Sharpen Your Bible Study Skills

Part 4 of a 5 Part Series

It's been said that knowledge for the sake of knowledge is of little value.  However, one gains wisdom when knowledge is applied. The same thing holds true about sound Biblical interpretation principles.  They’re nice to know but are of no real benefit unless they can be rightfully applied.  Today we’re going to test our application skills as we exegete (explain by critical analysis) two Scriptures perplexing to our fellowship.

1) Romans 7:12 (NIV), "So then, the law is holy and the commandment is holy, righteous and good."  When confronted with a verse that needs to be more fully explained, it always pays to ask some probing questions.  In short, we need to become like another Sherlock Holmes.  Here are some viable questions we need to ask ourselves.

1)      From our understanding of Scripture, is Paul’s statement true?  Yes/no?  Briefly explain.

2)      Would there ever be a time or situation where his statement could be false?  Yes/No? Briefly explain.

3)      What would you say if a Christian told you that this Scripture, which contains an eternal, indisputable truth of God, means that women should worship separately from the men like God commanded them?  Would you agree or disagree?  Why?

4)      What would you say if a Christian told you that this scripture means that all men need to be circumcised before they can become saved?  Would you agree or disagree?  Why?

5)      What would you say if another Christian told you this Scripture indicates the Law of Moses, especially the Ten Commandments, is still valid and is the authority which governs Christian conduct, including keeping the 7^th day Sabbath?  Would you agree or disagree?  Why?

6)      How can we know why Paul made such a statement?  In other words, what Bible study principle should we use to help us come to understand why Paul wrote what he did?  (Hint: Principle #6 -- Scripture should never be interpreted in isolation from its context).

So let’s examine the first 11 verses and see if we can understand what point Paul is trying to make here in verse 12.   Almost every Biblical commentary divides Romans 7 into three sections; verses 1-6 discusses the concept that death cancels all contracts; verses 7-13 examines the relationship between sin and the law; and verses 14-25 deals with Paul’s struggle with the power of sin in his life and how he needs to respond to it.  The first two sections are linked together subject wise; however, the last section deals with another thought – part of the discussion about sanctification.

Verses 1-3 discusses the general principle that death frees a husband or a wife from the dominion of the marriage vow when either one dies. 

“Do you not know, brothers – for I am speaking to men who know the law – that the law has authority over a man as long as he lives?  For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage.  So then, if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress.  But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress, even though she marries another man”  (NIV).

Then in verse 4, Paul draws the analogy that both Christ and the law are two different types of husbands and that we, as believers, are the wife.   In this analogy, Paul states that the believer cannot be married to Christ and enjoy the blessings of grace until the relationship with the law has been severed through death.

“So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that you might bear fruit to God” (NIV).  “So this is the point: The law no longer holds you in its power, because you died to its power when you died with Christ on the Cross.  And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead.  As a result, you can produce good fruit, that is, good deeds for God” (NLT).

What does Paul actually mean by all of this?  He makes it very clear in verse 6.  “But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code” (NIV).  “But now we have been released from the law, for we died with Christ, and we are no longer captive to its power.  Now we can really serve God, not in the old way by obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way, by the Spirit” (NLT).  The verb “released” is translated from the Greek word katargeo which means to “to render inactive, to put out of use, to cancel, bring to nothing, or to do away with.”  The verb “serve” is translated from the Greek word douleuo, which means “to be a slave to, be subject to obey.” 

What Paul is saying here is very critical.  Christ terminated the law at Golgotha , for he met its demand of death for us as sinners when he died on the cross.  We, as believers, who died with him, are also dead to the law, the written code.  Until Christ came, we were married to the law.  It was a union that could only produce death because while it condemned us for breaking the law, it couldn’t deliver us from the penalty of death.  But now through Christ’s perfect sacrifice, we no longer serve the law (i.e. are under its requirements), but rather we now serve Jesus Christ and his laws or commands through the power and strength of the Holy Spirit. 

In verses 7-13, Paul presents a drama where the law and sin become personified.  In essence, he poses the question: who is to blame for the death penalty of humanity?  Is it the law; or is it sin; or are they both equally to blame?  In verse 7, Paul says I wouldn’t have known what sin was except for the law.  He used the example of coveting.  He then says he was alive until the law came on the scene, which made "sin spring to life" (verse 9). 

In verse 10, Paul said it was ironic that the commandment about coveting which intended to bring life actually produced death.  “I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death” (NIV).  So in these verses, Paul is asking the parenthetical question: who is to blame?  He answers his own question by saying that even though it may seem like the law is in collusion with sin to bring death, such is not the case.  The law is exonerated.  Why? Because Paul wrote in verse 12 that the commandment, which comes from God is “holy, righteous and good.” 

And so Paul concludes his thought in verse 13 that sin is the sole guilty party even though it takes both the law and sin to bring about death.  “Did that which was good, then, become death to me?  By no means!  But in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful” (NIV).”  The Weymouth translation renders it this way: “…in order by means of the commandment the unspeakable sinfulness of sin might be plainly shown.”

Perhaps the New Living Translation conveys the nuances of what Paul is writing about.  Romans 7:11-13 (NLT), “Sin took advantage of the law and fooled me; it took the good law and used it to make me guilty of death.  But still the law is holy and right and good.  But how can that be?  Did the law, which is good, cause my doom?  Of course not!  Sin used what was good to bring about my condemnation.  So we can see how terrible sin really is.  It uses God’s good commandment for its own evil purposes.”

Nowhere in chapter 7 does Paul talk about how the law of the OC still governs the conduct of a NC Christian.  In fact, Paul wrote in verse 6 just the exact opposite as we have just seen.  “But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code” (NIV).  

Questions/comments?

2) Account of the “rich young man” (Matt. 19:16 -30).  “Now a man came up to Jesus and asked,  ‘Good teacher, what good thing must I do to gain eternal life?’  Jesus replied, ‘There is only One who is good.  If you want to enter into life, obey the commandments.’” (NIV)

After reading just the 1^st two verses of this account  (which contains a total of 15 verses to complete the spiritual lesson Jesus was teaching us), many drew a doctrinal conclusion that salvation is a mixture of grace and works of the law.  (This concept is really an oxymoron, as we shall see.)

So, what kind of questions do we need to ask in order to understand and properly interpret why Jesus gave this initial answer?

1)      Should one draw a doctrinal conclusion after reading only 2 verses of a 15-verse account?  Why/why not?  What might we do? (Principle #6)

2)      Should we consider understanding the religious practices and beliefs of the Jewish community during that time period because of the type of question that was asked of Jesus?  (Principle #2) Why/why not?  [Note: it’s always a good idea to check several commentaries about the historical background especially when religious leaders or others ask theological questions.]

In order to better understand what’s going on here in this account, we first need to take a look at what the Jews believed at the time of Christ concerning “eternal life” – that is life in the coming new age which would begin with the arrival of the Messiah.  Conventional wisdom of the day stated that there was a ledger in heaven that recorded your good deeds (keeping of the law) and your bad deeds (failure to keep the law).  And no one could ever be certain if his/her good deeds outweighed the bad ones.  So, many Jews believed that there was one special act that would forever tip the scales in their favor.  This one perfect act of goodness almost took on magical qualities. The religious leaders of the day had many differing opinions about what it was.

With this information in mind, let’s look at how this account unfolds.  First Jesus gave the young man the standard answer any teacher of the Law of Moses would give to his question about eternal life – “keep the commandments” to see what he would say.  Pressing Jesus further, the rich young man asked in verse 18, “Which ones?”  Then Jesus listed the commandments against murder, adultery, stealing, giving false testimony (commandments 6, 7, 8, and 9), and also gave the 5th commandment of the Decalogue – “Honor your father and mother.”  Jesus then ended his answer by quoting a command from Lev. 19:18 , “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  (It’s interesting to note that of all the laws Jesus could have quoted, he choose those that deal with human relationships and with human responsibility toward one’s neighbor.)

[At this point we need to discuss one of our major denominational biases we had in the past – that is our subjectivity -- the reading our own “understanding” into the Bible.  We failed to realize what it was like to live under the Law of Moses.  To stay in God’s favor, the Jews were obligated to obey all 613 laws that were given in the Pentateuch not just the 10 written on the two tablets of stone.  They were also required to obey the collection of rabbinical traditions and comments on the Law. 

These oral laws and traditions were eventually written down in a manuscript known as the Mishnah in the 3^rd century AD.  It contained 63 treatises on various subjects of the Law.  Later Jewish scholars wrote commentaries, known as the Talmud, to explain the Mishnah.  The Jerusalem Talmud contains 12 volumes; the Babylonian Talmud contains 60 volumes. It was unfortunate that when we read the word law in the NT, we thought it could only mean the 10 commandments, which was in error.  It usually meant the entire laws contained in the Pentateuch – as Jesus showed by his answer.]

Obviously, the young man felt very confident about his interactions with others, because he said in verse 20, “All these I have kept.”  Then he asks this interesting question, “What do I still lack?”  Now, that's a strange question to ask, isn't it?  He's implying that there’s more to do than just keep all the commandments of Moses.  In light of the conventional wisdom of the day, he was still hoping that Jesus, who was known as a gifted teacher, would be to tell him that one magical good deed that would guarantee him a place in the Messianic kingdom.

And what answer did Jesus give him?  If Jesus wanted to promote the OC law, he would have said, "You don't have to do anything else – the keeping of all the commandments of Moses is the only requirement."  But, he didn't.  Instead, Jesus told him in verse 21 “If you want to be perfect (spiritually mature), go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.  Then come follow me.”

His reaction?  “When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth” (verse 22).  Jesus’ answer exposed the young man’s true spiritual condition.  In reality, he cared more about his wealth than he did about his fellow man or even God.  In essence, Jesus gave him the true answer he was seeking – how to obtain eternal life.  But with the answer came a demand.  A demand to put aside any and all things that stand between him and putting Jesus first in his life.  But, the man couldn’t make the self-sacrifice of giving up his wealth and putting his entire trust in the Son of God. 

But this is not the end of the story – because in verses 23-24, Jesus tells his disciples how difficult it is for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God .  “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God .”  When the disciples heard this (25), “They were greatly astonished and asked, ‘Who then can be saved?’”  Why were the disciples so astonished?  The common Jewish thought at that time was that the rich were only rich because God had blessed them.  And the reason God had blessed them was because of their righteous behavior.  So, it was commonly believed that wealth and righteousness always went hand in hand. 

So, in verse 26, Jesus not only answered the question for his disciples but he also answered the questions that we might have about salvation as well, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”   Yes, salvation is only possible through the saving grace of Jesus Christ, not by our "good" works, or wealth, and certainly not by performing some “magical good deed.”

In verse 29, Jesus further emphasized our need to forsake anything that we value more than him, whether it’s houses, family or land.  And when we do, he will give us blessings in this life and also give us eternal life in the age to come.  “And everyone who has left houses, or brothers or sisters, or father or mother, or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.” 

Questions/comments?

[Next week, as a class project, we’ll exegete (explain by critical analysis) this Scripture and come to an understanding what Jesus meant by his statement: Matt. 5:17, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”]

October 30, 2005
Larry Omasta