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Review
- Death is the phenomena of human existence where everything physical & spiritual breaks down. It’s the process of decay and corruption. Life is the opposite of death; tendency toward good in all of human existence
- Life automatically and inevitably flows from holiness. Death automatically and inevitably flows from sin.
- God is the sole source of life, because He alone can give holiness.
- When we cut ourselves off from God (the source of Life), we inevitably experience death.
The Problem: Rebellion
In the photos below, my right hand represents God and my left hand (wearing the watch) represents mankind.
Before, the Fall, we are metaphorically face to face with God.
- Before the fall we are fellowship with God and God is granting us Life (as we defined it).
- We are metaphorically face to face with God.
Mankind rebels and metaphorically turns its back on God
- When we rebel, it is as if we turn our backs on God.
- The first consequence of our rebellion is we now experience death.
In response God metaphorically turns His back on us.
- The second consequence to our rebellion is God’s wrath.
- The rebellion is wrong and deserves punishment.
- Our crime incurs a judicial penalty that must be paid.
- Until God’s justice is satisfied, He will not grant Life.
Romans 1
In Romans 1:18-32, Paul makes these 3 claims: 1) mankind rebelled; 2) the consequence of that rebellion is death (as we defined it) and 3) God responds to that rebellion by abandoning mankind to the custody of death.
| We rebelled | Therefore: 1) we experience death | and 2) God abandons us to death |
| 1:21 – For though they knew God they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks. . | 1:21-22 – . . . they became futile in their speculations , and their foolish heart was darkened. | 1: 24 – Therefore, God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity . . . |
| 1:22-23 – Professing to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man . . . | 1:24 – their bodies might be dishonored among them. | 1:26 – For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions |
| 1:25 – For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator . . . | 1:27…receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. | 1:28 – . . . God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, . . . |
The Solution: Justification
Once we are justified, God metaphorically turns back to us.
- Justification is the forgiveness of our debt to justice which qualifies us to receive Life.
- To be justified is to be in a position where God’s justice is satisfied.
- None of us can justify ourselves by keeping the law.
- Knowing and understanding God’s Law is not enough; we have to be the kind of people who can keep the Law (Romans 2:13-16).
Return to fellowship
- Justification is a gift from God.
- Justification is based on God’s mercy.
- Justification is made possible by the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ (Romans 3:23-26).
- God grants justification to those with saving faith.
For more detail and explanation, please listen to the podcast.
Next: 03 What is saving faith and why is it so important?
Previous: 01 What is life & death and why should I care?
Part of the series: What is the Gospel?
Photo by Julia Caesar on Unsplash
