, “him which believeth in Jesus”.

The Four Cornerstones of Romans (Part 1: God's Righteousness)

The Four Cornerstones of Romans (Part 1: God's Righteousness)

Introduction

The epistle of Romans is the foundational epistle of the Christian faith. An analysis of its contents reveals that the letter can be divided into four parts, each part representing a cornerstone of the Christian faith. Missing any one of these four cornerstones, the faith foundation of a Christian can become compromised and shaky. It is vitally important to have a good understanding of each of these four cornerstones to ensure that the foundation of your faith is stable and secure.

Cornerstone 1: God’s Righteousness (Rom.1-3)

We learn from scripture that God is absolute in EVERY way. He is absolutely righteous, absolutely holy, and absolutely just.

Deut 32:4  He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

The miracle that hardly anybody speaks about

The miracle that hardly anybody speaks about

Justification is a miracle in itself! It is the declaration of your complete innocence and righteousness by God, through the imputed righteousness of Christ, when you believe in God's Son, Jesus Christ, for your salvation (Rom.3:21-28; Rom.5:1-2). This is not the miracle I refer to in this post, but it is certainly connected to what I'm about to share.

The seemingly unspoken miracle that happens after one comes to the knowledge of what Biblical justification really means, is the tangible experience of liberty from a heavy bondage of sin, followed by a slow, but increasing experience of victory over its hold on you, like, the bad habits you were held captive to, the mental prison you endured, the bad language you spoke, anger, lusts, pride, and uncontrollable actions that plagued your life.

I write this, having personal experience of this miracle, and I have heard testimony of others that have had the same experiences in their lives too. Why is it so unspoken? Why don't people perceive it as a miracle? Well, it happens over time. It is not an instant change. In addition, through this whole process, one's mind and attention should be fixated on Christ and His Word, so it is only once you look back on your life that you recognize how it has been liberated, and how it has changed.

How does this miracle work?

This is NOT a sales pitch. The following is a summation formed from verses extracted from the Bible that will help you to understand the gift of justification and how it can change your life. If you are struggling with sin, if you are in bondage to its firm grasp, if you have tried everything without success, you're at the end of your rope, and constantly under condemnation, then the following can help you to break sins hold and find peace with God.

Beware of those who mind earthly things

Beware of those who mind earthly things

Israel walked under the physical letter of the law. Their faith was connected to signs and miracles which showcased the power of God in this earthly environment. Their inheritance is the earth, the physical realm, the tangible things.

Today, however, in this dispensation of grace, we are called to walk according to a different realm. We walk according to the newness of the spirit (grace), not the oldness of the letter, (law). (Rom.7.6). Our dispensation is not connected to the natural world. Our faith is not connected to signs and miracles, or to anything tangible. Paul writes that our walk is from faith to faith (Rom.1:17), from our initial faith in the gospel to our continued faith in the knowledge of the Word, applied to our daily walk. Our inheritance is the heavens, the spiritual realm, the things that are not of this world.

Now, why do I mention all this?