Romans - General Introduction - Part 2

In the course of studying to know what God has said – especially in Romans – we are likely to come across some things that are either hard to understand or difficult to accept. This is what the Bible calls “meat”. Meat contains more nutrition than milk, but it can be hard to chew and to digest. So let us state right from the outset that the rule must always be that the Word of God is the supreme authority – even when we don’t like what it says, and even when what it says goes contrary to our own “experiences”. This will be difficult for some, but perseverance and obedience in this will be blessed by God – Who would have His children to know and worship Him in spirit and in truth.

Some of the deeper things that present challenges to our finite and darkened understanding include:

• The doctrine of imputation – whereby the sin (or righteousness) of a representative is attributed to others.
• The doctrine of original sin – whereby the sin nature of one being is passed to all his descendants.
• The doctrine of the total depravity of man – in which man is described as impotent to effect any move towards God that would be effective in securing his salvation – even though he has a duty to do so.
• The doctrine of Christian liberty and the Christian’s relationship with the (moral) law.
• The doctrine of the sovereignty of God in salvation – His absolute right to save those whom He wills, and not to save others.

There are now, as there have often been in the past, disagreements among godly men on some of these things. But godly debate is not wrong. In fact it is necessary so that we can test our belief and our understanding to see if we are truly convinced of what we believe, and if it stands the scrutiny of our brothers. “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” {Proverbs 27:17}

On the other hand, some of these things have been badly neglected, misunderstood and even misrepresented in recent times – to the great detriment of Christ’s church and His work. There has been a decided “dumbing down” of the gospel, in the process of which large numbers of supposed Christians have de-emphasized doctrine in favour of mere experiences. Such a road is ripe for heresy and disaster. Already there is a vast network of “Christian” organizations that have banded together not on the basis of common doctrine, but on the basis of a common experience, and they are drawing many away from existing congregations into their own errors.

The stamp of this study will be that God’s truth, and not our own experiences, is the anchor of our faith. Those of you who may have been unduly influenced by the dilutions and misrepresentations in much of the modern “gospel” may struggle with this. You need to. For nothing less than your immortal souls is at stake. You may already be able to gauge from this introduction whether or not the subject matter of this study is going to be too deep or too hard, or too controversial or too contradictory to your own preferences.

I urge you to prayerfully consider what the Lord would have you to do – whether to continue in what may cause you great struggle, but result in much fruit – or whether to cut and run while the going is good. For you will be getting a gospel that will either be at odds with much of what you have been taught, or will address things that seem utterly new and foreign to what you have been hearing. There is nothing new, but there is truth that has been ignored, sidelined, underplayed or omitted, and it will challenge the limits of your submission to God and His Word to learn and/or recover these things.