"Only Life Changes"

Question:

Answer:
Abraham is given a high position of respect in three major world faiths, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the covenant, the special relationship between the Jewish people and God, leading to the belief that the Jews are the chosen people of God . It reads in Romans 4:16 NIV: “Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring, not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.”

It reads in Romans 4:3-22 NIV:
” What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

(“Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them.”)

Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless, because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression. Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring, not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed, the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not. Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead, since he was about a hundred years old, and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”

Question:
Did the advantages of the Jews bring redemption?
Answer:
Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.
Romans 3:20 NIV
God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood, to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished, he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
Romans 3:25-26 NIV

Question:
What advantages did the Jews have in earlier times?
Answer:
Much in every way!

First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God. Romans 3:2 NIV: The people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises.

Romans 9:4 NIV

Question:
Who is now the true Jew?

Answer:
No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.
Romans 2:29

Question:
What is Paul’s attitude towards the Jewish people?
Answer:
Paul (previously called Saul of Tarsus; (c. 5 – c. 64/65 AD), commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. Generally regarded as one of the most important figures of the Apostolic Age, he founded several Christian communities in Asia Minor and Europe from the mid-40s to the mid-50s AD. “Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge.” Romans 10:1-2 NIV

Question:
Wat has Jesus Christ done to the law?
Answer:
Jesus is the only person who has ever kept the law perfectly. He did everything the law required, never once breaking any of its commandments. Because He was sinless, Jesus was able to meet the requirements of the law to be the perfect sacrifice. His death redeemed humanity from the curse of the law. “Jesus Christ is the end of the law, that everyone who has faith may be justified.” (Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. Romans 10:4) “Love is the fulfilling of the law.” (Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. Romans 13:10)

Question:
What is Paul’s attitude toward the Jewish Law?
Answer:

Difference with Paul’s Jewish heritage and his encounter with the resurrected Christ led to an understanding that keeping the Law was impossible. Thoroughly acquainted with it from his youth, Paul learned that efforts to keep it left him with a sense of uselessness: Paul speaks in Romans 7:24 NIV: “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? ” Paul reconciles Jewish law with Christian faith by using Jesus’ words ““A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34). He states that this single commandment is a fulfillment of the entire Jewish law (Galatians 5:1–15) focuses on what those in Christ should do with our freedom in Christ. First, we must guard it, especially from those who would pressure us to follow the law.

Question:
What is the position of the Gentiles who did not know the Law of Mose’s?
Answer:
It reads in Romans 2:13-16 ESV: For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. (So, they have God’s law written on their conscience.)

Question:

What is the wrath of God?

Answer:
The other side to Holy love is Gods wrath is His opposition to evil.
Romans 1:18: The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness. But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness.
Romans 3:5: ‘But,’ some might say, ‘our sinfulness serves a good purpose, for it helps people see how righteous God is. Isn’t it unfair, then, for him to punish us?’ (This is merely a human point of view.)”
Romans 4:15: because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law, there is no transgression. because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression. For the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it. (The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break!)

Question:
What is the purpose of God’s kindness?
Answer:
Taking a major turn in the letter of Paul to the Romans. Romans 1:16–17 is the punch line of the letter is to lead all to repentance. In the gospel it has the power of God to save believers from the wrath to come. This gospel is the good news of Jesus’s death and resurrection. Good news that has power to save believers from God’s wrath, because in the gospel, day by day, week after week, year after year, God keeps on revealing his righteousness as a gift to be received by faith and for faith. For those who have their righteousness from God (not of themselves) will not perish but have everlasting life.