Jesus In Romans - The Righteousness of God

One of the ministry I am so blessed to be apart of is a unique men's accountability group called "The Group" Bible study in association with the "Galatians 6:1 Ministry" at Harvest. After several years of being a guest speaker, I was humbled when they asked me to be on the teaching rotation as they go through the book of Romans. I have the opportunity of of teaching four times in Romans 2, 5, 8, 13. This Thursday, I will be teaching on Romans 8:1-39. The chapter is all about work of the Holy Spirit. Paul declared at the beginning of his epistle in Romans 1:4 that Jesus came as "the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead," to make Romans 8:3-4 a reality "by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." In other words, Jesus came as the Son of God through the power of the Holy Spirit, to live a righteous life with the means of justifying unrighteous sinners who would walk in the same power of the Holy Spirit to live righteously for Christ. Wow! What a Christological heart penetrating truth! Jesus came to live a perfect life knowing that I would personally never seek such righteous ambitions, do righteous deeds, or live up to his righteous standards and judgments. Jesus did that for me so I could rest in his finished work as the righteousness of God.

This short sermon clip by John Piper that explains how Jesus is at the center of Paul's exposition in Romans. Jesus is portrayed as the righteousness of God that solely justifies sinners. As Piper says in this video, "[Paul] says in his heart, "It's Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! 37 times in this glorious letter that he wrote." Indeed, the book of Romans bleeds with the atoning work of Jesus Christ as the righteousness of God.