Bible Studies
PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BY COMMENTING
LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE As A Member OR Visitor
Message Writer
Hire Writer
Report Article
LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE As A Member OR Visitor
Message Writer
Hire Writer
Report Article
CHAPTER SIX OF ROMANS
By
Lawrence Walkup
The book of Romans is the heart of the Gospel. The Apostle Paul goes into a lot of detail explaining the good news. He answers all the questions that would arise from a gospel that seems too good to be true. The good news of God can be summed up in one word, grace.
Verses 1-2: In light of the fact that we are justified by faith and stand in the grace of God, and where sin increases, grace increases all the more; why not just go on sinning so that grace may increase? First of all, notice the implication that we want to sin. Of course we want to sin. That’s what our flesh is. It would not be contrary to the Spirit if it didn’t want its own way (Gal. 5:17). Have you ever noticed the anticipation of sinning is more gratifying than the actual act? The actual act ends up being a letdown, ultimately resulting in being unfulfilled. This is the cycle that Satan keeps us in. Paul is saying we don’t have to be in this cycle at all, because we have died to all of this.
Verses 3-4: Or is it that you‘re ignorant that you are dead to all of this? All of this is the flesh, and just as Christ’s flesh was put to death, so has the sinful nature that resides in our flesh, been put to death. And it was put to death in order that we too like Christ, who rose from the dead, also have risen from the dead to walk in a new life. Because of what we have inherited from Adam, the second we come into this world as a baby, we were already in a state of spiritual death without ever having to do anything good or bad (John 3:18) (Rom. 5:12). If we are dead, then what we are in need of is a life. Jesus came to give his life to us. When we receive his life, we are no longer dead. We have risen from the dead. To walk in the new life in regards to sin means to walk in the power of the new life…a power that easily overrides sin.
Verses 5-7: Christ died, we died. Christ rose from the dead, we rose from the dead. Our body of sin has been done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin. Our condition before being saved is that we were slaves to sin. The world doesn’t see themselves as slaves to sin. They may see themselves as having problems, but those are psychological in nature, certainly not anything that has to do with religion. Today, to be involved in religion is to be an extremist (a potential domestic terrorist). Isn’t it wonderful, to instead be involved in the truth that sets us free.
Verses 8-10: The moment we started living with Christ was at the moment we obtained his life. That is also the moment our eternal life started, because that is the kind of life we obtained. And it is a life we can never lose, because as he died to sin once and for all (which is what causes death) we also have died to sin once and for all. If death no longer has mastery over Christ then it no longer has mastery over us. In that case, what does our physical death mean? Our physical death is a promotion of unimaginable gigantic proportions; the perishable takes on the imperishable; the natural takes on the spiritual; the mortal takes on immortality (1 Cor. 15). We shall know fully, even as we are fully known (1 Cor. 13:12). Our physical death is an immediate transition from one life to another. We as Christians need to view our physical death as God views it. Psalm 116:15 says: “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.” If it is precious to the Lord, then it should to be precious to us. Even as Christians we fear physical death because we do not see as God sees. That is the purpose of our minds being renewed, to see things as God sees things. This transition should be precious to us because at the very moment of being absent from the body, we are present with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8).
Verses 11-14: As Christ is dead to sin, so are we dead to sin. However being dead to sin does not mean we are free from the temptation of sin that comes from our flesh and from Satan who still tries to act like he has authority over our lives. Flesh and blood will not inherit the kingdom of God because sin is somehow at work within our flesh (Rom.7:23) (Rom. 8:13).
The key to all that’s being said here in chapter six is found in the three little words of verse 12: ‘do not let.’ God could have eradicated our flesh completely, but he left it hanging on our bones to keep us in dependency upon Him. In other words, there has to be the option to choose, not to be dependent upon Him. Just like the option for Adam and Eve was there, and would have always be there if they hadn’t sinned; so it is with us, the option will always be there until we leave this place for good. Loving God can only come from us freely being able to choose to do that. And giving into our flesh, at the moment we do, is choosing not to love God. For us as Christians overcoming our flesh is nothing. How could it be when you have the one and only almighty God residing in you? The issue for us is in the decision ‘do not let.’ The world, the unbeliever, and we who used to be the unbeliever did not have a choice in not sinning. This is why we were a slave to sin. But now, as a believer, sin no longer has its power over us. We can make the decision not to sin. We can do this because of the new life that lives within us. This new life is the righteousness of God. And now we can be a slave to the righteousness of God. All the power of the universe and beyond is at our disposal that is simply activated by a decision. This process of deciding to choose God is what faith is. This is what pleases God. And when we put faith in God, this is our love for God, and our worship to God (Rom. 12:1).
This kind of language is nothing more than gobbledygook to the world (religious jargon that any modern intelligent man of today has long since moved on from). We used to be like the world. We came out of the world. In hindsight we can see what we have been delivered from. We see how we were slaves to sin. We see how we were completely duped, living an absolute lie. Unless a man is born again, he cannot see (John 3:3). As born again Christians (who can still be duped and taught a lie) let us continue to grow by seeing what God wants us to see. Let us continue to have our minds renewed by the truth of His Word. As those who have been brought from life to death, let us offer the parts of our body to him as instruments of righteousness. ‘For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.’ If you have been taught that you are still under the law, then sin is your master. Sin is unbelief…unbelief in Jesus. Sin (unbelief) is your master because you have chosen to put your belief in your self’s ability to keep the law. At this point your Christianity has become about you, instead of about Jesus.
Verses 15-18: We do not go on sinning so that grace may increase; and we do not go on sinning because we are not under law. We were created as dependent creatures. Our creator wants us to put dependency in Him. He doesn’t force us; He wants us to freely choose to do that. However, if we do not put our dependency in God, then we will find something else in life to put our dependency in. And whatever we come to depend upon to bring purpose and meaning to our life, is what will control our life (2 Peter 2:19). Money can control our life, a career can control our life, recognition can control our life, and addictions can control our life. When it is talking about obedience here, it is not talking about the obedience of the law, but about the obedience of faith (Rom. 1:5)…to do God’s will, which is to put faith in his Son. When the Bible uses the word faith; it always means faith in God. All humans have faith in general. You have faith in a chair that supports you. You have faith in your car starting up every morning. There is erroneous teaching out there that has you putting faith in faith…another subtle teaching of the Devil to make something other than God the object of your faith. We have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. This is another one of those religious words that sends chills up the spine of the rebellious…like finger nails on a blackboard. I don’t know about you, but being a slave to righteousness sounds very fulfilling to the depths of my soul.
Verses 19-21: When it says we used to offer the parts of our body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness it seems to be saying that sin is like a drug. The more our body builds up a tolerance to a drug, the more of the drug the body needs in order to have the same initial high. Sin has to be increased into more sin in order for the lust of flesh to have the same initial high. Now that we are under the control of righteousness, we can see clearly those things that we are now ashamed of that benefited us nothing. Those things result in death… an eternal death for the person that remains lost and for the Christian, a death that results in being severed from Christ (Gal. 5:4). The definition of death is the absence of life. For the lost person who never receives the Life, he remains absent of the Life eternally. For the Christian who has obtained the Life (that he can never lose) he momentarily severs his relationship from that Life, by instead, putting his faith in himself.
As a Christian, think of yourself as the old driver education car that has two steering wheels in the front seat. One wheel is for you and the other is for the instructor. In our case, Jesus is behind the other wheel. Only one person can be in control of the wheel at the same time. As soon as one person grabs the wheel, the other has to let go. The other person stays in the car, he doesn’t go anywhere, and he just sits there waiting to regain control. Jesus tells us that he wants to be the driver down the road of life because he is a much better driver. In fact he is a perfect driver. He won’t drive off the road; he won’t hit the curbs and potholes of life. However as soon as you insist on taking back the wheel, Jesus will let go and just sit there until you again let him in control. The absence of life for the Christian is Jesus not being in control. Similarly see the parable in John 15 about the vine and the branches. This is about not losing salvation but about not bearing fruit.
Verses 22-23: We have been set free from the consequence of sin. The definition of sin is whatever is not of faith (Rom. 14:23). Now, think of all the things you do within the course of a day in which you are not exercising faith in God. That’s right; thank God that he does not deal with us (because we are under the New Covenant) on the issue of sin anymore. He now deals with us on the issue of the new life that lives in us, and the renewing of our minds in order to be changed from day to day into the likeness of that life. The wages of sin is death. For those who remain lost, it is an eternal death. Death for the Christian however, is taking hold of the wheel of your life, while Jesus sits with you, waiting for you to give him back the wheel. ‘Do not let’ yourself be the driver. Simply sit there and rest as you partake in the divine nature.
PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE AS A MEMBER OR VISITOR
Reader Count & Comments
Date
The opinions expressed by authors do not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com. This is especially true with articles that
deal with personal healthcare and prophecy. We encourage the reader to make their own decision in consultation with God, His Word, and others as needed.
This article has been read 622 times < Previous | Next >
Read more articles by Lawrence Walkup or search for other articles by topic below.
This article has been read 622 times < Previous | Next >
Search for articles on: (e.g. creation; holiness etc.)
Read more by clicking on a link:Free Reprints
Main Site Articles
Most Read Articles
Highly Acclaimed Challenge Articles.
New Release Christian Books for Free for a Simple Review.
NEW - Surprise Me With an Article - Click here for a random URL
God is Not Against You - He Came on an All Out Rescue Mission to Save You
...in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them... 2 Cor 5:19
Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Acts 13:38
LEARN & TRUST JESUS HERE
FaithWriters offers Christian reading material for Christian readers. We offer Christian articles, Christian fiction, Christian non-fiction, Christian Bible studies, Christian poems, Christian articles for sale, free use Christian articles, Christian living articles, New Covenant Christian Bible Studies, Christian magazine articles and new Christian articles. We write for Jesus about God, the Bible, salvation, prayer and the word of God.