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The Letter That Defines the Gospel: An Introduction to Romans | Walter A. Elwell · Reformed Thinking

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  Welcome to Reformed thinking. Today we are taking a deep dive
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  into Paul's epistle to the Romans.
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  It's a text that's often called, and I think rightly so, the
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  Magna Carta of Christian doctrine.
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  It really is. I mean, this is Paul's most
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  systematic letter. He's laying out this incredible
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  structure that addresses the absolute core of our faith, how
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  a just God saves unjust people. Yes, and that structure is just
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  so logical it's not scattered thoughts.
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  He starts with the universal problem of sin and walks you all
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  the way through to God's big picture plan for both Jew and
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  Gentile. It's a complete blueprint for
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  salvation, not just for us as individuals, but for all of
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  history. So our mission for this deep
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  dive is really two things. First, we want to get a very
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  clear understanding of how Paul builds this towering argument
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  for justification by faith alone.
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  And 2nd, we need to look at the surprisingly practical side of
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  it. Why did he write this huge
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  theological work to a church he'd never even been to?
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  What was he asking them to do? Right.
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  Our source material gives us the framework for this.
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  We're going to ground our whole discussion in the facts of how
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  the letter was put together. We'll look at the link between
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  his travel plans and his doctrine, and then we'll spend a
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  lot of time breaking down the core argument in chapters one
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  through 11. Focusing on justification, the
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  law, and that that really difficult question of Israel's
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  place in God's plan. OK, let's unpack this.
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  We're talking about a text written around AD 54.
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  So before we even get into the gospel argument, we have to set
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  the stage, the messenger, the method and the mail route.
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  When we talk about who wrote it, Romans is probably the least
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  disputed of all Paul's letters. No question there.
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  It starts right away and the first person you know, Paul the
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  servant and 1.1 and he refers to himself all through it.
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  Scholarship across the board accepts Paul as the author.
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  And it's good to remember this isn't some abstract document.
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  It's Paul's personal introduction to the capital of
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  the Roman world. It is.
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  It sets the stage for everything he wants to do next.
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  Now the ideas are all Paul's, but we know he didn't physically
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  write it down himself, did he? We get a little peek into that
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  process in Chapter 16. We do.
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  In Romans 16.22 we learned about Tertius.
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  He was Paul's amanuensis, the scribe tribe who took the
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  dictation. Which was a pretty standard way
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  of doing things back then. Oh, absolutely.
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  For a document this long and this detailed, dictating to a
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  professional scribe just makes sense.
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  It lets Paul focus on formulating these complex
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  arguments without having to stop and write.
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  So if he's dictating this letter, where is he?
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  The evidence we have is pretty specific about the time and
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  place. It is all the signs point to
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  Paul writing Romans from Corinth in Greece around 8054.
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  This will be during his third missionary journey.
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  He's in the middle of gathering that big financial collection
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  for Jerusalem. Right.
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  And Acts 20 tells us he stayed in Greece for three months.
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  That period seems to be the logical window for him to
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  compose this just before he makes that dangerous trip back
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  east. And there's a couple of details
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  that really seem to lock Corinth in as the location.
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  Things you can cross reference even with archaeology.
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  Yes, we have two key people mentioned in Romans 16.
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  The 1st is a man named Erastus. Paul calls him the city
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  treasurer in 16.23. That's not just a name drop.
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  No, it's a huge clue. An inscription was discovered in
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  Corinth on a piece of pavement near the theater that actually
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  names an Erastus. It gives him the title of Edile,
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  which was basically the city commissioner for public works.
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  So this is strong external evidence that puts Paul right in
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  the middle of some very prominent circles in Corinth at
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  that exact time. That kind of physical evidence
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  really grounds the letter in history.
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  We can sometimes forget that when we're just focused on the
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  theology. It does, and the second person
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  is Gaius, also in 16.23, who Paul says is his host.
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  This is very likely the same Gaius that Paul mentions in
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  First Corinthians as being a resident of Corinth.
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  OK, so you have Paul staying in the home of a prominent
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  Corinthian dictating this massive theological letter while
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  he's getting ready for a big trip.
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  It all points to 8054 in Quorum. So let's turn to the recipients,
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  then the audience in Rome. The letter itself seems to hint
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  that there's some kind of tension or division within that
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  church. Yes, the destination is Rome.
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  He says that in 1.7 and the congregation was definitely
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  mixed. That's a crucial piece of the
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  puzzle. How do we know that?
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  Well, Paul speaks directly to Jewish readers.
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  At one point in Chapter 7, he says, I am speaking to those who
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  know the law. But then he'll pivot.
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  And in Chapter 11, he says, now I am speaking to you Gentiles.
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  He's addressing both groups. And this mixed audience was
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  complicated by what had happened just five years before Paul
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  wrote the letter. You're talking about the
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  Claudius expulsion. In AD 49, the Emperor Claudius
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  expelled the Jews from Rome. The Roman historian Suetonius
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  says it was because of constant riots at the instigation of
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  crestice, which is likely a misspelling of Christ.
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  So the Jewish, Christian leadership, people like
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  Priscilla and Aquila, they were forced to leave.
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  They were, and this created a vacuum.
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  Really. For five years, from 49 to 54,
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  the Roman Church would have become mostly Gentile in its
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  leadership and its whole way of doing things.
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  But by the time Paul is writing, Claudius is dead and Jews are
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  allowed back in. Exactly.
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  So you have Jewish Christians like Priscilla and Aquila
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  returning to a church where Gentile assumptions and
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  practices had become the norm for half a decade.
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  So you can imagine the tension. It's not just an abstract
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  disagreement, it could be a real power struggle over the identity
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  of the Church. Absolutely.
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  The Gentile Christians might feel a little superior thinking
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  the Jews were scattered because they rejected Jesus, and the
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  returning Jewish believers will be very keen to re establish the
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  heritage of Abraham and the law. And that tension is the perfect
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  backdrop for Romans. It explains why Paul has to
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  build an argument that justifies both groups on the exact same
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  terms. He has to show that neither
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  group has any special claim or superiority.
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  He needs to tear down any idea that Gentiles have to become
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  Jewish to be saved, but he also has to prove to the Gentiles
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  that God hasn't just abandoned his promises to Israel.
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  It's a very delicate balancing act.
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  It is. And that situation in Rome, this
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  mixed, strained congregation is why Paul doesn't just send a
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  quick hello. He sends a comprehensive
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  theological framework designed to create unity.
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  OK, so building on that, let's look at Paul's immediate goal.
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  It's not just about theology. He has travel plans on his mind.
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  He does, and Rome for him was a stopover, not the final
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  destination. His stated reason for writing is
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  to get the Roman Church to partner with him on his next big
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  mission. He says in Chapter 15 how much
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  he's long to visit them, but he's clear that Rome is a
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  launching point. His immediate plan was to
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  deliver that financial collection to Jerusalem, which
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  was a very risky trip, but after that his ambition was to go West
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  all the way to Spain. The edge of the known world at
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  the time. Right.
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  And a mission like that would require a huge amount of money
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  and logistical support from a strong home base.
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  He wanted Rome to be that base. Which explains why the letter
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  had to be so thorough. He couldn't just show up and ask
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  for money. He's never even met these
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  people. He had to 1st submit his
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  theological resume, so to speak. He had to justify his entire
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  mission to the Gentiles. The Romans needed to trust his
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  doctrine before before they were going to fund his mission to
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  Spain. They needed to know his
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  understanding of the gospel was sound, that his work was in line
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  with God's promises to Abraham, and that his Gentile converts
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  were legitimate heirs of the promise.
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  But the collection itself, the money from the Gentile churches
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  for the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem, that carried a much
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  deeper meaning than just logistics.
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  Oh, much deeper. This is where the letter really
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  shifts from travel plans into high theology.
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  Paul saw his work as an apostle to the Gentiles as his priestly
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  service. Let's unpack that phrase from
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  chapter 15. What does he mean priestly
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  service? Well, Paul sees himself as
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  fulfilling a role that the temple priest used to have.
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  But instead of offering animal sacrifices, Paul is offering the
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  Gentiles themselves. He sees them as a spiritual
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  offering to God, cleansed and made acceptable by the Holy
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  Spirit. So the conversion of the
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  Gentiles is his offering. It is, and that reframes the
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  whole contribution. The money isn't just aid, it's a
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  tangible symbol of that spiritual offering.
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  It's a physical representation of Paul's apostleship.
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  And the sources point out that this wasn't a case of the rich
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  helping the poor. In fact, Paul says in Second
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  Corinthians that some of the Gentile churches, like in
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  Macedonia, were in greater poverty than the people in
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  Jerusalem they were giving to. So if it's not about poverty
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  relief, what is the symbolic exchange happening here?
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  It's an exchange of spiritual debt for material blessing.
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  Poles argument was that the Gentiles had received the
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  ultimate spiritual treasure, the gospel, from the Jewish people.
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  Therefore, they were indebted to share their material treasures
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  with them. It was a formal repayment of a
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  spiritual debt. A very powerful idea and if it
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  was accepted in Jerusalem, the implications were huge.
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  What would that acceptance signify?
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  Well, many of the conservative Jewish Christians in Jerusalem
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  were very skeptical of Paul and his law.
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  Free gospel for the Gentiles. If they accepted this gift, it
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  would be the ultimate validation.
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  It would prove that the Gentiles were now confirmed as fellow
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  citizens, fellow partakers of the promise, as he puts it in
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  Ephesians. So the acceptance of the gift
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  validates his whole mission. Correct.
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  Paul needed the Romans to understand this grand scope.
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  His work wasn't random, it was God's plan to unify the church.
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  The entire theology of Romans is laid out because Paul needed the
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  Roman church to be doctrinally unified before they could
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  support his mission. The logistics created the need
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  for the doctrine. The doctrine gives the
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  foundation for the duty, so let's move into that foundation
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  now. Paul's masterful argument for
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  justification in the 1st 8 chapters.
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  Paul lays out his main theme right at the start, in 1.16 and
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  17. The gospel reveals God's
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  righteousness, and it's available to the Jew 1st and
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  also to the Greek. And the hinge of the whole
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  argument is that quote from Habakkuk.
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  He who through faith is righteous shall live.
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  That one verse sets up the central conflict, righteousness
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  by works of the law versus righteousness received through
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  faith. For Paul, the gospel reveals A
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  righteousness that comes from God, not something we achieve.
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  But before he can explain the solution, he first has to prove
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  the problem. Chapters one through three are
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  all about leveling the playing field.
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  Yes, showing that everyone without exception stands
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  condemned before a holy God. He starts with the Gentiles in
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  chapter 1. And their condemnation is based
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  on their rejection of general revelation.
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  That's the starting point. God revealed himself clearly
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  enough in creation, in the natural world, so that they are
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  without excuse. But instead of honoring God as
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  creator, the Pagan world chose polytheism, idolatry, and moral
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  decay. And he uses that terrifying
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  phrase three times. God gave them up.
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  That sounds like more than just a judgement.
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  It is. It's about God withdrawing his
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  restraining grace. He gave them up to lusts, to
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  dishonorable passions, and finally to a debased mind.
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  It's God stepping back and allowing human humanity to
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  experience the full destructive consequences of its own choices.
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  So it's not so much God actively crushing them as it is God
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  letting them fall into the pit they dug for themselves.
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  A very sobering thought, but Paul doesn't let his Jewish
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  readers feel superior for second.
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  He immediately turns the spotlight on them in chapter 2.
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  The Jewish condemnation, they had the law, the specific
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  revelation from God, but just having it wasn't enough.
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  Not at all. In some ways, having the law
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  made their sin even worse. They taught others not to steal,
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  but they stole. They detested idols, but
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  committed sacrilege. Paul's point is that if a Jew
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  failed to keep the law, his circumcision, the physical sign
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  of the covenant, meant nothing. For Paul, being a true Jew was
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  an internal matter. It was about the heart, a
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  spiritual conviction, not just external performance.
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  And this leads to a surprising point.
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  He says that God fearing Gentiles who followed their
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  conscience and did by nature what the law required, actually
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  served as a condemnation of unfaithful Jews.
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  That completely undermines any kind of Jewish nationalism.
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  It does. If a Gentile can live a more
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  righteous life intuitively than a Jew with the written code,
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  then the code by itself doesn't save.
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  And that allows Paul to draw his big conclusion in Chapter 3.
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  The synthesis. The Jew had every advantage, the
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  covenants, the promises, but in the end was just as trapped by
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  sin as the Gentile. The conclusion is blunt.
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  All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
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  Both parts of his Roman audience are now locked in the same
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  prison cell of sin, and only then does He introduce the
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  divine solution. And the solution is
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  justification. God set Christ forward as the
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  propitiation, the atonement for sin.
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  This is a righteousness that comes completely apart from the
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  law. And there's a key technical
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  detail here in 3.22 that's so important for our audience to
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  grasp. Paul says Justification comes
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  through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ, the Pistus
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  Christu. And there's been some scholarly
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  debate over that phrase. Is it our faith in Christ, or is
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  it Christo's own faithfulness? Paul uses both concepts, but the
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  contest in Romans 3 really points to the objective act of
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  Christ, perfect faithful obedience to the Father.
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  That is what established the ground for our justification.
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  So our faith is how we receive it, but Christ's faithfulness is
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  what accomplished it. Precisely.
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  It shifts the focus completely away from our performance and
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  grounds it entirely in what God has done.
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  Which is central to the Reformed doctrine of sulified.
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  Justification isn't something we do.
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  It's a legal declaration from God based on the merits of
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  Christ. A judicial act, the Sinner is
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  declared just, and this proves that God is God of both Gentiles
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  and Jews, justifying them on the exact same basis.
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  To prove this isn't some new idea, Paul then turns to the
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  giant of the Old Testament, Abraham, in chapter 4.
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  He shows that Abraham is the original model for justification
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  by faith. He was declared righteous in
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  Genesis 15, long before the Law of Moses was given and before he
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  was even circumcised. Which makes Abraham the
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  spiritual father of believing Gentiles just as much as he is
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  of believing Israel. It proves the method of
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  salvation has always been the same, God's promise received by
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  faith. This breaks down the very
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  barrier Paul was facing in Rome. If Abraham is the father of all
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  who believe, then Gentile believers are his true children
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  too. It connects Christ's work
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  directly back to that promise to Abraham that all nations would
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  be blessed through his seed. Yes.
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  Now that that promise is fulfilled in Christ, Abraham
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  truly becomes the father of all believers, no matter their
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  ethnicity. So once Paul establishes how we
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  are declared righteous, he shifts in chapters 5 through 8
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  to the consequences. The second-half of his theme
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  shall live. What does that life look like?
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  It means freedom. Freedom from 4 great enemies,
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  Wrath, sin, the law, and Death. Chapter 5 starts with the
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  immediate result, peace with God.
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  We who are justified are saved from God's judicial wrath.
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  And this is where he introduces that great Adam Christ contrast.
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  A theological masterpiece. Through one man, Adam, sin and
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  death entered the world and spread to everyone.
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  Through one man, Christ, grace and justification entered.
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  Available to all who receive it, the whole destiny of humanity
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  pivots on these two representative heads.
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  But talking about Adam and sin leads to that question about the
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  law. If the law doesn't save, what
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  was its purpose? Was it bad?
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  Paul is very clear. No.
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  The law is holy and good, but its function was never to save,
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  it was to reveal. It was added because of
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  transgressions. It acts like a magnifying glass,
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  shining divine light on our sin, turning it from a general
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  problem into a specific condemnable transgression.
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  He gives that powerful example in Chapter 7 about coveting.
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  Yes, he says he didn't really know what coveting was in its
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  full sinful reality until the law said you shall not covet.
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  And the moment that commandment came, sin, which he personifies
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  as this hostile force, use that good law to deceive him and kill
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  him spiritually. So the law defines the boundary,
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  and sin exploits that boundary to show just how sinful it is
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  it. Becomes sinful beyond measure.
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  The law in the hands of a Sinner just reveals the depth of the
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  problem. But then Paul immediately points
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  to the solution. Where sin abounded, grace
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  abounded all the more. Which leads right into chapter
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  6, Freedom from Sins Dominion. He tackles that twisted idea
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  head on. If grace abounds, should we just
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  keep sinning? And his answer is a thunderous
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  by no means. Because a change in our legal
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  status demands a change in our life.
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  Believers have been united with Christ in his death and
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  resurrection. We have died to the reigning and
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  slaving power of sin. Sin no longer has dominion over
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  us. We've been set free from sin to
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  become bond servants of God. It's a total change of
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  allegiance. Which then leads into freedom
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  from legalism. In Chapter 7, he's talking to
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  the Jewish believers who still feel tied to the Mosaic code.
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  He's addressing that struggle, the end of Chapter 7, that
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  internal war of wanting to do good but finding evil always
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  present. He insists that legalism can't
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  hold his captive. Faith is the principle that is
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  broad enough for all people. And then chapter 8 is the
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  climax. It's the glorious conclusion
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  that brings it all together, centered on the work of the Holy
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  Spirit. Chapter 8 is the very definition
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  of life in Paul's theme. Those who are justified are
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  freed from the verdict of death. The Spirit gives life to our
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  mortal bodies, guaranteeing our resurrection.
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  The Spirit guides us, assures us we are adopted children of God.
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  And the Spirit even helps us in our weakness, interceding for
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  us. Yes, we don't even know how to
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  pray as we ought, but the Spirit intercedes for us with groanings
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  too deep for words. And the chapter ends with that
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  incredible declaration of eternal security.
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  Nothing, not trouble, not hardship, not even death can
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  separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
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  It's the complete picture of redemption.
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  It is, But even after laying all that out, Paul knows his Jewish
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  readers would have one massive, unavoidable question hanging
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  over everything he's just said. A really big question If
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  salvation is through faith in Christ, and Christ is the
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  fulfillment of God's promises, how do we explain the fact that
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  most of Israel, the very people who received the promises,
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  rejected him? That's a critical problem.
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  It's about God's own faithfulness.
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  Israel had everything that the the sonship, the covenants, the
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  Law, the patriarchs, Christ himself came from them.
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  If God's promises failed for them, how can we trust His
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  promises to us? So he dedicates 3 dense chapters
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  to answering that and he gives a four part answer.
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  The first part is about God's sovereign control, God's purpose
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  by election. In Chapter 9, Paul argues that
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  God's covenant has always been based on his sovereign choice,
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  not an ethnicity. He chose physical Israel for a
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  special purpose, but that choice was based on his purpose alone,
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  with nothing to do with her character or merit.
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  And he uses Jacob and Esau as the prime example, chosen before
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  they were even. Born he does.
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  The choice of Jacob over Esau was designed to show that God is
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  the one who defines the terms of His mercy.
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  He uses the analogy of the Potter and the clay to show that
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  God has absolute freedom in choosing who will be objects of
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  wrath and who will be objects of mercy.
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  This can be a difficult teaching, but Paul's point is
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  that this choice was necessary to demonstrate God's power and
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  make His name known throughout the world.
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  Right. And he's clear that the true
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  heirs of the Promise were always a remnant within Israel that
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  genuinely believed. So.
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  God's choice is just because He's sovereign.
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  But that's only the first part of his answer.
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  The second part looks at Israel's own failure.
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  They were following a precedent of error.
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  They misunderstood the Messiah and the Law.
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  They tried to establish their own righteousness through works,
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  through performance of the Law, and because of that they
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  stumbled over the Messiah who was meant to be the fulfillment
• 19:41
  of the Law. They missed true righteousness
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  because they pursued it by works, not by faith.
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  Which leads into the third part of his answer, which is a
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  warning against Gentile arrogance.
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  God has not cast off His people. Chapter 11.
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  Yes, this is so important. Paul, himself a Jew, is living
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  proof that God has not rejected Israel completely or forever.
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  There is and always has been a remnant chosen by grace.
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  And he uses that powerful metaphor of the olive tree.
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  He does. The olive tree is the covenant
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  promise to Abraham. The natural branches Israel were
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  broken off because of unbelief, and the wild olive branches the
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  Gentiles were grafted in. But he gives a sharp warning to
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  those grafted in branches. He tells the Gentiles not to be
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  arrogant. They are part of the covenant
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  only because of God's mercy and because of Israel's fall.
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  If God was willing to break off the natural branches, He can
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  certainly break them off too. So some branches were broken
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  off, the remnant remained, and the rest were hardened.
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  But Paul is clear, this hardening is only for a time.
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  Until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
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  That's the key phrase. This temporary hardening is part
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  of his fourth and final answer provocation and future
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  conversion. It's a stunning idea.
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  God used Israel's rejection of the Messiah to open the
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  floodgates of the gospel to the Gentile world.
• 20:58
  Their failure led to the world's salvation.
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  Exactly, and the mechanism for their future restoration is this
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  idea of jealousy. The Gentiles acceptance of the
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  Messiah will in turn provoke Israel to a righteous jealousy.
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  Paul even sees his own ministry as part of this plan.
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  Yes, he says he is working to convert Gentiles in order to
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  stir up his fellow Jews and save some of them.
• 21:22
  So there's a sequence here. Israel is hardened for a time,
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  the fullness of the Gentiles is saved, and then God will graft
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  the natural branches back in if they don't persist in unbelief.
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  And their large scale conversion, Paul says, will be
• 21:34
  like life from the dead. The final picture is one of
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  total unity, Jew and Gentile together forming all Israel,
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  proving God's absolute faithfulness to His original
• 21:44
  promise. Which brings the whole
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  theological argument of the 1st 11 chapters full circle.
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  And now that the doctrine is established, he can pivot to the
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  practical application. He follows his usual pattern.
• 21:54
  Doctrine first, then duty. After 11 chapters of this
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  incredibly deep theology, you get that hinge verse in 12.1.
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  I appeal to you therefore. That's the shift.
• 22:04
  If God has done all this, then how should you live?
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  This is the ethical outworking of the gospel.
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  And this section would have been so practical for the Roman
• 22:11
  Church, for converts coming out of a Pagan world into a
• 22:15
  Judeo-christian ethic of self sacrifice.
• 22:18
  He starts in chapter 12 with Christian virtues.
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  Present your bodies as a living sacrifice.
• 22:23
  This is your spiritual worship. And then he gives a long list,
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  Sincere love, hospitality, blessing those who persecute
• 22:30
  you. It's the blueprint for life
• 22:32
  inside the church community. And then in chapter 13, he turns
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  outward to talk about a very relevant topic for people living
• 22:39
  in the capital city, their relationship to the civil
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  government. A timeless teaching.
• 22:44
  Paul says every person must submit to the governing
• 22:46
  authorities because government in itself is an institution
• 22:49
  ordained by God. So it's not about whether you
• 22:52
  like the specific official or not.
• 22:53
  Not at all. Government has a right to exist.
• 22:56
  Christians must obey laws, pay taxes, not just to avoid getting
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  in trouble, but as a matter of conscience.
• 23:02
  The civil authorities are God's servants, appointed to maintain
• 23:05
  order and execute wrath on the disobedient.
• 23:08
  That's a practical check on any kind of spiritual arrogance that
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  might make someone think they're above the law.
• 23:15
  It is, and that flows into how they should relate to each other
• 23:18
  inside the Church when they disagree on things.
• 23:21
  Chapter 14. Conscience and mutual respect.
• 23:25
  This seems aimed squarely at those tensions between the
• 23:28
  Jewish and Gentile believers, things like eating meat offered
• 23:31
  to idols or observing certain holidays.
• 23:34
  Right. Paul divides them into the
• 23:35
  strong in faith, those who understand their Christian
• 23:38
  freedom, and the weak whose consciences are more easily
• 23:42
  troubled. And the guiding principle isn't
• 23:44
  freedom, it's love. Exactly.
• 23:46
  The strong shouldn't use their freedom in a way that makes a
• 23:49
  weaker brother or sister stumble, and the weak shouldn't
• 23:52
  judge the freedom of the strong. The goal is unity defined by
• 23:55
  mutual love and respect, because everyone is a servant of Christ.
• 23:59
  The health of the community is more important than exercising
• 24:02
  your personal liberty. That's the defining mark of a
• 24:04
  disciple, especially in that mixed Roman church.
• 24:07
  And then the last two chapters, 15 and 16, he brings it all back
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  to his personal plans, back to the logistics that prompted the
• 24:14
  letter in the first place. Chapter 15 restates his role as
• 24:17
  a priestly minister to the Gentiles and the meaning of the
• 24:19
  collection. He repeats his travel plans,
• 24:22
  Jerusalem, then Rome, then on to Spain, reminding them that their
• 24:26
  support is vital. In chapter 16, after all, this
• 24:29
  high theology ends on a very personal note.
• 24:31
  It does. It's filled with greetings.
• 24:33
  He lists 27 people by name to be greeted in Rome.
• 24:36
  It just shows the personal, relational network of the early
• 24:39
  Church. It's a very human ending to a
• 24:41
  masterpiece of theology. So to wrap up our deep dives, we
• 24:45
  can see that Romans is so much more than just a theological
• 24:47
  textbook on justification. It's this grand, structured
• 24:50
  argument proving God's righteousness applies to
• 24:53
  everyone. It results in really the
• 24:55
  internationalization of Judaism under the New Covenant in
• 24:58
  Christ. And what's really incredible is
• 24:59
  how Paul used his practical needs, the trip to Jerusalem,
• 25:03
  the funding for Spain, as the hook to deliver this argument.
• 25:07
  He needed the Romans to get on board with the idea that Gentile
• 25:10
  inclusion wasn't a side project, it was the main goal, all rooted
• 25:14
  in Christ's faithfulness to the promise made to Abraham.
• 25:17
  A remarkable text, truly essential for understanding the
• 25:20
  entire New Testament. Before we close, here's a
• 25:22
  thought. Consider that relationship Paul
• 25:25
  describes in Romans 7 between the law, sin, and grace.
• 25:28
  If the law, which is holy and good, actually serves to
• 25:31
  intensify sin and kill the legalist, making covetousness
• 25:34
  sinful beyond measure, how does understanding that paradox shape
• 25:38
  your appreciation for the sheer sufficiency of grace through
• 25:41
  faith alone? What does it tell you about our
• 25:43
  utter helplessness apart from Christ's work?