READINGS ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS (3)
[p. 28] READINGS ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS (3)
JT It may be helpful to point out that chapter 3 from the 21st verse has reference to revelation, the word “manifested” being suggestive; whereas chapter 4 is more on the side of the believer, what he finds. The chapter opens with, “What shall we say then that Abraham our father according to flesh has found?”. So that the two chapters, in that way, form a whole, one referring to what is for all, the other to what an individual has found.
CAM The end of chapter 3 would be far greater than what we have in chapter 4; as you say, it is a question of what God is. Would you mind, in that connection, saying a word upon this righteousness of God which is revealed?
JT It has been called, His ‘rights in mercy’. God has a right to be merciful; His nature really shines here. Paul in chapter 1 says, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith”. That would not refer to His rights in judgment but to His rights in mercy. He will have mercy on whom He will have mercy. It pleases Him to have mercy upon all as this epistle shows. So that “the righteousness of God” would refer to His rights in mercy, coming out in Christ, and dealing with sin in Christ, viewed as a vicarious offering. As it is said, “that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus”. That kind of righteousness should appeal to us.
AFM Hence it is introduced here so beautifully. God had a right to deal with man in judgment, but [p. 29] He has taken up His rights in the way of mercy for the salvation of man.
JT Yes; and it is without the law. “Now without law righteousness of God is manifested, borne witness to by the law and the prophets; righteousness of God by faith of Jesus Christ towards all, and upon all those who believe”. That is, perhaps, the most concise statement you could find of the gospel.
BTF What does, “Borne witness to by the law and the prophets” refer to?
JT The types and general teaching in the law and in the prophets. We have been going over Exodus and Leviticus; for example, those books abound with references to the gospel as seen in the sacrifices and so on. The prophets, too, we know, abound with references to the same.
CAM So in chapter 1 it says, “which he had before promised by his prophets in holy writings”. The gospel was the subject of promise.
ARS Is not one of the points in chapter 3 that man has his mouth stopped? There is no righteousness as far as man is concerned. Then God’s righteousness is brought out and shines in all its grandeur, and it is on the ground of that that God blesses man.
JT “Without law righteousness of God”. It does not say the righteousness of God; but that kind of righteousness.
Rem God would have been perfectly righteous had He wiped out the whole scene and terminated it in judgment on account of sin; but He is also perfectly righteous when He presents Christ Jesus as a mercy-seat. “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God has set forth a mercy-seat, through faith in his blood”. There is thus a point where He can bless and redeem, instead of removing. He is equally righteous; and His righteousness [p. 30] works that way.
JT He retains man.
Rem Yes. He recovers him.
CAM In chapter 1 the apostle says, “I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also”. It is remarkable that he should wish to preach the gospel to the saints.
JT The saints at Rome evidently needed the moral foundation laid in their souls strengthened. This is also true of many at the present time. The gospel is not only to give us peace with God, but to establish us in regard to the world, and what is in it, because Christians are exposed to the world. The question is, are we to stand or be carried off our feet? At the present time nothing could be more essential to us than the knowledge of God, as presented in this epistle; for it is God as He is towards man in righteousness, and dealing with man as he is here, setting him up on this basis, so that he might stand here for God.
AFM We then are able to justify God in the presence of all that is without.
JT The evil remains; but the light comes into our souls and sets us up here. We are constituted righteous and are made to live. I suppose these are the two great features on our side: righteousness and life.
Rem The epistle to the Romans has very largely in view manifestation in the world to come.
ANW Is your thought that Romans solves the problem of both trees — the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and the tree of life?
JT That is the idea. The believer is made righteous and yet retains his conscience and then, he lives. So there is perfect reconciliation of the two principles — responsibility and life.
BTF What is the force of, “by faith of Jesus Christ”?
JT I think it brings in the order of Man here. According to the reading, it is not faith in Him, or on Him; but, ‘of Him’. It seems to me to suggest the light as to a new order of Man that the believer has in his soul. It is initial, but it lays the basis for what is to follow in this epistle, Colossians and Ephesians. Further on it says, “that he should be just, and justify him that is of the faith of Jesus”.
Rem We get there the point that is referred to in Titus 2:11, “For the grace of God which carries with it salvation for all men has appeared”. It is universal, I mean, in its presentation. The only limitation is its acceptance. It is, “towards all, and upon all those who believe”.
BTF Does the expression “by faith of Jesus Christ” refer to man in responsibility?
JT I think, “faith of Jesus Christ”, and “faith of Jesus” lay the basis in the soul for the new order of Man. God has in His mind the transference in our souls from what we are as in Adam to Christ. He is presented to us objectively, and in believing we get light, but then, light about the Man who did the will of God. That is a formative principle.
CAM Would it be like the opening verses of chapter 1, “concerning his Son ... Jesus Christ our Lord”?
JT “Jesus Christ”, or “Jesus” is the order of Man. “Christ Jesus” refers more to the anointed Man. So you will find in this epistle, when things are said to be in Him, it is “Christ Jesus”; but when things are said to be by Him, it is “Jesus Christ”. It is Man.
Rem In contrast to Adam.
JT Yes. Jesus Christ, who accomplished the will of God.
Rem What we get here is really preparing for what we get at the end of chapter 5, that is, transference [p. 32] from Adam to Christ. There it is said to be “by Jesus Christ our Lord”.
Rem Would you give us a thought as to the anointed Man?
JT The anointed Man has finished everything and has sat down. “God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36). There, I apprehend God has set Him in heaven, and exalted Him as the Head and Centre of everything. He is the Head of everything. All therefore, is in Him. But, if I look at Him down here, as a Man doing the will of God and going into death, it is “Jesus Christ”.
AFM How about the expression in verse 24, “through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God has set forth a mercy-seat”?
JT There it is again. Redemption is in Him; “Through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God has set forth a mercy-seat, through faith in his blood, for the shewing forth of his righteousness, in respect of the passing by the sins that had taken place before, through the forbearance of God; for the shewing forth of his righteousness in the present time, so that he should be just, and justify him that is of the faith of Jesus”. It seems to me that the one who is “of the faith of Jesus” is the one who is to be justified; because God has in His mind a race of men like that Man.
Rem It is “his grace” in verse 24, but “his righteousness” in verse 25.
JT I think the point in verse 25 is righteousness of God — His rights in mercy, and the mercy-seat is the expression of it. It is there that God sets out what He is towards man, the point is, “whom God has set forth a mercy-seat, through faith in his blood”. The reference is to Leviticus 16. It is a question of what is on the throne of God, really. So [p. 33] that it is set forth. I apprehend it is universal; Christ the mercy-seat is the centre of the universe, as it was in the tabernacle figuratively.
Rem I think “mercy” and “grace” are never far separated. In Exodus 33 they are linked together: “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy”. I hope we all understand the tremendous importance and blessing of this twenty-fifth verse. It is the basis for every one who enters into the sphere of God’s eternal blessing. Everything that is for God comes to this point of contact, namely, the mercy-seat, “whom God has set forth”. We get, set forth here, the rights of God to intervene in mercy, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, in virtue of His redeeming work. I think we scarcely apprehend the greatness of the thoughts contained in this verse. Every one who is in the sphere of blessing rests on what it presents.
JT The mercy-seat is the great central point of the whole moral system. God sets out in that Man, as having died (for it is a question of His blood here), His rights in mercy.
Rem It is a throne. It is universal; the whole moral universe is centred there.
ANW Why do you change the word to ‘throne’?
Rem In the holy of holies, over the mercy-seat rested the cherubim, which were expressive of the government of God. The government of God goes out through His mercy, through redemption; therefore the cherubim are viewed as contemplating the blood upon the mercy-seat. The idea of the mercy-seat is really a throne — God enthroned in the midst of Israel, but in mercy through the blood.
JT It was a question of His sovereign rights. So the cherubim looked down on the mercy-seat. The blood of the victim was brought in and placed [p. 34] there; God was vindicated in regard of the whole universe. If one gets that thought into one’s soul it lays a wonderful basis.
TH Why is it here the “mercy-seat”; in Corinthians, “judgment-seat”; and in Revelation, “A great white throne”?
JT This, I think, is necessarily the greatest of all; because it is a question of the whole universe and God setting Himself in relation to it in righteousness. How wonderful that He could do that! But the study of Leviticus 16 enables us to see how it has all been accomplished — that the blood of Christ was efficacious, as under the eye of God, for the whole universe. So every one who now is, “of the faith of Jesus” — of that Man, is justified. And God is also justified in Him, “so that he should be just, and justify him that is of the faith of Jesus”. The mercy-seat here is the great central point in the whole moral system. God puts Himself, in the eyes of all, as just in regard to the passing by of sins. As it says, “In respect of the passing by the sins that had taken place before, through the forbearance of God; for the shewing forth of his righteousness in the present time, so that he should be just”. He waited all these years and in so doing exposed Himself to attack, looking on to the time of the incarnation and death of Christ, when He would be justified. And now that Christ has died He is justified in the eyes of the universe in regard of sins. That is the point here. Every one, who is “of the faith of Jesus” is linked up with God on that principle. So one can see how the thing is developed on the principle of faith before we get any mention of the Spirit or love. Here it is a question of linking the soul with God in righteousness.
Now, when you come to 2 Corinthians 5, things are more limited. Because it is not a question of the universe; it is rather a question of adjustment,
[p. 35] so that there should be a final adjustment in regard of the course of every christian. Every detail of the life has to be gone into and judged. So everything is seen according to God. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad”. It is a question of adjusting my life in flesh; whether before or after conversion, my whole life has to be gone into there finally.
WLP Even if one has judged his course here, has it to be reviewed there too?
JT Yes. The believer has to be brought into line with God there, and will be there as wholly apart from the evil done; but enabled there to judge all as God has judged it. In regard of the “great white throne”, first of all, the very term “white” shows that it is against sin. It is a question of sin; so the earth and the heaven flee away. “I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled”. It is not now God’s rights in mercy; there is nothing to draw or attract here. In the mercy-seat, there is everything to attract; the conscience is set free and drawn to God as known in grace therein; but the great white throne repels evil, even the heavens and the earth are not pure in His sight; they flee. It is a question of God’s holiness. The dead, great and small, stand before the throne and are judged out of the things written in the books, and then those not found written in the book of life were cast into the lake of fire. There is a search made in the book of life but only to make certainty doubly certain. There is no thought of mercy in the great white throne.
Rem What is set forth in the character of God in the mercy-seat at the present time becomes the test for those who had rejected the gospel when before the great white throne. For, if that character had [p. 36] been responded to, there would have been no occasion on the part of such for the great white throne.
JT Evil is put into its own place at the great white throne; but, at the present time, God is showing forth His righteousness in justifying the sinner through the blood of Christ. This is what He delights in.
CAM Its being the great central point is very beautiful. Every man in that way may have to say to God direct.
JT It is not inside the veil now. It is set forth. It is presented to all, but can be apprehended on the principle of faith only. First, you have, “whom God has set forth a mercy-seat”. Then, “for the shewing forth of his righteousness”. It is a question of God vindicating Himself.
Rem I like to hear a preacher emphasising the rights of God in forgiving sins.
JT Some of us were speaking of this dispensation as being marked by sitting. And, I think, the point is that God rests in certain conditions. Hebrews emphasizes that Christ, having completed redemption, “sat down ... at the right hand of God”. It is like Numbers 9. The tabernacle might rest “two days or a month, or a year”. I think we are now in the year. God rests now in Christ, presenting Him to men in the gospel.
Rem It is the preaching of “the acceptable year of the Lord”.
JT The Lord is said to have sat down in Luke 4. It says, “He closed the book ... and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears”. The mercy-seat is before the eyes of the universe, and it is for us to be attracted to it. The Lord spoke of “the acceptable year” — the longest period of measured time, in [p. 37] that way.
AFM It has been the longest period. There were different ages before Christ: “But now once in the consummation of the ages he has been manifested for the putting away of sin by his sacrifice”. And has brought in this wondrous year.
Rem From now on everything is marked by finality. The mercy-seat is final, the judgment-seat is final, the great white throne is final.
JT Chapter 4, in the light of all this wonderful setting forth of God, is what a man finds. The opening of the chapter gives the key. “What shall we say then that Abraham ... has found?”.
Rem I suppose David is brought in in the same way. Abraham illustrates what is found on the principle of faith. David speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God reckons righteousness without works.
BTF Would you emphasise “before God”?
JT Yes; for you do not want anything except that which is before God. Abraham had much cattle, silver and gold, but these are not referred to here. What did he find? “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. Now to him that works the reward is not reckoned as of grace, but of debt: but to him who does not work, but believes on him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness”. So that he is justified.
CAM Is your thought that we should raise the inquiry in our own minds as to what we have found?
JT Yes. What one has found in the light of all this. We have found righteousness — the righteousness of God.
CAM Chapter 4 is all on our side.
JT Chapter 3 is largely a question of justifying God; but chapter 4 presents our justification; “who [p. 38] has been delivered for our offences and has been raised for our justification”.
CAM He found the seal of it too.
JT Yes, circumcision. The seal of the righteousness which he had on the principle of faith.
Rem It signified the application of death.
JT Yes, and I think the Spirit. “The Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect” (Genesis 17:1). That raised a question not only of His righteousness but of His power. I think chapter 4 implies God’s power. That is what Abraham came to. Typically he came to the realisation of the power of God. So he received the sign of circumcision which meant that there was no power in the flesh to effect anything for God; but what takes the place of that in the believer now is the Spirit.
CAM Was there something special in the mind of the Spirit in referring to these two men, Abraham and David?
Rem Abraham shines forth as an illustration of the response to the call of God and as living on the principle of faith, hence, he is introduced as the father of all those who believe. David was marked by transgressions, and so he becomes an illustration of the blessedness of such an one whose transgressions are covered: Compare Psalm 51.