Dear Paul,
I want to thank you for your obedience to Almighty God in following the inspiration of the Holy Spirit as you composed your letter to the church at Romans. I have read your letter on many occasions and no matter how many times I read it, I find myself amazed not only at your insight into the mysteries of the gospel, but also at how much I have to learn about the same. Each time I read it, my emotions range from shame (at my own sinfulness) to elation (at the redemption I’ve received) to frustration (at my failed Christian walk) to inspiration (toward proper Christian living). Nowhere else in scripture have I found such a triadic formula of monumental spiritual principles as I find in Romans. This triadic formula includes the life-saving Truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to save my soul combined with the life-changing power of the Holy Spirit to facilitate personal transformation in my life here on earth combined with the life-inspiring practical guidance towards everyday Christian living. Your letter fully describes the Christian walk from salvation through sanctification and for that I am truly grateful – to God be the Glory.
I must say that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is simple. I myself believed on the name of Jesus as a small child and thus placed my trust in him for salvation to eternal life. As a child, however, I did not understand the depth of the mysteries of that gospel. Indeed, I did not learn that until much later - after I read your letter – in fact, not until after I had read your letter many times, because it contains that much depth of truth. When I placed my faith in Jesus Christ, I knew that I was a sinner. I knew that all men had sinned and needed Christ. However, your letter has shown me the truth about just how lost I really was. Your letter has taught me how truly unrighteous I am in my sinfulness, how I have willingly turned away from God, and how the traditions of my parents – to whom I give praise to God for taking me to church nine months before I was even born – provided me no excuses or special treatment. I stand before Almighty God alone, unable to obtain for myself righteousness. I am “guilty” before the Judge of my own sinfulness, but Christ has declared me “not guilty” through the justification that comes from the shedding of his blood.
As a result, your letter has taught me the true meaning of righteousness. It has reminded me that by placing my faith in Jesus, I am dependent solely upon him – through faith – for His righteousness. I have to admit that there was a time, even after placing my faith in Christ, that I was proud of my religious heritage. I had a fundamentalist, immature, condescending view of those who had not placed their faith in Christ. Your letter reminds me that I have nothing to boast of except the cross of Christ. I am no different than any other sinner. I deserve death. I deserve the wrath of God – but Praise be to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ that my righteousness comes through him – and not through my own merits!
Your letter has also taught me more about the meaning of faith. Faith is more than just mental assent. In his letter, James reminds us of that fact when he says that even the demons believe in God. I have heard many pundits claim that your view of faith is at odds with James’ view of faith. When I read your letter to the Romans, I do not see that. As such, I must disagree with those pundits. Your letter clearly establishes that the righteousness we receive through our faith in the blood of Jesus Christ obligates us to remain obedient so that we maintain that righteousness. It is not a salvation by works, but it is an obligation to remain holy. If I read your letter accurately, you believe we bear a responsibility to maintain our righteousness through the way in which we lead our lives. I must admit to you, however, that I fail miserably at this task. As you mention in your letter, I too find myself at war with my own intentions. No matter how righteous I try to be, I fail. No matter how much good I try to do, I always find myself doing evil. It is enough to drive me absolutely insane. It is scary to think that I am powerless to maintain the righteousness for I am obligated to maintain. It is enough to fear that perhaps my justification will be revoked.
For this reason, I am grateful that your letter sympathizes with my fears and then shatters them by reminding me of the security I have in Christ. We have nothing to fear for there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ! Your letter reminds me that I don’t have to try to be righteous on my own – that is living in the flesh. Instead, I live by the Holy Spirit because I have the Holy Spirit living in me. That Holy Spirit has sealed me so that I can never be condemned. That Holy Spirit guides me to a life that is characterized by Holiness. That Holy Spirit is the source of the transforming power of sanctification within my life. It is through the power of the Spirit that I maintain a righteous life. This, too is by faith, not by my own merits.
Paul, if you don’t mind, may I take a short side-bar here? Because we can get so discouraged in our Christian walk, I realize how important it was for you to detail the security we have in Christ. However, the manner in which you did so brought up the issue of predestination. It’s not that I don’t believe in predestination – I cannot read scripture and deny that predestination in some form is taught in scripture. However, I don’t understand why, not just in your letter to the Romans, but also in your letter to the Ephesians and elsewhere, that you present the concepts of predestination and election in a way that has created such a great deal of controversy in our churches. Couldn’t you have been just a bit clearer? What exactly did you mean by predestination and election? The truth is, we can’t seem to agree on this? Some say one thing; others say another thing; and of course each one is adamant that they are right and everyone else is wrong. As a result, some of our churches have split over this issue. God forgive us. Oddly enough, predestination wasn’t even the point in this letter here, was it? Indeed, I can’t see where you ever speak of predestination as “the” point in any of your writings. For example, if I understand your usage of the term here, you just wanted us to know that if God, from eternity past, calls us to salvation, then nothing can take that away from us. I get your point. God is Sovereign. He can do anything he wants. It is completely within his power to create or destroy at his own discretion.
Your point, however, was not predestination, but rather salvation by faith. That has always been God’s Sovereign plan. According to your own words here in this letter to the Romans, his plan was for humans to send other humans to preach the gospel. His plan was that through that preaching people will hear the message of the truth of the gospel – and because the gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes, then salvation is available to the entire world. Your plan was for man to place his faith in Jesus Christ – for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. It looks to me like man has a responsibility here – to call upon the name of the Lord! Nevertheless, we can’t seem to agree on this thing we have called the doctrine of election or the doctrine of predestination. I hope that both you and our Lord Jesus Christ will forgive us for the division that our inability to come to agreement has created.
It is odd that something in your letter would create such division, because you spend a great deal of time in your letter teaching us about the importance of unity in the church. Your letter teaches us to bear with each other – that the weak should bear with the strong. It is shameful that we are so arrogant that we all think we are the strong and they are the weak. Our petty doctrinal differences are of no consequence compared to the need for unity in the church. Your letter is clear about that. It teaches us very practical ways of maintaining that unity. We are to serve one another. We are to use our gifts in service to God. We are to be patient with each other. We are to submit to our authorities.
If I were to be honest, I would have to say that sometimes we spend so much time on the doctrinal truths that you laid out in the first half of the letter that we forget about the practical truths in the second half of the letter. When I read your letter to the Romans properly – the way that God intended – then I can clearly see that we cannot focus on one to the exclusion of the other. We cannot focus on doctrine without also focusing on personal transformation through the Holy Spirit and on practical Christian living by serving our brethren. Likewise, we cannot focus on personal transformation without that transformation being grounded in the truth of doctrine and for the purpose of serving mankind. Finally, we cannot put so much focus on changing the world that we forget why (or rather for whom) we are changing it. It is all about the gospel. The gospel saves me. The gospel changes me. The gospel encourages and helps me serve others so that they too may be saved. All three fit together and are masterfully laid out in this letter to the Romans.
You have produced an amazing work here, Paul. Yes, I realize that it was God through the Holy Spirit, but you were the willing vessel! Thank you for your obedience. Thank you for your example. Thank God for his faithfulness.
Your fellow servant
Joel
