Romans

Van julle het alreeds Francois du Toit se vertaling van Romeine deur e-pos ontvang. Tot op datum het hy die eerste 11 hoofstukke vertaal met notas by. Hier volg alles tot op hede. Soos die volgende hoofstukke deurkom sal ek hierdie pos daarmee wysig. Ek gaan ook langs die kant "links" byvoeg vir elke hoofstuk.

Geniet dit. Dit is waarlik uit openbaring uit.

ROMANS
A translation from the original text
by Francois du Toit

Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16

Chapter 1

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
1:1 Paul, passionately engaged by Jesus Christ, identified in Him to represent Him. My exclusive (marked out) message is to announce the news of the goodness of God to mankind.
1:2 This news is what the scriptures are all about. It remains the central prophetic theme and content of inspired writing.
1:3 The son of God has his natural lineage from the seed of David,
1:4 however, His powerful resurrection from the dead by the Holy Spirit, locates and confirms His being and sonship in God.
1:5 The grace and apostleship we received from Him, is to bring about the obedience of faith in all the nations. All the nations are identified in His name.
1:6 Jesus Christ gives definition to your design!
1:7 I am addressing this writing to you Romans, convinced of God’s love for you, He identified you in His son, as being separated unto Him. His grace gift in Christ secures your total wellbeing. The Father of the Lord Jesus Christ is ours also, He is our God.
1:8 My greatest joy is to realise that your faith is announced throughout the entire world. The total cosmos is our audience!
1:9 My spiritual worship is occupied with this one theme, the declaring of the goodness of God revealed in sonship, this inspires my prayers for you. God has every one of them on record!
1:10 I am already knitted to you in my prayers and how I long to also see you face to face!
1:11 I yearn to see you, knowing that my spiritual gift to you will benefit you greatly; it will cement and establish you.
1:12 And so we will be mutually encouraged in the reflection of our common faith.
1:13 Until now I have been prevented from coming to you, even though I have frequently desired to reap some harvest in you as much as I anticipate the full fruit of this gospel in all the nations.
1:14 I am so convinced of everyone’s inclusion; I am indebted both to the Greeks as well as those many foreigners whose languages we do not even understand. I owe this message to everyone, it is not a matter of how literate and educated people are; the illiterate are equally included in the benefit of the good news.
1:15 Because of this compelling urgency I am so keen to preach to you Romans also!
1:16 That is why I am not at all modest about the good news of Christ, I make no apologies! The powerful rescuing act of God becomes evident in everyone who believes. This salvation which was first declared to the Jews is now extended to the Greeks on equal terms.
1:17 The secret is out, God did it right in Christ; He is convinced about mankind and now persuades us to believe what He knows to be true about us. The prophets wrote in advance about this life of righteousness which would be based on faith and not on personal performance.
1:18 (The law) revealed God’s wrath from heaven against all unrighteousness and ungodliness because mankind foolishly suppressed and concealed the truth in their unrighteousness,
1:19 even though God is not a stranger to them, for what can be known of God is already manifest in them. He is in their face.
1:20 God is on display in creation; the very fabric of visible cosmos appeals to reason. It clearly bears witness to the ever present sustaining power and intelligence of the invisible God, leaving man without any valid excuse to ignore Him.
1:21 Yet man only knew Him in a philosophical religious way, from a distance as it were, and failed to give Him credit as God. Their taking Him for granted and lack of gratitude veiled Him from them; they became absorbed in useless debates and discussions which further darkened their understanding about themselves.
1:22 Their wise conclusions only proved folly.
1:23 Loosing sight of God, made them loose sight of who they really were. In their calculation the image and likeness of God became reduced to a corrupted
and distorted pattern of themselves. Suddenly man has more in common with the creepy crawlies than with his original blue-print!
(The Message Translation)1:24 So God said, in effect, "If that's what you want, that's what you get." It wasn't long before they were living in a pigpen, smeared with filth, filthy inside and out.
1:25 And all this because they traded the true God for a fake god, and worshiped the god they made instead of the God who made them-the God we bless, the God
who blesses us. Oh, yes!
1:26 Worse followed. Refusing to know God, they soon didn't know how to be human either-women didn't know how to be women, men didn't know how to be men.
1:27 Sexually confused, they abused and defiled one another, women with women, men with men-all lust, no love. And then they paid for it, oh, how they paid
for it-emptied of God and love, godless and loveless wretches.
1:28 Since they didn't bother to acknowledge God, God quit bothering them and let them run loose.
1:29 And then all hell broke loose: rampant evil, grabbing and grasping, vicious backstabbing. They made life hell on earth with their envy, wanton killing,
bickering, and cheating. Look at them: mean-spirited, venomous,
1:30 fork-tongued God-bashers. Bullies, swaggerers, insufferable windbags! They keep inventing new ways of wrecking lives. They ditch their parents when they
get in the way.
1:31 Stupid, slimy, cruel, cold-blooded.
1:32 And it's not as if they don't know better. They know perfectly well they're spitting in God's face. And they don't care-worse, they hand out prizes to those who do the worst things best!


Notes:
v1 apostelo, an extension from Him, a representative doulos, slave from deo, to be bound or knitted together like a husband and wife.
kletos from kaleo, called, to identify by name, also the 2nd part of the word ecclesia, Math.16:17,18 eu + angellion good news, the official announcement of God’s goodness.
v 2 Math 22:41-45 and 23:9
v3 Math.22:41-45 also Math.23:9, 1Cor.8:6, Eph.3:14,15, Eph.4:6,7.
v 4 apo + horizo, to mark out beforehand, to define or locate, lit. horizon, same word translated exclusive in v 1. In his preaching in Acts 13:32,33, Paul
links the resurrection to Ps 2 “Today I have begotten you” He has come to locate us and confirm that we have our genesis in God! See 1Pet.1:3, Hos.6:2, and
Isa.66:8,9.
v 5 obedience lit. accurate hearing. Every family in heaven and on earth, Eph 3:15. Note that Paul immediately sets out to give new definition to obedience, no longer by law, but of faith.
v 7 Gal.1:15,16 He separated me from my mother’s womb when He revealed His son in me, in order that I may declare Him in the nations
v 10 beseech, deomai, from deo to tie together, to be knitted together
v 11 metadidomi the kind of giving where the giver is not distanced from the gift but wrapped up in it!
The apostles, prophets, preachers, pastors and teachers are gifts to the believers to establish them in their faith and to present them in the full and mature stature of Christ. Ephesians 4:11-16. There is such a vast difference between a gift and a reward! We are God’s gifts to one another. What we are in our individual expression is a gift and not a reward for personal diligence or achievement. These gifts were never meant to establish one above the other, or
to become mere formal titles, but rather to identify specific and dynamic functions with one defined purpose, to bring everyone into the realisation of the
fullness of the measure of Christ in them!
v 14 to be indebted, to have to return something to someone that belongs to them in the first place.
v 17 In it (this gospel) the righteousness of God is revealed, from faith to faith. He is the Author and finisher of our faith. Heb.12:1.
The gospel is the revelation of the righteousness of God; it declares how God got it right to put mankind right with Him. The word righteousness comes from
the Anglo Saxon word, rightwiseness, wise in that which is right. In Greek the root word for righteousness, is the word dike, which means two parties finding
likeness in each other. The Hebrew word for righteousness is the word tzadok, which refers to the beam in a scale of balances. If God is the standard measure, then that which reflects His likeness and image alone will balance the scale.
Habakkuk 2:4…”the just shall live by faith.” The Hebrew word for faith means a total dependence like a child upon the breast of his mother.
v 18 The law reveals how guilty and sinful man is, while the gospel reveals how forgiven and restored to his original blueprint man is.

Summary notes
Understanding the wrath and judgement of God in context:
From chapter1:18 to 3:20 Paul proceeds to give a graphic display of distorted human behaviour. Being a Jew, and therefore to know the law, offers no real
advantage since it offers no disguise from sin. It is the same ugliness and deserves the same judgement. His triumphant statement in v 16,17 of chapter1 and again reinforced in chapter 3:21-24, is set against this backdrop. The good news declares the power of
God to rescue man from the ‘guttermost’ to the uttermost.
He brings the argument of the ineffectiveness of the law to get man to change his behaviour, to a final crescendo in Chapter 7. He states in 7 verse 1 that he is writing to those who know the law. They have first hand experience therefore of the weakness of the rule to consistently govern the conduct of man.
The best that the law could offer was to educate and confirm good intention; but the more powerful law, the law of sin introduced to universal mankind
through one man’s transgression, has to be challenged by a greater force than human willpower.
Because sin robbed man of his true identity and awakened in him all kinds of worse-than-animal-like conduct, a set of rules couldn’t do it. The revelation of God’s righteousness has to be far more effective and powerful than the revelation of man’s guilt.
Paul’s argument is that it is evident that because of man’s corrupt behaviour, mankind deserves nothing less than God’s wrath and condemnation. Yet within this context the grace and mercy of God is revealed, not as mere tolerance from God’s side to turn a blind eye and to put up with sin, but as God’s triumphant act in Christ to break sin’s spell and dominion over man.
For salvation to be relevant it has to offer mankind a basis and reference for his faith to launch from. It has to offer a conclusion of greater implication than the stalemate condition man finds himself in under the dispensation of the law.
“Even though my inner man agrees that the law is good and desires to obey its requirements, my best intentions leave me powerless against the demands of sin in my body! Oh, wretched man that I am!” Woe be unto us, but for the revelation of God’s righteous intervention! The wrath and judgement man rightfully deserved fell on Christ; He was made to be sin
who knew no sin. “He was handed over because of our transgressions, and triumphantly raised because of our acquittal.” (4:25)
For his act of obedience and sacrifice to carry more weight and significance than the act of Adam’s disobedience and sin He has to qualify, like Adam to represent the same mass of humanity that stood condemned. Also, His act on mankind’s behalf must be recognised in the highest courts of universal justice, superior to any contradiction or condemnation. His judgement and death has to fully represent man for it to be of any relevance to man’s faith. If He didn’t die our death we would be presumptuous to reckon that we also co-died with Him.

Chapter 2

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
2:1 Your presumed knowledge of that which is right or wrong does not qualify you to judge anyone. Especially if you do exactly the same stuff you notice other people do wrong. You effectively condemn yourself. No man is another man’s judge.
2:2 God must judge all transgression, but your judging others does not make them any guiltier!
2:3 God is totally impartial in His judgement; you are not scoring any points or disguising your own sins by telling on others!
2:4 We cannot afford to get the wrong idea about God’s goodness; the wealth of His benevolence and His stubborn refusal to let go of us, and His patient passion is to gently shepherd everyone into a radical change of heart.
2:5 A calloused heart that resists change accumulates cause to self-destruction while God’s righteous judgement (that fell on Christ) is revealed in broad
daylight.
2:6 You are on your own; your own deeds will judge you.
2:7 Mankind’s’ quest is to be constant in that which is good, glorious and honourable and of imperishable value. He is committed to pursue the original blueprint-life of the Ages.
2:8 Yet there are those who ignore the truth (about their identity as sons) through unbelief. They continue to exist as mere hirelings, motivated by a monthly wage (rather than sonship). They believe in their failure and unrighteousness and are consumed by outbursts of anger and displeasure.
2:9 Pressures from every side, like an overcrowded room, (or a cramped foot in an undersized shoe,) is the experience of the soul of everyone who does what
is worthless. The fact that the Jews are Jewish does not make their experience of evil any different from that of the Greeks.
2:10 In sharp contrast to this, bliss, self-worth and total tranquillity is witnessed by everyone, both Jew and Greek, who finds expression in that which is good. We are tailor-made for good.
2:11 God does not judge people on face value.
2:12 Ruin and self-destruction are the inevitable results of sin, whether someone knows the law or not.
2:13 Righteousness is not a hear-say thing, it is law defined in practical living!
2:14 For even a pagan’s natural instinct will confirm the law to be present in his conscience even though he has never even heard about Jewish laws. Thus he proves to be a law unto himself.
2:15 The law is so much more than a mere written code, its presence in human conscience even in the absence of the written instruction is obvious, condemning or commending personal conduct.
2:16 Every hidden, conflicting thought will be disclosed in the daylight of God’s scrutiny, based on the good news of Jesus Christ that I proclaim. (The ineffectiveness of good intentions and self discipline to produce lasting change will be exposed as worthless in contrast to the impact of the message of Christ’s death and resurrection as representing mankind’s death and new birth.)
2:17 Your Jewish identity does not make God your exclusive property,
2:18 even though you boast in the fact that you have the documented desire of God published like an instruction manual in the law.
2:19 You promote yourself confidently as a guide for the blind, and a light bearer for those groping about in darkness.
2:20 You feel yourself so superior to the rest of the world that you sell yourself as the ‘kindergarten’ teacher to the mindless, an instructor of infants,
because you believe that in the law you’ve got knowledge and truth all wrapped up in a nutshell.
2:21 However, the real question is not whether you are a good teacher; how good a student are you? What’s the good of teaching against stealing when you yourself have a reputation of a kleptomaniac?
2:22 You speak against adultery while you cannot get your own mind off sexual sins. It just doesn’t make sense does it? You say idolatry stinks yet you steal stuff from pagan shrines.
2:23 Your proud association with the law is ruined every time you dishonour God by dodging the doing bit.
2:24 This has been going on for hundreds of years, it is all recorded in scripture. No wonder the Gentiles think that your God is no better than any of their philosophies when it comes to living the life the law promotes.
2:25 The real value of circumcision is tested by your ability to keep the law. If you break the law you might as well not be circumcised.
2:26 The fact that you are circumcised does not distinguish you from the rest of the world; it does not give you super-human power to keep the commandments.
2:27 If it is not about who is circumcised or not, but rather who keeps the law or not, then in that case even uncircumcised people can judge the ones who claim to know it all and have it all! On the one hand you have those who feel naturally inclined to do what is right, yet none of them are circumcised, then you have the circumcised who know the letter of the law but fail to keep it.
2:28 So it is not about who you appear to be on the outside that makes you a real Jew, but who you really are on the inside.
2:29 For you to know who you are in your heart is the secret of your spirit identity; this is your true circumcision, it is not the literal outward appearance that distinguishes you. After all it is God’s approval and not man’s impression that matters most. Man sees skin-deep, God knows the heart.

Notes:
v 4 Paul often has to remind his readers that his emphasis on the goodness of God is not a cheap excuse for them to continue in sin. See 6:1
chrestotetos from chraomai, to receive a loan, life is on loan to us as it were. Life is God’s property. anoches from ana, showing intensity and echo, to hold makrothumias to be patient in bearing the offences and injuries of others. Literary, passion that goes a long way; from the root word thuo, to slay a sacrifice ago, to lead as a shepherd leads his sheep metanoia, traditionally translated, repentance, suggests a total change of mind, to come to your right mind.
v 7 the life of the ages is the most attractive life man could wish to live, yet it remains elusive outside the redemption that Christ worked on man’s behalf. Not even the most quality decision to live a blameless life under the law could measure up.
v 8 erithea from erithos, working as a hireling for wages (traditionally translated, self-willed or contentious) apeitheo, to be unpersuaded (traditionally translated to be disobedient)
v 9 Symptoms of disease are the same in anyone, they are no respecter of person, doctrine or nationality.
v18 dokimatso, document, decree, approve; diaphero to carry through, to publish (Acts 13:49), to discern the difference.

Chapter 3

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
3:1 Having said all that, you might ask whether there is still any advantage in being Jewish? Is there any significance in circumcision?
3:2 Everything only finds its relevance and value in the original intention of God realised by faith.
3:3 The question is, how does someone’s failure to believe God affect the integrity of God? Could their unbelief reduce God’s faith to zero?
3:4 God’s Word is not under threat! In fact if all of humanity fails, truth remains intact. Truth is rooted in God; it is neither challenged nor vindicated
by man’s experience. (Truth doesn’t become true only if someone believes it.) Contradiction does not intimidate or diminish the faith of God. (What God
believes about man, does not change through man’s unfaithfulness. God remains convinced about us.)
Scripture records that God stands justified in His own Word; it confirms that God’s promise and purpose are not compromised through man’s failure; neither is
God’s reputation threatened by man’s behaviour.
3:5 We could argue then that God doesn’t have a right to judge us, if our unrighteousness only emphasises His?
3:6 That would make God an unfair judge of the world.
3:7 This almost sounds like I am saying that it is not really wrong to sin, if our cheating only serves to further contrast the truth of God.
3:8 Because of my emphasis on God’s grace, some people slanderously make the assumption and accuse me that my teaching would give people a licence to sin.
“Let us do evil that good may come!” I strongly condemn such foolish talk!
3:9 It is has been proved again and again that sin holds the sway over both Jew and Greek alike.
3:10 Scripture records that within the context of the law, no-one succeeds to
live a blameless life.
3:11 Because there seems to be no sincere craving and desire to know God there is no spiritual insight. (While man remains casual and indifferent about God,
his heart remains calloused)
3:12 Their distraction has bankrupted their lives; that goes for the mass of
mankind, without any exception.
3:13 “When they open their mouth to speak they bury one another with destructive words. They snake each other with lies and corruption.
3:14 With sharp tongues they cut one another to pieces, cursing and cheating; their every word is inspired by the wearisome effort to survive in a dog-eat-
dog world.
3:15 Murder has become a regular ritual; without any regard for another’s life.
3:16 Their path is littered with broken lives.
3:17 They have lost the art of friendship.
3:18 They have completely lost sight of God.”
3:19 The fact that all these quotations are from Jewish writings, confirms that their law of moral conduct did not free them from the very same sins the rest
of the world was trapped in. Universal mankind stands condemned before God.
3:20 The law therefore reveals how sinful man is, but has no power to present man blameless before God.
3:21 (This brings me back to the theme of my ministry, chapter 1:1, 2, 5,16,17.) Right now the righteousness of God (the fact that God succeeded to vindicate
sinful mankind in Christ) is boldly declared in vivid contrast to the ability of man to do it himself (to be righteous by keeping the law.) This restored
standing of man is what both the law and all the prophetic writings confirm and anticipate. (God’s dealing with man is based on the fact that man’s
conscience continues to bear witness to his original design.)
3:22 Jesus is the embodiment of God’s faith in man. The righteousness of God is now on display in such a way that all may believe, regardless
of who they are, there is no distinction!
3:23 The same mass of mankind that was once reduced to an inferior identity through their sin,
3:24 is now gifted with acquittal on the basis of the ransom paid by Jesus Christ for their liberation.
3:25 Jesus is the public exhibition of God’s mercy. His blood persuades mankind that God has dealt with the historic record of their sin.
He has done it in such a way that His own justice is satisfied. All along God refused to let go of man.
3:26 At this very moment His act of righteousness is pointing mankind to the
evidence of their innocence, with Jesus as the source of their faith.
3:27 The law of faith cancels the law of works; which means there is suddenly nothing left for man to boast in! No one is superior to another!
(Bragging only makes sense if there is someone to compete with or impress.)
3:28 This leaves us with only one logical conclusion, mankind is justified by faith and not by their ability to keep the law.
3:29 Which means that God is not the private property of the Jews but belongs equally to all the nations. (While the law excludes the non-
Jewish nations, faith includes us all on level terms.)
3:30 There is only one God, He deals with everyone, circumcised or uncircumcised exclusively on the basis of faith.
3:31 No, faith does not re-write the rules; instead it confirms that the original
life-quality meant for mankind as documented in the law, is again realised.

Notes
3:3 God does not stand indifferent to our failure, His love is larger than the sum total of human failure. He remains faithful to us! His faith knows our
perfection because of His perfect act, amidst the greatest contradiction. Eph.3:18,19, Eph.2:10, Deut.32:4, James1:17,18.
3:4 See 2Cor.13:5 and 8, “...we can do nothing against the truth!”
David’s sin did not cancel God’s promise Psa_51:4 : “I acknowledge my sin, and condemn myself. I pray that the truth of thy promise (2Sa_7:15, 2Sa_7:16) to
establish my house and throne for ever, may be vindicated when thou shalt execute that dreadful threatening, (2Sa_12:10), that the sword shall never depart
from my house, which I own I have brought upon myself by my own iniquity.
Ps 51:4 that thou might be justified in thy sayings, and might overcome when thou art judged
2Sa 7:15 But my mercy I will not take from him,
2Sa 7:16 and his house shall be made sure, and his kingdom for ever before me, and his throne shall be set up for ever.”
3:5-8 Philips translation But if our wickedness advertises the goodness of God, do we feel that God is being unfair to punish us in return? (I'm using a
human tit-for-tat argument.) Not a bit of it! What sort of a person would God be then to judge the world? It is like saying that if my lying throws into
sharp relief the truth of God and, so to speak, enhances his reputation, then why should he repay me by judging me a sinner? Similarly, why not do evil that
good may be, by contrast all the the more conspicuous and valuable? (As a matter of fact, I am reported as urging this very thing, by some slanderously and
others quite seriously! But, of course, such an argument is quite properly condemned.)
3:9 Like any disease would show exactly the same symptom regardless of the person’s nationality
3:10 Psalm 14:1 To the choirmaster. Of David. The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none that
does good.
2The LORD looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any that act wisely, that seek after God.
3They have all gone astray, they are all alike corrupt; there is none that does good, no, not one.
In Gen.18, Abraham intercedes for Sodom and Gomorrah, “If there perhaps are 50 righteous people, will you save the city on their behalf?” He continues to
negotiate with God, until he’s down to, “perhaps ten?”…”there was none righteous, no not one…” See Rom 9:
This argument is building up to the triumphant conclusion of the fact that there is indeed no distinction, the same people who all fell short of the glory of
God are now justified through God’s work of grace in Christ, :21-24.
3:11 suniemi, a joint-seeing, spiritual insight.
3:13 v13-18 are quotations from Ps 10 and Ps 14.
3:14 Taken direct from the Hebrew text in Ps.10:7 Heb. tok tok from tavek, to cut to pieces. Heb. amal and aven to exert oneself in wearisome effort.
3:25,26 In both these verses Paul uses the word, endeixis, where we get the word indicate from. It is also part of the root for the word translated as
righteousness, dikaiosune. To point out to show to convince with proof.
3:27 See 2Pet.1:1 “Through the righteousness of God we have received a faith of equal standing.”

Chapter 4

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
16
4:1 If we look at our father Abraham as an example and scrutinise his life, would you say that he discovered any reason for placing confidence in the flesh
through personal contribution?
4:2 If he felt that his friendship with God was a reward for good behaviour, then surely he would have reason to recommend the recipe; but the question is
would God approve?
4:3 Scripture gives a clear answer! “Abraham believed God and that concluded his righteousness.”
4:4 In principle there is a huge difference between a reward and a gift: if you have earned something through hard work; it’s your due that you receive and
certainly not a gift.
4:5 It is clear then that someone who believes that God is able to justify the ungodly understands that it is his faith and not his toil that counts for
righteousness.
4:6 David confirms this principle when he speaks of the blessedness of the one who discovers God’s approval without any reference to something specific he
did to qualify himself.
4:7 “To be separated from transgression and to have your sins deleted is to make happy progress in life.
4:8 How blessed is the man who receives a receipt instead of an account for his sins!”
4:9 Is this blessing restricted exclusively to the circumcised or extended also to the uncircumcised? Remember we are looking at Abraham as an example; his
righteousness was founded on faith.
4:10 Did circumcision play any role in Abraham’s standing before God? Certainly not, it is clear that God already calculated his faith as righteousness
before he was circumcised.
4:11 Circumcision was introduced as a (prophetic) external seal to confirm the fact that Abraham’s faith already resulted in righteousness. This qualifies
him to be the father of all uncircumcised people who would believe as he did in the impartation of acquittal. (The seal was not meant to be a distraction but
rather a confirmation to righteousness by faith. Just like a receipt is only a reference to, and not the actual transaction.)
4:12 At the same time he also represents as father all those for whom circumcision is not merely a skin deep religious ritual, but who walk in the footprints
of his faith.
4:13 Righteousness by faith prompted the promise when God announced to Abraham that he would father those who would inherit the world.
It is again a matter of embracing a gift rather than receiving a reward for keeping the law.
4:14 Faith would be emptied of its substance and the principle of promise would be meaningless if the law was still in play to qualify the heirs.
4:15 Law is bound to bring about disappointment, regret and anger; if there is no law there is nothing to break; no contract, no breach.
4:16 Therefore since faith sponsors the gift of grace, the promise is equally secured for all the children. The law has no exclusive claim on anyone (the
reward system cannot match the gift) Faith is our source, and that makes Abraham our father.
4:17 When God changed Abram’s name to Abraham, He made a public statement that he would be the father of all nations. (Genesis 17:5) Here we see Abraham
faced with God’s faith; the kind of faith that resurrects the dead and calls things which are not (because we still could not see them) as though they were.
4:18 Faith gave substance to hope when everything seemed hopeless; the words, “so shall your seed be” conceived in him the faith of fatherhood.
4:19 Abraham’s faith would have been nullified if he were to take his own age and the deadness of Sarah’s womb into account. His hundred year old body did
not distract him! There was nothing feeble in his faith when he considered both his own body as well as the womb of Sarah as dead!
4:20 While he had every reason to doubt the promise, he did not hesitate for a moment but instead empowered by faith confidence, he continued to communicate
God’s opinion. (His name was his confession)
4:21 His persuasion was attached to him like a daily worn uniform; he knew beyond doubt that the power of God to perform was equal to His promise.
4:22 No wonder then that his faith was reckoned to him as righteousness. There was no other logical conclusion possible!
4:23 Here is the good news, the recorded words, “It was reckoned to him…” were not written for his sake alone!
4:24 God had us in mind! The same logical conclusion is now relevant to everyone’s faith. The resurrection of our Lord Jesus from the dead is the
consummation and chief ingredient of faith.
4:25 Our sins explain His death; now His resurrection explains our acquittal.


Notes
4:1 Abraham the father of the multitudes of nations.
4:7 Hebrew word ashar, blessed, means to advance, to make progress
4:10 Righteousness is not a reward.
4:14 Faith is not in competition with the law. The life quality that faith reveals is consistent with man’s original design and confirmed by the law.
4:17 Abraham’s identity, his name was his confession in the absence of Isaac. The name change, similar to that of Simon to Rock, returns man to realise his
original identity as son of God, hewn out of the Rock, Deut.32:18
4:18 Abraham’s case here pictures` the hopelessness of fallen man, having lost their identity.
4:19 No contribution from their side could possibly assist God in fulfilling His promise!
4:20 In the Hebrew language, Abraham was not a familiar sounding name, but a meaningful sentence, a confession of faith authority, against the odds. He did
not become embarrassed about his name; he did not change his name to “Abe” for short when there seemed to be no change in his circumstances. Every time he
introduced himself or someone called him by his name, it was a bold declaration and repetition of God’s promise, calling things that were not as though they
were. I would imagine that Sarah spoke his name the most! In fact, every time they addressed one another they spoke the promise, “Mother of nations, kings of
peoples shall come from you!” Gen.17:16.
4:21 plerophoreo, from plero, to be completely covered in every part, + phoreo, to wear garments or armour; traditionally translated to be totally persuaded.
His faith was his visible identity and armour.
4:24 Rom.6:11 “Consider yourself dead indeed,” compare : 19, Abraham considered his own body dead. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is parallel to the
birth of Isaac from a dead womb!
4:25 This is one of the most important statements in the entire Bible. Why was Jesus handed over to die? Because of our sins. Why was He raised from the
dead? Because we were justified! His resurrection reveals our righteousness!
If man was still guilty after Jesus died, His resurrection would neither be possible nor relevant! This explains Acts 10:28 and 2Cor.5:14 and 16.

Chapter 5

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
16
5:1 Righteousness by faith realised means unlimited friendship with God; this is the ultimate conclusion of the Gospel. Jesus Christ is the legal authority
(Lord) of our testimony.
5:2 He has welcomed us with open arms and reinforced the fact that our access into this grace-gift is guaranteed by faith. We stand fully established in
grace while we boldly rejoice in all that God’s opinion communicates and anticipates for us. (Our conviction is sponsored by His initiative)
5:3 Our joyful boasting in Him remains uninterrupted in times of trouble; we know that pressure reveals patience.
5:4 Patience proves legal tender; which buys more positive expectation!
5:5 This kind of hope does not disappoint; the love of God has become an artesian well within us because of the gift of the Holy Spirit.
5:6 God’s timing was absolutely perfect; humanity was at their weakest when Christ died their death. (We were bankrupt in our efforts to save ourselves.)
5:7 It is most unlikely that someone will die for another man, even if he is righteous; yet it is remotely possible that someone can brave such devotion that
he would actually lay down his own life in an effort to save the life of an extraordinary good person.
5:8 Herein is the extremity of God’s love gift: mankind was rotten to the core when Christ died their death.
5:9 If God could love us that much when we were ungodly and guilty, how much more are we free to realise His love now that we are declared innocent by His
blood? (4:25)
5:10 Our hostility towards God did not reduce His love for us; He saw equal value in us when He exchanged the life of His son for ours. Now that the act of
reconciliation is complete, His life in us saves us to the uttermost.
5:11 Thus, our joyful boasting in God continues; Jesus Christ has made reconciliation a reality.
5:12 One man opened the door to sin, sin introduced (spiritual) death; both sin and (spiritual) death had a universal impact, no one escaped its tyranny!
5:13 The law did not introduce sin; sin was just not pointed out yet.
5:14 In the mean time (spiritual) death dominated from Adam to Moses, (2500 years before the law was introduced) no one was excluded; even those whose
transgression was different from Adam’s. The fact is that Adam’s offence set sin into motion, and its mark was universally transmitted and stained the whole
human race.
5:15 The only similarity in the comparison between the offence and the gift, is that both Adam and Christ represent the masses, their single action therefore
bears universal consequence. However the difference in effect is vast, one leads to (spiritual) death, the other to limitless life!
5:16 The difference between the two men is further emphasised in that judgement and condemnation followed a single offence, whereas the free gift of
acquittal and righteousness follows innumerable sins.
5:17 If (spiritual) death saw the gap in one sin, and grabbed the opportunity to dominate mankind in Adam, how much more may we now seize the advantage to
reign in righteousness in this life through that one act of Christ, who declared us innocent by His grace. Grace is out of all proportion in superiority to
the transgression!
5:18 The conclusion is clear: it took just one offence to condemn mankind; one act of righteousness declares the same mankind innocent!
5:19 The disobedience of the one man exhibits humanity as sinners, the obedience of another man exhibits humanity as righteous!
5:20 The presence of the law made no difference, instead it merely highlighted the offence; but where sin increased, grace superseded it!
5:21 (Spiritual) death provided sin its platform and power to reign from, now grace has taken over sovereignty through righteousness to introduce
unthreatened life under the Lordship of Jesus Christ over us.

Notes
5:1 In one sentence Paul sums up the previous four chapters. Peace is a place of friendship beyond guilt, suspicion, blame or inferiority.
5:2 Hope, elpis from elpō which is a primary word which means, to anticipate, usually with pleasure. (Strongs)
5:3 Tribulation doesn’t have what it takes to nullify what hope knows we’ve got!
5:4 dokimos, proof. Thayer Definition: scrutinised and accepted, particularly of coins and money
5:5 If God is not embarrassed about us, there is no reason why we should hang our heads in shame!
5:9 God does not love us more now that we are reconciled to Him; we are now free to realise His love!
5:10 Reconciliation, katalasso, a mutual exchange of equal value. Thayer Definition: to exchange, as coins for others of equivalent value
5:18 Phillips Translation “We see then, that as one act of sin exposed the whole race of men to God’s judgement and condemnation, so one act of perfect
righteousness presents all men freely acquitted in the sight of God!”
5:19 kathistemi to cause to be, to set up, to exhibit.

Chapter 6

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
16
6:1 It is not possible to interpret grace as a cheap excuse to continue in sin. It sounds to some that we are saying, “Let’s carry on sinning then so that
grace may abound!”
6:2 How ridiculous is that! How can we be dead and alive to sin at the same time?
6:3 Baptism illustrates this: we declared our identification with Him in His death through baptism when we were immersed into Jesus Christ.
6:4 Baptism thus portrayed our co-burial with Him into His death; now from God’s point of view our walk in newness of life is exactly parallel to His
resurrection.
6:5 We were like seeds planted together in the same soil, to be raised up to life together. If we were included in His death we are equally included in His
resurrection.
6:6 We perceive that our old identity was co-crucified together with Him, this concludes that the vehicle that accommodated sin in us, was scrapped and
rendered entirely useless. Our slavery to sin has come to an end!
6:7 If nothing else stops you from doing something wrong, death certainly does!
6:8 Faith sees us joined in His death and alive with Him in His resurrection.
6:9 It is plain for all to see that death lost its dominion over Christ in His resurrection, he need not ever die again to prove a further point!
6:10 His appointment with death was a once-off. As far as sin is concerned, He is dead. This is the final testimony of the fact that sin’s power over man is
destroyed. Now it is all life as far as God is concerned. His life reveals an uninterrupted union with the life of God.
6:11 This reasoning is equally relevant to you. Make the calculation, you died and are now alive unto God. You are absent to sin and present with God in
Christ Jesus who is our Master.
6:12 You are under no obligation to sin, it has no further rights to dominate your dead body. Therefore let it not entice you to obey its lusts!
6:13 Do not let the members of your body lie around loose and unguarded in the vicinity of unrighteousness, where sin can seize it and use it as a
destructive weapon against you; rather place yourself in readiness unto God, like someone resurrected from the dead, present your whole person as a weapon of
righteousness, (enforcing God’s grace claim on mankind in Christ.)
6:14 Sin was your master while the law was your measure; now grace rules. (The law revealed your slavery to sin, now grace reveals your freedom from it.)
6:15 Being under grace and not under the law most certainly does not mean that you now have a licence to sin.
6:16 As much as you once gave permission to sin to trap you in its spiral of spiritual death and enslave you to its dictates, the obedience that faith
ignites now, introduces a new rule, rightness with God; to this we willingly yield ourselves. (Righteousness includes everything that God restored us to, in
Christ.)
6:17 The kind of teaching that your heart embraced has set a new standard that became the pattern of your life, the grace of God ended sin’s dominance.
6:18 Sin once called the shots; now righteousness rules!
6:19 I want to say it as plainly as possible, so that the most simple-minded amongst us can understand the parallel: you willingly offered your faculties to
obey sin, you stained your body with unclean acts and allowed lawlessness to gain supremacy in all of your conduct; in exactly the same way, I now encourage
you to present your faculties and person to the supremacy of righteousness to find unrestricted expression in your lifestyle. Sin had the full use of your
body then; now righteousness does.
6:20 You were sins’ slaves without any obligation to righteousness.
6:21 I know you are embarrassed now about the things you used to do with your body; I mean was it worth it? What reward or return did you get but spiritual
death? Sin is a cul-de-sac.
6:22 Consider your life now; there are no outstanding debts, you owe sin nothing! A life bonded to God yields the sacred expression of His character, and
continues in an uninterrupted life.
6:23 The bottom line is this: sin employs you like a soldier for its cause and rewards you with death; God gifts you with the highest quality of life all
wrapped up in Christ Jesus our Leader.


Notes
6:10 His death had no further cause but to deal with our sins; efapax, once and for all, a final testimony, used of what is so done to be of perpetual
validity and never needs repetition.
6:11 The Message Translation, “From now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your mother tongue, and
you hang on every word. You are dead to sin and alive to God. That's what Jesus did.”
6:13 paristemi, to place in readiness in the vicinity of…
6:21 Sin is the worst thing you can ever do with your life!
6:23 opsonion, a soldier’s wage, from opsarion, a piece of dried fish. A soldier puts his life on the line and all he gets in the meantime is a meagre ration
of dried fish (bokkoms) for his effort!

Chapter 7

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
16
7:1 I write to you in the context of your acquaintance with the law; you would agree with me that laws are only relevant in this life.
7:2 A wife is only bound by law to her husband while he lives; any further legal claim he has on her ends with his death.
7:3 The law would call her an adulteress should she give herself to another man while the first husband is still alive. Yet, once he’s dead, she is free to
be another’s wife.
7:4 The very same finality in principle is applicable to you my brothers, in the (crucified) body of Christ you died to the system of the law; your inclusion
in His resurrection brought about a new union. Out of this marriage, (faith) now bears children unto God.
7:5 At the time when the flesh ruled our lives, the subtle influences of sins which were ignited by the law, conceived actions within us that were consistent
in character with their parent and produced spiritual death.
7:6 But now we are fully released from any further association with a life directed by the rule of the law, we are dead to that which once held us captive,
free to be slaves to the newness of spirit-spontaneity rather than age old religious rituals, imitating the mere face value of the written code. (The letter
kills, the Spirit gives life)
7:7 The law in itself is not sinful; I am not suggesting that at all. Yet in pointing sin out, the law was in a sense the catalyst for sinful actions to
manifest. Had the law not specifically said, “Thou shalt not covet” I would not have had a problem with lust.
7:8 But the commandment triggered sin into action, suddenly an array of sinful appetites were awakened in me. The law broke sin’s dormancy.
7:9 Without the law I was alive, the law was introduced, sin revived and I died.
7:10 Instead of being my guide to life, the commandment proved to be a death sentence.
7:11 Sin took advantage of the law, and employed the commandment to seduce and murder me.
7:12 I stress again that the law as principle is holy and so is every individual commandment it contains; it consistently promotes that which is just and
good.
7:13 How then could I accuse something that is that good to have killed me? I say again, it was not the law, but sin that caused my spiritual death. The
purpose of the law was to expose sin as the culprit. The individual commandment ultimately serves to show the exceeding extent of sin’s effect on humanity.
7:14 We agree that the law is spiritual, but because I am sold like a slave to sin, I am reduced to a mere carnal life. (Spiritual death)
7:15 This is how the sell-out to sin affects my life: I find myself doing things my conscience does not allow. My dilemma is that even though I sincerely
desire to do that which is good, I don’t, and the things I despise, I do!
7:16 It is obvious that my conscience sides with the law;
7:17 which confirms then that it is not really I who do these things but sin manifesting its symptoms in me. (Sin is parallel to a dormant virus or illness
that suddenly broke out in very visible symptoms) It has taken my body hostage.
7:18 The total extent and ugliness of sin that inhabits me, reduced my life to good intentions that cannot be followed through.
7:19 Willpower has failed me; this is how embarrassing it is, the quality decision that I make to do good, disappoints; the very evil I try to avoid, is what
I do.
7:20 If I do the things I do not want to do, then it is clear that I am not evil, but that I host sin in my body against my will.
7:21 It has become a predictable principle; I desire to do well, but my mere desire cannot escape the evil presence that dictates my actions!
7:22 The real person that I am on the inside delights in the law of God (the law proves to be consistent with my inner make-up)
7:23 There is another law though, (foreign to my design) the law of sin, activating and enrolling the members of my body as weapons of war against the law of
my mind, I am like a prisoner of war in my own body!
7:24 The situation is absolutely desperate for humankind; is there anyone who can deliver me from this death trap?
7:25 Thank God, this is exactly what He has done through Jesus Christ our Leader; He has come to our rescue! I am finally freed from this conflict between
the law of my mind and the law of sin in my body!


Notes
7:4 The first marriage produced sin; righteousness is the child of the new union.
7:6 The moment you exchange spontaneity with rules, you’ve lost the edge of romance.
7:14 piprasko from perao, meaning to transport into a distant land in order to sell as a slave. Sin is a foreign land.
7:19 If mere quality decisions could rescue man, the law would have been enough. Willpower and good intentions cannot save man. The revelation of what
happened to us in Christ’s death is what brings faith into motion to liberate from within. Faith is not a decision we make to give God a chance, faith is
realising what happened on the cross and in the resurrection of Christ on our behalf!
7:25 If I was left to myself, the best I could do was to try and serve the law of God with my mind, but at the same time continue to be enslaved to the law
of sin in my body.

Chapter 8

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
16
8:1 Now the decisive conclusion is this: in Christ, every bit of condemning evidence against us is cancelled.
8:2 The law of the Spirit is the liberating force of life in Christ. This leaves me with no further obligation to the law of sin and death. Spirit has
superseded the sin enslaved senses as the principle law of our lives.
8:3 The law failed to be anything more than an instruction manual; it had no power to deliver man from the strong influence of sin in the flesh. God
disguised Himself in His son in this very domain where sin ruled man, the human body. The flesh body He lived and conquered in was no different to ours. Thus
sin’s authority in the human body was condemned.
8:4 The righteousness promoted by the law is now realised in us. Our practical day-to-day-life bears witness to spirit inspiration and not flesh domination.
8:5 Sin’s symptoms are sponsored by the senses, a mind dominated by the sensual. Thoughts betray source; spirit life attracts spirit thoughts.
8:6 Thinking patterns are formed by reference, either the sensual appetites of the flesh and spiritual death, or zoe-life and total tranquillity flowing from
a mind addicted to spirit realities.
8:7 A mind focussed on flesh is distracted from God with no inclination to His life-laws. Flesh and spirit are opposing forces.
8:8 It is impossible for those immersed in flesh to at the same time accommodate themselves to the opinion, desire and interest of God.
8:9 But you are not in flesh-mode, you are in spirit-mode, God’s Spirit is at home in you. Anyone who does not see himself fully clothed and identified in
the Spirit of Christ, cannot be himself.
8:10 The revelation of Christ in you declares that your body is as good as dead to sin’s demands; sin cannot find any expression in a corpse. You co-died
with Him. Yet your spirit is alive because of what righteousness reveals.
8:11 The same Spirit that awakened the body of Jesus from the dead inhabits you. In the same act of authority whereby God raised Jesus from the dead, He
co-restores your person to life by His indwelling Spirit.
8:12 We owe flesh nothing.
8:13 To now, in the light of all this, continue to live under the sinful influences of the senses is to reinstate the dominion of spiritual death. Instead,
we are indebted to the highest expression of life inspired by the Spirit. This life demonstrates zero tolerance to the habits and sinful patterns of the
flesh.
8:14 The original life of the Father reproduced in His son is the life the Spirit now conducts within us.
8:15 Slavery is such a poor substitute for sonship! They are opposites; the one leads forcefully through fear; sonship responds fondly to Abba Father.
8:16 His Spirit resonates within our spirit to confirm the fact that we originate in God.
8:17 Because we are His offspring, we qualify to be His heirs, God Himself is our portion, we co-inherit with Christ. Since we were represented and included
in His suffering we equally participate in the glory of His resurrection.
8:18 He has taken the sting out of our suffering; what seemed burdensome in this life becomes insignificant in comparison to the glory He reveals in us.
8:19 Our lives now represent the one event every creature anticipates with held breath, standing on tip-toe as it were to witness the unveiling of the sons
of God. Can you hear the drum-roll?
8:20 Every creature suffered abuse through Adam’s fall; they were discarded like a squeezed-out orange. Creation did not volunteer to fall prey to the effect
of the fall. Yet within this stark setting, hope prevails!
8:21 All creation knows that the glorious liberty of the sons of God sets the stage for their own release from decay.
8:22 We sense the universal agony and pain recorded in history until this very moment.
8:23 We ourselves feel the grief echo of their groaning within us while we are ready to embrace the original blueprint also of our physical stature to the
full consequence of sonship. What we already now participate in as first fruits of the spirit will bloom into a full gathering of the harvest.
8:25 Our expectation takes us beyond visual confirmation into a place of patient contentment.
8:26 The Spirit also sighs within us with words too deep for articulation, assisting us in our prayers when we struggle to know how to pray properly. When we
feel restricted in our flesh, He supersedes our clumsy efforts and hits bulls-eye every time.
8:27 He who scrutinises the heart understands the intention of the spirit. (He knows us so much better than what we know ourselves) His intercession for the
saints is consistent with the blue-print purpose of God.
8:28 Meanwhile we know that the love of God causes everything to mutually contribute to our advantage. His Master Plan is announced in our original identity.
8:29 He engineered us from the start to fit the mould of sonship and likeness according to the exact blueprint of His design. We see the original and
intended shape of our lives preserved in His Son; He is the firstborn from the same womb that reveals our genesis. He confirms that we are the invention of
God!
8:30 Consistent with His definition of our lives, and our original spirit identity, He declared us righteous and restored His glory in us.
8:31 All these things point to one conclusion, God is for us! Who can prevail against us?
8:32 Without hesitation God abandoned His Son to death for the redemption of mankind; this grace gift is all inclusive! This leaves us without any excuse to
feel neglected or in lack. (Everything we lost in Adam is again restored to us in Christ.)
8:33 God has identified us, who can disqualify us? No-one can point a finger; He justified us!
8:34 What further ground can there possibly be to condemn man? Christ died, this cannot be undone! His resurrection cannot be wished away. He occupies the
highest seat of authority at the right hand of God in our favour!
8:35 What will it take to distance us from the love of Christ? You name any potential calamity: intense pressure of the worst possible kind, closter-phobia,
persecution, destitution, loneliness, extreme exposure, life-threatening danger, or war?
8:36 Let me quote scripture to remind you, “Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.” Psa. 44:22
8:37 On the contrary, in the thick of these things our triumph remains beyond dispute! His love has placed us above the reach of any onslaught.
8:38 This is my conviction, no threat whether it be in death or life, be it angelic beings, demon powers or political principalities, nothing known to us at
this time, or even in the unknown future;
8:39 no dimension of any calculation in time or space, nor any device yet to be invented, has what it takes to separate us from the love of God demonstrated
in Christ. Jesus is our Master.

Notes
8:1 “who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit” This sentence was not in the original text, but later copied from verse 4. The person who added this
most probably felt that the fact of Paul’s declaration of mankind’s innocence had to be made subject again to his conduct. Religion under the law felt more
comfortable with the condition of personal contribution rather than the conclusion of what faith reveals. The “in Christ” revelation is key to God’s dealing
with man. It is the PIN-code of the Bible. See 1Cor.1:30 and Eph. 1:4.
8:9 If anyone does not embrace (Gr. echo, to have in hand, to hold, in the sense of wearing like a garment, to possess in mind, to be closely joined to a
person) he is not himself. Greek hauto from heauto, reflexive relation, himself, herself, themselves. See James 1:24, “for he goes away from what the mirror
reveals, and immediately forgets what manner of man he is.” Also Rom.1:23 “Loosing sight of God, made them loose sight of who they really were. In their
calculation the image and likeness of God became reduced to a corrupted and distorted pattern of themselves.”
8:10 The word translated, “if” can either be a condition or a conclusion, which makes a vast difference. If God be for us, is most certainly a conclusion of
the revelation of the Gospel, all of God’s action in Christ confirms the fact that He is for us and not against us. In the same context this verse reveals
that Christ is in us. See Gal.1:16, “it pleased the Father to reveal His Son in me, in order that I might proclaim Him in the nations.”
See Rom 10:6-8, “Righteousness by faith says…”
8:14 Gr. agoo, to conduct or to lead as a shepherd leads his sheep.
8:23 The glorified physical body Math.17
8:26 He continues to call things which seem non existent as though they were! 4:17 He is never distracted, He only sees and celebrates perfection.
8:27 “I knew you even before I fashioned you in your mother’s womb” Jer.1:5. “Then you will know, even as you have always been known.” 1Cor.13:12.
8:29 His resurrection co-reveals our common genesis. No wonder He is not ashamed to call us His brethren! We indeed share the same origin. Heb.2:14.
8:32 Sin left man with an enormous shortfall, grace restores man to excellence! Rom.3:23, Rom.3:21-24, 1Cor.2:7. God had our glory in mind from the
beginning!
8:33 He has placed us beyond the reach of blame, guilt, condemnation or inferiority!

Chapter 9

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
16
9:1 The truth of our inclusion in Christ is my honest passion, I cannot deceive my own conscience; confirmed by the testimony of the Holy Spirit in me.
9:2 I experience such grief like a person in constant mourning for a deceased loved one;
9:3 if it could in any way profit my blood relatives, the Jews; I would prefer myself to rather be excluded from the blessing of Christ. If my exclusion
could possibly help them understand their inclusion, I would gladly offer my body as a sacrifice.
9:4 Sonship is the natural heritage of Israel; they historically witnessed the glory and covenants and the dramatic endorsement of the Law, the prophetic
rituals of worship and the Messianic promises belongs to them.
9:5 They are the physical family of the Christ. He supersedes all our definitions; He is God, the blessed Good Word of all ages. Amen!
9:6 Yet it is not as though their unbelief neutralised the Word of God in its effect. Israel is no longer restricted to a physical family and geographic
location.
9:7 It is not the natural seed of Abraham that gives them their identity, but Isaac, the faith-child. God said, “Your children’s identity is revealed in
Isaac.” Gen.21:12
9:8 By this God clearly indicates that man’s true spirit identity is revealed in faith and not in flesh. Promise is the fuel of faith.
9:9 Remember God’s pledge, “In 9 months time, Sarah shall have a son.”
9:10 Rebecca and Isaac also conceived consistent with the promise, to further prove the point of faith versus performance.
9:11 God spoke to Rebecca while the twins were still in the womb. Nothing distinguished them in terms of good looks or performance, (except the fact that the
one would be born minutes before the other, which would give him preference according to human tradition.) It was recorded to emphasise the principle of
faith-identity as the ultimate value above any preference according to the flesh. (Faith nullifies any ground the flesh has to boast in.)
9:12 She was told, “the elder shall serve the younger”
9:13 We would say, Esau had the raw deal, he was disliked and Jacob favoured.
9:14 To say that God is unfair, is to miss the point.
9:15 Moses saw the glory of God’s goodness, His mercy and the kindness of His compassion. Gen.33:18,19. (Even when Israel deserved His absence He promised
them His presence.)
9:16 God’s mercy is not a reward to the most determined or fastest athlete.
9:17 Scripture records God’s conversation with Pharaoh, Ex.9:16 “But to show you my power working in you, I brought you back to life so that my Name
(revealing man’s authentic and original identity) might be declared throughout all the earth.”
9:18 The same act of mercy that He willingly bestows on everyone, may bless the one and harden the heart of the other.
9:19 This just doesn’t sound reasonable at all! What gives God the right then to still blame anyone? Who can resist His will?
9:20 How can any man dispute with God? The mould dictates the shape! (There is only one true mould, His image and likeness.)
9:21The Potter sets the pace; same Potter, same clay, one vessel understands its value and another not; one realises that it is priceless, the other seems
worthless!
9:22 Their sense of worthlessness has labelled them for destruction, yet God’s power and passion prevails in patient endurance.
9:23 He has set the stage to exhibit the wealth of His mercy upon the vessels of value. He desires to confirm in them His original opinion.
9:24 He has defined us beyond our Jewish or Gentile identity.
9:25 Hosea voiced the heart of God when he said, “I will call a people without identity, my people, and her who was unloved, my Darling!” (Even Esau whom you
said I hated)
9:26 He prophesies that the very same people who were told that they are not God’s people, will be told that they are indeed the children of the living God!
9:27 Isaiah weeps for Israel, you might feel lost in the crowd, because your numbers equal the grains of the sand of the sea, but God does not abandon the
individual. Numbers does not distract God’s attention from the value of the one.
9:28 For His word will perfect His righteousness without delay; His word is poetry upon the earth. (John1:1,14, Rom.1:16,17)
9:29 The Lord of the multitudes preserved for us a Seed, to rescue us from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
9:30 This means that the nations that stood outside and excluded, the very Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness through religious discipline of any
kind, have stumbled upon this treasure of faith!
9:31 Yet Israel who sought to achieve righteousness through keeping the law; based upon their own discipline and willpower, have failed to do so.
9:32 How did they fail? Faith seemed just to good to be true. They were more familiar and felt more comfortable with their own futile efforts than what they
did with faith. Their faith identity (reflected in Christ) was a stone of offence.
9:33 The conclusion of the prophetic reference pointed towards the rock as the spirit identity of man. God placed His testimony of man’s identity in front of
their eyes, in Zion, the centre of their religious focus, yet, blinded by their own efforts to justify themselves, they tripped over him. But those who
recognised Him by faith, as the Rock from which they were hewn is freed from the shame of their sense of failure and inferiority.


Notes
9:5 The Word of God reaches far beyond the boundaries of Israel, it includes every nation
9:7 kaleo, to identify by name. Man’s original identity was not preserved in the flesh, but in the Promise.
9:8 The promise ignites faith. Faith gives substance to what hope sees.
9:9 Gen.18:10, Gal.4:8
9:13 Gen.25 23 And the LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples, born of you, shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the
other, the elder shall serve the younger.”
The two come out of the same mould; yet they represent two types of people, one who understands his true identity by faith and one who seeks to identify
himself after the flesh.
9:15 Moses saw the glory and goodness of God, while he hid in the cleft of the rock.
9:17 Man’s identity is not in Pharaoh or some political leader, but in God.
9:22 God is not a scitso, having to balance out a seemingly unstable character by creating a nice guy and a bad guy: one for blessing and one for wrath! He
cannot be both the Author of light and darkness; there is in Him no shadow of compromise or change, no inconsistency or distortion whatsoever! James 1:17,
18. Man deceives himself when his knowledge of his true identity becomes blurred by the flesh. “He goes away and immediately forgets what manner of man he
is” Paul’s noble birth carried no further significance when he discovered his spirit identity revealed in Christ. The recorded history of Israel prepares the
prophetic stage of God’s dealing with universal mankind. Faith and not flesh would be the medium of God’s dealing with man. Flesh reduces man to the senses
and the soul realm, while faith’s substance reveals man’s true spirit identity. Truth ignites faith.
His patience is shown in Pharaoh: “So get your livestock under roof, everything exposed in the open fields, people and animals, will die when the hail comes
down. All of Pharaoh's servants who had respect for GOD's word got their workers and animals under cover as fast as they could, but those who didn't take
GOD's word seriously left their workers and animals out in the field. Exo 9:19-21,
Heb.4:2 “For good news came to us just as to them; but the message which they heard did not benefit them, because it did not meet with faith in the hearers.”
9:27 MSG “Isaiah maintained this same emphasis: If each grain of sand on the seashore were numbered and the sum labeled "chosen of God," They'd be numbers
still, not names; salvation comes by individual realisation. God doesn't just count us; he calls us by name. Arithmetic is not his focus.”
9:29 From Hebrew, tzaba, (tsabaoth) a mass of persons. See note on Rom.3:10, In Gen.18, Abraham intercedes for Sodom and Gomorrah, “If there perhaps are 50
righteous people, will you save the city on their behalf?” He continues to negotiate with God, until he’s down to, “perhaps ten?”…”there was none righteous,
no not one…” The remnant represents the one Seed that would rescue the mass of humanity! Rom.5, “one man’s obedience and act of righteousness, surpasses the
effect of a multitude of sins!” 5:17 If (spiritual) death saw the gap in one sin, and grabbed the opportunity to dominate mankind in Adam, how much more may
we now seize the advantage to reign in righteousness in this life through that one act of Christ, who declared us innocent by His grace. Grace is superior in
authority to the transgression! The single grain of wheat did not abide alone! John 12:24.
5:18 The conclusion is clear: it took just one offence to condemn mankind; one act of righteousness declares the same mankind innocent!
5:19 The disobedience of the one man exhibits humanity as sinners, the obedience of another man exhibits humanity as righteous!
9:33 See Deut 32:18, “you have forgotten the Rock that birthed you…” Is.51:1, “Look to the Rock from which you were hewn” It is only in Him that man will
discover what he is looking for. “Who is the son of man?” His physical identity is surpassed by His spiritual origin, the image and likeness of God, “I say
you are petros, you are rock. Math.16:13-19. Mankind’s origin and true identity is preserved and revealed again in the Rock of ages.

Chapter 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
16
10:1 Since we share the same womb of origin, on behalf of God, my heart desires with eager longing for Israel to realise their salvation.
10:2 I have been there myself, I know their zealous devotion; their problem is not their passion, but their ignorance.
10:3 They are tirelessly busy with their own efforts to justify themselves while deliberately ignoring the fact that God already justified them in Christ.
10:4 Christ is the conclusion of the law, everything the law required of man was fulfilled in Him; He therefore represents the righteousness of everyone who
believes.
10:5 Moses is the voice of the law; he says that a man’s life is only justified in his doing what the law requires.
10:6 But faith finds its voice in something much closer to man than his most disciplined effort to obey the law; righteousness by faith says that Christ is
not hiding somewhere in the realm of heaven beyond man’s reach,
10:7 neither is He roaming somewhere in the region of the dead. Righteousness by faith understands that mankind was equally represented in the incarnation as
well as in the resurrection of Christ.
10:8 Therefore faith says, “The Word is as close to you as your voice and the conviction of your heart.” We publicly announce this message of faith (because
we are convinced that it belongs to every man.)
10:9 Your salvation is realised when your own words agree with God concerning you, thus you acknowledge the lordship of Jesus (over sin’s claim;) convinced
in your heart that God raised Him from the dead.
10:10 Heart-faith confirms righteousness, (He restored you to blameless innocence) and inspires the kind of conversation consistent with salvation.
10:11 Scripture declares that no one who believes in Him will be ashamed.
10:12 Nothing distinguishes the Jew from the Greek when it comes to the generosity of God, He responds with equal benevolence to everyone who sees themselves
identified in Him (and not in their nationality.)
10:13 Salvation is to understand that every man’s true identity is revealed in Christ.
10:14 How is it possible to convince people of their identity in Him while they do not believe that He represents them? How will they believe if they remain
ignorant about who they really are? How will they understand if the Good News of their inclusion is not announced?
10:15 What gives someone the urgency to declare these things? It is recorded in prophetic scripture, “How lovely on the mountains (where the watchmen were
stationed to witness the outcome of their war) are the feet of them leaping with the exciting news of victory! Because of their eyewitness encounter they are
qualified to run with the Gospel of peace and announce the consequent glad tidings of good things that will benefit everyone!”
10:16 It is hard to imagine that there can yet be a people who struggle to hear and understand the good news. Isaiah says, “Lord who has believed our
report?”
10:17 It is clear then that faith’s source is found in the content of the message heard; man’s inclusion in Christ is the ingredient!
10:18 Has God not given man a fair chance to hear? Psalm 19 says His voice goes thru the whole world like the rays of the sun; nothing is hid from its heat;
yes, truly their resonance sounded in all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the earth!
10:19 I cannot understand how Israel could be so blind as to miss the Messiah in their midst. First it was Moses who predicted that God would provoke them to
jealousy with a mass of people who are the nobodies in their estimation; a seemingly senseless bunch of people will steal the show to the disgust of Israel.
Deut.32:31.
10:20 Then Isaiah in no uncertain terms hears God say, “I was stumbled upon by them who did not even bother to seek me, I became obvious to a people who did
not pursue me!”
10:21 “Yet My hands were continually hovering over Israel in broad daylight beckoning them, while their unbelief and negative and contradictory conversation
caused them to blatantly ignore me.”

Notes
10:1 Isaiah 51:22 “Thus says your Lord, the Lord your God who pleads the cause of his people…” 2Cor.5:20 God now makes His appeal through us…
10:9 to confess, homologeo, homo, the same thing + logeo, to say
10:10 The words from your own lips confirm that salvation is more than principle, it is personal.
10:12-14 Greek, epikaleomai traditionally translated, to call upon, from kaleo, which literary means to surname, or to identify by name. This is also the
root word in ekklesia, with the word ek, being a preposition that denotes origin, and kaleo. In the context of Math 16 where Jesus introduces this word he
reveals that the son of man is indeed the son of God, “I say you are Petros (Rock) and upon this Petra I will build My ekklesia!” See Note on Rom.9:33.
10:15,16 Only an eyewitness qualifies to testify in court.
10:17 Greek, ek, a preposition that denotes source or origin, thus faith comes out of the word that reveals Christ.
10:20,21 Greek, apetheo, (apathy) refusal to believe; antilego contradictory conversation. See Isaiah 65:1,2.

Chapter 11

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
16
11:1 I want to make it clear that I am not saying that God rejected Israel, my own life bears witness to that; and I am as Jewish as you can get, you can
trace me back to Benjamin and Abraham.
11:2 God did not push His people aside; His reference is His knowledge of them before they rejected Him. Scripture accounts occasions where God had abundant
reason to abandon Israel. Elijah hits out against them and lists their sins to persuade God to utterly cast them off,
11:3 “Lord, they butchered your prophets, and undermined your provision through the sacrificial altar; I am the only one left and scared to death!”
11:4 Yet God answers him in a complete different tone, “You are counting wrong, you are not alone; I have seven times a thousand on reserve who have not
bowed the knee to Baal.” (Who have not exchanged Me for a foreign owner)
11:5 Thus even in today’s context, God’s original word of grace has preserved a remnant of much larger proportion than what we can number.
11:6 Grace cannot suggest debt or obligation at the same time; the word grace can only mean what it says. The same argument goes for works, if salvation or
any advantage for that matter is to be obtained according to prescribed regulations of conduct, then that’s it, no amount of grace can change the rules!
Grace means grace, work means work.
11:7 The very thing Israel sought to obtain through their diligent labour they failed to get, yet those who embraced grace as the original word hit bull’s
eye every time, leaving the rest groping around in the dark like blindfolded archers.
11:8 Isaiah said that God has given them a spirit of slumber, causing their eyes and ears not to function. This drowsiness seems to prevail even to this day.
11:9 David sees how the very table of blessing has become a stumbling block to them through their ignorance. The table of the Lord is the prophetic
celebration of the sacrificed Lamb, where God Himself provides redemption according to the promise; yet therein they were trapped and snared and they
stumbled by their own unbelief. Now their only reward is the table they set for themselves.
11:10 This is the penalty of their disbelief, eyes that constantly fail to focus on the fact that Christ took their burdens and now their backs are still
bending to the point of breaking under the strain of their own burdens.
11:11 Does this mean that the Jews are beyond redemption? Is their stumbling permanent? No! May it never be too late for them! Their failure emphasised the
inclusion of the Gentile nations. May it only prove to be their wake-up call.
11:12 If their stumbling enriched the rest of the world and their lack empowered the Gentiles, how much more significant will their realising their
completeness be?
11:13 In my capacity as a representative of the Good news to the Gentiles, I will speak in such a way that the clarity of my conclusion
11:14 will provoke my own flesh and blood family to jealousy. I know that my words will rescue many of them.
11:15 The Gentile nations realised their inclusion in Christ in a sense at the expense of the Jews; to now also embrace the Jews in the welcome of God is to
raise them from the dead.
11:16 The seed sets the pace, it sanctifies what sprouts from it. Seed produces after its kind. If the invisible root is holy, so are the visible branches.
11:17 And if some of the original branches were broken off, and you Gentiles like a wild olive were grafted in to partake of the same nourishing fatness of
the roots,
11:18 then there is no cause for boasting against the ignorance of the Jews because you are now suddenly better off than them. Remember, the roots sustain
the branches, and not the other way round!
11:19 There is no point in thinking that in order to accommodate you, God had to first break off the Jewish branches.
11:20 Their unbelief was their loss, your faith is your gain.
11:21 God could do them no favours just because they were the natural branches; neither does God now owe you any special privileges.
11:22 Both God’s goodness as well as His decisiveness are based on His integrity; Unbelief is not tolerated, not in them neither will it be tolerated in you.
Never take His goodness for granted; instead, continue to embrace and appreciate His goodness with conviction.
11:23 The moment Israel turns from their unbelief, God is ready to immediately graft them back into the tree.
11:24 You were cut out of the wild olive tree and were grafted into the good tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted in again into their
original identity.
11:25 Do not be ignorant then of the mystery of their temporal exclusion, their blindness opened your eyes to the fullness of God’s plan for the whole world.
11:26 Once the nations realise the full extent of their inclusion, then all Israel shall also be saved! Just as it is written prophetically, “There shall
come a Deliverer out of Zion, He shall turn ungodliness away from Jacob.
11:27 For this is My covenant unto them that I shall take away their sins.”
11:28 In your estimation they appear to be enemies of the gospel, but their Father still loves them according to the value of their original identity.
11:29 For God’s grace gifts and conviction of man’s design are irrevocable.
11:30 In days gone by, you did not believe God, yet in a sense their unbelief opened the door for you to realise His mercy;
11:31 Now you are returning the favour as it were; your testimony of His mercy extends an opportunity to them to turn from their unbelief and embrace mercy.
11:32 In God’s calculation the mass of humanity is trapped in unbelief, this qualifies universal mankind for His mercy!
11:33 I am overwhelmed by the limitless extent of the wealth of God’s wisdom and the perfection of His knowledge! How we have failed to explore or fathom the
conclusion of His resolve! In our clumsy efforts to find Him, we have completely lost track of God.
11:34 Who inspired His thought? Who sat in council with Him?
11:35 Is God indebted to anyone?
11:36 Everything originates in Him, finds both its authentic expression and ultimate conclusion in Him. His opinion rules the ages! We cannot but agree with
our yes and awe! Amen.

Notes
11:2 Greek, proginosko, to know in advance.
11:4 Seven times a thousand refers to an innumerable amount and not to exactly 7000 people. The Hebrew word Baal means owner or husband or master.
11:5 Greek, ekloge, ek, preposition denoting source or origin, + logos, word, logic, thus referring to the original word. Traditionally translated, election.
11:6 Grace emphasises God’s provision regardless of man’s achievement.
11:8 Unbelief and religious ritual are blindfolds. “The LORD has made you drowsy, ready to fall into a deep sleep. The prophets should be the eyes of the
people, but God has blindfolded them.”For this reason: “And the Lord said, this people draw near to Me with their mouth and honour Me with their lips but
remove their hearts and minds far from Me, and their fear and reverence for Me are a commandment of men that is learned by repetition…” Is.29:10,13.
11:9 Quote from Ps.69. Commentary by John Gill, “By their "table" may be
meant, the altar; see Mal.1:7, (“You put unclean bread on my altar. And you say, How have we made it unclean? By your saying, The table of the Lord is of no
value) and the sacrifices offered up upon it, their meat offerings and drink offerings, and all others; likewise the laws concerning the difference of meats,
and indeed the whole ceremonial law may be intended, which lay in meats and drinks, and such like things: now the Jews placing their justifying righteousness
before God, in the observance of these rites and ceremonies, and imagining that by these sacrifices their sins were really expiated and atoned for, they
neglected and submitted not to the righteousness of Christ, but went about to establish their own; so that that which should have led them to Christ, became
an handwriting of ordinances against them, and rendered Christ of no effect to them: moreover, the sacred writings, which are full of spiritual food and
divine refreshment, the prophecies of the Old Testament, which clearly pointed out Christ, not being understood, but misapplied by them, proved a trap, a
snare, and a stumbling block to them;”
11:26,27 Isa.59:20 And as a Saviour he will come to Zion, turning away sin from Jacob, says the Lord.
Isa.59:21 And as for me, this is my agreement with them, says the Lord: my spirit which is on you, and my words which I have put in your mouth, will not
depart from your mouth, or from the mouth of your children, or from the mouth of your children’s children, says the Lord, from now and for the ages to come