stooped lower still, and took upon Him a body of flesh. It is necessary, therefore, if we would hold the form of

sound words concerning the nature of Christ, that we acquaint ourselves with what is written in the epistles of Paul

concerning His entry into the realm of flesh and blood.

In Paul's great basic epistle to the Romans, three passages demand our attention, viz., 1:1-5; 8:3; and 9:5.

Romans 1:1-5 has been subdivided into the following headings by Liddon:

`(1) The writer of the epistle describes himself as

a A slave of Jesus Christ.

b A (divinely) called apostle.

c A man separated from his fellows for a special work.

(2) His life-work - the propagation of the Gospel of God. This Gospel he more specifically describes by

(i) Its relation to earlier religious history. It was

a Promised by God in preceding ages;

b By the agency of God's prophets;

c In sacred Scriptures.

(ii) Its subject, The Son of God. Who

a In respect to His manhood (kata sarx) was born of the race of David.

b In respect of His holy, superhuman Being (kata pneuma hagiosune) was decisively marked out as the Son

of God with power, as a result of His resurrection.



c Is known  a Human name

of 

b Official designation

by the

 our Lord.

c Title of authority

d Conveys from God the Father to the writer (di' ou elabomen) whatever graces and

powers he has received'.

The fact that the apostle places in contrast the descent of Christ `according to the flesh', and the declaration of

His Sonship, with power, `according to His holy spiritual' nature, is of itself evidence that no mere man is here in

view. Here is a Being, both human and superhuman; the seed of David, yet the Son of God; the one He entered by

birth, the other is declared in resurrection; the former is associated with weakness, the latter with glorious power

(2 Cor. 13:4). Two separate but vital questions raised by this passage are not answered here, but dealt with in the

following references:

(1) The title `Son of God', combined with the reference to `the seed of David', marked out the Lord Jesus Christ

as Israel's Messiah (Psa. 2:7,12; Luke 1:35). This is demonstrated in Romans 9:5, and belongs to a section

which demonstrates the peculiar privileges that belonged to the people of Israel.

(2) The unqualified statement that Christ came `according to the flesh' is qualified in Romans 8:3, where any

thought that He partook of `sinful' flesh is repudiated.

His humanity was real, yet His humanity was sinless.

The structure of Romans 9:3-5 is as follows:

A According to the FLESH. Kinsmen.

B Who are Israelites.

C To whom pertaineth the adoption.

D And the glory.

E And the covenants.

E And the giving of the Law.

D And the service.

C And the promises.

B Whose are the fathers.

A According to the FLESH. Christ, Kinsman-Redeemer.