EPISTLE OF ST. PAUL TO THE ROMANS.

 THIS EPISTLE IS IN TRUTH THE MOST IMPORTANT DOCUMENT IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, THE GOSPEL IN ITS PUREST EXPRESSION. NOT ONLY IS IT WELL WORTH A CHRISTIAN'S WHILE TO KNOW IT WORD FOR WORD BY HEART BY HEART, ALSO TO THE MEDITATE ON IT DAY BY DAY. IT IS THE SOUL'S DAILY BREAD, AND CAN NEVER  BE READ TOO OFTEN, OR  STUDIED TO MUCH. THE MORE YOU PROBE INTO IT THE MORE PRECIOUS  IT BECOMES, AND BETTER ITS FLAVOR.  LUTHER SAYS,  THE EPISTLE HAS BEEN SMOTHERED WITH COMMENTS AND ALL SORTS OF  IRELEVANCES;  YET, IN ESSENCE, IT IS A BRILLIANT LIGHT, ALMOST ENOUGH TO ILLUMINE THE WHOLE BIBLE. THE FIRST THING NEEDED IS TO UNDERSTAND THE TERMINOLOGY. WE MUST LEARN WHAT ST.PAUL MEANS BY SUCH WORDS AS LAW, SIN, GRACE FAITH, RIGHTEOUSNESS, FLESH, SPIRIT, AND THE LIKE; OTHERWISE WE SHALL READ AND ONLY WASTE OUR TIME. YOU MUST NOT UNDERSTAND THE 
"LAW" IN ITS EVERYDAY SENSE AS SOMETHING WHICH EXPLAINS WHAT ACTS ARE PERMITTED OR FORBIDDEN.  THIS HOLDS FOR ORDINARY  LAWS AND YOU KEEP THEM BY DOING WHAT THEY ENJOY ALTHOUGH YOU HAVE NO HEART IN IT. BUT GOD JUDGES ACCORDING TO YOUR INMOST CONVICTION; HIS LAW MUST BE FULFILLED IN YOUR VERY HEART, AND CANNOT BE OBEYED IF YOU PERFORM CERTAIN ACTS. ITS PENALTIES DO INDEED APPLY TO CERTAIN ACTS DONE APART FROM OUR INMOST CONVICTIONS, SUCH AS HYPOCRISY AND LYING PSALM [117]
 [116:11] DECLARES ALL MEN LIARS, BECAUSE NO ONE KEEPS GOD LAW FROM THE HEART; NOR CAN HE DO SO. FOR TO BE AVERSE TO GOODNESS FREELY, WE DO NOT KEEP GOD'S LAW FROM THE HEART. THEN SIN ENTERS IN AND DIVINE WRATH IS  INCURRED EVEN THOUGH, TO OUTWARD APPEARANCE, WE ARE DOING MANY VIRTUOUS  WORKS AND LIVING AN HONORABLE LIFE.
 IN CHAPTER [2] ST. PAUL THEREFORE ASSERTS THAT JEWS ARE SINNERS. HE SAYS THAT ONLY THOSE WHO KEEP THE LAW ARE RIGHTEOUS IN GOD'S EYES, HIS POINT BEING THAT NO ONE KEEPS THE LAW BY "WORKS." RATHER, PAUL SAYS TO THE JEWS  YOU TEACH US NOT TO COMMIT ADULTERY, BUT YOU COMMIT ADULTERY YOURSELVES, SINCE YOU DO THE VERY THINGS WHICH YOU CONDEMN. [ROM [2:1,22f,] IT IS AS IF HE WAS TO SAY, TO OUTWARD APPEARANCES, YOU OBSERVE  IT,
 SCRUPULOUSLY, CONDEMNING THOSE WHO DO NOT OBSERVE IT,   AND BEING QUICK TO TEACH ONE AND ALL. YOU SEE THE SPLINTER IN THE OTHER MAN'S EYE,
BUT ARE UNAWARE OF THE TIMBER IN YOUR OWN. GRANTED THAT, IN APPEARANCE  AND CONDUCT, YOU OBSERVE THE LAW, OWING TO YOUR FEAR OF PUNISHMENT OR HOPE OF REWARD, BUT YOU DO NOTHING FROM FREE CHOICE AND OUT OF LOVE FOR THE LAW, YOU WOULD RATHER DO SOMETHING ELSE. THE LOGICAL CONCLUSION IS THAT, IN THE DEPTH OF YOUR HEARTS, YOU HATE THE LAW. WHAT IS THE USE OF TEACHING OTHERS NOT TO STEAL IF YOU ARE A THIEF AT HEART YOURSELF. AND, IF YOU DARED, WOULD BE ONE IN FACT?  OF COURSE, THE OUTER CONDUCT OF THIS KIND IS NOT CONTINUED FOR LONG BY HUMBUGS OF THIS KIND. IT FOLLOWS THAT , IF YOU TEACH OTHERS, BUT NOT YOUR OWN SELVES, YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU TEACH, AND HAVE NOT RIGHTLY UNDERSTOOD THE NATURE OF THE LAW. NAY, THE LAW INCREASES YOUR GUILT, AS PAUL SAYS IN CHAPTER 5:[2O] " FOR WHEN YOU WERE SERVANTS OF SIN, YE WERE FREE FROM RIGHTEOUSNESS. JESUS ANSWERED, VERILY, VERILY I SAY UNTO YOU, WHOSOEVER COMMITTETH SIN IS THE SERVANT OF SIN. ( JOHN 8:34).  THAT IS WHY IN CHAPTER [7:14]  PAUL CALLS THE LAW SPIRITUAL; SPIRITUAL, BECAUSE, IF THE LAW WERE CORPOREAL, OUR WORKS WOULD MEET THE DEMANDS. SINCE IT IS SPIRITUAL , HOWEVER, NO ONE KEEPS IT, UNLESS EVERYTHING YOU DO SPRINGS FROM THE INMOST PART OF YOUR HEART. SUCH A HEART IS GIVEN US ONLY BY GOD'S SPIRIT, AND THE SPIRIT MAKES US EQUAL TO THE DEMANDS OF THE LAW. THUS WE GAIN A GENUINE DESIRE FOR THE LAW, AND THEN EVERYTHING IS DONE WITH WILLING HEARTS, AND NOT IN FEAR, OR UNDER COMPULSION THEREFORE, BECAUSE THE LAW IS SPIRITUAL, WHEN IT IS LOVED BY HEARTS THAT ARE SPIRITUAL, AND DEMANDS THAT SORT OF MIND, IF THAT SPIRIT IS NOT IN OUR  HEARTS SIN REMAINS, A GRUDGE ; ABIDES FOREVER, THAT IS PAUL MEANING IN CHAPTER 3 [28] WHEN HE SAYS, " THROUGH THE WORKS OF THE LAW SHALL NO MAN BE JUSTIFIED  BEFORE GOD.."   IT IS OBVIOUS-IS IT NOT?- THAT THE SOPHISTICATOR WRANGLING IN THE SCHOOLS ARE MISLEADING WHEN THEY TEACH US TO PREPARE OURSELVES FOR GRACE BY OUR WORKS. HOW CAN ANYONE USE WORKS TO PREPARE HIMSELF TO BE GOOD WHEN HE NEVER DOES A GOOD WITHOUT A CERTAIN RELUCTANCE OR UNWILLINGNESS TO HIS HEART?  HOW IS IT POSSIBLE FOR GOD TO TAKE PLEASURE IN WORKS THAT SPRINGS FROM RELUCTANT AND HOSTILE HEARTS?  TO FULFILL THE LAW, WE MUST MEET ITS REQUIREMENTS GLADLY AND LOVINGLY; LIVE VIRTUOUS AND UPRIGHT LIVES WITHOUT CONSTRAINT OF THE LAW, AND AS IF NEITHER THE LAW NOR ITS PENALTIES EXISTED.  BUT THIS JOY, THIS UNCONSTRAINED LOVE, IS PUT IN OUR HEARTS BY THE "HOLY SPIRIT," AS ST. PAUL SAYS IN CHAPTER 5 [15]. BUT THE "HOLY SPIRIT" IS GIVEN ONLY IN, WITH, AND THROUGH, FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST, AS PAUL SAID IN HIS OPENING PARAGRAPH. SIMILARLY, FAITH ITSELF COMES THROUGH THE WORD OF GOD, " THE GOSPEL"
 THIS GOSPEL PROCLAIMS CHRIST AS THE "SON OF GOD"; THAT HE WAS MAN; THAT HE DIED AND ROSE AGAIN FOR OUR SAKES, AS PAUL SAYS IN CHAPTERS 3, 4, AND 10,
 WE REACH THE CONCLUSION THAT FAITH ALONE JUSTIFIES US AND FULFILS THE LAW; AND THIS BECAUSE FAITH BRINGS US THE SPIRIT GAINED BY THE MERITS OF CHRIST. THE SPIRIT, IN TURN, GIVES US THE HAPPINESS AND FREEDOM AT WHICH THE LAW AIMS; AND THIS SHOWS THAT GOOD WORKS REALLY PROCEEDS FROM FAITH. THAT IS PAUL'S MEANING IN CHAPTER 3[31], WHEN HAVING CONDEMNED THE  WORKS OF LAW, HE SOUNDS AS IF HE HAD MEANT TO ABROGATE THE LAW BY FAITH. THE WORD SIN IN THE BIBLE MEANS SOMETHING MORE THAN THE ETERNAL WORKS DONE BY OUR BODILY ACTION. IT MEANS ALL THE CIRCUMSTANCES THAT ACT TOGETHER AND EXCITE OR INCITE US TO DO WHAT IS DONE, IN PARTICULAR IMPULSES OPERATING IN THE DEPTHS OF OUR HEARTS. IN PARTICULAR, THE BIBLE PENETRATES INTO OUR HEARTS, AND LOOKS AT THE ROOT AND THE VERY SOURCE OF ALL SIN i.e. "UNBELIEF" THE WORST SIN IN GOD'S WORLD IN THE DEPTH OF OUR HEARTS. JUST AS FAITH ALONE GIVES US THE SPIRIT AND THE DESIRE FOR DOING WORKS THAT ARE PLAINLY GOOD, SO UNBELIEF IS THE SOLE CAUSE OF SIN; IT EXALTS THE FLESH AND GIVES THE DESIRE TO DO WORKS THAT ARE PLAINLY WRONG, AS HAPPENED IN THE CASE OF ADAM AND EVE IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN, GENESIS  3[16]. THEREFORE CHRIST THEREFORE  SINGLED OUT UNBELIEF AND CALLED IT SIN. IN JOHN 16[ :8f], HE SAYS, THE SPIRIT WILL CONVICT THE WORLD OF SIN BECAUSE THEY DO NOT BELIEVE IN ME. SIMILARLY, BEFORE GOOD OR EVIL ARE PERFORMED AND BEFORE THEY APPEAR AS GOOD OR EVIL FRUITS, EITHER FAITH OR UNBELIEF MUST BE ALREADY IN OUR HEARTS. THIS IS WHAT THE BIBLE CALLS THE HEAD OF THE SERPENT AND OF THE OLD DRAGON, WHICH CHRIST, THE SEED OF THE WOMEN, MUST CRUSH, AS WAS PROMISED TO ADAM.  THE WORDS OF GRACE AND GIFT DIFFER INASMUCH AS THE TRUE MEANING OF GRACE IS THE KINDNESS OR FAVOR WHICH GOD BEARS TOWARD US OF HIS OWN CHOICE, AND THROUGH WHICH HE IS WILLING TO GIVE US CHRIST, AND TO POUR "THE HOLY SPIRIT AND HIS BLESSINGS UPON US. PAUL MAKES IT CLEAR IN CHAPTER 5 [15"f.],  WHEN HE SPEAKS OF THE GRACE AND FAVOR OF CHRIST. NEVERTHELESS, BOTH THE GIFTS AND THE SPIRIT MUST BE RECEIVED BY US DAILY, FOR THE OLD DESIRES AND SINS WILL LINGER IN US. FAITH IS NOT SOMETHING DREAMED, A HUMAN ILLUSION, ALTHOUGH THIS IS WHAT MANY PEOPLE UNDERSTAND BY THE TERM. FAITH, HOWEVER, IT IS SOMETHING THAT GOD EFFECTS IN US. IT CHANGES US AND WE ARE REBORN FROM GOD JOHN 1 [;13]. FAITH PUTS THE OLD ADAM TO DEATH AND MAKES US QUITE DIFFERENT MEN IN HEART, IN MIND;  IN ALL OUR POWERS; AND IT IS ACCOMPANIED. BY THE HOLY SPIRIT. O, WHEN IT COMES TO FAITH, WHAT A LIVING CREATIVE, POWERFUL THING IT IS. FAITH IS A LIVING AND UNSHAKEABLE CONFIDENCE, A BELIEF IN THE GRACE OF GOD SO ASSURED THAT A MAN WOULD DIE A THOUSAND DEATH FOR ITS SAKE. REMEMBER WHEN OUR JOURNEY IS DONE HERE, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT TAKES OUR SOUL, WHICH WAS GIVEN TO US AT BAPTISM TO STAND BEFORE CHRIST, THE WORDS WE WANT TO HEAR: AS OUR LORD OPENS THE "BOOK OF LIFE" RUNS HIS FINGERS DOWN TO OUR NAME AND SAYS: COME AND REST GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT; THE WORDS YOU DO NOT WANT TO HEAR. " I NEVER KNEW YOU"    AMEN!