26-0503sc Transcript

(0:04) Let’s start off with a prayer then. Most Heavenly Father, Gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you (0:10) for so much for your grace and mercy that you’ve bestowed upon us, giving us the opportunity to be (0:18) restored to your friendship and your fatherhood. We’re grateful for the opportunity we have to (0:27) come before you because of your love, and especially Jesus’s willingness to (0:34) do what he had to do in order to reconcile us to you, is coming and living among us, (0:42) demonstrating the life that you would like for us to live, and then (0:48) going to the cross as a propitiation for our sins, and making it possible for us to have (0:55) forgiveness and righteousness that we need to be before you.

At this time, we have come together (1:03) to study a portion of your Word. We ask for understanding and insight that gives us the (1:10) opportunity to be able to comprehend and understand the ideas and the thoughts that Paul (1:21) set forth before us concerning our relationship with you and how it can be restored. (1:27) We’re grateful for this opportunity, and we’re very blessed that you have created us with that (1:33) ability to understand, and you provided us with the information that you would like for us to have.

(1:39) So we enter into this study, and we ask those blessings. It’s in Jesus’s name we pray. Amen.

(1:47) I like to, in preparation for Bible class, I always like to go through the Book of Romans (1:58) and read it at least once during the week to give me the overall view of (2:06) Romans so that when we get into the specific chapter and the specific thing that (2:15) he wanted us to get out of it. And as you know, every time you read anything in the Bible, (2:25) you get a new perspective. You get a new insight.

You get a new thought, and I have one. (2:32) I’m going to share it with you before we get into chapter one. It came very unexpectedly (2:39) as I was reading the very first chapter, the very first few verses, and I’d like for you to (2:45) join with me as we read that.

I’m going to be coming from the New International Version. (2:52) I’ve been reading from the American Standard, and now that I’m in a new month, I’m in a new version, (3:01) and I’m with the Christian Standard Bible, and it’s a very interesting translation too. (3:09) And as I read from the Christian Standard Bible, I all of a sudden had a different insight.

So I’d (3:18) like to share this with you, and I think it goes hand-in-hand with chapter five. Let’s take a look. (3:27) Reading from the New International Version, Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, (3:33) called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God, the gospel he promised (3:39) beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures.

Regarding his son, who, (3:47) as to his earthly life, was a descendant of David, and who, through the spirit of holiness, (3:54) was appointed the son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead, (4:00) Jesus Christ our Lord, through him we received grace and an apostleship to call all the Gentiles (4:10) to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake. And you also are among those Gentiles (4:21) who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. I don’t know if you pick up on that, (4:28) but Paul tells us what his mission is.

What is his mission? Did you pick it up? Tell me. (4:48) Yes, obedience, I think is the concept that is important for us. And who is he focusing that on? (5:02) On the Gentiles.

What do we know about the Gentiles? (5:09) They don’t have the Law of Moses, but it’s focused in on the word obedience. (5:19) They’re not obedient. But neither are the Israelites.

They’re not obedient. And I think that’s a (5:29) key thought, concept. We’re called to be obedient to God.

Obedience is, in essence, (5:40) righteousness. If you’re righteous, you’re obedient. And if you’re obedient, you’re (5:45) considered to be righteous.

But think about the role of obedience and where it gets you. (5:53) When you were children, were you obedient to your parents? I know I wasn’t. (6:06) And what did it get you? Correction.

And their disapproval. (6:17) And what is God? He’s viewed as being our parent, isn’t he? He’s our Father. He’s the Creator.

He’s (6:25) a person of authority. And what are we supposed to do with people who are in authority? Obey them. (6:36) Be obedient.

And that’s what Paul’s going to encourage us to do in Romans is to be obedient to (6:44) those who are in authority over us. But obedience, what does obedience get you? (6:51) So, if you’re disobedient, and you’re out there running around with your friends, (6:58) and all of a sudden, they want to do something that you know your parents frown on, you’re going (7:06) to be going along with it? Or are you going to say, my mom and dad don’t want me to do that? (7:15) If we go along with it, and parents find out about it, they will. Because the extended family (7:23) usually is around, and the extended family usually sees what’s happening.

My uncles, my aunts, (7:29) they all knew. They lived in the town I grew up with in an extended family. (7:36) And so they all knew what I was doing.

And they did not hesitate to tell my folks, (7:45) oh, I saw Steve smoking behind the barn. Or I saw Steve doing this. And so, when I got home, (7:56) what happened? I got corrected.

They would say, did you do this? One day, my brother was with me, (8:04) and my brother and I both did the things we weren’t supposed to. And they asked my brother (8:10) first. He says, no, we didn’t do it.

And I said, yes, we did. So being obedient brings what? (8:22) Being obedient brings either approval or disapproval. So who are you going to get your (8:33) approval from? It’s those people who are in authority.

Who are you going to get your disapproval (8:40) from? People who are disobedient. Because they don’t like the idea that you’re obedient, (8:47) you’re telling on them. And so, you have a problem, don’t you? You want to be friends, (9:00) and you want to do what they want to do.

But then again, you don’t want to fall into (9:07) the disapproval of your parents. So Paul’s saying he’s going to, his whole goal is to bring Gentiles (9:16) into being in some of the faith. What does that mean? They’re out of step with God, (9:26) and he’s going to try to bring them into step with God.

Yes? (9:38) Exactly. And so, you have to have faith in God. What pleases God? (9:52) Believe that he is, and that he’s a rewarder of those who diligently seek you.

(9:56) I love that. I’ll ask that question many times. Memorize it.

It’s Hebrews, the 11th chapter, (10:04) about verse 8 or 9. He’s talking about Enoch, who was and who was not. What pleased him is because (10:15) Enoch stepped in the line. And so, it pleases God that we are obedient.

(10:25) So now, the question then is, we’re constantly being bombarded. Just think about, (10:37) I don’t know about your employment, but I’ve been employed by many people. I’ve had several jobs in (10:44) my life.

And so, you go to work. My first job was with International Harvester in Fort Wayne. (10:56) And so, there were certain things we were expected to do.

(11:02) But I had co-workers who did not appreciate some of the things that we had to do, (11:10) so they were going to be disobedient. But I was raised to be obedient, and I was raised (11:18) to appreciate the fact that I had a job, and my employer wanted me to do my job, (11:24) this, this, and this way. And so, I tried to be obedient.

But my fellow employees (11:35) did not appreciate that because they didn’t always appreciate everything that they had to do (11:41) in their job, and they wanted to be disobedient. They did not want to follow the orders. (11:48) So, what did they think of me? They didn’t like me.

Think about Jesus. And I think about that (11:59) often. Why got Jesus on the cross? Sin.

And disobedience is identified with sin. (12:10) Obedience is identified with righteousness. So, Jesus is obeying his Father, and he’s come to—and (12:22) he learned obedience, didn’t he? The Hebrew writer tells us that Jesus learned obedience.

(12:31) So, he was obedient to God in every respect. He also had scribes, pharisees, rabbis, and what (12:41) have you, who had basically gone their own way, disregarded the real reasons for doing things, (12:49) and so they were disobedient in many, many things regarding the relationship with God and religion. (12:58) It’s not Jesus.

So, what does Jesus do? He confronts them about that. (13:06) Woe unto you, scribes, pharisees, you hypocrites. How would you like to be called a hypocrite? (13:15) So, they wanted him out of the way.

Why? Because his lifestyle was reflecting on them (13:25) and showing them to be hypocrites, to be out of step. And that’s the reason why, (13:32) as Paul points out in the third chapter, about how they gave the Gentiles, or the world, (13:44) the reason to call them hypocrites and ridicule God. (13:53) So, the main thing is, I would like for us to think in terms of obedience whenever we see the (14:00) word righteous, unless it’s describing God.

God is righteous. He didn’t have anything to be obedient (14:08) to, except for his own thoughts and his own words, right? But he’s not going to go against (14:15) his own words and his own thoughts. He’s going to be true.

He’s going to be true to his promise, (14:20) and we see him being true to his promise with Abraham by bringing Jesus into the world. (14:27) So, that’s the other thought. So, you’re out of step with your parents.

You’ve been disobedient. (14:37) What are they going to do? Do they want to disown you? Not unless you’ve done something real, (14:46) real bad. But if you’re obedient, it gives them the opportunity to glory.

(14:53) If you’re obedient, their friends are going to say, you have good children. (15:01) That gives them something to gloat about. (15:06) So, when we’re obedient, we’re giving God the opportunity to say, that’s my son, or my daughter, (15:16) or that’s my follower.

But we’re out of step. So, do you want to disobey your parents, or you (15:28) with your own children? Are you willing to disfellowship them? Or are you going to extend (15:33) to them the opportunity to repent and to ask for forgiveness? So, what happens? (15:44) Withhold your punishment. And Paul points out, are you giving God that? Because that’s what God (15:54) is doing.

He’s withholding his punishment because he’s hoping that we will repent and come back to (16:02) him and be reconciled to him. And so, that’s what he’s wanting to do. So, God is reaching out, (16:13) and he’s giving us the opportunity to be reconciled to him and have forgiveness of our (16:17) sins and to recommit ourselves to him, and then we will walk in step.

So, we want to walk in step. (16:32) So, Paul is saying, I am giving—my whole purpose is to encourage the Gentiles, but not only the (16:42) Gentiles, but also to the Jews. And he will always put the Jews first.

To the Jews first, (16:48) and then to the Gentiles. But his whole purpose is, is reaching out to the Gentiles and pointing (16:54) out to them they’re out of step with God. Why? Because they’re disobedient.

And he wants to (17:02) bring them in harmony with faith, which is God. And that’s one of the reasons why Paul is telling (17:11) us that our walk in life is not based on law, and because we have to do it, our walk in life (17:21) is based on faith and out of love, because we want to do that. We want to respect our parents.

(17:30) We want to respect God. And so, God is reaching out to us and giving us the opportunity (17:39) to be reconciled to him and to be forgiven and brought back into his love, because we know (17:47) that when we disobey him, like Adam and Eve, we’re no longer in his fellowship. (17:56) We’re out of step.

So, we want to be back into step. So, he wants us to come to him through (18:04) Christ, and that’s what Paul’s pointing out here, that he wants us to be able to reconcile (18:11) ourselves to him. Any thoughts? Any questions? I hope my insight, my enthusiasm for the concept (18:22) of obedience as opposed, or not opposed, in step with righteousness.

Obedience equals righteousness. (18:33) Righteousness implies obedience, and so we’re being obedient. And so, we want to be obedient (18:42) because, not because we have to be, but because we love God, we love our parents, (18:49) we love those who are in authority for us, and we’re going to be walking in step, (18:55) be obedient.

And then, because of the fact that we’re going to be obedient, we are going to have (19:03) those who are going to hate us because we’re reflecting their sin on them. (19:11) We’re reflecting it, and they don’t like to be shown up. And that’s what John says in Romans, (19:18) or not in Romans, but in the Gospel of John, that he came into the world and the world saw (19:24) him, and he brought light into the world, and they did not like the light.

They hated the light. (19:33) What was the light he was bringing into the world? Obedience. (19:39) So, they were out of step, and they didn’t want to be in step, (19:44) and so we look at it from that standpoint.

(19:53) Exactly. That’s a wonderful thought. I love that thought, too.

We use it quite often, don’t we? (20:02) Let’s go to chapter 5 with those things in mind. So, it starts out right from the very beginning (20:21) of chapter 5, verse 1. The fact that we have been reconciled to God through Jesus, (20:28) and God’s love for us and his care for us is such that his grace and mercy is working it out (20:37) so that we can have a relationship restored, and we can be back in the good graces of God (20:46) because of Jesus' willingness to die on the cross for his brothers and his sisters. (20:53) And he’s willing to do that, and he is offering us his sacrifice on the cross as a propitiation (21:03) for our sins.

Therefore, because of that, since we have been justified through faith, (21:13) we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Doesn’t that sound good? That goes along (21:19) with obedience, and we are in step with God. So, therefore, we have been justified through faith.

(21:28) We have peace with God. And that was the other thing about obedience. (21:34) When you’re out of step and you know your parents know what you’ve done and that you’ve done it, (21:43) are you in your conscience and in your mind wondering when you go in the presence of (21:52) your parents what they’re going to do? You don’t have a clear conscience, do you? (21:58) Your conscience is working on you.

But if you’ve been obedient and you have nothing to be ashamed (22:05) of, you don’t have any fear walking in the presence of your parents or anybody who is of (22:13) authority. And that’s what Paul’s telling us. Therefore, since we have been justified through (22:20) faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access (22:28) by faith.

And our faith is that we’re believing that Jesus is doing it and that God wanted it done (22:36) by faith into this grace in which we now stand. The grace is God. God is reaching it out.

And we (22:46) also know that Jesus is exercising grace on our behalf by willingly coming and dying on the cross. (22:54) So we need to recognize that both Jesus and God, through their grace, we have this relationship (23:01) with God. So through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we stand and (23:11) we boast in the hope of the glory of God.

In other words, now that we’re back in the sight of God, (23:21) we don’t have anything to worry about. We can anticipate being with God eternally in heaven. (23:28) That’s our hope.

Hope is, I want to get to heaven. And that hope is going to be fulfilled through (23:37) Jesus. Jesus is giving us access to that hope and restoring that hope.

My inheritance is (23:47) being with God eternally in heaven. That’s my inheritance. So we have the hope.

(23:53) So by faith into this grace in which we now stand, and we boast in the hope of the glory of God. (24:03) Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces (24:11) perseverance. Perseverance character and character hope.

And hope does not put us to shame (24:19) because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given (24:27) to us. Oh, how about that? If you’re going to be obedient, you have to have a backbone. (24:37) If you’re going to be obedient, you have to have perseverance.

You have to have a backbone. And so (24:47) when you stand up for what is right and the other individuals are going to try to defeat you and (24:54) bring you down with them, what do you have to have? And he points this out, that suffering (25:02) produces perseverance, and perseverance produces character, and character hope. (25:13) So what about a person who has a backbone? He has character.

He has perseverance. (25:22) That’s what we got. That’s what James points out to us, isn’t it? Take a look at James, (25:28) first chapter.

We get a little bit out of character here. First chapter, (25:41) going to verse two. Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face (25:48) trials of many kinds, and that’s because of perseverance.

That’s because of having a (25:54) backbone. You want to be obedient. So whenever you face trials of many kinds, which comes upon you (26:02) being obedient, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance, (26:10) let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

(26:19) And if any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God who gives generously to all without finding (26:25) fault, and it will be given to you. So isn’t that something? (26:32) Perseverance. Back to Romans 5. Any observational question? So we got a backbone.

It helps us to (26:46) develop perseverance, and perseverance character, character provides us with that hope, (26:54) and hope does not put us to shame because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through (27:02) the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. And so when did we get the Holy Spirit? (27:10) When we decided to conform our lives to God’s will. When we are baptized for the remission (27:17) of our sins, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

And in my mind, and I don’t have any (27:25) qualms about saying this, I believe that the Holy Spirit is indwelling each one of us who (27:30) are Christians, and that he is encouraging us to have that stamina, to have that obedience. (27:39) He is giving us the strength and the willpower to be obedient. (27:45) And not only that, but the Ephesian letter points out that he is there for what? (27:54) To be a guarantee, an earnest, a down payment, if you will, for the anticipation of being with (28:02) God eternally in heaven.

That’s the reason why the Holy Spirit’s there. He’s going to (28:10) be a guarantee to us that we have heaven as our home eternally. See your observations.

(28:20) So we have been given the Holy Spirit who has been given to us, and the Holy Spirit (28:32) will verify the fact that we are righteous. We have been obedient. (28:40) The Holy Spirit did that for Jesus.

He confirmed the fact that Jesus passed the test. (28:48) We’re going to have to pass the test, too. But he confirmed that Jesus passed the test.

(28:55) And because of that confirmation, Jesus was raised from the grave and brings and intercedes (29:03) for us in heaven. So let’s pick up with verse 6. You see, at just the right time, (29:12) when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a (29:19) righteous person, though for a good person, someone might possibly dare to die.

And God (29:28) demonstrated his own love for us in this. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (29:41) Now, since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved (29:52) from God’s wrath through him? That’s Jesus.

For if while we were God’s enemies, (30:00) we were reconciled to him through the death of his son, how much more, having been reconciled, (30:09) shall we be saved through his life? Not only is this so, but we also boast in God (30:18) through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (30:26) And so that’s what we do on the first day of the week, whenever we observe the Lord’s Supper. (30:31) We’re demonstrating how much we appreciate the fact that he did this.

(31:33) And so through his death, shall we be saved from the wrath of God through him? So this idea (31:39) is underpinning what God is doing here with the idea of righteousness. (31:53) We argue in chapter three, talking about righteousness that comes by faith. Now he’s (31:58) defining the faith, and the faith depends on this idea of Jesus, of his resurrection.

(32:07) So he’s tying that all together so that when the reformation is saved, it’s faith alone (32:15) that saves us. Ask him what faith, you know, and there are a lot. What was Jesus' existence? (32:23) Jesus tells us, even the devils know that.

And so what is this faith that saves us? I mean, (32:30) that’s what’s being uncovered here. Very neatly, it’s being uncovered. And that’s the whole point, (32:38) is what’s the faith that actually saves us? Is it faith alone? It’s not faith alone.

You already (32:44) said, oh, the product of faith is obedience. Obedience is action. And so, anyway.

But that’s (32:56) that transparency that we need to tie it all together. (33:04) So in chapter three, he points out the fact that we have all sinned. And what is this sin? (33:11) Sin is disobedience.

We have been walking on a step of God, and God wants to reconcile us to that. (33:24) And Paul is going to be asking, are you calling him out there where he’s not concerned about us? (33:32) He’s not worried about us? And no, because I am my own person. I can do my own thing.

(33:40) But when you realize that there is a God, and when you realize that that God is your authority, (33:48) like your parents, and that you have been walking out a step of his will, (33:53) and he is very angry. Paul points out that God is very angry in the first chapter there. (34:02) His wrath is directed towards whom? Those who are out of step.

Those who are disobedient. (34:14) Who have absolutely no regard for his authority over them. And so he is very angry about that.

(34:24) But he wants to restore, reconcile us back to him. And so how is he going to do that? (34:33) He’s going to offer his son as a propitiation. Who is his son? He’s the obedient one.

(34:43) He’s the obedient one, and he’s willing to be your reconciler or the agent for you being (34:53) reconciled to God. He wants you to be reconciled to God, too. He doesn’t want you walking out a (35:00) step.

He wants you to be obedient with God. Because there’s many, many benefits of being (35:07) in step with God, isn’t there? Just look at what happens to individuals when they’re out of step. (35:17) That’s what the balance of Romans, the first chapter, is all about.

Forgiving to sin. So much (35:25) disobedience. Women turning to other women.

Men turning to other men. Being disobedient to their (35:31) parents. And he just lists a whole litany of things that being out of step with God brings about.

(35:45) And so Jesus knows that he would like for us to be back in step. What is Paul’s job? (35:56) Paul’s job is to go to those individuals who are out of step and try to bring them back in (36:03) harmony with God. He has been given that authorization by God to represent Jesus.

(36:13) And so he’s representing Jesus, and he’s giving us the opportunity to do what Jesus did for us. (36:20) Jesus wants us to be reconciled to him. God is setting Jesus out to do this very thing.

(36:31) Jesus is obedient. And according to the Hebrew letter, Jesus willingly did this. He was so in (36:39) love with his fellow creatures that he was willing to do this, and he was looking forward to the (36:47) cross.

He was looking forward to it. Why? Because he’s giving his fellow mankind the opportunity to (36:56) be reconciled to his father. And because he was willing to be reconciled to his father, (37:05) he wanted to give them the opportunity to do that.

So he’s going to pay their debt for them, (37:13) and he’s going to offer his own body as a propitiation or a payment (37:21) for anyone who wants to be reconciled or whosoever will. So he’s giving us all the opportunity (37:29) to be reconciled to God. This is Jesus' intent.

So he came to earth. He is saying to you, (37:38) you want to be reconciled to death? My father, I’d be willing to let you do that, but you’ve got to (37:46) become a disciple of me. You have to be my disciple, and you have to belong to my church.

Jesus says, (37:56) I have come to build my church, and it’s based on what? If you’re going to be a member of his church, (38:06) you’ve got to believe that he is and that he’s, you know, you’ve got to believe in Jesus, (38:11) that he can do this for us. Upon this rock, I will build my church. What is it? I walk in the (38:18) Christ, the Son of the living God.

So you’re going to make a disciple of me, baptizing them in the (38:26) name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, which gives us a reenactment of Jesus' death, (38:33) dying to the law, and rising to walk in the newness of life. So Jesus is giving us that (38:43) opportunity to be reconciled to God, and that’s his sole purpose is to, and there’s no other name (38:52) under heaven where men may be saved, because this is the only person that God has sent to make this (38:59) offered for him. He’s the only one.

Nobody else has this authority. He’s the only one who’s been (39:08) authorized to be our agent, our lawyer, if you will, because he’s going to intercede for us, (39:16) and he’s feeding our case in heaven on the right-hand side of God. So he’s given us that (39:22) opportunity.

So with all that, we’ve covered an awful lot, and our time is just about up. (39:34) So let’s preserve the balance of this chapter to next week, and hopefully we will get into it (39:44) without the preamble. (39:48) A moment, so that I may have to re-express my idea of what’s going to take place now, (39:58) the remainder of Chapter 5 and into Chapter 6. (40:03) And the whole discussion that’s going on from Chapter 3 on is just outrageous.

(40:09) And the Hebrew writer tells us that all we know is that the elementary teachings are not (40:14) acquainted with the doctrine of Christ, more than just the elementary teachings of Christ, (40:21) the deeper topics, and righteousness fits there. And if you think about righteousness, okay, (40:30) so Jesus died for our sins. And I can see how a person who lives right and never sins, (40:40) law cannot condemn him.

It’s impossible. It didn’t do anything wrong. And all the law can do is (40:49) out from the law.

It can condemn you as a liar, but it couldn’t do that with Jesus. (40:56) That’s why we’re told also, but what Peter was preaching, that death couldn’t keep Jesus (41:04) in the grave, because he didn’t sin. So he has to be let go.

One who has the keys of that (41:14) Satan couldn’t keep him locked up because he hadn’t sinned. So he’s righteous. (41:22) But the rest of us, Romans tells us, we’ve all sinned.

That’s a false story. We’ve got it. (41:29) We deserve, we’ve earned, we’ve merited condemnation.

You can’t earn condemnation. (41:40) You can’t earn righteousness. So how would we get that righteousness? Jesus got it because he (41:47) didn’t sin.

How is that transferred to us? How is that done? And I will start to tell us. (41:58) Well, and to give you the idea of the earth, after the war with Abraham, (42:04) David quoted David, where he said, blessed is the man who God forgives his sins. (42:12) Blessed is the man who God never counts his sins.

Totally different idea. (42:25) He still sinned even as a Christian. He’s been walked by Christ’s blood.

(42:34) So how are we righteous? (42:41) And we are, because it’s a gift that he got from God. But chapter five there then tells us, (42:48) and he starts making a comparison between Adam and Christ. This is how death is transferred to you.

(42:59) When you sin, you die. Since we’ve all sinned, we’ve all earned death. That’s how that’s transferred.

(43:09) Then he goes to the man of righteousness, Christ. How is righteousness transferred? (43:17) And he tells us that it is transferred, but finally doesn’t tell us how that’s transferred. (43:25) So it’s all this idea of how is righteousness transferred to us? And also telling us point (43:33) blank, not through merit.

Nothing we can do that will cause us to be righteous. We’re righteous (43:41) because of Jesus. And that’s our justification.

Justification is that through faith, I believe (43:50) I can do what he promised and he promised. I believe Jesus will give me righteousness. (43:57) I’m righteous because he’s righteous.

That’s why I’m righteous. That’s my justification. (44:12) That’s four, five, and six, how it’s transferred.

Don’t you know that as many of you have been (44:24) baptized, have been baptized into the death of Christ. And it’s this idea of dying in the same (44:35) chapter six. Anyone who has died, has been freed, was through that participation in Christ’s death (44:47) to free them.

And since we’ve been baptized with him, we’ve been crucified also with himself in (44:56) chapter six. We’re crucified with him. It will also be that we will thrive with (45:05) baptism in the resurrection.

So that whole idea of that’s how it’s transferred to us. (45:12) So for the Reformation, we say baptism isn’t necessary for salvation. Baptism is the obedience (45:20) to Christ.

And yes, the water, it doesn’t save us. That getting wet doesn’t save us. Our belief (45:30) that God’s able to do what he promised, that he’ll give us righteousness if we obey that act.

(45:50) Okay, our time is up. (45:59) I will not give up on my obedience. (46:07) Yeah, and now he reconciles us back into him.

Okay, get ready for another lesson which (46:21) you may find it a different slant on too.