#18. Romans 1:17 - Appreciation Post

Part II: The Conduct of Humanity

Sing to Yahweh a new song,

For He has done marvelous works;

His right hand and His holy arm have brought His salvation.

To the eyes of the nations, He has revealed His righteousness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;

All the limits of the earth have seen the salvation of our Elohim.

- Psalm 98:1-3

For in [the evangel] God’s righteousness is being revealed, out of faith into faith…

The righteousness of God is worthy of everyone’s appreciation. Regardless of who you are, what you’ve done, what you look like, what language you speak, what time period you were born into – your existence is due to God, Who made your parents sleep together (…try not to dwell on that for too long, though.) We have not read Paul’s argument that proves God’s righteousness yet, but for a brief moment here we will operate under the assumption that we have read it. Presuming this is true, then it means God was righteous in creating you, making you exactly how you are, and in causing every action you have committed, irrespective of its morality (not that He doesn’t care about morality, but that all actions are planned by Him.)

It is nigh impossible for us to see the beauty in this, being the mortal beings we are, in these fleshy suits. Righteousness is the key to the evangel, as well as the rest of Scripture. When we have His righteousness proven to us in a perfect argument, we cease asking “if” and, in most cases, we stop asking “why.” The question is replaced with awe and appreciation.

(This is not to say that ‘questions’ are the opposite of ‘appreciating’ something; on the contrary, questions can serve as proof of the appreciation. I am referring to the fake question-objections more-so than a genuine desire to learn.)

The word “righteousness” used here has garnered millions of interpretations. Most of these interpretations are not wrong, but they are limited. Some will look at a context-sensitive use of “righteousness” in other verses, in or out of Romans, and apply it to this use, here. And while there is typically a fair logic behind this interpretive decision, few seem to consider that, at the beginning of the letter (where God’s righteousness is pre-supposed by Paul, but proven in the next few chapters,) we may consider this use of “righteousness” to be an umbrella term for every contextualized use of “righteousness” as it will come to be used throughout the entire letter.

The core here is that God is making a personal piece of righteousness known to us. “Righteousness” does not mean “authority,” but stands as the reason one should be in authority. God’s authority is known prior to Romans (by His chosen nation, as well as many others, documented throughout the Old Testament – Job 38-39 is a good example.) Yet here we receive insight into the righteous character behind His authority.

Have you ever heard the phrase, “God is love, but He is also just?”

Yeah, so have I. It’s the eternal conscious torment believer’s number one argument in favor of the eternal burning of an eternal number of people (with ever-changing reasoning.) It’s the argument that, to the eternal torment believer, “just makes sense.” Unfortunately, the argument falls apart in a plethora of ways.

First, this sloppy claim is an attempt to distinguish and separate aspects of God’s character in a hierarchal fashion. “His justice is stronger than His love,” when neither of these attributes are ever limited in relation to Him in Scripture (Ps. 145:17, 1 John 4:8, 16.)

Second, this tries to erase what God said concerning His salvation, which is to and for all (Rom. 1:16, 1 Tim. 4:10.) If God’s sense of punishment is stronger than His salvation (indicated by how many will go to hell as opposed to heaven, according to pop-Christian theology,) then the punishment is what is for all, and the salvation is the exception, not the standard. This, of course, twists Scripture, as humanity would think it better if Paul had written, “The evangel is God’s power into punishment to all who don’t believe.”

Third, this idea proposes that “love” is the purpose of salvation in the evangel, while “righteousness” is the purpose of God’s punishment in the evangel. To force the notion that we must accept God’s hand first in order to be saved also forces the notion that we must recognize that God is righteous before accepting His hand. Paul unequivocally disagrees, instead claiming that salvation is what reveals God’s righteousness.

You can’t know that God is righteous before accepting the news that reveals God’s righteousness – yet it is this very idea that “hell” is mounted on! How, if God must impart the evangel to reveal His righteousness, does one “choose to go to hell” before even hearing the evangel that reveals the righteousness of God???

Such a god that would eternally burn the creatures he made is not worthy of our admiration. Quite the opposite; such a god (if he were in control) would be worthy of fear and groveling, and even then, many rebels would stand in open defiance of such a god (and many, such as Charles Darwin or Bill Nye, do – for good reason.)

No, the God that is worthy of our admiration is the One that actually brings the “good” part of the “good news.” The God that has good news saves. I pointed to the opening lines to Psalm 98 at the beginning of this article because I want you to begin to see some of the connections between the New Testament and the Old. There’s this stigma among humanity that “God is much nicer in the New Testament,” when in truth, it’s the same God. The God of the Old Testament has the same righteousness as the New; He has changed tactics, not character traits.

The passage in Psalm 98 can be compared with Romans 1:16-17. The psalm speaks of a “new song” to Yahweh (98:1,) while Paul speaks of the new evangel he is tasked to present (1:16.) The marvelous works of Yahweh are comparable to the power of God, and of course, the salvation is beautiful. The lesser salvation spoken of in Psalm 98 refers to Israel’s delivery from their enemies, while Paul speaks of a greater salvation on the basis of Christ’s death, entombment, and resurrection.

The request of Psalm 98 is for Israel to praise God with a song for their salvation. The request of the evangel is for us to praise God with applause of our salvation (Eph. 1:6.) Appreciation is at the heart of all of this, which should show us clearly that God is not an unfeeling machine, but a living, caring Deity. This is shown in the fact that the purpose of both forms of salvation presented in the evangel is to reveal God’s righteousness (Ps. 98:3, Rom. 1:17.) In the Psalm salvation, God displayed a righteousness in firmly handling the idolatry and wickedness of Israel’s enemies, sure – but the righteousness which is in the salvation, from the influence of the enemy, is what displayed the righteousness of God. If you read the entirety of Psalm 98, you will not find a detailed account of the vengeance against the wickedness, but the salvation of Israel from that wickedness.

The reason Psalm 98 is a “lesser” salvation than Romans here can be found in the fact that… well, Israel is kind of trapped, right now, between a rock and a hard place. Their promised kingdom has still not yet come to fruition, and will not until the final 7 years of tribulation as documented in Revelation have come to pass. They have remained under sin’s thumb for the last 2,000 years, having crucified their Messiah. But while the salvation is lesser, the righteousness that stands as the basis of their salvation is not “less.” As I said in the last article, “righteousness” on God’s part is not “righteousness” on man’s part. Man may commit a good act, but when compared to the righteousness of God, we fall far short (Rom. 3:10, 23.)

Indeed, we are irreverent. We need something more… permanent, than the salvation David spoke of. We need something to handle our grievous infirmities. We all have the capacity for the wickedness that the nations spoke of; 5^th grade psychology has shown us that most of our behaviors and habits are learned – not inherent. We all, to some extent, carry this wicked, idol nature within us. We need a salvation that will get to the heart of the issue! We all think we need a religious, social, or political awakening, when in truth, there is a greater enemy dwelling in our flesh, subjecting it to death from the moment we leave our mother’s womb. We need a power that can and will systematically remove this power of irreverence and unrighteousness, rescuing us from sin.

Thank you for your patience! Let’s tie it all together. Assuming God is righteous, and seeing that He plans on giving this evangel to everyone (1:16,) so that they will eventually believe (1 Tim. 2:4, 4:10, Phil. 2:9-11,) and, seeing that He clearly seeks to display His righteousness, and that this can only be revealed through His salvation – then we can see, already, a practical possibility that is a much more sensible and healthier alternative to eternally burning those who don’t know any better. To leave someone burning alive for their mistakes would ensure that irreverence and ungodliness, in some great capacity, permanently stays within creation, whether it stay within the punished (who would assuredly hate God for eternity for burning them alive perpetually,) or within the demons that would perpetually punish.

How righteous is that?

On this note, let me ask you: isn’t that what Satan would want?? His own little crib where he and his homies could literally flay people to their heart’s content? To use fear to maintain control, by eternally burning God’s creation? Where would it end?

Thankfully, the evangel does not present us with the notion of hell at all.  In fact, there is not a single time in all of Scripture that the word “hell,” as has been exposited by religious philosophy, has appeared. And, to this day, not a single Christian I’ve spoken with has ever honestly sat down and considered the Greek language (of the oldest texts that they claim to believe in,) on the matter; the same old talking points are regurgitated with no thought or consideration of their logical consequences.

There is a third idea – that one would be “annihilated” if they do not accept the evangel before they die. This idea is cleverly titled “annihilationism,” and is as pointless as it sounds. If God annihilates those who disagree or do not apprehend His evangel during this life, He would assuredly display His authority, but not His heart. This philosophy is as foolhardy as “hell,” for in both cases, God would permanently lose (and thus permanently be sorrowful over) creatures He created and loves.

Anyway, this was fun, rambling about eternal torment and all. I’m letting you know, very early on in this study, that “eternal torment” is not going to be found in Romans. Such an idea would detract from the appreciation of the righteousness of God, for the reasons stated above (and elsewhere in my published work.)

I want to end this off by appreciating one more thing: you.

Yes, you! I’m grateful to all of you who have taken the time to read out each and every silly paragraph that I’ve written. I work hard to make sure that every study is full of detail, information, and heart, for your sake. I keep telling myself that I want to make a big “acknowledgments” piece to cap off this study, with names of many who have helped me. This is undoubtedly on my to-do list, but the study itself has become way larger than I ever anticipated it becoming. So, I want to take a brief moment and thank those that have been here with me (aside from God, of course):

First and foremost, I appreciate my lover and wifey, Amaris. She is the beating heart that complements anything I do or say, and there have been many difficult, depressive nights where she has somehow had the strength to hold me together. I don’t deserve her, and I’m clearly too anal-retentive to show it, sometimes. I love her deeply, and I would be a drunken mess without her.

My most consistent and avid reader is my dear friend and (I am honored to say) brother, Keith. Much of the idea to publish notes on the book of Romans stems from the questions Keith would email (and later text) me, even to this day. Without his objections and considerations, this study would not have become as careful and detailed as it has become. He has been my greatest supporter, and I’m always grateful for his continued input.

On the exact opposite end of the spectrum, I would argue that our brother Paolo does not read my work very often at all. No matter; it’s not about the time he takes to read, but the passion that he brings to the truth itself. I am truly blessed to hear his thoughts on Romans as they are presented to him. He always brings a unique, enlightening perspective that I integrate into this study.

I would like to thank my mother, as well, for reading each of these carefully, and noting any error in consistency or grammar. She’s been a makeshift editor for me, and I am extremely grateful to her for this. Her contributions are encouraging and reassuring in nature.

There are many others. Seth Fahlenkamp – the only show host a man would ever want. Martin Zender – kindly, with my father, being the vessels God used to reveal the truth to me. Rodney Paris and his roommate, Ian. Ifeyinwa, Richard Golko, and Ace Theo – all of you guys bring me a true support that, in many regards, I wouldn’t be able to trust under alternative circumstances. All of you, with the love of God poured in your heart, humble me continually with undeserved care and attention toward me and all this crap I’m doing, and I remain on my knees in thanks.

I appreciate and love you all. Until the next one!

- GerudoKing