A paradox is a seeming opposite, or something that is not as it seems or it is something that is not as commonly thought to be.  We want to look at a few paradoxes in Romans that will open up God’s truth to us. 

The book of Romans ends with the statement that God alone is wise (Rom. 16:27).  At times God shows his wisdom in how he humbles the pride of men.  We too easily think that we can figure out life on our own.  These passages will show us that we need God’s wisdom to find the true meaning of life.

Lets look at a few of these paradoxes.

In chapter one we find that God’s wrath is not described here as stopping someone in their tracks with judgment, but letting them go their own way on the path of self-destruction (1:24, 26, 28).  So we need to beware when God lets us have our own sinful way.  It is our blessing when He admonishes us and redirects us to the path of repentance and obedience.

In chapter two we find the paradox that those who you would have thought to have known God the best did not know Him at all (Rom. 2:23-24).  These were the religious Pharisees of the first century.  They had the Bible but turned it into a book of earning God’s favor.  In reality the Bible is a book proclaiming God’s grace to sinners.

In chapter three we find that the righteousness of God is actually the basis of salvation.  We would normally only think of God’s righteousness as the basis of judging sinners.  But the righteousness of Christ’s perfect life and the righteous judgment He bore on the cross for others is now the basis of God being gracious to sinners.  He declares those who believe as righteous in His courtroom based on what Christ did for them.  “The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ is to all and upon all who believe. . . .Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:22, 24). 

In chapter four we are told that Abraham hoped against hope (Rom. 4:18). He had no earthly reason to hope that he could bring a child in the world at 100 years of age, but he had hope from heaven because God had promised it.  The same is true with forgiveness.  There is no earthly reason why God should forgive us, but because of the heavenly Savior God says He will forgive those who believe.  Here again is another reason to not just look at life from our own perspective.  We must listen to God’s Word because things are not what they seem.  “My ways are above your ways” says the Lord “as the heavens are above the earth.”  (Isaiah 55:8-9).

In chapter five we find the paradox that though men base their love for others on how likeable or on how beneficial this person is to me, yet God bases His love only on His own heart and will.  As a result, every one who is ever saved can say, “God loved me when I was still His enemy.”  “Perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die, But God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:7-8).

Let us not miss out on the best thing in life—to know God’s grace and forgiveness by faith in Jesus Christ.  Let us have God’s wisdom by listening to God’s Word.  “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5).  In God’s paradoxes we will find the wisdom of the Gospel.