Down an Unfamiliar Road

I was suddenly awakened Sunday morning at around 4 am, with a prayer going through my mind as though it were being dictated. As I laid there, it kept repeating itself, and each time it got stronger and stronger. So I jumped out of bed and went to my office and wrote it down so I would not forget it.

It did not relate to anything that I had read or heard in recent days or even months. So I knew it was not coming from my mind, so I believe it was coming down from above.  I’m unsure why, and I don’t know exactly what for, but here is the prayer that the Holy Spirit woke me up with yesterday morning. – Dr. Robert R Seyda

My Earnest Prayer for Sunday

ALMIGHTY GOD AND HEAVENLY FATHER, BLESSED AND HOLY BE YOUR NAME.

MAY EACH OF YOUR SERVANTS WHO STAND BEFORE THEIR CONGREGATIONS THIS SUNDAY BE EXCITED TO PROCLAIM THE MESSAGE THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS BROUGHT TO THEM FROM ABOVE THAT BURNS IN THEM LIKE FIRE SHUT UP IN THEIR BONES.

MAY THEY DO SO WITH PASSION, CONVICTION, AND AUTHORITY.

MAY YOUR WORD GO OUT INTO THE HEARTS OF THOSE WHO LISTEN, AND SET ABLAZE THEIR SOULS AND MINDS WITH HOLY TONGUES OF FIRE.

MAY WHAT YOU GAVE YOUR SERVANT TO SAY STRENGTHEN THEIR RESOLVE TO STAND FAST, NEVER TURN BACK AND NEVER GIVE UP NO MATTER WHAT THE COST.

MAY YOUR WORD BE A LIGHT GUIDING THEIR FOOTSTEPS DURING THE DARKEST OF DAYS.

MAY THEY BE DETERMINED TO WALK YOUR HIGHWAY OF HOLINESS AND NOT COMPROMISE WHAT THEY KNOW TO BE TRUE FOR THE SAKE OF PLEASING OTHERS.

AND MAY THEY SET THEIR EYES UPON JESUS AND TURN THEIR FACES TOWARD HEAVEN BECAUSE OF THEIR UNWAVERING HOPE THAT HE WILL COME AGAIN VERY SOON.

THIS WE ASK, O FATHER, IN THE PRECIOUS NAME OF YOUR SON, OUR LORD AND SAVIOR CHRIST JESUS.

AMEN! AMEN! AND AMEN!

Most people hate making mistakes. To better understand what a mistake means, just separate the word into miss-take. It suggests that you had a choice but picked the one that didn’t work out as you had hoped it would. As we all know, if you take an object and find out that it is damaged, flawed, overripe, or the wrong kind, you put it back.

As we know, there is no such thing as an honest mistake. That would be like saying you made a correct error. So as one well-known motivational speaker said: “Mistakes are a great educator when one is honest enough to admit them and willing to learn from them.”¹ So the next time you think or are accused of making a mistake, just say to yourself or to the accuser, it’s all part of your education. – Dr. Robert R Seyda

IT’S NOT WHAT THE CROSS IS MADE OF BUT WHAT THE CROSS MADE OF US

Since my paternal grandparents came from East Prussia, I was anxious to read this story that I found. It said that early in the nineteenth century, the King of Prussia, Frederick William III, found his nation in great trouble. He had been attempting to bring prosperity to his land, but constant wars had drained the treasury. After prayerful consideration, he wrote an open letter to the women of Prussia asking them voluntarily to bring their silver and gold to be melted down.

He offered a small token of appreciation to anyone who contributed. In exchange for their jewelry, he gave them a simple cross made of iron. It was inscribed, “I gave gold for iron, 1813.” The response was overwhelming. The women of Prussia prized the gift from the king more highly than they had prized their former possessions. Women wore the iron cross with pride. In fact, gold jewelry became unfashionable. The Order of the Iron Cross was established, and members wore no ornaments save a cross of iron for all to see.

Today, we need an order of people who are committed to the King of Kings: people who will sacrifice for God’s kingdom, people who esteem God’s favor more than the admiration of friends and strangers. In the third century, Bishop Cyprian of Carthage said, “Their property held them in chains which shackled their courage and choked their faith and hampered their judgment and throttled their souls. If they had stored up their treasure in heaven, they would not be enslaved as they are to their own property. They are not the masters of their money, but its slaves.”¹

Jesus said: “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”² So if you treasure the cross of Christ, it will be worth more to you than anything this world can offer. Unfortunately, some have traded in their cross for things that make them more comfortable and more accepted by the world. But for others, they still have unconditional love for old rugged cross. – Dr. Robert R Seyda

So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross,
Till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
And exchange it some day for a crown.³

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER FIVE (Lesson VIII)

Verse 7: Rarely will anyone will die to save the life of a righteous person. However, someone might risk their life for a good person.

As evidence that God’s offer of salvation through the death of His Son Jesus the Christ, Paul now sets up his argument that dying for sinners is the ultimate sacrifice. The logic is quite simple. The Amplified Bible renders this verse as follows: “Now it is an extraordinary thing for one to give his life even for an upright man, though perhaps for a noble and lovable and generous benefactor someone might even dare to die.” This echoes the statement of Jesus where He said: “No one has greater love than a person who lays down his life for his friends.”¹

The distinction between what Paul called a “good person” and a “very good person” was also part of Jewish literature. In the Talmud, we find this subject discussed: “Is there then a righteous man who is good and a righteous man who is not good? But he who is good to Heaven² and good to man, he is a righteous man who is good. However, good to Heaven but not good to man, that is a righteous man who is not good.”³

In another Jewish document, we find the following: “There are four types of people: One who says, “What is mine is yours, and what is yours is mine” is bartering. One who says “What is mine is mine, and what is yours is yours” – this is an average character. One who says, “What is mine is yours, and what is yours is yours” is a chassid (pious person). And one who says “What is mine is mine, and what is yours is mine” is greedy.”⁴ And in one commentary on the Psalms, we read: “The godly is he who does good to his neighbor beyond what the Law requires of him.”⁵

Sometimes Jewish teachers tried to find the smallest detail to distinguish between the good, the bad, and the ugly. We read such teachings were even applied to the proper cutting of fingernails and toenails. “Three things were said in reference to toenails: One who buries them is righteous; one who burns them is pious, and one who throws them away is a villain!”⁶ But Paul had no interest in making such a frivolous distinction when there were much higher virtues and ethics to explore. Besides, he was making the case for God’s and Jesus’ willingness to love even the unlovable.

When speaking about dying for the ungodly, early church scholar, Ambrosiaster has this to say: “Christ died for the ungodly. Now if someone will hardly die for a righteous man, how can it be that someone should die for ungodly people? And if someone might dare to die for one good man, how can it be that someone would dare to die for a multitude of the ungodly? For if someone dares to die for a righteous or good man, it is probably because he has been touched with some sort of pity or been impressed by his good works. But in the case of the ungodly, not only is there no reason to die for them, but there is plenty to move us to tears when we look at them!”⁷

John Calvin makes this note: “The importance of the verse is this: ‘Most rare, indeed, is such an example to be found among men, that one dies for a just man, though this may sometimes happen: but let this be granted, yet for an ungodly man none will be found willing to die: this is what Christ has done.’ Thus, it is an illustration, derived from a comparison; for such an example of kindness, as Christ has exhibited towards us, does not exist among men.”⁸

John Bengel gives quite a long exposition of this verse. His attention mostly involves the grammar and how the original Greek is to be understood. He begins with saying that the words righteous and good used here can mean the same or different things in describing a person’s character. He quotes a German theologian who states: “The righteous does all that is required, the good does more than others can ask.” Bengel also notes that the Hebrews call a man righteous who performs his lawful duties, while a good man also performs acts of kindness. He goes on to say: “Every good man is righteous, but not every righteous man is good.” So here in this verse, Bengel says that Paul judges the good man to be more worthy than the righteous man. Bengel concludes with this: “Do you wish to have the most faithful friends? Be a good man.”⁹

Adam Clarke shares his thoughts on those the Jews call the fourth class of human beings who say: “What is mine, is mine; and what is yours, will be mine.” Clarke then says: “There is nothing amiable in his life or conduct that would so endear him to any man, as to induce him to risk his life to save such a person. Supposedly, for a good man, some would even dare to die – this is for one who gives all he has for the good of others. This is the truly benevolent man, whose life is devoted to the public good: for such a person, possibly, some who have had their lives perhaps preserved by his bounty, would even dare to die: but such cases may be considered only possible: they exist, it is true, in romance; and we find a few rare instances of friends exposing themselves to death for their friends.”¹⁰ This makes it even more amazing to know that Christ died for all classes because even the best could not save themselves, let alone those who were living in degradation.

Robert Haldane gives us his understanding of the difference between a righteous person and a good person. To Haldane, this distinction by Paul brings into view a fact that heightens and illustrates the love of God for sinners. In Haldane’s mind, a righteous person is distinguished from a good person because of their character. He says: A righteous person is approved — a good person is loved. In such cases, someone may give up their life for what we call “an upstanding person,” while there may be more who would be willing to die for a “loving, caring person.” Also, by saying “rarely, ” the Apostle leaves open the door that someone might give their life to save a good, law-abiding individual. On the other hand, Paul says it is more likely that a greater number of individuals might take the risk of saving a good person. Says Haldane: “This intimates that to die is a thing to which men are of all things most adverse. It is the greatest test of love.¹¹ ‘Hereby we perceive the love of God, because He laid His life down for us.¹²”¹³

Albert Barnes also talks about a righteous man versus a good man: “A righteous man; a man distinguished simply for integrity of conduct; one who has no remarkable claims for amiableness of character, for benevolence, or for personal friendship. Much as we may admire such a man, and applaud him, yet he has not the characteristics which would appeal to our hearts to induce us to lay down our lives for him. Accordingly, it is not known that any instance has occurred where for such a man one would be willing to die… A good man, that is, not merely a man who is coldly just; but a man whose characteristic is that of kindness, amiableness, tenderness. It is evident that the case of such a man would be much more likely to appeal to our feelings, than that of one who is merely a man of integrity. Such a man is susceptible of tender friendship; and probably the Apostle intended to refer to such a case – a case where we would be willing to expose life for a kind, tender, faithful friend.”¹⁴

Barnes also makes reference to the Greek philosopher Pythagoras and a famous story he told about two Sicilians named Damon and Pythias. We find this story in the work of Roman philosopher Porphyry. The story goes like this: “It is said that [Italian dictator] Dionysius¹⁵ at one time wanted to test the mutual fidelity [of Damon and Pythias] under imprisonment. He contrived this plan. Phintias was arrested, and taken before the tyrant, and charged with plotting against him, convicted, and condemned to death. Phintias, accepting the situation, asked to be given the rest of the day to arrange his own affairs, and those of Damon, his friend and associate, who now would have to assume the management. He therefore asked for a temporary release, leaving [his friend] Damon behind as bond for his appearance. Tyrant Dionysius granted the request, so they sent for Damon, who agreed to remain until Phintias could return.”¹⁶ In Barnes’ mind: “This case stands almost alone. Our Savior says that it is the highest expression of love among people. ‘Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”¹⁷ The friendship of David and Jonathan seems also to have been of this character, that one would have been willing to lay down his life for the other.’”¹⁸

Here is a definition of righteous people and good people that really struck me: “The contrast here, then, is between the legally just and the humanly good, between the irreproachable and the noble, between righteousness or negative goodness and positive goodness. To the first we may pay respect – to the second we are irresistibly drawn, and we cannot help it. The first we may admire, the second we love. Righteousness is a hard face, without a warm soul to soften and light it up. The righteous, like a starry sky on a December night, clear but chill; the good like June weather. There is in righteousness, perhaps, the seed-bed and promise of goodness, but we want more; we want to see the fruit in positive good-doing and warm, human well-being. One of the great things that Jesus did was deepened the concept of goodness and illustrated it in its highest and warmest form. It is one of the main things that His Church must learn to do.”¹⁹

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER FIVE (Lesson VII)

Early church scholar Pelagius, a contemporary of St. Augustine’s, commenting on Paul’s reference to the term “right time,” writes: “Why did Christ die for us when He had no obligation to do so if it was not to manifest His love at a time when we were still weighed down with the burden of sin and vice? It was the right time, either because righteousness had virtually disappeared and we were weak, or because it was the end of time (time had run out).¹ Paul wants to point out that Christ died for the ungodly in order to commend the grace of Christ by considering His benefits and to show how much we, who have been undeservedly loved, ought to love Him, and so that we might see whether anything should be valued more highly than one who is so generous and holy. He neither valued His life above us ungodly people nor withheld the death that was obligatory for us.”²

Reformer John Calvin shares his understanding of this verse: “If Christ,” he says, “had mercy on the ungodly, if He reconciled enemies to His Father, if He has done this by virtue of His death, how much more will He save them when justified, and help those restored to favor keep what they received through His death, especially when the influence of His life is added to the virtue of His death.”³ In other words, if Christ Jesus had power even in death, how much more power does He possess being alive. The same can be said of believers. Since they were given the power to put their old carnal nature from Adam to death, how much more powerful will they be when their spiritual nature is made alive in Christ.

John Bengel writes that when our weakness had reached their height, then Christ died, at the time which God had predetermined, so that He died neither too soon nor too late, He was not held too long under death. Paul limits his expression and is unable here to speak of Christ’s death, without, at the same time, thinking of the wisdom of God, and of the resurrection of Christ. The question, why Christ did not come sooner, is not a frivolous one,⁴ just as the question, why the Law was not given sooner, is not a frivolous one (see verse 14).⁵

Revivalist Adam Clarke has much to say about what Paul is teaching here by following the structure of the verse. He writes: “I. They were without strength; in a weak, dying state: neither able to resist sin nor do any good: utterly devoid of power to extricate themselves from the misery of their situation. II. They were ungodly; without either the worship or knowledge of the true God; they had not God in them; and, consequently, were not partakers of the Divine nature: Satan lived in, ruled, and enslaved their hearts. III. They were sinners, aiming at happiness, but constantly missing the mark. And in missing the mark, they deviated from the right way; walked in the wrong way; trespassed in thus deviating; and, by breaking the commandments of God, not only missed the mark of happiness but exposed themselves to everlasting misery. IV. They were enemies, due to hatred, enmity, persons who hated God and holiness; and acted in continual hostility to both. What a degradation is here!”⁶

Robert Haldane states categorically that this verse introduces proof of God’s love for us. Having spoken of the love of God shed abroad in our hearts, the Apostle here declares the evidence of this love. Haldane writes: “Though the Holy Ghost inspires our love to God, yet in doing so He shows us the grounds on which it rests or the reasons why it should exist. In making us love God, He makes us perceive the grounds on which we ought to love Him. This also shows us another important fact, namely, that the Holy Spirit works in His people according to their constitution or the nature that He has given them; and, in endowing us with proper feelings and affections, He discovers to us the proper objects towards which they ought to be excited. The word of God through the Spirit, both in conversion and growth of grace, acts according to the original constitution that God has been pleased to bestow on the Christians.”⁷

Albert Barnes notes: “This opens a new view of the subject, or it is a new argument to show that our hope will not make ashamed, or will not disappoint us. The first argument he had stated in the previous verse, that the Holy Spirit was given to us. The next, which he now states, is, that God had given the most ample proof that He would save us by giving His Son when we were sinners; and that He who had done so much for us when we were enemies, would not now fail us when we are His friends. He had performed the more difficult part of the work by reconciling us when we were enemies; He will not now forsake us, but will carry forward and complete what He has begun.”⁸

Barnes goes on to point out that this is important because although God never grows weak or weary, we do. On the subject of our being without strength, Barnes says: “The word used here asthenōnis usually applied to those who are sick and feeble, deprived of strength by disease.⁹ But it is also used in a moral sense, to denote inability or feebleness with regard to any undertaking or duty. Here it means that we were without strength ‘in regard to the case which the apostle was considering;’ that is, we had no power to devise a scheme of justification, to make an atonement, or to put away the wrath of God, etc. While all hope of man‘s being saved by any plan of his own was thus taken away; while he was thus lying exposed to divine justice, and dependent on the mere mercy of God; God provided a plan which met the case and secured his salvation. The remark of the Apostle here has reference only to the condition of the race before an atonement is made. It does not pertain to the question whether man has the strength to repent and to believe after an atonement is made, which is a very different inquiry.”¹⁰

Scholar Charles Hodge points this out to those who question what Paul is saying: “We are the object of God’s love, for Christ died for us. The gift of Christ to die on our behalf is everywhere in Scripture represented as the highest possible or conceivable proof of the love of God to sinners.¹¹ The objection that the Church doctrine represents the death of Christ as exciting or procuring the love of an unloving God is without the shadow of foundation. The Scriptures represent the love of God to sinners as independent of the work of Christ, and prior to it. He so loved us as to give His only begotten Son to reconcile our salvation with His justice.”¹² Hodge goes on to say: “If He loved us because we loved Him, He would love us only so long as we love Him, and on that condition; and then our salvation would depend on the constancy of our treacherous hearts. But as God loved us as sinners, as Christ died for us as ungodly, our salvation depends, as the Apostle argues, not on our loveliness, but on the constancy of the love of God.”¹³

In his sermon on this text, Charles Spurgeon says: “There was nothing good. We were ungodly, and we had no strength to mend ourselves or to be other than ungodly. The strength for reformation had all gone. The strength for regeneration we never had. We were without strength, and then Christ died for us – died for the ungodly. He did not regard us as saints, but as actually ungodly, when He died for our redemption. It was not man’s righteousness that brought Christ from heaven, but man’s sin, and the infinite compassion of God.”¹⁴

Then Frederic Godet offers this: “The incapacity of mankind for good, their moral sickness, arose from their separation from God, from their voluntary revolt against Him. This is what the Apostle brings out in the words: for ungodly ones, which indicate the positive side of human perversity. Their malady inspires disgust; their ungodliness attracts wrath. And it was when we were yet plunged into this repulsive state of impotence and ungodliness that the greatest proof of love was given us, in that Christ died for us.”¹⁵ To this, Charles Ellicott adds that the Greek lends itself to a more amplified rendition: “While we were yet in weakness [powerless to help ourselves], at the fitting time Christ died for (in behalf of, for the benefit of) the godless.” What a powerful gospel Paul had to preach to any self-righteous members of the church in Rome.

Baptist preacher Octavius Winslow makes this statement: “The Word of God, the only rule of faith and duty, distinctly and invariably represents the death of Jesus as a sacrifice, and the special and gracious design of that sacrifice, an Atonement for sin. If this is denied, how are we to interpret the following remarkable passages? ‘He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes, we are healed.’¹⁶ ‘The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.’¹⁷ Verse 6. ‘This is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.’¹⁸ ‘When we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.‘¹⁹”²⁰ Jewish New Testament scholar David Stern follows the same line as Winslow, and makes this point: “At the right time²¹ the Messiah died on behalf of ungodly people when they had no one else who could save them from the wrath to come.”²²

Methodist preacher Joseph Benson shares his thoughts on this subject: “How can we now doubt God’s love, since when we were without strength – Either to think, will, or do anything good; were utterly incapable of making any atonement for our transgressions, or of delivering ourselves from the depth of guilt and misery into which we were plunged; in due time – Neither too soon nor too late, but at that very point of time which the wisdom of God knew to be more proper than any other; Christ died for the ungodly – For the sake, and instead of, such as were enemies to God,²³ and could not merit any favor from Him: that is, for Jews and Gentiles, when they were all under sin. Christ not only died to set an example, or to procure the power for us to follow it, but to atone for our sins.”²⁴

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER FIVE (Lesson VI)

Scottish Bible scholar Robert Haldane shares his insights on why hope should never be the cause of ridicule: “This may mean either that hope will not be disappointed, or that hope will not allow us to be ashamed of its object. Various passages speak of the believer as not being put to shame on the day of final judgment. The expression here is generally interpreted to signify that hope will not be disappointed, but will receive the object of its anticipation. This is an important truth; yet the Apostle may rather be understood as speaking of the usual effect of hope as exemplified in the life of a Christian; and that it is not the future effect of hope in believers, but its present effect, as it is the present effect. Besides, the primary signification of the word in the original is, not to disappoint, but to shame, put to shame, or make ashamed. Paul here evidently speaks of hope as a general principle, which, in every instance, and on all subjects, has this effect ascribed to it. It is its nature, with regard to everything which is its object, to destroy shame, and excite to an open affirmation, and even glorying in it, though it may be a thing of which others may be ashamed, and which is ridiculed by the world.”¹

But then Haldane goes on to say this about love being imputed to our hearts: “It is the Holy Ghost who pours out into the heart of the believer a sense of the love of God for him, fully convincing him of it, and witnessing this love to his spirit.² Here we see that everything in us that is good is the effect of the Spirit of God. Man possesses by nature no holy disposition. The lowest degree of true humility, and godly sorrow for sin, and a sense of the love of God, and consequently our love to God, are not to be found in any of the children of Adam till they are enlightened by the Spirit through the knowledge of the Gospel, nor can they be maintained for one moment in the soul without His sacred influence. Though sinners should hear ten thousand times of the love of God in the gift of His Son, they are never properly affected by it, till the Holy Spirit enters into their hearts, and until love to Him is produced by the truth through the Spirit. Here also we may see the distinct work of the Holy Spirit in the economy of redemption. Each of the persons of the Godhead sustains a peculiar office in the salvation of sinners, and it is the office of the Spirit to convert and sanctify those for whom Christ died.”³

Albert Barnes offers his thoughts on why hope will never make someone feel ashamed: “This hope [we have in God through Christ] will not disappoint, or deceive. When we hope for an object which we do not obtain, we are conscious of disappointment; perhaps sometimes of a feeling of shame. But the Apostle says that the Christian hope is such that it will be fulfilled; it will not disappoint; what we hope for we shall certainly obtain.⁴ The expression used here is probably taken from Psalm 22:4-5; ‘Our fathers trusted in You, and You saved them. They cried to You and were set free. They trusted in You and were not shamed.’”⁵

Jewish scholar David Stern comments on the hope that comes with faith in God’s plan of salvation: “This hope does not let us down, literally, ‘… make us ashamed,’⁶ as we would be if we had a false hope; because God’s love for us (v. 8) has already been poured out in our hearts through the Ruach HaKodesh (the Holy Spirit), who is fully God,⁷ and has been given to us in fulfillment of a different promise,⁸ and thus guarantees that God will also keep this present promise to resurrect us. For additional assurance that God will keep his promises and not let our hope be disappointed.⁹”¹⁰

One thing that many Christians seem to overlook is the fact that when God’s love was diffused into our hearts and minds, it was not solely meant to be used to love Him, but that it was made available for us to love each other. So often we depend on human love to keep fellowship and harmony between us and other believers. That’s why it fails so often. God’s unconditional love was given to us to use as a source of power not only to hold on to Him but to hold fast to each other. Charles Spurgeon explains it this way: “If you have the Holy Ghost given to you, then the love of God fills your nature like a sweet perfume. As when the woman broke the alabaster box, and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment, so, when the Spirit of God comes and brings the broken alabaster of the Savior’s sacrifice, and we feel the love of God poured out among us, what a delightful perfume that is!”¹¹

In one of his sermons, Octavius Winslow was speaking about the work of the Holy Spirit making the soul come alive before conversion so that it could accept the call of God. In consideration of the real nature of the spiritual change, Winslow says it involves passing from death to life,¹² becoming a new creature,¹³ with a divine nature,¹⁴ through the new birth,¹⁵ that turns us from darkness to light,¹⁶ and changes enmity to love.”¹⁷ This is only possible, says Winslow, because the love of God is imputed to our hearts¹⁸.¹⁹

Verse 6: Christ died for us when we were unable to save ourselves. We were sinning against God, but at exactly the right time Christ died for us.

The question here is: Why did Jesus have to die in order to save us? I remember reading about a 24-year-old US Marine named Kyle Carpenter who while serving in Afghanistan in 2010 pounced on a grenade that landed on the rooftop where he and his comrades were positioned in order to save them from being killed. He lost his right eye, suffered a shattered jaw and broke his arm. As a result, he received the Medal of Honor. In the same way, Jesus went to the cross to suffer and die in order to shield sinners from the coming punishment for sin. By willingly giving His life, He made it possible for all those who believe in Him to escape the sentence of death they were living under while at war with God. Sinners can not save themselves. Jesus is the only Savior. In a way, God the Father gave Him heaven’s Medal of Honor by raising Him from death to live forever in heaven by His side. Therefore, all who accept His death for their salvation, receive all the benefits of Christ’s resurrection, they too will go and live with Him and the Father forever. What a champion we have in Jesus.

Such lovingkindness on God’s part and His love for Jerusalem had already been expressed back in Ezekiel’s day. Here is the touching story: “Jerusalem, on the day you were born, there was no one to cut your umbilical cord. No one put salt on you and washed you to make you clean. No one wrapped you in a blanket. No one felt sorry for you or took care of you. On the day you were born, your parents threw you out into the field because no one wanted you. Then I passed by. I saw you lying there, kicking in the blood. You were covered with blood, but I said, ‘Please live!’ Yes, you were covered with blood, but I said, ‘Please live!’ I helped you grow like a plant in the field. You grew and grew.”²⁰

In a similar fashion, that’s how God saw us as we lay wallowing in sin’s quagmire, unable to free ourselves. He wanted us to live. So He sent His Son to rescue us by paying the ransom price demanded by the law. This was Paul’s message to the believers in Ephesus: “In the past, you were spiritually dead because of your sins and the things you did against God. Yes, in the past your lives were full of those sins. You lived the way the world lives, following the ruler of the evil powers that are above the earth… But God is rich in mercy, and He loved us very much. We were spiritually dead because of all we had done against Him. But He gave us new life together with Christ… Yes, it is because we are a part of Christ Jesus that God raised us from death and seated us together with Him in the heavenly places. God did this so that His kindness to us who belong to Christ Jesus would clearly show for all time to come the amazing richness of His grace.”²¹

This was not an accident, it was a divine plan already designed before the world was created. God is a God of action, not reaction. Paul made this clear to the believers in Galatia: “When the right time came, God sent His Son, who was born from a woman and lived under the law. God did this so that He could buy the freedom of those who were under the law. God’s purpose was to make us His children.”²² And to show that Christ’s sacrifice, death, and resurrection was a well-thought out plan, the writer of Hebrews explains: “If Christ had to offer Himself many times, He would have needed to suffer many times since the time the world was made. But He came to offer Himself only once. And that once is enough for all time.”²³

It was also God’s choice, not something He was forced into just to protect His work of creation. Paul told the Thessalonians: “God chooses not to make us suffer His anger. God chose to have us experience salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus died for us so that we can live together with Him.”²⁴ But in order for Him to carry this out, He had His Son die for us while we were still living in sin. That’s what makes God’s plan of salvation so irreplaceable and unmatchable by anything mankind can devise or imagine.

Jewish scholars had long ago tried to demonstrate a similar replacement of the first sinner Adam with the first priest Aaron. We read in their writings: “The appointment of Aaron was a long delayed part of the rehabilitation of the first human being, Adam and his son Kayin (Cain), who had sinned and been expelled from the Garden of Eden on that account. Their sin would have been reason enough for the whole universe that G-d had created to be destroyed, something that would have happened had G-d in His mercy not foreseen that Aaron and his sons during seven consecutive days reminiscent of the seven days of creation would endeavor to complete the rehabilitation process begun after Adam had repented his colossal error.”²⁵ But when writing to the leaders of the church in Rome, Paul put that idea to rest by showing that what Christ did to redeem God’s creation was above and beyond anything Aaron and his sons were able to do. Furthermore, the writer of Hebrews tells us that Christ also became our high priest in the heavenly tabernacle,²⁶ a place Aaron was never allowed to enter to minister.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER FIVE (Lesson V)

French theologian Frederic Godet makes this claim concerning the power of Christian hope: “When, finally, the believer has experienced the divine force with which faith fills him in the midst of suffering, he feels his hope rise. Nothing which can happen him in the future any longer frightens him. The prospect of glory opens up to him nearer and more brilliant. How many Christians have declared that they never knew the gladness of faith, or lively hope, till they gained it by means of tribulation! With this word ‘hope’ the Apostle has returned to the end of verse 2; and as there are deceitful hopes, he adds that the one of which he speaks (the hope of glory, verse 2) runs no risk of being proven wrong by circumstances.”¹

And Charles Ellicott writes that experience is the quality of being tried and proven. He says: “The result of patient endurance is to test, confirm, and refine the better elements of faith. Out of this, in its turn, grows hope. Hope began and ends the circle. It is the knowledge of what is in store for him that, in the first instance, urges the Christian to endure; and that endurance gives him the steady, calm assurance no longer of the novice but of the veteran.”²

Verse 5: And this hope will never let us down. We know this because God has poured out His love to fill our hearts through the Holy Spirit He gave us.

So hope, then, cannot disappoint because it is based on faith and trust in God. And as long as God is alive, hope will be alive. This certainly was Paul’s assurance to the Philippians: “I am full of hope and feel sure I will not have any reason to be ashamed. I am certain I will continue to have the same boldness to speak freely that I always have. I will let God use my life to bring more honor to Christ.”³

Therefore, it is quite understandable that Paul was able to say to the Thessalonians: “We pray that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father will comfort you and strengthen you in every good thing you do and say. God loved us and gave us through His grace a wonderful hope and comfort that has no end.”⁴

Paul was so sure of his faith, trust, and hope in God, that he told young Timothy: “I know the One I have put my trust in. And I am sure that He is able to protect what I have put into His care until that Day.⁵”⁶ And Paul was able to say that because, as he says here to the Romans, God put that assurance in his heart and mind by filling him with His Holy Spirit. In his commentary on this verse, early English Methodist preacher Joseph Benson says: “As a Spirit of wisdom and revelation, the Holy Spirit enables us to discern God’s love for us; and as a Spirit of holiness and comfort, He enables us to delight ourselves daily in Him, though for the present He appoints us trials which may seem rigorous and severe.”⁷

In writing to the Corinthians, Paul points this out by telling them that God is the one who makes you strong in Christ. God is also the One who chose us for His work. He put His mark on us to show that we are His. Yes, He filled us with His Spirit.⁸ And because of His Spirit residing in us, we are given the privilege of calling Him Father by a special and endearing term. Paul uses the Aramaic word, “Abba,” which in today’s English would be the same as “Daddy.”⁹ But we were endowed with the Holy Spirit for more than that. As good and obedient children we are to do the will of our Heavenly Father, and Paul says that such actions are the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit working in us.¹⁰

Having the Holy Spirit as a positive force within them was so important to the Apostle Paul, that he wrote to the Ephesians: “I ask the Father with His great glory to give you the power to be strong in your spirits. He will give you that strength through His Spirit. I pray that Christ will live in your hearts because of your faith. I pray that your life will be strong in love and be built on love.”¹¹ And that is why he later warned them not to cause the Holy Spirit to grieve by being uncooperative and disobedience to the Spirit’s will.¹²

So, for the Apostle Paul, it was never a case of asking, “Where is God when I need Him?” but to know with certainty that He is always with us, during good times and bad. That’s why, when troubles do come we should not feel ashamed, or think that He wasn’t watching. Certainly, Paul was aware of what David said in his song: “Our ancestors trusted You. Yes, they trusted You, and You saved them. They called to You for help and escaped their enemies. They trusted You and were not disappointed!”¹³

Here is the message God sent to His people through the prophet Jeremiah: “Those who trust in the Lord will be blessed. They know that the Lord will do what He says. They will be strong like trees planted near a stream that send out roots to the water. They have nothing to fear when the days get hot. Their leaves are always green. They never worry, even in a year that has no rain. They always produce fruit.”¹⁴ This fruit for the Christian believer, is the fruit of the Spirit that Paul talked about in his letter to the Galatians.¹⁵

Early church scholar Pelagius makes this point: “The hope of things to come casts out all confusion. This is why the man who is dismayed by Christ’s warnings lacks hope. The greatness of God’s benefits arouses in us greatness of love, which does not know fear or dismay because it is complete.¹⁶ We also learn how God loves us, because He has not only forgiven us our sins through the death of His Son but also given us the Holy Spirit, who already shows us the glory of things to come.”¹⁷

Then, medieval church scholar Bede had this to say: “The Law was indeed given through Moses, and there it was determined by a heavenly rule what was to be done and what was to be avoided, but what it commanded was completed only by the grace of Christ. On the one hand, that law was able to point out sin, teaching justice, and showing transgressors what they are charged with. On the other hand, the grace of Christ, poured out in the hearts of the faithful through the spirit of charity, brings it about that what the law commanded may be fulfilled.”¹⁸

On this subject, John Calvin writes: “It therefore appears, that the Lord tries us by adversities for this end, — that our salvation may thereby be gradually advanced. Those evils then cannot render us miserable, which do in a manner promote our happiness. And thus is proved what he had said, that the godly have reasons for glorying in the midst of their afflictions.”¹⁹ He goes on to say: “Seeing all things must serve the will of the Creator, who, according to His paternal favor towards us, overrules all the trials of the cross for our salvation, this knowledge of divine love towards us is instilled into our hearts by the Spirit of God; for the good things which God has prepared for His servants are hid from the ears and the eyes and the minds of men, and the Spirit alone is He who can reveal them.”²⁰

John Bengel states that hope affords us the greatest reason to have blessed assurance, and will not deceive us; hope will become fact. That’s because God’s love for us is the ground of our hope; for it is an everlasting love. That’s why even when afflictions seem to overwhelm us, we do not cease to perceive God’s love towards us; which is a much richer consolation than prosperity would be. The reason for this perception in our hearts is because it indicates that the Holy Spirit Himself is in the believer’s heart. Therefore, the reason He is there in the present, is to provide the security of our future.²¹

Adam Clarke makes this point: “A hope that is not rationally founded will have its expectation cut off; and then shame and confusion will be the portion of its possessor. But our hope is of a different kind; it is founded on the goodness and truth of God; and our religious experience shows us that we have not misapplied it; nor exercised it on wrong or improper objects.”²² He goes on to explain: “This love is the spring of all our actions; it is the motive of our obedience; the principle through which we love God, we love Him because He first loved us; and we love Him with a love worthy of Himself, because it springs from Him: it is His own; and every flame that rises from this pure and vigorous fire must be pleasing in His sight: it consumes what is unholy; refines every passion and appetite; sublimes the whole, and assimilates all to itself.”²³

Joseph Benson says this hope is the fruit of faith, patience, and experience, namely, the full assurance of hope. Therefore, such hope will not shame or confuse us with disappointment, but we shall certainly obtain the right things hoped for. Benson writes: “We know it cannot shame or disappoint us because we have already within ourselves the very beginning of that heaven to which it aspires. For the love of God — That is, love to God, arising from a manifestation of His love to us, even that love which constitutes us at once both holy and happy, and is therefore an earnest of our future inheritance in our hearts; that love, in the perfection of which the blessedness of that celestial world consists; is shed abroad, is poured out; into our hearts, by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us — The efficient cause of all these present blessings, and the earnest of those to come. As a Spirit of wisdom and revelation, the Holy Ghost enables us to discern God’s love to us; and as a Spirit of holiness and consolation, he enables us to delight ourselves daily in him, though for the present he appoint us trials which may seem rigorous and severe.”²⁴

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER FIVE (Lesson IV)

Verse 3b-4: Why are we content with our troubles? Because we know that these troubles make us more patient. And this patience is proof that we are strong. And this proof gives us hope.

Just in case the leaders of the church in Rome did not get the point, Paul reiterates that all of the troubles and trials that come from standing strong in the faith against all the winds of opposition from Satan and the world is beneficial to the believer. This idea did not start with the Apostle Paul. Jesus made this clear in His Sermon on the Mount.¹ Therefore, the disciples were not afraid to testify about Jesus being the Messiah and thought it a privilege and honor to suffer for His sake.²

In fact, the Apostle Paul was inspired to talk about his sufferings for the cause of Christ.³ And when things became almost unbearable for him, he went to God in prayer, and the Lord answered him this way: “My grace is all you need. Only when you are weak can everything be done completely by My power.”⁴ Therefore, Paul was able to tell the Ephesians: “I ask you not to be discouraged because of what is happening to me. My sufferings are for your benefit – for your honor and glory.”⁵ That’s why he encouraged the Philippians: “God has also given you the honor of suffering for Christ.”⁶ As such, he motivated them by saying: “Your faith makes you give your lives as a sacrifice in serving God.”⁷

Paul was not alone in emphasizing this theme of dealing appropriately with trials, and tribulations when they come rather than running away. The Apostle James shared a similar message: “My brothers and sisters, you will have many kinds of trouble. But this gives you a reason to be very happy. You know that when your faith is tested, you learn to be patient in suffering.”⁸ James goes on to say, that letting patience work in a believer’s favor will result in their becoming more mature and on their way to becoming what God wants them to be. Also, the Apostle Peter, who knew firsthand want it meant to be confronted for his faith and association with Jesus, tells his readers that they may suffer for doing right. And if that happens, they have God’s blessing. So don’t be afraid and let it worry you when people make you suffer.⁹

Paul points out that it all works together for our good because it makes us more patient, and this patience is proof that we are strong, and this proof then gives us hope. The prophet Isaiah offered this motivational truth: “Young men may grow tired and weary, even the fittest may stumble and fall; but those who hope in Adonai will renew their strength, they will soar aloft as with eagles’ wings; when they are running they won’t grow weary, when they are walking they won’t get tired.”¹⁰ That’s why Paul told the Corinthians: “We have troubles all around us, but we are not defeated. We often don’t know what to do, but we don’t give up. We are persecuted, but God does not leave us. We are hurt sometimes, but we are not destroyed.”¹¹ That’s because faith and trust keep hope alive.

Several early church scholars offer their insights. For instance, Clement of Alexandria has this to say about endurance and hope: “Endurance is directed toward future hope. Hope is directed toward the reward and restitution of hope.”¹² Then Ambrosiaster comments on strength through testing: “It is clear that if endurance is of the quality we have said, our character will be quite strong. That there should be hope in someone who has been tried and tested is perfectly reasonable. One who is thus made worthy is sure to receive a reward in the kingdom of God.”¹³ And Chrysostom speaks about how character gives power to hope: “Endurance produces character, which contributes in some measure to the things which are to come because it gives power to the hope which is within us. Nothing encourages a man to hope for blessing more than the strength of a good character. No one who has led a good life worries about the future.… Does our good really lie in hope? Yes, but not in human hopes, which often vanish and leave only embarrassment behind. Our hope is in God and is therefore sure and immovable.”¹⁴

In response to Paul’s teaching that Christians accept trials and persecution as a resource for producing patience, Reformer John Calvin had this to say: “This is not the natural effect of tribulation; for we see that a great portion of mankind are thereby incited to murmur against God, and even to curse His name. But when that inward meekness, which is infused by the Spirit of God, and the consolation, which is conveyed by the same Spirit, succeed in place of our stubbornness, then tribulations become the means of generating patience; yes, those tribulations, which in the unregenerate can produce nothing but indignation and clamorous discontent.”¹⁵ He then goes on to say: “According then to the present passage, we then only make advances in patience as we ought, when we regard it as having been continued to us by God’s power, and thus entertain hope as to the future, that God’s favor, which has ever aided us in our necessities, will never be lacking for us. Hence he adds on, that from temporary relief arises hope. It might make us ungrateful for the benefits received except the recollection of them confirms our hope as to what is to come.”¹⁶

John Bengel says that while tribulations throughout life seem to deliver us up to death, not to glory, yet not only are they not unfavorable to hope, but they actually aid it. However, while tribulation develops patience in the believer, for the unbeliever the result is impatience and apostasy. Bengel also points out that patience is not learned without adversity; it characterizes a mind not only promptly, but also makes it robust enough to endure. And once patience has been developed, a person’s hope is also strengthened.¹⁷

On this same subject, Adam Clarke makes the point that endurance under trials, without sustaining loss or deterioration, is a metaphor taken from refining metals. Says Clarke: “We do not speak thus from any sudden raptures [euphoria], or extraordinary sensations we may have of spiritual joy: for we find that the tribulations through which we pass are the means of exercising and increasing our patience, our meek toleration of injuries received, or persecutions experienced, on account of the Gospel.”¹⁸ He then concludes: “For we thus calculate, that He who has supported us in the past will support us in those which may yet come; and as we have received so much spiritual profiting by means of the sufferings through which we have already passed, we may profit equally by those which are yet to come: and this hope prevents us from dreading coming trials; we receive them as means of grace, and find that all things work together for good to them that love God.”¹⁹

Robert Haldane explains: “The Greek word translated [by the KJV as] ‘experience’ signifies trial or proof. Here it means proof; for trial may detect a hypocrite as well as manifest a saint. But proof implies that the trial has proved the genuineness of the tried person, and also of the faithfulness and support of God, which will enable us to overcome every difficulty. And proof produces hope. That is, when the genuineness of our profession is manifested by being proved, our hope of enjoying the glory promised to the genuine people of God is confirmed. Hope is here introduced a second time. This should be carefully noted. At first, as we have seen, it springs solely from a view of the mediation and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here; it acquires a new force, from the proof the believer has of the reality of his union with the Savior, by his being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ. Thus the ‘good hope through grace’ must be produced solely by faith, and confirmed, not produced, by the fruits of faith.”²⁰

Albert Barnes writes about the process by which tribulations produce patience: “The effect of afflictions on the minds of Christians is to make them patient. Sinners are irritated and troubled by them; they complain, and become more and more obstinate and rebellious. They have no sources of consolation; they deem God [to be] a hard Master; they become fretful and rebellions just in proportion to the depth and continuance of their trials. But in the mind of a Christian, who regards his Father‘s hand in it; who sees that he deserves no mercy; who has confidence in the wisdom and goodness of God; who feels that it is necessary for his own good to be afflicted; and who experiences its happy, subduing, and mild effect in restraining his sinful passions, and in weaning him from the world the effect is to produce patience. Accordingly, it will usually be found that those Christians who are longest and most severely afflicted are the most patient. Year after year of suffering produces increased peace and calmness of soul; and at the end of his course the Christian is more willing to be afflicted, and bears his afflictions more calmly, than at the beginning. He who on earth was most afflicted was the most patient of all sufferers; and not less patient when he was ‘led as a lamb to the slaughter,’²¹ than when He experienced the first trial in His great work.”²²

In his sermon on this text, Charles Spurgeon reiterates the point made by Calvin how tribulation is not known to produce patience. He says: “Tribulation works impatience, and impatience misses the fruit of experience and sours into hopelessness. Ask many who have buried a dear child, or have lost their wealth, or have suffered pain in their body, and they will tell you that the natural result of affliction is to produce irritation against Providence, rebellion against God, questioning, unbelief, irritability, and all sorts of evils. But what a wonderful alteration takes place when the heart is renewed by the Holy Spirit! Then, but not till then, tribulation works patience.”²³ He then shares a personal anecdote: “I have seen some persons, who were called experienced Christians, in whom it seemed to me that experience had worked despair; for their faces were always very long and very sad, and their speech was as sorrowful as it well could be. But here I find that true Christian experience works hope – a hope that makes us unashamed.”²⁴

I recently read a story about a man who had a dream. He saw a large crowd of people gathered in front of a fence. And on the opposite side of the fence to the left stood a creature that looked like the devil, and on the right stood Jesus. He heard Satan call out for anyone who wanted what he had to offer, and a person from the crowd jumped over the fence and went to him. Then Jesus called out for anyone who wanted to come and follow Him. Sure enough, someone jumped over the fence and joined Him.

This went on until there was only one person left on the other side of the fence where the crowd had been standing. Both Satan and Jesus called out to that person. Finally, the person jumped up on the fence and then just sat down. After awhile, Satan turned and led his large group off in the direction of loud music and bright lights. Jesus, meanwhile, led his small group in the opposite direction toward what looked like a field filled with thorn bushes and barriers.

This left the last person sitting on the fence alone. Thinking they had been forgotten, the person was trying to decide what to do. Just then Satan came back and appeared to be looking for something he had left behind. The man called out, “Have you lost something?” Satan looked straight at him and replied, “Not really, I was looking for you. Come with me.” The man replied, “But I’m still sitting on the fence. I haven’t decided yet who to follow.” Satan said, “Oh yes you have. You see, I own the fence.” “Whoever is not with me is against me.” – Jesus: Matthew 12:30.

BE CAREFUL WHO YOU’RE AIMING AT

I read a story of something that happened to a seminary student, and even though it never happened to me I believe it could have taken place. I read that a young student named Arlene attended a seminary class given by a teacher who was known for his elaborate object lessons. On this particular day, when she entered the room she saw a large target on the wall, and on a nearby table were many darts.

The professor told the students to take a piece of paper and draw a picture of someone that they disliked or someone who had made them angry, and he would allow them to throw darts at the person’s picture to get the anger out of their system. One of Arlene’s friends drew a picture of a girl who had stolen her boyfriend. Another friend drew a picture of his mean older brother. Arlene drew a picture of a former friend who had betrayed her, putting a great deal of detail into her drawing, even drawing pimples on the face. Arlene was pleased with the overall effect she had achieved.

The class lined up and began throwing darts. Some of the students threw their darts with such force that they went through their picture, through the target, and into the wall. Arlene was eager to get her turn. The former friend had gone behind her back and revealed secrets they had shared, which brought her a lot of embarrassment and shame. But just as she was ready to take her turn, the professor ended the object lesson because class time had run out. Arlene was so disappointed and walked back to her desk with disgust because she didn’t have a chance to throw any darts at her target.

Then, before dismissing the class, the professor removed the target from the wall. To everyone’s surprise and disbelief, underneath the target was a picture of Jesus. A hush fell over the room as each student viewed the mangled picture of Jesus; holes and jagged marks covered His face, and His eyes were pierced. As they all sat there dumbfounded, the professor quietly picked up his Bible and began to read these words: “In as much as you have done this to the least of these my brethren, you have done it to Me.”¹ Needless to say, no further comments were necessary. Tears filled eyes of the students as they began to leave the classroom while looking back at the scarred and tattered face of Christ.

You may have never thrown real darts at a picture of someone you despise because of what they said or did to you. But the Bible says that our words are like poison darts,² and they can injure and even be fatal to those we throw them at. So just like what happened to Arlene, each time you are tempted to throw such darts, instead of seeing the face of your former friend or enemy, see the face of Christ who died for their sins too. – Dr. Robert R Seyda