GENERAL CONFERENCE.
BATTLE CREEK, MICH., 1891.
BIBLE STUDY.
LETTER TO THE ROMANS
BY ELDER E. J. WAGGONER
This book is one of the most wonderful in the Bible.
Chap. 1:1-15. These fifteen verses are introductory, the first seven
comprising the salutation, the remaining eight being personal
explanations.
---Yet in these verses are some of the richest passages in
the Bible;
--as in verse twelve, wherein Paul states that he expected not
only to minister to the church on his visit,
--but to be ministered to by
it.
The first chapter of Romans, after its introduction, can be summarized
as the condition of man without God, and how he gets in that
condition. The cause of this condition can be stated in one
word—unbelief.
Verses 16 and 17.
--For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ:
--for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth;
--to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
--For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith:
--as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
Here we have the text of the epistle.
The entire book is but an expansion of these verses.
In the remaining verses of the chapter, we have a statement of God's
justice in punishing wicked men, and of the consequences of a separation
from God.
We are liable to get an idea something like this; namely,
that we have the third angel's message, consisting of a system of truth
comprising such subjects as
the law,
the Sabbath,
nature of man,
advent,
etc.,
and that to this we have superadded a little gospel, the idea of
justification by faith. There is but one doctrine we have to preach,
that is the gospel of Christ. And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. Mark 16:15, 16. This commission is to us.
The righteousness of God is what God does; it is His way. To be in
harmony with Him is to make His way our way.
The gospel reveals this way
to us (Rom. 1:17), and not only this, but it is the power of God to
work out his way in us.
--The Bible is a statement of God's way, and this
is summed up in the ten commandments, which are a declaration of his
righteousness. Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; Isa. 51:7.
"The just shall live by faith." Here is the whole thing. Nothing can be
added to the preaching of the righteousness of God by faith of 
Jesus
Christ.
Q: What about these doctrines, as the Sabbath, immortality,
etc.?
A: Since the "kingdom of God and his righteousness" is the one thing
needful, and since there is nothing unimportant in the Bible, all of
these doctrines are simply divisions, lines depending upon that one
thing—all summed up in the doctrine of righteousness by faith.
Verse 18. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
Wrath is revealed against those who "hold (or restrain) the
truth in unrighteousness." Connect this verse with chap. 10:3
-- For they being ignorant of God's righteousness,
-- and going about to establish their own righteousness,
-- have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
God is a
living God.
His throne is a living throne.
There is the water of life,
and the tree of life—everything is life. Therefore His righteousness is
active, is life.
Some men, ignorant of this righteousness, refuse to
submit themselves to it, and resist it.
God will punish
men.
Q: Why?
A: Because they identify themselves with unrighteousness.
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Vs.20.
Q: Is God unjust?
A: No; for ever since the creation His
works have testified of Him. ....the world could not
create itself....
There is no wisdom apart from God. This is what
Paul means when he says, "Beware lest any man spoil you through
philosophy . . . after the rudiments of this world, and not after
Christ."
We hear a good deal of "natural morality;" and
"scientific morality,"—morality common to all men. This is what Paul is
describing. It is heathenism.
The heathen is the man who doesn't know God. He may be a
religious man, but God is not the source of his wisdom.
They lost God, "because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not
as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations,
and their foolish heart was darkened." Verse 21.
--They attributed
everything to themselves,
--and as self was advanced,
--faith in God decreased,
--till they were in the darkness of idolatry.
