Beloved of God, Called to Be Saints

Lesson 36: “Beloved of God, Called to Be Saints”, New Testament Gospel Doctrine Teacher’s Manual, (2002)

1.      Introduction

a)      Paul’s letter to the Romans differs from many of his other letters

i)        Focused on doctrine

ii)      Other letters more focused on correcting errors in understanding and bringing wayward members back to the faith.

b)      The letter was probably written sometime early in the spring of A. D. 57 while Paul was on his third mission.  It appears that Paul was at Corinth when he wrote this letter.  He wrote this epistle in advance of his coming to Rome as part of his future mission to Spain (Rom. 15:24, 28).

c)      Paul is very focused on taking the gospel to the Gentiles at this point

i)        Rome was the center of the Gentile world

(1)   Huge population – over 1 million in Rome

(2)   Governed an empire that stretched from Israel, Syria, Turkey on the East, across Northern Africa, including most of Egypt all the way to the Atlantic, All of Southern Europe, Spain, modern France and part of Germany and Southern Britain.

(a)    Shortly before Paul wrote his letter, in 50 AD, Rome founded the city of Londinium in Great Britain.

(3)   At the height of the Roman Empire, it ruled at least 65 million people, about 22% of the world population

(a)    That would be like one country ruling 1.5 billion people in two dozen countries today.

d)     The early Church in Rome was a combination of Jews and Gentiles

i)        Large population of Jews in Rome – 40-50,000 – and many joined the Church

ii)       

e)      Paul would not be able to come to Rome as he planned when he wrote the letter (Acts 21-28).

i)        He went to Jerusalem where he was arrested.

ii)      Exercising his rights as a Roman citizen, he demanded to be tried before Caesar and went to Rome under house arrest and probably went to Spain after being released.

f)       If this is Paul’s most doctrinal letter, what doctrine does he focus on? The Atonement of Christ.

2.      We are justified by faith in Jesus Christ

a)      Paul recognizes that many of the Saints in Rome are strong in the gospel.

b)      His purpose is to teach them more of the gospel.

i)        Reading 1 – Romans 1:15-16

15 So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.

16 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.

c)      Sets forth the fundamental problem the Atonement is designed to remedy

i)        Reading 2 – Romans 3:10-12

10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

 11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

 12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

d)     Consequences of Sin

i)        Reading 3 – Alma 7:21

21 And he doth not dwell in unholy temples; neither can filthiness or anything which is unclean be received into the kingdom of God; therefore I say unto you the time shall come, yea, and it shall be at the last day, that he who is filthy shall remain in his filthiness.

e)      Justification

i)        Reading 4 - Romans 3:23-24,28

23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

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28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.

ii)      We are justified by the grace of Jesus Christ and our faith in him.

iii)    Reading 5 – Bible Dictionary – Grace, page 697

Grace. A word that occurs frequently in the New Testament, especially in the writings of Paul. The main idea of the word is divine means of help or strength, given through the bounteous mercy and love of Jesus Christ.

It is through the grace of the Lord Jesus, made possible by his atoning sacrifice, that mankind will be raised in immortality, every person receiving his body from the grave in a condition of everlasting life. It is likewise through the grace of the Lord that individuals, through faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ and repentance of their sins, receive strength and assistance to do good works that they otherwise would not be able to maintain if left to their own means. This grace is an enabling power that allows men and women to lay hold on eternal life and exaltation after they have expended their own best efforts.

Divine grace is needed by every soul in consequence of the fall of Adam and also because of man’s weaknesses and shortcomings. However, grace cannot suffice without total effort on the part of the recipient. Hence the explanation, “It is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do” (2 Ne. 25:23). It is truly the grace of Jesus Christ that makes salvation possible. This principle is expressed in Jesus’ parable of the vine and the branches (John 15:1–11). See also John 1:12–17; Eph. 2:8–9; Philip. 4:13; D&C 93:11–14.

iv)    ASK – Are we saved by Grace?

v)      How is grace made available to us?

(1)   Reading 6 – Romans 5:8-10

8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

 9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

 10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

f)       Justification and Sanctification

i)        Two related and fundamental elements of the Atonement  - Justification and Sanctification

ii)      Elder Christofferson explained these two concepts in an Ensign article in 2001

iii)    Some who write and speak about these two elements sometimes combine them under Justification, but there’s a difference as Elder Christofferson explains

iv)    Justification

(1)   Reading 7 – Elder Christofferson explains justification: With nothing more, by virtue of the Fall and our own disobedience, the law condemns us to temporal and spiritual death. Law, or justice, is not a pleasant concept when one is condemned by it and “miserable forever.” Worldly philosophies attempt to resolve this misery and guilt by endeavoring to erase divine law or define it out of existence. As we have already observed, if we could get rid of the law, there would be no such thing as sin and thus no misery.

. . . .

There is a better way. That better way is not to deny the law, but to come out from under its condemnation. The righteous are supported by law, a pleasant position to be in. But to achieve that status, we need more than the law alone. We need a Savior. We need a Mediator.

. . . .

Because of “the infinite virtue of His great atoning sacrifice,” Jesus Christ can satisfy or “answer the ends of the law” on our behalf. Pardon comes by the grace of Him who has satisfied the demands of justice by His own suffering, “the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God” (1 Pet. 3:18). He removes our condemnation without removing the law. We are pardoned and placed in a condition of righteousness with Him. We become, like Him, without sin. We are sustained and protected by the law, by justice. We are, in a word, justified.

Thus, we may appropriately speak of one who is justified as pardoned, without sin, or guiltless.

(Elder D. Todd Christofferson, Justification and Sanctification, Ensign, June, 2001)

v)      Sanctification

(1)   Reading 8 - Elder Christofferson explains sanctification: “And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot” (Moro. 10:33; emphasis added).

To be sanctified through the blood of Christ is to become clean, pure, and holy. If justification removes the punishment for past sin, then sanctification removes the stain or effects of sin. The Prophet Joseph Smith testified:

“And this is the gospel, the glad tidings, which the voice out of the heavens bore record unto us—

“That he came into the world, even Jesus, to be crucified for the world, and to bear [justify] the sins of the world, and to sanctify the world, and to cleanse it from all unrighteousness” (D&C 76:40–41).

(Elder D. Todd Christofferson, Justification and Sanctification, Ensign, June, 2001)

(2)   READ – Elder Christofferson continues: Thus, it is not that we earn these gifts, but rather that we choose to seek and accept justification and sanctification. Since the Savior paid for our sins and satisfied justice for us, we become debtors to Him rather than to justice. We must therefore meet the stipulations He has established for forgiveness and cleansing. Otherwise, He withdraws His proffered mediation, and we are left to deal alone with the demands of justice, lacking the means to become pure. One must choose Christ to receive what Christ offers.

How does one choose Christ? We noted earlier Lehi’s declaration that it requires “a broken heart and a contrite spirit” (2 Ne. 2:7). Nephi elaborates: “Wherefore, do the things which I have told you I have seen that your Lord and your Redeemer should do; for, for this cause have they been shown unto me, that ye might know the gate by which ye should enter. For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost” (2 Ne. 31:17).

. . . .

Justification and sanctification are accomplished by the grace of Christ, which grace is a gift to man based on faith. But our moral agency is also a necessary element in this divine process. We must will to repent and act to repent. We must elect to be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost, and we must elect to remain loyal to our covenants thereafter. To receive the gift we must act in the manner He has ordained.

(Elder D. Todd Christofferson, Justification and Sanctification, Ensign, June, 2001)

vi)    Saved by faith alone

(1)   Reading 9 - The Prophet Joseph Smith said: “To be justified before God we must love one another: we must overcome evil; we must visit the fatherless and the widow in their affliction, and we must keep ourselves unspotted from the world: for such virtues flow from the great fountain of pure religion, strengthening our faith by adding every good quality that adorns the children of the blessed Jesus. We can pray in the season of prayer; we can love our neighbor as ourselves, and be faithful in tribulation, knowing that the reward of such is greater in the kingdom of heaven. What a consolation! What a joy!” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith [1976], 76).

3.      We can be reborn and become joint-heirs with Christ.

a)      Paul compared baptism to death, burial, and resurrection.

i)        Reading 10 – Romans 6:3-8

3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

 6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

 7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.

 8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:

(1)   Verse 6 – Old man = Natural man

b)      After baptism

i)        Reading 11 – Romans 8:5-6

5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.

 6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

ii)      READ – When he was President of Ricks College, Elder David A. Bednar spoke about being carnally minded or spiritually minded: "The precise nature of the test of mortality, then, can be summarized in the following questions: Will my body rule over my spirit, or will my spirit rule over my body? Will I yield to the enticings of the natural man or to the eternal man? That, brothers and sisters, is the test." (Elder David A. Bednar, "Ye are the Temple of God" Ricks College Devotional, January 11, 2000)

iii)    READ – Brigham Young described this contest more succinctly: “When we receive the Gospel, a warfare commences immediately. We have to fight continually, as it were, sword in hand to make the spirit master of the tabernacle, or the flesh subject to the law of the spirit.” (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Vol.9, pp.287‑288.)

c)      Why can we become joint-heirs with Christ?

i)        Reading 12 – Romans 8:16-17

16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

 17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

d)     Enduring the trials of this world

i)        READ Romans 8:18,28,31,35-39

18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

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28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

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31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

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35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

 36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

 37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

 38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

4.      We should live as becomes Saints.

a)      Reading 13 – Romans 12:1-2

1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Conclusion