#3. Romans 1:3-4 - About?

 Part I: Introductions

…Concerning His Son (Who comes of the seed of David according to the flesh…

This statement in parenthesis is designed to literally define God’s Son. I noticed Paul does this a lot: he breaks down definitions to an extreme in order for people to understand. It’s so plain you almost miss it!

Jesus comes. The King James Version here says that Jesus was “made,” in this verse. The truth, which is harmonious with future revelations Paul makes, is that this phrase “comes” is used in Greek transitionally. The word is ginomai. Something happens before that enables the verb (which is “comes”) to come to fruition. It’s the middle between the “cause” and “effect,” if that makes sense. You could, in theory, read “cause –> effect” as “cause ginomai effect.” I guess that’s a weird way of putting it, but nonetheless, this term is used in relation to Jesus transitioning from one thing to another.

The question we can now ask is simple: what did Jesus transition from, and where did this transition take Him?

We don’t get the “what” answer here (and I would advise, for educational purposes, not taking an educated guess unless we can prove something at this time.) We do, however, get the answer to the “where.” Jesus comes of the seed of David.

“That’s funny, Gerudo! I have a next door neighbor named David! Is that who Jesus is talking about?”

Silly goose. We’re talking about David David. Yes, “David and Goliath” David.

From here, we run into a bit of an issue. If we’re playing stupid, and pretending that Romans is the first letter of the Bible we’re ever reading, then we must ask ourselves: why doesn’t God just say “Jesus was a descendant of David,” or even “Jesus was of David’s seed?”

The answer, as you may have guessed, is that Jesus was not merely “some descendant.” He is God’s Son – not David’s (or Joseph’s – John 6:42.) This distinction is going to be further compounded on in the next verse, so for now I want to focus on this simple question: how can He be God’s Son, but of David’s seed?

Let’s take a brief excursion into the Old Testament, and read from one of those prophets who promised Jesus’ arrival beforehand. Observe Isaiah 11:1-2–

Then a Twig will come forth from the set slip of Jesse, And a Scion, it shall be fruitful from his roots.

Okay, so what the hell does this mean?

This is one of those ‘hard statements’ that our modern ears have trouble grasping. The “Twig” is capitalized for a reason – it represents Christ. Christ “comes forth” from the set slip of Jesse – the father of King David. So the lineage of Jesse leads to David, which inevitably leads to Jesus (Matt. 1:6-16.) Easy enough, right?

Now for the second half of this phrase. “Scion” is also capitalized, referencing Christ. A ‘scion’ is a shoot or twig of a plant used for grafting. “Grafting” is the process of inserting this ‘scion’ into the slit of a trunk of a living plant. From there, the scion receives the sap and nutrients of the living plant, causing it to grow and flourish, having adapted to the living plant.

Are you beginning to get the picture? The “Scion” that shall be fruitful from Jesse’s roots? Yes, that’s Christ. Christ is not sourced in Israel’s lineage, but was grafted in to Israel’s lineage by God.

This is how Christ is “God’s Son,” but also “comes of the seed of David.” In coming of the seed of David, Christ is a Son of Man (Matt. 8:30, 9:6, 10:23, etc.) When we read of Christ as Israel’s Messiah in the Old Testament, this is what is being referred to.

We only need consider Christ coming of the seed of David when we consider Him “according to the flesh.” This statement shows that His physical body is grafted into Israel, absolutely! His flesh is inherently joined with Israel. Does this not shine another light on Christendom’s strange philosophy? We are told by Christian dogma to “turn back to Jesus!” Yet if we are considering Jesus’ fleshly ministry as though it were our own, then we are putting ourselves in the same clueless understanding as the Jews that surrounded Jesus during His ministry!

(Who comes of the seed of David according to the flesh, Who is designated Son of God with power, according to a spirit of holiness, by resurrection of the dead)…

May we not remain so clueless. Paul, thankfully, is not merely telling us about Jesus according to the flesh, but according to a spirit of holiness as well, in verse 4. The phrase “according to the flesh” stands in direct contrast to “according to a spirit of holiness.” These two aspects of Christ are distinct – Paul purposefully separates these two qualities of Christ. Perfect as they are, they stand in opposition to each other, just as a believer’s flesh and spirit are in opposition today (Gal. 5:17.) The flesh shows His relationship to Israel – yet the spirit shows His relationship to God.

Christ is designated Son of God. The word “designate” also does not carry the same meaning as it does today. For us, to “designate” something is to “appoint” someone. This is, unfortunately, the modern meaning that many cling to today. In the Greek, the word used here is horizo, and its Greek elements are “SEE-IZE.” The Concordant Version translates the term as both “designate” and “specify.” When reading it transliterally, the Greek reads, “ONE-BEING-DEFINED SON OF-GOD.” This is a clarification as to Jesus’ already-established role according to a spirit of holiness, just as “comes of the seed of David” is a clarification as to Jesus’ already-established position according to the flesh. Christ did not “become” the Son of God – but is powerfully designated.

The contrast here is huge. In a fleshy sense, Jesus is of the seed of David. Yet in a spiritual sense, He is specified as the Son of God (as we study more of this letter, the true weight of “Son of God” is going to set in – just wait.) 1 Timothy 2:5 calls Jesus a “mediator” of God and of man (serving as a bridge between us and God.) A mediator, by definition, must be able to represent both parties in a matter. In John 14:6, Jesus Himself says “No one is coming to the Father except through Me.” It would make sense, then, that Jesus is of the seed of David (flesh and kingly for Israel,) and is designated the highest position of power bestowed by the Spirit of God (spirit and Son of God.)

This is according to a spirit of holiness. This phrase, “spirit of holiness,” is never going to be used outside of this one instance. No, it’s not an error – Paul didn’t mean “holy spirit,” and even the KJV gets this right. This is translated specifically like this because if you translate the phrase as “holy spirit,” then holy is an adjective (such as “holy” scriptures, in Rom. 1:2,) and spirit is the noun that has been modified by the adjective. But “spirit of holiness” is a unique phrase that could only be used properly through the Greek language, which is why it looks so funky in English. Here, both “spirit” and “holiness” are nouns, connected by a preposition (which is how it looks in Greek, too, with ‘of’ connected to ‘holiness.’)

But what is a ‘spirit of holiness?’ Well, first, let’s define ‘spirit.’

…Holy crap, that would take a while. Never mind, I’m not going to make a claim as to what ‘spirit’ means just yet (but I will gradually peel the layers back as we go.) Let’s make this easy on ourselves. For now, we can see that the ‘spirit’ and the ‘flesh’ are opposed to each other. We know from experience that we can see the flesh, so it follows that we cannot see ‘spirit.’ We’ll summarize this by taking a brief look at Genesis 2:7, where God tells us how He made us:

Yahweh Elohim formed the human out of soil from the ground, and He blew into His nostrils the breath of life; and the human became a living soul.

Here we see more of that juxtaposition between “flesh” and “spirit.” The “spirit” is called the “breath of life” here, which clues us in on the spirit’s quality – life. It is not “life” itself (for ‘of life’ is a descriptor, not the only word there.) It is the power that drives your life.

Let’s bring it on home, shall we? We each have a spirit – an invisible power driving our lives. There are deep, deep layers to this topic, as you may already know. There are different kinds of spirits, and different qualities – which we will be diving into throughout this series. The spirit we are speaking of in this verse – which is why it is so beautifully unique from every other verse – is Christ’s spirit. It is a spirit of holiness. Christ partook with the children “of blood and flesh,” but He did not partake of our spirit (Heb. 2:14.) His spirit is uniquely holy – set apart to God (hence the term, “Son of God.”)

Finally, we see that this “designation” as Son of God is by a resurrection of the dead. The term “by” is ek in Greek, meaning “OUT-OF,” literally. The word “dead” is plural, which means that this “resurrection of the dead” is not limited to Jesus’ ‘resurrection’ itself.

There are many instances of ‘resurrection’ during Jesus’ ministry. Jesus resurrected more than one dead person – specifying His status as ‘Son of God.’

…Concerning His Son, Jesus Christ…

This is His name. This is the name of the Son of God – the focus of Romans. “Jesus” is the Greek form of the name “Joshua,” which means “Jehovah-Savior.” “Christ” is not His last name, but His official title: “ANOINTED.” When I worked at a restaurant, I held the title of “server.” I was, literally, “Stephen, your server.” Jesus does not work at a restaurant (at least, I don’t think He does… maybe He would like some Texas Roadhouse, though.) He works as a “Savior.” He is, literally, “Jesus, your Savior.”

This evangel is not contingent on your acceptance of it. Whether we accept what we read in this letter or not, the letter exists. It is not made good because we believe, but because it contains information of God, concerning His Son, Jesus Christ. In the words of Dean Hough, a great teacher who studies the original Greek manuscripts, “Jesus Christ does not die for our sins when and if we believe ‘He has died for us.’ He has died for our sins.” This letter tells us how, and what this means for us practically. It does not tell us what we need to do in order to earn Jesus’ respect, or find a way to get Him to ‘save us again.’ This is the world’s philosophy – but again, the evangel is good news, not good advice.

The Savior we are about to read about accomplishes His goals. A hero does not require your services to be a hero – they need to save the day to be a hero. Similarly, Jesus does not require your services to be a Savior. He is a Savior, regardless. This Savior is successful, and strong – not needy and weak.

We have now elaborated on the three points of God’s Son. His Son:

1)    Comes of the seed of David according to the flesh

2)    Is designated Son of God with power according to a spirit of holiness

3)    Is named Jesus Christ

This follows what we have studied concerning our structure. This is also notably the midpoint of the structure of the first seven verses of Romans. In the next section we will consider three more points that follow “Jesus Christ,” further complementing this introduction.

- GerudoKing