The Son of Man came to seek and save that which was lost. It is Jesus' favorite title of Himself. I chosen this title because Jesus loved this title of Himself. We ought to never forget that Jesus is fully God and fully man: two natures in One Person. He is the God-man, the Incarnate Second Person of the Trinity. May we mediate on His life, death, burial, resurrection and ascension that we may be conformed to the image of the divine Son of Man! This blog web site will be a Christian defense of the Reformed doctrines of the Incarnate Son of Man. May all glory be to His name!

Thursday, October 25, 2012

The "Grace and Peace of the Gospel" in Romans

Romans 1:7 (NASB):  to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The apostle Paul sends his greetings to the saints in Rome.  The saints are true believers in Christ our Lord and Savior.  The “grace and peace” is the “grace and peace” of the Gospel.  There can never be grace and peace devoid of the Gospel. The Gospel is from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  It is the will of the Father to preach the Gospel.  The very heart of the Gospel is grace and peace.  The “grace and peace” of the Gospel is the imputed unified righteousness of Christ alone: His active and passive obedience. Jesus is our grace and peace.   Grace is His unified imputed merit and the consequences of it are divine peace.
The saints are the beloved of God and have His grace and peace.  There is no grace and peace apart from the Gospel.  The Gospel believers are the beloved of God in Rome.   At one time Rome had a true church, but now they do not have a true church.  They taught that Jesus was their sole mediator, but now they teach Mary is also their mediator (1 Timothy 2:5).  They taught that Jesus was our sole Advocate (1 John 2:1) with the Holy Ghost.  They taught that Jesus was the way, the truth and the life ((John 14:6).  They taught if someone prays in Jesus' name, they will glorify the Son (John 14:13).  They taught that we are forgiven through one sacrifice (Hebrews 10:12-14) and there was no other offering for sin (Hebrews 10:18).  Jesus asked if there was another way but it was the Father's will for Jesus to die on the Cross and He paid the debt in full (John 19:30).   In essence, the Romanists were the first schismatics not the Protestant Reformers.
Grace is the unmerited favor of God.  Peace is the peace that surpasses all understanding.  There is an experiential peace that is an experience in our minds.  There is a positional peace that we have through Jesus our Savior (Romans 5:1).
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