Prairie View Christian Church Norway, Iowa PastorTeacher Bill Wenstrom www.prairieviewchristian.org

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Prairie View Christian ChurchNorway,
IowaPastor-Teacher Bill Wenstromwww.prairievie
wchristian.org
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Wednesday January 30, 2008Romans Romans
415-The Law Brings About Wrath But Where There
is No Law, There is No ViolationTape 127
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Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 41.
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This evening we will continue with our study of
Romans 413-17, in which Paul proceeds to point
out to his Jewish audience that the Lords
promises to Abraham that he would be heir of the
world preceded the giving of the Law.
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Paul teaches in Romans 413 that the promises of
the Abrahamic covenant were received by Abraham
through faith and not by obeying the Law.
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These promises collectively imply that Abraham
would inherit the earth and those who like him
exercise faith in the Lord.
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Last evening we noted Romans 414 in which Paul
teaches us that if the inheritance was based upon
obedience to the Law, then faith is useless and
the promise of inheriting the earth is
meaningless.
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This evening we will study Romans 415 in which
Paul teaches that the purpose of the Law was to
bring about wrath but where there is no law,
there is no violation.
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Romans 41, What then shall we say that Abraham,
our forefather according to the flesh, has
found?
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Romans 42, For if Abraham was justified by
works, he has something to boast about, but not
before God.
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Romans 43, For what does the Scripture say?
ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM
AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.
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Romans 44, Now to the one who works, his wage
is not credited as a favor, but as what is due.
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Romans 45, But to the one who does not work,
but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly,
his faith is credited as righteousness.
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Romans 46, just as David also speaks of the
blessing on the man to whom God credits
righteousness apart from works.
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Romans 47, BLESSED ARE THOSE WHOSE LAWLESS
DEEDS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN, AND WHOSE SINS HAVE
BEEN COVERED.
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Romans 48, BLESSED IS THE MAN WHOSE SIN THE
LORD WILL NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT.
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Romans 49, Is this blessing then on the
circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also? For we
say, FAITH WAS CREDITED TO ABRAHAM AS
RIGHTEOUSNESS.
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Romans 410, How then was it credited? While he
was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while
circumcised, but while uncircumcised.
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Romans 411, and he received the sign of
circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the
faith which he had while uncircumcised, so that
he might be the father of all who believe without
being circumcised, that righteousness might be
credited to them.
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Romans 412, and the father of circumcision to
those who not only are of the circumcision, but
who also follow in the steps of the faith of our
father Abraham which he had while uncircumcised.

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Romans 413, For the promise to Abraham or to
his descendants that he would be heir of the
world was not through the Law, but through the
righteousness of faith.
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Romans 414, For if those who are of the Law are
heirs, faith is made void and the promise is
nullified.
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Romans 415, for the Law brings about wrath, but
where there is no law, there also is no
violation.
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Romans 416, For this reason it is by faith,
in order that it may be in accordance with grace,
so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the
descendants, not only to those who are of the
Law, but also to those who are of the faith of
Abraham, who is the father of us all.
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Romans 417, (as it is written, A FATHER OF
MANY NATIONS HAVE I MADE YOU) in the presence of
Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to
the dead and calls into being that which does not
exist.
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Lets look at verse 15 in detail.Romans 415,
for the Law brings about wrath, but where there
is no law, there also is no violation.
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For is the explanatory use of the
post-positive conjunction gar (gavr), which
introduces a statement that explains the reason
for Pauls statement in Romans 414.
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Therefore, the conjunction gar explains the
reason why the principle of faith is rendered
useless and the promise meaningless if those who
obey the Law are heirs.
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The reason is that the Law brings about Gods
wrath, i.e. His righteous indignation since the
presence of the sin nature in man makes it
absolutely impossible for man to be perfectly
obedient to the Law, which the Law requires.
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The Law is the noun nomos (novmo) (nom-os),
which refers to the Mosaic Law (the Pentateuch)
since in context Paul is emphasizing with his
Jewish audience that the promise to Abraham that
he would inherit the earth preceded the giving of
the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai.
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In fact, Paul makes clear in Galatians 316-18
that the promises of the Abrahamic covenant
preceded the giving of the Law to Moses on Mount
Sinai by four hundred and thirty years.
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Brings about is the verb katergazomai
(katergavzomai) (kat-er-gad-zo-my), which means,
to produce and is used in relation to the noun
orge, wrath, righteous indignation.
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Therefore, the word denotes that the Mosaic Law
produces righteous indignation from God since
the purpose of the Law was to reveal mans
sinfulness and Gods holiness and the infinite
gulf between the two.
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The fact that the Law makes man aware of sin in
his life is why Paul says in 2 Corinthians 36
that the letter kills.
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The fact that the Law makes man aware of sin in
his life is why he says in 1 Corinthians 1556
that the power of sin is the Law.
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In Romans 71-13, the apostle Paul develops
this concept in greater detail that one of the
purposes of the Law was to make man aware of or
conscious of the sin nature in his life.
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In Galatians 319-25, Paul reveals a four-fold
purpose of the Law, i.e. the Old Testament
Scriptures.
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Galatians 319-25, Why the Law then? It was
added because of transgressions, having been
ordained through angels by the agency of a
mediator, until the seed would come to whom the
promise had been made.
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Now a mediator is not for one party only whereas
God is only one. Is the Law then contrary to the
promises of God? May it never be! For if a law
had been given which was able to impart life,
then righteousness would indeed have been based
on law.
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But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin,
so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ
might be given to those who believe. But before
faith came, we were kept in custody under the
law, being shut up to the faith which was later
to be revealed.
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Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us
to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.
But now that faith has come, we are no longer
under a tutor.
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In Galatians 319, Paul teaches that the Law
reveals sin for what it was until the Promised
Seed Jesus Christ should come.
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Then, in Galatians 322, he teaches that the
Scriptures shut up all men under the sin nature
so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ
might be given to those who believe.
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Next, in Galatians 323, the Law kept the human
race in custody until men could put their faith
in the coming Savior.
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Lastly, the Law was a tutor to lead the human
race to Christ according to Galatians 324.
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The consummate purpose therefore, for the Law was
to reveal to men they are sinners in need of a
Savior and to lead them to a saving knowledge of
Jesus Christ.
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The Jews had distorted the purpose of the Law in
that they approached the Law as a system of
merit, shifting from a faith basis to a works
basis (Exodus 198 Romans 103) when the purpose
of the Law, i.e. the Old Testament Scriptures was
never intended to commend a man before God, but
to condemn him.
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The Law demanded perfect obedience, which sinful
mankind did not have the capacity to render, thus
the Law served to condemn men.
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As J. Hampton Keathley Jr. states, Like the
blood-alcohol test is designed to prove men are
drunk, so the Law is designed to prove men are
sinners, under the wrath of God.
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The Law provided a standard of righteousness, not
that men could ever attain such human
righteousness, but to demonstrate they are
incapable of doing so and must find a source of
righteousness outside themselves.
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Romans 415, for the Law brings about wrath, but
where there is no law, there also is no
violation.
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Wrath is the noun orge (o)rghv) (or-gay), which
refers to Gods attitude of righteous
indignation in response to any thought, word, or
action of mankind and angels, that is opposed to
His holiness and manifests itself in actions that
judge and punish the guilty.
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The only way to avoid Gods righteous
indignation is to believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ.
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John 336, He who believes in the Son has
eternal life but he who does not obey the Son
will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on
him.
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The noun orge is used of Gods settled
opposition to and displeasure against sin meaning
that Gods holiness cannot and will not coexist
with sin in any form whatsoever.
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Violation is the noun parabasis (paravbasi)
(par-ab-as-is), which is used in the context of a
hypothetical circumstance in which an individual
is under the jurisdiction of the Mosaic Law and
thus means, violation.
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The adversative clause but where there is no
law, there is also no violation means that even
though sin would still exist, it could not be
identified as the specific transgression of a
particular prohibition or command in the Mosaic
Law (Compare Romans 513 77-11).
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Romans 512-14, Therefore, just as through one
man sin entered into the world, and death through
sin, and so death spread to all men, because all
sinned for until the Law sin was in the world,
but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
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Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses,
even over those who had not sinned in the
likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of
Him who was to come.
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Romans 71-13, Or do you not know, brethren (for
I am speaking to those who know the law), that
the law has jurisdiction over a person as long as
he lives? For the married woman is bound by law
to her husband while he is living but if her
husband dies, she is released from the law
concerning the husband.
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So then, if while her husband is living she is
joined to another man, she shall be called an
adulteress but if her husband dies, she is free
from the law, so that she is not an adulteress
though she is joined to another man.
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Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die
to the Law through the body of Christ, so that
you might be joined to another, to Him who was
raised from the dead, in order that we might bear
fruit for God.
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For while we were in the flesh, the sinful
passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at
work in the members of our body to bear fruit for
death. But now we have been released from the
Law, having died to that by which we were bound,
so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not
in oldness of the letter.
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What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it
never be! On the contrary, I would not have come
to know sin except through the Law for I would
not have known about coveting if the Law had not
said, YOU SHALL NOT COVET. But sin, taking
opportunity through the commandment, produced in
me coveting of every kind for apart from the Law
sin is dead.
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I was once alive apart from the Law but when the
commandment came, sin became alive and I died
and this commandment, which was to result in
life, proved to result in death for me for sin,
taking an opportunity through the commandment,
deceived me and through it killed me.
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So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is
holy and righteous and good. Therefore did that
which is good become a cause of death for me? May
it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it
might be shown to be sin by effecting my death
through that which is good, so that through the
commandment sin would become utterly sinful.
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Wuest writes, The word parabasis when used of
human conduct, indicates a violation of the
rights of others, or of limitations imposed upon
one.
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This word Paul uses (in Gal 319 where Paul
writes Why the Law then? It was added because of
transgressions (parabasis), having been ordained
through angels by the agency of a mediator, until
the seed should come to whom the promise had been
made) to indicate the purpose of the giving of
the law.
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Before the law was given by Moses to Israel, the
wrong doing of man was recognized as hamartia,
sin, a deviation from the course of right
conduct. But when the law was given, sin was seen
to be, not merely the following of evil impulses,
but the violation of explicit law.
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Thus, the exceeding sinfulness of sin was
recognized by the human race, which otherwise
might not have been evident. The law therefore
was not given because of the existence of
transgressions, but to show hamartia (sin) in its
true light, an overstepping of what is right into
the realm of what is wrong.
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This revelation of the true nature of sin, would
cause man to fear Gods wrath, which in turn
would give strength to the weakness of mans
moral sense and thus educate his conscience and
make it more sensitive to sin.
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The particular phase of the Mosaic Law here as
well as throughout all of the Galatian letter is
the purely mandatory statues of Thou shalt, and
Thou shalt not. The law was given therefore to
set the stamp of positive transgression upon
already existing sin.
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It was not to give the knowledge of sin as sin,
but to show that it was a violation of Gods
commandments. (Wuest, K. S. Wuest's Word Studies
from the Greek New Testament Studies in the
Vocabulary of the Greek New Testament Grand
Rapids Eerdmans)
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