Douglas Wilson

The State of the Church 2008

Christ Church on December 28, 2008

Introduction
As we consider God’s ongoing kindnesses to us as a congregation, we need to be sure to grasp more than just the “facts.” We need also to have a biblical paradigm for processing those facts—otherwise we will radically misinterpret what is happening to us.

The Text
“But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets” (Acts 24:14).

Summary of the Text
In this place, the apostle Paul is giving a defense of his behavior before the Roman governor Felix. I want to draw our attention to one phrase that Paul uses in passing. He says that he is a follower of the Way, which they call a heresy. A better translation here would be sect.
In the early uses of the term in Scripture, the connotations of the word emphasized the distinctiveness of the group, and its separation from the mainliners. As the early history of the Church unfolded, the word came to include the damnable doctrines that “heretics” would use in order to bring about that kind of separation (2 Pet. 2:1). Certain men want to draw off disciples after themselves (Acts 20: 29-30), and what better way to do this than to emphasize “your distinctives”?

Sects and Churches
Assuming basic orthodoxy, and an absence of false teaching, we can still have a proplem with sectarianism. There is a fundamental difference between the concept of a sect and the concept of a church. The sect has tighter discipline, and is of necessity smaller. In fact, in many cases, the point is to stay small (and pure). The church has a tendency to take people as they come, and work with them there. The church therefore functions more as a people, while a sect functions more like a volunteer organization or a military unit.

Keeping Us Honest
A sect has a natural tendency to veer into various kinds of perfectionism, and the first thing you know, folks are being excommunicated for taking the pastor’s parking spot. A church has a natural tendency to give up on the demands of Christian discipleship that baptism confers, and the first thing you know, they are ordaining homosexuals. Sects struggle with rigorism; churches struggle with laxity. But as you have been reminded many times, God draws straight with crooked lines. God uses “heresies” or “sects” in order to establish who is actually approved by Him (1 Cor. 11:19). One of the ways He does this is by allowing the challenge of a rigorist group with fruitcake theology apparently living at a higher level of moral discipline than is present in an orthodox church. God is not above using a wingnut group as a goad.

Ideas and Children
Sects tend to cluster around rules and ideologies. A church, a people, are defined by generations, by children. In order to police his boundaries properly, sects usually have to limit their membership to those who voluntarily joined them as adults. In a church, people grow up in the church, and cannot remember a time when it was not “their” church. In a sect, everything depends on what you know. In a church, everything depends on who you know. When a sect is not around the bend, what you need to know is the gospel. When a church is not around the bend, who you know is Jesus . . . and the God of your parents. But obviously, temptations to gross sin are present no matter which way you go.

The Halfway Covenant
When the New England Puritans settled here in America, one of their great desires was to establish a pure church, and it has to be said that they began with a strong sectarian bias. They had a very clear set of criteria to determine who was converted (and who could therefore come to the Lord’s Supper). But they also baptized infants, which meant that children growing up in the church felt that they had some stake in it, even if they were not converted. They grew up, got married, and started having kids, without ever being admitted to the Table. But they believed the truth of the Christian faith, and they wanted to have their children baptized. Now, do you baptize the children of folks who are not communicant members because they haven’t been “converted,” but who have never been excommunicated? They are willing to make a statement before the congregation that they believe in the truth of the gospel, will bring their kids up in the faith, and so on. The Halfway Covenant said okay, and reveals as few other things could, the tension between sects and churches.

Without using either term pejoratively here, baptist theology tends to be sectarian, and paedobaptist theology creates all the pressures that a church undergoes. And paedocommunion takes all those pressures, calls, and raises them ten.

Christ Church
We have been practicing infant baptism for about sixteen years now. We have a congregation with many hundreds of members. Stated in bald terms, this means that children I baptized as infants are now old enough to drive drunk, use drugs, get pregnant, get somebody pregnant, refuse to do their schoolwork, run away from home, and so on. They get old enough to meltdown at some point. They are also old enough to be honoring their parents, learning a trade, progressing well in their studies, and so on. This is what the great majority are doing. But in the early years of our congregation, we didn’t have to deal with any of this—this was because we were much more like a sect than a church, and secondly, ninety percent of the children were under three feet tall. When children grow up in a church, as the next generation grows up in a people, it can create very interesting pastoral roblems. Churches have to deal with the problem of generational faithfulness.

As we are dealing with this stage in our congregational sanctification, keep certain principles in mind. The first is that while we do not want to be on a sectarian hair trigger for discipline, we do practice church discipline, and this discipline must include the next generation growing up in our midst. Secondly, be aware of the fact that God is not mocked, and that a man reaps what he sows. This is no less true within his household than it is out in his barley field. Many times it is not possible to address the spiritual needs of a troubled young covenant member without addressing the state of the family. Third, the sowing is often visible to others at the time of sowing, but some just won’t listen. And fourth, be grateful that the church, even with all these troubles, is a profound engine of social and cultural change. When we contend with our enemies in the gate, we want our sons to stand there with us, and not just random volunteers.

We have spent a good bit of time considering the applications of the prophet’s words to his original audience, to the Israelites in the northern kingdom of Israel. Lord willing, we will spend two weeks considering how those words may legitimately be applied to us as Americans. This is not a topical sermon so much as it as a topical application.

A Star Out of Jacob

Christ Church on December 21, 2008

Introduction
One of the most familiar elements of the Christmas story is the star of Bethlehem. But at the same time, it remains one of the most unknown features of the story—because unlike the wise men, we don’t really look straight at it.

The Text
“I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth” (Num. 24:17)

Summary of the Text
As you know, the prophet Balaam was a covetous and sinful man (Jude 11; 2 Pet. 2:15). But at the same time, even though he was not of the nation of Israel, he was a true prophet. The Spirit of the Lord really did come upon him (e.g. Num. 24:2). Balak, king of Moab, had Balaam summoned in order to put a curse on Israel. In spite of everything, the Spirit of the Lord refused to let Balaam prophesy disaster for Israel—it kept coming out as blessing (Micah 6:5). Balak was understandably peeved with Balaam (Num. 24:10), but Balaam calmed him down by giving him some very practical and carnal advice . . . for a fee (Rev. 2:14). The women of Moab enticed the Israelite men into idolatry and fornication, and God dealt with them severely (Num. 25:1-3). Balaam was eventually killed by the Israelites when they invaded the land (Josh. 13:22). Judging from the number of times it is referred to explicitly, both in the Old Testament and the New, this is a very important story. And in the Christmas story, we most likely have an implicit reference to it.

At the end of his exchanges with Balak, Balaam gave the words of our text above, and as a prophecy of blessing for Israel, we should be careful to ask what it means. The first fulfillment of these words came with the reign of King David four hundred years later. He was the one who struck Moab (v. 17), not to mention Edom (v. 18). David was the king who was a type of the great king, the Messiah, the Lord Jesus—so Jesus is the antitype, the final and complete fulfillment of this word. A star shall come out of Jacob and a scepter out of Israel, and He will establish his reign. The scepter would stay with Judah until Shiloh came, and He would be the one who would gather all the people to Himself (Gen. 49:10).

The Wise Men
Balaam was a prophet, but he was not a prophet of Israel. He was from the east, and was of the heathen nations there. The wise men who came to search for Jesus because of the star were also from the east. It is likely that Balaam’s words had been preserved outside of the Hebrew Scriptures—and note how the wise men speak of this (Matt. 2:2). They appear to have much more information than could be gleaned from looking at a star in the sky, even if they were serious astrologers. Balaam had prophesied of a king, one with a scepter. The wise men asked about a king. Balaam had specified that this king would be from Jacob, and the wise men asked about a king of the Jews. Herod, the man they asked about it, was an Edomite, one of the peoples that this prophecy described as being conquered by the coming king. And, most noticeably, Balaam spoke of a star, and the wise men came in response to a star. Incidentally, we don’t know for certain that there were three wise men—that is simply an inference from the three types of gifts they brought (Matt. 2:11).

Led By the Star
One of the reasons we don’t look too closely at what the text says about our star is that it might mess with our modernist cosmology too much. The text says that the star, the same one which they had seen in the east, led them from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, a distance of about eight miles, and that the star then stood still over the house where Mary and Jesus were (Matt. 2:9, 11). Picture a star leading you to Pullman, and then pointing out a particular house.

Either the wise men were being “led by” the star in some astrological sense, meaning that they were doing some serious math on the back of their camels (also unmentioned in the text, by the way), or a star actually came down into our atmosphere and did some very un-starlike things. But why should this be a surprise? A whole host of stars did the same thing for the shepherds (Luke 2:13).

Not What We Were Expecting
Now if we don’t accept the astrological math option, then that means the star came down into our sky, and stood over a particular house—fifty feet up, say. Does faithfulness to Scripture require us to accept absurdities? That a flaming ball of gas, many times larger than our entire earth, came down into Palestine in order to provide first century mapquest services? And that it did so without incinerating the globe? We need to take a lesson here from our medieval fathers in the faith, brought to us via Narnia. “In our world,” said Eustace, “a star is a huge ball of flaming gas.” “Even in your world, my son, that is not what a star is but only what it is made of.” If we can leave our bodies behind when we go to heaven, why cannot a star leave its body behind to come to earth? But any way you take it, the Christian faith flat contradicts the truncated cosmology of moderns. Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.

Remember What the Star Meant
Balaam is talking about what will happen to all the tinpot monarchies when the real kingdom arrives, when the true scepter is established. In the book of Revelation, Jesus identifies Himself with His ancestor and subject, King David. He is the root and offspring of David, and He is the bright and morning star (Rev. 22:16). Balaam was talking about what was going to happen in “the latter days” (v. 14), and he is very clear about the rise and fall of nations before the Messiah would come. First, the Amalekites would perish forever (v. 20). After them, the Kenites would go down (v. 22). They would be followed by invaders from Kittim (the Greeks, under Alexander), which is what verse 24 is talking about. But then the Greeks would fade away (v. 24), which is what happened with Rome in the ascendancy. And thus it was that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed (Luke 2:1).

So Caesar gave the command in order to tax the whole world (v. Luke 2:1). The star gave the command that magi from the east would voluntarily come, bearing gifts (Matt. 2:11). Augustus won his throne through a great deal of killing at the battle of Actium. The Lord Jesus won His throne at the battle of Golgotha, where He conquered and crushed the devil by dying. The star in the east, the one the wise men followed, was a star that declared a coming kingdom, a kingdom that will never end. This is the kingdom of the true king, before whom the most magnificent kings in the history of the world were but flickering types and shadows.

The star of Bethlehem is therefore the regal emblem of a scepter, a scepter of neverending glory.

Romans 5: Vile Affections (1:26-32)

Christ Church on December 14, 2008

Introductions

Recall that we have learned that the wrath of God is revealed in the world, and it is revealed as God “lets go”of a culture, allowing them to run headlong into various suicidal and fruitless practices. In this text, we find a deepening expansion of the point Paul has already made.

The Text

“For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them” (Rom. 1:26-32).

Summary of the Text

The wrath of God, considered in this light, is certainly not limited to homosexual practices. But Paul certainly places that particular perversion at the center of his argument. Notice that men do not embrace vile affections, despite everything that God could do. No, it says that God “gave them up unto” these vile affections (v. 26). The reason we have gay pride parades is that God is doing something to us. As a result, Paul argues, even the women gave up the natural use of man (v. 26). And the men did the same, turning in unseemly desire toward one another (v. 27). Just as they did not want to retain God in their knowledge, so God let them not retain Him in their knowledge (v. 28). As a result, they then filled up with all kinds of spiritual sludge (vv. 29-31). Sins are like grapes; they come in bunches. This happened despite the fact that they knew it to be the judgment of God (v. 32). This means their suppression of the knowledge of God did not really work. They did not want to retain the knowledge of God, but they still knew the judgment of God (v. 32). That judgment is that sin warrants death, as they well know, but they insist on becoming cheerleaders for that way of death (v. 32).

Natural Use

God created mankind, male and female, in His image (Gen. 1:27). This means that attempts to rearrange how everything goes are foundational attempts at trying to make a heretical theology stick. By defacing the image, we assault the reality. By rearranging the components, rebellious mankind is trying to recreate God, trying to make Him into something other than what He is. Homosexual actions are therefore a high profile revolt against the Trinity. All sins do the same, but this shows up the problem is stark relief.

Remember that God does not just reveal Himself in Scripture. He reveals Himself in nature, and the natural use of the female for the male, and the natural use of the male for the female, is an important part of that revelation. Homosexual practice is contrary to the design of God, not just because God says so in Scripture(Lev. 20:13), which He of course does, but also because we discover in the natural world that the parts don’t fit. This is not just physiological, although it is that. If you keep all the nuts in one bag and all the bolts in another, you won’t ever build anything. But “the parts” don’t fit anywhere else either. They don’t fit spiritually, mentally, emotionally, or culturally. Homosexual advocates like to represent this point as a cheap laugh line from “traditionalists,” but Paul shows it to be a cogent point, an unanswerable argument.

Vile Affections

When Paul says that God gave them up to “vile affections,” he does not just mean that they are vile from “our perspective, though others might differ.” Remember that this is at the very center of God’s judgment. When men desired to think as though God were not there, God granted their wish in judgment, and gave them over to a reprobate mind (v. 28). This is how we know that wrath is occurring—God gives them up, God gives them over (vv. 26, 28). Remember that Paul is echoing the judgment themes found in Ps. 106, and here is another one. God granted their request, but He sent leanness to their souls (Ps. 106:15). God judges in wrath by saying yes.

A Grim List Indeed

The sins that follow are not just sins that the culture in question dabbles in. They don’t just happen from time to time. When God’s wrath is being poured out, what happens? The pouring corresponds to a filling. “Being filled with all unrighteousness . . .” (v. 29). This particular cultural jug is filled with all unrigheousness (v. 19), sexual uncleanness (v. 29), wickedness of various kinds (v. 29), covetousness and wanting (v. 29), malice and spite (v. 29), green envy (v. 29), murder of course (v. 29), disputes and tangles (v. 29), lies and more lies (v. 29), a surly malignity (v. 29), whispering campaigns (v. 29), backstabbing (v. 30), God-hating (v. 30). contempt for others (v. 30), overweening arrogance (v. 30), boasting and bragging (v. 30), evil inventors (v. 30), disobedient to parents (v. 30), stupidity and stupor (v. 31), oath-breaking (v. 31), without natural affection (v. 31), hard-hearted (v. 31), and unmerciful (v. 31). And please note the ironic twist, in the modern parlance, to oppose the root that produces all this kind of corrupt fruit is called “hate.” Yeah, right, whatever.

Cheerleaders of Death

Those who know God, suppress the knowledge of God in unrighteousness, but nevertheless retain their awareness of the judgment of God (in which they live), persist in their rebellion. They know that sin is worthy of death, but nevertheless do them, and take pleasure when others follow the way of death along with them. Truly the words that Wisdom speaks in Proverbs are manifestly true in this instance. All who hate wisdom love death (Prov. 8:36).

And this is how we know that America is under judgment. Note again, we do not know in the abstract that America, like all nations, is headed for judgment if . . . We are dealing with a very concrete situation, not an abstract one. Suppose there was a nation awash in consumer goods, a nation that gained the world, but which lost its own soul (Matt. 16:26). Suppose that nation cut off its future by slaughtering over 40 million of her own citizens. Suppose further that this was urged as a noble and constitutional thing to do. Suppose that this nation began to sanctify sodomite marriages, and laughed at every form of righteousness. Suppose that there were millions of Christians in this country who longed for America to deliver herself by returning to her noble, true self, instead of longing for Christ to save her from her corrupted, wicked self.

Romans 4: The Glory of the Obvious (1:18-25)

Christ Church on December 7, 2008

Introduction

God the Father is prominent in the first three chapters of Romans. God the Son figures largely from the middle of three to the end of five. And then the Holy Spirit is central from chapters five through eight. We have the wrath of the Father, the propitiation of the Son, and the liberating deliverance of the Spirit. Remember that all three persons of the Trinity are working in harmony together, and that they are not trying to balance one another by leaning in opposite directions. So as we work through the first part of the book of Romans, let us remember that God reveals Himself in His Word, and not just in His creation.

The Text

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen” (Rom. 1:18-25).

Summary of the Text

In this passage, Paul outlines what the wrath of God is directed against, which is all ungodliness and unrighteousness (v. 18). He also reveals to us the way God’s wrath functions (v. 24). Men in rebellion suppress the truth in unrighteousness, holding it under (v. 18). Paul is explicit that men sin against light. God has shown to man what is manifestly truth about Him. He has shown it to them and in them (v. 19). How did God do this? God’s invisible characteristics are understood by inference from the things that are made (v. 20). Specifically, Paul means God’s eternal power and Godhead, and this means that men are without excuse in their rejection of Him (v. 20). This is because they started from a position of knowing God (v. 21), but then refused to do two things. They refused to acknowledge the Godness of God, refusing to glorify Him as God (v. 21), and they refused to be thankful (v. 21). As a result, their imagination veered into vanity, and their foolish hearts were darkened (v. 21). Of course, this was not their perspective on what was happening (v. 22). As they became increasingly foolish, they puffed themselves up as wise. The glory of the incorruptible God that they refused to glorify was changed (in their imagination only) into images of corruptible creatures, like man, birds, quadrupeds, and creeping things (v. 23). Therefore God let them go, giving them up to uncleanness in the lusts of their hearts and the dishonoring of their bodies (v. 24). This is what happens to those who swap the truth of God for a lie (v. 25), and who worship and serve the creature more than the Creator—the one who is forever blessed (v. 25). Amen.

The Wrath of the Father

We are accustomed to think that the wrath of God comes on men for their sins. We sin in history, and the wrath of God comes at the end of history. This is certainly true (see v. 32), but it is not the entire truth. The Bible not only teaches that sin brings the wrath of God, but that in an important sense, sin is the wrath of God. In this passage, the wrath of God is revealed against sin (v. 18). But how is it revealed (v. 24)? When God “lets go” that is a form of His wrath. When He takes away His restraining hand, the pit of evil that we fall into is a consequence of His anger, and not just an occasional for additional anger later. We see the same principle elsewhere in Scripture. “The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: he that is abhorred of the LORD shall fall therein” (Prov. 22:14).

This adultery is not just something that God will judge; it is a judgment in its own right. Sodom was judged, therefore, before the fire fell, and America is under judgment as we speak. The mercy of God is when we say to God, “Thy will be done.” The wrath of God is when He says to us, “No, no, thy will be done.”

Suppression, Substitution, Subversion

The sin starts with rebellion and ingratitude. That is the first step. God takes our heads in both His hands, and points our head towards the greatness of His glory. We refuse to look because to do so would obligate us. We take the greatness of His glory and thrust it away from us, holding it under, suppressing it. The second stage is to substitute something else in place of God—images of men, or birds, or beasts, or crawling things. The final stage of judgment (remember, this is the wrath of God) is subversion. The glory of God in the image of God (man) is still too clear, and so that image must be dishonored. That dishonor takes the form of homosexual practices. This is not something where we can agree to differ. It is not that we believe such practices are dishonoring, while they believe it is honoring. They know it is dishonoring and degrading also—that is the whole point.

Reality and Image

You cannot dishonor the glory of God in the Godhead, and then sustain honor for the image of God in man. Incidentally, Godhead is not related to the word head, but rather from the Middle English hed to our word hood. So this word refers to the Godness of God, the Godhood of God, the divine nature of God.
This means, among other things, that apart from Christ human rights is an incoherent concept. If you hate the person, you won’t honor their picture. If your whole orientation is a rejection of the goodness of God, then what are you going to do with the reflection of that goodness that is found in the human body? You are going to figure out ways to degrade it, and unnatural sex acts are one of the most obvious ways to accomplish that kind of degradation.

What Everybody Knows

Never undertake to prove what everybody knows already. When you are in discussions with the office atheist, or with the radical secularist in your family at the Christmas reunion, do not accept their invitation to step into a neutral place from which you can prove to them that God exists. For to do so grants legitimacy to the heart of their rebellion—you have acknowledged that he really does not know, and that he would really like to know. He is holding an overinflated beach ball underwater, and has been doing it so long that his arms are quivering, and he invites you to accept the challenge of proving to his satisfaction that beach balls in fact do exist. He is terribly interested, and wants nothing more than to know the truth.

Remember that he professes that what he is doing is wise (v. 22). But God’s evaluation is different (v. 22). They say they want nothing other than respect, mutual affirmation, an elimination of hate crimes, and all the rest of it. God calls it the dishonoring of one another.

Romans 3: The Just Shall Live by Faith (1:8-17)

Christ Church on November 30, 2008

Introduction

The gospel is not faith, but the gospel cannot be understood or appropriated apart from a living and evangelical faith. As the Westminster confession puts it, the faith that justifies is “no dead faith” (11.2). Another name for “not dead” is alive, or living. The gospel is objective and outside of us. But the beating heart of Romans is the centrality of a living faith, the only kind of faith that ever believed God for anything.

The Text

“First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers; Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you. For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established; That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me. Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles. I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith” (Rom. 1:8-17).

Summary of the Text

The church at Rome was not an insignificant body. Their faith was spoken of throughout the entire world (v. 8). Although Paul was not connected to that church formally, he nevertheless lifted them up to God unceasingly (v. 9). This point was important enough for Paul to swear to (v. 9). He served God in his spirit in the gospel of the Son (v. 9). In his prayers, one of his requests was that he be able in the will of God to make to Rome to visit them (v. 10). He had a deep desire to be a blessing to the Romans (v. 11). But, he hastens to add, this edification would by no means be a one way street (v. 12). He wanted them to know that he had attempted to come many times, wanting some fruit there in Rome just as he had been fruitful among other Gentiles (v. 13). Paul saw himself under obligation both to the Greeks (where much of his work had been done) and to the barbarians (in Spain perhaps?). His obligations were to the wise and unwise, to those in the seats of power and those in the hinterlands (v. 14). So as far as Paul’s strength is concerned, he is prepared to spend it in Rome (v. 15). Why? Because he is not ashamed of the gospel (v. 16) he serves (v. 9). This gospel is not shameful, and is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes—to the Jew first, then the Greeks, and then the barbarians (v. 16). For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith (v. 17). Scripture teaches us this—the just shall live by faith (v. 17; Hab. 2:1-5).

Mutual Support

Remember the point of the book of Romans—Paul is looking for the Romans to help him in his mission to Spain. But he does not simply use them in pragmatic way. If they are going to be his partners in this work, he wants to meet them first. He does not want to minister in Spain with their support unless he has first ministered to them. And neither does he want to minister in Spain with their support unless they have been a blessing to him. In short, he is not just after their money. All biblical giving occurs in the context of communion and fellowship. It is no impersonal, bureaucratic affair.

The Just Shall Live By Faith

The phrase that Paul introduces here is taken from the minor prophet Habakkuk (2:4). This is the first quotation from the Old Testament in an epistle saturated with such quotations. And it is not just a phrase taken at random. The entire book of Habakkuk is a chiasm, and this verse that Paul cites is from the center of the chiasm. It is the central point of that book—and the central point in this one.

A Habakkuk complains about how long he must wait for justice (1:2-4)
B Yahweh answers him by describing the arrival of the incredibly powerful Babylonians (1:5-11)

C Habakkuk complains a second time—why do you allow the wicked to destroy nations more righteous than they (1:12-17)?

D Wait patiently. The wicked will be die, and the righteous will live by faith (2:1-5).

C’ Yahweh answers the second complaint; everything will be put right (2:6-20).

B’ Yahweh gives a final answer; His army is far more powerful than the Babylonians (3:1-15).

A’ Habakkuk resolves his first complaint. He will wait for God’s salvation (3:16-19).

The point of Habakkuk is to urge believers to a patient and tenacious faith in the face of incredible adversity. The context makes it clear that this is not raw propositional assent. Connected to this, the word rendered faith here (emunah) means faithfulness or fidelity. This is not “justification by works,” but rather “justification by faith that lives.” The fidelity is not fidelity in works, but rather fidelity to itself, to the true nature of faith.

The Righteousness of GodPaul says here that in the gospel “the righteousness of God” is revealed. What does that mean? I have mentioned the New Perspective on Paul, and one of the things emphasized in that theology is that the righteousness of God refers to His covenant faithfulness in keeping His promises, and not to an imputed righteousness—the righteousness of Christ credited to the one who believes. To take it in this latter sense, as we must, does not mean that we are denying that God is righteous Himself, and is a faithful, covenant keeping God. That is also true. But notice what Paul is claiming here. The just shall live by faith, meaning that the just shall live from faith to faith. This faith is what reveals or manifests the righteousness of God. And if we come at it from the other direction and say that God has kept His promises righteously, we have to ask what those promises are. And the answer to that is that Jesus is Immanuel, God with us. He is the one who became the last Adam so that many might be made righteous (Rom. 5:19).

Not Ashamed

This gospel is potent indeed. When we are ashamed of the gospel, it is either because we have not reflected on how powerful it is, or it is because we have tinkered with it, thinking to improve things, and have only succeeded in creating something to be ashamed of.