Today the Apostle Paul works to counteract any objections that a person can be saved by keeping the law. He reminds us again that the purpose of the law is to reveal our sinfulness to us so that we come to the Lord for redemption. In demonstrating to us that the law does not save, he uses an example from his own struggle to keep the law and his own failure in keeping it.
He knows his readers might be wondering whether he is saying the law is a bad thing, so he hastens to correct any such misunderstanding. "What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was if it had not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, 'You shall not covet.'" (Romans 7:7)
Paul is not saying no one had ever coveted anything before the commandment was given not to covet. It's a failing of human nature to want what another person has, so men and women were coveting what belonged to others long before the commandment was given. But until the commandment was given, many of them did not realize that coveting was wrong. Apparently this particular sin is one that repeatedly plagued the Apostle Paul before his conversion. Of all the ten commandments and of all the laws of Moses, Paul chooses to use covetousness as an example of sin because it was one of his foremost sins. We know he did not remain this way after his conversion, for he will say in the letter he writes to the Philippians that he has lost everything for the sake of Christ and that he counts everything he has lost as nothing but rubbish. (Philippians 3:7-9)
Being told not to do something has the tendency to make us want to do it, so being told not to covet caused Paul to covet all the more. "Bun sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting." (Romans 7:8a) When I was a child I would be given strict instructions at playtime. For example, if I was going outside to play, my mother would tell me not to climb into the barn loft. Doing this had not occurred to me until she told me not to do it, but suddenly the barn loft became irresistibly attractive. If I was told not to go into the barn loft, I was going into the barn loft. The more I knew I wasn't supposed to be in the barn loft, the more I wanted to be in the barn loft. Paul was the same way. The more he thought about how wrong it was to covet, the more he coveted. Our fallen state makes us want to do the very things we shouldn't do, so Paul intends for his readers to understand that knowing the law does not save anyone. Knowing the law simply makes us more fully aware of our inability to keep it. Knowing the law, and realizing we cannot keep it no matter how hard we try, makes us feel like failures. It makes us feel hopeless. It brings us face to face with the irrefutable fact that we are incapable of earning salvation.
When Paul was a child and did not yet know the law, he wasn't troubled by the law. He couldn't be accused of breaking the law while he did not know the law. Although some of his attitudes may have been wrong before he learned the law, he was not aware of his fallen nature. "For apart from the law, sin was dead. Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death." (Romans 7:8b-11) Before Paul understood what sin was, he was not accountable for his sin in the same way he became accountable after learning the laws of God. But knowing the commandment conversely made him want to break it. This is why he says sin "seized the opportunity" to make him break the commandment. To re-use the example of the barn loft, I didn't realize how much I wanted to be in the barn loft until I was told not to go in it. In the same way, Paul didn't realize how much he desired the things that belonged to other people until he was told not to desire those things.
We all have a fallen nature and we all struggle with temptations. Paul's greatest struggle was with covetousness. Your greatest struggle might be something else. My struggle is something else. But the fact remains that knowing these things are wrong has not prevented us from doing them. Paradoxically, knowing these things are wrong causes us to think about them more. Knowing these things are wrong somehow makes them more tempting. No wonder we need a Redeemer! We had no hope without Him! Not only were we incapable of keeping the law of God, knowing the law of God did nothing but shine a spotlight on our failure and, at the same time, it made us want to break the law all the more. Realizing this was the case in his own life, Paul came to such a low point of discouragement that his soul cried out, "What a wretched man I am!" (Romans 7:24a) This is what the law was meant to do: make us realize how wretched we are and lead us to Christ who will do for us what we can't do for ourselves. Then we will no longer say, "What a wretched man I am!" But we will say, "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me."
Tuesday, June 5, 2018
Monday, June 4, 2018
The Letter Of The Apostle Paul To The Romans. Day 21, Bound To Christ
Paul expounds on the theme that we are under grace and not under the law by giving us an example from daily life in today's passage.
"Do you not know, brothers and sisters---for I am speaking to those who know the law---that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives?" (Romans 7:1) Laws are for the living. When we die, we are not expected to keep the laws of this world because we are no longer living in the world. For the past several days Paul has been explaining to us that when we come to Christ we die to our old selves and to our old lives, therefore grace is what has authority over us now, not the law.
"For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him." (Romans 7:2) When we get married we promise to stay together "until death do we part". The death of one of the parties to the marriage contract ends the marriage contract. The law states that a person is no longer married if his or her spouse has died.
"So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man." (Romans 7:3) The law of Moses, and the law of most or all nations, says that a person is committing adultery when he or she is unfaithful to a spouse. In the same way, if a person is already married and marries another, he or she is an adulterer. But if a person's spouse has died, the law is no longer binding, and the surviving spouse can remarry without breaking any laws of God or man.
Now that we have come to Christ, we are dead to our old lives, and we are no longer bound to the law. We are bound to Christ. We are not being unfaithful to the law because the law is not binding on a person who has died, and we are dead to our old selves. "So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God." (Romans 7:4)
Earlier in our study of Romans we discussed the fact that there was nothing wrong with the law, but that there was something wrong with us. Adam fell, and the whole human race fell, and the law we could not keep and did not want to keep did nothing but shine a bright spotlight on our sinfulness. We broke law after law after law. The ones we did not break in practice we broke in spirit, as Jesus clearly pointed out when He said things like, "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'You shall not murder, and anyone who murders is subject to judgment.' But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment." (Matthew 5:21-22a) And, "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." (Matthew 5:27-28)
The law did not save anyone. Faith (and the grace that comes by faith) saved those under the law, just as faith saved Abraham who lived before the law. Now, in Christ, we have the grace that comes through salvation by faith in Him, and this grace fills the gap between our imperfection and the Lord's perfection. The principles of the law are godly, and we could perhaps have been saved through the law if we had been able to perfectly keep the law, but we couldn't do it. Grace does for us what we couldn't do for ourselves because Christ did for us what we couldn't do for ourselves. Now we belong to Him and not to the law. Now we owe our allegiance to Him and not to the law. Following Christ will enable us to better fulfill the spirit of the law than we ever could before, but where we have failed in fulfilling the spirit of the law, Christ was successful in keeping the law. It is through the perfect sacrifice of the perfect Lamb of God that we find the atonement we could not earn for ourselves.
Paul reminds his readers that grace is greater than law. "For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code." (Romans 7:5-6) The law had to do with religion, but grace has to do with a relationship. We were not successful or satisfied when bound to the law. But now we are bound to Christ, and this relationship is able to satisfy us to the very depths of our souls.
"Do you not know, brothers and sisters---for I am speaking to those who know the law---that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives?" (Romans 7:1) Laws are for the living. When we die, we are not expected to keep the laws of this world because we are no longer living in the world. For the past several days Paul has been explaining to us that when we come to Christ we die to our old selves and to our old lives, therefore grace is what has authority over us now, not the law.
"For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him." (Romans 7:2) When we get married we promise to stay together "until death do we part". The death of one of the parties to the marriage contract ends the marriage contract. The law states that a person is no longer married if his or her spouse has died.
"So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man." (Romans 7:3) The law of Moses, and the law of most or all nations, says that a person is committing adultery when he or she is unfaithful to a spouse. In the same way, if a person is already married and marries another, he or she is an adulterer. But if a person's spouse has died, the law is no longer binding, and the surviving spouse can remarry without breaking any laws of God or man.
Now that we have come to Christ, we are dead to our old lives, and we are no longer bound to the law. We are bound to Christ. We are not being unfaithful to the law because the law is not binding on a person who has died, and we are dead to our old selves. "So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God." (Romans 7:4)
Earlier in our study of Romans we discussed the fact that there was nothing wrong with the law, but that there was something wrong with us. Adam fell, and the whole human race fell, and the law we could not keep and did not want to keep did nothing but shine a bright spotlight on our sinfulness. We broke law after law after law. The ones we did not break in practice we broke in spirit, as Jesus clearly pointed out when He said things like, "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'You shall not murder, and anyone who murders is subject to judgment.' But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment." (Matthew 5:21-22a) And, "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." (Matthew 5:27-28)
The law did not save anyone. Faith (and the grace that comes by faith) saved those under the law, just as faith saved Abraham who lived before the law. Now, in Christ, we have the grace that comes through salvation by faith in Him, and this grace fills the gap between our imperfection and the Lord's perfection. The principles of the law are godly, and we could perhaps have been saved through the law if we had been able to perfectly keep the law, but we couldn't do it. Grace does for us what we couldn't do for ourselves because Christ did for us what we couldn't do for ourselves. Now we belong to Him and not to the law. Now we owe our allegiance to Him and not to the law. Following Christ will enable us to better fulfill the spirit of the law than we ever could before, but where we have failed in fulfilling the spirit of the law, Christ was successful in keeping the law. It is through the perfect sacrifice of the perfect Lamb of God that we find the atonement we could not earn for ourselves.
Paul reminds his readers that grace is greater than law. "For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code." (Romans 7:5-6) The law had to do with religion, but grace has to do with a relationship. We were not successful or satisfied when bound to the law. But now we are bound to Christ, and this relationship is able to satisfy us to the very depths of our souls.
Sunday, June 3, 2018
The Letter Of The Apostle Paul To The Romans. Day 20, No Longer Slaves To Sin
We concluded yesterday's study with the Apostle Paul reminding us, "You are not under the law, but under grace." In today's passage he wants to make certain we understand that, though we are under grace, we don't have the right to live in sin. We once were slaves to sin; it owned us. But now that we are in Christ, Christ owns us. We are not free to do whatever our carnal natures desire. Just as a slave must do what pleases his master, we must do what pleases our Master.
"What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey---whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?" (Romans 6:15-16) We belong to whoever or whatever we have chosen to serve. If we belong to Christ, then our conduct should demonstrate that. If we belong to the world, our conduct will demonstrate that as well. This is why Jesus wisely said that we could determine who a person belongs to by the fruit his life produces. (Matthew 7:16-20)
Salvation by grace through faith is not to be treated lightly. We used to be able to live comfortably in all manner of unrighteousness before we came to Christ, but trying to live in sin after we come to Christ is going to make us absolutely miserable. Paul reminds his readers that they are to be thankful they aren't the kind of people they used to be. They are no longer caught up in a shameful manner of living but are busy serving the One who bought their way out of slavery to sin. "But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness." (Romans 6:17-18)
We are ashamed of the things we did before we came to Christ, aren't we? Then why would we ever want to keep doing those things now that we have been redeemed? "I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!" (Romans 6:19-21)
We will never be perfect as long as we live in the flesh on this earth, but Paul isn't saying we will never sin and fall short after we give ourselves to Christ. He's saying sin is no longer our master. When we sin after coming to Christ, our consciences bother us. The Holy Spirit who lives within us convicts us of wrongdoing and pleads with us to repent and turn away from the sinful thing. We become very unhappy campers when we try to serve sin and Christ at the same time. Before we came to Christ, when sin was our master, we weren't troubled too much by our sin. We even enjoyed it. We made deliberate choices to do what our flesh wanted rather than what God wanted. We reveled in living in the moment and experiencing the pleasures of this world. But none of those things benefited us whatsoever. Now though, in Christ, we have the opportunity to live a life of honor, a life that benefits ourselves and others. "But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life." (Romans 6:22)
Paul concludes his discourse today with one of the most familiar verses of the Bible, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23) If we choose to keep living in sin, we are earning the wages of sin---death. A wage is something that is paid to us for work we have performed. But the gift of grace is something else altogether. We can't earn it. We can't do any amount of good works to blot out our sins. The only way to receive the gift of grace is to give ourselves to Christ and trust that He will impute a righteousness to us that we can't earn for ourselves.
Below is our worship song link for today. I think I may have used it in a previous study, but it goes wonderfully with our text today, for it speaks of the grace we couldn't earn and didn't deserve.
Reckless Love
"What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey---whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?" (Romans 6:15-16) We belong to whoever or whatever we have chosen to serve. If we belong to Christ, then our conduct should demonstrate that. If we belong to the world, our conduct will demonstrate that as well. This is why Jesus wisely said that we could determine who a person belongs to by the fruit his life produces. (Matthew 7:16-20)
Salvation by grace through faith is not to be treated lightly. We used to be able to live comfortably in all manner of unrighteousness before we came to Christ, but trying to live in sin after we come to Christ is going to make us absolutely miserable. Paul reminds his readers that they are to be thankful they aren't the kind of people they used to be. They are no longer caught up in a shameful manner of living but are busy serving the One who bought their way out of slavery to sin. "But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness." (Romans 6:17-18)
We are ashamed of the things we did before we came to Christ, aren't we? Then why would we ever want to keep doing those things now that we have been redeemed? "I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!" (Romans 6:19-21)
We will never be perfect as long as we live in the flesh on this earth, but Paul isn't saying we will never sin and fall short after we give ourselves to Christ. He's saying sin is no longer our master. When we sin after coming to Christ, our consciences bother us. The Holy Spirit who lives within us convicts us of wrongdoing and pleads with us to repent and turn away from the sinful thing. We become very unhappy campers when we try to serve sin and Christ at the same time. Before we came to Christ, when sin was our master, we weren't troubled too much by our sin. We even enjoyed it. We made deliberate choices to do what our flesh wanted rather than what God wanted. We reveled in living in the moment and experiencing the pleasures of this world. But none of those things benefited us whatsoever. Now though, in Christ, we have the opportunity to live a life of honor, a life that benefits ourselves and others. "But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life." (Romans 6:22)
Paul concludes his discourse today with one of the most familiar verses of the Bible, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23) If we choose to keep living in sin, we are earning the wages of sin---death. A wage is something that is paid to us for work we have performed. But the gift of grace is something else altogether. We can't earn it. We can't do any amount of good works to blot out our sins. The only way to receive the gift of grace is to give ourselves to Christ and trust that He will impute a righteousness to us that we can't earn for ourselves.
Below is our worship song link for today. I think I may have used it in a previous study, but it goes wonderfully with our text today, for it speaks of the grace we couldn't earn and didn't deserve.
Reckless Love
Saturday, June 2, 2018
The Letter Of The Apostle Paul To The Romans. Day 19, Crucified With Christ
In yesterday's study we talked about how, once we come to Christ, we who were once dead in sins are now dead to sin. Or, as the Apostle Paul says in his letter to the Galatians, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." (Galatians 2:19-20)
The apostle begins today's passage by asking, "Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with Him in baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." (Romans 6:3-4) In Christ we have a "do over". In Christ we get a fresh start. No, we can't go back and change the past, but we can be changed from the inside out so that our future is something far better than our past.
The baptism Paul speaks of is generally understood to be total immersion since he compares it to being buried. When we accept Christ we die to our old way of living. When we are baptized in His name we are, symbolically, being buried. Coming up out of the water is likened to Christ coming out of the tomb. These actions illustrate what has happened in our souls: we have died to our old life and we have been raised to new life. "For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we will certainly also be united with Him in a resurrection like His. For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin---because anyone who has died has been set free from sin." (Romans 6:5-7)
Christ died and rose from the dead, never to die again. In the same way, when we come to Christ we rise from the deadness of our sins never to die (spiritually) again. "Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over Him. The death He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life He lives, He lives to God." (Romans 6:8-10) Christ died to sin---not His own sin, but ours. Now that He has been raised to life again He lives to the glory of God. Likewise we who belong to Him have died to sin and now live for His glory.
"In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to Him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace." (Romans 6:11-14) We are to give every part of our lives to Christ. By holding nothing back, we are far less prone to falling into sin. But when we do make a mistake, we have the comfort of being under grace and not under law. The law says the lawbreaker must die. But grace says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)
The apostle begins today's passage by asking, "Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with Him in baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." (Romans 6:3-4) In Christ we have a "do over". In Christ we get a fresh start. No, we can't go back and change the past, but we can be changed from the inside out so that our future is something far better than our past.
The baptism Paul speaks of is generally understood to be total immersion since he compares it to being buried. When we accept Christ we die to our old way of living. When we are baptized in His name we are, symbolically, being buried. Coming up out of the water is likened to Christ coming out of the tomb. These actions illustrate what has happened in our souls: we have died to our old life and we have been raised to new life. "For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we will certainly also be united with Him in a resurrection like His. For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin---because anyone who has died has been set free from sin." (Romans 6:5-7)
Christ died and rose from the dead, never to die again. In the same way, when we come to Christ we rise from the deadness of our sins never to die (spiritually) again. "Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over Him. The death He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life He lives, He lives to God." (Romans 6:8-10) Christ died to sin---not His own sin, but ours. Now that He has been raised to life again He lives to the glory of God. Likewise we who belong to Him have died to sin and now live for His glory.
"In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to Him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace." (Romans 6:11-14) We are to give every part of our lives to Christ. By holding nothing back, we are far less prone to falling into sin. But when we do make a mistake, we have the comfort of being under grace and not under law. The law says the lawbreaker must die. But grace says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)
Technical Difficulties Saturday Morning---Blog Post Will Be Somewhat Delayed
We are having problems with very slow internet so far this morning. I have to have multiple windows open while doing the blog in order to cross reference various Scriptures, historical materials, commentaries, and Bible dictionaries, and I'm having trouble switching back and forth. Plus my cursor keeps just getting stuck in one place while I'm typing.
Today's study will get posted sometime this morning, just a bit later than normal for a Saturday. Thanks for your patience!
Today's study will get posted sometime this morning, just a bit later than normal for a Saturday. Thanks for your patience!
Friday, June 1, 2018
The Letter Of The Apostle Paul To The Romans. Day 18, Once Dead In Sin, Now Dead To Sin
We've been studying the greatness of the gift of grace. Adam was the first man to sin and everyone who has come after him has sinned. God could have concluded that we are a complete failure and He could have decided to put an end to our existence, but instead He made a way for us to be acceptable in His sight. Today Paul takes us even further into the mystery of grace by explaining to us that our old life is dead when we give ourselves to Christ. We are no longer our own, but His. We are no longer the old creatures, but new.
"The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 5:20-21) Earlier in the week we studied the fact that Adam sinned before the law was ever given because he disobeyed a direct order of God. Those who lived between the lifetime of Adam and the giving of the law were also sinners because they sometimes lived in ways that were contrary to the holy requirements of God. Ever since the law came we have been sinners because, in spite of knowing what God requires of us, we want to obey our fallen nature and go our own way and do our own thing. So now Paul tells us that the law was given to shine an even greater spotlight on our sin. The law laid down many specific godly principles. We did not keep these principles, and in this way the law clearly revealed the sinfulness of our hearts to us.
In the breaking of these laws our sin abounded all the more, but at the same time God's grace abounded all the more. He could have said, "No matter how carefully I instruct these people they continue to go astray. I don't think I could have made Myself any clearer about how they should live. The human race is hopeless!" But instead He said, "I will send them a Redeemer. He will be righteous where they are unrighteous. He will be strong where they are weak. He will do for them what they can't do for themselves."
Paul knows a question is about to arise at this point. Some of his readers are going to ask if we are free to live however we please after obtaining redemption through Christ. If sin abounded, but grace abounded even more, does it matter how we live? "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?" (Romans 6:1-2)
When our natural bodies die we don't live in this world any longer. In the same way, when we come to Christ we die to our old selves, so we can't live in sin any longer. Being of the Baptist denomination I've heard the accusation that Baptists (and many other denominations) believe in the doctrine "once in grace, always in grace", as if we can accept Christ and then live however we please. This is not the case. It would be more accurate to say we believe "once saved, always saved" or "once adopted into the family of God, always a child of God", but we don't believe it's alright to keep living in sin. When we come to Christ we become sons and daughters of God, and like any father who adopts a child, God has the right to discipline us when we disobey Him. Our Father will correct us when necessary. An earthly father who adopts a child doesn't "un-adopt" that child when that child makes mistakes, and God doesn't "un-adopt" us when we make mistakes. But when we become caught up in sin and don't quickly repent and turn around, God has the right to discipline us as His children. So no, once we are saved we don't have the right to live in sin, for we no longer belong to ourselves but to the Lord.
Grace is not permission to go on sinning. Grace is this: we who were once dead in sin are now dead to sin. Just as Christ died in His mortal body, we must die to our old selves. Just as Christ rose from the dead never to die again, we must rise with Him to a better standard of living---a standard that honors the immeasurable sacrifice He made for us. As Paul will say in his letter to the Corinthians, "You are not your own; you were bought at a price." (1 Corinthians 6:19b-20a) We who are in Christ belong to Christ. We thought we were free while we lived in sin, but sin is the cruelest slavemaster of all. Christ paid the price that bought our way out of slavery to sin, and now we are His, and we must live in a way that demonstrates to the world that we are His.
"The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 5:20-21) Earlier in the week we studied the fact that Adam sinned before the law was ever given because he disobeyed a direct order of God. Those who lived between the lifetime of Adam and the giving of the law were also sinners because they sometimes lived in ways that were contrary to the holy requirements of God. Ever since the law came we have been sinners because, in spite of knowing what God requires of us, we want to obey our fallen nature and go our own way and do our own thing. So now Paul tells us that the law was given to shine an even greater spotlight on our sin. The law laid down many specific godly principles. We did not keep these principles, and in this way the law clearly revealed the sinfulness of our hearts to us.
In the breaking of these laws our sin abounded all the more, but at the same time God's grace abounded all the more. He could have said, "No matter how carefully I instruct these people they continue to go astray. I don't think I could have made Myself any clearer about how they should live. The human race is hopeless!" But instead He said, "I will send them a Redeemer. He will be righteous where they are unrighteous. He will be strong where they are weak. He will do for them what they can't do for themselves."
Paul knows a question is about to arise at this point. Some of his readers are going to ask if we are free to live however we please after obtaining redemption through Christ. If sin abounded, but grace abounded even more, does it matter how we live? "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?" (Romans 6:1-2)
When our natural bodies die we don't live in this world any longer. In the same way, when we come to Christ we die to our old selves, so we can't live in sin any longer. Being of the Baptist denomination I've heard the accusation that Baptists (and many other denominations) believe in the doctrine "once in grace, always in grace", as if we can accept Christ and then live however we please. This is not the case. It would be more accurate to say we believe "once saved, always saved" or "once adopted into the family of God, always a child of God", but we don't believe it's alright to keep living in sin. When we come to Christ we become sons and daughters of God, and like any father who adopts a child, God has the right to discipline us when we disobey Him. Our Father will correct us when necessary. An earthly father who adopts a child doesn't "un-adopt" that child when that child makes mistakes, and God doesn't "un-adopt" us when we make mistakes. But when we become caught up in sin and don't quickly repent and turn around, God has the right to discipline us as His children. So no, once we are saved we don't have the right to live in sin, for we no longer belong to ourselves but to the Lord.
Grace is not permission to go on sinning. Grace is this: we who were once dead in sin are now dead to sin. Just as Christ died in His mortal body, we must die to our old selves. Just as Christ rose from the dead never to die again, we must rise with Him to a better standard of living---a standard that honors the immeasurable sacrifice He made for us. As Paul will say in his letter to the Corinthians, "You are not your own; you were bought at a price." (1 Corinthians 6:19b-20a) We who are in Christ belong to Christ. We thought we were free while we lived in sin, but sin is the cruelest slavemaster of all. Christ paid the price that bought our way out of slavery to sin, and now we are His, and we must live in a way that demonstrates to the world that we are His.
Thursday, May 31, 2018
The Letter Of The Apostle Paul To The Romans. Day 17, Why Was Adam's Sin So Grievous?
The human race fell from grace because of one unrighteous act. We will take a look at just why Adam's sin was so awful, and we will look at how much greater the actions of Christ are than the actions of Adam.
Paul has been telling us that the gift of God is greater than the wages of sin. We earned condemnation because we trespassed against the Lord, but God freely pours out His grace on all who believe in the One who gave His life to make peace between man and God. "But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!" (Romans 5:15)
In order to break sin's hold over us, something more powerful than sin had to come into the world. In order to save us from wrath, a grace too great to describe had to be poured out on us. As Bible scholar William Barclay says in his commentary on Romans 5: "Mankind was involved in a situation from which there was no escape; sin had man in its power and there was no hope. Into this situation came Jesus Christ, and He brought with Him something that broke the old deadlock. By what He did, by what He is, by what He gives, He enabled man to escape from a situation in which he was hopelessly dominated by sin."
Paul continues, "Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!" (Romans 5:16-17) Scholars and theologians have attempted to explain and understand the deep mystery of just how the entire human race fell through one man, our forefather Adam. One man's sin infected every man to come, and one man's sin brought a curse on the perfect paradise this world once was.
We cannot fully understand the deep mystery of how Adam's sin brought about the fall of all humanity, but I think maybe the reason Adam's one sin was so awful is because he had the least excuse, of all human beings who have ever existed, for his sin. He lived in a perfect environment, he lived in constant communication with the Lord who would come down and walk in the garden and talk with him, he lived in unbroken peace with God, and he lived in circumstances where his every need was met and he had no worries or cares. Yet he deliberately disobeyed God's command. We sometimes hear the argument made that man could live a perfect life if he lived in a perfect world, but Adam's sin proves that this isn't so. There was no valid reason for him to make a choice that would lead to a fracture in his relationship with the Lord, but he made the choice anyway, and we've been making those same type of choices ever since. Adam committed the first sin, and somehow that makes it the worst sin, and ever since he sinned we've been following in his footsteps.
Because Adam's sin was so great and had such far-reaching consequences, a righteous act had to be performed that was greater than sin. A means of redemption had to be given that was capable of rescuing us from the clutches of the death that results from sin. The only way to accomplish this was for the Lord Jesus Christ, the perfect Son of the living God, to give Himself as an atonement sacrifice. Because Jesus is who He is, anything He does is greater than anything man can do. Therefore the gift of grace through Him is greater than the wages of sin through Adam. "Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous." (Romans 5:18-19)
Adam's disobedience caused a distance to emerge between man and God, and his disobedience brought death to man. But Christ's obedience brings man and God together, and His obedience brings us life. We can never thank the Lord enough for such a gift, but we say along with the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 9:15, "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!" Thank You, Lord!
Paul has been telling us that the gift of God is greater than the wages of sin. We earned condemnation because we trespassed against the Lord, but God freely pours out His grace on all who believe in the One who gave His life to make peace between man and God. "But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!" (Romans 5:15)
In order to break sin's hold over us, something more powerful than sin had to come into the world. In order to save us from wrath, a grace too great to describe had to be poured out on us. As Bible scholar William Barclay says in his commentary on Romans 5: "Mankind was involved in a situation from which there was no escape; sin had man in its power and there was no hope. Into this situation came Jesus Christ, and He brought with Him something that broke the old deadlock. By what He did, by what He is, by what He gives, He enabled man to escape from a situation in which he was hopelessly dominated by sin."
Paul continues, "Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!" (Romans 5:16-17) Scholars and theologians have attempted to explain and understand the deep mystery of just how the entire human race fell through one man, our forefather Adam. One man's sin infected every man to come, and one man's sin brought a curse on the perfect paradise this world once was.
We cannot fully understand the deep mystery of how Adam's sin brought about the fall of all humanity, but I think maybe the reason Adam's one sin was so awful is because he had the least excuse, of all human beings who have ever existed, for his sin. He lived in a perfect environment, he lived in constant communication with the Lord who would come down and walk in the garden and talk with him, he lived in unbroken peace with God, and he lived in circumstances where his every need was met and he had no worries or cares. Yet he deliberately disobeyed God's command. We sometimes hear the argument made that man could live a perfect life if he lived in a perfect world, but Adam's sin proves that this isn't so. There was no valid reason for him to make a choice that would lead to a fracture in his relationship with the Lord, but he made the choice anyway, and we've been making those same type of choices ever since. Adam committed the first sin, and somehow that makes it the worst sin, and ever since he sinned we've been following in his footsteps.
Because Adam's sin was so great and had such far-reaching consequences, a righteous act had to be performed that was greater than sin. A means of redemption had to be given that was capable of rescuing us from the clutches of the death that results from sin. The only way to accomplish this was for the Lord Jesus Christ, the perfect Son of the living God, to give Himself as an atonement sacrifice. Because Jesus is who He is, anything He does is greater than anything man can do. Therefore the gift of grace through Him is greater than the wages of sin through Adam. "Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous." (Romans 5:18-19)
Adam's disobedience caused a distance to emerge between man and God, and his disobedience brought death to man. But Christ's obedience brings man and God together, and His obedience brings us life. We can never thank the Lord enough for such a gift, but we say along with the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 9:15, "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!" Thank You, Lord!
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