Romans 3

So, we're going to go into Romans 3. I'm going to try to move, move, move today. Just like going into that island, that interior, we have a lot of ground to cover. Today, we are going to be moving into, in a sense, what you might call the gospel and the gospel. Big stuff that we're going to cover.

Let's go through Romans for a second. We understand that in Romans 1, that Paul gave a penetrating analysis of a godless world. A godless world that rejected the sovereignty of God, even though God revealed Himself by the creation. And even in that sense, that part of consciousness that brings man to an understanding of what we might call nature's law or natural law.

I didn't talk about a law that is a part of holiness, but that which came from the tree of good and evil. And even in that, man continued to drift and go astray and go asunder. So basically what we have, here's the book of Romans. It's being sent to the church in Rome. Paul has not yet arrived. He is arriving. He's introducing himself in the message that he wants to bring to them. They've heard of him, but they don't know him personally. This church in Rome has been there since the first Pentecost, because there were the strangers that were from Rome at the square in Jerusalem in Pentecost.

They went back, excited about what they heard, and they started a fellowship. They were later on joined by Gentile Christians, because those that would have been there at Pentecost would have been Jews at the first Pentecost at that time. But so we have a church that is both Jew and Gentile. And Paul's giving this masterful display of basically how the whole world is in need of salvation.

And he's on one sense dealing with the Gentiles, and they have in the Hellenistic world the great truths of antiquity. But basically Paul says, you can have all the truth in the world, but if it does not lead to transformation, it is nothing. Then in Romans 2, he begins to deal with the Jewish community, who basically have a certain morality, but they have sin that is laced in it.

And they think they have arrived, and they have not. Here are the covenant people of God that have not fully utilized what God intended to them to have. And so now he's going to bring it back and forth, because you can you can kind of imagine that Paul's challenge in a presentation like Romans is he's dealing with the Gentile psalm, and when he's dealing with the Gentiles, the Gentiles in the the audience kind of go, you know, try to slump down and get out of sight.

And the Jews are going, yeah, yeah, yeah. And then he lays it on the Jews, and even though they're in the church, you know, they're feeling a little perplexed. And you know, the the Gentiles are going, yeah, it's about time, you know, good, good, good, good, good, good. Kind of like one of those marriage sermons where, you know, for a while, you know, the husbands are being talked to. The women go, yeah, but you miss that one.

No, I'm just teasing. And then it reverts, and it goes back and forth. There's a wholeness that is divine in the book of Romans. And God used Paul to do this because Paul was a man that was a Roman, had grown up in a city affected by the Hellomistic culture, Tarsus, and he was a Hebrew, the Hebrews, the Jew of the Jews, and a Pharisee. And so God knows exactly who he's going to use and why he's going to use them. So finally, we come up to this point then that some questions are asked in Romans 3.1. Let's move.

Because then the Jews are, when it's all said and done, they're going, okay, we took it. Paul, especially what he said in chapter 2 about our people and our way of life. So why have we gone to all of this for all of these 1500 years, and what advantage is there to being a Jew? Or what is the prophet of circumcision? And Paul sets up an argument.

You might say it's actually an argument between Paul the Christian and Paul the former Jew. And he creates an imaginary conversation to go back and forth. There are questions and then there are answers. So you have to kind of know what the play is in Romans 3. It's a fascinating discussion. It says then, what advantage then has the Jew, or what is the prophet of circumcision?

In other words, what have we been all about all of these years for having observed and have kept the law?

Much in every way comes back the answer, chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God. Now it's kind of interesting that Paul comes back this way, especially if I can use the vernacular. He laces the Jewish community for not having lived up to what they ought to have been in chapter 2. And so, you know, it's kind of like, well, okay, if that's it, what's the advantage? And Paul comes back much in every way, chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God. Now, it's fascinating the phrase that's used there. Let's center on the word oracle. You might want to jot it down, or you might want to circle it if you're brave enough in your Bible.

He doesn't allude to the Scriptures. He alludes to the word oracle. These are unmistakable divine utterances of the Old Testament. You might say God's self-revelation. And he uses the term oracle, I'm surmising here.

He could point to the Scriptures, and you can read the Scriptures, but he uses the word oracle as if an utterance, as if the voice of God, to show the incredible relationship that God had with Israel and the Jews that were in them.

All the commentaries will basically tell you it could be the Decalog, could have been the oracles of God. Interesting, most of the commentaries speak of the oracles of God being in the entirety of the Old Testament, especially centering on its promises. On its promises. That's interesting, because sometimes people will, as you know, use Paul to basically be dismissive of portions of the Ten Commandments. And the oracles in all the commentaries that I read, which were many in books that I read, basically refer to the oracles as, again, God's self-revelation, His spoken word, His divine utterances. And that's very important. And it was important. It was a benefit, and it was an advantage that the the Jew of old and Israel of old was given, in a sense, a beacon. They were given a gift by God. They were called to be a light to the nations. Deuteronomy 4, verse 8, you can jot that down. They were to be these people that, oh my, what nation has such laws and such a God as this? They had this great beacon that was to show them the pathway to be a nation. And not only the pathway is a nation, but in a sense, to be a guiding light for all of the nations to come to God. But Paul chides them because they did not use that light appropriately. They turned it in on themselves, and they turned it in on the law and the nuances of the law, and they majored on the minors, and they lost the point of what the law was about by getting into endless arguments and regulations and rituals that are not even scripturally based. They had a tremendous advantage. They were, as it says in Jeremiah, they were a first fruit nation. And yet, instead of being, in a sense, a window to the world of who and what God is, they chose to take that instrument and to make it a mirror and reflect on themselves. And rather than looking at the great God, they continue to continually look at the law and argue over interpretations rather than to be the example that they were. For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? The Jews says, is this it?

Is God through with Israel? Is God through with Judah? Is God through with the Jewish community?

Because we've blown it so bad that God is just going to look over us. And he says, certainly not. Here comes the answer. Here comes the retort. Certainly not.

Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar, as it is written, that you may be justified in your words and may overcome when you are judged. But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unjust who inflicts wrath? I speak as a man. Now, this is very important. We're going to do a little focus on pronouns for a moment. You might want to jot this down. You can go back to look at this because remember these studies, these classes are just a springboard. You do the rest of the day. In Romans 1, there is the thought of they do this and they do that. It is very impersonal.

The world around, they do this. When we come to Romans 2, notice what I call the pronoun personality. But if our unrighteousness, Paul begins to personalize it. It's just not about the world that is around. But like I said in the message, when a man's fight begins with himself, he's begun a fight that is worthy, he begins to bring it home. Later on, in Romans 3, in verses 7 and 8, he'll talk about mine. So, it's very interesting as Romans progresses and the argument towards salvation progresses, it goes from they to our.

Kind of like our, because when you use the word our, I'm standing here by Fernando.

You know, I kind of like a collective hour, especially when it comes to unrighteousness, because you don't know if it's his or mine. I've got company. But then, of course, you know how Fernando is. But then what happens is, Paul's going to squeeze it down then to where he's speaking about himself as an individual. He says, but let me complete the thought here. But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? In other words, if this is sin, and sin is made manifest to show the righteousness of God, and we're just kind of being used as guinea pigs in this whole matter to show how good it is, why don't I just do what I do anyway?

And Paul says, certainly not. Stupid, illogical, bad argument, buddy.

For then how will God judge the world? For if the truth of God has increased through my lie to his glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner? And why not say, let us do evil that good may come, as we are slanders to report it, and some affirm that we say their condemnation is just.

Now, it's interesting as we then come up to verse 9. What then? Are we better than they?

Not at all. For we have previously charged both the Jews and the Greeks that they are all under sin. Paul had just established that the Jews do have a special blessing of being the recipients and the guardians of the Word and the oracles of God. No one possibly could deny that this is a great blessing. But the blessing is not given because recipients of the blessing are better than those who did not receive the blessing. There is no inherent better in the individuals that received the blessing because the blessing came from God. Neither does the blessing make the recipients better than those who did not receive the blessing. To the Jews, blessings were a sign of God's approval. Paul is saying, much as Jesus said in Matthew 5, 43 through 48, that God gives his blessings to the righteous, he also gives it to the unrighteous. It says that it reigns on the just and it reigns on the unjust. As it is written, so there's a solemnity that then develops here, there is none righteous, no not one, there is none who understands, there is none who seeks after God.

They have all turned aside. They have together become unprofitable. Remember, both the Gentile world and the world of the Jew both had great truths. The Hellenistic world had incredible philosophical and intellectual truths. The Jewish world at that time had the scriptures.

But Paul is saying that truth, whether it be of man or of revealed by God and you have it, if it does not transform individual, does not serve its purpose. Thus, we have come to this world inside that is unprofitable. No one is good. And their throat is an open tomb with their tongues they have practiced to see. The poison of Asp is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness, and their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and mercy are in their ways, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes. Now, you look at verse 17, very interesting. I just thought about this. That's why we pray, yes, God's blessing. We've said that so often. The way of peace they know not.

We've heard that, that, you know, man, of and by himself, cannot bring world peace.

We've heard that many a time over the years. But what God is really centering by, at least in this application of what Paul is using, is that peace has avoided man to this point until the righteousness of God is revealed, as is going to now be brought out. We're not talking about World War III, or the Tribulation. We're talking about a peace that every human being needs to have between himself, herself, and his Maker. None of us fully, at times, grasp, starting with myself, as to how adverse, how far apart we've been away from the ways of God. And the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes. Now Paul is going to be moving into an incredible section, because I'll tell you right now, if you read Romans 1 and 2, it is Gloomsville.

If you stop there, you know, you want to go out and do something.

But now he's going to build. The good news is coming. The Gospel.

Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.

Even those that have the laws of God, you can have something but not understand its end.

It becomes null and void. Therefore, by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight. For by the law comes the knowledge of sin. And it is pervasive. It is extensive.

Go, wow! Here I'm a religious person, and Paul's basically saying, I'm going nowhere.

That is why verse 21 is so important. And very important, if I can mention it to people like Mr. Clark and Mr. Gartenhire and Victor and Reuben and others that speak in our community, you don't always want to keep people down. If you get up and give a message, a sermonette or a sermon, make sure you spend time to bring good news and not just the bad news. You want to have as many paragraphs about good news as bad news. Now Romans 1 and Romans 2 is one tough check on humanity.

Nobody comes out of this well. Not the guy that you think is godless that might be writing a Harley and look like some MGM character that's been cast to be on it. And he said that this guy has not ever been or graced a church. He's not godly. I didn't say Harley's aren't godly. I was just saying, you know, the the cast of a motorcycle rider and etc. But then Paul just lays out all of those people that in that day were going to church thinking that they were doing God a favor by dotting I's and crossing T's and arguing over how an L ought to be made when they had not examined their own hearts. They'd lost the big picture. And then comes the good news. You might want to circle this verse 21 and start it. But now the righteousness of God, apart from the law, is revealed being witnessed by the law and the prophets. This becomes the dramatic turning point of God's presentation through Paul. A great light shines in the darkness of fallen humanity. It's interesting the word there revealed it can also be translated manifested has been manifested. And you might say Paul is saying it is now opened to view.

He's basically going to come through with a thought that before the advent and the life and the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ there was no hope for humanity.

But now something marvelous has occurred. Though it's been revealed. It's witnessed by the law and the prophets. Even in the Old Testament it is clear that God brings imperfect people into a relationship with them that can only exist because he makes it possible and not because of anything that they have done. And now Paul's going to build upon that. Even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe. Now I want you to kind of think this through. We're 2,000 years apart. We go to church. But to recognize the impact this must have had on people back in the first century when there were just it was society was so very very divisive and there was no love between Gentile and Jew. Even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ. So Christ becomes not this wall but this bridge and this door for people to come and go to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference. For all have sinned. Here comes the great pivot point. For all have sinned and all have fallen short of the glory of God. One of the pivotal verses in all of scripture. And it brings us to remembrance. You hear me say it so often since I caught this line about six months ago that Jesus Christ did not come to this earth to make good men better. And there's something in our human nature, I'm talking about myself, that sometimes thinks we're doing all right.

Or that Christ died for everybody else.

Christ died whole and whole, all in all, for all in all and all and all and all that was in me.

And it wasn't to make me better. It wasn't to make you better. It was to give us life.

Because we were dead in our sins. And until we understand that, we cannot really develop as Christians how dead we were and remain apart from Christ. Why was Peter so effective in that first Pentecost under the inspiration of the Spirit?

To where 3,000 people came to repentance because he spoke as a dead man. He knew what it was to be dead. Jesus stripped him down so bad and so well and so perfectly, as we know with the rooster crowing. Oh no, not me. No, no, no. Jesus, you don't really know how loyal and how good I am. I am your star student. Remember, I was the one that walked on water. They will, but me? No. And God never waste a moment. He took Peter down one by one. And of course, didn't you know the story of Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me? To make the point. And when Peter finally said, Lord, I really know you got me. I just know I don't have it in me. You say it, Lord, because I'm not ready to get back into this again. I know where I stand. And it was at that point when Peter understood that he was nothing, that he became something in God's hands. And thus, on Pentecost, he was able to speak as a dead man now alive to dying men that had crucified the son of God. It says here, for all have sinned, all have fallen short of the glory of God, being justified now freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Now, we have two keywords there. Bob, do you have your sheet out there for me? We have two very important words. The reason why I've given you these words today is it's very important to use the words of the Bible.

When we use the words of the Bible, we stand on strength. If we only use our own colloquial words, and colloquial words are all right, words in our own Church of God language, that's okay.

But they better be based on the big words in the Bible. Because sometimes we can use words that sound like or kinda, or because everybody else uses words, we want to use those words, but we want to use the words of the Bible. When we don't use the words of the Bible, here's what happens. You know, the words of the Bible, let's just say like a word like justification or sanctification or election. That's what the Bible says. That's what it's the Greek.

But we say, well, that sounds maybe too, I don't know, you fill in the blank, where do you want to use? So we'll kind of use this word. Like charades, sounds like.

But what happens is you have created a tangent, right? Here's a straight line of God's word. Always take Scripture like a good drink. Straight, okay? Always take it straight.

And here we go. We have this. Now, at first it seems all right, you know, because we're not too far apart. But the longer you go, what happens? You have more and more space. That's why it's always important to use the words of the Bible as much as possible. Bob, what does it mean to be?

Look at the word. Do you have redemption there? Nice and loud for everybody, okay?

Well, all you have here is redemption means Jesus Christ has paid the price so that we can go free.

The price of sin is death and Jesus paid. Okay. Redemption, in the ancient sense, to redeem means to, in a sense, make right or to make good. The term that was being used in this type of antiquity was basically a slave could not buy his own freedom. He did not have the means to make himself free. He had to be redeemed from a source other than himself. When we talk about a sinner, to understand a sinner is to recognize this, that we cannot save ourselves. A drowning person cannot save themselves. They cannot pick, here goes my hair, what's left of it, you can't pick yourself up in the pool by your own hand, pull yourself up by your hair, and put yourself up on the ledge of the pool. Try it, let me know if it works when you're drowning. No, but what has the hair? Okay, no, just teasing. What's left? It's good to have a common version, every so often you use. Okay, so anyway, that...

I'm frozen, my daughter. It's going to come and roll.

Thus, we recognize here, in a sense, this explains the sense that our help had to come from somewhere else other than ourselves. That's what redemption is, that's what the current means, and that we are justified. Roland, do you have that sheet there? Could you read Justification? Nice and loud for me, please. God's act of declaring us not guilty for our sins is given us right.

Okay, that's a wonderful feeling. How many of us have ever seen television, court television, Perry Mason, or some movie where the verdict comes down, not guilty? And you see the person that's on trial, or you see the family, and you just see the literal body language that occurs when we are told that we are no longer guilty of that which we have done, either wittingly or unwittingly, that we... it's done. It's over. You're free. But notice where the freedom comes. Very important. Being justified freely. It's nothing we can buy into.

By His grace, by His favor, by His divine motion towards us, God started it. We didn't think of it. God started this through the redemption, that redeeming that is in Christ Jesus. Verse 25, which God has set forth as a propitiation by His blood through faith to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance, God had passed over the sins that were previously committed. And what does this mean? Whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood. Who's got the term, uh, Mel? Do you have it in front of you or no? Propitiation? The removal of God's punishment for sin is a perfect sacrifice for Jesus Christ. Okay. The term propitiation is different than redemption.

Redemption is just basically an act. It's a transaction. Are you with me? Redemption is a transaction. We could not redeem ourselves. God redeemed us by His Son. Propitiation, now you might want to put it this way, takes it to the next level, because propitiation speaks of mercy. Propitiation is a word that comes out of the Greek, and basically it goes back to the thought of Leviticus 16.14. You might want to jot that down, and refers to the golden cover on the Ark of the Covenant. And in the Ark below this cover were the tablets of stone upon which were written the Ten Commandments which Israel had violated. And before the Ark stood, the high priest representing the people. And when the sacrificial blood is sprinkled on this cover, it ceases to be a place of judgment and becomes a place of mercy. Now, what are we talking about here? Stay with me very quickly on this. What we have in this sentence, if you want to understand Romans at all here, I'm going to read this, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood through faith to demonstrate His righteousness. God's righteousness must stand. His law is intact.

And there are blessings and there are cursings depending upon how an individual responds to that law. That righteousness cannot change. There is a righteousness about God that cannot change.

The law stands in the sense, and if you stand by the law, you will be judged by the law.

And God must be righteous in enforcing His law, so beware the individual that wants to just stand on the law. But what we have here now, in verse 25, you might want to jot this down. This is where love and judgment connect. That is what propitiation is. It's where love and judgment connect. The judgment is this, that there had to be a redemption. There had to be something given for something over here. That is a judgment. But the propitiation pronounces the mercy and the attribute of God. Now, once that has occurred, we are free.

That thought is put away from God. That judgment is put away from God. And we are able to move forward. I'd like to read the book that Susan gave me by Ray C. Steadman. Beautiful book on the book of Romans, Reasons to Rejoice. And I want to turn to page 77 and just briefly read it. Paul shows us that the reality of the cross, speaking of the cross that Jesus died on, goes much deeper than mere expiation. Paul is telling us that the death of Jesus on the cross also awakened God's love towards us. Because of the sacrifice of Jesus, God grants us a sense of worth, acceptance, and value in His sight. That is what propitiation means. The merciful God gives us worth, acceptance, and value in His sight, just as much as the prodigal father who said, bring the robe, bring the shoes, and bring the ring. It not only satisfies God's justice, but it awakens His love. As a result, He pours out His love upon us. Paul shows us why this had to happen beginning in the middle of verse 25. He did this to demonstrate His justice because in His forbearance, He had left the sins committed beforehand unpinished.

Here Paul refers to all the centuries when God apparently had done nothing about human sin.

We often hear people questioning God on this very point, where is the God of justice? They ask, how can a just God allow tyranny, oppression, poverty, slavery, and genocide? Where is the justice of God? These questions are often found throughout the Bible. Why does the wicked, why does the way of the wicked prosper out of Jeremiah 12.1? Why do the wicked live on growing old and increasing in power? Job 21 verse 7. The last time in history the human race saw God's holy justice on display was during the flood of Noah. In response to human wickedness, God wiped out the whole human race except for eight people. The flood was a testimony to God's sense of justice. See, there is a difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament and the revealing that Paul is now giving. God was just then. God remains just. He is the same God. His judgment is righteous. The judgment toward sin is often by itself always the same. The truth is that God had patiently held back his hand of justice so that the human race may continue to exist.

Humanity does not see that and shows no gratitude for God's interesting restraining grace.

To most people it seems that God doesn't care about sin, but God cares deeply about sin.

The cross is proof of that, and he cares deeply about human beings. The cross is proof of that, too. The cross is where the justice of God meets the love of God. All the stored up punishment that we deserve was poured out upon Jesus at the cross. God did not spare his son one iota of the wrath that the human race deserves. That outpouring of God's wrath explains the awful cry of abandonment that comes from the cross. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? There Jesus entered into the eternal emptiness of God's judgment. Paul's argument is that God presented Jesus as a sacrifice of atonement in order to demonstrate his justice so that he would maintain his own justice while still being free to extend love and mercy to undeserving human beings. That is the amazing good news of the gospel. God's love has been freed to act towards us. That's interesting.

God's love has been freed to act towards us, yet at the same time, his justice has been satisfied.

When Jesus died on Golgotha, took our sins upon him, and blood has got to be shed for sin, that is what is being stated here, is that his justice had been satisfied. At the cross, it was satisfied, and yet his mercy and love were also satisfied, and that is the heart of the gospel. Let's bring this home to demonstrate at the present time his righteousness that he might be just in the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Then it's interesting. Paul closes chapter 3 with three questions. Remember, he's like a good lawyer. Where is boasting then? Where is boasting then? It is excluded by what law or works. Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. The first question then is, who can boast? Paul's answer, no one. How can you boast when you have received the gift of grace without any merit on your part? If we can't boast, then we can't look down on others for their sins.

All boasting is excluded. All religious and moral snobbery is excluded. We are accepted by God on the basis of the free gift of grace. This is the message of Romans. The message of Romans is quit staring at other people, quit holding your nose regarding other people, thinking that somehow their socks stink but yours don't, and that we are all given the grace of God.

Next question. Or is he the God of the Jews only? Is he not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, the Gentiles also, since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. The second question is, is the God of Jews only? In other words, are Jews the only recipients of God's grace? Are the non-Jewish Gentiles excluded by God?

Does God grant special favors to this group or that group because of their ethnicity or ancestry or national origin? Is there one God for the Jews and another for the Gentiles?

Paul's answer? Of course not. There is only one God, and he is the God now of both the Jews and the Gentiles. You can go to Galatians 3, verse 31. There is neither Jew nor Gentile slave or free man and or woman. Now, that's being spoken about figuratively. I was talking to our friend here earlier on. I said, don't take that too figuratively and walk to a woman's restroom, that is a figurative phrase. There is no man, there is no woman. You have to always know what is figurative and what is black and white. Basically, what God is saying is, there are no more walls.

All walls have come tumbling down by my gift of my son, Jesus Christ.

Third question, do we then? Here's the big one. We've covered this ground before many years in the Church of God community because it can kind of sound like, well, you know, Christians can, well, now that Christ has come, we just kind of can do whatever we want and have a free roller coaster ride without law in the backseat. Or do we then make void the law through faith? Notice the power of Paul's statements. Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law. Let's examine this third question and then we'll conclude any questions. Do we then nullify the law by this faith? In other words, does faith cancel out the law? Here is the law from Sinai for 1500 years.

Christ has come. We come to God in faith. We have the free gift and therefore cancel. As we say in Hebrew, it's all over baby. You don't need to do that anymore. Is that, is that, Paul said, listen, don't even go there. Certainly not. In other words, does faith cancel out the law? Does faith mean that we no longer need the law? Paul's answer, no. Faith in Jesus fulfills the law. The righteousness which the law demands is the same righteousness that is given to us in Christ. So if we have the righteousness from God as a gift, then we no longer need to fear the law because of its demands. Demands that are nothing less than absolute perfection.

That yes, in a sense, have been met by Christ. Having received the righteousness from God, we are forgiven. But receiving God's forgiveness is not something we do only once. It is something we must experience again and again. It is the cleansing basis on which we are to live from day to day. The Apostle Paul put it this way, John, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. Even as a Christian coming to God in faith, accepting the grace of God and the gift of that sacrifice, having gone through redemption, propitiation, and justification, the law still is in effect. We will still fall. We will still sin. And yet that source of fitness is still there. Remember, as we said last time in closing, justification is used by Paul in a twofold sense. In one sense, it is used as an event and in the other, it is used as an ongoing existence. That in a continued state of justification, we must in that sense yield to a sovereign God in His will and in His ways and in His testimony and in His oracles, which are, in a sense, the law as well.

I had to move real quickly to get through Romans 3. I hope you don't mind. Any questions?

Yes, Doug. What about the calendar as one of the oracles? That's often been used as an oracle of God, as something that was given. Romans 13 and verse 8, if I'm not mistaken, you can check that I'm doing that off the top of my head.

Is it Romans 8? Maybe I'm not thinking right. No, maybe it's this one about the oracles of God given to the Jews. I thought it was also Romans 13. Maybe that's another thing. Yes, but the calendar is not something apart from Scripture in that sense.

But we take it in that sense that that is why we, in that sense, turn to the Jews as a source on the calendar. As we understand it, it is an understanding that is continually subject to more understanding times. It is something that has been passed on. It is not, in a sense, like Bible, black and white, and certainly not in the saith. It is something that has been given to the Jews, and we accept that. But I would want you to understand that, and I think this is important, that Paul, Paul, when we talk, if you get anything out of this today, other than hopefully great open encouragement, lift up, the oracles should not just simply, sometimes people just use it as, oh, that's the Hebrew calendar, and sometimes certain Protestant communities, not all by any means, might just put it to the Decalogue or the Ten Commandments. The oracles really are the full witness of God in the Old Testament, specifically underlined by the promises of God, of which Christ came in fullness. Yeah? The Spanish guy, Michael, says the word of God.

Yeah, the word of God, yeah. Yeah, which is good. The term oracle, some of the commentaries, the oracle just makes it personalized, in other words, rather than a hand-me-down, written scripture that's passed down. It's almost, the oracle conveys a personal touch.

No, but the word of God, yeah. The word of God, and the word of God is the word of God. Yeah, why don't we get out of this building, because we have the other church coming in at night now. Yes? Yes, oracle, as this is the viewpoint of the world, is basically, now I'm not relating this to God in any way, but just so I have to understand the meaning of oracle was basically, they're revealing dreams, but these are the wrong kinds of dreams that are coming from the world. No. But when you apply the word oracle to God, these are his dreams, and he's sharing them with Israel. You know what I mean? Yeah, his dreams, his hopes, yeah. And of course, in the ancient world, we have like the oracle of Delphi. Mark, we have the the oracle of Delphi, which is very famous, which was in a sense the word of the gods to human beings. It was a pipeline of revelation. I like how you put it. I think that's really neat. God's dreams for humanity, shared with humanity.