Preface

Greetings to you all.

I would like to share with you this meditation on Paul’s epistle to the Romans.

I wanted to do this for a long time, but I guess I just wasn’t ready.

After reading and re-reading words in my Bible that I didn’t think conveyed the author’s thoughts very well, rather than making small changes here and there, I finally took the plunge and added my own words to the text; at least where I thought it was important to do so.

I’ve also added ‘text extensions’ in places that seemed difficult to me.

So you’ll understand that this is a sort of “translation attempt adapted to my own person”, that’s all.

There’s a verse number every now and then, so you can find your way around a bit.

Don’t think of it as a “correction to the Bible”, but rather as a holy desire to be able to capture God’s thought, and then to give it words; and that’s where I found it very difficult.

I therefore entrust myself to the Lord of the Scriptures, as well as to you, asking Him that, by His grace, someone may be allowed to grasp some light which he has not yet received, so that everything may return in thanksgiving to the One who is its author: God.

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I agree with all those who say that the Epistle to the Romans is the most profound of all, because when you read it, you have the feeling that you will never be able to translate all the thought contained in it, because it is so spiritual, and therefore so profound.

It is a letter full of wisdom, given the various ways the apostle used to reach a final and crucial goal. Moreover, it is a true demonstration of spiritual understanding of the meaning of the Scriptures. It is truly a choice piece.

Above all, I thank the Lord, who has allowed me to associate myself a bit in these beautiful things, asking him to instruct me on anything that might be an error, or to amplify a truth that I have not pressed hard enough.

I would also ask you, who are kind enough to read me, to judge this work, which is a pleasure to do, it must be said.

May God, through the Holy Spirit, guide us, convince us and, finally, ensure that all these things bear fruit for God.

Kind regards, in Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord

Jean Poulou

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Here is the colour code used:

This is the colour that corresponds to the Word of God recalled; or the prophetic word recalled.

This is the colour of the Law, with an L, when it describes the general Law of God.

This is the colour of the biblical texts that we include in our documents.

When we talk about the Law in our documents or exchanges, we write it in normal black.

This is the colour that corresponds to the law and its derivatives.

This is the colour that corresponds to the carnal man or the devil.

This is what corresponds to what is hidden, hypocrisy or hidden works of the devil.

This is the colour that corresponds to the Grace of God.

It is also that of the Spirit.

This is the colour that corresponds to everything regarding faith.

This is the colour that corresponds to the glory of God.

This is the colour of the Christian life.

It can be used for just about anything, for example when you want to highlight a difference of any kind.

1 ; 1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,) Concerning his Son ( 1 ) , Jesus Christ our Lord : By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name: Among whom you also are, you who have been called by Jesus Christ:

 

1 ; 7 To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

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1 ; 8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.

 

1 ; 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers; Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you.

 

1 ; 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established; That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.

 

1 ; 13 Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was hindered hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as in the rest of the Gentiles.

 

1 ; 14 I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.

 

1 ; 15 That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ:

The gospel, is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For in this gospel is the righteousness of God revealed by faith unto faith: as it is written :

 

« The just shall live by faith ».

 

—

 

Presentation of the gospel, according to the ministry of the apostle Paul

 

1 ; 18 What can be called by every human being, “the wrath of God”, is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who ensure to hold unfairly the inner truth they possess, so as to make it « captive », whereas this truth induced in them should lead them to godliness and righteousness.

Indeed, « that which anyone may know intuitively of God » has already been manifested unto them, since it is God Himself who has created this “inner knowledge” in them.

 

1 ; 20 For example, the invisible perfections of God, which are his “eternal power” or “Godhead“, are perceived in a spiritual way, thanks to the inner eye that is in every human being, and this since the creation of the world.
Since the manifestation of these perfections is “the work of God in our inner being”, everyone can recognise them as such.

 

Ungodly and unjust men are therefore inexcusable, since, having known God in this way, they did not set their hearts on glorifying him as such, not even giving him thanks. On the contrary, by doing so, they came to lose their way in their thoughts, and finally their unintelligent hearts plunged little by little into darkness.

 

1 ; 22 Then, so darkened, although they boasted of being wise, they became fools, changing what is the reflection of the glory of God, He who is incorruptible, into images representing first man, who is known to be corruptible; then into images of birds; then into images of fourfooted beasts, and finally into images of creeping things.

In short, little by little they came to “divinise” corruptible man, even going as far as the totally impure animal, like the serpent.

1 ; 24 This is why God gave them up to impurity, according to the desires and lusts that were in their hearts, so that they themselves came to dishonour their own bodies. Acting in this way, they ended up changing God’s truth, which is inward, into an outward lie.

Yes, they came to worship and serve the creature, the outer truth, instead of the Creator of these creatures, inner Truth, He who is blessed for ever. Amen.

1 ; 26 That is why God gave them over to themselves, to their own desires, to their own vile passions, as they desired.

Then their wives came to change the natural use into that which is against nature. In the same way, men, leaving the natural use of women, came to be inflamed in their desires for one another, committing man after man unseemly things, and receiving in themselves the reward that their error deserved.

1 ; 28 Yes, because they did not care to know God intimately, God gave them up. He left them to their reprobate mind, which led them to do things unworthy of themselves and unworthy of God.

Left to himself, the natural man is then full of every kind of unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness and malice; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit and malignity; whispers, backbite, hatred of God, despite, proud, boast, inventor of evil things, disobedient to parents.

Yes, man left to himself is thus deprived of understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful : and, although this man intuitively knows God’s judgement, since it goes so far as to declare those who commit such things “worthy of death“, not only do the same, but even have pleasure in them that do them !

2 ; 1 Therefore, O man, whoever you are, you who judges in this way, you make yourself inexcusable, because in judging others in this way, you do not even realise that you are condemning yourself.

Yes, you condemn yourself! Because you, who have this power of judgement within you, are doing exactly the same things. So it’s your own power of judgement that condemns you.

2 ; 2 For we know that God’s judgment of those who do such things, especially under the same conditions, is based on “the Truth“. Do you think, O man who judges those who do such things, and yet does them, that you will escape the judgment of God? That you will escape this judgement which is “according to the truth?“

Certainly not!

Do you think that the mere fact of judging something has the power to make you stand out from the crowd? Do you think that this attitude of judgement will spare you from condemnation?

No, certainly not!

2 ; 4 Why then, man, acting this way, do you despise the riches of God, which are His goodness, His forbearance and His longsuffering? Yes, these things that work in you at the very moment you fail to recognise that it is these famous riches of God that have the effect of leading you to repentance, at the very moment you judge other ?

2 ; 5 Man, acting this way, out of a “spirit of hardening“, or nurtering an impenitent heart, then you are storing up another treasure: a treasure of wrath for the day of wrath and of the revelation of God’s righteous judgement, when He will render to every man according to his deeds.

For God has in store :

– Eternal life to all those who, by patient continuance in well doing, seek glory, honour and immortality.

– But indignation and wrath at those who, out of a spirit of contentiousness, rebel against their inner truth, preferring to obey unrighteousness.

– Tribulation and anguish upon every human soul that does evil; of the Jew first, and then for the Greek !

– Glory, honour and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first, and then for the Greek ! For before God there is no favouritism of race.

—

2 ; 12 Indeed, for as many as have sinned without the law will also perish without the law : and as many as have sinned with the law will be judged by this same law. ( 2 )

2 ; 13 For it is not those who “listen” to the law who are just before God.

No.

Those who are truly justified are those who put this Law into practice, because they have not only heard it outwardly, but believed it and lived it inwardly.

2 ; 14 Indeed, for when the Gentiles – who have no external law – naturally do what that Law contained, and which they have never heard, they prove that they, who have no Law, are a law to themselves, thus showing that “the work of the internal Law of God” is like “engraved in their hearts“, since their conscience testifies to it.

This is the reason for their “deliberations within themselves”, i.e. when their thoughts accuse or excuse one another.

2 ; 16 Now these exercises of the heart, which are still secret, will be made visible on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge “through Jesus Christ” the secret actions of these men, so that nothing may be done without Him. That nothing be done apart from Him. And above all, outside of what He is.

2 ; 17 Behold, you, you are called a “Jew“,

– you who rely on the external law, when your law should be internal,

– you who make your boast of God, when you should glorify him by your inner law,

– you who know his will, but in an external way,

– you who appreciates the difference in things, being instructed by this law, but externally,

– you who pride yourself on being “a guide of the blind“, but who can’t see any better than they can,

– you who claim to be “the light of those in darkness“, when all you have is an external light,

– you, the “instructor of the foolish“, but who does not yet understand the substance of God’s knowledge.

– You, the “teacher of babes“, because you have known, in the external law, what has become for you: “The rule to be followed, yet derived of knowledge and of the truth…”.

– You, then, who teach others outwardly, you don’t teach yourself, inwardly, by means of this form “of knowledge and of the truth” which should be understood by the heart.

—

The result?

– You, who preach “that a man mustn’t steal”, are stealing!

– You who tell those around you “that a man must not commit adultery“, you are committing adultery!

– You who “abhor idols” commit sacrilege!

– You, who make your boast of the external law, dishonour God by breaking your own internal law!

2 ; 24 For indeed the name of God is, through the character “Jew under the external law”, blasphemed among the Gentiles , as it is written.

—

2 ; 25 Therefore, O man who calls himself a “Jew” because he is “circumcised in the flesh”, know that circumcision is useful to you only if you keep the Law, which should be for you an internal law above all, because in that case this practice of the internal law would be like a “seal put on your practical application“.

But don’t forget that if you ever come to be a breaker of the Law, because you have known it only as an external law, then that circumcision is made “uncircumcision” for you.

In that case your heart will not fail to condemn you, because of the title of uncircumcised; a title which you therefore deserve.

2 ; 26 Moreover, when “the outward uncircumcised” throughout the world comes to observe dispositions which are of a spiritual nature, the fruit of an internal law, will not his uncircumcision be held, in this case, to be “true circumcision” on the day of the Lord ?

And when you manage to “see” this truth with your own eyes, isn’t that the day of the Lord for you, at that very moment? Isn’t that the day for you to meditate on these things that are supposed to challenge you?

2 ; 27 Will not the uncircumcised by nature, who nevertheless “practises his inner law“, condemn you by his living testimony, you who transgress this Law? A glorious law which, in the end, is only an external law for you?

You who, unlike the uncircumcised, have the “letter of the law” contained in the Torah at your disposal… You who even have circumcision in your own flesh, will you not feel even more guilty than the one who does not have these things, and yet lives them inwardly?

In that case, won’t your circumcision bother you? What will become this very special “sign” for you then?

Will this be a “good sign” or a “bad sign” for you?

2 ; 28 Man, the truth is that the Jew is not “the one who has the outside“; and true circumcision is not “that which is visible in the flesh”.

No, the true Jew is the one who is a Jew inwardly; and true circumcision is circumcision of the heart, the fruit of an inner reality well lived.

In this case, this circumcision is “according to the Spirit” and not “according to the letter“.

Yes, in this case, the praise of this Jew does not come from men, but from God Himself, for it is through the action of God’s inner law in his heart, including God’s own justice, that this man acts in his life in a natural and spiritual way. For it is under God’s gaze that this man lives.

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What then is the advantage of the Jew ? Or what profit is there of “circumcision in the flesh” ? Much in every way, and first of all in that the oracles and various decrees of God were entrusted to them; and it is great as elements of understanding. They make it possible to compare between what is external and what is internal.

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3 ; 3 But what? If some have not believed God’s spiritual promises, will their unbelief destroy His faithfulness?

Certainly not !

Let God, on the contrary, be known as true and every man as a liar, as it is written : That You may be justified in Your words, And may overcome when You are judged.

3 ; 5 But if our “unrighteousness” has the effect of effectively establishing God’s justice, what can we conclude from this?

– That God is unrighteous when he takes vengeance? (See that here I am expressing myself voluntarily as a man without intelligence.)

– Is God unrighteous when He inflicts wrath? Certainly not : How else could an unrighteous God judge the world fairly?

– No, God is righteous when he takes “His” wrath, because it’s not like ours.

3 ; 7 Or this :

– If, through my “lie”, God’s truth comes to abound even more for His glory, why then am I myself, Paul, still judged as a sinner by men, instead of simply seeing in my inner transformation the glory of God and his justice?

– 3 ; 8 “And why not let us do evil, that good may come” as we are slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say.

I say that the condemnation of such people who think like that is right !

—

3 ; 9 What can we conclude from these realities ?

Are we, Jews, more excellent than non-Jews?

Not at all, for we have already proved that all, Jews and Greeks, are under “the domination of sin“, as it is written :

– There is none righteous, no, not one.

– There is none who understands, there is none who seeks after God.

– They have all turned aside, they have together become unprofitable ;

– There is none who does good, no, not one.

– Their throat is an open sepulchre, with their tongues they have practiced deceit ; the poison of asps is under their lips :

– Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness :

– Their feet are swift to shed blood :

– Destruction and misery are in their ways :

– And the way of peace they have not known :

– The respectful fear of God is not before their eyes.

3 ; 19 Now we know that whatever the Law says here, as “general statement of mankind“, it says it to those who are “under this form of law“, that which has the effect of producing sin; and this, so that every mouth may be stopped and everyone, by this law, may be found “guilty before God“.

Indeed, no one will be justified before Him by deeds that are the product of this “approach to the meaning of the law“, since it is precisely through this wrong approach to the law that the knowledge of sin comes. The deeds resulting from this “approach to the law” are therefore completely impregnated with it.

It is in purity, in a spirit freed from the law and the sin that flows from it, that the believer can finally appreciate the Law of God, perfect and magnificent in every way.

It is outside the reach of the law and the sin that flows from it, that the Law can be found beautiful, pure, without stain, without accusation.

It is in this state of mind, freed from the Law and the sin that is its fruit, that the believer can finally admire all the beauties of Jesus Christ through the Law. But he does so in a new spirit, and not “according to the letter“.

The letter of the Law was written on tablets of stone; but the Law of God is engraved in hearts, by the Holy Spirit. And it’s not the same at all; it doesn’t have the same effect or produce the same thing.

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3 ; 21 But now the righteousness of God is finally manifested without any law, the kind of law that has the effect of “producing sin”. On the contrary, it is about this “divine justice“, a justice to which “the law and the prophets” had long given witness, but which had not been understood.

Yes, it’s about this famous righteousness of God, which is received through faith in Jesus Christ; and this for all those “in whom is faith“, that is, all those who believe. Those who have the capacity in themselves to “believe in God“, but even more, to “believe God in what He declares or promises through Jesus Christ”.

In this area, there is no distinction between people who believe.

Indeed, all men, having sinned, are as “deprived” of the benefit of “being able “to see” the glory of God in their hearts”.

However, all these people, these people who believe, can once again, in Jesus Christ, access to this “glory“, because in order to benefit from it, they are first justified freely; and this by grace, and not by law, that is to say by the means of redemption, a means which is contained in the whole work of Jesus Christ.

So they can “see” again. For the accusation due to sin that prevented them from doing so is no more.

3 ; 25 For it was He, Jesus Christ, whom God had set forth to be, by his blood, for all who would believe, their “excellent propitiation“, in order to show “his justice at all times“.

Yes, to show the justice of God at all times, since God had passed over the sins committed before, during the time when He “used such great forbearance”, but that, not being understood, it could make Him appear as an “unrighteous god”.

Through the blood of Jesus Christ, it is allowed for man to “see” the righteousness of God in the present age.

And what’s more! He is allowed to see this justice at all times, through this “present” justice of God, since God justifies “still today” the man who have faith in Jesus.

Indeed, see that in « Abraham’s time », he was justified by faith alone. (So here, “justice at all times“).

—

These two eras, that of Abraham and that of Jesus Christ, are thus linked together by the faith that is common to both of them, and to us who believe.

So faith has come full circle in itself.

On this subject, it would be good once again to ask ourselves whether we are able to understand these things, which are of an eternal nature. To understand that everything has been designed by God in such a way that the sinner can receive his justification by faith alone, as it was the case with Abraham, our father in faith.

We must also understand that if Jesus came, without asking us to do any « special work » to save ourselves, it was so that we could, as Abraham, finally walk by faith, and also “receive what we need” by means of that same faith.

To understand, too, that to be saved by Jesus is above all to have received, as a gift, a means of fixing our gaze of faith on something honourable and necessary: Jesus Christ Himself, and the whole of His work.

If Jesus had asked us for anything, our salvation would be received as “a wage given to someone for his work“. But in that case there would not have been, with that wage, “the imputation of righteousness” that a truly “justified“ person receives.

Yes, a justified person, that is to say, “a man who has received everything by grace, and who, moreover, knows that he is pleasing to God, because he has received the thing in the right way, the way that God loves, the way that God desires“.

So things had to be done by Jesus, in such a way that, through His “unattainable perfection“, we came to recognise that we were powerless to produce these things, and so naturally led us to look to Him, with finally that “gaze of faith” that is so pleasing to God.

To make myself clearer, I enclose this crucial passage: “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent“. (John 6; 29)

And note that it is Jesus who is speaking here. He is clearly saying that God’s great work is that we should finally be able to believe as we should; not in false gods, but believe in a True God, and that Jesus has shown us exactly what the True God is.

—

So Jesus did not just come to pay for us the price that our sin was claiming, but above all to give us the opportunity to effectively reawaken our faith, that had no specific object on which to set its sights, and thus to be able to “walk by faith” every day of our lives, in the right way, the way God wants us to walk, with Jesus always in the background“.

Yes, walk as Abraham walked, so that we too may be made partakers of what was attached to him.

—

3 ; 27 Where is boasting then?

It is excluded !

– By what law?

By the law of works?

– No, but by the “law of faith“, because we reckon that man is justified by faith alone, and therefore without contribution of deeds derived from laws.

3 ; 29 If this were to be by deeds stemming from an external law, would God then be only the “God of the Jews”? (Since it is obvious that the law, insofar as it is misunderstood by the Jews, is an external and not an internal law).

But isn’t God also the God of the Gentiles ?

Yes, He is also the God of the Gentiles, since “there is only one God”, who will justify the circumcised by faith, and the uncircumcised through faith.

(The only one God is therefore the One who justifies the whole of mankind on the basis of faith, and not on the basis of a law that would not be the product of faith).

3 ; 31 By saying these things, do we make void the law in favour of faith?

Certainly not ! On the contrary, we confirm the reality and the “force of the Law“. (The inner law of gentiles or Jews).

At this point, I can hardly put any colour on the word Law.

There is the interior law, engraved in the heart of man, this sort of “General Law of God” which is in itself a force of God. A “force of Law” in man, and which is in a way “the judge of the tribunal of his conscience”.

Then there’s this kind of law, as “commandment“, which pushes me to do the exact opposite of the previous law: (Even if I don’t agree with this law, I still do it by “commandment”).

In spite of everything, this law is also a “force“, since it helps to lead me to Christ, completely annihilated, so that in Him I can find my perfect substitute to all these “commandments“, so beautiful but so impossible to live by.

It is a force ordained by angels, let us not forget, and by the hand of a mediator. But the angels and the mediator are creatures, not the Creator!

This law, which I write here normally and not in bold, is like a “force from God, passing through creatures, with the aim of saving man by bringing him exactly where God wants him to be“.

Let’s make an account; let’s see what Abraham, our father, found “according to the flesh”? Indeed, for if Abraham had been justified by works “of the flesh“, he would have then something to glory ; but in that case it would not be possible for it to be “before God“. No, it would be “before himself“, i.e. “before his flesh“.

4 ; 3 Indeed, for what does the Scripture say ? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him “for righteousness“.

So we see that the thing was accounted to him as “righteousness of God“, and as a result of his faith.

So this is what Abraham received in response to his faith: an imputation of something, yes, but an imputation “for righteousness“. An imputation as “divine justice“.

4 ; 4 Now to him who works, we know that the reward is not counted as grace, but as “debt”, as something “due”.

On the other hand, to him who does not work, but believes on Him who is able to “justifies the ungodly“, his faith is, in this case, “accounted for righteousness“; this imputation of righteousness includes God’s own justice, before the faith of an ungodly person.

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4 ; 6 Even as David, long after these things, describes, in a very beautiful and inspired way, the blessedness of “the man to whom God imputes righteousness without having to produce any work of justice“.

Indeed, here is what David says :

4 ; 7 Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.

4 ; 8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.

4 ; 9 Is this blessedness of which David speaks…then only upon the circumcised? Or upon the uncircumcised also? I say this because we say that faith was “accounted for righteousness” to Abraham. ( 3 )

But exactly… at what precise time was this righteousness imputed to Abraham? Was it after or before his circumcision? The truth is that when Abraham received this “imputation of righteousness“, he was not yet circumcised; he was uncircumcised.

However, although Abraham was still uncircumcised, he nevertheless received a “sign“, and this sign was circumcision. Now, this sign that was given to him was given as a “seal of righteousness“, since he had already received the imputation of righteousness; this imputation of righteousness he had obtained by faith.

Yes, Abraham received all these wonders in order to be :

– The father of all those famous “uncircumcised who believe“, so that righteousness can also be “imputed” unto them.

– But also the father of the truly circumcised, that is to say “those who are not only circumcised in the flesh”, but rather “those who walk in the primitive steps of faith“, the kind of faith that our father Abraham had when he was still uncircumcised.

4 ; 13 For it was not by the law that Abraham or his seed were promised the inheritance of the world, but by – or because of – God’s righteousness, which was imputed to him in response to his faith!

4 ; 14 If the heirs, on whom God’s righteousness is imputed, were to be by means of the law, understand that faith would be made void, of no value whatsoever and of no consequence; and moreover, the promise of God which is attached to it would be found to have been annihilated. But all this is impossible!

—

Brothers, you know very well that “the mere exercise of the law” ends up producing wrath, because of the impossibility of fulfilling it perfectly and permanently. But understand that where there is no more law, there can no longer be any transgression, precisely because of the absence of law.

4 ; 16 This is the reason why the heirs, that is, those who are the seed “stemming from the promise“, are “of faith“, so that the thing may be given “by grace“; and this so that the promise may be assured to all the seed of faith, that is, not only to the seed who are “under the law“, but also to the seed who have in them the faith of Abraham, the father of us all, as it is written :

I have made you a Father of many Nations.

—

Yes, Abraham is our father; and he is our father “before Him whom he believed“: God, who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as if they were.

4 ; 18 Indeed he hoped against all odds, and believed, so that he became “the father of many nations“, as it was said to him, “So shall your seed be“.

 

4 ; 19 Then Abraham, without being weak in this kind of “faith that believes God“, did not consider, as one would by “calculating“, that his body was already worn.

He could have doubted, of course, since he was nearly a hundred years old at the time, and Sara was no longer able to have children. But no, he did not doubt, as one would do through unbelief, about the promise of God that was made him.

On the contrary, he was strengthened by his faith, giving glory to God beforehand, because he was fully persuaded that what God promises, He can also fulfil it.

 

4 ; 22 This is why what Abraham did was “imputed to him for righteousness“.

 

It was not because of Abraham’s faith alone that this was “imputed to him for righteousness“, but also because Abraham’s faith was linked to the fact that God is able of raising the dead, especially in the case of a promise concerning a person “born of an impossibility made possible”. Yes, by a promise from God “who makes the impossible possible“.

The highly spiritual meaning of what is “the spirit of resurrection” was therefore included in Abraham’s faith. This is very important!

Abraham therefore believed that God would fulfil his promise, and that is why he did not doubt in himself. He did not doubt for a moment that he could still beget, despite the fact that a kind of physical impossibility lay before him. Just as another physical impossibility would later present itself, that a virgin could become pregnant. It’s beyond the laws of nature!

It is very edifying to see the similarities between the physical impossibilities quoted in the Bible. The first, that of Abraham, begat a race of believers; then, after a whole series of first fruits that lasted for centuries, the second physical impossibility, resolved by God, begat a Man on whom the faith of believers could look without fear of Him.

Yes, for these sinful men, they had to receive justification by grace, so that they could believe in Jesus without fearing him. This is why Jesus came as Grace and Truth.

 

I come back to Abraham’s faith :

Abraham believed that if God wanted to do something, Abraham could do it too, because it was about God’s own Word, not some man’s Word.

God made a commitment through his Word, so Abraham made a commitment too! And by whom was he heard? He was answered by the fulfilment of God’s Word, the Word in which he had believed.

If God allowed this to be done through a sexual act, which might perhaps seem a little laughable, it must be understood that it was nevertheless a question of engendering a lineage, a race of believers. Consequently, and this is only my personal opinion, it had to be done in this way, otherwise believers today would perhaps be taken for some sort of enlightened spirits who believe anything and everything.

But no, on the contrary, believers are made of flesh and blood. It is only their faith that is spiritual, as well as their thoughts.

In my opinion, Abraham had faith for both of them, that is to say for himself and for Sarah, even though Sarah had to go through a painful experience; a painful experience that is supposed to change someone. But let it be clear that the Scriptures do not talk about Sarah as the “mother of believers“. Sarah also had faith, as it is written, and she used it; and that is why she also gave birth.

Sarah is not marked as the “mother of believers”, but as “associated to the work of Abraham’s faith as a spiritual continuity“. Above all, she is marked as an “example of a noble position of a woman towards her husband, as a spiritual man”.

Isaiah 51 ; 2 : Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.

So I leave it to the Scriptures, which speak only of Abraham as the “father of believers”.

 

4 ; 23 Now it was not written for “his sake alone” , that it was « imputed to him »; But « also for us », to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe in HIM who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was « delivered for our offences », like Isaac, but was raised again.

And this is why Jesus is “our justification“.

 

This “but for us also if we believe” is something to ponder very seriously, brothers and sisters.

Indeed, if we read the text carefully, we see that it was planned, through the promise made to Abraham and concerning the nations, that those nations would see a race of believers born among them, of the same nature as Abraham’s. Now, since it was necessary that “the imputation of righteousness which comes on a pure faith, therefore without works of righteousness“, should also be for these nations, it was therefore obligatory that the same Person who spoke to Abraham should also present himself, and that the same substitutionary sacrifice should then present itself to them.

Indeed, what would have happened if a race of believers of Abraham’s race had been deprived of a word of promise, the one that enabled Abraham to believe God?

If the Word of God foresaw a posterity of believers for Abraham, there also had to come a valid support for their faith!

It was the Lord who presented himself to Abraham. It was therefore necessary for the Lord to present himself to today’s believers too, otherwise they would be deprived of making their choice to believe in God, and moreover of accepting the unique sacrifice of the Son of God, anticipated by the “almost death of Isaac“. This “almost death” is the image of Jesus, dead for three days, but rose again.

Indeed, as long as someone does not accept within himself the thought that the Lord Jesus had to die in his place as a ransom for his sins, well then he will never have access to the resurrection life which is the normal consequence, even though this is of divine order. He won’t be able to have that life, because in the Gospel “one thing comes after another“, it’s obligatory and necessary!

This is the reason – and unfortunately it happens way too often – for people who are believers, yes, but not very alive, not very sure of themselves, not very committed, not very convinced, always standing on the fringes on some invisible frontier…

I have to admit that this show is sad; it’s unhealthy for faith. We’re always waiting for something to happen, for something to click, for everything to change and for their lives of faith to finally come alive.

What exactly is going on? What is happening is that these people have for themselves a “historical” Christ, an “external” Christ, but not their own personal and interior Christ. They do not have the Christ in whom they saw themselves “dead for their offences and raised again for their justification“.

In that case, these people do regret the death of Jesus, yes, but they do not liken his death with their own.

What happens then? They do not enter the resurrection life, because the assimilation of the first part has not yet been completed.

It is therefore an enormous privilege for us “believers” to finally have a valid support for our faith, so that we can have the possibility and the honour of responding to God’s call:

“Yes Lord, I believe in what you promise me, even though I am still a sinner and ungodly“.

This is indeed a great privilege given to us, because we have, as a result of this response, the same joy that Abraham had with regard to the imputation of righteousness that was granted to him, while he was still uncircumcised.

Yes, brothers and sisters, this vision is extraordinarily great and beautiful! You can see that we are honoured, even today, by the Gospel, to respond to the same call that Abraham had, and to receive the same response that Abraham received from the Eternal One.

In fact, many centuries have passed, but God has presented himself in the same way twice; once for the uncircumcised side, another time for the circumcised side. But both of these calls are to the one whose heart is circumcised, but not to an outward circumcision in the flesh. We will see this later.

Yes, things have changed since then, but God’s principles remain absolutely the same!

Know that if you have been able to answer to this call, it is because this God’s call to faith is part of what God planned, so that the seed promised to Abraham would recognise themselves as such; and that as such, you too would be given the opportunity to respond in the same way as Abraham did at the time.

If this were not still being proposed today, how could a child of the faith have the experience of responding to God’s call, which from the beginning was addressed not to good behaviour or to any moral quality, but to FAITH? How, indeed, could we respond?

See that it was also the Lord who asked Abraham the believer to sacrifice the child of the promise: Isaac.

Here Abraham represents the Eternal One, “He who did not spare his own Son“. Those who know their Bible will understand.

But we also realise that Abraham is the father of believers; just as we are also believers.

So who is Abraham, brothers and sisters? A man or the Eternal One?

So what do we have to sacrifice, like Abraham? Our own works, coming of ourselves? Or, at the Father’s request, do we accept, with the eyes of faith, the death and resurrection of Jesus? I say accept this reality with the eyes of faith, because Jesus Christ cannot be sacrificed twice.

Yes, to see the sacrifice of Jesus through the eyes of faith, to the point where we are capable, in our own minds, of handing him over to death, even though we love him so much, well, I believe that this is what God expects of us, just as he asked of Abraham.

Did Abraham know that Isaac would be all right? By his reason, no; but by his faith, yes, for between the two there was “the promise“.

By his reason, Abraham had indeed lost his son Isaac, the son of the promise; but by faith he found him again, because he knew that between the two there was the promise of God, which forced the resurrection of his son. So God had the ability to resurrect a dead man.

Have we reached that point? Have we come to see Jesus “as crucified“, thus losing the Jesus we love so much? Have we come to accept that “perfection made man” has been “taken away” from us, recognising that we are such sinners that we have to move on from the Jesus we love so much, to the Jesus as the unique sacrifice?

May God, through his Word, search our hearts to see what is true or false in us, so that we do not deceive ourselves about the reality of divine things.

—

What is written about the gospel? “The gospel is a power of God to salvation for everyone that will believe?” No, that is not written. On the contrary, it is written, “The gospel is the power of God to salvation for every one who BELIEVES!”

Who is the person for whom the Gospel is a power? This good news is towards the one who already believe, but who do not know that his faith is of great value, because it is linked to the origins of faith and to the promises.

The gospel is not so much about generating faith. The gospel is designed so that those who have faith can find themselves naturally included in it!

Therein someone’s faith can be evaluated, in the sense that when the gospel is proclaimed, the person’s faith should be comfortable with it, thus approving the content of that gospel.

More than that! That person’s faith will then be as multiplied, because at last, it will have a divine support with which it can become one.

Yes, to anyone who believes, the same things are still proposed today, and the same answer will always be given.

In short, the Gospel is not a “power of attraction to convert“, but a power that enables every believer to find himself in something that is in harmony with his faith, even if seeing Jesus crucified for him is something that puts him off.

—

5 ; 1 Therefore being thus justified by the means of faith, we have then peace with God, instead of « wrath », through our Lord Jesus Christ:

By whom also we have access, by faith, into this grace. Grace wherein we stand. Firmness being the primary characteristic of faith.

It is also in this grace that we enter beforehand into the glory of God, and this in relation to “the hope of the glory of God“, a glory of which we were deprived before, when we were not yet justified in Jesus Christ by means of faith.

 

5 ; 3 And not only that, but we consider as « source of glory » even tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance;
And perseverance, approvedness; and that this approvedness nourishes itself hope.

For those who have faith in Jesus Christ, the various trials of their lives only serve to anchor them a little more firmly in their expectation of “the glory of God“.

 

5 ; 5 Now hope does not disappoint; because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts during these trials. He does this through the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, which is given unto us and who reminds us of what has been done for us and under what conditions.

 

5 ; 6 For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

In this time, for scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die…But in that same time, God effectively proved his love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

—

So God, through Jesus Christ, has gone far beyond the best that man, even the best, could have conceived in himself.

5 ; 9 If then we have been so loved, how much more then, now that we are justified by his blood, we will be saved by him from the “wrath“.

 

5 ; 10 For if, when we were still enemies of God, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being now reconciled, we shall be saved by his Life, that is to say, the very resurrection Life of Jesus Christ which is given to us, and which goes on to eternal life!

 

5 ; 11 And not only that, we are assimilated into the glory of God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received reconciliation with God, in addition to the gift of His Life.

 

5 ; 12 Indeed, by one man sin entered into the world, and also death through sin. And so death passed upon all men. The proof : they all sinned then.

 

5 ; 13 But until the Law, sin was already in the world : but let us understand that no sin whatsoever can be imputed to anyone, if there is not yet a Law which determines what is to be done and what is not to be done – what is permitted and what is not.

Sin and death were therefore in the world, even before the promulgation of the Law of Moses.

 

5 ; 14 Indeed death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of Him who was to come. Yes, death continued its course, inexorably, on some as on others.

 

Let us see that the sin of the origins engendered visible death by the death of the body. This is the only thing that natural man accepts to see and recognise as death.

But the salvation given to us by God in Jesus Christ has another significance! It is designed to restore us to spiritual life first, and a body able of keeping pace with that life second.

 

5 ; 15 But fortunately, the free gift of Jesus Christ is not like the offence against God. For if through the offence of one man – Adam – many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift of this grace, which is by another man, Jesus Christ, these gracious gifts abounded ever since unto many, too.

 

5 ; 16 Know that the gift, Jesus Christ is not like that which came through the one who sinned : indeed, for the judgment « became condemnation » by a single offence, but the free gift Jesus Christ, becomes justification for man despite many offences on his part.

 

5 ; 17 See that if by one man’s offence death perpetuated through that one man; much more those who receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness through Jesus Christ alone, who came after the first man, shall reign in Life after having been in death !

 

5 ; 18 In short, as through one man’s offence condemnation and death came upon all men…; even so through one righteousness act, Justification which restores life through the work of Jesus Christ, is extended again upon all men.

 

5 ; 19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners. But fortunately, by the obedience of One, many are made righteous.

In sum, the disobedience of one man produced a race of sinners; but the obedience of Jesus Christ produced a race of non-sinners, through the Life He gave them.

—

5 ; 20 So why the law? The law entered between these two times so that man’s offence, the fruit of his sinful state, might abound, and so that it might be made highly visible.

The law therefore allowed a “demonstration of the fruit of sin in man“.

But fortunately, where sin abounded with the coming of the law, grace did much more abound through Jesus Christ !

As sin reigned unto the means of death, even so might grace enable the reign of Life, through the righteousness we obtain by faith in Jesus Christ. And all this in eternal life.

 

6 ; 1 What shall we conclude then? Shall we remain in sin, that grace may abound, after we have realised that sin abounded by means of the law ?

6 ; 2 Certainly not ! For us who are « dead to sin in Christ Jesus », how can we still accept to remain in sin, when this grace abounds?

—

6 ; 3 But perhaps you do not know, brothers, that all of us who were « baptized into Jesus Christ » were baptized into « his death »?

Do you know it? Have you seen it? Have you been told?

Here, the apostle Paul asks a very important question, so that each person can add the appropriate answer or answers.

In any case, the question was asked and is still asked today, in such a way that everyone comes to the conclusion that anyone who has faith in the work of Jesus Christ died in the baptism of death of Jesus Christ, and not in his own personal baptism.

He must have seen his own death in the baptism into the death of Jesus Christ, his faith linking the two.

 

6 ; 4 Therefore brethren, if we came to the conclusion that we were buried with him through “baptism into his death”: as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father , even so we also should walk, as «  raised up into the Life of above, the Life of God which has been restored to us.

 

6 ; 5 Indeed, if we made the observation that we have become “a same plant” with Him in His death, and which is the product of a true understanding, we will consequently be “a same plant” with Him in the likeness of His resurrection.

 

A plant is a full-blown unit. It is a creation of God. It has in it, its own nature, the necessary life, the means to grow and also to multiply.

Paul wants to show us here that everything is a matter of nature.

A same plant with Jesus means a lot as a vision. On top of that, it means that the more we grow, the closer we come to realising that, just as the plant itself has reproductive seeds, and so do we, by passing through a death, our seeds will reproduce.

It is a life born of a resurrection, engendering something greater and greater, like the body of Jesus, which was no longer the same after his resurrection.

We are not talking here about the simple reproduction of one plant for another! No, we’re talking about “conformity to the resurrection of Christ“, which is not the same thing at all!

 

6 ; 6 This will happen if we know with certainty that our old man was crucified with Jesus Christ once and for all, so that the “body of sin” might be destroyed, and so that we would no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died, because he has seen himself dead in Christ Jesus, is free from the sin which dominated him.

 

6 ; 8 More than this: If we have seen ourselves dead with Christ, and therefore our faith attaches to it, our faith will also attest that we will live with Him, since we know that Christ raised from the dead no longer dies, death no longer having any power over Him.

 

6 ; 10 For indeed Christ died, and it was in direct connection with sin that He died once and for all. But when Christ came back to life, it was “unto God” that He lived again.

In short, his death was related to sin, but his resurrection was related to Life with God and for God.

 

6 ; 11 So then, brethren, ensure to reckon yourselves as “dead unto sin” and “alive unto God“, all “in Christ Jesus“. See what happened to Him, and you will see what you are called to; -what you are already in the making.

 

6 ; 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body like an evil master would do : do not obey its lusts.

 

6 ; 13 Do not yield your members to sin, as if they were still instruments of unrighteousness. On the contrary, give yourselves to God as living creatures, dead as you were. Rather, offer your members unto God as “instruments of righteousness”.

 

6 ; 14 For know this, that sin will have no power over you in this case, since in such an attitude of mind, and as instruments of righteousness, you are not under the law but under grace.

—

6 ; 15 What ? Shall we sin wilfully because we are not under the law but under grace? What erroneous thoughts!

 

6 ; 16 Do you not know, brethren, that when you voluntarily yield yourselves to someone as a slave in order to obey him, you are really the slave of the one you are obeying? Slave either to sin, which leads unto death, or to obedience of the same nature as that of Jesus Christ, which leads to righteousness?

 

6 ; 17 But God be thanked, that having been servants to sin, you have obeyed from the heart the form of doctrine to which you were instructed.

And so, having been set free from sin, you became like “slaves of righteousness“.

As I say this, please understand that I am speaking in the manner of men, because of the weakness of your flesh, and in such a way as to make myself understood little by little.

I mean that if you have previously yielded your members as slaves to the disposition of uncleanness and to the disposition of iniquity, to end up with iniquity altogether, now therefore yield your members as slaves to the disposition of righteousness, in order to arrive at the disposition that is appropriate to holiness.

 

6 ; 20 Understand me: when you were slaves of sin, you were free with regard to righteousness, since you were caught up only in sin, and that alone counted for you; but even though you were available in your own right for righteousness, you still could not serve that righteousness, since you were slaves to sin.

Indeed, in every unjust man there must be his opposite: justice. You can only be unjust in relation to something that is just. Now you know very well in yourselves that you cannot be a slave twice. What’s more, you can’t have two masters at the same time. So when you were slaves to sin, you were nevertheless as free and available for justice, but the slavery of sin caused by the law prevented you from doing so.

 

6 ; 21 What fruit did you bear then? Fruits of which you are ashamed today, because the end result of such fruit is corruption and, in the end, the ensured spiritual death.

 

6 ; 22 But now, being unavailable in relation to sin, because you have become slaves of the righteousness of God, you have holiness as your fruit and eternal life as your goal.

 

6 ; 23 For you know that the wages of sin is death; but you also know that the God’s free gift made to you “in Christ Jesus” have as fruit eternal life.

Change your master then!

 

7 ; 1 Do you not know, brethren, since I know that I am speaking to those who know the law, that the law exercises its power over man as long as he lives?

 

7 ; 2 So a married woman is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives; but if the husband dies, she is released from the law which bound her to her husband.

 

7 ; 3 If then she becomes another man’s wife while her husband is still alive, she will be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies in the meantime, she is now released from the law which bound her to her former husband, so that she is no longer an adulteress if she becomes the wife of another man.

 

7 ; 4 My brethren, know that you also have been put to death by the body of Christ from the law of death under which you were living. Jesus Christ has not only fulfilled the whole law, but He has also put to death what in you was “subject to be used by sin“.

The result? You are free; you no longer owe anything to your former master, so that you can belong to Another: To Him who is raised from the dead, to Him who has Life in Himself, so that through this Life you may bear fruit for God.

 

7 ; 5 For while we were still in the flesh, the sinful passions engendered by the presence of the law worked strongly in our members, so that we then bore fruit, not for God, but for death.

 

7 ; 6 But now, brethren, through Jesus Christ and “in Jesus Christ” we have been delivered from the law, being dead to that law under which we were held by the power of sin, so that today we can serve in a new spirit, and not according to the letter of the law, which has suddenly become old through the appearing of the grace of God in Jesus Christ.

—

7 ; 7 What can we conclude from all those realities ? Is the law sin? Not at all ! But I have known sin only through the presence of the law.

For I would never have known covetousness if the law had not said, “You shall not covet“.

Then sin, seizing the occasion offered to it, produced in me, through the “commandment not to covet“, all sorts of lusts that were not there before.

Recognise this: You yourselves know that without the law, sin is dead. It is there, yes, but lifeless, powerless. But the law contains within itself the power to awaken it.

Yes, the law awakens sin, because the “commandment” and sin have one and the same master, the “commandment” not going with faith. But the promise does!

—

7 ; 9 As for me, Paul, I was once without the law and lived without any real problems, but when the “commandment” came, sin came back to life. So what happened? I died. I died to all possible godly life.

 

7 ; 10 And so the “commandment” which was supposed to lead to life by its practice in my inner being, turned out to be for me, on the contrary, an external tool to lead me to death.

 

7 ; 11 How did this happen? Well, sin, seizing the opportunity given to it, managed to DECEIVE me by presenting me a commandment that I had to obey.

I was seduced, it’s true. Then overtaken. And finally I died, through powerlessness to follow this “commandment“.

 

7 ; 12 Here we have proof that the law in itself is holy, and that the commandment itself is holy, just and good, provided that we know how to make it serve instead of being slaves to it.

 

7 ; 13 Was what is good, just and holy a cause of death for me? Certainly not! But understand that it is not the law in itself that is evil, but that it is sin, so that it may be revealed as sin, which takes the opportunity to cause me to fall by giving me death through what is good though.

It was sin who did the dirty work.

In short, it was absolutely necessary for sin, by means of the “commandment“, to become exceedingly sinful. It had to be seen as such.

When what is holy, just and good is used to make sin appear as it is, that is to be condemned in the highest degree, then these things are excellent.

They are used to get up after a fall.

They serve to teach us a salutary lesson.

They serve to not forcing my members to submit to the rigid side of the Law; that commandment side which is without grace.

—

7 ; 14 Brethren, you know that the law is spiritual by its divine nature; but I also know that I am by nature a carnal man, therefore sold beforehand to the “power of sin“.

 

7 ; 15 Indeed, I can see this for myself every day: Most of the time I am not in control of what I do. The proof: I don’t do what I want.

But worse than that, I do what I hate! But if I do what I don’t want to do, then I recognise that the law is good, because it urges me not to do what is bad, and I do it anyway, though with regret.

 

7 ; 17 In this case, then, it is no longer I who do these things, but sin that “dwells” in me.

I see things clearly now, and that’s why I think the law is good.

 

7 ; 18 I know that what is good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh; for in this flesh I have the will to do good, but not the power to do it.

The proof is that I do not do the good I would like to do, and that I do the evil I would not like to do. Now, if I end up doing what I don’t want to do, it’s then no longer me doing it – that’s impossible – but sin itself. It is the sin that “dwells in me” that does these things. It is sin in my members.

What is good cannot therefore be found in my flesh, in my ‘outer‘ side. It has to be somewhere else, in my inner self.

—

7 ; 21 So I find this law within me: When I want to do good, evil is “attached to me“, depriving me of the power to do what is good.

I say this because it is obvious to myself that I take pleasure in the Law of God in itself, that is, according to the inner man; but I see in my “members” another law, a “foreign” law, a law that has the power to fight against another law: that of my personal understanding, which I believed to be solid.

It is therefore this “law of sin” which makes me, through my members, captive to it, because it is stronger than that of my understanding.

 

7 ; 24 Then I cry out, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body which brings death to everything good I want to do?“…

Here, as before, Paul asks another extremely important question:

“Who?“

Of course, most people who read this document will know the answer.

But, by the way, do you really know what that answer is? The only way out of this cry raised by a man called Saul, before his name was changed to Paul, was to find a Person who was able to bring out of his state a man who wanted to do good, but who could not, because he had, above the “law of his understanding“, another law – a stronger one – which prevented him from doing so.

So, before giving the rather hasty answer: “It’s about Jesus Christ“, it would be a good idea for everyone to take stock of their own situation, to find out whether they know this answer by heart, because they have read or heard it, or whether they have really seen the greatness of the One who alone is capable of winning such a battle?

To win such a battle, we need to have enough elements in our possession to know whether or not this Jesus Christ really has the means to win, and where exactly it is written.

As in the previous question, where the question was whether or not we had really seen our death in baptism “in his death“, here the question is this:

“Who will deliver me?”

This is a very serious question, and I beg you to believe that your success or failure in this matter depends on it, because let’s be clear: our lives are linked to His.

A simple wish on our part is not enough. We need formal proof on which our faith can cling and never waver.

In short, have I really seen passages in the Bible that are clear enough to note my position in Him, either in His death or in His resurrection?

 

7 ; 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord… He alone did what was necessary for me to have this victory “in Him”; for as for myself, I am a slave to the law of God through my mind, but at the same time I am a slave to the law of sin through my flesh.

 

8 ; 1 There is therefore – now – no condemnation to those who are IN Christ Jesus.

No more condemnation for those who are justified and who live the life of Another, that of Jesus Christ.

Here it’s the same again: Can I say with Paul: Now I no longer have condemnation?

Can I really say: Now?

Can I say: I no longer have – now – condemnation?

Can I really say that, and why should I say it?

May I say again: to those who are “in Christ Jesus“?

Who allows me to make such a claim? Because the apostle Paul says so?

Frankly, I don’t think that’s enough. On the contrary, I need to have “seen”
myself in Christ in the Scriptures.

Somewhere I must have put my finger on the fact that I have been placed in Him“

This is not imagination, but vision. It is a new vision, given “according to the Spirit“, using the depth and precision of the Scriptures, showing me Jesus’ place, as well as mine, “in Him“.

It is no more and no less than the vision of faith, the vision that transcends time and space, based on the vision of “Another“, much greater than I am and in whom I can have complete confidence, because of His strength and power.

You can be sure that this kind of research on your part will be of real benefit to you.

 

8 ; 2 For “the law of the Spirit of life”, which is in Christ Jesus, has finally set me free from the law of sin and death.

It is a “law of Life“, far more powerful than that of death. It is the life of the glorious Risen One who now has all power.

 

8 ; 3 Yes, something which the law could not do, because my flesh made the application of this law powerless, God condemned the sin which is “in the flesh“, by sending, precisely because of this sin, his own Son in a flesh “similar to this flesh under the power of sin“, but without ever sinning!

Why ? So that this «righteousness», the one that is contained in this perfect law, might find its full fulfilment in us. Yes, in us who now walk, by faith, not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit, our eyes having moved from ourselves to Jesus, the One in whom is the Power of God.

—

8 ; 5 For those who live “according to the principle and power of their flesh” are naturally fond of the things of the flesh; but those who live “according to the principle and power of the Spirit” are naturally fond of the things of the Spirit.

8 ; 6 As you well know, the affection of the flesh always ends in death, but the affection of the Spirit always end in life and peace.

The affection of the flesh can therefore only be enmity against God, because the flesh does not want to submit to the law of God; and moreover it cannot.

Consequently, those who live “according to the flesh” cannot be pleasing to God.

8 ; 9 For you are no longer living according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit – if indeed the Spirit of God “dwells in you“. And if anyone does not have this Spirit of Christ in himself, it is proof that it does not belong to Him, faith being the bond of the Spirit.

8 ; 10 Now if Christ is in you, know that your body of sin is truly dead, since Jesus Christ put it to death in his own body on the wood. But the Spirit, Him, is Life, because of the “faith-induced righteousness“, such as Abraham received.

8 ; 11 See this, then: If the Spirit of Him that raised Jesus from the dead truly dwells in you, He that raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies, just as He did to Jesus, by His Spirit that dwells in you, through faith.

So if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus Christ from the dead is in you, do not fear for your body!

—

8 ; 12 Therefore, brethren, understand that we do not have to be “beholden to the flesh” for all these things.

8 ; 13 If you want to live a Christian life “according to the power of the flesh“, it is certain that you will die, because you will never have enough strength to fight against sin. But if, by the Spirit, you put to death the uncontrolled actions of this flesh, you will live, because it is Jesus Christ Himself who will overcome in this case, through His Spirit that dwells in you; the link being made by faith.

And it must be said that in this area, all those who are led in this understanding by the Spirit of God show that they are also “sons of God“, since they are led by the Spirit of the Father.

8 ; 15 Now, as sons, it is impossible that you received a spirit of bondage, so that you still have to dwell in fear; but instead you have received a “spirit of adoption“, a spirit by which you can finally cry out: Father! (Papa)

8 ; 16 Moreover, it is the Spirit of the Father who bears witness to our spirit that we are children of God. It does not come from us.

8 ; 17 Now if we are children of the Father, then we are also heirs: heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, if we suffer with Him though in this expectation. It is then that we will be glorified with Him, since glorification comes after resurrection and resurrection comes after death.

8 ; 18 This may seem dark, long and difficult to you, but I believe that the sufferings of this present time can in no way be compared with the glory to come which will then be revealed to us.

8 ; 19 For this reason, Creation eagerly awaits – like us – the manifestation of the sons of God as new administrators. For Creation has been entirely subjected to vanity, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it.

Yet this Creation has within It the hope of finally being delivered from the bondage engendered by corruption, to finally take part in the glorious freedom of the children of God in the administration of these things.

8 ; 22 For now we know that, to this day, the whole Creation groans and travails in pain.

So are we.

Here comes another question: Do you too know that the whole creation is groaning and suffering? Have you felt it? Do you really see it? How do you see the whole of nature? Do you think there is a way out for it in the present conditions?

Little by little things are destroyed, lose their strength… But do we feel it as an irreversible process in which we also suffer? Do we suffer, along with nature, from the sin that destroys everything, little by little?

And if we suffer in this way, do we feel it as a ‘new creature‘, meaning the one that waits with sighs for its home, or as an old creature, the one that wants to enjoy nature at all costs?

Sometimes it’s good to ask yourself these questions.

Many people see the gradual loss of creation with great dismay, but for all that they do not recognise themselves “as sighing for another creation within themselves in their own person”.

8 ; 23 And it is not only they who sighs, but we too, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit. We too groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, the complete redemption of our “body“.

8 ; 24 For we are saved “by hope“. But is a hope that we see still a hope? Can we still hope for what we see?

But if we hope for something that we do not see, then we wait for it with perseverance.

8 ; 26 But even in our weaknesses the Spirit helps us, for we do not always know what we should ask for in our prayers. In such cases, the Spirit himself makes intercession with inexpressible groanings, like those uttered by the whole of Creation.

When this is done, then He that searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because it is “according to the will of God” that the Spirit makes intercession on behalf of the saints.

Here the saints can only be the Jews, in my opinion. At least that was the thought Paul had in mind.

Jews and Greeks, who come from the seed of Abraham, must be “gathered“, “harvested“.

But let’s see what happens next.

8 ; 28 We also know that “all things work together for good to those who love God“, to those who are called according to his PURPOSE.

Indeed, those whom He did foreknow, understand that He also predestinate to be conformed the image of His Son, so that His Son might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Now, because He has predestined them, see also that He has already called them.

And those whom he has called, see that he has justified them beforehand.

And those whom He has justified, see that He has glorified them beforehand!

—

8 ; 31 What then shall we say about such great things?

We can simply say this: If God is already for us, who could stand against us? Who could resist Him?

8 ; 32 Understand that God, who did not spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, will he not also give us all things that go with him? Can we separate Jesus Christ from everything He brings with Him?

8 ; 33 Jesus overcame… Who could still lay anything to the charge of God’s chosen ones? It is God that justifies the man of faith! Under these conditions, who would still condemn them?

Christ died. That is one thing. But more than that: he is risen, he is at the right hand of God and he makes intercession for us! So, in those conditions, who could separate us from the love of Christ?

Could it be tribulation? Distress? Persecution? Famine ? Nakedness? Peril? The sword? As it is written: For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

8 ; 37 But see that in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.

8 ; 38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, made manifest in Christ Jesus our Lord.

—

We might say that this concludes the part of this letter which Paul sent to the Christians in Rome, but mainly to those who were not Jews.

Until then, Paul had emphasised the privilege of the Gentiles, in the sense of “those who are of Abraham as uncircumcised“, as he was (for him, the true circumcision was that of the heart).

But he is thinking above all of all those who are circumcised in the flesh and in the heart, who are mixed up with those who are still under the law, under the “letter of the law“, and not in the understanding of the Law, which is of a spiritual nature.

It was a constant torture for Paul to see his brothers so close to their goal and yet not achieving it, as it was the case for him for so long.

But when Jesus appeared to Paul, showing him that the great forgotten One, the One who was to link all things together, was Him Jesus, the Son of God, then all his understanding was suddenly opened up, and Paul immediately set off to preach.

It’s the same thing today: it’s that divine spark that’s still missing in the Jews, even if a minority of them are becoming disciples of Jesus Christ in the present times.

And yet, in their understanding of the Old Covenant and the New Covenant, there are still too many confusion and uncertainties. There are many things they don’t understand, which doesn’t completely free them to come to the aid of their brothers.

With this in mind, in this state of mind, and having understood all that we possess as heavenly privileges, you can continue this marvellous, if often sad, reading.

The apostle Paul, like Moses, even came to accept being cursed so that others could have access to this grace. That’s no mean feat.

However, this is what Jesus accepted in his own way…

JeanP